Srimad Bhagavatam Class From Mayapur India

Verse: Srimad Bhagavatam 1.13.26
Speaker: HH Danavir Goswami 
Date: March 22, 2005
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gata-svartham imam deham virakto mukta-bandhanah
avijnata-gatir jahyat sa vai dhira udahrtah

TRANSLATION: He is called undisturbed who goes to an unknown, remote place and, freed from all obligations, quits his material body when it has become useless.

PURPORT: Narottama dasa Thakura, a great devotee and acarya of the Gaudiya Vaisnava sect, has sung: "My Lord, I have simply wasted my life. Having obtained the human body, I have neglected to worship Your Lordship, and therefore I have willingly drunk poison." In other words, the human body is especially meant for cultivating knowledge of devotional service to the Lord, without which life becomes full of anxieties and miserable conditions. Therefore, one who has spoiled his life without such cultural activities is advised to leave home without knowledge of friends and relatives and, being thus freed from all obligations of family, society, country, etc., give up the body at some unknown destination so that others may not know where and how he has met his death. Dhira means one who is not disturbed, even when there is sufficient provocation. One cannot give up a comfortable family life due to his affectionate relation with wife and children. Self-realization is obstructed by such undue affection for family, and if anyone is at all able to forget such a relation, he is called undisturbed, or dhira. This is, however, the path of renunciation based on a frustrated life, but stabilization of such renunciation is possible only by association with bona fide saints and self-realized souls by which one can be engaged in the loving devotional service of the Lord. Sincere surrender unto the lotus feet of the Lord is possible by awakening the transcendental sense of service. This is made possible by association with pure devotees of the Lord. Dhrtarastra was lucky enough to have a brother whose very association was a source of liberation for his frustrated life.

So three different stages of transcendentalists. One is the dhira, one is the sannyasi, and the other is the narottama, or the devotee of the Lord. It says in the purport that the dhira stage is a preparation for sannyasa. In this case, Dhrtarastra, being a ksatriya, was expected to take vanaprastha, the next stage. The ksatriyas have three asramas: brahmacari, grhastha, and vanaprastha, so it was expected he would leave home but perhaps. . . of course this has been discussed quite a bit, his family attachment was very strong. Also he was blind so that might have been another consideration. But Vidura was not interested in any excuses. As a preacher. . . Vidura is the ideal preacher, because he was so kind that he gave his full attention to Dhrtarastra even though Dhrtarastra was not the best candidate, still the preacher is so expert that he is interested in helping the candidate to make advancement in some way or other. Of course, the best thing, a preacher always desires that a candidate should be encouraged to take to complete surrender. Just like Krsna in Bhagavad Gita is preaching, "The best thing is to have love for Me, but if you cannot have love for Me then practice the principles of bhakti yoga, if you cannot do that then work for Me, give up some of the results. . . ." In this way He gives a list of lower types of activities, beginning with the highest. Because everyone should be given the opportunity to take to pure devotional service, because after all this is the final instruction of Lord Krsna:

sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami ma sucah

He's saying "I will free you from all sinful reactions, don't fear, don't worry, don't hesitate." In many ways it's the most important instruction in Bhagavad-gita. I know when I read that it had quite a profound effect because now the conclusion is whatever other dharmas, actually it's not real dharma. There are different types of dharmas. There is sva-dharma according to the body, like the varnasrama system is dealing with the sva-dharma of the body. And those instructions are valid and important up to a point. Up to the point where one is given the opportunity and inspiration to surrender to Krsna and engage in sanatana-dharma, or one's eternal occupation. The sva-dharma according to varnasrama is temporary, because as Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu has explained:

naham vipro na ca nara-patir napi vaisyo na sudro
naham varni na ca grha-patir no vana-stho yatir va
kintu prodyan nikhila-paramananda-purnamrtabdher
gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah

"I'm not a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra, brahmacari, grhastha, vanaprastha or sannyasi. I'm not this body but I'm the eternal servant of the servant of the servant of Krsna, maintainer of the gopis."

Everyone's identity is the same--we're all servants of the servants of Krsna--but having forgotten, we're identifying with this body. The real dharma, the sanatana-dharma, the eternal relationship of the living entity or the eternal occupation is to serve Krsna, serve the devotees of Krsna. Not to be engaged in these mundane activities.

However, not everyone is ready for that. But if someone is ready, as we see in the activities of Srila Prabhupada, he didn't try to introduce the gradual method of varnasrama first. We can just imagine, I was speaking with my Godbrother Madhudvisa Prabhu the other day, about Srila Prabhupada's visit for a few hours to the Morning Star Ranch. We can just imagine if Prabhupada had encouraged them to take up the gradual process of varnasrama. . . maybe not everyone's aware of the activities of the Morning Star Ranch; it was kind of a hippie commune, and everyone was living a very unregulated life. Prabhupada taught the chanting of Hare Krsna, the holy names of the Lord:

hare krsna hare krsna
krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama
rama rama hare hare

This is exactly in line with the teachings of Srila Rupa Goswami:

yena tena prakarena manah krsne nivesayet sarve vidhi-nisedhah syur etayor eva kinkarah

In the beginning let them become attached to Krsna. Later on all the rules and regulations can gradually be introduced. There are so many rules and regulations but what is the use of introducing them if one has no attachment for Krsna? So first let them be attracted to Krsna, and for that the Hare Krsna maha-mantra is very important.

kali-kale nama-rupe krsna-avatara

In this age the Lord has incarnated in His holy name. This is especially for this age:

harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha

For the age of Kali the only method of self-realization that will be effective is the chanting of the holy names. There's no other way, not by jnana, not by karma, no by yoga, only by bhakti, chanting the holy name of the Lord in devotional service. That will be effective.

The result was that many of those young people began chanting Hare Krsna and within a very short time they came to the platform of devotional service. Devotional service means that one is situated in the transcendental position, above even the varnasrama system. Just see the effect. By the transcendental potency of Srila Prabhupada and the assistance of his disciples and followers, the Krsna consciousness movement is spreading all over the world. This is the effect of chanting Hare Krsna. All the unwanted things. . .

Ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam

All the unwanted things are destroyed or cleared out of the heart. This is the beauty of pure devotional service. However, sometimes not everyone is able to take to this immediate process, or the very quick process of devotional service, chanting the holy names. So a preacher will encourage them to make advancement as far as possible. That is his discrimination, his ability. Krsna will give him the intelligence how to encourage everyone to take up the path. In the case of Dhrtarastra he was not able to take up pure devotional service but he was able to take up renunciation, take up vanaprastha, he was able to leave the palace, as we will find out shortly.

The song that Srila Prabhupada mentions here by Srila Narottama Das Thakur, which Prabhupada also commented was his favourite song:

hari hari viphale janama gonainu
manusya-janama paiya, radha-krsna na bhajiya,
janiya suniya visa khainu

"My Lord, I have simply wasted my life. Having attained the human body I have neglected to worship Your Lordship and therefore I have willingly drunk poison." This is the woeful song of everyone in this material world, or at least those who are intelligent. The unintelligent they never think that they have wasted their time in the material world drinking poison. They think that:

punah punas carvita-carvananam

They imagine that they are getting more and more happiness. They keep thinking, even on the deathbed. . . one of my relatives was on the deathbed and another one of my relatives came to this person and said, "Don't you think now in your life it would be good to turn towards God,?" And the dying relative said, "No, I don't believe in that, I believe in science so I'm giving all my money to help overcome cancer, the cancer institute. I only believe in scientific things."

We can see science didn't save this person. Science doesn't save anyone. We can give millions and billions of dollars to the research foundations and it won't help at all, not even one iota. But if someone can be engaged in chanting the holy names of the Lord, that is real benefit. We should never try to compare mundane altruistic activities--feeding the poor, opening hospitals, planting trees in Alaska, saving the whale, or whatever--this is not to be compared to giving people Krsna consciousness and teaching people to take up devotional service.

This is what we have been taught by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Generally in preaching He would teach the general mass of people to chant Hare Krsna. He did not discuss the intimate pastimes of Radha Krsna in Vraja, nor did He even discuss such topics with the great philosophers such as Prakasananda Sarasvati and Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya. He discussed with them Vedanta philosophy. But he only discussed with the very few intimate, advanced devotees. He is the acarya, the leader of the sankirtana movement, therefore we also follow that. Sometimes it is recommended that we should give classes in raganuga bhakti to beginners or intermediates, but this is not recommended by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur, or by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

We can see here also the expertise of Vidura. Here Dhrtarastra was certainly nearing death and Vidura might have considered it prudent to instruct him about the most intimate pastimes of Krsna. He did not do so, but rather he tried to convince him through basically logic, argument, common sense, that he should give up. . . he was even insulting him to try to get him to give up the attachment. So giving up the attachment may also be a method of preaching sometimes.

It is said that the coming of old age is the warning that death is coming soon. "Pancasordhvam vanam vrajet', when one reaches the age of fifty, this is the hint, the indication, that old age is coming, now it's time to go to the forest, to give up the comfortable family life and again go back to performing the austerities that one learned in the brahmacari asrama. Because after all what is the purpose of human life? The purpose of human life, "prema pumartho mahan", is to develop love for Krsna, to go back to home back to Godhead, to prepare oneself. That means one has to prepare one's consciousness and leave behind the attachments to the material world especially family, society, friendship, home. These things are very difficult to give up but one has to practice and the varnarasrama system is so nicely designed by Krsna to authorise everyone to make progress in detachment.

An important point here is in the verse is "virakta mukta-bandhanah". That the dhira is one who is free from all obligations. Actually it's true, he is free from obligations. The varnasrama system gives him authorization to leave home. It gives him the authorization. Why? Because the whole Vedic system is meant to lead one out of the material world and back to the spiritual world. Not only the Vedic system authorizes, but stipulates and encourages, yes, everyone should keep moving forward on the path of renunciation:

vairagya-vidya-nija-bhakti-yoga

This is the instruction of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This is knowledge. Renunciation without knowledge is not very solid. And renunciation without devotional service is also not solidified. Prabhupada refers to that in the purport, that the dhiras may reach a stage of renunciation but it's not solidified because they haven't taken shelter of the lotus feet of Krsna:

ye 'nye 'ravindaksa vimukta-maninas
tvayy asta-bhavad avisuddha-buddhayah
aruhya krcchrena param padam tatah
patanty adho 'nadrta-yusmad-anghrayah

The impersonalists' position, although it's the beginning of transcendental life, it's not secure. Because they haven't taken shelter of Krsna they are prone again to fall back down into the material plane. They may have taken sannyasa and still they come back and open hospitals and arrange for feeding the poor. This means they are coming back to the mundane plane. They haven't gotten the real taste of real mukti:

Muktir hitvanyatha-rupam svarupena vyavasthitih

Real liberation means that one is situated in his eternal constitutional form as a servant of Krsna in different rasas.

So we can learn from Vidura about preaching and we can also learn that we should take full advantage of the pure devotees. We can get many things, as Dhrtarastra is not taking the highest thing. There is the story, some of you know the story. There was a worshipper of Lord Siva. He wanted some very valuable thing, he wanted to become very wealthy, so Lord Siva sent him to Sanatana Goswami in Vrndavana. He said "Go there, he has some very valuable touchstone." So the worshipper went to Sanatana Goswami and he begged for the touchstone. The touchstone turns things into gold when you touch it. This worshipper he asked Sanatana "Can you please give me the touchstone." He said "Yes, it's over there in the rubbish, you can take it."

So the worshipper was very happy, he took it and made so much gold and he was very happy. But his friends told him that "If Sanatana Goswami was keeping this in the rubbish he must have something more valuable. So you should go back and get that." So he went back and he said "My dear Sanatana Goswami, I think you have something more valuable because you were keeping this touchstone in the rubbish. Can you give me the more valuable thing?" And Sanatana Goswami said "First throw away the touchstone."

That virakta, renunciation. There has to be some indication that one is willing to pay some price. Because we cannot have Krsna and mundane material attachments at the same time. It is an inverse relationship. If we want Krsna then we have go give up the maya. And if we want maya then we have to give up the Krsna.

So Sanatana said give it up, and he gave it up and then he taught him the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. This is the most valuable thing. We can get so many things from the devotees. We can get liberation. We can get even mundane wealth from a sadhu, from a saintly person and even from Krsna. It is said that if Krsna likes somebody He gives him a lot of material wealth, but if He loves them He takes everything away:

yasyaham anugrhnami harisye tad-dhanam sanaih

That is His special favour. We should not ask Krsna for material things. Generally people do not like to worship Krsna so much, especially here. They prefer worshipping Devi, Durga. Because they can ask for different things. Give me nice wife, dehi, give me wealth, give me nice beautiful wife. They are asking so many things. That's their idea of religion. Of course we can also get these things from Krsna, and it is recommended from Srimad Bhagavatam that if we do have material desires, better than going to the demigods or demigoddesses, to approach Krsna for those things. But Krsna is so expert that in the course of fulfilling our material desires, He will also attract our minds from those material things and we will then become captivated by the beauty of Krsna. Just like Dhruva Maharaja. He approached Vidura for a big kingdom, he wanted wealth. But when he actually saw the Lord who appeared before him as Prsnigarbha, Visnu form, then he said:

kacam vicinvann api divya-ratnam
svamin krtartho'smi varam na yace

"I was chasing for bits of broken glass, but now I have achieved the most beautiful jewel. I don't care for any kingdom anymore. What do I need a kingdom for?"

Prahlada Maharaja also said that when Lord Nrsimhadeva offered him any benediction and Prahlada Maharaja said, "What is the use of asking for any mundane thing? I am not a vanika, a mercantile man. I've seen my father who was so powerful, in a moment everything was taken away from him. I only want pure devotional service."

This should be our constant determination; that I want pure devotional service, that's all. I don't want anything else. The other things will come anyway:

muktih svayam mukulitanjali sevate 'sman
dharmartha-kama-gatayah samaya-pratiksah

The devotee prays that my dear Lord, who is it, Bilvamangala Thakura, divya-kisora murti, because I am engaged in devotional service, mukti, liberation personified is standing with her hands folded waiting to serve me. And her assistants are dharma, religiosity; artha, economic development; and kama, sense gratification; they're also there with their hands folded also willing to serving me. So what is the need for making any separate attempt for these things? Simply a waste of time. Simply we should engage in pure devotional service under the orders of the bona fide, taking the order of the spiritual master as one's life and soul, then everything else will be provided by Krsna:

ananyas cintayanto mam ye janah paryupasate
tesam nityabhiyuktanam yoga-ksemam vahamy aham

Krsna says "I will carry what they lack and preserve what they have for those devotees who are fully engaged in my pure devotional service meditating on my transcendental form."

Nothing else is required. Sometimes people think we have to work very hard to earn a livelihood, so many things. It's not required. Simply engage in Krsna's service and He will take care, He will maintain. Does He not feed the elephants? They're eating forty kilos food a day, they're also being provided. He's providing all living entities. We do not have to worry. We are the sons of a very rich person. Just as a rich man's son doesn't have to go to work very hard in a factory. It's very unusual to see such a thing, the son of a very wealthy man, he doesn't work so hard because he has inherited. "Sadaya-bhak". Those who engage fully in devotional service inherit everything they need for living happily in this life, getting a nice comfortable material situation. And upon giving up this body:

tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti so 'rjuna

They don't have to take birth again in this material world. That is the success of the human form of life. That should be our desire. And if it's not our desire right now, if we still have some desire for material things, we should pray to the Lord and devotees to kindly help me develop the desire to give these things up. Even if I don't have a pure desire for love of Krsna, I should desire to desire that, or desire to desire to desire that. In this way our life will be successful and we will be able to give up the material attachments at the time of death.

That's a big test. It is said that all of our bhajan, all of our learning, all of our worship, our piety, everything is tested at the moment of death, "ante narayana-smrtih." It's like sometimes we are driving in cars on the freeway and some danger comes. You may have had that experience. Of course driving here you don't need freeways to have danger on the roads. Here there's danger at every moment. So what do we do when it looks like the bus is coming right in our lane and it looks our driver doesn't quite have it right? It looks like he is not going to give. He doesn't want to go over, he's holding his ground expecting the bus to go out. And the bus is going very fast and is probably very heavy with hundreds of people inside and weighs more than my little taxi. And if we get smashed certainly I'll be dead. So what to do? You go "Oh ah!" No, we should chant!

hare krsna hare krsna
krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama
rama rama hare hare

Because it may be the last time. (laughter) We don't want to just say "Oh!" or make some sound or silence. This may be the last time! So I should chant Hare Krsna and prepare to go back to home, back to Godhead. We should always be practicing. "Padam padam yad vipadam," there's danger at every step in this material world. We don't know when our last moment will be. So we should practice, "kirtaniyah sada harih," always chanting, always remembering Krsna. Then, when the time of death does come, we will be practiced, we'll be ready to call out the name of Krsna as so many of our Godbrothers and Godsisters and devotees are proving in ISKCON. So that is what ISKCON is preparing us for. . . .

Bhagavatam says "One should be bold enough not to become afraid at the time of death and should cut off all attachments to body, family and everything else." We should be bold enough to cut off these attachments. But it takes practice. Dhrtarastra didn't practice. Therefore he couldn't do it. He didn't chant the holy names of the Lord, he wasn't practicing. Therefore, although he got the association of Vidura, he wasn't able to take full advantage. So we don't want to miss this opportunity. We've got the opportunity to associate with Srila Prabhupada, such an empowered pure devotee. We don't want to just become a renunciant. We want to become a loving devotee of the Lord and go back home, back to Godhead.

So thank you very much. If there are any questions? (applause) Microphone for the questions?

Question: (inaudible)

Answer: How can we reconcile? So the question is "We said if one takes up devotional service, he doesn't need to worry about maintenance of the body or any other material consideration. But Prabhu pointed out that Prabhupada had his own business, Bhaktivinoda Thakur was engaged in some occupation."

Yes, but those were not outside of devotional service. In other words, one can also use one's occupation in devotional service. Just like Arjuna. Krsna told Arjuna that you should fight and remember Me at the same time. Fight for Me, on My behalf.

nimitta-matram bhava savya-sacin

Just become an instrument in My hands. But He engaged him in the same occupation that he was trained for. There's nothing wrong with occupation if it is used--what is that verse in Srimad Bhagavatam--the occupations should be used, "hari-tosanam", to please Hari. All occupations should be used to please Hari. So if your occupation can be used in favourably serving the Lord then that's vey good. If it's not helping you to serve the Lord, then what is the use of such an occupation, it's simply so much useless labour, so much wasting time, like beating the husks. If it's not leading us to love of Krsna. . . we shouldn't be attached to anything that's unfavourable for the discharge of devotional service.

Any other questions?

Question: You were mentioning how Srila Prabhupada was an empowered devotee of the Lord. And Vidura was a mahajana so he could liberate Dhrtarastra. But for example I was speaking with a devotee and he was telling me only if you have a very advanced pure devotee of the Lord, initiated by him, you cannot achieve the highest state of pure devotional service. Like Srila Prabhupada, or Bhaktivinoda Thakur. . . .

Answer: Or Prabhupada's disciples also, or his followers. If they're strictly following then the connection is not broken. It's like this is the wire, if the wire is carrying the current, as long as it's not broken. . . the wire is insignificant. What does it cost for some copper wire? It's worth almost nothing. But when it's connected to the powerhouse that same wire can carry such a huge current! So much power can be carried in that little wire that's almost insignificant. So every soul has the potential to be a pure devotee of Krsna. If he follows the instructions of the pure devotee then he also become empowered. Like the wire, he is connected. If he is connected to his spiritual master and he teaches the same thing then the connection is still there. We can see the proof that so many thousands of people are still joining the Krsna consciousness movement. That means the connection is still there. As long as we present it purely and we don't adulterate it, then it will go on, the current will continue.

Any other question. Yes?

Question: Dear Maharaja, . . . ? about Tsunami. Remembering of repeating holy name. Tell something more about itm su-nami. . . ?

Answer: Did anyone get that? Elaborate on the tsunami? What does that have to do with the class? Let's talk about this class. I mean today's class. The question should be about today's class. If there's anything unclear we can clarify it. I can talk afterwards about the other. . . . Any other about today's?

All right, thank you very much. Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!