CONTENTS:
- SURRENDER ATTRACTS KRISHNA'S MERCY
- WHEN KRISHNA FORGIVES
- WHO WILL SAVE THE SUFFERING SOULS
- INQUIRIES OF THE SOUL
1. SURRENDER ATTRACTS KRISHNA'S MERCY
So, this morning we had a class based on Narada Muni’s admission to Vyasdeva and here from the same chapter we are hearing about Narada Muni giving Vyasdeva some advice about the exalted position of devotional service and in that context Prabhupada gave an example of difference between a devotee and a non-devotee, a karmi. “Karmi” means those who depend upon their own ability to enjoy. Those who endeavor to enjoy the results. And the law of nature is that right actions will give you happiness and wrong actions will make you suffer. That’s called karmic reactions, law of karma. As you sew, so shall you reap. If you act in a good way you will enjoy, if you act in a wrong way you will be punished.
So, that is the principle of karmic reaction and in this verse, Narada Muni is emphatically telling Vyasdeva that a devotee even, if he falls down due to bad association, it’s not very serious. It is a mistake and from a mistake, you learn. And why does he not remain fallen? Because he has taken shelter of The Lord, the Lord picks him up.
So here again we are coming into another consideration, who is a devotee and who is not a devotee. The karmis, they are simply trying to enjoy themselves. So, a materialistic person is one who depends upon his ability and means to enjoy and a devotee is one who surrenders himself unto the lotus feet of The Lord and depends upon the Lord’s mercy.
So, there comes one factor. That factor is surrender. A devotee is one who has surrendered to The Lord and non-devotee is one who did not surrender to The Lord. And here Prabhupada considers that the devotee is like the son of a very rich man and a non-devotee is an orphan. There is no one to take care of him; therefore, he has to fend for himself. And the unfortunate thing is that although he is in such a miserable condition, he thinks that he is enjoying. The orphan loitering in the street doesn’t have any food to eat. For just a morsel of food he has to beg or undergo so many difficulties but he is thinking “Oh I am the king of the three worlds.” That is the situation.
Whereas the devotee, he is the son of rich man he does not have to worry about anything. He knows his father is there, he is a multimillionaire and he doesn’t have to worry about anything. In that respect Prabhupada once gave a very nice example. Prabhupada was walking on Juhu beach. Prabhupada often used to go for morning walks and then in Juhu beach some people were walking their dogs. Nice looking dogs, beautifully groomed. The master himself is taking him for a walk on the beach and there are also some stray dogs, pariah. And Prabhupada pointed out to the dogs “The dogs with the master and the dogs without their master”. And Prabhupada asked what the difference is between these two dogs. Devotees couldn’t answer. But visually you can see the difference.
Then Prabhupada pointed out the difference, that these dogs don’t have a master and these dogs have a master and see the difference. Then Prabhupada pointed out that’s the difference between a devotee and a non-devotee. The devotees have a master. Who is the master? Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
And the non-devotees - look at their condition. They don’t have food to eat, they have not taken bath, dirty, barking at other passersby and especially when they see the dog with the master they bark at him. Why are you so fortunate? Why do you look so carefree? Why do you look so elegant? Why do you look so handsome? Don’t the street dogs do that? They bark at the passersby; they bark at the passing dogs. So that is the difference.
And what are the criteria here? Just to be surrendered! Krishna is there. Krishna is there to take care of everybody. Krishna is even taking care even of the street dog, the pariahs. But Krishna is especially concerned about those who have surrendered unto him. When somebody surrenders unto Krishna, Krishna says “Okay, I will take care of you”. But to those who don’t surrender Krishna, says "Okay, you are on your own! For everything you have to earn yourself.” And what are the criteria for earning? Punya! If you have punya you get your food, you don’t have punya you starve. That is the condition; you are on your own. So, you decide - you are on your own. You fend for yourself. But those who surrender to Krishna, Krishna says, “I will take care of them”. But the surrendered devotee, he is so fond of Krishna and he loves Krishna so much that he feels that “I will take care of Krishna”. Although Krishna is taking care of the whole world, the devotee thinks that I will take care of Krishna. That is the difference between a devotee and a non-devotee.
2. WHEN KRISHNA FORGIVES
So, this is a wonderful process that we have. A devotee may sometimes make a mistake. The son may tell the father “Okay, I will try to be independent”. And the father says “Okay, go”. But when the son suffers, then he comes back to the father, “I am sorry. I have made a mistake I won’t go against you again”. Sometimes the son may even tell the father “I know better than you”. The father says “Show me you that know better than me”. So, he (the son) goes and he suffers and then he comes back. So, the suffering of a devotee is actually a stepping stone towards spiritual life. He suffers, and as a result of that he becomes more serious. He realizes that the most intelligent thing to do is to surrender to Krishna.
Therefore, there is a statement ‘je jan Krishna bhaje se bade chatur’ those who surrender themselves to Krishna they are very smart, they are very intelligent because they know where to go and what to do. And those who don’t surrender to Krishna, they are not only unfortunate, they are also very miserable. Rather, I will put it the other way around, they are not only miserable but they are unfortunate. They are unfortunate because the entire spiritual sky is there, open to them but they say no, no, no we don’t want. The criteria for entering the spiritual world is just surrender. The prisoners who are suffering in the prison house are being punished by the prison keeper and attendants of the prison. They are being beaten up mercilessly and they are suffering so much. And their consideration is why don’t you surrender to The Lord? “No, I won’t surrender! Surrender to the Lord, No I won’t surrender”. But if they just did that, yes, surrender, there will be no more suffering.
Then those jail keepers who are beating them up, they will say ok come I will take you. That’s what maya does. Maya is proposing surrender to Krisna and the conditioned soul is saying “No”. Then Maya acts. Then Maya says, “Surrender to Krishna”, but they adamantly keep on saying “No, I will not surrender! Who is Krishna? I don’t believe in Krishna. Krishna is God? God?! I am God! Everybody should worship me.” They don’t have food to eat nor any place to stay but he thinks “I am God”. And Maya is trying to rectify his mistake, smashing, beating mercilessly, time and time again. But he just keeps on saying “No, I won’t surrender. But all it takes is for him to just say “Okay, sorry, I made a mistake. I realize now”.
Now the problem is that when Maya is beating, they don’t realize that the way to get out of the suffering condition is to surrender. The only person who can carry that message to him is a devotee. That’s why the devotees have the solemn responsibility to carry the message to the suffering conditioned souls. Only the devotees can tell and they can understand. Otherwise, there is no way of understanding that everyone is suffering and nobody knows the way out of their suffering condition and they are struggling life after life to remove that suffering but the way out of that suffering condition is so simple, just surrender to Krishna.
3. WHO WILL SAVE THE SUFFERING SOULS?
And who carries this message? “Surrender to Krishna and all your sufferings will be removed” Who carries the message? Devotee! That’s why the devotees have a very important responsibility. Especially when you see people are suffering. When they are enjoying, they don’t want to hear, but when they are suffering, they are open to listening. So, devotees should always be prepared to carry the message to them and wait for the time when they are in the right frame of mind to accept this message. When they are suffering then you say “Come”.
Another example can be a traveller in the desert dying of thirst who is running after a mirage. Mirage, what is a mirage? How many of you have seen a mirage? What is a mirage? A mirage is when; in the middle of a desert, you get the impression that here is water.
Who knows how it happens? What causes the appearance of mirage? Yes, it has to do with refraction. Hotter air is lighter, isn’t it? The desert is very hot and the atmosphere makes the hotter air go up and colder (thicker layer) air goes down and the hotter air makes the lights rays bend. When the lights rays go from the thicker layer of air (cold air) to the thinner layer of air (hot air) it bends. It bends and then reaches the optimum angle, the critical angle. Then it doesn’t go down anymore, it goes up. So, then what happens? Then you get to see upside down due to refraction. It’s just an illusion caused by refraction. And the thinner air makes it look like it shakes, waver, and it gives the impression of water. So, you see a palm tree upside down and it’s wavering, so that makes you feel like there is water. But is there water? It’s an illusion. It’s hot sand. Just the opposite, its fire but it gives the impression of water. So that’s what the material nature is like. It is a place of suffering but we think that there is some enjoyment.
Now a traveller thinks that that is water and he keeps on running. He doesn’t know where water is so he just keeps on running because at least he feels there is some possibility of some water but the more he runs, the more the mirage runs away from him. Now how can the traveller who lost his way in the middle of the desert find out where actual water is? How can he find out? Somebody has to tell him. Somebody who knows where the oasis is, he comes and tells him that “Look this is mirage. This is not where the water is. The water is there! Come with me, I’ll take you to the water.”
Now who is that person in the middle of the desert who gives the information about the oasis to the traveller who has lost his way? Who is that person? A devotee! Yes, a devotee of Krishna. And then what does he do? He pulls out a bottle of water and says drink it. Now is there any way not to believe him? So that is what a devotee does. And that is how the devotee creates the good fortune for a suffering conditioned soul. So that is why the devotees must preach. There are so many travellers who have lost their way in the middle of the desert. And now we have to give them the right information and relieve them from their sufferings. So, are you fulfilling that responsibility? Who is doing that? Please raise your hands whoever is doing that? Or should I consider that you all are very humble. Okay, I’ll make it easier for you. Who all are trying to do? Okay, thank you.
So that’s what we do. Now the consideration is, did you find out that this material world is a desert and everyone here is running after the mirage. The possibility or the prospect of enjoyment in material nature is like running after mirage. How many of you understood that the endeavor to enjoy in this material nature is like running after a mirage?
In that respect Prabhupada once told me, so many lifetimes you are trying to enjoy and you can see that you are still not satisfied. So that’s it, we’re running life after life after a mirage. And still, we did not quench our thirst. So that is the first thing that you realize when you come across pure devotee. He makes us recognize the real taste of the material world. And then he shows us the way to the oasis. Did you find the oasis? How many of you got the information about the oasis? Very good. So, are you going to give the information to those travelers in middle of desert who lost their way?
You simply have to tell them look why are you running after that? With all your money are you happy? You are trying to enjoy and you have made so much money, you tried in so many ways to enjoy, are you really enjoying? Or are you suffering? And if they realize that they’re suffering, they are ready to hear. And then you tell them that this is a lie. You’ll never be able to quench your thirst, come with me, I’ll take you to the water. And it’s not only an oasis; it’s an ocean of water. There, you can drink that water, you can swim in that water, and you can even drown yourself in that ocean of ecstasy. So that is what Krishna consciousness is and that is the responsibility we have now as we have found the information.
4. INQUIRIES OF THE SOUL
Question: Sometimes we are not sure whether some certain point should be brought about and talked about, but at the same time we might not get a right time to talk about this subject, so we just let it go. It seems important to know and reconcile with the truth, but we feel that the other side may not be the right timing to bring about this subject. What is the best action in the spirit of cooperation, when all are devotees?
HHBCS: Actually, in order to cooperate what we must try to avoid is - quarrel. If something is wrong, then it must be addressed. But it must be addressed in such a way that it does not cause quarrel. The best way to do that is to go to a higher authority. If there is something wrong then the higher authority can actually rectify it. So that way, to tell you in our society, like we have higher and higher authority. The ultimate authority now is the GBC body. It is a group of devotees, those who are very senior, very learned and very capable. If we cannot solve some problem in a lower level then ultimately, we can take it gradually to the GBC. When a group of senior devotees address the issue then it’s most likely that it will be rectified.
May be I will explain it a little more. You came to the temple and you see that some devotee did something wrong. Now that should be addressed. If you go to the devotee and tell him that, “Look you did something wrong?” Then the devotee will say, “Who are you to tell me?” There will be conflict. So, in order to avoid that conflict, best is to report it to the temple president or some senior devotee. “This devotee has done this, which is not right.” Then if the temple president tells him then the devotee has to accept it. So, in that way you address the issue and avoid conflict.
In order to cooperate, we have to be accommodative. That is the point. We should learn to accommodate others. Accommodating means trying to tolerate them and trying to be together.
Question: My question is regarding the question of Radharani mataji, karmic reactions. I was reminded of the story of Bharat Maharaj in which he fell down. Isn’t it that when one’s not attentive to daily life then may be he is not connected to the internal energy of Krishna and this fan of karmic reactions are switched on again?
HHBCS: First of all, we have to be very careful not to switch on the fan again. However late happens, be very careful not to do that which means that from the spiritual platform we don’t go back to the material platform.
Now as far as the example of Bharat Maharaj that he gave, it has been actually explained that Bharat Maharaj’s fall down was not actually fall down, it was Krishna’s mercy. In all the karma that was there, like it was burnt out in one lifetime in the body of a deer. Like we can draw a corollary, draw another analogy parallel to that, or rather opposite to that, is Saubhari Rishi. Saubhari Rishi fell down but the cause of Saubhari Muni’s fall down was actually his insulting, his offending Garuda. That’s why he fell down and got mad. But for Bharat Maharaj’s case there was no such offense committed. But it was his attachment that developed to the deer, which can be seen that actually the original attachment may have been much stronger. But it manifested just because the fan was switched off, it just came out in a simple way. But though that apparent fall down of getting a deer body, I mean, all his karmas were taken care of, and that is why in the next life, he was a pure devotee.
In Bharat Maharaj’s case we don’t see any such offense. In Bharat Maharaj’s case, it was not actually a fall down, but he actually got the body of a deer, an animal body but he did not fall down, his consciousness was still the consciousness of an advanced devotee. That is why though he was in a deer’s body, he remembered everything from his past and he acted like a very advanced devotee. So, Bharat Maharaj was surrendered to Krishna, and Krishna took care of him. Although He gave him a deer body, Krishna knew the best and that is why a devotee is always surrendered to Krishna. The devotee’s prayer is: “Let me be born as an insect in the association of Your devotees but I do not want to have the birth of Brahma if he is not a devotee.” Whatever karmic reaction that may appear there, it was just because of the fan that was moving due to momentum
Question: Just as we have a natural body, physical body and if we cut it then we should apply some medicine on the wound and also we indulge with the subtle body so if we has a psychological disease due to the youth, from our past, we went some crisis in our youth, is it allowed to check with a psychologist so we can apply the right medicine because Krishna gives us the propensity to see the psychologist doctor to cure us.
HHBCS: The best psychologist is the spiritual master. We have a gross body and a subtle body, but beyond that we have a spiritual body. The spiritual master is actually dealing from that plane, the spiritual plane, that already includes the subtle and gross body, identities that we have.