710211 - Lecture SB 06.03.18 - Gorakhpur

Lectures by Date, 1971

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

710211SB-GORAKHPUR - February 11, 1971 - 41:02 Minutes

Devotee: (introducing recording) Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa . . . (indistinct)

Prabhupāda:

. . . rakṣanti tad-bhaktimataḥ parebhyo

mattaś ca martyān atha sarvataś ca

(SB 6.3.18)

So invisible Viṣṇudūtas, they are always traveling. Just like Viṣṇu, Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is all-pervading, He is everywhere, but our present eyes cannot see, material eyes. Just like we cannot see even the living entity when he is passing through this body, leaving this body aside, very small. We cannot see.

Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). By the dint of your . . . by the strength of your senses, the present material senses, it is not possible to appreciate śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi. Beginning from Kṛṣṇa's holy name . . .

(aside) Where is this dog? No. Your dog. Your dog? This is your dog?

Guest: No, no, no.

Prabhupāda: Why it is barking? (indistinct comments with others) So invisible Viṣṇudūtas, they are always everywhere. Just like police constables, Yamadūtas are there and Viṣṇudūtas are there. Civil guard and the police constables, both are there. So Yamadūtas' business is to arrest the sinful. That is their . . . here, everyone is sinful.

Nobody is free from sin. That is the position of this material world. So Yamadūtas are searching or taking away. Just after leaving this body, one is taken away by Yamadūta to the place of Yamadūta. There is a planet described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

So those who are very sinful, they are dragged through hot desert. They cannot . . . they fall down. Such persons fall down, but still, he is dragged through the desert. These descriptions are there. Sometimes we feel like that. So there is a planet. So sinful persons are arrested and taken to Yamadūtas.

Similarly, Viṣṇudūtas are there. Bhūtāni viṣṇoḥ sura-pūjitāni. Sura means demigod. The residents of the higher planets, they also respect, show their obeisances, respectful obeisances, to these assistants of . . . Viṣṇudūtas, sura-pūjitāni. Durdarśa-liṅgāni. Durdarśa, "very rarely seen."

Because the Ajāmila was practically the only case who was taken from the clutches of the Yamadūta. Otherwise, there is no need of their coming. But there are still devotees. Just like Kṛṣṇa says, tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti (BG 4.9): "After leaving this body they do not come again to take birth in this material world, but they come to Me."

So those who are eligible to going to go back to Godhead, they are taken by Viṣṇudūta as guides. But durdarśa-liṅgāni, they are very rarely to be seen, because directly going to Vaikuṇṭha after leaving this body, such persons are also very rare. Durdarśa-liṅgāni mahādbhutāni. Adbhuta: wonderful. Certainly they must be wonderful, because they are spiritual body—four hands, with different weapons, just like Viṣṇu. So such things are not visible within this material world. Therefore mahādbhutāni, very wonderful.

Mahādbhutāni rakṣanti. What is their business? They give protection to the devotees. Rakṣanti tad-bhaktimataḥ parebhyaḥ. Bhaktimataḥ. Those who are engaged in devotional service, they are protected from parebhyaḥ. Parebhyaḥ. Means the enemies of the devotees. The devotees of the Lord are always protected by the Viṣṇudūta, who are almost as powerful as Viṣṇu. And they give protection to the devotees of the Lord, mad-bhaktaḥ, tad-bhaktamataḥ, who are following the principles of devotional service, parebhyaḥ.

How they are protected? First they are protected from the hands of the enemies. Because there are many enemies. Don't think that because one has become Kṛṣṇa conscious there will be no enemy. Of course, Kṛṣṇa conscious person is always ajāta-śatru. There cannot be any enemy. There cannot be enemy in this sense—that no enemy can do any harm to them.

Because they are always protected, no enemy can harm to them. Ajāta-śatru. As Kṛṣṇa is ajāta-śatru, no enemy can harm to Him, there are śatrus or enemies of Kṛṣṇa, as you will read from the Kṛṣṇa . . . thousands and thousands of the demons, from the very beginning of His birth there are enemies.

When Kṛṣṇa is born . . .

(aside) Don't meditate. Just hear. These are important things.

Kṛṣṇa, as soon as He is born, there is enemy present, Kaṁsa. As soon as He is grown little, two months, three months, there is enemy—Pūtanā, Agha, Baka. So even God, Kṛṣṇa, has got enemies, so why not of the devotees? The devotees' enemy . . . just like Hiraṇyakaśipu, he is enemy of his son, five-years-old son.

So you don't think that because one has become Kṛṣṇa conscious, he has no enemy. Don't judge in that way, "Oh, he is Kṛṣṇa conscious. Why there is enemy? Why somebody criticizes him? Why one finds fault with him? Then he is not kṛṣṇa-bhakta." The enemies will do that. That is enemies' business. Even Kṛṣṇa has enemy; why not the . . . just like Jesus Christ, he had enemy. He was killed by the enemy. Sometimes it so happened. Haridāsa Ṭhākura had enemies.

So enemies there will be. Because he has got enemy, therefore it is not that he is kṛṣṇa-bhakta. He is kṛṣṇa-bhakta, even having his enemies, just like Kṛṣṇa, despite having enemies, is Kṛṣṇa. But the difference is that Kṛṣṇa or Kṛṣṇa's bhakta will never be defeated by the enemies. That is the distinction. Enemies may have, but he will never be defeated. God or God's devotee cannot be defeated by the enemies. Otherwise, Kṛṣṇa's declaration will be false. He says, kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati (BG 9.31).

Here it is also stated that rakṣanti. Rakṣanti. Rakṣanti means protects. What is the business, the rakṣanti? From where? Parebhyaḥ, from the hands of the enemies. Kṛṣṇa is able—He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead—He can protect Himself. Just like when Kṛṣṇa was a child on the lap of His mother, the Pūtanā came to attack by policy to poison the child. But Kṛṣṇa was so able that He agreed to suck the breast of the Pūtanā smeared with poison. But we should not imitate that. Unconsciously, somebody gives poison, that is . . . Kṛṣṇa protects. But we should not imitate.

Kṛṣṇa can eat any amount of poison. Even Kṛṣṇa's greatest devotee, Lord Śiva, he can also drink any amount of poison. But the rascals, fools, they think that, "Lord Śiva smokes gāñjā and he can drink the ocean of poison. So let us also try to follow the footsteps of Lord Śiva by smoking gāñjā."

They cannot follow the footsteps of Lord Śiva that he is the greatest devotee, always chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa. That is not their business to follow. But they are very much eager to follow the footsteps of Lord Śiva for smoking gāñjā.

But they do not know that Śiva, Lord Śiva, can drink an ocean of poison and he can keep it just here. He does not allow it to go to the stomach. That is his power. He cannot . . . he does not allow the poison. Therefore His another name is Nīlakaṇṭha, Nīlakaṇṭha. Nīlakaṇṭha, because he keeps the poison here, kaṇṭha. It is called? Throat. Throat.

Because he keeps the poison just on the door of the throat, he does not . . . that is Lord Śiva. Just like there are many fools who try to imitate Kṛṣṇa for performing the rāsa-līlā with women. But they cannot imitate Kṛṣṇa for killing Pūtanā, Aghāsura, Bakāsura, or lifting the Govardhana. That they do not follow. That is very difficult for them. The rascals, they take easily.

(aside) So you can go and lie down. Why you are sitting? This is not good. You don't have sufficient sleep from ten to four? Is not sufficient? Why you do like this? Whole day and night, whenever you sit down. What is this? Every one of you, more or less. What is the reason?

Yamunā: Inattentive.

Prabhupāda: Inattentive means like this? No. Unless one is tired or had no sufficient sleep, one cannot do like that. Not inattentiveness.

Gurudāsa: Not enough sleep.

Prabhupāda: Enough sleep. That means you require twenty-four hours sleep. Out of that, if you sleep for ten hours, that is not sufficient. Your business is to sleep only. So ten hours' or eight hours' sleep is not sufficient. Kumbhakarṇa. Kumbhakarṇa. Just like he was sleeping six months.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Hibernation.

Prabhupāda: (chuckling) Six months. We are also sleeping six months in a year because we sleep, generally, ten to twelve hours. So if you half day, means half year. We are also all Kumbhakarṇas. (laughter) Anyone who sleeps more than six or seven hours, he is a Kumbhakarṇa. Kumbhakarṇa was the brother of Rāvaṇa. He was sleeping six months, and six months he was awake. That means anyone who sleeps half the . . . out of twenty-four hours, anyone, if he sleeps twelve hours, he's a Kumbhakarṇa.

So at least I think that one should not sleep more than seven hours utmost. That is sufficient, sufficient, seven hours. So you can sleep six hours at night and one hour to rest in daytime. That is sufficient. But if you sleep more than that, then you are Kumbhakarṇa. You should adjust things. Nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau. That the Gosvāmīs:

saṅkhyā-pūrvaka-nāma-gāna-natibhiḥ kālāvasānī-kṛtau

nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau cātyanta-dīnau ca yau

rādhā-kṛṣṇa-padāravinda-bhajanānandena mattālikau

vande rūpa-sanātanau . . .

So we are followers, rūpānuga. We are followers of the Gosvāmīs. So their behavior, saṅkhyā-pūrvaka-nāma-gāna-natibhiḥ kālāvasānī-kṛtau. The whole time, twenty-four hours, was used in Kṛṣṇa consciousness by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra regularly on fixed up big beads. So we have reduced that, sixteen. But they were chanting . . . Haridāsa Ṭhākura was chanting four times sixty-four. That means . . . three times sixty-four. So three times sixty-four means?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: One hundred and ninety-two.

Prabhupāda: One ninety-two rounds. And we are giving you only for sixteen rounds. We don't ask you to imitate Haridāsa Ṭhākura. But saṅkhyā-pūrvaka . . . he would not sleep or he would not eat unless he has finished his 192 rounds. Saṅkhyā-pūrvaka-nāma-gāna. And nāma-gāna and natibhiḥ.

Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī was offering obeisances round the Rādhā-kuṇḍa, whole that, "So many times I shall fall down." He was falling down. Still there are many devotees, they do that. You fall down, daṇḍavat. Then, from the point where your head is touching, you just have a line. Again stand there and fall down. Again stand there, fall down. Huh?

Devotee (1): He would circumambulate?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Just see how much good exercise it is. Huh? Just like I fall down in this way, flat. Then I make a line. And I stand again in that line—again fall down, make a line. Again that line. In this way, round. Tapasya. This is called tapasya, austerity.

We should not take very leniently that we are going to back to Godhead. Of course, there is so many concession for the . . . but at the same time, we should be very much aware of the responsibility that we have decided to go back to Godhead after leaving this body, so we have to perform some austerities.

The austerity in our Gauḍīya-sampradāya is very simple: following the four principles, restriction, avoiding the offenses, and chanting regular beads. That's all. And hearing. Chanting and hearing, both things. Not only chanting, we have to hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way we should engage twenty-four hours' business. Hear and chanting . . .

When you speak, when you go to a lecture for preaching, that is also chanting, when you speak. And automatically there is hearing. If you chant, there is hearing also. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇam (SB 7.5.23). There is memorizing also. Unless you memorize all the conclusions of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā, you cannot speak. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam arcanam. Arcanam, this is arcanam. Vandanam, offering prayer. Hare Kṛṣṇa is also prayer. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa: "O Kṛṣṇa, O the energy of Kṛṣṇa, please engage me in Your service." This Hare Kṛṣṇa is simply prayer.

So śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyam. Always remain engaged as servant, dāsyam. Sakhyam, always think that Kṛṣṇa is your best friend; ātma-nivedanam, and dedicating everything to Kṛṣṇa. This is our process. And we have to be utilized under these processes twenty-four hours. Out of that, because we have got this body, it requires eating, sleeping, mating. So the arrangement is there. Eating is there; sleeping is there; mating is there; defending is there—but not excessively.

Nāma-gāna . . . saṅkhyā-pūrvaka-nāma-gāna-natibhiḥ kālāvasānī-kṛtau nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau. Vijita. The very word is used, vijita. You should not be conquered by them. Eating, sleeping, mating, defending required, but you should not be conquered by them. You shall conquer them. The māyā is forcing me that, "You sleep twenty-four hours." But I have to conquer māyā: "No. I shall not sleep more than seven hours." That is your business. Similarly if I ask, if you say: "I don't know," that is not the answer. You have to . . .

And how this māyā can be conquered? That is also said. Mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te (BG 7.14): "Anyone who is fully surrendered, he can conquer the māyā." Just like Haridāsa Ṭhākura conquered māyā. She came at dead of night, beautifully dressed, very young girl, and offered herself. But he conquered. "Yes, I shall do. I shall enjoy with you. Please sit down. Let me finish my regular chanting process. Then we shall enjoy." So he conquered māyā. Māyā could not conquer.

So these are the instances. And if we fall flat to be conquered by the māyā, then . . . we have to struggle. This is also another struggle for existence. As the materialists, they are also struggling for existence for a few days or few years only, our struggle is not for few days or few years, but eternally. The same struggle is there. Their process is different, our process is different.

So we should be always conscious of our responsibility that . . . that will help us. We must stay awake. Uttiṣṭhata. Always remain awakened. So regular, seven hours sleep is sufficient. Why it should be more than that? What is the cause? Another cause may be that if we eat more, then sleep more. So in order to reduce the sleeping process, the eating process should be reduced. You can take, make . . . I . . . you fast one day, don't take anything, you will see that there will be less sleep. Is it not? Yes.

Devotee (2): I generally find that the first day of a fast I sleep. Second day I feel a little more . . .

Prabhupāda: Then you continue fasting?

Devotee (2): Yes. For example, last night I ate very heavily, but this morning, now I'm awake, I'm staying awake.

Prabhupāda: Why you eat heavily?

Devotee (2): I'm saying that incidentally, I ate heavily, and this morning I am not falling asleep.

Prabhupāda: So anyway, that you have to adjust, all of you that, "How I shall not sleep more than seven hours." Six hours, from ten to four, that is six hours, complete. And one hour during daytime. Then no more sleeping unless you are sick. But why you young boys and girls, why should you fall sick? There is no question of falling sick. You have got your now blood running on. You are not old. Your stomach is working nice. So you should adjust.

For a devotee, to reduce this is the process, this āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunam. Eating, sleeping, mating and defending, they should be reduced, and come to the point, no sleeping, no eating. That is not possible. But spirit soul, when one . . . just like Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī. He came to that point, no sleeping, no eating. All the Gosvāmīs, they were not sleeping more than two hours. So why about Gosvāmīs?

Even big karmīs like Subash Bose, Gandhi, they were also not sleeping. I heard that Napoleon Bonaparte, he was not sleeping. He was sleeping . . . when he was passing from one war field to another, on his horse he slept. That's all. He never went to the bedroom for sleeping. Gandhi used to do that. He would sleep when he was passing from one station, one . . . in the motorcar he would sleep. Then again he will begin work.

Devotee (1): Sometimes you sleep only for five minutes. Only for five minutes.

Devotee: Can we do that?

Prabhupāda: Yes. But Gandhi was very regular in his eating. He would take simply a cup of goat's milk and few peanuts, and some day one or two cāpāṭi. Otherwise he will not take anything. And some oranges.

Devotee (2): I heard he used to take raw . . .

Prabhupāda: Huh?

Devotee (2): A root. A particular root which has a . . .

Prabhupāda: That is for blood pressure medicine. Blood pressure medicine. That is different thing. But he was eating very little. His secretaries, his grandson and granddaughter-in-law and some other girls, they were assisting. So he would, even in the jail . . . Government, when imprisoned him, he will take his goat. (chuckles)

A great politician—he would not accept government-supplied food. Goat must be milked before him, and the milk is made hot and given to him. He would not allow any other food. Then he will starve. He will fast. So government was obliged to give him whatever he wanted, his food.

So Gandhi was not sleeping very much. Even ordinary, Subash Bose, he was not sleeping very much. And Napoleon Bonaparte, he also was not sleeping very much. So there were many instances, even the karmī. That means when one is engaged in some serious business, he sleeps more . . . less. When I was in your country and was not attacked by the heart, so at night I was taping, and I was taping still two tapes. Two tapes. Therefore I was able to write so many books. Yes.

So one should be engaged in serious business; then sleeping will be less. If there is no . . . if we become lazy, if we have no sufficient engagement, then sleeping will come. And if no sufficient engagement, but sufficient eating, then the next result is sleeping. So we have to adjust things. We should not sleep more than seven hours. Six hours at night and one hour, that is sufficient.

From medical point of view, they say six hours' sleeping is sufficient. Six hours. So suppose if we sleep seven to eight hours, one hour more, then out of twenty-four hours we sleep eight hours. Then sixteen hours. And chanting, two hours. Ten hours. And for taking bath and dressing, another two hours. Then eight hours and four hours, twelve hours. So . . .

Devotee (1): Then eating.

Prabhupāda: No. I have taken that—two hours for taking bath and eating, and eight hours for sleeping—ten hours. And two hours for chanting—twelve hours. And still we have got twelve hours for Kṛṣṇa's service. Is there any mistake? Just calculate. Why there should be, "Oh, I work so hard. I have no . . . therefore I am sleeping more," to find out an excuse. "I was dysentery."

Why you dysentery? Why there should be dysentery unless you eat more? This way, personally we have to adjust things, not that by dictation or by rules and regulation. Personal affairs cannot be adjusted by rules and regulation. It can be adjusted by oneself. And then everything will be all right.

saṅkhyā-pūrvaka-nāma-gāna-natibhiḥ kālāvasānī-kṛtau

nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau cātyanta-dīnau ca yau

rādhā-kṛṣṇa-padāravinda-bhajanānandena mattālikau

They save time in this way, and rādhā-kṛṣṇa-padāravinda-bhajanānandena mattālikau, be jolly in the service of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, bhajanānanda. That should be the basis of jolly, jollyness. And this should be adjusted or minimized according to . . . our real pleasure should be in bhajanānandena. Rādhā-kṛṣṇa-padāravinda-bhajanānandena.

In this way we have taken very serious job. In this life we want to finish this material existence for good. That should be the responsibility that, "We are going to finish this material existence for good. No more coming." Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9). If you take responsibility in that way, then everything will be adjusted. Serious.

My Guru Mahārāja, he used to say like that, that "Finish this business in this life. Don't delay for the next life." He was telling also that: "Don't give me trouble again to come here to deliver you." That is the responsibility of spiritual master. Spiritual master responsibility is to take the disciple to Kṛṣṇa, until he is able to do—to help him, to help him, to help him. That is the verdict of the śāstras. Just like Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura. His spiritual master delivered him, taking the shape of a prostitute.

So these, I mean to say, stories are there. We have to take responsibility. The first thing is that we have taken very, very responsible task, to finish this so-called lording over this material nature. The material life means everyone is trying to lord over the material nature, bhoga. And we cannot do that. That is not possible. Therefore we are in trouble. This very mentality, that "I shall lord it over . . ."

Everyone in the material world . . . and so long this, "I shall serve Kṛṣṇa, not lord it over . . ." Just the opposite. This is material mentality: "I shall lord it over." The whole world is struggling. Everyone is thinking, "I will lord it over. I shall be over everyone. My votes shall be the largest number. I shall become . . ." And our business is not to lord it over but to serve Kṛṣṇa.

So the Viṣṇudūta . . . we have to become Viṣṇudūta. Our preachers are Viṣṇudūta. They have to give protection to any person who is slightly inclined to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is pañcarātra-vidhi. We shall give all help, all assistance, to such persons.

That is our business. It is not sleeping business, it is not lazying business. We should be always active. We shall always make plan, think how to protect this miserable condition of the material . . . they cannot understand. They are fools. They are rascals. So you have to give them knowledge. You have to give them help. That is missionary activity.

Missionary activity is not laziness or sleeping. My Guru Mahārāja used to say that prāṇa āche yāra sei hetu pracāra, that, "I have got some dozen of disciples, and I have got a temple, and people are contributing. Now I have got good arrangement for eating and sleeping. Now I am perfect. Because I am getting some food without any work, and honor, then I am perfect." This is not the mentality. Prāṇa āche yāra. You must be engaged continually for these missionary activity.

The Gauḍīya Mission has failed in preaching work because they adopted this principle. As soon as they got a little shelter under the name of maṭha, or temple, and a few dozen of . . . not few dozen, one dozen, then he is settled up there. Now he is bhajana, "Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa," showing that he is very great chanter. And what is your preaching? Lord Caitanya ordered you, pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi. Why don't you go? How you are Indian?

Therefore my Guru Mahārāja condemned this policy. Mana tumi kisera vaiṣṇava: "What kind of Vaiṣṇava you are?" Pratiṣṭhāra tare nirjanera ghare: "And simply for cheap popularity, 'Oh, he is a Vaiṣṇava. He is chanting. All right.' " Pratiṣṭhāra tare nirjanera ghare tava hari . . . nirjanera ghare. No botheration, because if there is no preaching, there is no botheration. You can sit down and show people, "I have now become a very liberated soul," and chant and meditate. That means sleeping. This sort of business is condemned by my Guru Mahārāja. Pratiṣṭhāra tare nirjanera ghare tava hari-nāma kevala. This is simply cheating. He did not approve this kind of business. He did not approve.

He wanted to see that everyone is engaged in preaching work, some sort of preaching work, either indoor or outdoor. When you are indoor you have to be busy writing articles for a magazine and proofread and so many things indoors. And outdoor you have to go door to door, make them member, make them interested in this movement, collect money for expenses, outdoor. Preaching, you have to meet opposing elements. So many will criticize, so many will attack. Nityānanda Prabhu was hurt personally, but still, outdoor. This is missionary work, not that "Whenever I find some opportunity, go to some solitary place and sleep." This is not missionary life.

So we should adjust things, not that, "All right, it is going on. That's all." You have got very responsible business, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is genuine, it is authorized, and Lord Caitanya wants us to do it all over the world. The things should be adjusted and keep us always alive to our self-responsibility. That is missionary life, not to give away.

(aside) So it is working?

So I think we should now . . . six-thirty, yes? You can have kīrtana, another kīrtana? Our business is very responsible.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: What song do you want us to sing, Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: Hmm? (break) (end)