Sunday, December 26, 2010

"Rain Depends on Krishna"

72/26/11 Hyderabad, Bhagavad-gita 2.22



Prabhupada:

vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya
navani grhnati naro 'parani
tatha sarirani vihaya jirnany
anyani samyati navani dehi
[Bg. 2.22]

So this verse we discussed last morning. That this body is just like dress. This is not our real identification. I am thinking "I am American," "I am Indian," "I am African," "I am Russian," "I am brahmana," "I am ksatriya," "I am sudra," "I am Andhra-pradesh," "I am Bengali." These are all nonsense. But on this nonsense idea the whole world is going on. So how there can be real knowledge? The basic principle of knowledge is ignorance. Andha. The man who is leading, he is blind. How he can lead? This is the position. Andha yathandhair upaniyamanas te 'pisa-tantryam uru-damni baddhah [SB 7.5.31]. They are trying to make advancement of civilization, but the basic principle is wrong. They are accepting... This is called illusion, accepting something as something else. The... Just like this... If I identify myself with this coat and shirt, the basic principle of my identification is lost.

So here it is clearly said that vasamsi jirnani. Before this,

vedavinasinam nityam
ya enam ajam avyayam
katham sa purusah partha
kam ghatayati hanti kam

Anyone who knows that the living entity, soul, is avinasi, indestructible, then where is the question of killing? But that does not mean the Bhagavad-gita is encouraging killing. No. That is not the purport. Killing is prohibited. But when we see that a brahmana is killing one animal in the sacrifice, it is not killing. Therefore we have to see with the eyes of Vedic knowledge. Not with these eyes. What is the value of these eyes? It has no value. We are very much proud: "Can you show me?" What is value of your seeing? Even if I show you, the value of your seeing power is nil. It sees only under certain conditions. That's all. If there is a light, you can see. What is the value of your eyes? Therefore the real seeing is through Vedic knowledge. That is seeing. Sastra-caksus. Real knowledge, real seeing power, should be through the sastras. And sastra means infallible, not theory. Not theory. Just like a conditioned soul writes some book on some thesis. What is the value of it? It has no value. Because the man who is putting forward the thesis, he is blind. He's imperfect. So how you can get perfect knowledge from him?

So our proposition is that to receive knowledge from Krsna, the perfect person, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We accept sastra, means which is infallible. There is no mistake. Just like when I was walking near the cowshed, heaps of, piles of cow dung was there. So I was explaining to my followers that if such heaps of animal, I mean to say, man stool was heaped up here, nobody would come here. Nobody would come here. But the cow dung, there are so much heaps of cow dung, still, we find it pleasure to go through it. And in the Vedas it is said, "Cow dung is pure." This is called sastra. If you argue, "How it can, it has become pure? It is an animal stool." But the Vedas, they... Because the knowledge is perfect, that even in argument we cannot prove how animal stool becomes pure, but it is pure. Therefore Vedic knowledge is perfect. And if we take knowledge from the Vedas, we save so much time for investigating, or researching. We are very much fond of research. Everything is there in the Vedas. Why do you waste your time?

So this is Vedic knowledge. Vedic knowledge means which is spoken by the Supreme Lord. That is Vedic knowledge. Apauruseya. It is not spoken by common man like me. So if we accept Vedic knowledge, if we accept the fact as it is stated by Krsna, or His representative... Because His representative will not speak anything which Krsna does not speak. Therefore he's representative. The Krsna conscious persons are representative of Krsna because a Krsna conscious person will not speak anything nonsense, beyond the speaking of Krsna. That is the difference. Other nonsense, rascal, they will speak beyond Krsna. Krsna says, man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru [Bg. 18.65], but the rascal scholar will say, "No, it is not to Krsna. It is something else." Where you get this? Krsna directly says, man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru [Bg. 18.65]. So why do you deviate? Why do you say something else : "It is something within Krsna"? You'll find... I don't wish to name. There are so many rascal scholars. They interpret like that. Therefore in spite of Bhagavad-gita being a book of knowledge of India, so many people are misguided. Big... Due to these rascal scholars, so-called scholars. Because they simply misinterpret.

Therefore we are presenting Bhagavad-gita as it is. Krsna says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja [Bg. 18.66]. We say, we are preaching this cult: "Be Krsna consciousness. Just become a devotee of Krsna. Offer your respects..." You have to offer your respect to anyone. You are not supreme. You have to flatter somebody to get some service. That is an... Even if you get nice position, you have to flatter. Even if you get a president, become president of the country, you have to flatter your countrymen: "Please give me vote. Please... I shall give you so many facilities." So you have to flatter. That is a fact. You may be very big man. But you have to flatter somebody. You have to accept some master. Why not accept Krsna, the supreme master? Where is the difficulty? "No. I shall accept thousands of masters except Krsna." This is our philosophy. "I shall accept thousands of teachers except Krsna. This is my determination." Then how you can be happy? The happiness can be achieved only by accepting Krsna.

bhoktaram yajna-tapasam
sarva-loka-mahesvaram
suhrdam sarva-bhutanam
jnatva mam santim rcchati
[Bg. 5.29]

This is the process of santi. Krsna says that you accept that "I am the enjoyer. You are not enjoyer." You are not enjoyer. You may be president or you may be secretary; you may be whatever you may be. But you are not enjoyer. Enjoyer is Krsna. One should know it. Just like in your... I have come, coming, just replying one letter from the Andhra Relief Committee. What this relief committee will do if Krsna is not satisfied? Simply by raising some funds? No, that is not possible. Now there is raining. Now you'll get benefit. But that raining depends on Krsna, not on your fund-raising capacity. That is... Yajna, yajnad bhavati parjanyah [Bg. 3.14]. (aside:) Find out this verse.

Devotee: There's no Bhagavad-gita.

Prabhupada: You said there is.

Devotee: Bhagavad-gita.

Prabhupada: So yajnad bhavati parjanyah: [Bg. 3.14] If you perform yajna, then there will be regular rainfall. If you avoid yajna, there will be restriction, and what your plan and fund-raising capacity will help? Now there is sankirtana-yajna and rain is falling. This is a fact. So if you continue performing yajna, then there will be no distress, no unhappiness. That is the plan. Just like the birds and beasts. They have no problem. Because they are less than human being, they are working according to the prakrti's, nature's ways of life. So their foodstuff is ample. Their foodstuff is ample. So the... Yajnad bhavati parjanyah parjanyad anna-sambhavah [Bg. 3.14]. If there is no rain, how you can produce food? And this.... And the rain is possible when there is yajna. This is described in the Bhagavad-gita, that when there was creation, it was the advice of Brahma to perform yajna.

So we have given up all kinds of yajna. Although performing yajna at the present moment is very difficult because we cannot get pure ghee... The yajnas, or the sacrifices mentioned in the Vedas, it requires tons of ghees. But that is not possible to obtain at the present moment. But there is another yajna. Yajnaih sankirtana-prayair yajanti hi su-medhasah. There is another yajna recommended in this Kali, Kali-yuga.

krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam
sangopangastra-parsadam
yajnaih sankirtana-prayair
yajanti hi su-medhasah
[SB 11.5.32]

In this Kali-yuga it is recommended that this sankirtana-yajna should be performed. Then you'll be happy. So what is the difficulty? In every village... The government has raised so much fund. Why not engage all the people to perform this sankirtana-yajna? Every village, every house, every home, just perform this sankirtana-yajna: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Simply you sit down, all family members. Where is the difficulty? Husband, wife, children, friends. Sit down together. There is no need of instrument. Simply clap and chant Hare Krsna. Then you'll see the face of the world is changed. That is recommended... But we have no faith. We do not believe. Although there is no expenditure, there is no loss, still, we shall not do. We shall make plan by raising fund. So after raising fund, what is done, we know everything. So that will not relieve. Take this yajna process. Yajnad bhavati parjanyah [Bg. 3.14]. If you are in scarcity of rain, perform yajna, the sankirtana-yajna. There will be regular rain, and if there is regular rain, there is ample food production. There is no question of overpopulation. God can supply you more than you want, provided you become God conscious, Krsna conscious. That is the way.

So we have to accept this... vasamsi jirnani. You don't be misled by the proposition of the so-called blind leaders that you are this body. The leaders are misguiding us by identification with this body. There is fight always. "I am American." "I am Indian." "I am Russian." "I am Pakistani." "I am Hindustani." And there is fight. Advancement of civilization means advancement of fighting. That's all. When there was no Pakistan, there was some sporadic Hindu-Muslim fight. Now there is nation, Pakistan, and nation, Hindustan, and there is organized fight every year. This is advancement? So don't follow this foolish advancement. Take to Krsna consciousness and be happy. This is not an ordinary movement. People are suffering actually for want of spiritual life, spiritual understanding. So the basic principle of spiritual understanding is to know one's self. Aham brahmasmi. Aham brahmasmi. That, to come to that point, Krsna is explaining that this body is like the dress, and the person who is dressed, that is within the dress. Dehino 'smin yatha dehe [Bg. 2.13]. Here also, it is said, tatha sarirani vihaya jirnany anyani samyati navani dehi. Very simple thing. There is no difficulty. But the so-called scientists, philosophers, educationists, they will not believe that there is soul. They, they'll not believe. They'll simply argue. They cannot establish the real fact, how this body is moving. There are so many theories. But, except, accept, they will not accept that the..., actually, because the soul is within this body, everything is happening. And without the soul, immediately this body, so nice body of such and such great personality, becomes a lump of matter. Not that the body is working... They are finding out the brain substance, how it is working. But the brain substance is already there in the dead body. Why don't you work with that? No. That is not fact. The fact is the brain substance is a machine, but the man, or the person, is within the body. He's working with the brain substance. Just like you have got a nice machine. But it must be worked by somebody. At the present moment, the computer is a very subtle machine. But this computer cannot work without an experienced mechanic who pushes the button and it works. These people, they cannot understand that without spiritual touch, matter cannot work.

So brain may be a, a combination of nice matter, but it cannot work without the spirit soul. We should clearly understand this. And if we accept this body as the everything... Just like the other day, I told you, I met one big professor, Russian professor, in Moscow. He said, "Swamiji, after this body is finished, everything's finished." This is the atheistic theory. This is not new. In India there are many atheists, followers of Carvaka. According to Carvaka Muni, his theory is: bhasmi bhutasya dehasya punah kutah punar agamano bhavet rnam krtva ghrtam pibet yavad jivet sukham jivet. Rnam krtva pibet. "Just live joyfully, merrily..." "No, I have no money." "All right. Take, beg, borrow and steal. Some way or other, get money." That is going on. "Get money some way or other and live." That is Carvaka theory. Hedonism. "Get money..." So this is going, this civilization is going on. "Somehow or other, get money." Because without money, you cannot get woman, you cannot get nice palatable food, nice dress, nice apartment, nice car. "So bring money, somehow or other." Everyone is coming forward as very philanthropist leader. The aim is how to get money. That's all. That is their philanthropism. They, they speak so many nonsense things, but the real idea is how to get money.

So this is going on. At the present moment, they are after the sense gratification. They do not know that there is another life beyond sense gratification. They have no... That life is being taught in the Bhagavad-gita, that "You are trying to advance your civilization for keeping this body fit, but you are not this body. Why you are wasting your time in that way?" Yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke. Yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke [SB 10.84.13]. Anyone who is thinking that "I am this body," sva-dhih kalatradisu. And sva-dhih means "My men, my own kinsmen." Who? "My children, my family, my society, my country," kalatradisu. Sva-dhih kalatradisu bhauma ijya-dhih: "And the land where these things have grown up, my body and my other relatives in relationship with this body, that is pujya." Sva-dhih kalatradisu bhauma ijya... Nationalism: "My country. I shall die for this land. I shall sacrifice everything." Sva-dhih kalatradisu bhauma ijya-dhih, yat-tirtha-buddhih salile. And those who are little advanced, pious, they go to places of pilgrimages, take a bath in the Ganges, and come out. They think that water is tirtha. No. Tirtha is saintly persons. Tirtha-padam. You have to meet saintly persons to take lesson from them. Yat-tirtha-buddhih salile na karhicij janesu abhijnesu. You have to meet self-realized persons, those persons who do not care for these things. And in the bodily concept of life, they have been described in the sastra: go-kharah, "cow and asses."

So the Bhagavad-gita is the only book in the world which teaches to educate these cows and asses to human life. This mass of cows and asses are to be trained with these teachings of Bhagavad-gita. It is the beginning, that vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya navani grhnati naro 'parani [Bg. 2.22]. This vasamsi, this body, can be changed. Suppose now you are very much a great enemy of Pakistan. Take, for example... I am not... Or Pakistan is thinking "Oh, India, Hindustan, is our great enemy." What is this Hindustan and Pakistan or Russia? This is this body. Next life, you can take birth in Russia, or you can take birth in... There is no certainty. Yam yam vapi. But according to Bhagavad-gita, you can understand, at the, at the time of death, if you are going on thinking, "Oh, Pakistan, my, is my enemy, enemy," then you get a birth in Pakistan. (laughter) Yes. Yam yam vapi smaran bhavam tyajaty ante kalevaram [Bg. 8.6]. Because I shall get my next body according to my mental condition at the time of death. So just like our women are taught to become very chaste. Why? That is a process to give her a chance to become a male next life. A, a woman, if he's, if she is educated to become chaste, attached to the husband, then naturally at the time of death, she'll think of the man, and she gets immediately... That is promotion. That is promotion. Similarly, if a man is very much attached to his wife, he'll think at the time of his... He becomes woman. These are the science. Where is the cultivation of this science? Simply all fools. And they are making research work. What is the research work? Can you go beyond the laws of the prakrti? It is not possible.

prakrteh kriyamanani
gunaih karmani sarvasah
ahankara-vimudhatma
kartaham iti manyate
[Bg. 3.27]

Ahankara-vimudha. These rascals, they are under the full control of this material nature, and they are thinking, "We are independent." This is foolishness.

So if you want to stop this foolish kind of civilization, animal civilization of cows and asses, you have to teach Bhagavad-gita as it is. That is essential. That is the duty of every Indian. Caitanya Mahaprabhu orders that. Bharata-bhumite manusya-janma haila yara [Cc. Adi 9.41]. Anyone who has taken birth, he must be very pious, must have been very pious in his last life. Therefore he has got the chance. So janma sarthaka kari'. Janma sarthaka kari' means "Make your life successful by taking advantage of so many Vedic literatures stocked by the great saintly persons, spoken by God Himself." You are not taking advantage of these facilities, natural facilities. You are misled by so-called material civilization, and you are doomed. Andha yathandhair upaniyamanah [SB 7.5.31]. If you are led by blind leaders, you are all doomed. That is going on. That is my appeal to the Indians. Don't be doomed. Take Krsna, accept Krsna as the leader. Then you'll be happy. As Krsna says... Not only India. India, especial, I say. Because Krsna is so kind. Of course, for Krsna, there is no such thing as India and America. Just like the sun. The sun is neither Indian sun nor American sun. Sun is sun. But if you say, if you think that because now in India, the sun is visible, therefore "Indian sun," that is your concoction. That is your mental concoction. Sun is neither Indian nor American. Similarly, God, Krsna, He's neither for Indian or for... He is for everyone.

sarva-yonisu kaunteya
murtayah sambhavanti yah
tasam brahma mahad yonir
aham bija-pradah pita
[Bg. 14.4]

He's the father of everyone, not only human beings, but in the animals, the trees, the aquatics, everyone, all living entities. Mamaivamso jiva... [Bg. 15.7]. This is universal. This is... This Krsna consciousness movement is therefore universal, real universal.

So there are so many potencies out of this Krsna consciousness movement. Those who are intelligent... Krsna yei bhaje sei bada catura. Anyone who becomes Krsna conscious, he must be very, very intelligent. Otherwise, one cannot become Krsna conscious. Krsna yei bhaje sei bada catura. So anyone who has taken to Krsna consciousness, he must be very intelligent man. Without being very intelligent man, one cannot take to Krsna consciousness. It is a... Caitanya-caritamrta says, krsna yei bhaje sei bada catura. And Krsna Himself says, bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate: [Bg. 7.19] "After many, many births of struggling, if one actually becomes jnanavan, then he surrenders unto Me." Vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma sudurlabhah [Bg. 7.19]. Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. Janmady asya yatah [SB 1.1.1]. These are the Vedic information.

So vasudeva-parayana, vasudeva-para makhah. These are the sastric injunctions. So a person can take intelligence from studying Bhagavad-gita. And Krsna says, bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate [Bg. 7.19]. After many, many births... Because foolish rascals, they will have to transmigrate from one body to another, and there are 8,400,000's of different forms of body. And he has to go through the cycle of this birth and death. Bhutva bhutva praliyate [Bg. 8.19]. Take birth once, and becomes, defy God: "I don't care for God." And when Yamaraja comes, "All right. Whatever you like, you do." Mrtyuh sarva-haras caham [Bg. 10.34]. These atheist class of men, who defy the authority of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they'll meet Krsna. When? At the time of death, when Krsna will take him, take everything, his body, his society, his country, his family, his bank balance, his house. Everything will be taken away. Mrtyuh sarva-haras caham. Mrtyuh. Krsna is appearing to the atheist class of men as sarva-harah. Sarva-harah means "Taking everything." I am very much proud. "Oh, I have got so much bank balance. I am the leader of this country. I am the father of so many children. I have got so beautiful wife and so..." So many things I am thinking, puffed-up. "I don't care for God. I am God." All right. At the time of death, are you God? Are you God at the time of death? God means controller. Can you control your death? Then how you are God? God, isvara... Isvara means controller. Are you isvara? Are you controller? Can you control birth? Can you control death? Can you control disease? Can you control old age? Then what kind of God you are? The foolish, foolish person, mudha. They are called mudha. Avajananti mam mudhah [Bg. 9.11]. "The rascals only, avajananti, defy Me."
So our, this Krsna consciousness movement is only to request you... It is your country's literature. Try to understand Bhagavad-gita, Krsna. You'll be liberated. Janma karma me divyam yo janati tattvatah, tyaktva deham punar janma naiti [Bg. 4.9]. Simply by understanding Krsna, you get liberation. Punar janma naiti. The whole activities, human society's activities, should be targeted how to get rid of this repetition of birth and death. That is real civilization. Not that "Let me live like a cat and dog and die like a cat and dog, and never mind what is happening next." This is a civilization of ignorance. This is not a civilization of knowledge. They are... Here is knowledge, that "I am trying to protect my body, this dress. I am every day soaping my garment, but I am not taking any food. How shall I... How long shall I live with this nice dress?" So one should understand this verse very seriously. Vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya navani grhnati naro 'parani [Bg. 2.22]. It has been especially mentioned: nara. Nara means human being. The cats and dogs, they are changing their body, the same process, but they cannot understand. But here especially mentioned: nara. Human beings should understand this scientific knowledge that "Your, this body is just like a dress. It is changing." And we are changing... Just like according to price, we have a dress. If you go to a garment store, you can have nice dress if you pay more. And if you get less, you get a third-class dress. Similarly, there are eight million species or forms of life. Somebody is in the cat's body. Somebody's dog's body. Somebody's in human being's body. Somebody is in demigod's body. These bodies are offered by prakrti according to price you pay. This is called karma. This is karma. If you perform good karma, then you get good body. Janmaisvarya-sruta-srih [SB 1.8.26]. This is the janma. You get good birth, you get money, you get education, and you become beautiful by pious activities. And by impious activities, just the opposite. So either you get this or that, after all, it is birth and death. [break] ...how to stop the cycle of birth and death. Otherwise it is animal civilization.

Thank you very much. Hare Krsna. [break]

Indian: ...om bhagavate fails. (?)

Prabhupada: (Hindi for a few minutes, then:) Everyone has prema, love. This propensity to love others. That is... There is, everywhere. But that prema, that love, is originally for Krsna. Nitya-siddha krsna-bhakti. That is the original prema. But because we are illusioned, that prema is being applied or used for so many maya. Prema I have got. I have got my love. That is a fact. But I do not know where to repose that love. That is my misfortune. Therefore Krsna says that sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja [Bg. 18.66]. "You have got prema. You apply it to Me. Then you'll be benefited." Prema is already there. You are simply misusing it. Therefore you are not happy. This is the process. Prema, you have got. But you are misusing it. But if you take Krsna's word, that "Give your prema unto Me..." Man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru [Bg. 18.65]. This is the beginning of prema. "Always think of Me." I think of my son. I think of my child. I think of my wife. Because there is prema. So if you think of Krsna, then you will increase your prema for Krsna. This is the process. Prema is not you have to get it outside. It is already there. Just like a young boy, young girl. As soon as they meet, there is natural attraction. That is already there. It is not that he has brought this attraction from, purchased from some shopkeeper. No. It is already there. Simply by combination, it becomes aroused. That's all. Similarly, krsna-prema is there. Nitya-siddha krsna-prema sadhya kabhu naya [Cc. Madhya 22.107]. It is not that by artificial means we are getting krsna-prema. It is already there. But just like the attraction for young man and young woman, it comes at a certain stage, similarly, if you develop this sravana-kirtana, then that krsna-prema will be aroused, automatically. It is already there.

Devotee: (reading question) The question: First, what are the senses, to control. Then, what are the things to be done? And the next question he asks is, "What are your views about meditation on one's own self..."

Prabhupada: Take it here. I cannot follow.

Devotee (2): What are the senses?

Devotee (1): "What are the senses, how to control the things to be done?"

Prabhupada: Senses, everyone knows. You see. How we are seeing? Through the sense of eyes. These are senses. Sense organs. You can touch with the hand. These are sense organs. You can hear about some knowledge. That is sense organ. You can taste one fruit. These are senses. Is it very difficult to understand? You have got these senses. By some senses, you are acquiring knowledge, and some senses you are working. There are five senses for acquiring knowledge, and five senses for working. These are senses.

Devotee (1): "How to control them? What are the things to be done?"

Prabhupada: Yes. Control. It is very difficult. To control. But if you put it under the control of the Supreme, it will be controlled. You want to see very beautiful thing. But if you engage your seeing power on the most beautiful, Krsna, then you forget, other things. This is sense control. You are going to restaurant to enjoy your tongue, but if you take krsna-prasadam, then you'll forget going to restaurant. This is sense control. Sense control means to engage the senses in the service of Krsna. Hrsikena hrsikesa-sevanam bhaktir ucyate [Cc. Madhya 19.170]. Simply we have to purify the senses. The senses must be there. Otherwise, I am not a living being. I am stone. But at the present moment, I am misguided. I am using my senses for other purposes than Krsna's. Therefore I cannot control. And as soon as you apply your senses for satisfying Krsna, then they are controlled, automatically.

Devotee(1): (reading question) "What are your views about silent meditation on one's, in one's own self, and this japa, gayatri-mantra?"

Prabhupada: Yes. Simply by mechanical japa, we'll not be ha... We have to hear from the sastra what is self. Of course, those who are actually following the rules and regulation of gayatri-mantra, they'll be, gradually come to the spiritual understanding. But not as official chanting. That will not help. "Because I have got gayatri-mantra, oh, om-burble bura burra..." (makes sound) Finish. Not like that. Don't cheat yourself. Try to understand.

Indian: (Hindi)

Prabhupada: (Hindi for several minutes, Hindi, back and forth, then:)

krsnotkirtana-gana-nartana-parau premamrtambho-nidhi
dhiradhira-jana-priyau priya-karau nirmatsarau pujitau
sri-caitanya-krpa-bharau bhuvi bhuvo bharavahantarakau
vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau
nana-sastra-vicaranaika-nipunau sad-dharma-samsthapakau
lokanam hita-karinau tri-bhuvane manyau saranyakarau
radha-krsna-padaravinda-bhajananandena mattalikau
vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau

Krsna-kirtana. Krsnotkirtana-gana-nartana-parau. All the six Gosvamis, they were always engaged in chanting, utkirtanam. Utkirtanam. Not this professional kirtana. Utkirtanam. Udgata-tamah. Transcendental kirtana, transcendental vibration. Krsnotkirtana-gana-nartana-parau. So they were engaged in singing and dancing and chanting. Krsnotkirtana-gana-nartana-parau premamrtambho-nidhi. Merged into the ocean of love of Godhead, premamrtambho-nidhi. Dhiradhira-jana-priyau priya-karau nirmatsarau pujitau. So by Krsna-kirtana, one can become dear, very dear, both for the dhira and adhira. Dhira means sober. And adhira means rascals. So krsna-kirtana is so nice that you can become favorite both for the gentle and the rascal. It is so nice. That is actually happening. So dhiradhira-jana-priyau priya-karau nirmatsarau. Because those who are chanting, krsna-kirtana, they are nirmatsarau. They are not envious. Krsna consciousness movement is not limited therefore in India. It is for the whole world. We are not envious we only see Indians will learn it. No. We have no such program. Tri-bhuvane manyau. It should be honored all over the world. This is krsna-kirtana. Go on. (end)

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Bhagavad-gita 2.22 -- Hyderabad, November 26, 1972

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Harmony – Real and Apparent

Krishna Talk 118 - Harmony – Real and Apparent
by Swami B.V. Giri

View online:
http://www.gosai.com/writings/harmony-real-and-apparent-0

Take a precursory look at the news and it is obvious that we live in a world
of discord. War, religious strife, terrorism, racism, social upheaval and
discrimination are everyday events and have been since time immemorial.
Whenever any of the above scenarios rear their ugly heads, it is not long
before a chorus of voices cries out for peace and harmony.

Even in the Vaisnava world today we hear calls for harmony. Due to various
reasons, the devotee community is divided into many, many missions – some
small, some large, some popular, some not so well known, some with one
acarya, some with many. Amongst these various groups there are some devotees
who desire to bring all these institutions together under one umbrella in
order to work harmoniously to spread Krsna consciousness. At first glance
such an idea seems very noble and laudable – but what is their concept of
harmony?

WHAT IS HARMONY?

Etymologically, the English word ‘harmony’ is derived from the Greek word
harmonia, meaning ‘to join’. Similarly, in Sanskrit the word for harmony,
samanvaya, also means ‘to join’. Samanvaya can be broken down into two
words – sam +anvaya. Sam means ‘to join together’ and anvayah means
‘to put things in an order.’ Another Sanskrit word that is frequently
used to denote harmony is samarasa, Samarasa literally means, ‘to have the
same taste’. Although samanvaya and samarasa may seem to be the same, they
are not. Samanvaya means to join together in order to methodically engage in
a common pursuit. Samarasa implies something of a non-discriminatory nature
and carries with it the connotation of accepting all points of view without
discrimination.

Harmony/samanvaya does not infer that one must abandon all discrimination.
Yet some advocates of harmonious Vaisnava dealings are prepared to throw
discrimination to the four winds and ignore all philosophical divergences,
only emphasizing the external aspects of Krsna consciousness that are common
to all. That is not samanvaya – that is samarasa.

Real harmony does not lie in homogenizing everything based upon the common
traits shared by all denominations of Vaisnavas. Real harmony does not mean
picnicking together or having a few bhajanas in the name of inter-Vaisnava
relations. To engage solely in these activities is not real harmony. Real
harmony lies in cultivating the correct understanding of Vaisnava siddhanta.
This was the reason why Sri Jiva Gosvami originally established the Visva
Vaisnava Raja Sabha at the Radha-Damodara temple in Vrndavana.

Sri Jiva attracted the most advanced souls of that time through the teachings
of Srila Rupa Gosvami Prabhupada. Radha-Damodara Temple was not a playground
for misconceptions and superficial pleasantries amongst divided dysfunctional
groups of devotees. The Visva Vaisnava Raja Sabha was an assembly of
exemplary devotees who taught according to the Sat-Sandarbhas of Sri Jiva and
the bhakti-sastras of Sri Rupa and Sri Sanatana.

In 1936, on the disappearance day of Thakura Bhaktivinoda, Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada explained that the purpose of
the Visva Vaisnava Raja Sabha was to spread the message of the
bhaktivinoda-dhara (the philosophical line of Bhaktivinoda):

"The only way is through the bhaktivinoda-dhara. The bhaktivinoda-dhara must
be kept alive by the kirtana of srauta-vani (the instructions of the
scriptures and acaryas). If kirtana of the truth is stopped, then we will be
severed from the bhaktivinoda-dhara."

When Sarasvati Thakura reestablished the Visva Vaisnava Raja Sabha in 1919,
he did not extend an open invitation to all groups of Vaisnavas. The Sabha
did not include Vaisnavas of different sampradayas, nor did it include those
who were opposed to the teachings of Sri Caitanya, Mayavadis, Sahajiyas and
other such aparadhis. The Sabha only consisted of his own disciples and
followers. This was because the various Vaisnava societies at that time were
permeated with apa-siddhanta and did not represent the pure ideals of
Bhaktivinoda and the Visva Vaisnava Raja Sabha.

However, today the situation is very different and much more complex. Many
philosophical misconceptions have become deep-rooted and widespread within
some of the branches of our very own parampara. Therefore the need of the
hour is not to see how many Vaisnava groups we can get together under one
roof – the real necessity is to try to propagate the concepts of
Bhaktivinoda and Sarasvati Thakura within our very own line.

Such words may not be palatable to hear, but we are not advocates of satyam
bruyat priyam bruyat (speak the truth, but only speak it when it is
palatable). This maxim is for those that are worldly, not for those that
speak the absolute truth.

"According to social conventions, if you want to speak truth, you must limit
yourself to truths that are palatable and flattering. Don't speak unpalatable
truths. But we are not meant to merely follow social conventions. We are
preachers and servants of God." (A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada, Bombay,
January 3rd 1977)

Rather, we should speak plainly. As Canakya Pandita says, spasta-vakta na
vanchakah (one who speaks plainly is not a deceiver). Srila Sarasvati Thakura
has clearly explained that a loyal servant of the truth must speak plainly,
even if his words create controversy:

"The truth (satya) is propagated in a twofold way – positively or by the
method of direct support and negatively by the method of opposition. The
truth cannot be made sufficiently known by the positive method alone. The
positive method by itself is not the most effective mode of propaganda in a
controversial age like the present. The negative method which seeks to
differentiate the truth from non-truth in all its forms, is even better
calculated to convey the directly inconceivable significance of the Absolute.
It is a necessity which cannot be conscientiously avoided by the dedicated
preacher of the truth if he wants to be a loyal servant of Godhead. The
method is sure to create an atmosphere of controversy in which it is quite
easy to lose one’s balance of judgment. But the ways of the deluding energy
are so intricate that unless their mischievous nature is fully exposed it is
not possible for the soul in the conditioned state to avoid the snares spread
by the enchantress for encompassing the ruin of her only too willing victims.
It is a duty which shall be sacred to all who have been enabled to obtain
even a distant glimpse of the Absolute." (The Harmonist, Vol. 29)

THE NECESSITY FOR DIVERSITY

Some years ago, our Guru Maharaja was asked the question, “How can we unite
all the Vaisnavas?” His reply was thus:

"I am not for the Unitarian Krsna Conscious Church – I am for the church of
variagatedness and difference. Based on that, I choose my association. I
think that variagatedness breeds a very strong and healthy spiritual
environment. We are not followers of the ‘Rodney King philosophy’ –
there was a man in America called Rodney King who was beaten up and then
there was a riot in Los Angeles. So he went on TV and said, “Can’t we all
just get along?” Well the answer is, “No Rodney, we can’t!” We
can’t because there are differences. Everyone is not the same; therefore we
can’t all live the same. Why isn’t everyone wearing sannyasa-vesa?
Because everyone can’t do it. Or why is it that everyone isn’t a
brahmacari? Why doesn’t everybody become a householder? Because it is not
‘one thing for everybody’. There doesn’t have to be hatred in
diversity. There should be harmony and appreciation – but there is
diversity and we can’t erase that. There’s life in diversity. "(Hungary,
August 2nd 2006)

Diversity is at the very heart of Gaudiya Vaisnavism and that diversity is
called rasa. Within the spiritual realm there is unity and diversity – all
the denizens there are united in pleasing the transcendental senses of
Govinda, but in order to fulfill that, diversity is a prerequisite. There are
diverse rasas and within each rasa there are divisions, sub-divisions and
sub-sub-divisions. By nature, each division is diverse, but all divisions
share the common goal of serving Sri Sri Radha-Krsna. In this regard Srila
Sridhara Maharaja says:

"Yasoda is always afraid of Devaki and Vasudeva: “What? They’ll come and
claim our child as their own? How can that be?” And Radharani’s camp
thinks hat Candravali’s group are anti-parties. So in all rasas there is
harmony in discord. It is the necessity of the nature of lila. Bifurcation.
Thesis, antithesis and synthesis. Synthesis means there are many antitheses.
Harmony means many. Plurality must be there. In the Upanisads it is said
that, neha nanasti kincana – “There is no plurality.” But this means no
nana – not many, in the sense that all are harmonized into one common
interest. ‘Not many’ means not many different independent interests, but
rather that are all meeting for a common cause."

FIGHTING IS LIFE!

In order to achieve real harmony, fighting against misconception is
necessary. Yet some devotees will shun any type of philosophical discussion
in the name of retaining harmony. The kanistha-adhikari will shun any type of
controversy, thinking that such talks will create obstacles to their
spiritual advancement. This mentality goes against the advice of Srila
Kaviraja Gosvami:

siddhanta baliya citte na kara alasa
iha haite krsne lage sudrdha manasa

Do not be lazy in your mind when it comes to discussing siddhanta. Through
such discussions, your mind becomes firmly fixed upon Krsna. (Cc. Adi 2.117)

Srila Sridhara Maharaja was once approached by a despondent devotee who
lamented that he could not understand why there were so many differences
between different Vaisnava groups. Why couldn’t “they all just get
along?” Srila Sridhara Maharaja responded:

"So many things are to be understood. Krsna is the cause of Kuruksetra
fighting, do you know that? In His presence the whole Yadu-vamsa was finished
and He was a sightseer. What is that? Can you understand this? How can you
adjust? What is the difference between Krsna and Balarama? Why does Balarama
side with Duryodhana and Krsna sides with the Pandavas? Why? They are almost
one and the same! What is your answer? All is bogus?

Fighting is life! Fighting is life! I must turn and preach this. Until and
unless I can change my understanding, Physical oneness is not one. To
maintain physical peace is lack of vitality. We must be true to our own
understanding. You want to crush everything – jumble everything together
into one mass. But that is all stone, fossilized. Do you want to see a
fossilized unity? What is the conception of harmony? Harmony means
independent thinking.

There are different rasas – Krsna is not representing only one feature. He
is of infinite features to accommodate infinite possibilities. That is
Akhila-rasamrta-murti – there are different groups and in the same group
there are so many different arrangements. Radharani and Candravali are
fighting – two camps fighting to satisfy Him. We have to understand how it
is possible. With humility we have to try to follow how it is possible. The
opposition party is there in the parliament to enhance the work of the main
party. In this way direct and indirect makes everything complete. And if that
is distributed everywhere, then there will be no difficulty to understand the
differences there.

Sankara and Buddha preferred that the ultimate goal is undifferentiated,
unknown and unknowable. All harmonized into death. That is brahma-nirvana or
prakrti-nirvana. Their brain went so far, but the final piece – no
differentiation, no trouble – all bathed in eternal slumber. If you prefer,
you can follow that school. (Navadvipa, 28th May 1983)

We are not opposed to harmony, but harmony must be understood in the right
context and not as an external show of saccharine smiles, hugs and honeyed
words. Let the Vaisnavas be diverse in their approaches to preaching and let
them be united in siddhanta. If devotees truly desire real unity and harmony,
this can only be achieved through following bhaktisiddhanta-vani.

"Variety meets unity in different planes of movement. That is harmony. This
applies everywhere, including the plane of color and the plane of sound. Many
branches meet together in the trunk of a tree, the trunk harmonizes the many
leaves, this is the movement of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. We must see a common
master, and work around the will of that master or conductor." (Srila
Sridhara Maharaja)

As members of the sarasvata-parampara, the ‘common master’ that we all
share is Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada and it is our duty to
follow his will and his precepts attentively. Any other process we concoct to
unify the fragmented Vaisnava world will simply be temporary, superficial and
futile. If we neglect or adulterate bhaktisiddhanta-vani in the name of
harmony, we will “stop the kirtana of truth.” Then, in the words of
Sarasvati Thakura, “We will be severed from the line of Bhaktivinoda.”