Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.5.11. The Mission of Srila Prabhupada
Bhakti Vijnana Goswami · Germany · 2015
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Welcome and community announcements
So, meine lieben Devotees, my dear Devotees, wer versteht kein Englisch? Also, kein Englisch ist über das An. My dear devotees, I would like to welcome all of you and specially welcome His Holiness Bhakti Didiyan Koswami.
We have the great honor to have him because he was in um uh Boruka Dam this week so this is how we were able to convince him to come and visit us today. Also er war in Bologna Hopper and we konnten ihn davon überzeugen,
heute uns zu besuchen. So, my dear Devotees also we didn't have a chance when we chanted I didn't have a chance to give you an announcement that we
will would like to keep Jarapataka His Holiness Jarapataka Swami in our prayers because he was not doing so well in the last uh weeks. So when we chant today later on again, please uh offer your prayers to him.
Denn also Jaipataka ging es letzte Woche nicht so gut und daher bitte ich, dass wir ihn in unsere Gebeten einschließen. Dann möchte ich euch auf Britain. I would like also to ask you to bring the father from Matthias.
Martin, who's Martin? Not here. His father died recently. So we also would like to pray for him. The father von Matthias is Martin Martin Martin. Martin. Also the Opa von Martin is letzte Woche gestorben und wir bitten auch,
ihn in unsere Gebete einzuschließen. Dann haben wir auch eine Familie, die ein kleines Kind verloren hat und wollen wir auch bitte unsere Gebete für Krishna einbringen? We also have Martin's grandfather and
a little baby who lost his life and we also would like to include our prayers. Then we have you know Vikuntanat Victor, who just got initiated by Chitanya Chandrasarandabu, his health is very bad, he
has cancer and he is uh away now trying to find someone who can help him Wir haben unser lieben Devote, der bei Gunther nach Krebs bekommen hat und er ist jetzt auch gerade dabei, versuchen einen Arzt
zu finden, der ihnen dabei helfen kann. So many different opportunities to pray, also for our family members, our dear ones, the neighbors, the devotees, we have many opportunities to ask for blessings and for prayers.
Later on I will talk to you about something else. We will talk about this later. Then the last thing I would like to tell you on the table there, the white table, there is paper and a pen.
This is the last day for you to write your proper jasa puja, so we will make So heute ist die letzte Gelegenheit für Schüler PowerPart ein Dankeschön zu schreiben.
Wir haben da Papier und Stifte, bitte schreibt Ihren Namen richtig laserlich, weil sonst ist es schwierig für mich das zu ordnen. This is Thomas Noel with his wife. His wife comes to for the first time.
Very welcome, Hare Krishna. Very nice. You need a chair? No. Okay. So please take a seat. Give him a pillow. I don't know what you're doing. A pill cushion, pillow, somewhat. Okay, so now Maharaj is gonna speak to us.
We have about an hour, Maharaj, for speaking. If um you like and the devotees like you can expand as long as you want, but of course then it becomes late, prasharam, Arctic and all that.
Um no, I want to say something up and all of that. Okay. Um that's it. Thank you very much for everything. Now Maharaj which language are you going to speak? English. I guess English. Chinese? No? No. Oh no Chinese today.
I can speak Hindi if you want. Okay, so I know. But it will be very short. So um there speaks kein English, nochmal. Um Wer spricht kein Russisch? Kein Russ. So we have to do English March. It's okay. It's fine.
So bitte die Devotees, die kein Englisch verstehen, bitte hier sich hinsetzen und wir übersetzt. Lucy. Lucy, du übersetzt? Oder sind alles Buschen? Die Englischen nein, nicht alle. Das sind welche.
So bitte die Devotis, die Übersetzung brauchen, die in dieser Ecke, die Lucy hier wird übersetzt. Nein, nein, nein, wir haben nicht Okay,
it's right. It's been fair. Uh German, yeah. Russian. Okay, we still need a Russian uh Russian translation. Can you so English, Deutsch, überletzung hier, Russisch, überdetzung Ohna
Recitation of Srimad-Bhagavatam verse
bhagate, va sude Sudevaya, O Mamo Bhagavat, Sudeva
Narayanamnamaskritya, naraam chaiva, narodamamarotam Devim Saraswati Yasam, Devim Saraswati Yasam, Tatojayamudhiraya, Yamprabrachantamana Peta Mafeta Krityam Dvaipayanavi Rahakatara Juhava, Putreititan Mayatayotaravobinedus, Tam Sarva Buthridayamunimana tos me,
parikrista I was asked by Vina Sharana Maj to speak uh little bit on Prabhupada and his mission and his uh connection with him.
And for this topic, to introduce this topic, I will read the verse, eleventh verse from the fifth chapter of the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Nārada's instruction on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam which is very
appropriate in this occasion Tadwagvi Sarga Janatagavi plavo, Yasmin pratišlo kam, Abadhavat pi, namanya nantasya som kitani yat, srinvanti gayanti grinanti sadavaham. Translation by Śrīla Prabhupāda.
On the other hand, that literature which is full of descriptions of transcendental glories of the name, fame, forms, pastimes, etc of the unlimited supreme Lord is a different creation, full of transcendental words directed towards bringing about a revolution in the impious lives of this world's misdirected civilization.
Such transcendental literatures, even though imperfectly composed, are heard, sung, and accepted by purified men who are thoroughly honest. It is a qualification of a great thinker to pick up the best even from the worst.
It is said that the intelligent man should pick up nectar from a stock of poison, should accept gold even from a filthy place, should accept a good and qualified wife, even from an obscure family and should accept a good lesson even from a man or from a teacher who comes from untouchables.
There are some of the these are some of the ethical instructions for everyone in every place without exception. But a saint is far above the level of an ordinary man.
He is always absorbed in glorifying the Supreme Lord because by broadcasting the holy name and fame of the Supreme Lord, the polluted atmosphere of the world will change.
And as a result of propagating the transcendental literature like Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, people will become sane in their transactions.
While preparing this commentary, commentation on this particular stanza of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, We have a crisis before us. Our neighboring friend China has attacked the border of India with a militaristic spirit.
We have practically no business in the political field yet we see that previously there were both China and India and they both lived peacefully for centuries without ill feelings.
The reason is that they lived those days in an atmosphere of God's consciousness and every country over the surface of the world was God-fearing, pure-hearted, and simple. And there was no question of political diplomacy.
There is no cause of quarrel between the two, and certainly there is no cause for fighting on this issue but due to the age of quarrel, Kali, which we have discussed, there is always a chance of quarrel on slight provocation.
This is due not to the issue in question but to the polluted atmosphere of this age. Systematically there is a propaganda by a section of people to stop glorification of the name and fame of the Supreme Lord.
Therefore, there is a great need for disseminating the message of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam all over the world. It is the duty of every responsible Indian to broadcast the transcendental message
of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam throughout the world to do all the supermost good as well as to bring about the desired peace in the world. Because India has failed in her duties by neglecting this responsible work.
There is so much quarrel and trouble all over the world.
We are confident that if the transcendental message of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is received only by a leading man of the world, certainly there will be a change of heart. And naturally the people in general will follow them.
The mass of people in general are tools in the hands of modern politicians and leaders of the people.
If there is a change of heart in the leaders only, certainly there will be a radical change in the atmosphere of the world.
We know that our honest attempt to present this great literature conveying transcendental messages for receiving the God consciousness of the people in general and re-spiritualizing the world atmosphere is fraught with many difficulties.
Our presenting this matter in adequate language, especially foreign language, will certainly fail.
And there will be so many literary discrepancies despite our honest attempt to present it in the proper way, but we are sure that with all our faults in this connection, the seriousness of the subject matter will be taken into consideration.
And the leaders of society will still accept this due to its being an honest attempt to glorify the Almighty God.
When there is fire in the house, the inmates of the house go out to help from the neighbors who may be foreigners, and yet, without knowing the language the victims of the fire express themselves and the neighbors understand the need even though not expressed in the same language.
The same spirit of cooperation is needed to broadcast this transcendental message of Srimad-Bhagavatam throughout the polluted atmosphere of the world.
After all, it is a technical science of spiritual values and thus we are concerned with the techniques not with the language.
If the techniques of this great literature are understood by the people of the world, there will be success.
Stop here Tadwagvi Sarga Janata vi plavoyasmin prati slaka mabadhavati pi namanya nanta sya yason kitani ya srinvanti gaya On the other hand, that literature which is full of descriptions of the transcendental glories of the name, fame, forms and pastimes, etc. of the unlimited Supreme Lord is a different creation full of transcendental worlds directed toward bringing about a revolution in the impious lives of this world's misdirected civilization.
Such transcendental literature even though one perfectly composed are heard sung and accepted by purified men who are thoroughly honest Umagnana ti miranda syagyanam jana sala kaya chyaksuru nyilitamy na tasmai shrigurav
Vacha Patitanampavane Byovaisnava Bhyonawona Maha Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhunitananda Sriadvaita Badathara Sivasa de Gora Bhakta Vrindha Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hari Ramma Hare Hare.
Meaning of Narada Muni's instructions to Vyasadeva
Ramdah Pradesh Mamavachamamprasu tamji vaya takilashakti darakswadam nanyam shahastacharana shravanatva di pranandambhagavate, Purushayatu Vrindavanamra Chitu Pasanavra Javad Varga ne kalpitam, Srimad Bhagavat Hare Krishna.
I'm very much honored to be with all of you this evening. And I will try to speak a few words about this very important subject matters.
This verse in particular is spoken by Sinara the Duvyasadev as a reaction on the dissatisfaction which Srila Vyasadev felt.
And this existential crisis, the general dissatisfaction in life, no matter how much we achieved in this life. It's a very common phenomenon.
And basically the instructions which are given by Srinarada, even though they are specific on the issue of what Silov Yasadev is supposed to do, what he missed in his life, they're in one sense common to all of us because we are all to a certain extent frustrated in life. This frustration is a very common phenomenon.
No matter what we do, no matter how successful we are, quote unquote, in the material sense, there is still something lacking. We still feel some emptiness within the heart.
And this emptiness within the heart is indication that something is wrong, that we didn't do something which we are supposed to do.
Every one of us has a mission in life and basically according to Vedic culture the mission of human life is to get knowledge.
This whole world is arranged by God and sometimes people they complain, they say that God somehow or other he got very imperfect plan. That he he wished well but it didn't work. You know. Common phenomena.
You do something, didn't work. You know. So God created this world and you know he regretted about this, but it was too late. So some people think like this. Uh and their reasoning is uh superficially correct.
They think that if I'm not happy then it must mean that creator did something wrong. That's the psychology behind it. You know, they think that creator has created this world for us to be happy. It's a nature of psychology.
I want to be happy and somehow or other it doesn't work, so God must be faulty. But they don't understand that the very fact that everyone is not happy despite all our endeavors to become happy and everyone 100%,
Even if uh even if we pretend that we're happy, deep inside we're not happy. So many troubles and ultimately we have to die and so many other problems are there.
But uh you know people they cannot understand that this is the design. This is not a mistake. That this is a conscious design by the creator.
And the fact is that everyone 100% is not happy because He did not create this world for us to be happy. It sounds very sad, I mean it's bad news, I know. I'm sorry to bring this bad news to you.
Purpose of human life and God's design
But that's a fact. He didn't create this world for us to be happy. He created this world for us to learn something. And uh learning is a different purpose.
He had a different purpose in mind and unfortunately for us to learn something, for us being dull headed we need to suffer a little bit to learn something. Without suffering we cannot learn anything.
We will become more and more stupid if there will be no suffering, unfortunately. So uh but uh what I want to say is that uh God He didn't create the world uh imperfect as it seems to be.
He created the perfect world for perfect purpose to learn. And the feelings which we have and the experience which we have is actually the guiding force for us to learn.
This dissatisfaction, sometimes people psychologically try to suppress the dissatisfaction. They try to, you know, pretend that everything is fine. You know, I'm living in Germany. Germany is such a nice country.
I'm not living in Russia. You know, luckily, thanks God. I'm not living in Nicaragua or somewhere else. And all these exotic countries. But still the satisfaction is there.
And in this verses, Śrī Nārada gives a hint, gives a clue how we should understand or interpret this dissatisfaction within ourselves.
And ultimately we have to really be very clear about this: that this emptiness in heart, which we try to fill up by different material engagements, different material purposes, different material enjoyments which we have in life.
This emptiness within the heart is a very deep problem because this emptiness is because there is not God there. And the very attempt to fill this spiritual emptiness by something material is doomed to fail.
It is doomed to fail. It definitely will fail because you cannot feel something which is spiritual by nature. The spiritual emptiness which is there in the heart by material things. No matter how much you have.
You know, even if you have the whole world, the heart will still be empty. And the empty heart will demand something, will uh will actually give you this feeling that something is wrong, something is not correct.
And here in these verses, addressing to a specific issue, Śrī Nārada at the same time gives a universal recipe, universal formula: how to get rid of this dissatisfaction within the heart. And this formula is very simple.
He says, my dear Vyāsadeva, you are not happy and you are not satisfied only because of one reason, because you didn't glorify the Supreme Lord. And it may sound very simplistic.
It may sound from the very first superficial point of view, it may sound as even irrelevant, to the point of irrelevant.
I'm coming to you, I'm saying I'm not happy, I am not satisfied, tell me something, what to do, and they say, just glorify the Supreme Lord. And you say, what the heck it has to do with my dissatisfaction? How does it solve my problem?
Sometimes people do not understand the very deep philosophy behind it.
Encounter between Narada Muni and Vyasadeva
But there is a very deep philosophy behind it which Śila Prabhupāda reveals in this purport. Basically, it's actually very interesting and very ironic, even.
The very first, uh, words of Nārada when he meets Vyāsadeva, he sees Vyāsadeva, and Vyāsadeva is sitting very depressed, very morose. He's sitting with a very gloomy look on his face and Narada is coming
and Narada is smiling. Narada is very happy. He's playing Vīṇā and he's just chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna. He's a happy Hare Krishna devotee. He doesn't have any problem. No job, no nothing. No worries. No troubles.
So and the, uh, you know, as it is uh, a custom between the cultured people when they greet each other, when they meet, you know, they ask, how are you? So Vyāsadeva, he offers his obeisances, he says, so my dear Guru Maharaj, my dear saint, please come here, and
Nārada, he looks at him, he says, my dear Vyāsadeva. Are you happy by identifying yourself with the mind and the body? And you know, there is an obvious answer to this. And this is the philosophy behind this.
The philosophy behind this is actually very deep. And the philosophy behind is that, uh, all our troubles are coming not from the problems which we, by superficial analysis can see.
We think that the problem is that you know my neighbor is bad or the government is bad, or the weather is bad, or the economy is bad, and there is a crisis, or there is something else.
But uh the real deep analysis if we really go deeply in our analysis and our understanding is that all our problems are stemming from one root. And this root is very simple.
Identification with the mind and the body. There is a very beautiful verse in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in Eleventh Canto. In this verse it is said that because the soul turned away from God is behind us.
That's why we don't see him. You know, sometimes people ask, please show me God. It's very simple, you just turn back and you will see God. We don't want to see Him. We are looking in a different direction.
And the sudden spiritual practice is our attempt to turn our consciousness towards God. Now our consciousness is a way of God.
So in this verse it is said, Bayamd Vitiya Bhivesha Taksyat, because we are so absorbed in something which is secondary, dvitya. It's something which is temporary.
It's something which is superficial ultimately which is not deeply in harmony with our inner self and our inner nature. Therefore, Baya the fear is there. The anxiety is there.
You know this is uh an existential anxiety because we are eternal by nature, but but being eternal by nature we know that we will have to die. How we can be happy. Only crazy people can be happy.
And this is what Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says that in this world only two kinds of persons are happy, completely crazy or completely saintly. Everything in between, everyone is in between is somewhat troubled and unhappy.
So that's the problem. The problem is that uh being eternal we are looking for eternal connection. We are looking for eternal things, we are looking for eternal love.
If the happiness is not eternal, this is not happiness, this is the cause of distress. Let's say you're perfectly happy, but you know that tomorrow your happiness will end. Will you be happy or not?
Let's say you're sentenced to death and you're going to execution place. And you have thirty minutes to leave, and somebody comes to you and says, My dear sir, do you want to enjoy? Will you want to enjoy or not?
Will you get any juice from this enjoyment? No. No. But you know, because of this forgetfulness, we think, yeah, everything is nice, you know. I will die, but not so soon. So it's not a problem. It is a problem.
It is a problem, it will ever be a problem. It will never be not a problem. Therefore, Bhagavatam says, Bayam Dvity Abine Vesha Taksyat everyone has this existential fear because of the absorption in the wrong thing.
We are absorbed in the wrong thing and this absorption, absorption in the body and absorption in the mind is a universal disease. Everyone is sick with this.
Patanjali Muni, the author of Yoga Sutra, he says that this Abhina Vesha Abhina Vesha basically means absorption, absorption in the body. Abhina Vesha is the common problem.
Even the saints are not exempt. Even saints have fear of death. And there is only one there is only one medicine for this.
Lessons from Mukundamala Stotra on the body
There is a beautiful verse from, uh, Mukundamālā Stotra. Mukundamālā's Stotra, uh, it's, it's the verse by King Kulashekhara. Mukunda Malastatra, yes. I think this verse it says very beautiful verse.
Idam Shariram Satasangi Jarjaram, Patatyavasyam, Pariṇāma Peshalam Kimosedi Prichhasimuda Durmate Niramayam Krishna Rasayanam Piba. It's a very beautiful verse. It is said that Idams, there are so many sandhis there.
Sandhi means joints. It basically means that this body is made of parts. And there is a very important nyaya principle, the principle of logic. It is said in nyaya that, whatever is made of parts is not eternal.
Because it is made of parts, sooner or later it will be decomposed.
Nyaya says that there is only the eternal things only either completely minute atoms which cannot be compost on parts which are not composed of parts of or unlimited things. This is eternal things.
Everything in between, which is made of parts, Satasangya and there are so many parts. And we know every now and then there is a spare parts which will have to put inside you.
This part, the liver doesn't work, so let's take this liver and take some other liver, and put some other liver, lungs, heart, whatever it is, eyes, you know, soon you know I heard that there's a new operation coming very soon they are planning to transplant transplant the head of a man, you know. The cutting the head and putting it in another body.
Very nice. But it's all temporary arrangement, you know. Even though your old head may have a very new body, but sooner or later it will be separated from the body no matter how strongly it will be stitched to the body.
So this is what King Kulashekhara says, Pariṇāmapeshalam it is for sure 100%, 108%, or even more. Patat patat means it will fall. Patatya Vashyam Avasyam for sure, 100%.
Parinama Peshalam, because it's a subject of change. It will for sure change. It will turn into something very unpleasant. You know, it's nobody will want to have anything to do with it. Sooner or later, unfortunately.
And therefore, Kimoshedi Prichasi Muda Durmate. He's asking, you know, oh my dear fool, Muda Durmate. He says not fool, he says very stupid fool.
He doesn't say just Muda, he says Muda Durmate, oh very completely confused fool. Kimoshedi, what kind of medicine are you looking for? We are always looking for some medicine.
We are hoping that the science will invent certain medicine which will definitely save us from death. Unfortunately we will not survive till that time but you know the hope is there.
But he says uh what kind of medicine you're looking for. Ni Ramayam Krishna Rasaya and Piba. If you want to be happy, please drink this niray Rasayan.
Amai in Sanskrit in Ayurved, those of you who know Ayurved, Amaya means disease. Disease is caused by Ama. Ama means undigested food. So the disease in Ayurveda is called Amaya. Niramaya means completely healthy condition.
Niramaya. Krishna Rasayanam Piba. Ni Ramayam Krishna Rasayanam Piba. Please chant this tonic of eternal holy name of Krishna. Piba. Please drink this tonic. This tonic is available for you. You're looking for some medicine.
Here is the medicine. This is the medicine. And this is the only solution for all the problems. And that's exactly what Nārada Muni is suggesting here.
He says here that ultimately your problem because you're identifying with the body and the soul. Oh sorry, not the soul. With the body and the mind.
And because of this connection, because of this identification with temporary, changeable, cleavable body and the mind, uh you have problems.
As soon as we are established in the self, as soon as we have firm grounds of the eternal nature which is available to us, we become immediately happy. No worries, no fears.
Well little fear that it will not last long, but it's not based. But ultimately, what I want to say is that here Nārada Muni he gives the solution and Śrīla Prabhupāda he generalized this solution.
He says that this is the solution not only for any individual problem, that this is the solution for the whole society.
Contrast between modern consumerism and Vedic culture
And he says the problem even though superficially there may be so many other problems. Again, superficially the diagnosis may be something different.
But in reality the problem is that there is a constant propaganda to to make sure that everyone is more and more and more grossly engrossed in this body and the mind.
You know what is being done, and I will say a few words about the difference between the modern culture and the Vedic culture. What is the difference in approach? The modern culture is basically confusing the man.
There was.
Śrīla Prabhupāda says there is a systematic propaganda and there is definitely very systematic propaganda because the whole economy, the whole basis of economy uh in uh this world is that you should consume. You should consume more and more and more and more otherwise economy will not work.
Let's say you become very austere and uh you know you will not consume more than you need. Everything will collapse in no time. You know, you should by all means you should consume more and more and more.
And for that, you know, who is consuming more? It's a psychological fact. It's a very obvious and very open psychological fact. That happy people they don't consume much. Because they're happy.
Satisfied people, why should they consume? You know if you are unsatisfied, if you're not happy, then uh you will consume more. You know, people uh like for example uh there is i it's again it's a known fact.
It's yeah, whatever.
It's a known fact that why people become obese? Why people become you know overeat and uh you know because they're not happy. They're trying to compensate with this unhappiness in the mind by taking more and more food especially the sweet food.
You know it it's the number one cause of obesity of of the overweight basically because people are not happy. So, and there is a very you know systematic design in this world to make people unhappy.
Because when you are unhappy, economy is healthy. And when you are happy, the economy will collapse so it's very counterproductive for the economy to produce happy people.
Vedic civilization, the very gist, the very design, the very direction of Vedic civilization is to produce happy people, satisfied people. Satisfaction is the very basic virtue of uh Vedic
There is a very systematic kind of propaganda again. Be satisfied with what you have. Don't covet for more. There is no need. You will never be able to satisfy all your needs. No way.
You will never be able because the needs will grow more and more and more, you know. You will not be able to satisfy this.
Actually there is a very beautiful there is I think in Australia or in Africa somewhere there is a there is a bird. And this bird And there is a very deep reason, very deep physiological reason why this bird is angry.
This bird has a big belly. Very big. And very thin and long throat. So no matter how much the bird will eat, you know, it will never fill the belly. And therefore uh the bird is always very uh very disturbed.
She's trying to fill the belly, but no way. Too thin. So the same, exactly the same design is in a human being. The human being has a very big mind.
With unlimited desires in the mind and very thin channels through which the mind can be satisfied. Your capacity of consuming is very small.
You know, and people are trying and trying and trying and trying, but the mind is always empty. Never satisfied, never really satisfied.
And uh uh that that's the problem and uh you know therefore in Vedic civilization it is a very systematic mm teaching that you should be satisfied for whatever you have. You should not try for more.
Whatever is given to you by God, it's fine. This is what you need. You don't need more. Try to find your satisfaction or your purpose in life and something else because this is what is available.
The human form of life is a very rare opportunity to get the spiritual satisfaction. It's a very rare opportunity to really get the completely different kind of experience, not the material experience.
Don't try to exercise these material things too much because it will never bring you uh real satisfaction.
Connecting with the unlimited through chanting
And this spiritual satisfaction is only coming from what uh Narada says, if you glorify the Lord. It's amazing but that works. Why? There is a hint in this verse.
There is a very beautiful and very philosophical and deep uh indication in this verse why this only will work. The Lord is called here Ananta. Ananta means unlimited.
So when we glorify the Supreme Lord, when we chant His holy name, when we think about Him, when we recite about Him, when we think and remember and hear about Him.
Then the subtle connection is being established between our limited self and unlimited Lord.
And this connection is the most important because we want to be unlimited and the only way for us to become unlimited is to connect with the unlimited. The spirit by nature is Brahman.
The spirit is called in in Sanskrit Brahman, and Brahman means unlimited. Brahman means big. The spirit wants to expand. We want to expand. You know, no matter what we have, we always want to expand.
People expand in a very natural way by producing many children. Nowadays, of course, they don't produce many children because children are very expensive toys, you know, to play with.
But, you know, then people try to be unlimited by an unlimited bank balance, unlimited this and that.
You know, there was one very rich—he was number one sometime in the forties or something in America, a very rich person, businessman. And a few days before his death, a journalist came to
ask him a question, and the journalist asked, you know, what is your slogan in life? And he is the richest man in the world. And he said, Yes, I have one slogan. It's very simple, more. This is my slogan. More. I want more.
I want more. So why? There is a deep psychological reason because the spirit, the soul is unlimited. We want to expand unlimitedly, but we don't wanna we don't know how to expand unlimitedly.
And the real way to fulfill this innermost desire of the soul is to connect with unlimited.
And this connection with unlimited is gained through this chanting of the holy name and through hearing about the Lord and through glorifying the Lord.
And as Śrīla Prabhupāda says here, and this will completely uh balance the whole atmosphere the whole polluted atmosphere so many times he repeated this phrase in this uh uh in this purport the polluted atmosphere of the world.
It will first of all purify the polluted atmosphere of our heart. You know people they are trying to solve the problem with pollution.
Uh I mean superficially when you travel through Germany it seems to be very clean and you know there is a Green Party in a parliament making sure that everything is fine and you know but it's superficial, you know,
still so much pollution is going on. And you cannot stop this pollution unless uh the source of all pollution is being uh changed. What is the source of all pollution? The pollution is in the heart.
So when you chant the holy name of the Lord or glorify the Lord? The first the atmosphere in the heart is changed. The pollution within the heart is changed.
You cannot solve the problem the outside world problem unless you solve inside your inner problems in the heart
and this is being solved, and Śrīla Prabhupāda says this verse is promising to us that not only our individual problems will be solved, the problems of the whole world will be solved.
Because by this means of distributing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or distributing the message of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, ultimately, people, as Śrīla Prabhupāda very beautifully says in the Purport, you know, as a result of propagating the transcendental literature like Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, people will become sane in their transactions.
It's a very beautiful statement. People will become sane. Now people are insane. I I'm sorry to say this. You know, I'm coming from Russia.
Please, if everyone is sane in Germany, you know just explain it because I'm coming from a totally insane place. But it's a fact. That ultimately it's a fact. The transaction between the people are insane.
People are exploiting each other. Instead of serving each other, loving each other, it's it's it's coming to a very sick condition. People are exploiting children. You know, so much this sexual abuse is going on.
So, you know, you know, the world is becoming more and more sick. It is said, uh, it's also a statistical fact that in India there is around 12% of people who are somewhat mentally unstable.
In Europe, it's 25% who are somewhat who need some mental help. And in America it's 52%. So it's it's basically doubles. When you go from India, it's doubles to Europe and then it doubles in America.
You know the more people are going away from their original nature. Original purpose in life. Original uh original uh you know uh basically natural way of life, which is live in peace and harmony with God.
And uh, you know, always feel dependent on God, the more insane they become. And this insanity transpires in their transactions.
It's really it's really going on in a very you know in a different level in so many ways, you know.
Sometimes like in America I heard that the the you know there is a traffic jam and you know people become so angry they sit in this traffic jam for four hours and ultimately somebody you know gets out from his car and starts shooting everyone.
Because why? Because because it's uh insanity is building up. It's building up the more we're going away from our nature, from our original roots, uh from our original connection.
And the original connection, original roots which we have is our dependence on God.
People uh you know they basically some mm two three hundred years back uh the modern civilization started when people started this enlightenment, this era of enlightenment.
When they put human being in the center and it promised a lot.
Finally we will build an ideal society where everyone will be happy and all these philosophies which uh you know which were created after this death from this idea. Human being is in the centre.
But that's artificial because human being is not the centre of the world. No matter how much you try. It's artificial. Human being is not the center of the world.
The satisfaction of a human being is not the ultimate uh ultimate criteria for everything in this world.
Srila Prabhupada's pure intent and mission
Of course, spiritual satisfaction is, but ultimately the. you know the the whole premise is false. And therefore everything is becoming more and more artificial and people are trying to solve this.
And Prabhupada he is basically writing this purport by his blood. Somebody said that this particular verse is a prediction of his arrival to the West.
Because especially his first books in uh printed in English language, I mean, you know, I I read these books. There is nothing but mistakes in these books. So many mistakes.
Grammatical mistakes, printing mistakes, this mistakes. It's a very funny Indian kind of printing, you know, done in the 50s of last century.
And he says, he says, I know that there will be mistakes. For sure, 100% there will be mistake. I'm trying to convey this message in a foreign language for me.
But he says that those people who are honest, they will accept it. Even though there will be mistakes. I know there will be mistakes you know once was
an English professor one of first disciples of Srila Prabhupada he asked he asked Srila Prabhupada he became little bold and at one point he said Srila Prabhupada how do I understand this uh this philosophical point that spiritual master is perfect if everything which I
do uh, he was Prabhupada's editor. You know, the whole day I'm correcting your mistakes, so how can I understand that a spiritual master is perfect? And Prabhupada smiled.
He was not puzzled by this dilemma, by this obvious contradiction. And he said: You know, it's apparent mistakes. But these mistakes are not real mistakes because there's no mistake in the intention.
It is said about God, bhāva-grāhi Janārdana. That Janārdana is taking bhāva. He is taking the intention. He is not taking the result. God is not seeing the faults in your actions. God is judging you according to your intent.
And if your intentions are pure, he accepts these pure intentions. He doesn't accept anything else. And Prabhupada said that ultimately God accepts my mistakes. And therefore, they're not mistakes.
There are so many stories in Indian uh history that you know saints some sometimes would make mistakes and God would himself confirm this is not a mistake from now on this is the standard reading.
You know, there are I will not get into the stories, but uh there are interesting stories when the God himself confirmed that I'm not concerned with the nitty-gritty details. Literary style. No.
Prabhupāda says if the attempt is honest, then the honest people will accept it. Sadhava. It is said here. Sadhavaha. If somebody is honest in his approach, he will understand the urgency of this message.
And he will really, you know, relate to the urgency of this message and uh will take it deeply in the heart.
So this is basically the meaning and uh the glory of Prabhupāda because Prabhupāda came with this completely, you know, completely he definitely didn't want to gain anything from his coming to the walk to the West.
So many other Swamis would go.
And you know consciously unconscious I I'm not saying that this I'm sure there are some exceptions from this rule, but you know sometimes you know they go from India because there's more money in the West.
It's a business. It's uh it's a business. Śrīla Radhanātha Mahārāja told me the story, very interesting story. I will reveal this secret to you.
He said that just before passing away of Aingar, the great yoga teach.er They were quite close and uh Radhanātha Mahārāja came to visit uh Aiyangar BKS Aiyangar in Pune and they had a conversation and uh uh and Angar being yoga teacher, very popular, you know, basically you know pop figure.
Uh uh In this esoteric scene. He knows everyone else. He knows all these preachers who going to the West, who made the name, and he said, and Radhanātha said, he, you know, also an old thing.
And he said, Eingar, because he knows it from inside, he said, you know. He told me so many stories.
And he said the only exception which he made is for Prabhupāda. He said, out of all of them, only Prabhupāda is genuine. You know. The old man is coming.
You know, we are not we don't want, we are not saying this to uh to put down somebody anybody. No. This is not the intention. The intention is to appreciate again the purity of Prabhupāda's intention.
You know, an old man is going to the West with 40 rupees in his pocket to America. I'll ask you, will you go to America with forty Euros in your pocket? No way. Without having any contact in America. Nobody.
40 rupees. Rupees which are not even convertible. So it's not even 40 euros. It's 40 rupees. Totally useless. Completely useless. 7 dollars uh according to the that time rate. But not even convertible. No money, zero money.
But what he takes with him? Three trunks of books printed in India. Full of mistakes. And on the top of this, complete conviction that this is what is necessary.
Complete totally totally pure conviction that this is what will save the world. Nothing else. And the most amazing
part of the whole thing, the most amazing part of the whole thing, Sri Sri Jagannatha Baladeva Subhadra Mayi.
amazing part of the whole thing is that it worked despite these 40 rupees, despite all these printing mistakes, some honest people did take this message seriously.
And some honest people dedicated their lives to this message, to distribute this message. Why? Because they got an experience.
Krishna consciousness as a spiritual science
And this is perhaps the last thing which I will say, because it's already one hour since I started talking.
We are living in a post-modern world, in a post-modern era, then people of this world, they are not really after dogma. They really want real living experience and change in the heart.
And Krishna consciousness is a very suitable practice and Krishna himself says this in a very beautiful way in Bhagavad-gītā. Gita.
He says, pratyakṣāvagamaṃ dharmyaṃ su-sukhaṃ kartum avyayam. He says that this dharma which I am teaching you, this teaching which I am giving to you now, it's pratyaksha avagam. It should be understood.
It should be understood by your own experience, pratyaksha.
It should not be taken just because you know we believe in it or just because of tradition. It should bring about the real experience in your life and a change in your life.
And as I said, this method or this methodology or as Śrīla Prabhupāda says this technique. Śrīla Prabhupāda he strongly strongly stresses this point that this is not just a faith. This is not just another religion.
This is a science. And Prabhupada specifically says this is a technical science of spiritual values. Technical science science means exact science. Means universal. Means it's true in India, but not only in India.
It's true in America, it's true in Germany, it's true in Russia, it's true everywhere. It will work. Even if you go to the North Pole, chanting will help. Technical science, technical science means it's true.
It's something uh w which will work. And this is exactly what we need. I I have a scientific background.
I happened to read Bhagavad-gītā when I was doing my PhD degree uh in uh Moscow uh in one of academic institutions on molecular biology. And what struck me from reading Bhagavad-gītā is that it's
completely totally rational point of view. It's a very rational system. There is no room for some, you know.
You know, sometimes when they speak about spirituality it has to be you know people have this understanding it has to be vague. You know.
Spirituality means you know you know God is n something and therefore He's nothing and you know therefore you know you're also nothing and do something something like this you know sometimes if you hear some preaching it's you know when it comes to this matters it's very vague.
It's very, you know, just feel it. Do you feel? No. Prabhupāda is it's totally down to earth. He says he says a very practical thing and uh he says just do it and you will see the change.
Not only in yourself, you will see the change around you. You will see the change in atmosphere and the climate. Like you come to this temple. When you come to this temple, you feel that there is different vibration here.
And vibration is a very, you know, it's a very popular word in an esoteric world, you know.
I remember there is one esoteric person came to our temple and he said oh I feel very beautiful vibrations I said yeah yeah yeah very very beautiful vibrations but
but it's a fact. The atmosphere becomes clean, not so polluted. It becomes more you know, you feel lighter, you feel happier, you feel relieved from all your troubles and worries.
And that's uh how Śrīla Prabhupāda ends, that's what we read at the end that this is why it is so urgent because it's a universal science and because everyone needs it.
And uh this universal science will work because it's very scientific. It's basically what is the root cause of the problems, the root cause of the problems we turned away from God.
What is the solution? We turned back to God. How to do this? Very simple. Remember about Him. How to remember about Him? Very simple.
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hari. How to do it properly?
Read Bhāgavatam because Bhāgavatam explains who is Krishna and who is Rama and who is Hari and everything else which is there.
Simple and live simple life and you know feel the spiritual satisfaction which will naturally come because you're connected with Ananta, with this unlimited Lord by chanting his glories.
And this is a technical science and uh this is very simple and it will work and this is what I came to say to And perhaps the last thing. Can I say something last at the end?
Relevance and practical application of spiritual knowledge
Sometimes, especially those people who are old timers and who are coming to Hare Krishna temple for a long time and they already know by heart all the you know preaching techniques of all the preachers and they know all the jokes and everything else.
Uh they sometimes start questioning you know sometimes there is a quest or there is a demand. Tell us something practical. Can you tell us something practical?
There is a uh you know if you go to for example psychology training, they will give you some technique. And when Prabhupada says technique, sometimes people expect that,
you know, they will learn some trick here, some techniques. And techniques are there definitely. Simple technique, chanting of the holy name. But sometimes that there is a not understanding that this is a very
powerful technique just to speak about the Lord and to hear about the Lord. And there is a beautiful answer to this. Please listen. Because this uh sort of complaint uh is not new one.
You know, in India there are so many very technical schools like yoga. Yoga is very technical. You can learn this technical science of yoga for a long time, and it seems to be very practical.
You learn this breathing technique, that breathing technique, this meditation technique, and it all seems to be very, you know, very exciting and promising, so many good things.
And you come to Vedanta, and Vedanta, what is Vedanta? What is the practice of Vedanta? Just speak about Krishna. Just speak about God. And sometimes people they question, is it practical just to speak about this?
And Baladeva Vidyabhusana, one of our ācāryas and great philosophers, he gives a beautiful answer to this complaint. Uh let's say you are a husband of a wife and your wife is pregnant
and somebody comes to you and in a very beautiful and exciting way tells you your wife gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Is it useful information or not? Of course it's useful.
Does it contain any technique which will bring about change in your life? No. But it's a very useful information.
If somebody comes, if you are in the darkness and you come in a dark place and you see a big rope and you become very fearful because you think it's a snake,
and somebody comes to you and says, My dear sir, this was not a snake, this was a rope. Is it useful information? Is it good information? Will it give you some practical use? It will.
In the same way when you come to Hare Krishna temple, somebody tells you there is a good news for you, God is there. And it's a very practical information because it may relieve you from fear. Don't fear. Don't fear death.
Death is not death. Not death. Not death. You're eternal and I'm too, by the way. And uh and God is there, God is knowable, God is conceivable, you can conceive God, you can understand God.
The whole Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is about how to meet with God. The whole Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is uh about different meetings with God, how different people met with God. You can meet with God, no doubt about it.
And there is a way to do it. Just chant his glories. And if you do it purely, you will meet with God in this life, your life will change, the life of the whole world will change, and you know everything will be okay.
And this is the message of Prabhupada. And this is the urgency of his message. This is the uh you know that's what he says, this is the ultimate solution for all our problems.
Turning our consciousness back to its original state, which is pure state in connection with unlimited God.
Question on KGB interactions in Soviet Union
Thank you very much. So Maharaj, maybe one, two or three questions. Time is a little advanced. I'm asking everyone.
Yes, uh can you hear not zehn Minuten weitermachen oder wir können Fragen stellen, er kann sie noch beantworten. Das bedeutet aber, dass das Essen alles was ein bisschen nicht hier nach hinten verschiebt. Is that in order?
So they want to be a more you can they can have Thank you for being so tactful and asking this question in German. So if they would say no I would not I have one question. Uh I a different little bit different question.
Yes, please. Could you please kindly describe just in short your struggle for Kṛṣṇa consciousness in KGB in former It's a boring story. Just just in sort. There's nothing else. You know the you know the KGB KGB
became very curious about Krishna consciousness and they wanted to know more and they started asking me ultimately
you usually I tell one short story is that I I was a postgraduate student as I said and uh KGB came to me to my institution and started asking some questions.
They asked me if I want to work for them and report about Hare Krishna devotees. And uh I said no and they were very unhappy by my answer.
And I realized that you know uh and I knew at that time there was maybe I don't know, maybe a few dozens of devotees in the whole of Soviet Union. And it was a very uh strange kind of scene.
People from different backgrounds, not very deeply philosophical. And uh to be honest with you, in the beginning of my encounter with the Hare Krishna movement, I was not so serious.
I was just checking and trying to understand what it is. And I was not I was somewhat underimpressed uh by I I like the books and I felt some deep truths in the books but
I was little underimpressed by the people um but when the KGB came to me and started asking these questions and I realized one thing, I realized that they take this Krishna consciousness movement very seriously.
And I thought if they take they must know better. If they take Hare Krishna movement seriously uh there is a must be a good reason behind it. And maybe I should also take it more seriously.
So since that time I became more serious and I'm very grateful grateful to KGB for making me more serious about it. Basically, you know what it's it's uh it's not a very exciting story.
So many people have suffered and tortured. I was little lucky because I was a little more careful by nature.
Uh I I did some little bit, but but they definitely learn uh taught me how to be more serious about Krishna consciousness. Thank you.
Question on overcoming fading enthusiasm
We came to Krishna consciousness. We are practicing for so many years. But a few years we are very enthusiastic but afterwards
we that tendency to accumulate, the tendency to what you can say tendency to it becomes even more like it increases many fold. Shall I repeat the question? Yeah, so like what is the like what is the reason for this?
Like we want to accumulate. Shall I repeat the question? Krishna consciousness and we feel change in our life.
But then after some time the old habits come and even more stronger and sometimes we feel that we want even more than we wanted before. What is the reason for this dynamic uh
it's a very deep question and uh it requires a long answer but uh ultimately, why do we feel so much change in the beginning and so much surge of enthusiasm in the beginning?
Because we're very absorbed in Krishna consciousness. It's the very nature of psychology when something is new to us we are very you know careful and absorbed. Like for example the very new driver. He's very careful.
He's very you know concentrated and you know. And this concentration brings its result. The result of concentration is the deeper experience because the deeper the concentration is the experience is also deeper.
And everything is new, the new, you know, new tastes and new new association, new experiences, new philosophy, new world outlook, everything is new and fresh.
And unfortunately in this life there is a law of fading the interest. The interest fades. Absorption becomes less. We start taking it for granted. We start taking it why? Because of one reason.
And I will tell a little later why this reason what is the main mistake which we do.
But we kind of we know we are already, we've seen it and we heard it and we tasted it and there's nothing new and we feel why don't I go somewhere else and look for something new this is the law of fading interest and this law only works uh because our involvement becomes more super more superficial.
And therefore it doesn't bring so much response to us and it doesn't bring so much satisfaction to us. And when we become superficial and neglectful in our practice, in our association, in our dealings with people.
It comes to the level of offense and offense even you know makes our experience even more shallow. We don't get so much response from God because we are somewhat neglectful, offensive, negligent.
And don't get the spiritual satisfaction, the material greed grows proportionately. We still have some hope that maybe you know it didn't work so many years I I wasted, maybe I should make up for all these years.
Even though we know that this is all empty, still we try, we make some desperate attempts and it didn't work and you know we come again, but it's more difficult.
But uh the recipe the the medicine against this uh is to become more and more deeply absorbed by uh learning the philosophy. And uh it's such a beautiful philosophy, it it's practically bottomless.
You know you cannot really you can't say that you know it. No matter how much you study it. And this absorption, if you if you find you know, and sometimes of course there are some other ways to be absorbed.
Absorbed in kīrtana. Like for example, there is a beautiful kirtani like Madhava, you know. He's a very simple man, but he's so absorbed in this kirtan and he gets so much fresh experience in this.
So instead of becoming more superficial, we should try to become more concentrated and this concentration will bring inner satisfaction and will also bring uh you know so many other things.
It's actually very interesting what is there in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śrīla Prabhupāda, he has a very beautiful teaching technique. He repeats certain things and uh while reading superficially we think, oh I
heard it already, I know I'm not this body. I know this. What is new about it? They are God, yeah, he is Krishna, I know. But you know, it's only on a superficial level you get this kind of repetition of the same thing.
Ultimately, it's very interesting. Uh you know, you can go deeper and deeper and deeper and understand deeper and deeper and deeper and be more and more absorbed and be more and more enthusiastic.
So so it's a question of attitude. If you really believe that uh this is something which will bring you uh bring the solution to all your problems, you will find the solution. Some little faith should be there.
Any other question? Or else we can finish.
Closing remarks on divine design
Not we can finish. Mahārāja, if you don't mind, I wanted at the beginning you were to say that Krishna did not make a mistake. Oh yeah. mistake, because never mind what we try.
So one good example that the devotees who live here have heard from here a few times. It's just like nowadays when you buy a computer or a machine right the
The company who makes this computer, they will imbue it with life span. Lifespan. Yeah, a lifespan. So that after some time it will break down and you are forced to take another one.
So the same way Krishna when he wrote his program for this world,
he built in the fact that, just as Mahārāja said, we just cannot be happy. Because if it was so, we would never want to go back to Godhead, because we find happiness here.
So therefore Krishna built in this lifespan, like Mahārāja said. So to make sure that again and again and again you are going to feel that and
and then aspire for something more, because the soul wants something wonderful and then we will look for Krishna. Thank you, Mahard. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Okay.
Now uh can someone help uh clear everything so Maharaj can go up. Um Maharaj, would you like to lead us through the arati? No, no, I'm not, but you somebody else, you would stay here, yeah.