SB 4.8.3–5 – Lord Brahma’s Creations

Giriraj Swami:

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

We read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Four, Chapter Eight, Dhruva Maharaja Leaves Home, Text Three.

TEXT 3

tayoḥ samabhaval lobho

nikṛtiś ca mahā-mate

tābhyāṁ krodhaś ca hiṁsā ca

yad duruktiḥ svasā kaliḥ

TRANSLATION

Maitreya told Vidura: O great soul, from Dambha and Māyā were born Greed and Nikṛti, or Cunning. From their combination came children named Krodha [Anger] and Hiṁsā [Envy], and from their combination were born Kali and his sister Durukti (Harsh Speech).

COMMENT

Please repeat.

There is no purport, so we’ll continue to the next verse.

TEXT 4

duruktau kalir ādhatta
bhayaṁ mṛtyuṁ ca sattama
tayoś ca mithunaṁ jajñe
yātanā nirayas tathā

TRANSLATION

O greatest of all good men, by the combination of Kali and Harsh Speech were born children named Mṛtyu (Death) and Bhīti (Fear). From the combination of Mṛtyu and Bhīti came children named Yātanā (Excessive Pain) and Niraya (Hell).

COMMENT

There is no purport, so we’ll continue to the next verse.

TEXT 5

saṅgraheṇa mayākhyātaḥ

pratisargas tavānagha

triḥ śrutvaitat pumān puṇyaṁ

vidhunoty ātmano malam

TRANSLATION

My dear Vidura, I have summarily explained the causes of devastation. One who hears this description three times attains piety and washes the sinful contamination from his soul.

COMMENT

Please repeat.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The creation takes place on the basis of goodness, but devastation takes place because of irreligion. That is the way of material creation and devastation. Here it is stated that the cause of devastation is Adharma, or Irreligion. The descendants of Irreligion and Falsity, born one after another, are Bluffing, Cheating, Greed, Cunning, Anger, Envy, Quarrel, Harsh Speech, Death, Fear, Severe Pain and Hell. All these descendants are described as signs of devastation. If a person is pious and hears about these causes of devastation, he will feel hatred for all these, and that will cause his advancement in a life of piety. Piety refers to the process of cleansing the heart. As recommended by Lord Caitanya, one has to cleanse the dust from the mirror of the mind, and then advancement on the path of liberation begins. Here also the same process is recommended. Malam means “contamination.” We should learn to despise all the causes of devastation, beginning from irreligion and cheating, and then we shall be able to make advancement in a life of piety. The possibility of our attaining Kṛṣṇa consciousness will be easier, and we shall not be subjected to repeated devastation. The present life is repeated birth and death, but if we seek the path of liberation, we may be saved from repeated suffering.

TRANSLATION AGAIN

My dear Vidura, I have summarily explained the causes of devastation. One who hears this description three times attains piety and washes the sinful contamination from his soul.

COMMENT

It’s very interesting. In these purports, Srila Prabhupada says that we should hate these causes of impiety or causes of devastation. There is a type of pseudo-oneness, in which a person tries to love everyone and everything and not pass judgments on anybody or anything. Of course, there is truth to the idea that we should not judge others, in the sense that we should not judge them unworthy of Krishna consciousness, because Krishna consciousness is good for everyone and meant for everyone.

As stated in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā. Jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam means not covered by karma or jnana. And whatever body and mind a person has, is a result of his or her karma. So, jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam means that one cannot be disqualified from bhakti based on his or her karma. So, in that sense, we should not judge others, because whoever they are, they are eligible for pure devotional service. And our mission in life, following Srila Prabhupada and the Pancha-tattva, is to bring others to Krishna consciousness. In that way, we don’t judge them, but still, we must distinguish, and as Srila Prabhupada says, actually hate these impediments to the progress of the individual and the progress of the world, because they are enemies, and they will not help us. Rather, they will harm us.

Now, one problem with the materialistic society, especially at the present time, in Kali-yuga, is that people embrace irreligion, falsity, bluffing, cheating, greed, cunning, anger, envy, quarrel, harsh speech, and hell. If we, following Srila Prabhupada and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, oppose these things, we will find that we are in a minority. And Kali-yuga is so bad and association is so powerful, that we need the association of pious people. Therefore, Srila Prabhupada said he formed the International Society for Krishna Consciousness to give people the association of devotees, to give the members of the society association with devotees, and to give new people the association of devotees, so they can also become devotees.

Their strength in that association was mentioned earlier, because we were discussing different offsprings of Brahma, and one of them is Narada. In the purport to Text Two, Srila Prabhupada writes,

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Regarding Nārada, it is understood that because his previous life was very pious and his association very good, he was born as Nārada. Others were also born in their own capacities, according to their backgrounds. The law of karma continues birth after birth, and when there is a new creation, the same karma comes back with the living entities. They are born in different capacities according to karma even though their father is originally Brahmā, who is the exalted qualitative incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

COMMENT

So, regarding Narada, in his previous life, he was very pious, and his association very good, and thus he was born as Narada. So, we want to develop, and the two go together, we want to develop piety, and we want to keep good association, and then we’ll be saved from this devastation. What is a good association? What is a bad association? Caitanya-caritāmṛta states sādhu-saṅga, sādhu-saṅga sarva-śāstre kaya lava-mātra sādhu-saṅge sarva-siddhi haya, that by associating with a sadhu or a pure devotee, sādhu-saṅga, sādhu-saṅga, by repeating sādhu-saṅga.

And in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Srila Rupa Gosvami gives a definition of sādhu-saṅga. In this context, sadhu means svajātīyāśaye snigdhe sādhu saṅga svato vare. Svajātī literally means of the same caste or community, but in general terms, we could say like-minded. Svajātīyāśaye snigdhe, and affectionate. To get the benefit of the association of a sadhu, the sadhu should be affectionate to us. Of course, sadhus are, by nature, compassionate, but we can win the affection of the sadhu by submissive service and aural reception.

Just like Narada Muni, he came from a very humble background. He was the son of a maidservant, who was serving sadhus, bhaktivedāntas. And being a young boy in the presence of the sadhus, in the service of his mother, he would also serve the sadhus, and he became an object of their affection. And because of their affection, he made unknowing spiritual advancement, to the point that he became the great Sage Narada, the spiritual master of practically the whole disciplic succession.

So, we want to engage in pious activities, and we want to stay in good association. Because even someone who’s pious can fall down in that association. One example is Ajamila. Ajamila was born in a good brahman family, he was educated in the brahminical principles, but once, when he was outside the house, he saw a low-class man and woman embracing. Seeing that ungodly display, he became agitated, and he wanted to have union with the prostitute. He got so carried away that he gave up his pious wife, Brahmani, and all his religious principles, and he married the prostitute, and to satisfy her, engaged in all sorts of sinful activities. He was pious, but he fell into bad company, but even then, he was saved at the end.

Many of you know the story, and I also spoke about it Friday night. But at the end, at the time of death, the Yamadutas came to snatch his soul from the body and take him to Yamaraja for judgment. And Ajamila had a young son named Narayana. He was very attached to Narayana. Narayana was playing nearby when the Yamadutas came. And Ajamila was so horrified and terrified and panic-stricken, he felt so helpless that he just called for his son, Narayana. When he called the holy name of Narayana, although he was referring to his son, the agents of Narayana came, the Vishnudutas.

They intervened and said to the Yamadutas, “Halt! You have no jurisdiction over the soul.” And they said, “We do! He is very sinful. We have jurisdiction over all sinful souls and we are going to take him to Yamaraja for punishment.” They said, “No, he chanted the holy name of Narayana, and because of that, he was freed from sinful reactions, and the necessity of facing hellish punishment.”

There is a long discussion, but the result is that because of chanting the holy name of Narayana, even though he was addressing his son, he was spared death, he was allowed to continue in that body. And having heard the discussion of the Vishnudutas with the Yamadutas, he became purified, he became enlightened in spiritual knowledge, and he left his wife to whom he was so attached. He even left his son Narayana to whom he was so attached. He went to the holy town of Haridvara, and he engaged in devotional service there.

Now, in the science of chanting, there are three stages. One is called nāma-aparādha, that’s offensive chanting; one is nāma-ābhāsa, it means a glimpse of pure chanting, and then there is śuddha-nāma, which is pure chanting. Ajamila, calling the name of Narayana at the time of death, was nāma-ābhāsa, it wasn’t offensive. For example, to commit sin on the strength of chanting is offensive. If you think well, by chanting, I can become free from sinful reactions, so I’ll just engage in sinful reactions and then I’ll chant to counteract the reaction, that’s an offense. But that wasn’t Ajamila’s mentality, he was just helpless, he was just calling out the name of Narayana, it wasn’t pure chanting, but it was nāma-ābhāsa. And as a result of nāma-ābhāsa, he was liberated from sinful reactions and freed from hellish punishment.

He went to Haridvara, he engaged in the process of bhakti-yoga, and in the end, his chanting became pure, became perfect. He developed prema, love for Krishna, and then the same Vishnudutas, who he had seen earlier, came with a Vaikuntha airplane to take him back home, back to Godhead. So, even if our chanting is not pure, and nobody’s chanting is pure in the beginning, we should keep chanting, that will help us to become pure.

Srila Prabhupada sometimes quoted a cartoon that he had seen. An old man and his wife were sitting together, and the wife was saying, “Chant, chant, chant,” and the old man was saying, “Can’t, can’t, can’t.” And with the same effort that it took him to say, “Can’t, can’t, can’t,” he could have chanted. But that’s sort of a causeless unwillingness of the conditioned soul, envious soul. But if we chant, then we’ll get the result. It’s mentioned that the remedy for offensive chanting is just continued chanting. And that chanting, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam, cleanses the dirty things from the heart. All these things that we’ve read about are cleansed by chanting. We make spiritual advancement, and ultimately, come to the perfect stage.

It mentions here, “One who hears this description three times, attains piety and washes the sinful contamination from his soul.” So, I suggest that right here and now, we hear this three times and get this tremendous benefit. We will take it that this description begins with Text one, which we didn’t read, we began with Text three. But we’ll read the Sanskrit and the English. I was concerned because you won’t have it in front of you, but it says, “One who hears this.” So, you just have to hear, which isn’t always that easy because our minds wander. My mind might be wandering too, but at least we hope that while I’m reading this, I’ll be attentive, and I hope you will be too. Please listen carefully.

TEXT 1

maitreya uvāca
sanakādyā nāradaś ca
ṛbhur haṁso ’ruṇir yatiḥ
naite gṛhān brahma-sutā
hy āvasann ūrdhva-retasaḥ

TRANSLATION

The great sage Maitreya said: The four great Kumāra sages headed by Sanaka, as well as Nārada, Ṛbhu, Haṁsa, Aruṇi and Yati, all sons of Brahmā, did not live at home, but became ūrdhva-retā, or naiṣṭhika-brahmacārīs, unadulterated celibates.

TEXT 2

mṛṣādharmasya bhāryāsīd

dambhaṁ māyāṁ ca śatru-han

asūta mithunaṁ tat tu

nirṛtir jagṛhe ‘prajaḥ

TRANSLATION

Another son of Lord Brahmā was Irreligion, whose wife’s name was Falsity. From their combination were born two demons named Dambha, or Bluffing, and Māyā, or Cheating. These two demons were taken by a demon named Nirṛti, who had no children.

TEXT 3

tayoḥ samabhaval lobho
nikṛtiś ca mahā-mate
tābhyāṁ krodhaś ca hiṁsā ca
yad duruktiḥ svasā kaliḥ

TRANSLATION

Maitreya told Vidura: O great soul, from Dambha and Māyā were born Greed and Nikṛti, or Cunning. From their combination came children named Krodha [Anger] and Hiṁsā [Envy], and from their combination were born Kali and his sister Durukti (Harsh Speech).

TEXT 4

O greatest of all good men, by the combination of Kali and Harsh Speech were born children named Mṛtyu (Death) and Bhīti (Fear). From the combination of Mṛtyu and Bhīti came children named Yātanā (Excessive Pain) and Niraya (Hell).

TEXT 5

saṅgraheṇa mayākhyātaḥ
pratisargas tavānagha
triḥ śrutvaitat pumān puṇyaṁ
vidhunoty ātmano malam

TRANSLATION

My dear Vidura, I have summarily explained the causes of devastation. One who hears this description three times attains piety and washes the sinful contamination from his soul.

Devotee: Does that count as the second time, or is it the first time?

Giriraj Swami: This is the first time, because when we were having the class, we didn’t start from the beginning.

Devotee: Okay, so we’ll be doing this two more times.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah. I mean, this is a great benediction.

Devotee: I request that you read the Sanskrit for Text four, you skipped it.

Giriraj Swami: Sorry?

Devotee: You just skipped the Sanskrit for Text four.

Giriraj Swami: Oh! He is the yajña referee. Wow, that’s very good. All right.

TEXT 4

duruktau kalir ādhatta
bhayaṁ mṛtyuṁ ca sattama
tayoś ca mithunaṁ jajñe
yātanā nirayas tathā

COMMENT

I read the translation.

Devotee: Yeah, you can skip that one.

Giriraj Swami: Okay. All right, so we caught up. Why don’t you read the next?

Devotee: Okay, I can do it. Where is the mic?

TEXT 1

maitreya uvāca
sanakādyā nāradaś ca
ṛbhur haṁso ’ruṇir yatiḥ
naite gṛhān brahma-sutā
hy āvasann ūrdhva-retasaḥ

TRANSLATION

The great sage Maitreya said: The four great Kumāra sages headed by Sanaka, as well as Nārada, Ṛbhu, Haṁsa, Aruṇi and Yati, all sons of Brahmā, did not live at home, but became ūrdhva-retā, or naiṣṭhika-brahmacārīs, unadulterated celibates.

TEXT 2

mṛṣādharmasya bhāryāsīd

dambhaṁ māyāṁ ca śatru-han

asūta mithunaṁ tat tu

nirṛtir jagṛhe ‘prajaḥ

TRANSLATION

Another son of Lord Brahmā was Irreligion, whose wife’s name was Falsity. From their combination were born two demons named Dambha, or Bluffing, and Māyā, or Cheating. These two demons were taken by a demon named Nirṛti, who had no children.

TEXT 3

tayoḥ samabhaval lobho

nikṛtiś ca mahā-mate

tābhyāṁ krodhaś ca hiṁsā ca

yad duruktiḥ svasā kaliḥ

TRANSLATION

Maitreya told Vidura: O great soul, from Dambha and Māyā were born Greed and Nikṛti, or Cunning. From their combination came children named Krodha [Anger] and Hiṁsā [Envy], and from their combination were born Kali and his sister Durukti (Harsh Speech).

TEXT 4

duruktau kalir ādhatta

bhayaṁ mṛtyuṁ ca sattama

tayoś ca mithunaṁ jajñe

yātanā nirayas tathā

TRANSLATION

O greatest of all good men, by the combination of Kali and Harsh Speech were born children named Mṛtyu (Death) and Bhīti (Fear). From the combination of Mṛtyu and Bhīti came children named Yātanā (Excessive Pain) and Niraya (Hell).

TEXT 5

saṅgraheṇa mayākhyātaḥ
pratisargas tavānagha
triḥ śrutvaitat pumān puṇyaṁ
vidhunoty ātmano malam

TRANSLATION

My dear Vidura, I have summarily explained the causes of devastation. One who hears this description three times attains piety and washes the sinful contamination from his soul.

Giriraj Swami: Okay, one more time. I can hardly wait.

TEXT 1

maitreya uvāca

sanakādyā nāradaś ca

ṛbhur haṁso ‘ruṇir yatiḥ

naite gṛhān brahma-sutā

hy āvasann ūrdhva-retasaḥ

TRANSLATION

The great sage Maitreya said: The four great Kumāra sages headed by Sanaka, as well as Nārada, Ṛbhu, Haṁsa, Aruṇi and Yati, all sons of Brahmā, did not live at home, but became ūrdhva-retā, or naiṣṭhika-brahmacārīs, unadulterated celibates.

TEXT 2

mṛṣādharmasya bhāryāsīd

dambhaṁ māyāṁ ca śatru-han

asūta mithunaṁ tat tu

nirṛtir jagṛhe ‘prajaḥ

TRANSLATION

Another son of Lord Brahmā was Irreligion, whose wife’s name was Falsity. From their combination were born two demons named Dambha, or Bluffing, and Māyā, or Cheating. These two demons were taken by a demon named Nirṛti, who had no children.

TEXT 3

tayoḥ samabhaval lobho

nikṛtiś ca mahā-mate

tābhyāṁ krodhaś ca hiṁsā ca

yad duruktiḥ svasā kaliḥ

TRANSLATION

Maitreya told Vidura: O great soul, from Dambha and Māyā were born Greed and Nikṛti, or Cunning. From their combination came children named Krodha [Anger] and Hiṁsā [Envy], and from their combination were born Kali and his sister Durukti (Harsh Speech).

TEXT 4

duruktau kalir ādhatta

bhayaṁ mṛtyuṁ ca sattama

tayoś ca mithunaṁ jajñe

yātanā nirayas tathā

TRANSLATION

O greatest of all good men, by the combination of Kali and Harsh Speech were born children named Mṛtyu (Death) and Bhīti (Fear). From the combination of Mṛtyu and Bhīti came children named Yātanā (Excessive Pain) and Niraya (Hell).

TEXT 5

saṅgraheṇa mayākhyātaḥ

pratisargas tavānagha

triḥ śrutvaitat pumān puṇyaṁ

vidhunoty ātmano malam

TRANSLATION

My dear Vidura, I have summarily explained the causes of devastation. One who hears this description three times attains piety and washes the sinful contamination from his soul.

COMMENT

So, my dear pious and sinless devotees, I’m honored to be in your presence, and I just want to say a few words about repetition.

In the early days, our godsister Jadurani read or heard from Srila Prabhupada that the moon is churned from the ocean of milk, and she couldn’t understand it. She asked, “What does that mean the moon is churned from the ocean of milk?” So, Srila Prabhupada replied, “Just repeat, the moon is churned from the ocean of milk.” You can repeat it. He had her repeat it three times, and then he said, “Now, do you understand?” And she said, “Yes, the moon is churned from the ocean of milk.”

In a somewhat similar vein, when The Nectar of Devotion book first came out, some parts of it are quite advanced. So, the devotees asked Srila Prabhupada about what should they do if they don’t understand something, and Srila Prabhupada replied that they should just read it again and again. There is a benefit to repetition, things sink in. And as Srila Prabhupada said, “It’s not enough that we say that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead in one purport, but we will say that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead in every purport.” I mean, from a literary point of view, repetition is generally not considered a good style, but repetition does have its place. And especially, repeating Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, repeating the holy name, and repeating the glories of the Lord and His devotees. Hare Krishna.

Are there any questions or comments? Yes?

Devotee: I was very happy to hear that three times. Thank you for letting us chant one more time. There are numerous things like that. I mean, every morning, we do puja and we walk around, and while we are doing that, we are sure our sins are being eradicated, we fast on the Ekādaśī. In other words, there are kinds of benefits like that, and the very chanting of the holy name that we do. What’s the point of adding something like this? In other words, it’s great that we have these five ritual benefits, but suppose I wasn’t able to read that or I never got to learn Bhāgavatam, would I still be able to be pure just by doing one of the other things?

Giriraj Swami: Well, we can use all the help that we can get. And so, the more we do to become pious and free from sin, the better it is. Because we’ve likely been accumulating sins for many lifetimes, so it’s a continuous effort. In the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, The Nectar of Devotion, Srila Rupa Gosvami discusses sin. Of course, one of the six characteristics of pure devotional service, in general, is kleśaghnī, which means that it destroys miseries, which are caused by sin. And he analyzes the different, you could say, phases of sin, or stages. There is the bīja, which is the seed or the sinful idea, there is kūṭa, and there is immature and mature. He says that all of these different phases are eradicated by bhakti-yoga, pure devotional service.

But commentators such as Srila Jiva Gosvami and Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura have discussed the order in which this eradication takes place, kleśaghnī. But the conclusion is that we need all the help we can get, and we should engage in as many of the activities of devotional service as possible. But even then, some items are more important than others, some are more potent than others, and so, we would give preference to those. After enumerating the sixty-four items of devotional service, Rupa Gosvami says that five are especially potent, and that even with a slight association with any one of them, one can become perfect.

There is a summary of the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta in Madhya Twenty-Two and Twenty-Three. There, in the Bengali, Krishna dasa Kaviraja mentions those five;

1. sādhu-saṅga, that’s one of the five.
2. nāma-kīrtana, chanting of the holy name.
3. bhāgavata-śravaṇam, hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
4. mūrtira śraddhayā sevana, serving the Deity or veneration.
5. mathurā-vāsa, residing in holy place like Mathura or a temple where the deity of Vishnu is installed.

So, those are the five most potent. We give priority to those, and Srila Prabhupada has built that into our program in ISKCON. But we can and should do as many as possible, but sometimes we can’t do everything, so we should know what is more important and what is less important, and then choose the more important ones.

There was a young man who joined our group when we were traveling in India quite early on, before we even had our properties in Mayapur, Vrindavan, and Bombay. It was very unusual because back then, not that many people from the West went to India, and he came. I think he was from America. Somehow, he met up with our party, and he started to travel with us. In a way, he was quite humble. We would eat very simply then, we would just sit down on the floor, on the ground, and eat off of leaf plates. And he would say, “Krishna is very kind, He is feeding even me. I’m such a low creature and He is feeding me.”

Coming to this point of priority, sometimes we have to prioritize one activity or another. So, this young man asked Srila Prabhupada, “Suppose it’s late and I still have rounds to chant, and someone comes who could become a life member, is it more important to finish my rounds or to make him a life member?” And of course, there is an assumption in the question, which is, “Which of the two?” I mean, one could conceivably do both, but anyway, hypothetically, which one? Then he asked, it was sort of in the same vein, “Why do we have to chant sixteen rounds?” It’s sort of his purport to his own question. “If all service is absolute, then why do we have to chant sixteen rounds?”

Srila Prabhupada gave different arguments, and there is a very significant purport in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. The verse is about always remembering Krishna and never forgetting Him, and in the purport, Srila Prabhupada says that in order to always remember Krishna and never forget Him, we must chant a minimum sixteen rounds every day. And of all the instructions of the spiritual master, the instruction to chant a minimum of sixteen rounds is most essential.

He was saying, “Okay, make a life member or finish my rounds? If all service is absolute, why do I have to chant sixteen rounds?” Srila Prabhupada was explaining, and at a certain point, he didn’t often do this, but at a certain point, Srila Prabhupada just really asserted his authority without any further discussion. Of course, there was prior discussion, he sort of sat up very erect and said, “Why do you have to chant sixteen rounds? Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead wants you to chant sixteen rounds.”

Then to emphasize the importance of the sixteen rounds, Srila Prabhupada said, “You are so concerned about sleeping,” because that was the implication, “If I have to choose between finishing my rounds or making a life member, which should I do?” But you could do both, you just have to stay up later. So, Srila Prabhupada said, “If you are so attached to sleeping, you can eat and sleep all day long, but you must chant sixteen rounds.” Then Srila Prabhupada said to all the other devotees, “This is a special prerogative for him, this is not for you.”

Any other questions or comments?

Devotee: The word hiṁsā is defined as envy, and we learned that when Buddha came, His primary mission was ahimsa, to get the population to stop killing animals. But nowadays, we often hear ahimsa translated as non-violence, but it appears that violence may be necessary in human society to occur by necessary elements. But envy is a different thing, killing animals means, we don’t need to, there is no necessity, we just are envious, they have something we want, we want to eat their meat, so it’s said it’s envy. I just raised this question in my mind that there is a difference between envy and violence that results from that, and just violence.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that’s true. I mean, ordinarily, the two go together, envy and violence, but not necessarily. [Unintelligible 01:12:35]?

Devotee: When you see Prabhupada use the word envy or envious, you have to ask yourself, there is often an added meaning there. And this goes back to the Oxford English Dictionary, which many of the devotees don’t realize that sometimes Prabhupada’s sources of the meaning of the words he uses. So, to be envious, Prabhupada often uses it to mean to bear malice to it. I think in the Kṛṣṇa book it somewhere says that we should not be envious even of an ant. So, “There is nothing an ant has that I want.” But that’s not what he means, he means we shouldn’t be neglectful with this till the end. Now, when you get to the malice, it’s much closer to the violence because that’s kind of what we see as doing violence to others.

I think that in this case, that’s probably what it is, but we all know ahimsa means non-violence and that’s appeared several times in the Bhagavad-gītā. But hiṁsā means kind of what precedes violence, which is the sense of malice and malevolence toward others, that’s what this hiṁsā means. A couple of other words. One who reads Prabhupada’s book and then he comes across a word that kind of causes him to think.

The word sufficient and sufficiently, this is an interesting case because most of the time, it just means what we already know, that it is enough. But you’ll find things like Nanda Maharaja sufficiently remunerated the brahman priests who performed the birth ceremony for Krishna. Well, that means he just gave them enough so they wouldn’t complain? No. Sufficiently, there is the second meaning, which means abundantly, profusely. And many times, the sufficient of rain doesn’t mean it’s just enough for farming, that means there is plenty of rain. So, watch for that one.

Another one is flavor, which I think Prabhupada uses flavor often to mean fragrance. And now, I’ll tell you a little story about the Kṛṣṇa book. Because when the Kṛṣṇa book came out, everyone was reading and reading, and we got to the Chapter, I think it was fifty-nine in the original Kṛṣṇa book. The editors merged two chapters so we’ve only got eighty-nine chapters in that first Kṛṣṇa book. Anyway, that’s another story. So, the talks between Rukmini and Krishna. So, it gets to the point where Rukmini is responding and she has a whole soliloquy there, and she said something like this, “Anyone, any woman who has not tasted the flavor of your lotus feet will have to accept a husband, just a bag full of bones, blood.” Really heavy.

So, the devotees say, “Rukmini and the queens must be tasting Krishna’s lotus feet. There is a flavor there, unique spiritual favor.” But no, Prabhupada uses flavor to mean fragrance, and tasting there means relishing. I mean, this was obvious when we went to the actual Tenth Canto, gandha, fragrance. So, that comes up periodically, you find it in the Gītā. We finally made them all fragrance so that it wouldn’t be confusing. There are a few words like that, a few others if you are interested, envy one of them. I think that’s what happened with hiṁsā.

Giriraj Swami: I’m interested in the others; I think everyone is. If you could think of them. . . Okay. We had a godbrother, I say “had” because he passed on, named [Unintelligible 01:17:00], he was black bodied. And after a good meal, he would always say, “We have dined sufficiently,” meaning abundantly. It was very cute the way he would say that.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Maharaja. Thank you for the nice class. So, towards the end, you were mentioning these five processes, which you said can be eradicated: serving the Deity, living in a holy place, chanting and hearing Bhāgavatam etc. At the end of the Gītā, Krishna says, “Just surrender to Me and I’ll liberate you from all sinful reactions.” So, I was curious as to why Krishna said He would deliver us from the sinful reaction rather than the sin itself and relating that back to these five items. Is the eradication of sin more of our endeavor through these five items? If not, why is Krishna saying, “I’ll deliver you from sinful reactions” rather than the sin itself?

Giriraj Swami: Well, in Srila Rupa Gosvami’s discussion of sin, and what we discussed, bija, kūṭa. What is mature?

Devotee: Aprārabdha and prārabdha?

Giriraj Swami: Yeah. The desire or the tendency to commit sin is also a sinful reaction. So, when you surrender to Krishna and become free from sinful reactions, that includes the desire to sin, which is really important. Surrender means engaging in bhakti-yoga, so that’s part of the beneficial effects of engaging in bhakti-yoga, that all the different phases of sin are eradicated.

Devotee: So, those five that you mentioned, I just looked it up; associating with devotees, chanting the holy name of the Lord, hearing Bhāgavatam, association of devotees, residing in Mathura or other holy place, and worshiping the Deity with faith and veneration. The benefits are given in the next verse, that is not eradication of sin, it’s beyond that. These five items of devotional service are the best of all, even a slight performance of these five awakens love for Krishna. That distinction between getting eradication of sin and getting love for Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, yeah. Yes, Narottama?

Devotee: Hare Krishna. In the purport to the fifth verse, it was said that creation is based on goodness, but we understand that creation is in the mode of passion and maintenance is in the mode of goodness.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, I noticed that. But would you say that Lord Brahma is in the mode of passion?

Devotee: No, Shiva is also not in the mode of ignorance, but he is in charge.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, that’s the point. So, even though Brahma is in charge of the mode of passion and he is the creator, it doesn’t mean he is in the mode of passion.

Devotee: My question is that he is saying that creation is based on mode goodness, as it says there.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, creation takes place on the basis of goodness. And you read the rest of it, “But devastation takes place because of irreligion.”

Devotee: You say that the passionate activities of kshatriyas are supposed to be passionate, but their passionate activities are the basis of goodness also, it’s to preserve the society.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, does that make sense? Does that answer your question?

Devotee: Brahma’s creating the universe is an active passion, but the basis is goodness.

Giriraj Swami: Okay. So, today is Srila Gaurakishora dasa Babaji Maharaja’s disappearance day. We’ll be having a puṣpāñjali meeting at 9:45.

Devotee: Yeah, between 9:45 and 10:00, no later than 10:00. It’ll start at 10:00.

Giriraj Swami: Okay, and fasting until noon. In Ekādaśī, generally, try to chant extra rounds plus Kartik. So, I will be staying in the temple and chanting japa. Anyone who wants to, can stay, come, and go. Granthraj Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam ki jaya! Pious and sinless devotees ki jaya! Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Oh I have another word, I remembered?

Giriraj Swami: Give him the mic.

Devotee: This comes up quite a bit. If you read the introduction to the Īśopaniṣad, Prabhupada talks about the purpose of the Vedas, and I was wondering about that. I mean, that makes sense, what’s the purpose of the Vedas, but really in the context, it seemed like he was talking about the purport of the Vedas, the meaning of the Vedas. And sure enough, you go to the Oxford English and the word purpose, you go down a list, and purport, meaning, is there, believe it or not.

Giriraj Swami: Wow.

Devotee: So, usually, this purpose can mean purport, but rarely purport means purpose. But you find that in twenty-four or twenty-six where Lord Chaitanya, He is explaining the ātmārāma verse. So, it started to come up, the purport of this word, and now we are going to give the meaning, “Wait a minute, the purport?” “The purpose of this word,” and I said, “Okay, it’s purport.” You have to watch that, sometimes they are interchangeably used, be careful. Haribol!

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.