The Matchless Gift------Krsna Consciousness

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The Matchless Gift------Krsna Consciousness

 

HARE KRSNA!This is An Excert

From The Book

The Matchless Gifts --Which is taken The

Bhagavad -Gita As it Is!!

 

 

CH 7 Liberation in Krsna Consciousness

 

Lord Krsna is the supreme proprietor supplying all necessities, and

I am His servant. Who can challenge this? It is a fact. We are simply

under the false impression that we are this or that, and this leads

us to the ultimate false impression that we are God. Yet we do not

consider what manner of God we are. A small bodily disorder will send

us to the physician. One who claims to be the supreme, therefore,

should be understood to have fallen, to the last snare of maya. One

who is thus fallen ,cannot even be liberated, for he is bound by

false impressions.

Only when one has attained proper knowledge can he actually be

liberated. The stage of liberation is also called the brahma-bhutath

stage. One who has attained this .stage is characterized by Sri Krsna

in Bhagavad-gita in this way:

 

brahma- bhutah prasannat

na socati na kanksati

samah sarvesu bhutesu

mad-bhaktim labhate param

 

"One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the

Supreme Brahman. He never laments, or desires to have anything; he is

equally disposed to every living entity. And in that state he

achieves pure devotional service unto Me." (Bg. 18.54)

The joy which follows realization arises from understanding, "I was

illusioned by false notions for so long. What a fool I was! I was

thinking that I was God, but now I can understand that I am God's

eternal servant." Upon gaining such realization, one

attains liberation and becomes prasannatma or jolly, for this is the

constitutional position of the living entity.

There is no lamentation when one is in pure con­sciousness, for he

knows that he is a small part, a spiritual spark protected by the

Supreme Lord. Where then is there scope for lamentation? A small

child feels free as long as he knows that his father is there. He

thinks, "My father is standing by me, so I am free. No one can harm

me." Similarly, when one surrenders to Krsna he has complete faith

that he is not in danger because Krsna is protecting him. One who is

thus surrendered to Krsna is not subject to lamentation or desire,

whereas one who is not God conscious simply hankers and laments. He

hankers for that which he does not possess, and he laments for that

which he did possess but has lost. A God conscious person is not

subject to such misery. If something is lost, he knows that it is

God's wish, and he thinks, "God desired this, so it is all right." He

does not desire anything, for he knows that all his necessities are

being provided by Krsna the supreme father.

As soon as one understands his relationship to God, he realizes

universal brotherhood, for he under­stands that all men and animals—

indeed, all life itself— are all parts of the supreme whole and are

therefore all equal. Seeing this, one does not envy, exploit or

trouble another living entity. Thus one who is a devotee of Krsna

automatically develops all good qualities, for he is in the proper

consciousness.

 

harav abhaktasya kuto mahad-guna mano-rathenasat dhavato bahih

 

One who has developed Krsna con­sciousness will manifest all the good

qualities of the demigods. Indeed, it is stated,

 

vanca-kalpa-tarubhyas ca krpa-sindhubhya eva ca:

 

A Vaisnava or devotee of Krsna is an ocean of mercy to others. He

gives the greatest gift to society, for society is in dire need of

God consciousness. A Vaisnava bestows the priceless gift of the

mahamantra, Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare! Hare Rama,

Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Simply by chanting this mantra, one

can remain in a liberated state.

One should not think, however, that this state is simply a state of

trance whereby one remains seated in lotus position in a corner for

days on end. No, liberation means serving. One cannot simply

say, "Now I have dedicated my life to Krsna Let me remain seated in

samadhi. "The standard of surrender must be maintained by nisevaya,

serving. As one serves the Supreme Lord, the Lord reveals Himself

within the heart. The program of devotional service to the Lord is

executed from morning to night. In­deed, Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita

that one must en­gage in devotional service to Him twenty-four hours a

day. It is not that we should meditate for fifteen minutes and then

engage in all kinds of nonsense. The more we serve, the more

dedicated to Krsna we become; therefore a person should utilize

whatever talents he has for Krsna There are nine processes of

devotional service —hearing, chanting, remembering, serving,

worshiping the Deity in the temple, praying, carrying out orders,

serving the Lord as friend, and sacrificing everything for Him—and

one should always keep engaged in at least one of these nine

processes. One who is always engaged in Krsna's service never becomes

disgusted

(bhaja tam priti-purvakam).

Ser­vice must be rendered with love, but in the beginning this may be

difficult, and so one may become dis­gusted. As one makes progress in

Krsna service, however, he will find it pleasing. This is indicated

by Krsna in Bhagavad-gita,

 

yat tad agre visam iva

pariname `mrtopamam

tat sukham sattvikarm proktam

atma-buddhi-prasda-jam

"That which in the beginning may be just like poison, but at the end

is like nectar, and which awakens one to self-realization, is said to

be happiness in the mode of goodness." (Bg. 18.37)

Once one has attained the spiritual platform, it is material service

that actually becomes disgusting. For example, if one chants Hare

Krsna throughout his life, he will not grow tired of the names, but

if one chants a material name over and over, he will soon become

disgusted. The more one chants the names of Krsna the more he becomes

attached.

Thus service by sravanam and kirtanam, hearing and chanting

about Krsna is the beginning. The next process is smaranam—always

remembering Krsna When one is perfect in chanting and hearing, he

will always remember Krsna In this third stage, he be­comes the

greatest yogi.

Nor is progress in Krsna consciousness ever lost. In the material

world, if one begins to construct a factory but does not complete it,

the factory is use­less for all intents and purposes. If the

construction is stopped and the building half finished, whatever

money is invested is lost. This is not the case with Krsna

consciousness, for even if one does not come to the perfectional

point, whatever work he does is his permanent asset, and he can begin

from that point in his next life. Krsna also confirms in Bhagavad­gita

that one who begins Krsna consciousness cannot lose anything:

 

nehabhikrama-naso `sti

pratyavayo na vidyate

svalpam apy asya dharmasya

trayate mahato bhayat

 

"In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little

advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type

of fear." (Bg. 2.40)

In the Sixth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita, when Arjuna asks about the

fate of the unsuccessful yogi, Sri Krsna replies:

 

partha naiveha namutra

vinasas tasya vidyate

na hi kalyana-krt kascid

durgatim tata gacchati

 

"Son of Prtha, a transcendentalist engaged in auspi­cious activities

does not meet with destruction either in this world or in the

spiritual world; one who does good, My friend,'is never overcome by

evil." (Bg.6.40)

The Lord then indicates that the unsuccessful yogi takes up his

practice of Krsna consciousness in the next life, beginning from the

point where he left off. In other words, if one has finished fifty

percent of the process in one life, in the next life he begins at

fifty-one percent. Whatever material assets we accu­mulate in our

life, however, are all annihilated at death, for we cannot take

material opulence with us.

However, one should not think that he will do well to wait for the

next life to attain Krsna con­sciousness. We should try to fulfill the

mission of Krsna consciousness in this life. Krsna promises us that

one who becomes His devotee will come to Him without fail:

man mana bhava mad-bhakto

mad-yaji mam namaskuru

mam evaisyasi satyam te

pratijane priyo `si me

 

"Always think of Me. Become My devotee. Worship Me, and offer your

homage unto Me. The result is that you will come to Me without fail.

I promise you this, because you are My very dear friend." (Bg.18.65)

When we think of coming to Krsna we should not think that we will be

standing before a void or an impersonal bright light. Krsna, God, is

a person, just as we are persons.