Settlement of

All Our Material Accounts

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

We in Abudhabi were really fortunate to have the personal association of our beloved Guru Maharaja for three days last week. Maharaja encouraged all the devotees in the performance of devotional service and he gave very serious instructions to be remembered and practiced in our lives. We shall try our best to transcribe the lectures for the benefit of all.

During this yatra, Maharaja was insisting on one particular point and that was regarding the settlement of all our material accounts. We have so many material accounts in the form of fear of death, envy, our attachment to body and family and so on. Maharaja said that all these material accounts have got to be continuously settled one after another before they bite our time. We are always captured and overcome by the illusory energy because we do not see Krishna everywhere. But as soon as we see Krishna everywhere the illusory energy has no existence. As soon as the sun appears, darkness disappears and it cannot survive. So our aim is ‘vaasudevah sarvam iti’ but it is very difficult to see Krishna when it comes in our way of sense gratification. Unless we are very austere, we will not see Krishna everywhere. To see Krishna means to settle all our material accounts. On the contrary we want to cling on to and continue the material accounts and that has got to be avoided. Accounts have got to be settled so that the mind becomes clear and we are able to really relish Srimad Bhagavatam. Unless we glorify Krishna through Srimad Bhagavatam we will not be happy.

Srimad Bhagavatam 12.12.50 :
tad eva ramyam ruciram navam navam
tad eva sasvan manaso mahotsavam
tad eva sokaarnava-sosanam nrnaam
yad uttamahsloka-yaso 'nugiyate
"Those words describing the glories of the all-famous Personality of Godhead are attractive, relishable and ever fresh. Indeed, such words are a perpetual festival for the mind, and they dry up the ocean of misery."

The secret of preaching is that we should relish what we preach. Then only the hearers can relish. For relishing these things, we have to first close all the material accounts and touch them to the minimum required extent. In the Sri Prahlada International school in Rajkot, the atmosphere is so nice that the children are so much enamoured by Deity darshana, prayers and the whole pure atmosphere that they ask their parents to stop watching television. Thus we get rid of all unwanted things and only carry on with the eternal things.

This is the reason Srimad Bhagavatam is worshipped with the following beautiful verse from Padma Purana.

namaami devam karunaa nidhaanam
tamaalavarnam suhitaavataaram
apaara samsaara samudra setum
bhajaamahe bhaagavata svarupam
"I offer my respectful obeisances and worship unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead who has appeared in the form of Srimad Bhagavatam which is an ocean of mercy, is bluish in colour, has appeared for the real benefit of all the living entities and is the bridge to cross over the limitless ocean of repeated birth and death."

Karuna Nidhaanam - Ocean of Mercy: Just like Srimad Bhagavatam, we should also be merciful to everybody, more so to ourselves. Mercy to ourselves means we should force ourselves to be austere. That is best. Otherwise we misinterpret the meaning of being merciful to ourselves. To the best of our ability we should be austere and that is the clue to give the life force in our body a free reign in our veins. Unless the life force is freely moving in our veins, our health gets affected. This is karunaa nidhaanam. Otherwise comfort we want. There are no sofa sets in the womb of the mother. Otherwise we would come back again and again. And definitely no sofa sets at the time of death. Why to have a sofa set in between? Foam means we are not merciful to ourselves. Foam is a curse of Kali yuga. I remember in our childhood we did not know foam. Cotton mattresses were there but they were very thin like chappati. Foam was completely absent and the mattresses were used only during the night time and during the day time never seen. Till our body forces us to lie down, we should be active. More so in mangala arati, chanting, reading especially Srila Prabhupada's books, singing. These are needed for the free passage of life force in our veins. If we are really merciful in this way to ourselves, in old age also the consciousness will not leave till death. Body will definitely decay. But our consciousness should not be touched by the body’s dharma. This is Srimad Bhagavatam. There are 18000 verses and when are we going to read and understand them? It is really impossible unless we are merciful to ourselves in this sense. We try to find some comfortable solution saying that after my death, my son will do Srimad Bhagavatam for me. Son may perform some drama of Srimad Bhagavatam. And this drama should be avoided. Instead austerity should be there. Really we have to be very very austere in going through Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad gita. This is karuna nidhaanam.

Once we are austere to the best of our ability, we can really be merciful to the other living entities. Para-dukha-dukhi. We are all para-dukha–sukhi and para-sukha–dukhi. And again ‘sukh’ we have to nicely understand. ‘sukh’ is not a comfortable life. ‘sukh’ is to be seriously situated in our own constitutional position. That is real sukh. Hence the real mercy is described in the following verse of Srimad Bhagavatam 1.5.40;

tvam apy adabhra-sruta visrutam vibhoh
samaapyate yena vidaam bubhutsitam
praakhyaahi duhkhair muhur arditaatmanaam
sanklesa-nirvaanam usanti naanyathaa
"Please, therefore, describe the Almighty Lord’s activities which you have learned by your vast knowledge of the Vedas, for that will satisfy the hankerings of great learned men and at the same time mitigate the miseries of the masses of common people who are always suffering from material pangs. Indeed, there is no other way to get out of such miseries."

For broadcasting the message of the Lord, all the material assets we have should be used. Frankly speaking, if we think of our own assets, we are going to hand it over to somebody else at the time of death or somebody may clinch it. This is a fact and this best philosophy we have converted into arm chair philosophy.

Suhitaavataaram- Appearance for the Real Welfare of all the Living

Entities: Srimad Bhagavatam is not only for the ‘hith’ but for the ‘suhith’ of all the jivas. The living entities have to be convinced to recognize the life force in our own body which is the paramatma feature or the Supersoul. Once that is recognized, all our endeavors should be to have a free passage for the life force in our body. Brain has millions of nerves thinner than hair and unless the Lord is kind, He will not allow the free passage. Medical systems concentrate on the body and not the life force. At the time of death the smaran or remembrance of the Lord is the most important thing, but we have completely forgotten that and we have remembrance of only doctors, nurses, chloroform, oxygen mask etc., It is in our interest that we have to go back to simple death. Death is bound to come and we have to be ready for that. The real karuna is to just visualize the last day of the body. Everything will be there but we will not be able to do anything. In our custom, as soon as we know that a person is going to die, we take him and put him on the floor. Death is on the floor. This is our custom. How much austerity? While living why are we not on the floor? In those days, nobody had spine trouble. They were all lying on the flat floor and hardly some mattress was there. It was all flat and spine trouble was completely absent. If you are really merciful to yourselves, don’t sleep after 4.00 am Try to put your heads in Srila Prabhupada books and he will train you.

The Lord declares in Bhagavad gita 4.7

yadaa yadaa hi dharmasya
glaanir bhavati bhaarata
abhyutthaanam adharmasya
tadaatmaanam srjaamy aham
"Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself."

The real dharma glaani is in ourselves. We are forgetting our constitutional position. Because we are away from the constitutional position, we are suffering so much. If we are really merciful to ourselves, we have to revive our own constitutional position. Otherwise we misinterpret mercy. The best thing is to distribute Hari naamaa. For that purpose we may spend our riches or whatever we have. Real mercy is to give Hari naam.

Apaara samsara samudra setum- The bridge to cross over the limitless

ocean of repeated birth and death: There is no limit to this ocean of birth and death because of our ignorance. Unless we make efforts to remove this ignorance, there is no question of mercy either to ourselves or to others. Philanthropy or other welfare activities will force us to come back again and hence we cannot stop there.

Bhajaamahe - I worship: The above reasons make me worship Srimad Bhagavatam. There is really no exact English translation for the word ‘bhaj’. It is not throwing some rice in the fire in a ritual. Our whole existence must be suitable for bhajan and that is Prabhupada’s meaning. Anything short of it is not bhajan. So 24 hours alertness is required. And that alertness is the monopoly of Krishna consciousness. We are always doing something to cross over this material existence. That is why Srimad Bhagavatam is a must and we worship it.

Bhaagavatha svarupam- Srimad Bhagavatam is His form living with us. How can we leave this svarupa? We may not have the deities or pictures or other svarupa. Any small book of Srila Prabhupada we can always carry and it will be helping us. Any book of Srila Prabhupada should be propagated and distributed. We have to continue with the prescribed duties and weave these activities into our life.

We should carve one thing in our mind. Everything is under the control of Krishna. Whether we like it or not, it is a fact. Because He is the Supreme Controller, if He allows, then only we can see and hear each other. In this age, it is so rare to come together to glorify Him. Day by day Kali yuga forces are advancing very fast. In order to get out of the precarious situation we are in, very sincere attachment to Vedic traditions are required. The domain of Krishna is completely unknown to us. Our sincerity alone will give the peep into that domain.

Krishna has stamped everything here as temporary (nashvaram). To achieve the permanency and the sane attitude towards worldly gains and losses we have to have the permanent connection with Krishna through Srila Prabhupada’s books and this is the necessity of the day. By studying the books, we have to understand how Krishna is the root of all creation. We should remember the following verse stated in the saatvata tantra:

visnos tu trini rupaani
purusaakhyaany atho viduh
ekam tu mahatah srastr
dvitiyam tv anda-samsthitam
trtiyam sarva-bhuta-stham
taani jnaatvaa vimucyate
“For material creation, Lord Krishna’s plenary expansion assumes three Vishnus. The first one, Maha-Vishnu, creates the total material energy, known as the mahat-tattva. The second, Garbhodakashayi Vishnu, enters into all the universes to create diversities in each of them. The third, Kshirodakashayi Vishnu, is diffused as the all-pervading Supersoul in all the universes and is known as Paramatma. He is present even within the atoms. Anyone who knows these three Vishnus can be liberated from material entanglement.”

This material world is a temporary manifestation of one of the energies of the Lord. All the activities of the material world are directed by these three Vishnu expansions of Lord Krishna.

All the material elements are created out of Tamo guna and that is the reason that any of the sense objects are not able to give us any satisfaction at all, we being spiritual entities, and this we understand from Srimad Bhagavatam 2.5.23:

mahatas tu vikurvaanaad
rajah-sattvopabrmhitaat
tamah-pradhaanas tv abhavad
dravya-jnaana-kriyaatmakah
"Material activities are caused by the mahat-tattva’s being agitated. At first there is transformation of the modes of goodness and passion, and later—due to the mode of ignorance—matter, its knowledge, and different activities of material knowledge come into play."

Whatever is created is under the influence of time. Carving these things in our mind, we have to fully depend upon Krishna, and by doing this we are not cheated. Others are cheated because they depend upon their intelligence. Don’t depend upon anybody and dig into your own heels with sincerity.

As soon as we remember Krishna as the supreme controller, the only one in charge, the all in all, all our material accounts are settled. We come to the conclusion 'krishnaat param kimapi tattvam aham na jaane'- I do not know any truth other than Krishna. That is it. It settles everything. This is the key to settle the material accounts. He is in complete control. He does whatever He wants. So we are helpless. What we have to do? We have to just surrender unto Him. This settles our account.

During his recent visit to Abudhabi, our beloved Maharaja was emphasising the importance of settling the various material accounts. One of the foremost accounts is our attachment with the body. Maharaja said that 90 percent of our time is spent on body and this account has got to be settled before we settle any other thing. For this we have to remember the following verse from Srimad Bhagavata Mahatmya:

dehe asthi maamsa rudhire abhimatim tyajasva
jaayaa sutaadishu sadaa mamataam vimunca
pashyaanisham jagat idam kshana bhanga tishtham
vairaagya raaga rasiko bhava bhakti nishtah
"Give up the thought that this body is you. It is nothing but a collection of bones, flesh and blood. Give up the ownership on wife, children etc., realize that this world is very temporary. Show interest and relish (become a rasika) detachment from everything by performing devotional service unto the Primeval Lord Govinda, with great determination."

Actually nothing belongs to us. That is a fact. The main ingredient in the body is water and it is one of the great elements which are the energies of the Supreme Lord. The body is given on a lease to us. That means rent has to be paid. That is implied. This lease unlike the other leases is not renewable. It only ends. Means we have to vacate. Repairing and upkeep has to be done till the expiry date and in a good condition it has to be given back. So we should not meddle into it too much. In the waning years particularly, the body takes too much time for all the activities. That is why it is very very important that when the senses are under our control, the time should be seriously utilized in the study of Srimad Bhagavatam or otherwise in our old age we will have nothing in hand. The idea is that nothing belongs to us and that this body is on a temporary lease, should settle the account of the body. The soul has no death. Our real existence is spiritual and we do not end. The body ends and we should not lament for that. This bag is not to be lamented for.

The Lord makes it very clear in Srimad Bhagavad gita 2.30:

dehi nityam avadhyo 'yam
dehe sarvasya bhaarata
tasmaat sarvaani bhutaani
na tvam socitum arhasi"
O descendant of Bharata, he who dwells in the body can never be slain. Therefore you need not grieve for any living being."

The body is subject to the transformations of birth, growth, maintenance, expansion, dwindling and death. These six transformations are for the body and not for the soul or for those who are pursuing the spiritual activities.

In this regard, Madhvacarya says:

sad vikaaraah sarirasya
na visnos tad-gatasya
ca tad-adhinam sariram ca
jnaatvaa tan mamataam tyajet
"Since the body is the external feature of the soul, the soul is not dependent on the body; rather, the body is dependent on the soul. One who understands this truth should not be very much anxious about the maintenance of his body."

There is no possibility of maintaining the body permanently or eternally. antavanta ime dehaa nityasyoktaah sharirinah. This is the statement of Bhagavad gita (2.18). The material body is antavat (perishabl), but the soul within the body is eterna (nityasyoktaah sharirinah).

This is the knowledge. That is why Bhagavad gita is so important. Bhagavad gita is spoken from the transcendental throat of Krishna and hence it should be in our throats. That is the place for it. Just a single verse from Bhagavad gita completely settles the matter.

If the body does not belong to us, how can you claim some lady as your wife or some living entity as your child? Hence Krishna orders ‘mamataam vimunca’ and ‘abhimatim tyajasva’. Give up the attachment. This is an order from the Lord. There is no ‘please’. That settles everything. It does not mean we can neglect the body or run away from our responsibilities. We have to make our life regulated and natural so that whole body is clean and healthy.

The whole material existence is temporary. Hence we have to become rasikas of detachment and detachment is our nature. This detachment is developed by performing sincere devotional service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead Govinda.

This world is called, "mrtyu loka" because here everything is heading towards destruction. That is the nature of the material world. Again and again we forget this fact. That is why we have to remember one sloka from Srimad Bhagavatam. This sloka is so important that Srila Vyasadeva has repeated it twice in Srimad Bhagavatam, where generally there is no repetition of the same verse. This means that this has got some importance. It is mentioned in the Fourth canto and also in the Tenth canto.

Srimad Bhagavatam 4.24.66

pramattam uccair iti krtya-cintayaa
pravrddha-lobham visayesu laalasam
tvam apramattah sahasaabhipadyase
ksul-lelihaano 'hir ivaakhum antakah
"My dear Lord, all living entities within this material world are mad after planning for things, and they are always busy with a desire to do this or that. This is due to uncontrollable greed. The greed for material enjoyment is always existing in the living entity, but Your Lordship is always alert, and in due course of time You strike him, just as a snake seizes a mouse and very easily swallows him."

We are all crazy after so many things in the material world. Every year there are so many new inventions. These are all completely mad (pramattam). In our childhood, mathematics multiplication tables were in the tip of our tongue. Now for everything the child requires the calculator. This is ado gati – madness. We all plan in loud voice – uccair- 'I will do like that, I will do like this'. There are so many plans. But we do not plan that I will realize God and find out the solution for the repetition of this miserable material life. Everybody is miserable here. There is no exception to this. Death is very very painful but that day is surely going to come for everyone. Everything will be there but we will become helpless and suffer immensely. We may not be able to see or speak, but we can hear, because hearing is the first sense to come and the last sense to go. We can hear that our own people are concerned about the location of all our so called material assets. But we fail to recognize the inevitability of this situation.

Yamaraja once asked Maharaja Yudhistira, “What is the most wonderful thing within this world?” Maharaja Yudhishtira replied (Mahabharata, Vana-parva 313.116):

ahany ahani bhutaani
gacchantiha yamaalayam
sesaah sthaavaram icchanti
kim aascaryam atah param
"Hundreds and thousands of living entities meet death at every moment, but a foolish living being nonetheless thinks himself deathless and does not prepare for death. This is the most wonderful thing in this world."

We are all entangled in this ignorance and to uproot this ignorance, Srimad Bhagavatam is required. Our body is nourished by our breathing but Srimad Bhagavatam is more important than breathing because it nourishes the soul. Hence utilize your time in studying Srimad Bhagavatam.

We are all mad (pramattam) but Krishna is ever alert – apramattah. He is present in His names. He is present with us whenever His names are chanted and so there is alertness. Anything regarding the Lord is complete. He is svayam sampoorna. The Lord gradually takes away the living entities (sahasaabhipadyase). Life and death are under the control of the Lord.

Dhruva Maharaj’s brother Uttama was killed by the yakshas and Dhruva started killing the yakshas. Svayambhuva Manu told Dhruva that the yakshas did not kill your brother nor did you kill the yakshas. This is all done by the Lord. If we see Krishna in every situation, then there is no pollution or contamination. We have to habituate ourselves to see the hand of the Lord in everything. Whether good or bad, it happens because of the mercy of the Lord. There are so many living entities living under the flyover zone in Mumbai and they have the same two hands, legs and eyes, but we find that we are situated in the economic comfort zone. He is very merciful to us and we have to thank Him.

The body is continuously deteriorating and just like a hungry snake seizes a mouse and swallows, we will be swallowed. We require guidance regarding how to live our life and this guidance is given in our Vedic culture.
Srimad Bhagavatam 10.14.3 gives the guidance for our living:

jnaane prayaasam udapaasya namanta eva
jivanti san-mukharitaam bhavadiya-vaartaam
sthaane sthitaah sruti-gataam tanu-vaan-manobhir
ye praayaso 'jita jito 'py asi tais tri-lokyaam
"Those who, even while remaining situated in their established social positions, throw away the process of speculative knowledge and with their body, words and mind offer all respects to descriptions of Your personality and activities, dedicating their lives to these narrations, which are vibrated by You personally and by Your pure devotees, certainly conquer Your Lordship, although You are otherwise unconquerable by anyone within the three worlds."

Thus we should be engaged in our occupational duty according to our age and qualification and all the time we have to hear the topics of Krishna. Then with whatever time available, we should be engaged in the performance of devotional service with our body, mind and words. If there is nobody preaching, just read the books. Do not depend upon CDs and other electronic things. To read from the books is most essential. From the book, direct knowledge enters into us unlike the electronic items and laptops. Our lap is meant for seating our children and not for the laptop equipment. All of Srila Prabhupada’s literature is there in the laptop and nothing is there in our brain. These electronic equipments kill us. In the olden days books were not printed. They were all hand written. There was no necessity of printers, labour, electricity. Everything was easy. We have left the simple life. How much ever possible, we should make our life simple. We wear only one kurta at a time. Why do we keep 10 kurtas?

For those who are following the Vedic culture, health is alright. Even if there is some disease we have to tolerate. Something which has come, has to go. If we go to someone’s place and nobody takes care of us, we will leave the place. In the same way, if we do not entertain the sickness, it will automatically go away. Don’t take medicines immediately. In olden days doctors were not part of the society. Life was very natural. Now every family has a doctor. Unregulated life makes us sick. It is only through the mouth that we can put something inside our body. Hence we should be very careful and controlled regarding what we eat, and how much we eat. Then there will be no sickness. When there is a disease, the first thing to be done is to shut your mouth. Fasting is the best cure and 50% of the diseases are cured by fasting. If you are not hungry, do not eat. There are two types of diseases. One type is something which can be cured and the other is chronic disease which comes to take us away and hence cannot be cured. That which can be cured gets cured even without medicines just like viral fever for which even the doctors do not prescribe any medicine. That which comes to take us away cannot in any way be cured with all the medicines.

Thus we have to understand life and death. Before that, controlling the mind is essential. The mind is flickering in nature. We have to hold it by the ears and put it into Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad gita. When we are going through the scriptures, death is also auspicious.

Time is the powerful weapon of the Lord. It controls everything and everybody. Everything is working on a time scale. Hence do not be depressed and do not be afraid of death. On the other hand, we should be prepared for death. While living, do things to the best of your ability and take care of the dependents. To get rid of the fear of death, we have to remember the following verse from Srimad Bhagavatam 8.2.33:

yah kascaneso balino 'ntakoragaat
pracanda-vegaad abhidhaavato bhrsam
bhitam prapannam paripaati yad-bhayaan
mrtyuh pradhaavaty aranam tam imahi
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead is certainly not known to everyone, but He is very powerful and influential. Therefore, although the serpent of eternal time, which is fearful in force, endlessly chases everyone, ready to swallow him, if one who fears this serpent seeks shelter of the Lord, the Lord gives him protection, for even death runs away in fear of the Lord. I therefore surrender unto Him, the great and powerful supreme authority who is the actual shelter of everyone."

Every minute and every hour we are being chased by death. We are all flying by aeroplanes and even if one screw is loose, we are lost. While driving the cars, we may drive carefully but the other persons on the road may drive recklessly. As per the road laws, wearing the seat belt is compulsory. Even if the car is burning, we cannot get out of the seat and we have to die.

The only way is to surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Whatever little we do in devotional service is not lost and He saves us from the greatest danger.

In Bhagavad gita Krishna says in 2.13:

dehino 'smin yathaa dehe
kaumaaram yauvanam jaraa
tathaa dehaantara-praaptir
dhiras tatra na muhyati
"As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change."

When we change from the child body to youth body, we do not cry. When the youth becomes middle age, then also we do not cry. When old age comes, some crying is there. When there is death we are crying because we are not prepared for this change.

The Supreme Lord being an expert manager, He arranges so many things and even then He is free. We can see also that an expert manager delegates the things to be done and he plays badminton. The Lord is our suhrt - the best well-wisher and His relationship is from the heart. He is very merciful and we have to go to Him. All our riches have no value in our old age and invalidity and we have to go to Him at such a time. During our life we have to do our duties nicely, keep hearing Krishna katha and do devotional service. This way our life becomes perfect and successful. There are some people who are misfits everywhere and those fortunate souls, Krishna takes them in His service. Hence we should not immaturely renounce.

In conclusion, constant remembrance of the Lord is the only way to close the account with death.

Maharaja is insisting that the material accounts have to be settled for good so that they do not peep into our lives. Then only it becomes very easy to concentrate on spiritual matters. The next important account to be settled is that of envy and we are all envious of each other. Maharaja was referring to the four different types of envy which are mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam verses 3.32. 39- 42. They are referred in Sanskrit as ‘khala’, ‘dvesha,’ ‘asuya’ and’ matsara’. They have different meanings but the same effect. Maharaja was full of appreciation for H.G. Aarta bandhu prabhu who had made a reference of the different types of envy. We shall post herewith the speech by Maharaja on each and every one of the four types of envy and the ways to settle their accounts for good.
Khal: In Srimad Bhagavatam 3.32.39 states

naitat khalaayopadisen
naavinitaaya karhicit
na stabdhaaya na bhinnaaya
naiva dharma-dhvajaaya ca
Lord Kapila continued: This instruction is not meant for the envious, for the agnostics or for persons who are unclean in their behaviour. Nor is it for hypocrites or for persons who are proud of material possessions.
The above verse lists so many people to whom we should not really instruct. But there is a verse which says

krte yad dhyayato vishnum
tretaayam yajato makhaih
dvaapare paricaryaaya
kalau tad hari-kirtanaat
"Whatever result one obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Vishnu, in Treta-yuga by performing sacrifices and in Dvapara-yuga by serving the Lord’s lotus feet, one can also obtain in Kali yuga simply by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra."
So in Kali yuga, Hari kirtana nullifies everything. This is the remedy. Again Srimad Bhagavatam very beautifully says in 12.12.48

sankirtamano bhagavan anantah
srutanubhavo vyasanam hi pumsam
pravisya cittam vidhunoty asesam
yatha tamo 'rko'bhramivati-vatah
“When people properly glorify the Supreme Personality of Godhead or simply hear about His power, the Lord personally enters their hearts and cleanses away every trace of misfortune, just as the sun removes the darkness or as a powerful wind drives away the cloud.”

All misbehaviour and bad qualities vanish by Hari kirtanam and prasadam. That is why these two are always recommended. In this verse ‘vidhunoty’ means thoroughly cleansed. Envious attitude will also be thoroughly cleansed by kirtanam. In the olden days there were machines to clear the cotton. From the roof they will hang the bow and there will be a horse string attached to a wooden piece to vibrate the string. When the string was vibrated, that vibration thoroughly cleansed the cotton so that clean cotton will be on one side and all the dirt on the other side. This was done early in the morning. Mornings are the best for spiritual activities as well as for material activities.

By nature we are envious and with our body we have inherited this bad quality. How to get rid of it is a big problem. We are carrying these big material accounts life after life. If we are envious of others, we are entangled and we have to come back into the complicated mesh of birth and death. The best way to get rid of this in Kali yuga, is the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. We have to come to Hari kirtana so that we can be without khala. We find so many reasons to be envious. If somebody loses his job, he is envious of a person who has job. If we are married, we are envious of a person who is not married and vice versa, the poor are envious of the rich. Out of this khala we unknowingly try to harm other and that is our nature, this nature has got to be eradicated. Even the trace of envy has to be eradicated. It can only vanish if we digest the points of Srimad Bhagavatam which always insist on the temporary, flickering nature of the material possessions and the possessor also. And we have to follow the behaviour from Bhagavad gita.

2. Dvesh
In ‘khala’ and ‘dvesh’, the tendency is the same, but the meaning is slightly different. ‘khala’ involves planning and ‘dvesh’ is just envy. This ‘dvesh’ creates discrepancy in our blood circulation and this is its worst effect. We may use harsh speech or disrespect the other person, but it harms us more than the person whom we are trying to harm. Please never give into this dvesh and unfortunately it is our nature to be envious. So how to get rid of it?

Srimad Bhagavad gita insists, 'param drshtvaa nivartate'- we can cease from these things by having a higher taste. We should try to see Krishna everywhere through Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad gita. Then we may be successful. We have to be on guard. Every hour and every minute, we are envious.

In order to get rid of dvesh we have to understand that the spiritual spark is everywhere and we should not differentiate. Differentiation creates envy. Everybody is ours and we are everybody’s. Don’t create sects. Minimise the divisions. It will help us to conquer envy. Because of divisions, we are envious. Always it is very essential to get rid of these things for our own healthy condition. Health is not the goal of our existence. But it is the medium to try to understand the scriptures and have a glimpse of the unknown region. Krishna consciousness is the common platform for everyone to be engaged in devotional service and hence do not create unnecessary divisions again. Srila Prabhupada has given a very sane approach to the spiritual matters. Otherwise we are really boiling and baking ourselves in divisions and we are destroyed. Minimize the sects as much as possible. Everybody is Prabhupada’s and and Prabhupada is everybody’s. Discrimination gives rise to envy and it eventually has the effect on our health. Till we are here, we have to be jolly, prasanna- very happy and try to achieve the common platform and from there spring to the unknown region. Again there may be so much misguidance but don’t fall prey to it. Fiery preaching must be there. Make yourself comfortable and free to preach. Krishna has given riches. Enough is enough. Money is never enough for us and we always want more. There must be some satiation point. Please try to propagate Krishna consciousness and thus try to elevate yourself. The more you preach, the more you will understand. When we try to explain something to others, somehow or the other, Krishna gives the answers. When we speak about Krishna, we are not speaking. Krishna is speaking. Let Krishna do His job through you. This is the best use of intelligence. Everybody has the spark and hence do not think that you are useless. Continue to study and Krishna will reciprocate.

Krishna says in Bhagavad gita 10.10

tesaam satata-yuktaanaam
bhajataam priti-purvakam
dadaami buddhi-yogam tam
yena maam upayaanti te
"To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me."

He also says in 9.29:

samo 'ham sarva-bhutesu
na me dvesyo 'sti na priyah
ye bhajanti tu maam bhaktyaa
mayi te tesu caapy aham
"I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him."

He is equal in the sense that He supplies the necessities of life even to those who deny His existence. He does discriminate to those who are His devotees.

Harinama can do wonders in getting rid of envy. Wherever we go, we must be doing Harinam kirtanam and that is the best preaching. Krishna gives the idea and He only develops the idea and we do not have to worry. Even then we have to worry now because farming has completely stopped. Only 25 % farming is there. In farming also hybrid and so many other things have come. Because we are blindly following the western culture we are struggling. Now in India the villages are there but only the houses are standing, there are no cows and no bullocks. No animals. Nothing at all. Really we have killed our culture. We have to do something. We have to buy 100 acres of land and try to organise some community where electricity is also not allowed. Prabhupada wanted us to go back 200 years. 100 years ago there was no scarcity of rain and grain. Now we are importing wheat from America. Rivers hardly flow. Vegetation is completely absent. Sand has vanished being used for construction and they are manufacturing plastic sand. In the olden houses, unbaked bricks wee used and it was like an air conditioner. When it was hot outside it was cool inside and vice versa. Automatic change was there.

We have to try to do something to go back to the Vedic civilization. Each one must have a yatra wherever we are or Harinama should be there. If nobody is there, you take kartals and do Harinam.

3. Asuya
Srimad Bhagavatam 3.32.41 states,

sraddadhaanaaya bhaktaaya
vinitaayaanasuyave
bhutesu krta-maitraaya
susrusaabhirataaya ca
"Instruction should be given to the faithful devotee who is respectful to the spiritual master, nonenvious, friendly to all kinds of living entities and eager to render service with faith and sincerity."

In the above verse, there is a reference to ‘asuya’. This is subtle envy. Somehow or the other it is psychological as well as logical. We can see this in the relationship between the mother–in-law and the daughter–in-law. The daughter-in- law comes and possesses the son and the mother loses her son and she is affected and this is psychological. It is logical because, now the money is given to the daughter-in-law and the mother-in-law is completely out of the picture and this is difficult to tolerate. The mother has raised her son and she has definite expectations from her son. Daughter-in-law may not be from the same culture and she may not follow the same traditions. She has her own fatherly way from the house she came from. Thus either the mother-in-law or the daughter-in- law freaks out. Nothing is to be blamed for this. The proper understanding is absent. The missing point is attraction to Krishna. The house which has Krishna as the all in all will not be affected by these things because they are very busy in serving Krishna. Now everybody has to work. Installments and loans are there. This creates problems. Loan-free life must be there. Flats are very costly. If you do not have money, please do not buy. So far as possible please avoid the loans. Simple life must be followed. To get rid of the perils of advancement, simplicity is the answer. Laptop creates electricity on the lap and has a very bad effect. Magnetic field is harmful. The artificial things in the name of fashion should be completely rejected. It may be essential for a few living entities to carry on with their work, but do not copy. Whatever is needed, we touch. Thoroughly inspect the house and throw whatever is not needed. Half of the house is worth throwing. The more things you accumulate, it is the dust collecting centre. Get rid of the things, particularly the papers. So much is thrust upon us. Try to be very simple and immaculate. Minimize your needs. Simple life gives time for breathing and our health will be alright. And we will go ahead with the main goal of eradication of birth, death, old age and disease. This is the way we can get rid of asuya.

4. Matsara
Srimad Bhagavatam 3.32.42 states,
bahir-jaata-viraagaaya
saanta-cittaaya diyataam
nirmatsaraaya sucaye
yasyaaham preyasaam priyah
"This instruction should be imparted by the spiritual master to persons who have taken the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be more dear than anything, who are not envious of anyone, who are perfectly cleansed and who have developed detachment for that which is outside the purview of Krishna consciousness."

Of the four types of envy, khala
dvesha and asuya are limited but matsara is a very wide term. Matsara is like macchar (mosquito) which goes anywhere and bites. Macchar is full of blood, even then it goes and bites something. This is our nature. The very important clue to get rid of this matsara is given in Srimad Bhagavatham 4.8.34:

gunaadhikaan mudam lipsed
anukrosam gunaadhamaat
maitrim samaanaad anvicchen
na taapair abhibhuyate
"Every man should act like this: when he meets a person more qualified than himself, he should be very pleased; when he meets someone less qualified than himself, he should be compassionate toward him; and when he meets someone equal to himself, he should make friendship with him. In this way one is never affected by the threefold miseries of this material world."

This verse practically teaches us how we should behave with three kinds of living entities.

gunaadhikaan mudam lipsed : A person may be more elevated than us in riches or knowledge or whatever. They should be welcomed with real happiness. The material way is to be envious. We hate the elevated ones. That is matsara. Please discard the material way.

anukrosham gunaadhamaat: We should be merciful to those who are lower than us. The material way is that we kick the lower ones.

maitrim samaanaat: Those who are equal to us, we should desire sincere friendship with them. The material way is to compete with them.

The above is the key to get rid of the threefold miseries.

We should behave always in such a way that the person whom we meet is also happy and we are also happy. Prasannata will help us to have a longer and healthy life. Otherwise in our own body we are having a bad time. As soon as we get rid of matsara, there is no way that the diseases will affect us. Matsara is the sitting place of diseases. Like macchar everywhere it is there without discrimination.

To conclude, the golden rule to get rid of envy is to stop sense gratification. We are envious because we forget the end of this body. No way should we give place to known envy. Unknown envy may be there. Otherwise envy forces us to talk nonsense. Simple life and austere life will force us to have immunity against all these things. We should always remember the word ‘bahir jaata viraagaaya - detachment for that which is outside the purview of Krishna Consciousness.

We have to carve in our minds the line ‘pravishya cittam vidhunoti asesham’- the Lord personally enters their hearts and cleanses away every trace of misfortune. We have so many inebrities and to get rid of these, we take the japa mala and chant or read something. Don’t ignore these permanent things. Material things do not require much time. Our waning years are coming and our accounts of death and envy must be settled as soon as possible. Always remember SB 11.10.20:

ko 'nv arthah sukhayaty enam
kaamo vaa mrtyur antike
aaghaatam niyamaanasya
vadhyasyeva na tusti-dah
"Death is not at all pleasing, and since everyone is exactly like a condemned man being led to the place of execution, what possible happiness can people derive from material objects or the gratification they provide?"

We are going to drop down. Before we drop down, please have nice bhaava for Krishna and have a glimpse of the unknown region. We can achieve this by our own seriousness.


Chant,

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna

Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama

Hare Hare

and be happy.