{"id":5467,"date":"2008-03-11T09:25:14","date_gmt":"2008-03-11T08:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=5467"},"modified":"2008-03-11T09:26:41","modified_gmt":"2008-03-11T08:26:41","slug":"live-from-sri-mayapur-candrodaya-mandir-mar-4th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=5467","title":{"rendered":"Live from Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir! Mar 4th"},"content":{"rendered":"

Date: March 4, 2008
\nVerse: Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.13.11
\nSpeaker: HG Dravida Prabhu<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Ananda Tirtha (das) PVS (Mayapur – IN)<\/p>\n

You can download the audio file from here<\/a> or start the player below to listen<\/p>\n


\n_______________________<\/p>\n

sa tvam asyam apatyani sadrsany atmano gunaih
\nutpadya sasa dharmena gam yajnaih purusam yaja<\/p>\n

TRANSLATION: Since you are my very obedient son, I ask you to beget children qualified like yourself in the womb of your wife. Rule the world in pursuance of the principles of devotional service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and thus worship the Lord by performances of yajna.<\/p>\n

PURPORT: The purpose of the material creation by Brahma is clearly described herein. Every human being should beget nice children in the womb of his wife, as a sacrifice for the purpose of worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead in devotional service. In the Visnu Purana (3.8.9) it is stated:<\/p>\n

Varnasramacaravata purusena parah puman
\nvisnur aradhyate pantha nanyat tat-tosa-karanam
\n [Cc. Madhya 8.58]\n

“One can worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu, by proper discharge of the principles of varna and asrama. There is no alternative to pacifying the Lord by execution of the principles of the varnasrama system.”<\/p>\n

Visnu worship is the ultimate aim of human life. Those who take the license of married life for sense enjoyment must also take the responsibility to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu, and the first stepping-stone is the varnasrama-dharma system. Varnasrama-dharma is the systematic institution for advancing in worship of Visnu. However, if one directly engages in the process of devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it may not be necessary to undergo the disciplinary system of varnasrama-dharma. The other sons of Brahma, the Kumaras, directly engaged in devotional service, and thus they had no need to execute the principles of varnasrama-dharma.<\/p>\n

Dravida Prabhu: Before I begin, I would like to express my thanks to everyone for allowing me to give this class. I don\u2019t feel myself worthy, especially in the presence of such exalted souls. I tried to get out of it, but they wouldn\u2019t let me, so here I am. <\/p>\n

So in this verse, Lord Brahma is giving his instruction to Svayambhuva Manu for achieving the goal which has been on his mind for some time. I looked up some of the earlier chapters, especially the previous chapter in which the Kumaras appeared, and Brahma has this big task to perform, which is to populate the universe. As Prabhupada says, the purpose of the universe is to number one to allow the living entities who had been merged into the body of Mahavisnu to begin again their karmic activities and especially to reform them, if possible, so that they can escape this bondage of samsara and go back to Godhead. In order for that to happen, the population has to take birth. The planets are created and the population has to gradually appear; this is Brahma\u2019s first headache, if you will. <\/p>\n

We see various false starts in this endeavor. He first creates the Kumaras and he wants them to produce praja and they refuse. He understands that they are doing so for a higher purpose. They want to practice devotional service. Still, he is angry that his instruction is being refused. He controls it, but it comes out between his eyes in the colors blue and red of the individual, Rudra. He is named Rudra because he was produced from his anger. He asks Rudra to produce the praja. And he starts producing. He expands, he starts producing the praja, but they start devouring the universe. Not good. So he asks Rudra to start meditating, control. He takes on the role of Siva that we know so well. <\/p>\n

The Kumaras didn\u2019t work out. Rudra didn\u2019t work out. Now we find Svayambhuva Manu is taking on this task of fulfilling the desire of his father, Lord Brahma, who is also his spiritual master, to populate the universe. When Brahma produced various prajapatis, after he produced the different prajapatis, he also produced Narada Muni. Narada Muni came from his discrimination. This Narada Muni fulfills the real purpose of the universe by giving Nara. Nara is a name for Narayana, Krsna. Narada appears more than any other mahajana, actually, in Bhagavatam, every canto you see Narada appears and he is always giving just that instruction which is perfect and suitable for the candidate to begin devotional service.
\nHere we find the task being taken up by Svayambhuva Manu. Srila Prabhupada quotes this verse varnasramacaravata. Here it is said that there is no other way to please the Lord than by following this varnasrama system. So how does this varnasrama system pertain to us? After all, we find in the teachings of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, rather in the conversation with Ramananda Raya, that this verse was brought up and Lord Caitanya said, \u201cThat is external. Go further.\u201d This was one of the first verses answered to the question, \u201cWhat is the goal of life? How does one achieve it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet Srila Prabhupada, as we know, was very eager to have varnasrama established in ISKCON, at least a pilot project. He knew this had to happen for the society to grow and grow and grow and truly be international society were people could live, work, raise children, all on the basis of Krsna consciousness.<\/p>\n

So how do we relate to varnasrama? This is a key question. One of the things that comes to mind is that our whole morning program that Srila Prabhupada set up, which I think we can agree is the foundation of our spiritual life. We have the deities worshiped, so much chanting of Hare Krsna, we have the class. All the five main processes of devotional service enumerated by Rupa Goswami in the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu are there in the morning program: sadhu sanga, sankirtana, studying Bhagavatam in a holy place, worshiping the Deity is there. <\/p>\n

In all of that morning program, there is no varnasrama. There is no varnasrama in the kirtan. When everyone is dancing and chanting in ecstasy, they think, \u201cOh, there is a brahmana, there is a ksatriya, there is a sudra.\u201d No, nothing like that. Even harinama going out. There is no question of, \u201cOh this is a sudra Vaisnava, this is a brahmana Vaisnava.\u201d Anyone who has that mentality is living in hell:<\/p>\n

arcye visnau sila-dhir gurusu nara-matir vaisnave jati-buddhir<\/p>\n

If you think that a Vaisnava is determined by his birth, \u201cOh, this is birth to brahmana family, sudra family,\u201d then it is a hellish mentality: yasya va naraki sah<\/p>\n

So much we do has nothing to do with varnasrama, isn\u2019t it? In the evening Prabhupada mentions we all gather together, more kirtan, more class, more worship of the Deity, hearing Bhagavad-gita, Nectar of Devotion, the famous ISKCON sandwich. No varnasrama. Of course, the learned devotees speak, but basically we are simply devotees, we are simply bhaktas. And varnasrama doesn\u2019t pertain to that. But during the day, during the time we do our service when we sometimes have to work in order to maintain family and there are brahmacaris who are studying, who are doing menial service, who are preaching. <\/p>\n

There was a structure that Srila Prabhupada wanted to set up, especially in farm communities. Varnasrama of course means must it have cow protection, agriculture, brahminical culture, all these things, which can show a way that people can be happy in Krsna consciousness living very simply on the basis of the land, the cows, and working together, not worrying about the hierarchy. There isn\u2019t this exploitive mentality that we find in the world at large; but it only works when everyone is basically practicing very strict sadhana and getting their enjoyment and pleasure in life from being Krsna conscious and serving Krsna through whatever duties they may have. But it is important to have this varnasrama system because we are living in the world. We are living in a world in which you have to have something to eat, you have to maintain a roof over your head, families are going to be there. Therefore, the rules of varnasrama are there. <\/p>\n

I wanted to read something very interesting. We know that in the Srimad-Bhagavatam this varnasrama system is spoken of, mostly in two places, seventh canto and also in the eleventh canto Sri Krsna has a chapter on varnasrama. Most of the instructions I found are detailed in the seventh canto where Narada Muni is instructing Yudhisthira. I wanted to read, if you\u2019ll forgive me, it\u2019s a little bit long list. What\u2019s interesting here is that before he even describes the varnas and asramas to Yudhisthira, he has a list of qualities that all human beings are meant to cultivate, no matter what varna and asrama you are in. And if you don\u2019t cultivate them, you can\u2019t be counted amongst the human beings. Some of you may have read these before, you may not remember them all, but I am going to read them. Srila Prabhupada gives a wonderful commentary. A lot of the commentary is in the synonyms, the word by words. Don\u2019t miss out on them when you read Srimad-Bhagavatam. So these are the qualities that everyone is supposed to have, man, woman, any varna, any asrama to be a human being:<\/p>\n

Truthfulness, mercy, austerity, cleanliness, Prabhupada gives the insight, bathing at least two times a day and always chanting the Holy Name, internal cleanliness, external cleanliness. You can see, those are the four principles of religion. Also tolerance, discrimination between right and wrong, control of the mind, control of the senses, nonviolence, celibacy, charity, reading of scripture, simplicity, satisfaction, rendering service to saintly persons, gradually taking leave of unnecessary engagements, observing the futility of the unnecessary activities of human society, remaining silent and grave and avoiding unnecessary talk, considering whether one is the body or the soul, distributing food equally to all living entities (both men and animals), seeing every soul (especially in the human form) as a part of the Supreme Lord, hearing about the activities and instructions given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead (who is the shelter of the saintly persons), chanting about these activities and instructions, always remembering these activities and instructions, trying to render service, performing worship, offering obeisances, becoming a servant, becoming a friend, and surrendering one’s whole self. These are the qualities of a human being regardless of varna and asrama.<\/p>\n

So what does it sound like? It sounds like the qualities of a devotee, isn\u2019t it? The idea is that the Srimad-Bhagavatam, although it mentions the varnas and the asramas and there is some detail there in the instructions of Narada Muni, the central point is always to develop the qualities of devotional service and to be devotees. Everything follows from that. There are several verses, the most famous:<\/p>\n

atah pumbhir dvija-srestha varnasrama-vibhagasah
\nsvanusthitasya dharmasya samsiddhir hari-tosanam<\/p>\n

That the real purpose of the varna and asrama, the perfection, is to satisfy Krsna or Hari with those activities. If it just becomes some sort of a caste system in which the upper castes are exploiting the lower castes, this is a great corruption of the varna and asrama system. When Caitanya Mahaprabhu came, he didn\u2019t talk about varna and asrama. He spread the sankirtana movement, the chanting of the Holy Names.<\/p>\n

This brings us to the other point which is mentioned in this verse: worshiping the Lord through yajna, sacrifice. This word yajna is here. In this way, rule the world by propagating and ruling over and teaching the proper sacrifices. Sacrifice is a very important part of human life. Human life without sacrifice, there can be happiness in neither this life not the next, Krsna says in the third chapter.<\/p>\n

What is that sacrifice? Each age has its specific dharma. In this age we have the sacrifice of the congregational chanting of the Holy Name. We also perform other sacrifices. We\u2019ll have the homas, the fire sacrifices for initiation, marriage, etc, but the prime sacrifice is the sacrifice of sankirtan as taught by the incarnation for the age, yuga-avarata, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. That sacrifice underlines everything. <\/p>\n

Why is it so important in this age? Well, because it is taught by the incarnation of the age. It is especially situated to this age. The wonderful thing about it is that even though we are mostly unqualified by birth or education to perform the intricate sacrifices mentioned in the Vedas with all the proper mantras and pronunciation and everything, everybody is completely qualified in this age, no matter who he or she is, to perform this sacrifice. It is completely open to everyone.<\/p>\n

The wonderful thing about it is that if you practice it properly under the guidance of the spiritual master and you absolutely try to avoid the offenses in prosecuting it, you achieve the highest goal just by that sacrifice. Therefore it is said in the eleventh canto, this Kali-yuga in which Lord Caitanya appears is worshiped by the demigods and those who understand things as they are:<\/p>\n

kalim sabhajayanty ary guna jnah sara-bhaginah
\nyatra sankirtanenaiva sarva-svartho ‘bhilabhyate <\/p>\n

In describing the different yuga-avataras, he comes to the famous verse krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam describing Lord Caitanya. Then a few verses later, he says, \u201cThis Kali-yuga is very special because those who know the essence of things, sara-bhaginah, they worship this Kali-yuga because just by sankirtan, all all of your goals, svartha, svartha means the real goals of the soul, not the external relating to the bodily concept, are achieved by this sankirtan. <\/p>\n

When that yajna is performed nicely then everything falls into place. One can be satisfied in any position in the organization of varnasrama because you have that inner satisfaction coming from chanting and dancing and doing all the other practices of devotional service that flow from that. This is your satisfaction. In prosperity or poverty, cold or heat, health or disease, that is always there because it is pertaining to the soul. <\/p>\n

We see great devotees, even our contemporaries, who are able to remain equipoised and upbeat even at the time of death because they were absorbed in the Holy Name. Recently I had the great opportunity to be present at the disappearance of Radhanath Prabhu. Some of you may have known him. He was in a wheelchair for years and years and years. He lived in different places, but the last couple of years he was living in San Diego. He had this progressive disease where his body was completely stiff. He had trouble breathing because the muscles of the diaphragm weren\u2019t working properly. Yet, he was going out on sankirtan. He was distributing books. <\/p>\n

One of our most wonderful bhaktas there, very nice nineteen-year-old boy, Bhakta Bronson, who is now a full time book distributor, very nice devotee, he became a devotee because he got a book in a parking lot from Radhanath Prabhu. And so did his mother become a devotee. <\/p>\n

Last days, he was in the hospital and he decided that he didn\u2019t want to go on the breathing machine going for days and weeks in a nursing home. He had always been able to be in the association of devotees even though he had this progressive, debilitating disease. So he decided, let me go, pull the plug. He picked the time, he picked the day. We all gathered there. It was very peaceful and calm. We were chanting, of course. His dear friends were there and off he went to Goloka or his next service to Krsna. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s not alone. We have experienced now great souls who have departed. How is that possible? I used to work in a hospital before I joined the movement. I saw so many non-devotees as they are approaching death. They are just terrified. It\u2019s shocking. Their whole world comes crashing down, especially when it came suddenly from a heart attack or something. All of the props, all of the so-called shelter, the fallible soldiers mentioned in the second canto by Sukadeva Goswami, those fallible soldiers have left the battlefield and you\u2019ve got nothing left. Suddenly the end is near and you don\u2019t know where you\u2019re going. <\/p>\n

The doctors will tell you they start seeing things. The Yamadutas are starting to come. People are just terrified. This is where all of their illusion comes to is suddenly this shock that they have no shelter because they haven\u2019t cultivated devotional service. This is what it is all working out to.<\/p>\n

In the meanwhile, as we live in this world, we are trying to spread devotional service. We have a responsibility both to preach and also to become Krsna conscious because that by becoming Krsna conscious and relishing Krsna consciousness is the foundation of spreading Krsna consciousness. If people come in contact with a devotee, and that is the key \u2013 coming in contact with a devotee who is practicing devotional service and who is reading Srila Prabhupada\u2019s books and living those books to the best of their ability, and seeing the stark difference in the mentality. <\/p>\n

All over the world, I live in the United States, but it doesn\u2019t really make a difference, all over the world they have accepted this so-called philosophy of consuming as much as possible, accumulating wealth, and buying the petty baubles of sense gratification. You can just see around you, whether it is in a wealthy country like America or some third world country, people are not happy with this accumulation of things. It becomes very [unclear]. This is spoken of by Prahlada Maharaja:<\/p>\n

kutrasisah sruti-sukha mrgatrsni-rupah
\nkvedam kalevaram asesa-rujam virohah
\nnirvidyate na tu jano yad apiti vidvan
\nkamanalam madhu-lavaih samayan durapaih<\/p>\n

Here he is giving some facts. He says, kutrasisah, what use are these desires, these aspirations for material happiness, material pleasure? Sruti-sukha, most of the happiness is in the hearing about it. This is an interesting phenomenon. People, they see the advertisements. Then you aspire for something, I want to get a big screen TV, something like that. So you read about it, you think about it, you look at your friends. Finally, if it\u2019s your karma, you are able to accumulate enough or go into debt and buy that huge screen TV. After some time, what happens is, you find it doesn\u2019t make you happy. First of all you have to pay off the loan. Then you find there are so many things on it that are degrading. Then you find your kids getting addicted to it. Basically there is always something that happens that is not pleasing about material life. Then what happens is a bigger one comes out with high definition. Then you have to junk that one and get another one. This is what it\u2019s all about.<\/p>\n

He gives it the epithet of mrgatrsni-rupah. It has the form of a mirage. It comes from the word \u201cthe thirst of a deer, animal\u201d. In other words, the animal is looking out from the oasis and looking out in the desert, sees another oasis, runs out to it, and it\u2019s not there when he gets to it and he dies. This is the nature of material life. There is always something else to strive for, some other person, some other goal, some other thing. And then you run out of time or it\u2019s not your karma and you are disappointed, even if you get it. <\/p>\n

So he says, what is the use of this body as a foundation for enjoyment? It is simply an abode of all kinds of diseases. Then he says something very interesting. He says even if someone knows this, vidvan, this thing comes up again in the Bhagavatam, still he cannot desist from searching for sense gratification because the mind, kamanalam madhu-lavaih samayan durapaih, the very effort to get the honey-like drops of sense gratification to extinguish the kamanlam, the fire of lust, that effort and absorption keeps you in the mode of passion. Even though you know theoretically, you cannot act on it.<\/p>\n

This brings up another important point that I wanted to make and that is that even as devotees, that is why I said we have a responsibility to become advanced in devotional service so that we can actually taste the sweetness of the Holy Name, so that we can actually relish the Deities, the darshan of the Deities, and also relish all of our service, see Krsna in our service, which is meant to please him, and also relish the nectar that comes from pleasing the spiritual master and serving the devotees and all of the things I listed there. There is pleasure there that is far beyond anything that materialists can imagine. But if we find ourselves committing offenses to the Holy Name, not carefully practicing the principles of devotional service, then even though we may have had the taste, we may lose that taste. <\/p>\n

When we lose a taste for devotional service and a taste for the Holy Names especially, then we are easy prey for maya. Even though we know theoretically, we\u2019ve read the Bhagavad-gita twenty, thirty times, we may be Bhakti-sastri, still, we have to be careful to cultivate our taste for devotional service and rise up to the platform of firm nistha, getting more and more taste and advancing. Otherwise, we can lose that taste and we become prey to the material energy.<\/p>\n

If we are getting that taste and we are feeling happy and satisfied in devotional service, varnasrama can be built on that platform. Otherwise, it is an artificial construct and it cannot be maintained. There are too many distractions in this world. There are too many ways in which the material energy can enter in, even through the internet, or your friend who watched the internet and told you something. See what I mean? There are so many ways. We go out, we are exposed. If we are not strong, we can easily be drawn away.<\/p>\n

To maintain that strength in devotional service is our duty and it also should be our personal aspiration. This brings up the point of what are we performing sadhana for? Sadhana means, according to Rupa Goswami, with the sadhya in mind, with the goal in mind. Then the sadhana all makes sense, even those things that you may not spontaneously want to do. That is the nature of vaidhi-bhakti. You do it as a matter of duty to the spiritual master and to the previous acaryas because you understand that this is my duty and it will bring me to the goal. This is called vaidhi-bhakti. Anukulyasya sankalpah pratikulyasya varjanam, accepting those things favorable, rejecting those things unfavorable.<\/p>\n

You do those things because you have your sadhya in mind. I know that at the end of this is prema-bhakti, is returning to the spiritual world, or even before leaving this body, understanding my relationship with Krsna and living in that relationship. It is very advanced, but that is the goal. Everything else makes sense and you are willing to perform the sacrifice and undergo the austerity because that goal is in mind. <\/p>\n

We find in the material world it happens all the time. Someone wants to make a million dollars, they want to become very wealthy. They have to start out with a degree, learning business, doing all the difficult things. These are great austerities. There is the gold pot at the end of the rainbow and then I\u2019ll be able to enjoy like anything. It\u2019s an illusion, but still, the same idea of the sadhya and the sadhana is there.<\/p>\n

We should understand. We should read Srila Prabhupada\u2019s books and understand what the goal is so that we will be enlivened to perform the sadhana-bhakti, the elements of sadhana which are not so pleasing to the senses at first, but which are essential to train the mind, train the senses so that Krsna will reveal himself. That famous verse:<\/p>\n

atah sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih
\nsevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty adah<\/p>\n

That in our present state, our senses cannot really perceive the real nature of the Holy Name form, qualities, and pastimes of Krsna, but if under the direction of guru, sadhu, and sastra, we begin service with the tongue by chanting the name, tasting prasadam, etc, then the senses become purified and one day Krsna reveals himself because he is pleased with our effort.<\/p>\n

This is very encouraging that we may not understand so much. We may not be experiencing what we read about in the books, but we should know that if we practice carefully, if we make the effort to advance that, one day these experiences will be there. We get hints of them anyway, even in the beginning. You read from Nectar of Devotion. How many of us have not been in an ecstatic kirtan or had some wonderful class in which we got so enlivened or had some other experience in devotional service? These are simply little drops of nectar that are drawing us on to the state of sthayi-bhava, where you\u2019ll have steady ecstasy and build on. This is part of our line. This is what we are aiming for.<\/p>\n

We should not lose sight of that. That is our person goal. And externally, by adopting these qualities and adopting the quality of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, which is both preaching and also internal relishment, to do good to others. That is one thing I wanted to quote from Krsna himself. When he is describing this idea of sacrifice, how to make your life successful in his teachings to his friends about the glories of the trees. After the garments of the gopis, there is a little piece of that chapter in which he starts walking throughout Vrindavan. He starts praising the trees: The trees are so munificent because they are simply giving the fruits, the flowers, their own wood, the shade and they never complain. Even the woodsman comes, cuts them down, you never hear them complain. He gives them as an example of tolerance and munificence. So he has this very important verse that Prabhupada would quote all the time:<\/p>\n

etavaj janma-saphalyam dehinam iha dehisu
\npranair arthair dhiya vaca sreya-acaranam sada <\/p>\n

That if we want to make our life fruitful and successful, for all other living beings, any living being that wants to make his life successful, should for all other living beings use his prana, life energy, whatever we do, our wealth, intelligence, and our words for sreya, for doing benefit for others and always do it, sreya acaranam sada. That is the sankirtan movement, when we dedicate our energy, our intelligence, our words, our wealth, for spreading Krsna consciousness. This is the ultimate good fortune for the whole world. <\/p>\n

This is the sreyah-kairava-candrika-vitaranam. Lord Caitanya says right in the first verse of the Siksastaka that the sankirtan movement, beginning with the chanting of the Holy Names and progressing out, spreading the books, everything we do to spread Krsna consciousness following in the footsteps of Srila Prabhupada, previous acaryas, this is sreya acaranam sada, this is doing welfare work for everyone. That also increases our taste for the Holy Name. It is mercy. This taste is given by Krsna and it can be withdrawn if we offend, especially if we offend great devotees, or any devotees, or perform other offenses. So maintaining and increasing our taste for chanting.<\/p>\n

I wanted to maybe end with a couple of verses. Maybe a few minutes for questions.<\/p>\n

We can pray, we should pray for increasing our attraction for the Holy Name. In Namastaka, Rupa Goswami has two verses in which he prays specifically for increasing his attraction to the Holy Name. He says:
\naghadamana yasoda-nandano nanda-sunuh
\nkamala-nayana gopi-candra vrndavanendrah
\npranata-karuna krsnav ity aneka svarupe
\ntvayi mama ratir uccair vardhatam nama-dheya<\/p>\n

O Holy Name, you have many different forms. He gives some samples, killer of Aghasura, son of Yasoda and Nanda, you of the beautiful lotus eyes, the moon of the gopis. The gopis\u2019 eyes are just like the cakora bird and they bloom wide when they see Krsna\u2019s face . The Lord of Vrindavan. You are most merciful to the surrendered souls. And of course, Krsna, please you increase my attraction for you more and more.<\/p>\n

Then the final verse of this Namastaka, which formed the inspiration for that famous song, narada muni bajaya vina by Bhaktivinod Thakur:<\/p>\n

narada-vinojjivana sudhormi-niryasa-madhuri-pura
\ntvam Krsna-nama kamam sphura me rasane rasena sada<\/p>\n

He says there, \u201cO Holy Name, you are an inspiration for the vina of Narada.\u201d This is one of these words that is kind of piled on. It is the flood of the sweetness of the essence of nectar, something like that. This word means, if you please, O Holy Name. After all, the Holy Name is Krsna. It has completely free will. Please always appear on my tongue with great attraction and taste.<\/p>\n

One thing, I have been going to these japa retreats, maybe you\u2019ve heard about them. Sacinandana Swami has started this new trend, which is very nice. We get together in a secluded place, just concentrate on improving your japa. One of the things that I have thought of, which is bona fide, because our acaryas, by chanting the Holy Name, by chanting our japa, this is our most important service to our acaryas, chanting our japa, good sixteen rounds with concentration and devotion. You can pray to the Holy Name through the Holy Name for concentration to hear the Holy Name. So as you chant:<\/p>\n

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
\nHare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know about you, but when I start chanting japa, the whole battle with the mind. The mind is going here and there. It maybe some nice devotional thoughts, what you\u2019re going to do for the rest of the day, big plans for how you are going to spread Krsna consciousness all over the world, whatever it may be, we should be hearing the Holy Name at that point. The battle is with the mind. We know that Krsna, the name Krsna is Krsna. We know that. And the name Hare is Radha. And the name Rama is also Krsna himself. So you can pray to the Holy Name by chanting Hare Krsna for the ability, for the blessing of hearing and concentrating and absorbing the mind in the Holy Name. Also, you can and should pray for pure devotional service. There are so many other prayers, but the idea is first thing is you have to concentrate. So that prayer, I found that it helps. <\/p>\n

I wanted to end with one other verse. This is just a sample of the wealth we have been given of prayers and slokas to help us concentrate the mind on Krsna and to absorb the mind in Krsna. So Rupa Goswami says, I put it in a little poem. He says:<\/p>\n

bhujanga-ripu-candraka sphurad akhanda-cudankure
\nnirankusa drg-ancala-bhrami-nibaddha-bhrnga-bhrame
\npatanga-duhitus tatir vana-kutira-keli-priye
\nparisphuratu me muhus tvayi mukunda suddha-ratih<\/p>\n

You wear the best of crests, a crown of perfect peacock plumes.
\nYour dancing glances stun the bees meandering amidst the blooms.
\nYou relish love play in cottage by Kalindi\u2019s shore.
\nO Krsna, may pure love for you be mine forever more.<\/p>\n

Hare Krsna.<\/p>\n

We have one or two minutes. Visuddha-sattva Prabhu? [Unclear]\n

Dravida Prabhu: All right, so some of you weren\u2019t here. I\u2019ve been doing these slokas in the morning after mangala-arati before the announcements. This was the first one I did, so maybe some of you came later. Anyway, I\u2019ll refresh. So this is from Raghunatha Dasa Goswami\u2019s Stavavali. He says: <\/p>\n

radheti-nama nava-sundara-sidhu-mugdham
\nkrsneti-nama madhuradbhuta-gadha-dugdham
\nsarva-ksanam surabhi-raga-himena-ramyam
\nkrtva tadaiva piba me rasane ksud-arte<\/p>\n

An excellent fresh nectar drink with endless subtle tastes
\nsuch is the name of Radha by whom all three worlds are graced.
\nCondensed milk that is wonderfully delicious, thick and sweet
\nSuch is the name of Krsna in whom all attractions meet.
\nNow mix these drinks o thirsty tongue and add the fragrant ice of love.
\nA prize the wise will try to buy at any price
\nAnd then at every moment drink these beverage most fine
\nand make my heart supremely blissful, peaceful, and divine<\/p>\n[Applause]\n

This is another thing. In whatever language you speak, write your favorite verses into poetry and share with your friends. This is another way to become Krsna conscious.<\/p>\n

Any other comments or question? Grahila Prabhu. Can we have the mike?<\/p>\n

Grahila Das: You said a number of things which made me think about one of my pet peeves, which is you are standing in kirtan, trying to perform your yajna for the pleasure of the Lord and behind you you hear a conversation going on which has to be kind of loud because the kirtan is going on. In order for the conversers to hear each other, they have to speak above the kirtan. So Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur said that kirtan is the emperor of sadhana. Could you speak a little bit about this? I\u2019ve coined a term for it. I call it. . . . ?? As far as performing proper sadhana and also entering into the. [unclear]\n

Dravida Das: This is, maybe I should hesitate to say it, but I\u2019ll say it anyway, this is a disease. It\u2019s kind of a disease. An extreme example, we see it in the West more because here these kirtans are overwhelming. Who wouldn\u2019t be attracted; at least that\u2019s how I feel. Sometimes you find that, \u201cGee, there\u2019s so much to do, I have to plan ahead, get ready for the next day or there\u2019s somebody I have to call on the phone. It\u2019s is very hard to be a GBC on the west coast of America because the whole world has woken up. At six o\u2019clock it\u2019s already nine o\u2019clock in New York and someone might call to figure something out. I remember this. <\/p>\n

So somehow or other, kirtan is pushed to the side. You don\u2019t have time for it because what do you really get? I\u2019m not accomplishing anything. This is the illusion. But actually without the kirtan, there is nothing, there is nothing. The whole movement rests on that foundation and so does our Krsna consciousness. Prabhupada was very strict on this point. I remember a story about\u2026, I don\u2019t want to name names, going back to 1967. He was running Prabhupada\u2019s first printing press was there. He was running that in Brooklyn and putting out Prabhupada\u2019s books. To start something like that and keeping it going, putting ink in and figuring it out, he was spending all his day there. He told Prabhupada, \u201cI don\u2019t have time to chant, I don\u2019t have time to come to the program.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cShut down the press and you should come to the program.\u201d<\/p>\n

This idea of conversation, if there\u2019s an absolutely pressing conversation it should be outside. Minimal amount of time and come back to the kirtan. The idea is that we should not minimize the importance of this sankirtana-yajna, this is what we are all about. To be able to become absorbed, and this is also something, to hear, to concentrate on the Holy Name in kirtan. It is nice the dancing and all the relation with the devotees, but if you are not hearing the Holy Name fully, then you are not participating fully, you are not getting the full benefit. First comes the hearing, everything is to enhance the hearing and the chanting in absorption. Then everything flows from that. I would say that that should be discouraged, one can speak politely, \u201cPlease take it outside if it\u2019s absolutely essential life and death, but do not break the mood of the kirtana with this distracting talk.\u201d That is my recommendation. That\u2019s what I would say. I think Prabhupada would back me up on that.<\/p>\n

Janmastami Prabhu and one or two more and then I guess we have to end.<\/p>\n

Janmastami Das: It was a very nice class. Taste the Holy Name and experience transcendental bliss. ??<\/p>\n

Dravida Prabhu: Going back to the mind again. One needs to have a peaceful mind really in order to concentrate fully on any aspect of devotional service especially chanting. If one is when not situated nicely in the service or feels anxiety because my material situation is so disturbing then when it comes time to do japa, when it comes time to do kirtan, you won\u2019t be able to concentrate in this way. <\/p>\n

This kind of organization is important for the whole universe. This is why he\u2019s saying do it for the whole universe, what to speak of our little universe of ISKCON. The leaders need to find ways to create the facility and environment in which devotional service can flourish. When we deal with families and jobs and trying maintain things like that then varnasrama is the best way to do it. Progressive development of renunciation through the ashrams and being situated according to one\u2019s psycho-psychical nature and the position of women (which I didn\u2019t get into) and what their role is. Then when it comes time to practice devotion, one can be peaceful and do it. This is how I understand it. That is the relationship. Without the bhakti, varnasrama has no meaning. The strict adherence to devotional principles underlies the success of varnasrama and varnasrama itself can help one have a peaceful mind and confidence so that he can practice devotional service. <\/p>\n

One more and then we\u2019ll adjourn, it\u2019s time.<\/p>\n

Vasudeva Das: Thank you for the very excellent class. You mentioned that Prabhupada about the minimum qualification for being a human being. It sounded to me like it defeats the very purpose of varnasrama if on one hand you require from the general population that they become devotees. All the qualities you mentioned are brahminical qualities. No matter whether you are sudra, vaisya, or ksatriya, you\u2019ve got to be a brahmana basically. ?? If we are not ourselves more clear. <\/p>\n

Dravida Prabhu: This is not Prabhupada\u2019s list. This is Krsna\u2019s list. It\u2019s straight out of the Bhagavatam, straight from Narada Muni speaking to Yudhisthira. What I get from this is that the prime necessity is to be a devotee, no matter who you are. As far as the varna and asrama, that after all pertains to the body. What varna you are in, what you are going to do to maintain the body and soul together. If the devotional qualities are there primarily, they may not all be achieved at once, but this is what we have to strive for. Even for sudras. What does sudra mean, manual laborer. Jayananda was a manual laborer. He was making the Jagannath carts, he was driving around in a cab, but was he a sudra, pejoratively? Of course not. He was developing these qualities. <\/p>\n

The understanding here is that you can\u2019t get around the need to develop devotional qualities, no matter who you are. That is what separates the humans and the animal species basically. Two legged animals, dvi-pada pasu. <\/p>\n

Once you establish yourself in these qualities or are at least aspiring for them and trying to develop them, then the other aspects of varnasrama, the bravery and the managerial quality of the ksatriya, and the ability to make money of the vaisya, all of that falls into place. But if you get carried away by the fact that you can make a lot of money and you are chanting your rounds while thinking of your business, then that is not what it\u2019s all about. That means it is not really varnasrama. That is why I stressed here the foundation of the morning program, strong sadhana, then everything else falls into place. Otherwise, it becomes confused and doesn\u2019t have any meaning.<\/p>\n

All right we have to end there. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! [Applause]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"HareBy Ananda Tirtha das<\/strong><\/p>\n

Date: March 4, 2008 Verse: Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.13.11 Speaker: HG Dravida Prabhu ( transcript and audio )<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-classes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5467\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}