Bhakti Vikasa Swami's Blog, page 82
June 18, 2023
A devotee’s greatest enemy
Devotee: Prabhupada, what is the devotee’s greatest enemy?
Prabhupada: He, he himself. Because he’s a rascal, he’s his greatest enemy. So just get out of this rascaldom, and you become your friend. Nobody is enemy. You are yourself your enemy.
Morning Walk — June 12, 1974, Paris
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June 17, 2023
A song sung by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
There is a song sung by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura:
enechi ausadhi maya nasibara lagi’
harinama-mahamantra lao tumi magi’
bhakativinoda prabhu-carane padiya
sei harinama-mantra la-ila magiya
The sankirtana movement has been introduced by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu just to dispel the illusion of maya, by which everyone in this material world thinks himself to be a product of matter and therefore to have many duties pertaining to the body. Actually, the living entity is not his material body: he is a spirit soul. He has a spiritual need to be eternally blissful and full of knowledge, but unfortunately he identifies himself with the body, sometimes as a human being, sometimes as an animal, sometimes a tree, sometimes an aquatic, sometimes a demigod, and so on. Thus with each change of body he develops a different type of consciousness with different types of activities and thus becomes increasingly entangled in material existence, transmigrating perpetually from one body to another. Under the spell of maya, or illusion, he does not consider the past or future but is simply satisfied with the short life span that he has gotten for the present. To eradicate this illusion, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has brought the sankirtana movement, and He requests everyone to accept and distribute it. A person who is actually a follower of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura must immediately accept the request of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu by offering respectful obeisances unto His lotus feet and thus beg from Him the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. If one is fortunate enough to beg from the Lord this Hare Krsna maha-mantra, his life is successful.
Srila Prabhupada’s purport to Cc Adi 9.36
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June 16, 2023
Nityam bhagavata-sevaya
If you want to increase your love of Godhead — feeling, emotion for Krsna — then you should adopt this process, nityam bhagavata-sevaya, regularly. Therefore you will see, if you attend regularly the classes and hear about Krsna, then you will become advanced in Krsna consciousness.
From Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.18 — July 19, 1974, New Vrindavan
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June 15, 2023
Bhakti means activity
People say that inactivity, silence, that is perfection. But no. In bhakti cultivation, there is no such thing silence. Always active. The same example can be given that Arjuna… Arjuna became devotee not by silence, but by being active. Activity, spontaneous activity: “I have to do this. My Lord will be pleased. So I have to do this.”
Activity. But if I have no idea what is Lord, what does He want, how He’s pleased, if we do not know all these things, naturally there will be no activity. But one who knows what is this Lord, what does He want, what is my relationship with Him, then there is activity. So actually, that bhakti,
bhakti is not silence. Bhakti is activity.
Just like personally, up to seventy years, I was practically doing nothing. But at the age of seventy years, by the grace of God, Krsna, there was inspiration; I went to Western country – not to sit down there silently. So bhakti, the path of bhakti, is not inactivity. Actual activity begins when one is situated on devotional service.
Srila Prabhupada; Lecture, 28 Oct 1972
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June 14, 2023
Benefits of simple life in Krsna consciousness
Prabhupada: The whole material world is going on on the basis of these two qualities, passion and ignorance. What are the symptoms of passion? Kama-lobhadayas ca ye [SB 1.2.19]: too much attraction for sense gratification. This is called passion. And lobha: greediness, not satisfied. Now we are coming from a cottage, very nice cottage, self-sufficient; little land also, growing vegetables. Nice cottage, very warm. There is no need of air conditioning. We can live very simple life anywhere, any part of the world. There are so many jungles: you cut one or two trees, and with the logs you can make into little cottage. And after the trees being cut, the land becomes open, so you can utilize the land for growing food grains, for pasturing ground. Then if you have got cows, food grains, vegetables and a cottage, then where is your economic problem? [laughter] Where is your economic problem? Live peacefully in the open air, take sufficient milk, all vitamins, and vegetables full of vitamins, A, B, C, D. You have to take, vitamins. [laughter] You get nice life and save time for chanting Hare Krsna.
Devotees: Jaya!
Prabhupada: This is life. We are trying to introduce in this New Vrindavan colony this simple life. But the kama-lobhadayas ca ye. We can live very simple life, but because we are infected by the rajo-guna and tamo-guna, we require the pigeonholes of skyscraper buildings — unnecessarily.
July 21, 1974, New Vrindavan
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June 13, 2023
How to remain humble in devotional service
Paramahamsa: Srila Prabhupada, how can one remain humble? How can one remain humble in executing his devotional service?
Prabhupada: Yes. If he thinks himself that “I am non-entity, helpless,” then he can remain. If he thinks, “I can do something. I have got so much intelligence,” then he cannot become humble. Just like… [aside:] Don’t come very near. Just like child is humble always, because he knows that “I am completely helpless. Unless mother helps me, I am complete…” Therefore, whenever he’s in need of something, he cries, “Mother, help me.” This is helplessness. Helplessness. Always. Karpanye. This is one of the item of surrender. Unless you think yourself helpless, you cannot surrender. Surrender is complete when you think yourself that you are helpless. “I am helpless, but because I am surrendered to Krsna, He’ll save me.” This faith also must be there, that “Although I am helpless… Not although I am factually helpless, but because I am surrendered to Krsna, I have no danger. He’ll help me, protect me.”
Morning Walk — June 11, 1974, Paris
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June 12, 2023
Once God eats from your hand, then your life is successful
Little service to God is taken as great service. Krsna is so kind. So we should try always to give the best service, best energy, and you become liberated. Actually we cannot give any service to Krsna. He is unlimited. What is the value of our service? But He takes it seriously: “Oh, he is trying to give Me some service.” Otherwise what service He needs from us? Suppose He has created this big universe. What service we can give? By His will, He can create millions of universes. What service we can give Him? No. These are the chances of service, this Ratha-yatra. God is so great, so big, how we can pack up in the ratha? But this is a chance, that you get Him sit on the ratha and prepare it, manufacture it. Because your energy is engaged for His service, that is accepted.
So this example… Just like a small child eating lozenges, and out of that, if he offers father, “Father, take it,” and father takes it very serious…, “Ah, very nice.” And what is that lozenges to the father? It is nothing. But because the child offers to the father in love, father takes it very seriously: “Oh, you are so nice. Yes, yes. Give me.” That is stated in Bhagavad-gita. Patram puspam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayacchati, “A leaf, a fruit, a little water.” What is the value of these? But yo me bhaktya prayacchati: “Because he is giving Me in faith and devotion, I accept it.” And what is this one piece of leaf and a fruit for God? It is nothing. He is being served by many thousands of goddess of fortune. Laksmi-sahasra-sata-sambrahma-sevyamanam. Then what is this value of this leaf and flower and fruit? But still, He says, tad aham asnami: “Yes, I eat them.” And once God eats from your hand, then your life is successful.
Srila Prabhupada Morning Walk — June 29, 1974, Melbourne
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June 11, 2023
Don’t waste time
Today, 15th March, 1968, now it is 7:35, gone, as soon as it is 7:36, you cannot bring back that 1968, 15th March, evening, 7:35, again. Even if you pay millions of dollars, “Please come back again,” no, finished. So Canakya Pandita says that “Time is so valuable that if you pay millions of golden coins, you cannot get back even a moment.” What is lost is lost for good. “If you such valuable time spoil for nothing, without any profit, just imagine how much you are losing, how greatly you are loser.”
From Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.6.1 — San Francisco, March 15, 1968
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June 10, 2023
If you love me, love my dog
“If you love me, love my dog.” I have seen people do that. One man is going with his dog. His friends meet, and if the friends pats the dog, the man becomes pleased. Is it not?
Devotee: Yes.
Prabhupada: Yes. So… Just like if you have got your child on your lap, if some friends come and takes your child and pats him and kisses him, then you become pleased, immediately: “Oh, this gentleman loves my child so much.” Similarly, if a Vaisnava, a devotee, is respected, then Krsna is more pleased. Therefore it is called yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasadah. The respectful to guru makes easier to receive mercy from God. Yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasadah. What is the meaning?
Satsvarupa: “By the mercy of the spiritual master one gets the blessings of Krsna.”
Prabhupada: Yes. Because Krsna is immediately pleased, “Oh, he’s obedient and respectful to My devotee.” It is in the same way, “Oh, he loves my child so much. He loves my dog.” Dog is not qualified, but because the gentleman’s dog is loved, the gentleman is pleased. This is counteractive. Similarly, a pure devotee, representative of God, if he is offered respect, that respect goes to God.
Room Conversation — June 29, 1974, Melbourne
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June 9, 2023
Women at the back, women at the front
He sat down on the vyasasana and there was lot of noise and stuff going on. And I saw Srila Prabhupada was kind of looking into what is going on. And he said, “women in the back (in the microphone).” As soon as he said that, it was very very quiet. You can hear a pin drop. And the women walked in the back. But it’s not so much that women are inferior, it’s just that everyone was agitated and no one was really paying attention to him.
(Govinda Dasa. Prabhupada memories. DVD 94. 1.01.10-1.01.49. Video by Siddhanta Prabhu.)
Srila Prabhupada laughed and talked to his guests and devotees and during the day he would often relax and speak in the backyard of the house and it was pretty small backyard. There was big tree to which Prabhupada would lean back like this and he would laugh, and smile, and talk very casually with devotees.
Once when the yard was full of sannyasis and temple presidents and other devotees, all the men came into the yard and the women were gone to the next yard over behind a big steel fence. And they were all pressing against the fence, trying to see and hear Srila Prabhupada. And Srila Prabhupada looked over there and he said, “c’mon then c’mon.” So they all ran around and came into the yard. Srila Prabhupada told his men to move back and make some room.
“The women must sit here at front.” So we all did that. Because Srila Prabhupada was very equal with everyone. He gave a lot of mercy to the women and children. They were treated just as the men were.
(Radha-Damodara Dasa. Prabhupada memories. DVD 94. 1.21.08 to 1.22.25. Video by Siddhanta Prabhu.)
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