Lecture in [Hindi] – November 2, 1975, Nairobi
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751102LE.NAI
Lecture in Hindi
- November 2, 1975, Nairobi 751102LE-Nairobi [39:44 Minutes]
Prabhupada: [Transl. I do not have much practice in speaking in Hindi and I am from Calcutta and Hindi is not my mother tongue. I cannot speak Gujarati, though I can understand a little like Damjibhai spoke in Gujarati and I understood everything. But I cannot speak Gujarati. So whatever possible I will speak in Hindi.
Mr. Damji spoke about my disciple Mr. Alfred Ford. I have given him the name Ambarisa Maharaja. Ambarisa Maharaja was the emperor of the whole world. But his work was to engage in devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.]
[Transl. Maharaja Ambarisa always engaged his mind in meditating upon the lotus feet of Krsna, his words in describing the glories of the Lord, his hands in cleansing the Lord's temple, and his ears in hearing the words spoken by Krsna or about Krsna. He engaged his eyes in seeing the Deity of Krsna, Krsna's temples and Krsna's places like Mathura and Vrndavana, he engaged his sense of touch in touching the bodies of the Lord's devotees, he engaged his sense of smell in smelling the fragrance of tulasi offered to the Lord, and he engaged his tongue in tasting the Lord's prasada. He engaged his legs in walking to the holy places and temples of the Lord, his head in bowing down before the Lord, and all his desires in serving the Lord, twenty-four hours a day. Indeed, Maharaja Ambarisa never desired anything for his own sense gratification. He engaged all his senses in devotional service, in various engagements related to the Lord. This is the way to increase attachment for the Lord and be completely free from all material desires.]
[Transl. Ambarisa Maharaja despite being engaged in the affairs of his kingdom, always kept his mind engaged at the lotus feet of the Lord. Sa vai manaḥ, if one can keep his mind engaged at the lotus feet of the Lord the he will be benefited by this alone. So Ambarisa Maharaja used to keep his mind engaged always at the lotus feet of the Lord.]
[Transl. And vacamsi vaikuntha-gunanuvarnane, when he would talk he would discuss only about the glories of the Lord. Since he was the king he did not need to talk much as his ministers and secretaries did all that for him. But if anyone came to talk to him especially then, he would vaikuntha gunanuvarnane. Vaikuntha means Bhagavan. And there is Vaikuntha loka where the Lord resides. Vaikuntha means where there is no kuntha, anxiety. In this material world everyone is afflicted with anxiety all the time, whether man, demigod, animal, bird, everyone is anxious all the time as to what will happen in the future. This is inside everyone. So Vaikuntha means where there is no anxiety, no kuntha. Everyone is in bliss.]
brahma-bhūta prasannatma
na socati na kahksati That is Vaikunthaloka. mad-bhaktim labhate param [Bg 18.54] [Transl. So Ambarisa Maharaja when he would talk it would be about the glories of Vaikuntha. And when he was moving around it was to go to the temple. And when he would see something, it was the form of the Lord. And he would smell the flowers and tulasi leaves offered at the lotus feet of the Lord. And he would taste the the Lord's prasada with his tongue. That means all his senses, eyes, ears, tongue, hands, legs-all these, Ambarisa Maharaja knew how to engage all these senses at the service of the Lord. This is called bhakti.]
hrsikena hrsikesa-
sevanam bhaktir ucyate What does bhakti mean? sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam tat-paratvena nirmalam [Cc Madhya 19.170] [Transl. We have to purify our senses, they are not pure now. Just like we think this body belongs to us, but this is not pure knowledge. Pure knowledge is that, this body has been given to us by the Lord. Just like you give sannyasis like us a place to stay, similarly this body has been given to us by the Lord. Just like the landlord has given us a room to stay. It is does not mean that the room has become our property. No! The property belongs to the landlord. But we have been allowed to stay in that. Similarly this body, senses belong to God. They are to be used in the service of the Lord. And we have been allowed to stay in this body. If I use this body to do as the Lord desires that is called bhakti or devotional service. Nothing else! The work you are doing. The Lord says,]
[Transl. The work you are doing you continue to do it, no fault with that. Even if there is some fault with the work do not leave it. This is God.]
[Transl. Do any work in this material world, it will be contaminated with some faults. The Lord Himself has said, like fire is pure but it has one fault, it has smoke. So in this material world there cannot be anything completely pure. But any work done if it is done in the service of the Lord then it is called bhakti. tat-paratvena nirmalam, that is pure. Because it is done for the Lord, it is pure. That is why the Lord Himself has said,]
[Transl. If a person has started devotional service but is not yet experienced, and there are some faults in his practice due to his previous bad habits. What does the Lord say for these people? api cet su-duracaro.]
[Transl. If a person is engaged in devotional service but has a number of faults in him. The Lord says even if such a person is not just sinful, but most sinful, api cet su-duracaro, but if he has just one quality of knowing nothing else but the Lord as his shelter. ananya-bhak. He knows only Krsna, Krsnas tu bhagavan svayam.] [SB 1.3.28]
[Transl. If one has this quality, even if his work seems to have some faults, sadhur eva sa mantavyaḥ-he is still a sadhu. This Mr. Damji was just explaining the greatness of a sadhu, in reality the sadhu is praise worthy. Caitanya Mahaprabhu says,]
[Transl. All scriptures recommend the association of saintly persons.]
[Transl. So an intelligent person gives up the association of sinful people and associates with the saintly persons. Association of saintly people is of prime importance for attaining devotional service unto the Supreme Lord. Association of saintly persons!]
adau sraddha tataḥ sadhu-
sahgo 'tha bhajana-kriya tato 'nartha-nivrttiḥ syat tato nistha rucis tataḥ athasaktis tato bhavas sadhakanam ayam premnaḥ pradurbhave bhavet kramaḥ [Transl. The sole aim of human life is to attain love of Godhead. We are entangled in the love of this material world. We need to take leave from this love for the material world love will remain but for God! Love is present within everyone, animals have love within them, even the dog looks after its puppies, and the tiger looks after its cubs. When the cubs fall on the huge tiger playfully, the tiger finds it very soothing and enjoyable. This is love! Love exists in everyone. Every living entity has got it. But if we place this love on this material world it is called maya and if we place that love on God then it is called devotional service. That is why the scriptures say,]
sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam
tat-paratvena nirmalam hrsikena hrsikesa- sevanam bhaktir ucyate [Cc Madhya 19.170] [Transl. One of God's name is 'Hrsikesa'. Hrsik means senses. When the senses are purified, tat-paratvena nirmalam and are applied in the service of the Lord, that is called devotional service. So this book that I have is Sri Caitanya-caritamrta. We have translated this into English. We have 17 volumes of this book that you see with me. This has been accepted with much reverence all over the world. Caitanya-caritamrita. I will read a sloka from this book today for all of you. It is about Sanatana Gosvami. Caitanya Mahaprabhu had six principle disciples, the six Gosvamis-Rūpa, Sanatana, Bhatta Raghunatha, Sri Jiva, Gopala Bhatta, Dasa Raghunatha. They lived in Vrndavana and spread the mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.]
[Transl. We are following in the disciplic succession of Sri Caitanya Mahaprahu and the six Gosvamis for preaching their message and spreading their mission. The six Gosvamis preached this. We have left all other scriptures and are translating these books into the English, German, French, Spanish languages and other European languages. These books sell very well. You will be surprised to know that we are selling around Rs. 25 to 30 lakh worth of these books every month. We meet our expenses through this and this young man Mr. Alfred Ford has donated at least Rs. 2.5 crores to us.] [everyone claps].
[Transl. This is how we meet our expenses. Our monthly expenditure is at least Rs 20 lakhs per month. We have 100 centres and they are all running because of the mercy of the Lord and we have opened one centre in Nairobi. Please cooperate nicely and read our books and understand what our preaching mission is all about. This is not religion specific. Actually this is what is dharma. What is dharma? This has been explained by Yamaraja, who is 'dharmaraja', one who deliberates on dharma. When his associates asked him about Ajamila who was to be brought to him on account of his being sinful but the Visnudūta's came to his rescue and did not allow them to bring him in. So what is dharama and adharama? At that time Dharmaraja said,]
[Transl. Dharma means the codes of laws given by God. Rest everything is adharma. That is why it is mentioned in the beginning of Bhagavata,]
dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra atra
srimad-bhagavate kaitava dharma projjhita. [Transl. Lord is established within his heart.]
Projjhita means 'prakrsta rūpena ujjhita'
[Transl. Just like you sweep and wipe your room very nicely and remove all the dirt and filth in it. So similarly what is not dharma has been swept and thrown out of this Srimad Bhagavatam.]
dharmah projjhita-kaitavo atra
paramo nirmatsaranam [Transl. And this supreme dharma is for whom? It for the "nirmatsara" those who are non envious, 'matsarata'. This word has been explained by Sridhara Svami as Matsarata: para utkarsanam asahanam]
[Transl. To be envious of someone who is doing better than you, that is called matsarata. para utkarsanam asahanam, The other person is advancing, this is the way of this world that if your brother is advancing even then you are envious. Forget about others. Person to person or between individuals, enviousness is there anyways; in society, between nations, between faiths like Hindus, Muslims, then national, party-this is only enviousness. Only enviousness. Therefore this Bhagavata-dharma is for one who has given up enviousness. Parama nirmatsaranam. Vastava vastu vedyam atra, the reality and not false is this dharma. dharmah projjhita-this is the actual goal of life. Just like the Lord Himself says,]
[Transl. I incarnate in every yuga to reestablish religious principles. And what is that dharma that the Lord establishes? What dharma does the Supreme Lord come to re-establish? That is,]
[Transl. That dharma. All these religions that have been created in this world are not the religions. These are all kaitava dharma. The real dharma is to surrender unto the Lord. Oh Lord, I had forgotten You for such a long time and have been wandering about all over the cosmic manifestation through the 8,400,000 species of life, without any knowledge of You. But now by Your mercy, tvat prasadan madhusūdana. [Bg 18.73] Just like Arjuna says, tvat prasadan, out of Your causeless mercy, nasto mohaḥ, my illusion has been destroyed. And having destroyed your illusion what would you do now? Karisye tad vacanam tava. I will act according to Your instruction." This is called mohaḥ nasto. I will not act whimsically any more. I will do whatever You instruct me to do. This is what the Lord also says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja, surrender unto Me. So what does surrender mean? Follow what the Lord says. This is called devotional service. Not whimsical. To do what the Lord asks us to do, that is called devotional service. And that is called religion. Those who surrender unto the Lord and follow His instructions are called devotees and if one is a devotee then he is liberated. He becomes liberated then and there because the Lord Himself says that if you surrender unto Him then,]
[Transl. And if the Lord is absolving the devotee from all his sins then what else is needed for liberation? A man suffers because of his sinful activities. And the Lord is saying,]
[Transl. So for one who surrenders unto the Lord, he has no more sinful reactions. All his sins are destroyed as long as he does not commit any further sins. Then he is absolved and is liberated. In this regard the Lord has said,]
[Transl. One who engages himself unfailingly at the service of the Lord, unfailing devotional service means one who follows the instructions of the Lord, and as explained by the saintly persons and scriptures-that is called unfailing devotional service. Vidhi bhakti-like the big, big acaryas have prescribed the vidhi-bhakti [regulative devotional service]. All the processes have been given by the Lord Himself, forget anyone else. Acarya is one who follows the instructions of the Lord and act accordingly. So when the Lord says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja, 'surrender unto Me', then there is no need to follow any other dharma. This is called pure devotional service.]
[Transl. The scriptures recommend to worship the various demigods. For whom is that recommendation? For those who are full of material desires. For those who want to enjoy in this material world. For them. Kamais tais tair hrta-jnanaḥ prapadyante 'nya-devataḥ [Bg 7.20] Those who worship the demigods who are they? Kamais tais tair hrta-jnana, Those whose knowledge has been taken by material desires. That is why they worship the other demigods. Whatever they ask these other demigods, can't the Lord give them that? Who are these demigods? They are the servants of the Lord. So what is it that the master cannot give? If you have any material desires and you pray to the Lord, can't the Lord fulfill your desires? Therefore the scripture says,]
[Transl. Who is the parama purusa? Krsna. Just like Arjuna understood,]
[Transl. This is Lord Krsna, adi purusa, Govinda! There are three kinds of people in this world. One is Akami, those who have no desires at all. For one who has attained God, he has no desires.]
[Transl. Just like Dhruva Maharaja, was a five year old boy. He was insulted by his step-mother. So he vowed that he would acquire a kingdom that was bigger than that of his father. So he worshiped the Supreme Lord and when he saw the Lord, because he was purified by the devotional process, he had no desires at all. So when the Lord appeared before him and asked him, 'My dear son, what do you want?' You are a small child and why you are performing such austerities? Ask what you want! So at that time Dhruva Maharaja says, 'My dear Lord,']
kacam vicinvann api divya-ratnam
[Transl. I came in search of glass piece and now I have found a diamond! So what more could I want? svamin krtartho'smi, that's all, I don't want anything else. I have seen you, what more could I want? Krtartho 'smi varam na yace. This is the advantage of devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If one attains devotional service to the Supreme Lord then he automatically gets everything else. Just study the business point of view, I started this Hare Krsna movement with forty rupees. Now we have forty crores of rupees. And that too in ten years! Show me any business man. Laughter. Bring me a businessman and we have 102 centers! How many branches can a businessman open? So this is true that,]
[Transl. Once you obtain this then there remains nothing else to be obtained. Everything is achieved. It is such a thing devotional service to the Supreme Lord. We should try to develop devotional service to the Supreme Lord in our human form of life. Devotional service means love of God. We should be ready to do anything for God. Just like the Gopi's, Krsna plays the flute in the middle of the night and the Gopi's run to Him. Some of them were looking after their children, they left them, some boiling milk, they left that, some doing household chores-they left that. Their father, father-in-law, brothers were enquiring, 'where are you going?' but who cares for their words? We have to go, that's all. You understand? That is why Caitanya Mahaprabhu has said that the way the Gopi's served the Lord-that for the sake of the Lord, they would give up their life, wealth, mind, material world, honour-they gave up everything! There is no greater service than this according to Caitanya Mahaprabhu.]
ramya kacid upasana vraja-vadhū-vargena ya kalpita.
[Caitanya-manjusa] [Transl. There is no better mode of worship than that devotional service which was conceived by the vraja-vadhus, the damsels of Vrndavana. The ultimate worship. And the most elevated Gopi amongst them is Radharani. Anayaradhitah iti radha. These are some thoughts on devotional service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And according to Srimad Bhagavatam,]
Srimad-Bhagavatam amalam puranam
[Caitanya-manjusa] [Transl. This is a great Purana and we are preaching and following in the footsteps of the big, big acaryas as they have preached, and by the Lord's mercy we are seeing the results also. There is not enough time left but I will speak a few more things.]
[Transl. The six Gosvamis who gave their life and soul for the preaching of this devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one of them was Sanatana Gosvami. Who was Sanatana Gosvami? In those days the Muslim Pathan [resident of Afghanistan] rule of Bangladesh, Nawab Hussain Shah was the king of Bangladesh. He was the finance minister of that king. When he met Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he left his official duties and went to Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He came with great difficulty as the king was not letting him go because he was the Prime Minister and all the work was done by him while the Muslim king enjoyed.]
[Transl. The official duties were carried out by these two brothers, Rūpa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami. So the Muslim king was badly hit by the resignations of these two brothers. Sanatana Gosvami was sent to prison so as to not allow him to leave. But he somehow managed to get away. He left Bangladesh and met Caitanya Mahaprabhu in Kasi Varanasi where He was preaching at that time. The Lord initiated him and gave him the garb of a paramahamsa and for two months He instructed him on the subject matter of devotional service. So when Sanatana Gosvami met Caitanya Mahaprabhu for the first time, his question was,]
[Transl. You have very mercifully relieved me of my ministership and brought me to Your lotus feet. Krpa kari' yadi more kariyacha uddhara, this is Your sheer mercy that you have delivered me from this sense enjoyment. Now kindly instruct me what is my duty? This is called approaching a spiritual master. Spritual master is not something official that once I accept him, he stays in his house and I stay in mine. No. Sanatana Goswami is teaching us that after accepting a spiritual master what is our duty? Our duty is to take instructions from the spiritual master what is our duty in life?]
sad-dharma-prccha adau gurvasrayam
sadhu-marganu-gamanam sad-dharma-prccha [Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.1.74] [Transl. This is the process. Sad-dharma. After accepting a spiritual master we should inquire from him what is sad-dharma and how to shape our life?]
[Transl. Who needs a spiritual master? One who is inquisitive about the ultimate benefit. Spiritual master is not a fashion, that I have also accepted one. No. He needs a spiritual master who,]
tasmad gurum prapadyeta
jijnasuḥ sreyam uttamam [Transl. sreyam means ultimate good, so everyone wants to do well for himself. So to find out what is the highest good we need a spiritual master.]
tasmad gurum prapadyeta
jijnasuḥ sreya uttamam [Transl. So the spiritual master should be one who can reveal to us the highest good.]
sabde pare ca nisnatam
brahmany upasamasrayam [Transl. This is the symtom of a spiritual master. Sabde, expert in Vedic literatures, pare ca nisnatam. Just like we take bath in water by completely immersing ourselves in that water and become purified, similarly when a person has immersed himself in Brahman, sabde pare ca nisnatam, and what's the result? Brahmany upasamasrayam. He gives up all his material affairs and becomes fixed firmly in the Absolute Truth. This is the symtom of a spiritual master.]
[Transl. So Sanatana Gosvami approached Caitanya Mahaprabhu and asked, what is my duty? You have kindly pulled me out of my ministership and now please tell me what is my duty?]
[Transl. Sanatana Gosvami says that now I have come to You, now please tell me 'who am I'? Am I a minister? Am I Sanatana Gosvami? Or am I something else? This I do not know! I became whatever I was made to become as per the need of the situation and worked accordingly but who am I in reality, please tell me? This should be the question to the spiritual master. That means self-realization. Every person has a bodily concept of life, dehatma buddhi. I am Hindu, I am a Muslim, I am a Bengali, I am a Gujarati, I am an American, I am an Indian and being decorated with so many designations I identify myself, but who am I in reality? This should be the inquiry. Who am I? Whether I am a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Gujarati, Bengali, white, black-what I am? This should be asked. This one should ask the spiritual master. That means self-realization, atma jnana.]
[Transl. Those who do not understand the science of self-realisation, they remain perpetually foolish. So that is why Sanatana Gosvami is asking;]
[Transl. This devotional service unto the Supreme Lord is explained to the human beings only.]
ke ami', 'kene amaya jare tapa-traya'
[Transl. Who am I and why do I have undergo the three kinds of material miseries? I don't want to. Who wants to die, but everyone dies. This should be the inquiry. I do not want to die, I do not want to become old, I want to remain youthful always. So why am I being forced to become old? These should be the questions.]
ke ami', 'kene amaya jare tapa-traya'
[Transl. These are the considerations and for this in India we have the facilities of association with so many saintly persons to hear especially Bhagavad-gita which is spoken by the Lord Himself. So it is appropriate on our part to take the instructions as given in Bhagavad-gita and make our life successful. And we have opened this center and this is our mission, nothing else. This is Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission. What is Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission? This is His mission, He has said three times,]
bharata-bhūmite haila manusya janma yara
janma sarthaka kari' kara para-upakara [Transl. Those who are born in the land of India, they are not an ordinary person. Even the demigods pray that they may be allowed to take birth in India once more. Being born in India is such. Till today even though so much atheism is being spread here, Kumbha Mela is held in India and crores of people go there and if poor and fallen persons like us organize some festivals then every day 20,000 to 30,000 people come to watch and hear. This is India still. That is why Caitanya Mahaprabhu has especially said about India,]
bharata-bhūmite haila manusya janma yara
janma sarthaka kari' kara para-upakara [Transl. So you are all Indians, born in India but have come here now because of business reasons or any other reasons. That is all right but Caitanya Mahaprabhu says,]
[Transl. With My permission all of you Indians become Guru.]
amara ajnaya guru hana tara' ei desa
[Transl. You have come to Africa so deliver the people of Africa. This is your duty. Not to earn money alone. Earn money but spend it for the welfare of others. This is the duty of an Indian and this is what Caitanya Mahaprabhu also says. And how to do this? Become a spiritual master. How to become so? We are not qualified and we do not know anything. No. It is not necessary to be learned. Then how to become a spiritual master?]
yare dekha, tare kaha 'krsna'-upadesa
[Transl. That's all, you can become a guru. No need to cheat or make gold. Just repeat whatever Krsna has said. Then you become a spiritual master. This is our request to you. You are Indians so please deliver this country. See how these African people are chanting and dancing. We are importing people from abroad to make them dance, can't you do this? Why? This is our request. You make them dance, you are here. We get these poor Americans and Europeans here to make them dance! This is our request to you. This is our request, accept it and work accordingly. The center is there, build it up nicely, work as per the injunctions of the scriptures, become spiritual masters and deliver them.]
Thank you very much. Hare Krsna.
Devotees: Jaya Srila Prabhupada! Hari bol! [end]
Link to this page: https://prabhupadabooks.com/hind/lecture-in-hindi/lecture-in-hindi-november-2-1975-nairobi
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