Aspects of Devotional Service | 09 Jun 1989 | Rus-Split |Russia | Srila Gopal Krishna Goswami

Om Jnanatmanandasya Jnananjana Shalakya Chakshur Milatan Yena Dasmai Shri Gurave Namaha. Shri Chaitanya Mano Vistam Tapitam Yena Bhutale Sohyam Rupa Kadam Ayam Dadati Swa Padanti Kam. Bande Ham Shri Guru Shri Yuta Padakam Nam Shri Guru Vaishnava Nashta. Shri Rupaam Sakaja Tam Sahaganaragunathan Vitam Tam Sadevam. Sadhvetaṁ savaḍhūtaṁ parijana-saītām kriṣṇa-cetanya-devam śrī-rādhā-kriṣṇapadaṇsa-hagena-lalitāśrī-viśakha-nethaṃ sa— jai Śrī Kṛṣṇa cetanya-prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita-gadādaṣiva-chetikaur-bhaktavandah. Hare Kṛṣṇa! Hare Kṛṣṇa! I have to wait for my translator. Prasad Raaval. So I'm sorry that we could not have our regular kīrtan. Therefore, before I started any kīrtan today, I first did the Nrsimhadev kīrtan. You may have noticed that. I was a little worried that some problem may come, therefore I first did the Lord Nrsimhadev prayers. So it is not uncommon for the devotees of the Lord to face difficulties, even though we are rendering activities which are for the benefit of the whole society. Not everybody will appreciate what we are doing. In society, the demons don't appreciate the work of the devotees, and the devotees don't appreciate the work of the demons. There will always be in society two sections of individuals. The chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra actually is beneficial to everyone. It is beneficial to the person who is chanting, and it is beneficial to the person who hears the chant. So, some or the other, we have to get attached to the Holy Names of the Lord. There are different stages of chanting the Holy Name. There is the first stage in which one may chant the Holy Name, but at the same time one makes a variety of mistakes. By mistakes, I mean spiritual offenses. The second stage is where we try to minimize the offenses. And the third stage is where we don't make any offenses at all. Prasad Raaval. So in chanting the Holy Name, there are 10 offenses that one must avoid. These 10 offenses are very important to avoid. In order to develop love of God, we have to chant the Holy Names of the Lord without offenses. Just chanting the Holy Name is okay in the initial stage, but as we advance in devotional service, our goal should be to minimize the offenses. So I will not discuss all the offenses, but just few important ones. Today what I'm going to do, since this is my last lecture today, summarize few aspects of devotional service from different angles. Most important aspect of our devotional service to the Lord is the chanting of the Holy Name. Everything starts with the chanting of the Holy Name. If a chanting of the Holy Name is perfect, then you will get complete result. But if it is weak, then the result will be weak. So one offense that we must avoid is to be inattentive. The holy names of the Lord are non-different from the Lord, and therefore the holy names must be given full respect. The holy name, because it is non-different from the Lord, it is the same as God. So one should be very respectful to the chanting of the holy name. You must chant the holy name very attentively. Make sure that you follow everything that you say, and if you can hear the names as you chant them, then they will give you maximum benefit. So we should not be inattentive in chanting the holy names of the Lord. Sometimes devotees ask, which is the best time for chanting the holy names of the Lord? Most auspicious time for chanting is in the morning. If you have to go to work or for some other reason you cannot do it in the morning, then you may do it whenever it is practical. So because these holy names are non-different from the Lord, they should be very respect— they should be respected. We should understand that because His holy names are the supreme. Another offense is to consider the demigods to be on the same level as the Supreme Lord, or to consider demigods equal, independent of the Supreme Lord. In Soviet Union, you may not have this problem on a big scale because you only have Krishna devotees. But in India, in other parts of the world where you do have worshipers of demigods, it confuses the people to understand the difference between the Supreme Lord and the demigods. So the demigods are the empowered administrators of the Lord. They are not independent of the Supreme Lord. Prabhupada said that the devotees are not offensive to the demigods. We don't even want to be envious of an ant. So where is the question of being envious of the demigods? So we worship the demigods acknowledging their relationship with the Supreme Lord. We recognize that Krishna is the Supreme and the demigods are controlled by Him, the Supreme Lord. So to consider that the demigods are independent of the Lord is an offense. So the devotee gives his love to the Supreme Lord. He understands that the demigods are subordinate to the Supreme Lord. Eklai īśvār-kṛṣṇaḥ sarv-bhātāya. "Kṛṣṇa is the only Supreme and all others are His servants." And with this understanding, the devotee worships the Supreme Lord exclusively. But at the same time, he is respectful to the demigods. We are not saying that you should start insulting the demigods. Then another offense is to disobey the instructions of the spiritual master. The spiritual master is the external manifestation of God, Kṛṣṇa. And the spiritual master's only desire is to see the disciple go back to Godhead. And therefore the spiritual master is always trying to look for faults so that they can be corrected and one can be put on the right path. Thakura Bhaktivinoda ṣrīla has said, That just like one cannot separate the body from the soul during one's, during the period that one is alive, similarly the disciple cannot separate his life from the instructions of the spiritual master. So it is the disciple's business to follow the guru, and by following the guru one makes spiritual advancement. Another offense is to undermine the authority of the Vedas. The Vedas were compiled by the Supreme Lord. And these words are meant for entire humanity. So to consider the Puranas or the literatures compiled by an ordinary person is a great offense. Then another offense is to commit sins on the strength of chanting. One thinks that he's chanting Hare Krishna, so he's accumulating spiritual piety, so now he can commit fresh sins. A devotee is very careful as to not to sin. And if you are carefully in avoiding the offenses, then it will not be difficult to save oneself. Just like when you're driving a car on a slippery road, if you're careful, you will not have an accident. And if you're not careful, then you'll be involved in some accident. So our request to all of you is, please don't commit sins on the strength of chanting. Don't think that just because you're chanting, now you can commit some more sins. Another offense is to preach to the faithless. And by preaching to the faithless, it is meant that one may preach to everyone, but the glories of devotional service should only be explained to one who has developed faith in the system. Then to not have material faith in spite of chanting the holy names of the Lord. We chant the holy names of the Lord because the holy name will destroy our material desires and the holy name will give us real happiness. Real happiness can only come by genuine devotional service. So if we are chanting holy names and at the same time we are maintaining material desires, then the great sages have advised against it. So this heart is supposed to melt with the chanting of the holy name. But if it doesn't melt, then it is considered that we have a heart made of steel. So what I have done is very briefly explain to you How you should chant the Holy Name. As I told you all, today I'm going to take on many different topics that will help us become a better devotee. Another topic that I wish to touch is why should we do devotional service. Rūpa Gosvāmī has explained in Bhakti-īrā-saṁṛta-sindhu why one should engage in devotional service. We don't want any of you to think that we are a bunch of sentimentalists. We are not a bunch of sentimentalists. We have taken to Kṛṣṇa consciousness because this can solve our problem of continuous birth and death. So Rūpa Gosvāmī has said that we engage in devotional service because this puts an end to all of one's material distress. So material distress is the cause of the living entity engaging in a variety of sinful activities. Material distress is there for everyone. It is there for the rich and the poor. The form may differ, but the suffering will be there. So Rūpa Gosvāmī says that real material distress can be removed by the process of devotional service. There are various welfare associations, including the United Nations, that are trying to bring about peace on earth, but they have failed in bringing around peace because there is a spiritual vacuum in society. I'm only praying that by the Lord's mercy you will get a nice a nice temple here, so then you won't have to go through this trouble. So we chant Hare Krishna because it is the real solution to material distress. It is not necessary that if you commit a sin, now the result is going to be the next minute. Sometimes people want to know, is God partial or is God impartial? Actually, the Lord is impartial, but those with a poor fund of knowledge cannot understand this. So the Lord is impartial, but it doesn't necessarily mean that if you do something wrong, the result will be experienced the next minute. Rūpa Gosvāmī has explained that it is not necessary that if you commit a sinful act, the result will be experienced immediately. Our results are lying in two stages. One is dormant and the other is mature. Dormant means which has not matured as yet. And mature means for which the results are being experienced. So if, for example, something wrong is done today, we cannot understand the impartial nature of God with our material senses, but we can understand the impartial nature of God with our spiritual senses. The Supreme Lord is all merciful and the father of all living entities. Sarva-yenaśu-kontya-murtaya-samavanti-yah tāsāṁ brahmā-mahā-dyuni-rahaṁ vijjaprādhāpitā. I am the seed-giving father of all living entities. So the Lord's transcendental position can be understood when you get out of the influence of the modes. So the Lord is impartial, but upon our association with Maya, we see Him accordingly. Not feel the result immediately— that doesn't mean the result will not be felt, but it may take a little time. So Rūpa Gosvāmī has said there are some actions for which you are feeling the result now. And for some action that you've committed wrong, you'll feel the results later. So we must understand that in all situations, justice will be done. So devotional service not only puts an end to one's material distress, but it is also most auspicious— and it is most auspicious because it wakes one up from the illusion of bodily entanglement. And Devotional service is so powerful that even if the animals listen, they get the benefit. So devotional service is all auspicious. Prabhupada said that even if somebody jokingly says the holy name, he gets benefit. Devotional service gives immediate relief from all material distress and is the beginning of all auspiciousness. Devotional service can attract even Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa cannot be attracted but by devotional service. Kṛṣṇa is not in need of anything, but still He behaves as if He needs a variety of things. So, Kṛṣṇa is always the Supreme Lord, and by taking to devotional service, one engages in auspicious activities which give one real happiness. The happiness that one gets by material activities can end in any moment. Even if you obtain the yogic siddhis, stretching your hand to any corner of the world. There's one yogic siddhi, you can stretch your corner to any corner, hand to any corner of the world and lift anything from any place. This is known as Prapti Siddhi. If you had that siddhi now, you could just be sitting here, stretch your hand to anyone's coat pocket or bank and just take as much stuff as you want. There's another siddhi where you can become smaller than the smallest. This siddhi, the scientists have achieved it. And so on. There are 8 mystic siddhis of this type. The scientists have achieved this siddhi of becoming smaller than the smallest because Kṛṣṇa-bhaktanis-kāmātayevaśānta-bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmī-sakāli-yakalśānta. The Caitanya-caritāmṛta says that the devotees of the Lord are without material desires, therefore they are peaceful. And the other so-called transcendentalists, bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmī, Bhakti is the one who does fruitive work. Siddhi is the one who tries to get yogic perfection. Kāma is the one who wants sense enjoyment. They are all lusty because they have different material desires. So the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is teaching us pure devotional service. Because unless you do pure devotional service, you cannot be satisfied. Real satisfaction can come only by pure devotional service. Pure devotional service has been explained by Vyāsadeva in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in complete detail.. And that has been explained in 18,000 verses. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has described the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to be the spotless Purāṇa in which there's absolutely no shortcoming at all. This Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was actually first recited thousands of years ago. And again 5,000 years ago it was recited by Śukadeva Gosvāmī. The word śuka means parrot. When a fruit is bitten by the parrot, it becomes sweeter. Śukadeva Gosvāmī had heard the Bhāgavatam when he was in the womb of his mother. He stayed in the womb of his mother for 16 years. He wasn't coming out because he did not want to get influenced by the material energy. But when he was assured by the Lord personally that he would not be touched by Maya, that's when he came out. So in the Bhāgavatam, we get valuable information on every subject matter. For example, Bhāgavatam says that there are two types of religion that one can adopt. Paro-dharma and aparo-dharma. That is pure religion and a religion with motives. So, paśyave punyam paro-dharmo yato bhaktir doksyajay. Unless one comes to the path of pure religion, the living entity cannot be satisfied. So we are presenting the pure path of loving God. We are not presenting some distorted path of loving God. Of course, to follow the pure path, one has to come to a higher standard. Therefore, the rules that we follow may appear to be a little difficult sometimes, but actually they're enjoyable. Bhavetram, sushyakam, abhyayam. Three characteristics of pure devotional service. One is it is the purest. God is pure, and the science to know Him is also pure. Sushyakam means it is happily performed. One doesn't serve the Lord grudgingly, and it is inexhaustible. That is, one can never get tired of serving the Lord. So we are not trying to give you a path by which you can temporarily get some power or fame or whatever. Even if you get some power and fame, it is all temporary. Ultimately, everybody has to get destroyed. You heard of Hiranyakāśipū, all of you? Of course, we only know the bad side of Hiranyakashipu. The bad side of Hiranyakashipu we know is that he was a big demon. But there's also a good side to Hiranyakashipu. The good side is that he believed in great austerities. Hiranyakashipu performed austerities for thousands of years. Of course, his goal was material. His goal was that I will please the Lord Brahma so much with my austerities that in the end I'll get a benediction so I will not die. Stretched his hands to the sky, looked over the sky for thousands of years, and he had thousands of ants walk over his body, and he was still undisturbed. Can anybody do that today? You and I, we have one fly sitting on our nose, we get so irritated. But he had thousands and thousands of ants walking up and down his body. So the Hiranyakashipu, at one time, that was believed in austerity. But the Hinayaka ācāryas of today don't believe in any austerity. Another point to notice is that in doing devotional service, Rūpa Gosvāmī says one should be putzaha, should always be enthusiastic. Enthusiasm is necessary for spiritual advancement. Without enthusiasm, you cannot make spiritual advance. Just like the karmīs are enthusiastic for material pleasure, the devotees are enthusiastic to develop love of God. So in every situation, please be enthusiastic. Another factor that Rūpa Gosvāmī has mentioned: Be determined. Don't be so weak that the moment there's some agitation, you'll give up devotional service. Prabhupāda gives a nice example in the Bhāgavad-gītā about determination. Once there was a bird who had her eggs stolen by the ocean. The bird told the ocean, "Please return my eggs." But the ocean said, "No, no, no, I'm not going to return your eggs." And the bird said, "If you don't return my eggs, my children, I will dry you up with my small mouth." Then the ocean said, "Sure, go ahead, do it." But she was so determined that she's going to do it. And slowly, slowly the news traveled to Garuda. Garuda is the bird carrier of Lord Vishnu. So when Garuda heard that her sister was being put into so much trouble by the river, By the ocean. So Garuda personally came down and threatened the ocean, and then the ocean returned the eggs. So Prabhupada gives this example to show how we must be determined to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. Nobody thought that the bird would get the eggs back. Similarly, we see in Prabhupada's life also, he was very determined. Prabhupada had to struggle for nearly 25 years to establish this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. But he was determined. You know, once Prabhupāda translated the whole Bhāgavad-gītā by hand. At that time Prabhupāda did not have any assistance. He was looking for money to try to publish the book. And at last Prabhupāda found somebody. But when he went back to get the manuscript for publishing, he discovered that the book was sold. So Prabhupāda was determined, so he translated the whole Gītā again. You agree with that? Then another thing is tat tat karma pravartanāt. Follow the rules and regulations which are there in the scriptures. The research is already done how we should do this devotional service. Sages have already summarized everything for us. So whether you are practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness in Russia or India or England or Africa, is the same standard that we follow because we are following the original source. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Then, then we should give up this worldly association. Worldly association is very bad. We don't associate with them for social reasons. Just like when you have to go on book distribution, you just go— when you go on book distribution, you associate with the non-devotees as long as it takes to get them to take a book. Are you devotees getting tired? If you are getting tired, then Is that okay? Okay, that's okay. So we avoid worldly association, and by avoiding the association of worldly-minded people and staying in the association of devotees, one can make spiritual advancement. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, there's a very nice dialogue between Devahūti and her son Kapiladeva. So Devahūti was the mother and Kapiladeva was her son. Of course, Kapiladeva was not an ordinary son. He was God Himself. So, um, Devahuti told her son, I'm an old lady, please tell me how can I become free from the cycle of birth and death? So Kapiladeva said, by taking to the process of devotional service. So she said, uh, how can I get devotional service? He said, by devotee association. Then she said, how do you recognize a devotee? What are his symptoms? And then the Kapila, they replied, "Titekśeva karu-nikaḥ surdasarvadhahīnam ajita-sattva-chanta-sādhva-sādu-bhuṣanā." So one of the qualities of a saintly personality is he's very tolerant, titekśeva. Karu-nikaḥ, very merciful. Surdasarvadhahīnam, friend of everyone. Even the dogs and cats are his friends. He has no enemies, and he's a well-wisher of everyone. So we can advance spiritually by cultivating the spiritual knowledge, chanting the Holy Name, avoiding the 10 offenses, and reading the books. We are in your country, Soviet Union. You have the highest readership rate in the world. The Soviet people are so lucky because they like to read. Since thousands of years, thousands of books have been written to bring peace on Earth because there's a spiritual vacuum in these books. That spiritual vacuum Prabhupāda says will be filled by this transcendental literature which he has written. So we should develop the habit of reading these books. Reading these books will make your spiritual intelligence sharp. And if you have a sharp blade, then can cut your beard immediately. So if you make your intelligence sharp by reading, then as soon as material desires come in the mind, they'll be thrown out, they'll be cut into pieces. So we have through the shravana process to make our intelligence very sharp. And if you make intelligence sharp, sharp, sharp, sharp, sharp, maya will have no place. So please don't take Krishna consciousness lightly. Please take it seriously. It is the most serious business you have to do in this life. If you take it lightly, then you may do service today and tomorrow you will take it off. You will, you'll take it lightly. But if you take to it seriously, then you will want to make spiritual advancement. Just like when you are sick and the temperature doesn't come down, you get worried. Similarly, if the mature fever doesn't come down, then it means that we don't have the spiritual attraction for the Lord. So we must develop this attraction for the Lord. Who can be more attractive than God? So Krishna is the source of everything. Our only request to all of you is to take to this Krishna consciousness very seriously and perfect your life. People may not, may not understand this movement, They may misunderstand our motives, just like we were doing kirtan today and we had to stop it. But whatever we are doing, it's for the benefit of the whole society. So you have a role, big role to play. Work for the benefit of the whole society. There's so many karmis who may be doing so many philanthropic activities, but we are doing one activity which nobody else would be doing, and that is spreading love of God. So the bigger the army— the Soviet Union today has the biggest army in the world. So we should also have the biggest spiritual army in this country. I was told by Kṛṣṇa-kumār today that there are about over 400,000 people in the Soviet Union who are vegetarian and following Kṛṣṇa consciousness some way or the other. So if we go on developing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, if we go on developing Kṛṣṇa consciousness nicely, then This whole world will become grateful to you. Just like if a blind man with an operation is given his eyesight back, he feels very indebted to his doctor. Similarly, if you give these materialists the spiritual vision, they will all be grateful. A child may complain when the mother is disciplining him when he's young, but the same child when he grows up, he thanks the mother for having disciplined him. So the society will thank you for what you are doing. Even though today temporarily some people may criticize. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Parambujāyate Śrī Kṛṣṇa-saṁ-kīrtanam.

Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Do you know the meaning of this Parambujāyate Śrī Kṛṣṇa-saṁ-kīrtanam? Who knows the meaning? How many people? Who knows? Who knows the meaning of Param? Yes. What does it mean, Param Vijayate Śrī Kṛṣṇa Sāṁkīrtana? Okay, you say for I. Param Vijayate Śrī Kṛṣṇa Sāṁkīrtana means let there be victory to the Sāṁkīrtana process. Yes. Now he knows. You forgot also I explained it in Leningrad, Śrīkṣāstra ka śloka. You were not there. So any questions?

Yes. This is about your appearance.

I was born on Kṛṣṇa-ekādasi. Krishna Ekādaśī is the first Ekādaśī after Jānāmaśmī. So Krishna Ekādaśī is the first Ekādaśī after Jānāmaśmī, and it is usually 2 or 3 days after Jānāmaśmī. Jānāmaśmī is on 23rd, so I think the Vyāspujā is on 26th. So you just check Ekādaśī after Jānāmaśmī, 26th. Usually my Vyāspujā is one day after Prabhupāda's birthday. It is a second day after that, one day interval and next. Very easy, you cannot go wrong. Everybody knows when Jnānamāsmī is. What's he saying?

About initiation.

He gave me his name. What does he want to know about initiation? What is your question? He should speak to me when I take a break for one hour. So he should speak to me after in the interval. I don't answer. More questions, spiritual questions, not about initiation.

Where to take energy for devotional service, how to—

Prabhupada once wrote a letter to me. Prabhupada once wrote a letter to me in which he said a devotee is like a wrestler. The more a wrestler practices, the stronger he becomes. Like the Russian, Russian, like the Russian athletes for the Olympics, they do a lot of practicing. So if you practice chanting Krishna consciousness, then the spiritual energy will come. More or I'm very sorry that we don't have a big enough room for all of you devotees to be accommodated. For the whole lecture that I was giving today, I was feeling bad within my heart. I was feeling bad that I have a place to sit but all of you have to stand. So please excuse us for that. But I can assure you it is not in our hand. We would of course like to have a big place as soon as possible. I'll take on 2 more questions, philosophical questions please. And at 4 o'clock At 4 o'clock sharp we will meet again and I will only take one session from 4 to 5:30. And at 5:30 sharp we'll stop the whole thing.

She recognized that when you chant the Holy Name very, not attentively, but with devotional attitude, then the demonic people, they become very worried.

Why are you worried?

Worried.

So what is her question? Why the demons are always worried when they see the devotees. They can never understand how we can be happy without illicit sex, meat, and all the other sinful activities. So this is— but they can't understand it because they have not tried the chanting process.

Uh, he wants to ask a question. When the Nityānanda Prabhu was attacked by Jagadguru Madhava, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted to kill him. Lord Caitanya showed us the way of the wolfman service, way to do. How could he compare it? How could he—

Lord Caitanya was very angry because Lord Nityānanda was not an ordinary person. Nityānanda was attacked, so Lord Caitanya was showing that a devotee of the Lord— an insult to a devotee of the Lord cannot be tolerated. You understand? Another thing, Lord Nityānanda told Caitanya Mahāprabhu that in this age everybody is like this Jagāya and Madhāya. So we can save them by being merciful upon them. Lord Nityānanda was able to do what even Lord Caitanya was not able to do. Lord Caitanya made Lord Nityānanda the hero of saving Jagāya and Madhāya. One more, Vapros.

Sometimes in the morning or sometimes it's not It's— she's unable to concentrate on the Holy Names. Can she stop at that time and start again some other time, chanting some other time?

Okay, but try your best to concentrate. One more question.

What should a person do when while preaching? What should a person do when while preaching some people they insult the Holy—

the—

They did the Holy Name insult.

They insult the Holy Name?

How should the person act in that?

The person should go away from that situation. Or you preach to him. So is the prasadam ready for the devotees now?

What ideal family life?

Ideal family life. Question is, what is ideal family life? Idyll family life is one in which husband and wife resolve work together to serve Kṛṣṇa. Where husband and wife chant 16 rounds, they understand that the goal of life is pleasing Kṛṣṇa rather than their senses. They should offer their prasāda to Kṛṣṇa. They should take advantage of devotee association, hear the Bhāgavatam, develop detachment, and offer the fruits of their labor to whatever extent possible to Kṛṣṇa. Further details can be found in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 7th Canto, Part 3. So, some more.

The external, external, do external actions like breathing and sitting, you know, does it help in chanting mālā-mantra? In what way does it? Correspond with while chanting. How to chant?

Just, you don't need any special breathing exercise. If you want to do a special breathing exercise, do it, but it's not recommended.

No, but I told him that I translated everything. He wasn't happy.

The point is, if you want to do extra breathing, you can do it, but Prabhupāda, when he told us to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, he just told us to use the tongue to vibrate and the ears to hear. He didn't say, talk about any extra exercise. In my 22 years of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, 16 rounds, I have never worried about which way I'm breathing. And I never saw Prabhupāda mention that even once. But if you find that some breathing exercise helps you, go ahead, do it.

No. Enjoyment without any desire for enjoyment.

What's that?

He's saying how to understand enjoyment without any desire for enjoyment. When you enjoy in Rāmacāraka, you read.

Tell him that this is a false concept that he has. It's like a thief telling the police that I stole but I had no desire to steal. So there's no question of sense enjoyment without desire for sense enjoyment. His papers, his paper was written about Krishnaites that find the happiness in the family. One of the main principles of Krishnaites is to find the happiness in the family, in the marriage. Are there many such people that have found such happiness in your society? In marriage? In marriage? In the material world— in the material world you can never have real happiness. Real happiness you can find only in serving God. So if— whether your husband, whether you're married or unmarried, if you're serving Kṛṣṇa, you'll always be happy.

Will we always have an opportunity to go to Vṛndāvana and die there?

Will we always have the opportunity? Yes, if you can afford the ticket and get the visa, no problem. Anybody comes there, we give them place to stay.

Yes. Englishman was asking about the Kṛṣṇa's tendency to steal, which is explained in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

His tendency to steal? Kṛṣṇa is God. He steals just to create pastimes with His devotees. Kṛṣṇa likes His devotees to chastise Him. So when he steals, the devotees get a chance to chastise him. Krishna enjoys being chastised by his devotees. I'm just going to take questions for 10-15 more minutes, that's all.

Well, we want you to explain how the soul transmigrates. And there's another question: how, if you are supposed to get another body on this earth, and if you die, how do you get— how does your soul transfer it to another body through rain or what?

How does soul transfer, gets from one body to another body? That's the question, no?

Yes, and how does it exactly happen?

The soul and the Srimad Bhagavatam in the third canto explains, 'Kārmanā dēvā netre nā jantu deho papātaye sthriyā pravesthu dhāram pūṁ sabreṭhākhanāśrayaḥ.' That is that the soul enters through the semen of the male into the womb of the female. It's in the third canto.

When he dies, let's say, how does he— he's got astral body, astral something.

The soul, the soul leaves this body and enters into the semen of another person's body. You want to know who will carry the soul from your body to another body? It goes, it's an automatic transcendental process. Yes.

How to act when material desires are Too much, you know, heaviness.

Material desires will always trouble you. Just like if you know you have an enemy, you know the enemy will always make your life miserable. However, material desires are less powerful than spiritual desires. Just like you may have an enemy who always wants to beat you, but if you are stronger than him, then you are not worried. You know if he beats you, you beat him back. So when material desires will not be able to beat you if you are chanting Hare Krishna 16 rounds, nicely. But if you're not going to chant your 16 rounds nicely, then material desires will trouble you 24 hours. You must understand that Maya is strong but not stronger than Krishna. If Maya was stronger than Krishna, then what are we doing over here? So Maya is, Maya is strong, so you must be scared of her all the time. So you take precautions. Think that Maya is very weak and I'm very strong, and you don't take precautions, then Maya will trap you.

Um, Does Maya, if we defeat Maya in some way, does it have a tendency to, if we defeat Maya in some way, does it have tendency to strike back? Yes.

Yes, as long as you live, as long as you're alive, Maya will try to attack you. Actually, Maya is happy in her heart when she sees that you are rejecting her. Just like Maya actually wants to be defeated. Just like when a father is arguing with the son, the father is actually very pleased when the son is become smarter than him. So Maya, she actually wants us to surrender to Krishna. And because she wants you to surrender to Krishna, she will make sure that you have plenty of misery in this life. Maya will give you so much misery so that you understand that material world is no place to live for a gentleman. Like the policeman, like the policeman really does not want you to steal. So they will beat you up so much to make sure that you don't steal again. You must understand that Maya Devi is a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa has given her the job to make sure that nobody is happy in the material world. Just like the head of the president of the country may tell the chief of police, "Make sure that nobody steals anymore." So the police chief may give very severe punishment so nobody steals again. Maya Devi is totally dedicated to Kṛṣṇa. But she knows that if you want to go back to Kṛṣṇa's abode, you have to become completely pure. So when Māyādevī will make sure that you are determined, then she will not bother you.

What attachment should we have to our family if we don't have to have attachment?

You should do your duty towards your family. Whatever duty you do, you should do it as a matter of duty. If you have a wife and daughter and children, you have to take care of them. You cannot leave them and go Send them out of the house, tell them, "Oh." But do everything as a matter of duty. Kṛṣṇa doesn't say abandon your duty. Kṛṣṇa says abandon your attachment.

What is our service in the spiritual world?

Serving Kṛṣṇa. You can have your choice when you get there. Don't make the decision now, make the decision when you get there.

What problems do Western devotees have? And what's the difference between us and them?

When you say Western, you mean American, European? What do you mean? Western means whom? Western from which angle? Everybody in the material world, Western or Eastern, has the same problem. Everyone is struggling due to lust with the mind and the 6 senses. Same disease for everyone and same medicine for everyone.

Why is Maya called illusory energy?

Because— I follow— because Maya makes you believe that what is false is real. In English, there's a phrase, mirage in a desert. So the dog in the desert, by the arrangement of the hot sun, thinks that there is water ahead. Actually, there is no water, but by the arrangement of the rays of the sun, it looks as if there is water. So the dog chases the mirage, and it never catches the mirage, never finds water, and dies in the chase. So Maya will make you believe, come sleep with me, enjoy me, and be happy. By making you falsely believe something, Maya is cheating you. The word Maya means that which is not.

He's asking, saying that some people, they consider things which are here, that they are not here, they are not existing.

They say that the world is unreal. They say God is unreal. We say that God is real. So how can His creation be unreal? His creation is real, but it is temporary. So don't get attached to the temporary creation. 5 more minutes of questions, that's it.

Question: when you first learn the Vaiṣṇava songs and all the prayers and everything, what's more important in that stage, the meaning or the words you concentrate on?

Both are important. You must know the meaning, but unless you know the meaning, you won't know why you're singing. So I want to thank all of you once again. And if Lord Nrsimhadeva and Gauranithai desire, I'll return again after. I hope that, I hope that the lectures and the questions and answers will be of some help to you on your journey back to Godhead. I feel that you Soviet devotees are extremely sincere. You Soviet devotees are simple and you have a desire to serve the Lord. By Lord Caitanya's plan, all of you have come to His movement. Just remember the spiritual instructions which Prabhupāda has explained in the scriptures and chant your rounds nicely. Māyā will always try and trick you to believe that you don't have to chant your rounds. You can fall in māyā. You are so young now, why should you be so austere from a young age? Look, everybody else is enjoying their senses. You are the only fool. But you must understand that the opinion of the Lord and the great sages is much superior to the opinion of the contaminated and corrupt mind and society. So please be very steady. We have all the weapons that we need to win a war. Just like in the karmi world, to win a war you need the air force, the navy, the army, the nuclear jets, the missiles. So similarly, for winning the war against Maya, you also need weapons. The Hare Naam, the service you can do to Krishna. If you use all these weapons, then Maya will say, I'm defeated, Prabhu. And, and, and I'm happy to be defeated. After all, my whole role is to make you realize that material life only has to offer birth, death, disease, old age. And the mind will always trouble you, the other living entities will trouble you, material nature will trouble you. So don't be cheated by this temporary happiness. Prabhupāda used to give one example. In the olden days, the prisoners would be taken in the middle of the ocean and their head would be ducked underwater. Just to make sure they did not get drowned, for 1 second they would pull the head up, and then again after, the prisoner would take a breath again. So this is exactly what material, what Maya does to you. Instead of 1 second, for 20, 30 years, it may give you a beautiful body, free sex, intoxication and everything else that you want. But remember, your life is just not 50, 60, 70 years. Your life runs into thousands of years because you're eternal. So what is the use of 20 or 40 or 60 years of life as a king or a queen and the rest of your existences in various lower species of life in the hellish planet? With these words, I end my talk.