Bhāgavatam Tells The Greatness of God- Kṛṣṇa | Rus-Split | SB 1.3.43 |21.5.90 |Gopal Krishna Goswami

PRASAD RAVAL.

I am very happy to be here at New Namah Shivranaya Farm. I think the spiritual atmosphere today at New Namah Shivranaya Farm in Georgia is better than the atmosphere at Namah Shivranaya Farm in India. So when I heard that the name of your project was New Namah Shivranaya, so I had decided that we will lecture on the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So we got some mangoes from Bombay which are going to be offered to your Gauranītāī Deities today. After you offer to Gauranītāī, when we take the 4 o'clock prasād break, everyone can get their little— Do they have mangoes in Soviet Union? Actually, the atheists, they say that there is no bhoga. Bring them here. And show them the natural scenic beauty that I can see from here. Those nice mountains, trees, and the clouds above it, and then the sky above the clouds. Can any scientist create such beauty? I was told that the beach, the, the river water, the beach is called the Black Sea, and it is called Black Sea because it becomes black in the, what, cold season? In bad weather the water becomes black. So look at Kṛṣṇa's creation. In your country there is so much of natural wealth in the form of benzoline, diamonds, and other natural resources. So all that has been put by whom? By Bhoga. So before we start the discussion of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we offer our respectful obeisances to Kṛṣṇa Vāsudeva. So we offer our respects by chanting the following mantra, which you may chant after me: Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevaya. Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevaya. Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevaya. Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevaya. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has been described as the spotless Purāṇa by Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was compiled by Vyāsadeva at the prime of his maturity. Śrī Vyāsadeva had compiled a vast Vedic literature. And he had summarized it in the Vedānta-sūtra. And still Vyāsadeva, in spite of having compiled the Vāsuvādika literature, he was not feeling happy. He met his spiritual master, Nārada Muni, on the bank of the river Sarasvati. Just like in your country you have the Black Sea and you have so many rivers, your country is full of rivers. Similarly, India is full of holy rivers. Like the Ganga, the Jamuna, the Saraswati. There's so many holy rivers in India. Narmada. Everybody likes to be next to the river, isn't it? Doesn't matter which part of the world you go to, houses, domes near the river always bol shoy rubo. They cost a lot of money. So the great sages in the past, they used to have their discussion on the bank of the rivers also. Everybody loves to have a discussion in a natural environment. If I knew about this natural environment here in Shikumi, I would have planned to stay an extra day or two here. It is so wonderful. So the great sages in the past in India used to either meet in forest or they used to meet on the side of the rivers. So on the bank of the river Saraswati, Narada Muni was there. And his disciple Vyāsadeva went there and he said, "Please tell me, dear guru, why am I unhappy?" This is the process of getting our doubts removed, by going to somebody who is spiritually pure. Just like Arjuna, he is constantly going to Kṛṣṇa with so many doubts, because our doubts can only be removed with the weapon of knowledge. So the weapon of knowledge is not in the hands of somebody who may have some Ph.D. degrees. The weapon of knowledge is in the hands of one who is in complete control of his senses and who is engaged in service to Bhoga. So Narada Muni, the spiritual master of Vyāsadeva, said, "The reason you are still unhappy is because you have not exclusively talked about The process of pure love of God. So this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was compiled by Vyāsadeva as his final compilation after he had compiled the vast Vedic literature. In the end he compiled the Bhāgavatam which contains 18,000 verses. This morning I was talking to a Christian priest from your city of Shikumi. And I told him, is there any religious faith on this planet that has so many religious scriptures such as the Vedic culture? And he admitted, no. Most of the religious groups, they only have one book. Maybe the Bible, maybe the Quran, and the Jews have their scripture. Most of them, they just have one scripture and That's it. But the Vedic knowledge is not contained just in one book, because the Vedic knowledge is so vast. So this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was first spoken by Vyāsadeva to Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Then when Parīkṣit Mahārāja, the king of this planet, was cursed He invited all the great sages on the bank of the river Ganges near Hastinapur. Hastinapur is Delhi. And he had a discussion with all the great sages. So Parikṣit Mahājāja, as all of you know, was cursed to die by a brahmin boy. But the difference between His knowledge of death and our knowledge of death is, Parikṣit Mahārāja at least has 7 days' notice. So he asked all the great sages in that assembly. They were great sages from every corner of the globe. Because he was the king, he called all the great sages, they came at once. Just like a President Gorbachev, he calls people from different parts of Soviet Union. They will come at once. So all the sages came. Some of them were believed in Bhakti Yoga. Some of them were just yogis. Some of them were jnanis. So all different people from different walks of life representing different opinions, they were all assembled in that assembly in Hastinapur. So Parikṣit Mahārāja presented a very simple question to them. He said, "One who is about to die, what should he do?" So different people gave different suggestions, but Śukadeva Gosvāmī, who was the son of Yāsadeva, who was also present in the assembly, he said, "King, your question, 'What should one do who is about to die?' is very glorious. The answer to your question will benefit the entire humanity. And he said you should hear topics related to Kṛṣṇa. Now in that assembly, as I told you, many sages were present. And one of the sages present, his name was Sonaka Rishi. Sonaka Rishi was very attentively hearing the whole Bhāgavatam which Śukadeva Gosvāmī spoke to Parikṣit Mahārāja. People's memory was so sharp that if they would hear it once, they would never forget it. So the Bhāgavatam was first spoken by Vyāsadeva to Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Second time the Bhāgavatam was spoken by Śukadeva Gosvāmī to Parikṣit Mahārāja at, on the side of the Ganges near Hastinapur, Delhi. The great sages were once assembled in the forest of Nāmaśvaranya. Just like, I do not know in your country, but I know like in England, in London, they have a park called Hyde Park. So anybody who wants to get up and make a political speech, he just goes to that park and begins to make a speech. So similarly, There was a forest, this Namasharanya Forest. This is a Namasharanya Forest, is situated a little bit away from Lucknow in northern India. So in the Namasharanya Forest, all the great sages were meeting, and the topic that they were discussing is this: Now the Kali Yuga is coming, and we can see that in Kali Yuga people will not be so spiritual. How can they be saved? The great sages are not selfish. They are concerned about the benefit of entire humanity. And they were performing a thousand years sacrifice so that in this Kali-yuga people could be benefited. So the great sages who were assembled in Namaśvaranya, they wanted to know How can people in Kali-yuga be saved? So the great sages requested Sonaka Rishi. Sonaka Rishi was attending the Bhāgavatam when Śukadeva Gosvāmī was speaking to Parīkṣit Mahārāja. So they invited Sonaka Rishi to give them information how people in Kali-yuga can be saved. And therefore then Sonaka Rishi in the forest of Namaśvaranya In the presence of all the great sages, he repeated the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam word by word what Parīkṣit had heard from Śukadeva Gosvāmī. So this Bhāgavatam was repeated, was recited 3 times. First time by Vyāsadeva, second time by Śukadeva Gosvāmī, and third time by Sānākarīṣī. Śukadeva Gosvāmī the son of Vyasadeva, He was self-realized from the very beginning. He could stay in His mother's womb for 16 years. For 16 years, Vyasadeva Gosvāmī refused to come out of His mother's womb. Why? Vyasadeva Gosvāmī was concerned that if He came out, He may not get affected by the illusory energy. Kṛṣṇa personally had to, ha, come and promise Śukadeva that he will not get affected by māyā, that he agreed to come out of his mother's womb. And as soon as he came out of his mother's womb, he left home and he started traveling from place to place. So Śukadeva Gosvāmī was self-realized from the very beginning. So with this background of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we shall now proceed to discuss A very significant verse from this great scripture. Okay. So there's no, there's no blackboard. So you can try repeating the shloka after me. Tomorrow we'll have a board on which we can write the shloka and then all of you can chant responsibly. Krishna, Krishna, Swāma, Swāma, Dhammapāgate, Dhammapāgate, Dharma, Gyana, Devi, Sahasrara, Kallo, Nastha, Vishant, Esha, Puranarko, Dhanodita Haag. Now it may be difficult for you to follow when I chant fast. Try. Even if you make a mistake, there's no loss. Kṛṣṇaḥ svādamopāgāteḥ dharmā-jñāna-divī-sahā. Kālo-nāstra-dṛśām-eṣaḥ punaṇ-nārko-dhano-dhitaḥ. Karacho, quite good. Krishne Swadhamo Bhagavate. Dharma, jnana, devī, sahā. Kalau nastra-dṣaṁ eṣā. Punanar kodo no detahā. Krishne Swadhamo Bhagavate. Dharma, jnana, devisaha. Kalonastha dushyameśa. Pūna-nārko dhanodhitaha. Kṛṣṇaḥ svādhāma-pagate. Dharma, jnana, devisaha. Kalonāstra dṣam eṣa punaṇāko dṇo dhitāḥ kṛṣṇe svādhamapagāte dharma-jiñāna-deviṣaha kalonāstra dṣam eṣa. If some of you want to chant it, we will pass this book around. Om jnana-timirandasya jnana-jnana-shalakya. Jaksam milatan yenatasmai Śrī Gurave namah. Śrī Caitanya Mano-Vistāmṣṭhāptam yenabhūtale swayam rūpaka-dāmayam dadāti svāpā-dāntikam. Bande ham Sri Guru Sri uttapa dakam lan. Sri Guruṇvaishṇava nāśca. Sri rūpam sagrajatam sahagena rāguna-tanvitam tam sojevam. Sadve tam savadhūtam parijana saitam Kṛṣṇa cētanya-devam. Sri Rādhā Kṛṣṇa-padāṇa sahagena lalitā śrī viśākānetāṁ śa. Jai Śrī Kṛṣṇa cētanya-prabhu-nityānanda. Śrī Advaita-gadādhārṣivaśrī-dvākta-vandha. Hare Kṛṣṇa! Amresh, what time do you want me to stop for prasāda? I must know before I start the lecture. I'm just concerned that after Rākhiśr Pandit—after 5 o'clock this place will become very cold or it will be okay for the devotees. Normal, niyat problem. One hour. So now it is 4 o'clock. It is 4 o'clock, uh, Shukumi time, 3 o'clock Moscow time, and it is 2 o'clock Riga time. So I don't know what it is in Tashkent, that I don't know. So 6, okay. So I, we will, I will speak for about 1 hour, then I will take Vapros for half an hour and then we will break for Kṛṣṇa prasāda. And then after Kṛṣṇa prasāda we will continue our philosophical discussion. In the past the great sages in Nāmaśvaranya, they used to discuss about spiritual topics for 24 hours. So maybe we should also discuss for 24 hours. Kṛṣṇe svādhāmo pāgāte dharma-jñāna-devī-sahā. Kalo nastra-dhāṣyam eṣā puna-narko-dhṇodhitah. This is one of the most important verses of the whole Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and Prabhupāda has very often quoted this verse in his lectures. Of course, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is like sugar candy. In sugar candy, whether you bite in the bottom or the top or the side, it is sweet all the way. Do you have sugarcane in your country? Niyad, sugarcane. You must be having sugarcane. How do you make sugar in your country then, huh? Okay. So anyway, you know what a sugarcane is? So sugarcane, in India you have lot of sugarcane. So sugarcane, whether you bite in the top or the bottom or the middle, it is sweet. So similarly, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is sweet. Doesn't matter where you touch it, slādhkī. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is slādhkī. So in this verse it is being said this Bhāgavata Purāṇa is as brilliant as the sun. Why is the comparison made to the sun? Because just like the sun removes the darkness, similarly with the help of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam knowledge you can remove the darkness. Therefore in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta There is a verse, "Krishna-surya-sama-maya-hayandikāra, yahaṛkṛṣṇa-tahena-mayā-dikāra." Where there is Kṛṣṇa, there is no room for māyā. Just like where there is sunshine, there is no room for darkness. So the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it contains answers to everything that we wish to know. Don't think the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam only tells you how to love bhoga. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has information what your Russian scientists are trying to find at a cost of billions of rubles. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has information about the life in other planets. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has information on the existence of other planets. I remember in 1952 or '53 your country became very famous when they sent their first, uh, Sputnik satellite in outer space. And they spend— they send the Sputnik into cosmos. Why? Because they wanted to find out what is there in these other planets. Is there life on other planets? So since then, both the United States and your country have been spending so much money in trying to find about other planets and life on other planets. Why waste all that money? Because the information is there in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. With the same money we can print bolshoi Bhāgavad-gītās and build temples. But they will not agree. They must spend the money. Actually it is Kṛṣṇa's money. So, but the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam gives us information that the scientists cannot challenge. So Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam contains information not only on the process of pure devotional service but also on the entire creation of the Lord. The Bhagavad Gītā, for example, explains how this creation comes into existence. So we are not following a religious system that leaves us in the dark about God and his style of management. It's like the people all over the world, they say, 'We must know how the government works.' And now in your country also, people are saying, 'We must know how the government works.' So we must also know how Kṛṣṇa's government works, and that information is there in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And it is not a secret, it's public knowledge. So the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the encyclopedia of spiritual understanding. So this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is as brilliant as the sun because it gives us information on everything that we desire to know. Therefore, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is respected In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we obtain information about the purpose of life, about bhoga, about the different incarnations of the Lord. So we must study the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam thoroughly. Therefore, in every ISKCON temple, we have Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam class in the morning and Bhāgavad-gītā in the evening. Anybody who studies these two books, Bhāgavatam and gītā, will get complete information on the science of God. So as the Bhāgavatams come out in the Soviet languages, all of you should read it on a regular basis, morning and evening. Morning Bhāgavatam, evening Gītā. Now in this verse it is being said that persons who have lost their vision in Kali-yuga can get direction from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Kṛṣṇa, He has gone back to His abode, but Kṛṣṇa is still present. In His teachings, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Therefore the teachings, the instructions of Bhāgavatam are non-different from Kṛṣṇa. And by accepting these instructions as non-different from Kṛṣṇa, one can make spiritual advancement. Now, as we discussed last night, by and large people in this age of Kali are misguided and they are deprived of spiritual understanding. In Kali-yuga people don't have much interest in spiritual life. Therefore And the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is presenting the spiritual philosophy in very easy-to-understand story form. What does the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam contain? Stories! But each of these stories has a very great spiritual impact. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is like a storybook. And if you read and meditate on these stories, you will see each of them is giving you a very, very important instruction. Each verse of the Bhāgavatam is so powerful that you can lecture on it for 60 days. Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī ṭhākura lectured on one verse for 2 months nonstop, on the same verse every day. So the Bhāgavatam, which is the topmost scripture available to humanity, Prabhupāda said this is postgrad— is graduate education. Bhāgavad-gītā is described as high school. Bhāgavatam as graduate education, and chetana chathamrita is postgraduate. In Kali-yuga, the civilization is called royal edition of animals. You know what's royal edition? Okay, I'll explain. Like in the Western countries, they will publish a book, let's say the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. One edition of the book will be softbound. Another edition of the book will be hardbound deluxe edition with nice jacket cover. The material inside is the same, but the deluxe edition looks very nice, has nice cover, and the softbound looks very— looks cheap. So they are the deluxe edition of animals. What does this mean? For example, the animals, they specialize in 4 tendencies: eating, sleeping, defending, and mating. And the human beings also concentrate on these same activities, but in a more sophisticated manner. The animal, for example, eats on the road, and the human beings eat on the dining table. Some animals who are more fortunate, they have the— they get some rich man as their owner, and they can eat on the dining table with their boss. Like these days, it's very common for rich people to have the animal sit on the dining table and eat from the same plate. This is called advancement of civilization. So the animals eat on the street and we eat on dining tables on china crockery. The, the animal sleeps on the road and we have nice beds to sleep on. You go to beat an animal, he will defend himself. Similarly, we have sophisticated missiles and other weapons to defend ourselves. Animals mate on the road, and human beings have better facilities for mating. So the Bhāgavatam says that eating, sleeping, defending, mating is being executed by the materialists and the animals. Therefore, the human beings are the sophisticated edition of animals. The Bhāgavatam discusses all the topics very frankly, because in spiritual life, unless we identify our enemies, You cannot make spiritual advancement. Now we will examine some of the philosophical presentations of the Bhāgavatam. Jñāṇma dāsa yato nāyāt itarātā ca teṣa vijāna-svarāt. First of all, the Bhāgavatam establishes where everything is coming from. Everything is coming from that person who is completely independent, svarāt. Just knowing God is great is not enough. We must know how great God is. Just like if I introduce somebody to you and I said, here is Mr. Sarugi, here is someone from London and he's a rich man. You will say, okay, nice to meet you. But if I tell you, here is Mr. Sarugi from London, he has 50 factories, he's related to the Queen of England and so on, then say, oh really? Then you're more impressed. So similarly, the Bhagavatam and the Bhagavad-gītā gave us knowledge about the greatness of God, the extent to which God is great. So Bhāgavatam is establishing everything is coming from God who is completely independent, who is not under anybody's control. Nigāma kalpataror galitam phalam. This Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is a ripened fruit of all Vedic knowledge. Now I don't see any very tall trees on this land. But suppose you have a tall tree with a lot of fruits on it. Now, if somebody throws the fruit from top of the tree to the ground, then by the time the fruit hits the ground, the fruit will be broken into pieces. But if somebody passes the fruit from different people sitting on different branches, then by the time the fruit reaches the ground, it will still be intact. So similarly, This Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam knowledge is coming from the spiritual abode of the Lord, and it is coming down through the parampara. And because it was delivered by Śukadeva, in Sanskrit the word śuka means parrot. So in Vedic philosophy, when the fruit is bitten by śuka, the parrot, the fruit becomes even sweeter. So This Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has become sweet because it has been recited by Bhāgavatam, by Śukadeva Gosvāmī. The Bhāgavatam was sweet to begin with because it was recited by Vyāsadeva, but then Śukadeva Gosvāmī repeated it again, as I explained to you, to Parīkṣit Mahārāja, and it became even sweeter. So Bhāgavatam says, dharmā-praujitāha kaito tra parmo nirmatsaram satām. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam completely rejects the utilization of religion for the purpose of what? Dharma, Ārtha, Kama, Mokṣa. This is important we understand. Dharma, Ārtha, Kama, Mokṣa. Have you heard this before? So dharma means religion. Why do people want to be religious today? For different reasons, but not to glorify God. One reason why people like being religious is they say, "God, give us our daily bread." We go to the church and we say, "God, give us our daily bread. God, please give us what we need." Of course, going to God for asking him for daily bread is far superior to not acknowledging God at all. Now, why do we want economic prosperity? The Christians say, "God, give us our daily bread." The Hindus go to the place of worship, say, "God, please remove all our miseries. Please may there may not be any problems at all. Our whole family may be happy." We want money. Why? Because money is a medium through which you can buy sense enjoyment. Does not matter whether you live in a communist country, a socialist country, or a capitalist country. Without ruble or dollar currency, you cannot have sense enjoyment. And because Everybody's after sense enjoyment. They want money, kama. Kama means sense enjoyment. And when they have had enough of sense enjoyment, then they want moksha. They want to become one with God. They want to become one with God, they want to become equal to God. Now the Bhāgavatam states this is not real religion. Sāve pūṇṣaṁ paro dharmo yato bhakti-adhoḥ kṣoje. Āhitukī pratyātāya yātmā supracīdati. The self can be satisfied by paro-dharma. Paro-dharma means pure religion. Aparo-dharma means motivated religion. In the material world, we have no concept of anything we done in a pure manner. Everything is motivated. The student goes to the college because if he doesn't go to the college, he will not get a degree. I work for the— for the company because if I don't work, I won't get money. The children are sweet with the parents when they want some extra allowance. The politicians are friendly with you when they want to come and get your vote. So basically, because the whole society is focused on sense enjoyment, everybody is selfish. Bhagavatam says, paro dharma, pure religion without any expectation. So pure religion means the desire to serve the Lord without expecting anything in return. Prabhupāda said the nearest example— it is not the exact example, please understand— the closest example that you can find in the material world to pure religion is the mother bringing up a young child, bringing up her child. When the mother is bringing up a small child, generally the mother is serving the child. Without expecting anything in return. Of course, today's society has become so degraded that parents have no— mothers have no hesitation in seeing their children killed in the form of abortion. So Prabhupada used to use this example of, uh, mother bringing up a small child to give some understanding of what is pure love, because in the material world we have no experience of doing anything in a pure motive. Therefore, when we talk about pure love, Very often it is, "Oh, what is pure love?" We can't understand it. Then the Bhāgavatam says, kāmaśa nendriyā preṭhi lavo jīveta yāvata jīvasya tatvajigyāsa. It says, "O conditioned soul, do not think that sense enjoyment is the goal of life." Jīvasya tatvajigyāsa. Rather, use this life for enquiring about your constitutional position. The Bhāgavatam is telling us, "Don't drink poison." There is a great Vaiṣṇava sage called Narottama dāsa ṭhākura. So he has prayed, hari hari bifle janma guna inu. Rādhār-kṛṣṇa, manuṣya janma paya. Rādhār-kṛṣṇa bhājya jāñña śūnya piśa kainu. The translation is, "I obtained this human life with great difficulty." But I did not worship Radha and Kṛṣṇa. Therefore I was drinking poison uselessly. So we can make our decision. You can either have the path of poison or the path of nectar, amṛta. One man's food is another man's poison. This is what they say in the English language. So what is nectar for the devotees is poison for the materialist. And what is nectar for the materialist It's poison for the devotees. So what is nectar for the materialist? Sense enjoyment from morning to night. Only one samadhi, meditation. Sense enjoyment. Even old age cannot be given up. Just like now in the Western countries, there are few doctors and they are traveling around telling people in old age, the real reason why you're getting diseases is because you're giving up sense enjoyment, especially sex life. So they are saying, don't give up sense enjoyment even in old age, and then you'll be healthy. It is amazing how even in old age one cannot understand that misery is there and there's nothing but misery in life. I do not know in your country, but in North America, in every city they have what they call old age homes where the old people are being taken care of by government nurses. In your country, I see great resemblance to the Vedic culture, but in these places, in the Western countries, where sense gratification has reached such high levels, nobody cares for anyone, especially nobody cares for old people. So I had a disciple in Canada who was working in an old age hospital, so he had arranged my lecture over there. So I was amazed, even when I— these are all old people, and I was giving them a very elementary philosophical lecture on how there's nothing but misery in life and one should turn to God, but they were not at all interested. There was a Muslim ruler whose name was Akbar. On the whole, he was a pious king. One day he was talking to his prime minister, and the prime minister said, King, the tendency or weakness for lust is so strong that even in old age a man does not give up his lusty desires. The king said, really? You mean old man also is always thinking of sense gratification? The prime minister said, yes. And he said, come with me to the hospital tomorrow, I will show you practical demonstration. So the prime minister took the king and a young girl along with him to see a patient who was very sick in the hospital. The Prime Minister told the King, "When I talk to this old sick man in the hospital, you please watch where his eyes will be." So when the Prime Minister was talking to this old man, as they had also taken with them a beautiful young girl who was wearing a short skirt, the old man was just looking at that girl rather than the king. So then the king was convinced, "Yes, this lust does not go away even in old age." So the Bhāgavad-gītā says, therefore, kamarā aśrat prajñau dharmam bhāgavatāmya dhurlavam manuṣaṁ jñāṇmā tad api adruvam artha-dhām. Cultivate spiritual knowledge from the age of 5, kamarā. I'm sure all of you have experienced. Prasad RAVALAD RAVALAD RAVALAD, that when you train up your child at a young age, how wonderfully they react and pick up spiritual habits. But in old age, it's difficult because they have already developed so many bad habits. And as they say, bad habits die hard. It's difficult to kill a bad habit. Therefore, even the materialists, they try to give their children all types of good knowledge at the young age. Like now, They are beginning to teach people computers from the age of 5 in America, but they will not give them spiritual education. So Prasad Maharaja said, cultivate this from the age of 5. Why? Durlabha manasam janma. Durlabha means very difficult. Human life is very difficult to achieve. So the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is very clearly directing the living entity towards approaching the Supreme Lord the cause of all causes, and becoming submissive to the Lord. In the Vedic scriptures, there are examples of different animals, how these animals get destroyed by becoming slaves of their senses. For example, you have the fish. The fish has one weakness— tongue. Then you have the moth. The moth has one principal weakness— eyes. It wants to see something shining. You have the elephant. One principal weakness: sex desire. The deer, one principal weakness: sound, ears. The bee, one principal weakness: smell, nose. So the fish gets trapped. How? The fisherman goes fishing, the fish says, "Oh, here is some more food for me," because as much food as the fish gets is not enough. So the fish goes to eat that in the bait and it gets trapped to death. The deer, the deer is an animal that's very, very difficult to capture. I don't know how many of you have seen a deer running, but I've seen a deer running in Canada. At the speed they run, no one can ever catch them. So what does the cunning hunter do? He plays a melody that the deer likes, and the deer then stops running. It just begins to search, where is that melody coming from? And while the deer is trying to find out the source of the melody, the hunter shoots. Then you have the bee that is going all day from one flower to another, hoping to find something very palatable to the nose. And ultimately the bee, it finds a lotus flower. It goes and sits on the lotus flower, and in the evening, by the arrangement of the Lord, when the lotus flower closes, the bee is still in samadhi and it gets trapped to death. So And then you have the he elephant who is very difficult to capture. But what does a cunning hunter do? They make the he elephant follow the she elephant, and gradually the, the he elephant falls in a ditch which is covered with grass. And then you have the moth. The moth is a frustrated entity all day. Why is he frustrated? Because that shining light is not there. Just like an alcoholic. An alcoholic is frustrated till it's evening time and he can go to the bar and drink vodka. So, so the moth is not happy till he sees shining light. And the moment it sees the shining light, it says, oh, I should go and sit on that light. And when it goes and sits on the light, what happens? It gets burnt by the heat of the light. So this is exactly what happens to living entities who become slaves of their senses. Just see how complete the Vedas are. They not only give you a philosophy, but they also give you examples. Just like sometimes when the parents are trying to discipline the child, they'll give examples of other children. So Bhagavatam is giving us examples. Like in the medical profession, when you're trying to become a doctor, you, you study cases of other diseases. So Bhagavatam gives us innumerable examples to be convinced that we should not repeat that foolish activity. So we should accept the advice of the Bhāgavatam. Just like, for example, there are different ways of receiving knowledge. One is called the descending process, the other is called the ascending process. Descending process means you have heard something and therefore you accept it to be true. And you follow it. Ascending process means I must experiment. Now in reality, we are actually accepting information by descending process. Just like all of you have heard that P-O-I-S, or poison, can kill. So none of you would have drunk poison to see whether the poison really kills or not. It's not whether— if you— it's not that if you go from Shikumi to India or London, you will see Oh, the poison in Russia kills, but maybe the poison in India doesn't kill. So let me drink it and see whether it kills or not. You know that if you jump off a tall building, you're going to break your bones and die. So you don't jump off the tall building to experiment whether you will break your bones or not. So there's so many examples that I can give just to prove the point that we are all accepting knowledge in a day-to-day working by the, uh, descending process from the top, what we have heard from our childhood. But when it comes to God, they want ascending process. They want to see everything with their eyes. You want me to believe in God? Then show me God. You want me to believe that there's life after death? Give me a proof. Show me somebody who died and came back and told you that the soul doesn't die. So this is called hypocrisy. We have one standard for material knowledge, and we have another standard when it comes to surrendering to God. So the Srimad Bhagavatam is instructing humanity towards the path of perfection. Now in the Bhāgavatam you will also see there's so many exciting stories. Just like Vyāsadeva asking his spiritual master Nārada Muni, how did he become such a great personality. So when Vyāsadeva asked his spiritual master how he became such a great personality, Nārada Muni explained how in his previous life he, his mother, who was maidservant in the house of the great sages, and how Nārada Muni had the opportunity of eating the remnants of foodstuff left by the great sages and of listening to their spiritual sermons. And he developed so much of spiritual knowledge that one day His mother was going to milk the cow, and on the way she was bitten by a snake. So Narada Muni, because he had understood that one who is born, he has to die, he did not lament, but he just started traveling and traveling and meditating on the Lord and how he elevated himself thereby. So Narada Muni explained how he was able to obtain this very high birth. And how Nādhāmuni travels from one location to another, always trying to enlighten others about the process of devotional service. Parīkṣit Mahā, the king of the world, when he saw the personality of Kali in his kingdom, what did he say? He said, "Get out! You cannot live in my kingdom. There's no place for you." So Parīkṣit Mahā said, "You can only live where gambling, drinking, prostitution, and animal slaughter is performed. What are the basic principles of irreligious life? Prostitution, pride, intoxication, and no respect for austerity, cleanliness, mercy, truthfulness. Bhāgavatam says religion must be based upon four principles: austerity, cleanliness, truthfulness, mercifulness. What does austerity mean? So austerity means accepting inconveniences for a higher pleasure. I have noticed in your country, you, as I said yesterday, fortunately all of you have exposure to austerity. Therefore, when you come to Krishna consciousness, you don't find this austerity so difficult. You're used to standing in lines. You're used to living in as much space as is necessary and not more than necessary. But we are talking about austerity for a spiritual cause. Tapo devyam putraka ye nasatvam śuddhaye dasmad brahma-so'kyaṁ tam-anantam. Maharāja Rāja Deva had 100 sons, and he considered it his duty before retiring from his kingly duties that all these sons must be educated in the goal of life. So Maharaja Rishabhdev told the sons, please perform austerities because in exchange for austerity there will be spiritual happiness. Do not think that if you follow spiritual austerity you will be unhappy in the end. Do not be under this illusion. Sometimes many of you make— many people say, yes, yes, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness philosophy makes a lot of sense. After all, it does not take much for a person to see that there's nothing but misery in life. But these four regulative principles They are very difficult to follow. It's impossible to follow these in Western societies, and we walk away from spiritual life. Just like last night I was explaining to you happiness in the mode of goodness. Now, in the beginning, it may be a little painful, but in the end it will become joyful. Therefore, austerity must be there in spiritual life, and a spiritual doctrine that is without— that doesn't forbid sense enjoyment can never give you love of God. Then there must be truthfulness. Truthfulness means we accept the words of God the way they are spoken. Not that the Lord says, "Thou shall not kill," and we change it to, "Thou shall not murder." We have to accept. Just why did Prabhupāda call this Bhāgavad-gītā As It Is? Because if the Bhāgavad-gītā— Prabhupāda in his presentation of Bhāgavad-gītā, he has not distorted Kṛṣṇa's teachings. There are over 600 translations of the Bhagavad-gītā, and in almost every one of them the translator is giving his own viewpoint. And just like when you take the doctor's medicine and you add water, what will be the result? The potency will go away. So similarly, if we accept the words of God with, uh, distortions, then there will be no effect. So truthfulness means to accept to accept the words of God without any distortion, to accept the words of the guru without any distortion. Cleanliness. Cleanliness is to be practiced at two levels: external and internal. External cleanliness means I must live in a clean environment. Internal cleanliness means clean the heart. So just because one is a devotee doesn't mean that external cleanliness is not important. Prabhupāda used to quote this famous British saying, Cleanliness is next to godliness very often. And internal cleanliness, of course, comes from chanting of the holy name. Chaitanya Mahāprabhu and his associates cleaned the Golīcā temple, and this shows how Chaitanya Mahāprabhu emphasized that temples of the Lord should be completely clean. So, and then there is mercifulness. Mercifulness means, uh, giving people the real knowledge by which they can become free from birth and death. So real religion must be protected in society. And that was King Parikṣit. When he saw the influence of Kali-yuga, he said, "Please get out of my kingdom," because he wanted to protect the citizens by giving them religious principles, religious environment. Then the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also describes all the incarnations of God. You have thousands of people who claim that they are incarnations of God. Of course, in your country there's a new phenomena that some people say they're coming from heaven to talk to you. The flying saucers, what they are calling, isn't it? Wherever I travel, they ask me questions about, uh, this, these people who are coming from the heavenly planets inside Soviet Union and speaking to some people. And there's one man who's going on television who has become very famous now. Anyway, there's one man who's very famous who claims that he can heal everyone. He's a special man from heaven. But in India, to be a boga is very common. They, they produce some magic, some gold or dust, and he calls himself God. You have heard of Sai Baba? So Sai Baba does some magic and people say he's God. But then Sai Baba says, I'm not calling myself God, my disciples are calling me God. Prabhupada said anyone who calls himself G-O-D, God, is actually D-O-G, dog. Then there was another very famous god. I'm sure you've heard about him, Rajneesh. Rajneesh was very famous. He also was calling himself Bhagwan Rajneesh. Now that Bhagwan is dead, I think you know that. Of course, the real Bhagwan never dies. And this Bhagwan was so powerful that he was even scared of an incense stick or a rose flower. Just like when you go in the aeroplane, they screen you to make sure that you're not carrying any weapons. So similarly, anybody who would go to listen to Rajneesh's lecture, they would screen him to make sure that he was not carrying any incense or flowers, because that Bhagavan Rajneesh, as soon as he smelled some incense or flowers, he would faint. So Bhagavatam gives us information on all the incarnations of God. It says that the incarnation of Bhoga can be recognized on the basis of two features: principal and marginal. Principal refers to the bodily description of the Lord. Marginal refers to the activities that the Lord performs. Therefore, we can recognize who is genuine, who is not, on the basis of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So the Bhāgavatam's philosophy is to enable us to perfect our human existence. In the Bhāgavatam there's so many stories. Actually I'm thinking that in new Namāśvarāṇya I should only lecture on the Bhāgavatam. So I was thinking in the session after prasādam I should give you some stories of the Bhāgavatam. So far I've not given you any stories of Bhāgavatam. I've only given you the philosophy of the Bhāgavatam. Would you like to listen to stories from Bhagavatam? In material life, everybody likes to have a hero. Just like if you go to the room of some of these young boys and girls all over the world, they have pictures of their, uh, rock stars on their, uh, in their living room. Michael Jackson or Beatles or Rolling Stones or whatever. And if you're trying to become a movie star, then you have pictures of your favorite movie star in your Your movie star who is successful is like your hero. Then the top movie star is like your hero. You want to become like him. And if you want to become a big businessman, then you have people like Rockefeller and Ford who became big businessmen like your heroes. So in spiritual life, do we have any heroes? Yes, why not? And that we will discuss in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam stories. So you should make these characters of the Bhāgavatam as your heroes. And if you make these characters of the Bhāgavatam as your heroes, then your spiritual path is safe. And if you make material entities as your heroes, then your path is finished. So by absorbing ourselves in spiritual topics, the mind will stay clear of sense gratification and help you to make spiritual advancement. That is why the Bhāgavatam and all the scriptures are saying, make the mind your friend, control the umma. So the verse of the Bhagavatam that we discussed indicates the importance of the Bhagavatam, that the principles of religion and the sage are available in the Bhagavatam, and anybody who reads the Bhagavatam will understand how great God is and how we can really become happy. Hare Krishna. So now, wa prasad. So this is what the program I will take on questions for about, yeah, I will take on questions for about 20-25 minutes. Then we'll have a prasadam break because the engine, everything moves on the stomach. And after the prasadam break, I will give you all 3 stories from the Bhāgavatam that support our philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Okay? Nah, you come to Belisi. My blessings, my blessings have no power.

Philosophy ki wa prose. A man's girlfriend died and he wants to meet her soul.

What to do? There is one group in America, they have a religion called Mormon's religion. Have you heard of Mormon in your country? So Mormons, I went to Mormon's church in Washington. Because I'm also in charge of the Washington Temple, so I go there. So they have a very big temple in Washington, the capital of United States. So their philosophy is very funny. They say if you become a member of our church, if you get baptized in the Mormon religion, then after death you and your wife and children will go back and live in heaven together. How can husband, wife, everyone go back and be in heaven if they have all performed sinful activities and different types of karma? So this friend of yours, if he wants to be cheated, he should be— he should join the Mormons. He should have joined the Mormons before. Philosophical questions. Philosophy based on what I discussed from the Bhagavatam today.

A transcendentalist should be above 3 levels of consciousness. And the commentary in the Bhagavatam says, "Three levels of consciousness are awakening, sleep, and deep sleep." What does this mean? Have read this?

Bhagavatam is published in Russian. Sleep, deep sleep, and awakening. That is your question? You first, I will explain to you what is sleep, deep sleep, and awakening. Isn't it? First you must know that. Once you know that, then you'll understand the answer. So awakening is that position when one is awake and he knows what is happening. So in spiritual life, awakening means when you are aware of your spiritual position in relationship to Bhoga. Deep sleep means when you are completely intoxicated with sense enjoyment. Just like when you're sleeping in the night, deep sleep and snoring. You don't even know what's happening. But sleep is the stage where there's little disturbance and you wake up. Sometimes you go to sleep and there's a little bit of noise, somebody's walking in the room and you get up. Who's it? So deep sleep is when you're getting out of Maya, but still you have not come completely to spiritual life. And awakeness means you have understood I must give up Maya and come to spiritual life, and you are practicing spiritual life. So your question is, your statement was that transcendentalist has to be beyond these three levels. Is that what you said? Yeah, and how consciousness is working in all of this. Consciousness, even when a man is deep, in deep sleep, he is still alive.

In Bible it is said, that love God with all your heart and thoughts and you don't need to do yoga for the action. And is it possible to attend church being a part of the Sankirtana now?

Love God with all your heart. Yes, that is Bhakti Yoga. In the material world, the word love is used very common. Whether you are listening to the radio in Hindi or English or German or Russian, All songs are based on just one word, love. You don't have to know how to speak the language. You're just hearing music, you know it is the main theme of the song is how I love you and how I'm sad without you. But actually it is not love, but it is lust. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta there's a very nice discussion on this point. And it is explained in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta They are now gold and metal. They are both metals, gold and iron. They are both metals, but still there's a big difference between the two. So gold has much higher value than iron bar, isn't it? So what in the material world, what is happening is lust is being accepted as love. In the material world, even a fool does not want to admit he's a fool. So even a fool will act as if he's He's the smartest intellectual. Have you ever taken a taxi? Every day the taxi driver will give you an opinion on everything in the world. How to run the economy, how to run the country, how to run the whole world. So in the material world, they don't like saying lust, lust, lust, because they know lust is a dirty word. So they use the word love, love, love, but actually it should be lust, lust, lust. So when the Bible says give all your love to God, Yes, that is correct. That is selfless love that the Bhāgavatam talks about. Serve God without expecting anything in return at all. Even if you are at the point where you want something, go to bhoga. So give your love to God means serve God with all your senses. Okay. Then your next question was if you can be part of the Sankirtan movement and still go to the church. Sure, if the church is talking about the fact that religion is based upon truthfulness, austerity, mercifulness, cleanliness, then go to the church. But if the church is going to talk and say, "Oh, Bible never said thou shalt not kill, it only said thou shalt not murder. So you can eat beef, everything, but only on Fridays you cannot eat beef, you may eat fish." If the church is going to talk about the principles of religion the way they are supposed to talk, Sure, we'll go to the church every day. But if they are going to present a commercial, watered-down version of religion, then what is the use? So you devotees must understand that the reason we don't go to the church is not because we have anything against the church. It is just that they are not speaking what God has spoken. If your devotees want, after prasadam, I'd be willing to discuss similarities between the Bible and the Vedas, or points that the Bible has which are from the Vedas. Would you all like to hear that now or later? After Prasad? No, no, after Prasad. I was just joking. Okay, yes. Amma ready? Okay.

Two more questions. In Kali Yuga, sins committed by mind have no power, but as a person understands that it is sinful, will it give reaction? Good question.

Intelligent question. So in Kali Yuga there is one concession. That is, if you commit sin in the mind, that sin is not counted against you. But then you will say, "Oh, then there's no problem. I will only think about bad things, but I won't do bad things." But there is one danger. If you think of bad things, you will also do bad things. So if you're going to think about sinful activities, then you will also start doing sinful activities. And then when you— just like Arjuna, Arjuna was just thinking about the prostitute he saw with her lover, and then he got so attached to that prostitute that he eventually married her. So for a devotee, it is important that the mind be kept properly, otherwise the mind will get distracted from spiritual path.

Okay. Material world is acting under three modes of material nature. How do they act and how to get rid of their influence?

Devi-eshā gunamāyā mamamāyā durataya, mām evāmya prapadyante mayām etām taranti te. This verse of the Bhagavad-gītā is exactly saying the same thing what you have said in your question. This verse of the Gītā says to overcome the influence of maya is very difficult. So, The material modes are working by always giving you opportunity for sense enjoyment. But Krishna says that one who surrenders to me, he can overcome the influence of maya. So surrender to Krishna means following Krishna's instructions as they are coming down through the guru-parampara.

His father is telling something, but he wants to do something different. What should he do?

I think I should give you this advice in private. Now, if your father is telling you something by which you can advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then you must accept it. But if your father tells you to go in maya, then you can reject it. Guāṛḍha Kṛṣṇa da, guāṛḍha maya niyat. Okay? Parashurama.

It is said that sun and moon are the eyes of the Lord, and also Brahmā is born from his navel on a lotus. How to understand it? Is it just symbolic? It's real.

The sun and the moon are watching everything. Anything good or bad you do, you either do in the morning or in the night. You may try to hide behind closed doors and do something bad, but the moon is watching everything. So these are not symbolic, but these are real. Pashli niwa pros.

In the Bible, Jesus Christ says that no one has seen God before him, but he has seen him. There is some inconsistency here, and he says that he is the only son.

So I'm not an expert in the Bible, but based on my limited understanding of the Bible, I will try to answer your first question. So when Jesus Christ says that nobody except him has seen God. What he means is that you can only see God through the eyes of a pure devotee. You can only have bhoga through the guru. You, in order to understand bhoga, you must get knowledge from a purified person. Regarding your second question of Jesus Christ saying he only had one, huh? Prabhupada has said, if an ordinary man can have 100 sons, how can God have only one son?

It turns out that Jesus said something wrong.

No, I don't think I'm in a position to say that Jesus Christ made mistakes because he was— Jesus Christ was a very advanced devotee of the Lord. But Vedic knowledge is more detailed than any other scripture on this planet. I'll also discuss with you in the afternoon next session why the difference between the philosophy of different religions, why there is this difference. Okay, so I know that all your devotees are very hungry. I can see some of you are falling asleep. All of you are holding your belly with your hand next to your belly. So maybe it's time to let your devotees have prasad. The Vaishnavas, for the Vaishnavas, prasad is very essential. Hare Krishna. So, Amresh, we will break for how long? Half an hour? 45 minutes, Russian Standard Time.