Hare Krsna,

What I liked about Devahuti’s prayers is that she nailed down the essence of Lord Kapiladeva’s teachings. After hearing her son’s instructions, she got down to the most basic and most important lesson for all of us. And that is the glories of chanting of the Holy Name of the Lord. In her prayers to Lord Kapila, she glorified the Holy Name. This shows that the Supreme Lord and His Holy Name are non-different. When we glorify the Holy Name, it is same as glorifying the Supreme Lord in person, and vice versa. Lord Kapila preached pure devotional service. The essence of pure devotional service is the chanting of the Holy Name.

The chanting of the Holy Name of the Lord is applicable for all ages. Usually we know that the best form of sacrifice for the dark age of Kali Yuga is the chanting of the Holy Name. I was reflecting that the discussion between Lord Kapila and Devahuti happened sometime in Satya-yuga. She glorifies the Holy Name and this shows that the chanting of the Holy Name was prevalent even during Satya-yuga. In SB 12.3.52, it is mentioned, “Whatever result was obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Viṣṇu, in Tretā-yuga by performing sacrifices, and in Dvāpara-yuga by serving the Lord’s lotus feet can be obtained in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.” If meditation on Visnu was the main form of sacrifice in Satya-yuga, why would people not take to the chanting of the Holy Name in that age since it is easier than intense meditation for prolonged time? I guess the devotees in those ages were mentally and physically very capable that it was possible for them to perform meditation. It is inconceivable to understand it while living in Kali-yuga.

 The chanting of the Holy Name surpasses all other qualifications to attain purity, perfection and self-realization. Srila Prabhupada explains that persons who are purified by the process of chanting and hearing become immediately eligible to perform Vedic sacrifices. What is even more amazing that even a dog-eater (low class person) becomes elegibile to perform Vedic sacrifices if he chants the Holy Name even once.

“To say nothing of the spiritual advancement of persons who see the Supreme Person face to face, even a person born in a family of dog-eaters immediately becomes eligible to perform Vedic sacrifices if he once utters the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead or chants about Him, hears about His pastimes, offers Him obeisances or even remembers Him.” (SB 3.33.6)

This is the mercy of the Supreme Lord. This prayer of Devahuti is especially applicable for Kali-yuga because most people are meat-eaters and very sinful.

“My dear King, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: Simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom.” (SB 12.3.51)

It is impossible to overestimate the importance of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, especially in this fallen age.

Next, Devahuti says that persons who chant the Holy Name of the Lord are worshipable.

“Oh, how glorious are they whose tongues are chanting Your holy name! Even if born in the families of dog-eaters, such persons are worshipable. Persons who chant the holy name of Your Lordship must have executed all kinds of austerities and fire sacrifices and achieved all the good manners of the Āryans. To be chanting the holy name of Your Lordship, they must have bathed at holy places of pilgrimage, studied the Vedas and fulfilled everything required.” (SB 3.33.8)

This is a bit hard for me to accept. How could one who chants the Holy Name must have executed all kinds of austerities, achieved all good manners of Aryams, bathed at all the holy places, and studied all the Vedas. I find it difficult to accept because I still struggle with inattentiveness while chanting. Going by the above verse, it means that since we are chanting the Holy Name in this life, we must have achieved all perfections in previous life. However considering that I am still very must conditioned by material modes, I find this statement difficult to accept. It could be true if we are talking about offenseless and pure chanting of the Holy Name.

Anyway leaving aside all doubts, it is important to accept the essence of Devahuti’s prayers – we must chant the Holy Name of the Lord always. The chanting becomes more effective if the Holy Name is received from a bonafide spiritual master through initiation.

“By the process of initiation by the spiritual master, a person is accepted as a brāhmaṇa in his purified state of chanting the holy name of the Lord. He then makes further progress to become a qualified Vaiṣṇava, which means that the brahminical qualification is already acquired.” (SB 3.33.6 Purport)

CC Madhya 6.242

harer nāma harer nāma

harer nāmaiva kevalam

kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva

nāsty eva gatir anyathā

“In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the only means of deliverance is the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way.’”

All glories to the chanting of the Holy Name! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

It is amazing to see the similarities between Lord Narayana’s instructions to Lord Brahma and Lord Kapila’s instructions to Mother Devahuti. In the last Catuh-sloki verse, Lord Narayana said, “A person who is searching after the Supreme Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, must certainly search for it up to this, in all circumstances, in all space and time, and both directly and indirectly.” (SB 2.9.36). And here Lord Kapila says, “either by devotional service directly or by philosophical research, one has to find the same destination, which is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” (SB 3.32.32) This proves the eternality of the Supreme Lord and His message to the living entities. The Lord is eternal, the living entities are eternal, and the instructions of the Lord are also eternal. From time immemorial, living entities are bound up in this material energy, and the Lord appears again and again to send the same instruction. In BG 4.1 and 4.3, Lord Krsna tells Arjuna, “I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Iksvaku. That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend; therefore you can understand the transcendental mystery of this science.”

Human life is meant for cultivation of spiritual knowledge, in eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the Supreme Lord imparts His instructions through various processes. And of all the processes enunciated by Him, the best process is the devotional service unto Him. In the purport to SB 2.9.36 (the last Catuh sloki verse), Srila Prabhupada beautifully summarizes that the principles of bhakti-yoga, or devotional service to the Lord, are apt in all circumstances, i.e., bhakti-yoga is recommended in all the revealed scriptures, it is performed by all authorities, it is important in all places, it is useful in all causes and effects, etc.

Devotional service is ahaituki apratihata (unmotivated and uninterrupted). Devotional service is recommended not only for human beings but also for non-human beings.

“Even the worms, birds and beasts are assured of elevation to the highest perfectional life if they are completely surrendered to the transcendental loving service of the Lord, so what to speak of the philosophers amongst the human beings?” (Garuda Purana)

In this chapter also Lord Kapila stresses that ultimately the Supreme Person is the destination of all different processes. Whether one follows karma-yoga, sankhya-yoga, jnana-yoga, dhyana-yoga, astanga-yoga, or bhakti-yogi, the end goal is the Supreme Person. Otherwise, it is all useless endeavor (srama eva hi kevalam). If one wants to understand the Absolute Truth in perfection, he must take to devotional service (Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti). An apt analogy is that most of us have a day job. Some of us work in a company, some run businesses or some are self-employed to earn our livelihood. If at the end of the day we do not get paid, all our efforts are useless. We have labored for nothing. Similarly, if the human life is not used for Krsna consciousness, our lives are wasted. Bhakti is the basic principle of all processes. Without bhakti, neither jnāna-yoga nor aṣṭāṅga-yoga can be successful, and unless one approaches Kṛṣṇa, the principles of self-realization have no ultimate destination.

The essence of Lord Kapiladeva instructions is that bhakti-yoga has two important limbs – attachment for the Supreme Lord and detachment from all material affinities. With the execution of devotional service, real knowledge develops, and one becomes detached from all material activities. In no other activity but devotional service is there such detachment from matter and attachment for the Supreme.

One can increase attachment to the Supreme Lord by nine different processes – hearing, chanting, remembering, worshiping, serving the Lord, making friendship, praying, offering everything and serving the lotus feet of the Lord. Similarly, one can increase one’s detachments from material objects through the various instructions imparted by Lord Kapila in the previous chapters.

By following the instructions of the bona fide spiritual master in conjunction with the principles of revealed scriptures, we will rise to the plane of complete knowledge and full detachment from the world of sense gratification.

SB 1.2.7: By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge and detachment from the world.

I also admired verses 34-36. It answers what are the various spiritual practices by which the Lord can be perceived?

SB 3.32.34-36: By performing fruitive activities and sacrifices, by distributing charity, by performing austerities, by studying various literatures, by conducting philosophical research, by controlling the mind, by subduing the senses, by accepting the renounced order of life, by performing the prescribed duties of one’s social order, by performing the different divisions of yoga practice, by performing devotional service, by exhibiting the process of devotional service containing the symptoms of both attachment and detachment, by understanding the science of self-realization, and by developing a strong sense of detachment, one who is expert in understanding the different processes of self-realization realizes the Supreme Personality of Godhead as He is represented in the material world as well as in transcendence.

This, in essence, summarizes Lord Kapiladeva’s instructions.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

SB 1.2.11

Sūta Gosvāmī said: Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.

SB 3.32.26

Lord Kapiladeva continued: The Supreme Personality of Godhead alone is complete transcendental knowledge, but according to the different processes of understanding He appears differently, either as impersonal Brahman, as Paramātmā, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead or as the puruṣa-avatāra.

Lord Krsna tells Arjuna in BG 4.11 that as all surrender unto Him, He rewards them accordingly. Everyone follows His path in all respects. Everyone is seeking Krsna in the different aspects of His manifestations. Krsna is all-pervading and He dwells within everything and everyone. Some seek Him directly and some, unaware of His personal form, seek Him indirectly. Krsna reciprocates with everyone equally in proportion to how they seek Him. Mainly Krsna, the Supreme Absolute Truth, is realized in three different aspects.

SB 1.2.11: Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.

Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan are qualitatively one and the same but just realized differently. The jnanis realize Him as impersonal Brahman, the yogis realize Him as Paramatma (Supersoul) situated within the heart, and the pure devotees realize Him as Bhagavan. Paramatma is the partial representation of the Personality of Godhead, and impersonal Brahman is the glowing effulgence of the Personality of Godhead, as the sun rays are to the sun-god. Those who are impersonalists and who want to commit spiritual suicide by merging into Him, Kṛṣṇa helps also by absorbing them into His effulgence. For those who are fruitive workers (that Lord Kapiladeva strongly discourages), the Lord awards the desired results of their prescribed duties, as the yajñeśvara; and those who are yogīs seeking mystic powers are awarded such powers.

“The infallible Personality of Godhead can manifest His body in different ways according to different modes of worship, just as the vaidūrya gem can manifest itself in various colors, such as blue and yellow.” (Narada Pancharatra)

In the context of the discussion between Lord Kapiladeva and Mother Devahuti in this chapter, Lord Kapiladeva is basically advising His mother that by bhakti, goals of other paths are also achieved. Because Bhagavan contains both Brahman and Paramatma, the realization of Bhagavan by bhakti includes the realizations of Paramatma and Brahma. On the other hand, by practicing jnana for Brahman, or yoga for Paramatma, one does not attain the position of an associate of the Lord, for this is nowhere stated in scriptures. In other words, He is requesting Mother Devahuti not to get distracted with other processes. Since she is already situated on the platform of bhakti-yoga, she need not try anything else. Since the Supreme Personality of Godhead is both invisible and visible, there are different features of the Lord. The Paramatma feature and Brahman feature are invisible, but the Bhagavan feature is visible. Only by practicing bhakti-yoga, one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead fully. Unless, therefore, one comes to the highest perfection of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, all attempts remain imperfect, as is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.3.10):

“Whether one is without desire [the condition of the devotees] or is desirous of all fruitive results or is after liberation, one should with all efforts try to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead for complete perfection, culminating in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.”

Lord Kapiladeva, however, acknowledges that there is one common requirement for all yoga practitioners to achieve their respective goals – complete detachment from matter. (SB 3.32.27) But those who are averse to Transcendence realize the Absolute Truth differently through mistaken speculation and thus to them everything appears false. (SB 3.32.28).

The Supreme Lord is the ultimate destination of all the processes but depending on the particular process one follows, one reaches a particular aspect of the Lord. Bhagavan realization by bhakti, also includes the realizations of the Lord’s Paramatma and Brahman features. Thus bhakti is the best path and Bhagavan realization is the ultimate. How does one attain this knowledge? Lord Kapiladeva answers it as well.

“This perfect knowledge can be achieved by a person who is already engaged in devotional service with faith, steadiness, and full detachment, and who is always absorbed in thought of the Supreme. He is aloof from material association.” (SB 3.32.30)

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

Conditioned living entities are called marginal energy of the Lord. The Supreme Lord is the energetic and we are the energies of the Lord. The Lord has two other energies  – internal (antaranga-sakti) and external (bahiranga-sakti). We are called marginal or tatashta sakti of the Lord because we are situated at the junction between spiritual energy and material energy. In other words, between spiritual realm and material real. Because the individual soul is apt to fall down sometimes under the clutches of māyā, it is called taṭastha-śakti. It is like the seashore or sea beach. There is a boundary between water and land. We have a choice whether we want to be with Krsna’s spiritual energy or His material energy. When we are covered by māyā, that is our jīva-bhūta stage, and when there is no more covering, that is brahma-bhūta stage. When we are Kṛṣṇa conscious, then we are brahma-bhūta (SB 4.30.20), and when we are not Kṛṣṇa conscious, we are materially conscious, that is māyā”. ((Lecture on BG 7.4-5 — Bombay, March 30, 1971). Similarly, we have the free-will and the ability to choose between binding actions and transcendental actions. In order to make this choice correctly, we must be equipped with the right knowledge about the distinction between the two.

Lord Kapila, in this chapter, very elaborately instructs us about the difference between binding actions and transcendental actions.

SB 3.32.16: “Persons who are too addicted to this material world execute their prescribed duties very nicely and with great faith. They daily perform all such prescribed duties with attachment to the fruitive result.” This is binding action.

SB 3.32.22: “My dear mother, I therefore advise that you take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for His lotus feet are worth worshiping. Accept this with all devotion and love, for thus you can be situated in transcendental devotional service.” This is transcendental action.

Any action performed for the pleasure of Krsna is purely transcendental. Any action performed not for the pleasure of Krsna but for our own satisfaction – in the form of religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and impersonal liberation – is binding. If we think that we will be able to become liberated from material entanglement by worshipping the demigods, we are wrong. Demigods cannot liberate us because they themselves are not liberated unlike the Supreme Lord Krsna. Brahma and Siva may be incarnations of the Supreme Lord in charge of the three different material modes of nature, but none of them is independent of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, Lord Kapiladeva warns us not to fall into this trap. Neither the demigods can liberate us from the cycle of birth and death nor are their abodes (heavenly planets) free from birth, death, old age and disease. What is even more shocking is that Brahma himself comes back to the material world when re-creation of the material world happens.

Therefore Lord Kapiladeva, through his mother, instructs us that we should exclusively engage in devotional service to the Supreme Lord because only He can deliver us from the repeated cycle of birth and death. “All living entities other than the impersonalists and monists can directly take to devotional service in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness and become liberated by developing transcendental loving service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such devotional service develops in the degrees of thinking of the Supreme Lord as master, as friend, as son and, at last, as lover. These distinctions in transcendental variegatedness must always be present.” (SB 3.32.15 P)

As I mentioned in the previous forum post, we worshipped the demigods in our family because we didn’t know any better. Because of forgetfulness of Krsna for a very long time, we didn’t know that He is the Supreme Lord and the only worshipable object. It means that we worshipped the demigods and engaged in material actions due to ignorance. But once the light of Krsna consciousness dawned on us, by the mercy of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, we gradually gave up the worship of demigods and performance of fruitive actions and engaged instead in serving Krsna. From that perspective, it is obvious that unlimited living entities on this planet are engaged in binding actions and worship various demigods (or their own concocted gods) due to ignorance. They need to be informed that “in the material world there is nothing good; everything is bad due to its being contaminated by material nature. The materialists conclusions of good and bad, moral and immoral, etc., are simply mental concoction or sentiment. Actually there is nothing good in the material world. In the spiritual field everything is absolutely good. There is no inebriety in the spiritual varieties.” (SB 3.32.24 P)

Therefore, spreading the message of Krsna consciousness is so urgent in this world that the conditioned living entities must be saved from the dark well of ignorance. If each one of us took responsibility to save at least one person from material bondage and situate him in Krsna consciousness, we would have done a great service to Srila Prabhupada who appeared to deliver the fallen souls.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

This material world is like an international airport. People from different origins and desired destinations come to the airport to take the right flight. The airlines ensure that they serve different routes to fulfill the needs of the flyers. The airport provides a platform for the flyers and various airlines to operate from a common ground. Similarly living entities with unlimited variety of desires appear in this material world. The Supreme Lord (acting like an airline) provides different mechanisms (such as worship of different demigods) to the living entities to fulfill their desires. Material nature acts like the airport of this world to facilitate the fulfillment of these desires. People worship the demigods to fulfill their material desires without even realizing that the ultimate sanctioning authority is the Supreme Lord. Depending on what demigods people worship, they will reach that particular destination. As Krsna says in BG 9.25, “Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship the ancestors go to the ancestors; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; and those who worship Me will live with Me.”

I grew up in demigod-worshipping family. We did not know the goal and purpose of life then. We just lived under the illusion that dharma, artha, kama, moksha are the goals of life. We performed so-called dharma (worshipping the demigods) to acquire artha (economic needs) for kama (sense gratification). Moksa was hardly ever discussed. Each member of the family worshipped different demigods. Since I have propensity for knowledge and learning, I worshipped Goddess Sarasvati (goddess of learning). Since my mother had the responsibility of running the household with a limited budget, she worshipped Goddess Laksmi for financial security. My father was a business and so he worshipped Ganesha. My sister worshipped Lord Siva. But over the years (even before coming to Krsna consciousness), we all collectively realized that the fruits derived from demigod worship are temporary and not free from misery. Such worship did not kill our material desires but fueled the fire of such desires. How ignorant and stupid we were! Thanks to the light of Krsna consciousness coming into our family, we gradually gave up the worship of demigods. We still perform limited demigod worship to continue the family traditions that have come down to us for generations. One example is worshipping Mother Durga during Dussehra in India. Or observing Siva Ratri annually. But now we perform such festivities in the mood that we are worshipping servants of Krsna (as both Goddess Durga and Lord Siva are very dear to the Lord).

This is part of a conditioned living entities journey in this material world. Some of them start from the platform of voidism (like Buddhism), then move on to impersonal stage, then to demigod worship, and finally to the one and only Supreme Lord.  The highest dharma is the worship of the Supreme Lord Krsna as He is the source of all incarnations, the root of all creations, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, and the well-wisher of all living entities. BG 5.29.

We now know that “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. By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge and detachment from the world.” (SB 1.2.6-7)

And this is exactly what Lord Kapiladeva is advising His mother Devahuti. He is advising her that instead of following the path of fruitive religious activities, she should simply take direct shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead by performing devotional service.

SB 3.32.11: Therefore, My dear mother, by devotional service take direct shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is seated in everyone’s heart.

Because I still have some material desires (the material conditioning is so hard to get rid off), I am not a pure devotee yet. I am a sakama-devotee (devotee with material desires). The goal is to gradually move to become a niskama devotee (without any material desires). The ultimate goal is to imbibe the mood of Lord Caitanya in Siksastakam 4: 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.

To become a pure devotee (completely surrendered to Krsna) in the mood of dasanudasa (servant of the servant) is the innermost core of my desire. But I accept that I am not there yet. It is a journey and I hope to reach there at some point (or in some lifetime). May I just take shelter of the Holy Name of the Lord because nothing will purify my dirty heart better than the chanting of the Holy Name. I don’t care what results I obtain out of devotional service – be it going back to Godhead or becoming liberated from the clutches of maya. I just wish to be situated in my eternal constitutional position as a servant of the Lord acting for His pleasure only. Now I do not desire to go to the heavenly planets where materialists live. What is the use of associating with them there as we have had enough of their association on this earthly planet? It is better to stay in the association of sincere devotees wherever we are and serve them. This should be our core desire.

“Śuddha-cetasaḥ means Kṛṣṇa conscious; their consciousness has become purified. In unpurified consciousness one thinks of himself as the Lord of the universe, but in purified consciousness one thinks himself the eternal servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Putting oneself in that position of eternal servitorship to the Supreme Lord and working for Him perpetually, one actually becomes completely satisfied…Engaged in devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one has no proprietorship claim, nor is one situated in the false egoism of thinking that he is God or the master. He always thinks himself the servant. That is the process of purifying consciousness. With pure consciousness only can one enter into the kingdom of God.” (SB 3.32.5-6 P)

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

The concluding lesson of Chapter 31 is how a jiva, after attaining the human form, undergoes great pains in the womb of the mother, during birth, as an infant and as a child. By the laws of karma, one takes birth in this material world. The goal of life is to free oneself from all material contaminations and designations. By the process of devotional service, one must purify himself and achieve self-realization. However, forgetting this goal of life, the jiva gets further entangled in this material world through bad association. If that jiva again enters the path of unrighteousness, association with sinful people in order to satisfy his stomach and genitals, he again enters hell, as before. In bad association, he loses all good qualities such as truthfulness, cleanliness, mercy, control of mind and senses, and so on.

This chapter clearly instructs us that one should not associate with a coarse fool who is bereft of the knowledge of self-realization and who is no more than a dancing dog in the hands of a woman (or opposite sex). The bondage that accrue to a man from attachment to any other object is not as complete at that resulting from attaching to the opposite sex. I found this instruction quite alarming. Just as a woman is a cause of bondage for man, man is also a cause of bondage for woman. All these attachments lead to unnecessary and prolonged suffering.

Over the last few weeks as we were reading this chapter and understanding the various stages of suffering (before and after birth ), I was quite depressed cursing myself how stupid I am to end up in this material world. What is that one mistake that led me to end up here? Guess we will never know the answer to this question. Is there a remedy to all these sufferings? Some people renounce everything and go to the holy dhama or mountains or forests trying to escape all sinful actions and resultant sufferings. But looks like renunciation is also not the remedy. Srila Prabhupada sums up the simple process of remedy in his purport to SB 3.31.47-48. Just as Krsna assures Arjuna in BG 18.66 not to worry, similarly Srila Prabhupada instructs us not to be unnecessarily upset. Rather we should try to find a remedy to the miserable condition of this material body. He says that the remedial measures can be understood in the association of liberated persons. A liberated person is one who engages in uninterrupted devotional service to the Lord. Srila Prabhupada also compassionately answers the topic of false renunciation. He instructs that rather than leaving our home or family, we should renounce the false understanding that one can lord it over material nature. This is actual renunciation. In other words, renunciation does not mean renunciation OF actions, but renunciation IN actions.

Therefore we should live in this world free from attachment, steadfast in our purpose of life, fixed up in our devotional service, and detachment from material way of life. I liked the verse that our teacher put. It sums up how we must act in this world in our daily duties but keeping our mind and intelligence fixed in Krsna.

“”The ladies of Vraja are the most fortunate of women because, with their minds fully attached to Kṛṣṇa and their throats always choked up with tears, they constantly sing about Him while milking the cows, winnowing grain, churning butter, gathering cow dung for fuel, riding on swings, taking care of their crying babies, sprinkling the ground with water, cleaning their houses, and so on. By their exalted Kṛṣṇa consciousness they automatically acquire all desirable things.” (SB 10.44.15)

This is an example of the highest level of transcendence and absorption in Krsna. I am definitely nowhere close to this level. But the idea is clear – that if we focus our mind on Krsna (through the process of hearing, chanting and remembering), we can gradually free ourselves from the material bondage. It is a matter of steady practice.

“The devotee’s intelligence is always in touch with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. His attitude towards the material existence is one of detachment, for he knows perfectly well that this material world is a creation of illusory energy. Realizing himself to be part and parcel of the Supreme Soul, the devotee discharges his devotional service and is completely aloof from material action and reaction. Thus at the end he gives up his material body, or the material energy, and as pure soul he enters the kingdom of God.” (SB 3.31.48 Purport)

The final instruction of this chapter is loud and clear: endowed with proper vision, reason, devotional service and detachment, one should move about in this world of maya without attachment to the body and its extensions (family, friends, etc.)

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

My understanding so far from whatever we have studied on the attachment between males and females is that association with the opposite sex is not the issue. The issue is when we start thinking of them as objects of enjoyment and attachment. This is the beginning of material attachment. It is very difficult in this modern age not to be attracted to the opposite gender. Most of the advertisements and marketing objectifies women and men. The objectification of women in the media teaches girls that all they have to offer is their body and face, and they should expend all their effort on physical appearance. Look at any sports coverage and you will notice that the focus is more on capturing the visuals of women at specific angles or focusing on their skimpy outfits. Men are not exempt from objectification either. Images of shirtless men with chiseled six-pack is a form of objectification of men. All these things create unnecessary attachment between men and women – sometimes leading to disastrous results.

Our scriptures, therefore, come down heavily on this misplaced attachment between men and women. People who do not have sufficient understanding of Vedic teachings may wrongly come to the conclusion that the Vedas are against women empowerment and freedom. It is common to hear such criticism about India and Indian culture from the western world. The real teaching of the scripture is that the goal of life is attaining 100% Krsna consciousness. Any person who is engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and who desires to pass beyond material nescience must not associate himself with women and men or with persons interested in material enjoyment. For a person seeking advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, such association is more dangerous than suicide.

The verse (SB 3.31.35), “The infatuation and bondage which accrue to a man from attachment to any other object is not as complete as that resulting from attachment to a woman or to the fellowship of men who are fond of women” really caught my attention. This is so true. Our material miseries and bondage begin from this attachment between men and women. The desire to please and form a relationship to the opposite sex leads to one thing after another (marriage, home, child, job, etc.) thus ending up in real entanglement from which it is hard to free oneself.

Therefore, it is important to keep Krsna in the center of everything – even in our relationship with our spouse. The mind is so strong and obstinate that it naturally tends to seek pleasure from everything – including our spouses and partners. But if we are deep-rooted in Krsna consciousness by practice, knowledge, service, and renunciation, such attachment will not be able to trouble us. Krsna consciousness is the only protection from false attachments. In Chapter 25, we studied about the descriptions of the kingdom of God. There it is mentioned that “The inhabitants of Vaikuṇṭha travel in their airplanes made of lapis lazuli, emerald and gold. Although crowded by their consorts, who have large hips and beautiful smiling faces, they cannot be stimulated to passion by their mirth and beautiful charms.” (SB 3.15.20)

In his purport, Srila Prabhupada writes that “in the Vaikuṇṭha world the consorts of the residents are many, many times more beautiful than we can find in this material world, even in the higher planets. It is specifically mentioned here that a woman’s large hips are very attractive and they stimulate man’s passion, but the wonderful feature of Vaikuṇṭha is that although the women have large hips and beautiful faces and are decorated with ornaments of emeralds and jewels, the men are so absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness that the beautiful bodies of the women cannot attract them. In other words, there is enjoyment of the association of the opposite sex, but there is no sexual relationship. The residents of Vaikuṇṭha have a better standard of pleasure, so there is no need of sex pleasure.” (SB 3.15.20 P)

It is a question of dovetailing everything to Krsna consciousness. Our attachments for the opposite sex will be there as long as we are conditioned in this material body. But when we are able to dovetail everything to Krsna’s service, then no material attachment can affect us.

“Man and woman should live together as householders in relationship with Kṛṣṇa, only for the purpose of discharging duties in the service of Kṛṣṇa. Engage the children, engage the wife, and engage the husband, all in Kṛṣṇa conscious duties, and then all these bodily or material attachments will disappear. Since the medium is Kṛṣṇa, the consciousness is pure and there is no possibility of degradation at any time.” (SB 3.31.42 P)

Srila Prabhupada us how to transform our material attachment to spiritual attachment. He writes that “instead of being attracted by material beauty, if one is accustomed to being attracted by the beauty of Rādhārāṇī and Kṛṣṇa, then the statement of Bhagavad-gītā, paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate, holds true. When one is attracted by the transcendental beauty of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, he is no longer attracted by material feminine beauty. That is the special significance of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa worship.” (SB 3.31.38 P). Therefore, we need to earnestly pray to Sri Sri Radha and Krsna that somehow or other may our attachment for Them grow day by day to the extent that we are no longer attracted to this material world and material bodies.

In conclusion, the solution to the illusory attachments between males and females lies in cultivation of proper Krsna consciousness. There is no other way.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

In the previous chapter (SB 3.30.5), we studied that once Indra, the King of heaven, was cursed by his spiritual master, Bṛhaspati, on account of his misbehavior, and he became a hog on this planet. After many days, when Brahmā wanted to recall him to his heavenly kingdom, Indra, in the form of a hog, forgot everything of his royal position in the heavenly kingdom, and he refused to go back. This is the spell of māyā. Even Indra forgets his heavenly standard of life and is satisfied with the standard of a hog’s life. By the influence of māyā the conditioned soul becomes so affectionate towards his particular type of body that if he is offered, “Give up this body, and immediately you will have a king’s body,” he will not agree. This attachment strongly affects all conditioned living entities.

This is the situation with all conditioned souls. We have forgotten our eternal identity (svabhava) and our relationship with the Supreme Lord Krsna. We are actually in amnesia with respect to our spiritual identity. We consider our body all in all and our bodily relationships as our own. Gradually we accept non-permanent things as our own and thereby increase our ignorance in the darkest region. We do not realize the workings of praseptamika and avaranatmika aspect of maya.

Therefore we need the associations of bonafide and compassionate sadhus to open our eyes and take us out our ignorance – just like Lord Brahma tried to do with Indra in the above pastime. In the association of sadhu sanga, we are enlightened to know who we are, what our constitutional position is, what our relationship with Krsna is, and what is the ultimate goal of life. Basically, sadhus remind us of sambandha, abhideya, and prayojana. Acaryas such as Srila Prabhupada repeatedly reminded us that we are not our bodies but eternal souls part and parcel of Krsna. Our constitutional position is that we are eternal servants of Krsna, and the goal of life is to develop love of Krsna (prema-pumartho mahan). Where would we get this transcendental knowledge without sadhu sanga?

Simply by associating with a pure devotee, we become advanced in Krsna consciousness. Sadhu sanga, or association with a devotee, means always engaging in Krsna consciousness by chanting the Hare Krsna mantra and by acting for Krsna. Chanting the Hare Krsna mantra purifies us. It gradually removes the covering of ignorance from our hearts. This chanting is therefore recommended by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Ceto−darpana−marjanam [Cc. Antya 20.12] By chanting the names of Krsna, the mirror of the heart is cleansed, and the conditioned soul loses interest and attachment in everything external. When one is influenced by the external energy of the Lord, his heart is impure. When one’s heart is not pure, he cannot see how things are related to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, by sadhu sanga, or association with devotees, one becomes perfectly pure in heart.

Real sadhus make us aware of the continuous cycle of births and deaths traversed by conditioned souls, and give us the remedy how to end this vicious cycle. Without their guidance and following their instructions, we run the risk of falling deeper and deeper into the Andha-tāmisra and Tāmisra hellish conditions, and after suffering there we get a hellish body like the dog’s or hog’s. The sadhus remind us that human birth is very rare, and it should not be wasted for asat activities. We have suffered endlessly in various bodies in the past. But after all these sufferings, if we get another chance in a human body and not reminded by sadhus that we should not waste our valuable time in the association of persons who are concerned with sexual life and palatable dishes, then naturally we again glides down to the same Andha-tāmisra and Tāmisra hells. This is why the association of sadhus is extremely important to get us out of the samsara of repeated birth and death.

Therefore all the great saints in the devotional line very strongly recommend the process of hearing. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu introduced the congregational chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra to give everyone a chance to hear Krsna’s holy name, for simply by hearing Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, one becomes purified and end the vicious cycle of repeated birth and death.

This is why we always recite the beautiful prayer everyday –

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

“I was born in the darkest ignorance, and my spiritual master opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto him.”

This is the power of sadhu sanga. They remove us from the hellish path of ignorance and guide us to the transcendental path of knowledge and Krsna bhakti. Only Krsna consciousness can save us from the repeated cycle of birth and death.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

I want to share something about my life to give a better context of the tribulations faced by a living entity within the womb of the mother and outside in the material world.

I grew up in a beautiful mountainous town in Northeast India. It is a very small town nested in the mountains. Life was very peaceful and quiet. There was no pollution, noise, and crowd. The weather was cool. We had no experience of hot weather. The air was clean, the water from the springs sweet. Everything was within walking distance – the stores, the schools, post office, hospitals, temples, and churches, etc. We would walk to school in the morning, come back home during lunch break, and go back to school again. Life was not busy. We had ample time after school to play and enjoy. At night I would spend time looking up at the clear sky and counting the stars. We always had family dinner. The entire town would shut down after dark. People went home to their families after the day. There would hardly be anyone outside on the streets. People would go to bed by 8:30 or 9:00 PM. Life was just perfect and blissful. We had time for each other. However there was a lurking desire to ‘explore the world.’ I think that was the calling of maya.

Fast forward to 15-20 years. I had to move out of the town for college and later on for employment opportunities. My friends and I in college wanted to live in a big city like Mumbai or Delhi for our jobs. Krishna fulfilled our desire. I landed in Mumbai to work for a reputable IT firm. Life seemed to be good initially. Mumbai is the financial city of India – something like New York City of India. The city is completely opposite to where I grew up. Life is extremely fast paced. It is extremely populated, noisy, and polluted. But still life seemed to be good in the beginning. We found what we were missing growing up. We had ample opportunities for sense enjoyment. There are malls, movie theaters, bars, fancy restaurants, big architectural buildings, etc. Life seemed to be perfect.

Krsna says in BG 18.38: That happiness which is derived from contact of the senses with their objects and which appears like nectar at first but poison at the end is said to be of the nature of passion.

In line with Krsna’s teachings above, my initial nectarian experience slowly turned into poison. Being a small-town person, the big city environment took its toll on my mental peace. I was not able to adjust to the crowd, constant noise, pollution, and fast paced life. I dreaded going to work in the morning. The trains and buses were always extremely crowded. I couldn’t handle the heat. I didn’t enjoy the restaurant food anymore. I missed my family. I couldn’t deal with people’s duplicity and propensity to cheat. I didn’t know how to handle corporate politics. I didn’t know how to deal with intense competition at work. I just didn’t fit it. Then I desired to move out of Mumbai to a ‘better’ place.

Again, Krsna showed his mercy. He removed me from India and sent me to the USA. The quality of life is much better here. I thought I knew why people wanted to move to America and Europe – for a better life. This blissful experience continued for many years. But now I have started to see the realities of the material world. Even though I am in the most progressive country in the world, I was still not happy. Something was missing. Finally, Srila Prabhupada showed his mercy through his books. Life took a different turn from then on.

Why did I share this experience above? Just to show that the baby’s prayer in the womb for deliverance is similar to my current prayer to the Lord to give me relief from material distress and unhappiness. I am at a stage now where I can see that there is no perfect place in this world. Every place is a place of birth, death, old age and disease. It is not designed to be a happy place. Be in Mumbai, New York or Amsterdam, life is just distress. Every so-called happiness here has a hidden side-effect – misery and distress.

Whatever Srila Bhaktivinoda said in his prayers is so true and relevant to me. I gave up the happiness of my birth place (and home) to come to the bigger world of pain and sorrow. While growing up in the loving care of my parents, I passed my time smiling and laughing. My parents’ affection helped me to forget the pangs of birth, and I thought the world was very nice. Day by day I grew and soon began playing with other boys. Shortly my powers of understanding emerged. I read and studied my lessons incessantly. I travelled from place to place, city to city. I got a good education. People respected me for my education and material accomplishment. I started to earn money and support my family. I bought my first house and my first car. Materially I felt satisfied.

But now I feel miserable. I feel miserable because I forgot my eternal friend Krsna. Through the process of bhakti, I am trying to revive that lost relationship with Krsna. I am unable to handle this world of pain and sorrow. No matter wherever I go, the chains of three modes of nature do not leave me. Due to the misuse of my little independence, maya has bound me.

Now I am anxious to get out of the influence of material clutches. I want to be reinstated in my constitutional position as eternal servant of Krsna. I have served my bodily attachments for many lifetimes and their expectations never end. I cannot make them happy; neither do my service to them can make me happy. Like the child in the womb of the mother, I too, situated in the womb of the material world, pray to the Supreme Lord for deliverance. I beg for His mercy because without the Lord’s mercy, how can one again engage in the transcendental loving service of the Lord? Like the child, I also pray “O my Lord, when shall I, a wretched soul, be released from this confinement?” (SB 3.31.17)

“Therefore, without being agitated any more, I shall deliver myself from the darkness of nescience with the help of my friend, clear consciousness. Simply by keeping the lotus feet of Lord Viṣṇu in my mind, I shall be saved from entering into the wombs of many mothers for repeated birth and death.” (SB 3.31.21)

“I have a body in which I can control my senses and can understand my destination; therefore, I offer my respectful obeisances to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by whom I have been blessed with this body and by whose grace I can see Him within and without.” (SB 3.31.19)

By the grace of the Supreme Lord and His bonafide representative like Srila Prabhupada, I know the process to engage in devotional service and become free from the clutches of maya. May I earnestly repent for my past sins and engage in loving service to the Lord. May I never take birth in the womb of another mother again to suffer in this world. May I take birth only to serve the Supreme Lord and His mission in this material world.

“Absorption of intelligence in the personal service of Kṛṣṇa and full consciousness of Kṛṣṇa always are the path of self-realization and liberation. Without being unnecessarily agitated, if we take to the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness by constantly chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, the cycle of birth and death can be stopped for good.

One can cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness anywhere and everywhere, provided he can always think of Kṛṣṇa. The mahā-mantra, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, can be chanted even within the abdomen of one’s mother. One can chant while sleeping, while working, while imprisoned in the womb or while outside. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot be checked in any circumstance. The conclusion of the child’s prayer is: “Let me remain in this condition; although it is very miserable, it is better not to fall a victim to māyā again by going outside.” (SB 3.31.21 Purport)

Similarly let me remain in whatever condition I am in. But let me not fall victim to maya again by trying to go outside of Krsna’s association and service.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

Janma-mrtyu jara-vyadhi-duhkha-dosanudarsanam (BG 13.9). The body is subject to its own principles of birth, death, old age and disease, but one who is situated in spiritual life (yato bhaktir adhoksaje) has no birth, no death, no old age and no disease. Whenever we explain to a layman these four defects of human life – birth, death, old age and disease – most of them agree that death, old age and disease are understandable defects of human body. But why is birth considered a defect? Isn’t birth a beautiful thing that brings life, joy, and happiness to this world and to the family? We usually do not associate misery with birth. Yes, the process of giving birth is a painful experience to the mother but that same experience is a matter of joy to her. But if one reads this chapter and how Lord Kaplideva is giving a graphic description of the suffering of a child in the womb of the mother, all the pre-conceived notions about birth not being a defect will go out of the window. How painful it is for the child to stay in a fixed position in the mother’s womb, being bitten by worms and germs, being fed pungent food, being in great pain always, not being able to communicate to anyone what he is going through, and desperately waiting for some kind of relief! It seems the baby is somewhat conscious all the while and is aware of his suffering. That is the benediction of māyā, who endows the suffering body with the qualifications for tolerating such terrible tortures. (SB 3.31.7 P). And this is the working of praksepatmika potency of maya – throwing the living entity into material darkness with a material body. Miserable life begins from the moment the living entity begins to contact his material body. (SB 3.31.6 P). And then avaranatmika makes the living entity forget this experience of painful birth as soon as he comes out.

“One has to transmigrate from one body to another, and the transmigration into the bodies of dogs and hogs is especially miserable. But despite such miserable conditions, due to the spell of māyā we forget everything and become enamored by the present so-called happiness, which is described as actually no more than a counteraction to distress.” (SB 3.31.6 P). This is the work of avaranatmika.

In the Zoom review session today, I shared my realization that I too have gone through the hellish experience at some point in my previous lifetimes. I too have gone through the painful existence in the womb of a mother (be it in human body or animal body) life after life. Of course due to avaranatmika, I do not remember any of it and continue to live with a false illusory hope that this material world can also give me happiness (even though it is not designed to be so).

“Unfortunately, we forget all these sufferings and try to be happy in this life, not caring for the liberation of the soul from the entanglement of birth and death. It is an unfortunate civilization in which these matters are not plainly discussed to make people understand the precarious condition of material existence.” (SB 3.31.8 P) Thanks to Srila Prabhupada, we are aware of our precarious condition of our births and material existence.

I liked what Mother Samapriya said in the session yesterday. She said ‘urgent devotional service’. It really caught my attention. Just performing mundane devotional service is not enough. We have to perform ‘urgent’ and ‘desperate’ devotional service with a sincere mood of repentance (for committing so many sins life after life), gratitude (that we have been given this human body to practice devotional service and get out of the repeated cycle of birth and death), forgiveness (seeking forgiveness from the Lord for our sins and mistakes), and urgency (that I no longer want to suffer in this human body). Enough is enough! If after  hearing all these graphic descriptions of painful life in the womb and punishments in hell do not wake us up from our illusory slumber in the lap of maya with her praksepatmika and avaranatmika potency , I am not sure what else will!

Thanks to Srila Prabhupada, Lord Nityananda and Lord Caitanya. We have the Vedic knowledge in the form of Srimad Bhagavatam that is trying to remove us from darkness of ignorance. I love what Srila Prabhupada wrote in this purport. He hit the nail of the head.

“After birth the child may forget about the difficulties of his past lives, but when we are grown-up we can at least understand the grievous tortures undergone at birth and death by reading the authorized scriptures like Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. If we do not believe in the scriptures, that is a different question, but if we have faith in the authority of such descriptions, then we must prepare for our freedom in the next life; that is possible in this human form of life. One who does not take heed of these indications of suffering in human existence is said to be undoubtedly committing suicide. It is said that this human form of life is the only means for crossing over the nescience of māyā, or material existence. We have a very efficient boat in this human form of body, and there is a very expert captain, the spiritual master; the scriptural injunctions are like favorable winds. If we do not cross over the ocean of the nescience of material existence in spite of all these facilities, then certainly we are all intentionally committing suicide.” (SB 3.31.9 P)

Just as a child prays in the womb to the Lord for relief and deliverance, may I pray to the Lord, while out of the womb now, that I practice devotional service with utmost sincerity and promise that I will never again commit sinful activities and have to be put into the womb for repeated birth and death. May I surrender fully to my spiritual master, to Srila Prabhupada and to Lord Krsna. Only they can save us.

“As the Supreme Lord puts the living entity into the condition of horrible existence, He can also deliver him, and therefore one should seek shelter at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa demands, “Give up everything and surrender unto Me.” And it is also said in Bhagavad-gītā that anyone who approaches Him does not come back again to accept a form in material existence, but goes back to Godhead, back home, never to return.” (SB 3.31.12 P)

May I always remember that constitutionally, I am the subordinate servitor of the Supreme Soul and may I not try to become one with the Lord and lord it over material nature. This is the root cause of my material existence and hellish sufferings.

“The entire process of devotional service is to purify oneself of this contamination of material nature and put oneself on the spiritual platform, where he is qualitatively one with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the Vedas it is said that the living entity is always free. Asaṅgo hy ayaṁ puruṣaḥ. The living entity is liberated. His material contamination is temporary, and his actual position is that he is liberated. This liberation is achieved by Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which begins from the point of surrender. Therefore, it is said here, “I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Person.” (SB 3.31.14 P)

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!