Audio Lectures Archives - The Spiritual Scientist: Recent Episodes

View Details

• Home
• Audio Lectures

TranscriptThis is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna I am grateful to be here today with all of you and so we are discussing the third canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam so generally whenever I give a class on a topic I use a particular framework so I call it chit chit is we try to expand our consciousness so we look at the context of what is going on then we look at some insights and then we will talk about some takeaways what does it mean for us so now if we look at the context right now what is happening over here that we are in the third canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam and the Bhagavatam is a nested conversation it’s a conversation within a conversation within a conversation and like that it goes on and on at one particular place this nesting goes on till seven layers so the outermost is we could say Sukadeva Goswami is speaking to Parikshit Maharaj of course we can have one more outer one that is Vyasadeva is writing to all of us but Sukadeva Goswami is speaking the outermost is Suta Goswami is speaking to the sages of Naimisharanya and then within that Suta Goswami to the sages then Sukadeva Goswami to Parikshit Maharaj then within that currently we have Maitreya speaking to Vidura and now within that we have the sages, the brahmanas offering prayers to Lord Varahadev so this is where we are right now these prayers are going on in 3.13 right now, of course the entire chapter is not the prayers but a major part of it is the prayers now the prayers within the Bhagavatam are a major feature of the Bhagavatam and this is one of the things that distinguishes the Bhagavatam from many of the other Puranas also that the action, the stories they are described however in the Bhagavatam as compared to most of the Puranas the prayers occupy a significant amount of time generally if we consider in terms of the content the Puranas, they have some common features, there are stories by stories we could mean there is a narrative of the stories this person did this, that person did that then within the stories themselves there are the dialogues that are there now sometimes there are discussions themselves in place of the stories that means the story is not much, like the Bhagavad Gita is not a story it is just a discussion, just is not to minimise it but it is just contextualised as a discussion like Uddhav Gita is primarily a discussion the events that led to the Uddhav Gita are relatively small, the discussion is very big now these are there in almost all the Puranas but the prayers this is distinctive to the Bhagavatam or at least we could say not the prayers are distinctive but the extent of the prayers, the length of the prayers this is quite distinctive to the Bhagavatam and one reason among many for this is that among the various books in the sacred canon, in the Vedic canon the Bhagavatam is the book that faces death in the eye the most directly we all pray to God but prayers, they become the most important when we ourselves are largely helpless so the Bhagavatam is in one sense you could say it is a death I won’t say death centred book but it is a death you could say death is in the background if you see it is a death contextualised book what does it mean? if you consider where the Bhagavatam starts off and where the Bhagavatam ends the two startings of the Bhagavatam we start with Yudhishthir Maharaj in the Bhagavatam that’s 1.789 onwards Yudhishthir Maharaj for him death is casting a long shadow that the Kurukshetra war has already happened and it has devastated everyone so the long shadow of death is there when the Bhagavatam starts in the first canto now as far as Parikshit Maharaj is concerned so a shadow can be caused by something which is behind us and a shadow can be caused by something ahead of us also so Parikshit Maharaj, the shadow of death is ahead of him it’s going to come in 70s and many of the stories in the Bhagavatam also even through seeing beholding the Lord being insulted, going to the forest, beholding the Lord the continuation of the story is not so much given in the Puranas but in the Bhagavatam it goes on till how Dhruva departs from the world and sometimes some of the departures are also not necessarily described some of the departures may from material perspective not be very glorious like Rishabhdev who gives such powerful instructions gets burned in the forest fire or Krishna’s own dynasty is destroyed in a brutal fratricidal war so death is very much prominent reality in the Bhagavatam and not all the prayers are offered in the face of death but death is always the background reality so that’s one reason, apart from that the Bhagavatam’s focus is much more on the Lord directly so that is the theme which I will be discussing in the session as we move forward but here what we will see about the prayers in general is that most of the prayers are more of glorification they are more about glorifying than about asking anything generally whenever we approach some person we seek some help from them we will praise them, how charitable they are, how much they have helped how much we have heard about them it’s not flattery, it’s just the proper way to approach I need some help from you so we glorify and then we ask for some help in most of the prayers in the Bhagavatam we could say the glorifying is almost 95% and the praying is 5% or less than 5% Kunti Maharani, she prays initially saying that her starting of the prayer is she doesn’t want the Lord to depart but then through the act of praying itself there is evolution in her devotion and she says, my dear Lord please take away from me the desire that I should determine what you do that whether you should stay here or whether you go to the Dwarkavasis wherever you are, my dear Lord, all that I desire is my heart always flows towards you when Bhishma is departing from the world not even once does he pray that may my death be painless or let my death not happen or he doesn’t pray anything at all he doesn’t ask anything he doesn’t even really ask so much that maybe Pandava should be happy or this or that he focusses simply let my consciousness flow always towards you so in that sense, these prayers are often demonstrating a pure reciprocation of love so that’s what we’ll focus on now the same thing, the sages, in most of the prayers just now the Lord has destroyed a demon who was not just disrupting but devastating the earth he has just destroyed Varahadeva just destroyed Hiranyaksha and in the entire prayers, there’s hardly any reference to Hiranyaksha at least we’ll see later on in Prahalad’s prayers when Hiranyakashipu is killed, Prahalad does there are at least 3-4 verses which refer to the context and he says Hiranyakashipu was so powerful, everybody was scared of him but you just effortlessly destroyed him that I’m not afraid of anything in this world but I’m afraid of your anger people are afraid of your form, but I’m not afraid of your form I’m only afraid of the illusions of this world so here, it’s almost like much of the prayers prayers can be context dependent and they can be context independent context dependent means in a particular time, in a particular place there are prayers and there are context independent prayers so nowadays say, within especially Christianity, there is a rejuvenation of prayers there is a Christian prayer app which has become one of the most popular apps among spiritual apps in the play stores now, most of the prayers there are very context dependent when you’ve lost a loved one, what should you pray if you’ve got a terrible health diagnosis, what should you pray if you’re feeling depressed, what should you pray these are important prayers, I’m not saying anyway that they are not we all face specific challenges in life and if we have some guidance about how to offer prayers in that way, we should do that I’ve written a book on prayers inspired by Bhagavad Gita where I’m talking about how we can take the Gita’s verses and connect them with our heart and offer prayers so there are context dependent prayers which we can often relate with if somebody has hurt us terribly how to let go, how to forgive, these are good prayers to have but most of the prayers in the Bhagavatam so the Bhagavatam’s prayers are largely context independent that is, the focus is not on me and the problems I’m facing the focus is on you, oh Lord and I just want to remember you and I want to be absorbed in you so in many ways if we consider what is spiritual growth I’ve now shifted to the insight part now and we’ll come to the specific prayer Bhagavatam has these prayers which is the focus and the prayers are largely about glorifying the Lord so normally for us the world is very big and Krishna, even if he exists, is small and it’s okay, God is there somewhere I have to pray to him, but I have this person troubling me and this is going wrong and that is going wrong when preaching we’ll say, the only problem in the world is a lack of Krishna consciousness but the problem in my life is my authority does not respect me or my subordinates don’t listen to me so we say Krishna is the biggest reality but quite often the world and its problems become much bigger for us and that’s not wrong because we have to deal with those problems but the problems occupying a lot of our head space is a problem so as we grow spiritually the world becomes smaller and Krishna becomes bigger and that’s why when we come to this level when we pray to Krishna it is not so much that Krishna you help me free me from this problem or thank you that you freed me from this problem or when oh Lord will you free me from this problem that is not that important that Krishna and remembrance of Krishna and absorption in Krishna becomes the most important thing so quite often most prayers when they are context dependent we could say this is more like a spiritual starter stage it’s good that but here a person has become a spiritual seer that when we become a spiritual seer we come to Krishna to become immersed in remembering him and that’s if you look at the content of this prayer what is being offered there are many aspects to the prayer but I will focus on a couple of them if we go back to Namo Namaste Akhil Mantra Devata Dravyaya Sarva Krutave Kriyatmani so if we consider one’s spiritual growth in general we can say that in our life we have two things in life journey we have the ends and the means that means what do I want to achieve and how will I achieve this so if we consider the ends and means a student may say I want to get good marks in my exam that is the ends and what is the means I have to study regularly I have to do this, I have to do that so in life we have ends and means now if we consider the evolution could be that a person in Tamas a person in Tamoguna they have practically no ends and no means they are simply existing and nobody literally lives without ends and means but maybe their ends and means are what I just want to escape from life and people spend time watching Netflix playing video games reading random stuff on social media so in Tamoguna there is no clear goal to pursue in life and such people fall prey to conspiracy theories and this and that if we are not committed to something we will be distracted by anything so in Tamoguna there are no ends and there are no means now when we come towards Rajoguna in Rajas we have ends and we have means both become a little clearer because no ends no means is largely escapist living so in Rajoguna the ends are materialistic and sometimes the means can be religious or they can be non-religious so Bhaktivinoda Thakur talks about people who are pious materialists not everybody who is materialistic is necessarily impious or godless India is experiencing a cultural rejuvenation after the building of the Rama temple and other things but it is interesting that while the cultural rejuvenation is happening materialism is also increasing from the cultural path people are going towards or at least interested but it is not non-materialistic so in Rajoguna there is some interest in God the world is the end and God is the means I want to achieve certain things how do I achieve them? I have to pray to God so generally speaking in the Vedic context most people were pious materialists there is one western author he read the Rig Veda when Europeans came to India he said the Rig Veda is the most materialistic religious book he has ever read it is basically describing if you have this problem chant this mantra if you want to destroy your enemy do this so the idea is that there are many mantras mentioned but the mantras are meant to achieve certain ends like mantras are associated with celestial weapons and through that we can attack and destroy an enemy so the idea that the end is God that is not very prominent in the Karmakand section in the Karmakand section the idea is the means is God in many ways, not only God we have to work in this world also a lion cannot just lie with an open mouth and a deer will come into its mouth a lion also has to endeavour but we humans understand that my endeavour alone is not enough there is some higher being and I need to propitiate that being also so this is the level of pious materialism from there, once we come to some level to sattva in sattva the means quite often becomes religious and the ends they become spiritual spiritual in the sense that it could be Krishna or it could be Moksha this world is a place of suffering and fulfilling desires itself does not lead to freedom from suffering for all of us when we talk about purification or purifying our desires what does it mean? Practically speaking we all need to get this realisation that fulfilment of desires does not lead to fulfilment of heart and in one sense we all know it but when a desire comes up, we tend to forget it I want to eat this, I want to watch this, I want to meet this person I want to have this relationship, I want to get this position nowadays everybody wants to be a social media influencer so what happens is we may have our desires but fulfilling our desires does not lead to fulfilment of heart that realisation comes to some extent in sattva and then when that realisation comes then we start thinking what should I be doing in my life rather than pursuing my desires either in sattva somebody says let me give up my desires entirely and try to become desire free or if we come towards bhakti we align our desires with the lord not that we give up desires but let me desire to serve the lord let me desire to fulfil the desire of the lord and that is the, if you see the conclusion of the Bhagavad Gita is I will do your will so shuddha sattva or pure bhakti is where the ends is clearly Krishna and the means can be many but we understand the means come from Krishna we are aware very clearly that my means come from Krishna so a person who is very talented somebody is a very talented speaker or a good business person, a good manager they tend to become proud because they think I am the means, my ability are the means but the Bhagavad Gita says all human ability comes from Krishna Krishna says I am ability in human beings so when we understand that my ends is Krishna and the means to pursue that ends also comes from Krishna so actually the only thing we bring into the world is our desire to serve the ability to serve is given by Krishna the facility to serve is also given by Krishna what we bring into the world in any area is actually the desire so once we bring in if we consider bhakti bhakti not in terms of internal remembrance but in terms of service so what do we need, we need ability bhakti is about serving so we need the ability to serve we need the facility to serve and then we want the result the reward of the service, the reward may not be for us but we want the reward and then there is the desire to serve so actually the ability comes from Krishna the facility comes from Krishna the reward comes from Krishna it is only the desire that comes from us now we could even say that the inspiration for that desire comes from Krishna that it is Krishna who brings us in the association of devotees who are filled with so much eagerness to serve that I should also do some service or it is Krishna who may give us some sublime spiritual experiences we come and take darshan, we participate in kirtan and we feel such extraordinary experiences we feel that this is what I want to do in my life this is what I want to experience more and more so broadly when we say the desire the desire can come from positive impetus and from a negative impetus now positive impetus could be more of association we see devotees who are dedicated, who are inspired and it could come from our spiritual experiences now the negative inspiration generally comes from frustration that when we pursue other things and those things they don’t lead us to anything of value so generally beyond this the third one is our own intelligence and our contemplation with our intelligence so among these three if you consider the association the experiences and the intelligence the association and the experience that is not in our control sometimes you may get very inspiring association sometimes you may not get such inspiring association I was in Florida and I was in Texas doing a programme at one devotee’s home and there was a notice there was a humorous quote in that home it says that we look forward to all our guests to some guests we look forward to their arriving to some guests we look forward to their departing which category you fall in depends on how you behave while you are here now the idea is for all of us there are some people who bring happiness wherever they go and some people bring happiness whenever they go so even in association for us it is not that every single devotee’s association will be inspiring some devotee’s association will be sometimes a bit demanding also I was doing once a devotee relationship seminar when we are practising bhakti we have to tolerate many things so what all do we have to tolerate so one devotee raised his hand very enthusiastically so yes what all do we have to tolerate he said we have to tolerate devotees so I said yes that is a good realisation and if we keep practising bhakti we will also come to the realisation that devotees are tolerating us so we try to live in such a way that we don’t disturb others and we don’t get disturbed by others but my point is that inspiring association may sometimes be there sometimes not there spiritual experiences we may or we may not get all the time but what we can have is our own intelligence or we study scripture and we make sure that our intelligence remembers and reminds us why Krishna is the most desirable reality for me so that is the last part of this verse where it says that gyanaya vidya gurave namo namaha so dravyaya sarva-krtave kriyatmani I talked about how you are the ultimate goal for achieving everything you are the ultimate purpose of everything but that purpose we cannot realise till we have some vairagya bhaktya we have some vairagya some detachment from our own desires bhaktya atma jaya anubhavita so atma jaya anubhavita what does it mean? this is not atma jaya, atma jaya is somebody’s relative it is atma jaya, atma here refers to the mind our mind is filled with many many desires and those desires distract us but when we have sufficient level of control over our mind, atma jaya so if I am coming and taking darshan of the lord but I am thinking I have to meet this person, I have to tell this person, will this person listen to me will I be able to distribute books today, how much will my score we are filled with all those desires then we cannot really relish the presence of Krishna even when we are in his presence so atma jaya anubhavita when we experience, we have that experience that anubhava within that experience we have some emotion that comes so atma jaya anubhavita so for that to happen that can happen spontaneously at times by Krishna’s mercy but for most of the times we need to sustain it with our intelligence so jnanaya vidyagurave that jnana, the jnana to persevere in our bhakti that comes from you oh lord you are the vidyagurave you are the person who is the giver of wisdom Prabhupada quotes that 7.10 in the Bhagavad Gita that when we have a favourable attitude towards serving Krishna then Krishna will give us the intelligence of how to come to him so that is the last point I will conclude with over here that for us the take away you know this is quite often a catch 22 kind of situation for us that what comes first does the desire like over here I said that the ability to serve, the facility to serve, the reward for service all this will come from Krishna the desire has to come from us but then the sustainable basis for the desire is our intelligence sustainable basis we can have our intention, we can have our determination but the determination Krishna says that our intelligence is sustained by determination so what comes first the desire to serve or the intelligence to serve so which will come first desire to connect with Krishna or the intelligence to connect with Krishna so is it that first we get the intelligence and then we get the desire or first we get the desire and then we get the intelligence now what do you think desire comes first yes if you consider 10.10 is indicating this Krishna says when you do that means you have some desire for me you have some positive affectionate disposition towards me then I will give you the intelligence to serve now this is what Krishna talks in 10.10 but if you go to earlier 3.43 here there he says with your intelligence situate yourselves on the spiritual platform with your intelligence understand that you are a soul and that you are meant to connect with the whole and thus you can go beyond mundane desire thus you can so where do we start in our spiritual life when we wake up in the morning is it that we wake up and feel oh today I have to go for the morning programme today I have to chant the holy name, I would love to do that or is it that I feel like doing it, I want to do it or this is the right thing to do, this is the important thing to do, I will do it so that is the idea that this is where from wherever we can start it is some days we can feel our way to actions some days we have to act our way to the feelings some days we feel our way to actions we feel like coming to the temple and we come to the temple and take darshan some days we don’t feel like it but we act our way with our intelligence we act and by acting gradually the feeling will come and that is why somehow or the other that is the operational principle at some days basically the desire is associated with our mind and the intelligence is associated with our mind and intelligence so Krishna says with your mind and intelligence both offered to me you will come to me but for us right now sometimes our mind is offered, sometimes our intelligence is offered but at least something should be offered to Krishna and that is how we will keep moving towards Krishna so we can pray we may have a little desire, with that little desire we start practising bhakti start doing some activity and gradually our intelligence starts becoming clearer or sometimes we have a little intelligence, with that we do an activity and slowly the desire starts awakening but because neither of these are steady for us that is why our bhakti is right now fickle but gradually speaking our intelligence can be strengthened, our mind can be purified and then we will become steadier in bhakti and the experience of joy will also become deeper and richer for us when we become more absorbed in Krishna generally it is easier to maintain a steady intelligence than to maintain a steady desire so that is why the conviction of the intelligence is more important because the desire we can’t really predict which desire we will have when we can try to have the desire but we cannot control that so in that sense at our stage the buddhi is more important although ultimately we want the desire and the emotion but the buddhi is what is required for us to sustain ourselves but it is not constantly fighting against our desires we purify our desires so that gradually we can come closer and closer to Krishna so I will summarise what we discussed our topic was broadly how we grow spiritually so within that I talked about three distinct things first was the context so context was we discussed about how this is the fourth level nesting the conversation with Suta Goswami and Parishit Maharaj Vidura and Maitreya and then there is the sages and Varahadeva so in this conversation there are prayers going on now we discussed the characteristics of the prayers prayers are a distinctive feature they are distinct in Bhagavatam as compared to other Puranas where there are stories, there are dialogues there are elaborate discussions but elaborate prayers they are a distinctive feature of the Bhagavatam and even within these elaborate prayers discussed about how we could have prayers which are contextual and there are prayers which are not so much contextual they are universal so the contextual prayers when for us the world is very big then dealing the context is what is important but when we grow spiritually then the world becomes small, Krishna becomes big then our prayers are not so much dependent on the context so then in the insight I talked about the spiritual journey of how we grow if we are in Tamas most people have no means and no ends they just want to live, exist, escape from life in Rajas which is the place where people have means that are worldly, that are materialistic but materialistic and the ends are they could be either religious or non-religious so most of the description of the Bhagavatam is from here, the Bhagavatam is not really largely focussing on Tamasic people it’s talking about people who are pious but for them to become spiritual so then in Sattva what happens gradually our sorry not means and ends, here it is the ends are materialistic and the means are religious and gradually for us the ends start becoming non-material we understand that fulfilment of desires does not lead to fulfilment of hearts and the means, they are a mix of material and non-material we start whatever means we use but as we become in pure devotion Shuddha Sattva, that’s when we understand the means the ends is Krishna and the means also comes from Krishna the ends and means both become Krishna centred and we discuss what are the takeaways for us that actually this means I also talk about one more thing that for service broadly we need four things, the desire to serve the ability to serve the facility to serve ability means somebody has speaking or singing ability facility is they are invited to some kirtan programme they are invited to give some classes and then there is a reward of service so all of these come from Krishna the desire it is what comes from us but even when the desire comes from us it just doesn’t come only from us it can come from association, it can come from spiritual experiences it can come from intelligence so I discuss what are the takeaways somehow or other what do we start with, the desire to serve or the intelligence to serve that sometimes we feel our way to actions sometimes we act our way to feelings so both could be true but the important thing is from wherever we start that is how we move ahead Krishna talks about both possibilities so somehow or the other we continue in our bhakti till we come to the point where both our desire and intelligence will be directed towards Krishna and that’s when we will become fully absorbed in him thank you very much

View Details

• Home
• Audio Lectures

View Details

• Home
• Audio Lectures

TranscriptDisclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.

Thank you for coming today. So let's talk about manifestation and I'll talk about this in three broad parts. Let's first begin with where we are.

When you hear the word manifestation, what does it mean to you? Okay, how many of you have heard the word manifestation? I think almost every one of us has. When I do this talk in India, many people have to look at the dictionary to understand what manifestation means. Okay, so almost all of you.

So what does it mean to you? What do you think it means? Yes, please. You can share your name and then you can share what. So it's vivid imagination.

So it's vivid imagination of what? Of something that we? Yes, of something desirable, of some desirable thing. So it's more concentrated visualization, vivid imagination. Yes, that's generally understood meaning.

Anything else? Being at the right frequency of the desire. Can you explain what you mean by the word frequency? So frequency, are you talking more about like a frame of mind or attitude, the vibes that we are giving out, the right frequency? Yeah, it's important aspects to it. That's true.

So it's not just what we imagine at a particular time, it's also the state of mind that we are having while we are cultivating that visualization and imagination. Thank you. Anything else? So it's like what is spiritual, so its manifestation is a way of bringing the spiritual down to the physical, like a bridging.

It's a beautiful way of looking at it. Yes, anything else? Yeah, I was thinking your manifestation is about a cat, I was thinking. Sorry, sorry.

It will happen, there's a divine timing to it, we can't control it. This brings a very devotional perspective to the idea of manifestation. Yes, thank you.

Anyone else? An act of faith. So faith in what? Faith in one's agency or ability to. Yeah, so faith, faith in one's agency or ability.

Yeah, thank you. These are very valid points and valuable inputs. I'll talk about this, I'll try to integrate this, and we'll talk about this from the perspective of the yogi.

Tradition, especially the Bhagavad Gita, and I will talk about, I'll use this. Okay, let's put it this way. So as those of you, okay, how many of you are there for the previous session? Okay, four of you.

So many of you are not there for the previous session. It's okay, it doesn't matter. What I will do, so there are a few points of repetition from the session which we had on Thursday.

So I'll use an overall framework that I call as a map. So M is, I'll talk of a model, model of the world, the model of the self. Then I'll talk about the analysis, how that model can help us to analyze what is happening in our lives.

And finally, I'll talk about practicals, what we can do about it. So see, all of us, when we function in life, we generally, when we meet someone, one of the first questions we ask them is, so what is your worldview? That's not the typical question we ask about when we're doing small talk. But actually, all of us have some worldview.

It is, our worldview underlies every view. So how I see you, how I see my, the things that happen in my life, how I look at world events, all of that is shaped by my worldview. And that's where when you talk about a model, a model of what the world is, how it functions.

So within the yoga tradition's worldview, there's a model of the self and the model of reality, both, of who we are and what the world is all about. So basically, it's understood that there are three levels of reality. There is the physical reality that we study.

So this, my mic stand, this table, all is a part of physical reality. Then there is mental reality. And finally, there is spiritual reality.

So reality has three levels. Now, all these three are considered real. Now, this distinction is very much Eastern and I would say, not just Eastern, largely an Indian worldview, Indic or Vedic worldview.

In much of Western philosophical thought, there is not this three level. There's only two levels of reality, that the physical and the non-physical. And quite often, the mental is equated with the spiritual.

So that's why many times we ask people, what is, oh, I went to that trip, it was just a spiritual trip. What does it mean? Oh, I felt very calm and peaceful. I felt very good at that particular place.

And that's true. Spirituality can help us feel good. But emotions are more associated mental level than the spiritual level.

So this differentiation, so that is important to understand in much of Western thought. Now, I don't want to simplify complex truth. There have been many thinkers in the West and many thinkers in India also.

But in much of Western thought, there is a divine domain and a mundane domain. Now, if we have a much of, I'm talking of Western means, you could say Western religious thought, Christianity or Judaism. And in science, there is no idea of anything divine, at least in mainstream science.

It's all materialistic. So there are different worldviews. The science worldview is that most of reality, all of reality is basically material.

Now, so why I'm starting with this is that especially at the start of the last century and the early part of the 20th century and a little bit later after that, there was one school of thought which was very much physicalistic. It was called physicalism, not just materialism, but physicalism. That we human beings are simply stimulus reaction creatures.

So this is called as physicalism. In psychology, this may be called as behaviorism. That if we want people to change, just change their stimuli and their reaction will change.

So this is how we have carrot and a stick approach. We have heard that in corporate world. You want a person to work harder, you show them a carrot.

Or you give them a stick, you'll be fired if you don't work. But the idea is just change the stimulus and people's behavior will change. So in this idea, to a large extent, if you consider the complexity of reality, reality is almost made into only physical.

That we are creatures who are motivated by physical rewards. And there is nothing beyond physical causes. And the inner world was considered to be like a black box.

The black box means it's unknown, it's unknowable, it's not really worth knowing. Whatever happens inside doesn't matter. You just give the right stimulus, people will have the right reaction.

But much of the prosperity that came in the Western world belied this idea. That on one side, people's external started becoming better and better. Yet, more and more people seem to be lonely, depressed, having negative emotions.

So what is happening in the inner world also became very important. So now there are some schools of thought, which now there are different names for this, and I'm not going to get into the philosophical technicalities of that. But the idea is that reality is only mental.

Only mental means whatever happens inside you, that is all that matters. So there are some inspiring quotes like that. Whatever the mind can conceive, you can achieve in your life.

So the mind is made into not only the supreme reality, but the only reality, or the only reality that matters. So it's like a pendulum, it moves from one extreme to another extreme. So the mind does not matter, only your actions matter.

And the mind alone matters. Now, the only the physical aspect, this is, as I said, it was belied. It was challenged, it was falsified by the idea that in much of the Western world, there was physical progress, but still there was mental distress.

Now, the idea of something being, the mind being supreme, all that matters is your state of mind. There is a little bit fascination with that. But the fact is that while the state of mind does matter, it does not change the physical reality.

Like some people may say, oh, age is just a number. If there is some sports player who is 40, 45, and that player performs very well, wins some extraordinary matches, you say, oh, it's amazing. Age is just a number.

But is age just a number? Well, no. Age is also a function of physical reality. And if that athlete is fit at the age of 45 and is able to perform, that is remarkable.

But even then, that athlete will not be able to perform as well at 45 as they could have performed at the age of 25. There is a physical reality and that cannot be denied. So now, when somebody says age is just a number, if somebody starts thinking constantly, oh, I have grown old, I have grown old, I have a crippling effect.

So the mind is one aspect of reality. So we could say that instead of going in these two extremes, so much of New Age spirituality, now that term is not very common, but a few decades ago this was very common. Now New Age spirituality was all about just mental adjustment.

Just change your frame of mind and you will change your entire life. And yes, there is some truth to that. But there is a physical reality also.

So what the Gita, the yoga worldview is, there are three levels of reality. And each level of reality matters. There is spiritual level, there is a mental level, and there is a physical level.

So this is a more holistic vision of what are the aspects of reality. Now, just a little elaboration, what is the difference between the mental and the physical level, sorry, mental and the spiritual level? The mental level is associated with thoughts, emotions, desires, and that is all there. But underlying the thoughts is the thinker of the thoughts.

Underlying the feelings is the feeler of the feelings. Underlying the desires is the desirer. So that thinker, feeler, desirer is spiritual.

So our desires change, but our sense of I-ness, it does remain the same. Our sense of I-ness remains the same, although our body changes, our age changes, our financial level may change, our frame of mind may change. Somebody might grow up in a particular world where there's a particular worldview, they might be very, very conservative, very narrow minded.

And they might become more liberal, they might become more open minded. Somebody might grow up in a very open minded worldview, but somehow they meet some people, whatever happened, they become very narrow minded and bigoted and biased or whatever. So our minds also change, our desires change, but we at the core remain the same.

So beyond the desirer, feeler, beyond the desires, feelings and thoughts is the desirer, feeler and thinker. And that is at the spiritual level. So this model of the self is that the self has, there are three levels to the self.

There is the soul, there is the mind and there is the body. Soul is the spiritual level of reality, the mind is the mental level and the body is at the physical level of reality. And all this is like a computer system we could say, where the body is like the hardware, the mind is the software and the soul is the user.

This is a holistic vision of reality. Now within this worldview, what is the role of manifestation? So this is where I will, so this is a model of the self I explained. Now let me move back to the MAP.

A was the analysis. I already started some level of analysis, but let us move forward. See the mind is one level of reality.

The mind is not the only reality. And our state of mind matters, but it is not all that matters. So our experience of life, there is an objective component to it, but there is also a subjective component to it.

So objective and subjective components means that if somebody is wealthy, how do we know somebody is wealthy? Now if somebody has a lot of greed, then the greedy are always needy. Somebody might be, not as a millionaire, they might be a billionaire, but they are looking at all those people who have more money than them, and they will feel still a sense of scarcity, a sense of shortage. So there is a subjective side to it.

Now we could say who is wealthy? If a person's basic needs are comfortably taken care of, we can call them wealthy. So is wealth a state of bank account or is wealth a state of mind? It is both, isn't it? It is both. You can say somebody is living in poverty and still they may be emotionally wealthy, relationally wealthy, and that is true.

But then we are slightly expanding the definition of wealth. So wealth is a state of mind. It is a state of physical reality also, state of our bank account.

So there is an objective side. Now the objective is real, and the subjective is also real in the sense that it really impacts our experience. So if I am feeling tired, now if I am feeling tired, is it because I am tired or is it I am just bored? Sometimes you may say, oh I am tired.

Okay, did you not get rest? Did you not able to sleep well yesterday? No, I am tired of you. That's a very impolite thing to say to anyone. But the idea is psychologically we will think like that.

When I am tired of you, that is not physical tiredness. That is emotional tiredness. So now but that person may just feel tired.

I just don't want to be here. I just want to move away from here. So our experience is both based on the objective and the subjective.

So now when we interact with the world, let us get back to the black box kind of model, that when we talk about experience, it is more of what is out there and what we are going to do or what we feel about it. But then we also, if this is the self, we interact with the world in the sense that not only we take in stimuli from the outer world and experience it, but we also act in the world. We have a sense of agency by which we try to act in the world.

And then what is the inflow that is associated with our knowledge acquiring senses, our eyes, ears, like that, that the inflow. Now the outflow is what is associated, can be said more associated with manifestation. That how do I impact the outer world? So how much can I impact the outer? Of course, how much the outer world impacts me also matters.

There also the mind plays a role. But when we are using the word manifestation, manifestation is that how I impact the outer world through my thoughts, through my visions, through my conceptions, through my visualizations, that is about manifestation. Now the word manifestation, I just distinguish it from a few words.

Manifestation is not exactly the same as creation. Although there is a creative side to it. Like creation means, you know, somebody build a building.

There is a raw material and from the raw material we build a building. So if somebody has certain ingredients, if those ingredients, they cook something. So now we won't call it, oh, you manifested this.

Oh, you cooked it. Is it okay? You can call manifestation over there. But the idea is creation generally involves, there are certain ingredients and we bring them together.

So manifestation is not exactly the same as creation. Now manifestation is also not just imagination or visualization. Because visualization does not lead necessarily to something changing at the physical level.

So for example, if we are very tired, sometimes there are visualization exercises, there are thought exercises. Okay, imagine that you are on the banks of a river or you are in a forest and there is greenery all around and you can feel the birds chirping and you can feel the wind moving through your ear, near your ears. You are feeling calm and relaxed and you are at peace.

You are one with nature. Now this can, this kind of visualization can be helpful. But it is not that suddenly around us we are in a forest right now.

So visualization is more of imagination but that imagination is not changing the physical reality. Creation is basically in one sense, we are taking one physical state and changing it to another physical state. Like I am taking these ingredients and putting them together and I am making something.

Now manifestation is, so manifestation is also not just about something, it is not just something like a miracle. Now when I say miracle, that means, sometimes the word miracle is used and something which is amazing that has happened. But sometimes the word miracle is used in the sense that something that has no rational explanation.

Something against the laws of nature, not against necessarily something above or beyond the laws of nature. So it is not exactly a miracle also. So when generally when we say something is a miracle, what it means is that we don't know the process by which it happened and we can't replicate the process.

So I am using the word miracle in that sense. It is non-replicable. It was a miracle, say we had a friend and childhood friend, we were very close and we made that friend after 25 years.

And we had no plan to meet, it just happened to be at a particular place and we met. It is a miracle that we met. So you could say that there are some mysterious forces in the universe and that is how we happened to meet at that particular place.

That is okay. But manifestation is not about a miracle. Because in manifestation we also try to understand the process and then we try to see whether that process can be replicated.

So then what manifestation is not, if we understand, then what is manifestation? Now when I said that the mental level is also real. So let us try to understand what is the mental level, at the level of the mind, what is it composed of? When we say it is reality, what does it mean? Now there are a few terms I will use over here and these terms can mean different things at different places. So I will try to take four terms and this may be a little exhausting.

But bear with me, it will only become a bit more exhausting afterwards. So these are all related with the mental domain. There are many other things associated with mental domain.

You can have conceptions, worldviews and all those things. But let us look at thoughts, emotions, desires and intentions. Now if we start with the word thought.

Now thought can be said to be the basic currency of the mental domain. At the level of the mind, what we do is nothing. Now the word thought itself has two different meanings to it.

Say, I just use a sentence, two sentences and then you can tell me the difference between the two. I just got a thought. I have given this a lot of thought.

Can you give this some thought? I just got a thought. I have given this a lot of thought. Is there any difference between these two? Got a thought, given this a lot of thought.

Okay, thank you. What is the difference? Okay, good. One is casual, the other is intentional.

You could say conscious, intentional. Anything else? Yes. So we have paid attention to it.

So you could say it's almost like this. When I got a thought, it's almost spontaneous, not just casual. It just came to me.

But this is more conscientious. So now this, can you focus on the word got and given? What does that signify? I got a thought. I gave this a lot of thought.

What does got and give, what does that signify? Those two words from? Okay, that's interesting. We are looking at it. It comes from the spiritual.

Okay, let's put it generically as it comes from somewhere. Not all thoughts necessarily come from the spiritual. Isn't it so? I got a thought that I should beat you up.

That's right, not come from the spiritual domain. That might just come from a short temper. But the idea is that if I consider this is the soul, and this is the mind.

In the previous session, I had mentioned how from the soul, consciousness comes out through the mind and goes outwards. So consciousness is like the energy of the soul. So if I put it over here, so if I have this flashlight over here, this source of light is the soul, the beam of light coming from that is consciousness.

So now, why is this relevant for our discussion is that when I say got a thought, means that it is a pop up that just came up on the screen of my mind. On my mind, okay, let me use this. On the screen of the mind, there's something just popped up.

And then I got a thought. It just popped up like on my phone, some notification came up. That's I got a thought.

And then now there might be many pop ups over here. Now, I have given this a lot of thought. So God is what comes towards us almost given is we go towards it.

So I have, I have deliberated, I have analyzed, I have contemplated. So it's more like we go towards it. So now, why am I saying this is important is this is where we will this differentiation between the idea of thought as something which is pops up like a notification comes up on our phone, I just got a notification, then, okay, some notification, okay, I pay attention, what is the message over here? Do I need to do something about what do I do about it? I have given this a lot of thought.

So this differentiation will be important. When we come to the point of manifestation later. Now, let's look at emotions and desires.

Are they the same emotions and desires? Clearly not the same. What do you think is the difference between the two? We've all experienced emotions and we all experienced desires, isn't it? So at a simple level, we could say emotions are associated with the outside in thing. We see something and we experience some emotion.

Now, desire is more inside out. I want to buy something, I want to go somewhere, I want to do something. So emotions are associated more with our knowledge acquiring senses.

In Sanskrit, they call it gyanendriyas, that what we take in from the outer world that triggers some emotions inside us. And desires are more associated with our working system. When I have a desire, I speak something, I move my hands, I move my legs, I go somewhere.

So that's the broad difference between emotions and desires. Now, lastly, if I consider intentions, where would intentions fall? On the emotion side or the desire side? Desire side. Is there a difference between a desire and intention? What do you think is the difference? Yeah, intention, desires, I may have lots of desires.

But when that desire is translated into or it comes very close and comes more concretized or crystallized, so that it is going to become an action, that's when it becomes an intention. So we could say intention is much more. I may have hundreds of desires, but they may translate into one intention.

If we look at ourselves, we probably just spend five minutes, we can think of 100 desires, we may want to visit this place, I want to buy these clothes, I want to learn this, I want to do that. But how many of the desires become intentions? So intentions become more crystallized about what I'm going to do. So let's look at these four terms and then four points and then let's try to understand how manifestation works.

So manifestation, if it is not just creation, it is not just visualization, it is not just a miracle. Manifestation is what? It's definitely something inside out. Something from inside, it brings about a change in the outer domain.

So all manifestation will begin with a thought. But it's not just a thought, a thought where I have given this a lot of thought, that sense. It is not that something just casually pops up and then will manifest it.

So at the mental level also, desires have energy, emotions have energy, thoughts also have a certain level of energy. So from thoughts, we manifest desires. From desires, we manifest intentions.

Now this is through the process of imagination. So for example, if we come to know that some new movie is released, which features some of our favorite stars, then when it comes as information at that time, it's a thought. From that thought comes a, as we maybe see the trailer, maybe we remember the trailer, we visualize it, oh, I want to watch this.

It becomes a desire. From desire, it becomes an intention. So we could put it this way now, that let's, it's like a funnel, that we could have, we have hundreds and hundreds of thoughts.

The number of thoughts that keep coming within us are many, many thoughts. Now from that, some become desires for us. And then from there, some become intentions for us.

So when this journey is systematized, that is largely a process of manifestation. So among the many thoughts we have, okay, which thoughts, now sometimes this happens automatically. I have hundreds of thoughts.

From there, I get some desires, some desires become intentions, and then I eat something, I watch something, I buy something, those things happen. But if we try to systematize this, that okay, I have many thoughts, these are the desires that are important for me. And then I convert those desires into intentions.

Then when this is systematized, that is largely the process of manifestation. I'll make two more points over here, then we'll open for question answers. I'm not able to manifest these letters over here now.

So if we consider manifestation, now generally we use the word manifestation or in the context of something that we think we really very strongly want to achieve, but sometimes we feel it's very difficult for me to achieve. So maybe we want to make a career move, maybe we want to become fitter, maybe we want to learn a new language, maybe we want to move to a different place. So we may decide I want to manifest that reality.

So quite often there is something inside us that sabotages us. So quite often what happens, say I may have a desire to move in this direction, but there is something inside me which blocks me and which pushes in the opposite direction. And most of us, when we function, it can be that the forward is 100, the opposite is 90.

And then we don't move much forward. Sometimes the forward might be 100, the opposite might be 1000. And then every time we try to improve, we actually end up becoming much worse.

Every time we try to fix or improve a situation, situation becomes worse. Maybe I should not try to improve. So this internal alignment of something against us, that can lead to what we often call a self sabotage.

Well, the self sabotage can happen in many ways. Self sabotage, we can say, is the complete opposite of manifestation. So sometimes it can happen at a level we are even aware of.

Let us say, if we decide, okay, I want to read this book, it is important. Next one month, I will read every day for half an hour, I will complete this book. And there is a part of us, we are not going to do this.

Or we want to achieve, we want to do some regular exercise, we make some resolutions. So there is something we decided, but there's something says, you're not going to do it, you're going to fail, you're never going to amount too much. So this critical voice that is there inside us, that can sometimes sabotage us.

And at a basic level, when we try to manifest, it is that this critical voice that gets removed. And that what happens is, if you understand that the mental is real, and then we sit and actually concentrate, visualize. When we are doing self sabotage, what is happening exactly is that, that often our imagination starts working against us.

See, sometimes our imagination works very well for some impulsive desires. Okay, I want to buy this immediately, I think, Oh, if I buy it, how will I feel I want it, I'll go and buy it and I'll eat it. I'll eat it or I'll consume it or whatever.

So there it works very well. But then there is something substantial that we would like to do in our life, some significant change we want to make in our life. At that time, our mind often works against us.

So is our imagination working for us or working against us? That negative imagination can happen because of our fears, our insecurities, our pessimism, whatever it is. So self sabotage is often associated with it, with negative imagination. So what manifestation where it can work is that if we learn, if we learn to recognize the power of imagination, that imagination is something which is a very important thing.

And if I am, I'm endeavoring to achieve something, but my mind is imagining the opposite, then I'll not be able to achieve it. Now, that doesn't mean we should never think negative. Yes, if I'm trying to do something, some obstacles are going to come how to deal with obstacles, I need to plan that.

And in that sense, in any major project, risk assessment is a very important aspect. So just the mind imagining negative realities is not a bad thing. But that being the default constantly, that is a problem.

So it's not that somebody is a negative thinker, that is always a bad thing. Somebody says, okay, here we have a barren patch of land, we'll build a 25 story skyscraper over here. Say what a visionary person, you think so positive.

But for that building to be safe and livable, somebody has to think negative also. What if there is a fire? Where will we escape from? You know, what is there some crisis over here? So negative thinking, in the sense of thinking about negative possibilities, that itself is not a bad thing. In fact, I'll go so far as to say, negative thinking is also a gift.

Not everybody can think negative. Now, what I mean by that is, not everybody can actually think negative in a systematic way. Okay, this is a problem.

And this is how it can be solved. Like one of my main services is writing and editing. They're both integral part of the writing process.

But they actually require a very different frame of thinking. Writing is more creative. Editing is more critical.

Writing is hey, this may work, this may work, this may work. Editing is this doesn't work, this doesn't work, this doesn't work. And for a good book, both those are required.

And quite often, those who are good editors are not very good writers. Because they are too self critical. Whatever they write, this is not right, this doesn't make sense, this doesn't make sense, this doesn't make sense.

And generally, no matter how good the editor is, sorry, how good a editor is, because it's very difficult to look at our own creative product very critically. We can, but it actually takes some time. I write something, at that time, it's my baby.

Oh, it's the best baby in the world. Maybe after six months, I look at it. Hey, this is stupid.

This doesn't make any sense. What have I written over here. So my point is that not everybody can be a good editor.

So negative thinking is not a bad thing. Some people have that gift, by which any situation comes up, they can look at what problems can be there. And that's also a gift that that is also an ability.

Now, when that ability becomes a liability is when they cannot turn off that negative thinking. It like say if the editor has a small baby or a small growing child, and the child is writing the first letters, and the mother starts criticizing, oh, this spelling is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong. No, these are the first letters of your baby.

Don't be an editor over there. Be a mother and appreciate over there. So if when that ability becomes like a conditioning that we cannot turn off, then it will become a liability.

So negative thinking itself is not a problem. So just like positive thinking is visualization, negative thinking is risk assessment. There are distinct roles, which people with positive thinking can work at, and people with negative thinking can also work at.

So for example, like editing, quality assessment, quality control, risk assessment, these are all roles where people who think negative will thrive over there. So positive thinking and negative thinking, both can be abilities. Both are abilities, but they both can become a liability.

If negative thinking makes us blind to the positive, and positive thinking makes us blind to the negative. If somebody is going to invest money, and they say, okay, I'll invest my whole life savings. And in this scheme, in one year, my whole life savings are going to multiply three times.

But that's a Ponzi scheme. Why are you so negative? Well, that's not negative thinking, that's just being cautious, that's just being basic level intelligent. So when you talk about manifestation, it is not that there is no, that negative thinking itself is not always an obstacle for manifestation.

But the point is, we understand that thinking is also an energy, and we direct that energy. Okay, so for example, if I decide that I want to do, I want to write a book. And then I, it's like, almost any person I meet, any person who's achieved a little bit in life, they say, if I had time, I would write a book.

Now, of course, with AI, anybody can become a writer. AI is writing, and you can claim that you have written it. But the point is that writing, it requires not just to have ideas, you have to build a structure to the ideas, to deal with the logical flow and the logical flaw in the idea, there's so much process involved in writing.

But at least, okay, I had a thought, I want to write a book. From there, it becomes a desire. From that desire, it can become an intention.

And from the intention, it will move forward. So now, for that, I may have to visualize, okay, in six months, I'll complete this book. I visualize this at the end of six months, okay, this is a published book, the cover will be like this, and this is like this, and I'll, I'll be carrying this book, I'll show it to my friends, I will give talks based on it, you visualize it.

And that visualization is very empowering. Now, at the same time, while I'm visualizing this, I may also need to visualize, okay, I don't have so many other engagements, I don't have this much time, I don't have that much time, how I'm going to manage this. So visualization also involves dealing with other things, that's fair enough.

We will look at it. So when we visualize, it's like we go on a mental journey, from the thought to the manifestation of that thought. And the more we go on this mental journey, the more we become prepared for the physical journey, prepared for the challenges, prepared with the with the inspiration, the motivation.

So manifestation is where to go from this thoughts to the level of intentions. And then from intentions, actions will come. So, one last point to conclude now this, that when we are talking about manifestation, some of you might have mentioned about having the right frequency of thought, or there is surrender, dependence, divinity is involved.

So one problem that comes up is, we may think that whatever I desire, whatever I try to manifest, it will manifest. And I have seen people who sometimes they try very hard to manifest something, and then they are not able to manifest, they start beating themselves up for not being mentally strong enough, for being mentally too weak. Now that should not happen.

When we try to manifest something, I had explained this example earlier also, if there is a mountain, and there is an ocean, a river moves from the mountain towards the ocean. But some rivers might have a straight path, some rivers might have a more zigzag path. Some rivers might need a very roundabout path before they get to the ocean.

So many times, when we try to channel our visualization, our imagination to achieve something, to manifest something, if it does not manifest, rather than becoming discouraged, or bitter, or hopeless, you know, what we can try to see is, okay, this path things are not moving forward, but maybe they will move forward in a different way. So in manifestation, this is when we are trying to manifest, it's important that rather than being attached, attached is, this is the way it should manifest, or this is the thing that should manifest. So rather than being attached, it's important to be curious.

See, in one sense, attachment, it closes our mind. Because this is how things have to work. But curiosity opens our mind.

So it may turn out that this is for me, I'll talk about one of my books, how that journey worked out. And I'll conclude with this that one of my books, I've written many different, many different genres I have written till now. I've taken stories from the Vedic tradition, my tradition, and have tried to explain them the contemporary way.

I've written books, which are like contemporary conversations between two people who are discussing some spiritual themes. My specialization is in writing short articles, 300-400 word articles can be written in a few minutes. I've written more than about, I think 6000 articles, 7000 articles till now, like in that particular genre.

So structured books, where you start with one chapter, build a second chapter, third chapter, fourth chapter, that somehow, I'm not very, I don't have the patience to do that. That it just, it takes a bit amount of time for development and my brain works, not just fast, it works in too many different directions. So as a friend of mine said, you are very good at having ideas and getting the ideas to manifest, you're not very good at that.

So I said, you are very good at analyzing me. So, so one of my books, I don't think this book, Gita for the CEO, it is a book which is, a book which is flowing, it's not just, it is not a compilation of articles, not an anthology, it's a flowing book. So when I was writing this book, it's like, I can, I can start a project and if the project goes too long, I just want to move to something else.

So to push on, there is too much creativity and not enough persistence. If something happens quickly, great, if not, let's move to something else, it becomes like that. So when I was working on this book, I did two things which helped me and of course, each mind is individual and each one of us has to find what works for us.

So in writing, basically there are two strategies of writing. One is write thin and edit fat. The other is write fat and edit thin.

Now what does this mean? Write thin and edit fat means start with a structure. Okay, this is going to the first chapter, second chapter, third chapter, fourth chapter, you write thin and then each chapter we fill. So as you edit it, you make it fatter.

Write thin and edit fat. The other is write fat and edit thin. That means just get whatever is in your mind out.

Now you can write 20 pages and out of 20 pages, maybe two pages is good. The other we may discard, but at least those two pages are good. So now I have used both ways.

Now again, now going back to the manifestation, it is like first we manifest a very write thin and edit fat means that you first get a very clear vision of what you want to achieve. And then you fill in the details. Okay, I want to build a house, the house has to be like this, like this, like this.

So write thin and edit fat. So have a clear image of what you want to achieve and then fill in the details afterwards. The other is write fat and edit thin.

That means just get what is in the mind out. And then that okay, this does not fit in over here, this does not fit in over here, remove this, remove that, remove that. And then what remains you put it in a proper structure.

So what I found was, when I was trying to write a big book, I was trying with this write thin and edit fat approach. And it was just not working for me. Because what I was, if I start, okay, this is where I want to go.

But then as I'm going along the journey, I get some other idea and I get some other idea and get some other idea. If I don't follow that idea, I feel inhibited. I feel as if you know, I am not following the muse.

So then I decided to shift strategy. I decided I write fat and edit thin. That means rather than trying to focus my imagination on a specific idea of a book that I'll manifest that I will write basically, I thought that, okay, if this is the topic, like the presenting the Bhagavad Gita for the corporate world, that is a topic I want to address, how would I address it? So instead of write thin edit fat is basically like, okay, you if you're building a bridge, one break, one break, one break, or one plank, one plank, one plank, it's more linear.

You set up the planks and you strengthen them. But for me, what happened, write fat, edit thin was that Gita and corporate world, that was one theme. And I approach it from one perspective, another perspective, third perspective, fourth perspective.

Now like this, I had given probably in the last 20 years of my, when I have been teaching for 10 years, I was primarily studying. Last 20 years, I have probably given 100 talks on this topic in different places. So the best of the talks I took, and just put them together.

So what happened was, I didn't try to create a structure, just get the thoughts out. This is the theme that I'm tackling. And then when I got that out, it took some time.

And at that time, I didn't even know whether a book is going to manifest from it. But what happened through this is, because I was exploring different areas of thought. So I also, as I was feeling creatively also nourished, hey, this also is good, this also is good, this also is good.

And then after that, rather than trying to impose a structure, first have a structure and then like create the texture on the structure, I tried to see what in the content could fit in the structure. And what didn't fit, I put it aside for future books. I don't know whether I'll write those books.

But that way, it helped me a lot. When we are trying to manifest, each mind is unique. And we have to work with our mind.

So I have a friend who who's a very good writer, he's writing style is the right thing. And in fact, he has to have a structure. And then even if he writes a novel, he will have a summary of each chapter first.

And then he will build on that. I just for me that if I write a novel, I hope to write a novel still now. But it's like I want the story to emerge.

It's almost like the characters are there and the characters have a life of their own and I follow the character. So each person has a different mind. And by manifesting that's why rather than being attached, be curious.

Manifestation is not just an about it's not just about the delivery. Delivery is okay, this is what I had I was planning to do. I'll do this.

It is also about the discovery. It's that through the process of manifesting, we learn more about our own mind, we learn more about ourselves. And in the long run, through manifestation, what we achieve externally may not be as important as what we learn about ourselves.

You know how my mind works, how I can work with my mind. And in that sense, the divine aspect understanding that my my creativity, it's not just my creativity. There is some kind of higher energy that is manifesting through.

And let me be curious about it. That can actually make this much more of an adventure. Adventure not just of I like imposing my vision on reality, but I discovering the beauty of reality.

I think it is Michelangelo who said that, that whenever I make a sculpture, that it is actually the image is already there in the stone. I just remove the unnecessary parts. So it's a very beautiful way of looking at reality, that there is a divinity in reality, there is a higher plan that is working.

And there is a higher reality that wants to give us creativity, that wants to do beautiful, wonderful things through us. And when we have that curiosity or that openness, yes, my particular plan may not work. But curiosity can lead to creativity manifesting in a beautiful way, but may be different from what I. So that is the takeaway, what I wanted to give out creativity and curiosity.

I'll summarize what I discussed today about the topic of manifestation. I talked about three broad points based on the acronym MAP. M was the model.

Many of you gave some very valuable thoughts about what manifestation is about. I talked about model of realities. We talked about how in the Vedic context, there are three levels of reality.

There is the spiritual, the mental and the physical. And visualization is about what is at the spiritual level bring it to the physical level, what is at the mental level we bring it to the physical level. It is bringing to the physical level what is not there.

And then the worldview underlying it is that some people went to the idea that only physical is the real. Now, that is very incomplete vision. Some people go to the other side, only mental is real.

But no, the physical is also real. And we cannot just impose the mental and change the physical completely. Age is not just a number, it is also reality of the body.

So, all these three spiritual, mental and physical. If we consider these three levels of reality, and then we discuss the way these realities interact with each other. So, in the analysis part, I discussed the whole point about, we discuss thoughts, we get thoughts and we give thought.

That means some of the notifications that come pop ups that happen in our mind, we pay attention to them. That is an incremental process like a funnel. You may have many, many thoughts, some become desires, among them some become intentions.

So, manifestation is the process by which from thoughts, we go to desires, and then we finally go to intentions. Now, when we are doing this, this whole process is the process of manifestation. And manifestation is can be so inclusive, that it can include both positive thinking and negative thinking.

Because negative thinking is a problem when we cannot stop thinking negative. But negative thinking can also be a strength, if you understand and anticipate obstacles, and we prepare for those obstacles. So, it becomes a negative thing is a liability when it becomes a conditioning.

But if you understand this is a tool, can use it and then in the practical part, I talked about two main things is that, when we are trying to manifest reality, it is that we try not to be attached. Instead, we try to be curious. So, curious means attached is this is how this is what should happen and this is how it should happen.

Instead of that, be open, be curious. So, I talked about in writing that could be to these two styles, which I experienced, or which I experimented with that you what are the first one, write thin and then edit fat. So, that could mean in generic terms, that we started the specific vision, and then we start implementing the vision.

But the other could be write fat and edit thin. That means, let this be a process of exploration. That sometimes, it may not be that we will know exactly what is it that I should be manifesting.

So, we will say that, okay, some some people may just have some extraordinary talents, and for them, it is very clear, I want to become go to music, I want to go into sports, I want to go into maths. But most of us may not have one outstanding talent, which will be like a self evident calling or career for us. So, then for us, we have to explore.

So, we recognize that there is a mental energy which has power and we try to be open. So, then if we have if we couple creativity with curiosity, creativity is where I want to see what is what are the ideas that are coming within me? And what is it that I am inspired about? But instead of being feeling bad, if something we try to manifest does not manifest, we be open, what do I the curiosity, creativity can often lead to this outer change. This is outer improvement, outer achievement.

But curiosity can also lead to greater inner awareness, inner understanding. Who am I? How does my mind work? What is there at the core of my being? And this in the long run, may well be a greater asset for us through the journey of manifestation. Thank you very much.

Hare Krishna. Any questions or comments? I don't have. Yes, please.

Yes, please. Now, this is entirely about how my mind works. So, I think each of us has to find out what works for us.

So, I am a very verbal person. So, although I use drawings and but my drawings are more like they are conceptographic than artwork. You have to call.

So, it's like it's a more aid for thinking, aid for understanding rather than anything artistic or beautiful. So, I think primarily in words. So, some people may think more in images.

So, we all have to find out what activates our imagination naturally in a healthy way. So, for me, writing things down is very helpful. So, for example, I write down, okay, this is a topic on which I want to write a book or this is the topic I want to explore and learn.

Future, I would like to speak on this topic. So, just articulating that is very helpful for me. So, now for somebody else, it could be an image.

So, what activates our imagination, each one of us has to explore that. Once we have done that, because see, there is a difference between inspiration and motivation or not motivation, let me put it this way. Let's put like dedication or commitment.

These three are different words. See, inspiration is again what comes to us. Inspiration is when we get an idea.

Motivation often use it like motivational talks we attend. That means like somebody gives us energy. So, inspiration is when we get an idea.

Dedication is when we give ourselves to an idea. Like I want to commit myself to it. So, inspiration is fickle.

Inspiration may come, it may go. And if we rely on inspiration, you know, if we wait for inspiration, we will become waiters. Of course, sometimes some inspiration has to strike for us to actually be able to move forward.

But we cannot keep waiting for inspiration all the time. That's why during the times when the inspiration has come, if we can crystallize that inspiration some way, maybe write our emotions, if I get an idea, in previously whenever I would get an idea, I would just note the idea. But maybe after a week, I look at that idea, it just seems like okay.

Now, whenever I get an idea, I also try to note down briefly what excites me about the idea. Because then that idea, there's a rational aspect to the idea and there's an emotional component to it. So, that emotional component quite often dies down.

So, if we can note it down in some way, that's very helpful. And then it doesn't literally recreate the inspiration, but some of the emotional energy associated with the inspiration comes back to us. And so, that's the difference between inspiration and dedication.

So, I think when inspiration comes, catch it. Be grateful for it. But then each one of us has to find out how that inspiration can be converted to dedication.

Dedication is where I, as I said, I give myself to an idea. So, now, we may not always be able to do this for every idea that we get. But whatever we are able to do, then try to find it.

So, I would say that if I get some ideas for writing a book, I'll take the idea and I'll try to get the emotional component and then try to create some kind of pathway for us. Now, one trick I have found which is very helpful is to create some external commitment. Now, I am a, at least in India, I am a reasonably well-known author.

So, if I pitch a book to a publisher, the publisher agrees to it, then I get a deadline that I need to submit the book by that time. That can also help. Now, for everything, we can't have a deadline.

But in some ways, creating something outside of ourselves as a push for us, that is very helpful. So, in our life, there are some aspects which are mandatory. If we don't have a job and we don't have money, we have to get a job.

Otherwise, we may not have food to live with. But the creative aspects are not that mandatory. They may not be necessary for survival, but they are necessary for our satisfaction and fulfillment in our life.

So, that's why we need to create some external motivation. Life will not create those motivations automatically, motivators or motivations. So, having some friends who will push us can also help us.

But one thing that has helped me also is my spiritual practices. Because what happens to my, so in our tradition, we do the mantra chanting and we try to practice bhakti yoga. Through spiritual practices, the mind, I won't say it becomes completely calm, but all the disorderly churning that is going on in the mind, disorderliness that is going on in the mind, that decreases a little bit.

Or at least you can say when the mind starts becoming disorderly, I have tools to make the mind more orderly. And then that's how a lot of energies may get dissipated. So, let's say these are some tools, but I don't think there's a clear map.

Each one of us is an individual and each one of us has to find out how best we can work. I hope that helps you some way. It's interesting.

I have always been, I've always had curiosity, but I never had curiosity about my curiosity. Okay, I'll just speak to, it's not a very organized answer because I've not thought about this before. But two, three things.

It's that if I'm open to, like since one of my favorite quotes before I came to spirituality was also what Edison, he said when he tried to make a bulb, it didn't work. He said there are so many ways I learned how not to make a bulb or how a bulb does not work. That is also something we learn.

So, it's like I found that even in areas where something didn't work out the way I wanted, there was, there were, there was something of value to be gleaned from it. Now, so that curiosity, I think it's difficult to put aside. Like I said, I posted post curiosity.

The opposite of curiosity is attachment. So, what I meant by that is that we cannot be completely free from attachment in the sense that if something we have put our energy and emotion and try to do something, if it doesn't work, we'll feel disappointed. But life is not like a hundred meter sprint.

It's like a hundred mile marathon. And even if we fall back or fail disastrously in one lap, we can catch up later. So that again, that spirituality helps to give that long term vision of life.

And then that's why if there is one particular setback or failure, instead of getting completely overwhelmed by that, okay, this happened. Let me just take a step back and see what exactly happened, what I learned. So that's one thing that has helped me quite a bit.

The second thing is that keeping a journal and trying to look back at life. Sometimes at that, at that time, it may be difficult to analyze. But okay, whatever I am, if I'm feeling frustrated, I'm feeling irritated, whatever I'm feeling, just write it down.

No need to wallow in the emotion, but just articulate that emotion. And then maybe if you look at after one week, after one month, and okay, it's like, it's almost like there are times when I felt I'm looking at an incident from my life, and it's almost feel like a previous life. It's like, hey, this is me, but this is not me also.

It's fascinating to get a, to have a picture of our own mind in words. So I want to write a book on journaling. I have the title for the book, I don't know when it will manifest.

But the title I have is for in words, in words. So go in words, in words. So I find that just writing things down, even if we can't process it, even if it just, just note some things down, then that also feeds the capacity for curiosity.

Having some friends with whom we can talk, that's very helpful, but it's not easy to have them at that particular time. But if we have someone with whom we can have deep discussions, with one or two people that helps a lot. So thank you very much for your thoughtful participation.

View Details

• Home
• Audio Lectures Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.

View Details

• Home
• Audio Lectures Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.

Hare Krishna Thank you very much for coming today. So this book, how many of you have a copy that either you or your neighbour has it? Do we have a few more copies? Yes, there's four more. Then there's more in the cupboard, the box is closed.

We can bring it out, if you like. Yeah, you can open it. So this book, you can look at it, you can read through it.

And if any of you want, the book will be available for buying after the session. But this is the Bhagavad Gita. I've been studying it for many years now.

15 years I've been writing. I've been writing an article on the Gita every day. So I've got 5000 articles on www.thegitadevi.com But from the start of this year, I felt that I was being very analytical in studying the Gita.

I wanted to have a more devotional approach. Many of the Gita's verses are not just sources of wisdom for me. They are like close personal friends.

And if you have a close friend, you want to know more and more about that friend. And one way we get to know more and more about a friend is by spending more time with them and spending more time in different contexts. So if you know them at work, you would like to know how are they at home? How are they on outing? If you know them in the temple, ok, how are they in their profession? How are they in a non-devotional setting? So like that, I wanted to see, I had read the commentaries of most of the Acharyas of the Gita.

But I wanted to see at other places how the Gita's verses have been quoted. And then I found, especially Mukund Mala Sutra, but a few other places also, several verses which seem to be directly inspired by the Bhagavad Gita's verses. So for example, there is a prayer in Mukund Mala Sutra.

That's a classic prayer composition by King Kulashekar who is an Alwar, a great saint in the South Indian tradition, spiritual tradition. So he says that, This unending, unsurpassable ocean of bitter existence, O Lord, it behooves you to lift me out of this ocean. So now why does it behoove the Lord? Behoove means this is what you should do.

It's right that you do it. So why? It's because you have promised it over for us. So there just seems to be a prayer that is inspired directly by a promise from Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita.

I will lift you swiftly from the ocean of utter existence. So that gave me this inspiration that we could turn, we could approach the Gita's verses as inspirations for prayer. So that is what we have done.

I have tried to do in this particular book. So on each page there is one verse from the Gita with one title, one beautiful deity picture of Krishna from various temples across the world. And then I have translated the verse into English poetry so that we get more of a poetic emotional connect with the Gita.

And then there is a prayer reflection which is over here. So I would request all of you to read one by one, or different individuals among you to read one by one paragraph as we move forward. But let's begin with this title.

You can repeat after me. Bless me, O Lord, to be a spiritual fruit, not a religious nut. This is a prayer that brings a smile on your face.

So let's recite the verse. For one who knows the truth so deep, from him Vedic rites can no secret keep. As a well holds water in a land run dry, its value fades when rivers flow far and high.

So let's recite the verse once again. We will recite it once responsibly and then we will recite it three times collectively after that. Yavan, Artha, Udhapani.

Udhapani is body of water, a well. So, Artha, as long as it has value, Yavan. Sarvatah Samkhuto Udhapani.

When there is water everywhere, then it does not have value. As long as it is not there, it has value. Tavan Sarveshu Vedeshu.

That time the specific words, this particular injunction here, this particular statement here, all that has great value. Tavan Sarveshu Vedeshu, Brahman has said. Once one understands, one becomes a Brahman.

Now Brahman here doesn't just mean a person born in a Brahmin family, but one who knows Brahman. One who becomes really wise in the import of the Vedas. For that purpose, person with specific statement here, specific statement here, they don't become that important because the overall purpose has become self-evident in the heart.

Yavan Artha Udhapani. Sarvatah Samkhuto Udhake. Tavan Sarveshu Vedeshu.

Brahman Syavijan Taha. Together. Yavan Artha Udhapani.

Sarvatah Samkhuto Udhake. Tavan Sarveshu Vedeshu. Brahman Syavijan Taha.

When I fall into that category, I become caught in pettiness. Thinking that my rituals make me superior to those who don't follow them, or those who don't observe them in the exact same way that I do. I don't want to be one of the world's many religious nuts, whose self-righteousness only increases the world's hardships.

Yes. So here, we will discuss about this problem of, broadly about fanaticism. So we use the word religious nuts and spiritual nuts.

What is the sense in which you are using it? Religious nuts, the word nut, is used in the sense that somebody who is a little crazy. Yeah. So we use it in the sense that a person is a little crazy.

So, sometimes you say, somebody has a nut loose over here. That person becomes a nut. So that means, religious nuts are people who are a bit crazy.

They can be both ways. One extreme is they are sentimental. Where they just get carried away very wildly by emotions.

And that might be harmful to them. If they get misled, they are gullible. But sometimes they even become fanatical.

And then they can become harmful to others also. And overall, in between is, religious people can be very judgmental. So sentimental, judgmental and fanatical.

It's like a spectrum. Sentimental is one's own relationship with others. Judgmental is one's own relationship with God or one's own relationship with oneself.

Then judgmental is with others. And fanatical is even more, they are imposing on others. We will discuss the differences in this.

But the idea is that, there are certain rituals. In other words, rituals can be used in a negative sense or in a positive sense. Rituals are often certain external actions that are there.

Those external actions are important, no doubt. But sometimes they can be overvalued. So, I will talk about this problem of fanaticism, extremism, radicalism.

These are slightly different combinations. But broadly, they fall in the same direction. And I will talk about this broadly using an acronym ACT.

This is like a framework I use to evaluate any challenge, any problem that is there. So, first is that we want to look at what is the cause of the problem. But before we look at the cause, we want to understand the magnitude, the extent, the amplitude, the severity.

So, the amplitude is like the volume. We want to make an assessment of why this is at all a problem. Then we look at a cause and then we look at transformation.

How we can protect ourselves and how can we protect our loved ones. These are three broad parts we will discuss in today's session. So, I was in, few years ago, I was in Texas.

For most of us who are, most of, almost everyone here seems to be an Indian. For Indians, now, if you are in, if you know about America, America is the land of Hollywood, America is the land of materialism. That's what we think.

And there is some truth to that. But actually, in the western world, America is the most religious country. Among the western countries, America has a whole bible bed.

But there is a lot of aggressive, angelical Christianity is there. So, the coastal part of America, New York and then East and West Coast, they are quite materialistic and even hedonistic to some extent. But there is quite a bit of religious aggressiveness in that part of the world.

So, I was in Texas. I was going for a program. And there, on the car in front of me, there was a bumper sticker.

It said, Oh God, please save me from your preachers. Now, in Christianity, the idea is that Jesus saves. And Jesus saves us through his preachers.

But the preachers are very holier than thou, condescending, judgmental, hell and brimstone kind of people. I don't want anything to do with them. So, the idea is, save me from preachers.

So, at a basic level, what happens is that there is apathy or even there is aversion. When there is, we are trying to assess what is the problem with fanaticism. If somebody is very pushy, very forceful, very imposing, then people can become averse to it.

There is nothing to do. Now, even if somebody doesn't become averse, they become apathetic. The largest growing demographic in America with respect to religious landscape is something called nuns.

Now, these nuns are not female monks. They are not the nuns. These are nuns.

Nuns means, these people are those who say that, if you ask them, what is your religion? Nun. They basically, they are also called apathists. I don't care for your religion.

And they do have some valid points. One of their main arguments is, you religious people, you fight about the nature of the other world and you make this world more miserable because of your fights. And that is unfortunately a truth.

It's not the complete truth. But it is a significant part of the truth. So, at a very basic level, when there is fanaticism, that puts people off.

Because apathy and aversion, these are more of a psychological effect on people in general. And now this is only the… So, I'll talk about fanaticism, who all it affects and how it affects. The fanaticism, it can affect broadly with respect to any group of people.

There are insiders, there are outsiders. And there are, you can say, neutral, fence-sitters, whatever what you want to say. There are, let's put it, people who are not completely outside, people who are not completely inside.

Yeah, I'm not an atheist. I'm not just a materialist. But, it's like there are many people, even if it's for Krishna Consciousness, it's like if you use the dating world, I'm interested in you, but I'm not committed to you.

It's like that. So, people say, I'm getting in touch with my friends. So, I met up with my school friends, college friends.

One of them told me that, I met him in Phoenix. So, he said that, I regularly go to this conference in March. And we don't have a very large congregation over there.

So, I asked the local devotees, do you know him? Have you seen him? He said, we have never seen him. I asked him, how regularly do you go? He said, every Janmashtami. Now, that is nice.

It's going at least once a year. But, it's like, okay, I appreciate you from a distance. So, those are the fence-sitters.

Now, what happens is, the fence-sitters, quite often, extremism, it drives them away. It makes them, I want to go away. I don't want to do anything with these people.

Now, outsiders. So, the fence-sitters, they get alienated. Those who are outsiders, they don't just get alienated.

They become antagonistic. They become aggressive. They start attacking.

After 9-11, this happened that there was a state for almost 10 years, in the West, it was called the age of the new atheists. There were a number of books written by people who said that religion is the cause of all evil. And one person said, in the history of humanity, there is no idea that has been invented by the human mind that is as toxic as the idea of God.

So, a lot of extreme statements that came up. But it was more of a reactionary. The people feel that, you know, these religious people are causing a lot of problems in the world.

And this one atheist who said that, throughout human history, good people will do good things. And bad people will do bad things. But, when it comes to making good people do bad things, religion alone has that power.

Now, okay, this is not the complete truth. I won't say it's only religion. But it's any kind of ideological indoctrination.

When somebody starts becoming completely narrow-minded, this is the only reality. It happened with communism also. Any ideology, somebody adopts.

So, in communism, what happened was, the state became the replacement of God. And the state would actually pay and reward family members to turn against the family members. So, if in a family, one person spoke against the state, then immediately another family member would report to the police and the police would come and arrest that family member.

And the fact that you proved that you are more faithful to the state than to the family, you will be rewarded for that. So, it was quite indoctrinated. And most people do not know, but, World War I and World War II were horror shows in the history of humanity in the last century.

But more than the number of people who were killed in World War I and World War II, were the number of people who were killed in Soviet Russia and Communist China, by the government itself, or inside without any wars. So, it was horrendous. The point is that when a person becomes indoctrinated by something, this is right.

And anything that is opposed to this is wrong. When a person believes that, they become blinded by that. So, these outsiders can become very antagonistic.

In fact, atheism, the major appeal of atheism comes not so much from the fact that atheism is so intellectually attractive. It is more from that religion seems so alarming or unattractive. Now, for the insiders, what happens? The insiders can also become very lonely.

Lonely or isolated. Why? Because when there is extremism, then there is a fear that if I speak one word different from whoever is in charge over here, if I express one opinion wrong, I will be judged. I will be targeted.

I will be rejected. And that rejection may not be in terms of, not everybody is fanatical in the sense that they will destroy people. But still you can feel completely isolated, rejected, devalued.

And then there is a lot of loneliness. This can come, generally, this can come especially in religions where there is a lot of high expectation in terms of moral standards or ritual standards. So, generally people come to a religious or spiritual group because they want a sense of community.

Modern society is quite lonely. Britain was the first country that appointed an official loneliness minister. And eventually that first loneliness minister resigned because he felt too lonely.

So, in the past we had joint families. Then we had nuclear families. Now the nucleus is also split.

And there are solitary protons and neutrons, electrons orbiting all around in the concrete jungles. So, there is a lot of loneliness. And then often people come to spiritual groups because they want a sense of community.

And quite often they don't get that. But the problem sometimes comes that if the religious group has very high ritual or moral standards and if sometimes people feel to meet those standards, then they can't speak about their struggles to anyone. And then inside religious groups also people can start feeling very lonely.

Because they have distanced themselves from the rest of the world. So, they can't really connect with the rest of the world. But in their own community they feel like a judge.

So, then they also feel lonely. So, extremism can affect everyone. Now here I have not even talked about the most common problem that breaks extremism out in news is violence.

It resists people from fanatical and destructive. Now that can affect everyone. That can affect outsiders.

That can affect fence-sitters. That can also affect insiders. So, what do I mean it can affect insiders? Because when somebody is fanatical, so we are looking at the problem, assessing the problem.

Fanaticism comes in two distinct brands. One is exclusivism. Exclusivism is more that the idea that I have or my religion has exclusive rights to God.

There is no way to God except through my path. So, if you have some cricket match going on, it may be advertised exclusively on ESPN. It's here, nowhere else.

So, exclusivism is the idea that only our path has exclusive access to God. No other path. Now, a further version of exclusivism is extremism.

So, exclusivism is more in the domain of thoughts or ideas. That we alone have access to God. If you are not following our path, you are going to go to hell.

Now, extremism goes in the domain of actions. Extremists are much kinder than exclusivists. They say that you are anyway going to go to hell.

Why delay it? We will help you get there faster. So, they bring it into the domain of action. And they say, now significantly, it's very easy for us to label a particular religion as extremist or whatever.

But it's not that simple. Extremism is a universal human weakness. And even if say, we consider radical Islam, it is, within Islam itself, there are Shias and Sufis.

And there are fights among them. And there are Sufi Muslims and there are other Muslims. They are targeted by one group, other group.

So, what happens? Exclusivism, when it leads to extremism, it keeps becoming a smaller and smaller circle of people who exactly agree with what I believe. And if you don't agree, then you are out. So, it is not just that one religion is a danger to other religions.

It is this particular mentality that is the problem. Krishna talks about this later in 18.22. He talks about knowledge in the mode of ignorance. He says, yattu krutsnavar ekas meru.

Those who take one thing and make it into everything. One thing and make it into everything. So, that is knowledge in the mode of ignorance.

We know something, but that knowledge makes us ignore everything else. This is what I know and this is all that matters. Nothing else matters.

So, let's look at the next part. So, it is a serious problem for everyone. What was the acronym we were discussing? A, C, D. A was the assessment of the problem.

Now, C is the cause of the problem. So, let's read the second paragraph. Who would like to read it? We need to further assess the problem here.

We can have two extremes. If we consider rituals. Now, I am using rituals as a shorthand for referring to any external aspect.

So, how we dress, what masks we put on our body, how specifically we wear a shirt, how we eat food, whatever it might be. There are many rituals each religion might have. So, one extreme is to overvalue the rituals.

This is what leads to fanaticism. Now, the other extreme is to devalue the rituals. You know, they are not important at all.

They are all just externals. Now, when we say they are all just externals, okay, but then, if we want to become spiritual, if we want to grow spiritually, we need to practice something. Without practicing anything, you cannot grow spiritually.

Some people say, oh, spirituality is just a state of mind. Well, yes and no. It is a state of mind, but it is also a state of being.

That it is a state in which we live. It is, and to come to that state of being, we need to modify the way we live. So, there are certain lifestyles which are more conducive to spiritual growth.

There are certain lifestyles which are less conducive to spiritual growth. So, the externals, they do matter. Like all of you sitting right now.

Now, imagine if, if I am sitting, you know, I stretch backwards and I put my feet on this particular chair. I sit like that. I am feeling very humble right now.

Now, is it possible? Well, maybe, but it is going to be very difficult. The externals do affect the internals. To say that, oh, spirituality is just an internal state, externals are all show-off.

They can be show-off, but they are not always a show-off. So, when we devalue, then it is almost like our spirituality becomes completely empty. There is no spiritual substance left.

This is often the problem of a group called SBNR. You have heard of this group? Spiritual but not religious. Yes, spiritual but not religious.

You may not have heard this term, but you probably have heard this mentality. I am spiritual but not religious. Now, people may be well-intentioned.

What they want to say is, from their perspective, being spiritual is like open-minded. We want to have some higher experiences. We appreciate different cultures.

I am spiritual. And they say, I am not religious. I am not narrow-minded.

I am not bigoted. I am not imposing my view on others. So, their intention might be good when they say that.

But quite often, the problem comes and it becomes very empty. If we don't follow anything, we won't rise. So, we will look back at this.

So, in between these two is that we need to value appropriately. We will see what appropriately valuing means. So, we have avoided both these extremes.

Now, once we understand this problem, let's look at the cause. While we are looking at the cause, what are the causes of fanaticism? Broadly, they arise from three areas. You have heard of this character called imp.

It is not a short form for imp already. Imp means somebody is impish. Somebody is naughty.

How many of you have heard about imp? No one. Imps are quite common in British or Western culture. Impish character is a person who is naughty, who is presumptuous, who is a little cheeky, who is a little arrogant.

So, the first cause of fanaticism is insecurity. Bakhtisaraj Thakur would say that aggressive religion, this is a paraphrase of a person from Bengali, aggressive religion comes from an insecure faith. He said that basically what happens, if I am not sure of what I am doing, then I need constant validation that what I am doing is right.

And if anybody is doing anything different, then the very existence of such a person threatens my faith. So, if somebody has any belief different from what I have, then I have to either correct them or stop them or eliminate them. Otherwise, I am insecure.

So, this is often when there is internal insecurity, when people seek validation externally. We all need some level of validation externally. But one of the fundamental things to understand the spiritual domain is, Krishna talks about this in 10.15. I will come to this when I talk about the solution once again.

But actually God is always greater than our conception of God. Krishna says that, Arjuna says to Krishna that svayam eva atmanatmanam viddhatam purushottama He says, you alone know yourself, O Lord. nahite bhagavan vettir vidur devan dhanuha Who you are really, no one knows.

Not even the devatas know. So, Arjuna is actually reiterating here in 10.40, this is 10.50 what else. The previous verse also talks about the same thing.

In 10.2, what Krishna has said, namel viduh surganah prabhuvam namah vishayam What Krishna has said, Arjuna is reiterating here. So, when there is insecurity, the insecurity, the problem is that, we think if I conceive of God in this way, I worship God in this way, then anybody who is doing anything different, that is a great threat for me. So, now broadly speaking, this is less of a problem within Sanatana Dharma than it is in the Dharmic religions, than it is in the Abrahamic religions.

The Abrahamic religions are often exclusivist. Abrahamic religions are basically Judaism, Christianity, Islam. They broadly share the idea that we are chosen people of God.

We have the way to God. So, that becomes a problem. So, insecurity means the idea that, if I am wrong, if I am right, then there can be no other way.

So, that is where a lot of insecurity comes in. But the fact is that, such insecurity, it comes from a misconception. If you consider, when we are going up a mountain.

Now, I may go up the mountain from this way. The top of the mountain is spiritual consciousness. The bottom of the mountain is material consciousness.

So, in one sense, right now, I am talking about the problem. I am not talking about the solution. Although, explicitly, I talk about the solution at the end.

So, now, I may take one path up the mountain. Somebody else may take some other path up the mountain. A third person may take some other path up the mountain.

So, there can be different paths up the mountain. So, just because somebody else is taking a path that is different, does not invalidate my path. And, when we are looking at the top of the mountain, I may see one aspect of the mountain.

Somebody else may see some other aspect of the mountain. And, from the bottom, the two peaks, the two aspects, the peaks that we are seeing, they may be very different. Sometimes, so different, that to understand the similarity also will be different.

Are we looking at the same thing? Maybe we are, but we are looking at very different aspects of the same thing. So, this insecurity comes from a misunderstanding, from basically assuming that what we know, that our conception of God is God. Yes, we have a particular conception.

It is important to hold on to our conception so that we can be attracted. But God is bigger than our conception. Now, more problematic than insecurity is misunderstanding.

So, I am talking about the acronym here, IOP. So, sometimes people are aggressive because they are insecure. Sometimes they are aggressive because they misunderstand.

Now, what is the misunderstanding over here? In every tradition, in every tradition, this tradition or any tradition, but this principle applies to every tradition, but we are focusing on this tradition, there are certain external things and there are certain internal. We can say there is a circumstantial, which is the external, and there is the essential. Prabhupada referred to this as the principles and the details.

This is true in every tradition. So, now there are the circumstantial aspects, which may change according to circumstances. And there is the essential aspect, which will never change.

So, fanaticism often comes when we make, if you use the word details and principles, as Prabhupada used to. When we make all details into principles. When we take one thing and make it into everything.

What I talked about earlier. Misunderstanding is what? We make every small thing into a big thing. यत्तु कुछ नवर एकस निन्य.

So, 18.22, Krishna says, that if this is the vast tradition, this whole thing is the tradition, but I catch on to one thing in the tradition, and I equate this is one thing, of the one part of the tradition, but if I equate it as the whole thing, that means if you are not doing this thing, you are not following the tradition at all. You are wrong, you are off, you are deviant. This can happen to anyone.

So, once a person was in Los Angeles, Los Angeles has a big bridge, from which people often would jump and commit suicide. So, this person was standing on that bridge himself, about to jump off. And then suddenly, he says, don't jump off the bridge, somebody said.

And he looked around. This person on the bridge says, why should I not jump off? He says, why do you want to jump off the bridge? Because no one loves me. And this person was walking, walking closer.

But Jesus loves you. That is a common thing in the tradition. Jesus loves you.

This person was on the bridge himself, he said. So, are you a Christian? He says, yes, of course, I am a Christian. Are you? He says, yes.

This person was walking closer and closer. He said, which Christian are you? Catholic or Protestant? This person said, I am a Protestant. Oh, wonderful, I am also a Protestant.

This person came closer. Which Protestant are you? He said, I am a Baptist. Oh, wonderful, I am also a Baptist.

And then he came closer. He said, which Baptist are you? He said, I am a Southern Baptist. Oh, wonderful, I am also a Southern Baptist.

He came closer. Which Southern Baptist are you? He said, I am a Reformed Southern Baptist. Jump down and die you heretic.

So, the idea is that sometimes there can be such narrow differences, which can be exaggerated. And there can be huge conflicts that arise from that. Now, for somebody who is looking at it from an external perspective, you may not even know the word Baptist or Southern Baptist.

You are okay, you are a Christian. But for them, those differences can become huge. And this is not just to make fun of other religions.

Now, in Hinduism also there is a famous South Indian temple, where there were two groups of people who would be worshipping. And they have the elephant on which the deity would go out for procession. And these two groups, they would wear tilak slightly differently.

So, they had a fight. How should the tilak be put on the elephant? And they just could not resolve the fight. And the fight went to the local court.

Then they were not satisfied with the decision. They went to the high court. They went to the Supreme Court.

And by the time the Supreme Court gave a decision, the poor elephant died also. So, now when this happens, what is happening is, that tilak is important, no doubt. But is it something which is being made so important? So, one thing is made into everything.

I was just talking with one, a Prabhupada disciple. He is himself a sanyasi. He is a prominent leader.

Many of you know him. He told me, don't quote my name. So, I am not going to quote it.

But he said, he had gone to one of his godbrothers. He is also a guru. But he is a drashta, not a sanyasi.

And he was staying at his place, the guest room. And there this godbrother showed him around the room. And showed him the rest room.

He said, here is the shower. But he said, Prabhupada never used the shower. So, I have kept a bucket for you.

Follow Prabhupada and use the bucket. Now, did Prabhupada start the international society for no shower use? So, now, what happened is, okay, Prabhupada did that. But is that a central thing? What one uses for bathing? Now, if you want to use environmental reasons or whatever, that's a different thing for it.

But he said, Prabhupada did this and that's why you have to do this. That is, that's Prabhupada's personal preference. We respect that.

But we can't make that as a principle. That's a detail. If the detail becomes a principle, then we become fanatical.

This can happen in so many different areas. Where something which is, when people do this, it's not that these people are unreasonable. See, this kind of fanaticism is not violent fanaticism in the sense of physically violent.

But it can be emotionally violent. Because when we come as a community, then what happens is, our hearts are quite tender. Because the community of devotees is where we want to bond, where we want to connect with each other.

And if we get devalued, if we get derided, if we get criticized, in the community, it can be very disorienting. It can be very discouraging. So, one has to be very careful about what we impose on others.

There are certain things which we may feel inspired by, and that's wonderful if we are inspired by them. But to impose them on others, that is where things can start going wrong. So, we take one thing, and we make it into everything.

I have a website, two websites, so I also launched an online outreach for them. There was one devotee from one city in India who got connected. And I told him, you can go to the local devotee community there.

And then I was holding a retreat in the Goa Baneko village. And he had come there, so he also came. And when he came, I asked him, what was your experience? So, he said that, have you gone to the local community? He said, no, I'm never going to go there again.

I said, what happened? He said, there are two communities. And both of them, the temple is a bit far away, there are two givers of the community. Then they have a local center.

And they meet every weekend for Mangal Aarti. Now, one group has Mangal Aarti at 4.30, the other group has Mangal Aarti at 5 o'clock. And he said, the second group, the first group said that, Prabhupada said, Mangal Aarti is 4.30. If you are not having Mangal Aarti at 4.30, you are deviating from Prabhupada.

Because you are deviating from Prabhupada, it is not Mangal Aarti, it is a Mangal Aarti. Because Krishna will not accept your Aarti. You have to know what Krishna will accept, you have to know Krishna will not accept.

Are you appointed by Krishna? Do you know Krishna's mind? So, what has happened is, this devotee may feel that, yes, I am serious in my Bhakti, because I wake up for Mangal Aarti. That's good. But, just because something makes us feel strongly connected with Krishna, does not necessarily mean, that that is the only way everyone has to connect with Krishna.

So, the essential mistake, what is the misunderstanding over here is, to, the misunderstanding is, what works for me. So, somebody may pass from Ekadashi, they may pass Nirjaya. I was more based in Vracharya Yashan.

Of course, I am still in Vracharya Yashan, but I am mostly travelling now. So, when we were earlier, we were all fanatical also. So, we would have, in the Vracharya Yashan, the Nirjaya club, and the Nirlajya club.

So, Nirjaya is those who pass without water. Nirlajya is the shameless club. Those who eat food.

Now, just because somebody is eating food, does not mean that they are shameless. Each person has their own body nature. And then, some people are easier to pass, some people are easier to pass.

So, what works for me, we start thinking that it is the only thing that can work for anyone. So, we extrapolate from our experience and apply it to everyone. So, fanaticism arises from this fundamental idea that if this is giving me some spiritual strength, this is helping me to feel close to Krishna, that is good.

But this is the only thing that will make others feel close to me. And this can go from very small things to very big things. So, I was, when I read books now, of course, it is supposed to be gentle books, because I am travelling so much.

So, I read physical books. I always had a habit of underlining and writing on the side to access. So, I was once reading in the library and there was one senior devotee who had been visiting Pune.

And he said, Prabhupada said, the books are like deities. You should not be marking on them. So, you see, what would happen for me sometimes is that I am a very rational person.

And that can get me into trouble because you see, it's like, especially if it happens in religious organizations, somebody argues based on a rational point and then if you give a rational counter-argument, say, who do you think you are to argue with me? You know, it's like, okay, you choose how you are arguing. Is it based on rationality or based on authority? Isn't it? So, that you change the grounds. So, I told him, Prabhupada, so, yes, the books are like deities and my underlining is like decorating the books.

So, he said, how dare you talk back to me? So, I said, Prabhupada, you made a rational point and you are a rational person. I just couldn't accept that. So, the thing that happens is, sometimes people will say, yeah, you should not underline the books.

Okay, if that's your sentiment, that's perfectly fine. But does that have a sentiment for everyone? No, of course, what we should not do is, when we are underlining, we should not scratch out any words. But, underlining is fine.

So, there are many small things which can be made into very big things. And this can happen with respect to rituals, it can happen with respect to the way that it is worshipped. One day, one devotee came to me and said that, today, my hair chopper was terrible.

It's in temple. I said, what happened? He said, before Jyotijapa, there was Tulsi Aarti. And this devotee did Tulsi Aarti.

And when he was doing the Diya, instead of going seven times, he moved it nine times. I said, what were you doing, counting? How many times did you move the Diya? So, now, sometimes, now, for eight, if he does VT worship, yeah, exactly move it seven times. That will make him feel serious and will love these things.

And it's wonderful if you feel like that. But the thing is that, yes, we should, we have particular ways in which VT worship is to be done. But it's not worth getting agitated about.

Whoever is in charge, that person can inform. And it's not like a criminal offence if you move the Diya one more time. So, when we fail to understand the difference between details and principles, then we start becoming fanatical.

And then we become fanatical. Now, Ganesh Chaturthi was there, exactly. Ganesh Pooja is there.

So, now, so, there was one devotee who was a Brahmachari for seven years. And he was from a family where, for many generations, Ganesh Pooja has been going on. So, his parents, he was, he was called to his home.

This has been introduced to Bhakti, not he became a Brahmachari. So, he was called back by his parents. He came back.

And he said that, when we are devotees, we should take only Krishna Prasad. We should not take anything offered to Devatas. So, what he did, his parents offered him Modak.

He took the Modak. He put it in his mouth and said, I need to go. And he went out.

He went to the nearby window and he spit out the Modak. And he spit out the Modak. Some other relatives were just coming out.

And they happened to be coming from the window. And they saw him spitting out the Modak. And then, Ganesh Pooja became Bhurukshetra.

And he had so much trouble. His parents said that, this particular group of people are inoculating you. They are taking advantage of your culture.

Don't go there at all. Now, in 365 days, we are taking food offered properly to Krishna. One day, if you take one morsel of food and give it to Krishna, it's not that Dharma Nash is going to happen.

Krishna is an understanding God. So, we have to consider what is the big thing and what is the small thing. So, Prabhupada says, intelligence means to keep things in their proper perspective.

So, maintaining the relationship with the family is much more important. At that time, a little adjustment of the standards is not an earth-shaking thing. So, when we make the details into principles, then it can become a serious problem.

So, the last point is, tell me what? Not there yet. I am concerned how enthusiastic you are. I should get the last part.

So, I am talking about P. First one is insecurity. Second is misunderstanding. And P is prestige.

Quite often, in religious organizations, because we can't see each other's hearts. So, what we can see is the externals. And when we see the externals, often doing the externals very properly can bring a lot of prestige for people.

And then, some people do the external right just to show to others. So, Krishna talks about this in the 16th chapter, in the 16th, 17th verses. He talks about, Some people do naam yajna.

Some people do yajna for naam. For naam. They do this yajna, the sacrifice for fame, for prestige.

Oh, just see how nicely I am doing this. And then when they are doing it very nicely, because their purpose is prestige, if anybody does not give them their prestige, Oh, you did this so well, then they become very agitated. So, prestige and power, this is where people can also become distracted.

So, prestige comes, power. So, especially when religion becomes mixed with politics. Politics is about power, largely speaking.

When religion becomes mixed with politics, now you cannot always completely separate the two. Because religion is, for a serious practitioner, it permeates all aspects of their life. But, it's important that in the faith, shraddha is a personal thing.

The state can never mandate it. The state cannot force a person to practice a particular, particular religion. But when religion becomes a search for prestige and power, then people can become very easily fanatic.

It's not just individuals who become fanatical, there is a time when entire groups become fanatical. So, that's most deadly. And, at this particular point, again, this is where a lot of self-righteousness comes in.

Because, I believe that this is what God has told me to do. That I am doing God's will. To the extent one is convinced about that, there are, none of us can know exactly what God's will is.

That, the more we start thinking, what I am doing is God's will, the more we become arrogant. The more we become proud. There was an American president, when America was attacked after that, there was a war on terror.

And he said at that time, if you are not for the war on terror, then you are for terror. Now, maybe that's an artificial polarization. You know, that the framing of it is in such a way that maybe you are against terror, but you don't think the war is the best way to fight with terror.

But that is, God has told me to attack this country. That's what he has said. So, this is presuming or claiming that God has told me to do something.

That is very dangerous. That God has told me, I am, now, it's one thing, I am doing this for God. That's one thing.

We all should have that seva bhaav. But to say that this is the, this exact thing that I am doing right now, that is God's will. I am chastising you because God has told me that you deserve chastising.

Well, maybe it's God, maybe it's Maya. Isn't it? Maybe I am getting angry because that anger gives me a power trip. You know, it gives me, my ego rush.

I get a kick for my ego, whatever. So, this is where things can be the most dangerous. Let's move to the last paragraph.

Lord, I pray. Help me, O Lord, to approach rituals intelligently as valuable and even vital means for spiritual growth. Let me always remember that the fruit of such spiritual growth is a heart that is humble and compassionate, not an ego that is self-righteous and judgmental.

Bless me, my Lord, to become such a spiritual fruit, one who releases and radiates the divine joy that comes from an authentic connection with you, the source of the ultimate joy. So, our spirituality is seen through our Kentucky mothers. So, for us, we all need particular ways in which we can connect with the Lord.

So, now we are moving to the last part, transformation. So, we all may have certain tendencies within us and we may see others who have some tendencies like these. So, how do we help them? So, first is, I already talked a little bit about insecurity.

So, because I am doing something, if others are doing something, that is different. See, spiritual growth can go in two ways. How do we deal with insecurity? Spiritual growth can be a growth of faith.

And faith means certainty. I have faith in my Guru. I have faith in scripture.

And my Guru has told me this. This is certain. I am sure about it.

So, again, I was in one of the Bible-type states. So, there I saw others growing up. God said it.

I accept it. That settles it. That's it.

Well, what exactly did God say? What do you mean when you accept it? There are so many nuances in it. So, spiritual growth, another trajectory is humility. As I grow, faith means, God exists, God cares, that's one direction.

Humility is God is far greater than who I am. God is far greater than my conception of God. And humility leads to curiosity, not certainty.

In fact, humility leads to a comfort with uncertainty. That, I can never know God completely. I can never know this truth for sure.

What is it exactly? It's not curiosity. Okay, I'm approaching God in this way. But let's do something different.

Why do we do it differently? Curiosity that can always keep us mindful. And humility and curiosity are then related. Humility is I don't know everything.

Curiosity is I want to know. I want to experience Krishna. I want to experience how you are experiencing Krishna.

I can't express, I want to understand how you are experiencing Krishna. So, this particular trajectory, if we follow, I talked about this yesterday in the class. Even the enlightened souls, they are enlightened each other.

Krishna says Buddha, and we both are enlightened. They are also enlightened. So, if we see spiritual growth in terms of humility and curiosity, then, when we see somebody else doing something, that does not mean we have to stop them from doing it, or we have to start doing it ourselves.

It is more than, okay, what are you doing? Bhaktivinoda Thakur said that, if we go to a place of worship of some other religion, what should be our mood over there? He said, we should be there in the mood of reverence. And understanding that, the God we worship has manifested in a different way over here. And we can appreciate the mercifulness of God, that he has manifested in this particular way.

And seeing the compassion, the mercifulness of God, we can become inspired to commit to worshipping God in the way we know him, in the way we know him. That means, going back to the mountain metaphor, that if somebody is climbing up the mountain this way, and I am climbing up the mountain this way, suppose we happen to meet somebody, then, if there is some interaction between us, that interaction does not have to lead to insecurity. Okay, what are you doing, how are you doing that? You can learn about that.

So that curiosity can be the counter for insecurity. Krishna, now that does not mean I have to leave this path and I have to go up and climb up again. No, but I can just learn, I can just learn about it.

So, that is the way to leave insecurity, try to continue curiosity. The second was, what was it? Misunderstanding. Misunderstanding and that is there.

How do we leave it? By developing our intelligence. So, Prabhupada defined intelligence in a very simple way. Prabhupada says, intelligence means to see things in that proper perspective.

Proper perspective means that we understand what is more important and what is less important. What are the big things and what are the small things. So, how do we learn this? This is where we are associating with devotees, not just one devotee, different devotees and we see how they function in bhakti, what they prioritize, how they function, what makes them tick, that way we learn.

I think it is Vishakha Mataji, who is the pastor and she came to Prabhupada, she came to Prabhupada to Mumbai and they were in one life member's home, they had been invited for the sadh. And when they had been invited, one devotee noticed that, I remember they had a grand welcome for Prabhupada, they did father puja, and they were so profusely respectful, in the sadh. And one devotee said, Prabhupada, there is onion in this food.

Prabhupada said, there is no onion. Prabhupada said, there is no onion in this food. This devotee actually took out a little bit of onion, showed it to Prabhupada.

Prabhupada didn't even look at him and said, there is no onion in this food. Prabhupada was looking so grave and so almost stern, and devotee got silent. And then after that Prabhupada told, that it was our mistake that we did not tell them, that we don't take onion.

So, he said that, for an Indian family, the sadhu comes to their home and sits down to take food and then goes away without taking the food. It's considered a big, big manartha has happened, some terrible has happened. So, he said, we should be extremely careful that we don't do this again.

That we communicate our standards clearly. Our failure to communicate should not lead to they feeling that, they feeling hurt. Now, does that mean we should start taking food and garlic all the time not to hurt others? That's not the point of it.

The point is that each context, we need to understand what is the big thing here, what is the small thing. So, this devotee said, when I heard that from Prabhupada, I understood that Krishna consciousness is actually an avenger. It is not just a rigid adherence to a rule book, do this, don't do this, do this, don't do this.

It is more of considering Vesakala Patra and understanding what is more important and what is less important. To the extent we understand that, to that extent, we will be able to function effectively. So, for us, at different contexts, different things may be less important or more important.

Why is that? Because, there is, I talk about circumstantial and essential. So, this is one of my friends who recently started coming from the West. And he was there for three days in America.

He was very agitated. He said, what happened? He said, here in the classes, there is no gender separation. Men and women sit together.

He said, this absolutely does not happen in India. Why? This is not all serious. I said, I told him one story about how there is a Western outreach program over there.

And this man, his girlfriend had brought him to the temple. And as soon as he came to the temple, he just had to sit separately. And he said, I had no idea what was happening.

Because there are many things which we just assume. It is straightforward. But for a Western mind, it might just be very weird.

I was in his class over there. And I had come to the temple and the RP was getting over. An Australian lady approached me and asked me can I ask you a question? I said, sure.

I said, when you blow that, when that conch is blown, why does everyone kiss the floor? From my perspective what it is? They are kissing So, many of my rituals seem very strange to me. So, then that devotee, he went to a West Navdi Centre, where boys, girls, men, women, they sit together and say, if we come from a culture where gender separation is very strict, then suddenly gender mixing will be destructive. But if we come from a culture where gender separation is not so much there, and suddenly gender separation is imposed, that can be destructive.

So, what is a distraction for whom, that has to be seen according to the Shri Ramadhan. Unless we understand that, what will happen is, we will just impose our rituals on others. This is important.

You know, of course, some level of boundary, gender interaction always has to be there. But the specifics may be. So, when I started over to America, this is probably 2016 or something.

So, I had done a program on ministering in America. And after that, one girl asked, American girl asked a question, why do religious fight among each other? So, I gave a detailed answer. I talked about the three modes and other things.

And she was quite satisfied with the answer. So, after the answer, I was talking, after the class, I was talking to various people and she also came and she said, this question had been burdening me for a very long time. You have relieved me.

Thank you so much. Can I give you a hug? So, now, so, I look at the devoted teacher over there and I said, help me. So, now, I have devoted a warm hug.

In the western world, hugging is a normal expression of affection. Now, I told this devotee, please help me. The devotee helped me but in an entirely unexpected way.

He said that, he is a monk. On his behalf, you can hug him. So, I was thinking that was not right.

And his wife was next to him. And his wife said, I am his wife. On his behalf, you can hug me.

So, now, yes, from an Indian perspective, that's quite out of reach. They must say, you don't have any culture. You don't know how to behave with a monk.

So, we have to be sensitive that, now, I cannot accept that hug but at the same time, I cannot reject it also. So, I have to do it in a sensitive way. So, what is a big thing for us, we may have to protect a big thing but not in a way that we devalue or dismiss others.

That's why intelligence means to understand what is a big thing and what is a small thing and act accordingly. The last part is, so, the misunderstanding, we develop our intelligence. And the last part was prestige.

Prestige or power. So, this is probably the most difficult. If somebody is coming to religion itself for getting prestige and power, then it's very difficult to change.

But sometimes, like I said, you want to prove how good I am. How great I am. And somebody may say, okay, if I am good and great, then my religion also is good and great.

So, but the purpose of spiritual growth, it is not proving. It is one part of it. But the far bigger purpose is improving.

It is not so much that proving my path is better than your path. It is actually improving. It is actually becoming a better devotee, becoming a better human being.

So, one of the thing which is apathies, is nuns, is SBNR, this and that, both of them. Don't tell me what you believe. Show me how you behave.

So, our behavior itself should be such that people think, hey, I want to know this person. I want to know what makes this person ticker. So, proving is in particular context, it is a process.

You are right. Sometimes you may have to have debates, sometimes you may have to have philosophical arguments. But that's not the primary thing.

It is in between. So, if you understand what is our purpose, that it is to enrich our own spiritual, enrich our own Krishna consciousness. And if we are to be Krishna conscious, that itself, Krishna's attractiveness will manifest through us and attract others.

We won't have to impose on others. And that's how, you know, we can be single, we can be a spiritual fruit. The spiritual fruit is, the aroma of the fruit spreads and attracts.

You see, Prabhupada was extremely pure. But Prabhupada, although sometimes we may think of Prabhupada as being very strong and uncompromising, talking fools and rascals and those kind of words. Yes, Prabhupada did that.

But Prabhupada was also, at an individual level, remarkably non-judgmental. That's how people who were breaking all the regulative principles, when you could say for the people in the counterculture, the hippies, it was a regulative principle to break all the regulative principles. That's the way they were living.

But Prabhupada did not dismiss them. Prabhupada did not disrespect them. Prabhupada actually attracted them.

So, when we focus on that, that my purpose is not just to prove that I am better than you or my path is better than yours. My path is that this is how this has worked for me and this is how it can work for you also. So, when we have that understanding, then we won't be so much seeking prestige.

Our purpose is that we want to offer service to others. And yes, if our service is effective, people may also give us respect after that. But that's not primarily our purpose.

So, that way, we can be fixed in what we are doing, but at the same time, not become overhearing or imposing or domineering on others. So, I'll summarize what we discussed today. Our topic was how to be a spiritual promoter and not a religious nutter.

So, that means how we can avoid this fanaticism or extremism that comes. What are the acronyms we discussed? A, C and D. A was assessment. We assessed what is the seriousness of the problem.

So, we talked about what fanaticism does is that when there are people who are fanatics, the fanatics, they affect everyone. The insiders, the fansitters and the outsiders. So, what happens to the outsiders? They become antagonistic.

They become aggressively against us. The fansitters become alienated. Their alienation can range from apathy to aversion.

I don't care for you to downright dislike me. So, the outsiders can have an antagonism where they become aggressively against us. And insiders, loneliness.

That is because there is always the fear of being judged and found short. So, now we discussed here about how there can be two extremes. When it comes to rituals or any externals that are there.

They can be overvalued, which can make us fanatical. And it can be devalued, which can make people empty. They are not doing anything of value in the spirituality.

You need to be valued aptly, appropriately. So, how do you value appropriately? You understand that we discussed the cause. So, the cause of fanaticism was it, was what? Three things.

I, I was, we discussed that term, IMP. I was insecurity. Insecurity is where if I am right, then nothing else can be right.

So, you must be wrong. We discussed the idea that people think that this is the only way up the mountain. But it does not have to be the only way up the mountain.

There can be, this is one way. But there can be other ways up the mountain also. Which we may not, which may be different from ours.

So, the way, the transformation, the way we deal with insecurity is through, we discussed how spiritual growth can go along two trajectories. One is, we think it is only in terms of faith. I have strong faith, that means certainty.

When that is one trajectory, the other can be? Spiritual growth means humility. That God is greater than my conceptions of God. And that will lead to curiosity.

So, God is greater than my concept. Conception of God. So, that is essence of humility only.

You can avoid insecurity. Then the second was? Misunderstanding. Misunderstanding means that we basically start, in every tradition there are, there are the, there is the essential and then there is the circumstantial.

The essential is like the principles. And then there are the? Details. Details.

So, the essential and circumstantial. So, what happens when there is misunderstanding? We start equating. What are the details? We start thinking that they are the principles.

And then that is what leads to a problem. So, the problem here, the mentality here is that what works for me is the only thing that will work for anyone. And the cure for misunderstanding is? Intelligence.

Intelligence is to know what are the big things. And to know what are the small things. So, this requires often considering Desha Kaala Patra.

That according to time, place, circumstance, what might be very big for me at a particular time may not be that big at another time to another person. And P is? Prestige or power. When somebody starts practicing religion just to make a show of how great they are.

So, when this happens, then it can be a problem. And then the cure for this is to focus on the purpose. Why are you practicing? It is not for proving.

It can be one part of it. But a much much bigger purpose is in proving. Whatever I am doing, it is for the purpose of improving myself.

And if I am improved, then I naturally attract others. So, in this way, we can be firm about how we are climbing up the mountain. By the same time, if somebody else is climbing up the mountain in a different way, we accept that.

We don't become insecure or aggressive about it. So, let's conclude with the starting prayer that was there, which we had offered. Bless me, O Lord, to become a spiritual proof, not a religious man.

Are there any questions or comments? So, this is really good for us to apply to ourselves. Because that fanatical tendency is too common. But what about dealing with other people? That is number one.

Or let's say, through this intellectual understanding, we might understand that the fanaticism that they have, they are also sort of being victims to all these tendencies. But what about, let's say, if they are hurting people around them who are getting affected because of their fanaticism, then how do we help them out? It depends. So, if somebody else is being fanatical, what can we do about them? We shouldn't become fanatical about freeing them from fanaticism.

That can also become, it's like there are liberals and there are conservatives. And sometimes the liberals can be very illiberal to those who are not liberal. So, it's the same extremism coming in the opposite direction.

So, I think we have to be careful about that also. Ultimately, we cannot change anyone. We can only provide them resources and reasons for changing.

It's up to them whether they will change or not. One of the things that I found very helpful, I grew up in India in one of the most conservative Brahmachari ashrams. And then I started travelling abroad.

I was 10 years in that ashram. Then I started travelling in India. Then after 5-7 years, I started travelling abroad.

So, it was when I started travelling abroad, I started seeing so many different versions of Krishna consciousness. So, initially I thought this is not Krishna consciousness at all. But then I realized that, okay, there are so many, these people are also Krishna conscious, my devotees.

So, I think it's talking with people. When we see somebody who is doing something which we feel is wrong, then we stop with them. Try to understand what they are doing.

Talking with people helps a lot. We often, when we talk about bhakti, we talk about deepening our Krishna consciousness. That is important at an individual level.

If we want to be in a community, it's just as important, if not more important, to broaden our Krishna consciousness. Deepening is, I go deeper into my relationship with Krishna. Broadening is understanding how different people are attracted to Krishna in different ways.

So, that broadening happens by this Krishna consciousness. If I consider that this is Krishna. Krishna is like another example, ocean.

So, I am approaching Krishna in this way. But somebody else will be approaching Krishna from here. And the way they are approaching Krishna, that's different from mine.

And they may not be doing 70% of the things which I do, which I consider central for Krishna consciousness. But still they are approaching Krishna. So, when there is discussion, this is what actually broadens.

So, we should talk with each other. Quite often there are extremists, they don't talk with each other, they talk about each other. Oh, this person did this and that person did that.

See how terrible they are. Everybody is terrible. Only I am pure.

Only I am focused on one thing. So, generally just talking with people and not just me talking with them, but encouraging them to talk with others. That ethos itself leads to a lot of broad-mindedness.

See, in the Indian tradition, there is a difference between the philosophical and the cultural. So, when Prabhupada was staying in New York, he was staying at a Nrsita Yoga studio. Now that person was a Padvaitin.

And he hosted Prabhupada for some time and Prabhupada moved over to his side. And then, when many years later his school was established, he came to meet Prabhupada. And Prabhupada had lunch with him.

And they were chatting for a long time. And after that, Maharaj asked him, Prabhupada, I thought he is a Mayavadi. And Prabhupada said, yes.

He said, philosophically, we argue like anything. But culturally, we are friends. So, it's a very important difference.

The philosophical differences should not lead to the culture getting lost. Prabhupada gave the example also. You see, a Mayavadi sanyasi also should offer obeisances.

We may not respect their philosophies, but we respect their renunciation. So, like that, the cultural aspect has to be maintained. So, that way, basically, just talk with each other.

And that can help decrease the fanaticism. But if they are hurting others, then if we have that authority, that power, we can try to limit their influence or impact on others. But if we don't, we can't do anything really.

We may have to escalate to some higher authorities and let's see if something happens. Ultimately, one advantage of, ultimately, it's a relationship of every soul with Krishna. Not just that particular person who is being fanatical, but even those who are affected by their fanaticism.

One advantage in today's world is that because of the internet and social media, spiritual outreach has become very democratized now. It cannot be so legislated. It's not that you have to go to this temple only and hear from this person only.

That can lead to confusion. But that can also lead to a person, okay, I just can't generate this person. Then they can go somewhere else.

So, we all, one principle in Bhakti is that we all need Sajjatiya Sangh. Sajjatiya is like-minded association. So, unless we have like-minded association, we cannot move ahead in life.

So, from the start of my Bhakti, I was very analytical. And I used to ask a lot of questions. And this one devotee I asked, I was asking a lot of questions.

And then, he just told me, sweetly, but worse came like a slap on my face. He said, Chaitanya Chaitanya, he said that, he called me a vampire initiator, I was not an initiator at that time. He said that, you should remember, we are on the Bhakti mark, not the Gyan mark.

Don't ask so many questions. I was taken aback. I said, no questions are what, I will be in Krishna Consciousness.

I am giving classes, but I have so many questions. And I have devotees in different areas of specialization whom I ask different questions and we discuss. That's what is the juice of my spiritual life.

So, asking questions and discussing. So, then I talked to another senior devotee and he said that, you know, before you ask a question, you should ask the question whether I should ask this question or this question. You have to decide whom to ask questions.

If I am an analytical person, then I need to find those devotees who are also analytical. They will enjoy the questions. But those who are not analytical, they are maybe more devotional, they are more Leela, they like Leela, they like Kirtan.

They will either find it irritating, distracting or exhausting. One devotee told me, when I listen to the class, I feel like puking. Steam comes out of the head.

So, I think we need like-minded association. Okay, any other questions? I think this one pretty much happens probably. Because when I went to India, right, like people go with the social media, like Facebook, they take up some fact and we will go into this kind of mode.

And the moment we try to explain this, they will think like you are anti-Hindu. This happened for me. Like when we try to give them the logical explanation.

They will think like, okay, you are trying to preach so much. This is especially in the current generation. People are just taking like one forwards, WhatsApp, social media.

It's going very fanatic. Sometimes whatever we are hitting in other people, we are, some of the people, approaching the same thing. You must have noticed.

Yeah, actually what happens is, there is this, what is it called? Social media bubble. There is an algorithm which, if I read something, watch something, the algorithm will show me more and more of that same thing. It leads to what they call a social media echo chamber.

Echo chamber is, whatever I read, that same thing, I will keep more and more reading of that person. And people just start becoming totally convinced. This is the only right thing.

And there is nothing else. Like when this whole COVID vaccine, COVID was there, the vaccination. It became a big issue for some devotees.

All these vaccines are some bad little conspiracy and you should not be taking vaccines. Okay, that's a Hindu decision. Of course, you have to consider the local government policy.

Now, of course, that there was some amount of problems with the vaccine imposition and all that. That's all coming up. But the point is, people can just make one perspective.

This is all. How can you not accept it? So, it just becomes very difficult. So, you know, there are two extremes.

One is some people are narrow minded. So, now, narrow minded is not the same as some narrow minded people become also close minded. So, what is the difference between narrow and close? Narrow means they can think only in a particular way.

Close means they refuse to think in any other way. That, nothing else is there. Now, the opposite of narrow minded or close minded, he says open minded.

But it's not that simple. You know, we want to be open minded, but we can't be so open minded that our brains fall out. Isn't it? So, the opposite of this can be empty minded.

It's like you just don't have any convictions, any opinions, anything that anybody says. So, just go that way, whichever way the wind is going that way. We have no inner integrity at all.

Now, in between, the first is open minded. Open minded is, well, okay, this is my understanding, but I'm open to hear what is your understanding. And if we can stay open minded, then gradually we will become broad minded.

Now, the difference between open minded and broad minded is, when I'm open minded, I'm ready to hear alternative perspectives. But when I'm broad minded, I'm capable of holding opposite ideas or different ideas simultaneously. That reality is much more complex than what I understand.

So, okay, maybe this works, but this also works. Like open minded, I'm taking allopathy, but if somebody says Ayurveda will cure you. Okay, it will cure.

But then I have two friends. One is like a very allopathic, allopathic champion and the other is Ayurveda champion. And both of them criticize each other.

And both of them are my friends. So, how do I do that? That is, when I talk with them, I talk about their ignorance. I don't talk about the alternative perspective.

But I don't buy into everything that they say. So, broad minded means we can have different ideas, even opposing ideas. And we can hold them.

Becoming broad minded is not at all easy. It requires really high level of sattva moda. But at least we can try to become open minded.

Yes, sir. Very nice class. Thank you so much.

So, recently we had, I mean, Scott had the court case about rhetoric philosophy. So, can you share some input on how the fanatics are, I mean, they say this is the only way, that's the only way, that's the point, right? Okay. That's a good example of how things did go on a nasty track.

So, I don't have time to go into the entire issue. I have done a whole video on this topic of ethics. My YouTube channel is there.

I talk about the ethics problem from a historical perspective, a psychological perspective, a religious sociological perspective and an individual perspective. So, it's all there. So, anyway, so what I want to talk about two things over here.

That there are certain differences which are important at a particular level. And they need to be addressed. So, in this case, it was not just like a theological difference.

It was also a property dispute. The temple over there, it was registered under his own official name. But the local leader felt that it's not managing properly or whatever.

He wanted to have his own place under him alone. So, it was a legal dispute. That was another aspect of it.

But on top of the legal dispute, there was a philosophical dispute going on. About the way these issues were handled. Now, this is an important issue and it needs to be addressed.

But the problem that happens is that sometimes some disputes are actually best addressed in the intellectual domain of intellectuals. But when it just becomes a public debate, then it becomes quite cheap, it becomes quite dirty. It loses its divinity.

And then there is what is called ad hominem attacks. Ad hominem attacks means you don't attack the argument, you attack the person. And then that becomes very bitter.

That unfortunately happened. So, I would say that in any demographic, if it is a 100% equal, there will always be differences. But there are 5% on one extreme, 5% on the other extreme.

But quite often, this 5%, they make 40% of the noise. And this 5% make 40% of the noise. So, what happens is, the remaining 45%, most others just want to go on with their life.

They never want to get involved in this. That's why they don't make much noise. But then the whole public discourse becomes dominated by the most extreme voices from both sides.

And then it can become bitter, it can become fanatical. So, it's best that we focus on our practice of Krishna Consciousness and let others, let those who are involved, they will resolve the issue. Any last question? Certainty is definitely important.

For example, if I am uncertain that Krishna is God, now that is going to be a problem. Now from Krishna is God to Krishna only is God. And the way I understand Krishna, that is the only way to understand Krishna.

All that can go towards fanaticism. When I say certain curiosity, the curiosity is also grounded in a certain level of certainty. Curious means, I am eager to know more.

But I also have confidence that what I know is of value. And my capacity to know is also valuable. So, each one of us, we have to see where to direct our curiosity.

Some people may have more musical curiosity. Okay, that's a bit different. The kirtans are done, which instruments can be used, what tunes can be learned.

Some of us may have more of ritual curiosity. How are the deities worshipped? How can I learn this worship? Some of us may have culinary curiosity. I want to learn more of the recipes, how can they be cooked? Some of us may have philosophical curiosity.

In philosophy, there are so many different aspects. So, we have to dovetail our curiosity. When I am talking about curiosity, that is a disposition.

It does not have to necessarily be an activity. So, it is not that we always have to be seeking to learn more. Because there are so many areas we can learn more.

We can learn more, we can concentrate our energies in learning more in the areas that we are enthusiastic about. We have interest and a service opportunity. Other areas, we don't have to.

Understand that there are complexities over here. Things are not black and white. So, when I say curiosity, if curiosity is leading to confusion, then we need to do two things.

Talk with some devotees who know the subject. And get a broader understanding of the subject, so that the confusion is resolved. And second is, understand that not everything can be understood in black and white.

There are nuances. There are shades of grey. And that is, in one sense, inherent in the Vedic philosophy.

In our philosophy, it is Achintya Veda. Achintya means inconceivable. That is basically a certain level of uncertainty.

So, it's not like black and white. So, understanding that also is very helpful. So, sometimes education, you know this one.

See, education has both aspects to it. One is, that what is complicated, education makes it simple. It is to reveal the simplicity in what seems complicated.

But education is another aspect, that what is simple, we reveal the complexity. What I think is simple, is not that simple. So, both are aspects of education.

So, for example, initially, when the parents are teaching children colour, they'll say, this is black and white. The whole world is so complicated, but look, this is black, this is white. You start with that black and white.

If you don't start with the simple, you don't reduce the complicated simple, you start telling the child, okay, you know, this is Malayalam, there are six shades of red. Okay, what is red? The child will see red before that. The child's face will become red, I'll start crying, you'll forget it.

But then what happens? At that time, we need to start with, leave the complicated simple. But then, black and white is there, but the child needs to be educated further. Everything is now black and white, there's only other colours in between.

So, that education will also be called. So, probably people become fanatical because we just stop at black and white. Now, even when we say this is complicated simple, there's black, there's white.

Now, in between, there are many shades of grey. All the colours are basically shades of grey. Now, even when we say there are shades of grey, that does not mean that there is no black and white.

Still, there are black and white also. So, it's not that everything is relative. We also have to have certainty about certain things.

So, in that sense, it's an advanced process. But gradually, associating with devotees will clarify our confusion and directing our curiosity in the area where we have some interest or where we have some service. That will be helpful.

Thank you very much. So, I have written a couple of books in Munich. This is the book we already read from today.

This is 122 prayers based on the first six chapters of the Bhagavad Gita. Each prayer is accompanied by a literature and poetic summaries.

View Details

• Home
• Audio Lectures

TranscriptThis is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, I’m grateful to be here with all of you today. And I will speak today about the life of Radharani and how that illustrates the principles of love and loving service.
I’ll talk about, listen, three broad parts. First, I’ll talk about the position of Radharani. Who is she, actually? Then, we’ll talk about some of her pastimes.
That will be a major part of the class. And then after that, we’ll talk about the principle, what Radharani embodies, how that principle is something which we all can learn. And by that, we can grow in bhakti and find deeper fulfilment, deeper joy in our life.
So, now, Radhashtami is not that well-known a festival. So, recently I was in India and one person asked that, you know, Janmashtami, nowadays there’s a lot of Hinduism or Hindutva in consciousness about Vedic Sanatana Dharma is rising in India. And it’s rising across the world also, among the Indian diaspora.
And there is a reaction to that. So, there’s one person who asked me, Janmashtami is so popular, but Radhashtami is not that popular. Doesn’t this show gender bias? That Krishna festival is so popular, Radharani is not so popular.
And I said, if you want to look at from that perspective, that the longest festival in India is Durga Pooja, it is nine days. Even Diwali is not that big. So, we cannot look at these exalted personalities and these timeless festivals or the ancient festivals from a reductionistic lens of our own values.
These are embodying a different level of reality. They are providing us a glimpse into the timeless. So, when we talk about Radharani, who is she? Now, at a basic level, you may say that Radharani is the consort of Krishna.
She, they are the divine couple, Radha and Krishna. Yes, that is true, but that’s only one part of the understanding of Radharani. Her position is, it’s not just that she is one member of the divine couple.
Yes, that is there. She is also, Radharani is the greatest devotee. She is considered to be, among all those who have devotion, her devotion is considered to be the greatest.
Is this visible to everyone? But more than that, this sound system will be blocking, so some of you may have to move this side. Can this be moved here? But she is not just the greatest devotee. And this is most important for us to understand that she is the source of all devotion.
That what is bhakti is itself a topic of great discussion in the Vedic tradition. And different acharyas have given different definitions of bhakti. But we can look at bhakti from our perspective and we can say, okay, bhakti is the emotion we experience, the attraction we experience, the love for Krishna.
And that is true, no doubt. At the same time, bhakti is not just that. So, in this understanding of bhakti, it is that, okay, I have attraction towards X, Y, Z, and now I have got an attraction towards God.
So, it is the same principle which is redirected towards God. There is truth to that, but that is not the complete truth. Why? Because Krishna exists in a different domain of reality.
And for us to say, shift our love from one object to another, say in India somebody is a big fan of cricket and they come here and they start playing maybe some other game. They may be, we may like, we may have one friend over here, then we develop another friendship. That is shifting in the same horizontal domain, the same material domain.
But here, we are shifting our love from the material domain to the vertical domain. From the material domain to the spiritual domain is a vertical shift. And that vertical shift doesn’t happen only by our own effort.
That vertical shift requires a grace coming from above. So, it is like, hey, this is the earth and then around the earth is the gravity pull. Now, an object on the earth might be going this way and it may go this way.
That is not very difficult. You just turn around and go. But if the object has to go upward, then there is a gravity pull that is pulling it down.
And at that time, the effort required is far, far more. So, now, yes, one can, with a huge amount of effort, try to push and get through the gravity. However, if there is another possibility that this is the earth and say, we are here or there is a rocket over here which we want to launch, whatever it is.
When this is to be launched, around it is a gravity pull. But if there is another powerful object, which comes over here, and then this object falls in the gravity pull of that object, then what will happen is, then that will pull it upwards. So, bhakti is not just centred on the push principle.
Push is for I push myself upward. Bhakti is primarily centred on the pull principle. Then this upward, if I try to go upward, this is push.
And this is the pull principle. So, in bhakti, while we have to do the push part, there is a pull principle that is much, much more important. And this pull principle is Radharani.
That is Ladini Shakti. That it is whatever devotional experience, whatever attraction experience for Krishna, that attraction comes by the blessing of Srimati Radharani. So, when we don’t have this understanding, Radharani is a devotee, we may call her the greatest devotee.
In India, because people prematurely come to know about the Raas Leela, they are sometimes a little bit frivolous or disrespectful understanding of Radharani. And I have a friend from a traditional Vaishnava group, he said, you know, you Hare Krishnas have got everything wrong. He said, with respect to Krishna, you just refer to him as Krishna.
There is no Sri Krishna, no Bhagwan Krishna, just Krishna. And for Radha, you have a double orderly thing. You have Srimati before and Radharani afterwards.
So, Srimati Radharani, but not even Sri Krishna. What is going on with you people? So, actually, I told Aishwarya Prabhupada to find an entire term to describe Krishna. What is that term? The supreme personality of Godhead.
So, that is not just a literal translation of Bhagwan. Prabhupada very emphatically wanted to convey that position of Krishna. At the same time, he wanted us to have a personal relationship with Krishna.
And that is why he referred to him directly as Krishna. So, the idea is, Prabhupada referred to Krishna simply as Krishna is. He wanted that Krishna is not just some remote divinity far away.
That Krishna is the Lord who is in our own hearts. But on the other hand, there is a tendency among people who hear Radha-Krishna pastimes to take Radha a bit cheaper. My young people, if they hear someone’s story of Radha-Krishna, they think, you know, okay, there is a divine couple on the altar and I am also a couple over there.
And we are a couple. Let me just equate it in a very mundane way. So, Prabhupada wanted to emphasise that.
And that is why he used this double honorific. Now, before Prabhupada, Bhakti Sahasrath Thakur and his gurus, they would use Shri Radha, Shri Radhika or they would, Bhakti Vishwanath Thakur and Rupa Goswami simply used as Radha. But Prabhupada wanted to emphasise that she is a worshipable person.
Srimati Radharani. So, the idea is that Radharani is not just the topmost devotee. She is the source of devotion for everyone.
And you may say, but isn’t that we have devotion? Yes, we have devotion. We have the potential for devotion is there in every heart. But for that potential to be manifested, it can take a huge effort.
And when we get a Radharani’s mercy, so in this understanding, Krishna is here. If Krishna is here and we are here, then Radharani is here. So, what Radharani does is, Radharani gives pleasure to Krishna and Radharani gives enrichment, nourishment to our heart through that relationship with Krishna.
So, that upward pull, how does it come? It comes in the form of an experience of a deep satisfaction. This nourishment comes at three distinct levels. First, we experience some sense of contentment.
Contentment is where all we feel satisfied. But then it goes beyond to enrichment. Where I’m not just content, I’m enriched means I feel filled with joy.
It is overflowing with joy. And after that, by Radharani’s mercy, it also comes as empowerment. So, contentment is, I’m satisfied.
The constant craving that is there in the world, oh, I want to buy this, I want to achieve this, I want to prove to the world how famous I am. All that contentment, after that comes enrichment. Where it’s not just I feel content, I feel like there’s so much I have, I want to share with others.
Why should others not have this? When we don’t have contentment, if we are coming to a temple or we are coming to a programme and everything, just thinking, oh, it’s a Sunday evening, I could have gone to watch a movie, I could have gone to the beach, I could have gone to sleep, why would I want to go over there? So, that is discontentment. When we feel contentment, I’m happy to be there. Enrichment means, oh, this is so wonderful.
I don’t just want to be here. I feel such a pleasure. I want everyone to know about it.
That is enrichment. And beyond that is empowerment. Empowerment is where we feel confident that I can share this with others.
Enrichment is I feel like sharing it. But empowerment is where we feel that confidence. So, we’ll cycle back to this point where in the conclusion, we talk about the principle of Radharani.
So, the position is Radharani is not just a member of the divine couple. She’s not just the topmost devotee. She is the person who fills our heart with devotion, who enables us to direct our love from this world to the Lord.
And that’s why her position is of critical importance. That is so important that the Goswami, that sometimes Ramananda Goswami says that actually we don’t worship Krishna. We worship Radharani.
And because Radharani happens to love Krishna, so we offer Krishna some respect. So, that is the mood of the Gaudiya Vaishnavas. So, let’s look at, now with this understanding that Radharani is actually the embodiment of all devotion.
Let’s now look at some of the pastimes of Radharani and how they illustrate the principles of love. Love is a word which is very commonly used nowadays. Now, generally the word love is nowadays quite often equated with, it’s almost like an involuntary emotion.
It’s like we say, I fell in love. It’s like you fall in love and then you fall out of love. So, it’s almost as if something which is in love is just equated with emotion, often a strong overpowering emotion.
And yes, that is there in love, of course. But love is much, much more than that. So, we’ll look at a few pastimes of Radharani which illustrate this principle.
So, we’ll see how much time we have. I have, I was trying to talk about something like nine pastimes of Radharani which illustrate how love is sacrifice, centred on that coin sacrifice. We can’t complete all of them.
We’ll at least complete four or five. So, now, love begins with selection. What does selection mean? That whenever there is love for someone, you know, if say we are talking with someone and there is a loving relationship, any kind of love, romantic love alone, but then we’re talking with someone, we select and focus on that person.
We don’t get distracted by everyone else over there. So, this is illustrated right from her very appearance. When she appears in this world, normally, it’s when the birth is so paradoxical that when a baby is born, if the baby cries, everyone is happy.
And if the baby does not cry, everyone is unhappy. So, if the baby cries, that means the baby is awake, the baby is conscious, the baby is healthy. So, when Radharani is born, she appears, she’s clearly alive, but she appears as if, what’s wrong with her? It can be in today’s world, a doctor’s going to diagnose her as autistic.
What’s going on? Because she’s not speaking, she’s not opening her eyes, she’s not reading at all. So, the parents were worried about something over there. Mr. Narad Muni came and said, you know, she’s a very special child.
She’s perfectly normal. Actually, she’s better than normal, but that will be revealed in due course. So, then because a newborn child was there, there’s a celebration.
So, her parents, Radharani is born in which place? Varsana. Vrindavan, there’s a place called Varsana. So, Nanda Maharaj is like the head of the whole Vrindavan area.
See, Vrindavan is the name of one particular forest, but the whole area is also called Vrindavan. So, Krishna, when he was born in Mathura, then he came to the place called Gokul Mahavan. And he was living over there.
And Radharani appeared in Varsana. And so, Varsana, the leader was Vrishabhani. So, it’s like Varsana is one place.
And then, this whole place is also called Vrindavan, also known as Rajamandala. Now, within that, there’s a place called Gokul. And there’s another place called Vrindavan.
So, now, Krishna came from Mathura. Radhakrishna was brought from Mathura by Vasudeva. And then he was living here.
And then, there are too many demons seem to be threatening this particular place. And they decided to relocate. But here, when Radharani appeared over here, Krishna appeared over here this time.
So, because Radharani had been born, and his baby Radha, all the parents wanted to celebrate. And when they wanted to celebrate, they invited the head of the whole community. And that was Nanda Maharaj.
So, when he came, Nanda Maharaj was welcomed by them, and the elders were talking. And Krishna was this one of the curious baby. So, he went around, looking here and there.
And he saw, okay, there’s a crib over there. What’s that over there? So, Radharani at this point, her eyes were closed. She was not at all acting.
She was completely silent. She said, what’s that? So, Krishna, the curious boy, just crawled over there. He climbed up, and he peered into the crib.
And as soon as Krishna peered into the crib, that is the time Radharani first opened her eyes. That is the time when she opened her eyes. And so, the first face that she wanted to see was the face of Krishna.
So, that is the spontaneous nature of her love. That the first face, that’s the face I want to see. So, her eyes were closed.
Not because there was anything wrong. But because the love of her heart was such that, this life, this existence is only for Krishna. That is that whom I want to see.
There are many Vaishnav Acharyas in Mukund Malastotra, in the Vaishnav songs. He says, let my eyes not see the beauty of anything except your beauty, O Lord. Let me drain that, feast on that.
And let that beauty be the sustenance of my eyes. So, Radharani demonstrates that right from her childhood, right from her birth itself. Now, as they grow up, and they start growing up now, they are still living in different places.
And there is some interaction, there is some big danger. For example, if there is a flood, then they all come together at a particular time. So, another time, if there is a festival, they come together.
Galiya is there. You know, Krishna, when Galiya catches Krishna, Krishna could have reached himself from Galiya to Neetam. But Krishna wanted Radharani to come.
When Krishna wants to dance, he wants Radharani to see his dance. So, he waits and waits and waits. And finally, the news goes to Varsana.
And for Varsana, the Varsanavasis come running. And Radharani comes over there. You know, just like, Radharani’s eyes were closed, but she was conscious when Krishna has come.
So, Krishna’s eyes were closed. It happened as if Galiya’s bites had poisoned Krishna. Was Krishna alive? Was Krishna dead? The Varsanavasis were completely lost, not knowing what is happening.
Yashodamai wanted to jump into the river to go to Krishna. She said, the other ladies said, no, you cannot go. What do you do? They just beat you.
But then, Krishna was conscious. As soon as Radharani came, and Radharani was watching what is happening, then Krishna just effortlessly broke free from the fangs of Galiya. And then he started dancing.
And started dancing on the fangs of Galiya. And Radharani was amazed. And it is that time in her heart arose the desire to dance with Krishna.
And that desire was fulfilled in the Raas Gita. So, just as Radha was conscious of Krishna even when the eyes were closed, Krishna was conscious of Radha when his eyes were closed. Krishna premamai Radha, Radha premamai ohari, Jeevane na dhane nityam, Radha Krishna gatemama.
So, Krishna is made of love for Radharani. And Radha is made of love for Krishna. That is the very nature of their love.
Then, as they were going down, So, at one level, these pastimes are transcendental. They are exhibiting non-physical love. But at the same time, they are manifested in this world.
And when they are manifested in this world, some of the aspects of this world also play out. The relationship with God that we have is in some ways similar to the relationship we have with others. And in some ways, it’s completely different.
Then, achintya bhed aave the. If it’s completely similar, then that’s a mistake because Krishna is not at any personal area of that person. But if it’s completely different, then we won’t know how to love Krishna.
Because what do we know? Krishna is completely different. So, the human divine relationship, our relationship with Krishna, there is bhed. Bhed means difference.
Bhed because Krishna is God. And there is abhed. Abhed means non-difference.
Because ultimately, Krishna and the soul, both have hearts that long to love. So, Krishna longs to love us. And we long to love.
Ultimately, our heart longs to love Krishna. There’s the bhed and abhed. So, as Krishna and Radhanand were both growing up, so now, as Radharani was growing up, what happened was, now, they would not meet very regularly.
Now, Krishna’s glory would be heard by Radharani. Radharani, Krishna would also hear about Radharani. But they were not meeting a lot.
And then, as they started growing up in that culture, even when they were doing their learning, studying, they would go out and work also. So, the Gopals were, they would go out and herd cows. Especially, cows initially and then cows.
And the Gopis, they would churn milk, make butter. And then, they would often go to Mathura or nearby places to sell those. So, they would do their small chores.
So, quite often, in their chores, they would go outside, they would meet each other. They would interact. So, now, what happened as Krishna was growing up, see, there is an age, you know, in teenage, especially when puberty comes, and people’s appearance, their personality, everything changes.
A significant change that happens. So, that is called in the Vedic tradition, it’s called Purvabhav. Now, the Purvabhav is before the Madhuryabhav manifests, the attraction starts coming.
That is Karnabhav in the 19th and 20th chapters. The Raj Panchatya will come a chapter later. So, what happened? Now, Radharani, that was not the age of Facebook, where you could see people’s faces and know how they look like.
So, what happened? When Radharani, once, she was going to the forest. And once when she was going, she heard a flute in play. And this flute song was played in such a beautiful way that Radharani felt.
Now, whoever is singing this, music is often not just a matter of the skill with which the music is done. It’s also expression of the emotion in the heart. So, Radharani, when she heard this music being played, she felt, oh, this person, this person is so attractive.
I just want to love this person. She felt as if, so I’m, I fall in love with this person. So, I’m moving forward to the acronym which means sacrifice.
So, now we are moving forward. A, A is attraction. So, she felt completely in love with this person who was playing the flute.
But, as they were going along, there was like a forest grow, and the sound of the flute was coming from somewhere behind. She was trying to peer in and see, but she couldn’t find out who was playing. And they had their chores.
They just couldn’t go out of the way to find out who it was. So, all right, it’s me. Oh, I’ve fallen in love with this person.
Who is this person? Then, a couple of days later, when she was going by, at this time, she was passing in a particular way, and the wind was blowing like this. So, she experienced the fragrance of Krishna. And now, she did not turn to the same person.
So, when she experienced the fragrance of Krishna, she’s completely captivated by that. She’s like, who’s this person? I’ve fallen in love with this person. She started thinking, what kind of woman I am? I’ve fallen in love with two men.
And her heart was feeling torn. And then, third time, when she was going, and there’s a hill over here, and on top, Krishna was walking by. And she saw the forward bow of Krishna.
And she fell in love with this. Who is this attractive person? Three-pole bending. This time, Krishna was not playing his flute.
Now, Krishna knew what he was doing. They’re just having some mischief with Radha. So, this time, when she saw him, the wind was flowing this way.
So, she did not… Krishna was not having a flute on his body. He was not playing the flute. And the fragrance of Krishna’s body did not come through.
So, what happened? She thought, oh, this person is so beautiful. And then, Radha, she was attracted. That itself was making an association.
Now, I’m attracted to three people. What’s going to happen to me? And now, Krishna, if he wants to… He wants to churn the emotions of the heart. See, he does that in ways that can sometimes be very agitating.
But it is agitating. At the same time, it is very spiritual. Her heart became more and more absorbed with Krishna.
And then, one day, when she was going to the forest, you know, as she was walking by, she heard this first. The flute sound coming. And her heart started beating faster.
And then, after that, she felt the fragrance. Oh, who is this person? She was eager to see this person. And then, she saw the form.
And this time, when she saw the form, she saw, actually, the same person was playing the flute. And then, as she noted, oh, this fragrance is coming from the same person. And her heart became filled with great relief and joy.
I’m not attracted to three people. I’m attracted to the same person. So, actually, what does this illustrate? One of the features of Krishna is that he is all-attractive.
All-attractive means what? That any one of his features can attract the heart. And this is described in the Bhagavatam. When the Kumaras had gone to the spiritual world, they were attracted to impersonal.
But they just got the fragrance of the Tulsi from the lotus feet of Krishna. And, just by the fragrance, just got completely attracted and captivated. So, for all of us, we can hope that one aspect of Krishna, any one aspect of Krishna can attract us.
Maybe we are attracted to the deity of Krishna. Maybe we are attracted to the Gita of Krishna. So, maybe we are attracted to Kumbha Krishna.
Maybe we are attracted to one particular pastime of Krishna. No, Krishna is all-attractive. And even one glimpse of the attractiveness of one facet of Krishna is enough to captivate the heart.
So, Radharani’s heart is so open and so receptive that it demonstrates the power of the attractiveness of even one aspect of Krishna. Unfortunately, our heart is so closed. Krishna, it’s like we are close to Krishna and we are close to Krishna.
Close to Krishna means our heart is so caught in worldly attachments that our heart is just not open to Krishna. But somehow, by coming in devotional ambience like this, by being in association, slowly a small window, a small slit in our heart will open. And then, Krishna’s attraction will manifest in us.
And then, we will be also completely captivated by Krishna. Then, we move to love is seen through commitment. Commitment means here that as Radharani was growing, now, they again invited Maharaja Krishna along with their family to their house for prasad.
When they invited, so naturally, Krishna Paramahansa meet them in the Maharaja and then Kirti, who is Radharani’s mother, she took Krishna to the inner chambers. And then now, they had cooked a huge feast. And then, she saw Radharani and then Kirti was showing Krishna what all we have cooked, how we have cooked.
And then, Kirti looked at one chamber. And in that chamber, there were dozens upon dozens of just delicacies. And Krishna saw then that Radharani was cooking.
And Krishna said that, you know Radha, her body is tender like a flower. Why is she doing all these things? This flower gets desiccated, she will get exhausted. So, Krishna said, you know, I didn’t tell her to cook.
She just wanted to cook. And there were some special items that she has cooked. And there were dozens of special items.
And Rishabhanu and Kirti were very, very pleased by that. And that was the time when, you know, when parents are growing older, they always are concerned about the marriage of their children. So, when she and Krishna saw that Radharani is so diligent, so dedicated, she is so eager.
You know, Rishabhanu and Kirti, they are like leaders of the community. They have servants. Others could have cooked for them.
But here, she is cooking herself. So, at that time, a desire arose in the heart of Yashoda that Radha should become my daughter-in-law. That Radha should be with Krishna.
Then Yashoda said that, oh, you are cooking wonderfully. Now, I will train you in the art of serving. So, she said that, you know, when you go, this is how you should serve food.
Radharani is actually very shy. Radharani had some sakhis. So, now, Yashoda wanted that Radharani should go and serve food to Krishna.
Radharani was serving Rishabhanu. She was serving Nityananda Maharaj. The whole group of people had come.
But when it comes to serving Krishna, she would ask some other sakhi to go and serve. And she was shy to go in front of Krishna. And then, finally, she was like, no, you should go and serve.
And then she served some food and then they were all watching. And she had made some special delicacy. And Krishna ate it.
Krishna made a bitter face and pushed it away. And Radharani’s heart stopped. What happened? And then, Madhubangal took that food.
Oh, delicious. And Krishna glanced at Radharani’s smile. Krishna was just having fun at her expense.
So, Radharani got a bit angry on Krishna. And then Madhubangal said, you know, I am in great anxiety. He said, Krishna said, I regret bringing you here.
You always are a drama queen. What happened? He said, I am in great anxiety. Normally, if you eat some food, when eating some food, if you tell the hostess, I am in great anxiety.
What happened? Is there something wrong over here? So, Madhubangal said, this food is so tasty that I am in anxiety. How will I be satisfied with any future food? So, there is like an indirect compliment to give. So, this is like the king of indirect compliments.
So, this was the time when Krishna loved his son. Now, Krishna would love her food that she would be cooking. But she saw that the food that Radharani had cooked, and Krishna was eating it even greater than her scale.
And she decided that she went to eat with her. And after the whole feast was over, they were going back. She said, I saw with how much joy Krishna ate the food that Radharani had cooked, than expecting what Radha had cooked.
So, I want that Radha should come every day and cook for us. So, Radharani was very less and her heart filled with joy. Then, Ketidharani said, you are our queen, whatever you say, we will do.
But at the same time, what will people talk? They are unmarried. She did not have intention, that she understood. She said, I have thought about it.
She does not have to come to our home. Near our home, there is a place called Pavan Sarovar. And there, we have a large kitchen.
So, Radha can come and cook over there. And from there, our attendants will come and take the food and they will serve Krishna. And that’s how Radharani started coming every day to cook.
So, here is an important principle. See, when we serve, when we do some service, the reward of the service is that we are given a greater service. So, when we do some service, if we do it well, Radharani did the cooking well, and what happened? It was a one-time cooking, but now she got the opportunity for cooking every day.
And every day, she would cook for Krishna. And Krishna would eat whatever she would cook with great, great interest. That was the commitment.
So, for Radharani, her love is not just, oh, Krishna, I love Krishna. It is seen through practical service. Prabhupada would say that the substance of devotion is practical service.
So, Radharani would do this practical service. Isn’t that? Now, when we talk about love, love is not just one emotion. Love includes many emotions.
So, love can include anxiety. Because when we love someone, we want to offer the best to that person. And in trying to offer the best, there can be anxiety.
Love can also involve anger. So, if somebody is hurting the person whom we care for, then we get angry. That’s how, in the Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita, love for Prahlad is seen through his anger towards Krishna.
Now, love can also involve fear. Now, anxiety is seen as fear, but love can also involve horror. When you see something terrible, anxiety is something that may not work out.
Horror is something terrible has happened. So, when the Rajivasi is here, when they show that, oh, that the tree has fallen down and Krishna is nearby. Has something happened to Krishna? And Krishna is unconscious in the piles of Kaliya.
But there is a love, there is a whole galaxy of emotions within you. So, Radharani would be, to the extent there is anxiety to cook nicely for Krishna, then there is ecstasy when the cooking is done nicely. Now, as this moves forward, we move to R is renunciation.
Now, Radharani is not technically a sanyasi or sanyasini. But her renunciation is seen through what is called as the parakhiya bhava. So, this is one speciality of the relationship of Radharani with Krishna.
And this is what, that when Krishna plays the flute and when the Rajivasi performs, Krishna plays the flute and he calls the Gopis to come. So, now here, the Gopis just move everything before the Krishna. See, normally, devotion is expressed in various ways.
Devotion, a love is seen through, open to sacrifice, we give up something. So, first is, we give up the bad. So, for example, there are certain activities which are anti-emotional.
Say, we stop meditating, we stop gambling, we stop intoxication. But those are what we call as sinful activities, the bad activities. At a basic level, if you are trying to go close to God, then you have to give up the bad activities.
Now, that is good if you give up the bad activities. But that is like a preliminary level of devotion. Then, after that, we may have to give up the good activities also.
Good activities are not activities, but if bad things we have to give up, then good things we have to give up. Now, good things means, what does it mean? For example, so, we might sacrifice wealth, we might do charity. Now, money is not itself a bad thing.
Money is an important thing. So, when we give up bad things, it is like we give up Anartha. Anartha is the bad things.
So, we want to go towards Parmartha. Parmartha is the supreme value. So, we give up the Anartha for Krishna.
But then, we also have to give up the Artha for Krishna. So, we give up the good things. But the good gross things, we give up.
But as we move forward, we give up the good subtle things also. What does subtle things mean in this context? See, somebody may give a lot of donation. And that is okay.
But quite often, when we give donation, at that time, we would like others to know that I gave this good donation. And that is not necessarily a bad thing. Anyway, if we are doing, we are contributing to good cause, that is good.
But some people may like to give anonymous donations. They want to give a large donation, they don’t want that. They don’t want even to give.
Now, what that means is that they are not only giving up something gross, but from that, the subtle pleasure, oh, I am such a good person, I am such a charitable person, I am such a noble person, that prestige also they are giving up. But now, imagine a situation where somebody gives a huge donation, but they do it anonymously. And because nobody knows that they have given donation, then other people start criticising them.
Dude, you are not giving any donation at all. Ah, this person has given a huge donation. At that time, it can be infuriating, you know.
I have given so much and I have been criticised, I give up nothing. So that, when we have to give up subtle things for Krishna, so that is more difficult. But when we give up subtle things, one is we give up bad things, we give up good things, good gross things, we give up good subtle things.
But at least in each of these levels, we are giving something and we are getting something back. We give up bad things, actually our life becomes better. We give up bad things, we give this up, overall our life becomes better.
We give up good gross things, then what happens is, often our prestige becomes better. But when we give up subtle things, then what happens is, maybe we can say our heart becomes richer, we feel more satisfied. Maybe, that has quite a very high level of devotion.
But if we have given up everything and we get nothing in return, if we give up and all that we get is criticism, then it is very, very clear that we are giving up things only because we want Krishna. We don’t want anything of this world. I don’t want the reputation, I don’t want the fame, I only want Krishna.
So now, what is the parakiya bhaav? See, in Krishna, Krishna could have very easily arranged everything so that just as he is married to Rukmini, he could be married to Radharani also. And from a philosophical perspective, Krishna is the lord of everybody. So Krishna is the patil patinam paramam parastha.
So Krishna is philosophically speaking the lord of everyone. He is the lord of the gopis, he is the lord of Radharani also. But the parakiya bhaav, swakiya means that the queens are married to Krishna.
And in Dwarka, it is the swakiya bhaav. In Vrindavan, it is the parakiya bhaav. The gopis are not officially married to Krishna.
So now, what happens in this is, that the gopis give everything up for Krishna and they get nothing in return. All that they get is, what kind of women are you? You left your home to go with Krishna, go with some other man. Don’t you have any culture? Don’t you have any decency? Don’t you have any chastity? So, throughout history, there are people who have misunderstood the gopis.
There are people who have misunderstood the love of the gopis for Krishna. So, they give up everything for Krishna and they get nothing in return. Nothing gross, nothing sacred.
Gross means, they don’t get the protection of the name of the husband. I am the wife of Surya. So, they don’t get that.
They don’t get anything from Krishna. And then, the greatest sacrifice is, okay, I am giving up everything for you, but at least, okay, I am not getting your name, I am not getting the respectability from society, but I am at least getting your company. I just want to be with you.
But then, Krishna leaves the gopis and goes there. So, the gopis do not even get the company of Krishna. So, that is the time when the gopis could very easily have rejected Krishna.
But they do not do that. So, this is actually pure devotion. What does pure devotion mean? There are many different meanings.
One meaning is that we give everything to Krishna and we get nothing in return. But nothing except Krishna. And Krishna is the greatest thing.
So, when the gopis give themselves to Krishna, they don’t get anything gross, they don’t get anything subtle. At both levels, they get criticism. But what they get is, Krishna becomes completely indebted to them.
Krishna says to the gopis, what kind of love have you got? He says, I have never seen love like this. I cannot repay you for this love. So, their renunciation is, that they give everything for Krishna.
That’s why in the verse it is, sarva-dharman parityajya. In the Krishna, we could say it is, sarva-adharman parityajya. And that is true.
We give up bad things for Krishna, but then we also should be ready to give up good things for Krishna, if it is required. So, it is not sarva-dharman parityajya, we give all dharma to become adharmic. That’s all the point of it.
That is, there is dharma, then below dharma is adharma, and above dharma is paradharma. Or in terms of morality, we can say there is moral, there is immoral, and there is transmoral. So, what the gopis, they are ready to go here, and when their renunciation is, that they are actually going here, but this is the reality, but the world will often think that they are going there.
The world’s perception is, that they are doing something immoral. But the gopis, their mood is, I don’t care. And among all the gopis, the highest degree of such a mood, is shown by Radhahani.
So, how is that? I’ll describe that, and then we’ll move to the last part of the class. You won’t be able to go through the whole lecture on it. But, so, in the specific pastime of Radharani himself, of Rasila, there’s something very subtle, like, romance going on.
So, initially, Krishna plays the flute and calls the gopis, and all the gopis come there. They come in streams. Not everybody is able to leave immediately and come.
They are all looking for opportunities, and they come one by one. So, when they come there, at that time, Krishna talks with them. And Krishna actually tests them.
Krishna, in one sense, wants to test, are they really ready to give up dharma for the sake of Radharani? So, Krishna letters the gopis that, it’s wonderful that you have come. Did you come here to look at the beauty of the night sky, Vrindavan? Yeah, it’s very beautiful. Now that you’ve looked at it, you can go back now.
Now, the gopis, their desire is raging in their heart. But still, it’s a cheesed, conservative, shyhead of culture. So, they don’t express.
They start, you know, making marks on the ground with their toes. And they say, Krishna, we know you coined us. That’s why we have come here.
So, here, the Bhagavatam contrasts between the gopis and the Brahman Patnis. The Brahman Patnis also come. But when Krishna tells, go back, they go back.
They’re not happy to go back. They’re reluctant, but they go back. But the gopis say, you’re not going back.
And, so then, Krishna and the gopis, they start doing the rasa dance. Now, when they’re doing the rasa dance, at one level, the narrating is that the gopis become proud. And the gopis become proud, and Krishna abandons them and goes away.
Krishna, and the lesson over there is Krishna is, Krishna is her life-partner. And then they go with, he goes along with Radharani, and Radharani also becomes proud. And Krishna abandons her also.
Now, that is a valid lesson that probably can alienate Krishna, even if somebody is as exalted a devotee as gopi. But that’s at an external level. It’s something much deeper happening over there.
Kavi Karnapur, in Zaman Vrindavan Champu, describes what the thought process of the gopis and of Radharani is. All the gopis are dancing with Krishna, and it’s the greatest joy of their life that they are with Krishna. And they are, the beautiful ambience is there.
It is Shalpur, you know, it’s very, very divinely attractive atmosphere is there. And they all are delighted to be with Krishna. At the same time, the gopis know that while we are all dancing with Krishna, that Radha’s love for Krishna is unparalleled.
So, they want that Krishna should have some special time with Radharani. They want that. They know their purpose is, they want to enjoy Krishna’s company because they love Krishna.
But their purpose is Krishna should be happy. And they know Radha’s love for Krishna is the greatest, Krishna’s love for Radha is the greatest. So, both of them should have some time together.
And therefore, the gopis act as if they are proud. They act as if they are proud. So, the gopis themselves are ready to renounce this association to be with Krishna just so that Krishna can be with Radharani.
So, then, when this happens, say, Radharani and Krishna are all alone. Krishna has taken Radharani away from the Rasala. Then Radharani sees that Krishna is exclusively spending time with me.
She wants to be with me alone. Her heart is delighted for a few minutes. Although she is with Krishna, her concern is Lalita, Abhishekha, Indraprekha, all of them, they are my sakhis.
They are dear to me. They will be devastated that Krishna has left them. Krishna has left them and gone away.
She says, I cannot enjoy Krishna’s company alone. You know, I cannot enjoy when my sakhis are not with me. It will be agony.
So, she tries to come up with various excuses to slow Krishna. She thinks, you know, Krishna is taking her to the forest, to a secluded place to have Krishna wants to be alone with her to express confidential words of love. Those or those private words with little nothing that are expressed with affection.
So, Krishna has that in focus. Krishna has that and Krishna is happy with that. But then Radharani tries to slow Krishna, you know.
So, she says, Krishna, this flower is so nice. Can you get this flower for me? And, oh, the moon looks so nice for me. Let’s go ahead and look at the moon.
And he says, oh, this flower is also very nice. And then, now Krishna is here with Radharani deep into the forest. Radharani is slowing her down.
Then, when Radharani asks for a flower, Krishna immediately gets the flower. At one point, Radharani deliberately asks for a flower that is way up high. And Krishna jumps up and still he can’t reach the flower.
Radharani is thinking, now Krishna will slow down. Maybe Krishna will have to climb up the tree. And he’ll have to go up and get the flower.
And he says, she’s with Krishna and she wants to be with Krishna, but another part of the room, he’s coming. And then, she’s just looking around and suddenly, Krishna comes from behind and picks her up. He says, you want that flower? You take that flower.
And Radharani takes that flower and Krishna puts it on her head. And finally, Radharani runs out of ideas. How to slow Krishna down? And then she says, Krishna, I’m feeling very tired now.
And, now at an external level, Krishna has had enough. And Krishna gets angry with Radharani. And Krishna says, because this is a forest, I cannot get a palanquin for you.
So, you climb on my back and I’ll carry you. There is a very sweet, loving exchange there and suddenly the tone changes of Krishna. Radharani wonders what has happened.
She’s just looking around. She’s looking where the sakhis are going to come. And suddenly she hears this harsh tone of Krishna and she turns around and in total horror, Krishna has disappeared.
That’s when she realises, Oh my God! She, that Krishna got angry with me. They say, Oh Krishna! So, she starts, she starts looking here and there for Krishna, starts searching for Krishna. She just can’t find him.
Oh Krishna, where are you? Please come back. So, now, Kavikantipur described that Radharani is having a conversation with Krishna. Whether it is, whether Krishna is actually there and replying to her or it’s in her mind that Krishna is replying.
She’s begging Krishna, come back. She says, Krishna, please come back. Krishna says, I was there with you and you took me for granted.
You are so, you’re so proud. I don’t want to be with you. She says, no, no.
She says, no, that is not the case. I was just concerned about the Sakis. They would be devastated without you.
That’s why, Krishna, I swore you that promise. No, but I wanted to be with you. Why were you concerned about them instead of being concerned about me? She says, no, no, Krishna, I wanted to be with you.
Krishna says, you have lost your chance. Now, in the Leela, sometimes what happens is, now, is Krishna speaking like this or Radharani is like, in her imagination, she’s giving Krishna advice, Krishna’s being like this. Kavir Padapur doesn’t really make it very clear over there.
So then, she says, but Krishna, you know, without you, I will die. Please come back. So, Krishna says, but all the Sakis are without me.
They are alive, they’re not dying. So Radharani says, no, but they have each other. I’m all alone here.
Please, Krishna, come back. Krishna says, with that note of finality, says, you know, that I was all alone with you, but you have displeased me. I’m going now.
And he just goes away. And at that time, Radharani feels a heart storm. Describes that she cannot sustain her life.
Not only has Krishna gone away, there’s one thing Krishna has gone away, but Krishna has gone away, being displeased with her. And the displeasure is because Krishna has misunderstood her. This she just can’t bear.
And she faints over there. She faints and all the Sakis are searching. And initially, there is a bit of annoyance, a bit of a jealousy, a bit of a negative emotion.
Who is the special person who Krishna has gone away to? But then, when they see Radharani’s condition, when they find her sprawled at the ground in a state of complete… She’s fainted and she is… Not only that, even her face, she’s devastated. So seeing her in that condition, seeing that Krishna has left her also, seeing in how much agony she is, whatever negative feeling they have, it immediately disappears. And then the Sakis go and get some water.
They sprinkle some water. They wake up Radharani. Radharani tells what has happened.
And they continue searching for Krishna. And then, this is the 38th chapter in the script. The 10th chapter, 31st chapter is the Gopi Singh, the Gopi Geet.
And then finally, Krishna comes back. And when Krishna comes back, I’ll continue with this point. This is like, now what is Krishna doing over here? So now, when Krishna finally comes back, a part, the Gopis are in part delighted that Krishna is back.
In part, they are infuriated. How could you abandon and go away like this? This is like, if we have a small child, the child can’t survive for long. Now, when… What has happened to him? The child has been kidnapped.
The child is hurt. The child is injured. We are worried about the child.
I hope the child… I hope the child is alive. And when I find my child, I’m going to kill him. So, the idea is that it’s part joy, part anger.
The Gopis are really angry with Krishna. How did you abandon us like this? At the same time, they are afraid to express their anger. Like, once we find our child, and we know that he’s okay, then we want to be angry with the child, but we are worried, if we get too angry, the child will run away with him.
So, the Gopis are worried like that. What is… What should we do? So, the Gopis indirectly ask Krishna, that Krishna, we want to ask you some questions about love. Love and the nature of lovers.
He said, there are some lovers, you know, when we offer, when one person loves the other, the other person reciprocates. There are some lovers, who, when you offer love, they reciprocate much more than the love that is offered. And there are some lovers, you offer them love, and they don’t reciprocate.
Among these, which love do you think is the best? Indirectly, they are saying, Krishna, you are the person who didn’t reciprocate first. We gave everything up for you, and then you just gave up, gave us up and went away. How could you do like this? So, at that time, Krishna replies, Krishna says that, you know, I left you, not because I did not value your love.
I left you, because I wanted you to experience the highest stage of absorption. I wanted you to intensify your love for me. I wanted your love to be, become more and more intense and blazing up.
The level of absorption needed by God, no one else can. The way you completely sacrificed yourself for me, that has no balance. This, I cannot offer you anything in return, since you inspired me with your love.
So, here, the Acharyas explain, there is a mysterious relationship between love and separation. Love is like fire, and separation is like wind. Now, if, in a, I was in Delhi a few months ago, you may know that there is a forest fire.
If, the worst nightmare of firefighters at that time is, the wind comes on you. Because then, there is a spray. So, like that, if there is a stormy wind in a forest fire, then what happens? The fire spreads.
So, love does to separation, what wind does to fire. I was once giving this class, and after that, one devotee came and said, I have decided to stop coming to the temple now. I said, why? You know, I think I offend a lot of devotees.
So, after hearing your class, I thought if I have separation from devotees, then my love will increase. I told him, with all due respect, now whenever somebody starts a sentence, with all due respect, what is going to follow is not going to be very respectful. So, I said, this applies only when, the love is like a forest fire.
But, if the love is like a candle flame, then wind comes, what will happen? Get completely extinguished. So, our love is not like the love of the Gopis. Our love will not survive separation from Krishna.
We need to associate regularly with devotees. We need to spend time with daily sadhana, with our puja. So, it is the proximity with Krishna that will fan the flame of our love for Krishna.
But, in a very exalted state, for the Gopis, there is no question of forgetting Krishna. There is no question of life without Krishna. So, when Krishna is externally absent, Krishna becomes more and more internally present.
And that is a very exalted level of love. But, the last point, I concluded, I said, we talk about the pastimes, we talk about the principle. The principle of Radharani’s love is that love means sacrifice.
Love means service. Love means caring for others. So, we care for Krishna, that’s love bhakti.
But Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains, that bhakti, when it is directed towards Krishna, it is devotion. When it is directed towards other souls, that same bhakti becomes compassion. That compassion is, we are concerned about the distress of others.
We want to remove that distress. So, like Radharani was with Krishna, she wanted to be with Krishna, but she was also concerned about her sakhis. They should not be in distress.
They should also be enjoying Krishna’s company. So, we talk about contentment, enrichment and empowerment in the beginning. So, devotedly, doesn’t just want to be joyful in Krishna consciousness, but devotedly wants to share that joy of Krishna consciousness with others.
And this is embodied by Srila Prabhupada more than anyone else, especially in recent times. Srila Prabhupada was in Vrindavan. Not just in Vrindavan, he was living in the place where the Goswami samadhis were.
So, Vrindavan is the capital of devotion. And from there, at the age of 17, with great effort, Prabhupada went to New York. And the rest of the way he went to New York was the Lower East Side, I think.
So, from the capital of devotion, Prabhupada went to the capital of illusions. And why did he do that? That was out of compassion. You know, at one level, Prabhupada left Vrindavan, but that is an external mission.
You can take a devotee out of the dham, but you cannot take the dham out of the devotee. So, Vrindavan was always in the heart of Srila Prabhupada. And wherever he went, he manifested Vrindavan.
Wherever he went, he created the teekas of Vrindavan. He wanted that everyone should relish Krishna. Everyone should experience the joy of loving Krishna.
That is what brings ultimate joy to a life. So, that was Prabhupada manifesting the mood of Radha and Krishna. Prabhupada did not talk a lot about the esoteric pastimes of Radha and Krishna.
One reason was that those can be very easily misunderstood. So, as I talk about Gopi’s love, it is the highest level of selflessness. It is actually selfless.
But it can very easily appear to be immoral. It can appear to be sensual, immorally sensual as well. So, Prabhupada’s focus was that first we develop the spirit of selflessness.
Once we start developing the spirit of selflessness, then slowly we will start appreciating how the Gopi’s love is also sensuous. As long as we are filled with sensual desires, then when we approach those pastimes, we will also mistake them to be sensual pastimes. So, that is why I did not talk about those pastimes.
But it is not that Prabhupada was not aware of those, nor that Prabhupada did not want us to reach those pastimes. He very much wanted us. But the way is by cultivating a bhava of seva, cultivating a mood of service and sacrifice.
So, Prabhupada said famously that the way to enter into Radha and Krishna’s pastimes is by sharing Krishna Consciousness with everyone. What does it mean? We say that okay, we are sharing Krishna Consciousness, we have to build a temple, we have to deal with misconceptions of atheism and this and that. What has all this got to do with Radha and Krishna? This is so different from it.
Well, not exactly. Yes, we should hear Krishna Prabhupada in our heart. But along with that, it is not just hearing a lot about Radha and Krishna that will help us to appreciate Radha and Krishna’s pastimes.
Yes, hearing is wonderful. But to appreciate those pastimes, we need to develop that mood of selfless service. So, at our level, when we try to share Krishna Consciousness with others, when we try to assist those who are trying to share Krishna Consciousness with others, we are assisting Radharani.
Mr. Radharani is concerned about the gopis who were not with Krishna. In the same way, we are concerned that I am with Krishna at one level, but I want others also to meet Krishna. And in bhakti, we have these both aspects.
Bhakti is both, like we turn away from the world and we turn towards the world. If we are here, Krishna is here and the world is here. So, devotee turns inward, that is our connection with Krishna.
That is what we do through our sadhana, through our puja. So, through our sadhana, there is an inward connection. And through our seva, there is an outward contribution.
maam anusmara yudhyaja The anusmara is the inward connection. The yudhyaja, the fight, that is the outward connection. This is how for a devotee, Vrindavan and Kurukshetra both exist together.
That inside our heart, by relishing Krishna’s pastime, we try to develop the love of Vrindavan. But the outer world is a place of conflict, is a place of difficulty, is a place of challenge. The devotee just wants to glorify Krishna constantly.
And internally, we can do that. But no, we also want to do it externally. We want to do something for Krishna in this world.
And that is why yudhyaja, determination is required. Because the world outside is not an easy place. There are conflicts.
Again, just taking care of our family, doing our job. All these can be done in the mood of service to Krishna. And of course, helping those who are studying Krishna’s mission, sharing Krishna’s message, we can contribute directly to that.
It is through that, we develop the mood of Radharani’s selfless service. And in that mood, then as we become more and more purified, and hear Radhakrishna’s pastimes, those pastimes will enrich and empower our heart. And help us one day enter into those pastimes internally.
To summarise, what I discussed today, talked about three main points of Radharani’s life. First I talked about, do you remember the three points? First was the position. So this position we talked about, how Radharani is a part of the divine couple.
She’s the female member of the divine couple. She’s also, she is the greatest devotee. But she’s not just the greatest devotee, she’s also the source of all devotion.
That when we make the shift from the material to the spiritual, in trying to offer our love. So it is not just that we have the push principle. We try to push ourselves towards Krishna.
Krishna is here. But actually, like Radharani’s mercy, that comes to us. And where we are, Radharani’s mercy by that, the gravity pull comes.
Of Radharani, it pulls us up. That is, our devotion manifested by her mercy. So it’s a full principle that raises up.
And then we discussed elaborately about the pastimes. So we discussed four levels. S was what? Selection.
We saw how Radharani, she just wanted to see Krishna alone. Nothing else as her first sight. And A was? Attraction.
This is how Radharani is attracted to the flute, the fragrance, and the form. Individually, separately. And then it was great relief and joy that all four are coming the same person.
So the idea that even one aspect of Krishna can be so attractive as to conquer our heart. And C was? Commitment. Commitment.
We discussed how Radharani, she voluntarily served Krishna. She offered little service to Krishna. And what happened was, she got a much bigger seva.
When Krishna came, she cooked some items for Krishna. And she showed that my life is so much that it will become itself a gift. The fruit of seva is that we get more seva.
And R was? Renunciation. So the renunciation is that, that the gopis are ready to be misunderstood. See the path of bhakti, the renunciation can go at various levels.
First we give up the bad things. Then we may have to give up the good things. Good things at the gross level.
But then the most difficult is to give the good things, give up at the subtle level also. So we give charity, but we give up the hope that our charity, the expecting the charity will give us the prestige and good reputation. So the gopis are ready to be misunderstood that the parakiya bhav means they do not get respectability.
They do not even get the company of Krishna when Krishna goes away. Still, the gopis never give up Krishna. And especially, Radharani’s renunciation is that she doesn’t want Krishna’s company alone.
She risks losing Krishna. She doesn’t want to give up her sakhis, her gopis. And at one level, Krishna is a spiritual guru, but Krishna is supremely a spiritual guru.
And then lastly, we discuss the principle. The principle of course here is that we discuss here one principle, love and separation. They are like, it depends.
Separation, love is like a fire and separation is like the wind. The fire is large, the wind stretches. For Radharani, separation increases her love.
And for us, if our fire is small, it may decrease her love. So we don’t ask her to choose separation, but the principle that we apply is that for us, these exalted pastimes, we want to learn the principle of service, selfless service, sacrifice. So the more we do this, through selfless service, we understand Radha Bhava.
It is not Radha Bhava is essentially, it can be very easily misunderstood to be sensual or even immoral. And that can lead to a lot of misunderstanding. That’s why we don’t prematurely hear those pastimes.
But by cultivating a move of service, just as Srila Prabhupada had cultivated, so we will be able to bring closer to Krishna. So our bhakti, our devotion, there’s an inward connection and there’s an outward contribution. So inward through our sadhana, we connect with Krishna and through our seva, we try to share Krishna with others.
So in this way, we will gradually all approach Radha Bhava. So let us continue with one prayer to Radharani. So this is a prayer from the Puranas.
I’ll just repeat the prayer and you can repeat after me. This is the truth. This indeed is the truth.
That without the mercy of Radharani, Krishna cannot be attained. The Lord Krishna cannot be attained. So in the mode of Radharani’s devotion, this is one of my latest books.
This is Prayers Inspired by Bhagavad Gita. I’ve been writing on the Bhagavad Gita for many years. But I felt that I was writing too analytically.
So I tried to approach it more prayerfully. So in this book, there are about 122 prayers. Each prayer is based on one verse from the Gita.
The beautiful picture of the deity of Krishna. And there are prayers for occasions when we feel lonely or abandoned by others. Prayers when our desires are going wild and uncontrollable, when we are in directions of lost enjoyment.
And especially when we feel spiritually dry or disconnected from Krishna. So it’s a devotional way to approach the Gita. Many devotees have told me that really one prayer before they really chant it helps them to become absorbed in Krishna.
And this is more a book for new people. Gita for the CEO. However, there is a lot of interest in the corporate world to learn leadership lessons, life lessons, communication texts.
From Japan, Ikigai is becoming popular. Kanagiri’s stoicism is becoming popular. So HarperCollins is one of the biggest publishers in the world.
They wanted me to present the Gita in a similar way. So I’ve taken 10 principles based on the Gita. And like I was drawing some simple line diagrams.
With that, I have presented the Gita as a conversation between two people. Both in the corporate world, one who knows the Gita and one who wants to know the Gita. And it’s a national bestseller in India.
And it’s a very accessible way to introduce people who may not be ready or capable of directly appreciating the message of the Gita. So it’s not only for CEOs. It has practical life lessons for everyone.
Ultimately, each one of us is meant to be a CEO of our own life. So these books will be available. And I will be happy to answer any questions or to sign the books if you want.
Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.

View Details

• Home
• Audio Lectures It’s not here. It’s not in this way.
  Hare Krishna. Today morning is the extremely auspicious day of the appearance of Srimati Radharani. And on the occasion of Radha Ashtami, we are discussing the Srimad Bhagavatam.
  This is the verse where there is an indirect reference to Radharani. And within this reference we have… Okay, what are we doing? Am I audible to everyone clearly? Okay, thank you. So, on this occasion we are discussing today about the only verse in the Srimad Bhagavatam where there is a reference to Krishna, to Radharani as described indirectly in the Bhagavatam.
  So, I’ll talk about three broad things today. I’ll talk about the position of Radharani. Then I’ll talk about the revelation of Radharani as it comes in this Bhagavatam.
  And then finally we’ll talk about the disposition of Radharani, her love and how we can aspire for that. So, in the world, there are many different conceptions of divinity. And within these conceptions of divinity, there are always contestations.
  Contestations means that if God is like this, why is God not like that? So, for example, generally God is depicted as male. So, if God is male, then why is God not female? If God is female, why is He not male? So, there are some traditions where God is depicted as female. But what the bhakti tradition says is that if we consider, we will, in the first point of the position of Radharani, we will be moving in increasingly concentric circles.
  So, if we consider broadly in world theology, then we’ll talk about Vedic theology, then we’ll talk about Vaishnava theology, then we’ll talk about Gaudiya Vaishnava theology. And that’s where we’ll talk about the revelation of Radharani. So, it’s like we zoom in closer and closer and closer as we try to understand what is the nature of God.
  So, in general, there is some higher controlling being. And that higher controlling being is organising the affairs of this world. That’s a broad understanding of God.
  Generally here, God is often seen as male, prominently. And occasionally, God may be seen as female. But either way, when we ask, is God male or female? It’s a very anthropocentric view that I am the centre.
  Why should God be like this and not like this? So, I’ve written an article on this topic. Before we can understand whether God is male or female, we need to understand that we are neither male nor female. We need to rise beyond the bodily conception.
  We are souls and the soul does not have a biological gender. But then, now we go to the Vedic conception. Among all the world’s traditions, in the Vedic conception, the Goddess is often an object of worship.
  There are many Goddesses and they are all considered powerful in their own ways. Now, in the Goddess, they have broadly two moods. There is the gentle mood and the angry mood.
  So, for example, Parvati is considered to be in the gentle mood. When she is with Lord Shiva, she is considered to be in the gentle mood. When she is with Durga, and especially when she becomes Kali, she is considered to be in a very angry mood.
  Parvati is smiling and giving benedictions. But when she is Kali, she is wearing a garland of skeletons. She is stamping on demons.
  She is fierce. She is powerful. She can be deadly.
  There are times when the various Gods go and seek help from her because certain demons cannot be killed by anyone else. So, that is the conception of the Goddess in the Vedic tradition. And she is extremely powerful.
  Now, if you consider, in the Vaishnava tradition, the prominent focus is on the divine couple. Now, we could say this is to some extent there in the Vedic tradition also. But like I said, in the Vedic tradition, the Goddess is sometimes worshipped separately.
  Like Durga temples, it is not necessary that there is Shiva over there in Durga temple. In Kali temple, it is Kali alone. So, Sitaram or Lakshminarayan or Radhakrishna.
  So, this is the idea of a divine couple. And in this divine couple, see, in the divine conception, nowadays we have the idea of gender equality, which is fair enough. There should not be discrimination against anyone which leads to exploitation.
  But in the divine conception, it is not so much gender equality as gender complementarity. Complementarity means that what happens is that Lord Ram is the supreme being, but Sita is respected more than him. Sitaram, that’s why we say Radhakrishna.
  Now, while there is a great emphasis on the Goddess as the divine counterpart, but in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, something more happens. If you go into the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, that when we consider Radhakrishna, there are many things which are, right now we are talking about the position of Radharani. There are three distinctive differences in the Gaudiya Vaishnava revolution of divinity.
  What is happening is that when we talk about Radharani, the first thing is, it is as Chaitanya Chaitanya Tamboodh says, that Ek Atma Dui Vapudhari, that Radha and Krishna, at one level, they are two persons. But at another level, they are one person. Anyonya Leelakari, so it is one supreme person that manifests as Radha and that manifests as Krishna.
  And then the two of them later come together. Who did they come together as? A Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Shri Krishna Chaitanya, Radhakrishna Nahi Anya.
  But the idea is that there is one ultimate reality that manifests as two. So now the two play different roles. But in this understanding, it is not that Radharani is just the counterpart of Krishna.
  She is not just the consort of Krishna. She is not a competitor divinity either. She is basically that same one ultimate reality, manifest.
  This is Krishna is manifest, Radharani is also manifest. So this is the first difference that Radharani and Krishna are both one being in two bodies. Now this is not said simply in a metaphorical sense.
  It is said in a philosophical sense. What is the difference between metaphorical and philosophical sense? Metaphorical means when two people are in romantic love with each other or at least the initial stage when the romantic love is very, the hormones are high, the honeymoon phase as they call it. That time people said we two are one.
  These two people like one soul in two bodies. Now there are two souls, there is no one soul over there. That is at a metaphorical way of saying it.
  But when with respect this is said, this is not metaphorical, this is philosophical. It is a philosophical, specifically an ontological reality. It is a nature of reality that Radharani and Krishna are one and the same person.
  But they are manifesting in different moods. The other thing distinctive about Radharani that is distinct to the Gaudiya tradition. Now there are hints of this in other traditions.
  But the other distinctive thing especially is that Radharani is not just the consort of Krishna. She is not just the counterpart of Krishna. She is not just the God.
  She is the reservoir of all devotion. She is the reservoir of all devotion. Now there are references to this indirectly in the Puranas.
  But in the Gaudiya Vishnu tradition this is especially emphasised that all devotion that anyone has that comes from Radharani. So just like Krishna is both a person and a principle. Krishna is a vyakti and Krishna is a tattva.
  So to think of Krishna only as a person would reduce him to a person at our human level. To consider Krishna only to a principle would make him impersonal. So Krishna is not just a person and he is not just a principle.
  He is both. Similarly Radharani is also both a person and a principle. So as a person she is fully the consort of Krishna and she is completely absorbed in Krishna.
  And generally when we focus on the Leela we focus on her as a person. But now as a person we can say she is the exalted devotee. She is the greatest devotee.
  And we will soon talk about why she is the greatest. One understanding not why. One understanding why she is the greatest devotee.
  But what we will do is what we are focussing on right now is this understanding of her as a principle. Principle means what? That there is Radha tattva. There is Radha as a vyakti and there is Radha as a tattva.
  And there are many aspects of the tattva but this is that she is the ladhini shakti. And now what does the ladhini shakti mean? The ladhini shakti does two things. So if Krishna is here, Radharani is here and let’s put all the jivas right now as a collective.
  Each jiva is individual. So we will have countless jivas over here like that. But the jivas as a collective.
  So the ladhini shakti that is Radharani as a principle So ladhini shakti does two things. She gives pleasure to Krishna. She gives pleasure to Krishna.
  And the second she does is that she nourishes the heart of the devotees. So Radharani as the ladhini shakti as the ladhini shakti what she does is she nourishes the heart of the devotees. So what does nourishing the heart of the devotees mean in this context? It means that ultimately the heart is nourished by love.
  When we use the word heart here it is used in a metaphorical sense not in literal sense. We are not talking about the biological organ that pumps blood. We are not talking about nourishing that heart.
  We are talking about the seat of emotions that is there inside us. And the heart is nourished by love. When we say I am heart broken or you broke my heart.
  If one person says to another you broke my heart. Let’s do an x-ray to see if your heart is broken. Now your head is going to be broken.
  So there is when we talk about things there is a non-literal level at which we talk. So we say Radharani nourishes the heart nourishes the heart with what? With love, with devotion. So she is the source of all devotion.
  So Radharani is not why is this important to understand? The same point this might be a little philosophical but this will create a good foundation. See about God himself there are two conceptions. One is God is the best of all beings.
  Hiranyakashipu has this conception that there are many beings and their highest the most powerful among them is God. So for example if a tennis competition is going on there is a number one player. There are many players, there is a number one player.
  But if some other player wins sufficient matches and their points increase then this player can become number one. So Hiranyakashipu is thinking that if I do enough austerity then I will become God. So this is the idea that God is the best of all beings.
  This is Hiranyakashipu’s conception. But what Prahlad tells him is that God is the basis of all being. He is not just the best of all being.
  This is true but a more complete reality is that he is the basis of all being. Nothing exists without him. And that’s why he is not just being smart and cheeky when he tells Hiranyakashipu Hiranyakashipu asks what is the source of your strength? And he says that the source of my strength is the same as the source of your strength and the same as the source of the source of your strength.
  That is Brahma’s strength. So he is not just being over smart over there. He is trying to change Hiranyakashipu’s conception that God is not just a hierarchy of being with God at the top.
  God is the basis of all being. So similarly Radharani is not just the best of all devotees. She is the basis of all devotion.
  Whoever has any devotion it all comes from Radharani. So yes she is the topmost devotee. But even the devotion of Yashodamayi comes from Radharani.
  And that is the reason even in a song which is largely about, that is one reason even in a song which is almost entirely about Vatsalyaras that is Damodarashtakam there at the end Satyavrat Muni, what does he add? Radhikaya namo radhikaya tvadhiya priyaya So he adds that reference to Radharani that all devotion that anyone has comes from Radharani. So if you go back to this idea of Ladini Shakti what this means is that when we try to serve Krishna we often give the example that Krishna is like the root of the tree and when we water the root what happens? All the parts get watered. So when we serve Krishna we also get nourished.
  In fact in giving we get that is general principle but in giving to Krishna we get all the more, we are nourished. That is true. But how does that link happen? That service that we do that service pleases Krishna and that service brings contentment brings enrichment to our heart.
  So both these things are done by the grace of Srimati Radharani. So Radharani is the link who does both these things. The satisfaction of Krishna the satisfaction of Krishna is like the water going to the root of the tree.
  See I may intend to put water at the root of the tree but if the sun is very hot the water may evaporate before it reaches the root also. Or if underground there is some some kind of flooring or something which does not allow water to pass through it may not reach the root. So the water has to reach the root and when it reaches the root from there it will go to the various parts.
  So it is Radharani who ensures that the water reaches the root and then the water goes to the parts. So Radharani plays a critical role in the seva that is done by anyone. So this is the second aspect of Radharani’s revelation in the Gaudiya tradition is firstly that Radharani is non-different from Krishna that it is the same divine person.
  Second is that Radharani while she is God the difference is that she is the basis of all devotion. She is the source of all devotion. The third point that is distinctive in the Gaudiya tradition with respect to Radharani is that the emphasis on Parakiras.
  Now this is a slightly complicated statement, concept and to call it slightly complicated is a slight understatement. It is a very profound concept and the Parakiras is the idea that Radharani and Krishna are in one sense not officially formally married and quite often when this is there the question of is it immoral comes up. But the focus of the Bhagavatam and the focus of the Gaudiya tradition is not on the aspect of immorality.
  The focus is on the idea of selfless Now we may selfless and immoral actually immorality is generally considered very selfish you know you give up morality because you want some quick pleasure. But the idea is the Bhagavatam has a particular theme going on and generally when we talk about love now love can sometimes be one way love can be unrequited but if you want a loving relationship that cannot be one way that has to be reciprocal that has to be two way still even when there is a loving relationship it is two way it is meant to be reciprocal but what causes often pain in any relationship is if there is no proper reciprocation if I do a lot for you and you do only a little for me then I may start thinking why am I in this relationship what am I doing over here so normally we expect reciprocation so the theme of the Bhagavatam which leads to this particular past time the revelation of Radharani’s glory eventually is that normally when we turn towards God the Vedic approach and this is the general approach of any tradition any theistic tradition is that if I am here and God is here if I do a little for God God will do a lot for me that is general idea we say that say for example the common theme is that if you give some charity to God that charity will come back to you multiple times it may come back in the form of wealth in this life, it may come back in the form of wealth in the next life, now we often talk about the idea of eternal bank account that we are trying to save in this world but all accounts none of them are going to carry with us, the idea of eternal bank account is there so normally it is emphasised that when we serve God God will not just reciprocate He will reciprocate manifold times now this is talked both initially in material terms say in terms of charity it is also talked in spiritual terms in terms of if we take one step towards Krishna, Krishna takes 10 steps or 100 steps or 1000 steps it depends on how ecstatic the devotee is in speaking these things so but generally the idea is Krishna reciprocates so much and this is true Krishna does reciprocate but as I said in any relationship the tension comes when there is very little or no reciprocation at that time how much is the love how much is the service how much is the dedication that comes up say normally Prabhupada would give the example that a parent’s love for the child is or a mother’s love for a newborn baby is the closest we may get to selfless love that the mother cares for the baby now it is not completely selfless because there are times when when the parents also have expectations from their children they will do this, they will do that even if they don’t take care of us in old age they will at least spread our good name that whatever, there is an expectation but suppose parents have a child, say who is autistic not just autistic but high on the autistic spectrum the child is never going to go and become famous and going to do some glorious things and expand the glory of the parents now at that time then the the degree, the dedication in terms of the love of the parents will be tested because there the child is not really going to reciprocate of course not in the normal way that we can understand so when there is lack of reciprocation that is when love is tested now of course in the case of an autistic child we understand the child is just not capable of reciprocating but when the other person is capable of reciprocating and doesn’t reciprocate that is the time do you even care for me? do you even love me? why am I doing all this? so that is generally when we put something in the relationship we expect something from that relationship that is just natural and this is not necessarily selfish see the expectation of reciprocation is foundational to a relationship so reciprocation does not make a relationship or expectation of reciprocation does not make a relationship necessarily immediately mundane or material it is what is the mode of the reciprocation is the reciprocation transactional or is it transformational transactional means what? that when the reciprocation is transactional when we go to a shopkeeper we give some money and we buy something if there is a personal checkout counter we may not even notice who the person is we are just interested in whether our products come properly to us or not so transactional there is give and take but there is no meaningful contact or connection between the people now in a transformational reciprocation what happens is that one I do something for you you do something for me and the result is that both of us come closer to each other so that is a transformational relationship so reciprocation is always there reciprocation is natural Krishna also talks about Krishna talks about principle of reciprocity now in the case of our relationship with Krishna our relationship is tested especially when there seems to be no reciprocation from Krishna now we may be told oh you know you are not able to see how Krishna is reciprocating you know Krishna has his own plan and Krishna’s plan will work in his own way and all that is true these are not just platitudes they are truths but still when we don’t see any reciprocation from Krishna that is the time the relationship is tested in the bhakti sutras as well as when Bhishma speaks this in the Mahabharata this theme comes up what is the test of love when there is every relationship for a relationship to break and still the relationship does not break now it is not a relationship like a rope that is going to break that means when there is any every relationship for a relationship every reason for a relationship to be ended to be broken and still one does not break the relationship now that is a sign of love now when we are talking about every relationship break a relationship we are not talking about abuse and exploitation and that kind of thing but what we are talking about is that when in this case when one person is doing a lot for the other person and then what is the other person doing when there is non reciprocity that is the great test of love so now in the case of Radharani now that is where we are talking about the glory of her love the parakiya bhava which will be discussed about in this past time as we move forward that when the gopis are not married to Krishna so in this particular case I said the common way of looking at it is oh it is immoral why is Krishna doing this and yes that is a valid question to ask but the emphasis of the Gaudiya tradition is that normally we consider this as a conservative society relatively speaking and when a woman gets married a woman has in most traditional societies she gets the name of the husband and the respect and the influence and all that increases so the queens of Rindha, queens of Dwarka they are officially married to Krishna so through their relationship with Krishna they get the respectability that marriage provides but the gopis they are not married to Krishna so in that sense they are giving themselves to Krishna but they are not getting that respectability that comes from marriage and in spite of that they are ready to give themselves to Krishna so there is moral and below that is immoral but above the moral is trans-moral trans-moral is transcendental morality so the gopis are not doing something immoral, what they are doing is trans-moral that they the whole setting that is made of parakiya bhaav is that the gopis give themselves to Krishna and they get nothing in return from Krishna now not only do they not get the selflessness when you talk about the love of the gopis for Krishna the selflessness in two ways they don’t get the respectability of marriage but you may say I just want to be with you I don’t care whether we are married or not but then what happens they don’t get even the company of Krishna why? Krishna leaves Vrindavan and goes away and then they you could say they have ruined me and you have abandoned me now you have ruined me socially you have ruined me emotionally the gopis are heartbroken so even then when there is every reason for the gopis to turn against Krishna they do not do that so that is the glory of the love of the gopis, now of course this is at an external level at an external level when Krishna leaves what happens the gopis are socially and emotionally they are wrecked they are ruined but of course it’s not that simple there is much more going on over there Krishna is not any ordinary person Krishna is God and even when Krishna leaves Krishna does not leave it is said that Krishna actually when we remember Krishna remembrance of Krishna is in two forms there is Smriti and there is Poorthi Smriti is our conscious or even conscientious remembrance of Krishna that means we try to fix our mind on Krishna it goes here, there this is like conscientious remembrance and this is what Sadhana Bhakti is all about but apart from that there is spontaneous remembrance it spontaneously manifests so when Poorthi comes it is that even without any stimulation suddenly we become absorbed in Krishna forget everything else so in romantic movies sometimes when people are separated there are flashbacks so you know flashback means that suddenly there was one place some stimulus comes that reminds them of something and they are completely lost so now this is it generally happens with respect to if somebody is very invested or attached in a material relationship and that can be distracting and all that but in the devotional case when this happens, when this Poorthi comes it is considered a great blessing it is considered actually very rare suddenly spontaneously the remembrance of Krishna comes and transports us to some other place normally even Kirtans Kirtans are wonderful but then we have to absorb ourselves we have to focus, we have to absorb ourselves then we feel the transportative experience Katha, also some of the Katha can transport us but it takes time, it takes attention but when this happens spontaneously then it is very rare and very special so it is described that Krishna entered into the Gopi’s heart and thus the Gopis after Krishna left they would have constant Poorthi of Krishna so in that sense Krishna never abandoned the Gopis because Krishna is different from any ordinary person, Krishna is God so the remembrance of Krishna also at one level is non different from Krishna the remembrance of Krishna is almost as good as Krishna the Gopis don’t feel it that way they still want to be with Krishna but they experience extraordinary enrichment although they are externally in agony in separation from Krishna internally they are so absorbed in Krishna seeing that absorption when Uddhava comes there to Vrindavan Uddhava sees that and he is completely stunned what is he stunned he has learned a lot of philosophy and by learning all that philosophy he has understood Krishna is the ultimate reality, he has understood how we should cultivate remembrance of Krishna and he has dedicated himself to cultivating remembrance of Krishna but when he sees the Gopis he sees the level of bhava they have the level of absorption they have, the kind of samadhi they are in he is just outstruck completely so that is the mercy of Krishna so in the case of Gopis apparently there is non reciprocity but actually there is reciprocity but it’s more of a we could say this is when Krishna departs it’s not non reciprocity it is invisible or intangible reciprocity it is Krishna is not with them in that sense what is Krishna doing but Krishna giving them this spoorthi is invisible reciprocity so let’s focus on this particular pastime now which we are discussing that here Krishna has called the Gopis we are right now in the 10th canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam 29 to 33 this is the Ras Panchadhyay and the 29 chapter Krishna calls the Gopis Krishna’s call comes over here Krishna’s call and the Gopis response Gopis leave everything they leave everything and go to Krishna now when they go to Krishna there is a slight discussion between Krishna and then the second chapter is the Gopis search for Krishna because Krishna has disappeared the next chapter will be one of the most beautiful chapters that is the song of separation of the Gopis, the Gopi Geet comes up then there is finally the 32nd chapter will be the return of Krishna and the talks between Gopis and Krishna and then finally the last chapter will be the Rasa dance this is how these 5 chapters unfold so right now we are in this chapter so the Gopis are searching for Krishna and while they are searching for Krishna Krishna is preparing to dance with the Gopis, they just started dancing and suddenly Krishna disappears what happened? where did Krishna go? we have fasted for a long time and there is a delicious feast, maybe some item that we like I will not mention the item, whatever it is some item we like and we want to savour it and we take a little bit of that item and we close our eyes and we are savouring it and we savour it and we stretch out our hand and the plate is gone where did the plate go? what happened? so the Gopis are savouring Krishna’s presence so Krishna is with us and suddenly Krishna just goes with no explanation what happened? where did he go? so when Krishna just disappears like that the Gopis are agitated, what happened? where did he go? they start searching for him and when they are searching for him, they are on that search and now they have come to a particular place so in this particular purport there is an elaborate discussion of the marks on the feet of Radharani now the context is that the Gopis see that there are two sets of footprints over there so they notice Krishna’s footprint and they start following it, where did Krishna go? and they see there is somebody with Krishna and that person the Gopis are talking about that this person whoever she is she must have done some unparalleled service to Krishna that the way she has served Krishna is significant that the way they are using the words over here so they are not saying that oh she has given pleasure to Krishna they have worshipped Krishna so the Madhuri Rasa is a very intimate rasa and in that yes there is the highest pleasure is there but when Krishna disappears at that time the jolt of Krishna’s disappearance reminds the Gopis that Krishna is God, are the Gopis forgetting Krishna is God? they don’t forget it ever but it is that that’s not what they are conscious of the example given by the Acharyas is that in the day time also the stars are there in the sky but the sun is so bright that we don’t see the stars we don’t sense their light like that for the Gopis and for the Vrajavasis in general the love for Krishna Krishna is our Lord, Krishna is the heart throb of Vrindavan that love for Krishna as a fellow Vrajavasi is so prominent that the knowledge that is like the sun in the day time, because of that the knowledge of Krishna’s divinity goes into the background, it’s like the stars in the sky but when the sun disappears then oh! the stars are there so sometimes they are jolted out of their intimacy, the Madhurya and the Aishwarya comes out so they are reminded of the Aishwarya it is there but it goes in the background so now in this verse, largely it’s in the mood of Aishwarya they are Anyaradhitonoonam they are using the word Aradhita that she has worshipped Krishna like no one else and they are also not using the word Krishna, they are using very reverential names for Krishna Bhagwan Haririshvara they use the word that he is Bhagwan, he is the Supreme Lord he is Hari he is the person who can take everything away, he is Aishwarya now of course they will also use a very intimate name immediately Govinda Govinda is the next verse, next chapter also this theme the Gopis know Krishna is God but still they also know Krishna is our Lord, Krishna is our lover, Krishna is our beloved they have that intimate relationship so in one way in one verse the Gopis will say Krishna, you destroyed the Kaliya demon that you just crushed Kaliya and just a few verses later they will say that Shila Trunankurai Sita Tithina they will say that we are terrified by the thought that the twigs and the pebbles and the thorns in the forest of Vrindavan will pierce your tender lotus feet and that thought is ripping our heart apart now if Krishna has smashed the hoods of Kaliya the fangs of Kaliya are far more dangerous than the thorns so they know that Aishwarya Gyan is there, Krishna is so powerful but the Madhuri rides over but Krishna, your feet, they will get injured so like that Bhagwan Haririshwara is there but along with that, Govinda Govinda is Krishna’s name in Vrindavan Pritoyam Anayadra so she must have pleased him in an exceptional way and therefore Krishna has Anayadra, taken her alone to a secluded place now the word Aradhito refers to worshipped but also refers to the fact that this is indirect reference to Radharani so what happens I will make two more points and then we will conclude so how much time do we have? one minute, ok I cannot make two points in one minute but here it is described when Krishna takes Radharani away the theme is that Krishna is actually taking Radharani to glorify Radharani but it is not just Krishna taking Radharani away to glorify Radharani, the Gopis when they see that it might seem, oh who is this special person whom Krishna has taken away the Gopis also know that Radharani’s love is more than the love of anyone else but when Radharani goes with Krishna she is initially happy, oh Krishna is only with me but immediately she thinks, but what about all the other Sakhis they will be devastated that Krishna is not with them and that’s why even when she is with Krishna she can’t enjoy Krishna’s association and that’s why she slows down she makes various excuses Krishna I am very tired Krishna can you get this flower Krishna let us look at this beautiful tree and that way she is slowing Krishna down so that all the other Gopis will catch up so Radharani she is with Krishna and Krishna has selected her but she does not forget the other Sakhis now in this way Radharani also shows the selflessness of her love so she wants to she wants to be with Krishna but she doesn’t want to be with Krishna at the cost of depriving others and it is this love of Radharani and the love of the Gopis that eventually pleases Krishna so much that Krishna says that I cannot repay you I cannot so while in the Bhagavatam’s revelation Radharani is one among the Gopis she is special among the Gopis but in the Gaudiya Vaishnava’s revelation she is the source of the devotion of all the Gopis and her devotion is such that she wants everyone else to also delight in their devotion and that was the mood that Shila Prabhupada manifested Shila Prabhupada when he came to America at the age of 70 that was Prabhupada’s father in his childhood he said I want my son to become a devotee of Radharani that’s why he wanted his son to learn Mrudanga Prabhupada did not talk so much about Radharani but Prabhupada had that mood Prabhupada was in Vrindavan with Krishna, Prabhupada could have been enjoying Krishna but Prabhupada left Vrindavan he went all over the world why? because he was concerned about others, he didn’t just want to enjoy Krishna alone, he wanted to share that joy of Krishna consciousness with everyone else the selflessness of Radharani’s love is not just that Krishna even if you give me nothing in return still I will keep serving you but the selflessness is also that Krishna I don’t want to enjoy your company alone I want everyone I want other Sakis to enjoy also so that selflessness is the mood of those who are trying to share Krishna consciousness that was the mood of Srila Prabhupada and the more we try to share Krishna with others the more we will be able to savour Krishna ourselves the more Krishna will enter into our own hearts so I will summarise what I discussed today I talked about the position of Radharani I talked about the revelation of Radharani and then I talked about the disposition of Radharani so in the position of Radharani I talked about the first thing was that how in the world theology, in the Vedic theology in Vaishnav theology and in Gaudiya Vaishnav theology so in the Gaudiya Vaishnav theology what is revealed is very special that God is male or female, God is sometimes female as the Goddess that God is a divine couple, male and female but in the Gaudiya Vaishnav theology what happens is, there is one God who manifests as the male and the female the second aspect is that Radharani is not just the is not just the topmost devotee the best devotee, she is the basis of all devotion and everybody’s devotion comes from her the third point we discussed was how Radharani and the Gopis ultimately, there is a completely selfless love that while it is the parakhiya, the focus is not on the immorality, it is in the selflessness, that the apparent non reciprocity the Gopis give everything to Krishna and Krishna apparently gives nothing to them but that non reciprocity is actually invisible reciprocity Krishna reciprocates by being with her, by being with them in the form of spurti, spurti rather and their disposition we discussed that the selflessness of Radharani and the selflessness of the Gopis selflessness of the Gopis is that they want Radha to be glorified and that’s why they act as if they are proud that Krishna will leave them and go away and Radharani’s selflessness is that that she doesn’t want to enjoy Krishna alone and she wants to be with Krishna she wants to have Krishna’s but not alone and this is the mood of outreach this was the mood of Shila Prabhupada and Prabhupada would say that the more we try to share Krishna consciousness with others the more we will be able to the more we share, the more we savour Krishna consciousness ourselves and we share and we savour this becomes the delightful cycle in which we enter more and more deeper in our relationship with Krishna so let us pray to Radharani for her blessings so that we can also develop a drop of the selflessness of her love and also become steady in smriti and eventually one day come to the level of spurti of spontaneous remembrance of Krishna Radhaashrami Mahamahotsav ki Shrimati Radharani ki Shila Prabhupada ki Tai Gaur Premanand

View Details

• Home
• Audio Lectures ओम

नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय। ओम नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय, ओम नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय।

गंतराष्ट्र मृग भागोतम् स्कन्द एक श्लोक, नौ श्लोक, नौ श्लोक… श्लोक 38 — क्या हम शब्दों का उच्चारण करते हैं?
नाम लिया… हम क्या करते हैं?
ठीक है, हम पाठ करते हैं।

शीत

विषीहीखतो विषीरणदं शाह। शतज परिपलता आतताई नौ में। मुकुंदः।

शत्ज अपरिपलता आतताईनों में। प्रसवं अभिसारमत्वदार्थम्।

विषिक ROs हतः — बाणों से घायल।
विशिर नवम शाह — बिखरे कवच वाला।
शतजः by wounds — परिप्लुतः, खून से सना।
आतताई — महान आक्रामक।
मे — मेरे।
प्रसवम् — क्रुद्ध अवस्था में।
मद वध अर्थम् — मुझे मारने के उद्देश्य से।

सहः भवतु — हो सकता है…

me — मेरा।
भगवन् — भगवान।
गतिः — गंतव्य।
मुकुंदः — जो मोक्ष देते हैं।
38
मुझे हिंदी में बोलना चाहिए और क्लास भी हिंदी में करना है, है न?

इस प्रकार से है। जो मोक्ष के दाता हैं, वे भगवान श्रीकृष्ण मेरी परम गति हों।
युद्ध क्षेत्र में मेरे पैने बाणों से बने घावों के कारण क्रुद्ध होकर उन्होंने मेरे ऊपर आक्रमण किया।
उनका कवच तितर-बितर हो गया और उनका शरीर खून से लथपथ हो गया था।

Read the purport also? हमें क्या करना चाहिए, जो सामान्यतः हम करते हैं?

We do, we read — but it’s a long purport.

ठीक है, वहां पहला पैराग्राफ आप पढ़ सकते हैं।

First paragraph read?

पर वहाँ तो एक ही paragraph है।

मैं एक पैराग्राफ पढ़ूंगी।
पहले 4–5 वाक्य — “astronomy feature” तक पढ़ सकती हूँ।

Ok ok. Of an enemy.

यह श्लोक पहले स्कन्द के नववें अध्याय का अड़तीसवां श्लोक है।
तात्पर्य में प्रभुपाद लिखते हैं — कुरुक्षेत्र के युद्ध क्षेत्र में भगवान कृष्ण तथा भीष्मदेव के आपसी व्यवहार अत्यंत रोचक हैं।
क्योंकि श्रीकृष्ण के कार्यकलाप अर्जुन के प्रति पक्षपातपूर्ण और भीष्म के प्रति शत्रुतापूर्ण लग रहे थे।
लेकिन वास्तव में यह सब कुछ महान भक्त भीष्मदेव के प्रति विशेष अनुग्रह दिखाने के लिए था।
ऐसे आचरणों की सबसे बड़ी विशेषता यह होती है कि भक्त शत्रु का अभिनय करके भगवान को प्रसन्न कर सकता है।

हौम

ज्ञानांध तमस से भरपूर नेत्रों में ज्ञान का अंजन लगाने वाले श्री गुरु को मेरा नमन।
“ज्ञानंति मिरंदस्य ज्ञानांजनः शलाका। चक्षुरुन्मीलितं येन तस्मै श्री गुरवे नमः।”

नमः ओं विष्णुपदाय कृष्णप्रेष्ठाय भूतले। श्रीमते भक्तिवेदान्त स्वामिन इति नामिने। नमस्ते सरस्वती देवि गौरवाणी प्रचारिणि। निर्विशेष शून्यवादी पाश्चात्य देश तारिणि।

वांछितकल्पतरुभ्यश्च कृपा सिंधुभ्य एव च। पतितानां पावनेभ्यो वैष्णवेभ्यो नमो नमः।

जय श्री कृष्ण चैतन्य प्रभु नित्यानंद श्री अद्वैत गदाधर श्रीवासादि गौर भक्त वृंद। हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे। हरे राम हरे राम राम राम हरे हरे।

Wipro हम सबको मार्गदर्शन कीजिए ताकि हम आपके वचनों को समझ सकें और उन्हें अपने जीवन में लागू कर सकें। हरे कृष्णा, I am grateful. कृतज्ञ हूं कि आज आप सबके बीच में आने का अवसर मिला।

आज हम श्रीमद्भागवतम के पहले प्रमुख नाटकीय प्रसंग पर चर्चा कर रहे हैं। मैं यहाँ पर कुछ लिखकर समझाऊंगा।

जब भी मैं किसी एक श्लोक पर क्लास देता हूँ, तो मैं एक framework use करता हूँ — इसे इंग्लिश में कहते हैं “CIT”।
“CIT” का अर्थ है हमारी चेतना को व्यवस्थित रूप में समझाना।

• C — Context: यहां क्या चल रहा है?
• I — Implication: इसका क्या अर्थ है?
• T — Takeaway: हमारे लिए इससे क्या शिक्षा है?

तीन बिंदुओं पर हम चर्चा करेंगे आज।

तो अभी यहां पर क्या चल रहा है?

भागवतम में कुल कितने अध्याय हैं, किसी को पता है? हाँ, धन्यवाद। 335 अध्याय हैं।
कितने स्कन्ध हैं? — 12 स्कन्ध हैं।

पहला स्कन्ध चल रहा है।
पहले स्कन्ध में कितने अध्याय हैं? — उन्नीस अध्याय हैं।

जब भी कोई movie आती है, तो उसका trailer पहले आता है — कभी-कभी एक साल पहले, छह महीने पहले।
फिर असली movie आती है।

वैसे ही, पहले स्कन्ध में Chapter 7 से Chapter 15 तक दशम स्कन्ध का trailer है।
यहाँ भगवान श्रीकृष्ण की लीला की एक झलक मिलती है।
हालाँकि कृष्ण का उल्लेख हर स्कन्ध में होता है, लेकिन प्रमुख रूप से वह दशम स्कन्ध में आता है।

दशम स्कन्ध में कृष्ण लीला है,
ग्यारहवें स्कन्ध में कृष्ण शिक्षा — “उद्धव गीता” है।
यहाँ हमें कृष्ण लीला की एक झलक दी जा रही है।

तीसरे स्कन्ध में भी आता है — तीसरे अध्याय के प्रारंभ में।
जब उद्धव और विदुर मिलते हैं, वहाँ भी कृष्ण लीला का स्मरण होता है।
लेकिन यह पहली झलक यहाँ मिल रही है।

भागवतम का actual भाष्य (संपूर्ण प्रस्तुति) दूसरा स्कन्ध से शुरू होता है। दूसरे स्कन्ध की शुरुआत में पहला वचन सुखदेव गोस्वामी बोलते हैं।

तो फिर पहला स्कन्ध क्यों है?
पहला स्कन्ध एक तरह से “buildup” है — जैसे कोई बड़ी movie आने वाली हो तो उसके पहले excitement और setup किया जाता है।

तो यहाँ क्या हो रहा है?

भागवतम में पहले स्कन्ध में जिन दो व्यक्तियों के बीच संवाद होना है —
सुखदेव गोस्वामी और परीक्षित महाराज,
उनकी महिमा का वर्णन किया गया है।

सुखदेव गोस्वामी की महिमा बहुत संक्षेप में सातवें अध्याय के पहले कुछ श्लोकों में बताई जाती है।
कैसे व्यासदेव से भी अधिक वैराग्य उनके पास था।
उन्होंने सारे शास्त्रों का अध्ययन किया, फिर भागवतम की रचना की,
और उस भागवतम को सुनकर सुखदेव गोस्वामी इतने विरक्त हो गए कि माँ के गर्भ से बाहर ही नहीं आना चाहते थे।

जब बाहर आए, तो तुरंत सन्यास ले लिया, और फिर वापस अपने पिता से भागवत श्रवण के लिए आए।

भागवतम के वक्ता की महिमा का वर्णन यहाँ है।

परंतु पारंपरिक साधुओं का जीवन आम लोगों के लिए बहुत आकर्षक नहीं लगता —
सुबह उठना, पूजा, साधना…

आज के समय के साधु — जैसे विप्रो प्रभुजी या राधानाथ महाराज —
उनका जीवन थोड़ा अलग और adventurous होता है।

आज की दुनिया में, अगर कोई साधु अपनी autobiography लिखता है और कोई movie star या politician अपनी biography लिखता है —
तो आम जनता किसकी किताब पहले पढ़ेगी?

तो आम लोगों की अधिक रुचि वहीं होती है जो उनके लिए रोचक होता है।

अब यहाँ, शेष पूरे खंड में परीक्षित महाराज की महिमा का वर्णन किया जा रहा है, और उनकी महिमा को समझाने के लिए उनके पूर्वजों की महिमा का उल्लेख किया गया है — यह दिखाने के लिए कि वे कितने महान कुल में उत्पन्न हुए थे।

फिर यह बताने के लिए कि उनके साथ जो घटित हुआ — एक छोटी-सी गलती के लिए उन्हें इतना बड़ा श्राप मिला — वह कोई आकस्मिक या सामान्य घटना नहीं थी। यह कोई “random” चीज़ नहीं थी, बल्कि वे एक महान आत्मा थे। इसलिए यदि उनके साथ कोई दुर्घटना या दुर्भाग्य हुआ भी, तो वह केवल एक साधारण दुर्घटना नहीं है। उस घटना को समझाने के लिए संदर्भ दिया जा रहा है।

भागवतम की कथा एक तरह से महाभारत के अंत से प्रारंभ होती है।

महाभारत के अंत में सातवां अध्याय है — “The Son of Drona Punished”। यह शीर्षक भी अपने आप में रोचक है — वहाँ “Ashwatthama punished” नहीं लिखा गया है, बल्कि “The son of Drona punished” कहा गया है।

क्यों?
क्योंकि वैदिक संस्कृति में किसी व्यक्ति की पहचान केवल उसके कर्म से नहीं, बल्कि उसके वंश और कुल से भी होती है — वह कौन है, किस कुल से आया है। द्रोणाचार्य के पुत्र से ऐसे घृणित कार्य की अपेक्षा नहीं थी। और फिर द्रोणाचार्य पांडवों के गुरु थे — इसलिए अश्वत्थामा को दंड देना बहुत कठिन और विचारणीय था।

तो, महाभारत का युद्ध समाप्त हो चुका है, और वहीं से भागवतम कथा को आगे उठाया गया है।

यहाँ कथा की शुरुआत ऐसे होती है जैसे भगवद गीता की शुरुआत अर्जुन और कृष्ण के संवाद से होती है।
इसी तरह, अश्वत्थामा को दंड दिए जाने के बाद, कुंती महारानी की प्रार्थना का प्रसंग आता है।
कुंती प्रार्थना करती हैं, भगवान रुकते हैं, और तब तक युधिष्ठिर महाराज अपनी भावनाओं को रोक कर रखे होते हैं। पर जब कृष्ण रुक जाते हैं, तब वे टूट जाते हैं और कहते हैं — “मैं राज्य नहीं करना चाहता, मैं युद्ध नहीं करना चाहता।”

फिर उन्हें उपदेश देने के लिए वे सब भीष्म पितामह के पास जाते हैं।

महाभारत में कुल अठारह पर्व होते हैं और अठारह दिन का युद्ध होता है।
उसमें ग्यारहवां पर्व है — शांति पर्व, और बारहवां — अनुशासन पर्व।

इन दोनों पर्वों का अधिकांश भाग भीष्म और युधिष्ठिर के संवाद पर केंद्रित है।
ये पर्व इतने विस्तार से हैं कि अकेले ये दोनों पर्व पूरी महाभारत के अन्य भागों से बड़े हैं।

भागवतम में इन्हीं संवादों को बहुत संक्षेप में प्रस्तुत किया गया है क्योंकि भागवत का उद्देश्य “राजधर्म” नहीं, बल्कि “अंतकाल में नारायण का स्मरण” है — “अंतकाले नारायणस्मृति:”।

इसलिए यहाँ इन पर्वों का विस्तार नहीं किया गया।

अब मान लीजिए दो भक्त रथयात्रा से लौटते हैं — एक कथा में रुचि रखता है, दूसरा कीर्तन में।
जब उनसे पूछा जाएगा यात्रा कैसी रही, तो दोनों अलग बातें बताएँगे — एक कथा के अनुभव बताएगा, दूसरा कीर्तन के।

इसी तरह — वही प्रसंग (भीष्म-युधिष्ठिर संवाद) महाभारत और भागवतम दोनों में है, लेकिन दोनों में दृष्टिकोण अलग है।

महाभारत में यह “राजधर्म” की दृष्टि से बताया गया है, जबकि भागवतम में वही संवाद “भागवत धर्म” की दृष्टि से है।
इसलिए जहाँ महाभारत में इस पर हजारों श्लोक हैं, वहीं भागवतम में इसे केवल चार-पाँच श्लोकों में समेट दिया गया है।

इसके बाद हम पहुंचते हैं भीष्म की अंतिम प्रार्थनाओं तक — श्लोक 32 से 42 तक।

इन अंतिम श्लोकों में भीष्म पितामह की final prayers हैं, और ये भागवतम के मुख्य विषय — “अंतकाल में भगवान का स्मरण” — को प्रतिध्वनित करती हैं।

इससे पहले कुंती महारानी की प्रार्थना आई थी।
कुंती के लिए मृत्यु प्रत्यक्ष नहीं आई, परन्तु उनके वंश के लिए (परीक्षित के रूप में) वह आई।

भागवतम के पहले स्कंध के आठवें और नौवें अध्यायों में यह स्पष्ट होता है।

यहाँ तीन प्रमुख प्रार्थनाएँ मिलती हैं:

1. उत्तरा की प्रार्थना — बहुत संक्षिप्त, जहां वह कहती हैं:
   “हे महाभाग कृष्ण! मेरी संतान की रक्षा कीजिए।”
2. इसके बाद कुंती की प्रार्थना — विस्तृत रूप में।
3. और अब भीष्म की प्रार्थनाएँ।

उत्तरा की प्रार्थना का परिणाम क्या होता है? भगवान परीक्षित की रक्षा करते हैं — मृत्यु हो चुकी थी, फिर भी उन्हें नया जीवन मिलता है।
यह दर्शाता है कि परीक्षित कितने विशेष हैं।

कुंती की प्रार्थना — क्या वह सफल होती है?

प्रभुपाद लिखते हैं — कुंती की प्रार्थना का परिणाम “potential success” है।
भगवान मुस्कुराते हैं — वह हाँ भी नहीं कहते, ना भी नहीं कहते।

कुंती की प्रार्थना केवल इच्छा की अभिव्यक्ति नहीं है, वह इच्छा का विकास भी है।
शुरुआत में वे कहती हैं — “हे कृष्ण! आप हमारे साथ रहें, चाहे विपत्तियाँ ही क्यों न आएं।”

पर अंत में वे यह भी सोचती हैं कि — “अगर आप हमारे साथ रहेंगे, तो द्वारका वासी आपसे वंचित रहेंगे।”

फिर वे प्रार्थना करती हैं — “हे कृष्ण! मेरी आसक्तियाँ समाप्त कर दो, मेरी चेतना केवल आपकी ओर चली जाए।”

इसलिए अंत में वह कोई “request” नहीं करतीं, केवल भगवान को साक्षात प्रणाम करती हैं।

प्रार्थना क्या करती है?

कभी परिस्थिति बदलती है, कभी मनःस्थिति।

भीष्म पितामह की प्रार्थनाओं में कोई परिस्थिति बदलने की याचना नहीं है।

वे मृत्यु शैया पर हैं, पर न तो मृत्यु टालने की प्रार्थना करते हैं, न पीड़ा कम करने की।

उनका एकमात्र उद्देश्य है — “मैं अपने अंत समय में भगवान श्रीकृष्ण में पूर्ण रूप से एकाग्र रहूं।”

मान लीजिए, फिल्म में कोई दृश्य है — किसी के साथ दुर्घटना हुई है, दूसरा व्यक्ति बाहर बैठा है और flashback में सोचता है:
“हम वहाँ गए थे, ऐसा हुआ था…”

भीष्म पितामह अभी ठीक उसी स्थिति में हैं — वे अपने जीवन का flashback देख रहे हैं।

“स्मृति को खजाना बनाना – भक्ति की विधि”

तो यह जो flashback है — वह भीष्म पितामह अपने जीवन की उन प्रमुख यादों का स्मरण कर रहे हैं, जिनमें भगवान कृष्ण ने विशेष रूप से उनके जीवन में हस्तक्षेप किया था, या जिनमें कृष्ण की प्रमुख लीलाएं उनके समक्ष प्रकट हुई थीं।

जब हम कहते हैं कि “हमें भगवान का स्मरण करना चाहिए,” तो इसका तात्पर्य केवल यही नहीं कि हम जबरदस्ती याद करें, बल्कि स्मरण के लिए “यादें” होना भी आवश्यक है। यदि हमारे पास यादें ही नहीं होंगी, तो हम याद क्या करेंगे?

इसलिए स्मृति आवश्यक है।

भक्ति की जो संपूर्ण प्रक्रिया है, वह क्या है?
It is to make our memory into our treasury. हमारी जो स्मृति है, वही हमारा खजाना बने। हमारे हृदय में जो भगवान ने हमारे साथ किया है, जो हमने उनके विषय में सुना है, देखा है — वे सारी बातें हमारे मन में छवि बनाकर बस जाएँ — यही भक्ति का मार्ग है।

आज अधिकांश लोगों के लिए क्या होता है?
हमारी चेतना (consciousness) — यह शब्द हम बहुत प्रयोग करते हैं — वह कहीं न कहीं हमारी स्मृति से जुड़ी हुई होती है। पर चेतना को सुधारना क्या केवल एक भावनात्मक बात है? नहीं, यह बहुत ही व्यावहारिक भी है।

हमारी चेतना में जो आता है, वह दो स्रोतों से आता है:

1. जो हम बाहर से देखते-सुनते हैं — perceptions
2. जो हमारे भीतर पहले से बसा हुआ है — memories या impressions (संस्कार)

जैसे कि एक मोबाइल की स्क्रीन पर जो दिखता है, वह दो चीज़ों से निर्धारित होता है: एक — इंटरनेट या कैमरा के माध्यम से बाहर से क्या आ रहा है, और दूसरा — पहले से फोन में सेव किया हुआ क्या है।

ठीक उसी प्रकार, हमारी चेतना में जो सक्रिय होता है, वह बाहर से आने वाले बोधों और अंदर जमी स्मृतियों से आता है।

इसलिए जब किसी का अंतिम समय आता है, तो हम प्रयास करते हैं कि उनके आस-पास का वातावरण आध्यात्मिक हो। लेकिन केवल बाहर से मंत्र सुनवाने से क्या होगा?
अगर अंदर की स्मृति में — “मेरे बेटे का क्या होगा?”, “मेरी संपत्ति का क्या होगा?” — ऐसे विचार ही हैं, तो बाहर के आध्यात्मिक प्रेरणा भी उस तक नहीं पहुँचेगी।

इसीलिए भक्ति में कथा श्रवण इतना महत्वपूर्ण है। हाँ, बहुत कुछ हम भूल जाते हैं, लेकिन यदि एक-दो बिंदु भी हमें छू जाते हैं, और मन में उनकी छवि बन जाती है — तो वही छवि हमारे स्मृति का हिस्सा बन सकती है, और किसी भी उपयुक्त परिस्थिति में वह स्वतः जागृत हो सकती है।

अब इसका एक गहरा मनोवैज्ञानिक पक्ष भी है:

हमारी आसक्ति का एक सरल परीक्षण यह है:
What do we think of when we have nothing to think of? जब कोई विशेष विचार या कार्य नहीं होता — जैसे सीधा रास्ता ड्राइव करते समय, या अकेले बैठे हुए — तब हमारा मन कहाँ जाता है?

राजनीति की ओर?
पैसे की चिंता में?
या किसी के अपमान का बदला लेने की भावना में?

अगर हमारा मन भगवान की ओर नहीं जाता, तो हमें समझना चाहिए कि हमारी चेतना अभी संसार के रसों से ही रंगी हुई है। लेकिन यदि हम भगवान से आसक्त हो जाएँ, तो जैसे ही हमारे पास कोई और सोचने को नहीं होता, हमारा मन अपने आप भगवान की ओर जाएगा।

भक्त का मन ‘Absent-Minded’ नहीं होता, वह ‘God-Minded’ होता है। भागवतम में यह उदाहरण दिया गया है कि “भगवान का स्मरण हमारे मन का घर है।”
हम दिनभर काम करते हैं, बाहर जाते हैं, ज़िम्मेदारियाँ निभाते हैं — लेकिन अंत में हम घर लौट आते हैं। उसी तरह, चाहे हमारे जीवन में कितने भी विषय क्यों न हों, अंत में हमारा मन भगवान में लौट आए — यही है चेतना की पवित्रता।

भीष्म पितामह ने सैकड़ों युद्ध किए, अनेक विषयों पर चर्चा की — लेकिन अब, मृत्युशैय्या पर, वह कहते हैं कि उन्होंने अपनी चेतना उन सभी विषयों से खींच ली है, और उसे केवल भगवान में केंद्रित कर दिया है।
Thinking, Feeling, Willing — सब कुछ भगवान में लीन।

अब आते हैं उनके द्वारा की गई प्रार्थनाओं पर।

अगर हम भीष्म पितामह की प्रार्थनाएँ देखें, तो उनमें कुछ ही प्रसंग ऐसे हैं जहाँ भगवान के साथ उनका व्यक्तिगत संपर्क रहा है। यह हमें एक सन्देश देता है — भले ही हमारे जीवन में भगवान का प्रत्यक्ष सान्निध्य न हो, फिर भी हम उन्हें स्मरण कर सकते हैं।

उदाहरण: पहली प्रार्थना में — वह भगवान से निवेदन करते हैं कि मेरी सोच, भावना और इच्छा — सब कुछ आप में लीन हो जाए।
दूसरी प्रार्थना में — वह भगवान के रूप-सौंदर्य का वर्णन करते हैं — त्रिभुवन-कमनीयं तमाल-वर्णं… — शायद यह युद्ध के मैदान में कृष्ण को देखकर उनके मन में अंकित हो गया था।

हम जानते हैं कि किसी भी रिश्ते में एक विशिष्ट रस होता है — सम्मान, घनिष्ठता, हास्य आदि।
भीष्म पितामह और कृष्ण के बीच कुछ बहुत ही intense पर कम personal मुलाकातें हुई हैं, जैसे:

1. राजसूय यज्ञ के समय — जब शिशुपाल ने भीष्म का अपमान किया और कृष्ण ने उसका वध किया।
2. शांति प्रस्ताव के समय — जब कृष्ण हस्तिनापुर दूत बनकर आए।
3. कुरुक्षेत्र युद्ध — विशेषतः नवें दिन, जब कृष्ण ने क्रुद्ध होकर चक्र उठा लिया था।
4. मरण शैय्या पर — जब कृष्ण स्वयं उनके पास आए।

इन तीन-चार गहरे संपर्कों की स्मृति ने भीष्म पितामह की चेतना को इस प्रकार भर दिया कि अब वह भगवान को छोड़ और कुछ स्मरण नहीं कर पा रहे।

जब हम भागवतम में भीष्म की प्रार्थनाएँ पढ़ते हैं — तो हमें यह दिखाई देता है कि उन्होंने भगवान के विषय में सुना, देखा और अनुभव किया, और वह सब अब उनके अंतर्मन में बस चुका है। उन्होंने स्मृति को खजाना बना लिया है — memory has become treasury — यही भक्ति की पराकाष्ठा है।

तो जैसे क्रिकेट मैच में एक बल्लेबाज़ को चोट लग जाती है, तो कप्तान कहता है, “अभी तुम गेंदबाज़ी मत करो, कुछ मत करो।”
उसी तरह भीष्म ने भी युद्ध रोक दिया था।
तो उन्होंने यह सब देखा — और उसी का वर्णन दो श्लोकों में गीता में आता है।
तो यह जो प्रसंग है, वह दो श्लोकों में आता है।
उन्होंने अपने वचन छोड़ दिए ताकि मेरी प्रतिज्ञा पूरी हो सके।
इस प्रसंग में भगवान को “गतिर मुकुंदः” कहकर स्मरण किया गया है — ऐसे भगवान जिनका स्मरण मैं अंत समय में कर सकूं।

अब इस प्रसंग को मैं संक्षेप में कहूंगा, फिर टीका के माध्यम से इसे पूरा करेंगे।
आपको विस्तार में तो पहले से ही ज्ञात है, पर मैं यहां दो बातों पर ज़ोर दूंगा।

जब कोई कार्य कर रहा होता है, तो उसमें कई प्रकार की relational dynamics होते हैं।
यहां एक ओर भीष्म हैं, एक ओर अर्जुन, और कृष्ण सारथी के रूप में हैं।
अब जब कोई संबंधों में होता है, विशेषकर जब तीन लोग होते हैं, तो कभी एक व्यक्ति किसी की ओर देखकर किसी तीसरे के लिए कुछ कहता है।
तो इस प्रसंग में भी तीन मुख्य संबंध हैं:

1. कृष्ण और अर्जुन का संबंध
2. अर्जुन और भीष्म का संबंध
3. भीष्म और कृष्ण का संबंध

मुख्य युद्ध अर्जुन और भीष्म के बीच चल रहा है।
इसमें अर्जुन आधे मन से युद्ध कर रहे हैं, और भीष्म पूरे समर्पण से।
अर्जुन आधे मन से क्यों लड़ रहे हैं?
क्योंकि उनके लिए भीष्म पिता-तुल्य हैं।
उन्होंने जो धनुर्विद्या सीखी है, वह प्रारंभिक रूप से भीष्म से ही सीखी।

भले ही द्रोणाचार्य ने आगे चलकर ज़िम्मेदारी संभाली, पर पहले पांडवों को भीष्म ने ही दिशा दी थी।
तो अब अर्जुन उसी धनुर्विद्या का प्रयोग करके उसी गुरु-सदृश व्यक्ति से युद्ध कर रहे हैं — जिसे उन्होंने प्रसन्न करने के लिए वह विद्या सीखी थी।
यह उनके लिए अत्यंत पीड़ादायक है।

तो अर्जुन के लिए यह असंभव-सा है कि वह भीष्म पर पूरे मन से प्रहार करें।
पर भीष्म पूर्ण उत्साह से युद्ध कर रहे हैं।
क्यों?

क्योंकि वह यह दिखाना चाहते हैं कि कृष्ण अर्जुन की रक्षा के लिए क्या कुछ कर सकते हैं।
उन्हें अर्जुन को मारने में कोई रुचि नहीं है, पर वह पूरी शक्ति से युद्ध कर रहे हैं ताकि दुनिया देख सके कि कृष्ण अर्जुन के लिए कहां तक जा सकते हैं।

और यह केवल दुनिया को नहीं, बल्कि दुर्योधन को भी दिखाना है।
कई लोग पूछते हैं — भीष्म दुर्योधन के पक्ष में क्यों रहे?
एक कारण यह भी था कि भीष्म ने कभी यह आशा नहीं छोड़ी कि दुर्योधन बदल सकता है।

इसीलिए जब दसवें दिन वह गिरते हैं, तो युद्ध रुक जाता है।
पांडव और कौरव दोनों उनके पास आते हैं, यहां तक कि दुर्योधन की आंखों में भी आंसू आ जाते हैं।
और भीष्म पहली बात जो कहते हैं वह यह:

“हे दुर्योधन! अब तुमने देख लिया — जिसे कोई नहीं हरा सका, जिसे उसके गुरु भी नहीं हरा सके, उसे अर्जुन ने हरा दिया — क्योंकि उसके पक्ष में कृष्ण हैं।
जिसके पक्ष में कृष्ण हैं, उसे कोई नहीं हरा सकता। तो मेरी यह पराजय ही युद्ध का अंत बन जाए — Let my fall be the end of the hostilities.”

उनकी आशा थी कि दुर्योधन इस सत्य को देखकर परिवर्तित हो जाएगा।
दुर्भाग्यवश ऐसा हुआ नहीं।
फिर भी, भीष्म इस युद्ध में बड़ी ऊर्जा और उत्साह से लड़े ताकि कृष्ण का महत्त्व सबके सामने स्पष्ट हो।

पर अर्जुन चाहकर भी भीष्म पर प्रहार नहीं कर पा रहे थे — क्योंकि उनका मन स्वीकार नहीं कर रहा था।
इसलिए युद्ध उनके लिए half-hearted था।

अब कृष्ण और अर्जुन का जो संबंध है — उसमें कृष्ण अर्जुन की रक्षा कर रहे हैं।
उसी के तहत जब भीष्म पूरे बल से प्रहार करते हैं, तो कृष्ण रथ का पहिया उठाकर उन्हें रोकने आते हैं।

यह केवल अर्जुन के प्रति प्रेम नहीं है — यह भीष्म के प्रति प्रेम भी है।
क्योंकि कृष्ण भीष्म के वचन की रक्षा कर रहे हैं।

भीष्म ने दुर्योधन से वादा किया था कि वह पांडवों का वध करेंगे।
उन्होंने इसके लिए पांच बाण बनाए — जिन्हें कृष्ण युक्ति से अर्जुन को दिलवा देते हैं।
दुर्योधन कहता है: “आप पांच नए बाण बनाइए।”
भीष्म कहते हैं: “यह आसान नहीं है। इसमें मेरी सारी तपस्या समाहित है।”
फिर कहते हैं: “आज मैं अर्जुन का वध करूंगा, यदि कृष्ण स्वयं शस्त्र न उठाएं तो।”

तो कृष्ण ने यह देखा कि अर्जुन को बचाना है, और भीष्म का वचन भी निभाना है।
इसलिए उन्होंने स्वयं शस्त्र उठाया, जो उन्होंने पहले वचन दिया था कि नहीं उठाएंगे।
इस प्रकार, वह अर्जुन की रक्षा कर रहे थे — और साथ ही भीष्म के वचन की भी रक्षा कर रहे थे।

तो भले ही कृष्ण भीष्म पर आक्रमण करते हैं — फिर भी उनमें कोई क्रोध या द्वेष नहीं था।
बल्कि प्रेम था — एक आदरभाव, एक करुणा, एक स्नेह।

अब जब अंत समय आता है, तो कृष्ण भीष्म के प्रस्थान के लिए स्वयं उपस्थित होते हैं।
इस दृश्य में हमारे लिए क्या सीख है?

भीष्म प्रार्थना करते हैं:

“सब्भवतु मे भगवान गतिर मुकुंदः”

ऐसे भगवान मेरा अंतिम आश्रय बनें — मेरी बुद्धि, मेरी चेतना अंत समय में उन्हीं की ओर जाए।

अब भगवान के स्मरण के दो तरीके हैं:

1. भगवान की लीलाओं का स्मरण — जैसे कृष्ण ने गोकुल में क्या किया, कुरुक्षेत्र में क्या किया आदि।
2. अपने जीवन की घटनाओं में भगवान की भूमिका को देखना — कि हमारे जीवन में जो भी हुआ, उसमें कृष्ण कैसे हमारे साथ थे, कैसे उन्होंने हमारी रक्षा की, मार्गदर्शन किया।

जैसा शास्त्र में आता है:

ब्रह्मांड भ्रमिते कोन भाग्यवान जीव… — असंख्य जीवों में वही जीव धन्य है जिसे कृष्ण की कृपा और स्मरण का अवसर प्राप्त होता है।

तो अभी तक हम सब भौतिकता में उलझे हुए थे। शायद आप में से कुछ ही लोग होंगे जो सच में भगवान को ढूंढ रहे थे। पर सच तो यह है कि अधिकांश लोग भगवान को ढूंढ नहीं रहे थे — बल्कि भगवान के भक्त हमें ढूंढते हुए हमारे जीवन में आए। और इसी कारण हम भक्ति में आए — यही एक प्रकार का चमत्कार है, यही भगवान की कृपा है।

जब हम भगवान का स्मरण करते हैं, तो इसका अर्थ यह नहीं है कि हमें अपने जीवन के सारे कार्यों को छोड़ देना है और केवल भगवान की लीलाओं का स्मरण ही करना है। बल्कि हमें यह देखना है कि हमारे जीवन में भी भगवान ने कैसे कृपा की है। किस प्रकार उन्होंने हमें मार्गदर्शन दिया, हमारी रक्षा की, और हमारी सहायता की। भगवान हमें दिखाते हैं कि वह हमारे जीवन में कैसे उपस्थित हैं।

क्या भीष्म पितामह को यह पता था कि जब वह शरशय्या पर लेटे होंगे, तब भविष्य में भगवान स्वयं उनके पास आकर उपदेश सुनेंगे, और दूसरों को भी उनसे उपदेश दिलवाएंगे? शायद नहीं। पर उनकी यह इच्छा थी, उनका यह विश्वास था कि कृष्ण उनके जीवन में सक्रिय हैं। भीष्म देखना चाहते थे कि भगवान अपने भक्तों की रक्षा कैसे करते हैं, कैसे पांडवों का राज्याभिषेक होगा, कैसे धर्मनिष्ठ, भक्तिपूर्ण पांडवों को भगवान समृद्ध करेंगे।

भीष्म मृत्यु का वरण कभी भी कर सकते थे — पर उन्होंने अपने प्राण नहीं त्यागे, क्योंकि वह कृष्ण द्वारा दिए गए आश्वासन की पूर्णता देखना चाहते थे। वह देखना चाहते थे कि कृष्ण अपनी बात कैसे पूर्ण करते हैं।

तो अंत समय में, जो होता है — उसमें कृष्ण पांडवों की सफलता भी भीष्म को दिखा रहे हैं, और युधिष्ठिर को यह भी दिखा रहे हैं कि भले भीष्म का जीवन संघर्षों से भरा रहा, भले ही उन्होंने दुर्योधन का पक्ष लिया — शायद वह एक भूल थी, परंतु कृष्ण युधिष्ठिर को यह दिखा रहे हैं: “I have my devotees’ back. मैं अपने भक्तों का हमेशा संरक्षण करता हूं।”

अब युधिष्ठिर को लग रहा था कि शायद मैं राजा बनकर अधर्म कर रहा हूँ। मेरे राज्यारोहण के लिए इतना विनाशकारी युद्ध हुआ — क्या यह उचित था? पर भीष्म ने उन्हें आश्वस्त किया — उन्होंने युधिष्ठिर को बताया कि तुमने जो किया वह धर्मसंगत है। और युधिष्ठिर तब आश्वस्त हुए।

पर यहाँ एक और बात घट रही है — कृष्ण, भीष्म की अंतिम इच्छा भी पूरी कर रहे हैं, और युधिष्ठिर की आंतरिक आवश्यकता को भी संबोधित कर रहे हैं। तो यह घटना केवल एक नहीं, बल्कि अनेक उद्देश्यों को पूर्ण कर रही है।

हमारे जीवन में भी ऐसा ही होता है। कभी हम सोचते हैं — “मेरे साथ ऐसा क्यों हुआ?” “यह व्यक्ति मेरी ज़िंदगी में क्यों आया?” “यह हादसा मेरे साथ ही क्यों हुआ?” पर अगर हम श्रद्धा रखते हैं, अगर हम भगवान की सेवा और स्मरण नहीं छोड़ते हैं, तो समय के साथ हमें यह समझ आता है कि: “What happened to me, was actually what happened for me.” यह मेरे साथ नहीं हुआ, यह मेरे लिए हुआ।

हो सकता है उस क्षण हम यह न समझ पाएं। हम यह सोचते हैं — “अरे! मेरे साथ विश्वासघात हुआ,” “यह हादसा क्यों हुआ?” पर अगर हम श्रद्धा रखते हैं, तो धीरे-धीरे समझ में आता है कि भगवान का ही हाथ इसमें था। उन्होंने हमें किसी बड़े उद्देश्य के लिए उस घटना से गुज़ारा।

यह श्रद्धा ही भागवतम की कहानियों से हमें मिलती है। परीक्षित महाराज का ही उदाहरण लीजिए: एक छोटी सी गलती पर उन्हें मृत्यु का श्राप मिल गया — पर वही उनके कल्याण का कारण बन गया।

तो भागवतम हमें कृष्ण का स्मरण कैसे कराता है? हमने तीन चीज़ें देखीं — C, I, और T — Context, Intent, Transformation।

1. Context (संदर्भ) — पहले स्कंध को हम दशम स्कंध का एक ट्रेलर कह सकते हैं। इसमें हमें कृष्ण की महिमा और भूमिका का परिचय मिलता है।
2. Intent (भावना) — हमने तीन प्रार्थनाओं को देखा:

• उत्तरा की प्रार्थना — जिससे भौतिक रूप से परिवर्तन आता है।
• कुंती की प्रार्थना — जिससे कोई भौतिक परिवर्तन नहीं आता, पर भावनात्मक परिष्कार होता है।
• भीष्म की प्रार्थना — जिसमें भगवान में पूर्ण तल्लीनता की अभिलाषा होती है।
  3. Transformation (परिवर्तन) — कुंती की प्रार्थना में इच्छाओं का परिष्कार होता है। भीष्म की प्रार्थना में तो उनकी इच्छा ही कृष्ण में लीन हो जाती है।

तो इससे हमारे लिए यह सीख है कि: हमें अपनी स्मृतियों को ही अपना खजाना बनाना है — Memory as a Treasury।

हमारे मन में जो बातें आती हैं, वे दो स्रोतों से आती हैं: बाहरी अनुभव (perception) और भीतर की स्मृति (recollection)। हम बाहरी परिस्थितियों को सीमित रूप से बदल सकते हैं, पर हमारी स्मृति को हम आध्यात्मिक बना सकते हैं। जब हमारे पास सोचने के लिए कुछ नहीं होता — तब जो बात हमारे मन में आती है — वही हमारी आंतरिक वृत्ति को दर्शाती है। और हमें उसे आध्यात्मिक बनाना है।

तो यह सब हमें दिखाता है कि भगवान और उनके भक्तों के बीच जो संबंध हैं — वे बहुत गहरे, भावनात्मक और बहु-स्तरीय होते हैं।
जैसे:

• अर्जुन और भीष्म का संबंध — जहाँ अर्जुन हिचकते हैं और भीष्म पूरे समर्पण से लड़ते हैं।
• कृष्ण और अर्जुन का संबंध — जहाँ कृष्ण अर्जुन की रक्षा करते हैं।
• कृष्ण और भीष्म का संबंध — जहाँ कृष्ण भीष्म के वचनों की रक्षा करते हैं।

कृष्ण का रथचक्र उठाना केवल अर्जुन की रक्षा नहीं थी, बल्कि भीष्म के वचन की रक्षा भी थी।

भीष्म ने अपनी स्मृति में तीन मुख्य घटनाएं चुनीं —

1. राजसूय यज्ञ
2. शांति-दूत प्रसंग (जिसे उन्होंने स्मरण नहीं किया क्योंकि वह असुखद था)
3. युद्धभूमि का प्रसंग (जिसका उन्होंने विस्तार से वर्णन किया)

तो इस तरह हमें भी अपनी जीवन की घटनाओं में भगवान का हाथ पहचानना है।
शायद उस समय हम न समझ पाएं — पर अगर हम उत्साह, निश्चय, और धैर्य बनाए रखें,
तो हम भी देख सकते हैं कि:
भगवान हमारे जीवन में सक्रिय हैं, और हमारे लिए वही करते हैं जो हमारे कल्याण के लिए उचित होता है।

तो किसके पास हम उपचार के लिए जाएंगे? अगर कोई भक्त heart surgery करने वाला हो और वह कहे, “जब मैं heart surgery करूंगा, तो मैं तुम्हें गारंटी देता हूं कि मैं हरे कृष्ण महामंत्र जपता रहूंगा,” तो यह अच्छी बात है।
हाँ, बात सही है, I agree with you. लेकिन अगर कोई यह कहे कि “मैं भगवान का नाम लूंगा,” पर साथ ही कहे, “आपकी हार्ट सर्जरी अच्छे से होगी या नहीं, इसकी मैं गारंटी नहीं दे सकता,” तब?
तो हम सोचेंगे — “मुझे कृष्ण के पास जाना है, लेकिन इतनी जल्दी नहीं!”

यहां हमें समझना होगा: Our remembrance of Krishna should not become an excuse for material incompetence. कि मैं भगवान का स्मरण कर रहा हूं, इसलिए अपने उत्तरदायित्वों की उपेक्षा कर रहा हूं — ऐसा नहीं होना चाहिए।
भगवान का स्मरण कोई सतही या दिखावटी चीज़ नहीं है।

विश्वनाथ चक्रवर्ती ठाकुर एक उदाहरण देते हैं: मान लीजिए कोई गृहस्थ है, जिसे नौकरी के लिए अपने परिवार से दूर किसी अन्य शहर में रहना पड़ रहा है। वह वहां व्यापार कर रहा है, सौदे कर रहा है। लेकिन उसके मन में क्या है? “मैं यह सब अपने परिवार की देखभाल के लिए कर रहा हूं।”
तो एक होती है conscious memory — उसमें भगवान का नाम हो या न हो। लेकिन subconscious memory में क्या है? “मैं जो भी कर रहा हूं, भगवान की सेवा के लिए कर रहा हूं।”

यही उद्देश्य साधना और श्रवण का है। प्रभुपाद जी कहते हैं — हम श्रवण और साधना करें, जिससे हमारा मन और बुद्धि धीरे-धीरे भगवान में लग जाए।
इसका मतलब यह नहीं कि जब हम कार्य कर रहे हैं, तो हम हमेशा भगवान का स्मरण कर ही रहे होंगे, लेकिन उसका उद्देश्य भगवान की सेवा होना चाहिए।

जब हम थोड़ा स्थिर हो जाते हैं — पारिवारिक और आर्थिक रूप से — तब वानप्रस्थ ले सकते हैं, थोड़ा समय और दे सकते हैं। पर इसका मतलब यह नहीं कि भगवान का स्मरण हम postpone करें।
हमें अपनी जीवनशैली को इस तरह व्यवस्थित करना चाहिए कि स्मरण भी हो और बाकी कार्य भी सेवा के रूप में हों।

Zoom पर भी बहुत लोग सुन रहे थे। उन्होंने कहा — “जो content, application और take away points हैं, वे बहुत ही रोचक और उपयोगी हैं।”
मैंने जानबूझकर प्रभु जी का परिचय अंत में रखा, क्योंकि जब हम यहां आए तो मैदान खाली था।
सोचा जब मैदान भर जाए तब परिचय दिया जाए।

चैतन्य चरण प्रभु का परिचय: जब कोई व्यक्ति अपना मुंह बंद रखता है, तभी उसका परिचय नहीं होता। जब कोई मूर्ख व्यक्ति मुंह खोलता है, तो उसकी मूर्खता स्पष्ट हो जाती है। लेकिन जब कोई कृष्ण-भावना से संप्रक्त व्यक्ति बोलता है, तो उसकी वाणी ही उसका परिचय बन जाती है।

फिर भी मैं संक्षिप्त में बताना चाहूंगा:

• प्रभु जी पिछले तीस वर्षों से भक्तियोग का प्रचार कर रहे हैं।
• उनकी विशेषता है कि वह केवल पारंपरिक तरीकों से प्रचार नहीं करते, बल्कि आज के समाज में क्या हो रहा है, उसका अनुसंधान करके उसके अनुसार प्रचार करते हैं।
• उन्होंने भगवद गीता, रामायण आदि पर 30 ग्रंथ लिखे हैं, जिससे वैदिक बुद्धि और शास्त्र को जीवन से जोड़ा जा सके।
• वे Geetadaily.com नामक वेबसाइट पर 5000 से अधिक लेख लिख चुके हैं। यह विश्व का एकमात्र daily blog है जो भगवद गीता पर आधारित है।
• उन्होंने TEDx, UNESCO, Intel, Google, Microsoft, Salesforce, Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Harvard, MIT, Cambridge जैसे मंचों पर प्रवचन दिए हैं।
• वे हर वर्ष 9 महीने विदेश में प्रचार करते हैं और 4 महाद्वीपों में घूमते हैं।
• अब उन्होंने तय किया है कि वे विश्व भ्रमण थोड़ा कम करेंगे और उस समय में से 2 महीने भारत में रहेंगे।

हमारे लिए सौभाग्य: जब भी प्रभु जी भारत में रहेंगे, वे हमारे Bhaktivedanta Hospital के लिए सप्ताह में 4 दिन तक प्रवचन देंगे। यह बहुत बड़ी कृपा है, क्योंकि जिनके पास इतनी वैश्विक मांग है, उन्होंने हमारे प्रति भी प्रेम प्रकट किया और हमारे पास समय निकाला।

एक और विशेषता: आजकल बच्चों को gadgets का बहुत शौक होता है।
प्रभु जी ने दिखाया कि उन gadgets का उपयोग किस तरह कृष्ण-भावना फैलाने में किया जा सकता है — जैसे आपने उनका demo session देखा।
हो सकता है वो फाइल WhatsApp या Email से भी साझा की जाए।

अंत में: मैं प्रभु जी के प्रवचन से बहुत भाव विभोर हूं।
I am very much overwhelmed. हर शब्द हृदय को छूने वाला था।

मैं आप सभी की ओर से चैतन्य चरण प्रभु का हृदय से धन्यवाद करता हूं।
कृपया तीन बार “हरी बोल” कहकर उनका अभिनंदन करें।
आशा है जब भी वह भक्ति वेदांत में निवास करेंगे, गुरुवार को भी प्रवचन देंगे।

आपका हिंदी प्रवचन भी बहुत सुंदर रहा। ऐसा नहीं कि आप केवल अंग्रेज़ी में बोलते हैं — आपकी हिंदी भी बहुत प्रभावशाली थी और सबको समझ में भी आई।

अंत में: अब सब लोग प्रसाद ले सकते हैं।
महाप्रसादे गोविंदे नाम ब्राह्मण्य वैष्णवे।
हरे कृष्णा! हरे राम!

बहुत धन्यवाद। Thank you very much.

View Details

The post How all acharyas preach with realization, Guru Purnima special – Chaitanya Charan appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

View Details

Hare Krishna.

Today we are discussing from the Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto Three. This canto contains one of the longest and most profound conversations in the Bhagavatam—the Vidura-Maitreya Samvad.

To present this systematically, I often use a simple framework I call C-I-T—Context, Implication, and Takeaway. Let’s begin by exploring each of these.

Context – What is happening?

Currently, we’re in the midst of a dialogue between Vidura and Maitreya. Until now, Vidura has been speaking—he has asked several deep and thoughtful questions. Now, the conversation transitions to Maitreya’s response.

This dialogue occurs after the departure of Krishna from this world. If we look at the broader timeline, the Mahabharata has concluded, and the Bhagavatam begins in its aftermath—almost in its shadow. Not just the war, but especially Krishna’s departure casts a long, defining shadow on the events that follow.

After Krishna’s departure, Uddhava is instructed to go to the Himalayas to share Krishna’s message with the sages. On the way, he meets Vidura. Vidura, deeply affected by the loss of Krishna, asks Uddhava several questions.

Now, the Acharyas give different reasons why Uddhava doesn’t answer those questions himself. He considers himself younger, he respects Vidura’s seniority, and he feels he has been given a different mission by Krishna. For various reasons, Uddhava chooses not to elaborate, and instead directs Vidura to Maitreya.

The conversation between Uddhava and Vidura is one of the most emotionally charged sections in the Bhagavatam regarding remembrance of Krishna—especially before the Tenth Canto.

In terms of Krishna’s pastimes across the Bhagavatam:

• In the First Canto (1.7–1.13), we hear extensively about Krishna’s departure and his influence.
• In the early chapters of the Third Canto (3.1–3.3), again Krishna’s lilas are described.
• Of course, the Tenth Canto is fully dedicated to Krishna’s pastimes (1–90 chapters).
• The Eleventh Canto focuses more on Krishna’s teachings (Krishna-Shiksha) than on his lilas.

The dialogue between Vidura and Uddhava, therefore, serves almost like a spontaneous memorial remembrance—not formal, but heartfelt. There’s a bittersweet tone: remembrance of Krishna is always sweet, but the context of his departure adds a layer of poignancy.

After that meeting, Vidura proceeds to meet Maitreya, and that’s where this long dialogue begins. Within this conversation, many important teachings are shared—especially Lord Kapila’s teachings later in this same canto.

Implication – What does this mean?

Now, let’s step back and understand a deeper principle at play here.

In life, we constantly navigate between two aspects:

• The specifics: What happened?
• The universals: What does it mean?

For instance, someone who is usually calm suddenly yells at us. First, we focus on the event—“What happened?” But later, we reflect—“What does this mean? Is my understanding of this person flawed? What does this say about their character—or mine?”

When we want to learn from life, we must balance events and their meanings. Some people are very detail-oriented—they can be great storytellers or entertainers, recreating an entire scene vividly. Others focus more on meaning and principles—they can be insightful but sometimes dry or abstract.

Both tendencies are natural and valuable. Ideally, spiritual growth involves cultivating both.

Personally, I travel often and meet people annually. Instead of just asking, “How are you?”—which often leads to vague answers—I now ask, “How was your last year?” It’s interesting to observe whether people reply with events (“This happened…”) or evaluations (“It was a tough/good year…”). That reveals how their minds naturally process experiences—from specifics to universals or vice versa.

Takeaway – What can we learn from this?

This entire Vidura–Maitreya Samvad is focused not just on what happened, but on what it meant—especially after Krishna’s departure.

Vidura is already wise, mature, and spiritually advanced. Yet, he is asking questions. This shows that even great souls seek deeper understanding in the face of life-changing events.

In the verse we are currently discussing, the word “udvega” is used to describe Maitreya’s response. This word can have two meanings:

• Stimulated – as in aroused into action or thought (as used in Bhagavad Gita 18.25 – “karmaṇāṃ tamasaḥ paricīyate…”)
• Agitated – as in disturbed or shaken.

Srila Prabhupada often brings out both layers in his translations and purports. Here, he notes that Maitreya was agitated, but not in a negative way—rather, he was deeply stirred by Vidura’s sincere questions.

So, as we continue exploring this conversation in the coming verses, let us also approach with the same mood—not just looking for what happened, but for what it means—and ultimately, what it means for us in our journey of bhakti.

Yeah, so it’s said that Maitreya was agitated by Vidura’s questions, but Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport that he becomes calm afterward. He says a devotee, being established in spiritual knowledge, knows the truths of life—and Maitreya, being such a devotee, is now going to respond with wisdom.

Now, we could go into the technicalities: Which particular point among Vidura’s many inquiries agitated Maitreya? But I don’t want to make this too technical. Let’s focus on the principle here.

Bhakti: A Dynamic Process

In the Bhagavad Gita, there’s a fascinating sequence in Chapter 10—verses 8 and 9. These are part of the Chatur-shloki Gita.

10.8 says:

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

Krishna says the wise understand that He is the source of everything and, with emotion (bhāva-samanvitāḥ), they worship Him.

Then in 10.9:

mac-cittā mad-gata-prāṇā bodhayantaḥ parasparam |
kathayantaś ca māṁ nityaṁ tuṣyanti ca ramanti ca

It says they enlighten (bodhayantaḥ) one another and derive joy in speaking about Krishna.

Here’s the intriguing point:
If they are already enlightened (budhā), why do they need to enlighten one another?

Does that mean they lost their enlightenment? No.
This illustrates a beautiful truth: Enlightenment is both a destination and a journey.

Enlightenment as a Destination

As a destination, enlightenment means recognizing that Krishna is the ultimate object of love. After exploring various temporary attractions in the world, we come to understand that our heart’s deepest longing can only be fulfilled in Krishna.

When someone realizes this, they know everything in essence. As Prabhupada often quotes:

“One who knows Krishna knows everything.”

That realization—Krishna is my all in all—is the core of spiritual enlightenment.

Enlightenment as a Journey

But at the same time, enlightenment is also a journey.

Why? Because love is not just a concept; it is an expression—and expressions unfold over time and circumstance.

On this journey, we keep discovering:

• How Krishna loves us
• How we can express our love for Him
• How to serve Him in changing situations
• How to remain connected amid challenges

Because Krishna is unlimited, our realization of Him can always deepen. That’s why Prabhupada writes:
Even though we know Krishna, we can go on knowing Him forever.

This is especially relevant for sincere devotees asking:
“How is Krishna acting in my life right now?”
“What does He want me to do at this point in my journey?”

A Practical Example – Srila Prabhupada

Even Srila Prabhupada faced this kind of inner inquiry. He tried various ways to serve his Guru Maharaj, but nothing seemed to work initially.

Then, he came across the famous verse in the Tenth Canto:

“When I show special mercy to someone, I take everything away.”

Prabhupada asked himself, “Is this happening to me?”

He even discussed this with his Godbrothers—and they acknowledged, “Yes, this seems applicable.”

So, even great devotees continually seek to understand how Krishna’s hand is working in their lives. This is what it means to see enlightenment as a journey—not a fixed point, but a living, evolving relationship.

Vidura’s Questions – An Example of Enlightenment in Motion

Vidura is an enlightened soul. Still, he is asking questions.
Why? Because a spiritually mature person may revisit essential truths during times of upheaval.

Like in times of grief, we don’t just want explanations—we want reassurance.
Hearing the same truth again—sometimes from a new perspective or with fresh realization—helps soothe the heart and deepen understanding.

This brings us to a subtle but important learning principle:

The Balance of Novelty and Familiarity in Spiritual Learning

Just like we love the adventure of visiting a new place but also the comfort of returning home, in spiritual life too, we need both:

• Novelty stimulates us.
• Familiarity reassures us.

If everything we hear is just repetition, it can become dry.
If everything is completely new, it can become confusing.

Learning thrives when it combines the two. Prabhupada called this:

“Old wine in a new bottle.”

We see this balance beautifully in the Bhagavatam:

• Contexts vary widely: Kunti (an elderly lady), Prahlad (a five-year-old boy), Vritrasura (a demon), Kardama (a sage).
• Yet the core message remains consistent: surrender to Krishna, remember Krishna, serve Krishna.

The differences in external circumstances provide novelty, while the consistent spiritual messages offer familiarity.

Takeaway – Learn from the Journey of Others

So coming back to Vidura and Maitreya:

Their dialogue is not just about conveying information—it’s about exploring meaning, together.
It’s about how even advanced souls find new realizations through devotional exchange.

Just as different people may approach the ocean of Krishna’s sweetness from different directions—each one may relish and share different aspects—we can learn from one another’s perspectives.

That’s why:

• Enlightened souls continue enlightening one another.
• Spiritual seekers keep seeking even after discovering Krishna.
• Devotional service remains ever-fresh, even after lifetimes of practice.

And that’s why this conversation between Vidura and Maitreya continues to enlighten and enrich readers even today.

In one sense, Vidura is seeking a reiteration of what he already knows, but this time with the realization and perspective of Maitreya. He has experienced, from a distance, an earth-shattering event—Krishna’s departure from the world.

When I travel across America, I often meet Srila Prabhupada’s disciples. I’ve spoken with disciples who were physically present when Srila Prabhupada departed, and also with those who were not present at that moment.

I’ve asked them, “How did you process that event?”—because it was perhaps the most difficult event for any devotee to process. At that time, Srila Prabhupada wasn’t just one spiritual master among many. He was the Founder-Acharya, the soul guide of the movement. His departure was absolutely devastating for many.

So I asked: Was it easier to process the grief by being there, or was it easier from a distance, experiencing it secondhand?

Similarly, Uddhava was present when Krishna departed, while Vidura was not. Now these two are conversing. Both are deeply devoted to Krishna, and both are trying to process the same traumatic event from their own perspectives.

When I spoke with different Prabhupada disciples—including senior sannyasis—they gave a range of answers. Let me share a few insights from those conversations.

Processing Loss: Being There vs Being Away

Many devotees who were present at Prabhupada’s departure said that, ironically, their presence increased their helplessness.
They were there… but there was nothing they could do to stop what was happening. Yes, they could chant, offer kirtan, serve in small ways—but the moment was overwhelming.

At that time, there was no plan for memorials, books, or institutional structure—it was just the raw grief of watching their beloved spiritual master depart.

On the other hand, those who were away faced a different kind of pain.
There was no social media or instant communication back then. Even phone calls weren’t common. News often came through telegrams—and for many, Prabhupada’s passing came as a shock, like a bolt from the blue.

Some expressed feelings of incompleteness—
“I wish I could have had one last darshan…”
“I wish I could have offered my obeisances…”
“I wish I had asked for personal instructions…”

But interestingly, even those who were physically present often didn’t receive personal instructions either. The end was so intense and emotional that no one felt fully prepared or fulfilled.

The Universal Truth: Life Happens—and We Must Respond

Whether we are close to a traumatic event or far from it, the emotional impact can be intense. In some cases, it’s easier to process grief by being close. In other cases, distance helps create perspective.
But either way, life happens, and we must deal with life as it unfolds.

We may often think, “If only this had happened…” or “What if I had done that?” But “What if” is one of the most paralyzing questions in life.

• “What if I had acted differently?”
• “What if I had gone there?”
• “What if Krishna had done something else?”

Such questions can haunt us.

Even devotees, while trying to serve Krishna, face these dilemmas. Because bhakti is not a fixed formula—it’s a dynamic interplay of certainty and uncertainty.

We Are Spiritual Beings—But Still Finite

Yes, we are spiritual beings. But we are also finite beings.
Even in a completely purified state, we remain limited.

• We have the soul.
• The soul is covered by the mind.
• The mind is within the body.
  And none of these layers are perfect instruments for understanding Krishna’s full plan.

So even if we are sincere, we cannot always clearly know:
“What exactly is Krishna’s plan for me right now?”

But this uncertainty is not a defect.
It is Krishna’s design—so that we remain dependent on Him, seeking Him.

Srila Prabhupada: A Balance of Certainty and Surrender

When Srila Prabhupada came to America, he said:

“I see temples… I see them filled with devotees… Only time is separating us.”

That’s certainty.

But he also wrote in his diary:

“I didn’t know whether to turn left or right when I landed in America.”

That’s honest vulnerability.

Prabhupada was making an inference: “Krishna, You must have some purpose for me—otherwise, why would You bring me here?”

And we too can draw the same conclusion in our lives:

“Krishna, You haven’t brought me this far to abandon me now.”

Yes, things have gone wrong in our lives.
But many things have also gone right.

When things go wrong, we think, “Why is Krishna doing this?”
But when things go right, we think, “I did well!”

But in truth, our effort alone didn’t guarantee success.
Many variables—beyond our control—had to align.

So if we’re still alive, still practicing bhakti, still reflecting—
Krishna is not done with us yet.
He still has a purpose for us.

Certainty in Krishna, Uncertainty in the Details

As Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told Sanatana Goswami:

“Do you think your body is your own? I have great plans for you.”

For a devotee:

• The certainty is: Krishna has a plan.
• The uncertainty is: What exactly is that plan?

We often think of Krishna as a protector. And He is.
But the Gita’s vision goes even deeper.

Krishna: Not Just a Protector—but an Empowerer

Krishna doesn’t say to Arjuna, “You relax—I’ll do everything.”

Instead, He empowers Arjuna:

“Tasmat tvam uttistha… Therefore, stand and fight!”
“Mayi sarvani karmani… Offer all your works to Me.”

Krishna is not the hero who does everything while we watch.
He is the hero who empowers us to do heroic things in His service.

So the Gita isn’t just about proclaiming, “God is great.”
It’s about transforming us to say, “Let me take shelter of Him and become great in His service.”

At the end of the Gita, Sanjaya says:

“Yatra yogeshvarah Krishna, yatra partho dhanur-dharah…”
“Wherever there is Krishna and Arjuna, there will be victory, power, and morality.”

Now, if Krishna alone is present, why mention Arjuna?

Because Krishna’s presence empowers those who stand with Him.
This is not just a contextual statement to Dhritarashtra.
It is a universal principle:
If we align with Krishna, Krishna will act through us.

Final Thought – Beyond Ego and False Humility

Let me conclude with a final image.

Often, we think of humility as the opposite of ego.
That’s true to some extent—but incomplete.

Ego is one extreme of the pendulum:
“I am the doer. I am in control.”

False humility is the other extreme:
“I’m useless. I can’t do anything.”

But real humility is in the center:

“I am nothing on my own. But with Krishna, I can do amazing things.”

Just like Vidura is not asking because he is ignorant—
He is asking because he wants to deepen his connection to Krishna through realization and reflection.

That is the essence of bhakti.
Not to know everything with certainty, but to trust Krishna amid uncertainty,
and to keep serving, knowing that He has brought us this far—and He will take us further.

Ego, Insecurity, and the Middle Path of Humility

Let’s reflect on a crucial psychological and spiritual spectrum we often encounter—ego and insecurity, and how humility lies as the balanced middle path.

At one end of the spectrum is ego—the belief that “I can do everything. I am God.”
In fact, a helpful acronym for ego is:

E.G.O. – Edging God Out.

That is, we remove God from the picture of our life. In this sense, ego is almost like Mayavada—the idea that we are God, independent and self-sufficient.

But the opposite of ego is not humility.
The opposite of ego is insecurity—“I can do nothing. I am nothing.”

Humility, the middle path, is the recognition that:

“I am something, and I can do something.”

None of us are God. So none of us can do everything.
But we are not useless either—we can certainly do something, and that something matters in Krishna’s service.

The Tension Between Certainty and Uncertainty

As finite beings, we will always experience tension between certainty and uncertainty.

• Certainty: We are always parts of Krishna. We always have a place in His plan.
• Uncertainty: We don’t always know what exactly that place is at any given moment.

We don’t have the full picture. That’s why we must pray, reflect, consult, wait, and gradually learn.

Even in bhakti, although we don’t fall into Mayavada or Shunyavada, insecurity can creep in:

• We may think: “My service is worthless.”
• We may compare ourselves to superstar preachers, managers, or counselors and feel:
  “What I do hardly matters. What difference does it make whether I do it or not?”

That’s insecurity speaking.

Yes, it may be true that we can’t serve the way others do.
But that doesn’t mean what we can do is insignificant.

On the flip side, ego may express itself as:

“Krishna is lucky to have me on His team.”

Of course, no sincere devotee would say this aloud. But it may reflect subtly in our attitude:

• “Everyone else is incompetent. Without me, things will fall apart.”

But the truth is:

We are not a blessing to the community.
We are blessed to be in the community.
We are not indispensable.
We are inspired and empowered by Krishna to play a role.

Humility in the Devotee Community

So, what does humility look like in practice?

It is the attitude:

“I have a part to play. It may be small, but it is not worthless.”

We can learn—not only about the world—but also about ourselves.

• In some areas, we may overestimate our abilities.
• In other areas, we may underestimate them.

Discovering our true nature, strengths, and weaknesses is also a service to Krishna.

Just a few days ago, I gave a talk to teenagers titled:

“I Don’t Agree with Me” – Making Sense of the Opposing Voices Inside Us.

This inner conflict is not always due to destructive desires.
Sometimes, it’s different parts of ourselves that haven’t yet come into harmony.

But if our core desire is to serve Krishna, He will guide us through the inner noise.

Finite Vision vs Final Vision

Here’s a powerful point to remember:

Our finite vision is not the final vision.

Let me repeat that:

Our finite vision is not the final vision.

We should use our finite vision to:

• Understand what we can.
• Learn what we can.
• Make the best decisions we can.

But when our limited perspective doesn’t make sense of our struggles—
When we try to serve Krishna and yet face unfavorable outcomes—

We should not assume this is all there is.

Krishna has a plan that’s bigger than what we can see right now.

What Happened to Me… Happened for Me

If we carry this faith forward, a day will come when we’ll look back and say:

“What happened to me… actually happened for me.”

You can try this right after the class.

Go home and think about something that happened 5 or 10 years ago—
At that time, you may have thought, “Why is this happening to me? This is terrible!”

But now, with distance, you may realize:

“That happened for me. Something good came out of it.”

Even if it’s just one or two incidents, they show that Krishna was working behind the scenes.

And what we’ve seen in some parts of our life, we can trust for the rest of our life.

Bhagavatam’s Wisdom: Even Great Souls Get Disoriented—But Reorient Themselves

In the Bhagavatam, we see that even great sages like Maitreya may get agitated by unexpected questions, but then they reflect and offer deep, reassuring answers.

So if even the wise get disoriented sometimes, it’s natural that we too may feel that way.

But like them, we can reorient ourselves and move closer to Krishna.

Summary

Let me now summarize today’s discussion:

1. Context:
   The discussion between Vidura and Maitreya occurs in the aftermath of Krishna’s departure—a world-changing event. Initially, Maitreya seems agitated or surprised by Vidura’s questions. But soon, the questions lead to profound realizations.
2. Implication:
   Based on Bhagavad-gita 10.8–9, even the enlightened enlighten each other.
   • Enlightenment is both a destination and a journey.
   • We know Krishna is the ultimate object of love—that’s the destination.
   • But how to love Him more deeply and express that love in different situations—that’s the journey.
3. Learning:
   True learning involves a balance of familiarity and novelty:
   • The familiar comforts us.
   • The novel stimulates us.
   • Both are necessary for sustained spiritual growth.
4. Specifics and Universals:
   In life, some focus on the specifics of what happened. Others focus on the universal lessons that can be drawn. Both are important.
   • Uddhava focused more on memories and specifics.
   • Vidura and Maitreya explore broader principles.
5. Takeaway:
   As devotees, we must live in the tension between certainty and uncertainty.
   • We are certain Krishna has a plan.
   • We are uncertain about what that plan is at the moment.
     So we act with humility, not ego or insecurity.
6. Final Point:

Our finite vision is not the final vision.
And if we trust Krishna, eventually we’ll realize:
“What happened to me, actually happened for me.”

Thank you very much.
Hare Krishna.

Is there any quick question anyone has?

Questioner:
Yes, Hare Krishna, Prabhu.
Thank you for the wonderful class—it was truly enlightening, full of sac-cid-ānanda.

Prabhuji, you presented the concept of God as both a protector and an empowerer.
But honestly, the idea of God as a protector seems more attractive than that of God as someone who empowers.

How can we align ourselves with this idea of God being an empowerer?

Because, if I mess something up, I’d rather He fix it, instead of empowering me to fix it myself.

Speaker:
That’s a very honest and insightful question—and I appreciate the sincerity with which you asked it.

Yes, from one perspective, God as a protector can seem more appealing—
because it means He takes care of everything, especially when we make mistakes.

But let’s explore this further.
You said, “God fixes my mess instead of empowering me to fix it.”
That’s a revealing way of putting it—
because it brings out a subtle psychological aspect:

We may subconsciously want a relationship with God,
but on our own terms.

What does that look like?

“I’ll make the plans—You, Krishna, use Your power to make them succeed.”

In other words: “My intelligence, Your power.”

But usually, Krishna doesn’t agree to such terms.

The Real Relationship: Love that Grows

In any mature relationship, both love and responsibility grow over time.

When a child is small, they create a mess and the parents clean it up.
That’s natural—and even endearing.

But if the child grows up and still creates messes, expecting the parent to fix them…
it becomes a burden.

Love must mature—
from “burdening the parent’s shoulder” to “shouldering the parent’s burden.”

In the same way, Krishna is our Divine Parent.
He doesn’t want us to remain spiritual infants forever.
He wants us to grow—emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually.

Love that Guards vs. Love that Guides

Initially, Krishna’s love guards us—He protects us.
But gradually, His love starts to guide us—so that we grow.

If we always see Krishna as the one who just swoops in to save us,
we may end up becoming passive,
even irresponsible.

But if we see Krishna as the one who believes in us,
who trusts our potential,
and who wants to empower us,
then we become active participants in our own growth.

Mahabharata: A Model of Empowerment

Take the Mahabharata as an example.
Krishna is not the central hero—the Pandavas are.
Krishna empowers them, guides them, but they fight the war.

That’s a more realistic model of how spiritual life works.

Krishna is present. His presence is essential.
But He doesn’t replace our intelligence or responsibility—He elevates them.

Prabhupada’s Example: Not Magic, But Empowerment

If we look at Srila Prabhupada’s life,
we see very little emphasis on miracles or spectacular divine interventions.

Almost everything Prabhupada achieved was within the laws of nature.
And yet, the cumulative effect was miraculous.

That’s the meaning of empowerment:

Krishna works through us,
rather than instead of us.

Yes, Prabhupada faced numerous challenges and setbacks,
but he persisted with determination and dependence on Krishna.

Krishna’s Real Approach

So, ultimately, Krishna can fix our problems if He wants to.
But more often, His approach is:

“I won’t just fix your problems…
I’ll fix you, so you can fix your problems.”

And that is real love—
not just protection, but transformation.

Thank you very much, Prabhuji. That clarifies it so beautifully.

The post In bhakti uncertainty is a feature not a defect – Chaitanya Charan appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

View Details

I’ve been traveling across the world for the last ten years, speaking to people from diverse traditions, cultural backgrounds, and even religious backgrounds. While there can be many differences of opinion on various issues, there’s one truth everyone can agree on, a truth that can be summarized in three words: Life is tough.

Isn’t it? Whether we are wealthy or poor, popular or unknown, tall or short, fat or thin, educated or not so educated, life isn’t easy for anyone. Most often, when we consider the toughness of life, we tend to think of external troubles: a struggling economy, bad weather, or people causing us problems. These troubles undoubtedly exist.

However, one factor we often overlook is the significant trouble we bring upon ourselves. There’s something inside us that seems to work against us. I learned this lesson early in life. Since childhood, I’ve had a strong interest in language. One of my hobbies was picking up a dictionary and memorizing words, which helped me develop a fairly good vocabulary.

But as I grew up, I also had a bit of a temper. While having a bad temper is a problem, I discovered that having a bad temper and a good vocabulary is a deadly combination. Most people, when they get angry, become incoherent. They may scream, rant, or shriek, and while we can see they’re angry, they often appear to have lost control. We often don’t take seriously what a person says when they’re angry because they become incoherent. But if someone is articulate and well-spoken—not necessarily sweet-spoken, but someone who uses words precisely—those words can become viciously cutting swords. I noticed I was hurting a lot of people, even though I didn’t want to.

It was almost as if my own strength was being used against me. A good vocabulary is a strength, but I realized that instead of using this strength to connect with others, it was being used to alienate them. Our words can either form bridges that bring us closer to others, or they can become barriers, walls that separate us. I recognized that I was alienating people and needed to address this anger.

When I started reading the Bhagavad Gita in my college days, a particular verse spoke directly to me. I could personally relate to it because anger was genuinely hurting me and causing me to hurt others. This realization—that there’s something inside us that seems to work against us—is one everyone comes to sooner or later. Yes, life presents many problems, and while some problems come from outside, quite often, it’s our reaction that worsens them.

For example, someone might forget to get something important we need. Their forgetfulness is annoying and disturbing. But if we fly into a rage and speak something harsh and hurtful, what would have been a minor inconvenience for a few hours could result in words that scar the person for weeks or even years. In that sense, trouble is both external and internal.

Arjuna’s question in the Bhagavad Gita highlights this: “There is some force inside me which is making me act against my best interests. And it seems to be an extremely strong force.” This idea of an internal opposing force exists across history and geography, not just in ancient cultures but also in popular fiction. In modern society, people speak of “inner demons.” Today, people may not believe in literal demons, but they certainly believe in the idea of inner demons.

In one sense, you could say people may not believe in Krishna, but they have to believe in Maya. By Maya, I don’t necessarily mean a force that creates illusion, but rather something that makes us act against our own interests. These “inner demons” are a universal concept. Even in fictional works like Star Wars, there’s the idea of the “dark side.” In Indian movies or Native American traditions, there’s the concept of the “good dog and the bad dog.” This idea is everywhere: there is some force that seems to work against us.

Krishna is now going to equip Arjuna to deal with this inner force. But before we can deal with it, we need to recognize its presence. What I’m about to discuss will be summarized in a four-quadrant diagram. But before we go to the diagram, let’s read the next paragraph. Would you like to read, please?

Yes. So as I said, we may deny the existence of God. We could say that there is the power of Maya, the force of illusion. So we may accept that there is Maya and there is the power of Maya. Or we may reject its guidance, saying there’s no such thing as Maya, no such force of illusion that makes me act this way. Similarly, there is the power of Krishna. We may accept it—meaning we take the power of Krishna seriously—or reject it—meaning we don’t take it seriously, that it doesn’t matter.

Here’s a corrected and more polished version of the text:

So, broadly, our life story can be understood through these four quadrants, especially when we consider accepting the power of Maya. In many ways, our life story is the story of our encounters with temptation. In the West, “encounter” is quite common, but in India, it often implies confronting and destroying. However, in its general sense, “encounter” simply means to face something. How we deal with temptation fundamentally shapes our entire life.

For example, with the abundance of technology and gadgets available to children today, there’s immense potential for distraction and wasted time. This ultimately stems from the force of illusion. One significant impact of social media is that secondhand experience has become more important than firsthand experience, especially among teenagers. What happens is this: suppose someone attends a party, a festival, an outing, a hike, a trek, or any event, and they genuinely have a good time. But then they take photos, post them on social media—Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, whatever—and even if they had a wonderful time, if their photos don’t get enough likes, or if they get fewer likes than their friends’ photos, that whole experience can become worthless. The lived experience might have been wonderful, but if others don’t acknowledge it as wonderful, then it ceases to be wonderful for them. That’s why the acknowledgment of our experiences by others has become so crucial.

This highlights the idea of illusion. Illusion can manifest in how much we are affected by social media. People get caught in constant comparison, leading to depression in many young individuals due to incessant comparisons. Similarly, young men often get caught up in video gaming. I was completely hooked myself. I saw a cartoon once where a man tells his friend, “Yesterday, my broadband Wi-Fi went down, so I spent some time with my family. They seem like nice people.” It’s as if he doesn’t even know who they are!

Our entire lives, whether as students needing to study or professionals needing to work, can be consumed by social media, Browse ads, and endless consumption. There’s alcoholism, and there’s also “shopaholism,” the urge to “shop till you drop.” Historically, this meant physically going to malls and buying so many things that one would drop from exhaustion. Now, we don’t even have to leave our homes; we can just click on our phones and buy as many things as we want.

The point is, temptation is always present. Broadly speaking, our life story is shaped by how we face temptation. This isn’t just for someone who wants to live a life of devotion and understands that Maya will draw us away from Krishna. Maya will not only take us away from Krishna; it won’t even let us live happily on a material level. To whatever degree happiness is possible materially, even that will be taken away.

If we consider Krishna at the top, below that there is Sattva, then Rajas, and finally Tamas. Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas are like the gears of a car; a car in a particular gear functions in a particular way. Similarly, a mind infected by a particular mood functions distinctly. Maya, if we are at a higher level, will pull us downwards. If we are here, Maya will pull us here. So from Krishna, it will pull us to Sattva; from Sattva, it will pull us to Rajas; and from Rajas, it will pull us to Tamas. Even for people with no spiritual interest, the force of temptation is ever-present. Someone might be living a materially responsible life, then perhaps they get fired, can’t find another job, become depressed, and out of depression, start drinking. Losing a job is a problem, but becoming addicted to alcohol is a far bigger problem, isn’t it? So the force of temptation, the force of illusion—this Maya—is there for everyone, constantly dragging us down.

I mentioned that in this particular diagram, if we are to overcome the force of illusion, we need to take Maya seriously, and we need to take Krishna seriously. What does it mean to take Maya seriously? It means recognizing the need to fight against temptation. And if we understand and accept the power of Krishna, there is hope to fight.

Whatever our temptation might be—short temper, excessive shopping, gossiping—we all have different kinds of temptations that ensnare us. What happens with gossiping? We just keep talking, talking, talking. Generally, talking isn’t bad, but what we talk about can be. When does gossip often happen? The word “gossip” itself. Often, gossip happens when we “go for a sip.” We might be in the office, by the water cooler, drinking some water, and then we hear, “Oh, this happened to this person, this person did like this, this person did like that.” Or we visit our homes with friends, neighbors, relatives, and we’re all perhaps sipping chai, as is common in India. While Indian cuisine hasn’t gained as much traction in the West as Chinese cuisine, chai is very well-known. When I do Western outreach and speak to Westerners, I once took a group of about 25-30 Western yoga students on a tour to India for ten or fifteen days. My name is Chaitanya Charan, which is a very difficult name for most people to pronounce. Finally, one of the young women in the group said, “Chaitanya.” I said, “Okay, wonderful! You got my name. How did you get it?” She said, “I thought of ‘Tanya taking chai.'” In Sanskrit, there’s the idea of sandhi vigraha—separating a word into its constituents. I thought, “No acharya would have thought of this sandhi vigraha!” So now, I introduce myself to Western audiences as “Charan”; it’s much more straightforward for people.

Anyway, my point was that often, when we’re just sitting down to have chai, or herbal tea, or whatever, that’s when we might start gossiping. And sometimes, when we gossip, when does it generally happen? Two things have to align for gossiping to occur: first, we hear something we like (information that isn’t likable or interesting generally isn’t gossiped about), and second, we hear it about someone we don’t like. “Oh, wow! Now, in the public interest, I will tell this to everyone!” Sometimes, we gossip about someone, and that person somehow finds out, “Oh, this person spoke like this about me.” And then a good relationship turns cold. Or even when we are gossiping about someone, the other person might seem to enjoy the gossip, but they might be thinking, “Oh, today you are speaking like that about this person; tomorrow you may speak like that about me.”

What happens because of this is that there can be many different kinds of temptations, but the underlying idea is that there’s a part of us that knows this will cause harm, but we overlook it. So, if our life story is a story of dealing with temptation, I’ll discuss these four quadrants. We need to recognize that there is a force of illusion, and that this force works against us, hence the need to fight against it.

Generally speaking, if we consider these four quadrants, let’s start with quadrant two. If we don’t believe there’s a need to fight, nor do we have any hope in fighting—we don’t believe in Maya, and we don’t believe in Krishna—then what happens is we are simply dragged down. It’s like Srila Prabhupada says, “Some people go to hell, others happily go to hell.” This means they are doing things whose consequences they don’t even recognize or realize. So, we are effortlessly dragged down, meaning we aren’t even fighting against it, and we end up becoming degraded.

Now, if we recognize the power of Maya but don’t recognize the power of Krishna, this is where we often become hopeless. Why hopeless? For example, some people get addicted to something, try to give it up, can’t, try again, can’t, and eventually decide, “I give up the attempt to give up.” It’s like the British playwright Oscar Wilde said, “Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I’ve done it over a hundred times. And I can do it today, tomorrow, every day. But I give it up, but it does not give me.” It comes back again. So sometimes people just become hopeless, thinking, “You know, this conditioning is so strong, this attachment is so strong; I will never be able to give it up.” So, if we acknowledge that something is strong, that means we may not use the term Maya, but we are acknowledging the power of Maya. Acknowledging the power of Maya, but not acknowledging the power of Krishna, can lead to hopelessness.

It sounds like you’ve provided a transcript of a spiritual discourse. It’s already quite clear and well-structured, conveying a central message about acknowledging both the power of Krishna (divine grace/strength) and the power of Maya (illusion/temptation).

The speaker uses effective analogies (drinking and driving, cliff edge, Swiss cheese, diabetes, cancer) and examples from scripture (Yudhishthir, Ajamil, Ravan) to illustrate their points. The concept of “quadrants” is introduced to categorize different levels of acknowledgment of Krishna and Maya.

Here’s a slightly refined version that maintains the original meaning and conversational tone while enhancing flow and clarity in a few places:

Now, if we acknowledge Krishna’s power—yes, Krishna is all-powerful. Krishna can elevate me, purify me, liberate me; there’s no problem there. But if we don’t acknowledge the power of Maya, then what happens is we become careless.

Carelessness means thinking, “This is no problem.” In much of the Western world, for example, the idea is “drink, but don’t get drunk.” Is that possible? Yes, it’s part of the culture; people do that. But what happens is they may not get drunk for the majority of their lives. However, when something bad happens, and if drinking is their coping mechanism, then at that time, something might just push them over the edge.

It’s like someone who regularly goes to the edge of a cliff where the ground is slippery and there’s a huge fall. They regularly peer over and look down, and some people even like to take dangerous selfies there. They go, “I’ve done it many times; nothing has happened.” But what happens is sometimes they might be there and not notice that the ground is slippery. Suddenly, a sharp gust of wind comes, and they slip.

So, yes, we may think, “Okay, I’m pure enough. I’m strong enough. Krishna is strong enough.” We think that temptation isn’t a big problem. But then what may happen is we will get overcome. There’s this concept called Swiss cheese, where all the bad things that can happen align at the same time. It’s not just one worst-case scenario, but three or four happening simultaneously. Even a well-laid situation can get devastated.

I have a friend in the Indian army, and they’re still investigating what happened in Pahalgam. He was telling me that, at least right now, the understanding is that, like Swiss cheese, everything that could go wrong, went wrong. Sometimes it just happens like that. So, we can become careless to some extent. We may think it’s not going to affect me, but it can affect us.

Now, if we acknowledge the power of Maya AND the power of Krishna, then what happens is that we are careful, but we are also hopeful. There is care and there is hope. And when these two come together, this is where we truly become empowered—empowered to change for the better.

So, from whichever “quadrant” we may be in today, our session will discuss how we can get to this “quadrant four.” Let’s move on to the next paragraph. Who would like to read? Yes, please.

Indeed, almost every day, and sometimes many times within a single day, my own actions serve as evidence of the presence and power of this mighty enemy. Yes. Now, if we are not careful, if we are not alert, then we may not realize the problem.

For example, if somebody has a tendency to get angry, they may get angry several times a day. It might just be one harsh word, a little change of tone in their voice, or one aggressive gesture. When this happens, we may not even remember it at the end of the day, but whoever is affected by it will remember it. However, if we start recognizing that there is this enemy inside me that works against me, then we’ll become more alert. “Okay, what is happening here? How is it happening?”

If we consider there are bad people who do bad things, and there are good people who do good things. But here, what we are talking about is good people who end up doing bad things. So, if we consider Yudhishthir, the question often comes up: “Why did he gamble at all?” Was he so uncontrollable in his senses that he went about and gambled? No, he’s considered Dharma Raj (King of Righteousness). So, what happened to him?

Let’s go back to these four quadrants once again.

• Quadrant 1: Neither acknowledges the power of Maya nor the power of Krishna. That means that person is happily and proudly under the clutches of illusion. The example of this would be someone like Ravan. Ravan was proud of his power. He was not fighting against his lust; he was fighting for his lust. He was traveling the world, conquering not just to gain power but to gain pleasure by dominating and exploiting others. He used all his power, cunning, cleverness, and deceptiveness to try to abduct Sita. Even when people warned him not to go against Ram, telling him he would be destroyed, he did not acknowledge that. So, if we don’t acknowledge the power of Maya nor the power of Krishna, we are proudly in illusion, and we just keep going downwards.
• Quadrant 2: Acknowledges the power of Maya, but doesn’t acknowledge the power of Krishna. In this case, we are so caught in conditioning that we just keep getting dragged lower and lower. When this happens, a person just thinks, “Okay, this is just the way I am. This is the way I’m going to be.” They may acknowledge at times that the way they are is a bad situation, and it’s something they want to get out of. But they feel they just can’t change. So, they accept that, or they passively resign themselves to a life where they’re again and again just succumbing to illusion. They think, “Okay, this is what life is,” or “This is how whatever is controlling me—whether it is lust, or anger, or greed—is dominating and overpowering me.”

The example for this is Ajamil. If you consider Ajamil, he did not go out deliberately to look for some temptation. He just went out on a routine chore. And there, he saw something which completely agitated his mind. At that time, he tried to remember scriptural wisdom; he tried to recall it, but the attack of temptation was so strong, it just stayed in his mind. And that’s how he got dragged down—to a very, very serious degree. We’ll talk about Ajamil and how the power of Maya works, but let’s look at these examples to understand this point.

Now, I was talking about the example of Yudhishthir. Yudhishthir had great faith in Krishna. If you look at the Mahabharata, especially the commentaries, what exactly happened? Why would a virtuous person gamble like this?

There’s a bit of a background to it. After the Rajasuya Yajna was performed, Yudhishthir Maharaj came to Vyasadev, who had presided over the whole ceremony. He said, “I seek your blessings so that I can rule with peace and prosperity and lead all the citizens to their ultimate well-being.” Naturally, if any ceremony happens and goes well, we are happy. But Vyasadev was very grave. He said, “Oh, King, I see dark clouds in the future. I see that there will be a terrible war. And after that terrible war, then you will have a reign of prosperity.”

Yudhishthir became very grave. He thought, “Okay, I don’t want there to be a war.” So, he thought, “Why would this war occur?” Generally, wars occur not just when there are conflicts, but when there are unresolved conflicts. And why are conflicts unresolved? Because whoever is an authority who might resolve the conflict, that authority is not accepted. It’s like two people have a property dispute; they go to court. The court gives a particular verdict. If either or both sides don’t accept the verdict, what happens then? Then they’ll start fighting. It’s like when there’s a conflict and when the talking stops, the conflict doesn’t go away. When the talking stops, the fighting begins, doesn’t it? Talks may not be pleasant, but fighting is even more unpleasant.

So, he thought that wars occur because of unresolved conflicts. And unresolved conflicts, why do they happen? Because of rejected authority figures—those who might resolve the conflict, if they are not accepted, then it leads to conflict. So, he thought that in order to avoid wars, I will always accept whatever my authority figures tell me. And in his case, the authority figure was Dhritarashtra.

So, when Dhritarashtra called him for a gambling match, and Dhritarashtra called him through Vidura—it’s like two elders, two father figures, were involved—Yudhishthir thought, “I can’t say no.” Now, when they came to the gambling arena, he said to Duryodhana, “Why do you want to steal from me through gambling the wealth with which I want to serve society? I want to serve the government; I want to do good for everyone.” Duryodhana responded, “Who talked about stealing anything? We just want to have a friendly match.”

Then, unexpectedly, Duryodhana said, “Shakuni will play on my behalf.” That’s against the rules of gambling; whoever is taking the money is the person who should be playing. “If you are afraid, then don’t play!” Yudhishthir looked at Dhritarashtra. This was clearly unfair. Yudhishthir expected Dhritarashtra to intervene and point out that it was unfair. Like, normally, what happens is if a game is going on—football or cricket—if one player is doing something unfair, you expect the umpire to intervene. But Dhritarashtra did not intervene.

And he started gambling. He lost one thing, then another, and another. As he was losing things, he realized, “This is terrible.” At one particular point, Arjuna gently touched Yudhishthir’s shoulder. Although they were brothers, Yudhishthir was still the eldest brother, and there is a certain hierarchy in traditional cultures where the eldest brother is like a father figure. So Arjuna gently shook his head, indicating, “It’s enough now, stop gambling.”

Yudhishthir thought, “Yes.” But he said, “You know, I have lost so much. With all the wealth that I have lost, I can do so much service to the sages, to society, to people. So,” he thought, “if I can just get some of it back, then I can do so much service.” And then he kept gambling. He started thinking that as he was staking more and more valuable things, “Surely Krishna will not let me lose this.” When he started staking his brothers, he thought, “Arjuna is so dear to Krishna; surely Krishna will not let Arjuna be lost.” Then he said, “Draupadi is so dear to Krishna; surely, whatever happens, Krishna will not let Draupadi be lost.”

It wasn’t exactly that he had forgotten Krishna or not. His state was that you could say he was in Maya. But his Maya was not like our Maya or like mundane Maya, where you just get caught in it. It was not because of any greed over there; it was not because he thought, “I’ll make some quick money,” that he started gambling. But it was even with a desire to serve.

But what happens is, when we say life is tough, the Mahabharata depicts reality in its brutality. And one brutal truth of life is that good intentions are not a substitute for good intelligence. Good intentions mean that he wanted to do dharma, he wanted to do bhakti, he wanted to do seva—that’s a good intention. But it was a bad judgment call.

So, while he had faith in the power of Krishna, what happened is he underestimated the pull of gambling. He underestimated how much it can drag someone down. Just because we are trying to serve Krishna does not mean that the forces of illusion will no longer work on us.

For example, just because we have some service in the temple and we have to do Aarti for Krishna, and because of that, we go at a dangerously high speed in the car, thinking, “Oh, I am going for Krishna’s service; it’s good enough.” But the material world acts upon certain principles. If somebody has severe diabetes and someone brings them a Tirupati Balaji laddoo, and they say, “This is prasad; how can I say no to prasad?” and they take the laddoo. Now, what will happen is they may get spiritually purified, but they will get materially devastated.

So, the power of Maya is something to be seriously acknowledged. For all of us, we may not neglect Krishna. For most of us, what happens is, “Yeah, Krishna is nice, but Maya is also not all that bad.” So, we do not devalue the power of Krishna, but we often devalue the power of Maya. And then what happens? We end up in self-created trouble.

For all of us, it’s important to acknowledge that both Maya is powerful and Krishna is powerful. So now, I thought I said we’d go towards the quadrant. Let’s look at the last paragraph. Who would like to read in the monthly directory? Yes.

The Lord is our protector. So it’s like if we take a medical metaphor. If we consider a disease, if somebody has a disease, then they need to take the disease seriously, isn’t it? And then after they take the disease, then they have to take the treatment seriously. So, if somebody doesn’t take the disease seriously, suppose somebody nowadays gets some disease—let’s say somebody has cancer. The word “cancer” is such that just hearing that word, people get terrified. Now, of course, many forms of cancer are curable now. But normally, if we hear that diagnosis, “cancer,” we will not take it lightly; we will take it seriously. But somebody has just some swelling on the body, some little pain…

So I say, “Okay, no big deal. I don’t have to worry about it.” If they don’t take a disease seriously, if the doctor says, “You know, you have to get this treated,” they think, “There’s no big deal.” So, if they don’t take the disease seriously, things will become problematic.

But if somebody takes the disease seriously but doesn’t take the treatment seriously, then that will also be a problem. So, for us, recognizing that Maya is powerful is like taking the disease seriously. When we take the disease seriously, we recognize that there is a need to fight against this temptation. And then, when we take Krishna seriously, there is hope that I can be cured. So, I’ll talk about this last part: how to feel the need and how to feel the hope.

Broadly speaking, it’s not that all of us have the same “anartha” (unwanted conditioning) troubling us to the same degree. Each of us may have different anarthas. Some of us may have common anarthas, but the principle is there: Maya will attack all of us in some way or another. So, how do we feel the need? Broadly speaking, the need comes from two things.

The Positive We Are Unable to Do

One is the positive things we are unable to do. For example, if I want to read Bhagavad Gita regularly, but I spend a lot of time on my phone—reading this, watching this, looking at that, responding to that, reacting to this—unless we have some positive that we want to do, we may not even realize how much time we are spending. Like, a student might waste a lot of time on social media, but if the exam is six months away, then, yeah, it doesn’t matter. But if the exam is tomorrow, and I spend six hours on social media today, that would be devastating.

So, unless we have something positive that we want to do and are unable to do it… Most of us say, “Oh, I don’t have time.” And it is true that nowadays, people may be fairly wealthy, but there is one kind of poverty that everyone has. Sociologists call this time poverty. Time poverty is where we all have more things to do than what we have time to do. But we will notice that while there are many things which we don’t have time to do, if you look at the time that we do have, we often spend it on less important things.

So, the way we realize the need to fight against temptation is by having something that we want to do, but we are unable to do. When we start looking at that, for example, “I want to be kind and polite and helpful. But as soon as something goes wrong, I start becoming rude and harsh and just being myself.” So then, “Oh, this is not the kind of way I want to be.”

That need can come from a positive side by recognizing that there are some values, some purposes, some things which I want to do, but I’m unable to do. So, we need to have some positive that is our aspiration. By looking at our aspirations—the good things that we want to do and are unable to do—on one side, we can feel the aspiration to do something.

The Negative We End Up Doing

The other thing is the negative that we end up doing. This is where we have our boundaries. Krishna talks about these two in Bhagavad Gita 6.35 as abhyasa and vairagya.

• Abhyasa means repeated practice. Why would we practice something repeatedly? Because you want to learn it; you want to do it. These are aspirations that we have. So, what is it that I want to do that I’m unable to do?
• Vairagya (dispassion/renunciation) represents boundaries. What are certain things which we do not want to do, but we end up doing?

If we don’t have any boundaries at all… Say, if somebody has a lot of money and they keep buying lots of things. Some people have basements filled with things which they have barely opened once. If somebody has a lot of money, they may spend a lot of money and not even realize they are spending so much. But if somebody keeps a boundary, “Okay, every month, I’m not going to shop beyond this amount.” Or if some circumstances come in their life and they don’t have that much money, then they have to budget themselves more carefully.

So, if we have certain boundaries… We all may get angry, but generally, we all keep our anger under limits. Normally, when we get angry, we might just yell at someone; we might raise our voice. But most of us, if we are in a civilized culture or society, we may not use swear words; we may not use obscenities. But if you regularly give in to anger, and one day, suddenly, we find that we have spoken some obscenities… “How could you speak something like that?” And, you know, if we just speak it among some people who are okay with it, who are taken aback, but, you know, maybe it’s just family or relatives. But tomorrow, we speak it against somebody who is much more cultured and important for us. And then, “Hey, this is a boundary that I have crossed!”

So, for each one of us, it’s like, “How do I know that I have a disease?” Say, if somebody’s doing some regular workout, that they have muscular atrophy. How do they know it? They try to lift a weight, and they’re not able to. “Something is wrong here.” So, only when we have some aspirations that we are not able to fulfill do we start recognizing, “Maybe this problem/disease is there.”

And say, you know, we’re just walking along and slip and fall. “What happened? How did I slip and fall?” We just say, “This happened. I didn’t see it was slippery ground.” But people don’t just slip and fall normally.

So, unless we have certain aspirations and certain boundaries, we won’t recognize that there is a need for me to fight against temptation.

Cultivating Aspirations and Boundaries

Now, in many ways, aspirations come by satsang (good association). They come by good association. For us, it might be routine to get angry and yell at someone when they do something wrong. But if we meet with saintly-minded people, those who are devotees, and we see how calm and cool they are even in difficult situations, we might think, “Maybe I should also be like this. I get angry with such small things; I should not get angry.” So, it’s satsang, it’s good association, that often gives us aspirations: “I want to become like this.”

Now, how do the boundaries come? The boundaries come by two things: intelligence and experience. We hear scriptures and we understand how the power of Maya can be so great. See, here I’ll talk about the point of Ajamil. When Ajamil saw that particular sight, he saw a man and a woman publicly engaging in sensuality. He saw that, and it captivated him. And he felt a strong desire to be with her. Now, he could have fought that desire, but he didn’t. It captivated him.

Sometimes conditions are very powerful, and you will be captivated. But, “Okay, this is unbearable. I just have to go.” Go. Sometimes, “I’ll go and be with her.” Okay. When he did that, he thought that this was just one time this desire had come.

“I’ll go and gratify it, and that’s all. It’ll be over.” But he probably never thought where it would lead him. After that, what happened? He thought, “Okay, I don’t just want to be a one-time ‘lover’; I want to be a regular one.” What happens then? “You know, I’ll reject my wife.”

Then his parents were there; his parents opposed him. He said, “I’ll reject my parents also.” Now, he was a Brahmana. A Brahmana is supposed to do priestly activities, come and perform Yajnas in people’s houses. If that person has rejected their wife, rejected their parents, and is living so immorally, nobody will ask that person to come and do priestly activities in their home. So then he lost his profession. And what was he going to do now? Then he started robbing. He started stealing. He started threatening people. He started attacking and injuring people to rob them.

So, that one indulgence—he would not have thought it would lead him all this way down. But what happens is, Maya just keeps creeping in, creeping in. So, when we have boundaries, saying, “No, I cannot do this. I’m never going to do this,” what happens is we cross one boundary? “No big deal.” We cross another boundary. We cross another. And it just goes further and further and further.

We have devotees who are trying to do outreach in many different ways. Some devotees have created a program called a Bhakti Recovery Group for people addicted to something, like alcohol or drugs. How can Bhakti help them recover? For most people who haven’t been addicted, Bhakti simply offers a higher taste, and they don’t look in that direction. But for somebody who’s been addicted, they just get caught in things.

I was talking with one person after giving a talk to this group in the UK; many of them were non-Indians. I asked him what inspired him. You see, for somebody who’s an alcoholic, one of the things is that they often deny they’re alcoholics. “No, no, it’s not a big deal at all. I can give up whenever I want.” And what happens is, “I can give up the desire to give up whenever I want also.” So it’s a denial. So then, how do they overcome the denial? When do they feel the need?

He said that once he had drunk alcohol, and he used to regularly drink and just lie down at home. Then his son came and asked him something—his small four or five-year-old boy. He was drinking, and he just banged his fist against the table he was sitting at. His son got completely scared. And he said, “When I saw my son so scared of me, that was what shook me. What kind of person have I become? As a father, I should be protecting my children. Here, my son is shrinking from fear of me, and not because he has done something wrong, but because I have done something wrong. He’s afraid what more I may do.” That’s when he felt, “I need help. I have to change myself.”

This moment of awakening can come when we meet somebody good and we see, “Oh, I want to become like that good person.” Or that moment of awakening can come when we see, “Okay, how bad have I become? How could I become like this? What have I done?” These are times when we realize the power of Maya.

So, for all our conditionings, we might say, “Oh, I’m not able to give up this conditioning.” But do we really have that desire to give it up? This is a key difference. Sometimes we talk about desire and need. And for us, we may have many desires to improve. But like desires, sometimes we fulfill them, sometimes we don’t. But do we feel a need to improve? If something is a need, then we will do it. So, through these two contemplations, the need can arise.

Cultivating Hope

The last part is hope. So, how do we develop hope? Sometimes we may realize that, “Okay, yes, this is a bad thing. But I’ve tried so many times; I never succeeded.” That hope comes by understanding that while Maya is powerful, Krishna is more powerful. Krishna’s power is greater than Maya’s power.

I’ll conclude with one image. If you consider the Earth, and we are on the Earth, there is the Earth’s gravitational pull—that’s the gravity zone of the Earth. So if we try to go up, or if we are a rocket being projected upwards, then what happens is that it goes up, but gravity pulls it down. For all of us, the things we are attached to have a pull. And when we try to move out of that, we just get pulled down. This gravitational pull may be different for different people based on how much they have indulged in that particular activity, how much they’ve been attached to it. But the gravity pull is there, and it pulls us down.

Sometimes we think that Krishna is somewhere over here, and Krishna is far away, and we think that I have to go all the way up to Krishna. One of the key things is that Krishna is far above. Krishna is far above Maya. Krishna is far above the conditions of this world. If you consider the sun or the moon, they are so high up, they cannot be pulled by the gravitational pull of the Earth. So, Krishna is far above.

However, “Krishna is far above” means He’s above the gravitational pull of material objects. However, Krishna is not far away. Krishna is far above but not far away. What this means is that there are certain places in our lives—if this is a sense object and this is the gravitational pull of the sense objects—there are certain areas in our life where Krishna is so close that Krishna’s gravitational pull comes where we are.

For example, consider if somebody is an alcoholic; they’re completely caught in the gravitational pull of alcohol. But while they’re drinking, if they see devotees doing Harinam Sankirtan and they think, “Let me also dance!” When they dance, they experience some joy there. So even when they are in the tamasic state of intoxication, they can still experience the joy of Krishna.

Like that, wherever we are, Krishna’s gravitational pull can reach us. That does not mean that it will be equally the same all the time. That’s why, although Krishna is in our hearts, we do not perceive His presence all the time. When we come in satsang, when we do some Puja, when we go on some Yatra, when we do some serious Seva—at that time, what are we doing by these activities? We are placing ourselves in the gravitational pull of Krishna. And when we put ourselves in the gravitational pull of Krishna, then we start experiencing that: “Hey, this is so amazing! I didn’t feel any agitation. I didn’t feel any temptation. I didn’t feel any distraction. All that just went away.”

You know, today is Ekadashi. Some of us may be fasting on Ekadashi. Now, what happens is some people, when they fast, they decide to fast, and then they give up the determination to fast. Others may hold fast to the determination to fast. Maybe on Janmashtami, we fast till midnight. “See, I cannot fast till midnight!” But we come in the association, maybe we are doing seva, there’s kirtan going on, there’s darshan going on. And just one hour, then a third hour, it just passes, and we’ve fasted till midnight. And in some ways, “I didn’t know I had this capacity to fast like this!”

Have any of you experienced this—that when you are in Krishna consciousness, temptation just doesn’t seem to trouble us? Many of you experienced this? Yes. We all have that experience. There are times when the gravitational pull of Krishna comes to where we are, and then we don’t feel the gravitational pull of Maya, of the sense objects.

So for all of us, it is these experiences that can give us hope. Yes, temptations may come back and trouble me, but there are times when I do not feel tempted. There are times when I remain free from temptation. And if we can bring ourselves into the presence of Krishna more and more, then we will find that Krishna’s gravitational pull will pull us upwards. What will happen eventually?

By the power of Krishna, the sense objects will be there, their gravitational pull will be there, but Krishna’s gravity will pull us upwards. And we will go outside the gravitational pull of the sense objects. For some of us, we might have been eating meat before we came to Bhakti. Then, after we start practicing Bhakti, many of us give it up completely. Now, if we go on a plane or a train and the person sitting next to us is eating meat, most devotees will not feel attracted to the meat at all. We may not know whether Krishna is all-attractive, but Krishna Prasadam is all-attractive. In that, we have experienced a higher taste.

So that’s why, when we are daily dealing with distractions and temptations, we might feel, “Is this Bhakti really working? Is the power of Krishna really there? I’m getting the same anger, the same irritation, the same temptation, the same urges I have to fight against every day.” We may feel, “Where is the power of Krishna?” But to recognize this power of Krishna, we need to remember two things:

1. Temptation-free moments: We experience them. They may not be permanent, but we have experienced those temporary times. It may be for a few minutes, a few hours, or even a few days. We have experienced it.
2. Areas of freedom: There are also areas in our life (meaning habits) where we have become free. It might be a minor thing, but we have become free of it.

If we remember these two things, then we will have hope. “Okay, that particular conditioning, that particular unhealthy habit, I was able to give up. This might be more difficult to give up because maybe this conditioning is more deep-rooted. Maybe this will take more time, but I will be able to give it up.” So in this way, when we take the power of Maya seriously and the power of Krishna seriously, then we will experience, sooner or later, a magical transformation in our life.

The Phases of Spiritual Growth

In the journey of Bhakti, quite often what happens is that the spiritual change and growth occur in three phases:

• Revolutionary: Initially, when we come to Bhakti, there’s a rapid change. Our lifestyle changes, our habits change. There is a revolutionary change that happens.
• Evolutionary: That revolutionary change stays for some time. After that, it becomes a “grind.” We may feel as if no dramatic change is happening, but that change is happening; it’s evolutionary. Like a newborn baby: every week, the baby is growing, and you can actually measure and see it. But once the child becomes three or four or five years old, you measure their height every week, and while the height is always going to increase, you don’t see it day-to-day. Yet, every day the child is being fed well, and the child is growing. So, for most of our spiritual journey, our growth is evolutionary.
• Revolutionary (again): But then, at the end, it again becomes a revolution. Towards the end of our life, the example is given: if we are going for a morning walk and it’s still twilight, the sun has not yet risen. We are chanting, maybe, and we are thinking about Krishna. And suddenly, we realize, “Hey, the sun has risen!” Now, the sun didn’t rise at one moment; the sun was rising continuously, but at one particular time, we realized the sun has risen. That is how purification happens.

Every day that we practice Bhakti—we do some Puja, some Japa, some Svadhyaya, some Seva—every single day we are getting purified. Although it may appear, “Oh, this desire is coming, this temptation is coming, I am fighting against it; it’s coming, it’s coming.” But every day we are practicing Bhakti, the sun of Krishna Prema (love for Krishna) is rising in our heart. Prabhupada writes that one day we realize, “Oh, I have become a pure devotee!” What does “pure devotee” mean? That the same temptations that were troubling me earlier—I just don’t feel those temptations. Like the river comes into the ocean, but the ocean is not disturbed. We find that the things that would disturb me earlier no longer disturb me. And that is the stage when our heart becomes fully situated in Krishna. Krishna says that is the stage of Jivan Mukti—even if we are not yet physically liberated, we are essentially liberated. It’s only a matter of time when we’ll be with Him, back with Krishna for a life of eternal love and eternal joy.

Summary of Key Points

So, I’ll summarize what I discussed today. I talked about the broad topic of fighting temptations and fighting the power of Maya. I discussed three main points in this session:

1. Self-Created Problems: When we all face problems in life, there are external problems, but much more than these are self-created problems. I talked about how my “good vocabulary and bad temper” made things worse. So, the bigger problems in our life are often not external but internal. They can be separate, but the internal often makes the external worse. Sooner or later, we recognize that there are these inner demons which need to be dealt with.
2. The Four Quadrants: To deal with these demons, the major topic I discussed was about these four quadrants based on whether we take Maya seriously or not, and whether we take Krishna seriously or not.
   • Don’t take either seriously: We are proudly degraded, happily, blissfully, ignorantly degraded.
   • Take Maya seriously, but not Krishna: We become hopeless. The example here was Ajamil; he tried to fight, but he felt he couldn’t fight and just gave up.
   • Take Krishna seriously, but not Maya: We become careless. The example of this was Yudhishthir Maharaj. He had good intentions when he started, wanting to obey his elders. But if the elders are asking us to do something dangerous like gambling, should we do it? And even if we do it, how far? Can we say that because I’m doing it for Krishna, I won’t get in trouble? No. Good intelligence is necessary even when we have good intentions.
   • Take both seriously (Maya and Krishna): Then we become empowered. We take Krishna seriously and we take Maya seriously. There are many examples of saints and people who got transformed, like Narada Muni, who realized how killing was going to lead to hellish suffering for him in the future, so he took the wrong action seriously. We also have Jagai and Madhai, and the example of Nagari.
3. Need and Hope to Fight: We talked about developing the need and the hope to fight.
   • Need to Fight: This means we understand the power of Maya and take it seriously. How do we feel the need to fight? By two things:
     • Aspirations: Think of things that we want to do in our life, that we would love to do, but we are not able to do. That will make us realize that something inside me is pulling me away from this. It’s our aspirations that we are unable to fulfill.
     • Boundaries: There are things we do not want to cross, but we keep crossing. We are unable to stay within them.
     • Sometimes, by good association (satsang), we may realize, “Oh, this is the kind of person I want to become,” and that can inspire us. And by self-observation—what kind of person am I becoming?—we start recognizing. By our intelligence and by our experience, we begin to recognize. By our satsang, we can develop good aspirations; by our self-observation, we understand that this point of understanding can make us feel the need for change and the need to fight.
   • Hope to Fight: This comes by understanding that there is a gravitational pull of Maya which is keeping us caught, but there is Krishna, and Krishna also has His gravitational pull. And Krishna’s gravitational pull can come where we are, and it can lift us up from where we are. Here, we need to remember two things:
     • Temptation-free times: Remember the temptation-free times that we may have. There are times, like when we fast on Ekadashi or Janmashtami.

Overcoming Temptation and Cultivating Spiritual Growth

We often find ourselves facing temptations that once seemed impossible to resist. Surprisingly, we can experience these temptations three times over, yet through spiritual practice, we can transcend them. Imagine embarking on a pilgrimage, forgetting all worldly concerns – TV programs, movies, politics – everything fades away.

We can also break free from ingrained habits and “anartas” (unwanted material desires). If we remember these two points, we can have hope that Krishna will help us change. Krishna is there for us, and understanding how spiritual change unfolds is key.

Initially, spiritual change can be revolutionary, rapid, and dramatic. It then becomes evolutionary, a more gradual process, before eventually becoming revolutionary again. During this evolutionary phase, it’s crucial to use our buddhi (intellect) to understand the power of Maya (illusion) and the power of Krishna. This understanding empowers us to keep pushing ourselves, continuously growing closer to Krishna.

Let’s conclude by offering this prayer once more. Please repeat after me: “My dear Lord, let awareness of inner danger drive me toward Your shelter.”

Realistic Expectations and Choosing Our Battles

It’s easy to get discouraged, especially when we set unrealistic expectations for ourselves. While Krishna consciousness works in wonderful ways, we can’t always expect magic. Sometimes it comes, but not consistently. This means we must choose our battles wisely.

Consider India’s historical conflicts with Pakistan and China. In recent years, India has taken strong action against Pakistan, but not yet against China because it’s not yet strong enough. This doesn’t mean India is being passive, but it is strategically choosing its battles.

Similarly, we have many aspects of ourselves we want to improve. However, if we try to fight too many battles or tackle overly difficult ones simultaneously, we risk becoming discouraged and believing change is impossible. When fighting a battle, we need a sense of success or at least progress.

Therefore, start with realistic battles and progress gradually, step by step. You may have many areas for improvement or habits you want to stop. Begin with something doable. Decide, “For the next one to three months, I will focus on this,” and stick to it.

I once spoke with a Western therapist in India who explained why February is his busiest month. People make New Year’s resolutions in January, fail by February, and then get depressed. My understanding is that we need to celebrate small wins. Instead of feeling like a complete failure for breaking a resolution, be happy you stuck to it for a month.

While some vows, like initiation vows, are lifelong commitments, many other intentions don’t carry such serious consequences. If we declare, “I’ll never do this again in my life,” it can feel like a goal with no immediate victory. Even if we stick to it for a year or two, a relapse can lead to despair. The mind might even rationalize, “You have the rest of your life to do this, so just indulge now and start the resolution later.”

Instead, try taking small, manageable steps. “I won’t do this for one month.” This is like the resolutions taken during Kartika or Chaturmas. We need a realistic understanding. Krishna can do magic, but a devotee’s mood isn’t to demand it. We must also recognize our own limitations; deeply ingrained conditions won’t disappear overnight. By choosing our battles and celebrating small victories, it becomes easier to sustain our efforts.

Strengthening Our Connection to Krishna

This approach applies not only to fighting Maya but also to focusing on Krishna. Within Krishna bhakti, there’s a range of activities, and not all will be equally nourishing for us at any given moment. Some bhakti activities are sources of strength. When we engage in them, we feel alive, experience great spiritual joy, and sense Krishna’s presence. For some, this might be kirtan; for others, puja, listening to classes, cooking for Krishna, or performing arati.

Then there are activities that require strength. These are the ones where we truly have to push ourselves, such as chanting Japa. While some may naturally enjoy Japa, for most, it demands effort. We need to identify which bhakti activities give us strength. It’s like Krishna’s “gravitational pull” reaching us in some activities (like kirtan or katha), while in others (like Japa), we have to exert effort to reach that pull.

Recognize the activities that empower you and make them a regular part of your routine. Keep them accessible. When moments of weakness arise, these are the activities you should turn to immediately. While all bhakti activities ultimately provide strength, some may not do so instantly.

Consider which manifestations of Krishna you are naturally attracted to. There are many beautiful deities, but some pictures or forms resonate deeply with us, evoking a prayerful mood. Keep these accessible – on your phone, with you. This will make the battle, though still tough, less difficult. Make a list of these strengthening activities and keep them readily available.

Yes, please. Correct. Good question. So, when we say that Krishna will fix all things, yes, Krishna will fix all things. But, more often than not, Krishna will fix all things by fixing us, so that we can fix all things.

It is not that Krishna will magically solve problems. We see many incidents in the Mahabharata where Krishna miraculously intervened. But, if you consider the majority of the Kurukshetra War, wasn’t Arjuna fighting using his archery and his strength? Which moments led to victory? Was it, say, the miraculous moment when Krishna covered the sun and helped Arjuna kill Jayadratha?

That is true. But Arjuna got to that point by fighting through the entire Kaurava army. So, yes, God helps us, no doubt. But, when we look broadly—and this is a big subject, I’ll try to shorten it—in our lives, there are situations.

Situations can be problematic. Now, situations lead to emotions. Something bad happens to us, and we feel disheartened, discouraged, or frustrated. Then, emotions lead to decisions. So, quite often, when we turn to Krishna, when we pray to Krishna, what we expect is that Krishna will fix the situations. But what Krishna often does is that he fixes our emotions. When he fixes our emotions, that enables us to take better decisions. Now, Krishna can fix the situations also, but that is not what he normally does. A devotee does not depend on Krishna intervening all the time.

So, the whole Bhagavad Gita is not about… see, there is a difference between, to some extent, the mood of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. In the Ramayana, Lord Ram is the hero. Of course, he is not the only hero; Hanuman is also a hero, all of them are heroes, but Ram is the central hero and he is doing the most action. But in the Mahabharata, it is Krishna not doing the most action; it’s the Pandavas, Arjuna, doing the most action.

In many ways, the Mahabharata is more reflective of real life than the Ramayana. So, the call of the Bhagavad Gita is not just that Krishna is the hero, and if you turn to him, he will solve all your problems. The mood of the Bhagavad Gita is: Krishna is the hero, and if you join him, he will make you a hero. So, he will enable you to do heroic things. Yesterday, I gave a class on the same topic in Columbus.

I talked about how we may think of Krishna as a protector. And that is wonderful. Krishna is the protector means that Krishna is the hero who will protect me when I’m in trouble. And that is good to understand. But Krishna is not just a protector; Krishna is also our commander. We are in an army, and we are in Krishna’s army, and this war that we are fighting is a tough war. But we have Krishna as our commander. And when Krishna is the commander, we fight in the war. And then, here, Krishna is the hero. But in Krishna’s army, we also become the hero. So, Krishna wants us to become heroic. Prabhupada was, you can say, the unlikeliest of heroes. At age 69-70, with nothing to show in his life, he went to America and he tried to serve Krishna. In the last ten years: 108 temples, 70 books, 14 world tours, thousands and thousands of people inspired to take to bhakti. So, Prabhupada also became a hero.

So, yes, Krishna helps us, that’s true. But Krishna will do many things through us. And that’s why devotion is not passivity: “Oh, Krishna will take care of everything.” We can think of that when we are gripped by too much anxiety. “I don’t know, Krishna will take care. But Krishna will take care of other things, let me take care of the thing that I am doing right now.” So, in that sense, it’s the devotee’s part and Krishna’s part. So, it’s like a human-divine partnership, like Krishna and Arjuna had a partnership, that divine-human partnership. So, it is like the human takes care of what I can, that I take care of what I can, and the divine Krishna will take care of what I can’t. Thank you. Good question. Yeah, thank you.

Any last question before we stop? Yes, by “children” do you mean teenagers, or…? Okay. Yes, it is difficult. But I think there are, what I’ve found are probably three steps.

One is how we see our children. Especially in their teenage years, this particular time in human history, as far as recorded history, is a time of unprecedented temptation. So, it is a very difficult time in which to grow up. So, instead of thinking that our children are being difficult—”Why don’t they listen to me? Why don’t they care for me? I want their good!”—instead of seeing them as being difficult, we should see that they are in difficulty. They may not want our help, although they need our help. They may not be ready to take our help, but it is that they are in difficulty. It’s an overwhelming time to live in today’s world. So, we may say, “What is the difficulty? I lived in poverty. I lived in far more difficulty than what you are living in. I have given you so many comforts in life now.” But their difficulty quite often is much more psychological, especially what happens when people come to their teenage years. If you consider childhood, teenage, and adulthood: in childhood, a person’s identity is more or less “I’m the son or daughter of so-and-so.” In adulthood, they develop their identity: “I have this degree, I have this job, I have this family.” We have developed our identity. But in the teen years, it is an identity crisis. They are too old to be satisfied simply with the identity that “I am so-and-so’s son or daughter,” but they have not created their own identity.

So, therefore, here, there’s a lot of peer pressure. Because, for whom do we want an identity? We want an identity so that we will be respected in our social circles. So then there are different kinds of peers. And some peers may say, “Okay, you know, have you watched this movie? Have you tried out this drink? Have you tried out these drugs? Come on, have a life. Enjoy. You’re just being a nerd.” All these kinds of small labels come up, but they jar them quite a bit. So, the thing is that it’s not that we are against our children, or rather, our children are against us. We don’t think we are against our children, but they are in difficulty.

So, one of the… especially when I give talks to completely new people, Western people, one of my prayers I offer—it’s there in this book also—is: “Help me to learn how to help others to learn.” So, it is not that people are dumb when they don’t want to learn. It is that I have to learn how to help others to learn. So, it’s that they are in difficulty. Krishna says, “Don’t disturb others’ minds. Try to elevate them gradually.” So the idea over here is that they are in difficulty. And once we understand that, then try to learn how to help them to learn. What does that mean? That often, they won’t help. But what happens is, most often, teenagers feel that “You just don’t understand me. You don’t understand what situation I’m going through.” So, if at any time they start talking, you know, “Okay, this happened in my school today. This happened in my college today. This happened…” Our tendency is immediately to judge them.

How could you do something like this? How could you let this happen? Why are you such a person? A person who acts like this? But if they are expressing something, and we immediately rush to judgment, then they will close down completely.

So, they said, ‘Okay, try to understand what is going on in their life.’ We may think they are foolish and ignorant, and that we are experienced, but they don’t see it that way. For instance, one of the differences between Indian or Eastern culture and Western culture is that Eastern culture is much more hierarchical. There is authority, and there are subordinates.

For many of us, growing up, if our parents told us ‘don’t do this,’ we obeyed. In hierarchical cultures, authority and respect are assumed. Because I am in a position of authority, respect is assumed. Now, in Western culture, authority isn’t inherent; the culture is more horizontal. A child might even call their parents by their first names sometimes, just as we might call our bosses by their first names. To us, this feels weird; it’s disrespectful. That’s a different culture. So, it’s not that there is no respect, but respect has to be earned. Here, respect can be assumed, but there, it has to be earned. The idea is that you have to show me that what you are telling me has value for me; it works for me.

So, if we try to spend some time understanding them… In childhood, we have to set some boundaries; that’s important. But as they grow up, they will have to decide what boundaries they want to live within. And they may want to explore. Now, we don’t want them to explore to dangerous degrees, but the idea is that respect has to be earned. And earning respect means what? It means we try to understand their situation and give them guidance that makes sense to them. They say that even if one small piece of guidance we give helps them, then they’ll become more open to guidance.

So, try to understand what the kids are going through. It is a very different and difficult world they are in today. The last part is that we often want to discipline them. But, instead of talking about discipline, we can talk about it as ‘self-negotiation.’ What do I mean by self-negotiation? It’s like there’s your present self and your future self. For example, if we are trapped in a storm and we have, say, only seven days of food, we may decide that if I just enjoy a big feast right now, then I may not have any food after three or four days. So, the present self should not enjoy at the cost of the future self. Rather than telling children, ‘Don’t do this, don’t do this, don’t do this,’ try to help them to see why discipline is important. You want to enjoy right now, but do you want to enjoy in a way that will harm you, harm your future? That will ruin life for your future self? So, it’s not so much that ‘I am telling you to do this,’ but rather, there is a future you who has to live with the consequences of the present you.

And so, he said, ‘The present me is there. Now, if you care only for the present me, we’ll get stagnated or degraded. But on the other hand, if you care only for the future me – you know, ‘this is good for you in the future, this is good for you in the future’ – what about the present me?’ It’s like we want to have food after seven days. So, ‘But what about me?’ ‘Oh, don’t eat anything because we’ll eat food in the future.’ We’ll have food in the future, but we may not be there in the future, isn’t it? So, what happens if we care only for the present me? We can get degraded; we can get into bad habits. But if we care only for the future me, then we can get suffocated. That, ‘Oh, you are saying so many things are good for the future me, but you don’t seem to care for the present me at all.’ And then, ‘Oh, you will have a career, you will have this.’ But there’s no enjoyment for me right now in my life. So, ideally speaking, there has to be both. It is not that the future me has to be at the cost of the present me, or the future you has to be at the cost of the present you. But it’s also that the present you should not be at the cost of the future you. So, if we get that sense of time and help them get that sense of time, it is not just ‘I who am telling you to do this, and you have to do this.’ It is, ‘You have a future to live in.’

There’s a famous American thinker, Mark Twain. He said that when I was 17, my father was a fool. Now I’m 25, and I’m amazed how much the old guy has learned in the last eight years. Now, it is possible that the father has also learned some things. But it’s quite likely that at 17, when the hormones are high, one thinks, ‘I can conquer the whole world.’ But at 25, one has become a little more responsible, and a person starts recognizing that, ‘You know, my parents have some responsibility. They have gone through life. They have something to teach me.’ So, sometimes what happens? I’m talking about this from the present me and the future me from the child’s perspective. But from our perspective also, sometimes we may want the child to do the right thing in the present. And we force them so much. We can force to some extent, but if we force them too much, once they become young adults, they may just go completely off. So, sometimes doing the right thing is important, or getting them to do the right thing is important, but sometimes maintaining the right relationship is also important. If we tell them that, ‘You know what? What I am telling you is right, and if you don’t listen to me, you will regret it in the future, and then you will come crawling back to me.’ Even if they realize they were wrong, they will not come back.

So, it’s like a bird, like a mother bird. When the baby bird is small, the mother bird protects the baby in the nest. But the baby bird has to fly. And while flying, the baby bird will fall down. But then, that’s how the baby bird learns to fly. So, from our side also, we want to ensure they make the present choices properly. But if we force them to make certain choices right now, they may become resentful. And even when there are good choices to be made, they may not make good choices just because we told them to make those choices. So, it’s like, from our side also, we have to carefully negotiate. ‘I want to get my child to do the right thing, but I also want to have a good relationship with my child.’ So, if the only word the child hears from the parent is ‘no, no, no, you cannot do this, you cannot do that, you cannot do that,’ then eventually the child will grow up and will say ‘no’ to the relationship with the parent itself. And that can be very painful. So, all this, this is not easy; it is difficult. But, gradually, we can help them navigate that difficult phase of teenage years to come to adulthood. Thank you very much.

The post When our conditionings seem too strong… Chaitanya Charan appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

View Details

Hare Krishna. Thank you for coming today. I’m delighted to be here with you. I’ll be speaking on the Bhagavad Gita, drawing from one of my latest books. You’ll receive physical copies of these books as soon as they arrive.

We can read from them then, but until those arrive, I’ll discuss a common problem we all face: the feeling of not being accepted, respected, or appreciated within our social circles. This can happen in any group—whether it’s a devotee circle, a professional setting, our family, or extended relatives.

One of the greatest sources of pain or discontentment in life comes from feeling like we don’t belong where we’re supposed to. For instance, if we live in a distant country, we might feel, “I’m here, but I don’t belong here in America.” This feeling can arise for various reasons, but how do we deal with this sense of not being accepted or connected? That’s what we’ll discuss today, based on a Bhagavad Gita verse. Can everyone see this from wherever you are?

An Affirmation and Prayer

This affirmation is also a prayer. Please repeat after me:

“My dear Lord, help me to learn how to help others to learn.”

Many times, when we feel people aren’t understanding or appreciating us, it’s easy to blame them, thinking “people are terrible” or “these kinds of people are terrible.” While that’s possible, if we immediately jump to that explanation, it becomes very difficult to develop good relationships. As an American comedian once said, “I love humanity; it’s just human beings that I can’t get along with.”

When we try to become spiritual, we might read lofty words like “see equal vision towards everyone.” We might think, “I have an equal vision towards everyone—my vision is that I equally dislike everyone.” No, we don’t want that. Someone once told me, “My life is filled with friends that I do not like. And if I cut off relationships with all the people I do not like, I will have no friends left.” I said, “Oh, that’s an unfortunate and undesirable situation.”

So, how do we communicate with others when there are communication and connection problems? How do we deal with that? That’s what we’ll try to discuss today.

Let’s read this prayer again:

“My dear Lord, help me to learn how to help others to learn.”

If you feel that someone isn’t “getting” you, instead of thinking “they are dumb,” consider: “Maybe I need to learn better how they can understand.” That’s the mindset we’ll discuss today.

Understanding Different Natures

Let’s repeat these words:

“The wise should not disturb the mind of those to worldly work inclined. Let them act while you gently show the path to truth that they may know.”

This is a poetic translation of Bhagavad Gita 3.26. So, let’s look at what’s going on here. I’ll write and draw some things to explain.

The Challenge of Acceptance

Broadly, the challenge we’re discussing is when we don’t feel accepted, connected, appreciated, or respected by others. What do we do in such situations? I’ll discuss this broadly in today’s class based on these words.

What is Krishna broadly saying here? Different people have different natures and are at different levels. Just because someone doesn’t understand you doesn’t mean we have to disturb them by calling them foolish. Rather, we need to consider, “What can I do to help them understand?”

For example, we might be at a particular level—intellectually, culturally, or educationally—and that level may be higher than others. We might expect them to take a high jump and come up to our level. But sometimes, when we expect them to take that high jump, they may try and end up going further down. They are unable to take that leap. Then, our expectations create too much pressure on them, and instead of coming closer, they end up going further away from us.

Navigating Relational Problems

When we face problems in our life, such as relational problems, we generally need a more nuanced approach. When we feel disconnected, our minds can swing to extremes. One extreme is thinking: “People are terrible. People are cold. People don’t care for me.” This feeling can even arise among devotees. Sometimes we’re going through challenges and difficulties, and we expect help and understanding from others, but others don’t seem to understand us.

So, one extreme could be to say, “People are terrible. Nobody cares for me.” An atheistic philosopher was once asked, “Do you believe in hell?” He surprisingly said, “Yes, of course.” When asked how an atheist could believe in hell, he replied, “Hell means other people.” That’s one extreme we can go to.

The Three Glaciers of Life

In life, we broadly experience three kinds of suffering or “glaciers.” As souls, we are situated in three broad circles:

1. The Body: The soul is situated in the circle of the body.
2. Society: The soul is situated in the circle of society.
3. Nature: The soul is situated in the circle of nature.

From each of these, some suffering can come to us.

• What is the suffering that comes from nature called? Adi Daivik. Yes.
• The suffering that comes from society? Adi Bhautik. Yes.
• And the suffering that comes from our own body and mind? Adi Adhyatmik. Yes.

Among these three types of suffering, Adhibhautik (that which comes from other living beings) is often the most difficult to tolerate. If there’s a storm, a tornado, an earthquake, or extremely low temperatures, it’s difficult and can be devastating. But we accept it; we grit our teeth and learn to live with it. In a sense, we see nature as simply “nature”—natural forces that sometimes hurt us. Similarly, with respect to our body, when there’s sickness or disease, it’s extremely troubling, but we accept it. “I’ve got a disease, and as long as it’s there, I have to live with it.”

However, with people, it’s different. We have expectations, and we often think, “How could you do this?” or “Why are you treating me like this?” We see people as conscious agents who make choices, so we wonder, “Why are you being so mean or so cold to me?” This makes social pain the most difficult.

What does pain from other living beings mean? It can range from mosquitoes to Mujahideen (deadly terrorist fanatics), or even a mother-in-law. When this Adhibhautik clash occurs, it becomes very difficult to deal with.

Distress Management

The Gita discusses how distress in this world falls into three categories. We all need to become adept at distress management, much like governments have departments for disaster management. We talk about stress management, but the Gita talks about distress management. Arjuna, for example, is in great distress.

To manage distress, we need to understand its source. We’ll use the acronym IAS. While IAS is a tough exam in India, distress management can also be tough.

Distress broadly falls into three categories:

1. I: Inevitable Some distress is inevitable, as Krishna discusses in Bhagavad Gita 2.14: “Just as the changing seasons bring heat and cold, happiness and distress will come in our lives.” This is simply a fact of existence.
2. A: Avoidable Some distress is avoidable. Krishna talks about this in Bhagavad Gita 5.22. This type of distress arises from our own actions. For example, if we walk down a road and bump into someone, they get angry and push us back, and we then punch them, leading to them stabbing us—this whole chain of events could have been avoided. Perhaps we could have been more careful, or even if pushed, we could have avoided losing our temper or punching them. Many problems are avoidable when we give in to our impulses, such as kama (lust), krodha (anger), lobha (greed), moha (illusion), mada (madness), and matsarya (envy). Different approaches are required for dealing with different kinds of problems.
3. S: Strengthening These are problems that, by going through them, make us stronger. Krishna talks about this in Bhagavad Gita 18.37, saying, “That which tastes like poison in the beginning will taste like nectar in the end.” These are the kinds of problems that are beneficial to experience. For example, if you want to become healthier, you might need to exercise regularly, go to the gym, or do yoga. Learning anything new or self-disciplining for something demanding isn’t easy; initially, it feels like poison. But by enduring that “poison,” we eventually reach a point of “nectar.” This kind of distress helps us reach a better place.

Approaches to Distress

So, how do we deal with these three kinds of distress? There are completely different approaches:

• Inevitable distress: We need to accept it as a fact of life.
• Avoidable distress: We need to correct our actions and change our behavior to prevent it. We need to counter those kinds of actions.
• Strengthening distress: We need to train ourselves or toughen ourselves so we can endure and grow through these challenges.

It’s important to recognize that not all distress is the same. Broadly, these three kinds of distress have three corresponding approaches. While this framework can be applied to all forms of distress, I’ll now focus on Adhibhautik klesha—the social distress that comes into our lives when dealing with people.

Social Reciprocation

We live in society, and generally, we do something for someone, and they do something for us. This is reciprocation, a natural and fundamental aspect of any interaction. Reciprocation can broadly be of two kinds:

1. Transactional: This means the interaction is a simple exchange. For example, when we go to a shop, we’re polite to the attendant, they’re polite to us, we give money, and they give us a product. This interaction has reciprocation, but it’s transactional. At the end of the day, we might not even remember who that person was.
2. Transformational: In contrast, some reciprocation can be transformational. Through these interactions, you become a better person, or the other person becomes better by interacting with you. While many of our interactions at work or in social life might be largely transactional, most of our casual relationships fall into this category. In transactional relationships, even if someone misbehaves or mistreats us, it’s annoying and irritating, but it doesn’t cause as much emotional turmoil.

Inevitable Social Distress

Consider an example: America is much more inclusive now, but twenty, thirty, fifty, or a hundred years ago, there was significant racial discrimination and segregation. One reason India, post-independence, aligned with the USSR rather than the USA was partly due to both Gandhi and Nehru criticizing America for its segregation. Before the Civil Rights Movement, Black individuals were expected to sit at the back of the bus and weren’t allowed at the front. Indians were often treated similarly and expected to sit at the back as well, as there weren’t many Indians in America at that time.

So, despite America’s Declaration of Rights, segregation existed. If racial discrimination is the norm in a place, then while it’s painful, people would often accept it, thinking, “What can we do about it?” If that’s the norm everywhere, we learn to live with it.

Similarly, if we, as practicing devotees, visit Islamic countries in the Middle East, where many Indians and Hindus go for employment, the public practice of any religion other than Islam is generally not allowed. We accept that. While there are vibrant devotee communities there, they are all private. In general, if the broader society operates in a particular way, we learn to accept it.

There will always be some inevitable distress in every situation that we need to accept. When two people come to work together, or two people get married and want to build a life together, there will be differences. The idea of finding a “perfect partner” happens only in romantic movies, and even there, a dose of realism eventually comes to destroy the idealism.

I know a devotee couple in Canada where I sometimes stay. The husband is a marketing manager for an international company and also a learned priest who performs rituals like thread ceremonies, housewarmings (graha pravesh), and weddings (vivaha). His wife is in family law, which is a polite term for divorce, as that’s one of their main services. They joke that they’re a “complete power couple”: you go to the husband to get married, and to the wife to get separated.

She told me that sometimes, people—mostly women, as she’s female—come to her seeking separation for reasons that seem frivolous to us. There might be deeper, unarticulated reasons, but one Canadian lady came to her wanting to divorce her husband, saying they couldn’t agree on the air conditioning temperature in their house.

While that can be a problem, considering the hierarchy of problems, there are people without air conditioning, or even without a house. The lawyer paused, “Is that really the reason you want to divorce?” The lady insisted it was, explaining, “I actually married quite late…”

“I was waiting for my perfect partner, my ‘Mr. Right.’ I truly believed this person was perfect for me. But,” she said, “if he had been Mr. Right for me, then our body temperatures should have sung together.”

People can have many unrealistic expectations. So, there will always be some differences whenever we work closely with anyone. Sometimes, you might say certain things that the other person just doesn’t understand. Or the other person expects something from you that you don’t understand. That’s just the way life is.

Casual vs. Serious Relationships

I bring up the distinction between casual and serious relationships because while frustrated expectations can occur in both, the pain caused is different. In casual relationships, frustrated expectations cause little pain. But in serious relationships, they can cause a lot of pain.

When we’re experiencing a lot of pain, we need a sense of perspective. It’s important to remember that some of this is inevitable.

Yesterday, I gave a class about how we are not alone in the world; we are a part of God, and God has a plan for us. Whenever I discuss God’s plan, especially with a Western audience, one common question is, “Has God planned a life partner for each of us?” The idea is that in the romantic imagination, God can sometimes be brought in as an element. “Oh, this was a coincidence, and we are meant to be together.” Maybe, maybe not.

But the point is, if there was such a plan—if A was supposed to be with B, C with D, E with F, and G with H—then if one person makes a mistake, like A goes off with D, then one person’s mistake would disrupt everyone else’s life. Is God’s plan so fragile that one person’s mistake can disrupt it? No, it’s not that simple.

God’s plan is that we learn and grow. Our relationships are not just for our material gratification—”being with you gives me a lot of material pleasure.” While that might be a small purpose, a much bigger purpose for our relationships is our spiritual evolution. We are meant to grow through all our relationships. So, a certain level of feeling misunderstood, unaccepted, or undervalued is just a part of life. And what is inevitable needs to be accepted.

The Imperfection of Ideals

We can apply this to any situation. Some people recounted being at an interfaith meeting where different people from various religions discussed the challenges of reaching out to the world today. One pastor shared that he was doing a radio or TV show where people would call in and ask questions. He said he got a question from a caller who identified as Christian but didn’t go to any church. The pastor very cautiously and respectfully asked, “Can I know why you don’t go to any church?” The caller replied, “I have not yet found a church that agrees with my philosophy.”

We don’t go to an institution of God to learn philosophy; we expect it to conform to our philosophy. Sometimes we might expect an ideal society, an ideal community, an ideal group of people, or an ideal club. But no ideal club exists in the world. And even if an ideal club existed with all ideal members, we wouldn’t get admission there, because we are not ideal, are we?

So, we all have to learn that there are certain inevitable sufferings we need to tolerate. Someone sent me a joke where a person said that a woman spent her entire life looking for the perfect man. She finally found him, and then it turned out that the perfect man was looking for the perfect woman, and she was not the perfect woman.

Nobody’s perfect in life. So, some distress is inevitable.

Avoidable Distress: Our Present Karma

Having said that, it’s important that we shouldn’t consider all distress to be inevitable.

What were the three kinds of distress we discussed?

• I was inevitable.
• A was what? Avoidable.
• And S was strengthening.

So, for avoidable distress, what do we need to do? We need to correct it. That which is inevitable, we accept it.

The problem with the attitude that “some distress is inevitable, so accept it” is that it does not mean all distress is inevitable. Much distress comes because of our own actions.

I was in the UK, staying at a young devotee’s home. He told me, “Tomorrow is my wife’s wedding anniversary.” I asked, “What do you mean, your wife’s wedding anniversary? Are you talking about your ex-wife, or what are you talking about? Is it not your wedding anniversary?” He said, “All these are sentimental things. I don’t believe in these things.” That was a bit of a signal for me.

Then, as he was driving me, he told me he had been introduced to Bhakti in his youth and wanted to do a lot of service and outreach. He had hoped his wife would support him, but he said, “My wife is not at all cooperative; she’s quite disagreeable.” He then added, “I’ve got a realization that Krishna gave me a disagreeable wife so that I’ll become detached from material life.” He was just beginning his married life, about twenty-seven or twenty-eight. I said, “Wait a minute. Don’t jump to that conclusion. Don’t bring Krishna into it where it could be your own problem, isn’t it?”

Later, at their home, while I was taking Prasadam, his wife also spoke with me. She was a very intelligent lady, eager to understand Krishna consciousness, and had some good questions. Then she started talking to me. She said, “I soon realized that as a husband, there are some basic things a wife would expect: to do some work at home, take care of certain things.” This devotee was neglecting that because he thought, “All these are mundane; I want to be transcendental.” Naturally, his wife was dissatisfied.

I told him that you cannot live the life of a brahmachari (celibate student) if you are not a brahmachari. The brahmachari ashram (stage of life) is also a place where you can take shelter of Krishna. So, you need to understand your life partner and learn to work together. Understand what their expectations are. You cannot fulfill all expectations, but sometimes when we completely neglect our role, that ends up creating far greater problems.

Present vs. Past Karma

When we talk about avoidable suffering, it means that some suffering comes from our past karma. In India, people sometimes say, “What karma did I do to get a person like you in my life?” People might say it aloud, or just think it, or even say it to another person. It is possible that some of the problems in our lives are because of our past karma.

But it is just as possible that the problems coming into our lives are because of our present karma. Not all things that happen in our lives are solely because of our past karma. Broadly speaking, as I said, problems are either inevitable or avoidable.

Broadly, inevitable problems can be attributed to past karma. If a child goes to a particular school and there are mean kids or bullies, while bullying should be stopped by authorities and parents, we cannot protect our children from every single unpleasant interaction. Some kids will just be mean, and our children need to learn to develop a little bit of a thick skin. Neither parents nor teachers can protect everyone all the time. So, some suffering is inevitable, and we could say that is due to past karma. Everybody has some suffering that comes from their past.

At the same time, there is also suffering which is avoidable. Avoidable suffering is because of our present karma. This means that there is suffering that… (Copies of the text will be distributed to you. We’ll read from this. When you get the book, you can go to page 120, to Bhagavad Gita 3.26. This is something we can read from and discuss.) Let’s look at this.

The Interplay of Past and Present Karma

Understanding that suffering can stem from both past karma and present karma is quite important. Let’s look at this. Would anyone like to read the paragraph? If you have the book, it’s on pages 120 and 121. Yes, please.

Good Intentions Versus Good Intelligence

“My dear Lord, You emphasize that good intention is not a substitute for good intelligence. Even when I want to do good for others and guide them toward a higher level of consciousness so that they ultimately connect with You, I need to carefully consider whether such instruction might be disruptive for them, even to the point of being destructive.”

Sometimes, we want to help others, believing we’re doing something good with our good intentions. However, the other person may not always accept our good intentions. We try to be kind to someone, and they hurt us or lash back; they might even be rude. This can be very disruptive. But why does it happen?

We might assume, “Oh, it’s my bad karma that I’m surrounded by people like that.” But generally speaking, one of the key principles discussed in Nyaya (Vedic logic) is to understand the cause of something, in this case, distress. It states that you should first look at the Drushta cause, which is the visible cause. Start with the visible cause, and if it doesn’t make sense, then move to the Adrishta cause, the invisible cause.

So, regarding the Adrishta cause, if someone isn’t dealing with us properly, you need to question: “Have I rubbed this person the wrong way in some manner? Have I done something that agitated them or made them rude to me?” Start with that, and try to address it as much as you can.

Of course, sometimes, beyond our capacity or even our comprehension, people may just be harsh with us. There will always be some incompatibility and issues when we work with people. But don’t assume that all the problems we’re facing are inevitable and that we must simply live with them. It is possible to decrease problems through better communication and understanding.

Correcting Ourselves: Aversion to Fault-Finding

In this chapter, Krishna discusses a quality called Anupaśyan (often rendered as “aversion to fault-finding”). Generally, when we face any kind of problem, our mind tends to gravitate towards two things: Raga (seeking quick pleasure) or Dvesha (seeking a villain).

• Raga means we try to forget the problem through pleasure. For instance, if there’s an argument between two people, they might go to separate rooms and watch TV or start surfing on their phones, avoiding talking to each other. The typical image of two disagreeing people is them sitting next to each other, looking away, glued to their phones. So, one approach is to seek complete pleasure, trying to forget the problem.
• If Raga doesn’t work, if the problem is too overwhelming, then we start looking for a villain: “Because of this person, all this problem is coming into my life.” Sometimes we blame the person themselves, or even someone who recommended that person to us. For example, if we enter a business partnership and the person turns out to be unreliable, we might blame the person who recommended them, or the unreliable partner themselves. Our mind tends to look for a villain.

Krishna says that those who possess Daivi Sampada (divine nature) are averse to fault-finding. They are not looking for a villain in their life. Could there be villains in our life? Of course. But if we are constantly looking for villains to blame our problems on, then we give away our sense of agency.

Consider the lives of the Pandavas. They were just small children when they came to the kingdom of Hastinapura. Duryodhana tried to assassinate them, poison Bhima, and even tried to burn their entire family, including their mother. What did the Pandavas do? They were not obsessed with the Kauravas. The Kauravas eventually allowed them to return, offering half the kingdom, but gave them a wild, desolate half called Khandavaprastha. The Pandavas worked hard and converted it into Indraprastha.

They were often treated unfairly, but they made the best of their situation. In effect, the Kauravas, especially Duryodhana, were far more obsessed with the Pandavas than the Pandavas were with the Kauravas. It’s ironic that the Pandavas did nothing to intentionally hurt the Kauravas. While the Pandavas’ very existence was a threat, they never demanded the entire kingdom; they were even ready to settle for just five villages. So, there was practically no direct hurt from the Pandavas to the Kauravas, but a lot of hurt from the Kauravas to the Pandavas. Still, it was the Kauravas who saw the Pandavas as villains in their lives. The Pandavas never thought of them as villains; they focused on their own duties: “Okay, we have our own future. Let’s work on it.”

The point is, the extent to which we are hurt by someone does not determine how much we think of someone as a villain. It is often when we are insecure, looking for someone to blame for our problems, that we end up finding a villain in our life. Generally, we want to avoid both of these tendencies. We should move from the visible (drishta) to the invisible (adrishta) cause only when the drishta does not work.

So, what does “correct” mean? It could mean that we learn how to communicate better, or we try to understand the other person instead of judging them. When the other person gets angry, generally speaking, whenever there’s a conflict or a difference of opinion, it’s very easy for us to point out what the other person did wrong. And it’s true; the other person may have done something wrong. But what requires a lot of humility and courage is to consider what I have done wrong.

One of the standard practices in serious mediation—which is also a principle in Tarka (logic or argumentation)—is that before you dismantle or destroy the other person’s argument, you rephrase the other person’s argument in the best possible way you can. If you can just have that patience, you know, “I am angry with you because of this, this, and this. And you are angry with me because of this, this, and this.” So, instead of just proving to the other person why my reasons for being angry with you are valid, what if I could just say, “Okay, you tell me why you’re angry with me, and I will rephrase that”? Not that I accept it, not that I agree that all the points are valid. But if we try to hear the other person to understand what they’re saying, we don’t have to accept their understanding.

But many times, if we just understand, “Oh, you think like this,” then we might realize that if I had been thinking like that about some other person, I would also have been just as angry. What often happens is, when we hear somebody accusing us of something, we immediately get angry: “How could you accuse me of this? How could you think like this about me? What kind of person do you think I am? What kind of relationship do we have if you think like this about me?”

We tend to become very defensive or aggressive when faced with accusations. However, it’s important to consider that even if the accusations feel outrageous to us, the person making them likely believes them to be true. If those accusations were indeed true, anyone would feel equally angry.

Three Degrees of Avoidable Problems

When discussing avoidable problems, there are generally three degrees of conflict that arise:

1. Disagreement in Judgment

This is the least severe form of conflict. For example, if two people are in charge of cooking for an event, and one suggests cooking for 50 people while the other says 70, and we prepare for 50 but 70 people show up, we might blame the other person for the lack of food. This is a judgment issue, and everyone can make mistakes in judgment. While it can be painful to have one’s judgment questioned, it’s not the most damaging type of conflict.

2. Questioning of Ability

This is more painful than a disagreement in judgment. When someone’s ability is questioned—for instance, “You are not competent enough for this position,” or “You are not capable of doing this role”—it goes beyond a one-time mistake. It implies a fundamental lack of skill or aptitude. While a person can learn and improve from a judgment error, questioning their inherent ability can be deeply discouraging and make reconciliation very difficult. Imagine someone saying, “The one thing I’ve learned about you is that you can’t learn anything.” Such an attitude makes resolution nearly impossible.

3. Questioning of Motive or Morality

This is the most damaging and often a point of no return in relationships. When someone’s motive or morality is questioned—for example, “You didn’t want this program to succeed,” or “You deliberately sabotaged this because you disliked the leader”—it attacks their character and integrity.

Consider two parents who disagree on parenting styles; one is lenient, the other strict. It’s often hard to say who is “right,” as the long-term impact unfolds over time. However, as long as both parents believe the other has the child’s welfare at heart, their relationship can endure. But if one parent starts believing the other doesn’t want the good of the child, the foundation of their co-parenting relationship crumbles.

The Role of Likes and Dislikes

Our personal likes and dislikes play a significant and often dangerous role in how we interpret others’ actions. If we like someone, we tend to attribute their mistakes to a simple judgment error. If we dislike them, we often ascribe their mistakes to a character flaw.

For instance, if a person eats half a cake meant for five people:

• If we like them, we might think, “Maybe they were very hungry,” or “Perhaps they didn’t know there was only a small amount of cake.”
• If we dislike them, we might think, “What a glutton!” and attribute the worst possible motive to their action.

This tendency to let our biases distort our perceptions can create unnecessary conflict.

Avoiding Relationship “Traffic Jams”

Just as traffic jams occur on roads, relationships can experience “traffic jams” due to these three levels of conflict. While issues at the judgment level are the easiest to overcome, those at the motive level are exceedingly difficult to resolve.

Many relationship problems and interactions are avoidable. How? By focusing on two key aspects of “correction”:

1. Look Inward Rather Than Outward

Instead of immediately assuming the other person is bad or dislikes you, look inward to consider what you might have done to contribute to the situation or anger.

2. Give the Benefit of the Doubt

When a problem arises, try to start with the least negative explanation or motive. Assume it’s a judgment error first. For example, if someone forgets to bring something you asked for, consider that they might have a lot on their mind or be under stress. Don’t immediately jump to the most negative conclusion.

This is where communication becomes crucial. Often, we harbor resentment over perceived wrongs, letting it build up over time, only to explode disproportionately over a minor incident. Instead of accumulating grievances, address issues with the least negative assumption, and communicate openly.

When we start attributing negative motives to others, it can be devastating for relationships. Many relationship problems are avoidable, and we should strive to prevent them. The last part of what we’re discussing is related to strengthening our relationships.

Strengthening Through Difference

Strengthening implies that growth occurs by engaging with people who hold different perspectives. This is where we need to train ourselves. One aspect of this training, as previously mentioned, is to give others the benefit of the doubt to avoid problems. However, I want to focus on two more points before concluding.

Sometimes, working with people who think differently from us is precisely what allows us to grow and expand our understanding. In Krishna consciousness, we often talk about deepening our connection—going deeper into our relationship with Krishna, being more attentive in chanting, and thoroughly understanding the Shastras. This is undoubtedly important.

However, Srila Prabhupada didn’t just want us to be individually Krishna conscious; he founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. He wanted us to be a society. For a society to flourish, we also need to broaden our Krishna consciousness, not just deepen it. Broadening means recognizing that there are many different ways to approach Krishna, and various aspects of Krishna can attract different people. People progress in their lives and spiritual paths in diverse ways.

When we interact with others in a non-judgmental way, genuinely trying to understand their perspectives, it broadens our own understanding. It helps us see why someone might be acting a certain way or how things operate in their context.

For example, when I was first introduced to Bhakti, it was in a very conservative, regimented ashram in India, leading to a rather black-and-white understanding of Krishna consciousness: “This is Krishna conscious; everything else is Maya.” However, over the past ten years, I’ve traveled extensively, meeting diverse devotees worldwide who face different challenges across various cultures and social circumstances. This experience has been invaluable in helping me understand that we cannot simply take one version of Krishna consciousness and superimpose it on everyone. Each individual has a unique relationship with Krishna and will pursue it in their own way.

This broadening of our conceptions helps us become more mature and flexible. It enables us to attract more people, not just to Krishna, but generally fosters greater social harmony in our lives, in addition to spiritual harmony. Many problems, therefore, serve to broaden our understanding. Instead of dismissing someone who thinks differently as “a fool” or “a terrible person,” we can recognize that they might be approaching things from a very different perspective.

Enlightenment: Destination and Journey

Let’s consider an image where Krishna represents ultimate reality, or perhaps even a problem that needs to be understood. One person might approach this reality from one angle, while another approaches it from a different angle. Both perspectives can be valid, especially when considering Krishna as the Supreme Reality.

When we approach reality, we may understand the situation, understand Krishna, connect with Krishna, and experience Krishna—and that’s perfectly true for our perspective. In the Bhagavad Gita, a fascinating series of verses illustrates this. In 10.8, Krishna states that those who know Him are Buddha (enlightened). But in the very next verse, 10.9, He describes what these enlightened people do when they meet others: they enlighten each other.

If they are already enlightened, why would they need to enlighten each other? The understanding here is that enlightenment is both a destination and a journey.

• Enlightenment as a Destination: For all of us, the ultimate understanding is that Krishna is the supreme object of love. After trying to find love in many different objects, we eventually come to the point of loving Krishna, and that is becoming enlightened.
• Enlightenment as a Journey: Even when we know Krishna is the object of love, we continue to learn two things:
  1. How lovable Krishna is: What attracts me to Krishna may be different from what attracts you. By conversing with you, I can come to understand another feature of Krishna, another aspect of His lovability and the attractiveness of Krishna Bhakti.

And how I can love Krishna more deeply. A wonderful example of this is when the queens of Krishna met Draupadi. They asked her, “Draupadi, how do you keep my husband satisfied? We are so many, and we are all trying to satisfy Krishna.” They were focused on their service and eager to learn how to perform it better. The idea is that we can all learn how to love Krishna more perfectly.

Similarly, in life, we can always learn from others. This doesn’t mean we should accept everything everyone does as right. People make mistakes, and we don’t condone what is wrong. However, when we approach interactions with the mindset that “there is always something for me to learn here,” we can continuously grow and broaden our perspectives.

Srila Prabhupada’s example is illuminating. When he first came to America, he stayed at the home of Sally and Gopal Agarwal. Gopal was an Indian man married to a Western woman. They sponsored Prabhupada’s visa out of courtesy for Gopal’s father-in-law, who had requested it; they themselves had no interest in practicing bhakti. After a short time, Prabhupada recognized their lack of spiritual inclination and didn’t pressure them. He stayed at their house for about fifteen days to a month before moving to New York. He had arrived on a two-month visa.

Sally Agarwal later wrote about her experiences, which are recorded in Prabhupada’s biography. She noted several interesting things, including that “Swamiji was so interested in learning everything American.” He wanted to know how the vacuum cleaner worked, how the elevator worked, and how the subway worked. Did Prabhupada travel all the way from India to America just to learn about household appliances? No. By being curious about these things, Prabhupada was trying to understand the American mindset—how people think, how they live. This understanding allowed him to learn how best to communicate Krishna consciousness effectively. Prabhupada’s immense success was undoubtedly due to his spiritual purity, but also, significantly, to his attitude of connecting and learning, which enabled him to attract so many people.

We can all expand our horizons when faced with differences of opinion, or when we feel misunderstood. Through such situations, we can learn to broaden our conceptions and, in turn, connect with more people.

Summary: Dealing with Disconnect

To summarize what I discussed today, our topic was about what to do “when we don’t feel accepted”—when we struggle to connect with people or deal with them effectively. I broadly covered four points:

1. The Nature of Distress: Not all distress is the same.
   • Inevitable Distress (I.A.S.S.): Some distress in life is simply unavoidable. As Krishna mentions in the Bhagavad Gita (e.g., 2.14), certain difficulties are inherent to existence.
   • Avoidable Distress: Krishna discusses this in Bhagavad Gita 5.22. These are problems we can prevent or mitigate.
   • Strengthening Distress: Discussed in Bhagavad Gita 18.37, these are difficulties through which we grow and become stronger.
2. Dealing with Inevitable Distress: What do we do with inevitable distress? We accept it. This means recognizing that differences of opinion will always exist. We don’t live in an ideal world, and there will always be some incompatibility because we are all unique individuals. We cannot wish this away. Sometimes, high-level incompatibility can be attributed to past karma. We accept that dealing with difficult people is a part of life, and no one will have a completely pain-free or problem-free existence. While some distress falls into this category, we cannot assume all distress is inevitable.
3. Dealing with Avoidable Distress: For avoidable distress, what do we do? We correct it. Correcting means looking at the situation not solely as a result of past karma (which can lead to passive tolerance) nor solely as a result of present karma (which can lead to immediate blame). The balanced approach is to start by identifying the Drishta cause—what is visible, the present karma. We try to understand, “Did I do anything wrong that might have made this person angry or upset?” If we immediately jump to blaming past karma or the other person’s inherent flaw, we won’t fix the situation and may create unnecessary suffering. In this context, I discussed two principles for correction:
   • Look Inward: “Have I done something that may have agitated this person?”
   • Give the Benefit of the Doubt: When a problem arises, we tend to ascribe a cause to it. Giving the benefit of the doubt means starting with the least negative explanation. This is usually that it was a judgment error—everyone makes mistakes in judgment, including ourselves. A more negative explanation would be that the person lacks the ability, and the most damaging is that the person’s motive itself is bad. We should avoid jumping to attributing negative motives and instead start with the least negative assumption. This approach helps us navigate “jams” in our relationships.
4. Dealing with Strengthening Distress: For strengthening situations, what do we do? We train ourselves. If we want to grow in our life and in Krishna consciousness, we aim not only to deepen our understanding but also to broaden our Krishna consciousness.

Here’s a corrected and more clearly articulated version of the provided text, focusing on improving flow, grammar, and word choice while retaining the original meaning:

Especially if you aim to live in a community or build a society, deepening your spiritual understanding is important, but broadening it becomes even more crucial. Broadening means actively seeking to understand why others think the way they do. As we discussed, even the enlightened in the Gita continue to enlighten each other. Why? Because Krishna, or reality itself, is so vast that even those who are enlightened always have more to learn. Even once you understand that Krishna is the supreme object of love, there’s still so much more to learn about how lovable Krishna is and how we can love Him more deeply.

With this understanding, we can better navigate life’s situations, minimize distress, and grow closer to Krishna. Let’s conclude with the prayer we offered at the beginning, which you can also find in your book. Please repeat after me: “My dear Lord, help me to learn how to help others to learn.”

Are there any questions? We have time, right?

Managing Defensive Reactions: Bonds and Boundaries

Student: Hare Krishna, Prabhu. Thank you so much for the class. I had a question about reacting defensively when someone accuses me of something. My emotions get very involved. Do you have any suggestions for creating distance from that emotional reaction and stopping that defensive response when I feel it starting to happen?

Speaker: If you’re looking for a foolproof way, I can only say that when I find out, I’ll tell you! It’s difficult. I can speak all this theory, but sometimes when someone annoys me, I also explode. That’s decreasing as I practice bhakti more, but it’s still a challenge.

Krishna discusses mind management primarily through two principles: Abhyasa and Vairagya. While these terms can be understood in different ways, I’ll use a specific framework.

• Abhyasa (Practice): This refers to building our bonds. The practice is to fix our minds on Krishna, to build a bond with Him, and to hear from and build bonds with our spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, and senior devotees. This forms one aspect.
• Vairagya (Detachment/Boundaries): This can be understood as establishing boundaries.

The way to manage the mind’s urges and impulses is through a combination of bonds and boundaries. Let me give an example of each.

The Power of Bonds: Shatrughna and Manthara

In the Ramayana, when Bharata returns to the kingdom after Rama’s exile, he’s horrified by Kaikeyi’s actions. After performing his father’s last rites, as they walk back to the palace, a courtier approaches Bharata. While they talk, Shatrughna walks ahead. He sees them passing Kaikeyi’s palace, and from there, Manthara emerges. Manthara is the one who instigated Kaikeyi. Shatrughna sees Manthara adorned in opulent clothes and costly ornaments, lavishly gifted by Kaikeyi. She was so proud of these expensive possessions that she had no awareness of the kingdom’s grief—the king had just passed away, and people were returning from the funeral.

Seeing her dressed so ostentatiously, Shatrughna lost control. He charged towards her. Manthara noticed him and tried to flee, calling out to Kaikeyi. But Shatrughna grabbed her and violently shook her, exclaiming, “You are the cause of the ocean of agony and pain that has drowned all of Ayodhya! You are the wretched person who has destroyed our entire kingdom’s and family’s peace!”

Kaikeyi came running out and told Shatrughna to stop, but he paid her no attention. Then Bharata heard the commotion and rushed over. Bharata ran to Shatrughna, pleading, “Stop! Look at what you are doing. I’ve felt that same urge to do this a dozen times over, but we want to go to the forest and bring Rama back. If Rama comes to know that we have attacked either Manthara or Kaikeyi, he will be very unhappy with us. For Rama’s sake, let her go.” Immediately, Shatrughna released her.

For us, especially if our devotion is genuine and not just a ritual, our bond with Krishna becomes paramount in every interaction. It means that while I am here and the other person is here, Krishna is also here. I’m not just reacting to the other person based on their actions towards me. For a devotee, there’s always the consideration: “How can I serve Krishna in this situation? How can I please Krishna? Or, if I cannot please Him, how can I at least not displease Him, or displease Him as little as possible?”

When we have that bond with Krishna, even if someone has done something terrible to us, that bond restrains us from retaliating. It’s similar to how we might restrain ourselves from attacking a close friend’s relative, even if they behave badly, for the sake of our friendship. Having a bond with something higher—whether it’s Krishna, our spiritual master, or our community leaders—helps us control our impulses.

The Wisdom of Boundaries

The other principle is boundaries. Our bond with Krishna is crucial, but what do boundaries mean in this context? Boundaries refer to the lines we commit not to cross, no matter how angry we get. We might raise our voice, but perhaps we won’t use obscenities. Even if we use obscenities, maybe we won’t resort to physical violence. We all have certain boundaries we don’t want to violate.

However, when we allow ourselves to be controlled by impulses, we start violating our own established boundaries. These boundaries can be societal, cultural, or traditional, but also the personal ones we set for ourselves. Once we start crossing one line repeatedly, it becomes a slippery slope, leading us to cross further and further boundaries.

Whatever the other person has done needs to be addressed. But while dealing with them, we must be aware: “I don’t want to become like that.” No matter what happens, we don’t want to behave in a way we know is wrong. If we have these boundaries clearly defined for ourselves, strengthened by scriptural study and positive association, then even if we make mistakes in our behavior, we won’t go too far astray.

Generally speaking, the safest position is when we have both bonds and boundaries. Conversely, if we have neither, we are at our weakest.

If we lack a higher person we wish to please, someone for whom we strive to do good or avoid doing wrong, and we have no bonds guiding us, then our behavior can escalate to any degree. For example, young men might get into violent fights. But if that same person marries, starts a family, and has children, they often think, “I can’t get into these things now.” That sense of bond creates a boundary that helps them guard their behavior.

If we have only boundaries but no bonds, we’ll eventually feel suffocated. We’ll start to resent the restrictions, thinking, “Why can’t I do this?” Rules, like roads, have barriers, but the purpose of a road isn’t just to stay within the barriers; it’s to go somewhere. If we only have barriers and no direction, we’ll wonder why we have to stay within them. We adhere to boundaries so that we can have better relationships—with others, with Krishna, or for our overall well-being. Sometimes, our behavior towards one person might not improve our relationship with them, but it can harm our relationship with everyone else connected to that person. So, having only boundaries without bonds can be problematic.

Conversely, if we have only bonds but no boundaries, we remain vulnerable. We might say, “Yes, I love Krishna, I care for you,” but then when an urge arises, we might act impulsively in any direction. Therefore, to be truly safe and strong, we need both bonds and boundaries.

Speaker: Okay, thank you. Any other questions or comments? It’s a long answer, I’ll try to keep the other answers short. It’s a very important question, actually. Thank you for asking it.

Student’s Testimony and Question: Navigating Difficult Relationships

Student: Hare Krishna, Prabhuji. Thank you so much for this nectar we’ve received for two days. It’s truly Krishna’s blessings that you were here and shared your wisdom. I just want to share a little about how I connected with you, and then I have a follow-up question.

A few months back, I learned about a Bhakti Yoga conference, which was all virtual. I joined, and one session was yours. I was very interested and intrigued by how you connected the Gita’s lessons with science and spirituality. It really resonated with me, and I started following you from there. I then checked your calendar and saw you were coming to our town, so I really wanted to come, see you, and learn more. Thank you for that. I’m truly grateful to Krishna for allowing me to come and listen to you for these two days.

I also learned about your story. From all of us, I want to offer three Haribols for your mother, if you would allow, because I feel she played a significant part in what we have today.

Speaker: Yesterday, I mentioned that when I got polio at one year old, it was from a defective vaccine. I couldn’t walk normally after that. But when I was about two and a half or three, a distant relative visited and was consoling my mother, saying, “So sad that your son got polio.” I remember my mother’s words, spoken very calmly, clearly, and confidently: “Whatever he lacks physically, God will provide him intellectually.”

Audience: Haribol! Haribol! Haribol!

Student: Thank you, Prabhuji. My question is related to the discussion we just had about the question Mataji asked. We live with our boundaries, that’s true. But there are certain people in our lives whom we love deeply—they are either family or very close friends. Even with our boundaries, their behaviors are not acceptable. If I want to react negatively, my Krishna consciousness tells me I’m destroying my karma, which I want to avoid. So I want to walk away. But how many times do I walk away from how many people? And does that mean at some point, I’ll start feeling like it’s my fault—that I’m walking away from everyone and losing every loved one? That’s just my internal struggle.

Speaker: Thank you for your kind words and for mentioning my mother. This is an important question. It would take me an hour to answer fully, but I’ll try to address it in a few minutes.

Broadly speaking, tolerance is an important virtue, but it’s not the only virtue. Tolerance has a purpose. If you look at the Bhagavad Gita, there’s a sequence:

• 2.14 talks about tolerance.
• 2.15 talks about transcendence. What happens when we tolerate? We attain a higher level of consciousness; we grow.

Before this, Krishna discusses intelligence, which fundamentally means differentiating between temporary things (the body) and the eternal (the soul). Intelligence also means understanding the proper perspective: knowing what are the big things in our life and what are the small things. Just as a selfie can distort perspective, making us seem very large while others are small, proper perspective means seeing things as they are.

Tolerance is based on this intelligence. It’s meant to keep small things small so that we can keep big things big. For example, Krishna tells Arjuna to tolerate, but he doesn’t mean “tolerate all the atrocities the Kauravas have committed against you, no need to fight.” Instead, He’s telling Arjuna to tolerate the pain of fighting against Bhishma and Drona because it is his dharma to fight. At that time, fighting against Bhishma and Drona felt like the big thing for Arjuna. But Krishna clarifies, “You are not fighting against them; you are fighting for dharma. Duryodhana embodies adharma, and they have chosen his side.” The big thing was to uphold dharma.

So, for all of us in our relationships, we need to maintain this perspective: What is the big thing? And what does transcendence mean? It means the “big thing” ultimately becomes the biggest thing in our life: Krishna becomes a living, loving reality for us.

Here’s a corrected and more clearly articulated version of the provided text, focusing on improving flow, grammar, and word choice while retaining the original meaning:

Ultimately, we attain Krishna. That is the sequence, the progression. For us, we may need to decide, if someone is repeatedly misbehaving with us, what is the big thing here? If that person’s behavior isn’t a significant issue, and they’re not a very important person in our life—perhaps we interact with them only once in a while at social gatherings—then we can simply forget it and move on.

However, if that person interacts with us regularly and causes us considerable distress, agitating us to the point where we’re unable to function properly, then we may have to take steps to protect ourselves. This isn’t about taking revenge. When I speak of boundaries, it means not only staying within our own ethical limits but also sometimes creating distance from the other person.

It’s crucial that we are able to perform our dharma properly. For example, in a workplace, if a boss, manager, or colleague is exploitative, abusive, or manipulative, and we are constantly agitated, we might come home and take it out on our family, getting angry with our spouse or children. If this prevents us from performing our dharma at home, we must consider solutions. This might involve changing teams, changing jobs, or filing a complaint. The goal is to keep the big thing big.

Often, we talk about our karma. The purpose of life isn’t simply fulfilled by exhausting our past karma. While it’s true that suffering can be a result of past karma, that’s only one part of the picture. The purpose of life is fulfilled not so much by exhausting past karma as by executing our present dharma. We don’t just want to remove negative entries from our past karmic record; we want to do something positive in our lives.

Consider our spirituality: if a relational situation is so severe that we can’t focus at all when we sit down to chant Krishna’s name or pray to Him, then even if we sit for meditation, we won’t be able to fix our minds on Krishna. In such cases, we might need to do something—perhaps create distance from that person.

We need to understand that there are many ways of interacting with people. Sometimes, we have to cooperate because we must work together. But sometimes, cooperation might mean “you operate here, I’ll operate here.” “You take this particular responsibility; I’ll take this one.” This minimizes direct interaction. Just because two people can’t work closely together doesn’t mean they have to constantly criticize each other or ruin each other’s lives. Simply create some space.

We may need to have some hard conversations to explain why that distance is necessary. However, it’s better to create some distance than to maintain closeness with bitterness. If not warmth, at least cultivate cordiality and politeness. I believe we all have to be responsible and resourceful in dealing with these situations.

Student: Thank you, Prabhuji, very, very much. Thank you.

Transactional vs. Transformational Relationships

Speaker: Last question. We’ll start with this.

Student: Prabhu, I have a question. First of all, thank you for a wonderful talk, Prabhu. It’s been enlightening for the last two days. And I hope we continue the Buddha to the Buddha Vanti (enlightened enlighten each other), so we can spread enlightenment amongst us. You made a statement at the beginning, Prabhu, that reciprocation is a basic foundation for any interaction or relationship. And then you categorized it into two: transactional and transformational. My question is if you can explain them a little bit more. And also, if we see that reciprocation is lacking in a relationship, does that mean we should end the relationship, or is that too strong a statement?

Speaker: Okay. What do transactional and transformational mean?

Imagine you go to a takeout place to get some food, perhaps vegetarian food. You just walk in, take the food, maybe pay, and sometimes you don’t even see the person serving; you just see their hand as you exchange money for food. That’s a highly transactional interaction.

However, if you come to a temple regularly, and someone is serving prasadam, you might talk with that person, perhaps sit down and take prasadam with them afterward. There’s more engagement. It’s not just a transaction; it’s a transformational interaction. You come closer to that person, they come closer to you, and perhaps you learn something more. That’s the difference between transactional and transformational.

Now, when I say there is some interaction, some reciprocation, the reciprocation doesn’t always have to be in perfect proportion. For example, parents do much more for a child on a practical level than a child does for parents. But while parents do a lot physically, children fulfill the parents’ emotional need to nurture and care for someone. We all have a deep need to be needed. I saw a very nice quote at your home about your son/daughter, which I think said, “We did not give you the gift of life; life gave you as a gift to us.” It’s a beautiful thought.

So, reciprocation can occur at different levels. In some relationships, we might do a lot for the other person, and they do less for us, and that’s perfectly fine if that’s the nature of the relationship. A teacher might teach much more to the student than the student does for the teacher. The student’s contribution might be to attend the talks or classes (and of course, pay fees to the college or for tuition).

Basically, the closeness or distance in a relationship will naturally correspond to the kind of reciprocation present. For instance, in a teacher-student interaction, if the teacher sees the student is very interested and attentive, perhaps the student asks questions after the talk, and the teacher and student grow closer. But if the student is just waiting for the class to end, and once it’s over, the teacher looks up and all the students have vanished, then it’s just a job. The intimacy or closeness in the relationship will be affected by the nature of the reciprocation.

Should we end a relationship if reciprocation is lacking? Well, it depends. “Ending” is a strong word, as I said. But it depends. For example, if we have a distant relative or a childhood friend whom we wish happy birthday every year or do something for, but they never respond. They were closures. We decide, “Why do I need to keep spending time on this?” That’s fair enough. However, in some relationships, we might feel it’s important to continue as a service.

Ultimately, it comes down to deciding what’s the big thing and what’s the small thing in that particular situation. If we determine that a relationship or action is a “big thing,” then we can decide to continue investing in it, even if the expected reciprocation isn’t there. Conversely, if we decide it’s not a priority, we might question the need to continue if reciprocation isn’t meeting our expectations. We can make decisions accordingly.

So thank you very much.

The post When people don’t accept us.. Cincinnati Chaitanya Charan appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

View Details

Hare Krishna. So the question is, how can we see the current conflict that is going on from a Bhagavata perspective or spiritual perspective? Yes. This is currently raging in social media. And, I’ve been asked this question repeatedly.

And over the last month or so I’ve been reflecting on this. And so I’ll talk about this from four perspectives. First, a philosophical perspective. Then I’ll look at it from a psychological perspective. Then I’ll talk about it from a historical perspective in terms of how something similar has happened in other traditions also.

And then I’ll talk about it from an individual perspective of what we can do. Till now, most of the discussion has been at an institutional level with, a focus on trying to prove that, say, the ritwikks are wrong. I would like to take a broader perspective here. From a philosophical perspective, Krishna talks about the concept of Dharmasyaglani in the Bhagavad Gita. Dharmasyaglani is basically where dharma becomes disrupted.

And at that time, correction has to happen. So before we can understand this disruption of dharma, we need to understand what is dharma. So broadly, while the word dharma has many different meanings, so I’m right now talking about dharma in terms of the issue of, the role and position of the guru in the tradition. So dharma one meaning of the word dharma is harmonious belonging. That whichever larger unit we are a part of, we need to belong harmoniously to that.

And harmonious belonging is a two way street that we need to do our part in the larger whole, and the larger whole needs to do its part for us. So Krishna talks about we doing our part in to Arjuna asked that. That is the meaning of the word dharma over there. And fixing the larger whole is what Krishna talks about. And he said, So Dharma Seglani can be corrected in both ways.

Now in terms of the system of the spiritual master, the guru that is there, the the here the individual will be the disciple and the spiritual master is is the larger collector. That’s the guru system that is there. So the individual contributes. So if you apply this to the this particular model, if you apply to the guru system, then we have the disciple. And I’m putting the Guru here as a representative of the Guru system.

So the so the disciple, they is expected to offer respect and, obedience and worship. And the Guru is meant to give guidance, inspiration, mercy. And the Guru is expected to set an example of pure bhakti. And when both these are working together, then that’s where balance is there. That’s where the disciple also grows.

So now in the history of our movement, when Srila Prabhupada went to America, Srila Prabhupada was a exemplary guru and he was the only guru at that time. And what he did is extraordinary. Now after he departed, there were succ successor gurus who took up the role of guru ship following Prabhupada. How in the first decade, especially from ’77 to ’87, there was a lot of Dharmasya Gnaani. And as I said, Dharmasya Ghlani can happen in this context in both ways.

The disciple may not follow or the the disciple is not following, then disciple has to follow the standards, do the sadhana properly. But what can also happen is that sometimes the spiritual master may have some problems. So several of the spiritual leaders at that time, for various reasons, they had some moral challenges, they had some falls. And that shook and even shattered the faith of many devotees. Now when this happened, there was a lot of soul searching about what is to be done in such a situation.

So till then the idea was devotees have to follow, individuals have to be strict in their sadhana. But then those who were supposed to be representing Prabhupada and Krishna when they had false, then at that time there was a the Dharmasheglani at the level of the Guru. So there was an internal Guru reform in ISKCON. So what did Buddhist Guru reform do? Basically, post Prabhupada, if we consider 1977, ’80 ‘4 was probably the worst year in our movement’s history.

We had three big, spiritual masters having problems in falling and leaving. So at that time, basically after Srila Prabhupada’s departure, there had become in place something called a zoonal acharya system. Srila Prabhupada had appointed certain teachers, sir, some of his 11 some of his disciples as gurus. And when he appointed those disciples, basically, they became acharyas for particular zones. And everybody in that particular zone was expected to take initiation from that particular spiritual master only.

And International Society for Krishna Consciousness became divided into many zonal societies for Krishna consciousness. And these devotees became like super gurus. They became like a super GBC who had a widow power over the entire GBC, even above their own god brothers. So the guru reform that happened at that time, one of the main changes that happened is that the gurus may be gurus for their disciples, but the gurus are not gurus for their god brothers. So the gurus should not be sitting on a higher asana than their god brothers.

So the vote of the g b the GBC of the gurus and the non gurus both became equivalent. And basically, the understanding that after that, there are many other devotees who also took up the service of the gurus. So the Guru reform, what it did was, it the Guru’s position in relationship with the disciples of that particular Guru and relationship with others, That differentiation was made. And even for the disciples also, it is encouraged that it is not that you take guidance only from one guru. You take guidance from we are joining a tradition.

We take guidance from various people. And while this did significantly stop major problems, but still problems kept happening. Even after that, there was other spiritual masters who had issues. And then the second way to reform this that came was the rittvik moment. So when we talk about Dharmasya Ghlani, we could say that one is the disciple needs to fix themselves.

The other is the gurus need to fix themselves. So there was attempt made to fix the gurus, that the gurus were also accountable to the GBC. They so that certain amount of fixing of the guru system was done. But some devotees felt that this fixing is not working. And therefore, generally, whenever there is Dharmas Seglani, there are three things which we can do.

We can tolerate it. Okay. Things will change and improve on their own. We can mitigate it. Or we can emigrate from it.

We can just leave that system and go somewhere else. So the what the ritwik basically did was, they tried to emigrate out. So emigrate means that this thing, whole thing cannot be fixed itself. We’ll go out and we will create something new. So now when we create something new, what they said is that the problem is the object of faith and service, the spiritual master.

If that spiritual master has some problem and has some faults, then it can be very devastating for the disciple. So try to shift the object of faith to a place where that faith will never be disappointed or betrayed. So basically, they started saying that the rhetoric system was that Srila Prabhupada is the only guru And we serve Srila Prabhupada and Srila Prabhupada will deliver us. And everyone else is, representative of Srila Prabhupada. That’s the word, Srila Prabhupada.

They’re simply initiating on behalf of Srila Prabhupada. Now in our tradition, whenever there is Dharma Seglani, there are resources within the tradition to fix a situation. And there is Guru, Sadhu, and Shastra. So Guru, Sadhu, and Shastra are there. And all three need to be considered to decide what are the right measures to fix things.

And if we consider the broader tradition in Shastra, there is practically very little, no basis to the idea of a ritwik system being there continuously for a tradition. There are some occasions of some examples of some ritwik initiation here where the spiritual master may not be there and some through some is some mystical means some initiation can happen. But the the cornerstone of the tradition has always been a living guru training a living disciple. So basically, what happened is this is the normal system. So the ritwik said the guru alone is all that matters.

And sadhu and shastra are all also to be, seen through the guru, so guru is the supreme. And the Prabhupada’s words are made into the supreme words. Now based on sadhu and shastra, such system is very difficult to substantiate. It’s almost impossible. Now based on Prabhupada’s words, there is some attempt to substantiate the system and there has been a crossfire of, courts from this side and that side.

There I won’t get into that particular, battle of courts. But the broad point is that there is a emigration from the traditional system, which is the cornerstone of the Vedic tradition. It’s a personal relationship where the guru trains the disciple. And so when this is this didn’t happen, so the Ritwik’s, won a court case recently in Bangalore. And now, the current situation is that, is that this is being seen as not just a victory at a legal level, but also at a moral and spiritual level that the ritwik philosophy is right.

So, while it’s important to recognize that from a perspective Guru Sadhu Shastra, it’s it’s almost impossible to substantiate the ritwik system as an absolute system for all time in our tradition. At the same time, it’s not healthy to demonize the ritwik. Those who are following that, they are also following Shlapa Prabhupada, they are also worshipping Krishna. So this is where Dharmas Seglani, how is it to be addressed. And so that’s where I’ll go to the psychological level.

At a psychological level, when faith is there. Faith is a very precious, at the same time a very, fragile thing. So we always want to protect our faith. So what is happening is that currently that those who those who are ritwikks, at one level, there is a philosophical argument made for that. But along with that, to discredit the current guru system that is there in the moment, there is often a demonization of the present gurus.

Now demonizing the Gurus in the moment. And sometimes the past scandals are being brought about and, oh this happened, that happened. Some of them are true, some of them are exaggerated, some of them are distorted, some of them are concocted. But there’s a lot of, demonizing of the Gurus happening. Now it I would like to use here a military metaphor over here that why military metaphor?

Because Slapropad also said that it’s a war against Maya. And in the war, there are some people who may become generals, commanders, leaders. And sometimes even the leaders can get wounded. Sometimes the leaders may make strategic some of the military leaders can make strategic mistakes. And not if they get wounded, others get wounded by that.

And based on that, if somebody starts condemning, the leaders themselves and questioning their loyalty to the country, that would be horrendous. They were trying to serve the country, but maybe they got wounded. Maybe they made some decisions which turned out to be counterproductive. So saying that none of the Gurus have any standing because they have usurped Prabhupada’s position or that they have taken for themselves the credit that was meant only you know, that only meant for Prabhupada. And then highlighting their moral flaws or just concocting certain things.

This is, is a serious disservice to the broader tradition. Now at the same time, we can go to the other extreme, and we may demonize there can be demonizing the critics. The critics of the gurus or the critics of the guru system. Where he starts saying that those who are doing like this, they are all guru apradis and they are going to go to hell. Now when this happens, again, the problem is that there is a philosophical level of argumentation, but underlying that, there is a wounded heart.

There’s a insecure heart. That what is a safe and worthy object of faith for us. And unless that issue is addressed, the we will just be arguing at a surface level. The intelligence that we have been given, the human intelligence is powerful enough that it can go both ways. That we can we all have in our mind, there are certain conceptions.

The mind’s conceptions, we can use our intelligence to rectify those conceptions or to justify those conceptions. Now it’s up to us which one we are going to do. But when the mind has certain conceptions, those conceptions come not just at a rational level. They also come at an emotional level. So even now that if we are to correct the Dharma Seglani, there needs to be a deeper soul searching about how, the the system of Guru Shishya Parampara, which is a cornerstone of the Vedic tradition, can apply in today’s world.

Even now, is everything, hunky dory in the guru system right now? Not necessarily. That there are many devotees who feel that they never get guidance of their association with their spiritual master. There are times when the spiritual masters may give certain guidance which, which turns out to be, somewhat, unproductive or counterproductive also. Even if there are no moral flaws.

So the the point of the good disciple relationship is is a personal connection. So what would this imply? Unless we consider the faith faith cannot be legislated. Faith cannot be simply argued at a philosophical level based on court mining. That when there is vulnerability and insecurity of the faith, how can that faith be secured?

So there needs to be some deep deep soul searching about this. And that’s why rather than a philosophical level, we also need to look at a psychological level. We are not talking about psychoanalysing the motives of people because we can ascribe the worst motives to each side. And we can also consider that both sides may have noble motives. And both of the both sides are trying to search the Prabhupada, but there are serious differences.

So generally, at a psychological level, even there are differences of opinion, we may not be able to There are different levels. There is sometimes you may question someone’s judgement. That means you made a decision that was wrong. Sometimes you may question somebody’s ability. So for example, judgement means that, in a war, a general says let’s attack on that front.

And somebody says no, that is a mistake. So now the judge that the general may be a competent general, but there they made a judgement error. There’s judgement error, it’s bad. It’ll have consequences. But we can assume that, okay, this will learn from it.

Sometimes we question the ability of a person. I mean, you should not be the general self. You just don’t have the competence for that. That can be little more damaging. But if we go further and cons question the integrity of the person itself, then there is no chance for reconciliation.

So let us pray that neither side assumes the worst about the other side. Is it possible that there may be some people with those motives possible? But is it likely that everybody here is having those lowest motives in their side? Unlikely. So if you can give benefit of the doubt, Upanishu Nam Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, aversion to fault finding.

Then there’s a greater chance that, a solution to the Dharmasiglani can happen in a way that addresses the current needs while also is faithful to the tradition. So I have no magic wand by which I can use such a solution. But Srila Prabhupada himself says that when we are preaching, when we are sharing scriptural knowledge, there is scripture on one side and there is there are the interests of the audience on the other side. So he says realization means to present scripture in a way that is interesting for the audience. This intersection zone is the realization.

So we have the tradition of the Guru Sushya Parampara. We have the current concern about the audience concern, interest is what that either the there are some issues with the guru system. How is that to be addressed? So a lot of prayer and deliberation and soul searching is required. And it can be that the parent situation can become a deliberation for that to see how maybe the guru system can be more decentralized so that gurus and disciples can interact with each other more on regular basis.

Maybe Shiksha gurus need to be elevated more so that the Shiksha gurus can provide guidance. There are various ways in which this can be addressed, but that’s the point of a psychological level. Now from a historical level, something similar happened in the history of Christianity. We consider Christians, originally, they were the Catholic church, but the Catholic church split into Catholics and Protestants. And that is called the Christian Reformation.

And when this happened, there are many reasons for that, but one of them was primarily many people many, church leaders, Martin Luther, who was the leader of the Protestants, he lost faith in the ecclesiastical authority of the church, especially church leaders. There were popes who were supposed to be the highest risk authority. There were popes who were quite immoral. There were popes who had illicit affairs. They had children to the fear affairs, and the popes had the church would provide endowment for taking care of those children.

And the church was selling indulgences. But the idea is you pay some donation for building a church. And just by that donation, your relatives and friends who have passed through who are currently in hell will get transferred to heaven. So there’s a lot of corruption and there’s a loss of faith and authority. So what the protestants said is they had a sola scriptura.

Sola scriptura means, scripture alone is the authority. We don’t need the church to understand the scripture. We don’t need the church leaders. So by that, they started focusing on we everyone will read the Bible, everyone will understand the Bible on their own way. Now the result of that eventually was that the protestants broke away from the Catholics.

But then if everybody can read the Bible and everybody can understand their own way, now there are almost 55,000 denominations of protesters. Because different protesters started interpreting, you know, this is the interpretation. This is the interpretation. This is the interpretation. It led to a lot of fragmentation.

And it became quite vicious. There’s a hundred years of wars because Europe became divided. Say, Spain and Portugal and Italy mostly were protestants. France and Germany and England became sorry. The other Spain, Portugal actually were Catholics.

And France, Germany, England became Protestants. And there is a hundred year war between them. And each side started ascribing the worst motives. So post reformation when the when the Islamic invaders attack Europe. So there are countries that were they are ruled by a Catholic king and they are protestants in that country.

The protestants were also there as soldiers. So Martin Luther told the soldiers, this attack by the Muslims is actually God’s punishment for the Catholics. And therefore, you should not fight against them. And the soldiers many soldiers refused to fight and those kingdoms were overrun, churches were destroyed. And then eventually, when the Muslim innovators started coming and attacking the protestant countries, at that time, Martin Luther King stood.

And he said that, oh, no, no. Actually, these are not agents of God’s God’s retribution. These are agents of Satan to destroy our church. They fight against them. The point is that this infighting led not only to mutual violence and fighting can also lead to further other external enemies attacking and we becoming vulnerable and destroying ourselves.

So we do not have sola scriptura, but we can say what the ritwikks are doing is sola prabhupada. That prabhupada alone. And we don’t have anything else. So in our own tradition, there is Guru Sadhu Shastra. So historically, this infighting goes on.

Sanatana Dharma has many far bigger threats. And we are already spend huge amount of energy, a financial level time, and now emotional energy. This will only lead to further fragmentation. Now there are some attempts after hundreds of years to try to bring the two churches together, Protestant and Catholics. But it’s it’s a lot of historical wounds are there.

So hopefully, we can pray that this is the last says, Dhruva Maharaj in the fifth canto, he prays that, Sastirastu, may all living beings become peaceful. So that a cooler head prevails and we don’t repeat the the tragedies of history, wherein fighting leads to vicious animosity. And the last part I’ll talk about is at a individual level. So what can we as individuals do? Each one of us, those of us who are trying to practice Bhakti, those who come to the Krishna consciousness movement, we may think who is right, who is wrong.

Now more than that question of who is right and who is wrong, let’s focus on the question of what is right for me and what is wrong for me. So what is right for me is that I came here for Krishna consciousness. So how can I best cultivate Krishna consciousness? So is there some Dharma Seglani? It is there.

Is there something I can do to fix it right now? It’s unlikely just by getting caught in the crossfire of the argument. This person is saying this, this person is saying this. No. We will only get more distracted.

And our it is if not our faith, our convictions, our intelligence, they will all get, confused. So let us focus on individually cultivating Krishna consciousness, and we can pray if we have the responsibility of the role, if we have the interest. Then if some of us want to be involved in bringing about some resolution, there are some kind of understanding. Those of us who have that the position or the disposition, the guna and karma, we may be able to do something. But for most of us, it is best to focus on our Krishna consciousness.

This is the international society for Krishna consciousness. So it is for Krishna consciousness. It is not of Krishna consciousness. What What that means is it’s not that intrinsically there is Krishna consciousness over here. It is a place for cultivating Krishna consciousness.

So I’ll conclude with the last metaphor, the metaphor of mining. This comes in the seventh canto in Prahlad’s teachings. That just as under the ground there is gold, we have to dig to get to the gold. So similar the soul exists deep below at the core of our self, but we have to excavate it. So like that.

Now if somebody has come for mining gold. Now at the gold mining place, many other things might be happening. Some peep miners may fight fighting with each other. Some other things might be happening. If we have come there for mining gold, we focus on mining gold.

If we have the capacity to fix other fight, we can fix it. Otherwise, we get caught, we don’t get the gold over there. So, yes, Krishna consciousness is very much accessible and relishable for everyone even now. And that’s what we focus on. And if we do this, then we are playing our part in fulfilling the purpose of Srila Prabhupada to cultivate Krishna consciousness.

Now the exact way in the when we say larger system is meant to function, that is not something we can fix. But getting caught in that will unfix us, will distract us from our Krishna consciousness. So Srila Prabhupada says in seventh canto purport that one should keep, one’s intelligence in mind. One should always be steady, healthy and stout in mind and intelligence to differentiate the goal of life from a life full of problems. In life, there are many many problems and we can’t deal with all problems.

So what which dealing with which problem will help us to pursue the goal of life? Let us focus on that. And that is cultivating our individual cons Krishna consciousness. So I’ll summarize. I talked about four broad things.

That at a philosophical level, there is Dharmasya Gnaani. That means that the individual is not contributing, the whole is not contributing. In the case of the guru system, the there has been a attempt to fix things at a collective level. There was the guru reform in ISKCON, and it was successful to a significant degree. But some people not satisfied with that, and there is emigration to a new system that is a rhythmic system where essentially, Dharma Selana is being addressed by shifting the faith, the object of faith, to a safe level where there is no danger of disappointment or betrayal.

So at a psychological level, there is a wounded heart and there is a fragile faith. That is what needs to be addressed. So, now, when we are trying to address this, if we go out of the system of the Vedic scriptures, rejecting the idea of Guru Sadhu Shastra, which is the Gushi Shapanampara, that is not a health sustainable scripture solution. But we need to find out what is the solution that is faithful to scripture and addresses the concerns of the audience. That is where realization will come in.

And then I talk about it from historical perspective, how this kind of insecurity has been there in other traditions also the Christians. They split into Catholics and Protestants because the faith in the authority was eroded. And that led to vicious infighting and it led to disastrous vulnerability to external attacks also. So let us pray that we don’t go in that direction. Learn from history that the different in fighting can lead to far greater casualties and dangers for Sanatana Dharma.

And lastly, at individual level, we focus on what is it that we can do. We focus on our Krishna consciousness. We have come here to mind our own heart that we can reach Krishna. We focus on that and we pray that Swastirastu that the larger whole become fixed in a way that everybody can pursue Krishna consciousness in a more peaceful and fruitful way. Thank you very much.

The post Ritvik issue philosophical psychological historical and individual perspectives appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

View Details

Today on the sacred occasion of the Sajid Prathy, I will speak on the topic of Krishna’s or God’s love for us and our love for us. Specifically, I’ll talk about the topic of does God care? There’s so many things that go wrong in the world. So many things go wrong in our own lives. And when such things happen, it’s natural to get this question.

That even if we accept that godliness, does god care? And, lord Nasumvadev, he is god in whatever manifestations, conceptions of god are there across the world. For god, the same are there, you know, the angriest manifestations. So the lord is anger, is actually a demonstration that he cares. So, generally, we get angry about things that we care about.

And his his very anger, the very form that he’s manifesting all of anger, that indicates that he cares, that he cares deeply. So the lord in his form of Nasimadev is half man. He’s half loyal. He’s half man, half loyal, and full god. He’s fully manifesting divinity, especially in the divine man, Matter of divine power and divine, specifically, anger.

So I have recently written a small book on the Bhagavad Gita. It is prayers inspired good. Can all of you see this? Yes. So we will read something from this book and how it relates to the theme of how the Lord gains and what does it mean.

So basically in this book, I have taken verses from the Bhagavad Gita and use them as inspirations for offering prayers to the Lord. The Gita is not just a source of wisdom. The Gita is not different from Krishna. The Gita’s verses are like mantras. They are also like Krishna.

So you can offer prayers inspired on those verses. So I’ll take one such one such verse, and then we talk about the lord’s so basically, in this book, there’s one beautiful picture of deity of Krishna on each page. Then there is one prayer which is like a spiritual or emotional affirmation. Then there’s the Gita words, and then the translation of the Gita words in a poetic form, so that you can feel a more emotional connect with Krishna and with the words of the Gita. After all, the Gita is a song.

But sometimes the philosophy of the Gita, we may forget it is a song. And then there is a prayer offered based on that. So I will talk about this. So let’s so I’ll read something out. Do we have a second mic by any chance?

Second mic for people to ask your lead or something. Can you just set one up? No. That’s okay. No.

That’s okay. So anyway so you can repeat after me. You just repeat. My dear lord, let your smiling amid my suffering strengthen my faith Not weaken it. Not appeal it.

No. This is the context of the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna is just beginning to speak to Arjuna. Krishna starts speaking on two point eleven. This is two point ten.

So those of you comfort with Sanskrit can decide the words after me. The lord of the senses spoke with a gentle grace. A knowing smile played upon his divine face. Between the armies standing calm and bright, he so laced Arjuna was lamenting his bride. So this is Krishna and Arjuna in The Philippines.

And the key point in this verse is that the contrast. Arjuna is crying, Arjuna is in tears, And Krishna is smiling. So, yes, it can appear that we are facing so many challenges in life, and does Krishna care? Now we may have some challenges. If you look at the story of Prahlad and Narasimha, Prahlad faced far more challenges than what he faced.

It was not just challenges, it was threats threats to his life. And if you see, Prahlad could have had the reason to ask this question even more than us in many ways. Because for him, significantly, our problems may come from many sources. Generally, when we face problems in life, the problems are broadly because of three factors. The problem will come because of just the nature of the world.

Nature of the world means that if we live in a place which is very cold, and it complains so cold, it’s so cold, it’s so cold. Rather than say what you’re saying is so old, so old, so old. You get used to it. That’s how it is. Sometimes the problems may come because of the nature or more precisely, it could nature or behavior of people.

That sometimes there are people who trouble us, people who hurt us. So nature of the world that draws broadly in the very context is called as Adi Dalitl. Just the nature of the world. Then there is, nature of people or the behavior of people. So there could be mosquitoes which bite us, and there could be human beings who bite.

There are mosquitoes, there’s and then there’s mother-in-law. So we have problems coming from people around us. The nature of people or the behavior of people. And then, the third source of problem is the nature or behavior of ourselves. This is sometimes a hard thing to swallow.

But many times, if you see the problem that have come in our life, they have come because of our own actions. Sometimes we get angry over trivial things. Sometimes we end up indulging in things we should not be indulging. Sometimes we make some rash moves, and then we get into trouble. So these are broadly, they are are the ethnic.

So now when the sufferings come in life, naturally, we may turn to his god. Please help me. Please help me, oh lord. So when sufferings come because of the nature of the world, that’s one thing. We just have to okay.

I’ll do with it. Now in the case of Prahlad so this boy has talked with him afterwards. I don’t know what it was typical, teenage and all of a sudden is is going through that phase. The hormones are growing. One is trying to lead deal with peer pressure, trying to find one’s place in life.

It’s a difficult phase. I once I did I have done some writing seminars, attended some, I have conducted some also. So many times people say that, I would like to write, but I don’t have ideas. Where do you get ideas to write? Some people have too many ideas, but they don’t have the patience to translate the ideas into reality.

So this is a so one of the answers I give is if you have survived teenage, you have enough stories to tell for a lifetime. Especially if you have survived teenage in a culture that is radically different from our traditional culture, our family culture. This is a very tough period. So there are just a grow pains that are there. But if we consider the situation of Prahlad, his pains, we could say, among these three, which are the category of the pains you say?

Was it because of nature of the world? Nature of people, nature of others, his own behavior? Which was it? People. Sorry.

Second people. Second people. Kill him. And this is about to happen. It is probably for a child who’s growing up.

It’s the most psychological scarring thing that can be imagined. The person who’s supposed to be a protector, now sometimes the parents are just negligent. That itself is a problem. But if the parent is violent, now it is violent maybe because of okay. We drink alcohol, and we have alcohol abuse, these domestic violence, something like that.

That’s terrible. But disease, it is not, like, anger that is causing come from somewhere else, and this was the child gets caught in the crossfire. It is anger directing the child itself. And it’s knowingly, it’s not just like a rush of temper. We’ll talk about why it is not.

It it can be enormously scarring for a person, for a child who is growing up. The very person who’s supposed to be a protector is out to destroy me. So what kind of world is this? What kind of God will be there who would allow such a thing to happen in the world? So he could easily ever ask this question.

And now why was his father angry with him? Because of his devotion. So he could say that Prahlad Purra said that it is not because of the nature of the world that the problem is coming, it my prob the problems are solely because of my devotion to you. Isn’t it? It’s all not all, but the main thing Hiranyakashipu wanted was that, Prahlad, you stop worshiping Vishnu.

He considered the worshiping you to be like a disease. He says, this is a terrible thing. Stop it right away. See, for us, most of the times, we consider the relationship if we are practicing devotion. And our situation in the world.

So whatever situation you are going to do, if we practice devotion, we expect that the devotion should improve our situation. Now that in many ways, we should be expected to improve. We may in the past, it was more of a karma kanda when God, that oh, father, thou art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Give us our daily bread. So people in the past, we look for physical needs, physical improvement, to all in daily rains so that any harvest and bounty.

And now people may turn towards God, not so much for physical needs, but more for psychological needs. Oh, god. Please give me peace of mind. One of the most common reasons that we ask people, why do you come to a temple? It is not many people come because of the love for god.

Nothing wrong with it. It’s to appreciate whatever reason you come. You come for peace of mind. And that’s also improvement. It’s a big improvement.

You know, it’s, it’s very you can’t just buy peace of mind with a pen. So we expect that our devotion should improve our worldly situation. Now in the case of Prahlad, his devotion itself is the cause of the worsening of his worldly situation. Now when this happens, you know, we practice bhakti. You know, Shiva Prabhupada use a very wonderful, definition of Krishna consciousness.

It’s how he says he asked, how will you know that we are Krishna conscious? So he says, if you come in from the temple, come in the temple, come in from the deity. And if you feel that deity is asking us, Krishna is asking us, what are you doing for me? What are you doing for me? We are all meant to be of loving service to the lord.

So, naturally, the lord will ask, what are your self serving doing? So if we have that mood, if we feel that, that Krishna is asking, what are you doing for me? That is Krishna consciousness. Now many times when people come to a temple, their question is God, what are you doing for me? I have this problem, I have this problem, and I did this pooja, and I did this stuff.

It’s time for you. It’s time for you to pay up now. Come on. Do something. So normally, we expect our devotion to improve our situation.

And if even the situation does not improve, we get agitated. We start thinking, should I even be worshiping god? The question will come out, does god will kill you? So problems are coming and problems are coming because of our devotion itself. And shouldn’t the lord be protecting us?

It’s a it’s it’s it’s a obligation of the lord. You should protect me. Why is he not protecting me? Because the question comes, does the lord care? So Prabhala could naturally have asked this question.

And it is natural for any person when they practice in the bhakti to get the question. So let’s look a little bit at the prayer order. So do we have another mic? Nah. It’s gonna take some time.

No. I’m not touching on that. So maybe someone has a mic in their throat. Somebody will hear you loudly. Oh, please.

Can you read the first Python? Oh my lord. Many are the times when I feel lost and lonely, confronted with the perplexities of life. At those times when nothing I do seems to be working, I cannot help but wonder, do you, oh lord, know my plight? Yes.

So now we will theoretically know that Krishna is permissioned. Krishna knows everything. But does Krishna know my situation right now? And Krishna knows that he came for the situation. So Prahlad is being threatened.

He he was practicing his devotion, and he was not even trying to impose his devotion with his father. It was only for his father to ask some questions. That’s the time he would speak. He wanted to learn in your school, and he would speak sublimely sweet points. And those sublimely sweet points would drive his father into a wild rage.

So and his father, it’s like the the story that we undergoes, we will go over the story and especially focusing on the climax and on the simulated audience. So how things evolve at that particular time. So essentially, we see the descent into into depravity, into brutality. Redekishi po is a brutal person, but even everybody, no matter how bad they are, they have some boundaries. That, say, if somebody’s a criminal, they say I want to rob, but, you know, I don’t want to hurt anyone.

Or even somebody’s also robbed, they say, I don’t I don’t wanna kill anyone. You know, somebody’s a killer. Okay? I will kill, but I am not going to be treated. So, everybody has certain boundaries.

So, initially, when Hiranyakrishnan sees that his son is, is talking about bhakti, He Hirad Dinushbo has defined his life by being anti God. He’s not just an atheist, he’s a anti theist. Antitheist. His purpose of life okay, he thinks that Vishnu is so scared of him, Vishnu has disappeared. So I can’t find Vishnu anywhere.

If I find him, I’ll destroy him. But till I can’t destroy him, I will destroy all signs of worship of him. And that’s why he sends his demons to destroy all the sacred releases, all the Yedges Thales. Right? Yedges over here.

So, watching that again, remembering this past in this past, what he said is, destroy all the signs of worship of him. That and, like, eight people he either he has a great ego, and people who have a lot of ego, what happens, the one thing they cannot tolerate is being ignored. You have a person who has a lot of ego, and they come to a particular place, and nobody notices them. They are enraged. So he now he has a lot of ego.

He wants to throw around his weight and dominate people, so he thinks Vishnu is like that. So he thinks that if I stop the worship of Vishnu, if I completely end the worship of Vishnu, then Vishnu, because of his ego, will come out from wherever he is. And then I can catch him and I can kill him. That’s why he stops all the worship. And then, his situation is he stops the worship of Vishnu practically all over the universe, and then he finds that very worship of Vishnu which is stopped all over the universe, that worship is happening in his own home.

So this is infuriating for him. And he thinks that, so, he thinks, okay, my child is a small child. So, so, normally, what we try to do is that if we like someone, then even if they do something bad, we try to give them the benefit of the doubt. And that’s how it should be, that if we like someone and, say, they eat too much food. Maybe we have prepared meal for four people and they eat the meal of three people.

And then one person has to provide the remaining three people have to share one person meal, or maybe they have a special dessert and they eat too much of the dessert. Then if we dislike that person, we’ll say, so put a clatter. No sense control. But if we like that person, we’ll say, oh, maybe maybe he was very hungry. Maybe he didn’t do that there was limited food.

We’ll try to give them the benefit of the doubt. So generally, what happens, we try to find the blade somewhere else. So like that, Viratne Krishna says, okay, my son is nice, but maybe some of these Vaishnavas have somehow come and infected him. So although he has tried to remove all devotion, but he still know that some people still are practicing Bhakti. So he first warns his students, his teachers, you should watch out.

You should not let my children, my child associate with bad people. So for him devotees are bad people. Not associate. Not let them associate. And then he lets them off with the warning.

Second time it happens. Again, Prahlad said the same thing. This time he’s angrier. This knocks Prahlad down. Oh.

And then there is the there is the there is the there is the there is the there is the there is the the the the sequence is described actually differently. This could refer to how different Kalpas things happen. But the point is that slowly, he starts recognizing. First he gets he get he blames the Vaishnav also coming. Then he blames his teachers, his students’ teachers.

You are not taken care of. And then finally, he says, this child this child is the problem. And then, there is a difference between anger and danger. So anger generally is hot headed. When we are angry about something, it arises from the circumstances and it stays for some time.

Anger is hot headed. But what Hiranyakashipu exhibits is not anger. It is hate. Hate is cold blooded. It is not just one moment of anger.

I said, oh, this Palla needs to be killed. We always speak like that. I’ll kill you if you do this. One devotees suddenly showed me, that the child had run run away, and then the child came back. And then I was talking with the child, and it was just a small misunderstanding.

The child had just taken too seriously. The parents so the parent, the father showed me a small clipping, and they were laughing. So there’s a there’s a mother. Her daughter is running away, and she’s a Christian now. She’s praying to God.

Oh, God. Please let her be please let my child be safe, and let her come home safely so that I can kill her. So that idea here is that sometimes you may use the word, I’ll kill you. So that’s it’s a very non literal sense. It’s an expression of anger.

But in this case, it was real. He said that, you know, if a part of the body gets infected, then we need to cut off the part, otherwise everything will get infected. So he said like that, prala deshnik abhikamit. And therefore, I need to kiss him. So see, here, what he’s doing is, sometimes when we do something bad, we might just do it in a rage.

So when anger comes up, anger just sidelines our intelligence. Sidelines means this put pushes aside. But when aid comes, aid doesn’t sideline the intelligence. Aid recruits the intelligence. Recruit the intelligence means we use our intelligence to make a plan how to do it and how to justify it or something.

This is where we rationalize. And if you heard the word rationalize? So when we rationalize, what happens? We tell rational lies. When we rationalize, we get rational lives.

So he’s justifying the killing of his own son by saying this is like a disease, that the disease has to be removed. So then, it tries to kill, I was talking earlier about boundaries. Even bad people have some boundaries. One of my friends is awarded for a jail. So he says, even more prisoners.

If the prisoners come to jail because of some child abuse, even prisoners don’t like children. Then the child those are child abusers are kept in some kept in some they’re kept in seclusion, solid confinement. Otherwise, prisoners will harm the person there. So everybody has boundaries. So even Hirany Kishipu has some boundaries initially.

He thinks this is my son. I cannot kill him. So he tells others to do the dirty work. He says, he has assistance. You kill him.

Now they all try to kill him, but none of them succeed. And often, this is seen as a miracle. And yes, it is. That the miracle is he’s thrown down a mountain and nothing happens to him. He’s kept at a burning fire.

He is bitten by snakes. He’s put in the path of tramp feeding elephants, and none of those efforts, they endure. So that is a miracle. However, if you look at the Vaishnav Achera’s commentaries, we look at the Maghdi tradition’s commentary, That is not the biggest miracle. See, miracles are basically broadly, they could be of two kinds.

One is things that happen to us. Things that happen to us. To us means that something happens. So here, he’s threatened, and he’s he’s no power for lunges, a small five year old boy. And the five year old boy, how can he defend against anyone?

He’s scared. He survives. So that’s a miracle. But if you look at the Bhakti tradition’s commentary, it is the bigger miracle is not his safety. That his safety is definitely miracle.

But the bigger miracle is the things that happen through us. That the bigger miracle is his his purity, his determination, his devotion. The technical word is fidelity. Fidelity is faithfulness. That despite all this happening, his devotion is not cheap.

And that is the bigger miracle. When Srila Prabhupada would sometimes be asked, how many can he perform some miracles? And Prabhupada would often point to his some of his disciples, and he would say, these are my miracles. But what is the miracle over here? The biggest miracle that matters is the change of the human heart.

There can be many miracles that you can have. Somebody can make somebody can make an object disappear, somebody can make an object appear. Many different kind of miracles can happen, and they have some manner. But the biggest miracle is the change of the human heart. The change of the heart means what?

From a person’s heart is directed towards selfishness, towards ego, towards dominating others, and that person becomes selfless, gentle, caring. That’s the change of heart. That’s the miracle which will actually make bring real happiness in our hearts, and and that’s the miracle that will bring happiness in the world. So the miracle from the Bhakti tradition is not just that Prahlad survived all these attacks. That is true.

It’s also that Prahlad’s devotions are vital. Prahlad’s fidelity to the lord, his faithfulness to the lord was unshaken. Not even once did he have second thoughts that I should worship the lord of god. And that is the glory of Shiv Prabhupada also. Shiv Prabhupada came to America.

In many ways, everything that could go wrong went wrong. You know, if some people believe a lot in faith and some people believe in science, you know, okay, this is educated, then God wants me to do this is educated, then God wants to do that. Now, sometimes that science can tell us something, but if you look at the science of what happened, there’s so many signs for Prabhupada. Right on his journey, he got a heart attack. Hey.

This is why God doesn’t want me to do this. And then after that, everywhere he went, he went he went in Pennsylvania. People the host treated him like a curiosity object, not a spiritual teacher. He wanted to hear it from him. And he got to He seemed very interested in becoming a devotee.

And Prabhupada noted to one of his his patrons in India, his Bangladesh in India, saying that he may well, become the first American Vaishnava. And then what happened, this person went on he took he had a he used to take drugs before he had a, drug and relapse, and he went crazy and came to attack robot. And there was no miraculous nazimuddin coming like that teleported robot. Robot is to view the peace. And when left, it was not just a physical threat that he survived.

No. It is much more the amount of demoralization that supported that time. And the person who is supposed to become a devotee, that person flips and becomes crazy and attacks. Naturally, he could have raised the question, could have asked the question, well, is this mission gonna work, ma’am? These people have a change?

No. The fact that Bhopal did not give up his mission, that itself is a miracle. Even if Bhopal had not succeeded, the fact that Bhopal built hundred day temples and owe 70 boats and inspired millions of people to become devotees, that is definitely miraculous. But the fact that Shri Prabhupada’s devotion survived all their deaths, that is also miraculous. So Pradhan’s devotion surviving is a miracle.

And when the threats come in our life, will that question come, does God care? So when the whole world seems to be screaming to us, no, He doesn’t care. Now, if God had been caring, why would Prabhupada subject to such a danger? Why would Prabhupada have his prospector, his pride will turn against him and ready to attack him? So when the world’s is world’s evidence seems to be screaming to us, no one doesn’t care.

At that time, are we ready to turn away from the world? Are we ready to hear a source beyond the world? So that is what Parnell wants to read. Let’s look at the next paragraph. Would anyone else like to read?

Sure. Yes, please. Yeah. If you if you do know is that the one you want me to read it? Yes, please.

Yes. If you do know my suffering, then why do you not step forward to stop it? If instead of stepping forward to help me, I came to know that in those moments, you were smiling while I was suffering. Oh, Lord. How would I be able to maintain my devotion to you?

Thank you. So, basically, here, Arjuna is suffering and Krishna is smiling. So if we come to know that when we are going through something terrible, terrible situation, then the lord is smiling. Can you even get it? How can you be smiling with the situation?

If somebody goes to a therapist and the person is breaking down and the therapist is smiling, you know, probably the client will sue the therapist for emotional wounds, emotional injury. Isn’t it? How do the child smile, mister Chaim? So the so at such times, you know, when the world’s evidence doesn’t seem to support an emotion, there’s a time we need to look beyond the world. We need to look at scriptures.

We look at the times in scriptures when there is an interaction between the peoples and the law. Because Krishna has arranged this world in such a way that the evidence of the world will always be mixed. That sometimes the evidence of the world will strengthen our faith in God. And sometimes the evidence of the world will question our faith in God. Why?

Because this world is made for those souls who do not want to acknowledge anything to do with God. And when I was introduced to Bhakti Yoga thirty years ago, I started, actually, I was introduced to Bhakti my childhood, but I was reintroduced to the philosophical language in Bhakti, to Shiva Prabhupada’s teachings. So I started to get really into this I started sharing about it with all my friends, relatives. So uncles told me, I have a very good relationship with God. I have not seen him ever go to the temple or doing the other person.

What do you mean by good relationship? He says, our relationship is mutual non interference. He’s happy there. I’m happy here. So some people say that I don’t have anything to do with God.

I don’t need God for anything. So for people that, and this God care, I don’t care if God cares or not. This we can be apathetic towards it. But for those who are a bit emotionally minded, so so people may come to such conclusions because the world’s evidence will never be completely unambiguous. So that is saying that believers need no reasons, non believers accept no reasons.

So the word is such that believers, those who have faith, they will have experiences from within their hearts and confirm their devotion for them. And those who are non believers, they will come up with some explanations for somehow that actually just take explanation how the system is going. So that’s how things will work. So that’s why we cannot rely on our hands alone for the evidence of god’s presence, god’s strength, god’s love. But in history, there are some times when this veil of Maya rings, and then the Lord appears.

And the Lord’s love manifests in the world. And those are the times that we need to dwell on. Those are the times which should become the homes for our heart, the homes for our thoughts. And it is by remembering those incidents that we gain strength, we gain perspective. Now, hybrid tradition has such concept of founding stories.

So for example, the Jewish tradition, the journey of the people to the chosen land, That’s the story that it derives straight from. In our tradition, it is a Rama and the Mahabal, it is a Mahabotam. Why? Because in daily history, we may not see God’s hands all the time. But there are some times in history when God’s hand is seen.

And those who are to be devoted, they need to be able to remember those times. And that’s how our beings are staying under nature. So can we go to the next part? Yes. Oh, like, today?

Any other lady? Question, please? Yes, please. What is this? Bless me.

Bless me. Bless me to remember, oh lord, that you are never smiling because I am suffering. It is through my suffering that I’m becoming more open So Krishna is not suffering, smiling because we are suffering. Krishna is smiling because, say, a a if there’s a doctor. And sometimes the doctors, they can they can observe someone, and they can say, oh, you know, you got this corrugates, you got this disease, you got this disease.

But the patient is in denial. I don’t have any disease. So then, the if the disease symptoms are more so slightly, and that’s when the patient comes to doctor. Please, I need your help. So the doctor smiles not because the patient is okay, but because the patient has come to a place where we will get cured.

So it is that when we are going through difficulties, it is not that Krishna doesn’t know our difficulties. We can read this once again. Okay. If we you my lord. You know my pain.

You know my pain. You feel my pain. You feel my pain. And you want to heal my pain. And you want to heal my pain.

And you want to heal my pain. So the lord is dead, not just somewhere up there, high in the sky, far away. The lord is in here with us in our own hearts at the bottom. So he knows what we are doing. And if he’s not intervening, that that there’s a reason for that.

Now what is that reason? We’ll talk about that, and I’ll conclude. So this last part will take two hours. But not really. So basically, now what we’ll talk about is this one graph which is four quadrant diagram which explains this concept.

That is love and then is anger. Now, love and anger, can both of them go together? There are four possibilities, you know. If there is no love at all and there is no anger, then there is simply apathy. You know, I don’t care for you, and because I don’t care for you, I don’t care what you do also.

Once I’ve tried to do mediation between two people, and one of them said, I know you are handling it to other person. No. I’m not handling it. Anger is an expensive emotion, and I have decided you are not worth it. If somebody starts a mediation like that, that mediation is not very likely to be successful.

But, if we don’t care for a person at all, it’s apathy. Now if there is no love and there is anger, then that is envy. So there is love no love at all. There is eight. The opposite of love would be eight.

Especially with anger, then that is n o d. Now as far as Krishna is concerned, Krishna is never in this category. Krishna always loves everything. So we are talking not from our love perspective. We are talking about the lord’s love.

We are talking about the does the lord care? Does the lord care? So this I can tell you your application. I’m the beneficiary of all living beings. We’ll talk shortly about how.

He’s a beneficial, even of inner negation. Otherwise, I didn’t even know. Now now if there is love and there is no hint, no. That is the sweet expressions of love are there. So when we are in someone who cares for us, selling these cool sweet ambiance.

Now we could talk about romantic love, where there’s a lot of, emotions and hormones and all that. But and there is not not those hormonal kind of infatuation, but here, there’s a deep sense of ease that is there. You call it serenity. Wherein there is love, and there is nothing to agitate them on. We’re just being we are happy with being with that person.

So that is serenity. And there are times when there is love and desire, and that actually shows the intensity of the love. So now love can be seen in both ways, through the absence of anger and through the presence of anger. Say for example, somebody has done something which hurts us a lot. But because we care for that person, we don’t yell at the person.

We try to stay calm. That shows love. Normally, we’ll get very angry when we yell at the person, but because that person is very important for us, we try to stay calm. So that’s one aspect. Now suppose somebody is an suppose a child is child is done something Now scolding should never be the only expression of love.

Then what happened when love is not seen at heart? But the thing is that it is only because I care for you that I’m happy. Good. So sometimes you’ll be angry with the child, you say, for I’m gonna have some mischief or if somebody’s hurting our child. You know, we’ll be angry with that person.

That would also be a sign of doubt. The point is that in the world, when Krishna’s love is there, Krishna when a devotee is going to suffer him, it is not that Krishna does not care. So most of the times, that love is seen through the serenity of Krishna. Most of the times what happens is Krishna is serenely. Now now we talk about Krishna is serene, and there are a few times in history Krishna is peaceful.

That does it mean Krishna doesn’t care? Well, not exactly. Krishna cares, and Krishna shows his care by enabling us to also experience serenity even in the middle of the end, even in the middle of the peak. So this is the amazing thing of bhakti that in bhakti, we say, what is God doing for me? Does God care?

By bhakti, it’s not just emotion, it’s not how much we dance in kliptuls. It is not art how much we roll in ecstasy. A bhakti is actually how much is our heart centered How much do our thoughts find their own in Krishna? Our thoughts’ own is in Krishna. What does it mean?

See, we may for various jobs, we may go to various places, but Yeah. You can. Yeah. Various, jobs, we may go to various places, but as soon as the job is done, we come back home. So like that, we may have to think of various things in the world, but as soon as the things are dilated, our thoughts come back to you.

So for us, when we practice bhakti, what happens is almost mystical, there’s an internal effect of bhakti and there’s an external effect of bhakti. The internal effect of bhakti will be that we will find that we are peaceful even in chaos. That if we start practicing Bhakti, how do we know Krishna is carrying the external problems are there? But in the past, those problems would have shaken us, shattered us. Now I start practicing bhakti.

Those problems would seem to affect us so much. And that is Krishna acting from within our heart to calm us. Now Krishna can do that. Krishna will do that, but we need to turn towards him. We need to fix our mind.

We need to remember him. And that’s what I said is the miracle. So was Lord Rasimhadev not helping for Allah till all the time when he was being prosecuted? Yes. Dharana Simadev was there.

And it was because of the Lord’s presence in Prahlad’s heart that Prahlad could stay calm. Prahlad was not affected. So this is something which like, earlier I said, people feel peaceful when they come to the temple. How does that happen? Actually, we’re coming closer to the presence of Krishna.

So essentially, when we grow spiritually, when we habituate ourselves with remembering Krishna, regularly we practice bhakti, we come to temple, we do our mantra jamba, we do our kija, what happens? Initially for us, the world is very big, and Krishna is very small. And in fact, this is what Indra says in his prayers. He says, we used to worship you before, but this Hernikashi was terrorizing us, and that’s why we have to stop worshiping. But now we have removed this terror of Hiranyakashipu, we’ll start worshiping you.

That means since worship was quite condition the conditions are not good, I don’t worship. So the void is very big, the worldly conditions are very big. But as we grow spiritually, as we become advanced devotees, the world becomes small and Krishna becomes big for us. So this was the situation of Indra, and this was the situation of Brah Lad. And so although there was a huge threat for Prahlad, for him the world was small.

Kriya Krishna was pleased with him and he was worshiping Krishna. So if the world is big, then what happens? The world’s ups and downs, they also become very big. Sometimes our mind makes them even more big. But if the world is small, then the world’s ups and downs also become very small.

So that’s how, as devotees, if we practice Bakfi regularly, we’ll find that our resilience will increase, that life will still batter us with problems, but we won’t be that affected by the problems. The problems will not shake and shatter us to that degree because we will have a correction with our lord. And that, the lord is the bigger reality. The lord has a bigger plan. So when we understand Krishna is the bigger reality, Krishna the world is smaller, Krishna will take care of things in the world that he knows.

When a devotee if he has the devotional vision, what happens is, I understand that my vision is a finite vision. And this finite vision is not the final vision. The finite vision is not the final vision. So right now, within my finite experience, I may not be seeing Krishna intervening and helping you. But this is not the final mission.

There are times when Krishna is helping the past. There are times when Krishna will help me in the future. Right now, let me not make my present experience the basis of all my decisions. So Krishna, when he doesn’t seem to be active, he doesn’t seem to be doing anything. He doesn’t seem to be concerned.

He’s still active, and he’s giving us strength and certainty from within. Krishna says, if you become conscious of me, you will pass over the obstacles of the world. What does that mean? The world along with its ob along with its obstacles will become smaller. And by my connection with you, you will come big enough to go over those problems.

So Krishna’s now is seen by the peace that we experience when we go through the difficulties. When you’ve seen that I have both here. So in 2000 I was in 11, I was once really chanting in one of the temples in India. And when I was chanting, I didn’t notice, it was somewhere at those time, I I would not use crutches. I used to wear a brace.

And I had a brace and a walking stick. So I was walking, and I didn’t notice that there was a little water over there somewhere. And my leg went by the water, and I slipped. I slipped, and I completely fell. And this leg was already very limp because of, polio, and I had osteoporosis and other things.

And when I fell, it was a minor fall, but a severe fracture. Yes. Several hours of surgery had to be done. And I have an old friend who’s named Eastwick. He said to me, he wrote the name and said that he was saying, you were in the temple of God.

You were chanting the news of God. And at that time, you had an accident. So what is the use of your worshiping God? So, actually, that was one of the most transformative experiences for me. I I fell at a terrible pain.

I tried to chat, but I just couldn’t focus on the chat. See, Bhakti is not mechanical. So, one month, what the way I connect with Krishna the most is through the Bhagavad Gita. Reciting the Bhagavad Gita as well says, remembering the Bhagavad Gita as well says, contemplating. Bhagavad Gita also, they’re not just then then I stopped chatting again.

The pain just came back. And initially, we thought it was not a very big fall. We thought it was a problem. But, the pain kept persisting. Then we went to, doctor.

The doctor’s immediate So now I was reciting the Vedas verses and experienced so much relief. Now I now I was chanting the Vedas verses, not out of devotion to Krishna, but out of wanting to avoid the pain. I hope one day I’ll chant my devotion. But the point was, and I told him this, see that same same experience which is from an atheistic perspective will be, what’s the point of worshiping God? In the temple of God, while chanting the ring of God, you fell down and you had accident.

But that same experience from an external perspective and internal perspective, is the inner part. Now, that was one of the experiences that convinced me about the reality of Krishna consciousness to elevate oneself, elevate us above our body situation. That doesn’t mean we get ourselves into pain unnecessarily. It’s not that we put ourselves in pain and say, let us see if I can remove it, so I can go walk. We’re not like that.

But the point is that Krishna may not seem to be intervening, but Krishna is intervening. So, Pabrila, the fact that Krishna was there was what enabled him to stay fixed in his devotion. And there are times when Krishna manifests his anger. So finally, when Hiranyakrishiko decided enough is enough, what happened? He sent his son back to school and said, let’s see.

Maybe this is just a phase that he can go through. Some people think maybe practice Bakhtin’s an impatuation. They go away. So maybe this is a space. So but then what happened was his teachers came back and said, k, the oh, his instead of his face going away, all our students are going away.

He has infected all our students. Everyone has become a rego kid. Now his father said, now I will take matters in my own hands. He wanted to not just kill Prahlad himself, he first wanted to kill Prahlad’s spirit. And therefore, he said, where is your Vishnu?

You claim to worship him, Dhanu Gharazi, saying he’s everywhere? Is he here in this pillar? Which the problem with the world is that often the foolish people are super confident. And the bigger problem with the world is that the wise people are super doubtful. So atheists are confident there is no God.

And theists are worried, will God heal the world heal the world? So, Girindika, she was super confident, she slammed the pillar. That form that had never been seen before, that form was seen. Namrogam Namah Anushan, nor animal, nor human beings. I I’m getting away with it.

The Lord’s anger was such that he would have immediately heard Pernani Kishipo part. But he was waiting. He was waiting till it was sunset. And when it was sunset, Hiranyakashiva thought, you know, see, in this particular battle, Hiranyakashiva was smaller. Normally, the odds are against the devotees.

But in the simudhi manifested, he manifested in a giant form. To the place between the inside and outside of the room. And there, just now he was dragging him along and he was just trying to get out. Now Viranya Kashipu had wanted to break the spirit of Pranayama, and the Simadev broke the spirit of Niranayama. Because for Hirany Kashipu, he said, I am so powerful, I can control everyone.

And the Lord came in, but before he came there, he was completely dominated. It’s like, you know, sometimes through boxer, somebody, I’m a champion boxer. And there, one boxer catches the other boxer in one deadly group. Another boxer So Yes. Operation successful.

Patient initiated. So now, lord, but But he was very angry, but that anger was not towards the soul of. And it was Prahlad also, he he saw his father being killed. He did not he did not bring joy. Oh, you tried to kill me.

Now you have been killed. And nor did he feel remorse. Oh, my father has been killed. Dad, what is his emotion? His emotion was concerned.

Because there would be joy. But you try to now you try to challenge me, my devotion. That’s what that will do. Sometimes, some devotees get pleasure in some bad happening to those who are opposed to God. And God is not getting that joy.

And at the same time, his emotion, people will think because of me my father was killed. His emotion are not all self centered. The emotion was centered around his father’s. He said, he did a pray to him, Narsimhadev, And what did the Lord say? That actually that 40 generations of a devotee’s family are all unified because the person becomes a devotee.

So for the Lord, although he was angry with Hiranyakashibu, that anger was not a venom. Hiranyakashibu thought The Lord smiling joyfully on him. The Lord listening profusely. The Lord seeping him on his lap. The Lord putting his hand on his head.

Then the Lord getting up and putting Prahlad on the throne is you who will be the ruler. It still remains small. The Lord will remain big. So there are times in our life when we will see Krishna’s hand in our life. We’ll see things happen in such a way, yeah, this this couldn’t have happened without Krishna.

There is synchronicity, there is what’s called serendipity. Things don’t happen. And there are things like that have happened in this group. So when those happen, we gain conviction from those witness that actually, Krishna is there and Krishna cares. And because Krishna cares, that is why he is he it’s not that he cared at that time, he doesn’t care now.

He always cares. So let me remember your smile, Hamid, by suffering, as a sign of your confidence and competence that you can tackle in any and every problem no matter how gigantic it seems to you. So last sentence, would I Yes. Not that the Lord doesn’t care. If we are suffering and the Lord seems to be smiling, that doesn’t mean he does not make an animus.

He doesn’t care. It just means the lord is having some plan. He’s taking his time. He is capable. The lord could have been killed in a negative way.

The lord let this time pass so that the world would know the glory of the beloved. Sometimes it is seen through the cheap actions that happen in the world, many times it is seen through the actual changes that happen within our heart. In how our heart stays steady in the love of our Lord. So let’s summarize. I talked about three main points.

I talked about how we understand that lords love as does Krishna care? Does the lord care? That was the topic. When we were discussing this, normally, when we practice bhakti, you know, we have a certain expectation. What is God doing for me?

When we go through life, we practice devotion, and we expect it to improve our worldly situation. And that’s a reasonable expectation. How sometimes, instead of improving the worldly situation, what happens is, our situation may worsen. And at that time, how do we process that? So if we look at the world itself, the world’s evidence can sometimes strengthen our faith, because some things happen which can strengthen our faith.

But many things can happen in the world which can weaken our faith. So that’s why we cannot rely on the world for our faith. Then what what do we do? We turn towards scripture. And there we discuss the divine dynamic that there is a dynamic of love and anger.

So the Lord is never up having apathy there. There’s no love and no anger. The Lord never has enmity towards anyone. So these two are not true at all. And what is true?

That the Lord when his love is there, but there doesn’t seem to be any anger, there doesn’t seem to be any concern, that is where the Lord gives us serenity. The Lord helps us to experience an almost mystical calm, even when the world is a turbulent place. So this is where what happens? We are here and initially the world is big and God is small for us. But eventually what happens?

The as we grow spiritually eventually what happens is that the world becomes for us, the world becomes small, and Krishna becomes big for us. So this is the situation of. This is a a serious devotee. This is the situation of Indra who represents more of a materialistic kind of a devotee. So now this serenity comes because Krishna has become bigger than the world.

And we see the last part. So when there is there are times when Krishna experiences expresses intensity. Intensity is where the Lord’s love becomes manifested in this world. So the lila that is performed over here, this lila and such lila’s will not only lila, these should become the home for our thoughts. It is by remembering these things, these past times that the lord intervened, that the lord protected devotees.

The lord’s protection became manifest at a material level. Like, Billy, he was in Jain Ropad in Jain Ropad in Jain Ropad in Jain Ropad in Jain Ropad in Jain Ropad in Jain Ropad in Jain Ropad in Jain Ropad in Jain Ropad in Jain Ropad in Jain Ropad in Jain Ropad in Jain Ropad in Jain Ropad in Jain Ropad in Jain Ropad in Jain Ropad in Jain Ropad in Jain Ropad in Jain Ropad in Jain, is not the final vision. So we, with faith, with patience, we wait. We keep maintaining our devotion to the Lord and that devotion will be vindicated. Yes.

So Prahlad was glorified. The Lord had a bigger plan, but it did not intervene in particular time. So maybe the Lord will intervene in this time. And the miracles that the Lord does, the miracles can sometimes be external where the situation just changes dramatically, where the miracle can also be internal where we can be peaceful even amid the chaos. External miracle is the chaos just disappears, the trouble disappears.

The external miracle is that the trouble may remain, but we don’t really trouble. We may have it with trouble, but, you know, we live with pain rather than pain, rather than envy, because we now live with our Lord. So let us pray, Lord Rasamade, that, my dear Lord, the day you have demonstrated your Prahlaj’s love for you and your love for Daliyah, let this Prahlaj become the home for my heart. Let me remember that this historical evidence of your love for for those who are devoted to you, and let that remembrance sustain in times when I feel the glory. When I feel the problems are overwhelming.

Let me remember you, oh lord, and find serenity and shelter in strength in that remembrance.

The post Narasimha Chaturdashi 2025 Does God care when we are suffering_ Philadelphia – Chaitanya Charan appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

View Details

If a woman who is introduced to bhakti asks, why do I need to get married? And even if I get married, why do I need to have children? How do we answer? I’ll answer in three points. First is, what is our purpose in attracting, in inviting or attracting people to practice Krishna consciousness? So, that will be the spiritual side. Then I’ll talk about the social psychological side.

And then third, I’ll talk about how we act in such situations at a practical level. So, first is at a spiritual level, our purpose is to spread Krishna consciousness. Our purpose is not to get people, whether men or women, to get married or to have children.

So, if somebody is coming to Krishna, they should never be made to feel that if I become a devotee, this is what I’ll have to do. And this is an essential part of being a devotee. It may be an essential part of the social fabric in which bhakti had been practiced in the past.

And not just that social fabric, but the social fabric of the world at large. But somebody may choose not to get married, somebody may choose not to have children. And at one level, that is their individual business.

So, there are things which are non-negotiable in Krishna consciousness and there are things which are negotiable. Sometimes, if we present a very digital version of bhakti, this is bhakti and this is not bhakti, one zero. Then, because of many things which are not centrally important in bhakti, people may go away from the path of bhakti.

They think, I cannot do this. So, just on the male side, sometimes if somebody is introduced to bhakti by a very strong brahmachari preacher, that person may start thinking that if I don’t become a brahmachari, I won’t be a serious devotee. And if they find that they can’t stay a brahmachari, then they don’t become a grahastha.

They think grahasthas are fallen and they just leave bhakti completely. So, no ashram is like a necessary thing for practicing bhakti. So, that’s the first thing.

What people do in their personal lives is not the most important thing for us. Our most important thing is that they learn to practice bhakti by chanting Jani Krishna’s name, by studying the scriptures and drawing their consciousness towards Krishna. Now, having said that Srila Prabhupada didn’t just want Krishna consciousness, he wanted a society for Krishna consciousness.

And that’s why it’s not just a university for Krishna consciousness. It’s not an academy for Krishna consciousness. It’s a society.

And that’s why the social fabric also is important. Now, in general, when women don’t want to get married or have children, there are many reasons for that. And those reasons may at an individual level need to be understood and addressed.

Especially if we are closely connecting with someone and training them or guiding them on the path of bhakti. However, at a broad level, I’ve seen there are three main reasons. One is that women may have had bad experience with men and they feel that no man can be trusted.

Second is that they feel marriage and motherhood are basically going to inhibit them, restrict them from having a full life. Maybe they are very ambitious in their career. They will be constricted in that.

And third is that they feel that that kind of role, that gender role of being a wife and a mother is a part of a patriarchal social structure. And they don’t want to be a part of that. So, it could be more of a personal emotional reason.

It could be a more professional reason. And it could be a more intellectual, philosophical, ideological reason. So, if it’s a personal emotional, if it’s more like an emotional psychological reason, then it’s going to take some time to heal.

Probably, if they see examples of stable marriages in the community, no marriage is without conflicts and problems, but there is also a cultured and dignified way to deal with the conflicts and problems. And maybe they have to practice bhakti for some time and they have to see how there is a possibility for healthy and happy marriages to work. And gradually, maybe by seeing men who are not just out to exploit women, but who are actually God-conscious men, gradually their faith in the male side of humanity will be restored.

We cannot force this process. Second is that they feel it will impede them professionally. And yes, there is truth to that.

At the same time, we have to think what actually brings fulfillment in life. From the Vedic perspective, there is varna and ashram both. So, broadly varna refers to our talents and our career and our contribution accordingly within the career.

And ashram refers to our relationship and what kind of focus we have within our relationships. So, basically, fulfilling human life requires both connection and contribution. Now, biology has designed humanity in such a way that the males focus more on contribution in terms of going out into the world and working.

And women focus more on connecting, keeping the whole family together, having children, connecting with the children. And traditionally, women could also do some varna. The idea that women should not have jobs or that is against Vedic culture is not an idea that is supported by Vedic culture.

The gopis themselves would sell butter and curd and other things. In Krishnalaya, there is the fruit vendor lady. But the point is that in general, for a woman, the ashram is more important than the varna.

In the past, women, whatever jobs they were able to do, whatever work they were able to do, women might have some talents, they might do some things. They were able to do it in a way that they also took care of the family. Of course, in the past, we could say life was tougher.

Much of the work outside was much more physically demanding work. And the male body was more suited for that. But anyway, historically, as things change, especially the post-industrial revolution and everything, jobs started going far away from homes, cottage industries went away.

And women had to basically choose between ashram and varna. And biology forced them to choose ashram. Because once you have children, you have to take care of children.

Then, over a period of time, resentment started coming up. And as feminism, as ideology developed, and as technology developed, through various means, birth control pills, abortion and other things, then women got an opportunity to subordinate biology. So that they could pursue varna while at the cost of ashram.

Over a period of time, now it has been made that women should focus only on varna, and ashram is not at all important. You can be happy on your own. You don’t need a family.

You don’t need anybody else to take care of you. It may well be true that a woman can go through life on its own. But nobody can be fully satisfied with only a career.

Even if you ask most men, even high-performing men who are very professionally successful, why are they doing it? They may say they want prestige in society, they want power, and all that is true. But at the end of it, they are doing it for the family. So, even the male heart cannot be satisfied only with a career.

So, women have been uniquely gifted by nature, by biology, ultimately by God, with a capacity to nurture. Women have a more well-developed emotional side, by which even when small babies who are not at all rational in their behavior can be taken care of very well by a woman much more than a man. Men will be very rational and will just not be able to deal with babies whose behavior is largely irrational.

So, the woman’s greater emotionality is also a gift. And we all have a need to nurture, that take care of someone else. And ultimately the choice is that will we be something for everyone or everything for someone.

What do I mean by something for everyone? Something for everyone means somebody becomes a manager in a company, somebody becomes a career woman. Well, from the corporate perspective, whether it is for your colleagues or whether it is for your clients, you are replaceable. If you are not there, somebody will replace you.

You will become something for everyone. Or you become everything for someone. For a newborn child, a mother is everything.

And that need to nurture is very much there within us. It is there for men, it is there for women. And many times when somebody chooses not to have a baby, they end up adopting a pet and taking care of that pet and lavishing all their affection on the pet.

So, this is not a criticism of pets at all. It is just that the need to nurture cannot be denied. And by the age of 40, 45, 50, one can start feeling extremely lonely and empty in their lives.

Now, is it possible that one can enter into a relationship and the relationship can go south and one may end up in the same place? Yes, that’s also possible. That’s a risk. No, nothing in life comes without risks.

So, one needs to be careful about what kind of relationship one enters into. But the notion that marriage and motherhood will restrict a woman professionally, it’s a very one-sided idea because we are not defined by our profession alone. A holistic life requires various things and relationships are also a very important part of that.

So, many times a woman can pursue her career after her children have grown up a little bit. And maybe the years that were invested, some people will say lost in taking care of children, but invested in taking care of children, maybe that means they will not rise as much in their career as much as they would have. But they will have a more fulfilling life.

A few decades, feminism arose about 200 years ago. A few decades or even a few centuries of ideology cannot overturn the history of humanity. And the idea is that women lose autonomy.

Women come under the control of a man. And that’s not necessary. It depends on how the marriage works out.

And the idea of autonomy itself is highly overrated. It is before say 300, 400, 500 years ago, even men did not have much autonomy. For most people, whether in India or the caste system, in the West it was the class system, whichever family you were born in, that’s what your career would be in future.

If somebody was born a peasant, then they would probably be a peasant. If somebody was born a barber, what we call upward mobility was very much absent in feudal society. So men also did not have much autonomy.

A few men who might be in royalty or aristocracy had power. And sometimes a few women also had power, maybe lesser. So the idea that autonomy is lost, yes, autonomy is lost.

But sometimes the loss of autonomy is what brings intimacy. It is what brings community. It is what actually the human heart doesn’t just want to be free.

We want to be free and we also want to belong. We also want to love and be loved. So that’s more at a professional level.

And the last part is at an ideological level also. Are you joining a patriarchy? And you want to rebel against patriarchy? Well, ultimately we all want to be happy. And has a patriarchal society led to some problems? Yes, it has led to problems.

And are there ways to correct that? I think every family finds their own way of negotiating relationships. Maybe in the past it was more like a top-down kind of thing. The man was in charge and the woman listened to the man.

But even if you look at history, women always had a voice. And in today’s world, it is not that when a woman gets married, she is going to have to enter into some rigidly patriarchal family structure. Each husband and wife will find out the dynamic with which their relationship works the best.

Society today is very different from the way it was in the past. Just as we can’t parent our children the way our parents parented us. So a husband-wife relationship today will also not be the same way it was 30 or 50 years ago.

So now, having said this, the last point to make is that ultimately, we should not force people to make a particular choice. That we can encourage people, we can try to answer their questions, address their reservations. And after that, it’s up to them.

If a woman doesn’t want to get married, she should not be guilted by constant social pressure into marriage. Now, it should not be assumed that she will be a threat to other families, other men in the community. It may be, it may not be also.

So, is our society evolved to that much extent? And some people may not even consider evolution. But we need to be able to accommodate everyone in Krishna Bhakti. And how exactly that will happen? It depends.

Many churches have… Churches, especially the protestant churches, don’t accept the idea of either monks or nuns. Catholics do for both. But protestants, they have neither.

But still they have forums for single women, even single mothers also. And as our society integrates with mainstream society, or at least starts needing to function within the way the mainstream society is, such support structures may also be created. But on one side, we need to… we can’t force somebody to do something because if things go wrong thereafter, then they’ll blame us.

And it’s not just that they’ll blame us. We don’t want to be just… I don’t want to be blamed, that’s why I won’t get married. But it’s that everybody has individual choice.

Having said that, we also need to alert people that we are a traditional society. We are an old tradition. And we are a part of an old tradition that has survived for thousands of years.

And because it’s an old tradition, it’s not going to change quickly. And if you really want to be a part of something time-tested, you wouldn’t want it to change every five minutes. So therefore, there will be certain lack of acceptance or a certain level of lesser acceptance that they may encounter if they choose to stay single consciously.

Maybe there will be some communities which will be more accepting and some communities which will be utterly non-accepting. Each community within the broader Krishna Consciousness movement will have its own ethos. So, Krishna Consciousness doesn’t depend on a person getting married or having children, even a woman getting married or having children.

But one’s role and one’s respectability in a community, in a particular community, may be affected by that. And one may need to be ready to accept that and keep one’s relationship with Krishna as a higher priority and still move on in that path. So, to summarize, three things.

First is, if a woman doesn’t want to marry because she’s been psychologically scarred, then first is that we should not make them think that they can’t practice Krishna Consciousness without getting married or having children. Second is that, if they’ve been psychologically scarred, then they’ve been given time to heal the scars by seeing stable families and trustworthy men who are actually devoted to God and are not simply waiting for a chance to exploit women. If they have some professional reservations, then maybe we need to help them to see what actually makes for a fulfilling life.

It’s not just a career. It’s not just a contribution to our career, but it’s also a connection through family. If they have ideological reservations about feminism, then we need to know that feminism is actually a historically untested ideology, especially radical feminism.

And humanity has worked in a particular way. And while we want autonomy, we also want intimacy and community. And there’s a price for that.

And lastly, we tell them that it’s up to… you can practice Krishna Consciousness in whatever way you want. At the same time, because we are a part of an old tradition and things don’t change rapidly, nor should they in a time-honored tradition. Therefore, they may encounter a certain level of non-appreciation and they need to be ready for that.

Maybe they can find a community where that non-appreciation is lesser. Krishna Consciousness also has many versions based on the ethos of a particular community. They can find a place in Krishna Consciousness, but they may not find a place in a particular community in Krishna Consciousness.

The post If a Western woman aspiring for bhakti doesn’t want to marry or have children, how can we guide? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

View Details

Hare Krishna. So today, we’re continuing this discussion on the topic of the punishments in hell. How many of you were there yesterday? Okay. How many of you were not there yesterday?

Okay. How many of you are not there today? Okay. So I’ll do a quick recap of what I discussed yesterday, and we’ll move forward from there. Broadly, discuss the topic was how do we reconcile the idea of a loving god with such brutal punishments in hell that I described over here.

And I talked about how within the tradition itself, there is a contextual emphasis or contextual presentation. I talked about how Mahaprabhu said there’s no need for Vedanta Sutra commentary, but Bal Devidya Avushan recognized that there is an absolute need for the commentary. So that depending on the sensibilities or the concerns of particular people at particular times in history, the Acharya has to reach out to contemporary teachers, contemporary people. And so each generation is presented here by circle. So Bhaktivinath Thakur was the Acharya who had to who focused on tackling modernity.

And we discussed our challenges in presenting the message of the Bhagavatam and one of the aspects is this cosmology. And there I talked about how the principle he says, Srila Prabhupada and Bhaktina Thakur had discussed their approaches and I would like to elaborate on that today a little bit. So Bhaktivirath Thakur used a somewhat non literal reading. And Srila Prabhupada, if you see, there’s a non emphasis. I’ll come back to he does not really focus on the principle of health so much.

So but when Bhakti Vinod Thakur says it’s non literal, what does he mean? He focuses the principle, the principle that we are accountable for our actions. However, in his later books like the Jaiva Dharma, he also talks about hell. So he’s not simply dismissing hell as non literal. I’ll talk about that dimension.

And then lastly, I talk about the difference between hell in the Abrahamic traditions and in the Vedic tradition. Two main differences, that in the Abrahamic tradition, hell is eternal whereas in the Vedic tradition, it is temporary. It is like a it is like a learning place, a tough classroom in the university. And secondly, that hell is there for non believers, anybody who does not believe say for example Jesus is going to go to hell. Whereas in the Vedic tradition, hell is for wrongdoers.

One may not be a devotee of Krishna but still if a person is not harming others, they are not going to go to hell. They may stay in the material existence, they’re not necessarily going to go to hell. So this is not a personal vendetta of God. You didn’t worship me so I’m going to send you to hell. It’s not like that.

So there’s a very significant difference in although the term is same, the conceptions are different. So now I will I’ll talk about three main points. I’ll talk about the concept and then I’ll talk about the principle of consequence and largely I’ll talk about compassion. So now it’s interesting when you use the word concept of hell. Sometimes we may use it in a literal sense and sometimes we may use it in a experiential sense.

Now the word literal itself is a little confusing word. What do we mean by literal? Now, but let me start with first with the experiential. Right in the very next verse in this very chapter, what will Kapila tell his mother? You say, what does he say that?

My dear mother, it is sometimes said that we experience hell or heaven on this planet for hellish planets are sometimes visible on this planet also. So yesterday, I had given the example of how Prabhupada said in concentration camps, people had to eat their own refuse, horrible. So now somebody might draw particular implication from that. So is God like a concentration camp creator? No, that’s not the point of the world.

The point is just as in some places in this world there could be heavenly enjoyment if somebody goes to a five star or seven star Hill Station. So we might say for somebody who maybe has lived in poverty where they don’t even get one proper meal in an entire day, For them, if they go to luxury where there are maybe 50 items for every meal, and they sleep in a comfortable bed and there, so that can seem like heaven to them. So the point Prabhupada was making is not about the cause. The point Prabhupada was making was the varieties of experiences that are present on this planet also, and sometimes we may not see certain experiences within our paradigm or our range of experiences, but that’s like Prabhupada talk about doctor frog, the frog in the well. Just because we have not experienced something does not mean that there’s not it’s not there at all.

So Prabhupada is giving a possibility over there. There’s a difference between explaining possibility and explaining causality. Now why someone goes to hell is a different thing. Possibility means that okay this can happen. So we can say if we have varieties of experiences in the world, so we experience comfortable situations, we experience uncomfortable situations, We experience highly very comfortable situations.

We sometimes we experience unbelievably comfortable situations. So like that, the variety of experiences, this might be the range which we have experienced. But it’s possible that based on what we have experienced, we could say that the reality could be much bigger beyond the range that we have experienced. So that is the point, the possibility is what Prabhupada is emphasizing over here. Now not the causality.

So now when we say possibility of a particular kind of experience being there, in general, in philosophy, there is the standard especially historical investing that is the standard principle called absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Just because we don’t have evidence of something does not mean it is not possible. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. So what Srila Prabhupada is saying is that we have experiences in that direction. And yes, now for most normal people to think of the idea that they would have to eat their own refuse, it’s horrendous, revolting idea, but it has happened in the world, horrible, unfortunate and tragic, horrendous as it is, it has happened.

So Shraddha Prabhupada is expanding the range of our conception of what is possible. Now when we talk about hell, let’s try to understand some key points over here. The hell is now we may have a very simplistic idea that hell is a location. Well, that’s one way of looking at it. It’s actually much more of a condition rather than a location.

It is a location, but it is much more a condition. Just like we may think of the spiritual world, what I’m doing over here now, I’m trying to explain the concept over here. And start by saying, if you use the word non literal, what does non literal mean? Because if you go to if you equate literal with physical and that’s very simplistic, is the soul a literal thing? Yeah, soul is real, it exists, but is the soul physical?

No. It’s not physical. Sometimes we think of going to the spiritual world means, okay, the particular place and we go to that place. Yeah. That’s one way of looking at it.

But say this is America and this is Canada, please forgive my drawing. So this is America and this is Canada. Now now we may think, okay, you said you cross the border and you go from America to Canada. But is it like a spiritual world like that you cross a border and you go there? Now there are illegal immigrants who go from one country to another.

Can you be an illegal immigrant to the spiritual world? Bhakti Siddhanta says Thakur would say that you cannot gate crash into the kingdom of God. So the spiritual world is not just a location, it’s also a condition. One condition of what? It’s a condition of heart, it’s a condition of consciousness and that applies even to the idea of hell.

So hell is not just a physical place, it’s a state of mind, it’s a consciousness. And that’s what the next one is saying, we may experience hellish suffering even in this world also. And one of the things that has happened as modern society has progressed is that things at the physical level have become significantly more comfortable as compared to the past relatively speaking. So physical suffering is something which is quite shocking for us to think about and that’s why the idea of capital punishment is now revolting to most modern or post modern sensibilities. So what has happened is we as a society at the physical level, we have become more and more comfortable.

And say even the prisons in country like America or UK, they are not you go to prisons in India unless we go for prison outreach and the prisons for a person who is from India, some of the prisons in America seem better than many of the homes in India. The idea is that there’s a lot of physical comfort that’s why the idea of physical pain seems very revolting for us. However, pain is not just the physical level, it’s at the mental level also. And this is the paradox in today’s world, many people are increasingly comfortable at the material level, but they are miserable at the material level. As I can say, many people are comfortably miserable.

You know, all mental health problems, there are some people who may end their lives because of physical physical pain or physical discomfort, but most of the people who for example commit suicide is because of mental anguish, a sense of loneliness, abandonment, hopelessness. So now for most of us if we have not been through that much suffering, everybody has known pain, but if we have not been through that much suffering, we might not even be able to think why would anyone want to end their life. But if we go through a situation of terrible pain and then we can identify sometimes the mind might bring up some thought, if a person has certain cultures, certain nature, certain boundaries they won’t do it. But the point is that suffering can be unbearable and there can be unbearable suffering at the physical level and that may be a little unfamiliar to us in today’s world, but there is unbearable suffering at the mental level. I just want to end my life so hell suppose somebody is addict and they’re legally trying to get rid of the addiction but they’re just not able to and they’re feeling the withdrawal pain and it can be like hell for the person over there.

I don’t want to do this but I just can’t live without doing this. So that’s an addict to I wrote a read a book on addictions and addict one said that describe the conditioning, like he says, relationship with the addiction, he says, you treat me badly, I trust you madly. So it’s a very terrible, it’s like a typical definition of abusive relationship. You treat me badly but I trust you madly. Each time somebody indulges they suffer but after that next time the temptation come they just can’t say no.

So that is a hellish condition. So at a mental level, we could say addiction could be an extreme sense of suffering which can seem hellish. So the point of hell is not the specifics of the kind of physical suffering that is being inflicted. The point of hell is that there is a state of suffering. So in scripture, when the language is given, so I’m building on this point of concept only.

See, sometimes the language is descriptive, but quite often, the language is indicative rather than descriptive. Now what is the difference between descriptive and indicative language? Descriptive is what a place is, you describe what it is. Indicative is what it feels like what it feels like. The Garuda Puran is a place where in one of that’s that’s a book where lot of description of hell is given.

The post life journey is described and hell is described. Now you’ll see Nagarapurana is described hell is a place of darkness and hell is also described is said as a place of unbearable fire. Now if if we think of this simply as descriptive language, now fire and darkness don’t coexist, isn’t it? Fire means there is light, so hell is a place of darkness and hell is a place of fire. So now we could go and say we could say no these are two different hells, one is a dark place, the other is a place of fire.

But the Garabhupurana is not literally describing two different hells at many places. So the darkness and fire, they are indicative of what we will experience. So darkness is a place of of loneliness, of abandonment, of feeling completely lost, and fire is a place of agony, it’s a fire of some we can have the fire of guilt, we can have the fire of regret, we can have there is fire, so it indicates different kinds of sufferings. Now if we consider that this is literally a descriptive it’s a literally a description of the conditions, then the question comes up, the Prabhupada is saying over here somebody engage in illicit sexual activity and that’s what the Bhagavatam says. But then we’ll see how are we going to define illicit sexual activity.

Is it a one time indulgence, is it a multiple indulgence, a lifelong indulgence, is it two people coming voluntarily and consenting, is it one person forcing the other person? There’s a whole spectrum and if this was supposed to be a literal description then it wouldn’t be that anybody suppose somebody eats eat months in their life and somebody else doesn’t eat a meal even once in their life which does not have meat. Now can you say both are culpable at the same level? No system of justice would accept that principle. So this is clearly not a literal description of who will suffer how much.

And we see this in Prabhupada’s purport also that if you go back the previous verse, yeah, that Prabhupada is nuance and qualifying certain things. So the Sanskrit is Bhunkte Narova Nariva Mitha Sanghe Nandir Mitha. That this is what the man or the woman will be subjected to if mitha sangen and nirmitha, if they indulge in sexual pleasure, mitha is sexual pleasure nirmitha it is caused by. But Prabhupada is nuancing and he’s saying that those whose lives were built upon indulgence in illicit sexual life. So he’s not just talking about a one time indulgence, the lives are built upon that.

Now that is very different from a one time indulgence. Sometimes somebody may not want to indulge but the temptation may overpower them. Sometimes somebody may indulge but then they may repeatedly but then they may reform afterwards. So this is not so much a quantity another way to understand the difference between this the descriptive and indicative is it’s not so much a quantitative language as a qualitative language that there is consequence for our actions. So when the Bhagavatam describes hell, what is the it’s it’s not describing geography as it much is describing gravity.

Now gravity is not the pull of gravity, but gravity is how grave the situation is, that actions have consequences. So it’s not that when the Bhagavatam describes hell or for that matter it describes any of the places in the cosmos, It’s not like a Google map pin drop. You put the pin and you’ll Google map will take you there. It’s not exactly describing geographical coordinates. It’s describing the principle of gravity.

Gravity is that there are our actions, we are accountable for our actions and therefore, we need to be careful. So the so going back to what Prabhupada said, Prabhupada is not talking about causality over here. He’s talking more about the possibility and the possibility is that even in this world there can be terrible suffering sometimes at the physical level, sometimes at the mental level. And that principle just as in the heavens, there can be pleasure that we can’t imagine. Similarly in health, there can be there can be pains that we may not be able to imagine.

So that the first point of the understanding the concept. Now, let’s talk about compassion. So yesterday I mentioned about how Shluprahipad does not emphasize so much that if somebody engages in it does not emphasize health so much in terms of that being the consequence of wrong actions. Now if you look at the Vedas, there are hundreds of references to hell in Prabhupada’s works. But it’s interesting where does Prabhupada refer to hell?

He’s referring to the conversation between Parikshit Maharaj and Shubhadeva Goswami that follows this description. And Parikshit Maharaj asks how can people be saved from the chilly conditions and that’s the start of the sixth canto and there it is said that you know atonement will not work, it said that ultimately Bhakti will work and then the story of Ajamal is told. And when the story of Ajamal is told, the point is that a devotee when a devotee sees such suffering, such descriptions of suffering, devotees focus is that how can such suffering be prevented for others. The focus is compassion, the focus is not condemnation. It is not to scare people, you’re going to go to hell and scare them into compliance, that is not the point.

A devotee’s mood is always compassion. And this is this compassion is actually Krishna’s mood and this also needs to be a devotee’s mood. Now what do I mean by Krishna’s mood over here? In the Vedic tradition, it’s understood that God is present in our heart and God is present in our heart wherever we go. The verse in the Bhagavad Gita says, so that that on this we are, like, on the vehicle of the body and we wander all over.

So if you seek the Vedic conception of God as Krishna as contrasted with, say, the conception of God in any other tradition, the Abrahamic tradition, So it is not Krishna who sends people to hell. That is not at all the Vedic understanding. It is Krishna, he goes with people to hell. Krishna does not send people to hell, he goes with people to hell when their karma sends them there. People go to hell not because they reject Krishna.

That’s what I’ll send you to hell. No. It is when actually people live in a way that is destructive, in a way that is disruptive and destructive for others, their karma sends them to hell. So now we may say, but karma is also arranged by Krishna only. So it’s Krishna who is sending people to hell.

Well, it’s not that simple because Krishna in the in the Brahmasamita is described, he is the cause of all causes. He is not the cause of all effects. Now again, what do you mean by the difference? Cause of all causes and cause of all effects? Like, say, if you consider rain or clouds, the rain is the cause of all vegetation.

Without this is an example in Vedanta Sutra that without rain, there’ll be no vegetation that’ll grow anywhere, but the rain is not the cause of which vegetation grows where. So the rain is not the cause of, say, a flourishing harvest growing at one place and weed is going somewhere else. That is determined by the kind of seed that are sown over there, kind of care that has been taken over there. So Krishna has created a system of karma, but saying that Krishna sends people to hell is like saying suppose there’s a pilot and the pilot makes a mistake and the plane crashes. And why did the plane crash?

We have to make an investigation to find out what went wrong. If the pilot made a mistake, why did the pilot make a mistake? If the airplane malfunctioned, why did the airplane malfunction? Now some people some person with a half big knowledge of physics comes and says you people, why are you wasting some so much time in making a committee and doing some investigation? I already know what caused the plane crash.

Really? Tell us, do you have some secret intelligence information? What caused the plane crash? He says, No, it’s simple. The plane crashed because of gravity.

Now did the plane crash because of gravity? Well, yes and no. Without gravity, the plane would not crash. But we cannot hold gravity responsible when the plane crashes because the planes are designed to fly in spite of gravity and if a plane crashes and the question is not gravity caused it, why did that mechanism malfunction And that malfunctioning of the mechanism is what is responsible. Was it the aircraft manufacturer’s mistake?

Was it those who are supposed to do a pre flight check, they didn’t check properly? Was it a pilot’s mistake? So we cannot blame gravity for that. That’s why it is not Krishna who is sending people to hell. Krishna has created a mechanism but Krishna does not force anyone to make any choice.

The Bhagavad Gita in four thirteen and fourteen says Tasye kartaram apimam vidya a kartaram avayam. Tasye kartaram apimam Krishna says in four thirteen in the Bhagavad Gita that I am the maker of the whole system but it is not that I place different people at different places in the system, that is by their choices. So Krishna’s compassion is that even if our actions send us to hell, Krishna is there with us in hell. Krishna is the Paramatma never abandons us, and Krishna is always eager for us to be elevated. So Krishna’s love is the biggest reality in the world.

And for us, as we grow spiritually, what happens is this, if if you forget everything else from this talk, you can just remember this one thing. Now for us, initially, the world is very big and God, Krishna, is very small. When I was introduced to Bhakti, I started talking about it with my friends and colleagues and relatives. One of my uncles he told me, yeah, I have a very good relationship with God. He said, really?

I said, what what is it? Just mutual non interference. He said, he’s happy there, I’m happy here. So some people feel that God is completely relevant. Now when we think God is irrelevant, then what happens?

The world is very big for us and the world’s ups and downs also become very big for us. So the world’s ups and downs, they come they impact us a lot on mental level. But as we grow spiritually, the world becomes small and Krishna becomes big for us. So for a devotee, the physical suffering, it’s real but Krishna’s love is a bigger reality. So when Parikshit Maharaj saw that the snake was going to come and bite him and kill him, he knew the snake is going to come, but he also knew that it is actually Krishna’s arrangement.

So for us, what happens is if you the spiritual growth means we see physical reality, we don’t deny okay, it stopped. Okay. It’s interesting. Not seeing anything here. Okay.

So if we say that there is physical reality and there is spiritual reality, the physical reality is important, but for a devotee, the spiritual reality is much more important. And yes, hell may have terrible kind of suffering, it could be at a physical level, it could be in this world, it could be next world, it could be, at a jog at a geographical, the psychological level or at a physical level, but whatever be the suffering, Krishna’s love is a bigger reality. And that will bring me the last point. I think that it’s saying no displays are visible. Okay.

That’s definitely not distracting. Anyway, I’ll I’ll continue without this. Let’s see. And that brings us to the last point that is correction. So if there’s compassion then our focus, compassion is not just emotion, we need to after that do something tangible.

And what is the Bhagavatam’s mood? It’s a mood of correction. So the whole story of the Bhagavatam is told so that people can actually turn toward Krishna and they can they scum? Okay. Good.

So spiritual growth means the physical reality is not as important as the reality of Krishna’s love. So that brings us compassion is yes, a person may suffer in hellish conditions also, but Krishna’s love is the bigger reality and that correction means that we focus not so much on the reality and the gravity of hell. We talk about it but none of our Acharya’s has written a commentary on the fifth canto of the Srimad Bhagavadam specifically. Many of the Acharya has written commentaries on the tenth canto of Shmita Bhagavadam. Now Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would love to hear the pastimes of Prahlad Maharaj and Dhruva Maharaj, that it does not describe that he love to hear the description of hellish planets.

No. So our focus is on how to help people experience Krishna’s love, how to invite them into that world of Krishna’s love and once they experience that, that is what will protect them from hell. And so ultimately Prabhupada started the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. It is not the International Society for Hell Consciousness that that there is hell and you’ll go to hell if you don’t do this, this, this. No.

That’s not the point. So what our Acharya emphasized that is what we need to emphasize and this correction happens by inspiring others to also develop love for Krishna. So broadly, you know, that the principle is you know. Means somehow or the other fix the mind on Krishna. So each one of us based on our particular background and the kind of background that our audience comes through.

So for some people, hell as a literal description, That can create fear and that fear can inspire people towards correction, towards correction through connection with Krishna and that’s perfectly fine. Now I was in India, there’s a temple in a small in a small village. We have one of our spiritual leaders in India who was born in that village. And in that village, when they build a temple, they’ve actually depicted the depicted the suffering in hell for the four regrettable principles. They made dioramas of how a person who eats meat will have to suffer in this way, how a person who doesn’t eat meat will have to suffer in that way.

Now, when I talk with the devotees who are making the Vedic planetarium, they have decided the Vedic planetarium in in Mayapur to not depict the Hellish planets. So now what is the point over here is, yes, people who may live in villages, they are still in a little bit of pre modern times and idea of a hell may may act as a deterrent for them, oh I don’t want to suffer like this. But for some people the idea of hell if it is what kind of God will create something like this? If that’s the idea then we focus on the idea of hell as a condition rather than a location and the focus is on redirection, yes. Now when we are in a state of godlessness, we suffer and therefore we should turn away.

And for many people, life in this world may itself at a psychological level can be like hell. So the point is we don’t get too caught in whether such descriptions are literal in the sense of being physically exactly the same details happening or whether they’re not happening. What will be foster Krishna consciousness That is what is important. So this is this is the level of Krishna consciousness and different people at different places. So some people in today’s modern sensibilities and there are pre modern sensibilities.

For some people considering the hell to be more of a literal description, this is what happens and this is what we will you will be subjected to or we will be subjected to if we do these things. If that’s what or as I say, whatever floats your boat, you accept that. For some people, this kind of descriptions may not be at all fathomable, acceptable, then we could say, as I said, it can be indicative language. The point is not where we start from, the point is that where we take off. So in Krishna consciousness, often there can be an acceptable range of meanings.

Now if somebody goes outside the acceptable range, that means they start saying that no matter what you do, you’re not going to suffer. This is all just meant to scare and there is no suffering because of, unrestricted indulgence. No. The specific of how suffering may come will vary. But if somebody starts saying that there’s going to be no suffering at all, then that would be outside the range of accepted meaning.

So we focus on cultivating Krishna consciousness and that’s how we grow in our lives and we inspire others to grow. So I quickly summarize what I discussed, three main points in talking about the concept of hell. The first about hell and how to understand, first of the concept. In the concept, I talked about how hell can be seen as a location, but it can also be seen as a condition. And condition means that it’s not just a state of play, it’s not just a physical place, it’s also a state of mind.

It’s not describing geography as it’s describing the gravity of the choices and the consequences. The language can be descriptive, but it can also be indicative. So we can understand this. It’s more a description of not so much of quantity as it is of quality. The specifics are not mentioned over here.

So the concept of hell can range from both ways. Then I talk about the principle of compassion that how what Krishna’s mood is Krishna doesn’t send to hell, He goes to hell with us. So he goes to hell not to suffer but to save us from suffering and that is Krishna’s love for us. So Krishna is the cause of all causes, not the cause of all effects. It is not Krishna who sends people to hell, it is karma which sends and Krishna who saves.

And when the correction our purpose should be correction just as Parikshit Maharaj on hearing this is focused on correction. So Srila Prabhupada’s mood was also on correction. So Srila Prabhupada also sensed the kind of audio that people were there today and then lastly we discussed for us our mood should also be how can I connect people with Krishna and thus there can be an acceptable range within which such statements can be seen? So some people, the literal meaning may inspire them to take to Krishna consciousness. And for some people, it may be a less literal meaning.

So rather than mandating necessary this is the only meaning that has to be taken, we understand that ultimately everyone has to go on the journey toward Krishna consciousness. Everybody needs to recognize that actually Krishna’s love is a far bigger reality than this world, whether it be this world’s pleasure or this world’s pain. And whatever way a person can actually be inspired to perceive Krishna’s love as the bigger reality, we encourage them in that way and move help them move towards Krishna. Thank you very much. Yes, miss.

Guru Maharaj, I’m going to the hell right now. Hell, Maharaj, servant’s just behind me. What should I do? What should I think? I’m very scared.

It’s, like, a dark time for me. Please give me advice. What should I do? I, like, had bad life all my life. I did bad things and now I understand that.

Yeah. What should I do? I think the key point is we need to experience Krishna. We experienced the world and experienced how painful the world is, but to see what gives us experience of Krishna. We have tried the experience of this world, tried displeasure, tried the solution, and it’s it’s really not all that great.

It can be terrible. So how do we experience Krishna? We come in the association of devotees, we participate in Kirtan, we chant the holy names. It like tell such a person give Krishna a chance, try Krishna out. Try to try Krishna out means not just chant the Holy Spirit, it’s important, but try to do something which actually gives you the experience of Krishna.

So maybe come and stay in the association, go to a holy place, take up some spiritual practice that the world is going to be there, it’s not that the world is going to fall apart if you turn away from the world for a few days. Try to immerse yourself in Krishna for some time. So give give yourself an opportunity to experience Krishna and once we do that we’ll get some strength and then greater than the world’s power to hurt is Krishna’s power to heal. But we need to give ourselves the opportunity to be healed by Krishna. And then once we are healed, then we can decide whether we want to go back into the same situation and deal with the situation, we just want to walk away from that situation, But give yourself an opportunity to experience Krishna.

That’s the key answer. Okay? Thank you. Yes, Bhupati. Thank you for two wonderful classes.

And if you asked me this morning what did I like about it, I took notes so I’d be able to not look stupid. I actually But the question I wanna ask is this there’s a famous picture, well it’s famous to Proud Pod Disciples, of Proud Pod being handed the fifth canto. And it’s open to the pictures of the hellish planets. And Prabhupada’s got a big smile on his face. You know that picture?

So as soon as possible? You remember that picture? All the Prabhupada disciples would know that picture. I don’t know if it’s still in circulation. How do you understand that?

Because that’s a lot more than non emphasis. I mean, that Yeah. You know, how do we understand that picture? Would anybody give me a good explanation? I also remember that.

I was thinking about it today. See, what happens is that personally, I’m not saying that the understanding that I have or the understanding that I shared is necessarily the conclusive, the definitive understanding. These are difficult subjects and, we all try to understand them according to our capacity and try to share that understanding. What in the Bhagavad Gita As I have, I think with Madurai and Maitreya, I have a conversation they say, as much as I have heard and as much as I have understood. So now considering that particular picture, I’d say two things.

You know, obviously Prabhupa definitely had a big smile. Now was that smile where just the fact of having the Bhagavatam published already or was it specifically because of that picture? That’s very difficult to say. You know, it could be that Prahopa was smiling throughout and maybe that picture was clicked when incidentally Prabhupada was on that that photo was given, Prabhupada was looking at that picture. So whether it is the description of the hellish planets that pleased Prabhupada, I doubt that very much.

So that’s one point. The second point is if we look at Srila Prabhupada’s overall writings. So when I said non emphasis, see, the the nature of the human mind is to go towards extremes. When you say something is important, we make it all important. And something is non important means we make it completely, utterly unimportant only.

It’s not it’s not utterly unimportant but there is a greed of importance. Say for example, now if somebody is in a place where maybe they are in the they are in a very high demanding job, some emergency duty in medicine or something like that, and they have barely the time to chant their rounds or cook food and offer bhoga and take bhoga. Now if they if they say I will cook bhoga, then they won’t have time to chant their rounds. Now what should you do at that time? Now both is important, we don’t want to take outside food, we also want to chant our rounds.

In that particular situation what will be more important is we need to do our chanting and then adjust, maybe we offer some food in the mind whatever. Now is that the standard? No. But there is a degree of importance. There’s a hierarchy of importance.

In Sanskrit this is called as Taratamya. Taratamya is hierarchy. So my concern when I present such sections is that nobody should leave Krishna consciousness because they find such sections difficult to accept. This is not such a non negotiable part of Krishna consciousness. There are there are two ways to present Krishna consciousness, one is it’s like a digital presentation, the other is an analog presentation.

What do I mean by digital? That you have to accept the whole package. This is Krishna consciousness is a package deal, you accept everything or you are out. It’s one or zero. But the analog is, it’s like Krishna consciousness there is a aspirational level.

Aspirational level means, say, we would like to have altar at our home, we would like to offer Bhogan nicely to Krishna, we would like to chant our rounds in the morning and then maybe you would like to go for a job, whatever job, whatever work you do. That’s aspirational level. But then from aspirational, there could be a non negotiable level. If somebody says that, you know, I’ve got such a busy job that the only food that is available for me in the vicinity of my job is meat, so I’ll eat meat. No, that would be something just seriously non negotiable.

So what happens is Krishna consciousness is a spectrum. So my understanding is at least the way way I’ve seen it, this fifth canto should not lead people to give up Krishna bhakti because they feel this is irrational, this is unacceptable. Either the it doesn’t make sense logic is I can’t accept this in light of science or I can’t accept this in the light of a compassion idea of a compassionate or loving God. So that’s my primary concern. Now can there be other concerns?

Of course, there are other concerns. So I would say Srila Prabhupada, from the seven purposes of ISKCON that he gave, from the name of the society that he gave, from what he expected in these ancient vows, Prabhupada didn’t give us like a 10 summary of Krishna consciousness, like some churches have creeds, this is what I believe in. Prabhupada didn’t give us like that. So therefore there’ll be some room for discussion and ambiguity about what is essential to Krishna consciousness and what is not so essential to Krishna consciousness. So some people may say, no, this is you have to accept Bhagavatam literally.

Every single word of the Bhagavatam has to be accepted literally. Otherwise, you don’t have faith in Krishna. Well, yes, that’s one way of looking at it. But then, do we want people just because they find certain sections of the Bhagavatam difficult to accept, do we want them to leave Krishna consciousness? Like yesterday we discussed that conversation, Prabhupada said if was that the only thing you could present to scholars?

So I think we need to be able to have a big umbrella in which a lot of people can take up Krishna bhakti and then each person will commit to Krishna consciousness in a way that works best for them. Everyone has to become serious about the relationship with Krishna. But what does the seriousness about the relationship with Krishna mean? Does it have to mean the exact same thing for every single person? Maybe, maybe not.

For somebody like even in the practical aspect of Krishna consciousness, for somebody, seriousness in Krishna consciousness means that if you do deity worship, if you fast but that may not be the definition of seriousness focused on much of other people. So you know with respect to practice, we often give people somewhat a flexible rope, you can’t chant 16 rounds, chant four rounds, if you can’t do this, you do this. But with respect to philosophy, why can’t we give people a little bit of a breathing room? If you consider there is a karma marga and there is a jnana marga from both people can come to bhakti. So from karma marga when somebody comes that means these are the rituals to be practiced, these are the rules to be followed, we give people leeway in the rules.

So those who are thoughtful, those who are analytical, they come more from the jnana marga. Now for them they will also need some breathing space. Now this is the exact way, there’s a range of what is acceptable. So in general my experience is that people who come from India, most of them come from the karma marga. Karma Marga means these were the rituals, these were the culture that most of them were practicing.

And they just learn more about the philosophy and they become more reinforced in practicing that. But most non Indians, most especially western people who come, they come more from the Gyan Marga. That means they have existential questions, and they find that their particular tradition did not give them answers to those questions, and that’s why they come. And so for many people from an Indian background or from a more ritual background, these specific descriptions of hell may not matter so much. Okay, let’s tell his description, I’ll just chant Hare Krishna and be happy, what’s the big deal?

For some people who have come from the philosophical direction, we know this whole question, how can a loving God do something like this? That’s a very serious question. So we need to give breathing just as we give breathing room, as we give space for people in terms of what they can practice, can we not give people space in terms of how they understand certain things? So Prabhupada in my understanding gave that space, that’s what Prabhupada called as philosophical speculation. So there is one past and I’ll conclude with this that I think, this is described of Maharaj in one of his vast offerings.

So he said the only difference, so two devotees were having some debate, they said the only difference between Radharani and between Krishna and Balaram is in complexion, other they both same. So one group of devotees said yes, that’s right. And then another devotee said, no. But only Krishna is the lord of Radharani, not not Balramji. That’s right.

Now both these devotees, the debate became very heated so they both went to Prabhupada. And now Prabhupada said, only both sides are presented. Only Krishna, the only difference between them is the complexion. Yes. That’s right.

But only Krishna is, only Krishna is the Lord of Radharani. That’s right. But Prabhupada, both of these can’t be right Prabhupada said, that’s right. And then what is the truth? Probably that you decide.

Now the point over here is there are very advanced truths and we don’t have to adjudicate them right now. So I’d say that’s my understanding over here. Let’s not make this a non negotiable aspect of Krishna consciousness which may make people have to decide to make or break their bhakti. Okay. Thank you.

You want to add something? Okay. You must ask questions. Thank you, Pabhuji, for a wonderful class. One thing that I kind of realized in this what your presentation was that realistically in this world, there is no real retribution.

In other words, if you perform that simple activity, you know, it’s it’s like, that’s it. What what what retribution is there? If you if you don’t really, become Krishna conscious in our particular philosophy, then you’re a lost soul, Literally. I mean, right? Because we’re saying we’re talking about simple activity.

You know, how if you commit this simple activity, what you know, even in the material world, if if you murder somebody, you know, you think you’re getting away with it. But really, if you you you you’re not. You you killed someone, and that’s simple. And that’s even against the law. So even in this country, you can kill somebody if they catch you fifty years later to still put you in jail.

So here we are in a material world and we’re committing so many simple activities knowingly and unknowingly. You know, what’s the repute you know, what what can they do in terms of they’ll be constantly in this cycle of birth and death? Yeah. And that’s exactly the it’s a nice way of articulating this point I’m making, you know. In our tradition, the specifics of how somebody is suffering is not as important as the principle that there is suffering in the material world.

So as long as somebody is in the material world, they will be suffering. And the key point is get out of this material world of suffering. So rather than getting so caught in, you know, this is hell and this is a place of severe suffering, no, the whole world is a place of suffering and unless we get out of that what is the point? It’s like Prabhupada would say there are golden shackles and there are iron shackles. It’s it’s still shackles only.

Thank you, Prabhu. So, Prabhu, my question is in regards to the physical location of health or the spiritual world and the importance. In the other side, we also have the conditional conditioning of the living entity. And that brought me to, some memories about I was reading a book where in the early days, one devotee was, complaining or having a difficult time to understand the the situation of Brindavan and, you know, finding all the different discrepancies. So proper answer is actually, Vrindavan is a state of consciousness.

You can create Vrindavan anywhere you are. So my question would be, it doesn’t necessarily diminish the position of the sacredness of the place. On the other side, my question will be also, is it sometimes more important the condition that you the kind of mentality that you have? Because if I bring it to another like another question, you can be in the presence of the Paramahansa, a great master, but you condition it or you’re you’re not able to, how do you say, take advantage of it? Can you speak?

Good point. See, that’s what I was trying to draw over here. See, if you consider Vrindavan as a place, now it’s is it important to go to Vrindavan and pilgrimage? That’s considered one of the key limbs of Bhakti. So the location is important.

But then our tradition it is also said that what is the use of going to a holy place if you don’t associate with holy people over there. It is like even bathing in a river, it’s like a like a cow or a a donkey. So there’s location without condition. Now this is undesirable or at least not the not the best you can put it that if we are just in the location but not in the condition, in the condition of state, condition of mind, now can there be condition without location? It is said yes that wherever Krishna is glorified that is Vrindavan.

So if a devotee is going on a morning walk with, with Srila Prabhupada, they might be going through some ghettos that will be like the spiritual world. So this is also glorious but the problem is that this may not be what we can experience all the time. So we can be in the condition say we could say that a devotee goes out into the world to distribute books, if they’re fixed in serving Krishna, wherever they’re going that’s a spiritual world only because they are glorifying Krishna, they’re sharing the glories of Krishna. But still can that devotee stay in that location twenty four hours a day and not be affected? No it’s not.

So you know ideal is by the location and the condition both are there. So the physical location matters, but it is not the physical location alone that matters and the state of consciousness also matters. So Vrindavan is a state of consciousness, Vrindavan also place. Ideally, by going to the place we can develop the state of consciousness more easily and we can carry the state of consciousness outside that place also. So what applies to Vrindavan also applies to the spiritual world, so the hellish mentality like a pure devotee may go to hell but a pure devotee may not be suffering in hell rather the pure devotee go there to save people from suffering.

Can be in that condition, can be in the location and not be in that condition. And somebody can be in this world and they can be in a hellish condition. Even if this world is spiritual world itself we have that conception. There is Jeevan Mukti and there is what is called as Atyantika Mukti or final Mukti. Jeevan Mukti is somebody is in this world, in this body, but they are they have no desire to enjoy this world.

So they are as if free from the body. And there is the ultimate liberationist and they give up the body and they go to the spiritual world. So spiritual world is the location as well as the condition. Okay? Thank you.

Thank you so much.

The post Brutal hell & loving God How can both go together part 2 Chaitanya Charan Prabhu SB 3 30 26 5 appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

View Details

So since I got this verse, I was told this three, four days ago, I’ve not been able to sleep very peacefully. These are these are in many ways a very difficult section of the Bhagavatam to explain, first of all, to understand and to explain. So today and tomorrow, I’ll be discussing this theme of how the such a brutal hell or a brutal description of hell, how can it be reconciled with the idea of a loving God? That what is described over here, sometimes if we don’t know the language, then sometimes if we don’t know the language when what two people are speaking, we can only make it out, we can only guess it, infer it And India itself is a very multilingual country. So sometimes when somebody is angry, you can make out even if you don’t understand the language by their gestures, by their expressions, by the volume, you can make out they’re angry.

But among the various Indian languages, Bengali is a very sweet language. And I was once in Mayapur and two devotees talking and the whole language sounded very sweet But then after that, the devotee who whom I was talking who was talking to some other Bengali the other day, he after he finished the talk, he was very disturbed. I said, What happened? He said that this devotee, he just spoke so this other person was not a devotee like a person who’s coming to the temple, they’re working some contract on land with him, it’s favorable like this. He spoke such harsh language and such foul words, very shaken.

So I he was speaking in a very plain tone and Bengali is a little sweet language. So sometimes the language might be very sweet but the words might be horrible within it. So like that, you know, if we just come and recite the verses and we don’t know the Sanskrit, this verse can seem like any other verse. Sanskrit is is is a exalted language and if you know how to recite, it can be very sweet to recite also. But what is being talked about over here is is the punishments that are described in hell for those people who have indulge unrestrictedly in sensual pleasures.

So how do we understand this? So today and tomorrow, I’ll talk about this and I’ll broadly use the same approach, use three points, you know, the approach that we take, the context in which this is spoken and T will we’ll talk about transcendence, what the essence of the Bhagavatam is. This is the acronym I’ll use. Now because this is I’m giving class tomorrow also, I’ll have a little time, so I’ll go backwards and rather than focusing on this particular verse itself, we’ll look back at our tradition. And Bhaktivino Thakur was the first person in our tradition who had to encounter modern sensibilities.

If you consider the tradition, the tradition has been going on for a long time if you consider you know, and if you consider tradition to be like lineage, spiritual lineage, then every Acharya does outreach to their particular audience. So for example, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did outreach to the people at his times, then the six Goswamis, they were in Vrindavan and they did outreach to their particular audience. Now it’s interesting, the Goswamis hardly wrote any books about Lord Chaitanya because they were based in Vrindavan. In Vrindavan, Mahaprabhu had come and Mahaprabhu had created a sensation. But like any other visiting guest, when the visiting guest come, they say, Oh, huge, I’m Philip, but after the visiting guest goes back, things literally go back to normal.

So Vrindavan was a land of Krishna not of Lord Chaitanya. So they wrote books about Krishna, Krishna Leela, Krishna Attua and they wrote mostly Sanskrit because Vrindavan nobody knew Bengali. So every Acharya speaks to their audiences. So then after that we have Vishnu Acharya who is also in Vrindavan, but he was restoring Vrindavan after it was devastated by the intolerant Islamic ruler Aurangzeb. And then after that we have Baldevidya Bhushan.

Now Baldevidya Bhushan was speaking to a broader audience of the Vedic scholars because what happened was during Aurangzeb’s time, there are many of the deity like Radha Govind deity in order to be protected had to be taken to Jaipur. And in Jaipur there is already an existing religious group, the Ramanandis. And when Radha Govind came he stole the heart of the king over there. And actually the king started giving more patronage to Radha Govind and his worshipers and the previous group that was there, they started becoming very upset. And in order to try to gain back the patronage, they started to challenge the very validity of our tradition itself, the very validity of the worship of the way we are doing it.

So Bal Devidya Bhushan had to respond to that and that’s why although Chetan Mahaprabhu had said that the Bhagavatam is a natural commentary on the Vedanta Sutra, Baldevidya Bhushan had to write a commentary. So it is almost as if Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said that there is no need for Vedanta Sutra commentary. Vedanta Sutra because he said the same author who wrote the Vedanta Sutra also wrote in his full maturity the Bhagavatam and therefore the Bhagavatam is a natural commentary. But during Bhakti Nota, during Maldive Devotion’s time, this same statement was seen simply as an excuse for not having a commentary because whenever we are discussing or debating with someone, we have to have a common basis of authority. If they don’t accept the basis of that that common basis, so if we are going to debate with somebody who is scientific and we quote the Bhagavita and say the Bhagavita says that we are not physical we are not physical beings, we are souls.

I don’t care what Bhagavita says, we may have to use some scientific evidence, something which they will accept. So the point is that had to write. He felt a strong need for a Vedanta Sutra commentary and nobody considers him in the tradition a deviant for writing such a commentary. Why? Because it was the need otherwise our Samprada itself would have lost its credentials.

So people who did not accept Lord Chaitanya Mahap’s authority, who were challenge challenging him and his tradition, we cannot argue with them by quoting from him. So therefore he had to write a commentary. So why am I giving this background? It’s like in the tradition each Acharya has to fight the battles of that generation and the battles of that generation may be very different from the battles of the previous generation. So if you consider the First World War and the Second World War, in the or we consider Second World War and the and the Cold War, in the Second World War we have Russia and America fought together against Germany.

But as soon as the war got over or even before the war was over when it was clear they were going to win, then there’s a competition between Russia and America who would have more power. So people who were ally allies can become enemies. Similarly, not everybody who were on the one side in the first world war were on the same side in second world war. So basically the battle lines change. In the material world, avidya ignorance always has to be fought.

But just as Krishna takes many Avatars, similarly Avidya also takes many Avatars. Avidya, ignorance also comes in different ways. And the principle in the tradition is that the current avatar, the current incarnation of avidya, of ignorance has to be fought. So each Acharya has to do that. The current avatar of Avidya has to be fought.

And the Baldevidya Bhushan fired the last salvo in the traditional battles. The traditional battles were basically everybody accepted the authority of the Vedas, but they debated fiercely about what was the meaning of the Vedas. The Vedas authority, but what does what the Vedas actually teach, that was the debate. But by the time it was Bhaktivinod Thakur’s time, What happened was the whole battleground had changed because westernization had come to India. And along with the westernization came, it was more of Europeanization if you want to say, you can call it the West or and because of that people were not really so concerned about what is the meaning of the Vedas.

The question was do the Vedas even matter? Do the Vedas even have anything of value? Are the Vedas just old fashioned, outdated, superstitious, irrational, primitive works of works that have no relevance of value today? So, Bhaktiv No Thakur had to fight a different battle and one of the battles that he had to fight was for explaining the Bhagavad. So what is it?

What is this? The, rational presentation of Vedic wisdom and especially of the Bhagavat. Oh, when did it stop? That’s funny. Oh, thank you for informing me.

Okay. Let me see what can I do over here? It got disconnected somehow. Maybe I just have to keep writing, otherwise, it gets disconnected. It’s come.

It’s come. Okay. Of the Bhagavatam. So he was the first person who had to give a rational presentation of the Bhagavatam. And Prabhupada in one of his talks on the while celebrating Bhaktiorn Thakur, his appearance disappearance days, he says, Bhaktiorn Thakur is the founder or the father of the modern day Krishna consciousness movement.

What he meant was that it is Bhaktirath Thakur who set the example in the standard of how to engage with modernity, how to engage with modern modernity and specifically the challenge of modernity was rationality. So modernity came with its own sensibilities and these descriptions of hell in one sense in pre modern times were not that provocative for many reasons. One reason was in the pre modern medieval times in general punishments were quite brutal. We know in France there’s a guillotine where people would just be killed. Even in Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s time they did this guy the Changa, Changa was like swords are kept upside down, swords kept up and somebody is thrown on top of that and that is what happened in Bengal.

So the medieval and the they were physically quite brutal times and there were ways in which people were punished. So but in the modern time, the sensibilities changed and when the sensibilities changed, there are many questions that came up. So I so at that time, Bhaktivinath Thakur wrote an essay called the Bhagwat. And in that essay, he talks about what are the difficulties in understanding the Bhagwat, and he primarily talks about three difficulties. So in fact, he almost takes an autobiographical role over there.

He says that when I grew up, you know, I had an aversion to the Bhagavatam and he said I felt there’s nothing of value in it. So he’s talking to people of a similar background who have all been educated in the Western, the European way of thinking and he’s empathizing with them. He says that, Yeah, I was also like that. And he says there are three challenges, the first challenge is based on cosmology. So the second challenge is based on morality and the third is based on philosophy.

So he says the cosmology, the time scales, the description of the planets, all this just seems utterly irrational. It just seems what science has revealed is totally different from what the Bhagavatam is telling. Then with respect to morality, he focuses primarily on the morality of the character of Krishna and he says that many people considered at that time, especially Christian missionaries in order to target Hinduism, the religion of that country at that time, targeted on the immorality of the characters. So basically, when when the British infiltrated into India, initially the East India Company which was ruling did not allow missionaries to come in because they said that we are here for business and they saw that Indians are very religious, so let’s not mess with their religion. And they also saw that the last Mughal king was Aurangzeb and the main reason one of the reasons one of the main reasons why he just fell was that he just persecuted Hindus a lot.

And that’s why the Hindu just relentlessly fought against him, so they decided let’s not mess with these people’s religion. So, at that time many of the missionaries, the protestants, the Anglican church mainly, they would stay outside India in Burma and they would come Bangladesh was the border state, they would come in illegally, they were illegal immigrant preachers, they would come in and go back. But then, in Britain also, there were two political parties and they were just like here, one political party goes, another political party comes. A lot of policy changes happened. So there was one political party which was more on the rational side, scientific and scientific progress, the other was on the more religious side.

So in the British elections, when the party that was more on the religious side, the Tory party, they won. They said that that so the the Christians who were supporting them they said that, We’ve got this huge unchurched land, This is our duty to Jesus, we have to church them, we have to civilize them. And then that’s when the missionary work started very heavily. So basically both so the the rationalists, those who wanted scientific progress they criticize Hinduism as irrational and the Christians criticize Hinduism as pagan. So both were criticizing and their criticism was basically they talked about how every deity in the Vedic tradition, Krishna is so immoral.

And at that time the other deity that was very popular in worshiping in Bengal was Kali. So Kali is so brutal. So Kali is brutal and Krishna is immoral and Nabaktino Thakur was us living and teaching and trying to present body of Vaishnavism at a time when this came up. And now what happens is that this to the modern sensibility, the description of hell seems both, It seems brutal and it seems immoral. So this is the cosmology, the morality, and the philosophy.

So the description of hell as it is given in the Bhagavatam. Now the Christians did not critique that much because even in the Biblical tradition there is similar description of hell. The specifics may vary, but there is quite a brutal description of hell. Now when the cosmology is concerned, at that particular time, now also we are facing this challenge when we are building the planetarium, how do we actually explain the fifth canto, how do we depict the fifth canto? So these are challenges, it’s not like a one and done thing.

One Acharya gives an explanation and everybody accepts the explanation. It is an ongoing challenge that we face. So it is to address some of these challenges especially the challenge of cosmology, Bhaktivinath Thakur wrote a book called the Krishna Samhita. Now this is among his more controversial books because in this he took a somewhat of a non literal approach to the Bhagavatam and many traditionalists did not appreciate that approach. And Bhaktivedanta Thakur in his own writings later says he wrote his own autobiography in the form of a long letter to one of his sons Lalita Prasad and there he says many people misunderstood this book.

Nobody understood what I was trying to do with this book. So there we see even nowadays also in our movement there’s a debate between conservatives and liberals and people feel misunderstood, people feel attacked. So Bhaktivirath Thakur himself went through all that. He felt attacked. But anyway, I’ll talk about how he has dealt with this and then we will move forward and we’ll talk about this.

So in one sense Srila Prabhupada is trying to in the purport make this relatable for us. He says that in the holocaust terrible things happened, the concentration camps people were forced to eat their own refuse and so it’s no wonder that in hell something like this happened. But then while Prabhupada is trying to make it, you know, these things happen in this world also, they will happen in hell also. But for some people instead of making it relatable, it makes the whole idea of God unrelatable. That means what happens is that I was just talking with one American devotee, he said that when he read this he says that the thought that came in his mind is that what this purport is saying is that Krishna is like Hitler, that Krishna is a creator of a concentration camp worse than what Hitler created.

So sometimes what happens is intent is one thing but what the intent completely backfires. So how do we explain this? So I’ll talk about a lot of things, but first I’ll go into the approach that Bhakti Vinod Thakur takes. So specifically with respect to the descriptions of hell, Bhaktivinath Thakur seems to take a fairly non literal approach and he says that it is the principle of accountability for our actions that is vital that each one of us for whatever we do we will be held responsible. Beyond that the specifics are not that important.

The specifics are given to create fear so that people will stay moral, that people will do the right thing. Now this is not an unfamiliar approach. Bertrand Russell was a prominent atheist and when he would have discussions of atheism, he would have them in his library and he would lock the doors so that none he would have his intellectual friends come and discuss, but he would not want any of his servants to hear his discussions of atheism. Why? He said he felt that if the servants start believing that there is no God, then they will start stealing my silver and my gold from my house.

So the idea that fear will keep people in line, that is not an uncommon idea. And in many ways every country has this that if there is no fear of the law, then people will just there’ll always be criminal elements and they will just run wild. So Bhakti Rudhakur says such descriptions are given to create fear, not fear in the sense of terror, but fear for the sake of what is called as deterrence. Fear can be I’m sorry. Fear can be either for the purpose of creating terror and keeping a person to live in fear forever or fear can also be for deterrence.

Deterrence is where a person is just like you know India and Pakistan and China, these three countries have had lot of wars before. But now every one of them has has nuclear weapons. And although there are many confrontations there, it has not been outright war because there is deterrence. So this is these are meant to be deterrence, that’s what his mood is. So now Prabhupada did not quote Krishna Samhita much, he mentions this once or twice, he did not quote explicitly from Krishna Samhita so much except for one theme, but he did not reject Krishna Samhita directly.

At the same time, Prabhupada, while he did not directly say that the description in hell of hell are non literal, he certainly did not emphasize them too much. He did not emphasize them too much. If you for example, in the Christian outreach, often they start with if Jesus is the only way, if you don’t surrender to Jesus, you’re going to go to hell and you’re going to go to hell forever. So that God loves you so much that if you don’t love him back, he will send you to hell forever, you know. And unfortunately, this is not a caricature of Christianity.

So Bhakti Vinod Thakur himself talked about four levels at at which people can approach God. There is fear, there is desire, there is duty, and then there is love. So fear and desire is the level of karma kanda mostly. If you don’t do this, you’ll be punished by God. If you do this, you’ll be rewarded by God.

The fear and desire is the level at which most of the world’s religion operates. At the level of duty, it is more of karma yoga, nishkam karma yoga. When one understand that God has already done some so much for me, I have a duty to take care I have to serve him. Now love is the primary level at which we approach God in Bhakti Yoga. So now what Bhakti No Thakur states, I’ll talk about one last point and then we’ll have some questions if there are and we’ll continue tomorrow.

The key difference, the first point in reconciling, the idea of a loving God with the brutal descriptions of hell is that our while the term hell is the same, but the conception in the Vedic tradition is very different from what is there in the Abrahamic tradition. What is the difference? There are two main differences, the first is in the Abrahamic tradition hell is eternal, we go to hell and stay forever. In the Vedic tradition although hell is described it is temporary. It is when Srila Prabhupada was asked, Is hell eternal?

Prabhupada replied that, Nothing except ecstatic loving service to Krishna is eternal. So hell is temporary. So hell is in one sense if you can say in the Vedic tradition the whole universe is like a university. We are all meant to learn lessons, learn ultimately what matters and go towards that. And so within this university, hell is like a tough classroom.

Sometimes some kids are very very unruly, maybe they are sent to something which is a like a very difficult or something like a boot camp, they’re sent over there. So hell is like a tough classroom. So no society can actually flourish, even survive without a certain level of law and order and discipline. And if God does not have that system of disciplining people, then where is the question of justice and without justice where is the question of love? So it is not a condemnation.

So what is the implication of this that it is eternal, it is temporary? The implication is hell is for condemnation that you didn’t love God so you’re going to go to hell. But if hell is temporary, it is not for condemnation, it is for reformation. So it is not that God has permanently condemned us, it is that God wants us back and God wants us to reform. And another critical difference is that in the Abrahamic tradition, hell is for non believers.

If you don’t believe in Jesus, you don’t accept Jesus as your savior, you’re going to go to hell. In the Vedic tradition, hell is not for non believers, it is for wrong doers. It is not that just because you don’t worship Krishna you want to go to hell. Somebody may not be worshiping Krishna and if they are living in Sattva Guna, in the mode of goodness Krishna says, So somebody is charitable, somebody is kind, somebody is polite, and maybe they don’t believe in God, they’re a good person. They won’t they’re not good enough to go back to Godhead, but they’re just being good, But they won’t be sent to hell.

So this is not the personal vendetta of God. You didn’t believe me, so I’ll send you to hell. No, it is not like that. That is this actually when when you say have the implication that hell is for non believers, so these together are one point and this is a second point. When you say hell is for non believers, it is for almost like a vengeful God.

The idea becomes that God is vengeful. But whereas here, it is not a vengeful God, but a lawful God that if you create trouble for others, if you hurt others, if you harm others, then you will be punished. So the conception of God itself is very different and therefore can we reconcile the idea of hell with a loving God? Yes, it is possible because hell is not eternal and God does not send people to hell just because they don’t love him. It is because they are causing harm to others that they go to hell.

So I so I’ll continue this tomorrow and I’ll talk further about what is the specific bhakti wisdom about it. So I talked till now about the broad Vedic challenge and the Vedic wisdom. So I’ll summarize what I discussed today. We’re talking about hell and God’s love, can the two be reconciled. So I talked about how first there is the challenge that is there for the tradition always that always there will be ignorance and every has to face the current incarnation of avidya that is there.

And then within that we talk about how Bhakti Vinod Thakur faced the challenge for the Bhagavatam at three levels. And three levels is that it’s it’s cosmology, it’s morality and it’s philosophy. And within that the approach that he takes for this is to say that this is non literal, that the principle is that hell that we are accountable for our actions. Now Srila Prabhupada does not take that approach but Srila Prabhupada, this is non important in the sense that Prabhupada did not emphasize it. Prabhupada did not start by saying that don’t worship God or you’ll go to hell.

Prabhupada’s approach was much more at higher level. We’ll talk about Prabhupada’s approach tomorrow. And finally, we discussed about the difference in the conception of hell in the Abrahamic traditions versus the Vedic traditions. The Abrahamic traditions, it is eternal and that’s why it makes a serious difference whether it’s temporary, it’s eternal, it’s for condemnation of a reformation and the Abrahamic traditions, it is for non believers. So it’s almost like God is out to take revenge against those who don’t love him.

But in the Vedic tradition, it is for wrongdoers, those who hurt others. So this is what gives the idea of a lawful God. Now after talking about a lawful God, tomorrow I’ll talk about how it can be reconciled with the idea of a loving God also. Thank you very much. Hooray Krishna.

Any comments from? Okay. Okay. Yes, from here. Yeah.

Yeah. So how would you respond to a person who says, well, I like your, conception much better than the Christian conception. But, you know, here in in America and Western countries to have a saying, if you give a fool enough rope, he’ll hang himself. So it seems like Krishna is giving people a lot of rope. Why doesn’t he, you know I mean, the Bhagavad Gita says, why hasn’t he, you know, cut us off at the past, so to speak, before we hang ourselves because you know Well, I would say hell is the way he cuts us off the path.

So it’s like when actions have consequences, that’s what brings us to our senses. So in general, one person can guide another person only in three ways like many times when parents ask how do we guide someone, how do we guide our children, there are broadly three ways. First is conscience, that the conscience is like an innate voice, something just cannot be done. If we grew up seeing our parents never doing something, it’s out of question, no matter however angry you are, you don’t hit anyone. Then we ourselves certainly it’s wrong.

So conscience is like the voice of emotion, but it’s not just emotional, it’s that innate sense this is like an inner compass. Now if the compass is not there then there is intelligence. Intelligence is where we appeal to a person, you tell him if you do this, this is what is going to happen. Intelligence is where you give the person a vision of the consequence that is going to come. And if intelligence doesn’t work, then there is the experience.

Experience of what? Experience of the consequence. So broadly speaking, we cannot do anything, we cannot force anyone to do anything. Consciences, they just immediately feel it’s wrong, so I can’t do it. Intelligence is, okay, I see this is bad, so I’ll not do it.

Like somebody just feels, I don’t I don’t wanna kill animals. I don’t wanna hurt animals. He says, oh, if I eat red meat, I’ll get a heart attack. I don’t want to do that. Somebody gets a heart attack, he says, okay, now no more eat meat, red meat.

So basically, there’s a three way. So in one sense, hell is the way by which God is ensuring that the rope is not too long. So hail hell is where God is giving experience to people so that they can reform. Okay? Thank you.

Thank you. It’s true. Yes. All through. After thank you for a wonderful class.

What what comes to mind when you’re reading things of this this stature is that it it’s so phantasmagoria practically. I mean, it’s like not it’s like a movie or something. How how how do you get the living energy to understand these principles of freedom like Krishna conscious when you have to read these kind of descriptions which how many people would really believe. In other words, if you’re out there, you’re talking to a normal person and you know, he’s eating a hamburger and you said, well, if you continue eating that, you’re gonna have to take a you know, somebody’s gonna eat you or you’re gonna have to eat something else. So how how do you how do you take that particular idealism and and give it to someone to make them sincere or, help them understand these these principles from the Bhagavatam?

It’s tough. That’s why the principle which I find is best is choose our battles. There’s a very almost humorous conversation when Prabhupada was in Hawaii, some devotees came and told him that Prabhupada, when we try to talk with the scholars and we tell the scholars that that in Dwarka the king Ugarasen had some astronomical number of bodyguards. It’s quite a phenomenal number. So they started laughing at us.

They said where were their toilets, where are their homes, how could they live in Dwarka? Now Prabhupad could have Dwarka, so does he hear really? Or maybe it is two different places also, maybe there’s So anyway Prabhupad took different approach at different time. Prabhupad here, he said that in this conversation, among all the sections of the Bhagavatam, was it the only thing you found to speak to the scholars? So it is what is one of the one of the choosha battles means what?

Krishna’s Prabhupada himself says intelligence means to see things in their proper perspective. That’s what he said in the tenth chapter of the Bhagavata Purport, Buddha, Gyanama Sam, Mohan at ten point three four five. So that means we ourselves need to know what are the big things in our philosophy and what are the not so big things. So from Srila Prabhupada’s example itself we know how often did Prabhupada talk about hell. Generally when he talked about giving up sense gratification, it is not that you’ll go to hell if you do sense gratification, that is the general Christian version of they use the word adultery, adultery or fornication, you’ll go to hell and you’ll suffer in hell.

Prabhupada’s approach was this pleasure is so insignificant, you are meant for far greater pleasure. So Prabhupada took a particular approach. So my understanding is first is we don’t talk about it ourselves and we don’t this could work as a deterrent at a particular time. Now it doesn’t work as a deterrent and that’s why we are having this discussion about how to explain it. So to some extent it is possible although there is so much propaganda about sense gratification in the world today, many people soon realize that there’s nothing so great about it.

It’s just that because they don’t know any alternative they keep trying it and they keep trying it in new ways sort of hope that they’ll get some pleasure. But for many people if they they can be presented Krishna consciousness in an attractive way and they experience the happiness of Krishna consciousness then okay you know this you know there is better way to live and that’s how they give up sense gratification. So I think that’s the much more healthier approach rather than so I think this is the approach of intelligence rather than experience. You know, there is a better way to live, there is a better way to enjoy life and so we nowadays so there is enough arguments like we can make health arguments for giving up meat, we can make arguments based on environment which is a big concern for people. There’s also an argument based on I I talk about meat eating and talk about help the world with your food.

Well, I had all four things. One is at a health level it is beneficial, at the environmental level it’s beneficial, at the level of livestock, you know, so many people are killed just for your food. And then at the level of poverty itself, global poverty, That is if the amount of land that is used to make meat is used to raise grains for human beings, then far more people can be fed. So poverty itself then, that is not just us, UNESCO has said that. So this is basically there are different ways that’s why I said I give the example of what Chetanya Mahaprabhu said there is no need for this and Balibayash said we have to do this, we have to write a comment to the Midland Sutra.

So I think the same purpose but different approaches to that purpose. I personally wouldn’t use hell at all to talk about it to people. Okay. Thank you. Should we yeah.

There is one statement that says that whatever is written in the verus has to be taken as true. Either you like it or you don’t like it. So I try to understand in the Srila Bhakti Vinodakur statement and Srila Prabhupada in which take it literally and the other one is not that important. See, actually whatever is written has to be taken as truth that is that is there is a statement like that. At the same time there is a clear understanding of context.

So for example, in the Bhagavad Gita itself in 2.17 Krishna says Avinashita tadviddhi, that the soul cannot be destroyed, the soul is indestructible. And yet in the same Bhagavad Gita in the sixteenth chapter ninth verse, sixteenth chapter 20 verse, Krishna says that these things will destroy your soul this will destroy your soul So these will these are soul destroyers. So now there’s just no way both of these statements can be taken literally and they will be true. So then we have to look at the bigger picture. So So what is Krishna saying that here it’s non literal that Krishna is saying the souls spiritual tendency, the souls spiritual awareness that will be destroyed.

So we have to look at the context and that’s why while Shabda is the highest but pratyaksa and Anuman are also required. Yuga Swami used the example of Sandarbas that if somebody says that he lives that his house is on the Ganga. Nobody can house a house on the Ganga unless we are going to make a whole stretch of imagination and say this person is a mystic yogi who has built a house which floats on on there. Okay. This is the way to tell me to finish the class now.

Okay. So the thing is that we have to use our intelligence. So pratyaksha and Anuman, so by pratyaksha we know that there cannot be any house on the Ganga then it means it’s on the banks of the Ganga. So we have to propach and we have to make do we don’t want to do mental speculation but philosophical speculation is required. So there are clearly sections in the Bhagavatam which are in the scriptures which just cannot be taken literally.

So I would say it is that’s why studying scripture requires faith but also requires intelligence. And if it were only based on faith just take it literally true everything as it is then why do we even need commentators. I just this is it that’s all there is in fact that is one of the big split between the Catholics and the Protestants Some at least some of the Protestants say that the scripture is self evident, we don’t need any commentary. But then when it’s self evident which part is are you going to accept? Because in the Bible also there are contradictory strict ways.

So we need an approach that’s why when we would say whatever is said in scripture is true, that is true. But there are two ways to approach, one is with faith and the other is with intelligence and both are important. It is not only faith, if you have only faith we can become fanatical, if we have only intelligence we’ll become skeptical or even cynical. So we don’t want to go in either directions. We want to have a balance of faith and intelligence.

Okay. Thank you. So I think, should we continue tomorrow with any other questions or? There’s more question. Okay.

Do you have a question? Please take yours. I’ve been trying to find, because sometimes when speakers speak about this subject matter in class, they say that the soul the subtle body in the hellish planets when he’s being punished, he experiences it as being a long, long period of time. But we know it’s not eternal. But we also hear speakers say that, it’s actually just a flash of time, but his experience of it is very a long time.

So I haven’t been able to find that anywhere in the fifth kendo or the, third kendo. Do you do you know where that’s? Yeah. I mean, I also not heard about it. Is it?

Yeah. But they just talked about the traveling, it didn’t talk about the punish Okay. So what she is saying is suffering in hell. I’m talking about the suffering, not the traveling. So I think two things over here that, like, it is said in the in the that he has to pass 900,002 and then he’s at once engaged in tortures of his village.

Then he’s at once engaged in the torturous punishment which is just trying to go to hell. So so what does say that? Within a few moments, so it doesn’t does it say over here that it feels like a long time? It doesn’t exactly say that. But my point is that, you know, I, this notion that suffering that that the relativity of time, that something can be very short time but can feel very long, No, that that is not something which is completely outside our domain of experience.

Even Einstein talked about relativity of time, that’s how he explained that. Now if you’re sitting on a hot if you’re sitting on a hot, hot pan somehow, then in a few moments will feel like hours. And if you’re talking with somebody attractive whom you love, even several hours will feel like minutes. So it’s like sometimes we have a nightmare and it may just be for a few minutes, but when every nightmare we feel it’s very long. So the experiential level, pain doesn’t seem to be short, pain does seem to go on for a very long time.

So I think even if there’s no explicit scripture for that, it’s it’s something which is a reasonable inference from our own experience that what could be a short period could also seem very long, okay. So thank you very much.

The post Brutal hell & loving God How can both go together part 1 Chaitanya Charan Prabhu SB 3 30 25 4 appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

View Details

My dear Lord, please guide us all so that we can learn from the example of your great devotee Hanuman and come closer to you by his blessings. Hey, Krishna. Thank you for coming today on this occasion of Hanuman’s Anwanji’s appearance day. And among the many adjectives that are used for describing Hanumanji, one of them is buddhimatam varishtam. He said to be an extremely intelligent person.

Buddhimatam. Buddhimatam is one who is intelligent and varishtim is the best among those, the greatest. So today, we’ll discuss from Hanuman’s life about how he exhibits great intelligence in his the most important mission of his life. Which is the most important mission? Sorry?

That is a life mission, but within that, he has a particular mission. Yeah. Search for mother Sita. And within that also at a particular time, the projector is gone. Oh, wow.

Okay. Okay. Okay. Sure. So today, I’ll discuss about how Hanuman exhibits extraordinary presence of mind and intelligence and wisdom in dealing with the situation that he faces when he is in Lanka.

So we are these are all divine characters that is. At the same time, we are looking at them today from the perspective of what we can learn in our life. So I’ll try to make the situation as relatable as possible to us so that we can look at some things and learn from them. So here, if you look at the life of Anumanji, what exactly has happened? He has now come alone to Lanka and in Lanka, he is going to search for Sita.

So I’ll talk about four ways in which he exhibits. Is this my screen? That’s not my screen, it seems. Okay. No.

It’s not coming here. Is it connected below or not yet? Okay. No problem. I’ll speak without it.

So when Hanumanji comes to Lanka, at that time, he has a formidable task. He has to find someone whom he has never seen or at least not seen at close quarters. He has seen Sita once when Rawal is taking over it and from high up in the sky, she drops on some jewelry. We just caught sight of her very briefly. And then he’s come to Lanka.

Not only does he not not seen her, but he doesn’t even know where she is. So the four steps that I’ll talk about is the four phases of the challenge that he faced and how he dealt with it. First itself was finding Sita. The second stage was earning the trust of Sita. Then the third was encountering Rawan.

The fourth was warning Rawad and each of these buddhimatam varishtam, he expert. He exhibits that. So when Hanuman goes into Lanka, okay, that is quite distracting. Okay. Leave it.

I’ll manage without it if it doesn’t work. So when he goes into Lanka, he naturally searches in the most expected places. See if you lost a key, then we look at the places, okay, this is where I normally keep the key. This is where I went. I might have dropped the key.

So he first goes into Lanka. Now he is, he goes across the ocean all day. When he gets in, he takes a very inconspicuous form so that he will not draw any unnecessary attention to himself. And monkeys, at least in that part of the world are not very suspicious or dangerous creatures. So some of the guards see the monkey and they try to shoo it away, but the monkey just goes a little bit distance and then he continues on.

So he goes from palace to palace to palace searching for Sita. Now he’s waiting for it to be night. The first point which I want to talk about is hope. So I’ll be using the acronym head, how he kept his head. So first is keeping hope.

Among, we need many things to succeed in life, face our challenges. The most important thing that we need is hope. If we lose hope, we lose everything. We can lose externals and that’s bad. Among internals also we can lose many things, but if we lose hope, there’s slight difference between confidence and hope.

Confidence is I can do it. Hope is things will work out. Now hope can seem very passive at one level, but it is not. Hope and confidence are both meant to go together. The we confidence is I can do my part, but life is so complicated and the world is so vast that even when we do our part the best, still things may not work out.

So if you consider sports, a batsman may bat very well. But if it rain, it rains and the matches wipe out. No matter how well the bats won bat, nothing is going to be of much help. So on one side, we need confidence that I, I, I can do this, but along with I can do this, things will work out. That’s hope.

So we need both. Hanuman didn’t lack in confidence, but as the journey went forward, hope started declining. It is a this is journey his adventures in Lanka are quite a turbulent ride. So he goes and starts searching the most expected places. He goes into Ravanas Palace.

He figures out, okay, which is the biggest palace. Ravan is the obviously, the king and he also has the biggest ego. The biggest ego will be seen in the biggest palace. He searches through that palace and he can’t find Sita anywhere over there. Yeah.

Okay. I have a tab here. You can see if it works with this. Till then I’ll just continue. If it doesn’t work, that’s okay.

So what happens? He comes in and he starts searching in the palaces. And there in the middle of Rauner’s palace, he sees a spectacularly beautiful woman. I think this is Sita Jumping in joy. Yes.

I found Sita. I found Sita. And then as he initiated his beauty, he’s not personally attracted to her beauty in a carnal sense, but her beauty is what makes him think this is Sita. But then as his excitement dies down, he looks at that sleeping woman’s face and he sees that she’s looking very peaceful, quite contented, happy. And he thinks Sita will not be like that.

Sita will not let it be. Something else is there. So So he starts thinking she’s so peaceful. Sita will be in agony and separation from Ram. He has seen the agony in which Ram is.

This cannot be Sita. And then he looks at her carefully. He starts thinking like, this is not Sita. His excitement dies down, and they keep searching, searching. He cannot find Sita anywhere.

On one side, he has to maintain his cover. He has to be very discreet. I search. As Raul kept her in his smaller palace, he goes after one palace, second palace, third palace. Wherever he goes, he just cannot find her.

And whenever we try to attempt something extraordinary, no, there’s a lot riding on it. There’s a lot of expectation, lot of anticipation, lot of energy, and Hanuman has already achieved us spectacular feat by coming all alone across the ocean. And now suddenly what has happened? Throughout his life, Hanuman until now has not been alone. The only thing that he had done alone was as a child, he had leaped into the sky to catch the sun and that had ended in disaster.

He had become somewhat deformed by that. So now after that, he has always been with Sugri, always been with other one. Is the first time he’s embarking alone and the signs look very ominous. We keep searching desperate and then he just is look through each and every palace in the kingdom. Where does he search for?

He’s exhausted, dejected, frustrated, the darkness in the sky reflects the darkness in his mind and heart. So far I have come and did I come so far just to feel? Was it all for nothing? And as that despair is gripping his heart, he starts thinking about the future. The mind is a funny thing.

How the mind will work, we can’t really anticipate it. But if we are determined, we have a basic level of determination. However, the mind works, we will find a right path ahead. So as he starts thinking, if I can’t find Sita, what will happen? I have to go back and tell all the Manaras.

They will be rejected. And then we have to go into the sugiri. Sugiri will be bitterly disappointed. Then we’ll have to go and tell Ram and Ram will be shattered by this. He’s already in so much pain in separation from Sita.

If he comes to know that Sita is never to be found, he will not be able to live. If Ram is not able to live, Lakshman will not live and sugri is already burdened by the guilt of being responsible for his brother’s death, at least partly. Now if he thinks that he failed ram and lakshm, failed ram who helped him gain his kingdom, so greed will not be able to live and then when the news reaches Ayodhya, Bharat already holds himself responsible for Ram being sent on exile. Although Bharat was not, still he felt for my sake, my mother did this, I’m responsible. If he comes to know while in exile, Sita, Ram, Lakshman, all of them perished.

The pain of that will be unbearable for him, and he will also not be able to live. So two entire glorious dynasties will perish all because of my failure to find Sita. I would rather die searching for Sita rather than going to such news. I will not let this happen. As long as I’m alive, I will keep searching for Sita.

He said that over my dead body, you will do this. That means you will not do this. So I will keep searching for Sita. As as from the dark trajectory of thoughts, where he sees some consequence that is so horrifying has to be unacceptable. Now when we foresee a con consequence that is horrifying and unacceptable, that may just make us more gloomy and dejected and hopeless or it can make us determined.

No. I whatever it takes, I will not let it happen. Or at least as long as there’s life in my body, I won’t let this happen. I will keep searching for Sita. And as that determination rises in his heart, that is reflected in the sky.

The the moon breaks free from the clouds and light streams across. And as he’s looking around, he’s already searched through the palaces. He starts thinking, where else can I search? And in the moonlight, which is also accompanied by, dawn is happening now. He searched all throughout the night.

So he sees the moonlight streaming on a nearby forest grove. Suddenly he thinks, hey, I have not searched in the forest grows. It’s quite likely that Sita would have refused to live in Ravan’s palace. He remembered how when Sugriva had invited Ram to come and stay in Kishkinda in his palace, Ram had said, my sentence was to exile to the forest, not just exile outside of Ayodhya into another kingdom because Janak Mahal had already offered him. You come and stay with me in my palace for the forty years.

So he says, so if Ram is taking that sentence so seriously, Sita will also do that. Maybe Sita is here. His heart becomes alive with hope And at the renewed spring in his bounds, he leaps across to the forest grove. And as he’s moving forward, so, oh, then he looks around. He suddenly sees Rawad, the same monstrous being who had been sleeping at night when he had seen.

Now he sees him marching towards somewhere. He looks very purposeful, even angry. No, Anurman moves back and waits and watches. So when we talk about our head, keeping our head, not losing our head, one aspect is never losing hope. So the way we maintain hope is by contemplate one way we maintain hope is by contemplating what is unacceptable for us and then deciding I won’t let this happen at whatever I can do.

I will do it to prevent this from happening. Now hope can come. It’s that’s why I said the mind is peculiar. Sometimes thinking of the positive can bring hope, but thinking of the negative can also bring hope. Things can go down so far.

I can’t let this happen. Things can become this wonderful. Yeah. I want that to happen. So hope can come both ways.

In the case of Hanuman, hope comes by contemplating the dreadful consequences of failure. And no, I cannot let it happen. So with that hope, he starts searching again. Now, this is where the acronym I was discussing was what? Anyone remember the acronym?

Head. So Buddhi’s intelligence or head. So I’m gonna talk four points about Hanuman’s journey in Lanka. So H was how he maintains his hope, even when like a hope against hope you maintain. So like that he maintains hope.

Now E is expertise. Now expertise, what does it mean in this context? It’s expertise in earning trust. Expertise can be many different fields. So now when Hanuman is watching, he sees Raman approach.

The forest grows and he sees there are, a group of, demonesses who are surrounding one particular tree and depart when they see Raman coming. And then he sees that there is a beautiful lady whose beauty is covered or concealed by the soiled clothes that she’s wearing and by the sad expression that is there on her face. And yet despite it all, like a jewel that might be covered by dust and dirt, it is still the full jewel. So despite her state of being disheveled and disheartened, her beauty is still striking. And the way she shrinks backward on seeing Raman come and recognizes this must be Sita.

He discreetly jumps from tree to tree and comes closer and tries to hear, but doesn’t want to raise suspicion. So he’s waiting and watching. He clearly sees that Ravan is trying to tempt Sita, threaten Sita Sita, but she pays no attention to him. And then Ravan turns towards the demonesses and yells at them. With you to threaten them that they should get her sit down to comply and he walks away in half.

Hanuman keeps himself to conceal us, Ravan goes away and then the demonesses base around sita and they are threatening it. They’re scaring her, threatening her, intimidating her, and then finally get exhausted. And one realizes this must be a daily occurrence. His heart goes out to Sita thinking what her plight must be. He he longs to just go ahead, assure her, comfort her, give her the confidence that Ram is coming soon, but he is a warrior and he understands the danger of doing this.

One is that Sita might be surprised and she might, she might scream when the demons will get attracted. He could fight and kill the demons easily, He doesn’t want to unless it’s necessary. And he, if he gets caught in fighting, he might not be able to talk with Sita. So he thinks what to do. See when two people are unknown to each other, one of the best ways to develop a relationship is to focus on what is a shared interest.

If two people may not two two people may not know each other, let’s say two of us are from the same country. If we are from, we are from, say India or some part of India, then we talk about something or India, that’s a shared interest. If we are working in the same field and we talk about the common field. So now Hanuman doesn’t focus on introducing himself. He starts singing gently, sweetly the story of Lord Ram’s life and Hanuman’s voice and his words are very sweet as Lord Ram has himself acknowledged before.

And Hanuman is using the very gift that he has been given, the gift for which Lord Ram has praised him. He’s now going to use that gift and he starts singing gently. Sometimes when there is, when there is a very close bond of love between two people, If say, for example, the mother is doing some work at home or in the kitchen and the baby is sleeping in the nearby bedroom. Now if the baby makes a slight noise, nobody else may hear that noise, but the mother hears. So when there is love in the smallest of sounds, they’re heard very loudly.

Now if there is anger or hatred, two people may scream at each other and still nothing is heard, So Anuman sings very sweetly. It’s a very soft and sweet voice. The demon says they don’t hear. They’ve gone a little distance and because he’s speaking about Ram, Sita’s ears work. Oh, who’s speaking about Ram?

Who in Lanka is speaking at the glories of Ram? She turns around and she sees, oh, the sound is coming from the tree. And she looks up and she saw, there’s a small monkey over there. And that monkey is sitting with folded hands and is singing the glories of Ram. She’s intrigued.

But as you say, once burnt twice shy. Sita has been burnt once when she trusted that person who looked like a sage and who turned out to be a demon. So she’s never going to go by appearances now. Is could this be Rawan? Could this be some of the demons of Rawan who have not taken this guard to somehow get her to lower a guard and then exploit her in some way.

So Hanuman very gently jumps down from one branch to another branch to another branch, and finally he comes in front of Sita without doing anything to alarm or threaten her. Just continue singing the glories of Ram. And as he’s singing, Sita’s heart is softening in this place. It’s who speak the glories of Ram? Who speaks with such sweetness?

While see, in the heart, there is one side of us which has doubts, other side which wants to have to put trust, to have faith. And both of these are important in their own way. If you’re driving a car, then the faculty of doubting is like the brakes and the faculty of trusting is like the accelerator. In a car, we need both the brakes and the accelerator. Now if we are always doubting and, like, we’re sitting in the car and we’re only pressing the brakes, The car will never move anywhere.

Or if the engine is moving, the car will just move round and round and not get anywhere else. On the other hand, if you’re in a car with only accelerator and no brakes, then we will go, but we’ll go where we don’t want to go. So now we need both faith and doubt together. So now in one sense, trust and doubt are worrying in Sita’s heart. Is this really someone from Ram?

Is this or is this some trick of Raul? So Hanuman keeps gently singing, and then he introduces himself. As he sees that Sita’s heart is softening from her face, he sees that suspicion is decreasing. And then finally, p introduces Sita still she wants to believe, but she’s still not ready. Then he took some takes out the signet that Ram has given her.

And Sita sees that and just takes it touches it touches it to her heart, and she feels Ram’s presence by that. And still, could it be that this is a demon who has somehow seized seized this particular signet from Rama and somehow brought it? And once he sees it, I still not understanding and not accepting. Now he doesn’t blame her. He’s in guilt her.

You know how far I went through? How many risk I took? I just did all this for you, and you’re not gonna trust me. No. He doesn’t get up get angry with her.

He doesn’t demand that trust. Now we may do a lot for someone, but sometimes when we come in front of that person, they want to see what do we do for them at that time. Whereas parents, we may work very hard for our children, but then we will say, I’m working so hard to earn money to send you school to do all the good things. But if in front of a child, we come and that time just snap at them and yell at them. Say, I’m doing so much for you.

And the only thing you are doing is shouting at me. That’s what the child will see, isn’t it? So it’s important to do many things in the background, but when we are with someone we care for, how we conduct us and at that time is very important also. So Hanuman does not demand that trust. Then he’s as he’s speaking the stories of Ram of then he starts speaking a very intimate pastime.

Now Ram has told him this pastime, and this is something which is known only to Ram and Sita. And there are certain intimate details. Sita knows that Ram would not tell this to anyone. That Ram has not told us even to Lakshman. There are something between the husband and wife, they stay with them only.

So the fact that Hanuman knows this means is that things. Hanuman must be very trusted by Ram, and that’s when, you know, the defensive wall for her own protection that is she has built that it breaks down. And Sita starts crying in joy. Yet, Ram has finally found her. Ram’s messenger has come and she asks him.

She asked Hanuman, how is Ram? What is he doing? And Ram tells Ram one says how Ram is can be constant agony thinking about her, calling for name, longing to be with her. He says she asked why has he not come for me? He says, he didn’t know where you are.

Now I will go and tell, and soon he will come. So Sita is gripped with a bittersweet joy that Ram has not forgotten her, that Ram still remembers that Ram is going to come for her. That brings joy. Still that Ram is in agony because he’s away from her. That is bitter for her.

And then as this moves forward, now Hanuman hears. He does his tell Hanuman, Al Ram to come immediately. Otherwise, he has Ravan has threatened me. This he has said that I am going to enjoy you one way or the other. No, that is in English as well, like we have Carnivorous.

So Carnivorous is one who eats flesh and enjoys. Now, Rawan is Rakshasa. Rakshasa is one who eats humans also. So he said that he wanted Sita to fulfill his desire. He wanted her to fulfill her, his carnal desire.

Carnal is basically sexual desire. They can’t fulfill her carnal desire, then she will fulfill his carnivorous desire. So he said that I will have my cooks cook you for my breakfast and I’ll eat you up. If you don’t submit within one year. And Hanuman here, this he gets alarmed.

He says that’s too much of a risk. You know, Ram will come immediately, but it’ll take time to come all the way. So it’s better you come with me. I’ll take you with me. Now all along, Hanuman is he has taken a very small form so that he will not be detected.

And when they’re talking also Sita turns around and Sita is Sita is are sitting so strategically that the demon is on the other side. They don’t see. So now Hanuman knows his power. What Sita thinks? Oh, monkey.

You are so tiny. How will you carry me? Now Hanuman has just exhibited supernatural powers leaping across Lanka. It likes like somebody who is very virile and masculine for them to have their strength challenged. It’s almost like an insult.

If somebody is a very well built person and we tell them, can you carry this bag? What do you mean? I can carry it with one finger. They may try to carry it with one finger and they’ll break their finger. That’s a different thing.

But yeah. So Haluman says, he he says, yeah. I can carry you. I had it, but he was so small. Just see how small I am.

I’ll show you. And then Sita is looking down at him, and Sita is increasing, increases, increases, increases. Sita has to look up at him now. So am I now large enough to carry you? So Sita says, yes.

Yes. You get kept. But he says, I I want to be rescued by Ram. So let him come and rescue me. Moreover, if you try to go with me, you’re carrying me, then the demons will attack you.

And with me, with you, it’ll be difficult for you to fight. Moreover, you know, I was already touched by a man other than my husband by force. I do not want that same thing to happen again. So, and one respects our wishes. This is where the Hanuman decides that, see, I should do I’ve done the service of finding Sita, but I should do something more.

So what are the economy we’re discussing? Head. So we deserve expertise in earning trust. Then after that, now is alertness. So alert means we are alert to dangers.

We are alert to opportunities. So some people just do what they are told to do and come back, But that’s not enough. And sometimes, you know, we have to think, we have to think about the big picture. Ultimately, if Ram has to fight a war, then what can I do to help Ram? If Ravan is threatening Sita, can what can I do to something to stop him from threatening?

Now sometimes people just, they don’t think of the big picture. One of my friends just telling me how nowadays many big companies or big government department, they work in complete silos. So it’s like, you know, if the three people who are employed to, to take care of a garden. So you wanna plant something in a garden. So you have one person who will dig the hole, the second person who will plant the seed, and the third person will fill the hole.

And suppose somehow the second person is sick. Well, the first person will come dig the hole. The second person doesn’t come, the third person will come and fill the hole. And the job is done. The most essential part of the job is not done, isn’t it?

So we need to do our part, but we also need to be aware of the bigger picture and to see how does my part contribute to the bigger picture. So Hanuman was told to find Sita, but now Hanuman thinks that let me do some more service. So he alertly looks for a portion. Now he’s already expanded his size. And when this size comes up, the demonesses, they can’t, but notice him.

Then they get alarmed and they asked the guards to come and Hanuman has traveled light. There’s no carry on bag, no check-in bag. He flies. So he doesn’t have any weapons. Just looks around and there’s a gate to the park.

He just goes there and he breaks the gate and rips apart one of the thick iron pillars that are there to the gate, the parts of the gate. And that becomes like his mace over there. Traditionally, Hanuman is symbolized with a mace. When he goes to Lanka, he does not have a mace with him. So he just use improvising weapons over there.

And then he starts destroying one after another after another, the various soldiers that are attacking him. So what is Anuman doing now? His job is done. Should he not go? He is thinking I should do some more service.

So then one after another after another, Rawa hears about his who’s the upset monkey has come. That particular gardener is his favorite gardener. It’s called Ashoka Vatika. That Ashoka Vatika becomes for Rahul Shoka Vatika. It’s just oh, one after another after another, his generals are all being destroyed.

Finally, he says Indrajit. Now Indrajeet also is not able to work up or power. Anuman by ordinary or even extraordinary weapons. Finally, he uses his most powerful weapon, The Brahmastra. When Anuman sees the Brahmastra coming, he just folds his hands.

You know, this is too powerful, but he has a blessing that the Brahmastra will act on him, but not for too long. It’ll temporarily overpower him and then he will be able to break free. So then when he’s arrested, now dictatorship is all about keeping people under control through fear. So Rawan is a dictator of Lanka. And for him, that there is some person who has come in the favorite forest grow of Rawan and has destroyed the forest grow and has killed so many of his soldiers and generals.

That is like a slap on his face. And in order to establish his power once again, What, what he tells us, this person has been arrested, parade him through the streets. Anybody who does challenge Ravana, let us show what happens to him. So then he’s paraded through the streets and while he’s paraded at that time, the soldiers are kicking him. The soldiers are insulting him.

The soldiers are whipping him. Now all this for a powerful warrior like Raoul, Hanuman could be humiliating, But Hanuman doesn’t bother about that. His focus is on seeing opportunities for service. So the demons have their own agenda. They want all the citizens to see what happens to anyone who dares to challenge the might of Rawat.

And so they are parading Hanuman through the streets, but Hanuman has his own plan. While he’s being paraded through the streets, he’s looking at all the military formations. What are the strong points? Where the weapons skipped? Where are the weak points?

From where can we attack? Later on after Indrajit, after Indrajit, fells Ram and Lakshman, and it’s presumed that they are dead. The Vana Raksha celebrating at that time, the Vana later launched a surprise attack. And that time Hanuman leads the attack based on his knowledge of the inside of Lanka. So sometimes we may be humiliated.

We will be disrespected and it’s going to be very painful when that happens. But through in that also, we can see, is there something I can learn? Is there some service I can do for a devotee? Service attitude is what always protects and that Anuman maintained that service. I had constantly looking for a port you deserve.

Now what is he doing? Like I said, he had completed business. Why didn’t he go back? He wanted to do reconnaissance. He wanted to also give a warning to Ravan.

In case Rama is not able to reach within one year, there’s a little delay. He doesn’t want disaster to happen. So Rahwan needs to be given a stern warning. So Hanuman lets himself be arrested and paraded because he knows eventually he will face Rahwan. And when he faces Rawan, finally he comes into the court.

Now this time he sees Rawan in his full regal majesty. He has seen Rawan thrice before. One when he was abducting Sita, then when at night and he was sleeping, Mandodari was next to him, then he saw almost like a half drunk, half awake stage going to towards Sita in Ashokwathika. But now Rawan in his full regal majesty sitting on the throne of Lanka. And it’s amazing what is the first thought that Hanuman has.

See, this person has such power, such splendor. If only this person had been Dharmic, if only this person had been a devotee, he would have done so much good for the world. This person could have become a protector of the gods who protect humanity. Unfortunately, so he’s he’s now a threat to everyone. So this is the the sign of a healthy mind is to look for good everywhere.

Now that does not mean we don’t see the bad, but we look for the good to see the potential for good everywhere. Sick. It only sees problems everywhere. It still only sees negativities everywhere. So Hanuman knows that Rawa is a terrible person, but still he sees.

So this person has power, this person has splendor. Only if this person had character, that it would be so good, and then they start speaking. So some of the demons are saying, you know, you should be punished and you should be killed. Raul is also very angry, but he says, I want to know who this person is. I want to know why this person came and did such a damage to my favorite garden grow.

So then he has him questioned. And Hanuman says, I am messenger of Ram, and I have come with a message. If you’re a messenger, you should have come here straight. Why destroy my career? He said, I’m a messenger.

First, you should give me a seat. He says, you didn’t act like a messenger. You know, you destroyed my forest floor. You destroyed my soldiers. You’d killed my generals.

You don’t deserve the respect for a messenger. Then Hanuman, what does he do? He expands his tail and he expands his tail and normally the court, the royal court, the king sits in the highest position. Hanuman expand his tail so much that tail becomes a higher seat than Rawan. And first time in his court, Rawan has to look up at someone.

That itself is infuriating. Then now Hanuman decides to play coy over here. He says, actually, I’m just a little monkey. I was hungry. I was eating some fruits while jumping from tree to tree.

The trees broke down. And when the trees broke, these soldiers attacked me. And in self defense, I attacked them. Most soldiers attacked me, they attacked them again. So he says, now he’s playing assessing the he’s trying to understand the mood of what is going on in the forest, in the palace.

Is everyone there with Rawan or are there some people dissenting over there? He’s observing everyone. And then that is he says, okay. But what is your message? Why have you come here?

So he says that I have come as a servant of sugri who is in alliance with Ram. And Ram has warned you return Sita immediately. Otherwise, an entire army will come and destroy all of Lanka. Now, Ravan does not like looking at anyone above him in his own court and to be chastised and warned. This is just unbearable.

He says, fool. Who do you think you are? You don’t know who I am. You don’t know what I can do. He says, we will kill you right now.

So Vibhishan intervenes. In many ways, here Hanuman is playing coy and is playing provocative just to see if there are some dissensions in Ramana’s rank. When he’s provocative, Ramana is going to attack. And then if anybody stands up for him, that means that is a person on their side who is not completely on their side. That’s why later when Vibhishan comes on the Ram’s side, that Hanuman is the one person who says that we should accept Vibhishan.

All the other one that I say, no, he’s a demon’s brother. He’s Rahu’s brother. How can we accept him? So then Vibhishan says he’s a messenger. He should not be killed.

He says, but still, you know, he just he killed kill my soldiers. He should be killed. So he says, but now the vision here appeals not to Rawan’s morality because that demon has no morality, but he says he appeals to his dignity. He appeals to his sense of fame. See long ago.

Now some people say the other kind of the Rama is interpolated because here, Vibhishan and Rama discussing and they’re saying that actually a messenger should should never be hurt or harmed or killed. But long ago, when Rawan had seized Lanka from Kuvera, when Kuvera was not there. At that time, Kuvera had sent a messenger. Saying this is my kingdom, give it back and Rawan had killed Kuvera. So Rawan had already done heinous things.

So they said, therefore, that whole section is interpolated, but that’s a very superficial argument. But anyway, at that time, Rawan was just establishing his power. At that time, he just wanted to be brutal in any way he could be. But now see what happens when even bad people, they rise to the top. They want to look good in people’s eyes.

Isn’t it? No. Bad. Everybody wants people, they become powerful, successful. They want all the good things in life.

If I say, I want power. If I melt, I want I want prestige. And then I want not just the prestige of having power and wealth. I want the prestige of having a, being a good person also. That’s not something wealthy people give a lot of charity.

Now they, they may earn the wealth by sucking the blood of poor people, but they will give charity to the poor people to look good. That’s not true for all wealthy people. But the point is that some wealthy people also want to look good. So he appeals to his sense of pride and he says, you know, what will happen to your good name if it comes to be known that you killed a messenger? So Rama thinks okay, but he said he should be punished.

These monkeys are very proud of their tail. And it is with this, that tail that he has humiliated me. Let us burn his tail. Now he has a plan. He thinks that his tail will be burned and then we’ll release him and he’ll go back.

And when he goes back to his family and friends, they will all see his charred condition. Either they will laugh at him or they will tremble in fear of my power. Either way, my purpose will be served. Hanuman gird himself. His tail is going to be burnt and he’s ready to tolerate the pain.

But then now all while this is happening, this is big news. There is no live broadcast over there, but what is happening in the code, they’re all in the sea. The whole kingdom is alive over there, abuzz. Because never before has something like this happened. Anybody coming into Lanka and penetrating Lanka and and threatening and threatening.

So there are people on the courts running around and telling everyone. So Sita also comes to know that Hanuman is to be burnt. His tail is to be burnt. And then Sita prays to Agni Dev. And he says, please don’t let Hanuman feel hurt.

No. Don’t let Hanuman feel pain. So Hanuman is ready and his tail is lit. And now the one that has the rakshasas, his tail is so long that to get to put some inflatable material on it, to tie it to inflatable, that itself is exhausting. But finally do it and they light it.

And then Hanuman sees he doesn’t feel any pain. He says, when are they going to light it, looks back, hey, huge fire over there and there’s no pain. And now see, when we are proud, proud people are very eager to take credit for things they are not done and humble people. They want to give credit to others, even for things they have done. So Hanuman said, see, I am so powerful that the steel doesn’t burn me.

But he thinks, you know, I don’t have this power. So how is this fire not hurting me? Immediately, he thinks. Now who who could who’s who could be doing this for me? He knows Ram is all powerful, but Ram does not know his plight right now.

At least he does not know whether Ram knows. So he thinks it must be Sita’s doing. And he he mentally thanks Sita. And then as he’s waiting and watching the one, the rakshasa are looking at him, why is this person not in pain? What is happening?

And then Hanuman suddenly gets an idea. This burning, but not hurting tail is a ready made weapon for him. So Rawan in trying to humiliate Hanuman has given Hanuman the weapon to humiliate Rawan. So Hanuman grabs the opportunity. That is the last part in the head.

Achrony D is deterrence. Deterrence is where if somebody is doing something terrible, then we need to show them that there will be terrible consequences if you do this. So in real world geopolitics, deterrence is very important. If the other person feel that they can get away with something, then they will do more and more and more of that thing. But as deterrence is there, then they will not do that much.

So India, Pakistan, China, there are three wars, many wars, but three major wars that happened between them. But in the late 1990s, since all three of them have got nuclear weapons, although there has been some tensions, but there’s been no outright war. It’s not a support of nuclear weapons. Just the principle of deterrence is being said that when people know that there’ll be consequences for their actions, then that deters them from doing crazy things. So Hanuman wants to deter Rawan from doing anything crazy.

He wants to give a stern warning to him. So he jumps up into this, jumps up and his huge tail is lit with him. He just breaks free of all the ropes. The Brahmasa long ago stopped having an effect, and one’s just waiting for the opportunity. And the Rakshas are stunned.

And Rawan wanted to humiliate Anuman, but what is more humiliating than a prisoner breaking free, not from the prison in the darkness of the night, but a prisoner waking free in the middle of the day in the court with everyone visible. So if Rawal wanted to establish the authority to fear, just Hanuman’s escaping itself with another big slap on Rawan’s face. And then first, Hanuman is shocked. How how did he how did he break free? What happened?

But then before he understand what’s going on, Hanuman jumps on to one of the, buildings. Now it is said that his building, his whole city is a golden city. Now gold does not melt very easily and for a golden city to burn, the temperature has to be immensely high. But Hanuman by this blessing, his tail is burning, but it’s not hurting. He uses that tail and he sets one place in one building on fire and another building on fire.

And the one other time the Rakshasa are trying to attack him, but Hanuman is expertly dodging them. And soon the fire starts spreading. And Ravan does not know, but Hanuman has a hidden ally. That is why you why you starts blowing. Whichever direction Hanuman goes, the wind starts blowing.

Like a small fire starts becoming like a forest fire. Recently, there’s this horrifying fires in LA. Now the fires occurring is not an uncommon thing there, but it’s like all the bad things happening at the same time, wrong things happening at the same time. A fire coming at the same time, there’ll be a stormy wind in the direction where there is human habitation. Then it’s devastating.

So Ravanas Lanka starts getting burnt. Hanuman doesn’t know, should he stop Hanuman? Should he stop the burning of the city? And he tries to do both and he succeeds in doing neither. And then within just a short while more than half of Lanka is burnt.

And then like in a movie, it’s a spectacular climax. So Hanuman climbs on the border wall and his tail is still burning and he raises his tail high above him. His long tail is like a blazing fire above him. So with that blazing fire behind him, Hanuman looks extremely scary. He looks like a angel of death or devastation.

And there Hanuman speaks in the most thunderous voice. Oh, Rawa, you just saw what one servant of Ram can do and I am the smallest of the Vanaras that will come in thousands to destroy your Lanka if you do not return Sita. And then Anwan jumps as if to more spectacular effect just by his jump from that wall, the whole wall crumbles and one leaps into the sky. As he leaps into the sky, the whole of Lanka is filled with shock and horror at what has just happened. Ravan and authority has been undermined like never before.

And if there is any chance that Ravan could have come to his senses, Ravan may not understand the language of morality, but would he at least understand the language of force that his entire army cannot stop one, one soldier, one person from the opponent army. What chance does he have to win? So Hanuman has done all that he can to deter Rawan from his course of either hurting Sita or even holding Sita on. And then he leaps into the ocean and extinguishes the fire in his tail and then leaps up again and goes back his mission to Lanka, spectacularly victorious. Sri Hanuman ji ki jai.

So I summarize what I discussed today. We talked about how Hanumanji is called as buddhi matam varishtam. He’s the more best among intelligent people. Why is it called like that? We discussed that from the activities that he does in Lanka.

So we discussed the acronym. What was it? Head. So h was hope. So when he’s unable to find Sita, he starts losing hope, but he gets his hope back by thinking of the dark consequences that would come.

I cannot live and see this happen. I would rather die trying to prevent this from happening. So sometimes hope can come by envisioning the wonderful that we want And hope can also come by envisioning the dreadful that we just will not accept with that hope he pushes on. Then next was he was expertise, expertise in earning trust of Sita. He doesn’t just go straightforward and demand it, you know, and proclaim himself.

I have come for you. He actually talks about Ram, glorifies Lord Ram, and slowly, sweetly earns her trust. He does not demand that I’ve done so much for you in coming here. He waits. And then by showing her the signet, by speaking with intimate pastimes, slowly he wins her trust.

So whenever we have to do service, it’s important to have hope, but expertise is also required. And then after that was alertness. Yes. We did our service, but that service is a part of a bigger mission. Can we do something more, not just operate in mental tunnels or have a tunnel vision or operate in complete silos?

So he thinks, what more can I do? So he decides, I will do reconnaissance to understand what are the strengths of Raul. And thus he challenges the demons, fights with them, even when he’s arrested and humiliated rather than focusing on his humiliation, he’s still focusing on observing what is going on. Even when he seems to play and provoke in Rawan’s court, he’s trying to see if there are any cleavages, any dissensions in his rank, which can be used by Ram. And then finally, D was deterrence where he decided that he wants Rawan, but he understands that Rawan is not a person who is going to simply understand the language of words.

So uses the language of force. Sometimes the smaller destruction may be required to prevent a bigger destruction. So when he destroys Lanka, the point is not just want an anger. The point is that he is, he sees by the alertness that I’m a burning, but not hurting tail is a ready made weapon. So Hanuman, he, what Ravana tries to use to burn, to humiliate our, Hanuman uses that against Ravana.

So then he uses that itself to burn Lanka. Sometimes there’s a trail blazing adventure. We say trail blazing is very extraordinary. So Hanuman’s adventure in Lanka is trail blazing and tail blazing. His tail is literally on fire and he is blazing.

And then finally, as this final sign of deterrence, what does he do on the border wall? He proclaims not just his own power, but the power of Ram and the power of those who are supporting Ram. And then with a spectacular visual demonstration of his power, crushing the border wall of Lanka, which has never fallen before, which is the symbol by which Ravan establishes proclaim this power. Then Hanuman leaves and goes back victorious. So we all can pray to Hanumanji that whatever challenges we face in life and whatever services we need to do, it may be always have hope, may be always be expert, and may be always be alert, and may be always in our devotion, use whatever is required including that deterrence to achieve whatever service we are called upon to do.

Sri Hanuman ji ki. Sri Hanuman janti Mahama. Sri. Sri la Prabhupa, the key. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much, Yeah. So much of what I spoke about, say, humanly about hope and and and, expertise, some of alertness, those things that explain in this book is not exactly what Ramayana, it is Gita for the CEO. Now a lot of people would like to know what is the practical wisdom, especially for professional success in spiritual books like the Gita. People want to know the art of war and other books like that. So the Harper Collins asked me to write this book and this is also the Gita is a conversation.

This is also conversation which explains the Gita’s principles through a conversation between two people or corporate leaders. One is a corporate leader who knows the Gita, the other one who wants to know the Gita. And there are some simple illustrations and diagrams which explain the concepts. It’s light read and it is explains how we can just take Arjuna, not just a great devotee, but also a great warrior. He was a great leader.

Like that, we’ll also be successful in all walks of life through the Gita’s wisdom. And this is a more devotional book, prayers inspired by Bhagavad Gita. This is 22 prayers. There’s a beautiful picture of deity of Krishna, one line summary prayer, then there’s a Bhagavad Gita verse, and that verse is poetically rendered over here so that we can get a feel of the poetry and the beauty of the Gita. And then the one page, prayer reflection on that verse.

So this is the way in which we can not just connect with the wisdom of the Gita through a prayerful devotional mode, but also connect with Krishna. We all want to if you want to pray, sometimes we can pray from our heart, we can pray scriptural prayers, but can we bring both of them together? We take scriptural verses and prayers inspired by us. So there’s a table of contents with about 22 titles. So whatever you feel is your prayer needed at a particular time.

If you’re going through hard times, you’re not able to make sense of life, your mind is going wild. So whatever it is, all that is, there are various titles you can just easily refer to it. It’s also a very good way if you’re doing your daily morning prayers or morning chanting, reading one reflection can calm the mind and put it in a devotional frame of mind so that we can pray more effectively. And much of what I spoke about Hanuman is in this small book, Living the Ramayana. This is about Hanuman’s adventures in Lanka.

So I read several books in the Ramayana, but this is one of smaller books applying ancient wisdom to modern times. So all these books are available outside. If any of you want, you can take them from there. I’ll also be here for some time if you want a signature or if you want to ask any questions. Thank you very much.

Hare Krishna.
Thankyou!

The post Life Lessons from Hanuman | Chaitanya Charan | Washington DC appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

View Details

To see notes, click here

The post 4 bhakti lessons from Diwali | ABLE acronym | Bhakti Sanga Japa online session appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

View Details

The post Hindi 3 Reasons Conflicts Worsen 3 Ways To Prevent Bhagavad – Gita 12.15 Middle East appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

View Details

The post 4 ways to strenghten our relationship with Krishna | CAST acronym | Online class for Hyderabad youth appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

View Details

लिप्यंतरण तथा संपादन: अम्बुज गुप्ता तथा केशवगोपाल दास
प्रश्न- यदि हम अपनी क्षमता के उनुसार भगवान की सेवा नहीं कर पा रहे हैं, किन्तु पूरी क्षमता से भौतिक जगत में लगे हुए हैं और वहाँ पर खतरा लेकर प्रगति करने का प्रयास कर रहे हैं, तो इससे हम कैसे निकलें ?
उत्तर (संक्षिप्त) –
 पहली बात तो यहाँ यह समझना आवश्यक है कि हम अपने भौतिक कार्यों को भी आध्यात्मिक बना सकते हैं, यदि उन्हें हम सेवा की भावना से करें।
 कई बार अपने जीवन में हम अनेक भौतिक जिम्मेदारियों से घिरे होते हैं और हमारे पास आध्यात्मिक कार्यों के लिए इतना समय नहीं होता। ऐसे में हमें अपनी जिम्मेदारियों से भागना नहीं है किन्तु उन्हें पूरे उत्साह के साथ निर्वाह करना है किन्तु साथ ही साथ आध्यात्मिक कार्यों को भी जितना सम्भव हो सके समय देना है।
 श्रील प्रभुपाद भी अपने गृहस्थ जीवन में हर समय आध्यात्मिक गतिविधियों से जुड़े नहीं थे, वे व्यापार के माध्यम से बहुत धन कमाना चाहते थे ताकि वे पारिवारिक जिम्मेदारियों के साथ-साथ अपने गुरु के आंदोलन में भी योगदान कर सकें।

उत्तर (विस्तृत)– भगवद्गीता के अनुसार – स्वकर्मणा तमभ्यर्च्य, सिद्धिं विन्दति मानवः (भ.गी. 18.46) – हम अपने कर्म के द्वारा भी भगवान की पूजा कर सकते हैं। भगवान यह नहीं कहते कि – ‘कर्म ही पूजा है’। भगवान कहते हैं – हम ‘कर्म के द्वारा पूजा’ कर सकते हैं।
कहने का तात्पर्य यह है कि आमतौर पर हम अपने भौतिक और आध्यात्मिक जीवन को अलग-अलग देखते हैं। हम आध्यात्मिक जीवन के लिए अलग समय रखते हैं। जप के लिए, सत्संग के लिए अलग समय रखते हैं। इस प्रकार हम अपने आध्यात्मिक जीवन को और भौतिक जीवन को अलग-अलग देखते हैं। समय देने के दृष्टिकोण से हम जीवन को इस प्रकार विभाजित कर सकते हैं। किन्तु इस प्रकार विभाजन करने के बाद यदि हम अपने कार्य के बारे में इस प्रकार सोचें कि ये तो भौतिक कार्य है। तो इस प्रकार सोचने का प्रभाव यह होगा कि हम हतोत्साहित हो जाएँगे।

हमें समझना चाहिए कि वास्तव में भौतिक और आध्यात्मिक का अर्थ क्या है। ये दोनों भावनाऐं हैं। मैं सेवा भावना का अनुशीलन अपने भौतिक कार्यों में भी कर सकता हूँ। हर परिस्थिति को मैं भगवान की एक योजना के रूप में देख सकता हूँ और उस परिस्तिथि में अपनी नौकरी कर सकता हूँ और उस क्षेत्र में अपनी क्षमता दिखा सकता हूँ। ऐसा नहीं कि मुझे हर कार्य को करते समय यह सोचना है कि अरे यह तो भौतिक कार्य है, मैं इसे क्यों करुँ। इसके विपरीत हमें यह सोचना है कि मैं इसमें सेवा का भाव कैसे बढ़ा सकता हूँ। ऐसा करने का परिणाम यह होगा कि हम जो भी भौतिक कार्य करेंगे उसे सकारात्मक दृष्टिकोण से करेंगे।

यहाँ सकारात्मक दृष्टिकोण का अर्थ है कि जैसे कई बार हमारी भौतिक जीवन में जिम्मेदारियाँ होती हैं, महत्वकांक्षाऐं होती हैं, तो कुछ लोग अपने आध्यात्मिक जीवन में इतनी रुचि प्राप्त कर लेते हैं कि वे अपनी भौतिक महत्वकांक्षाओं को आध्यात्मिक महत्वकांक्षाओं में परिवर्तित कर लेते हैं। कुछ ऐसी महत्वकांक्षाऐं हो सकती हैं जिन्हें कोई व्यक्ति तुरंत नहीं छोड़ सकता है, तो व्यक्ति ऐसी महत्वकांक्षाओं को पूरी करने के बाद भक्ति में लग सकता है। ऐसा भी किया जा सकता है।

कहने का तात्पर्य है कि हमें जो भी करना है उसे पूरे उत्साह से, पूरे समर्पण से करना है। यदि हमारी परिवार के प्रति कुछ जिम्मेदारी है, या नौकरी के प्रति कोई जिम्मेदारी है, तो अगर हम उसे अच्छी तरह से नहीं करते हैं तो इसका परिणाम यह होता कि अकसर वही काम हमको दोबारा करना पड़ता है। इसलिए जब भी हम किसी कार्य की जिम्मेदारी स्वीकार करते हैं तो हमें इतना जिम्मेदार जरूर होना चाहिए कि हम भक्ति के लिए पर्याप्त समय निकाल सकें। ऐसा नहीं कि मैं दिनभर, चौबीस घण्टे, हफ्ते भर, महीने भर, साल भर सिर्फ भौतिक कार्य करुँगा और उन्हें ही भक्ति कहूँगा। हमें भक्ति के कार्यों के लिए अलग से समय देना चाहिए और उसके लिए अलग समय रखना है। उसके बाद हमें यह सोचना है कि मैं अपना सारा जीवन भगवान की सेवा में कैसे लगा सकता हूँ। अपने भौतिक कार्य
को भी हम इस विचारधारा के अंतर्गत ला सकते हैं कि कैसे मैं इस कार्य के द्वारा भगवान की सेवा कर सकता हूँ। इस तरह हम धीरे-धीरे अपने भौतिक कार्यों के द्वारा भी आध्यात्मिक प्रगति कर सकते हैं।

जहाँ तक क्षमता का सवाल है तो हमें यह समझना चाहिए कि हमारे जीवन में अलग-अलग अवस्थाऐं होती हैं। हम अलग-अलग परिस्तिथियों से गुजरते हैं। कभी-कभी जब हम सड़क पर होते हैं और ट्रैफिक बहुत ज्यादा होता है, तो हम चाहें भी तो ज्यादा तेज नहीं जा सकते हैं, और जब रास्ता साफ हो जाता है तो हम तेजी से जा सकते हैं। तो वैसे ही भगवान के पास जाने के रास्ते में कभी- कभी भौतिक जिम्मेदारियों का ट्रैफिक बहुत ज्यादा हो सकता है। ऐसे में हम बाहरी रूप से आध्यात्मिक कार्य इतने नहीं कर पाएँगे। उसका मतलब यह नहीं कि हम आध्यात्मिक जीवन छोड़ दें। हम फिर भी आगे बढ़ सकते हैं पर धीरे-धीरे। पर बाद में जब हमारा रास्ता साफ हो जाएगा, तो हमें धीरे-धीरे नहीं जाना है, तब हमें तेजी से जाना है। हम दिशा एक रख सकते हैं और अलग-अलग समय पर रफ्तार अलग-अलग हो सकती है। कभी-कभी भौतिक जिम्मेदारियों पर ज्यादा समय देना पड़ता है। इसका मतलब यह नहीं है कि
हम आध्यात्मिक नहीं हैं।

जब श्रील प्रभुपादजी, महाभागवत परम भक्त, इलाहाबाद में थे, वे अपनी कम्पनी प्रयाग फार्मास्यूटिकल चलाते थे। उनकी जीवनी ‘लीलामृत’ में एक वर्णन आता है जिसमें उनके एक पड़ोसी ने एक इंटरव्यू में बताया कि अभय चरणजी (श्रील प्रभुपाद का गृहस्थ जीवन में नाम) बड़े धार्मिक पुरुष थे। उस समय उनको एक ही चिन्ता रहती थी कि मैं और पैसे कैसे कमाऊँ। क्यों? उस समय वे गृहस्थ आश्रम में थे, उन पर बहुत जिम्मेदारियाँ थी और उन्हें यह भी इच्छा थी कि यदि और धन कमाएँगे तो अपने गुरु के आन्दोलन में वे और अधिक योगदान दे सकते हैं। ऐसा नहीं है कि प्रभुपादजी हमेशा जीवनभर, चौबीस घण्टे, बाहरी रूप से आध्यात्मिक कार्य कर पाए। उनकी भी परिस्तिथि ऐसी आ गई थी कि उनको अपनी भौतिक जिम्मेदारियों के लिए व्यापार करना पड़ रहा था। यदि आप प्रभुपाद जी का जीवन देखें तो उन्होंने धन कमाने के लिए बहुत प्रयास किया। एक बार उन्होंने कलकत्ता में अपनी दुकान शुरु की।
फिर वे बम्बई गए, फिर इलाहाबाद गए।

इस प्रकार हमें भौतिक चीजों को ही सब कुछ नहीं मानना है और आध्यात्मिक को छोड़ना नहीं है। किन्तु जब हम भौतिक कार्य कर रहे हैं, तो हर बार उन्हें भौतिक सोचकर उस कार्य की उपेक्षा भी नहीं करना है। उसमें भी पूरे उत्साह से कार्य करना है और देखना है ये भी मैं भगवान की सेवा के लिए कर रहा हूँ। ऐसा करने से हम उत्साहित रह सकते हैं और आध्यात्मिक जीवन के लिए समय निकाल कर उसमें भी प्रगति कर सकते हैं।

The post If we are working wholeheartedly in our material life but can’t work similarly in our spiritual life what can we do–Hindi appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

View Details

Transcribed by: Bhaktin Raji Nachiappan
Question: Isn’t the Gita’s comparing women with vaishyas and shudras derogatory?
Answer: This can be explained at three levels:
Firstly, is it that Lord Krishna is endorsing the comparison of women with vaishyas and shudras or is he simply stating that? Let us examine verse 9.32 of Bhagavad-gita where the reference comes:

maam hi partha vyapashritya, ye ’pi syuh papa-yonayah
striyo vaishyas tatha shudras, te ’pi yanti param gatim

Here, what is the thrust of the verse? That even those who are vaishyas, shudras, women and the
lowborn can also attain perfection. The thrust of the verse is not to show how women are, rather to show how potent bhakti is. The potency of bhakti is such that whoever you are, bhakti can elevate to the supreme perfection.

Equating women with a particular social grouping is not a teaching of the Bhagavad-gita. That is just a statement where Lord Krishna is just echoing the conceptions of society at that time. Earlier in the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna says sa kalenaha mahata yogo nashtah parantapa (BG 4.2) which means that by the power of time, that primeval knowledge which he had given was lost. That means that the culture that Lord Krishna appeared in, is not the ideal culture. The culture that the Mahabharata describes is the deviated culture. That is why Lord Krishna had to come to correct the situation, dharma samsthapnarthaya (BG 4.8). Therefore, were the cultural conceptions at that time necessarily right? We do not know which one is right and which is not. However, one thing is that, it is clearly not the teaching of the Gita. Everything that is in the scripture is not necessarily the teaching of the scripture. Sometimes scripture may just be describing the socio-cultural reality at that time.

Secondly, even if we consider the social situation at that time, the whole Bhagavad-gita is a
description about attaining transcendence or spiritual reality. For gaining spiritual knowledge and
attaining spiritual reality, in the broad human society, there are certain dispositions which are moresuitable. The brahmanas are more analytical and intellectual and they are best suited for spiritual understanding. Kshatriyas also have some amount of sattva which regulates their rajas and hence they are also suitable for understanding the spiritual reality. Then, there are the vaishyas and the shudras. We need to understand that at times, there are certain people who would be very money minded, not necessarily in a sinful materialistic way. For such people, it is very difficult to think about the other world. In the same way, it was acknowledged that vaishyas and shudras may never be able to take sannyas and they may not even take vanaprastha. Usually brahmanas take sannyas and kshatriyas take vanaprastha.

For the shudras, it is said that the only reformatory ceremony is vivaha or marriage. What does this mean? This means that in the Vedic culture, it was acknowledged that certain people may not be at a level to embrace renunciation or the path of spiritual elevation. This is simply a fact of life with respect to peoples’ spiritual receptivity.

Similarly, with regards to women. Generally, in the female body, the primary purpose is to nurture
and nourish. For nourishing a new life, emotionality is very important. Children or babies are not
rational, and similarly if mothers were rational, they may not be best suited to take care of the baby.

For mothers to have that emotional connect with children, they will need to have emotional nature.
This is not a disadvantage. It is needed for the purpose of nurturing and it is a great strength also.

To achieve spiritual growth, one way is through philosophical analysis, wherein we understand the futility of the material world and then look for a higher alternative. There are certain kind of people, who are just not suitable for that path because they may not be philosophical enough. Hence, Lord Krishna is saying is that some varnas are not qualified for the analytical and intellectual approach to spirituality. However, they are still qualified for the path of bhakti. Therefore, the thrust is that bhakti is possible for everyone. The psychophysical nature and its limitation is a limitation on the path of intellectual spirituality but it is not a limitation on devotional spirituality. In that sense it is not an accusation or condemnation.

Thirdly, Gita begins by saying that we are not our bodies and that we are souls. That means our
bodily designation is our temporary situation. There is a dynamic balance or tension between how we act spiritually and how we act physically. Different people grow spiritually in a different way. There are exceptions also in the broad Vedic tradition. There are examples of great sages who were females. In the Upanishads, there is an example of a lady sage, Gargi. It is mentioned that when there was a debate in Mithila, she defeats everyone. No social categorization is watertight. The Shrimad Bhagavatam also says lakshane prokta – ultimately it is by characteristics that we are meant to be known. There are some women who may be very philosophical and analytical. Such women are not to be deprived.

Therefore, if we understand the context, then such statements will not seem very jarring. It is only
when we see the statement in isolation from what is being spoken, then they become very jarring.

The post Isn’t the Gita’s comparing women with vaishyas and shudras derogatory? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

View Details

Transcriber: Suresh Gupta
Edited by: Keshavgopal Das
Question: How can we overcome envy?
Answer: Usually envy is towards those who we think are equal to us. We do not feel envious
towards the President of America or Prime Minister of India because they are completely out of our scheme. Usually we are envious towards those whom we think we should be superior to them but they are superior to me.

We feel envious because we think that our happiness depends on externals. If I get more than others then I will become happy. At the philosophical level we need to recognise that material things are not the sources of happiness. There may be some titillation or pleasure in getting those, but it is very superficial. When relatives tickle a small child, he may laugh but that laughter is not happiness. If tickling made us happy, we all can have our own perpetual tickling machines!

Besides philosophical understanding, at the practical level, we need to avoid unnecessarily focusing on what others have. Duryodhana, he had no business staying on in Indraprastha after every had left. Exposing ourselves to the things which can lead to envy within us is also not proper. We should take precautions if we cannot bear other’s opulence and do not unnecessarily expose ourselves. However, most importantly if we recognise that actually whatever whoever has that is a gift given by God.

Krishna can give wealth, fame, position and other endless blessings but such material things cannot give lasting happiness. When Krishna manifest in our heart and our heart becomes enriched with devotion for him that is when we get everlasting happiness. When we see that the blessing is given by Krishna, then our focus shifts from them to Krishna.

Our connection with Krishna is not based on what he has given us, but on what we are giving him. If somebody has a lot of wealth, that does not necessarily mean that the person is very dear to Krishna. Opulence of wealth in person’s life may be because of his past karma. Somebody may have a lot, and they may offer very little and may not get the happiness. We may have less but if we use it properly in a mood of service to Krishna, even that less can give us greater things.
Let me give a simple example. Suppose after this program there is a feast where everybody is going to have their own plate with their own delicacies. Now I have a feast in my plate with all delicious things, but rather than looking at my plate I am looking at everybody else’s plate thinking that they have better delicacies. What we need for our happiness, Krishna has already provided us, but we hanker for more. Rather than craving for delicacies in others plate, we focus on the relishing on what is in our plate.

Happiness does not come by focussing on what we have, rather from what we do with what we
have. We accept the gifts that we have, develop those gifts and try to use them properly. By doing so, we will be happy.

In the Ramayana, there is a story of how Lord Ram was building the bridge. Hanuman was carrying the giant boulders and there was a squirrel which was taking some sand particles. Sri Ram said I am equally happy with both of you. You both are doing according to your capacity. Similarly, it is not that greater material prosperity means that someone necessarily has a greater blessings of Krishna That’s also a blessing, but greater blessing of Krishna is giving the greater intelligence to use what we have in Krishna’s service.

The post How can we overcome envy2 appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

View Details

Transcriber: Keshavgopal Das
Question: How can we overcome envy?
Answer: We become envious when we feel that we are in competition with others. If in a college onlyfew seats are available for admission, but number of applications are much more, then if other person gets a seat, it will impact us. At material level sources of happiness are limited but people vying for such happiness are much more. When we have such material definition of happiness, to a large extent, envy is unavoidable. Hence, we need to redefine happiness.

When we define happiness in terms of our bhakti for Krishna, then we understand that Krishna as God is unlimited. He is omnipresent. He can be present in my heart and fully available to me, he can be in your heart as well and fully available to you. The more we realize that spiritual happiness is not of a competitive nature, then we can stabilize in the fight against envy. Once we redirect our heart and eyes towards Krishna, then envy goes away substantially.

When we are in material world, we see that different people have different things both in terms of possessions or talents and abilities. Here what we need to focus on what we have rather than what others have. If in a feast everyone has something different than the other, we start to focus on what is there in other’s plate rather than looking at what we have. If we appreciate what we have in our plate and use it for our satisfaction, we will be happy.

Similarly, we all have gifts in form of possessions and talents. Some gifts might be hidden so we need to watch out for them. We need to have faith that whatever gifts we have are enough for our pursuit of happiness. Even from an objective point of view, if somebody has more ability than the other, we should understand that it is not the ability that define our happiness rather what we do with our ability defines our happiness.
To summarize, by focussing on Krishna and having this faith that whatever gifts we have are enough for my happiness if we use them properly, we can counter envy.

The post How can we overcome envy1 appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

View Details

The post Srimad Bhagavatam HG Chaitanya Charan Das 01 10 2024 appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

View Details

The post SB 5 11 17 Hindi HG Chaitanya Charan Prabhu ji Control Mind by Service SM appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

View Details

The post SB 5 5 6 Hindi HG Chaitanya Charan Prabhu ji How Mind Causes Bondage appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Israel-Hamas Conflict | Bhagvad Gita Perspective | Chaitanya CharanVideo:

Transcription
The Bhagavad Gita perspective on the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Social media and mainstream media is now filled with images of thousands of missiles being sent by the Hamas, which is the Palestinian extremist group in the Gaza Strip, attacking Israel in various cities. How do we see this terrible conflict with which thousands of people have been killed and uncountable number of people have been taken hostages, and the conflict seems to be on the verge of escalating?

I’ll talk about it from three different points, three Ns. The first N is the Nature of the violence, second is the Necessity for confrontational approaches, and last is Need for approaches beyond the confrontational. So first, while violence is an unfortunate and unavoidable part of life in this world, at the same time, the Bhagavad Gita is very careful in ensuring that violence is used within limits.

The Kshatriyas are a specially trained class of people who are meant to protect others from harm and to use force if required for that purpose. They are meant Kshatriya. They are meant to protect others from hurt and Kshatriyas never attack civilians.

That’s why the Kurukshetra war was fought at a particular designated venue, namely Kurukshetra, where the civilians were neither targeted nor killed. But the terrorist violence that we are seeing in these current attacks where missiles are launched indiscriminately, including largely on civilian targets and territories, is the antithesis of Kshatriya violence, where unarmed and unprepared, unsuspecting civilians alone are targeted for the purpose of creating fear and intimidation and terror. So, such violence against civilians needs to be condemned in the strongest possible terms.

The second point is the necessity of confrontational approaches at times. While we all would like that conflicts be minimized or avoided or resolved by peaceful means, the reality is that sometimes some people are so maddened by their hunger for power, by their memories of grievance and the cravings for vengeance, or by their extreme ideologies, that they essentially become wicked, and that means that there is no talking sense with them.

In fact, trying to have a peaceful negotiation with such elements ends up essentially appeasing them, and appeasing people who are wicked only empowers and emboldens them to do far worse things in the future. That’s how in one way the Second World War escalated with Victor Chamberlain, the British premier, appeasing Hitler repeatedly while his expansionist activities engulfed much of Europe. So, appeasement will not work with extremist elements, and the need for confrontational approaches to weed out such elements has to be acknowledged. This in fact is the purpose of Kshatriyas.

The Bhagavad Gita says that when such approaches are required, Kshatriyas, the warrior class, they are the martial protectors of society, they do not flinch from violence. They are ready to fight where it is required. Having said that, the third point is the need for solutions beyond the confrontational.

While confrontation is required for those who are power hungry or maddened into war, whatever reason, most people from any demographic are not power hungry like that. Most people simply want to go ahead with their lives. And that’s why it’s vital that no community be lumped together in any particular way.

This particular conflict can be seen solely in religious terms and one religion attacking another and another religion trying to defend itself. And yes, the religious dimension is important in that, but humans are complex beings, and religious ideologies might motivate some people toward extremism, it is not the sole motivator for most people. We see that in the Abrahamic Accords which were inconceivable maybe a few years ago, but Israel has been able to have some kind of peaceful relations and some accord being established with UAE and also with the Saudi Arabia by de facto. So, the factors other than solely religious can guide decisions and that’s where the Bhagavad Gita’s analysis of human nature into the three modes, sattva, rajas and tamas is helpful.

The mode of tamas is associated with complaining and violence and destruction. The mode of rajas is associated with craving and fighting or doing whatever is required to fulfil the craving. The mode of sattva is associated with clarifying, trying to understand.

So, solution will not come simply by thinking that we will eradicate the enemy and thus we alone will reign. Once we go on the path of eradicating those whom we oppose or those who oppose us, where is it going to stop? Because there will always be someone or the other who opposes us. That’s why those who are extremists, those who are influenced or controlled by the mode of ignorance, they need to be neutralized.

But the vast majority is not that destructive or vindictive. Especially those who are in sattva, those who are with somewhat risen consciousness, if they are engaged with, if they are empowered, then they can come together and find a solution of some level of meaning. Now, the Bhagavad Gita says this world is a place of distress, dukhalaya. What that means is that there will never be any perfect solutions. No one will have a world in which they have no enemies, but what we can do is, even if we can’t have perfect solutions, we can at least have trade-offs. If not the most tolerable trade-offs, at least the least intolerable trade-offs. If with hard-eyed realism, people in sattva from both sides come together and have discussions, of course, after the extremist elements have been purged, then the non-confrontational approaches can also help us to come towards some level of peace. This is where the Bhagavad Gita’s wisdom offers humanity in general and seekers in particular, thoughtful seekers in particular, resources for raising human consciousness.

While pursuing violent means to curb extremists, simultaneously non-confrontational methods are pursued to eventually establish a more workable peace, that is the way to go beyond such horrifying confrontations that are happening. Our prayers for the souls of all those who have unfortunately lost their lives and our prayers for strength to all those who have survived such losses. We hope that higher consciousness manifests and peace prevails soon.

End of transcription.

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · New Year Resolutions 4 Principles For Greater Self – Transformation, A Bhagavad – Gita PerspectiveVideo:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Dunki & The Dream Of A Better Life A Bhagavad – Gita PerspectiveVideo:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · 70 Hour Work Week A Bhagavad – Gita PerspectiveVideo:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Animal Movie Reflections, Do Movies Change People's BehaviourVideo:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Gita Jayanti Special Gita's Message For Hope Amid HardshipVideo:

Transcription:
On the sacred occasion of Gita Jayanti, I would like to contemplate how the Bhagavad-gita’s message is immensely relevant to all of us because it is a message of hope amid hardship. I will talk about it in terms of three key terms and one broad context.
The Gita’s purpose
Jiva Goswami explains that we can understand the essence of a book by looking at what comes in the start and what comes in the end.
The first instructive words spoken by Krishna in Bhagavad-gita are in (02.11). Before that, he has spoken in (01.25), (02.02), and (02.03), but those are more descriptive or indicative or friendly words. The first instructive philosophical words come in (02.11).
aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ
prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase
gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca
nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ
So, the first word ‘aśocyān’ means ‘not worth lamenting.’
And the last instructive word spoken by Krishna is (18.66). He speaks some more verses afterward, which are the glorification of the Gita, and he asks Arjuna a question in his concluding verse in (18.72), but the last instructing words are (18.66).
sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ
‘mā śucaḥ’ means do not lament.
In essence, the Gita starts by saying that whatever we are lamenting is not worth lamenting; whatever we are in agony about or distressed about is not worth getting distressed about. And lastly, it says do not be distressed. This is akin to a doctor telling a patient who is terribly upset about something, “Oh! I am in so much pain. I might have cancer. I might be going to die.” The doctor says, “This is not worth worrying.” Then the doctor explains why it is not worth worrying, and finally concludes by saying, “Do not worry.”
So how does the Gita give us this message that the things that we are getting disturbed are not worth getting so disturbed up about?
I will explain the Gita’s message in three T’s. Let’s look at the first T
Temporariness
The Gita states that the things that get us worked up are all temporary.
mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya (02.14)
The Gita says the contact between the senses and the sense objects just comes and goes. The thing that is disturbing us today, six months later or one year later, we will not be so disturbed about it. How do we know that? We can look back at something that disturbed us one year ago or five years ago; we may not even remember that thing. If we have some journal or if somebody tells us that we were so disturbed at that time about that thing, we will wonder: “Was it really worth getting so disturbed about?” Even the worst of problems that we may face whether they are in terms of health, relationships or finance, whatever it is – they all are temporary. Do not get too worked up about them, Krishna says. Does that mean that we do not care about anything at all? No, that brings us to the second T.
Timeless
Timeless is God and timeless is God’s love for us and timeless is God’s plan for our ultimate well-being. In (5.29) in the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna says suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ. That he is the well-wisher of all living beings. Ups and downs are happening in this world, but through all those ups and downs, Krishna is always working for our well-being. He is within our hearts, and he is guiding us.
īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
hṛd-deśe ’rjuna tiṣṭhati (18.61)
Whether we are devoted to him or not devoted to him, he is still our greatest well-wisher. The Gita urges us to focus on that timeless reality through contemplating and practicing yoga, especially bhakti yoga which directly gives us access to God and God’s infinitely loving heart through the connection of love. That brings us to the last T.
Tolerance
Basically, we need to turn from the temporary to the timeless. And what do we need for that? Tolerance.
Tolerance is sometimes misunderstood to be passivity. But the Gita is not talking about tolerance in those terms. The Gita, for example, tells Arjuna to tolerate ‘tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata.’ But what must be tolerated? The Gita is not saying to Arjuna, ‘Oh! The Kauravas have committed atrocities; just tolerate them.’ No. While doing one’s duty in the mood of service to God, while turning from the temporary to the timeless, there will be some pain in giving up the temporary. Consider what this means for Arjuna. In fighting against Drona who is Arjuna’s guru and in fighting against Bhishma who is his grandfather. Arjuna may feel some pain. But if that is the price required to do God’s will for the ultimate welfare of the world, then Arjuna should tolerate that.
Thus, tolerance means keep small things small so that we can keep big things big. It does not mean to let big things go away from us. For this, we need to first understand.
What are the small things in life?
What are the big things in life?

The wisdom that the Bhagavad-gita provides all of us says that the temporary things are small and the timeless things are big. While navigating the temporary, how can we link with the timeless? That sometimes requires us to change our mindset, our disposition, and sometimes it may require us to change our situation, but the focus is on how we can connect with God. To have this tolerance, we need to remember that there will never be any perfect situation in the world, there will always be a trade-off. We will always have to settle for a less-than-satisfactory situation in this world, but if in that situation we are steadily making a connection with God then we are going towards a destination of ultimate peace and joy. We will find relief and rejuvenation even in this world by turning from the temporary toward the timeless and ultimately, we will be united in Krishna’s eternal embrace for a life of unending joy.
To summarize, the Gita provides us hope amid hardship by guiding us to turn away from the temporary to the timeless through tolerance.

End of Transcription.

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Damodarashtakam Verse 2 Line 4 Prayer For Better ChantingVideo:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Damodarashtakam Verse 2 Line 3 Prayer For Better ChantingVideo:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Damodarashtakam Verse 2 Line 2 Prayer For Better ChantingVideo:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Damodarashtakam Verse 2 Line 1 Prayer For Better ChantingVideo:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · ISRO scientists in temples: How science & spirituality go together Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Raksha Bandhana: A Bhagavad-gita perspective Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · How Bhagavad-gita demonstrates Krishna's teaching expertise Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · 3 Ts of Prabhupada's outreach: Timing, Teaching, Tuning Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Eradicate Sanatana-Dharma – Hindi Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · When we feel left alone – Vritrasura pastime analysis, Hindi Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · India On The Moon Chandrayaan – 3 Success – A Bhagavad – Gita Perspective Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · 4 ways human consciousness went down: Darn acronym Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Oppenheimer Movie, Atom Bombs & Sex Scenes Western Vs Indian Visions Of Bhagavad – Gita- Discussion Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Does Shabda Make Pratyaksha Invalid Part 2 The Monk's Podcast 206 With Radhika Raman Prabhu Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Does Shabda Make Pratyaksha Invalid Part 1 The Monk's Podcast 206 With Radhika Raman Prabhu Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Hindi – Adipurusha Movie Ramayana Modernized Or Minimized Souless Remake Unmakes Soulful Epic Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Adipurusha Movie – Ramayana Modernized Or Minimized Souless Remake Unmakes Soulful Epic Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · The Kerala Story – A Bhagavad Gita PerspectiveVideo:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · If We Really Have Free Will How Does God Control Everything – Chaitanya CharanVideo:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · When We Feel That Our Problems Arose Because We Were Misguided YamadutaYamaraja Discussion 1Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Does Love Mean Shielding Our Loved Ones From Their Actions Consequences – PEER AcronymVideo:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Understanding The Spiritual World Its Relevance Rationale ResplendenceVideo:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Study From Different Perspectives – HH SB Keshava Maharaj HG Chaitanya CharanVideo:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Bhagavad-gita insights for holistic healthVideo:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Understanding Mayavada And Dealing With Mayavadis – Learning From MahaprabhuVideo:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Gaur Purnima Class 2023 – What Is Mahaprabhus Mercy How Does It WorkVideo:

View Details

Podcast

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Why Narada Muni Gives Spiritual Wisdom Through Riddles Need For Customized OutreachVideo:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · From Outer Happiness To Inner HappinessVideo:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Is Srimad Bhagavatam Antihouseholder Why Does It Criticize Householders So MuchVideo:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Explaining Cow Care To The Contemporary WorldVideo:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Prayers Of Jiva In Mothers Womb – Srimad Bhagavatam Canto3Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Akrodha Paramananda Song Meaning, Nityananda Trayodashi 2023 Class At Nashik, HindiVideo:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Cricket Mania: A Bhagavad-gita perspective; Seeing Kishna everywhere as his vibhuti; Wellington 2022 Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Understanding dementia – A Bhagavad-gita perspective – Chaitanya Charan Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Kantara movie – A Bhagavad-gita perspective – Chaitanya Charan Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Bhagavad-Gita's multi-level progression of the human-divine relationship, Monk's Podcast-Garuda Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Prabhupada_'s message included and transcended the past, present and future – Disappearance day talk Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Parallels between Damodara-lila and Bhagavad-gita – part 2 Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · The letter of scripture and the spirit of scripture: The Monk's Podcast 201 with Yogeshvara Prabhu Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Parallels between Damodara-lila and Bhagavad-gita – part 1 Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · World Mental Health Day Special Bhagavad – Gita Insights For A Healthy Mind Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Appreciating Radharani Universal, Gaudiya And Personal Perspectives, Radhashtami 2022 Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · How To Make Our Sunday Talks Relevant With Caru P On The ISKCON Relevance Project Podcast Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · 3 Conceptions Of Renunciation Frustration, Aversion, Redirection – Chaitanya Charan Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Appreciating the Bhagavad Gita from Sanjaya's perspective (Gita 18.74-78): GREAT acronym Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Experiencing Krishna In Various Ways, Even Through Fear, Confusion & Heartbreak Janmashtami Class Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Karthikeya 2 Movie: A Bhagavad – Gita Perspective Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · How Balarama Reveals Krishna's Heart In Vrindavana Mathura And Dwarka – Balarama Appearance Day Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · How dukhalayam Bhagavad gita 8 15 is a teaching of positivity not negativity Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Hearing with the ears, the head and the heart – Chaitanya Charan on Vedasara P's Heartspace podcast Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Why was Balarama kind to Duryodhana and harsh to Romharshana – Balarama appearance day reflection Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · A Bhagavad Gita perspective on India s 75th Independence Day celebrations Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · When God doesn t seem to be equal to everyone Bhagavad gita 09 34 Video:

View Details

Podcast:

Chaitanya Charan · Brahminical culture what it was and how it was preserved through two kinds of brahmanas Video: