Tag: Srimad Bhagavatham Canto 2

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.4.23 TODAY (06/16/21):

1. The devotee always thinks of himself as instrumental for anything successfully carried out, and he declines to take credit for anything done by himself. 
2. The godless atheist wants to take all credit for activities, not knowing that even a blade of grass cannot move without the sanction of the Supreme Spirit, the Personality of Godhead. 
3. The truths described in the Vedic literatures are not theories of mundane imagination, nor are they fictitious, as the less intelligent class of men sometimes think. 
4. The Lord is Himself the father of the Vedānta knowledge, and it is He only who knows the factual purport of the Vedānta philosophy. So there is no greater truth than the principles of religion mentioned in the Vedas. 
5. Such Vedic knowledge or religion is disseminated by authorities like Śukadeva Gosvāmī because he is a humble devotional servitor of the Lord who has no desire to become a self-appointed interpreter without authority. That is the way of explaining the Vedic knowledge, technically known as the paramparā system, or descending process.
6. The intelligent man can see without mistake that any material creation (whether one’s own body or a fruit or flower) cannot beautifully grow up without the spiritual touch. 
7. The source of all truths is the Supreme Spirit, and not gross matter, as wrongly conceived by the gross materialist. 
8. We get information from the Vedic literature that the Lord Himself first entered the vacuum of the material universe, and thus all things gradually developed one after another.
9. Similarly, the Lord is situated as localized Paramātmā in every individual being; hence everything is done by Him very beautifully.
10. The sixteen principal creative elements, namely earth, water, fire, air, sky, and the eleven sense organs, first developed from the Lord Himself and were thereby shared by the living entities. Thus the material elements were created for the enjoyment of the living entities. 
11. The beautiful arrangement behind all material manifestations is therefore made possible by the energy of the Lord, and the individual living entity can only pray to the Lord to understand it properly.
12. Since the Lord is the supreme entity, different from Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the prayer can be offered to Him. The Lord helps the living entity to enjoy material creation, but He is aloof from such false enjoyment. 
13. Śukadeva prays for the mercy of the Lord, not only for being helped personally in presenting the truth, but also for helping others to whom he would like to speak.
14. The Vedic knowledge was first impregnated within Brahmā, and it appears that Brahmā distributed the Vedic knowledge. Brahmā is undoubtedly the speaker of the Vedic knowledge, but actually, he was inspired by the Lord to receive such transcendental knowledge, as it directly descends from the Lord. 
15. The Vedas are therefore called apauruṣeya, or not imparted by any created being. Before the creation, the Lord was there (nārāyaṇaḥ Paro ’vyaktāt), and therefore the words spoken by the Lord are vibrations of transcendental sound.
16. No mundane scholar can translate or reveal the true import of the Vedic mantras (hymns). They cannot be understood unless one is inspired or initiated by the authorized spiritual master. The original spiritual master is the Lord Himself, and the succession comes down through the sources of paramparā, as clearly stated in the Fourth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā. 
17. So unless one receives the transcendental knowledge from the authorized paramparā, one should be considered useless (niṣphalā matāḥ), even though one may be greatly qualified in the mundane advancements of arts or science.
18. Bhishma Pitamaha says – SB 1.9.18 – This Śrī Kṛṣṇa is no other than the inconceivable, original Personality of Godhead. He is the first Nārāyaṇa, the supreme enjoyer. But He is moving amongst the descendants of King Vṛṣṇi just like one of us, and He is bewildering us with His self-created energy.
19. Brahmaji says – SB 10.14.14 – Are You not the original Nārāyaṇa, O supreme controller, since You are the Soul of every embodied being and the eternal witness of all created realms? Indeed, Lord Nārāyaṇa is Your expansion, and He is called Nārāyaṇa because He is the generating source of the primeval water of the universe. He is real, not a product of Your illusory Māyā.
20. Although Lord Brahmā was born from Lord Nārāyaṇa, Brahmā now understands that Nārāyaṇa is Himself a mere expansion of the original Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
21. Krsna Himself is saying – BG 10.8 – I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.
22. Let’s say we do believe that Krsna is the supreme, can we convince our children or another person about this? That is the real test of the devotee to be a convincing credible person in the eyes of mundane people. That is the beginning of spiritual life – accepting Krsna as the supreme personality of Godhead. There is plenty of evidence that Krsna is the supreme personality of Godhead. 
23. The strength to convince others comes with following the regulative principles strictly –  regularly hearing, chanting, and serving. That is the sign of a potent devotee. Just going along is ok, but the real goal set by Srila Prabhupada is to have an army of preachers. 

SB 2.4.23 TRANSLATION: 

May the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who enlivens the materially created bodies of the elements by lying down within the universe, and who in His puruṣa incarnation causes the living being to be subjected to the sixteen divisions of material modes which are his generator, be pleased to decorate my statements.

CLASS NOTES:

A DEVOTEE NEVER TAKES CREDIT FOR ANYTHING DONE BY HIMSELF.

As a fully dependent devotee, Śukadeva Gosvāmī (unlike a mundane man who is proud of his own capability) invokes the pleasure of the Personality of Godhead so that his statements may be successful and be appreciated by the hearers. The devotee always thinks of himself as instrumental for anything successfully carried out, and he declines to take credit for anything done by himself. The godless atheist wants to take all credit for activities, not knowing that even a blade of grass cannot move without the sanction of the Supreme Spirit, the Personality of Godhead. Śukadeva Gosvāmī therefore wants to move by the direction of the Supreme Lord, who inspired Brahmā to speak the Vedic wisdom.

THE TRUTHS DESCRIBED IN THE VEDIC LITERATURE ARE NOT THEORIES OF MUNDANE IMAGINATION, NOR ARE THEY FICTITIOUS, AS THE LESS INTELLIGENT CLASS OF MEN SOMETIMES THINK. 

The Vedic truths are all perfect descriptions of the factual truth, without any mistake or illusion, and Śukadeva Gosvāmī wants to present the truths of creation not as a metaphysical theory of philosophical speculation, but as the actual facts and figures of the subject, since he would be dictated to by the Lord exactly in the same manner as Brahmājī was inspired. As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (15.15), the Lord is Himself the father of the Vedānta knowledge, and it is He only who knows the factual purport of the Vedānta philosophy. So there is no greater truth than the principles of religion mentioned in the Vedas. Such Vedic knowledge or religion is disseminated by authorities like Śukadeva Gosvāmī because he is a humble devotional servitor of the Lord who has no desire to become a self-appointed interpreter without authority. That is the way of explaining the Vedic knowledge, technically known as the paramparā system, or descending process.

THE INTELLIGENT MAN CAN SEE WITHOUT MISTAKE THAT ANY MATERIAL CREATION (WHETHER ONE’S OWN BODY OR A FRUIT OR FLOWER) CANNOT BEAUTIFULLY GROW UP WITHOUT THE SPIRITUAL TOUCH. 

The greatest intelligent man of the world or the greatest man of science can present everything very beautifully only insofar as the spirit life is there, or insomuch as the spiritual touch is there. Therefore the source of all truths is the Supreme Spirit, and not gross matter, as wrongly conceived by the gross materialist. We get information from the Vedic literature that the Lord Himself first entered the vacuum of the material universe, and thus all things gradually developed one after another. Similarly, the Lord is situated as localized Paramātmā in every individual being; hence everything is done by Him very beautifully. The sixteen principal creative elements, namely earth, water, fire, air, sky, and the eleven sense organs, first developed from the Lord Himself and were thereby shared by the living entities. Thus the material elements were created for the enjoyment of the living entities. The beautiful arrangement behind all material manifestations is therefore made possible by the energy of the Lord, and the individual living entity can only pray to the Lord to understand it properly.

Since the Lord is the supreme entity, different from Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the prayer can be offered to Him. The Lord helps the living entity to enjoy material creation, but He is aloof from such false enjoyment. Śukadeva prays for the mercy of the Lord, not only for being helped personally in presenting the truth, but also for helping others to whom he would like to speak.

This is a statement of extreme humility by Sukhdev Goswami. This is the spiritual process. The whole process of BG and SB is to convince that we are not the greatest thing that happened in the material universe. It is to make us realize that we are insignificant. To admit that we are greater than someone is like poison. Durga Mata defeats the great personalities in history. A devotee does not fall into the trap of false ego. He is convinced that he is not this body and he is the soul. All these things are happening we have a soul not because we have a body. The 3 modes of material nature forces us to do things. The devotee accepts the transcendental knowledge the materialist never accepts. The materialist is never happy, never satisfied there is no chance at all. The beginning of the change of heart is when we begin to develop an association with pure devotees. The pure devotee in spite of all the circumstances he continues his service. It is that stability and consistency..
They are not perturbed by the incidents like car accidents, layoffs, ….
Many people get disturbed because of these and they are completely under the control of Maya, they are in anxiety and distress. The transcendental knowledge begins… “Vedic knowledge is impregnated into the heart of Brahma … as said in the Previous verse…

SB 2.4.22
“The Vedic knowledge was therefore first impregnated within Brahmā, and it appears that Brahmā distributed the Vedic knowledge. Brahmā is undoubtedly the speaker of the Vedic knowledge, but actually, he was inspired by the Lord to receive such transcendental knowledge, as it directly descends from the Lord. The Vedas are therefore called apauruṣeya, or not imparted by any created being. Before the creation, the Lord was there (nārāyaṇaḥ Paro ’vyaktāt), and therefore the words spoken by the Lord are vibrations of transcendental sound. There is a gulf of difference between the two qualities of sound, namely prākṛta and aprākṛta. The physicist can deal only with the prākṛta sound, or sound vibrated in the material sky, and therefore we must know that the Vedic sounds recorded in symbolic expressions cannot be understood by anyone within the universe unless and until one is inspired by the vibration of supernatural (aprākṛta) sound, which descends in the chain of disciplic succession from the Lord to Brahmā, from Brahmā to Nārada, from Nārada to Vyāsa and so on. No mundane scholar can translate or reveal the true import of the Vedic mantras (hymns). They cannot be understood unless one is inspired or initiated by the authorized spiritual master. The original spiritual master is the Lord Himself, and the succession comes down through the sources of paramparā, as clearly stated in the Fourth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā. So unless one receives the transcendental knowledge from the authorized paramparā, one should be considered useless (niṣphalā matāḥ), even though one may be greatly qualified in the mundane advancements of arts or science.

(nārāyaṇaḥ paro ’vyaktāt) was spoken by Shankaracharya as a commentary of Bhagavadgita.. Gita Bhasya

Imagine if there is a recording of Jesus Christ talking sermons… it would be worth millions of dollars. There are 3000 recordings of Prabhupada. Every day we should hear the lecture and chanting of Srila Prabhupada. That is the transcendental sound.  Anything which takes away from Krsna is Maya. What is Maya, what is Krishna, what is dev service, what is selfish service….

The fact that we are not learning is because we are not able to communicate this transcendental sound to the kids. One has to follow the regulative principles, regularly hearing, chanting, and serving will have the shakti to convince others. That is the sign of a potent devotee. Just going along is ok, but the real goal is to have an army of preachers… that was Srila Prabhupada’s goal in starting ISKCON,  KC. Regulative hearing, chanting is the highest thing. We need to prioritize our life. What is 1st most imp thing, second most imp thing, What is rubbish? There should not be any rubbish. 

Bhishma Pitamaha Says – One of the 12  Mahajans says – 

SB 1.9.18 

This Śrī Kṛṣṇa is no other than the inconceivable, original Personality of Godhead. He is the first Nārāyaṇa, the supreme enjoyer. But He is moving amongst the descendants of King Vṛṣṇi just like one of us, and He is bewildering us with His self-created energy.

Even Brahmaji says that Sri Krsna is the Supreme – 

SB 10.14.14
Are You not the original Nārāyaṇa, O supreme controller, since You are the Soul of every embodied being and the eternal witness of all created realms? Indeed, Lord Nārāyaṇa is Your expansion, and He is called Nārāyaṇa because He is the generating source of the primeval water of the universe. He is real, not a product of Your illusory Māyā.

This is an existential question – Who do we believe – Brahma is saying that Narayana is coming from Krsna. We do see people who say Narayana is the supreme… they are dogmatically saying it. 
Dogmatic – strong belief even when there is strong evidence of contradiction
Brahma, Yudhistra Maharaj – are Mahajans who are saying this. Which authority we are going to accept. That is the fundamental question as far as knowledge goes.. 

Knowledge begins when you accept an authority… If you say bad things about a person, something sticks… 
Nazis propagandists who were working for Hitler said – If you want to tell a lie tell a big lie and keep repeating it. Eventually, people will believe it.  This is the technique is used by demons.. This technique was started long back in history. Cancel culture is not new, Mayavadis started it. Even in the time of Lord Rama, there were impersonalists. One of them tried to convince Lord Rama to not follow the orders of His father.  This Mayavadi philosophy has been there from the beginning of time.. It is the ultimate cancel culture… Eventually, the dummies begin to believe it. Despite the evidence of acharyas.

BG 10.8
I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.

We believe that Krsna is supreme, can we convince our children or another person about this? That is the real test of the devotee to be a convincing credible person in the eyes of mundane people. That is the beginning of spiritual life – accepting Krsna as the supreme personality of Godhead. There is plenty of evidence that Krsna is the supreme personality of Godhead. 

SB 10.14.14
In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā, Chapter Two, text 30, Śrīla Prabhupāda comments on this verse as follows: “This statement which is from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.14) was spoken by Lord Brahmā in his prayers to Lord Kṛṣṇa after the Lord had defeated him by displaying His mystic powers. Brahmā had tried to test Lord Kṛṣṇa to see if He was really the Supreme Personality of Godhead playing as a cowherd boy. Brahmā stole all the other boys and their calves from the pasturing grounds, but when he returned to the pastures he saw that all the boys and calves were still there, for Lord Kṛṣṇa had created them all again. When Brahmā saw this mystic power of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s, he admitted defeat and offered prayers to the Lord, addressing Him as the proprietor and seer of everything in the creation and as the Supersoul who is within each and every living entity and is dear to all. That Lord Kṛṣṇa is Nārāyaṇa, the father of Brahmā, because Lord Kṛṣṇa’s plenary expansion Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, after placing Himself on the Garbha Ocean, created Brahmā from His own body. Mahā-Viṣṇu in the Causal Ocean and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, the Supersoul in everyone’s heart, are also transcendental expansions of the Supreme Truth.”

If we accept Krsna is the seer, and we are the seen, – We will believe whatever He is saying because is the ultimate seer and whatever he says is the absolute truth. 
If we accept that we are the seer then we can never know the truth…we see according to our misconceptions and speculative mind. 

In his commentary on this verse, Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī has elaborately explained the expansion of the Viṣṇu, or Nārāyaṇa, incarnations from the original form of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The essence is that although Lord Brahmā was born from Lord Nārāyaṇa, Brahmā now understands that Nārāyaṇa is Himself a mere expansion of the original Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

There are many people saying Narayana is the source… we also have Vaishnavas who are spewing out misinformation. We accept our acharyas as our authority… We also accept the Alwars as our authorities and Ramanujacharya as our acharya, because they have the same opinion as expressed by Narottama Das Thakur, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswathi Thakur, Srila Prabhupada… King Kulasekara, Godadevi say Krsna is the supreme personality of Godhead. In Spite of all the evidence, people who say that Narayana is the supreme God, are dogmatic. They reject the statement of Brahma, Bhishma, They reject the statement of Krsna Himself. Unless we get clarity on this, we cannot overcome our weak faith.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.4.22 :

1. The Lord, as the Supersoul of all living beings from Brahmā to the insignificant ant, endows all with the required knowledge potent in every living being. 
2. A living being is sufficiently potent to possess knowledge from the Lord in the proportion of fifty sixty-fourths, or seventy-eight percent of the full knowledge acquirable. Since the living being is constitutionally part and parcel of the Lord, he is unable to assimilate all the knowledge that the Lord possesses Himself.
3. In the conditioned state, the living being is subject to forgetting everything after a change of body, known as death.
4. This potent knowledge is again inspired by the Lord from within the heart of every living being, and it is known as the awakening of knowledge.
5.  This awakening of knowledge is neither an automatic nor a material interaction. The supply source is the Lord Himself (dhiyāṁ patiḥ),for even Brahmā is also subject to this regulation of the supreme creator.
6. Brahmā, or Aja, is also a living being, part and parcel of the Lord, but being the most pious devotee of the Lord, Brahmā is inspired by the Lord to create, subsequent to the main creation by the Lord, through the agency of material nature. Therefore neither the material nature nor Brahmā is independent of the Lord.
7. The Vedic knowledge was therefore first impregnated within Brahmā, and it appears that Brahmā distributed the Vedic knowledge. But actually he was inspired by the Lord to receive such transcendental knowledge, as it directly descends from the Lord. The Vedas are therefore called apauruṣeya, or not imparted by any created being.
8. Before the creation the Lord was there (nārāyaṇaḥ paro ’vyaktāt), and therefore the words spoken by the Lord are vibrations of transcendental sound.
9.  the Vedic sounds recorded in symbolic expressions cannot be understood by anyone within the universe unless and until one is inspired by the vibration of supernatural (aprākṛta) sound, which descends in the chain of disciplic succession from the Lord to Brahmā, from Brahmā to Nārada, from Nārada to Vyāsa and so on. 
10. No mundane scholar can translate or reveal the true import of the Vedic mantras (hymns). They cannot be understood unless one is inspired or initiated by the authorized spiritual master. 
11. The original spiritual master is the Lord Himself, and the succession comes down through the sources of paramparā, as clearly stated in the Fourth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā. 
12. So unless one receives the transcendental knowledge from the authorized paramparā, one should be considered useless (niṣphalā matāḥ), even though one may be greatly qualified in the mundane advancements of arts or science.
13. BS 5.23 – On coming out of the lotus, Brahmā, being guided by the divine potency tuned his mind to the act of creation under the impulse of previous impressions. But he could see nothing but darkness in every direction.
14. BS 5.24 – Then the goddess of learning Sarasvatī, the divine consort of the Supreme Lord, said thus to Brahmā who saw nothing but gloom in all directions, “O Brahmā, this mantra, viz., klīṁ kṛṣṇāya govindāya gopī-jana-vallabhāya svāhā, will assuredly fulfill your heart’s desire.”
15. The mantra, consisting of the eighteen divine letters prefixed by the kāma-bīja, is alone superexcellent. It has a twofold aspect. 
16. One aspect is that it tends to make the pure soul run after all-attractive Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Lord of Gokula and the divine milkmaids. This is the acme of the spiritual tendency of jīvas. When the devotee is free from all sorts of mundane desires and willing to serve the Lord he attains the fruition of his heart’s desire, viz., the love of Kṛṣṇa.
17. But in the case of the devotee who is not of unmixed aptitude this superexcellent mantra fulfills his heart’s desire also. 
18. The transcendental kāma-bīja is inherent in the divine logos located in Goloka, and the kāma-bīja pervertedly reflected in the worldly affairs satisfies all sorts of desires of this mundane world.
19. Though other gods, as distinct manifestations of the Supreme Lord, are bestowers of sundry specific boons, yet a sensible person should worship the all-powerful Supreme Lord, giver of all good, with unalloyed devotion, without worshiping those mundane gift-giving deities.
20. He who cultivates the preliminary devotional activities anxiously keeping in view that realized state of devotion can alone attain to that object of all endeavor. None else can have the same.

SB 2.4.22 TRANSLATION: 

May the Lord, who in the beginning of the creation amplified the potent knowledge of Brahmā from within his heart and inspired him with full knowledge of creation and of His own Self, and who appeared to be generated from the mouth of Brahmā, be pleased with me

CLASS NOTES:

The Lord, as the Supersoul of all living beings from Brahmā to the insignificant ant, endows all with the required knowledge potent in every living being. 

The living being is unable to assimilate all knowledge

A living being is sufficiently potent to possess knowledge from the Lord in the proportion of fifty sixty-fourths, or seventy-eight percent of the full knowledge acquirable. Since the living being is constitutionally part and parcel of the Lord, he is unable to assimilate all the knowledge that the Lord possesses Himself.

The Living being forgets everything

In the conditioned state, the living being is subject to forgetting everything after a change of body, known as death. This potent knowledge is again inspired by the Lord from within the heart of every living being, and it is known as the awakening of knowledge, for it is comparable to awakening from sleep or unconsciousness.

This awakening of knowledge is neither an automatic nor a material interaction. The supply source is the Lord Himself (dhiyāṁ patiḥ),

This awakening of knowledge is under the full control of the Lord, and therefore we find in the practical world different grades of knowledge in different persons. This awakening of knowledge is neither an automatic nor a material interaction. The supply source is the Lord Himself (dhiyāṁ patiḥ), for even Brahmā is also subject to this regulation of the supreme creator.

Neither the material nature nor Brahmā is independent of the Lord

In the beginning of the creation, Brahmā is born first without any father and mother because before Brahmā there were no other living beings. Brahmā is born from the lotus which grows from the abdomen of the Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and therefore he is known as Aja. This Brahmā, or Aja, is also a living being, part and parcel of the Lord, but being the most pious devotee of the Lord, Brahmā is inspired by the Lord to create, subsequent to the main creation by the Lord, through the agency of material nature. Therefore neither the material nature nor Brahmā is independent of the Lord. The material scientists can merely observe the reactions of the material nature without understanding the direction behind such activities, as a child can see the action of electricity without any knowledge of the powerhouse engineer. This imperfect knowledge of the material scientist is due to a poor fund of knowledge. 

The Vedic knowledge was therefore first impregnated within Brahmā, and it appears that Brahmā distributed the Vedic knowledge. 

Brahmā is undoubtedly the speaker of the Vedic knowledge, but actually he was inspired by the Lord to receive such transcendental knowledge, as it directly descends from the Lord. The Vedas are therefore called apauruṣeya, or not imparted by any created being. 

the words spoken by the Lord are vibrations of transcendental sound.

Before the creation the Lord was there (nārāyaṇaḥ paro ’vyaktāt), and therefore the words spoken by the Lord are vibrations of transcendental sound. There is a gulf of difference between the two qualities of sound, namely prākṛta and aprākṛta. The physicist can deal only with the prākṛta sound, or sound vibrated in the material sky, and therefore we must know that the Vedic sounds recorded in symbolic expressions cannot be understood by anyone within the universe unless and until one is inspired by the vibration of supernatural (aprākṛta) sound, which descends in the chain of disciplic succession from the Lord to Brahmā, from Brahmā to Nārada, from Nārada to Vyāsa and so on. No mundane scholar can translate or reveal the true import of the Vedic mantras (hymns). They cannot be understood unless one is inspired or initiated by the authorized spiritual master. The original spiritual master is the Lord Himself, and the succession comes down through the sources of paramparā, as clearly stated in the Fourth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā. So unless one receives the transcendental knowledge from the authorized paramparā, one should be considered useless (niṣphalā matāḥ), even though one may be greatly qualified in the mundane advancements of arts or science.

A spiritual master is not a theoretical speculator, like the mundane scholar, but is śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham. (heard the truth with faith)

V imp point from yesterday which is echoed today too.. 

SB 2.4.21
“Therefore there is no difference of conclusions amongst the Vaiṣṇava ācāryas regarding the Lord and the devotees. Lord Caitanya asserts that the living entity (jīva) is eternally the servitor of the Lord and that he is simultaneously one with and different from the Lord. This tattva of Lord Caitanya’s is shared by all four sampradāyas of the Vaiṣṇava school (all accepting eternal servitude to the Lord even after salvation), and there is no authorized Vaiṣṇava ācārya who may think of the Lord and himself as one.

This humbleness of the pure devotee, who is one-hundred-percent engaged in His service, puts the devotee of the Lord in a trance by which to realize everything, because to the sincere devotee of the Lord, the Lord reveals Himself, as stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (10.10). The Lord, being the Lord of intelligence in everyone (even in the nondevotee), favors His devotee with proper intelligence so that automatically the pure devotee is enlightened with the factual truth about the Lord and His different energies. The Lord is revealed not by one’s speculative power or by one’s verbal jugglery over the Absolute Truth; rather, He reveals Himself to a devotee when He is fully satisfied by the devotee’s service attitude. Śukadeva Gosvāmī is not a mental speculator or compromiser of the theory of “as many ways, as many conclusions”; rather, he prays to the Lord only, invoking His transcendental pleasure. That is the way of knowing the Lord.”

Trance – completely focused on Krsna. 

BS – Brahma when he appears he is confused because everything is chaos and he does not know where he came from and what is his purpose.. 

BS 5.15
The same Mahā-Viṣṇu created Viṣṇu from His left limb, Brahmā, the first progenitor of beings, from His right limb and, from the space between His two eyebrows, Śambhu, the divine masculine manifested halo.

BS 5.23
On coming out of the lotus, Brahmā, being guided by the divine potency tuned his mind to the act of creation under the impulse of previous impressions. But he could see nothing but darkness in every direction.

Brahmā’s impulse for creation arises solely from his previous impressions. All jīvas get their nature conformably to their impressions of previous births and accordingly their activity can have a beginning. It is called “the unseen” or the result of one’s previous deeds. His natural impulse is formed according to the nature of the deeds done by him in the previous kalpa. Some of the eligible jīvas also attain to the office of Brahmā in this way.

BS 5.24
Then the goddess of learning Sarasvatī, the divine consort of the Supreme Lord, said thus to Brahmā who saw nothing but gloom in all directions, “O Brahmā, this mantra, viz., klīṁ kṛṣṇāya govindāya gopī-jana-vallabhāya svāhā, will assuredly fulfill your heart’s desire.”

The mantra, consisting of the eighteen divine letters prefixed by the kāma-bīja, is alone superexcellent. It has a twofold aspect. One aspect is that it tends to make the pure soul run after all-attractive Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Lord of Gokula and the divine milkmaids. This is the acme of the spiritual tendency of jīvas. When the devotee is free from all sorts of mundane desires and willing to serve the Lord he attains the fruition of his heart’s desire, viz., the love of Kṛṣṇa. But in the case of the devotee who is not of unmixed aptitude this superexcellent mantra fulfills his heart’s desire also. The transcendental kāma-bīja is inherent in the divine logos located in Goloka; and the kāma-bīja pervertedly reflected in the worldly affairs satisfies all sorts of desires of this mundane world.

BS 5.26
Brahmā, being desirous of satisfying Govinda, practiced the cultural acts for Kṛṣṇa in Goloka, Lord of Śvetadvīpa, for a long time. His meditation ran thus, “There exists a divine lotus of a thousand petals, augmented by millions of filaments, in the transcendental land of Goloka. On its whorl, there exists a great divine throne on which is seated Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the form of eternal effulgence of transcendental bliss, playing on His divine flute resonant with the divine sound, with His lotus mouth. He is worshiped by His amorous milkmaids with their respective subjective portions and extensions and also by His external energy [who stays outside] embodying all mundane qualities.”

Although the object of meditation is fully transcendental, yet owing to her nature which is permeated with the quality of active mundane hankering, Māyā, the nonspiritual potency of Kṛṣṇa, embodying the principles of mixed sattva, rajas, and tamas, in the forms of Durgā, and other nonspiritual powers, meditated on the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa as the object of their worship. So long as there is any trace of mundane desire in one’s heart, it is the object of worship of Māyādevī (Durgā) who has to be worshiped by such a person; nevertheless the fulfillment of one’s heart’s desire results from the worship of the object of worship of Māyādevī, and not from the worship of Māyādevī herself. This is in accordance with the śloka, akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo vā mokṣa-kāma udāra-dhiḥ / tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena yajeta puruṣaṁ param [SB 2.3.10]. The meaning of this śloka of the Bhāgavatam is that though other gods, as distinct manifestations of the Supreme Lord, are bestowers of sundry specific boons, yet a sensible person should worship the all powerful Supreme Lord, giver of all good, with unalloyed devotion, without worshiping those mundane gift-giving deities. Accordingly, Brahmā meditated upon Kṛṣṇa in Goloka, the object of the worship, from a distance, of Māyādevī. True devotion is unalloyed devotional activity free from all mundane desire. The devotion of Brahmā, etc., is not unmixed devotion. But there is a stage of unmixed predilection even in devotion for the attainment of one’s selfish desire. This has been fully described in the concluding five ślokas of this work. That is the easiest method of divine service, prior to the attainment of self-realization, by fallen souls.

In other words even the most fallen person who takes to devotional service under the guidance of spiritual master can get purified…

SB 2.3.10 

A person who has broader intelligence, whether he be full of all material desire, without any material desire, or desiring liberation, must by all means worship the supreme whole, the Personality of Godhead.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is described in the Bhagavad-gītā as puruṣottama, or the Supreme Personality. It is He only who can award liberation to the impersonalists by absorbing such aspirants in the brahmajyoti, the bodily rays of the Lord. The brahmajyoti is not separate from the Lord, as the glowing sun ray is not independent of the sun disc. Therefore one who desires to merge into the supreme impersonal brahmajyoti must also worship the Lord by bhakti-yoga, as recommended here in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Bhakti-yoga is especially stressed here as the means of all perfection. In the previous chapters it has been stated that bhakti-yoga is the ultimate goal of both karma-yoga and jñāna-yoga, and in the same way in this chapter it is emphatically declared that bhakti-yoga is the ultimate goal of the different varieties of worship of the different demigods. Bhakti-yoga, thus being the supreme means of self-realization, is recommended here. Everyone must therefore seriously take up the methods of bhakti-yoga, even though one aspires for material enjoyment or liberation from material bondage.

We see the Importance of kama bija mantra and the relationship with verse SB 2.3.10


Lets take a look at last 5 verses of BS –

BS 5.60
These preliminary practices of devotion [sādhana-bhakti] are conducive to the realization of loving devotion. [Loving devotion]—than whom there is no superior well-being, who goes hand in hand with the attainment of the exclusive state of supreme bliss and who can lead to Myself.

The jīva-soul has no better well-being than loving devotion. In this is realized the final beatitude of jīvas. The lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa are attainable only by loving devotion. He who cultivates the preliminary devotional activities anxiously keeping in view that realized state of devotion can alone attain to that object of all endeavor. None else can have the same.

You have to have your eyes on the goal even though we are in the preliminary stages of sadhana..

BS 5.61
Abandoning all meritorious performances serve Me with faith. The realization will correspond to the nature of one’s faith. The people of the world act ceaselessly in pursuance of some ideal. By meditating on Me by means of those deeds one will obtain devotion characterized by love in the shape of the supreme service.


BS 5.62
“Listen, O Vidhi, I am the seed, i.e., the fundamental principle, of this world of animate and inanimate objects. I am pradhāna [the substance of matter], I am prakṛti [material cause] and I am puruṣa [efficient cause]. This fiery energy that belongs specially to the Brahman, that inheres in you, has also been conferred by Me. It is by bearing this fiery energy that you regulate this phenomenal world of animate and inanimate objects.”
 

These verses give us a hint of what we are aiming for.
The main point we are talking about today is – “This humbleness of the pure devotee, who is one-hundred-percent engaged in His service, puts the devotee of the Lord in a trance by which to realize everything, because to the sincere devotee of the Lord, the Lord reveals Himself, as stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (10.10). The Lord, being the Lord of intelligence in everyone (even in the nondevotee), favors His devotee with proper intelligence so that automatically the pure devotee is enlightened with the factual truth about the Lord and His different energies. The Lord is revealed not by one’s speculative power or by one’s verbal jugglery over the Absolute Truth; rather, He reveals Himself to a devotee when He is fully satisfied by the devotee’s service attitude. “

Trance – fully focussed on Krsna, Samadhi… 

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.4.21 TODAY (06/14/21):

1. The mystic yogīs, after a strenuous effort to control the senses, may be situated in a trance of yoga just to have a vision of the Supersoul within everyone, but the pure devotee, simply by remembering the Lord’s lotus feet at every second, at once becomes established in real trance because by such realization his mind and intelligence are completely cleansed of the diseases of material enjoyment.
2. The pure devotee thinks himself fallen into the ocean of birth and death and incessantly prays to the Lord to lift him up. He only aspires to become a speck of transcendental dust at the lotus feet of the Lord. 
3. By the grace of the Lord, he absolutely loses all attraction for material enjoyment, and to keep free from contamination he always thinks of the lotus feet of the Lord. 
4. King Kulaśekhara, a great devotee of the Lord, prayed: “My Lord Kṛṣṇa, I pray that the swan of my mind may immediately sink down to the stems of the lotus feet of Your Lordship and be locked in their network; otherwise, at the time of my final breath, when my throat is choked up with cough, how will it be possible to think of You?”
5. Without becoming a swan, or paramahaṁsa, one cannot enter into the network of the lotus feet of the Lord. 
6. As stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā, the mental speculators, even by dint of learned scholarship, cannot even dream of the Absolute Truth by speculating over it for eternity.
7. The Lord reserves the right of not being exposed to such mental speculators. 
8. The Lord is not like a shopkeeper trying to please all sorts of customers in the mental-speculator exchange. The Lord is what He is, the Absolute Personality of Godhead, and He demands absolute surrender unto Him only. 
9. The pure devotee can see the Supreme Lord through the transparent medium of a bona fide spiritual master (anupaśyanti). 
10. He never tries to see the Lord by mental speculation, but by following in the footsteps of the ācāryas (mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ). 
11. Therefore there is no difference of conclusions amongst the Vaiṣṇava ācāryas regarding the Lord and the devotees. 
12. Lord Caitanya asserts that the living entity (jīva) is eternally the servitor of the Lord and that he is simultaneously one with and different from the Lord. This tattva of Lord Caitanya’s is shared by all four sampradāyas of the Vaiṣṇava school (all accepting eternal servitude to the Lord even after salvation), and there is no authorized Vaiṣṇava ācārya who may think of the Lord and himself as one.
13. This humbleness of the pure devotee, who is one-hundred-percent engaged in His service, puts the devotee of the Lord in a trance by which to realize everything, because to the sincere devotee of the Lord, the Lord reveals Himself, as stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (10.10).
14. The Lord is revealed not by one’s speculative power or by one’s verbal jugglery over the Absolute Truth; rather, He reveals Himself to a devotee when He is fully satisfied by the devotee’s service attitude. 
15. Śukadeva Gosvāmī is not a mental speculator or compromiser of the theory of “as many ways, as many conclusions”; rather, he prays to the Lord only, invoking His transcendental pleasure. That is the way of knowing the Lord.

SB 2.4.21 TRANSLATION: 
It is the Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa who gives liberation. By thinking of His lotus feet at every second, following in the footsteps of authorities, the devotee in trance can see the Absolute Truth. The learned mental speculators, however, think of Him according to their whims. May the Lord be pleased with me.

CLASS NOTES: 
The mystic yogīs, after a strenuous effort to control the senses, may be situated in a trance of yoga just to have a vision of the Supersoul within everyone, but the pure devotee, simply by remembering the Lord’s lotus feet at every second, at once becomes established in real trance because by such realization his mind and intelligence are completely cleansed of the diseases of material enjoyment. 

THE PURE DEVOTEE 

• thinks himself fallen into the ocean of birth and death and incessantly prays to the Lord to lift him up. He only aspires to become a speck of transcendental dust at the lotus feet of the Lord.  
• by the grace of the Lord, absolutely loses all attraction for material enjoyment, and to keep free from contamination he always thinks of the lotus feet of the Lord. 

KING KULAŚEKHARA, A GREAT DEVOTEE OF THE LORD, PRAYED:

kṛṣṇa tvadīya-pada-paṅkaja-pañjarāntam
adyaiva me viśatu mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ
prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ
kaṇṭhāvarodhana-vidhau smaraṇaṁ kutas te

“My Lord Kṛṣṇa, I pray that the swan of my mind may immediately sink down to the stems of the lotus feet of Your Lordship and be locked in their network; otherwise, at the time of my final breath, when my throat is choked up with cough, how will it be possible to think of You?”

Prayer by King Kulaselhara is nectar and so important. He is an alwar. This is a metaphor. “Swan of my mind” He is Praying that his mind is completely engaged in the lotus feet of the lord. Devotee can separate the body from the soul. Swan can drink milk even though dissolved in water… Paramahamsa always thinks of the lotus feet of the lord. There is no mercy in the coco cola machine.. Only if you put the money the coke will come out. Anyone who is not a devotee has no mercy, their mercy is party, bottle of wine,,,,

There is an intimate relationship between the swan and the lotus stem. So the comparison is very appropriate: without becoming a swan, or paramahaṁsa, one cannot enter into the network of the lotus feet of the Lord.

AS STATED IN THE BRAHMA-SAṀHITĀ, THE MENTAL SPECULATORS, EVEN BY DINT OF LEARNED SCHOLARSHIP, CANNOT EVEN DREAM OF THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH BY SPECULATING OVER IT FOR ETERNITY.
The Lord reserves the right of not being exposed to such mental speculators. And because they cannot enter into the network stem of the lotus feet of the Lord, all mental speculators differ in conclusions, and at the end they make a useless compromise by saying “as many conclusions, as many ways,” according to one’s own inclination (yathā-rucam). But the Lord is not like a shopkeeper trying to please all sorts of customers in the mental-speculator exchange. The Lord is what He is, the Absolute Personality of Godhead, and He demands absolute surrender unto Him only. 

THE PURE DEVOTEE, HOWEVER, BY FOLLOWING THE WAYS OF PREVIOUS ĀCĀRYAS, OR AUTHORITIES, CAN SEE THE SUPREME LORD THROUGH THE TRANSPARENT MEDIUM OF A BONA FIDE SPIRITUAL MASTER (anupaśyanti). The pure devotee never tries to see the Lord by mental speculation, but by following in the footsteps of the ācāryas (mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ). 

THEREFORE THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE OF CONCLUSIONS AMONGST THE VAIṢṆAVA ĀCĀRYAS REGARDING THE LORD AND THE DEVOTEES. 

Lord Caitanya asserts that the living entity (jīva) is eternally the servitor of the Lord and that he is simultaneously one with and different from the Lord. This tattva of Lord Caitanya’s is shared by all four sampradāyas of the Vaiṣṇava school (all accepting eternal servitude to the Lord even after salvation), and there is no authorized Vaiṣṇava ācārya who may think of the Lord and himself as one.

Vedas cannot give you Krsna, they can only point you to Krsna…

THIS HUMBLENESS OF THE PURE DEVOTEE, WHO IS ONE-HUNDRED-PERCENT ENGAGED IN HIS SERVICE, PUTS THE DEVOTEE OF THE LORD IN A TRANCE BY WHICH TO REALIZE EVERYTHING, 

because to the sincere devotee of the Lord, the Lord reveals Himself, as stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (10.10). The Lord, being the Lord of intelligence in everyone (even in the nondevotee), favors His devotee with proper intelligence so that automatically the pure devotee is enlightened with the factual truth about the Lord and His different energies. The Lord is revealed not by one’s speculative power or by one’s verbal jugglery over the Absolute Truth; rather, He reveals Himself to a devotee when He is fully satisfied by the devotee’s service attitude. Śukadeva Gosvāmī is not a mental speculator or compromiser of the theory of “as many ways, as many conclusions”; rather, he prays to the Lord only, invoking His transcendental pleasure. That is the way of knowing the Lord.

This is a very eloquent purport and significant today. There are many controversies raising today about equality, women becoming Diksha gurus, and reading SP books. These are not debatable subjects. But when we speculate everything becomes debatable. Amazing line in the purport that all efforts by the mental speculators are a waste of time, they cannot come to any conclusion. They can never attain liberation from the cycle of birth and death. But the pure devotee simply by remembering the lotus feet of the lord… devotee enters the real trance …
The mindset of desiring material sense enjoyment binds even the advanced mystic yogis. The only prayer for pure devotees doesn’t let me fall into Maya – desire sense gratification independent of Krsna… One has to have the help of Krsna to forget Him to engage in sense gratification.

Temple is an oasis where one can graduate from sense gratification and engage in the bliss of Radha and Krsna…

YOu have to deny any sense of guilt in sense gratification. There are a whole set of books to help people free from the sense of guilt in sense gratification.

Pipe dream – something which is not possible.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.4.20 TODAY (06/13/21):

1. Since Śukadeva Gosvāmī is one of the prominent gata-vyalīkas, who are freed from all misconceptions, he, therefore, expresses his own realized perception of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa as being the sum total of all perfection,  the Personality of Godhead.
2. Everyone is seeking the favor of the goddess of fortune, but people do not know that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the beloved husband of all goddesses of fortune.
3. Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the principal head of all such goddesses of fortune, and therefore She is the pleasure counterpart of the Lord and is nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa.
4. All these goddesses of fortune are manifestations of His transcendental pleasure potency (hlādinī-śakti) in His internal energy, and when the Lord manifested Himself on this earth He partially displayed the activities of His pleasure potency in His rāsa-līlā just to attract the conditioned souls, who are all after the phantasmagoria pleasure potency in degraded sex enjoyment. 
5. The pure devotees of the Lord like Śukadeva Gosvāmī, who was completely detached from the abominable sex life of the material world, discussed this act of the Lord’s pleasure potency certainly not in relation to sex, but to relish a transcendental taste inconceivable to the mundaners who are after sex life.
6. Lord Caitanya was a strict sannyāsī, so much so that He did not allow any woman to come near Him, not even to bow down and offer respects. He never even heard the prayers of the deva-dāsīs offered in the temple of Jagannātha because a sannyāsī is forbidden to hear songs sung by the fair sex
7. In the Vedic rituals, there are recommendations for performing different types of sacrifice in order to achieve the greatest benefit in life. Such benedictions as the results of performing great sacrifices are, after all, favors given by the goddess of fortune, and the Lord, being the husband or lover of the goddess of fortune, is factually the Lord of all sacrifices also.
8. Lord is the final enjoyer of all kinds of yajña; therefore Yajña-pati is another name of Lord Viṣṇu.
9. Lord is Dhiyām-pati, or the Lord of intelligence. All living beings are not equally endowed with the same quality of intelligence because behind such development of intelligence is the control of the Lord, as declared in the Bhagavad-gītā 15.15.
10. The conditioned souls strive to become lords of the material world. The result is that instead of attaining an unconditional life of full freedom, the mad conditioned soul is entangled again and again in different types of bondage in material bodies.
11. Everything we see in the material manifestation is but the creation of the Lord. Therefore He is the real proprietor of everything in the universes.
12. The conditioned soul can enjoy a fragment of this material creation under the control of the Lord, but not self-sufficiently. That is the instruction in the Īśopaniṣad. One should be satisfied with things awarded by the Lord of the universe. It is out of madness only that one tries to encroach upon another’s share of material possessions.
13. ISO Mantra 1 – Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.
14. There is nothing in the universe that does not belong to either the parā or the aparā prakṛti; therefore everything is the property of the Supreme Being.
15. Factually, the Lord is the husband of all the women in His creation, but a conditioned soul under the control of the Lord feels proud to be the husband of one or two wives.
16. The annihilation of the Yadu dynasty was a material show created by the Supreme Lord; otherwise the Lord and the members of the Yadu dynasty are all eternal associates. The Lord is therefore the guide of all devotees, and as such Śukadeva Gosvāmī offered Him due respects with love-laden feelings.
    
    

SB 2.4.20 TRANSLATION:

May Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is the worshipable Lord of all devotees, the protector and glory of all the kings like Andhaka and Vṛṣṇi of the Yadu dynasty, the husband of all goddesses of fortune, the director of all sacrifices and therefore the leader of all living entities, the controller of all intelligence, the proprietor of all planets, spiritual and material, and the supreme incarnation on the earth (the supreme all in all), be merciful upon me.

CLASS NOTES: 

Since Śukadeva Gosvāmī is one of the prominent gata-vyalīkas, who are freed from all misconceptions, he, therefore, expresses his own realized perception of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa as being the sum total of all perfection,  the Personality of Godhead.

EVERYONE IS SEEKING THE FAVOR OF THE GODDESS OF FORTUNE, BUT PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW THAT LORD ŚRĪ KṚṢṆA IS THE BELOVED HUSBAND OF ALL GODDESSES OF FORTUNE.

 In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said that the Lord, in His transcendental abode Goloka Vṛndāvana, is accustomed to herding the Surabhi cows and is served thereby hundreds of thousands of goddesses of fortune. All these goddesses of fortune are manifestations of His transcendental pleasure potency (hlādinī-śakti) in His internal energy, and when the Lord manifested Himself on this earth He partially displayed the activities of His pleasure potency in His rāsa-līlā just to attract the conditioned souls, who are all after the phantasmagoria pleasure potency in degraded sex enjoyment. 

The pure devotees of the Lord like Śukadeva Gosvāmī, who was completely detached from the abominable sex life of the material world, discussed this act of the Lord’s pleasure potency certainly not in relation to sex, but to relish a transcendental taste inconceivable to the mundaners who are after sex life. Sex life in the mundane world is the root cause of being conditioned by the shackles of illusion, and certainly, Śukadeva Gosvāmī was never interested in the sex life of the mundane world. Nor does the manifestation of the Lord’s pleasure potency have any connection with such degraded things. 

LORD CAITANYA WAS A STRICT SANNYĀSĪ
so much so that He did not allow any woman to come near Him, not even to bow down and offer respects. He never even heard the prayers of the deva-dāsīs offered in the temple of Jagannātha because a sannyāsī is forbidden to hear songs sung by the fair sex. Yet even in the rigid position of a sannyāsī He recommended the mode of worship preferred by the gopīs of Vṛndāvana as the topmost loving service possible to be rendered to the Lord. And Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the principal head of all such goddesses of fortune, and therefore She is the pleasure counterpart of the Lord and is nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa.


LORD IS THE FINAL ENJOYER OF ALL KINDS OF YAJÑA (YAJÑA-PATI IS ANOTHER NAME OF LORD VIṢṆU.)
In the Vedic rituals, there are recommendations for performing different types of sacrifice in order to achieve the greatest benefit in life. Such benedictions as the results of performing great sacrifices are, after all, favors given by the goddess of fortune, and the Lord, being the husband or lover of the goddess of fortune, is factually the Lord of all sacrifices also. He is the final enjoyer of all kinds of yajña; therefore Yajña-pati is another name of Lord Viṣṇu. It is recommended in the Bhagavad-gītā that everything is done for the Yajña-pati (yajñārtāt karmaṇaḥ), for otherwise, one’s acts will be the cause of conditioning by the law of material nature. 

Those who are not freed from all misconceptions (vyalīkam) perform sacrifices to please the minor demigods, but the devotees of the Lord know very well that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the supreme enjoyer of all performances of sacrifice; therefore they perform the saṅkīrtana-yajña (śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ), which is especially recommended in this Age of Kali. In Kali-yuga, the performance of other types of sacrifice is not feasible due to insufficient arrangements and inexpert priesthood.

LORD IS DHIYĀM-PATI, OR THE LORD OF INTELLIGENCE.

Living beings are proportionately endowed with intelligence in terms of their previous activities. All living beings are not equally endowed with the same quality of intelligence because behind such development of intelligence is the control of the Lord, as declared in the Bhagavad-gītā (15.15). As Paramātmā, Supersoul, the Lord is living in everyone’s heart, and from Him only does one’s power of remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness follow (mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca). One person can sharply remember past activities by the grace of the Lord while others cannot. One is highly intelligent by the grace of the Lord, and one is a fool by the same control. Therefore the Lord is Dhiyām-pati, or the Lord of intelligence.

There is no equality in the material world. Gandhi gave the terminology mahajan to low-class people in India. Artificially you cannot make people equal for political motives. That is a failure. But spiritually there is equality, everyone is part and parcel of Krsna and everyone has the equal opportunity to become Krsna conscious and serve the lord.

THE CONDITIONED SOULS STRIVE TO BECOME LORDS OF THE MATERIAL WORLD. 

Everyone is trying to lord it over the material nature by applying his highest degree of intelligence. This misuse of intelligence by the conditioned soul is called madness. One’s full intelligence should be applied to get free from the material clutches. But the conditioned soul, due to madness only, engages his full energy and intelligence in sense gratification, and to achieve this end of life he willfully commits all sorts of misdeeds. The result is that instead of attaining an unconditional life of full freedom, the mad conditioned soul is entangled again and again in different types of bondage in material bodies.

Everything we see in the material manifestation is but the creation of the Lord. Therefore He is the real proprietor of everything in the universes. The conditioned soul can enjoy a fragment of this material creation under the control of the Lord, but not self-sufficiently. That is the instruction in the Īśopaniṣad. One should be satisfied with things awarded by the Lord of the universe. It is out of madness only that one tries to encroach upon another’s share of material possessions.

It is also described the ISOpanishad – “Isavasyam idam sarvam… “

ISO MANTRA 1
īśāvāsyam idaḿ sarvaṁ
yat kiñca jagatyāṁ jagat
tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā
mā gṛdhaḥ kasya svid dhanam

Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.

However, both the living entities and inanimate objects are controlled by the laws of nature and ultimately by the Lord’s potency.

There is nothing in the universe that does not belong to either the parā or the aparā prakṛti; therefore everything is the property of the Supreme Being.

FACTUALLY, THE LORD IS THE HUSBAND OF ALL THE WOMEN IN HIS CREATION, BUT A CONDITIONED SOUL UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE LORD FEELS PROUD TO BE THE HUSBAND OF ONE OR TWO WIVES.

The Lord of the universe, out of His causeless mercy upon the conditioned souls, descends by His own energy (ātma-māyā) to reestablish the eternal relation of the conditioned souls with Him. He instructs all to surrender unto Him instead of falsely claiming to be enjoyers for a certain limit under His control. When He so descends He proves how much greater is His ability to enjoy, and He exhibits His power of enjoyment by, for instance, marrying sixteen thousand wives at once. The conditioned soul is very proud of becoming the husband of even one wife, but the Lord laughs at this. The intelligent man can know who is the real husband.Factually, the Lord is the husband of all the women in His creation, but a conditioned soul under the control of the Lord feels proud to be the husband of one or two wives.

THE LORD IS THE GUIDE OF ALL DEVOTEES

All these qualifications as the different types of pati mentioned in this verse are meant for Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and Śukadeva Gosvāmī has therefore especially mentioned the pati and gati of the Yadu dynasty. The members of the Yadu dynasty knew that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is everything, and all of them intended to return to Lord Kṛṣṇa after He had finished His transcendental pastimes on the earth. The Yadu dynasty was annihilated by the will of the Lord because its members had to return home with the Lord. The annihilation of the Yadu dynasty was a material show created by the Supreme Lord; otherwise the Lord and the members of the Yadu dynasty are all eternal associates. The Lord is therefore the guide of all devotees, and as such Śukadeva Gosvāmī offered Him due respects with love-laden feelings.

QUESTION: If there is equality spiritually. Why then Madhurya rasa is highest than other relationships. 

There is a big cup and a small cup. The Big cup and the small cup are filled with water and now both are full. Then there is no difference. It is like that in all relationships the living entity is fully satisfied. Madhurya rasa is highest because it encompasses all the other rasas within it.

Noone is limiting you except your desire. Krsna is not saying you can go only upto here. Every moment there is competition between measurement and expansion. You can never actually get bored. The opposite is true in the material world.. As soon as you are born you are dying.. Groth is dying of something.. People have all the opposite opinions, that is why there is frustration, desperation, hatred, envy, they do not understand what is the purpose of material world. We think purpose of the material world… is for sense gratification. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.4.19:

1. The Supreme Lord, although the Lord of all followers of different paths of self-realization, is perfectly realized only by the devotees because they are above all pretensions (the pretensions are desiring to be a jnana yogi, mystic yogi, karma yogi… having desire to merge into Brahman… having any desire other than to please Krsna)
2. The devotees of the Lord, only want to serve the Lord, because they know that the Lord is great and as living entities, they are eternally subordinate parts and parcels of the Lord. This perfect realization of the self by the devotee helps him to become desireless, to desire nothing for his personal self, and thus the devotees are called niṣkāmī, without any desire. 
3. A living entity, by his constitutional position, cannot be void of all desires,  but the niṣkāmī devotees of the Lord desire everything for the satisfaction of the Lord. They are completely dependent on the orders of the Lord and are always ready to discharge their duty for the satisfaction of the Lord.
4. Because Arjuna was without any pretension, he changed his decision and satisfied the Lord by agreeing to fight (kariṣye vacanaṁ tava), and thus he became desireless.
5. The devotee is completely peaceful because he has no demand for himself and is always ready to serve the desire of the Lord. He is is happy in the service of the Lord, and in fact, he does not even desire liberation from the so-called material bondage. The devotees of Kṛṣṇa have no material desires, and therefore they are in perfect peace.
6. As long as one has the material body, the demands of the body for sense gratification will continue. The devotee, however, is not disturbed by such desires, because of his fullness. A Kṛṣṇa conscious man is not in need of anything, because the Lord fulfills all his material necessities. 
7. The proof of a Kṛṣṇa conscious man – one who has lost all inclinations for material sense gratification, although the desires are present. Because he remains satisfied in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, he can remain steady, like the ocean, and therefore enjoy full peace.
8. Whereas those who are after fruitive results for their pious activities, those who desire salvation…. etc., are always restless. because they want something for themselves.
9. Persons acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness are never deviated from the path of entirely understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead. 
10. The beginning of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is association of persons who are Kṛṣṇa conscious. Such association is spiritual and puts one directly in touch with the Supreme Lord, and, by His grace, one can understand Kṛṣṇa to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead. 
11. At the same time, one can really understand the constitutional position of the living entity and how the living entity forgets Kṛṣṇa and becomes entangled in material activities. 
12. By gradual development of Kṛṣṇa consciousness in good association, the living entity can understand that due to forgetfulness of Kṛṣṇa he has become conditioned by the laws of material nature.
13. He can also understand that this human form of life is an opportunity to regain Kṛṣṇa consciousness and that it should be fully utilized to attain the causeless mercy of the Supreme Lord.
14. One must follow in the footsteps of great authorities like Brahmā, Śiva, Nārada, Manu, the Kumāras, Kapila, Prahlāda, Bhīṣma, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, Yamarāja, Janaka and Bali Mahārāja. By mental speculation, one cannot ascertain what is religion or self-realization.

SB 2.4.19 TRANSLATION: 

He is the Supersoul and the Supreme Lord of all self-realized souls. He is the personification of the Vedas, religious scriptures and austerities. He is worshiped by Lord Brahmā and Śiva and all those who are transcendental to all pretensions. Being so revered with awe and veneration, may that Supreme Absolute be pleased with me.

CLASS NOTES: 

THE SUPREME LORD, THE PERSONALITY OF GODHEAD, ALTHOUGH THE LORD OF ALL FOLLOWERS OF DIFFERENT PATHS OF SELF-REALIZATION, IS KNOWABLE ONLY BY THOSE WHO ARE ABOVE ALL PRETENSIONS.

Everyone is searching for eternal peace or eternal life, and with an aim to this destination everyone is either studying the Vedic scriptures or other religious scriptures or undergoing severe austerity as empiric philosophers, as mystic yogīs or as unalloyed devotees, etc. But the Supreme Lord is perfectly realized only by the devotees because they are above all pretensions.

 Those who are on the path of self-realization are generally classified as karmīs, jñānīs, yogīs, or devotees of the Lord.

1. The karmīs, who are much attracted by the fruitive activities of the Vedic rituals, are called bhakti-kāmī, or those who desire material enjoyment.
2. The jñānīs, who try to become one with the Supreme by mental speculation, are called mukti-kāmī, or those who desire liberation from material existence.
3. The mystic yogīs, who practice different types of austerities for attainment of eight kinds of material perfection and who ultimately meet the Supersoul (Paramātmā) in trance, are called siddhi-kāmī, or those who desire the perfection of becoming finer than the finest, becoming heavier than the heaviest, getting everything desired, having control over everyone, creating everything liked, etc. All these are abilities of a powerful yogī.
4. But the devotees of the Lord do not want anything like that for self-satisfaction. They want only to serve the Lord because the Lord is great and as living entities they are eternally subordinate parts and parcels of the Lord. This perfect realization of the self by the devotee helps him to become desireless, to desire nothing for his personal self, and thus the devotees are called niṣkāmī, without any desire.

A LIVING ENTITY, BY HIS CONSTITUTIONAL POSITION, CANNOT BE VOID OF ALL DESIRES 

(the bhukti-kāmī, mukti-kāmī and siddhi-kāmī all desire something for personal satisfaction), but the niṣkāmī devotees of the Lord desire everything for the satisfaction of the Lord. They are completely dependent on the orders of the Lord and are always ready to discharge their duty for the satisfaction of the Lord.

BECAUSE ARJUNA WAS WITHOUT ANY PRETENSION, HE CHANGED HIS DECISION AND SATISFIED THE LORD BY AGREEING TO FIGHT (KARIṢYE VACANAṀ TAVA), AND THUS HE BECAME DESIRELESS.

The examples of Brahmā and Lord Śiva are specifically cited here because Brahmājī, Lord Śiva, Śrīmatī Lakṣmījī and the four Kumāras (Sanaka, Sanātana, etc.) are leaders of the four desireless Vaiṣṇava sampradāyas. They are all freed from all pretensions. (Unalloyed devotees)

In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 19.149) it is said:

kṛṣṇa-bhakta — niṣkāma, ata eva ‘śānta’
bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmī, sakali ‘aśānta’

THE DEVOTEE IS COMPLETELY PEACEFUL BECAUSE HE HAS NO DEMAND FOR HIMSELF AND IS ALWAYS READY TO SERVE THE DESIRE OF THE LORD.

Those who are after fruitive results for their pious activities, those who desire salvation and identity with the Supreme, and those who desire material perfections of mystic power are all restless because they want something for themselves, but the devotee is completely peaceful because he has no demand for himself and is always ready to serve the desire of the Lord.

Wonderful purport by SP as always. He is exemplary in his writing. Everything he writes and says is exemplary…  This is also explained in BG 7.30

(BG 7.30) IN THE TRANSCENDENTAL ASSOCIATION OF KṚṢṆA CONSCIOUSNESS, ONE CAN UNDERSTAND HOW THE SUPREME LORD IS THE GOVERNING PRINCIPLE OF THE MATERIAL MANIFESTATION AND EVEN OF THE DEMIGODS.
Those in full consciousness of Me, who know Me, the Supreme Lord, to be the governing principle of the material manifestation, of the demigods, and of all methods of sacrifice, can understand and know Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even at the time of death.

  
Persons acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness are never deviated from the path of entirely understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead. 

Everyday they try and learn something new about Krsna. When they become advanced, every hour, every minute, every second… 

In the transcendental association of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one can understand how the Supreme Lord is the governing principle of the material manifestation and even of the demigods. Gradually, by such transcendental association, one becomes convinced of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and at the time of death such a Kṛṣṇa conscious person can never forget Kṛṣṇa. Naturally he is thus promoted to the planet of the Supreme Lord, Goloka Vṛndāvana.

There is a saying that one should die in his boots. Hindus think that there are many GOds and they are all equal. Phony liberals, they want to make everything equal. How can you say Jeff Bezos equal to everyone, animals equal to humans, insects equal to plants… you see nothing is equal in the material world. However, the only thing that is equal everyone has an equal chance to become Krsna conscious. That is equal for everyone… The focus is on having an association with genuine devotees.

THE BEGINNING OF KṚṢṆA CONSCIOUSNESS IS ASSOCIATION OF PERSONS WHO ARE KṚṢṆA CONSCIOUS. 

Such association is spiritual and puts one directly in touch with the Supreme Lord, and, by His grace, one can understand Kṛṣṇa to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead. At the same time one can really understand the constitutional position of the living entity and how the living entity forgets Kṛṣṇa and becomes entangled in material activities. 

We have to understand both knowledge and ignorance… vidya Vinaya sampanne… Humble sage sees everyone with equal vision. In ISO it is said that one must learn both  vidya and avidya… A devotee is satisfied by spreading the glories of Krsna to those who do not know about Krsna. 

By gradual development of Kṛṣṇa consciousness in good association, the living entity can understand that due to forgetfulness of Kṛṣṇa he has become conditioned by the laws of material nature. He can also understand that this human form of life is an opportunity to regain Kṛṣṇa consciousness and that it should be fully utilized to attain the causeless mercy of the Supreme Lord.

Good association and not bad association. Bad association – association with lose devotees who are not steady, sometimes they want to earn more money, sometimes they want to be Krsna Consciousness, Sometimes illicit activities. Sometimes they come for service and sometimes they do not.

HE WHO IS ACTUALLY ELEVATED IN KṚṢṆA CONSCIOUSNESS DOES NOT CARE FOR THE DIFFERENT PROCESSES.

Many subjects have been discussed in this chapter: the man in distress, the inquisitive man, the man in want of material necessities, knowledge of Brahman, knowledge of Paramātmā, liberation from birth, death and diseases, and worship of the Supreme Lord. However, he who is actually elevated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness does not care for the different processes. He simply directly engages himself in activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and thereby factually attains his constitutional position as an eternal servitor of Lord Kṛṣṇa. In such a situation he takes pleasure in hearing and glorifying the Supreme Lord in pure devotional service. He is convinced that by his doing so, all his objectives will be fulfilled. This determined faith is called dṛḍha-vrata, and it is the beginning of bhakti-yoga, or transcendental loving service. That is the verdict of all scriptures. 

(BG 2.70) A PERSON WHO IS NOT DISTURBED BY THE INCESSANT FLOW OF DESIRES CAN ALONE ACHIEVE PEACE,
A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires – that enter like rivers into the ocean, which is ever being filled but is always still – can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires.

Everyday we are bombarded by some advertisements or messages which can hook us to desires… ex: Earn online masters degree, buy and sell houses… take a bite of the bait and be hooked up, Radio, internet, social media, as soon as you bite the bait you get hooked… 

Although the vast ocean is always filled with water, it is always, especially during the rainy season, being filled with much more water. But the ocean remains the same – steady; it is not agitated, nor does it cross beyond the limit of its brink. That is also true of a person fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. 

Example – Haridas Thakur – Prostitute and Mayadevi tried to tempt him, but he was not disturbed and he made them chant.. .. “Param Dristva Nivartante… “ Higher taste..

AS LONG AS ONE HAS THE MATERIAL BODY, THE DEMANDS OF THE BODY FOR SENSE GRATIFICATION WILL CONTINUE. THE DEVOTEE, HOWEVER, IS NOT DISTURBED BY SUCH DESIRES, 

because of his fullness. A Kṛṣṇa conscious man is not in need of anything, because the Lord fulfills all his material necessities. 

A devotee diminishes his material necessities to bare minimum.. 

THEREFORE HE IS LIKE THE OCEAN – ALWAYS FULL IN HIMSELF.

Desires may come to him like the waters of the rivers that flow into the ocean, but he is steady in his activities, and he is not even slightly disturbed by desires for sense gratification. That is the proof of a Kṛṣṇa conscious man – one who has lost all inclinations for material sense gratification, although the desires are present. Because he remains satisfied in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, he can remain steady, like the ocean, and therefore enjoy full peace. 

OTHERS, HOWEVER, WHO WANT TO FULFILL DESIRES EVEN UP TO THE LIMIT OF LIBERATION, WHAT TO SPEAK OF MATERIAL SUCCESS, NEVER ATTAIN PEACE. 

The fruitive workers, the salvationists, and also the yogīs who are after mystic powers are all unhappy because of unfulfilled desires. But the person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is happy in the service of the Lord, and he has no desires to be fulfilled. In fact, he does not even desire liberation from the so-called material bondage. The devotees of Kṛṣṇa have no material desires, and therefore they are in perfect peace.

Everyone is repeating om shanti om shanti… at the end of pooja, but there is no shanti.. Because as soon as the puja is done they are again after material desires…

Question:
Answer: Brahma and Shiva are affected by material nature, because they are in contact with material nature. Durga Devi is Shiva’ss wife and Brahma because of his powerful position, he can be affected sometimes by the mode of passion. Hence you can see them getting affected sometimes. One should not try and imitate Mahajans and one should not criticize them. Even if they make a mistake they will come back… and are determined in devotional service..

BG 4.16
Even the intelligent are bewildered in determining what is action and what is inaction. Now I shall explain to you what action is, knowing which you shall be liberated from all misfortune.

It is said that one cannot ascertain the ways of religion simply by imperfect experimental knowledge. Actually, the principles of religion can only be laid down by the Lord Himself. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam (Bhāg. 6.3.19). No one can manufacture a religious principle by imperfect speculation. One must follow in the footsteps of great authorities like Brahmā, Śiva, Nārada, Manu, the Kumāras, Kapila, Prahlāda, Bhīṣma, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, Yamarāja, Janaka and Bali Mahārāja. By mental speculation one cannot ascertain what is religion or self-realization. Therefore, out of causeless mercy to His devotees, the Lord explains directly to Arjuna what action is and what inaction is. Only action performed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness can deliver a person from the entanglement of material existence.


BG 9.30
Even if one commits the most abominable action, if he is engaged in devotional service he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated in his determination.

On the other hand, one should not misunderstand that a devotee in transcendental devotional service can act in all kinds of abominable ways; this verse only refers to an accident due to the strong power of material connections. Devotional service is more or less a declaration of war against the illusory energy. As long as one is not strong enough to fight the illusory energy, there may be accidental falldowns. But when one is strong enough, he is no longer subjected to such falldowns, as previously explained. No one should take advantage of this verse and commit nonsense and think that he is still a devotee. If he does not improve in his character by devotional service, then it is to be understood that he is not a high devotee.

Brahma and Shiva they rectify their mistake immediately and they are genuine devotees. If we use this verse to continually break the rules and regulations, then we are rascal number one. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.4.18 TODAY (06/11/21):

1. Even those who are constantly engaged in sinful acts are all corrigible to the standard of perfect human beings if they take shelter of the devotees of the Lord.
2. Jesus Christ and Muhammad, two powerful devotees of the Lord, have done tremendous service on behalf of the Lord on the surface of the globe.
3. According to Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī, if the leadership of world affairs is entrusted to the devotees of the Lord, then by the grace of the Almighty Lord there can be a thorough change of heart in human beings all over the world because the devotees of the Lord are able authorities to effect such a change by purifying the dust-worn minds of the people.
4. The devotees are interested only in seeing that the people are not misguided by political propaganda and that the valuable life of a human being is not spoiled in following a type of civilization that is ultimately doomed.
5. If the politicians would be guided by the good counsel of the devotees, then certainly there would be a great change in the world situation by the purifying propaganda of the devotees, as shown by Lord Caitanya.
6. Lord Caitanya recommended that simply by glorifying the Lord’s holy name, a tremendous change of heart can take place by which the complete misunderstanding between the human nations created by politicians can at once be extinguished. 
7. A Vaiṣṇava is powerful enough to turn even the Kirāta, Huna, Pulinda, Yavan, malechas etc. into a Vaiṣṇava.
8. In the Bhagavad-gītā (9.32) it is said by the Lord that there is no bar to becoming a devotee of the Lord (even for those who are lowborn, or women, śūdras or vaiśyas), and by becoming a devotee everyone is eligible to return home, back to Godhead.
9. The only qualification is that one take shelter of a pure devotee of the Lord who has thorough knowledge in the transcendental science of Kṛṣṇa (Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam).
10. Anyone from any part of the world who becomes well conversant in the science of Kṛṣṇa becomes a pure devotee and a spiritual master for the general mass of people and may reclaim them by purification of heart.
11. Without any reference to the particular custom of a country, one can be accepted to the Vaiṣṇava cult spiritually, and there is no hindrance in the transcendental process. 
12. By the order of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the cult of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or the Bhagavad-gītā can be preached all over the world, reclaiming all persons willing to accept the transcendental cult. 
13. The Vaiṣṇava never accepts another Vaiṣṇava on the basis of birthright, just as he never thinks of the Deity of the Lord in a temple as an idol. And to remove all doubts in this connection, Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī has invoked the blessings of the Lord, who is all-powerful (prabhaviṣṇave namaḥ). 
14. “One should not consider the Deity of the Lord as worshiped in the temple to be an idol, nor should one consider the authorized spiritual master an ordinary man. Nor should one consider a pure Vaiṣṇava to belong to a particular caste, etc.” (Padma Purāṇa)
15. Lord, being all-powerful, can, under any and every circumstance, accept anyone from any part of the world, either personally or through His bona fide manifestation as the spiritual master. 
16. Lord Caitanya accepted many devotees from communities other than the varṇāśramites, and He Himself declared, to teach us, that He does not belong to any caste or social order of life, but that He is the eternal servant of the servant of the Lord who maintains the damsels of Vṛndāvana (Lord Kṛṣṇa). That is the way of self-realization.

SB 2.4.18 TRANSLATION

Kirāta, Hūṇa, Āndhra, Pulinda, Pulkaśa, Ābhīra, Śumbha, Yavana, members of the Khasa races and even others addicted to sinful acts can be purified by taking shelter of the devotees of the Lord, due to His being the supreme power. I beg to offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.

CLASS NOTES:

The above-mentioned historical names are different nations of the world. Even those who are constantly engaged in sinful acts are all corrigible to the standard of perfect human beings if they take shelter of the devotees of the Lord. Jesus Christ and Muhammad, two powerful devotees of the Lord, have done tremendous service on behalf of the Lord on the surface of the globe. And from the version of Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī it appears that instead of running a godless civilization in the present context of the world situation, if the leadership of world affairs is entrusted to the devotees of the Lord, for which a worldwide organization under the name and style of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness has already been started, then by the grace of the Almighty Lord there can be a thorough change of heart in human beings all over the world because the devotees of the Lord are able authorities to effect such a change by purifying the dust-worn minds of the people in general. The politicians of the world may remain in their respective positions because the pure devotees of the Lord are not interested in political leadership or diplomatic implications. The devotees are interested only in seeing that the people, in general, are not misguided by political propaganda and that the valuable life of a human being is not spoiled in following a type of civilization which is ultimately doomed.

If the politicians, therefore, would be guided by the good counsel of the devotees, then certainly there would be a great change in the world situation by the purifying propaganda of the devotees, as shown by Lord Caitanya. As Śukadeva Gosvāmī began his prayer by discussing the word yat-kīrtanam, so also Lord Caitanya recommended that simply by glorifying the Lord’s holy name, a tremendous change of heart can take place by which the complete misunderstanding between the human nations created by politicians can at once be extinguished. And after the extinction of the fire of misunderstanding, other profits will follow. The destination is to go back home, back to Godhead, as we have several times discussed in these pages.

A VAIṢṆAVA IS POWERFUL ENOUGH TO TURN INTO A VAIṢṆAVA EVEN THE KIRĀTA, ETC.

According to the cult of devotion, generally known as the Vaiṣṇava cult, there is no bar against anyone’s advancing in the matter of God-realization. A Vaiṣṇava is powerful enough to turn into a Vaiṣṇava even the Kirāta, etc., as above mentioned. In the Bhagavad-gītā (9.32) it is said by the Lord that there is no bar to becoming a devotee of the Lord (even for those who are lowborn, or women, śūdras or vaiśyas), and by becoming a devotee everyone is eligible to return home, back to Godhead. The only qualification is that one take shelter of a pure devotee of the Lord who has thorough knowledge in the transcendental science of Kṛṣṇa (Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam). Anyone from any part of the world who becomes well conversant in the science of Kṛṣṇa becomes a pure devotee and a spiritual master for the general mass of people and may reclaim them by purification of heart. Though a person be even the most sinful man, he can at once be purified by systematic contact with a pure Vaiṣṇava. A Vaiṣṇava, therefore, can accept a bona fide disciple from any part of the world without any consideration of caste and creed and promote him by regulative principles to the status of a pure Vaiṣṇava, who is transcendental to brahminical culture.

WITHOUT ANY REFERENCE TO THE PARTICULAR CUSTOM OF A COUNTRY, ONE CAN BE ACCEPTED TO THE VAIṢṆAVA CULT SPIRITUALLY, AND THERE IS NO HINDRANCE IN THE TRANSCENDENTAL PROCESS.

The system of caste, or varṇāśrama-dharma, is no longer regular even amongst the so-called followers of the system. Nor is it now possible to reestablish the institutional function in the present context of social, political and economic revolution. Without any reference to the particular custom of a country, one can be accepted to the Vaiṣṇava cult spiritually, and there is no hindrance in the transcendental process. So by the order of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the cult of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or the Bhagavad-gītā can be preached all over the world, reclaiming all persons willing to accept the transcendental cult. Such cultural propaganda by the devotees will certainly be accepted by all persons who are reasonable and inquisitive, without any particular bias for the custom of the country. The Vaiṣṇava never accepts another Vaiṣṇava on the basis of birthright, just as he never thinks of the Deity of the Lord in a temple as an idol. And to remove all doubts in this connection, Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī has invoked the blessings of the Lord, who is all-powerful (prabhaviṣṇave namaḥ). As the all-powerful Lord accepts the humble service of His devotee in devotional activities of the arcana, His form as the worshipable Deity in the temple, similarly the body of a pure Vaiṣṇava changes transcendentally at once when he gives himself up to the service of the Lord and is trained by a qualified Vaiṣṇava. The injunction of Vaiṣṇava regulation in this connection runs as follows: arcye viṣṇau śilā-dhīr guruṣu nara-matir vaiṣṇave jāti-buddhiḥ śrī-viṣṇor nāmni śabda-sāmānya-buddhiḥ, etc. “One should not consider the Deity of the Lord as worshiped in the temple to be an idol, nor should one consider the authorized spiritual master an ordinary man. Nor should one consider a pure Vaiṣṇava to belong to a particular caste, etc.” (Padma Purāṇa)

The conclusion is that the Lord, being all-powerful, can, under any and every circumstance, accept anyone from any part of the world, either personally or through His bona fide manifestation as the spiritual master. Lord Caitanya accepted many devotees from communities other than the varṇāśramites, and He Himself declared, to teach us, that He does not belong to any caste or social order of life, but that He is the eternal servant of the servant of the Lord who maintains the damsels of Vṛndāvana (Lord Kṛṣṇa). That is the way of self-realization.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.4.17:

1. Advancement of learning, a charitable disposition, political, social or religious leadership of human society, philosophical speculations, the practice of the yoga system, expertise in the Vedic rituals, and all similar high qualities in man serve one in the attainment of perfection only when they are employed in the service of the Lord. 
2. Without such dovetailing, all such qualities become sources of trouble for people in general. 
3. Everything can be utilized either for one’s own sense gratification or in the service of one other than oneself.
4. There are two kinds of self-interest also, namely personal selfishness and extended selfishness. 
5. People, in general, have no knowledge that the self-interest of a living being attains perfection only when such an interest coincides with the interest of the Lord.
6. Unless the body is being properly maintained to realize one’s relation with God, all good efforts to maintain body and soul together are similar to the attempts of the animals to maintain body and soul together. 
7. The purpose of maintaining the human body is different from that of the animals. Similarly, advancement of learning, economic development, philosophical research, study in the Vedic literature or even the execution of pious activities (like charity, opening of hospitals, and the distribution of food grains) should be done in relation with the Lord. 
8. The aim of all such acts and endeavors must be the pleasure of the Lord and not the satisfaction of any other identity, individual or collective (saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam). 
9. The expert leaders of a godless human civilization cannot bring about a fruitful result in all their different attempts at educational advancement or economic development unless they are God-conscious. 
10. And to become God-conscious one has to hear about the all-auspicious Lord, as He is described in literature like the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
11. BG 9.27 – Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform – do that, O son of Kuntī, as an offering to Me.
12. BG 9.28 – In this way you will be freed from bondage to work and its auspicious and inauspicious results. With your mind fixed on Me in this principle of renunciation, you will be liberated and come to Me.
13. SB 5.18.12 – All the demigods and their exalted qualities, such as religion, knowledge and renunciation, become manifest in the body of one who has developed unalloyed devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva. On the other hand, a person devoid of devotional service and engaged in material activities has no good qualities. Even if he is adept at the practice of mystic yoga or the honest endeavor of maintaining his family and relatives, he must be driven by his own mental speculations and must engage in the service of the Lord’s external energy. How can there be any good qualities in such a man?

SB 2.4.17 TRANSLATION: 

Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the all-auspicious Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa again and again because the great learned sages, the great performers of charity, the great workers of distinction, the great philosophers and mystics, the great chanters of the Vedic hymns and the great followers of Vedic principles cannot achieve any fruitful result without the dedication of such great qualities to the service of the Lord.

CLASS NOTES: 

Advancement of learning, a charitable disposition, political, social or religious leadership of human society, philosophical speculations, the practice of the yoga system, expertise in the Vedic rituals, and all similar high qualities in man serve one in the attainment of perfection only when they are employed in the service of the Lord.

Without such dovetailing, all such qualities become sources of trouble for people in general. Everything can be utilized either for one’s own sense gratification or in the service of one other than oneself.

Unless the body is being properly maintained to realize one’s relation with God, all good efforts to maintain body and soul together are similar to the attempts of the animals to maintain body and soul together. 

The purpose of maintaining the human body is different from that of the animals. Similarly, advancement of learning, economic development, philosophical research, study in the Vedic literature or even the execution of pious activities (like charity, opening of hospitals, and the distribution of food grains) should be done in relation with the Lord. 

The aim of all such acts and endeavors must be the pleasure of the Lord and not the satisfaction of any other identity, individual or collective (saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam). 

In the Bhagavad-gītā (9.27) the same principle is confirmed where it is said that whatever we may give in charity and whatever we may observe in austerity must be given over to the Lord or be done on His account only.

The expert leaders of a godless human civilization cannot bring about a fruitful result in all their different attempts at educational advancement or economic development unless they are God-conscious. And to become God-conscious one has to hear about the all-auspicious Lord, as He is described in literature like the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Without KC all other endeavors even though they look good, feel good, they are NO Good. Therefore BG explains without any equivocation, one should do everything for KRsna. 

9.27
yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi
yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam

Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform – do that, O son of Kuntī, as an offering to Me.

9.28
śubhāśubha-phalair evaṁ
mokṣyase karma-bandhanaiḥ
sannyāsa-yoga-yuktātmā
vimukto mām upaiṣyasi

In this way you will be freed from bondage to work and its auspicious and inauspicious results. With your mind fixed on Me in this principle of renunciation, you will be liberated and come to Me.

This is the whole theme of BG. Arjuna was working for his family members and Krsna has to correct him… 

SB 5.18.12
yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā
sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ
harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā
manorathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ

All the demigods and their exalted qualities, such as religion, knowledge and renunciation, become manifest in the body of one who has developed unalloyed devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva. On the other hand, a person devoid of devotional service and engaged in material activities has no good qualities. Even if he is adept at the practice of mystic yoga or the honest endeavor of maintaining his family and relatives, he must be driven by his own mental speculations and must engage in the service of the Lord’s external energy. How can there be any good qualities in such a man?

Aham mameti,- I, me and mine
We can generally be not inclusive by being selfish.
We can be inclusive by being KC..


(BG 9.32) Inclusiveness
māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya
ye ’pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ
striyo vaiśyās tathā śūdrās
te ’pi yānti parāṁ gatim

O son of Pṛthā, those who take shelter in Me, though they be of lower birth – women, vaiśyas [merchants] and śūdras [workers] – can attain the supreme destination.

It is clearly declared here by the Supreme Lord that in devotional service there is no distinction between the lower and higher classes of people.  
(KC is all inclusive )

In the material conception of life there are such divisions, but for a person engaged in transcendental devotional service to the Lord there are not. Everyone is eligible for the supreme destination.  
(This is called equality)

In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.4.18) it is stated that even the lowest, who are called caṇḍālas (dog-eaters), can be purified by association with a pure devotee. Therefore devotional service and the guidance of a pure devotee are so strong that there is no discrimination between the lower and higher classes of men; anyone can take to it.
(But the bar is not lowered.)

The most simple man taking shelter of the pure devotee can be purified by proper guidance. According to the different modes of material nature, men are classified in the mode of goodness (brāhmaṇas), the mode of passion (kṣatriyas, or administrators), the mixed modes of passion and ignorance (vaiśyas, or merchants), and the mode of ignorance (śūdras, or workers). Those lower than them are called caṇḍālas, and they are born in sinful families. Generally, the association of those born in sinful families is not accepted by the higher classes. But the process of devotional service is so strong that the pure devotee of the Supreme Lord can enable people of all the lower classes to attain the highest perfection of life. This is possible only when one takes shelter of Kṛṣṇa. As indicated here by the word vyapāśritya, one has to take shelter completely of Kṛṣṇa. Then one can become much greater than great jñānīs and yogīs.

BG 9.34
man-manā bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru
mām evaiṣyasi yuktvaivam
ātmānaṁ mat-parāyaṇaḥ

Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me.

In this verse it is clearly indicated that Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the only means of being delivered from the clutches of this contaminated material world. Sometimes unscrupulous commentators distort the meaning of what is clearly stated here: that all devotional service should be offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Unfortunately, unscrupulous commentators divert the mind of the reader to that which is not at all feasible. Such commentators do not know that there is no difference between Kṛṣṇa’s mind and Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is not an ordinary human being; He is Absolute Truth. His body, His mind and He Himself are one and absolute. It is stated in the Kūrma Purāṇa, as it is quoted by Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī in his Anubhāṣya comments on Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Fifth Chapter, Ādi-līlā, verses 41–48), deha-dehi-vibhedo ’yaṁ neśvare vidyate kvacit. This means that there is no difference in Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, between Himself and His body. But because the commentators do not know this science of Kṛṣṇa, they hide Kṛṣṇa and divide His personality from His mind or from His body. Although this is sheer ignorance of the science of Kṛṣṇa, some men make profit out of misleading people.

There are some who are demonic; they also think of Kṛṣṇa, but enviously, just like King Kaṁsa, Kṛṣṇa’s uncle. He was also thinking of Kṛṣṇa always, but he thought of Kṛṣṇa as his enemy. He was always in anxiety, wondering when Kṛṣṇa would come to kill him. That kind of thinking will not help us. One should be thinking of Kṛṣṇa in devotional love. That is bhakti. One should cultivate the knowledge of Kṛṣṇa continuously. What is that favorable cultivation? It is to learn from a bona fide teacher. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and we have several times explained that His body is not material, but is eternal, blissful knowledge. This kind of talk about Kṛṣṇa will help one become a devotee. Understanding Kṛṣṇa otherwise, from the wrong source, will prove fruitless.

One should therefore engage his mind in the eternal form, the primal form of Kṛṣṇa; with conviction in his heart that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme, he should engage himself in worship. There are hundreds of thousands of temples in India for the worship of Kṛṣṇa, and devotional service is practiced there. When such practice is made, one has to offer obeisances to Kṛṣṇa. One should lower his head before the Deity and engage his mind, his body, his activities – everything. That will make one fully absorbed in Kṛṣṇa without deviation. This will help one transfer to Kṛṣṇaloka. One should not be deviated by unscrupulous commentators. One must engage in the nine different processes of devotional service, beginning with hearing and chanting about Kṛṣṇa. Pure devotional service is the highest achievement of human society.

The Seventh and Eighth chapters of Bhagavad-gītā have explained pure devotional service to the Lord that is free from speculative knowledge, mystic yoga and fruitive activities. Those who are not purely sanctified may be attracted by different features of the Lord like the impersonal brahma-jyotir and localized Paramātmā, but a pure devotee directly takes to the service of the Supreme Lord.

There is a beautiful poem about Kṛṣṇa in which it is clearly stated that any person who is engaged in the worship of demigods is most unintelligent and cannot achieve at any time the supreme award of Kṛṣṇa. 

The devotee, in the beginning, may sometimes fall from the standard, but still he should be considered superior to all other philosophers and yogīs. One who always engages in Kṛṣṇa consciousness should be understood to be a perfectly saintly person. His accidental nondevotional activities will diminish, and he will soon be situated without any doubt in complete perfection. The pure devotee has no actual chance to fall down, because the Supreme Godhead personally takes care of His pure devotees. Therefore, the intelligent person should take directly to the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and happily live in this material world. He will eventually receive the supreme award of Kṛṣṇa.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta Purports to the Ninth Chapter of the Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā in the matter of the Most Confidential Knowledge.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.4.16 TODAY (06/09/21): 

1. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa has repeatedly instructed Arjuna, or for that matter everyone concerned with becoming His unalloyed devotee. – “My dear Arjuna, you are very dear to Me, and therefore only for your good, I will disclose the most secret part of My instructions. It is simply this: become a pure devotee of Mine and give yourself unto Me only, and I promise you full spiritual existence, by which you may gain the eternal right of transcendental loving service unto Me. Just give up all other ways of religiosity and exclusively surrender unto Me and believe that I will protect you from your sinful acts, and I shall deliver you. Do not worry anymore.” [alternate translation of the verses BG18.64 -66].
2. Persons who are intelligent take serious notice of this last instruction of the Lord.
3. The culmination of the knowledge of Bhagavad-gītā is God-realization, and when one attains this stage of God-realization, he naturally, voluntarily becomes a devotee of the Lord to render Him loving transcendental service.
4. This devotional service to the Lord is always based on love of God and is distinct from the nature of routine service as prescribed in karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga or dhyāna-yoga.
5. One who fully surrenders unto the Lord to render service unto Him, out of spontaneous love for Him, factually assimilates the essence of all knowledge described in the Vedas.
6. One who adopts this method very skillfully attains the perfection of life at once. And this perfection of human life is called Brahma-gati, or the progressive march in spiritual existence. 
7. As enunciated by Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī on the basis of Vedic assurances, Brahma-gati means to attain a spiritual form as good as that of the Lord, and in that form, the liberated living being eternally lives on one of the spiritual planets situated in the spiritual sky.
8. Attainment of this perfection of life is easily available to a pure devotee of the Lord without his undergoing any difficult method of perfection. Such a devotional life is full of kīrtanam, smaraṇam, īkṣaṇam, etc.
9. One must adopt this simple way of devotional life in order to attain the highest perfection available in any category of the human form of life in any part of the world. (Krsna Consciousness is a science)
10. Bhakti-yoga is the highest quality of perfection to be achieved by the intelligent person in lieu of performing a large number of spiritual activities. 
11. A handful of real paddy is more valuable than heaps of paddy skins without any substance within. Similarly, one should not be attracted by the jugglery of karma-kāṇḍa or jñāna-kāṇḍa or even the gymnastic performances of yoga, but skillfully should take to the simple performances of kīrtanam, smaraṇam, etc., under a bona fide spiritual master, and without any difficulty attain the highest perfection.
12. Lord Caitanya made it very simple for all of us. He said simply chant the holy name, dance, and eat prasadam to achieve the highest perfection. 

SB 2.4.16 TRANSLATION
Let me offer my respectful obeisances again and again unto the all-auspicious Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The highly intellectual, simply by surrendering unto His lotus feet, are relieved of all attachments to present and future existences and without difficulty progress toward spiritual existence.

CLASS NOTES: 

Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa has repeatedly instructed Arjuna, or for that matter everyone concerned with becoming His unalloyed devotee. In the last phase of His instruction in the Bhagavad-gītā (18.64-66) He instructed most confidentially as follows:

sarva-guhyatamaṁ bhūyaḥ
śṛṇu me paramaṁ vacaḥ
iṣṭo ’si me dṛḍham iti
tato vakṣyāmi te hitam

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru
mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te
pratijāne priyo ’si me

sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

ALTERNATE TRANSLATION OF (18.64-66) – “My dear Arjuna, you are very dear to Me, and therefore only for your good, I will disclose the most secret part of My instructions. It is simply this: become a pure devotee of Mine and give yourself unto Me only, and I promise you full spiritual existence, by which you may gain the eternal right of transcendental loving service unto Me. Just give up all other ways of religiosity and exclusively surrender unto Me and believe that I will protect you from your sinful acts, and I shall deliver you. Do not worry anymore.”

PERSONS WHO ARE INTELLIGENT TAKE SERIOUS NOTICE OF THIS LAST INSTRUCTION OF THE LORD.

Knowledge of the self is the first step in spiritual realization, which is called confidential knowledge, and a step further is God-realization, which is called more confidential knowledge.

The culmination of the knowledge of Bhagavad-gītā is God-realization, and when one attains this stage of God-realization, he naturally, voluntarily becomes a devotee of the Lord to render Him loving transcendental service.

THIS DEVOTIONAL SERVICE TO THE LORD IS ALWAYS BASED ON LOVE OF GOD AND IS DISTINCT FROM THE NATURE OF ROUTINE SERVICE AS PRESCRIBED IN KARMA-YOGA, JÑĀNA-YOGA OR DHYĀNA-YOGA. 

In the Bhagavad-gītā there are different instructions for such men of different categories, and there are various descriptions for varṇāśrama-dharma, sannyāsa-dharma, yati-dharma (ashram monks) , the renounced order of life, controlling the senses, meditation, perfection of mystic powers, etc., but one who fully surrenders unto the Lord to render service unto Him, out of spontaneous love for Him, factually assimilates the essence of all knowledge described in the Vedas.

Example – Boy and girl – love at first sight.. It happens immediately..
In case of devotees – aslisya va pada ratam.. Pinastu mam… adarsanam… marma hatam… 

ONE WHO ADOPTS THIS METHOD VERY SKILLFULLY ATTAINS THE PERFECTION OF LIFE AT ONCE.

And this perfection of human life is called Brahma-gati, or the progressive march in spiritual existence. (Even the novices in devotional service experience bliss)

As enunciated by Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī on the basis of Vedic assurances, brahma-gati means to attain a spiritual form as good as that of the Lord, and in that form the liberated living being eternally lives on one of the spiritual planets situated in the spiritual sky.

Attainment of this perfection of life is easily available to a pure devotee of the Lord without his undergoing any difficult method of perfection. Such a devotional life is full of kīrtanam, smaraṇam, īkṣaṇam, etc., as mentioned in the previous verse. 

One must therefore adopt this simple way of devotional life in order to attain the highest perfection available in any category of the human form of life in any part of the world.

WHEN LORD BRAHMĀ MET LORD KṚṢṆA AS A PLAYFUL CHILD AT VṚNDĀVANA, HE OFFERED HIS PRAYER IN WHICH HE SAID:

Bhakti-yoga is the highest quality of perfection to be achieved by the intelligent person in lieu of performing a large quantity of spiritual activities. The example cited here is very appropriate. A handful of real paddy is more valuable than heaps of paddy skins without any substance within. Similarly, one should not be attracted by the jugglery of karma-kāṇḍa or jñāna-kāṇḍa or even the gymnastic performances of yoga, but skillfully should take to the simple performances of kīrtanam, smaraṇam, etc., under a bona fide spiritual master, and without any difficulty attain the highest perfection.

Lord Caitanya made it very simple… all these yoga systems, Gnana, Karma Kanda are very difficult. No focus on Krishna, more focus on self-improvement. Major difference bet routine following of karma, gnana, karma kanda…

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.4.15 TODAY (06/08/21):

1. The sublime form of religious performances (chanting, glorifying, hearing, remembering, praying and worshipping the lord) to free oneself from all reactions of sins is suggested in this verse by the greatest authority, Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī
2. The devotees need not be disappointed in the physical absence of the Lord. 
3. The devotional process of chanting, hearing, remembering, etc. (either all or some of them, or even one of them), can give us the desired result of associating with the Lord by discharging the transcendental loving service of the Lord.
4. The very sound of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa or Rāma can at once surcharge the atmosphere spiritually.
5. We must know definitely that the Lord is present wherever pure transcendental service is performed, and thus the performer of offenseless kīrtanam has a positive association with the Lord. 
6. One may worship the form of the Lord in a temple, or one may impersonally offer the Lord devotional prayers in a mosque or a church. One is sure to get free from the reactions of sins provided one is very careful about not committing sins willingly in expectation of getting free from the reactions by worshiping in the temple or by offering prayers in the church. 
7. This mentality of committing sins willfully on the strength of devotional service is called nāmno balād yasya hi pāpa-buddhiḥ, and it is the greatest offense in the discharge of devotional service. 
8. Hearing is very essential in order to keep oneself strictly on guard against such pitfalls of sins. And in order to give special stress to the hearing process, the Gosvāmī invokes all auspicious fortune in this matter.
9. SB 10.14.3 – Those who, even while remaining situated in their established social positions, throw away the process of speculative knowledge and with their body, words and mind offer all respects to descriptions of Your personality and activities, dedicating their lives to these narrations, which are vibrated by You personally and by Your pure devotees, certainly conquer Your Lordship, although You are otherwise unconquerable by anyone within the three worlds.
10. SB 10.1.4 – Glorification of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is performed in the paramparā system, that is, it is conveyed from the spiritual master to disciple. Such glorification is relished by those no longer interested in the false, temporary glorification of this cosmic manifestation. Descriptions of the Lord are the right medicine for the conditioned soul undergoing repeated birth and death. Therefore, who will cease hearing such glorification of the Lord except a butcher or one who is killing his own self?
11. BG 9.14 – Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.
12. BG 7.14 – Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life and whose sinful actions are completely eradicated are freed from the dualities of delusion, and they engage themselves in My service with determination.
13. That is the process of being situated on the spiritual platform. This elevation is possible in Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the association of pure devotees, for in the association of great devotees one can be delivered from delusion.
14. If one actually wants to be liberated he must render service to the devotees (mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ); but one who associates with materialistic people is on the path leading to the darkest region of existence 
15. Unless one is reinstated in his own constitutional position, it is not possible to understand the Supreme Personality or to be fully engaged in His transcendental loving service with determination.

SB 2.4.15 TRANSLATION
Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the all-auspicious Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, about whom glorification, remembrances, audience, prayers, hearing and worship can at once cleanse the effects of all sins of the performer.

CLASS NOTES: 

The sublime form of religious performances to free oneself from all reactions of sins is suggested herein by the greatest authority, Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī.

KĪRTANAM, OR GLORIFYING THE LORD, CAN BE PERFORMED IN VERY MANY WAYS, 

such as remembering, visiting temples to see the Deity, offering prayers in front of the Lord, and hearing recitations of glorification of the Lord mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or Bhagavad-gītā. Kīrtanam can be performed both by singing the glories of the Lord in accompaniment with melodious music and by the recitation of scriptures like Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or Bhagavad-gītā.

THE DEVOTEES NEED NOT BE DISAPPOINTED IN THE PHYSICAL ABSENCE OF THE LORD, THOUGH THEY MAY THINK OF NOT BEING ASSOCIATED WITH HIM
The devotional process of chanting, hearing, remembering, etc. (either all or some of them, or even one of them), can give us the desired result of associating with the Lord by discharging the transcendental loving service of the Lord in the above manner

Even the very sound of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa or Rāma can at once surcharge the atmosphere spiritually. We must know definitely that the Lord is present wherever such pure transcendental service is performed, and thus the performer of offenseless kīrtanam has a positive association with the Lord. Similarly, remembrance and prayers also can give us the desired result if they are properly done under expert guidance. One should not concoct forms of devotional service. One may worship the form of the Lord in a temple, or one may impersonally offer the Lord devotional prayers in a mosque or a church. One is sure to get free from the reactions of sins provided one is very careful about not committing sins willingly in the expectation of getting free from the reactions by worshiping in the temple or by offering prayers in the church.

This mentality of committing sins willfully on the strength of devotional service is called nāmno balād yasya hi pāpa-buddhiḥ, and it is the greatest offense in the discharge of devotional service. Hearing, therefore, is essential in order to keep oneself strictly on guard against such pitfalls of sins. And in order to give special stress to the hearing process, the Gosvāmī invokes all auspicious fortune in this matter.

The preoccupation here is – Willfully performing sin and trying to atone for them by chanting, worship of the lord, … it is the greatest offense, in the discharge of devotional service… Very important point to remember… 

SB 10.14.3 – IMP VERSE QUOTED BY BRAHMA HIMSELF
jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva
jīvanti san-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām
sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ-manobhir
ye prāyaśo ’jita jito ’py asi tais tri-lokyām

Those who, even while remaining situated in their established social positions, throw away the process of speculative knowledge and with their body, words and mind offer all respects to descriptions of Your personality and activities, dedicating their lives to these narrations, which are vibrated by You personally and by Your pure devotees, certainly conquer Your Lordship, although You are otherwise unconquerable by anyone within the three worlds.
This verse was quoted by Ramananda rai to Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

(SB 10.1.4) WHO WILL CEASE HEARING SUCH GLORIFICATION OF THE LORD EXCEPT A BUTCHER OR ONE WHO IS KILLING HIS OWN SELF?
Glorification of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is performed in the paramparā system, that is, it is conveyed from the spiritual master to disciple. Such glorification is relished by those no longer interested in the false, temporary glorification of this cosmic manifestation. Descriptions of the Lord are the right medicine for the conditioned soul undergoing repeated birth and death. Therefore, who will cease hearing such glorification of the Lord except a butcher or one who is killing his own self?

BG 7.27
O scion of Bharata, O conqueror of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, bewildered by dualities arisen from desire and hate.

A pure devotee is beyond the dualities, they are neutral and not affected by desire and hate… when someone insults you where is the pain, is it in the heart? If an MRI is done nothing shows up… It is the pain due to the false ego… 

BG 9.14
satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ
yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ
namasyantaś ca māṁ bhaktyā
nitya-yuktā upāsate

Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.

(BG 7.28) UNLESS ONE IS FREE FROM SINFUL REAACTIONS ONE CANNOT TAKE UP DEVOTIONAL SERVICE
yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ
janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām
te dvandva-moha-nirmuktā
bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ

Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life and whose sinful actions are completely eradicated are freed from the dualities of delusion, and they engage themselves in My service with determination.

The history of Ajamil is very imp because it shows that by chanting the holy name even once sincerely, all the sins are eradicated.

Those eligible for elevation to the transcendental position are mentioned in this verse. For those who are sinful, atheistic, foolish and deceitful, it is very difficult to transcend the duality of desire and hate. Only those who have passed their lives in practicing the regulative principles of religion, who have acted piously, and who have conquered sinful reactions can accept devotional service and gradually rise to the pure knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then, gradually, they can meditate in trance on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the process of being situated on the spiritual platform. This elevation is possible in Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the association of pure devotees, for in the association of great devotees one can be delivered from delusion.

Delusion – Don Qeuote war with windmills. Thinking something which is not true as true is an illusion and acting on that belief is a delusion.

It is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (5.5.2) that if one actually wants to be liberated he must render service to the devotees (mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ); but one who associates with materialistic people is on the path leading to the darkest region of existence (tamo-dvāraṁ yoṣitāṁ saṅgi-saṅgam). All the devotees of the Lord traverse this earth just to recover the conditioned souls from their delusion. The impersonalists do not know that forgetting their constitutional position as subordinate to the Supreme Lord is the greatest violation of God’s law. Unless one is reinstated in his own constitutional position, it is not possible to understand the Supreme Personality or to be fully engaged in His transcendental loving service with determination.

Srila Prabhupada glorifies the grand edifice of KC in one paragraph. All main points for success and main points for distress are there in this one purport. This is the greatest literature… 

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.4.14

1. There are two sides of the transcendental manifestations of the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Personal Feature (a cowherd boy of Vrindavan) & Impersonal Feature (Brahma Jyothi)
2. The mundaners are more or less captivated by the unlimited expansion of the rays of the Lord, but the devotees are concerned more with His personal form, from which everything is emanating . 
3. The mundaners have insufficient information of even the mundane sky, so what can they think of the spiritual sky? Therefore the mundaners are always far, far away from Him.
4. So the Lord and His residential abode will always remain a myth or a mysterious problem, but for the devotees the Lord will always be available as an associate.
5. The impersonalists, who want to merge in the existence of the Lord, are allowed to merge as one of the spiritual sparks of the brahmajyoti. They have no qualifications for becoming associates of the Lord either in the Vaikuṇṭha planets or in the supreme planet, Goloka Vṛndāvana,
6. A demoniac person who is envious of both the scriptures and the existence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. he is actually envious of his own self. He denies himself the opportunity to become Krsna Conscious although it is offered to him.
7. Goloka Vṛndāvana, is described in the Bhagavad-gītā as mad-dhāma or the sva-dhāma of the Lord. 
8. The Vaikuṇṭha planets and the Goloka Vṛndāvana planet are all self-illuminating, and the rays scattered by those sva-dhāma of the Lord constitute the existence of the brahmajyoti. As confirmed in the Vedas like the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (2.2.10), Kaṭha Upaniṣad (2.2.15) and Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.14):
9. Perfect knowledge means knowing Kṛṣṇa as the root of this Brahman effulgence. This knowledge can be gained from such scriptures as Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which perfectly elaborates the science of Kṛṣṇa. 
10. Indeed, whatever illumination appears in the material world is only a reflection of that supreme illumination. That Brahman is in front and in back, in the north, south, east and west, and also overhead and below. In other words, that supreme Brahman effulgence spreads throughout both the material and spiritual skies.”
11. One who is dazzled by the effulgence of the impersonal brahmajyoti cannot know the personal transcendence; therefore in the Īśopaniṣad (15) it is prayed that the Lord shift His dazzling effulgence so that the devotee can see the real reality. 
12. When one realizes the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, in full potency after the removal of the hiraṇmaya-pātra, one realizes vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti: Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is known as Vāsudeva, is everything – Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān. He is Bhagavān, the root, and Brahman and Paramātmā are His branches.
13. There are two sides of the transcendental manifestations of the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Personal Feature (a cowherd boy of Vrindavan) & Impersonal Feature (Brahma Jyothi)
14. The mundaners are more or less captivated by the unlimited expansion of the rays of the Lord, but the devotees are concerned more with His personal form, from which everything is emanating . 
15. The mundaners have insufficient information of even the mundane sky, so what can they think of the spiritual sky? Therefore the mundaners are always far, far away from Him.
16. So the Lord and His residential abode will always remain a myth or a mysterious problem, but for the devotees the Lord will always be available as an associate.
17. The impersonalists, who want to merge in the existence of the Lord, are allowed to merge as one of the spiritual sparks of the brahmajyoti. They have no qualifications for becoming associates of the Lord either in the Vaikuṇṭha planets or in the supreme planet, Goloka Vṛndāvana,
18. A demoniac person who is envious of both the scriptures and the existence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. he is actually envious of his own self. He denies himself the opportunity to become Krsna Conscious although it is offered to him.
19. Goloka Vṛndāvana, is described in the Bhagavad-gītā as mad-dhāma or the sva-dhāma of the Lord. 
20. The Vaikuṇṭha planets and the Goloka Vṛndāvana planet are all self-illuminating, and the rays scattered by those sva-dhāma of the Lord constitute the existence of the brahmajyoti. As confirmed in the Vedas like the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (2.2.10), Kaṭha Upaniṣad (2.2.15) and Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.14):
21. Perfect knowledge means knowing Kṛṣṇa as the root of this Brahman effulgence. This knowledge can be gained from such scriptures as Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which perfectly elaborates the science of Kṛṣṇa. 
22. Indeed, whatever illumination appears in the material world is only a reflection of that supreme illumination. That Brahman is in front and in back, in the north, south, east and west, and also overhead and below. In other words, that supreme Brahman effulgence spreads throughout both the material and spiritual skies.”
23. One who is dazzled by the effulgence of the impersonal brahmajyoti cannot know the personal transcendence; therefore in the Īśopaniṣad (15) it is prayed that the Lord shift His dazzling effulgence so that the devotee can see the real reality. 
24. When one realizes the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, in full potency after the removal of the hiraṇmaya-pātra, one realizes vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti: Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is known as Vāsudeva, is everything – Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān. He is Bhagavān, the root, and Brahman and Paramātmā are His branches.

SB 2.4.14 TRANSLATION: 

Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto Him who is the associate of the members of the Yadu dynasty and who is always a problem for the nondevotees. He is the supreme enjoyer of both the material and spiritual worlds, yet He enjoys His own abode in the spiritual sky. There is no one equal to Him because His transcendental opulence is immeasurable.

CLASS NOTES: 

THERE ARE TWO SIDES OF THE TRANSCENDENTAL MANIFESTATIONS OF THE SUPREME LORD, ŚRĪ KṚṢṆA. FOR THE PURE DEVOTEES

1. He is the constant companion, as in the case of His becoming one of the family members of the Yadu dynasty, or His becoming the friend of Arjuna, or His becoming the associate neighbor of the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, as the son of Nanda-Yaśodā, the friend of Sudāmā, Śrīdāmā and Madhumaṅgala, or the lover of the damsels of Vrajabhūmi, etc. That is part of His personal features.
2. And by His impersonal feature He expands the rays of the brahmajyoti, which is limitless and all-pervasive. Part of this all-pervasive brahmajyoti, which is compared to the sun rays, is covered by the darkness of the mahat-tattva, and this insignificant part is known as the material world. 

The mundaners are more or less captivated by the unlimited expansion of the rays of the Lord, but the devotees are concerned more with His personal form, from which everything is emanating 

THE MUNDANERS HAVE INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION OF EVEN THE MUNDANE SKY, SO WHAT CAN THEY THINK OF THE SPIRITUAL SKY?

As the sun rays are concentrated in the sun disc, the brahmajyoti is concentrated in Goloka Vṛndāvana, the topmost spiritual planet in the spiritual sky. The immeasurable spiritual sky is full of spiritual planets, named Vaikuṇṭhas, far beyond the material sky. The mundaners have insufficient information of even the mundane sky, so what can they think of the spiritual sky? Therefore the mundaners are always far, far away from Him.  So the Lord and His residential abode will always remain a myth or a mysterious problem, but for the devotees the Lord will always be available as an associate.

Everyone has a relationship with Krsna. Devotees understand this and non devotees do not understand this. Lord establishes relationship with the living entity in 2 ways – impersonal/ personal. Mundaners are envious of Krsna and as aa result they are envious of themselves by refusing being KC. This is explained in BG 16.18. 

(BG 16.18) ONE BECOMES ENVIOUS OF THEMSELVES BY BECOMING ENVIOUS OF KRSNA

Bewildered by false ego, strength, pride, lust and anger, the demons become envious of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated in their own bodies and in the bodies of others, and blaspheme against the real religion.

A demoniac person, being always against God’s supremacy, does not like to believe in the scriptures. He is envious of both the scriptures and the existence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is caused by his so-called prestige and his accumulation of wealth and strength. He does not know that the present life is a preparation for the next life. Not knowing this, he is actually envious of his own self, as well as of others. He commits violence on other bodies and on his own. He does not care for the supreme control of the Personality of Godhead, because he has no knowledge. 

From the original envy of Krsna, because one envies themselves, one denies the opportunity of being KC although it is offered to them.

SB 2.4.14 

In the spiritual sky His opulence is immeasurable. The Lord resides in all the spiritual planets, the innumerable Vaikuṇṭha planets, by expanding His plenary portions along with His liberated devotee associates, but the impersonalists, who want to merge in the existence of the Lord, are allowed to merge as one of the spiritual sparks of the brahmajyoti. They have no qualifications for becoming associates of the Lord either in the Vaikuṇṭha planets or in the supreme planet, Goloka Vṛndāvana, described in the Bhagavad-gītā as mad-dhāma and here in this verse as the sva-dhāma of the Lord.

DESCRIPTION OF GOLOKA VṚNDĀVANA

Goloka Vṛndāvana, described in the Bhagavad-gītā as mad-dhāma or the sva-dhāma of the Lord.

The Lord’s sva-dhāma does not require any sunlight or moonlight or electricity for illumination. That dhāma, or place, is supreme, and whoever goes there never comes back to this material world.

The Vaikuṇṭha planets and the Goloka Vṛndāvana planet are all self-illuminating, and the rays scattered by those sva-dhāma of the Lord constitute the existence of the brahmajyoti. As further confirmed in the Vedas like the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (2.2.10), Kaṭha Upaniṣad (2.2.15) and Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.14):

In the sva-dhāma of the Lord there is no need of sun, moon or stars for illumination. Nor is there need of electricity, so what to speak of ignited lamps? On the other hand, it is because those planets are self-illuminating that all effulgence has become possible, and whatever there is that is dazzling is due to the reflection of that sva-dhāma.

ONE WHO IS DAZZLED BY THE EFFULGENCE OF THE IMPERSONAL BRAHMAJYOTI CANNOT KNOW THE PERSONAL TRANSCENDENCE; THEREFORE IN THE ĪŚOPANIṢAD (15) IT IS PRAYED THAT THE LORD SHIFT HIS DAZZLING EFFULGENCE SO THAT THE DEVOTEE CAN SEE THE REAL REALITY.

“O Lord, You are the maintainer of everything, both material and spiritual, and everything flourishes by Your mercy. Your devotional service, or bhakti-yoga, is the actual principle of religion, satya-dharma, and I am engaged in that service. So kindly protect me by showing Your real face. Please, therefore, remove the veil of Your brahmajyoti rays so that I can see Your form of eternal bliss and knowledge.”

Everything the Lord did in Vṛndāvana was for the pleasure of His associates there. The Lord created these pastimes to attract the dry speculators and the acrobats of the so-called haṭha-yoga system who wish to find the Absolute Truth.

Mayavadis, whatever happiness they feel it is negative happiness, it is the absence of distress. SP is showing the nectarean relationship He has with His devotees. At the same time how HE is the maintainer of everything… 

“The Personality of Godhead, who is perceived as the impersonal, blissful Brahman by the jñānīs, who is worshiped as the Supreme Lord by devotees in the mood of servitorship, and who is considered an ordinary human being by mundane people, played with the cowherd boys, who had attained their position after accumulating many pious activities.”

Thus the Lord is always engaged in transcendental loving activities with His spiritual associates in the various relationships of śānta (neutrality), dāsya (servitorship), sakhya (friendship), vātsalya (parental affection) and mādhurya (conjugal love).

SINCE IT IS SAID THAT LORD KṚṢṆA NEVER LEAVES VṚNDĀVANA-DHĀMA, ONE MAY ASK HOW HE MANAGES THE AFFAIRS OF THE CREATION. 

This is answered in the Bhagavad-gītā (13.14–18): The Lord pervades the entire material creation by His plenary part known as the Paramātmā, or Supersoul. Although the Lord personally has nothing to do with material creation, maintenance and destruction, He causes all these things to be done by His plenary expansion, the Paramātmā. Every living entity is known as ātmā, soul, and the principal ātmā who controls them all is Paramātmā, the Supersoul.

Krishna is touching everyone, but we become dull and we do not understand it. We just say it is a nice day and sun is bright… but we do not understand that the lord is embracing us… we attribute it to some kind of material experience..

(CC ADI 7.91) IF A SPIRITUAL MASTER CAN CONVERT EVEN ONE SOUL INTO A PERFECTLY PURE DEVOTEE, HIS MISSION IN LIFE IS FULFILLED.
 ‘It is very good, my dear child, that You have attained the supreme goal of life by developing love of Godhead. Thus You have pleased me very much, and I am very much obliged to You.

According to the revealed scriptures, if a spiritual master can convert even one soul into a perfectly pure devotee, his mission in life is fulfilled.Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura always used to say, “Even at the expense of all the properties, temples and maṭhas that I have, if I could convert even one person into a pure devotee, my mission would be fulfilled.” It is very difficult, however, to understand the science of Kṛṣṇa, what to speak of developing love of Godhead. Therefore if by the grace of Lord Caitanya and the spiritual master a disciple attains the standard of pure devotional service, the spiritual master is very happy. The spiritual master is not actually happy if the disciple brings him money, but when he sees that a disciple is following the regulative principles and advancing in spiritual life, he is very glad and feels obliged to such an advanced disciple.

Arrival Speech – SFO :

So sometimes people gives me very much credit that I have done wonderful throughout the whole world. But I do not know that I am wonderful man. BUT I KNOW ONE THING = THAT I AM SPEAKING WHAT KṚṢṆA HAS SPOKEN. That’s all. I am not making any addition, alteration. Therefore I am presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is. This credit I can take, that I don’t making any nonsense addition or alteration. And I see practically it has become successful.

I WANT ONE STUDENT WHO FOLLOWS MY INSTRUCTION. I DON’T WANT MILLIONS.

Ekaś candras tamo hanti na ca tara-sahasrasaḥ. If there is one moon in the sky, that is sufficient for illumination. There is no need of millions of stars. So my position is that I want to see that at least one disciple has become pure devotee. Of course, I have got many sincere and pure devotees. That is my good luck. But I would have been satisfied if I could find out one only. There is no need of so-called millions of stars.

To become a rare devotee is a very rare thing, but it is not impossible. THis knowledge of who is Krsna and what is happening in SB canto2, Maharaj Parikshit and Sukhadev Goswami… Potencies of Krsna, how He created the world and how he is expanding and how He is maintaining them…


Everyone has a relationship with Krsna either a personal relationship or impersonal relationship, but they do not know it…