The curse of a devotee is actually a blessing | SB 10.10.40 | 1994 | Toronto | Gopāl Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī

Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. He is very merciful. By his grace he showed the greatest favor to both of you who were mad after Mr. Hopland and had thus become blind. Although you fell from a higher planet, Varga Loka, and became trees, you were most favored by him. I knew of all these incidents from the very beginning. Quote put by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada: It is now confirmed by the supremest bounty of Godhead that the curse of the devotee is also to be regarded as mercy. As Kṛṣṇa, God, is all good, Kavaishṇava is also all good. Whatever he does is good for everyone. This is the supreme and abhorrent word. Om Jai Jai Ram Das Ji, Jai Nanak Dev Ji, Sat Shri Akal. Shri Guru Shri Yutha Paratama, Shri Guru Narayana Maharaj. Shri Chaitanya Manu Biswasam Satguru Meenakruti Dev. Swayamrupa Kadamayam Vedāti Swāpharanti Ka. Bande Ham Shri Guru Shri Yutha Paratama, Shri Guru Narayana Maharaj Ka. Shri Yukon Pragandha Tāmpa Hagenaga, Guna Tāmbita Mānta Deva. Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna! Jāta māmā koraivaita rāṣīnā-karnatmanā yātrī-mrdayo raghuvīra vibhaṁ śūrdurahākataḥ. So we have seen that the two sons of Kuvrīra were actually blessed by the Rādhā-Muni. Rādhā-Muni had cursed them to become trees. And they became trees because, as we explained yesterday, and you probably heard over the previous days, they were— they acted in a very uncivilized manner in front of a great sage of the caliber of Nārada Muni. They were very intoxicated by the position that their father had, namely the treasure of the demigods, and also they were intoxicated by, because of their father's devotion to Lord Śiva. Śrī Nārada Muni did a special favor upon them. He cursed them. We become free for 100 years. Not 100 of our earthly years, but 100 years of the demigods, which means that one day of the demigods is equal to 6 months of our earthly years. So at this point we see that Kṛṣṇa, He has pulled the two ajinātṛs down. Kṛṣṇa was crawling in the courtyard and He remembered. What did He remember? That his beloved devotee, Nārada, had given a word. What was the word? Nārada said, "For your nice behavior, you become free, and then you'll be able to see the Lord." So Kṛṣṇa knew what Nārada had done and why he did it. So Kṛṣṇa wanted to fulfill the promise that his devotee had made. Which was that they would be able to see the Lord. So Kṛṣṇa pulled the two huge trees down. He was tied to a mortar, and with a rope He pulled it down. In fact, when the two trees fell down, everyone in the town started talking. "How did those trees fall down?" Some said, "Must be some demon who came and pulled the trees down." So there was a discussion, "How could two huge trees fall down all of a sudden?" And all the elder members started saying, "This must be the work of some demon." And then the children who were there said, "No, you are wrong. This is not the work of the demon. There is baby Kṛṣṇa. He pulled down the trees." This baby Kṛṣṇa, He pulled down the tree. So the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, they were already used to this baby Kṛṣṇa performing wonders. So they all told Nārmada, "You know, His child is always performing some miracle. How could a small child pull down 2 huge trees?" Anyway, when the 2 sons of Prahlāda came out of the tree, they glorified the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In choiceless language, presenting His glorious attributes. So at this point in the Bhāgavatam, the Lord has heard all the praises that were offered to Him by the sons of Kuvaira, and the Lord is now responding to the praises that the sons of Kuvaira had offered Him. So the Lord is saying that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārādhamaṇi, is very merciful. First of all, Nārada is being addressed as a great saint. So now the Muni is not an ordinary saint. Now the Muni is actually a very great saint. Saimbhu nārada sambho krama rakāpilo manoh palado janakopaiṣṇa balīvāya sakīr vaya. Yām rājulaḥ. Who do we turn to? To get spiritual knowledge. The Āgamas were revealed, the names of 12 authorities, and one of them is Nārada Muni. Huh? Srimad Nārada Sambhū. So Nārada Muni is one of the 12 great spiritual authorities, and he's being addressed as a very great saint, and he's also very merciful. Sri Prabhupāda makes a point in his purpose that a devotee of the Lord is very merciful. Just like after the Supreme Lord spoke to the sons of Kavera, how merciful Nārada Muni is, he further explained, "You two are so fortunate that you had the opportunity to see the face of Nārada Muni." The Lord explains that when you see the face of a great sage, everything becomes clear to you, just like on a clear blue sky day all objects become visible. So Kṛṣṇa told, ja, the sambhava of Veda Vāsudeva, that you two are so fortunate Then you will have the opportunity to see the face of Nārada Muni. And just by seeing the face of Nārada Muni, everything becomes clear. So, by associating with a sage, by seeing the face of a sage, by hearing the teachings of a sage, one gets purified. Why do we push on seerat? One answer is we put on tilak because we identify ourselves as devotees of Kṛṣṇa by putting tilak, isn't it? But when you put on tilak, you also make your face, hair, forehead a powerful preaching tool. How people look at a face with tilak, they say, "Oh, he is a Hare Kṛṣṇa devotee," isn't it? And if you were to walk on the street without a tilaka, they would look at your face but they would not be reminded of Kṛṣṇa. Am I right? But if you have a tilaka on, if they look at you, they will say, "He is a Hare Kṛṣṇa devotee." The moment they see your face, they remember Kṛṣṇa. And the more they remember Kṛṣṇa, the more they get purified. So that is why even looking at the devotee's face, a Vaiṣṇava's face, is so powerful. Of purifying. So devotees of the Lord are actually very merciful. And now Damani is no ordinary devotee. In the purport, Prabhupāda says that even the curse of the devotee is actually a blessing, because the devotee is the eternal well-wisher of every life. The devotee's only concern is how everyone can be positioned in service to the Lord. For example, Nārada Muni, when he saw that Nārada-kumāra and many Kṛṣṇas were intoxicated, Nārada Muni thought, "Let me teach them a lesson." Let me teach— just like sometimes Prasada says, the father, the child is sleeping, then the father pinches the child. Why does he pinch the child? He pinches the child so that he may get up and take the medicine. So the child may complain initially, "Oh, my father is waking me up, he is pinching me." But the father is pinching the child so that the child may get up and take the medicine so that he may get cured. So similarly, the devotee of God, even when he closes He curses the divisions, that this person and some of the others come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and give up those nonsense activities. That is why a devotee is eternal well-wisher of everyone. Tākura Mahāsī knows. In the Nīl-jāgo prayer, it's very nicely said, Ānivinā bandhu nāhe ke aje samāra. Except for Me, you have no other friend. In society we all like to think that we have many friends, huh? He is my well-wisher, he is my well-wisher, she is my well-wisher, etc. But actually the only well-wisher is one who wants to guide us on the journey back to Godhead, or one who is telling you, "Give up your nonsense and surrender to the Lord." He is actually the only well-wisher. Those who do not tell you to give up your nonsense, run to Kṛṣṇa, are actually not your well-wishers. Śrīla Prabhupāda here makes the point very clear. So Nārada Muni, Nārada Muni is a very, very powerful sage. He has a gift in his previous birth to have the association of stalwart devotees. His mother was very poor. She was an ordinary maid servant, and she was serving in the house of the great stadium for 4 months in a year in the rainy season. And not money for the young child, but because of the fact that his mother wanted a privileged position. Privilege in the sense She was serving very great sages. He also had the opportunity to eat the remnants of foodstuff left by them and to hear their sermons. As a result of which, he developed great attachment to the Lord, and he got fully absorbed in devotional service. And as providence would have it, his mother, who was the only relationship also died. And as a result, Nārada Muni gets enough traveling and became fully absorbed in the Lord. So in the next birth, he obtained this very exalted birth, ha, as Nārada Muni. And in that birth, he received the transcendental Vedic knowledge and from Brahmā. And Nārada Muni was able to enliven He has so many countless number of devotees on the path of devotional service. Ultimately, whatever Nādamuni does, he does it for the benefit of the persons he serves. Just like Dhruva Mahārāja. Dhruva Mahārāja was determined to go and find God, hā? And Nādamuni wanted to test him. Then Nādamuni appeared on the scene and said, 'You are a young child. Why do you have to go to the forest? Don't be so serious. Your mother was just joking with you.' But Guru was there. 'If you want to help me to find God, I will talk to you. But if you don't want to help me to find God, I don't want to have anything to do with you.' Nārada Muni was very determined. And then Nārada Muni said, okay, if you want to find God, do the following. Chant this mantra, Om Namah Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Make a form of the Lord. Wow! Make a form of the Lord with mud and water, and then meditate on that form of the Lord, and then chant. Then you will be able to find Then on another occasion, Daksha— daksha means one who is very expert in creating population. So Daksha was very expert in creating population. Daksha had produced 10,000 sons. He was no ordinary man. 10,000 sons in one stroke. And Dāṣṭra, he desires that all his sons get married. Like in India, in most parts of the world, the parents always meditate when are their children going to get married. And if anyone talks about becoming a devotee or celibate, it's almost as if a miracle has taken place. "You want to be a brahmachari? You don't want to enjoy your childhood?" You meet a lot of people in India who say, Real āsma is grihastā. All this sannyāsa āsma is so easy, but to learn grihastā āsma is a challenge. So there are many people who hold that view, eh. You met some people? I met a lot of people who say that. So Daksha, he produced 10,000 sons and he wanted them to enter the grihastā āsma. But he knew one thing, that if he wants to enter the grihastā āsma, They must be spiritually trained as brahmacharis. Because if they do not have good spiritual training, then it will not be grihastha-āśrama, but it will be grihamedhi, no āśrama. Āśrama means when you are perfect, your life and attain love of God. Then it will be a grihamedhi life like cats and dogs. So Dakṣar decided, "I must send my 10,000 sons for training." So Daksha sent his 10,000 sons to a special location called Nāyamsara. Just like here in Toronto, you have the islands and you have beaches in this material world where people go for, you know, sense enjoyment. These days the beaches are being employed for sense enjoyment, not for Self-realization. But in the early glorious days, The beaches were being the place of self-realization. So there was a very— there was a spiritual beach called Narayanshwaras. To these, the great sages used to go to practice meditation. Then Daksha told his 10,000 sons, "Very good boys, but before you enter the Kriyayoga Ashram, go and perform tapasya, austerity." The environment in Narayanshwaras was very conducive for performing austerities. So his 10,000 sons went over there. They were very obedient to the father, the sons of Daksha. So they started practicing austerities in Narayana's chariot. Then Nārada Muni showed up over there. Nārada Muni showed up over there. He observed that these 10,000 boys are very sincere. And he knew that Dakṣinārāyaṇa has a plan eventually to get the Nārāyaṇa into the Kriyāvṛta-āśrama. So Nārāyaṇa Muni, he started preaching to the 10,000 sons of Dakṣinārāyaṇa the glories of serving the Supreme Lord and the glories of serving the Supreme Lord and remaining celibate. So when the 10,000 sons heard these teachings of Dakṣinārāyaṇa Muni, They said, "Yes, yes, yes, you are right. We should not enter the Kriyāśvara Ashram and go back to our father's palace. We will stay here only and continue to perform our service to you." So, the brahmana Daksha gradually heard this rumor, that my sons have decided not to come back. He was getting very angry. And later on it got confirmed, "Yes, that rumor is a fact." that his sons are not coming back. He was very, very angry at Narada Muni. But then Lord Brahmā came and said, "Don't worry, let us send thousand sons day by day." He didn't produce more sons. Huh? So then Daksha produced one thousand more sons. And again when he produced the second batch of thousand sons, his desire was the same. The name is Grihastha Ashram. So, but before entering the Grihastha Ashram, Daksha wanted them trained in spiritual life. That is Daksha's credit. Even though he lost 10,000 sons because he had sent them for spiritual training, he did not deviate from the truth. So he sent the second batch of 1,000 sons also to Nārāyaṇa's palace to practice meditation or self-realization. So Nārada Muni found out that the second batch of 1,000 sons have also come with the same purpose. So Nārada Muni came over there. He started observing the 1,000 sons, and he saw that they were as sincere as their older brother. So then Nārada Muni started preaching to them by pointing out their bodily relationship with their elder brother. See, Nārada Muni is so put in preaching. Preaching means time, circumstance, that you can use your intelligence. He pointed out how this bad just happened. For as sincere as the older brothers, and then by Nāgādhvamānī's association, the younger brothers also decided, "Yes, we should not go back home. We will just stay where we are, practice our charity and Stay celibate. So Daksha, when he found out that now even the second batch of 100 sons are not coming home, so Daksha was very angry. When he came in front of Narada Muni, he said, "You rascal!" Just like the present day TV programmers, they accuse us. He said, you read in Bhagavatam, literally it says, "You rascal!" You think you are saintly, but you are not saintly. I am saintly, you are a rogue, he started accusing him. Actually, if you read Lakṣmaṇa's accusation of Nārada Muni, you get reminded of the present-day bishyelas' accusation of the gurus. Exactly almost the same. There are many of the bishyelas who have read the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, repeat the lines that Lakṣmaṇa had said. They use exactly the same argument. So, but now that we accepted the curses, that's what we are leading to. That's a curse, him. He said, "You are a rod for your own row. You are not obtaining spirituality. You are breaking up families." And he accused himself. And he said, "And then that's a curse, him. You will not be able to stay in any one place for a long time." Actually, long time he is— actually, Nārada Muni has been permitted by Daksha to only stay at any one place for 15 minutes. Nārada Muni only has visa to stay in any location for 15 minutes and not more. He can't stay a second more than 15 minutes. So Nārada Muni was told, "You will not be able. You have broken my family." You will not be able to stay in any one place for long time. But Nādhāmuni accepted this curse as the will of the Lord. See, it is being said over here that the devotee curses someone for the benefit, for his benefit, just like Nādhāmuni cursed the two sons of Kuraḥ. But also many times the devotee gets cursed, isn't it? The devotee curses and he also gets cursed. Now in this situation, we are giving the example, so now the muni got cured. Now the muni got cured by Daksha. But he accepted that as a bit of an award. So now the muni now tries to finish his business in 15 minutes. In 15 minutes he converts the most sinful of people to the belief of the Lord. Just like once, now the muni went to a forest. Where is there all our contact? Who was half-killing animals, and then he would let the animal slap, slap, slap, and then painfully die. So Nārada Muni saw this, and he saw all these half-dead animals in the forest. He said, "Who is responsible for this sinful act?" And the hunter came forward and said, "Ai!" Nārada Muni told him, "This is so sinful. Not only are you killing these animals, but the way you are torturing them and killing them." Anyway, by Nārada Muni's association, the hunter came to the realization that this is indeed a very sinful activity. Then the hunter said, "But this is my family profession." "If I give up this profession, how will I live?" Now the muni said, "Do not worry, depend on the Lord." So the whole word spread around everywhere that the great criminal, hunter, has now become a saint. So everybody would come to see him. You know, if you read about a big gangster becoming a saint, naturally you want to go and see that person. So everyone was lining up to come and have his darshan. The great hunter was become a saint. And in India it's a tradition that when you go to a saintly person, you don't go empty-handed, you take something with you. So everybody was bringing something to see him. And this hunter got so rectified that he would not even place his feet on the ground till he made sure that there was no ant and no entity on the ground. So, Devotee may get cursed, but he doesn't get affected by the curse because he has full faith that my Lord will protect me. Rākhe Kṛṣṇa māni ke, māni Kṛṣṇa rākhe ke. Just like here is the example of another great stalwart devotee, King Parāśurāma. He was killed by this boy called Śrīngī. You should note that. He was cursed by this boy called Śrīngī. Śrīngī was the son of a brahmana. And Manabhu Parekh was a rāja-vrīṣī. Not just a rāja, but a rāja-vrīṣī. What is a rāja-vrīṣī? Rāja-vrīṣī means one who is rāja and vrīṣī. What does a vrīṣī mean? A saint. So he was a king and a saint. So when he was in the forest, he felt thirsty. He walked into the hermit of a yogi, of a saint, of a brahmin saint who was in meditation. But he wasn't received properly. He wasn't even offered some water. Even if an enemy comes to your house, you should receive him very warmly. That is the verdict of the Bhāgavata, Fifth Canto. Even if your enemy comes to your house, you must receive him with prasād, sweet curds and a plate of bread. That is basic etiquette. But here was a king who came and he wasn't even offered water or a plate of bread. So he got angry. He found a dead snake outside, offered it as a garland and left in anger. The son saw what had happened to his father. He said, "You did this to my father? Who do you think you are?" will die in 7 days. Now, if King Parikṣit wanted, he could easily have counteracted this curse. Very easy. First, I will explain for him. Who knows the meaning of the word Parikṣit? Parikṣit means examiner. The word Parikṣit means examiner. So this King Parīśadra, when he was in the womb of his mother Utkara, he was attacked by a brahmāstra weapon, very deadly weapon. This brahmāstra weapon, you don't need a missile launcher to launch it, or launching pad, or Cape Kennedy. You can just launch it by chanting a mantra and it hits its specific target. So when a brahmāstra came and Parīśadra was in the womb, in the womb of His mother. Then His mother prayed, "My dear Lord, I may die, but please save the child in my embryo." And Kṛṣṇa, who was in the heart as Paramātmā, just extended Himself and He protected the embryos from the Yamātra weapon. So just for a flash of a second, just like sometimes You see lightning in the sky. You see it for a fraction of a second, isn't it? And then the lightning goes away. So just for a flash of a second, Praṣadra was in the womb of his mother, saw the immortality God has, because He came to protect Praṣadra from the brahmāstra of Advaita. So after the Lord had withdrawn, the Lord came to protect Praṣadra and He went away. So when Praśad came out of the mother's womb, every man that he saw, every woman that he saw, he would look at their face and see, "Does this person look like what I saw in my mother's womb?" You understand? Are you following what I am saying? So everyone that Praśad would see, he would try and compare it to that form of the Lord that he saw in his heart. To see if Kṛṣṇa is there. So that is why Praśad means examiner. Everyone that he saw, he was examining. "Doesn't that look like Kṛṣṇa? Is this Kṛṣṇa?" He was fully absorbed in love of God. Say, Praśad wanted, he could easily have counteracted, but he did not counteract like that. He said, "If this is the will of the Lord, then I will serve." If it is the will of the Lord that I depart from this planet, then let me accept this curse with whom He has decayed willingly. And he took this curse as an opportunity to retire from worldly affairs, and he prepared for his departure in a very glorious manner. So the curse of a devotee or the curse upon a devotee, abhoda sakṣetraḥ devotee. And do the action. So a devotee is always merciful. Now this doesn't mean after hearing this talk we get into the habit of, "I curse you, you curse me." Prabhu, you're not going to do this service for me, I'm going to curse you. He says, "No, no, no, curse me." And then another devotee says, "Okay, curse me. I curse you, you curse me." No, we should get stuff like playing this game of cursing and being cursed. This is cursing only when it is of people of the magnitude of the Mūḍī. You have to get to that stage. You have to get to that stage and have that vision. Then you can get into cursing and counter-cursing, but not in this present position. But the point is that the devotee is a well-wisher of everyone. He's all merciful and the well-wisher of everyone. This is why a devotee is, a Vaishnava is parā-duḥkhandukī. Parā-duḥkhandukī. When he sees that somebody else is in distress, he also becomes distressed. When he sees that somebody else is trying to make material endeavors to have so-called sense enjoyment, the devotee body also becomes very concerned about it. That is, "Abhaya right now is almost—" So by close association. After all, how did the sons of Kuberla get saved? They got saved how? You know. By the association of Nārada-Muni. Therefore the Vedic scriptures say, Lava Mata. You know what is Lava Mata? Lava Mata is 1/14th of 1 second. 1/11th. Yeah, sorry, 1/11th. 1/11th of 1 second. Most watches can't even Time-lapse, 1/11th of 1 second. So even if you have devotees for teaching, for 1/11th of 1 second your whole life can change. We saw that in the life and teachings of Śrīla Prabhupāda. Śrīla Prabhupāda was traveling around the world meeting people just for 1 or 2 minutes and their lives changed. Once Prabhupāda was in Australia and his plane got delayed. So there was a very big businessman from Fiji waiting at the airport, of Indian origin. So when he saw Prabhupāda waiting in the airport, the big businessman came to offer his respects and started talking to Prabhupāda. Prabhupāda's men inspired him to become a devotee. This man went back, gave up his business, became full-time devotee, started the ISKCON movement in Fiji and helped many people. So, strong example. Jasmina and Arunachala. Kālpa was able to empower them, give up their nonsense, and come to spiritual life. So, saintly association is something to be cherished, not feared or avoided. Many times we teach, there is a class for the devotees, as you know, There are some classes of devotees, when they get the opportunity for saintly association, they jump at it. Just like the peacock. The peacock, when it sees the clouds for the first time in the rainy season, then the peacock jumps in ecstasy. He jumps in ecstasy when the clouds come up for the first time. That's the law of nature. So similarly, there are some categories of devotees, when they have the opportunity to associate with saintly people, they are very happy, joyful, why? Because they know they are going to hear philosophy by which they can destroy māyā and become more Kṛṣṇa conscious. But then there are another class of devotees who are scared of associating with saintly people. All right. They are scared because they think that they may have to hear too much philosophy. Have to give up māyā, and we don't want to give up māyā so fast. So let us stay friendly, avoid disassociation. So those who are serious about spiritual life, they take advantage of association and they make further advancement. So personal association, if we get this personal association, we are very fortunate. So Nārada Muni explains in the Fourth Canto in Bhāgavatam, How one can possibly obtain three different types of association? Associating with those who are more advanced, associating with those who are equally advanced, associating with those who are less advanced. You understand? So Prānadamuni says, when you have the opportunity to associate with those who are more advanced, a devotee becomes joyful. Like the peacocks when they see the clouds for the first time. When you have the opportunity to associate with those who are equally advanced, you become happy. Why? You don't resent others. And when you have the opportunity of associating with those who are less advanced, you manifest compassion. Compassion means you feel concerned about them and you want to give them Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So when we see people who are more neophytes or conditioned to sense enjoyments, we must become compassionate and we must endeavor to give them Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Sometimes devotees say, "But I don't feel the compassion from my heart." You understand my point? Those devotees who are honest, many times they have asked me, "But how do we preach? I don't feel the spirit of compassion in my heart." I don't feel that those people are suffering. I don't care whether they go to hell or heaven as long as I am comfortable. In the neophyte stage, that mentality is there. So how do you display compassion when internally you don't feel that compassion? You understand? Just like you tell the devotees, "Go and preach, go and do book distribution." Now many times the devotees don't really understand, they are not fully convinced about the glory of the book distribution. Distribution. And they may have so many reasons why they feel they should not go out and conduct distribution. So how do we go out and display compassion when internally that realization is not there? So Prabhupāda explains this point by saying that by following the instruction and having faith in the words of guru, tadhu, and śāstra, and carrying out that order, you, that compassionate mind will begin to develop. Just like a new point of view. He knows that I am fool number one. He knows I do not know what's right, what's wrong. But he knows that I know what my spiritual master is saying and what Kṛṣṇa wants. So he has faith in what his spiritual master is saying. He has faith what the saintly people are saying. So he says, "I am pushed by my spiritual master and my ācāryas." Prasad, that I must go and preach, and I must go and do book distribution, I must go and hire out, I must tell people that I glorify the Holy Name. The church is to just execute that command without asking too many questions and saying ifs and buts, perhaps, probably, etc. He just sincerely carry out the command. Then just by carrying out the command regularly with faith and humility, Conviction, you'll make advancement. And the nature of advancement will be that compassion and the other Kṛṣṇa qualities will begin to develop. So we may not have it. Just like we have no strong love for Kṛṣṇa, we don't have rādhā-nuga-bhakti, we don't have spontaneous love, isn't it? But therefore Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda says, follow vaidhī-bhakti. What is vaidhī-bhakti? Rules and regulations. Count the mangalājī, count the class, count the this, count the that. And if you do this and this, Rūpa Gosvāmī says, then you will have rādhunaga-bhakti, or spontaneous love. So if you don't go by any bhakti, then you will not get to the stage of rādhunaga-bhakti. So similarly, for us to develop the spirit of compassion, that is an essential ingredient in the life of a Vaiṣṇava. We have to have faith in the words of guru, Prabhupāda, and the predecessors, Ācāryas. Carry out that command, and by carrying out that command, you will make spiritual advancement and develop the necessary qualities by which you will further be able to display compassion. I see this all over the world. Even in Russia, I see new bhaktas that join. But they hear every day, they read Prabhupāda's letters, book distribution, book distribution. They go out with faith and they distribute so many books. Just faith. In few months you are not going to get Kṛṣṇa's name on mace. But they have faith. "Prasāda is guru, Prasāda is right. Go out in faith." So they go out and do it. And just by doing it regularly, systematically, as per the plan given, they begin to make advancement and they get more experience. Has to be processed. So we do not initially have these qualities, but it's our faith and loyalty to the instructions that we get that help us develop these transcendental qualities, like the qualities of compassion, mercy. So in spiritual association, this is what you get. How do you make spiritual advancement? To be the guru Our morning when we get together with each other, our constant talk should be Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa. Our visit constantly asking from each other, "How are we progressing on the journey back to Godhead?" Just like King Daśaratha, the father of Lord Rāma, anybody who would come into his palace, he would ask. These days when you meet someone, what do you say? "How are you?" "Very well, thank you." Standard conversation all over the world. It doesn't matter whether you speak Russian, English, Hindi, Chinese, or Telugu. But King Bhakta would say, "What is the progress of the journey back to Godhead?" So that's what we should be asking every morning when we get up. What is my progress on the journey back to Godhead going to be? And when you go to sleep, you should be asking, what are the activities I did today which will help me realize my journey back Journey to Godhead? back to Godhead. That is the meditation of the devotee, asking, what am I doing by which I can achieve eventually Krishna's favor? And in the night, make another analysis. What have you really done to help realize my goal? Just like a businessman, his goal is to make profit. So every day he thinks, I'll call on this salesman, this person, get orders. In the night, he then evaluates, what have I done better to make a profit, isn't it? So similarly, our goal is spiritual profit. So in the end of it, we should evaluate, what have we done to help make spiritual profit, achieve the goal of life? So to summarize the verse, the Lord is pointing out, naaḍa-māni, when He is very merciful, and the devotees of the Lord are very merciful because they are only interested in becoming in making others Kṛṣṇa conscious, and beyond that they have no other purpose, no other vision, no other desire. So following in the footsteps of the great sages, we should also intensify our desire to display mercy, to distribute these books, to give people this transcendental knowledge. And by having faith in Guru Sandhu Śrīla Prasāda and by taking We follow the path of purity, this faith, this desire will develop and we'll also become more determined to display compassion. Just like Nārādhana Muni is always interested in displaying compassion. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Any comments from us? Very right. I mentioned that point briefly, that Daksha realized that he can't be a Kriyāsta, otherwise he would be Kriyāmīri. Yes, very wonderful. Yes. How do you know the way is altered in the world? That's the one. I mean, that's the one, like, hard condition for 20th century. Okay. The Brahmanas are more powerful. Yeah. Just like King Vena got cursed. King Vena was a demonic king. The brahmanas did not have to get him assassinated. They just chanted certain mantras and he died. These days it's easier to assassinate, but the brahmanas just chanted some mantras and King Vena died. He says, "We don't curse, we just display compassion." Just like, I'll give you an example. Just like when Jagai-Madhai attacked Lord Nityānanda. Huh? You know that story, no? Anyway, good luck. Jagai-Madhai attacked Lord Nityānanda, so he was bleeding. So Lord Caitanya came with the Subhasrāma chakra. "Where is you? Kill these two drunken brothers." Lord Nityānanda said, "No, you can't, please." At this age, you don't use the weapon. You see, you don't use the weapon. And then by saying, "Lord Nityānanda," small man's humility. Jagāi and Magāi were drunken brothers. They were completely drunken. Actually, they were born in Brahminical families, but then they fell in bad association. Just like you see in India today, Brahmins are— anyway, so they were drunkards and they were very notorious characters. So Lord Nityānanda was told by Lord Caitanya, "Go and preach in every town and village." So Lord Nityānanda went on preaching, and you know who his preaching partner was? He was a bailad baka. Can you imagine this scene? Nityānanda and Haridas going house to house preaching. Oh, I can't even imagine how powerful this team must have been. So Nityānanda and Haridas are going on preaching together to every town and village. So they said, "We have to make Lord Caitanya more glorious." They said, "We want to make Lord Caitanya more glorious, we should select the most sinful man as our target first." You know, Why did Jagai Ma— why did Mrinanda and Haridas go after Jagai Madhai? There's a reason. Victorious charges in the city. So they felt that if they are able to kill Jagai Maḍhai, then Lord Caitanya— because at that time Lord Caitanya was just launching His sankirtan movement, you understand? And Lord Caitanya had just given this command to everyone, go and preach. So they wanted to convince this Moses to glorious characters of Lord Caitanya's message. And then they felt it would be easier for the others to take. So that's how they were going every day to Jidhai Matha. So Lord Jagannatha stopped Lord Caitanya from using His Sudarśana Chakra, and the Rāyamabāi spoke, "Here we are. We've taken blood out of this man." And he is still begging us, please chant, please. He is telling them, he said, I don't mind if blood comes from my forehead, but you please chant. And then Jagai and Madhai heard it. Then Jagai began to chant, Ārya, Ārya. And slowly, slowly then they became great devotees and they got initiated by Lord Caitanya. And the names were Jagannātha and Mādhava. So he has to practice that tolerance which Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu practiced. Then his preaching will be successful. I think Prasada Raval said that he was cursed also by the parents. Yes. Prabhupāda said that, you know, the parents, they always curse Prabhupāda. But Prabhupāda was so powerful, like Nazarani, even the That is how the mercy flows from parampara. Just like you may be a brand new bhakta, okay, you just come on to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. That Hare Kṛṣṇa today is as powerful as it was 5,000 years ago. We say in Kali-yuga everything declines, isn't it? But one thing doesn't decline, and that is the potency of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. See, potency of— actually they have— the value of money declines. Your $1 today is not worth the same it was 10 years ago, isn't it? Everything declines. But one thing doesn't decline with the passage of time, and that is the potency of the Holy Name. The Holy Name today is as powerful as it was 500 years ago. Is as powerful as it was in Satya Yuga. You understand? The Holy Name hasn't gone down 0.1% in value or potency. So even if a new bhakta goes on the streets and tells a man, "Please chant Hare Kṛṣṇa," because he's delivered the perfect product intact, people will benefit. You have your hands up for me? See the extraordinary mercy upon devotees. They offended him, but still they got spared. I remember an incident In Canada, this was in Montreal in 1968, June. We had gone to a high school engagement in a Christian school. At that time, Prabhupāda stayed in Montreal for 3 months. Prabhupāda was thinking of making Montreal the world headquarters at that time. So we had gone to a Christian school engagement, and so Prabhupāda finished some lecture, you know. So after Prabhupāda finished some lecture, he would always Prabhupāda will say, "Any questions?" "Ah." So, one Bengali man in the audience, he's not a relative of ours, just saying for his sake, his name was Mr. Mukherjee. So he used to come to the temple every day, almost every day, okay, and talk to Prabhupāda. But that day he decided to insult Prabhupāda. He started criticizing Prabhupāda in public. He said, "Why are you coming and preaching this message to the Christian countries?" It was the program was in a Christian school, and in the audience there were students and Christian nuns and priests, you know. So he started saying, "Why are you coming and preaching this Vedic dharma in these Christian countries? Let them chant the names of Jesus Christ. Why do you want them to chant the names of Hare Krishna?" You know, he started insulting Prasada very badly. So devotees were very angry, but Prabhupāda was completely cool and undisturbed. So anyway, this incident took place in June or July of 1968. So then in August, when Prabhupāda was preparing to leave Montreal, he called me and said, "Gopal, go and call Mukherjee." So I said, "Prabhupāda, I don't want to see him." He insulted you so badly, you know, why do you want to call? Prabhupāda was so humble. He said, "I must have done something to him in my last life for which he took revenge. So he insisted that I call him." So then I went to his house and called him. So Prabhupāda saw that Mukherjee, before he left Montreal, and he kept his hand on his head and blessed him before he left. So you may say, "Dear Prabhupada was insulted in public." Huh? So a great sage, he cannot even bother. He doesn't get offended. Kṛṣṇa may get offended, but he doesn't. That's why in Amṛṣmarāṣa, Dvāsa, when he insulted him, Kṛṣṇa did not tolerate it, but Amṛṣmarāṣa, he forgave him in one second. So we saw. But this doesn't mean that we misuse the compassionate nature of those great saints and say, "Okay, I'm going to insult you now. You better be merciful upon me, okay?" Then that will be the seventh offense, committing sins on the strength of Shankara. You understand? So we have to be careful. But if someone does, offend the Right Now. The Right Now is— that is how we test our tolerance. A devotee must practice tolerance at two levels: internal and external. Internal tolerance for a devotee is tolerating the disturbance in the mind and the senses. The mind and the senses are always calling, let's go to the bars, let's go for sensual enjoyment. But that you should tolerate. Then there is external intolerant. It may be very hot, it may be very cold, but you still have to do your duty and go and preach. You may be insulted, you may be honored. Someone may say, "Come on, you are fool number one." You just say, "Yes, I am fool number one. Please bless me so I can become wiser." Rather than telling him, "I am fool number one. You are a greater fool than I am." He does not get what you are saying. He does not get pleased by it. So being humble and tolerant, eventually you We have to be a victor and not a loser. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhāgavad-gītā, "One who does good, my friend, is never overcome by evil." So we have to practice all this internally and externally. Then you will make Kṛṣṇa glad. That's what the tikkṣuḥā appears again and again in the scriptures. The tikkṣuḥā means all that. Okay? Okay, so thank you very much. I am very grateful. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna.