Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.29.27. Deadly Disease of Envy and it's Cure. Lecture 2

Recitation of Srimad-Bhagavatam text 3.29.27

0:00Rashta praya Shwa Drišu, Nitam Bhagavad Svaya, Bhagavatama Shloke, Bhakti Bhavatinstiki, Yamprava Jantamanupetama Peta Krityam Daipayanavirahakatara Juhava, Putretan Majatayotarabobinedus, Tam sarva putahridayam unimanatosmi Me.

0:40We're reading Shrimad Bhagavad Ken to 3, chapter 29, Explanation of Devotional Service by Lord Kapiladev. Text 27.

0:52Athaam, Sarva Budeso, Budeso, Butta Atmanam, Kritaam Archae Archae Dana Manabyam Maitre Abhinena Vinema Chaksha Athamam Sarvabutes, Butattmanam Kritalayam, Dhamamam Kritalayam, Archae Damamanabjametam Maitrabeen na chakshusha, butiso Buddhma Kritalayaam, Buddhaam, Archaeat Danabjam, Maitriabine nachaksoshayabinechaksha Atha

2:20Thore Mam me Sarvabudeshu in all creatures Buddha Atman the self of all beings of all beings Kritaalayam abiding Arty one should satisf satisfy. One should satisfy.

2:52Dana manabiamanabyam through charity and respect. Through charity and respect. Maitriya through friendship equal by viewing Translation and purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada.

3:23Therefore, through charitable gifts and attention, as well as through friendly behavior, and by viewing all to be alike, one should propitiate me who abide in all creatures as the very self.

Clarifying equality of Supersoul and individual soul

3:50It should not be misunderstood that because the super soul is dwelling within the heart of all of a living entity, the individual soul has become equal to him.

4:03The equality of the supersulo and the individual soul is misconceived by the impersonalist.

4:14Here it is distinctly mentioned that the individual soul shosuld be recedogniz in relationship with the supreme personality of Godhead.

4:27The method of worshipping the individual soul is described here as either giving charitable gifts or behaving in a friendly manner, free from any separatist outlook.

4:43The impersonalist sometsimes accept a poor individual's soul as being Daridra-nārāyaṇa, meaning that Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has become poor. This is a contradiction.

5:00The Supreme Personality of God is full of all opulences. He can agree to live within a poor soul or even within an animal, but this does not make him poor. There are two Sanskrit words used here, mana and dana.

5:21Mana indicates a superior and dana indicates one who gives charitable gifts or is compassionate towards an inferior. We cannot treat the Supreme Personality of Godhead as inferior who is dependent on our charitable gifts.

5:44When we give charity, it is to a person who is inferior to his material, who is inferior in his material or economic condition. Charity is not given to a rich man.

6:01Similarly, it is explicitly stated here that mana, respect, is offered to a superior and charity is offered to an inferior. The living entities according to different results of fruit of activities may

6:19become rich or poor, but the Supreme Personality of Godhead is unchangeable. He is always full of six opulences. Treating a living entity equally does not mean treating

6:34him as one should treat the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Compassion and friendliness do not necessitate falsely elevating someone to the exalted position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

6:51We should not at the same time misunderstand that the Supersoul situated in the heart of an animal like a hawk and the Supersoul situated in the heart of a learned brāhmaṇa are different.

7:05The Supersoul in all living entities is the same Supreme Personality of Godhead, but by his omnipotence he can live anywhere and he can create his Vaikuṇṭha situation everywhere. That is his inconceivable potency.

7:26Therefore, when Narayana is living in the heart of a hawk, he does not become a hawk Narayana. He is always Narayana and is unaffected by the body of the hawk.

7:44śīlaṁ prāduratamṁ sarva-bhūteṣu bhūtātmanṁ kṛtālayam arccayed dāna-mānābhyāṁ maitryābhinna-cakṣuṣā Maitriabina Chaksusham.

8:01Therefore, through charitable gifts and attention, as well as through friendly behavior and by viewing all as all to be alike, one should propitiate me who abide in

Recitation of mangalacarana invocation prayers

8:20all creatures as their very self. oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā cakṣur unmīlītaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ śrī-caitanya-mano-'bhīṣṭaṁ sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale svayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ

8:48damayaṁ dadāti sva-padāntikaṁ vande 'haṁ śrī-guruṁ śrī-yuga-pada-kamalaṁ śrī-gurūn vaiṣṇavāṁś ca śrī-rūpaṁ sāgrājaṁ saha-gaṇa-ragunāthānvitaṁ taṁ sājīvaṁ sādvaitaṁ sāvadhūtaṁ parijana-sahitaṁ kṛṣṇa-caitanya-devaṁ

9:23śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pādān saha-gaṇa-lalitā- śrī-viśākhānvitāṁś ca kṛṣṇa karuṇā-sindhu dīna-bandhu jagat-pate gopeśa gopikākānta rādhākānta namo 'stu te tapta-kāñcan-gauṅgī rāḍhe vṛndāvaneśvari

9:55vṛṣabhānu-sute devī praṇamāmi hari-priye vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaś ca kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhur nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-

10:28bhakta-vṛnda — Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare ājanulambita-bhujau kanakāvavadātau saṅkīrtanaika-pitarau kamalāyatākṣau viśvambharau dvija-varau yuga-धर्म-पालौ

11:07vandē jagat-priya-karau karuṇāvatīrṇau praveśya māmakaṁ vācaṁ mām-prāpya-sūtaṁ sañjīvayati ca śakti-dharaḥ svadhām,

Overcoming envy to achieve pure love

11:20nānyāṁ śca hasta-caraṇa-śravanātmā so we'll try to bring to a conclusion the topic which we started yesterday. And I wanted to begin with My talk today was stating that we all have envy.

12:01And Srila Bhaktivinoda, analyzing kanartas of which envy is the most dangerous one because it is completely opposite to love. They are in total opposition towards each other.

12:25So unless and until one has envy in the heart, there is no possibility of obtaining love. Because they're contrary, they're not compatible, they cannot live together. And we want to love Krishna.

12:47And Krishna happened to be everywhere. Krishna happened to be everything. Therefore, loving Krishna and hating anything or anybody is totally contradictory. It just doesn't make any sense.

13:08So to obtain love of Godhead, one has to get rid of this disease of envy or matsary within the heart, of this spirit which is there and which basically plunges us into this ocean of material existence.

13:27And therefore, in the very beginning of Srimad Bhagavatam, said Dharma Kaitava Projeita Drak Paramonir Matsaranam Satam that to understand Shimad Bhagavatam one has to be non-envious.

13:45Because to understand Shrimad Bhagavatam means to understand Krishna, to understand Shrimad Bhagavatam means to love Krishna, to love Krishna means somehow or other to get

13:55rid of this disease of envy within the heart. And Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura while explaining the evolution of Anarthas, he traces them down to the root cause of all anarthas and all our problems, that is ignorance.

14:21He gives this anatomy of the cloud of Anartas which block the power of devotional service. Yesterday I mentioned that the devotional service is naturally powerful.

14:36It has svabhaviti in the very the very nature of pure devotional service or devotional service or such elements or such processes of devotional service and hearing it chanting are very powerful. But there is a blockage.

14:54There is a blocking force which is very powerful and this basically consists of anarthas within our heart. And Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, he traces them down to the original Anartha, which is ignorance.

15:15Everything starts with ignorance. All our problems are stemming from the ignorance. And Bhaktivinoda he classifies all the anarthas into 16 categories which are very important to understand how they develop.

15:32He says: in the beginning, there is this Brahm, Tattva Brahm, not understanding the truth, and he says that it's of four kinds: Svatattva, Brahm, not understanding who you are, basically taking yourself as the body, not understanding the eternal nature of the soul, not understanding the nature of the soul as the servant.

16:05Paratattva, vi Brahma, Bra The mistake of Parattattva, we don't understand who is Paratattva, we don't understand the essential qualities of Paratva.

16:18Paratva means God, but God sometimes you know we can see the picture of God, he's little, you know, lost some of his hairs and he has a long beard and his gray hairs and he's sitting somewhere in a cloud and with great sadness in his eyes looks what's going on in this earth. So it's a typical example of Paratattva

16:53Brahm because God is everywhere.

16:57God is all-potent, He all'-spowerful, He's uh all-loving. And this is people cannot understand, they say either He's all-loving or He's all powerful, they have this really funny problem of the evil in this world.

17:15And this is all manifestation of Paratattva Brahma. And it starts from the misunderstanding the basic quality of the Lord. And the basic quality of the Lord is reflected in His name as Vishnu. Who is Vishnu?

17:37What Vishnu means? Vishnu means the one who entered everywhere. The omnipresence of the Lord is a very essential quality.

17:49And before we understand the omnipresence of the Lord we are in this uh you know that Lord is present in my heart, the Lord is present in everyone's heart, Lord is present everywhere.

18:03Unless we understand this, that this creation is His and He is pervading all this creation, we are in this ignorant condition. And then very interestingly, he says of course next point

18:18is that because we don't understand our nature, we don't understand the nature of God, we don't understand Tatva of Sadhana and sadhya.

18:32We don't understand what should be the process, what should be the spiritual practice. It's actually very important because the spiritual practice

18:44is derived from Sambanda Gyan, from the understanding of tattva, the nature of the soul and God. You know, it's a natural consequences.

18:57The spiritual practice should be very consistent with the understanding of who is God and who is soul.

19:09Like for example, I was thinking about this I'm lately you know quite trying to study a little bit philosophy of Madva Acharya.

19:23And it's even though he is our original Acharya, one of the original Acharyas to whom we trace our lineage, our spiritual lineage his understanding is very much different than ours.

19:39Even in a basic, in a on a very basic you know level it's different because, for example, we say that God, which is very important for us, that God is simultaneously Nimitakarana and Upadana Karana.

19:59He is the remote cause, the one who created this world by giving impetus or whatever, and his Upadanakarana, he is this world is made of him. Upadana karana, he is material cause. This is our philosophy.

20:19Matvacharya doesn't recognize this philosophy. He says, yes, God is Nimitha Karana, but not Upadana Karana. Word is not made of him. It's different, it's matter.

20:32And matter is categorically different according to his philosophy of Dvaita. So, and the very important consequence is uh you know, there is a very important ethical consequence.

20:46One will behave differently towards this world if he understands that it's different from the Lord or if one understands that it's same with the Lord, it's the Lord. So and uh that's very important.

21:05Therefore the mood, the attitude which uh followers of Madhvacharya Sampradaya have is completely different than the Gaudias. Gaudias they stress humility, they stress respect, they stress all these qualities.

21:20And you know, Madhvas are different, they're very feisty, they are fighting with everyone, as Madhvacharya was fighting.

21:29What I want to say is that we have to understand this tattva properly, Paratattva properly, then we Brahm, sorry, Svatattva properly, Paratattva properly, then we

21:40have to understand stemming after this, sadhana and sandhya, sadhya, what is our practice and what is our goal? And we can see the goal of Madhva Sampradaya, and in fact every other Sampradaya

21:57is not prema, it's moksha. It's liberation. Again, because of slight difference in understanding of tattva or tattva of the Lord and Tattva of the living entity.

22:12This little slight understanding it becomes a very huge slight misunderstanding or slight mistake.

22:20Oh oh, I don't know, slight difference in opinion, brings a completely different conception of what we should do, how we should do, and what is the goal of all our endeavors.

22:31And then very important because this is extremely important and in fact, uh, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura by listing these uh ignorances, he actually refers to Śrī Sampradaya, which also agree with this.

22:51That Sri Sampradaya says that there are five basic truths which we have to understand.

22:57This is the truth about the soul, the truth about the Supreme Lord, the truth about the means, or sadhana, the truth about the goal, or sadhya. And then the fifth one is very important.

23:16Tad-viṣaya-virodhi-bhrama. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says that besides that one would say that this is enough to understand. You understand who is the soul, you understand who is the Supreme Lord, you understand what you're supposed to do, and you understand what is the goal of all your endeavors.

23:37What else is there? What else do we need to know? Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Gokulānanda ki jaya! Śrī Śrī Sītā-Rāma-Lakṣmaṇa-Hanumān ki jaya! Śrī Śrī Gaurā-Nitāi ki jaya! So what else do we need to know?

23:53Uh it seems like everything is covered by these four uh you know four mistakes or four truths which we have to understand properly to uh be nicely situated as a devotee. No.

24:09Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says, tad-viṣaya-virodhi. Not understanding or mistake and understanding what is contrary to the devotional service. What actually totally completely destroys devotional service.

24:29This is a separate subject matter which we have to understand very carefully. And in fact, it's the most important subject matter. By far the most important subject matter.

24:41Because we may do everything properly, we may understand who is Lord, who is the soul, what is the soul, and you know what is the relationship.

24:48But if we don't understand which mistakes we can commit on this path, we will uh practice our sadhana not in a perfect way.

25:00Therefore, basically this is the uh misunderstanding what is aparādha and what is not, what is the offense which blocks the power of devotional service? And that's why I started this seminar.

25:14So one simple answer to this you know question which everyone is uh expecting with bated breath as was said, you know how to deal with this problem is that first of all we have to understand what is the nature of

25:36aparādha. What is the nature of this tad-viṣaya-virodhi, something which is contrary to devotional service.

Progression from material desire to offenses

25:47But anyway, uh I'm not uh let's go a little quicker. So Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says first is ignorance. Then the ignorance from ignorance very naturally comes asat trishna or desires for asat, something unreal.

26:12Because we don't understand who we are, we don't understand what is the reality, tattva Brahm, because we don't have this understanding, naturally the desire for something unreal appears in the heart.

26:26We want material enjoyment, we want enjoyment in the heavenly planets, we want some you know mystic power. Ultimately we want liberation.

26:34He says this is all anarthas. The desires which actually stand as an impediment between us and the Supreme Lord and the goal which is love. Then he says, the next point, because you develop this tṛṣṇā.

26:53tṛṣṇā means thirst, insatiable source for material enjoyment and all kinds of varieties. We develop certain philosophies and certain practices because of this.

27:08Then he says, because of this thirst for material enjoyment, the natural consequence of it is aparādha. Why do we offend other living entities? Why do we offend Vaiṣṇavas? Why do we offend the Supreme Lord?

27:24The reason is very simple. Because we want to enjoy and we see others as an impediment for our enjoyment. Who is the main impediment for our enjoyment? Devotees are the main impediment for our enjoyment.

27:38If it was not for them, I would enjoy very nicely in this material world.

27:43These devotees, they always say something nasty, you know, and this and so therefore, you know, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says you may offend the Lord, you may offend the devotees of the Lord who are his paraphernalia basically.

28:02And in this way you commit aparādhas and you offend other living entities as well, you know. He gives this again four categories and you offend the name of the Lord.

28:14You basically because of this enjoying spirit, because of this thirst for enjoyment, you develop the offensive attitude towards the manifestation of the Lord, which actually you know when we understand that there is Lord and we are his servants, it's it's completely totally against uh the spirit of enjoyment. It's very contrary.

28:46You know, there was this sick French man, you Desad, who was, I mean, totally sick man, who is being worshipped in the modern society because he's the first one who started, you know.

29:04Writing these sick books about sex. But he said a very interesting thing. He said a very interesting thing. He said that there is nothing more contrary to enjoyment than love.

29:22There is nothing more detrimental to my enjoyment than love. Because love means to give, love means to serve, love means, and enjoyment means to take. Enjoyment means to lord it over.

29:41So he is at least he understood this much. Of course, he didn't take the right path of love.

29:49He preferred to become completely crazy in the path of enjoyment. But the point is that we become offensive, which is the impediment to obtain love because of this spirit of enjoyment, because of this asat-tṛṣṇā.

30:10And then this is why I wanted to speak a little

30:16bit about this anatomy of our problems. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says that as a result of this, hṛd-roga-bālyam, it's the grossest manifestation of anarthas within our heart. manifestation of anarthas within our heart. Hṛd-roga-bālyam means the weakness of the heart. And he again says this weakness of the heart. It's become from the very subtle manifestation which is ignorance to grosser manifestation of desire to even grosser manifestation as offensive attitude.

30:49Desire and then attitude and then most gross manifestation of

30:54anarthas which is hṛd-daurbalya, the weakness of the heart, which he says tuccha-śakti, the attachment to some trifle things. You know, attachment to all little you know ambitions, attachment to our position.

31:15I am the, you know, senior brahmacārī in this āśrama. This is called tuccha-śakti. And if somebody kicks me out, this is oh I am this, I am that, you know. We have so many completely ridiculous attachments in the heart.

31:36Absolutely so ridiculous. You know, if you analyze to what you are attached, the greatest attachment which we have in our heart is attachment uh to to the you know to some offences which somebody uh did to us.

31:58We're still bitter of these offences. And so many attachments are there, you know, it justifies our. So tuccha-śakti, then he says, kuṭī-nāṭī, the deceitful behavior. When we secretly commit some some you know sinful

32:15activities, or fault-finding, and then mātsarya, mātsarya means envy, and then pratiṣṭhā, the pride. so this is again the grossest manifestation of our ignorance is envy and pride.

32:37Envy and pride, mātsarya and sva-pratiṣṭhā, the grossest and the most dangerous manifestation of everything. And the result of it is very serious. The result of it is our suffering in this world.

Serious consequences of committing spiritual offenses

32:54So Jīva Gosvāmī, while dealing with this subject matter, with specifically this series of verses which we read yesterday about this matsary or envy, how this envy manifests in the gradations.

33:11He gives and how ultimately we don't respect other living entities not understanding that God is there in their heart.

33:22Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī, he quotes Agni Purāṇa. A very interesting, two very interesting verses which I wanted to share with you to you know to even stress how serious it is.

33:37These verses are spoken by the father of Sravan Kumar.

33:43Perhaps you know the story of Śravaṇa Kumāra, it's described in Rāmāyaṇa, where it is said that Daśaratha once was hunting and he had mystic ability to shoot the arrow and you know be the way you say the target without seeing the target.

34:14He could just hear and just by sound he will shoot the arrow and the arrow will hit the target for sure without without any fail.

34:25So Dasharat was hunting and he was a little you know tired and he sat down under the tree and all of a sudden he heard the noise of water, somebody was drinking very loudly, and he thought that it would be some animal in the forest.

34:44And he shoot his arrow and to his dismay and to his total complete shock, he heard the human voice in reply. The cry of a human being. He ran towards this. And he saw a little boy dying at the brink of a lake.

35:13And this boy, before he died, he said, please take care of my parents because they're alone here in this forest. I went to bring some water to them, and now I'm dying, so please take care of them. They are blind.

35:33They are very old and they are blind. And I am their only protector. So, you know, I don't mind that you shoot me, but please take care of my parents. And Dasharat, he was to make it even worse.

35:53Now he has to take this dead body of this little boy and to bring it to his parents.

36:02So when he comes, initially, the parents are all elated. They say, oh Shravan Kumar, you're coming, you're coming, so nice. Why have you been away for so long?

36:13And then Dasharadhi puts the dead body of the boy on the lap of the blind father. And he says, I'm really sorry, but I King Dasharat killed your son. And he's now dead, and he's laying on your lap.

36:37And of course, at that moment, this father, blind father of Sravan Kumar started lamenting and lamenting and lamenting. And he started saying, Oh my Lord, why did it happen to me? What have I done?

36:54He didn't blame Dasarat. Of course he cursed him, but you know. But I mean he said he didn't really curse him. He said you know as uh as I'm dying because of the death.

37:12In separation with my son, you will also die in the same way. Being separated with your son, you will also die from the separation of your sons.

37:27So it's not really a curse, it's just a statement that you will get the same sort of reaction. But it's very interesting how he analyzed trying to analyze why did it happen to me.

37:48He is being the very wise person and the person of a Vedi culture, understands that nothing happens to us without a reason. So he says, why did it happen to me?

38:01And he says it must be, and he gives two reasons why this terrible grief can fall upon my head. He says, Shila buddi kritaki Ma prati Mayam Harer Maya. He says, Perhaps I've seen the deity of the Lord.

38:24And I had Shila Buddhi, this is just a stone. I looked at the deity and I said, oh, this is just a statue, you know. Just nicely dressed, but just a statue.

38:38He says, this might be one reason, because this is a grievous offense. We don't understand that the Lord is everywhere. That Lord when He wants, He can manifest through the deity. And he manifests, he does manifest.

38:56He says, that's why this grievous, this this total, complete shock came to me. Kim Maya Padhidrishtaya, Vishnu Bhaktasya Karhichit tan Mudrankita Dehasya cheta sa anadara kritah.

39:15Ya na karma vipakena putrashoka mah He says, Yana karma vipakina.

39:23Because of this karma, by this karma, yana karma vipakina, by the consequences, the reaction of this karma Putrashoka Mamadrish. Therefore, I lost the most dear one my son, Putrashoka Mamadrish.

39:41It came to me because of this. But the second offense uh the second mm karma, dush karma which he might have created, uh he

39:53says Kim Maya Pathidrishtaya perhaps in the front of my in front of my eyes Vishnu Bhaktasya Karhichit once Karhichit Vishnu Bhaktasya came Vishnu Bhakta. And he had Tan Mudrankita Dehasya.

40:15His body was decorated by the signs of Vishnu Bhakta. He had tilak on his forehead and in other places. And at that moment chatasa Anadarat Anadarak Kritah.

40:32At that moment I did not pay abeisances in my mind another I didn't you know I didn't really respect him in my mind and he says because of this I'm suffering.

40:50I mean, I don't know what will happen to us in the next life. But this is his analysis. He says that must be the reason. Because I don't understand how God appears in front of me. God appears in front of us in two forms.

41:13Either in a form of a deity or in the form of a devotee. We have to understand that this is God Himself, it's nobody else. If somebody is trying to serve God is equal. He's on the same level.

41:30We should treat him on the same level. And Jīva Gosvāmī gives this horrible verse, a warning to us how careful we should be uh to uh when we uh deal with the devotees.

41:49And and he gives the relief. I'm coming to the cure part, he also gives another verse from Mahābhārata. Pitṛveva putraṁ karuṇo nodvejayati yo janaḥ. Viśuddhasya Hṛṣīkeśasya tūrṇaṁ prasīdati. Very interesting verse.

42:12He says, Tasya tūrṇaṁ prasīdati, Hṛṣīkeśasya tūrṇaṁ prasīdati. Very quickly you will get the satisfaction or the mercy of the Lord, who is situated in everyone's heart.

42:31Viśuddhasya Viśuddhasya prasi you very quickly you you will satisfy him. How? Pitvā putraṁ karuṇo nodvejayati yo janaḥ.

42:49If you are not vejati if you uh means Udvijay means you disturb others. If you behave in such a way that others are not disturbed,

43:04if you behave in a very gentle way, if you consciously not to try to disturb anyone and pitvā putraṁ karuṇo or if you are compassionate towards others, as father is, compassionate towards his son.

43:27He gives these two advices to us, two very important advises to us. And basically, Lord Kapiladev will repeat the same thing but in this in a different way.

43:41In a very the difference is very important, but still I want to first say a few words about this verse from Mahābhārata, the Jīva Gosvāmī quotes.

43:52He basically says two things: one, if you are compassionate, if you try to feed others, how the compassion of father manifests towards the son. He takes care of him and mostly he feeds him.

44:07He takes care of him filling up his belly and an solution or another rekommendation or advis he says if you are very gentle and you're well behaved and you don't disturb

44:25others by your arrogans and you control yourself in this sense. So this is two advices from Mahābhārata, and here we can see how Kapiladev will say the same thing. Same thing in a different way.

Balancing deity worship with prescribed duties

44:46So yesterday we finished with the verse 24. We read four verses where the four stages of disease were described. These three verses: 25th, 26th, and 27th, which we read

45:00today ismissione the description of the cure which Kapiladev gives. It's much more elaborate than Mahabharata verse, and therefore, we should definitely know about this.

45:19And then I will say little few more things and then we will finish. So the verse 25 says Archadafar Chayat Tavat Ishvaram Mam Swakar Makrit Yavan na Vedas Swahri di Sarva Bute Shavastitam. Lord Kapiladev in

45:44four verses, said he that your worship to me is completely useless if you don't understand that I'm not situated in that I am situated in the heart of every living entity.

45:56Four verses before he said, even if you worship the deity, it's useless, it's as if you're pouring the ghee on the ashes. Here he says: complete shock. Archadaf, Archaryat, Tawat, Ishvaram, Mams Vakar Makrit.

46:15You worship the deity. So, how to deal with this problem? It's not that you stop worshiping the Lord. The wrong understanding of this description, which was given

46:32before, is that okay, I understand, you know, my worship of the Lord, of the deity is useless, so why should I bother? Because I don't understand that Krishna is in the heart of everyone.

46:47I should probably stop it and stop altogether this useless endeavor. Stop my chanting. Stop everything because it's useless. No, he says, no.

46:58Archādayārcayāt tāvad, you should worship the deity Īśvaram Mam Svakar Makrit as the Lord, but at the same time you should do Swakar Makrit, you should perform your own duties, or in other words you should not be not

47:20too quickly imagine yourself to be a ragana bhakta basically, what he says, the advice which he gives is very important for us to understand because this is the mistake which we often repeat.

47:37Sometimes we say, Oh, I should just worship the Lord, because it is said in the 11th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: Devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāṁ pitṝṇāṁ na kiṅkaro nāyam ṛṇī ca rājan. rini charajan. I am not kiṅkara, sorry, I am not supposed to, you know, serve anyone, you know and I don't have any death to towards anyone,

47:59you know Buts and Aptas and whoever it is, you know, I'm just serving the Lord. Lord Kapila-deva says, My dear sir, don't hurry giving up your duties.

48:19You You do the worship, but do the worship in conjunction with performing your duties until which point? Until the point you understand that I'm in the hearts of every living entity.

48:36This verse is very important because it says the limits of this Vedic boxes, so to speak. When we perform Bhakti at the same time keeping in mind that there are so many rules and regulations which we have to follow.

48:52But he says that what is the result of vaidhi bhakti, of this bhakti? What is the result of this karma misra bhakti or vaidi bhakti, whatever you call it? What is the result of it?

49:07The result of it you will see the Lord in every in the heart of every living entity. And when you see it, you know, well, it's fine. Give up all your duties, no problem.

49:24Unless you see the Lord situated in everyone's heart, really see. Seeing somebody, oh yeah, Hare Krishna, Hare Rama, Hare hurry, Hurry, hurry. You know you, see the Lord.

49:38He says, you should do this, you should do regulated. And I will not go into detail because I want to hurry up to the verse which we read today, because this is the conclusion of this section.

49:50Then he says, but that's not enough. He gives another recommendation. He says, you perform your duty, and basically means what does it mean to perform your duty? Duty means you follow the culture, the very culture.

50:06Śrīla Prabhupāda, while commenting on this verse, he says varṇāśrama-dharma. And varṇāśrama-dharma means so many rules and regulations. You respect your parents. You respect elders.

50:20Because they are in a position of uh guru.

50:24You follow the rules of varṇāśrama which make you into a gentle human being and which will teach you how to respect everyone, and then because of this respect and respect is a very important feature of Vedic culture.

50:47Basically, in this two verses, he will give the summary of vedic culture which we should follow, and the culture of devotion, the supportive culture of devotion. There is direct culture of devotion. That is sravanam, kirtanam, visanam, archanam, vandanam, dasyam. This is the direct culture of devotion. Chanting of Hare Krishna mantra, dancing in kirtan and so many other things.

Cultivating respect and feeding living entities

51:15But then before our heart is clean.

51:21When the heart is not yet clean and we don't see the presence of the Lord, we don't feel the presence of the Lord, there is another aspect of our culture which we should very strictly follow.

51:33This is the supportive culture, and one feature of this culture very important is that you basically if you say just two lines about Vedic culture, it's respect of elders.

51:50Anyone who is in a position of elders, we have to respect, and basically respect of everyone according to the position, uh try to respect everyone according to rules.

52:02And then in the next verse, he will give another very important feature

52:07of the culture, of our internal culture, which we should follow very interestingly: ātmanaś ca parasyāpi yaḥ karoty antaram udarāt tasya bhindādy asad-mṛtyur vididhad bhayam ulbaṇam

52:26He says as a blazing fire of death I cause great fear to whoever makes the least discrimination between himself and other living entity because of different differentiation uh outlook.

52:41But, uh, Śrīla Prabhupāda, he, uh, translates it, uh, by, uh — he gives a literal translation, uh, but in the, in the word-by-word translation he, of course, says, "Udaram," he translates Udharam as a body but Udharam literally means what?

53:02Udara. Udara means stomach. And literally, what Lord Kapiladev says in the 26th verse: if you do, if you discriminate between your own stomach and stomach of other living entities. I will come to you as terrible death.

53:25It basically means that you should, and this add the two aspects of Vedic culture: you should respect everyone, especially the senior person, and the other aspect you should feed everyone. How to clean the heart?

53:44What is this supportive culture which helps the direct culture of bhakti to clean our heart? We should do two simple things. Respect everyone and feed everyone.

54:01And if we see the nature of vedic culture, even the remnants of Vedic culture, you know, still to this date, if you come to a traditional Indian home, you know, they will feed you to death. Unless you're half dead, they will not let you out.

54:21You know, they will feed you and feed you and feed you. You know, and they will, you know, and, and they will do it in such a nice way that you will not be able to refuse. I was in one house, you know.

54:40I still to this date I remember how I was fed, you know, because it was done with such a love. You know, what is being said is very important here. Because we have two basic problems.

54:57You know, again, taking it from a different angle, taking it from the panchaklashes or the uh the causes of suffering according to Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, he says ignorance is the first. Avidya smita raga and vish.

55:17He says that then the main problem which we have is this raga and vish. Right? Raga means attachment. I am attached to my enjoyment. And Vesh means hatred.

55:35Hatred towards all the impediments of enjoyment, hatred towards my competitors, hatred towards other people who may somehow or other mess up my enjoyment or somehow or other, you know, not allow me to enjoy the way I want to enjoy.

55:56So raga and vess. So what is Vedic culture? Vedic culture gives the cure from these two aspects of our ignorance. You know, raga, what is the cure of raga?

56:10Raga means enjoyment, and what is the main enjoyment in this material world. Some say sex, but it's not sex. Sex is a very limited thing and you know the basic enjoyment is eating. Right?

56:32So so you know what is the cure you should first do what? Before eating yourself you should do what? In this way you temper your rug. And you will get great satisfaction.

56:53You will get the experience of love when you're feeding others. You you really are much more happy than the others. For a long time now I'm being fed so and I don't feed anyone.

57:13But there was a time when I was cooking to somebody and feeding others and you know you cook to some for somebody, you cook a big feast and you feed them and you don't eat and then after this you're completely satisfied. You don't need you don't need to eat.

57:30You're much more happy than all these people. These people are just and you are happy, you have energy, you are, you know, your your raga is controlled by feeding others.

57:46If you place the desire, uh you know the hunger of others ahead of your own hunger, your own stomach, and then this is the solution for this disease of rag.

58:00And, you know, the disease of dveṣa, rāga and dveṣa, the hatred. What is the disease of this? You respect everyone. You respect those people. You just. you offer them respect. You offer obeisances.

58:15You behave in a very nice, gentle, and humble way in front of people.

58:22And we know. You know, uh like in Vedic culture, or I was I was born in Uzbekistan, and there are some remnants of this traditional culture still there.

58:36So there um husband and wife call each other uh you know by using you using plural. You know of course in England in English you you you use plural to everyone, you only use singular to God somehow.

58:58But you know plural uh using plural as a sign of respect. And in Russian, this distinction is very much clear you know to junior people you use singular, but you use plural as a sign of respect.

59:15So when when you use plural, it's not so in English because the distinction was lost. It's an important distinction because the distinction should be there.

59:25But when you use plural, uh even when the husband and wife fight with each other, because they use respectful address to each other, the fight will never become as intense.

59:42You know they fight, no doubt about it, but it's very respectful kind of fighting. You know, the the certain respect is there and respect uh you know limits uh limits hatred.

Applying charity, respect, and friendliness

59:58This respect actually ultimately uh helps us to get rid of this disease of hatred uh and uh that's what we're supposed to do. This is the two advices which he gives, and the present verse actually summarizes everything.

1:00:18So he. He says, yes, we have this problem of envy within our heart. And if you want to get rid of the envy within your heart, you continue your devotional practice for sure.

1:00:34Try to chant nicely, but at the same time, please remember these two additional rules, which are the rules of the culture. You feed others, you welcome others, and you respect others, especially elders.

1:00:58And in this verse, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains the same thing. He says, māna and dāna. Two two rules are there. Two supportive rules to cure us from this disease. Man means respect and respect towards what? Towards elders.

1:01:19Dan means giving charity giving food, and that's Śrīla Prabhupāda explains usually towards juniors but basically uh you may uh interpret it this way respect towards elders and feeding juniors.

1:01:42But it doesn't mean that you don't feed elders. And only respect them. And it doesn't also mean that you don't respect juniors, you have to respect juniors because Krishna is in the heart of everyone.

1:01:58But he gives he summarizes this. Atha means therefore. Therefore means the summary of this section. This section of seven verses summarizes this twenty-seventh verse. And therefore he says, ārcayat, you should worship me.

1:02:15Kapila Deva says ārcayat, you have to worship. How do you worship?

1:02:21Dāna, mānābhyāṁ, maitryā, abhinna-cakṣuṣā. Uh, don't discriminate between yourself and other living entities, abhinna-cakṣuṣā. You should look with equal vision to other living entities. Don't be separatist.

1:02:43Don't be egocentric egoistic rascal. Don't think that you are the center of the universe. You know, develop different approach towards other living entities. What you should do, he gives three advices here.

1:03:07Māna, dāna, maitryā, abhinna-cakṣuṣā. You give food to everyone, or you give some gifts. You try to please others by giving something. And the basic thing which you can give, give something.

1:03:30You know it's amazing how people are pleased when you give them something and how they completely their heart completely softens.

1:03:41You know, sometimes you know I just I come to completely unknown persons who don't know me, whom I don't know, and give them some fruit.

1:03:55And it's just people the initial reaction is just complete shock. Why do you give this to me?

1:04:01But then they become totally completely happy, and they need fruit, but it's love. This is how you manifest your love. Even if you don't feel love, you just still give. And you will feel some love.

1:04:20And the person will feel some love from you. Therefore, Kapila Dev says, arcāyat, how you worship me?

1:04:28You worship me in a proper way, but at the same time you worship other living entities without thinking that they're different from you by dāna giving respect, by dāna giving them some gifts and by maitrī by general friendliness. Try to develop the spirit of friendliness.

1:04:55You know, they are my friends. They are not my competitors. They are not somebody who is against me. Just generally, you know, just be friendly. What is more simple? Just smile to them.

1:05:10If we say, if if we see, if we go to India, it's still the friendliness is still very much there, this personal kind of attitude.

1:05:19If you go to West, you know, you know, people they live next to each other, they don't know how you know what is the name of the person. They don't even say hello.

1:05:33You know, Prabhupāda when he was walking in London, you know, there was this English gentleman. In the morning Śrīla Prabhupāda would say hello and these people say hello.

1:05:47And devotees ask Prabhupāda, why do you say hello to them? Why don't you say Hare Krishna?

1:05:53Śrīla Prabhupāda said because if I say Hare Krishna they will not tell me Hare Krishna. They will think I am a crazy fanatical you know sekt member. But if I say hello, they will say hello.

1:06:07And from this point their devotional service will start. Because they said good morning. You know, they wish something good. And th this is this is what you know this is this is the culture and

1:06:22and this is vaiṣṇava culture. Vaiṣṇava culture means respect everyone, feed everyone, be nice to everyone, be friendly to everyone. And in this way you will very quickly understand that God is present in everyone's heart.

1:06:40And you will be able to see Him, you will be able to relate to Him, and you will be able to uh really love him. Without this, jumping over this uh sort of attitude, you will not be able to develop love of God.

Example of respect in ancient scripture

1:06:57You know, while while I was thinking about this seminar, one you know story came to my mind. It's a story from Mahābhārata. The story how how this notion or this culture of respect, how all pervasive it was.

1:07:21This respect towards other living entities was very I mean very much there in the minds of people of Vedic culture. You know, it's unfortunately it's gone. It's practically gone.

1:07:34Even in India, it's not so much there anymore because people used to worship mountains, used to worship trees, used to worship practically every living entity.

1:07:50My shock was my, initial shock was when I saw one man near Govardhana, and this man he was kind of you know crawling down and doing something on the earth, and I was wondering what he was doing.

1:08:06And he was standing up and going further and again, you know, doing something. So I was wondering what he was doing. And I I looked more closely and I realized that he is feeding ants.

1:08:21He had little rice flour with little sugar, and whenever he would see ants crawling, he would bend down and would give them little flour and flour and little sugar. And you know he's he's worshiping these little ants, taking care of them.

1:08:48We know the story from Prabhupada Lamrita, how Prabhupada's father was feeding snakes and rats. And rats would not eat the goods of in Prabhupada's father's shop because they are just members of the family.

1:09:07You know it just respect them. God is there in their heart as well. And the story from Mahābhārata is of course a little funny because when Bhīma was trying to find some thousand-petaled lotus for Draupadī.

1:09:28He met an old monkey in the forest and the monkey was just was laying across the road. So the Bhīma says, just get out, you know, get out. Give me the way. Monkey says, no, I'm too old. I'm too old.

1:09:48If you want, just step over me. Bhīma said, no, I cannot step over you because it's very disrespectful. It's a monkey. And it's a pure devotee. You know, pure devotee doesn't have to respect anyone, right?

1:10:07You know, it's Bhīma, he's mahā-bhāgavata. You know, he sees this monkey, and the monkey himself says, Step over me, no problem. He couldn't even step over his tail.

1:10:25It was too difficult for him because it's so disrespectful to step over somebody.

1:10:32And when we see what devotees are doing, sometimes you know we don't mind stepping over anyone, stepping on anyone but that's that's the difference. There is this culture of respect where we understand God is everywhere.

1:10:56And unless we understand that God is everywhere and He manifests in different ways, and we should respect.

Recognizing gradations among living entities

1:11:04If we want to develop love of God, we should understand all his different manifestations.

1:11:09And then, of course, the next section, just to say a few words about the next section of this very important, I think six and a half verses Lord Kapiladev gives the gradation of living entities.

1:11:24Respect towards all living entities does not mean that you respect them equally. We are not impersonalists.

1:11:34And basically what he will say here that you respect them in the mind if they are lower species, not necessarily to bow down, but if you see somebody who has very developed consciousness, especially a saintly person.

1:11:50This is the real object of respect and the complete object of respect. Everyone else you also respect. But respect in the heart, respect in the mind, harbor these friendly feelings towards them.

1:12:06So the whole evolutional ladder.

1:12:12He will describe how the consciousness developed from the lowest stages of development of consciousness towards the highest stages of development of consciousness, saying that you should respect everyone no matter how low his consciousness is, but still, there are gradations of your respect.

1:12:33Still try to understand who is closer to God. Because the development of consciousness is according to the closeness of God or the depths of understanding God.

1:12:49So if you see somebody who understands God, He is your worshipable deity. He is somebody you should worship without any reservation. Not to speak about you know don't even think about offending him.

1:13:10That will be completely suicidal for your spiritual life. That will totally completely kill any hope for spiritual development. So this is the you know the idea of this section.

1:13:27And ultimately, and this is the last thing which I will say before we we will have some questions, Switi Dharma Prabhu said that we'll have some time.

1:13:37The last thing which I want to say is that about this series of verses where Lord Kapiladev says one who doesn't see me in the heart of every living entity, he is just a rascal.

1:13:54So seeing God, how is it possible for us to see him? Of course I did explain how it is possible. If you follow this, you will see him.

1:14:06But initially, what is most important, what is very important, we don't see God in the heart of other living entities. We don't see God in the heart of other human beings. But we should remember that He is there.

1:14:25This is what Śrīla Prabhupāda said in yesterday's verse: that we should always remind ourselves: God is there.

1:14:36And if we remember about this, if we're mindful about this, if we're conscious that God is in the heart of every living entity. This is the sign that we have what? That we have faith.

1:14:53And if we behave contrary to this understanding that God is everywhere and specifically the God is in the heart of living entities, human beings, and specifically devotees in a much more pronounced way, He is there in the heart of devotees.

1:15:12It means that we are who? We are faceless atheists. To see God on our level means to believe that He is there and to behave to mold our life our behavior accordingly in a way which is appropriate to this understanding.

1:15:37God is in the heart of everyone. Therefore, I have no right to hate anyone. I have no right even to look down at anyone. Because how I can look down at anyone? God is there.

1:15:54And if I want to love God, I have to love His creation.

1:15:59It's a completely silly idea that I love God, but, you know, let me do whatever I like with in this world. Let me mess it up and let me spoil the nature, spoil the environment, contaminate everything and you know fight with everyone and blow somebody up because he follows some other religion. It's a sick idea. Crazy idea.

1:16:28How these people, how this sort of understanding that God is pleased when we blow somebody up. When we kill somebody, I will go to heaven.

1:16:38Yeah, of course you obviously you will go to heaven, but you will be little surprised to see how the heaven looks like if you behave in this contradictory way, God is there. God created this world.

1:16:57The world belongs to Him. He is there. Please remember about this and respect everyone, serve

1:17:06everyone, feed everyone and be happy while chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.

1:17:18That's the real way to be happy, otherwise you will commit offenses and the happiness will not come.

Discussion on applying devotional principles

1:17:24Thank you very much. Yes, Prabhu.

1:17:39In I think it's West 25, uh said that And at the same time perform your duties at one point your heart will be purified to the extent that you will see the presence of the Lord in everyone's heart. That's what it is.

1:18:02You know, if you worship the deity but not performing your duties, your heart will be contaminated because you commit offenses and the efficiency of the devotional service will be blocked and therefore.

1:18:17But at the same if if you follow the rules, supportive rules, then the purific it will be purified even if you don't follow this but it will be purified much quicker if you follow the culture mm

1:18:34question about uh We often uh hear Rabat doing it himself on he walks and it's really nice to be near him when he does that I guess. But when you hear somebody else doing the same thing, it's not the same effect.

1:18:55So how do you how do you smash, while being respectful to them? You hate the sin, you don't hate the sinner. You may respect the person, but you don't respect his misunderstandings.

1:19:16As I said, you know, Prabhupada, I heard a lecture of Srila Radhanath Maharaja, he said, you know. Prabhupada was the best well-wisher of everyone. He was saying, you know, I kick him by my boot.

1:19:41You know that there is a esoteric meaning. You know, he explained that in in Chaitanya Bhagavata, uh anyway, let's not get into it. So uh anyway you can be very respectful.

1:20:04Um, once Śivarāma Mahārāja told a story and he actually wrote the story in his offering to Prabhupada, how he was in one meeting and there was one Māyāvādī and how Śivarāma Mahārāja was, you know, quoting different śāstras and basically smashing him, and how this Māyāvādī was very disturbed, and he ultimately left.

1:20:28So we should discriminate it, uh, you know, the respect doesn't mean that uh you know everyone is nice and this this is artificial.

1:20:41You know, we should understand that something is wrong with the person, but we don't hate him and we still feed him.

1:20:48And sometimes Prabhupada was extremely cordial and respectful towards Māyāvādīs. The example is Dr. Mishra. Dr. Dr. Mishra was through and through Māyāvādī. And Dr. Mishra wrote in his diary, and he said in his Everwell

1:21:08Vishra, he said, Swamiji saved me. He was feeding me with such a love.

1:21:14Prabhupada was his, you know, ideologically he was his enemy, but what he was doing with this enemy, not only smashing him, but feeding him with prasāda with complete love so that Dr. Mishra became you know totally grateful to him and gracious uh towards him.

1:21:38So it means we can be very respectful and you know but at the same time not admitting the problems of people, not accepting their uh faulty ideas and even fighting with the ideas, but in a respectful way. Still very respectful way.

1:21:57We can very respectfully smash them. It's no problem. You know quoting the same Shastras and saying this and keeping respect. God is there in their heart as well. Yes, within that. Thank you very much. Um two parts.

1:22:19First of all, just uh on respecting nobodies and still feeding the property and a sannyāsī here in Prabhupāda's rooms upstairs, Come to speak to him about joining forces together.

1:22:35So Prabhupada of course said that our philosophies do not mix and we cannot work together. So he was respectful in that way. And he brought these leaflets of his programs in London. So he left them with Prabhupada.

1:22:54Yeah, and and put some prasāda on them. So he uh he fed everyone in the room. He said now he will make advancement because we will use his legalism still. Yeah, that was Prabhupada.

1:23:11There was another instance also very interesting when a Māyāvādī came and he was very disturbed. He's he started complaining about Bhagavad-gītā, Prabhupāda's translation of Bhagavad-gītā. And all the devotees, they were expecting now Prabhupāda will smash him. And Prabhupāda was just you know nodding his head and said yeah, yeah, very nice, very nice, and he was ranting and rambling, you know, saying Krishna says this and you say this and you know you have mistranslated this and this is wrong and Krishna says this.

1:23:41And then ultimately Prabhupada didn't say anything to him. And he left and Prabhupada says, yes, yes, very nice, very nice, very nice.

1:23:49And devotees asked, Prabhupāda, why didn't you smash him? And Prabhupāda said, because he was chanting the name of Krishna so often, I just wanted him to continue this. He was repeating it again and again.

1:24:07Krishna says this, and you say this, and I said, let him do it. it it seems that uh endeavours often fail as soon as we walk out of this room perhaps

1:24:30when we see all the other devotees we may start disrespecting why is that wellell because of because of the ignorance. Because of all these problems. So we have to be mindful basically.

1:24:45Sādhana-bhakti means that we are not spontaneous. You know, spontaneously it will not happen. Spontaneously it will only happen on a level when you see Lord in everyone's heart.

1:24:55And you know, Sarva Bhūteṣu Yaḥ paśyed bhagavad-bhāvam ātmanaḥ. Like that's 11 Skandha description of the mahā-bhāgavata Devotee. Sarva Bhūteṣu Yaḥ paśyed bhagavad-bhāvam. Either you...

1:25:11It's different translations are there, but basically you see the presence of the Lord, Bhagavad-bhāvam ātmanaḥ, the presence of the Lord in the heart of everyone. Then he sees paśyet. Those who see sarva bhūteṣu yaḥ paśyet.

1:25:28They are you know mahā-bhāgavatas. We are sādhakas. And sādhakas means we will always forget about this and we should be always reminded about this. That's sādhana means. You know that's what we're doing now.

1:25:44We're reminding it for some time it will last not long, but you know, somebody else will remind. Rādanāt mārga will come and say, amānitā mānitā. We say, yeah yeah, amānitā. For two days it may last.

1:25:59And then and then again. But that's sādhana, that's what sādhana means. Establish it. Reestablish it. Yeah, well it's basically there's only one way to establish it, to behave ourselves accordingly.

1:26:37If we want to establish it, let's first establish it in our own hearts. And uh then gradually it will take place. Y you have to see the living examples of this culture.

1:26:50It's very easy to behave in a cultural way if you see in front of you the examples of it. So if we want to establish it, there is only one way to try to establish it within our heart and to understand it.

1:27:09And you know sometimes it's very complicated, you know, when somebody explains this this detail and this detail and this detail, but you know we have to understand the essence of the culture.

1:27:19What is the essence of the culture? Respect everyone and feed everyone. You know, if you understand the simple essence, then the culture will be established.

1:27:31You know, feed the guests, feed the you know, take care of others. Alright, I've got one question and a comment. The question is, whether I want to buy tube of toothpaste or a mazarity motor car.

1:27:47So then I go out to the temple. I am in a system of economics which is totally corrupt with respect to envy and greed. Actually, envy and greed are the drivers of this economy. I cannot escape it. So, what is the solution?

1:28:04Because I mean I can talk about and you have talked about how to get through the NB and so on from the Shastras. I respect that.

1:28:11But as I said before, if I want to buy a bar of chocolate. That has been through a process of advertisement, you know, with all kinds of more sensitive things.

1:28:21And whether it is done by something explicitly or implicitly or even subliminally, it is a part of an economic system which is actually driven by greed and corruption. So how do you how do you reconcile these two things?

1:28:39And second point I want to make is this, there is much criticism of Mayabadhiya and so Madhavacharya and so, but actually, according to the highest level of science, quantum physics, or Vedānta-sūtra, you find that actually there is complete interchangeability between matter and energy.

1:29:00That being so, this is quite artificial issue, actually disappears. This distinction is to make. We are not criticizing Māyāvādīs for their understanding that uh everything is Brahman. That's correct understanding.

1:29:18Why we are lodging some refutation. It's not criticism, it's refutation of the theory. Because as I said, there is a very important ethical consequence of our beliefs and our understanding.

1:29:42The concept, you know, in itself is not so important. It doesn't matter, you know, the concept itself would not be of such an importance for us and is not of such importance for us.

1:30:00What is of a great importance for us is the natural conclusions which are derived from this concept. And the natural conclusion which is derived from the concept of impersonalist understanding is that bhakti is illusion.

1:30:24Bhakta is illusion. And Bhagavan is illusion. And ultimately we're just pretending. Ultimately, I'm God, your God, we're all God, and you know, and it's just to realize this truth that I am God, I'm trying to serve.

1:30:41And ultimately the service is something artificial and it will be stopped. It's not an eternal engagement of the soul. So these ethical conclusions are very dangerous and detrimental for the real development of the soul.

1:31:01And actually it is explained by Śrīla Prabhupāda that implicitly, not explicitly, but implicitly, not in a very clear way, but implicitly māyā encourages the soul to enjoy in this material world.

1:31:23It may sound very contradictory, but it's a fact. Why it is so because it is said even uh uh in Padma Purāṇa that Lord Shiva came as Śaṅkarācārya to increase the population of the world.

1:31:38Why uh the increase of the population of the world is the natural consequence of māyā philosophy because the spirit of enjoyment becomes stronger. And as a natural consequence, the world's population becomes stronger.

1:31:56Why the spirit of enjoyment happens in the heart of living entity? Because when we hear about this idea that you will become practically nothing. You will become just you know inactive something

1:32:16pure consciousness which subject less consciousness, which is māyāvāda theory. The final destination is subjectless consciousness.

1:32:26Consciousness without subject, without any object, without anything, just pure consciousness. God knows what it is. Nobody knows what it is, including māyāvādīs.

1:32:35They cannot even describe it because as soon as you start describing it, it's you're wrong. It's indescribable. Let me finish, please.

1:32:46So and the point is that because we are so terrified at heart by this prospect of being s you know being deprived of activity, being deprived of desires, being deprived of practically everything, just you know, just being a pure consciousness.

1:33:04I mean uh let me ask you who wants to be a pure consciousness? Without doing anything, without without loving, without serving, without having any variegatedness.

1:33:17So Prabhupāda explains that this idea because they have this understanding that this is the final destination of the soul, it actually nourishes unwanted tendencies in the heart.

1:33:34Whereas the real the real tendency which should be nourished within our heart is this tendency to serve, the tendency to love.

1:33:44Isn't it the best way of living in this world and of making the world complete by Kunta if you love everyone. Yeah.

1:33:54So th that's why th this is you know, we we're not against whether matter is interchanged into energy or energy interchangeing the world, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with it.

1:34:07But it's not the final, because behind the matter and energy there is God who is creating all these interchangeable things and our eternal nature is to serve him and this should be very clearly established within the heart.

1:34:26That's the only problem. That's true, but on the other hand, when Krishna is describing himself, he says that I am consciousness. Not that I created consciousness or created.

1:34:37Yeah, he is consciousness, but he is not only consciousness. He also has ideally mind. Yeah yeah that that's not a problem. He's mind, but he's not only mind, he is much more than mind.

1:34:55With regard to hedonism, we have some latitude because uh say for example, the very first mantra. We shall have to say don't someone just Yeah, yeah, that's no problem. We have to be happy. I agree with you completely.

1:35:11This is what I said that we strive to be happy. This is my initial statement in yesterday's lecture. Whether we admit it or not, uh the only goal of human endeavors is to become happy.

1:35:26There is nothing wrong of becoming happy. What is wrong is to seek happiness in independent enjoyment. And enjoyment independent of the Lord. We should be happy, but the happiness comes from the service of the Lord.

1:35:41And as Prabhupada says, we should be cooperators with the Lord. We should cooperate with them, we cooperate with Him, we are co-enjoyers with the Lord. There's nothing wrong in enjoying.

1:35:56What is wrong in enjoying without taking care of the enjoyment of the Lord. We should be co-enjoying with the Lord. In harmony with Him. Not independently of Him, not by the crazy means as usually people enjoying.

1:36:14So there is nothing wrong with enjoyment. We should be clever enough to understand how to do it. Whereas supporting the economic system by buying toothpaste.

1:36:27I guess this is the uh this is inevitable uh price unless you want to make your own toothpaste. And waste your time. So I think we should avoid this,

1:36:48but it's counterproductive because, mm, to try to avoid it all together. Because, mm, the real spirit Prabhupada gave a nice example.

1:37:04Prabhupada said if somebody is. overspeeding and he breaks the rule of traffic, traffic rules and he is very fast to stop him. The police has to be even faster, right? So Śrīla Prabhupāda made this point very clear.

1:37:30If we want to stop this civilization, we should be faster than this civilization. In other words, we should use all the achievements of this civilization. But for what?

1:37:42To ultimately show that this is a futile attempt to be happy, you know, to find happiness where happiness is not. So therefore, we use achievements of modern civilization like computers.

1:38:00It would be crazy to say, you know, oh no, I'm pure devotee, I don't want computers.

1:38:05You know, no, if you're pure devotee, you have to have many computers and you have to use the technology, uh, ultimately to show and you know, there's nothing wrong with it, you just, but you have to use it, uh, it's misused.

1:38:22So therefore, yeah, we have to reveal the faults of modern civilization, including advertisement and all those crazy things, you know. It's completely crazy.

1:38:34But at the same time, we also have to understand that it will, it will be crashed sooner or later. The whole system is so artificial. It's not going to last. It will just, it will fall into pieces. It's already falling.

1:38:51It's just a very miserable, protracted process. So, and people will understand that something is wrong, and you know, we have to be there to give the answers. And that's what Prabhupada's mood. Anyway, thank you very much.

1:39:08Thank you again. Hare Krishna. Sila prapada keija, se shiradha gokumananda ke sidaramba smanhana keija, sikorni taika.