A class on the Srimad Bhagavatam First Canto, Chapter 18, verse 6.
Purujit Dasa: Maharaj Pariksit did not see Kali as his friend. Everything is coming from Krishna. Janmady asya yatah. So a pure devotee, a realized devotee of Krishna, he does not make any discrimination, he can utilize everything in the service of the Lord. Sometimes the so-called spiritualists make a show, that “oh I do not touch money, money will contaminate me, this is dirty money.” But our Srila Prabhupada, he said “oh, George Harrison, you want to give me one million dollars? C’mon, give me I will utilize it for Krishna’s service. Right? We have no guilt that “oh, I have taken some money”, we can take millions and millions of dollars because we know how to utilize that money for the service of Krishna. See? And by taking so much money we become purified from the desire for money.
There is an analogy given that, sometimes, you might have a disease due to excessive consumption of milk products. If you take too many milk sweets you’re going to have a problem, but that same disarrangement of the bowels, you might have diarrhea or something, but the cure for this is to take a little curd or yogurt, with some herbs, there is a recipe like that, and if you take that, you become cured. But it is another milk product! Does it make any sense? I was eating milk products and I became sick, so I take another milk product and I become cured. From the material point of view it doesn’t make sense, but from the spiritual point of view, yes, because everything is coming from Krishna. So it is a question of consciousness, how to utilize it, how to utilize the money for Krishna.
So that’s where Kali went, he took shelter of the gold, the money. In the kingdom of Maharaja Pariksit, there was no opportunity to engage in intoxication, illicit sex, gambling or meat eating, all the citizens where trained were trained very nicely. You see, Mahārāja Pariksit, Prabhupada says, he made sure that the citizens were properly trained. This is the duty of the leader. It is mentioned in the Srimad-Bhagavatam that one should not become a king, one should not become a mother, one should not become a father, one should not become a teacher, one should not become a guru, one should not become a worshipable demigod. Right? If you want to become Indra or something like that, then you must be qualified. What is that qualification? Anybody know? Nobody knows... (laughter)
Devotee:…the samsara cycle.
Purujit Dasa: … yes to liberate their dependents from the cycle of birth and death, samsara. So the leader, the government, the president, the prime minister, whatever, it's his duty. This is his prime duty, to make the citizens spiritually advanced. Because if the citizens are spiritually advanced, they will not kill, they will not rape, they will not create disturbance. The heart must be purified! Ceto-darpanma-marjanam [Antya 20.12]. You must purify your heart, if the heart is not purified, then even theoretically you might know, “Oh, this should not be done.” Still you will be pushed. You will have to do it, you must do it, “C’mon c’mon do it, do the nonsense”, “Oh but I don’t know…”, “No you must do it!”, “Oh, this is very sinful…”, “Do It! I said do it! C’mon.”
The maya pushes the conditioned soul, you cannot help it. Yesterday we were discussing about the influence, the atmosphere of godlessness. In the age of Kali the atmosphere is surcharged with godlessness. Prabhupada says, everywhere, the atmosphere is contaminated. So you might even try, but there is no hope. Just like if you jump into the sea and want to swim across to the United States, all across the Atlantic ocean. Is that very intelligent? You have no chance, no chance. You’re going to be drowned. Similarly it is not possible to fight the influence of the age of Kali, unless you take to the the proper process. There is a particular religious function, religious process for the corresponding age. There are four ages, anybody know these? Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. What is the Yuga dharma in Satya Yuga? (Devotee answers) Meditation. Okay, what about Treta Yuga? (another devotee answers) Sacrifices, yes. And what about Dwarpara Yuga? Deity worship or temple worship, and Kali Yuga? Sankirtan-yajna, yes. You must apply the Yuga dharma process, you cannot avoid. “Oh maybe I will avoid it, I will do temple worship or mediation instead”.
Srila Prabhupada mentions that when the installing the Krishna Balaram Deities in the temple in Vrindavan was going on Srila Prabhupada had to invite all the smarta Brahmins. The smarta brahmins they know all the mantras and the viddhis and it looks very impressive. Because otherwise the citizens of Vrindavan would not accept the ceremony as bonafide. Srila Prabhupada then wrote in his books, I think in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, that the actual installation was the Sankirtan, the devotees, the western disciples were performing Sankirtan along with the ritualistic ceremonies. The devotees were chanting, so the real installation was due to the Sankirtan, not due to the viddihs. Nowadays, there are no bona fide brahmins in the age of Kali. A bona-fide brahmana has some powers, just like Sringi. He had many powers, this little boy, but he had no culture. He had powers, he had so much power just because he was the son of bonafide brahmana, the semen, when he begot the child, the father, the semen was infused was all these powers. So powerful. So he was able to curse the most powerful devotee |Maharaja Pariksit, he was able to curse him, can you imagine? So powerful. The brahmanas in the previous ages, they were able to chant such mantras that they would simply say “die”, and you would die on the spot. This is possible by the purification of the mantra, its not just the chanting, but along with the chanting you must have a particular sadhana, a spiritual practice. You have to have a spiritual practice just like we do: rising early, cleansing the temple, cleansing the body, not indulging in mundane activities. This gives you powers. Somewhere I was reading, some Hari-bhakta-vilasa or wherever, and this, how do you call it, the four month season, chaturmasya, you can follow it if you want. Prabhupada says you can do it, it's not obligatory, but you can do it. First month you fast from the spinach, from the green leafy vegetables .Then they fast from yogurt or milk, then the last month they fast from meat. So chaturmasya, there are various austerities. If you practice you become more powerful, it was mentioned in that same scripture, if you do not speak prajalpa, if you learn to control your tongue, if you do not speak mundane talks, when you say something it will be executed. If you order, say “you do this” people will follow because your words will have potency. But if you talk about rubbish and then you want to instruct others, then that instruction will have no potency. So I don’t know whether it’s true or not, I was reading somewhere. But you can take inspiration. Why should I discuss prajalpa? Prajalpa means useless talk. What is the definition of prajalpa, does anybody know, except Makhancora? Mundane talks, it’s not related to Krishna, the Krishna consciousness movement. Okay good. Anyone else? It doesn’t give you material or spiritual benefit. Yes that was the one I was waiting for. Neither spiritual benefit nor material benefit, it doesn’t even have material benefit. That means that if you talk something and there is material benefit then that is not prajalpa, it is not prajalpa. Because there’s material benefit, say you want to make some business and make lots of money. That is not prajalpa if you talk about it, but neither spiritual benefit nor material benefit, simply wasting time talking for sense gratification that is prajalpa. That energy we have to discuss Krishna-katha, about Krishna, about Srila Prabhupada, about this philosophy of Krishna consciousness. About Prabhupada’s books. About the pastimes of Krishna, about the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-Gita, Chaitanya-Charitamrita. So many topics we have. About the pastimes of Krishna’s devotees, like we were discussing yesterday about Prahlada Maharaja and so on and so on. We misuse by discussing mundane things for sense gratification. So that injunction is there, that if you learn how to control the tongue and if you do not, under any circumstance, waste time discussing nonsense topics for sense gratification, for zero benefit, material or spiritual, then when you speak everybody will follow. You will go and talk to mayor of Fuengirola and say we want Ratha-yatra, you execute, she will do. Yes. We should invest our energy properly, what is the use of preaching, preaching, preaching so much but no determination, not no determination but no strictness, mixed up devotional service. One time Krishna, one time māyā. One time devotional service, one time sense gratification. Just like if you try to ignite a fire, you put fire, you put wood, then you try to ignite. But at the same time you’re pouring water in that fire. Is that intelligence? Is that intelligence, pouring water trying to light a fire? It’s a waste of energy. So Maharaja Pariksit was not envious of Kali personified because he was expert. He could see that he could dovetail, whatever nonsense in this age, he can dovetail. Very good. He did not see any obstacle. Not that “Oh it’s the age of Kali. Forget it. “ No. Alright, let’s do sankirtan-yajna. Various demigods are praying to take part in the sankirtan-yajna movement of Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. It is so auspicious, if we understand what is sankirtan, what it means. Sankirtan means you have to glorify Krishna, not mundane topics, under the guidance of the bonafide guru. How you can glorify if you do not hear from the guru? Regularly, you must flood your mind with Krishna topics, whatever you put in, then it will come out on the tongue.
A well dressed fool is not recognized until he speaks. So you can be fool, but if you constantly hear from a pure devotee, then no matter how foolish you are you become the most intelligent. Actually it is better that you approach the guru as a fool with a clean slate, because then the guru can build you up from scratch as a first class character, pure devotee. We are coming to the spiritual master with all kinds of garbage. “ In my opinion”, “I think”, “Oh I don’t agree”. If you do not agree, why do you accept a guru? What to speak of agreeing with his message, his order, his instruction, but whatever he says you must immediately execute, no negligence. The guru says you do this, you must do it immediately. “Oh I will do it tomorrow”, “l will do it one year from now.”, “Oh, I will do when I’m older, let me enjoy for now.” That is not seriousness. You must immediately execute, then you can practice this in your daily life. As soon as Krishna gives you the inspiration that “Oh this should be done” don’t be neglectful, immediately you do it. In Slovak there is this saying that don’t postphone things you can do today, whatever you can do today, you do today. We have no such time to waste. Any time you can be dead. The body is dying as we are speaking, the body is dying, I’m dying, dying. Just like the moths, they are rushing towards the fire and they die. Similarly we are rushing through life, “ I want this I want that and this person is a nonsense I have to fight him” and blah, blah, blah, blah. And what are you doing? Simply approaching the fire of death. So there is no shortage of opportunity. The instruction is there, we must execute immediately, no delay. We rush for sense gratification, we rush to gratify our senses, but when the spiritual master gives instruction? “Oh, not now. For now I will chill, then later on I will execute.” Don’t do this, don’t leave it aside.
So there was another thing mentioned, that, in the age of Kali, there is no reaction if one thinks of sinful acts. In the previous ages, simply thinking of sinful acts we would have sinful reaction, not a joke. So we are lucky we are living in Kali-yuga, because if we now, speaking for myself, if I had to be karmically implicated for all the sinful thoughts I had I would be rotting in hell for eternity. So we are very lucky that there are also advantages in the age of Kali. And similarly if you think of pious acts, then Prabhupada says there is immediate result. Just like if you execute the order of the guru, there is immediately the effect. Don’t be nonsense, that “Oh it is uncomfortable for me”. Yes, it is uncomfortable for you because you are a rascal. Because you have no affection for the guru, for Krishna, nothing! Only for sense gratification, that is very nice. But to execute the order, this is love. Sometime someone asked Prabhupada what does it mean to love the spiritual master. To execute his order. That is love. If you feel hesitant, “Maybe, I don’t know”, if you want to smuggle yourself out of the services. Don’t try to avoid the services. There should be fighting for the services, let me mop the floor immediately, very nice, oh he has not done it? Very good let me take advantage. Let me steal his service, he has not done it, let me steal his service. Ah, he’s a loser, I gain. And when he finds out you have stolen his service, the other devotee will chastise: “Ah! You’re such a rascal.” Then we can very nicely dovetail our conflict propensity of the age of Kali, let us fight for more service. And not just that, serving one another, serving devotees. Here, Prabhus are going on books, book distribution in Gibraltar. Very good! Let me do something, let me do some extra service for them. I have noticed that Paramahamsa prabhu, he cleansed the whole room for brahmacaris, organized everything, it looks very nice. (Paramahamsa speaks) It was Krsna Kisora? Oh, Krishna Kisora, very nice. See? He doesn’t say anything, so humble. Very good, see I noticed. Immediately I could see that, wow, someone has thought of the prabhus. They are there, suffering austerities in the cold, no shelter, no toilets, no nothing, for one week, sleeping on the beach, just to distribute Prabhupada’s books. Imagine, people have no appreciation for this kind of service. They do not advertise also, they do not take selfies, nobody knows. Krishna knows, Prabhupada knows. So Krishna Kisora, so nice, cleanse the room, let them not be disturbed when they come, very nice. Like that. See so you (points at Paramahamsa) should be angry “Oh you have stolen? I wanted to clean the room, and Krsna Kisora you have done it? Oh this is horrible. This is the end of the world.” So in this way, we can counteract. And mark my words, as soon this becomes a conflict, who’s going do this service, “No, you do” “No, you do it” “No, you do it”, then the atmosphere is surcharged with godlessness. You can see this, sometimes it is like that, So if it happend always remember: “Now we are in maya. Now Kali has entered, now Kali is here, devotees are arguing, nobody wants to serve Srila Prabhupada, nobody wants to do it. It is the greatest thing to serve Srila Prabhupada, to serve Krishna, the most ecstatic. It is not a burden, it’s the most ecstatic, it makes you happy spiritually, but because you have forgotten. “Oh I have this discomfort of the body”, you are not the body! The body doesn’t matter whether you feel pain or pleasure, we are spirit soul and we have to learn to act on that platform.
So sinful activities. One is not implicated by karmic reaction when he thinks of them in the age of Kali, similarly when he thinks of pious activities, especially when he thinks of how to spread this Sankirtan movement, you get immediate results, you get rewarded. Even you might not be able to execute it physically. In Nectar of instruction, you might remember this, there is a description of the uttama-adhikari, he is always planning out how to spread this Krishna consciousness movement. So you become an uttama-adhikari. You should also plan out, have vision, be enthusiastic. “Let us make a Krishna band, let us make this, let us make that. Always, new ideas should come. Not nonsense ideas, but you should be accustomed to this culture, culturing the thoughts of how to expand this Krishna consciousness movement, always enthusiastic, always plan out. Whether you can execute it or not that is up to Krishna, that is up to Krishna. If Krishna sees that, “Yes, this is a good idea” then He will give you the facilities to execute. But your duty is to plan out. Krishna will fulfill your desire. Desire you must, you must have some sort of a desire, if you’re not planning out for the expansion of this movement, you must be planning out for the expansion of your sense gratification. One or the other, there is no in-between. Those who are not enthusiastic, you can know, they are contemplating some other plans. And if you mediate like this, even there is no result, you become advanced in Krishna consciousness, you become purified from material desires. And ultimately you go back home, back to Godhead.
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