KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 3.1.45:
- Whenever there is any trouble in the administration of the innumerable planets in different universes, the rulers pray for an appearance, and the Lord appears.
- He also appears for the sake of His pure unalloyed devotees.
- The surrendered rulers and the pure devotees are always strictly under the control of the Lord, and they are never disobedient to the desires of the Lord. The Lord is therefore always attentive to them.
- The purpose of pilgrimages is to remember the Lord constantly, and therefore the Lord is known as tīrtha-kīrti.
- Chanting the glories of the Lord invokes the personal presence of the Lord. Any time or anywhere pure devotees meet and chant the glories of the Lord, the Lord is present without any doubt.
- It is said by the Lord Himself that He always stays where His pure devotees chant His glories.
- Rupanuga – “how the simpler faith of a real Christian, that is not so advanced in knowledge of the Supreme Person, differs in ecstasy or the end result of God-consciousness,”
- Srila Prabhupada – There is no ecstasy in such simple faith; there cannot be any ecstasy. The Christian faith as it is now exhibited, they have simply a faint idea of God as order-supplier.
- We want ecstasy, it does not matter one feels it in Christian church or in other church. But, one who feels ecstasy in Krishna Consciousness or God-consciousness, he finishes his ecstasy in material enjoyment—that is the test.
- This ecstasy doesn’t depend on the intelligence or non-intelligence; it is spontaneous response, without any cause. If one is fortunate to have such ecstasy, it is to be understood that his life is successful. We do not advocate any sectarian religion. We are concerned to invoke our dormant love for God.
- Rupanuga – “if in the Vaikunthas ecstatic love between Lord Narayana and His devotees and Lord Krishna Consciousness and His devotees on Krishna Loka is qualitatively the same, then what is the advantage of following the path of Krishna Consciousness, whose philosophy austerity is difficult to understand?”
- Srila Prabhupada – So Krishna Consciousness includes Vaikuntha consciousness, but Vaikuntha consciousness does not include Krishna Consciousness.
- Those who are strictly following the rules and regulations of Vaisnava activities, they are promoted to Vaikuntha lokas. But those who have developed a spontaneous love for Krishna, they are promoted to the Krishna Loka.
- The living example for much spontaneous love are exhibited by the Gopis and inhabitants of Vrindaban. We can learn this from Srimad-Bhagavatam how much they love Krishna spontaneously.
SB 3.1.45 – TRANSLATION
O my friend, please, therefore, chant the glories of the Lord, who is meant to be glorified in the places of pilgrimage. He is unborn, and yet He appears by His causeless mercy upon the surrendered rulers of all parts of the universe. Only for their interest did He appear in the family of His unalloyed devotees the Yadus.
There are innumerable rulers all over the universe in different varieties of planets: the sun-god in the sun planet, the moon-god in the moon planet, Indra in the heavenly planet, Vāyu, Varuṇa, and those in the Brahmaloka planet, where Lord Brahmā is living. All are obedient servants of the Lord. Whenever there is any trouble in the administration of the innumerable planets in different universes, the rulers pray for an appearance, and the Lord appears. The Bhāgavatam (1.3.28) has already confirmed this in the following verse:
ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ
kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam
indrāri-vyākulaṁ lokaṁ
mṛḍayanti yuge yuge
In every millennium, whenever there is any trouble for the obedient rulers, the Lord appears. He also appears for the sake of His pure unalloyed devotees. The surrendered rulers and the pure devotees are always strictly under the control of the Lord, and they are never disobedient to the desires of the Lord. The Lord is therefore always attentive to them.
The purpose of pilgrimages is to remember the Lord constantly, and therefore the Lord is known as tīrtha-kīrti. The purpose of going to a place of pilgrimage is to get the chance to glorify the Lord. Even today, although times have changed, there are still pilgrimage sites in India. For example, in Mathurā and Vṛndāvana, where we had a chance to stay, people are awake from early in the morning at 4 A.M. up until nighttime and are constantly engaged, some way or other, in chanting the holy glories of the Lord. The beauty of such a pilgrimage site is that automatically one remembers the holy glories of the Lord. His name, fame, quality, form, pastimes and entourage are all identical to the Lord, and therefore chanting the glories of the Lord invokes the personal presence of the Lord. Any time or anywhere pure devotees meet and chant the glories of the Lord, the Lord is present without any doubt. It is said by the Lord Himself that He always stays where His pure devotees chant His glories.
Ultimate instruction of Vidura – Chant the glories of the lord.
BG and SB are specifically meant for the rulers of the lord. They have lot of control over the masses of the world. If the rulers take it up.. Then there will be very fast progres of KC.. One time one ruler Ashoka became buddhist overnight and almost most of the country became buddhists.. Eventually Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya and Caitanya MahaPrabhu came and the sanatana dharma came back..
MOST IMP Verses which prove that Krsna as the Supreme personality of Godhead..
BG 10.8 Aham sarvasya prabhavo..
BG Eta ca indrastu svayam…
Others –
BG 8th chapter
BS – isvara parama Krsna..
We should learn atleast those 3 verses and use them when anyone questions the divinity of Krsna….
For anyone desiring to have a personal relationship with Krsna.. Law of material nature..
If we do not surrender to Krsna then we are violating the law..
Letter to: Rupanuga Dated: July 3 1968 Location: Montreal
Regarding your questions, “how the simpler faith of a real Christian, that is not so advanced in knowledge of the Supreme Person, differs in ecstasy or the end result of God-consciousness,” (1) and persons “a devotee who has experienced some ecstasy in the company of Christians suggests that if there be no quantitative or qualitative difference between the two forms of Kirtana, then the simpler philosophy of Christianity has the advantage, and that our philosophy is for the intelligent class of men, true, but of what advantage is such intelligence if the end is the same?” (2) There is no ecstasy in such simple faith; there cannot be any ecstasy. The Christian faith as it is now exhibited, they have simply a faint idea of God as order-supplier. Certainly God is the Origin, Source of all supplies, and either God-conscious persons or demons, everybody is enjoying the general supplies made by God. It is just like a rich father maintains all kinds of children; some of them may be a highly qualified, some of them are rascals. The father does not mind whether a child is rascal or qualified, but out of his love for all of them he supplies the essentials for the children. Out of such many children, if someone of them feels grateful to the father, and thus develops love for the father, as it is expected, his position is better than the other children. And the father is also endeared to such a devoted child. Similarly, God is equal to everyone, but one who developed love of Godhead, and has practically employed oneself in the service of the Lord, he is in real touch and favor of the Lord. That is the difference. (2) We want ecstasy, it does not matter one feels it in Christian church or in other church. But, one who feels ecstasy in Krishna Consciousness or God-consciousness, he finishes his ecstasy in material enjoyment—that is the test. One cannot say he is feeling enjoyment—that is the test. One cannot say he is feeling ecstasy in some company, and at the same time, he is trying to take advantage of material sense gratification. This is not possible. This ecstasy doesn’t depend on the intelligence or non-intelligence; it is spontaneous response, without any cause. If one is fortunate to have such ecstasy, it is to be understood that his life is successful. We do not advocate any sectarian religion. We are concerned to invoke our dormant love for God. Any method that helps us in reaching such platform is welcome, but we find practically that by chanting Hare Krishna, many students have come to the platform of ecstasy. But we have hardly found anyone to come to that stage simply by following the religious rituals; that is the difference. So, Krishna Consciousness is meant for the most intelligent class of men.
Speaking in tongues
Focus of prayer is on the order supplier – asking for material support ,
saint in armenia writing poems asking about forgiveness – extremely renounced and always thinking of Jesus.. There is no ecstasy in it..
As we advance in KC we reduce material needs.. Dancing, singing..
In KC there is no material cause for the ecstasy..
Your question, “if in the Vaikunthas ecstatic love between Lord Narayana and His devotees and Lord Krishna Consciousness and His devotees on Krishna Loka is qualitatively the same, then what is the advantage of following the path of Krishna Consciousness, whose philosophy austerity is difficult to understand?” Krishna Consciousness philosophy includes the whole Vaisnava philosophy. When we speak Krishna, the very Word means, Rama, Nrsimha, Varaha, and all other similar expansions and incarnations. So Krishna Consciousness includes Vaikuntha consciousness, but Vaikuntha consciousness does not include Krishna Consciousness. Those who are strictly following the rules and regulations of Vaisnava activities, they are promoted to Vaikuntha lokas. But those who have developed a spontaneous love for Krishna, they are promoted to the Krishna Loka. Therefore, although Krishna Consciousness includes Vaikuntha consciousness, pure Krishna Consciousness is spontaneous love for Krishna without any regulative principles. The idea can be explained that a young boy or a young girl are spontaneously attracted, without following any regulative principles previously. When one develops such spontaneous love for God, that is called pure Krishna Consciousness. In our conditioned life, we have forgotten our relationship with God, but by regulative principles, we can make alert the inert activities. Just like a rheumatic crippled man is gradually elevated by some bodily exercises. Similarly, the regulative principles are to make us habituated to our dormant service attitude, but when that is mature, it becomes spontaneous, and that is pure Krishna Consciousness. And such highly elevated Consciousness makes one eligible to enter into the Krishna Loka. The living example for much spontaneous love are exhibited by the Gopis and inhabitants of Vrindaban. We can learn this from Srimad-Bhagavatam how much they love Krishna spontaneously.