KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 1:19:37- 40
- Mahārāja Parīkṣit is the right type of disciple because he puts forward questions vital to the interest of all men, particularly for the dying men.
- Maharaj Praikshit says – Please let me know what a man should hear, chant, remember and worship, and also what he should not do. Please explain all this to me.
- The question put forward by Mahārāja Parīkṣit is the basic principle of the complete thesis of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
- No one can establish peace and prosperity in the world by fruitive activities or by speculative philosophy or ideology.
- The only way is to surrender unto the Supreme Lord and thus become free from the illusion of the deluding energy.
- The pure devotee
- is called niṣkāma, which means he has no desire for self-interest. Perfect peace belongs to him alone, not to them who strive for personal gain.
- desires nothing but Krsna. Therefore the Lord says that for anyone who is unflinchingly devoted to Him, He is easy to attain.
- meets with none of the problems that plague the practitioners of other yogas.
- he is always thinking of Kṛṣṇa without deviation and without considering the time or place.
- a pure devotee can live anywhere and create the atmosphere of Vṛndāvana by his devotional service.
- As indicated by the words satatam and nityaśaḥ, which mean “always,” “regularly,” or “every day,” a pure devotee constantly remembers Kṛṣṇa and meditates upon Him
- does not desire promotion to heavenly planets, nor does he seek oneness with the Brahma-Jyotir or salvation or liberation from material entanglement.
- meets with none of the problems that plague the practitioners of other yogas.
- is always constantly engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Supreme Lord and cannot forget the Supreme Lord,so for him the Lord is easily attained.
- A pure devotee cannot forget the Supreme Lord for a moment, and similarly the Supreme Lord cannot forget His pure devotee for a moment.
- Bhakti-yoga is very simple and pure and easy to perform. One can begin simply by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. Chanting Hare Krsna is the means and the end.
- To become the servant of the Lord means to accept a Spiritual Master. Without accepting somebody as master, how can one become an expert servant?
- those who are married should work, earning money as much as possible, and at least 50% should be spent for the Krishna Consciousness Movement. After all, everything belongs to Krishna, and the sooner we return whatever we have got to Krishna, the better it is. That is our normal life.
- The Spiritual Master does not accept anything for his personal use, but he employs everything for Krishna’s service. Therefore the Spiritual Master is accepted in the renounced order of life.
- one who understands the importance of Krishna Consciousness must be a very fortunate soul.
- In the material world the energy is called Bhadra, and in the spiritual world the same Maya is called Subhadra. So in the spiritual world, the same Maya works auspiciously, and in the material world, the same Maya works inauspiciously. This auspiciousness and inauspiciousness is our own choice.
- In Krsna Consciousness there is no conditions whatever, so in any position, one may be in, he can chant Hare Krishna, preach Krishna Consciousness
- If you want to make others as krsna devotees you first become a pure devotee
- Krishna Consciousness is already in you—not only in you, but in every living being. Such consciousness is aroused by the vibration of the Hare Krishna Mantra.
SB 1.19.36 TRANSLATION
Otherwise [without being inspired by Lord Kṛṣṇa] how is it that you have voluntarily appeared here, though you are moving incognito to the common man and are not visible to us who are on the verge of death?
CLASS NOTES:
SB 1.19.37
You are the spiritual master of great saints and devotees. I am therefore begging you to show the way of perfection for all persons, and especially for one who is about to die.
Unless one is perfectly anxious to inquire about the way of perfection, there is no necessity of approaching a spiritual master. A spiritual master is not a kind of decoration for a householder. Mahārāja Parīkṣit is the right type of disciple because he puts forward questions vital to the interest of all men, particularly for the dying men. The question put forward by Mahārāja Parīkṣit is the basic principle of the complete thesis of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Now let us see how intelligently the great master replies.
I am therefore begging you to show the way of perfection for all persons, and especially for one who is about to die.
SB 1.19.38
Please let me know what a man should hear, chant, remember and worship, and also what he should not do. Please explain all this to me.
These are fundamental instructions everyone has to ask for and receive. But unfortunately, no one is doing that. Prabhupada did the same thing as Sukhadev Goswami 5000 years ago. We are the most fortunate to receive this from Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada when he used to write the initiation acceptance letter he would say you are the most fortunate to receive initiation.
SB 1.19.39
O powerful brāhmaṇa, it is said that you hardly stay in the houses of men long enough to milk a cow.
SB 1.19.40
Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī said: The King thus spoke and questioned the sage, using sweet language. Then the great and powerful personality, the son of Vyāsadeva, who knew the principles of religion, began his reply.
(BG. 8.14)
ananya-cetāḥ satataṁ
yo māṁ smarati nityaśaḥ
tasyāhaṁ su-labhaḥ pārtha
nitya-yuktasya yoginaḥ
For one who always remembers Me without deviation, I am easy to obtain, O son of Pṛthā, because of his constant engagement in devotional service.
(BG 7.14)
Daivihesa guna mayi
This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.
(SB 1.11.34)
In the Bhagavad-gītā (7.14) this fact is very vividly described. It is said, “The deluding energy is My potency, and thus it is not possible for the dependent living beings to supersede the strength of the material modes. But those who take shelter in Me [the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa] can cross over the gigantic ocean of material energy.” This means that no one can establish peace and prosperity in the world by fruitive activities or by speculative philosophy or ideology. The only way is to surrender unto the Supreme Lord and thus become free from the illusion of the deluding energy.
Everything that the materialistic scientists, philosophers , politicians, are saying is wrong.
The definite statement made by Krsna is it is impossible to overcome the laws of material nature. We are living in a culture that prides itself on seminating the wrong knowledge. People are believing it to be correct and their lives are being destructed.
The cumulative effect of hearing. We learn one new thing every day after 1 year we remember 365 things. That means you are highly educated. We should be formally hearing. We should be actively, reverently hearing, at least pick one thing and never forget.
(BG 8.14) A PERFECT DEVOTEE HAS NO DESIRE OTHER THAN TO PLEASE THE SUPREME PERSONALITY OF GODHEAD
As indicated by the word ananya-cetāḥ, in pure bhakti-yoga the devotee desires nothing but Kṛṣṇa. A pure devotee does not desire promotion to heavenly planets, nor does he seek oneness with the brahma-jyotir or salvation or liberation from material entanglement. A pure devotee does not desire anything (material). In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta the pure devotee is called niṣkāma, which means he has no desire for self-interest. Perfect peace belongs to him alone, not to them who strive for personal gain. Whereas a jñāna-yogī, karma-yogī or haṭha-yogī has his own selfish interests, a perfect devotee has no desire other than to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore the Lord says that for anyone who is unflinchingly devoted to Him, He is easy to attain.
Mayavadis – Say No desire, it is impossible to have no desire.
Bhakti Yoga – No desire for self-interest, only desire is to please the supreme personality of Godhead. a devotee can choose to fix his mind in loving service to any of these transcendental forms of the Supreme Lord. Such a devotee meets with none of the problems that plague the practitioners of other yogas. Bhakti-yoga is very simple and pure and easy to perform. One can begin simply by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa.Mayavadi philosophy is very boring. Vipassana can only be done 10 days. Mayavadi is a dead-end philosophy. It is a bridge to nowhere.
Therefore something which becomes impossible to attain becomes easy as soon as we give up personal interest and replace it with interest to please Krsna. Our personal interest is to please Krsna through the instructions of the bonafide guru and not to please ourselves. If we want to please ourselves, we get entangled in the struggle from existence, competition, and all kinds of negative things. If we are working to please Krsna we get free from struggle for existence. A pure devotee of Krsna has 2 fundamental qualities – Humility and tolerance. He knows that he is the servants of Krsna and can tolerate anything else even violence against himself, Except blaspheme on Krsna or devotees.
A devotee can choose to fix his mind in loving service to any of the transcendental forms of the Supreme Lord. Such a devotee meets with none of the problems that plague the practitioners of other yogas. Bhakti-yoga is very simple and pure and easy to perform. One can begin simply by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa.
(BG 8.14) THE LORD IS MERCIFUL TO ALL, BUT, HE IS ESPECIALLY INCLINED TOWARD THOSE WHO ALWAYS SERVE HIM WITHOUT DEVIATION.
The Lord helps such devotees in various ways. As stated in the Vedas (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.23), yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyas/ tasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanuṁ svām: one who is fully surrendered and engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Lord can understand the Supreme Lord as He is. And as stated in Bhagavad-gītā (10.10), dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ tam: the Lord gives such a devotee sufficient intelligence so that ultimately the devotee can attain Him in His spiritual kingdom.
(BG 8.14)THE SPECIAL QUALIFICATION OF THE PURE DEVOTEE IS THAT HE IS ALWAYS THINKING OF KṚṢṆA WITHOUT DEVIATION AND WITHOUT CONSIDERING THE TIME OR PLACE.
Some say that the devotee should remain in holy places like Vṛndāvana or some holy town where the Lord lived, but a pure devotee can live anywhere and create the atmosphere of Vṛndāvana by his devotional service. It was Śrī Advaita who told Lord Caitanya, “Wherever You are, O Lord – there is Vṛndāvana.”
(BG 8.14)A PURE DEVOTEE CANNOT FORGET THE SUPREME LORD FOR A MOMENT, AND SIMILARLY THE SUPREME LORD CANNOT FORGET HIS PURE DEVOTEE FOR A MOMENT.
Generally, the bhakti-yogīs are engaged in five different ways: (1) śānta-bhakta, engaged in devotional service in neutrality; (2) dāsya-bhakta, engaged in devotional service as servant; (3) sakhya-bhakta, engaged as friend; (4) vātsalya-bhakta, engaged as parent; and (5) mādhurya-bhakta, engaged as a conjugal lover of the Supreme Lord. In any of these ways, the pure devotee is always constantly engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Supreme Lord and cannot forget the Supreme Lord, and so for him, the Lord is easily attained. A pure devotee cannot forget the Supreme Lord for a moment, and similarly, the Supreme Lord cannot forget His pure devotee for a moment. This is the great blessing of the Kṛṣṇa conscious process of chanting the mahā-mantra – Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.
Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.23 (Alternate translations in BG 10.10 & CC m 12.6)
(LETTER TO JAYAGOVINDA — LOS ANGELES 4 JULY, 1969) TO BECOME THE SERVANT OF THE LORD MEANS TO ACCEPT A SPIRITUAL MASTER. (HTTPS://VEDABASE.IO/EN/LIBRARY/LETTERS/LETTER-TO-JAYAGOVINDA-8/)
What he can’t perform by his own capacity he wants to have done by being merged into the Supreme Lord. That is the mentality of the general people. But if anyone becomes humbler than the grass and more tolerant than the tree, it is understood that he has accepted a Spiritual Master. Besides that, if we accept Sikshastak as authority given by Lord Chaitanya, this means we accept Lord Chaitanya as Spiritual Master.
To become the servant of the Lord means to accept a Spiritual Master. Without accepting somebody as master, how can one become an expert servant? It is not that in every literature you will find the words that everyone has to accept a Spiritual Master, but we have to study things scrutinizingly. In the Chaitanya Charitamrta there is mention guru krsna krpaya paya bhakti lata bija (CC Madhya 19.151). By the mercy of the Spiritual Master and Krishna one can get the seeds of bhakti lata, the plant of devotional service.
(LETTER TO: SACISUTA JULY 5, 1969) HOUSEHOLDERS SHOULD SAACRIFICE 50 PERCENT OF THEIR INCOME(HTTPS://VEDABASE.IO/EN/LIBRARY/LETTERS/LETTER-TO-SACISUTA-4/)
Another principle is that those who are brahmacaris, they should sacrifice all of their income and collection for the Krishna Consciousness Movement, whereas those who are married should work, earning money as much as possible, and at least 50% should be spent for the Krishna Consciousness Movement.
(LETTER TO GIRIRAJ MAHARAJ) ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS THE IMPORTANCE OF KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS MUST BE A VERY FORTUNATE SOUL.(HTTPS://PRABHUPADABOOKS.COM/LETTERS/LOS_ANGELES/JULY/05/1969/GIRIRAJA?D=1)
Living entities are roaming within the universes in different species of life and in different planetary systems enjoying or suffering the reaction of pious or impious activities. But they have no information how to get out of this entanglement of repetition of birth and death. Due to the darkness of ignorance, most living entities have no idea about the values of life. Therefore, one who understands the importance of Krishna Consciousness must be a very fortunate soul. So I marked it in your person when I was in Boston, and I prayed to Krishna that this good soul may be aware of the importance of Krishna Consciousness. With my blessings I am sending herewith your beads, duly chanted upon by me. You should avoid the ten offenses as far as possible, and follow the four regulative principles as Satsvarupa will instruct you. I know your good Godbrother, Satsvarupa, will always help you in this connection.
Actually, a brahmacari should contribute whatever he has got to Krishna, through the Spiritual Master. The Spiritual Master does not accept anything for his personal use, but he employs everything for Krishna’s service. Therefore the Spiritual Master is accepted in the renounced order of life. So far as householders are concerned, they may contribute at least half of their income to Krishna. Then life is sublime. After all, everything belongs to Krishna, and the sooner we return whatever we have got to Krishna, the better it is. That is our normal life.
(LETTER TO UPENDRA) IS SUBHADRA, LORD KRISHNA’S SISTER, THE SAME DURGA OR MAYA? HTTPS://VEDABASE.IO/EN/LIBRARY/LETTERS/LETTER-TO-UPENDRA-34/
Regarding your questions, “Is Subhadra, Lord Krishna’s Sister, the same Durga or Maya?”, the answer is that originally Krishna’s energy is one: that is spiritual energy. But according to different functions, the Maya is represented differently. In the material world the energy is called Bhadra, and in the spiritual world the same Maya is called Subhadra. The only distinction is su and without su. Su means auspicious. So in the spiritual world, the same Maya works auspiciously, and in the material world the same Maya works inauspiciously. This auspiciousness and inauspiciousness is our own choice. .
(LETTER TO BURIJAAN) KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS IS NOT LIMITED TO BRAHMACHARI OR SANYASI…
HTTPS://VEDABASE.IO/EN/LIBRARY/LETTERS/LETTER-TO-BHURIJANA-6/
Krishna Consciousness is not limited that one must be brahmacari to execute, or one must be sannyasi to execute. Spiritual means that there is no conditions whatever, so in any position one may be in, he can chant Hare Krishna, preach Krishna Consciousness, and pray to Krishna to engage him more and more in His transcendental loving service.
(LETTER TO NAIR) IF YOU WANT TO MAKE OTHERS AS KRSNA DEVOTEES YOU FIRST BECOME A PURE DEVOTEE (HTTPS://VEDABASE.IO/EN/LIBRARY/LETTERS/LETTER-TO-MR-NAIR/)
the best treatment is to give the people scientific religious ideas which are very clearly stated in the Bhagavad-gita.
There is nothing else except devotional service to the Lord described there, but great politicians have misinterpreted the sunshine-like clear statements of Bhagavad-gita with a cloud of mental concoctions. So if you think seriously to improve the condition of India, you can begin even in a small-scale the propagation of Krishna Consciousness, and if you do it seriously and sincerely, surely you will be successful.
IF YOU WANT TO MAKE OTHERS AS KRSNA DEVOTEES YOU FIRST BECOME A PURE DEVOTEE
I came here alone in 1965. Gradually the young men here took the philosophy very nicely, and now they themselves are spreading and opening many branches, even without my presence. Similarly, you can do this also, under my instructions. Just begin with a small endeavor, and gradually it will spread. You have asked me what are the formalities that you have to observe for recruiting Krishna devotees in India, and the first principle is that you have to become a pure devotee of the Lord. Then you can attempt to convert others to become devotees. To become a pure devotee means one should be firmly convinced of his being the eternal servant of Krishna.
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE A KRSNA DEVOTEE
The formalities are as follows: You should take a vow not to have any illicit sex life. That means sex life should be accepted only by married couples. You should not take anything beyond the group of grains, fruits, vegetables, flowers, milk and milk products, and that also only after offering to Lord Krishna. You should not accept any kind of intoxication, including drinking coffee, tea, or smoking cigarettes, chewing pan, etc. Finally, you should not take part in any gambling, including so-called sports, cinema, theater, or any such entertainment. Then you will have to be first initiated for chanting the Hare Krishna Mantra under regulative principles, avoiding 10 kinds of offenses and following the above regulative principles. Then, on or before the completion of one year, you will be finally initiated. In the meantime you will read our books like Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Nectar of Devotion, etc. These books are all in English, and in addition you should read our monthly journal, Back To Godhead. You should go on inquiring about your pros and cons ideas in the matter of the Krishna Consciousness.
KRSNA CONSCIOUSNESS WILL BE REVEALED
Along with this you chant Hare Krishna in the assembly of friends and family members regularly, morning and evening, and then Krishna Consciousness will become revealed unto you. Krishna Consciousness is already in you—not only in you, but in every living being. Such consciousness is aroused just like a sleeping man is aroused from slumber by vibration of sound. Similarly, a conditioned soul is aroused by the vibration of the Hare Krishna Mantra into Krishna Consciousness. This is the process. We will be glad to give you all instruction on this point, providing you are serious to accept it, and to propagate it.