Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.1.1

Pradyumna: [leads chanting of verse, etc.] [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat]

śrī-śuka uvāca varīyān eṣa te praśnaḥ kṛto loka-hitaṁ nṛpa ātmavit-sammataḥ puṁsāṁ śrotavyādiṣu yaḥ paraḥ [SB 2.1.1]

[break] [02:58]

Translation: "Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: My dear King, your question is glorious because it is very beneficial to all kinds of people. To hear the answer to this question is the prime subject matter of hearing, and it is approved by all transcendentalists."

Prabhupāda:

varīyān eṣa te praśnaḥ kṛto loka-hitaṁ nṛpa ātmavit-sammataḥ puṁsāṁ śrotavyādiṣu yaḥ paraḥ [SB 2.1.1]

Śrotavyādiṣu yaḥ paraḥ. The... Here in this material world we are busy in questioning and answering or hearing. Question, hearing and answering. This is the whole world. Even in the material field, you go to the market, you inquire, "What is the price of this thing?" and you hear the description of the thing and the price of the thing. So the praśnaḥ, the question, was made by Śukadeva..., Mahārāja Parīkṣit just at the point of his death, "What I have to do now?" This is very intelligent. Only intelligent man can understand what is the value of this question, "What I have to do now?" Because intelligent person knows that "I am going to leave this body."

I am speaking... Parīkṣit Mahārāja is talking with Śukadeva Gosvāmī at the point of death. He was given notice that "Within seven days you'll be bitten by a snake and you'll die." This was a curse by a brāhmaṅa boy. So he was ready. He was not afraid. Nārāyaṅa-parāḥ sarve na kutaścana bibhyati [SB 6.17.28].

[Devotees solely engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṅa, never fear any condition of life. For them the heavenly planets, liberation and the hellish planets are all the same, for such devotees are interested only in the service of the Lord.]

He could retaliate. He was a great devotee. He could counteract the cursing of the brāhmaṅa boy, but he did not do so. Because, because he was cursed, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam came. He was perplexed what to do, and Śukadeva Gosvāmī appeared there, and everyone accepted the verdict of Śukadeva Gosvāmī, "Mahārāja, you are a great devotee. So I shall quote from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and you hear only. That's all. You have nothing to do. Simply you hear."

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

[Prahlāda Mahārāja said: Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Viṣṅu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one's best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words)—these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service. One who has dedicated his life to the service of Kṛṣṅa through these nine methods should be understood to be the most learned person, for he has acquired complete knowledge.]

These are the nine different processes of devotional service. So generally, we are expected to execute all the nine different processes, śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ... Śravaṅaṁ kīrtanam about Viṣṅu, not for any other demigods. No. Viṣṅu. The Māyāvādīs, they take it that "We can hear of any demigod, of anyone," because they are nirākāravādī. So "You can imagine anyone and hear about him." But śāstra does not say. Śāstra does not say that you can hear about anybody. No. Śāstra says, śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ, about Viṣṅu.

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.]

This is the śāstra's injunction, that if you have to chant..., if you have not to chant, means you must chant. Kalau nāsty eva gatir anyathā. You cannot avoid it. If you actually want relief from this conditional life, duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam [Bg 8.15], then you must...

[After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogīs in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.]

This is the only means. Kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā. Karma, jñāna, yoga, there are different processes of self-realization, karma, jñāna, yoga, but it is stressed, nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva, not karma, not jñāna, not yoga. Simply chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa. That is required. That is the preaching of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, this, this verse of Agni Purāṅa:

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.]

So this is the bhakti process, chanting and hearing. So chanting, hearing, or questioning and answering, the same thing. So when Parīkṣit Mahārāja was perplexed what to do at the time of death, so many great sages and saintly persons, brāhmaṅas, they came there, because the king is going to die. So not only of this planet, from other planets also, many, many exalted person came. Somebody prescribed something, somebody prescribed something. So he was perplexed. Fortunately, Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī arrived there, and he advised, "Mahārāja, you simply hear harer nāma, the name, the form, the quality, the pastimes. About Kṛṣṅa, you simply hear." That was the... Therefore... And Parīkṣit Mahārāja was a devotee from the very beginning of his life. He's a grandson of Arjuna and Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. Naturally, he was kṛṣṅa-bhakta. He..., Kṛṣṅa was his grandmother's brother also. There was family relation. And he studied thoroughly... Although when he was born he did not see Kṛṣṅa, but still, he knew that Kṛṣṅa saved the whole Pāṅḍava family.

Kṛṣṅa, when brahmāstra was released by Aśvatthāmā to kill the Mahārāja Parīkṣit while he was within the womb of his mother, Kṛṣṅa personally saved him. Because He wanted... Because in the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, everyone died, of the Kuru dynasty. Only the son, this Abhimanyu's son, Kṛṣṅa, uh, Arjuna's grandson, was within the womb of his mother; therefore he was not killed in the battlefield. Still, Aśvatthāmā, the son of Droṅācārya wanted to kill him, and he released brahmāstra, and it was going to kill the child. At that time his mother, Uttarā, approached Kṛṣṅa, that "I am feeling that my womb will be..., abortion there may be." So Kṛṣṅa saved. This is the history. So after his birth, because he saw Kṛṣṅa within the womb, so after his birth, as soon as he came out of the womb of his mother, he was looking here and there, "Where is that personality?" Therefore his name is Parīkṣit. Parīkṣit means he was examining, "Who is that? Who is that man?"

So Parīkṣit Mahārāja was so fortunate. So fortunate. From the very beginning of his life, he saw Kṛṣṅa. Just like this child. These are fortunate children. Yoginām... That... Śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭo sanjāyate [Bg 6.41].

[The unsuccessful yogī, after many, many years of enjoyment on the planets of the pious living entities, is born into a family of righteous people, or into a family of rich aristocracy.]

This child who was dancing before me, he's not ordinary child. Otherwise, how he could dance symmetrically? He had his practice in his previous life, and he has got the chance to get Vaiṣṅava father and mother, and from the very beginning of his life, he is chanting, dancing. So Parīkṣit Mahārāja was like that. So to get the chance of having good father, śucīnāṁ... Śucīnām means brāhmaṅa-vaiṣṅava, especially brāhmaṅa. And śrīmatām. Śrīmatām means very rich. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has given his comment: śucīnām means highly cultured brāhmaṅa, and śrīmatām means highly rich vaiśya. So to take birth in this family, cultured family, rich family, is not ordinary thing. It is not ordinary thing. It is the result of pious activities. Pious activities. The pious activities means you get your birth in a very good, aristocratic family, rich family or brāhmaṅa family. That is the result of pious activities. You become very beautiful. You become very learned. Janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrī [SB 1.8.26].

[My Lord, Your Lordship can easily be approached, but only by those who are materially exhausted, because one who is on the path of [material] progress, trying to improve himself with respectable parentage, great opulence, high education and bodily beauty, cannot address You with sincere feeling.]

Four things: Janma means birth. Aiśvarya means riches, wealth. Aiśvarya. Janma aiśvarya and śruta. Śruta means education. To become learned man, to become very educated, that is also a result of pious activities. To take birth in rich family, that is also result of pious activities. To become very beautiful, that is also result of pious activities. Janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrībhir edhamāna-madaḥ pumān.

Unfortunately... When we get these opportunities, very nice family or nice nation, beautiful body, education, we should consider that it is due to our past pious activities; therefore they should be utilized for Kṛṣṅa. Because pious activities means to approach Kṛṣṅa. Those who are impious, sinful, they cannot approach Kṛṣṅa. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ [Bg 7.15].

[Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.]

Those who are narādhamāḥ, lowest of the mankind, always engaged in sinful activities, and rascal, may be very educated—māyayā apahṛta-jñānāḥ, their educational value has been taken away by māyā. As, just like nowadays it has become: the more one is educated, the more one is atheist. We have received one report just now, Bombay. They are... That singing, Hare Kṛṣṅa singing, "Nuisance," they say. You see. How degraded human being has become: "Hare Kṛṣṅa singing is nuisance. And cinema singing is very good." Just see. They have become simply rascals, dogs and hogs. Simply.

So we should be very much careful of our next birth. Because... Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram [Bg 8.6].

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

This is the verdict of Kṛṣṅa. At the time of death, whatever thought is there, you get next birth a similar body. The mind, mind creates the body, gross body. As we have got this gross body, so within this gross body there is the subtle body: mind, intelligence and ego. These rascals, they do not know that when the gross body is annihilated, it does not mean that the soul is finished. No. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg 2.20]. This is the verdict. Don't think because the gross body is now finished, therefore the person is finished. No. The person is there within the subtle body, and the subtle body will carry him. Just like the fragrance is carried by the air: You cannot see what is this fragrance, but you can smell. A very good smell, wherefrom it came? That is subtle carrying. Similarly, the soul is carried after annihilation of this body, gross body, material. Mind, intelligence, ego—that is also material, but subtle. You cannot see. Everyone knows that I have got mind, I have got soul, but you cannot see. Neither I can see. But there is. But one who does not know what is soul, what is subtle body, they become perplexed. Therefore Kṛṣṅa says, dhīras tatra na muhyati. Dhīra, those who are sober, one who knows how things are going on, dhīras tatra na muhyati.

dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati [Bg 2.13]

[As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.]

So one has to become dhīra. These, nowadays, the modern civilization is a rascaldom. Everyone is adhīra. He does not know... In the Western countries, big, big professors, they do not know how the soul is existing, how the transmigration of the soul is taking place, how the body is changed, what is the purpose of life, what is the perfection of... Nothing they... Simply like cats and dogs. Work very hard like an ass and enjoy like cats and dogs, āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca sāmānyam etat paśubhir narāṅām [Hitopadeśa 25].

[Both animals and men share the activities of eating, sleeping, mating and defending. But the special property of the humans is that they are able to engage in spiritual life. Therefore without spiritual life, humans are on the level of animals.]

This life is most degraded life, that at the present moment we see that people are suffering because they have simply become animals, all over the world. Simply taking care of this body. But here Parīkṣit Mahārāja, now he knows that "Taking part of the body is now finished; I have to take care of the soul." Therefore he wanted to ask from Śukadeva Gosvāmī, "Now what I have to do? Shall I fully think of Kṛṣṅa?" Because he was a Kṛṣṅa devotee. Naturally, he was thinking of Kṛṣṅa. Satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ [Bg 9.14].

[Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.]

A devotee, he always thinks of Kṛṣṅa. That is devotee.

So we have to practice: Hare Kṛṣṅa, Hare Kṛṣṅa, Kṛṣṅa Kṛṣṅa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. This is the chance. This is the chance for remembering Kṛṣṅa. Satataṁ smartavyaṁ viṣṅum. Viṣṅu, Lord Kṛṣṅa or Lord Viṣṅu, has to be remembered always. Here... The śloka is there: tasmād bhārata sarvātmā.

tasmād bhārata sarvātmā bhagavān īśvaro hariḥ śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca smartavyaś cecchatābhayam [SB 2.1.5]

Icchatā abhayam. Abhayam means fearlessness. One should be... Abhayaṁ sattva-saṁśuddhiḥ. There are three necessities..., four necessities of conditioned life: eating, sleeping, mating and fearing. So one has to become abhayam, no more fear. How? When you take shelter of Kṛṣṅa's lotus feet. Nārāyaṅa-parāḥ sarve na kutaścana bibhyati [SB 6.17.28].

If you take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa, then... Therefore Parīkṣit Mahā..., er, Śukadeva Gosvāmī: icchatā abhayam. Those who are actually willing to become fearless, hero, they must always... Satataṁ kīrtayanto mām [Bg 9.14], always chanting and hearing about Kṛṣṅa. That is wanted. This Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is meant for that purpose, to become abhayam, no more fear. Why one should fear? Kṛṣṅa assures, kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṅaśyati [Bg 9.31].

[He quickly becomes righteous and attains lasting peace. O son of Kuntī, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.]

So if we take shelter of the supreme abhayam, Kṛṣṅa... Therefore one Vaiṣṅava kavi has sung, bhaja huṅ re mana śrī-nanda-nandana, abhaya-caraṅāravinda re. Abhaya-caraṅa. Kṛṣṅa's lotus feet is to become free from fearfulness. Bhaja huṅ re mana śrī-nanda-nandana. Particularly śrī-nanda-nandana. Nanda-nandana means that Kṛṣṅa has got many forms: Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṅa, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, then Viṣṅu, Mahā-Viṣṅu. Ananta. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam [Bs 5.33].

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is inaccessible to the Vedas, but obtainable by pure unalloyed devotion of the soul, who is without a second, who is not subject to decay, is without a beginning, whose form is endless, who is the beginning, and the eternal puruṣa; yet He is a person possessing the beauty of blooming youth.]

But His real form is in Vṛndāvana, the son of Nanda Mahārāja. Therefore he is advising, bhaja huṅ re mana śrī-nanda-nandana. Kṛṣṅa... There are Māyāvādī philosopher, they say that the Absolute Truth, the Supreme, has no name. Yes, for the persons with poor fund of knowledge, they may not find out Kṛṣṅa's name. But in the śāstra we have got thousands of name, viṣṅu-sahasra-nāma. But what are those name? Name means His behavior with His devotees. Just like "Nanda-nandana." Kṛṣṅa is the father of everyone—ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā [Bg 14.4]—everyone.

[It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kuntī, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father.]

So how He has got a father? Oh, that is His mercy. He accepts one devotee as His father. And when He's addressed in relationship with His devotee... Nanda Mahārāja wanted Kṛṣṅa as his son. Kṛṣṅa agreed, "Yes, I shall become your son." So everyone, if you want Kṛṣṅa as your son... Not to become God, but to become the father of God. The Māyāvādī philosophers, they want to become God. But we Vaiṣṅava, we want to become the father of God. This is Vaiṣṅava philosophy. Father of God means he controls God. He's not controlled by God. So a devotee can get such position. Everyone is being controlled by God, but a devotee is so exalted that Kṛṣṅa says that "I wish to be controlled by you." This is Kṛṣṅa's position. Therefore the Vaiṣṅava kavi advises, bhaja huṅ re mana śrī-nanda-nandana, abhaya-caraṅāravinda re. Durlabha mānava..., durlabha mānava-janama sat-saṅge taraha e [Govinda Dāsa Kavirāja].

Now we have got this human form of body, durlabha, very, very rare. This human form of body is obtained after many millions of years. Not very easily. Because we had to come through the evolutionary process, 8,400,0000 species of life. Jalajā nava-lakṣāṅi sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati [Padma Purāṅa]. Therefore this human form of life should not be wasted. Here is the solution of all the problems of life. Don't neglect it. Therefore it is advised, durlabha mānava-janama sat-saṅge taraha e bhava-sindhu re. E bhava-sindhu. This is the ocean, this is the ocean of nescience, ignorance. What is that? Bhava. Bhava-sindhu means take birth again and again, bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate [Bg 8.19]. This is very botheration. And there is no guarantee what kind of... Therefore Parīkṣit Mahārāja... He's also devotee. He's going to Vaikuṅṭha. There was no doubt about it. Still, for our lesson, he inquired from Śukadeva Gosvāmī that "What is my duty now, now I am going to die?" This is intelligence.

So Parīkṣit Mahārāja had a notice of death for seven days, but we do not know what is the notice. We can die immediately. So how much for us it is necessary to chant Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra. Parīkṣit Mahārāja had some time. This Bhāgavata-saptāha is imitated under Parīkṣit Mahārāja's... Parīkṣit Mahārāja had only seven days' time, so he might have listened to the Bhāgavata lesson for seven days. But for us, it is not that we observe a Bhāgavata-saptāha and finish our business. No. Our business is nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā.

śṛṅvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṅaḥ puṅya-śravaṅa-kīrtanaḥ hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṅi vidhunoti suhṛt satām [SB 1.2.17]

[Śrī Kṛṣṅa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.]

naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā [SB 1.2.18]

[By regular attendance in classes on the Bhāgavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.]

Nityam. Not that for seven days. Seven days is meant for Parīkṣit Mahārāja, because he had no more time. His seven days was sufficient nityam. So we should not imitate that, that "I'll hear seven days." That is also a formality. Actually, to understand one verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it requires at least seven months. Janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataś ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ sva-rāṭ [SB 1.1.1]. My Guru Mahārāja explained this verse in Dacca for three months, janmādy asya. Actually, it is so important. The beginning.

So we must be very serious to understand Bhāgavatam. If we can understand even one line, one verse, our life becomes sublime. It is so nice. There is no comparison of this literature, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. That we are actually finding in the Western countries, how nicely they are receiving these granthas. We have translated into English, and they're enjoying. Actually that is the fact. Nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā. Now, our problem, what is this problem? Problem is that we have got so many dirty things within the heart. The first dirty thing is that "I am this body." "I am Indian," "I am Englishman," "I am American," "I am brāhmaṅa," "I am kṣatriya," "I am śūdra," "I am fat," "I am thin," "I am black" and "White..." These conceptions, these are all dirty things. "I am not this body," that is real knowledge. Therefore Śrī Kṛṣṅa Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanam [Cc Antya 20.12].

[Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṅa, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṅa expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.]

To cleanse the dirty things from the heart, that is my first business. And what is that dirty things? To identity myself with this body. That is the dirty things.

The whole world is in distressed condition on account of this dirty thing, that "I am this body." This is the conception of the ass. It is said in the...

yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṅape tri-dhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ [SB 10.84.13]

[One who identifies his self as the inert body composed of mucus, bile and air, who assumes his wife and family are permanently his own, who thinks an earthen image or the land of his birth is worshipable, or who sees a place of pilgrimage as merely the water there, but who never identifies himself with, feels kinship with, worships or even visits those who are wise in spiritual truth—such a person is no better than a cow or an ass.]

Go-kharaḥ. Go-kharaḥ means... Go means cow, and kharaḥ means ass. Yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile. Now many persons come here in Vṛndāvana, tīrtha, but what do they think? They think, "Let me take bathing in the Yamunā River. Then my business is finished." But no. Śāstra says that you should approach to a bhāgavata, a devotee who is living in Vṛndāvana, pure devotee, and surrender unto him. That is tīrtha-yātrā. Not that coming here and taking bathing in the Ganges or... They are going to dūre vāry-ayanaṁ tīrtham. General people think, in this Kali-yuga at least, that if you go thousand miles away from your home, then your tīrtha is finished. Just like in Calcutta there is Ganges, but people come to Haridwar to take bathing in the Ganges. Now, what is the difference between the Haridwar Ganges and Calcutta Ganges? But he thinks, "If I go three thousand miles and take bathing there, that is real Ganges." So dūre vāry-ayanaṁ tīrtham. These are the symptoms of the Kali-yuga. Yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicit. Many thousands of people come to Vṛndāvana, but they think by taking bathing in the Yamunā, his tīrtha is finished. Or going to Prayāga, taking bath... Christian also, they go. They take bathing in the...? Water of...? Jordan?

Devotee: Jordan River.

Prabhupāda: Yes. So... No. Nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā [SB 1.2.18].

If you have to cleanse your heart from all misgivings, then you have to do this: śṛṅvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṅaḥ puṅya-śravaṅa-kīrtanaḥ [SB 1.2.17].

You hear about Kṛṣṅa. Where? Kṛṣṅa is speaking about Himself in the Bhagavad-gītā: "I am this. I am that." You hear. Or you hear about Kṛṣṅa from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śṛṅvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṅaḥ. So if you hear... Kṛṣṅa is within your heart. He can understand. If you are seriously hearing, then Kṛṣṅa can understand. Not that karma-kāṅḍīya-vicāra. "Let me hear on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam for seven days, and I'll get... I have got now one lakh of rupees; I'll get three lakhs." That is karma-kāṅḍīya-vicāra. That is not wanted. The hearing of Bhāgavatam means to cleanse your heart, that you are not this body, you are spirit soul, eternal servant of Kṛṣṅa. That is purification. When you come to this understanding, that "I am not this body. I am spirit... Ahaṁ brahmāsmi," then... Brahmāsmi, finished? The Māyāvādī says as soon as you come to this conclusion, brahma-bhūtaḥ, then your business is finished. No. Your business begins there. That is the verdict of Bhagavad-gītā.

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām [Bg 18.54]

[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.]

After being liberated, brahma-bhūtaḥ, then bhakti begins. People misunderstand that by bhakti one gets mukti. No. One who is engaged in bhakti, he is always... He has already got mukti. Muktir mukulitāñjali sevate 'smān. Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura says that if one has attained to the platform of bhakti, then mukti is hankering after his feet: "What can I do for you?" Muktiḥ svayaṁ mukulitāñjali sevate 'smān dharmārtha-kāma-gatayaḥ samaya-pratīkṣāḥ [Kṛṣṅa-karṅāmṛta 107].

[If I am engaged in devotional service unto You, my dear Lord, then very easily can I perceive Your presence everywhere. And as far as liberation is concerned, I think that liberation stands at my door with folded hands, waiting to serve me-and all material conveniences of dharma [religiosity], artha [economic development] and kāma [sense gratification] stand with her.]

So bhakti is above mukti. Therefore a pure devotee does not aspire for mukti. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagad-īśa kāmaye [Cc Antya 20.29, Śikṣāṣṭaka 4].

[O Lord of the universe, I do not desire material wealth, materialistic followers, a beautiful wife or fruitive activities described in flowery language. All I want, life after life, is unmotivated devotional service to You.]

Na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagad-īśa kāmaye, mama janmani janmani. He says, janmani janmani. Janmani, when He says janmani, it is not mukti. Because mukti means you stop your material transmigration from one body to another. That is mukti. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu: mama janmani janmani. A devotee doesn't require mukti. Janmani janmani tvayi bhaktiḥ. If you are situated in the devotional service of the Lord, then you are already mukta. Avyabhicāriṅī.

yo māṁ bhakti-yogena vyabhicāreṅa sevate sa guṅān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate [Bg 14.26]

[One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.]

Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā... [Bg 18.54].

[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.]

This is the verdict. So for a devotee, mukti is not very big thing. Mukti's already there if he's actually a pure devotee. A pure devotee means just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu says. He has no other desire. Na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīm [Cc Antya 20.29, Śikṣāṣṭaka 4]. Everyone is desiring in this material world for riches, wealth, dhanam, and janam, good family, high aristocratic family, or good follower, leader, minister, janam; they are aspiring popular votes. Na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitām. And next is to have a very beautiful, obedient wife. These are the aspirations of material life. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "I do not want all these things." Na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīm. This is bhakti life. When one is free from all such material desire, he's fit for executing devotional service. That is mukti.

Therefore we have to cleanse our heart. Our heart is always aspiring how to get money, how to get women, how to get prestige, how to become leader, how to become minister, how to become guru. These are the things always hankering in our heart. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanam [Cc Antya 20.12].

First of all cleanse your heart. And that is also said in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā [SB 1.2.18].

Nityam. Not seven days. Nityam. Read every day, especially those who are in Vṛndāvana. Every day, as much as possible, read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā. Nityam. Then our heart will be cleansed, and we shall know what is our constitutional position, what is our relationship with Kṛṣṅa, and then if we serve in that relationship, our life is perfect.

So here Parīkṣit Mahārāja asked that "Shall I think of Kṛṣṅa, or I shall hear about Kṛṣṅa?" And Śukadeva Gosvāmī's congratulating him, varīyān eṣa te praśnaḥ [SB 2.1.1]: "Yes, it is very nice." Varīyān, first class, glorious. Varīyān eṣa te praśnaḥ kṛto loka-hitam. "Now, your question is so nice that when I shall answer, it will be beneficial for the whole universe, loka-hitam." Loka-hitam. Because this Bhāgavata is so nice, transcendental subject matter discussed about Kṛṣṅa, it is loka-hitam. It should be spread all over the world. Loka does not mean your country or your society, brāhmaṅa society, gosvāmī society. No. Loka-hitam: for the benefit of the whole world. That is loka-hitam. Not only of this world, but other worlds also—of the whole universe. Loka-hitaṁ nṛpa. "My dear King, your praśna..." So this message of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam should be spread all over the world. Ya idaṁ paramaṁ guhyaṁ mad-bhakteṣv abhidhāsyati [Bg 18.68]. Na ca tasmāt manuṣyeṣu kaścin me priya-kṛttamaḥ [Bg 18.69]. Don't make it stagnant, that "This Bhāgavata is meant for a certain class of men, and it is to be recited by certain professional men, and make some money, and provide your family, and you become... Bās. Very good, religious." No. Loka-hitam. Bhāgavata should be spread.

That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission. Yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṅa-upadeśa [Cc Madhya 7.128].

[Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa as they are given in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land.]

Whole world, whomever you meet, you speak of Kṛṣṅa. That is guru. That is gosvāmī. Not that gosvāmī profession means that I make a means of my livelihood: I bring money from outside and engage in my son's marriage and daughter's marriage. That is not gosvāmī. One who is engaged in loka-hitam, spreading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam all over the world, that is gosvāmī. Gosvāmī means... Go means indriya; svāmī means... Indriya means senses, and svāmī means the master. One has to control. If one is busy only family matters... What is this family? It is simply sense gratification, sexual intercourse. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham [SB 7.9.45].

[Sex life is compared to the rubbing of two hands to relieve an itch. Gṛhamedhīs, so-called gṛhasthas who have no spiritual knowledge, think that this itching is the greatest platform of happiness, although actually it is a source of distress. The kṛpaṅas, the fools who are just the opposite of brāhmaṅas, are not satisfied by repeated sensuous enjoyment. Those who are dhīra, however, who are sober and who tolerate this itching, are not subjected to the sufferings of fools and rascals.]

So if one is engaged in these family affairs only, sexual affairs, he's not a gosvāmī. Gosvāmī means who has..., one who has... Wherefrom this gosvāmī comes? Rūpa Gosvāmī. Vande rūpa-sanātanau raghu-yugau śrī-jīva... They, they were not family men. They were not in sense gratification. They were in the service of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Kṛṣṅa. That is gosvāmī. We must know what is gosvāmī. Loka-hitaṁ ratam. Everyone who is on behalf of Kṛṣṅa, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, is engaged to preach Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā, throughout the whole world... Pṛthivīṁ sa śiṣyāt. A gosvāmī means he must have disciples all over the world. That is gosvāmī. Not that within some area. These are the things. We should scrutinizingly study what is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, what is Bhagavad-gītā, what is a preacher, what is gosvāmī. These things we must study. Loka-hi... These will be discussed by Śukadeva Gosvāmī, that what is what. You'll find in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Therefore it is our duty: nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā. Nityam. Not that seven days. Nityam. Naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu [SB 1.2.18]. First of all we have to hear. Śṛṅvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṅaḥ puṅya-śravaṅa-kīrtanaḥ. We acquire pious result of hearing. And the result will be manifested... Hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṅi...

śṛṅvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṅaḥ puṅya-śravaṅa-kīrtanaḥ hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṅi vidhunoti suhṛt satām [SB 1.2.17]

Then he must be free from the material bondage. That is called hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṅi vidhunoti—washed off. If it is not completely washed off, if it is partially washed off, naṣṭa-prāyeṣu... Naṣṭa-prāya means we have got all these filthy things within the heart. It is not yet cleansed fully, but even some percentage is cleansed, then... Nityaṁ bhāgavata... But how it can be cleansed? The process is to hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. That will be explained:

śrotavyādīni rājendra nṛṅāṁ santi sahasraśaḥ apaśyatām ātma-tattvaṁ gṛheṣu gṛha-medhinām [SB 2.1.2]

[Those persons who are materially engrossed, being blind to the knowledge of ultimate truth, have many subject matters for hearing in human society, O Emperor.]

These verse are very nice, I mean to say, instructive verses, and you try to read them regularly, every morning. Or whenever you find time. Then you will understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Everything is explained there. Then the dirty things in our heart will be cleansed, and then we will understand what is our constitutional position, and what is our duty, and how to execute it.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya... [break] [end]