Tape 4
Any of Srila Prabhupada’s books is completely self sufficient. You don’t require
anything else at all. You should have a sincere desire to improve your life and as soon as
a sincere desire is there these books will guide you. Please don’t cry that you don’t have
guidance. The scriptures are already with you. It is just a matter of opening the
scriptures and trying to understand. And Krishna says in tenth chapter verse number 10.
teñäà satata-yuktänäà
bhajatäà préti-pürvakam
dadämi buddhi-yogaà taà
yena mäm upayänti te
Teñäà means those people, satata-yuktänäà, those who are always
engaged in the devotional service, those who try again and again very sincerely. teñäà
satata-yuktänäà, bhajatäà préti-pürvakam and those lovingly worship
Me. Those living entities, those living entities dadämi I give them buddhi-yogaà
My own mercy. And as soon as He is merciful then you get the intellect and this source
of intellect never dries up, our material sources are incomplete. The Lord is completely
perfect and when He supplies you the intellect, the intellect never runs out. You take our
computers and they run out. You put in a few things and then as soon as the capacity of
the computer runs out then it cannot take anything more. But our computer here is
Kåñëa -given and there are no plugs in my forehead. Are there plugs? We don’t have to
carry the plugs. We eat kitchari and the computer works. And all ready and never ends.
We have millions of things in this computer and even then it has the capacity to take
millions of things. One writer has correctly written that at the best those who try very
hard to learn so many things in the world, they also only utilize only the tenth capacity of
the mind. We are not using our mind, we are lazy. Don’t be lazy. The mind is going to
go away. Before it goes away, use it nicely. It is just like that. Use it or lose it. It is not
going to continue. So ‘til it is there try to utilize it and try to learn as many things as
possible. Please repeat this verse after me.
paraà brahma paraà dhäma
pavitraà paramaà bhavän
puruñaà çäçvataà divyam
ädi-devam ajaà vibhum
(BG 10.12)
[You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ultimate abode, the purest, the
Absolute Truth. You are the eternal, transcendental, original person, the unborn,
the greatest.]
And the research is that you should take this verse, list all the ten qualities and try
to find out the suitable verses from the pages of Çrémad-Bhägavatam and
Bhagavad-gétä and try to add to these ten qualities and it will be a nice
understanding essay. This is how you should utilize your time. Take one verse and study
it thoroughly well. As soon as you study the verse, it is very easy to take all the
knowledge inside and that knowledge will always be with you. All other things don’t
accompany us. You have money, but they are in the bank, they are not with you. [To
member of audience: How much you have? How much money you have? Ah? He
doesn’t want to tell. You please get one bank account. We’ll share it. [laughs] Come
on, otherwise I will not allow you to sit here.]
He was in my class in Bombay, he’s my friend, so what happened was that the
class was going on, in the middle of the class he stood up, he wanted to go. I was very
angry with him. Sit down! [laughs] And he sat down. [laughs] That’s why I remember
him. Yesterday when he came to me he said to me, I couldn’t recognize, you know?
That’s how in the middle of the class we should not get up really because Kåñëa is being
explained here. Anyway, so this is how you should work on these verses. Then we go to
the second verse, a very beautiful verse from Bhagavad-gétä, you know? It is 8th
chapter, 9th verse and again eight qualities of Kåñëa. See if you study 2 verses you will
have 18 qualities of Kåñëa. See, hear that verse. Beautiful lyric, you know, devotional
lyric it has.
kavià puräëam anuçäsitäram
aëor aëéyäàsam anusmared yaù
sarvasya dhätäram acintya-rüpam
äditya-varëaà tamasaù parastät
[One should meditate upon the Supreme Person as the one who
knows everything, as He who is the oldest, who is the
controller, who is smaller than the smallest, who is the
maintainer of everything, who is beyond all material
conception, who is inconceivable, and who is always a
person.
He
is
luminous
like
the
sun,
and
He
is
transcendental, beyond this material nature.]
I will leave you to study this verse and list out eight qualities. Then there is a beautiful
verse in the 11th chapter, verse #38. Bhagavad-gita 11.38. It’s a nice lyric, you know?
tvam ädi-devaù puruñaù puräëas
tvam asya viçvasya paraà nidhänam
vettäsi vedyaà ca paraà ca dhäma
tvayä tataà viçvam ananta-rüpa
[You are the original Personality of Godhead, the oldest,
the ultimate sanctuary of this manifested cosmic world. You
are the knower of everything, and You are all that is
knowable. You are the supreme refuge, above the material
modes. O limitless form! This whole cosmic manifestation is
pervaded by You!]
And innumerable verses from Çrémad-Bhägavatam, there is a beautiful verse from
1st canto, Kunté’s prayers. Kunté recites five names of Kåñëa. You can very easily
learn now. You have to learn this verse now and repeat.
kåñëäya väsudeväya
devaké-nandanäya ca
nanda-gopa-kumäräya
govindäya namo namaù
[Let me therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto the
Lord, who has become the son of Vasudeva, the pleasure of
Devaké, the boy of Nanda and the other cowherd men of
Våndävana, and the enlivener of the cows and the senses.]
There are only 5 names; Kåñëa, Vasudeva, Devaki-nandana, Nanda Gopa Kumar and
Govinda. These five names, please remember.
kåñëäya väsudeväya
devaké-nandanäya ca
nanda-gopa-kumäräya
govindäya namo namaù
Then there is a beautiful verse again;
Çänta karam bhujaga çayänam padmanäbhaà sureçäà
viçvadharam gagana sadåçam megha varëam çubhäìgam
lakñmé käntaà kamala-nayanam yogibhir dhyäna gamyam
vande viñëum bhäva bhaya haram sarva-lokaika-nätham
(Vishnu Sahashranam)
[I adore Vishnu, the embodiment of Peace, who sleeps on the serpent, Whose naval
is the lotus of the Universe
Who is the Lord of the Gods, who is the support of the Universe, Who is in the form
of Space (the Omnipresent)
Whose color resembles that of clouds, Whose body is auspicious Who is the Lord of
Lakshmi, whose eyes are like lotuses
Who is attainable by Yogis through meditation Who is the destroyer of the fear of
birth and death And who is the One Lord of all the Worlds]
yaà brahmä varuëendra-rudra-marutaiù stunvanti divyaiù
stavair
vedaiù säìga-krama-pado-paniñadair gäyanti yaà säma-gäù
dhyänävasthita-tad-gatena manasä paçyanti yaà yoginaù
yasyäntaà na viduù suräsura-gaëä tasmai deväya namaù
(
SB
12.1
3.1)
[Unto that personality whom Brahmä, Varuëa, Indra, Rudra
and the Maruts praise by chanting transcendental hymns and
reciting the Vedas with all their corollaries, pada-kramas
and Upaniñads, to whom the chanters of the Säma Veda always
sing, whom the perfected yogés see within their minds after
fixing themselves in trance and absorbing themselves within
Him, and whose limit can never be found by any demigod or
demon—unto that Supreme Personality of Godhead I offer my
humble obeisances.]
tapta-käïcana-gauräìgi
rädhe våndävaneçvari
våñabhänu-sute devi
praëamämi hari-priye
I offer
is like
are the
to Lord
my respects to Rädhäräëé, whose bodily complexion
molten gold and who is the Queen of Våndävana. You
daughter of King Våñabhänu, and You are very dear
Kåñëa.
väïchä-kalpatarubhyaç ca
kåpä-sindhubhya eva ca
patitänäà pävanebhyo
vaiñëavebhyo namo namaù
I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaiñëava
devotees of the Lord. They can fulfill the desires of
everyone, just like desire trees, and they are full of
compassion for the fallen souls.
çré-kåñëa-caitanya
prabhu-nityänanda
çré-advaita gadädhara
çréväsädi-gaura-bhakta-vånda
I offer my obeisances to Çré Kåñëa Caitanya, Prabhu
Nityänanda, Çré Advaita, Gadädhara, Çréväsa and all others
in the line of devotion.
hare kåñëa hare kåñëa
kåñëa kåñëa hare hare
hare räma hare räma
räma räma hare hare
Nice. It’s nice to be with you and Lord is kind really, the time is up so we have to stop
here because we have to have the istha-gosti, but I would request you one thing. We’ll
try to understand one verse and see the futility of our material existence. We very well
know but you please try to remember the translation of this verse and we’ll complete our
discussion.
Ours is a parampara system and without parampara there is no knowledge because
in the beginning this yoga was transmitted from Lord Himself to Sun-god. In the 4th
chapter of Bhagavad-gita 1st verse describes the parampara;
imaà vivasvate yogaà
proktavän aham avyayam
vivasvän manave präha
manur ikñväkave ’bravét
(BG 4.1)
This is paramparä, the Lord Himself says, Krishna says that, “I transmitted this
yoga to Sun-god, when the Sun was created. It’s millions and millions of years ago. Our
culture, which is very correctly known as Vedic culture, it is not recent. It’s not only 30
years-old. ISKCON may start before 30 years but the culture which we are propagating
is millions and millions of years old. You take Christianity, it is only 2000 years. Take
Islam, it is only 1400 years and all other recent faiths, they are hardly 2, 300 years old,
whereas you take the Vedic culture, it’s millions and millions years old. You don’t know
how important it is to follow this culture and that’s why we’re neglecting. In the temple
also we neglect because we don’t know the importance.
And another peculiarity of our culture is that all other so called religions, they are
started by a human being. Christ started Christianity, Christ was a human being.
Mohammed started Islam, Mohammed was a human being. Or any other faith you take,
they are started by human beings. This is the only sanätana religion, eternal religion,
which is not started by any human being, Lord Himself, bhagavat-praëétaà.
dharmaà tu säkñäd bhagavat-praëétaà.[SB 6.3.19]
Dharma, this
culture is propagated by Lord Himself and in the paramparä system it is coming to us
and that is the importance of our paramparä.
Those who deviate from the paramparä, they are completely destroyed.
Kértanänanda tried to establish his own thing under the name of interfaith but he was
completely destroyed, he couldn’t go ahead at all. As soon as you concoct, you are not
following in the paramparä and because you are not following the paramparä you
are going to be completely destroyed. Nobody else lost anything but he is completely
gone. This is the main thing that you have to understand. As soon as we understand this
then we become attached to the lotus feet of Çréla Prabhupäda. And as soon as you
stick to him you are successful and he’s very merciful. He will teach you through his
books. Very simple language, very lovingly he convinces us. And this is the importance
of paramparä. And as soon as we come to paramparä then they give us a very nice
instruction;
dhanäni bhümau päço hi goñöhe näré gåha dväri
sakäçam sane dehas citä yäm dharmänu go gacchanti jéva eka
This is our culture. He says dhanäni bhümau, we try to amass the wealth. We
want to earn more and more and more and more. We don’t know, you may have $2
million or $10 million or more than that but even then you are only going to eat four
chapattis and a subji. And millionaire, he cannot eat, do you know that? Do you know
Bhakta? You don’t have any idea. You don’t know the millionaires? You smile. You
have a very long face. Kåñëa doesn’t like face like banana [laughs] He like watermelon
face. See? His face is like watermelon. You should smile, man, otherwise your cheeks
will not get the exercise. You should smile so that cheek muscles will have exercise.
Anyway keep happy Bhakta, keep happy.
So this is the way, you may amass so much wealth and as soon as the wealth is
there you are suffering, you have diabetes, you have a heart attack, this and that. You
cannot eat rice, you cannot eat subji, you cannot eat ghee and we devotees, we get up at
4:00 in the morning and we’re hungry now. I don’t want to attend iñöha-goñöhé I
want to go and have a breakfast. [laughs] This is how, we are very hungry because our
life is very austere. We may not have anything materially but we are very happy persons.
That man who has a $10 billion is still in a bed and he’s singing the glories of the Lord
through his nose. We are singing glories of the Lord through our mouth. There are two
ways; they sing through the nose and because of that they are completely gone, sick.
They may have the money but they don’t have any health at all. At his age we can sing
and laugh and dance, you know, very nicely. This is the way. Please don’t leave this.
Go anywhere and everywhere, this crowd will never remain the same, you may change
your circumstances, material life always changes, but devotional service, never change.
Wherever you go, take this process with you and you’ll be safe. You’ll be
completely safe. This is said, dhanäni bhümau, how much wealth you may accrue
but it is going to remain in the bank. You have so many notes, you have so many, you
are a rich person but where is you money? It is not with you. If it would’ve belonged to
you it would always accompany you. Where is your wife? Wife also doesn’t accompany
you. So wife also is not yours. That is the main thing. Nothing accompanies us. We
have houses, where are the houses? Suppose if everybody comes with his own house,
they would not be able to sit here. It is good the houses don’t belong to us otherwise they
would accompany us always. This is the way to understand. Nothing belongs to us.
When we die it is going to remain in the bank or in the safe or wherever you have locked.
Then päço hi goñöhe, päço formerly there was no motorized transport and that’s
why they were using animals, you know, horses etc. and they were all tied in one place.
When they die, the animals will remain there, now we have cars. Cars are in the garage
and they will remain there. If Yamaräja comes, the god of death, comes and suppose
you have Mercedes car, can you tell him, “I have Mercedes, you’ll also get, I’ll also get,
let me go. [laughs] No, we can’t do that, it is going to remain there. Then näré gåha
dväri, we love our wife very much and wife also says at least she loves. I don’t really
know really, anyway…[laughs] but as soon as you die according to Vedic culture the
wife will accompany your dead body only up to the door of the house. She will leave
that body. “See you next life maybe, dead body.” [laughs] This is how she will also be
behind you. Then sakäçam sane, your relatives and friends, they will accompany
your dead body up to the cemetery, then they will also wave with the hand, “Go.” Then
deha our own body, citä yäm, this body also will accompany you up to the funeral
pier, then body also will leave. And then dharmänu go gacchanti jéva eka,
you will be accompanied by dharma, whatever rounds you have chanted, whatever you
have understood from Bhagavad-gétä, whatever you have understood from
Bhägavatam, whatever worship you have done, whatever service you have done will
always accompany you and then you will go to another body or you may not get the
material body if you are fortunate and go eternally to the lotus feet of Kåñëa. This is our
culture. Please try to follow very seriously and it’s very nice to see you, Kåñëa willing,
see you sometime again. Until that time please learn these scriptures. Hare Kåñëa.