A Structural Review of the Main Topics of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Lecture 16
Бхакти Вигьяна Госвами · 2021
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Understanding the Tenth Canto structure
Hare Krishna. So we're continuing with our discussion on the structure of Shrimad Bhagavatam and we came to a crucial point in our discussion. Now we are facing a big problem.
How to understand the 10th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is the essence and āśraya, the most important topic of the whole Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
In fact, everything else was spoken by Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī for us to understand properly the tenth canto.
And nevertheless, despite tremendous endeavors of Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī and Śrīla Vyāsadeva to explain this topic of the 10th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, very few people really understood this topic, us included.
So therefore, today, since this description of the tenth canto will take probably four or maybe even five lectures, or maybe even more. Let's see how it goes. I'll try to do it every Saturday.
But today I wanted to do the introduction to this topic, and for that I will read a few verses from Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, chapter 25, “The Residences of Vārāṇasī Become Vaiṣṇavas”.
Please listen very carefully. Kṛṣṇa-tattva, bhakti-tattva, premā-tattva-sāra, bhāva-tattva, rasa-tattva, līlā-tattva, text number 265.
Kṛṣṇa consciousness means understanding the truth of Kṛṣṇa, the truth of devotional service, kṛṣṇa-tattva, bhakti-tattva, the truth of love of Godhead, premā-tattva, the truth of emotional ecstasy, bhāva- tattva, the truth of transcendental mellows, rasa-tattva, and the truths of the pastimes of the Lord, līlā-tattva.
In other words, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī stresses here that it's not so easy to understand tattva, the
philosophy behind everything, and tenth canto and the whole of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam is about this, bhakti-tattva and kṛṣṇa-tattva, and premā-tattva and bhāva-tattva.
So we should first and līlā-tattva of course, we should first, and rasa-tattva, we should first try to understand these tattvas very systematically.
Śrī-bhāgavata-tattva-rasa, kori' pracāra, kṛṣṇa-tulya bhāgavata, janāila, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has personally preached the transcendental truths and mellows of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the Supreme Personality of Godhead are identical. For Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the sound incarnation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
So if somebody thinks that he can understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam easily just by reading letters is a big fool because Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam is not just a collection of letters or sounds or even meanings which can be perceptible by our mind.
Shrimad Bhagavat Krishna Tullia Bhagavata. So uh Janaila Samsari, he comes here and he is equal to Krishna. Krishna to the Bhagavatam. Bhagavatam manifests himself in this material world.
Bhakta Lagi Vish Tarila, Aponabadadaniame V Kahan Bhaktamukke Kahae Sunilaapani Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu broadcast the purport of Shrimad Bhagavatam.
He sometimes spoke a for the benefit of his devotees and sometimes empowered one of his devotees to speak while he listened. Purpored by his divine grace, bhaktivanta sani kaupada.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as an ideal teacher or acharya explained Srimad Bhagavatam very elaborately himself.
He sometimes also empowered his devotees to speak while he listened, this is the way an Acharya should train his disciples. Not only should he describe the Bhagavatam cult personally, but he
should also train his disciples to speak on this sublime subject, and we all of course can see that this is how Prabhupada arranged his mission.
Sri Chaitanya Samara Kripaluvadanya Bhakti All sane men within these three worlds suddenly accept the conclusion that no one is more merciful and magnanimous than Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and that no one is as kind to his devotees.
Sradhakhori Ailela Suna Bhaktigan, Hara Prasadi Paiba, Chaitanya Charan.
All devotees should hear about Sri Chaitanya Mahabrabhu's pastimes with face and love. By the grace of the Lord one can thus attain the shelter of his lotus feet.
Sarvashastra Siddhantera Ihanpai Bhappar. By understanding the past times of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, one can understand the truths about Krishna.
So this Krishna Tattva which was mentioned in the beginning is only possible if we can understand Ihara Prasadhi Paiba Krishna Tattva Sar by concentrating on Chaitanya Charana, on the pastimes of Lord Chaitanya.
By understanding Krishna, one can understand the limit of all knowledge described in various revealed scriptures.
Challenge of knowing Krishna's nature
There is one more verse and one more two more words.
As Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita, Manushinam Sahasri Sukas Chidya Tati Siddha Yayatatam At Of many Tatam At Of many thousands among men one may endeavour for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection hardly one knows mean truths.
Shiva Prabhupada stresses this point that it's very difficult to understand Krishna Tattva. The real nature of Krishna.
It is very difficult to understand Krishna, but if one tries to understand Srimad Bhagavatam Sru Chaitanya Mahrabhu Bhakti Cult, one will undoubtedly understand Krishna very easily. If somehow or other one understands Krishna, his life is successful.
Again, as Krishna states in Bhagavad-gītā, janma karma ca me divyam evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti māṁ eti so 'rjuna. One who knows the transcendental nature of my appearance and activities does not upon leaving the body take his birth again in this material world but attains my eternal abode, o Arjuna.
And the last verse which we read today: Krishna-līlā ām-ṛta ta-ra-sa ta-śā-tha-ra dā-śa-di-ke, vā-ha-yā-hā-ēi-te, śrī-cai-ta-nya-lī-lā-hoya, sa-ro-va-ra ak-ṣa-ya, mahā-ha-ṁ-sa-cā-ra-hā-ta-ha-te.
Translation put forth by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. The pastimes of Lord Krishna are the essence of all nectar. Krishna-līlā am-ṛta.
And that nectar is flowing in hundreds of rivers in all directions. tāra śata śāthāra. The pastimes of Sri Caitanya Mahprabhu are an eternal reservoir and one
is advised to let his mind swim like a swan in this transcendental lake. So he says very interesting metaphors here.
Krishna Daskavirajoswami says that there are so many lilas of Krishna and they're fast flowing and it's very difficult to understand them.
So one what we should do in the beginning, he says, we should go to the lake of Sri Caitanya-līlā, which is still, which is in other words which is more easy, easily understandable.
And we should dwell in this lake of Lord Caitanya's līlā like a swan in this transcendental lake.
And a very important purport by Śrīla Prabhupāda, which is actually the reason why I'm choosing this part of Caitanya-caritāmṛta to be read today. The essence of spiritual knowledge is found in the past times of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, which are identical with the past times of Lord Krishna. This is the essence of knowledge. If knowledge does not include the understanding of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Krishna, it is simply superfluous.
By Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's grace, the nectar of Lord Sri Krishna's pastimes is flowing in different directions in hundreds and thousands of rivers.
One should not think that the pastimes of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu are different from from Lord Krishna's pastimes.
It is said, śrī-kṛṣṇa-cai-tanya rādhā-kṛṣṇa nahe anya. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is a combination of Radha and Krishna.
Thus without understanding the pastimes of Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu, one cannot understand Radha and Krishna.
Srinanarotamadas Thakur therefore sings Rupa Ragunatapade hoy bea kuti kabehama bujabas said Jugala piriti when shall I become very eager to study the books left by the six Goswanis, then I shall be able to understand the conjugal pastimes of Radha and Krishna.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu directly empowers Sri Larupa Goswami and Sri La Sanatana Goswami. Following in their footsteps, the other Goswamis understood Sri Chaitanya Mahrabhu and His mission.
One should understand Sri Krishna Chaitanya and Lord Shri Krishna from the six Gaswamis in the Parampara system. The Krishna consciousness movement is following as strictly as possible to the footsteps of the Goswamis.
Naratama Das Thakura says, H. Tanradash. I am the servant of the six Goswamis.
The philosophy of Krishna consciousness is to become the servant of the servant of the servant of the Lord, whoever wants to understand the difficult subject matter of Krishna Katha, should accept the discipline succession.
If one is somehow or other able to understand Krishna, his life is successful.
A perfect devotee is able to understand Krishna through the disciplined succession and his entrance into the kingdom of God is thereby certainly opened.
When one understands Krishna, there is no difficulty in transferring oneself to the spiritual kingdom, sila prapada kiya! Namam Vishnu padaraya Krishna Prachaya Bhutadesri Mate Bhaktividanta Swami Dinany.
Namaste Saraswati Devi, Gurawani Pracharine, Nirvisha, Sunyavati, Paschatyade Satari Vanchakapataru Vescha Kripa Sindu Vacha Pattitana Pavani Byow Vaishnavy Namonama, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabunitananda,
Sri Advaita Gadathara, Sivasadhi Gaurabhta Vrinda, Hare
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama, Rama, Hare Hare. Rama Hare Hare.
Ajanulambitbujokana Kabadatu, Sankirtanaika Bitaroka Malai Taksa, Vishvambarodvi Java Yuga Dharma Palu Vandeja Gatvia Karukarunavatam.
Methodology for approaching Krishna's pastimes
Randah pravišni mammacham pra subtam, sangiva ja taki wa shapti darakswadamna, anjampa di ranandambhāde burchare So, as I said, today we will start this topic by first understanding the methodology.
How we can understand this very difficult subject matter. Seemingly Krishna's pastimes are very simple. So much so that somebody made a cartoon out of Krishna's pastimes. Famous. He happened to be from here.
Śrīla Prabhupāda was dead against this. He didn't like it. Many devotees suggested to him: why don't we make a nice cartoon out of Krishna's pastime? Śrīla Prabhupāda was against it.
He didn't like it because he knew that you know it will give people a wrong impression that they can understand Krishna. And actually, Krishna is just like a cartoon hero. He's just like a little cartoon hero.
They will not understand the depths and the inner meaning of Krishna's pastimes. Instead, they will have an illusion that they already know Krishna's pastimes. I heard it so many times.
So first of all, we have to be very careful about the methodology, how we can understand Krishna's pastimes, which is not easy.
You know, the brightest intelligence in the universe are trying to decipher, decipher the pastimes of Lord Krishna in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So many commentaries are written.
Madhusudhan Saraswati and you know Vopadev and Sridarswani and Madhvacharya and Virarada Vacharya and Vijayadvachatirka and so many, so many Giridari Lal Goswami from Pallabasamradai.
And they write, and of course Sanatna Goswani, Jiva Goswwana, Visanatchikravadita. They write elaborate commentaries.
But Lord Shiva will say that you cannot understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by commentaries. We will study this verse today as well.
It's just for us not to be misled by the apparent simplicity of the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
And therefore, Sri Krishna himself he stresses in the verse which Śrīla Prabhupāda quotes twice in this section of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Janma karma chamedi vyjam e vambyavitatvataha.
Sometimes we think, oh yeah, I know, I already know Janma and Karma of Krishna. Not without a reason he says Tattva. In truth.
And therefore, in the first verse which we read today, it is said that we should understand Krishna Tattva first and then bhakti tattva and then prramatva and then rasa tattva and then bhava tattva and then lilatattva.
So uh to understand this in truth as he is, as Prabhupada is stressing here, we should join the Parampara system. We should become the servant of the servant of the servant within this Parampara system
and therefore it's very peculiar that in the fourth chapter of Bhagavad-gītā where Krishna says this, Janma Karma Chaledi Vyam Evam Yavedi Tattvatahatyak Tvateham Punarjanmaiti Mammaji Sorjuna.
In the beginning he says this. Janma Karma Chamedi Vyam Evam Yavedi Tatvataha. Those who know in Tattva in truth,s the past times of Lord Krishna and his births, and they will go to me without any doubts.
But then at the end of this chapter, he says, what? Tadvidi pranipati na pari prasnana sevaya. Upadixyanti teggya nam gyany nastatva darseva.
In the same, in the beginning he says, yes, you should understand it in truth. How to understand the truth, Tadvidi Pranipati Napari Prashnada Seva.
Once Prabhupada was speaking with Guru Kripa and he asked Guru Kripa, please tell me what is the most important verse of all the scriptures. What is the most important verse? What is the most important verse?
Please tell me. Guno Krishna. Huh? Guno Krishna. So what is the verse? What is the verse? What is the verse? Verse.
Śrīla Prabhupāda said, what is the most important sloka from the scriptures? Tasmantrapad. Tastad Purun Prabadita, well, he didn't say this, but it's yeah. You're almost there. It's Chamsakalah Pumsa, yes.
Guru Kripa said to Śrīla Prabhupāda that the most important verse, Hare Nama, Hare Nama, Hare Nama Eva Śrīla Prabhupāda said no. Śrīla Prabhupāda was very strong, no. So Guru Kripa was flabbergast.
What is the most important verse?
And Prabhupada says, yes, yadeve parabhaktiriative. Tasay Vakathitahi Artam Prakashabde Mahatma This verse from Sveta Swatara Upanishad says that you should have the devotion to the Lord and exactly the same devotion to your spiritual master. Yasyadhile Tadhaguru. And then only prakasante mahatmanaha tasyay te kathitahyarth.
The meaning of all these tathas, of all these statements of Krishna will become clear, of all this statements of the scriptures will become clear. There is no other way, there is no other way, there is no other way.
So, but actually Śrīla Prabhupāda is um is stressing the need to accepting parampara system but he does not specify which of course he says six gosvami so he it's it's implied that this is uh Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's parampara.
Uniqueness of the Gaudiya tradition
And in this uh talk today I will try to prove in a very impartial way that the understanding which we can get in this parampara system is unique, is absolutely unique, is absolutely exclusive.
No other parampara, even though this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is revered and studied in all the paramparas, in all vaiṣṇava lines,
but nowhere the this completely unique uh understanding of especially of the tenth skand of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as a whole is given as or revealed as in our Parampara by the mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
Therefore it is stressed here that only by the mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu you will be able to understand the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And let's try to examine a little bit this point.
Śrīla Prabhodānanda Sarasvatī, he says, very interesting, two verses of Śrīla Prabhodānanda Sarasvatī are very, very important for us.
He says, Araditam Navavanam Vraja Kana nam te naraditam Navavanam Vraja Eva Dure. Araditam Navavanam. If you worship Navavanam, what is Navavanam? Navadvi. Navadvi.
Aradyitam Navavanam Vraja Kananam te, then Vraja Kanana, the forest of Vrindavan will be yours. It means you will be able to enter into the forest of Vrindavan.
And he says, But if you don't worship Navadvip Dham, if you don't worship the place where Caitanya Mahāprabhu started his pastimes, then Vraja Eva Dure, Vraja will be very far from you, much further than Bangalore from Uttar Pradesh, it will not be reachable by you.
Rajaeva Dure.
So he stresses this point: only if you worship Navadvip, or you worship Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, if you worship these past times of love, which Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu manifested, only then you will be able to understand this.
And then he says, Aradhiita dvija sutto So what does it mean? Aradita dvjayasuto if you worship Vijayasutta, the son of Brahman. Who is son of Brahmana? Caitanya Mahaprabhu, son of Jagannath and Saci.
Then Vraja Nagara, the lover, the paramour of Vraja will be yours, you will be able to enter into personal contact with Krishna who is displaying this parakiya-rasam in Vrindavan. Aradhita Vijayasuto, na tava iha Krishna.
Na tava iha Krishna. This Krishna will never be yours. Na tava Krishna. You may reach Krishna. You may reach Krishna. We are not sectarian. We are very generous. Yes, you may reach Krishna.
But you will not reach Vraja Krishna in Vrindavana. You will not reach Vraja Nagara Krishna. You will read some other Krishna. There are so many Krishna. Krishna is not alone. There are so many different aspects of Krishna.
You will be thinking about Krishna, Krishna, Krishna and then you know to your surpr well not to your surprise, but you will reach Nrsimhadeva. Because by saying Krishna Krishna you meet Nrsimhadeva.
So here Prabhupada Sarasvati, he stresses this point: the only way to obtain the highest conception of Krishna, the highest understanding of Krishna is to worship Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu, aradhita dvija-suto vraja-nagara-s te.
Revealing Srimad-Bhagavatam's inner meaning
And the next verse is extremely important also from Caitanya-candramrta. śrīmad-bhāgavatasya yatra paramam tatparyam utaṅkitam śrī-vyāsa-sūnunā, because one can get some doubts. You know, why do we need Caitanya Mahaprabhu?
Śrīla Vyasadeva wrote Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī, he explained Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in a very palatable way. It came directly from the lips of Śukadeva Gosvāmī and became drava. Drava means became liquid.
It means that it flows itself. This verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says that it's very easy to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. This rasa just flows itself, you don't need to do anything.
You know, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is a ripened fruit, there is no skin, there is no bīja, there is no stone inside, just liquid, just drink. You know, if even if you take manga you still have to chew a little bit.
But Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam you don't have to chew, nothing to chew. It's already uh uh taken by Śukadeva Gosvāmī. So you may have this doubt that uh you know how how is it, how is it uh
in according to this third verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam? So here Prabodhananda Saraswati explains, please listen very carefully.
Sri Mad Bhagavatasya Yatra Paramam Tatparyam Utan Kitam Sri Vaya Sakina, Duran Vayataya, Rasaprasangi Pyat, Sri Radha Ratikeli Nagara, Rasaswadaika Sadbajanam. Tadvas to Prathanaya Gouravapusha Lok Avertino Harihi.
He says here that Hari Lord Krishna Himself, He came to this world for which purpose Gauravapusha, accepting this Gaura-vapuṣa, the body of Lord Gaurāṅga, Vāstu-prārthanāya, to show this vastu,
which was hidden despite the seeming easiness or palatability of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Still it was difficult. Why?
Srimad Bhagavatasya Yatra paramam Tatpariya mutankitam because Sivayasa Kina Duranvayatayara Saprasangi Piyat the essence of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was explained by Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī in a very cryptic way and in a very short way without elaboration, without proper elaboration.
This tātparya, the real essence of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatsya Paramam Tātparya, the highest meaning of Srimad Bhagavatam, was explained due to very serious reasons by the son of uh Vyāsadeva, Vyāsa-sakīnāṁ dūranvayatayā. It's difficult to understand.
In Rasaprasangi, he said this. But he didn't elaborate on this because he was shy. He was too shy.
He didn't want to explain all this intimate subject matters which are there in this rasa prasanga in the context of rasa dance. Nāgara-rasāsvādaika-bhājanam.
Whereas you will only be able to really do bhajan to Krishna, really to worship Krishna as He is, in His true form.
If you understand Rādhā-rati-keli-nāgara-rasāsvādaika, yes you uh o only if you uh āsvāda if you will uh get the taste. But uh Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī didn't really get into it. And we will understand again why and how why it is so. So he only, utaṅkitam, very briefly he explained this subject matter, not elaborately enough.
And therefore, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu himself came prathanāya for which purpose? Tadvastu prathanāya to show this vastu.
The very reason or cause of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's appearance in this world is to show what Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Bhagavatam is all about. And without him, we will never be able to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Without Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And this is not an exaggeration. Because if you only try to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam intellectually, you will for sure fail, 100% fail.
And at the same time, you will be able to think that, oh, I know Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam. I know Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
These intellectual attempts are completely futile because the vastu, the vāstava vastu, which is the real subject matter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, will be elusively hidden from us.
And therefore Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura in his commentary to the first verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam he says that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is like a lamp. It illuminates everything.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is like a sun, it makes everything clear. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is like a ripened fruit, but Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is also like Mohinī-mūrti.
So if you think that only Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is like the sun, okay, fine. But Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is also like Mohinī-mūrti.
You can read this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and you will be deprived of the real nectar as much as Mohinī-mūrti deprived people, if you don't really clearly tune up your mind or your consciousness or your heart towards the subject matter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam will not be the sun for you, it will be Mohinī- mūrti.
Mohinī-mūrti will show you, here's the pot of nectar. And then okay, she will run away with the pot of nectar. And you will sit there and say, you know, what happened? Where is the nectar? And isn't it sometimes our case?
You know, we hear pibata bhāgavataṁ rasam ālayam. And we read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and we say, where, where is the rasa? Where is the juice? Again cheating. You know. The advertisement was there.
Here is the rasa, here is the juice, no juice. We are bored and we say, oh no, my goodness. Again, prayers. How many times I should listen to this.
So we are living proof of this statement of Viśvanātha চক্রবর্তী Thakur that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is like Mohinī-mūrti. We are being cheated of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
And as I said, Lord Shiva again says this very interestingly. Please listen carefully to what Lord Shiva wants to say. He says, He says, I know Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śukadeva Gosvāmī knows him and Bhāgavatam.
Vyāsa, he may know Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, he may not know Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Vyāsadeva wrote Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. But what he says: no, I'm not sure whether he knows Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or not. So, what does he mean?
He means that you know when Śukadeva Gosvāmī speaks the verses of Śrīmad Bhagavatam, the inner meaning of these verses is revealed to him. Whereas when Vyāsadeva speaks Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it may be revealed, maybe not.
Therefore, Vyāsadeva was sitting right there when Śukadeva Gosvāmī was describing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
So you can only understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by hearing, not by other means and therefore he says bhaktiya bhagavatam grahyam na budhya na cha tikya. You can only understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by bhakti.
Bhakti Bhagavatam Grahyam, you can only grahani, you can only catch Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by bhakti, na buddhyā na ca ṭīkayā, not by your intelligence or not by even studying the ṭīkās, the commentaries, imaginary
commentaries you may give commentaries yourself, you will not. Śrīla Prabhupāda gives this is the verse from Caitanya-caritāmṛta quoted and Śrīla Prabhupāda stresses this in a short purport he writes to this verse.
Devotional service includes nine processes, beginning with hearing, chanting, and remembering the activities of Lord Vishnu. Only one who has taken to devotional service can understand
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is the spotless Purāṇa for transcendentalists, paramahaṁsas. So-called commentaries are useless for this purpose. According to the Vedic injunction, yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau.
The Vedic literature maintains that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has to be learned from a person, from the personal Bhāgavatam. And to understand one has to engage in pure devotional service.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam cannot be understood by so-called erudite scholars or grammarians.
One who has developed pure Krishna consciousness has served the pure devotee, the spiritual master, can understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Others cannot. So, here I want to also read to you a few very
Limits of empirical study methods
important and very deep profound statements by Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda. Very, very important.
Because he wrote an essay, or Niśikānta Caṭṭopādhyāya, his disciple, but you know, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura would would put his signature under everything which Dr. Nishikanta Sanyal would write.
And sometimes uh you know it's indistinguishable who wrote this particular essay. So So this is the essay which is called Understanding
the Eternal Truths of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or something like this. I don't remember the exact name of this. But please listen. It's very interesting.
He says that our attempts to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by empirical means, it means that by our intelligence, by our eyes, by our ears, and so on and so forth, will for sure fail. Please listen.
The eternal truth has been made manifest to this world by Śrī Vyāsadeva in the narrative of the past times of Vraja. Sadeva in the narrative of the past times of Raja.
But the real nature of the truth can be realized by means of knowledge born of the senses. Yes, Vyāsadeva explained everything in the past times of Vraja, which is the subject matter of the 10th canto.
But the real nature of the truth cannot be realized by the means of knowledge born of the senses, by empirical means.
The knowledge is spontaneously experienced by the pure essence of the individual soul in his exclusive state samadhi.
This knowledge you can only understand reading 10th Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam you can only understand if you are in Samadhi. Because Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is written in Samadhi Bhag This is the language of Samadhi.
So only if you are in Samadhi you can understand the language of Samadhi. Only if you are from Karnataka you will understand Canada. Right? So you you should know the language uh which people speak in this land.
What is the land which you should know? Well what is the language uh which you should know to understand uh Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. You should know the language of Samadhi because it's written in Samadhi Bhasha.
There are, however, pseudo exclusive states which must not be confounded with the spiritual condition proper in which there is no presence of any mundane element.
So you can only understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam if you're completely free from any mundane element or any materialistic ideas.
In this state, the truth becomes self-manifest by the operation of the spiritual potency of divinity.
This truth of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam will be revealed to you by the supreme energy, by the descent of the supreme energy of the Lord, but it can only be revealed if you are in a proper condition.
This phenomenal world is the distorted unwholesome reflection. Okay, that's okay.
The substantive reality in the forms of name, form, quality, pastimes, and the distinctive personality of his paraphernalia make their appearance to the soul in his exclusive state samādhi.
So actually in this essay, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, by trying to stress this point, he gives a very beautiful comparison. He says, What is described there in the tenth canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in Vraja-līlā.
In the 10th Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we see how Kaṁsa from Mathurā is sending one demon after another to kill Kṛṣṇa to Vraja.
And Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda says that this constant attempts of Kaṁsa to send demons to Vraja to kill Kṛṣṇa is actually what is Mathurā? He says, Mathurā is the city of knowledge.
And Kaṁsa is the materialistic intelligence which lives there in the city of knowledge.
And he's sending all the demons to Vraja is actually the attempts to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by empirical means, by intellectual means.
But actually, what he wants to do, he wants to kill Kṛṣṇa. He doesn't want to understand Kṛṣṇa. He doesn't want to love Kṛṣṇa, to obtain love of Kṛṣṇa. He only sends all these demons. I will read this.
is a historical ground for such misgivings for the all the doubts which may have. Accordingly, if the empiric domination is to be preserved intact,
it would be necessary not to lose a moment to put down the transcendental heresy, the instant uh to the threat uh the the instant it threatens to make the appearance uh in the earnest.
I'm sure you will not under you don't understand anything. But the idea idea here is that those
people who maintained that you can understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by some empirical means or by your senses and intelligence, they constantly try to attack Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by their intelligence, as much as Kaṁsa is trying to attack Kṛṣṇa by all these demons.
King Kaṁsa acting on this traditional fear, fear that we really understand Kṛṣṇa is never slow to take the scientific precaution in deputing empiric teachers of the scriptures backed by the resources of dictionary and grammar and all empirical subtleties to put down by slow of special arguments based on the hypothetical principles, the true interpretation of the eternal religion revealed by the scriptures.
So he basically says that all these demons they are like scholars who are trying to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. By the means of their erudition, by the dictionaries, by the grammar, by all the subtleties which they're explaining, here he says they're just like demons.
And this is Kamsa, this is the scientific method employed by Kamsa to kill Krishna, to kill the real essence of these pastimes. Very strong language he used.
And again, those who are in the intellectual condition are required to free themselves from those offenses which are found in the sphere of Mathurā.
In other words, we all have little offensive mentality, we all rely on our ability to understand. Isn't it? You know, I I can understand this, no problem. No problem.
So he says this is the offense, this is the offense which is living in Mathurā, in this city of knowledge, which is serving Kamsa, which is atheism.
You know, so what again and again what he wants to say is that it's not futile, it's offensive to try to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by the normal means. We have to completely free ourselves from these attempts which are ultimately offensive towards Lord Krishna.
Four types of distorted knowledge
We will not be able to understand Krishna and we will commit offenses.
And then that's another article, a beautiful article by Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī. He says very interestingly, this is important, please, that you may try to remember.
He says, If we hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but we are not really prepared to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and we still try to employ our intelligence in hearing Śrīmad Bhagavatam.
Then the real purport which the author of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, or Vyāsadeva wants to give us will not be understood by us. Instead, we may get four kinds of distorted knowledge of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.
Please, again as I said, it's important. The distorted knowledge of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the real knowledge of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is that the truth will be revealed to us.
We will just see how Krishna is running in the meadows of Vrindavan and how he's playing with his friends and how he's showing universal form in his mouth and we will we will really understand this we will see this in a proper way but
if we try to employ or apply our intellectual abilities
instead of trying to absorb Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by the service mood. So in other words, when we hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that's our service. That's a very important service which we do.
And that's the the we should be in the state of service, not in the state, now I will be able to grasp this intellectually. So he says that instead four types of wrong knowledge will appear within our heart.
The first knowledge is called fragmental knowledge. Parichinagyan. In other words, what will happen?
You will reach Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and you will get this piece of information, that piece of information, little parichina means little you know bytes of information.
And you will remember everything and you will even tell this to other people. But this is Parichina Jana. This is not the knowledge which is complete in itself. Like Krishna, Krishna is Advayagyan. He is non-dual.
You cannot really cut Krishna into pieces. But if you apply the material method of understanding Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, you will cut Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam into pieces.
But you cannot cut Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam into pieces because he is just one whole. You know, even a little tiny soul cannot be cut into pieces. Well to speak about Krishna, he is not cuttable.
He is not digestible by cutting him into pieces. Like you know we to digest the vegetables, we have to cut the vegetables into pieces. You know, so so the people they cut Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam into pieces.
This is called Bhakti Vai Bhav. Bhaktiv. Sometimes, you know. I I don't want to denigrade these endeavors. They're very glorious endeavors. But we have to really understand that this is not really, you know, this is not you
know we we have to understand the specialty of this method of understanding Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Sruparampara system. Not to cut into pieces means you you may have you know very good grasp of what was going on there.
And still, it will be Paritchinagjan. It will be just piece of Srimad Bhagavatam. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam which is nicely cut into nice cubes and you know you digest it. So this is the first type of wrong knowledge.
The second type of wrong knowledge, which you may get by trying to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in this way is called contracted knowledge. Sankirnagiana.
You will get a very. Sankirna means. it's a very meager sort of knowledge. You will not get the full understanding of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, a little bit you will get saṅkīrṇa-jñāna. Very narrow sort of knowledge.
third kind of knowledge you which you may get in this way, distorted knowledge, Vikritagyan. Means you know this is very common.
You know you you hear something and it's completely distorted in your mind and you get a completely different impression of what is being said.
You will not be able to understand what is there, what is the relationship between Krishna and the Gopis, what are all these demons and you know you and you will only get this, you
you know, little cartoon of the ten cantos in My Māyā. This is what what will go on in your mind. And then the last, fourth kind of distorted knowledge is vivartagrasta-jñāna.
Vivartagrasta. Vivarta means when you see the rope and you think it's a snake. So you will have the jñāna, but it will be vivartagrasta-jñāna.
You will think it's the real jñāna, but you will not see the rope, you only see the snake. You will see something different. Your interpretation or your understanding of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam will be completely wrong.
So, this is the different varieties of knowledge which you may get. You can choose which one you want. Paricchinna-jñāna, vivartagrasta-jñāna, vikṛta-jñāna, the distorted knowledge or saṅkīrṇa-jñāna.
But you will not get the uh full knowledge. So that's how Śrī Caitanya, how Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī was so emphatic on this point, because so many people reach him and Bhāgavata, so many people give,
you know, if you go to Vrindavan, on every corner there is some advertisement. Sometimes big advertisements, sometimes small advertisement, according to the you know, extent of the ego of the speaker, you know.
They they explain this. No, no, no. And you know old ladies they come and they sit and they you know oh very nice, very nice. And then they go back and drink their tea and coffee and nothing changes, nothing happens.
Uh no revelation of Krishna. So basically we have to have proper mood. Because when we hear, we don't hear what is being said. What is being said is filtered through the mood which we have.
If we are angry, you know, and the mood which Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu gives is this mood of premā.
You know why meditation on Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is so important? Because by understanding his pastimes we can understand what is prema and then by listening Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we will listen it through this media of prema, of love of God. And we will be able to hear something which we will never be able to hear otherwise.
I wanted to tell the story, but I will not tell the story. It's anyway, it's uh, dress.
Requirements for receiving spiritual knowledge
So therefore, this is the method. Here is the method which is described by Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami or by Swarupa Damodara Goswami in the antya-līlā of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta.
The method to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. This is the formula.
This formula is given by Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī to a Bengali brāhmaṇa who came and who wanted to read to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu his kāvya, his poem about about Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and about Lord Jagannath.
And we know how severely he was chastised by Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī. But when Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī became little peaceful, he gave the method to this brāhmaṇa.
Basically he what he says here is that you think that you understood Bhāgavatam, you didn't understand Bhagavatam, you fool.
And therefore you wrote this, you know, very flowery kāvya, and this kāvya is full of mistakes and full of rasābhāsas and full of all the inconsistencies. And you don't even understand that it's full of inconsistencies.
You're so happy about your own creation. So he says: Please listen very carefully. Yāha bhāgavata-pāra vaiṣṇava-sthāne ekānta āśraya kara caitanya-caraṇe. This is the formula. Yāha bhāgavata-pāra vaiṣṇava-sthāne.
If you want to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, you should go to the place where Vaiṣṇavas live. You should go to the lotus feet of Vaiṣṇavas. You should find the Vaishnava, real Vaishnava, the real undivided
exclusive Vaiṣṇava and at the same time ekānta āśraya kara caitanya-caraṇe. By listening this Vaiṣṇava, how he explains the meaning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
At the same time, you should take the exclusive shelter ekānta āśraya kara caitanya caraṇe of Caitanya Charan, of his lotus feet, of the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
Śrīla Prabhupāda translates this: If you want to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, you must approach a self-realized Vaiṣṇava and hear from him.
You can do this when you have completely taken shelter of the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So again, the same point is stressed. This should be exclusive shelter of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu
And the real relationship with his follower.
Exclusive shelter of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his pastimes, when we again and again read them, and at the same time the real service mood to the to the to the Vaishnava who speaks Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
And then he says, Chaitanya Bhakta Ganar, Chaitanya Bhakta Ganar Nitya Kora Sanga. Please always be in association with Chaitanya Bhakta Gan with the followers of Sri Chaitanya. Please be in the society of the devotees.
Tabira Janiba Siddhanta Samudra Taranga. Only then you will be able to swim in this Siddhanta Samudra Taranga. You will be able to feel this Taranga, the waves of Siddhanta Samudra, of this vast ocean of Siddhanta.
So the basically the three conditions are there.
You should take exclusive shelter of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, you should go to a Vaishnava and learn Srimad Bhagavatam from him and you should always be in the association of the followers of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Then only you will be able to understand what does it mean because Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam itself in the very beginning says what is the qualification to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam? Paramo nirmatsaranam satam.
You can only understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam if you are Nirmatsara. And if you're Kriti bih, kriti bhih means you're accomplished, as Prabhupada translates this verse.
Susrusubi, you have to be eager, and you have to be accomplished, it means that you have to be mature in your relationship. You have to be determined. Susrushou bih, you have to be eager, this is one qualification.
You have to be kriti bih, you have to get initiation or whatever, you you have to really have this service mood. And then Nirmatsaranam Satam, you have to be completely free. You have to be peaceful. Not disturbed.
Not just, you know what should I do next? My you know my IT project is waiting for me you know. No. Completely peaceful Satam and Nirmatsaranam, no envy, no envy whatsoever.
Lessons from Lord Brahma's bewilderment
As we spoke about Ramayana also, that should not be envy. So So the very interesting that there is I will describe a little episode from the 10th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam which illustrates beautifully this point.
And then I will explain the exclusive points, unique points of interpretation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which are only found in our sampradāya, nowhere else.
Even though so many other commentaries are written to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So we should read these commentaries of our acharyas, but with a proper mood and with proper understanding how to understand this.
That it's not just intellectual endeavor, it's just the mood.
So this beautiful episode from the 10th century of Srimad Bhagavatam, how to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, is the Brahma Vimohuna Lila, the illusion of Lord Brahman, which we will probably describe in details during this few lectures on the tenth scandal of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam because it's important.
But at the end, what happened with Lord Brahman? It's a very interesting thing what happened with him. You know Lord Krishna.
Lord Brahmā was completely bewildered because he came one year later and in his calculation it was just one second later and he saw Lord Krishna is dining with his friends on the bank of the Yamuna. And Lord Brahmā couldn't understand what's going on.
So he went back to the cave where the friends of Lord Krishna and the all the calves where they're hidden and he saw they're there.
And then he went back to the Yamuna and he saw they're there. And he was thinking what's going on? So he decided to look simultaneously.
Two of his heads looked in the cave and two of his heads were still looking into into the bank of Yamuna.
So yeah, yeah, the friends are there, the calves are there, the Krishna is there, and all his friends and calves are there and they're dining.
And then all of a sudden, when the bewilderment of Lord Brahmā was very high, you know, all of a sudden it went to another peak because Lord Krishna manifested
when all the cowherd boys and calves and Lord Krishna himself, you know, they had the all, you know, four-headed Nārāyaṇas were there. And not only this, all the material elements and the time and the Lord
Brahma saw that each and every calf which has become four-handed Lord Nārāyaṇa is being worshipped by many, many Brahmās. And he was he just couldn't understand what's going on, you know.
Many, many Brahmās and many Śivas they worship each and every calf which is there. And you know he became really he became really bewildered and he fainted.
He just couldn't couldn't grasp it anymore, his his heart just was not big enough to to understand what's going on. So he fainted and then he came
back to the senses he his external consciousness came back to him and he was. He started looking around as normal man after you know after he lost consciousness, he talks and he just looked in a completely different way.
With great difficulty, he started looking around. And what he saw, uh, Śukadeva Gosvāmī says, at this time he saw real Vrindavan. He saw the trees which are very beneficial and which are laden with all kinds of fruits.
He saw that all the seasons of the year is there, and he saw all the animals in Vrindavan which are very friendly to each other. He saw mongoose and snake and snake
is you know very in a very friendly mood was playing with mongoose and mongoose was playing playing with the snake. He saw the tiger playing with the cows. Huge tiger was playing with cows as if they were best friends.
And he saw all the human beings in Vrindavan who are completely whose heart is completely filled with love. He saw this vision of Vrindavan for a split second. And what he understood, he understood, I don't belong here.
He didn't see this, he didn't see Vrindavan, he couldn't understand. So first Krishna manifested to him the Krishna Tattva in one sense the sākhya-jñāna-tattva and then this aiśvarya jñāna was covered completely.
Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā, Mahā-prabhu, ki jaya! Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura, ki jaya! Caitanya Mahāprabhu kī jaya!
Function of divine internal energy
So what happened? Please listen very carefully. And that's one of the features which
we should understand how it works because the followers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu they are very mean minutely describe how the internal energy works within Vrindavan.
Completely inconceivable internal energy of the Lord to facilitate Krishna's pastimes. Because without understanding how Krishna's energy
works, how the energy sometimes covers Krishna and his followers or inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, how sometimes uncovers them.
How sometimes they understand that Krishna is God, sometimes they don't understand that Krishna is God, how sometimes Krishna understands that he is God, and how the next moment he completely forgets that he is God.
How it works, and that's without knowledge of Krishna. It's not that Krishna says, okay, Yoga Maya, do this. Please now cover this, you know, foolish people and then I will display one past.
No, Krishna himself is covered by Yogamaya. Krishna is not the ruler in Vrindavan. Who is the ruler of Vrindavan? Vrindadevi. Krishna is completely obedient to Vrindadevi.
He Krishna is dancing how Vrindadevi wants him to dance. This is what is also there in Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī quotes his own verse from Govinda-līlāmṛta in Caitanya-caritāmṛta.
We will study it later. You know when Vrinda Devi goes somewhere and she Mātā Rādhārāṇī asks her, Dear Vrinda Devi, where did you go from? Where are you where are you coming from? And she says, I'm coming from Rādhā-kuṇḍa.
And what is there in Rādhā-kuṇḍa? Krishna is dancing there. Krishna is dancing there. Oh, really? No, Krishna is not dancing there. Krishna is learning how to dance there, Radha.
And Radha is asking Vrindadevi, you know, how is Krishna, who is who is Krishna's teacher? And he says, see, Radha, your image, which are there in every creeper and tree is the teacher which teaches Krishna how to dance.
And Krishna is studying or learning this art of dancing from your images in Rādhā-kuṇḍa. And basically that's that's what what is going on in Vrindavan. This what we should understand.
How Brindadevi and therefore we worship Vrindadevi every day. If you go to Vrindavan and you see some Babajis, what Babajis do?
Babaji, they try to cover their body with tulasī beads. You know, every Babaji, if he has less than 30 different beads in his neck is not a bona fide Babaji.
Because they say that's the only hope for us to understand Krishna is to be in contact with Vrindadevi. She is the internal energy and she gives the passage to Vṛndāvana.
Unless we get the message, that's why we chant Holy Name on the tulasī-bīja. Why we should be in the tulasī-bīja? Because it's it's only Vrindadevi who can reveal to us Krishna and the real nature of Krishna's name.
And we should worship first. According to strict vaiṣṇava-vidhi, we should first worship or pray to the tulasī beads to bring Vrindadevi So that she would reveal to us the Holy Name.
Otherwise we will just be left with the shadow of the Holy Name. Not was the Holy Name proper.
You know, Madhu Pandit, the famous follower and contemporary of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who was the first pūjārī sevite of Gopinat. You know his his clothes is still there in Jaipur.
This clothes is is from the Tulsids. It's the fine clothes which you know the cover because sometimes it's cold in Vrindavan, so but it's all from the tiny tiny tulsi bits. He made it himself.
You can still see it in Gopinat Mandir. So, but basically, this is the point that unless we get mercy of the internal energy of the Lord, we will not be able to enter into this pastimes of the Supreme Lord.
And for that, we should serve the followers of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and through the mercy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu will we will be able to understand real purpose.
But then, you know, spoken so much about the futility of intellectual endeavors to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Now I will glorify how we should intellectually understand this. And there is no contradiction.
Because we should employ our intelligence in trying to understand Srimad Bhagavatam according to the traditional line of Guru Parampara in a service mood.
Again, not because we are so intelligent, not because we are so uh you know erudite scholars and we know this opinion and that opinion and we study no.
In a very humble way we should try to hear the descriptions or the revelation uh which are given by the followers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu which they heard from himself, as the verse which we read states.
Caitanya Mahāprabhu sometimes explains Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which was the main purpose of his appearance in this earth, or sometimes he employed others and he was sitting and listening.
So we will now learn in a very brief way and then I will elaborate in next lectures the unique features of Gauriya interpretation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Distinctive teachings of Gaudiya theology
Again, no other sampradaya agrees to this. Why? Because only followers of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu can understand what he revealed. This is what he revealed. This is the highest truth, which is difficult to understand.
They analyzed Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in a completely unique way. Nobody else did it.
So the point number one is of course the most important way of interpreting the whole Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is that it’s tejasāṁ hi mahas tejo bhagavāṁs tu svayaṁ pumān. Pumsah, Krishna stu, Bhagavan Swayam. So, that's the first point which completely sets us aside from everyone else.
Because what everyone else says who is Krishna? Yeah, Krishna is God. Why? Because Narayana is God. And because Krishna is just Narayana Avatar. There is Matsya, there is Kurma, there is Mohini Murti, there is Krishna.
No, it is ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. And that's a very big controversy absolutely even till now. Because if you say who is Krishna, Krishna is Paramatma. Who is Paramatma?
Paramatma is Ksiradakashaya Vishnu. And Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu as Paramātmā, he sends all his līlā-avatāras. Līlā-avatāras is just paramātmā. Who is Krishna? Krishna is paramatma. Right? No.
It is ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. So that's a cornerstone. And next lecture will be about exclusively about this verse. Very interestingly. But this is the cornerstone of our understanding.
Why it's not just imagination, why how Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam himself or itself proves again and again and and again that cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ, they are all parts and parcels of Krishna, the complete parts, plenary portions and portions of the portions, but kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam, he is svayaṁ bhagavān, and what does it mean, and why it is so important?
This is the subject of the next lecture, of the next class, which hopefully, if everything goes right, will be next Saturday.
So the next point which is again completely unheard of, even you know some sampradayas will say that it's blasphemous. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, what he did, he explains the hierarchy of different forms of God.
Nobody else did it before?
There is either either people say, you know, the Mundane scholars they say they read about sātvata religion, they read about catur-vyūha, they read about Vāsudeva Krishna and they start speculating. They said there were some Vaishnavas and they were following of Vāsudeva Krishna and then this cult of Vāsudeva Krishna merged with catur-vyūha, which is propounded by the sātvatas from south who wrote all this Pañcarātra literature.
This is a very beautiful foolish explanation which they give. Completely ridiculous. That there was one was Nārāyaṇa and then and then cult of Vāsudeva merged with cult of Nārāyaṇa and ridiculous. But you may believe them.
They will explain to you, they will show you some some proof and they will explain it in such a you know bewildering and beautiful way, then you will say, okay, yeah, right, yeah, right, right, yeah, yeah.
Merged, they merged. Two cults merged. And you will not be able, you know, why this is all important, all these points, why this is important?
Because you will be able to do proper bhajan to Krishna, exclusive bhajan to Krishna, only if you understand all these points. Otherwise, you will not be able.
You will not be able to worship Krishna properly, Krishna in Vṛndāvana. You will worship some other Krishna, as we said. And the in other way of interpreting this, uh Madhvācārya says this.
Madhvācārya says, if you make slight discrimination between different forms of Nārāyaṇa, you offender. You bless her.
This is according to Madhvācārya in Mahābhārata Tatparya Nirṇaya he actually lists nine signs or nine uh yeah lakṣaṇas of the blasphemer. And one of the signs is that he says this form of Krishna is higher than another form of Krishna.
So welcome. And well we say it all the time. And according to our Acharya, it should not be done. We should not discriminate. All the forms of Krishna are transcendental.
If we try to discriminate between them, we become blasphemous. No. So we say yes, they are one in tattva. Definitely, they are all one in tattva.
But they are different in rasa, and they are different in a way they display the potency. The potency is the same in each and every form of Krishna. Kurma is not less potent than Krishna.
But kurma does not display the same extent of potency as Krishna. Why do we say that Krishna's form is the highest form?
Because in this form only Bhagavān displays its totally unbridled. There's no limitation how he manifests his power. Whereas in other, you know manifestations of the Lord he is more restrained.
You know, if Kurma would start playing with his friends in milkosh and probably it will be very difficult to chore. You know, Kurma. Kurma is restricted.
Kurma cannot display, you know, if Kurma started doing some Rasa dance. It would be very difficult and it it will not be proper even. You know. And Risimhadev, he cannot he can.
He definitely can start doing Krasa dance, but I don't think that the followers of Hiranya Kashipu will appreciate his rasa dance. He's doing another dance. He's fighting with all these demoniac soldiers.
It's a different dance, it's not rasa dance. There is some ras there, but it's not complete rasa.
So this complete classification, very beautiful classification of svayamprakāśa-rūpa and vilāsa-rūpa and svayaṁ-prakāśa-rūpa and prabhāva-prakāśa-rūpa and all the Chatravyukas.
This is a unique feature of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Sampradaya. How to understand all different manifestations of the Lord in a hierarchical manner.
And how Krishna is the most complete manifestation and everything else including Vāsudeva, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha is expansions of his expansions.
So he explains in a very beautiful way this, and we will spend little time, maybe not the whole lecture, but some basic features of this. We have to very clearly understand what it is, what it is, and
and how Kāraṇārṇavaśāyī Viṣṇu, who is Paramātmā, is very remote from the original Krishna. Even though it is said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, sometimes it is said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Sometimes even Gopi says this.
In Gopi-gītā, Gopi Gopi says, what is this verse? Gopikabha. They say that you're Paramātmā. That and you came here to help Lord Brahman. We can also yes, we can say what is the the forverse the first lines. Nakalu Gopika.
Nandana Balan. You're not the son of Gopi. You're not the son of Yesoda. You're Paramātmā. So how should we understand this? And that's for that you have to be the follower of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. So he's not Paramātmā.
Paramātmā is a very remote, remote manifestation of Krishna. Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. The first Caturvyūha after original Caturvyūha which is coming from Krishna.
The original Caturvyūha was manifested in Krishna's pastimes. Balaram is Saṅkarṣaṇa, he is original Vāsudeva and Pradyumna. His son is Pradyumna and Aniruddha, his grandson is Aniruddha.
That's the original Caturvyūha, but anyway, so the next point, very interesting point, is of course the essence of Krishna and Krishna's pastimes is what? Rasa.
That's also completely unique understanding because even though Śukadeva Gosvāmī or Vyāsadeva in the third verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam he says that pibata bhāgavatam rasamālayam he says, uh, what is it? Nigama-kalpa-taror galitaṁ phalaṁ śuka-মুখād amṛta-drava-saṁyutaṁ pibata bhāgavataṁ rasam.
I just recently heard this explanation that what is the rasa? What is the rasa which Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is? They say it's śānta-rasa. And all other rasas are there, but they're little spices to śānta-rasa.
And the understanding is that if let's say śṛṅgāra-rasa and we say that no, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is not describing śānta-rasa, Krishna is not sitting there under the, you know, under the Vaṁśīvaṭa, uh, and not meditating.
He didn't invite gopīs to meditate under Vaṁśīvaṭa. You please come, let's meditate. Let's get little śānta-rasa. No, śṛṅgāra-rasa is the highest rasa.
That's another completely different interpretation of Gaudiya Sampradaya because everyone says śṛṅgāra-rasa is tāmasika. Śṛṅgāra-rasa is not spiritual; only if śṛṅgāra-rasa is a little spice to śānta-rasa, it may, you know, give little, you know, transcendental taste.
This is how they explain rasa dance. Rasa dance is about śānta-rasa with little spice of śṛṅgāra-rasa. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, no, forget it. Śṛṅgāra-rasa is the highest. Śānta-rasa is the lowest.
There is hardly any place for śānta-rasa in Vrindavan. There's no place for śānta-rasa. Actually, there is no place for śānta-rasa.
Nobody is, you know, Durvāsā Muni once came to Vrindavan. He was so bewildered that he just ran away from Vrindavan. He was in his in this Shantaras. He couldn't understand anything.
So that's a completely unique way of interpreting Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from the Rasa point of view and how this Rasakatha is the whole Rasakathā. And how this Rasakathā is going on, and this whole 10th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
Sacred hierarchy of holy abodes
Then the next point, the third point, very interesting point, and very important point, that again only Chaitanya Mahaprabhu explained this, nobody else explained this.
As much as there are different manifestations of Krishna, there is and they are hierarchically organized, and there is a very complex and complicated hierarchy of different manifestations of Krishna,
as much as they are different, the dhāmas of Krishna, where Krishna manifests himself in different ways, they're also hierarchically organized. They're not all the same.
If you go to Sri Sampradaya, Sri Sampradaya will tell you there is 108 divyades, right? Practically in every Sri Sampradaya temple you you will see some sort of connection with this.
And Vrindavan is just one of 180 Vadeshas, right? Just one of them. And what is the most important Divadesha? Sri Rangam is the most important. The next is Tirupati. Why?
Because there is more pasuram, the more hymns written by Alvars about Sri Rangam than about any other divyadeśa. And in Vrindavan few, you know it's it's a nice place Vrindavan, no doubt about it.
But nobody else you will understand or you will hear that this is the highest abode of the Lord. And how within Vrindavan, within Goloka of Vrindavan, there are different abodes.
And how Dvaraka is less, and how Mathura is a little higher, and how Vrindavana is the highest, and how in the outer portion of Goloka of Vrindavan planet. This are all sections of Goloka of Vrindavan. The Vrindavana itself is the innermost portion of Goloka of Vrindavan planet.
But uh there are circles and uh outside of Vrindavana there is Mathurā dhām. Outside of Mathurā there is uh Dvaraka dhām and outside of Dvaraka there is uh there is Goloka and uh Goloka is the as much as uh there is vaibhava manifestation of Krishna opulent manifestation of Krishna, Goloka is the vaibhav manifestation of Gokula of Gokula Vrindavan.
So that's again subject-matter of separate class, maybe together with this how the hierarchy of um but then in Vrindavan itself there is also higher and higher places. What is the highest place in Vrindavan? Yeah.
First is Gokul, right? In Gokul. What is higher than Gokul? Govardhan is no, Vrindavan is higher than Gokul.
First, in Gokul, in Gokul, Krishna manifests his childhood past times. But then he goes to another side of the river to the western bank of Yamuna River. So Vrindavan is higher. What is higher than Vrindavan?
Govardhana is higher than Vṛndāvana. Why it is higher than Vrindavan? No. No. Why? Why? It takes care of all the necessities also Krishna have the Krishna. No, you're not. This is a good explanation, but not so rasika. No no no.
No, we we just repeat it mechanically. We don't know why why Govardhan is higher. Govardhana is higher because Rasa dance which Krishna conduct in Govardhana is exclusively with his intimate gopis.
Whereas in Vṛndāvana all kinds of gopis are there. Completely gopis are there. Therefore this is much more intimate place where only his exclusive girlfriends are allowed to take part in it. And what is the highest place?
Radhakund. Radhakund. Why Radhakund is the highest place? Okay, so that we will come. We will come to this point. So even within Vrindavan there is uh and therefore you know Krishna
Krishna in Gokula is different than Krishna in Vṛndāvana. And Krishna in Govardhana is different than Krishna in Vṛndāvana. And Krishna in Radhakund is completely different. Krishna anywhere else.
So again, this you will not hear anywhere. This you will not understand anywhere. This is secrets. This is very big secrets which we should uh try to learn. And I will explain.
Categorisation of Krishna's intimate associates
So the next specialty of our sampradaya is yeah, and basically this is all manifestation of before we uh come to this next specialty, this is all manifestation of Krishna's inconceivable energy.
Why this specialty of our sampradaya is so important, because our sampradaya is called acintya-bheda-abheda-tattva.
So this acintya-bheda-abheda-tattva, this ghatana ghatana-patiyasi-shakti, inconceivable energy, this is all explanation
how the inconceivable energy of the Lord is manifesting itself in different dhamas, manifesting different forms of the Lord, different names of the Lord and different moods and everything else, and how she arranges different līlās.
So the next point is that the parikaras of Krishna, the nature of his associates. And again, there is a hierarchy.
It is said just very briefly, that you know, three types of parikaras, three types of associates of Krishna, his parents, his friends, and his girlfriends. They are the manifestation of different energies of Krishna.
His parents, the manifestation of ādhāra-śakti of Krishna, his friends is the manifestation of Krishna himself, and his girlfriends and queens in Dvārakā, the manifestation of svarūpa-śakti of Krishna.
So different energies, so different ways of producing these associates of Krishna is there also explained. And also I forgot to say that dhamas, they exist in three different states.
Each and every dhama of Krishna, each and every abode of Krishna exists in three different states: in prākṛta, bhauma and aprākṛta. So this will explain separately.
And then līlā-tattva, this is all, see, this is all this tattvas, Krishna tattva we have to understand, bhakti tattva we have to understand, dhama tattva we have to understand, parikara tattva we have to understand, śakti tattva we have to understand, and then līlā-tattva is there.
Again, very beautiful līlās are ex—you know, the explanation of the līlās, which are there in the 10th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, given by Gaudiya Vaiṣṇavācāryas, nobody else gives. Completely unique explanation.
How, again, this inconceivable energy of the Lord works in the minutest details, and how we should meditate on these līlās. Līlā-tattva includes two methods of meditation on the līlās:
Mantra Upasanamai and uh Swarasiki Upasanamai. So how that's that's another point.
Conjugal mood and supreme devotion
And then of course, you know, then three more points. Three more points of the specialty of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the explanation of Gaudiya Vaishnavacharya's of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
That's of course Aishvarya and Madhurya of Krishna. How they intermingle with each other, how they interact with each other and how this interaction creates all these different varieties of Krishna's Parikas, Krishna's Lilas, Krishna's abodes, Krishna's forms, and Krishna's relationship.
How this mixture of Aishvarya and Madhurya facilitate this. And then, of course, the crowning point of it is
that parakīyā versus svakīyā that parakīyā rasa or parakīyā relationship is the highest rasa which is the and the parakīyā is sarva-rasa-sāra. How this parakīyā or līlā relationship is the essence of all Rasas.
As we sing in this song about Vrindavana, Parikrama of Vrindavan. So parakīyā rasa. The best of all rasas. And why it is, why parakīyā should be there. It's also it's unheard of.
And actually, Caitanya Mahāprabhu had to be very bold to explain this in a very explicit way. Śukadeva Gosvāmī is explaining it and he's downplaying it.
Rūpa Gosvāmī, he's explaining very explicitly following Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Why? There is a historical incident. Even after Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, I believe it was in the 17th century.
In 17th century, in Jaipur court there is still a record that somebody was executed because he was explaining
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from the parakīyā point of view. The parakīyā was considered to be completely immoral, and to explain Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from this point of view would be a criminal offence.
It could be I I don't know if he was executed or was was severely punished, but it was there are such instances out there. India was so strict. You know, it's not modern India. It's not, you know, internet India, high-tech
India. It's a completely different culture. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he's explaining this parakīyā rasa and how it is the highest and why it is the highest. Why it is higher than svakīyā.
And again, uh not many people understand it properly and uh for us to understand it properly we have to be in a very humble mood. Otherwise, you know I I I regularly receive uh letters.
And people are still, you know, the ISKCON followers, they're bewildered. They say, how is that? I I cannot just understand how it goes on. What's going on there in Vrindavan? What a scandal goes on.
So so it it is difficult. Don't uh don't don't don't under misunderstand it. It's not easy to understand it properly without this. And then of course, the last point, but not the least point, is that
Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the highest. How is that possible? Even in Vallabhā-sampradāya, they all they revere Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and they they speak, you know, all these beautiful verses.
But they say, you know, there are four queens of Krishna, four favorite queens of Krishna, according to Vallabha-sampradāya. Oh, Rādhārāṇī is there, Candrāvalī is there, Yamunā is there, and Lalitā is there. Four of them.
And this, Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, this is the exclusive, the highest possible rasa with Your And in connection with this, in this prasaṅga, in this context Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu explains the different stages of prema.
Which is prema is just the beginning stage, and then praṇaya, and then māna, and then Then first is whatever sneha māna praṇaya rāgānurāga bhāva and mahābhāva.
And how Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is mahābhāva-svarūpiṇī, that's also, you know, where will you hear this? Nowhere, including this court.
But of course, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja explains this in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta and we we have to with the proper mood jijñāsā try to understand this by taking shelter of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
And then of course the the last the very last point is that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the highest revelation of truth. That there is nothing higher.
And if something is said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and not said in other scriptures, that's fine. We don't care.
And if something is said in other scriptures but not said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, We don't care about these other things.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the highest revelation of truth, so that's other features of what we how we should understand and the way how Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in very very uniquely explains Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, he lists around 20 titles of different commentaries of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam which were written before him. Now it's around 200 comments of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
It's one of the most commented upon scriptures, if not the most commented upon scriptures in whole Vedic literature. It's very unique, but the way Gauḍīya Vaishnavas look and explain Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the most unique.
Most unique and very beautiful. And that's why I said, you know, you cannot really explain it in a cartoon about Krishna. And you will get a distorted impression of what is going on, this whole glorious picture.
And the last thing which I will say, very important.
Methodical hearing to awaken spiritual greed
That's the very last chapter of Jaiva-dharma. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in this last chapter of Jaiva-dharma, he says that there are two ways of listening to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
He says you can listen to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
He's explaining that the spiritual life starts from the very beginning, the beginning period of spiritual life is called śravaṇa-daśā. Śravaṇa-daśā is a very important period when we hear properly. Because while we are hearing, very important process is going on.
They completely change our consciousness. Through the hearing process, karma actually becomes disempowered.
Karma, which is very strong, through the hearing process, all these saṁskāras and everything else, they they will be washed away just by hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
But Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura there in Jaiva-dharma says that there are two ways of hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. One is krama-hīna-śravaṇa-daśā.
When we hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in a very chaotic way, We hear a little bit from here, a little bit from there, this past time from here, this past time from there.
And we are not really methodically hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
You know, or we hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is said in Skanda Purana that if you read Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam for one year, this is the hearing of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in the mode of, uh, tamo-guṇa, in the tamas. Because, you know, you're hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and you already forget which was there before and you already, you know, you don't know what is going on to be there and you, you, you're totally lost, you know.
You're hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Okay, fine. So he said it's tāmasika. They say, of course, you know, it can be it can be transcendental if it's in a proper mood with the proper service mood.
But then he says that there is Kramahina Sravanadasa and there is Krama Suddha Sravanadasa. And what is Kramasudha Sravanadasa? This is when we hear, I will read this.
Krishna Lila should be heard in a proper sequence with resolute, enlightened intelligence by a soul thirsting to augment rasa, then such focused hearing becomes conducive to the actual evocation of rasa.
The rasa becoming evoked in the heart. If we hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in a proper sequence, it means that with the proper understanding of what's going on.
In this manner, hearing the nitya līlā or aṣṭakālīya and the naimittika līlā, such as birth of Krishna, is Krama Sudha Shravanadasa.
The path of Bhajana, constant engagement in this Krama Suddha Shravana is essential for the proper and successful unfolding of Bhakti Rasa.
The sweet relish of Lord's pastimes progressively manifested through committed Krama Sudha Shravana and thus the hearer's latent latent taste for Raganuga Bhakti is spontaneously aroused.
The hearer thinks, oh, how wonderful is the Sakya Bhava of Subhala! I wish to serve Krishna in that mood of camaraderie exhibited by Subal. The eager the eager tendency is called Loba.
Pursuing with Sloba the devotional sentiments of the residence of Raja is the essence of Raganuga Bhakti.
So basically, what Bhakti Vinod Thakur is saying, if understand properly and hear with proper understanding of what's going on, then the loba, the greed will be awakened within our heart.
Whereas now you know we hear something and we we remain indifferent. We are not really enamored or charmed by this cartoon. Because it's cartoon. It's not something real.
It's not something yeah, it may entertain you for some time, but it will not give you the deeper concentration on this, and without concentration you will not be able to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
So you have to understand what is going on to get the concentration.
And concentration as bhakti sidanterswati takur prahupat, the samadhi, the complete concentration on the subject matter will reveal to you the subject matter. So, this is what we are supposed to do.
We should understand what this tension of Shrimad Bhagavatam is about how to understand it, how to you know analyze it, then it will give complete concentration, it will give us taste, it will give us lobha, the desire, and then when desire is there, everything is else is done.
You know, when you want to be in Vrindavan, you know Vrindavan is not a cheap place. You may come to Jagannath and say, yeah, I don't mind to be in renowned. Maybe. No, no, it's not going to work.
Vrindavan, you will get Vrindavan only if you're completely absorbed. And how the absorption comes, absorption comes through the desire. And how the desire comes, desire comes through taste.
And how the taste comes? The taste comes if you hear somebody who has the taste.
And if you hear somebody who has the taste and who explains the all these beautiful subtleties of the Lilas of Krishna, beautiful workings of his inconceivable energy, how it's displayed.
Then you will say, yeah, forget about it. I want to be there, I don't want to remain in Bangalore for another few thousand lives. I don't want to be in lockdown of this material world because we are all in lockdown.
Lockdown means we cannot go outside of the material world. We are locked down here. So this is how this is the way out. This is how we should understand this tenth canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
And that's why we spent a few more lectures on trying to understand this uh unique uh unique interpretation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam revealed, not given, but revealed by Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
And that's why Śrīla Prabhupāda placed the biography of Caitanya Mahāprabhu in the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam because you can only understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam if you meditate on the pastimes of Lord Chaitanya and his personality and his message.
That's that's that's the meaning of today's class. And that we can only understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as he is in reality through the mercy of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his followers. Okay, thank you very much. Hare Krishna.
Yes. Yes, please. We are taking questions from there. Okay, couple of questions I can answer. Yeah, okay, we'll take a couple of questions. Yeah, please please give please what are the questions.
Are we taking the questions first from the report is there in Bandal or we can do that? Okay. Thank you, Maharaj, for a wonderful class for setting the foundation of what we have seen as well.
So uh regarding you're telling about Brahma is first time if you go to Yogamaya Shakti. And only when the concept of Yogamaya Brahmaj could understand what is Vrindada.
But when we go see them, we hear what this personalities like Yogamā Rati, Vṛndā Devī, Subhadrā Devī, Bhakti Devī. So Paurṇamāsī.
Paurnamasi used in one sense the functions appear to the same or is there any difference or are you yeah there is difference there is yoga māyā shakti and uh she manifests herself as uh paurṇamāsī in Vrindavan as an old ascetic woman with little grandson Madhu Mangal as the of Sandīpanī Muni in Krishna's līlās, and she's in charge of all the līlās in Vrindavan.
But because it's not proper, it would be rasābhāsa if she would also be too much intimately involved in Krishna's intimate pastimes with the girls of Vrindavana.
She makes her own expansion and Vṛndādevī is the expansion of Yoga Māyā Shakti, who is Paurṇamāsī, specifically for this amorous pastimes of Krishna.
So they are the same personality but with some specialty. Yogamaya is just general understanding.
For the pastimes of Krishna in Vrindavan she takes form of Paurṇamāsī Devī and for the Amorous pastimes to facilitate the Amorous pastimes and arrange them and be involved in them, she she comes as a Vṛndādevī.
And Subhadri is outside, she's in Dwarka. Yeah, no, she's not. She's not in Vrindavan. That's expansion and dwarka. And bhakti devi is bhakti devi samatiratara.
You explainable two tattvas that we need to understand, uh like Dhāma Tattva and Mandira Tattva and all that. So I thought you also mentioned parikara tattva, is it the same or what the Yeah it's c it's connected, yeah.
We have to understand the real nature of parikaras. You know, again, like if you ask anyone on the street, they will all know Krishna. And if you say whose son is Krishna, they say whose son is Krishna?
Vāsudeva and Devakī, right? So basically, what does it mean understanding Parikaras? Understanding Parikaras is understanding the intensity of their love.
Why do we say that Yaśodā and Nanda are real and Nanda are real parents of Krishna? Not Vāsudeva and Devakī. Because their love is more. And you can develop the same love to Krishna even without
being related to him in uh in a way as Devakī and Vāsudeva.
So this is all subtleties and how you know different parikaras are there there in different dhammas, how they facilitate different līlās and manifest uh appropriate moods.
So it's also there's something to understand there. What exactly is the meaning of that? Parikar? Parikar means associates. Associates.
Can you give a few illustrations of uh intellectual I if you think that you know now I will just I will figure it out. You know I if you try to only not not developing the service mood, but trying to
you know to To understand especially ten canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. If you try to understand ten canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that you know that this is there may be different shades and grades of this.
Like you know, some people read it and some people say that this is yeah Krishna was a historical personality and then and then somebody, you know, there is some theory that Krishna
that it was written after Christ because during Christ, you know, there was killing of the babies and when Pūtanā was there she was also killing babies. You know, so many different ways. You just oh this is just me.
Oh some people say that Krishna in uh Kurukṣetra and Krishna in Vṛndāvana different Krishna. Yes, they are different Krishna. In Rasa they are different.
Uh but in tattva they're sambhrami and but people say that this is again some merging was there first.
The the real Krishna was Kurukṣetra Krishna, his historical Krishna and then some sentimental bhakta from South wrote Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So many possible interpretations there.
But again, they don't understand how everything is connected and how everything
is connected with this paribhāṣā sūtra, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam, and therefore they say no no no you know even other ācāryas when they explain kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam they say uh while saying kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam he means uh Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, why Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu? Because he is Kṛṣṇa. Why he is Kṛṣṇa? Because he is karshati he he draws everything within himself during pralaya.
Therefore, it's puruṣa who is being described in this verse, Kṛṣṇa-stu-Bhagavān Svayam.
But this is not what Vyāsadeva is saying. Vyāsadeva is saying Kṛṣṇaḥ tu bhagavān svayam. This this Vṛndāvana Krishna is bhagavān svayam. And that's the main message, the invitation to Vrindavan for us.
And we have to be very clear. And for that we need to hear it systematically and then the greed will come. Okay, Rasakṛd deva Prabhu, please. The first question is from Arabama.
In your class you mentioned that there are three conditions to understand the student algorithm. The first one we take the shelf of chicken in the output followed by service formation of us and solutions of the room.
Number one, in the previous case, the more reactions of the output, how is the lower classes, the white share and children, take shelter of the walls and lower speed when they did not?
All of the documents would be about the mission. The Ryan Ash and China did not give easy access to the Uh see uh S.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came and he actually abandoned he basically quite you know strongly abandoned Varnashama system in the sense that he accepted Haridas Thakur as his very intimate companion and associate.
He glorified Rupa and Sanatana who were outcast. So Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came to reveal something which was not revealed before him. Before him, people could understand God and some some understanding was there through
different means and therefore Śrīla Vyāsadeva wrote Mahābhārata and this Mahābhārata, as explained in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, was written for śūdras and for vaiśyas and for women.
So by reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam you can get attachment to the Lord by, reading Rāmāyaṇa, you can get attachment to the Lord. There's no bar on this. You can belong to any caste or creed and still read Puranas
or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or Mahābhārata or Rāmāyaṇa and develop some attachments towards the Lord. But Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came to reveal the highest meaning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is Mahabala.
And to understand this we can only through this parampara. And in this parampara there is no again, there is no restriction of caste and creed and you know we're all living manifestation or living proof of this.
So before Caitanya Mahāprabhu people were not being were not able to understand Krishna in Vrindavan properly may be very rare souls, but it was not available, it was not accessible. This meaning was there, but it was not accessible to people.
Mahārāja Parīkṣit could do it because he heard it directly from Śukadeva Gosvāmī but others and that's why Caitanya Mahāprabhu came. Okay. Yes, last, because I'm in the Yes, so second one is
in the present time we see that some people are devotees with the problem about Krishna without accepting the guru in the discipline succession. Do we need to always get Krishna prayed without acceptable body? No, no. No.
No, it's not possible to get Krishna Prahma, it's not possible even to get
Niṣṭhā if you don't have guru. You can practice it, but even to get niṣṭhā you have to become more humble than the blade of grass, and how is it possible without guru? So I I have to run. Thank you very much.
Śrīla Prabhupāda ki jaya.