Anartha Nivritti. Lecture 7
Бхакти Вигьяна Госвами · Говардхан · 2025
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Mangalacarana and introductory prayers
Oh Janati Nirandasya, Jyanam Jana Salayah Chaksurunit, Tasmai Sri Guravenama, Sri Chaitanyama Vishta, Sati Dani na Bhutale, Swaya Mrupatana, Dadisma Padantikam.
Vandeham Sri Guru, Sriu Dadakamala, Sri Guru Vaisnavam sha, Sriupam Sraagjatam, sadhanabunatangitam, sadam, sadvaitam, savaduk, harijana Sadita, Krishna Chaitanya Deva, Sri Rada Krishna Pada,
Sadhanavada, Sri Shakamsty Krishna Karna Sindho dinamando Jagatpate goesha Godipatha, Radakantamoste, Katabanchanagorangi, Radeva Krishna suje, prahami, haripri,
anchakabataru birchy, krieduje watcha, patitama pa nibio, krishna biola muna, sree krishna Chaitanya, Radu, Srivaitad, Srivasta Vicora
Vhtarha 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, Ale Rama Lare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
Pranandam Bhagavatya, Swasyastu Vishwasya Kalak Prasidatam, Vyantu Budani Silami Tudya, Manaschabadram Pajatata Doksaja, Aveshitam N noam Mati Arabya to
Differences between sins and offenses
key Hare Krishna so can have some question and answer session.
Just to remind, today we were talking mostly about the difference between sin and apparat and how offense is actually detrimental for developing sublime feelings or sublime sentiments which is the sacred goal of all Gaudiya Vaishnavas.
Ultimately, we want to experience these feelings, pure, completely selfless, and very purifying feelings of love. I don't care about myself. The most important for me is that Krishna is happy.
And this amazingly elevated state of consciousness, which is incidentally also very pleasing, very enjoyable. But this is not the goal, of course.
Our goal is to please Krishna but automatically the happiness of these endeavors is coming to us. So aparadha becomes the block, the blockage. It basically blocks or inhibits the power of the holy name.
Holy name is immensely powerful. However, aparadha has this power to block the power of the holy name. As much as the clouds, even though they are much less powerful than the Sun, still they can cover the Sun for us.
So aparadhas, yes. She just wants to hear hari-katha. Flowers, flowers are there? So it's inhibiting the power of the holy name. The holy name being conscious entity withdraws his power due to offense.
And therefore we cannot really experience this. So we were talking about the The necessity of being innocent.
The concept of original sin is actually the concept of original offensive mentality or competitive spirit which unfortunately every conditioned living entity has.
And that's the main problem and the main obstacle on the path of bhakti. And therefore, Ṡrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura pays so much attention to explain the proper way of executing devotional service.
That was our today's topic.
Effect of offenses on the soul
And we can uh continue uh deliberating on this topic by answering your questions. Aparadha, like, uh, the desire of the soul is affected when uh we commit offenses. That's how we understand.
So there is something for the desire of the soul also. Yeah. No, ultimately the only conscious entity is the soul. Mind is not conscious. Mind is a mechanical device. So mind is not really conscious.
The desire ultimately is coming from the soul and then it's reflected in the mind, and the reflection of the mind becomes so many different desires, but ultimately it's the desire of the soul.
The soul wants to enjoy and mind facilitates this enjoyment in the material world. But if the soul wants to serve Krishna, then gradually, gradually everything changes. However, if somehow or other
we commit offenses, then this pure desire of the soul to serve Krishna or to love Krishna becomes perverted and turns into envy. Like we said that impressions are on the mind, impressions create the desire.
Well, it's a very tricky thing. It's a very difficult philosophical question because from one hand
soul is eternal so there is that there cannot be vikāra in the soul, uh vikāra can only happen uh in something which is not eternal, uh. Transformation, it's the nature of uneternal things.
So but at the same time, somehow
or other in a very mysterious way we also say that, yes, like Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says that there are ordinary saṁskāras. And then he says there are, uh, gūḍha saṁskāras. And this gūḍha saṁskāra is a very special kind of saṁskāra. He, uh, neither he nor Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura nor Jīva Gosvāmī elaborates what kind of saṁskāra it is.
But, uh, the very way he describes this in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu indicates that this is, uh, some deeper saṁskāras which are coming from the soul, which belong to the soul.
So it's inconceivable, and ultimately we know that everything is inconceivable in the ultimate issue. The nature is, is very mysterious. So you cannot explain everything in completely logical terms.
Accessibility of devotional service to all
There is a place, there is a room for mystery in the description of reality. Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna Guru Maharaj, please accept my humble obeisances.
I, uh, I've heard. I have one question, uh, from what I heard from uh your lecture and also in past some other lectures.
Uh, my question is to clarify that, uh, how is that everyone, uh, has equal opportunity to approach Krishna so it is stated with a few examples
like, uh, Haridāsa Ṭhākura, who was from a Muslim family; Gajendra, who was, uh—no, Ajāmila. Um, but how can we see it as, uh, in general, and not as exceptions?
Because, uh, I feel that, you know, I see that there are a lot of people who are born in different religions or different countries where, you know, fish is almost like called as a veggie, uh, meat eating is, uh, normal, uh, wine is like a way of life. So uh they know nothing about vegetarianism or anything like this. So are they all committing sins and um without without even knowing it
and will they all most likely have to keep going through repeated births and deaths? Yeah, but still bhakti is available for them too and uh the example is sitting in front of you.
I am from that culture where vegetarianism is not very prominent. Still, somehow or other by Krishna's mercy, everything is possible and there is plenty of such examples.
If it was only my not so humble self that could be considered as an exception of the rule, but we have so many other people who are of the same kind. It's available, uh it's uh accessible.
And amazingly enough now of course, uh it's kind of established in the West as well.
But even before that, like there was one disciple of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, German disciple, who came completely on his own to India in search of God.
He was looking in different temples, his name was Sādānanda, and um uh was looking looking looking and he saw in in the temples different deities durga with ten weapons and ten hands and uh Vishnu with four hands and four kind of two two and two, and uh and Hanumān is lifting mountain and uh Shiva is sitting in meditation and then finally he came to Krishna temple and saw Krishna is playing flute and he said, oh this is God. That must be God.
So uh it's available. Uh it's it's actually very uh very natural. Krishna Bhakti is the most natural process. Every other processes are not natural. Meditation is not very natural.
It's only natural for gopīs who always meditate on Krishna; for everyone else, it's very unnatural. Yoga is not very natural. It's forced.
But singing, everyone is singing. Whether they can sing or cannot sing, they anyway sing under the shower or something like this. So it's it's a very natural spontaneous manifestation of human nature when we are talking.
So it's it's available, it's accessible to everyone. We see the examples of people in very strict Muslim countries they become devotees. People in Iraq, uh Iran, yeah, they become devotees.
It's a very, very strict fanatical Muslim country, but so many devotees are there. They have to hide. So you can see it's a proven fact.
Residual anarthas and burned karma
Yes, please, Padmati. And uh there is this question somebody sent to me, but I couldn't really understand the essence of this question. If somebody can explain it's your question. Okay.
First Padmawaken then first question. Probably just. Guru Mahara, my view, the card, the-pselect, Drupal. No nos anthe
we are doing so many things which are supposed to free us from the reactions to our sinful activities, but our anartas which are result of this sinful activities still there, how should we understand?
So, what's the question? How shall we understand? How not to consider all the statement from the shastras as exaggeration?
First of all, we have to analytically look inside and reflect and understand that how actually we are much more free from the influences of this anarthas than before.
Before we didn't even know, we were just acting, uh we were completely bound by the acquired qualities. Now we have the choice. And sometimes we We take advantage of this choice, sometimes we don't. But we can do this.
It is said actually that karma of those people who chant the holy name remains, but this karma Is only the appearance of karma.
It has the same shape, but it doesn't have the power as much as the silken robe. Silken rope can bind us and it's very strong. You cannot really uh cut uh or tear away the silken rope.
But if the silken robe is burnt it still remains the ashes remains in the shape of the silken rope. But it's not so strong anymore and it cannot really bind us.
So, in the similar way, karma is there, and we can see the traits uh which we had before. But ultimately we are free uh not to act uh uh according to these traits and qualities, and unattached.
And uh yeah somebody's karma is completely burned, somebody's karma is half burned and it still binds us. But anyway, uh you better don't think that it's exaggeration because it's an offense against the holy name.
At what stage prarabdha is burnt? is burnt in a very high stage. Prarabdha you have to work a little hard to burn your prarabdha. This a prarabdha is very simple. Prarabda is is at
least in the level of Nishta uh till the level of Nishta in and even later the traces of your prarabdha will be there, but in the level of bhāva there's practically no prarabdha.
But then we see, we hear in the śāstras, that prarabdha is burnt when we practice bhakti. So this is the stage of Nishta we should consider. It is burned, there is no doubt about it, but it's it's not burnt immediately.
Bhakti is the only process which can burn our prarabda karma, karma which already began, which already fructified, in a sense. It has the same, yeah. Krishna is not interfering with Krishna.
Even if we should think that he is interfering, yes. Krishna is using for sure he is using if we approach Krishna within our heart, he for sure uses our karma for our benefit.
He is not an indifferent witness of all our activities. He is actively participating, yes. Krishna is doing his role. Don't worry about Krishna, worry about yourself.
No because when you told in the lecture that one of the lectures where you mentioned that if you approach Krishna as a person then you directly reciprocate or indirectly He will definitely directly reciprocate because we're directly approaching him.
In which way he reciprocates, that's another thing if we are very offensive then maybe his reciprocation will not be as per our expectations, but it will be definitely reciprocation from him.
Dealing with non-devotees in daily life
Okay. Oh yeah, you can ask the question. What is my question with uh my day to day activities? Uh, 90 to 95% of my dealings are with outsiders. Okay Okay.
And uh as you also mentioned that uh when we are dealing most of our time with such kind of people, mentality and attitude also uh my behavior is also somewhat like them. Uh when it comes to dealings and offenses, uh in that moment uh it is a situation where uh I'm also feeling self-centered and I feel offended and I react.
Without the thought process that they are also part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. I also think someone uh like just a material being just react. In that moment Maharaj is possible I'm defending them.
Uh and if so, how can I uh uh react between We should not prematurely imitate saintly people. Saintly people on a very high level of saintliness they don't react.
So we should not feel guilty because there is some natural reaction. If somebody offends us then naturally some sort of uh reaction uh appears within our mind.
Uh so uh uh uh i in one sense it's uh it's okay but uh you know uh still, we should not become overly angry or malicious against these people.
Ultimately, even if reaction comes uh when we cool down we should say okay no problem this is the person who actually pointed out my uh weakness and uh I reacted so strongly because it's painful because he he really you know hit the target so
our spontaneous reaction will be there, but then when we deliberate about this incident, we should try to become a little more philosophical and try not to keep this reaction permanent within our heart.
There is no harm in having this spontaneous reaction in one sense unless we try to solidify this spontaneous reaction for a long time.
So if it's just some uh feeling which is in passing uh it comes and goes uh it's okay it's fine. So we should uh try to get rid of this negative reaction which is there so that it would not contaminate our consciousness.
Because usually what happens when people interact in an unhealthy way with this unhealthy environment. And they accumulate so much negativity inside.
So if we want to practice bhakti in a proper way, uh we should get rid of negativity uh as much as possible, not to accumulate, not to uh keep it inside.
Okay, it's gone, it's gone, no problem. He's his spirit so I don't keep grudges against this.
So, but don't try to imitate Haridas Thakuru, Jesus Christ uh prematurely. It's not going to work anyway. obvious. Tanda dolgo żyve, to pojawia-trika-pere3 0-12, 30,
Overcoming negligence toward fellow devotees
So how to get rid of this mentality and Milamani Pri says that that reciting different shlokas or bhajanas they help uh to establish our consciousness in a proper position. So what could be recommended to recite to avoid this sort of mentality.
There was this uh song uh which is uh Vaishnava Vandana right? Vrindavanvasri Vita Vaishnava Vrindavanvasri Vita Vaishnava So this is what is recommended to chant uh to nullify offences towards Vaishnavas.
There is a special uh bhajan uh which is uh recommended for this specific purpose. It was published by Madavananda Prabhu with explanations so you can find this somewhere.
Yes, a matter of thisna, I guess you have Krishna your experience. Um you mentioned that a non-offensive mentality is Sharalata. Uh could you explain more deeply what it means?
Offenses are very much connected with crookedness. Actually, tomorrow I'm going to talk about this: that about this interconnection between hypocrisy or crookedness of our heart and offenses.
Usually what happens in normal society, this is how quote-unquote normal consciousness manifest in our society.
We are nice and polite with people in their face, but in their back we become offensive. So there is always or most of the time this element of crookedness or hypocrisy, we are kind of hiding offenses.
We are not showing them but they anyway manifest. So we're a little offensive but we're not showing uh openly uh offenses in the face of people.
So saralata means simplicity is simplicity means basically you are not hypocritical. You're not hiding anything. You're straightforward.
And if you are angry at somebody and there is a legitimate cause for this anger, you just say, you know, I'm I'm a little angry why you're doing this uh straightforwardly.
And um so uh offensive mentality and crookedness is always very deeply interconnected.
Uh But when you become very straightforward and you don't feel the need, because why do we hide offenses? Because we deep down in our heart we understand that this is wrong. This is something which I should not do.
Therefore, we hide the offenses and we try to cover offenses with the nice smiles and you know external politeness but we hide.
But when we become uh not hypocritical but very simple then we can say without any offense that that you caused me some pain, why did you do this? Or whatever.
So the dealings will be completely different without this crookedness. So that's why Saralata is the opposite of offense, of offenses. Some sort of innocence.
It's like in this beautiful Bible story when Adam and Eve they develop some offensive mentality or some competitive mentality.
They immediately they immediately want to cover themselves. They experience shame for the first time.
The experience of shame is the manifestation that we are trying to hide something, and that's why they wanted to cover themselves.
They felt that they're doing something wrong and they wanted to hide what they're doing wrong.
But then again, it is said that the metaphorical meaning of this pastime when Krishna was stealing the clothes from Goddess standing in Yamuna is that ultimately we have to become very simple and totally open and naked in front of God.
We have to become like this. There is nothing to hide. We should not feel that there's something which we have to hide. So and that's not easy to stand naked in front of God.
Maintaining distance to preserve respect
So yeah, nah. So you mentioned this several times about the the importance of being in society of devotees built in this healthy atmosphere. But now in this point we can see sometimes I came across myself.
There are some communities where women are treated in some weird way in the name of Vedic culture. And uh and when I came across to this and seen some examples uh it brings much pain to my heart.
But who am I and what can I do? So my question is how to relate to this for not being an offensive mood to senior devotees who are engaged in such communities.
No, the very good remedy against offenses sometimes is a distance. When we're too close with somebody whose actions we don't really understand, whose heart we don't really understand or whom we think he's wrong.
The best way is to you know to take the proper distance which is long enough to remain respectful towards this person.
You know we can be respectful to anyone, but uh the condition should be fulfilled. Uh it's uh it's a proper distance.
Uh if the distance is too short uh and we feel that respect somehow or other evaporates, disappears from our heart. Immediately we have to go a little further away.
So perhaps that's that's the only thing which we can do in such situations. Yes. Yes. Transmit knowledge from spiritual master to disciple.
So the and the heart transformation, there has to be it is said that the relationship has to establish and the transformation will take place.
So, tad-viddhi praṇipātena, if you see in the case of Bhagavad-gītā, So Krishna was there and Arjuna was there, one-to-one.
So in the case of ISKCON and larger organizations, where disciple is there and the spiritual master is there. So how this relationship dynamics works, whether in the same way the personal relationship has to be there or okay the spiritual master gives the instruction and the disciple takes it and go ahead or whether again there is a come back and that is a spiritual master knows okay what is going on and the ups and downs again, review, come back, go and come through and prove whether this exists or how the whole dynamics works.
Sometimes the spiritual master has thousands of disciples, and sometimes very few disciples.
So this the transformation of that knowledge as well as the the struggle of the disciples at each stage and how this whole dynamics functions.
As I said, in relationship between Guru and Disciple, there's always a third party which is behind the curtain, which is hidden. Krishna is there. Krishna knows what you're doing.
And uh Krishna appreciates what you're doing, if you're following the instructions of spiritual master very sincerely,
if you're really trying in a humble mood, then Krishna will facilitate Krishna in the form of the holy name. There's no shortage. Krishna has all kinds of agents to help you to understand what you need to understand.
Spiritual master is his direct representative, we have to be very clear and established in it but also our spiritual master or Krishna can uh work through other people, can use other people and we can see that
even those disciples of Śrīla Prabhupāda, Śrīla Prabhupāda also had many disciples. And some of them had very close association with him, some of them didn't.
Still, some of them you know just saw him a few times during the class, never had any personal association.
Still we see how determined they are to please Śrīla Prabhupāda, how they're serving, you know, 50 years after Śrīla Prabhupāda's disappearance, it really means something.
So uh if you don't have realization and knowledge, it's not possible to to do it for such long time. Uh so uh Śrīla Prabhupāda's mercy is coming to them, Guru's mercy is coming to them.
Krishna is there and he is making sure that you get what you need to get. So we don't have to worry uh about what we receive. We have to worry about what we do.
And if we do properly the result will be there, there's no doubt about it. You wanted to ask also? Yes. No? Okay. Okay.
Understanding differences between pure devotees
Maharaj uh in that last question Maharaj that uh keeping distance and uh when we come near and uh respect about it that totally. So Maharaj that uh relation to that question.
Uh how a pure devotee uh execute like does this like uh what is in their heart when a pure devotee going to near somebody who is not able to judge because there are differences in their level of so how how they deal, how they see and how they execute something pure devotees have much greater tolerance capacity than ordinary devotees.
This is one consideration. It's easier for those whose heart appeared to accept something in the uh in and still remain respectful.
Other answer to this question is that because of the qualities of a pure devotee, other people also behave differently with them. They naturally become more respectful and uh more careful in dealings with them.
And therefore it's uh it's much easier to be a pure devotee than to be impure devotees. So it's a good impetus for us to become I'm asking like when uh because there will be differences in two pure devotees also.
Yeah and uh sometimes like one pure devotee is telling your disciples not to associate with other pure devotees or things like that. So how they they maintain in their heart, that's okay. That situation is fine.
But how they maintain in their how how the relationship the respect that you were saying. See uh once uh uh somebody asked uh Radhanath Swami, I heard this story from Chaitanya Caran Prabhu.
Somebody asked him, you know, this other god brothers of yours who are there they have a completely different opinion about certain subject matter.
And how you how you deal with this, you have one opinion, they have different opinion, sometimes opposite opinion, and he gave a very beautiful answer. He said, I don't question the integrity of their intent.
I may not agree with the way they are conducting themselves. I may not agree with their decisions, I may not agree with you know even the way they're dealing this.
But uh I still respect them because I'm sure that this is my interpretation.
I am sure that their intention appears, they want to please Śrīla Prabhupāda. And even though it's uh it's not according to my understanding, Still I can remain respectful to them because I
don't doubt that uh they sincerely try to please Śrīla Prabhupada and that's their way of doing it.
Addressing ethical concerns about dairy consumption
So this is how we should understand this respect. Respect is still there. So we should not question their integrity. All right.
So okay, please Hare Krishna Guru Maharaj. Thank you so much for the wonderful guidance you're giving us through your lectures and associations. Maharaj, my question is.
But uh my question is that uh is it because you can hear people.
So Maharaj the cow is so dear to us like a mother, yet in today's Kalyuga uh most of the cows are not treated well and we stay in the cities, we have access only to the milk of these cows, you know, who are tortured.
So I understand that when you've asked others this question, they say that cow's milk gives us spiritual intelligence. So that is why we have to have cow's milk.
But it's very difficult to explain to my meat-eating friends how it is okay to drink the milk of tortured cows and still make a big deal about eating the lower species of animals.
So this is one doubt I'm not able to you know and
there's another question also Maharaj uh silk is considered very auspicious in uh Indian culture and also for Yaganas and all we are asked to for the pujas and So in the Wedding culture they had you know they say silk is auspicious.
So was it at that time it was made in the Ahimsa way? As far as I know that there there is this uh shiny uh fine silk which is not a himsa.
But this uh uh rough uh silk which they sell here in Vṛndāvana which is not shiny but this little rough that's supposedly a hymnsa whether it's really a hymnsa or not I don't know. But I believe what I heard.
So as far as the uh silk is concerned, that's the uh the answer.
As far as the milk uh and your feeling that you need to justify your drinking milk in front of your meat eating friends, I don't think you should really justify your drinking milk because for them it's just a cheap excuse to justify their meat eating They just want to point out that you're also guilty and please don't get into this guilt trip.
Let them do whatever they like uh and uh uh you just explain to them that uh it's uh I mean it's it's still horrible to eat meat uh uh and as far as the cow's milk is concerned Śrīla Prabhupāda said that we should still drink this cow milk because it's important for our development.
But at the same time, we should also try to protect the cows.
And even if we cannot protect the cows which necessarily directly give us milk, if we help cows maintain cows and go so that will be okay that will also help us.
But uh you know don't try to justify all your actions in front of these people, they're not very honest.
Balancing genuine respect and fear
I think we should finish it, but uh Okay, then I want to ceremony and uh in the nanda and then that's it.
and in the starting class was here for explain about how our shadha is also related to the uh respect respect for the uh for the lord for the devotees uh but whereas sometimes when we uh respect the devotees specifically, uh those who are living with us, those who are seniors senior to
us, out of uh some um fear Maharaj, because uh we have some some impressions that we have to do surveys and other things so that fear is and at the same time there is uh like in the mind that
I have heard in one of your lectures is P and leads to N B and it's it and then doesn't long for for long for so long or not for good for relationship also.
And at the same time Harajya says the principle the Vaishnamas principle of cause and humility is failed.
So there is a tuberfall in the mind goes on that how to reconcile between those things and it becomes totally messed up. You cannot uh fear is not a good uh foundation for relationship.
You cannot really build lasting and genuine relationship uh uh if uh if you have fear. So there's something wrong if you feel that you have to fear this. This is not genuine respect. Genuine respect is the beginning
stage of love and because love starts from respect, but fear is something which is totally opposite to love. If you have this fear, love will never appear in your heart.
So, yes, we have to be humble, we have to be respectful. But respect should come not out of fear because if respect is out of fear it will be just external show of respect. It will not be real respect.
So and the moment we feel genuine respect to somebody we will lose fear, cause you know, if we're respectful to somebody then naturally he feels that we're respectful and there is no need to fear him.
We are any way respectful, so why should we fear him? We are anyway ready to do what he wants. Again, it's our attitude. Fear is the manifestation that something is wrong with us.
If the moment our respect becomes genuine, fear will disappear from the heart.
If it's based on genuine humility and respect and understanding that this respect and yeah and sometimes people are off especially those people who are little uh superior to us but still we should not—just remember, I sometimes had some authorities over me who were very strong people to say the least, and quite rough.
But what I noticed as soon as you become genuinely respectful to them, they also change their mood of dealing with you. They also become much more respectful to you if they feel that there is genuine uh respect.
And yes, sometimes they do manifest their impetuous nature that may be there, but still there is no fear. Real respect uh drives away fear. Yes. No several questions. Okay, that's for tomorrow.
Still late for two philosophical questions. Thank you very much.