KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.5.12
- The illusory potency of the Lord bewilders the less intelligent to accept Brahmājī, or for that matter any other person, as the Supreme Lord.
- Brahmājī, refuses to be called this, and he directly offers his respectful obeisances unto Lord Vāsudeva, or Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead: BS 5.1 –
- “The Supreme Lord is the Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the primeval Lord in His transcendental body, the ultimate cause of all causes. I worship that primeval Lord Govinda.”
- A responsible personality like Brahmājī refuses to be addressed as the Supreme Lord by his disciples or subordinates, but foolish persons praised by men of the nature of dogs, hogs, camels and asses feel flattered to be addressed as the Supreme Lord.
- (ŚB 2.9.34) O Brahmā, whatever appears to be of any value, if it is without relation to Me, has no reality. Know it as My illusory energy, that reflection which appears to be in darkness.
- BG 3.9 – Work done as a sacrifice for Viṣṇu has to be performed; otherwise, work causes bondage in this material world. Therefore, O son of Kuntī, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain free from bondage.
- Kṛṣṇa consciousness is therefore performance of yajña as it is prescribed in this verse. The varṇāśrama institution also aims at satisfying Lord Viṣṇu.
- Nothing should be performed for sense gratification, but everything should be done for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa. This practice will not only save one from the reaction of work, but also gradually elevate one to transcendental loving service of the Lord, which alone can raise one to the kingdom of God. [ This is the equalizer]
- Two persons, one in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and the other in material consciousness working on the same level, may appear to be working on the same platform, but there is a wide gulf of difference in their respective positions.
- The ignorant man forgets that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is known as Hṛṣīkeśa, or the master of the senses of the material body, for due to his long misuse of the senses in sense gratification, he is factually bewildered by the false ego, which makes him forget his eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa.
- BG 7.13 – Deluded by the three modes [goodness, passion and ignorance], the whole world does not know Me, who am above the modes and inexhaustible.
- Every living entity under the influence of material nature has a particular type of body and a particular type of psychological and biological activities accordingly. [This statement proves that everyone is not equal].
- There are many different kinds of living entities – human beings, demigods, animals, etc. – and each and every one of them is under the influence of material nature, and all of them have forgotten the transcendent Personality of Godhead.
- They are bewildered before the Supreme Lord in His personal feature, which possesses all beauty, opulence, knowledge, strength, fame and renunciation.
- When even those who are in goodness cannot understand, what hope is there for those in passion and ignorance?
- Kṛṣṇa consciousness is transcendental to all these three modes of material nature, and those who are truly established in Kṛṣṇa consciousness are actually liberated.
SB 2.5.12 TRANSLATION:
I offer my obeisances and meditate upon Lord Kṛṣṇa [Vāsudeva], the Personality of Godhead, whose invincible potency influences them [the less intelligent class of men] to call me the supreme controller.
CLASS NOTES:
As will be more clearly explained in the next verse, the illusory potency of the Lord bewilders the less intelligent to accept Brahmājī, or for that matter any other person, as the Supreme Lord. Brahmājī, however, refuses to be called this, and he directly offers his respectful obeisances unto Lord Vāsudeva, or Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, as he has already offered the same respects to Him in the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.1):
īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam
“The Supreme Lord is the Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the primeval Lord in His transcendental body, the ultimate cause of all causes. I worship that primeval Lord Govinda.”
Brahmājī is conscious of his actual position, and he knows how less intelligent persons, bewildered by the illusory energy of the Lord, whimsically accept anyone and everyone as God. A responsible personality like Brahmājī refuses to be addressed as the Supreme Lord by his disciples or subordinates, but foolish persons praised by men of the nature of dogs, hogs, camels and asses feel flattered to be addressed as the Supreme Lord. Why such persons take pleasure in being addressed as God, or why such persons are addressed as God by foolish admirers, is explained in the following verse.
This is a significant statement by Lord Brahma. As we know Praikshit Maharaj, Narada Muni, Yudhistra maharaj, Everyone of them has accepted that Krsna is the supreme personality of Godhead and they are servants of Krsna. Unless we accept this quintessential truth and our original identity, everything we do is wrong. Unless we come to accept the truth we are in illusion. Everything that is said by one who does not know and in his original constitutional position is nonsense. It is explained in SB. One of the four nutshell verses in SB.
(ŚB 2.9.34) “WHATEVER APPEARS TO BE OF ANY VALUE, IF IT IS WITHOUT RELATION TO ME, HAS NO REALITY.”
na pratīyeta cātmani
tad vidyād ātmano māyāṁ
yathābhāso yathā tamaḥ
Translation
O Brahmā, whatever appears to be of any value, if it is without relation to Me, has no reality. Know it as My illusory energy, that reflection which appears to be in darkness.
There is no such thing as gender equality. Everyone is born according to their karma. How can a person 4ft 10 be equal to 7 ft 10? We see by previous karma everyone has a different position and different potential. Is there such a thing as equality. Yes, everyone has an eternal soul and an eternal relationship with Krishna. This has nothing to do with the caste system. When properly functioning, everyone has an equal chance to go back to Godhead. There is only equality in devotional service. BY devotional service everyone can be elevated to the pure devotional service. Without devotional service everything is wrongly executed. No one can overcome eternal maya, she is the external energy of the lord and she is instructed by the Lord to put the living entities in maya.
(BG 3.9 )EXPLAINS REAL POSITION AND HOW EQUALITY CAN BE ACHIEVED
Work done as a sacrifice for Viṣṇu has to be performed; otherwise, work causes bondage in this material world. Therefore, O son of Kuntī, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain free from bondage.
What does it mean by sacrifice to Vishnu/ Krishna? Sacrifice your time, expertise, … for serving Krsna. It is a positive thing if we sacrifice for Krsna. It is a negative thing if we sacrifice for mundane things. How can you help a person who is begging on the streets? Half of the beggars are cheaters. They go and buy all nonsense stuff.. They are lazy and they beg to make money. They cut the arms of newborn children to use for begging more money…
IS BG 3.9 taught to Kids in the School? It is all about work for your own self, self-sense gratification. The more you accumulate you are successful that is what is taught. The truth the more you accumulate the more you become entangled. Educate kids not only to become good citizens but also to work in such a way that they work to become free from bondage.
There is a social position for 4 varnas and 4 ashramas. Where is equality? They stay in their positions and they execute devotional service and have an equal chance to go back to God, That is equality. We have to focus on “Jivera … Nityadas” becoming servants of God always.
Since one has to work even for the simple maintenance of the body, the prescribed duties for a particular social position and quality are so made that that purpose can be fulfilled. Yajña means Lord Viṣṇu, or sacrificial performances. All sacrificial performances also are meant for the satisfaction of Lord Viṣṇu. The Vedas enjoin: yajño vai viṣṇuḥ. In other words, the same purpose is served whether one performs prescribed yajñas or directly serves Lord Viṣṇu. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is therefore performance of yajña as it is prescribed in this verse. The varṇāśrama institution also aims at satisfying Lord Viṣṇu. Varṇāśramācāravatā puruṣeṇa paraḥ pumān/ viṣṇur ārādhyate (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 3.8.8).
In Satyanarayana puja the Brahmanas make the yajamani to say mama means the result is for me, not for Krishna. This is how the modern Brahmanas have degraded.
Therefore one has to work for the satisfaction of Viṣṇu. Any other work done in this material world will be a cause of bondage, for both good and evil work have their reactions, and any reaction binds the performer. Therefore, one has to work in Kṛṣṇa consciousness to satisfy Kṛṣṇa (or Viṣṇu); and while performing such activities one is in a liberated stage. This is the great art of doing work, and in the beginning, this process requires very expert guidance. One should therefore act very diligently, under the expert guidance of a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa, or under the direct instruction of Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself (under whom Arjuna had the opportunity to work). Nothing should be performed for sense gratification, but everything should be done for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa. This practice will not only save one from the reaction of work, but also gradually elevate one to transcendental loving service of the Lord, which alone can raise one to the kingdom of God [This is the equalizer. Everyone irrespective of social position, gender, can all go back to Godhead if engaged in pure devotional service]
One has to have the continuity of devotional service. It cant be – start and stop. It has to be 24 hours a day. You can serve directly or indirectly. When you are working you can indirectly serve Krishna by giving 50 percent of your income for acts of devotional service.
(BG 3.27) THIS IS THE FLIP SIDE OF NOT PERFORMING DEVOTIONAL SERVICE
prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
kartāham iti manyate
The spirit soul bewildered by the influence of false ego thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by the three modes of material nature.
Two persons, one in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and the other in material consciousness, working on the same level, may appear to be working on the same platform, but there is a wide gulf of difference in their respective positions.
The person in material consciousness
- is convinced by false ego that he is the doer of everything. He does not know that the mechanism of the body is produced by material nature, which works under the supervision of the Supreme Lord.
- The materialistic person has no knowledge that ultimately he is under the control of Kṛṣṇa.
- The person in false ego takes all credit for doing everything independently, and that is the symptom of his nescience.
- He does not know that this gross and subtle body is the creation of material nature, under the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and as such his bodily and mental activities should be engaged in the service of Kṛṣṇa, in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
- The ignorant man forgets that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is known as Hṛṣīkeśa, or the master of the senses of the material body, for due to his long misuse of the senses in sense gratification, he is factually bewildered by the false ego, which makes him forget his eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa.
If you engage in sense gratification, then nothing is equal. There is a rich guy and a poor guy, high position, low position. Education today is teaching people to be failures. A successful person is liberated from the cycle of birth and death. The failure is going deep into sense gratification and getting entangled and take birth in lower and lower species. This should be taught to our kids very soon! The quicker the better, otherwise they are being cursed.
(BG 7.13) “THE WHOLE WORLD DOES NOT KNOW ME”
tribhir guṇa-mayair bhāvair
ebhiḥ sarvam idaṁ jagat
mohitaṁ nābhijānāti
mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam
Deluded by the three modes [goodness, passion and ignorance], the whole world does not know Me, who am above the modes and inexhaustible.
Krishna is saying the whole world does not know Him.. We have to be convinced of Krsna ourselves and give an example to others on being convinced about Krsna. That means we have to be happy, satisfied, downsized, living a simple life, and having plenty of time for Krishna consciousness. In India, you can see people living in drainage pipes.. And they cook their dinner on a kerosene stove, kids are passing stool and passing urine right there. Yet they are laughing and joking, kids are playing and somehow or the other they raise their family. It is unimaginable. If an American sees it is beyond their imagination. Some people live in slums in big cities. They make money by selling drugs, begging. Yet they raise their families, They go on parikrama in packed buses. Yet somehow or other they exist. It is right in front of our eyes. What is that we can do to help. We can teach people about Krishna consciousness. We have to start with our families. Simple living and high thinking. We say but do we do it?
The whole world is enchanted by the three modes of material nature. Those who are bewildered by these three modes cannot understand that transcendental to this material nature is the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa.
Every living entity under the influence of material nature has a particular type of body and a particular type of psychological and biological activities accordingly. [This statement proves that everyone is not equal].
There are four classes of men functioning in the three material modes of nature. Those who are purely in the mode of goodness are called brāhmaṇas. Those who are purely in the mode of passion are called kṣatriyas. Those who are in the modes of both passion and ignorance are called vaiśyas. Those who are completely in ignorance are called śūdras. And those who are less than that are animals or animal life. However, these designations are not permanent. I may be either a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya or whatever – in any case, this life is temporary. But although life is temporary and we do not know what we are going to be in the next life, by the spell of this illusory energy we consider ourselves in terms of this bodily conception of life, and we thus think that we are American, Indian, Russian, or brāhmaṇa, Hindu, Muslim, etc. And if we become entangled with the modes of material nature, then we forget the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is behind all these modes. So Lord Kṛṣṇa says that living entities deluded by these three modes of nature do not understand that behind the material background is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. [This is what is need to be taught to our Kids… equalizer is Krsna Consciousness]
There are many different kinds of living entities – human beings, demigods, animals, etc. – and each and every one of them is under the influence of material nature, and all of them have forgotten the transcendent Personality of Godhead. Those who are in the modes of passion and ignorance, and even those who are in the mode of goodness, cannot go beyond the impersonal Brahman conception of the Absolute Truth. They are bewildered before the Supreme Lord in His personal feature, which possesses all beauty, opulence, knowledge, strength, fame and renunciation. When even those who are in goodness cannot understand, what hope is there for those in passion and ignorance? Kṛṣṇa consciousness is transcendental to all these three modes of material nature, and those who are truly established in Kṛṣṇa consciousness are actually liberated.
Not fakely established in KC. This is our philosophy. This is what Srila Prabhupada is explaining in all these pages in the SB and BG. Do we understand this? Can we transmit this to other people? It is a rare thing to develop that ability. But that is our real goal to be able to transmit this philosophy to others.