KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.2.31
- The destination of the devotee (the bhāgavata) is to enter into one of the Vaikuṇṭha planets, in each of which the Personality of Godhead, in His unlimited personal expansions, enjoys Himself in the association of unlimited numbers of pure devotee associates.
- The conditioned souls in the material world, after gaining emancipation by devotional service, are promoted to these planets.
- The number of ever-liberated souls is far, far greater than the number of conditioned souls in the material world, and the ever-liberated souls in the Vaikuṇṭha planets never care to visit this miserable material world.
- The impersonalists, who aspire to merge in the impersonal brahmajyoti effulgence of the Supreme Lord, may be compared to certain species of fish, who, being born in the rivers and rivulets, migrate to the great ocean. They cannot stay in the ocean indefinitely, for their urge for sense gratification brings them back to the rivers and streams to spawn
- The highest perfection of life is to attain Lord’s association, and nothing else. A pure devotee is a one-hundred-percent devotee of the Lord and nothing more.
- Devotional service of the Lord can really bestow upon the devotee two important benedictions, namely peace and satisfaction.
- The mystic yogīs become encumbered by various mystic powers and so have neither peace nor satisfaction. So neither the impersonalists nor the yogī can have real peace and satisfaction. But the devotee can become fully peaceful and satisfied because of his association with the complete whole.
- Attainment of love of Godhead means complete freedom from all other attractions. The impure devotee aspires after all of the material things by the perfection of devotion. But a pure devotee has none of the tinges of the contaminations, which are the influence of material desires, impersonal speculations and attainment of mystic powers.
- All the rules and regulations of the Vedas are meant for knowing Kṛṣṇa. If one understands Kṛṣṇa from the Bhagavad-gītā and becomes situated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, engaging himself in devotional service, he has reached the highest perfection of knowledge offered by the Vedic literature.
- For the ordinary persons who are not in Kṛṣṇa consciousness or who are not engaged in devotional service, what is to be done and what is not to be done must be decided by the injunctions of the Vedas. One should act accordingly, without argument.
- Śāstra is without the four principal defects that are visible in the conditioned soul. These four defects in conditioned life disqualify one from putting forth rules and regulations. Therefore, the rules and regulations as described in the śāstra – being above these defects – are accepted without alteration by all great saints, ācāryas and great souls.
- Without following the principles of the scriptures, one cannot elevate himself to the perfectional stage. One who actually, therefore, understands the purport of the śāstras is considered fortunate.
- To live with devotees or to live in a temple means to associate with the śravaṇa-kīrtana process.
- One should not falsely imitate Haridāsa Ṭhākura and abandon Deity worship just to try to engage in śravaṇa-kīrtana. This is not possible for neophyte devotees.
- It is kṛṣṇa-prasāda, Kṛṣṇa’s mercy, that He sends a bona fide spiritual master to the deserving disciple. By the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, one meets the bona fide spiritual master, and by the mercy of the spiritual master, the disciple is fully trained in the devotional service of the Lord.
- The bhakti-latā-bīja can be received only through the mercy of the spiritual master. Therefore one has to satisfy the spiritual master to get the bhakti-latā-bīja (yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ). The bhakti-latā-bīja is the origin of devotional service.
- After receiving the spiritual master’s mercy, one must repeat his instructions, and this is called śravaṇa-kīrtana — hearing and chanting.
- One who has not listened carefully to the instructions of the spiritual master is unfit for chanting or for preaching the cult of devotional service. One has to water the bhakti-latā-bīja by receiving instructions from the spiritual master.
SB 2.2.31 TRANSLATION
Only the purified soul can attain the perfection of associating with the Personality of Godhead in complete bliss and satisfaction in his constitutional state. Whoever is able to renovate such devotional perfection is never again attracted by this material world, and he never returns.
To become merged in the rays of the Parabrahman, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as desired by the brahmavādī impersonalist, is not bhāgavatīm perfection. The bhāgavatas never accept merging in the impersonal rays of the Lord, but always aspire after personal association with the Supreme Lord in one of the Vaikuṇṭha spiritual planets in the spiritual sky.
The destination of the devotee (the bhāgavata) is to enter into one of the Vaikuṇṭha planets, in each of which the Personality of Godhead, in His unlimited personal expansions, enjoys Himself in the association of unlimited numbers of pure devotee associates.
The number of ever-liberated souls is far, far greater than the number of conditioned souls in the material world, and the ever-liberated souls in the Vaikuṇṭha planets never care to visit this miserable material world.
IMPERSONALISTS COMPARED TO CERTAIN SPECIES OF FISH
The impersonalists, who aspire to merge in the impersonal brahmajyoti effulgence of the Supreme Lord but have no conception of loving devotional service to Him in His personal form in the spiritual manifestation, may be compared to certain species of fish, who, being born in the rivers and rivulets, migrate to the great ocean. They cannot stay in the ocean indefinitely, for their urge for sense gratification brings them back to the rivers and streams to spawn.
Similarly, when the materialist becomes frustrated in his attempts to enjoy himself in the limited material world, he may seek impersonal liberation by merging either with the Causal Ocean or with the impersonal brahmajyoti effulgence. However, as neither the Causal Ocean nor the impersonal brahmajyoti effulgence affords any superior substitute for association and engagement of the senses, the impersonalist will fall again into the limited material world to become entangled once more in the wheel of births and deaths, drawn on by the inextinguishable desire for sensual engagement.
But any devotee who enters the kingdom of God by transcendental engagement of his senses in devotional service, and who associates with the liberated souls and the Personality of Godhead there, will never be attracted to the limited surroundings of the material world.
PEACE AND SATISFACTION
the two words śāntam and ānandam, which denote that devotional service of the Lord can really bestow upon the devotee two important benedictions, namely peace and satisfaction. The impersonalist is desirous of becoming one with the Supreme, or in other words, he wants to become the Supreme. This is a myth only. The mystic yogīs become encumbered by various mystic powers and so have neither peace nor satisfaction. So neither the impersonalists nor the yogī can have real peace and satisfaction, but the devotee can become fully peaceful and satisfied because of his association with the complete whole. Therefore, merging in the Absolute or attaining some mystic powers has no attraction for the devotee.
ATTAINMENT OF LOVE OF GODHEAD MEANS COMPLETE FREEDOM FROM ALL OTHER ATTRACTIONS.
The conditioned soul has many aspirations, such as becoming a religious man, a rich man or a first-class enjoyer, or becoming God himself, or becoming powerful like the mystics and acting wonderfully by getting anything or doing anything, but all these aspirations should be rejected by the prospective devotee who actually wants to revive his dormant love of God. The impure devotee aspires after all of the above-mentioned material things by perfection of devotion.
To be more clear, if one wants to attain the stage of love of Godhead,
- he must give up all desires for material enjoyment,
- he should refrain from worshiping any of the demigods, and
- he should devote himself only to the worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- He must give up the foolish idea of becoming one with the Lord and the desire to have some wonderful powers just to get the ephemeral adoration of the world.
- The pure devotee is only favorably engaged in the service of the Lord, without any hope of emolument.
This will bring about the love of Godhead, or the stage of śāntam and ānandam, as stated in this verse.’
There are many pitfalls in the path of pure devotional service. They are summarized as
Karma – Karmi engages in the Karma Kanda section of Vedas. Attached to higher sense gratification in higher planets
Jnana – Jnanis engage in acquiring knowledge and at the end ???
Yoga – Yogi engages in yoga to acquire material powers which are desirable and not pure devotion.
Others – worship demigods.
Devotee – No envy of anything and anyone and constantly engaged in devotional service. Such a devotee is pure. Only wishes to go to Goloka, Vaikuntha planet to serve the lord.
Mayavadis – do not take shelter of devotional service. They only attain Sat Chit and not ananda. Eventually, they get bored and fall down.
Vidyam avidyamsa ca – we should leran what is avidya to know what not to do.
We have been in this material world for an inestimable time.. For billions and billions of years. Therefore it is important to assimilate this knowledge by hearing and chanting.
(BG 16.24) LORD CHAITANYA MADE THE PROCESS EASY
One should therefore understand what is duty and what is not duty by the regulations of the scriptures. Knowing such rules and regulations, one should act so that he may gradually be elevated.
As stated in the Fifteenth Chapter, all the rules and regulations of the Vedas are meant for knowing Kṛṣṇa. If one understands Kṛṣṇa from the Bhagavad-gītā and becomes situated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, engaging himself in devotional service, he has reached the highest perfection of knowledge offered by the Vedic literature.
Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu made this process very easy:
- He asked people simply to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare and to
- engage in the devotional service of the Lord and
- eat the remnants of foodstuff offered to the Deity
One who is directly engaged in all these devotional activities is to be understood as having studied all Vedic literature. He has come to the conclusion perfectly.
ORDINARY PERSONS WHO ARE NOT IN KRSNA CONSCIOUSNESS
Of course, for the ordinary persons who are not in Kṛṣṇa consciousness or who are not engaged in devotional service, what is to be done and what is not to be done must be decided by the injunctions of the Vedas. One should act accordingly, without argument. That is called following the principles of śāstra, or scripture.
ŚĀSTRA IS WITHOUT THE FOUR PRINCIPAL DEFECTS
that are visible in the conditioned soul: imperfect senses, the propensity for cheating, certainty of committing mistakes, and certainty of being illusioned. These four principal defects in conditioned life disqualify one from putting forth rules and regulations. Therefore, the rules and regulations as described in the śāstra – being above these defects – are accepted without alteration by all great saints, ācāryas and great souls.
SP was talking with Dr.Patel in Juhu Beach.
SP said there is some part of Vedas which accept meat-eating. Dr.Patel said he rejects that part of the Vedas. SP said Vedas also include meat-eaters who are very conditioned to gradually wean them off the sinful activity and allow them to progress.
We cannot reject what Vedas say… Should we eat meat because Vedas are meat-eating… no. Patel cannot reject the Vedas.
In India there are many parties of spiritual understanding, generally classified as two: the impersonalist and the personalist. Both of them, however, lead their lives according to the principles of the Vedas. Without following the principles of the scriptures, one cannot elevate himself to the perfectional stage. One who actually, therefore, understands the purport of the śāstras is considered fortunate.
RamaKrishna Paramahamsa did not follow the vedas. Many so-called Avatars today do not follow the Vedas.
(BG 3.12) THERE IS A PLACE FOR MEAT EATERS AS WELL IN VEDAS
For one who cannot understand what the Personality of Godhead is, sacrifice to the demigods is recommended. According to the different material qualities of the persons concerned, different types of yajñas are recommended in the Vedas. Worship of different demigods is also on the same basis – namely, according to different qualities. For example, the meat-eaters are recommended to worship the goddess Kālī, the ghastly form of material nature, and before the goddess the sacrifice of animals is recommended. But for those who are in the mode of goodness, the transcendental worship of Viṣṇu is recommended. But ultimately all yajñas are meant for gradual promotion to the transcendental position. For ordinary men, at least five yajñas, known as pañca-mahā-yajña, are necessary.
(BG 12.20) IMPERSONALISTS
In other words, as long as one does not have the chance to associate with a pure devotee, the impersonal conception may be beneficial.
Vedas is a big tent, it accommodates meat-eaters, impersonalists…
Puja for pay – they make living by doing all pujas. They don’t teach the goal of life and they only do puja for material success. Everyone is going to fail anyway – birth-death old age and disease. The real purpose is to understand the real goal of life. All the suffering in India is horrible. For example, Turkey declared a total lockdown. This corona is destroying whole countries. However the reason is people are not functioning correctly in their spiritual activities, they are using them for material benefit and committing sins.
IN HUMAN SOCIETY, AVERSION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF UNDERSTANDING THE SUPREME PERSONALITY OF GODHEAD IS THE CAUSE OF ALL FALL DOWNS. THAT IS THE GREATEST OFFENSE OF HUMAN LIFE.
Therefore, māyā, the material energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is always giving us trouble in the shape of the threefold miseries. This material energy is constituted of the three modes of material nature. One has to raise himself at least to the mode of goodness before the path to understanding the Supreme Lord can be opened. Without raising oneself to the standard of the mode of goodness, one remains in ignorance and passion, which are the cause of demoniac life. Those in the modes of passion and ignorance deride the scriptures, deride the holy man, and deride the proper understanding of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They disobey the instructions of the spiritual master, and they do not care for the regulations of the scriptures. In spite of hearing the glories of devotional service, they are not attracted. Thus they manufacture their own way of elevation. These are some of the defects of human society which lead to the demoniac status of life. If, however, one is able to be guided by a proper and bona fide spiritual master, who can lead one to the path of elevation, to the higher stage, then one’s life becomes successful.
(CC M 19.152) SEED OF BHAKTI
“When a person receives the seed of devotional service, he should take care of it by becoming a gardener and sowing the seed in his heart. If he waters the seed gradually by the process of śravaṇa and kīrtana [hearing and chanting], the seed will begin to sprout.
To live with devotees or to live in a temple means to associate with the śravaṇa-kīrtana process. Sometimes neophyte devotees think that they can continue the śravaṇa-kīrtana process without worshiping the Deity, but the execution of such śravaṇa-kīrtana is meant for highly developed devotees like Haridāsa Ṭhākura, who engaged in the śravaṇa-kīrtana process without worshiping the Deity. However, one should not falsely imitate Haridāsa Ṭhākura and abandon Deity worship just to try to engage in śravaṇa-kīrtana. This is not possible for neophyte devotees.
GURU KRIPA
The word guru-prasāda indicates that the spiritual master is very merciful in bestowing the boon of devotional service upon the disciple. That is the best possible gift the spiritual master has to offer. Those with a background of pious life are eligible to receive life’s supreme benefit, and to bestow this benefit, the Supreme Personality of Godhead sends His representative to impart His mercy. endowed with the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the spiritual master distributes the mercy to those who are elevated and pious. Thus the spiritual master trains his disciples to render devotional service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is called guru-kṛpā.
KRSNA’s MERCY
It is kṛṣṇa-prasāda, Kṛṣṇa’s mercy, that He sends a bona fide spiritual master to the deserving disciple. By the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, one meets the bona fide spiritual master, and by the mercy of the spiritual master, the disciple is fully trained in the devotional service of the Lord.
BHAKTI-LATĀ-BĪJA MEANS “THE SEED OF DEVOTIONAL SERVICE.”
Everything has an original cause, or seed. For any idea, program, plan or device, there is first of all the contemplation of the plan, and that is called the bīja, or seed. The methods, rules and regulations by which one is perfectly trained in devotional service constitute the bhakti-latā-bīja, or seed of devotional service. This bhakti-latā-bīja is received from the spiritual master by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. Other seeds, called anyābhilāṣa-bīja, include karma-bīja and jñāna-bīja.
THE BHAKTI-LATĀ-BĪJA CAN BE RECEIVED ONLY THROUGH THE MERCY OF THE SPIRITUAL MASTER.
If one is not fortunate enough to receive the bhakti-latā-bīja from the spiritual master, he instead cultivates such seeds as karma-bīja, jñāna-bīja, or political, social or philanthropic bījas. However, the bhakti-latā-bīja is different from these other bījas. The bhakti-latā-bīja can be received only through the mercy of the spiritual master. Therefore one has to satisfy the spiritual master to get the bhakti-latā-bīja (yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ). The bhakti-latā-bīja is the origin of devotional service. Unless one satisfies the spiritual master, he gets the bīja, or root cause, of karma, jñāna and yoga without the benefit of devotional service.
But one who is faithful to his spiritual master gets the bhakti-latā-bīja. This bhakti-latā-bīja is received when one is initiated by the bona fide spiritual master. After receiving the spiritual master’s mercy, one must repeat his instructions, and this is called śravaṇa-kīrtana — hearing and chanting. One who has not properly heard from the spiritual master or who does not follow the regulative principles is not fit for chanting (kīrtana). This is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā (2.41): vyavasāyātmikā buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana. One who has not listened carefully to the instructions of the spiritual master is unfit for chanting or for preaching the cult of devotional service. One has to water the bhakti-latā-bīja by receiving instructions from the spiritual master.
Sravanam and Kirtanam are very important. SP said it has to be done 3 times a day. It is extremely important for us to progress in devotional service.