The following is a lecture given by His Holiness Jayapataka Swami on April 27th 1985 in Los Angeles, California. The class begins with the reading from the Srimad Bhagavatham, seventh Canto, Chapter 2, Verse 46. The five material elements, the ten senses and the mind all combine to form the various parts of the gross and subtle bodies. The living entity comes in contact with his material bodies, whether high or low, and later gives them up by his personal prowess. This strength can be perceived in a living entity’s personal power to possess different types of bodies. Purport: The conditioned soul has knowledge, and if he wants to fully utilize the gross and subtle bodies for his real advancement in life, he can do so. It is therefore said here that by his high intelligence (svena tejasā), by the superior power of superior knowledge achieved from the right source — the spiritual master, or ācārya — he can give up his conditional life in a material body and return home, back to Godhead. However, if he wants to keep himself in the darkness of this material world, he can do so. The Lord confirms this as follows in Bhagavad-gītā (9.25):

yānti deva-vratā devān  pitṝn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ bhūtāni yānti bhūtejyā  yānti mad-yājino ’pi mām

“Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors; and those who worship Me will live with Me.” End of translation The human form of body is valuable. One can use this body to go to the higher planetary systems, to Pitṛloka, or he can remain in this lower planetary system, but if one tries he can also return home, back to Godhead. This prowess is given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the Supersoul. Therefore the Lord says, mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca: “From Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.” If one wants to receive real knowledge from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one can become free from bondage to repeated acceptance of material bodies. If one takes to the devotional service of the Lord and surrenders unto Him, the Lord is prepared to give one directions by which to return home, back to Godhead, but if one foolishly wants to keep himself in darkness, he can continue in a life of material existence. Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta translation purport of the Srimad Bhagavatham, seventh canto, chapter 2, Text 46 in the matter of Hiranyakasipu, king of the demons

Yama raj is speaking, how the living entity has the power to accept different bodies, the different bodies that one accepts offer different facilities for enjoyment, different that we can hurt so many times and in human form of body we can guide our self, in which direction, what type of body we want to take in the next life. In fact, whether you know or not, whatever we are doing in the human form of life will dictate our future body, this is known as the karmakshetra or the place the field of activities where we build up our karmas and that accordingly will take different births and work off those reactions. In the animal species, they are working off various reactions, they are not able to produce a new karma, but rather they are suffering or enjoying the reactions of their previous activities. So when the reason intelligence is given in the platform of human life or one can distinguish between good, bad, ignorance, passion, when one can distinguish between various directions with that comes the responsibility for everything that we are doing, so we saw just in the world-fare in japan, they are showing how in the future they are going to have cars that can go off the road and fly here and there, you can go anywhere, but if you were to give such a car to some kind of maniac then he could drive it anywhere, in your living room window, you can end up with people in one set of just running out in the road, they will be flying overhead, they can just you know, they could land on anywhere. So obviously, the more ability you have to move then you have also responsibility to know how to drive and where to go, so as the human being, we have the ability that we can take birth in the higher planetary systems, devaloka or we can again regress back to the animal kingdom which is considered to be the greatest failure of human life or we can wander about within the various human species. So, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He said that by this sankirtan movement, he wants to, He can save all of the people from old age and death. By this process of sankirtan, people can be saved from this repetition of birth and death, they can be saved from old age. Despite of all of, just listening to one of Srila Prabhupada tapes, they may offer so many things in the modern world but what they don't have is any solution for old age or for death. That is still 100 percent assured for everyone. So, one cannot achieve, even though we can change our bodes until we get free from the subtle body, Mano buddhi ahankar, the mind, intelligence and false ego, we are subjected again and again to take repeated birth and the process given to achieve freedom from the subtle body is actually bhakti yoga, by the process of devotional service, we can transcend the subtle body.

iha yasya harer dasye karmana manasa gira nikhilasv apy avasthasu jivan-muktah sa ucyate

By engaging our thoughts, our words, our activities in the service of Krishna, in this life even, we are, if we can do that fully, we are considered to be liberated, even while living. jivan-muktah sa ucyate So it's a very great opportunity but unfortunately the people in the world are being deprive of that opportunity due to the rampant progress of material advancement, people especially in developing countries, they are enamoured and even in the developed countries, they are pretty much bewildered and they, at the present time many people of course, they really feel that we have achieved. At least, we saw like in Japan, they really wanted to show that, now we have achieved the _______ (11:03), technology has taken us from the cavemen, they made a whole imitation of ______ (11:09) and they wanted to show there that they all came from the Big Bang, we have all evolved and now we have come up and the human brain is the topmost thing, there is no other known life on any other planet, the way we know it. ___ (11:23) the way we know life, they are very expert in presenting something and then they put in a little footnote which people don't pick it up usually, they don’t really know they are representing the theory, in the book what they say, this is science fiction, this is the theory, this is an artist conception, when they present it to the people, the presentation is this, it is real. This is where it is at, this is how it has happened, we have come from the _____(11:55), they show pictures of volcanos and things and then now here we are, we have evolved with the top entity and we are it and we are going higher and higher and there is no limit and look highest and enjoy life. So, I think in America to some extent people have, like Prabhupad said that well, he was asked by a _____ (12:22) he gave an interview that why did he go to America? Well, I saw that in India after receiving independence, they were, after thousand years of foreign rule, they all are eager for economic development and no one wanted to hear about spiritual life, but I thought that if I went to America, there, before, they have been enjoying for enough time, they had enough material advancement that some of them may have already been enjoyed out, they are looking out for renunciation, they may be looking for some kind of spiritual solution to their problems, seeing that the material solutions are not going to be effective. So, Actually, Srila Prabhupada wanted that, he was hoping that the Americans since they are the most advanced in technology, since, they have got it before everyone else, so similarly, they will be the first to be fried out or they will be the first to come to their senses that this holds the total solution and it seems to be a kind of a revival of spiritual consciousness, but, just a type of spiritual revival or even a just a frustration of a materialism is in itself is not sufficient, but, people have to actually have something to dig their teeth into. Something, which can solve or answer the questions which arise and which give the answers, in such a way that they can be applied in everyday life. So, we see that how the need, that there is actually like kind of ____ (14:01) level. On one hand, the big material _______ (14:07) that _____ (14:09), they are trying to keep the people, to educate them, more and more in this type of materialistic concept of life, they don't offer any alternative, they don't indicate that any alternative exists. They just _______ (14:28), the theories given by the previous scientists, even though the scientists coming up with ______ (14:40) and they are coming up with amendments but people are slow to catch on to those. So, the solution we only can see is actually Srila Prabhupad books that his books have to be given to people and there has to be program where people can practice teachings in his books, in a very easily ______ (15:06) way so that the mass of people can start to take to Krishna consciousness more and more, otherwise what is their hope. Unless they are freed from this mental, intellectual conceptions of life, unless they are brought to the spiritual concept of life, they will always be bounced about by these various speculations on the material platform, they’ll never have any peace, they will never have any shelter. So, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He could see that people are suffering from lack of knowing Krishna, that is one thing that nobody can say, nobody knows who ______ (15:55) as Prabhupad said, no one knows what was the ultimate origin. No one even knows what is the very, they skip over the basic things and what is life that we are living, they just give some distinct theories which can't be proven because they are totally, millions and billions of years ago so anyone's guess is as good as anyone else's. They present that as the absolute truth and who is going to come up and ______ (16:26) and disapprove that. But, people are still going old, they are still dying, they are still suffering various types of problems, it doesn't really solve anything. So, amongst all these forests of material words where is the solution, amongst all these forests of material world, there is a transcendental name.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

And, if people start to vibrate the transcendental names then their consciousness becomes purified. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, His process was to get everyone to chant the holy name. That was the basic process, when He would walk through Navadwip with all of His associates. One time ______ (17:24) was walking to Navadwip and Mayapur, even in those days there were bunch of drunkards sitting in one side of the road, winos or whatever, they drink, they usually drink this palm tree wine and it makes them little giddy, it is kind of low alcohol content, not that low, but they get pretty crazy, but they don't get totally put to sleep right away, so they are talkative. So, as Lord Caitanya is going by, they started to make comments, hey, look at you know, here is Gaurahari, here He comes, there is Gaurahari, the dancing golden one, someone else said, you should see the way He dances and then he puts out a little act showing you know, raising his hands. Lord Caitanya just goes by with His associates until _____ (18:25) take it up, they go behind Lord Caitanya's group and they start raising their ______ (18:31) hands and going Haribol Haribol, making a little mark, danced Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Lord Caitanya doesn't say anything so His associates and they just go on. And, the drunkards had a little fun and then they get distracted because they are drunks and they go off and do their own thing again. The devotees are all in anxiety that, why didn’t Lord Caitanya do something, why didn’t He stop them, it's offensive, they weren't very seriously chanting, you know, so many doubts they have come up in their mind, different people thinking different things. So Lord Caitanya could sense their inquisitive state of consciousness and he told them to stop.

So these people, so, they are drunk, the effect of alcohol will last for one day, somehow or other they chanted Hare Krishna, by chanting Hare Krishna that effect will stay with them eternally. So, somehow or other even if people are not pure when they are chanting, still they are getting some spiritual benefit, obviously, they are not going to be able to experience the higher bhavas of Krishna Consciousness, while they are in a materially contaminated consciousness, still they get spiritual benefit which will be as a Sukriti, an asset which will accrue and accrue until eventually they be able to take up in a ______ (20:13) way of Krishna consciousness. Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He encouraged everyone to take up this chanting of Hare Krishna. Srila Prabhupad when he came to the west, naturally he kept saying that, I am very old, I am not going to be here, he wanted to establish brahmanas, brahmanas are the preachers and he said that he wanted to establish varnashrama in the society with a long range plan. But, to start varnashrama the missing link is brahmanas, those who will teach others, we have to start from the brahmanas, from those who are the preachers, from the vaishnava preachers of the Lord, to produce some pure devotees, and to, some of the devotees who would carry on his mission. Then, as he was leaving, he said, we don’t have to work, now, the remaining half is Varnashram. That means that the whole society even those who are impure, even those who have bad habits, Varnashrama means poor or even below that, but, they all accept Krishna, you see. Veda muka mani nahi dharma nahi gana thatma sita kore Lord Caitanya said that the lowest ______ (21:35) of the Vedic culture of those who by lip, they say, I believe in Krishna, I believe in Vedic culture, but they are saying by mouth, practically they are not able to do it, they are making so many offences, they are committing so many sinful activities, but he considered that within the Vedic, consider them human beings, at least, by lip they were accepting that they accepted Krishna consciousness. Even though, he said that the vast majority of them they don't follow, then, beyond those are those who are practicing but they want material comfort, beyond those who are practicing, they want liberation and then finally comes those who want pure Krishna consciousness, they are the rest of all. So, Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave a very basic program, Prabhupad came and showed how this can be practiced in the west, he attracted so many souls and purified them and in this way made them pure devotees of the Lord, uncovered their others so many coverings on them so that their desire to serve Krishna became manifested with the actual thing that has to be uncovered, there were so many layers and the final layer is the pure state where we want to serve Krishna, when that desire comes then we are in touch with the super-soul in the most intimate way, what our desire is to pray to the deity, to pray to the super soul to engage us in the service of spiritual master and Krishna. So, Caitanya Mahaprabhu had this basic program, He only wrote eight verses, the Sikshastakam, rest of the time He kept everyone busy chanting, of course, to preach Krishna consciousness so many literatures are needed, you see, but to practice Krishna consciousness in a broader Varnashrama sense, people have to be trained up but the basic thing is which they have to engage to chant somehow or another. Now, in this, with this simple faith in the holy name in India, in different parts of the world we have been embarking on a program of just trying to encourage people somehow or another to chant, regardless of their other habits, whether they are vegetarian or non-vegetarian, as they say, non-veg, whether they are pure or impure, to get everyone to chant and then to eulogise the benefits of pure chanting. But, first get them to be attracted or habituated in chanting, even in India, you would be surprised, that most of the people do not chant, they don't have an habit. And, we get so many remarkable-remarkable results just from this chanting, In fact, all kinds of result. Some of them published a book of people writing in, what are the effects they got from chanting, mental, physical, and spiritual and you can have fantastic collection, so would impress people of all mentalities. On first instance, In Orissa, I was giving out this card to request everyone to chant and at least, 108 times, Hare Krishna. Just because Lord Caitanya said to Lord Nityananda:

suno suno nityananda, suno haridas sarvatra amar ajna koroho prakas prati ghare ghare giya koro ei bhiksa bolo `krsna', bhajo krsna, koro krsna-siksa

Listen Nityananda, listen Haridas, This is my order, if you go from door to door and beg the people to take up this instruction of mine, they should chant the name of Krishna, bolo Krishna bhajo Krishna, they should worship the Supreme personality of Godhead Krishna, koro Krishna siksa and they should read the Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam, the books which contain the teachings of Lord Krishna. You go and you beg the people to take up this program. So, since this order is handed down in the disciplic succession, so we are going and begging the people and in India it is very amazing because normally all the sanyasis, they’re kind of big profile, they give Aashirvad and people come out and they will ask, give me this, give me that. So it is said, we are begging please take up this chanting, so generally people they saw, sanyasi is begging, they are asking to give one percent of the day for chanting, who can refuse, so many people, they accept to do that. So in this way, once they start, even we say, just to make it easy, we say ten minutes. 108 times takes about eight minutes to chant a round, try it out, this is the beginning it is no limit, it is a beginning, why not try for this amount, you have to tell them something. When normally as they do one, no body stands to one, they do four. Then they do four, why not do more they do eight, so many people will come up with sixteen or eight or six rounds a day.

I was there, I came out for the Nityananda Trayodasi festival, I came to Bhubaneshwar and it was surprising, one man came up to me and found on the ground and started rolling and everything and paying his obeisance’s, I asked what's going on, he said, “you saved me”, one year ago you came and you asked me to chant, I took the card from you and you he showed his fingers, like this, he said, “I was a leper, now I am cured”. This is nothing, the real cure is, you will get, you go back to Godhead, that's the real cure, this physical disease is insignificant. No, now am saved, now am chanting sixteen rounds, if you can cure this disease then you can also cure my spiritual disease. So I said, anyway, Krishna's holy name is unlimited. You heard about these things in Caitanya Caritamrita, anyway, about a half hour later all this village, half hour later another man came, he was wearing socks in the middle of the summer, you know he was wearing socks. Nobody wears socks in the middle of summer, you know, he was wearing socks, he bows down, you saved me, he pulled up his socks, he had no toes, he said, one year ago, you gave this card, I was a leper always negative, note me, negative, I was tested, it is no longer positive, negative, now I am cured, now, I am chanting sixteen rounds, ha, two in one day, laughter. And, they are chanting, they are quite sick as I recently had a lot of lepers here, you don't have too many lepers in America, they are there, they probably don't admit it, in terms of _____ (29:53) people they have these horrible diseases now, huh, _____ (29:56) terrible diseases, probably do not even want to mention, the only hope probably is that, they would chant. In any case, the point is that somehow or another, if people take up the chanting, I know in India, one temple president and he specifically when the drunks would come around, different people in South India, there are lot of Christian converts, they are drunken all of the time, he get them to chant and everything and Sri Krishna Caitanya prabhu nityananda, again and again and just by chanting that mantras, after few days they give it up, some of them, the whole family become very thankful and they become devotees. So we found such a great response, from just getting everyone to chant, the thing is that, it's so easy, in India and this, even in South America, we had a pretty good, we have had a very good response by asking. I would ask, so we got some good response in India so I thought let me try South America and then we had big program so I request everyone kindly have those same cards printed up in South America. And I would ask all the people to start chanting, at the end of the big lecture, I asked who could give a few minutes a day for this meditation and so many people raised their hand. We gave them certificates and they appreciated very much ______ (31:22) but that's not our purpose. Many people come up play the Kirtan with material desires and they become devotees, that's really our purpose. So, now the big _____ (31:39) of course is how to get the North Americans to take up chanting, so that when they read Prabhupad books, some of them enter into the _____ (31:52) and they will be able to guide the rest of the world among the more spiritual _____ (31:58). And I think that, here in Los Angeles, surely, some of this fertile spiritualised imagination to think of so many ways, how to induce the Americans to take up the chanting of the holy name. I don’t have, just like a, just want to do something and never think of how ______ (32:27) I don’t know any other way _______ (32:30) spending all my time in the _____ (32:32) try the same way, see what happens to the Americans. So, I gave my thought and requested everyone to take up chanting, who can give some of their time, I saw, I wasn't getting so many responses until it was challenged, we challenged everyone, who dare you want to chant Hare Krishna for 10 minutes a day, who can chant and not achieve some results, some spiritual result, we will give you your money back. Audience laughter. We challenged _______ (33:03) so then we asked the people, raise the hand we will take ______ (33:06), no body raised their hand, you know, it’s tough. So just to say, basically talking over there, I got myself on this one and then all of a sudden few people started coming, I got twenty people signed up, I could not believe it _______ (33:30) most of them were young people _______ (33:36), few, just you know, latins and a few Americans you know they came up and alright it is challenging. I don't think it is the best approach necessarily in America, but, few people came forward and I thought in America you cannot have sign, they do not want to sign the name, they have just, what do you call it, postage prepaid stamp under it. Chant first and if you like it, then you _______ 34:00, Americanised, no obligation. Anyway, whether this way or that way, the point is, somehow or another, if we get the people to chant, just wanted to reiterate that point and some people will chant by taking Prasad, some will chant by reading and some will chant by personal request and some will chant by association, somehow or another, if people chant they gradually get purified and the more we have our faith in the holy name and the power of holy name, we can say that, that is the actual thing that will change the world, that's the chanting of Hare Krishna and Srila Prabhupad books. Lord Caitanya said, chanting, worshiping and Krishna siksa, Prabhupad books, teachings of Krishna. We have our basic program, we have our program, we have to train the first class preachers who follow brahminical culture, they follow the four regulative principles, they chant 16 rounds, they are pure, unless you are pure, purity is the force, one cannot preach, that's effect. Anyone can chant Hare Krishna and gradually by that they will be able to go back to Krishna, eventually they may become pure enough to preach or they will be pure enough to practice and if it's the preachers, then contribute and be a big congregation, but, Prabhupad wanted us to create that type of, when he said Varnashrama, he said that people will not be pure in their habits, but they’ll believe in Krishna and they chant and gradually once you bring them up to the pure level, once you eradicate, by chanting then they can be pure, you can't be pure and then chant, you have to chant and then be pure unless the person is already very much in a gyani, unless they have come to a very philosophical understanding, it's very hard for most people to first renounce and then chant, it's by chanting they get the strength to avoid sinful activities. So, more and more people are becoming attracted to mode of goodness things, because they see how just by ______ (36:30) science they are seeing, by statistics, that sinful activities are not good for you, they are creating diseases and cancer, there are so many. Of course, even if they don't want to, they are forced to, if they want to, if they care about their physical wellbeing, they are forced to ______ (36:46) their sinful activity. If they actually understand that after this life, comes another life and what they are doing in this life will create the next life and these are the alternative, somehow or another we have to give them the spiritual knowledge. When Krishna consciousness is able to be as Prabhupad wanted to be, spiritual master of the entire world, we hope that would happen by being the spiritual master of the Americans, there is no other, you can see, when we see the _____ (37:21) or the Japanese world fare, when modern religions are not able to answer their questions, _______ (37:30), they have to go, although, they are brothers we respect them, but, the real answers to these modern scientific questions and proposals they brought up, can only be adequately answered with the full knowledge which you will get in most complete version, of course in the Vedas, especially in essence in the Bhagavatam and in the Bhagavat Gita, distributing books on these transcendental topics, getting people to chant Hare Krishna and practice Krishna Consciousness, worshipping Krishna by taking his Prasadam and attending the temple and establishing temples in their homes. This is the basic order of Lord Caitanya for all of his followers, even Lord Nityananda was going door to door knocking, knocking sound, asking the people to take it up. So if it is good enough for Lord Nityananda to do what to speak of us, who are we, insignificant, conditioned soul, been engaged in devotional service. jaya sri-krishna-chaitanya prabhu nityananda sri-adwaita gadadhara shrivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

JPS: Time for Questions Question: Not Audible JPS: Even if they chant offensively, it is better than not chanting at all. I was in South India and one, you get these real intellectual type people there and he came up to me and said that every religion says that their’s is the only way, you must have faith. Isn’t there one religion that you don’t need faith? Laughter. It will work even without faith, even you don’t believe, I said Yes, we have it, chanting of the Holy name ______ (40:01), we begin by ______ (40:02). You have no faith you are asked to chant the name of ram, if I chant any name of anything holy, couldn’t even say god, nothing like that. He was told to then chant murder-murder-murder in Sanskrit, mara-mara-mara, only that much faith, somehow or another chant, do what the guru ordered, that much minimal faith is required. They do it but he had no faith in the holy name as such, he could not even say it what to speak of have faith in it. He was chanting mara-mara-mara-mara by chanting mara-mara-mara-mara, you get ram-ram-ram-ram was being spoken and as a result he become Valmiki, he realised Ram Chandra, he had ______ (40:51) to see the entire Ramayana, 10,000 years before ram appeared on this earth. Anyhow, he chanted his son’s name Narayan, NARAYAN, when he was dying, then, just because of that he was ______ (41:06). He wasn’t chanting with some great faith, with accident, practically speaking, if someone chant even just mechanically, without faith, somehow or another they chant, it will gradually have effect. Obviously, if someone chants with faith, with devotion, with concentration then how much quicker we are at it. Valmiki a long time of chanting mara-mara-mara to get the same effect but nonetheless, there will be some effect. Even Haridas Thakur, when Lord Caitanya said that how will all these __________ (41:42) will be delivered. These fisher men and all these various type of students who always arguing and never get down to the actual reality, just want to be on a mental platform, so many, so then, what did Haridas Thakur say, by your mercy, by this chanting, a namabhas, the reflection of the name, it is like when the sun rises, there is a little light before that is called the abhas, it is just the reflection of the, dim reflection of the name, just by that they will be purified and like for instance, the Muhammadans, so when they say haram, they don’t mean hey Ram, they mean oh you offensive person but somehow they are saying haram. When the Americans are seeing Ramanayans or something Rama, so many Ramas they have in America, Tamil Rama, somehow or another, they are already getting the blessings, knowingly or unknowingly. So, if they actually would chant: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare Even without much faith, even just as an experiment, just as out of hopelessness or something, out of just why not, tried everything else. So many ________ (43:44) other people said to me. Then, by chanting, by gradually see a change in themselves and they try to see that there is something a higher reality, become a little purified. Then when they read, when they come in the association of devotees, naturally, they can appreciate more. Of course, if someone is very offensive to the devotees, very offensive, then ______ (43:51) it is more difficult. One place I have Prabhupad told, just have them chant Sri Krishna Caitanya because they are so simple that it will be more effective than chant Hare Krishna. And if they are offensive better they chant than not chant. Of course, we have to show the standard of offense less chanting and preach against committing offenses. Because if they are committing offenses, they won’t get pure love of god, they may get liberation or they may remain as human being, but, they won’t get the ultimate goal. So, want to bring them to the highest benefit, we have to show our self, by our personal example, what is offensive chanting and try to bring people up to that platform. Hare Krishna