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Date- 10th May 2024 Speaker- Guru Maharaj Theme- Significance of Akshay Tritiya Hare Krishna! Srila Prabhupada ki Jai! om ajnäna-timirändhasya jnänänjana-saläkayä caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah!! sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu nityänanda sri-advaita gadädhara sriväsädi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda!! Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare, Hare Räma, Hare Räma, Räma Räma, Hare Hare!! Welcome to all devotees assembled in ISKCON Noida temple and also on the zoom temple. First you are welcomed for Japa and now you are welcomed for Japa Talk. Welcome and congratulations. Today is a special day, Aksaya Tritiya Mahamahotsva ki Jai! It is one of the three and half muhurtas. Akshay! Ksaya means destruction, reduction. There is one disease as well named as ‘Ksaya’, TB. You know what happens with that person. After getting kshaya, gradually only bones remain in the body. So this is opposite to that. A-ksaya, it does not get ksaya, diminished. It never gets reduced or diminished. Such is the importance of this day. Sub-theme- Important events happened on Aksay Tritiya’s day Today, means on Aksaya Trtiya day many things happened and some keeps happening. Ganga appeared on earth on this day. Ganga Maiya ki Jai! You know how much efforts Bhagirath Maharaj was doing to bring Ganga on earth from heaven. Finally on today’s day he was succeeded and Ganga came at Gomukha. Ganga arrived at the pick of Himalaya. Shivaji was sitting there. He is known as Gangadhar because he held Ganga on this head, in his jata, clustered hair. There is Kedarnath and Badrinath; so today Lord Badrinatha’s darshan opens. Their darsan gets closed during winter and opened on today. In Jagannath Puri, the chariots of Jagannath, which are used in Rathayatra; only two times these chariots are used, while going to and coming from Gundicha mandir. So every year new chariots are prepared and today the work of chariot construction begins. Today, Sudama was reached at Dwaraka. After long time Sudama and Krsna were met again on today. When will we meet? We are also friends. They met today, but when will we meet? One day we will also meet Krsna. When we will listen this pastime of Krsna and Sudama Milan- meeting, and when we remember the Lord, then that remembrance is nothing but meeting with the Lord. And then on today’s day, Sudama fed chipped rice to Dwarakadhish. That happened today. We have a small list with us. On Akshaya Tritiya day, Satyayuga appeared. Whenever Satyayuga appears, then that day is Akshaya Tritiya only. mayädhyaksena prakrthih süyate sa-caräcaram hetunänena kaunteya jagad viparivartate Translation- This material nature, which is one of My energies, is working under My direction, O son of Kunti, producing all moving and nonmoving beings. Under its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again. [BG 9.10] Krsna Kanhaiya Lal ki Jai! Such is the arrangement of the Lord. Every action is niyama-baddha, rule-bound, pre-planned. Lord again said- upadrastänumantä ca bhartä bhoktä mahesvarah paramätmeti cäpy ukto dehe 'smin purusah parah Translation- Yet in this body there is another, a transcendental enjoyer, who is the Lord, the supreme proprietor, who exists as the overseer and permitter, and who is known as the Supersoul. [BG 13.23] Upadrasta anumantä ca, I am the overseer and permitter. We keep on hearing that ‘Not even a leaf moves without the permission of the Lord’. Here is the proof. No admission without permission. Lord is the superintendent. See how mush accuracy is there. The day when Satyayuga begins, it is Askaya Tritiya day. Satya, Treta, Dwapar, Kali and again Satya, Treta, Dwapar, Kali. So every time Satyayuga begins on Aksaya Tritiya. Lord has done the arrangements to make us intelligent. There are two types of personalities. One is jna and another is ajna. Together they are called as jnajna. So the jna party is the Lord Himself and His devotees. And we conditioned souls are from ajna party. So to give us knowledge, Lord – mäyä-mugdha jivera nähi svatah krsna-jnäna jivere krpäya kailä krsna veda-puräna Translation- The conditioned soul cannot revive his Krsna consciousness by his own effort. But out of causeless mercy, Lord Krsna compiled the Vedic literature and its supplements, the Puränas. [CC Madhya 20.122] Lord in the form of Vyasadeva compiled Vedas and Puranas. Vyasadeva is Sakyavesa incarnation of the Lord. So He, Vyasadeva also started the work of his writings on Aksaya Tritiya. There is Vyasa-gufa and Ganesha-gufa, cave in Badrikarsrama. So Srila Vyasadeva dictates and Ganesha writes. This work began today. So, with the help of Vedic literatures Lord makes us intelligent. Today is Lord Parasurama appearance day as well. We see bow and arrow in the hand of Lord Rama, but one more Rama was there and He was Parasurama, who was carrying parasu, axe in His hand. With this axe He did vinasaya ca diskritam, destroyed 21 generations of ksatriyas. He also appeared on Aksaya Tritiya. Draupadi-vastraharan also took place today. In Hastinapur, not far from here! Duryodhan was evil minded and result of his evil mind was also bad. So today Lord provided unlimited sari to Draupadi. Sub-theme: Whatever you possess, use that in the service of the Lord We should perform pious activities on Aksaya Tritiya. Today is the day to become pious soul. The day for giving charities! People do shopping and all today, buying gold, properties, etc… Who knows how they are going to use that gold or property. So, you do shopping, but use that in the service of the Lord. Otherwise, you purchased gold, Ravana also did that. Buy, borrow, steal and he became Lankesha. It was city of gold. Not one or five tolas. So, wealth is known as Laxmi. She belongs to Narayana and she should be used in the service of Narayana. If we will not do that, then our situation will be same like Ravana, who wanted to enjoy Laxmi. The result of bhoga, enjoyment is only roga, diseases and then the ultimate result is death penalty. Don’t know how many times we died. punarapi janaman punarapi maranam, why there is maranam, death? Because we are punished, and what is that punishment? mrtyuh sarva-haras cäham udbhavas ca bhavisyatäm kirtih srir väk ca närinäm smrtir medhä dhrtih ksamä Translation- I am all-devouring death, and I am the generating principle of all that is yet to be. Among women I am fame, fortune, fine speech, memory, intelligence, steadfastness and patience. [BG 10.34] Lord says, for those evil minded people, for those materialists, I appear in the form of death and whatever money, wealth they have collected, I snatch it away. I throw them out of their homes and give them death penalty. Unfortunately we forget that this has happened with us. If we wish not to receive such punishments then whatever we have- manasa deha geha, yo kichu mora, arpilün tuwä pade, nanda-kisora Translation- My mind, my body, my home, or whatever I have got in my possession I surrender unto Your Lotus Feet, O my dear Lord, Son of Nanda Maharaja (Krishna). [Saranagati, by Bhakti Vinod Thakur] This was the policy of Bhakti Vinod Thakur. Take a note. Bhakti Vinod Thakur was our Acharya. What was he doing? He was doing and saying- manasa deha geha, yo kichu mora, arpilün tuwä pade, nanda-kisora- whatever I possess, if we will use that in the service of the Lord then sarva-dharmän parityajya mäm ekam saranam vraja aham tväm sarva-päpebhyo moksayisyämi mä sucah Translation- Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear. [BG 18.66] ‘I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions’, this is Krsna’s guarantee. Lord is saying this in the essence of the Gita. Do you want to die? No, no! If you do not want to die then mäm ekam saranam vraja and then aham tväm sarva-päpebhyo moksayisyämi mä sucah, do not fear. Get free from anxieties. So today is the auspicious day. Some people try to do pious activities and all, but also remember these things. Creation took place on today’s day. Lord is the creator. Some say, GOD, G for generation, O for operation and D for destruction. So out of that, the work of creation begins today. Sub-theme: Lord Jagannath’s special form Lord Jagannath gave instruction to King Indradyumna or He expressed His desire that ‘from today you celebrate Chandan-yatra’. So Indradyumna Maharaj, who was the staunch devotee of Purushottam, for him Jagannath became Jagannath. Before He was Nilamadhava and then He became Darubrahma. Daru is not wine. It is wood. It was not any ordinary wood from forest. King did arrangements for carving of the Deities from that kastha, wood. The artist who was making the deity, he carved the deity only in those forms which we can see now. He said, ‘I will do the work behind the doors. I will do it alone. Until the work is complete, no one should interrupt the work.’ But deity making work was taking much time. King was very eager. We hear that one day the sound of carving stopped. So Indradyumna Maharaj pushed opened the door, but he saw that Deities are not complete. Where is the beauty? They are ugly forms. Then Narada Muni arrived and he said, ‘No no King. These Deities are more than complete. Not only complete, but more than complete. Do installation.’ He must have informed to the King, ‘How Lord took these forms; how in Kuruksetra Krsna, Balarama and Subhadra took the forms of Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra?’ So there installation ceremony took place. At no other place so many festivals are getting celebrated as many are celebrated in Jagannath Puri. So, there is possibility that there was no Chandan yatra festival earlier and Jagannath Baladeva inspired King Indradyumna to start it in Jagannath Puri. ‘Start this festival in Jagannath Puri for Me. These are summer days. It is very hot!’ So on today’s day Chandan Yatra began in Jagannath Puri. This took place millions of year back. So following this order of Lord Jagannath, Indradyumna Maharaj used to make sandalwood paste to apply on Jagannath. This festival starts today and will go on for 21 days. There will be special darsan in these days. kasturi-tilakam laläta-patale vaksah-sthale kaustubham näsägre vara-mauktikam kara-tale venuh kare kankanam sarvänge hari-candanam su-lalitam kanthe ca muktävali gopa-stri-parivestito vijayate gopäla-cüdä-manih Translation- All glories to the crest jewel of cowherd boys known as Gopal, who has a musk tilaka-mark on His forehead, the kaustubha jewel on His chest, a graceful pearl on the tip of His nose, a flute in His hand, a bracelet on His wrist, graceful sandalwood paste on all of His limbs, a necklace of pearls on His neck, and who is surrounded by a host of gopis. [Sri-gopäla-sahasra-näma, text 28] sarvänge hari-candanam su-lalitam, graceful sandalwood paste on all of His limbs. So the same work is going on right now with Radha Govinda and Jagannath, Baladeva, Subhadra. Therefore today’s darsan will be little late. Is that ok? Hari Bol! What to do? But before eight o’clock for sure! In Vrndavana Lord told Madhavendra Puri in dream, ‘I am feeling very hot. Go to Jagannath Puri. Bring sandal from there.’ So Lord gave order to Madhavendra Puri, ‘I want sandal.’ Sandal has cooling effect. That’s why in summer the snakes who are most suffered in summer days, they run to sandal trees and get themselves wrapped around these trees. It would have been better if we were like sandal. Lord would have applied us on Him. Sub-theme: Life style of Gokula Yashoda also used to worry. ‘Dear son, these are summer days. Take umbrella with you.’ And in the morning she applies sandalwood paste on the limbs of Krsna with her own hands. She thinks that, ‘this sandal paste will protect Lala from summer heat.’ This is vatsalya, motherly affection of Yashoda. We also get chance to express such vatsalya during these candan yatra days. So many devotees were making sandalwood paste. Yesterday our GBC chairman Guruprasad Maharaj saw many devotees are making sandalwood paste. He was appreciating. He also said that, ‘this is good, it gives little exercise’. Devotees were also sweating. We do not do that now. We do not perspire. We do not want to take efforts. Just relax! I was telling Maharaj, how I was born in a village and my mother early in the morning used to grind floor and then used to churn the yogurt, etc. etc. That was the culture in villages; the culture of Gokula. When we were small, we were cowherd boys. We used to take our cows for pasturing. There used to be buffalos and goats as well. Krsna was also cowherd boy. krsi-vänijya-go-raksä kusidam türyam ucyate värtä catur-vidhä tatra vayam go-vrttayo 'nisam Translation- The occupational duties of the vaisya are conceived in four divisions: farming, commerce, cow protection and moneylending. Out of these, we as a community are always engaged in cow protection. [SB 10.24.21] Nanda Maharaj was vaisya, the leader of vaisya. So his son, born in Gokul, same life style He was having. Now if you want to churn yogurt, then there are machines. We have machine for each work. We have machine to wash clothes. Machine works and we remain relaxed. We watch TV or internet. We do not want to run or take efforts. Don’t do efforts and get sick. Naturally in those days they used to take efforts, such was their life style. Life style of Gokul! To make sandalwood paste is also one part of Gokul’s life style. Yashoda used to do that. We can also do. Uthi Uthi Gopala, like this she used to sing to wake Krsna up. Lord has appeared in the form of Radha Govinda for the residents of Noida. Sometimes it is said, Noida- no idea. The residents of Noida can do sri-vigrahärädhana-nitya-nänä- srngära-tan-mandira-märjanädau yuktasya bhaktäms ca niyunjato 'pi vande guroh sri-caranäravindam Translation- The spiritual master is always engaged in the temple worship of Sri Sri Rädhä and Krsna. He also engages his disciples in such worship. They dress the Deities in beautiful clothes and ornaments, clean Their temple, and perform other similar worship of the Lord. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master. [Sri guru astaka by Srila Visvanätha Cakravarti Thäkura] You are doing that. You come for Mangal Arati. The Brahmin initiated devotees cook for the Lord, do srngar of the Lord. Sub-theme: Bhava of pure devotees (Vatsalya and sakhya) Yashoda was cooking and today also she is cooking. This is not past, she was cooking. She is doing today also. Various dishes, kachori and sweets! What are you feeding me? Maiya I want butter. You feed Me butter. This conversation between mother and son, Kanhaiya was saying, ‘you keep me feeding other things. Why don’t you feed me butter?’ One Vraja Gopi heard this conversation while standing at the window of Nanda Bhavan. Krsna was saying, ‘I want butter. Feed me butter.’ So Suradasji writes in his song, when that Gopi heard this demand of Krsna, she thought, ‘Kanhaiya, your mother do not feed you butter, then why don’t you come to our home? And when you will come, I will be there, but I will pretend that I am not there. I will make butter available for you. Why don’t you come?’ So Suradasji writes, Krsna noted that this Gopi standing at the window of Nanda Bhavan is thinking like this and requesting Krsna in her mind. Krsna said, ‘yes yes, for sure, I will come to your home.’ So Krsna goes to her home and steals butter. So this is the mood, bhava of Yashoda. It is named as Raganuga. And the bhakti we should do, is this Raganuga, Raga-anuga. The ideal devotees of Vraja, and the leader of Vatsalya bhakti is Yashoda and Nandababa. And not only Yashoda or Nandababa, but all elders, senior citizens have vatsalya for Krsna. So there are unlimited devotees who serve Krsna with Vatsalya bhava. Then there are also devotees with Sakhya rasa, like Lord’s friends are having Sakhya rasa. This rasa, mood, bhava or bhakti, use any word, but the feelings are same. Only names are different. So making them ideals, when we perform bhakti, following their footsteps, then it is known as Raganuga bhakti. Anuga means to follow them or do the same way the Vraja devotees do. Then that bhakti is Raga-anuga bhakti. Gaudiya vasnavaism is known for Raganuga Bhakti. These are the bhava of devotees for Krsna. ‘Krsna is helpless child, very tender’ the devotees in vatsalya rasa, the caretakers of Krsna, like Nandababa and elders think like this. So the devotees become caretakers of the Lord and Lord gets pleased when His devotees become His masters or caretakers or friends. sakhä suddha-sakhye kare, skandhe ärohana tumi kon bada loka,—tumi ämi sama Translation- My friends climb on My shoulders in pure friendship, saying, ‘What kind of big man are You? You and I are equal. [CC Adi 4.25] Lord’s friends say, ‘Hey! What do you think you are? Game is not over. If you will leave now, then we will not play with you again. Do you understand? Tumi ami sama, we are equals.’ These are their genuine feelings. And Lord becomes pleased with this. Same thing with Vatsalya bhava and He becomes pleased also with Madhurya rasa. This is play of Bhakta bhava. Sub-theme: Does Lord really feel hot? What does it matter, weather it is summer, 44 degrees and all? mad-bhayäd väti väto 'yam süryas tapati mad-bhayät varsatindro dahaty agnir mrtyus carati mad-bhayät Translation- It is because of My supremacy that the wind blows, out of fear of Me; the sun shines out of fear of Me, and the lord of the clouds, Indra, sends forth showers out of fear of Me. Fire burns out of fear of Me, and death goes about taking its toll out of fear of Me. [SB 3.25.42] The sun shines out of fear of the Lord; then will the Lord be affected with that sun’s shine? There is so much energy for heating and burning in the sun. In Bhandirvana, once there was fire. Krsna’s cows were caught in that fire. They started to cry. Krsna reached there. His friends also reached there. Friends are in anxiety. Cows are in anxiety. What does the Lord do? sri-suka uväca vaco nisamya krpanam bandhünäm bhagavän harih nimilayata mä bhaista locanänity abhäsata Translation- Sukadeva Gosvämi said: Hearing these pitiful words from His friends, the Supreme Lord Krsna told them, "Just close your eyes and do not be afraid." [SB 10.19.11] ‘Dear friends and cows close your eyes.’ You (devotees) are closing your eyes without asking. ‘mä bhaista, do not be afraid’. Do not fear, I am near, oh dear come here. So, as friends and cows closed their eyes, Lord drank the fire. Acharyas write in their commentary, Lord is saying to fire, ‘come on in’. Fire emanates from the mouth of the Lord. Svaha! Svaha! Svaha! We do in agnihotra yajna. Svaha is the name of fire’s wife. Whatever offering we do, Lord accepts it through fire, but her place is in the mouth of the Lord. This is also seen in the universal form of the Lord at Kuruksetra. All warriors were entering in the mouth of the Lord. Some were stuck in the teeth of the Lord. Fire appeared there and these warriors’ final rites were taking place in the mouth of the Lord. So, in ‘the drinking of fire’ pastime, the Lord asked His friends and cows to close eyes, and then the Lord drank the fire. So were the limbs of the Lord burnt? Was the moustache of the Lord burnt? Lord is not having moustache, why? When does the moustache come? At the age of 20-22! But Lord does not become 20-22 years old. He always remains 16 years old. At Kuruksetra war, He was more than hundred years old, but He looked only of 16 years old. Kumar avastha, Pauganda avastha, kishor avastha, only up to this kishor avastha He reached. So, why this temperature and all will affect the Lord? Lord has said- nainam chindanti sasträni nainam dahati pävakah na cainam kledayanty äpo na sosayati märutah Translation- The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind. [BG 2.23] Here Lord is talking about the soul. You are saying that I don’t want to kill anybody. Arjuna, I challenge you, go ahead and try to kill. You can not kill because problem with you is, you are considering everyone as bodies. But they are not bodies, they are spirit souls and what is the identity of the soul? The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nainam chindanti sasträni, nainam dahati pävakah, nor burned by fire, na cainam kledayanty äpo, nor moistened by water, na sosayati märutah nor withered by the wind. Earth, water, fire, and air, these are the four elements out of pancha-mahabhuta, five elements. Soul is avyayi, avinasi, never dies. It is ajar, unborn and amar, immortal. So, when the soul cannot be cut into pieces or cannot be burn or dry, then how can the Supersoul be burn? mamaivämso jiva-loke jiva-bhütah sanätanah manah-sasthänindriyäni prakrti-sthäni karsati 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] Lord is finite and we are infinite. We are His parts and parcels. He is Saccidananda, and we are also saccidananda, as we are His parts and parcels. Sat means eternal, and cit means knowledge, and änanda means bliss. So Lord is saying to Arjuna- nainam chindanti sasträni, nainam dahati pävakah, 50 degrees or 500 degrees or 500 thousand degrees, what does it matter? It can not affect the Lord. But Yashoda is worried, and this is bhakti of Yashoda. And we also have to be like the thoughts of Yashoda or Nandababa. And we are having these thoughts but we have forgotten. We have forgotten soul. Every single person of this material world is forgotten soul, but the soul is not forgotten, but Mäyayä apahrta-jnänäh, Maya makes us forget. I look like this, this is my address, but this is not our address and the mother and father we have now are only for some limited time. We had so many mothers and fathers. Now we are Indians, who knows who we were in previous birth? There are 84 lacks species of living entities; that means so many types of bodies. väsämsi jirnäni yathä vihäya naväni grhnäti naro 'paräni tathä sariräni vihäya jirnäny anyäni samyäti naväni dehi Translation- As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones. [BG 2.22] This body is a garment. This body is compared with garment and chariot and bag and so many things. So, we wear many types of garments. King Bharat gave up his body and in next birth he became a deer. So the bhava bhakti of Yasoda, Nandababa or of His friends, girl friends, we are also having such bhava bhakti. We are no less, but unfortunately from time immemorial we became bahirmukha and krsna-bahirmukha hanä bhoga-vänchä kare nikata-stha mäyä täre jäpatiyä dhare Translation- As soon as the living entity wants to enjoy life without Krsna, without God, immediately he comes under the clutches of mäyä. [Prema-vivarta] When one breaks the traffic rules, he immediately gets caught by the Police, similarly when one breaks the rules of the Lord, he turns around and becomes forgotten soul. Durlabha manava janama, how is the life? durlabha, it is very rare and Prahlad Maharaj says, sri-prahräda uväca kaumära äcaret präjno dharmän bhägavatän iha durlabham mänusam janma tad apy adhruvam arthadam Translation- Prahläda Mahäräja said: One who is sufficiently intelligent should use the human form of body from the very beginning of life—in other words, from the tender age of childhood—to practice the activities of devotional service, giving up all other engagements. The human body is most rarely achieved, and although temporary like other bodies, it is meaningful because in human life one can perform devotional service. Even a slight amount of sincere devotional service can give one complete perfection. [SB 7.6.1] Sub-theme: importance of devotee association Human life is adhruvam, temporary. Human life and all other births also are temporary. Yes they are temporary, but they are meaningful, arthadam, they have purpose, and what is that? durlabha mänava-janama sat-sange taroho e bhava-sindhu re Translation- Having obtained this rare human birth, cross over this ocean of wordly existence through the association of saintly persons. [From bhajhü re mana by Govinda das Kaviraj] We should run towards Sat-sang. And just to make such satsanga, devotee association available, Srila Prabhupada established ISKCON, so that people from all over the world, not only Indians, but also Chinese and Japanese, Canadians, Astralians and Africans should also get the devotee association. With this intention Prabhupada established ISKCON. And when in this rare human birth we get association of the devotees, durlabho mänuso deho dehinäm ksana-bhangurah taträpi durlabham manye vaikuntha-priya-darsanam Translation- For the conditioned souls, the human body is most difficult to achieve, and it can be lost at any moment. But I think that even those who have achieved human life rarely gain the association of pure devotees, who are dear to the Lord of Vaikuntha. [SB 11.2.29] To get human birth is a rare thing and more rare than that is vaikuntha-priya-darsanam, to gain the association of pure devotees, who are dear to the Lord of Vaikuntha. And when we gain both of these rare things then taroho e bhava-sindhu re, then we can cross over this ocean of wordly existence and reach from where we came. So, Lord has given this rare human birth and He also has given the rare devotee association. You are being benefited with that. You should be thanking the Lord. uttisthata jägrata präpya varän nibodhata Translation- "O living entity, you are sleeping in this material world. Please get up and take advantage of your human form of life." [Katha Upanisad 1.3.14] Oh human being uttisthita jagrata, wake up, and varan nibodhata, understand that this human birth and this devotee association is blessings to you. When both things are gained then what comes next? Krsna prapti hoya jaha hoite, we gain Krsna and is there anything more to achieve after gaining the Lord? Sub-theme: Feelings and thoughts of pure devotees Lord gave darsan to Dhruva Maharaj. Lord knew that he came to Me with some desire. He was performing austerities with the desire, ‘I want such position, the topmost position.’ But when Dhruva gained the Lord and Lord said, ‘ask what you want. I am Varadaraj, the king of benedictors.’ There is Varadaraj Deity in Kanchipuram. So when Lord said, ask benediction, Dhruva Maharaj said- sthänäbhiläsi tapasi sthito ‘ham tväm präptavän deva-munindra-guhyam käcam vicinvann api divya-ratnam svämin krtärtho ‘smi varam na yäce Translation- “[When he was being blessed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Dhruva Mahäräja said:] ‘O my Lord, because I was seeking an opulent material position, I was performing severe types of penance and austerity. Now I have gotten You, who are very difficult for the great demigods, saintly persons and kings to attain. I was searching after a piece of glass, but instead I have found a most valuable jewel. Therefore I am so satisfied that I do not wish to ask any benediction from You.’ [CC Madhya 22.42] Dhruva Maharaj said, ‘I do not want benediction. The material position which I was seeking for is just like a piece of a glass.’ In the accident, we see so many pieces of the glasses. Does it having any value? Who cares? O there are so many pieces. We will pick one and say, ‘I got one’. Dhruva Maharaj said, ‘I was desiring for a piece of glass. I achieved you. You are everything. aisvaryasya samagrasya viryasya yasasah sriyah jnäna-vairägyayos caiva sannäm bhaga itingana Translation- Bhagavän, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is thus defined by Paräsara Muni as one who is full in six opulences—who has full strength, fame, wealth, knowledge, beauty, and renunciation. [Visnu Puräna 6.5.47] You are full in six opulences. Varam na yace, I do not want anything else.’ na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitäm vä jagad-isa kämaye mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatäd bhaktir ahaituki tvayi Translation- O Lord of the universe, I do not desire material wealth, materialistic followers, a beautiful wife or fruitive activities described in flowery language. All I want, life after life, is unmotivated devotional service to You. [CC Antya 20.29] Caitanya Mahaprabhu expressed these feelings. I do not want wealth, followers, wife, etc. Do you want liberation? No no, I am even ready to take birth again. All I want, life after life, is ahaituki bhakti, unmotivated devotional service. So these are the feelings of the pure devotee, which are expressed by Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Dhruva maharaj, and all devotees of Vrndavan are of such feelings. We, the souls are having these feelings, and we need to awaken them and manifest them in our life. We need to become high thinkers, ‘simple living and high thinking’. Sub-theme: become high thinkers I was in America, there people were telling me, ‘Swamiji Swamiji, we have adopted a new formula.’ I asked, ‘what is that formula?’ they said, ‘Its name is KISS formula.’ I said, ‘no, no, you are calling me Swamiji. Swamiji has nothing to do with kiss. Why are you telling me kiss formula?’ They said, ‘No no no Swamiji, not that kiss.’ ‘What kiss is your kiss?’ They said, ‘Keep It Simple Stupid! KISS!’ Keep it simple, don’t complicate. This is also one thought of the scriptures- simple living and high living. So we need to become high thinkers like the thoughts of pure devotees, scriptures and the Lord. Again we need to become like that. These are not new things for us. Not at all! So take such sankalpa, vow on today’s auspicious day. Take sankalpa that I will awake such bhava, like the bhava of Yashoda and Nandababa. Sub-theme: start the beginning of the end of the Kaliyuga In last month, for our youths there was one seminar and its name was ‘Arambha’. I add Shubh to it. So Shubharambha- good beginning! And there was one subtitle- beginning of the end of the Kali. Such motivation was given to the youth, who fortunately reached there. You do not let your children, and so they need to come secretly. You can go to watch movie, but can not go to temple. You can do sin but to do pious work is not allowed. You want to become duratma? Welcome! You want to become Mahatma? Don’t do this. Not now, you can see in old age. First do study and this and that. Postpone becoming devotee and mahatma. Give priority to other things. To become devotee, Krsna Conscious is at the bottom of the list. Who knows if you are lucky to reach that bottom? So, it was told to those children that start the beginning of the end of Kali. You may be late to finish it, but first do the beginning. Do it from today. So, ‘the beginning of the end of the age of Kali’ this was said by me. So, when Srila Prabhupada started preaching in America, some boys and girls were coming from few months. From them Prabhupada collected few youth boys and girls and asked, can you help me to spread this Krsna Consciousness all over the world? But for that you have to follow some rules. One is you have to chant Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Then you have to study Gita, Bhagavat, eat prasadam, etc. All this is vidhi, to do’s. But there is nishedha, not to do’s and will you follow that? ‘Swamiji first tell us what is that?’ So Prabhupada said, in Kaliyuga there are four great sins. 5000 years ago Kali accepted the form and he wanted to bit and cut the cow. That time King Pariksit said, ‘I will kill you to pieces’. So, Kali said, ‘save me, forgive me’. To forgive someone is a superior thought. Anyone can punish but rarely anyone can forgive. This is also one thought or feeling. ‘Okay I forgive you. I am not killing you. Keep living.’ ‘Okay you saved me, but give some place to stay.’ That time King Pariksit said, this is from first canto, he said- süta uväca abhyarthitas tadä tasmai sthänäni kalaye dadau dyütam pänam striyah sünä yaträdharmas catur-vidhah Translation- Süta Gosvämi said: Mahäräja Pariksit, thus being petitioned by the personality of Kali, gave him permission to reside in places where gambling, drinking, prostitution and animal slaughter were performed. [SB 1.17.38] You reside where there are four types of irreligious, sinful activities- dyütam, gambling, pänam, intoxication, sünä, meat eating and striyah, illicit sex. One is vidhi and another is avidhi or avaidha, illicit, illegal sex. In Grhastha asram legal sex, you can do this much, you get license. But after crossing the parameter, it is illegal sex. So King Pariksit said, where you will find gambling, drinking, prostitution and animal slaughter, there you can live. So Kali received these four places. Once there was time when such places were very rare to find for Kali. It was the end of Dwapar Yuga. Kaliyuga was just to begin. Okay, back to New York, when Prabhupada said, you can help me. You need to follow some rules and regulations? How many of you are ready? Raise your hands. No, no, I am not asking you. Prabhupada is asking in New York. In response American boys and girls, unanimously raise their hands and said, yes Swamiji we are ready. So it was the first incident, first group of people in the Kali yuga, in the western countries. They were taking vow against Kaliyuga. No more gambling, no more intoxication, no more meat eating, no more illicit sex! That was the beginning of the end of Kaliyuga. Sub-theme: Do you want to be free from difficulties? So, today’s day is very auspicious. You also have taken some vows. You can take vow to intensify those vows. When there is raining, you do not have potency to stop the rain, but you can protect yourself with umbrella. When there are thorns and stones everywhere, who knows when the road will be repaired, but you at least can wear proper shoes. Similarly we are in anxiety due to this Kali yuga, you do not even think why you are anxious, but the scriptures say Yada mukundo bhagavan ksamam tyaktva sva padam gatah tad dinat kalir ayatah sarva sadhana badhakah Meaning- the day when Lord Mukunda left for His eternal abode, from that day kalir ayatah, Kaliyuga began. And Kaliyuga is sarva sadhana badhakah, it is the job of Kali to crate obstacles, difficulties in the sadhana of devotees. [Bhagavat mahatmya 1.65] So, do you want to get free from the difficulties? Yes! But you do not know how to do that. No one wants to become miserable. Everyone wants to be happy. But people do not know how to become happy. Lord, Scriptures and pure devotees, for sure want to see everyone happy. Child is sick, then mother and family members want him free from sickness, but they do not know how to do that. Therefore they go to Dr, you do something. Dr knows. So, like this, we want you to be happy, and you also want to be happy, Sarve bhavantu sukhinah Sarve santu niramayah Sarve bhadrani pasyanti ma kascid duhkha bhag bhavet Translation- May all be happy. May all be free from illness. May all see what is auspicious. May no one suffer. [Peace formula- prayer in sanskrit] But Lord, Lord’s devotees and scriptures know how we can be happy eternally. Not happy, but blissful! When we say happy, then the counter part is sad, but there is no counter part of bliss. After enjoying happiness, the result is sadness. If you do not want to be sad, then do not try to get material happiness. If you will seek for that happiness then you will get sadness. Happy- sad, happiness-sorrow, this will go on in this material world. No one in this material world is only happy or only sad. This is the nature of this world. It is made like that only. Therefore- yadrcchä-läbha-santusto dvandvätito vimatsarah samah siddhäv asiddhau ca krtväpi na nibadhyate Translation- He who is satisfied with gain which comes of its own accord, who is free from duality and does not envy, who is steady in both success and failure, is never entangled, although performing actions. [BG 4.22] We need to go beyond these dualities and the way is Krsna Consciousness. That is the life of bliss. Nanda ke ghar Ananda bhayo! You experienced some bliss, some spiritual bliss, then what will be the result? Will that bliss reduce? Happiness gets reduced or destroyed, but bliss only increases. ceto-darpana-märjanam bhava-mahä-dävägni-nirväpanam sreyah-kairava-candrikä-vitaranam vidyä-vadhü-jivanam änandämbudhi-vardhanam prati-padam pürnämrtäsvädanam sarvätma-snapanam param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam Translation- Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Krsna, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Krsna expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step. [CC Antya 20.12] There is no question of reduction or destruction of spiritual bliss. It keeps on increasing more and more. Such blissful life is waiting for all of us. Or we can say that the person whose name is Ananda, He is waiting for us. Krsna’s one name is Ananda. That is why they were saying, Nanda ke ghar Ananda bhayo. He is the personification of bliss, ananda. He is the source of ananda. He is everything. Mama sarva deva deva! So on today’s auspicious day take such vow, one is there should be the beginning of the end of Kali. But this is not the only one aim. Goal of life is not to become free. One who is a devotee, he is free, but he who is free, not necessarily he will be a devotee. So become devotee, as Krsna said- man-manä bhava mad-bhakto mad-yäji mäm namaskuru mäm evaisyasi satyam te pratijäne priyo 'si me Translation- Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend. [BG 18.65] If you will do this then- janma karma ca me divyam evam yo vetti tattvatah tyaktvä deham punar janma naiti mäm eti so 'rjuna Translation- One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna. [BG 4.9] You will attain Me and I will bring you to My eternal abode. Just remember Me while leaving your body. Gaurapramanande Hari Hari Bol!

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