19810811-Vrindavane-Bhajan-11-12-Calcutta-India-Literal-Version

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapataka Swami Maharaja on August 11th, 1981 in Calcutta, India. The class is on Vrindavane Bhajana Texts 11 and 12.

After this we are going to read Vrndavane Bhajana which is written by Srila Prabhupada which is following in the line of these verses of instruction. This is basically an instruction for people who have already entered in the path of devotion. On the different types of Mayas that can attack the mind. Once one has given up the gross attachment for sense gratification, for fruitive activity, the battle is not over. Then the next stage is that Maya attacks the mind in different ways and these Mayas are more dangerous than the gross Mayas.

When someone falls down to sex life or to some kind of intoxication or something, with some good preaching he can be easily… and good association, he can be saved. But when one falls into the subtle mental desires and starts to… Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura explained that there was a certain syndrome where one first of all desires for some position which he compares equal to the stool of a pig. Then the next thing is not getting satisfied, then one starts to envy other devotees and then he being absorbed… there’s a certain flavor. Envying other people gives a certain kind of satisfaction that “I am good. I’m well situated because all these people are off.” Then from there one gives up the association of the devotees. Then one falls into complete illusion.

But all along he is doing, not that he gives up the association of devotees and stops chanting, no he continues chanting, he continues practicing but now he is separate, now he’s in his own small group or in his absolutely separate situation and he says “I am chanting, I am still following.” but actually Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura describes that this is a very dangerous Maya, illusion. He is praying to his mind, telling his mind, “You materialistic mind, what type of Vaisnava are you? Why are you taking all these bad paths?”

So in continuation of that now reading verse 10:

sei du’ti katha, bhulo’ na sarvatha, uccaih-svare koro ‘hari-nama-rava’ ‘phalgu’ ar ‘yukta,’ ‘baddha’ ar ‘mukta,’ kabhu na bhaviho, ekakar saba

Sei du’ti those few words spoken by Caitanya Mahaprabhu are that one should water the creeper of devotional service with sravana-kirtana and one should pull the weeds, avoid the offences to the holy name and pull out the unwanted weeds that grow in the heart along with the devotional creeper. These two actions – cultivating and weeding should go on was discussed in the previous verse. Sei du’ti katha – don’t forget those two instructions. Bhulo na sarvatha – never make a mistake, never forget these instructions at any time. Uccaih-svare koro hari nama rava – loudly chant the holy name of Krsna and in this way remain constantly in that Hari nama sankirtana.

ar yukta baddha ar mukta kabhu na bhaviho, ekakar saba – Don’t think… Never think that all is one. That the spirit soul is one with God in all respects. That a living entity in the material world is the same as a liberated soul. Never think that. So here again Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur he is advising that we should constantly be engaged in loudly chanting the Hari nama sankirtana.

Now he has described that there are two types of sankirtan which is considered to be ucchai svare or very loud. That sankirtan which has many devotees, khol, kartala when they chant it can be heard for maybe one kilometer or more, two – it can be heard for quite some distance in the neighborhood. This is one form of loud chanting of the Hari nama with many devotees. The other type of loud chanting is known as the brhad mrdanga or the greater mrdanga, that is the book distribution.

By distributing the books authorized in the line of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the transcendental literature delivers the glorification or the kirtana of the holy name to an unlimited distance. Devotees have been met who are in far secluded places, military camps, prisons, uh, frontier outposts where a book written by His Divine Grace Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, translation of the original Vedic scriptures with commentary has fallen into their hands, and has changed their lives.

Simply by reading that literature they have begun to chant Hare Krsna and they have taken a change of heart just by that association. So this is a greater kirtana because it is going very far. Loud, what is the meaning of loud? Loud means many people can hear. That is the definition that we are taking loud as. If nobody can hear then that means it is quiet. So, loud kirtan means performing the kirtana, the glorification of the Lord in such a way that it reaches the ears, the minds of many fallen souls.

So in both of these kirtanas the group congregational chanting with so many members as well as the book distribution of transcendental literature, it requires a team work. To distribute books one has to print the books, write the books uh, edit them, print them. Then they have to be shipped out, distributed, requires a team work of many persons.

To do the sankirtan with the mrdanga drums and kartala cymbals, it also requires a team effort. Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He particularly appreciated this group effort for spreading His holy name. So one should never forget this instruction of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and think that “I will simply on my own chant Hare Krsna for my own liberation or even for spreading Krsna consciousness.” but should stay in the mainstream of the sankirtan movement. Stay along with the Vaisnavas as far as possible. This is the advice.

So, up to now we have been discussing the dangers of leaving the association of Vaisnavas. Here we see one other danger that is Mayavada. Mayavadi philosophy is that everything is one. There is no difference, no differentiation between God, a living entity. Between one, the material energy and the spiritual energy, there is a difference. But between the living entity which is the spiritual energy of the Lord and the Lord Himself the Mayavadis try to indicate that there is no difference, but when the living entity is in this material world he is conditioned by the laws of karma and these cause and effect reactions bring him to so many situations, different births, different… sometimes he is happy, sometimes he is sad.

Caitanya-Caritamrta describes,

kabhu svarge uṭhāya, kabhu narake ḍubāya

daṇḍya-jane rājā yena nadīte cubāya

Sometimes the living entity is raised to the heavenly planet to enjoy blissful material happiness with hardly any obstacles for an incredibly long period of time by our calculation. And then from there sometimes he’s dragged down again into hellish existence. In this way between happiness and distress one is actually being dunked into this material world just like a king used to punish medieval criminals by dunking them into the river until they almost drowned and then lifting them up just for breath of air. Thus the conditioned soul is forced to suffer in this material world and just brought up sometimes for a breath of air. Then again, dunked back down into the miserable ocean of birth and death.

So this is a very dangerous position that the living entity falls into in the contact of this material world. But the Mayavadis, they think that “Well because this material world is temporary, it is an illusion. Therefore, actually we are all God. When you remove the illusion we will see that we are God.” But if we are God, then how can God be put into illusion? That means that illusion is greater than God. Therefore the name Mayavadi. Maya means illusion and vadi means one who propagates. So one who propagates the philosophy that illusion is God, they are in illusion. Therefore they are called Mayavadi. How can God fall in illusion? Krsna, He describes that He is Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram – He is the basis of this illusory energy.

daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī

mama māyā duratyayā

mām eva ye prapadyante

māyām etāṁ taranti te

That this material energy is the divine potency of Krsna and Krsna reassures us that someone who takes shelter at His lotus feet to practice devotional service is guaranteed to be delivered. Otherwise it is practically impossible for anyone to get absolutely free from the danger of falling and remaining in this material energy under the stringent laws that govern those who are imprisoned in this material energy or material prison house.

So it is not that everything is one, everything is two. There is Krsna and His energy. There is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the living entity. This we should not forget. Neither we should ever indulge in hearing or thinking about such a philosophy because that will ruin everything. Caitanya Mahaprabhu said one who thinks or hears this type of Mayavadi philosophy loses his discrimination in Krsna consciousness, he loses everything there. Māyāvādir kathā śunile jive sarva nāśa:

By hearing the words of a Mayavadi philosopher, the living entity loses everything, becomes grossly materialistic and fallen or subtly polluted. In either case his spiritual life is finished.

So in verse eleven it is said: ‘kanaka-kamini,’ ‘pratistha-baghini,’ chadiyache jare, sei to’ vaisnava sei ‘anasakta,’ sei ‘suddha-bhakta,’ sansar tatha pay parabhava

Devotee: kanaka kamini – wealth and women and position these are like tigers. One who has given up is a real pure Vaisnava. He is already renounced. He’s really renounced. He is really a pure devotee. To him material illusion accepts defeat.

Jayapataka Swami: So three types of tigresses are mentioned here. The desire for accumulating wealth and material position, the desire for having a beautiful, obedient wife, association with beautiful women, and the desire for achieving material importance and position.

Tigresses are famous for being one of the most ruthless of animals. Lions are considered to be the king of the cats but actually many believe that tigers are the real kings because the tigers are much more ruthless. At least whether the king or not, they are very dangerous. They have no mercy. When they have their victim, they will strike and they are always hungry, always hungry. So these are, in other words, three great dangers to a transcendentalist on the path of spiritual realization - wealth, women and material position and fame. The desire for these things can devour our devotional service ripping our heart of our devotional service just like a tiger rips out the heart of the animal. So we should be careful. Anyone who wants to make advancement in Krsna consciousness, in spiritual life, first thing he has to do is give up these, the desire for these materialistic things.

Someone who gives up the desire for these materialistic activities is actually a Vaisnava. Vaisnava is a great exalted position, it means one who is already connected with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vishnu, Krsna. Vaisnava is someone who is on the transcendental platform. To perform devotional service we have to be a Vaisnava. The qualification of being a Vaisnava means to give up desire for wealth, for sex enjoyment and for material position and one’s own importance. The qualification to serve Krsna to be a Vaisnava – these are the qualifications to be a Vaisnava. In other words, these are the qualifications to serve Krsna.

Sometimes people come to our movement, to the Krsna consciousness movement and they show tremendous enthusiasm for performing service. They seem to be very eager to do anything that they are asked and they are seen touching the feet of Vaisnavas. But then after a short time, they steal something and run away. Srila Prabhupada has described that there is a Bengali proverb ati bhakti chorera loksana. Too much devotion is symptom of a thief. That normally people have Maya, they have attachment for wealth, they have attachment for sex life, they have attachment for material position, this is natural.

So when someone joins it is expected that there is going to be some subtle and gross attachment for these things but a sincere devotee gives up the desire for these things as illusion and he fights with his illusion, with this tendency with these urges by engaging himself in devotional service. And when his mind comes up with these ideas, he rejects them and again engages his mind in devotional service. But we can see that it is a struggle, in the beginning at least, but he’s somehow or another pushing on and because of that he is getting the mercy of the spiritual master and Krsna. So someone comes in and seems to be already a spontaneous devotee, no desire for anything, not even subtle traces of that, already achieved the goal. “No, no I have no desire for these things, very active.” He is probably bluffing for some ulterior motive.

So when we hear this instruction that we should… that someone who has given up these three illusory desires for wealth, attraction for sex life and material position, we shouldn’t become fearful because that is something that happens automatically with the mature practice of devotional service. Attachment may be there but we should give up the desire for that attachment.

We should become situated in a position where we are always afraid of such things and according to the instruction of the spiritual master, according to the instruction of the scripture we are practicing our devotional service in such a way as to avoid it.

Describes that the best way of becoming free from desire for wealth is to always use what wealth we have, in the service of Krsna. Then one is freed from that danger. How to get freed from the attachment of beautiful women is either to practice celibacy or to practice regulated householder life in Krsna consciousness. By practicing either brahmacarya or grihastha brahmacarya under the guidance of the spiritual master one can become immune from the attachment to sex life, as one is simultaneously loudly chanting and engaging in the sankirtana preaching of Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s holy name and message, and always remaining in the association of strong devotees.

The desire for position is something which is very subtle. Everyone in this material world is hankering for his own importance. Sitting here in Calcutta, Srila Prabhupada described that even the rickshaw drivers, they feel themselves very important. One rickshaw driver will consider himself to be more important than the other because he is a faster puller. The other who knows he is a slower puller will think he is important because he is getting the same money with less work. The other person who is somewhere in between the two, he thinks that he is better because he gets more money than the other two because he is able to cheat the people by charging more.

In some way or other, everybody has their own conception of their importance. One may think that he is a great singer, although he is a rickshaw driver he sings more beautiful songs while pulling. Doesn’t matter. Everybody has got that sense of material importance. Now that is expanded when one wants to become a minister, or one wants to become a king, or one wants to become a guru, it goes on, it expands in different ways. Everyone is trying to get some kind of position of importance but actually the position of Vaisnava means to be the servant of the servant of the Lord. That is the real qualification for one’s service to be accepted by Krsna.

So it is described that one who has given up the desire for these things, he is actually unattached, he is a pure devotee and such a person who has fully given all his desires to Krsna, the devotional yogi does not simply give up desires but he replaces them with a positive alternative to satisfy the transcendental senses of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, engaging everything in His service, knowing that He is the master of all wealth, He is the master of all fame, He is the master of all conjugal relations, He is the perfection of all personal exchanges of love. So, one directs all energy to Him, taking the focus off one’s material mind and body, taking the focus off one’s individual spiritual self, and putting everything, in the direction of Krsna. Krsna automatically, He reciprocates and glorifies His devotee and provides him with many wonderful situations which are reciprocation of that love given to Krsna. But the devotee is not attached to that reciprocations. They more deeply, involve that devotee in intense desire to offer everything to Krsna.

So when someone is situated in that position of wanting to give all his material things to Krsna, those material things become spiritualized and that transcendentalist, he becomes detached, he becomes, he is a pure devotee. So this spiritual life is like a war where we are battling against the illusory energy, and when someone has achieved that position of being detached and a pure devotee, dedicating everything to Krsna, the material energy accepts defeat. Standing with folded hands, she offers her obeisances, “Congratulations! Now you have achieved the success of life. Now you have taken shelter at the lotus feet of Krsna. Now I am defeated because you are beyond my purview. You are no longer within the range of my attack. So you have won.”

In modern ballistics, they always discuss what is the range of each missile, each warhead. If somehow the intercontinental ballistic warhead can get through the range of the radar or of the defence missile, then it has defeated the enemy and it will detonate on target. So everything has its limit in the material world including the material nature herself. So her dominion for keeping one in illusion is crossed over when one is a pure devotee of Krsna, when one is situated in pure devotional service.

So then, she is also a devotee of Krsna, this is her duty to keep everyone in her prison house, a prisoner. And she never lets anyone out except when they become a pure devotee of Krsna. And she very gladly accepts defeat because that was the whole purpose of this material world - to bring people to surrender to Krsna. So although it is her defeat, in another angle it is her success.

She has succeeded in keeping the living entity in illusion until he has come to the real understanding that he is an eternal servant of Krsna. Otherwise he was not able to go and create havoc in the spiritual world where everything is in complete harmony.

So, verse twevle: yatha-yogya bhoga, nahi tatha roga, ‘anasakta’ sei, ki ar kahabo ‘asakti-rohita,’ ‘sambandha-sahita,’ visaya-samuha sakali ‘madhava’

Devotee: Best one should accept what is necessary for this body and mind and in this way one won’t be affected by the material disease and remain unattached to material things. This way one should be unattached from this material world but at the same time see everything with relation to Krsna in this way because everything in this world is emanation from Krsna’s energy. Nothing is… non different from Krsna.

Jayapataka Swami: Someone who enjoys his senses in a regulated manner that is appropriate for maintaining the body and soul together and which is not excessive or against the principles of devotional service is never to be considered as materially contaminated. He is actually unattached. What more can I say? Someone who remains in this unattached condition, always sees everything in relation to Krsna, and engaging everything in Krsna’s service, according to the instructions of the spiritual master. Because everything which is ordinarily materially enjoyable objects is actually engaged in the service of Krsna, so everything is non-different from Krsna, everything is on the transcendental platform.

Here is how to achieve real oneness. When everything is engaged in Krsna consciousness is all one on the same platform of spiritual quality. Bhagavad-gita describes that when performing a fire sacrifice the performer of the sacrifice, the act of ghee into the fire, the ghee being offered into the fire and the fire itself and the sum total of the whole sacrifice, all are situated on the transcendental platform. Just like electricity, everything in touch with electricity becomes electrified. Everything engaged in the service of Krsna becomes transcendentalized.

The devotees in Bengal, when they perform the sankirtana-yajna, the congregational chanting of the holy names of Krsna, they come and they offer garlands to the mrdanga drums, they put sandalwood pulp on the drum, on the kartals, then on the devotees. They say that the drums are only engaged in Krsna’s service as are the kartals. They are never engaged in Maya’s service. A devotee in a neophyte stage may sometimes not be fully fixed up. So they get the second preference. But in any case all are worshipped as being on the transcendental platform – even the material objects are spiritualized, what apparent material objects, they are also spiritualized.

So here it is clearly instructed that performance of material activities according to the religious principles, the higher principles of Krsna consciousness should never be considered as a material disease or material activity. Rupa Gosvami has instructed – one who engages his mind, words and activities in the service of Krsna using different type of materialistic energies, material objects, in that service should never be considered… should be understood that he is already liberated because everything he is doing is for the purpose of serving Krsna.

So this is the real platform of being unattached. To give up the association devotees, to go in some secluded place because one thinks that it is too difficult to deal with all the personality difficulties or to deal with the situations that come up is actually a… an attached position. Unattachment means to tolerate all types of difficulties for the purpose of serving Krsna. To accept material objects and then not use them for one’s own sense gratification, to accept the apparent material situations but not utilize them for our own sense gratification but to engage those situations and those objects in the service of Krsna.

When one sees a beautiful woman the natural physical urge will be, “Oh, this is an object of enjoyment, let me enjoy it, let me try to enjoy with this woman.” But devotee, he sees a beautiful woman and thinks “Oh, here is a nice conditioned soul, how to engage this conditioned soul in Krsna’s service who is the master of everyone.” So, even in an apparent situation of temptation because the bhakti-yogi, the devotee in Krsna consciousness is rightly situated, he uses every situation, every difficulty, every apparent obstacle to enhance the service of Krsna.

Thus there is on obstacle for him. There is no situation that can be brought up by the material world which can stop his progress in devotional service. But here the mind is being addressed because the mind itself can create dangerous position for us.

When the mind sees these situations, sees the material objects in an enjoying mood and thinks that “I should enjoy this, I should have this, I should be in this position.” the mind becomes our enemy. We have to therefore control the mind, keep it always in the proper consciousness and then there is nothing that can stop the flow of devotional service. Then everything is Madhava, everything is non-different from Krsna, it is under His transcendent… the transcendental shelter of His lotus feet.

Transcribed by Jayaraseshwari devi dasi 20 August, 2014

Revised by Jagannatha dasa Brahmacari