What is the definition of a devotee? BG 10.37 | Rus-Split | 4.5.92 | Gopāl Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī Mahārājā

Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya! Namaste Prasad Raavalamana Maharaj Ji— om namoh Bhagvāte vassudeva yaḥ... Oṁ namo-bhakwate-vaśuddhevyayaa. ...Om namō bahgurathē baʃuddevaiyyaaa... Ōm na mo bha'ghwa te va'su devayiyaah? Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Kanto 10, I'm sorry, Chapter 10, Text 37. Śrīmad-Bhāgavat-gītā. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Hare, Hare. Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma, Rāma, Hare, Hare. How many devotees amongst you took part in the book distribution marathon today? Raise your hands. Oh, only 7, 8. What were the other devotees doing, huh? Well, all devotees should try to take part in this marathon and help as much as they can. Of course, those of you who have jobs and all, that's another thing. But if devotees have come from other cities and they have time, then why not use it for book distribution? Rishinām vāsudevos nīpāndavānām dhānijaya, mūnīnām api ahaṁ vyāsaḥ, kavinām uṣṇākavī. So this chapter is called "The Opulence of the Absolute." And in this chapter, Kṛṣṇa is describing that whatever is best That is His manifestation. So as Prabhupāda explains in the purport, Kṛṣṇa is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is a reason why we accept Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Lord. It is not somebody's concoction or speculation or just some fancy. The reason is the Vedic scriptures clearly establish this point. And Kṛṣṇa, He appears Himself from time to time in different incarnations. And he also expands. Like Balaram is the expansion of the Supreme Lord. The expansions of the Lord, as explained in the purport, fall in two categories. One is called svamsa. Svamsa expansion means the personal expansion of the Lord. The other is vijñānāmśa. Vijñānāmśa means the separated expansion of the Lord. Just like Krishna himself expands as Balaram, That is Swāmṣa incarnation. So Kṛṣṇa appears in different forms, always with one purpose. The purpose is to establish the principles of religion. Even when Kṛṣṇa appeared 5,000 years ago and spoke the Bhāgavad-gītā, the purpose was to establish the principles of religion. And then Kṛṣṇa also incarnated as Vyasadeva. And Kṛṣṇa incarnated as Vyasadeva and compiled the vast Vedic literature for us. Veda śāstra ke sambandha abhidheya prayojana. The entire Vedic scriptures tell us how one's sambandha— sambandha means relationship with God— can be established. So we have a variety of different sambandhas in the material world. Sambandha means relationship. You have relationship with your father, mother, wife, children, friends. But nobody is worried about the samanda with God. The samanda with God can be established when you follow the laws of God. If you don't follow the laws of God, then the samanda cannot be established. So further it is stated in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, adhida yena mā bhakti prema-prayojana puruṣata śrīrūmāni prema-mahādhāna, that bhakti or devotion to God is the real wealth which one can possess through the human form of life. In material society, the accumulation of money and property is considered real wealth, but to the spiritualist, real wealth is knowledge of God. Therefore, in the Bhagavad-gītā, it is said, rājavidyā rāja-guhyam— this knowledge is the king of education. So this is real wealth. Just like in that story of Sanatana Gosvāmī and the touchstone, You have seen how Sanatana Gosvāmī had kept that touchstone that had the capacity to turn everything into gold under a heap of garbage. So all the Vedic scriptures tell us how we can establish our relationship with God. Today one devotee was telling me that in your Russian television the Christians are advertising very heavily, and they are saying You can keep doing what you want, just accept Christ. We accept Christ as the Son of God, but if we don't follow the teachings of Christ, then just surrendering to Christ will not save you. So the Vedic scriptures tell us how we must surrender to God, because unless you follow the teachings of God, you cannot develop love of God. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when he was talking to Sanatana Gosvāmī, he gave very important instructions How to develop love of God? They gave 5 essential points, and these 5 points are known as 5 limbs of devotional service. And these 5 limbs of devotional service can be practiced wherever you may be living in. The first limb of devotional service is chant Hare Krishna always. Why do we chant the Hare Krishna mantra? In the Vedic scriptures you have reference to thousands of mantras. We chant the Hare Krishna mantra because this has been described as the Mahā-mantra, or the supreme chant for deliverance in the age of Kali. Therefore, by chanting Hare Krishna mantra, we cleanse the dirt from the heart. And as you cleanse the dirt from the heart, spiritual life becomes sweeter and sweeter. It is just like sugar. Sugar, as it is being refined, it becomes sweeter and sweeter as the dirt is separated from the sugar. So we recommend to everyone, please chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. There are no hard and fast rules for chanting, but chant, get attached to the chanting. Of course there are different phases, stages of chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, but in initial stage, get attached to the chanting. Then Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, read the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has been described as, as the topmost of all Vedic literature. If you read the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, you will get knowledge about pure love of God. These days when you talk about pure love of God, nobody understands it. Pure love of God means wanting to serve God without expecting anything in return at all. So there in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam we find so many stories, and all these stories are giving you one message: how to develop love of God. Actually, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is like a storybook that has so many stories of great sages whose conclusion is don't waste your valuable time in sense enjoyment. So then Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "Stay in the association of devotees." Sadhu-saṅga, sadhu-saṅga, sarva-śāstra-kāya. All scriptures say take advantage of spiritual association. So wherever you may be, you may be a pāta, you may be a full-time housewife, or a businessman, or a teacher, or a student, or you may be a devotee. Take advantage of spiritual association. So wherever you are, mold your life in such a way that you can regularly take advantage of devotee association. And what's the definition of a devotee? One who inspires you to remember God. Therefore, a great Vaiṣṇava saint, Thakura Bhakti Vinod, has said, ami bina bandhu nahe keo ceto māra. Except for me, oh conditioned soul, you have no other friend. Because the devotee of the Lord is only concerned about giving everyone knowledge about God. So we should regularly try and take advantage of devotee association. And even when you can't come to the temple, you should associate with those who are also believing in the same goal of life. Then Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, fourth point is worship the deity of the Lord. So this is important. The Lord incarnates in Ārcha-vigraha form. Ārcha-vigraha form means that form of the Lord, the mūrti, the Deity form of the Lord. So the Lord incarnates in the Deity form, and this Deity is non-different from Kṛṣṇa. Just like over here we have the Deities of Gaura-nitāya, Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda, and in many of our temples we have the Deities of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. But we first worship Gaura-nitāya Because Gauṇitāy are very, very merciful, and even if you make some mistakes, you get excused for it. So some, some of you may think, oh, this is only a statue, and I think that statue is made of brass, so how can God be present in that statue? No doubt the deities are made out of brass, but you must understand all the ingredients— metal, marble, wood— it's all coming from Krishna. So you must understand that God also has senses, and the Lord reciprocates with His devotees. So we must worship the Deity of the Lord. Those of you who chant 16 rounds, who are for, who are strict vegetarians, they can even have Deities at home, and you can worship the Deity at home also. Then the fifth limb of devotional service is to always reside in Mathura-Brindavan. So this would mean that all of you have to give up Moscow and move to Vrindavan and Mathura. And if all of you were to move to Vrindavan and Mathura, the prices would shoot up so much that there would not be enough land for everyone also, because Vrindavan is a very small village. And then there would be nobody left to preach in Moscow, in other parts of the world. So what it means, residing in Mathura, Vrindavan, is reside in a place where the atmosphere is that of Vṛndāvana and Mathura. And what is the significance of Mathura and Vṛndāvana? Who knows, huh? So the significance of Mathura and Vṛndāvana is everybody there is absorbed in remembering Kṛṣṇa. So wherever you are, if you are remembering Kṛṣṇa, it is Vṛndāvana. So if you are residing in Moscow or Gorki or any other city and you are remembering Kṛṣṇa, then you're in Vṛndāvana. So convert your house to a madhura or Vṛndāvana atmosphere. So these are known as the 5 limbs of devotional service. In addition, Caitanya Mahāprabhu gave 6 other points. You want to hear them? Will you follow them? Only if you promise you'll follow them, I will tell them. So first you have to promise, then I'll tell you. Okay, okay, okay. So then Caitanya Mahāprabhu said One should accept everything favorable for spiritual advancement and reject everything unfavorable. So I'm sure all of you have heard this point many times. What is the practical meaning of this? It means that if you find by the execution of a particular activity you will not have time to chant Hare Krishna, you will not have time to read, you will not have time to associate with devotees, then give up that activity. —and accept everything favorable for spiritual advancement. And if you find that by doing a particular activity you will have more time, facility for spiritual advancement, then accept it. Then next point is that you must understand that Kṛṣṇa is the maintainer of everybody. So Kṛṣṇa is the maintainer of everyone. That knowledge that the Lord is the maintainer is known as shraddha. Faith. So shraddha means faith in God, and our faith in God increases as we chant the holy names of Krishna. Why is it that people have no faith in God? They may go to the church, the temple, the mosque, still they have no faith in God. If they have faith in God, why are they not surrendering to God's instructions? So their faith in God is just a verbal expression and not a practical demonstration. Prasad RAVAL: So in reality, people have no faith in God. That is because they don't follow, they don't chant, they don't follow the instructions of the Lord. Therefore, the faith doesn't develop. So the devotee knows that Krishna is a maintainer. And he doesn't go to demigods or anybody else. He only goes to Krishna. You know that story of Gajendra and the crocodile? So the crocodile, it's— I don't have time to tell you the whole story, but I'll tell you a summary of the story. So the crocodile had, uh, the crocodile had the leg of the elephant in his mouth. Gajendra in his previous life had been a devotee, but he fell in bad association and he was, and he had to take his birth as an elephant. So for 1,000 years, Gajendra tried to pull his leg out of the crocodile's mouth. He did not succeed. All the demigods were watching the match. Thinking that he would turn to the demigods for help. But Gajendra went directly to the Supreme Lord. He knew that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord. So the devotee knows that Kṛṣṇa is the maintainer and the source of everything that the demigods also give. So the next principle of surrender is surrender. Surrendering to Kṛṣṇa is known in Sanskrit as śrī-nāgati. The next principle is to accept that one's interest should be the same as Kṛṣṇa's interest. That is, Kṛṣṇa's desire should be my desire. But what everybody else is thinking is, my desire should be Kṛṣṇa's desire. So whatever I want, God must give. I want ticket to America, I want a big car, I want lot of money, I want lot of girlfriends, God must give. And if God doesn't give, then there's no God. So devotee doesn't want God to give his desires. But devotee wants to find out what is Kṛṣṇa's desire. And he understands Kṛṣṇa's desires through the guru. The guru tells you what is Kṛṣṇa's desire. And then the devotee wants to do what is Kṛṣṇa's desire. Just like on the battle of Kurukṣetra, Arjuna did not want to engage in the battle. So many reasons Arjuna was giving why he should not engage in the battle. But Kṛṣṇa said, "No! Fight!" Fight for my pleasure. And then he fought the battle. So that is understanding Krishna's interest. So similarly, there's so many things that you and I may not like to do, but when you understand that this is the desire of Krishna as being reflected through the parampara and you do it, then you're, you're taking steps towards spiritual advancement. And what is Krishna's desire? This is reflected in the 18th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna says, sarva-dharma-paritaja mām ekaṁ śrī-nām rāja-ām tvāṁ sarva-pāpebho yo mokṣam imāsutaḥ. Give up all varieties of religiousness and just surrender unto Me and I will protect you. So Krishna's desire is you give up your māyā, you give up sense enjoyment, you give up your sinful activities, and you accept His instruction as the final word. And if you do what is Krishna's desire, then you will always be peaceful. And when you try to challenge Kṛṣṇa's desire, you'll always be confused and unhappy. As long as Arjuna was trying to challenge Kṛṣṇa's desire that he should fight, he was confused and unhappy. But when Arjuna accepted Kṛṣṇa's instruction, then he became peaceful and happy. So you may have so many plans what you should do with your life, but get your plans verified by these saintly people, whether it is a real plan or a bogus plan. And if your plan is not going to help you to go back to Godhead, then slash it. You have made so many plans for millions of lives and they have failed in every life. So why do you want to waste another life? And the last instruction of Śrīla Nāgadāti is humility. Practice humility, real humility, not false humility. Real humility means from within the heart you think you're fool number one. False humility means From the outside you say, "Yes, yes, yes, da, da, da, da," but you do what you want to do. I know some devotees, they'll always approach everyone like this and they, "Prabhuji, Prabhuji, what can I do for you?" But they'll all end up doing what they want to do and they don't care for anyone. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu has listed humility as the principal weapon for spiritual advancement. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu has said, tṛnāda piśu-ni-cena tarur api saiṣṇu-namāni-namāna-dena-kṛtṇa-dī-sādhāri. One can chant the Holy Name of the Lord in a humble frame of mind, thinking oneself lower than the stone in the street, more tolerant than the tree, and devoid of all sense of false prestige. What is false prestige? I am nūmra-yūn, I am nūmra-ādīm, I am the best. I know everything. Everybody should fall at my feet, and I will fall at nobody's feet. Everybody must come and flatter me. And if they don't flatter me, he's my enemy. Everybody must say, you are really smart. Watch, ochan kara shochala vek. And if somebody doesn't say ochan kara shochala vek, then he's my enemy. So that is false prestige. So false prestige must be destroyed. And how do you destroy false prestige? By understanding your fool number one. So these were the 8 principles of surrender, uh, these were 6 principles of surrender. Along with the five limbs of devotional service that I have briefly explained to all of you today. So take advantage of these instructions of Caitanya Mahāprabhu to Sanātana Gosvāmī, and you will always be successful in your life. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. So I'll take on questions for taulka, fiat minute. Yes, Brother Nairā, how you distribute books? Distribute books. Real prestige means to recognize yourself as servant of God. Just like false ego means to rebel against God, and real ego means to accept yourself as servant of God. Okay, I want to tell you, the devotees are like DJ, these sweet talks, poet, manova, roofer. So I really don't want you devotees to spend too much money on these great books. Now the good old days of communism are over. So, so I'd be happy if you devotees only give me one garland a day and not two garlands a day. Okay, bask in my applause. When the association of devotees is resulting in prajñālpa, then it is not spiritual association. Then it becomes material association. When somebody is talking prajñālpa, you should say, "Prabhu, prajñālpa." You see, it takes two to tangle, they say in English. If you want an entanglement, you need two people. So for doing prajñālpa, you need two partners. One is a speaker and the other is a hearer. So when somebody comes to do prajāpa and you say, "Prabhu, I'm not interested," then I can guarantee you that other person is not going to talk to the walls. Nobody does prajāpa with walls. They only do prajāpa with human beings. And if somebody is crazy, he may do prajāpa with animals. Okay. Lama Lama.