Sri Caitanya-caritamrita Antya-lila 4.71
Bhakti Vijnana Goswami · 2022
Chapters
Opening remarks and verse selection
It's uh it's a difficult topic because everyone has heard so many things about it and it's difficult to say something which would uh which would be worthwhile for everyone.
But nevertheless, I will try my best in this regard. I feel very awkward sitting in front of you in this throne as Madonna as the Shri Mananda Prabhu said, trying to teach you. I am junior to many of you.
But you know, so I'm rather seeking your blessings to say something. I am very much dependent on this. So I will read one verse from Sri Chaitanya Cheritamrita. Where Mahaprabhu explains the
importance of Hare Krishna mantra and Srila Prabhupada gives very elaborate pullport and I will speak on the basis
of this Jajaya sri chaitana jainitananda jaitana ja Jadvaita Chandraja Gurbhakta Vrinda, Ja Dvaita Chandra Jamda, Jaja Sri Chaitana, Jainitananda, Ja Shri Chaitanya Ja Ja dwaitachandra ja gurubhaktavrindha, ja chandai, gore bhaktavrinda, ja srichaitana, ja nitananda, Jada chandraja, gorba Bhakta Vrindam, Jaitva Chandraja, Gorba Bhakta Vrinda.
So we will read Chapter number four Sanatana Gaswami Visits the Lord Text 71 Taramadya Sarvasvesthanama Sankirtan Niraparadhi Nam Lile Paya Premadhan. Translation.
Of the nine processes of devotional service, the most important is to always chant the holy name of the Lord. If one does so, avoiding the ten kinds of offences, one very easily obtains the most valuable love of Godhead.
Purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. Srila Jivaga Swami Prabhu gives the following directions in the Bhakti Sandharva. I will skip Sanskrit and uh chant uh read the translation.
Chanting the holy name of the is the chief means of attaining love of Godhead. This chanting or devotional service does not depend on any paraphernalia, nor on one's having taken birth in a good family.
By humility and meekness, one attracts the attention of Krishna. That is the verdict of all the Vedas. Therefore, if one becomes very humble and meek one can easily attain the lotus feet of Krishna in the age of Kali.
That is the fulfillment of all great sacrifices, penances and austerities, because when one achieves ecstatic love of Godhead, he attains the complete perfection of life.
Therefore, whatever one does in executing devotional service must be accompanied with chanting of the holy name of the Lord.
The chanting of the Holy Name of Krishna, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare has been praised by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Nāmāṣṭaka verse number one.
That's a quote from Jīva Gosvāmī is finished. Śrīla Prabhupāda continues. nikila-śruti-mauli-ratna-mālā-dyuti-nīrājanada-pāda-paṅkajānta / ayi mukta-kulaair upāsyamānaṁ paritas tvāṁ hari-nāma saṁśrayāmi.
O Harinama, the tips of the toes of your lotus feet are constantly being worshipped by the glowing radiance emanating from the string of gems known as the Upanishads, the crown jewels of all the Vedas.
You are eternally adorned by liberated souls such as Narada and Shukadeva, O Harinama, I take complete shelter of you.
Similarly, Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī has praised the chanting of the holy name as follows in his Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta.
jayati jayati nāmānanda-rūpaṁ murāer viramita-nija-dharma-dhyāna-pūjā-yatnam katham api sakṛd āttaṁ mukti-daṁ prāṇināṁ yat paramam amṛtam ekam jīvanaṁ bhūṣaṇaṁ me. Ekam Jivanam Bushanam me.
All glorious, oh glorious to the all-blessed holy name of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, which seizes uh which causes uh the devotee to give up all conventional religious duties, meditation and worship.
When somehow or other uttered even once by a living entity, the holy name awards him liberation. The holy name of Krishna is the highest nectar. It is my very life and my only treasure.
In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.1.11, Śukadeva Gosvāmī says, etān nirv nirvidyamana ichatamakutobayam yoginam rūpa yoginam dripa nirni tam harirnamanu kirtanam O King, consider chanting the holy name of the Lord after the ways of great authorities.
Is the doubtless constant sorry constant chanting of the holy name of the Lord after the ways of great authorities is the doubtless and fearless way of success for all, including those who are free from all material desires, those who are desirous of all material enjoyment, and those who are self-satisfied by dint of transcendental knowledge.
Similarly, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has said in his Shikshashtakam, Trinada Pisu Nichina, Tarorapisa Hishnuna, Amanina, Manadina, Kirtaniya, Sadaharihi. One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw on the street. One should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of false sense of false prestige, and ready to offer all respects to others. In such a state of mind, one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.
Regarding the ten offenses in chanting the holy name one may refer to the Adilila chapter eight verse Sri Prabhupada ki chāda Tamadi Sarva Shresht nama sankirtan niraparadhi namalale paya praemadhan.
Of the nine processes of devotional service, the most important is always chant the holy name of the Lord. If one does so avoiding the ten kinds of offences, one very easily obtains the most valuable love of Godhead.
Namau Vishnu Padaya Krishna Prashtaya Bhutareshri Mate Bhaktividanta Swami Kinami Namaste Saraswati Devi Gurawani Pracharini, Nirvisha Sunyavari Paschatya De Sha Tari Vanchakalpatarubishakri Pasindhu bevacharitanam Pavane Bhyovaishna Baby Namonaha.
Jai Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhunitananda, Sri Advaita Badathara, Srivastadhi Gaura Bhakta Vrinda, Hare Krishna, Hare Kr Krishishnana Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.
Sanatana Goswami and Lord Caitanya
Ajanulan Bita Bujoka Vada Sankirtanaika Vita Roka Malaya taksa. We swam Bard Vja War Yuga Dharma Palu Vand, Jagat Priya Karu Karuna Vatara. Yundah pra visi, mammach, mampraçupta, sandji vaya ta ki la shakti darh swadhamna, nyam scha ha stacharna, sravana Tvaga di Pranandamo Bhagavate Puru shayato dyamata.
So this very important point or verse of Sri Chaitanya Chaitamlita is the instruction to all of us.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gives this instruction to Sanadana Gaswami when Sanadana Gaswamy came to Jagannathpuri after traveling through Jarikanda forest and contracting some infectious disease.
His whole body was oozing pus and emanating obnoxious smell. And Sanatna Gaswami was suffering a lot due to this disease.
He came to Puri and he developed very strong desire in his mind to give up his life under the chariot of Lord Jagannath. He said this is the best chance.
He was thinking if I do it, then immediately I will go back to Godhead. That was the belief, the common belief in India at that time. And actually, every Ratha-yatra there were at least a couple of suicides.
When people would throw themselves under the heavy wheels of the Jagannātha chariot, And therefore this Ratha-yatra was very much criticized by Britishers.
They would call Jagannātha Juggernaut and they will say that this is a very blood-thirsty God who likes to, you know, to ride over people and you know all kinds of propaganda was there.
And Sanātana Gosvāmī, even though it was before Britishers came to Jagannātha Purī, he was kind of following the same line of thoughts. He said, This is the best way, because you know, this is the Lord of the universe.
And I'm there, I'm thinking about him at the last moment of my life and sure I will go back to Godhead because in any case this body is useless because I cannot use it in devotional service, it's so obnoxious.
And with this resolve, he came to Jagannātha Purī, he met with Caitanya Mahāprabhu and started living with Haridāsa Ṭhākura and Caitanya Mahaprabhu would every day come to them,
would bring them some Jagannātha prasāda, but Sanātana Gosvāmī, the rest of the day was always thinking when this day of Ratha-yatra will come. Because his body was a burden for him.
You know, we all know that sometimes body will become an unbearable burden. You know, when we're young, the body is a good instrument for enjoyment, but it doesn't last long.
After some time, it becomes such a liability to have this body. You have to spend so much time to maintain it in a proper order. Anyway, so that was the situation, and that
went on for some time, for quite some time, but then at one
place and all of a sudden out of the blue he started speaking with Sanātana Gosvāmī and saying, you know, if I could achieve God by committing suicide, I would commit suicide millions of times already. committing suicide, I would commit suicide millions of times already.
You think you are the most intelligent, right? You know, you think that's the best and quickest way, uh, to go back to Godhead, forget about it. It's a complete mistake, it's tamo-guṇa.
He started, you know, even though Sanātana Gosvāmī didn't speak a word to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu about his plans, but Chaitanya Mahaprabhu being omniscient, he knew what is going on in the head of Sanatana
Gosvāmī. So he started chastising him left and right, without saying that he is addressing his plan. And in the course of this preaching to uh Sanātana Gosvāmī.
He basically said there is only one way to achieve speak a little more slowly for the translators to guide. Okay. Okay Okay. I'll try. Okay.
Devotional service as a science
So uh in the course of Caitanya Mahāprabhu's preaching to Sanātana Gosvāmī, he made a very important point. He said there is only one way, only one way, only one way to achieve God. Not suicide. It's not suicide.
This way is to perform the devotional service. Actually, this is a very important point because you know there are so many sentimental beliefs floating around.
You know, you can achieve God by by you you know by drowning yourself in Allahabad.
You can achieve God by you know anyway so many so many stories of like this, even there in the Puranas, just to instigate you to believe in God, to make the point that you know it's very important for you to believe in God and ultimately achieve Him.
Yeah, I understand. I I don't mind. But but even those Russians I spent most of my life translating something for somebody and I sympathize the the fate. So it's yeah.
Anyway, so Caitanya Mahāprabhu makes a very important point for all of us. And that way to Godhead is a scientific way.
You know the belief plays an important role in our spiritual life, but it's not exactly the same concept of belief or faith which is there in some other religions.
Because oftentimes in some religious traditions it is said if you believe in God or in Son of God, you're saved. No need to do anything else. Just believe. You know. What it means to believe nobody knows but just believe.
So uh and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu by making this point that you can only go back to Godhead by devotional service, by practice of devotional service, he is basically dismantling this constructs that it's enough just to believe.
You know the process, very important and not an easy process, has to take place inside to transform you, to transform
your desires, you know, people because they they want liberation uh and they think it's it's a very cheap thing. But actually to go back to Godhead, uh, you have to be like that. You have to become like God.
You have to acquire the nature, otherwise, how you will exist in the atmosphere which is foreign to you. If we are to be transferred to the spiritual world in this present body, you know, it's just it's incompatible.
You cannot be with your envy and with all these karmic tendencies which are there very prominent within our heart in the spiritual world. You have to do something, and that's why this realm of existence is there.
This realm, specifically, this middle planetary system is called Sadhana Loka. It's the place of sadhana.
And sadhana is a specific practice, systematic practice to purify the heart and to achieve certain state of purity which is necessary to be going back to Godhead.
You cannot really you know all these superstitions which are there, uh even in Vedic tradition, uh they serve certain purpose. They're important in this regard.
But Chaitanya Mahaprabhu didn't come to this earth to breed superstitions. He didn't come to this earth to spread all kinds of superstitious ideas. He came to this world to give the scientific process.
And that was Prabhupada's very important point. He said Krishna consciousness is a science. Science means you make an experiment and you're expected to get the result which is there. You do something and you do properly.
I'm a scientist by background and I know and I I was doing my PhD degree today. I you know I was giving an interview and I rem remembered some of the memories of my scientific, totally unsuccessful scientific career.
And I remember how many times I was doing a very complex experiment with some you know trying to investigate some subtle processes which are taking place in living cells. And the experiment after experiment after experiment, you know, so many times. And the experiment would sometimes take two weeks.
And you work like an ass practically day and night for two weeks
and you don't know the result and then at the end you put some photographic film there and with completely stunned heart, you developed this film to find out that it was again a failure, that it didn't work.
Why I'm uh giving this example because uh science means you do certain things but you do it very properly. You fulfill all the conditions which needs to be fulfilled. Because if you failed in doing these details of the experiment, you will not get the desired results.
And that's exactly what Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is uh saying here. He says this is a sure method of achieving love of God provided uh you chant the holy name without offenses. And that's that's the science.
You know the science means you do something, you're supposed to get this result, but you will get this result only if you're very exact and precise in fulfilling all the conditions of the experiment.
So n uh and basically I'm jumping a little bit ahead in my talk, but what Caitanya Mahāprabhu is telling here to Sanātana Gosvāmī in general is that Krishna consciousness is not just a sentimental belief. It's not just a blind belief, you know.
You want to be safe, no problem. You know, come to us, pay five dollars a month and you know get the bill or the receipt that you paid it and show it to the you know to the guard of heaven that all my you know membership fees are paid and you're there. The door of heaven is open for you, no problem.
So Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu didn't come to give He didn't come to give some cheap process. He gave a scientific process and he explains what is the scientific process here and this pro in these verses.
He says that to go back to Godhead you have to execute devotional so please don't do it, it doesn't matter.
He heard that I said about the exact conditions of perhaps this side of the pillow though help me to say something. That was me that turned it off. I'm a perfectionist. Okay.
Supremacy of chanting the holy name
Anyway, so uh the Thank you.
So Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu says the point number one, you can only go back to Godhead. And spiritualize your existence and purify your existence from the traits of material contamination by devotional service.
Out of all kinds of devotional service, the nine are the most prominent.
Śravaṇam, kīrtanam, viṣṇu-smaraṇam, pāda-sevanam, arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam, this we all know, this is the verse from the seventh canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam where Prahlāda Mahārāja says: This is the best thing which I heard from my Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam where Prahlāda Mahārāja says, This is the best thing which I heard from my Bhagavatam where Prahlad Maharaj says, This is the best thing which I heard from my teachers.
You know, this is the best way to live life. To hear about God, to speak about God, to glorify God, to remember about God. That's the best way to live this life.
And then he says this verse: Caitanya Mahāprabhu says this verse. Out of this, tatraṁśh śharvasheṣhṭhaṁ nāma-saṅkīrtanam. Out of all this, among all this, the best, sarva-śhreṣhṭha, the best of all is nāma-saṅkīrtanam.
And if you chant the holy name, niraparādha nāma-līlā tāre prema-dhana, you will achieve the wealth of love of Godhead. Prema-dhana. You will really achieve this.
You will feel that I'm I'm a very wealthy person because this is the greatest wealth which we can achieve in this material life.
So again Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu makes the point, very important point, is that uh we have uh we have to do something, and this doing
something is described elaborately and sufficiently in Vedic literature, including Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that is the devotional service starting from hearing, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇu-smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam.
Little point of my own experience in this regard. I just again gave this interview today about my history, my devotional history. And my serious involvement
in Krishna consciousness movement started from the point when Aja Prabhu, who is here now, uh I believe, even though I didn't see him yet. Ah, okay.
Gave me uh little Bhagavad-gītā, not Prabhupāda Bhagavad-gītā, Prabhupāda Bhagavad-gītā was not there in Soviet Union at that time. Or maybe there were a couple of copies for everyone.
But the old translation of the verses of Bhagavad-gītā. And I read this book very quickly within probably a couple of nights or even quicker. And very clear impression which I remember till this day was
that it's a powerful book. It must be true. It cannot be otherwise because it's so convincing. It means that I have to change something in my life.
This very important uh idea or conclusion, naturally, spontaneously, without anyone telling me this, surfaced. The idea was: if this is true, then I have to change my life.
I cannot live the same life which I lived before if I accept this as the truth. So that's exactly what Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu also tells here, he says that it's not enough to believe in God.
It's not at all enough to believe in God. If you believe, uh this belief, this faith in God is a responsibility. You become naturally responsible to walk this path. You have to change your life in a certain way
so that your life would fit to this concept of to this idea or to this yeah to this idea which is presented in this book or that book. You know, the the belief is useless if it doesn't change your life.
And you know, I I had this feeling twice in my life. Once was before a few years before I read Bhagavad-gītā when I read first the Gospel of John. And the same sort of feeling appeared in my heart.
You know, this a powerful book, there must be some truth in it. It means that I have to change my life, but I didn't know how to change my life.
And there was nobody around who would tell me what does it mean to change my life.
But in this particular instance, when I read Bhagavad-gītā, you0, my friend, old friend Japaprabhu was there and he said, you should chant Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma, Rāma, Hare Hare. And I had no clue why I should chant Hare Krishna. I had no clue what who is Krishna.
I I didn't know that he's even God, you0, and who is Hare, what to speak about Hare or Rāma, you0. I had absolutely no idea. But he told me to chant and I started chanting.
Just because I was so shaken by this little book, Bhagavad-gītā. It really impressed me so much. I wanted to change something.
And he said, if you chant this mantra, your life will be changed. And he was right. My life changed in a very significant way. You know. Forty-two years later I'm sitting in front of you and you know. saying about this.
So you know again why I'm saying this because this point of practice is very important.
It's not enough just to believe in something, it's not enough just to read books, it's not enough to, you know, even have prasāda sometimes and have a good association. It's all important.
But the most important point is that we have to practice something. We have to do something which is conducive or harmonious or coherent how you say this, I my English is not so good.
So with this belief, something which is in harmony or in um how you say this in yeah aligned with uh with this faith or with this belief something which will ultimately
give you the real experience because it's not enough just to believe in something. You have to experience it and you should not postpone your experience to the moment of death.
Sometimes people think that you know m my most important and tremendous and shaking spiritual experience is awaiting for me when I will be dying. It's a mistake. Death is not count is not counted uh as a part of sadhana.
You know, don't think that you know, and that's exactly what Caitanya Mahāprabhu is telling to Sanātana Gosvāmī. You think that you know just by dying you will achieve something. No, no.
This is just more or less uh very impartially will uh will tell you what you have achieved. To achieve something you have to practice something when you're alive. And it will be too late when you are dying there, you know.
This is famous King Kulaśekhara's prayer, you know. Krishna T Vadiya Pada Pankkaanjaja P Pananja Ratnam Tadyaiva May Vishat Manasa Raja Hamsa Prana Prayana Kama Pranap Prayana uh Prana Prayana Samaya, yeah. Pranaprayana Samaya Kapavata Pita kanta virodana vidho so At that time prana prayana samaya kapavat kantavarudan vido because of this disturbance in the doses of your body your uh throat will be choked uh and uh uh how you will uh smaranam kutaste how you will be able to remember about Krishna.
You will be totally disturbed in your mind. You know even uh in uh less drastic conditions, when we're diseased, it's very difficult to concentrate upon Krishna.
You can only really do sadhana when you're spirit when you're physically fit. That's why Ayurveda is there actually. Ayurveda is not just a you know nice uh tribal medicine
uh from uh indigenous India you know uh ayurveda is the medicine for spiritual practitioners. It's a specific branch of medicine which is given by God Himself to spiritual practitioners for them to achieve uh success in
their spiritual practice.
Power of chanting across all yugas
So uh anyway coming back to this original point uh that uh out of all forms of practice, the chanting of the holy name is the most important and the best out of it.
Śrīla Prabhupāda gives sufficient support to it by quoting the first verse of Namāṣṭaka by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, where Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī emphatically says,
first he quotes let, me explain a little bit or a little bit elaborate on the points which Prabhupada makes. It's also very beautifully how Srila Prabhupada develops this purport. How he explains to us the need of chanting.
First he quotes from Bhakti-sandarbha by Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī. And in this little section of Bhakti-sandarbha, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī makes a very interesting point. It's uh somewhere there uh in the bigger section
of Bhakti-sandarbha. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says there that chanting of the holy name is all powerful the most powerful spiritual practice all the time, in any yuga, not only in Kali-yuga.
Usually we say that chanting of the holy name is for Kali-yuga and that meditation is for Kṛta-yuga or Satya-yuga, and then you know, deity worship is for Dvāpara-yuga, and yajña sacrifice is for—and that's true, that's the prominent practices—but
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī makes a very important and beautiful point, he says that actually, in all these yugas, chanting of the holy name is the most powerful.
The question is then why people in previous yugas do something else if chanting is the most powerful.
And Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī answers, because they are so pure and they are so powerful themselves, they don't believe in this easy process. The process is too easy for them.
For them, uh the need is there, the the psychological need is to have some difficult process.
Meditation is much more difficult, yajña is very difficult, you know, and and even temple worship, elaborate temple worship is more difficult.
You know, but chanting of the holy name is so easy. Uh they cannot develop sufficient faith in this process because it's so simple. You know, for them to develop, and we know it ourselves, you know, if something is simple, we kind of become a little skeptical and we say, no, it cannot be that simple.
You know, not that simple. We tend to believe in something which is more complicated.
You know, even Śrīla Prabhupāda, he was actually, you know, when he was opening this Krishna-Balarama Mandir in Vrindavan he uh he established this very elaborate fire sacrifice and he invited the best priests from Vrindavan who would do this fire sacrifice.
And then at the same time he said to his disciples, You chant Hare Krishna throughout. And they were chanting enthusiastically.
And in the meantime, you know, the big fire is there and the mantras are there and ghee is there and you know, tons of ghee and everything is there.
And then at the end, Śrīla Prabhupāda says, actually, this is all useless. I only I only created this whole show to instill faith
in these people of Vrindavan that were bona fide. Because they have the tendency to trust these processes.
You know, this is the point, exact the same point which Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī makes, that people have this psychological tendency to believe in something complicated and they have less trust in uh in a simple process.
But Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says, but because uh people in Kali Yuga are so useless, so completely weak and and unfit
because they all misfits and they don't really know they you know out of desperation, they may develop faith in this simple process of changing
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. But nevertheless, the point which he makes in this in this
section of Bhakti-sandarbha is that by far this is the most powerful process.
Why it is the most powerful methodology, spiritual methodology, because by chanting the holy names you come directly in contact with God Himself. It is very clearly said, even in Rigveda.
In Rigveda it is said that uh you know by knowing your holy name even little uh we can We can develop tremendous results and our heart will be changed. Even in Rigveda it is said there.
And uh of course in Srimad Bhagavatam it is said very clearly, and in Padma Purana in this Namachintamani verse it is said that God Himself has two
forms: Parabrahman and Śabda-brahman. And Śabda-brahman and Parabrahman are non-different, abhinatvān nāma-nāminoḥ. The nama and nami, uh the named and the name are not different. Śabda-brahman is Brahman himself, as God himself. And the easiest way to come in contact with God is to chant his holy name.
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare. And the most powerful way to do it.
And then after saying this, after quoting Srila Jīva Gosvāmī who gives the uh explanation why it should be done, why this is the most powerful.
Glorification of the holy name
Śrīla Prabhupāda quotes Nāmaṣṭaka verse. Let me open this to because you know I know the verses but when you speak it's just may not come immediately.
So nikhila-śruti-mauli-ratnamālā-dyuti-nīrāji-pāda-pīṅgha-janta, ayi mukta-kulaika rūpāsyamāna-paritas tvam hari-nāma saṁśrayāmi. It's a very interesting verse again. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, by glorifying nāma,
he says that you are the essence of all the Vedas because all the Upaniṣads are going down to your lotus feet and uh uh taking sha that basically all the Upaniṣads gets their energy. All the most sublime Vedic literature gets their energy from the hari-nāma. Hari-nāma is the essence of all most secret and most esoteric Vedic literature.
That's what he said. And then he says, very interestingly. Ayi mukta-kulair upāsyamāna-paritas tvam hari-nāma saṁśrayāmi. You are upāsya, you are the object of worship of muktas, of those liberated people.
You are upāsyamāna, they constantly worship you, O hari-nāma. You are for them your worshipable object.
You know, we fallen conditioned souls may not understand this, but the idea here, the implication here is that those who are liberated, they know whom they should worship. You're worshipable even for them.
You know what to speak about us. Even they always chant you and cannot exhaust your glories.
Ayi mukta-kulair, mukta-kulair, all the muktas, all people who know the truth, all people who have real tangible spiritual experience, they worship you, hari-nāma.
And uh mukta-kulair upāsyamāna paritas and he says very emphatically in the last line of this verse that I am taking shelter of you, but not just taking shelter of you, complete shelter of you. Saṁśrayāmi. And paritas.
He he emphasizes this twice. Because paritas and saṁśrayāmi is basically the same thing. I completely take shelter of you, O holy name.
It basically means that you know you are the only shelter, you are the only giver of the tangible spiritual experience. Whatever we can get here, we can only get from you. That's the implication of this verse.
So Śrīla Prabhupāda by quoting this verse, he actually addresses us. He says that look, this is the experience of Rūpa Gosvāmī. Who you are and who is Rūpa Gosvāmī. It's even ridiculous to compare ourselves.
And Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says, I am taking the complete shelter of the Holy Name. What does it mean for you?
It means if we have any hope in this world, we have not only to take shelter of the Holy Name, we have to take complete shelter of the Holy Name.
It means that we have to understand there is nothing else which can save us. Nothing else. Nothing else, nothing else. There is only Holy Name which can save us and that means that you know to take shelter of the holy name.
And Śrīla Prabhupāda is saying this on the authority of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. And if he has this experience, for sure we will get the same experience if we do it properly. If we really have the full, complete faith.
What does it mean? Paritastvām harināma samśrayāmi. I'm taking complete shelter of you. It doesn't mean that I'm chant I chant 15 minutes a day while driving my car. You know, it's not the way of taking complete shelter.
You know, chanting with some clicker. And, you know, when when we do this, it basically means we don't have the face in this process. It basically means we just doing this in case it works. You know.
We we really don't believe that it works, but in case it works, okay, let me not waste time on this useless chanting. But while I'm anyway driving and sitting in this traffic jam, you know I can as well chant no harm.
You know, but that doesn't mean paritastvām harināma samśrayāmi. It means that yes, maybe it works, but I I don't really believe it, but you know, let me try it. So he gives the experience of Rūpa Gosvāmī.
He says, here he is, the greatest devotee of the Lord, and he is completely immersed, immersing himself in this process.
And then he gives the verse from Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta, Jayati Jayati Namanandarupa Murari, Viramita Nija Dharma Dhyana Pujadi Yatnam. He says that you know that uh uh another very important point that harināma in this verse where Sanātana Gosvāmī is glorifying the holy name, he says that all other processes which are there, viramita, nija-dharma, dhyāna, pūjādi-yatnam.
When you experience real holy name, then all other processes will automatic you will stop any other processes. Viramita means full stop. Virama in Sanskrit at the end of the line they have this vertical line.
This is called virama. Virama means full stop. You know, so viramita nija-dharma dhyāna pūjādi-yatnam he says you will forget about your dharma.
You will not do all these karmic activities according to karma kanda, you will not do your dhyāna meditation because you will understand that this is less powerful.
You will even start your worshiping of the Lord uh in any other way. Uh viramita nija dhyāna pūjādi and everything else.
Because everything else will become pale in comparison with the experience which you will get from this simple process. Provided you get this real experience. That's the that's the catch. That's the catch in this verse.
You know, there's always, you know, some bombastic words are there, you will get this and this and that, and then little catch is there. Provided you do it without offenses.
So but still you know even if we do it with offenses now and it doesn't give us the complete experience which it may give, still it's very important because sometimes it gives us glimpses of this experience.
You know, I'm sure every one of you has some little glimpses. I definitely have. That actually what convinced me, that there's something to eat, something to this practice.
Very powerful mm spiritual experiences sometimes would come, even though I don't claim that I'm doing it without offenses. I'm very, you know, I'm full of of offenses.
You know, but uh uh by reading this I I just can imagine how how powerful it will be w when we become free from offenses. So this is exactly what Sanātana Gosvāmī says. Everything else will become pale.
Everything else will become completely you will lose any enthusiasm of doing anything else, you will automatically stop all other things because you will get this experience with Harinam.
You know he says Sakridati, even if you once uh chant uh you will become uh liberated. You will feel liberation. It was very interesting again. I'm sorry for quoting myself and my meager experiences in life but okay
time for questions. Thank you for this pomegranate, I love them. So let me finish a little bit. I'm sorry for boring you so much. But uh let me at least finish it a little bit.
So what I wanted to say is that uh what I wanted what did I want to say? Your experience. Yeah, I wanted to say my experience but uh what exactly out of my experience I wanted to say yeah uh anyway
I I forget exactly the point which I wanted to make.
But anyway, there was definitely there was some experiences which are were powerful enough to convince me that this is a very powerful process actually which which really works. Yeah, yeah I remember what was it.
Believe it or not, I I started chanting, you know, and I chanted for a short while.
And before I was chanting, before that, everything was so nice in my life, I was very successful, I was doing my PhD degree, this and that, the bright career was ahead of me.
And then I started chanting because by the mercy of my friend. And uh everything you know changed drastically.
The KGB came to my work and you know they started interrogating me and threatening me and and you know and uh they told me that they will never let me to defend my PhD thesis and I will be thrown into prison.
You know, I was really you know and you know ultimately I gave it up. I went back to my home and my parents and grandparents were completely devastated that I ruined everything, all their hopes are ruined.
But amazing result that before when I was so successful I was completely miserable. Now when I became a complete failure, I was so happy. And my parents couldn't figure it out.
They were looking at me and they were asking, what what is wrong with this guy? You know, he spoiled his life completely and he's so happy, you know.
And they were really asking me what is wrong with you and said, nothing wrong with me, I'm just happy, you know. What's wrong with you? Why do you think it's wrong?
Something was wrong with me before when I was doing all these things which I was doing. So that's exactly the point which Sanatana Gaswami does when he says Viramita Nija Dharma Dhyana Pujadi Yatnam and
uh, and then Prabhupāda, of course, quotes, uh, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam where uh Śukadeva Gosvāmī says that this practice is for everyone. Yogināṁ nṛpa nirṇītam, it's it's for everyone, for uh
and Prabhupāda says even for those who are full of all material desires.
Cultivating humility in japa practice
But the most important point of this whole purpose, the crown jewel of this whole purpose, is the last verse which Prabhupāda quotes. Tṛṇād api su-nīcena. And
that's basically the answer to this point: how to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra without offenses.
To chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra without offenses means to chant by first practicing the humility, by first practicing to respect everyone and not expecting respect in return by first practicing tolerance and then after practicing this, developing these qualities.
And when you develop these qualities, then the holy name will manifest the full power in you.
While we were walking with Nīsimānanda Prabhu, when he was explaining to me why he wanted me to speak on this particular point of import of spiritual practice.
He said that it's the most difficult practice of chanting the holy name, not chanting with the kīrtana, but chanting while we are chanting japa. And people don't get any kick out of it.
People don't get any anything for themselves.
I want to humbly disagree with I agree with this point that it's the most difficult perhaps process, but I don't agree that it doesn't give you a kick. It does if you do it properly.
If you really try to develop this frame of mind, even temporarily, even for the time while you are chanting, you may get a very profound experience which you will never forget.
So even though it is a difficult process but it becomes more difficult because we don't do it properly, it's so difficult and unrewarding because we don't follow the exact methodology which is given by Lord Caitanya.
But if we try to follow this exact methodology which is given by Lord Caitanya and by other the rest of Vedic literature, then it's actually a very profound and very pleasing experience when we feel melting of the heart, and uh you know some little glimpse of what love of God it means uh if we do it properly.
So anyway, this is, you know, a few points which I brought here by the inspiration of Nīsimānanda Prabhu is that it's a scientific process, and scientific process means we have to follow it meticulously.
We cannot expect the proper results to come if we don't follow it in a proper way. And there is hope for us because despite all our defects and all our problems, this is the most powerful process.
Especially designed for us people
in Kali Yuga, and you know we are all living examples of this despite all our deficiencies and problems and atheistic upbringing and offensive mentality and uncultured and gross nature we're still somehow or other traversing this
path and hoping to obtain this prema-dhana, the wealth of love of Godhead.
Questions on humility and transformation
Thank you very much. So now we have that "Stump the Swami" part of our program to ask questions, challenging questions. So think for a minute. I see one hand up already, so it'll be first.
Um, just wanted to relate one quick story on that basis. Siddhanta will probably remember because I flew to Fiji with Tamal Krishna Goswami, the late ISKCON leader.
And there in Fiji, the GBC, the leader in Fiji had a house in the neighborhood of wealthy houses, and next door to him were a family of two generations of lawyers.
him were a family of two generations of lawyers, so in the house of the devotee every morning at 4:30 they had kīrtana. Mṛdaṅga was banging, the kartālas were going, and it was awakening the people next door.
So the son, who was also a lawyer in Fiji, came over and complained. He said, "You can't do that in a residential neighborhood because it's awakening my parents, it's disturbing our meditation in the morning.
Why don't you take it somewhere else?" So Tamal Krishna finally met with him, and he laid down the gauntlet. He said, "Okay, tell you what, we'll move everything in 30 days. We'll move it all on one condition:
you come to our morning program for 30 days and you chant 16 rounds a day for those days, and if at the end of that time you still want us to move, we'll move."
Tamal had such faith in the transformative power of the name. So the guy said—he kind of thought about it, figured it was easier than going to court.
Around the seventeenth day, he came over after the morning program, came up to the devotees there. He said—Tamal had already gone back to the United States—
he said, "Tell your leader it's okay. You can have your program." So then his father was very angry at him for for just capitulating. So the two of them went to their guru.
Their guru was in outside in the hinterlands of Fiji and they sat before the Guru and said what to do because now the father was angry with the son, father wanted these Krishnas to leave.
So the father said, uh I mean the guru took a couple of hours, meditated, went back to the father, he says, ah, just leave them alone. And the father became even more angry that the guru didn't want do what he wanted.
The guy the father became so incensed that his son was now going over in the morning program and chanting that he had a heart attack and died.
At that time, Tamal said, why don't you bring your family to Dallas and become the temple president of Dallas? And to this day, Nityānanda Das is the temple president of the Dallas So
question. And speak loudly please with your question. Speak loudly. Thank you for the wonderful class. Much louder, much louder. Can we give her a mic? Ductapan? Okay, you have to speak loudly, speak to everybody also.
Thank you for the wonderful class, Mahārāja. Um I have a question. So in the last point, you mentioned that too we have to practice humility. So like we practice and then you said then we develop it.
So in order to develop we have to be conscious how we come to the world, how we come in interactions, so that develops the character. Could you elaborate on that?
How to develop humility and being humble, what it actually means I've always um one of my realization was to think more about Krishna instead of myself so that's the humbleness but I I still struggle to understand what truly humbleness means because we can fake it and look humble but it look through internal process. How does it look like?
for this question. Uh well in the beginning we imitate humility, practice means imitation. We are acting as if we are humble.
But as Prabhupāda said to Brahmānanda Prabhu, when Brahmananda Prabhu said that all the other devotees they're bowing down to you and I don't feel like bowing down.
He said, you know, you just bow down and then you will feel like bowing down.
So it's just when you do something externally, it if you do it sincerely with the desire to uh to develop this quality, then this external practice will become internalized, will come to you.
And it basically means that you know you know You not consider yourself the most important person in the world, which uh
the tendency is there that we consider ourselves as the most important, the number one, everyone else is you, know, we're looking down at them and you know they are insignificant in comparison with us.
So all offenses are coming from this mentality, ahamadi Paramo, namni sopya parada kri. This is the tense offense when you think that you are the center of the universe. Ahamadi Paramo.
Me and whatever belongs to me is the most important thing in the world. So humility means you give importance to other people, you listen to other people, not necessarily try to say something yourself.
You it's uh it manifests in so many other ways but the the concept of myself being not number one at least number two, you know, after Krishna. That's already means humility. You know, I'm not the number one anymore.
I used to be, I failed. Uh I couldn't convince anyone, including myself, so now let's try something different. So, and yes, so many other things can be said, but once Prabhupāda gave a very amazing definition of humility.
This is what Hari Vilas Prabhu is telling. They were taking a walk with Śrīla Prabhupāda and Śrīla Prabhupada starts saying was was there a question or
It was a question by Hari Bilas Prabhup yeah Hari Bilas Prabhu asked what does it mean to be humble and
Prabhupāda said, "To be humble means that you do not believe that anything else neither doctors nor your relatives nor your money, no the medicines, no the state, no the police, nothing else will save you except for Krishna.
So that's that's the definition of humility. When you don't believe in other upayas, you know, there is this Sanskrit word, Upaya. Upaya means the method, methodology by which you can be saved.
If you don't believe, you know, when we are proud, we tend to believe that my intelligence will save me. I'm the most clever man, I somehow rather I will make it. You know, my money will save me.
Doctors, the science and it will advance will, save me. You know, the glorious American government will save me, will protect me.
If you don't believe in this and if you are completely convinced that only Krishna will uh save you, that means humility. Yes. Okay. The last words you want to hear.
When you hear the knock on the door is when you open it, hi I'm from the government and I'm here to save you.
Soviet KGB interrogation and devotee faith
Yes. The first time I heard Śrīla Prabhupāda speak in person. Someone asked him after his class where he was speaking about the benefit of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa.
And the person in front of him said, Someone challenging challenging. What do you feel? What do you feel when you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa? Within a heartbeat process of fear. Fearless, yeah.
So for yourself you were saying when you chanted as the experiment you felt happiness. In her case, what was that exact feeling then? Yeah, I felt I felt happiness. I felt sometimes I feel that I love everyone.
It doesn't last long but sometimes I have this crazy feeling within my heart. You know, everyone is so nice, but then I remember who they are in reality. But yeah. Yeah.
Rarely do I feel completely fearless, but sometimes maybe for a fraction of a second. Well what was that feeling that encouraged you and convinced you to stop the scientific uh I didn't stop my scientific profession.
I was forced to stop it by the KGB. They came for chanting? Yeah.
They came to me and they said we'll put you in labor camp if you don't if you don't become our spy, if you don't become the you know, if you don't go to this Hare Kṛṣṇa and then report to us what they're doing, uh uh we will completely spoil your life.
And when they say it, when they s you know, when they would say it, they would mean it. You know, they were not some cheap people. So uh naturally I was very scared and they purposefully
gave me few days to think over it because they knew that the more I will think about it the more fearful I would become. And then and I I became almost hysterical, you know, it was it was not an easy experience for me.
And before going to them, after a few days I was supposed to come to them and give them their ultimate answer, whether I agreed to work for them or not.
And I decided to meet with one devotee, and that time there was, you know, I I knew a few devotees. It was very, everything was very underground. And this devotee was a lady devotee. She was much younger than myself.
Well at that time much younger means three, four years younger. Nowadays much younger means 30 years younger. At the time when I was twenty-four. Twenty, twenty-five, maybe. So she was maybe nineteen years old at the time.
And I called her by secret means, you know, there were some secret ways of calling her. She came down and I told her in a very, you know, frantic way.
They came to me, and at that time the talk among devotees was when the KGB comes to them and what they do and what is the consequences of this. So everyone was talking.
Everyone either was expecting that they would come to you or were hearing the experiences of others how the KGB would come to them. So I told her, she was the first one among the devotees.
They finally came to me, you know, and they were threatening me and they said that they would put me in prison and this and that.
And she looked at me and said, you know, they cannot put in prison your soul, the soul is eternal soul, what's the problem? And she said it with such a conviction that I thought for myself, yeah, what's the problem?
What's the big deal? And this this simple formula, which I knew, but you know, it's not enough to know it theoretically, you have to hear it from somebody. And she said it with this conviction, I was convinced.
So from her directly I went to their place and they were waiting for me.
One big guy and one smaller guy, you know, two guys, and with a very false smile in his face, the big guy, big strong guy, said, So what did you decide?
And I said, uh I'm really sorry, I'm not going to work for you because it is against my principles. And then he started yelling at me. Which principles do you have except for four regulative principles.
At that time I I didn't even know about four regulative principles, but he knew very well. Anyway, it was fun. This reminds me of another story.
When Chaitanya-caritamrita was in the distributing books in the O'Hare Airport, often the devotees there would be attacked by people who were not happy that there was a you know theist promoting their views in the airport with the Prabhupada's books.
So one time some couple of guys pushed really hard, a couple of devotees and Chaitanya-caritamrita Carta being of Italian origin got really angry and just ran over and just started beating on him like anything, beating him bloody. And then he didn't want to get caught by the police, but they eventually caught him and he ended up having to go to court.
So the temple president at that time he said when Chanakarta went, he said, I need a lawyer. So this was the mood in those days. He said, why do you need a lawyer? Just depend on Krishna.
okay, you know, we're we're just simple. So we went to court and you know, he was a skinny devotee in in his devotee clothes,
and he sat on one side and the other side these two guys, one guy with his arm all bandaged up and sling, and other guy had something around his head and this, that, and they were pretty big guys.
And the court was a very no-nonsense judge. So he heard from the lawyer that this this guy beat up these two guys. And the judge says, you know, I run a very tight court. I don't like any lies in my court. You know that.
And the uh defense, yes, your honor, but this guy did this to these two guys. And he looks, he just are you telling me that that skinny guy did that to these big burly guys? Is that what you're telling me?
He says, Yes, Your Honor. And the uh and the judge said, case dismissed. So in those days, it was like you know I mean I don't know what happened. We kind of lost a little bit, you know. Or maybe it became more complicated.
Maybe you can answer that question. Where did that that kind of faith, that straddha go? Yeah, the initial simplicity is gone. I don't know.
Questions on meditation and association
I don't I don't have an answer to all the problems of SCOM nowadays. That's that's not the only one. Uh thank you Maharaj for the lovely class.
Um so you mentioned um uh like not the government or uh the medical people or the police they can save us but only Krishna can save us. And um like Mahabrabhu always insisted on you know chanting as the best form of meditation.
So uh in that context, or probably it's out of context, please forgive me for that.
Uh can you uh uh elaborate the differences between uh meditation in other religions and meditation uh specifically with respect to chanting uh for uh the holy name. Uh that's my first question.
And the second one is can you also advise, give some advice on how to be fixed in the chanting meditation? Yeah, the difference of our style of meditation and the other styles of meditation is that our meditation is a very loud meditation.
So and because we are living in a very loud world the loud meditation is necessary and uh because our mind is very loud unless we have a very loud meditation we will not be able to silence our mind.
So that's the advantage of this style of meditation because people when they're trying to meditate by silence, you know then you know the mind is loudly yelling something internally, and that becomes a mockery of meditation.
Regarding the advice of how to become fixed, you know it's uh just you know practice what what kind of advice you need. There is no quick, easy, miraculous way of becoming fixed by
just practicing it, and well actually the only thing which you need is to develop strong faith into this process. When you develop the strong faith in this process, then it's easy to be fixed.
Whereas if your faith is not really strong, then you will always think, you know, maybe I should spend my time in a better way.
So, and for that you need to read, for that you need to listen, to hear others speaking, you know, because faith you can get the faith from listening others, how they how they speak and how they explain their experiences.
Thank you. Yes. Your question is, I heard that devotees are avoiding envious people. Does it mean that we have to avoid each other? That was the clear implication. No, it doesn't mean.
Because when uh Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is speaking about avoiding envious people. The meaning behind this envious people is specifically people who are very envious of God.
People who are very demonic by nature and who envy God that He's you know so great and so So devotees generally are not envious of God.
They may be some vote, you know, some little grudge may be there, but we're not we're not in this category of envious people in the sense that grossly envious who are who hate who go who are God haters, who hate God because he's there, he's enjoying and I'm suffering here, you know, who he thinks he he is, and stuff like this.
So this is the kind of people we should avoid.
Devotees we should strive to associate with them because we we can learn so much from each and every one of them because everyone has some experience, everyone has something to share with us. So it's not about this.
Any other questions? Stump Swami. Yes.
Questions on study and Vaishnava etiquette
I I don't think we dump on the stump, but I have a question. How to help those who's really trying to understand or really trying to understand Bhagavad-gītā. They start reading it but they fall asleep.
Can I try this chapter again? They fall asleep again. Can you repeat your question so the Okay. The question is how to help people who are trying to read Bhagavad-gītā but consistently
falling asleep while reading Bhagavad-gītā and cannot even reach the end of a chapter uh because it's so boring. Those people who are not really interested in this subject matter so this and that trying sincerely
to understand sincerely trying to understand but uh never can reach the end you know different things could be advised but uh one thing you know I would advise first
not to read the port, but to read the verses and get the general idea what is it all about. Because sometimes people get lost, uh, especially when they knew
uh in uh you know so many ideas and concepts and this and that but if you have the general overview of the book it may help you to develop the overall interest in the book uh because you kind of see what what
it is all all about. Uh that's one thing. You know, even devotees sometimes they get lost. They they you know they're in the port and they because our memory
is so short, the span of memory, the concentration is so weak, you know, before when we're reading some verse we already forget what was the previous verse and we cannot really uh you know make a thread logical
connection between the verses and because we are lost logically then uh it's easy to you know to lose the interest in the book. When we see the logical connection and we see how it develops, it creates an interest.
But then in another advice which I would give is just to ask somebody who knows what is Bhagavad-gītā to explain to him. Because when he explains with the enthusiasm, this enthusiasm is contagious,
you know, and uh you're not only dependent on your own intelligence, which may be sleepy at that time, uh because you know you're already saved uh and you don't need to be worried about anything and anxiety is gone so
but if you listen to somebody who has enthusiasm and he explains this with enthusiasm. At least the advantage of this is that he can wake you up when you fall asleep while while listening to him so
much But just a quick comment. I used to fall asleep in PowerPoint's classes. All the time.
There was a beautiful story Bhadrina Ryan Maharaj tells that he said that once Prabhupada came to a temple and uh as usually devotees they were working marathon by making the temple nice and you know putting all kinds of new paints and everything and everyone was totally totally exhausted and they were working the whole night and Prabhupada came and he sat down to give class and then everyone fell asleep and still Prabhupada is talking and his eyes are closed and he doesn't see what is going on in the audience.
And then Bhadrina Maharaj was in the kitchen, he care he comes to the temple room and he sees this scene, everyone is sleeping and Prabhupada is in his samadhi ecstasy is talking something, and then Prabhupada opens the eyes.
And then Prabhupada says, our movement is running only on the mercy of Lord Chaitanya.
And then Prabhupada opens the eyes, looks at the audience, sees that everyone is full as fall asleep and says, this is a fact What's your name there? Name? Govinda Nandini Didi.
So uh there are different levels of uh devotees and uh how to recognize the uh higher level uh of Adikar or higher level devotees so we can progress in our spiritual life.
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī gives a very simple definition of this.
He says that if you see somebody whose heart is completely free from the tendency to criticize others, Nindadi Sunyam, Khridam Ipsita Sanghalabya, for such devotees you have to develop the desire to have his Sangha.
Nindadi Sunya Mhridam, his heart is completely free from this Ninda tendency to criticize others.
If it's sunya if the heart is sunya free from this tendency completely empty from this tendency that ipsita sangalabya, you have to have desire to associate with such people. So he gives a very simple scheme.
He says if somebody is chanting the holy name but he is somewhat na I mean neophyte devotee then you should respect him from a distance.
If somebody surrendered himself, then you should pay obeisances to him and you know make some friendship with him.
But your real desire should be to uh get uh the association of those people whose heart is completely free from the criticizing tendency. So that's as simple. As simple as as and as difficult as as it is.
And can you uh please indicate what's the difference of criticism and actually somebody who's trying to help uh somebody else.
If you say something in in the face of these people of this person and if you sincerely want to help him, it's not a criticism. Of course you have to be you have to exercise discretion but still it's not a criticism.
You are just trying to help. But if you feel a special sort of joy in Sanskrit there is a saying, sarcastic saying, Ninda rasa piba, please drink this juice of offense. So if you feel it's uh an ironic, it's not a command.
It's just it it means that if you feel a special sort of pleasure by hearing about the faults of others.
And we all know, you know, sometimes we hear and we we deep inside our heart, we don't even admit to ourselves that we think like this. We think, you know, I always knew that this guy is a crook or this this person.
If we to a certain extent enjoy by the faults of other person and try to kind of put him down, then it's it's Ninda.
But if we sincerely want to help, if we are compassionate within the heart, if we really like this person and we try to help, that's not Ninda. We can we should actually give him some feedback and explain to him what he's doing wrong if we can.
But it's a question of how we subjectively react to his faults. If I am somewhat happy by seeing his faults, better not to say to him or to anyone else about his faults.
Well, you know, I really hate to criticize but um you know I'm really uh feeling that you should have come to the pyramid house a long time ago. It's been really too long. You kept yourself away.
So we're hoping that instead of you know, period of nineteen, twenty years between your appearances here, you might see the value of coming back next year, right? Not that that's a criticism. It's uh sincere feedback.
But I'm going to be severely criticized for holding up the distribution of prasāda. However, however, I have a couple of words. First of all, let's give it up for Mahārāja, thank you so much.