Spirituality and Youth
Prerana Festival
Zoom lecture for Iskcon Chowpatty
23rd January 2021

So Hare Krishna to you all assembled youths. Radha Gopinath ki jai! Yes there were the days where the Prerna festival used to take place right there in front of Radha Gopinath. I understand today is the one hundred and eightieth Prerna festival. That’s what I was told so I am very happy with the organizers of today’s event and especially with those who started this Prerna festival a long, long time ago. Maybe fifteen, twenty years ago the Prerna festival started.

I suppose Gauranga is one of the organizers or inaugurator of this festival. This is our oldest youth program in India so I once again thank and congratulate the organizers of this Prerna Iskcon youth forum festival. Of course without you students, the Prerna festival is not possible and so I am very happy today. I don’t see many of you but I suppose many of you are there, not visible but wherever you are in different forums.

Yes, those were the days, during my days when I was a young man like you, and of course there were so many other millions of other young men, youths like me some fifty years ago. They coming to satsang, coming to the temple and joining program like Prerna festival, forget it!

But now things have changed and revolutionized and now there are thousands of youths stepping forward and participating in this program of Iskcon youth forum all over Bombay and all over New Delhi and all over Bangalore, all over everywhere. Thousands of youths are part of these Prerna-like festivals. So I am very, very glad, some fifty years ago as you heard the announcement, in the early seventies I was also a young man, right? One day I was also a young man and a youth like you and I was also studying right there in Mumbai, Kirti College Dadar. Do you know Kirti College of Dadar? So some of you know it and I was a student of Kirti College. I was a student of the Willing don College, Sangli. I was a student there but by the grace of the Supreme Lord- I realized that later on. When Krishna is kind to us he brings us to his devotees.

So Krishna kindly took me to His devotee Srila Prabhupada ki jai! Hari Hari. And as I was studying I came in contact with Srila Prabhupada. I came in contact with Srila Prabhupada’s followers at Cross Maidan near Church gate Station. There was a huge festival- Hare Krishna festival and there was a huge advertisement all over the town that said ‘American Sadhus are here! American Sadhus are in town!’

I was along with so many Bombaikers, so many Bombay Wala’s surprised to hear. American Sadhus? How is that possible? American scientist is okay but American Sadhu?! Forget it! So the huge crowds were rushing and participating in Hare Krishna festival and so I also was one of the participants. So this is how I was put in contact with the devotees of the Lord and with Srila Prabhupad as well as his followers.

I considered and consider that even today that that was my great fortune and likewise now Krishna is calling you.

Jiva jago jiva jago gaurachandra bole.

I’m sure you’ve heard that song which says ‘Gauranga is calling Gauranga is calling. Wake up sleeping souls. Wake up youths of India, Gauranga is calling.’ So you are hearing Gauranga’s call and you are responding to that call. You are running, rushing and you have already ran and rushed and you are in the association with the devotees of Krishna and they are guiding you on the path, on the journey of life.

Life is a journey so it’s good to have, it’s the best to have the guidance of devotees of Krishna otherwise certainly you will be misguided- guaranteed. Because that is what this world is, of cheaters and cheated. No one knows the truth and no one shares the truth with you. Because if they don’t know the truth then how could they share the truth with you?

They do not know the ultimate reality in all that you see around or touch or smell, that is not all that exists. There is a lot more that exists out there or up there. But you cannot study and understand that world, the spiritual world and Vaikunthaloka and the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna Panduranga. He exists and His kingdom, so much exists! The spiritual life exists, spirituality exists and so we have to study and understand that the ultimate reality is something that is eternal. We are also eternal and to even understand that we are eternal.. We get to know all these truths by coming in contact with devotees of Krishna. That is why sastra says:

Sadhu sanga sadhu sanga msarva sastre kaya
lava matra sadhu sange sarva siddhi haya (CC Madhya 22.54).

So in this Iskcon youth forum, you get sadhu sanga. Sadhus come where you are based and you also get to go to Sadhus, Hare Krishna devotees. You can go to the temple or even on pilgrimage and then they open our eyes and this is called Sabda Praman. There are different evidences, different ways to know the truth.

So there’s a Pratyaksha Praman and this is where seeing is believing. So we try to see with our eyes but you cannot see Sac Cid Ananda Vigraha, the spiritual existence and spiritual personalities with your eyes. You can’t perceive that spirituality with your blunt material senses which are imperfect. This material world has so much faith in the power of their senses so to acquire knowledge they use their senses called Prayaksha, prati and aksha-Right in front of you is whatever you perceive, whatever you can smell- but there is an existence of not only pratakshya but parokshya, something that is transcendental above or beyond this material reality and to understand that we need sastra praman, sadhu, Sastra and Acarya’s. If you hear from them and if you hear Krishna in Bhagavad-gita then you will know so much more.

And true reality is a science; it is a science of self realization. Srila Prabhupada was a scientist or even Tukaram Maharaj was a scientist. Ramanujacharya was a scientist, not just Galileo or Newton – what do they know? They don’t know much, they don’t know much but these spiritual scientists they know so much more. So after we come in touch with these great personalities and often they make the Gita syllabus, textbooks and they become teachers and professors they teach us, teach you.

So this has to be done in this human form of life which is a very, very rare gift which we have been gifted by the Lord, this human form of life and we have to make the best use of it by approaching devotees and making an enquiry from them.

athato brahma jijnasa
It is said and they will reveal the truth unto you, ‘oh youths of India wake up.’ I mean you have woken up so now wake up others. The rest of the youths, also your friends and neighbours or other youths.

Now Prabhupada wanted youths. Youths wanted! When he was contemplating or planning the propagation of Krishna consciousness worldwide, at one point he was in Jhansi. You know where Jhansi is. At one point Srila Prabhupada was advertising in newspapers, advertising for what? Youths wanted! He wanted youths to come forward, get trained and propagate Krishna consciousness, God consciousness and India’s culture all over the world.

The gift of India – India has beenWgifted; I would not even say India. Bharat Varsa has been gifted, and why? This Krishna consciousness gifted along with Krishna- ‘we have Krishna, we have Sri Rama!’ Jai Sri Ram! So this is our wealth. Ramayana is our wealth, Mahabarata, Bhagavad Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam is our wealth. The ancient culture of India, not the modern culture of India is India’s culture.

So Srila Prabhupada wanted this to be shared with the rest of the world. Prior to that while the Lord was on the planet, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ki jai! Some five hundred years ago Sambhavami yuge yuge happened and the Lord appeared in the form of Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu became a preacher.

The Lord took sannyasa and he was travelling all over India and sharing the wealth of the holy name.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare

This is the wealth of India, Bharat Varsa. So Mahaprabhu was sharing this all around and while he was doing this, as in Chaitanya Charitamrta He says ‘I am the only malakara. I am the only gardener and oh! How many fruits can I pick up alone? And fill the baskets and share them, distribute the fruits of love of Godhead? I’m the only one! Distributors wanted! Distributors wanted! Please come forward and fill up the baskets with the fruits of love of Godhead and distribute them freely everywhere!’

And he wanted the distribution to take place not just in Mumbai or not just in Maharashtra or Bengal, Orissa or India but all over the world. The Lord cares right? The Lord cares for every single person and every single entity because they are his people wherever they are.
So the Lord said:

prthivite ache yata nagaradi grama
sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama (Chaitanya Bhagavat)

My name will be chanted and shared in every town and every village of this world. So Mahaprabhu was appealing ‘please join me please join me.’ So then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s representative Saksad Hari, Srila Prabhupada also had the same mood and he was also welcoming and inviting, ‘youths wanted youths wanted’ because he wanted to make Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s prediction come true!

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu wanted everybody and youths also, Srila Prabhupada wanted youths and in that parampara now we also want youths. We want all of you to come, join Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s movement. You may join the temple or you may practice this Krishna consciousness at home.

grihe thako, vane thako, sada ‘hari’ bole’ dako
sukhe duhkhe bhulo na’ko,
vadane hari-nam koro re (Gitavali 2)

So this is also an appeal, everyone please chant the holy name of the Lord wherever you are. Grihe thako householder, Grihastha, make your home into an ashram or a mandir. Dil ek Mandir hai, Ghar ek Mandir hai. Every home could be a temple and the temples are already temples and brahmacari’s reside there. So wherever you are you could practice and relish Krishna consciousness. So we want or Krishna wants, our founder acarya wanted and we also want youths to come and join this effort of sharing this Krishna consciousness all over the world.

Or you could share that in big circle as possible within your home town or your home state or your home land, your motherland. Or you could go overseas. So when Srila Prabhupada once was in London one newspaper reporter asked him, ‘Swamiji, why have you come to our country?’ And Prabhupada possibly said ‘oh you also came, you Bristishers, you also came to our country so now I have come to your country.’

‘But why have you come?’ So Prabhupada was explaining that ‘I have come sir to give the gift of India, India’s gift. I have come to do the home delivery. You had come and whatever was valuable you thought, you took that away and you looted our country. But whilst doing that you left behind the most valuable asset, the gift of India. So now I have come to share that with you.’

When asked ‘Oh what is that gift? Is it a Rolls Royce during british Raj that may have been left behind?’ Then Prabhupada said ‘Krishna consciousness.’ Or then Prabhupada said ‘This Vedic literature from India or the holy name of the Lord. This is the gift.’ And then Prabhupada also used to say ‘You know I have come to your country or ‘I have come to America.’ Prabhupada very proudly used to proclaim ‘I haven’t come to take anything from you. I have come to give.’

And Prabhupada was the first Indian to go to the west to give and not to take. And because we are going, Indians are going, politicians are going or even youths are going for higher education – it’s not higher education (laughs). So they are going ‘Give us education, give us loan, give us super computers, give us give us give us!’ As a result we have become very popular in the west at least.

You know forty years ago when I went for the first time, seventy eight was the first time I went to America and they were asking me ‘oh where are you from?’ And I would say ‘from India.’ ‘Oh that India? The beggar’s country?’ That India what? Beggar’s country. Because we had been going and begging ‘give us give us.’ So Srila Prabhupada was that Bharat Ratna, the jewel of India.

He knew the wealth of India, the importance of India. Bharat desh mahan. In fact India is great but that greatness of India was in true sense realized by Prabhupada and he wanted to share that with the rest of the world and he did that. To do so he wanted.. In fact the youths of America, the first ones to join Srila Prabhupada, the American boys and girls, became his disciples.

America is suffering like anything, you know that? All that glitters is not gold, friends. So America and not only America but the whole world is suffering. England is suffering and not because of Covid 19, that’s yet another reason for suffering. This world is full of suffering and it’s meant to be like that. This world is duhkhalayam asasvatam (BG 8.15). There’s no way we can change the nature of this world, God has made it that way and this is no place for a gentleman, Prabhupada used to say.

So one time I was in America and read- I’m sure some youth had written something on a wall and he had written -listen to this. American youth writes like this on the wall, his realization and his thoughts. ‘Life is tough and then you die.’ Did you hear that? He says ‘life is tough and then you die.’ There was a pause and then he writes ‘You’re born again and as you are born again what is going to happen? Life is tough.’

That life is going to be tough so life is tough and then you die and you are born again and so this goes on and on. And this is what India could do. India has to take leadership in propagation. Yes let the western world propagate materialism, the mundane sciences and technology and this and that and then let India share it’s culture Krishna consciousness, knowledge of Bhagavad Gita with the rest of the world. They are badly in need of it!

Then Prabhupada used to say ‘andha pangu nyaya.’ The west is blind and India is a little bit lame. Then he used to talk andha pangu nyaya. East and west could combine, you don’t have to condemn and discard the progress made by technology and science. That could be utilized, or this blind man and lame man could get together, the east and west could get together. So when this blind man and lame man are together, what could they do and how could they help each other?

If they wish to go someplace certainly they could help each other. The blind man could walk and the lame man sitting on the shoulder of the blind man could show the way. So the world is blind and India has torchlight of knowledge. So our culture teaches simple living and high thinking. So simple living high thinking, simple living high thinking but the propagation, Prachar is high living and no thinking, you understand?

The Prachar, propagation the breaking news and all that happens through internet, the propagation, the Prerna will give inspiration to high living and no thinking. Our Srila Prabhupada used to say that they want the kingdom of God, opulent kingdom, country like God’s but country without God. Kingdom of God without God. ‘What do I need God for? I am God! I am Bhokta. Aham isvaro.

aham bhogi aham balavan aham sukhi’ (BG 16.13-15)

Krishna has said this in Bhagavad Gita. The demoniac nature is like that so simple living high thinking. So again I was in America and some team, some gentlemen they approached me and they said, ‘Swamiji Swamiji we have one formula that we are practicing these days.’ I said ‘what is that formula?’ They said ‘kiss formula.’ I said ‘I’m a sannyasi and I have nothing to do with kiss. No no kissing.’

They said ‘Swamiji not that kissing.’ I said ‘What kiss are you talking about?’ And he said – listen to this what he said. He said ‘Keep it simple, stupid.’ Did you get that? The kiss formula is ‘keep it simple oh stupid.’ So this is also a message? Keep it simple stupid world or mad mad mad world. Or this bad bad bad world is they have to keep themselves simple. On the contrary I was again talking about simple living and high thinking, lots of people or this is again a propaganda. The youths you see sometimes wearing t-shirts and what do they write on the back? Just do it! Have you read that? Just do it! Just do it! Meaning if you feel good, kuch kuch hota hai. Then if you feel good, do it! Do not even think or think later on but just do it! So this is high living no thinking. Not even simple thinking but no thinking. Just do it! So this is how the youths are being misled all over the world, all over India. Just do it. If you feel good just do it!

I was in Bombay many years ago and we were going for some function downtown and I saw a big board, a sign board billboard and when I looked at it there was a young man, some Mumbai wala (from Mumbai) and he had opened his chest (Maharaja makes swooosh sound) like Hanuman. But when I took a closer look at it what was in his heart? It was a Limca bottle. There was no Jai Sri Ram or there was no Sita Ram, the young man had a Limca bottle in his heart. So this shows what is their thinking, what are they contemplating, what are they planning to enjoy. So whatever you do, these things in your youthful days, that makes an impression upon you and that governs your thinking, feeling, willing.

That is the function of the mind thinking, feeling, willing and that stays with you even to the last breath of your life. There was an old man dying and his family had gathered around him and the children were saying ‘daddy daddy, you have only have one or two breaths to go before you leave. Could you say Bhola Bhola?’ They were followers, worshippers of Bhole Nath Shankar so they said ‘please say Bhola.’

But did father say ‘Bhola?’ What did he say? The father said ‘Cola Cola.’ And this was the last thing he said and he was out of there. So possibly he went to Coca Cola Loka? By thinking of Coca Cola

Yam yam vapi smaran bhavam
tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6)

Krishna says this right? Whatever you remember at the time of death that’s your destination. So be aware, be aware young men and ladies and gentlemen. We need good company. We need Hare Krishna devotee company, association of saintly persons to become like them. Men of character.

So the present day education is, I keep saying, it’s money making education. Education so that you can make money and then spend money but we would like to see the education that will make you man-making. Making Danavas into Manavas. There is so much Danavi, Rakshashi Pravritti all over the world and so this Hare Krishna movement is busy day and night revolutionizing the consciousness of people globally and there is a tremendous response.

From all over the world people are stepping forward, youths are stepping forward. Somehow everywhere the youths are the first ones to come and join. Youths come, so I was thinking that our Krishna is a youth. Our God is always youthful and so he is attracting youths from all over the world. Young boys and girls are joining- not just in India but in America. In Australia, in Africa, everywhere. And youths like singing and dancing so they chant

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare

So they are becoming men of character. Money is lost, nothing much is lost. You know the saying it is very popular. ‘Money is lost nothing much is lost. Health is lost then something is lost however if you lose your character, Charitrahina (characterless) then everything is lost. So this Hare Krishna movement would like to see the men of character, youths building their character- character building.

So we pray and as we pray we propagate this,

sarve sukhinah bhavantu
sarve santu niramayah
sarve bhadrani pasyantu
ma kashchit duhkha bhagbhavet

This is high thinking. This is high thinking. Thinking of the welfare of the world. Sarve sukhinah bhavantu. Let everyone be happy, let everyone be happy. Others may also think that everybody be happy but the speciality of Hare Krishna devotees or the Hare Krishna movement is that not only do we wish that let everyone be happy, or we say ‘happy birthday to you’ or ‘happy new year’ but we tell the world how to be happy.

And that is chant Hare Krishna and what?
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy. So we wish happiness to everybody in this world and we know how they could be happier. How can we know? The Lord has told us how to be happy. So we are sharing that news, that formula with the rest of the world. So the same prayer

Sarve sukhinah bhavantu
Sarve santu niramayah

Let everyone be free from sickness and no more disease. Let everyone be free from disease. This is the prayer, Sarve santu niramayah. So I was reminded that many years ago one of my friends, he became a doctor and then he was opening his hospital and I was invited for the inauguration of the hospital.

At that time I said this prayer, Sarve sukhinah bhavantu sarve santu niramayah. Let everyone be free from diseases and free from sickness and my friend said ‘Maharaja, if that happens, if everyone becomes free from sickness- no more sick people no more disease, then what will happen to my hospital?! You are just now about to open my hospital and cut the ribbon right now and I have a fifty bed hospital and you are praying that let everyone be free from the sickness and disease.’

So that’s not very high thinking, my friend was thinking differently and that is how the rest of the world also thinks that way. ‘Let the world go to hell and let me be healthy and happy. I don’t care.’ So part of the high thinking is that we are- all the people on this planet are part of our family. As Krishna enters your heart then your thinking becomes big thinking or high thinking and you are no more low, low minded, narrow minded. As Krishna enters your heart and you are thinking of Krishna then what is your heart? Our scriptures say

ayam nijah paroveti ganana laghuchetasam
udaracharitanantuvasudhaiva kutumbaka.

Ayam nijah, ‘these people are my people. Paroveti, but these people are outsiders.’ Thinking like this is ganana Laghuchetasam. Laghu, one thing is Laghu and the other thing is Guru. Laghu is narrow, small minded and Guru heavy and broad minded. So Laghuchetasam, those who are small minded, narrow minded, low minded, they always think ‘oh these are some outsiders and they are my people’ but those who are udaracharitanam tu, magnanimous, broad minded, high thinkers, what is their though?

Vasudhaiva kutumbaka

Vasudha means the earthly planet and ‘everybody on this planet is part of my family. That big is my family and the head of that family is Sri Krishna or Sri Rama.’ And if you want to say Allah go ahead or Jehovah, these are different names of God. ‘He is the head of our family and we are all children of that one God. ‘This is right thinking and this is high thinking. The world needs this kind of thinking very badly otherwise so much fighting and quarrelling.

What not is going on all over the world. Again when I was a child I was reminded. In my village I think it was early sixties, sixty two or in the sixties that China and India were getting ready to battle, fight so India is a peace loving country and so children all over the home villages were shouting the sloka ‘Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai, Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai.’

So I was a little, small boy in the village, so small that I did not know what I was shouting or what I was saying ‘Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai.’ So I was thinking that Hindi is the language and Chini is what? Sugar. And Hindi language and the sugar that you eat were Bhai, Bhai. They were supposed to be brothers. So only when I grew up I realized that Hindi referred to people of Hindustan and Chini referred to the people of China.

So all people of China and all people of India are Bhai Bhai, they are brothers. At least I understood the meaning or some kind of word meaning of what slogans were shouted, but only when I became spiritual and was brought in contact with devotees of Krishna, Srila Prabhupada and his Bhagavad Gita and when I read that Bhagavad Gita especially, then I realized. Two persons if they are brothers, what does that mean? They have a common father, they have one father and that’s why they are brothers. So I was wondering that who is the common father of all people in China and all people in India. Who is their father? Is it Mr Modi or the president of China, is he the common father? No!

aham bija pradah pita (BG 14.4)

Krishna says ‘I am the seed giving father of all living entities.’ So God is father of all people of China, of all people of India and in fact of all people everywhere. Krishna, God is the father and so this understanding is the right understanding and this kind of thinking, this understanding will make us men of character. Then we will live happily and peacefully on this planet otherwise this world is becoming unliveable. Unliveable, you cannot live on this planet, you better leave. Don’t live here, leave!

So thank you once again for giving me this opportunity to address you all today, all the youths. And I’m very happy to see you all and I’m happy to talk to you and see you some time again in the future. We are same family right? The same family and please keep chanting

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare

And stay in the association of the devotees of Krishna or Hare Krishna devotees and study Bhagavd Gita and honour Krishna prasadam only. For the rest of your life do not eat anything else but Krishna prasad. Okay so any questions or comments or what else are we supposed to be doing?

Question: Maharaja, how do we handle failures in our life and still remain undeviated in our devotion?

Answer: Failure is the pillar of success, we hear that saying. Krishna’s advice is

sukha duhkhe same krmitva labhalabhau jayajayau (BG 2.38)

Sometimes happiness, sometimes distress. Transcend it and go beyond. Sometimes gain, sometimes loss. Sometimes success, sometimes failure. Yes, this is the world, this is the nature of this world. Krishna also says dvandvatito vimatsaraha (BG 4.22)

Dvandvatito, go beyond this dvandva of success and failure, gain and loss, youth and old age. Like that this world is full of this dual nature dvandva. That’s the meaning also of being transcendental or transcend, I would say just be successful at the time of death and do not ask for Coca Cola. Go for Bhola or go for Rama or Krishna. And if you do that you go back to Krishna. You re-join Krishna and there is no success like that. That is real success. Otherwise you may have so many gains and so many trophies and this and that but it’s no good.

ante narayana smrtih- that’s our goal.

itna to karna swami Jab pran tan se nikle govinda naam leke

Then you are victorious. So shoot for that and make that a goal. Other successes they come and go. You could learn from failure or you could do a review and you could reform or improve or learn from your mistakes. You can consult your councilor, your spiritual advisor or spiritual scientist and don’t repeat the same mistakes again. So making mistakes or even to err is human but not to learn from the mistakes and not to improve them..

There’s a difference between wise man and the fool number one. The wise man learns from his mistakes, from his failures and he is always improving, trying to rectify, plan to be better. Prevention is better than cure so try to prevent as much as possible learning from failure or some setbacks so that you will not repeat that failure again. The best thing is to get out of here and that’s param vijayate sri krsna sankirtanam.

That’s the supreme victory and all these other successes and failures are not much important.

Question: Maharaja, we are chanting the holy names, we are doing seva but still we are attracted to the material world and our mind is still thinking about worldly affairs.

Answer: Yes, so? That’s not new. We have been thinking of worldly affairs for such a long, long time and all the affairs that we were thinking of were only material. All this time. So don’t expect that those material thoughts are just going to disappear just like that. That they are going to leave you alone instantly. No, it will take time and you have to practice.

man mana bhava mad bhakto
mad yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaisyasi satyam te
pratijane priyo ‘si me (BG 18.65)

‘Remember me’ Krishna says. Or chant Hare Krishna and become Krishna’s devotee and attempt to become Krishna’s devotees. Endeavour to remember Krishna, practice to remember Krishna and as you remember Krishna more and more, you’ll forget the material world and worldly affairs more and more. So ‘Ye yatha mam prapadyante’ Krishna says.

The more you remember Me, the more you surrender unto the Lord to that degree the Lord reveals himself unto us and to that degree we get free from Maya.

mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te.(BG 7.14)

Otherwise Maya is very strong. Krishna the owner of Maya says ‘mama maya duratyaya’ (BG 7.14). ‘Mama Maya, my Maya is very difficult to overcome’ so giving up the worldly thinking is not an easy thing but it could become easy by mam eva ye prapadyante, by surrendering unto Krishna. Call out for help, ‘help, help Krishna help.’ And that is

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare

That is our call out to Krishna. ‘Help help, Krishna help!’ And you could get Maya out of your way and the path is clear and you could proceed. Yes? So this process of Krishna consciousness is to achieve that goal. We want to get rid of these mundane thoughts, worldly thoughts.

dhyayato visayan pumsah
sangas tesupajayate
sangat sanjayate kamah
kamat krodho ‘bhijayate (BG 2.62)

As soon as you contemplate on the objects of the senses what happens? Sangas tesupajayate. You develop attachment and then sangat sanjayate kamah, lust. And when that lust is not fulfilled you become angry. This is the cycle, the vicious cycle. Dhyayato visayan pumsah. Instead of thinking of Visayas, the sense objects, if you are thinking of Krishna, if you think of Krishna’s form, think of Krishna’s qualities and pastimes, think of Krishna’s devotees then what will happen?

Sangas tesupajayate You will also develop attachment for Krishna. Krishna’s name, Krishna’s abode, Krishna’s name, Krishna’s pastimes, Krishna’s devotees. And what will be the outcome? Earlier there was sangas tesupajayate sangat sanjayate kamah and here in this case you have contemplated on Krishna, Krishna’s form, Krishna’s qualities, Krishna’s devotees and then instead of developing Kama you will develop Prema, you will develop love for the Lord.

So this is how you transform lust into love or thinking of worldly affairs into thinking of Krishna by changing your contemplation, what you are thinking about. And we are thinking day and night so Krishna says ‘think of me’ and then you don’t have to think of Maya if you think of Krishna. Hari Hari.

Question: Preaching is becoming more and more difficult with the advancement of modern civilisation. How can we maintain patience and perseverance in spite of lack of interest from the youths?

Answer: I thought it was becoming easier in the sense that now a lot of preaching goes on online and with virtual programs happening. And it is also so easy now I am preaching to you right now, I am talking to you. The Covid-19 situation I think has compelled us to the modern means of communication and so that way through the Internet and through these virtual- online communication programs and preaching, things are becoming also very easy or economical and faster.

So in some sense it is becoming easier due to what the world has gone through. The kick of the Corona Virus has given us a kick, a big kick! Those super powers, America bow down, China bow down, bow down Russia. You could tell them this is what happens, from Bhoga comes Roga.

So the world had been in this enjoying spirit Bhoga enjoyment, and that results in Roga. And as this Roga, this Covid-19 has beaten off the human race, I hope they are coming to their senses and turning to God. So hope that they become more submissive and receptive to the message of Krishna consciousness. Now you could tell them ‘you better change your diet.’ Wuhan right? That was a city in China where that market place where all sorts of meat and this and that, a big kind of mix up- that’s where this virus was born and spread and was exported all over.

So yes, better go for this patram pushpam phalam toyam. No more muttonam chikanam this and that. So you could point out and bring this to the attention of the people of this world so that they can change their lifestyle and diet and the whole value system, their attitude. So I think that we have an opportunity to preach. This Covid-19 is providing us with a great opportunity and great forum, channel also. So don’t get discouraged and face the challenges if there are any.