Qualities of a saintly personality | SB 3.25.21 | Rus- split | 23 Dec 1988 | Gopal Krishna Goswami

Prasād RAVAL. So I must say that I am sure that Prabhupāda would be very, very pleased seeing the way that all of you are working in Russia to push on Lord Kṛṣṇa's message. All of you are actually feeling the presence of Prabhupāda. It is not that because you did not meet Prabhupāda when he came to Russia in 1973, None of you should think that you have never met Prabhupāda. Prabhupāda was talking with one devotee in Vṛndāvana in 1977, and he said, "As long as book distribution goes on, I will never die." So all of you are following his instructions that you have received from your spiritual master. All of you are doing what Prabhupāda wanted everyone to do. So there is no doubt in my mind that Prabhupāda is very pleased with all of you. Therefore, you were given this facility. The Russian government has registered your society in Moscow. So this is actually very, very nice, and I just want to request all of you to please go on with your enthusiastic effort and Kṛṣṇa will definitely reciprocate. And one day we may see a big Rādhā-Govinda temple right in heart of Moscow. Jāsa!

Jāsa!

There is no doubt. Just like few years ago, nobody had thought that one day ISKCON will be registered. Nobody had thought that Mr. Gorbachev will encourage openness. But Kṛṣṇa put him there at the right time, and now your society has been registered. There is a very big writer in India called Mr. Nehal Singh. So he wrote an article. It's a funny article. In that article, he has shown Mr. Gorbachev is standing and he's wearing a Hare Kṛṣṇa chadar around his suit. And in that article, Mr. Gorbachev defends the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement from criticism from all the other members of the Russian Presidium. And in the end of the article, Mr. Gorbachev tells everyone, "Now please chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." I must send you that article when I go back. I will send you all these articles through. You know, in the Calcutta Rath Yatra this year, the Russian Consul General came and did the Ārati. And when the Russian Consul General did the Ārati— Calcutta is a state, is a republic in India which is ruled by the Communists. So the Indian Communist Party was so upset because the Russian Consul General went and did the Ārati to Lord Jagannātha. So for many days the article came in the paper that the Indian Communist Party is criticizing the Russian Consul General. But the Russian Consul General came to our Rath Yatra. He and his wife did the aarti to Lord Jagannath. He also took a broom and swept the floor, and he walked in the parade for about 15-20 minutes. You devotees did not know this story? So now we will get ready for the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The Prabhupāda gave us the system that in the morning we read the Bhāgavatam class and in the evening we have the Bhāgavad-gītā class. Okay? Of course we don't want any loud kīrtan or loud speaking, not because of all of you, Because of me, I'll get into trouble with him. Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. So we are going to read a verse from the Third Canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. This verse describes the qualities of a saintly personality. All of you are trying to become a spiritual personality, so you must know what are the qualities that a spiritual personality must manifest. Whether you're a new devotee or an old devotee, these qualities apply to everybody. So this is a very famous verse. Actually, it'll be nice for our next program if we have the words written on the board, then all of you can chant. In our temples in the— in other parts of the world, what we do, we write down the shloka on the board, then The person who is giving the class, he first goes word by word, then he chants the shloka, then other people chant. So this is the Third Canto, Chapter 25, and text 21. Titekshava. Titekshava. Karunika. Karunika. Surda.

Surda.

Sarva Dehina Ajata Shatrava Shanta Sadhva Sadhu Bhushanam. Have you heard this verse before? So now when I chant, let's see if you can repeat it. Sarva Sarvadhaynam Ajata Shatravashanta Sadhvasadu Bhushanam Vipikshevakaru Nikka Surda Sarvadhaynam Majeta Shatravashanta Sadhvasadu Bhushanam Teteśvākaruni-kā surdha-sarvadhī-nāma. Ma cetasā travāśānta sadhu-āsadhu-bhūṣanā. Would some of you like to chant? The normal process is the senior-most person does it, then the second-most, third-most. Huh? Who is the senior most here, Krishnakumar or?

Krishnakumar, man.

Who is here? Oh, you all want to chant? Do it. 2 or 3 men can chant and 2 or 3 ladies can chant.

Yes?

Sūrdāsārvateḥ hīnām. Ajātāśātro vāśantā. Ajātāśātro vāśantā. Sadhāva sādhu-bhuṣanām. Sadhāva sādhu-bhuṣanām. Itikṣavā karuṣanām. That's all. Just once. Now somebody else. Who else? Only when the person who is giving the class, he chants 3 times. Who is the local temple president? Ochin Harisho. Did all of you understand it? Is that okay? Ochin Harisho?

Very good.

Yes. Actually, Ochin Harisho for all of you, huh? Okay, so we're in meeting now. Ditekshawā!

Ditekshawā!

Paul Rand. Karuni-kā, merciful. Surdā, friendly. Sarvadhēṇa, to all living entities. Ajātāśātravaḥ, inimical to none. Jāntā, peaceful. Sādhvā, abiding by scriptures. Sadbhūśanā, sadbhūśanā, adorned with sublime characteristics. Om jñānātim anandaśya jñānāñjanāśalakya-cakṣun-militaṇīnātāśmayi Śrī Gurave namah. Śrī Caitanya Mano'vastam sarptam inabhūtile svayam rūpakadāmayam tadāti svāpādanti-kam. Bande ham Śrī Guru Śrī uttāpada-kamlaṇa Śrī Guruṇvaiśṇa manashta. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare, Hare, Rādhā, Kṛṣṇa, Pādaṇṣaḥākṇa, Lalitā, Śrī Viśākhāṇitāṁśaḥ. Jai Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Chaitanya Prabhu Nityānanda, Śrī Advaita Gadaḍhar Śivāśrīdi Gaurabhaktabandha. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Hare, Hare, Hare Rādhā, Hare Rādhā, Rādhā. Teteśvā karuni-kā surdasarvadhainam ajjataśatravaśantaḥ sādhvā sādhū guṣanām. So first I would like to give you, all of you, a little background to this verse. In the third canto, Devādhūti was telling her son Kapiladeva, Kapiladeva is nobody else but an incarnation of God. Can everybody hear in the back also clearly? Okay. So Devādhūti asked her son, "I am an ignorant woman, would you tell me how can I free myself from the cycle of birth and death? How can I free myself from this body?" that is always giving pain. So Kapiladeva, her son, said, "My dear mother, you can become free from material existence by taking to devotional service or bhakti." She then asked, "How can I get this bhakti?" Or in other words, "How can I find out about devotional service?" And her son said, "By associating with saintly people." He said that by associating with saintly people, you can be inspired to take to bhakti. Just like all of you who are sitting over here, I'm sure that all of you or each of you have come to bhakti or devotional service by some association that you had. Either with a devotee or with Prabhupāda's books. Now each of you is going out and giving your association to others and bringing others to bhakti also. So this is exactly what Kapiladeva told his mother. He told her, "My dear mother, if take the association of a saintly personality, that saintly personality will guide you on the devotional path." But then she said, "How can I recognize a saintly personality? There are so many people who are claiming to be sadhus or saintly people. How do you recognize the real from the false?" Of course, you do not have this problem in Russia because there are very few sadhus who can come here to begin with.

Kaniyashnu, vas frai sinyata koi problem? Vas ushin mala dekhi? Kisi vikatora prithum dudhna?

But in countries like India and in other countries, where there are thousands of people all pretending to be sadhus. This is a real problem. Of course, it is also a problem in this country because I'm sure many people are posing to be religious people. So we must know what are the qualities of a saintly personality. So the first quality, when her mother asks this question, when his mother asks this question, then Kapiladeva says, —"Okay, my dear mother, I will tell you the qualities of a saintly personality so that you can recognize him." So these are the qualities. First quality is titikshava. Titikshava means tolerance. So in spiritual life, tolerance is practiced at two levels. One is known as external tolerance, and the other is known as internal tolerance. By external tolerance we mean that sometimes you may be insulted, sometimes it may be very hot, sometimes it may be very cold, but you have to be adhīra, you have to be equal in all situations. In the material world everybody wants honor, so everybody is busy flattering everybody else. But in the spiritual life, we do not believe in flattery. Bhaktisiddhānta Ji, the spiritual master of Prabhupāda, used to say, "Beware of flatterers." Always be scared of anybody who is flattering you. So in spiritual life, if somebody is flattering you, you must be careful, he wants something out of you. So in material life, everybody is looking for honor and flattery. But a devotee of the Lord is not looking for any flattery. So even if sometimes he's insulted, he tolerates it. But of course, this does not mean that you start insulting each other now just to tell others to be tolerant. Now, internal tolerance means that the senses are always agitating. The senses are always saying, "Please, please, please give me more satisfaction. More, more, more." But The spiritualist, he must be able to tolerate the trouble that the senses are trying to cause. Yesterday night, I was lecturing on the importance of controlling the mind. So, if one has developed the ability to tolerate the urges of the senses and not be influenced by it, then he is practicing titikshava. Do not think that when the senses are agitating, then you must go and satisfy them, and by satisfying them, one day you will get tired, and then you will say, "Now no more sense gratification. Now I'm ready to be a sadhu." The Vedic scriptures clearly say that sense gratification is like drinking poison. So why should you drink poison when you can avoid drinking it? Our modern-day friends say, "Ah, how can you say that this is poison?" But the great sages have concluded that this is poison because it will kill your spiritual life. Just like when you were young, your mother and father told you, "If you drink this bottle, then you will die." So you were trained that you should not drink poison because poison can kill. So just like all of you were educated by your parents, the great sages are educating us. Have you all heard of Rajneesh, Bhagwan Rajneesh? Is he famous in Russia also? Yes. Really? You know why he's famous everywhere? Because regardless of whether you go to a capitalist country, communist country, socialist country, dictatorship, One thing is common. And what is that common denominator? Whether you go to capitalist or communist or socialist or dictatorship, everybody wants sense gratification. This is one ideology that is common in all countries. It doesn't matter which ism the government believes in, but the people only know one mantra: sense gratification. And Rajneesh is only giving this mantra to everyone. So he's very famous everywhere. So Rajneesh, his philosophy is: give the people as much sense gratification as they want, and then they will get tired one day and come to spiritual life. So actually, this is the philosophy of what we call in spiritual language of the dogs and hogs. The hogs have sex life without restriction, and some 100 times a day. So this philosophy is meant for dogs and hogs, not for human beings. So next time your senses are troubling you, please do not give up your vows of austerity and become a slave of the senses. So this is what it means to be tolerant, titikshva. When the senses are bothering you, you tell the senses, "I have given you enough satisfaction and still you are always crying for more. No more." "Sit down." Just like the mothers when they are training up the young child. The young child says, "More, more, more," and the mother says, "No, I have given you enough. Sit down." So this is the principle that you have to adopt if you want to defeat Maya. Next quality is karunika. Karunika means to be very merciful. You may not believe it, but even in countries like India, There are many people who tell us, "Huh, why do you have to construct so many big temples? Why don't you give the money to the poor people who are starving?" They say, when they see our Bombay Temple, our Bombay Temple is full of marble, very opulent. It's like Taj Mahal. The Russians just love it when they come there. So anyway, these people say, "Why are you spending your money in building temples?" You must give your money to the poor people. But in this world, there is no shortage of doctors, engineers, scientists, but there is a shortage of those who will give knowledge about God. So those who give knowledge about God are known as spiritual doctors. If we had our way, all over the world, all our devotees could be called Dr. So-and-so. But actually, because we don't have our way, we have to follow the materialistic system. So the devotee understands that everyone can only be happy if he takes to this spiritual path. So he is very anxious to give His mercy to others by giving them knowledge about the difference between the body and the soul. So this is what it means to be merciful. You are worried about other people's happiness and distress just as you are worried about your own happiness and distress. You are convinced that without Krishna consciousness one cannot be happy. So you must also be convinced that unless everybody takes to Krishna consciousness, they cannot be happy. The materialists are always accusing us, as I said earlier, that we are doing nothing for the poor people in spending all our money on temples. But these materialists will do nothing to control their own sense gratification. For example, do you know How many millions of acres all over the world are being used to grow tobacco so that people can smoke? So we should tell these cigarette smokers, so many people are starving, so we will stop growing tobacco, but we will grow wheat now. Stop smoking. This they will not agree. Then have they ever calculated how many millions of acres all over the world are being used to grow grapes? And what are these grapes being grown? So they can make wine. So we will tell them, now stop growing grapes, we will grow wheat and rice so people can eat. They'll say, no, no, no, no, we cannot give up our whiskey. And then how many millions of acres are being used all over the world to grow grains so that the animals can eat that food and become fat before they are slaughtered? So we will tell these people, "No meat, no liquor, no cigarettes. We want to be merciful. We want to grow food, wheat and rice for all the poor people." They'll not agree. So they don't want us to build temples, but they want to do everything. Sūrdha-sarva-dhēnam. That means he's friend of everyone. A devotee of the Lord is friend of everyone. Our philosophy is not like the Christian philosophy. That says that God put these animals on earth for our tongue. Because the devotee respects all living entities, he does not even step over an ant. The devotee will walk so carefully that he will not even step over an ant. The Christians are saying God has put these animals for us to enjoy. About 3 years ago, I was talking to the head of the Christian church in India. So I told him, "Jesus Christ said, 'Thou shall not kill.' So why are you people eating flesh?" He says, "That means no killing of human being. Animals are allowed." I said, "The animals also have a spirit soul, so The animals should also be respected. He said animals don't have a soul. He's the head of the Christian Church in India. So I said, "How can you say animals don't have a soul? The animals also grow, have thinking power. They eat, sleep, defend, mate, just like human beings. So how can you say they have no thinking power? How can you say they have no soul?" So he says, "The animals have no thinking power." I said, "This is wrong." I said, "When the cat wants to steal the milk from the kitchen, the cat will only come in the kitchen when there's no one in the room, in the kitchen." I'm sure this principle is also true in Russian cats, huh? Of course, most of you may not have experience now because you don't keep cats and dogs, but those who keep cats and dogs will tell you that the cat will only come in the night to steal the milk from the kitchen when there's nobody in the kitchen. So the animals also have a thinking power. The animals also have very powerful senses. Few months ago, I had gone on a lecture tour of Australia and New Zealand. And in New Zealand, I saw that when the baggage comes from the plane, their dogs are sniffing. Sniff, sniff, sniff. Dogs are smelling whether they have drugs inside or not. So how can you say that the animals don't have a soul? So in the end, that priest said, "Oh, I wasn't prepared for this discussion. You should discuss with my advisors." So a devotee of the Lord is merciful, and he does not even want to kill an ant because Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gītā, sarva-yonīśa-kānteya mūrtaya sambhavanti yahaḥ tāsaṁ brahmā-mahadyo nīrahaṁ bija-pradāpitā. I am the father of all living entities. So we don't kill any animals, we don't kill an ant, we don't kill any entity because we are all members of the same father, we are all members of the same family, we have the same father and mother. So later on I'll give you some more stories on this point, but at the moment I'll just say that the devotee is very merciful. On all living entities. Ajatra and next to ajatra, shatrava. Ajatra, shatrava means he is enemy of nobody. The materialists are always dividing the society into, "Oh, he's my friend, he's my enemy." The countries also around the world are divided into this block and that block. But a devotee, To Him, everything, everyone belongs to one block, that is Kṛṣṇa's block. So therefore we do not say, "This prabhu is my enemy and this prabhu is my friend." The karmis are always busy dividing, dividing everyone and saying, "He's my friend, he's my enemy." But to the devotee, everybody is his friend. The next quality is shanta. Shanta means to be peaceful. So everybody wants peace. The capitalist wants peace and the communist wants peace. And the individual also wants peace. In spite of their saying that we want peace, peace, peace, the whole world, so many people are dying due to killing. And the devotee will say, "Swamiji, my mind is troubling me so much. How can I be peaceful?" The mind will only trouble you. As long as there is duality in your mind. On the one hand, you want to succeed in spiritual life, and on the other hand, you also want your quota of sense enjoyment. So this is where the mind begins to give you trouble. If in your mind you have resolved that you only want spiritual life, then there will be no problem. But because you are thinking, "Oh, I'll take the spiritual life, but I also want this, this, this, this, this." Therefore, there is this disturbance in the mind and we are not peaceful. So shanta means to be peaceful. And a devotee of the Lord is peaceful because he's fixed in serving the Lord. Next quality is sadhava. Sadhava means to live by the scriptures. So scriptures means words of God. Dharma andya sakshat bhagwat pranitam. This is in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Religion means the words of God. Prabhupāda used to say that he wants all his disciples and future devotees to read his books. So when you read these books, you can understand what is the purpose of human life. So we must read these books. Everything that we want to do should be examined against the scriptures. If the scriptures allow us to do something, then we can. Otherwise, we should not do it. Like I said last night, Rūpa Gosvāmī has said, "You can do everything that is favorable for bhakti, and you must reject everything unfavorable." So religion is not something that anybody can produce. Religion means the words of God. So Kāpīla Deva is saying that a saintly personality is one who is going by strictly the scriptures. Sadhu-bhūṣanā means That the transcendental qualities which we have discussed, these are the qualities by which a sadhu will decorate himself. Just like the materialist, they dress themselves in wearing expensive suits and perf channel number 5 and lipsticks and makeup and so on. So the devotee will decorate himself with these transcendental qualities. Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. Okay? Did you all understand something? I feel so bad that I can't speak Russian with all of you. Okay. It's such a difficult language.

Like Sanskrit.

Okay, any questions now? Well, Prabhupada says in the first line of the purport, a sadhu is— vyās— a devotee of the Lord. So one becomes a sadhu If he is following and developing all these qualities. If you don't have all these qualities, then you cannot be a sadhu. So sadhu means one who has all these transcendental qualities. This is important to know. You cannot be a sadhu if you don't have these transcendental qualities. So I don't think there's any contradiction or confusion. One cannot be a sadhu by only having faith. One must put that faith into practice, then he becomes a sadhu. Okay, more questions? Very good, I understand your question. So the question is, which religion should you follow? Just like when you are sick, you are only interested in removing the disease. You don't care whether your doctor is Jewish or Hindu or Muslim or Christian or Protestant. You accept that point? That I've said so far? No, no, I'm not through with my answer. So, so, so religion means to love God and to give up your love for sense enjoyment. So that religion by which you can develop love for God and give up your love for sense gratification, you should take to that religion. When you have fire in your house, you just telephone the fire brigade and say, "Come on, come quickly, put the fire off." You don't phone and say, "Please send me only Christian fireman." So it doesn't matter which faith you belong to. The important thing is to develop love of God and give up your love for so-called sense enjoyment. So we do not fight, "My religion is better than your religion." We just say, "By your religious faith, have you developed love of God and you given up all sense enjoyment?" So that is the test of religion. More questions? We are saying that if you can find somewhere else some other group of dedicated devotees like this who are following Christianity truly and they are giving up sense gratification completely, chanting the names of God, then you can try that. There's no harm. But my experience all over the world is that there is no one like the Hare Kṛṣṇa devotees anywhere in the world. Very good question, how to get rid of envy and anger. So you can get rid of envy or anger by becoming more Krishna conscious. Generally you become envious because you think that somebody else has something which you do not have, and then you become angry. So in the material world, everybody is suffering from this disease of envy and anger. There is material envy and there is spiritual envy. There's material anger and there is spiritual anger. I will tell you the difference between the two. So material envy, you know, all of you know, means if somebody else has something which you do not have, if somebody's a little smarter than you, then you become very envious of him. But do you know that the gopis, they are also fighting to serve Kṛṣṇa better? When Lalita— Lalita is one of the gopis— when she sees that Viśākhā is serving Kṛṣṇa so nicely, She becomes envious and she says, "I'm going to serve Kṛṣṇa even better." So this is spiritual envy. When you see that somebody is doing some service, then you say, "Oh, I'm going to work hard and do better than him." In the material world, if somebody is doing better than you, then you try to destroy that person. And in the material world, if you do not get what you want, then you become angry. But in spiritual life, you become angry only when Kṛṣṇa or His pure devotee is being offended. Just like when Lord Caitanya saw that these two drunken brothers, Jagāya and Madāya, had attacked Lord Nityānanda, He was ready, He was very angry and ready to kill them. So don't become angry if you do not get your quota of sense enjoyment, but become angry when your service to Kṛṣṇa is being curtailed. Okay? So her question is, "When and how did I meet Śrīla Prabhupāda?" Okay. So it's a good— I met Prabhupada for the first time in Montreal, Canada in 1968. I was studying in Montreal, Canada and Prabhupada had come to Montreal. Actually, in 1967 I was living in Toronto which is about 4 hours away from Montreal in Canada. So in In 1967, there was a very big exhibition in Montreal which was famous all over the world. It was known as Expo. So I had come from Toronto on Labor Day weekend in September '67 to see Expo, and I went to the temple on Sunday. So in the visitor's book, I just wrote down my name and address. So when I went back to Toronto, Every month I started getting an invitation from the temple in Montreal requesting for donations. So, so, so in one of the letters, in one of the letters they informed me that Swami Bhaktivedanta was coming on June 1st, 1968. So I went and met Prabhupada on June 1st, '68 in Montreal. And I have never looked back since then, looked back into material life since then.

She said, this witch said that our religion is the religion of future.

They may say their religion is future, but our religion is future of the past, present, and future. Therefore, this is known as Sanatana Dharma. Is there any more questions? What is your attitude?

Is it negative towards this witch religion?

The witch religion is meant for witches. It is not meant for human beings. But the Vedic religion is meant for human beings, not for— So listen, all of you know that there's also a program in the evening, huh? In Vrindavan, in Prema Vati's house. So if you want to ask all your questions now, you may have nothing left for the night. Okay. Yeah. In the back, in the back.

Well, she asks, what does the word humbleness mean? How to develop humbleness? Very good question.

How to develop humbleness? Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, tṛṇāḍa piṣu-ni caīnā taror api saiśyuna māni-nā mānadena kṛṭṇā-dī-sādhārī. That is, to chant the names of the Lord, one should be more humble than a blade of grass, more tolerant than the tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and ready to offer all respects to others. You see, the blade of grass is so tolerant. Everybody walks on the blade of grass. I'm sure in Russia also the blade of grass doesn't bite you when you walk on it. So just like you walk on the blade of grass, it doesn't— sometimes you're sleeping in the Brahmachari Ashram and some brahmachari comes and steps on you, you get so angry. You say, "Are you blind? You cannot see I'm sleeping?" But "But a devotee should be like a blade of grass, very tolerant." And he said, "He will be more tolerant than a blade of grass." And then Lord Caitanya says, "More inamorment than a tree." So you see the tree in both hot season and cold season, the tree is standing straight. Like today the weather may be -5., and you and I are sitting inside the apartment with central heating, but the tree is still standing straight facing the snow. In the hot season, in countries like India, people take shelter of the tree to escape the heat of the sun, and in the rainy season, they escape from the rain by taking shelter of the tree. So this is what we have to become. You try to become humble. By chanting, concentrating on your chanting, and automatically these qualities will develop. Just like when you put food in the stomach, automatically the different parts of your body become strong. So if you chant your Hare Krishna mantra nicely, avoiding the 10 offenses, then automatically you will become humble and all good qualities will decorate your body. Okay? I think I'll only take 2 more questions now and then postpone. Sure. Prasad RAVAL. Very good question. What means insult? Insult means when you do something that is against the scriptures. When you do not practice this Vaiṣṇava behavior and you behave differently, if you're— when you're acting out of ego, then you're trying to insult someone. Of course, this doesn't mean now all of you start insulting each other to test each other out. You tell each other, "Oh, I want to see how good your quality is." His question is purely theoretical.

What should be attitude toward godbrother who became a spiritual master? Previously he was your godbrother and after that he became spiritual master. What should be attitude?

We must understand that we should not be envious of a godbrother because he has become a spiritual master. We must understand that we should never criticize the spiritual master in front of his disciple. We must only act in such a way that we can increase the disciple's faith in the guru.

There are such cases in one of the Moscow streets, Arbat, where devotees are regularly chanting and distributing books. Some hooligans are attacking devotees, attack devotees And what should be the attitude of other devotees in the sense of humbleness when others are—

devotees are attacking? One thing is that this is all over the world. When we go chanting, the hooligans are attacking us. Not just in Moscow, but everywhere. This even happened 500 years ago when Lord Nityānanda, He is God, He was chanting and two brothers were drunkards, Jagāya and Madāya. And those two drunken brothers attacked God. So if some hooligans are coming to attack you, of course you have to defend yourself. So you have to do what is practical. I cannot say what will be practical in every situation when the hooligans attack you. Prasad Raaval.

What is our image of spiritual world? After death, we are trying to reach spiritual world. And what is spiritual world?

Please describe. You want a description of the spiritual world? In the spiritual world, there is no misery and there's no pain. It never gets dark. You don't need the sun or the electric bulbs. It is self-illuminated. The men are very handsome and the women are very beautiful, and they're not attracted to each other, and everybody has a private plane. And that private aeroplane is made of gold and emeralds. Believe, it's a fact. Everyone has a private plane made of gold and emeralds. And these planes, they never crash. And everybody is engaged in singing the names of Krishna. And their desire trees, whatever you desire, those trees can give you. In the material world, if it's a mango fruit tree, it can only give you mangoes. But in the spiritual trees, mango, coconut, apple, anything you want, they can give you. It never gets dark over there. And everyone is very happy. So Kṛṣṇa says, "Now come over there." Just like, you know, if you go to a travel agency, you get these small, small brochures, "Come to America, come to England, come to Hawaii, come to Russia, come to India." Isn't it? Yeah. So similarly, Bhagavad-gītā is like a brochure inviting you to the spiritual world. Bhagavad-gītā is telling you, "Come to the spiritual world, forget the material world." Is it clear?

She is satisfied. Maharaj, go Hala Krishna ki jai.

Maharaj, go Hala Krishna ki jai. Maharaj, go Hala Krishna ki jai. You know, when I came to Russia the first time in '76, I was here in '76 first. There were hardly any devotees, just one or two devotees. Then I came again in '77. Of course. I spent 15 days in '76 going out with Ananda Shanti everywhere to preach. And then I came again in '77. And in '77 I met few more people, but they were not serious like any of you. But now I can see that so many of you are taking to it seriously. So this is very wonderful. You know, Prabhupada came here in 1973 or '72? '71, it seems to me. Does anyone know the story how Prabhupāda met the Sanatana Śrīntī? Actually, Prabhupāda's servant, Śyamsundar, was going to look for a shop from where he could buy milk. So he just asked somebody on the road, "Do you speak English? Where can I find a shop where I can get milk?" And There was this Ananda Shanti there. So anyway, any questions, man?

I think should we—

is Krishna Kumar there? Krishna Kumar. Prabhu, should we stop now? Because what time in the evening? What time is the evening? At 5 o'clock. At 5 o'clock. So it's 3 o'clock almost, they have to have prasadam, and one thing that surprises me is how everyone can manage to come in the daytime. So there must be some special arrangement that Kṛṣṇa gives them facility.

Well, to give facility to others to come in the daytime.

To all of you to come in the daytime. I'm very surprised so many people came out. I mean, I think this Congress system of work is very good. It gives you all the time to practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So I think we will stop now, and all of you please come for the evening. In the evening I can do a Bhāgavad-gītā, or I was thinking of lecturing on the Sikṣāstaka, the 8 verses that Lord Caitanya wrote. Caitanya Mahāprabhu wrote 8 verses Any of you heard the explanation of these 8 verses? What do you say, Krishna Kumar? What should we do? Sikshāstaka or Bhagavad-gītā? What I was thinking is I will take on very important topics like Sikshāstaka, 10 offenses, 26— in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta there is 26 qualities of a devotee. So today evening we will start Sikshāstaka, but we cannot complete it by evening. We'll continue it tomorrow morning, and then by tomorrow Hi, Christian.