Later reading from Srimad Bhagavatam, 4th channel, chapter 17, Maharaja Prithu becomes angry at the earth.

In the beginning of creation, Avishthat created, Sada Acharam, moving and non-moving living entities.

Atma atma-asrayaya, sheltered under his own protection.

By that same maya, eva, certainly, sa, he, ayam, this king, kila, certainly, guptam, certainly, Goktum Udyata, preparing a protection, Katam, how, nu, then, maam, me, dana-para, when who was strictly following religious principles.

Translation in Purple, by His Divine Grace, Srila Prabhupada.

In the beginning of creation you created all these moving and non-moving entities by your inconceivable energy.

Through this very same energy you are now prepared to protect the living entities.

Indeed, you are the supreme protector of religious principles.

Why are you so anxious to kill me, even though I am in the form of a cow?

The planet earth argues that there is no doubt that 1 who creates can also annihilate by its rebuild.

The planet earth questions why she should be killed when the Lord is prepared to give protection to everyone.

After all, it is the earth, it is the resting place for all other living entities and it is the earth that produces grains for them.

Vandeham Sri Guru, Sridata pada kamalam Sri Guru, Vaisnavam Stha, Sri rupam sagrjatam Sri Rupaṁsāgṛhātam sahagana-raghataṁ vittam tam sa jīvam sadāitam savadhūtam paridhināsahitam kṛṣṇa-caitanya-devam sri-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-padam sahagana-ladhita-sri-viṣakāṇḍitam Krishna, Caitanya, Devam, Sri Rama, Krishnapada, Saha, Ganaladita, Sri Visvakundita, Amstra, Nama, Om, Vishnu, Padaya, Krishna, Presthaya, Bhutale, Srimati Bhaktivedanta, Svamaniti Namane, Namaste, Sarasvati, Devi, Gauravani, Pracharini, Nirdishesa, Suryavadi, Abhidhamani, So why should the protector be killed?

The difficulty is nowadays we are not getting proper protection.

In the Vedic culture everyone is protected.

The king is there to make sure everyone is protected.

The Kshatriya class are there, the Brahmins, the Vaishyas, everyone is engaged properly, so everyone is fully protected.

But nowadays we don't see such protective situation, a very very dangerous situation now.

Formerly the fathers would make sure their daughters are married by the time they got to puberty.

So by the time they have sex desire they have a husband, so there's no question of elicit running here, running there for elicit sex relations.

But nowadays it's completely the opposite.

People are going crazy, running here, running there, sex here, sex there, and they have no discrimination what is the proper utilization of the human life.

Tanto brahma jijnasa, this human life is meant for self-realization.

We've gone through all these different species, there's actually 8,400,000 different species, so we've gone through so many births and deaths since time immemorial we have been rotating again and again and again.

This species, that species, this species, that species.

And these other species the opportunity is not there for self-realization Although sometimes it happens.

In rare cases, like when Lakshacandra was in the Jarakhanda forest, he had everybody chanting and dancing.

Even the elephants and the tigers were chanting Hare Krishna and dancing.

Usually the animals don't have any facilities.

So let's take advantage now we got this human form.

Take shelter of Guru and Krishna and Vaishnavas.

It is very important that we learn what is the proper process of Krishna consciousness, not that we concoct our own new version.

This is the tendency because of our lusty desires, our greediness, our selfishness, our envy, we have a tendency to concoct our own process, so-called process of self-realization.

It's like all these bogus gurus, you see.

They're taking it as a money-making business to be a professional guru for making money.

But a bona fide spiritual master is not in a money making business, he is simply a servant.

He simply comes as a humble servant of the fallen condition soul to help them reconnect with their actual identity beyond this material existence.

So we have to understand what it actually means to be a devotee of God.

How can I actually become a devotee of God?

That's what's required to get out of material existence.

Because Krishna says, sarva-dharmam sva-dhirtim dharchad, mam ekam sarva-dharmam dharchad, aham tvam sarva-papah pavyod, mokshu-sami mahasu caha.

Abandon all your nonsense activities, fully surrender to Me, I will give you all protection.

Māsu-cahā, don't have to worry about anything.

So what is the proper process of taking shelter of Krishna?

explained to Arjuna, he says, ye me bhakta janah partha, na me bhaktate janah, mad bhaktanam ca ye bhakta, te me bhaktatam amata.

My dear Arjuna, the 1 who is my devotee, is not my devotee.

But the devotee of my devotee is my devotee.

We have to learn how to be devoted to the devotee.

My honour, my respect, all the obeisances and all the Vaishnava devotees of the Lord, who are just like the desire trees, who can fulfill the desires of everyone and they are full of compassion for the fallen conditioned souls.

So it's not that, well who cares about these devotees, I just be a devotee and a krishna, I don't care about these devotees.

They sometimes correct me when I do something wrong.

They don't flatter me, so then they're no good.

We have to learn how to be devoted to the devotees.

Even 1 moment's association with the devotee of the Lord can give all perfections.

That's how powerful devotee association is.

We have to learn how to appreciate the devotee association because that only in so far as much we, Krishna says only Our devotion to Krishna only manifests to the extent that we have devotion to the devotees.

That's the way to have a spiritual master.

We have to have a devotee we take complete shelter of.

Even the Christians have this concept that you can't really be a good devotee of God unless you are devoted to Jesus.

They understand you must be devoted to the devotee.

So in our Vaishnava culture we have to embrace this principle very seriously.

We have to take, especially our greatest devotee, Srila Prabhupada.

We have to take his instructions with absolute, total surrender.

Not that we water them down with sense gratification.

Water them down to facilitate my sense enjoyment.

Come up with a new concocted version of Prabhupada's teaching.

We have to take it exactly as Prabhupada has given.

Prabhupada has taken so much trouble, Can you imagine how much trouble he went through to write all these books?

How many hours and hours and hours and hours of work he went through?

Giving up his sleep, sleeping just 3 and a half hours a day and leaving an unhealthy body after 2 heart attacks.

So Bhagavan would say that you should be sleeping so much, but no.

He dedicated his time and energy to give us these Bhagavanata purports so we can actually connect to the mercy of the devotee of the Lord, Srila Prabhupada, now we can actually connect with Krishna.

Every word, every single word of Prabhupada's books, Prabhupada is present here.

It's Not that Prabhupada is dead and gone.

If we embrace the orders of Srila Prabhupada as a very enlightened soul and strictly abide by the orders of Srila Prabhupada, then we become enlightened souls, Delivered from the clutches of maya.

Can get out of the hellish nightmare of material existence.

Najayate nriyate bakta dachin, nayon buddhaba vittaba nabhuyah, ajon yon shashvatom yon paranah, na hanyate hanyamane shavir me.

For the soul there is neither birth nor death.

And having 1 minute as he ever ceased to be, he is unborn, ever existing, undying and primeval.

So by following Prabhupada we can actually come to our spiritual identity and come out of the sleep of bodily consciousness.

I'm a man, I'm a woman, I'm an Indian, I'm an American, I'm an Australian, I'm this and that.

We can come out of this sleep which is simply the source of unnecessary suffering and misery going through birth, death, old age and disease again and again and again through the 8,400,000 species.

Let's take advantage now of Prabhupada's mercy, Prabhupada's kindness and just try to understand who is this great personality, divine grace, Srila Prabhupada.

So mercifully travelled all over the world going from center to center and center to center to center to center.

It is an amazing thing to be with Prabhupada, it's the most amazing thing to actually sitting in his lotus seat, to see his lotus, to gaze into his lotus eyes, lotus mouth, just to actually see Prabhupada and be with him, it's really an amazing experience you could ever imagine.

So we have to take advantage of that same potency which is my journey in these books, these lotus books, these lotus words, lotus books.

The lotus has the, it's not, the lotus flower is not, What is the example of the lotus?

David, Do you remember the example of the lotus?

I think it grows in dirty water but it is never touched by the water.

So the lotus means untouched by the material nature, completely untouched.

So we have to become lotus like personalities, lotus mind, lotus everything.

We have to develop that quality of being completely beyond the clutches of maya, the 3 modes of material nature, you see.

We have to learn how to situate ourselves completely beyond this material nature.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare Prabhupada told the audience about the Yatra when I was there in 1971.

He was telling how we have all these books.

It fully takes care of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, you can achieve all perfection.

Because the more you chant, the more you can appreciate the books and the more you appreciate the books, the more you can appreciate the chanting.

So they go hand in hand, they feed into another.

The more I can appreciate these pastimes and these great personalities, the great power of the holy name.

Can you imagine the power of the holy name?

He's a brahmin boy worshipping Krishna as a little boy.

But he was walking down the street 1 day and he saw this shudra couple sexually embracing and kissing and embracing.

He got attracted to this lusty thing and he later got connected with that shudra woman, that prostitute actually.

He gave up his faithful wife and gave up his family and went to this prostitute, couldn't you imagine?

For his whole life and he was going on and on, decade after decade after decade, serving this prostitute, He became a drunkard, he became a thief.

To support this prostitute he was engaged in all kinds of criminal activities.

Now finally at the age of 88, if you can imagine, at the age of 88 He was still having children.

See normally we don't have children after the age of 50 in Vedic culture.

He became a Bhanu Prasad, no more sex life after 50.

No more Krishna conscious children after 50.

But he was around the age of 86 or 85 he was still having sex.

Can you imagine an 85 year old man still having sex?

So he had his 10th child, he had 10 kids.

So at the age of 88 He had this little son, he named him Narayan, remembering from his past attachment to worshipping Narayan he named his son Narayan.

Little children are very attractive, very cute, the way they talk, the way they walk, they're very attractive, little kids, everyone is attractive to little kids.

So he was very attractive little son of mine.

Just like some of the attractive pet dogs, he was his pet son.

And then now finally the time of death came.

They are very fearsome looking characters.

I have a horror movie and they are really horrible looking like monsters.

And they came to rip him out of his body and take him to Yamaraj for punishment for all the sinful activities.

He was in great fear and started calling Narayan, thinking of his little son, Narayan, Narayan, Narayan, Narayan.

But actually, Prabhupada said in his lecture, he actually remembered the original Narayana.

When he called his son's name, and the yama, the vision, you can't take him.

So this is a great power chanting Narayan, Narayan, Narayan.

So We have to train ourselves at the time of death.

So we have to be trained so that at the time of death we can call out the name of Krishna.

Just like I have a disciple now, she's giving me a lever body, encouraging me.

You hear a lot of lectures, just go deep, deep, deep in the Krishna consciousness.

All day long Just absorb yourself in hearing and chanting and remembering.

Get ready for the moment of death coming soon to you.

So actually the moment of death is a great blessing if you are Krishna conscious.

It's like you've been saving up your trip to Mayapur, right?

You've been saving up, you've bought your ticket, and now the day is coming, you're going to the airport, getting on the airplane, wow, I'm going to Mayapur in Vrindavan, Kincaid.

Well, the time it feels like getting on the airplane.

It's very exciting to get on the airplane and take off for India, for the holy land.

You are sitting on the airplane, buckle your seat belt and boom, now we are off to Mayapur, Vrindavan.

It is always a great adventure getting on the airplane and taking off to Mayapur, Vrindavan.

The time of death is like that, you see, Krishna consciousness.

Ah, now I'm taking off from Kaloka Vrindavan.

So, We shouldn't cheat ourselves, Prabhus and Madajis.

We should not cheat ourselves in remaining attached to material sense gratification.

We are trying to water down Prabhupada's teaching to facilitate my sense enjoyment.

We have to be intelligent and realize it.

Actually that intelligence is the next door neighbor of the soul.

We have to see that my intelligence is now in harmony with the soul.

Not that I mold my intelligence according to my sensual desires.

No, don't mold your intelligence according to your sensual desires, mold your intelligence according to the soul.

What is the actual happiness for the soul?

To be completely absorbed in hearing, chanting, remembering, offering prayers, serving, bowing down to, completely immersed in devotional service.

So the intelligence should now take guidance from the soul, how to analyze everything in a purely spiritual way.

And when the intelligence is now connected to the soul, now you can connect the mind with the intelligence.

My dear mind, now no more messing around, no more running here and there for sense enjoyment.

Contemplating this, contemplating that, seeing that woman over there thinking that sex would be really nice.

Govinda dasa said, bhaja hurre mana, sri nandanandana abhayacaranara vindu de.

My dear mind, now My dear mind, now engage yourself fully in the devotional service of the divine son of Nandana.

My dear mind, my dear mind, don't be a rascal anymore.

My dear mind, you've been a rascal for millions and millions of lifetimes, keeping me entangled in all kinds of hellish, nightmarish conditions, even a worm in a stool, my dear mind, you brought me to that position.

So now my dear mind, no more messing around with maya, now my dear mind your only business is to be absorbed purely in thinking about serving and loving Krishna.

In every situation my dear mind, whether you are in the temple, whether you are at your job, whether you are in your home, whether you are in a commute, wherever you may be, whether you are shopping, it doesn't matter what your position is, my dear mind, your only business now is to be fully absorbed in Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, hey, fully absorbed in Krishna.

And then when the mind, the senses have to be, when the mind is Krishna conscious, now the senses have to also be.

Of course the mind is also a sense, it is a subtle sense.

Then you have your gross senses also, your eyes, your ears, your nose, tongue, the genitals, all these gross senses.

Now I like to be in line with the spiritualized mind.

Intelligence, mind and senses all completely aligned with the spiritual platform of the soul.

And then your life becomes simply wonderful.

Then you become blessed with boundless bliss in every situation.

And no more is the false pride, the false ego get in the way and disturb you and cause disturbance.

See now as neophytes sometimes the false ego gets in the way.

We get dragged away from Krishna consciousness by our false pride.

And then we go into great misery and suffering.

So We have to defeat the false ego by the real ego.

The constitutional position of the living entity is the eternal servant of Krishna.

I am the eternal servant of Krishna, my only business is to please him and to please the spiritual master and to please the devotees by everything that I think, seek and do in every situation.

We train ourselves in this way and everything, that horrible nightmarish conditions we sometimes experience they all go away.

We come out of the nightmare of I am the center of all of existence.

See all of our anxiety actually comes from that false ego.

Don't you realize I am the Lord of all I survey?

We can get out of that false ego, that nightmarish condition of thinking I am the center of all existence and trying to be a humble servant of Guru Krishna and Vaishnavas then we can actually become liberated souls.

It's really amazing what 1 can do and 1 realizes the eternal service of Krishna.

1 of the most amazing verses in all the Vedas is there when Narada Muni was speaking to, I forget his name, he was putting him to eat the Harsha, Samuccaya.

He says, vāsudevasya dātaham vasudevaśa sarva-lokan samudare jaya janmantarasa hasveṣu yasya buddhihidhushi dātam vasudevaśa sarva-lokan samudare Can you imagine?

Jaya janmantare sahasvesu yasyasad buddhahidhushi dato ambasadeva sa sarvalokan samudare Can you imagine?

After many many births 1 realizes he is the eternal servant of Krishna.

Not only 1 world, he can deliver all the worlds.

That's the potential of becoming awakened in Krishna consciousness.

Can you imagine delivering all the worlds?

So That's the power that can come if 1 becomes fully awakened in pure love of God.

He becomes a God Guru and he can deliver all the worlds, not only 1 world but all the worlds.

So just see the great power in awakening our Krishna consciousness.

Not only can we become happy, we can make the whole world happy.

It is by awakening our Krishna consciousness and giving up this false egotism that I am the center of all existence, I can't be instructed, I can't be trained in any way because I already know everything.

No, we have to kick out and become very humble.

1 should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, taking himself lower than the straw in the street.

1 should be ready to offer all respect to others without expecting even the slightest tinge of respect from oneself.

If that's the thing, what you can do, you can go on chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare for all of eternity.

So it says, okay, now here is your bead band, now your duty is to go chant infinite number of rounds right now.

Not 16, not 64, infinite number of rounds.

You must chant rounds now for all of eternity.

Your only business is to chant Hare Krishna now for all of eternity.

That's the level of purity we have to come to.

See all transcripts on Upload

SB 04.17.31 2023-01-24 Austin.mp3