"Spiritual Realization" Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.25 Los Angeles, June 23, 1972 download flash player Srila A. C.

Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Take a test Pradyumna: (leads chanting, etc.) athabhidhehy anga mano-'nukulam prabhasase bhagavata-pradhanah yad aha vaiyasakir atma-vidyavisarado nrpatim sadhu prstah Translation: "O Suta Gosvami, your words are pleasing to our minds. Please there fore explain this to us as it was spoken by the great devotee Sukadeva Gosvami, who is very expert in transcendental knowledge, and who spoke to Maharaja Pariks it upon being asked." Prabhupada: So Pariksit Maharaja was asking and Sukadeva Gosvami was replying. B oth of them were fit to ask and to reply. Bhagavata-pradhanah. Maharaja Pariksit was disciple, and Sukadeva Gosvami was his spiritual master. If both of them be come fit, are fit, then the discussion of Srimad-Bhagavatam is very pleasing. Th e student and the master. If the master is learned and the student is foolish, t hen it will be not very much pleasing. Or the master is foolish and student is a lso foolish, that will also not be ... Both of them should be ... Satam prasanga n mama virya-samvido bhavanti hrt-karna-rasayanah kathah. Virya, virya means pot ency. Just like if a potent husband and potent wife have sex intercourse, immedi ately there will be pregnancy. Therefore this word is used. Potent. Formerly, th is was being used. Both the husband and the wife remained potent, not impotent a nd sterilized. They remained potent, voluntarily. But when they wanted to beget a child, that one sex intercourse is sufficient. There is child. Therefore it is said, satam prasangan mama virya-samvido bhavanti hrt-karna-rasa yanah kathah. If the Bhagavata discussion is done between the two potents, the d isciple and the master, then immediately, sadyah hrdi avarudhyate. As it is said in the beginning. Have you got Bhagavata? The first, beginning? Sadyo hrdy avar udhyate. Nigama-kalpa-taror galitam phalam idam [SB 1.1.3], Srimad-Bhagavatam. S adyo hrdy avarudhyate, susrusubhis tat-ksanat. Susrusubhih, those who are seriou s about understanding about the Supreme Absolute Truth, so for him, immediately God becomes entrapped within the heart. God is there, but especially... Hrdi ava rudhyate, kim va paraih... Avarudhyate means you capture God. If there is discus sion between devotees... Tusyanti ca ramanti ca. In Bhagavad-gita it is said. Tu syanti ca ramanti ca. When Bhagavata discussion is there amongst devotees... It is the business of the devotees, not the business of the nondevotees. Unfortunat ely, India, it has become a profession. Some unscrupulous persons, they recite Bhagavata-saptaha, and the audience gathe r also for some material benefit. They take it as auspicious activity, subha-kar ya. They don't care for neither the speaker nor the devotee. They don't care for understanding the science of God. They are after some material profit. The prof essional reader, he reads, he takes some contribution, some money, some clothing , some umbrella, some shoes, some food, some money. In this way, he collects a v ery lump sum for his maintenance of his family, and the audience also thinks tha t "By hearing Bhagavatam, I'll be very much profited materially." This is going on. Bhagavata-saptaha. Bhagavata-saptaha, imitation. Pariksit Maharaja heard for one week Srimad-Bhagavatam from Sukadeva Gosvami. So they are imitating this on e week. But where is Pariksit and where is Sukadeva? Both of them have got some

ulterior purpose to hear Bhagavata. Therefore it is not affecting. They are hear ing Bhagavata for thousands of years, but still, they are where they were former ly. But actually, if Srimad-Bhagavatam is heard... Just like Pariksit Maharaja is he aring... Sri-visnoh smarane. Sri-visnu, abhavad vaiyasakih kirtane. Sravanam kir tanam. Sri-visnoh sravane pariksit. Pariksit Maharaja got salvation simply by he aring about Visnu. Sri-visnoh smarane, sravane. Pariksit Maharaja he was king, h e was politician. So he had no much knowledge about Vedic instruction. But when he was cursed that he would die in seven days, he became very serious, and all t he sages and saintly persons agreed that "Maharaja Pariksit, for the last remain ing days of his life, seven days, he should hear attentively Srimad-Bhagavatam." So sri-visnoh sravane pariksit. He got salvation simply by hearing about the gl ories of the Lord or activities of the Lord, which is described in the Srimad-Bh agavatam. Sri-visnoh sravane pariksid abhavad vaiyasakih kirtane. And Vaiyasaki. .. Vaiyasaki's name is mentioned here. Vaiyasakir atma-vidya. Vaiyasaki means Su kadeva Gosvami. He simply went on narrating. In the middle, there were some questions, intellige nt questions, by Pariksit Maharaja. Question is also required. If you simply hea r, do not understand, just like dumb stone, that's not good. You should hear att entively, and as soon as there is some difficulty, you should question. Tad vidd hi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya [Bg. 4.34]. In the Bhagavad-gita it is said t hat you should understand... First of all surrender. Pranipata. Tad viddhi prani patena. Pranipatena means you must find out an able teacher, where you can surre nder. So nobody wants to surrender, but if he sees that there is a greater perso nality than him, he surrenders. That is nature. So this pranipata word means tha t you do not go for understanding Bhagavad-gita and Bhagavata to a store-keeper. You should go to a person where you can surrender. Tad viddhi pranipatena [Bg. 4.34]. And pariprasnena. And inquiry. And sevaya. You should not take... You sho uld not inquire gratis; you must give service. Just like if you purchase something, you must pay for it. Therefore it is called sevaya. You cannot pay by returning the value which is taught by the spiritual master. That is not possible. Therefore it is called sevaya. Dedicate your life for his service. You cannot pay. What you have got to pay to a spiritual master? Just like our King Prthu Maharaja. When the Kumaras preached to him about trans cendental knowledge, he very humbly submitted, "My dear spiritual master, you ha ve taught me so nice. I require to give you some daksina." Daksina, that is requ ired. After initiation, one should pay daksina. That is a system. "I should pay daksina, but what shall I pay? I haven't got anything as my personal possession. It is already by the mercy of the brahmanas that I am enjoying this kingdom. So it is already belonging to you. My kingdom, it is already belonging to you." Th at was the system. If any saintly person, brahmana, will ask from a ksatriya kin g, he cannot deny. Karna, he gave his son to be sacrificed. A brahmana asked that "I want your son to be sacrificed by you." He was incarnation of God. He tested Karna's charity. He was very charitable, so he asked him that "I want your son, and you shall sac rifice, you both, husband and wife." He agreed, Karna, "Yes, I'll do that." So t here was some test like that. So actually, formerly, the kings, they possessed t heir kingdom just to manage, not thinking "It is my property. I am the king." As soon as the kings thought like that, the monarchy finished. The king never thou ght like that. He thought himself as appointed agent of God, king. So he never t hought. So Par... Suka. . . Prthu Maharaja said that "Nothing belongs to me, and even if I can pay from my treasury, so I cannot actually pay for the benefit I have derived from you. Therefore, the only way I can pay -- that I surrender unt o you. You can utilize me in any way." So, tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena s evaya [Bg. 4.34]. Therefore the disciple's duty is to be ready always to serve t he spiritual master, at any cost.

That is the disciple's duty. Sevaya. Upadeksyanti te jnanam jnaninas tattva-dars inah. So real knowledge can be achieved in this process. Pranipata... Not that I can challenge, "Oh, I can know. I have got so much education and degrees. I can understand what is God," or "There is no need of God. I am God. We are the cont roller." So these are all rascaldom. Real thing is tad viddhi pranipatena paripr asnena, as Pariksit Maharaja, the emperor of the world, he's hearing from Sukade va Gosvami, you have seen that picture in our Bhagavata, newly published, how Pa riksit Maharaja humbly asking and sitting before Sukadeva Gosvami. So bhagavatapradhanah. Bhagavata-pradhanah. So Sukadeva Gosvami is the chief bhagavata. Bhag avata, there are two kinds of bhagavata: grantha bhagavatam and this person bhag avatam. So Sukadeva Gosvami was person bhagavatam, bhagavata, chief. Bhagavata-p radhanah. Bhagavata-pradhanah means realized souls. We should not hear Bhagavata m from a professional man, who are observing the Bhagavata-saptaha. I know, in Bombay there is a big speaker of Bhagavatam. He preaches that "You r emain in your family life very peacefully. This is the instruction of Bhagavata. " He never teaches that you have to give up this nonsense family life and you ha ve to go back to home, back to Godhead. He never preaches that. There are so man y examples. He comes to the conclusion that "You live peacefully," as if to live peacefully in this material world is the highest achievement of life. They will never disclose the actual fact that nobody can live in this world peacefully. I t is not possible at all. But they want money. So they'll flatter or they'll go to Krsna's rasa-lila, presenting Krsna as ordinary human being and the gopis are ordinary girls. So this is very palatable for us, kissing, embracing young girl s. So Krsna is doing, but they take it that their embracing and kissing is suppo rted by Krsna. This is going on. That is a different subject matter; they do not know that. Therefore the Krsna's dealing with the gopis have been described in the middle o f Tenth Canto. And nine cantos have been devoted, describe, so that one may unde rstand what is Krsna. What is Krsna. The beginning of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. Begins, janmady asya yatah [SB 1.1.1]. What is this V asudeva, Krsna? Janmady asya yatah. "He the origin of everything." And we, if we take Krsna as ordinary person and He's dancing with the gopis just like ordinar y thing, then what Bhagavata he will understand? He will go to hell. He's deridi ng, taking Krsna very insignificantly. Avajna. Avajananti mam mudha manusim tanu m asritam [Bg. 9.11]. "These rascals, because I observe My pastimes just like hu man being, they're accepting Me as human being, ordinary." Manusim tanum asritam . Param bhavam ajanantah. They do not know what is the background of Krsna. The background of Krsna is in the beginning said janmady asya yatah [SB 1.1.1]. The first aphorism of Vedanta-sutra. That means, Vedanta means to understand Krsna. These rascal Vedantists, they try to kill Krsna. They want to become himself Krsna, the so-called Vedantists. Ved ais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah [Bg. 15.15]. The purpose of reading Vedanta means to understand Krsna. So without understanding Krsna, without being trained up h ow to understand Krsna, if one reads about Krsna's rasa-lila, he'll go to hell. Because he has got the tendency of this easy sex, so he thinks, "Krsna is like u s." And therefore, for ordinary men, this krsna-lila... Krsna-lila means they si mply understand krsna-lila means Krsna's rasa-lila. That's all. And Krsna's kill ing the Kamsa, that is not lila. Because Kamsas, the raksasas, they are afraid o f being vanquished by Krsna. So they do not like that lila. They'll like this li la. So therefore the idea is that if we want to understand Krsna, we should... K rsna understanding is not so easy. manusyanam sahasresu kascid yatati siddhaye yatatam api siddhanam kascin mam vetti tattvatah

[Bg. 7.3] So like Sukadeva Gosvami, you should hear patiently, submissively, with service and question. So in that way Maharaja Pariksit attained salvation in seven days. If it is, Srimad-Bhagavatam, actually heard in that seriousness... Where is tha t seriousness? That seriousness was there in Pariksit Maharaja because he knew i t certainly that he was going to die within seven days. So "I have to finish my God realization, self-realization, with seven days." We are not so serious, beca use we are thinking that "We shall live for seven millions of years, so let me g o slowly. Better utilize the time by sleeping." That is our position. If you hav e got some time, "Let me take this opportunity by sleeping, not by reading the b ooks." So if you do not become serious, then it will take many, many years. But we should be serious more than Sukadeva or Pariksit Maharaja. Pariksit Maharaja had at least time limit seven days, but we do not know whether we will live agai n seven minutes. Any moment your heart can failure. You do not know. You are going to the street... Just like the two boys were comi ng. They did not know that they were going to be killed. So our life is so jeopa rdized. Any moment I can die. That's a fact. If you don't take seriously like th at, that "Any moment, I can die." So Pariksit Maharaja had the opportunity of he aring Srimad-Bhagavatam for seven days, so I do not know whether we'll have, I h ave opportunity for reading Srimad-Bhagavatam for seven minutes. So let me read it very seriously." That should be our attitude. Not that, "Seven... Oh, Pariksi t Maharaja was given seven days notice. Oh, I have no such notice. I may live fo r seven millions of years." That is our disease. Here the most wonderful thing i s that everyone is seeing that everyone is dying every moment, but the man seein g, he's thinking that he will live forever. This is the most wonderful thing. No body thinks, "No. He is dying, so I will have to die." No. He thinks "I'll live. He is dying." This is the most wonderful thing. He does not think that "I have seen. My father has died, my mother has died, my brother has died. So everyone has died. So I'll die. So what I am doing before d eath?" They're not serious. Not at all serious. But death is... "As sure as deat h." And we do not know when that death is coming to take place. So how much seri ous we should be. We should be very serious. Labdhva su-durlabham idam bahu-samb havante. We have got this human form of body, human consciousness, advanced cons ciousness, after many, many births, after through the evolutionary process. Many millions of years we have passed through many species of life. Asitim caturas c aiva laksams tan jiva-jatisu. Asitim caturah, eighty-four lakhs or 8,400,000's. Bhramadbhih purusaih prapyam manusyam. In this way, going through so many specie s of life, we have got this human form of life. tad apy abhalatam jatah tesam atmabhimaninam varakanam anasritya govinda-carana-dvayam In this valuable life, it will also be spoiled if we don't surrender to Krsna. K rsna is canvassing personally, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami ma sucah [Bg. 18.66] Krsna personally comes to canvass. Because we are all Krsna's children, He's ver y sorry that we are in this miserable condition of life. He's very sorry. But we are so fool, we do not know that what is the condition of our life. We are thin king we are very much happy. This is called maya. He's suffering, he's kicked by

the shoes of maya every moment, and still, he's thinking "I am very happy. Why shall I go back to home? I shall remain in America." But you cannot be allowed t o remain in America. You are thinking, "All right... You are born of a very rich family, a rich nation, you have got opulence. You have... Your roads and your h ouses are very nice, but who is going to allow you to live here? Why don't you t hink like that? You may live for fifty years, or sixty years, or utmost 100 year s; then you'll be kicked out. But they do not know that life is eternal. When I am kicked out, then what life I am going to accept? They are in oblivion. There is no education in the university. This is going on. So this Krsna consci ousness movement is a boon to the human society. You should take it very serious ly and utilize your human form of life to understand it and be happy. Thank you very much. (pause) Why not begin immediately? (end)