A Structural Review of the Main Topics of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Lecture 17

Conceptual framework for understanding Srimad Bhagavatam

0:01Omnamo Bhagavate was devaya. Omnamo Bhagavate vasudevaya namo te vasudevaya omnamo bhagavate vasudeva Narayanamas krityanaram cheva narotamam devim sarasvati yasamta Towdjaya Mudirayat, Nastaprayeshva, Badris Unitim Bhagavat Sevaya. Bhagavatya machl key bhaktir Bhavati naistiki. Yamprava Janta Manupetama Peta kritiam dwaipaya na virahakatara Juhava

1:03Hare Krishna dear devotees, I'm very happy to be with you. Unfortunately, as Rasa Krida said, we will not be able to meet till the end of the month because I have some urgent work to finish.

1:19Nevertheless, I want to continue our journey to the 10th canto. And I just want to remind you that the main purpose of this seminar is to give you some tools to understand the flow of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

1:40I'm not describing the details of different līlas of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, because the scope of the seminar would not allow this, but I would like to give the certain conceptual framework

1:56and having this conceptual framework as a tool to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we will be able to better understand what is the

2:08general message of Sukhadev Gaswami to all of us and we will ultimately and that's the main purpose of what I'm saying be able to apply this better in our life? Because Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is a practical book.

2:28It's a book which requires practical application to our life in many different angles and areas of our life and of cours

2:39the very important area avlication of this book is hearing the pastimes of Krishna and becoming empowered by these pastimes. Changing our consciousness and our heart through this process of hearing Krishna Katha.

3:04And for that we need a certain frame of mind. We have to really be eager to absorb what is there and Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.

3:16And that's basically that was basically the message which I var trying to konve last time when we started this analysis of the 10th Kanto.

3:26I said that to the understand 10 skento you need and the whole Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but specifically 10 skento. To understand to see the pastimes of Krishna in the spiritual world, you need to be in Samadhi.

3:42And to be in Samadhi, to be completely absorbed in the hearing of Shimad Bhagavatam, we have to really understand how important this message is and what this message is all about.

Introduction to the central Bhagavatam verse

3:56So basically, that's a little introduction, and I will today introduce a very important verse from the first Kanto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which we spoke probably a couple of times during this seminar.

4:13And this verse is very important because it explains, as I said last time, the specialty of Gaudiya Sampradaya, the special approach to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and especially to the 10th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

4:32So that's the famous verse from the third chapter of the first Kanto Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam indrāri-vyākulaṁ lokaṁ mṛḍayanti yuge yuge. So

4:52that's the verse which uh gives us the main tool. That's this verse, this our main tool, how to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and especially the 10th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and why it's so important.

5:14And I will in the course of this lecture will explain more why

5:20this concept that Krishna is Bhagavān svayam, whereas everyone else is his aṁśas and kalās, different parts and parts of the parts. Why it is so important to be fixed in this understanding.

5:35Anyway, without much ado, as uh Rasakrīḍa usually says, let's read the verse: ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam indrāri-vyākulaṁ lokaṁ mṛḍayanti yuge yuge. Let's

5:53read translation, word-by-word translation by Śrīla Prabhupāda.

5:59ete: all these; ca: and; aṁśa: plenary portions; kalāḥ: portions of the plenary portions; puṁsaḥ: of the Supreme; kṛṣṇaḥ: Lord Krishna; tu: but; bhagavān: the personality of Godhead; svayam: in person; indra-ari: the enemies of Indra; vyākulam: disturbed; lokam: all the planets; mṛḍayanti: gives protection; yuge yuge: in different ages.

6:36Translation and translation by Śrīla Prabhupāda:

6:42All the above mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Shri Krishna is the original personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists.

Attributes of Krishna in Prabhupada's purport

7:04The Lord incarnates to protect the purport is very long, so I will read the second part of the purport which is the most important for our discussion today.

7:24So all the different indirectly or directly empowered incarnations of the Lord manifested different features. But Lord Krishna, the primeval Lord, exhibited the complete features of Godhead, and thus it is confirmed that He is the source of all other incarnations.

7:46And the most extraordinary feature exhibited by Lord Shri Krishna was his internal energetic manifestation of his pastimes with the

7:57cowherd men. His pastimes with the gopis are all displays of transcendental existence, bliss, and knowledge, although there are manifested these are manifested apparently as sex love.

8:17The specific attraction of his pastimes with the Gopis should never be misunderstood. The Bhagavatam relates these transcendental pastimes in the tenth canto.

8:29And in order to reach the position to understand the transcendental nature of Lord Krishna's pastimes with the gopis, the Bhagavatam promotes the student gradually in the nine other cantos.

8:46According to Srila Jiva Goswami's statement, in accordance with the authoritative sources Lord Krishna is the source of all other incarnations. It is not that Lord Krishna has any source of incarnation.

9:01All the symptoms of the Supreme Truth in full are present in the person of Lord Shri Krishna. And in the Bhagavad Gita, the Lord emphatically declares that there is no truth greater than or equal to him.

9:18Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya. In this stanza the word svayaṁ is particularly mentioned to confirm that Lord Krishna has no other source than Himself.

9:36Although in other places the incarnations are described as Bhagavan because of their specific functions, nowhere are they declared to be the supreme personality.

9:50In this stanza, the word Swayam signifies the supremacy as the summum bonum. The summum bonum, Krishna, is one without second.

10:04He himself has expanded himself in various parts, portions and and particles as svāṁśa, svayaṁ-prakāśa, tad-ekātma, prabhāva, vaibhava, Vilasa, Avatara, Avesha, and Jivas all provided with innumerable energies just suitable to the respective persons and personalities.

10:27Learned scholars and transcendental subjects have carefully analyzed the summum bonum Krishna to have sixty four principal attributes.

10:38All the expansions or categories of the Lord possess only some percentage of these attributes. But Sri Krishna is the possessor of the attributes 100 percent.

10:52And his personal expansions, such as svayaṁ-prakāśa and tad-ekātma, up to the categories of the avataras, who are all Vishnu Tattva, possess up to 93% of these transcendental attributes.

11:08Lord Shiva, who is neither avatāra, nor āveśa, nor in between them, possesses almost 84% of the attributes, but the jivas or the individual living beings in different statuses of life possess up to the limit of 78% of the attributes.

11:32In the conditioned state of material existence, the living being possesses these attributes in very minute quantity, varying in terms of the pious life of the living being.

11:49The most perfect of living beings is Brahmā, the supreme administrator of the universe. He possesses 78% of the attributes in full.

12:03All other demigods have the same attributes in less quantity, whereas human beings possess the attributes in very minute quantity.

12:13The standard of perfection for human beings is to develop the attributes up to 78% in full. The living being can never possess attributes like Shiva, Vishnu, or Lord Krishna.

12:26All living beings can become godly by developing 78% transcendental attributes in fullness, but he can never become a god like Shiva, Vishnu or Krishna. He can become a Brahma in due course.

12:44The godly living beings who are all residents of the planets of spiritual sky are eternal associates of God in different spiritual planets called Haridham or Maheshadhamma, the abode of Lord Krishna above all spiritual planets called Krishna Loka or Goloka Vrindavana.

13:04And the perfect living being by developing seventy-eight percent of the above attributes in fullness can enter the planet of Krishna Loka after leaving the present material body.

13:41Namah Om Vishnu-padaya Krishna-presthaya bhutale Srimati Bhaktivedanta Svamin iti namine Namaste Sarasvate deve Gaura-vani-pracharine Nirvishesha-sunyavadi Paschatya-desha-tarine Vanchha-kalpatarubhyas ca kripasindhubhya eva ca Patitanam Namo namah

14:10Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hari Rama Hari Rama, Rama Rama Hari Hari. Yamtak Pradisha Mamavachamprasuptam Sanji Vayatakila Shakti Daraswadam Nanyam Shahastacharana Sravanat Vagadim prananda mau bhavate purushayatubim,

14:28svasyastu viswasya kalah prasida tam deyan to buthani sivammi toodia, manascha badram bajatata do ksache, a visitum Nomatir Atyaitu

Role of intellectual analysis in devotion

14:48So we continue with our attempts to obtain the conceptual framework which would be proper

15:03for understanding the 10th Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the message of the 10th Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as a whole.

15:14And last lecture I was speaking that actually Bhāgavatam cannot be understood intellectually. That was the main point of our previous lecture. So the natural question at this point of our discussion

15:38would be: why do we need all this complicated intellectual analysis, if Bhāgavatam anyway, cannot be understood intellectually. Are we not contradicting ourselves?

15:51Moreover, even after last lecture, somebody approached me.

15:56Approached me and said: You know, you said that Bhāgavatam could not be understood intellectually, but then after that you gave highly technical analysis of the different features of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, although I didn't give technical analysis of the different features of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but for his perception it was very technical.

16:20So that's true. So how to reconcile this apparent contradiction? The apparent contradiction is reconciled in a very simple way.

16:37We need this analysis of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to be able to concentrate fully on the worship of Sri Krishna as the highest manifestation of the absolute truth. This absorption about which I was talking last time

16:57is not possible if we don't have very clear understanding that this is the most important and the highest manifestation of the absolute truth is Lord Krishna.

17:08Otherwise vår mind will be split into many different branches, and we will try to pursue this goal and that goal. Unless we understand that Sri Krishna is the highest goal and there is nothing higher.

17:23And there is nothing more important than Sri Krishna. It will be very difficult for us to really concentrate on this with complete conviction. The doubts will always erode our conviction. We will try to concentrate.

17:42We know this. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama, Rama, Hare Hare. But then some genius idea comes to our mind. Why don't I do something else?

17:54Why don't I engage in something more worthwhile, uh, more useful? Of course, you know, because we are supposed to be devotees we are followers of Śrīla Prabhupāda, we somehow rather sit.

18:09But then every now and then regularly every split second the genius ideas pop out in our mind. You can do this, you can do that, or you can do something else. So what is this idea? This idea is the lack of conviction.

18:32Because if the mind would be 100% convinced that this is the most important thing which I am doing, which I could be doing, there's nothing more important, this will give me the highest possible result.

18:44This will give me the highest possible experience of bliss, which we all hanker about. All these ideas will be silent. The mind would become silent as it is silent in uh case of uh great devotees.

19:03The great devotees they don't have this genius idea somehow or other uh they lack this genius feature of their mind. They are concentrated on something. So again, as I said, yes, we have to be concentrated on

19:20Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, on the holy name, but for that we need the proper intellectual understanding of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, conceptual understanding of what Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is all about, which will help us to become absorbed in the chanting of the holy name and studying Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and not being distracted to all these different other things which we could do. Because there are so many ideas and so many different stuff.

19:51And then you may ask, but you were talking about paramparam. What does it mean that we have to receive it through paramparā?

20:00It means that we have to be very chaste to the specific line of the cyclic succession which explains to us how Krishna is Swayam Bhagavan. Because, as I said, you know many people recognize this, many people accept this.

20:20Yes, Krishna is Swayam Bhagavan. But how he is svayaṁ bhagavān, to which extent he is svayaṁ bhagavān, people don't know. Like many people say, I believe in God. But what does it mean I believe in God?

20:34It, it, it really means not so much in many many cases.

20:40Yeah there was somebody who was really bored and he created this world and this world is so imperfect and now he's trying to improve this world one way or another, and he created this evolutionary process to improve this world. Or something like this.

20:57You know, these people don't understand what does it mean, svayaṁ bhagavān, what is the concept of Swayam Bhagavan. So first we have to understand who is svayaṁ bhagavān, that this is Krishna.

21:09And then we have to understand how Krishna is svayaṁ bhagavān, what is the scope of his bhāva, of his divine nature, what is the scope of his energy, of his the magnitude, of his personality, and so on so forth.

21:27So this is all very necessary and to understand it properly we have to receive this knowledge through parampara.

21:34Through our specific paramparā, Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava paramparā, because nowhere the glories of bhagavān is proclaimed and, uh, announced so clearly and so amazingly. So again this all we have to understand before

21:59we really, uh, understand the 10th Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, especially the main pastime of the 10th Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is rāsa-līlā. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains this,

22:10that to understand this one rāsa-līlā, the whole Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is written for us to understand rāsa-līlā. There is nothing else.

22:19Everything else is just some—it's the main dish of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Like when we get you know proper South Indian dish, there will be, you know, many, many different preparations with small, small, small quantity. But then there will be rice. So rice is the main dish.

22:39Everything else is just to digest this rice properly or the grain properly. So, in the same way, these five chapters of the 10th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the main dish.

22:53But there is a lot of different preparations in the Shrimad Bhagavatam so that we could digest these five chapters of Rāsa-līlā in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.

23:04And by digesting these five chapters of Rāsa-līlā in the 10th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we are transferred into the spiritual world. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that ultimately we will be

23:19able to enter into Goloka of Vṛndāvana, the highest planet of the spiritual world, if we become 100% pure and if

23:29we develop the full potential which is there in the jīva, 78% of the qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as Prabhupāda explains. Not before that.

23:43So, uh, and but Prabhupāda himself says it's difficult to digest, this main dish of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is seemingly easy and described there by Śukadeva Gosvāmī, but it's difficult to digest.

24:03Because it looks like mundane sex life. And we will not be able to understand the inner meaning or experience, the meaning of these five chapters of the 10th canto, to experience the full rasa of these five chapters, to

Necessity of nine cantos before Rasa-lila

24:24develop this full rasa while reading the 10th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, unless we understand the previous nine cantos and unless we understand this particular verse, which is the main sūtra to understand the whole message of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

24:46So, and you know, we were speaking about Lord Caitanya. When Lord Caitanya was there, and he came with this message, I was talking last lecture that that was the specific

25:05purpose of Lord Caitanya's appearance in this world, is to explain Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Is to explain Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which was not understood, which was misunderstood by all the previous ācāryas.

25:21Not really misunderstood.

25:23But kind of, you know, the main point of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was to a greater extent missed by other commentators of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam, by other great scholars and great devotees, or it was not so clearly presented as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu presented it himself.

25:44And for those lucky souls who were present during Lord Caitanya's direct incarnation, for them there was hardly any need to listen to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

25:58Even though Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu himself was explaining Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam during his manifest pastimes.

26:05But for them, the main proof was the personality of Lord Chaitanya himself. They would see Lord Chaitanya, they would see his beauty, they would see his ecstatic manifestations, and the reflection of his very strong emotions would be manifested within their heart. And for them, that was the proof that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of God.

26:31They didn't need any other proof.

26:34Like there is a beautiful pastime in Madhya-līlā of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, where Lord Chaitanya is traveling throughout Indian subcontinent to South India, and at one place he meets with one devotee,

26:51and this devotee invites him for lunch, and this devotee always chants

26:57Rāma Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Rāma Rāma constantly, non-stop. So he invites Lord Chaitanya to his home, he feeds Lord Chaitanya, Lord Chaitanya accepts his meal, he's very pleased with his hospitality, and then Lord Chaitanya goes somewhere else nearby to some holy place and, then he returns

27:19to the same place and he meets with the same brāhmaṇa. And again, this brāhmaṇa invites him for lunch.

27:25And to the great surprise of Lord Chaitanya, this time this brāhmaṇa chants Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare.

27:37And Lord Chaitanya, he somewhat surprisingly asks him, my dear brāhmaṇa, last time when I was visiting you, you were chanting Rāma Rāma Rāma Rāma. What happened with you? Why are you chanting Krishna Krishna Krishna now?

27:53And then this brāhmaṇa, he explains his story. He says: from my childhood I was actually attached to collecting different names of the Lord.

28:06Like now know people they are collecting, they have some hobby, they are collecting postal marks or something like this. So postal stamps.

28:17But he was collecting the names of the Lord and he was collecting actually the explanation the different meanings of different names of the Lord and he was happily engaged in this meditation on the qualities of the Supreme Lord.

28:37He said, but out of all the names of the Lord, the Lord, the name of Lord Rāma was attractive to me the most. And therefore, ultimately, I became very much attracted to this particular name and I was chanting Rāma Rāma Rāma

28:53And I knew the name of Krishna. I, uh, from Mahābhārata I knew the definition of name of Krishna. Kṛṣir bhū-vācaḥ śabdo ṇaś ca nirvṛti-vācakaḥ, nivṛtis tayor aikyaṃ.

29:07That the name of Lord Krishna consists of two roots, Krishna, which denotes the existence full of bliss, blissful existence, the highest bliss possible in the existence.

29:22So I knew the name of Krishna, but nevertheless, the name of Lord Rāma attracted me more and therefore I was chanting Rāma Rāma Rāma Rāma all the time. But since I saw you, somehow rather some miracle happened in my life.

29:40I cannot chant Lord Rāma's name anymore. I only chant Krishna. So what is the essence? What is the meaning of this little pastime from Caitanya-caritāmṛta?

29:54Is that for those lucky souls who were contemporary of Lord Chaitanya, there was no need to prove that Krishna is the Supreme Manifestation of the Supreme Lord. Just by seeing him, they would get this idea.

30:08Just by hearing the names of the Lord, emanating from his lips, when Lord Chaitanya was traveling and he was chanting Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna he.

30:20Rāma-rāghava, Rāma-rāghava, Rāma-rāghava rakṣāmām. Krishna keśava, Krishna keśava, Krishna keśava pāhi mām, when they would hear this that was the proof. That was pratyakṣa-pramāṇa.

30:34By pratyakṣa, by their experiential subjective experience of these names of Krishna, they would understand this is the highest. And after that it was very easy for them to concentrate on this.

30:52But unfortunately it's not the case with us. And therefore, we need to be convinced that this is the highest, that there is nothing more higher than this. And to uh for us to understand

31:12this uh Gosvamis of Vṛndāvana who were convinced completely because they uh seen Lord Chaitanya in person. But for us they wrote all this literature and the primary purpose of writing this literature

31:32is to help us to concentrate on this practice of the chanting of the holy name and studying Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. They gave us the philosophical background and that's called

31:47sambandha-jñāna, tattva. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī wrote Ṣaṭ-sandarbhas, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī wrote Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta, which is his presentation of sambandha-jñāna or tattva.

32:06So, otherwise, what will happen when we try to concentrate on the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or any verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. When I try to concentrate on the holy

Nine distractions from Patanjali's Yoga Sutra

32:21name, some distraction will come to our mind, and this distraction will distract us.

32:29I, as a bonus, my main purpose today is to speak about this kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam verse, but I wanted also today to explain for our 2 Bhagavan Swayam verse, but I wanted also today to explain for our benefit, for my own benefit, and perhaps the benefit of those

32:45who hear me, one sutra from Yoga Sutra of Patañjali. Very, very important sutra, which if we understand it properly may change our life and may change our practice completely. Very important sutra. This is the 30th sutra of the first part, first chapter

33:08of the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali Muni. Very important. Vyādhi, styāna, saṃśaya, pramāda, ālasya, avirati, bhrānti-darśana, alabdha-bhūmikatva, anavasthitatvāni. Cittavikṣepāḥ te 'ntarāyāḥ te antarāyāḥ. Very important.

33:40So if we meditate on this sutra, we will recognize ourselves. Because in this sutra, there is a list of nine impediments to samadhi. Nine impediments to complete concentration on the spiritual practice.

34:01And these nine impediments they are listed in a particular order from the grossest one to the most subtle one.

34:11And besides that, there is a very nice interesting point in the sutra which I will explain a little later after explaining these nine impediments.

34:23So it is said specifically that there is nine distractions which come to us, and these nine distractions they are obstacles which we naturally encounter on our path to samadhi, on our path to concentration, on our path to on our journey to the Supreme Lord.

34:49So this is the distractions. This is here's the list of distractions. Vyadhi first. Vyadhi means disease. We all know if something is wrong with our body, all the attention of our mind goes to this.

35:04You know, either we are in complete panic and we try to meditate: what should I do? Which doctor should I approach, which clinic I should go, which analysis I should do, or we just cannot think about anything else but this pain in our body.

35:23That's very debilitating. The disease is not such a problem, but the psychological effect of the disease is a much greater problem.

35:36You know, every one of us experienced, you know, I had this COVID disease a few months ago. And when I had this COVID, I couldn't think about anything else. I was just completely absorbed in this disease. I was in Samadhi.

35:53Vyadhi Samadhi. Samadhi on the disease. You know, you can only be it. It completely distracts your attention. You try to chant the holy name, but uh the holy name you're always distracted by this.

36:07This is the grossest because the slightest discomfort in the body distracts our mind. It's a fact. We have to recognize this. There is nothing wrong with it. Nothing wrong in the sense that it's natural.

36:25This is how we are created. This is how we are created unfortunately. So the next point is styana. Styana in Sanskrit means thickness. Something which is really thick, thick, and sticky. You know, like you take some glue.

36:49You know, it's thick and sticky.

36:52You know, styana means this condition of body sen do not really sick. But you are really, but you are really thick. You're really sticky. You're just you're just uh oh my goodness and we all know we all experience this. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, and and you become you become completely immersed into this tamasic state of consciousness.

37:25We all know this, you know, we're doing something nice and then all of a sudden this

37:30tamas comes, this is styana, and you are like you feel like you're stuck in some in some mud, you know, in some marshy area where there is just you know mud and you're being absorbed into this mud. So this is styana.

37:56And this is of course, you know, this condition of the mind where you cannot really chant because you know the chanting of uh of one round may take you two hours.

38:08You know sometimes I've seen this uh in uh in the example of some devotees and sometimes you know when you are in this condition uh even one hour, one round takes so long, fifteen minutes, twenty minutes, half an hour.

38:26Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. Krishna Krishna. So that's Viksyapa, that's the distraction. And that's only the second one. The third one is samshya.

38:38Saṁśaya means of course doubt and saṁśaya means undecisiveness. Saṁśaya means whether I should do this or I should do something else. Should I be doing this now? You know it's such a nice time of the day, you know.

38:54I uh I I I can chant later, I can chant at night, you know. Now I have to, you know, run and do something and this is important and you know this doubt which actually uh deprives you of this concentration.

39:10The mind always says why don't you do this or why don't you do that? And you think yeah that's a good idea. Maybe I should do something else. So that's doubt, saṁśaya.

39:19Then Pramāda, Pramāda of course, we know inattentive or Pramāda means also negligence. We are doing Hare Krishna mantra. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare.

39:31But the mind is busy doing some other things. You know, you're doing this, you said, okay, fine, I agree, 16 rounds. But at the same time, Pramāda, you're completely distracted from this.

39:45Pramāda means complete distractedness, complete carelessness. You don't care. You don't care about the holy name because you are busy with something else. That's the fourth. The fifth is ālasya. ālasya means just laziness.

40:04You're maybe not distracted, but just you're lazy. You're just. you're just not attracted, uh not attracted to this process. You you just you know lazy.

40:15And again, that may take so long uh you know for for chanting one round. Then avirati, avirati means you are attracted to something else. Avirati means you're craving,

40:32you're chanting the you know, the holy name, and then you know some impetus inside you says, oh you should eat something now. It's a good idea, you you're hungry. You know, uh let's eat something and then I will chant.

40:51Uh or let's read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. We are reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and then we say no no, just little, you know, cup of herbal tea.

40:59It's not bad tea, it's just herbal tea with little cookie would be nice, you know, or some other craving is coming to your mind, I I I want to do this, I want to do that, that’s avirati basically again uh means the destruction because you're not attached to the process which you are doing.

41:19And then two more, no three more. Bhrānti-darśana, Bhrānti-darśana, oh, that's beautiful. Bhrānti-darśana means the wrong ideas or wrong visions which you have.

41:36You know, either you entertain some wrong philosophy, bhrānti-darśana may mean wrong philosophy.

41:43You chant the holy name and you have completely wrong understanding of what is the purpose of this process of what you have to achieve, you know, bhrānti-darśana may mean, yes, I I chant this holy name because I want to become healthy.

42:02And therefore I'm chanting the holy name. Let's become healthy. Or you know, complete misunderstanding of the purpose and the reason why you're doing this and what is the end result of it.

42:16Or you chant and you say, okay, right, I will chant, but uh because I want liberation, and this holy name will give me liberation.

42:24Or bhrānti-darśana may mean you may have some vision, some mystical vision, or this is Krishna. Or you imagine something.

42:33Bhrānti-darśana basically means that you start imagining because you're bored and you start imagining Krishna's pastimes. Willfully. If it comes on its own accord, that's there's nothing wrong.

42:48But you if you try to, you know, oh yeah, I'm Krishna and I'm doing this guy. No, I'm I'm I'm a gopi and I'm cooking for Krishna. Let's cook for Krishna something. This is bhrānti-darśana. This is all wrong.

43:04This is all distractions in our mind. This is all strange ideas. So sometimes you start imagining how great we are.

43:15We concentrated three names of Krishna, we pronounce with concentration, and immediately the mind goes to say, you know, oh how great you are. You must be a pure devotee. Nobody yet recognizes this.

43:32You must be a gopi in Vṛndāvana. She chanted so nicely. And then the rest of the rounds you chant with this idea: bhrānti-darśana. I'm the pure devotee. Congratulations.

43:46So, and then anartha-nivṛtti means that uh y you cannot really achieve uh uh the stage of practices you know, you struggle and struggle and struggle and you always go back.

44:06You know, you struggle with some distraction and then you overcome this distraction and then you again uh go back. You you cannot really reach certain platform.

44:18Like in our case we may uh struggle and try hard to reach uh niṣṭhā, but we cannot reach niṣṭhā. Why? Because we are distracted from this. Because uh and we always say okay, today it didn't work, tomorrow it will

44:35work, and tomorrow it will not work. And then we say yes, tomorrow it will work. Next week it will work. Next month it will work. When I become retired, it will work. It will never work.

44:49Because if it doesn't work today, why? Why should it work tomorrow? You know you are distracted from your determination to reach a certain stage. If you chant, you have to chant with this determination.

45:05I must do it today, not tomorrow. Today I have to chant with Nishtha, with concentration. And that will dive. And then the last uh the last uh impediment or the last distraction rather, not impediment.

45:24It's not impediments, it's the list of distractions. Anavastitattva. Anavastitattva means uh even if we reach some stage, uh we cannot stay on this stage, we go down.

45:39Sometimes it happens for you know for some time we chance 64 rounds and we are happy and everything else. But then inevitably after some time we go down. You know, 16 rounds is enough, no problem.

45:54So this is uh anavastita, we cannot really maintain the same level of intensity of our practice. That's all the list of fix from the grossest one, list of distractions from the grossest one to the most subtle one.

46:13So these vikṣepas come while we are engaged in spiritual practice, like chanting of the holy name or reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Overcoming mental distractions through conviction

46:23But this sutra has a little secret, which actually is the main reason why I wanted to describe or explain this sutra in detail.

46:34This little secret is that it is said uh all this the list of these nine distractions is there, and it is said cittavikṣepāḥ te, these are the distractions of our citta, the natural forces which distract us. Antarayaha.

46:57And then it is said these distractions become obstacle. So So the intended meaning of this sutra is that these distractions may become obstacle, may not become obstacle.

47:13The distractions will be there because that's the This is the level we are in. Everyone experiences this.

47:22But even though the distractions will be there, they may become obstacle, may not become obstacle, depending on how we react to these distractions.

47:33If we take these distractions seriously, if we go for it, if we really identify with the mind, and we say yes, yes, I'll do this, yes, very good idea. Then it becomes an obstacle.

47:46If we see this distraction in the mind and we say, My dear mind, everything is fine, I am busy chanting the holy name. And we don't pay too much attention to all these distractions, then these distractions, even though they are there, they will not become obstacles.

48:08So, what I want to say is that this theory, which I'm about to describe, this philosophy is

48:21supposed to create such a strong base that we will be able ultimately, facing all these distractions, say to them that I'm not going for you. I am still, despite the distracted nature of my mind, I am still following this path.

48:45I will repeat it again. Why the Acharyas, why Goswamis of Vrindavan, why Śrīla Prabhupāda ultimately wrote all these books?

48:57This all writings are for us to be completely convinced that this is the most important thing which we should do.

49:07And when the distraction comes to our mind, but it and it will come to our mind sooner or later, rather sooner than later. We will not be distracted by this distraction.

49:20The distraction will be there, but we don't have to be distracted by the distraction. We still can be determined to pursue this path. So that's the intention, that's the point which I want to make.

49:33And that's why I'm explaining I'm planning to explain in great detail following Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, Śrīla Prabhupāda, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, the purport of this verse, Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam.

49:51So that when some distraction in a form of doubt, in a form of laziness, in a form of inattentiveness will come, we will be able to deal properly with this distraction and not be distracted by the distraction. So that's that's what that's the main idea behind this class.

50:18And therefore, in the next sutra uh it is said that ekatva bhyas, how to overcome these distractions?

50:30Eka-tattva-abhyāsa, to be to be repeatedly abhyāsa, to train our mind to concentrate on eka tattva, on one tattva. So that's the only way to overcome all the distractions, including disease.

50:48Even in the grossest type of distraction, when we are diseased, we don't have to be distracted, we still can be concentrated if we train ourselves. And the proof of this is Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada was so sick.

51:03Was completely sick. It's painful even to watch this the condition of his body. It's I I I cannot really watch it because it's too painful to see in which condition he is. Was he distracted? No, he was not. Why?

51:21Because of ekatva-abhyāsa, because uh during his lifetime he was practicing again and again and again to concentrate his mind on this ekatva.

51:31There's only one truth, there is only one highest truth, this one highest truth is Krishna Himself. Who is this Krishna? Krishna is Swayam Bhagavan, not just Bhagavan, Swayam Bhagavan.

51:43Bhagavan himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

51:46If we are completely convinced, then we will be able to do this abhyāsa and it means that all these distractions will not affect us, will not really distract our consciousness and then we will enter uh Goloka Vṛndāvana as Prabhupāda explains in this uh purport in a very natural way.

52:11So, therefore, this is why we need sambandha-jñāna. You know, somebody may say, why such an elaborate description of sambandha-jñāna of philosophy? Why not describe the details?

52:25We I can understand why we're describing the details of abhidheya of the process. You know, as I now describe how we should chant. You know, that's practical.

52:38Sometimes devotees think that this is very theoretical, all this philosophy. You know, to explain the details about the prayojana, where we should reach ultimately, what is our goal?

52:50It's also practical because in this way we will be able to concentrate on the goal.

52:55No, but the sambandha is also very practical, it's not theory. Because how it it is practical, it's practical because it helps us to concentrate the mind, and it helps us to train our mind to concentrate on this.

Cultivating genuine faith versus superficial faith

53:11And this is called this is called śāstrīyā śraddhā. You know, first we have to develop very strong śāstrīyā śraddhā and not be happy, not be satisfied with the level of śraddhā which we have.

53:30We all have some shradha, but in most cases it's to a greater extent, not śāstrīyā śraddhā, but laukika śraddhā. Laukika śraddhā.

53:43I do I'm doing this because everyone else is doing this, because I like the society of devotees, because there are so many rumors about some miracles.

53:52You know, laukika śraddhā, the best way uh to create laukika śraddhā in uh in uh audience is to create some miracle. You know, you create miracle and then you say, now believe what I say. You know, but this is cheap phase.

54:07And therefore, it's interesting. I personally don't know any miracle connected with Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī. Does it mean that he was not a mystic of the highest order? He was.

54:19But our Goswamis, they are very conservative, including Śrīla Prabhupāda, in showing the miracles. You know, of course the followers, we as followers always are prone and happy to describe different miracles.

54:36You know, I know, I've heard so many miracles, you know, in ISKCON. This, my Guru Maharaj, he did this miracle, and my Guru Maharaj, he did bigger miracle. This is all useless.

54:50This is all attempts to create to fortify śraddhā when it's very weak. To kind of compensate when there is no proper śraddhā. So how to create the proper śraddhā?

55:09The proper śraddhā should be created by studying Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam again and again and again. And then it will be proper śraddhā.

55:22But again, just Just one little more thing which I want to say before we go into the description of this verse. You know, when you have laukika-śraddhā.

55:38Those people who have very strong laukika-śraddhā, conventional śraddhā, they become fanatics. You know, and why very often ISKCON devotees are fanatics because of this reason.

55:53Fanaticism is the natural outcome of laukika-śraddhā, of this conventional superstitious śraddhā. This is not real belief but superstition. And people become fanatics.

56:11People who have bookish knowledge, and I'm not talking about bookish knowledge, please understand me properly.

56:20People who have bookish knowledge, who have just intellectual knowledge, and who are proud of their intellectual knowledge, they become dogmatics. If you have laukika-śraddhā, you become fanatic.

56:35If you have just theoretical knowledge, you become dogmatic. You will just proclaim your dogma again and again and again. And you know none of them are correct.

56:49You know, to be to develop the proper faith, we also have to invoke certain emotions. Only when the taste is there, when there is pure understanding of the scriptures combined with the taste.

57:13This combination will give you the proper type of śraddhā or faith, and this śraddhā will help you to develop very nicely in the spiritual life.

57:25This śraddhā will ultimately bring you to the point of rāgānuga-sādhana, of the spontaneous devotional service. Whereas the bookish knowledge will give you mechanical following of the rules and regulations. That's it.

Emotion in the path of Bhava-marga

57:47So uh it's um uh it's very important for us to uh be uh in this path of bhāva. Actually, it's very interesting. Again, little distraction from the main topic.

58:10The whole path which we are following, the path of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, it's called bhāva-mārga. It's the path of sacred divinely inspired emotions. Therefore, it's called bhāva-mārga. It's not vidhi-mārga.

58:31We are not following vidhi-bhakti. Even in the beginning stages, we are following bhāva-mārga because we are followers of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Caitanya Mahāprabhu didn't bring vidhi-bhakti, vidhi-bhakti.

58:44He brought this bhāva-mārga, the path of emotions. And uh this um n that n to achieve this stage uh we uh uh One second.

59:08We ultimately have uh we we should remember that we are following this path and following Vidi to actually invoke Bhava. That we are not just following the rules and regulations for the sake of the rules and regulations,

59:28but we're following the rules and regulations to invoke the emotional connection with the Lord, to invoke emotional connection with the Holy Name, to invoke emotional connection with the Lord, to invoke emotional connection with the Holy Name, to invoke emotional connection

59:44with the associates of the Lord in Vṛndāvana. Please understand that there are two paths. You know, this two paths and we are now going directly to the tenth skandha of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

59:59The very beginning of the tenth skandha of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describes two different processes uh by the means of stories, how to obtain Krishna.

1:00:13One process was employed by Vāsudeva, and it is explained in the 10th skandha of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in the very beginning, how Krishna uh came to Vāsudeva.

1:00:26Krishna first entered the mind of Vāsudeva in the prison cell of Kamsa. And what is the prison cell of Kaṁsa? I explained in one of the lectures.

1:00:38That prison cell of Kaṁsa is this symbolically, these rules and regulations of the scriptures.

1:00:46He regulated his life, he restricted his life. This is the prison cell. And first, in this case, he comes to his mind. But then from his mind, he goes where? He goes to his heart. It's very important.

1:01:03He doesn't remain in his mind. Krishna first goes to mind, to intelligence, and then from the intelligence goes into heart, and then from the heart it goes to Devaki and Devaki ultimately conceives Krishna.

1:01:22So, but in case of Nanda Maharaj, the process is different. In case of Nanda Maharaj, he first loved Krishna, Krishna first entered his heart, and then he entered his mind.

1:01:39Both of them, you know, they were thinking about Krishna. But in case of Nanda Maharaj, Krishna first entered the heart and then entered his intelligence or mind. In case of Vasudev Maharaj it's a different process.

1:01:54So we are mostly following this process of Vasudev Maharaj. But we should not forget that ultimately Krishna has to come to our heart. We have to get emotional attachment to Krishna.

1:02:10And therefore, intellectually, we should not be lazy. We should try to understand the philosophy of Krishna consciousness. And when we understand the philosophy of Krishna consciousness, Krishna is the highest.

1:02:25And if Krishna is the highest, then his, damn it, his abode is the highest, that is Vrindavan. If his abode is the highest and Krishna is the highest, his associates in Vrindavan are the highest.

1:02:41So what I want to say is that and uh Krishna ideally reciprocates

1:02:47with our mood, we will be able to understand the main message of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is rasa, or relationship with Krishna, especially in the 10th Canto, if we understand that there is nothing higher than Krishna himself.

1:03:01So that's the foundation.

1:03:03Krishna's tu Bhagavān svayam is foundation for everything. Foundation for bhāva-mārga, foundation for achieving rasa, foundation for entering Vrindavan, foundation for practicing rāgānuga-sādhana, all this very logical and very beautiful conclusions

1:03:24which are coming from this little phrase: eke ’ṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. Tu Bhagavān svayam. And if we understand this little phrase half of the line,

1:03:38half of theśloka properly, then everything else will naturally follow. Effortlessly follow. Therefore, a bigger part of Ṣaṭ-sandarbha, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī wrote first Tattva Sandarbha, then he wrote Bhagavata

1:03:59Sandarbha, then he wrote Paramātmā Sandarbha. He explained Brahman, he explained Paramatma, he explained Bhagavan, he explained the energies of Paramatma, he explained this world, he explained everything what is the need to write uh the next sandarbha Krishna sandarbha because Krishna is a very special form of Bhagavān he is svayaṁ bhagavān he is not just Bhagavān.

1:04:25Bhagavatam Sandharba is explaining the nature of Bhagavān, the personality of Godhead. Krishna Sandarbha is explaining the nature of special form of Bhagavān, which is Krishna, which is the highest form of Bhagavān.

1:04:40He is not any Bhagavān, any other form of Bhagavān. He is the source of all other forms of Bhagavān. He is the source of uh the source of other forms of Bhagavān. Uh and he himself doesn't have any source.

1:04:57Uh, and uh this is Krishna, and this is the statement of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is the key statement uh to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to explain any other stories.

1:05:09So and that's the that's our topic today and I spent one hour almost one hour and ten minutes to give this introduction to this topic, but I think it was important. So Yeah. A little more, yeah.

1:05:41I want to reiterate little a more. So before we, unless we understand this statement, we will never be able to understand who is Krishna, that Krishna is the embodiment of all rasas.

1:05:57We will never be able to understand the gradation of the rasas. What are the taratamya or the hierarchical gradation of the rasas and we will never we will not

1:06:12be able to understand that Krishna has his own planet because many Vaishnavas uh who are not followers in Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, they don't believe that there is a special planet of Krishna Loka. They say that, you know, it's not mentioned anywhere.

1:06:31It's mentioned. In Pancharatra literature, it's mentioned the, special uh yantras uh of meditating on Galok of Vrindavana is described in in details, Brahma-saṁhitā is there.

1:06:44But they don't believe, they say Vaikuṇṭha, you know. They don't understand the inner gradations within Krishna Loka, which we will describe later.

1:06:57Why Gokul is higher than Goloka, Why Vrindavan is higher than Gokulu, why Govardhana is higher than Vrindavan? Why Radakunda is higher than anything else?

1:07:12Because they don't understand this idea of gradation and the fullest manifestation of God, that even though he is Bhagavan in all his manifestations, and they're all equal, they're all one. Nevertheless, there is some difference. And how this difference manifests, they don't understand.

1:07:35And sometimes they say Krishna is paramātmā, sometimes they say yes, Dvarakadish Krishna, Rukhmini Krishna is there, yeah, and Radha Krishna is there, and you know, Krishna in Madhura is there, and for them it's all the same. It's not the same.

Linguistic analysis of Krishna as Swayam Bhagavan

1:07:52So to really follow the path which Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu brought, we have to understand this half of the verse from the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. And if we understand this very easily, everything will follow.

1:08:11So the first point which Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains, and not only Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī, Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura in the commentary of this verse.

1:08:22He is asking: what is the meaning of the statement kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam? Well, ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ. Ete means all this, which described before.

1:08:36In the third chapter of the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is uh called uh Guhya-janmādhyāya. The adhyāya or the chapter which describes guhya-janma, the confidential birth of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

1:08:56incarnations of the Lord, twenty-two different avatāras of the Lord, starting with Kumaras, are being described there. Varāhadeva and Nārada Muni and so many others.

1:09:14Paraśurāma, Rāmacandra, Vyāsadeva, all these different incarnations have been uh described. And then uh Sūta Gosvāmī uh in the conclusion of this he says ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ.

1:09:31All these are either aṁśa, plenary portions as Prabhupada translates, or kalās, portions of plenary portions, ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam.

1:09:46So all these are aṁśas and kalās, and in one of the next lectures we will uh describe in details all different gradations and different manifestations of Bhagavan. Let's not touch this subject matter now.

1:10:04Let's get to our main business. And therefore, we didn't read the first part of the purport where Prabhupada explains different manifestations. So what does it mean? But he says tu kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam.

1:10:31So the question here is it Bhagavan who is Krishna or is it Krishna who is Bhagavan? What is proper, what is the message here in this verse?

1:10:44Because ultimately both of these words in Sanskrit they in prathamā-vibhakti in nominative case. Krishna is in nominative case and Bhagavan is in nominative case. So it could be Bhagavan is Krishna or Krishna is Bhagavan.

1:11:05For us this question seems to be theoretical, seems to be not very relevant. It's extremely relevant question. Because if we say that the intention of Śukadeva Gosvāmī to say Krishna Bhagavan is Krishna.

1:11:24If let's say we imagine that he he wants to say Bhagavan is Krishna, then basically it means that there is a Bhagavan and now he is Krishna.

1:11:35But in some other case, Bhagavan is Narasimha, Bhagavan is Rama, Bhagavan is Parashuram, Bhagavan is Matsya. It's all Bhagavan. And now he says Krishna is Bh. Bhagavan is Krishna.

1:11:47So there is Bhagavan and then so many other forms of Bhagavan can be listed. Krishna is one of them. But here he says no, no, no.

1:11:58His message, intended message here, is that Krishna tu Bhagavān svayam. Krishna is Swayam Bhagavan. It is Krishna who is Bhagavan. Why? Srila Jiva Gaswami explains, he says that there is this subject and predicate.

1:12:20Subject is something which we already know, something which we heard, and predicate is statement in the sentence which says something new about the subject.

1:12:35Let's say you're talking about some nice boy who is named Govinda. And you're talking about Govinda, and then he says, Govinda is very intelligent.

1:12:47So then Govinda is subject because you have already heard about Govinda and then you giving some other additional information about Govinda and you say he's intelligent.

1:13:02Let's say if you didn't talk about Govinda and all of a sudden you say Govinda is very intelligent and you don't know who's Govinda, which Govinda you mean, this sentence doesn't make any sense.

1:13:16The sentence Govinda is intelligent only makes sense if Govinda is mentioned before and then you add some additional information and then it makes sense. Yeah, now I know.

1:13:28I know about Govinda, and now you're talking that he has specific feature of his intelligence and everything is clear.

1:13:37So Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says, Krishna is already mentioned before in the list of avatāras. He is already mentioned there together with Balarāma. And then you know Buddha and Kalki where they are mentioned after that. He's number 19 in the list.

1:13:54And therefore, he says, all these

1:13:59others which I talked about, they either aṁśa or Krishna, whom I already mentioned, is Bhagavan, is svayam bhagavān. So he is giving an additional information about Krishna who is mentioned, and that basically means and to also emphasize this it's only Krishna who is Swayam Bhagavan.

1:14:23The word too which distinguishes Krishna from every everyone else and the specific grammatical structure of this sentence and the context of this sentence show exclusively that all others

1:14:39they're just parts and parts of the parts of Bhagavan. But Swayam Bhagavan, as Prabhupada says, the highest form of Bhagavan, Swayam Bhagavan is Krishna.

1:14:52He is the source of all avatāras. Moreover, he is the source of the source of the avataras, who is Purusha, that we will touch a little later.

1:15:04So for now we have to really understand the grammatical structure of this sentence. Yes, Krishna is the subject, Bhagavan is predicate. It's a new information about Bhagavan, and then everything makes sense.

1:15:20So uh the followers of some other sampradayas actually this is the explanation of Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī. Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī and his Bhāvārtha Dīpikā, he is also of the same opinion and he uh repeats and quotes this statement Krishna

1:15:39astu bhagavān svayam, iticāmśa-kalāḥ pumsaḥ, kṛṣṇastu bhagavān svayam many times in his Bhāvārtha Dīpikā while explaining different episodes, especially from the 10th canto, so that we understand this is Swayam Bhagavan.

1:15:54But in other sampradayas, they don't agree with this. They say Nārāyaṇa is Swayam Bhagavan. How do they explain this statement? Kṛṣṇastu bhagavān svayam?

1:16:08They say Krishna doesn't mean Krishna here. Krishna means somebody who attracts everything within himself. It means Nārāyaṇa.

1:16:18During pralaya, when the whole material world is destroyed, Nārāyaṇa everything enters into the body of Nārāyaṇa, therefore, when it is said Kṛṣṇa, it doesn't mean Kṛṣṇa, it means Nārāyaṇa here. here. But no, no, no. No.

1:16:38But Nārāyaṇa is not mentioned here. Nārāyaṇa, all of a sudden, to say Nārāyaṇa is the Swayam Bhagavān, it doesn't make any sense.

1:16:52And moreover, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, he notices very minutely this whole analysis is based on a very minute analysis, linguistic

1:17:03analysis of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, different statements of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Sometimes it's difficult to understand because it implies knowledge of Sanskrit grammar, and therefore it's somewhat important.

1:17:15So he says that while listing all the avatāras in the previous verses, Sūta Gosvāmī doesn't name any one of them Bhagavan. Only when he listed Krishna and Balaram, he says they are Bhagavān.

1:17:31And here again he says Krishna is Bhagavān svayam. So it fits very nicely.

1:17:37Just a few verses before he already said that Krishna is Bhagavan and now he's re-emphasizing this according to the concept context that it's only Krishna who is svayam Bhagavān.

1:17:51Everyone else is just his aṁśa and kalā and vibhūti and all other lesser incarnations which are there. So that's the first important point. And when you will be asked in the future, what is more correct way to say?

1:18:10Krishna is Bhagavan or Bhagavan is Krishna. You please say Krishna is Bhagavān is more correct way to say. This is important to understand. So now the next question comes. Please listen very carefully.

1:18:29The next question comes, the objection comes. My dear sir, why you're saying you're saying it uh completely out of context? You know, all of a sudden you were listening, you were uh naming all these different avatars,

1:18:44explaining different uh pastimes of these avatars, and now out of sudden, out of blue, you're saying Krishna is tu Bhagavān svayam. You know, no, this is not correct.

1:18:55Because Krishna, first of all, Krishna is already listed among the avatars. And it's just, you know, he just likes Krishna and therefore he mentions Krishna here.

1:19:06So according to the context, we have to say that no, no, it's not the intention of Sūta Gosvāmī to distinguish Krishna, his intention is to list him among all other avatāras of the Supreme Lord who is Nārāyaṇa. Correct?

1:19:25Isn't it? According to context, this is what it is talking about. So please listen very carefully. It's very, very important. Because sometimes we may be bewildered when we speak with other people.

1:19:40Late great Madhva scholar BNK Sharma. Very fine person and very scholarly person who translated into English many Madhva's works, many Upaniṣads.

1:19:58And he wrote the whole essay in his commentary on Bhagavad-gītā against this concept of Caitanya Mahāprabhu against this concept of Gaudiya. And he specifically says, no, no, no, Krishna is listed among avatāras.

1:20:14It's an artificial explanation. You're explaining something, it's not correct, it's not the intention of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. You're just... It's a strange explanation. Sometimes we may also feel like this.

1:20:28And that means that we will not be concentrated on Krishna. It means that we will be distracted sooner or later. It means that some samsha, some doubts will creep in our mind.

Hermeneutic rules for resolving scriptural contradictions

1:20:41So please listen how Jivigaswami answers this doubt. He says that according to Jaimini Sutras, and Jaimini Sutras in Purvami Mamsa are famous for formulating the rules of hermeneutics.

1:21:03The rules of hermeneutics are extremely important for us to understand because they explain how to understand the difficult how to reconcile different statements in the Vedic literature.

1:21:24You know, it's a very practical thing because oftentimes devotees in ISKCON they fight with each other because somebody says Prabhupada said this and somebody else says this. Not Prabhupada said this.

1:21:38So and sometimes it's a completely irreconcilable, seemingly apparently irreconcilable statements. because they don't know how to come in terms with each other because they don't know the rules of hermeneutics.

1:21:56To understand different statements, we have to really know the What is called according to hermeneutics balabala-vicāra. We have to understand which statement is stronger than another statement.

1:22:14If statements are contradictory, we have to do this balabala-vicāra and analyze which statement carries more weight.

1:22:24And then take this statement as the main statement, and try to explain the contradictory statement in the light of this statement. So that's very important.

1:22:38Why it is important because why Jaimini did it in Jaimini Sutras in Karma Mimamsa because Jaimini Sutras explain a very practical thing, how to perform sacrifice.

1:22:53And unfortunately in the Vedic literature in Samhitas in Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads, specifically Brahmanas, Aranyakas and sometimes Samhitas, the rules to perform sacrifice are not explained in a very systematic order.

1:23:13Somewhere in one place it is said you do this, in some other place it is said you do this. And you really have to understand what you should do. And sometimes these statements are contradictory.

1:23:24You know, and it's such a complex procedure, and it should be done very exactly. Unless you do everything exactly.

1:23:33Like it is said that in one place it may be said that you know to do the sacrifice properly you have to bring Woods for the sacrifice either on a horse or on an ass. So, and you know if you carry it yourself, the sacrifice will not work.

1:23:59You have to bring the load on the horse or on the ass, on the donkey, and bring all this wood to the sacrificial arena.

1:24:10But then the question being asked in this particular sacrifice, on whom I should bring the wood, especially it's a big sacrifice, a lot of food should be brought. Should I employ donkey or should I employ horse?

1:24:26So you have to find some other statement in some completely different place that for this sacrifice you have to use horse. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī gives this particular example. Please don't fall asleep. It's important.

1:24:45So what I want to say is that the Karma Mimamsa is very practical by nature.

1:24:52And to understand all these little details, it's also very practical for us because depending on understanding of these details, the vini yoga, the application of these rules will be different.

1:25:10So basically, we are talking about which statement is stronger.

1:25:19We have this statement: Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam, and then we have this contextual understanding that the whole section is and then we have this contextual understanding that this is the whole section is about Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is about avatāras.

1:25:33So it's basically the opposing parti, pūrva-pakṣa may say that you know you are wrong in your interpretation because it's all about avataras.

1:25:46So Pūrva-mīmāṁsā very clearly says if there is a statement which understood according to context and if there is a direct statement, the direct statement according to Pūrva-mīmāṁsā called śruti. Please don't misunderstand, it's not a question of Shruti statement, Shruti Vakyas from the Shruti scriptures. It's just independent statement which can be understood independently without any context.

1:26:16So this statement: Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam, that Kṛṣṇa is svayaṁ bhagavān, is independent. It doesn't need any help. It's clear in itself.

1:26:30You know, if there is this very clear statement. This clear statement carries more weight and every other explanation has to be explained from the light of the shruti.

1:26:48Mīmāṁsā-sūtras, they list five different kinds of statement. different kinds of statement.

1:27:00They say that there is the first is shruti, which is direct statement, statement which does not depend on anything else, which can be understood in itself without any additional help of some other considerations.

1:27:16The second one is Linga. Linga means inferential signifier, inferential statement. A little later I will explain what it means because we will have this. And then there is Vakya, the syntaxical connection, syntaxes.

1:27:33And then there is prakarana. Prakarana means context, and there is tana, the particular order of the words in the statement, and then ultimately samakya, the name, the derivation of the name.

1:27:49I mean I will explain it a little later, the whole thing. But at this point, it's enough to say that according to Mimamsa

1:27:58Sutra, Shruti is stronger than Linga, then next one, then there is Vakya, then Prakarana, then Stana, then Samakya. So Shruti is carries more weight than Prakarana.

1:28:15If you say that according to the context of this chapter, Krishna is avatāra, not the source of avatāras, we say really sorry, you are wrong, because there is a direct statement Krishna's to Bhagavān svayam.

1:28:31And context has to be explained in the light of this direct independent statement, which doesn't need any other means of interpretation. So that's that's another thing, very important

1:28:50point which we have to understand that this is this statement is śruti vākya. Śruti vākya, not in the sense that it's coming from the Vedas, śruti vākya in the sense that it's a very clear, direct and self-sufficient

1:29:05statement which is completely unambiguous. There is no ambiguity in understanding this particular statement.

1:29:17So and then Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura so how do we understand that this is uh that this Krishna is among avatāras? Because he mentioned number 19. He was mentioned there. So, okay, this is the direct statement.

1:29:36How do you understand this statement that Krishna is among the avatāras? Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura gives a very interesting explanation. He says, you know, Mathura is also mentioned as the place in the earth.

1:29:49But we know Mathurā is transcendental. But at the same time there is Mathurā in the earth, Vṛndāvana in the earth. So Krishna is mentioned among avatāras because Jīva Gosvāmī says the same thing.

1:30:02He performs the function of avatāra while coming in this verse. Therefore, he is mentioned as avatāra, but he is svayam Bhagavān.

1:30:13It's the same like saying that, you know, let's say somebody is a president of the country. But somehow or other he wants to do the role of the foreign minister, like Prime Minister Modi, in his first uh first term, he reserved basically the portfolio of the foreign minister for himself.

1:30:37Even though there was some foreign minister, but he in the most important relationship he was playing the role of the foreign minister. So he's playing the role of the foreign minister, but he is the Prime Minister.

1:30:49He's higher. In the same way, Krishna is playing a role of avatāra while coming on the earth, but he is much higher. He is Swayam Bhagavan. Therefore, he is mentioned there. So that's very important.

1:31:04And then he also says: listen: it's very interesting and very important for us to understand clearly please, don't think it's theoretical. You know, after listening to this class, you have to just run to the world.

1:31:23I don't know if you should do it in Oman, but in any other place you may do it and uh and and start running on the streets of the city and just crying Krishna's tu Bhagavān svayam, Krishna's God Himself.

1:31:40So that's the practical application, the viniyoga of this statement. You know, we have to be so inspired. This is the highest manifestation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And I'm completely convinced now.

1:31:54So Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, he analyzes and also uh no I'm not sure about Viśvanātha Cakravartī. But anyway, uh Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, he says it's very interesting. Ete Chamsa Kalah Pumsa. Krishna tu Bhagavān svayam.

1:32:12He says, all these aṁśa o Kalah of Pumsa. Who is pumsa? Puṁsaḥ in this verse is in genitive case in ṣaṣṭhī-vibhakti. So they all parts and parts of the parts of puṁsa, but Krishna is Bhagavān svayam.

1:32:36He says: in the first verse of this chapter, the same grammatical structure is applied. Listen, this grammatical structure in the first verse of this chapter. Before the list started.

1:32:57Taṁ ṣoḍaśa-kalām ādi-puruṣaṁ saṁsṛkṣaya. In the beginning, Bhagavān jagṛhe pauruṣaṁ rūpam, he accepted the form of puruṣa. And then from this puruṣa all these avatāras came.

1:33:17So in the beginning Bhagavān, who is different, accepted the form of puruṣa who is Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, who is Nārāyaṇa, from whom all the avatāras comes, and from this puruṣa all the avatāras comes, and then the list of the avatāras follows.

1:33:34So Silajiva Gaswami says it's very logical for a saint person who remembers what he said before at the end of the long list of different avatars to remind us what was there in the beginning.

1:33:51What was there in the beginning? In the beginning was Bhagavan. And this Bhagavan accepted the form of Purusha. And from this puruṣa, many, many different parts, aṁśas and colors came. And

1:34:04at the end, he says all these are parts and parcels of this Purusha. He uses almost the same word, the word which is uh exactly synonymous in Sanskrit. Pumsaha means genitive of Pumsah Pum Puman Puman.

1:34:25And then uh purusha is uh is the same word So There is Bhagavān. He accepts the form of puruṣa. From puruṣa all these parts are coming. And then at the end he says: all these parts are of puruṣa, but Bhagavān is Krishna.

1:34:45The same Bhagavān which I mentioned in the first verse of this chapter. So this Bhagavān who accepted first the form of puruṣa and who produced all these different parts and parcels, all these different avatāras?

1:35:01Who is this Bhagavān? He is Krishna. So sometimes devotees... Krishna is avatārī. That there are different avatāras, Krishna is the source of avatāras. No, Krishna is not avatārī.

1:35:16Krishna is the source, Krishna is avatārī of the avatārī. Avatārī is Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. He is the source of avatāras. Krishna's tu Bhagavān svayam. He is the avatārī of the avatārī.

1:35:29He is the avatārī, the source of Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu who produces all other avatāras. So everything fits very nicely in this in this understanding.

1:35:43Whereas any other attempts to understand this verse, they will ultimately fail, they will be strained.

1:35:54This understanding that all of a sudden Krishna, who is just mentioned as a 19th avatāra is somebody else, that this is some some same else name of God, Nārāyaṇa, because he attracts everything within himself, it's really not logical.

1:36:15This is logical. This is also logical according to context. Even though Krishna's tu bhagavan svayam doesn't need contextual explanation.

1:36:26But according to context, it also fits very nicely that this is the intention of sūtra to distinguish Krishna as a very special form of Bhagavān, svayam bhagavān, not any other forms of Bhagavān which may be there.

1:36:42So I hope you're still with me, even though it may sound a little technical, but please actually it's very interesting. So the next point. He says that ultimately he just wants to prove. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī is proving then.

Establishing the key defining governing verse

1:37:10Next point is that this statement, Krishna's tu bhagavan svayam, this whole statement is a paribhāṣā-sūtra. What is paribhāṣā-sūtra? Paribhāṣā-sūtra, it's coming from linguistics.

1:37:30From linguistical sūtra, there are five kinds of sūtras in linguistic in uh Pāṇini Pāṇini sūtra according to Mahābhāṣya of Patañjali, uh Pāṇini sūtras, they are different, and among the five different kinds

1:37:46of sūtras, there is paribhāṣā-sūtra. Paribhāṣā-sūtra is the sūtra which defines definitive statement which defines the rule where the rule was not established. Niyame niyama-kāri paribhāṣā. So what does it mean?

1:38:07It means that you know there are different different, different, different statements. And these statements describing certain things and these statements may sound disjoint,

1:38:29but there is a certain sūtra which established the rule, where the rule has not been yet established.

1:38:39And then once this sūtra is established, when this rule is established, all the other sūtras they more or less follow this rule. It's uh how to explain this? It will be, I hope it will be clear.

1:38:57Like, for example, in this particular case, he lists different avataras. In the whole of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, there will be so many avatāras.

1:39:08In the very beginning, in the third chapter, this is the first attempt to list different avatāras of the Supreme Lord in which He comes to this world. And there is no rule. How to understand who is higher, who is lower.

1:39:24Which avatāra is more prominent, which avatāra is more, you know, significant. Like in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Nṛsiṁhadeva is established. And uh Lord Rāmacandra is uh also described. Who is more important?

1:39:41The pastime of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, the whole seventh Kanto, or a bigger half of the seventh Kanto, is describing this. And just a couple of chapters in the ninth skandha describing Lord Rāmacandra. Who is more important?

1:39:55So you know this topic of avatāras is one of the most important topics of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. It's one of the most important topics in all Vedic literature.

1:40:07And people who are looking from outside on the Vedic literature they become bewildered.

1:40:14They say, you know, all this, all this is this, all this Hare Kṛṣṇa they are so you know he comes like a tortoise, he comes like fish. He com.

1:40:27God knows whom like a horse, they just they just cannot understand, they cannot figure out what is the rule.

1:40:37So here is niyame niyama-kāriṇī. There should be one very succinct statement which brings everything in order, which will put everything into its place and which will ultimately explain everything very neatly.

1:40:56So this rule is called Paribhāṣā. And Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says: here is Paribhāṣā-sūtra. This is it, look. He listed all the list and he will speak about all these avatāras in the future.

1:41:11Now it's the best time to establish this rule: how to understand all these incarnations and how to make sense out of them and how to how to understand them.

1:41:26So and he it's not a fanatical statement, it's a very logical statement. He explains that you know this statement where it is placed?

1:41:42First of all, it is placed in the chapter which is called Guhya-janma-madhyāya. The chapter which specifically is devoted to the description of daśāvatāras. And that's the first place in the whole of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, where all the avatāras are listed.

1:42:01Then after that, many, many times the avatāras will be listed. In the second Kanto, in the seventh chapter, there will be a list of avatāras. And so many other mentions of avatāras will be there.

1:42:13So he says: from the placement of this statement, it's the ideal place to establish the rule Paribhāṣā. Paribhāṣā means literally means Paribhāṣā, all-round statement. The very clear, unambiguous, and definitive statement.

1:42:34Statement which will shed light into all other statements which are there.

1:42:41And if this statement is not there, and if we don't understand that this is Paribasha Sūtra, then we will read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we will read other Purāṇas and we will say oh very nice.

1:42:53Nṛsiṁha is nice and you matsya is nice and Kurma is nice and Ganesh is especially nice and you know, Rajiv Gandhi is also nice. So something like this, you know, we will not be able to make sense out of it.

1:43:14We will think that they're all on the same level, they are not on the same level.

1:43:18Because, in a specific sense, they are all on the same level as Prabhupāda explains being Vishnu Tattvas, but they display different amounts of energy and love. They are not as complete, not as complete manifestation.

1:43:38Only Krishna is the most complete manifestation, most perfect manifestation. And not only Krishna who is Krishna, but Krishna who is in Vṛndāvana, he is the most perfect.

1:43:52Everyone else is just perfect and more perfect, but Krishna is the most perfect. So this is paribhāṣā. First of all, it's very succinct. Second of all, it establishes the rule, where the rule has not been established.

1:44:11Third of all, it's placed in a very appropriate place for the paribhāṣā sūtra.

1:44:17In Janma-guhya-adhyāya, the mystery of Bhagavān's appearances and in this way, this definitive statement of paribhāṣā sūtra is basically sheds light on all other statements, and therefore Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says this statement is the emperor statement. As much as the emperor rules in a very authoritarian way by his subjects and everyone else is subjected to him, everyone else is submissive to him.

1:44:58The same way, if there is any other statements in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam which contradict the statement, they have to be understood in the light of the statement.

1:45:08This paribhāṣā sūtra, as I said, as Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says, it sheds the light upon all the other statements in the book, like the lamp.

1:45:20Lamp is in one place in a room, but it dissipates it dissipates the darkness in all other places in the room, being in one place.

1:45:32Somebody may say, you know, this is a completely inappropriate understanding because this is just one statement. You're making the whole philosophy taking this one statement. But there are so many other statements.

1:45:47There are so many other statements in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam where it is said that Krishna is aṁśa, that he is part.

1:45:54Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says, no, no, no, this one statement is enough. Because it's emperor, it establishes the rule, it doesn't have to be repeated many times.

1:46:06It's like this: you know, you know, if Emperor issues the order, because this order is so strong.

1:46:18It doesn't have to be repeated. He just issues this order once, and everyone is supposed to know this order and follow this order.

1:46:28Or it's uh, like this: when we take initiation, we come to our guru-mahārāja and we say, "Dear guru-mahārāja, I will follow four regulative principles." You state it once, but then you follow it the whole life. It's not that the next time you have to repeat it again to follow it.

1:46:47You wake up the next morning and you say, okay, let's figure out which principles I should follow today. No, no. You stated it once, but you follow it the whole life.

1:47:00So the same way, in the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, this statement which is stated once, yes, but it explains everything else, it explains the message of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it explains the message of Vedic literature.

1:47:14Because Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the highest Vedic literature written by Śrīla Vyāsadeva at the end of his life, after he has written all the other Puranas.

1:47:26And therefore, this statement does not rule over Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam only, other statements of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it rules over all other statements of other Puranas.

1:47:39If in Purāṇas or in Mahābhārata there is some other statement, contrary statement, you have to explain this in the light of this particular statement: kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. Not to be bewildered, not to say this.

1:47:54This is how strong this paribhāṣā-sūtra is, and therefore, how important it is to understand that this is paribhāṣā. So I'm not finished, but my time is over. So let me try to

1:48:21very quickly sum up, say a few more words in this regard. Please bear with me a few more minutes. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī then shows in a very beautiful way, he gives many, many examples from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

1:48:42Many many examples, more than dozen examples, where Krishna is called aṁśa, where Krishna is called part. And he explains in each particular case how, by using this sutra,

1:48:57this statement that Krishna is not an aṁśa and not a kalā, how the statements can be very harmoniously explained. Many times it is called aṁśena. Krishna is called that aṁśena is a tṛtīyā bhakti, instrumental case.

1:49:18In many cases it is said Krishna came aṁśena. So tṛtīyā bhakti means that Krishna came as aṁśa and was acting as aṁśa. But it's a very simple rule in Sanskrit grammar that Tritivi Bhakti also means together with.

1:49:42So when in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said that uh Krishna came in the form of Amsha, Amsena, uh it doesn't mean that he he is Amsa and he is Amsha of Bhagavan.

1:49:56It means that Krishna, Svayaṁ Bhagavān, has come together with svāmśa, together with Balaram or together with Nārāyaṇa, who was with himself. And in this way they were killing demons because it's not Krishna who is killing demons. It's Narayana in himself who is killing demons.

1:50:18So that's just a sample how to reconcile these different statements.

1:50:24And believe me, or read Krishna Sandarbha, it's a very beautiful. In every case, this one statement really sheds the beautiful light on other statements.

1:50:35Then Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains in great detail an episode of Mahā-loka-pura.

1:50:44At the very end of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, there is this story how Krishna and Arjuna they traveled to Mahā-viṣṇu, to Mahā-loka-pura, to the city of Mahā-viṣṇu of Garbhodakaśāyī Vishnu.

1:51:01And there in this episode, this Mahā-loka-pura, this sorry, Garbhodakaśāyī Vishnu says, Oh, I am so happy to see you. Please come back to me soon. You just kill all the Assurus and come back to me.

1:51:24So, what does it mean? It basically means that you came from me, now you come back to me and be with me, or basically be within me.

1:51:35So this is the superficial reading of superficial understanding of this important chapter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī in an extremely beautiful way explains what is the intention of this chapter, and how to understand the statement and how actually

1:51:56Mahā-loka-pura or Garbhodakaśāyī Vishnu says that I wanted to see you, Krishna. You're so beautiful. I couldn't see you. I couldn't see your pastimes.

1:52:07Because it's only those who whom you allow to see these pastimes, they can see your pastimes. I wanted to see you. And uh ultimately this episode proves that Garbhodakaśāyī Vishnu is subordinate to Krishna.

1:52:23Krishna is the source of Garbhodakaśāyī Vishnu. And he again while explaining this, he uh takes this understanding that this liṅga statement is weaker than śruti's statement.

1:52:39In this particular case this whole episode is explaining something, but it's explaining through Lingam through the in through the inference basically.

1:52:52Again, I don't have time to explain this beautiful episode, or maybe some time we will explain while describing the past times of Lord Krishna. It's a beautiful episode. And then he says, then

1:53:12for a long time he explains how to understand that Krishna and Balaram are two heirs of Mahavishnu.

1:53:21The story is described in many Puranas, in Mahabharata, in Nrisimha Purana, in Skanda Purana, in Padma Purana, and even in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is mentioned that when demigods came to Mahā-Viṣṇu, Mahā-Viṣṇu he plucked out two hairs from his head.

1:53:39One hair was white and one hair was black. And he said, All these two hairs will become Krishna and Balaram, and they will they will extinguish all the burden on the earth.

1:53:57So he explains beautifully in all the details, very seriously, every possible meaning of these verses from these Puranas and Mahabharata.

1:54:09And basically, he says: first of all, you know, it's not that Garbhatakashaya Vishnu became you know old and therefore he became grey-haired

1:54:20and uh Keśava does not necessarily need hairs, Keśan means śakti and specifically directly in Nṛsiṁha Purāṇa it is said that this is two śaktis and keśan means ka iśou, Keśou means ka iśou, and the rulers of bliss, and you know so many beautiful explanations he says.

1:54:47and says that when uh Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu plucks out these two hairs. He says, it's just he just wants to show how easy it will be for Swayam Bhagavān Krishna to remove the burden of the earth together with Balaram

1:55:05and, this whole gesture is not to explain that this is the hair who became Vishnu because you know and who became Balaram, white hair or became Vishnu. So anyway, the very important explanation is given and very detailed explanation is given there.

1:55:33And then again I I will do it very quickly. Then he says, please listen now very carefully. That's the last thing which I will say. He says that the emperor, emperor is called Chakravarti. Chakra means the will.

1:55:57And Chakravarti, the statement of Chakravarti is like the spoke of this will, and the whole wheel of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam is rotating around this statement.

1:56:16He says, but sometimes the emperor and even though the power of emperor is enough to prove that he is the supreme ruler. He doesn't need anyone else, you know, to prove this.

1:56:34And while uh you know while uh fighting with the enemies, the emperor basically uh he himself fights, he's the main fighter. It's not that he's hiding somewhere in the bomb shelter like, nowadays.

1:56:50The emperor in the Vedic time they were fighting themselves. So he says that this one statement as an emperor is enough to conquer over all the opposing statements.

1:57:03To explain all the opposing statements from the light of the statements, so there is no need for anything else. But sometimes after conquering over the enemies, the emperor goes into his city and he parades,

1:57:20and behind him his whole army follows. In the same way, this emperor at each chamsa Kalah Pumsah, he has his army in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

1:57:33Basically, he says there are so many other arguments which prove this statement, and even

Four divisions of evidence supporting Krishna's supremacy

1:57:38though this statement doesn't need to be proven, still we can employ these other statements to show that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam

1:57:49is to show that Krishna is Bhagavan, that he is the very very special form of Bhagavan with whom we could and should and must develop our relationship and only with this form of Bhagavan, not with anyone else.

1:58:06And he basically says that the army of the emperor consists of four divisions. There is chariots, this is the main in the Vedic army, in the Vedic times, the chariots were like tanks. So this is the tank.

1:58:23Tanks are very important and very strong. Then there is elephants. And then there is cavalry, the people on the horses, and then there is infantry, there is people who are just walking soldiers.

1:58:40So he says in the same way, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we can show how this emperor who is leading this army, how he shows his army,

1:58:51which actually prove the same point. And again, very briefly, he says that what are the chariots? which actually prove the same point. And again, very briefly, he says that what are the chariots?

1:59:00And again, very briefly, he says that what are the chariots?

1:59:05The chariots are numerous statements in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in other places of Shri Bhagavatam which directly say that Krishna is the source of all other inkarnations.

1:59:18Like for example, when the demigods are praying to Krishna in the womb of Devakī, they are saying you're the source of Matsya and horse incarnation and kurma incarnation and so on and so forth.

1:59:34So many, many statements he gives, which says the same thing that all avatars are coming ultimately from Krishna, and Krishna is their source. So that's the chariots. Many chariots are there in this army of this emperor.

1:59:50Then there are elephants, really big elephants, huge, strong elephants. What are the strong elephants of this emperor?

1:59:59The strong elephants of this emperor are that Kṛṣṇa is the subject matter of all major dialogues in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

2:00:09If we analyze how the dialogue started, the dialogue between Sūta Gosvāmī and the sages of Naimiṣāraṇya, then the dialogue between Nārada and Vyāsadeva, then within this dialogue, then the dialogue between Mahārāja Parīkṣit and Śukadeva Gosvāmī, and then the dialogue between Maitreya Muni and Vidura, and before that, the dialogue between Uddhava and Vidura and then the dialogue between Yudhiṣṭhira and Nārada Muni, if we analyze all of them, everywhere we see that Krishna is the subject matter.

2:00:47They are talking about Kṛṣṇa, they want to know about Kṛṣṇa. So this is the elephants. Every one of these can be shown that Kṛṣṇaḥ svayaṁ bhagavān. That this is the subject matter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Kṛṣṇa is special.

2:01:02Kṛṣṇa is not just an avatāra, just vilāsa-rūpa of Nārāyaṇa. Vilāsa, it's Nārāyaṇa who is vilāsa-rūpa of Kṛṣṇa. And then there is horses. This I wanted to explain in more details, but there is no time.

2:01:17The horses are this inferential, is this analysis which I already explained.

2:01:23That there is śruti statement, which was already there, then there is liṅga statement, and then there is vākya statement, and then there is prakaraṇa statement, and then there is samākhyā statement. So all these things.

2:01:37So Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains again in a beautiful way how in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam you not only find this śruti statement very direct, independent statement that Kṛṣṇa is specialty, but you also find some weaker statement inferential statement like liṅga and prakaraṇa according to context and vākya according to the linguistic expectation and so on and so forth.

2:02:08So all this beautiful linguistic analysis of the verses of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam very lovingly done by Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī to explain this point.

2:02:22And then the final, the infantry, he did it actually in the previous Sandarbha, in Paramātma Sandarbha. He explains this as ṣaṭ-pramāṇas, six pramāṇas. I'm sorry, not five. I mentioned five, it's six. Six pramanas.

2:02:41How all six pramāṇas are there in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the language of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam? That Kṛṣṇa is not an avatāra, he is the source of the source of all avatāras.

2:02:52And then six pramāṇa and then six ṣaṭ-liṅgas, six indicators, upakrama, samhāra, abhyāsa and so on and so forth. So he did this analysis of the whole Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

2:03:15That Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is all about Krishna according to this principle, hermeneutical principles of Mimamsa Sutra. In uh in this way to prove this particular point.

2:03:32So we don't have time for this, but this whole explanation is also to impress upon us the importance of understanding hermeneutics. Because to understand books of Śrīla Prabhupāda they are deceivingly simple.

2:03:54Sometimes we may think that I understand what Prabhupada wants to say. And so many people they fight with each other because everyone thinks that he understands what Srila Prabhupada wants to say.

2:04:06Somebody says this, somebody says that. We read the Bible day and night, you see black, and I see white. So this is the famous statement.

2:04:18So one uh subsidiary point of this presentation is that we really have to be very honest and we really have to understand the hermeneutical principles, how to understand very complex Vedic literature, and ultimately we will be able to understand this inambiguous point, which is clear and still which was missed by many, many extremely intelligent commentators.

2:04:55And if it was not for Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Rupa Gaswami who wrote Lago Bhagavatamrita and Srila Sanatna Gaswami who proved the same thing in Brihat Bhagavatamrita and Srila Jiva Gaswami who wrote the whole huge Krishna Sandarbha, on this topic?

2:05:15We would never be able to understand this. Only because we are standing on the shoulders of these giants, we are able to see it.

2:05:25And if we reject the shoulders of these giants, and Srila Prabhupada came and he explained the same thing in understandable for us manner, if we reject the shoulders of these giants, we will become the little dwarves as we are ourselves.

2:05:43And we will never be able to reach Krishna. We will never be able to reach even Lord Nārāyaṇa. We will be doomed to rot in this material world.

2:05:53But standing on the shoulders of these giants and dancing on their shoulders, we will be able to become happy devotees who are in samadhi, reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and in Samadhi chanting the holy name of Krishna, understanding there is nothing more important and there is nothing more powerful than this practice of chanting

2:06:19the holy name and reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam especially 10th canto and in the 10th canto especially Rasa-līlā.

2:06:29Then we will be able to understand the inner import and we will never mix it with the gross sexual perversion or sexual reflexflection of this pastime in this material world.

2:06:44I'm really sorry for such a long class, but now I'm finished. I don't hear you. You are muted. You are totally muted. I don't hear a word. No, I still don't hear anything. Maybe it's indication that we should finish now.

2:07:27No, I don't hear. Must be connection to that same, but okay please say something now Yeah Hare Krishna. Uh okay.

2:07:49No, um Guru Maharaj uh it wasn't really uh that it you know you shouldn't be saying that you took longer time, honestly speaking um we we should have continued and uh so there is one part first I would like to say that you said quite a few times that there's a lot more to share but you could not, so we would like that that is all that you couldn't share today. We request you to kindly share it in the future classes when they resume in June. That's one.

2:08:23Secondly you said right at the end that you know we want more devotees or rather happy devotees. We have a saying and you must be aware uh particularly in the SPD views, you know, we say more devotees, happier devotees.

2:08:40But I think today's class has led us to another very deep reflection that not only more devotees are happier devotees but mature devotees.

2:08:52And I think this class was very exemplifying the importance of maturity in Krishna consciousness. Like all of your sessions, they have two emotions that at least I can represent from my side.

2:09:09One is of absolute hopelessness and the other is uh hope.

2:09:16So you know therefore your sessions have to be reflected upon, contemplated upon by listening to them many, many times and I think they need to also be enshrined in words in black and white in book or a form where it can reach out to many.

2:09:39Therefore with with you know folded hands I also uh request all the assembled Vaishnavas and Vaishnavis who stayed on, to kindly listen to this.

2:09:49Arupama Radha Radmataji wrote back to me that I have to listen to this many, many, many times and I request everyone else also and also I would request you to kindly circulate uh you know this you because it'll be on YouTube on our channel so kindly circulate to as many devotees as possible.

2:10:08Now the the high point or the takeaway there are plenty of them but one of them is that this particular verse that you took from the first canto, third chapter, 28th verse, actually establishes the very edifice of the entire Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam text. And if we miss this, we actually are missing the bus.

2:10:35Uh no matter when we boarded uh this bus, you know, uh when we came into ISKCON, it would be 10 years, 30 years, 20 years, or whatever number of years.

2:10:47But if we have missed this particular understanding, then I think we have missed the bus, and that brings a bit of a hopelessness.

2:10:57But today's class can also bring us uh to fore. Provided we are willing to get over the nine distractions that you so lucidly explained from the Yoga Sutras.

2:11:10And I believe those are the 1.30 to 1.32. Those were the three verses I think you explained. Because we didn't get the nu— you did say the number from Yoga. Is that correct? I think it's 1.30.

2:11:28So uh is there a time for one or two questions? Arpumā Rādhārāṇī has uh sent— is there time for questions?

Responding to questions on spiritual progress

2:11:36Yes, one or two questions. Yes, final. Okay.

2:11:40So this is a question from Anubhā Rādhānāthajī from Dubai. The question is: please accept my respectful obeisances, Mahārāja. Your class was as always very penetrating. Your message goes deep within our hearts. Thank you, Maharaj.

2:11:56You mentioned unless we are completely pure, we cannot go to the spiritual world. That pure entity is that jīva having 78% of the qualities of the Lord.

2:12:06Śrīla Prabhupāda made a concession that even if we are 60% Kṛṣṇa conscious, we can go back.

2:12:13My question is: those souls who attain the supreme planet but are not completely pure, do they have a greater chance of falling back into the material world as compared to those who are 100% pure?

2:12:29No no you will not be able to carry on your impurity to the spiritual world, don't worry. If Śrīla Prabhupāda promised to drag you to the spiritual world, he will make sure that you are purified.

2:12:45It's just Śrīla Prabhupāda will accept the 40% of your impurities and will make you completely pure. So don't worry about this. No problem.

2:12:57You will not be carrying your impurities in the spiritual world. You will look very strange there. So don't worry. Okay, so uh there is one more question from her now. If it if it's okay with you, can I ask that also?

2:13:21Sure, sure. Okay. Sometimes we hit a wall while chanting and we encounter the distractions that you explain.

2:13:29No matter how hard we try to concentrate, our mind does not cooperate in such a in such a situation to bring our consciousness back to listening to the holy names, should we take shelter of reading the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam?

2:13:46I mean not while chanting though. Yeah, definitely. Reading of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. It's a companion book.

2:13:56We have to read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam together with chanting of the holy name; they all all go together, they are inseparable in one sense.

2:14:08So, yes, you know we we can chant all the time because our mind is not adjusted to this but therefore we need to read we need to read Caitanya-caritāmṛta and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. As I said, last uh lecture uh not

2:14:31only Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but reading of Caitanya-caritāmṛta is very important uh while chanting and to understand Srimad Bhagavatam. day. So thank you very much, and bhaktivity and bhakti maharaj. Yeah.