English
2nd February 2020
There is a Ravana in our heart
I'm here in Beed. Yesterday we had Krsna Balarama Ratha-yatra Festival. All participated, chanted and danced with great enthusiasm in the Ratha-yatra. The Deities of Gaur-Nitai were also there on the chariot. It was announced that this will be a Krsna Balarama Ratha-yatra. Krsna Balarama were welcomed and a Shobha yatra happened. When I saw all the people dancing and chanting with devotion, I got the memory of the return of Rama, Laksman, and Sītā to Ayodhya and how the residents of Ayodhya welcomed them back with great enthusiasm. I saw devotees were whirling their upper garments in the air. Similarly, ten lakh years ago the residents of Ayodhya welcomed the procession towards the palace. It has been explained in Ramayana. Nowadays I am reading and hearing Ramayana.
paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge ( BG 4.8)
Translation:
In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.
Ravana and all his associates and demons were killed by Rama, Laksman, Sugriva, Hanuman, and an army of monkeys and bears. When those demons were killed Mandodari, Ravan’s wife (having manda udara which is a symptom of beauty) was also there. When she reached the battlefield, all the women were searching for the bodies of their husbands. Mandodari also started to look for Ravana's body. Sukadeva Goswami has described this in two chapters in the 9th canto in Srimad-Bhagavatam.
hā hatāḥ sma vayaṁ nātha
loka-rāvaṇa rāvaṇa
kaṁ yāyāc charaṇaṁ laṅkā
tvad-vihīnā parārditā (SB 9.10.26)
Translation:
O my Lord, O Master! You epitomized trouble for others, and therefore you were called Rāvaṇa. But now that you have been defeated, we also are defeated, for without you the state of Laṅkā has been conquered by the enemy. To whom will it go for shelter?
Mandodari is addressing her husband who had left and is not able to hear. She is addressing Ravana as one who made others cry. Sītā was crying day and night and Ravana was the cause of that.
na vai veda mahā-bhāga
bhavān kāma-vaśaṁ gataḥ
tejo ’nubhāvaṁ sītāyā
yena nīto daśām imām (SB 9.10.27)
Translation:
O greatly fortunate one, you came under the influence of lusty desires, and therefore you could not understand the influence of mother Sītā. Now, because of her curse, you have been reduced to this state, having been killed by Lord Rāmacandra.
Whatever you did, was done under the influence of lust and it made you dance. You wanted to enjoy Mother Sītā and this is the reason for your death. How you dealt with Sītā which I could see, is the reason behind your downfall.
kṛtaiṣā vidhavā laṅkā
vayaṁ ca kula-nandana
dehaḥ kṛto ’nnaṁ gṛdhrāṇām
ātmā naraka-hetave (SB 9.10.28)
Translation:
O pleasure of the Rākṣasa dynasty, because of you the state of Laṅkā and also we now have no protector. By your deeds, you have made your body fit to be eaten by vultures and your soul fit to go to hell.
Mandodari is saying that as Ravana is no more, she became a widow along with the whole of Lanka. Now the vultures will eat his body and his soul will go straight to hell. You attained such a destiny as you were under the influence of lust. Ramayana teaches us that those who are under the influence of lust face the same thing. History gets repeated over again and again. Nowadays, the same thing is happening in every city. People are dying and born again and again as they have become victims of lust and greed. He got the name Ravana and such a Ravana is also present in us. Many such Ravanas are there in and around us. We should read the 16th chapter of Bhagavad-Gita .
dvau bhūta-sargau loke ’smin daiva āsura eva cha
daivo vistaraśhaḥ prokta āsuraṁ pārtha me śhṛiṇu (BG 16.6)
Translation:
There are two kinds of beings in this world—those endowed with a divine nature and those possessing a demoniac nature. I have described the divine qualities in detail, O Arjun. Now hear from me about the demoniac nature.
The Lord is saying that there are two types of living entities in this world. Some are divine and some are demoniac. Some are yogi and some are bhogi. We need to study this to know who we are. Then we can understand who we are and what our identity is.
pravṛittiṁ cha nivṛittiṁ cha janā na vidur āsurāḥ
na śhauchaṁ nāpi chāchāro na satyaṁ teṣhu vidyate (BG 16.7)
Translation:
Those possessing a demoniac nature do not comprehend what actions are proper and what are improper. Hence, they possess neither purity, nor good conduct, nor even truthfulness.
He had further said this in the same chapter. Demoniac people don't know what to do and what not to do, what's right and what's wrong.
āśhā-pāśha-śhatair baddhāḥ kāma-krodha-parāyaṇāḥ
īhante kāma-bhogārtham anyāyenārtha-sañchayān ( BG 16.12)
Translation:
Held in bondage by hundreds of desires, and driven by lust and anger, they strive to accumulate wealth by unjust means, all for the gratification of their senses.
The Lord has further said in the 16th chapter that demoniac people are bound by strong ropes of hundreds and thousands of expectations. They are not able to even move a little here and there. He is very expert in lust and greed. If you're lusty, then you will get angry. The answer is very simple. Anger arises from lust. Then people start earning money by illegal means.
We should study Bhagavad-Gita and from there our learning starts. We should become a student of Bhagavad-Gita. It explains Raja vidya which is the most confidential thing. We should learn this knowledge. Harinama is the life of vidya-vadhu (the wife of knowledge). When we acquire knowledge then we can chant and do sankirtana in this Kaliyuga. Lord Brahma says that he has read all the Vedas and he knows all the Vedas and hence….
ei nām brahma jape catur-mukhe kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare
ei nām nārada jape vīṇā yantre kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare
ei nām śiva jape pañca mukhe kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare
…. Lord Brahma is chanting the maha-mantra with his 4 mouths and Lord Siva with 5 mouths. Lord Siva hears with 10 ears and sees with 15 eyes.
sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ
tat-paratvena nirmalam
hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-
sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate ( CC 19.170)
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.”
Bhakti means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord. The Vaisnava traditions start with Brahma and Siva. Sampradyas begin with these two. What does Lord Siva do? He always discusses Bhagavat Katha with his wife Parvati. This is an ideal life for a wife and husband. One should not do idle talks. Siva and Parvati always remain engaged in Bhagavat Katha. We should follow them. Brahma and Siva are knowledgeable and Vedagaya. They do kirtana in this Kaliyuga. As kirtana and Harinama are the wealth in this Kaliyuga, they earn these. And those who are belonging to the demoniac mentality don't know which is the legal means of earning a livelihood. They don't know that they are souls and consider themselves to be bodies. How much more foolishness can there be if we just work for our bodies and not for ourselves, our souls? We are souls, part and parcels of the Supreme Lord and if we don't work for our souls, or the souls of our husbands, wives, daughters, sons, and citizens of the nation, then we are knowingly drinking poison.
hari hari! bifale janama gonainu
manushya-janama paiya, radha-krishna na bhajiya,
janiya suniya visha khainu
Translation:
0 Lord Hari, I have spent my life uselessly. Having obtained a human birth and having not worshiped Radha and Krsna, I have knowingly drunk poison.
We are drinking poison and being born again and again. We should drink the nectar of the holy names to stop the cycle of birth and death.
paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge (BG 4.8)
Translation:
In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.
We have died so many times for the same reasons as Ravana - lust and greed. We are getting killed and if we have to save ourselves then we have to drink the nectar and then we can attain the Lord. We follow the 4 regulative principles to get rid of demoniac propensities. We honour Krsna prasada. Intoxication and illicit sex are demonic propensities. Ravana was trying to run after another's wife and that was the reason for his downfall. Both Lord Rama and Mother Sītā had vowed to have just one wife and one husband. Srila Prabhupada gave the four regulative principles so that the demoniac propensities within us will be vanquished and Krsna Prema will awaken.
nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema ‘sādhya’ kabhu naya
śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya (CC Madhya 22.107)
Translation:
Pure love for Kṛṣṇa is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.
By hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-Gita, Caitanya-caritamrta or pastimes of the Lord, then our consciousness will get cleansed and we will work under the influence of love. Krsna’s devotees work under the influence of love. Understand these teachings and keep chanting.
Hare Krishna
Gaur Premanande
Hari Haribol!
