Venue: Ganesh Kala Krida Manch, Swargate, Pune.

Date: 28 December 2017

Topic: Philosophical Study of the Vedas

Ram katha is always going on in our country and what to talk about Bhagavat katha. That  is also going on, but we hardly hear Caitanya katha. Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared just over 500 years ago so His katha should be going on, but that’s not happening.

We always pray to Srila Prabhupada when we recite his pranam mantra:

namaste saraswati deve  gaura-vani-pracharine
nirvishesha-shunyavadi pashchatya-desha-tarine

Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Caitanya and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism. He is the one who gave Lord Caitanya and His message to the whole world. And now that preaching is going on all over.

We should understand the Lord tatvatha. Prabhupada gave us Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Before that very few people knew about Caitanya Mahaprabhu. I was one of them. I was in third standard and we had one lesson with the title Caitanya Mahaprabhu. In Maharashtra there was Tukaram Maharaja, in Gujarat there’s Narsingh Mehta, in Rajastahn there was Meera Bai. But Caitanya Mahaprabhu was Lord Himself. As instructed by His Guru Maharaja Prabhupada translated Caitanya Caritamrita which was in Bengali and spread the Nama, Rupa, Guna and Lila of Caitanya Mahaprabhu all over. I always say, from Nama to Dhama. Uttering  Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s name we will reach dhama, which dhama? Mayapur dhama. Prabhupada made Mayapur his head quarters and from there was preaching Gaur lila all over the world. So I was saying Bhagavat katha and Ram katha always take place but Gaur katha never happen so we selected this theme and in the coming years there will be Gaur katha all over.

Once in Naimisaranya Gaur katha was taking place. Shivji was also on the way, but Nandi his Bull was slow. Our padayatra oxen walk 4 kms/hour. Shiva went to Brahma and borrowed his Hansa and soon arrived to Naimisaranya to hear Gaur katha. He likes katha very much. In this Kaliyuga we should get the mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

mo sama patita prabhu na paibe ara
patita-pavana-hetu tava avatara 

We are very fallen and Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s appearance is for the fallen and He becomes more and more merciful for us fallen.

namo maha-vadanyaya krsna-prema-pradaya te
krsnaya krsna-caitanya-namne gaura-tvise namah [Madhya 19.53]

As we are more fallen He is more compassionate – this is our pair with Lord Gauranga.

So we will sing  a song of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He does not only sing, but whenever He sings, He also dances.

hari haraye namah? krsna yadavaya namah, yadavaya madhavaya kesavaya namah

Hari! Obeisances to Lord Hari, unto Krsna, and Yadava. Obeisances to Lord of the Yadus, Madhava, Kesava.

ei chay gosair kori carana vandan  jaha hoite bighna-nas abhista-puran 

I bow to the feet of these six Goswamis. By their grace, our obstacles can be destroyed and all desires are fulfilled.

ei chay gosai jar—mui tar das  ta-sabara pada-renu mora pañca-gras

I am the servant of these six Goswamis. The dust of their lotus feet is my fivefold subsistence.

tadera carana-sebi-bhakta-sane bas  janame janame hoy ei abhilas

To be a servant of their lotus feet and to reside in the company of devotees–this is my aspiration birth after birth.

 ei chay gosai jabe braje koila bas  radha-krsna-nitya-lila korila prakas

When these six Goswamis lived in Vraja, they revealed the eternal pastimes of Sri Sri Radha and Krsna.

anande bolo hari bhaja brndaban  sri-guru-vaisnaba-pade majaiya man

In ecstasy, sing the name of Lord Hari and worship Vrndavana, joyfully fixing your mind upon the lotus feet of the bona-fide spiritual master and the pure devotees.

sri-guru-vaisnaba-pada-padma kori as nama-sankirtana kohe narottama dasa

The lotus feet of my guru and the Vaisnavas are my aspiration. Narottama Dasa thus sings Hari-nama sankirtana.

Like the people of Maharashtra keep singing the abhangas  of Tukaram Maharaja, such as sundar te dhyana ubhe vitevari, like that people from Bengal keep singing the bhajans written by Narottam Dasa Thakur.

jaya sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda. Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare

om namo bhagavate vasudevaya 

A conditioned soul is bewildered by the Lord’s illusory energy (maya). Maya’s business is to keep the conditioned soul forgetful of his real relationship with Krsna. Thus the living entity forgets his real identity as spirit soul and instead of realizing his factual position thinks himself the product of the material energy.

Out of his causeless mercy and compassion, Krsna has compiled various Vedic literatures in His incarnation as Vyasadeva He has very kindly presented these literatures to awaken the conditioned soul to his senses. Unfortunately, at the present moment the conditioned souls do not care to read the Vedic literatures. Although there is an immense treasure-house of knowledge, people are engaged in reading useless literature that will give them no information on how to get out of the clutches of maya. The Lord given us sastras. He first gave the knowledge to Brahma.

tene brahma hrda ya adi-kavaye

Vedas are apaurusheya, Vedas are always there. Before  Brahma the Vedas were there. They are laws given by the Lord. Vedas means complete knowledge, practical and spiritual, superior and inferior everything is in the Vedas.Vedic knowledge is divided into shruti and smriti sastra. Shruti sastra is apaurusheya as I said earlier. Vedas are divided into four –  Rig Veda, Sama Veda. Yajur Veda, Atharva Veda. There are many Upanisads and in them 108 Upanisads are the main and there conversations go on. Gita is also called Gitopanisad.

Then there are Upaveda (Secondary vedas) Dhanur veda- skills of war. Ayurveda. Gandharva veda. Sthapatya- architecture.

The six Vedangas are Siksha, Chhanda, Vyakarana, Nirukta, Jyotisha and Kalpa. First four are related to the Sanskrit language.

Vedas are also divided as Karma kanda, Jnana kanda, Upasana kanda.

karma-kanda, jnana-kanda, kevala visera bhanda

The path of karma-kanda (fruitive activities) and the path of jnana-kanda (speculation) are just like strong pots of poison. Karma kandis can reach heaven by doing karma. They are also called  bhukti kami. Those who desire mukti or liberation are mukti kami.

Vaisnavas don’t desire liberation even if it is offered. But the jnana kandis desire liberation and they don’t desire bhakti. Caitanya Mahaprabhu said that jnana kanda, karma kanda are all just poison.

Smriti  sastra  is divided into tantra, pancha tantra, 18 Puranas, itihas, sada darsana. There are 18 puranas. There is the  tamasic purana for deliverance of tamasic people. Puranas are not tamasic but we are bound by the three modes of material nature. There is also the  sattavic purana.

Mahabharat and Ramayan are itihas. These are all facts but people did not take note of it.

prakrteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvasah

Gita is part of Mahabharat. There are parvas in Mahabharat and Gita is from the Bhisma parva. There are 18 chapters. The war continued for 18 days and there were18 aksauni divisions of army.

vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyo vedanta-krd veda-vid eva caham

Lord say in Bhagvad-gita, “By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.”

Lord has given us sastra. We have to wear spectacles of sastra to see the Lord, that’s darsana.

caksu-dan dilo jei, janme janme prabhu sei, divya jnana hrde prokasito

With the eyes of sastra we can have darsana of the Lord.

Scientist thought if there is matter then there should be anti-matter/sprit also. So how will we have darsana of the soul. Through sastra and then the spiritual master can teach us about the soul and the Lord. Teachers like Sandipani  Muni teach about Bhagavad-gita and about sprit. The unfortunate people of this world are busy studying matter – physics, chemistry. Those who just study matter are called sudra.

kalo sudra sambhava- In Kaliyuga there will be sudra-factories and all sudra business. 

catur-varnyam maya srstam guna-karma-vibhagasah

Its guna karma not janma karma, According to the three modes of material nature and the work ascribed to them, the four divisions of human society were created. One who is influenced by the mode of goodness are called sattavic and they are Brahmans. Vaisas have satva guna and tamo guna. Ksatriyas have rajo and tamo guna, sudras have tamo guna, like that guna karma vibhagasah.

We can’t be called humans if we don’t  study vedas. We should become students of Bhagavat. Here we are hearing about Caitanya Mahaprabhu.  We want to capture the real you. Such advertisements go on all over, but that’s not real. The atma is real. It is eternal. Pune is full of IT business,  the study of matter. Doordarsana, they see few planets through instruments. There are so many Brahmanadas, but these instruments can’t reach these brahmandas. They can just have knowledge of a small particle of sand. There is so much knowledge in sastra.

In TOVP there will be darsana of 14 planetary systems. It is also possible by ….

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya cakshur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

 Spiritual master, opens  our  eyes, which are blinded by the darkness of ignorance, with the torchlight of knowledge. And then we get knowledge, which knowledge we will get? 

raja-vidya raja-guhyam pavitram idam uttamam

This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge,

So there are two forms of darsana, astik and nastik

Nastika veda nidakaha- those who don’t accept vedas – Charvak, Jain and Buddha

Astik darsana includes – Nyaya, the school of logic, Vaisesika, the atomist school, Samkhya, the enumeration school, Yoga, Mimamsa, Vedanta or Uttara Mimamsa.

Stuti of vedas – Pradipaha sarva vidyanam ashraya sarva dharmanam

Four vaisnava sampradaya acaryas wrote commentaries on the Vedanta sastra.

sampradaya-vihina ye, mantras te nishphala matah

Nimbarkacharya, Vishnu Swami, Ramanujacharya, Madhvacaraya. So each acarya has their own siddhanta and they defeated advaitavad. 

mamaivamso jiva-loke jiva-bhutah sanatanah

The living entity is the fragmental part and parcel of the Supreme Lord-eternally.

Advaitvada refers to the idea that the soul is the same as the Lord. But we are part and parcel of the Lord.

We are amsa and Lord is amsi , but the advaitvad we can become Lord. Thus  Bhagavad has rejected advaitvad.

dharma projjhita-kaitavo ’tra paramo nirmatsaranam satam (S.B 1.1.2)

Kaitava dharma is cheating religion. So advaitvad  siddhanta is a cheating dharma. Bhagavad has kicked it out. Prabhupada used to say, “Bhagavad has kicked out advaitvad” The link between the  soul and the Lord is Bhakti yoga. They don’t want to do bhakti. but Advaitvadis want to become Lord. Prabhupada would say that this is last snare  of Maya. Through bhakti we have strong relations with the Lord.

The commentary of Vedanta sutra is Srimad- Bhagvad, and the writer of both is Srila Vyasadev. So Gaudiya Vainavas thought what is the need of writing a commentary again. One acarya of our sampradaya, Srila Baladev Vidya Bhushan wrote the commentary as he was inspired by the Lord and that was called Govind Bhasya.

Srila Vyasdev wrote Bhagavad. He had written many sastras, but he had no job satisfaction. Once Narada Muni came to see Srila Vyasadev and he saw that Vyasadev was not satisfied. O! Gurudev please tell why that is happening?

yatha dharmadayas cartha muni-varyanukirtitah
na tatha vasudevasya mahima hy anuvarnitah (SB 1.5.9)

You have written a lot about dharma, artha,  kama and moksha. But you did not write about Lord Vasudev. You have just written a few lines about Lord. Then Srila Vyasadev wrote Srimad-Bhagvatam. Prabhupada would say that Bhagvatam is graduation study. Every house should have Srimad Bhagvatam. Say, “My house should have  a Bhagvatam.” There are lot of newspapers  in my house, what’s the use? Bhagvatam is Lord himself, so we should have Bhagvatam, Caitanya Caritamrita etc.

gita bhagvat karatii sravan akhanda cintan vithobha

Tukaram Maharaja always said, “One who will meditate on Bhagvatam we will have good thoughts, and thoughts of the Lord.

Om Sarve Sukhinah Bhavantu  Sarve Santu Nir-Aamayaah
Sarve Bhadraanni Pashyantu Maa Kashcid-Duhkha-Bhaag-Bhavet
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih 

Let everyone be happy. May All become Happy, May All be Free from Illness. May All See what is Auspicious, May no one Suffer.

Once I went for an inauguration of a hospital and I recited this sloka. The owner came running. O! Maharaja!What are you saying my hospital will close. (laughter)

paropakaram vahanti nadya, paropakaram duhanti gaaya
paropakaram phalanti vriksha, paropakaram idam shareeram 

Rivers flow for Paropkar, Cows give milk for Paropkar, Trees bear fruits for Paropkar, similarly this body is also meant for Paropkar

We should work for welfare of others.  The body has been given to us in order to benefit others. Caitanya Mahaprabhu asked, “How will you do paropkar/ welfare?”

bharata bhumite manusya janma haila yara: janma sarthaka kari karo para-upakara (CC Adi 9.41)

Give Krsna prema to people.  That’s the best welfare activity. Prema is pancham purusartha. We have four purusarthas – dharma, artha, kama, moksha

srimad-bhagavatam pramanam-amalam prema pumartho mahan

Srimad Bhagavatam is the spotless authority (amala puran) on everything and pure love of Godhead is the ultimate goal of life for all men. Distribution of Krsna prema is the best welfare activity. That will give us happiness and satisfaction. Whenever there was an indian gathering would say ,

bharata-bhumite haila manusya-janma yara janma sarthaka kari’ kara para-upakara (CC Adi 9.41)

Food, house, clothes are  just for the body but what about the soul? The soul needs Krsna prema. ISKCON is doing that welfare activity; all of you understand it and join the ISKCON. All the new audience coming for katha, you all come forward, get connected. This katha will go on for just seven days, but we have  a temple here. All the activities are going on every day in the temple. Bhagvatam katha goes on in the temple. Get acquainted  with the activities of Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON.

yare dekha, tare kaha ‘krsna’-upadesa amara ajñaya guru hasa tara’ ei desa

“Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Sri Krsna as they are given in the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land.”

This is order of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, whomever you meet you should talk about the Lord Krsna.

Once Chanda Kazi was protesting against the sankirtana movement. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu went to His house with his associates. Out of fear, Chanda Kazi was hiding inside his house. When Caitanya Mahaprabhu  called him, then only he came out. There was a conversation between them. Chanda kazi told Lord Caitanya how he had darsana of Narsingh Bhagvan and thus Chanda Kazi was delivered.

So keep Gita, Bhagavatam and Caitanya Caritamrita in your homes and of course study them. Do kirtana at your house daily. The Lord will be very pleased.

Nitai Gaura Premanande…..Hari Hari Haribol.