SB 1.18.17

Giriraj Swami:

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

Reading from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto One, Chapter Eighteen, “Mahārāja Parīkṣit Cursed by a Brāhmaṇa Boy,”

TEXT 17

tan naḥ paraṁ puṇyam asaṁvṛtārtham
ākhyānam atyadbhuta-yoga-niṣṭham
ākhyāhy anantācaritopapannaṁ
pārīkṣitaṁ bhāgavatābhirāmam

TRANSLATION

Thus please narrate to us the narrations of the Unlimited, for they are purifying and supreme. They were spoken to Mahārāja Parīkṣit, and they are very dear to the pure devotees, being full of bhakti-yoga.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

What was spoken to Mahārāja Parīkṣit and what is very dear to the pure devotees is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is mainly full of the narrations of the activities of the Supreme Unlimited, and therefore it is the science of bhakti-yoga, or the devotional service of the Lord. Thus it is para, or supreme, because although it is enriched with all knowledge and religion, it is specifically enriched with the devotional service of the Lord.

COMMENT

The description of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is given in the verse, bhāgavatābhirāmam, it is very dear to the pure devotees. Because Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is very dear to the pure devotees, if someone discusses Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam among the pure devotees, then the pure devotees become pleased with the discussions and with the persons involved in the discussions. So, this is the way to become pleasing to devotees, to discuss Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. It is also described here that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is paraṁ puṇyam, that it is supreme and purifying because yoga-niṣṭham, it is compact in bhakti-yoga; niṣṭha means fixed.

There are different stages in the practice of bhakti-yoga. First is ādau śraddhā, faith; one must have some preliminary faith in devotional service. ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgaḥ, then one associates with the devotees. By associating with devotees, one’s faith increases until finally, one decides, “Yes, I want to accept the process of bhakti-yoga.” Then, one takes initiation from the bonafide spiritual master and begins the actual practical performance of bhakti-yoga, bhajana-kriyā. Then anartha-nivṛttiḥ, we have so many unwanted desires and unwanted thoughts and unwanted habits. So, by engaging in bhakti-yoga, one becomes purified of such anarthas. And then niṣṭhā, one becomes fixed in Krishna consciousness. Otherwise, although we engage in activities of bhakti-yoga, we are not fixed because the dirty things within the heart are not cleansed. The dirty things always trouble us, even while we are trying to practice Krishna consciousness.

So, by hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,

naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu
nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā
bhagavaty uttama-śloke
bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī

“By hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and by rendering service to pure devotees, all that is inauspicious in the heart becomes destroyed, almost to nil. And transcendental loving service to the Lord, who is glorified in wonderful verses, comes into being as an irrevocable fact.” So, this verse explains how by hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, by rendering service to the pure devotees, all the inauspicious things, or all of the unwanted things within the heart become cleansed, and then one becomes fixed in devotional service. nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā, bhāgavata means that which is in relation to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the book bhāgavata because it is full of the narrations of the Personality of Godhead and His devotees. Bhāgavata also means the person bhāgavata, a devotee who lives his life in service to the Lord according to the principles of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So, by either or both these processes, one can purify one’s heart and become fixed in bhakti.

So, what does it mean bhāgavata-sevayā, to serve the bhāgavata? Generally, service means to follow the order of the person. If someone asks you to do something, and then you do it, then the person will be pleased. Just like pleasing the spiritual master. Srila Prabhupada said, “If the spiritual master asks for water, and you think that milk is better than water, and you bring milk instead of water, then the spiritual master will not be pleased. That is not service. Service means to follow the instruction.” Of course, there are different levels of service. In the lowest level, one is given an instruction, and one does not execute it properly. In the next stage, one is given an instruction and executes it properly. And in the highest stage, one does not even have to receive the instruction, but one knows what the spiritual master wants and does it perfectly.

So, we should not try to imitate a devotee on a higher level. In other words, if we are not on the level of actually knowing what the spiritual master wants, we should not try to offer service to the spiritual master in our own whimsical way. But we should ask the spiritual master exactly what he wants, and then we should do that. Later, when we are practiced and perfectly executing the order that the spiritual master has given, then we may be given the intelligence to please the spiritual master by rendering service even without being asked. But if we are not on the level where we actually understand what the spiritual master wants, we shouldn’t whimsically offer service according to our own concoction or mental speculation, then we will just displease the person rather than please him. For example, when Asvatthama beheaded the five sleeping sons of Pandavas and offered the heads of the five young boys to his master, Duryodhana. So, Duryodhana was not pleased with this so-called offering. And when Lord Krishna was advising that Asvatthama should be killed, He mentioned amongst all of his various faults, such as killing the innocent children and so many more, but He also mentioned that he could not even please his master, even though the master was Duryodhana. He was not pleased by the killing of the innocent children and the offering of their five heads. Therefore, devotional service must be rendered favorably.

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ
jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-
śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā

Pure devotional service is service which is in relation to Krishna, and it is pleasing to Krishna. It is free from all desires for sense gratification and mental speculation. It is rendered favorably.

So, Srila Prabhupada comments that the whole secret is to know what Krishna wants. And how do we know what Krishna wants? The order of Krishna and desire of Krishna come to us through the paramparā system through the spiritual master. So, we execute the order of the spiritual master; that is favorable devotional service. We have to serve Krishna favorably as Krishna wants. For example, in Bhagavad-gītā Krishna says,

patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ
yo me bhaktyā prayacchati
tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam
aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ

“If you offer Me a leaf, a flower, fruit, or water with love and devotion, then I shall accept it.” So, Krishna tells us what He wants, and if we offer Him what He wants, then He will be pleased. Sometimes, the details of what Krishna wants are not given. For example, one devotee asked Srila Prabhupada, “How do we know that Krishna likes rasagullā?” Srila Prabhupada replied, “For that, you need the spiritual master.” Because not every detail of what Krishna wants is mentioned in the books. The principles are mentioned in the books, but the details, or how the principles can be applied by a particular person in a particular situation, can be learned from the spiritual master or from the experienced devotees. Then, by serving pure devotees, one develops the taste for hearing the messages of Vasudeva. In other words, by serving a person, one becomes attached to the person and takes on the qualities of the person. Therefore, we stress nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā, serving the bhāgavata. Serving the bhāgavata means ultimately serving Bhagavān, Krishna. By serving bhāgavata, we also develop the qualities of the bhāgavata.

Just like Narada Muni. He was son of a maid-servant, but he got the opportunity to serve the great souls during the rainy season, and thus he was infused with their transcendental qualities, specifically their quality of being attached to hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord. So therefore, serving the bhāgavata is very potent. But at the same time, if we serve materialistic persons, then we also develop their qualities, which are very dangerous for us, devotees. And consequently, the Bhāgavatam says,

mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimuktes
tamo-dvāraṁ yoṣitāṁ saṅgi-saṅgam
mahāntas te sama-cittāḥ praśāntā
vimanyavaḥ suhṛdaḥ sādhavo ye

That by serving the mahat, the great souls in Krishna consciousness, doors for liberation opens, and one walks the path of liberation. And by serving materialistic persons who are attached to material enjoyment and sense gratification, one is on the path down. So, serving the devotees is very favorable to Krishna consciousness, and serving the materialists is not favorable. So ultimately, all of our activities are successful if we please Krishna. But even pleasing the devotees is not so easy. There are so many devotees, and each devotee has his own ideas and his own ways, and I am also an individual, I have my own ideas and I have my own ways. So, it is difficult to satisfy so many people. So, Krishna says,

sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

“Give up all your duties and just surrender unto me.” And if we have faith that simply by serving Krishna, all other activities are performed, then we will make advancements in Krishna consciousness. This is real sraddha or faith. Just like we may feel that we have so many duties and responsibilities, so many personalities that we have to satisfy, how to do so many things. Bhāgavatam gives the example that by pouring water on the root of the tree, automatically all the leaves and branches and twigs and flowers are nourished. In the same way, by giving food to the stomach, all the limbs of the body are nourished. So by serving Krishna and pleasing Krishna, automatically everyone becomes satisfied. Otherwise, how can we please so many people? We can’t even please one person, so we please Krishna. And because Krishna is in the heart of everyone, if Krishna is pleased, everyone else will be pleased.

In material life, we also render service because by nature, we have to render service by constitution. But when we try to render service on the material platform, we are not satisfied by such service, neither is the person who we are serving satisfied. In fact, the other person may not even appreciate the fact that we are trying to render service. One favorite example from my own experience in my previous life, although my family consisted of four persons—father, mother, son, and daughter—it is very difficult for these four persons to be together. It wasn’t very easy, even for two of them to be together. So one time, we decided we would make a great effort, and all the family members would get together and have dinner. So, with great expectations, we sat on table, and within moments, my sister started to express her unhappiness about the fact that she didn’t have enough clothes, and my father was expressing his conviction that she had enough clothes, that she didn’t need anymore. So the discussion deteriorated, and she became more and more upset, he became more and more angry. So finally, she got up from the table and ran into her room and slammed the door.

So we went to the room where she was crying, and then I suggested we see how many clothes she does have. So she opened the doors to her wardrobe, and it was a very big storage area. There were like two doors to it; it was completely full of clothes. I couldn’t even begin to count how many different sets of clothes she had. I was actually quite shocked because my wardrobe was definitely less than half the size of hers, and mine was less than half full. I couldn’t actually imagine what you could do with so many sets of clothes. Anyway, she was very upset, and it was very difficult to resolve this. So I realized that my father, he was working so hard to earn money and spending money to buy clothes, but even though she had so many sets of clothes, she still wasn’t satisfied. And in order to earn so much money, he would work long hours and come home late. And my mother also wasn’t satisfied because she wanted him to come home earlier and spend more time at home. And she also, I guess, thought he should be spending more on buying things for her also. So here he was, in one sense, dedicating his life to serving them or us. So nobody was satisfied with his service, and he also wasn’t satisfied. And one of the reasons that he used to work long hours and not come home, besides the fact that he had work, was he didn’t like it at home. He didn’t like all the demands and all the dissatisfaction from the members of the family. So this was another reason why he would come late.

So the conclusion is that if we try to please people materially, we will never be able to satisfy them and we will also not be satisfied. Srila Prabhupada gives the example on the national level. Mahatma Gandhi dedicated his life to serving his nation, but his countrymen were not satisfied, and therefore they killed him. They thought he was too generous with Pakistan or whatever. Same thing with President Kennedy. So we cannot expect any satisfaction by trying to serve people individually without pleasing Krishna first. But if we please Krishna, then everyone else will be pleased. Just like the six Gosvamis, dhīrādhīra-jana-priyau priya-karau nirmatsarau pūjitau, they were pleasing to everyone. They were pleasing to the gentle, and they were also pleasing to the ruffians. They were pleasing to everyone because they were not envious of anyone. And Srinivas Acharya says that they are therefore worshipable because no one can be free from envy unless he is Krishna conscious. So again, we are back to the same point: we have to be Krishna conscious. We have to please Krishna, and then we will be free from envy and all other unwanted contaminations, and we can be pleasing to all others. We have to be convinced that by pleasing Krishna, by doing what Krishna wants, all others will be satisfied. And if we try to satisfy others independent of serving Krishna, then they won’t be satisfied, and we won’t be satisfied. No one will be satisfied. And how to please Krishna? By following His orders, by hearing the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and by serving the devotees.

Of course, there are different grades of devotees, so we cannot expect the same result from serving all grades of devotees. Therefore, Srila Rupa Gosvami explains different categories of devotees, and how to relate to them. But one should serve a more advanced devotee, one should make friendship with an equal devotee, and one should give instructions to a lesser devotee. If we try to be friends with a superior devotee, it won’t work. Similarly, if we try to serve as a superior to someone who is actually on an equal platform, that also won’t work. And if we try to be friends with someone who is on a lower platform, that also won’t work. They can be friends in the sense of helping them with Krishna consciousness, but not in the sense of pretending to be equal. So therefore, in order to adjust our relationships properly, we have to understand what is our position in devotional service, what is the position of others. Otherwise, although we are trying to serve and cultivate favorable relationships, we won’t be able to. So the Bhāgavatam explains that when one is dealing with a superior, one should render service. When one is dealing with an equal, one should make friendship. And when one wants to deal with an inferior, one should take care of the person in every respect.

Krishna consciousness is a great science. We have to learn the science, but it takes time because the science is learned by hearing repeatedly and continuously, nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā. As we were discussing that not in seven days, we can know Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā. You should be continuously hearing Bhāgavatam, and by continuously hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we become purified and enlightened. But it is not so easy to continuously hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam because we don’t have the taste. Even if we sit down with Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we may fall asleep, or our minds may wander. We may not relish in the beginning. So then the process is that by serving the pure devotees, one develops an affinity for the messages of Vasudeva.

So, everyone can make advancement from his respective position, but one should understand what one’s actual position is and act in the appropriate way in terms of one’s own activities of spiritual life and also in terms of one’s relationships with other devotees. Otherwise, inspired by good intentions, we will become entangled in so many unfortunate situations in which neither we nor the persons we are trying to please and serve will be happy or satisfied. And therefore, we come again to the idea that one must know what Krishna wants, and that if one does not know due to one’s own lack of experience or knowledge, then one should take the advice of the spiritual master or the experienced devotees who know what Krishna wants. yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto ‘pi, when one pleases the spiritual master, it is understood that Krishna is pleased. But by pleasing the devotees, one can understand Krishna is please. Because ultimately, devotees and the spiritual master are pleased when Krishna is pleased, and Krishna is pleased when the spiritual master and devotees are pleased. So if we really know the science, then we will be able to please Krishna and everyone else.

So, do anyone has any questions or comments?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:38:48]

Giriraj Swami: How do you know what level another devotee is on and how to relate to him? Including the authorities? I can’t hear because there is some echo in this room.

Rupa Gosvami gives the guideline that if one is a beginning devotee but is still materially attached or addicted to material activities, then one can offer respect to the person within the mind, but one shouldn’t associate intimately with the person. But if one is actually initiated in rendering service according to the instructions of the spiritual master, then the person is accepted as an intermediate devotee and one should offer respectful obeisances. And if devotee is very advanced, then one should surrender to that devotee and offer whatever one has to that devotee. So these are the guidelines. Of course, part of advancing in Krishna consciousness means being able to distinguish different levels of advancement. In the beginning, we can’t distinguish; that is the characteristic of the neophyte. He can’t distinguish. So therefore, to be on the safe side, one should be respectful to everyone. It is like the non-devotees; they can’t distinguish between Krishna and the demigods. So they don’t want to offend anyone, so they worship everyone. They don’t want to commit any offenses against any personalities.

Similarly, they cannot distinguish between a devotee and a non-devotee, so they want to respect any sadhu because they don’t know who is genuine and who is not, but they think if they offend someone who is genuine, then that can create difficulty. So, they don’t want to offend any sadhu. They may be Hare Krishna, Ramakrishna, and so on. They don’t want to offend anyone because they can’t distinguish actually. So, rather than take any chance, they respect everyone equally. So it takes some spiritual advancement to actually distinguish Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and all others as His servants. And that the devotees of Krishna are different from others because they are actually surrendered to Krishna. But then, even amongst the devotees who are apparently surrendered to Krishna, there are different levels of advancements. As one becomes more advanced, one will be able to distinguish. But in the beginning, one can’t distinguish very clearly. In the very beginning, everyone seems advanced. Then after one starts to mature, one realizes that the other devotees aren’t as perfect as we thought they were in the beginning.

It is like a baby. A baby can’t distinguish amongst persons in the outside world. As the baby matures, he may distinguish a little bit. To the baby, everyone is big, but then when the baby starts to grow up, he sees that yes, everyone is big, but some are bigger than others. And then when the child gets older or more mature, he can actually see that some are more or less now similar to his own development. And then, he will see that some are actually less developed. So, as we mature in Krishna consciousness, automatically we will be able to distinguish more clearly. Another example from my past experience: I somehow had the idea that my father was the strongest man in the world. So when I was five years old, I was sent to a special kindergarten school. So, the son of the world heavyweight champion boxer of the world was in the class. So everyone in the class was talking that, “Oh, this boy is the son of Joe Louis, the world heavyweight champion boxer.” So, I came home and asked my father, I said, “Joe Louis’ son is in the class,” “Very good.” “And they say he is a great fighter.” So I said, “If there was a fight between you and him, would you win?” So my father paused for a moment and then he said that, “Most likely Joe Louis will win.” So, that is very disappointing, I never thought up until that time that, I had never considered that anyone could defeat my father.

Of course, we should also be careful of the perverted form of the different relationships. When one meets the inferior that instead of trying to help the person, one feels oneself to be superior and they try to take advantage of the inferior person. There is actually no need to feel proud or being more mature in devotional service because actually, every soul is originally Krishna conscious, and it is just a matter of maturing in devotional service. So just like an older brother shouldn’t feel proud of being older than a younger brother, he should try to help the younger brother, and naturally, the younger brother will also mature in due course. The perverted form of two equals meeting is that they feel proud of themselves, and they advertise about their achievements with each other. And the perverted form of meeting a superior person is that one feels envious and wants to bring the person down. So we should know what is the proper way of dealing and what is the improper way of dealing. And when we see the envious tendency or the proud tendency, we should know that this is material, and we should try to cultivate the spiritual way of associating.

I would like to give another example. Srila Prabhupada said that the mundane way of thinking is that, “Oh, so-and-so is in maya, I don’t want to have anything to do with him.” And the Vaikuntha way of thinking is, “Oh, so-and-so has having difficulty, so let me help him.” So, we have to cultivate the Vaikuntha way of thinking. We can’t just continue to act under the modes of material nature just like mundane conditioned mundane people.