Are you interested in knowing how the world was created?

S.B
2.5.34

“varsa-puga-sahasrante
tad andam udake sayam kala-karma- svabhava –stho jivo jivam ajivayat”

Translation
and purport by Srila Prabhupada, Srila
Prabhupada ki ……………jai

TRANSLATION-
Thus all the universes remained thousands of eons within the water [the Causal
Ocean], and the Lord of living beings, entering in each of them, caused them to
be fully animated.

PURPORT- The Lord is described
here as the jiva because He is the
leader of all other jivas (living entities). In the Vedas He is described as
the nitya, the leader of all other nityas. The Lord’s relation with the
living entities is like that of the father with the sons. The sons and the
father are qualitatively equal, but the father is never the son, nor is the son
ever the father who begets. So, as described above, the Lord as Garbhodakasayi Vis?n?u or
Hiran?yagarbha Supersoul enters into each and every universe and causes it to
be animated by begetting the living entities within the womb of the material
nature, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (14.3). After each annihilation of
the material creation, all the living entities are merged within the body of
the Lord, and after creation they are again impregnated within the material energy.
In material existence, therefore, the material energy is seemingly the mother
of the living entities, and the Lord is the father. When, however, the
animation takes place, the living entities revive their own natural activities
under the spell of time and energy, and thus the varieties of living beings are
manifested. The Lord, therefore, is ultimately the cause of all animation in
the material world.

“varsa-puga-sahasrante
tad andam udake sayam kala-karma- svabhava –stho jivo jivam ajivayat”

The
animations are very popular these days and that’s considered to be very
advanced or very intelligent thing to do. Animation in television they get
different dolls to fight with each other, they seem to be talking or running
after each other. The Disney world you know in America the most famous
animation are by Disney world in North America. So we are parts and parcels of
the Lord and like father – like son, the ability of the Lord is also in us in
minute quantity and this is little minute animation that we become the cause of
or off course we create little children, Lord has created all of us and we
create few children.

Lords
begets living entities within this womb of material nature “mama yonir mahad brahma” (B.G 14.3)
Lord makes “mahat tattva” that is
the womb and Lord glances, He glances upon that total Material energy mahat
tattva in front of  Him, He doesn’t even
have to touch it, just by looking at it He does the impregnation and how many
countless living entities they get animated as per kala-karma-svabhava, their karmas which they had committed during
previous creation and that bhava, their inclinations, their tendencies.

So
we create few living entities or we not create living entities they always
exist we gave bodies become cause of giving bodies to few children. But look at
the Lord how much He could create “tasmin
garbham dadhamyaham sambhavah sarva bhutanam tato bhavati bharata
” (B.G
14.3). He becomes the cause of sarva
bhutanam
of all the living entities and giving them bodies also first of
all they are His parts and parcel. So when it’s difficult to trace the history
when the living entities were created “mama
amsa
” from purna- some amsa, some parts and parcel were created we don’t
difficult to find out. So that creation of living entities then later on giving
them bodies also to sarva bhutanam- all the living entities.

I
(maharaja saying) never heard this creation as lila- srusti lila, Devananda
prabhu was explaining different incarnations have different lilas  or even there is lila, I never for first time
I was thinking this is also lila of the Lord, creation is also lila – srusuti
lila and the 3 purusa avataras put together are performing this lila. So what
we do little bit it’s not described as lila we also have little creations few
children ok, big house ok or housing colony that’s kind of creation, big bridge
we built, little space Apollo 8 or Apollo 11. there are unlimited oceans, night
time we see so many planets floating like dust particles float in the air, they
we send little sputnik floating. So these are tiny creations of tiny living
entities, so they are not described as lilas. but when Lord performs herculean
tasks –big big tasks, creation of the universes not just one but unlimited
universes and then within each universe so many planets and so much variety and
you just, Jai Sri Sri Guar Nitai
ki…………………….jai
.

For
a tiny living entity as we are from where we are sitting or where ever we are
existing from there you take a look at the universe that so many universes and
beyond that is another kingdom – the spiritual kingdom. And how much living
entities tiny and the tiny living entities brain is further tiny brain Prabhupada used to call tini brain, he
would describe so that tiny brain how much that could understand. What we know
is very very little there is a planet – there is a space- so many planets in
that space – the ocean- whole world out there or in there in the ocean. So many
varieties of entities in there of the total creation of the Lord all that exist
how much does living entities know? How much does living entities know? Just a
fraction who was that? It was Einstein – he said the knowledge meaning- you
admit how much ignorant you are, if you could admit that I am so much ignorant
means you are kind of knowledgeable. But one who thinks oh! I know everything
that is how the ignorance is described I who thinks I know everything that
means you are ignorant, but if you admit yes yes I am ignorant infact I don’t
know so many things, O! He is knowledgeable at least he knows that he doesn’t know.
So this scientist Ensitein he was admitting “you go to the beach and take one
sand particle from that beach Juhu beach, Prabhupada used to walk and then you
admit that my knowledge is this one particle that now I am holding within my
pinch just one particle may be that much or even less than that I know compared
to the number of the sand particles are there on this beach or there are so
many beaches also.

So
how much could living entity know? Not much so when Lord He performs His lila
of srusti lila the creation then it is just mind boggling, it’s just “acintya” just beyond the grasp the
capability of living entity to know it. But in order to make living entity knowledgable
or at least know as much as living entity could to the extend they could know here
in this section of Srimad Bhagvatam the creation has been described not just
the theory of creation the facts of creation have been described. I was
thinking how Narada Muni he has gone to the authority in the creation next to
the Lord or Lords right hand man, Lord is cause of all causes that’s the
chapter here we are dealing Lord is
cause of all causes sarva karana karnam
.

So
the popular fact is that Brahma is the creator but even Brahma had to be first
created by the Lord before He creates more things. So Lord is cause of all
causes, cause of Brahma, who is kind of secondary cause of the creation. Lord
is first sarga then visarga, we were hearing and understanding yesterdays
lecture also. So Brahma is certainly has a big role if anyone has role to play
besides the Lord that is Brahma, he has a big big role to play in creation of
the Lord or creation of Brahmanda. So what Narada Muni is doing he is going all
the way to the top person, the top authority in this creation who is
responsible for creation, he goes there ok Brahmaji give us some – it’s like a
interview, we heard of those 10 questions yesterday which are at the beginning
of this chapter “yad rupam yad
adhisthanam
” and total number of 10 questions were raised.

So
Narada Muni who also has inferior position he is going to the superior
authority he is going to his father, Narada Muni is son, Brahma is the father.
O! Father, father daddy daddy could you please tell me explain to me be kind
upon me. So these things human being should know or they should know these
things even as Lila of the Lord, creation is Lila of the Lord and O! my dear
father Brahma ji and he is asking all these questions all possible questions
that human being could possibly would want to know about the creation. Those
questions have been raised by Narada Muni probably he sat in Badrikasrama some
point and he I was making a list or these questions probably people from Delhi
would ask, these questions from New York, people from here there would ask and
he made a list and Badrikasrama because that is his headquarter, Narada Muni,s
head quarter is Badrikasrama, Badri-Narayana he worships in Bharatavarsa. “Narayana Narayana Narayana” when you
see Narada Muni you remember Narayana or he reminds everybody of Narayana, he
gives out Narayana, so Badrikasrama is his place.

So
he made a list and he is approaching Brahma “could you please tell us about
this creation? This, this ………different
10 questions
”. And what we are hearing these days in the Bhagvatam class
including today’s verse is a reply, is a response to Narada Muni,s questions.
The person who is asking questions who has made the list of questions is a top
notch authority himself, pure and he is the representative of all the people.
Or he has to go around and O! What if somebody ask me about the creation, you
know I go everywhere I better know I better equip myself with answer to these
questions otherwise it could be very embarrassing position as those yamadutas
were embarrassed. Prabhupada writes if you are representing someone before you
out to represent you better be knowledgeable about the representation.

So
Narada Muni he is a world preacher and he is going to the top most authority
and wants to know all the things about creation. And the answers given are
nothing but the truth if anybody knows about the creation of course Lord knows
and there is and there is another person who knows and that is Brahma because
he is directly involved with the creation. So that person had been interviewed
by Narada Muni and these are facts “facts are facts” it is the truth for all
the time to come. Brahma and Narada Muni they wanted to go on record and that
record is here this Srimad Bhagvatam several chapters many many chapters
dealing with creation “sarga, visarga” very in-depth mystical also and so many
great details and very interesting details about the creation of the Lord.

So
this is it if anyone, anywhere, at any time is interested in knowing about the
creation of the Lord, creation which is out there, this is the place, this is
the source you go into Bhagvatam and vedic text, Upanisadas, Puranas, essence
of all that is here in Amala-Purana –
Srimad Bhagvatam Purana
and you hear this you read this and you become
knowledgeable about the creation of the Lord. The creator mentioned here is
jiva “jivo jivam ajivayat” flows very nicely sounds very nice “jivo jivam
ajivayat” one jiva, jiva also means life, o! This is nirjiva they say- this
does not have jiva – this does not have life. So the first person Prabhupada
describing that person as leader of the all the living entities, but  he is also jiva because  he is full of life in fact life comes from
life which Prabhupada made that bold statement “life come from life” so that is
right here jivo. In the beginning there was jiva the supreme living entity and
he is cause of all causes from that jiva that life rest of the life has come in
to existence.

hiranyagarhba antaryami” that jiva has
been described as “hiranyagarhba, “hiranyagarhba” that is Garbhadakshai Vishnu
that jiva has been also described as antaryami, antaryami Krishna the Lord in
the heart or supersoul “samsara
vyatirikta parmeswara
”. Jiva is samsara vyatirikta – means someone whose is
beyond this samsara – this material existence this jiva doesn’t come from, it’s
not product of this samsara “samsara vyatirikta” and He is a Parmeswara, living
entity is also samsara vyatirikta beyond this material existence but He is not
only “samsara vyatirikta but he is “samsara vyatirikta parmeswara” He is
Supreme Personality of Godhead and He is creator. He creates brahmanda anda –
egg shape – brahmanda “mama yonir mahad brahma”.

So
brahmanda is the universe and He is also creator of panda another word has been
used for the living entity. Brahamanda is universe and the anda, one is anda
one is panda, anda – brahmanda its the material universe and pinda – each one
of us is pinda like we say “pinde pinde
matir bhinna
” or “munde munde matir
bhinna”
matti means intelligence, Devakinandan prabhu was also throwing
light on how each one is different, our thoughts are different everything is
different you could see he gave a class and I am also giving a class he said if
one of us could give class we would be talking but differently this is also
amazing creation of the Lord, no two persons look alike there are 100 of you
are sitting and each different looking except who? Jananivas and Pankajangri
even after 30 yrs I can’t figure it out, I have to take few minutes to understand
whom I am talking to (laughter) whom I am talking to is this Pankajangri or is
this Jananivas I think one has bigger sikha and one has smaller sikha, there is
some difference, difference is there but very subtle.

So
isn’t that amazing and sometimes we also hear its true from the beginning of
creation till now all the bodies created by the Lord, not two bodies are alike
not that the present batch each one different but previous batch and the
previous batch each batch no 2 bodies were created just alike there is at least
some slight difference, little scar something different and this is something
amazing that we could just sit and appreciate and become Krishna conscious.
If  we could just sit and be amazed instead
of going to Agra to see the wonder 8th wonder of the world, you could just sit
in Vrndavan and hear about the creation of the Lord and be amazed such a
wonderful Lord He is no that Krishna is wonderful Krishna, His pastimes are
wonderful, this chapter Prabhupada has given title as wonderful Krishna but he
is wonderful Maha Vishnu, wonderful Garbhodakasayi Vishnu, wonderful
Ksirodakasay  Vishnu, we don’t have to
only appreciate rasa dance and talk about the rasa dance, how amazing! And
appreciate but here this this srusti lila is such a amazing thing, you could
relish if you could go deeper and understand step by step the creation of the
Lord and the subtleties and the details and the flavor it’s just amazing thing
what Lord does, amazing, wonderful creation of the Lord.

The
Brahmanda that anda and this panda and all that is in anda is all in this
panda, all that is out there also in this body in minute quantity different
elements which are out there pruthavi, teja , vayu, akash “bhumir aponala vayuh kham” (B.G 7.4) out there in here also of the whole,
you want to sample just sample your body and analyze your body and by knowing
panda you could know lot about the anda whole brahmanda. So what attracted my
attention was also Prabhupada writes in the purport of the 2nd verse of the
same chapter and this is Srila
Prabhupada ki…….jai
“contrary to
such mental speculative theories of creation however Narada Muni wanted to know
all the facts of creation in truth not by theories”.

So
many theories must be floating at the time Narada Muni also and big bang theory
and many other theories are there and Narada Muni just wanted to just smash
those or expose those or establish the fact not just go by theories but he
wanted to establish the truth about the creation. So Srila Prabhupada being a
representative of all the previous acharaya Brahma and Narada Muni, he is
really trying to attract the attention of the whole world. Are you interested
in knowing how the world was created? If
you say yes here Bhagvatam is the way
. You may be studying theories which
is full of mental speculation but the facts are these, this was spoken by the
person who was involved with the creation right there and then. Millions of
years ago when the creation took place this person Brahma he was right there
not just witnessing but he was involved making his hands dirty. I have not
studied Bible in detail but what we hear from our devotees who are from
Christian background is the description of the creation of this world of course
the great thing is which we appreciate that they admit that this world was
created by the Lord that’s good thing first of all, this world was created by
the Lord not much detail and He took some 6 days to create and by that time He
was exhausted and then on the 7th day He took rest and that was Sunday and
following in the footsteps of God we took rest on the 7th day we are also of
course we are fighting for more rest. So besides Sunday now we have Saturday or
half day we want to work less and get more pay.

Or
in the beginning there was ad “sabda
this is the part of the creation described, form sabda there was a sparsa,
rupa, rasa, gandha like that each of these 5 elements earth, water, fire , air
, ether, ether- has only sound, ether is more subtle creation or element and it
has only sound and the next only has sound and touch and like that you go to
the next one there are 3 things, 3 sense objects, 4th one has like that
………  So whatever is written in Bible is
also true giving credit to God His creation of course it’s His creation He
existed before the creation He was there at the time off creation, He created
it. But the only trouble is how much could you relish what is written in bible
that is also lila but described in such a summarized way that you could not
really relish and for the fact can’t
appreciate also unless you get into the details of the creation you
can’t appreciate it. So what is in the bible although truth but not much that
you could relish because so many missing links are there and some holes are
there and it doesn’t make sense sometime. So this is how a devotee is
explained. So this is what the Christians have to say or bible has to say. Then
very recently I came across statement from Quran about the creation. They kind
of agree with the description of creation which is described in the Bible the
Muslims agree with what is written in the bible only disagreement that they
have with the Christians or with the bible is they say O! come on you are
making God Alha kind of ordinary person, you are saying that He worked for 6
days to create then he was exhausted, he was tired com on God can’t be tired he
is never tired.

So
and then He created for 6 days, the 7th day he took rest they don’t agree with
this taking rest Lord taking rest doesn’t go together. And that’s the only
difference between what Christians and the Muslims have to say about the
creation of course both the parties fully agree that Lord has created this
world. But because what has been presented in bible and Quran is not a complete
and perfect and in great detail some place it doesn’t make sense and that has
given rise to the speculations of the scientist. The scientist or intelligent
being, intellectuals they always want to keep brain busy and active and so
exercise as other do exercise of the muscle or intelligent people the
intellectuals their power is in the brain muscle and they want to keep them fit
and active. So they were referring to this bible, Quran theories and that was
not convincing and then some intelligent theory had to be presented to the
world so they came with what is popularly known as big bang what is the theory?
Big bang What was big? The bang was big, the sound that explosion made they
kind of talk of some kind of mahat tattva or the mass of the matter was sitting
there, the matter was there and then nothing or suddenly or no prior cause or
notice or any person involved because there was no person according to them
before the creation just a big bang, big explosion took place and the whole
water scattered everywhere and came into a beautiful round shaped balls started
floating (laughs) but that’s not the experience when there is explosion, when
the terrorist came they also went to the twin tower – trade towers they exploded
those twin towers, some beautiful thing came out that you could take
photographs? O! What a beautiful creation or Americans got their karma.

In
Japan the most powerful bomb was exploded did some housing society, some
plants, some beautiful things came out of that explosion? So the experience
that we have of the explosion is that nothing beautiful, nothing wonderful,
nothing that could use comes into existence as a result of smaller big bang or
some explosion. So with this we reject, so behind every explosion there is a
person he is right there lighting the bomb may crude was y of lighting the bomb
with a candle may be that was being done some 50 yrs ago but now remote control
but still there is a remote, machine is there and person to push the button is
there. So no explosion is automatic unless some person is involved. So this is
how the big bang theory is down the drain. I also was thinking how because what
was available to the western world, the information or views or news of
creation from bible and Quran they did not satisfy the scientist or the
intellectuals and then they had to speculate and speculate and speculate to
their hearts content there was no one to stop them.

Generation
after generation they went on speculating and supporting this imaginary
theories big bang and some other theorizes and did this because the facts were
not available to them, the Bhagvatam theory was not made popular. Of course all
this big bang theory this is all in last 500 yrs or few thousand yrs there was
a time when this was the theory this was common knowledge. O! How was the world
created? Everyone knew you could stop any one on the street and ask them how
the world was created? And they would refer to conversation between Narada Muni
and Brahma or Maitre Muni and Vidura they knew because every student his
schooling began with the guru’s ashrama they all went to Gurus ashrama “brahmachari gurukule vasandanto gurur hitam”.
The perfect Narottamas, purified, through purified and honest persons as they
were they were only speaking truth and spreading the truth travelling
extensively where ever there was some black spot, some ignorance some were they
would go rush there with a torch light of knowledge and dispel the darkness by
discussing these topics of creation from Bhagvatam and some other Vedic
sources.

So
one time few thousand yrs ago in Sat-yuga, treta-yuga every single human being,
practically everyone knew how the world was created. So present theories are
just few hundred yrs old, concoctions and mental speculations which world is
buying because nothing substantial is being presented. But now the task has
begin with Srila Prabhupada entering the field of the whole world with the
original facts from Narada Muni and Brahma which are right there in the
Bhagavatam, which are being distributed far and wide. So this big bang theory
doesn’t have much future, not much longer into the future this big bang theory
would be accepted as something intelligent, like so many other theories are
being challenged, not only by Hare Krishnas but other intelligent being are
challenging theories one of such theory very popular theory is Darwin theory of
evolution being challenged all the time.

I
had read such report in the news paper before the challenges and the rejection
of the Darwins,s  theory of evolution but
something very recently a week ago, Darwin under attack by  U.S school board, American school boards are
attacking Darwin,s theory appeared in the front page in Sunday express on 2nd
if January and of course the whole news is from America printed as it is
(laughs) and God or Darwin report says God or Darwin choice is yours and this
U.S school board  they want to go for God
they want to reject this Darwin or at the most report says ok ok may be we
could accept this as a theory but not a fact may report also says, “I
definitely would prefer to believe that God created me” and I am not the or the
descendent of the apes, ape- the monkey, the Darwin is presenting that – the
most evolved being was apes-monkeys. Some 6 or 7 thousand yrs ago, the human
being from the monkey instead of using 4 feet he kind of stood up started
standing up gradually an d then his fore
limbs became his hands and his tail went inside from back and suddenly
he had hands, feet and tail, stood erect.

So
this all happened some 6 or 7 thousand yrs ago and then human beings first
edition, first version of the human beings were such uncivilized, uneducated
they were just  living in the caves -cave
men theory, the cave kings. And you know they used to fight a lot amongst each
other, men of one cave with men of another cave. They had no instrument they
just used rocks, throwing rocks at each other. The time of your battle field of
Kuruksetra where you describe amazing kind of weapons were used, the Mahabharat
war around that time, actually human beings had just now came into existence
and just even using rocks may be some sticks to beat each other and there were
no towns and cities and from that time the human being has further evolved and
he is becoming more and more intelligent and intelligent and more civilized
human being is the present version of human beings. So in brief in the
beginning was amoeba when the world was created in the beginning was amoeba not
Brahma (laughs) but amoeba.

So
that theory and there is little more into that and that’s theory of Darwin, Darwin’s
theory of evolution which was being taught in all the schools and colleges all
over the planet including in India unfortunately. I am sure even Mathura
university- vidyapitha is teaching the evolutionary theory of Darwin. Vaishnavs
never taught such theory Prabhpada would not even spit at such theories why
even spit and waste his spit at such garbage (laughter). He would just use his
boot to kick, he did not want to kick the face with is foot but with the boot
only. So one by one let us maintain staunch faith and some more patience and we
would relies that all those things which are presented as some kind of the
truth all over the world will be exposed and they would be proven wrong when
they know what is right and gradually there is a major change. I was talking
with Bhakti Swaropadamodhar Maharaj on phone just few days ago he conducted his
world conference- scientific conference in Rome in Italy just few days ago to
celebrate Prabhupada,s 108 birthday anniversary and he said there were so many
scientists but 32 of them he has a list of 32 scientist talking in favor of God
or Gods existence. There was a time, scientist means prove it, can you show me
God? If yes then I accept but now the same scientists are coming to the senses
gradually, gradually there is a global revolution in consciousness and

certainly the chanting of “Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare”

and study of scriptures the air is getting filled with the truth which is
defeating the myth and with that that
truth is inspiring so many individuals all over the planet now.

There
is a study first time, I was amazed to know, you would also be amazed first
time the research in consciousness being done.
Some scientists are doing research into consciousness you go beyond it’s
not just a matter something living, some consciousness they want to study the
consciousness though they may have different ideas what the consciousness is.
but at least they are coming to the conclusion that is world is not just dead
matter as darwin was also trying to prove- This is a bunch of chemical and
interaction of these chemicals life comes into existence. No, this verse is
talking that original jiva that samsara vyatirikta parmeshwara the Supreme
Personality of Godhead who was full of life He put life into everything else
around into living entities and got them into going, working as per their karma
and svabhava and ajivayat He becomes the cause of giving life to others, life
comes from life.

So life is being studied as consciousness for
the first time, this is happening of course you know Prbahupada in easy journey
to other planets  Prabhupada writes the
scientist are coming to the conclusion if there is a matter O! Possibly there
must be antimatter also, there is material there must be something ant material
also. What is antimaterial? There is a sprit, matter is matter then anti matter
is sprit. So some scientist are waking up to the reality it is good fortune and
good fortune of so many others because in this day and age the scientist have
become the Gurus of the masses, the Gurus or acharyas position has been taken
by the scientist. The scientist says something everyone Prabhupada says double
standard, sadhus is talking the acaryas is talking  you are challenging show me prove it but when
scientist say something lot of things which are not proven people don’t ask
those questions any more O! Could you prove it, their speculations they are
just blindly accepting it. And Prabhupada says double standard you are asking
us to show me, you are not asking the similar question to the scientist to
prove it.

So
it is very important for this spread of Hare Krishna movement over the planet
the scientist are a big stumbling block because they are taken as authority.
They have presented so many bogus
theories they dnt know to begin with thathey are souls or anybody is a
soul and to become scientist you dnt have to be man of any kind of
character….no, you could be women hunter, you could be meat eater, you could be
speculator and what else? What did I miss? Drunkard you could have a wine
bottle in one hand and you are punching the keys you are typing on the screen
its fine, its fine they can be Murderers, they may be terrorist could be
anything, no questions raised only their theories are accepted because with
those theories you get to exploit this material world and that is when you
could be ‘ishwaro-aham”, That you could declare but practically be that Ishwar-
the controlees, the enjoyer. So it’s a good team scientist are making the job
easy, facilatiinng this demonic nature and giving them how to be the enjoyer,
the ishwaro – aham. So from ishwaro-aham status that human being want to
achieve they want kingdom of God without God. Srila Prabhupada ki…jai wonderful
Prabhupada has made he was the first one to speak this kind of language, most
relevant statement Prabhupada has made. So from that position that human beings
are taking ishwaro-aham we have to bring them down to “daso- aham” “dasosmi”
not “boss-asmi”. So theories and scientist they are exploiting and people are
getting distracted and as a result infact there are suffering. They want to
enjoy but there are sufferings. So last lecture series Prabhupada gave on the
planet in Mumbai was the present day modern civilization is a total failure
only alternative is Krishna Consciousness this was his topic from Mayapur he
went straight to Mumbai and everyday he was roaring like a lion although we had
to lift him literally we had to lift him and put him on Vyas ashan but once he
was on the microphone he was getting the audience trembling. He was very bold
and out spoken and this civilization is total failure, only solution is Krishna
Consciousness. So, so many myths are being spread but Prabhupada books are
everywhere do you know that, I am sure another
places also this holds true that Delhi distributed 86 thousand Bhagvad –
Gitas in Marathon (round of applause). Devotees   of Delhi, Punjabi Bagh – 86, 000 Bhagvad-
gita and so like that it’s  just one city
score and wait till you hear about what Bombay did and other temples did to
distribute books and spread this knowledge. So this is Prabhupada,s program so
that the truth is established, the dharma “dharma sansthapanar thaya” and then
“sarve sukhina bhavantu” people would be happy and in real sense be prosperous
and that’s life that’s real life. So let us push on Prabhupads program,
Prabhupadas movement spreading the holy name and Bhagvatam knowledge based on
Bhagvatam this will spread the truth and whole world would be benefitted and
this is the topmost welfare work Prabhupada used to say.

Thank
you very much

 




The History of Kumbha-Mela by Lokanath Swami

The Inhabitants of the earth benefit from a cosmic fight for immortal nectar.

THE LORD’S pastime of protecting the devas (demigods) from the asuras (demons) by producing nectar from the ocean of milk is described in detail in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 8, chapters 5 through 11.

Millions of years ago, the sage Durvasa visited the capital of Indra’s kingdom in the heavenly planets. While Durvasa Muni was passing on the road, he saw Indra on the back of his elephant and was pleased to offer Indra a garland from his own neck. Indra, however, being too proud of his material wealth, took the garland and placed it on the trunk of his carrier elephant. The elephant, being an animal, could not understand the value of the garland. It threw the garland between its legs and smashed it. Seeing this insulting behavior, Durvasa Muni cursed Indra to become poverty-stricken.

The asuras, the natural enemies of the devas, took this opportunity to attack Lord Indra and steal all the riches and virtuous possessions in his kingdom. A fierce battle for supremacy of the heavenly planets raged. Bereft of all influence and strength, the devas were defeated.

The devas then went to Lord Brahma for help. Unable to offer a solution, Lord Brahma took them to Svetadvipa, the abode of Ksirodakasayi Visnu in the ocean of milk.

Snake-And-Mouse Logic

Lord Visnu advised the devas to cooperate with the asuras and churn the ocean of milk to attain an immortal nectar that would make the devas invincible. He told the devas to follow the logic of the snake and the mouse in dealing with the asuras. A snake and a mouse were once caught in a basket. The snake said to the mouse, “Look, I could eat you very easily, but it’s more important for me to get out of this basket. So why don’t you make a hole so that we can both escape?” The mouse agreed and started working. But as soon as the hole was big enough, the snake ate the mouse and came out of the basket.

Similarly, the Lord wanted the devas to take help from the asuras, but He had no intention of giving any of the nectar to the asuras. He would appear as Mohini-murti and cheat them.

The asuras and devas uprooted Mandara Mountain to use as a churning rod and requested Vasuki, the king of the serpents, to serve as the churning rope. With the churning, the mighty golden Mandara Mountain began to sink slowly into the ocean of milk. The devas and asuras became discouraged at the turn of events.

Then the Lord took the form of a tortoise, known as Kurma-avatara. He entered the water and held the great mountain on His back. The mountain moved back and forth with the churning motion, scratching the back of Lord Tortoise, who, while partially sleeping, was pleasingly experiencing an itching sensation.

Soon a fiercely dangerous poison was produced from the ocean, covering all directions. The compassionate Lord Siva drank the poison and held it in His throat, turning his neck bluish and earning him the name Nilakantha, “one who has a bluish neck.”

Products of The Milk Ocean

The milk ocean then produced many wonderful items: a surabhi cow, a beautiful horse named Uccaihsrava, the elephant Airavata, eight great white elephants that could go in any direction, eight she-elephants, the crescent moon, a conch shell named Pancajanya, a bow named Haridhanu (“the bow of Hari”), the goddess Varuni, the precious Kaustubha jewel, a desire-fulfilling parijata flower, Apsaras (the most beautiful women in the universe), Laksmi (the goddess of fortune), and Dhanvantari.

A partial incarnation of the Lord, Dhanvantari rose slowly from the ocean. Srimad-Bhagavatam (8.8.32-33) describes his beautiful form:

He was strongly built; his arms were long, stout, and strong; his neck, which was marked with three lines, resembled a conch shell; his eyes were reddish; and his complexion was blackish. He was very young, he was garlanded with flowers, and his entire body was fully decorated with various ornaments. He was dressed in yellow garments and wore brightly polished earrings made of pearls. The tips of his hair were anointed with oil, and his chest was very broad. His body had all good features, he was stout and strong like a lion, and he was decorated with bangles. In his hand he carried a jug filled to the top with nectar.

The jug of nectar was the prize everyone was waiting for. The asuras quickly stole the jug, and they began to fight over who should take the first drink. While they argued, the Lord assumed the form of an extremely beautiful woman known as Mohini-murti and slowly approached them.

Mohini-murti said, “The demigods are very miserly and are excessively anxious to take the nectar first. So let them have it first. Since you are not like them, you can wait a little longer. You are all heroes and are so pleased with Me. It is better for you to wait until after the demigods drink.”

The asuras, overwhelmed by Her beauty and charm, gave Her the jug of nectar, and She promptly delivered it to the devas.

The asuras were furious at the deception and attacked the devas with all their force. According to the Skanda Purana, at one point during the fight, Jayanta, a son of Indra, took the kumbha (jug) and ran away toward the heavenly planets. The asuras followed, eager to retrieve the nectar, and the fierce fighting continued. From time to time during twelve days of fighting, circumstances compelled Jayanta to place the kumbha at four places on earth: on the bank of the Godavari River in Nasika, Maharashtra; at the Shipra River in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh; at the Ganges in Haridwar, Uttar Pradesh, and at the Triveni-sangam in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh.

When the kumbha was lifted at each location, some drops of nectar fell onto the earth. That same nectar appears at these sites during certain planetary configurations. Even today, millions of people come to partake of the nectar, to become immortal by bathing in the holy rivers and drinking the nectarlike waters. Because the fighting between the devas and the asuras lasted for twelve earth years (twelve demigod days), Kumbha-melas are held at each of these sites once every twelve years.

Lokanath Swami is the director of ISKCON Padayatras (“walking pilgrimages”) worldwide and the author of the recently published book Kumbha: The Festival of Immortality.

Srila Prabhupada at Allahabad

FOR THIRTEEN YEARS Srila Prabhupada lived in Allahabad. He moved there in 1923 with his family. Allahabad was a good location to start his pharmaceutical business, Prayag Pharmacy. He entered a business partnership with a physician, Dr. Ghosh, who diagnosed patients and gave medical prescriptions, which Prabhupada would fill. Motilal Nehru and his son, Jawaharlal, (the future Prime Minister of India) were both customers at Prabhupada’s pharmacy.

During his time in Allahabad, Prabhupada stayed in contact with Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, whom he had first met in 1922 in Calcutta. On November 21, 1932, under the direction of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, the Allahabad Gaudiya Matha held a cornerstone-laying ceremony for their new temple. The governor, Sir William Haily, was the respected guest. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta held an initiation ceremony, and Prabhupada received initiation (harinama and Gayatri) from him.

Previously, upon learning that Prabhupada had requested initiation, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta had remarked, “He likes to hear. He does not go away. I have marked him. I will accept him as my disciple.”

Prabhupada at Kumbha-mela

The Vedic literature states that whoever bathes in the Triveni-sangam at the auspicious time of the Kumbha-mela is guaranteed of liberation from birth and death. That is why the Mela has always attracted millions of pilgrims.

Yet Srila Prabhupada said, “We are not interested in liberation. We have come to preach devotional service. Being engaged in Krsna’s unalloyed devotional service, we are already liberated.”

In contrast to almost everyone present, Prabhupada emphasized giving spiritual knowledge as the prime reason for attending the Mela. The devotee’s only ambition is to enlighten as many people as possible. Pilgrimage was secondary. With this mood, the devotees attended the 1971 Kumbha-mela with Prabhupada and enthusiastically presented Krsna consciousness to the millions of pilgrims.

None of the western devotees had ever attended the Kumbha-mela. The many bizarre sights can bewilder and confuse the mind, but Prabhupada reminded the devotees that spiritual life is neither exotic nor bewildering, but simple and practical.

“To go to a holy place means to find a holy person and hear from him,” Prabhupada had said. “A place is holy because of the presence of the saintly persons.”

In a conversation recorded in January 1977 (just before the Kumbha-mela), Prabhupada said that the real purpose of the Kumbha-mela is to take advantage of the spiritual knowledge presented there:

The Kumbha-mela is sat-sanga. If you go to the Kumbha-mela to find out a man of knowledge, then your Kumbha-mela is right. If one thinks that this salila, the water to take bath in the water is Kumbha-mela, then he is a go-kharah [a cow or an ass]. But the real idea is “Now there are assembled so many saintly persons. Let me take advantage of their knowledge.” Then he is intelligent. People should take advantage. You can go to different groups of saintly persons.  Different groups means “ brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti”. There are some yogis, some jnanis, some bhaktas. They are of the same category, little difference. But they’re all spiritual. They have no interest in this material world.

Some Real Yogis

Srila Prabhupada said that although many of the sadhus present were inauthentic and didn’t really know the highest goal of human life, many were perfect yogis. These yogis, from remote parts of India, would come out for the Mela and then return to seclusion.

“I have personally seen,” Prabhupada said, “that they take bath in the Ganges and come up in the seven sacred rivers. They go down in the Ganges and come up in the Godavari River. Then they go down and come up in the Krishna River, and go down, like that.”

The devotees, therefore, should respect everyone who attended the Mela.

Prabhupada also explained that one is not liberated automatically by taking bath at the Kumbha-mela on the specific auspicious days. But by coming to the holy tirtha and taking bath on the holy days, the door to liberation gets opened.

“If you are trying to enter a room and the door is closed,” he said, “there is some prohibition. It is more difficult for you to enter the room. But if the door is opened for you, then your entrance to the room is easier.”

Monkey Renunciation

After the 1977 Kumbha-mela, the story of the death of a Naga Baba made the national newspapers. Wearing no clothing, he had died from the extreme cold. Prabhupada commented on the incident. “He must die. They imitate. They have no sadhana [regulated spiritual practice], no bhajana [worship], and simply naga [naked].”

The devotees told Prabhupada that the imitators smoke chillums (marijuana) and become so intoxicated that they don’t feel the cold. One disciple told Prabhupada that he had seen a Naga who had been smoking cigarettes for twelve years without stopping. Another man had been holding his arm up in the air for the past twelve years. His fingernails had grown very long, and his arm was flat. Another renunciant hadn’t sat down for eighteen years. He carried a small swing with him, which he would tie to a tree and lean on.

“This is markata-vairagya, the renunciation of a monkey,” Prabhupada said, referring to the type of renunciation that, although difficult to perform, doesn’t produce any advancement in Krsna consciousness. The monkeys also have no clothes to wear and live in treetops in the secluded forest, but the male monkeys have a large group of female monkeys to sport with. Some devotees concluded that severe penance was not recommended anywhere in the Vedas, but Prabhupada corrected them: “No, Hiranyakasipu did it. But what did he gain? He became a raksasa [demon] and was killed.”

The Significance of Prayag

THE WORD prayag refers to a place where great sacrifices are held. Many ages ago, Lord Brahma chose as a place for sacrifice a prime piece of land encircled by three sacred rivers: the Ganges, the Yamuna, and the Sarasvati. That site became known a Prayag. In A.D. 1573, the Mogul king Akbar erected a large fort at the confluence of the three rivers and renamed the city Ilahabas or Ilahabad, “the city of Allah.” From that time, Prayag became known as Allahabad.

The confluence of the three rivers is known as the Triveni-sangam. Tri means “three,” veni refers to a braid, and sangam means “union.” The dark blue and black Yamuna flows swiftly into the white and gray Ganges. The Sarasvati flows underground.

Bathing in any of these sacred rivers is purifying, but the purification is said to increase a hundred times where the rivers meet. The Varaha Purana states: “In Prayag there is the Triveni. By bathing there one goes to heaven, and by dying there one gets liberation. It is the king of all tirthas [holy places of pilgrimage] and is dear to Lord Visnu.”

Lord Brahma has said, prayagasya pravesesu papam nasyanti tatksanam: “All sins are at once cleansed upon entering Prayag.”

Many exalted saints and sages have visited Prayag. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Lord Nityananda, and Advaita Acarya all spent time there during pilgrimage tours.