Rama Navami

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Rama Navami

Appearance day of Lord Sri Ramacandra

The following quotes are from His Divine Grace Srila A.C.

Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Lord Rama's Appearance day.

 

There is also a lecture (below this) by Srila Prabhupada given in

Hawaii, March 27, 1969 on Lord Ramacandra's appearance.

 

710407LE.BOM Lectures

So this process should be adopted, how to become sukrtina. Sukrti

means yajna-dana-tapa-kriya. One must perform sacrifices as

prescribed in the sastras, and they must give in charity their hard-

earned money for Krsna's cause. That is called dana. Yajna, dana,

and tapasya. Tapasya. Just like tomorrow is Sri Rama-navami. The

tapasya will be that all the devotees will observe fasting from

morning till evening. This is called tapasya. Just like Ekadasi day--

there is no eating sumptuously. Simply you take little fruits and

flowers. Try to avoid that also. You don't take even water. That is

really ekadasi. But because we cannot do it--in the Kali-yuga the

time is different--therefore we are allowed to take little fruit and

milk, which is called anukalpa. These are different methods of

tapasya. And yajna. This yajna, sankirtanaih prayair yajnaih,

yajanti hi su-medhasah. In this age you cannot perform that big

asvamedha yajna, gomedha yajna, rajasuya yajna, so many other

yajnas. It is not possible. First of all, you have no means to

perform such yajnas, hundreds and hundreds of tons ghee required for

putting into the sacrificial fire. You have not even a drop of your

ghee. So forget all those yajnas. In this age, yajnaih sankirtanaih

prayaih.

 

8-03-26.Letter: Mukunda

Please accept my blessings. I am sorry I am delayed to reply your

letter dated March 14, 1968, which I received over a week ago. I am

very glad that you are repentant even for some action which is not

sanctioned by me. This attitude is very nice and improves one in

progressing on the path of devotional service. The Rakhi Bandhan

ceremony observed by you under instruction of Prasad isn't approved

by our Vaisnava rituals. Of course, such ceremony is observed among

the Hindu community as a socio-religious convention. But in our

Vaisnava community there is no such observance. Now, forget the

incidence, and in future don't be misled by some unauthorized

person. Our next ceremony is Lord Ramacandra's Birthday, on the 7th

of April. It should be observed in the same way as Lord Caitanya's

Appearance Day, namely, fasting up to evening and then accept

Prasadam, and all our ceremonies should be performed with continuous

Kirtana, of Hare Krishna, Hare Rama. That will make all our

functions successful.

 

68-03-28.Letter: Mahapurusa

So far the Advent Day of Lord Rama Candra, it should be celebrated

as Lord Caitanya's Birthday was done. Fasting up to evening, and

then take prasadam, and chant Hare Krishna whole day, and be engaged

in reading and chanting off and on, chant for some time, then read

for some time, then again have Kirtana and so on, throughout the

day. If you have not got a Ramayana, then you can read Bhagavad-gita

or Srimad-Bhagavatam, that is all right.

 

770326r2.bom Conversations

Prabhupada: Rama-navami is upavasa up till the... Go to observe

fasting up to the evening.

Tamala Krsna: So moon.

Prabhupada: Sunset.

 

 

Çré Räma Navamé

Lord Rämacandra's

Appearance Day

Hawaii, March 27, 1969

690327RN.HAW

Spoken by is Divine Grace

Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

(kértana)

Prabhupäda: (chants maìgaläcaraëa prayers)

 

rämädi mürtiñu kalä-niyamena tiñöhan

nänävatäram akarod bhuvaneñu kintu

kåñëaù svayaà samabhavat paramaù pumän yo

govindam ädi-puruñaà tam ahaà bhajämi

[bs. 5.39]

 

This is a verse from Brahma-saàhitä in which the incarnation of Lord

Rämacandra is described. Rämädi. Not only Räma, but there are many

other, innumerable incarnations. They are compared with the waves of

a river. As the waves of the river or the waves of the ocean cannot

be counted, similarly, how many incarnations are there of the

Supreme Lord it is not possible to count. But out of them, the

principal names are mentioned in the çästras. Therefore it is said

rämädi. Rämädi means Räma and also other, many incarnations. And

they are existing. Not that one incarnation appeared and it is

finished. No. Not like that. Just like Lord Rämacandra appeared on

this planet, say millions of years before. He appeared in the Treta-

yuga. Treta-yuga means... We have passed only five thousand years of

this age, Kali-yuga. Before that, there was Dväpara-yuga. Dväpara-

yuga means 800,000 years. And before that, there was Tretä-yuga,

which continued for twelve hundred thousands of years. That means at

least two million years before Lord Rämacandra appeared on this

planet.

 

So now Lord Rämacandra appeared in Ayodhyä. There is a place in

Ayodhyä, in northern India. There He appeared. As Kåñëa appeared in

Mathurä... That is also northern India. And Mathurä is about ninety

miles down southward from New Delhi. You have heard the name of New

Delhi, the capital of India. So Ayodhyä is also situated about five

hundred miles northeast of New Delhi. So Lord Rämacandra appeared on

this day. Today is called Çré Räma Naumi. On the ninth day of the

moon Lord Rämacandra appeared. His father was the king of Ayodhyä,

and he had three wives. So out of... No. He had two wives. So out of

two wives he got four sons. Rämacandra is the eldest son. The life

and activities of Lord Rämacandra is... [break] ...in a book which

is called Rämäyaëa. You have heard the name of Rämäyaëa. Rämäyaëa is

also accepted as history. Vedic literatures are histories also. The

Puräëas, the Çrémad-Bhägavatam, Mahäbhärata, and Rämäyaëa, they are

counted amongst the history. The history of Rämacandra is that His

father wanted to retire. Daçaratha, Mahäräja Daçaratha. And he

decided to enthrone Lord Rämacandra and retire. So everything was

settled, but just one day before, his youngest wife turned the whole

thing into different way. Sometimes Mahäräja Daçaratha was suffering

from what is called whitlow, some trouble in the finger? And this

queen served him very nicely, and he was pleased. And he said, " My

dear Çarmiñöhä, if you want some benediction from me, I can give

you. " And she replied that " I shall ask you for the benediction when

I require it. Not now. " So just one day before Lord Rämacandra's

coronation, she approached her husband Mahäräja Daçaratha and

reminded him, " My dear husband, you promised to give me some

benediction, and I told you that I shall ask you when I require it. "

Mahäräja Daçaratha said, " Yes, I remember. You want some benediction

just now? " She said, " Yes. " " And what is that? " She said

that " Rämacandra cannot be seated on the throne. My son should be

coronated, Bhärata. " He was surprised. It is a big demand. So he

said, " All right. That will be done. Your son. " Because formerly,

the kings... Not only formerly, even up to date, there are many

kñatriya kings in India. They have more than one wife. And they are,

naturally, there is rivalry between different wives. So the same

thing. Human psychology is the same. Even two million years ago the

same mentality was there, and she asked that " My son should be the

king, not Rämacandra. " Rämacandra happened to be the son of

Kauçalyä, the elder queen.

 

So Mahäräja Daçaratha agreed and called for Rämacandra. " My dear

boy, your... " She asked also that... She was very diplomatic. She

wanted that Rämacandra go to forest for fourteen years. The idea was

political, that " The king may agree to install my son just now. Now,

after a few days, this Rämacandra may come with His army, and there

may be some difficulty to continue the kingdom. " So she wanted that

Rämacandra should go to the forest and He should not come back till

the end of fourteen years from this day. So Mahäräja Daçaratha

agreed. Because he was kñatriya. Just see the promise. A kñatriya

never goes back from the promise, never refuses any challenge. If a

kñatriya is challenged by somebody, that " I want to fight with you, "

oh, he cannot refuse. This is kñatriya spirit. He cannot say that " I

am now busy. " Suppose somebody comes to you, that " I want to fight

with you. " You may say, " What nonsense fight? I have no time. We are

in the temple. " But a kñatriya cannot deny that. A kñatriya at once

must accept. " Oh, yes. Come on. " And the weapon should be, if he has

no sword or weapon, he should be supplied weapon and fight. This is

kñatriya spirit. They were highly charitable and chivalrous and

keeping promise and with a great tendency for ruling over. They

shall rule over. Administrators. Their business is...

 

There are different prescription for different classes of men for

their livelihood. The brähmaëas, they can pull on their livelihood

by six ways. Paöhana paöhana yäjana yäjana däna pratigraha. Six. And

they must be qualified with twelve high qualities. We have many

times discussed. Out of that qualification, truthfulness is the

first item for a brähmaëa. A kñatriya may speak lies. That is

allowed, because he has to be diplomat, politician. But a brähmaëa,

oh, he's not allowed to speak lie. This is the system, caste system

or varëäçrama system. Everyone was trained. Because these four

classes of men are required in a society. For proper upkeep of

society, one class of men must be very intelligent, highly

qualified, with all good qualities. They must be trained in that

way, ideal character so that people can see and follow them.

Therefore brähmaëas were taken to so much respect because they're

ideal character, learned, and godly, knows the science, spiritual

science. Therefore they're held in high estimation and topmost of

the society. The next, the administrator, administrative class,

kñatriyas. They are trained how to kill. The kñatriyas were allowed

to hunt in the forest to learn the art of killing because that was

necessity for the kñatriyas. Kñatriya, if he... If the king, if he

finds somebody is doing wrong, he can immediately chop off his head

if he likes. The king was so powerful. And it is not that if there

was some war, it is not that the president or the king shall sit

down comfortably at home and ordinary soldiers will go and lay down

their life. No. Formerly, the king or the head of the state, he

should first of all go there in the fight. You see in the picture,

the chief men of the fighting in the Kurukñetra, both sides, they

were arrayed, this side, that side, with their chariot. Not that the

head man, the chief man, or the commander is taking shelter back

side, protecting himself, and poor soldiers are (chuckles) thrown

into the fighting. No. These were kñatriya spirit. And it is

necessary that a class of men should be trained up in that way,

kñatriya, fighting men. In India, because this training was there

since a very long time, so there is no difficulty in recruiting

soldiers there. There is a class of men, they are very much forward

in fighting still. They are called... Just like the Gurkhas, the

Nepalese. You have heard the name of Nepal. Still a small state,

independent state. They are not within India. Between China and

India. The whole Nepal population, they are kñatriyas. Oh, they are

very good fighters. Similarly, the Sikhs, the Jätas. There are

classes. So they're always forward for fighting. And you'll be

surprised that the British Empire was voluntarily liquidated because

they lost India. The Britishers, they understood that because we are

now losing India, there is no more possibility to keep our eastern

empire. Therefore they liquidated. Why? Actually, the whole British

Empire were being administered or managed by Indian soldiers, these

Sikhs and Gurkhas. They extended their empire. After taking their

position with India, they extended British Empire in the Middle East

and Far East simply by these Sikhs and Gurkha soldiers. They got

supremacy on the Burma and everywhere.

 

So there is necessity of a class of fighting men. You are finding in

your country difficulty in recruiting because the recruiting process

is wrong. You are recruiting from persons... You are training

persons just like çüdras, and you want them to fight. How they can

fight? It is not possible. So as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gétä,

that cätur-varëyaà mayä såñöaà guëa karma vibhägaçaù... [bg. 4.13].

Lord Kåñëa said that " The four classes or orders of the society,

brähmaëa, kñatriya, vaiçya, çüdra, is planned by Me according to

work and quality. " So this kñatriya quality men is also required,

the brähmaëa quality of men is also required, the mercantile

community, they are also required, and the laborer class, they are

also required. Of course, laborer class, they do not require any

training. Laborer class means one who cannot do anything, neither

become brähmaëa, nor become kñatriya, nor become vaiçya. That means

the last balance of the population, they are called laborer class,

çüdra. Çüdra means one who has no training. Çüdra has no saàskära.

Saàskära means training. Everyone is accepted as çüdra by birth.

Janmana jayate çüdra. Janmana means by birth. By birth, everyone is

born a çüdra, a fourth-class man. It is to be accepted, and actually

so. Just like a child, innocent child, what does he know? He has to

be trained. Either you train him as a brähmaëa or train him as a

kñatriya or train him as a vaiçya. Or otherwise, he is çüdra

already, born çüdra. Çüdra has no training. Everyone, the basic

principle, basic foreground, everyone, it is accepted çüdra. Now, if

you train him as a brähmaëa, then he becomes a brähmaëa. If you

train him as a kñatriya, then he becomes a kñatriya. If you train

him as a vaiçya... So I think this is, this system is very

scientific so that if you want help of a really intelligent man or

God realized man, it is ready, the brähmaëa class. Just like if you

require the help of a lawyer, we have got so many lawyers. If you

require the help of medical man... Because there are trained men.

Similarly, the society requires to train a certain class of men to

become brähmaëas. Just like we are training the Kåñëa conscious. The

Kåñëa consciousness is meant for the brähmaëas. They are not meant

for fighting because they are not being trained for fighting. They

have been trained for becoming brähmaëas. Who is brähmaëa? Brahma

jänäti iti brähmaëa. The four divisions are described like this.

Janmanä jäyate çüdraù, everyone is born çüdra. That is accepted.

Saàskäräd bhaved dvijaù. Now if you train him, never mind in which

family he's born, you have to train him. Just like boys are sent to

school for being trained. So everyone is accepted as çüdra, but you

now train him. He goes to the guru-gåha.

Guru-gåha means teacher's house. Formerly, for being trained, there

was no such big scale school and colleges. Every village... Still,

fifty years before in India, in every village there was a small

school conducted by the brähmaëa, and the village children would be

trained up there. So he was sent for training. And there was no

school fee. The boys will go there, and on behalf of the teacher or

spiritual master, they will go, brahmacäré, door to door, and beg

and bring forth alms, rice, dahl, grains, and everything. That was

the system. There was no school fee. There was no problem how to

send a boy to the school. Saàskära. Now he's trained up. The teacher

sees the psychology of the boy, in which way he should be trained.

Either he should be trained as a vaiçya or he should be trained as a

kñatriya. So everyone was trained like that, but generally, the son

of a kñatriya... Just like Mahäräja Rämacandra or Arjuna, from the

very beginning they were trained as kñatriya. Naturally, if somebody

is the son of a medical man his father trains him to become a

medical man in future. That is the natural tendency. If the boy is

different altogether that is another question, but naturally, that

is the tendency. So a kñatriya's son was trained as kñatriya. A

brähmaëa's son was trained as a brähmaëa and a vaiçya's son was

trained as a vaiçya, and çüdra had no training. So gradually this

became a caste system. Brähmaëa's son became brähmaëa. Because

formerly, the training was there. But when it is vitiated, although

a person born in the family of a brähmaëa, he is doing the work of a

çüdra. So according to Vedic scripture, one is classified according

to his work and quality, not by birth. That is the classification of

çästra. Just like in the Bhagavad-gétä the Lord says cätur-varëyaà

mayä såñöaà guëa-karma-vibhägaçaù [bg. 4.13]. Guëa means quality and

karma means work. One must be qualified for the work and he must

actually work. Then he is counted classified into that, I mean to

say, category. Just like if you are simply trained or educated as a

lawyer, and if you are not practicing in the court, nobody comes to

you to consult as a lawyer. Nobody cares for you. You must be

practicing also. Similarly, to become a brähmaëa means first of all,

he must know what is Brahman and he must be actually situated in the

activities of Brahman. So devotional service are activities of

Brahman. Activities in Kåñëa consciousness means activities in

Brahman. Brähme carati iti brahmä brahmacäré. Carati means acts.

Actually, he acts in life, applies the principles of brähmaëa in his

life, he is called brahmacäré. So these were the trainings.

So just see how the training was, that a kñatriya cannot refuse his

promise. So Mahäräja Daçaratha, he fulfilled the promise of his

youngest wife and asked his son, eldest son Rämacandra, " My dear

boy, You'll have to go to forest for fourteen years. That is the

desire of Your youngest mother. And I promised that I shall fulfill

her promise, uh, request. So please accept. " Rämacandra said, " Yes

father, I am ready. " Just see. This is the quality. Out of the six

opulences of God, this is one quality.

 

aiçvaryasya samägrasya

véryasya yaçasaù çriyaù

jïäna-vairägyayoç caiva

ñaëëäà bhägam itéìganä

(Viñëu Puräëa 6.5.47)

 

How one becomes God? God is not manufactured by vote. There are

definition who is God. God must be the proprietor of all the riches.

Aiçvaryasya samägrasya. Samägra means all. Nobody can compete with

Him. Here, in this world, material world, I am rich man, and there

is another rich man who can compete with me. There is another rich

man who can compete with him. But nobody can compete with God in

richness. That is one qualification of God. Nobody can say that " I

am richer than God. " You can say " I am richer than Ford or

Rockefeller " or this or that. You can say. But nobody can say

that " I am richer than God. " Therefore in the Bhagavad-gétä it is

said mattaù parataraà nänyat asti kiïcid dhanaïjaya. Mattaù

parataraà nänyat kiïcid asti dhanaïjaya [bg. 7.7]. Dhanaïjaya is a

name of Arjuna, and Kåñëa said that, " My dear Arjuna, there is

nobody greater than Me. " So if anyone claims that he is God, he must

prove by practical example that nobody is richer than him. That is

the first. But unfortunately, we are accepting so many Gods. A

rascal in the street, he also claims that " I am God. "

 

So similarly, the other qualification, nobody can be stronger than

God, nobody can be wiser than God, nobody can be more beautiful than

God, and nobody can be more renouncer than God. So here Rämacandra,

Lord Rämacandra exhibited the quality how He renounced the whole

kingdom simply on the order of His father, His obedience to father.

He could have argued with His father, " My dear father, you, simply

for keeping your promise and actuated by the dictation of a woman,

you are doing this. Let us stop it. Everyone is expecting that

tomorrow My coronation will be there, and they love Me so much. "

Because He... Just like Kåñëa was so much loved, similarly, Lord

Rämacandra was the life of the people. They were very much expecting

that Rämacandra was going to be enthroned tomorrow. So how they were

celebrating, how they were decorating the whole city. Everything. He

never argued. He accepted immediately: " Yes, father. I am ready. "

 

So then one of the brothers, Lakñmaëa, He also requested

Rämacandra, " My dear brother, You also take Me. I am Your constant

companion. I must go with You. " So He said, " That's Your wish.

Voluntarily, if You want to come, You can come with Me. " Then Sétä,

His wife, young wife, She also said, " I'll go with You. " Rämacandra

requested His wife, " Oh, you cannot go with Me. It is very

difficult. You are a king's daughter, and you are brought up in so

nice way, and you are so beautiful. You cannot go. You cannot take

the trouble of living in the forest. " So she said, " Oh, I am Your

wife. Married wife. So I must go even if You go to hell. " This is

ideal wife. She could have refused: " Oh, Your father has ordered to

go to forest. You can go. I shall go to my father's house or I shall

remain here. " No. This is ideal wife. She must be prepared to accept

any circumstances of the husband. Not that when the husband is rich

the wife is very faithful, and when he has come down to be poor or

he's going to forest the wife gives up his company. No. Wife means

better half. She must abide. Just like, it is said, just like a

shadow follows the reality, similarly, the wife is the shadow of the

husband. Wherever the husband goes, she must go. Whatever the

husband wants, she must carry out. Of course, in this country this

interpretation is taken differently, that wife is made a slave. But

actually, it is not so. When Sétä was kidnapped in the jungle,

Rämacandra expected that, that she was beautiful, she was young,

and " We shall be in open jungle. It may be some demons may come, "

and actually it so happened. So for Sétä, Lord Rämacandra massacred

the whole family of Rävaëa. Only for Sétä. So as the husband, so the

wife. The wife was so faithful that she could not remain alone. She

must accompany the husband even in the forest. And the husband was

so faithful that, " Oh, my wife has been kidnapped. " So He massacred

the whole family of Rävaëa.

 

So these are ideal history how... Rämacandra, Lord Rämacandra

appeared on this world to educate or to place ideal example of a

king. How the king should be. Therefore when there is good

government... The example is given, Räma-räjya. Räma- räjya. It is

the kingdom of Lord Räma. Because everyone was happy, everyone.

There are so many instances in the life of Rämacandra. One

brähmaëa... Not brähmaëa exactly. Somebody came to Rämacandra.

Because at that time there was no court like this, that you have to

go to a court and apply with stamp fee. Then your judgment will be

delivered after six years. It is not like that. Anyone who has got

some complaint, he should... The king used to sit in the open

audience, and the citizens were allowed to approach the king and

place their complaints. Because there was no complaint practically.

Everyone was happy. Very minor complaint. So somebody came to

Rämacandra, and he charged Rämacandra, " My dear king, my son has

died. How is that, in the presence of his father, son can die? There

must be something wrong in Your government. " Just see. The charge

is " Why my son has died before my death? This is unnatural. " So

there was nothing unnatural. The king was responsible even for

severe cold, severe heat. That we get from history of Çrémad-

Bhägavatam. That is stated. So the kings were so much responsible.

They were always thinking of the happiness of the citizens, and the

citizens were also so nice. One citizen approached Lord Rämacandra

and His next assistant, His brother, Lakñmaëa, informed Him that " He

is a brähmaëa. You were absent on Your tour for, I think for a

fortnight or a month, and this brähmaëa has not eaten even a drop of

water during Your absence. " Why? " Because he comes here to see You,

darçana. " Just like we come here in the temple to see the Deity. So

Lord Rämacandra was present personally. So he used to come. After

seeing Rämacandra, offering his obeisances, then he would go home

and take something, his breakfast. That was his vow. And because he

could not see for a fortnight or a month Lord Rämacandra because He

was out on political tour, he did not eat even. Just see. The

citizens were similar to the king. So at that time, there was a

statue of Rämacandra which was being worshiped in the family from

Mahäräja Ikñväku. Mahäräja Ikñväku, the son of Manu, happens to be

the forefather of the family in which Rämacandra appeared. So he was

devotee of Lord Räma, and he was worshiping the statue of Lord Räma.

So that statue was being worshiped by the family one after another.

But when Rämacandra was actually present He kept that statue in the

closet of the room, and when this brähmaëa approached and Rämacandra

was informed by Lakñmaëa that he is so steady and strong in his vow,

so Rämacandra ordered that he may be delivered that statue so that

in My absence he can offer respect to the statue and do with this.

That form, I mean to say, statue, or arca of Rämacandra is still

existing in South India. It is being worshiped from that time.

 

So these were the dealings of Rämacandra. Then He, His younger

brother Lakñmaëa and His wife went to the forest, and His wife was

kidnapped by the diplomacy of the demon Rävaëa, and there was fight

between Räma and Rävaëa. Rävaëa was very, materialistically, he was

very strong. But the thing is for fighting with Rävaëa, Rämacandra

did not come back to His kingdom and take His army. No. He did not

come back because He was ordered to live in the forest. So He

organized army with the jungle animals, the monkeys. The monkeys. He

fought with Rävaëa, an organized materialist, with the monkeys. You

have seen the picture. And He constructed a bridge between India's

last point to the other side. Ceylon is considered to be the kingdom

of Rävaëa. So there was a bridge, and the stones were floating.

 

So there are so many historical incidences in the life of

Rämacandra, and we should remember, because if we remember why we

are observing today fasting for Rämacandra... There were many kings

like Rämacandra. Because the kings were trained in that way.

Mahäräja Yudhiñöhira was also as good as Rämacandra, and Mahäräja

Parikñit was as good. There were many such kings. But we are not

concerned because He was a king. He is the King of all kings,

parameçvara. Because He is God, therefore we are observing today.

Rämädi-mürtiñu kalä-niyamena tiñöhan [bs. 5.39]. So He is not

original form of God. The original form of God is Kåñëa, and Kåñëa

expands Himself in various other forms. Advaitam acyutam anädim

ananta-rüpam [bs. 5.33]. Ananta-rüpam means millions and millions.

The Manu is also incarnation of Kåñëa. So in one day of Brahmä there

are fourteen Manus. So Brahmä lives for one hundred years. Just see

how many incarnation of Manus are there even for one Brahmä, and

there are innumerable Brahmäs also. So, as stated in the Çrémad-

Bhägavatam that nobody can count how many incarnations are there,

but some of the chief incarnations are mentioned, and Lord

Rämacandra is one of them. So Lord Rämacandra, He killed Rävaëa and

He installed his brother. His brother was devotee, Vibhéñaëa. So He

did not go to conquer Ceylon, because He was emperor. He went to

punish that culprit Rävaëa, and He installed his younger brother

Vibhéñaëa in that... And He came back with Sétä, and again He was

installed after fourteen years, and His brother was so faithful that

so long His eldest brother was away, Rämacandra requested Him

that " Your mother wants that You should be king, and I also wish

that in My absence You should be king. " Bharata, He was so faithful

brother, He replied, " No. You are king. So long You are living,

nobody can be king. So I cannot be king. " Then He requested, " At

least You administer. " Because after the departure of Lord

Rämacandra, Mahäräja Daçaratha died out of the shock because

Rämacandra was very pet son, eldest son. He was going to be king,

and by his order He was sent to the forest. The father could not

tolerate the shock. He died.

So Rämacandra's life, God's activities, pastimes, if we hear, that

means we are associating with Rämacandra. There is no difference

between His form, His name, His pastimes, and Himself. He's

absolute. Therefore either you chant the holy name of Räma or you

see the statue of Räma or you talk of His pastimes, transcendental

pastimes, everything, that means you are associating with the

Supreme Personality of Godhead. So we take advantage of these days

when the incarnation of God appears or disappears, and we try to

associate with Him. By His association we become purified. Our

process is purification. Kåñëa consciousness means simply we are

purifying our consciousness. From the birth, as I have explained,

everyone is çüdra. Çüdra means one who laments. That is called

çüdra. For a slight loss or slight inconvenience, one who laments,

he is called çüdra. And brähmaëa means one who tolerates. A çüdra

has no toleration. So kalau çüdra sambhava. Kalau means... This age

is called Kali. So it is the statement of the çästras that in this

age the whole population is çüdra. And formerly also, by his birth,

everyone was considered çüdra, but there was training, saàskära. At

the present moment, there is no saàskära, there is no training. The

training is only for earning livelihood. No other training. How one

can earn money and enjoy senses—that is the training at the present

moment. But actually, to make successful the human life or the

mission of human life, the Vedic culture is very nice. And by

spreading Kåñëa consciousness, by adopting the process of Kåñëa

consciousness, you can revive that cultural life, sublime life. If

not wholesale, if there are a few people trained up in this line,

and they become ideal examples to the society, immense benefit can

be derived from their examples of life. What is time? [break]

(kértana) (end)

 

 

(A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada 27th March 1969. The Appearance

day of Lord Rama - Ramanavami, Hawaii, USA.)