Pravṛtti-mārga & Nivṛtti-mārga BG 18.30 | Rus-split | 29.10.92 | Gopāl Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī Mahārājā

Om Jñāna Tvīnandaḥ Sya Jñānaṁ Jñānaśalakyaḥ, Chakṣarṇaṇaṭāṇīnāṭāsmāy Śrīgrābhenavaḥ, Śrīcetanyamanaṣṭaṁ ḥāpitāmīnabhūtale, Swayāmṇupakadāmayam vedāti svāpadaṇḍikam, Bandeḥ ham Śrīguru Śrīyutāpadaḥkam lan Śrīgrūṇvaiśṇavaḥdaḥ, Śrīrūpaṁ sagrajātāṁ saḥāgana-raghunāṭṇaṁ tam saḍīvam. Sadhvaitam sabbadhūtām parīdhanā saisām kṛṣṇa-cetānya-devaṁ śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-padānta-hāgana-dālitaṣṛ uṣākāne samṣāḥ. He kṛṣṇa-karunāḥ sindhu-dīnā-bandhu-jagat-tadek. Gopīsa-gopī-kānta-rādhā-kānta-nāma-saṭute. Tāpta-kāñcana-gau-rāṅgī-rādhā-e vṛndāneśvari. Rīṣabānu-sūte-devī-pranamāni-hari-pye. Vāñchā-kālpa-taribhyāśa-ketu-sindhu-veṣa. Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna! Hare Rāma! Hare Rāma! Prasad rām cha nirmatam ca karyakarībhavaḥ— bandham mokṣam ca yāveṣi bodhim tapartha-saṭvaki. So in the 18th chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa is summarizing what He has already presented in the previous 17 chapters. And in the verses that we are reading from the 18th chapter, Kṛṣṇa is summarizing different characteristics in terms of goodness, passion, and ignorance. For example, in this verse, Kṛṣṇa is explaining what is understanding in the mode of goodness. So what is understanding in the mode of goodness is described in this verse, and in the subsequent verses understanding in the mode of passion and ignorance is also described. For example, according to this verse, one must know what is to be done and what is not to be done. This is known as prīvitimāt and nimritimāt. Brevity means acting according to scriptures, liberty means acting against the scriptures. And what should be done and what should not be done, what is to be feared and what is not to be feared, and what is binding and what is liberating. So the answer to all these questions can be obtained through the scriptures. Dharmāṁ ki sakṣād bhāgavat paniṣad. Religion means the words of God. So just like you and I, we see through our material eyes. If we don't have eyes, we can't see. Somebody closes your eyes or puts a piece of cloth around it, you won't be able to see. Similarly, the scriptures explain that we have to see through the scriptures. That is known as shastra-jakṣuṣ. The scriptures become our eyes, and with the assistance of the bona fide spiritual master and sādhū, we understand What the scriptures are saying on each of these points. So first of all, we must understand what should be done and what should not be done. So if you were to do a survey of the 10 million people who live in Moscow, almost all of them would give a different answer as to what should be done, what is not to be done. Is that right? Everyone thinks he has his own way, he thinks what should be done, what should not be done. But we have to see through the scriptures what should be done and what is not to be done. So when you are acting according to scriptures, when you are executing actions according to scriptures, then it is pravṛtti. And when scriptures forbid you from something, then you should abstain from it. That is nivṛtti. So if the scriptures approve an action, we execute it. And if the scriptures prohibit an action, we abstain from it. So what do the scriptures say we should not do? We should not engage in sense enjoyment. Why? Because sense enjoyment is detrimental to spiritual advancement. Because sense enjoyment prevents you from understanding the Supreme Lord who is all pure. Because sense enjoyment binds you further to material entanglement. Therefore, using the scriptures as a basis, we withdraw from what is not prohibited, what is not permitted, and we engage in what is permitted. Just like an obedient child. An obedient child wishes to do only what is permitted by the parents. If something is not permitted by parents, the obedient child will not do it. So we have to become obedient children of the Lord. Therefore, Caitanya Mahāprabhu has said, Caitanya Mahāprabhu has given us 6 principles of surrender. And the first principle is: accept everything favorable for spiritual advancement and reject everything unfavorable for spiritual advancement. Then it says what is to be feared and what is not to be feared. So what is to be feared for a devotee? Who knows? Well, all of you are partially realized. So what is to be feared? A devotee fears Maya. Therefore, he stays away from any activity that could take him away from Kṛṣṇa. And what is not to be feared? Devotional service. You don't have to fear devotional service. You don't have to fear surrendering to the Lord. You don't have to fear surrendering, working for the Lord round the clock. Many times people don't want to surrender. They are scared of surrendering. And many times they say, "Oh, I don't want to live in the, I don't want to be near the temple devotees. They will just exploit me." There is no question of exploitation if somebody is going to use you in service to Kṛṣṇa. It's a great fortune. So a devotee is very alert because he fears māyā. We should never be overconfident that, "Now I'm so strong, so powerful." Maya cannot touch me. We have examples of great devotees like Haridas Thakur. Haridas Thakur was nama-charya. He used to chant the holy names 300,000 times every day. But he had made a principle that when he chants the 300,000 times a day, the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, he would not eat or talk to anyone. A devotee doesn't take chances. Many times devotees would ask Prabhupāda what was he saying something, because Prabhupāda, when he would be reading the Deities, Sometimes he would say a prayer to the Deities. The devotees would ask him, "What prayer was he, what was he saying?" And Prabhupāda would say, "I was praying to Kṛṣṇa that I may not be touched by māyā." So a devotee is fearful of māyā. So he wants to create a situation by which māyā may not be able to touch him. Just like in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, you have the story of King Bharata. King Bharata was the king of the whole planet. At a young age, he had renounced everything—wife, children, kingdom, opulence—and he had retired to the forest. But unfortunately, in the forest, he got attached to a baby deer. And as a result of his attachment to the deer, he died while searching, while meditating on the deer. And then he had to take his next birth as a deer. But he did not have to stay long in the body of a deer because He had done devotional service in the past. So when he took his birth as a Brahmana in the family of a Brahmana in which he was known as Jātā-bhārata, Jātā-bhārata resolved that he would pretend in society as if he was deaf and dumb. And therefore he was pretending in society as if he was deaf and dumb, even though other people were ridiculing him and making fun of him. So therefore A devotee must understand that we have to fear Maya. We don't want to play with Maya. And how do you save yourself from Maya? Devī-eśa-kūṇḍa-māyā, māmā-māyā-dūrata-yā, māmēvāmē prapadānte māyā-metānta-rāṇḍite. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhāgavad-gītā, to overcome the three modes of nature is not easy. But one who surrenders to Me, he can overcome the influence of the illusory energy. So devotee recognizes to overcome the illusory energy without positive engagement of the senses in service to the Lord is not feasible. Therefore, he engages himself in service to the Lord. And because of his positive engagement of the senses and the mind in service to the Lord, he can withdraw the senses and the mind from dwelling on sinful activities. So one should never fear surrendering to the Lord. Never fear working hard for the Lord. Never fear giving your mind and senses to the Lord. After all, the Lord is the proprietor of everything that exists, including the mind and senses. Therefore, Narada Muni has said, sarva-bandhi vinir-muktaṁ tat parveṇa-nirmalam rishikena rishikena sevana-bhaktir ucyate. That is, one of Kṛṣṇa's names is Rishikesha, which means the owner of the mind and the senses. So when you employ the mind and the senses in service to the Lord, then we become free of all these designations. So the materialist, he won't surrender to the Lord. He is fearful of surrendering to the Lord. He says, "If I surrender to the Lord, then what will happen to my independence?" So he doesn't want to surrender to the Lord. Does that mean that he is fearless? No! He is full of fear. Every second there is a scare, something may happen. One businessman is fearful another businessman may not take his business away. One country is fearful that another country may not become more strong and hence attack. Then there's fear of old age, fear of disease, and there's fear of death. Doesn't matter how rich a man you may be, nobody wants to die. So they always plead with the doctor, "Please, please, please stretch my life, extend my life." So there's so many types of fear in your mind when you don't surrender to the Lord. The Bhagavad Gītā says that the devotee is fearless. Fearless means the devotee knows, now that I have taken shelter of the Lord, whatever the Lord does, He does for my benefit. This firm conviction will be there. Whatever the Lord does, He does for my benefit. So even if you are devotee, if in difficulty, he doesn't get disturbed by it. Just like if you look at the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, you will see that the Pāṇḍuvas had to undergo so many difficulties. Lord Rama was about to be coronated king. All arrangements were made. As he was about to be coronated king, he was told by his father that his brother will be, uh, will his stepbrother, his brother would become the king. Because his father had at one time given a promise to one of his wives, and his wife had said, I will utilize this promise at an appropriate occasion. So because Rama was not born from her womb, She wanted her son to be on the throne, so she begged her husband that her son should be put on the throne instead of Lord Rāma. But Lord Rāma accepted it. So devotee has— now devotee is fearless when he surrendered to the Lord. Haridas Thakur was totally absorbed in chanting the holy name that we said. The prostitute was sent by the Mohammedan king, by Ramchandra Khan, to seduce Haridas. Why did Ramchandra Khan sent the prostitute to seduce Haridas? Because he became envious of the amount of respect that Haridas was getting. People from great distance were coming to offer respects to Haridas. And they did not care for the zamindar, for the ruler of that area. So one day, the Rāmchandra Kān called all the prostitutes of the city for a meeting. And he told them, "I have a challenging assignment for you. This man Haridas must be seduced." Everybody is thinking that he is a saintly man. So we want to show that he is not saintly. Who will take up this challenge? I will give unlimited money. So one of the prostitutes said, "I will take up the challenge and I will seduce him within 3 days." So she tried her best to seduce him, but because Haidar was attached and absorbed in the Holy Name, not only did she fail, but she got seduced by his purity. Then She became a great devotee of the Lord. So the point is that once you're attached to the Holy Name, then a devotee will truly become fearless. Why is a devotee not scared or fearful of surrendering to the Lord? And why are the materialists scared of surrendering to the Lord? There's a reason. The devotees are not fearful of surrendering to the Lord because as they surrender, They have experienced spiritual reciprocation. It is not that as you surrender there is no reciprocation. You are not dealing with a stone. You are dealing with God who is a living personality with feelings. So Kṛṣṇa says, ye yatamaṁ prapadante, all of them as they surrender to me, I reward them accordingly. So never hesitate to surrender to the Lord. So devotee is experiencing spiritual satisfaction as he surrenders to the Lord. Because of the satisfaction that he is experiencing, he is inspired to surrender more, more, more. Why is a materialist scared of surrendering to the Lord? The materialist experience of the material world is a result of— is nothing but frustration. And therefore the materialist, without surrendering, falsely concludes that spiritual life is also going to be frustrating. So what is to be feared, what is not to be feared? Again, the answer is to be found through the scriptures. Then what is binding and what is liberating? That is important to understand. Binding means the execution of an activity that will entangle you. This has been explained by Maharaj Grishabddev in 5th Canto of the Bhagavad Gita. Maharaj Grishabddev said, Zuna pramata kuru te vikarma yidandhya priyata apanauthi. "Saadhvam manya ita ātmānyam asāna-vikleśyad āsadeha." He says the individual who engages in sense enjoyment or vikarmic activities is very foolish. Why? Because when he engages in materialistic activities, he's guaranteed to get entangled. And as he gets more and more entangled, he'll again have a human body which will give him nothing but trouble. Therefore, a devotee works without attachment to the result. A devotee works for the pleasure of the Lord. If something is a pleasure to the Lord, the devotee executes it enthusiastically. And if something doesn't give pleasure to the Lord, he stays away from it. So we must recognize that when we engage in activities of sense enjoyment, these activities lead to bondage. Bondage means being more entangled in the cycle of birth and death. The silkworm with its own saliva creates a cocoon, and when it creates a cocoon, it gets entangled in the cocoon. Then it doesn't know how to get out. Is this true also for the silkworms in Russia? It's true for all the silkworms. So similarly, the living entity, he creates his own cocoons, he creates his own dreams, own empires, and then he gets so entangled He doesn't even know how to get out of it. Just like in the Western countries, people always try to live beyond their means. They will buy a big house, big cars, you know, have everything to show, as if they're showing to the whole world they are very successful, they're making a lot of money. But they're working so hard just to pay their bills, and there's no time for spiritual life. Therefore, the spiritual platform is simple living, high thinking. So when you simplify your lifestyle, then you have time for Self-Realization. Even though communism believed in simple living, but it didn't believe in high thinking. And because it didn't believe in thinking according to Krishna's instruction. So simple living, high thinking. You simplify your lifestyle so that you have time for self-realization. So simple living, high thinking is our guiding principle. So this knowledge, what is being explained— actually, this verse is very important because this verse is explaining that What is understanding in the mode of goodness? So we have to explain this understanding to everyone because 99.9% of the people don't have this understanding. They don't have the understanding what should be done, what is not to be done. Therefore we have this activity of book distribution. Why do we have this activity of book distribution? Because this is the medium through which people's understanding can be developed. And people's understanding, and once they develop their understanding, then automatically they will avoid sinful activities. Just like when a child is young, he may walk naked, he may drop all the food while eating, but the same child when he grows up, he acts in a different capacity. So as long as one is ignorant, he doesn't know how to discriminate between what is right and what is wrong. But when you become enlightened, then you can discriminate. That is why Prabhupāda pushed activity of book distribution, because this is the medium by which you make people understand what is right, what is wrong. At one time in your country you had the Tsars ruling, and then you had the Communists ruling, and now we have the Communists in the dress of capitalists ruling. Well, have any of them succeeded in making you understand what is right, what is wrong? No. Because they themselves don't know what's right, what's wrong. They keep changing uniform, but that doesn't mean they know what is right, what's wrong. But Kṛṣṇa knows what is right, what is wrong, and that is explained in the scriptures. And great Ācāryas like Viṣṇunātha Ṭhākura-dīṭākura, Śrīla Prabhupāda, they've explained this for everyone's benefit. So we have to give this understanding to everyone. That is through the medium of book distribution. That is why Prabhupāda emphasized book distribution. Why? Because this is a medium to destroy ignorance. Just like light destroys darkness, similarly transcendental knowledge destroys illusion. As Prabhupāda said, as book distribution expands, people will become enlightened. That is why Prabhupāda labored so hard to write these books, and he labored so hard to inspire in us the importance of book distribution. He even went to the extent of saying, "If you love me, then preach." And the principal medium of preaching he described was book distribution. Prasad Raaval said, "If you preach to somebody for 3 minutes, you'll talk something, then he'll forget what you told him. But if you give him a book, he'll take it home and read it, and he'll make others read it." So as this verse is explaining, we must develop the understanding of what should be done, what is not to be done. Today people are accepting irreligion to be religion. So we have to make people understand what is real religion. What they should do, what they can't do. How they should act, how they should not act. What is nivritti-mārtha, what is pravritti-mārtha. That is done by book distribution. The book distribution actually is a very joyful activity. It's also very enjoyable. Just like we were saying in the class, a devotee is not fearful of surrendering to the Lord. So book distribution involves surrendering to the Lord, because unless you surrender to the Lord, you cannot become a book distributor, because you're completely dependent upon the other person for your success. So everyone should take part in this, uh, opportunity of book distribution. It's a very glorious activity. It is an activity in which you're giving eyes to those who are blind. So give people the understanding and you'll be blessed by the Lord. Because Kṛṣṇa is very indebted to one who preaches for Him. So those who are engaged in full-time service, of course they take part in the Prabhupāda marathon because Prabhupāda has emphasized this again and again. But even those who live at home, even those who do jobs, they can also help. Kṛṣṇa appreciates everyone's help. Kṛṣṇa sees what one is doing. So to the extent one can, Please help in this book distribution marathon and help people get these books so they can understand the goal of life. And as you give these books, you will feel great spiritual ecstasy. Why? You've just saved somebody from going to hell. So it's such a great satisfaction. So there are millions of people to be saved. At one time, there was one Hiranyakashipur, one Ravana, one Veena. But today, almost everybody is a Hiranyakashipur. And so we all have to endeavor The same time. Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. It's a little late, so I'll take on questions for 5 minutes and then stop. In the Bhagavad Gita it says that in the material world all the devas are carried out by the devas, the rishis. But then when the world goes out of perfection, then who will pull down these spirits? So, where are all these rishis? You, you the living entity, you do what is wrong and you also do the bad thing, you also do the good thing. It depends upon us how we utilize our intelligence. The soul is just the— you are the doer. —actually are done by— Yes, but the living entity makes a decision and then the motive. That's like you decide to associate with devotees, then you'll automatically be influenced by goodness and pure goodness. Suppose one decides to associate with materialists, then automatically the mode of passion and ignorance will play a dominant role. So based on how you want to act, how you decide, the motive comes to play. All based on how you decide to use your freedom, okay? Yes, the austerity in this age of Kali is chant 16 rounds every day, follow 4 regular principles, read Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam. Associate with the worries as often as you can. That's all. Etaniyaṁ adhaukām. To play with Maya means to play with fire. So what does it mean to play with fire? The fire is burning. You take your hand as near to the fire as you can to prove that the fire will not touch your hand. But by chance, your hand hits the fire and gets burned. So don't take chances with getting trapped by Maya. We should be strict in the execution of spiritual practices. If you chant your rounds every day, if you follow the process of sadhana-bhakti, even if you're living away from the temple, you can perform sadhana-bhakti at home. And if you're associating with devotees, then wherever you are, you'll be protected from Maya. Well, if you have acted according to instructions of guru and sadhu, then you can be, then you have worked properly. And the running, working hard. The devotee usually works so hard that when it's time to go to sleep, he falls asleep in 1 minute. The materialists, they have to take sleeping pills to go to sleep. But devotee doesn't need any pills. He's worked hard all day, so when it's time to sleep, it only takes a minute. If you don't work hard all day, then you can't even sleep. Even to sleep is a struggle. Okay, I think I'll stop because many of you have to go home. It's 9 o'clock. Hare Krishna! Peace! Hale Lama, Hale Lama. Lama Lama, Hale Hale.