Shrimad-Bhagavatam 3.2.20. How to remember Krishna. Lecture 2

Recitation and translation of Srimad-Bhagavatam verse

0:00Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya, Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya, nārāyaṇaṁ namaskṛtya naraṁ caiva narottamam devīṁ sarasvīṁ vāsaṁ tato jayam udīrayet naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu praya shwa drišhu.

0:41nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā Bakti Nastiki Yamprachantamanopeta Maketa Krityam Dvayana Virahakatara Juhava, Putretitan Mayatayota Bobinedus Tam Sarvabhu tahridayam unimanatos me so

1:17very dink today Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the First Chapter 2 Remembrance of Lord Krishna and today we'll read verse number 20. Taṁ, evāca, anya, naraloka, viraha,

1:44vīrā, ye, kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa-mukhāravindam aravinda-netraiḥ pibanti nayanābhirāmam abhirāmam pārtha-astra-pūta-astra-pūta padaṁ padaṁ apo asya asya tathaivācāny

2:25naraloka-vīraṁ, tathaiva naraloka- vīraṁ, tathāivācānye naraloka-vīraṁ, loka-vīraṁ, yāḥ avekṣya kṛṣṇa-karāravindam, yāḥ avekṣya kṛṣṇa. Yāḥ avekṣya kṛṣṇa-mukharavindam, yāḥ avekṣya kṛṣṇa-

2:54mukharavindaṁ, netraiḥ pibanto nayanābhirāmam, netraiḥ pibanto nayanābhirāmaṁ, netraiḥ pibanto nayanābhirāmaṁ, netraiḥ pibanto nayanābhirāmaṁ,

3:12pārtha-astra-pūtaḥ-padaṁ urasya, pārtha-sā-pūta- padaṁ, pārtha-astra-pūtaḥ padaṁ purasya, pārtha-astra-pūtaḥ padaṁ purasya tathaivācānye naraloka-vīraṁ, tathaivācāny, yāḥ avekṣya kṛṣṇa-karāravindaṁ, netraiḥ

3:44pibanto nayanābhirāmaṁ, netraiḥ pibanto nayanābhirāmaṁ, pārtha-astra-pūtaḥ pada-m-upurasyam. Pārtha-astra-pūtaḥ pada-m-upurasyam. Tathā, arjunaḥ.

4:05Evāca and certainly, anya others, naraloka human society, viraha, vīrā, ye, āhave on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, Kṛṣṇa, Lord Krishna's mukhāravindam, mukhāravindam, lotus- like face, like face, try with the eyes.

4:48Pibantaḥ while seeing, nayanābhirāmaṁ mahā-vīrāḥ. Very pleasing to the eyes. Parta Arjuna. Astraputaha. Astraputaha. Purified by arrows. Purified by arrows. Padam. Abodut Apoho Achieved Asya by him Translation.

5:25Certainly others who were fighters on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra were purified by the onslaught of Arjuna's arrows, and while seeing the Lotus like face of Krishna, so pleasing to the eyes, they achieved the abode of the Lord.

5:46Purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Shri Krishna, appears in this world for two missionary purposes.

6:00To deliver the faithful and to annihilate the miscreants. But because the Lord is absolute, his two different kinds of actions, although apparently different, are ultimately one and the same.

6:18His annihilation of persons like Shishupala is as auspicious as his actions for the protection of the faithful.

6:28All the warriors who fought against Arjuna, but who were able to see the lotus-like face of the Lord on the battle front, achieved their abode of the Lord, exactly as the devotees of the Lord do.

6:47The words pleasing to the eyes of the seer are very significant. When the warriors from the other side of the battlefield saw Lord Krishna at the front, they appreciated his beauty.

7:03And their dormant instinct of love of God was awakened. Shishupala saw the Lord also, but he saw him as his enemy, and his love was not awakened.

7:16Therefore, Shishupal achieved oneness with the Lord by merging into the impersonal glare of His body called the Brahmajyoti.

7:26Others who were in the marginal position being neither friends nor enemies, but slightly in love of Godhead, by appreciating the beauty of His face, were at once promoted to the spiritual planets Vaikuṇṭhas.

7:43The Lord's personal abode is called Goloka of Vṛndāvana. And the abodes where His plenary expansions reside are called Vaikuṇṭhas. Where the Lord is present as Nārāyaṇa. Love of Godhead is dormant in every living entity.

8:01And the entire process of devotional service unto the Lord is meant for awakening this dormant internal love of Godhead. But there are degrees of such transcendental awakening.

8:17Those whose love of God is awakened to the fullest extent go back to Goloka of Vṛndāvana planet in the spiritual sky.

8:27Whereas persons who have just awakened to love of Godhead by accident or association are transferred to the Vaikuntha planets. Essentially, there is no material difference between Goloka and Vaikuntha.

8:45But in the Vaikunthas, the Lord is served in ultimate in unlimited opulence, whereas in Goloko the Lord is served in natural affection. This love of God is awakened by the association of pure devotees of the Lord.

9:02Here the word paratantra-prabhava is significant. Those who saw the beautiful face of the Lord on the battlefield of Kurukshetra were purified first by Arjuna when he made his onslaught of his arrow with arrows.

9:20The Lord appeared for the mission of diminishing the burden of the world and Arjuna was assisting the Lord by fighting on his behalf. Arjuna personally declined to fight.

9:36And the whole instruction of the Bhagavad-gītā was given to Arjuna to engage him in the fight.

9:41As a pure devotee of the Lord, Arjuna agreed to fight in preference of his own decision and thus Arjuna fought to assist the Lord in his mission of diminishing the burden of the world.

9:55All the activities of a pure devotee are executed on behalf of the Lord because a pure devotee of the Lord has nothing to do for his personal interest. Arjuna's killing was as good as killing by Lord Himself.

10:11As soon as Arjuna shot an arrow at the enemy, that enemy became purified of all material contaminations and became eligible for to be transferred to the spiritual sky.

10:26Those warriors who appreciated the lotus feet of the Lord and saw his face in front had their dormant love of God awakened, and thus they were transferred at once to Vaikunthaloka.

10:42Not to impersonal state of Brahmājyoti as was Shishupala. Shishupala died without appreciating the Lord, while others died with appreciation of the Lord.

10:54Both were transferred to the spiritual sky, but those who awakened to love of God were transferred to the planets of the transcendental sky.

11:05Uddhava seemingly lamented that his own position was less than that of the warriors on the battlefield of Kurukshetra because they had attained Vaikuntha, whereas he remained to lament the disappearance of the Lord.

11:22Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Mahāpurāṇam Gītā, Tathāi Vacāṁsi Nara-loka-vīra, Ya Āhave Kṛṣṇa Mukha-ravindam Ṅīpivanto Nayanābhyām Certainly,

11:44others who were fighters on the battlefield of Kurukshetra were purified by the onslaught of Arjuna's arrows, and while seeing the lotus-like face of Krishna, so pleasing to the eyes, they achieved the abode of the Lord.

Smaranam as the essence of bhajan

11:58Namaḥ oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

12:23Yam pravishya mamavachimam prasuptam sanjeevayatyakhila-shakti-dhar-swadhamna anyam shhasta-charana-sravana-tvag-adi-pranan-namo bhagavate purushaya tuyam So we started talking yesterday about this very important process which is called smaranam. Because this chapter is called Remembrance of Lord Krishna.

12:59And in fact, Smaranam is the life of Bhajan, bhajan of worship of Krishna, internal worship of Krishna, is based on our ability to remember Him.

13:15When we chant Hare Krishna Mantra, we should remember about the Lord with love. Some feeling should be awakened. Whatever little feeling we have, it should be invested into the holy names.

13:28Because as Krishna, as it is said in Na

13:41mochin tamani Krishna Chaitanya Rasa Vigraha, Nitti Mukta, Purna Sudda, Bina Tamw Namanami, no, Atta Sri Krishna Namadina Bhavid Grahi Mandriya, Sevon Mukehi, Jih Vadus Vamivas Puratada.

13:54Namachintamani Krishna, the holy name of the Lord is none different from him. It's Purnashuddha, it's completely pure, it's nityamukta, it's liberated.

14:08So it means it's not a part of this world. It's really not a part of this world, even though it may seem like. We pronounce this with our vocal chord. At least this is the seeming appearance which is there.

14:23But Binatvam Abhinatvam Nama Nami no Nama and Nami Abina There is no difference between them. And therefore the next verse says, Attack Shri Krishna Namarina Bhavit Grahi Mindriak.

14:36Therefore, because it's totally transcendental, the name of Krishna is not of this world, it's transcendental, you cannot really get in touch with the name by your gross material senses.

14:52The name has to descend upon your senses. And attack Sri Krishna Namadin Abhavit Grahya Mindriach. This Grahya Mindriya. You cannot catch the name by your indriya by your dull senses.

15:12But sevonmuke hij jih vadu swayame vaspuratia. It has to manifest itself spurati on your tongue, starting with your tongue, swayam on its own, why and when?

15:30When your senses are sevonmuke, become inclined to serve the Lord.

15:36So, what's happening while we're chanting the holy name of the Lord? we may be chanting what Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says the syllables of the name, which is not the name itself, just material sound. Material sound which is similar to the original name of the Lord.

16:01But when our senses become inclined to serve the Lord, when we understand that by chanting the holy name of the Lord, we're serving the Lord, then the real name descends.

16:14And what is supposed to happen, this is exactly what happened with Lord Chaitanya when Ishwarapuri gave him this mantra, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare, the Lord Chaitanya himself says that the name started dancing on my tongue.

16:35And while it's dancing, I'm crying and I'm I'm dancing dancing myself. It's not that I'm dancing. The name is dancing in my senses, and therefore my senses are dancing. I'm not in control. It's called Anubhav.

16:51Anubhav means something which is following the Bhav. And the name itself has this potency to awaken this love of God

17:01and when the love of God is awakened one becomes very joyful and he is dancing and he is singing and he is laughing and he's crying he's doing all kinds of strange things. So it doesn't happen with us too often.

17:19Which is probably good because it would be quite quite a scene if everyone would all of a sudden start laughing and crying and dancing. But sometimes it happens when the real name comes.

17:34But the idea here is that it only happens when we consciously serve the Lord. It's not that we're doing some ritual, some auspicious ritual.

17:49Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Hare... this is our bhajan, this is our this is this is expression of our love. Whatever little love we have, we have to put in the name.

18:09Then it will become very pleasing. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma, Rāma, Hare Hare. He's just he's not different from the name, he's right there.

18:20So therefore, if we do this, then it will become bhajana. And therefore, it is said that this thinking about the Lord is the life of bhajan.

18:34When we just mechanically, without any attachment to chant the holy name of the Lord, it's not bhajan. It's... I don't know what it is. It's some sort of magical ritual. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Krishna, Krishna, whatever it is.

18:55But smaranam has to be awakened. And we were talking yesterday how smaranam depends on the purity of the heart. And there is no doubt about it. Our ability to remember about the Lord depends on the purity of the heart.

19:13Otherwise, we will remember about anything but the Lord. But the beauty of this process is that it's not entirely dependent on our ability to remember the Lord. It's not entirely.

19:34If it was entirely dependent on our ability to remember about the Lord, it would be very bad for us because our ability is not very significant.

Factors determining success in spiritual practice

19:47What is more important, it also depends on the mercy of the Lord. And the Lord in essence is very merciful. When we consider the relative strengths of different processes,

20:12Then there are three considerations. One is the strength of the performer of this process.

20:20Like, for example, if we do yoga, to achieve success in this particular process, the performer of yoga has to have certain qualities, certain adhikara. He has to have certain bala, the strengths.

20:37So the process will be successful depending on the strengths of the performer. The process also has inherent power in the process itself. You know the process of yoga has certain uh inherent power.

20:58The process of meditation dhyana has certain uh inherent power. The process of bhakti also has certain inherent power. And then there is the third consideration, the bala or the strengths of the object of our meditation.

21:23So the success depends on these three relative to these three considerations.

21:31The consideration of my own strengths, the consideration of the inherent strengths of the process itself, like chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma, Rāma, Hare, Hare. It's a certain process. But remembering the Lord.

21:48But then the object of our remembrance also has something to do with it. So we are very weak. And the process which we perform is powerful, but we may perform it in a faulty way. We do perform it in a faulty way.

22:11We are not really concentrated very much. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare. The mind is distracted. We are not really concentrated. But there is saving grace, the power of the object of our meditation.

22:28The object is so powerful that even cursory, very accidental, as Prabhupada says, accidental association with Krishna may change our life completely. That's the most amazing.

22:51The object of meditation, and this is exactly the point of this verse:

22:57the object of meditation, Krishna Himself is so powerful that even if we have very little to do with Him, but still somehow or other we come in contact with Him, it will burn all our contamination within the heart.

23:16It's like fire. If the fire is very small, then it may burn something, but it may not burn something which is big.

23:26But if the pyre is very big, you know, then no matter how difficult is the object for burning, it will be burned. So in the same way, our heart is contaminated, but because Krishna is so powerful,

23:43even if we sometimes little bit remember about him, then so much contamination can be washed away from our heart. That's the point of this beautiful verse. So yesterday I was talking about the conditions

24:02which we have to fulfill, to remember about the Lord. We have to surrender, we have to do all these bad things, all this very bad news. We have to surrender, we have to be pure, we have to do this, we have to do that.

24:18So I decided to balance it a little bit by reading this verse, which basically says you don't have to do anything. Just come every now and then come in contact with Krishna.

Awakening dormant love of Godhead

24:34Just try to understand who Krishna is also. Because by doing this, you will do it more properly.

24:44Prabhupāda very beautifully explains here in this verse that even though the love of God is dormant in everyone's heart, it's natural. It's not something completely foreign to us.

25:00There are some sections of Gaudiya, some sampradāya devotees who say that love of Godhead is not there in the heart. But Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, and not only Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Baladeva also, they are very emphatic.

25:18They say no, there is some dormant propensity to love. Otherwise, how would we see love everywhere? You know, if the love was not there, why the why the cat loves her little kittens.

25:38Or why the dog would love her little puppies. You know, everyone has some propensity to love. The love is dormant, the love is there.

25:49is different. As Śrīla Prabhupāda says, the degree of awakening in this love is different.

25:57It's a very beautiful point which Śrīla Prabhupāda says, and he says that in case of Śiśupāla, even though he came in contact with Krishna and vastu-śakti, the inherent potency of Krishna is mercy. Inherent, the main shakti, actually, the main shakti of Krishna, his vast shakti is mercy, is karuna.

26:28It is said that when different shaktis, and Krishna has all different Shaktis. He is the abode of all shakti, he is śaktimān. All the different energies are there.

26:41But when different energies come in conflict with each other, like sometimes you know, there are different energies. Krishna has this, he has this energy of anger. You know, his anger is unbelievable.

26:56But when the different energies uh uh come in conflict in conflict with each other, who will win? Mercy. Because mercy is the main one.

27:09You know, if like it is explained by Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura in case of dāmodara-līlā.

27:18In dāmodara-līlā, you know Krishna became a little stubborn. His mother wanted to bind him to the mortar. And Krishna says, you try it. You try it. And it didn't work for a long time.

27:37You know, and because Krishna wanted to show his aiśvarya śakti, you know, see how unlimited I am. And you know, no matter how much he tried, it didn't work.

27:47But ultimately, karuṇā śakti says, enough and enough. The mercy comes and reconciles everything. The mercy is the reconciliator, is the factor of reconciliation.

28:02When there is some conflict within Krishna, ultimately he says, okay, okay, no problem, no problem. So you know, like for example, in our case, we have we have so much mixture, you know, of different tendencies.

28:17Some good devotional tendencies are there, but demonic tendencies are also there.

Krishna's mercy overriding all other energies

28:23So when Krishna will judge us, ultimately he says, okay, no problem. No problem. Hare Krishna. He will not see all these bad qualities.

28:40Therefore, later on, uh Uddhava will say this: aho baki yaṁ stana-kāla-kūṭam jighāṁsayāpāyat Kalokutam, jigamsayapaya Putana came and she was a sadvi. She was she was a witch, she was a demoness, she was horrible demon. She loved, you know, she was the most horrible among all the demons which were around Kamsa.

29:04And around Kamsa there were so many demons. And she was the most horrible. Because she was so cruel, she loved to eat little babies. She loved to see how the babies are suffering and crying.

29:20People sometimes become sick, you know, but they're so sick internally in their heart that they loved to see the suffering of others. Putana was the most cruel among everyone.

29:36When all the demons heard the news, all the associates of Kamsa heard the news that Krishna was born somewhere else. They became completely furious and they got this idea: we will kill all the newborn babies.

29:53Kamsa came and said that this little girl said that he's born somewhere else. And they said, okay, we will kill everyone.

30:01So and then everyone looked at Putana and she said, okay, I can do it. No problem. I'm ready to do it. So she was so cruel, asādvi, she was completely no pious credits whatsoever.

30:19But because she put some garb of a gopi and because she took this appearance, Krishna saw that such a nice Gopi came to me. So nice. Yeah. Let him, you know, she loves me. Let her become my nurse.

30:41Let her, gatim dhātry-ucitam, dhātry-ucitam. She took the position of dhātri, of wet nurse of Krishna in the spiritual world. Krishna didn't look. Krishna took all her impurities. He drank all her impurities.

31:00So that's the mercy of Krishna. Krishna is he he doesn't consider, you know. Therefore we have hope. Otherwise, we don't have hope.

31:11And it's actually very important to remember this Putana story because when we come in front of Krishna and Krishna will say, You're this, you're that, we should say,

31:22you know, what about Putana? So it's good to remind him about this because there may not be lawyers around us, but we should we should, you know.

31:41Anyway, Krishna I may be a pretender, but still I tried. You know, I put this, you know, this dhoti and this kantimala look.

31:53Therefore, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says that putting the external signs of the devotee is a part of, you know, sadhana-bhakti, so it's important to put all these external signs, to put tilak, to put this, to put that, because it actually changes something within us and it also reminds us and reminds Krishna who we are.

32:19You know, here we are. You know, I have I don't have any other credit, but I I have Kanti Malla. That's a very serious argument. So that's what it is. Krishna is merciful. Prabhupāda says he's very noble.

32:40Therefore, he only says Krishna only takes good. You know, we know that different people, the bad people, when they see somebody, what do they see? Only bad qualities.

32:56But the noble people, when they see others, what do they see? They see noble qualities, good qualities. It's actually the purport of the story of Dakṣa and the Fourth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

33:13Dakṣa was looking at Śiva, what did he see? Only bad qualities. Look at this dirty person. He's just living in the crematoriums and he's covered by ashes and he's. You know, but Lord Shiva is so pure. He couldn't see it.

33:32So Krishna is the noblest of noble. He will only see good qualities in us, and that's very good news.

How personal appreciation determines transcendental destinations

33:44But even though it all depends on Krishna, mostly depends on Krishna, still Prabhupāda gives a very beautiful purport to this verse. He says that the degree of awakening of love still depends on us.

34:03He says, in case of Śiśupāla, Śiśupāla looked at Krishna and even though he associated with this vast śakti of Krishna, because he didn't have any appreciation of Krishna, he got liberation, he was purified, but he got impersonal liberation.

34:25He merged into the effulgence. Which is not bad. I mean, so many people are striving hard. So it's not bad. But in the next verse, this is actually the lamentation of Uddhava. Uddhava being a humble devotee, he just laments.

34:46He says, I am worse than Śiśupāla, Because Śiśupāla got liberation and I remained here. What to speak about Śiśupāla? I, I, no, no, no, I, but you know, all these warriors at Kurukṣetra, they got liberation.

35:05Prabhupāda makes this point at the end of the purport. Everyone got liberation. It's only me who didn't get liberation. Udhava being humble devotee, he he he expresses his lamentation.

35:18Everyone got liberation because they died by seeing Krishna. And when I die, I will not see Krishna. That's Uddhava's thinking. So what happens with me, God knows what happens with me.

35:36But you know, actually, of course, Uddhava is much higher. But again, coming back to this very important point, the degree of awakening of love is different. So even though the liberation is guaranteed, don't worry.

35:54Nehābhikrama-nāśo 'sti pratyavāyo na vidyate, sv-alpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt. Mahadovayat. Krishna says that even in this dharma, in this path of bhakti,

36:06even little whatever little distance you will traverse in this path, it will be your eternal credit. Trāyate mahato bhayāt, you will be actually saved, you will be protected from this fear.

36:28Fear of completely degrading your consciousness. Krishna will protect your consciousness. Krishna says, pratijñā, kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati, my bhakti will never perish. Declare it boldly.

36:45No loss, no diminution on this path. But still, what depends on us? On us depends what we really want. Do we want to become like Śiśupāla merged into Brahman? You know if we if our aspiration, if our appreciation of

37:06Krishna only goes to this degree, then okay, we will get liberation. But then Prabhupada says those people who had little appreciation of Krishna, when they saw how beautiful he is, it is specifically

37:23said there Krishna Mukharavindam they saw the lotus uh of Krishna, but Śiśupāla also saw lotus face of Krishna. But here it is, netraiḥ pibantaḥ. They were drinking this with their eyes.

37:44When they saw and appreciated this, Śiśupāla was looking at Krishna and he saw this beautiful face of Krishna, but he didn't appreciate it. He said, But those people who saw this and they forgot to fight.

38:01They were warriors, they were supposed to fight, but they saw this lotus lotus face of Krishna. And while drinking it, drinking means appreciation. That's why Krishna, that's why Prabhupada says they had appreciation.

38:17They just couldn't take their eyes from Krishna. They were drinking it with their eyes. Nayana Bhirama. Why? Because it's so pleasing to the eyes. Nayana Bhirama.

38:31So when we are chanting the holy name, we should, you know, we should appreciate how beautiful Krishna is. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare. Ram Hare Hare.

38:45Therefore, there are so many verses in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam itself which describe the rūpa of Krishna, barhāpiḍam. Natavaravapu, karna yogarnikaram, bibratvasah, kanakakapisham, vajayantiamalam, randram Venora Dara Sudyanyan Pura Gopavrindai Vrindaranyam Swapadaramanam Pravisad Gita Kirti.

39:13Just by by the sound of this verse, some little particle of Krishna's beauty is entering within our heart. Because this is what Gopi, how Gopi sees Krishna.

39:26And of course, these warriors in Kurukṣetra, in the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, they didn't see Krishna as beautiful as Gopis. The point is that we should try consciously to appreciate Krishna.

39:45There are two points of this verse, the most important points of this verse. One is that Krishna is very merciful.

39:53Any touch, he is sparśa-maṇi. Sparśa-maṇi means whatever little sparśa you have, whatever little touch, touchstone, little touch, you will be transformed.

40:07You know, this called a very nice example Radha Govinda Maharaj gives. He says if you take the sparse money and if you hit it with the iron rod, the iron rod will turn into gold.

40:23You know, you want to hit it, but still because you're in touch with this sparśa-maṇi, it will turn this iron rod into gold. It will turn this iron rod into gold.

40:33So even if we are with the bad intention, it we will be turned into gold. But that's not the point. The point is that if we appreciate, if we cultivate, develop

40:48our appreciation of Krishna more and more and more and more, then we can get to Goloka of Vṛndāvana.

40:56If we have little appreciation of Krishna, if we don't have any appreciation of Krishna and we chant Hare Krishna, we will get liberation.

41:04If we have little appreciation of Krishna, we will go to Vaikuṇṭha, which is not bad. Weather is good there. And you know. And there is no genetically modified products there.

41:19Everything is fine. Food is natural. It's good. But that's not the highest. The highest, what Lord Chaitanya came to give, anarpita-carīṁ cirāt karuṇayāvatīrṇaḥ kalau. You know, it it we would miss the chance.

41:38Lord Chaitanya came to give us the highest Goloka of Vṛndāvana, Vraja. Where there is only love, there is nothing else. No opulence is so. Opulence is shy in Goloka of Vṛndāvana. It's hiding itself.

41:58Because there are much more valuable things there. The beauty of love. The beauty of the beauty of affection is there. So and therefore that depends on the degree of how we appreciate Krishna.

42:15And that's what we're supposed to do, to to cultivate and to develop this appreciation of Krishna and Krishna's mercy. And only then will we be able to achieve the highest degree of awakening of our love.

42:33It's actually, love is natural. And when we see, when little love is awakening, we, we see how how beautiful it is, how happy we are. When we love somebody, we love everyone else.

42:50We want to embrace everyone, and you know, Lord Chaitanya is giving this. So why not take what he came to give? We just had this Gaura-pūrṇimā.

43:02Gaura-pūrṇimā means that he came here and he says, you know, just, you know, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. Take it. Take it. What depends on us?

43:17On us depends only this one thing. How beautiful it is. How beautiful Krishna is. How beautiful his dealings are with his devotees, and how merciful he is.

43:30And that's what Uddhava is teaching. As I said yesterday, he's teaching us how to remember the Lord. So we have to remember that He is very beautiful externally, but more than this, He is so beautiful in His heart.

43:49He's so kind. He's so beautiful.

Purification through association with pure devotees

43:56And how we can appreciate his beauty by reading Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. And by associating with the devotees. That's the next point which Prabhupada makes in the purport by commenting on this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

44:14First, they were purified by Parīkṣit, by Arjuna, by the weapons of Arjuna. So Krishna himself is merciful, no doubt about it. Krishna himself is powerful, no doubt about it. He's purifying.

44:32But to appreciate him, how we will be able to appreciate Krishna by associating with the devotees. Therefore, Prabhupada delineates this process. First they were purified by the arrows of Arjuna. Devotee comes to us.

44:48And this is the arrow of a devotee and gives us the book. Of one lady devotee, she said, uh, you know,

45:04She she beautifully put it—I I liked how she put it. She said first I was hit, uh, in the head by Bhagavad-gītā and then I could appreciate Krishna. So devotee mercifully hits us in the head by the by Bhagavad-gītā.

45:25Just take it, do it. It may sometimes sound a little rough, but Arjuna was also rough in the battlefield. So there is this preliminary purification by meeting with the devotee.

45:43And what is the point of meeting with the devotee? The point of meeting with the devotee is that by associating with him we will be able to appreciate Krishna more.

45:57If we are on our own, we may read these books, that's okay, that's fine, that's good.

46:03But if we hear how others glorify Krishna, how others appreciating Krishna, how others appreciating Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, then we will get more inspiration. Isn't it?

46:16But definitely, if somebody has appreciation and love for Krishna and we hear from him, our appreciation also grows and grows and grows and increases.

46:27So that's what the—that's the point Lord Chaitanya came to give, but he also himself says, what is the most important in this process? Sādhu-saṅga, sādhu-saṅga, sarva-śāstra-kai, lava-mātra sādhu-saṅga, sarva-siddhi.

46:45You know to really accept or receive what Lord Chaitanya came to give, there is only one way: the society of devotees. Loving devotees, together with the devotees. Only in this way will we be able to accept.

47:06Otherwise, he is there, he is giving. But you know, we say we don't need it. We're not interested. You know, like sometimes we give to people a book and we say, we are not interested. Okay, fine.

47:21But devotees still, you know, force it. Take it, take it, take it. And in the same way, Arjuna is there. Krishna says, you kill them and I will be in front of you. You kill from my behind, and I will be in front of you.

47:36And while your arrow will hit the heart of them, they will see my beauty, and they will say, Oh my goodness. Hare Krishna.

47:47So this is what Śrīla Prabhupāda explains, how the devotee and Krishna work together in this liberating mission.

48:00Krishna comes to liberate, Krishna comes to purify, Krishna comes to give love, but he depends, even he depends on the devotee. If you think that you can love Krishna independently of other devotees, you are a madman.

48:20I'm just repeating what Prabhupāda says. He says some people they think that they can become Krishna consciousness independently of the society of devotees. Prabhupāda says they are in delirium. They're completely mad.

48:38They just don't know what they're talking about. Krishna, to give his mercy, he gives his mercy through the devotees.

48:46And then, you know, when we are in the association with devotees, our appreciation to Krishna grows and grows and grows. Our meditation to Krishna becomes more and more profound.

48:57And ultimately, uh, we will go to Goloka Vṛndāvana.

49:03And the most beautiful part of it is that if we complete this process, if we really know how the process works and we deepen and increase our appreciation, then we will not even notice how we will die.

49:20It's like the story of Nārada Muni. Nārada Muni said, I didn't notice how I died. You know, isn't it a good death when you don't notice it? I just, it was like a flash of lightning.

49:38This is how it is described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Nārada Muni, he said, for me it was not painful, you know, miserable experience when I'm attached. No, for me it was a beautiful experience.

49:55Like flash of lightning, here I am. Krishna is there. I am in my spiritual form. So that's why it is so important to complete this process. Don't postpone it to the next life. That's okay. There is no loss and demiliation.

50:13But try to do it now.

Five essential practices for spiritual success

50:16And all the ingredients for the success is there. Holy name is there? Deity is there. Society of devotees is there. What else do you need?

50:27Sādhu-saṅga is there, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is there, Bhagavat-sevā-aparādha is there, nāma kīrtana is there, Madhura-vās is there, we're living in Mathurā deśa, right? And Śrī mūrti-śraddhā-sevā is also there.

50:48You know, that's the five most important components of success are there. Just take maximum advantage of it. It's a rare chance. When in the morning we chant Hare Krishna, it's a rare, beautiful chance. Appreciate it.

51:06Appreciate Krishna in the form of holy name. When we associate with devotees, appreciate Krishna in the form of devotees.

51:13It's not some just, you know, some it's, Krishna came to me in this form, in the form of Swayam Siddha Prabhu, in form of Ananda Shakti Prabhu or whatever. Just it's Krishna.

51:28And Bhāgavatam, appreciate Bhāgavatam, how beautiful Bhāgavatam it is, how, how beautiful it is. It's philosophical and so beautiful. So and appreciate Mathurā deśa, the holy land you're living in.

51:45And appreciate the mūrti. And try to deepen your appreciation, increase your appreciation. Appreciation of devotees, appreciation of the holy name, appreciation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And then everything will be fine.

52:05Then you will not even notice. You will be waiting. When this lightning will hit me? You will just, Oh, Krishna, Hare Krishna. Krishna says, oh, where have you been for so long? I've been waiting for you.

52:23Oh, I was preaching in Mathurā. No problem. Come here, come here. So that's the point of this verse, these beautiful points of this verse. The degree of awaking, how merciful is Krishna?

52:44Krishna is merciful, but still, Yayathamamprapayanta, tapstathanya bhajanyaam, ahim reciprocating with your love. Try to increase your appreciation, how to increase appreciation by associating with the devotees,

53:04being purified by the astra, by the weapons of the devotees, by the sharp words of the devotees.

53:13Then when you preliminarily purify your appreciation, Krishna himself will also grow and then you will be there in the highest abode of the universe where there is no problems. Highest Vaikuntha, but there is only love.

53:32Ah, there is some problems there too, but uh it's it's a blissful problem. Okay, thank you very much.