KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 1:19:34
- Just as the atheist cannot remain in the presence of the Personality of Godhead, so also the invulnerable sins of a man are immediately vanquished in your presence, O saint!
- A ghost cannot remain as soon as the holy name of the Lord is chanted.
- One is recommended to associate only with saintly devotees so that worldly demons and ghosts cannot exert their sinister influence.
- ‘Lusty desire’ refers to the desire to gratify one’s personal senses, and ‘transcendental desire’ refers to the desire for serving the senses of the Lord.”
- The gopīs’ love for Kṛṣṇa is certainly not material lusty desire.
- The gopīs, however, wanted nothing at all but to gratify the senses of the Lord.
- Uddhava aspired to follow in the footsteps of Gopis.
- Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught that there is no better method of worshiping Kṛṣṇa than that conceived by the gopīs.
- The gopīs’ method of worshiping the Lord as if impelled by lusty desire was praised very highly even by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
- Unless one is fully situated in the transcendental position, the relationship of the gopīs with Kṛṣṇa is very difficult to understand.
- Kubja’s desire for Kṛṣṇa was almost mundane, and so her love cannot be compared to the love of the gopīs.
- The varṇāśrama institution is constructed to enable one to realize the Absolute Truth.
- The highest aim of life or the highest perfection of the institution of the varṇāśrama-dharma is to cooperate jointly for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord.
- Caitanya Maha Prabhu agrees with Ramananda Rai only with the process of abandoning all things and just Chanting the holy name and simply sitting and hearing the transcendental past times of the lord as the highest. Srila Prabhupada said, in his last days that – that only half the work is done and the other half is establishing varnashrama system in this world. Is he contradicting Caitanya Maha Prabhu? Krishna himself established the varnashrama…. “Catur Varnam … maya sristham… “
- In verse SB 1.2.13, Srila Prabhupada clearly writes about the Varnashrama and why it is needed
SB 1.19.34 TRANSLATION:
Just as the atheist cannot remain in the presence of the Personality of Godhead, so also the invulnerable sins of a man are immediately vanquished in your presence, O saint! O great mystic!
CLASS NOTES:
(SB 1.19.34) ONE IS RECOMMENDED TO ASSOCIATE ONLY WITH SAINTLY DEVOTEES SO THAT WORLDLY DEMONS AND GHOSTS CANNOT EXERT THEIR SINISTER INFLUENCE.
The devotee of the Lord, because of manifesting godly qualities, is called a demigod, whereas the atheist is called a demon. It is said that a ghost cannot remain as soon as the holy name of the Lord is chanted. The great saints and devotees of the Lord are in the list of His paraphernalia, and thus as soon as a saintly devotee is present, the ghostly sins are at once vanquished. That is the verdict of all Vedic literature. One is recommended, therefore, to associate only with saintly devotees so that worldly demons and ghosts cannot exert their sinister influence.
Ghosts are put in the same level as demons. Ghosts are spirits which don’t have gross body. Someone becomes ghost if they commit suicide. The ghosts look for people who do not cut their nails, long hair, smoke marijuana, red chili, Whenever a person take drugs their desire to live weakens. They are vulnerable to ghosts. Once the ghost enters into the body, forces the living entity to what they are beckoning… whenever a person is walking and talking to himself, he is possessed.
Atheists are demons and they cannot stand God. Ex: Hiranyakasipu…The teachers at school at once dismiss the name of God. They say it is religion and nothing do with science.
In LA temple, there was one guy… One day the satanic people came and when I chanted Hare Krsna they walked away… That person started coming to the temple every day and
Iranians are Vedic people who left the Vedic path they are very philosophical sometimes. They were following Zoroastrians…
List of his paraphernalia – how can a person be in the list of things. All the paraphernalia is the incarnation of Balaram. He is always assisting the lord in all his pastimes and incarnations… Anantasesha….. Devotees are the paraphernalia of the lord. Hence they are worshipped. “Tadiyanam samacaram…. )
One is recommended to associate only with saintly devotees so that worldly demons and ghosts cannot exert their sinister influence. – This shows how important tit is o be a deovotee. “Cetodarpanam arjanam….” …. All the sins are removed and the tendency to sin is also removed.
Atat pumbhir… Samsidhir haritoshanam
SB 1.2.13
ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā
varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ
svanuṣṭhitasya 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
(NOD CH 15) THE GOPĪS’ LOVE FOR KṚṢṆA IS CERTAINLY NOT MATERIAL LUSTY DESIRE
‘Lusty desire’ refers to the desire to gratify one’s personal senses, and ‘transcendental desire’ refers to the desire for serving the senses of the Lord.”
The gopīs, however, wanted nothing at all but to gratify the senses of the Lord, and there is no instance of this in the material world
The gopīs’ love for Kṛṣṇa is certainly not material lusty desire. Otherwise, how could Uddhava aspire to follow in their footsteps? Another instance is Lord Caitanya Himself. After accepting the sannyāsa order of life, He was very, very strict about avoiding association with women, but still He taught that there is no better method of worshiping Kṛṣṇa than that conceived by the gopīs. Thus the gopīs’ method of worshiping the Lord as if impelled by lusty desire was praised very highly even by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. This very fact means that although the attraction of the gopīs for Kṛṣṇa appears to be lusty, it is not in the least bit material. Unless one is fully situated in the transcendental position, the relationship of the gopīs with Kṛṣṇa is very difficult to understand
Kubja’s desire for Kṛṣṇa was almost mundane, and so her love cannot be compared to the love of the gopīs.
The greatest devotees of the Lord are women. Even the personified Vedas wants to be like Gopis. What is considered to be mundane in a perverted world is transcendental. People misunderstand it to be misogyny when they hear that two things to avoid – association with women and worldly people. But it is about fallen women.
Careful hearing and chanting are required to understand all these nuances and the differences.
VARNASHRAMA –
An advanced devotee gave a lecture on why the Varnashrama system is nonsense and it is not for devotees in the world wide forum. It is very easy to deviate if you do not sit down and hear and read thoroughly the texts of Srila Prabhupada ….
Even though Caitanya Maha Prabhu said just sit down and regularly hear SB and chant the holy names of the Lord, Srila Prabhupada in his last days, said that only half the work is done and the other half is establishing varnashrama system in this world. Is he contradicting Caitanya Maha Prabhu? Krishna himself established the varnashrama…. “Catur Varnam … maya sristham… “
In the following verse Srila Prabhupada clearly writes about the Varnashrama and why it is needed….
(SB 1.2.13) THE HIGHEST AIM OF LIFE OR THE HIGHEST PERFECTION OF THE INSTITUTION OF THE VARṆĀŚRAMA-DHARMA IS TO COOPERATE JOINTLY FOR THE SATISFACTION OF THE SUPREME LORD.
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.
The varṇāśrama institution is constructed to enable one to realize the Absolute Truth. It is not for artificial domination of one division over another. When the aim of life, i.e., realization of the Absolute Truth, is missed by too much attachment for indriya-prīti, or sense gratification, as already discussed hereinbefore, the institution of the varṇāśrama is utilized by selfish men to pose an artificial predominance over the weaker section. In the Kali-yuga, or in the age of quarrel, this artificial predominance is already current, but the saner section of the people know it well that the divisions of castes and orders of life are meant for smooth social intercourse and high-thinking self-realization and not for any other purpose.
Herein the statement of Bhāgavatam is that the highest aim of life or the highest perfection of the institution of the varṇāśrama-dharma is to cooperate jointly for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (4.13).