Pastimes of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu & Book Distribution | Rus-Split | 05 May 90 | Gopal Krishna Goswami

In the Bhāgavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa says: parītanaya saduṇyām vināśa-cād-duskata dharma-saṁṣapanārthaya samavāmi yuge yuge, that He appears again and again in order to establish the principles of religion. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said: kale doce nide rājan astyeka mahā-guna Kīrtanai vākriṣṇasya mukta-saṅgasa parambrajaya. In this age of Kali, there are so many inauspicious things, but there is one great benediction in this age. That is the chanting of the holy names of Kṛṣṇa. And in the Vedas it is said, kṛteya dhyāyato viṣṇuṁ treta-yo yajñato mā ke dhwāpare parīcharyāram kalauta-dhāri-kīrtanāt. That is, In Kali-yuga, just by chanting the holy names of Kṛṣṇa, you can get the same benefit that you could get in Satya-yuga by prolonged meditation, or in Treta-yuga by big, big sacrifices, or in Dvāpa-yuga by worshiping the Lord. That same benefit you can get in Kali-yuga just by chanting the holy name. In other words, in Satya Yuga, to become self-realized, what would people do? They would go and sit down and meditate up to 60,000 years. To meditate for 60,000 years was not difficult because people would live for 1 lakh, 100,000 years. Then came which, which Yuga came after Satya Yuga? So in Treta Yuga, people lived for 10,000 years. 10 times less than the previous age. And in Treta Yuga, for self-realization, people would have big, big sacrifices. They would invite thousands of brahmins. They would have used pure ghee, pure milk, all pure ingredients, and have big sacrifice. If you were to do that today, it would be impossible, isn't it? Your neighbors complain when you do kīrtan. But if you start having fire sacrifices, then they will shout. Okay. If you ask your neighbors, "Come on, you can have your choice. Let me have kīrtana or fire sacrifice." Everyone will say, "Okay, have kīrtana, but no fire sacrifice." So that is not possible in this age, what was possible in Treta-yuga. And in Satya-yuga, people would sit down and meditate. Now we told you to go to the mountains of Soviet Union and sit down and meditate. Would you like that? No, you won't like it. First of all, for meditation you have to go to a completely secluded place. So the Himalayas are 28,000 feet high. So let's suppose you go on the top of the Himalayas, you still have the planes on flying on top of the Himalayas. So meditation today is not possible. In Dwarpa Yuga, the process was that people would worship God with very elaborate presents. So in Dvārpa-yuga, people would go to the place of worship and give very expensive offerings. But everybody was so rich that they could easily afford it. But if we told you, "You can only come over here for the lectures if you brought 500 rubles with you," nobody would come. So in Dvārpa-yuga, everybody was worshipping the Lord and giving rich offerings. But that is not practical in this age. So in this age, the same benefit that you could get in Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvarpa Yuga, you can get in Kali Yuga just by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Do they have sales in your country? That is, after Christmas they will reduce the price. Before Christmas they will sell the suit for 100 rubles and after Christmas for 80 rubles. Okay. But in the Western countries they have it.

No, no.

Before Christmas they will sell something for $100, after Christmas they will sell it for $30. So the Supreme Lord is so kind that in Kali-yuga there's a big sale going on. In a material situation when they have sale, they just have it for 1 day or 2 days, that's all. But in Kali-yuga the sale is going on for 10,000 years, and that is the chanting of the Holy Name. By chanting the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa, You can get the same benefit that you could have got in Satya Yuga by meditation, in Treta Yuga by sacrifices, and in Dwarpa Yuga by worshiping the Lord. So somebody had to appear in order to popularize the holy name. Just like the Hare Krishna mantra. The Hare Krishna mantra is not a new mantra. It is a mantra that is being chanted since thousands of years. But why is it That 200 years ago nobody in Russia was chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has appeared just to popularize the chanting of the holy names of Kṛṣṇa. And you can see that Caitanya Mahāprabhu's pastimes from His very birth, they were all towards making people chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Just like, for example, when Caitanya Mahāprabhu was a young baby, He would cry like all the other babies cry, but the other babies will stop crying when they get some toys or something to play with. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu would stop crying when the neighborhood ladies would come and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Caitanya Mahāprabhu was known as Nimai Pandit. He was teaching Sanskrit, and he would teach Sanskrit in a manner always relating every rule to Kṛṣṇa. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He popularized the chanting of the holy name, and by His preaching He was able to convert all types of people to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Once when Caitanya Mahāprabhu was young, He was the top Sanskrit scholar. So there was one Sanskrit scholar called Kashmiri Pandit, and he had defeated everybody else. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu defeated that Kashmiri Pandit in a debate. But the understanding in the olden days was that if somebody was defeated, then that somebody would become his disciple. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu defeated Kṣerupandit and he became his follower. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, from His very birth, He was inspiring people to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. We see that Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He was able to attract all types of people. Sometimes people think that the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement is only for the hippies. If you look at the history of the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, you will see that Caitanya Mahāprabhu was attracting big, big scholars, kings, and prime ministers, and so on. 500 years ago, India was the richest country on this planet. Even the Mohammedans went to India to get their riches. Even Alexander the Great, when everybody went to India to conquer India, even the Britishers came there to make their money. And within India, the richest republic was the Republic of Bengal, and that republic had a king who was very fond of hunting, and the whole administration was being run by two, uh, two individuals who later on became Rupa and Sanatan. So when Rūpa Gosvāmī met Caitanya Mahāprabhu in Prayāga, Allahabad, he said, "Ke āmi?" Please tell me, who am I? He said, "Who am I? Please tell me what is my real identity?" Caitanya Rūpa Gosvāmī said, "In society people think that I am very learned and educated, but I don't even know who I am." Just like in your country, there are so many educated people. There's no shortage of educated people in your country. Your country has the highest literary rate in the world. But if you ask them, "Who are you?" How many of them will be able to give you a true answer? So Rupa Gosvāmī was instructed by Caitanya Mahāprabhu for 10 days regularly on the process of devotional service. These instructions are very, very important. Caitanya Mahāprabhu instructed Sanātan Gosvāmī and Rūpa Gosvāmī about the process of devotional service. Caitanya Mahāprabhu gave a very simple example. He said, just like if you plant a seed, if you plant a seed, then the seed has to be watered. So similarly, if the seed is watered, then the seed will grow into a tree. And then the tree will produce fruit. But if you do not water the tree, then the fruit will not be produced. And he said, an expert gardener, when he sees that there are unwanted weeds around the tree, then he cuts the weeds out. So similarly, Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, when we see some anarthas, or unwanted habits developing, We must advance, uproot them, pull them out. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, śrāvanaṁ kīrtanam. By this process of chanting, this bead, the bhakti-lata bead, the seed of devotional service, that will grow. Brahmanda-brahmita-kona-bhāgavanujī-guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāpāya-bhakti-lata-bead. After traveling through many, many millions of births, is he the fortunate soul who receives the seed of devotional service in the heart, bhakti-lata bead. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained how the seed of devotional service must be watered through the process of śrīmad-bhāgavatam, kīrtanam, and at the same time one must build a strong fencing around him. Just like in India you have all these farms and they always put boundary walls or fencing because otherwise the cows from the neighborhood farms will come and eat your grass. So similarly, Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, for this devotional creeper to grow, we must be surrounded always with devotees. Sadhu-saṅga, sadhu-saṅga, sarva-śāstra-kāya. All Vedic scriptures say take advantage of spiritual association. Asatsaṅgatyāga-e vaishnava-ācāra. The scriptures say give up the association of non-devotees. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu gave very valuable instructions which we should all take advantage of to make spiritual progress. Now Sanātan Gosvāmī, Rūpa Gosvāmī, he resigned his position as the prime minister and he joined Caitanya Mahāprabhu. But Sanātan Gosvāmī, he did not resign immediately. So Sanātan Gosvāmī, after he met Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He got very attracted to the process of devotional service. So Sanātan Gosvāmī started telling the king, he told the king that, "I am very sick, so I cannot attend to work." So the king was very surprised. The king said, "Before, this Sanātan was never like that, but now every day he's sick. What has happened to him?" So the king, he sent his medical doctor to check Sanatana out. So when the medical doctor came in, he saw that Sanatana was sitting reading, all the shastras were in front of him. So the doctor went to the king and said, "Oh, that Sanatana is not sick, he is very healthy." So the king was very angry and the king had Sanatana thrown in jail. Now Sanatana, of course he had money because He was like a Prime Minister, and also he knew the art of diplomacy. So Sanatana told the jailkeeper, "Please release me. Here is some money for you, and you can tell the king that he had gone outside to pass stool and he ran away." So Sanatana Gosvāmī, he escaped from the prison. While he was going to see Caitanya Mahāprabhu, on the way he stopped in a guest house. Just like you have Hotel Moskva, that was a small hotel. Anyway, the owner of that hotel, he had an astrologer sitting with him at the entrance. So that astrologer would tell him, this man who's coming in, how much money he has. So When Sanatana Gosvāmī came to stay in that hotel, the owner of the hotel was taking care of him very, very nicely. So Sanatana Gosvāmī, because he was not a fool, he was, he had served in the government like a prime minister, so he was very intelligent. So Sanatana Gosvāmī was very suspicious. He said, "This hotel manager, proprietor is taking such good care of me." Must be. Maybe my servant has some gold coins with him. So Sanātan Gosvāmī asked his servant, "Do you have any money with you?" He said, "Yes." Sanātan Gosvāmī said, "Why are you carrying death with you?" So Sanātan Gosvāmī took those gold coins and he went to the manager, the proprietor of the hotel. He said, "I have these coins. Please, you take it." But the owner of the hotel said, "Oh, if you would not have returned these coins, I would have killed you tonight." So he said, "Oh, but I think you have 2 more coins." So, so, so Sanātan Gosvāmī took all the coins from his servant and gave them to the hotel manager, proprietor, and then he gave his servant to help Sanātan cross over the mountains. Sanātan Gosvāmī was going to meet Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And on the way he came to the house of his brother-in-law, Śrīkānta. And his brother-in-law was also very rich man. So his brother-in-law gave him very nice chādhara. But when Sanatana Gosvāmī came to Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Sanatana Gosvāmī was embraced by Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The Gosvāmīs of Vṛndāvana, they would live every day underneath a different tree. But for Kṛṣṇa, they build the most opulent temples. So similarly, for Kṛṣṇa, we'll build, we'll have all the opulence, but not for ourselves. Just like, I don't know if there's anybody here who has seen the Bombay Temple, but the Bombay Temple is the most opulent temple in all of ISKCON. So Prabhupāda built this very opulent temple, but that was for Kṛṣṇa, not for the devotees. So So the Gosvāmīs, they were very learned, but they lived very simply underneath a different tree every day. But they, and all these big temples of Vṛndāvana, they were all built by these Gosvāmīs. So when Sanatana Gosvāmī saw that Caitanya Mahāprabhu was constantly looking at this nice chādhara, he went to the beach and he saw a man with an old quilt. He told that man, "You, please take my new chādhara and give me your old quilt." The man said, "Oh, are you joking?" He said, "No, no, no." And when Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw that Sanatana Gosvāmī had changed, he had switched his blanket with his old quilt, he was very pleased. He was very pleased with his mood of renunciation. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he had converted people, as I said, of all walks of life to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Who was the richest man in Soviet Union? Is there any rich man who is famous? So 500 years ago, The richest man was the father of Raghunādhā Gosvāmī. Raghunādhā Gosvāmī's father was the richest man in Bengal, and Raghunādhā was his only son. So Raghunādhā got very attracted to Caitanya Mahāprabhu's philosophy. So when his father and mother found out that their son Raghunātha is more interested in bhakti, Caitanya Mahāprabhu's philosophy, rather than You know, rather than staying at home, they got very, very worried. So what did they do? They got him married. They got him married to a very attractive young girl, and they also had security guards standing in front of the house. They were thinking that by getting Raghunath married and having security guards, that Raghunath will forget Caitanya Mahāprabhu. This is very common in India even today. We find that when children of rich families, they want to get attracted to Kṛṣṇa, to ISKCON, then the parents say, "Oh, now you must get married." So they try to get their son or daughter married quickly so that their attraction to Kṛṣṇa will go down. But Raghunātha dāsa was not a weak devotee. So even though he was married and there were security guards all outside the house, one day he still ran away. Eh, one is determined to serve Kṛṣṇa, then nobody can stop you. I know that in 1968, when I was about to be initiated by Prabhupāda, my father sent a letter to Prabhupāda saying, "Please don't initiate him. Our whole family will be ruined." This was in Canada. So then Prabhupāda wrote to me and said, "Now what should I do? You want to be initiated, but your father says don't be initiated. But if you are determined, then no one can stop you." So if one is determined, then no one can stop you. So Raghunath Das was determined to join Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So even though his parents were so rich, they got him married to a nice young girl, they had security men in front of the house, still this was all like stool to Raghunath and he just wanted to be with Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So Raghunath Das goes swami. He went to Jagannātha Puri and his father knew where he has gone. So in the initial stages, his father was sending some money to Raghunath Das. Of course, Raghunath Das with that money was just distributing prasadam. But then Raghunath Das said, "Why should I take money from my father?" He stopped it. He didn't want to be dependent on his father's money. Raghunath, he was eating the dirt that was thrown out of the Jagannath Puri Temple. I'll give you an example for you to understand this. In India, when you buy rice, you have to clean that rice. So in the Jagannātha Puri temple, when they would be cleaning that rice, the rice which is not fit for cooking would be thrown out. And then Rāgūnātha would eat, pick up that and eat. This was the spirit of renunciation. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when he saw Rāgūnātha's mood of renunciation, he was very, very pleased. Then I'm just giving you different examples to show you how Caitanya Mahāprabhu attracted people of different walks of life. I gave you the example of Rūpa and Sanātan who were just like prime ministers. Then I gave the example of this millionaire Raghunādas. Then there was also a very powerful king called King Prataparudra. This king, he was the king of Orissa. Orissa is in Jagannātha Puri, the famous temple of Lord Jagannātha, is in the Republic of Orissa. So this King Prasada Purudra, he was very powerful. He had defeated even the Muslim rulers. He wanted to see Caitanya Mahāprabhu, but Caitanya Mahāprabhu would not see him. He would say, "No, I'm not going to see people who are interested." Because king has to deal with money and women. So he said, "No, I don't want to see him." Actually Caitanya Mahāprabhu was just increasing the desire of the king. This king was constantly trying to see Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Even when Caitanya Mahāprabhu's secretary would say, "Come on, this king is eager to see you. Please see him." Caitanya Mahāprabhu would say, "No." So, in the Jagannātha Rātriyātra festival, this king, he was sweeping the floor in front of Lord Jagannātha. Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw that this king was sweeping the floor. He was very, very happy. So also when Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to Banaras, they— Banaras was the headquarters of the Māyāvādīs. They used to just speculate, take the Vedas and speculate about the Absolute Truth. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when they saw Caitanya Mahāprabhu, because Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as I told you, was a big Sanskrit scholar. They said, "Why are you just like a madman chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa? Why don't you sit down and read the Vedānta?" Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "My spiritual master considered me to be a fool, so he said just chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." And Caitanya Mahāprabhu was able to convert all these māyāvādīs to Vaiṣṇavādīs. Then There was once a group of Buddhists. So these Buddhists were very envious of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So these Buddhists had made a plan that they would put some contaminated food in a plate and offer it to Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, of course, is Kṛṣṇa. Eśvarasvabhūtanām hirdese rājināt teṣṭhati. I am in everyone's heart. So, what happened? As the Buddhists were offering this plate with contaminated food to Caitanya Mahāprabhu, there was a bird that was flying. The bird took the contaminated food in her mouth and the plate fell on the head of the leader of the Buddhists. And when it fell on the head of the Buddhist leader, the leader fainted. So the Buddhists were saying, "Oh! This, our guru is dying. He is unconscious." And the Buddhists realized this was because of their sinful activities, sinful desires towards Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu said— they went, the Buddhists went to Caitanya Mahāprabhu and said, "Please, please bring back our guru to life." So Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "Go and whisper." Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra in his ears. So the Buddhists went and whispered the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra in his ears, and then the guru came back to consciousness. And then they, all the Buddhists became Vaiṣṇavas. So you see how Caitanya Mahāprabhu was able to drag the king, all types of people to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Caitanya Mahāprabhu and his whole entourage, they had gone, they were doing sankīrtana, traveling from village to village, town to town, city to city. You and I, when we have to travel, we of course fly. When you want to go from here to Tashkent or here to Kyiv, you can go by plane or by train, but you certainly don't go on foot. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His entourage, they would go on foot everywhere. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His whole group, they came to southern India. If you go to South India even now, you will find many temples which have big plaques which announced Chaitanya Mahāprabhu came to this temple. So people would come from a great distance to see Chaitanya Mahāprabhu and His associates doing harināma-kīrtana. Just like when you go on Gorky Street. What is that, Gorky Street, Sadananda? When you go on Gorky Street, people from everywhere come to look at you, isn't it? Some come to look at you because they say, "Oh, these Hare Kṛṣṇa people are nice. Let me go and listen." And some come to look at you saying, 'Oh, who are those crazy people glorifying God? Let me look at them.' But does not matter with what mentality they come to you, they get the spiritual benefit. But when Caitanya Mahāprabhu was traveling in southern India, people from a great distance would come and look at them. And they would, just by seeing Caitanya Mahāprabhu chant, they would also begin to jump up and start chanting. And then they would run back to their villages. And other people, by looking at them, they would also begin to jump up and start chanting. Do you follow what I am saying? That is, that people would just look at Caitanya Mahāprabhu chanting and they would begin to chant. And they would run back to their villages and other people would just see them. And seeing them chant, they would also begin to chant. Certainly you and I don't have that power, isn't it? Prasad RAVAL. Sadhananda, when you go on harinama, people see you and they begin to start chanting. Because we are not Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Caitanya Mahāprabhu Chaitanya Mahāprabhu was traveling through the forest of Jhārakānda. This is in central India. And Chaitanya Mahāprabhu made even the animals chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Even the animals, the elephants, the tigers, the lions, they started chanting. He just splashed water on them, Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, and they said, "Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa." So Chaitanya Mahāprabhu made the animals chant. The present-day materialistic society is just like animals. Is there any difference? They are the same. They are just like the animal, just like the Bhāgavatam says: Śva-ved-vara-ḥośra-kar-e-saṁ-suta-puruṣa-paśuḥ nāyat-karna-pato-peto-jātu-nāma-gadagra-jaha. The Bhāgavatam says in the Second Canto that those who are like dogs, hogs, camels, and asses, They are busy glorifying others who are also like dogs, hogs, camels, and asses. Basically everybody today has the animalistic mentality. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu made— just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu made these animals chant, we have to make the present-day gross materialists who are imitating the activities of the animals also chant. So there are so many pastimes of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu was being taken in a boat and he saw the river Yamuna. He saw, dear disciple, he saw a blackish portion in the Yamuna. He jumped in the Yamuna thinking that Kṛṣṇa was there. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw the river Yamuna, he saw the black portion in the Yamuna, and he jumped thinking, "Here is Kṛṣṇa." Then his followers brought him back. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu's pastimes with Haridas Thakura are also very important. Some devotee had told me when I took the 1-hour break that we must talk about Haridas Thakur today. So Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, Haridas as you know was born in a Muslim family, but since he was not allowed inside the Jagannātha Puri Temple. Actually there's one story I must tell you of Chaitanya Mahāprabhu inside the Jagannātha Puri Temple. The Jagannātha Puri Temple, hundreds of people go to see Lord Jagannātha. So There was one lady, she wanted to see Lord Jagannātha, but there were too many people standing in the front. So that lady, she managed to climb on the shoulders of Caitanya Mahāprabhu to see Lord Jagannātha. You know, like there's a big rush, like the people standing over there. So suppose the deities are here, you can't see. Then the lady, she managed to climb on the shoulders of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So the associates of Caitanya Mahāprabhu They wanted to pull her down, but Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "No, don't disturb her. Let her see Lord Jagannātha." So I was telling you about Haridas Thakur. Haridas Thakur, as you know, used to chant 300,000 times a day the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, and he would not even eat or talk to anyone till he would finish his chanting. The Muslim zamindar was very envious of Haridas Thakur's position. Because of Haridas Thakur's great devotion, people from very far were coming to see Haridas Thakur. So then Muslim ruler had told Haridas many times, "Why don't you start— stop chanting Hare Krishna?" But Haridas did not stop. So what did this Muslim ruler do? He hired a prostitute and he told the prostitute, "Go and seduce Haridas." So the prostitute, she came, sat down near Haridas. Haridas said, "I know why you're here today, but first you wait, let me complete my chanting." Then he said, "Oh, now it's very late, you come tomorrow, I'll satisfy you tomorrow." But Haridas, of course, knew Why this prostitute was coming. So Hārīdāsa, by listening to Hārīdāsa's purified chanting, the prostitute got completely cleansed of her heart. And the prostitute, she told Hārīdāsa why she was over there. And the prostitute, she gave up her prostitute profession and she gave her possessions and charity to the brāhmanas, and she became a follower of Hārīdāsa. So this shows that if we believe in, if we are purified, if we chant purely, then just like Haidās was able to inspire that prostitute to become a devotee, we will also be able to inspire others with our purified chanting. Haidās was caned in 22 marketplaces, and he was caned in these marketplaces, and he was told, "Chant, stop, stop chanting." On another occasion, Mayadevi incarnated as a very beautiful lady, and she appeared in front of Haridas and made many attractive poses. She made many attractive poses trying to seduce Haridas. Haridas was totally unmoved because he was chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhāgavad-gītā: devī-eṣa guna-māyī-māmā-māyā-dūrata-yā. This material energy of mind consisting of the three modes is very difficult to overcome. "Mām evāmya prapadyante māyāmetām taranti te." But however, if you surrender unto Me, then you can overcome the influence of the illusory energy. So similarly, we are all facing māyā all the time. When you go out on book distribution, you meet handsome and beautiful people. When you go out to preach, you see, you see māyā in action. How can we save ourselves from these difficult positions? You must have all heard of the word samadhi. Have you heard of the word samadhi? Samadhi means where you are fixed in Kṛṣṇa. So the devotee, when he goes out to preach or do book distribution or haināma or whatever, internally he should be praying to the Lord and the spiritual master, "Please may I become an instrument by which I can deliver the mercy of Yours." This is known as internal samadhi. And when this internal samadhi is there, then there will be the manifestation of success in preaching. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, it is said that if one does not take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness in this human life, then for several millions of births he won't get a human birth again. You may say why? You may say how? If you were to calculate the sins that people are committing today, Do you know how long they will have to suffer? For example, people are eating beef. So let's say they eat a small piece of steak every day. Now, do you know how many hairs there are in a cow's body? Anybody here who's experienced in working in goshalas? So for eating a piece of steak one day, they'll have to take thousands of births just to make up for that one, one steak. So just calculate. All the illicit sex that they have had, all the meat that they have eaten, all the intoxication that the karmis are taking, all the other illegal activities, and you will come to a total that they have to suffer in lower forms of life for not 1 year, not 10 years, not 100 years, but thousands and millions of years. Everything is being recorded. So you can see, when you go out on sankirtan on the road, distributing Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mercy, this is what you should be thinking. If I don't give this book to this person who's coming by, then he could die at any minute. Padam padam yātrī-padām nāte śām. And he may not get a human birth again for thousands of years. You know that story of King Khatvanga? Okay, so the story is, in brief, is that King Katwanga was a very pious king. Once he had helped the demigods in their battle with the asuras. So the demigods were very happy with what the king had done, so they invited him to the heavenly planets. So they told the king, what benediction do you want? You helped us in this battle. The king said, "Please tell me how much more time I have left to live." The demigod said, "One more minute." Then the king said, "Please let me go down to this earthly planet so that I can meditate on the Supreme Lord." So Thakura Bhaktivinoda says a devotee must always be pessimistic. Pessimistic means a devotee knows there's no happiness in material life. This whole show can end at any minute. Of course, pessimist doesn't mean that you always walk around with a very grave face, but you must be realistic. So Maharaj, just like Maharaj Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he was informed there was only 1 minute left for his life. So he said, "Please bring me down to this earthly planet," and he focused his mind on Kṛṣṇa. So similarly, A devotee must be thinking, "I only have a minute more left in my life." If that is your mentality, then you will be serious about Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But if you are thinking like the materialist, "Oh, the average Russian, he lives for 70 years. Now I'm only 25 years. I've chanted Hare Kṛṣṇa already for 2 years. So for 10 years I can go and do sense enjoyment." "Then I will come back after 10 years." So a devotee doesn't do this material calculation. He understands that time and tide wait for no one. Wherever your mind is at the moment of death, that is where you will go. Just like this devotee, Jādvāya. You know this story of King Bharata? So King Bharata, he was the ruler of the whole planet. He had sacrificed his kingdom, his wife, his children. And when he went to the forest for renunciation to practice meditation, he one day saw that a she-deer was coming running, and the she-deer gave birth to a baby and she died. So King Bharata, he started bringing up the baby, the deer, like his own child. He would not even eat without the deer, just like these days. We've heard the karmis, you know, many, at least in the West, in America and all, they have the cats and the dogs sit on the dining table now. So King Bharata was very attached to this baby deer. And one day when the baby deer was out of sight, the king was searching for the deer and he died. And Kṛṣṇa says, yam yam bhāpi svāraṇ-bhāvām. Wherever your mind is at the moment of death, That is where you will go. So if you're not chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, if you're taking a little leave from devotional service, then suppose you die at that moment, then? So we should always be serious about spiritual life. We should always be enthusiastic about spiritual life. It is with enthusiasm only that you can distribute these books. I'll tell you a real story on this point. Once in 1976, I had arranged for a very big window display of Prabhupāda books at a big store in downtown Bombay. This was a very big store, like on Red Square, and in the window all of Prabhupāda's books were displayed. But after 2 or 3 weeks of this window display, not many books of Prabhupāda were sold. I had thought that when we have all these books on display in the window, people will just come and buy the books. So I was very disappointed and I went to Prabhupāda. I told Prabhupāda, we had this big window display, still the books did not move. So Prabhupāda said that it is a fact that my books are sold only due to the enthusiasm of my devotees. So in a karmi store, the salesmen are not enthusiastic to sell, but the devotees are enthusiastic. Why? Because they know that these books can open the eyes. It is just like when it is dark, you cannot see each other clearly, but we put the lights on, then you can see things in the proper perspective. So Prabhupāda said that these books are like a bomb. What happens when you throw a bomb? It explodes. So similarly, when people read these books, they explode and they destroy your material desires. So when we distribute these spiritual books, We are distributing spiritual bombs. And if you are enthusiastic, then people will buy. In America, there is a group called Jehovah's Witness. So what they do, they stand on the street corners in New York and Canada, and they will just stand like this with the books. So nobody stops. But our devotees, when they go out and do book distribution, they enthusiastically approach people and show them the books, and then people are attracted by it. So enthusiasm is the key to success. We proceed on the spiritual path regardless of what service we are engaged in. So if you are out on book distribution, you should be enthusiastic. And if you have service in the temple, you should also be enthusiastic. And if you are always enthusiastic, then you will not become a disciple of your mind. Otherwise you will become a disciple of the "Om" and go spoil your spiritual life. Therefore Rūpa Gosvāmī had said, uttaha nisceya-dhārīya-tattva-karma-pravartanāt. Sangatyāge sato vraite. Rūpa Gosvāmī says there are 6 conditions essential for devotional advancement. One is enthusiasm, utsahā. Then nishtayāt, which means determination. Then dharyāt, which means patience. Tat-tat-kam-apravartanāt, following the rules and regulations, giving up the association of non-devotees, living by the scriptures, you can make spiritual advancement. With this talk, We end our discussion for today on the pastimes of Caitanya Mahāprabhu and on book distribution. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Now for half an hour only I will take questions and then I will stop at exactly 5 past 8.

How is it possible to see and root out all the weeds or which are in our heart, the nārtas.

When you have a serious disease, you don't go and stand in front of the mirror and do the operation yourself. But you go to the doctor and tell him, "Please do the operation." So if you think that you can pull out the weeds yourself, you're in illusion. You need the help of spiritual doctors.

When they were in Māyāpur, they saw that every day there is fire sacrifice. But you told that now in Kali-yuga there is no fire sacrifices.

In Māyāpur, you were in Māyāpur? Yes. In Māyāpur that fire sacrifice is there because they are training up those gurukul children in chanting of Sanskrit mantras. But those who do the fire sacrifice, they also chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, those gurukul children.

No, what is the reason why this fire sacrifice is made in Māyāpur? What's the reason?

They are training up There's no harm in doing fire sacrifice as long as you're also chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. But if you just do fire sacrifice and no chanting, then it is bad.

Why Maharāja Caitanya asked Demigod to return to the earth planet? Why he couldn't meditate there in this planet's higher planet?

Because the earthly planet is most conducive for spiritual life. The earthly plan, therefore it is said that we have the best chance now to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. In the heavenly planets there is too much of sense enjoyment. So where there is too much of material facility, people don't turn to God so easily. I can tell you frankly from my experience, in America today, people will not turn to God with the same interest that the people in your country are turning to. You can never give a lecture in America in New York City and think 150 Americans will come and listen to the spiritual lecture on Kṛṣṇa consciousness for 7 hours a day. They have too much material facilities.

Why this simple and high method as Hare Kṛṣṇa chanting was not applicable in Satya Yuga, in very favorable age Satya Yuga? Was it possible?

Because in Satya Yuga meditation was very easy. There was no television, supersonic jets, those Moskva cars and big trucks and so on.

One of the qualities of devotees, not to disturb others. How is it practically possible if even Prahlāda Mahārāja disturbed his father Hirānīka Śrīpura?

Prahlāda did not disturb him. Prahlāda disturbed his father because his father did not want to see anybody worshipping God. But Pralāda himself did not do anything to disturb his father. Just like we don't want to disturb anybody. We just do book distribution, Hare Kṛṣṇa Nāma. But the others say, "Why are you doing Hare Kṛṣṇa Nāma?" So a devotee doesn't disturb anyone. But the non-devotees get disturbed because they don't want to see God glorified.

When the guru gives spiritual name, does this name correspond to his rasa or not?— that's just arbitrary.

It is just a spiritual name that the Kṛṣṇa in the heart dictates to the guru. The first birth is when we come out from the womb of the mother, and this birth is common to human beings and to animals. The second birth is when you take harināma initiation. This birth you can only get in the human form of life. And because you are taking a new birth, a new life, you get a spiritual name. The spiritual name usually is the name of Kṛṣṇa or Rādhārāṇī or one of the devotees of the Lord. The third birth is when one gets Brahmin initiation. And the fourth birth is when you get sannyāsa initiation. So in Vaiṣṇava culture, a man can have four births, but the woman can only go as far as three births. There is no sannyāsa for women.

Well, he asked what is the meaning of the name Caitanya Mahāprabhu, how we can explain.

Caitanya means the living force. Sir, without the living force, Nobody can live. As long as the soul is there, the living force, you and I can live. So, caitanya means the living force.

Mahāprabhu means great soul. Great soul. If the material world is emanation from the Lord, how is it possible that good and evil emanates from the Supreme Lord, and how does good come to evil? Good. Becomes evil.

Good and evil all come from the Lord, but evil is essentially the reflection of our misusing our independence. Just like in your country, some people— most people are following the law, but some people do not follow the laws of the government. So those that do not follow the law, I don't follow it because they're misusing their freedom. It is not that the government is telling them don't follow the law. So everything is coming from the Lord, but we misuse our independence and we create evil activities.

Well, one philosopher said that we are sinful because the government makes such conditions for us to become sinful. So, the government is partially responsible for our sins.

Anyway, we don't believe in these philosophers, we believe in Kṛṣṇa's philosophy.

Well, we usually say that devotees should have two main qualities: faith and enthusiasm. And what is the difference and also What is, what quality is more important in these two, faith and enthusiasm?

Both, both are important. Because if you don't have faith, then you will not have enthusiasm. When you have faith in Kṛṣṇa's teachings and the guru's teachings and the sadhu's teachings, then you can be enthusiastic. Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna! Krishna Krishna! Hare Hare! Hare Rama Hare Ramana Maharshi! Lama Lama! Hare Hare! Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna!