KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.7.16:
- The Lord resides in His Vaikuṇṭha planet. No one can estimate how far away this planet is situated. Anyone trying to reach that planet by airships or by mindships, traveling for millions of years, will find it still unknown.
- Neither the airship nor the mindship has access to the kingdom of God in the Vaikuṇṭhaloka, situated far beyond the material sky.
- How was it possible for the prayers of the elephant to be heard from such an unlimitedly distant place, and how could the Lord at once appear on the spot?
- These things cannot be calculated by human imagination. All this was possible by the unlimited power of the Lord, and therefore the Lord is described here as aprameya, for not even the best human brain can estimate His powers and potencies by mathematical calculation.
- The Lord can hear from such a distant place, He can eat from there, and He can appear simultaneously in all places at a moment’s notice. Such is the omnipotency of the Lord.
- Gajendra was formerly King Indradyumna, and somehow or other in his next life he became King of the elephants. Now Gajendra was in danger, and although he was in a body other than that of a human being, he remembered the stotra he had chanted in his previous life.
- Even if a person engaged in devotional service falls down, he is not degraded, but is placed in a position in which he will in due course of time remember the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- To enable one to achieve perfection, Kṛṣṇa gives one the chance to remember Him again.
- It is imperative, that all devotees in Kṛṣṇa consciousness practice chanting some mantra. Certainly one should chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, which is the mahā-mantra, or great mantra, and also one should practice chanting cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu or the Nṛsiṁha strotra (ito nṛsiṁhaḥ parato nṛsiṁho yato yato yāmi tato nṛsiṁhaḥ).
- Every devotee should practice in order to chant some mantra perfectly so that even though he may be imperfect in spiritual consciousness in this life, in his next life he will not forget Kṛṣṇa consciousness, even if he becomes an animal.
- Even if there is some falldown, practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness never goes in vain.
- We should not forget the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra under any circumstances. It will help us in the greatest danger, as we find in the life of Gajendra.
- A devotee who engages in the service of the Supreme Lord and who constantly thinks of Him should never be considered to have a material body. It is therefore enjoined, guruṣu nara-matiḥ: one should stop thinking of the spiritual master as an ordinary human being with a material body
- Atheists think that devotees foolishly worship a stone statue as God and an ordinary man as the guru.
- “Let us therefore offer our obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by whose mercy so-called material things also become spiritual when they are engaged in spiritual activity.” – This is the alternate translation of BG 4.24
- The Absolute Truth covered by māyā is called matter. Matter dovetailed for the cause of the Absolute Truth regains its spiritual quality.
- We Learnt 2 important things today – Even if one takes birth as an animal after being a devotee in human body.. It is possible to be able to remember the prayers one said previouslyIt is possible to transform material things into spirit by the process of engaging in devotional service.. These are the unique qualities attained by engaging in devotional service. Therefore it is impossible to be a loser in KC.
SB 2.7.16 TRANSLATION:
The Personality of Godhead, after hearing the elephant’s plea, felt that the elephant needed His immediate help, for he was in great distress. Thus at once the Lord appeared there on the wings of the king of birds, Garuḍa, fully equipped with His weapon, the wheel [cakra]. With the wheel He cut to pieces the mouth of the crocodile to save the elephant, and He delivered the elephant by lifting him by his trunk.
The Lord resides in His Vaikuṇṭha planet. No one can estimate how far away this planet is situated. It is said, however, that anyone trying to reach that planet by airships or by mindships, traveling for millions of years, will find it still unknown. Modern scientists have invented airships which are material, and the yogīs make a still finer material attempt to travel by mindships. The yogīs can reach any distant place very quickly with the help of mindships. But neither the airship nor the mindship has access to the kingdom of God in the Vaikuṇṭhaloka, situated far beyond the material sky. Since this is the situation, how was it possible for the prayers of the elephant to be heard from such an unlimitedly distant place, and how could the Lord at once appear on the spot? These things cannot be calculated by human imagination. All this was possible by the unlimited power of the Lord, and therefore the Lord is described here as aprameya, for not even the best human brain can estimate His powers and potencies by mathematical calculation. The Lord can hear from such a distant place, He can eat from there, and He can appear simultaneously in all places at a moment’s notice. Such is the omnipotency of the Lord.
SB 8.3.1
Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: Thereafter, the King of the elephants, Gajendra, fixed his mind in his heart with perfect intelligence and chanted a mantra which he had learned in his previous birth as Indradyumna and which he remembered by the grace of Kṛṣṇa.
SP says – Every devotee should function within his own element or function. Prabhu datta desh. For the elephant it is the land. Water is the prabhudatta desh of the crocodile. The longer the elephant fought in the water he became weak, the crocodile became stronger. Prabhupada we should find a situation that is comfortable and natural for us.. That way we develop strength.. If we put ourselves in difficult situations to practice KC then we should move away from there as our sustainable spiritual progress may hinder.. For example if we go to a place where all the wars happen it will be hard. One should stay in their element. Just like people move closer to the temple to make it easier to participate in KC activities and progress. The idea is that everything is available easily if you are near the temple if you want it. Of Course there are people who are around the temple but never come to the temple except for Janmashtami..
We should live in a place where it is relatively easy to come to the temple – daily darshan,.. Classes..
In these verses it is assured that even if a person engaged in devotional service falls down, he is not degraded, but is placed in a position in which he will in due course of time remember the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As explained later, Gajendra was formerly King Indradyumna, and somehow or other in his next life he became King of the elephants. Now Gajendra was in danger, and although he was in a body other than that of a human being, he remembered the stotra he had chanted in his previous life.
This is unbelievable, amazing.. This is the mercy of the lord.. Any progress made in KC is never lost even if the human body is not there..
Yatate ca tato bhūyaḥ saṁsiddhau kuru-nandana. To enable one to achieve perfection, Kṛṣṇa gives one the chance to remember Him again. This is proved here, for although the King of the elephants, Gajendra, was put in danger, this was a chance for him to remember his previous devotional activities so that he could immediately be rescued by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
You are never a loser when you are in KC..
BG 2.40
nehābhikrama-nāśo ’sti
pratyavāyo na vidyate
sv-alpam apy asya dharmasya
trāyate mahato bhayāt
In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.
Most dangerous type of fear – losing human body and getting an animal body…
Even though you are in the animal body, Krsna will help you remember who youwere and what you were ..
There is this French philosopher.. Blaze Pascal.. A very smart guys… Belief in God is flipping a coin. He said if you dont believe in God then the chance that God exists is 50-50.. If you do not believe in God, then you live a life of sins.. then you are 2 time loser.. If there is God.
If you believe in God.. then you live a pious life and when you die you are 2 times winner..
It is imperative, therefore, that all devotees in Kṛṣṇa consciousness practice chanting some mantra. Certainly one should chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, which is the mahā-mantra, or great mantra, and also one should practice chanting cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu or the Nṛsiṁha strotra (ito nṛsiṁhaḥ parato nṛsiṁho yato yato yāmi tato nṛsiṁhaḥ).
It is impossible to be a loser in KC..
Every devotee should practice in order to chant some mantra perfectly so that even though he may be imperfect in spiritual consciousness in this life, in his next life he will not forget Kṛṣṇa consciousness, even if he becomes an animal. Of course, a devotee should try to perfect his Kṛṣṇa consciousness in this life, for simply by understanding Kṛṣṇa and His instructions, after giving up this body one can return home, back to Godhead. Even if there is some falldown, practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness never goes in vain. For example, Ajāmila, in his boyhood, practiced chanting the name of Nārāyaṇa under the direction of his father, but later, in his youth, he fell down and became a drunkard, woman-hunter, rogue and thief. Nonetheless, because of chanting the name of Nārāyaṇa for the purpose of calling his son, whom he had named Nārāyaṇa, he became advanced, even though he was involved in sinful activities. Therefore, we should not forget the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra under any circumstances. It will help us in the greatest danger, as we find in the life of Gajendra.
We are so lucky to learn this today.. We need to celebrate today. We need to come to the class everyday to learn..
SB 8.3.2
The King of the elephants, Gajendra, said: I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Person, Vāsudeva [oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya]. Because of Him this material body acts due to the presence of spirit, and He is therefore the root cause of everyone. He is worshipable for such exalted persons as Brahmā and Śiva, and He has entered the heart of every living being. Let me meditate upon Him.
In this verse the words etac cid-ātmakam are very important. The material body certainly consists only of material elements, but when one awakens to Kṛṣṇa conscious understanding, the body is no longer material but spiritual. The material body is meant for sense enjoyment, whereas the spiritual body engages in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Therefore, a devotee who engages in the service of the Supreme Lord and who constantly thinks of Him should never be considered to have a material body. It is therefore enjoined, guruṣu nara-matiḥ: one should stop thinking of the spiritual master as an ordinary human being with a material body. Arcye viṣṇau śilā-dhīḥ: everyone knows that the Deity in the temple is made of stone, but to think that the Deity is merely stone is an offense. Similarly, to think that the body of the spiritual master consists of material ingredients is offensive. Atheists think that devotees foolishly worship a stone statue as God and an ordinary man as the guru. The fact is, however, that by the grace of Kṛṣṇa’s omnipotence, the so-called stone statue of the Deity is directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the body of the spiritual master is directly spiritual. A pure devotee who is engaged in unalloyed devotional service should be understood to be situated on the transcendental platform (sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate). “Let us therefore offer our obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by whose mercy so-called material things also become spiritual when they are engaged in spiritual activity.” – This is a paraphrase of the BG4.24 “A person who is fully absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is sure to attain the spiritual kingdom because of his full contribution to spiritual activities, in which the consummation is absolute and that which is offered is of the same spiritual nature.”
If we do not read the purports we will not understand what KC is all about. Bonafide Guru – hearing the words spoken by Krsna, repeated by Acharyas and explained by the guru.
BG 4.24 – The Lord is spiritual, and the rays of His transcendental body are called brahma-jyotir, His spiritual effulgence. Everything that exists is situated in that brahma-jyotir, but when the jyotir is covered by illusion (māyā) or sense gratification, it is called material. This material veil can be removed at once by Kṛṣṇa consciousness; thus the offering for the sake of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the consuming agent of such an offering or contribution, the process of consumption, the contributor and the result are – all combined together – Brahman, or the Absolute Truth. The Absolute Truth covered by māyā is called matter. Matter dovetailed for the cause of the Absolute Truth regains its spiritual quality. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the process of converting the illusory consciousness into Brahman, or the Supreme. When the mind is fully absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, it is said to be in samādhi, or trance. Anything done in such transcendental consciousness is called yajña, or sacrifice for the Absolute. In that condition of spiritual consciousness, the contributor, the contribution, the consumption, the performer or leader of the performance and the result or ultimate gain – everything – becomes one in the Absolute, the Supreme Brahman. That is the method of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
The alternate translation of 4.24 – “Let us therefore offer our obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by whose mercy so-called material things also become spiritual when they are engaged in spiritual activity.”
We Learnt 2 important things today –
- Even if one takes birth as an animal after being a devotee in human body.. It is possible to be able to remember the prayers one said previously
- It is possible to transform material things into spirit by the process of engaging in devotional service..
These are the unique qualities attained by engaging in devotional service. Therefore it is impossible to be a loser in KC.
Q – Be in a place where is comfortable or convenient to progress in KC.
Example – One friend of Maharaj has a 7/11 store and said he realized it is a horrible thing, after listening to your lectures..