KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.7.9:
- According to the system of varṇāśrama-dharma, the pious and learned brāhmaṇas were the natural guardians of society.
- The kings or the kṣatriya administrators would always consult the council of learned brāhmaṇas. They were never autocratic monarchs.
- The scriptures like Manu-saṁhitā and other authorized books of the great sages were guiding principles for ruling the subjects, and there was no need for less intelligent persons to manufacture a code of law in the name of democracy.
- The standard welfare codes are already there in the Manu-saṁhitā and other Vedic literatures.
- The learned brāhmaṇas would advise the king in terms of those standard books of knowledge and with reference to the particular situation of time and place. Such brāhmaṇas were not paid servants of the king, and therefore they had the strength to dictate to the king on the principles of scriptures.
- Mahārāja Vena did not adhere to this principle of ruling, and he disobeyed the learned brāhmaṇas. The broad-minded brāhmaṇas were not self-interested, but looked to the interest of complete welfare for all the subjects. They wanted to chastise King Vena for his misconduct and so prayed to the Almighty Lord as well as cursed the king.
- Long life, obedience, good reputation, righteousness, prospects of being promoted to higher planets, and blessings of great personalities are all vanquished simply by disobedience to a great soul.
- One should strictly try to follow in the footsteps of great souls. The constitutional position of the living entity is to carry out the order of the superior.
- Actually, every living entity is intended to abide by the dictation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is seated in everyone’s heart as Paramātmā
- One has to abide by superior dictation. When one’s mind is fixed on the superior nature, he has no alternative but to follow the dictation of the Supreme.
- For one who takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness directly, perfect surrender to the dictation of the Lord follows automatically.
- One should act according to the order of Kṛṣṇa. This is a very important point. That order of Kṛṣṇa comes through disciplic succession from the bona fide spiritual master. Therefore the spiritual master’s order should be taken as the prime duty of life. If one gets a bona fide spiritual master and acts according to his direction, then one’s perfection of life in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is guaranteed.
- Within the heart of every living being the Lord Himself as the Supersoul (Paramātmā) becomes the spiritual master, and from without He becomes the spiritual master in the shape of scriptures, saints and the initiator spiritual master.
- Mahārāja Pṛthu, the incarnation of God, descended by the prayer of the brāhmaṇas to rectify the disorders on earth. He produced all kinds of crops. But, at the same time, he performed the duty of a son who delivers his father (Vena) from hellish conditions.
SB 2.7.9 TRANSLATION:
Mahārāja Vena went astray from the path of righteousness, and the brāhmaṇas chastised him by the thunderbolt curse. By this King Vena was burnt with his good deeds and opulence and was en route to hell. The Lord, by His causeless mercy, descended as his son, by the name of Pṛthu, delivered the condemned King Vena from hell, and exploited the earth by drawing all kinds of crops as produce.
Brahmanas
According to the system of varṇāśrama-dharma, the pious and learned brāhmaṇas were the natural guardians of society. The brāhmaṇas, by their learned labor of love, would instruct the administrator-kings how to rule the country in complete righteousness, and thus the process would go on as a perfect welfare state.
Ksatriyas
The kings or the kṣatriya administrators would always consult the council of learned brāhmaṇas. They were never autocratic monarchs. The scriptures like Manu-saṁhitā and other authorized books of the great sages were guiding principles for ruling the subjects, and there was no need for less intelligent persons to manufacture a code of law in the name of democracy. The less intelligent mass of people have very little knowledge of their own welfare, as a child has very little knowledge of its future well-being. The experienced father guides the innocent child towards the path of progress, and the childlike mass of people need similar guidance. The standard welfare codes are already there in the Manu-saṁhitā and other Vedic literatures. The learned brāhmaṇas would advise the king in terms of those standard books of knowledge and with reference to the particular situation of time and place. Such brāhmaṇas were not paid servants of the king, and therefore they had the strength to dictate to the king on the principles of scriptures. This system continued even up to the time of Mahārāja Candragupta, and the brāhmaṇa Cāṇakya was his unpaid prime minister.
We cannot openly speak the truth if we are employed by someone and are taking money from them.. One example of a brahmana who never took any money – Vidura – Begging, teaching scriptures,, going to the fields and harvesting…
We have to be very careful in what we do in Krsna Consciousness. We cannot speculate.. We have to follow the maha jana yean gatha pantha.. The female guru initiation issue.. The solution is female gurus cannot initiate they can be the siksha gurus.. The truth of KC is hidden within the heart of a pure devotee. The only way to understand is to follow the path of the pure devotee.. Neither Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur… Bhakti vinod thakur,, goswamis.. How can we do that today.. We cannot do anything that prabhupda did not do.. The issues should be resolved based on the principle –
Dharmasya.. mahajan a yena gatha pantha..
Mahārāja Vena did not adhere to this principle of ruling, and he disobeyed the learned brāhmaṇas. The broad-minded brāhmaṇas were not self-interested, but looked to the interest of complete welfare for all the subjects. They wanted to chastise King Vena for his misconduct and so prayed to the Almighty Lord as well as cursed the king.
Long life, obedience, good reputation, righteousness, prospects of being promoted to higher planets, and blessings of great personalities are all vanquished simply by disobedience to a great soul.
When we revolt against and refuse to follow the bonafide instruction.. We lose all the qualities we acquired this far, Whenever there is deviation. Then there is calamity.
One should strictly try to follow in the footsteps of great souls. Mahārāja Vena became a king, undoubtedly due to his past deeds of righteousness, but because he willfully neglected the great souls, he was punished by the loss of all the above-mentioned acquisitions. In the Vāmana Purāṇa the history of Mahārāja Vena and his degradation are fully described. When Mahārāja Pṛthu heard about the hellish condition of his father, Vena, who was suffering from leprosy in the family of a mleccha, he at once brought the former king to Kurukṣetra for his purification and relieved him of all sufferings.
These are possible things if we follow KC.. they are impossible if we do not follow KC>
Mahārāja Pṛthu, the incarnation of God, descended by the prayer of the brāhmaṇas to rectify the disorders on earth. He produced all kinds of crops. But, at the same time, he performed the duty of a son who delivers his father from hellish conditions. The word putra means one who delivers from hell, called put. That is a worthy son
Vedic system is the perfect way to organize the society and when it is organized properly it is called ideal welfare state. One time during a class someone said KC is not a welfare activity. SP corrected saying KC is the best welfare activity. Society organized according to Daivi Varnasrama dharma is the perfect society with all the welfare activities. All ashrams and varnas make spiritual progress without any distinction and will go back to godhead even in this life time provided they follow the dictates of the authorities and cooperate for Daivi varnasrama. That is what is called the constitutional position of the living entity,. It is explained in BG 6.6.
BG 6.6
bandhur ātmātmanas tasya
yenātmaivātmanā jitaḥ
anātmanas tu śatrutve
vartetātmaiva śatru-vat
For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest enemy.
The purpose of practicing eightfold yoga is to control the mind in order to make it a friend in discharging the human mission. Unless the mind is controlled, the practice of yoga (for show) is simply a waste of time. One who cannot control his mind lives always with the greatest enemy, and thus his life and its mission are spoiled. The constitutional position of the living entity is to carry out the order of the superior. As long as one’s mind remains an unconquered enemy, one has to serve the dictations of lust, anger, avarice, illusion, etc. But when the mind is conquered, one voluntarily agrees to abide by the dictation of the Personality of Godhead, who is situated within the heart of everyone as Paramātmā. Real yoga practice entails meeting the Paramātmā within the heart and then following His dictation. For one who takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness directly, perfect surrender to the dictation of the Lord follows automatically.
How many times he used the word dictation in this purport… (4 times)
BG 6.7
For one who has conquered the mind, the Supersoul is already reached, for he has attained tranquillity. To such a man happiness and distress, heat and cold, honor and dishonor are all the same.
Actually, every living entity is intended to abide by the dictation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is seated in everyone’s heart as Paramātmā. When the mind is misled by the external, illusory energy, one becomes entangled in material activities. Therefore, as soon as one’s mind is controlled through one of the yoga systems, one should be considered to have already reached the destination. One has to abide by superior dictation. When one’s mind is fixed on the superior nature, he has no alternative but to follow the dictation of the Supreme. The mind must admit some superior dictation and follow it. The effect of controlling the mind is that one automatically follows the dictation of the Paramātmā, or Supersoul. Because this transcendental position is at once achieved by one who is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the devotee of the Lord is unaffected by the dualities of material existence, namely distress and happiness, cold and heat, etc. This state is practical samādhi, or absorption in the Supreme.
Here dictation is used 5 times.. This was of course King Vena’s problem.. He voluntarily rejected the dictation of the brahmanas. The brahmanas are the leaders of the society, they dictate what the code and the ksatriyas have to follow. As he did not follow the dictation he was killed and then they produced a son as there was no one to rule.. The purity of the Brahmanas was respected and the instructions were followed.
One has to follow the dictation of the super soul in his heart. How do we know if what we are hearing in our mind is bonafide or not. It is described in 18.57
BG 18.57
One should act according to the order of Kṛṣṇa. This is a very important point. That order of Kṛṣṇa comes through disciplic succession from the bona fide spiritual master. Therefore the spiritual master’s order should be taken as the prime duty of life. If one gets a bona fide spiritual master and acts according to his direction, then one’s perfection of life in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is guaranteed.
Ofcourse there are siksha and diksha gurus and they are equal..
BG 18.58
If you become conscious of Me, you will pass over all the obstacles of conditioned life by My grace. If, however, you do not work in such consciousness but act through false ego, not hearing Me, you will be lost.
This is how we know if is actually the dictation of the super soul… has to be validated by the spiritual master
One should note very carefully that one who is not active in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is losing himself in the material whirlpool, in the ocean of birth and death. No conditioned soul actually knows what is to be done and what is not to be done, but a person who acts in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is free to act because everything is prompted by Kṛṣṇa from within and confirmed by the spiritual master.
SB 1.7.5
Within the heart of every living being the Lord Himself as the Supersoul (Paramātmā) becomes the spiritual master, and from without He becomes the spiritual master in the shape of scriptures, saints and the initiator spiritual master. This is still more explicitly explained in the next śloka.
Our constitutional position is always to be dictated by the Supreme and the parampara. Now you know if there is a whimsical leader, who speculates who makes up things not based on things in scripture and insists people to follow, there is no reason to follow a person like that. The reason Brahmans were able to dictate is they never accepted a penny. They had the vow of poverty.. They lived very simply, therefore they can speak the truth.
There are many people who control people with money.. That will not work. We train people by an example.. We can control people by the example of purity, generosity, affection.. .. by sastric evidence.. First become perfect and then preach.. We have to be very strict in following the rules and regulations.. Shravanam.. Kirtanam..