The Second chance
Venue: Germany Bhagvat saptha (Ajamil Katha series – Sixth session)
The Yamadutas left and then some time for Ajamila to have a nice darshan of Vishnudutas and he was developing some desire to have a word with them, talk to them but that didn’t work out, they disappeared and the reason has been stated in the purports that, so that he could think that he is left by himself, first of all he will feel separation also from Vishnudutas, he had a nice association, nice advice, therein great service to Ajamila. So by disappearing, Vishnudutas disappearing, they were thinking that Ajamila would think separation from them also and he would regret more nicely, more badly, you know, go deeper and think bad of, for what he had done in the past and so that’s what is happening here. This is 6th canto, chapter 2 text no. 26 onwards. And we have, we go to the end of the chapter 2 then we’ll have chapter 3, that’s tomorrow.
“aho me paramam kastam abhud avijitatmanah
yena viplavitam brahma vrsalyam jayatatmana” (S.B 6.2.26)
‘Paramam kastam’ – oh! What an extreme miserable condition I have been put through, paramam kastam, Oh! what a hellish life that was and this is all because of avijitatmanah – my uncontrolled senses. Then with that my uncontrolled mind and not very chaste and sharp intelligence, ‘yena viplavitam brahma vrsalyam jayatatmana’ – I lost all my brahmanical culture vrsalyam and this was because I ‘samsarva dushitah’- because I came in contact with this low class, 4th class Prabhupada has said, prostitute and ‘jayatatmana’ – and I went on producing children and then of course for maintaining them, I used all sorts of means to make money and spend money on them, Oh! what a life!
Purport – The men of the higher classes — the brahmanas, ksatriyas and vaisyas — do not beget children in the wombs of lower-class women. Therefore the custom in Vedic society is to examine the horoscopes of a girl and boy being considered for marriage to see whether their combination is suitable. Vedic astrology reveals whether one has been born in the vipra-varna, ksatriya-varna, vaisya-varna or sudra-varna, according to the three qualities of material nature. This must be examined because the marriage between a boy of the vipra-varna and a girl of the sudra-varna is incompatible; do they consider these things in the west? (Maharaj asking devotes). The married life would be miserable for both husband and wife if the compatibility is not there. Consequently a boy should marry a girl of the same category. Of course, this is trai-gunya, a material calculation according to the Vedas, but if the boy and girl are devotees there need be no such considerations. A devotee is transcendental, and therefore in a marriage between devotees, the boy and girl form a very happy combination. Yes? They have experienced, there are other many happy combinations, so many are not also for different reasons.
“dhin mam vigarhitam sadbhir duskrtam kula-kajjalam
hitva balam satim yo ham sura-pim asatim agam” (S.B 6.2.27)
Dhin mam – hell with myself, I condemn myself, vigarhitam sadbhir, duskrtam – one who has committed sinful acts, kula-kajjalam – and I gave all the bad name to my dynasty, defamed my family tradition, hitva balam satim – I gave up that young chaste wife who was a daughter of a saintly brahmin, I gave her up, I went for sura-pim wife who was accustomed to drink wine all the time, she was a drunkard and ‘asatim’ – not chaste at all, and I had ‘agam’ – I had intercourse with such 4th class woman, prostitute. This is a mentality of one who is becoming a pure devotee. When one is elevated to the platform of devotional service by the grace of the Lord and the spiritual master, one first regrets his past sinful activities. This helps one advance in spiritual life. The Vishnudutas had given Ajamila the chance to become a pure devotee, and the duty of a pure devotee is to regret his past sinful activities in illicit sex, intoxication, meat-eating and gambling. Not only should one give up his past bad habits, but he must always regret his past sinful acts. This is the standard of pure devotion.
Ya, so many devotees of Indian background, many of them ladies or elderly ladies, at time of initiation, they take vow, no intoxication, no meat eating, no gambling. Some of them, they don’t even know what the gambling is? The word intoxication they had was may be tea, they don’t know, the drug thing, they don’t even know what the drugs are and, but they say I take vow, no intoxication, no illicit sex, no gambling, no meat eating. So how they are going to regret for the past sinful acts? May be pervious life. So there were many personalities, devotees, candidates. Clean life from very beginning, meat eating they never touched no meat no fish no eggs, so many families no onion, no garlic, this is the standard, so many families. So many restaurants without onion garlic. Recently, last month, railway minister ordered, there’s a precision for Shiva bhaktas, they go on a pilgrimage, thousands and thousands of them, they walk or they take train, some walk. So railway minister ordered that all the food the railway cooks, atleast there should be food available which has no onion, no garlic, orders from the railway ministry sent circular all over the country in the region where Shiva bhaktas are going to be walking. They normally, so most of them eat normally onion garlic but at this particular pilgrimage time they refrain from that. So their considerations are like that in India.
But on the Indian airlines they still, they even ask Swamiji what you would like, non-veg or veg? They don’t think stereotype although they have a kumkum, big bindi there. We know they are from Hindu family, they should be knowing. Mechanically they just ask, they ask swamiji whether you will have chicken or turkey? (Laughter) Either this was bad just when they ask veg or non-veg. Even that was sufficiently bad (Maharaj laughs) other lines, which kind of non-veg do you like? Fully choice between this non-veg or that non-veg; no other choice. But in 75-76, devotees flew to mayapur, full plane load of devotees and they were ordering prasadam and kachoris’ sweets from new Vrindavan. Then they used the public address announcement system to say the prayers “maha prasade govinde” and they were exchanging prasadam from different temples, London temple was sharing with other temple they had planned you all have to come with prasad, so devotees were carrying tones of prasad. Once they had a prasadam served honored and devotees felt like doing kirtan, they had many mridangas, Balaram mridangas they had plastic mridangas they are newly made for first time, devotees were carrying them. So the devotees gathered in between rows of seats and they started kirtan (Maharaj laughs) they were jumping up so the captain was having difficulty maintaining (Maharaj laughs) so the plane was shaking and so he had to order them, hey! Stop it sit down, for security reason you should tighten your belts now. So in future when most of the travelers would be devotees and travelling for preaching purpose only at pilgrimage it will be more maha prasade govinde.
“vrddhav anathau pitarau nanya-bandhu tapasvinau
aho mayadhuna tyaktav akrtajnena nicavat” (S.B 6.2.28)
He was also regretting, you know my parents – ‘pitarau’ they were old and they had no one to look after, no nanya-bandhu – no friends and they were very simple and very austere people but nicavat – I was so low class that I just abandoned them ungratefully. Oh! How I could have done this? So there is point to regret also, so he is regretting. According to Vedic civilization, everyone has the responsibility for taking care of brahmanas, old men, women, children and the cows. This is the duty of everyone, especially an upper-class person. Because of his association with a prostitute, Ajamila abandoned all his duties. Regretting this, Ajamila now considered himself quite fallen.
“so ham vyaktam patisyami narake bhrsa-darune
dharma-ghnah kamino yatra vindanti yama-yatanah” (S.B 6.2.29)
Oh! It is now clear certainly I will ‘patisyami’ – I will fall down, I will have to enter narake – in the hell, bhrsa-darune – most miserable situation I will have to enter into, dharma-ghnah kamino – I broke all the religious principles by associating myself with that lusty, too lusty woman – kamino. So now I will have to undergo yama-yatanah – miserable conditions imposed by Yamaraja. So this is my future now.
“kim idam svapna aho svit saksad drstam mahadbhutam
kva yata adya te ye mam vyakarsan pasa-panayah” (S.B 6.2.30)
Kim idam svapna – Oh what I just saw was that a dream or saksad – or was it a reality directly, it was such a amazing thing what I has just seen in kva yata – where did they go? adya te ye mam vyakarsan pasa-panayah – just now they are dragging me with the ropes tied to my neck, they were dragging me with the ropes, where did they go?. “atha te kva gatah siddhas catvaras caru-darsanah” (S.B. 6.2.31) And what about those other four persons? Oh they were very effulgent, beautiful they were. Infact by their mercy, vyamocayan niyamanam – myself I was being dragged and dragged down to the hellish conditions but those four perfect persons they saved me, they rescued me, ‘baddhva pasair adho bhuvah’ – with the ropes they had tied me and they were taking me down downwards but these four persons they rescued me.
Purport – As we have learned from the descriptions in the Fifth Canto, the hellish planets are situated in the lower portions of this universe. Therefore they are called adho bhuvah. In this verse they have been described as ‘adho’, adho means down. Ajamila could understand that the Yamadutas had come from that region.
<strong>”athapi me durbhagasya vibudhottama-darsane
bhavitavyam mangalena yenatma me prasidati” (S.B 6.2.32)
Therefore although very very unfortunate, low born and misbehaved as I was, those intelligent exalted personalities devotees four of them bhavitavyam mangalena – they did something good for me, they changed the whole direction, they revolutionalised my life, my consciousness ‘yenatma me prasidati’ – and as a result infact I have become very very happy, I am happily situated because of ‘vibudhottama-darsane’ – not only they gave me darshan but they changed everything into auspiciousness and Prabhupada is quoting
‘sadhu-sanga sadhu-sanga sarva-sastre kaya lava-matra sadhu-sange sarva-siddhi haya’ (CC Madhya 22.54) so that is what has happened, these four Vishnudutas, they were the sadhus and lava-matra – not for very long, they were with Ajamila and he attained all the perfection – ‘sarva-siddhi haya’. In the beginning of his life Ajamila was certainly very pure, and he associated with devotees and brahmanas; because of that pious activity, even though he was fallen, he was inspired to name his son Narayana. Certainly this was due to good counsel given from within by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Prabhupada is writing in the purport, this must have been the dictation from within from chaitya guru, go ahead go ahead, name your son Narayana, go ahead, this will come handy useful to you in future, name him Narayana, give him name Narayana and Lord gave that dictation counseling because he had performed some good deeds, pious deeds. Lord, who is situated in everyone’s heart, is so kind that if one has ever rendered service to Him, the Lord never forgets him. Thus the Lord, from within, gave Ajamila the opportunity to name his youngest son Narayana so that in affection he would constantly call “Narayana! Narayana!” and thus be saved from the most fearful and dangerous condition at the time of his death. Such is the mercy of Krishna. Guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija: by the mercy of the guru and Krishna, one receives the seed of bhakti. This association saves a devotee from the greatest fear.
In our Krishna consciousness movement we therefore change a devotee’s name to a form that reminds him of Vishnu. If at the time of death the devotee can remember his own name, such as Krishna das or Govinda das, he can be saved from the greatest danger. Therefore the change of names at the time of initiation is essential. The Krishna consciousness movement is so meticulous that it gives one a good opportunity to remember Krishna somehow or other. So you all have names, Parikshit and you all have names? Nice nice names you have, spiritual names. So Prabhupada even if you remember your own name (Maharaj laughs) which is your not your name infact, it’s not your own name. Whose name is Govinda? Krishna’s name; nobody has has name called Govinda, whose name is Krishna? Krishna’s name is Krishna. So you go all over the world and you will not find a person who’s name is Krishna, you will have to go all the way to Goloka, “Goloka eva nivasaty akhilatma-bhuto” there He resides, His name is Krishna. Sometimes people in India, people say, we go to preach to them when they find out that we are Krishna bhaktas just to develop some kind of friendship, appreciation, they say oh! my name is also Krishna and you know my wife is Radharani, lot of times that is the case, wife’s name is Radharani, Krishna but then we correct them and say, no no you are Krishna Das and your wife is Radharani Devi Dasi because no one’s name is; Radharani is Radha’s name only. In this world there’s no person called Krishna, no person called Radharani. So even Krishna Krishna we say, it sounds like saying alphabets are used, ‘K’ ‘R’ and ‘I’ ‘S’ ‘H’ ‘N’ ‘A’ and same alphabets and we say Krishna. So this Krishna is only Krishna’s name and its all transcendental.
“anyatha mriyamanasya nasucer vrsali-pateh
vaikuntha-nama-grahanam jihva vaktum iharhati” (S.B 6.2.33)
I must have performed some good deed, may be in my previous life, I don’t remember anything from this life, not much, otherwise how was it possible that I was able to utter the name of the Lord, ‘anyatha’ – myself who was about to die and being a husband of a prostitute, I was able to ‘vaikuntha-nama-grahanam vaktum jihva’ – my tongue was able to chant Narayana Narayana, how is it possible? Were it not for my past devotional service, how could I, a most unclean keeper of a prostitute, have gotten an opportunity to chant the holy name of Vaikunthapati when I was just ready to die? Certainly it could not have been possible.
“kva caham kitavah papo brahma-ghno nirapatrapah
kva ca narayanety etad bhagavan-nama mangalam” (S.B 6.2.34)
He says, I am ‘kitavah pap’ means such a sinner worst order, brahma-ghno – I killed my, destroyed my brahmanical tradition ‘nirapatrapah’ – shameless, but I was able to utter the name of Narayana all auspicious chanting, name of Narayana and just nobody in connection with, in relationship with name of the Lord but I was able to chant that name.
Purport – Those engaged in broadcasting the holy name of Narayana, Krishna, through the Krishna consciousness movement should always consider what our position was before we came and what it is now. We had fallen into abominable lives as meat-eaters, drunkards and woman hunters who performed all kinds of sinful activities, but now we have been given the opportunity to chant the Hare Krishna mantra. Therefore we should always appreciate this opportunity. By the grace of the Lord we are opening many branches, and we should use this good fortune to chant the holy name of the Lord and serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead directly. We must be conscious of the difference between our present and past conditions and should always be very careful not to fall from the most exalted life. Prabhupada is questioning His followers, reminding His followers that now you are in a most fortunate position and maintain this, make sure you don’t loose this, how often you give this kind of opportunity, it’s rare; first of all human form of life is rare (1), (2) It is rare to have a desire to find God, to know God, serve God, manushyanam sahastreshu, out of thousands and thousands, one comes, who wants to come to God, so one to have human form is rare, to have a desire to know, God is second rare and third thing is then come in contact with the right personalities, right institution, right discipleic succession, that is even more rare. So in our case, we are human beings now and we have desire to find God, find the truth and then we also found came in contact with Krishna Conscious movement, which is the topmost, authorized institution of Krishna, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, so these rare things we have achieved, so losing this, it will be a big disaster.
<strong>”so ham tatha yatisyami yata-cittendriyanilah
yatha na bhuya atmanam andhe tamasi majjaye” (S.B 6.2.35)
So that is why now yatisyami – I am going to do my best, I am going to take vow that yata-cittendriyanilah – I am going to control my mind and senses, I am taking this resolution, yatha na bhuya – so that again I do not merge, glide down into tamasi andhe – the darkest regions of hell and existence, I don’t want to go that side and this, I will accomplish by yata-cittendriyanilah. Every one of us should have this determination, Prabhupada says, we have been elevated to an exalted position by the mercy of Krishna and the spiritual master, and if we remember that this is a great opportunity and pray to Krishna that we will not fall again, our lives will be successful. Creation is easy, relatively easy, maintenance is difficult. So become devotees, it’s not easy thing, not cheap thing but to maintain that devotion, to stay as devotees that’s a bigger project. If we neglect, not careful, not cautious, not afraid of maya Prabhupada says this is difficulty with my disciples, he used to say, they are not afraid of maya, too much confident, you cannot be confident while dealing with maya, she is powerful and she knows all the tricks of the trade, so be careful.
<strong>”vimucya tam imam bandham avidya-kama-karmajam
sarva-bhuta-suhrc chanto maitrah karuna atmavan” (S.B 6.2.36)
“mocaye grastam atmanam yosin-mayyatma-mayaya
vikridito yayaivaham krida-mrga ivadhamah” (S.B 6.2.37)
He says I was just dancing dog – krida-mrga, like monkeys also, they are made to dance, monkey business, monkey shows, so many people gather and this person he makes monkey do different tricks, jump, do this that, two monkeys fighting, whatever, the owner of this monkey they just catch hold of monkey and train monkey to follow the order and he just does as he is told. So it’s called krida-mrga – dancing; monkey dancing, Prabhupada says dancing dog. Vikridito yosin-mayyatma-mayaya – in the form of woman, that maya, I was just meant to dance, “balam pasya me mayayah” (S.B. 3.31.38) Kapil dev says to his mother Devhuti just see, just see the power of my maya, in the form of a woman, “balam pasya me mayayah stri-mayya jayino disam” the person may have just now returned by conquering all the directions, all the lands, he has just now come back, but now “bhruvi-jrmbhena kevalam” as now woman just moves eyebrow, then this person falls at her feet as she moved eyebrows getting his attention in a lusty way, and this person, he has just returned conquering big big lands and defeating many kings but now he is in association of woman and she moves eyebrow and this person is at her feet, licking her feet, licking her boot or serving her balam pasya me mayayah stri-mayya jayino disam, disam- directions, he has conquered all the directions, bhruvi-jrmbhena kevalam. So that’s the power of, Lord’s creation is like that, He created this, the worst thing; you man a woman, you woman a man and you forget Krishna, such a big Krishna, Supreme Personality of Godhead, you just forgot because of big cloud, the sun cannot be covered but when there’s a cloud you don’t see the sun; so woman becomes a cloud for man, man becomes a cloud for woman and then but now I am going to be good boy, going to behave now, sarva-bhuta-suhrc – I am going to be well-wisher of living entities, Ajamila is saying this, ‘chanto – I am going to be peaceful, maitrah – friendly, karuna – kind, this is my goal now, it’s my vision, he is setting the vision for himself. I want to make sure I become known as that kind of person. One who is interested in his own salvation is not as advanced in Krishna consciousness as one who feels compassion for others and who therefore propagates the Krishna consciousness movement. ‘Paropkaraya vahanti nadyah’ for others rivers are flowing so that they would only distribute, share their waters with others. ‘Paropkaraya phalanti vrakshah’ the trees are producing fruits, not for themselves, do the trees have breakfast? Eat their own fruits? In the morning, I don’t have to go anywhere shoping fruits are here, let me have few fruits. Tree never eats her own fruits, rivers don’t drink their own water, it’s just for others. So it is expected that the human beings also perform welfare activities for the benefit for others that’s glories. Spreading Krishna Consciousness is the topmost welfare activity.
<strong>”mamaham iti dehadau hitvamithyartha-dhir matim
dhasye mano bhagavati suddham tat-kirtanadibhih” (S.B 6.2.38)
So I am going to give up this aham mamiti – thoughts like this is me, this is mine dehadau – all the bodily concept and the bodily attachments, hitva – I am going to give all this up, dhasye mano bhagavati – I shall engage my mind in bhagvati – the Supreme Personality of Godhead specially in suddham tat-kirtanadibhih – I am going to engage myself in doing “sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam pada-sevanam arcanam vandanam dasyam sakhyam atma-nivedanam” These shudhham – pure activities, devotional services I am going to be engaged in now onwards. Srila Prabhupada writes, how a living entity becomes a victim of the material condition is lucidly explained in this verse. The beginning is to misidentify the body as one’s self. Something called bodily concept, the bodily concept of life is Brahma’s creation, not only body is created but something is injected in our body, in our brain, mind that is called bodily concept. Body’s concept is different from body. The body is created, bodily concept is also created one thing and Brahma creates the list of 4 items, the bodily concept, the second thing is the proprietorship; this is my body and this belongs to me, then third thing, not that order whatever order, self-deception means we cheat ourselves, we do so many wrong things, convince ourselves, this is right thing for me, good thing for me and it is not supposed to be good but you deceive yourself, you cheat yourself, beat yourself, you do harm to yourself. So this kind of self-deception and the forth thing is the fear of death, this is creation of Brahma, fear of death, self-deception, proprietorship and the bodily concept, it’s very hard to get over these things unless we are graced blessed by Krishna consciousness. So he is determined, this aham mam iti – I am going to give all this up. In the beginning is to misidentify the body as one’s self. Therefore Bhagavad-gita begins with the spiritual instruction that one is not the body, but is within the body. This consciousness can be possible only if one chants the holy name of Krishna, the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, and always keeps himself in the association of devotees. This is the secret of success. Therefore we stress that one should chant the holy name of the Lord and keep oneself free from the contaminations of this material world, especially the contaminations of lusty desires for illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling. With determination, one should vow to follow these principles and thus be saved from the miserable condition of material existence. The first necessity is to become freed from the bodily concept of life. Now iti – thus
“iti jata-sunirvedah ksana-sangena sadhusu
ganga-dvaram upeyaya mukta-sarvanubandhanah” (S.B. 6.2.39)
Not only he regretted and he set some new goals for him and got his determination together but he, he implemented, he did the implementation and jata-sunirvedah – he came to these right conclusions and he was able to detach himself from material conception of life. This was accomplished because ksana-sangena sadhusu – his association of sadhus, which sadhus? Those Vishnudutas, ksana-sangena sadhusu and so he went ganga-dvaram upeyaya – he went to ganga dvar, Haridwar some also say Hardwar depending, dwar means gate, so if you are devotee of Badri Narayan and going through Haridwar to badri ashram, then you call that city as Haridwar but if you are going to Kedarnath which is on top of Himalaya mountain, if you are Shiva bhakta then you call it Hardwar, hari har; hari is Krishna, har is har har mahadev that is Shiva. So Haridwar has two names, haridwar hardwar, Krishna bhaktas call it Haridwar, Shiva bhaktas call it Hardwar. So he has called ganga dvar here, which is Haridwar which is heading towards Hari’s abode so its Haridvar, mukta-sarvanubandhanah – he made himself free from all kinds of material bondages and he just ran to Haridwar, walked in padayatra. Our Krishna consciousness movement now has centers in Vrindavana and Navadvipa so that those who want to live a retired life, whether they be devotees or not, can go there and with determination give up the bodily concept of life. One is welcome to live in those holy places for the rest of his life in order to achieve the highest success by the very simple method of chanting the holy name of the Lord and taking prasada. Thus one may return home, back to Godhead. We do not have a center in Hardwar, Prabhupada is saying that time it was not, but now we have two centers in Hardwar, but Vrndavana and Sridhama Mayapur are better for devotees than any other places. The Caitanya Candrodaya temple offers one a good opportunity to associate with devotees. Let us all take advantage of this opportunity.
“sa tasmin deva-sadana asino yogam asthitah
pratyahrtendriya-gramo yuyoja mana atmani” (S.B. 6.2.40)
So he went to Haridwar and there deva-sadana – he went to temple, sadana means residence, residence of God i.e. temple, asino – he sat he was reciting, yogam asthitah – situated in yoga, bhakti yoga, pratyahrtendriya-gramo – controlling all his senses, yuyoja mana atmani – and fixed his mind on self or super soul, Supreme Personality of Godhead. He was now strictly following, taking holy dip in ganga everyday, temple on the bank of ganga, following all the practices, all that he had learned from before, so he had been practicing before also, so he just continued that process. The devotees who have joined the Krishna consciousness movement may live comfortably in our many temples and engage in the devotional service of the Lord.
<strong>”tato gunebhya atmanam viyujyatma-samadhina
yuyuje bhagavad-dhamni brahmany anubhavatmani” (S.B 6.2.41)
Ajamila fully engaged in devotional service. Thus he detached his mind from the process of sense gratification and became fully absorbed in thinking of the form of the Lord. His mind got fixed on bhagavad-dhamni – form of the Lord. He withdrew his mind from everything else. “yato yato niscalati manas cancalam asthiram tatas tato niyamyaitad atmany eva vasam nayet” (Bg. 6.26) So he withdrew his mind, wherever it was going, he was dragging it back and putting that fixing that on the form of the Lord and he had become quite successful in his practices. If one worships the Deity in the temple, one’s mind will naturally be absorbed in thought of the Lord and His form. There is no distinction between the form of the Lord and the Lord Himself. Therefore bhakti-yoga is the most easy system of yoga.
“yarhy uparata-dhis tasminn adraksit purusan purah
upalabhyopalabdhan prag vavande sirasa dvijah” (S.B 6.2.42)
So now when his mind and intelligence were fixed, he had attained his perfection, equilibrium of mind, he was attaining now samadhi, full concentration on the form of the Lord, “brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati na kanksati samah sarvesu bhutesu mad bhaktim labhate param” (Bg. 18.54) He had attained all bhakti and so when he had attained that kind of perfection of yoga, tasminn – at that time, adraksit – he saw, purusan – those personalities, purah – he had seen them previously, who is here? Who has come? Vishnudutas, same Vishnudutas. Vishnu has so many dutas, so many representatives, but same set of those four Vishnudutas, they know the case, it is their case you go the same doctor, the next time you come he knows the history, case. So adraksit purusan purah upalabhyopalabdhan prag vavande sirasa dvijah – So this brahmin, Krishna bhakta Vishnu bhakta, he immediately vavande – offered his obeisance’s bowing down, not just mentally but physically he bowed down and offered full dandavat unto those four Vishnudutas. Vishnudutas who had rescued Ajamila came before him again when his mind was firmly fixed upon the form of the Lord. The Vishnudutas had gone away for some time to give Ajamila a chance to become firmly fixed in meditation upon the Lord. Now that his devotion had matured, they returned to take him. So he was given some time to become more perfect, get your act together, we are liberating you now. So just become firmly fixed and then we will come back again so they come back. They had not said so. And now
“hitva kalevaram tirthe gangayam darsanad anu
sadyah svarupam jagrhe bhagavat-parsva-vartinam” (S.B 6.2.43)
So when he saw, he offered his obeisance’s and then as he was getting up he just his body just stayed there on the ground and what came what stood was svarupam jagrhe – he assumed spiritual form, now he also had four hands. So that body was there and out of that body came his soul, that soul is a person or the form, whole thing. Sadyah – immediately, svarupam jagrhe – assumed the form, bhagavat-parsva-vartinam – fit, form that is fit to be associated with the Lord, to become associate with the Lord, so that’s the spiritual form, Lord’s form is spiritual so we need also spiritual form to associate with the Lord. So he had that form.
“janma karma ca me divyam evam yo vetti tattvatah tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti so ’rjuna” (Bg. 4.9) So this is what happened, tyaktva deham – he gave up his body no more birth for him, Vishnudutas are all ready standing waiting to bring him back to Vaikuntha. The result of perfection in Krishna consciousness is that after giving up one’s material body, one is immediately transferred to the spiritual world in one’s original spiritual body to become an associate of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Some devotees go to Vaikunthaloka, and others go to Goloka Vrindavana to become associates of Krishna. So that has started now in ISKCON. Lately, quite a few devotees are heading towards back to Godhead, many more have been lined up, we all are standing in a queue and then in about 15 years time, not 15, 20 years time, lot of them will leave every day, now we hear once a month, we get the report, our batch is in early 50’s mid 50’s so in another 15-20 years, everyday there will be news. So we are given little, we were given today, today was at our disposal, everyday that we are born alive or we wake up not born, every day we wake up, we should thank God that we are still around and Krishna is giving another day for us to practice Krishna consciousness. If it is not for practicing Krishna Consciousness developing detachment cultivating love of Godhead, why should we survive? Why do we need additional day or longer life? What for? Only purpose that we should use our time is to get closer to the Lord otherwise “taravah kim na jivanti” (S.B. 2.3.18) Sukhdev Goswami, aren’t the trees, look at those trees, they must be here for last few hundred years. taravah – aren’t the trees living? bhastrah – isn’t the bellow of the blacksmith, you have seen the bellows of the blacksmith? You have to go to India big; you have them in the west? Blacksmith ya we have seen in our village also, big big bellows, rope and then stick, it is attached to that bellow, so much air in and out, so lungs are doing the same thing, lungs are also functioning as bellow but we take only some air in and out but the bellow, the blacksmith takes so much air in so much air out, does it mean the bellow of the blacksmith is better? Or because the tree is living long life, is that the long life better? What good is that long life devoid of Krishna consciousness that is the point being made. Then Sukhdev Goswami says aren’t there ‘khadanti na mehanti kim grame pasavo ’pare’ aren’t there animals in your home town? They also khadanti – they also eat, mehanti – they also pass semen, they also have sex life, so it’s not just you, so if you are also just in town just to eat and sleep and have sex, animals are also doing that nothing special. Special thing is only human beings could become Krishna conscious no one else and if we are living longer and living any additional day, additional month, additional year, we should be for that purpose otherwise its meaningless. Ok time has come to go.
“sakam vihayasa vipro mahapurusa-kinkaraih
haimam vimanam aruhya yayau yatra sriyah patih” (S.B 6.2.44)
Sakam vihayasa vipro – so by the path in the sky, so haimam vimanam aruhya – so he was welcome to the aircraft airplane, haimam – it was made up of gold, gold not steel, aluminum no made up of gold and these mahapurusas they invited him to board, you may board the plane now. They are giving some helping hand to climb up and yayau – then they went took off, engine started and gradually lifted and chuuu!! went. yayau yatra sriyah patih – they went where? The pati of sriyah – laxmi pati resides. That was the final destination of that flight. For many years, Prabhupada writes, material scientists have tried to go to the moon, but they are still unable to go there. However, the spiritual airplanes from the spiritual planets can take one back home, back to Godhead, in a second. The speed of such a spiritual plane can only be imagined. Spirit is finer than the mind, and everyone has experience of how swiftly the mind travels from one place to another. Right? Mayapur, Los Angeles, Hawai, Paris, Australia, Durban your mind goes what a speed. So Prabhupada says, the spiritual soul is even more subtle, more finer than the mind, so its speed is even faster than the mind. With that speed, spiritual plane travels. Therefore one can imagine the swiftness of the spiritual form by comparing it to the speed of the mind. In less than even a moment, a perfect devotee can return home, back to Godhead, immediately after giving up his material body. Some 350 years ago, one such plane, spiritual plane landed in Maharashtra, 355 years ago to be more precise, this is the birthplace of Tukaram, saintly person Tukaram you saw the movie, ISKCON ITV has the Tukaram. So he was performing kirtan, he was addressing thousands and chanting dancing playing his veena singing Vitthal Vitthal Vitthala majhya Vitthal Panduranga he was singing Vitthal Rakhumai, Panduranga Panduranga Vitthal, he was totally absorbed and getting everyone also to be absorbed. This was on the bank of river Indra, Indrayani near Pune city, presently industrial town called Pune, just outside, home village of this Tukaram. And then they saw plane coming, descending although thousands of persons, this is 350 years ago, all these planes which we are seeing now, they are only for 100 years or less, those Wright brothers, you heard of the Wright brothers or wrong brothers? They invented this plane which was only towards the end of last century 19th century. So but this plane, I mean, no-one anyone had seen, read some descriptions in the shastras, but here thousands of them they witnessed a plane coming and landing just near where a pandal big program was going on. And then Tukaram was invited to come up and take his seat which he did on the request of the airhost. He folded his hands and offered pranam to everybody, Ram Ram means see you, see you later ram ram. He said in marathi, “amhi jato amchya gava, amcha ram ram ghyava” I am going to my hometown now, please accept my ram ram. And they were all thinking, what? Your village is there, let us go walk, why you have sit in this chariot like this, but no one knew what was going to happen, he was saying I am going to home now and so soon this plane took off and to the great amazement of these thousand assembled just keep looking. Hey Hey!! Calling, but they thought he will make some few rounds and come back after a while but that wasn’t the case, they were waiting and waiting and waiting, that plane never returned, Tukaram also never returned. This is a true story, history. You could go, I have just seen a few months ago, where the plane landed that place is there, you could go and vibration, feels little temptation of wanting to go. So some time, things are also revealed this way and in the past others were given a lift and taken back to the Lord. So if you come to India, come to Maharashtra, not far from Mumbai Bombay is this place Tukaram’s birth place and now, end of this second chapter, final statement, final few statements.
“ya etam paramam guhyam itihasam aghapaham
srnuyac chraddhaya yukto yas ca bhaktyanukirtayet” (S.B. 6.2.47)
So saying, srnuyac chraddhaya yukto yas ca bhaktyanukirtayet – so Sukhdev Goswami says anyone who, this is important thing, important conclusion. So be here, don’t jump out of the window. So anyone who hears this guhyam – confidential history ok, here chraddhaya – here with faith chraddhaya yukto yas ca – and, bhaktyanukirtayet – with devotion narrate this, share this history with others. There’s a benifit of doing so, one who hear’s with faith and describes this confidential history with devotion,
“na vai sa narakam yati neksito yama-kinkaraih
yady apy amangalo martyo visnu-loke mahiyate” (S.B 6.2.48)
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You could only be sitting here and hearing this pastime when we go home, home town, home temple or home here stairs back those who couldn’t attend for some reason, if you share this pastime with them, na narakam yati – no more hell, doors of hell are closed for him and neksito yama-kinkaraih – and Yamadutas will not even look at you, they will be scared of you, oh he is a devotee, he is a Vaishnava, I better maintain safer distance and visnu-loke mahiyate – and such person, we will read this translation – Because this very confidential historical narration has the potency to vanquish all sinful reactions, one who hears or describes it with faith and devotion is no longer doomed to hellish life, regardless of his having a material body and regardless of how sinful he may have been. Indeed, the Yamadutas, who carry out the orders of Yamaraja, do not approach him even to see him. After giving up his body, he returns home, back to Godhead, where he is very respectfully received and worshiped. So such is the benefit and last, very last statement.
“mriyamano harer nama grnan putropacaritam
ajamilo ’py agad dhama kim uta sraddhaya grnan” (S.B 6.2.49)
While suffering at the time of death, Ajamila chanted the holy name of the Lord, and although the chanting was directed toward his son, he nevertheless returned home, back to Godhead. Therefore if one faithfully and inoffensively chants the holy name of the Lord, where is the doubt that he will return to Godhead? He was only addressing his son, that’s how he was chanting the Holy Name but if one does that shraddhaya – with all faith and no offense then certainly. Ok. If one does so, it is quite possible that even at the time of death he will be properly able to chant the holy name of the Lord with love and faith. In conclusion, one who chants the holy name of the Lord constantly is guaranteed to return home, back to Godhead, without a doubt. Haribol!
So now regarding tomorrow, I have a different idea, I mean the schedule, we could spend few minutes but the managers are not here. That is, we could start at quarter to 8 and finish by 9:30 the first session, little compromise; normal prasadam time is 9 o’clock. So eat half an hour little late, shorter session, I can manage, quarter to 8 till 9:30 and then we could meet again at 11 o’clock. So one and a half hour for breakfast and break and have another final session at which point we could take some questions or and if some of you have any comments or realizations, you could also speak, last second ya tomorrow’s second session. Towards the end of last session, some questions and some of your realisations.