The Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna, cannot be seen by our present conditional vision. In order to see Him, one has to change his present vision by developing a different condition of life, full of spontaneous love of Godhead. When Sri Krsna was personally present on the face of the globe, not everyone could see Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Materialists like Ravana, Hiranyakasipu, Kamsa, Jarasandha, and Sisupala were highly qualified personalities by acquisition of material assets, but they were unable to appreciate the presence of the Lord. Therefore, even though the Lord may be present before our eyes, it is not possible to see Him unless we have the necessary vision. This necessary qualification is developed by the process of devotional service only, beginning with hearing about the Lord from the right sources. The Bhagavad-gita is one of the popular literatures which are generally heard, chanted, repeated, etc., by the people in general, but in spite of such hearing, etc., sometimes it is experienced that the performer of such devotional service does not see the Lord face to face. The reason is that the first item, sravana, is very important. If hearing is from the right sources, it acts very quickly. Generally people hear from unauthorized persons. Such unauthorized persons may be very learned by academic qualifications, but because they do not follow the principles of devotional service, hearing from them becomes a sheer waste of time. Sometimes the texts are interpreted fashionably to suit their own purposes. Therefore, first one should select a competent and bona fide speaker and then hear from him. When the hearing process is perfect and complete, the other processes become automatically perfect in their own way.

There are different transcendental activities of the Lord, and each and every one of them is competent to bestow the desired result, provided the hearing process is perfect. In the Bhagavatam the activities of the Lord begin from His dealings with the Pandavas. There are many other pastimes of the Lord in connection with His dealings with the asuras and others. And in the Tenth Canto the sublime dealings with His conjugal associates, the gopis, as well as with His married wives at Dvaraka are mentioned. Since the Lord is absolute, there is no difference in the transcendental nature of each and every dealing of the Lord. But sometimes people, in an unauthorized hearing process, take more interest in hearing about His dealings with the gopis. Such an inclination indicates the lusty feelings of the hearer, so a bona fide speaker of the dealings of the Lord never indulges in such hearings. One must hear about the Lord from the very beginning, as in the Srimad-Bhagavatam or any other scriptures, and that will help the hearer attain perfection by progressive development. One should not, therefore, consider that His dealings with the Pandavas are less important than His dealings with the gopis. We must always remember that the Lord is always transcendental to all mundane attachment. In all the above-mentioned dealings of the Lord, He is the hero in all circumstances, and hearing about Him or about His devotees or combatants is conducive to spiritual life. It is said that the Vedas and Puranas, etc., are all made to revive our lost relation with Him. Hearing of all these scriptures is essential.

In the previous verses, Kuntidevi has explained that those who have come to this material world are working very hard like asses and have such a hard burden that they cannot bear it. Because their lusty desires have created heavy work that puts them always in trouble, Krsna comes to introduce the system by which one can get relief from this continuously troublesome life.

Religion consists of the laws of God. People who do not know this think that religion means faith. But although you may have faith in something and I may have faith in something, and although I may believe you and you may or may not believe me, that is not religion. There is even a supposedly religious mission that says, You can manufacture your own way. Yata mata tata patha: Whatever you think is right, that is right. This is their philosophy. But that is not science. Suppose I am a madman. Is whatever I think all right? How could this be? Two plus two equals four is science. If I believe that two plus two equals five or three, does it become true? No. So there are laws of God, and when there is dharmasya glanih, deviation from these laws, we suffer. Just as we might suffer by violating the laws of the state, as soon as we violate the laws of God we are subjected to so many tribulations.

Now, how are we to get free from these tribulations? Krsna comes to free us from them by giving us bhakti-yoga. Krsna recommends, Do this, and if we do it we shall get relief. Prahlada Maharaja mentions that this bhakti-yoga consists of nine items:

Hearing means hearing about someones activities, form, qualities, entourage, and so on. If I want to hear about someone, he must have some activities. We hear about history, and what is history? It is but the record of the activities of different persons in different ages. As soon as there is a question of hearing, we must ask what subject matter we should hear about. Sravanam kirtanam visnoh: we should hear about the activities of Lord Visnu, or Lord Krsna, not about the news in the newspaper. Brahma-jijnasa: we should inquire and hear about Brahman, the Supreme. These are the statements of the Vedas. In our Krsna consciousness movement, we also hear and chant, but what is the subject matter? The subject matter is Krsna. We are not hearing about market reports and the price of this share or that share. No. We are hearing about Krsna.

And when there is hearing, there must also be speaking or chanting. So we speak and chant about Krsna (sravanam kirtanam visnoh). And as soon as one becomes expert in hearing and chanting, the next stage is smaranam, thinking or meditation. Whatever we speak or hear we shall later contemplate or meditate upon. First one must begin with sravanam, hearing, otherwise how can there be meditation? If one does not know the subject matter of meditation, where is the question of meditation? Therefore there must be hearing and chanting about Lord Visnu (sravanam kirtanam visnoh [SB 7.5.23]).

Actual meditation in yoga aims at seeing the four-armed Visnu murti, which is the form of the Lord within the heart. That is real meditation. Now rascals have manufactured other methods they call meditation, but these are not actually meditation. The senses are very restless, going this way and that way with the mind, but by the astanga-yoga system, which regulates ones sitting posture, ones breath, and so on, one can control the senses and concentrate the mind on the form of Visnu. This concentration is called samadhi, and it is the real goal of yoga. Thus the astanga-yoga system aims at coming to the point of smaranam, or remembering the Supreme Lord.

The next process of devotional service is arcanam, worship of the Deity, the form of Krsna in the temple.

By the word srnvanti Kuntidevi indicates that our first concern should be to hear about Krsna. One must be eager to hear. Why do we pay a college fee and go to college? To hear. By sitting down and hearing from the learned professor, we get knowledge. Therefore a devotee always engages in hearing about Krsna. For those who are cultivating Krsna consciousness, the first business is hearing.

And if one has actually heard about Krsna, ones next engagement in bhakti-yoga will be to chant (gayanti). The preachers of the Krsna consciousness movement go from town to town, village to village. Why? What is their purpose? To preach, to chant, so that people may get the opportunity to hear this philosophy and take it seriously (grnanti). The word abhiksnasah indicates that these engagements should go on continuously, twenty-four hours a day without stopping. Caitanya Mahaprabhu therefore recommends, kirtaniyah sada harih: [Cc. adi 17.31] one should engage in chanting twenty-four hours a day. That is the business of Krsna conscious devotees.

One may perform all the methods of devotional service or may accept only one. Simply hearing is enough. Pariksit Maharaja did not do anything else but sit down before Sukadeva Gosvami and hear for the last seven days of his life. If one simply hears, without doing anything else, if one simply sits down in the temple and whenever there is talk of Bhagavad-gita one goes on hearing, that will be enough. Even if you do not understand, please hear. The vibration, the mantra, will help you. Grammatical or scholarly understanding is not very important. One may not know Sanskrit grammar, but bhakti is apratihata, unimpedable. Nothing can check the progress of bhakti. Therefore one should simply adopt this process of hearing, as recommended by Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

After Caitanya Mahaprabhu accepted the renounced order of life, he was criticized by Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, who had been a schoolfriend of Nilambara Cakravarti, the father-in-law of Caitanya Mahaprabhus father, Jagannatha Misra. By this relationship, Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya was on the level of Caitanya Mahaprabhus grandfather. Thus he said to Caitanya Mahaprabhu, You are a boy only twenty-four years old, and now You have taken sannyasa. Sannyasa is very difficult to keep, because for a young man the world has so many attractions. So You should hear Vedanta-sutra. Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya belonged to the Mayavada school, and this indicates that hearing is important even among the Mayavadis, who stress the importance of hearing Vedanta-sutra. The Vaisnavas, the devotees of Krsna, also hear Vedanta-sutra, but not from the Mayavadis, who falsely interpret it and spoil the process of hearing. The Vaisnavas actually hear Vedanta-sutra, because they do not interpret it. When Krsna says, I am the Supreme, the Vaisnavas accept it, and that is the proper way of hearing. If one speculatively interprets the Vedanta-sutra or Bhagavad-gita, saying, The word krsna means this, and kuruksetra means that, one is simply wasting ones time. One should hear this literature as it is.

Thus although Caitanya Mahaprabhu agreed to hear Vedanta from Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, He simply went on hearing it for many days but did not ask any questions. Finally Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya said to Him, My dear boy, You are hearing, but You do not ask any questions. Why is this? Is it that You cant understand? What is the reason You are silent? Caitanya Mahaprabhu answered, Yes, I understand. But I am silent because You are explaining the Vedanta-sutra in a speculative way. Therefore I am simply listening to the verses of Vedanta-sutra but not actually listening to you. Thus He indirectly said, You are explaining the meaning foolishly. Later He said, The verses of Vedanta-sutra are just like sunshine, but your explanations are like clouds that cover them.

No one needs a lamp to see the sun. Everyone can see it. But if the sun is covered by a cloud, it is very difficult to see. Similarly, the Vedanta-sutra is like the sun, but the Mayavada interpretations cover the real meaning. The Mayavadis never accept the direct meaning. Even big political leaders who are influenced by the Mayavada philosophy cover the meaning of the Vedic literature by speculating, Kuruksetra means this, and dharma-ksetra means that. Our policy, therefore, should be to hear the original, as it is. Then it will be effective. Sravanam kirtanam visnoh: [SB 7.5.23] Visnu should be heard as He is. Then one can meditate upon Visnu and remember Him (smaranti). In this way one becomes jubilant (nandanti). The word nandana means pleasing, and one comes in touch with the reservoir of pleasure in this way.

Therefore those who are cultivating Krsna consciousness have to hear about Krsna, speak about Krsna, and deal only in relationship with Krsna. By this process, Kuntidevi tells the Lord, one will one day come to see You. And when one sees God, Krsna, what is the effect? Bhava-pravahoparamam. The word pravaha means current. When there are very forceful currents in the river and some animal is thrown in, it will be washed away. Similarly, we are being washed away by the currents of material nature, which come one after another like big waves in the Pacific Ocean. Because we are under the grip of the three modes of material nature (prakrteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvasah [Bg. 3.27]), we are being washed away. Therefore Bhaktivinoda Thakura says, mayara vase yaccha bhese: You are being washed away, carried away, by the currents of material nature. These are the currents of hunger and thirst, of birth, death, and old age, the currents of illusion. We are spirit souls, but because we have been put into the material ocean, the currents are carrying us away. However, if we engage twenty-four hours a day in hearing, chanting, and seriously serving Krsna, the current will stop.

Where will the current stop? Kuntidevi says to the Lord, padambujam: It will stop at Your lotus feet. One has to learn how to see Krsnas lotus feet and offer a little tulasi and sandalwood pulp at the lotus feet of the Lord, and then this current of material life will stop.

There may be currents in the ocean, but if one gets a good boat, one can cross over these currents very nicely. As mentioned in another verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.14.58), samasrita ye pada-pallava-plavam. A lotus petal is something like a small boat, and therefore this verse says that if one takes shelter of the petal boat of the lotus feet of Krsna, the great ocean of birth and death becomes as insignificant as the water contained in the hoofprint of a calf. In India during the rainy season the roads become muddy, and when the cows and calves walk they create holes in which water collects. But of course one can easily jump over a dozen of such puddles at any time. Similarly, although for others the world of birth and death is like a great ocean, for a devotee it is like such a puddle (bhavambudhir vatsa-padam), and he can jump over it very easily. In this way the devotee attains param padam, the supreme abode. Then what about this material world? Padam padam yad vipadam: this is a place not for devotees but for people who are suffering. Therefore Kuntidevi suggests, This Krsna consciousness is the medicine for your suffering. Take it and be happy.