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2 July 2020
Every moment is meant for devotional service
Hare Krishna!
vayaṁ tu na vitṛpyāma uttama-śloka-vikrame yac-chṛṇvatāṁ rasa-jñānāṁ svādu svādu pade pade
Translation: We never tire of hearing the transcendental pastimes of the Personality of Godhead, who is glorified by hymns and prayers. Those who have developed a taste for transcendental relationships with Him relish hearing of His pastimes at every moment. (ŚB 1.1.19)
Saunakadi Muni said to Suta Goswami,"We are not tired. Please continue the katha. We want to keep on hearing katha". We are also listening to katha. There was a marathon of śravana-kirtana for the past few days. Devotees were going on speaking. Yesterday we had 12 hours duty from morning 4.30 to 8.30 at night. The soul cannot get tired at any time as it is an eternal servant. The body or material mind can get tired. People do 8 hours of duty then there is a lunch break or holiday. People get so tired that they need a weekend. But in a spiritual world, there is no break. Kirtaniya sada harih is possible at the spiritual level. We have to attain that stage.
nirodho ’syānuśayanam ātmanaḥ saha śaktibhiḥ muktir hitvānyathā rūpaṁ sva-rūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ
Translation: The merging of the living entity, along with his conditional living tendency, with the mystic lying down of the Mahā-Viṣṇu is called the winding up of the cosmic manifestation. Liberation is the permanent situation of the form of the living entity after he gives up the changeable gross and subtle material bodies. (ŚB 2.10.6)
Whatever form we possess or by which we are covered, by giving less attention to that form and hearing less to our mind, we can attain this stage.
tvayi me 'nanya-viṣayā matir madhu-pate 'sakṛt ratim udvahatād addhā gaṅgevaugham udanvati
Translation: O Lord of Madhu, as the Ganges forever flows to the sea without hindrance, let my attraction be constantly drawn unto You without being diverted to anyone else. (ŚB 1.8.42)
Kunti Maharani said, "May my devotional service be like the flow of Ganga". Ganga starts flowing from Gangotri to the ocean. It keeps on flowing day and night until it unites with the ocean. There is no lunch break. Hence a nice example has been given by Kunti Maharani.
sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje ahaituky apratihatā yayātmā suprasīdati
Translation: The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self. (ŚB 1.2.6)
Bhakti has been described as ahaituky apratihatā in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. There shouldn't be any material motive or desire behind bhakti. There should be an inspiration of love, not lust. Bhukti Mukti Siddhi Kami… All work in this world is for these purposes. This includes all religions of the world whether Hinduism, Islam, Christianity or Buddhism.
sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ
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)
Lord Krsna asked to give up karma kanda and jñāna kanda. Karma kanda is greater than jñāna kanda.
trai-guṇya-viṣayā vedā nistrai-guṇyo bhavārjuna nirdvandvo nitya-sattva-stho niryoga-kṣema ātmavān
Translation: The Vedas deal mainly with the subject of the three modes of material nature. O Arjuna, become transcendental to these three modes. Be free from all dualities and from all anxieties for gain and safety, and be established in the self. (BG. 2.45)
There are many works recommended in the Vedas which are influenced by the three modes. Krsna is asking us to give up all the karma kanda and jñāna kanda of different religions. It's not that we have to give up the religion. It is said in the Bible. "Love thy Lord with all thy heart, with all thy strength".
akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo vā mokṣa-kāma udāra-dhīḥ tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena yajeta puruṣaṁ param
Translation: A person who has broader intelligence, whether he be full of all material desire, without any material desire, or desiring liberation, must by all means worship the supreme whole, the Personality of Godhead. (ŚB 2.3.10)
This is pure devotion. There is only one religion which can be named as Sanātana or Bhāgavata dharma. We can also call it Varnasrama dharma, but it contains some contaminations as Caitanya Mahāprabhu said,
nāhaṁ vipro na ca nara-patir nāpi vaiśyo na śūdro nāhaṁ varṇī na ca gṛha-patir no vanastho yatir vā kintu prodyan-nikhila-paramānanda-pūrnāmṛtābdher gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ
Translation: I am not a brāhmaṇa, I am not a kṣatriya, I am not a vaiśya or a śūdra. Nor am I a brahmacārī, a householder, a vānaprastha or a sannyāsī. I identify Myself only as the servant of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the maintainer of the gopīs. He is like an ocean of nectar, and He is the cause of universal transcendental bliss. He is always existing with brilliance. (CC Madhya 13.80)
Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that He is not a brāhmana, but a Vaiśnava.
sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa- sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate
Translation: Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and one’s senses are purified simply by being employed in the service of the Lord. (CC Madhya 19.170)
Varnasrama is a material designation (sarvopādhi). Lord Krsna asked us to give up all these designations and become pure. There is some contamination in Varnasrama also. But Bhāgavata dharma or Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is amala purāna.
śrīmad-bhāgavataṁ purāṇam amalaṁ yad vaiṣṇavānāṁ priyaṁ yasmin pāramahaṁsyam ekam amalaṁ jñānaṁ paraṁ gīyate tatra jñāna-virāga-bhakti-sahitaṁ naiṣkarmyam āviskṛtaṁ tac chṛṇvan su-paṭhan vicāraṇa-paro bhaktyā vimucyen naraḥ
Translation: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the spotless Purāṇa. It is most dear to the Vaiṣṇavas because it describes the pure and supreme knowledge of the paramahaṁsas. This Bhāgavatam reveals the means for becoming free from all material work, together with the processes of transcendental knowledge, renunciation and devotion. Anyone who seriously tries to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, who properly hears and chants it with devotion, becomes completely liberated. (ŚB 12.13.18)
Vaiśnava' upādhi is there in Vaikuntha or Goloka. Krsna did not ask us to give up this designation. Vaiśnava upādhi will go with us. We become eligible to go to Vaikuntha when we become a Vaiśnava. Being a brāhmana comes under goodness, but not under pure goodness. In all religions, there are different material motives, not spiritual motives. Hence Caitanya Mahāprabhu said,
na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagad-isha kamaye mama janmani janmanishvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki twayi
Translation: O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service, birth after birth. (Verse 4, Sri Siksastakam)
He said He doesn't want bhukti, mukti or siddhi.
karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo ’stv akarmaṇi
Translation: You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty. (BG. 2.47)
Lord Krsna said, "You have a right to do your duty". phaleṣu means fruits or results. kadācana means you never have a claim over results. As soon as one hears this, one get inspired to do ones duty. For them work is worship. They just remember this verse. They don't remember sarva-dharmān parityajya (BG. 18.66) or patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ (BG. 9.26) or yadā yadā hi dharmasya (BG. 4.7).
They just remember one part of this verse, not the latter 3 parts. Lord has asked us to do one thing, karmaṇy evādhikāras te, and not to do 3 things. What are these 3? mā means do not. mā phaleṣu kadācana, you don't have a right over the result. One vidhi has been said and three nishedhas. Then mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr, Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities. If someone got some wealth, the Lord says, "Do not enjoy it". Then the person will say, “Fine. I will give it to the Hare Krishna devotees. At least let there be my name". Then the Lord says, "Do not consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities". The Lord has explained that there are 5 reasons for any activity. Jiva is one of the reasons, but the main reason is the Lord. So the jiva is certainly not the only reason.
īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam
Translation: Kṛṣṇa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes. (Śrī brahma-saṁhitā 5.1)
The Lord is the cause of all causes. Then mā te saṅgo ’stv akarmaṇi, never get inclined to not doing your duty. A person may think that I will do my duty, but the result of that work can't be enjoyed by me. Even the name or credit behind that work won't be with me. Then one may think why should I work? Then the Lord is intelligently saying that mā (do not) te saṅgo (attachment) ’stv akarmaṇi (not doing prescribed duties), never get inclined to not doing your duty. This way the Lord has completed the circle. Mayavadis stop working, thinking,
Brahma Satyam Jagan Mithya Jivo Brahmaiva Na Aparah
Translation: Brahman (ब्रह्म, the Absolute) is alone real; this world is unreal; the Jiva or the individual soul is non-different from Brahman. (Niraalamba Upanishad – 28)
Merging into Brahman is considered as suicide. The soul cannot die, but the body can. Mind, intelligence, ego are known as atma tattva, apart from soul. Thus one denies the existence of the body.
We have to render devotional service every day, every hour, every minute, every second and every moment. This is the symptom of Bhakti. We have to attain this stage. We have to practice bhakti. Krsna will then surely protect us. Note this and preach it to others. If you have any questions then you can discuss these among your family members or brahmacāris or counsellors. Contemplate on this. You can also search for references in Bhāgavad-gītā or Śrīmad Bhāgavatam like Kunti Maharani's prayers and other verses. Bhāgavad-gītā 2.47 is a very important verse. We tried to understand it. sva-rūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ, Sukadeva Goswami has said this in the 2nd Canto. Read the translation and Śrila Prabhupāda’s purports and discuss this within your study circle. Japa talk is a bigger study circle. This discussion can be termed bodhayantaḥ parasparam.
mac-cittā mad-gata-prāṇā bodhayantaḥ parasparam kathayantaś ca māṁ nityaṁ tuṣyanti ca ramanti ca
Translation: The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me. (BG. 10.9)
We will stop here. Haribol!