Stop committing offences

Stop committing offences

Venue:Germany

29/05/1994

There is no purport there, no purport for any verses so we will keep going.
While Indra, the King of the demigods, thought in this way and repented in his own assembly, B?haspati, the most powerful spiritual master, understood his mind. Thus he became invisible to Indra and left home, for B?haspati was spiritually more powerful than King Indra {S.B 6.7.16}

Text 17: Although Indra searched vigorously with the assistance of the other demigods, he could not find B?haspati. Then Indra thought, “Alas, my spiritual master has become dissatisfied with me, and now I have no means of achieving good fortune.” Although Indra was surrounded by demigods, he could not find peace of mind.

Text 18: Hearing of the pitiable condition of King Indra, the demons, following the instructions of their guru, Sukracarya, equipped themselves with weapons and declared war against the demigods.

Text 19: The demigods’ heads, thighs and arms and the other parts of their bodies were injured by the sharp arrows of the demons. The demigods, headed by Indra, saw no other course than to immediately approach Lord Brahm? with bowed heads for shelter and proper instruction.

Text 20: When the most powerful Lord Brahma saw the demigods coming toward him, their bodies gravely injured by the arrows of the demons, he pacified them by his great causeless mercy and spoke as follows.

Text 21: Sri brahmovaca aho bata sura srestha hy abhadram vah k?tam mahat brahmistham brahmanam dantam aisvaryan nabhyanandata

Translation and purport by Srila Prabhupada

TRANSLATION
Lord Brahma said: O best of the demigods, unfortunately, because of madness resulting from your material opulence, you failed to receive Brhaspati properly when he came to your assembly. Because he is aware of the Supreme Brahman and fully in control of his senses, he is the best of the brahmanas. Therefore it is very astonishing that you have acted impudently toward him.

Purport
Lord Brahma recognized the brahminical qualifications of Brhaspati, who was the spiritual master of the demigods because of his awareness of the Supreme Brahman. B?haspati was very much in control of his senses and mind, and therefore he was a most qualified brahmana. Lord Brahma chastised the demigods for not properly respecting this brahmana, who was their guru. Lord Brahma wanted to impress upon the demigods that one’s guru should not be disrespected under any circumstances.

When Brhaspati entered the assembly of the demigods, they and their king, Indra, took him for granted. Since he came every day, they thought they did not need to show him special respect. As it is said, familiarity breeds contempt. Being very much displeased, Brhaspati immediately left Indra’s palace. Thus all the demigods, headed by Indra, became offenders at the lotus feet of Brhaspati, and Lord Brahma, being aware of this, condemned their neglect.

In a song we sing every day, Narottama dasa Thakura says, caksu dana dila yei, janme janme prabhu sei: the guru gives spiritual insight to the disciple, and therefore the guru should be considered his master, life after life. Under no circumstances should the guru be disrespected, but the demigods, being puffed up by their material possessions, were disrespectful to their guru.

Therefore Srimad Bhagavatam (11.17.27) advises, acaryam mam vijaniyan navamanyeta karhicit na martya buddhyasuyeta: the acarya should always be offered respectful obeisances; one should never envy the acarya, considering him an ordinary human being.

Translation of this verse again: Lord Brahma said: O best of the demigods, unfortunately, because of madness resulting from your material opulence, you failed to receive Brhaspati properly when he came to your assembly. Because he is aware of the Supreme Brahman and fully in control of his senses, he is the best of the brahmanas. Therefore it is very astonishing that you have acted impudently toward him.

Indra offends Brhaspati is the chapter. He committed this offence long time ago, when committing offence this business goes on. You know there’s spiritual masters who appear one after another who are sent by the Lord and then all the disciples who are always connected with the spiritual masters and some of them continue to offend their spiritual master as did Indra offend his spiritual master a long time ago.

When someone – when we are fortunate, you are fortunate, then someone like Brahma stops us or reminds us ‘no, no, no, no what you did was not the right thing. The person you offended is the best of the Brahmanas and a person who has control over the senses,’ so they glorify. They tell us the glories of the spiritual master and they remind us of our blunder. Then some of us come to our senses, some of us do not come to our senses and so again they’re off together {inaudible} spiritual master anymore so they keep making progress and from the comments of verses again one after another we are reminded by someone like Brahma or some other devotee of the Lord.

Those who stop committing offences, who keep making progress in their spiritual lives – committing offences is in the blood of all the conditioned souls, yes or no? Is it difficult to commit offence, do you have to prepare? Do you have to have a seminar on how to commit offences? So you have to go to someone and learn how not to commit offences. And even after going through so many seminars, what do you do? You end up committing offences. It is so easy and for us it is so natural when we are overwhelmed, to commit offences. And it seems we are very tired of this business of committing offences.

Committing offences in general is no good in that it has no benefit; no one derives any benefit from committing offences. Do you know anybody who could benefit – anybody in your country, in your temple who has benefitted so you also decided to follow in his footsteps hoping that you would also assume a similar benefit? It never happens, committing offence is never beneficial. If you know what is beneficial so the trouble with us according to Prahlad Maharaj is

Na te viduh svartha gatim hi visnum {S.B 7.5.31}

We do not know what the goal of life is. Then what else do we not know? We do not know what is beneficial for us or what is not beneficial for us. This is – we are talking about the conditioned souls.
So the Gati and the destination is Vishnu, Krishna then someone would think that ‘if I did this, would that help me achieve Krishna or not? If I don’t achieve Krishna, if I don’t go closer to Krishna by doing this, doing this then what would be beneficial? If it is sending me away from Krishna, something that I do sending me in other direction, then that is not beneficial.’

Simple, we have to understand what is beneficial, what is not beneficial. In the words of Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakur glorifying the spiritual master and informing the whole world of the significance of the spiritual master, what does he say?

Yasya prasadad bhagavat prasado yasya prasadan na gatih kuto ‘pi

Na gatih, Prahlad Maharaj said ‘you do not know the gatih. Gatih means? Gatih means destination and Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakur also said ‘na gatih.’ Na gatih means no destination. You will not achieve a destination – by what? Apasadad, prasadat means by Prasad, by mercy and aprasad means there’s no mercy. A means no, without mercy. Yasya prasadad, if you’ve got his mercy then?
Bhagavat Prashad, so get his mercy and the Lord’s mercy – the Lord also will shower upon you.

The first lines says Prashada, the small four lines, last prayer the last four – the four lines. The first line says Yasya Prashada then Bhagwat Prashada, Yasya prasadan na gatih kuto ‘pi – the first line talks of Prashad, the mercy of the spiritual master then you have Bhagawat Prashad, he can go back to Godhead and eat some remnants from Krishna’s plate, Bhagwat Prashad. But Aprashad you don’t get his mercy and then you don’t even go there, what to speak of getting Bhagawat Prashad.

Na Gatih, you don’t even reach the destination, Krishna is all alone and you can sit down with Krishna and by the banks of the Yamuna eating lunch and breakfast. You know Krishna is doing that right now with some others, those who are not offensive. As soon as we stop committing offences and once we get rid of all our faults we go to Krishna. What is the benefit? There is a big loss right, there is no benefit, only loss by offending the spiritual master. And for us it’s our only connection to going back to Godhead – but you must not be serious about going back to Godhead, you must not be serious about or you don’t care for Krishna, that’s why.

If you are really interested in Krishna, you want Krishna? Then you cannot be offender, offences must stop, then only talk of Krishna. Otherwise don’t even talk of Krishna, you better go home, turn back around and you better go home. Become mouse again, go back to home and you know go home and go back to the spiritual world and go back to the home, supposedly. At any cost when the soul wants to be with Krishna at any cost then why not, I can give up offences also. They are not prepared to do so and they stay on in this material world. Now before Krishna allows us to associate with him directly, Krishna wants to check out ‘let me see how this person deals with my representative first of all. I’m going to send my representative who is as good as me, he has all the qualities.

Saksad Hari he is, I will send him and then we will see who deals how with my representative, I’m going to just watch from a distance. Or I didn’t get the report from my representative.’ He will tell him, those who deal with him gently, those who bow down before him, those who are very, very eager to listen to him, listen to him about who? Listen to him about me, about Krishna.

‘And those who are also eager to follow these instructions, those persons I’m going to choose and those persons I’m going to make them come back. Others they can stay there longer,’ this is what Krishna does. Before he could associate with Krishna directly he has to pass this test. He has to learn how to first of all deal with his devotee, his pure devotee, his representative. When he can pass this test, no problem and then that person is..Hare Krishna! Say ‘Hare Krishna.’ Especially some of you do not want to say it louder.

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.
So some of you have done a lot of Sankirtan yesterday so today is Sunday – even God took rest on Sunday, yes? God was working, working, creating six days.
So our goal is to go back to Krishna, back to the spiritual world and there are no offenders. There are no people, those who offend Krishna or Krishna’s devotees. We know that, we know that by reading Bhagavatam the description ‘the kingdom of God.’

There is one video also -where did we find out that there are no offenders in the spiritual sky? We found this out in the scriptures from the spiritual master. Now if you want to go there we also have to be like those citizens, citizens of the spiritual world – the citizens of Goloka Vrindavan.

If we want to be one amongst those souls, we must not imagine, you don’t want to imagine – there’s a description of all those souls, the Gopi’s are those souls, the cowherd boys are those souls, the parents of Krishna Nanda and Yashoda, all those souls- the servants of Krishna.

And the cows and the birds and the trees, even the clouds are so devoted to Krishna. If some day is especially hot then the clouds appear. Because Krishna doesn’t make the {inaudible} so when Krishna and his company is moving, clouds are also moving and clouds want to serve Krishna.
Everybody wants to serve Krishna and everybody is so gentle and pure and knowledgeable and all that. So the spiritual master teaches us all of that, the spiritual master is informing us all of that. And many of you are preparing to go to another country as I have come here this took lots of time.

When you want to come to Germany, they have to make sure that you are physically fit and the heart beat is just the right..
Every time, this is third time – this is new rule or something, I had to go to the doctor and had to get my heart checked. I had to have a whole insurance policy; this is one of the requirements just to come to Germany. Then I had to know what climate, it is very hot in Delhi. They don’t wear this in Germany and coming here we had to get all sweaters and hats and socks to go into another country. So just to come from one end of this planet to another end..

So many preparations and you have to know so many things then what to speak of going to the spiritual sky? So especially the topic is no offences, you cannot offend. Especially all of you, you cannot offend the spiritual master. Then you cannot say ‘oh okay I will not offend the spiritual master but could I – could you please allow me to offend other Vaishnavas?’ What do you think? Is that ‘Okay, can I – the spiritual master I understand, okay I will not offend him but please allow me to offend Vaishnavas. They are not big devotees.’ To blaspheme a Maha Bhagavat. The first offence is what? To blaspheme the Vaishnavas – sometimes they say Maha Bhagavat. Some temples they say Maha Bhagavat.

So they may say ‘yes, we will not blaspheme Maha Bhagavat but you could blaspheme a little Bhagavat, tiny Bhagavat.’ No, you cannot offend God, spiritual master, Vaishnavas and other living entities also. So far you are offensive you are unfit to return back to godhead, you will not remember Krishna at the time of death and you will enter another body which could be very easily arranged, no problem. Arranging another body is no big deal, very easy.

Just like making another pot. You know the pot makers in India? They make pots, I’ve seen them in Vrindava, the wheel they have– you’ve seen that? And they have so much clay and they could just wait there – every human is now another pot, right?

Very easily while we are talking or smoking or listening to the radio or whatever, very easily making parts and there’s no great effort. So like that creating these parts there’s material nature, agents are there and its all very easy. So if we are not giving up blasphemy of God, his devotees and other living entities, then yes – another body and yet another body and yet another body. But it could start with not offending spiritual master, it could start from there then you could become more refined and then also stop committing offences at the feet of Vaishnavas and you could stop committing offences at the feet of other living entities.

So a lot of times when the soul doesn’t commit offenses at the feet of God, and then there are others, those who do not commit offenses at the feet of God and the spiritual master and there are others who manage committing offenses not at the feet of God or the spiritual master and the Vaishnavas and the perfection is not to commit offenses at anybody’s feet and that is the pure state of mind and consciousness and that is the qualification. So when you have, that’s when you are fully Krishna conscious and when you have love of Godhead and you have Krishna’s love – you have love for Krishna. When you have love for Krishna – you can’t only, you can’t have love for Krishna and not love Krishna’s – you serve Krishna ‘but I’ll just blast these other persons.’

That is blasphemous, that means your love for Krishna has not been developed fully. The law is there to love, ‘love my dog before you love me’ they say that. ‘Love my dog first and then you love me. Because I love my dog, if you don’t like what I like then I also don’t like you.’
So God likes all of his parts and parcels so when we also would like them and just go and step forward and serve them, not just ‘I like you, I love you’ but ‘okay I want to see how you love me.’ You may want to give me some gifts or do something for me- not just I love you and just sit back.
So if you love me you would get up and do things for me. Our goal is to increase or to have love of Godhead, love for Krishna and then we will have love for the spiritual master.

Never offend him and the spiritual master would say that ‘you cannot offend my disciples, my followers’ and spiritual master and Prabhupada said that ‘if you love me I want to see how you cooperate with each other.’ Cooperate to do what? ‘To keep this institution together after I’m gone. You want to show your love for me? Okay I’m ready to see, I want to see it, how will you show your love for me? By how you are cooperating with each other, not how you are fighting with each other, not pulling others’ legs but how you’re cooperating with each other to please this ISKCON mission together.’

So this is offensive and is our basic disease of course because in fact we don’t like anybody, we love who? Yes, I love myself and this is applicable to each one of us here in the material world. ‘I love me.’ This is bogus, I love you is a bogus thing. It is true thing, it is not bogus. From the material platform it is true ‘I love you and you love me and – but unless you love me I don’t love you. It is give and take and take and give but it is not free, my love for you is not free. I must get something in return, then I love you. As soon as I know that you don’t love me then I don’t love you.’ That’s not love in true sense. Well that is what is going on so what we are talking about, love of Godhead is just of another nature and is just of another world altogether.

So we are preparing to go to another world but if Krishna wants to keep us here, that’s another matter. We have to pass the test first of all otherwise (inaudible) mind. Especially when weather is like this we will take no darshan of the sun. Day after day not even no sun exists or you have got to take a flight to see if the sun is there. When do you like- why are we so much attached to this world? But it’s so nice. ‘But it’s so nice that we’re attached to this world.’ Can you say something that is so nice here? Prashad – that is not from this world. Prashad is from another world. But tell me what is so good in Germany or whatever in England that we must stick to this German and England mentalities and conditions and countries.

Yes we don’t want to leave this Krishna conscious world because Prashad is so nice and like that what could you say, in the material world what is so nice? What do we not want to leave; can you name something that is so nice? We’d like to hear some glories of the material world, can you take a minute, can you glorify material world for one minute? The conditioned soul has been saying this all life long, life after life they are glorifying this existence saying how it is so nice for the devotees. What can you say now as you turn around after knowing and hearing about the spiritual world and Krishna and Krishna consciousness and Prashadam, nice devotees –what could you say?

We are in the material world where it’s considered like death, is that how you glorify? That’s not glory – you are blaspheming this world {laughter}. We want to hear some glories.. {question posed by audience member}.

Lokanath Swami: So it was nice so why did you give it up? So yes, it is nicer to be dependent on Krishna, so what you are saying is that it is not nice then in that case. ‘If I was independent then I could do whatever I like.’ Is that nice? It is not nice. Can someone tell me what is so nice?
We have forgotten that quickly all those nice things.. yes? Yes this is also Krishna’s energy and by using Krishna’s lower energy I am glorifying.

Chocolates! {Laughter} yes now that you could remember huh? But that one chocolate could keep you in this world. If you think chocolate is so nice – like Prabhupada said ‘some people are just attached to just one bidi {cigarette}. Just that one attachment, if there is one good thing in this world it is bidi and that’s not available there. There’s no bidi shop in the spiritual sky then you will think twice about going to the spiritual sky because there is no bidi or cigarette in the spiritual world.

So chocolate is so nice, just to eat chocolate you have to come back. Yes someone else’s hand was up?
So many have tried that {laughter}. You are going to make it? Oh when you said that –Hiranyakashipu is a great example. He tried his best and in fact ultimately when Brahma – he asked for the boon from Brahma to make me immortal and Brahma said ‘no, no even I am not immortal, what to speak of making you immortal. Then Hiranyakashipu he started thinking. ‘So okay you cannot make me immortal so I could be most powerful and no-one can challenge me. You give me a boon so that I don’t die in night time, day time, inside, outside or by human beings.’ He thought of all possible ways.

Okay, okay Brahma said ‘okay have it.’ And ultimately – there was a big list, inside, outside, not day, not night, no human being, no weapon, no this’ and this was all equal to what? Immortality – Hiranyakashipu, this is how he thought. ‘If he is not prepared to give me immortality, immortal life, he did not give me such a boon’ but now he has given all this big lists and the meaning of this is what? ‘Now I am immortal.’

So he thought he was the smartest person, he cheated Brahma. There is always someone who is smarter than you, the Lord is smarter – the smartest person. So he was – Lord was kind of treaty-signed between Brahma and Hiranyakashipu. A treaty, you know these days two nations get together and they sign treaty and they take pictures and they publish them in papers. So Brahma and Hiranyakashipu they signed this treaty ‘okay not day time, not night time’ Brahma signed – Brahma and Hiranyakashipu signed. Then Hiranyakashipu was carrying that treaty ‘yes, yes now..’ So Krishna came with all the – he had the draft of the treaty and Lord followed all the conditions and at the same time, killed him!

So Hiranyakashipu cannot say ‘oh what about this treaty, I followed it. I followed it perfectly, you see it.

Is it night time?’
‘No’
‘Is it day time?’
‘No’
‘Are you being killed inside the house?’
‘No’
‘Outside the house?’
‘No’
‘Do I look like human being?’

‘No, no you don’t look like human being.’
‘Do I look like animal?’

‘No, no it’s just a human being here in most bewildering conditions’ and now what was near was death.

So Hiranyakashipu had not succeeded so you want to try? You want to try now {speaking to audience who asked question}. Yes you will create history and then your name will also appear in Bhagavatam {laughter}. In the name and fame. I mean Rama is also famous and Ravana is also known and those who are sinful are also famous and Hiranyakashipu.. So depends what kind fame or infamy you are looking for, so that’s not nice. One is glorification and one is..

Anyway even Hiranyakashipu tried and he was defeated – the number of foes, there’s no dearth of foes in this world and they will continue to make attempts thinking that he was smarter than Hiranyakashipu and so that is what goes on in this world and will go on under that banner, this ism, this philosophy.

There is always persons trying to become lords and in fact nothing is – for the soul especially nothing is beneficial so it’s better to come to conclusion, come to their senses and surrender unto the Lord and especially to the Lord’s representative, spiritual master and take precautions so that there is no blasphemy.
So that he is welcomed and is glorified and such attempts on our parts will purify us and get rid of all the traces of this mundane consciousness and may allow us to associate – first of all stay on in the devotee community for all the time in this lifetime and by the association of devotees, we continue in our spiritual life – especially in this age of Kali, in congregation.

In Satya Yuga we could be in congregation just by yourself, in fact. Those who went to the caves, they did not go in a group, there was no group meditation. In a cave how many persons mediated? One person would meditate. But now, revert the number- where’s the concentration? ‘He is doing, he is doing, he is doing – so many are doing, that’s good!’ This conditions you also. So many people are – in this age of Kali this mentality is there , ‘oh so many are doing, it must be good. So many are in this supermarket so it must be good, so many are watching cricket on the television so it must be good.’

So like to convince the conditioned soul – If one person is doing, few are doing then not convincing and then they see hundreds and thousands of Hare Krishna’s chanting and dancing and you also would like to join and you feel part of the community, you feel at home and all that. So our practice in Krishna consciousness and practice especially under the circumstances where we are trying to unite Prabhupada’s family, and have strong force that will make ourselves part of this family and also in that way practice the life of the spiritual world, practice that on Earth.

Vaikuntha on Earth, we are trying to create – Prabhupada said ‘it is Vaikuntha on Earth.’ Vaikuntha has appeared in the form of the Hare Krishna movement, all that is there in the spiritual world is also here. So we will stay in this atmosphere- purifying, purifying and then when we are apparently evolved then whenever is our turn we go back to Krishna and if Krishna wants to keep us here and continue distributing books, or stay on till the hundredth birth anniversary of Srila Prabhupada – his hundredth anniversary is coming.

If we did not do enough then we will have to go back and prepare for that centennial of Prabhupada. We can do that, we can be born again as Hare Krishna’s, taking birth in Vaishnava family, go to Gurukul and in that time stay in Vrindavan Gurukul, Mayapur Gurukul. Mayapur city will be ready by that time. Harikesh Maharaj is working on it, we are collecting, supporting – it is a big project. So if you want to stay in that city that you are building and collecting for, you better come back. So like that the choice is yours, if you want to go back to Godhead or if you want to come back to the streets distributing books – both are nice but there’s no alternative. Third alternative is becoming lost again and that is not nice.
Okay thank you and Hare Krishna.

Okay a few questions. So yes?

You heard the question that the world is so useless, this and that but we are still attached to it. Well one reason, quick reason that they don’t know that spiritual world exists, or most of the population they don’t know that there is an alternative. They think they have to be happy here, they have to be happy in this body, they have to be happy with the matter that is around. There is no – they don’t know that there is alternative.
Like the deer in the desert – there’s a mirage in the desert and from a distance you feel it’s a lake of water or some water body and you go there, there is no water. Then you go there and you look around and you see ‘oh there’s water there.’
And then you rush in that direction and you go there and see ‘no, no there is no water there. Water is here, water is there, water is there.’ So the few things to understand from this is you need water, you cant survive without water.

There is a need in you for water so water must be existing some place. There’s some simple law like that. If you’re in need of something that place is somewhere, it exists. So the water exists but it doesn’t exist in the desert and the illusion of the desert just makes you think ‘water is here water is there.’ But there is no water; there is no question of finding water in the desert. But just because you cant find water in the desert, that doesn’t mean that water does not exist. Water exists, but not in the desert. So similarly, what you are looking for in this material world, the happiness and joy and eternal life – all that we are desiring it exists.

Hiranyakashipu doesn’t want to die, he wants happiness, eternal life -It exists, such a thing is possible. There are so many, billions, trillions of living entities living eternal life – but not here. The trouble is with the materialist is that they want everything that is in the spiritual world, they want that here. But this is a desert, it is not possible here. And that is the point we made earlier that because the materialists have no information of the spiritual sky, the spiritual world – they try to get that here, they try to find that here. This is a big mistake on part of the materialist.

Not that you cannot have happiness, eternal life, this that – whatever you are looking for is part of your nature in fact. It’s your nature to have it but now you are covered with your body. You are covered with your body so you cannot enjoy it all so not what you have to do is uncover. Take off this, take off this also. When you are covered over – there was a class in Mayapur, Trivikram Swami Maharaj, he was giving an example, I don’t know what he said Prabhupada said but just quoting he said that man and women want to enjoy each other but they cant enjoy themselves so much.

So when they want to enjoy what they do is gradually their clothes – they got no clothes on their bodies when they are enjoying- free. So he was using this example he said ‘because we are also bundled in these clothes and then the body and then the subtle body inside, so we have to give up all this and become free from all this then the soul is directly in contact with the supreme soul.

The yoga, the link, the union then is a complete protection. If we are covered over then we cannot even touch Krishna or cannot have even full view of Krishna. So this Krishna consciousness is like that. Then you are in the body but you are not covered anymore so the illusion is not there anymore. In that sense your soul comes in contact and none of this material bodies or coverings is a stumbling block.

{Answering question} So that helped
or did anyone fall in Maya? Did we lose anyone, did someone stay behind?
There is a risk, there is a risk, there is a risk. So we have to be careful. Those who are not confident they shouldn’t go to such places.