KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.1.13
- The prime duty of Human life is to prepare ourselves for the attainment of the best situation in the next life.
- Mahārāja Khaṭvāṅga, Yudhiṣṭhira, and Parīkṣit are all examples of being alert in discharging their prime duty.
- Mahārāja Khaṭvāṅga was not as anxious to accumulate some material benediction from the demigods as he was to prepare himself for the next life.
- Mahārāja Parīkṣit was encouraged by Śukadeva Gosvāmī, even though he had only seven days left in his life to execute the prime duty of hearing the glories of the Lord in the form of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
- Unfortunately, most people do not know what is the prime duty of life and they waste their life.
- The Lord is so merciful that He manifests His eternal humanlike form and performs His pastimes to show mercy to the devotees.
- He comes down to help us understand the prime duty of life and performs Rasa Lila to show us what we are missing and attract us to the kingdom of God.
- Any pure- or simple-hearted person who hears narrations of the loving affairs of Kṛṣṇa will be attracted to the lotus feet of the Lord and gradually become His devotee.
- Only in this human form of life can a living entity revive his eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If one takes advantage of this highest kind of material form, one can regain his position of devotional service to the Lord.
- The Lord appears in different incarnations — like a fish, tortoise, and boar, as Paraśurāma, Lord Rāma, Buddha, and so on — to reciprocate the different appreciations of living entities in different stages of evolution.
- When He appears in His human form. It is then, that humanity gets the opportunity to engage in different kinds of eternal service to the Lord.
- When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and one’s senses are purified simply by being employed in the service of the Lord.’
- One should simply worship Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa with all attention. One should not be much interested in performing Vedic rituals or simply following rules and regulations.
- King Kulaśekhara has written in his book Mukunda-mālā-stotra (5):
“I have no attraction for performing religious rituals or holding any earthly kingdom. I do not care for sense enjoyments; let them appear and disappear in accordance with my previous deeds. My only desire is to be fixed in devotional service to the lotus feet of the Lord, even though I may continue to take birth here life afterlife.” - Thus humans should understand the prime duty of their life and engage in the devotional service to the Lord without getting deviated by the diseased morality and religiosity.
- Illusory conceptions of life, Impersonalism, Mayavadi philosophy, bhauma ijya-dhīḥ (worshipping the birth land), so-called Hinduism which condemns deity worship, prosperity theology in Christianity, blessings in Buddhism, promise of Jannat in Islam, Satyanarayana Pooja, Karma Kanda section in Vedas are all aimed at different levels of sense gratification and are the diseased religiosity and morality.
- Lord Caitanya is giving us the highest perfection of life – the love of godhead, We cannot attain the love of Godhead easily. To progress in this path, we need to understand the pitfalls that hinder us. We need to sincerely execute sadhana bhakti to get there.
SB 2.1.13
The saintly King Khaṭvāṅga, after being informed that the duration of his life would be only a moment more, at once freed himself from all material activities and took shelter of the supreme safety, the Personality of Godhead.
CLASS NOTES:
(SB 2.1.13) HUMAN LIFE IS MEANT FOR PREPARING OURSELVES FOR THE ATTAINMENT OF THE BEST SITUATION IN THE NEXT LIFE.
A fully responsible man should always be conscious of the prime duty of the present human form of life. The activities to meet the immediate necessities of material life are not everything. One should always be alert in his duty for the attainment of the best situation in the next life. Human life is meant for preparing ourselves for that prime duty.
Mahārāja Khaṭvāṅga, Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira and Mahārāja Parīkṣit are all examples of being alert in discharging their prime duty.
(SB 2.1.13) MAHĀRĀJA KHAṬVĀṄGA WAS NOT AS ANXIOUS TO ACCUMULATE SOME MATERIAL BENEDICTION FROM THE DEMIGODS AS HE WAS TO PREPARE HIMSELF FOR THE NEXT LIFE.
Mahārāja Khaṭvāṅga was invited by the demigods in the higher planets to fight demons, and as a king he fought the battles to the full satisfaction of the demigods. The demigods, being fully satisfied with him, wanted to give him some benediction for material enjoyment, but Mahārāja Khaṭvāṅga, being very much alert to his prime duty, inquired from the demigods about his remaining duration of life. This means that he was not as anxious to accumulate some material benediction from the demigods as he was to prepare himself for the next life. He was informed by the demigods, however, that his life would last only a moment longer. The king at once left the heavenly kingdom, which is always full of material enjoyment of the highest standard, and coming down to this earth, took ultimate shelter of the all-safe Personality of Godhead. He was successful in his great attempt and achieved liberation. This attempt, even for a moment, by the saintly king, was successful because he was always alert to his prime duty.
Mahārāja Parīkṣit was thus encouraged by the great Śukadeva Gosvāmī, even though he had only seven days left in his life to execute the prime duty of hearing the glories of the Lord in the form of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Human beings have a prime duty. Unless we understand what it is, we will waste our life on the mundane things which will come to an end at the death. All living entities are going through 6 stages – birth, growing, staying reproducing, dwindling, dying
6 unfavorable changes – born, die, frustration, anger, illusion, harassed by all kinds of difficulties in life. We suffer because of the unpleasant things that happen. All this suffering is due to the attachment to sense gratification, false ego, the illusory conception of life.
Maharaj Katvanga is an example of complete surrender and did not waste even a minute fantasizing about the sense gratification that was promised to him. He never lost his prime duty of Krsna Consciousness.
One can execute the material duties perfectly, but if we are not Krsna Conscious then everything is wasted. In order for us to understand this prime duty, Krishna comes Himself to show us what we are missing and tell us how to come back to Him. Shravanam, kirtanam… 9 types of devotional service. We have been discussing pitfalls of spiritual life – diseased morality, diseased religiosity. This is a big subject, we need to hear and understand carefully.
(CC ADI 4.30) THE LORD IS SO MERCIFUL THAT HE COMES DOWN TO HELP US UNDERSTAND THE PRIME DUTY OF LIFE AND PERFORMS RASA LILA TO SHOW US WHAT WE ARE MISSING DUE TO THE DISEASED MORALITY AND RELIGIOSITY AND TO ATTRACT US TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
The Lord is so merciful that He Himself descends to take the fallen souls back home to the kingdom of Godhead, where the erotic principles of Godhead are eternally relished in their real form, distinct from the perverted sexual love so much adored and indulged in by the fallen souls in their diseased condition. The reason the Lord displays the rāsa-līlā is essentially to induce all the fallen souls to give up their diseased morality and religiosity, and to attract them to the kingdom of God to enjoy the reality. A person who actually understands what the rāsa-līlā is will
certainly hate to indulge in mundane sex life. For the realized soul, hearing the Lord’s rāsa-līlā through the proper channel will result in complete abstinence from material sexual pleasure.
(CC ADI 4.31) PURE DEVOTIONAL SERVICE BEGINS WHEN ONE IS FREED FROM ALL DESIGNATIONS.
The sound of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s flute is so sweet that it has made the gopīs forget all about their relationships with their kinsmen and flee to Kṛṣṇa in the dead of night.
In the material world we are situated in designative positions only, but pure devotional service begins when one is freed from all designations. When love for Kṛṣṇa is awakened, the designative positions are overcome.
(CC ADI 4.31) VIPRALAMBA BHAVA -BUT IN THE TRANSCENDENTAL FORM, THE VERY SAME SEPARATION, BEING ABSOLUTE IN ITS NATURE, STRENGTHENS THE TIES OF LOVE AND ENHANCES THE DESIRE OF THE LOVER AND BELOVED TO MEET.
The spontaneous attraction of Śrī Kṛṣṇa for His dearest parts and parcels generates an enthusiasm that obliges Śrī Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs to meet together. To celebrate this transcendental enthusiasm, there is need of a sentiment of separation between the lover and beloved. In the condition of material tribulation, no one wants the pangs of separation.
But in the transcendental form, the very same separation, being absolute in its nature, strengthens the ties of love and enhances the desire of the lover and beloved to meet. The period of separation, evaluated transcendentally, is more relishable than the actual meeting, which lacks the feelings of increasing anticipation because the lover and beloved are both present.
(CC M 19.170) BY ENGAGING IN DEVOTIONAL SERVICE ONE IS FREED FROM ALL MATERIAL DESIGNATIONS AND ONE’S SENSES ARE ALL PURIFIED.
“ ‘Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and one’s senses are purified simply by being employed in the service of the Lord.’
Material designations – I am Telangana, I am Andhra,… What was your designation in the past life? What will be your designation in the next life?
We should perform Sadhana bhakti sincerely….
In some societies (Kripala maharaj society) they say the goal of life is raganuga bhakti, why sadhana bhakti, we will give you raganuga bhakti directly. But that is not truth.
(SB 10) Vipralambha bhava is explained.
Yogananda says he saw Krsna in the hotel room. This is all nonsense.
CC ADI 4.32 “I shall taste the essence of all these rasas, and in this way I shall favor all the devotees.
(CC ADI 4.33) ONE SHOULD SIMPLY WORSHIP RĀDHĀ AND KṚṢṆA WITH ALL ATTENTION. ONE SHOULD NOT BE MUCH INTERESTED IN PERFORMING VEDIC RITUALS OR SIMPLY FOLLOWING RULES AND REGULATIONS.
“Then, by hearing about the pure love of the residents of Vraja, devotees will worship Me on the path of spontaneous love, abandoning all rituals of religiosity and fruitive activity.”
Many realized souls, such as Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī and King Kulaśekhara, have recommended with great emphasis that one develop this spontaneous love of Godhead, even at the risk of transgressing all the traditional codes of morality and religiosity. Śrī Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, one of the six Gosvāmīs of Vṛndāvana, has written in his prayers called the Manaḥ-śikṣā that one should simply worship Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa with all attention. Na dharmaṁ nādharmaṁ śruti-gaṇa-niruktaṁ kila kuru: one should not be much interested in performing Vedic rituals or simply following rules and regulations.
All the Alwars are devotees of Krsna. Everyone of them. King Kulasekara wrote Mukunda mala stotram.
King Kulaśekhara has written similarly, in his book Mukunda-mālā-stotra (5):
“I have no attraction for performing religious rituals or holding any earthly kingdom. I do not care for sense enjoyments; let them appear and disappear in accordance with my previous deeds. My only desire is to be fixed in devotional service to the lotus feet of the Lord, even though I may continue to take birth here life after life.”
This is very similar to what Caitanya mahaprabhu says – “Na dhanam na janam…. “
(CC ADI 4.34) KṚṢṆA MANIFESTS HIS ETERNAL HUMANLIKE FORM AND PERFORMS HIS PASTIMES TO SHOW MERCY TO THE DEVOTEES.
“Kṛṣṇa manifests His eternal humanlike form and performs His pastimes to show mercy to the devotees. Having heard such pastimes, one should engage in service to Him.”
This text is from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.33.36).
This material world is only a perverted reflection of the spiritual world, where everything is manifested without inebriety. There everything is in its original existence, free from the domination of time. Time cannot deteriorate or interfere with the conditions in the spiritual world, where different manifestations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are the recipients of the worship of different living entities in their constitutional spiritual positions.
In the spiritual world all existence is unadulterated goodness. The goodness found in the material world is contaminated by the modes of passion and ignorance.
SB 10.33.36 – When the Lord assumes a humanlike body to show mercy to His devotees, He engages in such pastimes as will attract those who hear about them to become dedicated to Him.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura glorifies the Lord’s conjugal pastimes, stating that these romantic affairs have an inconceivable spiritual potency to attract the polluted heart of conditioned souls. It is an undeniable fact that any pure- or simple-hearted person who hears narrations of the loving affairs of Kṛṣṇa will be attracted to the lotus feet of the Lord and gradually become His devotee.
Time supports the devotees love in the spiritual world. Time deteriorates everything in the material world. When Krsna takes the wheel from the chariot and goes towards Bhishma dev that form is the narayana form. The worship we do to Radha Neela Madhava is Narayana form worship, The worship to Radha and Krsna is done in a very pristine environment.
(CC ADI 4.34) THE HUMAN FORM OF LIFE S THE BEST POSITION FOR DEVOTIONAL SERVICE
The saying that the human form of life is the best position for devotional service has its special significance because only in this form can a living entity revive his eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The human form is considered the highest state in the cycle of the species of life in the material world. If one takes advantage of this highest kind of material form, one can regain his position of devotional service to the Lord.
This is the problem. Most of them do not believe God. Even if they believe they believe in the diseased religiosity,, diseased morality.
(CC ADI 4.34) THE SUPREME PERSONALITY OF GODHEAD APPEARS IN ALL THE SPECIES OF LIFE, WHEN HE APPEARS IN HIS HUMAN FORM. IT IS THEN THAT HUMANITY GETS THE OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE IN DIFFERENT KINDS OF ETERNAL SERVICE TO THE LORD.
Incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead appear in all the species of life, although this is inconceivable to the human brain. The Lord’s pastimes are differentiated according to the appreciating capacity of the different types of bodies of the living entities. The Supreme Lord bestows the most merciful benediction upon human society when He appears in His human form. It is then that humanity gets the opportunity to engage in different kinds of eternal service to the Lord.
Special natural appreciation of the descriptions of a particular pastime of Godhead indicates the constitutional position of a living entity. Adoration (neurtality), servitorship (dasya), friendship(Sakya), parental affection(vatsalya) and conjugal love (madhurya) are the five primary relationships with Kṛṣṇa. The highest perfectional stage of the conjugal relationship, enriched by many sentiments, gives the maximum relishable mellow to the devotee.
The Lord appears in different incarnations — as a fish, tortoise and boar, as Paraśurāma, Lord Rāma, Buddha and so on — to reciprocate the different appreciations of living entities in different stages of evolution. The conjugal relationship of amorous love called parakīya-rasa is the unparalleled perfection of love exhibited by Lord Kṛṣṇa and His devotees.
Maharaj is attracted to Gajendra Moksha…
Enriched by many sentiments – Sexual love and romantic love.
Whenever Krsna is engaged in romantic love there is no sexuality
Meaning of romantic =conducive to or characterized by the expression of love.of, characterized by, or suggestive of an idealized view of reality.
(CC M 22.87) ONE SHOULD AVOID THE ASSOCIATION OF NONDEVOTEES AND FALLEN WOMEN TO MAKE PROGRESS IN DEVOTIONAL SERVICE.
asat-saṅga-tyāga, — ei vaiṣṇava-ācāra
‘strī-saṅgī’ — eka asādhu, ‘kṛṣṇābhakta’ āra
“A Vaiṣṇava should always avoid the association of ordinary people. Common people are very much materially attached, especially to women. Vaiṣṇavas should also avoid the company of those who are not devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/transcripts/750521sbmel/
Devotee (7): How much more difficult is it for one born in a family of nondevotees to become a devotee than a person who has been born in a family like Prabhupāda’s?
Prabhupāda: Sādhu-saṅga means you have to give up the association of nondevotees. This question was asked to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu by a devotee. He was householder. So he inquired, “My dear Sir, what is the real standard of behavior of a devotee?” He immediately answered that asat-saṅga tyāga ei vaiṣṇava-ācāra [Cc. Madhya 22.87] = “Vaiṣṇava devotee, his first behavior is he should give up unwanted association.” That is first. Now, the next question will be = “What is that unwanted association?” He answered, asat eka strī-saṅgī kṛṣṇābhakta’ āra: “This unwanted association means people who are too much attached to sex life, they are unwanted. And the another = nondevotee of God. They are unwanted.” So you be careful not to mix with these people and come to the devotional service, then your life is perfect.
Sitting down and eating a meal when they are eating meat. Hearing the nonsense they are speaking about should be avoided. You can take the risk of preaching to them. But should not take their association.
Prosperity Theology. Blessings in Buddhism, Islam, Satyanarayana Pooja, Karma Kanda section in Vedas – Is diseased morality, diseased religiosity.
The real religiosity – Dharma – Service to the lord.
Lord Caitanya is giving us the highest – love of godhead, None of us can attain this easily. We need to understand the pitfalls to progress in this path. We need to sincerely execute sadhana bhakti to get there.