Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.26.22. Stage of Pure Consciousness
Бхакти Вигьяна Госвами · Алачуа · 2019
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Invocation prayers and opening remarks
O Madhyana Sri Vyanam Jana Salakaya Shaksuritama Sasma Sri Burayna Sri Chaitanyama Bisham, Starvitami, Swam, Ladiswapatankitam Vanduram, siri Guru, Sri Damam, Sri Guru, Vamu Sam, Siru Pam, Sagraja damatamitam
satiam sadvaitamadam parishana Saditam Krishna Chaitanya Deva, Sri Rada Krishna Radam, Sahana Lavita sishakamstam e Krishna Kramasindho, Vinavanka Jagatek, Lokanta, Radakantana Mosude, Tatakantyan Landini, Dalik Pramani
pra batamy sank Vatitam, Vaisnare, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Rabitanda Sriatatara, Sri Sadolina Vishna, Krishna, Vishna, Vishna Rare, Hare, Bareama Sai Lama Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Ramtak
Pradesham Bhakamam Prasuram samži vaj I just I feel very awkward to having speak in front of all of you. Please forgive me for being so impudent and daring to do this and uh I'll I'll try as a service.
Verse on consciousness and material nature
I'm used to speak to Russian devotees and Russian devotees are very kind and not very knowledgeable. So I feel much more confident when I speak in front of them. Being here in this audience I feel really nervous.
Anyway, I'll I'll speak on one verse from the third canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from the 26th chapter, Fundamental Principles of Material Nature, which describes the nature of our consciousness.
Oh rather, material element, Chitta, which is there, and I will try to explain it in connection with our chanting of the holy name. So it's 20 second verse of the 26th chapter of the third canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Swachhatvama Vikari Tvam Santa tvama di cheta shaha Vrittibirir Laks lhakshanam praktam Yatapam prakriti para. Swachatam clarity, avikaritvam, freedom from all distraction, Shantvam, Serenity.
It is Chitasah of Consciousness, Vritiv by characteristics, Lakshanam, traits, Roktam called yata as apam of water prakriti natural taste para pure translation and purple by his divine grace bhaktividanta swani prahti After the manifestation of the Mahatva, these features appeared simultaneously as water in its natural state before coming into contact with Earth is clear, sweet, and unruffled.
So the characteristic traits of pure consciousness are complete serenity, clarity, and freedom from distraction. The pure status of consciousness or Krishna consciousness exists in the beginning, just after creation.
Consciousness is not polluted. The more one becomes materially contaminated, however, the more consciousness becomes obscured.
In pure consciousness, one can perceive slight reflection of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as in clear, unagitated water, free from impurities. Free from impurities one can see everything clearly.
So in pure consciousness or Krishna consciousness, one can see things as they are. One can see the reflection of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, or one can see his own existence as well.
This state of consciousness is very pleasing, transparent, and sober.
Reflective nature of original consciousness
In the beginning consciousness is pure.
So Lord Kapiladev is describing the qualities of the material elements and these material elements, the first material element which is completely sattvic by nature is called Mahatattva and in our body it's manifested as
chitta in a global scale and the scale of the universe in the macro scale, it is Mahatattva in our own little microcosm, it is called chitta.
And this chitta is the original consciousness or the original material element which is next to the soul. And basically, when Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu says ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam, he means chitta.
And he uses basically the same sort of exemple because it is said there that originally this citta being very pure and transparent can reflect the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
And Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu speaks about the same quality of citta, which is the quality to reflect. He says darpanam. Dharpanam means mirror and mirror can reflect things.
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Śrīla Prabhupāda is basically literally translating Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's purport to this verse, and Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thakur says that the main quality of the pure chitta,
when the citta is pure, when our consciousness becomes pure or as Śrīla Prabhupāda says, when our consciousness returns to its pure state, which is Krishna consciousness, then it's uh uh the first quality of it uh which is uh called here in the verse in Sanskrit verse Svatchhatvam.
The purity, the first quality, purity means Bhagavat Bimba Grahitvam. Which literally means that the pure consciousness is able to reflect to get the glimpse or reflection of the Supreme Personality of Godhead of the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
In other words, even though the cheetah is a material element, it's the first material element which is there, still when it comes to its original state like it is immediately after the creation of the first elements, it naturally reflects the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and we will be able to see Him, and we will be able, in this clear state of consciousness, we will be able to see ourselves.
Philosophy of inherent divine love
In other words, nothing else is required. It's very interesting because today is of course Bhakti Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's appearance day.
And one of the very significant how shall I say it changes which he brought about to our Siddhanta, not really changes but uh significant I I don't know how to exactly say it but anyway let's say changes.
His teachings is somewhat different from the teachings of some other branches of Gaudiya Vaiṣṇavas, and still to this date there is a controversy over this point. Whether the love of God is inherent or it's given to us.
That's a very significant point of our Siddhanta.
And most of the Gaudiya Vaiṣṇavas outside of the followers of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, they are of the opinion that you can only get love of God from outside. It has to be given to you. By somebody who has it.
There is no other way to get love of God. But Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura was very emphatic about this point.
The other Vaiṣṇavas, the other branches of Gaudiya Vaiṣṇavas, they say that we have the potential to love, but there is no love. Love is not inherent.
And of course, the pramāṇa which they use is this uh famous verse from Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and paraphrase of this verse in Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta. Uh uh what is it?
Kṛṣṇa prema sādhya kabhu naya, śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya. So there are two different translations of this verse: nitya siddha kṛṣṇa prema sādhya kabhu naya.
Kṛṣṇa prema, you know the whole trick is about this word sādhya.
Sādhya literally means the let's say traditional version of translation of this particular verse is that Kṛṣṇa prema is nitya-siddha, it eternally exists in the nitya-siddha devotees. And it's not being created. Sadhya means it's not being created. Sadhya means something which you create during your sadhana. So it has to be given to you.
But Śrīla Prabhupāda, following the footsteps of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, he translates it differently, he says it's dormant within your heart. So there is quite a significant difference between these two conceptions.
One conception is that it's not there in the heart and you're completely dependent upon
receiving this love of Godhead from somebody who has it from Nitya-siddha. The devotee, but Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says no, it's dormant within your heart and it's a question of revealing it.
And basically, one of the pramāṇas which can be used to prove Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's point is this particular verse which says quite clearly that even when you are still in the material consciousness, not completely purified, but quite purified.
Still, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam is there. You're still, it means basically you're still here.
But in this clear state of citta, both your own svarūpa and the reflection of the Supreme Personality of Godhead will become clear to you. It will become revealed to you.
And of course, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in the last song of Śaraṇāgati, the Śrī Nāma-māhātmya, where he describes the glory of the Holy Name, he emphasizes this point even more.
He says that it is the Holy Name itself, or the Holy Name Himself is responsible for giving you everything. You're not dependent on anything else.
It's only your service to the Holy Name, only your relationship to the Holy Name, only your sincere chanting of the holy name which is capable to bring about the state when your svarūpa is revealed to you.
And the comparison which Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura is using in this song is quite similar to his comparison of the consciousness being like a lotus flower, and when the lotus flower is gradually, gradually blooming and becoming more and more visible.
So he says that by the influence of the holy name this blooming of the consciousness will take place. And this is the only influence of the Holy Name and nothing else.
Receiving the holy name through devotees
Nothing else, nothing extraneous is required. Basically your sincere service to the holy name. But how to kind of reconcile these two opinions.
It's possible to reconcile because basically for us to be able to chant the pure holy name, we have to receive the pure holy name from somebody who has the pure holy name.
So we still have to receive the holy name from a pure devotee, from the lips of the pure devotee.
We still have to receive the vibration of the holy name from the pure consciousness, then only this holy name will manifest its complete power and complete potency.
There is a very interesting anecdote from the life of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura himself when he was traveling with his son Bimal Prasad in the future to be Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda.
And they were while traveling in Bengal they came to a village which is quite famous in Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Kulīna-grāma village.
The same village inhabitants of which every year coming to Jagannātha Purī for Jagannātha Rāthayātrā would ask Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu how we can recognize who is a devotee.
And Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu consequently would give different answers to their question.
So when Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura came to this Kulīna-grāma village, the local villagers told him and Bimal Prasad, his little son, to stay in a house.
And they stayed overnight in the house and in the morning the clever uh citizens
of this or inhabitants of this village came and asked Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura how did you sleep and Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura said oh, I slept very nicely. They were so surprised to hear this.
And they said, This place is infested by powerful Brahma Rakshasa. We had a priest in our village, he died, and he became the ghost. And this ghost is living here. And whoever stays here, he becomes very disturbed.
You cannot really sleep here. How did you managed to sleep nicely here? And Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura smiled. He said, yes, yes, the ghost came. And how did you drive him away?
He said, oh I just chanted Hare Krishna. I just loudly chanted Hare Krishna and I think this ghost will never come again. he will not bother anyone. So villagers, they became even more surprised.
They said, how did you, how could you drive away this ghost uh this ghost of the priest from this house by chanting Hare Krishna because this priest himself always was chanting Hare Krishna he was always chanting Hare Krishna, so how could you drive him away by the same Hare Krishna?
He smiled again. He said, he didn't chant Hare Krishna. He just chanted the material sound which sounded like Hare Krishna. It was not Hare Krishna.
He said he was a greedy priest, and being a greedy priest, he was chanting for his own aggrandizement. He was basically chanting for himself, and therefore the holy name which he chanted didn't have any power.
And this, of course, reminds the famous verse from Padma Purāṇa where uh Caitanya Mahāprabhu quoting this verse or Haridāsa Ṭhākura quoting this verse in the Antya-līlā of Caitanya-caritāmṛta is glorifying the power of the holy name.
But he also in this verse there is also a very important part: deha dravina janata deha ma deha dravina janata Pashanda Madi Tachaddeha Dravina Janata Lobha Pashanda Madhya Tachaddeha Dravina Janata Lobha Pasanda Madhita Msyan Napalajanakam Sigram Evatraviprah
this verse says very clearly that even though the holy name is very powerful, and even if it's just, uh, touching your ears, uh, just once touching your ears, it can immediately, uh, purify your consciousness. But the second part of this verse, tache deha-dravīna-janatā-lobha-pāṣāṇḍa-madhye, says that niṣkhiptam syān na phala-janakam. Pashanda Madhya, says that nikshiptam sian napala janakam
If it's being chanted with the purpose of one's deha, body, dravīna, the material possession which we have, janatā, our followers. For the sake of, you know, collecting or accumulating followers and for the sake of one's relatives, lobha. If you have this lobha or desire, if you chant and at the same time, while chanting, have this lobha, greed for all these material things, which we all to a certain extent have. We all want, uh, the, you know, nice facilities for our body, deha-dravīna-janatā. It's all there.
This is very natural for this consciousness. And in this particular verse, this sort of consciousness is called pāṣāṇḍatā. It's atheism.
Basically, when we still identify with the interest of the body and the extended interest of the body, uh, which is, you know, dravīna and janatā, all our followers and, uh, all the material facilities.
And if this lobha or desire is there, then niṣkhiptam syān na phala-janakam, śīghram bhavati, then the holy name will act. No doubt about it. But not so quickly.
It will not—the na phala-janakam—the result, the fruit, the fruit of the chanting of the holy name will not come so quickly. The purification of the consciousness will not come quickly.
Therefore it is so important for our benefit to hear the holy name from the lips of a pure devotee or from the from the sphere of non dual consciousness of the pure devotee because otherwise this holy name
uh will remain just a material sound, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura or it's not still exactly as it is said. It it will still act upon your consciousness, but uh the result will not uh come so quickly.
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in Premāvivarta he explains this again. He says that you can chant the holy name or you can chant the syllables of the holy name.
And there is a difference between chanting of the holy name and the syllables of the holy name because uh chanting of the holy name means you have the complete total faith that the holy name is no different from uh the nami or the possessor of the holy name.
Binatwam nama nami no. You have if the holy name is pronounced from this consciousness, then the holy name will act very quickly.
Three traits of pure consciousness
And the holy name will purify the consciousness, and the consciousness will accept its original state.
Srila Prabhupada explains that this original state of the consciousness which actually was supposed to return to has three significant qualities.
And these three significant qualities: svābhāvatvam, adhikāritvam, and śāntatvam. And Śrīla Prabhupāda explains each of these qualities following uh the footsteps of Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura.
As I already said, svābhāvatvam, the first um characteristic of the pure consciousness, really pure consciousness, is that uh it reflects uh
Bimba, the reflection of the Supreme Personality of God. In other words you can see uh the reflection of Krishna naturally in your consciousness.
Sometimes you know there is this very difficult how shall we say again somewhat controversial among Gaudiya Vaishnavas question or topic
about Raganuga Sadhana and what should you do? When shall you start your Raganuga Sadhana? When you should you start you know your journey to you know
to your Manjarride ha and you know show we start right away or bate a little bit When we're ready to do this. Already we have Manjari, so well still little bit we should wait before it happens.
So uh and uh sometimes people uh they uh uh they try to say that we m uh in the very initial states we should imagine ourselves and through the process of uh imagination of kalpana we will do it. But it's not really so. Because imagination, you know, you can only imagine some material stuff. It will have nothing to do with the transcendental reality.
The transcendental process is basically explained here in this verse because the
The transcendental process is uh you chant the Holy Name very sincerely with complete concentration on the Holy Name and by chanting the Holy Name sincerely, you will create the transparency in the mirror of your heart.
And when the heart is transparent, then the reflection comes naturally. Without any uh additional help from your side when you try to you know really artificially imagine something or you know go through this process of imagination.
But how do you know? Because sometimes, actually, this question was asked from me yesterday after my class by Vṛndāvana Prabhu. He said, sometimes I see some vision in my in my mind. And how do I recognize it?
Is it some imagination? Is it some game of my mind? Or is is it it something real? Is it a real spiritual experience? And that's a very important question for every one of us.
Because sometimes you know we don't force ourselves into this imagination. We don't try to you know remember some Pushkar's painting of Krishna and concentrate on this but it naturally comes. So is it the reflection?
Is it that our consciousness is pure enough now to get the glimpse of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, or it's still some trick of our mind. So therefore, two other qualities are very important.
And because if this quality may be uh I mean maybe misunderstood uh so to speak because it's little tricky when we deal with our mind.
But this other qualities avikāritvam and śāntatvam. They are very clear and they can give us a very clear idea when our consciousness is really clear.
When our consciousness is really returned to its original state, which is Krishna consciousness. So, Avi Karitwam Sila Riswana Chikravata Kurana,
of course Śrīla Prabhupāda is saying the same here, Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura says avikāritvam means laya vikshepa rahitvam. Uh huh.
It means that in the pure state Krishna consciousness is devoid of Laya and Vikshepa, which uh basically means Laya means laziness, which basically means the influence of material nature.
Lyj meins slippinis, lija mints dullness which we haren vi chant the hold n know to act in our C the day. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura himself, he slept only two and a half hours a day, uh so he didn't need the sleep.
Physically uh there was no need for him to sleep because his consciousness was so pure and so devoid of this influence of the lower modes of material nature that he could go without sleeping.
Sometimes you know that I had insomnia for a long period of time. I also didn't sleep, but my consciousness was not really clear at the time. It was totally agitated.
And therefore it is said live chapter a hitvum Basically means it's devoid of this dullness, which this which is the influence of uh Tamagun, and it's devoid of Vikshepa, which means uh destruction, which means that you're completely not concentrated.
So that's avikaritvam. And um uh the next quality, the third quality, so three qualities are there, svachhatvam, avikaritvam and shantatvam Shantatvam means uh peacefulness and
mm uh Srila Bhaktivinoda again uh very clearly says that Shantatvam means how he calls it? Raga. Anyway, it's free from attachment. It's free from Raga Adi. Raga means Raga Dves and Abinje vesha and sa on so fortset
e Santatva mins basically that it's free from the negative influences, negative emotions, and therefore it's very serene.
It basically means that you don't have all these negative emotions which are there because raga is raga and shoka and baya they all go together so they disturb the mind.
The distyurb the clarity or the peacefulness of the mind. And if you still experience shoka lamentation, if you still experience bio fear.
If you still experience all these negative emotions and at the same time you experience this lion vicchepa.
So maybe you should chant a little more before doing something else, before doing or going into some more elevated state of uh practice.
Therefore, Śrīla Prabhupāda and of course Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī were so adamant against a mature Sidadeha staff.
So therefore, this verse with these three qualities, and of course, the three qualities here are compared with the three qualities of water. The water has reflective ability, it can reflect things.
The water has a sweet taste, so it's free from all this negative emotions. It's the comparison uh with the third quality and it's uh it's uh avikari twam it's not really it's not really disturbed it's very peaceful.
So these three qualities of water, three qualities of uh pure state of consciousness.
And ultimately, this uh uh what Caitanya Mahāprabhu means when he says ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam. And we have to have complete faith and uh remembering
And we have to have complete faith and uh remembering the you know powerful sound which we have heard from the lips of a pure devotee, we try to uh serve the holy name with complete conviction that the
very first effect of it is ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam. And when ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam will take place, there will be no doubts in our mind whether this is a real reflection, real spiritual experience or some imagination.
The very fact that the doubt is there means that it probably not hundred percent real, it probably just uh or it may be some little glimpse which is there, but basically, it means that consciousness is not pure enough to reflect the spiritual reality.
That's an amazing gift of God, and uh this is basically the meaning of uh what uh Kapila Deva is uh saying here: that the amazing gift of God is that uh we have this uh original ability given to us even in our conditioned state.
Even in the conditioned state, we have this potential to see the Supreme Lord, He can be revealed, but the purification has to take place.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu delivering Srivasa from fear
And when Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu himself was manifesting his pastimes, he was I mean the very foundation of his uh pastimes and the effects of the influence of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu upon others was due to this pure holy name.
I wanted to um to narrate a little story from Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata, in where Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu uh explains uh what should be the effect of the holy name?
When the holy name is chanted purely and when you receive the holy name within your heart from the pure source.
This is the quite famous pastime how Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu for the first time revealed his divine nature to Sri Vāsāu Ṭhākura in Navadvīpa.
We all know that Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura was a very prominent devotee in Navadvip, and therefore, he was hated by all the atheists who were living in Navadvīpa. And especially when the loud Kirtans of Sri Chaitanya
Mahāprabhu started in the house of Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura. The hatred of all the atheists in Navadvi became very acute, and they started spreading the rumors that because of this loud kirtans of these Vaishnavas
very soon the Kazi will send their armed forces and they will arrest everyone and destroy the whole city of Navadvīpa and therefore the envious neighbors of Śrīvāsa, they said: we will just throw away his house to the Ganga. We will just take away.
You can imagine what kind of house he had, which could be which could be thrown into Ganga by some neighbors. It's probably not a very solid house. So but the neighbors were spreading these rumors.
And at one point the rumor uh spread all over Navadvīpa that already the armed forces are coming and the local Muslim governor is coming to arrest all the Vaishnavas and and the boats are there and already the forces
are going and Śrīvāsa became completely uh fearful. He became so fearful that he locked himself in uh his little temple room, and he had a deity of Lord Nrisimhadev,
and he started chanting Nrisimha Mantra, and he was chanting Nrisimha Mantra very frantically for the for his own protection. He was really trembling and he was always almost fainting when he was doing this.
And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu being the super soul in every living entity, he understood the condition of his devotee and he decided to relieve his devotee from this fearful conditions.
So he came and he started banging at the door of Śrīvāsa saying open the door, open the door. The one who you're calling is here.
And Śrīvāsa is opening the door and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu enters his temple room and sits right there on the altar, just in the middle
of the altar, and says, oh Śrīvāsas, you were calling somebody, that's me. I'm here to protect you. And I'm here to give you the fearlessness.
And Śrīvāsa, he became completely overwhelmed and he fell down, paid his obeisances and he called all his relatives there and made all his relatives to pay obeisances to Śrī Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
And Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu started speaking to him. And that's why I'm telling this story because he said a very significant thing there. He said, Oh Śrīvāsas, why are you so afraid?
I know you are afraid that because you are afraid that you will be arrested.
But I'm the super soul and nobody can arrest you if I don't inspire somebody from the heart to arrest you. So you don't have to worry about this.
If you are arrested it means I inspired him so nothing wrong with him in this. Or if I don't inspire nobody will do it.
So but then he says but even if uh this uh Kazi or whoever it is Muslim ruler uh will manifest some independence. It's very interesting this uh uh uh
suggestion of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu that even if he manifests some independence, it basically means that we do have some minute independence. And we can act even despite the inspiration of the super soul.
And normally we act because of the inspiration of the super soul, super soul is in charge, but not necessarily. He says, okay, let's give you the benefit of a doubt.
Let's say this Muslim ruler is doing something independently on me. And he will come here and he will arrest you. Fine. But before he will take you, I will be the first one who will step in this boat.
And he will have first to take me to his court. And when he will take me to his court and I will stand well
when all these people who came to arrest you will Will take me also and will bring me to the court of the Muslim ruler. I will stand in front of the Muslim ruler. And he's sitting on his throne.
And I'm standing in front of him. And of course when he sees me he will just step down from his throne and pay obeisances to me because it will be so overwhelming to him. But let's say he will not do it.
He gives, let's okay. He gives another benefit of doubt. Let's say he he will not do it. Okay. Then what I will do, I'm standing there in the court of this Muslim ruler
and I will say to this Muslim ruler, you call all your holy men to the court, all the mullahs and all your Kazis and all the scholars and then you call some elephant and let them chant Quran and let them make the elephant chant Quran after them.
And of course they will not be able to do it. And then I will ask this Muslim ruler, you please bring all the horses,
all the elephants, and the mad elephants too, and you bring everyone here, and then I will chant the holy name and everyone will start crying and will chant after me, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa. Everyone will be crying.
And everyone will be chanting, including the mad elephants and parrots and birds and horses and the Muslim ruler himself.
So, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, by saying this, he said uh he he basically was glorifying the power of the holy name which is coming from the pure consciousness. When we will chant the holy name in front of the elephant,
Elephant may not be so impressed. He may not necessarily start crying. Most probably.
But when the holy name when the pure holy name comes from the pure consciousness of a pure devotee who who really understands this, then immediately the effect will take place. And basically, this is what we should do:
we should take the holy name which we received from the pure devotee and try to serve the holy name by knowing that the Holy Name, knowing very well that the Holy Name will purify our consciousness.
Three aspects of false ego
And, um, if we do it properly, without a hanker, and that's another thing which I wanted to tell to finish before I finish this lecture. So uh uh what is the contaminating factor in this pure consciousness?
Because Lord Kapiladev he explains this in a very beautiful with a very beautiful details. He says that originally the consciousness of the living entity even in this material world is completely pure.
It's completely serene, it's peaceful, it's very concentrated, it's not distracted to all these things. But what comes next?
The next this consciousness being influenced by the Tamasi element, the Tamagun, develops the false ego, false identity. And he defines false identity, the false ego of the living entity. In the vers number 26.
V he again says that the false ego has also 3 main qualities or three main characteristics.
And this false ego, false identity is like the cloud on the serene and pure consciousness of Mahatattva or Chitta, which is originally primarily Satvik. It's it's it's Satvik. It's very satvik, and therefore it's transparent, therefore it's so peaceful and so on and so forth.
But this Thomasic transformation when the cheetah is being influenced by this mode of Tamas creates the note of false ego and false ego has three main qualities: kartritvam, karanatvam and karyatvam.
Why am I explaining this?
It will be clear because there will be some very practical lesson from these two verses of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by Kapila Deva. He says basically, and that contamination which is coming to our citta, to our consciousness is coming from this false
ego, and false ego has these three aspects.
First of kartṛtvam, which means I'm the doer. Karaṇatvam, I am my senses. I am this identification with my eyes, with the nose, with the ears, uh, with my uh hands, legs, and everything, karaṇatvam.
And kāryatvam, uh the fruits of my action, the results of my action, everything which surrounds me, this dravya, these things which are around me with which I identify myself.
So usually we say that there are two aspects of false ego, Aham and Mama.
But here it is said, no, it's three aspects of the false ego: aham, I am the doer, aham, I am this body, and mama, the results of my activity is also I. This is this is me. This is extension of me.
So that's the contamination. The contamination is this uh three aspects of the false ego uh which we all have and uh because this uh contamination is there uh the consciousness doesn't have this clarity.
Overcoming ego while chanting Hare Krishna
So basically, it means if we try to derive a practical advice from this, it means that uh
uh while chanting uh uh the Hare Krishna mantra which we received from the pure source, which is powerful by definition, and because uh we are lucky enough to you know, especially those disciples
of Śrīla Prabhupāda who uh had personal interaction with him, especially some of them who had a lot of personal interaction with Śrīla Prabhupāda. So uh uh you know there is this powerful
holy name which can uh make uh miracles, as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu explains in this story. But what is important while we're chanting the holy name, we have to divest ourselves from these three aspects of false ego. Because we often habitually forget about it.
When we chant the holy name, we sometimes uh I mean I I will speak about myself. I'm sure you're not doing this, but I'm doing this all the time.
I sometimes feel that I'm chanting the holy name. And that's the first aspect of uh the false ego. I am. I am the doer.
I am chanting the holy name. Okay, let's chant the holy name. Let's concentrate. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna. I'm changing the Holy Name. That's the first mistake. And then how I'm chanting the holy name?
I'm changing the holy name with my tongue, right? This is my tongue. This is my senses. This is karanatvam.
And then of course karyatvam uh while changing the holy name I'm constantly you know identifying myself with all everything else which is there around me.
So this three uh Three elements or three aspects of the false Sigva are still there. And therefore Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, while explaining the method of chanting of the holy name,
he says Trinada Pisani Chinatarura Pisa Hishna Nama Ninamanadana Kirtaniya Sadhari.
That basically for Chatadharpana marginam to take place we have to divest ourselves from this uh uh aspects of uh of the uh false ego false identity.
We have to uh at least for the time of the chanting we have to completely uh try to how you say it uh to dissolve uh this misidentification with the body with the senses and with my possessions and everything which is there.
So if in this consciousness we will chant the holy name, remembering or not even chant, but try to receive the holy name. Because the connection is there. The connection is definitely there.
It's established by the process of initiation and everything else. So the holy name which we already received from the pure source,
if we try to every time when we can to reenact this reception of the Holy Name from the pure source, which means outside outside of the false ego.
When the Holy Name comes directly from from the pure source uh without uh being interjected by our false ego and false identity. I'm doing this. See how great I am. I chanted uh 17 rounds today, not sixteen. I'm so so great.
Then the purification will take place very quickly and then all these uh uh amazing results which are basically the natural state of the pure consciousness is there, will come.
The serenity will come, the concentration will come.
But uh it basically means that internally we always have to remember about this connection that the holy name which I chant is not just the holy name which I read in the book, it's the holy name which I received from the pure devotee.
It's this holy name which I am chanting. I received it through the process of initiation, I received it through the process of serving.
And if this state of consciousness will be there while we are chanting the holy name, then the purification will take place very quickly. And the results which are promised by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in this first
Power of the holy name in South India
verse of Śrī Śikṣāṣṭaka: Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ śreyo-kairava-candrikā-vitaranaṁ and so on and so forth will also come Ravachandrika Ritaranam and so on so forth will also come very quickly.
And I also wanted to tell another little story from the life of Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Also connected with the same theme of the
powerful holy name or the effect of the holy name which was which he manifested while he was chanting the holy name. It's a very interesting story because again, it illustrates
the same point but it adds some little different angle to this whole thing. This is the story when Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was traveling in South India.
And while traveling in the South India, he came to one holy place where Lord Ramachandra was staying and there was some holy
tree which was still there from Lord Ramachandra's time and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was there, he was worshipping, and one local Brahmin he invited him to take lunch in his house.
And when Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came to his house to take lunch, he noticed this local Brahmin was constantly chanting the holy name of Ram. Non-stop. All the time. Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram.
He was not saying even anything, he was only chanting Ram Ram Ram Ram. So Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took lunch in his house and he was very appreciative and very grateful to this particular devotee.
And then he went to some other places and then after a few days he returned to the same house. To return to the same place and again the same brāhmaṇa invited Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to take lunch in his home.
And this time Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu noticed that he's chanting Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna. And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was quite surprised and he said, what happened to you?
Last time you were chanting Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram. Why so quickly you change your Iṣṭa-devatā? Usually usually it doesn't happen like this. If you are fixed in worship of some particular deity
you are doing this worship and you are quite satisfied by
worshiping this particular deity. And this brāhmaṇa he told his story. He said, from my childhood I was reading the scriptures and I started collecting the verses from the scriptures which would glorify the power of the holy name.
And I read many many different verses of the power of the holy name, and I know uh all of them by heart, but among all the holy names of the Lord, uh which are very powerful. My favorite was the holy name of Lord Rāma.
And I therefore I was chanting. And I knew that the holy name of Krishna is also is e even more powerful than the holy name of Rāma.
But I couldn't stop uh I I could only chant the holy I could not even move my tongue to chant the holy name of Krishna. I could only chant the holy name of Rāma.
But since you came and I heard you pronouncing these words, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare, Hare. Hare Rāma.
Ever since I heard you chanting the Holy Name of Krishna, I couldn't stop. I only chant the Holy Name of Krishna. I don't chant the holy name of Rāma anymore.
Because the holy name which I heard from you was so powerful that it touched my heart. Basically, again the point which I'm trying to make is that when we chant we should understand that it's not me who is chanting.
I am just trying to serve the holy name which I received from the pure source.
And if this consciousness is there while we are chanting, and that I am just a receptacle of the mercy of the Holy Name or of the mercy of a pure Vaishnava which came to me in the form of the Holy Name.
If this consciousness is there while we are chanting the Holy name, uh then uh our consciousness will become very pure quite quickly uh and uh it will regain its original uh qualities which are described in the verse which we read.
Early Hare Krishna history in Soviet Union
I guess I should stop now. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. Thank you so much, Maresh, for that very practical discourse on the holy name. That's something we live with every day.
And I couldn't help thinking of two slogans which directly relate to what you're saying. And one is the uh prayer of Queen Kuntī. I uh Aishro yes yes Samadhis yeah, really. Uh not that one, but as
many of you know, you probably know, you know, I've been going through the Bhagavatam and looking for places where there's some adjustment needed. And this verse is one of them.
Because the translation that we've had now for fifty years, uh excuse me, forty-seven years uh is not faithful to the one that Prabhupada gave us in his original Bhagavatam.
It doesn't mention the chanting of the holy name, Abhidatum, which is addressing the Lord. And so and and yeah, feeling the whole point is feelingly. And the purport exactly deals with what you talked about.
If you're too much uh progressively intoxicated with these four uh options, you yeah. Then you can't uh So the translation now is
uh My dear Lord, your Lordship is uh easily approached, but only by those who are materially exhausted.
Because those who are progressively intoxicated with these four opulences of uh wealth, uh good birth, beauty and education cannot address you with deep feeling. And Prabhupāda talks about that in the purport.
And the other one is the the the last verse in that famous series in the second chapter, first canto, Bidy Tevudya Grantis, Shidjan De Savasangshya, Chi and Drishta Eva Atmanishra.
And it directly talks about seeing the Lord in the heart there. Which uh was signed him up. So they Yeah, when when the knot of the whole sea is isn't yeah, and it's completely broken, right?
By the process of your engineering, by the pure filming process. So thank you very much for the U.S. Excuse me. I got it's bedtime for my grandson, so I gotta go.
But I wanted to ask in that mood that you told the story of Shivas Takur being afraid of getting arrested, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu telling them, don't worry, could
you please introduce Japan's to those who thought about this? I thought about this. Thank you very much, Kitri Prabhu. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Yes.
It's my pleasure to introduce to all of you Japan, he's sitting right there. He was one of those first devotees in uh Russia who were uh persecuted severely.
He served three years uh more than three years, three years and three months and three weeks, right, in prison.
He was uh sentenced uh uh by the Russian authorities in prison, and he actually happened to be my Vartma Pradesh Pradeshak Guru.
He introduced me to Krishna consciousness and actually he was the one uh from whom I heard the holy name for the first time. He didn't know about this.
He was under his shower and he was he didn't know that I am in the same room. He was my roommate in the university hostel and he was taking his
shower and he was chanting loudly holy name and I came to the room and I thought he is crazy. He has gone mad. So he was the first one from whom I heard the holy name. And uh he lives in uh in San Francisco. San Jose.
San Jose and San Jose in California. So now yes. You want to tell more about him? I met Japadas forty years ago this month for the Moscow book fair.
And he's probably the most mild-mannered, quiet, except for I never heard the story about chanting loud in the shower, so that's a side of him I never knew.
But mild mannered, quiet, gentlemanly devotee, I think I've ever met. And uh I met him when I went in 1979 to the Moscow book Fair 40 years ago. I think some of the people in this room are not even 40 years old.
Not talking about the little kids either. And so he came from St. Petersburg to then Leningrad to help man the booth at the Moscow Book Fair.
And he was so enthusiastic for distributing Prashadam, preaching to people that came to the the book book fair bookstall taking orders for Srila Prabhupada's books that we subsequently sent from Bombay and everybody got them.
But explaining to everybody so nicely what Krishna consciousness was all about is these people had no clue in 1979. They had no clue whatsoever what was going on.
And he's been for more than 40 years instrumental in Krishna consciousness movement in the former Soviet Union and spreading it and practicing it and he's really a very special devotee. An evil.
I guess we'll add some personal patch to this thing. I heard the holy name from his lips. He didn't know about this.
But then at one point he came to me, he gave Bhagavad Gita, not Prabhupada's Bhagavad Gita, another translation of Bhagavad Gita. And he gave me the beats and he told me to chant the holy name.
And at that time, I really I didn't believe in God. I didn't know who is Krishna, who is Rama, what is Hare, and what is it all about. But I knew him. And I had a complete faith in him and in his integrity.
And he told me, just try to chant. And I did what he said to me because I had trust in him uh and ever since I'm doing it you know I never stopped chanting. He just told me, do it and I'm doing it.
Now I know a little more why I'm doing it. In the beginning, there was only one reason why I was doing it because I trusted him. There was no other reason. Only because of this. So you still trust him? I still trust him.
Maharaj, you're describing that one should meditate on a holy name as he receives it from his guru or his authority. So that's like for initiated devotees. So for uninitiated devotees, how should they be thinking?
They should be thinking to take initiation. That's my humble suggestion. May not be fashionable in some circles of ISKCON nowadays, but it's the process.
It is actually explained And Gour Govinda Maharaja gave a very beautiful explanation to this. He said that uh uh by the process of uh initiation you establish a connection uh the The service connection.
You know what is initiation? Initiation basically means that you officially become the servant. You you adopt or you imbibe this identity, I'm the servant.
That's why the name is given to you in the moment of initiation, your dasa.
For you to meditate on this identity of being a servant and uh while serving uh your spiritual master uh you uh uh uh uh by establishing this connection, uh through the media of this connection, you receive the mood uh and uh which is coming from uh your spiritual master, basically the mood and and then you start changing in the same mood.
You know it's very difficult. The mood is a very subtle thing. It's difficult to catch it.
You can only catch it by the mercy of somebody who has this elevated mood and mood basically means bhāva, the the feeling which is there.
So you can only get the feeling if you establish this connection uh with the pure devotee.
You establish this connection with the pure devotee and through the connections through the media of the service uh you you receive the mood and then you will be able not to chant just the syllables of the holy name, but the holy name with the proper feeling.
That's that's at least my understanding of how it works, how it should work. I have a question.
Madhavendrapuri, if the logic comes in the beginning of your class you mentioned about this uh inherent this love is inherent or it has to be obtained from outside. Madhavendrapuri was a kalpa-vṛkṣa, but he has the mood of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī's experience. How do you explain that?
That's one. And second is who am I to explain this? No, I mean I faced also one person like this, and I won't say the name,
but uh I gave some uh sloka from Madhya-līlā chapter six, one-sixty, where Mahāprabhu told this to Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya: Antaraṅga śakti, bahiraṅga māyā śakti, taṭasthā jīva śakti, tina kare pramā. Bhakti, this love is inherent, this is Mahāprabhu. This is not Prabhupāda or Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's opinion. It is Mahāprabhu's opinion.
Then he told me, Well, I don't accept the Bengali śāstra. I said, excuse me, this is Mahaprabhu speaking. So that was kind of end of our discussion.
And uh also another verse, the Jīva Gosvāmīpād, he they strictly follow Jīva Gosvāmīpād. This uh conception in Prīti-sandarbha, the pātra-pātraṁ vihiṣṭam, uttra-sikte viśvayārati.
Na sthāyī uttra-sī-bhāvaḥ sopraktaḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-viṣayati pātra-pātraṁ vihiṣṭam, there is that every soul has a particular sentiment that other soul cannot have.
As a geologist, geomologist I am, I put that one in front of him that it under the ground the inherent color of sapphire blue or inherent color of ruby red or amoral green cannot be visible because it's a in that condition.
So conditioned soul may not be visible, their particular relationship and the love for a particular sentiment of Kṛṣṇa.
But what makes them red and blue when it is taken out and faceted tumbled uh fashion to a and the light? So question may arise is the light causing the color or it is inherent?
So those who are intelligent they will say both. So it is mercy of guru, holy name that coming down and also it is inherent. Both combinations are accepted. So that's my and I haven't found any opposition.
I'm not going to fight with anybody. But if somebody comes, I also have a like because I strongly believe what Prabhupada says and Bhakti Caru Swami says, nobody has the power to defy that. That's my humble thank you.
You still want an answer from him. Prabhupada was just confirming what Maharaj already said. Yeah, Maharaj said we accept that. Bhaktivinoda.
But we should be not falsely proud, but very happily proud that Prabhupada what he presented is perfect. But Mahaprabhu. So what that has to do with the desire Sri Madhavendra Puri and all that? I asked them the question.
They said if they don't have a madhurya-rasa, nobody can have it. I say how how the call Prabhupada has a madhurya-rasa. How you explain this? He said, oh, we are talking about different subjects.
I see you changing the subject. There are so many examples of the similar nature, like Narada Muni, he has so many disciples. And all these disciples are different. Yes, yes, yes. Even though they have the same guru.
It's not that the you know it's only exclusively dependent on the guru. Yes. That's that's very good.
And uh another example is of course Anupama who is the brother of uh Rupa and Sanatana. You know if if you can receive the you know the madhurya bhava from anyone, that's definitely Rupa and Sanatana, but Anupama didn't.
I think uh Madhavendra Puri became Madhavendra Puri because he had association of Nityananda.
Anonita Binevaya, Radakrishna Paitina. So Madhavendra Puri also initiated Nityananda. So by association of Nityananda he gets Radha-Krishna prema navanita. Yes, why? Radha-Krishna. But in this case it is only three persons.
Yeah. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Radharani and Madhavendra Puri, nobody else. Uh-huh. That's specific. Yeah. It's very nice class. Thank you. Sorry. Tell a little story. Your English must be perfect now. It didn't used to be.
But how long have you been in California? Eighteen years. How many? Eighteen years. Eighteen. So then you must speak some English.
He was also very humble and listened whenever you asked him to do something, but now in California, he won't listen. Nobody listens in California. Are you one of the founding members of Core Genova? Oh yes. Yeah.
By chance. By chance. Okay. I can't. Kojinova was the first, correct me if I'm wrong. Kojinova was the first devotee community, rural, agricultural community in the former Soviet Union, correct?
First successful. First successful. And where where's Kujinova? It's uh south of so uh of uh Russia. It's southern Russia maybe hundred miles north from uh Black Sea. North of Black Black Sea. What is Black Sea? Black Sea.
That's a place. You can see Black Sea on map, so you can imagine it's just hundred miles or two hundred kilometers north of from Lexus. It's a mountains.
Persecution and trial of Soviet devotees
Is it still there? You want to tell the story about this how you were arrested and uh they they brought the false witness there, this lady. Oh it was horrible. It's a nice story. So
we were sitting in uh maybe give me a mic sitting in a quarter room, like uh three rows in front was empty. Det was like in fourth row, it was like big hall, like theater or movie hall.
So judge asked okay, come this kind uh this witness gave name and uh she she came uh she approached and uh judge asked, what you can tell. She started explaining.
One day one person came to my house and asked me to sacrifice my own daughter. And uh just asked, Oh, can you f uh can you find somebody in this hall? Who was that person? She said, Yes, yes, sure.
And I was just thinking what is going on. And she going on a rows and she looked on me and said, oh, it's him. So I was just starting shouting who is that lady, I never met you in my life. Maybe she's crazy.
Can you check your health from psychiatric specialist and then you continue and judge just uh stopped me. She said if you continue speaking, we ask you to leave and we will continue without your presence.
So I decided something very serious I have uh lawyer a regular not regular lawyer in USA, USSR, but a lawyer who was honest and she she was she was honest and she leaving uh this kind of job in two weeks because she was married and her husband took her to Ukraine and she just stopped working and she just she told my sister last court case I will do as should be done so
that lawyer ask a witness. Can you tell can you answer lawyer ask uh judge can you ask some question to this uh witness? Judge said yes, yes, of course, ask him. She knows she knows answer for everything.
And uh this lawyer asked three questions. Who is their God? What is their main scripture? And what is the color of dress? And this witness start start explaining.
Oh yes, black color dress, like Christian monks scripture Bible and God is Jesus Christ and Judge was not so happy and my uh lawyer said it should be mistaken.
They are devotee of Krishna, their book called Bhagavad-gītā, and they dress white colors, or orange colors, they never dress black. It should be a mistake.
And if it will be proved, I will get maybe fifteen years uh to sentence and but that lady left and she never show up again. And in uh 20 years she approached the vote when everything
changed, situation changed and she explained. It was prosecutor who promised you, I will give you fifty rubles. Just do this, this and explain this. But she was a little bit crazy. She was not regular uh citizen.
She was, I believe, no cannot understand what is going on. So she said, he said uhh. She cheated me. No, no, uh, this prosecutor he cheated me. He never gave this money to me.
He said you was, uh, stupid, you didn't make a joke rightly. So it was for me it was stress because some person approached me and oh he asked my daughter to sacrifice. How about the story about how you face down the KGB.
Yeah, Maharas, tell us. There's nothing close to it. Tell us so dramatic. What shall ich tell? CTRS problem?
Translation work and departure from Soviet Union
You know about everything. Maybe can I tell something about you? Yes, sure you can. Okay. Um I don't remember the year. I'm beginning to remember remember less and less the years um you
can say what year that I had I hatched a plan that we needed we had some really bad no comments from the Russians, please. Uwe had some really bad translations of Prabhupada's books. Śrī Īśopaniṣad.
There was a not a very good translation of Bhagavad-gītā, Easy Journey to Other Planets. And we realized that that we really had to get serious about making Prabhupāda's books in the languages of the Soviet Union.
So I did some investigation and asked around who was a good translator and His Holiness was an excellent translator according to my sources in the Soviet Union. So uh I hatched a plan with all due respect Lawrence
to get him to get him married to because that was the only way that you could really get anybody out of the country was that they would marry a foreigner. So there was a a Swedish devotee lady and she went,
sent her, she agreed, and they got married and after, probably, a year and a half Vaijayanta-dāsa came to Sweden and
uh sat down in in a very humble room in the upstairs of our house in Åsviksgård in Sweden and began translating like mad and uh um Um, I I kind of uh
I always feel that I have two sons, my householder son and my sannyasi son. And uh but he he did wonders.
He organized the Russian language BBT and and and took care of so many other language translators that made it possible to have so many languages books in so many languages of the former Soviet Union.
And he was the uh they call it the not king not kingpin, keystone, let's say, in of this of the we called it the Soviet BBT.
And uh so many devotees came from from the Soviet Union and things changed and opened up, but he was the first one to come and uh translated himself and organized so many others to translate and produce Prabhupada's books for editing them after they were translated and
uh now you have what you have today in in Srila Prabhupada's books in so many languages and so many hundreds of thousands of devotees throughout the country. have to add something to this.
When I first came to Sweden, there was this completely crazy story. Kirti Raj Prabhu got me married to this Swedish lady. The Swedish lady came to Tashkent. Tashkent is a very hot place. It's the capital of Uzbekistan.
And first thing she did, she fainted because it was too too hot for her. I didn't know how to deal with I didn't know how to deal with ladies and with ladies who fainted. Was very difficult. Anyway.
But then you know, when we got married it it was not so difficult. Uh uh you know, and but I I I really lived a nice life in Tashkent. I was very happy. We had a little group of devotees, we were preaching there.
And I thought I would stay. I I didn't really have a plan to go there. So this is how Krishna works. It's a very interesting thing.
For some time I was living there and there was nothing, everything was quiet, and everything was so nice. But then at one in one day I received two signs from Krishna simultaneously.
I was called to the prosecutor's office and they told me, enough is enough, we know everything about you, this time we will arrest you. And at the same time, I received a nice telegram from my wife.
And by the style of this telegram, I realized that it was not my wife but Kirti Raj Prabhu himself. What? She said, my dear, I am so I'm so in love with you, where are you?
And I knew that this Swedish lady will never pronounce this word because it it was not from her, you know, vocabulary. She would not be able to say this.
I immediately, I imagined, you know, a big figure of Kirti Raj Prabhu behind this telegram. And the telegram says come as quickly as possible.
And uh because these two signs came simultaneously, I thought I should take it seriously. So uh in this way I came to Sweden and I was so homesick in Sweden. The whole mood was so different there.
You know, if you ever been to Sweden, Sweden is a very cold place with a very cold people. And I came from a very hot place with a very hot people and sentimental people.
So I was I was I was almost dying there until the time when Kirtiraj Prabhu actually adopted me. I was I was really his son. I was living in his house. Haripuja was my mother and Kirtiraj Prabhu was my father.
And I was living there and only because I was living there with them and I felt this you know family environment and and care of Kirtiraj Prabhu and Haripuja, I only survived otherwise I wouldn't survive in Sweden.
I would probably hang up myself somewhere so thank you very much, Kira. Mataji, all glories to you.