1) Every story of the Lord has many essential instructions for us.
2) We have an un-relenting desire for a sense of being honoured, recognition, prestige, prathista, it comes naturally to us.
3) So much of our pleasure is linked to that desire being fulfilled.
4) So much of our sadness is linked to when we are devoid of it.
5) The Srimad Bhagavatam has so many stories, in very enchanting way gives us this conclusion.
6) Maharaj bharat in his birth as jad-bharata, was already self-realized, but he acts now in this birth exactly opposite to what is told to him.
7) Somehow he becomes a carrier of the king's palanquin, and he does not want to kill even the ants. So he is not walking in unison with other 3 carriers.
8) They are not carrying just any person, they are carrying the King !
9) So Maharaj Rahuguna the king gets upset and he chastises jad-bharata
10) But then jad-bahart does not speak as always, but when he is forced to speak,
the king understands the gravity of his mistakes, and he is astonished that a person who is just carrying the palanquin is a great avadhoot saint.
11) the King apologises and says it is so difficult to make judgements.
12) We are accustomed to give judgements on people so very fast
13) If someone becomes a minister or is rich he immediately becomes respectable, whether deserving or not.
14) If someone we know or in our family, one son, is under-graduate from Stanford university and then he has done his graduate from MIT and say PHD from Princeton
university, we are immediately proud to introduce him. Such and Such has done this !
15) If the other child has done just BA in arts in national college, we would not necessarily bring that up so much.
16) So, we can see that so much of our value system is just based on externals !
17) Someone is living a simple life, materially not very rich, we may not offend him perhaps, but we would certainly consider him to be an ordinary person.
18) Nowadays our value system is such that of a person has a fleet of rolls Royce, Bentleys, Mercedes and so on then we are quite impressed.
19) These are the realizations one gets when reading the Srimad Bhagavatam, as we apply it our life.
20) here jad-bharata is understood by maharaja rahuguna, and he makes a prophetic statement, that so often we misjudge and we offend people.
21) Srila Prabhupada warned us that we do not know who the person sitting next to us is ! We do not know even our wives and husbands and children, in the sense
that we have lived so many lifetimes and we do not even know all their glories in devotional service.
22) So Krishna knows and sees the totality, and being the paramatma He knows.
23) A very imp point or sutra for us "in the heart or hearts we expect respect, then we cannot give respect, to the extent we expect respect, to that extent we
find it difficult to give respect, it is subtle"
24) Srila Prabhupada uses a very apt example "puffed up", one small prick and we are finished.
25) If we find our happiness from recognition, then Krishna will arrange for us through Maya to correct us.
26) people sleeping on the streets of Mumbai do not need sleeping pills, it is those who have homes, they need sleeping pills.
27) In other words, the state of mind of someone who is achieving a lot, thinks that the anxiety that comes with it, is all right. that is illusion, Maya
28) The Bhagavatam gives a nice analogy, the camel is eating is thorn, and blood comes and he is swallowing it thinking it is very nice.
29) The Problem is more we have more we want. it is subtle lust. Krishna in Gita explains that it is insatiable.
30) Right from our parents, driving us to achieve more and more !
31) The consciousness is that this is the most imp thing, to achieve !
32) Queen Kunti in her prayers, explains that what she considers impediments, are actually the basis for living in the outside world.
33) Wealth, fame, beauty, is most important today !
34) The beauty product business is doing most well !
35) Cosmetic dentistry is most profitable in the last 25 years, how you look, how you smile is most imp !
36) In weddings today, they get Bollywood stars, just to shake some hands !
37) Thus then what is real does not get importance, room for Krishna Consciousness is not given time and does not even figure in our minds !
38) Every year Forbes, gives a ranking of richest people, so now there are more than 1000 billionaires in the world, i.e. people have 1000 million dollars.
38) So 25-30 wealthiest people in world.
39) So it is just an estimate, because not all is out in the open.
40) So one gentleman from middle east was very offended and wrote protest
letters, because he was rated by Forbes at 22 billion and as per him he was worth 29 billion, so he was dropping in the ranking, so instead of perhaps number 8,
perhaps he was 12 or 13. It was such an imp mater to him.
41) For a common man, if someone estimates the wealth to be 22 billion or 29 billion, he fact that you have that, you should be happy with that, but no, the
ranking was very imp !, it was astonishing that it went back and forth and he was so very unhappy !
42) One gets as glimpse, we may think that he must be so happy, but actually, inside we do not know how the mind works.
43) Among devotees also we have a lesson, when Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, came in touch with Lord Chaitanya, he warned Lord Chaitanya. he was elderly and he said
to Lord Chaitanya, that now You have taken sanayasa, now You will get so much respect, people will touch Your feet, If a sanyasi starts feeling that all that is for
himself, then his spiritual life is ruined.
44) Whatever good we have, if we think it is our own, then if someone misinterprets that good we have, our sensitivity becomes more !
45) Even in spiritual life, if we are attaching to anything it is very dangerous for us, there are stories in Srimad Bhagavatam to warn us.
46) Famous one is about Maharaj Priyavrat, who did not want anything to do with material life, he had renounced everything, he had gone to the mountains.
47) Only because he was ordered by three very great personalities, Lord Brahma, Narada Muni and Swayambhuva Manu, did he agree to come and take up the
responsibility to rule the world, he had a family and he was very successful in administering.
48) But over time he got gradually attached and had some challenges and difficulties, But because he was sincere, he was protected by the Lord, and he had the humility
to pray for help.
49) It is shows how much danger there is for all of us.
50) Also there is the wonderful story of nala kuvera and manigriva, even though high born, and in their intoxication offended Narada muni. Narada muni was not a
least bit offended , but to save them he cursed them to become trees in Vrindavan.
51) Srila Prabhupada's compassion, is such that he is facing so many small nala kuvera and manigriva's and he is so much compassionate, that he is making them
devotees.
52) In the words of Jayadvaita Maharaj, there was a devotee named Rayarama prabhu, He was so scholarly, He was terrifyingly good in any debate on spiritual
topics, he could smash anyone down, So brilliant. I like the word "terrifyingly good"
53) We would not expect someone from western world, who had just met Srila Prabhupada for a year or two to be so well versed in Shasta.
54) Today also more than 25 top leaders of ISKCON came from his preaching. He was in charge of the preaching at a university in buffalo, upstate new York.
55) But then 1969 he left, Then in 1971 he wrote to Srila Prabhupada that he wants to come back, and when he did that, devotees were so very happy, they were
ecstatic, because he was perhaps the most powerful preacher, let’s say impactful preacher they had seen, and so many of these young boys and girls had
joined due to his preaching in his centre there, eventually they became GBC's gurus, sanyasis, and they are still so active in highest positions in ISKCON.
56) But when he wrote in 1971 and he said I would like to come back and resume my services in the temple and he was already the president in some temple.
57) Srila Prabhupada wrote bank, "very happy you are coming back, you should join the temple just as everyone else, and start doing regular service, just like
everyone else "
58) But Rayarama prabhu never came back, Jayadvaita Maharaj mentions that Srila Prabhupada sensed that he wanted to get back to his position of prestige, and
that mentality was not so good.
59) Of course whatever Rayarama prabhu did for Srila Prabhupada is to his eternal benefit and will never be forgotten by the Lord.
60) Also Indra who is the centre of this story and it will unravel over the next few weeks, he makes so many mistakes, like vishvamitra muni, prithu Maharaj
61) When we have a lot, we start seeing the world as per our attachment, I have this, I think it is precious, so everyone must want it and this we have the urge
to protect it.
62) We see this with us on a regular basis, it may be money, power, prestige, sometimes in so many families, practically in all families we see, the urge to
control, is so very difficult to let go.
63) Lord Balaram, just before the kurukshetra war was to start, he went to pilgrimage.
64) That was the era was of real sages.
65) The sages were doing a yagya for the welfare of the world and had chosen Romaharshana Suta as their leader.
66) When Lord Balaram came all people got up, except Romaharshana Suta.
67) Lord Balaram could sense in him a sense of pride, achievement at being the leader.
68) So Lord Balaram spoke is very pertinent for us and also I find it perturbing
69) Lord Balaram explained "Although he is a disciple of the divine sage Vyasa deva, and has very thoroughly learnt the scriptures from his guru, he has thoroughly
learnt the law books of religious duties, the epic histories, and the puranas, but still all his studies of scriptures has not produced good qualities in him, therefor
his study of scriptures is like an actor studying his part, for he has not developed humility, and self-control, he presumes himself to be a great scholar, although he
has pride, and he has not controlled his mind, I have incarnated in this world, especially to punish hypocrites, who appear as religious leaders "
70) Saying this Lord Balaram just picked up just one kusa grass and he touched him with this grass on the neck and Romaharshana Suta fell dead.
71) We may think this is over reaction, this is where guidance and understanding comes, we cannot understand this on our own, because we have so many anarthas,
Conditionings. Lord Balaram ji is teaching us through this leela.
72) HH Hriday Andanda Goswami Maharaj, one of the earliest disciples of Srila Prabhupada, tells us about one time with Srila Prabhupada visited Mexico.
73) In early days devotees, would try to bring famous people to visit Srila Prabhupada, Here in Mexico devotees managed to get miss Mexico to visit Srila Prabhupada.
74) She was well trained for competition and was saying the right things, Srila Prabhupada said why do you want to come again ? Have you read my books ? She said no .. Then why? Not to humiliate her, but He wanted to get beyond superficialities, the same Srila Prabhupada, when there was a fire sacrifice and some western devotee Ladies were not pronouncing the Sanskrit properly, And One of Srila Prabhupada's god brother was there, he leaned back and told him, this is not correct, they are not able to pronounce correctly, Srila Prabhupada just looked back and said, no no, they are fine, they will learn, So Srila Prabhupada never went by the externals, he saw the sincerity.
75) Spiritual life is not about externals, that someone speaks in the best language, the best pronunciation, the best tone, that is not important.
76) Any sham will not do, because Krishna sees that.
77) When we get any lessons, when we feel a bit down, or humiliated, caught out or exposed, we should take that as a learning experience, and we should be grateful that it happened earlier in my spiritual quest so that now at least in the future i will not do the same. No one wants such situations to happen.
78) Krishna Consciousness is like a razors edge, one has to be very very careful
79) Srila Prabhupada was heavily citizen, people were saying that his disciples were coming from malechha families, yavana families, how could he give them Brahman initiations? they are of low birth, they do not deserve..
80) Srila Prabhupada's answer was i am simply following Lord Chaitanya, who has personally sent these devotees to be born in the western world, so that they can help spread this movement, Naam Acharya of The Holy Name which is not different from Krishna is actually was an untouchable in his era, Srila Haridas Thakur.
81) It is not that we do not offend only devotees, and we can offend anyone else.
82) We should feel ashamed if we offend anyone, or do some mistake, we should know that somehow we need to not repeat it.
83) You know what your motivation, is even if sometimes what you do is appreciated by people.
84) Sometimes we may have to apologize, but we need to do it, because if we do not , then , gradually this process of quietening the voice of The Paramatama, Who is guiding us, will
Slowly lead us into thinking what we are doing is the best !
85) That is one way maya takes over, she works very subtly, Krishna's energy works very subtly and makes us feel we are on the right track, and then we can easily justify so many things.
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