ISKCON is Designed for Education
Bhakti Vijnana Goswami · Hyderabad · 2019
Chapters
Indian spiritual culture versus material culture
Narahian Bahutkam hai, achanahi, kyon gut hindi mehallungaoskibat meh and radarmatabu anovak karti. Maybahut kushi hood bitch meh ajonki hadj na ja kendrata udgatn ja Слейхэм Прабхупада укритасай uh aj uh how say gathered here Ekatrikt Ekatrikva. Ekatri twa.
Sivrabadne uhatiya Sanskriti uh Puradunya me uh Vardankya or Vardankhya or uh uh pracharkya uh isliya uh aj purduni uh lok uh bharatiya sanskriti jante. But Sanskriti, Sapse Mahan Sanskriti. Aladalak Sanskriti, Dunya.
America Bahut Mahan Sanskriti here Rashades se boul na chaptahuti Rasha Sanskrit Bhima Lakin Satsaman Bharatka Sanskrit Esse aqui do Sre Sanskriti Yandati Mahana Sanskriti Lakin ye Bhautic Sanskriti.
Keval Bharatiya Sanskriti and Dyatnik Sanskriti. Kabi kabi lok uh suchte ki atma yasari koch halanaya saman
hair iss the Christian culture may people bury people mm Kyonki mm uh kill Sharir uh divine Lakin у Кришна Каха Бхагавад-гите у ки Atma Yasare Bhahu Bhut Alaghara Samandahi Atma Nitya Share Anity Atma Ananditya Sarir
Атма а атма Кья Сатгюнхайр Сатчитананда Ya Atma svabhav, letin Sari Bhaut Abidya, Bhaut kuch kuch knowled, kuchgyana here Sare Dalhe
Understanding the difference between body and soul
Djara Sare Djara uhin Atma uh Pure spirit here. So I will speak English. I will not torture you anymore by my Hindi. I showed the now it's addressing a book So I was thinking English this
understanding of difference between body and the soul is very important. Because depending on our understanding who we are, self-identity, we lead our life in a different way.
So if we look in Indian culture and culture of Vedic India, we will see that every element of this culture facilitates people to understand that they are soul not, the body.
And if we look in the West, we will see that ultimately this culture, even though it may be very impressive and very great, still it has a flow because it only enforces people or forces people to think that they are the body.
And if we think where the body and the culture facilitates this, the culture forces people to think this way. From school children learn I am this body.
Therefore, Śrīla Prabhupāda said that in the West schools are like slaughterhouses. Because they force us to think we are the body, and body means we will be slaughtered by the time, by the forces of time.
But if we follow Vedic culture, we will ultimately realize I'm not this body, I am the soul. We will feel that we are the soul. We will see each other as the soul, spirit, soul, eternal.
Soul. From birth or even before birth, till the last, uh, antyeṣṭi saṁskāra.
The spiritual foundation of Bhagavad-gita
People follow this culture and if they follow this culture ultimately they will go to Krishna.
Now in uh India there are so many Christian churches and mosques and so many other organizations, religious organizations for preaching this.
So is uh Bharateshmi Christian or Muslim Ki boss him ask him or is the thing why because Indian people they're ready to They are very spiritually inclined. Christianity in Europe is finished.
There is no Christianity there. But here it's flourished in India. Only because there is a very strong spiritual foundation by Vedic culture.
Every person in India knows that ultimately we have to strive to not to get the comforts for the body but uh to achieve the highest goal in our life. And the foundation of this culture is Bhagavad-gītā. Yeah.
Bhagavad-gītāṁ saṁskṛtika mūla ādhāra. Because Bhagavad-gītā, uh, was spoken by Kṛṣṇa Pūrṇa Bhagavān himself. Pūrṇa Puruṣottama Bhagavān himself.
It's a very amazing book, very short book, but uh everything which you need to is there in Bhagavad-gītā. Only 700 verses in Bhagavad-gītā is there.
And therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he said that, whoever you meet, yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa, whoever you meet, you go and you tell him kṛṣṇa-upadeśa means Bhagavad-gītā. You teach him Bhagavad-gītā.
And Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu also said that whoever is born in this land of Bhārata, in this Bhārata-varṣa, he should preach this message all over the world. So you're not doing this? But Śrīla Prabhupāda did it for you.
And therefore in Russia, in America, in England, all over the place, people follow Bhagavad- gītā in it. And they become happy. They become fulfilled. And they start preaching this all over the world.
Transforming lives through spiritual education
I hear I am from Russia speaking on Bhagavad Gita to you. And Srila Prabhupada wanted that all the ISKCON centers would be educational centers.
In other churches or temples, people come and they do some rituals. They come for a little while and they, you know, come on the festival, they spend little time and this is good.
But ultimately nothing changes within their heart. Just push parivata nahihota. Just little maybe little relieved, they become little more peaceful,
little more happy, but ultimately they come back in the same vicious circle of their karma. But Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted us to come to these temples and change our life.
How can we change our life parivata just by listening Krishna Upadesh. Just by listening, you can change everything in your life. You can get experience just by hearing.
In the same way as Arjuna, he was completely changed. When he listened Bhagavad-gītā, he said, Naṣṭo mohaḥ smṛtir labdhā. Kariṣye vacanaṁ tava. I am ready to do what you want me to do.
My moha, my illusion is finished now. Now I remember who I am. So this is the essence of uh spiritual education.
Yeah, Adhyatni Janka Mul uh Adhyatnianka Move uh to facilitate us to make us understand that I'm not this body and I can become happy uh without identifying myself as the body.
Because everyone in this world is completely under illusion. Everyone sublock Mohit here. Oh it's very difficult for me to switch languages. I'm not used to. So uh and what is this moha? This moha is illusion.
I'm this body, I it my body has to be happy. But we can never be happy if we think we are the body.
Realizing the suffering of material existence
Why? Because body is always changing. Body is always dying. At this moment we are dying. People they celebrate their birthday. Kṣaṇaṁ vidāty abhavat saṁsāraṁ ca carācaraṁ ca carācaram. Karagri.
So, just imagine those people who sit in the prison house, who are there, prisoners. Big festival, five years in three year, we are closer to this.
janma-mṛtyu-jarā-व्याधि-दुःख-दोषानुदर्शनम्, we should understand that you know there di dukkalundam we should understand that uh you know there are four basic fundamental sufferings in this world.
Janma is... it's very difficult. We don't remember it, but it's very difficult. For nine months you sit in a very dark place. You try to sit in a dark place for two days. When there is no sun.
And not over in a dark place, but there is anyway, it's not a nice place. Not a very nice place. Would you like to go back? So, and then mṛtyu, then you will die. Whoever is born, he will definitely die.
And then in the meantime we will get sick. Little children always get sick. And then you know, adult people get sick and then old people completely sick.
So, this word duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam, Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā, it's duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam. But the good news is that we don't belong to this world. And we always feel that something is wrong here. One way or another.
Either it's too hot or too cold. Or Congress government, or Modi government, and Modi problem is there, samasyā, and always some problems are there.
Therefore Krishna says you come to me and then you come to me you will never come back here. You will not become homesick. Because our real home is there. In fact, we are being here very homesick about the spiritual world.
Yeah, we always feel that something is wrong. Something is not is not what I want. Something is wrong here. And Krishna shows the way. sarva-dhānāṁ śāntiṁ...
And Srila Prabhupada really explained the way so that even very doubt people can follow this way.
He said that you know he explained it so nicely that people all over the world, even in Africa, people understand what Śrīla Prabhupāda is. Africa, America, and Russia, everywhere. Israel, people understand.
Africa, America, Israel, Russia, maybe Lagos. And he said it's very easy.
The main thing which we should understand and Krishna repeats it again and again and again, but still people are so confused, they they cannot understand what Krishna wants us to do.
Some people say Krishna says that we should do yoga. And they do yoga, they sit in a you know posture and they try to go in samādhi. But in Bhagavad-gītā Arjuna says Krishna How do you find it?
Disgrace you have to probably. And so some people think that Krishna wants us to do yoga. Some people think Krishna wants us to do dhyana. Some people think Krishna wants us just to fulfill our duty. Karma Yoga.
Karma Yogarnak.
Surrendering to Krishna as the highest instruction
But Krishna is so clear in Bhagavad-gītā. He spoke the whole Bhagavad-gītā. He explained so many different subject matters. But at the end he says, now he will tell you the most important thing which you should do.
And he said, Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru. This is what you should do. Just think about me, you become my bhakta, you do something for me, and at least you bow down to me, you just do namaskar to me.
They want to translate in telugu, you will do it. He will do in telugu translate. Okay, too Uh, but it's a good panatoma, right? But nobody remembers this śloka.
And then he says, Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ.
And I I remember once I was speaking to this Indian ambassador to Russia. He's a very educated person. He is you know ambassador of India and he is from Brahmin's family, Suklah's family.
And uh he started explaining to me what Bhagavad-gītā is all about. And according to him, Bhagavad-gītā is you should fight for your country.
And I told him, uh my dear sir, this is all very nice, but Krishna at the end says, Sarva-dharmān parityajya, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja. Dharman Parityaja, Mamekam Saranam Raja.
Uh, you know, you just give up all your dharmas and come to me. And he said, where did he say this.
This is the last sloka of Bhagavad-gītā. This is the most important sloka of Bhagavad-gītā. Krishna says this is the most secret which I am telling you. And he told me I have to look. I don't know.
I, I never heard this sloka. Therefore, Śrīla Prabhupāda's books are so important. Prabhupāda very proudly called his book Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. Bhagavad-gītā yathā-rūpam.
Because so many translations of Bhagavad-gītā are there, but they don't contain the same message which Krishna wants to give. And therefore nothing changes in people's life.
They read Bhagavad-gītā and nothing changes in their life. But if you read Prabhupāda's Bhagavad-gītā it becomes very clear, Śāstra is very clear. The ultimate message of Bhagavad-gītā is to remember about Krishna.
Man-manā. Just not even bhāva. Man-mad-bhakto, man-manā, that's enough. And how we can remember about Krishna? Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rāma
Now so many people in Russia they were put in prison because they were studying Bhagavad-gītā. Around sixty people were in prison and were tortured in labor camps, and even in prison they always remembered about Krishna.
By chanting His holy name. One of them said, What is the big deal? Yes, I was in prison, but Krishna was also born in prison. So and and they were happy.
And now the prisoners, they were asking, Why are you so happy? How you can be happy by being in prison? But they say Krishna is always happy, we remember about Krishna, therefore we are happy.
Krishna-kathāmṛtaṁ tapta-jīvanam. And anyway, this whole world is a big prison. At least when we are in prison we know that we are in prison. When we are not in prison, we forget that the whole world is a prison.
Practicing Krishna consciousness through hearing and chanting
And you become mohita, we become bewildered. So Śrīla Prabhupāda gave us this Kṛṣṇa consciousness society to learn about Krishna and to teach others about Krishna. So we should hear about Krishna again and again and again.
And by hearing about Krishna we will realize Krishna. That's simple. Yeah, you will get sākṣātkāra, realization of Krishna just by hearing about him, and it's a simple matter.
You do not need to sit in padmāsana for hours and meditate. Just by hearing about Krishna and chanting His holy names, you, your brain— It's a scientific fact.
You you you will change your brain structure and your body will change, everything will change. And therefore Krishna says that this is a very simple way, this dharma is very simple.
And he says pratyaksava gamandanyam, it gives you pratyaksi, it gives you saksatkar, the direct experience of God. Therefore, we should do this and then we should teach others.
Because when we teach others we also understand better ourselves. There is a joke. One teacher is complaining about his students. He said, My students are so dull. I explained to them the subject matter once.
And then two times. And then three times. Finally, I understood it myself and they still didn't understand. So this is how it is. When we explain it to others, finally we understand it ourselves.
And therefore Śrīla Prabhupāda established this society in such a way that we should speak about Krishna and hear about Krishna. And from this Shramanam and Kirtanam, Smaranam comes.
And this way we will be able to think about Krishna all the time. And this is a very natural process, very easy process. And therefore we should be very grateful to Śrīla Prabhupāda that he. And
now you have this glorious opportunity to do this in this camera and I'm very happy that you invited me. I don't know why, but probably because I'm from Russia something exotic.
So ultimately if we do this Krishna will be very pleased. And when Krishna pleased, everyone is pleased. That's the secret which Śrīla Prabhupāda revealed to us. How do I know uh whether you pleased or not by my service?
Uh you then see what is to the Sometimes you're so far away and and I'm serving here and you are there. How do I know whether you please or not? Prabhupada said you can know it if you are yourself pleased.
Because if we do something good, Krishna is pleased, our Guru Maharaj is pleased, we become pleased automatically.
You put it in the Bhagavatam, the Satanga, Krishna Transmutar, Krishna Pasanotaru, Padwara Guru Pasana Mataru, Padwara Malanpala Pasanana Mauta. Yes, so this prasana ta is very necessary to us.
And it's very simple to become very happy just by following
Maintaining temples as centers for spiritual education
what Prabhupāda gave to us. So sturdy bhakta would give every day in this temple, in this kṣetra low, you put a choke in a diarrhea. Or at least once a week.
But please don't turn this center into a place for rituals. There are so many places for rituals. Uh it's a katula with a Pradesh. This is the place for education. This is the place where we can change our heart.
And this is the place where we can become very happy. So thank you very much.