Live Lecture | 29 July 2022 | Toronto | Srila Gopal Krishna Goswami

All glory to Guru Mahāprabhu. All glory. All glory. All glory. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Krishna.

Hare Krishna.

Welcome everyone to Bhagavad Gītā class. We have here in the back Om Namo Buddhaya Vasudevaya. Om Namo Buddhaya Vasudevaya. To start, we are going to read 2 verses from the Indian chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. Okay? One is chapter 18, text 72. 'O son of Pritam, O conqueror of wealth, we heard this with an attentive mind, and our ignorance and illusion Loudly. Can you repeat after me? O Sanat-Bhuta! O conqueror of will! Have you heard this? With an attentive mind. And fire any illusion.

Louder, louder, louder.

Now, Arjuna replied. Arjuna said, Arjuna said, my dear Krishna, my dear Krishna, oh, oh, infallible one, infallible one, my illusion is now gone, my illusion is now gone, I have regained my memory, I have regained my memory, I am myself, I am myself, I am now full, I am now full, and free, and free from, from doubt, doubt, and prepared to act, and according to your instruction.

According to his instruction.

So, in the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, we saw that Arjuna was confused. Confusion was, the battle was about to take place, and the Lord ordered him to fight. And Arjuna was thinking, "How can I take part in this battle when all my elders are present?" And finally Arjuna said, "I am not confused about my duty." He is— It is normal that most of us are confused about our duty.— which is why the introduction, and then the tradition of the Ganges, the Bhagavad Gita actually is not a religious document. Bhagavad Gita has great philosophical, it has philosophy and answers to virtually every question you may have. You all have ask so many questions. Is that right? How many New Zealanders are there in Canada? Other better. And they're all inquiring and understanding. So you may all have a lot of questions now. How do you clarify them? So Arjuna, he went to home with Supreme Father. Now in the 18th chapter, two verses will be read. In one verse, Kṛṣṇa says, "Arjuna, is your illusion now gone?" And Arjuna said, "Yes, in your case my illusion is now gone." "Lord, I am ready to act as directed by you." So, we often say, "Om Agyananti Bandhasya Jñānānjanah vidyāt." I am born in ignorance and I am enlightened in the Self of the Lord. So, we all need guidance, we all need direction. We take guidance Oh, just like you want some surgery to be done, you don't catch a layman on the street and say, "Here's a knife, do this surgery." You go to probably Father Prasad. So similarly, so similarly, in the Bhagavad-gītā also, we want to listen to the knowledge. Approach. I said, brother, and then he began to hear and understand. It was like they had their eyes, you know, under the translation of the Bhagavad Gita, but they were confused of Lord Krishna is the truth, why not Kālpa Kṛṣṇa is the truth? And it was broken. Bhagavad-gītā is a book of knowledge. What does Kṛṣṇa say? Rāja-viṣyaṇājā. There are various types of knowledge, and one access to study is. But what is real knowledge? Real knowledge is that which gives us the strength by which we can understand the core of life. Of life. So Bhagavad Gītā educates us. For example, in the second chapter, Krishna, it was said that the issue of the soul, Krishna explains, "Oh, there is no birth and no death." There's no birth and there's no death. It never happens. This is very understanding the science of the soul. Bhagavan on top of her created her head and gave her many wonderful books. Bhagavan told her, Bhagavan talked to her and said, "The 82nd chapter of the Gita is most important. It tells you who you really are. Understanding the science of the soul, That is very important. In today's society, by and large, people are children anyway, and they have very little desire to understand what is written down. So we should make a point to read a story every day. In English, it is "a read-a." Read a very nice story. Partisanism is old because of the two long conflicts. He again went with a great impersonalist, Swami Omacharya. They passed through the middle and then the north and then a tour of South India. During his tour of South India, he came over to the coast and met me. Everybody who came He became the padāvāśana. People were coming from a great distance to see him. And just by seeing him chanting das, they would also begin chanting das. And then they would go back to their respective places. Otherwise, by seeing them, they would also chant. Just like right now we have the COVID virus, everyone is panicking because this gets transferred from A to B, B to C, C to D. That is why we have all these masks. So, just like a material disease goes from A to B, B to C, the spiritual disease also goes in that way. And just like Prabhupāda, he went to the Soviet Union, planted a seed, and he brought thousands of babies. So Krishna, he helped in a way. Not only that, Lord Caitanya was traveling and people were coming to watch him from various places. Lord Chaitanya, they also got inspired. So Lord Chaitanya then came to a temple in Srirangam, South India. How many of you have been to that temple in Srirangam? No one? It is a very prominent temple. There Lord Chaitanya saw, there was a Brahmin sitting against the wall and reciting 18 chapters of the Bhagavad Gita. So, Brahmin was holding the Gita, reciting 18 chapters of the Gita, and as he was reciting, tears would come from his eyes, the hair would stand him on end, Their body was shaking. They never recognized this Brahman is genuine. Again, in reality, we see a lot of people who try to fake it. They will roll on the ground, shed tears to show that they are very wrong. So largely they never know the man is really manifesting here in the body. So he said, "Oh, Brahman, what is it in the Gītā that is making you display these symptoms?" Brahman said, "Sir, I am an uneducated villager, and the whole village knows I am uneducated. And when I read the Gītā, some words I can pronounce, some I cannot." And people laughed at me. Because the guru told me to recite in each chapter of the Gita, we say, "Indra Mantra of Duty." So Lord Chaitanya said, "Brother, sir, why are you saying something very precious? There must be some reason." He said, "When I see See how humble the Supreme Lord is. He is, He has become the chariot driver of His devotee. And per His direction, and per devotee's direction, He proceeded. See the humility of the Lord. He became a servant of His devotee. So Lord Śrīla Prasāda RAVALA. You have really understood the Bhāgavad-gītā and embraced it. And Lord Caitanya was so pleased because that brahman was with him for 4 months, explaining to him the meaning of the Bhāgavad-gītā. So Prabhupāda in Nippur would say, here is an example of a devotee who followed his guru The guru had ordered him, "Go and sleep." And he followed his guru. What happened? What was the special mercy he got? What was the special mercy he got? Who knows? Mercy God was, the Lord came to see him. You know, I would like to see God, but we— we can't see Him. And the Lord came to see him. He will be in active position. So, Prabhupāda similarly told us, we read the Bhāgavatam every day. Read the Bhāgavatam in the morning, Gītā in the evening, and in the intermediate period engage in service. Prabhupāda said, this is the body and mind of a servant. You may have two pieces of bread on either side, Sāmdhākāṇṣāra. In the morning we read Bhāgavatam, evening we read the Gītā, in the daytime we do that, Bhāgavat Gītā we read at night, you know. And give our real satisfaction. Prabhupāda prasannātmā, all those Gītā chapters. One who has transcended these difficulties, he has realized the Lord. He is extremely joyful.— satisfied in every condition. Why we get the edge? I am talking about the— okay, why the Lord threw edge in Modi? Why did the Lord select Arjuna? He had other men. What is why? Why?

Right.

Krishna says, because you're my devotee and friend, you gain understanding of the transformation of the creation. So Prabhupāda took the Bhāgavad-gītā, and you'll be pleased to know that the edition of Gītā by Prabhupāda has never been translated translated in more than 50 languages of the world. He has Bhagavad Gītā in virtually every language. People don't read the Gītā wide, but he has information about it. And the Bhagavad Gītā is basically this, that we are here to grow. We are here to develop. A big hand here.

It's more clear now.

If you can't hear, please give a signal. It keeps on slipping. So in German, it's everything is equal. The kālāvāśayāṣadām. The material life, living in it, and then what a misery, and then everything ends. Temporary. We would all like everything to be permanent, am I right? We want everything to be permanent. We don't want any relationship to break. We want to see everything. What is the ground of reality? We are realizing here, in spite of our best efforts, there is nothing but misery in life. And in today's society, what do you see? You see that there are more miseries than ever before.

Right?

If you look at the common scene, you will see the world is running under water. Even in the United States, which has plenty of everything. You will see in many parts of America, especially in California, the other states, Arizona, there is a tremendous water shortage. The whole world is running short of natural resources. In the Bhāgavad-gītā it is is there. Food grains are produced from rainfall, and rainfall is obtained— well, when does the Lord give you food grains? It's for man. When did he Jagya? When did no Jagya? Then generation passes by. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10th canto, you read about the You know the story of Krishna and everything, which hill?

Gauranga.

All the hills, the Gauranga Hills, were from this. So Nandmarāja was Lord's father. Nandmarāja and his devotees were engaged in performing the annual sacrifice. What was the annual sacrifice? That Indra is the source of rainwater and they said, "Maheshwara Indra yagya abhiya." And if they do the yagya abhiya, Indra will be given the rain. The Lord wanted to teach Indra, but then he said, "Then he lost his life." He had to be too proud. So the Lord wanted to shop that day again. The Lord went to his mother and said, "Madara, what is this ceremony that you're getting ready for? It looks like you're going to do some sacrifice." Madara did not reply. Madara was thinking, "My son is only 4 years old, 5 years old, he is not very independent. So initially the son spoke few times, the father did not reply. Then the son said, "Father, God give me secrets from you. I am your son." Then the father said, "We are dependent on Indra for rain, and if we don't get, we are killed. Indra won't give the rain." Then the son convince the father that don't worry, according to your karma, you're going to get a result. And finally, he persuaded his son not to be any of it, you know. And in a way, so that only— why was a small boy, if somebody He had the offering. He thought, 'You teach a wonderful thing.' What did he do? What did he do? What did he do? Unlimited rainfall. Every rainfall, each drop of drop of water was as heavy as a pillar. Imagine a drop of water being equal to a pillar. And where is the Lord? Anyway, as the water would fall, it would get dried. And then the body discovered it. He realized his mistake. The point is, we are sacrificing naturally you can't get all the necessary ingredients. It would be the same, but no one would satisfy it. Of course, as you know, different ages, different forms of sacrifice, because He has had evolution. In Satya Yuga, the last 100,000 years, He passes The meditation of the Lord. People meditate. 1, 2, 3 centuries. Then came, which came next?

Other.

He during period, what was the lifespan? Lifespan of all, 10,000. Then came, which, which one came next? Dwapara Yuga. Dwapara Yuga, lifespan gets reduced another 10,000, 10 times, to maximum of Hallelujah! What's the process? Elaborate it, Gurudev. Elaborate it. You are coming into the temple, we tell you, "Please bring 1 ounce of gold for the Lord." Very elaborate. People have that means. In Kali Yuga, another thing that is— what is the solution in Kali Yuga? In Kali Yuga, lifespan maximum is How much? 1,200 years. That too, with a small majority. And what is the process? English medium of the talk. So we were doing yajña, sacrifice. You know, sacrifice in my language is bhayya. So Bhagavad Gita is a Veda, each year. And what should we We should perform and submit. Today people want God's creation without God. Want all the facilities of the Lord without executing any type of sacrifice in return. 'Mārgīrī Jīrījana'—'the very sacrifice'. We should realize, the unlimited. Krishna is real bhokta, he is real enjoyer. One is intelligent, the Lord is the unlimited enjoyer. What does it mean unlimited enjoyer? Means he learned to act for the Lord's pleasure. That's life. If you abide by all the government laws, then do your duty, you never have any anxiety. Similarly, if you apply the knowledge of the Bhagavad-gītā, you never lie, you never be full of fear. So Bhagavad-gītā detachment, right, from the pleasure of the world. In the Bhāgavad-gītā, you read about the following example. Lotus leaves remain in water, but are they attached to water? No. Similarly, Krishna says, act in the material world without being impregnated. In other words, work in the spirit of detachment. Devotional service is so easy, anybody, anyone can take to it. The conclusion of the Bhagavad-gītā is bhakti-yāmām avyayāmām. You will be known only by that bhakti. Bhakti is the conclusion of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also. Prasada had compiled all this vast literary literature and he was still feeling is born. There is something lacking in my effort. And he went, and he went to another muni, another muni. The cause of this, this is not exclusively glorified by Prasad RAVAL. I gave birth to She was my mother. Then I went for a wedding holiday. My mother would read Bhagavad Gītā on the preaching bhakti-yoga. So Bhagavad Gītā is an important work. No doubt Bhagavad Gītā contains the ABC of spiritual knowledge. Bhagavad Gītā should be carefully read and carefully understood. And it's like, "So Krishna has spoken that about it." Just like at school, the professor may speak something, then you find, "Oh, you understand this properly." So, "How would he tell us?" "Can I be understood?" That's the main one. We should get into the habit of reading in a regular way. And getting the habit of reading in a regular way, that means you read read it. And every time they read it, it's less than what it should be. And Abhajaguruji, he read Bhagavad Gita more than 130 times, and he was, you know, he won't give it up. So the point is, Bhagavad Gita is our book of knowledge, and the more we read— and Krishna has made Bhāgavatī easy for everybody. That's like Krishna says, "Pāṭṇaṁ ahoḥ mām." In our movement, Nāma Jīvosi, or Pāṭṇaṁ, that's a means to see the Nishkāmaṁ, power. But fruit is very important, with love and devotion. Very important to serve the Lord with love and devotion. And Kṛṣṇa Rakaṇa, this is not being feasible for everybody. Like Kṛṣṇa says, paavanaṁ yajñānaṁ antaḥ. Many, many births, he is a fortunate soul who understands that I am the Father of all fathers. So all of you connected to this one, I'm very fortunate in life. I'm very fortunate to be born in Vedic school. You hear the meaning of the Vedas, not by interpretation, from the knowledge, but by an understanding. Even if this knowledge and this And Bhagavad-gītā, it ought to be practiced in modern days. Sometimes we meet people who say, "Bhagavad-gītā is outdated. It's not relevant today." That's illusion. Bhagavad-gītā is as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago. As Śrīla Prabhupāda was a boy, he began to read about the departure of the Lord. Lord had departed, and when Arjuna realized the Lord had departed, then Arjuna began to lament. He lamented because Arjuna had performed so many activities with Kṛṣṇa's work, and Arjuna missing the Lord's association. And we are missing the Lord's association. Then Arjuna began to meditate on the meaning of the Bhagavad Gītā, began to chant the slokas of the Bhagavad Gītā, and it was he who realized that Lord was next to him. Prasad rāval. Just like Arjuna was meditating on Kṛṣṇa's instruction in the Bhāgavad-gītā, and he felt that Kṛṣṇa was right there, we also meditate on the meaning of the Bhāgavad-gītā, we also feel Kṛṣṇa's presence. Kṛṣṇa is the only true form of the Lord, we say. He is the only true form. In the body. We have the vāpū in the body. Vāpū is the force of the bomb, body is the structure. So, Kṛṣṇa has instructed that way in the Bhāgavad-gītā. And if you receive the bona fide source of knowledge, then you will feel content. So, Bhāgavad-gītā should be understood Swami Yogi. The Lord Mahārāja said, "Karibeshu vishuddhāne troṣa." Swami Yogi, we should begin reading the Bhāgavad-gītā every day. How many of you read the Bhāgavad-gītā every day? I know that there are many devotees in this hall who have made a pledge, "I must read at least 2 verses of the Bhāgavad-gītā every day." If we do this, what will happen? You will develop sharp intelligence. You will be the preserver, and that will protect you from wrong actions. We are all victims of the mind in a sense. The mind is turbulent, isn't it? What did Arjuna say? Controlling the mind is suffering, controlling the mind. The mind is obstinate. The mind is obstinate. But we engage the mind positively, and positively means gaining. Then he is serving the Lord. Now how do you do that practically? Well, many there are. Krishna's instructions in the Bhāgavad-gītā. His instructions are very clear. If you take a word or two every day, meditate on that word or two. Then meditate on Kṛṣṇa's instructions. Just like Arjuna, he began to meditate on Kṛṣṇa's instructions. And then Kṛṣṇa's instructions are the same for everyone. And Kṛṣṇa does this for us. He gives us a— we are very scared. That is the law of karma which determines. Krishna actually is very clear. Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gītā, "Sarvātmaṁ prajñāyamām āyikāṁ antaṁ sarvaḥ bhāgavayā mokṣataṁ." I will relieve you from all sinful reactions. That is my condition. But the condition is serenity. What does it mean, serenity? It means that we shall preach other instructions in the final. Pāṣād rāvalayāṁ kṛṣṇaṣīrādhīrāḥ. Why should not? There is no truth higher than that. We must have confidence that we read the Bhagavad-gītā. This is the highest knowledge what you possibly obtain. And if you practice the Bhagavad-gītā in the day-to-day life, then you can lead a peaceful life. In any way peaceful life should have. No answer. Yes or no? Why deny? No one is. One who is spiritually content, fixing his meditation, he is content. Why would one announce spiritual? Material activities don't make you content at all. No matter how hard you try, you'll never be happy. What it takes is awakening. It takes you to the Bhagavad Gītā to find it. And engaging in these activities, you become peaceful. So, Bhagavad Gītā is an ancient, very ancient— in the 4th chapter, Kṛṣṇa gives the history, and part of it is imparted yoga to whom? To whom? To the Sun God. And from the Sun God it came down. And because of that, man was born, and then he was lost. Now we have reached yoga again. This is the oldest book of knowledge on the planet. And Kṛṣṇa reached all this. My request is, please read about Gita, Rūpa Gītā, and read regularly, you will see, you will feel Krishna's presence more and more. Krishna is not a friend for nobody there. Krishna is not a friend for men. As I told you now, he was totally satisfied when he heard the Bhagavad Gītā. He decided the Gītā. So if we start to meditate, read the Gītā, then we will Krishna is the actual, and the Gītā is Krishna instructing all of us. Aṁ vijñāpadaḥ. I am the Señor and Father of all living beings. Krishna does this great, even everyone does not do it. So we should make it a point to read the Gītā. So Krishna enquired, "Is your illusion so great?" All. And what did I just say? What did he say? I don't know what you're saying. Yes, I am the witness of God. Now raise your hand as you join. That should be our mood. Raise your hand to the Lord. That is only possible. I think we'll stop there for I think there are some questions if you have. Prabhupāda lectures umpteen times on the importance of the Bhāgavad-gītā in the day-to-day life. The Bhāgavad-gītā is a practical document to be applied in the day-to-day life. It is not just theory. There is theory that you have to apply. And if you apply, you will find that you will be content, you will be happy, and you'll be able to lead a peaceful life, all by reading the Bhagavad Gītā. So please make it a point to read one or two Seethu Vāsanas. If there's ability in the way, if there's determination in the mind, you'll change your life. Please read this regularly. It will really happen. Thank you. I'll be willing to answer questions if you all have any questions. Yeah. Always people like God, which is after every election, there is a famous president who is dedicated often for the election. Okay, always the president.

Thank you for the wonderful class. My question is, like, sometimes if we are not able to read that day, but if we are like hearing daily a chapter of Gita and Bhagavad Gita, is that okay also?

Yes. Reading in the press, reading on a paper book, that is very different. Krishna reading in the paper book, the baby deer that will close.

Gurumaharaj, you mentioned that Krishna consciousness is like a sandwich. Morning is one side, morning Bhagavad Gita class, in the evening we have Gita class, and then I missed what was in the middle, you mentioned something.

In the middle there is a practical devotion. We pray to the Lord, please engage us, please engage us in devotional service. What would be? Practical devotional service. Practical devotional service is that we tend to, may vary from individual to individual,— like, some of them, for example, they were doing a job. Imagine you doing a job, or— so based on what we do, we regulate ourselves. And he is pointing, he himself, to the And if you are angry, if you are engaged, what does that have to do with your path? Then you get a negative effect, you live with another more dark situation, but it doesn't especially help you. Thank you. As you told that after hearing the instruction from Krishna, Arjuna His illusion was destroyed and he agreed to follow the instruction of Kṛṣṇa.

So, in the situation, in our situation, how can we increase the faith in the instruction of our spiritual master? Or how can we increase the faith in the words of our spiritual master in day-to-day life?

Kṛṣṇa is here. Except if you practice the instructions and apply it, then you will get attached to the instruction. That's life. One question that people really ask every day: "How can I get attached to the Holy Name?" How many of you would like to be attached to the Holy Name? Okay. How do you get attached to the Holy Name? You get attached to the Holy Name by chanting the way. If you don't chant, you certainly will not get attached. How do you get attached to the scriptures?

By reading the scriptures.

If you don't read, you won't get attached. The same thing, how do you get attached to anything? What is the secret? Shantih, Muhitājñāna. What are the 5 principles of surrender? You know, —before death, before the spiritual death. So how do you get access to the instruction? By following the instruction. If you are following the instruction, then in a moment of death. In the first Kṛṣṇa Rādhā-Vāṇḍava Avantika, it indicates that— the word goes like this: "He lives forever by following the instructions of the father and guru." If you follow the instructions of the spiritual master, Mādhava. Mādhava is instructing. He is directing all aimed at reading Krishna. Especially one is chanting the name of the Lord. The other is chanting the name of the Lord. He says, "Read the books." Nobody is looking for books. "Mokṣamādhava." Krishna. "Apa puṣāca ho." So he is again Sri Ramakrishna, all aim at serving Krishna. Sri Ramakrishna is only a transfer to our being. The goal is to be Krishna. Somebody asked Prasad RAVAL a question, "Are you God?" Bhagavan said, "You did not understand." Thank you for the wonderful class.

I have a question related to Shrimad Bhagavatam. While reading, do we really have to go through each and every verse and each and every line, or can we just skip some of the chapters? Especially some of the chapters when I read related to how the earth was formed, how different planets were formed, do we really need to read all the words? Or can we just do the different instructions like Vishnu-prema, pranāma, those type of objectives?

Actually, at least once we should go over the whole Gītā. And everything, Prasad, is related to glorification of Kṛṣṇa. Everything. But then after you read it at least once, then Hare Krishna, Guru Mahārāja.

My question is, why do we read in the morning Bhāgavatam and in the evening Bhāgavad-gītā? Like, we can read in the morning Bhāgavad-gītā and in the evening Bhāgavatam?

You can. Prasad Raaval is beginning to learn from the morning meeting. But it's not so fast, no. If you want to read Gita fully, then Mahavatar Sadhguru, he can do that. But do it. Read it. Because reading is important.

English. How to focus?

It is very easy. Really. When you sit down to chant, you just sit down. Just chanting here. The mind is wandering. Let the mind wander. Nothing to do with the mind. Just chanting here. Meditate. Especially, you know, that period, try and concentrate on the chanting. And more attentive you are in chanting, the faster the medicine acts. The medicine has to be taken in a particular manner. For example, you recite the Ten Avances every morning. If you avoid the Ten Avances So ignore the permanent mind. Simple as that. Or ignore the mind. Yes. Yes.

Hi, Krishnamurti. This is my humble blessing to you, all the sishyas of Gopalan. My question is that we've heard that Gopalan had mentioned that when he was a dress card, when he was doing the business, so he would sometimes have 4 rounds in the morning and then 4 rounds after every meal. But nowadays when we see other Godbrothers and sisters, I'm personally talking about myself, that they complete all their sadhana and all their rounds in the morning, but I'm not able to do it and I don't see Good.

You don't feel good about the fact that you should finish it in the morning and you can't do it in the afternoon. You feel that you finish it in a whole day. Yes, you do. Yes, sir. Ideally, 16 hours in the morning and the rest. But if you have a job, depending upon when you are scheduled, you may not be able to complete it once a day. Do as much as practical. Krishna sees how much effort we are putting and how hard we are trying. And Prabhupāda used to say, you take one step towards Krishna, Krishna was saying, it is a story of you. If you can't do it in one stroke, you do it in 2 or 3 installments. You have to do it. Chant. Okay. As good as you can have, that's good. You should always be meditating, how can I chant better? How can I hear better? How can I get more from the Lord Rādhārāṇī?

Sparaj, you started by saying that Arjuna heard the instructions once and his illusion was gone. And we are reading Bhagavad Gita every day, we are hearing classes very frequently, many, many times, but our illusion is still there. So what are we doing with wrong.

Therefore we have to repeat and read again and again. We are not so intelligent, we forget what we've done yesterday. Memory very short. It will go one day. And separation with the issue, it will not go anywhere. Forget what spoken, you have to repeat. Prasad Raaval says regularly hearing Bhagavad Gītā all that is inner space in the heart will be destroyed. What is this place within the heart? I think it's material desires. That if you want to smash them then hear the Bhagavad Gītā every day. When we hear these words of God they help us get rid of our egoism. So we need to read again and again again. Not that every month, the next one month I'm not going to get it. It's like, I'll give you a mundane example. You see the product, English type, everybody knows in the market When there is an Apple phone, you see, we go anywhere in the world, you see, in India, Apple knows advertising in every corner. Isn't it? Why are they advertising in every corner? If you think of buying a phone, buy Apple. They are reminding you. Similarly, we need to remind ourselves, Over the Prabhupāda Gītā is, that it is a training to read. And if you want to read, you will find the time. Anyone?

Prasāda Mārāja, please accept my humble services. My question is, Mārāja, that Prabhupāda has recommended us to do 16 rounds. If sometimes we feel to chant more as reading, is it recommendable or we should practice to try to chant more more rounds or stick to the basic?

We should— what was your question?

One more round every skip reading for the day, or like try to increase his chanting and increase from 60 to more rounds. Is it preferable, recommendable, or we should stick to the very basic, uh, rules principles are 16 rounds.

16 rounds are uncompromising. I'm not going to compromise on that. And I said, you will do it again. There's no fixed quota you must do so many hours. Krishna, he knows how much time you have and how much time I'm going to American. Now we recommend reading every day. We have a choice. You choose being around than reading, then come read around. Okay, thank you. Okay, we just take one or two more questions. Any more questions?

Oglisim sis to you, Maharaj. How do I get to starting to read Bhagavad Gita? What are the basic guidance? I want to start reading Bhagavad Gita.

Bhagavad Gita? Yes. There is no guidance, just the desire. You start reading. We don't say, "If you don't read the whole Gītā, you can't read the Bhāgavatam." You can read the two books. No, no, what I am saying is, we don't say, "You can't read the Bhāgavatam unless you read the Gītā." The two can go on side by side. So, there is no period to that. You can read the Bhāgavatam, whatever is written. Thank you.

I will start the— I will follow your advice and read the Bhagavad Gita in the morning and follow my Gita reading this evening. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Hare Krishna. Thank you. With your blessings.

Recommended for Gnostas to do some Deity worship. So when we start our day, should we start with chanting first and then Deity worship, or Deity worship first and then chanting? Like, this is very, very individual, very individual.

Depends upon your work schedule and best as you try to reach your goal. It was— those of you who walk, naturally you have limited time in the morning. Yes. There is a limited time, but I used to spend it on fishing around.

Fishing grounds and then reading some verses from Bhāgavatam and some worship.

It was a very important religion to me. Yes. Okay. Those who are in the temple, inside of the temple, they should definitely follow the Bhagavad Gītā. Anyone? Prasad Raaval.

What should we do when we preach to our relatives about Bhagavad-gītā and they still don't read Bhagavad-gītā.

What can you do? Anyway, you are trying to preach to them, they say, "No, no, no, I don't want to do that." What can you do? You can take the horse to the pond, you can bring the water, that's all in your hands. Then you will do only this and that. There was a head of a preacher who said, "He doesn't show any reciprocation." You've done your duty as a preacher, but there's no reciprocation. But what can you do? Even when Prasad RAVAL and I, I started to work preaching, I used to go out. Not everyone Okay, any more questions? Yes, yes, in the back. Hare Krishna, Brahmārāja. What is the importance of deity worship in spiritual life? I finished this. Very important. In another 5 words, worship a deity with faith and reverence. God as a person, God as a form, and we worship the Lord in our faith and reverence. Worshiping the Lord with faith and everything. Here is God, present in the heart of every one of us. There are so many impersonalists, even in India, in the form of impersonalists. So, it is going to be a beautiful moment to worship the Lord, Shri Ramana Maharshi. Bhagavad Gītā 37, where Krishna has categorically stated that he will not interfere in the war, he will not do the war. And when Arjuna was almost in the stage of the defeat, Krishna took the wheel of the chariot and came down and took the chariot wheel and he tried to attack the base mount. When Krishna clearly said that He will not do any war, and is it not against the principles of the war done? Krishna wanted to show, "Even if I have to break my promise, I will break my promise, but it works to protect my devotees." So Krishna, "Vajraṇavaḥ caryaḥ." He has shown, created the world, my journey will never perish. He's the one to prove this boy. So I think we'll stop here. Thank you very much. So please join me in