English
23rd February 2020
The Soul’s Relationship with Krsna is Eternal
We have Ekanath Gaur Prabhu from Mongolia who is the only Brahmachari in Mongolia. He has been sent by HH Bhaktivaibhava Swami to acquire training in Noida. Many Russian faces are here. Faces keep on changing. Our real identity is not this face. The body may or may not be there at any moment of time.
dehino 'smin yatha dehe
kaumaram yauvanam jara
tatha dehantara-praptir
dhiras tatra na muhyati
Translation:
As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change. (BG 2.13)
If you see your photo from childhood then you won't identify yourself. When I found one of my photographs from the friends’ circle of my college days, I was searching for myself in it. After searching for a long time I concluded that I'm not there in it. But after that, it came to my knowledge that I am there in that photograph. Bodies keep on changing. We chant so that we can realize our true identity.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare
Sometimes we were not human as well, as we find in the case of Bharat Maharaja. Before being Jadabharat, he was a deer and King Bharat. Japa is for recognizing the soul and Krsna and to realize our relationship with Krsna. So keep on chanting. This is the right thing to do for human beings in Kaliyuga. If we were in another age, we would follow some other process. Meditation in Satya-yuga, yajna in Tretā-yuga, Deity worship in Dvāpara and kirtana in Kali.
kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇuṁ
tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ
dvāpare paricaryāyāṁ
kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt
Translation:
Whatever result was obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Viṣṇu, in Tretā-yuga by performing sacrifices, and in Dvāpara-yuga by serving the Lord’s lotus feet can be obtained in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.( SB 12.3.52)
Lord appears as Gauranarayan in the age of Kali. Time is eternal and it is never annihilated. Time keeps on annihilating us, but time itself is never destroyed.
mrtyuh sarva-haras caham
udbhavas ca bhavisyatam
kirtih srir vak ca narinam
smrtir medha dhrtih ksama
Translation:
I am all-devouring death, and I am the generator of all things yet to be. Among women, I am fame, fortune, speech, memory, intelligence, faithfulness and patience.(BG 10.34)
Lord told Arjuna in the 2nd chapter of Bhagavad-Gita that there was no time when we were not there. One Mataji here is 19 years. Was her body not there 19 years before? It was there. This is the philosophy behind chanting and we should understand it. We are souls and eternal. Lord, prakrti, soul, time are eternal, but karma is not eternal. Srila Baladev Vidyabhushan explains it. Souls are eternal. We eternally exist. There is pralaya for this body. Laya means destruction.
bhuta-gramah sa evayam
bhutva bhutva praliyate
ratry-agame 'vasah partha
prabhavaty ahar-agame
Translation:
Again and again, the day comes, and this host of beings is active; and again the night falls, O Partha, and they are helplessly dissolved.(BG 8.19)
Bhutva means taking birth, again and again in different forms and gets destroyed. This is regarding the body. Soul can't be subjected to this. We can't tell when we came into existence.
mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke
jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
prakṛti-sthāni karṣati
Translation:
The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind. (BG 15.7)
We are part and parcel of the Lord. We do not belong to our mothers and fathers of the body. They gave us the body, but we souls belong to Lord. We are eternal like the Lord. Creation and annihilation are not there in the case of the soul. This takes place in the case of the body. Our body keeps on changing every moment and not only at the time of death. Medical researchers have also said that atoms and molecules of this body are made of 5 material elements. They say that after 7 years, whatever is there in this body like earth, water, air, fire, ether, whole gets transformed. They get changed completely. Elements or ingredients get recycled, but the soul is the same. Srila Prabhupada also explained this.
The mother gives birth to a small baby of 2.5-3 kg. After 3 years he becomes 10-20 kgs. At the age of 40 years, one becomes too heavy to lift. Even as a child grows still the mother keeps on thinking about the same child even though the body has changed. But this affection is related to the soul. The same body is not there to which the mother had given birth, but the relationship with the soul is there. That's the reason the mother always thinks about the child whether he is young or becomes old. Real affection has to be there for the soul. Basically we have a relationship with the Lord and we have relationships with each other also as we have a joint family of all living entities. Just like there's a brother-in-law, sister-in-law, niece, etc. In the same way we are related to each other. Living entities try to love the soul, but due to illusion, he keeps his love limited only on a bodily level. One soul loves another soul. Hence when the soul is not there within the body, no one loves that body. The body was embraced earlier when the soul was there, but once the soul leaves no one loves that body. From this, it has been concluded that there is no love without a soul. There is no question of love without a soul. The body is made up of 5 elements. How can a soul love the earth. The soul is always attracted to another soul or super soul. In this way we are related to the Lord and each other.
In this universe, the body comes in between the souls and also in between the soul and the super soul. The soul remains bewildered in illusion. We think we are the body and short circuit happens. The connection between the Lord and us breaks. The relationship between both of us is eternal, but due to the illusion, we give more importance to our body. We become self-centred. When we see ourselves in the mirror we should think that we are not this body.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare
This is the essence or knowledge of the Gita. This knowledge and thought are essential for all of us. Then there is behaviour that shapes our thoughts and words and then we can preach. We are supposed to be well behaved. This is etiquette or culture. We should follow it. Our thoughts will correct our behaviour. This is food for thought, some nourishment for the brain. Chew it, digest and assimilate it. This is the wealth of knowledge.
dharma-sthapana-hetu sadhura vyavahara
puri-gosanira ye acarana, sei dharma sara
Translation:
"A devotee's behavior establishes the true purpose of religious principles. The behavior of Madhavendra Puri Gosvami is the essence of such religious principles."(CC Madhya 17.185)
So our all actions should be as per dharma so you can establish dharma in our life, family, and community with our behaviour.
yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa
āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa
Translation:
“Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa as they are given in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land.” (CC Madhya 7.128)
So all of you rendered service by chanting. Those who served will get some sweets.
Hare Krishna
