91-012 'Spiritual Sentiments (BG 14.04), in Mumbai

Text 04

sarva-yonisu kaunteya

mūrtayah sambhavanti yāh

tāsāḿ brahma mahad yonir

ahaḿ bīja-pradah pitā

Translation

It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kunti, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father.

Purport by Srila Prabhupada

In this verse it is clearly explained that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, is the original father of all living entities. The living entities are combinations of the material nature and the spiritual nature. Such living entities are seen not only on this planet but on every planet, even on the highest, where Brahma is situated. Everywhere there are living entities; within the earth there are living entities, even within water and within fire. All these appearances are due to the mother, material nature, and Krsna seed-giving process. The purport is that the material world is impregnated with living entities, who come out in various forms at the time of creation according to their past deeds.

Krishna is the seed giving father of all living beings:

In this world people are very much proud of those persons who in the past have relationships with them as forefathers, ancestors.  In countries like China and Japan the basis of most of the religion of the people, is worshiping the spirits of their departed grandfathers, grandmothers, great grandfathers, great grandmothers back, back like that.  And here in India we see that in many, many households there is a picture of the departed father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, usually in the more prominent place than a picture of Radha and Krishna.  So this natural tendency to adore, to love and to worship father, mother and so forth is within human society.  Why is that there?  Because the ultimate father for every living being is Krishna, we are all his children, his sons and daughters.  He is the seed giving father of all living beings and our natural tendency is to be proud of him as our father and to worship him and love him as our father.  But because we have forgotten our real true eternal father or because we only have a very superficial understanding of who he is and what our relationship with him is, we place that same tendency in worshiping those persons who have temporary relationships as such in this world.

Human beings have a mentality of an ass or a cow:

In the Vedic culture there is a ceremony that is called shradha which the eldest son when the father dies it is his responsibility to go to a holy place such as Gaya to worship the Brahmans, to worship the vaisnavas and then to offer food bhoga to the Supreme Personality of Godhead who goes by the name of Gadadhar or Krishna and then to take that prasadam and offer it to ones departed ancestors and it is explained that if this ceremony is performed correctly then that prasadam purifies the hearts the souls of that persons who brings him closer to God.  They are liberated from massive amounts of sins and if they are in hellish existence they are liberated from those sinful reactions.  So this is the natural tendency of love.  But how to truly show this love, this is proper.  We should know that the greatest expression of love is to bring another living being closer and closer to Krishna. (S.B.5.18.12)

yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā

The Bhagavatam explains that the condition soul is very much proud and attached to the place of his birth and to the people in whose family he is been born, they are very much attached to this physical body and they go to a place of pilgrimage simply to take a bath without associating with the holy persons there.  Such people it is explained, their mentality is no better than an ass or a cow sa eva go-kharaù (SB 10.84.13).  Because all attachments, all illusions that are based on the bodily conception of life Bhagavatam explains it is the mentality of an ass or a cow.  But then we find in Mahabharata when Abhimanyu was killed because he was the son of Arjuna, how much Arjuna was weeping and crying and Subhadra who was none other than Yogamaya herself even she was crying weeping that she had lost her son.  And we find Vasudeva and Devaki when their baby children were being killed by Kamsa how much unbearable pain they were feeling in their hearts.  And of course, when Ramchandra was banished to the forest, how Dasarath Maharaj, he was in such an exalted position that he had the Supreme Lord as his son, he felt such attachment for his son that he could not live.  Within days due to the pain of separation he left this material world, he died in agony and when Bharat the brother of Sri Ram came to Chitrakut Dham and narrated the story of how Dasarath Maharaj had left the world, Lord Sri Ramchandra the Personality of Godhead was beside himself began to weep and cry for many, many moments and with great difficulty he finally collected his emotions to perform the last rites in the name of his father being the eldest son.  So what does this mean?  Does this mean that Lord Ram and King Dasarath, Vasudeva, Devaki, Arjuna that they had the minds of assess and cows?  Bhagvatam says like this (S.B.5.18.12)

yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā

sarvair gunais tatra samāsate surāh

‘That anyone who thinks the body made of the 3 elements to be the self, to consider the relations to this body to be mine, to consider the place of birth to be worship able or one of those who go to holy place to bathe in rivers such a person’s mind is an ass or a cow’.  Does this seem like a contradiction?  Is Ramchandra’s mind like an ass or a cow, he cried, he weeped?  Some people feel that to become detached means to become hard hearted, to simply not care.  “My father died.  Huh!  It’s all illusion it’s all maya, who cares”?  Krishna says “Those who are wise lament for the living or the dead” Açocyän anvaçocas tvaà (Bg. 2.11).

Understanding the nature of love:

I remember Srila Prabhupada when one of his dear most disciples left him for some time he explained in a letter that he was crying everyday praying to Krishna “Please, bring him back”.  Like a father to a son.  But some people think that to become advanced in spiritual life means to become hard hearted.  Detachment means it’s all an illusion, so why should I be interested.  So on one hand it explains we should not be attached and on the other hand we see the greatest souls showing such signs of attachment.  So I would like to ask you, in the audience here, to help me figure out this apparent dilemma.  Why if we are not supposed to lament for the dead or the living and why is all feelings of relations to be in illusions which make you an ass or a cow, if you think that way, why the greatest personalities are crying when they lose such relations?  Please, help me answer this question.  Anyone? This is the basic principle of our philosophy, one of the most obvious principles.  Love, what is the nature of that love?  Krishna says “Not to lament for the living or the dead”.  When an ordinary man cries is that love?  You see these great personalities they are crying for a different reason.  Somebody who is on the bodily concept of life it is true it is love.  Your answer is correct.  But we must understand the nature of that love.

Greatest expression of love is to bring our dear ones closer to Krishna:

An ordinary person is thinking in terms of I and mine janasya moho ‘yam ahaà mameti (SB 5.5.8). I am this body and all things in connection to this body are mine and therefore, to lose something or someone that is giving pleasure, security or gratification to your body is so painful that it causes great, great distress and lamentation.  But one who is detached from the bodily concept of life is no longer concerned with the sense gratification that anyone provides, therefore, he does not lament for the living nor the dead.  But amongst great souls, we find even Narottam Das Thakur one of the greatest paramhamsas in the Gaudiya Vaisnava Sampradaya he is singing: ye anilo prema-dhana koruna pracur heno prabhu kotha gela acarya-thakur.  He is beating his head on the stone in anguish feeling the pain of separation in those great vaisnavas who have left this world.  You see, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the greatest expression of love for him is by longing for him in separation and those devotees who we see in relationship to Krishna in any way that weeping that crying is actually a feeling separation from Krishna because the great vaisnava devotees of the Lord they are revealing Krishna into our lives, they are helping us to understand to know and to love Krishna.  Therefore, if we do not weep when they leave us, that means we have not learned how to love in the mood of separation.

One must cry and pray to Krishna to up-lift the soul of the departed:

When the Spiritual Master leaves the disciple cries incessantly, in fact Srila Prabhupada explains in the Srimad Bhagvatam in one purport, he says “It is the duty of the disciple to weep incessantly when his Spiritual Master leaves the planet”.  Because he is crying in separation for God himself, for that person who has revealed God, and what about someone like a mother or a father who is not so much revealing God, even the great souls have the tendency to cry in that situation, why is that?  Because a person seeing in both that spirit soul in relationship to God.  You should not be weeping in separation from the person’s body, but we can dovetail that propensity in truth by weeping to Krishna to lift up the soul of his beloved child.  It is a fact that those who are near and dear to us, we should especially be sensitive to be begging and praying to Krishna to help them to come closer to his lotus feet.  In fact Vasudeva Dutta, another great vaisnavas they were crying out of pity for people they never even saw or heard of before, hoping that they would come closer to Krishna, lamenting over their unfortunate condition of forgetfulness of Krishna.

Krishna is accessible to a soft hearted person:

So Krishna consciousness means to become the most soft hearted person in the entire universe but not for our own sense gratification, not due to physical bodily attachments but our soft heartedness is out of love for the vaisnavas, love for the Guru which is love for Krishna and love for every living being out of compassion.  Until one’s heart melts into liquid, Krishna is not accessible to that heart.  Prabhupada said “Too much gyan makes the heart grow hard, but bhakti melts the heart completely”.  The Heart of compassion, but never on the basis of illusion but on the basis of seeing Krishna, longing for Krishna and showing the compassion of Krishna feeling the compassion of Krishna for all living beings.  This is the natural consequence of understanding this verse.  Krishna is the seed giving father of all living beings on the spiritual platform.  All living beings are our brothers and sisters.  Brahman, Kshtriya, Vaisya, Sudra, Brahmacari, Grihasta, Vanaprastha, Sanyas they are all external black, white, Indian, American they are all external.  Recently, someone was telling me a story of one sadhu who was saying that “People who are not born in India cannot be real vaisnavas; they cannot be real devotees of the Lord.  How can they be with the birth and the conditioning that they are in?  How can you initiate such persons, how can you give them a status in Vedic society”?  This is very common this shows a great deficiency and limitation in understanding the word of God.  Krishna says Ahaà béja-pradaù pitä (Bg. 14.4).  ‘I am the seed giving father of all living beings, all beings are my children’.  Krishna does not discriminate, Krishna sees only the quality of the heart and this is the great need, unless we come to this understanding in our life then our so called religion, our so called spiritual disciplines are all external and superficial.  The fruit of genuine realization of love cannot take place.

Surrendering our consciousness to Krishna at all moments:

I remember once Srila Prabhupada explained in a lecture and it is also printed in the Bhagvatam that women are generally more God conscious than men, because they have simple minds and they are soft hearted.  Men have a hard time in spiritual life because they are very proud of their thinking processes and therefore, they become speculative, they are not willing to accept on the basis of faith, they discriminate and they become hard hearted.  Philosophy is meant to bring us to the platform by which we learn how to love.  If you memorize every scripture and every sloka in the entire history of man, you can never understand Krishna because Krishna is only understood in the heart.  The heart is a place that is beyond reason, beyond intelligence, beyond logic.  The heart is the seat of love of devotion and all the great philosophies of the world are ultimately meant to bring us to the platform.  Krishna explains of loving him with all our hearts (Bg. 10.8)

ahaḿ sarvasya prabhavo

mattah sarvaḿ pravartate

iti matvā bhajante māḿ

budhā bhāva-samanvitāh

Krishna says in Gita that ‘I am the source of all material and spiritual worlds.  Everything emanates from me.  The wise who know this perfectly, worship me with all their hearts’.  Because the heart is the seat of consciousness, to love Krishna means to surrender our consciousness to Krishna.  (Bg. 9.27)

yat karosi yad aśnāsi

yaj juhosi dadāsi yat

yat tapasyasi kaunteya

tat kurusva mad-arpanam

“All that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away must be done as an offering to me’.  That means whatever we do we must consciously offer it to Krishna.  Another words we must offer our consciousness to Krishna at all moments.  In whatever you do, you make a conscious offering to Krishna and the chanting of the Holy name means to attentively hear.  Attentively hearing means offering the essence of your life, your consciousness to the Holy name which is non-different than Krishna.  Therefore, Nam Sankirtan the chanting of the Holy name of the Lord is the top most, simple and effective process of self realization for all humanity because it is an immediate direct opportunity for us to totally offer our entire consciousness to Krishna.  Just like, in a sacred fire ceremony the ‘Agnihotra’ we take the ghee and offer it to the fire, the fire is Vishnu and that ghee is consumed by the fire and that is considered to be very auspicious.  So when we are chanting the Holy name we are factually doing the same thing.  We are offering the very essence of our existence which is our consciousness which is seated within our hearts we are offering that consciousness as an oblation into the fire of the Holy name.  This is the meditation that should take place during our japa and during the Holy Kirtan of the Lord.  (Improper audio)

Bhakti is the essence and it melts one’s heart:

Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati, Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur, Rupa Goswami, Sanatana Goswami all these great souls, they are all teaching us that Krishna consciousness means to love Krishna from the heart beyond logic and reason.  But these great souls have written volumes and volumes of books, with exceedingly deep profound philosophical explanations of every aspect of reality.  So this also may appear to be a contradiction.  Because human beings have intelligence and our intelligence must direct our mind and unless our intelligence is completely convinced on all levels of the truth and how to attain the truth, we will not put it into practice.   But the conclusion of the truth is we ultimately have to surrender, which is the surrender of our consciousness, which is to love. Philosophy is like map which is necessary to give us direction but it cannot take you there and it will never will and it never could.  Philosophy has never taken anyone to the goal of life, it can only show you the way, it is by accepting the position of the most humble menial servant, which is what the philosophy ultimately teaches us and by surrendering to Krishna in that mood of the most humble menial service is the only process by which we can understand God.  So therefore, it is very necessary to scrutinizing study the philosophy of Krishna consciousness but don’t think that in it-self will help you.  You must understand the essence –Bhakti and you must put that into your life and if we do then your heart gradually will melt and in that state out of love you will gradually begin to long more and more  and more for the presence God in your life.

To Love all living beings is the goal of chanting the Holy name:

Prabhupada would often times tell us that the price of Krishna is the tears you flow through your eyes in longing separation for him.  We should not artificially make a show.  These tears really are not from our eyes but they are from our heart, we must learn to long for Krishna.  We must learn to long out to compassion to help every living being who is part and parcel of Krishna and all of these glorious attributes are born from one who attentively chants his Holy name – Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, chanting the Holy name by attentively offering our consciousness to the process of hearing to each and every syllable.  This is the goal of life and this is the means to attain it, then we will understand how Krishna is the seed giving father of all living beings and we will learn to love him as the father and learn to love every living being as our very own brothers, sisters. We will learn to see the presence of God in everyone and in everything.  This is the goal of chanting the Holy name.  Is there any questions?

Devotee:

Maharaj :  That is a devotional process also, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself showed by his example, that is a purely devotional process if we do it in the right consciousness and that is recommended by the shastras, that is also recommended by the Lord.  But of course, Prahlad Maharaj did not go to Gaya his father got liberated only for one reason because even though he was such a demon Prahlad loved him, because Prahlad loved him and because Prahlad was so pure he got liberated.  If you become a pure devotee, those who you love Krishna will give them special, special, special mercy.  That is why it is said in Srimad Bhagvatam in relationship to Prahlad the 10 generations past and future of all relatives are liberated by one are related to a pure devotee of the lord.  That is Krishna’s special mercy because a devotee loves everyone correct?  So he is going to have special love for those who are near to him.  Isn’t that natural?  Devotee loves every living being but those he has most contact obviously there is going to be special love for them and special concern for them because he knows them most.  Prahlad loved everyone but it was his father that got liberated, why?  Because he has special relationship with his father, there was a closeness there, so Krishna recognizes that and fulfills the desire of his devotees.

Devotee :

Maharaj :  But he did not require to ask Narasimha Deva had liberated him before he even asked.  His asking was Krishna’s arrangement just to show the world the great compassion of such a devotee.  So the greatest expression of love is to become a pure devotee, to surrender everything to Krishna, that way those who you are concerned about they get the greatest benediction, the most auspicious blessings of God even if they are demons what to speak of their well wishers.   That is real love that is not a sentimental bodily conception of life.

Devotee :

Maharaj :  Eventually he is giving you the way back to Godhead and he is always praying to Krishna.  You see, Hiranyakashipu did not go back to Godhead, he got liberated but you see he was also killed by the Lord himself but why did the Lord kill him because he loved Prahlad.  So that is very special.  When the Spiritual Master leaves the world he gives all disciples through his instructions the ways and the means by which they will go back to Godhead and he personally takes the concern to come back again and again and again and again and again until that disciple goes back to Godhead.  That is his mercy that is God’s mercy working through him.  Bonafide Spiritual Master is not concerned with his disciple being liberated he wants his disciple with Krishna.  He wants only the highest benediction upon his disciple.  He will not settle for anything less than pure devotional service from any disciple.  If he was content with you not being a pure devotee you will never become a pure devotee.  He may be very satisfied at whatever level you are at that you are trying but his contempt will only be in your unmotivated, uninterrupted pure devotee of the Lord.  So if you are thinking is there something more I can do for my Guru Maharaj, this is the answer become a pure devotee of the Lord, surrender.  How do you become a pure devotee of the lord?  By humbly surrendering to his instruction and the most difficult instruction is to be the menial servant of every devotee, to give up your pride.  Until you do that you cannot chant the Holy name correctly (Cc. Adi 17.31)

tåëäd api sunécena

taror api sahiñëunä

amäninä mänadena

kértanéyaù sadä hariù

That is Mahaprabhu’s teaching.  Any other questions?

Devotee :  As you said that philosophy is just like a map but you cannot reach the destination with the help of philosophy

Maharaj :  With the help you can but in of itself you cannot.

Devotee :   The real goal of life should be love for Krishna, now if a person who is convinced by philosophy but he is not fully surrendered to Krishna because the real essence of spirituality is to surrender to Krishna that is the real goal of life but if the person is fully convinced of the philosophy but he has not surrender to Krishna he is in between.  He is convinced with philosophy but he is not surrendered.  What a person should do to get to the destination?

Maharaj :  He should become the humble servant of someone who is surrendered to Krishna and follow that person’s instructions, inquire submissively and render service.  Devotional service is Bhakti it is only by devotional service that we can understand Krishna.  Devotional service means to become the servant of the great soul a real sadhu.  To give up all our propensities to Lord it over material nature and just be the servant of a great sadhu.  Bhakti Vinod Thakur prayed “Let me be the dog for a vaisnava”.  A dog simply carries out the order of his master.  The one quality of the dog is he is faithful and loyal to his master.  Bhakti Vinod prayed “Let me be the dog to a vaisnava acarya”.  That is what you must do if you want to understand Krishna in truth you have to become a dog.

Devotee :

Maharaj :  It means to follow the instructions and it also means according to where we are we must do the will of the pure devotee.  If the pure devotee wants you directly in his association, serving his physical body then that is menial service.  If the pure devotee wants you to work under someone he appoints you to, to surrender to that person’s instructions is menial service to the pure devotee.  If the pure devotee wants you to, which he does to assist every devotee and humbly try to help every devotee wherever they are, menial service means to be the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant.  Those who simply want to serve the Guru are not serving the Guru at all.  They are 3^rd class.  To become the servant of the servant of servant is to truly please the Spiritual Master.

Devotee :   It means that surrender doesn’t mean to surrender to Guru or Krishna surrender means to surrender to those people whom we don’t want to surrender.

Maharaj :  Surrender means to surrender to Guru and Krishna.

Devotee : Yes, some people we don’t want to surrender we want to surrender to Krishna and Guru but Guru gives the instruction to surrender to certain authority which we have no faith…

Maharaj : If that is his instruction then that is how to please him.  Surrender means to try to please him.

Devotee :

Maharaj : Chanting of the mind is the only way really you ever chant.  You may with your gross senses vibrate the sound but you don’t hear with your ear.  You hear with your mind.  The fan is being going throughout this lecture, how much have you been conscious of the sound of the fan?  You have been?  If you have been listening to the lecture you shouldn’t have been.  You probably forgot all about it, but it is going in your ear but your mind is not absorbing it.  That means you are not really hearing it.  The hearing process is of the mind all hearing is of the mind.  Whether you chant as loud as you possibly can or whether you chant totally silently, it is the mind that hears.  If the mind is inattentive you are not hearing it, if the mind is attentive you are hearing it.

Devotee :

Maharaj :  But he also said there are no hard and fast rules whether you are chanting silently or loudly.  Chanting means vibrating the sound whether you are vibrating it in your heart, whether you are vibrating with your lips or whether you are vibrating with a microphone.  If you are attentive you are hearing if you are not you are not hearing.  It is not a mechanical process simply by going Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare doesn’t mean you are hearing your mind could be somewhere else.  Often times it is.  Simply be sitting in a lotus posture and chanting silently in the heart doesn’t mean you are hearing either. Your mind can be everywhere else.  There are different techniques which various times and circumstances the great acaryas are teaching that is the real essence and goal is to hear, to be conscious of the sound and that consciousness is within the heart and mind is in the heart.

Devotee :

Maharaj : What does Krishna say in Bhagvad Gita that ‘One who remembers me at the time of death attains me without fail’.  To remember is really the essence of chanting.  Why do we chant the Holy name?  We chant the Holy name because it is the easiest most expedite and direct way of remembering Krishna.  It’s in remembering Krishna that we are with Krishna.  Chanting without remembering is not chanting at all.  Lord Kapila Deva said the essence of all the scriptures is to always remember Krishna and never forget Krishna.  Krishna says “Always think of me, become my devotee”.  So to think of Krishna, to remember Krishna chanting is the best process.  It is not the sound that comes out of your mouth but it’s the sound that is absorbed within your heart that is actually your remembrance.  You could chant loudly, now when you hear the name within your heart when you hear within your mind Krishna even though it might not come out you are remembering Krishna.  Your heart is chanting it is vibrating the sound of God’s name.  Is it not?  It is vibrating the sound of God’s name and you are remembering the name that means you are remembering Krishna.  That is what it means to chant.  To chant is the process of remembering and it is the greatest process of remembering and that is why Lord Chaitanya said there are no hard and fast rules.  Loud, soft, silent if that name is vibrating and bringing us to the remembrance of Krishna that is perfect chanting.

Devotee:

Maharaj:  It is only by the mercy of Krishna that we can remember him at the time of death it is not by your own potencies.  If you sincerely please Krishna in your life he will appear in your mind at the time of death yasya prasädäd bhagavat-prasädo yasya prasädäd na gatiù kuto ‘pi.  If we sincerely honestly endeavor to fulfill the order of the Spiritual Master in our life then Krishna will appear to us by his mercy at the time of our death and we will remember him in that way.  It is only by his causeless mercy that we will remember him at the time of death and if we want to attract that causeless mercy we have to surrender to our capacity now.  Our capacity is not much but if we give it all that’s what Krishna wants.  Just like we were speaking today some of our devotees they leave the ashram and go to Vrindavan, they think they’ll become pure devotees very fast, but do you think that you can just barge away into the spiritual world.  Simply going to Vrindavan and chanting for 20 hours a day is not the way to know Krishna.  Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said that “You should not imitate the paramhamsas”.  By pleasing the Spiritual Master Krishna reveals himself to you, by independently going and doing your own thing in Vrindavan Krishna will not reveal himself to you.  You stay here in Bombay in this pollution, you get criticized and condemned by people all around you, you have to tolerate your God brothers and God sisters and all the politics that might come about, you try to chant the Holy names even while you are on trains going by every 5 minutes.  Vrindavan is an easy place you just sit and chant but if your Gurudeva wants you here, by humbly trying to fulfill his order you will please Krishna and by pleasing Krishna he will reveal himself to you.  But simply independently on your own just going to Vrindavan you will never see Krishna in those places.  Krishna reveals himself to the surrendered soul.

Devotee: