SB 1.5.1- The Root Cause Of Dissatifaction |Rus-Split | 13.01.91 |Śrīla Gopāl Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī Mahārājā

Shrawar, Devalchi, Raha, Viprasem, Veena, Pani, Maya, Iva. Now we will see how they can follow, okay?

We will see.

And we'll see how good the oil reception is. Athātāṁ tukkham asīnā. Athātāṁ tukkham asīnā. Upātīnam vraja-vāha. Upātīnam vraja-vāha. Devasi-prāha-vipraśem. Devasi-prāha-vipraśem. Vināpanitmayā-nivāḥ. Vināpanitmayā-nivāḥ. Athātāṁ tukkham asīnā.

Athātāṁ tukkham asīnā.

Vīnāpanismayāṇivāḥ. Vīnāpanismayāṇivāḥ. Ātantu kam-āṭhina upācina-bhrācchuravahā devāṣipraha-viprārśim vīnāpanismayāṇivāḥ. So this chapter, the 5th chapter, is a very, very important chapter of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Because in this chapter, Narada Muni is going to instruct his disciple Vyasadeva to compile the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. We are reading the 5th canto, the 5th chapter of the 1st canto, and in the previous 4 chapters of the 1st canto, Vyasadeva has described the glories of devotional service and the fact that Kṛṣṇa is the cause of all causes. In the previous chapter, we have seen that Vyāsadeva is very unhappy with himself. Now why should Vyāsadeva be unhappy? He hasn't really done anything wrong. He has compiled the vast Vedic literature. He has already compiled the 108 Upaniṣads. He has already compiled the Purāṇas. He has already compiled the Mahabharata and he has already compiled the Vedānta-sūtra. Still he is feeling unhappy. Isn't this very amazing? So Nārada Muni, the spiritual master of Vyāsadeva, he knew that Vyāsadeva was not feeling satisfied. So while Vyāsadeva was lamenting what wrong has he done, he was sitting on the banks of the river Sarasvati. Just like even in Moscow and Leningrad, I have seen all rich people in your country, all the big leaders of the Communist Party, they all have their houses next to the lake or the river, isn't it? So all over the world, all the rich people, they want their houses next to the water, next to the lake or the river. So in the past, the great sages, they used to have their cottages next to the rivers. So Vyāsadeva had his cottage next to the river Saraswati. Therefore you see that in India all the holy dhams, they are also situated next to all the auspicious rivers. So Vyasadeva was lamenting in his, in his cottage, what have I done, why I'm not satisfied? And Narada Muni appeared on the scene. So Suta Gosvami in this verse is describing the appearance of Narada Muni at the scene where Vyāsadeva was lamenting about his life. So Nārdamānī, when He appeared on the scene, He said, "I know why you are lamenting, my dear disciple." And He said, "You have explained everything, but because in the vast Vedic explanation there is also reference to the process of karma-kanda, therefore you are not happy." You must exclusively glorify the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So Vyāsadeva was questioning Nārada Muni because he knew without doubt that Nārada Muni was a perfect person and there was no doubt about his character. Therefore, when we have some doubts about ourselves, when we have some doubts about what we should be doing or what we should not be doing, we should be obtaining information from the perfect spiritual authority, not just anybody. So Vyāsadeva, in all the scriptures up to the, up to Vedānta-sūtra, he had described the principle of dharma, artha, kama, mokṣa. So dharma, artha, kama, mokṣa. It means you take the process of religion because you want to have some type of economic benefit. Then you have economic benefit, Then what do you want? You want some sense gratification. And then ultimately you want moksha. You want to become one with the Lord. So if we take to the process of religion for the purpose of some economic benefit or for the purpose of some, ah, material facility, then we cannot develop love of God. So Now, Narada Muni is pointing out that it is only by the process of pure devotional service that a living entity can be satisfied. So, sarve punyam paro dharmo yato bhakti-adhokta ye hai tukya pratyata yasya asma suprasiddhati. The self can only be satisfied when the living entity engages in paro-dharma. Paro-dharma means pure religion. There are two types of dharma, paro-dharma and aparo-dharma, where real religion and motivated religion. So Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is presenting real religion or pure religion, and therefore the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has been described by Caitanya Mahāprabhu as the spotless Purāṇa, or the Purāṇa in which there is no flaw at all.

For thoughtless.

So Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is presenting, in other words, the science of pure religion. Now, in society today, when you talk about pure religion, people just don't understand it because nobody knows the meaning of purity anymore. The word purity only exists in the dictionary, not in practice. The relationships are not pure anymore. Every— even in the relationship, everybody is trying to cheat each other. The air you breathe is not pure anymore. The water you drink is not pure anymore. So in other words, in an atmosphere of pollution, when you talk about purity of religion, people don't understand it in the beginning. So Nārada Muni pointed out that generally people are attracted to enjoyment, and if religion will permit enjoyment then they will take to religion also. Of course, it must be qualified that taking to religion for enjoyment is better than atheism, when you don't take to religion at all. So when people know that by going to the church or the temple or the synagogue or the mosque, I can get my quota of sense enjoyment, then people will take to a process of religion. But the difference between Religion and pure religion is— pure religion is a stage where one tries to develop love of God without expecting anything in return at all. So the Bhāgavatam is presenting the point that whatever one's occupation duty may be, he must engage in service to the Lord. Otherwise everything is śrama eva hi kevalam. Everything is a waste of time. Nārada Muni pointed out that one does not have to endeavor for enjoyment because enjoyment and suffering both will come naturally, automatically. Just like hap— unhappiness, distress comes without asking, similarly happiness also comes without asking, Nārada Muni said. Therefore Nārada Muni pointed out that one must endeavor to get spiritual happiness, not material happiness. That will come and go. So this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is presenting the highest knowledge about the science of loving God. In the introduction to the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Prabhupāda has made a very important point, which is as follows. That is, since thousands of years there have been volumes of books, but these books have failed to bring about peace on earth. Because there's a spiritual vacuum in these books. But this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Prabhupāda explains in the introduction, will fill that spiritual vacuum and give humanity a purpose of life. So this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is presenting the science of God with unlimited, with complete information about God, His creation, the living entity, life on other planets, Every question you can possibly present is answered in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it must be carefully studied. The Bhāgavatam says, naṣṭha-praeṣyava-bhadreṣu nityam bhāgavat-sevaya bhāgavaty uttamaśloke bhakti-bhāvati naiṣṭhiki. By regularly hearing the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, all that is inofficious in the heart is destroyed and loving service to the Lord is established. So we must study the Bhāgavatam regularly. Therefore, Prabhupāda, when he started this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, he started this process of morning and evening classes. So if in the morning you study one verse of the Bhāgavatam attentively and meditate on that verse all day, and in the evening if you study the Gītā and you meditate on that verse, then your mind will never be distracted from the spiritual path. When you get a taste for spiritual life, then you understand that everything you were doing in the past was due to ignorance. Due to ignorance, the living entity identifies with the body, and as long as one identifies with the body, one identifies with the senses and pursues the path of sense enjoyment. Therefore the Bhāgavatam says, kāma-sa nendriyā pṛthi-lavo jīvita-yāvaḥ jīvita-tattva-jijñātanaṭrayasya kārma-bihā. It says one must give up the utilization of human life for the purpose of sense enjoyment. Rather, dīvasya tatvajñāyātā, one must use the life for investigation of the goal of life. So how does one get the taste of serving the Lord? This is explained, vāsudeve bhāgavati bhaktiyoga-prayojitah. Janmityāśu vairāgyam jñānam chāyat ahaitukam. That is, by rendering causeless service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva, one develops knowledge and— what is the other thing? Who knows? Detachment. It says it. So knowledge and detachment, these are two essential ingredients for developing pure love of God. Knowledge means not just mundane knowledge, but spiritual knowledge coming from the infallible personality of Godhead. In the Śrī-Īśā-pañiṣad, it is said one must cultivate spiritual knowledge and material knowledge both side by side. So we are not against material knowledge, provided it is used in the service of the Lord. Just like these books that we have, they are printed, on high technology. But if high technology, material knowledge, if it is used from under the direction of a bona fide spiritual authority, then it can help one in the execution of devotional service. Just like we have so many devotees in our movement who are artists, so they're using their artistic abilities to paint pictures for, for Krishna instead of some mundane object. So as long as you do not come to the point of pure devotional service The living entity can never be satisfied. Even a great personality like Vyāsadeva could not be satisfied. So where is the question of you and I being satisfied? So you must understand that if you want satisfaction, then there's only one path. That is the path of loving devotional service to the Lord. The materialists are also endeavoring for satisfaction, and to get the satisfaction, they're endeavoring very hard Why aren't they buying everything that they can, thinking that by buying these things you'll get happiness? Just like when you come to the Soviet Union, whether you're coming from Delhi or wherever, you see all these Soviet people, they, when they come to India, or once I came from Canada, I saw they buy so many big, big boxes, tape recorders, and all these big, big machines. You see all of them on the plane with big, big tape recorders. So they're thinking if they buy all this equipment, etc., they will become very happy. And some people are thinking that if only I can go to some other country, or if only I can change the form of government, then I'll become— then we will become happy. But we must understand that in the material world, real happiness will only come when you take the pure devotional service. Therefore, we must cultivate this spiritual knowledge. When we cultivate spiritual knowledge, Then the mind becomes strong to reject the temptation of maya. Since times immemorial, the mind and the senses are used to sense enjoyment. Therefore we have to adopt the process of vaidhi-bhakti. Vaidhi-bhakti means the process of rules and regulations. So rules and regulations in order to develop love of God. And when you have love of God, then you can easily renounce your so-called attachment for sinful life. Today you may be finding it difficult to give up engaging in sinful activities because you've not developed the higher taste of devotional service. But if you make the endeavor, then you will be able to, uh, develop this higher taste. And after you make the effort Then when you develop the higher taste, you will understand that how foolish you were in engaging in sinful activities before. So Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is described as digāma-karpa-garor-galitam-phalam. This means the ripened fruit of Vedic knowledge. And this ripened fruit of Vedic knowledge is coming from the topmost planet, the spiritual abode of the Lord. Prabhupada used to give a nice example that if a fruit is plucked from the top of the tree and that fruit is passed down to the earth through the help of different individuals sitting on different branches, then by the time the fruit reaches the earth, it will be intact. But if the fruit is just thrown from the top, then by the time the fruit reaches the earth, it would be broken into pieces. So this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it must be heard from the proper authentic spiritual source. Then it can have the result of giving you love of God. So the Bhāgavatam is explaining that those who engage on the path of sense enjoyment, they're just compared to the different animals. What are the basic tendencies of the animals? To eat, sleep, defend, and mate. Swāvedvāraḥ śrākharai sāṁṭṭhutā puruṣā apaśu. Nāyat kanna patopeto jātu-nāma-gadagrajaha. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam explains that those who are engaged in sinful life are just like dogs, hogs, camels, and asses. The dogs, hogs, camels, and asses symbolize four animals who are engaged in, in different activities of sense enjoyment. The dog, for example, will serve any master without knowing whether the character of the master is good or bad. So similarly, the materialist They will serve anyone as long as they can get some money for their sense enjoyment. And then the hog. The hog will eat without discrimination. See, you don't see so many hogs in, uh, in this part of your country, but I have seen hogs. You can see hogs when you go to the Sukhumi Farm and all that on the way. So the hogs, you may have seen, they eat without discrimination, stool and everything, and they mate without discrimination. I only give that example because in Moscow at all you don't see any hogs, but in some parts of your country you can see the hogs. Like when you see, if you come to India, you can see the hogs, you can see how they are living. And then you have the camel. The camel will bite on thorns and then the tongue will bleed, and the camel will foolishly think, oh, the thorns are very tasty. Similarly, uh, the materialists, they think that maximum enjoyment is to the process of sex life without understanding that behind every drop of semen that is lost, unlimited ounces of blood are also being lost. And then the materialist is compared to the, to the donkey, because the ass, he works very hard carrying a heavy burden of load, but he's thinking, if I don't carry this heavy load, then I will not get a little bit of grass that I need. For eating. So similarly, the materialists, they work very, very hard, uh, thinking that unless I carry all these different responsibilities, I will not be able to survive. So the Bhagavatam is saying that when you engage in activities of sense enjoyment, then you're just like these four different types of animals. Therefore, the Bhagavatam is saying that one must cultivate the process of pure devotional service. Sade śrīmad-bhāgavatam. Every verse of the Bhāgavatam has such great meaning that Bhaktisiddhānta Ji, on one verse, he once lectured for 60 days nonstop. Every word of the Bhāgavatam is achieving only one goal: glorifying the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is glorifying the Supreme Personality of Godhead because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is worthy of glorification. Everything about the Lord and His paraphernalia and His devotees is auspicious. Just like now you have Gauṇitāya deities in your temple. Now the scriptures explain that the deities are not different from the Supreme Lord. But not only are the deities not different from the Lord, even the paraphernalia of the deities is not different from the Lord. By paraphernalia we mean the clothes that the Lord is wearing, The garland that the Lord wears or the crown that the Lord wears, this is all the same as the Lord. This has been nicely stated by the prachetas in the fourth canto of the Bhāgavatam, that not only, not only the Lord omnipotent and transcendental, but his paraphernalia is also completely transcendental. There's a very nice story in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta to support this example. Caitanya Mahāprabhu had a great devotee called King Prataparudra. Have you heard of King Prataparudra? He He was the king of which part of India?

Huh?

Orissa. So he was the king of Orissa where the Rath Yatra festival is held every year. So the king had a great desire to see Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So the king sent a message to Caitanya Mahāprabhu, "I would like to come and offer my respects to you." Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "No, I cannot see you because you are a man, you are a king." You have to deal with money and women. So I'm a sannyasi. I can't see somebody who deals with money and women. So the King Pratapudra was very, very sad, very, very upset. So then the king, he say, he wrote, he came, he wrote a letter to Nityananda and he told Lord Nityananda, please tell Caitanya Mahāprabhu that if you do not allow me to see you, then I will give up my kingdom and I will become a mendicant on the street. So, ah, Nityānanda and all the associates, they went to Caitanya Mahāprabhu with the intention that they will request Him to please see this King Prasādhapura. But when they went in front of the Lord, they couldn't even open their mouth. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He is the Lord in the heart, so He knew why they had come. So He said, "Tell me, why have you come here? What do you want to say?" So then Nityānanda said, "This king, he's very anxious to see you, and if he cannot see you, he says he will become a mendicant. Please give him darshan." So Chaitanya Mahāprabhu again refused. Then Nityānanda said, "Okay, why don't you give your clothes, and I will take your clothes and give it to the king." So he took. So Chaitanya Mahāprabhu agreed that instead of seeing him, He was going to give the clothes that he had worn to Nityānanda to be given to the king. So when the king received the clothes of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he was so happy, he started worshiping it just like worshiping Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally. So this story is given, this story is given to show how the paraphernalia of the Lord is non-different from the Lord. The paraphernalia of the Lord is non-different from the Lord. This point must be carefully understood. The Lord is omnipotent. Everything related to the Lord is also transcendental. So the deities are the Ācārya-vigraha manifestation of the Lord. The Lord manifests in a deity form in order to make it easy for us to understand him. Just like the Bible also says, man is made in God's image. So God is a person, we are persons, but there is one difference. Nityo nityanam ceto na cetananam eko bhau-nam vidati-kamam. The difference is that living entity is maintaining all other living entities. That's the difference between God and us. Just like you may take a drop of water from the ocean. Now the drop of water from the ocean will have the same taste as the vast ocean, but in quantity There is a difference. The drop of water is less than the vast ocean. So we are eternal, God is eternal, but there is a difference. That Supreme Being is maintaining all other entities. So the Brahma Samhita, in the Brahma Samhita, there are various, uh, character statements that describe who is God. And what does God look like? What are His characteristics? For example, it is said, Īśvara-paramā-kṛṣṇa-sac-cid-ananda-vigraha-anādir-ādir-govinda-sarva-kārṇa-kārṇam, that the Supreme Lord is known by the name of Kṛṣṇa. Īśvara, Īśvara means controller. There are many controllers, just like Even in your country there are so many controllers. You have the regional controller, the city controller, then the chief of the republic, then the chief of the whole country. So there are many controllers, but Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Controller. Therefore He is known as Parama-Īśvara, and He is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha. His body is eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. And He is the cause of all causes. Anādirādir-govinda. Sarvakārna-kārnaṁ. He is the cause of all causes. But anādirādir-govinda. Nobody is the cause of His creation. Many times people say, "Can you show me who has created God?" So here is the answer. Nobody creates God. God creates everyone. Then the Brahma-samhita says, adve tamacchūtamanādhi anantarūpam. Advaita. Advaita means no difference between body and soul. Between your body and soul, my body and soul, there's a big difference. But there's no difference in the case of the Supreme Lord's body and soul. Achuta is infallible. He never makes any mistakes. Have you ever read in history books that there was ever a time that the sun did not rise No. And all the arrangements of the Lord work perfectly. There's never a disaster, disaster, destruction. Then advaitam acyutam anadyanantarupam. He manifests himself in many different forms. So then you may say, like in India there's so many people who claim they are God. So you may say, oh, there are many ways, many incarnations of God. I am also incarnation of God. What's the problem? But the incarnations of God, fortunately, are also all described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The incarnation of God is recognized on the basis of two principal qualifications. One is known as the principal feature, the other is known as the marginal feature. Principal feature means the bodily description. Marginal feature means the activity that the incarnation will engage in. I will give you an example to tell you what these two mean. Just like in the case of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, it has been described, He will appear as He is golden in complexion. So golden in complexion means what? Principal feature. Then it is said as one who is going to be engaged in glorifying the Supreme Lord. That is the marginal feature, the activity in which the incarnation will engage. So All the incarnations are there in the revealed scriptures. Then it says, adyam purāṇa-puruṣaṁ na yauṇaṁ ca. He is the oldest entity, but He always looks youthful. Then it says that, glokā-eva-nivasāti akhilātmam bhūtā. Though He is situated in the spiritual planet of Goloka, Vṛndāvana, He nevertheless is manifested everywhere. Just like the sun, the sun disc is located in the sun planet, but you see the influence of the sun everywhere. So similarly, Kṛṣṇa resides in the spiritual abode, but He is present everywhere. In the Bhāgavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa says, sarvasa ca ham hirdi sāni viṣṭho mataḥ smṛtaḥ jñānām apahānam ca. I am situated in everyone's heart, and from Me comes remembrance and forgetfulness. So all of you who are engaged, sitting over here at the moment, the inspiration to come has come from Kṛṣṇa. And all of those who are not sitting here, who are sleeping or engaged in sinful activity, that permission is also given by Kṛṣṇa. Some devotees are making very rapid spiritual advancement, and some devotees have been initiated for 10, 10 years and they're just like new bhaktas. But some devotees may have been chanting for 10 years, but they're just like new bhaktas. How is it? That one devotee is making advancement and the other is not. So the same question was once asked to Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī by his disciple. So Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī gave this example of the marriage party. I think some of you know that story, so okay, I'll tell the story again. So Bhaktisiddhānta Ji said, like in Bengal there are so many rivers, and if you want to go across the river you have to take a boat. So there was a marriage party that came and sat down in the boat. And the marriage party told the boatman, "Please take us to our destination." And the boatman, all night he was rowing by hand. You didn't have those machines, the engines at that time. He was rowing by hand. But in the morning when the marriage party got up, they discovered that they were still exactly where they were the previous night. So the marriage party was very upset. They said, "What have you done? We were supposed to reach our destination. We are still where we were last night." And then the boatman started searching. "Why am I still there even though I was rowing all night?" And then he discovered that the anchor of the boat was still stuck in the harbor. And because the anchor was still stuck with the harbor, even though he was rowing all night, the bus did not make much— the boat did not make much progress. So similarly, you may go on chanting, you may even chant 16 rounds a day every day, but if you are committing the 10 offenses, if you are not taking advantage of devotee association, then you cannot make spiritual advancement. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said, bhāhu jānmaikāre yadi śrāvana-kīrtana tabu-tanapāya kṛṣṇa-padre pre-madhana. One may go on chanting the names of Kṛṣṇa, not only for one life, not only for two lives, but hundreds of lives, still you cannot get love of God unless you avoid all offenses. Therefore, we must understand that there are three stages of chanting the holy names of the Lord. The first stage is when you chant and commit offenses at the same time. The second stage is when you chant and you minimize your offenses. And the final stage is when you chant and you don't commit offenses. So all the devotees who want to take advantage of this beautiful process of devotional service, we must try to avoid the 10 offenses. Because if you're chanting and committing offenses at the same time, then you will not be able to develop love of God. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained that of all these 10 type of offenses, the most serious is committing the first offense, that is blaspheming those who have dedicated their lives for propagating the holy names of the Lord. This business of fault-finding and criticizing is very, very dangerous for spiritual advancement. Anybody who's chanting the holy name is very dear to the Supreme Lord. Even if it's a new bhakta and he's chanting the holy name, he becomes very dear to the Lord. So one must be very Respectful to every Vaiṣṇava, and also especially the advanced Vaiṣṇavas. Because Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained to Sanatana Gosvāmī that just like a mad elephant, when he comes inside a beautiful garden, he will destroy the garden. Similarly, all the gains of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa will be destroyed or uprooted by this one offense which is described as mad elephant offense. Another important thing for spiritual cultivation is sadhu-sanga, sadhu-sanga, sarva-sastra-kaya. Take advantage of devotee association. Many of you live at home because of two reasons. One is because we don't have the facilities as yet for brahmachari in Brahmacharini Ashram, or some of you are in the Krihaspa Ashram. So naturally you have to live away from there. You have to have your own place to live. But wherever you may live, You must take advantage of devotee association. You must come to the temple at least once or twice a week, attend the temple programs, attend the temple arthi, listen to the classes. You must take advantage of devotee association because it is only this association of devotees that gives us the strength to fight the agents of maya that we meet all day. In this verse we were discussing Nārada Muni's instructions to Vyāsadeva in this chapter. So Vyāsadeva wanted to know from his spiritual master how did he become such a great personality. So what did— so Nārada Muni explained to him how he became such a great soul. He was blessed by the great sages. But why did the great sages bless him? Nārada Muni's mother was the maidservant in the house of the great sages. So Nārada Muni, he was the only son of that lady and Because Nārada Muni was serving, mother was serving the great sages, he would have the opportunity of listening to them preach and eating the foodstuff left by the great sages. And just by hearing them preach, Nārada Muni became convinced about the value of spiritual life. And when his mother died, even though he was a young child, he did not get disturbed at all because he knew that everyone who takes birth has to die. So just like Nārada Muni attentively heard from the great sages, Prabhupāda also was very attentively hearing Bhaktisiddhānta Ji's preaching. Prabhupāda used to tell us that he would go to listen to Bhaktisiddhānta Ji's lectures along with all the sannyāsis, godbrothers, and all. Many of them would go away, but Prabhupāda would never go away, even if he could not understand what was being spoken. And Bhaktisiddhānta Mahāprabhu was so pleased by attentive hearing of Prabhupāda that he said, "This boy is hearing attentively, and one day he will preach very forcefully." So Prabhupāda said, "I heard attentively, therefore now I'm preaching enthusiastically." So Prabhupāda used to tell us, you must hear attentively and then you'll become enthusiastic for preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So we must have this, this desire to hear. And if you hear attentively every day, then your material desires will be destroyed. Just like fire can destroy anything, the spiritual sound vibration through the medium of chanting, through the medium of the Bhāgavatam and Gītā, it can completely destroy the material desires that are sitting in the heart since times immemorial. So even if you are living at home, you must read the Bhāgavatam every day in the morning and the Gītā in the evening. And as you cultivate the spiritual knowledge, your brain will become very, very sharp. I can go on, but I think your devotees may get tired sitting very long. Okay, Vapros, questions?

Yes. What means to be meek and humble?

What's the meaning to be meek and humble? Good question. Because every day you hear about this. So what does it mean to be meek and humble? Some people think that meek and humble means When you speak to your seniors, you speak very nicely, "Prabhuji, Prabhuji," but in your mind you can do whichever you want, no problem. So that is not meek and humble. Meek and humble means, first of all, you must really recognize, "I am fool number one and I do not know what I should be doing. Therefore I must turn to spiritual guidance for direction." Who was Caitanya Mahāprabhu? Who? Who was he? God Himself. But when Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to Banaras, He was going, there was a big session going on of the Mayavadi sannyasis who were all busy studying the Vedanta Sutra and making their own speculative thoughts on the Shastras. And they told Caitanya Mahāprabhu, "Why don't you come and join us? Why don't you read the Shastras? What is it like a madman you are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa on the streets?" Just like when you go chanting on the streets, many people think you are a madman. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "My spiritual master thought, I was a fool. So he said, just chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. That's all you're capable of doing. Don't worry about reading the scriptures. Vedānta. Now, being humble and meek does not mean that when you see somebody is doing something wrong, you just keep quiet and you say, no, no, no, if I say something, then he will think I'm proud, so I should not say something. As you saw, Prabhupāda was always preaching very strongly, but he was soft at the same time. So when it comes to preaching, You must be like a tiger, but when it comes to dealing with Vaiṣṇavas, you must be like a lamb. So Prabhupāda said a devotee is tiger outside and, and a lamb at home. Do you understand this example? Do you all understand this example? A lamb is a very soft animal. So when you're dealing with Vaiṣṇavas, you must be very humble. But tiger, everybody is scared of the tiger. So when you go outside to preach, You must preach the philosophy very boldly. You can completely smash their materialistic viewpoint. That's okay. Sannyāsa, lamb at home, tiger outside. Still satisfied. Doesn't matter, may I have more? Because who can satisfy this? There's a very sense of this, right? I feel it is. Yeah, good question. A devotee should always feel that he has done nothing for Kṛṣṇa. So A devotee should always feel that he has done nothing for Kṛṣṇa. Just like all your devotees took part in the December Prabhupāda marathon, but now you cannot think, "Oh, in December I worked so hard. Now for 4 months I'm going to take holiday, and then when next marathon comes, then again I will work hard and then holiday." Because a devotee is always thinking, "I've done nothing. I was sitting next to Prabhupāda." when he was about to leave his body, just few days before he left the body. And Prabhupada was telling his godbrother that, "I have done nothing at all." So Prabhupada had done so much, isn't it? And he was saying, "Oh, I've done nothing at all." And we devotees, we do a little bit of service and we say, "Oh, I did so much for you. Now why aren't you doing something for me?" Our debt to Kṛṣṇa is so high. That even if you serve Kṛṣṇa day and night for every day that you live, still you will end up paying back only a small portion of what you owe Kṛṣṇa. More questions?

Yes. You mentioned this verse from Chaitanya-caritāmṛta, said about mad elephants, elephant offenses here, which can destroy everything.

Yeah.

But at the same time, in the Gītā it says that a little bit of service done Everything lost.

So when Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhāgavad-gītā, "A little bit of devotional service done will never go in vain," it means that whatever service you do will always stand to your credit. But a devotee does not commit sins on the strength of chanting. That is the seventh offense, to commit sins on the strength of chanting. It is a fact That Kṛṣṇa says devotional service will never go in vain. I'll start again. Just translate. But a devotee does not want to commit sins on the strength of chanting. So if a devotee falls down accidentally, just like Arjuna fell down, Kṛṣṇa will protect him. But if a devotee is thinking, "I've chanted Hare Kṛṣṇa for 10 years, so now I have taken away so much of my karma, now I can do some fresh sinful activity." And that becomes offensive. You understand? So suppose I say, oh, I've been, uh, you know, such a big devotee, I've opened so many temples, now I can fall into a little maya for some time. Now that is offensive.

Yes, sometimes devotee may feel, you know, dissatisfaction.

Huh?

May feel dissatisfaction. And, uh, uh, it obviously, him and him. He cannot perform his service with enthusiasm and so on. And, um, who should he ask about them if he's not feeling enthusiastic? Of course, yeah, because of this, this, this, actually, because maybe spiritual master is not near.

Spiritual master may not be with you, but spiritual master's instructions are always with you. However, Uh, you can write to the spiritual master, you can speak to the temple president or other advanced Vaiṣṇavas who are there next to you. One should not think that now I'm having this problem, nobody can help me, I have to go only to the spiritual master. No, there's a system. You can even approach the other advanced Vaiṣṇavas, and if you still can't be satisfied, then you can go to the even higher Vaiṣṇavas. Okay, is this point clear? The answer I gave to this question, because devotees have a very false understanding of how to make spiritual advancement sometimes. You should not be in a situation where you distrust everyone. You think that everyone is going to cheat me. The Vaishnava authorities will not mislead you. Why should they? If they mislead you, then Kṛṣṇa will punish them. So they are going to be very careful themselves in giving you the best advice.

Okay.

Yes.

What is the meaning of association?

Good question. What is the meaning of association? Because you can be with another devotee and still be in maya if you're engaged in prajñālpa. Just like I have seen all over the world in ISKCON, sometimes there are two communities. One is the association of all good devotees together, and one is the association of all weak devotees together. So that devotees who are in māyā— they like to be in association of other devotees who are also in māyā. And the devotees who are fixed up— they like to be in association of devotees who are also fixed up. So the devotees who are weak in māyā, they are saying, "No, no, no! I have devotee association!" But they're associating with others who are also sick like them. So devotee association means associating with those who are fixed up on the spiritual path, not with those who are not fixed up. If you go to some... If you go to somebody who is not fixed up any, and you tell him what your problem is, he will say, "Don't stay in the ashram, go home. Why are you living with those crazy people?" In English there's a phrase, "Misery loves company." So when somebody is in Maya, he wants to see all of the devotees also come into Maya.

Yes. This is the highest knowledge, to know that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme. Lord.

Like the gopis.

But gopis, they didn't know that Krishna is the Supreme Lord. Does it mean that on some stage, uh, Krishna takes away some knowledge to give?

The inhabitants of Vrindavan, yes, they did not know that Krishna was the Lord, but they were so much in love with Krishna that they did not even care to know Kṛṣṇa's greatness. Just like Kṛṣṇa displayed His universal form to Arjuna in the Battle of Kurukṣetra. Now, why is it that in our ISKCON temples you don't have any poster of Kṛṣṇa displaying the universal form? And why is it that Prabhupāda did not talk about that much? Because the devotee is not interested in seeing Kṛṣṇa's manifestation of opulence or some superhuman activity. He knows that Kṛṣṇa is lovable God, whereas the non-devotee, he will only believe that Kṛṣṇa is God when he hears that Kṛṣṇa has done something outstanding. So the gopīs and the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana were at a very advanced stage of consciousness where they knew, where their only object of life was just to meditate on Kṛṣṇa. They didn't care who Kṛṣṇa was. They were so much in love with Him. Okay. More questions? Yes.

You said that associating with weak devotees is not favorable, but how it influence on special master association?

How does it influence?

Special master.

What is the value of his association?

Association with weak devotees.

What is the effect of weak disciples associating with a spiritual master? Well, if one is a spiritual master, he should not get affected by the association of a disciple who is in maya. Just like the sun, the sun is not affected whether it is shining on, on clean water or stool water. The sun purifies both. It is not the spiritual master will listen to the disciple's philosophy on Maya and get influenced by it. Then he's not a spiritual— he should not be a spiritual master. Any more questions?

What is the qualities of, you know, strong devotees? Fixed.

Okay, good, good, good. So what are the qualities of a strong devotee? A similar question was asked in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by Devādhūti to her son Kapiladeva. So Devādhūti was the mother of Kapiladeva. She told her son, "I am an old lady. I do not know how to end this miserable condition of life." So the son said, "Mother, you must take to the process of bhakti." But the mama said, "How can you cultivate bhakti?" So the son said, "In the association of devotees." But then the mother said, "How do you define a devotee?" So that is very similar to the question you have asked, isn't it? So a good devotee must have these qualities. The tekṣava-karunikaḥ sūḍha-sarvadhīnam ajātāśātrava-santaḥ sādhva-sādhvabhūṣanāḥ. A devotee must be fixed in serving the Lord. Tekṣava means he must be very tolerant. Karunikaḥ means he should be very humble, merciful. Sūḍha-sarvadhīnam means he must be friend of everyone. Sometimes You know, even amongst devotees you have, he is my drooga, he are my friends, and they are my enemies. So when he's giving a class, I'm not going to go and listen to the class. When my friend is giving a class, then I will go to attend the class. When my guru is speaking, then I will go to the class. But if other Vaishnava is speaking, no, no, no, I will not go to the class. So that is not Vaishnava culture. Then ajata-satrava-shanta, he must be peaceful. He must be fixed in the scriptures. So the point is, a fixed-up devotee is one who only wants to do what Kṛṣṇa propounded. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Hare, Hare. Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma. Hare Rāma, Hare, Hare. Prasad Raaval.