Attachment to the Conception

In our religious books we will see very simple-simple things, but the problem is that we cannot follow anything perfectly. If we tried to follow it, then only one sloka would be sufficient for our entire life. One sloka means like one of those from Sri Sri Prapanna Jivanamritam. It is a very simple book:

ভগবদ্ভক্তিতঃ সর্ব্বমিত্যুৎসৃজ্য বিধেরপি ।
কৈঙ্কর্য্যং কৃষ্ণপাদৈকাশ্রয়ত্বং শরণাগতিঃ

bhagavad-bhaktitah sarvam ity utsrjya vidher api
kainkaryam krsna-padaikasrayatvam saranagatih

'Having faith that everything is attained by serving the Supreme Lord, abandoning subservience to even scriptural injunctions, and taking shelter of Sri Krishna's feet exclusively, is known as saranagati.'

(Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamritam, 1.35)

'Surrender to Krishna and do your job, and all the result will go towards the service of Krishna.' This is perfect. If we follow this, we will have no difficulty.

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's songs are also quite simple. I have told about it many times. Every song has some life; and we can get our life back through his songs. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur wrote short songs, short books, but in those songs and books he covered everything, including the lifestyle in Bengal, many philosophical instructions and discourses.

Just this morning I was talking about the sloka that is recited at the time of taking maha-prasadam. Our devotees do not think, 'It is maha-prasadam.' They think, 'It is food.' It is not good. When you take something, take maha-prasadam, that will be good. If you take food, it may nourish your health, but it will not nourish your soul, your mind or your spiritual life. But that kind of nourishment is necessary.

মহাপ্রসাদে গোবিন্দে নাম-ব্রহ্মণি বৈষ্ণবে ।
স্বল্পপুণ্যবতাং রাজন্ বিশ্বাসো নৈব জায়তে ॥

mahaprasade govinde nama-brahmani vaisnave
svalpa-punya-vatam rajan visvaso naiva jayate

‘O King, one whose fortune is meagre never develops strong faith in maha-prasad, Govinda, the Holy Name or Vaishnavs.’

It is all about faith. We say that we have faith in maha-prasad, in Krishna, in Govinda, in the Holy Name – we know all these glories – but do we have real faith in all this? Do we have faith in Vaishnavs? We do not. If we try to realise and scrutinise it, we will understand clearly what faith means:

'শ্রদ্ধা' শব্দে—বিস্বাস কহে সুদৃঢ় নিশ্চয় ।
কৃষ্ণে ভক্তি কৈলে সর্ব্বকর্ম্ম কৃত হয় ॥

‘sraddha’-sabde visvasa kahe sudrdha nischaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

‘Sraddha is a firm, determined faith that by serving Krishna all actions are accomplished.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.62)

It is a very simple sloka, but this one sloka is sufficient to make one's life successful. I have told many times that it is not necessary to have a whole Ganges full of knowledge. What will you do with so much knowledge? It is a simple matter. Scriptures say that in Kali-yuga there is no other practice, no other way except for chanting the Holy Name. You can see this simple sloka:

হরের্নাম হরের্নাম হরের্নামৈব কেবলম্ ।
কলৌ নাস্ত্যেব নাস্ত্যেব নাস্ত্যেব গতিরন্যথা ॥

harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha

‘Chanting the Holy Name, chanting the Holy Name, chanting the Holy Name – there is no other way, no other way, no other way.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.7.76)

It is not necessary to search for anything – only chant the Holy Name of the Lord. There is no alternative to the Harinama maha-mantra.

udaya-mahima-rasmi ryati sitamsurastam
hatavidhi lasitanam hi vichitro vipakah

'Unlike the predictable rising and setting of the sun and the moon, the turns of one's fate are full of wonders.'

Somewhere the sun is rising, somewhere the sun is setting – days and nights are passing in our lives as we keep ourselves busy with our own activities. Whatever position comes in our lives, we must be steady with our Master's advice, with Mahaprabhu's advice and preaching. 'Bala Krsna, bhaja Krsna, kara Krsna siksa (বল কৃষ্ণ, ভজ কৃষ্ণ, কর কৃষ্ণ শিক্ষা). Please chant Krishna's Name, worship Krishna and practise Krishna's teachings' – this is Mahaprabhu's advice.

Srimad Bhagavad-gita is another very short book (seven hundred verses only), but everything is included in it: all knowledge, all advice of the scriptures, everything is there. Among our scriptures, there are very big books -- the four Vedas, the six Darasans, the eighteen Puranas, Vedanta Darshan, Mahabharata – but Srimad Bhagavad-gita contains the gist of all these scriptures. So, just this one book can give us sufficient knowledge and advice, and we can get service to the Lord through it. The books of our Guru Maharaj can also help us. If we study them, we will have no problem provided we become attached to the conception expressed there.

Question: If a devotee is sincere but still has some mundane desires within his heart, can he inspire spiritual sincerity in others?

We have mundane desires because we live in the mundane world. Everything is mundane here, but we should try to transform that mundane into transcendental. When you see a flower or some fruit, it seems mundane to you at present, but if you offer it with a mantram to a Deity or a devotee, then it gets a transcendental form, regardless of whether you can see it or not. Suppose we are walking down the road and a flower falls from a tree. We smash it with our foot and go forward; we do not care about the flower. But if a flower is offered to a Deity or a devotee, then we cannot smash it by our foot anymore. Our perception automatically changes. The same happens to those who enter Krishna consciousness. It is all about consciousness. Everything changes through consciousness. Our consciousness can be transcendental or material. At present we exist within material consciousness, but it can be changed. Uddhav said to Krishna in Srimad Bhagavatam:

ত্বয়োপভুক্তস্রগ্গন্ধবাসোঽলঙ্কারচর্চ্চিতাঃ ।
উচ্ছিষ্টভোজিনো দাসাস্তব মায়াং জয়েম হি ॥

tvayopabhukta-srag-gandha, vaso 'lankara-charchchitah
uchchhista bhojino dasas, tava mayam jayema hi

'Adorned with the articles that have been offered to You, such as garlands, fragrant clothing, and ornaments, we, Your personal servitors who partake of Your holy remnants alone, will certainly be able to conquer Your illusory energy (maya).'

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.6.46)

Everything looks mundane at first, but when it is offered to the Lord, it gets a transcendental form and we take it as prasadam. Prasadam means His remnants – when we take something as His remnants, then our action goes in another way.

We have seen a devotee of Guru Maharaj who did not take anything except his remnants. I was surprised to see it. Guru Maharaj usually took prasadam earlier. It means that when a plate with rice, dal, etc. (whatever was offered to the Deities) came to him, he would offer it himself to Prabhupad Srila Saraswati Thakur and then take it. Later, that Krishna-prasadam came to that devotee, and every day he would take it. Guru Maharaj took very little prasadam – he would take maybe one hundred grams total, and the remnants would be about 250 grams. Every day I thought, 'Why is he taking it? When I bring prasadam from the kitchen, it is warm, but he is taking all the cold remnants. If he took it immediately, then it would be not a problem, it would be still warm, but he took it after one hour when everything was already cold.' Still, that devotee never changed his habit – he would take that prasadam, and that is it. He lived on the remnants of Srila Guru Maharaj.

I have seen many devotees like that. On the appearance or disappearance day of Srila Gaurs Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj we offered some chilli subji. Nobody could eat it, but that one devotee did not leave it. He even ate a preparation from mankachu (colocasia/taro leaves) – it is very itchy, so we did not eat it, but he ate it.

'Why are you eating it?' I asked him once. 'Give it to the cows!'

'No, no. If I can take it, I shall take it,' he replied. His mentality was, 'I shall take remnants of the Deity or the devotee.'

One day I went to Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir to see Prabhupad Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj. He was very angry that day. As soon as I entered, he said to me, 'Oh, Govinda Maharaj, just see what this man has done!' His godbrother had come and thrown some prasadam on the ground. Whenever anybody came (it could be his godbrother, disciple or anybody else), Srila Swami Maharaj always offered them some prasadam: some fruit or a savoury. That godbrother took the prasadam from him, but he hid it and threw it later away secretly. Srila Swami Maharaj's disciple picked it up and ate it.

There was also a highly qualified lawyer with Srila Swami Maharaj Prabhupad that day; I know him. I told Prabhupad, 'Prabhupad, it is not a big offence for him because he is your godbrother, not your disciple. You know what godbrothers are like. Why are you getting angry?'

The lawyer said, 'Prabhupad says that it is prasadam, then it is prasadam, there can be no question of that. How could he throw it away?'

I explained, 'Prabhupad is Prabhupad, he thinks it is prasadam, so he gives it as prasadam, it is correct, but that man is his godbrother, so he does not have that kind of respect for him. His disciples believe it, they have faith that if their guru gives them prasadam, then it is prasadam. There is no question whether it is transcendental or material – it is prasadam, the remnants of the Lord, so they take it and get a good result.'

'But Prabhupad said that it was prasadam, then it is prasadam. What question can there be?' the lawyer asked.

'Yes,' I said, 'there is no question for me – if Prabhupad gives anything to me, I will eat it. But that was his godbrother, do not forget it.'

So, it is all about faith. If a devotee is fortunate, then they will think that whatever comes to them is transcendental. But not everybody will feel it. It is natural. It depends on one's faith and ability to believe. If something is written in the scriptures or said by a devotee, a guru, or a Vaishnav, then it must be true. Even if it is not revealed to me, it does not matter. When scriptures say that it is prasadam, then it is prasadam. I have seen in the whole of India that when you offer something to the Deity or devotee, to any god, everybody honours that flower, fruit or ingredient as prasadam and eat it. People may not realise whether it is transcendental or material, but their idea is that it is prasadam, so it is transcendental.

This is how faith works, and this is how honour comes. Suppose you print your father's photo. Materially, it is only some paper and ink, but your feeling and thinking give you a different kind of perception: it is your father's photo, so you cannot trample on it. Something like that.

This is how practitioners' spiritual lives will proceed, and one day their material feelings will be transformed into transcendental feelings. Then, finally, everything will be transcendental to them. That is a fact.

There is a festival arranged here today. A festival has two meanings. One is that all the devotees meet together in one place and have some discourses, reading Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita or any other holy book, or offer glorification of a Vaishnav. The other meaning is maha-prasad distribution to devotees and also, to some extent, general people.

Actually, I have a strong desire to feed the poor, but if you feed the poor, there will be clamour. Also, if you invite them one day and do not invite them the next day, they will make a lot of disturbance. Otherwise, it would be not a problem. You can see that during every festival in Navadwip Sripad Acharya Maharaj calls the police because so many local people come and create disturbance, but when they see the police, then there is much less disturbance. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur said, 'Try to feed everyone, and if among them at least one pure Vaishnav takes maha-prasadam and becomes happy, then Krishna will be happy with us, and we will get spiritual benefit through that.' So, if you feed everybody maha-prasadam and any Vaishnav comes and takes it, then you must definitely progress spiritually in your life. That is why we feed everybody. Externally, some people do not have food, so if we give them some food, it will bring some punya, pious credit.

Everybody recites this mantra from Upanisads:

ঈশাবাস্যমিদং সর্বং যৎকিঞ্চ জগত্যাং জগত্
তেন ত্যক্তেন ভুঞ্জিথা মা গৃধঃ কস্য স্বিদ ধনম্

isavasyam idam sarvam yat kincha jagatyam jagat
tena tyaktena bhunjitha ma grdhah kasya svid dhanam

'Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. We must, therefore, accept only those things necessary for ourselves, which are set aside as our quota, and we must not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.'

(Isopanisad, 1)

Do not steal others' property. Whatever you have, you must think, 'Everything is a gift from God.' God gifted everything to everyone, and through your karma-phal (result of your actions) you are also getting some good or bad result. If you think, 'The scriptures gave all the bylaws, rules and regulations on the order of God,' then you will know that everything is for Krishna, so whenever you get anything, it will be prasadam of Krishna. This is how you must try to take whatever you need to maintain your life without taking others' share. Everyone has their own share, so we should not take others' share. 'Ma grdhah kasya svid dhanam' means do not take others' wealth by force or by stealing. What Krishna has given to you is His prasadam, so be satisfied with it.

In Srimad Bhagavad-gita also, Krishna Himself said to Arjuna,

যজ্ঞশিষ্টাশিনঃ সন্তো মুচ্যন্তে সর্ব্বকিল্বিষৈঃ ।
ভুঞ্জতে তে ত্বঘং পাপা যে পচন্ত্যাত্মকারণাৎ ॥

yajna-sistasinah santo muchyante sarva-kilbisaih
bhunjate te tv agham papa ye pachanty atma-karanat

'By accepting sacrificial remnants of the universal gods, virtuous persons are liberated from all sins arising from violence towards other living entities. But those who prepare food for their own pleasure partake only of sin.'

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 3.13)

He explains here the meaning of the word 'yajna'. Srila Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur wrote, 'Yajno vai visnu iti srute (যজ্ঞ বৈ বিষ্ণু ইতি শ্রুতে). Sacrifice means Vishnu.' So, when you offer something to Vishnu, it becomes prasadam of Vishnu. 'Muchyante sarva-kilbisaih (মুচ্যন্তে সর্ব্বকিল্বিষৈঃ). If you take prasadam of Vishnu, all your darkness and the results of your sins will be demolished and you will get a clean devotional life.' To attain that, you must offer everything to Vishnu, or Krishna. Vishnu and Krishna are basically the same, it is said so in Srimad Bhagavatam also:

বিক্রীড়িতং ব্রজবধূভিরিদঞ্চ বিষ্ণোঃ
শ্রদ্ধান্বিতোঽনুশৃণুয়াদথ বর্ণয়েদ্­যঃ ।
ভক্তিং পরাং ভগবতি প্রতিলভ্য কামং
হৃদ্রোগমাশ্বপহিনোত্যচিরেণ ধীরঃ ॥

vikriditam vraja-vadhubhir idam cha visnoh
sraddhanvito 'nusrnuyad atha varnayed yah
bhaktim param bhagavati pratilabhya kamam
hrd-rogam asv apahinoty achirena dhirah

'Anyone who faithfully hears or describes the Supreme Lord's playful affairs with the young gopis of Vrindavan will attain the Lord's pure devotional service. Thus he will quickly become sober and conquer lust, the disease of the heart.'

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 10.33.39)

Here, the word 'visnoh' (Lord Vishnu) is used for Krishna.

So, when you see everything as prasadam of Krishna, you can take everything, and it will all assist your liberation. But 'bhunjate te tv agham papa' (ভুঞ্জতে তে ত্বঘং পাপা) – if you do not offer anything to Vishnu, or Krishna, and cook (pachanty) for yourselves (atma-karanat), then you will be cooking sin (papa). So, before you take anything, you must have this consciousness. You can see my example. When a plate comes to me, I first offer it to my guru, and then I take that prasadam. In other words, if something is given to me that has not been offered before, I offer it to Krishna myself. This is how you take everything. As for devotees, when prasadam comes to them, they recite the prasadam prayers and take it.

শরীর অবিদ্যা-জাল, জড়েন্দ্রিয় তাহে কাল,
জীবে ফেলে বিষয়-সাগরে ।
তার মধ্যে জিহ্বা অতি, লোভময় সুদুর্ম্মতি,
তা’কে জেতা কঠিন সংসারে ॥

sarira avidya-jala jadendriya tahe kala
jive phele visaya-sagare
ta'ra madhye jihva ati lobhamaya sudurmati
ta'ke jeta kathina samsare

'The body is a net of illusion, and the material senses are the enemies; they throw the soul into the ocean of mundanity. Among the senses, the tongue is the most greedy and wicked. It is very difficult to conquer the tongue in this world.'

(Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We cannot help committing sins. Whatever we do must be a sin because unless you offer it to the Lord, it will be a sin. But if we offer everything to the Lord, then it will not be sinful – it will be a clean, pious devotional activity.

Moreover, Uddhav said to Krishna:

ত্বয়োপভুক্তস্রগ্গন্ধবাসোঽলঙ্কারচর্চ্চিতাঃ ।
উচ্ছিষ্টভোজিনো দাসাস্তব মায়াং জয়েম হি ॥

tvayopabhukta-srag-gandha-vaso ’lankara-charchchitah
uchchhista-bhojino dasas tava mayam jayema hi

'Adorned with the articles that have been offered to You, such as garlands, fragrant clothing, and ornaments, we, Your personal servitors who partake of Your holy remnants alone, will certainly be able to conquer Your illusory energy (maya).'

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.6.46)

Prasadam means not only food. Even when you use an asan (seat), a cloth, some ornaments – anything! – you can use it as prasadam. Whatever you use, think of it as prasadam. When something comes to you, you must honour it as prasadam, then there will be no problem.

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says, 'Material senses always bind us within the illusory environment (sarira avidya-jala jadendriya tahe kala...),' but if we consciously take prasadam, then it must bring a spiritual result.

During the Snan-yatra of Lord Jagannathdev, they do not offer rice or anything (they do not cook any bhoga during these fifteen days). Externally, we see that the pandas are storing so many things, but later, during the Ratha-yatra time, they will use everything lavishly. For general people, Prabhupad Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj brought that devotional mood of Jagannath Puri and we see that through his devotees he organised Ratha-yatra everywhere. Now Ratha-yatra takes place all over the world, in every country, sometimes in two–three parts of one country also. He always used that time to distribute much prasadam.

Actually, we want to distribute prasadam of Jagannathdev to everyone: we want to remember Jagannathdev, offer everything to Jagannathdev, and give Jagannathdev's prasad to everyone. It is a very simple method, and it is also in line with Mahaprabhu's procedure. Mahaprabhu said, 'Take prasadam freely as much as you require for your maintenance and chant Hare Krishna. Be happy.' Mahaprabhu gave this simple procedure. This facility is especially best for the conditioned souls of Kali-yuga. If we can follow it, we will all be satisfied with it.

We cannot avoid our previous karma, it means that it will still push us forward, but if we can use whatever we have at present in favour of devotional activities, then many things will be destroyed and we will get benefit, sometimes even super-benefit, in our spiritual lives.

Jay Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay.
Jay Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Radha Madan-Mohanjiu ki jay.
Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay.
Harinama-sankirtan ki jay.
All the assembled devotees ki jay.
Haridas Thakur ki jay.
Jay maha-mahotsav ki jay.
Gaura premanande hari bol.

 — : • : — 

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Other discourses by His Divine Grace:

• Our Logo
• Chayoa ("A Wish")
• Appearance of Sri Gaura
• The Wonderful Nature of the Vaisnava
• Sripad Bhakti Vichar Jajavar Maharaj
• A Miracle and Wealth of Our Mission
• Sripad Rishabdev Prabhu: A Miracle Personality
• Sri Gaurahari Bhakti Sampad Prabhu
• About Sripad Saurindranath Bhakti Varidhi Mahodaya
• On the Appearance Day of Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur
• Sri Ramananda Ray Prabhu
• The Greatest Gift of Sri Vedavyas
• A Separation Day
• Mahaprabhu's Directives
• "Do Not Despair"
• The Pain of Broken Hearts
• Sincerity and Chastity
• "Merry Christmas"
• Curb Your Curiosity
• Crossing Over Material Existence
• Bound by Affection
• Attachment to the Conception

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