In the previous episode, we had witnessed the commencement of an important event that involves the “Syamanthaka” ornament and how Bhagawan Krishna end up marrying Jaambhavati and Satyabhama. We’ve witnessed that Satraajith was one of Bhagawan Krishna’s childhood friends and he had the “Syamathaka” ornament gifted to him by Bhagawan Soorya for some reason. This […]
Episode # 308 – Bhagawan Krishna marries Jaambhavati – Daughter of Jaambhavan!!!
Mahaprasad of Lord Jagannath
Sage Narada once visited Vaikunta to have darshan of his beloved Lord Narayana and His consort Lakshmi. Pleased with his devotion, Sri Lakshmi told him to ask whatever he wanted and she would fulfill it for him. Narada had seen Lakshmi serving food to Narayana and desired to have the food (prasad) served to Narayana. […]
Mahaprasad of Lord Jagannath
Episode # 307 – Satraajith “brands” Bhagawan Krishna to be a thief!!!
In the previous episode, we had witnessed an important discussion on the various places that combine to form the “Dwaaraka-Kshetra”. We started with the famous “Daakur-Dwaaraka”, wherein Bhagawan Krishna came running all the way from Mathura. Subsequently we moved on to witness the “Gomati-Dwaaraka” and “Bet-Dwaaraka” wherein Bhagawan Krishna had established His huge palace from […]
Episode # 307 – Satraajith “brands” Bhagawan Krishna to be a thief!!!
The Useless Austerities Of Hiranyakashipu
“O Lakshmana, do you rule this earth with Me. You are like My second self, so this glorious opportunity has been presented to you as well. O Saumitra, do you enjoy all the pleasures you desire and the fruits of the regal life. My life and this kingdom I covet for your sake alone.” (Lord […]
The Useless Austerities Of Hiranyakashipu
Bhagavad Gita As It Is Text 1.2-3
Pradyumna: [leads chanting of verse] [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat] sañjaya uvāca dṛṣṭvā tu pāṇḍavānīkaṁ vyūḍhaṁ duryodhanas tadā ācāryam upasaṅgamya rāja vacanam abravīt [Bg. 1.2] [break] [leads chanting of synonyms] sañjayaḥ—Sañjaya; uvāca—said; dṛṣṭvā—after seeing; tu—but; pāṇḍava-anīkam—the soldiers of the Pāṇḍavas; vyūḍham—arranged in military phalanx; duryodhanaḥ—King Duryodhana; tadā—at that time; ācāryam—the teacher; upasaṅgamya—approaching nearby; rājā—the king; vacanam—words; abravīt—spoke. [01:52] Translation = “Sañjaya said = O King, after looking over the army gathered by the sons of Pāṇḍu, King Duryodhana went to his teacher and began to speak the following words.” Prabhupāda: Hm. So Dhṛtarāṣṭra inquired from Sañjaya, kim akurvata: “After my sons and my brother’s sons assembled together for fighting, what did they do?” This was the inquiry. So to encourage him… Because Sañjaya could understand the feelings of his master that he wanted the fight, no compromise, kṣatriya spirit = “Let my sons and my brother’s sons fight.” That is kṣatriya spirit. “My sons are one hundred in number, and they are only five. So certainly my sons will come out victorious, and then the kingdom will be assured.” That was his plan. So Sañjaya, his secretary, could understand the feeling. Of course, at last he would inform differently = yatra yogeśvaraḥ hariḥ. At last he described, “My dear sir, you do not expect victory. It is not possible. Because the other side is Kṛṣṇa, yatra yogeśvaraḥ hariḥ, and the fighter Arjuna, so it is beyond your expectation of victory.” But in the beginning he says, “Don’t be discouraged. There was no compromise. Immediately your son Duryodhana…” And he is addressing himself as rāja, because Dhṛtarāṣṭra would be encouraged when at least he thinks of his son becoming the king. Therefore he said rāja. So dṛṣṭvā tu pāṇḍavānīkam. Duryodhana did not expect that the Pāṇḍavas would be able to accomplish military strength so nicely, because they were bereft of all sources. Their kingdom was taken away, their money was usurped, they were sent into the forest—so many tribulations. But the foolish Duryodhana did not know that above all, there was Kṛṣṇa on their side. That he could not calculate. Therefore when he saw the Pāṇḍavas are well equipped with good number of soldiers, pāṇḍavānīkam, he was little surprised, that “How they could gather so many soldiers?” So immediately, to consult the commander-in-chief, Dronācārya… Dronācārya was everyone’s teacher, ācārya. Ācārya means teacher. Ācāryam upasaṅgamya [Bg. 1.2]. The military teacher. So Duryodhana, he was military teacher of the Pāṇḍavas also. When all of them were children, they were given under the instruction of Dronācārya. Dronācārya was brāhmaṇa, but he knew the military art. Therefore he was appointed teacher for all the boys, the Kaurava. So… But Ācārya, Dronācārya, joined with Duryodhana. Bhīṣmadeva joined with Duryodhana. None of them joined with Arjuna. Because Arjuna or Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was not king at that time. The financial control was not in their hands, and these people, sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, they were on the government political power. The financial control was in their hand. So they were giving enough money for maintenance to Dronācārya and Bhīṣmadeva. So they felt obliged. Of course, they knew everything, but externally they felt obligation = “Arjuna, I am getting money from Duryodhana. So in this point of danger, if I do not join him, it does not look well. I am getting financial maintenance.” Of course, Arjuna did not ask him. Arjuna was satisfied with Kṛṣṇa. That’s all. Kṛṣṇa also divided Himself, because it is family quarrel. So He said, “I cannot take part with anyone, and even if I take part, side, of any of you, I shall not fight. Directly I shall not fight. I may be on your side or that side, but I’ll not fight.” Still, Arjuna was satisfied. So Kṛṣṇa, in order to satisfy Arjuna, that “I shall not fight, but I shall become your charioteer. I shall drive your chariot.” So in this way the battle was arranged, and when Dhṛtarāṣṭra inquired, kim akurvata sañjaya [Bg. 1.1], “What did they do?” he said, “Sir, don’t be disappointed. There was no compromise. Immediately your son, after seeing the military arrangement of the Pāṇḍavas, he was surprised, and immediately he went to Dronācārya”—he is the commander-in-chief appointed first—‘What to do?’ ” Rājā vacanam abravīt [Bg. 1.2]. Then he began to speak, to inform Dronācārya. So next verse. Pradyumna: [leads chanting of verse] paśyaitāṁ pāṇḍu-putrāṇām ācārya mahatiṁ camūm vyūḍhāṁ drupada-putreṇa tava śiṣyeṇa dhīmatā [Bg. 1.3] [break] [leads chanting of synonyms] Translation = “O my teacher, behold the great army of the sons of Pāṇḍu, so expertly arranged by your intelligent disciple, the son of Drupada.” Prabhupāda: So—intelligent. This Drupada…, the son of Drupada, he was meant for killing Dronācārya. Drupada Mahārāja was not in good terms with Dronācārya. So he performed a yajña to get a son who could kill Dronācārya. That son is this Draupada. So Dronācārya knew that “Drupada Mahārāja has got his son. In future he would kill me.” Still, when he was offered to become his disciple, to learn military art, he accepted, “Yes.” That means the brāhmaṇas were so liberal. “When he is coming as my disciple, never mind he would kill me in future. That doesn’t matter. But I must give him teaching.” Therefore this word is used, dhīmatā, “very intelligent.” “He has learned the military science from you just to kill you.” Dhīmatā, tava śiṣyeṇa. “Your disciple, he has arranged.” This is the pointing out, so that he may be angry = “This rascal has learned from me and he wants to kill me?” But no. Duty is duty. After all, everyone will die; nobody will exist. So nobody should be afraid of death. This is Vedic civilization. Death is inevitable. “As sure as death.” Who can avoid death? So, being afraid of death, we should not deviate from our duties, real duty. That is Vedic civilization. So Duryodhana wanted to point out that “This boy, your disciple, he… It is fixed up that he’s meant for killing you, and he has arranged nicely military phalanx just to defeat you. And he has learned this art from you.” Therefore he is using this word, dhīmatā. Dhī, dhī means intelligence. Dhīmat-śabda. Dhīmat. Dhī means intelligence, and mat means “one who possesses.” Asty arthe matup-pratyaya. When one possesses something, in this sense, this pratyaya… In Sanskrit there are pratyayas. So matup pratyaya. So matup. From matup, it comes to mat. Sanskrit language means it is so reformed that each and every word has significance. Not that like your English language, “Beauty but, peauty put.” No, not like that. If you say “beauty but,” you must say, “peauty put.” [pronounces “put” to rhyme with “but”] But no, you change = beauty but, peauty put. [now pronounces in the accepted way] Why? This kind of change cannot be allowed in Sanskrit language. If the “u” means “ah,” just like “beauty but,” then it must always mean like that, no change. So dhīmatā. Dhī means intelligence. Dhī means intelligence. So one who has got intelligence. Every word is used with full meaning. Sanskrit language is so nice. Therefore it is called Sanskrit. Sanskrit, saṁskṛta. Saṁskṛta means reform. And the alphabets are called devanāgarī. Devanāgarī means these alphabets… Just like in Europe the roman letters are used, similarly, in the upper planetary system these alphabets are used, devanāgarī, used in the cities of the demigods. And the language is called Sanskrit, “most reformed.” And Sanskrit is the mother of all languages. Even in this planet, the Latin is also derived from Sanskrit. Just like the “maternal,” the matṛ-śabda; “paternal,” pitṛ-śabda. So dhīmatā. So here the writer is Vyāsadeva. So every word is selected, either in Bhagavad-gītā or in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or the Purāṇas, all writings of…, Mahābhārata, each and every word is used just like weighing in the balance. There should be… So many words should be in the beginning, so many words should be in the end. And not whimsically. That cannot be allowed. That is called saṁskṛta sāhitya, literary. Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu when he was hearing Keśava Kāśmīrī, as soon as there was little discrepancy, bhavānī-bhartā, immediately He criticized and defeated him. Sanskrit language is so nice. Paśyaitāṁ pāṇḍu-putrāṇām ācārya: “My dear teacher, just see how many military soldiers are standing there on behalf of the Pāṇḍavas, and they have been arranged by your disciple, who is meant for killing you. So just remember.” That means, “You become more strong, that this boy and the other party may not kill you.” But Duryodhana does not know that the death does not depend on military strength or bodily strength. When death will come, nobody can check. Death is God. When Kṛṣṇa desires that “This man should be killed now,” or “He must die now,” nobody can check. Rākhe kṛṣṇa mare ke mare kṛṣṇa rākhe ke. If Kṛṣṇa desires to kill somebody, nobody can give him protection—no power. And if He wants to save somebody, nobody can kill him. This is Kṛṣṇa’s protection. Therefore this big, big commander-in-chief Dronācārya and Bhīṣmadeva, Karṇa, they were very, very big, powerful commanders. Arjuna was nothing before them. Arjuna was just like… Parīkṣit Mahārāja compared that “My grandfather was just like an ordinary fish, and these soldiers, these commanders, just like timiṅgala.” Timiṅgala, there is a fish—we get information from Vedic literature—very big fish. They swallow up the whales. Timi. Timi means whale fish. And timiṅgala means… Just like small fish are swallowed up like this. So just imagine how big such fish is. So these commanders, Karṇa, Dronācārya and Bhīṣma, were compared with the timiṅgala. And Arjuna, although very powerful, he was compared with timi. So Parīkṣit Mahārāja admitted that “It was not possible for my grandfather to win over the battle before these big, big commanders. It is only by the grace of Kṛṣṇa he was saved.” So the conclusion is if Kṛṣṇa saves, nobody can kill; and if Kṛṣṇa wants to kill, nobody can save. Therefore our conclusion should be that we should always be under the protection of Kṛṣṇa. Avaśya rakṣibe kṛṣṇa. This is śaraṇāgati. Śaraṇāgati, surrender. Surrender means that “I am surrendering to Kṛṣṇa with full faith that He is quite competent and able to give me protection.” This is called surrender. Not that hesitation = “Oh, I will surrender to Kṛṣṇa, and in case of danger, He may not be able to give me protection.” That is not surrender. With full faith = “Yes, Kṛṣṇa is so powerful, Kṛṣṇa is so great, that I am surrendering to Kṛṣṇa from this day = ‘From this day… Kṛṣṇa, I was wandering throughout the universe life after life, without knowing my relationship with You. Now, today, I surrender unto You. Kindly accept me and engage me in Your service.’ ” This is called surrender. Thank you very much. Devotees: All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. [end]
Episode # 305 – Bhagawan Krishna grants the highest “Moksha” to Muchukunda!!!
In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna continuing to run all His way from Mathura city towards Dwaaraka. The place where Bhagawan Krishna entered first into Gujarat was “Daakur-Dwaaraka”, which is very close to today’s city called Anand. Kaalayavana is chasing Bhagawan Krishna all through the way and even though he’s asking Bhagawan […]
Episode # 305 – Bhagawan Krishna grants the highest “Moksha” to Muchukunda!!!
Who Am I Going To Be Loyal To — Krishna’s Mercy
“O Lakshmana, do you rule this earth with Me. You are like My second self, so this glorious opportunity has been presented to you as well. O Saumitra, do you enjoy all the pleasures you desire and the fruits of the regal life. My life and this kingdom I covet for your sake alone.” (Lord […]
Who Am I Going To Be Loyal To — Krishna’s Mercy
Bhagavad Gita As It Is by Srila Prabhupada First Chapter Lecture
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāś caiva kim akurvata sañjaya [Bg. 1.1] [break] Prabhupāda: Now, in your leisure hour you will try to repeat and get by heart some of the ślokas. That will be very nice. Go on. Pradyumna: [leads chanting of synonyms] dhṛtarāṣṭraḥ—King Dhṛtarāṣṭra; uvāca—said; dharma-kṣetre—in the place of pilgrimage; kuru-kṣetre—in the place named Kurukṣetra; samavetāḥ—assembled; yuyatsavaḥ—desiring to fight; māmakāḥ—my party (sons); pāṇḍavāḥ—the sons of Pāṇḍu; ca—and; eva—certainly; kim—what; akurvata—did they do; sañjaya—O Sañjaya. [01:47] Translation = “Dhṛtarāṣṭra said = O Sañjaya, after assembling in the place of pilgrimage at Kurukṣetra, what did my sons and the sons of Pāṇḍu do, being desirous to fight?” Prabhupāda: Hm. So the history is, that same family, there was dispute who would occupy the throne. Dhṛtarāṣṭra and… Actually he was the eldest son of the king, and next was Pāṇḍu. So every country the law of primogeniture, what is called? The eldest child… In your country, even the eldest child is a girl, she also occupies the throne. Just like present Queen Elizabeth. Formerly there was Queen Victoria; before that, another Elizabeth. But in India woman has no such right. The woman is never given any responsible post. That is the opinion of the greatest politician in the history of the world, Cāṇakya Paṇḍita. According to his opinion, viśvāso naiva kartavyaḥ strīṣu rāja-kuleṣu ca. He has given his explicit opinion that “You cannot trust with any responsible post or any responsibility with a woman and politician.” Those who are diplomat, politician, you cannot trust them. So the general regulation is that woman should remain under the protection of husband, er, father, husband and children. Just like these Pāṇḍus, their mother, Kuntī, she was very, very qualified lady. But still, after the death of her husband, she always remained with the sons. The sons are going to the forest; the mother is also going. Also the wife is also going, Draupadī. This was the… So two parties… Dhṛtarāṣṭra was the eldest son, but he was blind, bodily defective. Therefore he was not awarded the throne. His next brother, Pāṇḍu, he was offered the throne, but he died very early age, a young man. When these Pāṇḍus, the five sons, Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja—at that time not Mahārāja—Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīma, Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva, they were very small children, so they were taken care of by Dhṛtarāṣṭra and other elderly family… Bhīṣmadeva. He was the grandfather of the Pāṇḍavas. He was the elder uncle of Dhṛtarāṣṭra. Bhīṣma was elder brother of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s father. He was so old. But he was… Actually, the kingdom belonged to Bhīṣma, but he remained a brahmacārī; he did not marry. There was no issue of Bhīṣmadeva. Therefore his nephews, Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Pāṇḍu, they were inheritor. Now, after the death of Pāṇḍu, there was conspiracy. Dhṛtarāṣṭra wanted that “Actually, this is my kingdom. Now, somehow or other, I could not get it. Now my brother is dead. So if I do not inherit, why not my sons.?” This was the politics. Politics are always there, and enviousness, jealousy. This is the nature of this material world. You cannot avoid it. Spiritual world means just the opposite. There is no politics. There is no jealousy. There is no enviousness. That is spiritual world. And material world means politics, jealousy, diplomacy, enviousness, so many things. This is material world. So even in the heavenly planets, these things are there, politics. Even in animal kingdom these politics are there. This is the nature. Matsaratā. Matsaratā means enviousness. One man is envious of another man. It doesn’t matte even they are brothers or family members. Here the family members, Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Pāṇḍu, two brothers, their sons, they were family members, but the enviousness. So the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not for the persons who are envious. Envious. It is a movement to train people how to become not envious. It is very first class scientific movement, yes. Not to become envious. Therefore Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in the beginning introduces, dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo atra [SB 1.1.2]. In this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, dharma, religious principle, cheating type of religious principle is completely eradicated, thrown away, projjhita. They are kicked out, projjhita. Just like you collect all the dirty things from the room, sweeping, and then kick out, don’t keep it within the room. Similarly, cheating type of religious system—kicked out. It is not such religion, “this religion,” “that religion.” Any religion system, if there is jealousy, that is not religion. Jealousy means… We should understand jealousy, what is jealousy. Jealousy means that you are rightful owner of something, I won’t allow you to take it. This is jealousy. This is jealousy. Jealousy, try to understand. Suppose you are rightful owner of something, and I am trying that “You don’t own it. I shall own it,” or “Somebody own it, I shall not allow it.” This is jealousy. So what is the rightful ownership of the living entity? That is to be understood. Birthright, what is called birthright. Just like everyone has got right to live under the protection of the government. Everyone. That is good government. Government should give security of life and property. That is government. Not only for the human being, but for even for the ant. This is government. Not that I give protection to my brother and not to others. That is not… Just like Parīkṣit Mahārāja, he was giving protection to the animals also. When he was on his tour, as soon as he saw that a black man was trying to kill one cow, oh, immediately he took his sword, “Who are you? You are trying to kill?” So this is good government. Unless the government is equal to everyone… Just like God is equal to everyone. The king or the government must be representative of God. Therefore, according to Vedic civilization, king is offered as good respect as to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. King is called nara-deva. Nara-deva. That means “God in human form.” King is given… Why? Because he acts as the representative of God. He cannot be jealous to any living entity, at least born in his kingdom. That is called prajā. Prajā means one who has taken birth, or, in other words, national, national. So that was the duty. So formerly, when there was fight between two kings, it is on the principle that who is giving good protection to the citizens, not for personal profit. Who is able to give good protection, life, security for life and property, he should become king. So these persons, this Dhṛtarāṣṭra and his sons, they were jealous. How they could give protection to the citizens? They are themselves jealous. Just like nowadays, all these politicians, they are jealous. They cannot give any protection to the citizens. They are simply interested with their party politics. They have no time even to think how to give nice protection to the citizen so that they may feel happy always, that “We have got good government. There is no cause of anxiety. We have got sufficient food, sufficient protection, sufficient opulence—everything sufficient.” That is good government. So here, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, he is jealous. He cannot give any good government. Kṛṣṇa knew it. Kṛṣṇa sent a messenger, Akrura. You have read in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Before this Battle of Kurukṣetra from Dvārakā, He sent His uncle Akrūra = “Just go to Hastināpura, New Delhi, and see what is the situation.” So Akrūra understood that Dhṛtarāṣṭra was planning something. So he talked with him that “Why you are implicated in such planning? Kṛṣṇa does not want it.” Although Dhṛtarāṣṭra knew that Kṛṣṇa was the Supreme Personality of Godhead… So Dhṛtarāṣṭra said that “I know that what I am planning, that is not good. I know Kṛṣṇa—the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And He has requested me. But I tell you frankly, I cannot do without it. So when Kṛṣṇa will be pleased upon me, I may be.” So this is the position of the materialistic person. A materialistic person knows that he is sinful. A materialistic person knows that whatever he is doing is wrong, but he cannot check. Just like the thief. A thief knows that if he commits stealing, he will be arrested, he will be punished. He knows. Because he heard from law books, from other sources, and he has also seen that a thief is arrested and he is taken by the police for being punished. So we have got two kinds of experiences = by hearing and by seeing directly. In Bengali it is called dekhā-śunā. In India it is called. The two kinds of experience = one by seeing, practically experiencing, hand to hand; another by hearing. So one who is intelligent, he gets his experience simply by hearing from the right source. That is nice[?]. So our process is that we are getting experience about the perfect knowledge, the destination of life, simply by hearing from Kṛṣṇa. So we are the most intelligent person. It is not possible to experience directly, but if one has got intelligence, then simply by hearing and considering and thinking over it, he gets the experience. So those who are very sinful, they get experience by hearing and by direct seeing, directly seeing also; still, they cannot check from sinful activities. So Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, by his sinful activities he became so much fallen that he did not hear anybody’s advice, Vidura’s advice, Bhīṣma’s advice, that “Don’t plan like this. They are rightful owner. The Pāṇḍavas, they are rightful owners. They are minor, but don’t try to cheat them.” But Dhṛtarāṣṭra was… So when the planning was complete and the warfield was set up at dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre [Bg. 1.1]… Dharma-kṣetre means, kuru-kṣetre, that place is a pilgrimage. People still go to observe religious ritualistic performances. And in the Vedas there is injunction, kuru-kṣetre dharmam ācaret: “If you want to perform some ritualistic ceremonies, religious, then go to Kurukṣetra.” So Kurukṣetra is a dharma-kṣetra. It is a not fictitious thing, just like rascal commentators, so-called, they say, “Kurukṣetra means this body.” It is not that. As it is. Try to understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is. Kurukṣetra, dharma-kṣetra. It is a place of religion. And especially when Kṛṣṇa was present there, it is already. Why this house? Before our occupation, why this house was an ordinary house? Now it is temple. It is dharma-kṣetra, it is a religious place. Why? Because Kṛṣṇa is there. Kṛṣṇa is there. So either you take Kurukṣetra ordinary place, but because in the battlefield Kṛṣṇa was there directing Arjuna, so it is already dharma-kṣetra. So formerly people were religiously trained up. So they could not speak lies in a dharma-kṣetra. That is still the practice. Just like in the Western world, the Christians go to the church, they admit, confession, “Yes, I have done it.” But that has become a formality. But actually, one should admit in religious place that “Yes, I have done this.” But that does not mean you admit and again do it. No. You admit once, then you are excused. But don’t do it again. So here Dhṛtarāṣṭra says, samavetā yuyutsavaḥ [Bg. 1.1] = “All these people, my sons,” māmakāḥ… Māmakāḥ. That means “my sons,” and pāṇḍava, “and my brother Pāṇḍu’s sons,” samavetā, “they assembled.” What is the purpose? The purpose is yuyutsavaḥ. This word yuyutsu is still used in Japan. Perhaps you know, yuyutsa, fighting. So yuyutsu, those who are desirous of fighting. Now, both the parties were desiring to fight, and they assembled. Why he is asking question, kim akurvata: “What did they do?” Because he was little doubtful that “These boys, after being assembled in dharma-kṣetra kuru-kṣe…, they might have changed their ideas. They might have settled up.” Actually, the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra might have admitted, “Yes, Pāṇḍavas, you are actually the owner. What is the use of unnecessarily fighting?” So he was very much anxious whether they had changed their decision. Therefore he is asking. Otherwise there was no question of asking, kim akurvata. He… Just like if you are given food, if I ask somebody that “Such-and-such gentleman was served with nice dishes. Then what did he do?” this is foolish question. He would eat. That’s all. [laughter] What is the question of “What did he do?” Similarly, when it is already settled up that they were to fight, there was no such question as kim akurvata, “What did they do?” But he asked this question because he was doubtful whether they had changed their opinion. Kim akurvata sañjaya [Bg. 1.1]. He was asking his secretary. He was blind man. He was always conducted by his secretary, Sañjaya, a very faithful secretary. And he is explaining the Bhagavad-gītā by experiencing, by television within the heart. That art is not yet developed. You have got television through machine, but there is another television—you can see within your heart everything, what is going on outside. So that television was known to… That will be explained by Sañjaya, that by the grace of Vyāsadeva, he learned this televisioning, and he was sitting with his master within the room, and he was actually seeing how the fighting is going on, and he was explaining. This is the basic principle of Bhagavad-gītā, I mean, the basic platform. So let us discuss gradually, one after an… Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Devotees: All glories to Prabhupāda. [break] Prabhupāda: …leader to Bhagavad-gītā and became a sādhu, mahātmā, but when they found that a mahātmā is leader and he is a great student of Bhagavad-gītā, and by the way all people gathered round him. Although he was a politician, he has nothing to do with Bhagavad-gītā or mahātmā. No. [laughter] Because the definition of mahātmā is given in the Bhagavad-gītā. The definition of mahātmā is there = mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ, bhajanty ananya manaso [Bg. 9.13]. This is mahātmā. Mahātmā means he has taken shelter of Kṛṣṇa cent percent, and his only business is to worship and glorify Kṛṣṇa. That is mahātmā. So Gandhi never believed that there was Kṛṣṇa, but he became mahātmā by popular vote. That’s all. That kind of mahātmā is not accepted by the śāstra. Mahātmā is…, first symptom of mahātmā is that he must be a great devotee of Kṛṣṇa. That is mahātmā. That is… Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ [Bg. 9.13]. And he is not under any material world. He is in the spiritual world. Daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ. And what is the symptom? Bhajanty ananya-manaso. Ananya-manaso, without any diversion, he’s simply devoted to Kṛṣṇa. This is mahātmā. Everything is there in the Bhagavad-gītā, therefore I request you to study Bhagavad-gītā thoroughly as it is. Then you become perfectly powerful, spiritual. Now chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. [end]
Three Family Relationships To Learn From In The Ramayana — Krishna’s Mercy
“O Lakshmana, do you rule this earth with Me. You are like My second self, so this glorious opportunity has been presented to you as well. O Saumitra, do you enjoy all the pleasures you desire and the fruits of the regal life. My life and this kingdom I covet for your sake alone.” (Lord […]
Three Family Relationships To Learn From In The Ramayana — Krishna’s Mercy
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What things should a Hare Krishna devotee do?
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