Remembering Krishna at the Time of Death

Remembering Krishna and spiritual meditation

0:00There is a story. And a cow said there was fire. So after that incident, the cow, as soon as, the cow sees something red, is disturbed. Oh, there is fire.

0:16Similarly, here, tasting the bitterness of so-called rascaldom, they think that Radha-Krishna is a similar rascaldom. So when they have sent the file? Did you ask? I think two days, two days ago. Oh.

0:39Then they might have received it. Yes. Oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā. Cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ. Śrī-caitanya-mano-'bhīṣṭaṁ

0:57sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale, svayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ dadāti sva-padāntikam. Vande 'haṁ śrī-guroḥ śrī-yuta-pada-kamalaṁ śrī-gurūn vaiṣṇavāṁś ca,

1:08śrī-rūpaṁ sāgrajātaṁ saha-gaṇa-raghunāthānvitaṁ taṁ sa-jīvam, sādvaitaṁ sāvadhūtaṁ parijana-sahitaṁ kṛṣṇa-caitanya-devam, śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pādān saha-gaṇa-lalitā-śrī-viśākhānvitāṁś ca.

1:26In the eighth chapter, Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Krishna says: anta-kāle ca mām eva smaran muktvā kalevaram, yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ yāti nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ. Anta-kāle means at the time of death.

2:07At the time of death, one who remembers me, and mām eva, mām eva. Mām eva means... eva means certainly, and me means... mām means me. Certainly me. The Supreme Personality of Godhead says that, means Krishna.

2:41All Krishna's expansions, the puruṣa, not formless. Mām eva, which is explained in the twelfth chapter: kleśo 'dhikataras teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām.

3:07One who is attached to the impersonal Brahman, then his business is trouble. Oh, kleśa. Kleśa means trouble. Avyaktā hi gatir duḥkhaṁ dehavadbhir avāpyate.

3:33Dehavadbhir, because we are in this material body and our senses are not able to understand except something with form. So if by artificial way I want to think of formless, it becomes a troublesome thing.

4:02Actually, God is not formless, but His form is different.

Understanding the form of God

4:11Everything has form. Without form, there is nothing; even the smallest atom, it has a form.

4:25Just like in geometry, they describe a point has no length nor breadth because the point is so small that our instrument, measuring instrument fails to measure what is its length or breadth.

4:48Therefore, they dictate that it has no length and no breadth. But actually it is not a fact. It has length and breadth, but we have no instrument, we have no power to see. So spirit soul is aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān.

5:11This soul is greater than the greatest, and smaller than the smallest. So we cannot see the smallest, we cannot see the greatest.

5:27Greater than the greatest—we can think of the greatest, this star, the expansion of this star, unlimited. But such sky, God is so great that innumerable millions and billions of skies are within.

5:54And the Brahma-saṁhitā, it is said: yasyaika- niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya. Therefore we have to refer to the authoritative scripture to get knowledge.

6:09As I told you the other day, that transcendental knowledge has to be acquired by aural reception. There is no other way.

6:23Just like practical, the geometrical calculation is that of the sun, the dimension of the sun is many, many hundreds thousands of times greater than the earth. But we are seeing just like this.

6:48So our sense is unable to see how great it is. It is a material thing. So how we can see the greatness of God with this material eye? It is not possible.

7:09As you are understanding about the sun by authoritative statement of the astronomy that this sun globe is so great, so many hundred thousands greater than the earth, but you are seeing just like it is.

7:28So how do you get the knowledge of the sun? By receiving through the ear, that's all. Simply you have to receive the knowledge from the authority.

7:41It is not that practically you are experimenting by going to the sun, that it is so great and so long, so broad. That is not possible. You have to receive such knowledge through authority. That's all.

8:00So even for material understanding, which is beyond our sense perception, we have to receive knowledge from authority. Similarly, we cannot understand what is God.

8:19But from the authoritative sources we can understand God is so great. Just like in the Brahma-saṁhitā, it is stated that: yasyaika- niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya jīvanti loma-vilajā jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ.

8:37You see this universe, and in each universe there is a predominating demigod which is called Brahmā or jagad-aṇḍa-nātha, the master of the universe.

8:50That master of the universe is living only taking the duration of breathing of Mahā-Viṣṇu. Just like you are breathing, inhaling and exhaling.

9:03So when Mahā-Viṣṇu exhales, innumerable universes come out, and when he inhales, all these universes go into his body. Just imagine how great he is, how big he is. That is inconceivable with our limited sense.

9:31But if we believe, then you get the perfect knowledge. There is no doubt. If we don't believe, there is no other way. You cannot understand what is God, what is his length, what is his breadth.

9:50So whenever in the scripture it is said that God is without form, that means he has no form which we have experienced. But he has got form. That's the same example.

10:13When you cannot measure, you say a point has no length, no breadth. But actually it is not a fact. The point has length and breadth. We have no instrument to measure it. That's all.

10:27Similarly, as soon as we say 'form', we understand this form, just that I am seeing your form, you are seeing my form. So we understand that God may be a form, and because God also comes in this form also.

10:56Just like Bhagavad-gītā says: avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam. Because I have come in the form of an ordinary human being, they are denying. "How can He be God?"

11:11So many, uh, scholars, so many philosophers, they deny to accept Krishna as God. Why? Because He appears to be just like you and me, a human being. But God can appear in any way, because He's all-powerful.

11:30He sometimes appears as fish, sometimes He appears as, uh, tortoise. Sometimes He appears like a boar, sometimes He appears half-lion, half-man.

11:44Uh, similarly, sometimes He appears as man, sometimes, uh, He appears as woman. So, so we cannot restrict God, that He cannot be like this. He cannot come here, He cannot take any shape. No. He is not under my restriction.

12:06Then how is He God? If I put God under my restricted knowledge, a limited knowledge, then God becomes under my understanding.

12:22But the Vedic language says God is beyond the expression of words, He's beyond the conception of manas, is greatest of the great and the smallest of the small.

Nature of the soul and body

12:42How is He the smallest of the small? We are also, because we are spirit parts. Now, do you know what is our measurement? That we can find in the śāstra.

12:55I have several times mentioned that one ten-thousandth part of the tip of your hair is the measurement of the soul. Now, you have no instrument.

13:08You cannot measure even the tip of your hair, and what to speak of one-thousandth, ten-thousandth part of it. Impossible. Therefore, because you cannot find out by this, "Where is that spirit spark?" There is.

13:26But your present eyes cannot find it out. Therefore you say nirākāra and no form. But actually it is form.

13:39We get information from the śāstras, just like we get, uh, complete information of the sun globe from geography or from authoritative sources: scientist, astrologer, astronomer, mathematician. So similarly, you can get

14:02information. What is the form of the individual soul? What is the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead there? But His form is not like your... I mean, form. The Brahma-saṁhitā says: sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. His form is

14:27full of bliss and full of knowledge and eternal. But this body, this body, our body, is neither eternal, neither full of knowledge, neither blissful. So we can distinguish what is the form of God. Sac-cid-ānanda.

14:53Sat means eternal. Cit means full of knowledge. Ānanda means full of blissfulness. So this body is neither eternal nor full of knowledge. It is full of ignorance and full of miseries and not permanent, temporary.

15:19So God hasn't got such a body. Therefore sometimes it is said in the Vedic literature, "formless." Formless means the form which you can conceive at the present moment, God hasn't got that form. But when He descends like

15:44you and me, that is His mercy. Paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām, He comes just to be visible to our eyes. Just like this picture. This picture is not... it

16:05is not to be taken that He is not God. His picture, the picture of God, is also God. Picture of Krishna is Krishna. The sound name Krishna, that is also Krishna.

16:19But just to give us facility to understand, you do not think that this picture of Krishna is painted by some artist's imagination. No. It is not imagination. There is description.

16:38And the scripture, what is the form of Krishna? «veṇuṁ kvaṇantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣaṁ barhāvataṁsam» «asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam kandarpa-koṭi-kamanīya-» «viśeṣa-śobhaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ» «tam ahaṁ bhajāmi».

17:02Veṇu means flute. He is playing on a flute. Veṇuṁ kvaṇantam. Aravinda-dalāyatākṣam. Aravinda means lotus petal. His eyes are so nice, like lotus petals. Veṇuṃ kvaṇantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣam, barhāvataṃsam.

17:27Barhāvataṃsam means the peacock feather. You find Krishna and Vishnu, He is very fond of this peacock feather. Everywhere we'll find the peacock feather.

17:40Barhāvataṃsam asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam, and His color is a cloud, darkest cloud. Ambuda, ambuda means cloud. Asita means blackness. Sundarāṅgam, but still He is so beautiful.

18:02Veṇuṃ kvaṇantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣam barhāvataṃsam asitāmbuda- sundarāṅgaṃ kandarpa-koṭi. He is so beautiful that He surpasses the beauty of millions of Cupids. Cupid is supposed to be very beautiful.

18:24It impels lust, Cupid. So He is many more thousands of times more beautiful than Cupid. He has got His particular beauty. In this way, there are descriptions. So according to the description, these pictures are drawn.

18:56It is not imagination. So this form is factual, it is not imagination.

Following scriptural authorities and mahajanas

19:04The Māyāvāda philosophers, impersonalists, they answer the Bhagavad-gītā's word that kleśo 'dhikataras teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām.

19:18One who is attached to impersonal views, their process of meditation or execution of spiritual activities is very troublesome. Now, therefore, Māyāvāda philosophers, they say that God has no form.

19:39But because you cannot meditate upon the formless, so you just imagine any form you like. So God is not subjected to your imagination. That is not God's form. If you imagine something, then that has been degraded.

20:01Śaṅkarācārya limited such imaginative forms to five only. Five. What is that five? Vishnu, Lord Śiva, and Sun, and Ganesh, and Devi Durga. He limited.

20:22There are any of these five forms you can meditate upon, as it—and ultimately it is formless.

20:32But at the present moment, an authorized person has degraded in such a way that you can imagine any form; you can imagine even a stool, they say like that.

20:48So, neither God is limited to any five imaginative forms, or this form or that form. His form nobody can imagine. Neither within our perception, but He is as He is. Paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto mama bhūta-maheśvaram.

21:13Therefore we have to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead from authoritative sources. Just like the Bhagavad-gītā, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself speaking what I am. This is the science of God.

21:32If we take Him as He is saying, then we become perfect and a knower of God. There is no difficulty. But if we deny, then we are in difficulty.

21:47Those who have accepted Krishna as He is, God as He is, they have attained perfection also; that is practical. Not that we are. There are millions and billions of followers of Krishna in India.

22:03Not only ordinary followers, just like many great stalwarts, educated, I mean to say, saintly persons like Śaṅkarācārya, Madhvācārya, Rāmānujācārya—great educated and learned scholars, they have accepted; Lord Chaitanya has accepted.

22:26And there are so many ācāryas also. And there are millions and millions of temples of Krishna. They are being worshipped by millions and billions of devotees still.

22:39Still, if you go to some Krishna temple in South India, you will find thousands and thousands of people always assembled. You have no imagination, you see.

22:55In Jaipur temple, Jaipur temple, the king's palace—within the king's palace there is Jaipur temple. So whenever you go in that Jaipur temple, you will find at least one thousand men assembled. At least.

23:16If you go to Jagannātha Purī, you will find at least two thousand men daily coming and going. If you go to Vrindavan, you'll find at least five thousand men daily coming and going.

23:32So, and in Vrindavan itself, there are five thousand temples. Out of that, only seven or eight temples are very big temples. Other—in other words, each and every house is a Krishna temple.

23:52So it is not that... somebody asked me then, "How many there are in India, Krishna-bhaktas?" The Krishna consciousness in India, at least the Hindus, oh, they're ninety percent at least, all Krishna conscious.

24:15So His form, His form, His name, His quality, His pastimes—everything is transcendental. Therefore, in the Bhagavad-gītā, it is said: "antavat tu phalaṁ teṣāṁ tad bhavaty alpa-medhasām." Alpa-medhasām.

24:37If you simply practice to see the Krishna's form, see... Just like if you chant Hare Krishna, at once you see the form of Krishna within your mind.

24:51That's what Bhagavad-gītā says: one who is thinking of Krishna always, he's the greatest yogi. He's the greatest yogi. "yoginām api sarveṣāṁ"—there are many kinds of yogi.

25:10But Krishna says that of all these yogis, "yoginām api sarveṣāṁ." "Sarveṣāṁ" means you can count as many millions of yogis.

25:23But of all that, all of them, "yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā"—one who is always thinking of Me. "Antar-ātmanā"—within himself, within the heart, within the manas. "Śraddhāvān"—with faith and love.

25:47"Bhajate" means engaged in devotional service. "Krishna, please be kind upon me. I am fallen. Kindly accept me." This is bhāva, that's all. Very simple thing.

26:01Krishna, having that said, He has especially mentioned Nanda-tanuja, the son of Nanda Mahārāja, because in Vrindavan Krishna appeared Himself as the cowherd boy, son of Nanda Mahārāja.

26:21So Lord Chaitanya is teaching us: "ayi nanda-tanuja." "Oh, the beloved son of Nanda Mahārāja." "Ayi nanda-tanuja patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ mām." "I am Your eternal servant."

26:36Now, "viṣame bhavāmbudhau," I am fallen into this material existence. Great ocean of material existence. Don't you see the biggest outer space? It is... what to speak of ocean. We cannot compare with the ocean.

27:00So many millions of oceans can be pushed in this, uh, our space, our material space. So, patita-kiṅkaraṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau kṛpayā... By your causeless mercy, kṛpayā... Pankaja... Pankaja means a lotus flower.

27:26A lotus flower, you'll find some dust, saffron. So the devotees pray that as, as in the, as in the lotus flower there are so many dust, you kindly accept me as one of the particles of that dust. So this is very nice.

27:48Bhakti-yoga. Simply surrender and pray, and that is the best. And the highest type of yoga.

27:59If you accept this Bhagavad-gītā, if you believe in this Bhagavad-gītā, if you follow the footprints of great personalities who have followed this Bhagavad-gītā, then your life is perfect. There is no doubt about it.

28:17Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ. You cannot... Everyone is following the footprints of great personalities in every department of knowledge.

28:30Even scientific, scientific, uh, scientists, they are also following the law of gravitation, basing their further progress on the law of gravitation. There are so many laws.

28:45How the laws are there, they do not know, but that law is found out and scientific advancement is going on. So, mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ. So as in the material

29:00field also, we are following the great personalities and authorities. Similarly, in spiritual realization, if you follow the great personalities.

29:15There are specifically mentioned the great personalities in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. If you cannot find out, "Who is great personality?" The list is there. And who are they?

29:30Svayambhū, Nārada, Śambhu, Kumāra, Kapila, Manu, Prahlāda, Janaka, Bhīṣma, Bali, Vaiyāsaki... Prahlāda Mahārāja is a great authority in the devotional service. A five-years-old boy, he was chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa.

29:54His only fault was that his father became enemy. His father insistently wanted, "You stop this nonsense, Hare Kṛṣṇa." He would not.

30:05So the father wanted to kill him, put him into so many tortures, and at last he came out successful, and he was faithful. So therefore he is mahājana. In spite of so much torture by his father, he did not give it up.

30:24Similarly, if we stick to the principle as it was done by great personalities—Brahmā, Lord Shiva, Narada, Prahlad Mahārāja, Janaka Mahārāja—their stories, their life is, they are everywhere in the Puranas.

30:42So, mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ, we have to accept the path of great personalities. Otherwise, if we want to understand the Absolute Truth simply by arguments and logic, it will never be achieved.

31:05Athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya-prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi jānāti tattvam. The path of spiritual realization is for him who has a slight mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Prasāda-leśānugṛhīta.

31:32Prasāda means mercy. Leśa is slight. If one has achieved a slight benediction from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he can understand what He is.

31:52Those who have not achieved that causeless mercy, ciraṁ vicinvan, for life together, if they go on contemplating and meditating and speculating, it is not possible. It is not possible.

32:11Therefore Bhagavad-gītā says, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante. After such so-called meditation and so-called speculation, that is also valid. But it takes a long, long, long way. They are not rejected.

32:32But our life is very short, especially in this age. Our intelligence is very short. We cannot perform real meditation. We cannot perform the preliminary activities: yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma.

32:48It is not possible at the present moment. So those principles are not rejected, but it is not possible at the present moment. Therefore, Lord Chaitanya says, harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam.

33:05As soon as you chant this transcendental vibration, Hare Krishna, immediately the form of Krishna is within yourself, without yourself.

33:16And here in the Bhagavad-gītā the Lord says, anta-kāle ca mām eva smaran muktvā kalevaram. So at the time of death, simply think of Me. Smaran, simply by remembering. Muktvā.

33:38Immediately he becomes mukta, kalevaram yaḥ prayāti, anyone who passes away from this body. So what is the result? Yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvam. Mad-bhāvam means he gets the next body, uh, just like Krishna.

33:59That means that sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha. Eternal body, blissful life, and full of knowledge. Yaḥ prayāti sa mad-yāti. He attains yāti. Nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ. Do not be doubtful. It is fact. How it is fact?

34:20The next verse says, it is not a fact because somebody is thinking of Krishna, he gets a body like Krishna and goes to the Krishna's abode. But it is a general rule. What is that?

Transmigration and the subtle body

34:35Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram. Anyone at the time of his death, the mind being absorbed by some kind of thought. So he gets the body. And there are instances just like Bharat Maharaj.

34:55Bharat Maharaj, he was a great king. But at an early age, only he was only 24 years old, he gave up his kingdom. Bharat Maharaj means the king by whose name India is called Bhārata- varṣa.

35:13Not only India, and this whole planet was known as Bhārata-varṣa. Gradually it is declined, just like recently you have, uh, partitioned Pakistan. Similarly, the whole planet was known as Bhārata.

35:29So anyway, that Bharat Maharaj, at the time of his death, he had a pet deer. He thought of the deer and he became next like a deer.

35:42That Lord Krishna says that it is not that because you think of Me you get a body like Me, but it is the general rule.

35:53If you think at the time of your death, whatever you think, you carry the idea with your mind and you get immediately a similar body. That means you are put into the womb of a mother to get a similar body.

36:09So instead of thinking of Krishna always, if we think of our dog, as Bharat Maharaj was thinking on the deer, or there is risk of getting a dog's body.

36:24Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram taṁ tam evaiti kaunteya. My dear Arjuna, he gets a similar body. Sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ. Because he is always thoughtful of that particular body.

36:44So this practice of Krishna consciousness is sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ. If you always think of Krishna, naturally you will think at the time of death. And the result will be next life you get a body like Krishna.

37:07Thank you very much. Any questions?

37:18Uh, I'm not, uh, sure that I understand, uh, the process by which, um, one might be thinking of something in his mind and how, uh, that soul is put into a body, uh, similar to what that thought is.

37:37In other words, how can the soul be, uh, subject to what the mind is thinking of? Because soul is now covered by the subtle body and the gross body.

37:50When the gross body stops to work, just like at night, the gross body is lying, but the subtle body, manas, is working, therefore you are dreaming. The subtle body is working.

38:05So when you give up this body, your subtle body—mind, intelligence— that carries you very fine. Just like, uh, the flavor is carried by the air. The air passes on some rose trees, uh, the air becomes flavored like rose.

38:27There is no rose, but the flavor is there. Similarly, the flavor of your mentality, the flavor of your understanding is carried, that is the subtle body, and you get a similar body.

38:41Therefore, at the time of death the examination is tested, how one has advanced in Krishna consciousness.

38:54The best thing is, it is said in the next verse, uh, Krishna says, you are transferred to your body like Krishna in the abode of Krishna.

39:09Supposing there is a person who is not Krishna conscious during his life, but at the time of death he becomes Krishna conscious. He goes to Krishna.

39:21So then it is that we can perform bad actions during our life and only at the same time... Yes, if we are so fortunate. That's like Ajāmila, uh, when he was at

39:31the point of death, he was, he had a pet child whose name was Nārāyaṇa. So he was calling, "My dear boy Nārāyaṇa." So while he was calling Nārāyaṇa, he thought of Nārāyaṇa. So immediately he achieved Nārāyaṇa.

39:49So don't you think it is a contradiction that if a man is of death throughout his life and only at the time of death he thinks of Krishna and this means that... No, that, that

39:59history, that history of Ajāmila is, uh, different. In his childhood, he was a son of a brāhmaṇa, he was faithfully discharging the duties of a brāhmaṇa.

40:12But accidentally when he was young—he was married also— accidentally when he was young, he was passing on the road and some śūdra girl and boy, they're embracing and kissing, and he became attracted, and he become attracted by the prostitute, and he left home, wife, and everything, and then he became a great, uh, dacoit and smuggler, and everything he did.

40:48But and he had so many children, the youngest was Nārāyaṇa. So at the time of death, because generally people become attached to the youngest son, so he was calling Nārāyaṇa, but he remembered that Nārāyaṇa.

41:04Reference to the context. As soon as he called Nārāyaṇa, in his boyhood, he said "Nārāyaṇa" under the direction of his father. So he remembered; therefore it is not always possible.

41:21But therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā he said, "Svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt."

41:27If somebody has executed devotional service in a little bit, oh, it, it, maybe it can, it can, it can save him from the greatest danger. I don't understand.

41:42I don't, I don't see how man in, in one life can achieve a, a level of consciousness that he, uh, he could sit with Krishna. I mean, don't you have to go through a chain?

41:52I mean, according to, you know, what you do in your life. Would you either have to be elevated, stay the same, or fall? Yes, that elevation you can achieve immediately. Simply by changing your consciousness.

42:05What do you mean by elevation? A man is called uneducated, and another man is called very learned. What is that? He has, uh, practiced how to become educated, that's all.

42:18Similarly, you practice, here is the practice, and you become elevated. There is no barrier there. Impediment, anyone can elevate himself immediately.

42:32There is no question of waiting because the process of change is going on. If you accept the change immediately and then you follow, you become elevated.

42:45If a person, uh, experiences difficulties in the path of consciousness, what's called, if a person experiences difficulties in Krishna consciousness... Yes, difficulty is there always.

43:00Even you go to school, there are so many difficulties. But if you practice with vow and rigidity, you become successful. Difficulties may be there. In every field of our activities, there are difficulties.

43:17You cannot say this world is full of difficulties. So difficulties may be there, but you have to struggle against the difficulties and you have to adopt the process, then your difficulties will be over.

43:35It is not that because there is difficulty I shall refrain from.

Progressing through stages of devotion

43:39No. Ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgaḥ tato bhajana-kriyā tato 'nartha-nivṛttiḥ — these are process. Just like you have come here with some śraddhā, with some faith. "Ah, here is Krishna consciousness.

43:59Let me sit down, let me hear." This is the preliminary state. If you become a little serious, then you come daily and try to understand what is this. This is called sādhu-saṅga.

44:15Then gradually, as these boys, they offer themselves, "Swamiji, I want to be your regular student, initiate" — third stage. And if he follows the rules and regulations, then gradually the difficulties are over.

44:33Anartha-nivṛttiḥ. And when the difficulties are over, then he gets faith, tato niṣṭhā, he gets taste, tato ruciḥ, tathāśaktiḥ, then attachment, then bhāva, ecstasy, and the highest perfection. After that, so

44:55difficulty may be there. We are in difficulties, this material life. But we have to come over. That is the goal. It is not that you cannot come over the difficulties. In every step of our life there are difficulties.

45:14The material life is like that. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām. In every step there is danger. It is a place like that. Even if we are comfortable in a nice car, you are going. There may be, at any moment, an accident.

45:34You are going in a plane. There may be, at any moment, an accident. Even you are sitting here, there may be an accident. So difficult is... this world is full of difficulties.

45:45One who does not understand this difficult position is a fool. If one thinks that "I am very comfortable," then he is a fool. This is animal life. These are animal things. "Oh, I am very comfortable. I am very nice."

46:05And dissatisfaction is human life. He is not happy unless he gets the greatest happiness. That is human life. And if he thinks, "Yes, I am well, I am very happy," then he is an animal. Because there is no happiness here.

46:26Full of distress, full of miseries. How he says that "I am happy," that means he is ignorant. So typical design there you have to overcome. That is a problem. Mādhavī-latā. Why don't you write it? Mādhavī-latā.

47:09She asked what it means. She asked what it means. Mādhavī-latā. Mādhavī-latā is a plant which was very much liked by Krishna. Mādhavī-latā.

47:25It is a flower plant, Mādhavī-latā, and Krishna and Rādhā used to take pleasure underneath that plant. So anything related with Krishna is Krishna. Any other questions?

47:51I have a question about the, uh, taking the body of Krishna after death, you're thinking of Krishna at the time of death, or taking the body of a dog or a deer if you're thinking about that sort of thing when you die.

48:06Um, there must be, there are different kinds of a taking of a body. Because there's different kinds of bodies. The bodies of dogs and deers and things are not the same. Now, how, how do you take on this form of Krishna?

48:29The thinking of Krishna? I mean, no, what I mean, how does the soul assume this form? How does it become—not become Krishna? It's like you are spirit soul.

48:46When you take the body of a certain type of body, you act according to the body, just like the dog is acting differently from human body because she has got a different body.

49:02Hog is acting differently because she has got a different body. So there are 8,400,000 of different bodies. So mad-bhāva, mad-bhāva means the nature. Krishna's nature.

49:19You keep your individuality, but you get Krishna's nature. And what is Krishna's nature? Krishna's nature is all is blissful. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt, all is joyful. So you get a body, a joyful, full of knowledge, anytime.

49:44Not that you become Krishna. You get exactly the same bodily, uh, uh, constitution as Krishna has got. That is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha. As we are, even at the present moment, we are part of Krishna.

50:06Krishna is vibhu, the whole; we are aṇu, we are small. Similarly, as now we have got this material body, if we pass our life in Krishna consciousness, we get our spiritual body, which is not different from the soul.

50:27A clear example: just like a man put into the water is raised from the water and placed on the land. So on the land he is happy.

50:41Similarly, because we are spirit soul, we are in a very unfavorable condition in this material world. As soon as we perfect ourselves in Krishna consciousness, we get into the spiritual platform or body or atmosphere.

51:06In taking on a body like Krishna, we assume a nature, Krishna's nature.

51:15When you say taking on the body of a dog or a cat or whatever, do you mean literally a body like a pig, or you mean the nature of a pig? I want to understand. No, here the body and the soul are different.

51:31The soul is spirit and the body is matter. But when you attain a body like Krishna, that means that is a spiritual body. There is no difference between the soul and the body. Here, there is difference between soul and body.

51:50But in the spiritual world, there is no difference between soul and body.

Individuality and practice in service

51:58Swami, are we now all part of Krishna, and at the time of death, if we think of Krishna, do we become, like, merged in with Krishna?

52:08Like now we're, let's say, suspended within Krishna, but at the time of death, if we think of him, we merge. Is that what you're saying? Yes. Merge means you merge into the spiritual existence.

52:24But that does not mean you lose your individuality. You are already merged in the matter. We are all merged. Now your soul, my soul, his soul—you cannot distinguish where is the soul.

52:39But body, the material body, we have got everyone. But in spite of our being immersed in the matter, we have got our individuality.

52:50Similarly, to become merged in spiritual existence does not mean that we lose our individuality. Try to understand. Just like we are all merged into the matter.

53:06If you dissect my body, you won't find where is that small particle spirit. It is already merged. But still we have got individuality. That means spirit soul is individual.

53:23Otherwise, so far your body is concerned, my body is concerned, uh, there is blood, you have got blood, you have got muscle, I have got muscle, you have got bones, I have got bones. What is the difference?

53:36But why you are individual, I am individual? Because the spirit soul is individual. We are merged in the matter, but we keep our individuality. Similarly, merged in the spirit, you keep your individuality.

53:53How can you lose your individuality? No. You individual individuals. You are individual always. Just try to understand your present position. Yes. You are merged in the matter. I am merged in the matter.

54:16But still you keep your individuality, I keep my individuality. Similarly, when you merge in the spirit, why the individuality should be stopped?

54:26Only difference is at the present moment the soul and the matter are qualitatively different. And when you get a spiritual body, the quality of the body and the soul is the same. But individuality must continue.

54:45How can you stop individuality? But that individuality and this individuality is different. In that individuality, there is no disagreement, and in this individuality there is always disagreement.

55:05Therefore, in spite of individuality, there is oneness. So individuality will continue.

55:20There is, uh, if there is no display of individuality, then you will have to come back again to this display of individuality in the material world. Because everyone individual means he has got his own choice.

55:43If I tell you that you can, uh, come here but you haven't got any choice, then you won't like to sit down here. You can sit down here, you can go out immediately. That's your choice.

56:00But if I make the condition that you can sit down here without your choice, or you will have to come here— oh, I don't care for your meeting. That is individual.

56:15That choice may be very nice and that choice may be very bad. That is different. But you have got your choice. That is individual.

56:29So in the spiritual world the choice is there to serve Krishna; somebody is thinking, "I shall serve Krishna like this," somebody is thinking, "I shall love Krishna like this." The choice is there, the individual tree is

56:45there, but the center is Krishna. Therefore there is no disagreement. Just like in this world, there may be dozens of parties, they may fight with one another, but the center is nationalism.

57:08Therefore, those parties are not null and void. They're accepted by the government. They may be fighting with one another with ends and objects. But because their point is nationalism, they're accepted.

57:25There is the agreement. Similarly, in the service of Krishna, there may be individuality, the choice of individuality may be, but center being Krishna, that is absolute.

57:44There are many authoritative books, named Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Prīti-sandarbha.

57:54But generally we simply try to understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is without any malinterpretation, then you get all information of these things. Just like here, Krishna advised: yudhyasva mām anusmara.

58:12"You go on fighting because you cannot stop your fighting, because you are a soldier. But mām anusmara at the same time. You think of Me." This is the secret. Nobody can stop his activities.

58:29But he can think of Krishna at the same time. This is Krishna consciousness.

58:37I have given several times the example that a woman who is in love with another man instead of her husband, she is very mindful to the household duties, but she is always thinking when at night I shall meet with my friend.

58:58This is yudhyasva mām anusmara. Apparently she's very busy. Very nicely she is performing her household duties. But at mind, she's always thinking of her beloved, when she will meet. As it is possible, why not Krishna?

59:19Is it very difficult? Meditation. Perfect meditation. Always. Twenty-four hours. We cannot forget Krishna. Just like a lover cannot forget the beloved. So you have to contact Krishna in love.

59:40Then there is meditation continued twenty-four hours. Is the, uh, is the Indian poet, uh, Rabindranath Tagore—seems, do you know of the Rabindranath Tagore? Yes, why not? Huh? Is he a nice poet?

1:00:05He's a nice poet from a materialistic point of view to satisfy the materialistic person. He's not a nice poet from a spiritualistic point of view. We have nothing to do with him.

1:00:22We have to do with the poet, uh, like Vyasadeva. Don't you see how nicely, uh, he has written Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam? There is no comparison, even from the literary point of view.

1:00:45«Loka-syājānato vidvāṁś cakre sātvata-saṁhitām anarthopaśamaṁ» «sākṣād bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje».

1:00:54Loka-syājānataḥ: people do not know this, that to get out of the clashes of māyā, all this nonsense, the only thing is bhakti-yoga, and people do not know it. Loka-syājānato vidvāṁś cakre sātvata-saṁhitām.

1:01:12The greatest poet, Vyāsadeva, has written this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So he's the greatest poet.

1:01:24Swamiji, while it's true that anyone who thinks of Krishna as he is dying can take on the body of Krishna, is it not true that if you don't spend your life thinking of Krishna, it may be difficult at the time of death to remember Him?

1:01:42Certainly. If you don't practice, then at the time of examination, certainly you'll fail. If you say, "All right, I shall see in the examination hall, I shall write everything nice," that is nonsense.

1:01:59You have to study nicely before the examination. Therefore it is said, abhyāsa-yoga, practice it. «Abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena cetasā nānya-gāminā». Yoga means you do not allow your mind to go anywhere else. Just try to engage.

1:02:25«Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ». Always fixed up in Krishna. That is the highest yoga. Alright, question finished. Let us chant.