Avoid Vaishnava Aparadha | SB 04.04.20 | 31 May 2005 | Los Angeles, USA | Gopal Krishna Goswami

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. In the Vedas, there are directions for two kinds of activities: activities for those who are attached to material enjoyment and activities for those who are materially detached. In consideration of these two kinds of activities, the two kinds of people who have different symptoms— if one wants to see two kinds of activities in one person, that is contradictory. But both kinds of activities may be neglected by a person who is transcendently situated. Purport by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda. Śrīla Prabhupāda ki— The Vedic activities are so designed that the conditioned soul who has come to enjoy the material world may do so under direction, so that at the end he becomes detached from some material entanglement and is eligible to enter into the transcendental position. The four different social orders—brahmachari, grihastha, vanaprastha, and sannyāsa—gradually train a person to come to the platform of transcendental life. The activities and dress of a grihastha, or a householder, are different from those of a sannyāsi, one in the renounced order of life. It is impossible for one person to adopt both orders. A sannyāsi cannot act like a householder, nor can a householder act like a sannyāsi. But above these two kinds of persons—one who engages in material activities and one who has renounced material activities—there is the person who is transcendental to both. Lord Śiva is in the transcendental position because, as stated before, He is always absorbed in thoughts of Lord Vāsudeva within Himself. Therefore, neither the activities of the grihastha nor those of the sannyāsi in a renounced order can be applicable for Him. He is in the paramahansa stage, the highest perfectional stage of life. The transcendental position of Lord Śiva is also explained in Bhāgavad-gītā. It is stated there: that one who fully engages in the transcendental service of the Lord by performing activities without fruit of activities, one is elevated to the transcendental position. At that time, he has no obligation to follow the Vedic injunctions or the different rules and regulations of the Vedas. When one is above the direction of the Vedic ritualistic injunctions, retaining different allurements, and is fully absorbed in transcendental thought, which means thought of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in devotional service, one is in the position called buddhi-yoga or samādhi, ecstasy. For a person who has attained this stage, neither the Vedic activities for realizing material enjoyment nor that for renunciation are applicable. Om jyānta ivarandhasya jñānānjanāśalakya. Jag churan milita nienam, tasmay Śrī Gurave namaḥ. Śrī Caitanya māno bestam, sthāpitāmena bhūtelai. Svayam rūpa-kadāmayam dadāti svāpasantikam. Bandeḥ ham Śrī Guru, Śrī uttāpada-kam lan. Śrī Guruṇvaiṣṇavaṁ śrāmaḥ. Śrīrupāmaṁ sa-grajatam sahagana-raghunātānmitaṁ tām-sajevam sadvetam svadhūtam prijana-saitam Kriṣṇa-cetanya-devaṁ śrī-rādhā-Kriṣṇa-padaṅḥ sahagana-lalitā śrī-viśakhaṇvitāṃ sha— Hē Kṛṣṇa karunā-sindho dīnā-bandhu-jagātpate gopesa-gopika-kānta rādhā-kānta-namo 'stu te dāpta-kāñcana-gauraṅgi rādhē-bhrindāvāne śvurī priśyabhānu-sūti-devī pranamāmi hari-bhye. Vancha kalpa talbyāśca, kripā sīndhu bahayabacā, padītānam pāvanebhyo, vāśnanebhyo namo'namāham. Jai Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Prabhu Nityānanda, Śrī Advaita Gadādhar, Śivaśrī Gaurbhaktabindaḥ. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, hale, hale, hale Rāma, hale Rāma, Rāma, Rāma. Karma pravartam ca nivṛtam pīritam, vedaḥ vivaḥcyobhāya līṅaṁ aśṛtam, vero diṭhātya gāpadaika-kārtari, dvāyaṁ tathā-brahmani-karma-narjati. So Sati is the speaker of this verse, and Sati is very offended by the attitude of her father towards whom? Towards Lord Śiva. Śiva means all auspicious, and Lord Śiva is not to be viewed to be an ordinary personality. Vaiṣṇava-yata-sambhu. It is also described that Lord Śiva is the best of the Vaiṣṇavas. And Lord Śiva, as the Prabhupāda here says and has stated elsewhere, he's always absorbed in thoughts of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The Prabhupāda says that very clearly. Śiva, it means all auspicious. And Lord Śiva has many names, and one of them is Āśutosh, one who— that means one who is very easily pleased and very easily displeased. So Lord Śiva's position is very exalted, and the fact that Lord Śiva is absorbed in meditating on the Lord is also nicely revealed in the instructions He gave to the Prachetas that you read about in the fourth canto. Prachetas were the sons of King Prachinabhari, and they had performed vast charities for 10,000 years. So obviously this pastime took place in Satya Yuga, and Lord Śiva was so pleased by their mood of austerity that He gave them a song that glorified whom? Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So Lord Śiva's position is actually very, very exalted. And unfortunately, Dakṣa committed a great offense by being by blaspheming Lord Śiva. And actually, in the verses that we've read before, you've seen how Dakṣa's attitude towards Lord Śiva was influenced by envy. And because of that, because of this envious attitude, Dakṣa has committed actually a great offense to Lord Śiva. So Sati was unhappy that Śiva wasn't invited again to this second sacrifice that was being done by Dakṣa. And Sati is speaking these verses to be that, point out the exalted position of Lord Śiva. So envy is one of the impediments on spiritual path. Lord Śiva on his side exhibited tolerance. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has advised that we cultivate the quality of tolerance. In the scriptures, you often read about the transcendental qualities of a transcendentalist, and one of the first qualities that gets mentioned is Tolerance. Titeksva karuni kaha surdasarva dainam. Ojata-sadvatsanta-sadvatsadu-bhushana. So Lord Kāpīla, in describing the qualities of a saintly personality, describes titeksva, tolerance, as one of them. And we see that Lord Śiva, even though He was insulted by Daksha, if He wanted, He could have easily counteracted the curse also. But He was very tolerant. He tolerated all this. So this is the, one of the qualities of Lord Śiva, who is also described in the Bhāgavatam as one of the mahajans, or spiritual authorities. Mahajan today means, has become a caste in India. But mahajan means a spiritual authority. Saimbu-narada-sambhu-kamaraka-pilomanu-palado-janaka-bhisma-baliṛvāya-yasa-kīrvaya. Lord Yāmraja explained to the Yamadūtas in the Sixth Canto of the Bhāgavatam that there are 12 prominent authorities or sources of spiritual knowledge, and one of them is saimbu-narada-sambhu. So sambhu refers to Lord Śiva. So Lord Śiva's position actually is very exalted. And Dakṣa exhibited envy towards Lord Śiva. As it is said, the different anarthas, and envy is one of the anarthas. Kaṁ kroḍ-lo-mo-madmad-sarīya. These are described as the anārtas, or the impediments, for the path of spiritual advancement. Kāma, that is lust. In the Bhāgavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa was asked, "How is one compelled into sinful acts even unwillingly?" And the Lord said, Kāma-esa-krodhaya-esa-rajagun-samudbhāvā. So lust, is one of the impediments. Then krodha, that's anger. Then lobha, greed. Our greed is so intense that can never be satisfied. In the 7th canto, Narada Muni explains to Yudhishthira Maharaj, he gives a nice example. He says, "An angry man can be satisfied when he has the opportunity to shout. Thirsty man can be satisfied when you give him water to drink. A hungry man can be satisfied when you give him food or prasad, if it is a devotee prasad. But a greedy man, he says, can never be satisfied. So greed. Then moha, illusion. Mādhā, madness, and mātsarya, envy. So envy is one of the anarthas, or obstacles, on the path of spiritual advancement. In the Amānāya-sūtra, 4 different categories of anarthas have been analyzed. So anartha means that which is unnecessary.. In other words, anarthas are impediment on the path of spiritual advancement. And as explained in the scriptures, these anarthas can only be overcome by the power of devotional service. So in this Amnaya-sutra, 4 categories of anarthas are identified. The first category is hṛdayā-dvur-baliya. Hṛdayā-dvur-baliya refers to the weakness of the heart. And under this heading of hṛdayā-dvur-baliya, there are specifically four categories of anarthas. One is attachment to objects not related to Kṛṣṇa. Then another is to cheat and find faults. This is very common, um, in Kali-yuga, the cheating tendency and the tendency to find faults. And the third anartha in this category is envious attitude. Envy. Envy is also One of the anarthas under hridaya-dvārbalya. And the other, the fourth one is the desire for recognition. It's very, very strong in material life. So these are four categories of anarthas under the heading of hridaya-dvārbalya. One is attachment to objects not related to Kṛṣṇa. Then the tendency to cheat and find faults. Envy, and the desire for recognition. Then there are also another category of anarthas known as aprāda, or offenses. And these again have four categories under them. One is offenses towards the Holy Name. We read about the 10 offenses. We read about the importance of avoiding these offenses. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said, bhau janma-karaye yadi śau na-kṛṭṇa-tabhūtana-vāya-kṛṣṇa-padhe prema-dhana. That when we go on chanting the Holy Name birth after birth, but unless one understands the importance of avoiding the offenses, He will not be able to get love of God. So in the second category of anarthas known as aprāda, one is offence towards the Holy Name. Then another is offences again towards the deity of the Lord. In the Nectar of Devotion, you read about offences that one should avoid in worshipping the Deity. And even the so-called concept Of impersonalism is actually an offense against the Lord. The impersonalist viewpoint, the Lord is impersonal, is actually a great insult to the Lord. The third category of anartha in this heading is offenses toward other Vaiṣṇavas, Vaiṣṇava-aparāda. Caitanya Mahāprabhu was explaining to Sanatana Gosvāmī the process of devotional service. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu very nicely describes how brahmānda-brahmita-kono bhāgavanujī guru-kṛṣṇa-kripāpāya bhakti-lata-vīta. How the living entity, after going through so many cycles of birth and death, the samsara of birth and death, receives the bhakti-lata-vīta. Is the seed of devotional service. And the seed of devotional service grows. How does it grow? Through the watering process. And the watering process is compared to the process of hearing and chanting. Hearing and chanting is what gives us the strength to advance on the devotional path, on the devotional path. But then Lord Caitanya explains that in order to ensure that we, our devotional creeper, keeps growing, we should build, we should have a strong fencing around us. And that means keep ourselves in devotee association. Devotee association It's highly recommended if you wish to take advantage of this process of devotional service, especially here in Kali-yuga, devotee association. And therefore the scriptures say, sadhu-sanga, sadhu-sanga, sarva-saṣṭakāya. All the scriptures emphasize the importance of— So devotees look forward to spiritual association, just like you had this very nice Prabhupāda Festival, and ISKCON holds festivals around the world, and devotees look forward to take part in these festivals. In Russia, they have a festival called the Dinamo Festival that's held on the Black Sea, and you get about, say, for a 1-week period. Devotees look forward to associating with each other because This association gives us the strength and the determination to progress on the spiritual path. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommended that we keep ourselves surrounded by devotees. Sometimes devotees have a tendency to fall find other devotees and to avoid devotee association. This is harmful and detrimental for the long-term spiritual advancement. I remember in, uh, 1975 or '76, there was a devotee from Kenya, a Kenyan devotee who came to Bombay and was fault-finding devotees in the temple. And Prabhupada was trying his best. He wanted to be completely independent and just be in isolation and chana-hare Kṛṣṇa. Prabhupāda was telling him, "No, if you can't stay in one temple, you can go to another temple with a brahmachari, you know, stay in devotee association." But he kept insisting, and ultimately Prabhupāda had no choice but to let him do what he wanted. So Prabhupāda finally gave him a letter that he could go to Māyāpur and construct a hut for himself. And stayed there in chanting seclusion. So he went there, stayed there for a few days, then he was gone and no one ever saw him again. So spiritual association is very necessary. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that one should build a strong fencing around him so the devotional creeper grows. And Lord Caitanya also warned us that as the devotional creeper grows, Sometimes the unwanted weeds may also grow alongside. Unwanted weeds can take on various forms, like becoming very proud, "Such a big devotee, I'm initiated," desire for recognition, fame, etc. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu advises, that the unwanted weeds should be plucked out. But these unwanted weeds can only be identified when you are in devotee association. If you're not in devotee association, then to identify the unwanted weeds is very difficult, is almost impossible, because we need the association of other Vaishnavas to help us identify where the unwanted weeds are. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu has advised that we pluck out the unwanted weeds. And then Caitanya Mahāprabhu described the importance of avoiding vaishnava-aparāda. Like, one of the categories of offenses is offenses towards the Holy Name, offenses towards the form of the Lord, and offenses towards other Vaiṣṇavas. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu described this as the mad elephant offense. Just like a mad elephant can destroy a beautiful garden, this vraja-stama of PRASAD RAVALA can destroy all the gains of devotional service. Therefore, on the spiritual path, one is advised to be very, very cautious. In the Bhāgavatam, you read the story of Amṛśmarāja and Dvārasa-muni. You read that how Dvārasa-muni had this envious attitude towards Amṛśmarāja, just like over here we are reading about Dakṣa having an envious attitude towards Lord Śiva. So the rāsa-muni, as soon as he got the opportunity, he wanted to harm Amṛśma Rāja by producing a demon from his seeker. But Amṛśma Rāja was totally fixed in his meditation, savayam anā-kṛṣṇa-padāra-vindeva. That's the nature of a devotee. He's totally fixed and then meditation on the Lord. And as a result, the siddhasana-cakra of the Lord came to his rescue and the rāsa had to flee. Wherever he fled, the siddhasana-cakra was right behind him. Eventually the rāsa managed to reach the Lord, but he apologized for his offenses. But the Lord said that, "My devotees are so dear to Me that I reside in their heart." and they reside in My heart. So the Lord pointed out the exalted position of a devotee. And then he had to go and apologize to Amrīśma Rāja, who very gladly forgave him. So this attitude of vaishnava prasāda one should avoid. And often this is influenced by And in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, you read the story of Amoga, who was the son-in-law of Sarvabhauma Badaśārya. Sarvabhauma Badaśārya was a staunch impersonalist. Actually, previously they were all residing in Navadvipa, then they were driven away because Bengal had a Muslim king. So a lot of these prominent Sanskrit scholars moved on to Jagannathpuri. Actually, 500 years ago, Bengal was the richest province in the world, richest kingdom, and the intellectual capital of the world was actually Navadvipa, where Lord Caitanya appeared. Later on, by some manipulation, there was a Mohammedan king, and a lot of these Sanskrit scholars left and relocated to Jagannathpuri, which had a devotee king, King Pratapuda. So Kṛṣṇa Mahāprabhu was saved by Caitanya Mahāprabhu. It's a long story. And he had a daughter who was married to a devotee, to an individual called Amoga. This Amoga had a very envious attitude towards Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And he was always looking for opportunities to find fault in Caitanya Mahāprabhu's character. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when He would travel, get invited by different grihastas to come and have prasada in their house. And Sarubha Bala-carya's wife, she was such an expert cook. She didn't, definitely didn't need microwave cookers. She could cook 100 items in 1 hour. And she would cook very elaborate prasada for Caitanya Mahāprabhu, but He being very renounced would only take very, very little. And Sarvapada Ācārya knew that his son-in-law is a fault-finder, very envious of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So he would stand at the gate of the room with a stick to make sure that Amarga didn't have the opportunity to see what was being offered to the Lord. But one day Sarvapada Ācārya had to leave. Guarding the door to help his wife in serving Caitanya Mahāprabhu. As a result, Amoga came in. He saw what was the various items that were being offered to the Lord, and he said, "Look at this sannyāsi. He claims to be a renunciate, but he eats more opulently than a householder." And then, so the chariot chased him out of the house. "Ahaha." Now the same Amoga got afflicted later by a disease, and he was on his deathbed. Caitanya Mahāprabhu just checked with Gopīnanda Ācārya, who was the brother-in-law of Sarvabhauma Baddu Ācārya, and who from the very beginning knew the exalted position of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu was checking with Gopīnanda Ācārya, "How is Amoga?" And then when he learned that he was on his deathbed, he knew that his beloved devotee Sarvabhauma the Charya would be very aggrieved if his son-in-law dies. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to see him. And he kept his hand on his chest and said, he was lying on his bed, he said, "As long as you have this envy in the heart, Kṛṣṇa will not reside over there." But by Caitanya Mahāprabhu's causeless mercy, as soon as He placed His hand on his chest, Amoga got up from his bed, fell at the feet of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, apologized for his offenses, and became a great devotee. So by the mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he became a great devotee. So vaishnava prasad, which is Instigated often by envy, it becomes a cause of our downfall on the spiritual path. Just like there's a story in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, in every, in the house of Śrīvās ṭhākura, they would perform these ecstatic kīrtans every day. And how that brahmana, in order to embarrass Śrīvās, kept all the paraphernalia for worshipping Durga. At his doorstep and in front of his door. And in the morning when he got up, he saw all this paraphernalia for worshiping Goddess Durga. And Śiva said, "Friends, I'm not a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. I was just cheating all of you. Actually I'm a devotee of Durga." But nobody believed it and they cleaned the whole place up. But later on, this devotee got affected by a severe disease. And it was only Śrīvāsa's mercy and compassion. Even Lord Caitanya refused to pardon him. But then when he came to Śrīvāsa on the advice of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, then he was pardoned. So there's so many stories in our scriptures to show that. And the reason why these stories are there, so we can gain some We can benefit from this and avoid in future. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is described as the most merciful of all incarnations. And Lord Caitanya had a little bit of anger towards His mother. Why? Because He wasn't happy that His mother was thinking that Advaita. His mother had a little bit of anger against Advaita Ācārya. Because the elder son had left home, and then the younger son also left home and took sannyāsa. So Mother Sādhī was thinking that maybe this is Advaitācārya's influence. So Lord Caitanya was freely distributing His love of God to everyone. So everyone associates, and you are giving this love of God to everyone. Why aren't you also giving it to your mother? And Lord Caitanya said, My mother, she has offended and exalted Vaiṣṇava. But Advaitācārya, when he heard about this, he refused to accept it. He said, "How could Mother Sachi ever commit an offense? She is the mother of the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Anyway, Lord Caitanya was teaching us by example. And so once when the Lord had revealed His universal form and His close associates were offering obeisances, Madhurasādhī came from behind and took the dust from Madhvādhācārya's feet and applied it on her forehead. And when Lord Caitanya saw this, He was very happy. He was very happy. He said, "Now my mother is forgiven." So through these examples we can see how these offenses, ativaśrāprādaṣad, should be avoided. So there are different categories of offenses that one can commit that are identified under the heading of vānārthas. One is offenses against the Holy Name, offenses against form of the Lord, offenses against Vaiṣṇavas. And then there's another category, and that is offenses other living entities. The nature of a Vaiṣṇava is that he doesn't want to harm anyone. You see this in the example of Jadbaharat, who was requested to carry the palanquin of King Ruhugana. But he was so cautious that he would not even keep his feet on the ground till he saw that at least for the next 3 feet there was no living entity. So there are different categories of anarthas. And By the power of devotional service, these anarthas can be avoided. Now, now Sati over here is saying, in the Vedas there are two kinds of activities. The Veda means knowledge. In the Vedas there are directions for those who are too materially attached and materially detached. In other words, The Vedic system is society gets divided into four varnas and four āśramas, and this facility is there so that gradually one can move up and come to the point of eventually surrendering to the Lord. And there are different rules and regulations, but If the highest is, if we come to the process of completely surrendering to the Lord, which is known as the process of daiva varnasrama. In the Purport, Prabhupada talks about the varnasrama system and he talks about brahmachari, grihasta, vanaprastha, sannyāsa. In the 7th canto, you read about Nārada Muni's instructions to Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja. In which He described the duties of a brahmachari, the behavior of a grihastha, the behavior of a vānaprastha, and the behavior of a sannyāsa. So brahmachari, for example, he leads a life of a celibate. His duty is to beg alms on behalf of the spiritual master, and he leads a simple life, and he associates with the opposite sex only for the purpose of preaching and not beyond that. Grihāsta, one in the Vedic system, one is permitted to enter householder life. He lives with a wife. But grihāsta is an āśrama. Āśrama means a situation where one is in and he progresses spiritually. So husband and wife, when they live together, according to Vedic according to religious principles, then it is called grihāsa-āśrama. And when they live independent of any Vedic religious principles, then what is it called? Grihāmēri. So the purport, Prabhupāda talks about the four different social orders: brahmachari, grihāsa. So grihāsa is an āśrama where man, husband and wife, combined together for the purpose of self-realization. Then there is vānaprastha, where one at a certain age, one decides to increase his spiritual surrender to the Lord. The husband and wife travel the places of pilgrimage, etc., but the real point is to increase, to develop the system of detachment, and eventually Then there is a sannyāsa-āśrama in which the sannyāsi, he travels from one place to another and preaching the message of God. The sannyāsi's behavior should be exemplary. In the scriptures, the example is cited in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta of a black spot on a white sheep. It can be easily identified. So a sannyāsi has to be very exemplary in his behavior. Actually, if you read our scriptures, we see, especially in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, it's very clearly stated that by one's behavior a spiritual personality must be able to convey the meaning of religious principles. In other words, our behavior Should be very exemplary. Haridas Thakura was absorbed in chanting the Holy Name. He never went inside the Jagannath Puri Temple either for— because of the birth that he had taken. But nevertheless, being so exalted, he had such great mercy that Lord Caitanya would come to him, Sanatana Gosvāmī, the great sages would come to him. Every day. So Sanatana Gosvāmī said in addressing Haidarshakur, he says: "Some preach but do not practice, and some practice and do not preach, but you are simultaneously doing both, preaching and practicing." So Prabhupāda in the purport states that the devotees of the Kṛṣṇa conscious movement should simultaneously do both. They should practice and preach. And it's so nice to see that here in the Los Angeles community you have a strong preaching spirit. It's very encouraging to hear every morning 10, 15 names of devotees who go out and do book distribution. The various forms of preaching that we can take part in, actually All our activities are designed to expand the preaching movement of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Even the Deity worship we do, if the Deity worship is very high standard, then people get attracted by the beauty of the Deities. And they get— this in turn leads to attraction to the process of devotional service. So the various ways how devotees preach, but the highest form of preaching is giving people this transcendental knowledge that is there in Prabhupāda's books. When we give people this transcendental knowledge that is there in Prabhupāda's books, these books wake people up to the spiritual reality. I mean, Prabhupāda, when he came to the West, he encouraged us to take part in book distribution. And many times the devotees couldn't understand, you know, why was Prabhupāda really encouraging this book distribution. But the real reason was these books have the capacity to wake us up to the spiritual reality. We get association through the person Bhāgavat and the book Bhāgavat. And we have seen all over the world how these books have changed the lives of unlimited people all over the world. And, um, the best form of preaching is giving people this transcendental knowledge that is there in Prabhupāda's books. Therefore, Prabhupāda encouraged book distribution, and he himself set the example of preaching through the medium of book distribution. Like there's a story that even before Prabhupāda came to the West, when he was in India doing, trying to launch the Kṛṣṇa conscious movement, Prabhupāda was staying in Vṛndāvana, coming to Delhi, buying paper, getting his books printed, and then arranging to distribute his books. It was a one-man army doing everything, writing, buying the paper, supervising the printing, the binding, then going out distributing, and again putting the money together, collecting the money, going out asking donations. So once while Prabhupāda was distributing his books, it was so hot that he had a sunstroke and he fainted. But as soon as he came back to consciousness, he went on to distribute his books again. We saw that even His last days on the planet, last few weeks and months on the planet when He wasn't physically so well, still He would go on preaching. Even these circumstances under which Prabhupada dictated the purpose of the 10th canto, He was maturely so sick, but He had this great desire to leave behind this transcendental literature. That could save humanity. And this literature is meant to guide humanity for the next 10,000 years. So we have to have faith that if we study these books and distribute these books, it will help save us, help save others. Prabhupāda said that when you read these books, Kṛṣṇa is very pleased. Why? Kṛṣṇa sees, "Here is someone trying to understand Me. So let Me give him the understanding by which he can come to Me." Just like in the dāmadara pastime of the Lord, you see that Mother Yāsodā was trying to tie Kṛṣṇa down. She took on 2, 3, 4, 5 ropes and all the ropes still were unable to hold Him down, isn't it? Then Kṛṣṇa "So, that my mother is trying so hard to try and tie me down." That he agreed to get tied down. So Prabhupada said, similarly, when we read Kṛṣṇa's books, Kṛṣṇa sees, "Here is somebody trying to understand Me, so let Me give him the understanding so that he can understand Me." And similarly, when we endeavor to preach, especially through the medium of book distribution, Kṛṣṇa sees, "Here is someone trying to carry out My orders." After all, isn't it Kṛṣṇa who said in the 18th chapter, yāidāṁ paramaṁ guhyam, "Of all types of devotees, who is dearer most to Me?" Who, who, what's that verse? Ah, no, no, what's the translation? "One who preaches My glories is actually more dear to Me, and never will there be one more dear." So when we endeavor to distribute Prabhupāda's books, Kṛṣṇa is very pleased, He's very obliged, and He reciprocates. Yeya tamam prabhupādayante. He reciprocates with our effort. And how does He reciprocate? By giving us the intelligence to do that service successfully. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhāgavad-gītā, those who worship Me with devotion, "I preserve what they have and I make up what they lack." So we may have so many shortcomings, but if we sincerely endeavor to carry out the desires of the predecessors, or ācāryas, ultimately everything flows from Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the original guru of everyone. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord. So Kṛṣṇa says that in the Bhāgavad-gītā, As we said, the dear most devotees, one who preaches My glories, Lord Caitanya, the most merciful incarnation of the Lord, manifested that same spirit, isn't it? Lord Caitanya, what did He say? Jāre dakho, dayakaho. Kṛṣṇa replied, "Wherever you see, instruct him." Then in the same line, our ācāryas, they had the same vision. Thākura Bhaktiṇoda, the great ācārya, He started this. Actually, Thakur Bhakti Nārādhana was the fourth great book distributor. He distributed his book on the life of Lord Caitanya to institutions around the world. So in that mood, the ācāryas have emphasized preaching. And we can see how these books have changed the lives of so many people. There's a story. There was a young girl, about 20-year-old girl then. One of the Canadian cities. So I just asked her about 2 years ago, how did she come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness? She told me that she had gone to a secondhand bookstore. I'm sure you have secondhand bookstores in L.A. too, you know, where people sell their books. And there she got a copy of the Bhāgavad-gītā in wrinkled condition. It was so wrinkled that she had to iron it to even read it. She got it for 50 cents. So it must be really cheap. She got that Bhāgavad-gītā. It was in completely wrinkled condition. She took it home, she ironed it so she could read it. And then she started reading it, and as she started reading it, she discovered that the means to find peace is chanting the holy names of the Lord. So even before she knew that there was a temple in that city where she resided, She started chanting just on the basis of reading that book. And as a result, she's become such a good devotee. So there's so many examples. I'm sure you've all heard about it so many times from other speakers. But the point is that we need to remind ourselves of the importance of preaching, especially of book distribution as a medium. Just like Kṛṣṇa could have in one verse explained in the second chapter. You are not this body. Spirit. You are pure spirit soul. But Kṛṣṇa, through a series of verses, goes on to expand and present from different angles that you are not this body, isn't it? If you read the Bhāgavad-gītā, you will see that in so many locations Kṛṣṇa mentions, man mana bhāva mad-bhakto mad-yaḥ jīmān namaskaraḥ. Again in the 18th chapter, When he summarizes the Gītā, he again emphasizes this point. Now Prabhupāda discusses this principle of repetition in one of his purports in the Gītā. And Prabhupāda says, "Repetition is necessary to drive the point home." Just like in the material world, they also have this philosophy of repetition, isn't it? You see the same product, Sony, advertised everywhere. Billboard, TV, radio, newsprint, isn't it? Everyone knows it's a brand like Sony or Coca-Cola, but they still advertise that. Why? They run on the premise that if they remind you again and again, then you'll buy their product. Just once is not enough. So similarly, we need to be reminded on a regular basis about the essential elements of our philosophy. That's why we have this principle of attending the Bhāgavad-gītā class in the morning, attending the Gītā class in the evening, because these classes, hearing reminds us of the importance of pursuing spiritual life. Similarly, by hearing of the importance of preaching, book distribution, etc., again we get inspired to stay on this spiritual path and engage in this very important activity. And what did Prabhupāda tell us? He said, as long as book distribution goes on, I will never die. In other words, through the medium of these books, Prabhupada and the ācāryas are preaching. So one can engage in various services and all these services are absolute, but of all the services, Prabhupada said preaching is the best. Therefore he gave us this 4-line mantra. What's that mantra? Preaching is the essence. So all the various types of services, the most essential services The service of preaching. But preaching is based upon what? You can go and talk to people all day on the streets, "Jāna Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa." That's also good. But ultimately when we talk about preaching, we mean inspiring people to get these books, read these books, buy these books. Because Prabhupāda said in Kali-yuga, people's memory is so short, you tell them some philosophy, they'll forget it tomorrow. But you give them a book, They'll read it and they'll get others to read it also. When you distribute a book, you should bear in mind that you're not just inspiring one person to read it. On an average, a book is read by 3 to 4 people, and in poor countries even more. So when you give one book out, you're really creating an opportunity for many other people to read it, not just that one person. There was a devotee from Australia, And I asked him, "How did you become a devotee?" So he told me that 4 years ago, his mother had bought a book from one of the distributors and kept it in her library. And she never read it for 4 years. So then one day he lost his job and he was depressed. So he went home, went to his mother's library and started reading different books. And none of them satisfied him. Till he landed himself with a copy of the Bhagavad-gītā. Then he started reading the Bhagavad-gītā that his mother had purchased when? 4 years ago and it was never opened. Probably she must have been an aggressive salesman and he must have inspired her to take the book. But she had the book in her library for 4 years and finally someone read it and took advantage of it and became a nice devotee. So point is that if we have faith in the words of the predecessor ācāryas, then we can succeed in this effort. Therefore Prabhupāda said books are the basis. And then what did he say? Utility is a principle and purity is a force. So purity comes from good sādhana. I was discussing different types of anarthas. One of the categories of anarthas is Illusion about spiritual knowledge. And illusion about spiritual knowledge consists of different categories. One is illusion about the position of the Supreme Lord. Another is illusion about the position of the jīva, the living entity. The third is illusion about the process of sādhana-bhakti. So being unaware about the importance of sādhana-bhakti as a means to overcome the anārtas, is also an anartha. And the fourth is being unaware about factors unfavorable for spiritual advancement. We are so fortunate that the scriptures and the sages have identified for us what's favorable and what's unfavorable. So being unaware of factors that are detrimental is also ānātma. So we are so fortunate in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, we have this wonderful opportunity, wonderful temples, association. And if we just take advantage of it, then we can come to the transcendental position. As Prabhupāda says in the purport of this verse, that when one is fully absorbed in transcendental thought, then he fully surrenders to the Lord and engages in unalloyed devotional service. And as Caitanya-caritāmṛta says, kṛṣṇa-bhaktā-niskāma-ādayeva-śānta-bhakti-mukti-siddhi-kāmi-sakāli-āśānta. So if you engage in devotional service with niskāma, selfless mood, then you can be peaceful. And on the other hand, if you engage with motives, bhakti, mukti, siddhi, kāmi, as Kṛṣṇa said, they're all lusty, they will never be peaceful. So to summarize, Sati is responding to the situation in which she saw that her father had been so offensive to Lord Śiva. And Sati is trying to point out through the medium of this verse that Lord Śiva is transcendental. He is above these so-called rules and regulations. Just because he never, he didn't stand up when he came into the oblation fire, it's not an offense. Lord Śiva is in a very exalted transcendental position. And Daksha, due to his envious nature towards Lord Śiva, was unable to appreciate his exalted position. And Prabhupāda, in the concluding lines of the purport, points out that one who is fully engaged in devotional service, he is actually in samadhi or real ecstasy. Brahman-mūrta-prasannātman asocetiniya-kankṣati. So that should be our goal regardless of which varṇa or āśrama we belong to. To engage fully in devotional service. Therefore, the process we follow is not just varnāśrama, but it is dāiva varnāśrama. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Lama Lama Ale Ale.