HH Bhaktividya Purna Swami

“Only Bhagavān means the Lord with His qualities and energies is uncovered. That is full. Otherwise the others are covered because you don’t see the energies and qualities. So even Bhagavān without the energies and qualities is still a Brahman understanding. This is very important because you see a lot of people in India worship Satya-Nārāyaṇa, means the satya, means truth, Nārāyaṇa. They do Satya-Nārāyaṇa-pūjā, but this is in the pañcopāsanā, so Viṣṇu in the mode of goodness. Because it is the Lord, Bhagavān, but without His qualities and energies. So He looks like the Lord, like that, but actually it is Brahman. That is why these people then will say ultimately Brahman is the ultimate. So you wonder, "Well, how is it that they are worshipping Kṛṣṇa in the temple and this and that, but they are basically Brahmavādīs?" Because they don’t actually see His qualities and pastimes and His energies. Does it make sense? So it is subtle. "

- From lecture on Śrī Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta & Daśamūla Tattva #5, Bhaktivedānta Academy, Śrī Māyāpura

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Reading from the Study Guide of Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta: "Realizations of Brahman and Paramātmā are covered by Māyā. Brahman realization has a covering of Māyā by negation, and Paramātmā realization has a covering of material energy directly. When a person is able to see the Lord with uncovered, spiritual eyes, he sees the spiritual form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

(..)

HH BVPS Mahārāja: So we see here is that by negation, means you have removed everything that there is, all the qualities and action, and then you have come to Brahman. So you have negated the material and come to Brahman. Therefore it is covered by material. In other words, the impersonal realization only works because you have used negation of the material to get to it. That means your Brahman realization is dependent upon your material negation. And Paramātmā then he is saying here "has a covering of material energy directly," in that you just see Him as the Lord of the material energy. He is just dealing with it here. So then it is going to be, you don’t see Him as separate with all His qualities and His pastimes and all this. Means, the elements of eternal and all this that the impersonalists have, you apply that to Paramātmā, but He has a form, He is eternal, He is the origin. But still that covering is there because He is just the Lord of the material energy. He has entered into everything, He is in-between everything, that means He is covered by material energy. So only Bhagavān means the Lord with His qualities and energies is uncovered. That is full. Otherwise the others are covered because you don’t see the energies and qualities.

- From lecture on Śrī Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta & Daśamūla Tattva #5, Bhaktivedānta Academy, Śrī Māyāpura

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“You are studying the scriptures to know Kṛṣṇa as service to Kṛṣṇa. So it is part of pāda-sevana, studying the scripture. Then that will be because it is already with faith, it is already in the association of devotees, knowledge coming from paramparā. But if you are just using logic, and by logic you think you will catch the Lord, then you will never catch Him."

- From lecture on Śrī Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta & Daśamūla Tattva #5, Bhaktivedānta Academy, Śrī Māyāpura

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"Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja, he is saying that this forgiveness, that is very important for the living entity. Because by anger, if you do any action through anger it will always be wrong because anger is based on ignorance. So that has to be given up. But that person who controls his anger then he conquers the angry person. Someone has done you wrong, that is out of anger. But you are controlling your anger, don’t retaliate, then you are actually in control of them. So the mistake is made by the ignorant people that anger is energy: he gets fired-up, he is going to do something. But it is not. Means, the controlling of the anger, then you can direct that energy. But the anger just manifests and go and do something, the ignorant think this is something very special, but it is not. Emotional yes, but not [special]."

- From lecture on Śrī Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta & Daśamūla Tattva #5, Bhaktivedānta Academy, Śrī Māyāpura

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Prabhu: If someone has a problem being with the devotees…

HH BVPS Mahārāja: He has got a lot of problems. That is the whole point. If you have problems dealing with devotees you are not going to like spiritual life because it is unfortunately, it is a lot of devotees. Vaikuṇṭha we know is packed with devotees, and that is Nārāyaṇa. Then it says Kṛṣṇa has a special quality that He is surrounded by unlimited devotees. So your problem is only going to increase. [Laughter] It is not going to get less.

- From lecture on Śrī Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta & Daśamūla Tattva #5, Bhaktivedānta Academy, Śrī Māyāpura

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"You can’t function without faith. When there is no faith, no one can function. So then because the living entity desires this, therefore Kṛṣṇa appears in that form. He gives that faith. Then one goes on that way. But if one starts to wonder why this is not working and actually sincerely inquires, then Kṛṣṇa will put one in contact with the devotees by which one will get the faith in Him as the Supreme Lord. So we see that, of course, through association of others, but basically Kṛṣṇa is giving that intelligence, He is giving that faith to perform all these other activities. But when it comes to Himself then He does that through the devotees. You are going to have faith, you want to deal in material energy, that He will arrange. But you want to actually interact with Him, then He puts you in contact with the devotees. By the grace of the devotees one knows Kṛṣṇa. By the grace of Kṛṣṇa one gets the devotees. That was that Upaniṣadic verse before. By the grace of Śyāma then one knows His energy. By the grace of His energy then one knows Śyāma. So that's... Here, "Śyāmāc chavalaṁ prapadye śavalāc chyāmaṁ prapadye. In surrendering to Śyāma I take shelter of the essence of the pleasure-potency. Taking shelter of the pleasure-potency I surrender to Kṛṣṇa.” [Chāndogya Upaniṣad 8.13.1]"

- From lecture on Śrī Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta & Daśamūla Tattva #5, Bhaktivedānta Academy, Śrī Māyāpura

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"You have to have faith that by going and climbing to the top of some mountain you are going to be happy, or if I go and ride this huge Tsunami wave then I am going to be happy, and also some faith that I will probably survive, you know. So all these different things you have to have faith. I am going to jump out the air-plane and by doing that and pulling, you know, I am going to have fun. You have to have faith in that. Or that I get on this bus, it says on there that it is taking me to the city center, so it is going to take me to the center of the city, won't take me out into and drop me off at Ayer's rock or something. I mean, okay, you get on the bus for central London, and then it drops you off at Timbuktu, that might be a little bit disheartening, right? So you want to... That faith, that Kṛṣṇa is giving because that is what you want."

- From lecture on Śrī Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta & Daśamūla Tattva #5, Bhaktivedānta Academy, Śrī Māyāpura

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Prabhu: Mahārāja, Kṛṣṇa gives this intelligence, this faith to the demigods. [Bg 7.21] Can we say that He gives also the faith to do so many other things, something like…?

HH BVPS Mahārāja: Yes, it is an example. Because here the demigods, because they, there is 33 million, so that kind-of like covers everything that a human being could be interested in. So if you give the example of the demigod worshipers then you basically give the example for any materialist. Because here the demigod worshippers are the ones that know how the material energy is functioning, at least mechanically, and approach the demigods to get their result. So they are much more intelligent, they are doing it through śāstra. So they are pious, so they are going to get a better result. So their sense gratification is going to be way better than the person who doesn’t know this. So then as far as being a materialist, you can say they are doing a better job with it. So if you have that then it includes the person who is standing on the corner and has other small little ideas of how they are going to please themselves in a much more temporary fashion. Does that make sense? Yeah, so it would be, it covers all of that. Because you have to have faith.

- From lecture on Śrī Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta & Daśamūla Tattva #5, Bhaktivedānta Academy, Śrī Māyāpura

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“You have the faith, so therefore you are committed to action. So then Kṛṣṇa gives the intelligence for the action. When He is saying, "I give the intelligence," that means already the faith is there and the commitment to action is there. So now you use your intelligence how to best perform the activity. Because then intelligence in this case can be in both positions of Pradyumna and Vāsudeva. Because Pradyumna means intelligence is being used. Knowledge is Saṅkarṣaṇa. Intelligence is Pradyumna because then it connects with the senses, you are interested to use them. But the actual use of them, that is Vāsudeva. So that means the action is going on with intelligence. The other one is, the action is not going on but the intelligence is being… You can see, "Oh yes, this is a good thing to do." At the same time, the mind is involved. So the mind is more of active... How you say? Would be the driving principle there. But then when it comes to action then it is the senses. Intelligence is making it work, but it is still based on the need of the mind. So it is always... Means, it is just different positions of the same thing. So, therefore is that faith is there, therefore then one has the identity in that capacity and you are committed to obtain that as a result. Then you get the intelligence to perform the action. So you need the faith, you need the intelligence. So Kṛṣṇa is giving them both."

- From lecture on Śrī Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta & Daśamūla Tattva #5, Bhaktivedānta Academy, Śrī Māyāpura

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”Through proper prayers, proper studying, preaching and discussions, so then everything is engaged. You don’t have something else. So there is action and intelligence and your attitude, these are what you have to work with. So that being used in the Lord’s service, that is what pleases Him. That is why these are complete. You don’t need something else other than sādhana-siddha, arcana-siddha, or kṛpā-siddha, because everything is engaged. You are going to be engaged in activities anyway. So those activities are connected to the Lord, your needs and emotions and perceptions, that is engaged in the Lord’s service. Your intelligence is engaged in the Lord’s service. Your identity is engaged in the Lord’s service. These are the mediums, there isn’t something else. So it is complete."

- From lecture on Śrī Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta & Daśamūla Tattva #5, Bhaktivedānta Academy, Śrī Māyāpura

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“All the five gross elements, the three subtle elements, that is what we have to work with. And when we say "the mind" that includes the senses, the sense objects and the tan-mātras, you know, the sense of smell, touch, taste. So those fifteen go with the mind. At the same time the senses are connected to intelligence, that is why you say "words" - that indicates intelligence. Because by words, that means you have to use your intelligence to speak the right thing. But in any case, by body, mind and words you have covered everything. Because the body is a gross manifestation of the false ego, so then you have the false ego there and the body. Then the mind, means you have the mind and all the senses and sense objects, and then the intelligence, then that means it is your words. So then through proper prayers, proper studying, preaching and discussions, so then everything is engaged."

- From lecture on Śrī Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta & Daśamūla Tattva #5, Bhaktivedānta Academy, Śrī Māyāpura

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“The point is, you are trying to please the Lord. It is not that the sādhana gives the result - that is karma. Karma: "I perform the activity, I get the result." So that we are leaving, karma and jñāna we are leaving. Or "By my intelligence I have understood the Lord." No, it is neither of these. Neither by your action nor by your intelligence can you understand the Lord. It is only by devotion. You apply that devotion through karma and jñāna. Do you have some other option? Right? Using your body and senses and mind, or using intelligence? You know what I am saying? So anything left? There is one thing left, what is left?

(..)

Prabhu: The ego?

HH BVPS Mahārāja: The ego, yes. So that is "I am servant of the Lord," that is that surrender, that is the kṛpā-siddhi.

- From lecture on Śrī Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta & Daśamūla Tattva #5, Bhaktivedānta Academy, Śrī Māyāpura

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“You have a sādhana-siddha, arcana-siddha, kṛpā-siddha: different ways that one can perfect one’s devotional service. So the sādhana-siddha means, he is so focused and fixed in his sādhana in connection with the Lord that he impresses the Lord that he will do everything… You know, nothing else counts as much as his sādhana, so therefore then the Lord is impressed. Because he is doing it to please the Lord. Or arcana-siddha, he does so nicely with the Deities and everything like that, that that way he attains his perfection. The Lord is pleased through his worship. Or kṛpā-siddha, his surrender, his mood, his prayers to the Lord, like this, that then makes the Lord pleased. So of all of them kṛpā-siddha is the most direct, most easy. But it is recommended because one may not stay on that platform that one is using the other systems. So that combination of practice of sādhana, worship of the Deity and offering prayers, then this is the recommended process. Through all of these one can please the Lord."

- From lecture on Śrī Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta & Daśamūla Tattva #5, Bhaktivedānta Academy, Śrī Māyāpura

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Prabhu: Mahārāja, that devotion can be obtained only after very disciplined performance of sādhana, or...?

HH BVPS Mahārāja: Bhakti?

Prabhu: Yeah, devotion...

HH BVPS Mahārāja: No, means, see, it is the association of devotees by which we gain that devotional service. In other words, in the association of devotees then we pick up the mood that they have. Sādhana is a way of practicing that devotion. Because if you want a skill then you have to through intelligence practice it. If you don’t use the intelligence then you might not be applying it properly. And even if you have applied it properly, to see the results and see how you can improve it and develop it. If you are not aware of what you are doing and you don’t have knowledge of the skills to do something, then how will you get any result, right?

But what is most important in this is that you are making the endeavor to know the Lord. So that is one of the mediums through which you can impress Him. Does that make sense?

- From lecture on Śrī Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta & Daśamūla Tattva #5, Bhaktivedānta Academy, Śrī Māyāpura

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"The child pleases the mother by going out in the yard and picking her like a dandelion, which is generally called a w**d, but whatever it is, and gives it to the mother. The mother is impressed because of the intent, the mood. Now if her husband brought home a dandelion, now you got some problems. Because then why would he bring a dandelion? Unless there was something else connected with it, but otherwise then he is more sophisticated so he has to bring home something else. Yes? So, that is the whole point, God is, understand, means, no one is equal to Him. So therefore it is that endeavor, when you see Him as Master, that surrender, that’s what conquers Him. Then you can know the Lord. Does that make sense? Straightforward enough?"

- From lecture on Śrī Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta & Daśamūla Tattva #5, Bhaktivedānta Academy, Śrī Māyāpura

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"[Lord Nṛsiṁha] appears, then He comes out and then He grabs Hiraṇyakaśipu, then He lets him go, then He grabs him again, He lets him go... So like this, He is playing with him, it's not a very big difficulty for Him. He just catches, it's something to do, because then when he catches him, then the demon becomes more enthusiastic and becomes more upset and more angry and in more ways tries to perform his fighting activity. And this pleases the Lord to see this endeavor, though it's futile, but whatever. But then, when He lets him go, just for fun, just to give him some encouragement that he is very strong and all that... Because fighting means, there is the chivalry, it's not so much the winning part, it's just the chivalry, the fighting, the rasa of fighting. But then the demigods become very disturbed, because they are devotees, but they are not like Prahlāda. Prahlāda knows, 'He will protect me, no matter what. Even if He doesn't protect me, what does it matter? I will go back to Him, I will always be with Him, so I am always there.' But the demigods because of their materialistic desires, they are not that firm in their faith. So as soon as Hiraṇyakaśipu gets let go, immediately they are afraid, 'Oh, no! The demon may win. Something may happen.' And then, if the demon wins, then again they carry on, they got this Hiraṇyakaśipu managing the universe, and that's... doesn't exactly fit in with their plans. Their plans that they have for enjoying, that they control, and position and fame. Somehow or other it's not working out, so someone who is more serious about these things than them, then they are getting all the facility. So they are worried about this. Or at best they are worried about dharma and other aspects like that, but still within the material realm. So because their faith is not so strong, then when He lets him go, then they get disturbed. So then, like this a few times, then He doesn't want to disturb the demigods any more, so then He picks him up and kills him, just with the ends of His nails. It's not a difficulty for Him. So that is the side thing. But the main thing is that He has come to protect His devotee and show that He takes care of His devotee, when the devotees are offended, the Lord is there, He takes care, He protects them. And then, when they are protected, then they also feel that it is the Lord who is taking care. They don't just think, 'Oh, it's my good luck.' Or some other thing, but the Lord through His devotees, personally, or by some amazing arrangement then He is taking care of the devotees."

- From lecture on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.8.17, given on Nṛsiṁha Caturdaśī in Śrī Māyāpura

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“He Will Protect Me No Matter What” Prahlāda knows, 'He will protect me, no matter what. Even if He doesn't protect me, what does it matter? I will go back to Him, I will always be with Him.'

“One who accepts that the Lord is His master then he will understand the Lord, no one else. Because the Lord being beyond the material and the spiritual, He is in His own category. So He is not assessable by anyone except through devotion. Does that make sense? He stands on His own, He has expanded His energies, they are dependent upon Him, so He is beyond them. God includes His energies but at the same time He is beyond that also, it is simultaneous one and difference. So this being something beyond, that means He is not... You can’t by your own intelligence, or own endeavour actually know Him. You can only know Him when He allows you to know Him, and that is done through devotion because that attracts the Lord. Anything else doesn’t. If it is use of your intelligence, you think our intelligence is going to impress His intelligence? Or our endeavors are going to impress His endeavors? You know, so it is not by that, it is by devotion."

- From lecture on Śrī Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta & Daśamūla Tattva #5, Bhaktivedānta Academy, Śrī Māyāpura

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“In the aṣṭāṅga-yoga there is no speculation, it is a very set process. So they just use their intelligence and go through. They try to get themselves off the bodily platform, they get in control of it: control of the body, control of the senses, control of the mind. So they’ll have to use their intelligence. So then they see is that here is the friend of the soul, the Paramātmā. There are two birds in the tree. The problem is is then once they... Only after coming to that point of realizing the Supersoul, then will they take up bhakti? So that means so much time and endeavor has been made when they could have started that earlier and made the process much quicker. Because to control the mind and the senses without devotion is very, very difficult. Arjuna said it is more difficult than catching the wind, right? So he wasn’t too enthusiastic about this process. So, therefore by bhakti then the process will work much earlier and much quicker."

From lecture on Śrī Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta & Daśamūla Tattva #5, Bhaktivedānta Academy, Śrī Māyāpura

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Reading from Study Guide: Those who cultivate knowledge and try to see the absolute conclude that the Absolute Truth, which is the opposite of material existence, is devoid of form, change, energy and action. (..)

HH BVPS Mahārāja: "Form, change, energy and action." So you have a form, by dealing with it that form can change. Energy, that is what it needs, so there must be enthusiasm, there must be interest and there must be action. So then, so, in other words, whole idea of sambandha, abhidheya and prayojana gets completely messed up because of this, this impersonal concept. So then the tendency is to be very... Not use energy or action in one’s activities, and you don’t like any change. Therefore you see that generally the impersonalists, even though technically they don’t care for material life, they always tend towards being very much stuck on the regulative principles and the traditional culture and Varṇāśrama and all that, when technically they shouldn’t be. Because if it is all Māyā, it is all Māyā. But they pick these things because there is no change, because Brahman doesn’t change, so it is very stuffy. You know, they can appreciate the fineties and the culture and all that because that is for the common people who are more materialistically inclined, so therefore they will have all these things. But the higher thing is that all that disappears. But it still doesn’t completely disappear because they are still conditioned, they still need religion. But they are going to stick to religion in such a way that the form of it is going to be very, very rigid because Brahman doesn’t change, so therefore their lifestyle doesn’t change, which is good for coming to the Brahman platform. But its inspiration is not to get to the Brahman platform, so that you can get out of the material world and go back to Godhead. To them it is taken as, as this is perfection as the Brahman-realization, therefore there is a little bit of a problem in their social approach. Does that make sense? Because the mood of is always what is important.

- From lecture on Śrī Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta & Daśamūla Tattva #5, Bhaktivedānta Academy, Śrī Māyāpura

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“Jñāna, its knowledge is fine because buddhi-yoga means, it is called after the buddhi, it is not called after the karma or anything else. The buddhi means yoga of intelligence. So that is fine, but the intelligence must be connected to Kṛṣṇa. If it is not then it is a problem. So all it is is, we are people, it is just that what we are dealing in, that we think what we are dealing in is of value, that is the problem. It is not technically the dealings. There may be some problem in the dealings, that can always be improved, but more important is the mentality of what we are doing. Does that make sense? That is the most important. If that is corrected it is easy to correct the detail. Because it is easy to do something nice for somebody you like. So if you are doing it for God then you can do things nicely."

- From lecture on Śrī Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta & Daśamūla Tattva #5, Bhaktivedānta Academy, Śrī Māyāpura

Listen to full lecture audio here: https://bhaktividyapurnaswami.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/05_Ch4_p20.mp3

Read full lecture transcription here: https://bhaktividyapurnaswami.com/2024/05/07/siksamrita-dasamula-5/

Reading from Study Guide: Those who cultivate knowledge and try to see the absolute conclude that the Absolute Truth, which is the opposite of material existence, is devoid of form, change, energy and action.

HH BVPS Mahārāja: So, this is a very common... It makes sense to the mind, like that. Intelligence just discerns things, but the mind then what is discerned, it has something it prefers or not. So this is something very easy, right? If material is one thing, spiritual, which is opposite, it also then must be opposite. So, therefore, material has form, spiritual has no form. Just like we were discussing yesterday,in culture we think, "Okay, dealing nicely with people, then that is material, so then if I am a devotee and I am detached from material life and material culture, therefore I should deal badly." Or, I would see it in the Indian boys, they come from nice families, they all know how to serve prasāda nicely, do everything. But then when they become devotees when they serve prasāda they do so really badly. And I would ask them, it says, "If you were at your house and you are having a wedding, would you serve like this?" He says, "No, not at all." “So why are you serving like this?" "Because that is material and this is spiritual." [Laughter] Do you understand? So, it is humorous, but unfortunately it is a social disaster.

- From lecture on Śrī Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta & Daśamūla Tattva #5, Bhaktivedānta Academy, Śrī Māyāpura

Listen to full lecture audio here: https://bhaktividyapurnaswami.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/05_Ch4_p20.mp3

Read full lecture transcription here: https://bhaktividyapurnaswami.com/2024/05/07/siksamrita-dasamula-5/

“In all these things there is always a subtle difference. That's why these things sometimes are very technically described or analyzed, because it is in these differences that makes a difference between whether it is devotional service or not. If you have this whole wide range of activities, and down the middle there is a razor’s edge, therefore you need to be able to discern between these various activities. Otherwise, how you will define that actual path?”

- From lecture on Śrī Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta & Daśamūla Tattva #4, Bhaktivedānta Academy, Śrī Māyāpura

Listen to full lecture audio here: https://bhaktividyapurnaswami.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/04_Ch3_p.13-19_Ch4_p19-20.mp3

Read full lecture transcription here: https://bhaktividyapurnaswami.com/2024/04/25/siksamrita-dasamula-4/