In this devotional lecture Gopal Krishna Goswāmī addresses a gathering of devotees in Moscow, using the story of the young prince Dhruva Maharāja to illustrate the power of sincere austerity and the personal nature of the Supreme Lord. He explains that Dhruva’s success came from disciplined austerities approved by Narada Muni, the chanting of the mantra Om Namah Bhagavate Vasudevāya, and constant meditation on a mud‑water form of Krishna. The speaker then expounds on the six opulences (wealth, strength, beauty, fame, knowledge, renown) that the Lord possesses in unlimited degree, emphasizing that the Supreme Personality is a personal deity, the original person, and the cause of all causes. He contrasts material heroes, who are transient, with spiritual heroes who remain eternally revered. The lecture stresses the need to cleanse material contamination through devotional practices such as morning mangala‑āraṭi, daily chanting, observance of regulative principles, and service. A major focus is the ongoing book‑distribution marathon in the CIS, presented as a vital act of compassion and a means to gain the mercy of Srīla Prabhupāda and the spiritual master. Devotees are urged not to heed the material mind’s excuses, to act promptly, and to view preaching and book distribution as essential for spiritual advancement. The talk concludes with a call to meditate on the Lord’s transcendental qualities and to participate actively in the marathon.
Chapters
Sadhwetam savadho tam parijana saitam Krishna chetanya devam. Shreelalaha Krishna padam sahaganam lalitam. Shri Vishwakanvitamsha. E Krishna karunasyendho dina bandhu jagapades. Yad budhīvāsti tamakāṇṇitāya samveṣtya deṣṭāsti tavo 'di makovya deviḥ kāśe. So we are seeing in this chapter very wonderful prayers in glorification of the Supreme Lord that are being offered by a young boy, the famous Dhruva Mārāja. We have so many heroes in spiritual life, in material life. People have pop stars, sportsmen, and politicians as their heroes. And these heroes are worshipped for some time, and then they get dethroned. Then they get replaced by new heroes. But our spiritual heroes, they never get replaced. Just like you've been hearing about Guru Maharaj, Prahlad Maharaj, and so many others. They consult the devotees, finish tying their memorial. What you're reading in the Bhāgavatam is not something recent. These are all ancient stories. So Dhruva Maharaj was able to attract the personality of Godhead. How did he achieve that? By performing austerities. Did he perform austerities on some whimsical plan? His plan of austerity was approved and directed by the great Narada Muni. He chanted the mantra Om Namah Bhagavate Vasudevaya. He made a form of the Lord made of mud and water. And he constantly meditated on that form of the Lord. And he practiced extreme austerity. We do not suggest that you imitate Dhruva Maharaja's austerity plan, but the mood of austerity or the importance of austerity cannot be compromised when you want to practice spiritual life. So even though he was a young boy, he was able to please the Lord. He was offering prayers. He was advised austerity. He was able to please the Lord, and the Lord personally appeared before him. So in this verse, many important points are made with reference to the transcendental personality of Godhead. When you read the Bhāgavatam, you can understand how the Lord is always a person and He has unlimited transcendental attributes or qualities. And the devotees, they relish meditating on these transcendental pastimes. Just like last night we were discussing Lord Caitanya's conversation with Rāmānanda Rāya, and one of the questions that Lord Caitanya asked was, 'O Śrīvānanda, constantly remember.' And what did Rāmānanda Rāya say? 'Meditate on the transcendental names of the Lord, His qualities, pastimes.' So as opposed to material contemplation, a devotee endeavors towards spiritual contemplation. So the first point that Dhruva Maharaj is making here is that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is a witness to all stages, to all activities. So we must understand the Lord is a witness to all our activities. He knows everything about past, present, and future. In the Bhagavad-gītā, when Arjuna heard that the Lord had imparted this knowledge to the sun god, Viśvāsva, Arjuna said, "How am I to believe?" Did he impart it to Vivasvan when he sinned unto you by birth? Lord replied by saying, many, many times for you and I have appeared, but I can remember all my previous appearances, but you can't. Prabhupada explains, he used to give us a story. He said when he was in college, once Prabhupada studied in a Scottish college in Calcutta. So one professor asked him, you people believe in reincarnation. But who is witnessing all the activities that we perform? That witnessing personality is the Supreme Lord. Then Dhruva Maharaj says, "You are eternally liberated." There's no question of the Supreme Lord ever getting affected or being bonded by anything. God is always liberated. There's no question of God getting liberated through adopting a certain process. Krishna says in the Gītā, janma-karma-cāmya-devyām. My coming and going are both transcendental. Devyām. And He always exists as the Super Soul. The Lord is so kind that everyone takes on a lower form of birth, lowest species of life. The Lord still accompanies the individual as the Super Soul. Putrāstā adi-puruṣo bhāgavāṁ sī adi-shāda. Adi-puruṣo. Adi-puruṣo means you are the original person. Sri Guru Mahārāja is making the same point. He says, "You are God, Bhagavān. You are the original person." Every morning we read the Deen accompanied by the Govindam prayers from the Brahma Samhita. And in this prayer, Lord Brahmā acknowledges, "Govinda, you are the original person." So we should never forget this point that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the original person, and he is a person, he has a form. The impersonal aspect of God is subordinate to the recognition of the Lord's personal features. Further, Dhruva Maharaj says that you are the possessor of 6 opulences. Bhagavan, in this verse, the word used is Bhagavan. Bhagavan means the Lord who is in possession of 6 opulences. But he is in possession of 6 opulences to an unlimited degree, all at the same time. What are the 6 opulences? Eśvarasya samagrasya, vīryatāya śarṣraya, jñāna-virāgyā-vaścayavāsannabhāgā-kṛṣṇa. These have been explained by the father of Vyāsadeva, Praśamuni, as follows. He is the wealthiest, he is the strongest, the most beautiful, the most famous, The most knowledgeable, the most renowned. So someone may say that in the material world you also have beautiful people. You have these competitions by which they determine Miss World, Mr. World. They first select the most beautiful lady or man in one country, then you compete through the other countries, and ultimately on some crazy yardstick which only they know, they determine, "Okay, this person is Miss World and he is Mr. World." Of course, even if this Mr. or Miss World is there, so many Miss Worlds have come and gone, and they may be attractive today, but they don't have to be attractive tomorrow. And certainly, even if one is Miss World, she may not necessarily be the richest person or the strongest person or the most beautiful person or the most famous person. And even if somebody is strong, nobody can be as strong as Kṛṣṇa was. If you want an idea of Kṛṣṇa's opulence, Read the Krishna book, Krishna's Palace in Dwarka. 6th, Krishna possesses the 6 opulences to 9th degree, all at the same time. So we are not accepting a personality as God who may be cheating us, but we are accepting the genuine personality as God. Then Rūmānvarāṣṭha says, you are always different from the ordinary living entities, and as Lord Viṣṇū ṛvamaraṇa establishes that you are the maintainer of everything. So, we must understand that the Lord is the cause of all causes, sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇa. And it is that single living entity who is maintaining all other living entities. Netiyo neti naṁ citta-nās cittanānaṁ eko-brahmanām vidāti-kāmaṁ. Living entity is netiyo. The Lord is nature, but the difference is that single living entity is maintaining all other individuals. Sri Radheśvara, he's the master of the three modes of material nature. So the point is that unlimited qualities of the Lord that we read about in the Bhāgavatam, and we see one pattern, that is the devotees are always glorifying the Lord. In 8th canto, you read how an elephant, an elephant, he was saved from a very difficult condition, Gajendra. And then he also began to offer very wonderful offerings to the Lord. So why is it that we see these exalted devotees, always anxiously enthusiastic, enthusiastic God with the Lord, and we don't have that same attitude? When you read about These transcendental qualities, you once again get reminded, "Yes, how great my Lord is, how wonderful He is." So the reason we are not attracted is due to our material contamination. Because of the ignorance of the heart, with the heart as we explained before, that is like the coal, we are not so attracted towards transcendental things, but we are attracted towards material things. Like we would love to get involved in prasād rāvalpā, To get involved in Krishna-katha is not so natural. Maybe in Moscow it's different. Maybe over here everyone has a natural attraction to Krishna-katha. So that is usually our material contamination, and the way to eradicate this material contamination is through this process of devotional service. Another point that Rūpa Gosvāmī makes is the contamination of the material world does not in any way affect the Lord, and the Lord also stands aloof. So Dhruva Maharaj, as we said earlier, should be one of our heroes. We must cultivate the mood of constantly glorifying the Lord. We must cultivate the importance of performing austerities. Austerity for the pleasure of the Lord results in unending satisfaction. Do not for a moment think that in the materialist or in material life there is no austerity. In mature life, the austerities are painful. Doesn't matter where you go, which part of the world you go, mature life one has to undergo so many austerities even to maintain your body, even to maintain yourself. Lord Rishabh Devi was explaining to his sons about the importance of human life, and he said, tapo devyam purzaka yeena satvam shravyeena smargam yaso kyumanantam. That, my dear sons, when you perform austerities, dhīnyam, for the pleasure of the Lord, then in exchange for that there is a realization of unending happiness. So in spiritual life we should not be scared of austerity. One type of austerity that we have to practice in spiritual life is getting up in the morning for mangalaarati, performing sādhna bhakti. Another austerity is you must chant your rounds every day. Another austerity is following the regulative principles. The senses Senses are always agitating, but if the senses are engaged positively, then they're not dangerous. Just like when the poisonous teeth of a snake are removed, then even if the snake bites you, there is no risk. So we have to remove the poison from these senses. That means we have to take out the desires of sensual, sensual, and that can only be done if you have a positive alternative or a higher alternative. Then another austerity is that you have to do the service, that you have to do a service that you may not always like. But if you do that service, especially if it's very important, then you make spiritual advancement. Just like these days, the devotees in the CIS, at least in Russia, are engaged in this Prabhupāda, in this book distribution marathon. So some devotees enthusiastically participate in these programs, the book distribution effort. But some are scared. Is that right? Maybe no one's scared. Some get scared. They think, "Oh, I can't distribute books. It's too difficult to approach someone. I'm very shy. People are in a bad mood and the economy is bad. They're not really spending any money. They won't buy books. If I go out, I won't get a big score and people will just laugh at me." So they serve the illusionary energy. Inspires us. Motivates us. There are so many reasons by which we stay away from a very important service. So what is the solution? Should you listen to your material mind? How many of you think we should listen to the material mind and just do what the mind says? So practice what he just said. Don't listen to your material mind. All of you just said you shouldn't listen to your material mind. So don't listen to the weaknesses of the material mind or the arguments the material mind is giving. And spiritual, when you come to spiritual life, you will hear one thing: the material mind has been cheating you since time immemorial. So ignore the material mind. And who do you listen to? The spiritual purified mind of Vyāsa Deva. That is reflected in the verses of the Bible, Talmud, Bhagavad Gītā, etc., and which has been explained by great acharyas in their purports. So this activity of preaching This activity of book distribution is an activity by which we display our compassion towards those who are unfortunate. It is the desire of the Lord to bring all the conditioned souls back. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, you read how Lord Caitanya was in anxiety. So he asked Harīdaṣa, "How will all these yāvanas be saved?" So what did Harīdaṣa say? "Do not worry, my Lord. By effortlessly chanting the holy names, they will get saved." How do people know what they should do, what they should avoid? Some may say, "Oh, Krishna should appear in a dream and tell them." No, Krishna won't appear in a dream once you get purified. Krishna relies on his devotees to do the work, preach on his behalf. That is why if you read the scriptures, you see from the very beginning, this activity of preaching on behalf of the Lord is appreciated and encouraged. When will the Bhagavad Gita spoken? 5,000 years ago, yes, the last time, but actually was spoken to the sādhana-dāsa, the last one. And what does Kṛṣṇa say in the 18th chapter? Who is my dear devotee? Ah, one who preaches my glories. So you want to become dear to the greatest personality? Then endeavor to preach. What did Prabhupāda say? Same thing, preach. Prabhupāda said preaching is the essence. But if you just preach, tell them Kṛṣṇa is supreme, give up sense enjoyment, People may listen, but they'll forget it. Especially in these days in Kali-yuga, our memory is very weak. Many times you meet devotees who say, "Oh, I read everything, but tomorrow I forget it so fast. What should I do?" So what's the solution? Read and re-read. Read regularly. Get into the habit of reading. Then what you read, by repetitive reading, will register in your heart. You'll absorb it. So Prabhupāda said, he would just talk to someone about Krishna consciousness. You forget it. But if you give them a book, then you keep the book, read it, re-read it, get others to read it. Therefore Prabhupada emphasized this activity of book distribution. And the purpose of these book distribution marathons is to inspire all devotees, whether they are full-time temple devotees, congregational devotees, etc., to take advantage of the mood of the marathon. And to get into the spirit of book distribution. Maratha means when you reduce your eating and sleeping. So these marathas are a wonderful opportunity for all devotees, even those who don't normally do full-time book distribution, to engage in some type of book distribution so they can get the mercy of Śrīla Prabhupāda, the great acaryas, and the guru. It's a wonderful opportunity to make spiritual advancement. It's a wonderful opportunity to show the spiritual master and Prabhupada and the ācāryas. Yes, we care for what you have told us. So please take part in this book distribution marathon. There's only a week left now. So some of you may say, okay, maybe I'll take part in the next marathon. Now this one's almost over. Can anyone guarantee how long one is going to live? Is there reliable astrologers that have told you how long you're going to live? If you have one, then let me know. So don't wait for the opportunity. Don't postpone A good thing should not be postponed. Just like in material life, if you get an opportunity to make a good business deal, you don't say, okay, I'll use it 6 months later. When you are in pain, you want your pain to be relieved immediately. You don't want it to be relieved gradually or 6 months later. So the materialists are also afraid. And we display our compassion by endeavoring to preach. And when we give people Krishna consciousness, Krishna also gives them told to us. And Krishna says, whatever shortcoming you may have, I'll make it up. So everyone can take part in this book distribution program, and we should never worry about what the material factors are. Sometimes devotees have a habit of arguing, oh, people don't have money these days, this place is bad, and so on. Krishna is pleased by our effort. So make the effort and advance spiritually. Wonderful opportunity to get the mercy of the Guru Prabhupada and Krishna. So to summarize the verse, Dvāmarāja is explaining the various transcendental qualities of the Supreme Lord, and we should endeavor to constantly meditate on the transcendental qualities of the Lord. The whole purpose of this Krishna conscious movement is to emphasize the importance of cleansing the heart, cleansing the mind, senses, of purifying ourselves. And by taking the diet and the medicine, that will happen. Medicine is chanting and hearing. Diet is the service. So we need both to cleanse the heart. So please take advantage of the wonderful philosophy and instruction that Prabhupada has given us and be spiritually happy. Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. Kriksna, kriksna, hale hale. Halle lama hale. Lama lama hale hale.
