Which types of devotees are required–to visit places of pilgrimage?–SP answers

SB 3.3.26–After arriving there, all of them took bath, and with the water of this place of pilgrimage they offered their respects to the forefathers, demigods and great sages and thus satisfied them. They gave cows to the brāhmaṇas in royal charity.

PURPORT–

Amongst the devotees of the Lord there are several divisions, mainly nitya-siddhas and sādhana-siddhas. The nitya–siddha devotees never fall down to the region of the material atmosphere, even though they sometimes come onto the material plane to execute the mission of the Lord. The sādhana–siddha devotees are chosen from the conditioned souls. Out of the sādhana devotees, there are mixed and pure devotees. The mixed devotees are sometimes enthusiastic about fruitive activities and are habituated to philosophical speculation. The pure devotees are free from all these mixtures and are completely absorbed in the service of the Lord, regardless of how and where they are situated. Pure devotees of the Lord are not enthusiastic to put aside their service to the Lord in order to go visit holy places of pilgrimage. A great devotee of the Lord in modern times, Śrī Narottama dāsaṬhākura, has sung like this: “To visit holy places of pilgrimage is another bewilderment of the mind because devotional service to the Lord at any place is the last word in spiritual perfection.”

For pure devotees of the Lord who are completely satisfied with the transcendental loving service of the Lord, there is hardly any necessity to visit the various places of pilgrimage. But those who are not so advanced have the prescribed duties of visiting pilgrimage sites and regularly performing the rituals. The part of the princely order of the Yadu dynasty who went to Prabhāsa performed all duties to be done in a place of pilgrimage and offered their pious actions to their forefathers and others.

As a rule, every human being is indebted to God, the demigods, great sages, other living entities, people in general, forefathers, etc., for various contributions received from them. Thus everyone is obliged to repay the debt of gratitude. The Yadus who went to the Prabhāsa pilgrimage site performed their duties by distributing land, gold, and well-nourished cows in royal charity, as described in the following verse.

                          Sri Sri Radha GiriManohara-The Ones who Steal your mind

              

Krsna, what can I do for You…This is mantra , real mantra–SP

(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Mayapur, June 17, 1973)

Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is always ready to help us, provided we are also ready to cooperate with Him. If we cooperate with Him, what Kṛṣṇa desires, if we want to do little, immediately Kṛṣṇa will help you. If you work one percent, Kṛṣṇa will help you ten percent. Again if you work one percent, Kṛṣṇa will help you another ten percent. But the cent percent credit you get, by the help of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa gives you intelligence. Teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam, buddhi-yogaṁ dadāmi tam (BG 10.10). If you are engaged satatam, twenty-four hours, without any other engagement, sarva-dharmān parityajya (BG 18.66),giving up all other nonsense business… Sarva-dharmān. Simply if you are engaged in Kṛṣṇa’s business, prīti-pūrvakam, with love. Not as hackneyed: ‘Ah, here is a duty, chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa. All right, Harekṛṣṇaharekṛṣṇaharekṛṣṇa…” (chants very quickly and indistinctly) Not like that. With prīti, with love. Chant every name, ‘Hare Kṛṣṇa,’ and hear. Here is Kṛṣṇa; here is Rādhārāṇī. That kind of chanting, quality. Not ‘Harekṛṣṇahare kṛṣṇakṛṣṇakṛṣṇaharehare…’ Not like that. Not like that. Prīti.

Teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti (BG 10.10). That prīti is required. That is the essential quality. Patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati (BG 9.26). Real thing is bhakti. Kṛṣṇa is not hungry, that you will give Him some good food and He will eat it, never mind in which way you can give. ‘Oh, here is purī, halavā. Kṛṣṇa must eat.’ Kṛṣṇa is not hungry for your purī, halavā. But if there is bhakti, if there is love, then He eats. Tad aham aśnāmi: ‘Then I eat, if there is bhakti, love.’‘Kṛṣṇa, what can I do for You? I am so teeny, You are so great. Still, I have tried to do something. If You kindly eat.’ This is mantra. Real mantra is that; not so many formalities of mantra. Kṛṣṇa does not say, ‘One who offers Me with the Vedic mantras…’ Never says. Kṛṣṇa says bhaktyā, ‘with devotion.’

So others may criticize you, that ‘These American Vaiṣṇavas, they do not know how to do this, how to do that.’ Let them criticize. But Kṛṣṇa says bhaktyā. You remain perfect devotee. Then your life is perfect. Kṛṣṇa does not say that the Indian devotee who discriminates between touchable and untouchable and big, big paṇḍitas or deva-gosvāmī, not dāsa-gosvāmī… Kṛṣṇa does not discriminate like that. Kṛṣṇa says bhaktyā, yo me bhaktyā prayacchati. Kṛṣṇa wants to see how much sincere devotee you have become. That is His business.”

Association-let us take a close look at what this means

                                                                   Association

We hear this word tossed around like a banana in the fire sacrifice. But what does it really mean? How by association with other good and bad souls are we affected both materially and spiritually? Let us look at this point more closely.

(Note–What happens to great souls who by bad association (and Providence) become temporarily touched by sinful reaction? Vidura felt he was such a person due to his constant association with the Kuru family headed by Dhrtarastra and his sinful sons.)

 

Purport SB 1.3.17…

Vidura was undoubtedly a highly elevated and pious soul, otherwise he would not have taken his birth in the Kaurava family.

To have high parentage, to possess wealth, to be highly learned and to have great personal beauty are all due to past pious acts. But such pious possessions are not sufficient for obtaining the grace of the Lord and being engaged in His transcendental loving service. Vidura considered himself less pious, and therefore he decided to travel to all the great places of pilgrimage in the world in order to achieve greater piety and advance nearer to the Lord. At that time, Lord Kṛṣṇa was personally present in the world, and Vidura could have at once approached Him directly, but he did not do so because he was not sufficiently freed from sin. One cannot be one hundred percent devoted to the Lord unless and until he is completely free from all effects of sin. Vidura was conscious that by the association of the diplomatic Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Duryodhana he had lost his piety and was therefore not fit to associate at once with the Lord. In Bhagavad-gītā (7.28) this is confirmed in the following verse:yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ…Persons who are sinful asuras like Kaṁsa and Jarāsandha cannot think of Lord Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth. Only those who are pure devotees, those who follow the regulative principles of religious life as prescribed in the scriptures, are able to engage themselves in karma-yoga and then jñāna-yoga and thereafter, by pure meditation, can understand pure consciousness. When God consciousness is developed, one can take advantage of the association of pure devotees. Syān mahat-sevayā viprāḥ puṇya-tīrtha-niṣevaṇāt: one is able to associate with the Lord even during the existence of this life.

(Note—What has happened to iskcon for the past 40 years-the bogus guru takeover, changing Srila Prabhupadas books, and so many going along with it, changing the entire way the Deities of the Lord are to be worshiped, physically kicking sincere devotees out who had given their lives to serving Srila Prabhupada, molesting guru kula children for years and covering it up, and last and in no way least, the poisoning of Srila Prabhupada’s body in a final attempt to finally get rid of our Acarya and Founder. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Anybody who remains within that institution and supports and serves these people, is according to Srila Prabhupada in his purports and all the other previous Acaryas he quotes-unless they change it or leave- are daily becoming fit candidates for hellish life. And no sane person would ever associate for even a second, with such degraded, offensive and foolish people.)

Think this is too harsh or fanatic of a conclusion? Consider the words of our Srila Prabhupada and Srila Vyasadeva)

 

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3 kinds of creation which allows us conditioned souls to remain on the collective fruitive platform of generating endless karma

Hare Krsna–below we have two purports from the Second Canto Srimad Bhagavatam-the first one explains how  the three types of creation take place and who does them. The next purport explains how by fruitive actions, we foolishly  remain in this endless cycle of birth and death. Not a very pretty picture.

 

SB 2.10.46 purport… 

There are three different types of creation, called mahā-kalpa, vikalpa and kalpa. In the mahā-kalpa the Lord assumes the first puruṣa incarnation as Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu with all the potencies of the mahat-tattva and the sixteen principles of creative matter and instruments. The creative instruments are eleven, the ingredients are five, and all of them are products of mahat, or materialistic ego. These creations by the Lord in His feature of Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu are called mahā-kalpa. The creation of Brahmā and dispersion of the material ingredients are called vikalpa, and the creation by Brahmā in each day of his life is called kalpa. Therefore each day of Brahmā is called a kalpa, and there are thirty kalpas in terms of Brahmā’s days. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (8.17) as follows:In the upper planetary system the duration of one complete day and night is equal to one complete year of this earth. This is accepted even by the modern scientist and attested by the astronauts. Similarly, in the region of still higher planetary systems the duration of day and night is still greater than in the heavenly planets. The four yugas are calculated in terms of the heavenly calendars and accordingly are twelve thousand years in terms of the heavenly planets. This is called a divya-yuga, and one thousand divya-yugas make one day of Brahmā. The creation during the day of Brahmā is called kalpa, and the creation of Brahmā is called vikalpa. When vikalpas are made possible by the breathing of Mahā-Viṣṇu, this is called a mahā-kalpa. There are regular and systematic cycles of these mahā-kalpas, vikalpas and kalpas.

Therefore the thirty kalpas of Brahmā are: (1) Śveta-kalpa, (2) Nīlalohita, (3) Vāmadeva, (4) Gāthāntara, (5) Raurava, (6) Prāṇa, (7) Bṛhat-kalpa, (8) Kandarpa, (9) Sadyotha, (10) Īśāna, (11) Dhyāna, (12) Sārasvata, (13) Udāna, (14) Garuḍa, (15) Kaurma, (16) Nārasiṁha, (17) Samādhi, (18) Āgneya, (19) Viṣṇuja, (20) Saura, (21) Soma-kalpa, (22) Bhāvana, (23) Supuma, (24) Vaikuṇṭha, (25) Arciṣa, (26) Valī-kalpa, (27) Vairāja, (28) Gaurī-kalpa, (29) Māheśvara, (30) Paitṛ-kalpa.

These are Brahmā’s days only, and he has to live months and years up to one hundred, so we can just imagine how many creations there are in kalpas only. Then again there are vikalpas, which are generated by the breathing of Mahā-Viṣṇu, as stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā (yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya jīvanti loma-vilajā jagadaṇḍa-nāthāḥ [Bs. 5.48]). The Brahmās live only during the breathing period of Mahā-Viṣṇu. So the exhaling and inhaling of Viṣṇu are mahā-kalpas, and all these are due to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for no one else is the master of all creations.

 

(Note-In other words, these cycles of creation and annihilation go on perpetually in this material world. So Srila Prabhupada is kindly pointing out that us conditioned souls should take these facts from the Vedas and understand that anything we do here  without the authority  or satisfaction of Lord Visnu, is only-temporary at best. )

 

Now lest us look at the solution to this creation-annihilation/continuous fruitive activities business from the devotees perspective.

 

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Krsna, what can I do for you?? This is mantra, real mantra–SP

(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Mayapur, June 17, 1973)

 

 

Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is always ready to help us, provided we are also ready to cooperate with Him. If we cooperate with Him, what Kṛṣṇa desires, if we want to do little, immediately Kṛṣṇa will help you. If you work one percent, Kṛṣṇa will help you ten percent. Again if you work one percent, Kṛṣṇa will help you another ten percent. But the cent percent credit you get, by the help of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa gives you intelligence. Teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam, buddhi-yogaṁ dadāmi tam (BG 10.10). If you are engaged satatam, twenty-four hours, without any other engagement, sarva-dharmān parityajya (BG 18.66), giving up all other nonsense business… Sarva-dharmān.Simply if you are engaged in Kṛṣṇa’s business, prīti-pūrvakam, with love. Not as hackneyed: ‘Ah, here is a duty, chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa. All right, Harekṛṣṇaharekṛṣṇaharekṛṣṇa…” (chants very quickly and indistinctly) Not like that. With prīti, with love. Chant every name, ‘Hare Kṛṣṇa,’ and hear. Here is Kṛṣṇa; here is Rādhārāṇī. That kind of chanting, quality. Not ‘Harekṛṣṇahare kṛṣṇakṛṣṇakṛṣṇaharehare…’ Not like that. Not like that. Prīti.

Teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti (BG 10.10). That prīti is required. That is the essential quality. Patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati (BG 9.26). Real thing is bhakti. Kṛṣṇa is not hungry, that you will give Him some good food and He will eat it, never mind in which way you can give. ‘Oh, here is purī, halavā. Kṛṣṇa must eat.’ Kṛṣṇa is not hungry for your purī, halavā. But if there is bhakti, if there is love, then He eats. Tad aham aśnāmi: ‘Then I eat, if there is bhakti, love.’ ‘Kṛṣṇa, what can I do for You? I am so teeny, You are so great. Still, I have tried to do something. If You kindly eat.’ This is mantra. Real mantra is that; not so many formalities of mantra. Kṛṣṇa does not say, ‘One who offers Me with the Vedic mantras…’ Never says. Kṛṣṇa says bhaktyā, ‘with devotion.’

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Prabhupada put us directly into Caitanya lila, he was so powerful–Sukadeva dasa

The day that we inaugurated the temple, it was Bhaktisiddhanta’s Disappearance. That day Prabhupada said, “I’m not going to sit on the vyasasan.”

He took Bhaktisiddhanta’s picture and put it on the vyasasan where he would normally sit. So we spent most of the day cooking and spending the day with Prabhupada.

And towards the end of the day we were reading the prayers that Prabhupada offered to his spiritual master, that famous Vyasa Puja offering.

Tamal Krishna started reading it and he started crying, and so then he gave it to Brahmananda.

And then Brahmananda started reading it and he started crying, he gave it to Gargamuni.

Then Gargamuni started reading it, he started crying.

So in this way it was handed down to different devotees, and eventually by Krishna’s grace we got through the reading.

Then after that Prabhupada had a kirtan, and Prabhupada was dancing with the devotees just like Lord Caitanya surrounded by His associates.

Prabhupada held up his hands and started dancing from side to side. I remember looking around and everybody was up dancing and chanting and crying uncontrollably.

Prabhupada put us directly into Caitanya lila, he was so powerful. You had a direct experience of Caitanya lila by his potency.

Sukadev das

As long as we think of acquiring or becoming something, there is no happiness-SP

As long as we think of acquiring or becoming something, there is no happiness

Dec 22 1976 Poona

So karmī, jñānī, yogi, and bhakta. So out of these four classes of men, the three classes means karmī, jñānī and yogi, they are restless. Because they actually did not find out what is the solution. One after another, there are different classes, there are classification. One is better than the other. That is another thing. But none of them… They are still misled. A karmī, he is thinking that “I am poor man. If I become rich man, I will be happy.” He is thinking in that way. Jñānī is thinking that “Poor and rich doesn’t matter. I am Brahman. I am spirit soul. If I merge into the Supreme Brahman I will be happy.” Yogi is thinking that “The Absolute is present everywhere in His personal feature. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe arjuna tiṣṭhati [Bg. 18.61]. So if I become one with Him, I will be happy.” But still there is a demand, “If I become like this.” So so long he is not self-realized, he will try to become something and so long he’ll try to become something, then there will be restlessness. There cannot be happiness. And when he comes to the realization point that “Why I am trying to become something, I am this and this that is my position,” then he becomes happy. That is bhakti. Everyone is trying to become something. And bhakta knows “I am this.” There is no question of becoming. And this is my position. Very nice. Therefore Kṛṣṇa ultimately said that “This is the most confidential knowledge, Arjuna. I am teaching you so many things. There is no need of understanding so many things. The real thing is that I am the master, you are My servant. You surrender unto Me, that’s all. Then you’ll be happy.”

Indian man: Very bold step.

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“The living entity which is embodied does not eat anything”–SP

Pop quiz question at the end…..

SB 2.10.8 purport…

All the controlling deities like Viṣṇu, Brahmā and Śiva are different manifestations of the Paramātmā feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who exhibits himself in such manners by entering into each and every universe generated from Him. But still apparently there are divisions of the controller and controlled. For example, in the food-controlling department the controller of food is a person made of the same ingredients as the person who is controlled. Similarly, each and every individual in the material world is controlled by the higher demigods. For example, we have our senses, but the senses are controlled by superior controlling deities. We cannot see without light, and the supreme controller of light is the sun. The sun-god is in the sun planet, and we, the individual human beings or any other being on this earth, are all controlled by the sun-god as far as our eyes are concerned. Similarly, all the senses we have are controlled by the superior demigods, who are also as much living entities as we are, but one is empowered while the other is controlled. The controlled living entity is called the adhyātmic person, and the controller is called the adhidaivic person. All these positions in the material world are due to different fruitive activities. Any individual living being can become the sun-god or even Brahmā or any other god in the upper planetary system by a higher grade of pious work, and similarly one becomes controlled by the higher demigods by lower grades of fruitive activities. So every individual living entity is subject to the supreme control of the Paramātmā, who puts everyone in different positions of the controller and the controlled.

That which distinguishes the controller and controlled, i.e. the material body, is called the adhibhautic puruṣa. The body is sometimes called puruṣa, as confirmed in the Vedas in the following hymn: sa vā eṣa puruṣo ‘nna-rasamayaḥ. This body is called the anna-rasa embodiment. This body depends on food. The living entity which is embodied does not eat anything, however, because the owner is spirit in essence. The material body requires replacement of matter for the wearing and tearing of the mechanical body. Therefore the distinction between the individual living entity and controlling planetary deities is in the anna-rasamaya body. The sun may have a gigantic body, and the man may have a smaller body, but all these visible bodies are made of matter; nonetheless, the sun-god and the individual person, who are related as the controller and the controlled, are the same spiritual parts and parcels of the Supreme Being, and it is the Supreme Being who places different parts and parcels in different positions. And thus the conclusion is that the Supreme Person is the shelter of all.

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Work for Krsna/God, otherwise He will have no time for us at all

Work for Krsna/God, otherwise He will have no time for us at all

SB 2.9.34–O Brahmā, whatever appears to be of any value, if it is without relation to Me, has no reality. Know it as My illusory energy, that reflection which appears to be in darkness.

PURPORT–

In the previous verse it has already been concluded that in any stage of the cosmic manifestation-its appearance, its sustenance, its growth, its interactions of different energies, its deterioration and its disappearance-all has its basic relation with the existence of the Personality of Godhead. And as such, whenever there is forgetfulness of this prime relation with the Lord, and whenever things are accepted as real without being related to the Lord, that conception is called a product of the illusory energy of the Lord. Because nothing can exist without the Lord, it should be known that the illusory energy is also an energy of the Lord. The right conclusion of dovetailing everything in relationship with the Lord is called yoga-māyā, or the energy of union, and the wrong conception of detaching a thing from its relationship with the Lord is called the Lord’s daivī māyā, or mahā-māyā. Both the māyās also have connections with the Lord because nothing can exist without being related to Him. As such, the wrong conception of detaching relationships from the Lord is not false but illusory.

(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Mayapur, June 17, 1973)

Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is always ready to help us, provided we are also ready to cooperate with Him. If we cooperate with Him, what Kṛṣṇa desires, if we want to do little, immediately Kṛṣṇa will help you. If you work one percent, Kṛṣṇa will help you ten percent. Again if you work one percent, Kṛṣṇa will help you another ten percent. But the cent percent credit you get, by the help of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa gives you intelligence. Teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam, buddhi-yogaṁ dadāmi tam (BG 10.10). If you are engaged satatam, twenty-four hours, without any other engagement, sarva-dharmān parityajya (BG 18.66), giving up all other nonsense business… Sarva-dharmān. Simply if you are engaged in Kṛṣṇa’s business, prīti-pūrvakam, with love. Not as hackneyed: ‘Ah, here is a duty, chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa. All right, Harekṛṣṇaharekṛṣṇaharekṛṣṇa…” (chants very quickly and indistinctly) Not like that. With prīti, with love. Chant every name, ‘Hare Kṛṣṇa,’ and hear. Here is Kṛṣṇa; here is Rādhārāṇī. That kind of chanting, quality. Not ‘Harekṛṣṇahare kṛṣṇakṛṣṇakṛṣṇaharehare…’ Not like that. Not like that. Prīti.

 

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I do not advise any of my disciples to live alone; that is not good.

                                                             Living Alone 

                        His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada 

 

Because we are infinitesimal, we should concentrate our mind on the infinite Supreme Self. In order to do this we should live alone, and “living alone” means  that we should not live with those who are not Krishna conscious. Ideally, this means that one should live in a secluded place, like a forest or a jungle, but in this age such a secluded place is very difficult to find. Therefore “secluded place” refers to that place where God consciousness is taught. (Path of Perfection chapter 3) 

Regarding your question about living alone, living alone is a general tendency for a person who wants to get disassociated from the materialistic persons. That is also recommended by the Goswamis in their instructions. It is better to remain alone than to mix with materialistic persons. But this is not applicable when we have the opportunity to get the association of pure devotees. Our program is negative and positive simultaneously. We want to negate the materialistic side and make positive the spiritual side. It is not one sided. If you have no positive standing, negating only will not make you successful. Therefore, it is better to remain positively within the society of pure devotees. That is also recommended by the Goswamis. One should be occupied in activities in the modes of goodness and associate with spiritualistic persons. That will make one’s advancement very quick. (Letter to Sivananda dated 11 November 1968) 

 

Prabhupada: In Delhi, when I was vānaprastha, I was alone. But my paper was going on, “Back to Godhead”. I was alone. I was doing everything — editing, selling, collecting, cooking.

 

Hari-sauri: There were no godbrothers helping you? 

 

Prabhupada: I did not take their help. They wanted to, but I did not like it. 

 

Hari-sauri: Did you ever think at that time that you would be able to expand or… 

 

Prabhupada: It was a struggle at that time. I lived with some of my godbrothers, but I did not like it, and I left their temple and I was living alone. … When I was living alone and doing everything, it was not unpleasant. It was very nice. Even my son  came to live with me. I said, “No, you don’t.” My family sent him to go and live with me. He came twice, thrice. I asked him, “If you want to live with me, then you have to live with me as sannyāsī, brahmacārī.” 

(Conversation in Vrindavan on 3 October 1976) 

 

So far as you are concerned, I do not think living alone in Honolulu will be very good. If there is possibility of your living in the temple along with the other devotees, then live there. Otherwise you may also return, either to Los Angeles or San Francisco. You can work anywhere

because you have got abilities, and from anywhere you can start for Tokyo. So for going to Tokyo it is not very much necessary that you have to remain in Honolulu alone. I do not advise any of my disciples to live alone; that is not good. (Letter to Sudama dated 20 May 1969) 

 

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