Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Six One Fifteen

Limitations of karma and jnana

0:24Prabhupāda: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [devotees repeat] Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Six, Chapter One, verse number fifteen.

2:21SB 6.1.15केचित्केवलया भक्त्या वासुदेवपरायणाः ।अघं धुन्वन्ति कार्त्स्न्येन नीहारमिव भास्करः ॥१५॥kecit kevalayā bhaktyāvāsudeva-parāyaṇāḥaghaṁ dhunvanti kārtsnyenanīhāram iva bhāskaraḥOnly a rare person who has adopted complete, unalloyed devotional service to Kṛṣṇa can uproot the weeds of sinful actions with no possibility that they will revive. He can do this simply by discharging devotional service, just as the sun can immediately dissipate fog by its rays.

2:26So karma, jñāna, yoga, then bhakti. So karmaṇā, karma niyahara na tantritaṁ bhaviṣyati. We have discussed this. By karma you cannot nullify something... [break]

2:29Everyone has got that tendency, the śāstra gives them chance to act, fruitive activities. Because by working, working, one day it will come when he will be not interested working any more.

2:57Then athāto brahma jijñāsā. Jñāna. Jñāna also, theoretical. It has been seen that theoretical knowledge, even one has come to the platform of Brahman... Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho SB 10.2.32

3:31There are many examples. Simply theoretical knowledge will not help us. Our main aim is how to become perfect. So by karma we cannot become perfect perpetually.

3:55Just like I have given several times the example that in spite of so much education and universities and advancement of civili..., nobody is perfect in the modern civilization, not even honest.

4:19In spite of education, so much learning... I have given this example many times. This is tested in the airport, that everyone is examined about his dishonest. That means nobody is honest. So this will not help.

4:41If you want to make the world perfect, then not by karma, neither by mental speculation. That is not possible.

Definition and principles of bhakti

4:55The only means is bhakti, especially in this age. In this Kali-yuga people are very much embarrassed. Mandāḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhāgyā hy upadrutaḥ SB 1.1.10

5:18Manda-bhāgyā. Even nobody is happy in his family life, so unfortunate, manda-bhāgyā. That is practical. So these things will not help, especially in this age.

5:40So Śukadeva Gosvāmī suggested for kecit, "somebody," not all. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness understanding is very easy, at the same time very difficult also.

6:03So therefore here it is said kevalā bhaktyā. Kevalā means only bhakti, without any jñāna, karma, yoga. That is kevalā bhakti. That is pure devotion, bhakti. Tan manye adhītam uttamam. Prahlāda Mahārāja, when he was asked by his father that "What the best thing you have learned?

6:40What is the best thing?" he said this = kevalā bhakti. Kevalā bhakti.

6:45SB 7.5.23श्रीप्रह्राद उवाचश्रवणं कीर्तनं विष्णो: स्मरणं पादसेवनम् ।अर्चनं वन्दनं दास्यं सख्यमात्मनिवेदनम् ॥ २३ ॥इति पुंसार्पिता विष्णौ भक्तिश्चेन्नवलक्षणा ।क्रियेत भगवत्यद्धा तन्मन्येऽधीतमुत्तमम् ॥ २४ ॥śrī-prahrāda uvācaśravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥsmaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanamarcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁsakhyam ātma-nivedanamiti puṁsārpitā viṣṇaubhaktiś cen nava-lakṣaṇākriyeta bhagavaty addhātan manye ’dhītam uttamamPrahlāda Mahārāja said: Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Viṣṇu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one’s best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words) — these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service. One who has dedicated his life to the service of Kṛṣṇa through these nine methods should be understood to be the most learned person, for he has acquired complete knowledge.

6:51If we simply stick to these principles of kevalā bhakti, even simply by hearing, śravaṇaṁ... Just like we are holding class everywhere, in every center. If somebody simply hears attentively, he'll be perfect.

7:21This is bhakti: simply hearing. Or śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam, or describing or chanting the holy name, he'll be perfect. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇu... But Viṣṇu, about Lord Viṣṇu, Kṛṣṇa.

7:43Śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtana SB 1.2.17

Purification through hearing and chanting

7:48If you simply hear and chant, then you will be purified. One who is chanting and one who is hearing, both of them will be purified. And gradually, as soon as one is purified, he becomes pious.

8:09If you argue that "Somebody is hearing for so many years," so then there is question of offense. Offense, ten kinds of offense, you know. While you are initiated, the ten kinds of...

8:32So even one is in offense, still, if he continues hearing and chanting, he will be purified. It is so nice thing. This is kevalā bhakti. But there should not be any motive. That is you should be very careful.

8:50Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam NBS 1.1.11no motive. Bhakti, bhaja-dhātu, simply pure desire, "How I shall serve Kṛṣṇa?" Then he is mukta. Immediately he is liberated.

9:14One who has this fixed-up mind, that "How I shall render service to Kṛṣṇa?" and if he tries his best, then he becomes immediately mukta unless he changes his decision. That is... Every time is possible.

9:37Even one is mukta, liberated, he can be also fallen down unless he is very strong in his determination. Māyā is always there. Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā BG 7.14

9:54But if one is determined that "I shall stick to the service of Kṛṣṇa," māyā will not touch. That is kevalā bhakti. If sometimes it appears that he has deviated out of past habit, that is excused.

10:17Api cet sudurācāro bhajate mām ananya-bhāk, sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ BG 9.30But not intentional. We should not fall down and deviate from our path of devotional service intentionally. That will not...

10:35That is very great criminality. We must try our best, kevalayā bhaktyā. So kecit. Kecit means this determination is very difficult. Therefore it has been said here kecit, "somebody," not all.

10:59Not all can get that determination. But everyone can get determination, provided he likes. It is not determination is monopolized by a certain man.

11:11Anyone who determines that "I shall simply serve Kṛṣṇa," that simple determination will save him. Kevalayā bhaktyā. And kecit kevalayā bhaktyā vāsudeva-parāyaṇāḥ SB 6.1.15Bhaktyā, bhakti, devotion, to whom?

Realizing eternal identity and divinity

11:36Vāsudeva. Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ BG 7.19If one determines that "Vāsudeva is everything..." Actually, Kṛṣṇa is everything. Mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagat avyakta-mūrtinā. In everywhere.

11:55Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam yat kiñcid jagatyāṁ jagat [Īśo mantra 1]. Everywhere there is Kṛṣṇa's relationship, because without Kṛṣṇa, nothing exists. Mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagat avyaktya, mat-sthani sarva-bhūtāni BG 9.4

12:14Everything is resting on Kṛṣṇa. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam. This is Kṛṣṇa conscious. Without Kṛṣṇa... So that is the fact. But when you come to this understanding, then you become perfectly Kṛṣṇa conscious.

12:35Without Kṛṣṇa, nothing can exist. So vāsudeva-parāyaṇā-agham. Agham means sin, sinful reaction of life.

12:54Dhunvanti, "one washes." Just like dirty thing, if you bring bucket of water and wash it, then everything cleansed immediately. So this process of chanting is so nice that ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam CC Antya 20.12

13:11It cleanses the heart, misunderstanding that "I am this body. I belong to this nation. I belong to this community. I belong to this religion." No. "I belong to Kṛṣṇa," that's all.

13:32This is ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam. Jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṇa dāsa CC Madhya 20.108That is real knowledge, real perfection, as soon as one comes to this conclusion, that "Kṛṣṇa is mine, and I am Kṛṣṇa's," simply this understanding.

14:00Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam. So by this consciousness automatically all reaction of sinful life becomes washed. Aghaṁ dhunvanti kārtsnyena, totally. How? How it is possible?

14:20"He has accumulated sinful reaction of life for so many births, and simply...?" Yes, it is possible. "How?" Then, nīhāram iva bhāskaraḥ. When there is..., what is called? Frost?

14:40Devotee: Fog.

14:42Prabhupāda: Fog, yes. When there is fog, you try so many ways; it cannot go. Then, if somehow or other sun rises, immediately finished. Immediately clear.

15:02That is our motto in the Back to Godhead: "Godhead is light and nescience is darkness. Where there is Godhead, there is no jurisdiction of darkness."

15:22CC Madhya 22.31কৃষ্ণ — সূর্যসম, মায়া হয় অন্ধকার ।যাহাঁ কৃষ্ণ, তাহাঁ নাহি মায়ার অধিকার ॥ ৩১ ॥kṛṣṇa — sūrya-sama; māyā haya andhakārayāhāṅ kṛṣṇa, tāhāṅ nāhi māyāra adhikāra“Kṛṣṇa is compared to sunshine, and māyā is compared to darkness. Wherever there is sunshine, there cannot be darkness. As soon as one takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the darkness of illusion (the influence of the external energy) will immediately vanish.

15:31As soon as there is sunshine, immediately the fog is... It's practical. So somehow or other, Kṛṣṇa, if we get Kṛṣṇa arisen in our heart... Sa vai manaḥ-kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ SB 9.4.18

Practical application in modern age

15:51If we simply concentrate our mind, that is real meditation, to think of Kṛṣṇa—man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru BG 18.65Then everything will be cleansed automatically. Kṛṣṇa says in the...,

16:22SB 1.2.17श्रुण्वतां स्वकथां कृष्ण: पुण्यश्रवणकीर्तन: ।ह्रुद्यन्त: स्थो ह्यभद्राणि विधुनोति सुहृत्सताम् ॥ १७ ॥śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥpuṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥhṛdy antaḥ stho hy abhadrāṇividhunoti suhṛt satāmŚrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.

16:29Kṛṣṇa is there already, just like friend. Kṛṣṇa is always ready to give us instruction so that we can get out of this miserable condition of life. Kṛṣṇa is ready. He is coming to give you instruction.

16:53Simply you have to follow; then everything will be all right. So this is the only way. Otherwise in this age, severe austerity, tapasya, celibacy, charity and so on, recommended.

17:23Tyāgena satya-śaucābhyāṁ yamena niyamena vā. These are the methods, gradual process of transcendental life. But in this age, especially in this Kali-yuga, it is very, very difficult, almost impossible.

17:42So best thing is take to this Kṛṣṇa consciousness, kevalayā bhaktyā, simply this understanding, that "Kṛṣṇa is my eternal master; I am Kṛṣṇa's eternal servant. So let us exchange our feelings of master and servant.

18:08Then I shall be perfect." Thank you very much.

18:09Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda. [end]