KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.10.20 TRANSLATION:
- The idea is that the living entity cannot do anything independently. He can simply think of doing something independently, but he cannot act independently.
- This independence in thinking is there by the grace of the Lord, but the thinking can be given shape by the grace of the Lord, and therefore the common saying is that man proposes and God disposes.
- The whole explanation is on the subject of the absolute dependence of the living entities and absolute independence of the Supreme Lord.
- Less intelligent persons claiming to be on an equal level with God must first prove themselves to be absolute and independent, and then they must substantiate their claim to being one with God.
- Arjuna has addressed Lord Kṛṣṇa as Govinda because Kṛṣṇa is the object of all pleasures for cows and the senses. By using this significant word, Arjuna indicates that Kṛṣṇa should understand what will satisfy Arjuna’s senses.
- But Govinda is not meant for satisfying our senses. If we try to satisfy the senses of Govinda, however, then automatically our own senses are satisfied.
- Materially, everyone wants to satisfy his senses, and he wants God to be the order supplier for such satisfaction. The Lord will satisfy the senses of the living entities as much as they deserve, but not to the extent that they may covet.
- But when one takes the opposite way – namely, when one tries to satisfy the senses of Govinda without desiring to satisfy one’s own senses – then by the grace of Govinda all desires of the living entity are satisfied.
- India’s wise men of yore easily realized that the threefold miseries we humans are condemned to suffer can never be mitigated by the political condition controlling the country—whether foreign rule or freedom from it.
- At the dawn of modern history, the Armageddon fought in India over a political question lasted only eighteen days. On that historic battlefield the problem of human suffering and its permanent solution was discussed, and this discussion was compiled in the form of the Bhagavad-gitä.
- It is impossible for anyone to surmount the two-pronged attack of daivé mäyä—that is, her covering potency and her throwing potency. The more we try to conquer this divine energy, the more powerfully she defeats us by exciting us through the mode of passion and punishing us with the threefold 6 miseries, culminating in all-devouring death.
- Despite repeatedly tasting defeat at the hands of divine energy, the evil forces cannot understand why “mankind cannot have any rest.” Yet in the Bhagavad-gitä the Supreme Personality of Godhead clearly explains this.
SB 2.10.20 TRANSLATION:
Thereafter, when the supreme puruṣa desired to smell odors, the nostrils and respiration were generated, the nasal instrument and odors came into existence, and the controlling deity of air, carrying smell, also became manifested.
The nasal instrument, odor, and the controlling deity of air, smelling, etc., all became manifested simultaneously when the Lord desired to smell. The Vedic mantras confirm this statement in the Upaniṣads’ statement that everything is first desired by the Supreme before the subordinate living entity can act upon it. The living entity can see only when the Lord sees, the living entity can smell when the Lord smells, and so on. The idea is that the living entity cannot do anything independently. He can simply think of doing something independently, but he cannot act independently. This independence in thinking is there by the grace of the Lord, but the thinking can be given shape by the grace of the Lord, a nd therefore the common saying is that man proposes and God disposes. The whole explanation is on the subject of the absolute dependence of the living entities and absolute independence of the Supreme Lord. Less intelligent persons claiming to be on an equal level with God must first prove themselves to be absolute and independent, and then they must substantiate their claim to being one with God.
Every desire we have we cannot get satisfied, our karma plays into picture.
Very important to understand this about desire –
BG 1.32-35
Arjuna has addressed Lord Kṛṣṇa as Govinda because Kṛṣṇa is the object of all pleasures for cows and the senses. By using this significant word, Arjuna indicates that Kṛṣṇa should understand what will satisfy Arjuna’s senses. But Govinda is not meant for satisfying our senses. If we try to satisfy the senses of Govinda, however, then automatically our own senses are satisfied. Materially, everyone wants to satisfy his senses, and he wants God to be the order supplier for such satisfaction. The Lord will satisfy the senses of the living entities as much as they deserve, but not to the extent that they may covet. But when one takes the opposite way – namely, when one tries to satisfy the senses of Govinda without desiring to satisfy one’s own senses – then by the grace of Govinda all desires of the living entity are satisfied. Arjuna’s deep affection for community and family members is exhibited here partly due to his natural compassion for them. He is therefore not prepared to fight. Everyone wants to show his opulence to friends and relatives, but Arjuna fears that all his relatives and friends will be killed on the battlefield and he will be unable to share his opulence after victory. This is a typical calculation of material life. The transcendental life, however, is different. Since a devotee wants to satisfy the desires of the Lord, he can, Lord willing, accept all kinds of opulence for the service of the Lord, and if the Lord is not willing, he should not accept a farthing. Arjuna did not want to kill his relatives, and if there were any need to kill them, he desired that Kṛṣṇa kill them personally. At this point he did not know that Kṛṣṇa had already killed them before their coming into the battlefield and that he was only to become an instrument for Kṛṣṇa. This fact is disclosed in following chapters. As a natural devotee of the Lord, Arjuna did not like to retaliate against his miscreant cousins and brothers, but it was the Lord’s plan that they should all be killed. The devotee of the Lord does not retaliate against the wrongdoer, but the Lord does not tolerate any mischief done to the devotee by the miscreants. The Lord can excuse a person on His own account, but He excuses no one who has done harm to His devotees. Therefore the Lord was determined to kill the miscreants, although Arjuna wanted to excuse them.
If we give up all nonsense desires and only desire for Krsn there is no limit on what Krsna can grant you. If you desire for yourself then you are limited by your karma.
Key Achievements of temple & its partner Northwest share.
Future of America
America can change significantly by being away from bad karma all the time –
- Cow Protection
Peace, happiness, love, transcendental liberation from the martsya loka – world of death
- Creating prosperity by sharing – Food trucks, Helping people – self sufficient village, sustainable model for the future.. Making money and sense gratification – is not sustainable. – PIONEER VILLAGE
- Opening temples – Daivi Varnashram – Societal emphasis – pleasing God – In God we trust
- Learning to be a minimalist in life
- Real education
- Reprint the book – Life’s problems and solutions
- Create people of good character – related to the points we make
- Reformation of society from Misery to happiness
- Show the problem – outline the solution BG 7.14
- Transform bad people into good people
- Revive “IN GOD WE TRUST “political party
Renunciation through wisdom –
The editor of the daily Amrita Bazar Patrika, published from Allahabad,
began the editorial the other day on a rather sad note:
The nation’s week began with memories of ‘Jalhianwallah-Bagh(1),’ and political
serfdom no longer troubles us. But our troubles are far from being at an end. In the
dispensation of providence, mankind cannot have any rest. If one kind of trouble
goes, another quickly follows. India, politically free, is faced with difficulties that are
no less serious than the troubles under foreign rule.
Now, if one consults the accounts ledger of India’s serfdom and freedom, and views the contents from a spiritual perspective, the conclusion will be as follows: The four yugas, or ages, namely Satya, Tretä, Dväpara, and Kali, add up to 4,320,000 years. Kali-yuga, which lasts 432,000 years, began from the time of Mahäräja Parékñit’s rule, some five thousand years ago. For approximately one thousand of these five thousand years—i.e., since the invasion of Mohammad Ghori in A.D. 1050—India has been experiencing foreign rule. In other words, when we calculate according to scripture, India has exercised absolute sovereignty over the entire planet Earth for a period of 3,772,000 years, till Mahäräja Parékñit’s rule. Hence the meagre thousand years of foreign subjugation are not such a lamentable thing. Neither in the past nor at present has India’s political serfdom or freedom been the prime concern of India’s greatest thinkers and philosophers, who well knew the actual value of such things. The kings of India up to Mahäräja Parékñit were able to rule the 5 entire world, and not for a mere couple of centuries but for hundreds of thousands of years. The reason for their rule was not a political one. India’s wise men of yore easily realized that the threefold miseries we humans are condemned to suffer can never be mitigated by the political condition controlling the country—whether foreign rule or freedom from it. At the dawn of modern history, the Armageddon fought in India over a political question lasted only eighteen days. On that historic battlefield the problem of human suffering and its permanent solution was discussed, and this discussion was compiled in the form of the Bhagavad-gitä. Thus millennia ago the Bhagavad-gitä comprehensively discussed the same topic the editor of Amrita Bazar Patrika writes about in a despondent mood: “If one kind of trouble goes, another quickly follows.” In the Gitä (7.14) Lord Krsna says, “This divine energy of mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome.” The Sanskrit words daivé mäyä used here can be translated into modern terms as “nature’s law.” This natural law is so stringent that it is impossible to overcome it, in spite of our prolific articles in the newspapers or our big conferences tabling motions that run into volumes. Our advanced technological and scientific efforts aimed at protecting us from the clutches of nature’s law are futile because they are all controlled by the very same nature’s law, or daivé mäyä. Therefore trying to utilize mundane science to overpower nature’s law is like creating a Frankenstein. Efforts to extirpate human suffering through advanced technology and bring about lasting happiness have brought us to the Atomic Age. Western thinkers have become gravely concerned about the extent of destruction an atomic explosion can cause. Some leaders are trying to calm the alarm with platitudes about how atomic energy is to be used solely for peaceful purposes, but this is another form of deception caused by daivé mäyä, or nature’s law. It is impossible for anyone to surmount the two-pronged attack of daivé mäyä—that is, her covering potency and her throwing potency. The more we try to conquer this divine energy, the more powerfully she defeats us by exciting us through the mode of passion and punishing us with the threefold 6 miseries, culminating in all-devouring death. This struggle between the divine energy and the evil forces is eternal. Our inability to understand this struggle has led us to lament, “In the dispensation of providence, mankind cannot have any rest.” Despite repeatedly tasting defeat at the hands of the divine energy, the evil forces cannot understand why “mankind cannot have any rest.” Yet in the Bhagavad-gétä the Supreme Personality of Godhead clearly explains this. At first He sternly warns the evil forces with these words, daivé hy eñä guëa-mayé mama mäyä duratyayä: “This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome” [Bg. 7.14]; and then in the next line He tells them how to overcome this divine energy, mäm eva ye prapadyante mäyäm etäà taranti te: “But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.
Regards,JayaSri Devi Dasi