BG 2.71 The Formula For Becoming Happy And Peaceful| Rus-Split | 15.1.91 | Śrīla Gopāl Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī

Prasad RAVAL. So today we'll discuss the verse from the second chapter which presents the peace formula, or the formula for becoming happy and peaceful. I want to request that some devotees may please carry the book so everyone can follow the Sanskrit shloka. Vihāyaṁ kāmaḥ yahāḥ sarvaḥ Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Charati Nishpraha. Om Charati Nishpraha. Nirmamonehankaara. Nirmamonehankaara. Sasante Madhigachati. Sasante Madhigachati. Vihayaka Manyaha Sarva. Vihayaka Manyaha Sarva. Om Charati Nishpraha. Om Charati Nishpraha. Actually, I am a little concerned that I am starting the lecture a little late tonight. Yeah. So how long shall I lecture? Just half an hour, or— The devotees have to leave by 9:15 or so, isn't it? They have to leave by 9:15, the people. Yaha yah kāmaṁ yaha sarvān, pūmaṁ caṇrāti nishprahaha, nelmaṁo nelankāraḥ sva-saṁtim adhikacchati. This verse of the Bhāgavad-gītā is very important because it is presenting the formula for becoming peaceful. The verse talks about real peace, not artificial peace. In the material world, one is— the society is considered to be peaceful when nobody is dropping a bomb. But spiritually, one is considered peaceful if he can take care of the three weaknesses that are inherent in everyone by cultivating devotional service. So what are the three principal weaknesses in everyone? That is explained in this verse. One is the desire for sense enjoyment. The other is the false sense of proprietorship. And the third is false ego. So these three are our enemies. But Kṛṣṇa says these enemies have to be conquered. Unless we conquer these enemies, we will not be able to make spiritual advancement. So Kṛṣṇa is advising us How to, how to conquer these defects in every living entity. The desire for sense gratification is there in the animals and in the human being. And you are living in a society which believes that sense enjoyment is the goal of life. Then false sense of proprietorship. Everybody wants to think that he is the proprietor or the master. Of the body and his possessions. Then false ego. False ego means that you think that you know everything, you are always right, and there's nobody else who can give you direction. False ego is when you want to serve your senses. Real ego is when you want to serve the Lord. So Krishna is telling us how to give up sense gratification, how to give up proprietorship, and how to crush our false ego. In the purport, Prabhupada explains an important point that even though a devotee is desireless, it does not mean that he has no desires. All it means is his desires are all in relationship to the Lord. People have— sometimes people have a false understanding of spiritual life. They think that spiritual life means You do no work and you just sit idle like a bird, like a mendicant in the forest or in the mountains and be a burden on society. A devotee is full of desires, but his desires are all in relationship to the Lord. For the devotee's desire is that he may always increase his service to the Supreme Lord. Now Kṛṣṇa advises that the material desires, etc., will keep on coming. But just like the rivers that flow into the ocean, the river water is constantly flowing in the ocean, but the ocean is not disturbed. So similarly, one should train oneself up spiritually so that even if the desires come, one just— one does not become a slave of the desires but stays steadfast on the path of service. For the materialist, Their unlimited material desires are haunting him. And with regards to the spiritualist, unlimited spiritual desires are haunting him. Brahmā, the creator of this universe, presented, has presented a choice to the living entity. That is, either we can associate with the superior or internal energy of the Lord, or the inferior or the external energy of the Lord. The external energy represents Maya. The internal energy represents spiritual activities. Brahmā-jī, after He created the universe, He created different aspects of ignorance and different aspects of knowledge. So the living entities have a choice of associating either with ignorance or with knowledge. The aspects of ignorance which Brahmā-jī created were as follows. He created the false, the concept of false sense of proprietorship. That means you think that you are the owner of whatever you may have and you are never going to part with that possession. Instead of accepting God as the proprietor, individuals are thinking that they are the proprietors. In the communist system they say the state is the proprietor and in the capitalist system they say the individual is the proprietor. But they are both wrong because neither the state nor the individual is the proprietor. The real proprietor is God. So false sense of proprietorship, anger after frustration, fear of death, principle of self-deception, false identification with the body— these are the 5 different aspects of ignorance that were established by Brahmā. So I will explain briefly these 5 aspects of ignorance. First, I've already explained, that is the false sense of proprietorship, that everybody is falsely thinking that this is my car, this is my house, this is my bank balance, my family, my country. But that is just a false sense of proprietorship. It is just like the parents— the child tells the mother, "Get me an aeroplane," and the mother buys the child a toy Aeroflot and gives it to the child. And the child thinks, "Oh, I now have an Aeroflot plane in my house." So similarly, The living entity under the influence of Maya thinks that I am the proprietor of all that I possess. Then another aspect of ignorance is anger after frustration. When you don't get something, then you get very angry. Nobody becomes angry when he gets what he wants. They always become angry when they don't get what they want. The child will only cry when he doesn't get what he wants, not when he gets what he wants. Then fear of death. Who is not scared of death? Everybody is. Last month I was in Canada, and in Canada we have a devotee who works in a very big hospital in Toronto. And this devotee works in the hospital, and his main business is to try and save dying people. So he was telling me how all these people who come to the hospital and they are about to die, how they are begging the doctor, how they beg him. Please, please, some or the other, please save me, please save me, extend my life another one more month. Because everybody is scared about what's going to happen after death. Then there is identification with the body and the mind. Just like in the Bhagavad-gītā class we were discussing how Narada Muni pointed out to Vyāsadeva that because he has presented philosophy by which one identifies with the body and the mind, Therefore, he is not satisfied. So identification with the body and the mind means identifying with desires for sense enjoyment. Then the principle of self-deception. Self-deception is similar to the point that we have just discussed. That is, one is under the illusion that he is this body, and one doesn't understand that the soul is the real identity, which is eternal. Then Brahmājī established the four aspects of knowledge, which are: One is the principle of tapasya. Tapasya means voluntarily accepting inconveniences for a higher goal. Then Brahmājī established the principle of samkhya. Samkhya means to understand the difference between body and spirit, matter and spirit. Then Brahmājī established the principle of yoga. Because yoga doesn't mean that you just do some bodily exercise so that you can have sense enjoyment. Yoga means that you meditate on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is Yogeshwara. Then Pramāñja established the path of vairāgya, which means renunciation. Renunciation means that you may have the facility for sense enjoyment, but you don't take advantage of it. A devotee should not think that if he comes to spiritual life, he will not have any opportunity for sense enjoyment. He will have unlimited opportunities for sense enjoyment, but by virtue of spiritual knowledge, He rejects it. Just like Kṛṣṇa says in the second chapter of the Gītā, ya nīśāsara-bhūtanām tasyaṁ jagāti-samyami ya sam-jagāti-bhūtāni kā-nīśā-paśyato-mūnah. He says what is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the self-realized. And the time of awakening for the self-realized is night for the, and the time of awakening for the all beings is night for the sage. I just want to repeat this. What is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the self-realized. And the time of awakening for all beings is night for the transcendentalist. You all understand this verse? So what this verse is saying, that the activities of the transcendentalist and the materialist are completely different. The spiritualist is interested in vairāgya, The materialist is interested in bodily identification. When it's time to get up in the morning and do japa, the materialist is still snoring and sleeping. So the materialist and the spiritualist, they completely differ in terms of their activities. Just like this morning in the Bhāgavatam class, we gave the example of the swan and the crow. Swan and the crow are both from the same family, the bird family. But they are completely different. Swan is attracted to a clean environment and the crow is attracted to garbage. So the spiritualist does not want to imitate the activities of the materialist. The spiritualist only wants to stay on the spiritual path. Rupa Gosvāmī, Rupa Gosvāmī was a very learned sage. As I explained to you the other day, Rupa Gosvāmī was a very important man in society, virtually working like a prime minister. So Rupa Gosvāmī was entrusted by Chaitanya Mahāprabhu to write books on the process of devotional service. Srī Rūpa Gosvāmī has given us some very valuable advice on how to execute devotional service. Utsahā-niṣṭraya-dhārīya-tattvātkarma-pravartanāt sāṅgatyāge satovreṭhe sad-bhir-bhakti-prasādhati. Srī Rūpa Gosvāmī is telling us that one must be enthusiastic in executing devotional service. Whatever service you may have, Whether it is book distribution or whether it is cooking for the deities or whether it is sweeping the floor, be enthusiastic. Caitanya Mahāprabhu organized the cleaning of the Gundicha Temple, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself was cleaning the temple along with His devotees. And if somebody was not collecting enough dirt, Caitanya Mahāprabhu would chastise him. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself was very enthusiastic. In cleaning the temple of the Lord. So whichever service you have, be enthusiastic and you'll make spiritual advance. Then uttāna nishtayat. Nishtayat means determination. Be determined to succeed on the spiritual path. Prabhupāda gives a very famous example in the Gītā. I'm sure all of you know that. Which is that example? Which is that example about determination? Who knows? Nobody knows, is that it? Yes, the eggs that were stolen by the ocean. And the small bird said, "I will dry you with my small beak." The ocean said, "No, how can you do that?" And he started laughing. But then when Garuda came to the rescue of the small bird, then the ocean returned the eggs. So Prabhupāda gave this example to show how the small bird was determined to bring her children back. So similarly we should be determined to get love of Kṛṣṇa. So whatever sacrifices you may have to make, please make them. Then Utsādhanāṣraya said, dhāryat, one should be patient. You cannot expect, now I have started chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, so overnight Kṛṣṇa must manifest Himself in front of me. Sometimes people say, I have been chanting, where is Kṛṣṇa? Where is Kṛṣṇa? So one must be patient for the result. Tattva-karma-pravaratanat. One must follow the rules and regulations given by the great ācāryas. Sangrityāge. Give up the association of non-devotees. If you are always hanging around with karmis, then your consciousness will get polluted. Therefore, one must be very careful with the association he selects. One should associate with non-devotees only to the extent that it is necessary and not beyond that. Sādhāvarete. One must live by the scriptures. And if you take these guidelines, then your devotional service will be saved. Then your devotional service will expand. So the desires will always come, but we have to learn to ignore those desires which are not favorable for achieving the goal of life. So we have to control our material desires, and the way to control them is to engage the senses in positive activities. Kṛṣṇa says, Nārada Muni says in the Bhāgavatam: amāyo yastabhūtanam jāyate yena śuṛtā, tavaḥ devāya amāyaṁ dravyaṁ nāpunaḍitcikisetaḥ. Nārada Muni says, is it not a fact that that very activity which is the cause of your bondage becomes the cause of your liberation. Just like milk and yogurt. When you have a bad stomach, milk is the cause of this bad stomach. But when you get a bad stomach or diarrhea, then milk which is taken in the form of yogurt, it ends up curing the bad stomach. So similarly, when the senses are used independent of Kṛṣṇa's directions, then they become the cause of your bondage. And when the senses are used according to the scriptural direction, then they become the cause of your freedom. So we have to employ the senses according to the scriptural direction, and thereby one will be saved from the miseries of birth and death. Just like we all like to eat, so Kṛṣṇa says, eat Kṛṣṇa prasāda, and you can eat unlimited Kṛṣṇa prasāda, no problem. You want to sleep, so sleep, but don't sleep too little, don't sleep too much. So the point is we should regulate our activities. And if you regulate your activities, then you will be able to regulate your senses. Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur has said in his commentary that the tongue, the belly, and the genitals are all in a straight line. Which means that if the tongue is in control, then the belly and the genitals will also be in control. And if the tongue is not in control, then to control the belly and genitals is impossible. So we control the tongue by utilizing the tongue only for two activities: describing the glories of the Lord and for tasting Krishna prasada. Not for prajalpa. Prajalpa is material talk. Prajalpa can destroy your devotional creeper. Therefore Rūpa Gosvāmī has said prajalpa must be avoided at all costs. So when the senses are engaged in service of the Lord, then what happens? Nārada Muni has given the answer in the Nārada Pancharātra. Nārada Muni says, sarvopādi vinirmuktam parinātpaḥ sarvapādī vinirmuktāṁ tat parvena nairava-lam rīṣikīna rīṣikīna seiṇa-bhaktir ucyate. That when the senses are used in the service of Rīṣikesha, the proprietor of the senses, then one becomes free from all upādīs. Upādī means designation. And what is that designation? Identification with the body. And then as the senses get controlled, then your false ego will also be crushed. What is that one verse which is most important for helping develop love of God according to Caitanya Mahāprabhu? I mentioned this verse many times. So what is it? Somebody should know in this whole audience. Trinātapi sañjana taror api sa Īśṇu-namāni-namānādhena kṛṣṇa-nirvādhāri. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that if you want to be in a position, that you chant the glories of Kṛṣṇa all the time. Then you must consider yourself very humble, more term lower than a blade of grass. You should be ready to offer respect to all others. So this verse, considering oneself to be more than another tree, devoid of false and false prestige, and more humble than a blade of grass, is very important. And when you're practicing humility, then your false ego will automatically get crushed. Your false ego is so strong that even if you take a roller and try to crush it, you can't crush it. But it can get crushed by the weight of devotional service. Because as you engage in devotional service, the false ego will get crushed. Therefore, we see the materialists, they have so much false ego, and they all think that they know the answers to everything. So we must control our false ego, because false ego will prevent you from surrendering to God. And false ego can only be crushed by the weight of devotional service. The māyāvādīs, etc., they renounce their material activities, but then after some time they get so bored that they return again to philanthropic activities. But one who engages in service to the Lord as a menial servant, he is always protected by the Lord. And one who is fixed in the path of devotional service, he does not want any material riches, but he only prays to the Lord for more and more devotion. There was once a devotee of Caitanya Mahāprabhu whose name was Kola Vṛta Śrīdhara. He used to make his living by making leaf cups out of banana leaves on the bank of the Ganges, and his income was hardly 1 kopeka a month. And he was spending half his income in worshipping Mother Ganges. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu was so pleased that He offered him any benediction that he may desire. And what did he ask for? Who knows? He asked for the opportunity to just serve the devotees of the Lord, to stay at the feet of the devotees. Prahlāda Mahārāja had to go through so many difficulties because of his love for Kṛṣṇa. When Lord Nrsimhadeva killed his father, Lord Nrsimhadeva said, "Because of me you had to go through so many difficulties. What can I do for you?" And Prahlāda said, "Just give me the benediction so I may be able to serve your Vaiṣṇava devotees." So this verse of the Bhāgavad-gītā that we've read today, it presents the peace formula, how a devotee can be peaceful. How the society can be peaceful, how the world can be peaceful. Devotee, society, and the world. We should meditate on the teachings of this verse and thereby be happily situated on the spiritual path. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. So it's 9:05. I'll take questions only for 10 minutes. Prasada, tell us about Gaurīntājī's— What is there to tell? Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda and Gau Nāthaī are the most merciful incarnations. And by worshiping Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Lord Nityānanda, one gets purified. When you are worshiping Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, there are very strict rules to follow. But Gau Nāthaī worship, even a new bhakta can do. Therefore Rūpa Gosvāmī told Caitanya Mahāprabhu: Namo mahā-vadanāya kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāyate. You are the most merciful incarnation ever to appear. You have made the process of Self-realization so easy for everyone. How to develop humility? How to develop humility? Good question. Kāṇaśava prasāda. Who will give the answer? Is there any of you who has developed humility who will give the answer? Who is the authority on humility in this room? Just like in the material world they have these titles, Miss World, Mr. World. We should have that title, Miss Humble, Mr. Humble. Anyone wants to say the answer? How to develop humility? You have the answer, Nandarani? In last lecture she said that should associate with devotees. So you become humble by really thinking in your heart that you are fool number one. And in that situation you are ready to offer respects to all Vaiṣṇavas. But when it comes to preaching, then you cannot be humble. It is not as if somebody comes to you and says, "Your philosophy doesn't make sense to me. It is bogus." You say, "Okay, I'm humble. I won't say anything." Just like in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatā, we have the story of Jadbharata. Jadbharata was pretending as if he was deaf and dumb so that he would not get involved in any material prajñālpa. But when it came to preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the king Rahugana, He did not spare anything. He pulled very firmly. Therefore, a devotee, Prabhupāda said, is as soft as a rose and as strong as a thunderbolt. You all understand this example? The rose is so soft, isn't it? Of course, I know this is not a rose, but that's all. But the flower, it is so soft, isn't it? And the thunderbolt, they use that on the road when they're making roads to go through the road. Thunderbolt makes so much noise. You can use the thunderbolt in penetrating into mountains also. Once a Sankirtan devotee came back from book distribution in Chicago. It was a mataji. And she went to Prabhupada and she said, "Prabhupada, how can I become humble? What should I do? What is humility?" So Prabhupada said, "When you are dealing with Vaishnavas in the temple, then you must be like a lamb. But when you are preaching to the karmis, you must be like a lion." When you are preaching to the karmis, you must be like a lion. Everybody is scared of the lion. So you must know the philosophy so well that everybody is scared of you. And when you are in the temple with brahmacharis and with your godbrothers and godsisters, then you should be very humble, just anxious to serve them. Don't be a lion when you are dealing with other Vaishnavas. You should only be a lion when you are dealing with the materialists. When you are dealing with Vaishnavas, you must be like a lamb. If you want to be a lion at home— sometimes what happens, you have devotees, they are lion at home and a lamb outside. When they are in the temple, they will fight with everyone. And when they go outside to preach, they will just close their mouth. So be a lamb at home and a lion outside. What is material experience and how we are bringing it from one life to another? Well, the mind carries with it the desires of the previous life. So based upon your previous life's desires, you get a body to fulfill those desires. So what's his question? Did I answer it, or is there more to his question? Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Hare Hare.