KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.9.18:
- Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is meant for the paramahaṁsas.
- Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is meant for persons completely free from malice.
- Unfortunately, persons with impious backgrounds do not believe in the Personality of Godhead, and everyone wants to become God himself without any qualification.
- This malicious nature in the conditioned soul continues even up to the stage when a person wants to be one with the Lord, and thus even the greatest of the empiric philosophers speculating on becoming one with the Supreme Lord cannot become a paramahaṁsa because the malicious mind is there.
- The paramahaṁsa stage of life can be attained only by those who are fixed in the practice of bhakti-yoga.
- This bhakti-yoga begins if a person has the firm conviction that simply discharging devotional service to the Lord in full transcendental love can elevate him to the highest perfectional stage of life. (BG 4.39)
- Brahmājī believed in this art of bhakti-yoga; he believed in the instruction of the Lord to execute tapa, and he discharged the function with great penance and thus achieved the great success of seeing the Vaikuṇṭhalokas and the Lord also by personal experience.
- One can reach the abode of the Vaikuṇṭhalokas simply by following the process of bhakti-yoga because the Lord can be realized only through the bhakti-yoga process.
- Following in the footsteps of Lord Brahmā, any person, even up to this day, can attain perfect success in life by following the path of the paramahaṁsa as recommended herein.
- Lord Caitanya also approved of this method of self-realization for men in this age.
- One should first, with all conviction, believe in the Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and without making efforts to realize Him by speculative philosophy,
- One should prefer to hear about Him from the Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā and later from the text of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
- One should hear such discourses from a person Bhāgavatam and not from the professional man, or from the karmī, jñānī or yogī. That is the secret of learning the science.
- One does not need to be in the renounced order of life; he can remain in his present condition of life, but he must search out the association of a bona fide devotee of the Lord and hear from him the transcendental message of the Lord with faith and conviction.
- That is the path of the paramahaṁsas, which was personally followed by Lord Brahmā and later recommended by him for attaining perfect success in life.
- Amongst various holy names of the Lord, He is also called ajita, or one who can never be conquered by anyone else. Yet He can be conquered by the paramahaṁsa path, as practically realized and shown by the great spiritual master Lord Brahmā.
- Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu ordered Rāmānanda Rāya, “Recite a verse from the revealed scriptures concerning the ultimate goal of life.
- Rāmānanda replied, “If one executes the prescribed duties of his social position, he awakens his original Kṛṣṇa consciousness
- Śrī Rāmānujācārya states in the Vedārtha-saṅgraha that devotional service is naturally very dear to the living entity. Indeed, it is life’s goal.
- This devotional service is supreme knowledge, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and it brings detachment from all material activity.
- In the transcendental position, a living being can perfectly acknowledge the superiority of serving the Supreme Lord.
- The devotees attain the Supreme Lord only by devotional service. Having such knowledge, one engages in his occupational duty, and that is called bhakti-yoga.
- By performing bhakti-yoga, one can rise to the platform of pure devotional service.
- The Lord replied, “This is external. You had better tell Me of some other means.”
Rāmānanda replied, “To offer the results of one’s activities to Kṛṣṇa is the essence of all perfection.” - Rāmānanda Rāya continued, “ ‘My dear son of Kuntī, whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever you give in charity, and whatever austerities you perform, all the results of such activities should be offered to Me, Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.’ ”
SB 2.9.18 TRANSLATION:
Lord Brahmā, thus seeing the Personality of Godhead in His fullness, was overwhelmed with joy within his heart, and thus in full transcendental love and ecstasy, his eyes filled with tears of love. He thus bowed down before the Lord. That is the way of the highest perfection for the living being [paramahaṁsa].
In the beginning of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated that this great literature is meant for the paramahaṁsas. Paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satām, i.e., the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is meant for persons completely free from malice. In the conditioned life the malicious life begins from the top, namely bearing malice against the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Personality of Godhead is an established fact in all the revealed scriptures, and in the Bhagavad-gītā the personal feature of the Supreme Lord is especially mentioned, so much so that the last portion of the great literature has emphatically stressed that one should surrender unto the Personality of Godhead to be saved from the miseries of life. Unfortunately, persons with impious backgrounds do not believe in the Personality of Godhead, and everyone wants to become God himself without any qualification. This malicious nature in the conditioned soul continues even up to the stage when a person wants to be one with the Lord, and thus even the greatest of the empiric philosophers speculating on becoming one with the Supreme Lord cannot become a paramahaṁsa because the malicious mind is there. Therefore the paramahaṁsa stage of life can be attained only by those who are fixed in the practice of bhakti-yoga. This bhakti-yoga begins if a person has the firm conviction that simply discharging devotional service to the Lord in full transcendental love can elevate him to the highest perfectional stage of life.
BG 4.39
A faithful man who is dedicated to transcendental knowledge and who subdues his senses is eligible to achieve such knowledge, and having achieved it he quickly attains the supreme spiritual peace.
Such knowledge in Kṛṣṇa consciousness can be achieved by a faithful person who believes firmly in Kṛṣṇa. One is called a faithful man who thinks that simply by acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness he can attain the highest perfection. This faith is attained by the discharge of devotional service and by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, which cleanses one’s heart of all material dirt. Over and above this, one should control the senses. A person who is faithful to Kṛṣṇa and who controls the senses can easily attain perfection in the knowledge of Kṛṣṇa consciousness without delay.
Brahmājī believed in this art of bhakti-yoga; he believed in the instruction of the Lord to execute tapa, and he discharged the function with great penance and thus achieved the great success of seeing the Vaikuṇṭhalokas and the Lord also by personal experience. No one can reach the abode of the Supreme Lord by any mechanical means of the mind or machine, but one can reach the abode of the Vaikuṇṭhalokas simply by following the process of bhakti-yoga because the Lord can be realized only through the bhakti-yoga process. Lord Brahmājī was actually sitting on his lotus seat, and from there, by executing the process of bhakti-yoga in great seriousness, he could see the Vaikuṇṭhalokas with all variegatedness as well as the Lord in person and His associates.
Malice – evil and aggressive..
Following in the footsteps of Lord Brahmā, any person, even up to this day, can attain the same perfection by following the path of the paramahaṁsa as recommended herein. Lord Caitanya also approved of this method of self-realization for men in this age. One should first, with all conviction, believe in the Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and without making efforts to realize Him by speculative philosophy, one should prefer to hear about Him from the Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā and later from the text of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. One should hear such discourses from a person Bhāgavatam and not from the professional man, or from the karmī, jñānī or yogī. That is the secret of learning the science. One does not need to be in the renounced order of life; he can remain in his present condition of life, but he must search out the association of a bona fide devotee of the Lord and hear from him the transcendental message of the Lord with faith and conviction. That is the path of the paramahaṁsa recommended herein.
Amongst various holy names of the Lord, He is also called ajita, or one who can never be conquered by anyone else. Yet He can be conquered by the paramahaṁsa path, as practically realized and shown by the great spiritual master Lord Brahmā. Lord Brahmā has personally recommended this paramahaṁsa-panthāḥ in his own words as follows:
jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva
jīvanti sanmukharitāṁ bhavadīya vārtām
sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ-manobhir
ye prāyaśo ’jita jito ’py asi tais trilokyām
PATH FOR ATTAINING PERFECT SUCCESS –
Lord Brahmā said, “O my Lord Kṛṣṇa, a devotee who abandons the path of empiric philosophical speculation aimed at merging in the existence of the Supreme and engages himself in hearing Your glories and activities from a bona fide sādhu, or saint, and who lives an honest life in the occupational engagement of his social life, can conquer Your sympathy and mercy even though You are ajita, or unconquerable.” (Bhāg. 10.14.3) That is the path of the paramahaṁsas, which was personally followed by Lord Brahmā and later recommended by him for attaining perfect success in life.
Failure – at the death failing to remember Krsna. Most people are remembering their girl friend or boy friend, house, children, work , this that are other than Krsna and end up taking birth again. Sleeping, eating ,mating and defending, This is a very sad state. Close to 99 percent are in this condition. Simply die, not remember krsna, come back again and not knowing what body they will have.. Based on the last thoughts when they die..
Lord Caitanya never preached about Radha and Krsna in public he actively engaged in Sankirtan yagna in the public chanting Hare Krsna,..
With genuine devotees He would discuss the past times of Radha and Krsna. Krsnadas Kaviraj Goswami although confidential revealed the private discussions with Ramanadarai, .. etc.,
Ramananda Rai was governor of south India.. Right next to King Prataparudra.. He was the Gopi Visakha. Visakha is one of most intimate servants of Srimati Radha Rani.
CC MADHYA 8.21
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then inquired whether he was Rāmānanda Rāya, and he replied, “Yes, I am Your very low servant, and I belong to the śūdra community.”
CC MADHYA 8.22
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then embraced Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya very firmly. Indeed, both the master and the servant almost lost consciousness due to ecstatic love.
CC MADHYA 8.23
Their natural love for each other was awakened in them both, and they embraced and fell to the ground.
Śrīla Rāmānanda Rāya was an incarnation of the gopī Viśākhā. Since Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself, there was naturally an awakening of love between Viśākhā and Kṛṣṇa. Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the combination of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and Kṛṣṇa, and the gopī Viśākhā is a principal gopī assisting Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Thus the natural love between Rāmānanda Rāya and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu awakened and they embraced.
CC MADHYA 8.24
When they embraced each other, ecstatic symptoms — paralysis, perspiration, tears, shivering, paleness and standing up of the bodily hairs — appeared. The word “Kṛṣṇa” came from their mouths falteringly.
CC MADHYA 8.25
When the stereotyped, ritualistic brāhmaṇas who were following the Vedic principles saw this ecstatic manifestation of love, they were struck with wonder. All these brāhmaṇas began to reflect as follows.
CC MADHYA 8.26
The brāhmaṇas thought, “We can see that this sannyāsī has a luster like the effulgence of Brahman, but how is it He is crying upon embracing a śūdra, a member of the fourth caste in the social order?”
CC MADHYA 8.27
They thought, “This Rāmānanda Rāya is the Governor of Madras, a highly learned and grave person, a mahā-paṇḍita, but upon touching this sannyāsī he has become restless like a madman.”
CC MADHYA 8.28
While the brāhmaṇas were thinking in this way about the activities of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Rāmānanda Rāya, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw those outsiders and restrained His transcendental emotions.
Rāmānanda Rāya was intimately related to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; therefore he can be accepted as a sajātīya, a person within the intimate circle of the Lord. The brāhmaṇas, however, were followers of the Vedic rituals and were not able to have an intimate connection with Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Consequently they are called vijātīya-loka. In other words, they were not pure devotees. One may be a highly learned brāhmaṇa, but if he is not a pure devotee he is a vijātīya, an outcaste, one outside devotional service — in other words, a nondevotee. Although Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Rāmānanda Rāya were embracing in ecstasy, the Lord restrained His transcendental emotions upon seeing the outsider brāhmaṇas.
CC MADHYA 8.29
When they regained their sanity, they both sat down, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu smiled and began to speak as follows.
CC MADHYA 8.29
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu ordered Rāmānanda Rāya, “Recite a verse from the revealed scriptures concerning the ultimate goal of life.”
Rāmānanda replied, “If one executes the prescribed duties of his social position, he awakens his original Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
In this connection, Śrī Rāmānujācārya states in the Vedārtha-saṅgraha that devotional service is naturally very dear to the living entity. Indeed, it is life’s goal. This devotional service is supreme knowledge, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and it brings detachment from all material activity. In the transcendental position, a living being can perfectly acknowledge the superiority of serving the Supreme Lord. The devotees attain the Supreme Lord only by devotional service. Having such knowledge, one engages in his occupational duty, and that is called bhakti-yoga. By performing bhakti-yoga, one can rise to the platform of pure devotional service.
A great saint, the father of Śrīla Vyāsadeva, Parāśara Muni, has specifically mentioned that devotional service to the Lord can ultimately be awakened in human society by the discharge of duties in accordance with the varṇāśrama system. The Supreme Personality of Godhead instituted varṇāśrama-dharma to give human beings a chance to return home, back to Godhead. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is known in the Bhagavad-gītā as Puruṣottama — the greatest of all personalities — personally came and declared that the institution of varṇāśrama-dharma was founded by Him. As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (4.13):
cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ
tasya kartāram api māṁ viddhy akartāram avyayam
Elsewhere in the Bhagavad-gītā (18.45-46) the Lord says:
sve sve karmaṇy abhirataḥ saṁsiddhiṁ labhate naraḥ
sva-karma-nirataḥ siddhiṁ yathā vindati tac chṛṇu
yataḥ pravṛttir bhūtānāṁ yena sarvam idaṁ tatam
sva-karmaṇā tam abhyarcya siddhiṁ vindati mānavaḥ
Human society should be divided into four divisions — brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya and śūdra — and everyone should always engage in his occupational duty. The Lord says that those engaged in their occupational duty can attain perfection simply by rendering loving devotional service to the Lord while executing their particular duty. Actually the modern ideal of a classless society can be introduced only by Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Let men perform their occupational duty, and let them give their profits to the service of the Lord. In other words, one can attain the perfection of life by discharging one’s occupational duty and employing the results in the service of the Lord. This method is confirmed by great personalities like Bodhāyana, Taṅka, Dramiḍa, Guhadeva, Kapardi and Bhāruci. It is also confirmed by the Vedānta-sūtra.
Occupational duty – plumber, artists, musician, engineer, husband, son, wife, daughter, brother..
Sanata Dharma – eternally engaging in the devotional service of the lord.
If one executes devotional service under the guidance of the pure devotee even though a sudra or chandla.. They can go back to Godhead.
Varnashrama dharma is meant to elevate people to devotional service.. But it is not happening these days.
Daivi Varnashrama – Varanashrama with Krsna as the center. . “Let men perform their occupational duty, and let them give their profits to the service of the Lord. “ Modern workable varnashram.. one can attain the perfection of life by discharging one’s occupational duty and employing the results in the service of the Lord
According to Goswamis one (grihasta) has to give 50 percent of the income for spreading Krsna Consciousness while he is still married and having children. At least some percent has to be given to Krsna’s activities.. They are also devotees.
3 of the ashrams are celibates. Those 3 have to be completely renounced. Not accepting anything which is not needed. Should be completely renounced. They cannot be fat cats, they have to be thin cats, eat minimally, sleep minimally, remain celebate, not interested in bodybuilding.
Grihastas should support the other 3 ashrams,
CC MADHYA 8.58
“ ‘The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṇu, is worshiped by the proper execution of prescribed duties in the system of varṇa and āśrama. There is no other way to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One must be situated in the institution of the four varṇas and āśramas.’
This is a quotation from the Viṣṇu Purāṇa (3.8.9). As stated by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya, “The purport is that one can realize life’s perfection simply by satisfying the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” This is also confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.13):
ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ
sv-anuṣṭhitasya dharmasya saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam
“O best among the twice-born, it is therefore concluded that the highest perfection one can achieve by discharging the duties prescribed for one’s own occupation according to caste divisions and orders of life is to please the Personality of Godhead.”
In this temple we perform Daivi Varnashrama – we engage everyone in devotionals service… whatever varna or ashrama they are on..
Every man should perform his occupational duty in the light of his particular tendency. According to his abilities, one should accept a position in the varṇāśrama institution. The divisions of brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya and śūdra are natural divisions within society. Indeed, everyone has a prescribed duty according to the varṇāśrama-dharma. Those who properly execute their prescribed duties live peacefully and are not disturbed by material conditions. The spiritual orders — brahmacarya, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa — are called āśramas. If one executes his prescribed duty in both the social and spiritual orders, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is satisfied. If one neglects his duties, however, he becomes a transgressor and a candidate for a hellish condition. Actually we see that different people are engaged in different ways; therefore there must be divisions according to work. To attain perfection, one must make devotional service the center of life. In this way one can awaken his natural instincts by work, association and education. One should accept the varṇāśrama divisions by qualification, not by birth. Unless this system is introduced, human activities cannot be systematically executed.
The brāhmaṇas are the intellectuals who can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They are always engaged in the cultivation of knowledge. It does not matter whether one is born in India or outside India. Those who are naturally very heroic and who tend to rule over others are called kṣatriyas. Those who tend to produce food by agricultural methods, protect cows and other animals and engage in trade are called vaiśyas, or merchants. Those who are not sufficiently intelligent to be brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas or vaiśyas are required to serve a master and are called śūdras. Thus everyone can engage in the service of the Lord and awaken his natural Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If a society does not function according to such natural divisions, the social orders become degraded. The conclusion is that the scientific method of varṇāśrama-dharma should be adopted by society.
CC MADHYA 8.59
The Lord replied, “This is external. You had better tell Me of some other means.”
Rāmānanda replied, “To offer the results of one’s activities to Kṛṣṇa is the essence of all perfection.”
CC MADHYA 8.60
Rāmānanda Rāya continued, “ ‘My dear son of Kuntī, whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever you give in charity, and whatever austerities you perform, all the results of such activities should be offered to Me, Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.’ ”