Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.2.12–14 at Māgha-melā

Devotee: [introduction on recording] Next morning lecture, 17th January, 1971. [break]

Prabhupāda: There are so many persons following their own principles of religious, ritualistic performances, but...

[break] ...by remaining in the same standard. They are not improving. Spiritual life, or religious life, means that one should make advance towards back to home, back to Godhead, not that religious life should be followed to make some material improvement. That is not religious life.

Dharma-artha-kāma-mokṣa [SB 4.8.41, Cc. Ādi 1.90]

[Any person who desires the fruits of the four principles religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and, at the end, liberation, should engage himself in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for worship of His lotus feet yields the fulfillment of all of these.]

These are the principles for elevating a living entity to the highest platform. But they have taken it, generally... They perform religious ritualistic performances for getting some more money, artha. Of course, we require some money for our maintenance; that is necessary. But if we simply perform ritualistic performances to acquire money only, that is misguided.

Generally people do so. They give in charity so that they may get more money. They open dharmaśālās so that they can get more houses. That is their purpose. Or they may be elevated to the heavenly kingdom. Because they do not know what is his actual interest. The actual interest is to go back to home, go back to Godhead. This idea, perhaps not even one percent men know that the ultimate end of, ultimate goal of life is to go back to home, back to Godhead.

Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṅum [SB 7.5.31]

[Persons who are strongly entrapped by the consciousness of enjoying material life, and who have therefore accepted as their leader or guru a similar blind man attached to external sense objects, cannot understand that the goal of life is to return home, back to Godhead, and engage in the service of Lord Viṣṅu. As blind men guided by another blind man miss the right path and fall into a ditch, materially attached men led by another materially attached man are bound by the ropes of fruitive labor, which are made of very strong cords, and they continue again and again in materialistic life, suffering the threefold miseries.]

Viṣṅu, God, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They do not know that the real interest is to go back home, go back to Godhead. Durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ. They have accepted that "We shall be happy by adjusting this material world." Therefore they cannot make any progress.

Actually, religion does not mean to improve your material condition. That is not religion. Śrīmad-Bhāgavata therefore says that sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje [SB 1.2.6]

[The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self.]

"That type of religion is first class which elevates one to the platform of pure devotional service to the Absolute Truth." That is religion.

People are not attracted to the bhāgavata-dharma, or the religion. Bhāgavata-dharma is actually sanātana-dharma. Sanātana-dharma does not mean that one must have a certain type of religious life. Sanātana-dharma means the eternal religion. Sanātana-dharma is applicable for all living entities. A living entity is eternal, God is eternal, and there is an eternal abode also.

Paras tasmāt tu bhāvo 'nyo 'vyakto 'vyaktāt sanātanaḥ [Bg 8.20].

[Yet there is another nature, which is eternal and is transcendental to this manifested and unmanifested matter. It is supreme and is never annihilated. When all in this world is annihilated, that part remains as it is.]

So the religious principles which promote a follower to the highest platform of serving the eternal, supreme God, that is called sanātana-dharma. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām [Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13].

[The Supreme Lord is eternal and the living beings are eternal. The Supreme Lord is cognizant and the living beings are cognizant. The difference is that the Supreme Lord is supplying all the necessities of life for the many other living entities.]

That is first-class religion.

Therefore here it is said, naikāntikam. Naikāntikaṁ tad dhi kṛte 'pi niṣkṛte [SB 6.2.12]. Even one becomes free from all contamination of sinful life by prosecuting the particular type of religious principles, that is not sufficient, because ultimately it cannot give any good result.

naikāntikaṁ tad dhi kṛte 'pi niṣkṛte manaḥ punar dhāvati ced asat-pathe [SB 6.2.12]

[The ritualistic ceremonies of atonement recommended in the religious scriptures are insufficient to cleanse the heart absolutely because after atonement one's mind again runs toward material activities. Consequently, for one who wants liberation from the fruitive reactions of material activities, the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra, or glorification of the name, fame and pastimes of the Lord, is recommended as the most perfect process of atonement because such chanting eradicates the dirt from one's heart completely.]

Because the mind is so disturbing that even after being freed from all contamination of sinful life, the mind again goes to that sinful activity.

It is very difficult to control the mind. Arjuna, when he was advised to perform the haṭha-yoga system to control the mind, he flatly refused, that "I am unable to control my mind in this way." He stated that cañcalaṁ hi manaḥ kṛṣṅa [Bg 6.34]

[For the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Kṛṣṅa, and to subdue it is, it seems to me, more difficult than controlling the wind.]

"Kṛṣṅa, the mind is so agitating and moving," cañcalaṁ hi manaḥ kṛṣṅa pramāthi, "it is just like a madman." Just like you cannot control a madman. Sometimes you have to chain a madman for doing mischievous activities. Sometimes you have to send to some hospital for special care.

So Arjuna said, cañcalaṁ hi manaḥ kṛṣṅa pramāthi, mad, balavat. And not only balavat, "is very strong," and dṛḍham, and "very strong and determined." Tasyāhaṁ nigrahaṁ manye: "If You ask me to control my mind, it is very difficult for me." Tasyāhaṁ nigrahaṁ manye vāyor api suduṣkaram: "If there is some wind, strong wind, and if one thinks that 'I shall control this wind, stop this strong blowing of wind,' as it is impossible, similarly, the movement of my mind is so strong that I cannot promise that I can control this mind."

And after the statement of Arjuna, Kṛṣṅa said... Kṛṣṅa saw that His friend was becoming disappointed. Because he cannot prosecute the yogic system, so he's becoming disappointed. But He knew that Arjuna was always thinking of Kṛṣṅa. That..., that was certain. Although his mind was very agitated because he was politician, he was warrior, still, his mind was fixed up in Kṛṣṅa. That He knew. Therefore He said that yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā [Bg 6.47].

[And of all yogīs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.]

The Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement, the technique is that you may be engaged in various types of work, but the mind must be always fixed up in Kṛṣṅa. That art you have to learn. How it is possible? It is possible. Perhaps you have not seen—in India the women, they go to draw water from the well, and they keep on the head. They are going, but the head is so balanced that the waterpot will never fall down. There are many instances that if you learn how to keep the balance, in spite of your movement, the waterpot on the head will not fall.

Similarly, if you mold your life in such a way that Kṛṣṅa should always be remembered, then, in spite of your mind being very agitated, your mind will be fixed up in Kṛṣṅa. That is required. Therefore in the devotional service we have got so many engagements.

śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ smaraṅaṁ pāda-sevanam arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam [SB 7.5.23]

[There are six principles favorable to the execution of pure devotional service: (1) being enthusiastic, (2) endeavoring with confidence, (3) being patient, (4) acting according to regulative principles [such as śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ smaraṅam [SB 7.5.23]—hearing, chanting and remembering Kṛṣṅa], (5) abandoning the association of nondevotees, and (6) following in the footsteps of the previous ācāryas. These six principles undoubtedly assure the complete success of pure devotional service.]

This is the art. Just like Ambarīṣa Mahārāja. He was also great emperor, and he had to rule over all over the world. Still, sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṅa-padāravindayoḥ [SB 9.4.18]

[Mahārāja Ambarīṣa always engaged his mind in meditating upon the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa, his words in describing the glories of the Lord, his hands in cleansing the Lord's temple, and his ears in hearing the words spoken by Kṛṣṅa or about Kṛṣṅa. He engaged his eyes in seeing the Deity of Kṛṣṅa, Kṛṣṅa's temples and Kṛṣṅa's places like Mathurā and Vṛndāvana, he engaged his sense of touch in touching the bodies of the Lord's devotees, he engaged his sense of smell in smelling the fragrance of tulasī offered to the Lord, and he engaged his tongue in tasting the Lord's prasāda. He engaged his legs in walking to the holy places and temples of the Lord, his head in bowing down before the Lord, and all his desires in serving the Lord, twenty-four hours a day. Indeed, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa never desired anything for his own sense gratification. He engaged all his senses in devotional service, in various engagements related to the Lord. This is the way to increase attachment for the Lord and be completely free from all material desires.]

He always fixed up his mind on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṅa-padāravindayor vacāṁsi vaikuṅṭha-guṅānuvarṅane.

That is the art of Kṛṣṅa consciousness. In spite of your all engagement, your mind should be fixed up in Kṛṣṅa.

naikāntikaṁ tad dhi kṛte 'pi niṣkṛte manaḥ punar dhāvati ced asat-pathe [SB 6.2.12]

Because mind is inclined, inclined to go astray. Asat-pathe. Asat means this material, and pathe means way. Mind is generally attracted to this asat-pathe, but you have to draw the mind to the sat-pathe. Sat means spiritual, eternal. That is the practice.

tat karma-nirhāram abhīpsatāṁ harer guṅānuvādaḥ khalu sattva-bhāvanaḥ [SB 6.2.12]

Therefore, tat karma-nirhāram abhīpsatām. Karma. Because if you are engaged in ordinary karma... Karma I have already explained. Karma means doing something for your personal benefit. That is called karma. Or, in plain words, doing something for sense gratification, that is called karma. And as soon as you engage your activities for such sense gratification or for your personal benefit, then you have to commit sins. That's a fact. Therefore we are entangled in this birth and death problem.

So here the Viṣṅudūta advises that "If you want..." Tat karma-nirhāram abhīpsatām: "If you desire at all that 'I shall be freed from the resultant action of karma,' then your duty should be harer guṅānuvādaḥ khalu sattva-bhāvanaḥ. You simply try to glorify the Supreme Lord always, twenty-four hours. That will purify you." Khalu sattva-bhāvanaḥ. Sattva-bhāvanaḥ. Śrīdhara Svāmī says,

[pause] sattva-bhāvanaḥ citta-śodhakaḥ. Sattva-bhāvana means citta-śodhaka. Citta means the heart, and śodhaka, the purifying process.

So instead of taking yourself to these prescribed ritualistic ceremonies, if you simply engage your mind in describing or glorifying the Supreme Personality of Godhead... That is our process. Our only objective is how to glorify the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We are writing books, we are publishing magazines, we are preaching, we are going everywhere—just to glorify the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṅa. That is our only business.

This process is recommended here, citta-śodhaka. If you sit down and write some article on Kṛṣṅa, that means you have to concentrate on Kṛṣṅa's activities or Kṛṣṅa's devotees' activities, and that very process will purify your heart. Therefore we always recommend to our students that you write articles, read our magazine, read our book. In this way if we keep ourself... Work for Kṛṣṅa. This... We have come here in this paṅḍal, or in this Kumbha-melā, not for any other purpose than to glorify the Supreme Lord so that people may understand the importance of this movement.

So citta-śodhaka, here recommended by the Viṣṅudūta. Viṣṅudūta means the direct associates of Lord Viṣṅu. Tat karma-nirhāram abhīpsatāṁ harer guṅānuvādaḥ khalu sattva-bhāvanaḥ. Be always engaged in glorifying the transcendental qualities of Hari. Again it is said hareḥ, not any other person, Hari, Viṣṅu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

athainaṁ māpanayata kṛtāśeṣāgha-niṣkṛtam yad asau bhagavan-nāma mriyamāṅaḥ samagrahīt [SB 6.2.13]

[At the time of death, this Ajāmila helplessly and very loudly chanted the holy name of the Lord, Nārāyaṅa. That chanting alone has already freed him from the reactions of all sinful life. Therefore, O servants of Yamarāja, do not try to take him to your master for punishment in hellish conditions.]

Now, the Viṣṅudūta concludes that "This Ajāmila, we know that throughout his whole life he has simply committed sinful activities. That's a fact. We know. But at the time of his death," mriyamāṅaḥ, yad asau bhagavan-nāma samagrahīt, "simply chanted the name of Hari, Nārāyaṅa," samagrahīt, "perfectly, without any offense." Just try to understand that simply by chanting one name only, Nārāyaṅa, samagrahīt, without any offense, he became immediately purified from all sinful activities.

These are not exaggeration. This is the fact. Otherwise, why Caitanya Mahāprabhu should encourage,

harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā [Cc Ādi 17.21]

[In this Age of Kali there is no other means, no other means, no other means for self-realization than chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name of Lord Hari.]

You'll never find any disagreement with the śāstra, sādhu and guru. Therefore Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, sādhu-śāstra-guru-vākya. That is our guidance. Sādhu. If you say Caitanya Mahāprabhu was a sādhu or a devotee, so His words and the words of the scriptures are the same. The sādhu will speak only on the authorities of śāstra. And śāstra means the description given by the sādhu. They are correlative. And guru means who follows the sādhu and the śāstra.

So these are very instructive. Sādhu who is always engaged in the service of the Lord, he is sādhu, bhakta. And śāstra. Śāstra means description of the activities of the sādhu and Bhagavān. Just like Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. We are reading the story of Ajāmila. He became a sādhu; therefore his description of his life is inserted here. Prahlāda Mahārāja a sādhu; Dhruva Mahārāja, a sādhu; Ambarīṣa Mahārāja, a sādhu.

Formerly the kings were all sādhus, rājarṣi. Just like in the Bhagavad-gītā you have heard, imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ [Bg 4.2].

[This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.]

Formerly the kings were so exalted and they were so nice that they were, although they were sitting on the throne, they were dealing in politics, still, they were sādhu, just like ṛṣi. There are many instances.

So if there is one sādhu, he can make many other sādhus. Sādhu. Sādhu does not mean that he is alone enjoying the fruits of his spiritual life. Sādhu means who is trying to make others sādhu. He is sādhu. Kṛṣṅa likes such sādhu, as He has described in the last portion of Bhagavad-gītā: na ca tasmān manuṣyeṣu kaścin me priya-kṛttamaḥ [Bg 18.69].

[There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.]

The sādhu... And sādhu means he should preach according to the scriptures, not outside the scriptures. Sādhu does not mean he malinterprets the śāstra. He should present the śāstra as it is. He should understand the śāstra as it is. And guru means who is following sādhu and śāstra. He is guru.

Therefore Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says that sādhu, śāstra, these things should be confirmed by the spiritual master, and if we follow these principles, sādhu-śāstra-guru-vākya, cittete kariyā aikya... [Prema-bhakti-candrikā]

[We must always keep within our hearts the instructions of sādhu, śāstra, and guru. This is the process.]

We should confirm one thing by the other, the other by another. In this way we have to make our conclusion.

So, yad asau bhagavan-nāma mriyamāṅaḥ samagrahīt [SB 6.2.13].

Because the Yamadūta here, yes, Viṣṅudūta says that, "We know that this person was addicted to sinful activities throughout his whole life, but at the time of his death he has remembered. He has uttered offenselessly once the name of Nārāyaṅa." But one should not think that "All right. Let us go on committing all sinful activities, and at the time of my death I shall think of Nārāyaṅa or Kṛṣṅa." That is not possible.

That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. If you practice when you are alive, when you are strong, for chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṅa or Nārāyaṅa, then there may be chance. Otherwise it is not possible. Not that a layman will all of a sudden will chant "Nārāyaṅa." He must have previous practice. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu has recommended, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ [Cc Ādi 17.31].

[One who thinks himself lower than the grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, and who does not expect personal honor yet is always prepared to give all respect to others can very easily always chant the holy name of the Lord.]

Amāninā mānadena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ. Sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ. In the Bhagavad-gītā Śrī Kṛṣṅa says, sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ [Bg 8.6].

[Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.]

If you practice in your life chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṅa...

I remember one of our teachers in our school life, he instructed that "If you always think that 'I shall pass my examination with distinction,' then you can pass in first division. If you think that 'I shall pass my examination in the first division,' then you may pass in the third division. And if you think that 'I shall some way pass my examination in the third division,' then you will fail." That means if you expect more than your capacity, then it may be possible that at the time of examination you get the right number and pass your exam.

So the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra, Caitanya Mahāprabhu has said, sadā, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ: not that two hours or one hour, but one should practice. And that is the recommendation as it was followed by Haridāsa Ṭhākura. But because we cannot do that, therefore we have to engage always in the service of Kṛṣṅa. That will make me remembering Kṛṣṅa. Real fact is how to remember Kṛṣṅa.

So this remembering of Kṛṣṅa by Ajāmila was not accidental. He chanted. He served Nārāyaṅa in his previous life when he was young man, but by bad association he fell down. But the effect was there at the time of his death, so much effective that the Viṣṅudūta recommends that "Because he has chanted at the time of his death the holy name of Lord, he is now free from all sinful reaction."

Now,

sāṅketyaṁ pārihāsyaṁ vā stobhaṁ helanam eva vā vaikuṅṭha-nāma-grahaṅam aśeṣāgha-haraṁ viduḥ [SB 6.2.14]

[One who chants the holy name of the Lord is immediately freed from the reactions of unlimited sins, even if he chants indirectly [to indicate something else], jokingly, for musical entertainment, or even neglectfully. This is accepted by all the learned scholars of the scriptures.]

Now, it is very nice conclusion. He says, the Viṣṅudūta says, sāṅketyam. Sāṅketyam means "simply by indication." Sāṅketyaṁ pārihāsyam, "or by joking." Sometimes people joke us, "Hare Kṛṣṅa. Hare Kṛṣṅa. Haribol." That is... That has also its effect, pārihāsyam. Sāṅketyaṁ pārihāsyaṁ vā stobham, "or with devotion and reverence," stobhaṁ helanam eva vā.

Or helanam means "without giving any importance, if one chants." Helanam eva vā vaikuṅṭha-nāma-grahaṅam. Vaikuṅṭha means Kṛṣṅa or Nārāyaṅa. Vaikuṅṭha-nāma-grahaṅam aśeṣāgha-haraṁ viduḥ. But even in such way one chants the holy name, then it can vanquish immediately many millions of sinful reactions.

There is another Bengali verse, eka hari-nāme, yata pāpa hare, pāpī haya tata pāpa, karibāre nahe: "Once chanted Hare Kṛṣṅa, or Kṛṣṅa's name, it has so potency, so much potencies that it can vanquish millions and millions of sinful reaction that so much a sinful man cannot commit."

A sinful man can commit hundreds of thousands of sinful activities, but the holy name of Kṛṣṅa is so powerful that a sinful man will be unable to commit so many sins as the name can vanquish simply by chanting once offenselessly. This is the conclusion.

sāṅketyaṁ pārihāsyaṁ vā stobhaṁ helanam eva vā vaikuṅṭha-nāma-grahaṅam aśeṣāgha-haraṁ viduḥ

patitaḥ skhalito bhagnaḥ sandaṣṭas tapta āhataḥ harir ity avaśenāha pumān nārhati yātanāḥ [SB 6.2.14-15]

[If one chants the holy name of Hari and then dies because of an accidental misfortune, such as falling from the top of a house, slipping and suffering broken bones while traveling on the road, being bitten by a serpent, being afflicted with pain and high fever, or being injured by a weapon, one is immediately absolved from having to enter hellish life, even though he is sinful.]

Somehow or other if we chant Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra, then we can save ourselves from so many troubles, as it is example. This verse we shall explain tomorrow again.

Thank you very much.

Devotee: Haribol.

Prabhupāda: Hare Kṛṣṅa. [end]

Photos from those days in Allahabad3

CT24-1901971 · Allahabad · Kumbha-mela

CT24-1911971 · Allahabad · Kumbha-mela

CT24-1921971 · Allahabad · Kumbha-mela