–The Australian Society for Krishna Culture. AUSKCULTURE, operation start 1984 — ABN 65 231 425 870.

There is one young and perhaps immature world wide religious organisation, the name of which I am going to keep a great secret. In that religious organisation, there is an aspiring member of the international board of directors, whose name I am going to keep a great secret as well. This man ( Yes, I can reveal that much: its a male, not a female, although there are females sitting on the international board of directors) has unsuccessfully cultivated this particular aspiration for many years. In that religious organization great devotees are honoured with the title “Bhakta” such as Bhakta Prahlada etc. etc……

So Bhakta X personally and privately owns one of the premises used and leased by this religious society as the main function premises in that particular city.

At least partly, He is also responsible for the colossal multimillion corporate land sale and land bungle and disaster. Whether any illegal activities have taken place during the sale of the land is still unknown. The land was sold quickly by the organization, at below costs-price, whereas successive owners thereafter pocketed legitimately millions of dollars of profit from the sale of the same land.

These types of proceedings are highly irregular and in stark contradiction to the very best interests of the said organization.

For the purpose of my article, let me present some of the basic doctrinal tenets of this religious organization.

1) God is the supreme owner and landlord of everything.

2) God is absolutely non-different from His authorized statue-representations. (“Statue-representations” is plural because God has got many different varieties of statue representations, just as He has thousands of names, including Allah and Jehovah.)

3) The constitutional position (dharma) of the living entity is to be servant of God.

Now if God owns my house, and everything else for that matter, and if I am servant of God, then how can I invite Him to my house and charge Him a fee for staying at my house? This is most foolish and contradictory!

I should instead be extremely honored that the great God, the supreme being in His authorized statue form, has accepted my invitation to stay at my house and employ my intelligence and wealth to serve Him and make sure He is well cared for and absolutely pleased with my presentations, so that He may be pleased to stay at my house for a maximum amount of time.

My house will then become God’s house, just as my body is the Lord’s temple as well. God in His expansion as the Supersoul lives in my heart at all times. No just my heart. He very kindly agrees to lives transcendentally in the heart of all living entities at all times, including dogs and pigs and others…. He is waiting for the day when we shall turn towards Him again and redevelop and cultivate our love for Him. In the present stage, we  have unfortunately turned our back to Him, just like a crazy and rebellious son rejects the connection with his well-to-do father.  Just imagine the benefits derived from closeness to God. It is not that I have been scheming for these benefits. But even if I did, its all right to scheme for God’s association, especially through the constant chanting of the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra:

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA

KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE

HARE RAMA HARE RAMA

RAMA RAMA HARE HARE

I suppose my accountant will call them fringe benefits. They come automatically with the presence of God. I will then benefit from God’s “umbrella” and prestige, just like in the cold war times the European countries benefited from the nuclear umbrella of the powerful United States of America. Besides that God is also called Madhava, the husband of the Goddess of Fortune, Laksmi.

It is a kind of religious cheating as well. In Sanskrit it is called “kaitava dharma”. SB 1.1.2. It is firmly rejected by grantha raja Srimad Bhagavatam (SB) as a contaminated form of religion.

It is however not possible to cheat God!

To the cheater, God is the greater cheater, because He is supreme in all respects.

How can the servant demand and exact rental payment from the landlord? This is the world upside down! There is a confusion here about who is the servant and Who is the Lord and it needs to be eradicated!

Suppose I invite Prime Minister Turnbull to my house and out of his kindness he accepts my invitation.

But my hidden and actual plan and petty agenda is to charge Prime Minister Turnbull and his entourage for everything they do and require as soon as they step into my house. I am so hopelessly profit oriented that if I could, I would charge them for the air they breath in my house. It’s my house, it’s my air! Business as usual, right?

So the questions will then be: “What kind of a discourteous and stupid fool I am?”

“What will be the consequences for me for such an offensive behavior towards the best and leading man in the country?”

It will be a catastrophe and will have far reaching negative consequences for my own life!

The newspapers will publish plenty of derisible and sarcastic articles about my uncouth behavior.

This is the overall situation at this particular branch of this religious organization.

I have personally asked Bhakta X to please change this wrongful policy and breach of protocol. ”This is not going to happen.” was his final reply.

What can be done?

The future will show.

What is more is that the kitchen at this branch of this religious institution sits exactly on top of the septic tank. The septic tank concrete cover is right in the middle of the kitchen. YUK YUK YUK !!! And they cook a LOT. I mean a REAL LOT. They are known as the kitchen religion. Not sure whether this type of arrangement will satisfied X City Council’s food hygiene requirements. A case to be tested….. No wonder one gets immediate (with a few hours) gastroenteritis after taking one’s meal at some food outlets of this particular organisation. Over the year, I personally had this unpleasant experience several times, not less than at three different outlets of this particular organisation across the nation. To be followed…..

And what is absolutely intolerable is that the head of this particular branch obstinately quibbles and refuses to display a full set of constitutional books of the Founder in the main assembly hall, for everyone to consult freely. This is standard policy throughout the organisation.  But this particular individual strongly and stubbornly objects. Perhaps He plans to introduce his still non-existent own writings instead. If that is the case, let him go elsewhere and found his own organization. We don’t tolerate sedition. Neither do we tolerate those kind of corporate raiders. We fight them vehemently! Aggressors must be punished, as explained in Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, (BGAII), chapter 1, text 36. Any sane person,  with good common sense, in any organisation, would take the open and free display of the Founder’s constitutional writings for granted.

The Founder of the organization Himself absolutely insisted on the propagation of His writings in the hard copy book form. It is an open secret that the institution’s Founder  wants to see a set of His books in each and every home, what to speak of in His each and every establishments around the world!!! When someone employs one, one had better follow the directions of the owner of the concern; otherwise one is foolishly endangering one’s own position and future. This is especially true for someone in a leading position. Such attitude represents a kind of betrayal and deviation and would not be dissimilar to a leading politician, who openly defies the nation’s constitution and minimizes and disrespects the constitutional book itself: disrespects the book or disrespects the flag of the country for that matter. What will happen to him?

So far I have been unable to pinpoint the actual reason for such a grotesque refusal and opposition. It will be more than a mere clash of egos, because his original plan was to have no bookshelf at all. He had to be repeatedly and firmly prompted over a long period of time to even purchase a bookshelf. It’s probably just plain ignorance, whence the title of this article. Or would it have to do with the books’ content? In those books there are some candid assertions by the Founder that in this organization not everyone is a devotee of God. Opposite number imposters are present as well and one should strictly ignore them.

The test for being a PURE DEVOTEE OF GOD is very simple. It is as follows. One must strictly follow the rules and discipline of Bhakti-yoga as enunciated by the Founder of this organisation.

That is:

One must rise from bed everyday no later than 4 AM.

One must chant the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra a minimum of 1728 times every day without fail, with the help of some counting device such as beads or tally counter. If one fails, one has a chance to make up the difference the next day, in addition to the regular 1728 daily mantras.

One must strictly follow the four regulative principles, which are as follows:

No illicit sex.

No meat, no fish and no egg eating whatsovever.

No gambling.

No intoxication of any kind including tea and coffee.

We are not saying that meat-eating devotees of God are not devotees of God. They are some kind of devotees. My own mother was a very good example. We are saying that meat-eating devotees of God cannot be PURE DEVOTEES OF GOD, unless we renounce this nasty and bloody (Meaning full of blood. This is not some kind of an offensive adjective!) killing of poor defenseless animals and meat eating business. All living entities are sons and daughters of God. How can one son or daughter claim the right to kill and / or eat one’s sisters and brothers? What kind of a son and daughter is he /she? The comsumption of meat is not only primitive but is definitely sinful!

The animal flesh eater will generally express disgust at the idea of eating human flesh. But if humans are just another species of animals, then we may clinically ask the questions:  “Why not eat human flesh instead?” “What is the difference?”At least from a theoretical point of view, there will be no difference. Other questions will follow such as: “ Who will be my next meal?” And finally we shall have to confront the more frightening question “Whose meal I am going to be next?” The poor animals are constantly facing this question:”Whose meal I am going to be next?” It is a fact however that the predator may be non-human in that case. It is also said that under extremely harsh conditions of war, soldiers sometimes eat human flesh to survive, the flesh of the dead fighters from one side or the other.

Sadly according to Vedic Shastra (Sanskrit scripture), this is what the world is coming too in some thousands of years. But please don’t worry. This is only one negative perspective. Everything is cyclic. The seasons are cyclic. Days and nights are cyclic. Weeks are cyclic. Birth and death are cyclic. Similarly, according to Vedic Shastra, the cosmic evolution is cyclic as well. After the current Kali-yuga age, the age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the golden age of Satya-yuga will automatically be ushered in again by arrangement of the supreme commander, Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The cycle will start fresh again by degenerating order: Satya yuga, Treta yuga, Dvapara yuga and Kali yuga, the current age, all up some 4 million something years. The important thing is to realize one’s existential position as confirmed in Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, (BGAII) 13.8-12: to develop “the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease”. And consequently make a firm and determined plan to extricate oneself from this unpleasant situation. We are not these bodies. We are spirit souls. BGAII 2.12:” Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.” Our present prospects of happiness are about as ample as the prospect of happiness of a fish out of his natural environment: water. There is a fundamental dichotomy between our real spiritual identity and our present material atmosphere of existence. The solution of this dilemma is given in the books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder of the International Hare Krishna movement. It is given both in theory and in praxis. The better we follow His suggestions, the greater our success.

The process is called Bhakti-yoga and it is infallible. The question is: “How strong is our determination to achieve the designated goal?”

Here in Australia there is the surfing challenge, there is the marathon challenge, there are the iron person challenge and so many other challenges. We are presenting the PURE DEVOTEE OF GOD challenge. It is open to everyone. It looks deceptively easy, but “Although nondevotees declare that the path of bhakti, or devotional service, is very easy, they cannot practice it. If the path of bhakti is so easy, as the nondevotee class of men proclaim, then why do they take up the difficult path? Actually the path of bhakti is not easy. The so-called path of bhakti practiced by unauthorized persons without knowledge of bhakti may be easy, but when it is practiced factually according to the rules and regulations, the speculative scholars and philosophers fall away from the path. ” BGAII 7.3 P. Please take it up and you will be greatly and eternally benefited. Thank you very much.

“In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.” BGAII 2.40

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA

KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE

HARE RAMA HARE RAMA

RAMA RAMA HARE HARE.

EPILOGUE.

We remember that when the great and enlightened Founder of this religious institution left his mundane family, the final trigger was his wife cashing in His holy books (SB) to enable her to purchase tea. When he learned about his wife’s misadventure, He simply uttered: “It’s the tea or me” and finally left his mundane family for the renounced order of life and execution of His glorious mission.

Similarly I am saying loud and clear to this communal family and especially to the leader(s) of the community:” No full set, no me.” I have indeed already implemented this policy. It is not only the leaders who are responsible. Every single members shares in the  responsibility for what happens in and to the community. So please anyone(s), stand up and take some proper initiatives on these issues. Thank you and Amen!

Om namah bhagavate vasudevaya.

The entire shopping centre has closed down. Everyone is gone during renovations. But not GOPALS HARE KRISHNA RESTAURANT, as you may judge by the picture taken in late evening after sunset! GOPALS stands tall, alone and on top of things, a tribute to Murari Caitanya Prabhu’s endurance in his greatest welfare work of distributing KARMA FREE PRASADAM MEALS to the neighboring community. An example to follow!!!

I am also confident that this Krishna conscious venture will satisfied Srila Prabhupada’s anti bureaucratic requirements as per letter dated December 22th 1972 to Karandhar:

“Regarding your points about taxation, corporate status, etc., I have heard from Jayatirtha you want to make big plan for centralization of management, taxes, monies, corporate status, bookkeeping, credit, like that. I do not at all approve of such plan. Do not centralize anything. Each temple must remain independent and self-sufficient. That was my plan from the very beginning, why you are thinking otherwise? Once before you wanted to do something centralizing with your GBC meeting, and if I did not interfere the whole thing would have been killed. Do not think in this way of big corporation, big credits, centralization—these are all nonsense proposals. Only thing I wanted was that books printing and distribution should be centralized, therefore I appointed you and Bali Mardan to do it. Otherwise, management, everything, should be done locally by local men. Accounts must be kept, things must be in order and lawfully done, but that should be each temple’s concern, not yours. Krishna Consciousness Movement is for training men to be independently thoughtful and competent in all types of departments of knowledge and action, not for making bureaucracy. Once there is bureaucracy the whole thing will be spoiled. There must be always individual striving and work and responsibility, competitive spirit, not that one shall dominate and distribute benefits to the others and they do nothing but beg from you and you provide. No. Never mind there may be botheration to register each centre, take tax certificate each, become separate corporations in each state. That will train men how to do these things, and they shall develop reliability and responsibility, that is the point. I am little observing now, especially in your country, that our men are losing their enthusiasm for spreading on our programmes of Krishna Consciousness movement. Otherwise, why so many letters of problems are coming, dissatisfied? That is not a very good sign. The whole problem is they are not following the regulative principles, that I can detect. Without this, enthusiasm will be lacking. Even mechanically following, and if he gets gradually understanding from the class, he will come to the point of spontaneous enthusiasm. This spontaneous loving devotional service is not so easy matter, but if one simply sticks strictly to the rules and regulations, like rising early, chanting 16 rounds, chanting gayatri, keeping always clean—then his enthusiasm will grow more and more, and if there is also patience and determination, one day he will come to the platform of spontaneous devotion, then his life will be perfect. All of this I have told you in Nectar of Devotion. So I do not think the leaders are themselves following, nor they are seeing the others are following strictly. That must be rectified at once. Each centre remain independent, that’s all right, but the president and other officers must themselves follow and see the others are following the regulative principles carefully, and giving them good instruction so they may understand nicely why this tapasya is necessary. And GBC and Sannyasis will travel and see the officers are doing this, and if they observe anything lowering of the standard, they must reform and advise, or if there is some discrepancy I shall remove it. Of course, if new men are coming, they may not be expected immediately to take to our regulative principles cent per cent. Therefore we should not be so anxious to induce them to live in the temple. Anyone who lives in the temple must agree to follow the rules and regulations without fail. So if some new man moves in with us he may become discouraged if he is forced in this way. Therefore let them live outside and become gradually convinced in the class why they should accept some austerity, then they will live with us out of their own accord and follow nicely everything. It is very difficult to give up very quickly so many bad habits as you have got in your country, so educate them gradually, first with chanting, and do not be so much anxious to count up so many numbers of new devotees, if such devotees go away later being too early forced. I want to see a few sincere devotees, not many false devotees or pretenders.”

All glories to Murari Caitanya Prabhu’s service to Lord Caitanya’s Sankirtan movement! Let us all go there and have regular KARMA FREE PRASADAM MEALS and thus pave our way to Krishna conscious liberation along with chanting of

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA

KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE

HARE RAMA HARE RAMA

RAMA RAMA HARE HARE

All glories to Srila Prabhupada, the ultimate facilitator!

We are fighting 3 things:

BUREAUCRACY.

“Regarding your points about taxation, corporate status, etc., I have heard from Jayatirtha you want to make big plan for centralization of management, taxes, monies, corporate status, bookkeeping, credit, like that. I do not at all approve of such plan. Do not centralize anything. Each temple must remain independent and self-sufficient. That was my plan from the very beginning, why you are thinking otherwise? Once before you wanted to do something centralizing with your GBC meeting, and if I did not interfere the whole thing would have been killed. Do not think in this way of big corporation, big credits, centralization—these are all nonsense proposals. Only thing I wanted was that books printing and distribution should be centralized, therefore I appointed you and Bali Mardan to do it. Otherwise, management, everything, should be done locally by local men. Accounts must be kept, things must be in order and lawfully done, but that should be each temple’s concern, not yours. Krishna Consciousness Movement is for training men to be independently thoughtful and competent in all types of departments of knowledge and action, not for making bureaucracy. Once there is bureaucracy the whole thing will be spoiled. There must be always individual striving and work and responsibility, competitive spirit, not that one shall dominate and distribute benefits to the others and they do nothing but beg from you and you provide. No. Never mind there may be botheration to register each centre, take tax certificate each, become separate corporations in each state. That will train men how to do these things, and they shall develop reliability and responsibility, that is the point. I am little observing now, especially in your country, that our men are losing their enthusiasm for spreading on our programmes of Krishna Consciousness movement. Otherwise, why so many letters of problems are coming, dissatisfied? That is not a very good sign. The whole problem is they are not following the regulative principles, that I can detect. Without this, enthusiasm will be lacking. Even mechanically following, and if he gets gradually understanding from the class, he will come to the point of spontaneous enthusiasm. This spontaneous loving devotional service is not so easy matter, but if one simply sticks strictly to the rules and regulations, like rising early, chanting 16 rounds, chanting gayatri, keeping always clean—then his enthusiasm will grow more and more, and if there is also patience and determination, one day he will come to the platform of spontaneous devotion, then his life will be perfect. All of this I have told you in Nectar of Devotion. So I do not think the leaders are themselves following, nor they are seeing the others are following strictly. That must be rectified at once. Each centre remain independent, that’s all right, but the president and other officers must themselves follow and see the others are following the regulative principles carefully, and giving them good instruction so they may understand nicely why this tapasya is necessary. And GBC and Sannyasis will travel and see the officers are doing this, and if they observe anything lowering of the standard, they must reform and advise, or if there is some discrepancy I shall remove it.” 721222let.Karandhara

POLITICS AND DIPLOMACY.

“And sato vritteh, dealing very straightforward. No diplomacy, no politics, no duplicity. That will not help. Sato vritteh. Vritteh, his profession should be very straightforward. No underhand dealings. Sato vritteh” 700802NP.LA

For Vaishnava there is no suffering, personally. But he is very much anxious, “How these rascals will be happy?” That is his business. “These rascals are misled. They are going astray, unhappy. So how they should be happy?” So that is Vaishnava’s business. So the Vaishnava, therefore, will have no politics. Politics means planning for one’s own happiness. That is politics. So in our society there should be no diplomacy, no politics. Everyone should be eager how to do good to others. That is Vaishnava. If he’s planning something, that “I shall be leader,” “I shall be doing something,” that is not Vaishnavism. That politics is not good. 740315MW.Vrn

PROCRASTINATION

BHAGAVAD-GITA AS IT IS 18.28

TRANSLATION

The worker who is always engaged in work against the injunctions of the scripture, who is materialistic, obstinate, cheating and expert in insulting others, and who is lazy, always morose and procrastinating is said to be a worker in the mode of ignorance.

PURPORT

In the scriptural injunctions we find what sort of work should be performed and what sort of work should not be performed. Those who do not care for those injunctions engage in work not to be done, and such persons are generally materialistic. They work according to the modes of nature, not according to the injunctions of the scripture. Such workers are not very gentle, and generally they are always cunning and expert in insulting others. They are very lazy; even though they have some duty, they do not do it properly, and they put it aside to be done later on. Therefore they appear to be morose. They procrastinate; anything which can be done in an hour, they drag on for years. Such workers are situated in the mode of ignorance.

And the whole world is problem for ordinary persons, but to us it is not problem. Because we see everything Krishna’s. If there is problem, it is Krishna’s problem. Why my problem? Krishna can know how to solve problem. So we have no problem practically. Krishna’s problem. Krishna will see to it. Just like Arjuna was encouraged that nimitta-mätram bhava savyasäcin. “You don’t worry about your victory. I have already arranged.” So we should have such faith and conviction and let us try. Let us do very sincerely and seriously. Then everything Krishna will do. I haven’t got to do anything. 690524SB.NV

Non verbatim and improved Vyasapuja 2017 extract:

There are seemingly mundane expressions of beauty that cannot fail to remind us of Krishna, as per His words in Bhagavad-Gita As It Is 10.41:

yad yad vibhuutimat sattvam

srimad uurjitam eva vaa

tat tad evaavagaccha tvam

mama tejo-‘msa-sambhavam

“Everything opulent that may exist within the universe and simultaneously stirs up strong positive feelings within one’s heart , all these manifestations should be understood as only a part-fragment manifestation of Krishna ‘s opulence. Actually they are born of Krishna’s opulence.”

I have many deams. In this respect my recurring dream it to see the Canadian singer Celine Dion (and the swedish group ABBA as well) sing for Krishna, just as George Harrison sang “My sweet Lord” for Krishna. Celine has such a very dynamic personality, she is an excellent singer and has sung for Christ in the past. So why should she not sing for Krishna as well? Etymologicaly speaking, the two names Christ and Krishna are directly related. Because of her wonderful God given talents, it will be a great success. Many, many people I meet on book distribution quote the Hare-Krishna-George-Harrison episode. It has tremendous effect! In this context and just the other day (31 December 2021, in Mooloolaba, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia) a typically Australian tall, broad-shouldered gentleman traffic controller astounded me. ( Later on I met a taller 2.02 meter gentleman of german descent, just amazing! All things and humans develop taller in Australia. It is a superior atmosphere. It is the greenhouse effect. Most of the time we live like in a greenhouse without even realizing it. Things grow well in a greenhouse. Please note: I am not talking about the polution induced greenhouse. I am talking about the greenhouse between the nothern sub-tropical regions and the southern sub-tropical regions, passing through the equator.) This gentleman traffic controller KNEW BY HEART the Hare Krishna Maha-Mantra. That means George Harrison is his initiating Guru. George initiated this gentleman into the chanting of Hare Krishna maha-mantra, as he initiated many others by his singing of My Sweet Lord. All glories to the departed George Harrison! 

“Is it not possible to have a small temple in George’s house so you can engage in temple worship? That is necessary. If there is a small temple there, then you and your wife and others can be nicely engaged. I think George does not require to become my formal disciple because he is already more than my disciple. He has sympathy for my movement and I have all blessings for him. He can easily spare that chapel for developing it into a nice Krishna Consciousness temple. We do not want any proprietorship right, but we want simply to utilize the nice place into a nice temple.”

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Srila Prabhupada Letter to Syamasundara — Los Angeles 12 April, 1970

CELINE DION, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE SING FOR KRISHNA.

Their Lordship Sri Sri Radha Gokulananda on the ISKCON rural community of Hillsborough, North Carolina, USA. Photo credit Avinash Prabhu.(Ph. D.)

It is a fact that the more we offend Srila Prabhupada in particular, as the Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, and Guru in general and fail to follow Their instructions, the less They are going to be with us and the less Srila Prabhupada is sitting on the Vyasasana, even though with our gross senses we may see His murti sitting on the Vyasasana. These are natural inter-personal dynamics applicable both in the mundane and spiritual realm.

If you offend me, I would rather not find myself in your association if only to avoid further and more aggravated conflict. This is an example only! In other words, to leave the place of offence and the association of the offender is a passive but highly effective method of conflict resolution, which is a very popular and Kali-yuga relevant subject matter. This is confirmed in principle by Lord Shiva’s wife, Sati, in Srimad-Bhagavatam (4.4.17):
“If one hears an irresponsible person blaspheme the master and controller of religion, he should block his ears and go away if unable to punish him…..”

Lord Indra lost an important battle because he neglected his own Guru. If we neglect Srila Prabhupada or Guru and Their instructions, to the extend of our neglect, They will leave and neglect us in return and ultimately we shall become plain losers as well. Please beware!

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA

KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE

HARE RAMA HARE RAMA

RAMA RAMA HARE HARE

Besides the Hare Krishna Maha-Mantra, I beg to propose a second Maha-Mantra as follows:

STUDY BOOKS STUDY BOOKS

STUDY STUDY BOOKS BOOKS

DISTRIBUTE BOOKS DISTRIBUTE BOOKS

DISTRIBUTE DISTRIBUTE BOOKS BOOKS.

“Our first business is this book distribution. There is no need of any other business. If this book distribution is managed properly, pushed on with great enthusiasm and determination and at the same time if our men keep spiritually strong, then the whole world will become Krishna conscious.” 760105Let.Satsvarupa

Sneha-päshair. This sneha-päsha, sneha is there. Sneha means affection. Everyone got affection. The cats and dogs, they have got also affection. But the affection is wrongly placed. We are affectionate to the skin, to this body. So this is wrong affection. Real affection is to the soul. That we do not know. We have no information. We are loving our child, that is very good, but not the soul, but the body. If someway or other the child is dead or my father is dead, we cry, “Father has gone away.” Why father has gone away? The body which you loved, that is lying there. So we do not know whom to love. So if we love actually, let us love the soul. How the soul… Love…, to love means for benefit. That is real love. I love you for your benefit; you love me for my benefit. If I so-called love you for my benefit, that is lust. So in this material world there cannot be love. It is not possible. Because everyone loves, so-called love, he loves his sense gratification. A young boy loves a young woman for his sense gratification, not for her sense gratification. Similarly she also. So in this material, this cheating is going on. I want to satisfy my lusty desires, but it is going on in the name of love. There cannot be any love in this material world, because love is between spirit and spirit. But if we try to love the Supreme Spirit, Krishna, then we shall understand how our love can be spread in the spiritual world. Samah sarveshu bhüteshu mad-bhaktim labhate paräm.

brahma-bhütah prasannätmä

na shocati na känkshati

samah sarveshu bhüteshu…

[Bg. 18.54]

When we come to the spiritual platform, then actual love begins. Mad-bhaktim labhate paräm.

That love begins… If we can love Krishna, then, through Krishna’s love, we can expand our love for everyone. Yathä taror müla-nishecanena tåpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopashäkhäh [SB 4.31.14]. Just like watering the root of the tree, the energy is expanded to the leaves, to the flowers, to the branches, similarly, if we want to love… Everyone… Just like we are coming, some patriot. Nobody loves nobody; that is all professional business. If we actually love Krishna, then we can expand our love: patriotism, socialism, this “ism,” that…, nationalism. Just like we are trying to spread this Krishna consciousness movement all over the world because on account of love. Someway or other, we have come in contact with Krishna. We are understanding that these people are in mäyä, or in ignorance; they do not know how to become happy. So our little attempt is, “Let them become Krishna conscious.” This is out of love. Samah sarveshu bhüteshu. Everyone is suffering for want of Krishna consciousness, therefore we are taking so much trouble. This is at least one side, that Krishna wants them to deliver, and if we work on behalf of Krishna, that is also love. We love Krishna.

So we have got everything in writing, in books, in instruction. Our duty is to take them rightly and utilize it properly, advance in Krishna consciousness. Sneha-päshair. Otherwise we shall be on a platform of false love. The platform of false love we know: today one pair is married, but because the love is on the false platform, the next day there is divorce. That is not love. That kind of love has no meaning; that kind of affection has no meaning. It is simply bondage. So try to… Our aim is how to become free from this material bondage and real sneha, real affection, real love should be spread. And that can be done through Krishna consciousness. Otherwise, it is all false. Sneha-päshair dridhair baddham utsaheta.

This mäyä is so strong that we are taking this false thing as reality. It is very difficult to give it up. That is explained by Krishna:

daivi hy eshä guna-mayi

mama mäyä duratyayä

mäm eva ye prapadyante

mäyäm etäm taranti te

[Bg. 7.14]

This is the only religion. If we become pure devotee of Krishna, then my love will be extended to everyone. Not only my society, but to everyone. It is not that “This is my children; that is other’s children.” All children. All human being. Not my countrymen—all other countrymen. Not only human being, but even animals also. That is sneha. It is not that “I am safe, and let the animals be killed in the slaughterhouse.” No, that is not love. Love means for everyone. Samah sarveshu bhüteshu. Equality to all living entities. That is real love. That is real concern, Krishna consciousness. A lover of Krishna will hesitate to kill even one ant. You know the story, Mrigäri. That is love. Because one has got… Just like this child. If I like I can kill him, there is no difficulty. But does it mean that I shall kill him? No. Similarly a small ant, anyone can kill. No. Here is a living entity, part and parcel of Krishna, samah sarveshu—he should not be unnecessarily killed. We should be careful, not that “Trample over the ants and let them be killed.” No. Everything should be carefully done. Of course, we cannot stop this, but we should be careful, and if it is done, then if we remain Krishna conscious, Krishna will excuse. Yajnärthe karmano ‘nyatra [Bg. 3.9]. Therefore the business should be, if we walk at all, we shall walk for Krishna. Then if some ant is killed—not knowingly; unknowingly—then we are untouched by these sinful activities. Otherwise, we are immediately noted down, “Here is a man has killed one, he has…” The nature’s law is so minute. Every minute, the account is stepped[?]. But if you remain in the business of Krishna consciousness, then there is excuse. Otherwise, everyone is becoming obliged. If I take from you one cent, I have to pay you with four cent, with interest, compound interest. This is the law. We are… Just like taking money from others. Unless we spend it for Krishna, then we shall be obliged to return again.

So,

devarshi bhütäpta-nrinäm pitrinän

näyam rishinäm kinkara räjan

sarvätmanä ye sharanam sharanyam

gato mukundam parihritya kartam

[SB 11.5.41]

We have got so many obligation: devarshi, to the demigods, to the saintly great sages, rishis. Because rishis are giving us… Just like Vyäsadeva has given us this literature. So we are obliged to him; we are indebted to him. We are indebted to the demigods. The sun is giving sunshine, the moon is giving at night shine, and the cloud, Indra, is giving us water. So we are all indebted. Devarshi-bhüta… Therefore there are so many different types of yajnas mentioned in the Vedic literature. But if you perform one yajna, sankirtana-yajna, then you become clear from everyone’s debt. Gato mukundam sharanam sharanyam. Then we are freed from all debts. So in this way we have to execute Krishna consciousness movement very carefully, and the simple process is chant Hare Krishna.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya SrIla Prabhupäda! [end]

Last part of Srimad Bhagavatam class June 25, 1976, New Vrindavan

Painting of Sanatana Goswami with a straw in his mouth, as an expression of humility and clasping the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

From the following extract of conversation between Sri Caitanya Mahapabhu and Sanatana Goswami at Varanasi, India, we find that touching the lotus feet of sadhu is not just some old Indian folklore, but is truly supported in Shastra:

CC M 20.60

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu continued, “By seeing you, by touching you and by glorifying your transcendental qualities, one can perfect the purpose of all sense activity. This is the verdict of the revealed scriptures. (same)

PURPORT

This is confirmed in the following verse from the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya (13.2).

CC M 20.61

“‘My dear Vaishnava, seeing a person like you is the perfection of one’s eyesight, touching your lotus feet is the perfection of the sense of touch, and glorifying your good qualities is the tongue’s real activity, for in the material world it is very difficult to find a pure devotee of the Lord.’”(V2 improved punctuation) No purport.

The transcendental goddess Srimati Radharani is the direct counterpart of Lord Sri Krishna. She is the central figure for all the goddesses of fortune. She possesses all the attraction to attract the all attractive Personality of Godhead. She is the primeval internal potency of the Lord. CCM23.68 (V1=V2)

Srimati Radharani has unlimited transcendental qualities, of which twenty-five are principal. Sri Krishna is controlled by these transcendental qualities of Srimati Radharani.
CCM 23.86 V2