Achieving perfection as a gṛhastha | SB Canto 7, Chapter 14 | Rus-Split | | Gopal Krishna Goswami

Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Welcome to the program this evening. How many of you were there for the morning class? Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. In the material world, everybody has questions and they're trying to obtain answers. Hopefully you all don't watch too much TV. If you watch TV, all they have is questions and answers. You read the newspapers, questions and answers. So to have questions is very normal. If you read our scriptures, You see the same pattern, question and answer. So the Bhāgavad-gītā from beginning to end is question and answer. Bhāgavad-gītā is also question and answer. So to ask questions is not an embarrassing situation. But we should ask questions to the right authority. The difference between mature questions and spiritual questions is, in real life people are asking questions,. And Tāṅga answers, "How to facilitate sense enjoyment?" Whereas in spiritual life, the questions are, "How can I make spiritual advancement?" Arjuna is constantly asking questions. Like he asked, "How will I compel them to sinful acts?" And Kṛṣṇa gave a reply. "Is lust only the all-devouring enemy of the living entity?" It is always burning like fire and is never satiated. But then Kṛṣṇa says, "Destroy this eternal enemy with the weapon of knowledge." This morning we were speaking on the importance of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. How by hearing the Bhāgavatam the heart gets cleansed. Everything in us which is there to destroy. So Kṛṣṇa says, "With the weapon of knowledge." That means with the knowledge you get from scriptures like Gītā and Bhāgavatam. So in the Bhāgavatam also, there's so many questions. Just like in the 6th Canto, Prahlāda Mahārāja answers Gṛhadeva Swāmī, how can this tendency to commit sinful acts be taken away? In the 6th Canto, Prahlāda Mahārāja heard The description of the hellish planets and the heavenly planets. How many of you have read the description of the hellish planets? Okay. Scary, isn't it? The gross materialist would not believe it, probably. The Parākṣma Rāja was concerned how to take away the sinful tendency. You tend to become a sinful life. And he gave the example of an elephant. Elephant takes a bath, becomes clean, comes out of the lake, sits down, and becomes dirty again. And then becomes dirty. So Prahlāda Mahārāja said, "What's the value of a process of religion?" We sin and atone. Today I sin. Sunday I go to the church or the temple. I atone. Again I sin. Again I atone. So is that very intelligent? Hmm? Is that very intelligent? You get caught for a crime. You tell the judge, "I'm sorry, I'm not going to do it again." You do it again. And you do that crime again. You go, "I'm sorry, sir." Again, he committed the crime of killing. So the genuine devotee is not interested in the process of sinning and atoning. So Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "Your question is very nice." And He said, "In the ancient Purāṇas, there is a story, the story of Anjumanu. That means, 5,000 years ago, it was referred to as ancient Puranas. That means this incident must have happened about 8,000 years ago. And the highlight of this story is the importance of chanting the holy names of the Lord. How the holy names are so powerful. Chant consciously and unconsciously. He still benefits. This story is very nicely explained in the 6th Canto. Then we read that Parikṣṭhimaṇa was going to die. Normally when you get notice that you have this terminal disease, you get so panicky, isn't it? Doctor says, "You only have 1 week more left to live." "Oh my God!" You get so panicky. But Parikṣṭhimaṇa knew that everybody has to die. And he had noticed he only had 7 days left. So when Parikṣita Mahārāja said, "Please describe what should be the duty of one who is about to die?" Śrī Kṛṣṇa Gosvāmī was very happy with the question. Why was He happy? Because He said the answer to this question will benefit entire humanity. And He said, "You hear about Kṛṣṇa." They are questions and answers. In the 7th canto, Yudhishthira Maharaj asked Narada Muni many questions. In the 7th chapter, canto, there is a chapter called Ideal Family Life. As you know, Vedas enjoined that society can be divided into 4 varnas and 4 ashramas. What are the four āśrams? Brahmacharya, Kīyāsa, Vānaprastha. And four varnās? Brahmin, Śāthiya, Vaiṣṇīya, Zen. Etc. Now, Nārada Muni explained in detail what are the duties of a brahmachari, vānaprastha, and sannyāsi. But then he goes on to explain the ideal standard for a householder. So, Prasad Raaval asked, "So, Yudhishthira Maharaj inquired as follows." You have it on your computer. Yes. You read here the exact shloka. So, Yudhishthira Maharaj is saying, "Please explain to us, of those of us who live at home," Bhagavan avādaḥ can achieve perfection. Most of you never know. Okay. So maybe this verse is directly for you. Okay. Actually, when you read the Bhāgavatam and the Gītā, you often appear, "Ah! This question is exactly what I have in mind." The question that Arjuna asked, a question that you and I ask in day-to-day life. Yudhishthira Māraṇa, Look at his humility. It's not that Yudhishthira Maharaj did not have the answer. He said, "We are in ignorance. You've been described to us." For those who are living at home, "Can achieve perfection based on the Vedas." So one thing we learn from this is Yudhishthira Maharaj's humility. Yudhishthira was also known as Amrāja. He was the ideal king, very forgiving. In the Battle of Kurukshetra, after the Battle of Kurukshetra, he gave Dhrarāṣṭra maximum honor. Dhrarāṣṭra and company had conspired to annihilate the Pāṇḍavas on several occasions. They say, Rākhe Kṛṣṇa Māre Ke Māle kṛṣṇa-rākṣakī. Who Kṛṣṇa wants to protect, no one can annihilate. Who Kṛṣṇa wants to annihilate, no one can protect. This morning we were explaining to you how Prahlāda Mahārāja was saved from so many difficulties. So in the Battle of Kurukṣetra, as you know, in the last of which he lost all his relatives. So if you at least have wanted, you could have Arrested Dhritarāṣṭra and said, "You conspired to kill us. Now we're going to hang you." But Rādhārāṣṭra, he sympathized with Dhritarāṣṭra. He was so forgiving. He offered him a very nice place, palace to live in. Dhritarāṣṭra had such great confidence that he was singing, "Now my ambition has been fulfilled." He was so forgiving. The Holy is forgiving. So this is existence, humility. And he says, "We are in ignorance. Please guide us." Or those of us who live at home can achieve perfection based on the Vedas. So he says, "Based on the Vedas." What this means is Vedic knowledge is coming from the perfect source. And There are no flaws in the Vedic knowledge. It is universal and non-sectarian. It's eternal wisdom. Therefore, it is also known as Sanatana Dharma. It's free from 4 defects. So, the Vedic knowledge guides us how we can lead a normal life. So that is our standard, the Vedic knowledge. So what is Nādamuni replied. So here Nādamuni is replying now. He'll hear Prabhupāda's purport. Nādamuni is one of the mahajānams, or spiritual authorities. Sei mudna nāda-sambhu kau-māra-kapila-mānū pralādo janaka-bheda-smāva bahir-vāya-yasa-kīr-vayaḥ. The twelve authorities, one of them is Nādamuni. Nārada Mūrī instructed Vyāsadeva, Durgamarāja, Sopalātmārāja, and also the hunter Mīkāra, and thousands and thousands of other devotees. We can't list all of them. We can't list all of them. So Nārada Mūrī is giving us advice. So in this verse he has emphasized three things. One, he says, One living at home must earn his livelihood. Sometimes people think, "Oh, if I become a Hare Kṛṣṇa, then I'll have to give up everything. I'll have to give up my job, my business." According to Nārada Muni, you don't have to. He said, "You have to earn your livelihood." Of course, it means, it's implied, through a legal process. You can't do illegal activities and stay. Nārada Muni said, "Earn your livelihood also." That's how I'm going to earn my livelihood. The worst thing Nādhāmuni says, you should earn your livelihood. Nādhāmuni knew that in Kali-yuga the government is not going to support a spiritualist. You're going to get badly hurt. Then what does he say? But don't think you're the enjoyer, but understand, use this livelihood to serve Vāsudeva. As Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhāgavad-gītā, "Bhokta rāmya yajñatabhūsam sarva-dvokā." Kṛṣṇa is the supreme enjoyer. So when you're earning your livelihood, have the mentality, "I'm earning my livelihood, but the real enjoyer is Kṛṣṇa." So naturally you have to support yourself also, but you should also serve the Lord with your livelihood. Then how do you get this knowledge? How do you get this advice? What does Nārada Mūṇi say? How do you get this advice? Nārada Mūṇi says, by regularly associating with saintly people. Spiritual association. Associate with saintly people. Dejavu saintly person.— that he's always glorifying the Lord. You can have someone as a saintly person even in a female body, but it's because the definition of a saintly person is he's always talking about the Lord and His pastimes and His instructions. So in another mood He says, "Earn your livelihood, use it for your own maintenance and for serving the Lord." And the knowledge how to do this you get by spiritual association. So spiritual association is a must for every one of us. There's so many references in the scriptures all supporting this principle of spiritual association. In fact, in some way or the other, it keeps getting repeated again, again, again, again. Sadhu sangha, sadhu sangha, sarvaśāstra-kriyāya. Avamātā sadhu sangha, sarvaśāstra-kriyāya. Even if you were a fraction of a second associated with a saintly person, your life will change. This issue of spiritual association can be realized at 3 levels. We can associate with those who are more advanced, equally advanced, and less advanced. When you have the opportunity to associate with somebody more advanced, you become joyful. Why? Because you're going to gain something. They're going to help you advance. That's why devotees are anxious to be here. Just like in the recent Adi Shankar Festival, there were 8,000 devotees. They came to enjoy the nice weather. Yeah, probably one of them did. There's a nice prasāda. You know why everyone came? They wanted to hear. Hearing from the right source is a must if you want to make spiritual advancement. So we should be anxious to hear. One, on the principle of surrender is humility. We were briefly explaining how Yudhishthira Maharaj was so humble. He said, "Please guide us. How can we also achieve perfection?" Chaitanya Mahāprabhu was explaining this in Ātma-gṛhṣṇāmī. Someone in surrender to the Lord. What are the main elements of surrender? And one of the elements of surrender is humility. So what does humility mean? I speak softly, smilingly, offer dandabats to everyone. But in my mind I'm thinking, "No one is better than me. I have the answer to every question." Is that humility? You're smiling, you're offering dandabats to everyone. Isn't that what humility means? The important element of humility is that I'm ready to take directions, ready to be corrected. I recognize I need help. So Acchitanya became a prominent Sanskrit scholar at a young age. At the age of 11, he defeated Keshava Keswari, a very powerful Sanskrit pundit. And knowledge must be accompanied by devotion. So, Lord Caitanya was such a prominent scholar, but He was always chanting and dancing and performing sankirtana. In Varanasi, there was an assembly of mayavadis having a discussion, and they were discussing, "What type of sannyāsi is this man? He's taking sannyāsi in Ārtha and Bhrahma." And He doesn't sit down with us. Just chanting and dancing like a madman. There were two devotees of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Chandra-shekhara and Tapāmānūśvara, who heard all this criticism and they told the Lord, "We can't stand this criticism. Please come and face them." So Lord Caitanya went to that assembly. He sat down. Where they normally wash their feet before entering into a temple. And he manifested effulgence of millions of moons put together. So the sannyasis who were sitting on a higher platform could see, "This sannyasi is not ordinary." So Prasad RAVALAL SAHOTA came and caught him by his hand and brought Him up to the higher platform where they were all sitting. Initially, the Lord did not go there. He took a very humble position and sat down. The people washed His feet before entering a place of worship. And then they asked Him, "You are such a prominent guru." Sometimes it's called that. "Why didn't He sit down with us and share His darshan?" "Why are You just chanting and dancing?" What did the Lord say? "Why, Svetadvāja, consider me to be a fool?" He said, "That's all You're capable of doing, just chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa." And later on, Arjuna was able to convince them. All become Vaishnavas. So here is Lord Caitanya saying, My spiritual master considered me to be a fool, and he said, "This is all you're capable of doing." So that's humility. I am a fool. I need direction. I need correction. So when you have the opportunity to associate with somebody more advanced, you become joyful. When you meet somebody equally advanced, you make friendship. What does friendship in spiritual life mean? Friendship in spiritual life means we work together to serve the mission of the Lord. We help each other to serve the mission of the Lord. We work together. Prabhupāda often used to quote this famous statement: United we stand, divided we fall. You heard that before, famous English phrase. Prabhupāda gave the example of a blade of grass. A blade of grass by itself has no strength. Take a blade of grass, pull it, very easily breaks. But if that blade of grass mixes with the other blades, then it will become stronger than a rope. So Prabhupāda encouraged us —because ISKCON is a worldwide society—to be humble in dealing with each other. He gave the example, look at the good in everyone rather than the bad. So by looking at the good in everyone, look, everyone has some good quality, and not meditating on the bad qualities will help create harmonious atmosphere. By looking at the good in everyone, you respect everyone. But if you think, "I am the best man, everyone else is useless," then there'll never be harmony. So, important thing is working together. So when you meet somebody, you can advance. Make friendship. And friendship in spiritual life means we work together, we help each other to serve the mission of the Lord. Prabhupāda said this worldwide body is kind of, you know, you know, is almost in every corner of the globe. There are over 650 temples around the world. This excludes Bhaktavikṣesas.— namāḥ. And maybe project in the future that it will just go on growing. So unless we all work together, how will we remain united? So I had the approach to respect everyone, look at the good in everyone. What do you do when you sort of meet somebody less advanced? Just reject him. The guy's a dummy. He's unfortunate. I won't even associate with him. Advanced devotee. What do you do when you meet people who are less advanced than you? Do we do something? What do we do? It's like compassion. Genuine compassion. Once Prabhupāda was giving a lecture in Rishikesh. Prabhupāda was, you know, sometimes he used very strong words. And there was an American lady in the audience. She said, "Swāmiji, you speak very strong language." Then the Christians indicate the food and rascal, "Don't send it to me." Probably when you have a boil, it's pus inside. When you get the pus out, what do you do? Blow on that boil? Or press the boil to get the pus out? What do you do? You can get the pus out. May be a little painful, but that's the only way out. Let's advance. Display compassion. Let's advance. We are aspiring Vaiṣṇavas. We should not think, "Oh, I'm initiated as Āmama Vaiṣṇava." We are on the right platform, we are on the right highway. But we should keep making effort. So Vaiṣṇavas, parādhupadukhi. Seeing others in distress, he thinks, "How can I make them happy?" And how can we make them happy? By introducing them to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We have many avenues for that. Receive guests very warmly. Be very polite, gentle, warm. Prabhupāda encouraged us to do book distribution. In ISKCON now we have too many different approaches. Book distribution. We have the brahmacharis and the brahmacharis who are full-time dedicated to book distribution. But then you have those who are earning their livelihood, but at the same time they recognize, "I should also preach," and they take part in this book distribution. This is known as the program of Weekend Warrior. This program started up in America under the leadership of Nityānanda Śrīkanta Prabhupāda. Vaiṣṇava Dāgoprabhu is a Prabhupāda disciple who has been doing book distribution for the last 40 years. And you'll be amazed how the congregation in North America is taking part in this program. They do their jobs Monday to Friday, and Saturday, Sunday they go out on book distribution. I believe I spoke about this program last year. Yeah? And listen, how many of you raised hands when I said, "How many would take part in this?" Only 3, 4? That's all? You remember how many? Okay. But I was also told that those who raised hands didn't show up later on. When we preach, we get entitled getting the Lord's mercy. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa says, "Of all the devotees who serve Me, the ones who preach My glories are most dear." It appears that some of you, some of us, don't want to be dear to Kṛṣṇa. You want to keep a little distance. Doesn't Kṛṣṇa say, "Of all the devotees, the one who preaches—" Tattva prabhaayā. We respect all services, but preaching is something that everyone should be interested in. So there is this weekend warrior program, from which even those who may be doing jobs and businesses take part in preaching. So if you meet somebody less advanced, display compassion. So now the muni says, by regularly associating with saintly people, you will hear about The importance of serving the Lord. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement gives us the opportunity to associate with devotees all the time.