Who Is Lord Śiva ?
Who Is Lord Śiva ?
INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS
Founder-Ācārya: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
The following lecture on “Who Is Lord Śiva?” was given by His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami in Pietermaritzburg, South-Africa on 5 April 2013.
Devotee: I have the pleasure to welcome His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami. Hare Kṛṣṇa. So on behalf of the International Society for Krsna Consciousness, Founder Ācārya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda, we would like to thank our host Mr. Ravi Singh and all of you, the wonderful devotees who have come here this evening to hear from His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Mahārāja. His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Mahārāja, as Mr. Singh has explained, hails from India [from Kolkata]. And he was travelling in the West to study in Germany when he decided to return to India to explore the richness of the Vedic culture, seeking for a spiritual master. Becoming very disillusioned with the various types of gurus who seemed to be circulating in India he became very despondent. One day he came across a book written by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, entitled the Nectar of Devotion. After reading that book very intensely and scrutinizingly His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Mahārāja realized that he had now met his guru, His Divine Grace Bhaktivedanta Swami. He developed a very close relation with Srila Prabhupada. Śrīla Prabhupāda took him on a very close [Unclear] ] he gave him first and second initiation very closely followed by his sannyasa initiation Maharaja has been a travelling sannyasi and the member of the Governing Body Commission of ISKCON which is a council that controls and regulates ISKCON throughout the world. Mahārāja is the performing chairman of this committee and the minister of education and culture. Mahārāja has numerous activities to his credit HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada instructed His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Mahārāja to translate all his books into Bengali language which Mahārāja did. It was an awesome feet. Shortly thereafter Maharaja embarked on a wonderful DVD-series entitled Abhay Charan. How many of you have viewed Abhay Charan DVD-series? It’s a very detailed documentary about the life and pastimes of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda and it has been broadcasted also on the Indian national TV. Shortly thereafter His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Mahārāja built a magnificent temple, Sri Sri Radha Madan-Mohan in the wonderful land of Ujjain where Sri Krsna and Balarāma attended Their gurukula. It’s not only a magnificent temple it was accomplished in 10 months! The beautiful marble temple was built in ten months where the intimate worship of Sri Sri Radha-Madanmohan continues daily. Mahārāja also inaugurated a wonderful Food for Life or mid day meal program which serves 25000 plates or 25000 meals daily to school children. [Applause]. Mahārāja is not only a erudite scholar, eloquent speaker, Mahārāja last year in the previous year, Mahārāja spoke in the United Nations where he addressed world leaders on spiritual matters. So without much further ado I urge you all to warmly welcome and intimately hear very, very carefully the wonderful words that arise from the lotus mouth of our spiritual master: His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Mahārāja.
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami :
om ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ
śrī-caitanya-mano-’bhīṣṭaṁ sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale svayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ dadāti sva-padāntikam
vande ’haṁ śrī-guroḥ śrī-yuta-pada-kamalaṁ śrī-gurūn vaiṣṇavāṁś ca śrī-rūpaṁ sāgrajātaṁ saha-gaṇa-raghunāthānvitaṁ taṁ sa-jīvam sādvaitaṁ sāvadhūtaṁ parijana-sahitaṁ kṛṣṇa-caitanya-devaṁ śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pādān saha-gaṇa-lalitā-śrī-viśākhānvitāṁś ca
he kṛṣṇa karuṇā-sindho dīna-bandho jagat-pate gopeśa gopikā-kānta rādhā-kānta namo ’stu te
tapta-kāñcana-gaurāṅgi rādhe vṛndāvaneśvari vṛṣabhānu-sute devi praṇamāmi hari-priye
vāñchā-kalpa-tarubhyaś ca kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ
śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda
hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Today when I was told that this program is going to be held in the Śiva temple here in Pietermaritzburg I thought that I would speak on Lord Śiva today. Do you think it’s a good idea?
Devotees: yes.
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: Generally you will expect us to speak on Lord Krsna, Viṣṇu, but it’s important also for a devotee to know who is Lord Śiva. Is he just a product of our imagination or is he a real person?
How many of you think that Lord Śiva is a real personality? Please raise your hand. Very good.
So, yes, he is real, of course there is one group of religious or spiritual followers, those who think that these forms are imaginary. There are mainly five types of worship, five personalities of worship but those personalities are imaginary forms but ultimately one will give up those… one will go beyond these forms and come to the impersonal aspect of spiritual reality. But that concept doesn’t have any valid foundation. If we want to know something we must learn from scriptures, from books. How many of you learned alphabet on your own? Is there anybody who learned ‘abcd’ on your own?
No one? How did you learn a b c d, somebody told you either your mother or teacher or your father or your brother, told you this is “A”, this is “B” and so on. And you accepted that. And in the due course of time when you grew up then it has been verified when you started to read books then you saw: Yes, A is A and B is B. So this is the way to learn any subject. When you want to learn some subject you have to study from books. Just books are not enough. You need a teacher to explain those books, those books, reveal the books to you. So similarly if we want to know about spiritual subject, if you want to know about the spiritual personalities, we have to resort to appropriate books under the guidance of qualified teachers. Just books are not enough. You need a teacher to reveal those books. Can anybody become a doctor by reading some books, buying from, buying them from some book shops? Can anybody buy some books, there is book on medicine in the market. Can somebody buy those books read them and become a doctor. Has anybody been recognized as a doctor in that way? No. in order to become a doctor what you have to do? You have to be admitted to an appropriate institution and there he has to study number of prescribed books, under the guidance of qualified teachers. So that is the way one receives knowledge. So if we want to receive knowledge about the spiritual reality, about spiritual personalities, then we have to study the books under the guidance of qualified teachers.
Now if we want to know about Lord Śiva what should we do then, should we keep on imagining? No, there are books. In those there are specific descriptions about Lord Śiva. And one such book is Brahma Samhita. Brahma Samhita, Samhita the word Samhita means the compilation of the wisdom presented by somebody, like the knowledge that has been… the teachings that has been given by Manu is known as Manu Samhita. Similarly the knowledge that has been given by Lord Brahma is Brahma Samhita. Brahma at his mature stage of spiritual realization, he is presenting, he is speaking how he is seeing the spiritual reality. And that is Brahma Samhita and in Brahma Samhita in one verse Lord Brahma is describing Śiva Tattva, the identity of Lord Śiva. He is saying:
kṣīraṁ yathā dadhi vikāra-viśeṣa-yogāt sañjāyate na hi tataḥ pṛthag asti hetoḥ yaḥ śambhutām api tathā samupaiti kāryād govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
kṣīraṁ yathā dadhi vikāra-viśeṣa-yogāt. When just as milk becomes transformed into dadhi or dahi, you all know what dahi is, dahi means yoghurt, milk just as milk vikāra-viśeṣa-yogāt due to the addition or contact of acid, milk becomes yoghurt. Similarly yaḥ śambhutām api tathā samupaiti kāryād, in order to achieve some special purpose Viṣṇu, Krsna, Govinda has become transformed into Shambhu, who is Shambhu? Shambhu is another name of Lord Śiva, so Kṛṣṇa Himself has transformed or been transformed into Lord Śiva, Shambhu. Yaḥ śambhutām api tathā samupaiti kāryād. So what is that special purpose, what is that special mission? Special purpose, that also has been described in this way: this material nature is Kṛṣṇa’s external energy, this material nature is Lord’s external energy. So external energy He doesn’t directly deal with, because if he directly deals with the external energy then it won’t remain His external energy, it will become His internal energy. So in order to deal with His external energy He transformed Himself into śambhutām api or Lord Śiva. And that’s how we find the material nature is the personified, who is the material nature? Material nature is Durga, Mahā-māyā. And who is the husband of Mahā-māyā, who is the husband of Durga? Lord Śiva.
So in order to deal with His material nature Lord Śiva, Kṛṣṇa has transformed Himself into Lord Śiva. It is further explained in this way in Brahma Samhita that the Lord glances towards the material nature. And as a result of that the material nature becomes manifest. How many of you know this concept that the material nature becomes activated or manifest due to the glance of Mahā-Viṣṇu? Please raise your hands; I see not many of you are aware of this concept. Okay… Do you know how this material nature… how this world is created? How many of you know that, how this world was created. Nobody? Okay, should I explain it to you how it has been created?
The Lord as Mahā-Viṣṇu He lies in the causal ocean. He lies in the causal ocean and as He breaths, due to His breathing this, there in the causal ocean… You see just like there is a ocean of water, there is a ocean of cause. Cause is a substance and there is an ocean of cause. Like behind every action there is a cause, right? Like we say because, by the cause, so cause is a substance and Mahā-Viṣṇu lies in that ocean of cause, the causal ocean. And as He breathes the bubbles that are generated… Like, did you ever try to breathe under water? When you breathe under water what happens? The bubbles appear. What is the shape of that bubble?
Devotees: round.
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: Round. Very good and inside it is empty. So due to lord’s breathing these innumerable bubbles were generated in the causal ocean. And each single bubble is a universe. So these universes were empty inside. So then the Lord entered into each universe as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Very good. Mahā-Viṣṇu, Mahā-Viṣṇu’s breathing caused innumerable bubbles to generate and each bubble is an universe, the universes were empty. So He entered into each universe as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. And then from His body He generated water and filled up half of the universe and He laid down on a bed of Ananta Sesha. And then from His navel came out a lotus and Brahma was situated in that lotus. Each universe has one Brahma and each universe… in each universe there is a Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu from whose navel comes out Brahma. And then Brahma does the sub-creation, meaning he fills up the universe with living entities.
So the first cause of the creation is actually the Lord’s glance towards the material nature. Material nature is a personality. The personification of the material nature is Durga. The personification of the material nature is Mahā-māyā. This Mahā-māyā has many, many features. Some features of Mahā-māyā are gentle. Those features of Mother Nature is Anna-purna the giver of food, Jagad dhatri is the maintainer of this creation. This is how she is identified in various forms.
Some forms are very, very violent, very ugra, very fierce. And those forms are Kali, Chandi, mother nature in her destructive form is Kali, Chandi, Chamunda. Chinda-mata, Baula, these are various features. So and who is the controller, the husband or the Lord of Mother Nature? It is Lord Śiva. So this is how we can see the identity of Lord Śiva. The Lord glances towards the material nature and His glance actually first takes the shape of time. Therefore this manifestation of His glance is Shambu, Lord Śiva is Maha-Kala, the aspect of the Lord in [Unclear] the form of great time. In the form of time He is manifesting Himself.
So another way we can see what actually happens when Lord glances towards the material nature. You know what happens when Lord glances towards the material nature? When the Lord glances towards the material nature then the living entities come to the material nature or are projected into the material nature. We all came here into the material nature due to Lord’s glance. Now you can see Lord’s glance is Lord Śiva. Mahā-Viṣṇu’s glance is Lord Śiva and we came through the glance of Mahā-Viṣṇu. So doesn’t it imply that we came through Lord Śiva? And that’s why you can see. How is Lord Śiva worshipped? Lord Śiva is worshipped in the form of the lingam. Because the jivas, the living entities have been projected into to the material nature come to the material nature through the agency of Lord Śiva.
In Bhagavad-Gita Kṛṣṇa is saying tāsāṁ brahma mahad yonir ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā. In the vast womb of material nature I am the seed giving Father, I am the seed giving Father. That means we came to this material nature through the agency of Lord Śiva. And that is why when we go back to the spiritual world we have to go back through the agency of Lord Śiva. That is why Lord Śiva is guarding the gate of the spiritual world. He won’t allow any unqualified tresspasser, he is standing with his trident. Therefore we have to… In order to go to the spiritual world we need the mercy of Lord Śiva.
And in reality, what is Lord Śiva’s position vaiṣṇavānāṁ yathā śambhuḥ, among the Vaishnavas, among the devotees of the Lord, Lord Śiva has a very, very special position, vaiṣṇavānāṁ yathā śambhuḥ. So in short this is the identity of Lord Śiva and it is important that we all maintain a very reverential, a very respectful attitude towards Lord Śiva, recognizing his tattva, recognizing his identity. Sometimes people think: “Oh you are the devotees of Kṛṣṇa so you don’t accept Lord Śiva. No.that’s not true, we are also devoted to Lord Śiva just as we are devoted to the great devotees of Lord. And also Śiva tattva is very unique, there is Viṣṇu tattva, and there is jiva tattva, the Lord’s position is Viṣṇu tattva, His expansions are Viṣṇu tattva’s and we all are jiva tattvas. But Lord Śiva has a very special identity as Śiva tattva, Śiva tattva as I just mentioned, the Lord Himself has transformed into Lord Śiva to deal with His material energy. He is a gunavatara, he is an avatara, he is an incarnation. There are three modes of material nature, the mode of goodness, the mode of passion and the mode of ignorance. Viṣṇu the Supreme Personality of Godhead maintains the mode of goodness; Lord Brahma maintains the mode of passion it is not that Lord Brahma is in the mode of passion Lord Brahma is controlling the mode of passion maintaining the mode of passion. And Lord Śiva is maintaining the mode of ignorance, satva guna, rajo guna and tamo guna. And why Lord Śiva’s behavior is like that because of his intense attachment to the Lord as a devotee of the Lord he doesn’t have any external consciousness; He is completely oblivious of his state, because of his total absorption in Supreme Personality of Godhead.
So Lord Śiva’s position is as one of the greatest devotees of the Lord, and there are really wonderful pastimes between the Lord and Lord Śiva, between Viṣṇu and Lord Śiva. And in those pastimes we see what an intense loving relationship he has with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It has been described pancha vadana. Lord Śiva has five mouths, five heads Therefore another name of Lord Śiva is pancha vadana. Vadana means face and panch means five, it is described: Pancha vadane hari premera sambandhe role nachiya bale bolo bolo hari bolo re. Embracing Nārada Muni who is another great devotee Lord Śiva in ecstasy chanting the Holy name of the Lord: “bolo bolo Hari bolo”. Does anybody have any question? If you have any question please feel free to ask.
Devotee: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Guru Maharaja, I have two questions. You explained the Mahā-Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu does the Ananta Śeṣa accompany both Mahā-Viṣṇu and the Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu?
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: Ananta Śeṣa? Good point. You see whenever the Lord manifest Himself Ananta, Balarāma also goes. You see when, in Vrindavan Kṛṣṇa and His first expansion is Balarāma. When Kṛṣṇa expands Himself in Dvārakā then Balarāma expands as Saṅkarṣaṇa. In this way when He expands as Viṣṇu then He is Ananta Śeṣa. As Mahā-Viṣṇu He… where He is lying that is the expansion of Lord Balarāma. Although He is not assuming the form of Ananta Shesha He does… say for example , the bed in Vrindavan, Kṛṣṇa ’s bed in Vrindavan, where Kṛṣṇa is lying. That is the expansion of Balarāma, right? So now He has to lie in Garbha-ocean. So in water how does He lie. Therefore the Lord becomes Saṅkarṣaṇa, He becomes Ananta Śeṣa and He creates the bed of Viṣṇu.
Devotee: Guru Mahārāja, the second question is that when Mahā-Viṣṇu glances towards the material creation then that is Sada Śiva so what is the relation between Sada Śiva, Maha-Kala and also Rudra Śiva manifested from the forehead of Brahma, they are different personalities or they are expansions of the same personality?
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: Just as Kṛṣṇa expands as Vasudeva, Ramachandra, Nārāyaṇa , Viṣṇu, Paraśurāma I am sorry, Narasiṁhadeva, Varaha, Kurma. The same Personality is expanding Himself, so the original form of Lord Śiva is Sada-Śiva, he is in the spiritual sky, but when he manifest here when he appears here through the eyebrows of Brahma, through… between the eyebrows of Brahma that expansion is Rudra, but then he has another expansion as I mentioned Mahākāla, the great time, the original form of time. That is also an expansion of Lord Śiva in this material world, in this material nature.
Krsna Charan: Will that mean time in the material nature, Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā: “Time I am.” [Unclear]
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: Yes, that material aspect of time… see sarva bhakshak, sarva… all destructive as time I am the Destroyer now you can see Who is the Destroyer. The destructive part… creation is done by Brahma, maintenance is done by Viṣṇu and destruction is done by Lord Śiva. So now in the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa is saying: “Among the destroyers I am the time. Okay.”
Any other question?
Okay so now I will ask you a few questions.
Oh, there are some questions. [Mahārāja reads out the question.] Why is Lord Kṛṣṇa regarded as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and what is the position of Brahma, Śiva and Viṣṇu in relation to that Kṛṣṇa?
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: Very good question. Why is Lord Kṛṣṇa regarded as the Supreme Personality of Godhead?
Because the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His original form, in His original identity is Lord Kṛṣṇa. That Kṛṣṇa eternally resides in Vrindavan. And His first expansion is Balarāma. In Vrindavan Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. Then Kṛṣṇa’s next expansion is in Dvārakā. So in this expansion in Dvārakā He becomes Vāsudeva and Balarāma becomes Saṅkarṣaṇa in Dvārakā ; and then Pradyumna and Aniruddha. So these are the Lord’s quadruple features. Catur-vyuha: in four features Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna, Aniruddha.
Then He expands Himself in Vaikuntha as Nārāyaṇa and there also He has His catur-vyuha of Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. Then He expands Himself as Mahā-Viṣṇu, in the spiritual world the Lord has many, many features. All this innumerable features of the Lord, expansions of the Lord are there in the original Form. But in order to create this material nature He expands Himself as Mahā-Viṣṇu; This Viṣṇu aspects of the Lord are in relation to material nature. The Lord expands Himself in the material nature and then from Mahā-Viṣṇu’s body as He lies in the causal ocean, the bubbles that are generated due to His breathing, each bubble is a universe and then he enters into each bubble as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Then from GarbhodakaśāyīViṣṇu’s navel comes out a lotus and Lord Brahma is situated in that lotus who is the first created being, in this universe the first created being is Lord Brahma, he came directly from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then from Brahma came all the other entities in the material nature, for example Brahma’s first four children… first children are generated from his mind and they are four Kumaras: Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana and Sanatha Kumar
Then from Brahma’s, between Brahma’s eyebrow his suppressed anger came out in the form of Rudra or the expansion of Lord Śiva and so this is… and Viṣṇu as. So does it answer your question? What is the origin of Godhead and what is the position of Godhead and what is the position of Brahma, Śiva and Viṣṇu in relation to Lord Kṛṣṇa? So in order to create this material nature Kṛṣṇa expands Himself, not Kṛṣṇa directly. From Nārāyaṇa this expansion takes place, not even from Nārāyaṇa from Saṅkarṣaṇa takes place, which is Mahā-Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu has three features Mahā-Viṣṇu or Karanodakshayi Viṣṇu, Garbhodakshayi Viṣṇu and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu.
Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is the Supersoul of all the living entities in the material nature. Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is also the origin of all the incarnations in the material nature. So this is the [Unclear] in relation to create this material nature Nārāyaṇa expands Himself as Viṣṇu, in three features. All three features are in relation to the material nature. Garbodakshayi… First are Mahā-Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu.
Brahma is the first created being that came from Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu’s navel. Generally a child is connected to the mother in the womb through the navel. So Brahma was connected to the navel of the Lord. Generally the body develops in the womb of the mother but here Brahma came out from the navel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. And Lord Śiva as Rudra takes care of the destructive aspect of the material nature.
Devotee: Does the soul have a form and identity? If so then what is it and how is it formed?
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: You see when you say form, then comes the question of being created. Where is it formed? When it comes to soul it is eternal, eternal means, eternal… It has no beginning, no end. It is an expansion of the Lord. If the Lord Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu is compared to the sun then the jīvas are like the rays of that sun, minute but it has the same characteristics and qualities. As the sun has light and heat a ray of sun also has light and heat but the sun is complete and the rays are minute. Similarly living entities are minute parts and parcels of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Devotee: Does the soul have a form?
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: Yes in the spiritual world the soul has a form, has his original form. But that form is in relation to in service to the Lord. But when a living entity stops to serve the Lord he loses his spiritual form and he becomes a tiny, minute spiritual spark, losing his identity because he stopped to serve, so there is no need form, for a body, for a shape. Because you stopped serving. Therefore when a living entity stops to serve the Lord he loses his spiritual identity and comes in to the material nature as a tiny little spec of consciousness, the soul.
Devotee: Why is Sri Kṛṣṇa all in all?
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: why is Sri Kṛṣṇa all in all? Because He is all in all. Like because He is the cause of all causes, because He is the Supreme Creator. If you accept that there is a creator then when you go to the Supreme, like who created everything but He doesn’t have any creator. That is God and that is Kṛṣṇa , because He is the supreme creator, because He is the supreme maintainer therefore He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead or all in all.
Devotee: Why do devotees not eat onion and garlic?
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: I think your point is that devotees are vegetarians; onion and garlic are vegetables so why don’t the devotees eat onion and garlic. Because the effect of onion and garlic is detrimental to our consciousness, it affects our consciousness, onion and garlic pollutes our consciousness. You may notice those who eat a lot of onion they are very passionate, they are very violent, they are very aggressive. Do you want to be aggressive or composed? Do you want to be violent or peaceful? How many of you want to be peaceful? If you want to be peaceful then will you accept something that will make you violent? In a similar note we can say alcohol is produced out of grapes, grapes is vegetable or fruits. So why don’t you drink alcohol, because the effect of alcohol is detrimental to our consciousness. There is a poison called hemlock. Are you all familiar with hemlock? Do you know what kind of poison Socrates was given, Socrates was sentenced to death, how Socrates was sentenced to death, how many of you remember that, how many of you know how Socrates died? I thought everybody… I learned about it in… I learned about Socrates when I was in the primary school. Socrates is a very famous Greek philosopher and because Socrates was presenting the truth the people there, especially people in power denied that. And they sentenced him to death and you know how he was supposed to die, drinking a poison called hemlock. Now hemlock is a vegetable. There are poisonous vegetables, poisonous leaves and roots, so they are vegetables. So why don’t you eat them, because if you eat, or if you take its extract you will die, so it is just being a vegetable is not a concern. The consideration is the effect of that substance. So onion and garlic are detrimental to our consciousness. Therefore we don’t take onion and garlic, now will it… can I ask you how many of you are eating onion and garlic? Okay, I won’t ask you to raise your hands, but if you are eating onion and garlic please think about it and [Unclear]. It may be vegetable but its effect, but there effects are detrimental.
Devotee: How to adjust the body and soul, so that the soul be benefited from this entanglement?
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: Yes, so you see the way to deliver the soul is by freeing him from the material bondage. If you are in a prison house do you like to stay in prison? How many of you would like to spend a long time in the prison? A few years at least? No one, why, because there you will lose your freedom, right because there you are imprisoned, you are bound. So similarly in this material nature we have become bound and that’s why we need to free ourselves from this material bondage. Now in order to free ourselves from this material bondage, you have to know what is the cause of our bondage. Why are we bound to this material nature, why have we become bound to this material nature? How many of you know why you have become bound to this material nature? Please raise your hand, I can see that you all are so shy or so lazy that you didn’t raise your hand, I know many of you now, why don’t you raise your hand. Raise your hand. I am asking a question just to find out and then no one responds. Let’s see how many of you know the cause of your bondage, well anyway I think some of you, our cause of our bondage is our rejection of Kṛṣṇa , our revolting against Kṛṣṇa . Why does a prisoner enter into a prison house? Why does a prisoner enter in a prison? Because of a crime, he commits a crime and as a result of his crime he ends up in the prison, now in the spiritual context, we disobeyed the orders of the Lord. And as a result of that we… because when you break the law, it commits a crime and because of that crime we have fallen into the material nature. So if you want to become free from the bondage of material nature then you have to surrender… the way to become free from material bondage is to surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, now let’s see how many of you know that. Little better, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead? Supreme Personality of Godhead is Kṛṣṇa , therefore we have to appeal to Him, my Lord I committed a mistake please forgive me for my mistake and allow me to become free from this material bondage, and you know what that prayer is, there are various types of prayers but the most effective prayers to the Lord is
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
So how many of you want to become free from your material bondage, okay so what do you have to do?
Devotees: chant
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: Very good, you know what does it mean, Hare the word Hare means Srimati Rādhārāṇī and Kṛṣṇa , what is the meaning of the word Kṛṣṇa? Very good, all attractive, who is all attractive the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Do you know why He is all attractive. Do you know what are the aspects of attraction? There are six aspects of attraction, the six aspects of attraction are wealth… When somebody is very rich, everybody is attracted to him? When someone is very beautiful, people become attracted to him. When someone is very powerful people become attracted to him. When someone is very famous people become attracted to him? When someone is very wise do people become attracted to him? Okay at least some of you said yes. If someone is beautiful are you attracted to him? Yes, this is better response, everyone is attracted by beauty. If someone is very wealthy are you attracted to him, don’t feel shy, if someone is very renounced, then also you become attracted. So these are the six features of attraction. Do you all remember I mentioned six, or did I mention six, okay now let me see how many of you remember, first one?
Devotees: Wealth.
BCS: very good, second one.
Devotees: Beauty.
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: Beauty. Very good. Third one?
Devotees: Power.
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: power, very good, fourth one
Devotees: Fame.
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: Fame, very good, fifth one.
Devotees: Wise.
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: Knowledge or wisdom, and the sixth one.
Devotees: Renunciation.
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: Renunciation. Now Kṛṣṇa possesses these six opulences to the fullest extent, therefore Kṛṣṇa is all attractive. The Sanskrit word Kṛṣṇa means all attractive. Kṛṣṇa is all attractive. So that’s why Kṛṣṇa is Kṛṣṇa. So we got Hare, we got Kṛṣṇa and the third one is Rama, the word Rama means the Supreme Enjoyer and the Giver of Supreme pleasure. So this Hare Kṛṣṇa maha-mantra consists of these three names, Hare, Kṛṣṇa and Rama, now they have been repeated in sixteen numbers
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
And it actually forms a very beautiful prayer, the prayer is: “Oh Srimati Rādhārāṇī, the pleasure potency of Kṛṣṇa please deliver me from this miserable material existence and engage me in the loving service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. It is difficult directly be engaged in Kṛṣṇa ’s service but when you approach Srimati Rādhārāṇī then it becomes very easy. She, Kṛṣṇa is difficult to please but Rādhārāṇī is very easy to please, therefore we approach Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī: “Please engage us in the service of Kṛṣṇa, delivering us from this miserable material condition. So please say Hare Kṛṣṇa
Devotees: Hare Kṛṣṇa
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: Hare Kṛṣṇa
Devotees: Hare Kṛṣṇa
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa
Devotees: Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: Hare Hare
Devotees: Hare Hare
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: Hare Rama
Devotees: Hare Rama
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: Hare Rama
Devotees: Hare Rama
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: Rama Rama
Devotees: Rama Rama
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: Hare Hare
Devotees: Hare Hare
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: So a prayer can be sung, so would you like to sing with me
Kirtan
Hare Kṛṣṇa. So please chant this holy name of the Lord as a very sincere prayer to the supreme personality of Godhead so that you can become free from this miserable material bondage by being engaged in the loving devotional service. In the age of Kali the process has become very, very simplified, in other ages the process of freedom from material bondage was very difficult, very, very difficult.
Like one has to perform austerities, severe austerities for a long, long time. Even then they would not become free from material bondage. But in this age just by chanting this Holy Name of the Lord you can become free from the material bondage and go back to the spiritual world where you can where do you actually belong. How many of you belong to the planet earth? How many of you belong to South Africa, how many of you belong to the earth planet, and how many of you belong to the spiritual world? Very good, that is where you came from, that’s where we all came from, how many of you believe that you are spirit soul, very good, your actual identity is spirit soul. Where did the spiritual… spirit soul come from, the spirit soul came from the spiritual world, that’s why we are never satisfied in this material world. Is there anyone who can say that he is fully satisfied with… or how many of you feel that you are actually suffering in this material world? Very good, that’s a good realization, so do you want to suffer?
Devotees: No
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: how many of you want to enjoy, and where ids the real enjoyment? The real enjoyment is there in the spiritual world. Why? Because we belong to the spiritual world. Where did the fish belong to?
Devotees: Water.
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: and when you take the fish out of water how does the fish, you have seen how does a fish…? It starts to writhe in pain, it feels so miserable, but then you take the fish back into the water then what happens? Now on the land if you give the fish the best house to live, the most expensive cars to drive, the best food to eat, will the fish be happy?
Devotees: No.
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: Similarly are you happy getting whatever you have got in this material world?
Devotees: No.
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: Why not? Because you are a fish out of water. Therefore you need to go back to water, when you go back to water, then you won’t need anything you will immediately become happy. Therefore we need to go back to the spiritual world, and you know it is not difficult to go back to spiritual world because spiritual world is not very far. You know what is the distance between the spiritual world and the material world? The difference between material and spiritual world, the distance between the material world and spiritual world? You know what is the distance? The distance between you and Kṛṣṇa in your heart that is the distance. When you live in a world with you as the center that is material world when you live in a world where Kṛṣṇa is the center that is spiritual world, now when you live your life for Kṛṣṇa putting Kṛṣṇa in the center where will you be?
Devotees: Spiritual world.
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: very good, you will be in spiritual world. Then you don’t have to leave and go somewhere else you very well live here in your house wherever you are but just put Kṛṣṇa in the center and your world will become spiritualized. So that’s all we need to do instead of putting things in the center… putting ourselves in the center we have to put Kṛṣṇa in the center. And you can question: Am I living for myself or am I living for Kṛṣṇa, there are three things that we function from, our body, our mind and our words. Now we can consider is this body acting for my pleasure or Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure. If you ask this question you will immediately see for whom this body is engaged if you ask if the mind is being engaged in Kṛṣṇa’s service or thinking about my pleasure. And the words that I am speaking is it for Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure or is it for my pleasure so these are the simple formula just use your body, use your mind, use your words in the service of Kṛṣṇa and you will be transported to the spiritual world.
Thank you very much
All Glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda!
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Transcription: His Grace Dhananjay Vijayvargiya
Editing: Rāmānanda Rāya Dāsa
Audio-reference: click here
Editing: Rāmānanda Rāya Dāsa
Audio-reference: click here
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