HG Anuttama Prabhu

[Guest guest]

>From Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir!

 

March 4, 2006

Verse: Srimad Bhagavatam 2.2.30

Speaker: HG Anuttama Prabhu

 

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sa bhuta-suksmendriya-sannikarsam

manomayam devamayam vikaryam

samsadya gatya saha tena yati

vijnana-tattvam guna-sannirodham

 

TRANSLATION: The devotee, thus surpassing the gross and the subtle forms of

coverings, enters the plane of egoism. And in that status he merges the

material modes of nature [ignorance and passion] in this point of

neutralization and thus reaches egoism in goodness. After this, all egoism

is merged in the mahat-tattva, and he comes to the point of pure

self-realization.

 

 

(So we're all trying to be devotees, right, it's nice and clear. So

Prabhupada by his infinite mercy has given us a three page purport.)

 

 

PURPORT: Pure self-realization, as we have several times discussed, is the

pure consciousness of admitting oneself to be the eternal servitor of the

Lord. Thus one is reinstated in his original position of transcendental

loving service to the Lord, as will be clearly explained in the following

verse. This stage of rendering transcendental loving service to the Lord

without any hopes of emolument from the Lord, or any other way, can be

attained when the material senses are purified and the original pure state

of the senses is revived. It is suggested herein that the process of

purifying the senses is by the yogic way, namely the gross senses are merged

in the mode of ignorance, and the subtle senses are merged in the mode of

passion. The mind belongs to the mode of goodness and therefore is called

devamaya, or godly. perfect purification of the mind is made possible when

one is fixed in the conviction of being the eternal servitor of the Lord.

Therefore simple attainment of goodness is also a material mode; one has to

surpass this stage of material goodness and reach the point of purified

goodness, or vasudeva-sattva. This vasudeva-sattva helps one to enter into

the kingdom of God.

 

We may also remember in this connection that the process of gradual

emancipation by the devotees in the manner mentioned above, although

authoritative, is not viable in the present age because of people's being

primarily unaware of yoga practice. The so-called yoga practice by the

professional protagonists may be physiologically beneficial, but such small

successes cannot help one in the attainment of spiritual emancipation as

mentioned herein. Five thousand years ago, when the social status of human

society was in perfect Vedic order, the yoga process mentioned herein was a

common affair for everyone because everyone, and especially the brahmana and

ksatriya, was trained in the transcendental art under the care of the

spiritual master far away from home, in the status of brahmacarya. Modern

man, however, is incompetent to understand it perfectly.

 

Lord Sri Caitanya, therefore, made it easier for the prospective devotee of

the present age in the following specific manner. Ultimately there is no

difference in the result. The first and foremost point is that one must

understand the prime importance of bhakti-yoga. The living beings in

different species of life are undergoing different terms of encagement

according to their fruitive actions and reactions. But in the execution of

different activities, one who secures some resources in bhakti-yoga can

understand the importance of service to the Lord through the causeless mercy

of the Lord, as well as that of the spiritual master. A sincere soul is

helped by the Lord through meeting a bona fide spiritual master, the

representative of the Lord. By the instruction of such a spiritual master,

one gets the seed of bhakti-yoga. Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu recommends

that the devotee sow the seed of bhakti-yoga in his heart and nurture it by

the watering of hearing and chanting the holy name, fame, etc., of the Lord.

The simple process of offenselessly chanting and hearing the holy name of

the Lord will gradually promote one very soon to the stage of emancipation.

 

There are three stages in chanting the holy name of the Lord. The first

stage is the offensive chanting of the holy name, and the second is the

reflective stage of chanting the holy name. The third stage is the

offenseless chanting of the holy name of the Lord. In the second stage only,

the stage of reflection, between the offensive and offenseless stages, one

automatically attains the stage of emancipation. And in the offenseless

stage, one actually enters into the kingdom of God, although physically he

may apparently be within the material world. To attain the offenseless

stage, one must be on guard in the following manner.

 

When we speak of hearing and chanting, it means that not only should one

chant and hear of the holy name of the Lord as Rama, Krsna (or

systematically the sixteen names Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare

Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare), but one should also read

and hear the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam in the association of

devotees. The primary practice of bhakti-yoga will cause the seed already

sowed in heart to sprout, and by a regular watering process, as mentioned

above, the bhakti-yoga creeper will begin to grow. By systematic nurturing,

the creeper will grow to such an extent that it will penetrate the coverings

of the universe, as we have heard in the previous verses, reach the

effulgent sky, the brahmajyoti, and go farther and farther and reach the

spiritual sky, where there are innumerable spiritual planets called

Vaikunthalokas. Above all of them is Krsnaloka, or Goloka Vrndavana, wherein

the growing creeper enters and takes repose at the lotus feet of Lord Sri

Krsna, the original Personality of Godhead. When one reaches the lotus feet

of Lord Krsna at Goloka Vrndavana, the watering process of hearing and

reading, as also chanting of the holy name in the pure devotional stage,

fructifies, and the fruits grown there in the form of love of God are

tangibly tasted by the devotee, even though he is here in this material

world. The ripe fruits of love of God are relished only by the devotees

constantly engaged in the watering process as described above. But the

working devotee must always be mindful so that the creeper which has so

grown will not be cut off. Therefore he should be mindful of the following

considerations:

 

(1) Offense by one at the feet of a pure devotee may be likened to the mad

elephant who devastates a very good garden if it enters.

 

(2) One must be very careful to guard himself against such offenses at the

feet of pure devotees, just as one protects a creeper by all-around fencing.

 

(3) It so happens that by the watering process some weeds are also grown,

and unless such weeds are uprooted, the nurturing of the main creeper, or

the creeper of bhakti-yoga, may be hampered.

 

(4) Actually these weeds are material enjoyment, merging of the self in the

Absolute without separate individuality, and many other desires in the field

of religion, economic development, sense enjoyment and emancipation.

 

(5) There are many other weeds, like disobedience to the tenets of the

revered scriptures, unnecessary engagements, killing animals, and hankering

after material gain, prestige and adoration.

 

(6) If sufficient care is not taken, then the watering process may only help

to breed the weeds, stunting the healthy growth of the main creeper and

resulting in no fructification of the ultimate requirement: love of God.

 

(7) The devotee must therefore be very careful to uproot the different weeds

in the very beginning. Only then will the healthy growth of the main creeper

not be stunted.

 

(8) And by so doing, the devotee is able to relish the fruit of love of God

and thus live practically with Lord Krsna, even in this life, and be able to

see the Lord in every step.

 

The highest perfection of life is to enjoy life constantly in the

association of the Lord, and one who can relish this does not aspire after

any temporary enjoyment of the material world via other media.

 

__________________

 

 

So there is many verses in the Bhagavatam similar to this one where some

very technical yoga process are explained: merging, the advanced yogi merges

his different levels of material consciousness and material body into

different elements. It's generally very difficult for us to understand these

complicated situations, but we're fortunate, as here, Prabhupada and the

previous acaryas, Prabhupada is always referring to the commentaries of the

previous acaryas and their analysis of these similar texts, where they are

pointing out to us what the essence is and clarifying what the most

important learning is within the particular text.

 

Just as Prabhupada points out in the second paragraph of this verse in his

purport, he says that the particular process mentioned above, although

authoritative, is not viable. So he puts the whole thing in context for us:

yes it's authoritative, it's in the scriptures, but it doesn't work in this

age. Don't worry; you don't have to try to do those things. You don't have

to think, "Oh my gosh, what, I don't even know what that means, merging the

subtle elements into this and that - I don't even know how the halavah I ate

yesterday is digesting. What to speak of how to merge it all into the

different elements of the universe. What hope is there for me?"

 

So Prabhupada very kindly, and all of our previous acaryas, they explain to

us this process is not practical, although authorized. And then he goes on

to tell us what is the authorized process that is also practical, that's

where our hope for salvation, of course he uses the word several times here,

emancipation comes. This is the mercy of the parampara, this is the mercy of

Srila Prabhupada, to help us understand, as he says the first principle is

one must understand the prime importance of bhakti yoga. So out of this very

complicated text, Prabhupada gives us this conclusion and then he goes on in

detail to explain how we can accomplish this.

 

It's interesting, sometimes people, they read Prabhupada's purports, read

Prabhupada's books, or sometimes they do a little bit of a study and

sometimes they get confused, how is it almost every single purport, we could

say in essence, every single purport, he goes right to the point of bhakti.

Sometimes the verse is yoga, Prabhupada says bhakti yoga, sometimes it says

jnana, Prabhupada says surrender to Krsna, etc, in the purports he pulls

these points up.

 

Last year at the American Academy of Religion, there was one particular

section and there was a young scholar who was comparing the different

translations of Bhagavad-gita. I didn't go to this particular one, but

Ravindra Svarupa was at that session and he explained afterwards that one of

the authors this young scholar critiqued was Srila Prabhupada's

Bhagavad-gita. And you know scholars, you have to point out some things you

liked, some things you didn't like, make some analysis, this and that.

Ravindra reported her main criticism of Prabhupada was every page he only

talks about bhakti. She said they all have their different interpretations,

but Prabhupada, he just keeps saying bhakti, bhakti, bhakti, bhakti. She was

saying, where's the bhakti? She had different verses and this particular

text, where does it say bhakti, so she was criticizing like that.

 

Fortunately, Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu was there and he told me at the end he

raised his hand and said, The thing you need to understand is Prabhupada is

coming in a tradition, he's not just a lone scholar or commentator someone

who is just looking at the verse in itself. He is coming as a living

representative of a very, very long tradition, a very scholarly tradition.

So when Prabhupada comments on verse number two, he's keeping in context the

rest of the chapter, he's understanding the conclusion of the book. He's

looking at the history and the commentary the great acaryas wrote a hundred

years ago, five hundred years ago, two thousand years ago, some of them,

millions of years ago, in this way, bring down the essence, bringing it down

to us. Just like it's described earlier in this chapter, text number six,

we're reading text thirty today, but text six, one of so many places in the

Bhagavatam, there are hundreds of verses, explains:

 

"Thus being fixed, one must render service unto the Supersoul situated in

one's own heart by His omnipotency. Because He is the Almighty Personality

of Godhead, eternal and unlimited, He is the ultimate goal of life, and by

worshiping Him one can end the cause of the conditioned state of existence."

 

Text Seven:

 

"Who else but the gross materialists will neglect such transcendental

thought and take to the nonpermanent names only. . . "

 

In other words, this material world of nonpermanent names only.

 

". . . seeing the mass of people fallen in the river of suffering as the

consequence of accruing the result of their own work?"

 

This point is being made throughout Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita,

throughout all the Vaisnava sastras, and ultimately, throughout all the

Vedic literatures. So much different information is being given,

Prabhupada's pointing out, it's all authoritative but it's not all

practical. So we have to clearly understand what is practical. Here

Prabhupada in his three pages is emphasizing to us again the goal is love of

God. And Sukadeva Goswami is asking in this verse I just read, who is it

that will not take this? It's so clear this is the goal: by attaining love

of god one can become happy. Who is it that will not take to this? He

descried, only those who are materially absorbed. Those who are not

materially absorbed, they can take to the path, they can attain love of

Godhead.

 

So for ourselves, it is important we not only be fixed in what the goal is

but we also be fixed in understanding what are the problems that come.

Prabhupada parallels in this purport, he starts out by clarifying, okay,

here's a technical verse, let's understand what the essence is. It's the

practice of bhakti-yoga - hearing and chanting, also associating with

devotees, and here are the pitfalls. Here's what you want to go for here,

here's what to watch out for on the path, and as he often concludes, once

again, one who does this can relish love of God, even in this life. You may

still be in this world, you can relish love of God, perfect satisfaction

even in this life. So everything is in one purport. As you have in so many

texts, the whole siddhanta of Vaisnava culture is there.

 

So for us, we have to be careful of our application. And he is pointing out

we should withdraw from our material absorption. So how do we do that? That

is again explained in so many places. One place is the purport to text

twelve of this chapter. Prabhupada describes:

 

". . . bhakti-yoga leads to gradual evaporation of the sex desire, which is

summarized in three headings, namely profit, adoration and distinction. All

conditioned souls are mad after these different forms of sex desire, and one

shall see for himself how much he has been freed from such material

hankerings based primarily on the sex desire. As a person feels his hunger

satisfied after eating each morsel of foodstuff, he must similarly be able

to see the degree to which he has been freed from sex desire. The sex desire

is diminished along with its various forms by the process of bhakti-yoga

because bhakti-yoga automatically, by the grace of the Lord, effectively

results in knowledge and renunciation. . ."

 

This is the key point:

 

". . . bhakti-yoga automatically, by the grace of the Lord, effectively

results in knowledge and renunciation, even if the devotee is not materially

very well educated. Knowledge means knowing things as they are, and if by

deliberation it is found that there are things which are at all unnecessary,

naturally the person who has acquired knowledge leaves aside such unwanted

things."

 

So here Prabhupada is pointing out how do we become, this material

entanglement absorbs us and takes us away from Krsna, how can we achieve

that? Prabhupada is explaining, by knowledge and detached. By the process of

bhakti, we begin to see things as they are and automatically we lose the

desire for materialistic activities. The first point he says in today's

purport:

 

"The first and foremost point is that one must understand the prime

importance of bhakti-yoga."

 

And then our position is as servant, he says this in the very first line of

the purport, one should admit oneself as being the servant of the Lord. In

other words, one has to be honest, I'm not this, I'm not that, I am a humble

servant of the Lord. Of course, that position is so much more exalted than

any crazy idea we have here. We're thinking I'm some lump of flesh, I've got

some address, and a couple of people know me, out of those, a couple even

think I'm nice. I've got a few years here and I'm going to do a couple of

things. That is very insignificant compared to the actual eternal position

of being a devotee of the Lord. so this reawakening comes by devotional

service and Prabhupada is reminding us, if we reawaken our Krsna

consciousness, we'll be happy even in this world. We won't be tormented by

material desires and material experiences.

 

Then in the second half of this purport, Prabhupada is very elaborately

explaining that the reawakening process is quite a simple one. He uses the

word systematic. It is the systematic application of bhakti-yoga. It's a

science. He goes us the science, you apply the practice and the results

come. So that is our sadhana. He is explaining how the creeper grows and

eventually becomes love of God. But he also warns us that we have to be

careful in the process. The process is guaranteed. Success is guaranteed,

Prabhupada writes in Bhagavad-gita, for the rigid practitioner. So the

question is we have to be careful. Rigid doesn't mean inflexible. Rigid

means one who is determined.

 

Just like they say sometimes in warfare, when there's a big fight, sometimes

wars go on for many, many years, one side wins one day, the next side wins

the next day, sometimes things look pretty bleak, even in the Battle of

Kuruksetra, it wasn't that every day the Pandavas came home victorious. It

is described that some days they came home pretty depressed. So of their big

warriors were killed, things didn't turn out as expected. Some days

Yudhisthira felt a little relieved. Other days, he was very concerned, and

he would once again start thinking, "Boy we shouldn't' be doing this." He

would have some doubt again in his mind. So even pure devotees in this

material world, things don't always, externally at least, look bright. And

for ourselves, sometimes, like in the materialistic warfare, sometimes you

may lose a battle, but that doesn't mean you've lost the war. So we have to

be determined. So Prabhupada is pointing out where difficulties come.

 

Sometimes we start off our Krsna consciousness and we think things are going

to be kind of like a downhill slide. Prabhupada says the easy process,

right, you come to the temple, devotees say, "Yeah just dance, chant and eat

prasad." But it takes a little more than that to keep dancing, chanting, and

eating prasad. Like they say, the devil is in the details sometimes. So the

process is simple, but because we're so conditioned, sometimes it's

difficult.

 

But Prabhupada's telling us, if we're careful, if we avoid offences,

particularly, especially, at the lotus feet of a pure devotee, and if we are

very careful to avoid the weeds that grow by the process of devotional

service, then we can attain success. He talks about in the last half a page

of his purport, the need to uproot these different weeds that come. So we

should always remember. Not that now I've become a devotee, everything's

guaranteed. Now I've become initiated, I'm all set. Now I'm a ten year

devotee, a twenty year devotee, a thirty year devotee, now I took sannyasa,

or now I'm a GBC or now I'm a temple president or now I've got a husband or

a wife or now I've got disciples, now everything's guaranteed. No, it's only

guaranteed if our desire remains to serve Krsna. As soon as our desire

deviates, we're at risk again. So therefore Prabhupada is making this point

that we have to be careful, we have to be diligent to pull out the weeds.

 

I was thinking it's just like an athlete who trains. Someone ewho has some

ability to be a good athlete, they have to get a good coach. They have to

study under the previous expert, learn how to, whatever swimming or running,

they're trying to perfect. They have to have their mind focused on the goal.

And if they have a good coach, spiritual master, someone who knows so much,

who can expertly guide them, if they apply themselves, they don't give up,

and they practice, practice, practice, then they can achieve the great gold.

They can win the gold medal or whatever.

 

But the problem is for a lot of athletes, along the way, you don't win the

gold medal, but you win the bronze medal. As soon as you win the bronze

medal, they put your picture in the paper. Before nobody even noticed you

and your name was like on the bottom of the list, you're in the third tier,

fourth tier, nobody even heard of you before. Once you start making a little

progress a couple of people notice - a couple of newspaper articles, all of

a sudden the TV cameras want to talk to you. Like in the field of athletics,

all of a sudden so many pretty girls come up at the end and give you

flowers. You get a little bit of fame. What can happen to the athlete then?

They stay up a little later at night, they get up a little later in the

morning, they don't practice as they did. They start to make enough to get a

little closer to the goal and they get tempted. They're not quite there yet.

A lot of them, they lose their determination. "OK, a little fame, a little

distinction, I think I'll party instead of practice," and like this t.v.

stuff, and the next thing you know they're right back where they started

from.

 

Of course in the material world you do that once or twice and your body's

tired and you're finished. You're an athlete in historical name only. Krsna

consciousness we're very fortunate, we never exhaust the potential to become

lovers of Krsna. But the same process is there, we make a little bit of

advancement in our spiritual life, as it is described here, so many weeds

also come. We get a little bit of knowledge, sometimes we can get a little

arrogant from that. Sometimes we get a little bit of prestige. First day you

join, your name is Bhakta Fred. Second day, OK, now you're in charge of

Bhakta Joe. "Oh, I'm in charge now. I've been here two days, they're already

recognizing my talents." It goes and goes and goes. If we're not careful to

understand, "No, I'm a servant of Bhakta Joe," or Bhakta Fred or whoever

comes next, then we can forget. So these weeds, we have to be very, very

careful and as a society we have to be very, very careful.

 

Lord Caitanya wanted, and Srila Prabhupada, they wanted and they want that

the ISKCON society should be very successful in spread the Holy Name all

over the world. But just like we can see Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati

Thakur he wanted all of his disciples to work cooperatively to do that same

task, but they weren't up to it. They really weren't able to do it, but

Srila Prabhupada, because of his intense desire to please his spiritual

master and to not be distracted by whatever allurements and distractions

come along the way, he was successful in a way beyond anyone could imagine.

 

So in the same way, sometimes we think, OK, we've got four hundred temples.

In a country like Russia, OK, what are there, 250 million people, you can

look in the Back to Godhead, there are maybe fifty, sixty, a hundred

temples. That's very nice in forty years. That's great. In America there are

maybe forty or fifty, OK, that's very nice, you go to Slovenia, there are

two. But if we are actually going to make people Krsna conscious, we have to

have hundreds of temples. Prabhupada said in New York, they said, how many

temples should we have? Prabhupada quoted a song, he said we should have

uptown, downtown, all around the town. Not just one or two temples, not just

one or two communities, not just that a few people become Krsna conscious,

but everyone should get the opportunity. So we're still at the pioneering

stages. There's so much work to be done.

 

One of the weeds is that we begin to think, "Oh, we've been successful. Oh

we can knock on the door of the Prime Minister and he'll talk to us or we

get a good article every now and then or so many Bollywood or Hollywood

people, they want to come and meet us. That's not success, that's just the

beginning of having an impact upon the world. we're meant to become an

organization, an association of devotees that has a serious impact on the

lives of people all over the planet and it's only just begun. It's only just

started and there's so much more work to be done.

 

Prabhupada gives us the term "the working devotee", he says in his purport,

"the working devotee". He says the working devotee has to be careful. We

have to remember we're still in the working stage, and like the athlete, not

be distracted by a little bit of success: OK, we have one or two buildings

here, a couple people like us, a few rich people want to give us money.

Prabhupada said we should have so much money, not just a little bit. Not

just one temple here or there, he wants us to have an affect on the whole

world.

 

So along the way these allurements may come, we have to be very careful in

our practice. We should be very careful that we don't become distracted and

allured. Prabhupada said in the purport a bit earlier, fame, adoration, and

distinction, these things kill our enthusiasm in Krsna consciousness. We

have remember, whatever little bit of opulences I have, whether it's

disciples or a wife or a husband or a house or a little bit of money or some

fame or some influence, these are the property of Krsna. These are the

energy of Krsna. If I use them in service these things become means for my

elevation and means for me to please my spiritual master. If I start

thinking even for a moment, this is my property, this is my opulence, this

is coming by my ability, then the downward path has come, and at the very

least, we can't be an instrument in Prabhupada's mission because we blocked

it. Krsna tries to give so many thing to use in His service, as soon as we

start thinking that they're separate from Krsna, then we can't connect

people, we can't use it in Krsna's service.

 

So here he's got a beautiful, very long purport giving us this insight.

Don't be distracted by the technical things that are there. Understand what

the essence is - it's pure devotional service, it can be attained by hearing

and chanting, but be careful that there are these different obstacles along

the way. Even as devotees we shouldn't think there aren't obstacles along

the way. There are so many obstacles, there are so many weeds that can come,

but if we avoid these, as he says in the conclusion:

 

"The highest perfection of life is to enjoy life constantly in the

association of the Lord, and one who can relish this does not aspire after

any temporary enjoyment of the material world via other media."

 

This is achievable for us, he reminds us of that in the last sentance and

he's encouraging us, be cautious but move forward, have confidence, and

Krsna's there and we will become perfectly happy as we gradually reawaken

our love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sri Radha Madhava ki jai!

 

So maybe one quick question, if there is.

 

Maharaja, a comment?

 

Danavir Maharaja: The scholar that was taking, she said that everywhere

bhakti is there in Prabhupada's Gita and the devotee said it's our

tradition, my question is it tradition or is it really mean bhakti?

 

Anuttama Prabhu: Thank you, it wasn't in his response or in ? that it was

only tradition, but it is the essence of what's there. In fact, because I

was hurrying a little bit, I had one verse I didn't read which was a part of

the answer to round that out, so thank you. In the Bhagavad-gita, she was

commenting on Prabhupada's purports, and text number nineteen and twenty of

the fifteenth chapter, same point is there, Krsna says:

 

"Whoever knows Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, without doubting,

is the knower of everything. He therefore engages himself in full devotional

service to Me, O son of Bharata."

 

Of course in the Sanskrit it is "yo mam", me - me, me, me; Krsna makes it

very clear.

 

"This," Krsna concludes, "is the most confidential part of the Vedic

scriptures, O sinless one, and it is disclosed now by Me. Whoever

understands this will become wise, and his endeavors will know perfection."

 

So thank you for that clarification. It is certainly our tradition and

Prabhupada is commenting. It's not that he's making these things up. He is

commenting in the line of the parampara and that's what it says if you take

your time and look at it more closely.

 

So she was a young scholar, she had a long way to go, but, because sometimes

superficially people will come to that kind of conclusion, but people take

time. As here, you read so many things in the Bhagavad-gita, his yoga, that

yoga, so many things, but at the end, surrender to Krsna.

 

Prahladananda Maharaja?

 

Prahladananda Maharaja: Krsna is the original source of our tradition.

 

Jai, the middle the beginning and the end, jai. Thank you very much,

essential point.

 

Sri Sri Radha Madhava ki jai!

Panca Tattva ki jai!

Nrsimha Bhagavan ki jai!

Srila Prabhupada ki jai!

Gaura-premanande. . .

 

(applause)