English
6 NOVEMBER 2019
DIFFICULTIES REMIND US OF THE LORD!
There are 441 devotees chanting with us today. I can see some Deep daan reports. There is one report of Deep daan from Nasik sent by Jagjivan Prabhu and another by Madhavi Gopi from Thane. I will read all those reports and you can also go through it during the day. Rakhi Ganesh from Bangalore has sent a report. In Gurugram Haridas Thakur Prabhuji is doing Bhagavat Katha as well as conducting Deep daan. In this way many of you are busy getting Deep daan done from others. Some of you are doing it yourself, but are not getting it done from others.
In Sangli someone is getting others to chant. Please show mercy on others by which the Lord really gets pleased. When you connect others with the Lord or turn them towards the Lord, the Lord notices this effort. We notice it later on when you send the reports, but the Lord notices it immediately when you connect others with Him. Conducting Deep daan is another such effort of connecting others with the Lord.
There are many ways by which you can connect people with the Lord. You can distribute Prabhupada’s books to them. You can invite them to the ISKCON Temple or you can conduct a home program or Bhakti vriksha at home and call them for
that. You can have a small temple at home and cook good food and offer bhoga and distribute that prasada to others. Deep daan is one such means of connecting them. Are you able to listen to my talk? I won't be able to talk louder than This. You can read the transcription if the transcriber is able to hear me. I am not going to talk much today and that is why I also stopped Japa little earlier.
I had gone to hospital for my treatment. There were many relatives of patients with anxious faces and seeing them I was feeling very compassionate towards them. Can someone feel compassionate looking at me also? Anyway, I was praying for all those people whose relatives were getting treated over there. I was thinking you all also should visit it a hospital sometimes. Not as a patient, but just to observe how much grief exists. The Lord has said this world is duhkhalayam asasvatam.
mam upetya punar janma
duhkhalayam asasvatam
napnuvanti mahatmanah
samsiddhim paramam gatah
After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogis in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection. (BG 8.15)
If you want to experience that, go to the hospital and observe. That world is full of grief and sorrow. People go to five star hotels and to movie theatres where they feel all happiness. But understand that the effect of such happiness is grief.
I was thinking that everyone should visit a Hospital or a crematorium sometimes so that renunciation ( smashana vairagya - deceptive detachment) starts developing in one's mind. When we go to the hospital some renunciation starts developing and also when we visit a crematorium this renunciation appears. Whenever we hear about someone's final rites being performed we start feeling this renunciation. I am also in the hospital and
jatasya hi dhruvo mrtyur
dhruvam janma mrtasya ca
tasmad apariharye 'rthe
na tvam socitum arhasi
For one who has taken his birth, death is certain; and for one who is dead, birth is certain. Therefore, in the unavoidable discharge of your duty, you should not lament.(BG 2.27)
Those who have taken birth here will have to die and so I will also have to die. So remember to visit to a hospital and a crematorium as it arouses such renunciation.
Buddhadev was a young Prince, and he never stepped outside his palace. His name was Siddharth. He was insisting that he be let out to observe the world around. Then his father once sent him to observe the world . What did he observe?
He saw one Leprosy patient. Then still ahead he saw one old person unable to even cross the road due to his trembling limbs. On viewing such scenes Siddharth asked his Chariot driver, “What is this? Why is this person is ill? Does everyone fall sick?” And he got the answer, “ Yes! Everyone falls sick sometime or other.” He further enquired whether he would also fall sick? “ Yes!Yes! No Problem! Even you will fall sick. And get old. “
Today's youth will be tomorrow's old person. That’s guaranteed. That is the rule of nature and nobody can change it. You will also become old.
When they moved further, there was one procession passing by and people were carrying one person who was lying in white clothes. They all where saying “Rama Nama satya hai! Ram nama satya hai!” Then he enquired what was happening and he was informed that somebody had died. He had never seen death. His father had kept him away from all such scenes or situations of death, but now he was witnessing it. Now it was a personal encounter with these things. So he asked, “
Will he be buried or if he is Hindu will he be burnt?” Siddharth asked his Chariot driver whether this person will be taken home back again. “No!No! He’s finished. There is no question of going back home.” His body will be turned to ashes as is explained in the Bhagavatam. If the body is buried like Muslims then worms will eat up that body. Worms become fat by striving on such a dead body. In the Parsi community they keep the dead body to be eaten by the birds and then it is turned into the stool of those birds. So Bhagavatam explains that this body will be turned to ashes or birds stool or worms will eat it up. So there can be a rise in the number of worms and they may become very healthy eating so much. This is how he witnessed certain truths.
The Lord has explained in Bhagavad-gita 13.8-12 …..janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi-duhkha-dosanudarsanam There are four causes of grief in this world and they are birth, death, old age and disease. Siddarth witnessed all these on the way. When he saw all these, renunciation appeared in his mind. I want to be free from all these griefs. How can I do that? I have seen a lot of grief. I don't want to see more.
Enough is enough!
He was a young man and newly married also. But seeing all this he developed so much renunciation that he left his palace and all the wealth and family. Leaving everything he went to Bodhgaya and attained knowledge. He meditated for a long time trying to find solutions for these problems. He then became Buddha. In Bodhgaya there is one tree under which he meditated and become enlightened. From Siddharth he became Buddha!
Dukh me sumiran sab kar
Sukh me kare na koi
Jo sukh me sumiran kar
To dukh kahe ko hoi
Ho kabira, dukh kahe ko hoi
We all remember god, our nearer and dearer only in sad moments, if we do same when we are happy, why will we be ever sad. When grief comes people remember the Lord. “O Lord! In Marathi they say He Deva! He Bhagvan!” They remember their mother or grandmother . No one remembers the Lord in happiness. Is it correct, Ganesh? The Lord has given a lot
of wealth, but someone has gone bankrupt and is reminded of the Lord. All this grief is the reaction of our attempts to become happy. It's cause and effect. Happiness is the cause of grief. Are you all listening to this?
This is the truth. If someone really tries to understand it, it can change their fate. Happiness is the cause of grief. Repeat it after me. 'Happiness is the cause of grief'. Do you want to become happy? Then you will get grief. Those who don't want to become unhappy or meet with grief should leave the thought of finding happiness in this world. Cast off the thought of giving happiness to the body mind and senses. Find the method to make the soul happy. Leave the efforts to give entertainment to the mind and happiness to the senses. We make all the efforts to make them
happy, but later it turns into grief. All of you chant Hare Krishna and be happy. Become a devotee of the Lord. Don't smoke and suffer then there will be cancer.
All of you have now listened to these words of mine, but now think on it, meditate on it and realise it. Imprint these thoughts in your heart. If there are griefs in your life, turn towards the Lord. Remember Him. Try to be free from that grief. Try to go beyond eating, sleeping, mating and defending. Whenever there is any problem in our lives we reach out for a lawyer or a doctor and this one or that person. These are all efforts of defending. We try to protect ourselves from the dangers. Sukadev Goswami has said in Bhagavatam
dehapatya-kalatradisv
atma-sainyesv asatsv api
tesam pramatto nidhanam
pasyann api na pasyati
Persons devoid of atma-tattva do not inquire into the problems of life, being too attached to the fallible soldiers like the body, children and wife. Although sufficiently experienced, they still do not see their inevitable destruction. (SB 2.1.4)
deha — body; apatya — children wife etc are sainyesu — fighting soldiers; asatsu — fallible; All this army which we create around us is all asat - useless. Sukadev Goswami has said not one of these can really help or go with us. All these people in time of problem don't remind us of the Lord, turn us to Krsna or give us Krsna prasada. If they don't do this then whatever they do for us is useless, that's what Sukadev Goswami has said. I am also explaining the same thing to you in the last few minutes. I don't know whether you have understood it or not. Try to understand the matter.
vipadah santu tah sasvat
tatra tatra jagad-guro
bhavato darsanam yat syad
apunar bhava-darsanam
“I wish that all those calamities would happen again and again so that we could see You again and again, for seeing You means that we will no longer see repeated births and deaths.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.25)
Kunti Maharani is such a great personality who has offered prayers to the the Lord. Prayer for what? vipadah santu tah sasvat… “Oh Lord please keep me putting in dangers.“ Why? Because whenever any danger comes, we remember and rush to
the Lord. Whenever we are in danger we remember the Lord and He comes running help us. Either we rush to Him our He comes rushing towards us to protect us, to help us. What happens by that apunar bhava darsanam. Kunti Maharani is a
very smart lady. She is very intelligent.
je krsna bhaje sai bado chatur.
You must be knowing all this. Smart is that person, who worships Krsna. So Kunti Maharani is very intelligent. She is praying to let the difficulties come then “Krsna will come to us and we will get to have Your darsana.”
In Prakat Lila she used to get darsana. But if difficulties are there and if we turn to the Lord, do His bhajan , listened to Gita and Bhagavat or go to the temple, do His Seva then they explain that is the medicine.
If you are ill what's the diet? Krsna prasada. What's the medicine?
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare.
If you are ill or there is some difficulty then have Krsna prasada. Chant Hare Krishna then apunar bhava-darsanam Kunti maharani doesn't want any other boon . apunar bhava-darsanam - apunar- bhava … bhava means bhavasagar. We don't want to see this ocean of material world again. We don't want to see Mauritius or Janhavi Ganga will not want to take darsana of Thane again. So like that apunar bhava-darsanam. We have to understand this thing. We will not see this material ocean again. By this we will turn to Krsna. So whenever we are in difficulties we should turn to Krsna.
Okay I think you have got the message. I wanted to talk less but the topic was such that I talked more than usual.
Hare Krishna!
