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17 June 2020
Unpacking Spiritual Truths Session 7
Today is Ekadasi and so we have better numbers. Gaudiya Vaisnava bhaktas from 1000 locations are chanting.
yeī kṛṣṇa bhaje seī baḍo catura
You are all intelligent, blessed, rich, clever and posses moral values, because you all chant Krsna’s name. The rest of the people who don’t chant, are foolish.
krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam sangopangastra-parsadam yajnaih sankirtana-prayair yajanti hi su-medhasah
Translation ”In this age of Kali, people who are endowed with sufficient intelligence will worship the Lord, who is accompanied by His associates, by performance of sankirtana-yajna."[SB- 11.5.32]
Devotees who chant Krsna’s name are Su-Medhasah - they are intelligent. If you ask them, “What are you doing?” They will say we are doing yajanti. “How are you doing it?” They are doing it by performing yajnaih. Which Yajna are they performing? They are doing Sankirtana Yajna - ajnaih sankirtana-prayair yajanti hi su-medhasah.
Today’s time period is Kaliyuga in which we are all living. Kali is also a time period, Kaliyuga. People want to meditate in the age of Kali which is wrong. This is not the right time or season to meditate. In Kaliyuga people are performing different types of yajnas in which they offer different things to fire (swahah). Kaliyuga has arrived and you are all busy in Deity worship only and leaving the chanting. Devotees also do this sometimes. But, you are intelligent people that is why you are doing Japa- Yajna. So keep chanting.
Today we will continue with the Questions and Answers session as there are some pending questions. Let’s see how many we can cover. Answers will be brief as they can be Krsna’s answers also.
Question 1: Please explain Citta. I also request you to please explain about Antahakarana, Smriti Patala. What is their location and what is their function? (Shyama Gopal Prabhu, ISKCON Noida)
Gurudev Uvaca: This question seems to be short in words, but the answer to this means reading all the Vedas and Scriptures. Everything will be covered. Even I don’t know the complete and specific answer to this, but whatever I have understood I will explain.v
Citta is related to cetana. There are two things. Nature is material or the root cause. We can say that cetana belongs to the jiva. We get to know about the presence of the jiva by his cetana. All the activities performed by the jiva is because of cetana’s presence. Citta is consciousness. It is Bhavana. The same Bhavana or cetana gets contaminated in this world and makes one’s life miserable by engaging in the material world.
mach-chittā mad-gata-prāṇā bodhayantaḥ parasparam kathayantaśh cha māṁ nityaṁ tuṣhyanti cha ramanti cha
Translation With their minds fixed on me and their lives surrendered to me, my devotees remain ever contented in me. They derive great satisfaction and bliss in enlightening one another about me, and conversing about my glories. [B.G 10.9]
The Lord asked us to engage our cetana or consciousness in Him rather than involving it in Maya.
ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaḿ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaḿ śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaḿ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaḿ prati-padaḿ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaḿ sarvātma-snapanaḿ paraḿ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-sańkīrtanam
Translation Glory to the sri-krsna-sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious. [Sri Siksastakam]
Our consciousness gets contaminated with goodness, passion and ignorance. Our cetana’s nature describes whether we are in the mode of goodness, passion or ignorance. Cetana’s thoughts and deeds leads us to these three different modes. Therefore the Lord asks us to fix our minds on Him. (Mach-chitta)
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has said ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaḿ. He has asked us to clean the mirror of our consciousness. Then comes smriti patala.
man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru mām evaiṣhyasi yuktvaivam ātmānaṁ mat-parāyaṇaḥ
Translation Always think of Me, be devoted to Me, worship Me, and offer obeisance to Me. Having dedicated your mind and body to Me, you will certainly come to Me. [BG 9.34]
Then comes antahakarana, smriti patala. In Antahakaran there is mind, body and ego (aham). ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaḿ. The mirror of our consciousness is cleansed. by chanting,
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama Rama Rama, Hare Hare
When our consciousness gets cleansed by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra then by remembering the Lord which means remembering His form which includes His name, form, Hari katha, Vaisnava songs etc. then we will get to meet God. He will visit us. Thinking and seeing are connected. What is the location? It's very subtle. The soul is present in each and every part of our body. You cannot feel it in your hair, but it should be present there also. In an ant’s body the soul will be present all over the body of that ant. If the soul is there in the elephant’s body then the consciousness is filled all over the body of the elephant. The size of the soul doesn’t depends upon the size of the body. The soul can take any form. The size for the soul remains the same.
mahatmanas tu mam partha daivim prakrtim asritah bhajanty ananya-manaso jnatva bhutadim avyayam
Translation O son of Prtha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible. [BG 9.13]
Antahakarana or cetana is connected with the soul. Mind, cetana, bhavana can be material. Aham or ego is also an element. Lord says our body is made up of 8 elements.
bhūmir-āpo ’nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva cha ahankāra itīyaṁ me bhinnā prakṛitir aṣhṭadhā
Translation Earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intellect, and ego—these are eight components of my material energy. [BG 7.4]
There are 8 elements. Some say 5 great elements. When elements gets subtle then from that consciousness is formed.So false ego (aham mamayti), mind, intelligence are all material. They are with the soul which forms consciousness. Where is the soul present? Though it is in the body, but the proper place is in the heart.
sarvasya chāhaṁ hṛidi sanniviṣhṭo mattaḥ smṛitir jñānam apohanaṁ cha vedaiśh cha sarvair aham eva vedyo vedānta-kṛid veda-vid eva chāham
Translation I am seated in the hearts of all living beings, and from Me come memory, knowledge, as well as forgetfulness. I alone am to be known by all the Vedas, am the author of the Vedānt, and the knower of the meaning of the Vedas. [BG 15.15]
The energy or consciousness of soul spreads all over the body just like the light of a bulb spreads all over the room. This comes in discussion about self discovery. All this is mentioned in Discover Yourself.
dehas tu sarva-saṅghāto jagat tasthur iti dvidhā atraiva mṛgyaḥ puruṣo neti netīty atat tyajan
Translation There are two kinds of bodies for every individual soul — a gross body made of five gross elements and a subtle body made of three subtle elements. Within these bodies, however, is the spirit soul. One must find the soul by analysis, saying, “This is not it. This is not it.” Thus one must separate spirit from matter. [SB 7.7.23]
We say I'm not this mind, even I’m not this subtle body, I'm not false ego. Then who are you?
‘radha-krishna’ bol bol bolo re sobai (ei) sikha diya, sab nadiya phirche nece’ gaura-nitai
Translation Chant, chant "Radha-Krishna!" Everyone chant! When Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda came dancing through Nadia, They gave these teachings: Chant, chant "Radha-Krishna!" Everyone chant!
Then we conclude that we are servants of the Lord.
jivera ‘svarupa’ haya – krishnera ‘nitya-dasa’ krishnera ‘tatastha sakti’ ‘bhedabheda-prakasa’
Translation The jiva’s constitutional nature is to be an eternal servant of Sri Krishna. The jiva is the marginal potency of Krishna and a manifestation simultaneously one with and different from the Lord. [CC Madhya-lila, 20.108]
jivera ‘svarupa’ haya – krishnera ‘nitya-dasa’ krishnera ‘tatastha sakti’ ‘bhedabheda-prakasa’
Translation “The jiva’s constitutional nature is to be an eternal servant of Sri Krishna. The jiva is the marginal potency of Krishna and a manifestation simultaneously one with and different from the Lord.” [CC Madhya-lila, 20.108]
Shyama Gopal Prabhu, I can say this is the answer.
Question 2: We were in Vaikuntha or Goloka? (Sevya Radha Mataji)
Gurudev Uvaca: She wants to know whether we were in Vaikuntha. Yes, we were in Vaikuntha and we are fallen souls now. She wants to know from where we have fallen down. Were we in Brahma or Maha-Vishnu? Fall of the Jiva. This topic is controversial and inconceivable. Mataji is asking as there are no modes in Vaikuntha or Goloka then how come we have fallen down? This is a big question in front of the world and Vaisnavas. How the jiva fell down? How anger or jealousy arose in the jiva? From so many years this topic is being discussed in ISKCON. ISKCON GBC took a stand based on Srila Prabhupada's thoughts, conversations and has published a paper on the fall of the jiva. Mataji, you can read this paper. In fact , we all should read this so that we can understand the stand of our acaryas as they also had different opinions on this topic. Jiva Goswami has expressed some different thoughts on this.
The jiva is a fragment of the Lord. Lord is abhigya and Swaraat or swatantra. The jiva also has minute independence and can feel it. The Lord has full control on everyone. The jiva is small and that is why it has little independence. When the jiva desires to have sense gratification then the jiva falls down. Even we have taken benefit of the independence that is why we are here.
Krsna bhuliya jiva bhoga vancha kare nikata aste maya taare jhapatiya dhare’
Translation The moment soul desires not to serve the Lord maya immediately grabs him and casts him into material existence.
bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśhvaram suhṛidaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ jñātvā māṁ śhāntim ṛichchhati
Translation Having realized Me as the enjoyer of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all the worlds and the selfless Friend of all living beings, My devotee attains peace. [BG 5.29]
Sometimes the jiva tries to compete with the Lord, hence he falls down. Devotees have not asked this but let me tell you this. If after going back to Godhead and if again thoughts of sense gratification come, then we will again fall down. Then why to go back? This thought also arises. But the Lord has said that those who go back will not come back. Here it is also mentioned Going Back. So what does this mean? Oh, he is going back to Pandharpur. Earlier he was here, now where can he go? This is a reference to the place where we were earlier.
na tad bhāsayate sūryo na śhaśhāṅko na pāvakaḥ yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama
Translation Neither the sun nor the moon, nor fire can illumine that Supreme Abode of Mine. Having gone There, one does not return to this material world again. [BG 15.6]
God has said that one who returns never goes back.(na nivartante) And whatever the Lord says is true.
Srila Prabhupada would ask this question - If a man has fallen, then will he ask from which floor he has fallen, what time he had fallen, which building it was?If someone falls in a well then his concern should be how can I get out of this well. Some wells are so deep that even the rays of the sun can’t reach there. So one should ask how can we get out this situation. Srila Prabhupada provided the answers for this. These are not the real questions. The real questions are How can we get out of here? What are the ways and procedure? Try to seek Help. If someone is asking for help then one won't ask how we have fallen over here. Our origin is that we were created by the Lord. As per Darwin's theory we have evolved from amoeba to monkey. He says that we are descendants of the monkey. No! We can say that we have been created by Brahma. He has created our bodies. Our mother and father gave us the body, but we are not the body. We are souls who are part of the Lord and is saccidanand. We are not born from a monkey or Brahma, nor our parents.
mamaivānśho jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ manaḥ-ṣhaṣhṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛiti-sthāni karṣhati
Translation The embodied souls in this material world are My eternal fragmental parts. But bound by material nature, they are struggling with the six senses including the mind. [BG 15.7]
Question 3: If Brahma got enlightened with supreme knowledge in Vrindavan during Brahma Vimohan Lila then why did he forget when he went to meet the Lord in Dvaraka?(Acyuta Cetana Mataji)
Gurudev Uvaca: The main aim of Brahma Vimohan Lila was to transfer a little knowledge to Brahma so that he could have also learnt a few lessons about the Lord and get enlightened. We were explaining to you about visrambha sakhya. Do you remember the two types of Sakhya?
In vishrambha sakhya Lila the Lord was interacting with His friends. They were eating prasada without offering it to Lord as Krsna was present there. They gave it to Krsna. Considering them to be His equal Krisna was eating from others' plate like snatching sweets from each other. They were eating each others' remnants. The question arises what kind of God? This was the answer. The Lord was answering the question of Lord Brahma for one year. Lord showed His supremacy for one year. He proved that He is distinguished and special. Brahma understood that this child is not like other children. He is special.
eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam
Translation The Supreme Lord is eternal and the living beings are eternal. The Supreme Lord is cognizant and the living beings are cognizant. The difference is that the Supreme Lord is supplying all the necessities of life for the many other living entities. [Katha Upanisad 2.2.13]
The Lord's consciousness is different. (eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman). We are many, but Krsna is one who maintains all the jivas. Krsna showed this over there. In Dvaraka a different question was asked? He was asked which Brahma has come? What type of question is this? He said I am the only Brahma. The Lord didn’t orally answer him. The Lord welcomed many Brahmas from different universes and showed His power. He also enlightened Brahma with higher knowledge in Dvaraka.
Question 4: From Pancatattva to Srila Prabhupada which saktyavesh avatars are there above them?
Gurudev Uvaca: This question doesn’t seem to be specific. All acaryas are there. Pancatattvas are there. ISKCON will be there for the next 10000 years and Srila Prabhupada will always be the founder acarya. ISKCON will work according to his instructions and preachings. Pancatattvas are directors of this movement. They have given this lifestyle, mantra.
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama Rama Rama, Hare Hare
Pancatattvas are actually providing us energy.
ajanu-lambita-bhujau kanakavadhatau sankirtanaika-pitarau kamalayataksau visvambharau dvija-varau yuga-dharma palau vande jagat-priyakaro karunavatarau
Translation I offer my respectful obeisances unto Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Sri Nityananda Prabhu, whose arms extend down to Their knees, who have golden yellow complexions, and who in- augurated the congregational chanting of the holy names of the Lord. Their eyes resemble the petals of a lotus flower; They are the maintainers of the living entities, the best of the brahmanas, the protectors of religious principles for this age, the benefactors of the universe, and the most merciful of all incarnations. [Caitanya-Bhagavata 1.1.1]
Now the next Kalki incarnation will be there. During the starting of Kaliyuga Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared. Now we are waiting for Lord Kalki. The appearance of acaryas starting from Caitanya Mahaprabhu to Srila Prabhupada is also called incarnations of devotees. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur was also a manjari like Srila Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur, Srila Narottam Das Thakur. Lord also takes incarnations in the same way the Lord’s devotees take incarnations. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur was not a sadhana siddha, he was a Nitya siddha, but he had appeared from Godhead. As Srila Prabhupada appeared and preached, he is said to be saktyavesh avatar.
kali-kālera dharma—kṛṣṇa-nāma-saṅkīrtana kṛṣṇa-śakti vinā nahe tāra pravartana
Translation The fundamental religious system in the Age of Kali is the chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. Unless empowered by Kṛṣṇa, one cannot propagate the saṅkīrtana movement. [CC Antya 7.11]
eko aham dvitīyo nāsti | na bhūto na bhaviṣyati ||
Translation There was and never will be anyone like Me
Officially it is not mentioned anywhere nor has Prabhupada ever proclaimed this, but devotees say this. All the other acaryas have also been sent by God and they have been empowered by Him. Let’s stop here.
As it is Ekadasi, chant and study more and be close to the Lord.
Gaur Premanande! Hari Haribol!
