BG 18.65 What will I get if I think of Krishna 100%? | Rus-Split| 11.9.92 |Śrīla Gopāl Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī

Prasad Raaval. So tomorrow I'm going to be spending a lot of time talking to people. Already 8:30. I will be giving a very short class. I hope your devotees don't mind it. Tomorrow I can start in the morning. What time would be good for all of you to come to me? We're going to discuss Chapter 18, Text 65. Actually, I was not supposed to come up to Almata on this trip. I had come to Moscow for the Russian GBC meeting, and I was on my way to Canada, but we just, we just took a little detour, little detour from Moscow. So we're reading text 65 from the 18th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. Manmana bhava mad bhakto. You can repeat after me. Manmana bhava mad bhakto. Madhyājī, Madhyājī, Mām, Mām, Namaskuru, Namaskuru, Mām, Mām, Evasyasi, Evasyasi, Satyam, Satyam, Te Pratijanem, Te Pratijanem, Yosimē, Yosimē, Manmanabhava Madbhakto, Manmanabhava Madbhakto, Madhyājī, Mām, Namaskuru, Madhyājī, Mām, Om Namah Shivaya. Om Namah Shivaya. Om Namah Shivaya. Om Namah Shivaya. Pratijane priyoshime. Om Namah Shivaya. Om Namah Shivaya. Om Namah Shivaya. There's an old lady standing outside. We can't bring her inside. She can sit somewhere. Would you like to come in, old lady? We should make her sit down inside. Actually, we should have a rule that when any elderly gentleman or gentlewoman comes, we should make place for them to sit down. So this is the concluding chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, the 18th chapter. And in this chapter, Kṛṣṇa summarizes the various instructions that He has presented in the earlier chapters. So in the concluding chapter, Kṛṣṇa is again reminding us about the importance of always thinking about Him. The nature of the mind is to be very, very active. The mind cannot be idle even for a minute. Whether you're a young man or an old man, the nature of the mind is to be very active. Actually, the nature of the mind is that even when you go to sleep physically, even physically when you are resting, the mind is not resting. So what does this mean? The mind can never get tired. When you get tired, you take rest. That's why doesn't matter how strong you may be, everybody needs rest. 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, Well, don't laugh. There are karmis that sleep for 10-15 hours. I know karmis that go to sleep on Friday night and get up on Sunday or Monday. So when we get tired, the physical body takes rest, but the mind doesn't take rest. Because even when you're physically sleeping, you dream. So what is, what is this dream? It means the mind is working because you dream through the mind. So the nature of the mind is that it is always active. In a fraction of a minute, The mind can travel to any corner of the world. You don't need any tickets or visas or anything for the mind to travel. These days, because Aeroflot big tickets have gone up very much, Russians are not traveling as much. But you can still travel through the mind. You can imagine you're in Moscow, Leningrad, Vrindavan, Mayapur, London. So the nature of the mind is it always has to have something to focus on. But if the mind is not focused on Krishna, then the mind will only focus on matter. Krishna knows it's the nature of the living entity in material world to focus on material things. That is why Krishna is again and again reminding us. He's reminding us, please, please, please think of me. Because if we think of Krishna, then our actions will also get purified. In the yoga process, the mind is considered to be a key player. These days in Kali Yuga, you have so many yoga schools and so many so-called yogis, but these yogis do not understand the importance of mind control. But Krishna says the mind must be brought in control. Krishna says one should deliver himself with the help of the mind, not degrade himself. In other words, if we misuse our mind We are degrading ourselves. And if we use our mind correctly, then we are elevating ourselves. So what does it mean, elevation? What does it mean, degradation? Different people may have different understanding of these two terms. Elevation to a devotee means advancing towards our destination of going back to Godhead. Degradation means going away from that destination. Just like this morning when we were driving from Bishkek to Almaty this afternoon, We had a certain distance to reach, and as we were driving, we were seeing how much more distance is left. So similarly, our goal is to go back to Godhead. This is what is meant by elevation. Now, in order to go back to Godhead, certain essential qualities have to be developed. You cannot go back to Godhead by bribing a rich— by bribing somebody. Like in the material world, if you're a very rich man and They can bribe everyone and win any election. Now in your country you have multi-party system, but in the multi-party system only those candidates fight who have lot of money to bribe people. Poor honest man has no place. But you can't bribe anyone and go back to Kṛṣṇa. Also, due to educational degrees you can't go back. And even if you're very beautiful, you can't go back. Then what do you need to go back? Because in the material world, to make any progress, You either had to be very rich or very handsome or very educated or very influential. But Krishna doesn't need any of these things. He has all these things. Krishna needs your sincerity and dedication. And whether you're sincere or dedicated, that cannot be determined by you, but it has to be determined by Krishna and His agents. In the material world, everybody thinks that he's sincere and dedicated. Like when you devotees go out and preach to the materialists, don't they all say, "Oh, I'm doing no harm. I'm doing nothing but good." "Eto prabhu na." Because nobody thinks that he's doing anything wrong. Even the hog when it is eating stool, it thinks it is doing the right thing. So similarly, even when it comes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, everybody thinks, "Oh, I'm very sincere. I'm very dedicated." But your sincerity and dedication cannot be recognized by you, but it has to be recognized by guru and sadhu and shastra. So elevating oneself means surrendering oneself more and more to instructions of guru, sadhu, and Krishna. And degrading oneself means going away from those instructions. Therefore Krishna says, one who has controlled the mind, for him the mind is the best of friends. And one who has not controlled the mind For him, the mind is the worst of enemies. So who is our friend? When the mind is in control, the mind is your good friend. Karo shuddhu, here. So Krishna says, make the mind your friend. And Krishna explains, to one who has controlled the mind, to him happiness and distress, victory and defeat, loss and gain is all equal. In the material world, if you get what you want, you become very happy. And when you don't get what you want, you become sad. If somebody gives you a position of honor, you're very happy. And if somebody chastises you, you feel offended, dishonored. So in the material world, there's always duality. And because we don't have spiritual knowledge, we get affected by the duality. But Krishna is saying we have to become self-controlled. That means you must control the mind. The senses are reflecting their desires and their aspirations through the mind. Just like we all come and go out through this door, 'Dwar.' So whatever desire the senses have, they're revealing it through the mind. Therefore, if the mind is in control, then it knows what to accept, what not to accept. Just like a young child, a young child for everything will go to the parents, 'Mommy, should I do this? Should I not do this?' So the senses are similarly pushing, pushing, pushing, 'Give me this, give me this, give me this. But if the mind and intelligence are in control, then they will reject the unnecessary desires of the senses. They will reject it because the mind and intelligence will say these desires are not conducive for your spiritual advancement. So Krishna says, always think of me. Just like Prabhupada used to give the example of this glass. If this glass is full of water, then you cannot add any milk in it. But if the glass is half filled, then you can add anything, milk, soap, anything. And if the glass is completely empty, you can fill the whole glass with soap, māliko. So Kṛṣṇa says, fill your mind with Me. When Kṛṣṇa says, think of Me, He means think of Him completely, not just 5%, 10%. Because if you think of Kṛṣṇa 5% or 10%, then 90% you have to think of something else. The impersonalists say they can put the mind in a vacuum stage. So in India, there are many so-called schools of yoga. There is one very famous school, lot of rich people go there. So this man takes you and tells you, just stare at the wall for a few hours a day. And some tell you, close your eyes and sit down. You mean when you close your eyes, can you close your mind? I can't do it. Can you do it? No one can do it. So the mind can never be idle. Let that be a settled fact. So Krishna says, always think of me. Krishna doesn't say think of me, he says always think of me, because he wants to make sure that you don't think of Maya. This is not the only verse that Krishna is talking about this theme. He's talked about this in the second chapter, sixth chapter, so many chapters in the Bhagavad Gita. Actually, in the 18th chapter, Krishna is just summarizing everything. So we must learn how to think about Krishna. Arjuna told Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, "You are telling me to control the mind, but to control the mind is ochantrudhna. It's easier to control the wind than to control the mind." Some of you may say, "If Arjuna 5,000 years ago found it difficult to control the mind, how do you expect us in 20th century Kazakhstan to control the mind?" So what should we do? Give up? Raise our hands and say, "No, no, we can't control the mind." Kṛṣṇa says by constant practice and determination you can control the mind. Now Kṛṣṇa is also saying in this verse, "Become my devotee." So you may say, "But we are already Kṛṣṇa's devotees. Why do you have to tell us to become his devotees?" We all have saffron clothes, tilak, shaven head, and some of you have white clothes and tilak, and some have saris. But when Krishna says, "Become my devotee," he means it more deeply. Become my devotee means you only do what Krishna wants you to do. And how do you know what Krishna wants you to do? Through the agency of the spiritual master and the sadhu. You understand what is Krishna's desire through the agency of guru, sadhu, shastra. Shastra means Krishna's instructions. Guru means bona fide representative of Krishna who preaches by example. Sadhu means great spiritual masters and other saintly people who are also living by the scriptures. So through these, just like a car runs on 4 wheels, a railway carriage runs on 4, 4 wheels, a railway carriage runs on 2 tracks, spiritual life runs on 3 tracks. The 3 tracks are guru, sadhu, shastra. So a devotee of the Lord, he does not want to disturb anybody. A devotee, it is said in the Bhāgavatam, does not even want to disturb an ant. You see the story of Jādabharata and King Rahugana. Jādabharata, when he was carrying the King Rahugana's palanquin, he was stepping so cautiously that he would not even keep his feet till he made sure for the next 3 feet There was no living entity on the floor. So being devotee means acting in such a manner that you don't disturb anyone, especially another Vaiṣṇava. Because if you disturb another Vaiṣṇava, then you're not a devotee. Externally you may be doing some very big service, collecting millions of dollars for Kṛṣṇa, but if you're disturbing even one Vaiṣṇava, your service becomes disqualified. So we have to learn what it means to become a devotee. Becoming a devotee of the Lord is a very, very elevated position. Therefore, Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, if you want to be my devotee, if you want to be in a position that you always chant the names of Kṛṣṇa, then please develop humility. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa said— Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, That is, in order to be in a position where you always chant the names of the Lord, you must be more humble than a blade of grass, more tolerant than the tree, and devoid of all sense of false prestige. So Vaishnava devotee is one. Because Vaishnava culture is new, so we are learning what is Vaishnava culture. We are all used to material culture in which everyone's attacking everyone. But Vaishnava culture is the highest culture because This is a culture that brings us closer to God. So we have to be extremely humble, respectful, and in the execution of our duty, our conduct should be such that we don't even hurt an ant. Then Krishna says, worship me. So how do we worship Krishna? Just accepting that Krishna is Supreme Personality of Godhead is not enough. Like, you go to India, almost everybody accepts Krishna as Supreme Lord, but worshiping Krishna means worship his instructions, understand Kṛṣṇa's instructions is the highest truth. Just like Kṛṣṇa said in Gītā, mataḥ partraṁ nānyat kiñcidas tīdhānāñjaya, there is no truth higher than Me. So do not think what Kṛṣṇa is saying is equal to what anybody else is saying. One of the power of illusion is it makes us believe that what the Vedic scriptures are saying are out— is outdated in the present-day environment. That is the power of illusion. It makes you believe you know more than the scriptures, you know more than Kṛṣṇa, you know more than guru. So these are all different aspects of māyā's trick. And Kṛṣṇa said, "Offer your homage unto Me." That means follow His instructions sincerely. And then Kṛṣṇa says, "You will come to Me without fail." Kṛṣṇa is guaranteeing you, "You will come to Me." In the material world, actually no one can guarantee anyone. You may go to the best doctor for an operation. You may pay him any amount of money. But there's no guarantee that the operation will be successful. When you buy an Aeroflot ticket to Moscow, does Aeroflot guarantee you that the plane will not crash? When you take a taxi, does it guarantee you on the way there'll be no accident? No, no guarantee. So in the material world, no one can say, "If you do this, then this will happen without fail." And if they tell you, they're bluffing you. But when Kṛṣṇa says, "You'll come to Me without fail," He means it. So Krishna is saying, give up your nonsense and I will take you back to me. Not thinking of Krishna is nonsense. Not following Krishna's instructions when it comes down to guru-sādhū-shāstra is another aspect of nonsense. So Krishna says, become my friend, my droup. So we— this Krishna Consciousness movement is designed to make people friends of Krishna. How will we become Krishna's droup here? By embracing Krishna's instructions. Now, a powerful tool in helping us meditate on Kṛṣṇa is the chanting of the holy names of Kṛṣṇa. If you chant your Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra sincerely, at the same time cautiously attempting to avoid the 10 offenses, then you will be able to think of Kṛṣṇa. Just like in our day-to-day lives, we all have experience, when you talk about somebody, you also think about that somebody, isn't it? At the Prabhupada. So when you talk about Kṛṣṇa, you can also think about Kṛṣṇa. And if you talk about prajñālpa, you also think about material things. So Kṛṣṇa, so if you chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra attentively and avoiding the 10 offenses, then it will give you the power to think of Kṛṣṇa. In the Kṛṣṇa, in the Kṛṣṇa's Kavirāja says in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Krishna, it says, uh, one may go on chanting the holy names of Krishna birth after birth, but if one doesn't chant the holy name without offenses, then he will not be able to develop love of God. So therefore, the 10 offenses in chanting the holy names of Krishna. So to blaspheme those who have dedicated their lives for propagating the holy names of the Lord. So this is known as the Vaishnava aprāda offense. Caitanya Mahāprabhu was explaining to Sanatana Gosvāmī about the beautiful garden of devotional service. Just like when you see a very beautiful garden, you get attracted to it. So similarly, Caitanya Mahāprabhu said devotional service is like a beautiful garden. Everything is beautiful there. But He said this beautiful garden can be spoiled in one second. How can that be spoiled? He gave the example, if you let a mad elephant come in. He said if a mad elephant is allowed to come into a beautiful garden, The beautiful garden will be completely ruined. And what did Caitanya Mahāprabhu mean by the mad elephant? Those guys. Ha! He meant the first aprāda. He meant specifically this, vaiṣṇava aprāda. In the 10 offenses, the first offense is vaiṣṇava aprāda. Because Kṛṣṇa cannot tolerate offenses to vaiṣṇavas. You may chant 100 rounds a day, not just 16. But if you're committing vaiṣṇava aprāda, your 100 rounds has no value. So we have to avoid this Vaishnava prat. Vaishnava prat one does due to motivated by envy, hatred, politics. But all these things have no place in a Krishna conscious spiritual atmosphere. Prabhupada said we are all members of one family. And which seemia is that? Krishna's family. So we only know one family, that is Krishna's family. Therefore We have to act in such a manner that we are very respectful and cautious that we don't spoil our spiritual life. And the whole spiritual life can be uprooted just by one mistake. Therefore, the devotee is so careful in execution of devotional service that he wants to make sure every stage that he may not be making a mistake. And as we're developing love of God, the symptom is that we are— we will only exhibit interest in Krishna conscious activities and not in material activities. Prabhupada has said in the purpose of this verse that we should arrange our life in such a way that for 24 hours we can think of Krishna. If you think of Krishna in the daytime, you'll also think of Krishna while sleeping. You read the Krishna book while going to sleep, there's a good chance you'll also think of Krishna. You chant your rounds attentively in the morning and hear the Bhagavatam attentively, You'll also think of Krishna. You chant Mangala-Arati, it will be a good step to help you think of Krishna. So whenever the mind wanders from the spiritual track, with our intelligence we should bring it back. Just like you see sometimes mothers go to the park with their children to play. So when you— in the park, the mothers let the child play within a certain distance, but then as the child is running to cross the road, the mother runs from behind and brings him back. So similarly, as you see the mind thinking about material things like lust, anger, greed, envy, hatred, bring it back. Where? The eternal position of servitor of Krishna. Krishna is pure and Krishna Consciousness Movement is pure. Our philosophy is pure. Just like there's no room for a thief in a policeman's office, there's no room for impurity in this Krishna Consciousness Movement. So we should not let impurities disturb us. When we see devotees not working together, when we hear about some devotees disagreeing or quarreling, it is because Krishna is not the focal point. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna. Krishna Krishna Hare Hare. Hare Rama Hare Rama. Lama Lama Hare Hare.