Audio File of the complete lecture with all three parts is linked here
You can read the transcript and get the link to the part 1 lecture here:
Who is a Vaishnava- Part 1(Prahlada Maharaja's Qualities)
Completely free from Unnatural pride
Even a beggar who has nothing is proud. The mind will think of something to be proud of. You are laying on the side of sewage ditch with others and a rat comes up you will say the rat is like me better than you-- your mind will think of something to be proud of. But here you find somebody who is wealthy- what happens when you are wealthy- so much power from your wealth- so many people ask favors and depended on you because of your wealth. Very learned very adept mind- to find solutions quickly to be able to cite different books, equations , aristocracy, beauty- Prahlada was very beautiful so charming he attracted everyone because of his beauty. But he had no unnatural pride- If you put yourself in the center then you have to be proud of these things but if you put Krishna in the center you can never be proud.Krishna says in Gita whatever opulence you see in this world is only a spark of my splendor. Punar mushtika bhava- Krishna can make you a lion Krishna can make you a mouse. Nothing to be proud of . God is great and SB tells us how great is God.
Overcome envy towards Vaishnavas
dhyayate visaya pumsam
dhyayate visaya pumsam
Greed is a type of lust for money, envy is lust to hurt somebody, pride is lust for prestige and distinction, Anger is a lust for vengeance. Lust and then the flame is getting better- the warning signals are getting stronger we have to do something about it. But if we keep feeding it then lust becomes frustrated it gets converted anger. Anger is stirring in our heart. Are we going to do something about it- subdue it or divert that energy in a positive spiritual way - if not anger bewilders the memory- that means all the 100 and 100s of SB classes where we learned all the nice things and all the times we read the scriptures and all the prayers we offered, bewildered memory means means its not there at that time.
When memory is bewildered intelligence is lost- we do things we know we are not supposed to do, but in that moment our intelligence just cannot discriminate and then we again fall down again in the material pool.
What is the solution?
Most of all connect ourselves back to Krishna fill our minds with His Holy Names.Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.....it takes great determination." Unlike the other asuras he was never envious of vaishnavas"-
So when the envy comes into our heart toward another vaishnava then we should not feed it, yes yes, and the mind contemplating more and more faults of that Vaishnava or do something, rather we should check it, we should understand this envy in my heart is an asura a demon- am I going to allow this asura to conquer me, to take me away from Krishna or am I going to fight this asura of envy. How do we do that? By really trying to appreciate that vaishnava, by philosophically understanding that if Krishna is empowering this Vaishnava if I am envious of him I am envious of Krishna, who am I to dictate to Krishna who he should empower and who he should not. We should feel Krishna is pleased , Krishna is conquered by one who feels joy in the success of others. Krishna is repelled , disgusted by one who is envious of the success of others. So whatever is there in our heart let us act according to what we should be doing , let us speak what we should speak- that will show our sincerity of not being an asura. Sorry about that .
He was not agitated when he was in danger"
"He considered everything material to be useless"
when I was on the airplane i saw news.-- throughout the ages India has been infamous for poverty- considered as a dirty poverty stricken place. Of the billionaires in the world- top ten- there are billionaires in the top ten from india than other places. America had two billionaires , India had 4. america was in the second place.That means India had twice as many billionaires than any other country in the world and most of them within Bombay.
So all these billionaires - PM is saying everything material is useless- bec they will lose it either in this life or next. All those millions can do nothing for the soul for anyone- but if you really understand what is useful our relationship with God and our devotion to God that is the only useful thing with permanence only thing that is real, then yukta vairagya- then we can use all those things in a useful way- millions of dollars- right purpose with proper consciousness then the thing itself is very useful. everything material or spiritual in this world is spiritual as RG explains. om purnam adah... how can darkness come out of the sun- only when you turn away from the sun there is darkness everything is Krishna's energy and if you looking toward Krishna and using Krishna's energy for Krishna's pleasure then everything is spiritual. But when we use things looking in the darkness of the shadow then it is material.
So for Pm everything material is useless That means anything separated from Krishna is useless. Therefore he could use the whole kingdom and all the resources in useful ways in the service of God and what is the greatest service to God- to bring the souls closer to God- that is the mission of god.
In the SB 3rd Canto it is described that the whole purpose of material existence to facilitate conditioned souls to go BTG.Thats the reason of creation. And all the suffering, heaven, hells, dualities, three modes is all just facilities- somehow or otehr it is whta condn souls need to go through to make the wise choice of going BTG.
He was completely free from this unnatural pride that might have risen from the good qualities he had- riches, beauty, aristocracy, high education and so on. This is a very very divine quality- you have everything but you are not proud.
And although Prahlada was born in a family of asuras, he was not an asura- he was a great devotee.
Here is a very key sentence that may cause us to tremble. "Unlike the other asuras"- very strong language- these are the words of SP, SG, SG Narada Muni- so I feel bold enough to speak it."He was never envious of a vaishnava" What does that mean? Very powerful statement. Do you understand what that means? What are you if you are envious of a Vaishnava? Say it loud. I am hearing you say sura, please emphasize the first syllable. Acc to SB if you are envious of vaishnavas you are asura. How many f you have some envy towards another vaishnava in your heart. You maybe a vaishnava- everyone raised there hands that means they are asura- so if I am envious of them I am not and asura because they are not vaishnava- this is the way the mind justifies things. It is an asura quality. That envy is an asura quality- if this anartha esp the anartha of envy, lust, pride greed, illusion are also like sparks- if we are not very careful to monitor them to control them to subdue them- that takes effort- if you do not do that- that will grow.
dhyayate visaya - in the beginning we contemplate the objects of the senses , we may contemplate envy, greed, or pride any of these things. From such contemplation attachment develops. From attachment if we don't curb it, if we don't monitor that spark it becomes a flame- it becomes lust- lust means a craving- we could just identify this at the physical level but on a subtle level all these things are lust.
tani sarvani.... the solution is we must restrain our sense but simultaneously we must fix our consciousness on Krishna. We cannot just restrain our senses, can't just say no no no- we must say no but we must divert our attn to Krishna, keep ourselves busy in KC. Idle mind is a devil's workshop. When Maya attacks in this way in the very beginning at the time of contemplation and is it grows we should just start reading from Srila Prabhupada books start doing some active service to occupy our mind and senses.
Because he had faith in Krishna.
This is very interesting.Because he was 5 yr old but later he became king- kings have to deal with many materialistic things, he was ruling his whole race. He had a crown- Brahma put crown on Him- he had throne palaces and everything else. How can you be running a kingdonm when you think everything material is useless. Bec he was seeing useless from the perspective of what is of real value- there is only one thing of value- bhakti- neha bhrikaman sosti- any devotional service you render will never be lost. Anything else you earn will be lost- the more you earn the more you will suffer when it is lost.
There was another survey of the 25 dirtiest cities in the world- Bombay was number 7, how many of you think Bombay is cleaner than Delhi- Delhi was number 24. Calcutta is dirtier than Bombay? Your pride is finished- Calcutta was thoroughly examined it is not even on the list and Bombay is number 7 we are far filthier than Calcutta- what that has to do with class - I will try to figure out a connection but it was an interesting connection.
He was always controlled his senses and life airs and being of steady intelligence he subdued all lusty desires.
We must first of all have steady intelligence- comes by hearing regularly- sravana- first process of bhakti- hearing Hari katha- not hearing newspapers - we may get some info to use in Krishna's service but we should enjoy them- we should take inspiration in hearing about Krishna - hearing about bhakti- by hearing regularly our intelligence is steady- but with that steady intelligence determination is reqd to practice it no matter what- even when confronted by temptation danger threat, we should be determined- to be steady in our intelligence to make the right choices.
Recently in Mayapur, our God Brother Anutama a Pr defined the meaning of responsibility- Srila Prabhupada said we make advancement in Kc according to how we accept responsibility- so this is a very important word- how can you accept something if you do not know what it means. How many of us really know what responsibility means. He gave a very nice explanation - two words- Ability and response- so whatever comes in our life whether it is temptations from within or without -c confrontations from within or without how we respond is what will either elevate us or degrade us- our ability to respond in every possible situation in Krishna Consciousness - is how we make progress-. The choice that we make in every provocative situation in our life. Often times in lecture of marriage- we say don't worry about love because you don't know what love is- especially between a man and woman that is the most bewildering defn of love- bec it is based on physical features, personality traits, maybe theoretical astro compatibility it maybe about attraction not love- but attraction is very much emotional and physical- what happens to that- how long does it last- few hours, few days, few years, but then familiarity breeds contempt and soon the attractions gone. The thrill of our reln that thrill is gone, forever. I start feeling some thrill is coming from somebody else now. Marriage is about Responsibility-love, affection, attraction may or may not be there, don't worry about it- what is going to keep people together and keep people happy together- is responsibility- our ability to respond to each other, to situations , to everything i a away that is pleasing to Krishna. Living in Brahmacari life- amazing thing is I see as much love between brahamcaris much more than husband wife not in terms of physical ,sexual, amorous but in terms of real responsibility- we have responsibility to each other.
Steady intelligence- determination- determination hear means in this sense really means responsibility - to be able to respond properly in every situation.
Srila Prabhupada in his purport , .... , a person is not qualified or disqualified by birth- it is a matter of how one takes these responsibilities to live by divine characteristics."From this verse we discover that a man is not qualified or disqualified simply by birth. Prahlāda Mahārāja was an asura by birth, yet he possessed all the qualities of a perfect brāhmaṇa (brahmaṇyaḥ śīla-sampannaḥ). Anyone can become a fully qualified brāhmaṇa under the direction of a spiritual master. Prahlāda Mahārāja provided a vivid example of how to think of the spiritual master and accept his directions calmly."
This is the key that opens the door to the Spiritual world- All of these virtues and divine qualities of PM are all built on the foundation of his accepting the directions of his SM.If we study the DNA and genes , coming from the semen of Hiranyakasipu - is a very dangerous situation and all the demigods- are greater scientists than anyone on the earth- they know how DNA, genes and how you adopt different qualities from the mother and the father- Like father like son, chip off the old block.
They are dealing with Hiranyakasipu and here comes another one- when he was away- like espionage they stole his wife- kept her in a prison of their control with the sole aim to murder the child when it was born. Narada Muni came and aid this child will be a great maha bhagavata- they trusted him- He preached to the mother and the embryos- PM in thw womb surrendered his life to the teachings of Narada Muni and gave all credit to him He was preaching to his father...............he said the best knowledge you have learned in school- "One who considers the body to be the self..... give up all your ignorance, you are in a dark deep well" Who are you to tell me that? "Give it all up and go to vrindavan" where did he learn this. When he was preaching to his friends - they asked him where did you learn. "He said everything I learned is from my Guru Maharaja
Narsimha Dev came only for the pleasure of PM, liberated his father- PM asked with folded palms- I am an asura, born in the lowest, but due to the mercy of narada Muni, my Guru- that is my only qualification. SO PM under all circumstances, responsible- he responded to blasphemy- temptation of being king of universe, dangers of thrown in ocean, pits of snakes, fire- anyone if we see a little snake we run away- he was thrown into a pit of venous snakes- how did he respond by taking shelter of the direction of the spiritual master- he had that determination.
PM provided a vivid example of how to think of a spiritual master and accept his direction calmly. Srila Prabhupada had such great faith in this principle otherwise how could he go to the western world- there were no Brahmanas in the western world- he had complete faith that if one truly accepts the instructions of the Spiritual master on is a vaishnava greater than a brahamana- that is the main thing BSST - he was not allowed in the temples of vrindavan - he was ridiculed, blasphemed- because he was giving brahminical initiation to those who were of lower caste- why did BSST and SP endure so much persecution because ofr that- because it is the truth. CM and AC gave the most exalted posn to HT. NDT was kayastha but was giving initiations to Brahamana s. The heart of a vaishnava is something very deep. Today is the disappearance day of Jagannath Das ?Babaji - he appeared in mid or late 1700s and in Bangladesh.
After he became a babaji he would spend half the year in Vrindavana and half in navadwipa- He lived at Surya Kund. Many beautoifu stories.We dont have so much time- I will share a couple stories that will illustrate the principles of the verse that we read today. He lived over a 147 years.
BVT in trip to Vrindavan first met him and accpeted him as the Guru of his life. Even declared him to be the commander in chief of all the Vaishnava community. When JDB was in Bengal Amalgar- BVT visited him there and deepened the quality of the their association- BVT invited him to come to Navadwipa.
He was licing in Kuliya area- He was very old- servant named Bihrai- who was very strng- He would JDB on a bastket on his shoulder. Biharilala arranged for s simple but nice guest house to stay in- JDB said he would not stay in a guesthouse but was licing under a treee- BVT built him a bhajan kutir under the tree- some other wealthy people built some other little huts closeby for his disciples oteher babajis to live- JDB would love to go with BVT from village to village chanting the Holy Names- he did that the whole day- japa kirtana and serving the vaishnavas - that was his life and Soul.
One time in his hut he was doing madhukari- one street sweeper obviously sudra class gave some roti so JDB and he very gratefully accepted it and ate it- Otehr Vaishnavas criticized it - what kind of vaishnava- he is taking food from a low class- they challenged him- why have you done this- grains cooked by street sweeper. JDB responded very boldly- " He said there is no higher purifictaion than the dust of Nava dwiapa Dhama- every grain of dust is more valuable that all teh wealth in Brahma's creaytion- we read in all the scriptures how purifying it is to roll eat and put the dust on their head. Street sweepers - all the time covered by dust of nava dwipa adhama - covering their bodies 24 hrs a day and are performing such menial service to Nava dvipa dhama therefore I have taken their rotis for my purification.
