Ratha-yatra—Initiation—Part 01

Giriraj Swami: Everyone repeat,

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Today's topic is living in Illusion. Perhaps the Sanskrit equivalent of illusion is maya. There was one great king named Janaka Raj and Janaka raj had some affection which he wanted to act, so he was sitting on his throne under the trees in the big assembly of sages and he was asking his question but nobody could answer to his satisfaction. Then suddenly one person appeared named Astavakra who was a great sage and he looked very funny because his body was bent in eight places. And therefore he was called Astavakra. So as soon as he appeared all the other sages began to laugh. Because he looks so funny. But the king was very intelligent. He did not laugh because he was eager to get transcendental knowledge so he didn't see the sage in body consciousness. He thought maybe the sage could answer my question.

So he informed this sage that i have some questions i want to ask and Astavakra replied that yes you can ask your question but first you have to get down off of your throne and i will sit on your throne. So, all the other sages began to laugh again hysterically. But the king understood that unless he was ready to take a humble position and a subordinate position he could not get transcendental knowledge. So he got off of his throne and Ashtavakra sat on his throne then the king asked what is maya? His first question: what is maya? Ashtavakra replied that maya is like a dream in a dream we think we are something which we are not .We think things are happening which are not happening so maya is like a dream. Then the king asked how I could get out of the clutches of maya. so immediately Ashtavakra jumped up from the throne and he ran over to one of the trees that was just near the king's throne and he began to wrap his arms around the tree and hold on to the tree and he was crying let me go, let me go, let go of me set me free set me free let go and again the sages like you are on sages they also began to laugh just like you. but the king understood the deep significance of the action and that is we think that we are in the clutches of maya that maya has us in her grip but actually we are holding on to maya we are telling maya let us let us go let us free but we are holding on to maya we are not letting go of her.

So the king's questions were answered by the sage Ashtavakra. So we are all more or less in illusion. The first illusion is that i am the body although we know theoretically we are not the body but practically we act as if we think we are the body if someone says something bad about us or about our husband or about our wife we become very upset.

His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Charu Maharaja ki jaya!

So in the dream we think we are someone who we are not and we think we are related to so many people that we are not. so many things are happening to us which are not actually happening and we take it all very seriously like in the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā Arjuna was very distraught because he felt he had to kill his family members and he was so overwhelmed with anxiety that his body was trembling his hairs were standing on end he dropped his bows and arrows and said Krishna i shall not fight and Krishna very smilingly replied to Arjuna. So Srila Prabhupada has commented on the smile of Krishna. Arjuna was in such a terrible dilemma and he was so overwhelmed with grief why should Krishna be smiling when His friend was suffering.

So Srila Prabhupada explains that sometimes a child is sleeping in his bed and dreaming some horrible nightmare and the mother is standing over the bed and watching and seeing how the child is experiencing so many tribulations in the dream and the mother is smiling.  Why the mother is smiling because she sees the child is in such a state for nothing. He is sleeping very peacefully on the bed but he is dreaming so many things and experiencing so much emotion but the mother is smiling because she knows that actually nothing's happening. It is all in his mind. So we very much identify with the dream of material existence and we experience so many emotions. And liberation means to wake up from the dream and how to wake up from the dream Srila Prabhupada explains that when a person is asleep his other senses cease to function. For example, if the person is sleeping and you come in front of the person and start motioning it is 5:15 it is late. You should have been up at 4:00 o'clock but the person will not respond because his eyes are closed. The only sense that remains open is the sense of hearing and if you say Mr. John Mr. John wake up, wake up then he will wake up.  So it is by sound that the sleeping soul awakens and what sound in particular the holy names of Krishna.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

We are sleeping on the lap of the witch called maya. Srila Prabhupada says material existence means that you put your head on my lap and i slit your throat that is material existence. But anyway by transcendental sound the sleeping soul awakes. by  the transcendental sound vibration of the hare Krishna mantra and by hearing the science of Krishna the philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā  and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  in the seventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there are instructions about varnashrama-dharma and especially in household life the illusions of life become very strong - janasya moho ayam ahaṁ mameti [SB 5.5.8]

That when the man and the woman come together the hard knot of material existence tightens and they become more and more involved in life's illusions of eye and mind so the Bhāgavatam recommends especially for the householders that they should associate with saintly persons and hear from saintly persons again and again and again and again and by repeatedly hearing from saintly persons they can gradually wake up from their dream. They can gradually realize that their attachment to the husband for the wife, wife for the husband, parents for the children are actually illusory based on false identification with the body and again as someone very slowly wakes up from sleep not immediately he hears something vaguely then he thinks is someone actually saying something. He is not sure no nobody is saying it and he goes back to sleep. Again his friend is calling Mr. John Mr. John wake up wake up. They vaguely hear something. Did I hear something like that? One has to hear again and again and again and only very gradually and slowly will one begin to wake up from the slumber of material existence. And then when one actually wakes up he will realize that this is all illusion. This is my wife, this is my son, this is my house. It is all like a dream and then he can engage himself fully in the service of the Lord.

 Of course when one awakens the wife and the children the house is still there but instead of seeing them as mine; my wife, my children, my house, he sees that he himself belongs to Krishna and his wife, his children, his house, everything belongs to Krishna. And they should be engaged in Krishna’s service. Manasa, deho, geho, jo kichu mor, my mind my body my house my family my possessions there then he surrenders them all unto the lotus feet of Krishna. And engaging as the eternal servant of Krishna he experiences real life. Which is eternal, full of bliss and knowledge. So there is great potency in transcendental sounds so we should always associate with devotees and in the association of devotees hear the philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And chant the holy names of Krishna and then we can wake up from this nightmare of material existence and realize our real blissful life with Krishna. So now we have some questions here and Giriraj Maharaja asked me to answer the first question and then he will take the second one.

Question 1: How is it that sometimes an advanced devotee becomes subject to illusion how come sometimes an advanced devotee becomes subject to illusion?

Bhakti Charu Maharaj: Advanced devotee never subjected to Illusion. One who is subject to illusion we have to understand that apparently whatever his position may have been spiritually he was not advanced enough. Because the devotee means one who has taken complete shelter of Krishna. He is in constant touch with Krishna. He is always absorbed in Krishna consciousness. Therefore there is no possibility for him to become subject to illusion or maya. Maya has been compared to darkness and Krishna has been compared to light wherever there is light there is no possibility of darkness. As soon as the sun comes up in the sky there cannot be any darkness.

Similarly, as soon as Krishna appears Krishna within our hearts due to our devotion due to our Krishna consciousness then all the influence of the illusory energy of the Lord immediately disappears. Therefore for an advanced devotee there is no possibility of falling into this illusion. When we say advanced devotee we mean a devotee who has developed his love of Krishna. it has been mentioned in Mādhurya-kādambinī by Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, that one who has developed love for Krishna, one who has attained the stage of prema, for him there is no possibility of falling down into the material nature or falling down into the illusory energy of the Lord.

Now sometimes one may not be advanced enough and he runs the risk falling down therefore the safest record is to remain in the association of devotees and practice the sadhana bhakti, very very sincerely then also even though he may not be very advanced he may not be so advanced still he will not fall down because the association of devotees will give him the necessary protections. So anyone who wants to guard himself from falling down from the spiritual platform should remain in the association of the devotees, associate with them favorably and never commit Vaishnava aparādha.

Question 2: if Krishna is the source of everything please explain good and evil?

Giriraj Swami:  Well Krishna is the source of everything. Perhaps the implication of the question is that if Krishna is good and if everything comes from Him, how could evil also come from Him? Actually the question of good and evil is very much related to the question of Krishna and maya. As Srila Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja quotes -  kṛṣṇa--sūrya-sama; māyā haya andhakāra. Krishna is light and maya is darkness now darkness has no independent existence darkness is actually the absence of light.  So similarly evil is the absence of Krishna consciousness. When we are in the light of Krishna consciousness there is no darkness but when we turn our backs towards Krishna consciousness then immediately there is darkness.

Now the question could be asked if Krishna is the source of everything or if Krishna is all-knowing and all-powerful why He allows us to turn our backs on Him and become bad. The answer is that the spirit soul being part and parcel of Krishna has the same qualities as Krishna in minutely quantity. So just as Krishna is supremely independent the living entities are minutely independent and they have free will. They can choose either to obey the orders of Krishna or in other words to act in Krishna consciousness or they can choose to disobey the orders of Krishna and act in illusory consciousness. And Krishna does not interfere with the minute independence of the living entity. Because ultimately the living entity is meant to love Krishna and love cannot be forced. Love is voluntary. Certainly Krishna could force us to do what He wants but there would be no love.

Srila Prabhupada explains you can be like a father who can force a son to do something but the son won't like it. Either he will do it and within himself be thinking how to get back at the father or get away from the father or he may revolt. So ultimately the father does not force ultimately the father does not force. Because what is the use of force trying to force. so Krishna also does not force. He comes personally and speaks Bhagavad-gītā he gives all good advice even from within the heart he gives good advice. But if the living entity chooses not to obey the instructions of Krishna he becomes bad. It is not that Krishna has created evil or bad but we create bad or evil by our disobedience to Krishna. So if we want to be good we should surrender to Krishna. If we want to make society good we should make strong propaganda for Krishna consciousness. Because if the people in society become Krishna conscious they'll automatically be good. So that should be our effort for in our own personal lives we should become Krishna conscious and if we become Krishna conscious we'll be good. We will develop all good qualities and we should try to help make society good by spreading Krishna consciousness and this was the Srila Prabhupada program.

Question 3: So the next question here- is it true to say that we as living beings are subjected to maya are living out of mahā Vishnu’s yoga-māyā since His dreaming must be reality.

Bhakti Charu Maharaja: Yes, the living entities that come to the material nature are coming out of Maha-Vishnu. Maha-Vishnu glances through the material nature and as a result of His plan the conditioned souls are projected into the material nature and due to that projection material nature or prakriti becomes agitated and its material creation becomes lighter and then different living entities develop their material bodies and then they get a chance to fulfill their desires to enjoy without Krishna in this material nature trying to become the lord and master themselves.  So that is how living entities do come into the material nature and Maha-Vishnu lies in the yoga-nidrā. when due to his plan this material nature becomes manifest it is compared to a dream and in that sense it will not be incorrect to say this material reality is a dream only difference is when we dream in our sleep it is an individual dream that is only we see the dream but the person next to us cannot experience or cannot share our dreams whereas in this material nature what we are going through is a collective dream but since this dream is caused by Maha-Vishnu’s yoga-nidrā and since anything that is connected to Maha-Vishnu or the Supreme Personality of Godhead is reality, this dream is also a real. this is only a reflected reality where the living entities as His Divine Grace Giriraj Maharaja was explaining in the beginning that the living entities are in a kind of a dream state they have forgotten their real identity and that forgetfulness of their real identity is caused by the false ego and that involves their involvement in the material nature is caused by their karmic reaction or the action-reaction principles. As you asked it is true that living entities subjected to maya are living in Maha-Vishnu’s yoga-nidrā and since it is a dream of Maha-Vishnu it is reality. But it is a reflective reality or relative reality it is not absolute reality. As a dream it is reality or as a reflection it is reality.  But it is different from the spiritual reality of absolutely. Hare Krishna.

Question 4: Krishna is the Supreme Controller not even a leaf moves without His command then we have the devas who help Krishna in this material creation then we have the jiva the individual spirit souls please explain ultimately who controls our actions.

Giriraj Swami: Well, the expression that is commonly quoted and accepted is that not a blade of grass moves without the sanction of the Supreme Lord. But again we cannot say that if someone does something bad it is Krishna’s fault or Krishna is responsible. Because not even a blade of grass moves without the sanction of the Supreme Lord. Krishna is in the heart and He gives good advice to the living entity but again the living entity has minute independence. He may follow the advice of Krishna or not. So Krishna will give good advice to the living entity for examples He may tell him don't kill. But the living entity may insist, “No, I want to kill.” But Krishna will appeal to him no please don't kill. But the living entity will insist that I am going to kill. Then finally Krishna will see that the living entity is determined and then He will give His sanction reluctantly all right. You insist you're going to kill all right you kill but you be prepared to suffer the consequences. So Krishna give sanctions but reluctantly and you are responsible, nādatte kasyacit pāpaṁ, Bhagavad-gītā Lord Krishna says that He is not responsible for the sinful activities of the living entities. He is not responsible for the pious activities either, you are responsible.

So ultimately you have free will. And if you are very determined that you will do nonsense then Krishna will reluctantly give sanction all right. What can I say? What can I do? As far as the demigods. The demigods are just extensions of Krishna; they are also living entities who are servants of Lord Krishna.  They cannot give any benediction to any living entity without Krishna’s sanction. So ultimately we have to depend on Krishna. And therefore we do not in Krishna consciousness separately worship demigods. We worship Krishna directly and we don't pray to demigods for material things. We don't even pray to Krishna for material things. We pray to Krishna only for service and although Krishna is neutral He fulfills the desires of the living entities. But he takes special interest in the devotees when they decide to surrender unto him and render service to him. Then he takes special interest and gives them the intelligence by which they can come to him. Although Krishna gives everyone intelligence according to the person's desire. But you give special intelligence to the devotees who want to come back to you thank you.

Question 5: There is one question I will give a very brief answer to that one and go on to the next one: why did Lord Jesus Christ give his people fish why didn't he give them prasādam?

Bhakti Charu Maharaja: Well I am not an exponent of Christianity therefore I am sorry I can't give the answer. Why did he give them fish, why not prasādam? I don't know okay

Question 6: In the mornings if i offer a lota of Jal/water to Lord Krishna with a tulsi leaf what is the correct way of offering the water by pouring the water on a plant or lay the water remain in the lota/container this also applies for fruits?

Bhakti Charu Maharaja: When you offer water to Krishna with tulasi in it Krishna will accept that offering provided that offering is made with love. Krishna says in Bhagavad-gītā (9.26),

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

When one offers some leaves, some flowers, some fruits, and some water I accept that provided that offering is made with love. So the most important consideration here is with how much love you are making that offering to Krishna. And then there is a way to make that offering generally we do not approach Krishna directly. We approach Krishna through our spiritual master so when we offer it to Krishna. We actually offer that offering through the spiritual by chanting his prayer then we send the prayers to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and then we offer the prayer to Krishna. So this is a normal procedure for offering. Now as you asked whether you can operate water to the plant no when you are offering to Krishna you do not offer the water to the plant. But if you want it is also a part of devotional service to offer water to its Tulasi-devi. Tulasi-devi is pure devotee of Lord Krishna, Krishna eternal associate in the spiritual sky who very mercifully appeared in this world to help us make spiritual advancements and go back to Krishna. Therefore by serving tulsi maharani we make spiritual advancements and invoke the mercy of Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Regarding the question about Jesus Christ and the fish Srila Prabhupada has explained that sometimes if one has no alternative he can eat anything. So Jesus Christ was living in the desert and in the desert one may not get fruits and vegetables and other nice ingredients to offer to Krishna. But even in the desert there may be a pond or a lake with fish in it and if there is nothing else to eat then Srila Prabhupada said you can eat fish. But now with so much fruits and grains and vegetables and milk available there is no need to eat fish. Even people who live in the desert like people who live in the Middle East now you know every day they get milk and butter and fruits and vegetables flown in. so they don't need to eat meat, fish or eggs. The other thing which was implied by in His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami answer is that yes, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati, that we should offer Krishna with love and devotion a leaf of fruit, a flower or some water but what if we don't have love and devotion Krishna won't accept. But when we take shelter of a spiritual master he accepts our service. Even if we are not qualified to offer service to Krishna in love but out of the spiritual master's mercy He accepts our service. And then he offers it to Krishna because he has love. When He offers it to Krishna, Krishna accepts it.

Lord Buddha comes in the list of incarnations of Krishna but Lord Buddha had a very special mission. Lord Buddha appeared in India when most of the people who claimed to be followers of the Vedas were killing animals and eating flesh in the name of Vedic sacrifice. So, Lord Buddha came to stop the killing of innocent animals.  But when he approached the people he couldn't really tell them that the Vedas do not permit the sacrifice of animals.  So he introduced a new philosophy of non-violence/ahimsa and he told the people don't follow the Vedas. If the Vedas say kill animals and eat flesh don't follow the Vedas follow me and my philosophy of non-violence. So Srila Prabhupada explains that because Lord Buddha himself was an incarnation of Lord Krishna although He denied the authority of the Vedas and therefore is considered an atheist. But still he told the people that although ultimately you should meditate on the void which is impersonal but because it is very difficult to meditate on the void in the beginning you should meditate on me. And Srila Prabhupada says that because Lord Buddha was an incarnation of Krishna indirectly the people were tricked into worshiping Lord Krishna.

Now sometimes because, janmādy asya yato, the Lord is the origin of everything it is like someone asked the questions that if Krishna is the source of everything please explain good and bad. So we find one of the defects of the conditioned soul is the tendency to cheat. So where does the tendency to cheat come from the tendency to cheat comes from god and god's cheating was exhibited in the incarnation of Lord Buddha. Because he rejected the authority of the Vedas which are actually the orders of Krishna and He preached the philosophy of non-violence which is very inferior to the philosophy of Krishna consciousness. so apparently he cheated he cheated and Srila Prabhupada said yes he did cheat but he cheated for the benefit of the people and he gave the example that sometimes a child may pick up a hundred dollar note and the father will tell the child that oh give me that piece of paper and i will give you a nice candy. So the candy may only be worth two cents and the piece of paper is one hundred dollars.  So apparently the father is cheating. He is giving a two cent candy and taking one hundred dollars. But, because the child doesn't know the value of the piece of paper. Actually the child is not losing. It is better for the child to give up the paper and take the candy which he can appreciate.

So similarly the so-called followers of the Vedas they could not appreciate the real value of the Vedas they were misusing the Veda’s so it is better that they gave up the Vedas and took this two cent philosophy of ahimsa which at least would get them to stop killing animals and eating meat.

Question 7: How can one worship once deities in their own home if everyone or someone in the family objects to deity worship?

Bhakti Charu Maharaja: So, in this age of kali due to the atheistic influence it has become very difficult to practice Krishna consciousness and that is why Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu made the process very simple. He did not emphasize on deity worship, he did not emphasize on performance of yajña or sacrifice, nor did he emphasize on meditation. He gave a very simple process of chanting the holy name of the Lord either collectively or singularly in meditation. So if there is such hindrance the way others are objecting to deity worship and it is becoming extremely difficult than one can take to just chanting the holy name of the Lord. One can chant the holy name sitting at a quiet place or one can come to the temple and congregationally chant with the devotees and that is why Srila Prabhupada actually created ISKCON temple everywhere. So that even though one may not be able to worship the deities at home they can join the temple and take part in worshiping that goes on in the temple.

Question 8: Hare Krishna Maharaja, please explain why we lose the taste for chanting and how do we regain it?

Giriraj Swami: We lose the taste for chanting when we commit offenses. And of all offenses the worst is to blaspheme devotees or offend devotees. Of course disobeying the orders of the spiritual masters is also offensive to the spiritual master. So the way to regain the taste is to stop committing the offense and to get relief from the offense. So especially in the case of Vaishnava aparādha one should approach the offended devotee and beg the devotee to forgive one for one's offense.  But sometimes the offense that one has committed is so serious that even the devotee does not take offense because exalted Vaishnavas do not take offense. But even if the devotee does not take offense Krishna does not tolerate the offense and He punishes the offender. And Krishna’s punishing the offender is beneficial for the offender so that He will stop committing offenses. And it is the way Krishna protects His devotees. Kaunteya pratijānīhi, na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati, Krishna vows to protect His devotees. So someone offends the devotee Krishna takes very Krishna becomes very angry and He takes very serious action. Because he wants to protect his devotees.

So if one is suffering from the effects of some offense and he can't get relief by approaching the offended person then the only recourse is to well then the next step is to serve the offended devotee and try to please him by all means so that the offended devotee will be pacified. And if even then one cannot get relief then one should take a complete shelter of the holy name and by chanting and chanting and chanting and chanting one will gradually get relief from the offenses. Now as the person praised the question one loses the taste for chanting .so the example is given that if someone contracts a serious disease he may not have taste for eating food. And he may not even be able to digest properly but even then if he goes on eating some little bit will be absorbed by the system and although he doesn't get the full benefit of the food at least he will get enough benefit to maintain his life. And very slowly and very gradually he will regain his health. And then when he regains his health he will have a taste for food, he will be able to digest it and he will be strong and healthy. So we have to keep chanting no matter what. And gradually we'll be cured of our disease, material disease, ignorance and offenses and we will become spiritually healthy and then the taste will be there.

Question 9: Why does Lord Krishna appear in His Jagannatha form?

Bhakti Charu Maharaja: Lord Krishna is Jagannatha and Jagannatha is Krishna. The story goes like a long time ago there was a king called Indradyumna who wanted to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead and Krishna appeared to Him as Lord Jagannatha. That is how Lord Jagannatha worship started on this planet. I don't want to get into the elaborate story because that will take a long time. But briefly i just wanted to mention how the worship actually started but there is another aspect of Lord Jagannatha appearance. That is when Krishna was in Dvaraka the queen of Krishna used to notice that although Krishna was in Dvaraka but He was not there. During the day he used to be very absent-minded and at night he used to speak in his dreams calling out to the names of the residents of Vrindavan. His associates there the gopīs the cowherd boys the cowherd men the cows and the calf.

So in this way the queen used to notice that Krishna was not into what Krishna’s heart is in Vrindavan all the time. So one day they requested the mother I am sorry Rohini devi, the mother of Balarama to tell them about Krishna’s past times so mother Rohini assured them that She would tell them about Krishna’s activities in Vrindavan. When Krishna and Balarama would not be there. So one day when Krishna-Balarama was away from the dark the queens approached mother Rohini and requested Her to tell about Krishna pastimes in Vrindavan. So mother Rohini started to narrate Krishna’s pastimes of Vrindavan to the sixteen thousand queens of Krishna in Dvaraka. And Subhadra maharani Subhadra devi was kept at the gate at the door of that assembly hall. So that no unwanted person can end up.

So while mother Rohini was narrating the story or narrating Krishna’s Vrindavan pastimes. Krishna and Balarama appeared there and Subhadra although she was guarding the door just listening to Krishna’s activities in Vrindavan and she became a statue her voice became choked and she couldn't speak and She could not announce that Krishna and Balarama had appeared. But she stretched her arms to stop Krishna and Balarama from entering into the assembly hall. And Krishna and Balarama was stopped from entering but Krishna kept on listening to the narration of mother Rohini of their pastime in Vrindavan. and when while listening to those narrations Krishna and Balarama developed an intense feeling of separation from the their associates in Vrindavan and in their intense feeling of separation their face lit up with a beautiful smile their eyes Lotus like eyes became large and their arms were stretched forward to embrace with a desire to embrace the associates of Vrindavan. So that is how Krishna became Jagannatha and Subhadra devi at that time she also was induced by that emotion of Krishna-Balarama and she felt extremely guilty that she stopped Krishna and Balarama from entering. Therefore out of guilt her arms were withdrawn within her body and she also assumed the similar form of Krishna and Balarama and that is how Subhadra in center is worshiped.