Bhagavat-dharmena sadho sadhaya yathata sadhah.

Bhakti-bhagavati brahmani ananya visayat bhagavat-dharmena.

Bhakti, devotional service bhagavati under the personality of Godhead brahmanee the origin of impersonal brahman and nanya-vishaya firmly fixed without deviation alala became translation in purport by his divine gaze on Vishnu vajah kutsar jahas tatar-jada-sri-sri-mahas, eti bhaktiv-dantate dandhe-goswami Maharaj, Prabhupada.

Maharaj Prithu thus engaged completely in devotional service, executing the rules and regulations strictly, according to principles, twenty-four hours daily.

Thus his love and devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna developed and became unflinching and fixed.

The word bhagavat-dhamina indicates that the religious process practiced by Maharaja Prithvi was beyond all pretensions.

As stated in the beginning of Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.2, dharmak prajita-kaitavotra, religious principles which are simply pretentious are actually nothing but cheating.

Bhagavad dhamena is described by Vira Raghava Acharya as nivritta dhamena, which indicates that it cannot be contaminated by material aspirations.

As described by Srila Prabhupada Swami, anyanna-vilasita-sonyam, kana-karma-jnanavrtam, du-anukulyena krishnanu,

When 1 who is not inspired by material desires and is not contaminated by the processes of the fruit of activity and empiric speculation, fully engaged in the favorable service of the Lord, whose service is called bhagavad-dharma or pure devotional service.

In this verse, the word Brahmani does not refer to the impersonal Brahman.

Impersonal Brahman is a subordinate feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

And since impersonal Brahman and worshippers desire to emerge into Brahman-assumption, they cannot be considered followers of Bhagavata-dharma.

After being baffled in his material enjoyment, the impersonalist may desire to merge in the existence of the Lord, but a pure devotee of the Lord has no such desire.

Therefore, a pure devotee is really Bhagavata-dharmi.

It is clear from this verse that Maharaja Prithu was never a worshipper of the impersonal Brahman, but was at all times a pure devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Bhagavati-brahmani refers to 1 who is engaged in devotional service to the Personality of Godhead.

A devotee's knowledge of the impersonal Brahman is automatically revealed and he is not interested in emerging into the impersonal Brahman.

Maharaja Pradyumna's activities in devotional service enable them to become fixed and steady in the discharge of devotional activity without having to take recourse to karma, jnana or yogam.

E vaisnavam sva-sri-rupam sa-gra-jatam sahagana-ragha-nitham vidham tam sa-jeevam sad-aidam sab-dhutam parijana-sahitam krsna-caitanya-devam sri-vadha-krsna-padam sahagana-ladita-sri-visakhandi-tams ca namo om vishnu-vadhaya krsna-presthaya So this human form of life is not meant for sense gratification.

If you want sense gratification there's 8 million other species you can focus on sense gratification.

You can become a dog, a cat, a monkey, an orangutan.

There's so many other species, an alligator, a lion.

If sense gratification is your thing, Human life is not a best facility for sense enjoyment.

The hog can have sex with anybody, his mother, his sister, his daughter, it doesn't matter.

So if you want self-realization, the human being is where it's at.

If you want sense gratification, the human being is not the right place to be.

So, as a human being, This self-realization, spiritual awakening, attaining the supreme nirvana, that supreme peace, that's the real goal.

Those who are intelligent, they take to this pathway of spiritual awakening.

I've described many times, we learn from Prabhupada, a very nice simile.

The senses are the horses, the mind is the reins, the intelligence is the driver and the soul is the passenger.

So, how do you successfully drive the chariot?

The intelligence, the driver has to have good control of the reins and he can control the senses.

But what we have in modern day society, the intelligence throws away the reins.

So the, instead of now the intelligence driving the chariot, the senses are driving the chariot.

Wherever they find some sense gratification, they run there.

And now the poor soul is being dragged by the senses into all kinds of sinful activities against the laws of nature which force them to go down to the lower species in the next birth.

So the point is don't let your senses have control.

You have to control, you have to use your intelligence to control your senses.

You have to intelligently understand what is the best way to use my senses so that I will be liberated from the cycle of birth and death.

That's the intelligent way to engage the senses.

To engage the senses in the service of the master of the senses.

If I think I'm the master of the senses, then I'm in trouble.

The actual master of the senses is Krishna or God, Rishikesha.

The rishik is the senses, so we have to understand Rishikesha, he is the actual master of the senses.

I haven't manufactured my eyes, my ears, my tongue, my belly, my genitals.

They're given to me by God, all these senses.

So He's actually the master of the senses because He's the 1 who's given me these senses.

It's not that they came from Darwin, you see, by chance combination of material elements, it's a bogus philosophy.

They actually are the gift of God who gave these senses in His service.

So you may say, well, but I want to enjoy, I want to enjoy my eyes, my ears, my tongue, my belly, my genitals.

Well you have to understand what is the actual enjoyment.

You have to get back to understanding who you really are.

As we've said many times, do your eyes see?

You have to understand this body is not you.

These are tools to engage yourself in the service of the master of the senses.

So if you understand that the actual self is not the sense of the actual self, it's seated within the body of the atma.

So you have to see what is actually beneficial for the atma.

The atma serves as paramatma, the supreme atma.

I have been many times given the example, when you water the root of the tree, all the leaves and branches are nourished.

So Krishna, God, is the root of all existence.

And we are little leaves or branches somewhere out there on the humongous tree of the creation.

So if we actually engage our, if we actually put our energy towards the root of all creation, Krishna our God.

We will actually put our focus on serving that source of all existence, giving our water to the root.

We try to, but that happiness is called maya-sukha, your illusory happiness.

You may think you're enjoying, the branch may think he's enjoying by watering himself, but actually he doesn't get the benefit unless he waters the root.

Just like any other example, the hand in the belly.

The hand may think, oh I'm really enjoying this sweet rice, oh yeah, it feels so good squishing it with my fingers.

But the hand cannot get any nourishment by squeezing the food in the fingers.

The hand gets the nourishment by giving the food to the stomach.

to understand what is our actual happiness.

Not by gratifying the mind, words, ears, tongue, belly, and genitals.

What they're trying to do is they're going crazy.

Just like 1 of my students just wrote me, her father is now running after, giving up the wife, he's running after women, running after women outside of marriage, thinking he's happy to live.

But actually this serving the senses in this way doesn't bring happiness.

He's torturing his wife, he's torturing his daughter and he thinks he's happy by being able to have free love with so many women.

Real happiness means that we take the injunctions of the Bhagavad Gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam, see what Krishna actually wants us to do.

He says, sarva-dharmam prajna-jnana-maham ekam suranam vraja aham tam sarva-bhagavate vyomoksha-sami ma su-cchati.

Give up all their duties and so it is to me, I will deliver you from all your sinful reactions, don't fear.

We've committed so many sinful activities.

The animals do anything they want, there's no simple reaction.

But in the human form, you're meant to follow the injunctions of the Supreme Lord, so if you don't do that, you get simple reactions.

So the beauty is even though we've been through so many human births, there's actually 400,000 different types of humans.

There's 400,000 different types of human species.

We see a few here, Chinese, you know, Negro, Caucasian.

We see a few here but not so many on this planet.

But throughout the whole universe there's 400,000 different types of human beings.

So we've been through all these 400,000 different types of human forms, engaging in so many activities against the laws of God.

But you don't have to go through all these karmic reactions, 1 reaction, another reaction, another reaction, 1 after another, no, you can finish it all in 1 stroke.

That's the beauty of surrendering to Krishna.

So this is why this Krishna conscious movement is actually a benediction to the suffering humanity.

Right now they're suffering all these reactions like this is about going on that right now This is a they're getting their karmic reaction the wildfire there and why you wipe that out town and now there's supposed to be a hurricane coming to Southern California causing extensive flooding.

From fire to extensive flooding boom boom boom karmic reaction karmic reactions but if we the human society can become intelligent now to hear from the bona fide spiritual master and the bona fide scriptures to how to become, live in harmony with the desires of the supreme lord.

Then we'll see this whole planet in a beautiful paradise, proper rain, everything proper, proper balance in nature.

But nature is out of balance because we are out of balance.

This is why we are trying to convince these people to somehow get the word out to them.

Through book distribution, through preaching, through the internet, every possible way we can somehow get our word out to these people, listen to us and try to understand you're not living in harmony with God and therefore you're getting so many karmic reactions.

So now my dear people on this planet, please come now to live and learn from the devotees of the Lord and the bountiful spiritual master.

Please learn now how to get yourself back in harmony.

Just like I used to when I was a kid, I used to play in the Houston, play violin in the Houston All-City Orchestra.

And the conductor is there to make sure everything is going properly.

If you are out of tune, tune your violin.

If you are in harmony then you are part of a beautiful symphony orchestra, a beautiful concert.

If you are out of harmony, you are not following the conductor's beat.

Play your violin in the rhythm that he sets.

If you're out of harmony, then the correction will come.

So you need to tune your violin, you got to get back in the sync of the beat.

So we get corrected by the spiritual master, by the senior devotees, we should take it as a blessing.

Here we are out of sync with the supreme, and the supreme has given me a spiritual master or a Veda devotee.

If you give me back in sync with the supreme, so in this way we become humble, we learn to take corrections and directions very nicely, then we can actually come to that point called shudananda, the holy name becomes fully manifest.

Just like Dorje Chenna said, channa pi sanicena, taro ra pi sahishnina, amanina, amarnadena, kirtani, and saddhahari.

1 should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, and keeps up loyalty and strength to the street, being ready to offer all respect to others without expecting even the slightest tinge of respect for ourselves.

In such a state of mind we can go on chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, in a state of ever increasing bliss.

So if some devotee is disrespectful to me I feel like they're being offensive to me.

Should I be disrespectful and offensive back?

If I feel someone is being offensive towards me, what's the way to be able to enter the holy name?

Somebody is rude, disrespectful, offensive to me, I should take them back with all respect.

In such a mood of humility, I can actually dive deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper into the sweet nectar of Krishna's holy name.

So this process works if you work the process.

You want to make a show of being a devotee.

It's like we saw here in this purport that the Prabhupada talks about pretensions.

What is that thing he said about pretensions?

The word Bhagavad-Dharma indicates that the religious process practiced by Maharaja Purthi was beyond all pretensions.

As stated in the beginning of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, dharmak pro jita-kartabhutah, that these principles which are simply pretensions are actually nothing but cheating.

what is called cheating dharma, rejecting all religious activities that are materially motivated.

This Srimad Bhagavatam rebounds the highest truth which is reality is distinguished from illusion and the welfare of all.

So it's not to make a show of being religious or being a nice person with a motive.

It's like in the past time in the time in New York City.

They wanted to buy, get out of 26th Avenue and get a nicer facility.

Price, he's all fancy with a nice suit, nice cuff links, all dressed really nicely, the finest clothes, everything first class.

He said, Swamiji, I can get you a building.

He wanted to get the down payment from Swamiji without giving any contract Prabha was a little suspicious It's the first way to have a contract.

It was obvious he was a con man trying to cheat Prabhupada out of money.

No contract yet, but give the down payment.

Price was trying to cheat through the Prabhupada.

We should not be cheating in our religious practice, make a show of being a guru or a Brahmin or anything.

Make a show of being a fixed up, advanced devotee, but I actually have my motives, my own sense gratification behind the back.

So in this way we have to kick out all of our anarchic, anarchic means unwanted dirty things in the heart, our lust, our anger, our greed, our madness illusion, and we're polluted with all these things we're lusty we're angry we're greedy all these things are there in the heart so we should become very humble and understand we're very full and so I'm a struggling bumbling neophyte I need direction I need encouragement from those who are more advanced than me so let me take shelter of those who are more advanced than me.

Just like Papa told me I was a neophyte devotee here in Austin back in 70's when he said you've been trained up under the expert guidance of his holiness Vishnu, Janab, Swami.

That's his duty to point out my rascal, my rascal, senior devotee, it's his duty to point out my rascal, but instead of accepting it, I tell him he was a rascal.

So we should be very humble and very appreciative of those who are guiding us, who are correcting us, so we can actually learn and advance nicely in this pathway of consciousness.

When he was not inspired by material desires, he was not contaminated with the process of prerogative activity and empiric speculation.

Oh yeah, I mentioned the process of Brahman realization.

There's a process of merging into Brahman called Neti-Neti.

And as a young spiritual seeker I was actually doing this.

Somehow I came about the same idea of the jhanis and trying to merge in my mind by denying everything.

Cut, cut, cut, deny everything, deny, deny, deny, deny.

But in my realization I was cutting away everything.

But then I realized, and I even wrote it down it was such a strong realization when I had this realization I really denied I denied and so I can deny no longer than I start accepting.

If you're taking the hatchet and cutting down the source of all material desire, cut, cut, cut, cut, finally you got to throw away the hatchet.

So after denying everything you have to come to the point of accepting something that is transcendental to the material existence.

So then again a whole search of finding out that thing I could fully accept and that brought me eventually to becoming a disciple of the Prophet.

When you deny everything material, you finally have to deny the process itself is material.

And you finally have to come to a point of transcendental acceptance.

And that's when you come to Krishna consciousness.

You accept the shelter of a bona fide spiritual master.

And you dedicate your life fully to serve his desires because he is a representative of Krishna.

So I think I don't need a guru I'll just serve Krishna my own.

I'll just follow what Krishna says I don't need a guru.

He's trying to learn the truth by approaching the spiritual master, inquiring them submissively, render service unto him.

Self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.

Well very good my dear spiritual aspirant, you only want to serve Krishna and that's it?

Krishna said you have to have a spiritual master.

So when you fully surrender to Krishna that includes fully surrendering to the Bhagavad-Gita by spiritual master automatically because Krishna instructs to do that.

It also includes offering all your food to Krishna.

Because Krishna says on the Gita it also includes chanting Hare Krishna.

So fully surrendering to Krishna actually includes everything that we're practicing here in the Krishna consciousness movement.

Not that we probably didn't concoct some new thing, simply giving you, giving us exactly what Krishna wants us to do.

That's the Krishna consciousness movement.

It's the movement which teaches you, teaches you how to do exactly what Krishna wants you to do.

We have to learn how to tune in, turn on, and bliss out.

You tune into the message of Krishna, the spiritual master, and then by doing that you turn on your spiritual identity, and then you bliss out, because the spiritual identity is eternal, full of knowledge and bliss.

So, let's see if we have any questions yet, or I've been rambling on here for quite a while.

Let's see if we have any questions yet or I kind of ramble on, I've been rambling on here for quite a while.

Let's see if we have any questions coming in.

Here's 1 question from Leela Majari, Devi Dasi.

Hare Krishna, Srila Gurudev, please accept my obeisances.

When the mind is spaced out, how can 1 immediately come back to Krishna consciousness?

That's a problem that all of us need to find a way to have the mind go on a little escapade, the sense of dragging the mind here and there, thinking about this, sense gratification.

We're contemplating sense gratification with our minds, thinking at least we can enjoy it subtly.

At least I can have some subtle sense gratification.

If I can't do it openly, because I'm taking all these vows, at least I can subtly sense enjoyment.

Well, we have all these different things, chanting, hearing, remembering, offering prayers, just to see what works for you.

It may be picking up a book and reading it.

1 of the Seva Prabhupada's books is also good.

Chanting Hare Krishna, going to the temple, offering obeisances, offering an arati, giving a class, hearing a class.

little inadventive trip, you have to see what works for you.

When the mind gets running on its own little independent ship,

Taking Vishada, see what works for you, try to experiment and see what works best for you.

Everybody, 1 person, 1 thing, reading a kirtan, or joining a kirtan, the janga, the harmonium is there.

Reading, writing, see what works best for you to help you bring your mind back to Krishna consciousness.

Chanting things that are way out but still the mind keeps thinking something is not fixed.

All they know is yeah, let's see what works best for you.

Maybe chanting, chanting, chanting, trying to get your mind off of sense enjoyment, but it doesn't work.

You're chanting Hare Krishna and your mind is still absorbing sense enjoyment.

So when you find yourself in that situation, then you have to do the needful, see what works.

You could be sitting down and reading Prabhupada's books, reading the Shivabala Lamas, it's also a wonderful and very exciting thing.

It's so exciting to see how Prabhupada named the glabjaman, which is a sweet made in sugar water, very nice to eat with powdered milk and sugar water, babagol and niskan bullets.

It's so nice to see how Prabhupada started this movement.

It's very charming and wonderful to read about Prabhupada, the first kirtan in Taukta Square Park.

From the whole movement took off like a rocket from that point.

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