KEY TAKEAWAYS from HH Harivilas Maharaj’s Morning Bhagavatam class on SB 2.1.5
- If one desires freedom from the vicious circle of birth and death, then one must cease to act as a karmī or enjoyer of the results of one’s own work, good or bad.
- One should not do anything, either good or bad, on his own account, but must execute everything on behalf of the Supreme Lord, the ultimate proprietor of everything.
- One should, first of all, hear about the Lord and then glorify His acts and deeds, and thus it becomes possible to remember constantly the transcendental nature of the Lord
- By hearing about the Lord and glorifying the Lord –
- One will be always in the association of the Lord. This brings freedom from all sorts of fear.
- Lord invites the association of all in His creation
- One will be lead to the ultimate success in everything in which one may be engaged by providence
- One can be free from all kinds of fear, and one can get the fullest extent of happiness in life.
- One’s activities become molded into spiritual activities, and thus all conceptions of material miseries become completely vanquished.
- The following points are from the Krsna Book Chapter 70 – Lord Kṛṣṇa’s Daily Activities
- Lord Kṛṣṇa would immediately get up from bed exactly on the appearance of brāhma-muhūrta.
- After rising from bed, Lord Kṛṣṇa would wash His mouth, hands and feet and would immediately sit down and meditate on Himself.
- His meditation on Brahman or Paramātmā or Bhagavān is on Himself only and not on anything else beyond Himself. This meditation cannot be imitated by the ordinary living entity.
- Krsna was teaching us that brāhma-muhūrta should be utilized for meditation on Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa (chanting the mahā-mantra, Hare Kṛṣṇa.). By such meditation Kṛṣṇa would feel very much satisfied.
- After His meditation, the Lord would regularly bathe early in the morning with clear, sanctified water. Then He would change into fresh clothing, cover Himself with a wrapper and engage in His daily religious functions – offering oblations into the sacrificial fire and silently chant the Gāyatrī mantra. When the sunrise became visible, the Lord would offer specific prayers to the sun god.
- Lord Kṛṣṇa, as the ideal householder, executed all the religious functions of a householder without deviation.
- As the perfect exemplary householder, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa followed this tarpaṇa system and offered respectful obeisances to the elderly, superior members of His family.
- His next duty was to give cows in charity to the brāhmaṇas.
- His next duty was to please all kinds of men belonging to the different castes, both in the city and within the palace compound.
- The Lord would say good-bye in all the sixteen thousand palaces, and again He would become one and enter the Sudharmā assembly house in procession with other members of the Yadu dynasty.
- We should always remember, therefore, that Lord Kṛṣṇa, although playing the part of a human being, simultaneously maintains the position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- To become ideal householders we should follow in the footsteps of Lord Kṛṣṇa as He displayed His daily activities, but we cannot imitate Him at any stage of our life.
CLASS NOTES:
SB 2.1.5 TRANSLATION (ALL ABOUT HEARING)
O descendant of King Bharata, one who desires to be free from all miseries must hear about, glorify and also remember the Personality of Godhead, who is the Supersoul, the controller and the savior from all miseries.
Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī has described how the foolish materially attached men are wasting their valuable time in the improvement of the material conditions of life by sleeping, indulging in sex life, developing economic conditions
Being engaged in all these materialistic activities, the living soul entangles himself in the cycle of the law of fruitive actions. This entails the chain of birth and death in the 8,400,000 species of life.
if one desires freedom from this vicious circle, then one must cease to act as a karmī or enjoyer of the results of one’s own work, good or bad. One should not do anything, either good or bad, on his own account, but must execute everything on behalf of the Supreme Lord, the ultimate proprietor of everything that be.
one should, first of all, hear about the Lord. When one has perfectly and scrutinizingly heard, one must glorify His acts and deeds. Hearing about and glorifying the Lord is identical to the transcendental nature of the Lord. The perfect process of hearing and glorifying is recommended in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is uttered by Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī.
- By hearing and glorifying the Lord-
- it will become possible to remember constantly the transcendental nature of the Lord
- one will be always in the association of the Lord. This brings freedom from all sorts of fear.
- Lord invites the association of all in His creation
- It will lead one to the ultimate success in everything in which one may be engaged by providence
- One can be free from all kinds of fear, and one can get the fullest extent of happiness in life.
- a person’s activities become molded into spiritual activities, and thus all conceptions of material miseries become completely vanquished.
- This process of hearing about and glorifying the Lord is applicable for all classes of human beings: the fruitive workers, the empiric philosophers, the mystic yogīs, and, ultimately, the unalloyed devotees, for achieving the desired success.
The question is do we believe this? Even though the english is simple and straightforward, and even though the result is what everybody wants, they cannot simply understand it and yet they won’t do it. This is because of the attachment to the body, family, children, country, race, etc., because of the attachments people won’t do it.
Hearing about Krsna and glorifying is absolutely necessary!
SB 1.9.40
Let my mind be fixed upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, whose motions and smiles of love attracted the damsels of Vrajadhāma [the gopīs]. The damsels imitated the characteristic movements of the Lord [after His disappearance from the rāsa dance.
By intense ecstasy in loving service, the damsels of Vrajabhūmi attained qualitative oneness with the Lord by
dancing with Him on an equal level,
embracing Him in nuptial love,
smiling at Him in joke, and
looking at Him with a loving attitude.
The gopīs, practically became one with the Lord by attainment of equal footing with the Lord. Bhīṣma’s aspiration to remember the gopīs is a prayer to have their mercy also at the last stage of his life. The Lord is satisfied more when His pure devotees are glorified, and therefore Bhīṣmadeva has not only glorified the acts of Arjuna, his immediate object of attraction, but has also remembered the gopīs, who were endowed with unrivalled opportunities for rendering loving service to the Lord. The Gopi’s equality is one of perfect ecstasy where the differential conception is completely eradicated, for the interests of the lover and the beloved become identical.
Differential conception – One has a different understanding than the other. When married the couple are on the same plate as life goes on they have differences in opinion on what life is and what is the goal and there can be arguments etc.,
Gopis have no other desire than pleasing Krsna. The wife may start like that in the beginning and later she can find the faults in the husband and the husband finds faults in the wife. The Gopis stage is unimaginable. It is the complete surrender. Even Bhishma dev recognizes that Arjunas relationship with Krsna is very special but Gopis is most special. Hence he is mentioning them.
Oneness in perfect ecstasy – there are other purports in SB. Spiritual sex is not the mundane physical activity, there is always that element of love in separation. Whenever the wives of Krsna see him from the roof of the houses, the wives embraced Him with with eyes, looking at Him with love… they feel intense separation. That Vipra Lamba bhava is greater.
We have to cultivate hearing about Krsna. Krishna book is unbelievable trancendenatal delineation of Krsna’s daily activities, relationships, past times . Much more profound than anything. This transports ones consciousness from mundane to transcendental…
CHAPTER 70 KRSNA BOOK: DAILY ACTIVITIES OR LORD KRSNA
We should always remember, therefore, that Lord Kṛṣṇa, although playing the part of a human being, simultaneously maintains the position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
We should meditate this, normal people think that Krsna is a Fantacy, whenever He acts as ordinary human being, they accept it and otherwise it is a fantasy. It is too much for them to understand simultaneous oneness and different. It is due to their envy. When Rama cries for Sita they can understand. They cannot understand that Rama built a bridge…
DUTIES OF IDEAL GRIHASTA BASED ON KRSNA”s Daily Activities
To become ideal householders we should follow in the footsteps of Lord Kṛṣṇa as He displayed His daily activities, but we cannot imitate Him at any stage of our life.
RISING EARLY IN THE MORNING AND IMMEDIATELY ENGAGING IN KRNSA CONSCIOUSNESS (CHANTING HARE KRSNA)
An ideal householder should learn from the behavior of Lord Kṛṣṇa how to rise early in the morning, however comfortably he may be lying in bed embraced by his wife.
Śrī Rukmiṇī-devī and Kṛṣṇa acted as ideal householders to teach the whole human society to rise early in the morning and immediately engage in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
After rising from bed, Lord Kṛṣṇa would wash His mouth, hands and feet and would immediately sit down and meditate on Himself. This does not mean, however, that we should also sit down and meditate on ourselves. We have to meditate upon Kṛṣṇa, Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. That is real meditation.
There is no difference between meditating on the eternal forms of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and chanting the mahā-mantra, Hare Kṛṣṇa.We will also feel transcendentally pleased and satisfied if we utilize the brāhma-muhūrta period to meditate on Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa
KṚṢṆA IS KṚṢṆA HIMSELF; THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN KRSNA’S BODY AND HIMSELF. HENCE KRSNA MEDITATES ON HIMSELF AND WE SHOULD NOT IMITATE THAT
The bodily limitation whereby one part of the body cannot act as another part is totally absent from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is no difference between His body and Himself. He is completely spiritual, and therefore there is no difference between His body and His soul. There is no difference between Kṛṣṇa’s original two-handed form, like that of a human being, and these incarnations of gigantic animal forms. Nor is there any difference between the action of one part of His body and that of another. His hands can act as His legs, His eyes can act as His ears, or His nose can act as another part of His body. Kṛṣṇa’s smelling and eating and hearing are all the same. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said, aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛtti-manti: Kṛṣṇa can perform the activities of one limb with any other limb. So by analytical study of Kṛṣṇa and His person, it is concluded that He is the complete whole.
When He meditates, therefore, He meditates on Himself. Self-meditation by ordinary men, designated in Sanskrit as so ’ham, is simply imitation. Kṛṣṇa may meditate on Himself because He is the complete whole, but we cannot imitate Him and meditate on ourselves. Our body is a designation superimposed upon our self, the soul.
Kṛṣṇa’s body is not a designation: Kṛṣṇa’s body is also Kṛṣṇa. There is no existence of anything foreign in Kṛṣṇa. Whatever there is in Kṛṣṇa is also Kṛṣṇa. He is therefore the supreme, indestructible, complete existence, or the Supreme Truth.
Kṛṣṇa is always one, and for Him there is no differentiation. That is the difference between an ordinary living being and Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa’s existence is not relative existence. Everything else but Kṛṣṇa is a relative truth, but Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Absolute Truth. Kṛṣṇa does not depend on anything but Himself for His existence
In the Vedic literature we find that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has multipotencies. Since all such potencies are emanations from Him, there is no difference between Him and His potencies. Certain philosophers say, however, that when Kṛṣṇa comes He accepts a material body. But even if it is accepted that when He comes to the material world He accepts a material body, it should be concluded also that because the material energy is not different from Him, this body does not act materially. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, therefore, that He appears by His own internal potency, ātma-māyā.
there is no such action and reaction upon Kṛṣṇa because these qualities are all simultaneously one with and different from Him. Kṛṣṇa Himself is simply sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, the eternal form of bliss and knowledge, and because of His inconceivable greatness, He is called the Supreme Brahman. His meditation on Brahman or Paramātmā or Bhagavān is on Himself only and not on anything else beyond Himself. This meditation cannot be imitated by the ordinary living entity.
This explanation can be only understood by genuine devotees. Because of the jealousy the non devotees cannot understand and they do not want accept it. That is why there are so many Slef made Gods. It is there in Christianity, Judaism.
If someone declares himself as God, that is the last stage of degradation. We cant even pass urine and stool what to say about expanding as pramatama and Brahma Jyothi
IT IS THE DUTY OF THE HOUSEHOLDER TO OFFER RESPECTS TO THE DEMIGODS AND GREAT SAGES, AS WELL AS THE FOREFATHERS.
After His meditation, the Lord would regularly bathe early in the morning with clear, sanctified water. Then He would change into fresh clothing, cover Himself with a wrapper and engage in His daily religious functions. Out of His many religious duties, the first was to offer oblations into the sacrificial fire and silently chant the Gāyatrī mantra. Lord Kṛṣṇa, as the ideal householder, executed all the religious functions of a householder without deviation. When the sunrise became visible, the Lord would offer specific prayers to the sun god. The sun god and other demigods mentioned in the Vedic scriptures are described as different limbs of the body of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and it is the duty of the householder to offer respects to the demigods and great sages, as well as the forefathers.
It is the duty of the householder to make his family members happy, and by following this tarpaṇa system he can make his forefathers happy also. As the perfect exemplary householder, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa followed this tarpaṇa system and offered respectful obeisances to the elderly, superior members of His family.
WHat is the tarpana for the devotees is – Everyday offer food to Krsna, afterwards a Grihasta should always share prasad with other Vaishnavas . Your forefathers will receive the effect of that offering. Wherever they are benefited and they are happy. Pleasing Ancestors by first pleasing Krsna.
LORD’S NEXT DUTY WAS TO GIVE COWS IN CHARITY TO THE BRĀHMAṆAS.
Every day Lord Kṛṣṇa used to give many groups of 13,084 cows. When the cows were given in charity to the brāhmaṇas, the brāhmaṇas also were given nice silken garments, and each was given a deerskin and sufficient quantity of sesame seeds. The Lord is generally known as go-brāhmaṇa-hitāya ca, which means that His first duty is to see to the welfare of the cows and the brāhmaṇas. He would touch auspicious articles such as milk, honey, ghee (clarified butter), gold, jewels and fire.
LORD KRSNA’S BEAUTY
Although the Lord is by nature very beautiful due to the perfect figure of His transcendental body, He would dress Himself in yellow garments and put on His necklace of Kaustubha jewels. He would wear flower garlands, smear His body with the pulp of sandalwood and decorate Himself with similar cosmetics and ornaments. It is said that the ornaments themselves became beautiful upon being placed on the transcendental body of the Lord.
LORD’S NEXT DUTY WAS TO PLEASE ALL KINDS OF MEN BELONGING TO THE DIFFERENT CASTES, BOTH IN THE CITY AND WITHIN THE PALACE COMPOUND.
He made them happy by fulfilling their different desires, and when the Lord saw them happy He also became very pleased.
The flower garlands, betel nuts, sandalwood pulp and other fragrant cosmetic articles offered to the Lord would be distributed by Him, first to the brāhmaṇas and elderly members of the family, then to the queens, and then to the ministers, and if there were still some balance He would engage it for His own personal use.
LORD LEAVES HIS PALACES AND THE QUEENS FEELING INTENSE SEPARATION
By the time the Lord finished all these daily duties and activities, His charioteer Dāruka would come with His wonderful chariot to stand before the Lord with folded hands, intimating that the chariot was ready, and the Lord would come out of the palace to travel. Then the Lord, accompanied by Uddhava and Sātyaki, would ride on the chariot just as the sun god rides on his chariot in the morning, appearing with his blazing rays on the surface of the world. When the Lord was about to leave His palaces, all the queens would look at Him with feminine gestures. The Lord would respond to their greetings with smiles, attracting their hearts so much that they would feel intense separation from Him.
THE LORD WOULD SAY GOOD-BYE IN ALL THE SIXTEEN THOUSAND PALACES, AND AGAIN HE WOULD BECOME ONE AND ENTER THE SUDHARMĀ ASSEMBLY HOUSE IN PROCESSION WITH OTHER MEMBERS OF THE YADU DYNASTY.
Then the Lord would go to the assembly house known as Sudharmā. It may be remembered that the Sudharmā assembly house was taken away from the heavenly planets and established in the city of Dvārakā. The specific significance of the assembly house was that anyone who entered it would be freed from the six kinds of material pangs, namely hunger, thirst, lamentation, illusion, old age and death. These are the whips of material existence, and as long as one remained in that Sudharmā assembly house he would not be affected by these six material whips.