KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.2.15
- Those who are mixed devotees, alloyed with fruitive action or empirical philosophical speculation, require an opportune moment for quitting this body. For them the opportune moments are stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (8.23-26).
- A person who is totally engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, and who constantly remembers Him at every step, easily obtains the mercy of the Lord by entering into His personal contact. Such Devotees do not need to seek an opportune moment to leave the present body.
- The Lord says that for anyone who is unflinchingly devoted to Him, He is easy to attain.
- The Lord is merciful to all. He is especially inclined toward those who always serve Him without deviation.
- One’s memory of Kṛṣṇa is revived by chanting the mahā-mantra, Hare Kṛṣṇa. By this practice of chanting and hearing the sound vibration of the Supreme Lord, one’s ear, tongue and mind are engaged
- The devotee can constantly think of the object of worship, the Supreme Lord, in any of His features by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. This practice will purify him, and at the end of his life, due to his constant chanting, he will be transferred to the kingdom of God.
- By chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa one fixes his mind always on the Supreme Lord. The mind is fickle, and therefore it is necessary to engage the mind by force to think of Kṛṣṇa.
- The freedom from the bondage of actions is possible only in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, when one is doing everything for Kṛṣṇa.
- A Kṛṣṇa conscious person acts out of pure love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore he has
- no attraction for the results of the action.
- not even attached to his personal maintenance, for everything is left to Kṛṣṇa.
- Nor is he anxious to secure things, nor to protect things already in his possession.
- does his duty to the best of his ability and leaves everything to Kṛṣṇa.
- Such an unattached person is always free from the resultant reactions of good and bad; it is as though he were not doing anything. This is the sign of akarma, or actions without fruitive reactions.
- A pure devotee cannot forget the Supreme Lord for a moment, and similarly the Supreme Lord cannot forget His pure devotee for a moment.
- This is the great blessing of the Kṛṣṇa conscious process of chanting the mahā-mantra – Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.
SB 2.2.15 TRANSLATION
O King, whenever the yogī desires to leave this planet of human beings, he should not be perplexed about the proper time or place, but should comfortably sit without being disturbed and, regulating the life air, should control the senses by the mind.
CLASS NOTES:
DEVOTEES DO NOT NEED TO SEEK AN OPPORTUNE MOMENT TO LEAVE THE PRESENT BODY.
In the Bhagavad-gītā (8.14) it is clearly stated that a person who is totally engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, and who constantly remembers Him at every step, easily obtains the mercy of the Lord by entering into His personal contact. Such devotees do not need to seek an opportune moment to leave the present body.
A SUCCESSFUL YOGI QUITS THE BODY AS HE LIKES
successful yogī who is able to quit his body as he likes. Such a yogī must be competent to control his senses by the mind. The mind is easily conquered simply by engaging it at the lotus feet of the Lord. Gradually, by such service, all the senses become automatically engaged in the service of the Lord. That is the way of merging into the Supreme Absolute.
(BG 8.14) QUALIFICATIONS OF PURE DEVOTEE
For one who always remembers Me without deviation, I am easy to obtain, O son of Pṛthā, because of his constant engagement in devotional service.
How to constantly remember Krsna – constant dev service – by always associating with genuine pure devotee.
the Lord says that for anyone who is unflinchingly devoted to Him, He is easy to attain.
Bhakti-yoga is very simple and pure and easy to perform. One can begin simply by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. The Lord is merciful to all, but as we have already explained, He is especially inclined toward those who always serve Him without deviation.
Bhakti-yoga is the system that the Gītā recommends above all others
These are qualifications of the pure devotee, for whom the Lord is most easily attainable.
In pure bhakti-yoga, a pure devotee
- desires nothing but Kṛṣṇa.
- does not desire promotion to heavenly planets, nor does he seek oneness with the brahma-jyotir or salvation or liberation from material entanglement.
- has no desire other than to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- always engages in devotional service to Kṛṣṇa in one of His various personal features.
- meets with none of the problems that plague the practitioners of other yogas.
- he is always thinking of Kṛṣṇa without deviation and without considering the time or place.
- he carries out his service anywhere and at any time without any impediments
- can live anywhere and create the atmosphere of Vṛndāvana by his devotional service.
- constantly remembers Kṛṣṇa and meditates upon Him “always,” “regularly,” or “every day,”
- is always constantly engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Supreme Lord and cannot forget the Supreme Lord, and so for him the Lord is easily attained
- The Lord helps such devotees in various ways.
- Lord gives such a devotee sufficient intelligence so that ultimately the devotee can attain Him in His spiritual kingdom.
- A pure devotee cannot forget the Supreme Lord for a moment, and similarly the Supreme Lord cannot forget His pure devotee for a moment.
- This is the great blessing of the Kṛṣṇa conscious process of chanting the mahā-mantra – Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.
Here we have a positive law to free ourselves from the cycle of birth and death. Although you are still functioning in the material world you are still liberated, when you perform bhakti-yoga, because you are doing everything to please Krsna and Guru. The obstacle to performing this is false ego. Most people do not accept that someone is superior to them and accept the position of servitorship. They often say that the material world is everything then there is nothing beyond matter. Srila Prabhupada says – “Such devotees do not need to seek an opportune moment to leave the present body. “ devotees do not have to worry about any technicalities, devotee is always thinking of Krsna and Krsna is always thinking of devotee.
(BG 8.8) IMPORTANCE OF REMEMBERING KRSNA TO ATTAIN HIM
abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena
cetasā nānya-gāminā
paramaṁ puruṣaṁ divyaṁ
yāti pārthānucintayan
He who meditates on Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his mind constantly engaged in remembering Me, undeviated from the path, he, O Pārtha, is sure to reach Me
In this verse, Lord Kṛṣṇa stresses the importance of remembering Him. One’s memory of Kṛṣṇa is revived by chanting the mahā-mantra, Hare Kṛṣṇa. By this practice of chanting and hearing the sound vibration of the Supreme Lord, one’s ear, tongue and mind are engaged
The devotee can constantly think of the object of worship, the Supreme Lord, in any of His features – Nārāyaṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Rāma, etc. – by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. This practice will purify him, and at the end of his life, due to his constant chanting, he will be transferred to the kingdom of God.
by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa one fixes his mind always on the Supreme Lord. The mind is fickle, and therefore it is necessary to engage the mind by force to think of Kṛṣṇa.
One example often given is that of the caterpillar that thinks of becoming a butterfly and so is transformed into a butterfly in the same life. Similarly, if we constantly think of Kṛṣṇa, it is certain that at the end of our lives we shall have the same bodily constitution as Kṛṣṇa.
If you are a devotee your duty is to help others to remember Krsna. You are supposed to do it and help others to do it. IT is very important to do chanting early in the morning. No one is there and no phone calls or distractions. Brahma muhurta is the best time to get the rounds done. (16) Of Course they are never done. You have to chant through the day.. A Devotee can leave the body at anytime. They do not have to worry about it as long as they are always engaged in devotional service.
(BG 4.20) EXPLAINS AKARMA
Abandoning all attachment to the results of his activities, ever satisfied and independent, he performs no fruitive action, although engaged in all kinds of undertakings.
This freedom from the bondage of actions is possible only in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, when one is doing everything for Kṛṣṇa.
A Kṛṣṇa conscious person acts out of pure love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore he
- has no attraction for the results of the action.
- not even attached to his personal maintenance, for everything is left to Kṛṣṇa.
- Nor is he anxious to secure things, nor to protect things already in his possession.
- does his duty to the best of his ability and leaves everything to Kṛṣṇa.
Such an unattached person is always free from the resultant reactions of good and bad; it is as though he were not doing anything. This is the sign of akarma, or actions without fruitive reactions.
(BG 4.21) NOT AFFECTED BY SINFUL REACTIONS
Such a man of understanding acts with mind and intelligence perfectly controlled, gives up all sense of proprietorship over his possessions and acts only for the bare necessities of life. Thus working, he is not affected by sinful reactions.
A Kṛṣṇa conscious person
- does not expect good or bad results in his activities.
- His mind and intelligence are fully controlled.
- He knows that because he is part and parcel of the Supreme, the part played by him, as a part and parcel of the whole, is not his own activity but is only being done through him by the Supreme.
- is always dovetailed with the supreme desire, for he has no desire for personal sense gratification
- maintains himself by his work just to remain fit for action in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.
- immune to all the reactions of his endeavors.
- he has no proprietorship even over his own body.
- fully engaged in self-realization, has very little time to falsely possess any material object.
- For maintaining body and soul, he does not require unfair means of accumulating money.
- does not become contaminated by such material sins.
- is free from all reactions to his actions.
One devotee was collecting a lot of money and giving all of it to SP to build a temple in Vrindavan and he also collected money to complete the temple in India, but some of the way he was using to collect the money was illegal. Long time SP did not know that and many complaints started coming and SP questioned him and cornered him and the devotee agreed that he was engaged in illegal activities. It did not start like that but gradually it became like that. SP asked to immediately stop. The devotee continued and he ended up in jail. That was the biggest mistake he made. For one who is honored once , dishonor is worse than death. As long as we are under the protection of Krsna and SP by following the rules and regulations. As long we move out of that and begin to deviate, then there is no protection.
(BG 4.22) NEVER ENTANGLED ALTHOUGH PERFORMING ACTIONS.
He who is satisfied with gain which comes of its own accord, who is free from duality and does not envy, who is steady in both success and failure, is never entangled, although performing actions.
A Kṛṣṇa conscious person
- does not make much endeavor even to maintain his body.
- is satisfied with gains which are obtained of their own accord
- neither begs nor borrows, but he labors honestly as far as is in his power
- is satisfied with whatever is obtained by his own honest labor.
- is independent in his livelihood.
- does not allow anyone’s service to hamper his own service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
- for the service of the Lord he can participate in any kind of action without being disturbed by the duality of the material world.
- is above duality because he does not hesitate to act in any way for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa.
- is steady both in success and in failure.
When do we not hesitate and are ready to do anything that is necessary to do for the satisfaction of the Lord? Dualities are the ones that keep people in frenzy…
(BG 4.23) HOW TO GET LIBERATED IN ACTION IN THIS WORLD AND IN THIS BODY AND WE CAN ALL ATTAIN THIS BY FOLLOWING SRILA PRABHUPADA’S INSTRUCTION.
The work of a man who is unattached to the modes of material nature and who is fully situated in transcendental knowledge merges entirely into transcendence.
Becoming fully Kṛṣṇa conscious,
- one is freed from all dualities and thus is free from the contaminations of the material modes.
- become liberated because he knows his constitutional position in relationship with Kṛṣṇa, and thus his mind cannot be drawn from Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
- whatever he does, he does for Kṛṣṇa, who is the primeval Viṣṇu.
- all his works are technically sacrifices because sacrifice aims at satisfying the Supreme Person, Viṣṇu, Kṛṣṇa.
- The resultant reactions to all such work certainly merge into transcendence, and one does not suffer material effects.
The two English men twins who are devotees. They became devotees and Srila Prabhupada asked them to be in Mayapur and they still are there and are doing their service and they never left Mayapur… Pankajangra prabhuji & Jana Nivas prabhuji. This is mamca yo avyabhicharena – not deviate from the instructions given by guru.
Laws of Nature –
There are laws that govern social orders of life. One such law is described in SB 4.20.14 Being ignorant of the laws due to education and peer pressure makes us a victim of our own ignorance.
(SB 4.20.14) LAWS OF NATURE FOR VARIOUS VARNAS
To give protection to the general mass of people who are citizens of the state is the prescribed occupational duty for a king. By acting in that way, the king in his next life shares one sixth of the result of the pious activities of the citizens. But a king or executive head of state who simply collects taxes from the citizens but does not give them proper protection as human beings has the results of his own pious activities taken away by the citizens, and in exchange for his not giving protection he becomes liable to punishment for the impious activities of his subjects.
These subtle laws of nature are unknown to the present leaders of society. Since the leaders of society have a poor fund of knowledge and the citizens in general are rogues and thieves, there cannot be an auspicious situation for human society. At the present moment the whole world is full of such an incompatible combination of state and citizens, and therefore there is constant tension, war and anxiety as an inevitable result of such social conditions.
Every Ashram and varna is subject to laws of nature. Not only should we follow the rules of our ashram, but we also have to follow the rules of Varna. If a person wants to be a vysya – he should engage in cow protection and give respect to Brahmanas and Vaishnavas. Today we are seeing famine, natural disturbance, sinful activity in the name of secularity and democracy… because leaders are not taking the responsibility of making everyone KC.
The laws of nature cannot be ignored as they are given By Krsna himself. And we have to learn these things and teach people who there is so much violence, pestilence…
It is the trickle down philosophy – if leaders, teachers, parents do no to know i