KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.1.33
- By studying the rivers, trees, air, and passing ages, one can conceive of the Personality of Godhead without being misled by the formless conception of the Lord.
- In BG (12.5) it is stated that those who are much inclined to the formless conception of the Supreme Truth are more troubled than those who can intelligently conceive of the personal form.
- The Personality of Godhead is not a dead stone, nor is He inactive, as is poorly thought by some schools.
- The power behind the activities is the supervision of the Lord, and thus the Lord is never inactive as is wrongly conceived. Not a blade of grass moves without His sanction.
- BG 3.22 – O son of Pṛthā, there is no work prescribed for Me within all the three planetary systems. Nor am I in want of anything, nor have I a need to obtain anything – and yet I am engaged in prescribed duties.
- BG 3.23 – For if I ever failed to engage in carefully performing prescribed duties, O Pārtha, certainly all men would follow My path.
- From the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is understood that Lord Kṛṣṇa was performing all the religious duties at home and out of home, as required of a householder.
- BG 3.34 – If I did not perform prescribed duties, all these worlds would be put to ruination. I would be the cause of creating an unwanted population, and I would thereby destroy the peace of all living beings.
- Although the rules and regulations are for the conditioned souls and not Lord Kṛṣṇa, because He descended to establish the principles of religion He followed the prescribed rules. Otherwise, common men would follow in His footsteps, because He is the greatest authority.
- Although we have to follow in the footsteps of the Lord, we still have to remember that we cannot imitate Him.
- BG 3.25 – As the ignorant perform their duties with attachment to results, the learned may similarly act, but without attachment, for the sake of leading people on the right path.
- A person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and a person not in Kṛṣṇa consciousness are differentiated by different desires. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person does not do anything which is not conducive to the development of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
- He may even act exactly like the ignorant person, who is too much attached to material activities, but one who is not Krsna Conscious is engaged in such activities for the satisfaction of his sense gratification, whereas the other is engaged for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa.
- BG 3.26 – So as not to disrupt the minds of ignorant men attached to the fruitive results of prescribed duties, a learned person should not induce them to stop work. Rather, by working in the spirit of devotion, he should engage them in all sorts of activities [for the gradual development of Kṛṣṇa consciousness].
- The learned Kṛṣṇa conscious person may act in such a way that the ignorant person working for sense gratification may learn how to act and how to behave.
- A slightly developed Kṛṣṇa conscious person may directly be engaged in the service of the Lord without waiting for other Vedic formulas. For this fortunate man, there is no need to follow the Vedic rituals, because by direct Kṛṣṇa consciousness one can have all the results one would otherwise derive from following one’s prescribed duties.
SB 2.1.33
O King, the rivers are the veins of the gigantic body, the trees are the hairs of His body, and the omnipotent air is His breath. The passing ages are His movements, and His activities are the reactions of the three modes of material nature.
CLASS NOTES:
(SB 2.1.33) EVEN BY STUDYING THE RIVERS, TREES, AIR AND PASSING AGES, ONE CAN CONCEIVE OF THE PERSONALITY OF GODHEAD WITHOUT BEING MISLED BY THE FORMLESS CONCEPTION OF THE LORD.
The Personality of Godhead is not a dead stone, nor is He inactive, as is poorly thought by some schools. As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.12), the modes of nature act under His direction only, and as such no natural functions are blind or automatic. The power behind the activities is the supervision of the Lord, and thus the Lord is never inactive as is wrongly conceived.
The Vedas say that the Supreme Lord has nothing to do personally, as is always the case with superiors, but everything is done by His direction. As it is said, not a blade of grass moves without His sanction.
So even by studying the rivers, trees, air and passing ages, one can conceive of the Personality of Godhead without being misled by the formless conception of the Lord.
In the Bhagavad-gītā (12.5) it is stated that those who are much inclined to the formless conception of the Supreme Truth are more troubled than those who can intelligently conceive of the personal form.
More detailed information on Virat rupa which is recommended to people who are materially inclined and are envious of the personal form of the lord.
Baby, child, adult, old… we have a material body, he has a spiritual body. Even though Lord appears as baby, child, man…. He retains his absolute nature. He is cognizant of every nook and corner of the creation. He is active. Philosophers of sankya yoga say, even if there is God, he does creation and retires and laws of nature take over. No, He is active he controls the 3 modes and is not controlled by them.
(BG 3.22) THERE IS NO WORK PRESCRIBED FOR THE LORD WITHIN ALL THE THREE PLANETARY SYSTEMS
O son of Pṛthā, there is no work prescribed for Me within all the three planetary systems. Nor am I in want of anything, nor have I a need to obtain anything – and yet I am engaged in prescribed duties.
(BG 3.23) LORD KṚṢṆA WAS PERFORMING ALL THE RELIGIOUS DUTIES AT HOME AND OUT OF HOME, AS REQUIRED OF A HOUSEHOLDER
For if I ever failed to engage in carefully performing prescribed duties, O Pārtha, certainly all men would follow My path.
Although such rules and regulations are for the conditioned souls and not Lord Kṛṣṇa, because He descended to establish the principles of religion He followed the prescribed rules. Otherwise, common men would follow in His footsteps, because He is the greatest authority. From the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is understood that Lord Kṛṣṇa was performing all the religious duties at home and out of home, as required of a householder.
Krishna is not obliged to do anything, but as the maintainer of dharma, he performs duties.
(BG 2.34) IF THE LIVING ENTITIES ARE MISGUIDED, INDIRECTLY THE RESPONSIBILITY GOES TO THE LORD
If I did not perform prescribed duties, all these worlds would be put to ruination. I would be the cause of creating an unwanted population, and I would thereby destroy the peace of all living beings.
Varṇa-saṅkara is an unwanted population that disturbs the peace of the general society.
The Lord is the father of all living entities, and if the living entities are misguided, indirectly the responsibility goes to the Lord.
We have to follow lord”s instructions, but we may not imitate him at any time.
although we have to follow in the footsteps of the Lord, we still have to remember that we cannot imitate Him. Following and imitating are not on the same level. We cannot imitate the Lord by lifting Govardhana Hill, as the Lord did in His childhood. It is impossible for any human being.
Anusara – Following – example of the lord as grihastha – should be followed
Anukara – Imitate – Lord lifting Govardhan hill – should not imitate
Shivoham – Means I am Shiva. Sadguru says he is drinking poison, he is not able to drink ocean of poison like Shiva. Unless we understand the sophistry of these imposters, people get fascinated by the glittery presentations of the imposters.
There is a preacher called Jim Jones – used to display all theatrical miracles and He organized a massive suicide… later get prosecuted. If anyone claims to be God they have to show the Virat Rupa.
There is a large population of children who are not being properly educated by the parents and they end up causing the social disturbance.
(BG 3.25) (V IMP VERSE) DUTY OF THE DEVOTEE
As the ignorant perform their duties with attachment to results, the learned may similarly act, but without attachment, for the sake of leading people on the right path.
A person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and a person not in Kṛṣṇa consciousness are differentiated by different desires.
A Kṛṣṇa conscious person does not do anything which is not conducive to development of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He may even act exactly like the ignorant person, who is too much attached to material activities, but one is engaged in such activities for the satisfaction of his sense gratification, whereas the other is engaged for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, the Kṛṣṇa conscious person is required to show the people how to act and how to engage the results of action for the purpose of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
What do they do with the result of their work and what is the aim of life – to please guru and Krsna. We have to show the right example.
(BG 3.26) A DEVOTEE BY WORKING IN THE SPIRIT OF DEVOTION, HE SHOULD ENGAGE THEM IN ALL SORTS OF ACTIVITIES
So as not to disrupt the minds of ignorant men attached to the fruitive results of prescribed duties, a learned person should not induce them to stop work. Rather, by working in the spirit of devotion, he should engage them in all sorts of activities [for the gradual development of Kṛṣṇa consciousness].
Examples – washing pots and dishes in the temple. Initiated devotees not doing that and engaging non initiated devotees to do that. That is an extremely bad example to show. This is indicating that we are higher, we are Brahmanas, we cannot wash pots… so we engage non initiated devotees,,, Even though one may not tell so, the actions imply.
Washing the dishes or dressing the deities it is the same. The person who thinks otherwise is nonsense. You serve along with other people and You train other people and give them a chance to do it.
A realized soul in Kṛṣṇa consciousness should not disturb others in their activities or understanding, but he should act by showing how the results of all work can be dedicated to the service of Kṛṣṇa. The learned Kṛṣṇa conscious person may act in such a way that the ignorant person working for sense gratification may learn how to act and how to behave. Although the ignorant man is not to be disturbed in his activities, a slightly developed Kṛṣṇa conscious person may directly be engaged in the service of the Lord without waiting for other Vedic formulas. For this fortunate man there is no need to follow the Vedic rituals, because by direct Kṛṣṇa consciousness one can have all the results one would otherwise derive from following one’s prescribed duties.
Jayananda – he was a devotee who did this. He was a highly advanced devotee who did mundane labor and engaged people. He made many many devotees. He trained many devotees. He built the first rath yatra cart. He got leukemia, he inherited a lot of money, he gave the whole amount to Srila Prabhupada. SP asked him to get cured with that. He sent it back and said SP you can use it for the service of the Lord. He was the first saintly devotee.
Train people, engage them, not look down on people. We should all be extremely humble by giving association and engaging them in Krsna Consciousness.
Activity – Chanting, Mangal Arti, hearing lectures, cooking, cleaning,
People who use pots have to clean them.
The kitchen is as holy as the altar.
Krishna Consciousness – The more you advance the more humble you become. The exalted position is humility and unmotivated service.
Our duty – always be active, never any nonsense during the day. Be active in training and engaging people in the Krsna Consciousness.
We do not have a class consciousness movement. We are DAS’s any little service is done with enthusiasm. Every part of the temple and every service in the temple is holy. Unless we have that attitude.
Many possibilities to preach as a Grihasta. We should always attach ourselves to someone to cultivate. Indians love cows. If we don’t understand that we missed something big. Our duty is to inspire others to take Krsna Consciousness.
There was a couple who used to come and wash dishes together in the temple. After they stopped coming their relationship drifted apart. Serving Krsna together will bond us well. That should be the prime duty of Grihastas.