Relative Truth Is Not Absolute Truth

(Compiled from notes on lectures of H. H. Mahavishnu Goswami)

I would like to share the wonderful points, which His Holiness Mahavishnu Gosvami Maharaja told us in his class on Srimad Bhagavatam 1.1.1, in London, July 8, 2008.

om namo bhagavate vaasudevaaya
janmaady asya yato 'nvayaad itaratas caarthesv abhijnah svaraat
tene brahma hrdaa ya aadi-kavaye muhyanti yat surayah
tejo-vaari-mrdaam yathaa vinimayo yatra tri-sargo 'mrsaa
dhaamnaa svena sadaa nirasta-kuhakam satyam param dhimahi

“O my Lord, Sri Krishna, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Sri Krishna because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge into the heart of Brahmaji, the original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Sri Krishna, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth.”

WE CANNOT FOLLOW THIS TEMPORARY ILLUSION

The three modes point is the most important here. [Reading from purport] “(…) In the material sky everything is relative truth. That is to say, one truth depends on something else” All our truths are relative. If everything goes according to my arrangement, then I am happy, but if that is removed, we’re in distress.

[Reading from purport] “(…)This cosmic creation results from interaction of the three modes of nature, and the temporary manifestations are so created as to present an illusion of reality to the bewildered mind of the conditioned soul” The reality is that we cannot follow this temporary illusion, but we’ve been allowed to touch it to the minimum extent. But we don’t have the idea that Krishna is there always in the background. He gives us free line sometimes, but if we don’t recognize the reality, we are forced to accept it. Simply we don’t keep this in mind: that there is something in the background. The background is Krishna – but that we ignore. At death you cannot take a brick with you – illusory energy cannot be caught, because it is illusion.

But when we say to them its illusion, people will say “mind your own business”. I don’t know how Srila Prabhupada was able to convert all of us. It takes two buckets of blood to make each of us a devotee but still we rebel! We are rebellious by nature.

EXHIBIT EXTREME SIMPLICITY

There are only two alternatives:

1) You follow Bhagavatam – and you’re at ease.
2)As soon as you leave the Bhagavatam – we suffer. Simple.

[Reading from purport] “(…) Beginning from Brahma down to the insignificant ant, no one is independent in the material creation. The hand of the Lord is seen everywhere. All material elements as well as all spiritual sparks emanate from Him only. And whatever is created in this material world is but the interaction of two energies, the material and the spiritual, which emanate from the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna.“

Especially in youth, we think relative truth is Absolute Truth; but it’s not. Please, try to convince yourself. The outcome will show in our behaviour. We should exhibit extreme simplicity in our behaviour – then only can we claim we are following anything from Bhagavatam. Everything we do contrary to this, will boomerang back on us. So please let us pray that Krishna will give us capacity to put it into practice. We don’t see that Krishna’s hand is there in everything! Everywhere, Krishna’s claim should be uttered.

Be Equal In All Circumstances :

Siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutvaa: We are saved from that wavering in success or failure, because we know that negative is also Krishna’s mercy. Nothing is in our hand – but still we are not understanding; so better then not to lead the public to be mislead. Better we our self understand it, to present to the public. Srila Prabhupada had a lifetime of preparation before going to America. Here Srila Prabhupada has written so much, just to convince us that Krishna is all-in-all.

[Reading from purport] “(…) Unless one surrenders unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, it is certain that he will be bewildered. When an intelligent man surrenders unto the lotus feet of Krishna and knows completely that Krishna is the cause of all causes, as confirmed in Bhagavad gita, then only can such an intelligent man become a mahatma, or great soul. But such a great soul is rarely seen. Only the mahatmas can understand that the Supreme Lord is the primeval cause of all creations. He is parama or ultimate truth because all other truths are relative to Him. He is omniscient. For Him, there is no illusion.”

When one realizes that the Lord is sarva karana karanam, then he is sane, otherwise, he is insane. Like with Bill Gates - when his son died, he uttered “my wealth doesn’t make me happy”. Similarly, Lord Krishna takes all away from us to make us detached from everything material. So these relative truths should be recognized; it is a must, at least for us. Try to be equal in all circumstances. We should not worry about anything, but try to follow these directions in all circumstances. Please try to understand this and pray to Krishna that He will direct you. Death cures everything – automatically you are sanniyasi at death – the flames are saffron. We should be very practical in this regard. We should lack nothing, but at the same time, not a single farthing should be overspent. Nobody cares about what they are doing, but about the payment, we are very particular: “You want me to pray for you? Then pay!” This is not the way. Please, we should not worry about payment – it will come some way or the other, but by hankering we’ll not get it.

Bhagavatam Should Be Daily Contacted

Srimad Bhagavatam should be daily contacted. Because we are missing this, we are missing everything. Early to bed and early to rise is important for this. Unfortunately, in India also now they don’t go to bed before midnight. By hook or by crook, we should be early to bed and early to rise!

Chant,

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna

Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama

Hare Hare

and be happy.