Reading from Srimad Bhagavatam Ninth Canto, Chapter 11, Text 25.
sri-badarayanir uvaca
athadisad dig-vijaye
bhratrms tri-bhuvanesvarah
atmanam darsayan svanam
purim aiksata sanugah
Translation
“Sukadeva Gosvami replied: After accepting the throne of the government by
the fervent request of His younger brother Bharata, Lord Ramacandra
ordered His younger brothers to go out and conquer the entire world, while
He personally remained in the capital to give audience to all the citizens and
residents of the palace and supervise the governmental affairs with His other
assistants.”
My humble obeisances to all the exalted Vaisnavas. Thank you very much
for this opportunity to be with you. In this purport Prabhupada comes to this
military terminology, Prabhupada’s vira rasa, where he wants to fight with the
world to speak Krishna consciousness is evident in the way he wrote his
letters when he wrote at the top of them ‘Camp Baroda’, ‘Camp Los Angeles’
and he saw it as a war against maya. In fact he used military terminology
when he talked about book distribution. He said, ‘We are fighting with maya.
It’s a war. And to fight maya means to go out and drop hundreds and millions
of books into the laps of conditioned souls. Just like during war time people
drop bombs.’
So in this verse also which is talking about the way in which Lord
Ramachandra sent out His brothers to conquer the different directions which
was the custom at that time. Prabhupada immediately relates it to the
sankirtana movement and how one must become dig-vijaya and that way that
one becomes dig-vijaya is to take the open order of Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu. And that is about the best deal there is in the whole universe
because Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s words’s are inviting us to engage in the
sankirtana movement and as Prabhupada phrases it, it’s an open order. That
means anybody can take it at any time to their full capacity, whatever capacity
one has, one can take that order and when one takes the order of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, its immediate that one becomes connected
to the internal energy of the Lord because as Srila Prabhupada says in the
Second Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam in relationship to the catur sloki
Bhagavatam, that the direct order of the Lord is a manifestation of His internal
potency. It is by that potency that one comes to see the Lord face to face.
So it is pretty exciting there is an open order, isn't it?
So what is the open order. Its just a small thing that can be taken care of
within a few days, right! And not much room for many people. No! Its open
for the whole world, the whole universe. Anywhere and everywhere one can
go and spread this sankirtana movement. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is
deputising everybody as a representative who just takes the open order. In
fact when Prabhupada was speaking to the devotees who were asking him
about how the movement would go on, and specifically they were asking how
about initiation, how would that go on? Prabhupada had a few things to say
and then he interjected as an afterthought, he said that ‘One who
understands the order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he can become guru, or
one who understands the order of his spiritual master which is the same
order, he can become guru.’ And this is the prerequisite, one simply has to
understand that there is an open order, that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the
Supreme Personality of Godhead and one has to take the order.
So leadership is defined in the Fifth Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam as the
ability to understand this principle that one must deliver people and I love the
word Prabhupada uses in this purport, he says induce. At first it sounds like
when you are inducing somebody it may be a little bit aggressive. Does it to
you? Just a little bit, maybe! I looked at the word. It comes from Latin,
inducere which means to lead, ducere means ‘to lead’ and in means ‘in’. So
inducere means to lead someone in a particular direction. So to inducing
means to bring somebody along in the right direction. Well not necessarily in
the right direction but in our case following the order of Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu and the spirit of the sastra, which I mentioned in Fifth Canto,
gurur na sa syat sva-jano na sa syat
pita na sa syaj janani na sa syat
daivam na tat syan na patis ca sa syan
na mocayed yah samupeta-mrtyum (SB 5.5.18)
Didn't get it completely perfect the second time either, but the verse says that
whatever kind of leader one is attempting to become or whatever leadership
roll one is taking, whether its as a diksa guru or as a mother or a father or any
worshipable position. Whatever position one is either asserting oneself for or
finds oneself suddenly pushed into, which often is the case, one should keep
this principle in mind, na mocayed yah samupeta-mrtyum. One’s idea should
be to induce people to become free from birth, death, old age and disease
and take to Krishna consciousness. Its an inducement.
In fact the whole material world if you think about it is a huge chance for
Krishna to induce the living entities to go back home, back to Godhead. It’s
the srishti lila, during which in the exhalation of Maha Visnu there is unlimited
opportunities for living entities to come in contact with the various
incarnations of the Lord, the various representatives of the Lord, the Ganges,
different sastras, and its mentioned also in the Srimad Bhagavatam that the
process of destruction takes place when Anantadeva becomes a little
annoyed, actually angry it says. Annoyed is a more modern word. (laughs)
He becomes angry that the living entities who have being offered so much
opportunity to take to Krishna consciousness and Prabhupada says in the
purport - to close down their business in this material world. Everyone’s got a
little business going on, they have a little chip in the game here and Krishna
comes along and gives a better deal, much better deal and says you kn ow,
‘Just close your business. I’ll take care of you, go back to Godhead.’ But
people keep playing in here, keep playing their little business game and they
don't close it down, they don’t listen. So Prabhupada says, Anantadeva
becomes angry. And from the forehead of Sankrsana comes out the eleven
Rudras. They come shooting out of His eyebrows and they begin their dance
of destruction, they burn down this universe because people aren't using it
properly.
So this indicates the intention of the Lord for the world. And the open order is
that one can help Him in the mission which is to induce people, to lead them,
to bring them closer to Krishna. And in the Caitanya Caritamrta Antya Lila its
mentioned that Haridasa Thakura was particularly dear to the Lord.
Prabhupada says, he understood Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mind that He was
in anxiety because the living entities are suffering in the material world.
Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s anxiety can be relieved by those who take the open
order and go out and induce people to take to Krishna consciousness. And
Srila Prabhupada says that this is how one become an intimate devotee of Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu, by taking this idea to induce the living entities to come
back.
As far as our organisation goes, our organization meaning our ISKCON
society, there is a way in which we are organised around this principle as well
and it seem natural that when we keep this principle in the center, of inducing
those who come, leading those who come to Krishna consciousness, to hear
and chant about Krishna, to come closer to Him. And the leaders also, a
leader means one who also takes this very seriously. I particularly noted the
first verse in the Upadesamrta which says that one who can control all of
one’s urges,
vaco vegam manasah krodha-vegam
jihva-vegam udaropastha-vegam
etan vegan yo visaheta dhirah
sarvam apimam prthivim sa sisyat (Sri Upadesamrta (1))
That one who is controlled becomes a teacher for everyone else in the
universe, its says everyone becomes his sisya, his disciple. So first of all one
must, one has the opportunity to carefully take up the process of Krishna
conciseness and cultivate it and by that one feels inspired and then can lead
others by that potency and can induce other people to take to Krishna
consciousness.
So leadership means, first one must be the leader of one’s senses, which are
described in another sastra to be like bad masters and one has to overcome
the bad masters of the senses.
kamadinam kati na katidha palita durnidesas
tesam jata mayi na karuna na trapa nopasantih
utsrjyaitan atha yadu-pate sampratam labdha-buddhis
tvam ayatah saranam abhayam mam niyunksvatma-dasye (Bhakti-rasamrta-
sindhu (3.2.35)
The devotee who is advancing says, for how long and how many ways have I
obeyed the bad masters of my senses but no longer will I obey them. They
have never given me time off. They have never given me mercy and I never
questioned them. But now my intelligence has awakened, labdha-buddhi,
and now I am looking for personal service to Krishna, no longer serving my
senses.
So this the foundational point of our Krishna consciousness movement, of our
leadership, is to become the leader of one’s own senses. And to aspire for
and be engaged in service to Krishna and Krishna’s devotees. And then one
can go out as the dig-vijaya, as Srila Prabhupada is mentioning in this
purport, Lord Ramachandra sent out His younger brothers to conquer all the
world. So Prabhupada says we must also do the same thing, and this is
victory. So victory over one’s senses and then one can go out…(reads from
the purport of SB9.11.25)
“This is the order of the Lord, who speaks as the supreme emperor. Everyone
should be induced to accept this order, for this is victory (dig-vijaya).”
And inducing people all over the world to take to Krishna consciousness. We
see Caitanya Mahaprabhu did in various ways. He took sannyasa as an
expedient measure to allow people to honour Him so they would make
advancement in Krishna consciousness. And Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, he
was very patient with Prakasananda Sarasvati, he was very humble. But his
full intention was to induce them to take to Krishna consciousness. So there
are various ways of inducing people.
There is a devotee of Lord Nityananda whose name was Gadadhara dasa
and he was given the mission to go all over town, door to door, and induce
people to chant Hare Krishna and he was angry with the Kazi because the
Kazi was trying to hinder the sankirtana movement. So he went right in the
Kazi’s house and he began screaming out that the Kazi had to come down,
he had to take to Krishna consciousness and the Kazi came down, normally a
very brutal kind of person but he was a little amused by the audacity of
Gadadhara dasa and said, ‘Listen why don’t you go home! Maybe I’ll take to
this Hare Krishna chanting another day!’ Gadadhara dasa began to dance in
ecstacy and said, ‘Why do I have to wait for another day? You just said Hare
Krishna!’ This is the prerogative of the devotees. They are always trying to
induce people to chant Hare Krishna.
And it reminds me when we are going door to door, not too long ago, I think it
was in San Deigo, or Laguna beach, anyway somewhere in Southern
California, there are all these apartments that you can go to. There are so
many, you can’t even count them all in one life time and behind them are
people just sitting in there, as Prabhupada said in his poem before he came
to America, looking down the road waiting to see when are Nitai and Gaura
going to come and rescue me! If you are wondering what people were doing
in there, thats what they are doing! They are looking out of the window,
‘When are Nitai and Gaura coming to rescue me?’ So when you knock on
the door don't be surprised if they are happy to see you.
And I knocked on one door, there was a very nicely dressed gentlemen in his
early forties, he was on way to work. He managed a fast food restaurant and
he was a devout Christian and a very civil person. And he talked to us for a
while and declined our inducement to purchase a book. So then we tried to
induce him in another way by saying, ‘Do you believe in the power of prayer?’
And he said, ‘Yes I do!’ I handed him a card and I said, ‘Then this is a
beautiful prayer in Sanskrit that’s meant to wake up pure love for God in your
heart. Repeat after me. Are you ready?’ Which is what I usually say,
because people might say no! So I say, ‘Are you ready!’ And then he said,
‘Oh no! I can't do that!’ And there were several devotees, maybe about
seven, we were watching him and taking to him and he gave a long
explanation and he said, ‘Yeah, I just cant do this!’ I said, ‘Can’t do what?’
And he goes, ‘Say Hare Krishna!’ (laughter) And all the devotees who were
standing there went, ‘Haribol!’ They were so happy that he said Hare
Krishna! And according to the sastra,
aho bata sva-paco ’to gariyan
yaj-jihvagre vartate nama tubhyam
tepus tapas te juhuvuh sasnur arya
brahmanucur nama grnanti ye te (SB 3.33.7)
Devahuti says, oh how wonderful it is, somebody if they just one time say
Hare Krishna, even the tip of their tongue, even just one time, then this
person is the greatest amongst all the other kinds of living entities. It is
considered by sastra they have already performed so many pious works,
gone to many pilgrimage places, so forth. They are qualified people, become
elevated so quickly.
So in the overall, the over arching goal of the Krishna consciousness
movement is to take to Krishna consciousness very seriously. One of the
ways in which we can connect ourselves and induce ourselves to always
think of Krishna is by everyday reading the Bhagavad Gita because Krishna
is personally present there and speaking to us directly.
So to that end we started an organization called CHAD, A Chapter A Day,
where everyone has the right if they would like to. No one can stop you.
Even if you are put in prison you can still do this, to chant one chapter of
Bhagavad Gita a day. Try it and see. If somebody tries to stop you, just say,
‘No, I won’t stop! I am going to chant Hare Krishna! And read my chapter of
Bhagavad Gita every day!’
And so if you chant one chapter of the Bhagavad Gita everyday then you’ll
stay close to Krishna because He is personally present in the Bhagavad Gita.
And also reading Srimad Bhagavatam which is, where Prabhupada is most
available in his purports. Just by staying close to the Srimad Bhagavatam
everyday, everyone can be guided very properly by hearing his purports. And
sometimes it seems intimidating to read the whole Srimad Bhagavatam. But
if one divides it up into small segments and reads a measured amount
everyday, one can finish the whole Bhagavatam within a given period of time.
So if you read just 8 pages of the Bhagavatam everyday, you’ll finish the
whole Bhagavatam in five years. And you’ll be five years older in five years
anyway. But if you read the whole Bhagavatam in five years then you’ll
conquer maya and you’ll be directly connected to Krishna in a very profound
way. And if you read 41 pages everyday of the Bhagavatam, you’ll finish in
just one year.
So this is the inspirational part of this purport that I picked up about dig-vijaya,
conquer the senses and take this spirit out and induce people to chant Hare
Krishna and organise whatever community you have, and whatever project
you are doing around this principle of guiding people to hear and chant and
the spirit of going out and giving Krishna consciousness to other people.
And now I am going to take a few reflections just to see if we can pull
something else out.
HH Kesava Bharati Maharaja: Thank you very much Vaisesika Prabhu for
this inspirational class. (audio indistinct)
HG Vaisesika Prabhu: Kesava Bharati Maharaja says he found this to be an
inspirational class. He’d like to document the last point that I made, about
how important it is to read all of Srila Prabhupada’s books and to continue
reading them for the rest of all lives. Not just start reading other things until
one has assimilated what Srila Prabhupada has given. In the Madhya lila
Chaper 25, text 178, there is a wonderful purport. He is going to try to repeat
it, verbatim.
“Everyone connected to the Krishna consciousness movement must read all
the books that have been published. Otherwise after some time, they will
simply eat and sleep and fall down and miss the opportunity for an eternal life
of bliss and knowledge.”
Hare Krishna!
(Applause for HH Kesava Bharati Maharaja!)
HG Vaisesika Prabhu: Yes. Just something else about inducement on my
mind and that is that, living entities in this world are called tatastha. And
tatastha means that they are open to suggestion. You can experiment with
this but living entities everywhere, if you make a suggestion to them, they will
consider it. And Krishna consciousness movement is meant to give this very
strong suggestion to people that they can improve their lives, they can go
back to Godhead simply by taking to Krishna consciousness. And everything
we do is going towards helping the living entities do that, jive doya, krsna-
nama—sarvva-dharma-sara, (Ajna-Tahal, Bhaktivinoda Thakura) The
essence of our process is to show mercy to the living entities by widely
distributing the holy name of Krishna.
One more? Yes?
Devotee: What about listening to Prabhupada lectures?
HH Vaisesika Prabhu: Yes, you could get all the Prabhupada lectures and
you can even get them in chronological order and then you can go through
each one and listen to them from the very beginning to the very end and then
start over again. And in that way you can constantly hear from Srila
Prabhupada.
Someone else?
vañcha-kalpatarubhyas ca
krpa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo
vaisnavebhyo namo namah
Gaurapremanande Hari Haribol!
The TOVP team has contributed financially to the ILS this year to partially fund the accommodation and prasadam. “But this is not enough,” continued Rupeshvar Gauranga. “We still have a shortfall. Almost 30% of the delegates are sannyasis and brahmacharis who cannot contribute a fee. Therefore, we appeal to grihasthas to support us through voluntary contributions. Many big-hearted grihasthas have already done so, and others could also follow.”