Vyasa Puja lecture | Part 4 | 18 Aug 2017 | Moscow | Gopal Krishna Goswami

Hare Krishna. Hare. Om Mani Padme Hum. English. I want to thank all the devotees for coming to the program, and I want to thank Anupriya and Amritsar and the Moscow devotees for organizing this. Initially, devotees for the last several years requested me to have a guest speaker in Moscow. Hostels are made in Russia, but I was always hesitant. And then this year, I agreed with them. I thought it may not be practical, but Amrish Manal insisted. He said, "They've already purchased their tickets." So finally, I had to surrender. It's a little difficult for me because normally I come back from my American-Canadian tour in the beginning of August. Then I had to go to India and come right back. So I'm very happy to be here. Then lastly I was talking now in a big event in India. I was in Janardhana, we had 100,000, 400,000, maybe 500,000 visitors at the big temple. We had a big celebration. It was in Moscow, in Zhenovsky. Speaking to countless visitors, I almost lost my voice. So that's why my voice is a little subdued. So it's a great pleasure to meet all of you. Russia is a huge country. It is not easy to travel to every corner of your country. So I'm happy that all of you were able to come here. The important point is that we make spiritual progress. This morning I was reading about Prabhupāda coming to your country. In 1971, Prabhupāda wrote to a devotee in Germany, "I want to go to the Soviet Union." And an invitation was arranged, and Rūṣṭra Prabhupāda came to your country in '72. Sir, if you want 1971. At this point, Prabhupāda had established Kṛṣṇa consciousness in America and Canada, in Europe and in India. And now he was sending other Soviet Union, the Eastern Europe. Prabhupāda had very high regards for Russian and Soviet people. He knew they were very intelligent. So Prabhupāda finally came to your country. He met the late Dr. Kutarki. And Prabhupāda pointed out the definition of spiritual communism. Soviet Union believed in communism. And Prabhupāda explained the Vedas advocate spiritual communism. Nevertheless, Prabhupāda planted a seed of Kṛṣṇa consciousness during the 5-day visit. Prabhupāda stayed at the National Hotel at Kremlin. Am I right? Yes. It was a small room. Kumbh, Mālīṅga Kumbh. Prasad RAVAL was accompanied by the American Secretary, Shamsunder and Arvind. Those days it was very difficult to get fruits and vegetarian food. So the devotees had to struggle, go from shop to shop to find fruits and milk products. Once devotees came near, what is this? And they met one Russian devotee, Russian, who spoke English and was very good in yoga, interested in yoga. Shamsunder met that devotee, met Anatoly on the streets of Moscow, and Shamsunder discovered Anatoly was interested in yoga. My girl is a yoga teacher, why don't you come and meet her? Prabhupāda inspired him, taking the path of bhakti-yoga instantly. And in 3 days, Prabhupāda trained him up in all aspects of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Taught him how to wear a dhoti, taught him how to chant 16 rounds, taught him the basic elements of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And he even initiated him. And he even arranged for his marriage. And then Prabhupāda left the country. And this girl started preaching. And before he started coming into the country. I had a family that first came to the country in May '66, before many of you were born. How was that? So, at that time we placed Prabhupāda's books in the libraries of Moscow and Saint Petersburg, which was known as Leningrad at that time. Then we came again in '67 and '77. And they bought in the World Book Fair. We were accompanied by two devotees, related to Prabhu, and Rūpa ṛḍhārāvāpanu. And great interest was shown in Prabhupāda's books when they saw him perform. In fact, the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust Bombay received a certificate from the Russian government See, the books promote peace and harmony. Prabhupāda was very pleased to receive that certificate. And in 1977, the last few months that Prabhupāda stayed on the planet, he was showing that certificate to everyone, "See, yāpradīṣīṇa, we got him certificate." Unfortunately, that certificate got missed away. So Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the greatest crime. Recently a book has been published. Yeah, Prasad Raaval has published a book, one of my disciples. 50 Years of Kṛṣṇa Consciousness in this other field. Establishing Kṛṣṇa consciousness in this country was not easy. There were a lot of restrictions. They weren't even determined. Some of them had to sacrifice their lives. But in the end, The mission was the Russian appreciate God's love and the devotees are enthusiastic. So Prabhupāda gave us a pure message, pure process of purification. So those, all of us sitting here, are here because we have got connected with Srīla Prabhupāda's movement. Prabhupāda gave us the pure message of happiness. He did not Tri-kārtma, as you know, we recently celebrated the Golden Jubilee of Prabhupāda's sailing from India, the Golden Jubilee of Prabhupāda's incorporating ISKCON in New York, building the Forest Temple on Second Avenue, and this year we celebrated the Golden Jubilee of the first rathayatra of the head of the Prabhupāda. In San Francisco. As you Moscowites may know, we had a wonderful rādhī-ātra at Moscow 3 weeks ago. Om Mani Padme Hum. More than 100,000 people came. What a rādhī-ātra! So, bhaktavānanda prabhu gave us everything that is adaptable universally. Kṛṣṇa consciousness Is universal philosophy. Chanting the Holy Name. What's so scary about it? Lord incarnates in the Holy Name. In all over the world, people easily adapt to the Holy Name. In Africa or any part of the country, people easily adapt to the Holy Name. Our real goal is unitarize the Holy Name. On the occasion of Vyāspuja, You glorify the guru. And many times the glorification is exaggerated. Now what does the guru talk about? What does the guru preach? Glorify Kṛṣṇa! Not to glorify the guru. Guru says, "Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa!" This is the mahā-mantra. You have to answer the Holy Name. What does the Holy Name talk about? Glorification of Kṛṣṇa. So through the chant, we glorify the Lord. And cleanse our heart of the material dirt that has accumulated there. Then the guru says, "Study Prabhupāda's books." What is in these books? Nothing but Kṛṣṇa's philosophy and pastimes. So the genuine guru, he doesn't glorify himself. Maybe he glorifies Kṛṣṇa. The genuine guru instructs everyone Glorify Kṛṣṇa as Supreme Lord. Prabhupāda was a classic example of a genuine guru. He never told us to glorify him. He always kept Kṛṣṇa in the forefront of the movement. People all over the world know ISKCON as the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, not as the Prabhupāda movement. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Prabhupāda kept Kṛṣṇa in the forefront. So Prabhupāda's successors who are presenting the philosophy that Prabhupāda and Nityānanda gave us, are in the same mood. So the genuine guru, when he gets an honor, when he accepts it on behalf of the previous sattva-rāja-vaiṣṇavān, he never thinks that he is a doer. Whenever we gave credit to Prabhupāda for what he has done, he would say, "I have done nothing. It is my guru's mercy." He said, "I was at faith in the words of my guru." So, the real guru's business is encouraging us to get attached to Kṛṣṇa. In the 3rd Canto, you read about Kapiladeva's instructions. When Kapiladeva was questioned by his mother Devaguptī, she said, "My dear son, please tell me, how can I become free from the miseries of birth and death?" She knew her son was the incarnation of Godhead. So the son said, "Get attached to the transcendentalist." In material life we are attached to each other. With these attachments, one will end up in distress. Whereas if you're attached to a transcendentalist, you're going to get spiritual message. And my point is spiritual message. You make advancement. So the genuine guru's business is to be a servant of the pīvadācārya and all pīvadācāryas. The guru doesn't claim proprietorship over anything. So Kṛṣṇa gives guru-vṛtti, disciples. They are all engaged in service of the Supreme Lord. The Kṛṣṇa guru's wealth is all used in service of glorifying the Lord. That's an example that Prabhupāda gave us by giving us, says, chidānicchanda-cāraṇa-mudrīk-mārāḥ. Prabhupāda explaining, Vyāsmin essentially is a day where you glorify the guru who gives you the pure message of Vyāsmin. But it should be recognized that the real glorification is always of the Supreme Lord. So how do we please the guru? Doesn't matter who you're initiated by in ISKCON. All gurus are giving the same message. The guru is pleased to receive a disciple who can catch the Holy Name. And for that is our ultimate goal. Our goal is not You get some big position in this world. Argo is to get attached to the Holy Name. You get attached to the siddhānta. That's so nicely explained in Prabhupāda's books. To develop the mood of humility, Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "We want to chant the Holy Name." Then we come to the mood of humility. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, there said 6 items, and that constitutes surrender to Kṛṣṇa. In Jnana-jñātana-yoga. And the 6th sense, what he says, is humility. So what does humility in spiritual life mean? Just speaking softly, Prabhupāda, Prabhupāda, tell them what humility means. Offering money, offering in dāna-vāsaya, that's also important, but what's more important is humility. I need direction, I need correction, I need guidance. We must recognize that we need guidance. Therefore, we should always be in the association of devotees. If you remain in the association of devotees, there's a good chance that if you're demeaning, you'll get corrected. That's why sādhana-saṅgara is highly emphasized. Stay in the association. Prasada gave us a guideline. He said we should be like a bee— and not the fly. The fly is attracted to dirt. The flying is the clean environment. So, look at the good in everyone. Prabhupāda created this nice society which has branches virtually in every corner of the globe. Today there are more than 600 branches all over the world. And Prabhupāda has shown us that this Vedic message is transcendental. And He will be acceptable. So my earnest request is, please take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness seriously. The illusory energy is always trying to bewilder us. As Kṛṣṇa says, deva-īśa-guṇa-māyā-māyā-dvṛḍhaya. This illusory energy is very difficult to control. But if it's surrendered to Me, then it can. Time and time We have to go on. So please take the Kṛṣṇa consciousness seriously. As Śrīla Prabhupāda says, a man and a lot cannot be made up with the wealth of the entire world. So with the tongue we should be attached to chanting the holy names, with the ears to hear the glories of the Lord, with the mind to think about His laws and instructions, and we should remain connected to ISKCON temples or community or gurūdīs. Technology has a plus point and a minus point. That's why we are having smartphones now. How many of you have smartphones? See, those who are smart, they have Prabhupāda's books in their smartphone. And whenever they have a chance, read the Bhāgavatam, the Gītā. And those who are not specially inclined, 'Agrābhagāṇḍānaḥ.' So we have to endeavor. Nothing comes without endeavor. Śrīla Prasāda RAVALA's advice is on the devotional path we should be enthusiastic. Why should we not be enthusiastic? Who are we serving? Who? The greatest personality. Once in a village in India there was a man who desired, 'I must serve the most important man in town.' So he started doing the survey. Who is the most important man in town? He found there was a grocery store owner. Anyone came and saluted him, so he told— asked that big man, "Can I become your servant? You look to be the most important man in this village." He said, "Of course you can be my servant." He became his servant. But then he saw this big man also salute somebody else. There used to be a tax collector that would come regularly. And the big man would salute him. So he concluded this tax collector must be more important than that store owner. So he asked the tax collector, "Can I become your servant?" "Mun pranaṁ, Krishna." And he gave him a sacred duty. But then he saw the tax collector also goes to the king. He saw the tax collector goes, salutes the king, Bows down to the king and says, "What can I do for you?" So he concluded the king must be more important than the tax collector. He asked the king, "Can I be your servant? You look to be the most important man here." "Why not?" Then he saw the king also salutes to somebody else. That was Asadhu. There was Asadhu in town. The king was ready to go and offer worship. So he concluded, the sadhu was more important than the king, because the king goes and bows down to him. He asked the sadhu, "Can I be your servant?" You look to be more important than the king. Sadhu said, "Krishna, if you give me service, I will serve you." Then he saw the sadhu also goes and bows down to the servant. Who is the sadhu? Gajīvī of Kṛṣṇa. He said, "I should serve Kṛṣṇa, —because everyone surrenders and bows down to Him. Sivikimrta-bhūkṇa-kṛṣṇa. So Kṛṣṇa is the most important personality. So we should engage in service enthusiastically, and we should be convinced of our success. We have so many wonderful pieces of literature which Srila Prabhupāda gave us. We should make it a point to regularly read these books. So our request is Please take your Kṛṣṇa consciousness seriously. We all have an eternal debt to Śrīla Prabhupāda. And if not for Prabhupāda, we would not have been having this get-together today. Prabhupāda took the pure message and united everyone. When Prabhupāda was a young child, his father had a small little shop. And he solemnly said, "This man will one day build a house, We need the whole world in there for you to build that house up to the age of 70. The problem with the house is the whole world in there. So let us work together to make the house strong. Of course, priority should be Kṛṣṇa's service. What pleases Kṛṣṇa, not what pleases me. Normally we think, "What pleases me is good for Kṛṣṇa, is good for everyone." My happiness is Kṛṣṇa's happiness. That is the materialistic logic. Our logic is the opposite. What we need is Kṛṣṇa, He needs us. That should be our mentality. So we hope that all of you will benefit from this get-together. Please be determined to practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness and spread the message of the Lord everywhere. People all over the world are waiting, "When will a Hare Kṛṣṇa devotee come and give me This pure message. So we'll take on some questions now, and as you heard, there'll be an evening session starting what time? And we will small talk in the evening, next talk. And those of you who want darshans should see Amrit Mantra. And I take on some questions now. Hare Krishna.