Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.2.15-16

Reading verses from Srimad-Bhagavatam Fifth Canto

0:00Thank you very much for inviting me. It was an unexpected invitation. Okay, so I'll try to speak a few words on this topic. I started listening Urmila Mataji lecture which she gave the day before yesterday.

0:23Didn't listen too much, but she started by saying that this is a very unusual section of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So let's try to see what this section of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is telling us.

0:40Okay, so let's read the verses and purports by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. Swami Shiva Prabhupada.

0:48oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya om namo bhagavate vāsudevāya nārāyaṇaṁ namaskṛtya naraṁ caiva nārōttamam devīṁ sarasvatyai vāsaṁ tato jayam udīrayet

1:17yaṁ pravrajantam anupetam apeta-kṛtyaṁ dvaipāyanō viraha-kātara ājuhāva putreti tanmayatayā taravō 'bhinedus taṁ sarva-bhūta-hṛdayaṁ munim natō 'smi. munim nato 'smi.

1:34So we start by start by reading the verse number 15 and probably verse number 16. These two verses uh of the second uh chapter of the second of the fifth canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Rupam tapodhanatapascharatam tapognam.

2:00Hietat tu ke Natapasa Bavatopallab. Chartum tapur Hassimaya Sahamitramahyam kimva prasidati savai bhava bhava no me word

2:21by word translation by His Divine Grace Rupam Beauty Tapdana O best of the sages performing austerities Tapaha Charatam of persons engaged in executing austerities and penances, tapagnam, which dismantles the austerities, he certainly etat this too indeed Kena by watasasteriti bavata byu upalabdam achieved chartum to execute tapahasteriti arhasi you oot Mayasa vis me mitra, my dear friend, Mahyam un to me kimva or may be pr,asi that he is pleased, saha he, why is certainly Bhava Bhavanah, the creator of this universe, me, me with me.

3:30Esche razledo stik. Translation. O best among those performing costerities. Where did you get this wonderful beauty that dismantles the austerity performed by others? Where have you learned this art?

3:50What austerity have you undergone to achieve this beaut I desire that you join me to perform austerity and penance, for it may be that the Creator of the universe, Lord Brahma, being pleased with me, has sent you to become my wife.

4:12Agnidra appreciated the wonderful beauty of Purvachiti. Indeed, he was surprised to see such exceptional beauty, which must have been the result of past austerities and penances.

4:28He therefore asked the girl whether she had achieved such beauty just to break the penances and austerities of others.

4:38He thought that Lord Brahmā, the creator of the universe, might have been pleased with him and might therefore have sent her to become his wife.

4:48He requested Purvachiti to become his wife, so that together they could perform austerities and penances of family life.

4:57In other words, a suitable wife helps her husband perform penances and austerities in household life if both of them are on the same elevated platform of spiritual understanding.

5:12Without spiritual understanding, husband and wife cannot be equally situated. Lord Brahmā, the creator of the universe, is interested in good progeny, therefore unless he is pleased one cannot get a suitable wife.

5:29In fact Lord Brahmā is worshipped in marriage ceremonies. In India even today wedding invitations are still issued with a picture of Lord Brahmā on the face of the card.

5:54So the next verse is D, Dnam Mamcharu Sringayar Hasi Netum Auvratam Te Chitam Yatah Pratisarantu Shivah

6:25Sachivyah. Lord Brahmā, who is worshipped by the brāhmaṇas, has very mercifully given you to me, and that is why I have met you.

6:37I do not want to give up your company, for my mind and eyes are fixed upon you and cannot be drawn away.

6:46O woman with beautiful raised breasts, I am your follower. You may take me wherever you like, and your friends may also follow me.

7:03Now Agnidra frankly admits his weakness. He was attracted to Purvachiti and therefore, before she could say, But I have no business with you, he expressed his desire to be united with her.

7:19He was so attracted that he was ready to go anywhere, hell or heaven, in her company. When one is absorbed in lust and the influence of sex, one surrenders to the feet of a woman without reservations.

7:35Silamadvacharya remarks in this connection that when one engages in joking and talking like a crazy person, one may say anything and everything, but his words will be meaningless.

7:52Śrīla Prabhupāda kī jaya! Nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine. Namaste sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracārine nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tārine.

8:06Sha, Sunyavati, Paschitha De Sha Tari. Vanchakalpatarubeschakripa Sindhuby Vacha Patitana Pavane Bhyovaishnavay Byyona Monama Maha. Jai Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhunitananda, Sriadvaita Gadathara, Srivasa

8:22de Gaura Bhakta Vrinda, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma, Rama Rama Hare Hare Ajanulambitu Jokana Kavadatu Sankirtanaika Pita Rowka Malay Taksa, Vishwam Bard, VJ,

8:39UGARM Palu, Vanday, Dagat Priya Craw, Karnavatar. Yantah Persi, Mahvach, Mampra Suptam, Sandji Via, Kila Shakti, Darah, Swaddamna, Anyaam Shhaha So, we are reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Mahāpurāṇa, and we are in

9:03the beginning of the fifth canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and this beautiful chapter which describes the Romance, romantic relationship or falling in love of Maharajan

Summary of the first four cantos

9:22Gnidra and Heavenly Apsara Purvachiti. So let's first quickly remember what was there before in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and why we came to Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam to understand this topic in the greater context of this book.

9:44The first two chapters of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam serve like introduction of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The first chapter explains the qualification of the listener and hearer of Śrīmad-

9:55Bhāgavatam, and methodology, how we should hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with utmost attention. And what is the result of hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam?

10:04Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that by hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam we can see Lord Krishna on every page. And he stresses very much the point of reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam

10:17from beginning to end, not jumping to the tenth canto, which is supposed to be the essence of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Why not jumping? Because Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is gradually preparing us to understand

10:33the topic of the 10th canto properly. Otherwise, there is a great danger that we will interpret the stories of Lord Krishna as the stories of a great hero, of a historical personality, and the worst mistake which we can do

10:53is to identify ourselves with Krishna and be penetrated by the enjoying spirit of Krishna. So the first nine cantos preparing us by clearing different difficulties, and the first canto is explaining how

11:17we should hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and what is the purpose of hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Usually, we engage our ears and our senses to enjoy ourselves. So, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is teaching us how to hear in a service mood.

11:36It's it's not so easy. It's not as easy at as it may sound. Because we usually we used to employ our senses for the enjoyment and the sense of hearing we always employ for enjoyment.

11:56And therefore, oftentimes when we come to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam class we basically, they want to be entertained.

12:06And oftentimes the speakers of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam feeling this sort of request or unspoken request or an expectation from the audience. They try to satisfy this unspoken expectation.

12:25And they cut jokes and you know, tell funny stories just to keep someone entertained.

12:35So the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam actually tells us that hearing Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is not the entertainment, not a spiritual sort of entertainment.

12:47Hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is a very serious spiritual practice and actually it's amazing spiritual practice, extremely potent and powerful spiritual practice, which can change the direction of our life completely.

13:06Ultimately, what is the purpose of hearing Śrīmad Bhāgavatam?

13:13By hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in the proper mood, by initially placing ourselves on the proper position that this is my service to the Supreme Lord, we will be able to completely change our personality, our setup, our psychological nature.

13:37Because now our psychological nature makes us enjoyers. And we try to enjoy everything as Prabhupāda said, we feel the lord of all survey. Whatever we see, we try to lord it over.

13:55So that's the first canto, second canto goes into more details.

14:00It's all it's still the introduction to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam explaining the history of this book, how this book was transferred and how this book appeared from the four verses which Lord Krishna Himself gave to Lord Brahma.

14:18And at the end of this second canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, there is a verse which explains the whole design of this book. Sarga, Visarga, Rakṣā, Antara, Sukhā, Saṁsthā, Hetu, Āśraya.

14:43So the ten topics of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam I explained there starting with Sarga and most of the Acharyas who analyze

14:54Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam they say that starting from the third canto onwards, these topics are sequentially described even though all

15:06the topics of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam are described in all the cantos. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī stresses this point that all ten topics are in every canto with some stress on some topic.

15:20But also, we can see quite clearly that in certain cantos, certain topics are predominant. They are more prominent than other topics. So then third Kanto is describing Sarga, the primary creation.

15:40And the second the fourth canto is describing Visarga, the secondary creation, the creation of the body of the living entities, and basically the rules how to live in this world according to our psychophysiological structure.

16:02And this third and fourth canto are very important because they basically deal with initial attitudes which are there in every conditioned soul.

16:19When a conditioned soul looks around the material nature, the enjoying spirit naturally arises in him, in his heart. We are looking in the material nature, at the material nature.

16:38And because the material nature is prakṛti, is feminine by nature, then it uh, and we are being little tiny replicas of the Supreme Lord,

16:55uh want to enjoy, this enjoying spirit is being aroused within our heart when we see this material nature. And we usually forget whose nature it is, that there is God behind this nature.

17:14So, Sarga, elementary creation, explains that this nature is coming from the Lord. The topic of the third canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is to drive home a very important point.

17:31This energy is not my energy, and therefore I'm not entitled to enjoy this energy even though it seems to be so natural.

17:42People they they look at the energy of the Lord, and this is the only thought which comes to their mind, yes, this is for my enjoyment.

17:53And even those people who believe in God, they say, yes, God created this world for what? For me to enjoy. As if God, you know, didn't have anything better to do.

18:07But really, that's the natural tendency, and people are trying to improve their enjoyment by the means of investigating material nature.

18:20So the scientists, what they do, why people are worshiping scientists, why scientists in the modern society are basically the priests. People believe every word which scientists said, and you know,

18:37Bhāgavatam you have to quote scientists. Bhagavatam you have to quote scientists.

18:45I've seen it many times when devotees they refer to this scientific book or that scientific book, this scientific fact or that scientific fact, which is maybe not so bad, but the point which I'm trying to make is that people believe the science because science basically replaced the religion.

19:07Why science replaced the religion? Because science gives the facilities to enjoy this material nature and promises to enjoy in the future even more without any impediments. That's the main promise of the science.

19:28We will invent different things to you so that you will be facilitated in your desire to enjoy, and we will reduce to the minimum all the negative elements in this material nature, and your sufferings will be reduced, we will conquer over all these diseases, we will basically, you know, this world is not perfect in itself, we will make it perfect for you to enjoy.

19:59And this is a very good religion. So the third canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is actually refuting this religion.

20:08The third canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is explaining the ultimate cause of all causes, God, who is the cause of this creation, and reveals His purpose of creation.

20:22His purpose of creation is not to facilitate our enjoyment but to liberate us from this spirit of enjoyment and ultimately to frustrate us in this desire to enjoy this material world.

20:38This world is the place of suffering not by mistake, you know, because sometimes people say this, even those people who believe in God that God created imperfect world and we're here to make it more perfect and God created us to make us to make this world more perfect which is completely insane.

21:04So, definitely, that's the perfect world, according to the perfect desire of perfect God. Who knows what He is doing. And He purposefully created this world perfectly imperfect.

21:26So within the imperfections of this world, there is a perfect design or perfect desire of the Lord to frustrate us, to make us more sober, and help us to understand what is the meaning of life.

21:44Therefore, there is death, therefore there are so many things which make us free from this inebriety of material enjoyment, of the spirit of enjoyment. So that's the third canto.

21:59And the fourth canto is refuting another misconception, little more higher misconception, the misconception of karma. What is misconception of karma? That's a Vedic misconception.

22:15The fourth canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is explaining that even if you follow perfectly Vedic rituals which again promise you enjoyment in this world, you still will not enjoy. You know, science will not make you happy.

22:34But the Vedic signs will not make you happy either. So that's a very sober message of the fourth canto. You know, the very initial clash or conflict of the 4th Kanto is the clash between Lord Shiva and Daksha.

22:55And Daksa is the representative of this Vedic way of life. And he wants to enjoy. But he wants to enjoy in a most subtle way.

23:05He doesn't want to exploit the material nature in a gross way, but he is using sacrifices, yayas, for the same basic purpose, to enjoy, to enjoy life.

23:18And Daksha represents the spirit of renunciation and ultimately in this clash Shiva, sorry, Shiva represents the spirit of renunciation and this in this clash between Shiva and Daksha, in this conflict, Shiva is victorious.

23:37And the whole fourth canto is driving home this point: important point that even the Vedic way of life which we habitually call karma or karma kanda, Karmakanda rituals or Karmakanda, yeah, Karmakanda rituals,

Material laws in the Fifth Canto

24:00all all the sciences which are behind Vedas like astrology Jyotis or Kalpa, the ritual, and other Vedangas which actually give you some more subtle enjoyment in this world ultimately will not make you happy.

24:20So I'm telling this so that we can clearly understand what the fifth canto is all about and why this unusual chapter of talking Mahārāja Agnīdhra vis Pūrvāciti is there? So the third topic, Atrasarga Visarga Shasthanam.

24:47Sthanam is the topic of the fifth canto, and sthanam basically means the The structure of this universe. And therefore, in the fifth scanto, we can see the structure of the universe,

25:05different planetary systems are there described by Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī? And there are prayers of different inhabitants to the Supreme Lord,

25:17of different dvīpas, and ultimately, you know, Śukadeva Gosvāmī wants to tell us that in every dvīpa, on every level of the universe, of this structure of the universe, people are ultimately worshiping the Supreme Lord.

25:37Therefore, Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī glossing these 10 topics of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. About the third topic, he says Vaikuṇṭha-vijaya. Sthānaṁ Vaikuṇṭha-vijaya. It basically means sthānaṁ Vaikuṇṭha-vijaya.

25:57There could be different interpretations of this, but it's uh it's uh it literally means uh the victory of the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha. That stanam is the arrangement which we see in this world.

26:20Sthanam basically means that everything has its borders and everything has its nature.

26:28So the very important message of the fifth canto is that you should follow externally your nature. Because this is the nature which is established by God.

26:43Sthāna Vaikuṇṭha Vijaya, the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, the Lord of the spiritual world, the world where there is no impediments, the world of complete freedom.

26:57He established uh borders and limitations within this material world and we have to respect these borders and limitations.

27:07We have to act accordingly within this world and interact with this world according to the arrangements of the Supreme Lord, and internally we have to develop our attachment to the Supreme Lord.

27:25There is a very important verse in this fifth canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī is explaining the law comparing the laws of material nature with the ring which pierces the nose of a bull.

27:45To rule the bull, you know, the his owner. He pierces his nose, and the nose is the most sensitive part of the bull's body, very painful.

28:01And therefore, when the owner of the bull wants to control him and to turn him in a certain direction, he just pulls ropes which are connected with this nose ring of the bull.

28:17So, and uh Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī gives this comparison and he says that every one of us is

28:28like this bull, and the laws of material nature are like these ropes. And the Supreme Lord, who is the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, who established this world accordingly,

28:41He wants us basically to follow the proper rules of conduct, and as soon as we transgress the rules and the laws of material nature, we will feel pain as much as the bull who feels pain when his owner directs him in this direction or that direction.

29:06And immediately, when we feel pain, when we feel suffering, we try to understand what's wrong. And we try to be more obedient or more respectful to the laws of God. That's what is happening.

29:21And therefore, you know, this all these movements are there like, you know, esoteric movement, New Age movement, you know, all these people they're trying to understand what are the subtle laws of God and respect this arrangement. Without clearly understanding who is God and why He arranged this, but they know you know if we follow this, we will suffer less.

29:49So the fifth canto is explaining that there is a certain nature and we have to follow this nature, we have to respect this. But that's not the purpose. The purpose of respecting these laws is not to enjoy again.

30:06But respecting these laws, the purpose of it is to develop the internal freedom which will give you some space or some facilities to develop spiritually.

30:20So that's the general message of the fifth canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and I should not speak more about this although it's an interesting topic.

King Agnidra's attraction to Purvachiti

30:35I'm now trying to understand more methodically the message of each canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So here we have Maharaja Agnidra and the

30:52natural question is why this story is there in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam? Why this story is there? The story is there to depict our own frailties, our own weaknesses.

31:08As Śrīla Prabhupāda explains in the commentary to the second verse, to the 16th verse, which we read, now Agnidra frankly admits his weaknesses.

31:21He was attracted to Purvachiti and therefore, before he could say, but I have no, she could say, but I have no business with you, he expressed his desire to be united with her.

31:36We see this typical exchange between man and woman, male and female, and the typical attraction which is there, the very powerful force and the example of Maharaja Agnidra is to show how powerful this force is.

31:57We are all actually slaves of this primordial desire which manifests in every one of us as lust. This is a very powerful force, and we should actually respect this force.

32:13Therefore the marriage institute is there and therefore so much precaution is there in Vedic culture and basically in any culture to somehow or other control this lust. Of course, we're not talking about Western culture because it can hardly be called culture.

32:38It would be an overstatement to call the modern Western culture as a culture. It's basically a very chaotic sort of arrangement of people to manifest their lowest propensities.

32:56But in any civilized civilized society this force is very much respected and uh the force this force is uh respected in the sense that uh there are very strict rules how to be engaged uh in this relationship, how to enter into this relationship which is the you know the natural propensity of every conditioned living being, but at the same time not to be entangled in this relationship.

33:38So Maharaja Candra, of course, is a Vedic king and he's very cultured and he's he knows what he's talking about.

33:56Therefore, first of all, in the first verse, in the 15th verse which we read, he says very interesting things. He says, rūpaṁ tapodhanā, tapas-caratām. Tapas-caratām.

34:11He says that your beauty is the result of the wealth of your tapasya, of your austerity. That's a very elevated concept, which is practically not known to the people of the modern world.

34:33That whatever you want to achieve in this world, and definitely beauty is one of the very you desired opulences which people of this world would like to achieve, would like to have.

34:53Beauty is something which is very much valued. But how to achieve beauty? Beauty is the result of tapasya.

35:01We can see even in this life if people live very promiscuous life, very sensual life without any tapasia, they become very quickly completely ugly.

35:20They try by all the artificial means to maintain their so-called beauty, but all the sinful activities ultimately make someone very ugly. No doubt about it.

35:35And we can see how people who may not be physically very attractive from their karma, from their births, but by performing austerities they become attractive.

35:51There is certain hidden beauty in these people who are restricted in their life. We can see sometimes, you know, we can see devotees.

36:02And Śrīla Prabhupāda actually was very proud of his followers. He said they are like people from Vaikuṇṭha. They are effulgent. Why they are effulgent?

36:13Why are they so beautiful with shaven heads, with all this paraphernalia, because they perform some austerities. And of course Śrīla Prabhupāda was also a brilliant example of this. He was extremely attractive.

36:29Why he was so attractive? Why this attraction was there? Because of tapodhanam. Because of this wealth or opulence of tapas of austerity which Srila Prabhupada performed during his life.

36:49And he's saying, you know, where did you get this wonderful beauty? He is praising, and of course he is flattering to Purvochiti, but by flattering he is saying a very important statement that if you want to achieve

37:07Anything in this world, you should perform some austerities. Whatever you want to achieve, austerities is the key. And therefore, the people of ancient India, unfortunately, this spirit or this

37:21pride is almost non-existent in uh in India, but uh they would say that our country is is uh tapo bhumi. This is the bhumi of austerities, the earth, the land of austerities. Whereas the rest of the world is Bhogabhumi.

37:44The rest of the world is for enjoyment. Indian land soil is for performing austerities because tapasia is the science behind any achievement of the human being.

38:05And even in the modern world, if you want to achieve something, you will have to perform some austerities. Of course, you know even if you are democratically elected president, still you have to perform some austerities.

38:26Although sometimes mistakes happen during this process, but still you have to do something.

Beauty, austerities, and material temptation

38:34And then but then he says very interesting things. That this rupa which Purvachiti obtained is actually tapognam. The purpose of this beauty of Purvachiti is to destroy austerity of other people.

38:57So that's a very amazing statement which is also very deep in nature. You know, people they develop some sort of attraction for what?

39:14For what people want to be attracted, they actually want to seduce other human beings by their attraction. So that's the way how material life goes on. You know, female and male, they try to be as attractive as possible.

39:37For males, it may not necessarily be physical attraction, although, physical attraction is always welcome. But it may be wealth or fame or whatever.

39:53And people are trying hard, but ultimately, what is the purpose of it just to attract the opposite sex and to destroy or to break their austerities. People are engaged in this game in this material world.

40:10They don't like when some other people are engaged in austerities. It's the spiritual history of the world is full of these stories when somebody is trying to perform austeritis and trying to be spiritually elevated and there is always somebody who wants to, bugnam to destroy or to distract him from this way of life.

40:39And we know in the life of Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura how prostitute came to him and was trying to seduce him. So that's going on. That's the game of life which is going on.

40:53And he says, where did you learn this art of destroying somebody's austerities.

41:03Basically, what he says, you know, expressing it in a very plain and straightforward modern language: I'm already ready to get rid of my austerities, to give up my austerities.

41:18You may consider yourself successful in seducing me. Basically, he wants to seduce her by you know by saying that you're seducing me. That's going on, that's again the game.

41:35You know, the male wants to seduce female, female want to seduce male, and you know, and then when they become successful they blame each other. But ultimately he wants to be seduced.

41:53And he hints to this Pūrvacitti that I'm ready.

42:00And Śrīla Prabhupāda explains his internal intentions in the Purport that he is basically saying to her that I'm ready to be engaged with her. I'm ready to be united with her.

42:15Of course, he's saying it in the you know in the not in a gross way. He is he's covering his intentions by all this flowery language and everything. But nevertheless, you know, his desire is very clear.

42:33So what I want to speak now a little bit in this connection is that why it is not beneficial, why this impediment.

Metaphysical origin of sexual desire

42:52And Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is actually explaining in the example of this story is explaining to us why it is why it is detrimental for our spiritual development.

43:11Because it's it's a difficult topic because we are emotionally very much invested.

43:21You know, we invest our emotions into uh into this uh desire to enjoy uh the happy family life sexual relationship uh and uh we all have this concept.

43:39Every conditioned living entity has this concept that this is the way to become happy in this material world. Just to have happy sexual life.

43:50So why Śrīla Prabhupāda was so consistently against it and of course Srila Prabhupada didn't invent it. He was just very faithfully following the teachings of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Śukadeva Gosvāmī. What's so bad about it?

44:13So let's go a little uh uh before you know in actually this topic is very beautifully described in Brahma-saṁhitā. In Brahma-saṁhitā, in this fifth chapter of Brahma-saṁhitā, which we still have,

44:38there is a description of the creation of this world, and it is explained that the original desire of Lord Hari and this world is the manifestation of his original desire of his kama, which is completely pure.

44:58This desire of Lord Hari to create this world and it's called Kama there. And Kama is not necessarily something bad. When we speak about the desire of the Lord, it's completely pure and completely transcendental.

45:17His desire is to actually liberate the conditioned souls. So his desire takes form of Lord Shambu because the Lord He is always served by His transcendental energy, which is called Trama. This is the name of Lakshmi Devi.

45:41She is called Trama because she is bringing spiritual enjoyment to the Supreme Lord, and he is always engaged with his Rama Devi. He never is in contact with the material energy.

45:56But because the creation has to take place, then Lord's desire takes shape and turns into Lord Shambhu, Shiva. Who is the master of ahaṅkāra, of all ego?

46:21So Shambu uh unites with the material energy and this union of Shambu with the material energy he is lingam and material energy is yoni actually impregnates by the union of shambu and yoni the spirit souls impregnated into this material nature and ultimately develop their bodies with the same desire.

46:55And this is a very crucial moment. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, commenting on Brahma-saṁhitā, explains that this Shambu. Who is Shambu? Shambu is the Supreme Lord Himself.

47:11Ksiramja Tada di Vikara vi shese yogat. That Shambhu is Vikara Vishesha Yogad. He is a very special manifestation of the Supreme Lord. He is non-different from Lord Govinda and at the same time he is different from Lord Govinda.

47:31He is Vikar. He is the transformation of the Supreme Lord. So Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says what is this Vikara Vishesha yoga?

47:45Like the milk is turned into yogurt. We all know the process how the milk is transformed into yogurt. You should put some little yogurt into the hot milk.

47:58And this little yogurt ultimately transforms the whole yogurt into the sorry the whole pot of milk into the pot of yogurt. So, this is exactly what is happening.

48:13The Supreme Lord, by the contact with material nature, is transformed into Śambhu, and the Śambhu is different because he has the slightly different mood, and this mood is ahaṅkāra. He is the Lord of ahaṅkāra.

48:36And we all being the result of this union between Lord Śambhu and the material nature, we all born with this ahaṅkāra. And ahaṅkāra means the spirit of independence. We want to be independent.

48:55And ahaṅkāra is translated as false ego. Why is it translated as a false ego? Because this desire to be independent is false. Because we are not independent.

49:08But how do we manifest or express this desire to be independent from the Lord. The main and the principal manifestation or expression of this desire of our independence is this sex desire.

49:30So that's a very important point which we have to very clearly understand that our desire to enjoy sex life is so dangerous for our spiritual development because it ultimately very deeply rooted desire to express our independence on the Lord.

49:52We are rebellious soul and we want to express our rebellious, we want to prove our right to enjoy independently on the Lord by engaging in sexual relationship, especially if this is completely you know nonsense sexual relationship.

50:15If it is regulated and if it is for the purpose of procreation, for the purpose of the real purpose, for the purpose of perpetuating this material world with the original idea behind this material world to liberate every living entity, then this desire becomes sacred.

50:40And therefore the marriage institution is there to sanctify this tendency.

50:48But if we are expressing this desire without any limitations, without any respect to the laws of material nature, that's the very fundamental rebellious tendency of the living entity against the Lord.

51:08And therefore, any religion, the first thing which any religion has to do, if it's proper religion, I'm not talking about new age movements or whatever because they basically don't bother about this restriction.

51:25But any bona fide religion has restrictions how to sanctify this very powerful energy. Because if this energy is unbridled, if it's not really limited or controlled by the living entities.

51:46If it's not really, uh, channeled through the proper channel of uh the sanctified marriage relationship, uh, then it totally destroys the or covers over, not destroys because it cannot be destroyed, but our tendency to serve.

52:10We as spirit souls have these two tendencies: tendency to enjoy independently on the Lord and a tendency to serve the Lord. We want to be enjoyers, and at the same time, we want to be servants, we want to be followers.

52:29And sometimes to become enjoyers, we want to become followers. In this material world, like Maharaja Agnidhra, he says, I'm your follower. I'm ready to follow you. To heaven or hell.

52:43In the second verse, he says, I'm your faithful follower, dear Pūrvācitti. I will go anywhere behind you if you give me this facility to enjoy.

52:56But again, the point which I'm trying to make is that this fundamental desire of sex life is a very powerful force because it has this metaphysical roots, metaphysical nature.

53:18It's not, and it's from this primordial event when Lord Shambu was uniting with Lord Shambo, who is this uh who is the manifestation of this Prithak Bhava, of this separateness from the Lord, desire to be separated from the Lord.

53:41So from that point onwards we all have the same tendency, but for him it's natural when we express the same desire especially if we are not really trying to control it within the sacred marriage or institution like this it becomes not only sinful, it becomes offensive ultimately.

54:15It becomes uh very, very uh Yeah, it becomes very detrimental for our spiritual development.

54:25It basically destroys not only tapasya as Agnidhra says here, but it destroys the very desire to achieve something spiritually, the very subtle sentiments which are there in every living entity, to be closer to God to achieve some sort of spiritual advancement.

Ten stages of material attraction

54:51So that's little expression off uh or a little explanation of why this is so detrimental and why in any religion this problem has to be solved one way or another. How to control sex life.

55:12And of course, Vaishnava literature is very consistent in this regard. Sometimes for the taste of some people too consistent.

55:25But we have to understand the science behind it and then see how we fit into this science and how we can really follow this without being too much entangled.

55:38But at the same time we have to understand that this is, uh, as Śrīla Prabhupāda explains in the commentary to the very first verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that this is the manifestation of ādi-rasa. Why it is so powerful?

55:55Because it's a perverted reflection of our attraction to the Supreme Lord. That ultimately we are attracted to the Supreme Lord. And this attraction is how to say this, may be viewed as Kama.

56:16And this is exactly what Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī uses when he in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu calls the attachment of gopīs of Vṛndāvana as kāma.

56:27And, uh, in fact, Nārada Muni also calls it kāma: that you can be attracted to the Supreme Lord by so-called lust. But actually, it's not lust, we know it's real love.

56:42So Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, very interestingly, he describes in Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi the signs of this attraction.

56:57And of course, when Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī explains in Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi the signs of this attraction between male and female, he definitely means or implies that this is the attraction between the supreme male, Krishna, and those souls who want to develop the strongest sort of attraction towards him.

57:25But actually, we can see that and he gives the signs of this attraction.

57:33And we can see that the same signs of this attraction between male and female pervertedly expressed in this material world when the male and female bodies or male and female minds feel mutual attraction.

57:50So I wanted to read these ten signs of developing so-called love in the material world or 10 stages of developing love in the material world, which are the reflection of the original desire of the soul to be close to God.

58:15So it's very interesting because, and it's very relevant to this particular story. These ten stages of the development of love start with Chakshuraga. First, attraction through the eyes.

58:33The initial attraction between male and female is just attraction towards the body, towards the beauty, and the attraction takes part in the eyes initially, Chakshuraga.

58:50And therefore it is recommended that if somebody doesn't want to be sexually agitated or attracted, he has to be actually very chaste primarily with his eyes.

59:04And we can see that those unscrupulous people who want to destroy the innocence of people, they put all this all kinds of attractions, so-called attractive sexual, you know, pornography in the internet so that, you know, this Chakshuraga would be excited.

59:28So first this Chakshuraga. First, we see somebody and we see this attraction. Second is Chitta Sangha. The attachment of the mind. In the mind we feel or in the heart, we feel some attachment.

59:44Initial attraction, it's not so strong, but if this initial stage of attraction develops further, then we feel Chitta Sangha, we want to associate more closely, we want to speak, we want to hear, and we feel the attraction within the mind.

1:00:04So then the third stage is Sankalpa. Sankalpa means determination.

1:00:11Sankalpa means, because of this attachment in the mind, the force within the heart becomes such a strong force that we determine by all means to achieve the desired object of our attraction.

1:00:26And then Nidrachedha: here you are, you cannot sleep, you lose your sleep because of such strong desire. And actually, if we analyze it very critically, we will be able to see.

1:00:43You know, the scientists—I'm quoting the scientists to sound more authoritative. So you know we can actually very clearly understand what's going on on a hormonal level in each stage of this attraction.

1:01:03There are specific physiological processes which are excited in our body through this attraction. So Nidrachedha. Because too much stress hormone already is exuded by our brain due to this determination.

1:01:23By all means, I have to achieve this. You know, one cannot sleep because one is always agitated. You know, too much adrenaline and all kinds of stress hormones are there already in the body. So you lost sleep.

1:01:39This is the fourth stage, nidra cheda. And then tanuta. Tanuta means tanu means thin.

1:01:47Tanuta means you become emaciated because you lose sleep, you lose appetite, you cannot you know think about anything else because you're so you know so attracted to somebody, you you cannot really take away your mind from this.

1:02:09And then Vishnivriti: you lose interest to other things,

1:02:16everything else which was attractive to you before, like going to the nature, or you know, some other innocent, more innocent ways of expressing this desire to enjoy, they become pale and not really exciting.

1:02:36And then trapanasha, shamelessness. You lose your shame. I've seen how it works. Sometimes people they become so crazy. You know, by this sexual obsession. They become totally shameless. And then Unmada, madness.

1:02:57And then murcha. Murcha means you you lose your consciousness. You you basically you faint. And then ultimately mriti, death. So So that's uh that's 10 stages of developing this attraction.

1:03:14And uh this is how it works, this is how dangerous it is, uh and this is why you know even on a physical level we should be very very chaste and we should not try to uh enter into these useless games by wasting our energy and not energy only but spoiling our hearts, spoiling our intentions, spoiling our mind and spoiling our chances to achieve the Supreme Lord or spoiling our chances to be engaged in spiritual practice.

1:03:56So I'm really sorry I already went too long, but I thought I should give you this little sannyasi talk. I'm sorry for this. So Hare Krishna Maharaj. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Questions on mind control and chanting

1:04:19No Maharaj, thank you so much for very very wonderful class, Maharaj, very valuable points, very instructional thank you so much Maharaj if anybody have any questions or realizations please go ahead I guess everyone is shocked trying to digest. Hare Krishna Maharaj.

1:04:50Yes, Hare Krishna. So when you uh mention about Śambhu uh uniting with the material nature, uh you m uh you meant uh material nature as Pārvatī, am I right? Yes in that understanding. Yes, yes. Prakṛti yes Pārvatī, yes.

1:05:07Okay. Yes. Yeah. So uh doesn't the uh I mean doesn't the uh

1:05:31uh first chapter um the first canto, second uh canto talk about sarga visarga and go on like that or you were mentioning it starts from the third canto. So it's not clear.

1:05:46So Prabhupada calls the cantos starting from the first canto. Sarga, visarga. And you know, he calls it of courses by English names. And definitely Prabhupada is right.

1:06:03We can also try to analyze him at Bhagavatam from this perspective.

1:06:09But those ācāryas who comment on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam they usually say that the first two chapters as the first two cantos of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as the lotus feet of the Lord.

1:06:22They like preliminary and the main topic uh starting with sarga starts with the third canto and quite clear argument in this regard is that this very verse is at the end of the second chapter, or second canto.

1:06:47If this design topic-wise would start before, then we would expect probably that this verse explaining the 10 topics of Srimad Bhagavatam would appear before. So it's very logical in this sense.

1:07:04But Prabhupada has his way of explaining this, and it's actually interesting because in the beginning, being neophytes we may be baffled by these apparent contradictions.

1:07:18But when we grow a little more, then all these apparent contradictions will become uh actually will become uh an impetus uh deepen for us to think more deeply about uh different topics of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. It's not a contradiction, it's just the different views of the same topic.

1:07:44And by looking at the same topic from different points of view, we will be able to see the whole subject matter in more details. But you know, as and there are many other indications that you

1:08:02Bhagavatam and the 10th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam starts with Bhagavatam and the 10th scent of Shimot Bhagavatam starts with the questions of Maharaja Pariksat where he clearly says that now you explain to me this Manvantara topic which is sadharma.

1:08:24Now please explain to me Isha Nukatha or Vamsacharita, Vamsa Charitani.

1:08:32So but again, you know, we should definitely try to reconcile these apparent contradictions and by uh in the process of reconciliation we will actually be rewarded by more deeper understanding of what's going on.

1:08:56Thank you so much Maharaj and also um the short summaries you gave of each canto um really set the flow and uh it it was so nice to hear uh from you the short summaries leading up to this and uh very grateful to you Maharaj for that.

1:09:15Please give us your association more of it. Thank you so much. Yeah, if you want to hear a little more about this. I'm giving this series of talks on this topic so canto by canto. So it's there.

1:09:33It's a topical topical analysis of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. It's in my uh YouTube channel in English. Hare Krishna Maharaj. Dandwat Pranama Maharaj, thank you for your association. It was really very enlightening.

1:09:55So Maharaj, you said like we all experienced this desire to enjoy in this material world and at the same time this material world is created you mentioned to frustrate us from this desire.

1:10:12So Maharaj uh in like we also while practicing and doing our japa we don't have that higher taste yet.

1:10:21We are still practicing and sometimes these disturbing thoughts with whatever going on in the world like comes with the lust lust equal desire.

1:10:31So so Ma how to reconcile that like sometimes we feel very bad like while practicing Therefore we have to be very careful.

1:10:43We are actually very closely connected with the material nature and this close contact with material nature. Prabhupada said that we will have lust until we have material body. Material body means lusty desires.

1:11:04And maybe expressed in a more subtle way it may be expressed and in material mind also.

1:11:12It's just we have to be very careful and we have to really understand our dangerous position because of too much close contact with this material energy,

1:11:29you know, we're constantly agitated and excited about different plans and ideas of enjoyment. Not necessarily sexual, but we always have these ideas. How I will enjoy in the future.

1:11:44I will go there, I will do this, I will do that, I will go for shopping, I will, I will buy this or that. So, and uh by engaging in these thoughts all the time or we nourishing our you know material nature.

1:12:07And this chapter is about this because Maharaja Puranjana, he enjoyed with Purva Citi very properly the proper family life and she gave him nine children if I remember it correctly.

1:12:24But then she went back to her heavenly planet and he was so touched and he as he says in this verses I am ready to go behind you wherever you go. So he went behind her on the same planet when she was.

1:12:42So by contacting with material nature very intimately, we al areways reinforcing this tendency and we are nourishing this tendency and we are nourishing our material nature.

1:12:58So we have to be careful and we have to limit it. Of course, you know discipline of Krishna consciousness allows uh this contact by transforming this contact into the service, in the act of service, like we're hearing.

1:13:14But we are not hearing, we are consciously not hearing to enjoy, but we are hearing to serve and to understand deeper the topics of the Lord and to serve Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Bhagavatam.

1:13:26So with this understanding we have to hear. With the same sort of understanding, we have to eat prasāda.

1:13:33You know, there is this little story from the life of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, whose appearance day we celebrated recently. He was always saying that. Who are you? Are you Drisha, the Sin or Drishta, the Seer.

1:13:53That was his, as he said, contribution to the theology or philosophy of Krishna consciousness. So once a very scholarly and rich person came to Gauḍīya Maṭha and started eating Rasagulla or Malpura, actually, Malpura.

1:14:13And Ananta Vāsudeva, a close disciple of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, he jokingly asked this man, who is eating whom? Are you eating Malpua or Malpua is eating you? Meaning, what is going on at the moment?

1:14:30Yes, this is mahā-prasāda, but are you enjoying mahā-prasāda or you allow mahā-prasāda who is not different from Krishna to enjoy you by serving mahā-prasāda, by trying to understand the significance of this process.

1:14:48So habitually we enjoy mahā-prasāda, although as well as habitually we try to enjoy by coming to the maṅgala-ārati, we enjoy the dresses of the Lord. And you know, but it should be contrary.

1:15:05We come to mangala-arati to be enjoyed by the Lord. We listen to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to be enjoyed. This process of us hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the enjoyment for the Lord. The Lord is happy.

1:15:21And if we have this idea, then it will be successful. In the same way, when we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, again, what is going on? Why am I doing this? Because I want to bring some enjoyment to the Lord.

1:15:36Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma, Rāma, Hare Hare. Not that I I'm chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and I'm always thinking, you know, when I will, you know, when I will become happy.

1:15:48Prabhupāda said, chant and be happy, and I'm not becoming happy. What's going on? What's wrong? Something is wrong, you know. When it will bring happiness to me.

1:15:59No, but you know, as soon as you uh change your frame of mind, and I'm chanting and because Lord wants me to chant and because He becomes happy when He you know, as much as the father becomes happy when his little son says, you know, Papa Papa or Prabhupāda Prabhupāda, so the Lord becomes happy when we you know in our broken language pronounce His names.

1:16:33So if we have this understanding then we nourish our spiritual nature. If we continue with the same attitude which we habitual attitude which we have, then it will not be, it will be detrimental. Thank you.

1:16:57Thank you, Mahārāja. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Mahārāja.

1:17:02Please accept my humble obeisances and all glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. for I'm very appreciative of the way that you described that um by following austerities um we develop internal freedom to go deeper in spiritual life. I truly, I really appreciated that point.

1:17:22And I also wanted you also made the point about you're speaking of destroying austerities, how sometimes others try to destroy austerities and I was wondering could we also um look at that as a

1:17:39form of envy as that yes absolutely absolutely. That's the manifestation of envy in this material world. When we see somebody is engaged in austerities, the initial impetus, no, he cannot do this. Yes.

1:17:58Thank you for this. Thank you very much. Thank you very much for the class. It was wonderful. Thank you. Hare Krishna Maharaj Panatha Koti dhar Panam Shira Prabhupada Silva de Picha Shriatha Bhutti.

1:18:15Very very inspiring class Maharaj.

1:18:18My question is Maharaj after chanting 27, 28 years uh morning chapha uh the mind after one hour is like sometimes feel sleepy uh sometimes be uh oh I have to this this this not a sense but if it is not that is the the no question from Maharaj but uh I have to do this this this like that thoughts is coming we have to get up again we have to start walking and then again we have to give a five to six slaps to one mind and then again it's came in a lotus feet of Śrīla Prabhupāda.

1:18:53So Maharaj we try our best but why it's happened that

1:18:59mind is going here and there not, in a science gratification but daily routine. Oh today I have to do this, I have to do this, I have to read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam here in this class, that class.

1:19:11So why that thoughts is coming in the morning time only. That's the nature of the mind. The mind always wants to do something else. The mind hates to be present in present. He always wants to do something in the future.

1:19:33And that's basically the influence of rajo-guṇa, because the whole environment in uh in this Kali Yuga is very rājasika. We have so much rājasika energy. And even before people to cultivate or to be engaged

1:19:53in meditation, deeply in meditation, they would go somewhere in very sāttvika places, like mountains, you know, limiting their contacts with the senses, we are engaged in a very powerful process which does not require such strict limitations.

1:20:14Nevertheless, because our senses always in contact with the of rajo-guṇa the sense objects are creation of tamo-guṇa, according to the third canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and the mind is the creation of sattva-guṇa. So when the senses which are the product of rajo-guṇa,

1:20:39are in contact with the sense object which is the product of tamo-guṇa, are in contact with the sense object which is the product of Tamagun, they influence the mind and the mind becomes polluted.

1:20:57And the mind, due to this, you know, habitual this rajo-guṇa. So therefore even the great devotees of the Lord, great Ācāryas,

1:21:09So therefore even the great devoties of the Lord, great Acharyas, they sometimes would go samware in the cave at the nees underneath the earth.

1:21:21They would in Vrindavan, I've seen this kavs or this hols which they would dag. And you know they would sit there so that nothing would distract them.

1:21:38So, and you know, of course, it it may sound like a little extreme, but we have to try to limit our sensual contacts As much as possible.

1:21:50And of course, you know, all these memories of our previous day and future days, they're always there. So it will be struggle. Don't worry, 27 years is not much. I'm doing this 40 years already. It's okay.

1:22:10But gradually, gradually you still develop the taste and uh, you know, you try to, you know, you, but it will go on. It will go on. Uh the mind will be distracted because that's the nature of the mind.

1:22:26But uh by the mercy of Krishna and or the mercy of great devotees of the Lord, you may get sometimes uh stronger attraction to the chanting of the holy name. Like sometimes it happens with us during the kirtan.

1:22:42It's easier to experience during kirtan because in kirtan all our senses are engaged and our mind is not so active.

1:22:51Therefore, Lord Chaitanya says it is kirtan which is the most powerful and most important spiritual practice for this age.

1:23:02But still, nevertheless, we have to chant japa and we have to somehow or other to calm down the mind and you know bring him back again and again and again.

1:23:14No matter how many times we will have to do it, we will have to do it. Don't be frustrated. Hare Krishna Maharaj Anandiputi Dadwak Pranam. Uh thank you for your such a nice advice, Maharaj.

1:23:29It just drained my point that front of me Shishrada Pupinath is that Rathanat Maharaj Rathanat Maharaj, Jaipathakamara, Jajad, Piginchan Maharaj, Cajindra Drama is sitting, all the senior Brahmajari are sitting.

1:23:43And then I start again Jabam sometimes think that I'm Sridam Rudangam with Maharaj Gurudeva and doing parikrama of Sridam Rudandam.

1:23:52Uh, sometimes like me advice Śyāma-kuṇḍa Rādhā-kuṇḍa Shri Śyāma-kuṇḍa Shri Radha P Then again my discussion uh glottis speak of Shri Shri Rada Pupina by the mercy of Shila Prabhupada Silvia.

1:24:05Thank you Maharajananth Putin Rajpananda Jaija Nidyananda Jayja. Yeah.

1:24:11Yeah, sometimes I heard this advice that you can chant your like first round by sitting by the lotus feet of your Guru Maharaj your first few rounds and then you you can can do it like this. It's it's yeah it works.

1:24:30Thank you. The main thing that we should not be in this material world at this moment. So we try to drag our mind to the lotus feet of the Lord as much as possible.

1:24:46Or at least to the topics of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or to the holy place as you explained. Okay, I guess we are finished.

1:25:06Thank you so very much for accepting our request and coming up the call, giving such a nice nectarean and wonderful class. Maharaj, thank you so much. We are very, very grateful today. Thank you very much. Thank you.

1:25:21Thank you. Thank you. Have we want your association in future also, much. Thank you so much Śrīla Prabhupāda-kī jī.