From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir
Date: February 19, 2017
Speaker: HG Tamohara Das
Subject: Srimad Bhagavatam 7.10.10
TEXT 10
oṁ namo bhagavate tubhyaṁ
puruṣāya mahātmane
haraye ’dbhuta-siṁhāya
brahmaṇe paramātmane
TRANSLATION
O my Lord, full of six opulences, O Supreme Person! O Supreme Soul, killer of all miseries! O Supreme Person in the form of a wonderful lion and man, let me offer my respectful obeisances unto You.
PURPORT
In the previous verse Prahlāda Mahārāja has explained that a devotee can achieve the platform of bhagavattva, being as good as the Supreme Person, but this does not mean that the devotee loses his position as a servant. A pure servant of the Lord, although as opulent as the Lord, is still meant to offer respectful obeisances to the Lord in service. Prahlāda Mahārāja was engaged in pacifying the Lord, and therefore he did not consider himself equal to the Lord. He defined his position as a servant and offered respectful obeisances unto the Lord.
HG Tamohara Das:
Pranam mantras.
I'm very happy, in one sense, to be here giving class today. I'm also feeling very humbled and slightly nervous in this room with so many devotees and so many senior devotees. I beg for your patience and blessings to be able to speak a little bit about the Srimad Bhagavatam.
It's interesting that in this canto seven, we're up to the tenth chapter. We discussed from chapter two onwards Hiranyakasipu, Prahlad Maharaj, and of course, Lord Nrsimhadeva. And after this verse we just finished where Prahlad Maharaj is summarizing his prayers to Lord Nrsimhadeva and his glorification of the Lord, then Lord Nrsimhadeva will begin to speak.
In these ten cantos that covers this pastime, how many verses do you think are spoken by Lord Nrsimhadeva total? About fourteen I think. I gave it a quick count, mostly in the ninth canto, tenth canto, something like fourteen verses spoken by Lord Nrsimhadeva. Most of the teachings are done by Prahlad Maharaj. In the sixth or seventh cantos as much glorification as there is of Lord Nrsimhadeva is His pure devotee servant Prahlad Maharaj. These are very important teachings that are often quoted and remembered.
I did a quick check today. Excluding the seventh canto, because obviously Prahlad Maharaj is mentioned throughout the seventh canto, if you take that out, Srila Prabhupada mentions Prahlad Maharaj 1800 times. That's in the datebase with his lectures, letters, purports, etc. We can hardly overestimate the importance of Prahlad as one of our greatest teachers and exponents of Krishna Consciousness philosophy.
Just to summarize here, I was thinking of some of the main themes of the teachings of Prahlad Maharaj and I came up with these six. I'm sure there are many more, but these are sort of broad categories.
Prahlad Maharaj teaches us about the necessity to take up spiritual life. Even at an early age he gives us the example of complete surrender and faith in Krishna to offer protection. He shows us how the goal of life is to see God everywhere, even within the pillar. He also has been completing now in recent verses shows how the advanced devotee desires nothing from Krishna but devotional service. Also, the devotee feels compassion for all living entities. The reference for that is the Tamohara Parana - no one got it. That was a joke. As I said, those are certainly not complete but they are some of the ideas that I came up with.
Returning to the tenth canto and our current verse, Prahlad has expressed the sincere conviction that he wants nothing from Nrsimhadeva, nothing except service. We read the verse where it says that the devotee is not a merchant. It's not that I am bargaining with You, You give me this and I'll give You some service. The great devotee of Prahlad Maharaj understands his position and no matter how great he is, how many opulences, he isn't called Bhagavan, no matter what his position, the pure devotee understands that he is servant. That is the beginning of spiritual realization for us.
We see this so many times throughout our teachings. In the vraja lila in the twentieth chapter, the teachings of Sanatana Goswami, of course are very important, wonderful teachings in those chapters of Sanatana Goswami and Rupa Goswami. Lord Caitanya is teaching to them some of the most foundational principles of our philosophy.
As Sanatana Goswami goes before Lord Caitanya, how does he present himself? He says, I'm considered a learned man. And he was. A brilliant man who spoke ten languages and was minister to the governor. He says to Him, I do not even know the purpose of life. I want to know who I am and why I am suffering.
This is the humble position that a devotee takes in relation to the Lord. And of course Lord Caitanya begins His instructions. The very first thing that Lord Caitanya says to Sanatana Goswami is the famous verse: jīvera 'svarūpa' haya--kṛṣṇera 'nitya-dāsa' kṛṣṇera 'taṭasthā-śakti' 'bhedābheda-prakāśa. (CCMadhya20.108-109) It is the living entity's constitutional position to be an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa because he is the marginal energy of Kṛṣṇa and a manifestation simultaneously one and different from the Lord, like a molecular particle of sunshine or fire. Kṛṣṇa has three varieties of energy.
Pretty much the whole philosophy is there in that verse. It takes a lot of unpacking and further explanations. But this idea that the very first item that we need to know is jīvera 'svarūpa' haya--kṛṣṇera 'nitya-dāsa, that i am the eternal servant of the Lord. A few verses later in answer to Sanatana Goswami's question to why am I suffering, Lord Caitanya says, forgetting Krishna, the living entity has been attracted by the external feature from time immemorial. Therefore, the illusory energy, maya, sends him all kinds of misery in this material existence.
Our suffering in this material world comes from the simple fact that we have forgotten our relationship with Krishna. We have forgotten that we are an eternal servant of Krishna, and by falsely identifying with this body, its pains and pleasures, we packed on the desires of the body, senses, mind, and intelligence. Therefore we become implicated in an ever increasing cycle of action and reaction of karma and rebirth in this material world.
This is the understanding, the intellectual, the philosophical, point that we first have to come to. Not only that we are not this body and that we are the soul, but, what is the role of the soul? What is the position of the soul? It's that we are servant of Krishna.
Sometimes, especially for devotees, we can understand that we are not this body, at least mentally. In fact if you are explaining Krishna Consciousness and discussing with intelligent people, they can often get this point that yeah, I'm not this body. I have to be more than just this. When you get to be my age you're certainly hoping that you are more than this body. It becomes more and more of that bad bargain that Srila Prabhupada talks about.
So that's not so difficult for an intelligent person to talk about. But to be to be able to distinguish the soul from the subtle body, the mind, the intelligence, and the ego is a little more difficult. That requires a little more introspection and experience. Even as devotees, we tend to think that whatever I am thinking is me. Don't we? I mean I know I'm not this body but these little thoughts rolling around in my mind - we can step back and say that that's not me. But we tend to act as though it is. We say that I think this or I feel this, but who is the I? Obviously the actor of the I is the soul, the jiva, spirit soul. We have so many thoughts, feelings, and whatever that contribute to the mind and the intelligence, but they are still not the real soul.
Lord Caitanya describes this path to ending suffering is purifying this false ego misconception and reawakening that concept of kṛṣṇera 'nitya-dāsa, I am the eternal servant of Krishna.
In many places Srila Prabhupada has explained this eternal spiritual position of the soul as servant of God. I thought it was interesting. I found that in Srila Prabhupada's earliest recorded lecture which is called BG1 in our tape ministry, 1966- This is an excerpt from it. Srila Prabhupada talked about this point from the very beginning and he talked about it till the very end. This is such an important point that it was emphasized even at the very beginning in Srila Prabhupada's earliest lectures, considering his audience knew practically nothing of Krishna Consciousness philosophy.
Srila Prabhupada said, therefore, sanatana dharma does not mean any sectarian process of religion. It is the eternal function of the eternal living entities in relationship to the eternal Supreme Lord. The word religion is a little different from sanatana dharma, religion implies that you have faith, and faith may change. But sanatana dharma means that which cannot be changed. Just like water and liquidity, liquidity cannot be changed from water. Heat and fire, heat cannot be changed from fire. Similarly, the eternal function of the eternal living entity, which is known as sanatana dharma, cannot be changed.
When Sanatana Goswami asked Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu about the svarupa, the Lord replied that the constitutional position of the living entity is to render service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Of course, this is the very foundational understanding of sanatana dharma, our eternal religious duty of service to the Lord.
There are other types of dharma. Sometimes we think of ordinary dharma or religious duty as also being extremely important. But we do understand that while there is dharma, there are duties and responsibilities that we have in this material world, by dint of having this material body. There are obligations and responsibilities that go with it. But the devotee understands that the highest morality, religion, and duty, is to follow the orders of God.
Prahlad's realization of being a servant, of understanding what is the self, who is the self, and Sanatana Goswami's question, who am I? These are very critical and relevant topics that intelligent people ask, and they have asked these questions since time immemorial, not only in India, but also in the Western World. These ideas of what is the nature of the self have been a central interest in Psychology, Philosophy, and many other areas of inquiry.
Talking about psychology since I'm a Psychologist, we tend to talk about what we know. Psychologists often discuss the self as ego, they use this word ego and self interchangeably to some degree or ego development. These views of the self are really more about the subtle body. Of course our real ego is our constitutional position, but usually ego means the mind and the intelligence.
These ideas are tied to time and place and not really in an eternal understanding. But I found that in psychology there is an interesting definition that psychologists give to the self. They say that it has two parts. One is the uniqueness of the self. Second is the continuity of identity. It's kind of interesting because it really goes quite along with our philosophy except that they kind of missed who the self really is.
The uniqueness of the self. In other words, everyone can understand, even materialists and psychologists, that I am different than other people. We are not all one, we are not all merged together. I have a self, you have a self, every living entity is unique. We also feel that. Internally and intuitively we understand.
We also understand continuity of identity. This really goes along. Srila Prabhupada gave this example of how we can understand that we are the soul, we are the self. You remember when you were a child, you remember when you were a young person, you remember being an old person. It's still you, right? In other words, the body has changed over and over. All of the cells have been replaced, etc. But, the sense of self remains. Strangely enough to younger people, when you become old, you really don't feel that much different. It's still you. Your body may feel different, but the sense of continuity of self is there.
This is one of the arguments that exists about the existence of the soul. Even psychologists admit this. They don't go beyond what happens after this body ends and into the next life. Of course the Bhagavad Gita and our scriptures give us so much more information explaining how that one discards the body just like one discards a piece of clothing and takes on a new body after death.
We have some understanding that we are the soul and an eternal servant of Krishna. But, of course, this isn't always so popular when we speak to other people. The thing that often people have to deal with is this idea of servant. People don't seem to like being a servant. Particularly in democratic countries like America there is this idea of individualism that I have my own way, my own mind, my own everything. I'm independent, I'm the controller. This is the nature of the conditioned soul.
We all came here because we desire to control, we desire to take Krishna's place, to be god ourselves. Of course, very tiny little gods, hardly worthy of the name of gods. But still, there is the desire there within the heart of every living entity. So our first our first contact with material energy when the spirit soul comes to this material world is ahankara, right? False ego.
Srila Prabhupada describes it as the throwing potency and the covering potency. In other words we are thrown into this material world and then we're covered. What is that covering the false ego, I am this body, I am in control, and I'm going to enjoy this body. Now, without being covered by false ego, by Maya, we couldn't think this way. If I'm still remembering that I'm the eternal servant of Krishna, then how can I be here trying to enjoy this material world independently of God? We couldn't do it. Because of our desire to enjoy separately, we have to be covered by Maya, so the false ego can think I am this body, I am enjoying in the material world.
Our modern conception, especially in the Western World, of course maybe it's everywhere now, is that we are highly individualistic. Everyones life is unique. I am the center of the world, basically.
I find it interesting that in developmental psychology, coming out of the work of Jean Piaget, who is a very famous cognitive psychologist, later they came up with this idea called adolescent egocentrism. I think it's quite pertinent to our discussion.
Adolescent egocentrism focuses on three illusions or fables that often teenagers, adolescents have because they're trying to develop their individuality. They don't quite have it together yet. What I think is interesting is that if this is adolescent egocentrism, I'd have to say that the whole world hasn't gone out of this stage of adolescents. So these things apply to many people.
It's interesting that they call these fables or illusions. The three things are, first of all, is the invincibility fable. That means that I'll live forever. I won't die. What did Maharaj Yudisthira tell Yamaraj? What is the most wonderful thing in life? I see everyone around me dying, I see my family dying, but I will never die. The most wonderful thing in life, the invincibility fable.
Particularly young people are subject to this. It's like, I see that my friends are drinking and driving, they get into a crash and they die. But that would never happen to me. So they tend to do risk taking behaviors and do things that aren't so smart. Because this will never happen to me, I'm young and I'll live forever. We see that most of the world still works under that particular illusion that, I'll live forever, that won't happen to me.
The second one is called the imaginary audience. In other words, everyone is looking at me. There is this audience. Whatever I do, it's so important that everyone is seeing everything that I do. If any of you are parents who've had teenagers, you may remember how self conscious they are. Of course many people are. Whatever I do, whatever I wear, everybody is going to notice. In reality, most people don't care that much about everything that we do. But still, we're the center of the universe, right? Whatever i do is so important.
This leads to the third one, which is called the personal fable. That means that my life is unique. It's glorious. No one has ever experienced what I've experienced. It's like my life is an epic movie. It's kind of like having some great biography, to think that somehow my life is particularly unique. My thoughts are unique and no one has ever thought these things. No one has ever felt like I have. It's somewhat illusionary because there are only so many combinations to the modes of nature. Most of what we think has already been thought before in different ways.
It's interesting, because I come from an academic background, when you're doing your PhD or dissertation, you're supposed to come up with something unique, something that will be a unique contribution to the body of scholarly knowledge. That becomes really tough because most everything has been said. You have to find some little obscure topic or some obscure variation of what other people have studied. Trust me, I've done this. Some people think in the beginning, I'm going to really come up with some wonderful, new thought. After a couple of years that you've been working on this, all you can think of is when can I get this thing done and get out of here.
At any rate, we tend to think that our own experience is unique. Many people, not just adolescents have this feeling. It's called egocentricism, and in extremes it's called narcissism, everything is about me. The narcissists tends to judge everything in relation to himself. If I have a relationship with you, how do you benefit or enhance me? We all do that a little bit, but sometimes it's a little bit extreme.
Why do people think this way? They do it because that belief of being unique and special is somewhat rooted in reality. We are unique souls. We do all have an identity, and each of us has a relationship with Krishna. We have a unique loving relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead and He is situated within the heart of every one of us. In one sense we have even more egocentricism, but we understand that it's the relationship of the soul. It's nothing special about this body or this lifetime or all of the great thoughts that I have. What is special is that we have an eternal relationship with Krishna.
This is supported in the Srimad Bhagavatam in a very interesting purport to 10.14.7 in Brahma's prayers to Lord Krishna. In the purport Sanatana Goswami's commentary is referenced. "Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī further explains that the Lord manifests a specific spiritual quality for the benefit of each living entity." Isn't that remarkable? A specific quality for the benefit of each one of us, each living entity. "Since there are innumerable living entities within the confines of the material creation, the Lord manifests infinite qualities. Thus every conditioned soul can appreciate the Supreme Lord in a particular way."
Yes, we are very special. We are very special in Krishna's eyes. We are very special because even a very small, tiny, fragmental part and parcel of Krishna, one tiny spec within many universes, we still have an individual relationship with Krishna. That is what is of value. That is what is wonderful about every living entity. Not that we think by ourselves or for ourselves, but in relationship to Krishna.
Another explanation of this is given by Srila Prabhupada in Bhagavad Gita 4.35 in his purport. Srila Prabhupada says that "the living entities, as separate parts and parcels of the Supreme, have a purpose to fulfill." And he talks about that. What does that mean that each of us has a purpose to fulfill? Some intelligent persons ask what is that purpose. What is my personal purpose and how do I fulfill that?
There are two aspects for a devotee in understanding this question, but understanding our relationship with Krishna. First of all we understand that our purpose is not separate from the purpose of Krishna and guru, but should be aligned with it. We need to be aligned with Krishna's desire and Lord Caitanya's desire, and Srila Prabhupada's purpose in coming to the Western World and then back to India to spread Krishna Consciousness.
Interestingly, Srila Prabhupada was very clear on this his idea and purpose. He famously wrote his seven purposes of ISKCON. We should all go back and keep reading those over and over. It tells us clearly what our purpose is and what is the purpose of this International Society for Krishna Consciousness. At the same time, we understand that we are eternal separate living entities, we all have an eternal relationship with Krishna, and we all have minute free will.
A desire for independence is natural because Krishna is fully independent, we are small part and parcels of Krishna. We all have minute qualities as Krishna. So that idea of independence is there within the living entity as well. How do we reconcile that we have that independence, and yet we are completely dependent upon Krishna. The jiva is the marginal potency, tatastha sakti. Lord Caitanya used that term in the very first verse when he spoke.
We have a tendency to misuse independence. We have a small amount of independence, but because we are tatastha, we can become covered over by Maya and thus misuse it. An example that Srila Prabhupada often gave was that just like on a beach, the land, the sand that is there, sometimes when the tide comes up it is covered by water, and when the tide goes back, it's land. Is it water or is it land? It can be either one depending on the covering by the ocean. In the same way, depending on how we are covered by Yoga Maya or Maha Maya, depends upon how we act.
Srila Prabhupada says this in the purport to 15.7 "Similarly, the separated expansions of living entities have their identities. As fragmental parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, the living entities also have fragmental portions of His qualities, of which independence is one. Every living entity, as an individual soul, has his personal individuality and a minute form of independence. By misuse of that independence one becomes a conditioned soul, and by proper use of independence he is always liberated."
So our wants and freedoms due to the control of material energy. We are meant to be free and independent, but it's conditional because we are minute. Real freedom is to become free from the material modes of nature and aligned with Krishna's desire. The devotee experiences true freedom as freedom from suffering, birth and death, and ignorance. Ignorance is actually very painful for the living entities without knowing our identity to Krishna. Freedom from disconnection, disconnection from Krishna and not feeling the loving relation with Krishna. That is a source of suffering in this material world. And freedom from being alone and not having any loving relationships.
So we have focused so far quite a bit on the relationship of the jiva with Krishna as his eternal servant. We always need to remember that the devotee does not serve Krishna in a vacuum. It's not myself and Krishna and all of you peripheral people out there I guess you've got something going on but really it's about me and my relationship with Krishna. We don't see that. We see in our scriptures and particularly we see in the pastimes of Krishna in the tenth canto that Krishna is always with His devotees, devotees - plural, and those devotees have relationships. They are serving together.
We serve in the association of Krishna's devotees, we relish that sadhu sanga among devotees. Not only do we serve with other devotees and in association of devotees, but we also directly serve those devotees. We want to serve the devotees of Krishna.
The relationships, which are based upon bhakti, which means love, a loving relationship, but love is also manifesting through service. A nice quote that I like is that there was an author, a poet named Kahlil Gibran, he was some kind of mystic from the mid east area, maybe he was from Lebanon. He wrote this book called The Prophet which was very popular in my days among my generation of counter culturists. He had these little statements that were very profound. This is one that I thought was cool but I had no idea what it meant until I became a devotee. Then it became crystal clear. He said that "work is love made visible." Isn't that it? Work, or service, is the outward, visible manifestation of love.
There's not a lot of meaning if you say I love you, I love you, but I don't want to do anything for you. I love you but don't ask me to do anything, don't ask me to do any service. That's not really love, is it? Love and service are intertwined. They are together. It's not abstract or theoretical.
We call bhakti devotional service. Not devotional sentiment or devotional idea or theory. It's devotional service. So bhakti means love and service to Krishna and His devotees. Of course, we always have to remember that that service to Krishna goes through guru, through the spiritual master, who is the recipient of the service that goes to Krishna.
Where there isn't bhakti, relationships will have some quality of envy. It's inevitable in the material world. Without bhakti there will be envy. The closer we come to real love, the less degree of envy that there is. Srila Prabhupada gave the example that in the material world, the closest example between real love is between a mother and a child. Why? Because it is one of the most selfless relationships. Those of you who have been mothers or fathers have all experienced this.
You don't get a whole lot of reciprocation and service from your children, compared to what you put into it. Now if your fortunate and have nice children, hopefully they will serve us a little bit and help us out. That is part of the social system. The reality is that the parent is not really thinking that I'm going to get something in return. It's pretty much selfless service. Of course today everything is different. Some of these good qualities are disappearing fast. But at least theoretically we see this.
Why is it love? Because it's selfless. It's not meant for personal gain. Now it's not pure of course, but it's an example. It's a material example of a spiritual principle which is what Prahlad Maharaj was teaching us in the last few verses of this tenth chapter of the seventh canto. Real bhakti or devotional service is not a material exchange, it is not done for some greater purpose or ulterior motive. It is done simply for the service it's self.
This is the ideal. We cannot pretend to be on the level of Prahlad Maharaj. Our service is sometimes tinged with other desires. That's natural. We have been in this material world lifetime after lifetime. It will take some time. Sadhana bhakti is a process of gradual purification. If we are performing that process to the best of our abilities under the instruction of a spiritual master, then the heart becomes purified little by little to where that relationship of service to Krishna becomes more pure and more selfless. I simply want to serve you out of love. That's sadhana. Sadhana will gradually transform to higher and higher stages of devotional service. Not artificially, we do not jump to that. We let that unfold naturally as our sadhana continues.
As we are saying, the service attitude must be there. And the opposite of the service attitude is envy. Devotees want to avoid that. Now I've thought about this a lot. When you're in a position of management, Prahlad Maharaj told us very clearly, do not see in terms of friends and enemies. That is one of his main teachings. See equally. When you are in management, sometimes it's hard to do that. You tend to think not so much as friends and enemies but that this person is a help to me and this person is not helping. This devotee is kind of troublesome and this devotee is cooperative. It's natural that we tend to think that way, but we know that we shouldn't.
We know that we should appreciate the service of the devotees and try as much as possible to work cooperatively and see those good qualities. And if we do have some feelings that may be negative, we have an all purpose answer, render service. Do some service for that devotee, or with that devotee, and you'll find how much it changes. When you actually start working and serving with a devotee, you find that actually they do have some good qualities and that they may have some good ideas. You'll understand that this is pleasing to Krishna and to guru, to work cooperatively and work unitedly.
This is something that we've been talking about at the GBC meetings a little bit, this idea of unity and diversity. What Srila Prabhupada gave us is actually a foundational principle. He stresses this very much, to work with unity in diversity. We can certainly see our international body of devotees as diverse. Diversity is certainly there. But we have to find the unity. The easiest way to find that unity is to see that we are all serving Krishna and serving Srila Prabhupada. We have that united desire. So let's figure out how to do that together and appreciate devotees and try to serve them. That principle cannot be overestimated.
We see it time and time again beginning with Lord Caitanya saying that we are the servant of the servant of the servant. Retaining the service attitude towards devotees is the way that we will overcome any negativity or problems in our dealings.
I'll end with a couple of quotes. These are found in the Nectar of Devotion, chapter twelve. Lord Krishna says to Arjuna in the Adi Purana, "My dear Pārtha, one who claims to be My devotee is not so. Only a person who claims to be the devotee of My devotee is actually My devotee."
And from the Padma Purana Lord Siva tells Parvati, "There are different methods of worship, and of all such methods, the worship of the Supreme Person is considered to be the highest. But even higher, than the worship of the Lord, is the worship of the Lord's devotee."
Hare Krishna. Thank you very much. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Devotee:
Can you give an example of envy to Krishna?
Tamohara Das:
Basically, being in this material world means that we are envious of Krishna. It's not something so gross. It's not something like I feel envy every time I see the deity of Krishna. It's more of a subtle desire to want to be the controller, to be the enjoyer, to think that things should come to me. Pride, prestige, some recognition for myself. These are all subtle forms of envy to Krishna.
Devotee:
Thank you Prabhu for a wonderful class. It's very enlivening. You spoke about out eternal position as servant. You were referencing the wonderful question by Sanatana Goswami, who am I? And you mentioned how Lord Caitanya gave the answer that we are eternal servants of Krishna. We have some idea about how we are servants, we understand that our mission in service is to serve the mission of Srila Prabhupada and to serve the Vaisnavas. But of late, we've been hearing a lot of devotees beginning to ponder, what is my siddha deha and who is my istha deva. How important are these questions?
Tamohara Das:
Oh, we're gonna go there, huh?
These are important questions for one who is on the stages of bhava and prema. Since I am not anywhere near that, it's hard for me to comment a lot on the knowledge of our siddha deha. We understand that Srila Prabhupada did not emphasize this. Srila Prabhupada didn't speak about it. I know of one story from one of his long time servants who, in one casual conversation, Srila Prabhupada gave a little indication, which is still subject to interpretation, of his own siddha deha. Even in the most intimate situations, Srila Prabhupada generally did not speak of this. And he certainly did not encourage us in that way. My understanding is that this comes about naturally through bhakti. In other words, as we advance in Krishna Consciousness, if Krishna wants us to know our eternal svarup, our eternal position, we think that He will not reveal that to us? There's one nice conversation in one of the videos of all of the memories of Srila Prabhupada where Revatinanada Prabhu, where he asked Srila Prabhupada about this very specifically. He said to Srila Prabhupada that his understanding is that as we advance in Krishna Consciousness, in some future time Krishna will reveal these things within the heart. Srila Prabhupada said, yes, you have the correct understanding.
Yes, we need to know what our eternal position is, which is Krishna das. For me it's good enough to know that my eternal position is that I am a servant of Krishna. How that manifests in the spiritual world, that is something to await. It'll be a wonderful revelation sometime when I become more advanced.
Devotee:
What does your name mean?
Tamohara Das:
What does my name mean? Tamo means darkness or ignorance. Hara means one who takes away or alleviates. So it's the servant of one who takes away ignorance or alleviates darkness, which I think is a very fitting name for me since I am so much steeped in tamaguna and Srila Prabhupada has given me the opportunity to rise above that.
Devotee:
Hare Krishna Prabhu. Thank you for the class which is very interesting. Concerning the sanatana dharma, is it possible that someone live a lifetime in Krishna Consciousness and not find his specific service?
Tamohara Das:
So you're asking, we all have sanatana dharma, we all have a purpose. So you're asking what happens if we don't find that? Do we have to come back here? I'm not sure. I'm don't know what that necessarily follows. But since you asked, I would like to follow up a little more on that point.
What Sanatana Goswami was saying, that's a very deep and internal thing, as far as we all have this individual relationship with Krishna that is unique. That we may not find until we become very advanced. It's kind of like the siddha deha question. But at the same time, we all do have a unique purpose and Srila Prabhupada indicated that we need to find that purpose. Suresvara Prabhu has a seminar he does that's called "The Mission within the Mission." It's a really interesting idea because, in other words, we have this great purpose in ISKCON that Srila Prabhupada has given us. Each of us have a part to play in that. Each of us has something unique to offer. It may be a very small part, it may be a very large part, but it's equal in the eyes of Krishna and Guru and Srila Prabhupada. Whatever one feels in ones heart he can offer, in relationship to the devotees, use your intelligence, consult with senior devotees, because however our nicely engaged that's fine and you're going to make advancement.
When you see Srila Prabhupada's letters, you see Srila Prabhupada write to a Tualsi Pujari that they are doing the most important service. And he writes to a book distributor that they are doing the most important service. In other words, Srila Prabhupada often encouraged us that whatever service you're doing, and it's true, he wasn't just being flattering. It is the most important service because you are sincerely trying to serve Krishna. So you just find that place where you can sincerely serve Krishna. But also I think be a little bit thoughtful. What can I offer? What can I do? I can look around and see many devotees who I see something they contributed, maybe a little bit uniquely or something they have been very dedicated to. I would say yes, find that, find that within our heart, what our purpose is and how we can serve Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON and Krishna.
Devotee:
Hare Krishna. Thank you for the nice class Prabhu. You mentioned the three fables or illusions associated with adolescent egocentrism. I was thinking, I work with teenagers and I also have two teenage daughters. I see that they stress out over these things and it causes a lot of suffering in their lives, particularly the self consciousness and the feeling that nobody understands. Are there any specific ways that we can help our teenagers through those things?
Tamohara Das:
That's a great question.
We need to be patient, just like we do with all devotees. We need to hear them first. In other words, try to be open. Sometimes teenagers are very sensitive and they often don't communicate so readily. The more open we are to communicate, just as we are with any devotee, we try to be there for them and be supportive. In other words, don't just discount these things.
I remember when one of my teenage daughters had some acne or something she was really upset about and didn't want to go to school because of. I was really sensitive I said oh yeah, they're going to announce on the loud speaker and the bulletin boards. I was trying to make light of it. But why did I do that? Bad! That's not how to do it. Because sometimes it seems so silly to us. So try and be a little bit sensitive.
And at the same time, after we first hear and listen to them, we understand their concerns. We express our understanding. Then we start working in a little introduction of the philosophy to counterbalance their perhaps misconception. Remind them of a little bit of their position as devotees of Krishna, servants of Krishna. But I think we have to be very careful with teenagers not to be too heavy handed. It doesn't work too well to beat them over the head with the Bhagavad Gita. The other thing is, there is an old saying about adolescents. Whatever they come in with before, they will come out with at the other end. So sometimes we just have to endure these years with our kids. Srila Prabhupada even gave this example. He said with young children you are very tolerant, then you become more strict. Then he says as they get older, become their friend. Often they need that, as well as setting limits. I'm sorry. I do seminars on parenting, I could go on for a few hours. There is a balance between having structure and boundaries and clarity, and also this idea of nurturing and communication. Know what your boundaries are. There are certain things that you just don't do. You have boundaries and you're clear on your expectations, but also keep communication and relationships open.
Hare Krishna. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
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