BG.6.32. Srila Prabhupada's Compassion
Bhakti Vijnana Goswami · Trivendrum · 2020
Chapters
Opening chants and invocation
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Vaya, Omna mo Bhagavate V Sudevaya, Umamo Bhavate. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya.
Nārāyaṇaṁ namaskṛtya naraṁ caiva narottamam, devīṁ sarasvīṁ vāsaṁ tato jayam udīrayet. narodamam, naramcheva, devim saraswatiasam, devi sarasam, tattojaya mudiraya,
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Krishna, Hare Hare, mahare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare.
So I was told by uh Jagat Shakshit Prabhu that the theme of this festival is compassion. Anukampa daya or anugraha or karuna. And we are all the product of Srila Prabhupada's compassion.
Namadavam Srila Prabhupada Karamitindi Vostukurana. Especially I am the product of his compassion. Because I was born in Russia and I never thought that I will speak in Trivandra lecture on Bhagavad-gītā.
was very innocently studying in the university, uh chemistry and biochemistry, and all of a sudden Srila Prabhupada grabbed me by my neck and put me into Krishna Cross.
If it was not for his compassion, I don't know where I would be. I would probably be dead by now. And his very old age of 69 years he traveled to America. And he had only forty rupees in his pocket.
I don't know if you've had been to America. I have been to America. I wouldn't dare to go to America with 40 rupees. American poetry, America and Poeton. You will probably die after three days because of starvation.
Because you cannot exchange rubies into dollars in America. Well to speak about 40 rupees. I probably wouldn't travel to three one rupees forty rupees. You don't think what an arc rubber would do a lot batanya?
So but he proved his name as being Abhay Charanaravinda. He was fearless.
Compassion as a quality of spiritual advancement
But not only fearless, he was also compassionate. And this karunya is actually or anugraha or anukampa, is a very important quality of a true devotee. It's not an incidental quality.
It's a very essential quality which shows the level of spiritual advancement. We may or may not manifest this compassion at times, but somebody who is pure at heart cannot not manifest compassion.
Namaka Chirapori Karaniam Pradati Pikapur Karin Pakshe Suttamaya Vamadama Kya Karn Nam Pradati Pika Sometimes we feel some softening of the heart when we see the sufferings of others.
Sometimes the heart is really hard and it doesn't soften even though we can see how other people soften. That's our state of consciousness.
But when somebody is very spiritually advanced and very pure, his heart always melts when he sees the cam the sufferings of other living entities. And the proof of it is here in Bhagavad-gītā itself.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa explains in a very important verse of Bhagavad-gītā how compassion is the concomitant quality of spiritual advancement.
Sri Krishna Bhagavan, Bhagavad Gidd, Parimpra Garamana, Athak Vika Prabhani So I will read this verse. This is the 32nd verse of the sixth chapter of Bhagavad-gītā.
And the purport of Śrīla Prabhupāda and then I will try to speak a few words on this topic.
Atma, Opamena, Sarvatra, Samam, Pashatin, Shati, Yah, Arjuna Sukham Vadim Vukham, Sog, Paramaha Mataha, Atmopame na Sarvatra, Samampachyati Yurjuna, Translation by Śrīla Prabhupāda.
He is a perfect yogi who, by comparison with his own self, sees the true equality of all beings in both their happiness and their distress or Arjuna.
One who is Krishna consciousness is a perfect yogi. He is aware of everyone's happiness and distressess by dint of his own personal experience. Okay, yeah.
Six32 The cause of the stress of a living entity is forgetfulness of his relationship with God.
Krishna Bodamula Utama Yogi Ari. Swamha, Makya Worody, Sukhukamalayama Sina Kamu. And the cause of happiness is knowing Krishna to be the supreme enjoyer of all activity,
of all the activities of human beings, the proprietor of all lands and planets, and the sincerest friend of all living entities.
The perfect yogi knows that the living candidate, a the living being who is conditioned by the modes of material nature is subject to the three-fold material miseries due to forgetfulness of his relationship with Krishna.
Purdue the trigonomat, Pavika Purdue Gunamara, Batana, Jivat Navan Thanam, Pagavana Maya Bhantam, Vishma Kimbura, Muna Vinam Powhida Dukamana and Burkini Vedu and the Urukuttama Yogi Arya.
And because one in Krishna consciousness is happy, he tries to distribute the knowledge of Krishna everywhere. Krishna Magodam Anandagaram and Nari Bondra.
Since the perfect yogi tries to broadcast the importance of becoming Krishna conscious, he is the best philanthropist in the world and he is the dearest servitor of the Lord.
Krishna Bodhava Nagantuna Prathana de Kurch Every Godri Nakuttama Yogi Atari, Logatari Echuma Jiva Garani Prabhupada.
Yes, as Krishna explains in Bhagavad-gītā 6.32, in other words a devotee of the Lord who always looks to the welfare of all living entities and in this way he is actually the friend of everyone.
But Bhagavad Bakan Sakala Jiva Janday is raised in a comfort in the window.
He is the best yogi because he does not desire perfection in yoga for his personal benefit but tries for others also. He does not envy his fellow living entities.
Here is a contrast between a pure devotee of the Lord and a yogi interested only in his personal elevation.
The yogi who has withdrawn to a secluded place in order to meditate perfectly may not be as perfect as the devotee who is trying his best to turn every man towards Krishna consciousness.
Namamam Vishnu Padai Krishna Krishna Vatalish Matha Bhakti Vidana Taswana Sai Saraswati Goravana Pachary and Rivishana Vadi Paschatana Sitani Van Chakopadara Chachri Basindu Bivacha Patitana Bhavani Bhyovaisnava Bhyona Moramha, Jai Sri Krishna Chaitanya Brabhoni Tananda Syvaita Badahara
True yogis and the quality of empathy
Śrīvāsa, etc. Gore, Bhakta-vṛnda, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma, Rāma, Hare Hare Yanta So
here we see how Krishna himself in the sixth chapter of Bhagavad Gita glorifies compassion.
Usually uh when we speak about yogis uh the picture in our mind is that it's somebody with long beard who is sitting in Himales and meditating in the cave.
And he is very compassionate towards spiders and snakes who live in the same cave.
Of course nowadays the common understanding of a yogi is somebody who is in Kobolan beach teaching asanas to some foreigners. That's a modern conception of yoga.
But here Krishna himself says no, this is not the highest manifestation of yoga. Bhaktivinoda Thakur he used to stress yoga is not gymnastics. Yoga has nothing to do with gymnastics.
But yoga is not even meditation according to this definition of yoga. Krishna himself says, Sayyogi Paramamata, he is the highest of yoga of yogis.
Who is the highest of yogis, the one who looks inside and then he looks outside and he sees that the nature of all living entities is the same. Ātma-upamāena means he always compares other people with himself.
And when he sees that somebody is suffering, he also suffers. And when he sees that somebody is happy, he becomes happy. He is capable to read the emotions which other people are experiencing.
When, uh, ordinary people see other's emotions, they may not be touched by the emotions of other people. When they see somebody is suffering, they become happy.
When they see somebody is happy, they become they become suffered, they start suffering. It is said that uh the n quote unquote normal
person, he is, uh, uh, paraduḥkha-he He sees somebody is suffering and he thinks, oh, I'm not suffering, so I'm better than him. I'm lucky, he's just an unfortunate person.
And when he sees that somebody is happy, he becomes envious. He thinks, you know, why I'm not so happy as him. He should suffer. So ordinary people they usually paraduḥkha-duḥkhi parasuk- paraduḥkha- sukhi.
Paraduḥkha-sukhi parasukha-duḥkhi. Only because their heart is very hard. It doesn't undergo the vikāra, the change when he sees the emotions of other people. But the path of spiritual advancement is to make our heart soft.
Ātma-upamānena, prāmāṇya-namas, take what the mudana-matugain. The element which makes our heart so hard is ego. Namura Vitra Khati Nimeri Airma Navarina
Ahaṅkāra! Ahaṅkāra! Ahaṅkāra makes us, um, makes our heart very hard and therefore we're only concerned about ourselves.
Story of Kuresha and the frog
But the path of spiritual advancement is to gradually, gradually relinquish the false ego, the false, uh, egotism of ahaṅkāra. And that makes you vulnerable and affected by the sufferings and emotions of other people.
There is a story about Kūrēśa, the great saint and disciple of Rāmānujācārya. Chāri. Once Kūreśa with a small group of his associates was following through a lonely through a jungle, through a forest.
And while proceeding through the forest he saw a frog which was frantically screaming because the snake was gradually gradually slowly swallowing this frog.
I don't know if you have ever seen snakes uh swallowing the frogs, but it's a very usually the snakes are very thin and the frogs are fat so it takes some time for the for the thin snake to swallow the fat frog.
It's a very long process, and the frog is alive all the time. The frog is there, and the mouth of the snake gradually, gradually being dragged inside. So this frog was crying piteously.
I don't know I don't know how the frogs cried. But it was it was really it was really a sin.
And when Kuresha saw this sin, he fainted. His life there, his pran was disconnected from his consciousness because of the emotional uh intensity of the emotions which he experienced. He really felt the sufferings of this little frog.
So when he finally came to the senses, his associates, his friends, asked him, Why did you faint?
And Kuresha said very interesting. He says this frog was crying so desperately. And I felt the pain which this frog is experiencing. But also I thought who hears the cries of this little frog?
And in this jungle, who will respond to the desperate cries of a frog?
Because it's very you know when sometimes we cry when we feel pain in our heart we really cry and cry. And then if somebody hears our cry, uh we become little relieved.
Namulum Palapurum Karaya Namasa Kari, Pusha Ari Kelkarum Bagir, Namak, Ala Ubadias Mighty. The very fact that somebody can hear us already gives some relief to our sufferings.
But Kuresh said, you know, not only he cries, but nobody heals him. Nobody cares about this. And then of course he said, but of course, Krishna hears his cry. But this little story illustrates how the highest
Prabhupada's compassion for commuters in Mumbai
of the yogis, Sayogi Parama He cannot just go away or you know pass away. He starts crying. There is a story, a similar story about Śrīla Prabhupāda. Śrīla Prabhupāda would sometimes be charitable.
Once in the morning, early in the morning, Srila Prabhupada was traveling in a car in Bombay. And I don't know if you've been to Bombay, but Bombay is a very it's a very long city. It's the city like a snake.
And people they travel uh you know they usually the m the main transportation in Bombay is this trains which goes through the whole city.
And if you are unfortunate enough to be traveling during the peak hours during the most busy hours in this train, it's just it's just hell.
Or could buy a side train and then you can do another and this and these pack trains people travel for hours and hours and hours just to get to the job and then hours back and all in in completely jammed train.
For Ara Manipura Lorum Sanjay Chana, Jolis Saratakun, other boda and manipula And Prabhupada was driving in a car, an ambassador car at that time.
And he saw the crowds of people going to these trains to be packed and to be jammed to be basically squeezed out of their life airs in these jammed trains.
To be in these trains is basically doing pranayama, you have to you know stop breathing for two hours. Very long. Anyway, Prabhupāda, he was watching this scene and he started crying.
Because he just he just couldn't couldn't contain the emotions which he experienced when he saw this scene.
I mean these trains they're like snakes and these people who go into these trains they're like frogs, training previously. And these these these trains they swallow people and then spit them out.
And Prabhupāda he thought you know this is the human beings that the living entities with the most intelligent, most developed intelligence, how they spend their life.
This is this is how they spend their life two hours back, two hours forth, two hours back and then you know working in some dirty place in Mumbai to get you know thousand rupees per day if they're lucky or maybe five hundred rupees.
Julie Power and Julian Pinot and I told us some either two menti, jewelry man, severe my daughter G and Cory So
therefore Kṛṣṇa says that the perfect yogi he is always seeing the suffering, he knows the sufferings and he knows the happiness of other people. He's in touch with this emotions of other people.
Emotional intelligence and material success
He's capable of experiencing the emotions which other people are experiencing. This quality of understanding the emotions of other people is called empathy.
And it's very interesting that in the recent studies, psychological studies.
The scientists they say that those people who are capable of experiencing or recognizing the emotions of other people, they are most successful people in life.
So it's not only spiritual quality, even to be successful in material life you have to develop this uh ability to understand what other people feel.
Apoll at my matramala, how the Munerana Gilum, Matular, Anu Kinna Vigara, Latam, Kititsavyana Kariba, Pedanuna. In English, it is called emotional intelligence. Vaikari Kamaya Buddh whatever. Vaikari Kamaya Bodhi.
Sounds good.
Okay, so so disability it basically means empathy or emotional intelligence or vaikārika-māyā-buddhi, however you call it, is uh it's the ability to reciprocate with emotions of other people. And ultimately if you want to be successful in this world you have to be able to reciprocate properly in a very productive way with the emotions of other people.
If the husband does not understand the emotions of his wife, their life will not be very successful.
It's usually how it goes, you know, the wife is very emotional and she says something, and husband is very logical and he says you're talking nonsense, some side, some politics, and that party, what they got my some sign, but, whatever, other No, this is not nonsense, this is the real emotions which she experiences this. And if the husband cannot reciprocate with these emotions, it will be very difficult for them to live together.
So even in the material sense, this is a very important quality to always
Broadening intelligence through Krishna consciousness
try to understand what other people are experiencing, whether it is suffering or uh happiness. But this quality naturally develops as somebody who is in contact with God. Why? Because uh he broadens his intelligence.
Yeah, Buddhi vikasita. What? Vikasita. Vikasita. It becomes broad. I like Malailama. I can learn Malayalam if I come more often here.
So, uh, so this, uh, uh, expansion, vikasita of buddhi takes place when you are in Krishna consciousness.
When we try to come in contact with Krishna by chanting his holy name, then the development of intelligence is a byproduct. We don't develop compassion independently as an independent good quality.
It's a good quality, but we don't do it. We just uh we try to develop Krishna consciousness. And we develop the-all-embracing Krishna bhāva. And we also know that when we are Krishna conscious, we become happy.
I will tell you a little story from my own life. Please forgive me for this.
When I just started practicing Krishna consciousness, I was at that time a postgraduate student and I was doing my PhD degree or whatever it is in science.
And when I became involved in Krishna consciousness, at one point the secret police of Soviet Russia, Communist Russia became very concerned because at that time the atheism was the accepted religion of Russia.
There was no other religions. Other religions were not allowed, only atheism. This is a very uh peculiar religion. Of course, you are living in communist caravan so you must know a little bit about it.
So in this Vichitramaya religion. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is Lenin. Of course he is dead, but it's a way of power. Anyway, because and because Lenin didn't believe in God, so nobody is supposed to believe in God.
And you know, to make the long story short, you know, the secret police came to my work and said we will stop you from doing this PhD, you will never be able to get your degree and this and that.
And after some time my relatives found out about this. And my relatives they definitely wanted very much that I will get this degree and I will become some professor somewhere.
They didn't think that I will come to Trivandrum to preach this Krsna consciousness my career path in general.
So and and they became really concerned and really worried and started you know always chastising me, what are you doing, you're ruining your life, this and that.
And uh you know uh during one of these sessions when my relatives were chastising me, I was sitting there and you know somebody saying what you're doing, just stop this nonsense, do the science, you know,
this is all nonsense, blah blah blah. And I was sitting there listening and smiling from ear to ear. And they were chastising and chastising and I was smiling. Ultimately somebody said, why you're wasting your time?
Don't you see he's happy? So this is this is little story from my life to show that you know
Purpose of preaching to suffering souls
you become happy when you And at the same time those people who are practicing Krishna consciousness or meditating on the ever-blissful Krishna Balaram, they know how difficult it is to live without this spiritual dimension in life.
When people uh live material life, you know, it it's it's very hard and what is the result? The result is only one, death. Yeah, oh before that old age and this year, yes. But we have to panamantana marana.
So material life is is completely empty. It's it's a very difficult enterprise. Bhaktivinon Maharaj told me that in Kerala there is a very high suicide rate. The highest suicide rate.
But in reality, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says that those people who don't practice Krishna consciousness, they're already doing ātma-hatyā. They're killing their own soul.
They're trying to forget that their spirit soul and uh they cannot be happy uh no matter what materially they will achieve.
Atma mala yandana, manandu wanda, yendan chedam, hautiva, andan de adam, orgulhi sandoshmundavina.
And therefore it is said as it is said here, the yogi who can feel the sufferings of other people who are not connected with Krishna and who can feel happiness of being connected with Krishna, they try to preach Krishna consciousness.
They try to spread this philosophy or this practice among the people. Krishna Maya Bantamindata or Attraga Riddhamana and Hovikindata Educharyna I learned so many Malailam words today, prayatna, they're trying to do this.
Okay. So and uh therefore Prabhupāda said that even if we don't feel compassion ourselves, we still should try to preach. Because this is the way of our spiritual practice, this is the way to serve Krishna.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, it was one of his favorite verses from Bhagavad-gītā, the last verse from Bhagavad-gītā, where Krishna says that whoever preaches this science among my devotees, he is the most dear to me.
It is said that among all the energies of God, and the Supreme Personality of God has all the energies, the highest energy is Karunya Shakti.
Jiva Gosvami's analysis of divine mercy
And this is the most essential characteristic of God. But it's very interesting.
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, in his Bhakti-sandarbha, he explains that actually please listen very carefully because it's something which is a little difficult to understand.
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says that actually God does not have compassion towards ordinary living entities. It's it's very difficult for us to understand this statement, but please listen to the logic
and uh how this apparent contradiction will be resolved by Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī. It's apparent contradiction because from one side let's say that the Lord is all merciful, He is uh Sarva Karunya Mai Bhagawan. See So uh
and at the same time Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says, no, God doesn't feel the compassion towards all ordinary living entities. And Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī philosophically proves it.
And they have already Tatriya Maya Talitimudda He says, uh, what is karunya, what is mercy, what is compassion.
He says it's softening of the heart or this vikara, the change in the heart which takes place when somebody is in contact with somebody's suffering. You agree with this, right?
We we see somebody suffering, we come in contact. You know, so many people are suffering now, but because we are not in contact with their sufferings, we are not suffering. We don't feel anything.
But when somehow or other we come in contact with their sufferings and if our heart is little open, then there will be some vicar, some change within the heart, we will feel what they feel. And in this way we will feel compassion.
One of the words, I believe Malayalam words for compassion is anukampa. And Anukampa uh it's Sanskrit word. Anukampa means kampa means trembling. Kampa and the Kamba Nampulana Nana.
And Anukampa means you start trembling when you you see that somebody else is trembling. You literally feel the same emotional energy which other experience. Somebody is trembling and you start trembling.
And then Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says, but Lord does not come in contact with the sufferings, material sufferings of living entities. Because He is spiritual.
Something spiritual cannot can't come in contact with something material. Like you know, oil and water. They cannot mix because they have different nature.
So Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says Lord cannot really experience the same thing which the living entity experiences and because he cannot really experience what the living entity experiences he cannot have compassion.
Uh it is said that uh when it is said in the scriptures according to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī that Lord is compassionate, uh it means that he feels compassion towards the spiritual emotions which living entity devotees experience.
Like it is said in Bhāgavatam, Anugrahāya bhaktānām manuṣiṁ deham āśritam, uh Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī says that the Lord comes anugrahāya bhaktānām because of the anugraha, because of the compassion towards bhaktas, towards devotees.
The sufferings of devotees, when they suffer in separation with Krishna, are not material. They are spiritual and therefore Krishna can experience the sufferings of the beautiful Him. And therefore He comes.
But as far as the material sufferings is there, God cannot experience them. But how then we can say that Lord is compassionate? Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī resolves this contradiction in a very beautiful way. Sundaramai.
Bahut Sundaramai. So he says that yes, the Lord does not experience the sufferings of ordinary living entities. But it doesn't mean that he does not manifest his compassion.
He says he sends his saints to the material world who can remember how they were suffering all these material sufferings and uh by sending the saints he manifests his compassion because saints uh can truly experience the same sufferings and relieve other living entities from their sufferings.
He says, even though the saint is completely pure and he's he is completely spiritual, if he is a pure devotee, he's he's spiritual, therefore he does
not have the same material experiences as normal living beings. But nevertheless, he still remembers how he was suffering when he was in this material condition.
Like Prahlāda Mahārāja says in the seventh canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that uh you know uh as far as I am concerned, uh as as soon as I start glorifying you, I become very happy and blissful.
When the pure devotees starts chanting the holy name, he becomes transported into spiritual realm and he becomes very blissful.
But still, Prahlāda Mahārāja says, still I am suffering because of the suffering of all these fools and rascals. Why? Because the saint is in between.
He is spiritual himself, but he still remembers and he can relate to the material sufferings of living entities.
And therefore Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says that uh kāruṇya-śakti of Kāruṇya-śakti of Bhagavān uh has a peculiar vāhana or career. Like we know that Ganeśa has his vāhana, it's a mouse.
Murugan or Kartikeya has his vāhana, it's a peacock, you know Viṣṇu has his vāhana, it's Garuḍa. And in the same way, the spiritual shakti of Vishnu
or Krishna, the completely spiritual shakti, Kāruṇya-śakti, the main shakti of Krishna has her own vāhana. Her vāhana is the heart of the saint. It's through this vāhana, this Shakti of the Lord travels in the world.
And in the heart of the saint, the Kāruṇya-śakti travels everywhere and spreads its influence uh everywhere and touches the heart of our other living entities.
And in the same way the Kāruṇya-śakti, the energy of mercy of the Lord, within the heart of Śrīla Prabhupāda, who was uh her vāhana, who was her carrier, traveled to America, traveled to West, having Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And then this Kāruṇya-śakti of Bhagavān was in the heart of Śrīla Prabhupāda, traveled around the world eleven times.
aprāṇāṁ bhāgavataṁ kathāṁ śrī-prabhupāda-sannidhau, ya iha dhṛta-dehāḥ tyaktvā pada-paṅkajaṁ tava nūnam That was the special arrangement of the Lord.
Serving Srila Prabhupada's compassionate mission
To touch the hearts of all suffering living entities in this material world. And if we want to become true servants and followers of Srila Prabhupada, we should become the servants of his compassion.
We may or may not feel the same compassion as he feels. But we can always feel that we are serving Śrīla Prabhupāda and His mission and in this way serve His compassion.
And uh in this way we will also become dear to the Lord and ultimately deserve his compassion.
And if we feel at least a little gratitude towards Śrīla Prabhupāda, we should try to tell people about Krishna and about his holy name.
Like yesterday I saw a little video of how Śrīvīra-pāṭaka Maharaj is preaching in Bangladesh. He recently initiated six or seven thousand devotees in Bangladesh.
And then his wheelchair he is sitting on the stage and he is he's shouting Gaurāṅga Gaurāṅga Gaurāṅga. He is the true servant of Śrīla Prabhupāda's compassion.
He is serving his compassion even in this condition because his heart is touched by the compassion of Srila Prabhupada.
And if our heart was touched by compassion of a devotee, Karuṇā Sparśi, then we should also do the same. Thank you very much.