May 27 1966 NY lecture….
Simply by… There are many so-called mendicants in India. They, I mean to say, loiter in the street naked, and sometimes they are arrested by the police, like that. Imitation is not required. Imitation is not required. But there is a stage like that. Just like a madman. Sometimes a madman, he also, I mean to say, wanders the street naked. So he is also compact in some thought, but he is a madman. But similarly, a person who is completely compact in Kṛṣṇa thought, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he is also a madman according to the calculation of this world.
I think there is a line in Shakespeare’s literature, “The lunatic, mad, and the poet” or something like that, “all compact in thought.”
[The actual reference is A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act V, Scene I: “The lunatic, the lover, and the poet, are of imagination all compact.”].
So a madman and a ātma-rati person, self-satisfied man, outwardly, you will find there is no difference, but inwardly, oh, there is vast difference.
There is a story of Jaḍa Bharata. Jaḍa Bharata, a brāhmaṇa boy whose name was Jaḍa Bharata. He was formerly the emperor of this world. His name was Mahārāja Bharata. And by his name now India is called Bhāratavarṣa. Formerly this whole planet was named as Bhāratavarṣa. Before that, this planet was named as Ilāvṛtavarṣa, long, long years, millions of years before. But Jaḍa Bharata, he also lived ātma-rati, self-satisfied. In the beginning of his spiritual life he left this world, a very young age. When he was only twenty-four years old he left his wife, children, and kingdom. It is not joke. An emperor with beautiful young wife, small children, and palace—he left everything. There are many instances like that.
SB 3.7.17—Both the lowest of fools and he who is transcendental to all intelligence enjoy happiness, whereas persons between them suffer the material pangs.
Canakya pandit states Ch 4 verse 2
Most sons, friends, and kinsmen are against the devotees of the Lord, but there are a chosen few who understand and associate with them. Only through this way of living does the human become sanctified.
Canakya pandit-Chapter 2 verse 9
You cannot find diamonds in every mountain,. You cannot find gems in the head of every elephant. You cannot find sandlewood in every forest, and you cannot find saintly devotees everywhere.
Arunodaya Kirtana (part two)
by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
Lord Gaurānga is calling, “Wake up, sleeping souls! Wake up, sleeping souls! How long will you sleep in the lap of the witch called Māyā? You have forgotten the way of devotional service and are lost in the world of birth and death. I have descended just to save you; other than Myself you have no friend in this world. I have brought the medicine that will wipe out the disease of illusion from which you are suffering. Take this mahā-mantra-Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Thākura says: “I fall at the Lord’s feet, having taken this mahā-mantra.”
Some Conclusions-Sometimes these things from sastra are difficult to believe or understand. But when one has lived a full devotional lifetime, many of these things will become crystal clear.
Hare Krsna
damaghosa das
Darshan of Lord Gauranga and Lord Nityananda Prabhu-Saturday
Darshan of Lord Gauranga and Lord Nityananda Prabhu-Sunday