KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 1:19:35
• One can render better service to the family by becoming a devotee of the Lord.
• The Lord gives special protection to the family members and descendants of a devotee, even though such members are themselves non-devotees!
• Mahārāja Parīkṣit admits the patronage of Lord Kṛṣṇa because of his being the only grandson of the great Pāṇḍavas.
• Faith means unflinching trust in something sublime.
• The resolute purpose of a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is based on knowledge. If Kṛṣṇa is satisfied by one’s actions, then everyone will be satisfied.
• By satisfaction of the spiritual master, the Supreme Personality of Godhead becomes satisfied. And by not satisfying the spiritual master, there is no chance of being promoted to the plane of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
• Distress is the same in anybody, whether you are in a man’s body or a dog’s body the feeling of the distress is the same.
• Death is Sarva-haraḥ. Sarva means “everything.” big bank balance and big house, big family, big motorcar. With death everything is finished. Krsna says in BG 10.34 that “I am death”
• Because you have got this material body, you have to tolerate
• The disease cannot be stopped
• those who are intelligent, they know it very well that this place is duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam
• This distress is due to this body. A sane man’s duty is to stop the process of accepting this material body. The right conclusion is that I am not this body. I am eternal spirit soul.
• You cannot be zero as said in buddhist philosophy. You are eternal.
• Getting out of gross body and subtle body is called mukti
• The real knowledge of human beings is not to invent something for temporary happiness. Our business is self-realization, to get out of this bodily entanglement.
• The more we advance in so-called material happiness or material advancement, the more we forget our real identity. This is the result.
• Anything we are advancing in knowledge without self-realization as the goal is useless. Śrama eva hi kevalam
• Accept knowledge from perfect authority. We do not speculate. Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to know everything perfectly from the supreme authority, Kṛṣṇa.
• Vedas say that God is beyond the grasp of our knowledge. Avan-manasa-gocara: to understand the length and breadth of God is beyond the jurisdiction of our mental speculation
SB 1.19.35 TRANSLATION:
Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who is very dear to the sons of King Pāṇḍu, has accepted me as one of those relatives just to please His great cousins and brothers.
CLASS NOTES:
(SB 1.19.35) ONE CAN RENDER BETTER SERVICE TO THE FAMILY BY BECOMING A DEVOTEE OF THE LORD.
A pure and exclusive devotee of the Lord serves his family interest more dexterously than others, who are attached to illusory family affairs.
The Lord gives special protection to the family members and descendants of a devotee, even though such members are themselves non-devotees! Ex: Mahārāja Prahlāda & Hiranyakasipu. The Lord is so kind that he gives all protection to the family members of His devotee, and thus the devotee has no need to bother about his family members, even if one leaves such family members aside to discharge devotional service.
Lord Caitanya married twice. He chanted gopi, gopi one day… people insulted Him. He took Sanyas left His old mother and young wife. If you really take care of your family you become a devotee. That does not mean you become a devotee for that reason and leave the family. Srila Prabhupada left home only after his children were old enough and got married. He left and got wounded by a bull. He later took sannyasa. He started the first center in Jhansi and it failed. He translated BG and 1st canto of SB translated. He became determined to go to the USA to follow his guru’s words. He goes on a cargo ship and suffers two heartaches. He was in Butler, he goes to Ney York. He goes to Dr.Misra’s ashram, he cooks there. With the few acquaintances in the
Mukunda Das and wife, wife shuts down the door…. Srila Prabhupada was let in by Mukunda das. Look at how determined SP was… He went through so much just to follow his guru maharaja’s instructions.
(BG 2.41) THE RESOLUTE PURPOSE OF A PERSON IN KṚṢṆA CONSCIOUSNESS IS BASED ON KNOWLEDGE.
Faith means unflinching trust in something sublime. When one is awake in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he needs no longer endeavor for good results in his activities. When one is situated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, all activities are on the absolute plane, for they are no longer subject to dualities like good and bad. The highest perfection of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the renunciation of the material conception of life. This state is automatically achieved by progressive Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
The resolute purpose of a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is based on knowledge. If Kṛṣṇa is satisfied by one’s actions, then everyone will be satisfied.
to be well versed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness one has to act firmly and obey the representative of Kṛṣṇa, and one should accept the instruction of the bona fide spiritual master as one’s mission in life.
“By satisfaction of the spiritual master, the Supreme Personality of Godhead becomes satisfied. And by not satisfying the spiritual master, there is no chance of being promoted to the plane of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. I should, therefore, meditate and pray for his mercy three times a day, and offer my respectful obeisances unto him, my spiritual master.”
The whole process, however, depends on perfect knowledge of the soul beyond the conception of the body – not theoretically but practically.
Srila Prabhupada meditated on this verse throughout his life. This one is enough to lead us to the perfection of life
LECTURE ON 2.14 (HTTPS://VEDABASE.IO/EN/LIBRARY/TRANSCRIPTS/740623BGGER/?QUERY=COMMON+DISTRESS#BB291586)
DISTRESS IS THE SAME IN ANYBODY
Distress and happiness—according to the body. A very rich man is situated little comfortably. The common distress and unhappiness, er, happiness, that is common. What is that common? Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam [Bg. 13.9]. To take birth either as a dog or as a king, the distress is the same. There is no difference. Because the dog has to keep itself within the womb of the mother in an airtight condition for so many months, and the man, either he is king or anything, he has also undergo that tribulation. There is no excuse. Because you are taking birth in a king’s family, it does not mean that to remain compact within the mother’s womb the distress is less, and because he is taking birth in a dog’s mother’s womb, therefore his is great. No. That is the same. Similarly, at the time of death, the distress… At the time of death there is great distress. It is so strong that one has to leave this body. Just like when the distress becomes very strong, one commits suicide. He cannot tolerate = “Finish this body.”
WITH DEATH EVERYTHING IS FINISHED
So nobody wants to leave this body, but the distress is so strong that one is forced to leave this body. That is called death. In the Bhagavad-gītā you will find that mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś ca aham [Bg. 10.34]. Kṛṣṇa says that “I am death.” And what is the meaning of death? Death means “I take everything from him. Finished. I take his body, I take his association, I take his country, I take his society, I take his bank balance, and everything finished.” Sarva-haraḥ. Sarva means “everything.” Everyone is trying to accumulated big bank balance and big house, big family, big motorcar… But with the death, everything is finished. So that is great distress.
WE HAVE TO LEARN TO TOLERATE
We have to tolerate it. That is advised here, that “Because you have got this material body, you have to tolerate,” When you are a child you can speak and the mother understands your cry for something as something else. You want something and you are given something else.
So you study life. From the beginning of this body within the womb of the mother, it is simply troublesome. Against my will, so many distresses are there. So much distress there. Then as you grow, the distress grows, grow. Distress is not diminished.
DISEASE CANNOT BE STOPPED
You can manufacture so many high-class medicine to cure disease. That will not cure. Temporary relief. But no scientist has discovered any medicine that “You take this medicine and no more disease.” That is not possible. “You take this medicine, no more death.” That is not possible.
THIS PLACE IS DUḤKHĀLAYAM AŚĀŚVATAM
those who are intelligent, they know it very well that this place is duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam [Bg. 8.15]. That is described in the Bhagavad-gītā. It is a place for distress. So long you remain here… But we are so fool, we cannot realize. We accept, “This life is very pleasant. Let me enjoy it.” It is not pleasant at all. Seasonal changes, always. This distress or that distress; this disease or that disease; this uncomfortable, this anxiety. There are three kinds of distresses = adhyātmika, adhibhautika, adhidaivika.
A SANE MAN’S DUTY IS HOW TO STOP THE PROCESS OF ACCEPTING THIS MATERIAL BODY. THESE DISTRESSES ARE DUE TO THIS BODY
Therefore a sane man’s duty is how to stop the process of accepting this material body. This is intelligence. He should realize that “I am always in distresses, and I am not this body, but I am put into this body. Therefore right conclusion is that I am not this body. If somehow or other I can live without this body, then my distresses are over.” This is common sense. That is possible. Therefore Kṛṣṇa comes. Therefore God comes, to give you the information that “You are not this body. You are the soul, spirit soul. And because you are within this body, you are suffering so many distresses.” Therefore Kṛṣṇa advises that “These distresses are due to this body.” Try to understand. Why you are feeling pains and pleasure? It is due to the body.
YOU CANNOT BE ZERO AS SAID IN BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. YOU ARE ETERNAL.
This body is packed up with shirt and coat. So the coat is the gross body, and the shirt is the subtle body. So when this gross body is resting, the subtle body is working. The subtle body is there. The foolish men, they cannot understand that “I am compact in some body, either subtle body or gross body.”
GETTING OUT OF GROSS BODY AND SUBTLE BODY AND REMAINING IN YOUR ORIGINAL SPIRITUAL BODY IS CALLED MUKTI
I am there, either in the gross body or in the subtle body. So I am eternal. Now the problem is how to avoid this gross body and subtle body. That is problem. That means when you remain in your original body, means spiritual body, and do not come to this gross or subtle body, that is your eternal life. That is… We have to achieve. This human life is a gift by the nature or by God. Now you realize that you are changing your different condition, distress and happiness, being forced to accept some kind of gross and subtle body. That is the cause of your pains and pleasure. And if you get out of this gross and subtle body, remain in your original, spiritual body, then you are free from these pains and pleasure. That is called mukti. Mukti, there is a Sanskrit word. Mukti means liberation = no more gross body, no more subtle body, but you remain in your own original, spiritual body. This is called mukti.
THE REAL KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN BEINGS IS NOT TO INVENT SOMETHING FOR TEMPORARY HAPPINESS. OUR BUSINESS IS SELF-REALIZATION.
That is foolishness, wasting time. If we invent something for the comforts of this present body and I shall live very comfortably, but “You will not be allowed, sir, to live comfortably.” First of all you know it. Suppose a man is constructing very nice house, very strong house; it will never fall down in any circumstances. But that’s all right, but what you have done for yourself that you will never die so that you will enjoy this? “No. Let it be. Let me have a very strong-built house.” So house remains. You go there.The more we advance in so-called material happiness or material advancement, the more we forget our real identity. This is the result.
In the human form of life, I have got a separate business, self-realization, to get out of this bodily entanglement. And that is called knowledge.
ANYTHING WE ARE ADVANCING IN KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT SELF-REALIZATION AS THE GOAL IS USELESS. ŚRAMA EVA HI KEVALAM
[SB 1.2.8]. Śrama eva hi kevalam. Śrama eva hi kevalam means simply working uselessly and wasting time. You cannot check the nature’s law. Suppose in this life you are very big leader, prime minister, and everything. That’s all right, but according to your mentality, you are creating next life. So in this life you remain a prime minister, and in next life you become a dog.
WE ACCEPT KNOWLEDGE FROM PERFECT AUTHORITY, WE DON’T TRY TO SPECULATE
We accept knowledge from the perfect person. I may be fool, but the knowledge received from the perfect person is perfect. This is our process. We don’t try to speculate.
So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to know everything perfectly from the supreme authority, Kṛṣṇa. This is the process. Tad vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet [MU 1.2.12]. In order to understand subject matter which is beyond our perception, you have to approach such authority who can inform you. Exactly in the same way = to understand who is my father is beyond my perception, beyond my speculation, but if I accept the authoritative statement of my mother, this is perfect knowledge.
AVAN-MANASA-GOCARA: TO UNDERSTAND THE LENGTH AND BREADTH OF GOD IS BEYOND THE JURISDICTION OF OUR MENTAL SPECULATION
Vedas say that God is beyond the grasp of our knowledge. Avan-manasa-gocara: to understand the length and breadth of God is beyond the jurisdiction of our mental speculation (https://vanisource.org/wiki/KB_87_(1996%2B))