LECTUREBY HIS HOLINESS BHAKTI CARU SWAMI ON SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM THIRD CANTO,CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE, TEXT TWENTY SIX, THE GLORIES OF DEVOTIONAL SERVICE.

Transcription : Lalitamadhava Dasi
Editing : Ramananda Raya Dasa

Audio Reference : Click here

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya
Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya
Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya

Bhaktya puman jata viraga aindriyad
Drsta srutan  mad racananucintaya
Cittasya yatto grahane yoga yukto
Yatisyate rjubhir yoga margaih

SYNONYMS
bhaktya – by devotional service; puman – a person; jata-viragah –having developed distaste; aindriyat – for sense gratification;drsta-seen (in this world); srutat – heard (in the next world);mat-racana – My activities of creation and so on; anucintaya – byconstantly thinking about; cittasya – of the mind; yattah – engaged;grahane – in the control; yoga-yuktah – situated in devotional service;yatisyate – will endeavor; rjubhih – easy; yoga-margaih-by theprocesses of mystic power.

TRANSLATION

Thus consciously engaged in devotional service in the association of
devotees, a person gains distaste for sense gratification, both in this
world and in the next, by constantly thinking about the activities of the
Lord. This process of Krisna consciousness is the easiest process of mystic
power; when one is actually situated on that path of devotional service, he
is able to control the mind.

Purport By Srila Prahbupada

Teachings of Lord Kapila, the Son of Devahuti, Verses 25-26
In all scriptures people are encouraged to act in a pious way so that they
can enjoy sense gratification not only in this life but also in the next.
For example, one is promised promotion to the heavenly kingdom of higher
planets by pious fruitive activities. But a devotee in the association of
devotees prefers to contemplate the activities of the Lord – how He has
created this universe, how He is maintaining it, how the creation dissolves,
and how in the spiritual kingdom the Lord’s pastimes are going on. There are
full literatures describing these activities of the Lord, especially
Bhagavad-gita, Brahma-samhita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. The sincere devotee who
associates with devotees gets the opportunity to hear and contemplate this
subject of the pastimes of the Lord, and the result is that he feels
distaste for so-called happiness in this or that world, in heaven or on
other planets. The devotees are simply interested in being transferred to
the personal association of the Lord; they have no more attraction for
temporary so-called happiness. That is the position of one who is
yoga-yukta. One who is fixed in mystic power is not disturbed by the
allurement of this world or that world; he is interested in the matters of
spiritual understanding or the spiritual situation. This sublime situation
is very easily attained by the easiest process, bhakti-yoga. Rijubhir
yoga-margaih. A very suitable word used here is rijubhih, or “very easy.”
There are different processes of yoga-marga, attaining yoga perfection, but
this process, devotional service to the Lord, is the easiest. Not only is it
the easiest process, but the result is sublime. Everyone, therefore, should
try to take this process of Krsna consciousness and reach the highest
perfection of life.

Bhaktya puman jata viraga aindriyad
Drsta srutan mad racananucintaya
Cittasya yatto grahane yoga yukto
Yatisyate rjubhir yoga margaih

Thus consciously engaged in devotional service in the association of
devotees, a person gains distaste for sense gratification, both in this
world and in the next, by constantly thinking about the activities of the
Lord. This process of Krisna consciousness is the easiest process of mystic
power; when one is actually situated on that path of devotional service, he
is able to control his mind.

So Kapiladeva’s instructions are so wonderful, that’s why Prabhupadaactually seperately got this book printed as ‘The Teachings of LordKapila’. So Kapila Deva’s teachings are very, very sublime and verypertinent. He is giving a very clear understanding of Krsnaconsciousness.  That’s why this chapter has been entitled ”The Gloriesof Devotional Service” Through this chapter you can really understandwhat the glories of devotional service are.

Like here we are seeing Kapiladeva’s instruction is, previous versesare also very important. Previous verse wasSatam prasangad mamavirya-samvido  the importance of association of devotees has beendescribed. How does it happen? Satam prasangad. In the association ofdevotees, we understand the importance of Krsna consciousness.Powerful… Virya-samvido.  Satam prasangad mama virya-samvido bhavantihrt-karna-rasayanah kathah.   So this katha, Krsna katha is therasayana, the source of joy for the heart and the ears.

Actually we cannot appreciate Krsna Katha with this material ears.The real Krsna katha will be appreciated by the ears of the heart, thespiritual ears. Material ears want to hear about all kinds of mundanemusic, jazz, rap, classical. Material ears always want to hear aboutthat. But the spiritual ears want to hear rasayana katha. The Krsnakatha that is full of mellows, full of rasa which is the source of joy,ananda. hrt-karna-rasayanah

satam prasangan mama virya-samvido
bhavanti hrt-karna-rasayanah kathah
taj-josanad asv apavarga-vartmani
sraddha ratir bhaktir anukramisyati

And as a result of hearing that, taj-josanad asv apavarga-vartmani.Very quickly we become free from material bondage and sraddha ratirbaktir we develop sraddha.  Sraddha’-sabde visvasa kahe sudrdha niscaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya. Sraddha has been defined.What is sraddha? Sraddha means that implicit faith, that one faith,that if I serve Krsna then everything is done. All my activities, allmy duties, all my responsibilities will be fulfilled just by servingKrsna. That is sraddha.

In the material nature, we have so many duties, oh I have to maintain my
family, oh I have to earn money, oh I have to become famous, oh I have to
become so many things, but sraddha means sarva dharman paritrajya… give up all those nonsense.

They dont have any sense. Your so called duties in the materialnature does not actually have any sense, what really matters is serviceto Krsna.  If you served Krsna does it mean that your family will notbe maintained, if you serve Krsna, does it mean that you have to starve? If you serve Krsna, does it mean that you have to become bereft ofeverything, No. You are serving Krsna and what is the result of yourserving Krsna. How many of you are serving Krsna? And what is theresult of serving Krsna? Are you in poverty stricken condition?  Whenyou serve Krsna then all your responsibilities are fulfilled.sarva-karma krta haya.  Whether you are a brahmacari, whethervanaprastha, whether you are a sannyasi or whether you are ahouseholder.  Everyone has only one responsibilty.  That is to serveKrsna. So that is the meaning of sraddha. So devotional life actuallybegins with sraddha. Adau sraddha. Adau means at the beginning. Howdoes the devotional service begins.  Devotional service begins withsraddha. And sraddha means serving Krsna is the only business I have.And if I serve Krsna, all the other business will be fulfilled.

In this respect, Prabhupada once mentioned why Chaitanya Mahaprabhutook sannyasa at such a young age. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyasaat the age of twenty four and in what kind of situation ChaitanyaMahaprabhu took sannyasa? How many of you know what was the situationof Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s houshold when he took sannyasa ? [indaudibleanswer]  Very good. Now consider there is no male member in the family,old mother, young wife and He left. And it appears to be such a cruelact. Leaving a young wife and old mother, He left home.  But Prabhupadais saying, by taking sannyasa in this way Chaitanya Mahaprabhurereassured everybody that whatever is your household situation don’tworry Krsna will take care. Whatever responsibility, don’t worry Krsnawill take care. So that is what Chaitanya Mahaprabhu wanted to remindus. Don’t worry just become engaged in serving Krsna and Krsna willtake care.

And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu… In another occasion, Chaitanya Mahaprabhugave the assurance to Srivasa Thakur.  Srivasa Thakura after ChaitanyaMahaprabhu’s sannyasa, could not stay in Mayapura anymore. He could notcontinue to live there because everywhere there was memories ofChaitanya Mahaprabhu. It was so painful for him.  Wherever he would go,he would see the memories of Nimai.  Therefore he left and he came toKumarati… so Srivasa Thakur left Navadvipa and came to Kumarati. So onhis way to Vrindavana,  from jagannatha puri; Chaitanya Mahaprabhustopped in Kumarati and he met Srivasa Thakura. So he asked Srivasa. What are you doing here? Srivasa said. Since you left, I lost interest,I don’t have mind to do anything. Then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu asked :Srivasa then how do you maintain your family, how is your family doing?Srivasa said: I don’t know, I don’t care. Nothing really means anythingto me anymore. Then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said: Srivasa, Laxmidevi mayhave to go out with a begging bowl, but there won’t be any scarcity inyour house.

So this is how Chaitanya Mahaprabhu reassured the devotee thatLaxmidevi may have to go out begging but devotee will not feel anyscarcity. So that is the meaning of faith in Krsna. Krsna has giventhat assurance. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has given that assurance  and wehave to act with that assurance.  That we are serving Krsna and wedon’t have to worry about anything. Krsna will provide.

Not that will Krsna always provide, sometimes Krsna may put us toscarcity, like the Pandavas. In one day… They were the sammrathas. Yudhisthira Maharaj became the king of the entire earth planet byperforming the rajasurya yagyas. Purpose of the rajasurya yagyas, is tobring all the king of this world under his domination, his control.  Soby performing rajasuya yagyas, that is what Yudhisthira Maharajaachieved. All the kings of the world, admitted to his ruling. And howdid they admitted? By paying tax. They would pay tax to YudhisthiraMaharaja. That is the sign that they are subordinate to YudhisthiraMaharaja. So Yudhisthira Maharaj was in that situation.

And in one day, just in one day, in few hours time, they losteverything and being humiliated so badly. Although they were the mostpowerful people in this planet, they could deal with the demigods anddefeat them. Arjuna could alone defeat with all the demigods. They areso powerful. He dealt with Lord Shiva. Arjuna was so powerful that hefought with Lord Shiva and Lord Shiva could not defeat him. So finallyLord Shiva was so pleased with him that he gave him the benediction. Such a powerful person, can you imagine that? Such a powerfulindividual. Bhima. He has the strength of ten thousand elephants. Bhimacould just grab an elephant by its legs and rip it apart. And that wasthe child’s play. When he has the power of ten thousand elephants andto kill one elephants, what is the big deal? That’s what he did. Whenhe killed Ashvatamma, the elephant, he just killed that elephant. Hewas so powerful that a raksasa Baka , when hitting him with uprootedhuge tree at the back and Bhima just look at him, turned his face andjust keep on eating as if nothing happen.

And a similar thing also happened when Bhima met with Ghatotkachafor the first time.  Ghatokacha is the son but he did not recogniseBhima. So Ghatotkacha was hitting him and Bhima said: okay scratch myback a little harder. Then Ghatotkacha asked him : Who are you ? Hesaid: I am your father. So he became even more upset, he thought thathe will insult him, because he is saying that he is his father ThenBhima said that there were seven kinds of father. One is anna-data,[indaudible]  the first three I remember. One who gives food is thefather, one who delivers one from fear is the father, the person whosedaughter is married, he is also to be treated like a father and in thisway it ultimately comes to the biological father, the spiritual masteris also to be treated as a father. And Ghatotkacha became even moreupset and finally Hidimba came and told that: Look what are you doing ?  It is your father. [inaudible]

So such a powerful person and can you imagine in front of theireyes, their wife is being dishonoured and they will do anything becauseby the principle of dharma,they were sold out and they became slaves ofDuryodhana and the slave can never rise up against the master andthat’s why they didn’t do anything. So, Krsna puts his devoteessometimes in a most wonderful situation  and in a flash of moment Krsnacan put his devotee into a most distressful situation. It is not thatKrsna will always pamper us. Krsna may sometimes put us in a very, verydifficult situation.  And why do Krsna put us through this situation?Simply to increase our faith in Him. Simply to make us more and moredependent upon Him.  That is what Krsna consciousness is.

But the ultimate result is that Krsna will take His devotee back toHis own abode. That is the most wonderful reward  for devotionalservice. First thing is Krsna protects.  Krsna will always protect. Ifwe serve Krsna, Krsna will protect. In Saranagati, do you remember whatis the fourth aspect of Saranagati? Avasya rakhibe Krsna vishvasya.Krsna will positively protect me. Krsna will protect me.  So this ishow we have to have our faith in Krsna and this  is the faith somesentimental thing. No , Krsna protected Prahlada Maharaj. KrsnaProtected Ambarisha Maharaj. Krsna protected the Pandavas. Krsnaprotected Draupadi. There are so many example.

And personally also we feel how many times Krsna protected us. Howmany of you have experience of Krsna’s protection? So many of you have.This is the proof. Like best proof is your own experience. When you seehow Krsna protects, how Krsna protected you. That is the best proof. Sowith this faith we must carry on serving Krsna.

It will begin with sraddha, faith  and then it will increase.Sraddha will lead us to sadhu sanga.  Here it is said. Sadhu sanga isgoing to lead to sraddha but again sraddha will lead to sadhu sangawhich actually means although our devotional life will begin with sadhusanga but due to sraddha will actualy understand the importance ofsadhu sanga. Sraddha, sadhu sanga, bhajana kriya, annartha nivrti,nista, rati, asakti, bhava, prema.

In this verse it is pointed out that those who are constantlyengaged in the devotional service in the association of a devotee, aperson gains distaste for sense gratification in this world and in thenext world. What is the result of devotional service in the associationof devotees? We loose taste for sense gratification. What is themeaning of loosing taste for sense gratification ? Losing taste forsense gratification means becoming free from material bondage. Desirefor sense gratification is the cause of material bondage.  But performing devotional service will lose taste for sense gratification. And how does it happen? It happens ‘param dristva’ by getting thehigher taste, param dristva.

We render devotional service, and  we get a taste for devotionalservice. And then that makes us realize the futility of material sensegratification, material attachment. And then not only we lose taste, weloose taste for sense gratification in this world but we also loosetaste for sense gratification in the next world. Actually some people,especially the vedas in the karma kanda is actually directing that nextworld is the goal. In this life you suffer by performing austeritiesand in the next life you enjoy. Just like now you go to school,colleges and university and perform a lot of austerity. In school andcolleges what do you go through? You go through austerities. Sutyingmeans austerities.  You want to play but you have to sit down andstudy. You want to go out and do so many things but you have to study.That’s austerity you perform.  Why we perform that austerity? So thatwe can get a good job afterwards.

So this is the general tendency, suffer now to enjoy later. But inMahabharata there is the story of one sage.  He was told, if thechariot came from Vaikunthaloka, heavenly planet to take him to theheavenly planet and so he asked the chariot driver who came to takehim, to escort him to heavenly planets. Please tell me what is heavenlyplanet like? And he started to describe the heavenly planet. It is sucha wonderful place to be in. You can just get…  It is the most beautifulplace, full of beautiful palaces, full of beautiful garden, full ofbeautiful flowers, and then there is no fatigue. It’s all fun. Younever get tired. You drink soma rasa and you get rejuvenated and thereare so many beautiful girls to enjoy with, apsaras, and then there arebeautiful musicians, gandharvas and kinnaras, they are singing songsfor you when you are enjoying with your girlfriends. All kinds offacilities are there.

Then he told him : Look, all these benefits about heavenly planetsthat you describe very nicely, now tell me what are the defects ofheavenly planets, what is the deficiency? And he said that thedeficiency is when you enjoy the heavenly planets your piety, yourpiety, pious credit gets debited. You loose your pious credit and yourpious credit comes to almost nil, then you loose your right to staythere and you fall down to the earth.  The sage was very smart and veryintelligent, he said : If I have to come back again to the earthplanet  where I am already in, what is the point in going there? If Ihave to come back here again, so why should I go there for sometemporary enjoyment.

Now in this way, indirectly the Mahabharat is actually pointing outthat heaven is not the ultimate goal. And this sage said : Can you tellme about some place where there is an uninterupted enjoyment and fromthere I don’t have to come back. So of course this chariot driver saidI don’t really know about such a place but indicating there is a placelike that and if you come across the right person , he will give youinformation of that place. Who is that person? He is devotee.

Devotee comes and tell you a place which is beyond the heavenlyplanets, beyond this material nature, beyond brahmajyoti. That is thespiritual place. Once you go there you don’t have to come back.  Thatis my param dhama.  So the ultimate goal is actually param dhama,Krsna’s own abode. And now the point is yoga is the process of goingthere, but then in this verse Kapiladeva is pointing out we have to goto that place is actually bhakti yoga. Yoga is the way, but it’sbhakti. All the other yoga that are there, they are yogas because theyare mixed with bhakti. Without bhakti they are not yoga. Karma plusbhakti is karma yoga. Jnana plus bhakti is jnana yoga, dhyana plusbhakti is dhyana yoga  and then he is pointing out although these arethe other methods, other processes, but the easiest one is bhakti, purebhakti, plain bhakti, simple bhakti. Just serve Krsna and you don’thave to do anything and just try to love Krsna and express that loveand you don’t have to do anything.  You serve Krsna in the associationof devotees. Rjubhir. Prabhupada is pointing out, it is a very easy way.

Astanga yoga, can you imagine what you have to do? Can you sitcrosslegged for one hour? Padmasana in lotus posture. How many of youcan do lotus? Okay, for how long can you do that? Five minutes. Afterthat? Now there are some asanas. Do you know mayurasana ? What is themayurasana like? Do you what is mayurasana like?  [inaudible answer andlaughter] Mayurasana is, you rest your body on the arms and then youlift your body all the way resting on your arm. Before that, let’s goto the thing. Do you know sirshasana ? Headstand? Stand on your head.Standing on your head is difficult but it is not that difficult. If youcan do it, it’s easy.  So now, you consider, you are standing on yourhead, your arms are clasping and giving you support. Now it’s not likethat. You are resting your body, lifting your body on this arm and thenyour body is like a peacock. It’s one of the very difficult asanas. Soyou can see asana is so difficult.

And then, after asana comes pranayama.  What is pranayama? Do youknow what is pranayama ? Controlling of the breathing,life airs,controlling prana. There are five airs. Prana, apana, samana, vyana andudana. The prana is the most important because the prana is retainingthe soul within the body. So breathing is caused by prana. We arebreathing, that is caused by prana. Controlling prana means, literallymeans to stop breathing. Breathing process has three aspects :inhaling, exhaling and retaining.

Rechaka, puraka and kumbaka.  Kumbaka is the retaining.  And yogipractices to retain his prana. For how long can you stop breathing? Forhow long can you stay without breathing? It seems many of you must bevery expert because you are smiling so joyfully. Yes, Yamuna?  Okay, afew seconds. How many of you can stop breathing for a few minutes? Howmany of you can stay without breathing for two minutes? Get awatch.[Laughter] When we were young we used to do that.  We used to gounder water and we used to try out who can stay the longest. Somebodyused to count in the watch. And we used to count time by counting :one, two, three, four, five.

But can you imagine for a yogi how do they stop? Okay, I will tellyou one thing. How many of you went to kumbha mela this year. Haridvar.Which tent was most popular? Pilot baba. Why pilot baba? Where is thislady from? This lady is from pilot baba.  Pilot baba has a disciplefrom Japan and she was going in samadhi. How was she going in samadhi?She was going in a box and the box was burried underground. She stayedunder the ground for… I thought some hours. How did she do it? Thirtydays ?  No, thirty days.  Maybe thirty days she has demonstrated.  Howdid she do it ? The simple question.  Because of pranayama.  So asimple japanese lady can stay underground through pranayama for so manyhours.

Just see a person can control his breathing, that means stopbreathing for so many hours. Can you  imagine what a yogi can do? Imyself saw some. Once I came out of my house and I saw on the mainroad, there was quite a big gathering, lot of people standing. It wasin Calcutta. I was curious and I went and I found that two legs aresticking out of the ground. That is : somebody is half burried, headdownwards and his legs sticking up. Then I said, okay fine what to do?I left and I think I came back afterwards, two hours or three hours andI saw the crowd still there and from the legs I could see that it was ayoung boys leg. It was not old man. You know from the shape of the legyou can see. And I could see that it was still there two hours, threehours.

So that is how this people control breathing through the process of pranayama.  It is a science. It is an exercise through which oneachieves perfection. Can you imagine what a yogi does?  After so muchmethodical practice. How does a yogi live for so long? A yogi lives forso long  through this process of pranayama.  Now, mind you, thepranayama is not the ultimate goal of the yogi. It is only the fourthstage of yoga. The fifth stage of yoga is pratahar. Pratahar isperformed after completing, after achieving perfection in pranayama. Pratahar means withdrawal of the senses. The senses of completelywithdrawn from the outside and projected inside. Then begins dhyana,meditation.

And then dhara  and then final samadhi.  This samadhi is the stagewhen jivatma sees the paramatma in the heart.  Can you imagine howdifficult the process is ? Some yogis practice for thousands of yearsand still they cannot achieve perfection. Whereas bhakti, as Kapiladevais pointing out, Bhakti is performed so easily. Like we are seeing. Areyou all performing bhakti?  Is it difficult? How many of you think thatit is difficult? It’s difficult. Why is it difficult? [Inaudible] Areyou doing bhakti or are you doing meditation? Then you are doingbhakti? Bhakti literally means to serve the Lord.  When you serve theLord, think of some service to the Lord. Think of some service[inaudible] Is it difficult?

Like say somebody is making a garland for you, do you really carewhether he’s thinking of you all the time while making the garland? Orwhen you see the garland beautifully made, then you appreciate thegarland. Bhakti is not what we are thinking of Krsna. Bhakti is what weare doing for Krsna.  And the outcome of that is how Krsna is seeing usdoing. Not how we are seeing Krsna while doing that. But how Krsna isseeing. Krsna is seeing whether you are doing it for yourself orwhether you are doing it for Him. That is the only thing Krsna isseeing. Are you doing it for your name and fame. You are making abeautiful garland so that everybody will say, oh Shantirupa made such abeautiful garland. Is it because of you that you are doing? No, why areyou making the garland? For the pleasure of the Lord.  Krsna will bepleased when He will see hat you are doing this for His pleasure.  Isit difficult? So bhakti is not at all difficult.

Thats why Kapiladeva is saying rsubhih. Very easily executed.  Now Igo into another stage, even if it is difficult to think of Krsna,compare to astanga yoga is it easier? Easy again is a relativeconsideration. Whether it is more difficult or less difficult? Which isthe least difficult spiritual activiy? Bhakti.  The most easy but thebenefit is the highest. Sanatana, if you behave like that, then I thinkwe have to take action.  And you know what the action will be. Theaction will be to put you in a place where the doctors will take careof you. The mental doctors will take care of you. Do you want to bethere? If you don’t want to be there, then behave yourself properly.This is a mental case and we are just trying to… and if it becomes toodifficult, then I think we have to take him to the mental hospital.

So, any question ?  Yes, Srinivasa

Question: [unclear]
BCS:  He is citing extreme example, when the Lord comes and set theexample, like when you set the example as Lord Ramacandra, nobody canactually do things like what he did. He sets the perfect example for usto follow. Similarly Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as a devotee, is setting aperfect example but not that everybody has to follow that, onlyChaitanya Mahaprabhu can do that. But our feeling will be that is sinceChaitanya Mahaprabhu sets that example, lets act accordingly.  And yes,He is giving us the assurance that you do that , you act like that andI will take care of this. So that’s the assurance Krsna is giving timeand time. You take shelter of Me and I will take care of you. Doesn’teven a father make a condition like that?  You become obedient to meand I will take care of you.  What does a rich father want? He wantsthat his son only should be submissive to him and then the father isprepared to do anything. But if the son is disobedient, then the father[inaudible] so that is Krsna’s attitude. If you want to be on your own,then go ahead. Suffer and let us see. And if you want to come backanytime, you can come back.  That’s Krsna’s condition.  He left twooptions open to us. Either we remain withHim or we leave Him. AndKrsna’s options are, Krsna’s offer is, if you want to stay with Me,then stay with Me but if you are that bent on leaving you can go. Andsee what it is like to be on your own. And how is it to be on your own?Tell me. Not nice. Very smart, very wise. So what to do? Surrender toKrsna. And then when you surrender to Krsna then Krsna will take care .

Yes, Radharani
Question:[unclear]

BCS: Prabhupada is actually pointing out in the purport. But adevotee in the association of devotees refers to contemplate on theactivities of the Lord. How He has created the universe, how He ismaintaining it, how the creation dissolves, how in the spiritualkingdom, the Lord’s pastimes are going on. There are full literaturesdescribing these activities of the Lord, especially Bhagavad gita,Brahma Samhita, Srimad Bhagavatam. Four aspects are being describedhere. How the Lord creates, how the Lord maintains, how the Lord isperforming His pastimes and how the creation dissolves.

So these are all different aspects of as we said posanam. Theposanam aspect is maintainer. How the Lord is maintaining? We get tosee how He is maintaining everybody. For that we don’t need to make abig research. We can just look around and we can see.  Like you can askanybody. Shankar how old are you? Forty seven years old. So did you getyour food everyday for this forty seven years? Who supplied that food?How much food you consume? Who gave that food? Right ? For forty sevenyears, for twenty seven years, or seventy four years, we are all beingmaintained, food, water, oxygen. Who is maintaining us? Krsna.

So this is how we can see, how Krsna is maintaining. In this way Heis maintaining not only us individually, Krsna is maintaining everyonein both the material and spiritual world. And do you know the dimensionof the material world ?  And it is only the fraction of the spiritualworld. How many living entities are there? Krsna is maintaining all ofthem.

Yes, Shankar
Question [unclear]

BCS: Any movement, anything that moves, moves in waves, you knowthat. Like light moves, how does light moves? Light moves in waves. How does sound moves?  In waves. How does the water move? In waves. How does air move? In waves. Waves mean going up, coming down. So whenwe are moving, in our spiritual life, sometimes we go up, sometimes wego down.  That is the sign of the movement. If we remain in onesituation all the time, it means we are not moving. We are stagnant.Movement means ups and downs. So yes, sometimes you feel veryenthusiastic and sometimes you feel down. When you feel down, thenagain you see, from the down situation, you will go up again and ifsomething will happen, you will go up again. The main thing is you haveto remain in Krsna consciousness. That is what will count. Like afootball game is going on.  When they are playing in the field. If yougo out of the field and start dribbling with the ball, will it have anyeffect ? But inside the field, you are scoring goals, you are making fowls. So all this is happening. And everything is counted. Thereforewe have to remain in the field of Krsna consciousness. And field ofKrsna consciousness means association of devotees. Remain in theassociation of devotees and render service to the Vaishnavas. Krsnawill take note of every single thing that you are doing.

Question [unclear]
GM:  If you have a doubt then ask the devotees, because we may notalways understand Krsna’s will.  But the devotees know Krsna’ s will,therefore it is always advised to consult with the devotees. Ok, so Istop now. Thank you all very much.

Gaura Premanande