A lecture by Śri Śrimad Bhaktivedānta Trivikrama Gosvāmi Mahārāja 18 October, Kārttika 1997, Vrndāvana
In Bhagavad-gītā Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa has said:
samo ’haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu na me dveṣyo ’sti na priyaḥ ye bhajanti tu māṁ bhaktyā mayi te teṣu cāpy aham
Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā (9.29)
I am equally disposed to all living beings, and am neither inimical nor partial to anyone. But as those who serve Me with bhakti are attached to Me, so too am I bound by affection for them.
“I am impartial to all.” He has openly declared this. “I am impartial. Samo ’haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu – I see all equally.” But He also says, “But those who love Me with pure devotion, I also love. If you love Me sincerely, I shall love you sincerely. If someone, in the core of his heart, sincerely wants Me, then I will also bestow mercy upon him from the core of My heart.” It depends upon us, not upon Lord Kṛṣṇa. Bhagavān is not at fault in this matter. After examining the student’s test sheet, the examiner grades it. The grade he awards is in accordance with how many questions the student answered correctly. Is this partiality? No. If you can give answers like a first class student, you will be awarded full marks. Such is the case. Whose fault is this? “Ye bhajanti tu māṁ bhaktyā mayi te teṣu cāpy aham – I am bound by affection to he who engages in loving devotional service to Me.” But we simply engage in shouting, “Why do I not attain Bhagavān?” Why are we not attaining Him? Is it Bhagavān’s fault? “Oh, you Vaiṣṇavas are not giving mercy,” we claim, “and therefore we are not attaining Him.” How and to whom do the Vaiṣṇavas give their mercy? The Vaiṣṇavas are agents. How and to whom do the agents of Bhagavān distribute their mercy? They will give mercy to everyone according to what they are fit to receive. Whatever is happening to us, whatever we attain, is all due to our own inclinations and is thus exactly what we deserve. In śāstra, everything has been explained: how we can attain Him and what will prevent us from attaining Him. Despite having heard these instructions, and knowing them well, we still do not become sincere in our attempts to follow them. Why are we knowingly doing wrong? Whose fault is this? All ācāryas instruct us by practising these instructions in their own lives. But we do not accept their example. If we don’t accept it, then what will happen? Whose fault is it? Is it the fault of the ācāryas? Likewise, we reject everything that is auspicious for us. We do not want any part of it; instead, we want inauspiciousness. We want to hear nice music and singing. We want to hear the nice playing of instruments. We accept this as kīrtana. Have the ācāryas demonstrated such a teaching? Will this behaviour of ours be accepted as properly following the example of the ācāryas? This is disobedience. Will those who disobey attain any good? This is indeed a fault. Kīrtana is not the same as merely singing and playing instruments. In merely singing and playing instruments one may be seeking one’s own sense gratification. It has therefore been prohibited. But in real kīrtana there is no question of seeking one’s own sense gratification. Through kīrtana we want to please the senses of Bhagavān. How will we do that? We cannot see or understand Bhagavān. What do the senses of Bhagavān need or desire? If we do not know the answer to this, then how will we ever be able to serve or please His senses? Can we gratify His senses simply with sweet melodies? What to speak of humans, even a snake raises his hood when he hears a sweet melody. Even deer silently follows a sweet sound. Such is the attraction of beautiful melody. These melodies have a powerful effect on the mundane senses, so of course we are attracted when we hear them. But this attraction is not bhakti! Musical sounds attract everybody, but mere music is not kīrtana. According to the tenets of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, it must be rejected.suyantre miśāiyā gā’bo sumadhura tāna ānande karibo duṅhāra rūpa – guṇa gāna
Hari Hari Kabe More Hoibe Sudina (Verse 2)
As the sounds of the divine instruments mix and create the sweetest melodies, I will blissfully sing songs about Their forms and qualities.
He only accepted khol (mṛdaṅga) and karatāla for use in kīrtana. This is the order of our divine master, also. During their time, they did not use other musical instruments, so why shall I? Whenever one seeks to gratify one’s own senses, bhakti is hindered. Hence, nice food and nice clothing have also been prohibited: “bhāla na khāibe āra bhāla na paribe – do not eat delicious food and do not dress opulently” (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā 6.236). If we do kīrtana with a harmonium, sitāra, violin or the like, it is so pleasing to us. But who can perform kīrtana? Can the instruments like the harmonium or violin do it? Mother Yaśodā used to call for Kṛṣṇa. Did she do it while playing a harmonium or violin: “He Lālā! Come!”? Or did Kṛṣṇa come running to her because of her melodious voice? What attracted Him? Bhakti (her love for Him).nānopacāra-kṛta-pūjanam ārta-bandhoḥ premṇaivabhakta-hṛdayaṁ sukha-vidrutaṁ syāt yāvat kṣud asti jaṭhare jaraṭhā pipāsā tāvat sukhāya bhavato nanu bhakṣya-peye
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 8.70)
When the devotee makes various offerings to the Supreme Lord – He who is the best friend of the distressed – if the offerings are filled with love, then the Lord becomes overjoyed, just as food and drink become the source of immense joy for one who is extremely hungry and thirsty.
The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has given us such instructions. If we make nice sweets and nice food and give them to Kṛṣṇa, will He eat them? Is He hungry? Should we conclude that Kṛṣṇa has never seen nice food before? Should we conclude this about Kṛṣṇa, that He has never eaten nice food before? This is a misconception. Duryodhana offered Kṛṣṇa so many opulent preparations. He had the nicest food prepared and presented to Kṛṣṇa on a golden plate. But Kṛṣṇa didn’t even glance at them! On the other hand, when He visited the house of His dear devotee, Vidura, He gladly ate banana peels with utmost satisfaction. He thoroughly enjoyed the offering there. Now, what is devotion? What did Sudāmā Vipra bring for his friend, Kṛṣṇa? He brought broken flat rice. But when he saw Kṛṣṇa’s vast opulence first hand, he was too ashamed to show Kṛṣṇa his meagre offering. “How can I give this to Him?” he thought. “My friend is such a big king, and he has such opulent arrangements for nice food and enjoyment. My offering is not fit for Him.” Yet Kṛṣṇa forcefully took the broken flat rice away from him. Then He ate it and said to His friend Sudāmā, “You were going to deprive Me of such nice things?” This must be remembered, always! Premṇaiva bhakta-hṛdayaṁ sukha-vidrutaṁ syāt. The only thing Kṛṣṇa craves is the sincere love in the heart of His devotee. Are we sincere? Do we love Kṛṣṇa sincerely? Or do we love others? My babies, my husband or wife – are they not more dear to me than Kṛṣṇa? Are they not the most dear to me? They are. Then why should Kṛṣṇa come to me? But if someone has given up all other connections, Kṛṣṇa will surely go to him. Kṛṣṇa is not a shareholder. No partial settlement will please Him. “I shall love You, I shall love my father, I shall love my mother and my daughter, and I shall love my husband. I shall love everyone. I am equal to all of you.” This will not do. This is not pure devotion; it is not bhakti. This is a lower grade of devotion like karma-miśra bhakti, jñāna-miśra bhakti, or yoga-miśra bhakti. It is to be rejected.anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā
Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.1.11)
Perpetual, ardent endeavour meant exclusively for Śrī Kṛṣṇa and performed out of genuine sympathy for Him, when neither prone to any selfish, ulterior desires nor eclipsed by impersonal knowledge, fruitive work, or any other occupation, is known as uttamā-bhakti.
Adulterated devotion to Bhagavān will never suffice in place of uttamā-bhakti. Everything must be given up for Bhagavān’s sake. Have you left everything? Who have you left? Have you left your wife? You consider yourselves to be very elevated devotees, but have you actually left anything? We want to go along, taking everything with us. That is a lower form of devotion. Some people pray, “Dhanaṁ dehi yaśo dehi manorma bharya dehi sarvaṁ kāmamś ca dehi – O Lord! Give me wealth, give me fame, and give me a beautiful wife. Fulfil all my desires.” This kind of mentality is sheer foolishness. Only he who has lost all knowledge of his real self will crave mundane things. “Give me money, give me a house, give me children, give me a wife, give me honour, give me a husband, give me everything.” What will Kṛṣṇa tell such people? He will say, “āmā bhaje, māge viṣaya-sukha amṛta chāḍi’ viṣa māge, ei baḍa mūrkha – he who performs bhajana of Me but asks for the pleasure of sense objects verily begs for poison while forsaking nectar (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya- līlā 22.38–39).” “He is a great fool!” He will say. “He is the most foolish of men.” Why? “Such people do not know what My glories are, or what can be achieved by attaining Me. They do not know and so they do not love Me. They do not understand what a valuable thing I am, because their intelligence is completely lost.” Not everyone knows what Kṛṣṇa is. They do not realize that He is the highest and most precious thing. A customer searching for something precious should have the proper intelligence, enthusiasm and inclination to acquire it. There is nothing inferior about Kṛṣṇa. He has therefore said,avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto mama bhūta-maheśvaram
Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā (9.11)
When I appear in My human-like form, foolish people with mundane intelligence disrespect Me, because they cannot comprehend My nature as the Supreme Lord of all beings.
Through this verse, Kṛṣṇa warns us, “Those who are bound by māyā and who have regard for the objects of māyā do not know Me. They cannot understand what I am, and therefore they disregard Me. They disobey and underestimate Me.” If Bhagavān were to come in front of us now, what would we say? What would we do with Him? A person will follow whatever tendencies he has and beg for something accordingly. Will they love Kṛṣṇa as Mother Yaśodā loves Him? Will they give up loving those whom they love now? We are staying in Vraja for one month for Kārttika, but how often do we daydream about returning to our homes? We think, “Many days have gone by. Soon I’ll go home and see how the children are and how my father is doing.” Where is our consciousness? Is it directed towards Bhagavān? I cannot adulterate the truth, for I am my gurudeva’s disciple. The truth must be told. Even if we only speak a little bit, it should be pure. Śuddha-bhakti is what we must achieve. How can we achieve śuddha-bhakti? How can we attain pure devotion? Impure devotion is not the best thing, for it cannot help us attain Lord Kṛṣṇa. We must be purely devoted and our devotion must be of the highest rank, like the Vrajavāsīs, like the gopīs and others. What to speak of the gopīs there are many devotees in Vṛndāvana whom we must aspire to be like. But we are not following any of them. Instead we are busy trying to enjoy our senses. We should give up that sort of enjoyment. Melodious sound is not kīrtana. In fact, it is actually prohibited in śāstra. Even when it is the name or pastimes of Kṛṣṇa that are being chanted or explained, if the speaker is not a pure devotee, we should not hear from him. This is the order given in śāstra.avaiṣṇava-mukhodgīrṇaṁ pūtaṁ hari-kathāmṛtam śravaṇaṁ naiva kartavyaṁ sarpocchiṣṭaṁ yathā payaḥ
Padma Purāṇa
One should not hear anything about Kṛṣṇa from a non- Vaiṣṇava. Milk touched by the lips of a serpent is poisonous;
Similarly, talks about Kṛṣṇa given by a non-Vaiṣṇava arealso poisonous. Why is this warning and order found in śāstra? We give so much praise, “O, this kīrtana is so great! Everyone was completely enchanted.” But was it kīrtana? In the name of kīrtana there was sense enjoyment. Even if we don’t like it, we should hear it. If someone praises us or says to us, “Bravo!” or, “That was so beautiful!” then we consider, “yes, he is a very good man.” But their words are not good for us. One should not hear one’s own praise. He who reprimands us is actually our friend. He is the cause of auspiciousness for us. What is told in śāstra?tāvat karmāṇi kurvīta na nirvidyeta yāvatā mat-kathā-śravaṇādau vā śraddhā yāvan na jāyate
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.20.9)
One should continue to engage in his prescribed duties (karma) as long as one has neither developed renunciation nor faith in hearing and reciting topics about Me.
Karma means endeavouring for one’s own sense gratification. If we want sense gratification, and therefore get married, what will we attain? Will we attain Bhagavān? Splendid! What a nice arrangement. But if that is the case, why does śāstra instruct us to leave everything for Bhagavān?sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ
Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā (18.66)
Completely abandoning all bodily and mental dharma, such as duties prescribed according to varṇa and āśrama, fully surrender to Me alone. I shall liberate you from all reactions to your sins. Do not grieve.
Why has this been told? Kṛṣṇa tells us, “Leave everything! Wife, husband, father, mother – give up your service to all of them and serve Me. Everything must be left for Me. If one tries to serve Me and continues to serve everyone else, it will not work.” Yet we want to see all as equal. “Splendid,” He will say. “Such devotion! You see Me as equal to other men; equal with jīvas who are imprisoned in māyā; equal to birds and dogs? Splendid! You are such faithful followers of dharma!” We insist, “No! I see everyone equally. All is one. One should view everyone equally. The idea that someone is inferior and someone is superior is not proper.” This conception is prominent nowadays. All exists in equality? Where is everything equal? Any two things are not equal, what to speak of everything. All things are separate, with differences between each of them. An intelligent man sees someone for what he really is. We should understand māyā to be māyā; we should not think that by serving māyā we are somehow serving Bhagavān. Through bondage to māyā, one is barred from serving Bhagavān. Rays of The Harmonist, Issue 22, Kārtika 2010