Offences to the Holy name | CC Adi 8.16 | Rus-Split | 26 Dec 1998 | Srila Gopal Krishna Goswami

Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya! Oh no— Bhaga te va su deva yaam... Um na mo bha ga deh vaa soodevayyaum? Va soo dee vayyum um naamoo ba gwa tee waasu devamayoom om nama bah goatee wassudevaiaan ooom nummo bagwadeevaasu dewaiyaoOm Namo Bahgawat Dev Vasudheva YaAm Omm Na Mo Ba Gawa Dee Vassa Deevayahm.Om Namooo BahaGowathee Wasso DeyVahYaM So today we are going to read from the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, and we are specifically going to discuss Desaḥ askerblāne. Bahū! Bahū! Jñāṇma! Jñāṇma! Kere! Kere! Yadi! Yadi! Shravana! Shravana! Kirtana! Kirtana! Very good. Have you all heard this verse before? No. Who said yes? Bahujan makareya dishravna kirtanah. Bahujan makareya dishravna kirtanah. Tabutana payah Krishna pade pri madhana. Tabutana payah Krishna pade pri madhana. So who would like to chant now? One is infested with the 10 offenses in the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra. Despite his endeavor to chant the holy name for many births,, he will not get love of Godhead, which is the ultimate goal of his chanting. Paniyathana, did you understand the translation? Is there loud enough? Okay. Now I'll go a little more. There are offenses to be considered while chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Therefore, simply by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, one does not become ecstatic. So there are 10 offenses in the chanting of the holy name. Prasad RAVAL. So the first offense is to blaspheme those devotees who have dedicated their lives for propagating the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Those who have dedicated their lives for propagating the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra are very great personalities. They may be humble, but they are very great because they are following the Lord's instructions. Now if due to envy We criticize them or fault-find in them, then our devotional creeper will be spoiled. Krishna shakti vina nahi tara pravartana. One cannot distribute the names of Krishna unless he is empowered by Krishna. Therefore, just because somebody is having success in distributing the holy name does not mean that we should criticize him. This habit of criticism is very common in the materialists, but the devotee's attitude is to look at the good qualities of everyone. This is known as the Vrindavan vision. At present you may have the Leningrad vision, but you should change your Leningrad or Georgia or Baltic vision with Vrindavan vision. So the Vrindavan vision means to look at the good qualities of everyone. So this is the first offense, that is to criticize those who have dedicated their lives for propagating the mission of the Lord. Prabhupada says that this is the worst offense at the lotus feet of the Holy Name because the Lord may tolerate some insult to Himself, but He will not tolerate insult to His devotee. Do you know the story of the Rāsa Muni and Amṛśma Rāja? Everybody knows? So many people said no. So the story briefly is that Durvasa Muni was a very envious yogi, and Durvasa Muni was very envious because Amrish Maharaj was a bhakti yogi. But the Lord always protects his devotees, so Durvasa Muni tried to harm Amrish Maharaj But Amrish Manoj was protected by the Sudarshan Chakra of the Lord. The Sudarshan Chakra gives so much heat that even if you run, the heat runs behind you. So the Rasa Muni was running from this planet to the upper planets trying to escape the heat of the Sudarshan Chakra, but wherever he ran, the Sudarshan Chakra was right behind him. Eventually the Vāsamuni reached Kṛṣṇa because he was a yogi, and he told Kṛṣṇa, "Please, I am very sorry I offended your great devotee. Please forgive me. Take away the effect of Sudarśana Chakra." But Kṛṣṇa said, "I cannot do anything. You have to go to my devotee." And then Kṛṣṇa explained the position of an exalted devotee. He said that, "My devotees renounce, they sacrifice their wives, children, homes, everything for my pleasure." So they are very dear to me. They reside in my heart and I live in their heart. So if you have some constructive suggestion, then it can be presented in a proper manner. But just due to envy, we should not indulge in criticism. Now we'll go to the second, uh, offense. The second offense is Śivasya Śrī Viṣṇuṇa yahā iwa-gūnā-namādi-saṅkālām dhiya-bhinām paśyeta-kula-hari-nāma-hita-kāraḥ. That is, in this material world, the holy name of Viṣṇu is all auspicious. Viṣṇu's name, form, qualities, and pastimes are all transcendental absolute knowledge. One should not think that the holy name of the Lord is different from the Lord. Yesterday we were explaining to you how the Holy Name is absolute. That means that there is no difference between the Lord and the Holy Name. So to think that the Holy Name is different from Krishna is a great offense. When we chant the names of Krishna, Krishna is actually dancing on our tongue. So under no situation must we think that the Holy Name is different from Krishna. Also, The demigods are not to be considered to be on the same level as the Supreme Lord. Just like in a Russian government, you have Mr. Gorbachev who is the head, and you have many ministers who are in charge of different departments. It may appear to the ignorant person that these ministers are all independent of Mr. Gorbachev, but actually All the powers that the ministers have is based on the power given to them by Mr. Gorbachev. He is the Param Ishwara here. So similarly, Krishna is the Supreme and the different demigods are like the different ministers. The demigods get all the power from Krishna. They are not above Krishna. They are not equal to Krishna. They are subordinate to Krishna. So we should not think that the demigods are equal to Krishna in any way. So we only take the names of Krishna. Sometimes some of you may have met Hindus from India. Of course, you don't meet too many Indians in Russia. And the Indians very often tell us, "You Hare Krishnas are too narrow-minded." You only chant the names of Krishna. Why don't you chant Shiva, Indra, Durga, and other names also? We do not chant these other names because by watering the root of the tree, the different branches are automatically watered. Just like in a 100-rupee note— is there 100-rupee notes? Yes. The purchasing power of a 10-rupee note is automatically included. When you have a 100 ruble note, you do not have to worry if you want to buy something for 10 rubles. The 100 rubles will cover the 10 ruble purchase. So therefore we only go to Krishna and not to the demigods. Sometimes, of course, the demigods get puffed up. So, so then Krishna has to teach them a lesson. So once Once in Vrindavan, Krishna's father, he had, he told, Krishna's father was, adopted father was a farmer. For a farmer he has to depend upon rain. Today our modern scientists have made so much advancement, but they cannot defeat the agents of nature. No scientist either in America or Russia knows how to produce rain by magic. Like this year in America there is a very big drought, so with all their technology they cannot produce rain. So therefore Bhagavad Gita says, annad bhavanti bhūtāni prajñānad anna sambhava, that is food grains come from rainfall, rainfall comes from sacrifice, sacrifice means following religious principles. So Krishna told his foster father, "Don't do your yearly sacrifice for the pleasure of Indra." Indra is Krishna's minister of rain. Does Mr. Gorbachev have a minister for rain? Nobody has a minister for— but Indra is Krishna's minister for rain. If you do not please Indra, then there's no rain. Of course, if you please Krishna, then Indra is automatically pleased. So Krishna was telling his father, "Every year you do the sacrifice, but this year don't do it." His father said, "Son, if I don't do it, then Lord Indra will get very angry with us, and without rainfall all our harvest will fail." So anyway, out of the love for Krishna, Nand Maharaj, he did not do the offering to Indra. Indra got very angry. He said, "I am going to teach these brihvasis a lesson now." I told you earlier that the demigods sometimes become falsely proud, and they try to behave as if they are superior to Krishna. So what happens when a minister tries to act smarter than his boss? He is taught a lesson by the boss. So Indra was thinking, "Now I am going to teach these people of Vrindavan a lesson." I'm going to release unlimited rain so that there will be floods. Sometimes in your country also, do you have floods? So anyway, so the clouds, so there was a lot of lightning and the clouds were making noise and unlimited rain started falling on Vrindavan. And then the Vrindavan bridge vasis got worried. They said, no, "This is our punishment because we did not do the yearly sacrifice to Indra." Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, "Koanteya padijanahi naame bhakta pranashati," that my devotee will never be destroyed. So, one who is a devotee of Krishna knows that Krishna will ultimately come to my protection. So, what did Krishna do? There was a big mountain called Govardhana. 14 miles long. He carried it with one small finger, the whole mountain, just like a child holds an umbrella. And all the inhabitants of Vrindavan, they took shelter under the Govardhan umbrella. Do they sell this Govardhan umbrella in your country? So anyway, so they all were protected by the Govardhan umbrella. So then Indra understood, that this Krishna is not an ordinary cowherd boy but the Supreme Lord. And then Indra apologized to the Supreme Lord. There is another story on Lord Brahma, but I think maybe we'll skip that story, huh? Or do you want to hear it? So Brahmaji had once stolen all the cowherd boys And the cows. Brahmaji wanted to test who this boy was. This cowherd boy has become so famous all of a sudden. So Brahmaji saw that Krishna and Balaram, Krishna and Balaram were away on picnic. So in the meantime Brahmaji stole everyone. Brahmaji saw that Krishna had expanded himself into all the cows, calves, and cowherd boys who were kidnapped. And then Brahmaji admitted that in front of Kṛṣṇa he is nothing. This four-headed Brahmā, he is the smallest of all the Brahmās. Once the four-headed Brahmā had gone to see Kṛṣṇa in Dvāraka. So the doorkeeper stopped him, said, "Who are you?" So just like you go to see a big man, his secretary stops you at the door.. And the secretary goes and checks with the boss, "Are you ready to see this person?" So the watchman went inside to Krishna and said, "Mr. Brahma wants to see you." So Krishna said, "Which Brahma?" So the doorkeeper came outside and said, "Which Brahma are you?" Just like if there are many people with the same name, then the person inside would like to know which Victor is it or which person. So anyway, he is that four-headed Brahma. So when the four-headed Brahma went to see Krishna, he said, "I have a question. Is there any other Brahma besides me?" And the moment he asked this question, there appeared many other Brahmas. Some had 100 heads, 1,000 heads, and then Brahmaji saw that he was the smallest of all the Brahmas. Okay? So that's for stories. Now we go to the third offense, guru avagya. This means that you disobey the spiritual master or you consider the spiritual master to be an ordinary man. It is not that the spiritual master has to be a very dynamic, handsome man like Marlon Brando or someone. So the spiritual master, his only business is to repeat the message of Kṛṣṇa. As it is, and the disciple's duty is to follow the instructions of the guru thinking that it is the same as Krishna. So, the disciple must understand that what the spiritual master is saying is the same as what Krishna wants him to do. Thakur Bhakti Vinod has said, "Just like you cannot separate the body from the soul, the disciple cannot separate His life from the instruction of the guru. So one must take these instructions very seriously to heart, and then spiritual life will be very easy. And one should not consider the spiritual master to be an ordinary personality. And if we disobey the instruction of the guru, then to make spiritual advancement will be very difficult. Just like the karmis think that I can make some advancement without Guru, sometimes the disciple thinks that without the mercy, without the guidance and mercy of Guru, I can make advancement. That is, that is Maya tricking you. Sometimes Maya will trick you to believe that you don't have to follow the Guru, you are as good as the Guru, your Guru doesn't know what your real problem is. So one should be very careful on this point. Fourth offense is known as shruti shastra nindanam. That means to blaspheme Vedic literature such as the four Vedas and the Puranas. The Vedic literature are not science fiction. These days everything we read, these days everything we read is some type of fiction, but the Vedic scriptures are the words of God. Krishna incarnated himself as Vyasa Dev to record the Vedic texts. So these Vedic texts are non-different from the words of God. The word Veda means knowledge, and the Puranas are known as the 5th Veda. Those— there are many people who falsely say that the Puranas are not the words of God. They were written by some other personality than Vyāsa Deva. But that is a big offense. Puranas are also compiled by, by Vyāsa Deva. And there are 18 Puranas. And the chief of the 18 Puranas is the Bhāgavata Purana, known as the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that this is the spotless Purana. There is absolutely no shortcoming in this great Purana. There is absolutely no defect in this Bhāgavata Purana. So we should not criticize the Vedas or the Puranas. Okay, now we go to the next offense, huh? Fifth offense. Tuthārtha-vādha is the fifth offense. It means that one considers the glories of the Holy Name to be exaggeration. I will discuss sixth and seventh offense together. Seventh offense is known as harinām-kalpanam, that is to consider the Holy Name of the Lord to be imaginary. We all know that the holy names of the Lord, and just by chanting Hare Krishna, you can go back to Krishna. By chanting Hare Krishna once, you can, you can, you can destroy thousands of sins that you may have committed. So if somebody thinks that it is impossible for the holy name to be so powerful, the holy name cannot destroy so many sins, or that the power of the holy name is exaggerated, then that becomes a big offence. The Holy Name is the most powerful weapon. Just like the different armies are trying to get the best weapons so they can kill the enemy, our enemy is sense gratification. This is our only enemy, sense gratification, and this enemy can be defeated by the Holy Name. This is the most powerful weapon that one can get anywhere in the world, in the three worlds. Thakur Bhakti Vinod has said in his prayer, "Jeev Jagat," that please take this Hare Naam mantra. This is the most powerful drug in the three worlds. Take this Holy Name and chant it all the time. So there's nothing more powerful than the Holy Name. You can see practically that in your country and in many other countries like this, there was so much restriction for making spiritual advancement. But still I see all of you have developed love of God. You have given up sense gratification because of the magic of the Holy Name. So the Holy Name can do all the magic. It does not matter what your background is, whether you are Indian, Russian, American, Chinese, anyone who touches the Holy Name will burn his material desires. Just like anyone who touches fire will get his hands burnt.