Verse: Uddhava Gita
Date: May 30th, 2013
Place: Gita Nagari, US
Transcription: Ramananda Raya Dasa
Editing: Ramananda Raya Dasa
BCS: So everyone is nicely situated? Ready for the second session? Did you all have nice breakfast? What did they serve for breakfast today?
[Devotees: dahl unclear]
Kitchari, okay…
[Devotees: fruits, unclear]
Very good. And everyone is wide awake? When I was selecting this topic that was one consideration I had. I have noticed that when there is a discussion of philosophy people tend to fall asleep. That’s why I started to give seminars on story based topics like Ramayana, Mahabharata etcetera. But this time I have selected a topic which is very, very philosophical. This was a challenge whether I will be able to keep you all awake.
In that respect, the other day someone was reminding me of a story that I once told them. I did not get it from any scripture though but I heard it. When Ramacandra killed Kumbhakarna then Nidra devi – Nidra devi is sleep personified, the goddess of sleep – she came to Ramacandra and asked Him with tears in her eyes: “You have taken away my only shelter, Kumbhakarna, who used to sleep continuously for six months and stay awake for one day. So where shall I go? So Ramacandra said: “Don’t worry, wherever there will be Bhagavata-katha [laughter] you can go there. And I have noticed with that in mind, when people come and tell me that they can’t sleep, they suffer from insomnia, I tell them: “Go to our temple and attend the Bhagavatam class.” [laughter] And it works! [laughter] Many of them came and reported afterwards; thanking me [laughter] that how they have been able to overcome insomnia. Anyway, so this is one natural phenomenon that one tends to fall asleep. Anyway, I know, you all are serious listeners. Does everybody have pen and paper? Make it a point to take notes. Because Srila Prabhupada told us to study Bhagavatam, study Bhagavatam scrutinizingly, not just read, but seriously study the topics that are being discussed. When you feel that something is important, take note. If you could not understand something or if you need clarification, write it down. So in this way, and let me see, I will try to leave a lot of room for questions and answers.
Now we are actually really entering into Uddhava-gita. Krsna told Uddhava to stay on and go to Badarika Asrama, become completely free from all material attachments. And in the course of His instructions Krsna pointed out that this perceivable material nature, that is the nature that is perceivable through our senses, that this material nature is temporary. And therefore it is illusory. This material nature is illusory. And one must learn to overcome that influence. And Uddhava had a few very pertinent questions. Maybe I can just read those questions, at least some of them that Uddhava asked to Krsna. So I will just read them:
Sri Uddhava said: My dear Lord, You alone award the results of yoga practice, and You are so kind that by Your own influence You distribute the perfection of yoga to Your devotees. Thus You are the Supreme Soul who is realized through yoga, and it is You Who are the origin of all mystic power. For my supreme benefit You have explained the procedure for giving up the material world through the process of sannyasa or renunciation. (SB 11.7.14)
Krsna actually asked Uddhava to accept sannyasa, cut his bondage and become free from all material attachments. So he is saying that now. And here Uddhava is pointing out the Knower of the yogas and the goal of the yogas is Krsna.
BCS: Who is the Knower of the yoga?
Devotees: Krsna
BCS: Who gave the process of yoga?
Devotees: Krsna
BCS: And what is the meaning of yoga? Yoga means to be linked up to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And there are various types of yogas. There are karma-yoga and jñana-yoga. And mainly in this jñana-yoga category there are various other yogas, predominantly ashtanga -yoga. Jñana-yoga actually leads to ashtanga -yoga. And ashtanga-yoga concludes or culminates into samadhi. And samadhi means perceiving the Lord in the heart. And this samadhi leads to yoginam api sarvesam mad-gatenantar-atmana. Of all the yogis the one who has been able to be completely absorbed in thinking of Krsna, he is the best of all yogis. Therefore the goal of yoga is Krsna.
My dear Lord, O Supreme Soul, for those whose minds are attached to sense gratification, and especially for those bereft of devotion unto You, such renunciation of material enjoyment is most difficult to perform. That is my opinion. (SB 11.7.14)
In simple words, what is Uddhava saying? Unless and until one got the higher taste of developing a loving relationship with You, for him it is very difficult to give up material attachments. Prabhupada very emphatically made that point. You cannot artificially give up your tendency to enjoy. Because this tendency for enjoyment, the desire for enjoyment is inherent in a living entity. The jiva by nature is ananda-maya. Ananda-maya means full of joy. One who is full of joy, how can he give up the propensity to enjoy? Everybody wants to enjoy. But there is a consideration here. There is a right kind of enjoyment and a wrong kind of enjoyment. If, in order to enjoy you suffer, is that desirable? You want to enjoy but in the course of your endeavor for enjoyment you end up suffering, is that what you really want? Material enjoyment is like that. Material enjoyment is, you try to enjoy but what do you get? You try to enjoy but you end up suffering. So that is not desirable. But if you don’t have any other option, then that is what you will naturally hanker for. Oh, at least there is some possibility for enjoyment. Although I have not been able to enjoy for so many years or so many lifetimes but maybe tomorrow, maybe tomorrow it will work. Or maybe this allurement will be effective. That is what material involvement is like. Giving us the promise for enjoyment but we are getting the suffering. That is the meaning of Maya . How did Prabhupada describe Maya? Prabhupada said: “Maya says: “Come, come, enjoy me.” And when you go near Maya, then she gives you a whack!” That is what Maya is: “She allures you: “Come, come enjoy me.” And then with a stick she just beats you up. Now the question is why is this arrangement then? Why did Krsna make this arrangement? The answer is that Krsna made this arrangement to remind you that you cannot enjoy on your own. You cannot enjoy in this way but there is a real way of enjoying: “Go there!” There is real enjoyment.
That is what Krsna is trying to teach us through Maya. Therefore when you suffer in the material nature, what will you learn from that? What should you conclude? Are you suffering? Do you suffer? Is there a possibility for suffering? When you are suffering then you can try to do two things. Either rectifying that condition, remove that suffering condition or realize that Krsna is actually telling me that this is not the way to enjoy. Give up this way of enjoying, especially if you have found the real way to enjoy and the real of enjoyment is in being connected to the Supreme Enjoyer. One is you are trying to become an enjoyer yourself and the other is to become connected to the Supreme Enjoyer. What is the way to become connected? That is what the scriptures are informing us all the time: Bhakti, bhakti, bhakti, all the time. Especially in the course of Krsna’s instructions to Uddhava you will see that. Uddhava is time and time again pointing out. Surrender to Krsna, become a devotee. Besides devotional service there is no other way. Meaning there is no other way to become connected to Krsna besides bhakti. There is no other way to become connected to Krsna besides offering your love to Him. Because the love is the means to become connected. When you love somebody what happens? When you love somebody you think about that person all the time, your consciousness is completely absorbed in that. When you love somebody you want to become united with that person, you want to be with that person all the time. Love is actually the force by which we become attracted to other objects or entities. Therefore love is the means to become connected to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And that love for Krsna is known as bhakti and the expression of that love is called service. People may say: “Well I serve without loving.” There are so many people we are serving although we don’t love them. One immediate consideration will be: “My boss, the place where I work. I am serving him morning till night, 7/24 or at least 5 days 9 to 5. But I don’t love him but I serve him. Yes, you serve him, not because of love for him but you serve him because of your love for money. You don’t love your boss but the boss gives you money and you love money, therefore you serve him. If your boss did not give you money, you would not have served him. In this way we can see that service generally is an expression for love. Now we see on other areas that we serve. Like the mother loves the child, the father loves his children. Brother, sister, husband, wife and friends, all these relationships are based on love. And the expression of that love is service. That’s why bhakti and service are interlinked. We love Krsna, the expression of that love is through service. Service means, our body is engaged in expressing our love and service. Our mind is engaged in expressing that love and service.
O my Lord, I myself am most foolish because my consciousness is merged in the material body and bodily relations, which are all manufactured by Your illusory energy. Thus I am thinking, “I am this body, and all of these relatives are mine.” Therefore, my Lord, please instruct Your poor servant. Please tell me how I can very easily carry out Your instructions. (SB 11.7.16)
My dear Lord, You are the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and You reveal Yourself to Your devotees. Besides Your Lordship, I do not see anyone who can actually explain perfect knowledge to me. Such a perfect teacher is not to be found even among the demigods in heaven. Indeed, all of the demigods, headed by Lord Brahma, are bewildered by Your illusory potency. They are conditioned souls who accept their own material bodies and bodily expansions to be the highest truth. (SB 11.7.17)
Such a wonderful question and this is the last part of his question:
Therefore, O Lord, feeling weary of material life and tormented by its distresses, I now surrender unto You because You are the perfect master. You are the unlimited, all-knowing Supreme Personality of Godhead, Whose spiritual abode in Vaikuntha is free from all disturbances. In fact, You are known as Narayana, the true Friend of all living beings. (SB 11.7.18)
Now what is he saying: “I am surrendering myself to You. So please, impart this knowledge unto me. You are the dear most Friend of all the living entities”. In this context we can remember, what is the final instruction that Krsna gave in the Bhagavad-gita? Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja: [ Bg . 18.66] And here, what is Uddhava saying: “I am surrendered unto You, please instruct me.” Bhagavad-gita ended and Srimad-Bhagavatam began. Bhagavad-gita: sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja. And Srimad-Bhagavatam begins:dharman projjhita-kaitavo ’tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satāṁ
(SB 1.1.2). Sarva-dharman parityajya / dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo ’tra. Bhagavad-gita is ending: “Surrender unto Me, giving up all so-called religious activities”. And Srimad-Bhagavatam is beginning when all these cheating religions are completely given up. Then only vedyam vastavam vastu, one is able to vedya, to understandvastavam atra vastu, the real reality. And here we must remember that Uddhava-gita is actually the culmination of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Whatever we understood, whatever we studied in the Tenth Canto, up to the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, is now being presented by Krsna. What is the purpose of studying Srimad-Bhagavatam? What had been the purpose?
Jaya Sri Sri Radha-Damodara Ki Jaya!
Jaya Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai Ki Jaya!
That is what Uddhava is also presenting: “Please tell me what I should do now?” The purpose actually had been to give up all material attachment. And he is saying in order to understand how to give up all material attachments you have to instruct me how to give up and therefore Krsna started to instruct. Krsna started with an anecdote: Yadu, Yayati’s son, Yadu. King Yayati was a great king. And he had four sons: Yadu,Turvasu, Druhyu and Puru. And from Yadu, the Yadu-dynasty started where Krsna appeared, the Yadu-dynasty.
Once king Yadu was traveling and he came across a brahmana, a personality who could make out he is perfectly situated, although the activity of that personality was very unusual. He was like a madman. He is activities are not apparently rational. A madman is not sane, insane, not normal. He sometimes cries, he sometimes laughs, sometimes he speaks like a child, sometimes he is absolutely silent. That is the state of a paramahamsa. Paramahamsa stage means the state beyond this material nature. This ultimate spiritual activity has four different stages: ku?icaka, bahudaka, parivrajaka and Paramahamsa. When you talk about detachment, sannyasa, there are different stages of sannyasa. The highest stage of sannyasa is Paramahamsa. The meaning of the word Paramahamsa is the most exalted swan-like personality. What is the special characteristic of the swan? The swan’s characteristic is not only that it stays in a very beautiful and serene atmosphere, not only it looks very serene and beautiful, very graceful. Look at the swan, it is so graceful. The opposite of a swan is a crow. The swan lives in a solitary place and a crow thrives on garbage. Especially in big cities you will see, we notice in Calcutta, full of crows because there is so much garbage and not a single swan. At one time we wanted to have some swans for Mayapura. This is a very interesting thing to note actually: in the entire India we could not find a single swan, except in the zoos probably. No swan, because all the swans have left India. From that it shows what is the state of affairs in India. It has become the place of crows. Vayasa-tirtha, a place of pilgrimage for the crows. Vayasa means crows and tirtha means a place of pilgrimage. The place of pilgrimage for crows. Full of crows but no swan. But the special quality of a swan is that the swan can discriminate or separate milk from water. You give a mixture of milk and water to a swan, a swan will take only the milk and reject the water. Now the swanlike personalities they can separate the spiritual from the material. There is a combination of matter and spirit. This world is combination of matter and spirit? Some objects are living and some objects are dead. Dead matter but living beings. So actually this world is a combination of matter and spirit. Now the swanlike personality just accepts the spiritual aspect and rejects the material. And Paramahamsa is a personality who is absolutely situated in the spiritual platform. He is totally free from all material contamination. That is a Paramahamsa. Now, because they are in another dimension, because they are in another realm, their activities are not in coherence with the material nature. When we are in the material nature we make adjustment with the material nature, we behave in a certain way, we speak in a certain way, we act in a certain way, but a Paramahamsa he does not do like that. His activities are not in the material nature. His activities are in relation to the spiritual nature. Therefore from the material perspective it appears that he is like an abnormal person, a madman. Not mad but he appears to be like a madman. That stage is called avadhuta, Paramahamsa or avadhuta, whose activities are not rational. Here the consideration is that they appear to be like madman. Madman is who? One who can also not deal with the material nature. His intelligence has gone demented, defected. He cannot relate to this material nature. So his activities are in a certain way. Now the avadhutas are also not relating to the material nature. Both are unable to deal with the material nature. Therefore both are alike but this likeness is like the likeness between two opposites. Like don’t the sunrise and the sunset look alike? Beginning of the day and the end of the day. Two opposites, extremes, they look alike. Therefore the activities of an avadhuta are something like quite akin, quite similar to the activity of a madman. But they are actually diametrically opposed.
So Yadu came across this avadhuta. And he was asking him: “I can see that you are in the most exalted situation but you behave like a madman. You sometimes speak like a child. Your activities are not really apparently rational or wise. And in this way… And he asked: “You seem to be perfectly situated in your consciousness. How come?” This personality then began to speak. He said: “Yes, I have severed all my relationships with the material nature. And I wonder around like a free man, not caring for anything. Wherever I am, I am perfectly happy. And then he admitted that he learnt his lesson from twenty four gurus. He received this knowledge from twenty four spiritual masters. And then he began to explain who those spiritual masters are. Those spiritual masters as he described are: the earth, air, sky, water, fire, moon, sun, pigeon, python, Wow, a snake is a spiritual master and ocean, a moth, moth is like a butterfly that creates cocoon that you get silk from, a silk-moth, bees, elephant, honey thief, the one who steals the honey from the bees. A deer, a fish, a prostitute named Pingala, kurara bird like eagle, a foolish and lazy child, a young girl, an arrow maker, one who makes arrows. A serpent, a spider and insect called pesakrit wasp. These are the twenty four spiritual masters. What is he trying to point out? That from these twenty four masters he learnt, meaning there is always something we can learn from somebody, provided our heart is open to learn some lesson. In this way we can also learn another thing. As we make advancement the concept of a guru expands. When we are in the materialistic situation then we don’t want to accept any guru. Oh, guru, no! All those gurus I know, they are cheats, they just come to collect money and they are not to be trusted. Materialistic people don’t want to accept any guru. That means they don’t want to surrender to anybody. They think that they know everything and there is no need to learn anything from anyone. That is the materialistic teachings. When we enter in the spiritual domain then we realize the need for accepting a guru. First we surrender to one guru. Even that is a big endeavor. Oh I have to surrender, listen to him. The point is that when you accept your guru then you have to listen to him. So there is a big hesitation whether I am able to accept somebody. Then finally we find one. And then we think that we have to surrender only to him and not to anybody else. I have my guru, why should I listen to you, I have my guru. I listen to my guru, my guru. But then, as our consciousness expands, as we become more spiritually situated then our concept of guru expands also. First we thought no guru, then one guru, then it will be many gurus as we make spiritual advancement. How you are willing, how you are prepared to receive instructions from other senior Vaishnavas. Mind you, that is the sign of spiritual advancement, how you are willing to receive spiritual instructions from other senior Vaishnavas. Therefore always be open to receiving that mercy in the form of instructions from other senior Vaishnavas.
And here we are seeing that this avadhuta, this Paramahamsa that king Yadu came across, he is finding his guru in so many things. Even an insect he is learning from, even from a snake he is learning something. What to speak of living entities, even from inert matter he is learning from. From air he is learning something. From earth he is learning something. From fire he is learning something. There are always opportunities to learn. And whoever we are learning from, he is a guru. Right from the beginning that point has been very clearly established. And that is the meaning of becoming trnad api su-nicena. Others are all higher than me and I am lower, I am in a receiving end. So there is so much I can receive from so many individuals. At least we should be very, very open to receive instructions from other exalted devotees. Therefore Prabhupada created this International Society for Krsna Consciousness. So please be conscious about that. Wherever you find the spiritual wealth collect it from there, collect it wherever you find it. I am also pointing out to you so that you can consider that point. When Prabhupada was here, when senior devotees came, all the devotees came to listen to them. But now we can see, we kind of entered into a phase when in most cases we find that the devotees go to listen to only their guru, not to others. Only when the gurus come, they come to the temple. Only when the guru gives class they come to listen to the Bhagavatam class. No, whenever there is an opportunity to hear something from a senior devotee go there. Because your business is to collect the spiritual wealth. If you are searching for something and when you get it, won’t you go out of your way to get it? Like I was talking about honey-thief, what does the honey-thief do? He goes to the forest risking his life. Sometimes they loose their lives. Like in the forest in Bengal known as Sundarvan you get very good honey. And people go and Sundarvan is also famous for royal Bengal tigers. In spite of this dangerous situation they go to collect honey. Because his business is to collect honey. So what to speak when honey is readily available. The more you become interested in that topic the more eager you will be to get it.
So you want something like… Okay, I will give you a very simple example. When I was young I had a hobby of collecting stamps. And when I got to know that somebody had some rare stamps, although I was very young, I would just go… like not telling anybody and I would just go. Otherwise they would not let me go to that other end of the city. Because I was interested in stamps, wherever there were stamps available I just went and collected them.
So now, what is our interest now? Now that we have joined Iskcon our interest is in collecting spiritual information. Therefore we should be eager to get it wherever we find it. Whenever senior devotees come, it is a rare opportunity to collect this spiritual honey, so let us go and collect it. And that is how we enrich ourselves. On the other hand if we think, now I know everything. There is no need for me to go anywhere and listen. I know everything. Then what will happen? Then that is a bad sign. It means that I am not interested to collect this wealth anymore. I have become saturated. Therefore no room for collecting it. On the other hand in spiritual life the more we make advancement the more eager we will become to collect these spiritual informations. So much so that we will become eager or open to receive instructions from insignificant entities. Although they are not telling us but we absorb it, we derive it by seeing some qualities in them.
Like I was speaking about, one of the first things he is talking about this earth. Like earth is manifest here in two ways, one in the form of a mountain and the other one in the form of a tree. What do you learn from the mountain? Have you seen the mountain? So steady! Immovable. In spiritual life we should become as steady. Don’t they say steady as a rock? So what to speak of a mountain? This is what you learn from earth. This is what avadhuta learned from earth.
Another is… Earth is tree. Interesting why a tree has been considered to be earth. Because there are five elements: earth, water, fire, air, ether. And the predominating aspect in the body of a tree is earth. What is the predominating aspect of a human body? Water. What is the percentage of water in the human body? About seventy five to eighty percent. For us at least there is no need to go very deep to understand what we can learn from a tree: “taror iva sahisnuna”, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said. Be as tolerant as a tree. Tolerant. So badly a tree is treated but a tree does not respond or react. So that is what we learn from a tree. And the tree on the other hand gives a fruit, gives the shade. Someone is cutting the tree but the tree is giving him the shade. “Oh my dear friend, the sun is so hot. Okay, I will give you the shade, come on this side of me. So he moves on that side where the shade is and he keeps on cutting the tree.” “Oh, you are hungry? Okay, here is some ripe fruit.” Take some. Isn’t that the attitude of a tree? Or at least can’t we see that that is the attitude of a tree. From earth he learnt how to serve others and how to dedicate one’s whole life for the benefit for others. Isn’t it a very important lesson to learn from a tree? And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself actually reminded us to learn from a tree. Become as tolerant as a tree.
From the wind what did he learn? He learnt how to remain uncontaminated by the body and the objects of the senses. The wind carries the aroma. Does the wind get affected by the aroma? The wind carries the bad odor but does the wind become affected by the bad odor? No. Similarly avadhuta learnt how not to be affected by the body and the senses. We are carrying the senses. The senses have their impulses. But we, the individuals, the conscious beings should not be affected by that. The senses will go on with its own business; the senses will go on, the senses will desire to see beautiful objects. The senses will desire to enjoy relishable food. The senses will desire to have pleasing touches, soft and pleasing touches. Okay, these are the business of the senses. The senses are actually wanting, not me. This is how from the air one learns how not to become affected by the influence of the body and the senses. The senses are becoming affected, not me. So when the body gets hungry and there is no food, that is what the body wants, not me. And when there is some food, okay, body, you can have it. This is how we have to learn not to be affected by what we are carrying, just as the wind does not become affected by the aroma or odor.
And that is from the external wind. And from the internal wind what did we learn? And from the internal wind what did he learn? Internal wind is breathing. What is the purpose of breathing? What is the breathing doing? Breathing is keeping the body alive. Similarly we should just be concerned about keeping the body alive. Okay, the body needs it, keep it alive, not be affected by the process of remaining alive. From the sky he learnt how the soul which pervades all material substances is both indivisible and imperceptible. The sky is the background, right? Don’t you say material sky? Spiritual sky. Sky is the background on which the clouds are there or objects are there. Everything is actually in ether or sky. The space is actually the sky and everything is situated in the sky. Although the sky is pervading the material substances but it is imperceptible. Do you see the sky? No. And it is indivisible, it cannot be divided, it cannot be separated. Other objects, specially earth, solid objects can be cut but can you cut sky? Even water you can separate, fire also you can separate, air also you can separate. But the sky you cannot separate, it is indivisible. And it is all pervading. Similarly the soul is behind everything. Just as the sky is the ultimate background the soul is the ultimate background. And the soul is indivisible and imperceptible. Yet the soul is there.
From the water, what did avadhuta learn? From the water avadhuta learnt how to become clear and purified. Of all the substances which is the most purifying substance? Water. So that is one thing that we must learn from water. To remain clear and purifying everything. We take bath, we get purified. Not even take bath, we take water and sip it by saying acaman you get purified, both externally and internally. Irrespective of whatever condition we may be.
From the fire he learnt how to devour all things without becoming dirty and how to destroy all the inauspicious desires of those who make offerings to him. What does the fire do? Fire burns everything. Does the fire get affected? Fire does not get affected. Similarly one should learn to remain unaffected by any dirty situation and be purified. Purify others and not to become affected by others’ impurities. Like for example the fire purifies something, you put some dirty things in the fire, what does the fire do? The fire burns it. But does the fire become dirty? No. And he also learnt from the fire how the spirit soul enters into every body and gives illumination. And how the birth and death of those who are embodied cannot be disearned. The spirit soul similarly can enter into every body and give illumination. Illumination means? Where is the consciousness coming from? The spirit soul enters into any kind of body and illuminates that body with consciousness. That is the characteristic of the soul that he learnt from the fire. Just light fire. The soul can also enter into every body and illuminate it. Just as fire illuminates everything.
From the moon he learnt how the material body undergoes growth and dwindling. The moon, what happens? You see the moon waxing and waning. During the waxing period the moon is gradually becoming larger and larger. And then also it begins to wane. And then finally no moon! A new moon. It reaches the state of full moon and then comes to the state of new moon, no moon. Similarly our bodies also go through a similar phase. A child’s body gradually grows into the prime of youth, full of vitality. Full moon. But then what happens? Gradually the body begins to diminish. This is an important thing to remember. Nowadays what do you find? Everybody wants to be young and nobody wants to become old. When they are old they want to become young. One doctor, a friend of ours was telling me that people spend their youth, nowadays they spend their youth earning money and at old age they spend all their money to get their youth back. But the thing we must learn from the moon is to gradually give up that tendency to change our situation. Okay, full moon came and now gradually it is new moon and it is diminishing. The physical strength, vitality, it is diminishing. So let’s grow old gracefully. When I am old, it is so wonderful to be old. It is so wonderful to be weak, so wonderful to be sick. And then only we will be ready to say: “It is so wonderful to die.” And that is the goal of life. This is one thing we must learn from the moon. When it is a waning period, I am ready, whatever comes. And then when it is new moon, nobody anymore. Leave the body behind and go away. We should be ready for that. Rather a devotee looks forward to that opportunity. When will that time come when I will be able to give up this old and useless body to become engaged in the service to Krsna with full vitality? This body is useless. I am in this body but the body cannot function, the body cannot render service. Now that the time has come to give up this body and get a new body, either material or spiritual, either way it will be beneficial. Even if we get a material body, so what? It will be a new body with a new opportunity to serve Krsna. And what if we get a spiritual body, wonderful! We will be able to serve Krsna in the spiritual sky.
From the sun he learnt how to avoid entanglement, even while coming in contact with sense objects. What happens when we come in contact with the sense objects? We get entangled. Dhyayato visayan pumsah sangas tesupajayate. The senses are running towards the objects of the senses and as a result of that we get entangled.Sangas tesupajayate. Sangat sañjayate kamah. But the sun, look at the sun. It comes in contact with the objects but does not get entangled. Like for example the sun is falling. The reflection is coming on a pool of water. Does the sun say: “Oh that is my reflection”? That is me! That is mine! Or does the sun remain totally aloof?” Similarly we come in contact with the objects of our senses but we should not be affected by that. Aloof, that is only a reflection. That is only the senses running towards the objects of the senses. That is not me. That is my reflection. That is my extension. Unfortunate extension. Therefore this is how one must remain unaffected by the sense involvement with the objects of the senses. That’s what he learnt from the sun. From the sun he had learned how to avoid entanglement, even while coming in contact with the sense objects. And he has also learned about the two different modes of perception based on seeing the real form of the soul and seeing false designated coverings. The example that I gave: “The real sun and the reflection of the sun. The same thing: “Real me and the reflection of me. Who is real me? The soul. What is the reflection? The body. Should we remain entangled with the reflection? Should we become affected by the reflection? Does the sun get affected by the reflection on a pool of water? And another example in this respect is if the sun’s reflection is on a pool of water and the ripples on the water distort the reflection of the sun. The sun is round but the reflection is elongated due to the waves. But does the sun get affected by that? No. The sun remains round and brilliant as it is.
This pigeon – that’s a long story – that was described. Avadhuta tells about the story of a pigeon. There was a pigeon family. And they are a very happy family. The father pigeon, mother pigeon and children pigeons. And then one day a hunter came. He spread his net. And the baby pigeon got trapped. Then the mother pigeon seeing the baby in that condition started to cry: “Oh, look, what happened to my baby? Look, what happened to my baby?” She went straight into rescuing him. But as a result she got entangled. And then the father pigeon, seeing his baby and his wife in that condition, he felt: “What is the point of being alive”? My wife has become entrapped, my child has become entrapped. So he also goes and gets trapped. Then the hunter picks up the net and carries the father pigeon and mother pigeon and baby pigeon and goes away with his hunt, with his prize. So he is saying that family life is like that. From the pigeon he learnt how too much affection and excessive attachment are not good for one. This human body is the open door to liberation but if one becomes attached to family life like the pigeon, then one is compared to a person who has climbed up to a high place just to fall down again.
The human birth comes with so much opportunity, so much wonderful opportunity. It is like climbing up to a very high position, a great height. But if we fall from that great height what will happen? We will destroy ourselves. Therefore we should be very careful about the purpose of this human form of life. The purpose of this human form of life is to become free from all material attachment and become related to Krsna. But if one becomes too attached to the family members and family relationships then he will loose this opportunity and become a victim of Maya just like the pigeon family became a victim of the hunter.
This is very interesting what the avadhuta learnt from the python. Do you know the nature of a python? A python does not move. A python just stays at one place. Other snakes move, some snakes move very fast. Some snakes can even fly from one tree to another tree. But a python just stays at one place. Does the python die out of starvation? Did anyone ever see a python die out of starvation? No. The food comes to the python automatically by nature’s arrangement. The python just stays at one place and its food enters into its mouth. That means its food comes close and it swallows the food. Therefore in our life, we should not be too concerned about making arrangements for our livelihood. Especially nowadays, there is such a huge endeavor for livelihood. Livelihood, just to remain alive. Like with all due respect, I will ask you, many of you, just consider from morning to night why are you working so hard? Should I get into it or is it an unpleasant topic? From morning till night you are working so hard for what? To pay your rent or mortgage, to pay your food bill, to pay your gas bill. And at the end of the month what happens? Zero. That means, you are working so hard just to maintain yourselves in these glorious cities of theUnited States of America. But on the other hand, if you consider, if you went back to your village, did you have to pay any rent there? Do you have to pay such an enormous food bill there? Do you have to pay for transportation so much? The question is: “Are you going to utilize all your time just to remain in a city of America or you can go to some village in India and not work and utilize your entire time in your spiritual advancement, the cultivation of your spiritual advancement. Anyway, I don’t want to go any further. Now I will leave it up to you. Just think about it. Like so often I come across this point: “Maharaja, I don’t have enough time to chant my rounds.” Why? “Because I have to go to work so early in the morning and then I come back and I am so exhausted. Sometimes I don’t even feel like eating. I just feel like going to bed straight away. But I cannot do that because there is the allurement of the TV. And once I open that I am stuck. I don’t know how, midnight goes by and I am sitting in front of it, although I was so tired to begin with.” This is the life. Why waste such a wonderful opportunity? Why waste such valuable time, just to remain in a glorious city of the United States of America. Anyway, as I said, I am leaving it up to you to go further beyond that point, to think about it.
So I will just read that instruction that the avadhuta-brahmana received from the python: An intelligent person should cultivate a mentality of detachment and should maintain his body, accepting whatever comes of its own accord or is easily obtained. In this way he should remain always engaged in the worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Even if no food is available, a person who wants to engage fully in the worship of the Lord should not even beg, rather he should understand this to be the arrangement of providence, thinking whatever enjoyment is destined for me will automatically come. And thus I should not uselessly waste the remaining duration of my life in worrying about such things. If he does not get any food he should simply remain lying like a python and patiently fix his mind in meditation upon the Supreme Lord. Isn’t it a wonderful lesson to learn from even a creature like python? So python guru. We learn such a wonderful lesson. And actually in sannyasa there is an occupation like that, which is called the occupation of a python. The name of python in Sanskrit is ‘ajagar’. And this is called ajagar vriti. Remember, I think it is in the seventh Canto: Prahlada Maharaja comes across another avadhuta. He was just lying down, not moving. But he looked so healthy. So Prahlada Maharaja asked: “How is that?” And he told him that he has accepted the occupation of a python. That means he does not make any effort to get his food. Whatever comes. And by nature’s arrangements food comes, by the arrangement of providence food comes. There is no scarcity. That is why he is so healthy and strong. So one accepts that occupation. I am not going to make any endeavor to run after food or the means of my livelihood. That is called ajagar vriti, the occupation of a python.
Then the instruction the avadhuta received from the ocean. This is a very wonderful analogy, also to learn something from also. The ocean that the mind of the sage was devoted to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears very clear and grave. One who has taken shelter of Krsna and surrendered himself completely to Krsna, naturally he becomes very grave and his mind becomes very clear like the ocean. Even the dirt may come but the ocean does not get disturbed. Another very beautiful comparison here: “In the monsoon time, the rivers become full. They run into the ocean with all their water, but does the ocean get affected? Similarly in dry season, in mid-summer, the rivers become dry. They don’t carry any water to the ocean. Does it affect the ocean? The ocean remains the same. The ocean remains unperturbed. Similarly a sage does not become elated when he receives desirable things, nor does he become distressed in their absence. Isn’t it a wonderful lesson to learn?
The instruction from the moth. Moth? The instruction from the moth is that it flies towards the fire. And as a result of that, what happens? It gets burned. Similarly a person who is attracted and allured by the objects of the senses, runs towards the objects of the senses with a desire to enjoy but in the course of that he just gets burned. I am sorry it is quite taking a lot of time. I thought I will give half an hour for questions and answers. Maybe I will ask you. I came up to point twelve. I have ten more points left. Should we go for questions and answers or should we cover?
Devotees: Finish this section.
BCS: Finish this section now? Okay, very good. Yes, I think that’s appropriate. I will just go quickly now.
There are two kinds of bees. A bumble bee and a honey bee. The instruction learnt from the bumble bee is that a sage should collect only a small amount of food from many different houses and thus day after day practice the occupation of madhukari for maintaining his existence. Madhukari is the occupation of a bee. What does a bee do? Although it could collect all the honey from one flower, the bee does not do that. The bee goes from flower to flower and collects little, little, little, little honey and stores it. So similarly a saintly person should go to various places, to many houses to beg from. Although he could get all the food from one house but he does not do that. This is the occupation of a saintly person. Don’t collect from one person too much. And the instruction received from the second one, the honey bee, what does the honey bee do? It collects the honey in the honey comb and then somebody comes and takes all the honey away and kills the bee. So don’t accumulate too much because somebody will come for the sake of collecting it and in the process he may kill you. Because by doing that you simply increase your enemy. He will be destroyed along with his hoard like a honey bee.
From the elephant what did the avadhuta learn? I don’t know if you know that, you know how an elephant gets trapped? A female elephant is trained to go to the forest and attract the male elephants. And the male elephants being attracted by the female elephant come to a place where there is a ditch, they dig a huge ditch. But this ditch is covered with plants and trees and branches. But when the elephant comes it falls in the trap. That is how the elephants are caught. Similarly what is the material nature doing? The female species are attracting the male species to become entangled in the materialistic way of life, which is a trap. Materialistic life is a trap for the living entities.
Jaya Sri Sri Radha-Damodara Ki Jaya!
Jaya Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai Ki Jaya!
Of course that does not mean that one should not be in household life. No. That is not the purpose. The household life has its purpose. For a devotee household life is like fighting from a fortress, from a fort. The brahmacaris and sannyasis are like paratroopers. You know what paratroopers do? They take them beyond the enemy line and they are dropped. And they fight within the enemy territory. Whereas the householders are the soldiers who are fighting from the fort. They are protected. That is how a devotee householder is. He knows that it is a struggle, it is a fight against Maya but they are in a secured situation. There the wife is the fort for the husband, Durga. She is the fort and she is giving him the protection from Maya. Whereas a non-devotee who does not really have this knowledge, who does not have any understanding of grhastha-life, he lives a life that is grhamedhi-life. His life is centered around his household, whereas a devotee-life is centered around Krsna. His grha is not his centre of attraction. His grha is an asrama from where he is executing his spiritual responsibilities. So that is the difference between a non-devotee household life and a devotee household life.
There is another consideration of the instruction received from the honey-thief. What does the honey-thief do? The bees collected the honey and the thief goes and he robs it. He enjoys it. This is what he learnt: the person in the renounced order of life has the privilege of enjoying before anyone else the food and other valuable things purchased by the hard earned money of the householders. Okay, no need to elaborate. Because if I start elaborating it will go on for hours together.
The instruction from a deer is that just as the deer becomes confused or attracted by hearing the flute of a hunter. Deer become attracted by the sound of music, especially played by the flute. And he becomes attracted and the hunter comes and kills him, it looses his life. Also persons who become attracted by mundane music usually waste their life. Therefore no more rock-music, mundane rap-music and what not, I don’t even know the names; the thought that came to my mind is classical music. Even that is like the hunter playing the music and the deer becoming attracted to it.
The instruction learnt from the fish is that: “Because he comes under the sway of attachment of the sense of taste, he is caught on the baited fish hook and must die. Similarly an unintelligent person, who is victimized by his insatiable tongue, will also end up loosing his life. Fish is attracted by tongue. What does it do? It swallows the bait. But under the bait is what? The hook and the fish is hooked. Just because of his urge of the tongue given himself up to the urge of the tongue, he looses his life. Therefore: Krsna bada dayamay, karibare jihva jay, sva-prasad anna dila bhai. Conquer the urge of the tongue by taking Krsna-prasadam Who so mercifully gave it.
So this is a long story that he talks about a prostitute called Pingala. What did he learn? Pingala, a prostitute, in the evening she dressed up nicely to get a customer, get a lover who would pay her money. She waited and waited, she was thinking: “Oh, this person is coming, maybe he will come to me and give me a lot of money. Oh, he went and another person is coming. This one must be, this one looks even better than the other one. He looks more wealthy and more handsome.” And in this way Pingala spent the whole night, up to midnight she stayed up and no one came. Then finally Pingala thought: “Why am I wasting my time waiting for a paramour, hoping that he will give me money?” If I use this time for Krsna then I could have achieved so much more. Thinking that she decided not to wait for anybody, rather wait for Krsna’s mercy. Rather wait to develop relationship with Krsna. And then she went to bed and slept very peacefully. That’s what happens when we surrender to Krsna. Our materialistic life is full of anxiety, whereas when we take shelter of Krsna then immediately we become free from all anxiety and our life becomes not only free from anxiety but full of joy, full of bliss.
The instruction received from a kurara bird is that attachment creates misery. What happened was: one small bird got some meat and it collected the meat. But as soon as that bird did that then the other big birds: the badgers, eagles, vultures, they just came after him. When the kurara bird saw these big birds are after him because of the meat, he just dropped the meat. Then all the other birds went after the meat and left him alone. When we try to collect material possessions then we become victim of others envy. Therefore just drop it. Then they won’t attack you or try to harm you.
What did he learn from a lazy, foolish child? Lazy in the sense, children are rather inactive and they don’t want to do anything. And they are foolish because they are childish. And maintaining this kind of attitude one becomes free from anxiety. Becoming free from anxiety he becomes capable of worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead and experience supreme ecstasy.
Then what did he learn from a young girl? The young girl was at home alone. And at that time when all the other members of the family were away some people came from the groom’s place to see her. Because it is a custom that the marriages are arranged by the elders. They go and select the girl for the boy. The boys’ family goes to select the girl. So they came to the girl’s house when no one else was there. So the girl very nicely took care of them, she asked them to sit down and they have to be treated, they have to be given some food. So she went to the kitchen and she had to prepare some rice. So in order to prepare the rice, she had to husk the rice. You husk the rice, in the villages in India, by pounding it in the mortar and pistol. You remember Nanda Maharaja’s house had a mortar. Krsna climbed on it to steal the butter? That is for pounding the rice, for husking. So now the girl had bangles in her hands. When she was doing that the bangles started to ring. She felt that if these people feel that she has to husk the rice, that means they are very poor because they could not afford a servant. She did not want to let them know that they are poor. She just took off the bangles. She just kept two bangles. And even then those two bangles also were making noise. So finally she took away all the other bangles and kept only one bangle in each wrist. Now there is no more sound. So what did avadhuta learn from this young girl? That if you are in a crowd of too many people then there is a possibility of quarrel and conflict. Even if there are two persons then there is a possibility of gossip and frivolous talk. But if you are alone then there is no such possibility. So a saintly person who is endeavoring to develop his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead should remain alone. But of course not the preachers. The preachers in Iskcon they have to go and meet many, many people. But although they are spiritual personalities but they go out and like here: we are not gossiping, we are into Krsna-katha, right? And the more the merrier.
The arrow-maker. What did he learn from the arrow-maker? He saw this arrow-maker. You see the arrow-maker has to make the shaft of the arrow very straight. Because if the shaft of the arrow is not straight it will not hit the target. Because it will weaver. So the arrow-maker has to make the shaft of the arrow very straight. While the arrow-maker was straightening the shaft, the king came there. He was his main customer, who buys the arrows. The king, he needs the arrows. The king came but the arrow-maker was so absorbed in making the arrow that he did not even notice the king, he was his biggest customer. Similarly one should be so absorbed in his Krsna-consciousness that he should not have any awareness of anything else.
What did he learn from the serpent? The sage should wander alone; he should not leave any pre-arranged place. He should be always careful and grave. He should not reveal his movements, he should take assistance from no one and he should speak little. What does the serpent do? Does a serpent move? A serpent stays still at one place waiting for his prey. And when the prey comes, it just pounces on it and captures it. Similarly a saintly person or a sage should be completely absorbed or should be completely focused on to his main objective.
What did he learn from the spider who spins his web from his mouth and then withdraws it? The Supreme Personality of Godhead similarly creates from out of Himself the whole universe and then winds it up into Himself. Just as a spider creates a web and plays in that web and then swallows the web again. It created the web with its own saliva. And then finally it swallows the web back into himself. From that he learnt, this avadhuta learnt how the Supreme Personality of Godhead created this universe, this material nature from His own potency. And then at the end He will also wind it up within Himself.
From the weak insect who assumed the same form as the pesakrit-wasp, the avadhuta-brahmana learnt that the living entity under the sway of affection, hatred and fear attains in his next life the identity of that object upon which he fixes his intelligence. The pesakrit-wasp, it catches some weaker insect. But then the weaker insect being afraid of the pesakrit eventually assumes the same form as the pesakrit, meditating on that insect it develops the body of that insect. Similarly, upon which we are constantly meditating we will eventually develop the same form, out of fear, out of affection, out of love, whatever we are meditating on, we are running the risk of eventually developing the same form: yam yam vapi smaran bhavam tyajaty ante kalevaram. With whatever thought we leave our body, accordingly we will get our next body. And what will be our thought? Wherever our attachment is, there we will get our last thought. Therefore we should be very careful about not developing a wrong attachment. Nowadays I see that people are so fond of their dogs. And as a result of that it becomes quite obvious. Because of this attachment to their dogs, what will happen? They will attain a dog’s body in their next life. Therefore the safest way is to develop one’s attachment to Krsna. And then what will happen? Mad-bhakta yanti mam api. My devotees will come to Me. They will assume the same form, sad-cit-ananda form like Me. If we meditate upon Krsna, if we develop our attachment to Krsna. In this way avadhuta learnt so many wonderful lessons from these twenty-four gurus.
There is a last point. Seeing that the fragile, material body is subject to birth and death, one who is sober should become devoid of material attachment to this body and should properly utilize the rare gift of human life in the pursuit of knowledge, endeavoring always for the achievement of the highest goal. That is the instruction that avadhuta gave to king Yadu, a forefather of Krsna.
Thank you very much, we have a few minutes for questions and answers.
Yesterday when somebody was asking me whether I said I will do that twenty-four lessons that avadhuta learnt from twenty-four gurus. I was telling: “To do justice to those twenty-four lessons I need at least twenty-four days.” It is pretty good that I did it in less than two hours. But now the point is: You see the purpose of the seminar is not to give you the complete knowledge. The purpose of the seminar is to generate the interest in you so that you study yourself. Because the ultimate consideration will be your own study. In two hours session, how much can we learn? But at least we can learn, we can develop that interest to read. And with Bhagavatam, with the scriptures you have noticed, the more you read, the newer revelations you will get. Because they are dealing with the Absolute Truth. And as we make advancement they come to us with newer and newer instructions, with newer and newer revelations. So please take this opportunity. Prabhupada has given us this wonderful gift in the form of his books. So please take full advantage of that. Thank you very much. Hare Krsna.
Who will ask a question? Yes, Ajay.
Devotee: Guru Maharaja, the learning from the python [unclear], is it not very contrary to today? Today you have to make efforts. If you don’t make efforts you will not get anything. So these two things are contradictory, so how do we understand that?
BCS: Yes, the effort you make. But the question is whether it is over-endeavor or just some necessary pursuit. Say for example you are endeavoring. Let’s seriously consider: is this endeavor to make money or is it to become Krsna-conscious. Think about it. That’s the point which is being made here. For your livelihood, you know, just make the least endeavor so that the rest of your time and energy can be utilized to develop your Krsna-consciousness.
Devotee: [Unclear]
BCS: Communicate with whom?
Devotee: With the materialistic people.
BCS: Is it necessary to communicate with them? Which is important? The bottomline will be, do we really have to do that? Think about it. No more discussion on that. I leave it up to you. Think about it yourself.
Devotee: [Unclear] they control the nuclear weapons for example. [Unclear]
BCS: So, let them use their nuclear weapons to kill themselves. Do you think that you will make so much money that you will be able to influence them so that they will not use their nuclear weapons? You get the point? Or you make so much money that the terrorists are not going to terrorize the whole world? Is that what you are trying to say? Is that the purpose of your making money? If that is the purpose then I will say it is a far cry. These terrorists have more money than you can even dream of making, right? They are being sponsored by the wealthiest people of this world. So there is no need to take that course. Whatever they are doing, let them do. What our business is: to develop Krsna-consciousness. For our own benefit and also for the benefit of the whole world. What can stop terrorism? Krsna-consciousness. What can stop the use of the weapons for mass-destruction? Krsna-consciousness. Because of lack of Krsna-consciousness the world is in this situation. What is needed is to give everybody Krsna-consciousness. And for that I can tell you, whatever money we will need, Krsna will provide. Because this is Krsna’s business. And Krsna is far wealthier than all of them put together. Why should we worry about money?
Actually Prabhupada once mentioned that. He was talking to one of his acquaintances in Mayapura. That person came from Calcutta. A very important person, quite an important person. Prabhupada was telling about his own life to him. Prabhupada told him how he became affected by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, how he quit his job. And how he wanted to make money, to go to the West and spread Krsna consciousness according to the instruction of his Guru Maharaja. But Prabhupada said: “I tried for so many years but I did not succeed. But finally when Krsna sent me to the West, he sent me as a pauper and He made all the arrangements. “And from that,” Prabhupada was saying, “I learnt, that when we are serving Krsna we won”t have to worry about money.
Krsna will make all the arrangements.” Just as He did for Prabhupada. Prabhupada came to America with six dollars. What is six dollars in America? And that also he did not utilize. He did not spend these six dollars. What he came with it was there intact with him. But look what arrangements Krsna made. Like massive arrangements all over the world. It was Krsna’s divine arrangement.
BCS: Should I stop now? Okay, last question, it seems that you are very eager.
Devotee: I just wanted to offer a comment. Like Hiranyakasipu was the biggest terrorist and Prahlada Maharaja was the only pure devotee of Krsna.
BCS: Very good. And look what happened! Of course, Hiranyakasipu did not listen to his teachings but he had to die. But from that we can see what is the ultimate destiny of the terrorist and how the devotee can benefit. In this context there is a very nice consideration. You know that Narsimhadeva rapped Hiranyakasipu’s intestines around his neck, like a garland? Do you know why He did that? Because the spirit soul runs through the intestine of the father to enter into the womb of the mother. And because Prahlada Maharaja traveled that intestine of Hiranyakashipu Narsimhadeva considered that it is sanctified, it is pure and he wore it as a garland. This is the effect of a devotee’s spreading Krsna-consiousness. This is the effect of becoming a devotee, a pure devotee of the Lord. Now, already I told you about that point, making money etcetera, whether you will do it I left it up to you. You make up your mind and from there onwards you move forward and you decide what you want to do. I don’t have any comment. That’s your own choice. I don’t want to get into that because I know you have your own point of view and own considerations, you have your own responsibilities and so forth. That is your own domain, so you adjust yourselves in that domain.
Thank you all very much. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Gaura Premanande! Hari! Haribol!
I must admit I was very impressed because all of you were wide awake! [laughter]
Thank you very much!
That really inspires me to see how really attentively you are listening to the class.
And two hours just went by like that. Thank you. Hare Krsna.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!