HG Badrinarayana Prabhu

[Guest guest]

Introductory note: Sorry for the delay in sending this out, but I was behind

from the day before and Badrinarayana Prabhu speaks so fast that

transcribing him is really difficult. To ease the pressure, I took the

liberty of paraphrasing some sections towards the end of the lecture rather

then transcribing verbatim. . . .

 

Today's class was by Drutakarma Prabhu, but unfortunately I think I'll have

to skip doing it and just resume regular service from tomorrow. However, I

would encourage all of you who have good Internet connections to download

the audio file of his lecture which will be on www.mayapur.info and

www.harekrishna.org.au along with all the others.

 

If anyone would like the audio file by email I can also send it. Please let

me know. It's nearly 7 MB. Hare Krishna. -- ATD

 

__________________________

 

 

>From Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir:

 

March 7, 2005

Verse: Srimad Bhagavatam 1.13.10

Speaker: HG Badrinarayan Prabhu

__

 

bhavad-vidha bhagavatas tirtha-bhutah svayam vibho

tirthi-kurvanti tirthani svantah-sthena gadabhrta

 

TRANSLATION: My Lord, devotees like your good self are verily holy places

personified. Because you carry the Personality of Godhead within your heart,

you turn all places into places of pilgrimage.

 

PURPORT: The Personality of Godhead is omnipresent by His diverse potencies

everywhere, just as the power of electricity is distributed everywhere

within space. Similarly, the Lord's omnipresence is perceived and manifested

by His unalloyed devotees like Vidura, just as electricity is manifested in

an electric bulb. A pure devotee like Vidura always feels the presence of

the Lord everywhere. He sees everything in the potency of the Lord and the

Lord in everything. The holy places all over the earth are meant for

purifying the polluted consciousness of the human being by an atmosphere

surcharged with the presence of the Lord's unalloyed devotees. If anyone

visits a holy place, he must search out the pure devotees residing in such

holy places, take lessons from them, try to apply such instructions in

practical life and thus gradually prepare oneself for the ultimate

salvation, going back to Godhead. To go to some holy place of pilgrimage

does not mean only to take a bath in the Ganges or Yamuna or to visit the

temples situated in those places. One should also find representatives of

Vidura who have no desire in life save and except to serve the Personality

of Godhead. The Personality of Godhead is always with such pure devotees

because of their unalloyed service, which is without any tinge of fruitive

action or utopian speculation. They are in the actual service of the Lord,

specifically by the process of hearing and chanting. The pure devotees hear

from the authorities and chant, sing and write of the glories of the Lord.

Mahamuni Vyasadeva heard from Narada, and then he chanted in writing;

Sukadeva Gosvami studied from his father, and he described it to Pariksit;

that is the way of Srimad-Bhagavatam. So by their actions the pure devotees

of the Lord can render any place into a place of pilgrimage, and the holy

places are worth the name only on their account. Such pure devotees are able

to rectify the polluted atmosphere of any place, and what to speak of a holy

place rendered unholy by the questionable actions of interested persons who

try to adopt a professional life at the cost of the reputation of a holy

place.

 

(invocatory prayers)

 

So a little house-keeping first. I'm always a little intimidated to sit in

front of such an austere and astute body. I have over here so many senior

and saintly persons. So a bird flies in the sky according to its ability;

hopefully I'll be able to tell a few stories and give you some pleasure do

my duty here. So with your blessings, Hare Krsna. Also I've taken some notes

which water has dripped on and they've all sort of merged here, so if you

notice me fumbling. . . it's only because you've taken your time to sit here

I've made a little effort to so I don't waste your time and ramble on too

long.

 

If we look at the historical setting here, just to begin, you have Vidura

who's left in frustration and we have Dhrtarastra who's also living in

frustration. There's a nice example given in the Light of the Bhagavat. The

crane is standing in the river looking for some fish, and all the rocks and

water flowing, and it's a very uncomfortable position yet he's trying to

find a little something. So it is not uncommon that Krsna arranges some

difficulty as impetus for us.

 

I had a nice experience. I was on a packed plane flying, dressed like this

and a Christian minister sat next to me and I thought, Oh man, you know,

'Turn or Burn' I thought if I just put my nose in the Bhagavatam he'll leave

me alone. But he turned out to be quite a nice gentleman actually, and we

were talking that you can't always predict, "That if Krsna would just do

this, this, and this I would be so happy and advanced in spiritual life."

But Krsna doesn't just follow our menu, He has His own plan how He's going

to do things. So he gave a nice example. He said that there's an axiomatic

law in mathemetics that the shortest distance between two places is what? A

straight line. . . . Not always. If you're on a two dimensional plane then

yes, a straight line is the shortest distance between two places. As soon as

you add another dimension, the third dimension--height--you can put a big

hill there. In that case going up, all the way up and down would not be

shorter than just going around. So sometimes, when you add another

dimension, the straightest, shortest distance is not the straight line.

 

In other words, we have our dimension, our view and it is very limited, at

least mine is. But Krsna sees things in a different way, He's actually

moving us in the most expeditious and powerful way. We may not see it.

Therefore Prabhupada says that devotees are malleable in the hands of the

Lord. We accept that Krsna has his own plan. And he told me another thing

that was interesting. It was an analogy. So some man was stranded on a

desert island by himself. Somehow or other he scrapes together. . . he gets

himself a little hut, he has a little water system, somehow he's getting on.

One day he's out foraging for food, a fire comes and burns his whole hut,

everything to the ground, everything's finished. He's thinking, "Where are

you God? I'm stranded on this island and I scrape together. . . and now

you've. . ." , you can imagine. Just then he looks at the lagoon and he sees

a boat sailing in. And they say "Hey, come on in." He's saved! And he asks

them "Well, how did you know I was here?" And they say "Oh, we saw your

smoke signal." (laughter)

 

So Krsna moves in His own fashion and we have to accept that. We are

conditioned souls and we have to accept that. So here we see with Vidura,

apparently it's a loss but then it becomes a gain. Dhrtarastra, apparently a

loss but then it becomes a gain. It depends on how we measure.

 

I want to get to one thing but these are some peripheral things. It's

talking about tirthas here, how God is everywhere. And we hear that. I was

listening to a tape on the way over. So this man is saying to Prabhupada

"Oh, God is everywhere so what is the need of the temple, God is

everywhere." And it's a fact. So Prabhupada said "Water is everywhere".

Isn't it, now with the humidity water is everywhere. So Prabhupada said "If

you're thirsty why don't you just drink air?" (makes sucking noise drawing

laughter). Prabhupada makes the point, you go where it's concentrated. Then

you get nourishment and relief. Therefore these tirthas and holy places are

portals whereby the spiritual is manifest and one can perceive it.

Prabhupada says "Embassies to the spiritual world." Of course the real thing

is the pure devotees there. But they have special sakti.

 

The human form of life, actual human form of life, just like when Gandhi

went to the Round Table discussions in England. And he's there in his little

loincloth, it's an in-house audience. Prabhupada said amongst politicians he

was a saint, and amongst saints he was a politician. (laughter) That'll be

on VNN tomorrow, that'll be the only thing that anyone hears. (more

laughter) But he made the point, when he went to the UK and they gave him a

tour of London. London was the capital of the world at the time, the capital

of the British Empire, and they showed him the House of Parliament,

Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, everything. So they said to him "So, Gandhiji,

what do you think of Western civilization?" And his reply was "I think it

would be a good idea." In other words may you some day become civilized.

(laughter).

 

And the fulcrum of civilization. . . the Vedic literature begins with sat

and asat. You put in two piles, what is sat, what is asat? What is eternal,

what is temporary. We are convinced that this material world is all and all,

that it is permanent. . . . But this principle of God being present

everywhere, Prabhupada also said that Krsna has two eyes, the sun and the

moon. Of course it's inauspicious, I shouldn't look at you with one eye, but

even one eye is closed, the other eye is open, one eye is seeing. So I was

giving this example one time, that Krsna is seeing everything. They say that

ultimate morality is when you do the right thing when no one is watching,

not just when the IRS or John Ashcroft or whoever is watching. You do the

right thing when no one is watching. So the devotee knows that Krsna is

watching, my spiritual master is watching. So we do the right thing.

 

So I was giving this example that for the materialist, the sun and moon are

always watching, one eye is always watching. So this little kid about 8 or 9

raised his hand and said "What about a moonless right?" So I said "Here is a

bona fide attorney, I should introduce him to Amarendra. He's immediately

found a loophole." But it's a material example so it has some fault. But the

point is that Krsna is saying this is the ultimate basis of morality. We

know that whatever we do we have to answer for, and Krsna knows. Therefore

the devotee is the most moral person, one of the reasons.

 

Back to this sat and asat. So Prabhupada said "Why is maya so strong?

Because you are weak in your purpose". We are not sufficiently convinced of

the situation that we are in. So I thought I may not be able to speak much

about the flutes of Vrndavan, but I can say a little something about the

material nature.

 

Prabhupada gives a nice example, he says. . . just like me--all of you in

the back, I can't see you. So if I bore you at some point you can all just

get up and walk out, I can't see you, I have no idea who's here. You have

free sanction at this point. But with the glasses I can see. But the glass

itself has no absolutely no seeing power. Without the glass I cannot see,

but the medium itself has no seeing power. So similarly this material nature

appears to have life, this body appears to have life, the mind appears to

generate consciousness, but it is dull as the glass. It is simply the

medium. And they do not make this simple connection. Or Prabhupada says you

can study the origin of a child, you can trace the child, a young man and

adult you can trace their whole life--they lived here and there--you can

trace them all the way up into the womb, but the father you will not

discover, he is the remote, independent cause, plants the seed and goes

away. Similarly Krsna plants the seed in this material nature, by His glance

everthing is going on, but in and of itself it's all dead matter. And yet we

are thinking it's a wonderful place.

 

So a few examples. You know how everyone wants to live longer, especially in

the West. So I was thinking about this. So my parents. . . whom I'm deeply

indebted to, I'm very grateful for them, still they're not here so I can say

it. My mother has a box with all the different pills, for a week, Monday,

Tuesday, Wednesday. . . so the seven days, and so she has to load up all the

pills. The other day I stopped by she was looking at the obituary page,

where they list who's died. I said "Mom! What are you doing that for?" She

said, "I want to make sure we can still get the bridge game together on

Saturday." (laughter)

 

Such a life. . . because they live longer, the body gives out, they all get

Alzheimer's, and they don't know they are living longer, so what's the use?

If you die earlier it doesn't make any difference if you don't know you're

alive. Prabhupada gives a nice example, to get a phone. He was in America.

.. . to get a phone in India--of course it's much advanced, improved--but it

used to be to get a phone in India you would have to bribe somebody, and you

would have to wait four years, somebody dies, you buy the house just to get

the phone, all these things were going on. Prabhupada was remembering and

appreciating. He even remembered the amount, he said "I gave a 40 dollar

deposit and the phone was there the next day!"

 

So imagine the scene, Prabhupada was sitting there, the phone was sitting

there, he's sort of cautiously eyeing it and it rings, cring, cring.

Prabhupada make this sound. And he said very nice. But then the phone was

ringing all the time. He said "1 o'clock at night they're calling 'O

Swamiji, how are you feeling?'" Prabhupada says "This is the time to call

and ask me?" (laughter) So after he week he said take it out, he wanted to

get rid of it. So many ways, it's harsa-soka, it's a pan balance--whatever

they gain they have an equivalent loss.

 

Prabhupada gives the example that they work so hard, tax dollars, and build

a park. But they're too tired to enjoy it. Who do you find in the park?

Devotees chanting japa, having Ratha Yatra, devotees; we don't work, and yet

we are enjoying.

 

So there's a nice gentleman who comes to the temple. He's coming from India,

a very poor man from the village. He said all of his life, he never owned a

new set of clothing. Always he wore, extended family, hand-me-downs, buttons

don't quite fit, a little worn, this is how it was going. And he made a vow,

he said "Someday I'm going to make money, and my children are never going to

have worn, faded, torn-out clothing, never. I'll make this vow."

 

He comes to America, earns a bunch of money, sends his kids out to the mall

for shopping and--anyone who lives in America, what is the fashion?--faded,

torn jeans. (laughter) And they costs $200, custom designed. So he's

thinking what's with this? So the point is Prabhupada talks of the stringent

laws. . . here's another one: They move to suburbs, get away from crime,

peaceful life. Because they move to the suburbs they don't walk any more, on

an average the American beast weighs anywhere from 15-25 pounds overweight.

They drop dead from heart attacks. So they move to the city to live longer

and have a peaceful life, they don't get mugged, but because they don't walk

anywhere they drop dead from heart attacks because they don't walk anywhere.

What's the net gain?

 

So the simple point I am trying to make is that Prabhupada talks about the

material nature which is cheating us and yet we don't have the eyes to see.

Prabhupada said they have eyes but they do not see. If you study you get

these people who dig around, you know archaeology, and they find the

different pot shards and this and that. And I forget the name--Drutakarma

will definitely know--but it's a methodology, by finding the piece, you put

together something, you figure out it's a pot, and they must have used it

this way. From the design, you figure out the function, and from the

function you can figure out how the society worked. So from design flows

function, flows understanding of the society and the purpose. If you study

this material nature dispassionately it is not designed to enjoy. It is

simply meant for self-realization, it has no other purpose if you study it's

actual design. I wanted to read something, if you will indulge me. This is

after that tsunami it is an article from the Los Angeles Times. Prabhupada

says that the material nature can be a dictionary for the spirit. And we can

take a good lesson even from a fool. And I think this is quite well written,

it is short.

 

Just like we saw upstairs--this is way off the track but it's sweet--in the

GBC meeting room the BBT showed this clip. Typical materialist, they asked

Srila Prabhupada "We hear that you have so much money, you're building

temples, this and that". Now usually we would back off or be apologetic or

try and dance around it, but Prabhupada said "Yes, we can spend all the

money in the world." Then he looks him dead in the eye and says "The problem

is you will not give it." (laughter). And there's a complete pause and the

person's brain is rewired completely. This is preaching, this is Srila

Prabhupada he did not back off an inch because he knew the actual situation.

 

They asked Prabhupada one time "Why is the death rate so high in India?"

Prabhupada said "The death rate is the same everywhere: 100%". Perfect

answer. Another time Prabhupada's one a morning walk--it's very sweet,

actually--Prabhupada would sometimes say "Good morning". We always say Hare

Krsna, and we should say Hare Krsna, but Prabhupada would sometimes say

"Good morning". And that would induce them to say "Good morning" back, and

in that way they were offering a benediction to a Vaisnava. It's actually

"May you have a good morning," So Prabhupada said "You know what this 'Good

morning' means in the material world? It means nothing horrible has happened

yet." (laughter) That's their happiness, "Good morning".

 

Back to this tsunami thing, there was one group out off the coast of

Thailand doing their deep diving. When the waves come forward in the deep

ocean it's travelling 1000 miles an hour, and all they experienced

[underwater] they felt themselves going up a little bit and down. Then when

they came back to the shore, you see in the pictures, unlimited devastation.

And the quote was "Our paradise became hell". Now the point is paradise is

always paradise. If paradise becomes hell, then you're not in paradise,

you're in hell. That's the actual situation. I just want to read a few

statistics lest we rest easy and waste this human form of life.

 

[Reads a list of global disasters causing massive loss of life, such as

earthquake in Iran, etc.]

 

What a great place, why don't we hang around a bit longer. I could go on. .

.. [lists a few more, Irish famine] every shudder the earth makes and the

whole world is torn asunder. The whole point I'm trying to make is we have a

great duty, this is not our real home. The alternative is--[tells a story of

his drunk neighbour who accidentally came into Prabhu's apartment one night

and was hopelessly confused till a surprised Badri turned the light on] We

think this world, we're trying to find a little corner to find some

happiness but soon as the door opens to the eternal spiritual world, that is

our real home, that is the business of the devotees. Everbody else, as

described here as going to a place of pilgrimage to get purified, wandering

here and there. But the devotees themselves are places of pilgrimage.

Wherever they wander, they are apapa-viddham, they purify and they never

become contaminated.

 

We have that duty upon us. Prabhupada said the whole world is crying for

lack of Krsna consciousness. How do we become tirthas, what is that medium.

 

Just like electricity is everywhere but the instrument for manifesting light

has to be there. Different mediums give different levels of conductivity. We

want to transmit the mercy to the conditioned souls? How to become

qualified? I'm going to talk principle and direct example.

 

The rubber doesn't conduct electricity at all. Wood is a little better, then

water, then steel, then copper, better is platinum, etc. But the point is

each medium has a progressive less degree of resistance. Similarly, we,

speaking of myself, the question of becoming a tirtha as described here, we

have to become free from resistance. We have to cleanse the heart of all

anarthas.

 

And Srila Prabhupada has given that example. Maybe I will tell two stories.

 

[Tells two stories which I have summarised by copying them from a letter by

Bhakti-tirtha Swami]

 

"The two interviews that affected me the most were an interview with the

pujari who takes care of the deities at the house of Advaitacarya, and an

interview with a devotee named Hrdayananda Maharaj who was a pujari in a

temple next to the Radha-Damodar temple. Let me briefly share a summary of

these two interviews. In the first interview the pujari explains how Srila

Prabhupada as a vanaprasta would come to his temple once or twice a month,

would sit in the back for hours chanting, sobbing and crying each time he

came. Then after some time he came as a sannyasi, did the same thing but was

sobbing and crying even more. This time he came and spoke to the pujari and

explained to him that the next day he was off to America and that he had

been coming there on a regular basis since this was the place where Lord

Nityananda, Lord Caitanyana and Advaitacarya would meet to organize the

sankirtan movement. He explained how his Gurudeva had given him an

impossible mission so he was coming there, praying that he would be able to

carry out this mission. Years later he started noticing western devotees

coming to his temple. One day one gave him a BTG and he was shocked to see

the picture of Prabhupada then he realized from this that Srila Prabhupada's

mission had been successful as he had been blessed and empowered by Lord

Caitanya, Lord Nityananda and Advaitacarya.

 

"The next interview that was so impacting on me was the interview with the

pujari, Hrdayananda. He explained that every night he would hear someone

whaling and crying around 1:00 A.M.. One day he got on top of his roof to

see what was going on, and what did he see? He saw Srila Prabhupada sweeping

the Radha Damodara courtyard, sobbing and crying, calling out to Rupa and

Sanatana Goswamis to please help him and prepare him for this mission. The

pujari mentions that he was born in Vraj, and had lived there all of his

life. He had met many wonderful sadhus but never had met anyone who had such

intense bhajan as Srila Prabhupada."

 

[back to Badrinarayana]

 

So this humble surrender to the order of the spiritual master, to the

mission of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, that is one of the ways to become a bona

fide tirtha. We have everything.

 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sasasvati Thakur said that our siddha-pranali mantra

is "trnadapi sunicena." We have everything. We understand the mood to

approach, we understand the mission of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Prabhupada said

"I've given you the structure, just go and decorate it. Actually I've given

you the decoration, just go and hang it." We have everything. If we simply

distribute Srila Prabhupada books. . . we cannot estimate the power of these

books.

 

There is a devotee, a very nice prabhu, he came to the temple in Ann Arbor

where I was the president and moved in, Bhakta Eric. As the TP I'm sorting

the mail and sometimes it was addressed to "Erica" and I thought it was just

an error. One day he said "Prabhu, you got a few minutes?" Just like when

the wife says can we talk, you know there goes an hour. So I said, "What's

up?" It turns out that he somehow or other was convinced that he wanted to

become a woman. And in America they actually do these things, you have to

live for a year as a woman, you take hormones and get long hair, an

operation etc. So he was on the course to do that. He went to a woman's

meeting and they all beat him up because they thought he was a . . .etc. The

men didn't like him, the women didn't like him. Somehow he got a Bhagavad

Gita and then he realized that this just a weird thing from the past and

Krsna's put me in this body. I have my dharma, and ultimately man or woman

real happiness is serving Krsna, the only purusa, we're all prakrti.

 

When the Christian professor why is Krsna immoral, He's dancing with so many

women, Prabhupada answered directly "You are immoral. Everybody is prakrti

everyone is Krsna's wife, why are you dancing with Krsna's gopi?" (laughter)

The man had no idea what to say. Anyway Eric became a nice devotee, he

understood the whole thing, he's married with three kids and grandchildren

and is a very nice devotee.

 

There are so many examples like this. Krsna save me, I was selling

paintings, when my kids were at school, so I was going house to house on

Sunday. The maid answers the door, in Spanish, and says the in-charge can't

be disturbed. The family is all at church and he can't be disturbed. It was

the Spanish ambassador to Panama. But I convinced her, and the man was

sitting in his beautiful panelled library reading 1st Canto. . . . his

nephew in Spain had mailed it to him. He loved it, and although, he didn't

buy any paintings he bought a full set of Srimad Bhagavatam. (laughter and

applause). So the people are crying for it.

 

Prabhupada was driving in Detroit. He had a way of saying Detroit which

sounded a bit like 'destroy it'. Anyway, they had these big plans to build

this Renaissance tower which was going to revive Detroit which had just been

through the wringer. And Ambarisa's grandfather and uncle were paying for

it. And Prabhupada said there will be no renaissance, and now the whole

thing has closed down. So we were driving through a nasty neighbourhood to

the temple, and Prabhupada says "Ah, this is Mahaprabhu's movement." We

looked out the window, there was just a hardware store, and doughnut shop. .

.. . And the next time he says the same thing. So Jagadisa asked "Prabhupada,

what are you seeing?" So there was a hardware advertisement, and they had a

picture of the globe and a paint can pouring over it and the motto was "We

cover the world". And when Prabhupada saw it he said "This is is

Mahaprabhu's movement." (laughter) It's meant to cover the world like that.

 

We are not meant for small things. Electricity is everywhere, the mercy is

everywhere, but we have to become qualified receptacles. We have to. This

world is on fire, it is a horrible place, and they are suffering like

anything. And the death rate is 100%.

 

I was listening to a tape, and Prabhupada was saying that "Everyone says my

baba, my guru is an incarnation of Krsna. Whatever your baba may or may not

be, the standard is Krsna. They're all aspiring to be Krsna, so just worship

Krsna, don't worry about this baba or that baba, just worship Krsna.

 

So I offer you this: that the standard is Srila Prabhupada. (cheers) That is

the standard. If you look at what Prabhupada accomplished all over the

world, it's like an owl who finally admits the sun is shining, it is

unprecendented in religious history all over the world. Harivilas told this

story. He told Srila Prabhupada "One of your Godbrothers went to England,

one went to Germany, why did you come to America?" And Prabhupada said,

"They failed in England, they failed in Germany, so if I have to fail, let

me fail in a new place." (laughter)

 

We know that Prabhupada is the senapati bhakta, sent by Lord Nityananda. . .

Prabhupada's wonderful humility. . . the point is the standard is there,

there's no doubt who was sent directly from Lord Caitanya's camp, empowered

by Lord Nityananda to an unprecendented degree. All over the world he's

opened temples, dozens of deities worshipped there, tens of thousands of

devotees, it's just unprecendented. Simply help him. All we have to do is

simply help him. Simply in our own life chant sixteen rounds, follow the

regulative principles. . . Prabhupada says Vaisnava means a little prasadam,

a place to lie down, other than that, let me serve.

 

You'll never solve the problems of this world, Prabhupada said it's like

washing coal. Whether you're Dhrtarastra or Vidura, you'll never solve the

problems of this world. Therefore be finished with it. We have our work in

this life, we have our duty. Our work is to simply take up the mission of

our spiritual master in his mood, distribute his books, distribute his

philosophy and we'll flood the world. And we will become virtual tirthas and

save the world.

 

All glories to Srila Prabhupada! (cheers, Jai, applause).