The importance of reading KRSNA book | SB 10.26.15 | 7 July 2022 | Juhu | Śrīla Gopāl Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī

Evaradhāri. Jambati, manajan. Gopi Janavaalabha, Nivaraaza. Jai Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Chetanya Prabhu Nityānanda.

Śrī Advaita Vedānta.

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna. Krishna, Krishna, hale hale, hale rama hale rama, rama rama hale hale. Hale Krishna, Hale Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hale Hale, Hale Rama, Hale Rama, Rama Rama, Hale Hale. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama. Lama Lama le hale. Krishna, Krishna, halle, halle, halle, lama, lama, lama, lama, halle, halle. Hale Krishna, hale Krishna, Krishna Krishna, hale hale, hale lama, hale lama, nama lama, hale hale. Hale Krishna, Hale Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hale, Hale Rama, Hale Rama, Rama Rama, Hale, Hale. Hale Krishna, Hale Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hale, Hale, Hale Lama, Hale Lama, Lama Lama, Hale, Hale. Hale Krishna, Hale Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hale Hale, Hale Rama, Hale Rama, Rama Rama, Hale Hale.

Hare Krishna!

Hare Krishna! Kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa halle hallé! Halle rāma! Halle rāma! Rāma rāma halle hallé!

Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna!

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Aiba! Aiba! Aiba!

Aiba!

Aiba! Aiba!

English. So we're going to do, what is this, 14 and 15. Is that okay? I'll speak louder. We're doing text 14, text 15, and then small purpose, we'll do that. Okay.

Yeah. Translation: On the one hand, this boy is only 7 years old, and on other— on the other, we see that he has lifted the Govardhan Hill. Therefore, O King of Vrindavan, without upon your son arises within us. Let's repeat. Sri Nanda Wachas.

Sri Nanda Wachas.

Surya Nam Me Vachoko Pa. Surya Nam Me Vachoko Pa. Bittu Shankar Chapa Ho Karmake. Bittu Shankar Chapa Ho Karmake. Eeyam Kumaram Vishyam.

Eeyam Kumaram Vishyam.

Translation of the quote: Nanda Maharaj would cry, "O cowherd men, just hear my words and let all your doubts concerning my son be gone." Some time ago, Dharma Mani spoke to me as follows about this boy. Sri Raswami comments, the words previously heard from Darda Charya awakened Nanda Maharaja to the truth about Kṛṣṇa, and thus by Nanda's constantly remembering His activities, all thoughts about there being impossible ceased in him. Now he is instructing the learned men with these same words. Please repeat the translation. Nanda Maharaja pralaya O Power Man, just hear my words and let all your doubts concerning my son be gone. Sometime ago, the Almighty spoke to me as follows about this boy.

Omegya Shivaji.

Śrīya Advaita Gṛhāda. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Everyone is enjoying the constant rain. Thank you. First time. So this chapter is called Wonderful Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is wonderful, isn't He? This chapter is called Wonderful Kṛṣṇa. Why? Because it's summarizing the inconsiderable pastimes that were executed by Kṛṣṇa. Janma-karma-jāma-devyam.— my appearance and disappearance are both vivyam. What does vivyam mean? Beyond the material modes. Appearance and disappearance, both completely transcendental. Transcendental means you can't really understand the law with the material senses. So how can you understand the law? I believe in the scriptures. I'm okay. So that's why I— I had experienced previously. I had gone to the astrologer, Pāramani, to make a horoscope. To his sons. And I remember what did he say? He used to avoid the exception. And he says, "Aṛṣṇa is like that. You are limited the most." So from the very beginning we see the non-performing, superimposed activities. For example, when the Lord appeared, He appeared in His transcendental form. He appeared in His transcendental form because He wanted to show His parents, "So now I have appeared. Do not worry. I have appeared. I have been requested to transform to Your ancient form." He did that. So Kṛṣṇa only appears, He appears in us as a support. So the way we— so many people claim Him to be Avatar. Avatar means one who descends from the spiritual world. So Kṛṣṇa from the beginning performed supreme benedictory. So these modern-day Avatars call Kṛṣṇa, he is duplicate. One of the various leaders that Kṛṣṇa performed. What is the answer they give? They say, "He has done so far, it doesn't mean he won't do it tomorrow." So that proposition falls. Poor Śrīla Ācārya. So Kṛṣṇa from the beginning performed superhuman activity. He killed his powerful demon Putana. Putana was sent by Kāli-sābha. And Putana, she, her life was taken by the Supreme Lord. Kṛṣṇa sucked from her breast, sucked the milk, and Putana died. So these great vāsīs, were used to seeing so many superhuman activities. Kṛṣṇa killed one demon after another. Then he pushed a cart. He was just few months old. Can you imagine a few months old baby pushing a cart? It comes tumbling down. He was just a young boy. They killed so many people. And Kṛṣṇa's father would just meditate on the words given by Arjuna. Arjuna told them, "Your son is not going to be an ordinary child. He is going to be somebody extraordinary." Just like that. And from the very beginning he was just playing, simply with his activity. Kṛṣṇa, once, mārī-sūrāṇa told her son, "Have you been eating dirt? Is there shortage of anything in my house?" That mother had 900,000 rupees. Prasad cows. And he had over 20 cows that were giving specially flavored milk. These days if you want to add flavor to milk, you add it on the top. But these cows would give perfume to milk. My mother, Padāma, and the others came to Kṛṣṇa and said, came to Mother Yāsodā and said, "My son has swallowed dirt." She wouldn't believe me. "Why should my son have to swallow dirt?" And He said, "You don't believe me? I will open the mouth." And when he opened his mouth, what did his mother see? His mother saw all the universes, all the modes of nature. Okay. She could see all that there was. And she was bewildered. Am I seeing reality or is it a dream? So Kṛṣṇa was performing woman, flies, Krishna was performing, actually. And when he saw that, she tied Krishna down. Krishna was also known as butter thief. If somebody called He was a thief. We take it as lightly? No. You see, when certain devotees, when I use the word "makhanśau," they get very afraid. Krishna delights, you see, when they are thieves. So Kṛṣṇa, very fond, stealing butter. He would go and steal butter from the neighboring houses. And the beauty of Kṛṣṇa was He never got caught. I think I told you all that story. Once when our temple opened in Los Angeles, at that time, a woman was relatively So the gurūs, thinking that anything can be done for Kṛṣṇa, they would go to the neighboring houses and pluck the flowers from the neighboring garden and offer to the Deities. So the neighbors started wondering, "What's happening to our flowers?" These flowers were always there. Now they have gone. So they decided to detect it. And they saw that Hare Krishna was becoming very, very popular. So next day, one of the neighbors shot a pellet. Pellet is a bullet which does not kill. So they news were given to Prabhupāda. And Prabhupāda said, if you want to steal, you have to be like Kṛṣṇa. He never got caught. But if you're going to get caught, then you don't steal. What Prabhupāda was saying is, don't steal. So Kṛṣṇa never got caught. And Kṛṣṇa, we know Him as Kṛṣṇa. And Krishna was performing his puja. The servant mother, she would be churning milk in the morning, and she had composed a song that summarized Krishna's various pastimes. And because Mother Isoda was totally absorbed in chanting chanting the song describing Kṛṣṇa's pastime. So Kṛṣṇa tried, Vaiṣṇava tried a little to do her best to stop Kṛṣṇa from stealing. The neighbors would say, "Your son is coming to our house and stealing butter, stealing milk." Everything. And Mother Yashoda would say, "Why should my son come and steal from your house? You think I'm poverty-stricken? I and my husband have 900,000 cows. Why would he steal?" So Kṛṣṇa tried. He never got caught. Once the neighboring gopī had gone with the other gopīs for a bath. In her yamla. And she came back with a normal shadow. So then she caught Kṛṣṇa. She said, "Now I've caught this thief red-handed. Your mother always says, 'Where is the proof?' Here is the proof." And she was dragging Kṛṣṇa with her hand to Marīṣu. On the way, Kṛṣṇa picked up the name of Gopī's son. And very tactfully, Kṛṣṇa took his fingers out and put her, the name of Gopī's son's fingers there. She was released by Yāśodā. She said, "You always say, 'Where is the proof?'" 'Here's the proof. Look.' And she said, 'This is not my son. You are my son.' This is your son. Because Kṛṣṇa had replaced his finger with Kṛṣṇa's. So Kṛṣṇa was always superior. And when Kṛṣṇa saw that He was very emotional, Kṛṣṇa was a very She was the mother, then want the son to stay with her in the house. Krishna always to work out. And sometimes Krishna would do, would pass you in, in the same place in the house. Supreme Lord's activities were all amazing. That's why this chapter is called Wonderful Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is a God, not an ordinary God. Īśvā-paramā Kṛṣṇa, aśīrādhara-kāra, ādhyāraḍha-govinda, puṣkarā-kāra. He is the Supreme Lord. And Vyasadeva calls these pastimes human pastime of the Lord. So Kṛṣṇa was beginning this play, superhuman activity. Mother Yāśodā finally got so restless, she said, "No, I must tie him down." So Mother Yāśodā wanted to tie the baby down. She was trying to tie the baby, the son, She wanted to give him a light punishment, not a heavy punishment, because he saw, he got very scared when she displayed a stick. So, Mother Yashoda tried to tie Kṛṣṇa down. She first took one rope, and the rope was made from a shrub. How many?

How many?

Two. Then she took the other ropes. She took all the ropes. She took all the ropes that one could possibly get. And even with all this, the only result was it was two fingers short. And the two fingers have a great symbolic message. One finger, the Jaya, is maintaining your presence. If you want to understand God, you have to, what, endeavor. You have to make an effort. And then by the mercy of the Lord, you will be able to understand. He said that. If you don't make an effort, then you can't understand the Lord. If you don't make an effort, you won't get Kṛṣṇa's mercy. They say in English, "God helps those, those who help themselves." So when Kṛṣṇa sees, "Here is someone making a serious endeavor, he will be revealed to God." Mother Isoda, every time, her son died. But she was unsuccessful. The young devotees were just watching this encounter. They were saying, "Good! If we went to Mother Isoda and complained her son was stealing, she would say, 'Where is the proof?'" Now she is getting her taste. Medicine. Now she, her son cannot be tied down. So mother is with her child, was praying. And his mother, what does the son do? Son felt sympathy upon his mother. Then son agreed to be bound by rope. Body. But it's not enough. Later, at the end of 100 years, what happened? Krishna turned that tree into a vratree also. So he created two vratrees. Were cursed by Narada Muni. They went to his abode. One is in Morenzili. He recorded it all in that Murali. And along with that he had a benediction. What was the benediction? He had the Māhārishi, the ancient yogis, give us the higher consciousness of God. And the Kṛṣṇa, who was tied to the water. But he remembered, my devotee Narada had given them the benediction that they will be able to see me at the end of 100 years. What did Kṛṣṇa do? He pulled down the two huge Arjuna trees. They fell. Yes, blessing the Lord, my highly ascended devotee. So, Mother Iswara was in the kitchen. She heard this heavy noise of two trees falling on the ground. She came running, "What happened? What happened? What happened?" The other cowherd boy said, "Your son pulled these two trees down." And Mother Iswara would not believe it. He said, "How can my young son pull down two huge trees? You are mistaken. There must have been a strong wind and knocked it down." But Yāsodā would not believe that Kṛṣṇa had pulled the two trees down. So Rāma, you know, getting exposed to different pastimes of the Lord. Every time Kṛṣṇa would perform some superior activity, and then they would remember, "Yes, this was predicted by Gāyagadgūrī. Your son will be equal to whom?" Equal to Narayana. Son will be equal to Narayana. In the beginning, the Vaiṣṇavas were surprised. How can How can a young boy perform such miraculous activities? Then Prasad RAVAL remembered, yes, this was foretold by Gargam. He said, "The son will be like the hand." So it is not surprising he is performing so many miracles. So wonderful Kṛṣṇa performing so many activities. In the Kṛṣṇa book you read about so many pastimes of the Lord. And the Lord performed His pastimes with complete ease. But the demigods also tried to test the Lord. But what happens? The demigods get defeated by the Lord. So Kṛṣṇa, in the beginning, is performing superhuman activities. Krishna and Balarama, in his books you find reference to the story of Govardhana Hill where Krishna lifted the big jagai and he had to go around and lay down. It's one of the favorite stories of many of the Indian boys. And in this verse, emphasis is made to the Lord performing koda līra. So, Kṛṣṇa Mahāprabhu, we are getting ready to do what? To do the ariya in the yajña for the pleasure of Ilvā. Tamī gods have a tendency to become proud. And the beggars have a tendency to become proud, and they sometimes think they are equal to the Lord. So the Lord feels it is His duty to bring them to the right path. So Kṛṣṇa and Bhāgavata saw that this Nanda Rāja, along with the other beggars, they were preparing came. Big sacrifice, very big sacrifice. It was more than for the pleasure of whom? Indra. He was prepared, he was sacrificed for the pleasure of Indra. So Kṛṣṇa's mother said, "Father, who is the sacrifice being arranged born, and the father named this boy. The father said, my son, you're a young boy, he won't understand all that. Then he did it the second time. He did it now. Then the son said, Father, you're supposed to have no secrets from your Please tell us what this is. And then Vāda explained. He said, "We are farmers. Our success is based upon what? Rain." What does Kṛṣṇa say? "Who gave the produce from?" "The elephant." "The elephant coming from the rain."— have a yagya. And if there is no yagya, it doesn't— because you see, in many parts of the world there is drought, there are floods, other natural disasters. Why? Because there is so much prāsa, so much self-largery going on on the planet. So material nature strikes, you don't follow the laws. So, that's what I said. We are farmers, and our success is based on cooperation from the Indra, the name Krishna is called. This is not right. According to your karma, you're going And again, what it do to you? In any case, so Kṛṣṇa by His arguments make it against. But God, what? That this yearly sacrifice that they do is not really necessary. Whatever karma they have, karma phalam sa, you are going to get reaction in any case. So they don't have to, they don't have to worship the living God. So Janmālaṇa was convinced, one very, one very convinced that this, the sacrifice is not needed. So all the elaborate sacrifice they were prepared For Indra-yajña, God transferred to Govardhana. Kṛṣṇa said, "Worship the cows, worship Govardhana, and worship the brahmanas." So they were impressed by giving up the Indra-yajña for in the last pleasure. And the Lord said, "Do a worship." And then the Lord assumed the form of Govardhana and said, "I am the Govardhana Mountain." And He accepted all these offerings that were initially prepared for Him. Yagya. So when Indra saw that this sacrifice that had been prepared for me, because I wanted what I wanted to do, he was very angry. The women gods get angry also. They were very angry and wanted What is we are going to do? In order to summon the clouds to go over the Vājraya, we summon the clouds. Very heavy. When they move, they make heavy thundering sound. Last one week you have experience of heavy rainfall. Bombay, but I don't think you had even a percentage of the thundering noise that gets released when Sabaradatta's clouds come away. So in the ordinary, Sabaradatta's clouds will go, "Bum, brim, brim, down." And his plan was, drown the bridge buses. In a way, if you analyze, it was a cruel, criminal, criminal idea. So this is when the clouds came over the bird area, and Prasad RAVAL said, "Now I'm going to follow you with my elephant air water." So the water, before it would heavy rainfall, and even before the water would touch the earth, it will get dried up. So, in those plans, we're not being successful. And during the period that heavy rainfall was taking place, during that period, all the bridge masters the Vṛndhāsīs were looking at Kṛṣṇa's face. Initially, when Kṛṣṇa lifted the Govardhana Hill, the Vṛndhāsīs were scared. "O, that boy, young boy, 7 years old, he wants us to come and stand underneath the umbrella of the hill. Why, he will not be able to carry it." carry all of us, and there are mountains before us at any time. So then Krishna said, don't worry, I guarantee this mountain will not fall. Don't worry, I am— then just with one finger, which finger was it? The left said the small finger, the nail of the small finger is lifted. He said, lift the— and all the brahmacaris, what did they do? They came and took shelter of the— they came and took shelter. And for one week, being night, you were reading, what was Krishna doing? Helping me. And during the period that, during the period that they left to the hill, the brahmacari did not feel any hunger or any thirst. Normally, if you hunger and thirst at regular intervals. But during the period that Kṛṣṇa was living in Gauḍādhana, the brahmacāris were just looking at Kṛṣṇa's face, and they were so satisfied they did not feel any hunger or thirst. So when we absorb ourselves in spiritual subject matter, you can forget which were hunger and thirst. When the time came, the Bhagavad Gita, Praśyātmārṣī says that Praśyātmārṣī was fasting. When the time came, he says, he got so much nectar from hearing, he passed under the Lord and he did not feel any hunger or thirst. Satisfied. If you want to be totally satisfied, there is the remedy, and the remedy is— so Krishna was literally going uphill, and at the same time was literally downhill. And after 7 days in the realized my attempt is not going to be successful. He then realized he made a mistake. He was already in the room, already somewhat like a clown, going back. This, we have go on over here also, the purport information. The British Master was surprised. How can a 7-year-old child left to go. Is it possible? No. They were wondering, "How can a 7-year-old man do this?" And during the period they were under the umbrella, no hunger, thirst. Right now in the material world, we are constantly experiencing material hunger and material thirst. That means we want to satisfy ourselves with material achievements. But can these achievements ever give you happiness? What is Prasada saying? Prasada vedaṁ svātakaṇa vivaśnuḥ. People do not know how we get satisfaction. Every day. So, Kṛṣṇa has passed that I can really translate. Prabhupāda very keen that the pastime of the Lord be revealed in an authentic manner. When Prabhupāda came to the West, he had the manuscript of the Kṛṣṇa book with him, but he didn't have it published. So when they were moving New York, they were looking for publisher who would be willing to invest money to print the Kṛṣṇa book. And no one was ready. Everybody said, "Nobody will heard about Kṛṣṇa." No one was ready to invest. But at that time, it's called the moving centennial, with this famous singer George Harrison. George Harrison was a devotee. He would chant, and he popularized chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra. His Apple company produced a record of the Hare Krishna mantra and became a Super hit all over the world, Western world. On the top of all the charts. So George Harrison had just become very good. So Prabhupāda told Śrīla Mahāprabhu that— Prabhupāda was in New York and Śrīla Mahāprabhu was based in London, cultivating their meetings. So Prabhupāda told Śrīla Mahāprabhu that, "Why don't you ask George to finance the printing of the Kṛṣṇa about, about George. He had been near devotee. If I ask him to finance the printing, he may think we're after his money. I said, don't worry. So he went there and he told George Harrison, told, told, told, told George Harrison, my inspiration was always I would like to ask you to pay for the printing of the Kṛṣṇa book. And George said, "How much is it?" And he gave the check right away. And then the original Kṛṣṇa book was published in the deluxe edition. The ones that you see now are not on the same level. So Prabhupāda wanted these authentic pastimes. Presented in its true form, so that we can get purified. So here in this chapter we see, even after everybody is under the control of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa's activities are always transcendental. And Indra, Śrī Avikāma, came and apologized. Even the other demigods, Brahma, Śiva, they also tried, tested, and they were also defeated. So Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Kṛṣṇa is activating it all. Ārasinanda. And we should never do this for spiritual life. And now having come to the understanding Kṛṣṇa is Supreme, We should try and focus on meditating on Kṛṣṇa. When the two Yamārajṇa trees were pulled down by Kṛṣṇa, the two Yamārajṇa trees, they were full of flies. During that, he was pulling them down. To them. He said, now onwards with our tongue we will honor God for you. Now onwards with our ears we hear your glories. Now with our legs we walk to the temple of worship. In other words, in ignorance we did many activities, but now that we have come to understand pure devotional service. You can only do those activities that are conducive for spiritual life. So as we hear the Kṛṣṇa book and we read these stories, we see that as we involve ourselves in His pastimes, then we get purified. So we should seriously study these these pastimes. And these pastimes you have to read again and again. Usually we read a story once, twice, and then get tired. But these spiritual stories, you never get tired. People say, "You share the same mantra every day, don't you get tired?" "You read the same book every day, don't you get tired?" We have the same philosophy every day. When we get tired, we say, "No." Because this is all Kṛṣṇa's thing. So Kṛṣṇa's pastimes and the Tēṇkāntu are relishable. In the morning, take great pleasure in hearing these pastimes. And in the morning, hear more again. Purified. So it's nice. And then came to, you know, summary of the last, you know, and we should endeavor to hear these pastimes. And the more you hear, more you get purified. So we hear, we see Krishna's childhood pastimes. They, they surprise Amarigodha. When they saw these pastimes, the brahmacaris couldn't believe it. They could not believe that a child was born there at Dresdner. The child took away a demon's life. They couldn't believe it. They couldn't believe it. They were very loud. You see the whole universe. And Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord. He is the Supreme Lord, why? Why? He performs superhuman activity. So you want to be God, you want to be called God, then perform superhuman activity. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu also, He appeared, He performed superhuman activity. The sense of the spiritual world performs supreme activities, and by involving ourselves in these activities, we get purified. So we should read these books, especially Prabhupāda's books. They laid emphasis upon distributing books. And now when it's gone, we are making a serious endeavour, we are doing more each to read these books also. If you read these books, then what will happen? Your spiritual knowledge will become sharper and be easier to to reject it. Jāgānanda Mahāprabhu. We should spiritualize our life more by reading and listening. We should not only worry about distribution, we should worry about reading. And if we read them regularly, then what will happen? We will develop sharp intelligence with which we can If we reject what is detrimental. So the samarāja, we hear, we read about, Kṛṣṇa performing His childhood pastimes. You are all Supreme devotees. And when they see that He is Supreme devotee, all these, they get purified. Hare Kṛṣṇa. English spoken in this room. Wonderful. Any questions or comments?

I'm sorry. And thirst. Yeah, refers to material achievements.

In the material world, we are, we are, we are materially hungry and thirst, which can never be satisfied.

Yes. So the mind says that because I am so much used to aspiring for these things Lots of flies here.

Okay, yes.

The concept of just being a servant of servant is so boring to me since my times. So then even in Krishna consciousness I need some achievements, then only I feel I am doing something, and then only I can stay and go on. You think one day I will get attracted to the concept of servant of servant?

In other words, if I— I'm not sure if I understood the question. In other words, if you are endeavoring to get some result in devotional service, nothing wrong in that. Let's see, Pūkṛmadhī would just say— I have written this in so many books. That's my goal. Somebody may say, "I want to read the whole Bhāgavatam." Said, "In your life." That's okay. Is that your question? You desire to be servant of the servant. That is very good. Open to your life. In spiritual life, humanity is very important, and humanity gets you the Lord's mercy.

Unless I get some name recognition from devotees around me, so you will be encouraging me to go on. How will I get that recognition?

Even if you have material desires, keep endeavoring, keep chanting, and gradually you will get purified. Dhruva Maharaj went to perform his charity. Initially he had a material goal. "I should get a kingdom more opulent than my great-grandfather." And then he got so purified by meditating on Kṛṣṇa and chanting the mantras, even when the Lord offered him, he said, "I was looking for for broken cut glass, and now I found a diamond. Now I don't want it. If we have material desires, if you're sincere, then you can overcome that with the power of devotion. Krishna, people come to me due to four factors. One of them One is wealthy. One was wealthy. One was in distress. He is Kṛṣṇa also. One has knowledge. One is curious. So, harabhu-jñāna. The best is one who comes to the result of jñāna, knowledge.

I was just reflecting, it happens to us also, especially to me, that sometimes when the false ego is disturbed, we tend to go off the path. So how to not get disturbed? How to remain clear?

Ultimately, our effort should be to advance spiritually. Our effort should be to advance spiritually. And we should keep trying, stay in good association, and keep trying. And we have so many material reasons, making it purified. And we keep chanting. This chanting is a solution to all the problem. Chandramālīṇa, sādhna-bhakti. You know, sādhna-bhakti and Chandramālīṇa, right? Then you will be able to eliminate these anarṭhas. This is the cure for all diseases. One medicine to cure all diseases. Sometimes people say, "We only have one medicine, which is here." You should chant, and I encourage you to do a personal chanting. The purer your chanting, the more powerful the medicine will be. You will see yourself, if you chant and do some Kīrtan, that inspirationally you may have a strong enthusiasm, and it become Relax, then what happens? I am too dead and going down. Isn't it? You experience this all over the world. Any, any more?

Question: Why devotee seems to face more trouble in life than other persons?

It's not always true. It's not always true that devotee faces more problems than they do. Maybe true sometimes. We have to understand And we all have our history of karma. According to our history of karma, everyone gets a different dosage. And Jambūli's understanding is, "Well, whatever punishment I am getting, it may be minimized by the Lord." And he has faith. If he wanted to a devotee, it could be a lot more. Prasada used to say, "You put the appeal in a high court, and you go to the Supreme Court, they will reduce your punishment, or they give you token punishment." So it's not a fact that every devotee gets suffering. There are so many devotees who are multimillionaires. In a very comfortable position. So everyone gets his quota of happiness and distress. It varies from everyone to another. It's not that everybody gets the same dosage. Is that right? Is that right? Does everyone get the same dosage? Very good question. Just like sometimes you Holy Name. How can I get more attached to the Holy Name? How can I get more attached to the Holy Name? By chanting the Holy Name. How can I get more attached to Bhāgavad-gītā? By reading Bhāgavad-gītā. Similarly, you get more attached to Kṛṣṇa's pastimes when you read about them. So if you don't read, then you will never develop taste. So therefore Prabhupāda encouraged us to read these books. And therefore Prabhupāda was very keen that the Kṛṣṇa book be published as soon as possible so that people get a genuine understanding of what is, what are the real activities of Kṛṣṇa. Because if you go to the Kathās, very much. You don't get a true representation. Bhāgavad-gītā, as it is. So Kṛṣṇa book also, as it is. So the more you read the Kṛṣṇa book, more attached you get to the book.

How can we see Kṛṣṇa's hands in our life?

How can we see? Kṛṣṇa's hands in our life. Kṛṣṇa is the controller of everything. When a blade of grass moves without God's approval, isn't that what we hear? So Kṛṣṇa's hand is everywhere. We cannot do something wrong.

Thank you very much. You have been speaking about the people in the past time and how all the controversies you have been able to absorb in trying to, you know, give additional support and trying to observe principle in life, which we do not have here. So I'm just recommending that, uh, you mention that always keep on chanting, because I love this point. So I I am chanting, continuing to chant, but then somehow I have observed that I get affected by these situations around me, the 9 basic circumstances, what time I chanted, what are they reporting about me. So in this situation, if I don't even absorb in my chanting in sadhana, and another level also as well is in services. So how do we absorb in services? Also, we are trying to absorb in sadhana, somehow that it gets affected. And then the services, how to maintain that balance, specifically absorption?

Everything is possible with determination. The key to good sadhana, good higher taste, is good sadhana. If sadhana is good, chanting is good, then it is very possible that you get attached to the personal principle. And our endeavor is to eliminate the anātma. And that is— if we eliminate the anātma, what happens? That is, if we attach You have to develop a spiritual taste. And if you have a spiritual understanding, then you can easily reject what is unfavorable. Nīlānātha, we have, we have a stumbling block. And we have to rectify that. Kṛṣṇa says, devīśya guna-māyā bhāvamāyaḥ. To overcome this illusory energy is very difficult. But if you surrender to Me, then you can. So what we need is follow this surrendering process. Is that a question? Is that a question?

Hello. Yes.

Yeah. I mean, Michael won't have to let go. Well, you can take assistance from guru sadhu shastra. If you have doubts, you can go to someone more advanced and present your doubts. You should not hesitate. The Bhagavad Gītā encourages us to have 6 types of rāja. And one of them is you read your mind with those who are more advanced to take instructions. So if you are endowed, matī karau, hagāl karau, bhāv kīśī, uḥad bhaktāki sāmṛtse, you say puṣpa. Is that right? The avenues are there. You just have to take advantage of it.

Yeah. Thank you, Maharaj. My question is, sometimes fulfilling of material desires help us to do spiritual practices with satisfaction. So is it the right thing? Sometimes fulfilling of material desires help us to practice spiritual things with more satisfaction.

So is this the right thing? It all depends. I gave one question Hindu guru, Hindu preacher, Prasad Raaval. Exhaust your material desires, then you can come to spiritual life. So they say. You are in material, whenever you exhaust your material desires, it's like an itching sensation. When you scratch, you get some instant pleasure, but then the disease becomes worse. So the Vedas say, "Revolve these activities from the beginning." They may be asking everyone to say, "First try to satisfy your material desires and then come." Material desires can never be satisfied. Okay, hello. Take one or two more questions and stop.

My question is like, initially when we get into the association, we get very strong and we are very determined and we We are very much enlightened, but gradually, as it takes time, it fades away.

How to be— The enthusiasm? Yes. Fades away. What is the solution? Huh? The answer is very simple. Yeah, yeah. This is a question that devotees ask. Always. The answer is simple. If you keep your sadhana steady, your vows, chanting, etc., then there's a very good chance your enthusiasm will remain to the end. What happens? We slacken. Those who are thinking, "But we have other— some other activities." And you experiment it yourself. Sorry, can you repeat? I said our enthusiasm is based on our effort. Rabacī sānaṇa ko gaya. English. You are not understanding me? Okay, so if you think that you keep good sadhana, good sadhana means chant the rounds in the morning, come to the spiritual programs, read, then there's a very good chance that enthusiasm will always be strong. But if you become weak in that, then there is— becomes more also. You follow? Can I ask another question? Yeah, sure.

The other question I wanted to ask is, as a— like, in a student life, up to what amount should your sadhana be strong? Can you repeat that? In a student life, up to what amount should your Sadhana be strong?

Well, the sadhana should be strong regardless of whether you are a student or working or whatever. Sometimes you may have some exams and you may become a little weak in that period, but that's an exception. But in principle, you should follow the sadhana. Somehow you may have an exam, you may have to make some temporary adjustment. That is not permanent. Okay. Okay.

Our spiritual friends are so merciful to me, I think, that we open our heart to them, we get instructions. But at times it happens, we want to follow their instructions, but some of our habits will misguide. How do we persist in order to perform as per their instructions?

Stay in devotee association. That is most important. Sadhu sangha, sadhu sangha. When Prasad Raaval was coming to see me, that was my way. When he was coming to see me, I told him, "Prasad, it's a real friend that tells me how to rectify, not one who flatters you." Hare Krishna.

Prasad Raaval. How do you? How can we engage our material things in Kṛṣṇa consciousness?

Some you can engage, some you can't. You can't engage all your material things in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Let's say you want a very high, good job. You can work hard, have some good education. And hope to get a good job. But if you have some anti-law, some illegal activity, and you want to join Kṛṣṇa Seva, that cannot be compromised. Okay. Is there any more questions? Two more questions. Okay.

Sometimes we get so much engaged in temple services that we lose taste and we don't even get time to do sadhana.

That should be avoided.

Last question. If someone wants to go back home, back to Godhead, in this life only, then what should he do strictly?

Very simple. There are many letters from Prabhupāda where he says, "If you add your 16 hours on the four Veda principles, then you will definitely go back to Godhead." Very simple. Why are you looking at him standing 6 feet down? Why are you looking at him falling? Why are you looking at him? Okay. Yeah.

In the beginning when we have joined the institution, I have joined the institution, and when I used to read Shri Daurobhai's books, the instructions were very clear, chanting 16 rounds, reading Shri Daurobhai's books, we can go back to Godhead. When we go, when the years pass on us and we try to understand the philosophy more and more and go deeply into it, so the standard of devotion itself is so high, ability is there is a big gap and we feel that the chances to going back to Godhead is now, there is no chance. Today I am hopeless now. Ye life me to be jasi kāra. I say when you are young.

So how to overcome this hopelessness? Very simple. Aapko esa kārya kanday niche ye, iske nahin like a red light. Red light is danger. Develop humility. All advice. You think you know best. Okay. Amdhiniyāyātyā. We should always be willing to take direction. Willing to take a gāmaṇam. Nāmadāsakāyaḥ kannaḥ. Taking direction. Abhikāśvosaḥ. Nixāvāveṣkramaṇa-kāyaḥ. Sevaḥ. Doing dīvānāyaḥ. "Go away," this was it. Now I have got captured everything. So we should remain humble. And the world will recognize by seeing how humble he is, not that how great he is. Me, arsana haga. I am sojo. I am nikamma, nikāra. I have to work hard. Then humility is very important. I am prāvakiyo yāte. You should not say, "I know everything." So, after the real test, humanity. That is most important. Okay. I'm sorry, please Just because you've been a devotee for 6, 7 years doesn't mean you become Self-realized. Oh, I'm on the right track. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Okay. So we stop now. Hare Kṛṣṇa.