Fastest way to please Krsna | SB 4.31.19 | Moscow |11.08.1997 | Srila Gopal Krishna Goswami

Om Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Om Namah Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Om Namah Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Om Namah Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Om Namah Bhagavate Vasudevaya. So as we said earlier, we're going to discuss a verse from the Fourth Canto that describes the importance of preaching as today marks the commencement of the Dharma Seva Book Distribution Marathon. Om Adyānta Melāndaasya, Jñānanjena Śalākya, Takṣuraṁ Mīlitaṇīnā, Tatvāy Śrīkṛṣṇa Vinamāḥ, Śrīkṛṣṇa Itanyāmaṇau Viṣṭham, Satyāmīnāmūkhalē, Svayāṁruvākṛdamāya, Lākīśrava Prāntikām, This verse that we read is being spoken by the great sage Nārada Muni to the Prajāpati. As you probably know, Nārada Muni is one of the 12 mahajans or spiritual authorities. Sarembho narāda sambho kāma-kapilomanu, palādo janaka vismāpādi vāya saktibhairava. So the 12 authorities and further every word of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is an authorized statement. So the prachetas, they had performed very extensive austerities. They performed austerities for 10,000 years, actually, they were on the planet in Satya Yuga. So actually this verse that we are discussing today was spoken in Satya Yuga. Because even though the Bhagavad Gītā was compiled 5,000 years ago, but the Bhagavad Gītā has stories from previous ages. So Narada Muni always appears at the right time and the right place. So when Narada Muni appeared in front of the prachetas, they were very happy to receive him. They offered him their obeisances and then inquired to please enlighten them further about the goal of life. So the prachetas described, "Jaya, just like when sunshine comes out As the sun rays appear, then the fear of thieves and rogues goes away. So similarly, when a conditioned soul comes in contact with a saintly personality, then his fear goes away. We see that even advanced sages are always anxious to inquire further about the process of spiritual advancement. Over here we see the prachetas inquiring from Narada Muni. You see Yudhishthira Maharaja inquiring from Narada Muni. You see Yudhishthira Maharaja inquiring from Viśma Deva. So in order to make spiritual advancement, we should constantly be inquiring and we should constantly be endeavoring. So Narada Muni again emphasized the importance of devotional service, and he explained how a living entity has different births. The first birth comes from the womb of the mother. That's called shokra-jnana. That's a word by Sīman. Then the next word Nārada Muni explains is realized when he's having initiation into the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. That's called sāmbhūtra-jnana. Is that true? Then the next word is realized when you get initiated in the chanting of the Kīrtiyātri mantra known as Yāgī-kāmāṇa. And he explains that just like pouring water on the tree, on the root, nourishes the entire tree, Or putting food in the stomach nourishes the entire body. Similarly, by serving the Supreme Lord, we discharge all our obligations towards demigods, ancestors, etc. Tushyad yasyu janardanaḥ. Tushyad means to satisfy and janardana means the Lord of all living entities. Who is the Lord of all living entities? Kṛṣṇa Tīrtha Bhāgavān Swāmi. It says in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, ekāla-īśvār-kṛṣṇaḥ aṣaḥ pratyayaḥ. That Kṛṣṇa is our only master and all others are his subordinate servitors. So Nārada Muni is giving us a formula how to satisfy the Lord very soon, not very slowly, fast, very soon. These days everybody wants quick results. They call it, it's the world of the instant product. Siyām dūdi-kātyo siyo 'bhiṣṭho 'bhiṣṭho. So they want everything fast. So if you want something fast, if you want to please Kṛṣṇa fast, here is the formula in this verse. This is the formula. So what's the formula? Only 3 points. You don't have to be a big scholar to understand these 3 points. Actually, one who takes to the path of devotional service is better than any scholar. Scholars are only doing academic studies. What you do is you take to the path of devotional service, practically engage in service. So the 3-point formula which Nārada Muni gives, I'm sure you've heard it before, is as follows. First is, be merciful to all living entities, dayāya. Nārada Muni says dayāya sarvabhūteṣu. Sarvabhūteṣu means all living entities. So, a Vaiṣṇava, actually to be a Vaiṣṇava is a very privileged position. And to become a Vaishnava requires endeavor. We are, as I often say, aspiring Vaishnavas. Just like you enroll in medical school and you hope that after 7 years or 6 years you'll become a doctor. So we are on a path that will make us a Vaishnava, which is, which means an alloyed devotee of the Lord Sri Krishna. So a devotee is merciful and compassionate to all living entities. We don't believe in the philosophy that all living entities don't have a soul. Not only we believe in the philosophy that these some entities with less intelligence have been created for the pleasure of those with higher intelligence. Devotee does not want to harm even an ant. In the 5th Canto, you read about Jādhāra, He was carrying King Rahugana, and he was walking so cautiously that he would not even step over an ant. So now the muni is saying, show mercy to all living entities, and this includes, of course, the human beings. So the question is, how do you show this mercy or compassion? If you were to ask a common man on the street, he would— everyone would give his own version. Someone may say 'Give a poor man some money so he can have, buy a car and live well.' Like some drunkards love to give charity to other people so that they can also drink. But when we talk about charity, when we talk about being merciful, when we talk about being compassionate, we talk about giving people the knowledge by which they can become free from the miseries of birth and death. In other words, there's a difference between real compassion and false compassion, real mercy and false mercy. So Prabhupada says show mercy to all conditioned souls in the purport. And the best way to show mercy, Prabhupada says, is to spread Krishna consciousness. Why is the entire world suffering? Because they don't have Mercedes cars? They don't have big dachas? Why the whole world is suffering? For want of Krishna consciousness. Prabhupada has said that many times. For want of Krishna consciousness the whole world is suffering. Suffering. So how can we remove their ignorance? The whole world is progressing on the assumption that they are these bodies, and to satisfy these bodies, the senses, they're willing to endeavor to any extent. So those who are learned, their business is to endeavor to enlighten others about the importance of Krishna consciousness. Prabhupāda quotes in the prayer book the famous words from the Sixth Canto, naḍaṇḍa parā-sarve naḍko teṣana bibhyati sāraḥ parārāgaṇārkeṣava api kulyārtha-darṣanaḥ. That a devotee of the Lord, in order to serve the Lord, is even willing to travel to the hellish planet. The point is that we have been instructed by the great acharyas and the great sages and the Supreme Lord about the importance of enlightening others. So Prabhupada again and again emphasized the importance of preaching. Kṛṣṇa in the Bhāgavad-gītā, which was first spoken to the sanga of Vivasvan, also explains the importance of preaching in the 18th chapter of the Bhāgavad-gītā where He says, yā idaṁ dharmam guyaṁ, that of all the roles, the dearmost is one. Who engages in preaching My glories. So Kṛṣṇa clearly says, there will never be one more dear to Me than one who engages in preaching My glory. So the devotees of this Kṛṣṇa conscious movement get trained in understanding the importance of being compassionate and helping others. And the best way of helping others is, as Prabhupāda said, give them this transcendental knowledge. In other words, Engage in preaching activity. When you engage in preaching activity, you're entering in an activity by which you can please the Lord and the guru parampara. Now there are many forms of preaching. You can stop every man on the street and tell him, "Say, you're not this body, you're not that." He won't engage in service. So there are many different forms of preaching. Just like we have many weapons for preaching in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We have the program of prasāda distribution. We have the program of Hare Kṛṣṇa. We have the program of Food for Life. We have so many different programs for preaching. But the major program for preaching is this program of Transcendental Book Club. Of all the programs, Prabhupāda did emphasize this program the most. If you look at our spiritual history, in spiritual life, we do what the great ācāryas have done. You see the emphasis on preaching even in the Deities of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Caitanya Mahāprabhu was so powerful, he was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that when he went on his sankirtan party, everyone just by seeing them chant would be inspired to also chant and become devotees. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu instructed his close associates to also endeavor to go house to house to enlighten others about this Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Ṭhākura Bhakti Vinod. At the time ṭhākura Bhakti Vinod came on the planet, the printing industry had developed, was beginning to develop. During the days of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, there was no printing industry. But ṭhākura Bhakti Vinod took advantage of the development of the printing industry by publishing books and then selling his books all over the world. And then Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī ṭhākura did the same. And Śrīla Prabhupāda took Bhaktisiddhānta Mahāprabhu's orders to heart and encourages all to also distribute this transcendental literature. So Jānāmaśvī is not too far. It's only days, about 15 days away. And Jānāmaśvī for the devotee is the most important event because it marks the date that the Lord appeared on this planet. We don't say He took birth, we say He appeared, Śrījāmī. He manifested Himself on this Hare Kṛṣṇa. So we should meditate what best present can we give to the Lord. And the present that will really please Lord, the Supreme Lord, the most would be to distribute His transcendental wisdom. After all, what do these books contain? They contain Kṛṣṇa's Vāni, philosophy spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, eternal wisdom. This is eternal wisdom. This wisdom will be taken advantage of for the next 10,000 years. And after 10,000 years, there will be no scope for spreading God consciousness. And this transcendental knowledge doesn't suffer from the defects that ordinary knowledge suffers from. So the best way to show mercy, the best way to please the Supreme Lord, the best offering that each of us could make to Lord Sri Kṛṣṇa on His birthday would be our endeavor to distribute this transcendental knowledge. Now the ability, the desire, the willpower, the determination to take part in preaching activity is dependent upon our endeavoring to cultivate the seed of devotional service. In other words, you may listen to the philosophy, but unless you follow the philosophy completely, the inspiration will not be there in the heart. Prabhupada very clearly told us, preaching is the essence. But right after that he said, purity is the force. In other words, through the medium of purity or through our endeavors to acquire purity, you get to the point of developing determination. Now purity comes from following the other two points that Nārada Mūlaī talks about in this verse. The other two points that Rādhārūṇī mentions that are also much for spiritual advancement for everyone is santuṣtya and sarva-riṇḍya-pāśyantya. Santuṣtya means be satisfied. Sarva-riṇḍya-pāśyantya-cā means engage the senses. So first is santuṣtya, be satisfied. Now if you look at material society, you will see that actually no one actually is satisfied. We have a tendency to think, if I just get one more thing in life, then I'll be satisfied. But then when you get the next thing, then the mind says, just one more, then you're going to be satisfied. Pravrtti. There's a saying, when you get an inch, you want a mile. You get a little bit and then you want more. So in reality, in mature life, no one ever is satisfied. Even the millionaires are desiring to obtain more. But that is the nature of material life. Through the scriptures and through practical observation, we can see that no one ever is satisfied in his material endeavors and accomplishments. But a spiritualist is satisfied with what is provided by the will of the Lord. The spiritualist knows that I'm only going to get what is my destined lot and not more than that. Doesn't matter how much you may endeavor, You're not going to get a drop more than what's destined for you. Prabhupada, this is explained by Lord Kapiladeva and expanded in a very lengthy purport by Srila Prabhupada in the Third Canto. When Lord Kapiladeva explains and Prabhupada expands that a devotee understands, it doesn't mean that a devotee is content because he knows that whatever is due as my share, I'm going to get it. There's no point in over-endeavouring. Prahlad Maharaj also makes this point. Prahlad Maharaj says, just like distress comes without our begging for it, similarly, your kotha, happiness, will also come and come automatically. Of course, the endeavor has to be there, but over endeavor should not be there, or endeavor at the cost of spiritual life. Sometimes devotees also get in the mentality, okay, let me just work hard and just make money. But then in this process, they sacrifice their spiritual life. So come what may, we should not compromise on the essential elements of our spiritual life. So if you're practicing the process of obtaining purity, then you will be satisfied. If you have spiritual knowledge, then you will be satisfied. If you don't, if you're not cultivating spiritual knowledge, then you'll constantly be affected by Lust, anger, greed, envy, hatred, pride— these are all the enemies of spiritual life. These enemies are identified as the anarthas, and unless we endeavor to eliminate the anarthas, then the anarthas will not go away. So the endeavor has to be there to obtain the status of purity or to cleanse the heart. Or Krishna explains in the Bhagavad Gita the austerities of the mind. And one of the factors he lists is simplicity. That's the guiding principle for a devotee's life. Now, when you are endeavoring for purity with the help of the process of spiritual advancement, beginning with chanting and hearing, then you also are able to gain control over the senses. Cervair indriyopāśantya. This means to control the senses and the mind. The materialist is controlled by his senses and mind. They are slaves of the senses. And to satisfy the senses, they go to any extent. The spiritual philosophy is control the senses, or in other words, take the poison out of the senses. Just like a snake charmer, a snake charmer takes out the poison from the fangs of the snake, from the teeth of the snake. So we have to take out the poison from our senses. Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, touch, all these senses are full of poison. In other words, all these senses are ananta-samskaras. So you will have to purify the senses. And the process of purification, the process of devotional service that we follow, the process of rules and regulations that we follow, are endeavours in the direction of purifying the mind and senses. So by following the process, then we can purify. The best engagement is to engage the senses in actively serving the Lord. Engage the senses in men serving Kṛṣṇa's name, form, pastimes, and qualities. It is described, Kṛṣṇa's name, nama, form, rūpa, his guna, qualities, and līlā, activities, pastimes. These are the areas of subject matter that a devotee likes to engage in. We take advantage of Kṛṣṇa's nama, name, by chanting the holy name very attentively. We take advantage of the Holy Name by meditating how the Holy Name is non-different from the Lord. We take advantage of the Holy Name by meditating how the Holy Name alone can give one freedom from the cycle of birth and death. We take advantage of the Holy Name by realizing that just this whole attentive chanting is enough in Kali Yuga to achieve Self-realization. We take advantage of Kṛṣṇa's form by meditating and appreciating Kṛṣṇa's wonderful transcendental form. Thanks to technology, you can have such wonderful pictures of Deities of ISKCON temples around the world. So meditate on these forms. Then take advantage of Kṛṣṇa's unlimited qualities that you read about in Nectar of Devotion. And then you have Kṛṣṇa's unlimited pastimes that you read about in the Kṛṣṇa book and other books. The point is that we have to control the senses, as Nārada Muni is saying. And you can only control the senses by taking advantage of the process of devotional service. There is no other way how the senses can be controlled. So when the senses are engaged positively, then as Narada Muni says, sarva-padi vinir-muktam tat parvinah nirmanah reshikina reshikina sevam bhaktir ucyate. When the senses are engaged positively in service of Rishikesh, then one can become free of these bodily designations. So when you engage, um, when you engage in devotional service, as a result of that you're able to engage your senses positively, and then plus be satisfied with whatever you have. And then you'll automatically be inspired to follow the instruction of the chariot and to take part in the preaching activities. So the path for making spiritual advancement has been clearly defined. We don't need to speculate, we don't need to guess. Everything is defined clearly in black and white. In 1932, Prabhupāda wrote a very nice vyāspajā offering to his spiritual master, after which his godbrother started calling him kavī, poet. So in that poem, Prabhupāda says, the line of service is clearly drawn by you. So the line of service that we all have to follow in order to make spiritual advancement has been very clearly defined by our Founder-Ācārya, Śrīla Prabhupāda. We just have to, with faith, take advantage of the process. Just like Guru Pākoṣamī says, uttaha neshched hariya tatpat-karma-pravartanāt sāṅgatyāgya satyaved. So he tells us how we can make spiritual advancement. With faith, We follow in the prasada path given by the great Acharya. We don't concoct, we don't speculate. We have seen with our own eyes that those who take advantage of this process are making rapid spiritual advancement. It's not that we only read about great sages in the books. We can see even more in the modern-day environment as ISKCON expands all over the world. There are many devotees in ISKCON who take advantage of this system by very strictly, and they're making very rapid spiritual advancement. Sometimes we have tendency to say, "Oh! I'm not Haridas Thakura." "I am not Prahlad Maharaja." "I am not Yudhishthira Maharaja." They were great sages; they made spiritual advancements. But even within last 26 years since Prabhupada created ISKCON—30 years—you've seen devotees who took advantage of the process and followed the process with faith and They have become very strong samudis. We can also see that disciples of Prabhupada's disciples, of Prabhupada's grand-disciples, many of them with faith in the words of their spiritual master, take to the process and they strictly follow the process. They are also making rapid spiritual advancement. So the point to realize is that the path of devotional service, as first given by the Lord, then passed on by the disciplic succession, is as potent today in 1997 Russia as it may have been 5,000 years ago in some part of India. In other words, the potency of the Holy Name, the potency of devotional service, the potency of hearing this transcendental knowledge, the potency of doing practical service is as effective now as it ever was before. So it's just a question of our taking advantage of the philosophy and our endeavoring in the right direction. Endeavor has to be there. Without endeavor, there's no question of success. Krishna instructed Arjuna to become an instrument in the battle. He never told Arjuna, you keep sitting on the chariot and I'll do all the work for you. As they say, God helps those who help themselves. So those who want to make spiritual advancement, Krishna who is residing in the heart, is anxious to reciprocate and create a situation how he can make spiritual advancement. Our goal should be to make spiritual advancement. Unless you're endeavoring to develop a higher taste, how can you give up your lower taste? Even in material life, you don't give up something inferior unless you get something superior. I imagine they do that because they just can't get any other job, so at least they have some job, even though it pays them once in 6 months. Shall we go on? So we have to endeavor to develop this higher taste, and that endeavor must be there. Prabhupada used to say that even a lion has to endeavor to get his food. When the elephant— when a lion is sleeping, the animals don't show up and say, please come eat me. Yes, sir. I know you're hungry. In fact, everyone runs away from the lion. So endeavor has to be there. Krishna's mercy flows when the endeavor is there. Mother Yāsodā was trying to tie Kṛṣṇa with a rope, trying very hard. Initially she did not succeed, but then she was successful because Kṛṣṇa said, "My mother is trying so hard, now let her succeed." So we have to endeavor to follow the paths of devotional service. Then you'll be able to control your senses, and then you'll be satisfied with what is there by the arrangement of the Lord. Now is an opportunity for every devotee to prepare to give a nice present to the Lord. How? By endeavoring to distribute these books. We should understand that the ultimate doer is Kṛṣṇa. Obviously, the result of any endeavor is not in our hand. But certainly the initial endeavor, the freedom to endeavor or not, is in our hand. But Kṛṣṇa says, That if you sincerely endeavor, that even if you have some inability to do a job, I'll make it up. I'll give you the intelligence how to do it. Do you have faith in this statement of Kṛṣṇa? Lāṇḍīya, you have false faith or 20-30%? Frankly, you don't have full faith. You have 20-30%. Actually, you should have full faith. So Kṛṣṇa says, those who endeavor with determination, I give them the intelligence, I preserve what they have, and I make over their life. So we need to endeavor. And if we endeavor, Kṛṣṇa will inspire us how to do the job. Above all, Kṛṣṇa will be pleased with your effort. It's so easy to please Kṛṣṇa. To please Kṛṣṇa, you don't have to be a millionaire or a big scholar. You have to make a sincere endeavor. So if all these devotees make a sincere endeavor, to take part in the Janmasri book distribution marathon. And whatever sambhavas— I know that many of you do jobs, you have families, etc. But if somebody wants to, as they say, if there is a will, there is a way. If you are able to find some time to do it, then Krishna will be very pleased, and this will be a wonderful preparation for Lord Krishna's appearance day. So nothing can please Krishna more then our endeavor to distribute His transcendental knowledge. And if you endeavor, Kṛṣṇa will give you the intelligence. Actually, we had no ability. We should always remember that Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda are the most merciful incarnations ever to appear. And together they are distributing so much sunshine. Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda, their effulgence is compared We have fallen in love with thousands, millions of moons and suns put together. And if we endeavor, by their mercy, difficult things become easy. And without their mercy, easy things become difficult. Kṛṣṇa's Kavirāja said, by the mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, a blind man can see, a lame man can walk, a deaf man can hear, a dumb man can speak. So you may be dumb, lame, deaf, blind. Still, by the mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, we can get people. So please take part in this Jānāmaṣvī book distribution effort. You'll get the mercy of the Lord, mercy of your ācāryas, mercy of Prabhupāda, mercy of your guru, and you'll make spiritual advancement. In other words, you'll get strength to become more determined to push on spiritual life. You give Kṛṣṇa, you get Krishna reciprocates without surrender. And the way to surrender is not do what your mind says you should do, but you do what the Ācāryas say you should do. We've been surrendered to our mind for millions of births. That's why we've been rotting in the material world. But now is the opportunity to surrender to Krishna's mind. So please take advantage of this advice that Narada Muni is giving the prachetas. Actually, this advice through the medium of prachetas is for all of us, and you'll be able to make spiritual advancement. Hare Krishna. Hare Rādhā.