KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.2.1
- Lord Brahmaji, being the incarnation of the passion mode of material nature, is empowered by the Lord to generate the beautiful material manifestation.
- Yet due to his being one of the numerous living entities, he is apt to forget the art of his creative energy.
- This forgetfulness of the living being — beginning from Brahmā down to the lowest insignificant ant — is a tendency which can be counteracted by meditation on the virāṭ-rūpa of the Lord.
- If a human being follows the instruction of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and begins to meditate upon the virāṭ-rūpa, then revival of his pure consciousness and counteraction of the tendency to forget his eternal relationship with the Lord can follow simultaneously.
- And as soon as this forgetfulness is removed, the vyavasāya-buddhi follows at once.
- This ascertained knowledge of the living being, leads to loving service to the Lord, which the living being requires. All jivas being parts and parcels of the Lord and are meant for rendering a particular pattern of service to the Lord.
- The conditioned soul, even in the position of a Brahmā, forgets this by the influence of the illusory material energy generated out of false egoism. One can counteract such false egoism by invoking God consciousness.
- Liberation means getting out of the slumber of forgetfulness and becoming situated in the real loving service of the Lord, as exemplified in the case of Brahmā.
- The service of Brahmā is the sample of service in liberation distinguished from the so-called altruistic services full of mistakes and forgetfulness.
- Liberation is never inaction, but service without human mistakes.
- Vyavasaya Budhir – (BG 2.41) – Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are irresolute is many-branched.
- A strong faith that by Kṛṣṇa consciousness one will be elevated to the highest perfection of life is called vyavasāyātmikā intelligence.
- Faith means unflinching trust in something sublime. When one is engaged in the duties of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he need not act in relationship to the material world with obligations to family traditions, humanity or nationality.
- When one is awake in Kṛṣṇa consciousness,
- he need no longer endeavor for good results in his activities.
- all activities are on the absolute plane, for they are no longer subject to dualities like good and bad.
- The resolute purpose of a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is based on knowledge. Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ: a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the rare good soul who knows perfectly that Vāsudeva, or Kṛṣṇa, is the root of all manifested causes
- By acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness one can render the highest service to everyone – namely self, family, society, country, humanity, etc. If Kṛṣṇa is satisfied by one’s actions, then everyone will be satisfied.
- Service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is best practiced under the able guidance of a spiritual master who is a bona fide representative of Kṛṣṇa, who knows the nature of the student and who can guide him to act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
- “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.”
SB 2.1.1 TRANSLATION
Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Formerly, prior to the manifestation of the cosmos, Lord Brahmā, by meditating on the virāṭ-rūpa, regained his lost consciousness by appeasing the Lord. Thus he was able to rebuild the creation as it was before.
CLASS NOTES:
THE EXAMPLE CITED HEREIN OF ŚRĪ BRAHMĀJĪ IS ONE OF FORGETFULNESS. MEDITATION ON THE VIRAT RUPA OF THE LORD CAN COUNTERACT THE FORGETFULNESS.
Brahmājī is the incarnation of one of the mundane attributes of the Lord. Being the incarnation of the passion mode of material nature, he is empowered by the Lord to generate the beautiful material manifestation. Yet due to his being one of the numerous living entities, he is apt to forget the art of his creative energy. This forgetfulness of the living being — beginning from Brahmā down to the lowest insignificant ant — is a tendency which can be counteracted by meditation on the virāṭ-rūpa of the Lord.
AS SOON AS THIS FORGETFULNESS IS REMOVED, THE VYAVASĀYA-BUDDHI FOLLOWS (RESOLUTE IN KC)
And as soon as this forgetfulness is removed, the vyavasāya-buddhi, as mentioned here and in the Bhagavad-gītā (2.41), follows at once. This ascertained knowledge of the living being leads to loving service to the Lord, which the living being requires.
THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS UNLIMITED; ALL JIVAS ARE MEANT FOR RENDERING A PARTICULAR PATTERN OF SERVICE TO THE LORD
therefore the number of the assisting hands of the Lord is also unlimited. The Bhagavad-gītā (13.14) asserts that the Lord has His hands, legs, eyes and mouths in every nook and corner of His creation. This means that the expansions of differentiated parts and parcels, called jīvas or living entities, are assisting hands of the Lord, and all of them are meant for rendering a particular pattern of service to the Lord.
The conditioned soul, even in the position of a Brahmā, forgets this by the influence of the illusory material energy generated out of false egoism. One can counteract such false egoism by invoking God consciousness.
LIBERATION IS NEVER INACTION, BUT SERVICE WITHOUT HUMAN MISTAKES.
Liberation means getting out of the slumber of forgetfulness and becoming situated in the real loving service of the Lord, as exemplified in the case of Brahmā. The service of Brahmā is the sample of service in liberation distinguished from the so-called altruistic services full of mistakes and forgetfulness. Liberation is never inaction, but service without human mistakes.
If we want to be a liberated person engaged in service without human mistakes that is possible.People are making mistakes everyday. A man is filing a divorce, that is a biggest mistake a man can ever do. His dharma is to protect his wife.
Liberation is never inaction – Mayavadis think that liberation is inaction. That type of renunciation is false. They are rejecting everything including Krsna.
“The service of Brahmā is the sample of service in liberation distinguished from the so-called altruistic services full of mistakes and forgetfulness.”
Altruistic service – good natured and trying to do good to others. There is a man around the corner holding a board saying, “Vietnam vet, god bless, anything helps” – If you give money to him, if he buys liquor then you will get the sin. If you really want to give something to him, you can give him prasadam. Service offered based on feelings and not any sastric evidence.
Analogy is not a proof, but it is not sastric. Proof is Sastra. But even there you have to be careful. Lets read tomorrow’s verse –
SB 2.1.2
“The way of presentation of the Vedic sounds is so bewildering that it directs the intelligence of the people to meaningless things like the heavenly kingdoms. The conditioned souls hover in dreams of such heavenly illusory pleasures, but actually they do not relish any tangible happiness in such places.”
We have to depend on vedas as explained by the acharyas in the line of Krsna, but not on our own feelings. Arjuna had his feelings.
Doing things based on feelings, – blood is thicker than water, my family, my country, my house, Familial bonds are more important than friendships. I wake up in the morning and think, I dont feel like going to mangala arti that is feeling. BUt vow is no matter I do what I vowed for.
Vyavasaya Budhir – (BG 2.41)
Srila Prabhupada gave so many lectures on this verese what is Krsna Consciousness, guru disciple relationship, how disciple can be successful.
vyavasāyātmikā buddhir
ekeha kuru-nandana
bahu-śākhā hy anantāś ca
buddhayo ’vyavasāyinām
Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are irresolute is many-branched.
vyavasāya-ātmikā — resolute in Kṛṣṇa consciousness;
avyavasāyinām — of those who are not in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Resolute in KC – I am going to keep my vows in hell of heaven.
Resolute in purpose – I am only going to do things pleasing to Guru and Krsna.
Irresolute – One day they want to become rich, one day they want to increase sense gratification, one day they want to leave and become buddhist…
A strong faith that by Kṛṣṇa consciousness one will be elevated to the highest perfection of life is called vyavasāyātmikā intelligence.
The Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 22.62) states:
‘śraddhā’-śabde – viśvāsa kahe sudṛḍha niścaya
kṛṣṇe bhakti kaile sarva-karma kṛta haya
FAITH MEANS UNFLINCHING TRUST IN SOMETHING SUBLIME.
When one is engaged in the duties of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he need not act in relationship to the material world with obligations to family traditions, humanity or nationality.
It does not say obligations to family it says family traditions.
FRUITIVE ACTIVITIES BOTH GOOD AND BAD ARE BAD
Fruitive activities are the engagements of one’s reactions from past good or bad deeds. When one is awake in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he need 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 renunciation of the material conception of life. This state is automatically achieved by progressive Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Frutive is not a word in english. It is a word that was coined by Srila Prabhupada. It means selfish interest. It is a negative context. Fruit is a positive word. Fruits from both good and bad deeds are bad as both are binding.
Karma Good and bad are both bad. Because they keep you in ignorance.
Karma Good and bad are both bad. Because they keep you in ignorance.
he need no longer endeavor for good results in his activities. – Doing puja for material benefits is bad. Puja by itself is good, but doing it for fruitive results is bad.
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 – Everything is based on duality in this world. Heat and cold, happiness and sadness..
THE RESOLUTE PURPOSE OF A PERSON IN KṚṢṆA CONSCIOUSNESS IS BASED ON KNOWLEDGE. Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ: a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the rare good soul who knows perfectly that Vāsudeva, or Kṛṣṇa, is the root of all manifested causes. As by watering the root of a tree one automatically distributes water to the leaves and branches, so by acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness one can render the highest service to everyone – namely self, family, society, country, humanity, etc. If Kṛṣṇa is satisfied by one’s actions, then everyone will be satisfied.
SERVICE IN KṚṢṆA CONSCIOUSNESS IS, HOWEVER, BEST PRACTICED UNDER THE ABLE GUIDANCE OF A SPIRITUAL MASTER WHO IS A BONA FIDE REPRESENTATIVE OF KṚṢṆA, WHO KNOWS THE NATURE OF THE STUDENT AND WHO CAN GUIDE HIM TO ACT IN KṚṢṆA CONSCIOUSNESS.
As such, 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. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura instructs us, in his famous prayers for the spiritual master, as follows:
yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo
yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto ’pi
dhyāyan stuvaṁs tasya yaśas tri-sandhyaṁ
vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam
“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, when there is no longer a chance for sense gratification manifested in fruitive activities. One who is not firmly fixed in mind is diverted by various types of fruitive acts.