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Home , Pururavas

Just Drop It - Part 1

Date: 2011-07-12 Author: Vaijayantimala dasi

Hare Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble pranams! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev!

The following is the transcription of the wonderful class by our beloved God brother HG Devakinandan prabhuji on 28- 04-2011 in Abu Dhabi on Aila Gita.

Maharaj actually touched on Aila gita for two to three weeks. Maharaj did very intense study and spoke very intensely on this particular episode in Srimad Bhagavatam known as Ailagita and it speaks about the story of King Pururavas and . When Maharaj was recovering from his stroke in London, for one month, he spent time studying third canto, ninthchapter which is ’s prayers for creative energy and then he spent a lot of time on Aila gita. This Aila gita appears in the 11th canto 19th chapter. But it has its beginnings inthe ninth canto and then it continues in the 11th canto. So it is a wonderful story - wonderful episode and it means so much because Maharaj studied this and revealed so much. Solet us try reading couple of verses from it. SB 11.26.19-20:

pitroḥ kiṁ svaṁ nu bhāryāyāḥ svāmino ’gneḥ śva-gṛdhrayoḥ kim ātmanaḥ kiṁ suhṛdām iti yo nāvasīyate tasmin kalevare ’medhye tuccha-niṣṭhe viṣajjate aho su-bhadraṁ su-nasaṁ su-smitaṁ ca mukhaṁ striyaḥ

One can never decide whose property the body actually is. Does it belong to one's parents, who have given birth to it, to one's wife, who gives it pleasure, or to one's employer, who orders the body around? Is it the property of the funeral fire or of the dogs and jackals who may ultimately devour it? Is it the property of the indwelling soul, who partakes in its happiness and distress, or does the body belong to intimate friends who encourage and help it? Although a man never definitely ascertains the proprietor of the body, he becomes most attached to it. The material body is a polluted material form heading toward a lowly destination, yet when a man stares at the face of a woman he thinks, "What a good-looking lady! What a charming nose she's got, and see her beautiful smile!"

These two verses ask a very important question. The question is whose property is the body? This is very important. Who actually does the body belong to? In this material world, as a devotee, the standard answer from us is, the body belongs to Krishna. But the truth of the matter is, we behave in such a way very often it looks as if the body actually does not belong to Krishna. It actually appears to belong to us. All our problems start because of "I and Mine". The whole basis of our entire problem, even when we are in devotional service, it begins and ends with "I and mine". The moment I think, "this is my program" or "this is your program" or "this is that group's program" or "this is these people's program", Maharaj said it comes down to "I and mine". It comes down to an extension of our bodies and because we are so greedy to consume more than we can hold, we are not satisfied stopping with our body.

Maharaj gave the example, when a man is young, he decorates himself very beautifully. Today even if people are old, they decorate themselves very beautifully, because in their eyes, they are always young. But in everybody else's eyes, they are actually deteriorating but when they come to a stage when they realize that they cannot look nice anymore, then what they do is, they turn to the small children they have. Maharaj said, "What do we do? We buy them the best clothes. We make them look very nice. We decorate them with cosmetics them and when they look very nice, we make sure they learn all the slokas, they do , they know how to do arati. At the end of it, when someone comes and tells us, "your son is doing nice arati", "your son looks very nice", "your daughter is a good devotee", then what we feel is that, "This is very nice. By saying all these things the actual credit does not go to my children because I am the one who is training them." So we feel that, "Oh! If they are praising our children, actually speaking it reflects on what great parents and devotees we are. And that is very nice." Maharaj said, "We pat ourselves on the back. We actually have no real intention of making our children devotees." Very powerful statement. Maharaj said, in the core of the core of the core of our hearts we just want to make them look good because they are part of "I and mine". It is an extension of who we are. Do you get insulted when someone says, "Oh! Your child did this. Your child didn’t do that." More than insult we should be worried about our child. Sometimes the insult over raids the worry for our child. Maharaj says when that is coming and we are feeling that, then we must know that we have extended our "I and mine", to our children. Then we extend it to our property. As devotees, we have renounced all these things. As devotees, we are very careful to show that we do not have "I and mine" philosophy. Whatever we have, we say it is part of Krishna. But the moment someone does something which is going to affect the "I and mine", then "everything belong to Krishna" philosophy is put outside the door and we become upset. We become hurt. We become extra sensitive. All this is happening because, Maharaj said, this question is not answered properly. Whose property does the body belong to?

Arjuna was told by Krishna in Bhagavad gita 11.33 that, "You please remember one thing. You can wake up. You can take the kingdom. You please run the kingdom. You please enjoy the flourishing kingdom because you have earned it, because it is part of your duty. But after you do all this, you remember one thing - "mayaivaite nihataah purvam eva" - please remember that by My arrangement, everyone is being killed. Whoever you have shot an arrow has not died because of you. Whoever you have shot an arrow at, has actually died because I have arranged prior to the shooting of your arrow. So if that is the case, then what value do you have?" Actually speaking we have no value and that is the starting point to answer this question - "Whose property is the body?" Factually speaking we should genuinely believe that except for Krishna and guru, this body has no value. These properties have no value. Whatever we think belongs to us, is all valueless, but if we believe that, then we should remember the last line of Bhagavad Gita 11.33. He says, "become nimitta maatram" and He purposefully calls as savyasaachi. Savyasaachi means one who is expert at shooting the arrows. So Arjuna is being told by Krishna gently, he is being reminded by Krishna, "My dear Arjuna, you may be very powerful. But please remember one thing. You may be the best person to shoot an arrow. The arrow will find its mark, but your capacity and your ability is borrowed." It is loaned out because it is coming from Krishna. So if Krishna does not sanction, Arjuna may be the best Savyasaachi but it has no value. So actually speaking, whatever capacity you and I have, that capacity is coming from Krishna. Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita verse 7.8 - paurusham nrshu - "I am ability in man." So if Krishna is the ability in man, everything that belongs to man, is Krishna's property. This is what Krishna is telling us. Maharaj said, "As devotees, we may have given up many gross things, but the subtle capturing of, 'this is my property', and 'this is to my credit', that will kill our devotional service because it is a subtle form of "I and mine". This identification is dangerous."

Prabhuji went on to explain the result of this identification leading to dissensions amongst us and the same shall be transcribed and offered in the next mail Krishna willing.

Thank you very much, Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Vaijayantimala devi dasi, Abu Dhabi Just Drop It - Part 2

Date: 2011-07-13 Author: Vaijayantimala devi dasi

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble pranams! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev!

The following is in continuation of the transcription of the wonderful class by our beloved God brother HG Devakinandan prabhuji on 28-04-2011 in Abu Dhabi on Aila Gita. In the last offering, we saw that the most important question in our lives is whose property is this body? Because of the concept of "I and mine", we think that everything belongs to us and this results in dissensions amongst us.

As devotees, the reason why we become very upset with each other is because we are working on the "I and mine" principle. Srimati says, bhutaanaam yan mitah kalih. She says, there is only one reason why living beings have dissension. Why we fight? We fight because of social intercourse. Social intercourse means I and you appear to behave like devotees, but the moment we speak, the moment we act, we do everything and anything except how we should be as devotees. Instead of saying that "Prabhuji, this is yours", we say, "Prabhuji, everything is yours, but actually this is all mine." We look at the devotee and say, "Prabhu, you are a wonderful devotee. You are so nice devotee. Everything is very nice but…. this, this, this you should improve. However what you did is wrong. Unfortunately what you spoke was wrong." So Maharaj said, "Why you must have the "but"? Why you must have the "unfortunately"? Why we must have "however"? Why can't the sentence end very nicely with a full stop?" Because in our heart we believe that we are part of this body. It is very subtle, but it kills our devotional service and that is why we fight. That is why we have misunderstandings. That is why we have quarrels. That is why our vision cannot see the same thing. We are supposed to come here to glorify Krishna, yet why is it that we should have differences? Maharaj says, "It is because we do not know who this body belongs to?"

We identify this body, our yantra – vehicle, as ourselves. And because we think this yantra belongs to us, we cannot see ourselves as nimitta maatram. So the real key to peace is actually this point. Whose property does the body belong to? Maharaj answered this question by saying that, "This body is the property of Krishna and the devotees you are trying to serve." Very nice point. We always say this body is the property of the Lord. But we forget to extend it to say, "Lord means devotees." If you firmly believe that this body is actually the property of the devotees, which means we use our time, we use our efforts, we use our capacity to serve the devotees. Then we should not expect that they must decorate this dead body with praises, "Oh! Prabhu, Thank you very much." That is their look out. It is up to them to be grateful to the work that we do, but the moment we expect that this body must be decorated, then we are thinking this body is ours. Expectation kills the devotional service. This is famous statement of Maharaj. Maharaj says, "Every time you expect when you come for a program, you will be disappointed. Is it not true? Every time you expect something from a devotee, you must become disappointed. Because first your expectations are so high in the sky. You are in cuckoo's land. You expect the best from everyone but what about your part of the deal?" We expect something from people but we forget that we are supposed to deliver. That part is conveniently put aside. We say, "Prabhuji, I have no ability. How to expect anything from me?" That is a very clever argument but it does not help us in devotional service.

So whose property is this body? This "I and mine", begin to manifest by us trying to take an object, exploit it for our enjoyment and when we cannot get that object, we become frustrated. This is what the Aila gita is all about. Maharaj says, "In Aila gita the story begins as part of a very very powerful point - the principle of attraction between one object of enjoyment and another object of enjoyment. In this material world this is known as man and woman but actually speaking it can happen anywhere. This is just an attraction between us and an object of our desire. That is what Aila Gita is about." So in Aila Gita, we read that Urvashi was an and she was very famous for being very beautiful and very great in character. When she was in the court of , one day Narada muni comes and he speaks to Indra and praises the great king known as Pururava. Narada Muni says that King Pururava, has great noble qualities. He has great wealth. He is very handsome. He is fighting always for the Devas and that is how powerful he is. So then Narada ends by saying there is no other person more powerful, no other person who has achieved more than Pururava. Just by hearing about Pururava, Urvashi becomes very very attracted to him and she thinks that "I must actually have such a man of noble quality. I must have him as my husband." So she approaches Pururava and she praises him. Pururava becomes instantly attracted to her, not only because she is praising him, which is often why we become very happy with people, but also because he sees her as an object who can fulfill his desire. So he approaches her immediately and asks her name. He praises her beauty and he says, "Please marry me." Urvashi immediately says, "My dear king, which woman in this world will not be happy enough to actually get a man like you?" So immediately, both parties become very attracted to each other and they decide that they will spend the rest of their lives together. Maharaj said that this is how all our getting together begins and when we come together, we become very happy. Isn’t it? Husband and wife particularly, the first year is always a honeymoon. You all know that. After that, Maharaj says, there is no moon, there is no honey. From that it all becomes very salty, very pungent, very bitter and honey becomes history. Maharaj said Urvashi and Pururava was the original soap opera compared to all others because it teaches us a very important point that when two people come because they think they can enjoy from each other, in the starting point the relationship is very sweet. So Bhagavatam says, for years Pururava and Urvashi enjoyed. They went to all the celestial places and in the time of enjoyment everything was forgotten. But Urvashi, before she got married to Pururava, she said, "Pururava, even though you are a great man, a handsome wonderful man, you have to fulfill 3 qualifications before you marry me." So Pururava said, "I am the man who has conquered the Devatas. Tell me what 3 qualifications you want."

She said, "I am an Apsara and I have two lambs. They are like my children. Wherever I go, I take them with me. Your duty besides being with me and enjoying with me is to protect the two lambs. Whatever happens, they should never be separated from me. This is the first qualification." Pururava said, "I am the person whom the Devatas call to fight out the demons. Do you think I can't give protection to your lambs? So do not worry about the first qualification." Then she said, "I come from higher planets and in higher planets, we are very cultured people. We do not walk around in a state of undress. At any point, I should never see you in a state of undress. This is the second qualification." Prabhupada says this is actually our culture. Pururava said, "I am a very cultured person. I will take care of your lambs. I will always wear my clothes. So do not worry about anything." The third thing she said is also very important. She said, "I do not use this brand oil or that brand oil. I only use the best ghee-clarified butter. If you want to stay with me, all the food preparations must be only in ghee. If you can fulfill these three conditions, then there is no problem." Pururava laughed and said, "What is ghee? A man of my status can bathe you in ghee every day if you want." This way they become very happy and stay together for years and years.

Prabhuji went on to explain what Indra did to get back Urvashi and the same shall be offered in the next mail, Krishna willing.

Thank you very much, Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Vaijayantimala devi dasi, Just Drop It - Part 3

Date: 2011-07-14 Author: Vaijayantimala devi dasi

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble pranams! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev!

The following is in continuation of the transcription of the wonderful class by our beloved God brother HG Devakinandan prabhuji on 28-04-2011 in Abu Dhabi on Aila Gita. In the last offering, we saw the story of King Pururava and Urvashi coming together and Urvashi putting three conditions to the King so that she will remain with him. The three conditions are:

1. The King should protect her two lambs. 2. She should never see the king in a state of undress. 3. All the food preparations must be in ghee only.

The king agreed to all the conditions and they started living together and enjoying for years and years. Since Urvashi started living with Pururava, Indra thought, "What is my court of without Urvashi? I must have Urvashi. So ! Go down to earth and somehow or the other, you find Urvashi and make sure that King Pururava will break the conditions that will propel Urvashi to come back and dance before me." So the Gandharvas went to earth and they located Urvashi and Pururava who were still enjoying their lives without a care in the world, always uttering sweet words to each other. In the dead of night, the Gandharvas entered the house. They stole the two lambs and as they stole them, the lambs started bleating because they were afraid. Urvashi woke up and when she woke up, she became very very upset with Pururava. Maharaj said that this is where we can all identify how good is the relationship between husband and wife. Because maybe for ten years, wife or husband may say sweet things to each other, but the moment something has upset them, the sweet words go out of the window and within one or two minutes, we think we have been living a dream, because the same person who has been sweet with us in the past, now uses the tongue as the sword to pierce your heart.

Maharaj said that we men think that we are very very powerful, and strong. We are head of the family, but we do not realize that when our wives become upset with us and when they open their mouth and move their tongue, those words are stronger and sharper and more powerful and destructive than any sword or bullet or any form of a slap or physical pain. This is the strength of a woman and man foolishly thinks that he is in control of his family; he is in control of his wife. So Urvashi got upset and then she said, "Now I am being killed under the protection of a husband who thinks is the greatest warrior but factually speaking, my husband is unworthy. He is a coward. He is a eunuch. He is not a man. He dresses in the day like a man, but he is hiding under the bedsheets like a woman." This is the same Pururava who had been praised by Urvashi some time ago and now that her lambs were stolen, she started lamenting, "Today these thieves have deprived me of my children and my husband continues to sleep like a coward and does not run out to get my children. Why should I stay with such an unworthy man?"

Pururava’s heart had been torn. He could not take the pain. All his life, he has fought so many warriors and killed them. He has endured so much of painful physical suffering but he decided this suffering he cannot endure. This was too much pain. So he reacted and this is how we react with material energy. Maharaj says, When material energy is very sweet, we think it is our property. When material energy hurts us, we counteract and in that counteraction lies our misery. So he did something extremely foolish. He woke up and he ran out with a sword. Unfortunately he forgot to put on his dhoti. So he ran out with his sword because he was hurt by her words. He said, "If Urvashi thought that I am such a coward I am going to prove to her that I am not." Gandharvas became very happy because the condition that they wanted was now going to be undone. The Gandharvas became very bright and they illuminated the whole cottage and the field outside. Urvashi came out. Pururava had no clothes. He only had a sword. He was coming back with the lambs. Urvashi said, "The first condition was gone. Lambs were stolen. The second condition was also gone. You are not wearing dhoti. Forget about the ghee. I am leaving". That was the end and she left him.

What happened to Pururava is very important for us because Pururava became a mad man. He travelled the world looking for Urvashi, the object of his desire. He could not detach himself from that, because he considered that object to be his. So he could not let go. He could not renounce. The more he ran after it, the more frustrated he became and he ran hither and thither and Bhagavatam says that he became a mad man. One day he happened to see Urvashi walking on the banks of the river with her companions. He ran to her, fell at her feet, and begged her, "Please come back to me. I am so unfortunate that I am no more with you. This body is useless if it cannot satisfy you." But factually speaking, it is not that he wanted to satisfy her. Maharaj said, "If we run behind something, it is not that we want to satisfy that thing. The truth is we want that thing to satisfy us. So even there, we are actually selfish." Pururava did not love Urvashi. He loved himself more than Urvashi and he wanted Urvashi to make him feel happy. So he ran after Urvashi, not because he was sad for Urvashi, but because he wanted Urvashi to come back to him. This is exploitation. Under the guise of devotional service, under the guise of being loving, actually we want to enjoy that which belongs to Krishna.

So Pururava says, "If you do not take me back, this body will have no value. It will be eaten by the foxes and vultures and I would just die."

Urvashi’s reply to Pururva is very powerful and the same shall be transcribed and offered in the next mail, Krishna willing.

Thank you very much, Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Vaijayantimala devi dasi, Abu Dhabi Just Drop It - Part 4

Date: 2011-07-15 Author: Vaijayantimala devi dasi

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble pranams! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev!

The following is in continuation of the transcription of the wonderful class by our beloved God brother HG Devakinandan prabhuji on 28-04-2011 in Abu Dhabi on Aila Gita. In the last offerings, we saw the story of the coming together of King Pururava and Urvashi, Urvashi’s three conditions to stay with the King, the way Indra sent the Gandharvas and how the conditions were broken and how Urvashi left the King and how Pururava was wandering like a mad man. One day he happened to meet Urvashi and begged her to come back to him and here we will see her reply to the King.

Urvashi said, "My dear King, please do not be impatient. Do not give up your life. Why are you giving up your life just for me? Do you know by nature I am as cunning as fox? Do you know by nature you should never trust me? Just because I utter sweet words, do you think it will always be sweet?" Is there anything in this material world that remains sweet? Everything that begins very sweet in this world, ends up becoming very sour. Why? It is not the fault of the world. Bhagavatam says in 11.2.49, "samsaara dharmair" – miseries are inseparable, inevitable features of the material world. There is nothing surprising about the fact that it is the nature of the world that whatever starts very sweetly must end in a very tragic fashion. Why? Because it deteriorates. This is what Vyasadeva says in Srimad Bhagavatam 1.4.17-18 "bhautikaanaam ca bhaavaanaam hraasam ca tat krtam" - The great sage, who was fully equipped in knowledge, could see, through his transcendental vision, the deterioration of everything material, due to the influence of the age. He makes it a point to tell all of us this. "Please remember one thing. Anything you acquire for your enjoyment, including name and fame must deteriorate." It cannot last. Any relationship you have in this world, which has no Krishna in the centre, must deteriorate. On the basis of misunderstanding, on the basis of ego, on the basis of "I and mine", we lose the association of devotees, because we start as materialists. We do not start our relationship as devotees. That is why along the way, the relationship starts very nice and then after a while it must deteriorate because there is intimacy. Maharaj said intimacy is not for the devotees.

Pururava and Urvashi had intimacy and therefore their relationship was destroyed. Maharaj said, "As devotees, we may become very good friends; we may become like family but if we do not put Krishna in the centre, then our relationships will deteriorate." So every time we have a problem with a devotee, we may not say it. We may say, "Prabhu you are very nice." But in the heart, we do not like that person. In the heart, we do not care for that person. Maharaj said, "The moment you have any of this in your heart, then please know that the relationship you had with the person has been intimate but it has not had Krishna in the centre. That is the only reason and since every relationship takes two hands to clap, then it cannot be one person’s fault that the relationship is deteriorating. It is always two person’s fault. So there is no blame game. There should not be any blame game." See how Maharaj took Urvashi and Pururava and brought them to our spiritual life. Maharaj told me that everyone is Urvashi and Pururava because we want to enjoy and we think it belongs to us. But Urvashi has more common sense. Maharaj said Matajis very often, have more common sense than Prabhus.

We run after everything and when we cannot get it, we become frustrated. But Urvashi says, "Please become sober. Please do not allow the senses to overcome you like foxes." She says very nicely, "Do not let the foxes eat you. You should not be controlled by senses so much, my king." Then she took pity on Pururava and she said, "Once a year I would be with you as man and wife so that you can have a child. Then I will go." Bhagavatam tells us that the moment Pururava heard it, he became so jubilant, and for one year that jubilance carried him right to the day when Urvashi came and stayed with him. The moment she returned, he was frustrated. Again he said, "My body should go the foxes and jackals." For 364 days, he was walking around like a mad man. When the 365th day comes, he said to Urvashi, "My body should go to the foxes and jackals." Urvashi became so sad that she said, "You pray to the Gandharavas. You pray to them to give you a girl who is exactly like me." He was so desperate to enjoy the object which he thought belonged to him. So he prayed to the Gandharvas and they gave him an Agnisthali girl and he tried to enjoy his senses with her but he was not satisfied.

Finally, he was so desperate to attain the heavenly destination where Urvashi was there. He sat down and started a fire sacrifice – a yajna. Bhagavatam says, at the point, he sat down, Satya yuga is becoming and in Treta yuga the benefit is, whatever sacrifice you do, you progress. It is an advancement in the spiritual life to perform the sacrifice. So he sat down, took one wood and then another wood and he rubbed them and he said pointing to the woods, "This is Urvashi, this is Pururava and the result of the rubbing is bliss and happiness." Maharaj says, "This is the symptom of a mad man that he takes two woods and he says, 'this is me and this is my wife and coming together there is my son and he thinks, this is my sacrifice.' There is no sacrifice. There is only an attachment." But Krishna is so kind. Bhagavatam tells us, He is yajna pati. Any sacrifice that one even inadvertently does, He takes the fruit of the sacrifice and He rewards the person who does the sacrifice. So Pururuava in the ninth canto sat down trying to remember Urvashi. As he became sober to sit down for the sacrifice, the story transfers to the 11th canto.

In the 19th chapter, Krishna speaks to Uddhava, and then he carries on the story from the point when Pururava sat down for meditation. Krishna says, “My dear Uddhava, listen to the story of Aila - another name for Pururava. Aila sat down and he began meditating on Urvashi but the more he tried to meditate on Urvashi, the more he realized, as time went on that he is not going to get any happiness from the object of his desire. He had tried to squeeze as much as he can, but he realized now that he cannot." Bhagavatam tells us that he began to seriously to think of his condition. Maharaj says, "This is the starting point for us as devotees. We must seriously think of our current condition." Once I asked Maharaj, "Maharaj, what is the difference between an advanced devotee and a struggling devotee?" Maharaj said, the only difference is five minutes. I said, "What do you mean by that Maharaj?" Maharaj said, " After I take a class, the advanced devotee takes five minutes more to think about the class. The struggling devotee does not spend extra five minutes thinking about the class. The moment Bhagavatam is closed, class is over, we talk about prasadam, we talk about our children, we talk about the weather, we talk about anything and everything except the class. It is like for one hour we have to be devotees, so we put a gun to our head and say I am a devotee. The moment we finish, 'Haribol! it is finished.'" Maharaj said, "That is the difference. An advanced devotee will go back and think and think and think and contemplate."

Prabhuji went on to explain the way we should contemplate and the same shall be transcribed and offered in the next mail, Krishna willing.

Thank you very much, Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Vaijayantimala devi dasi, Abu Dhabi. Just Drop It - Part 5

Date: 2011-07-16 Author: Vaijayantimala devi dasi

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble pranams! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev!

The following is in continuation of the transcription of the wonderful class by our beloved God brother HG Devakinandan prabhuji on 28-04-2011 in Abu Dhabi on Aila Gita. In the last offering, we saw that King Pururava sat down to contemplate on his condition and Devaki prabhuji went on to explain the way we should also contemplate on our condition seriously.

In Bhagavad Gita Krishna says in 2.62 and 2.63

dhyāyato viṣayān puṁsaḥ saṅgas teṣūpajāyate saṅgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ kāmāt krodho ’bhijāyate krodhād bhavati sammohaḥ sammohāt smṛti-vibhramaḥ smṛti-bhraṁśād buddhi-nāśo buddhi-nāśāt praṇaśyati

While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises. From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool.

This verse must be translated into positive. How does the verse start? "While contemplating the object of the senses…." Maharaj said, "While contemplating on the words of Bhagavatam, the devotee develops attachment for Bhagavatam." This is the practical application of the verse. The secret is actually in the verse. Bhagavad Gita tells us that when we contemplate on the object of senses, we develop attachment for them. So Maharaj said, "If you want to develop attachment for Bhagavatam and Krishna, you please contemplate on Bhagavatam and Krishna as the object of the senses. That is the five minutes difference between the advancing devotee and struggling devotee. What is the object of our senses? Is it Urvashi or is it Krishna? Is it Pururava or is it Bhagavatam? So the same two verses, you just change them. When you develop attachment for Bhagavatam, lust will fly out of the window and true love is settled in the heart." See the difference and in Bhagavad Gita, Krishna tells us that when there is lust, there will be anger. This is because lust means, we cannot satisfy our desires, so we get angry. When anger comes from lust, we become frustrated. When there is frustration, there is delusion. When there is delusion, there is bewilderment of memory. We forget what we are, we forget where we are and we just counteract. When someone insults us, we counteract.

Today I was just remembering one story Maharaj told about Buddha. Buddha was walking on the road and suddenly what happened was one man came up to Buddha and he said, "Whatever you are talking is nonsense. Whatever you are preaching is nonsense. Whatever you say, you do not practice." He insulted him like anything. He then inquired, "What do you have to say?" Buddha looked at him and he asked him, "When someone buys and gives a gift for another person, and if the person rejects the gift, whose property is the gift?" The man thought about it. First, he thought it is a funny question from a man whom he had just attacked. Then he thought about the answer. "If someone I am giving a gift to, does not want it, it still remains my property." So Buddha smiled and said, "You want to transfer your insult to me. That is very nice, but I do not want your insult. I do not want to counteract. So to whom does the insult belong to?" It belongs to the man who started the insult. So Buddha said, "You keep the insult and let me be peaceful." Maharaj said that this is how we escape from "I and mine". No counteraction. The moment we counteract the material energy, we will lose. The moment a devotee says something that has nothing to do with Krishna, we will lose. Our relationships will go out of the window. That is why Maharaj said, "We tolerate like anything. We have to tolerate. We have to do only two things in spiritual life. We adjust and we tolerate. We tolerate and we adjust. The whole life is about that ." This is the expert way in which we stop "I and mine". "I and mine" is much deeper than just saying, 'this is not mine.' It is much deeper.

1. The story of Pururava and Urvashi is not for other people, but it is for all of us. That is why Bhagavatam speaks about it. The question comes back to what Pururava asked, "Whose property is the body?" Now Pururava has come to the end of his journey. He is a frustrated man. He is a lonely man. But now, something has come to his heart as he sat down. What is that? Renunciation. Why? Very simple. He got slapped over and over again. The face is black and blue. Nowhere to turn. Better start becoming yogi, because bhogi days are over and now he must become tyagi. Otherwise, he cannot become bhakta. So this is the way Maya adjusts and tolerates us. She will adjust us in such a way that the slaps will come. Maharaj says, "When the slaps come on your faces, do not transfer the slaps to others. Then you lose. Accept the slaps and sit down and contemplate seriously about your condition. Gajendra contemplated after 1000 years of fighting with the crocodile. You and I do not have 1000 years to contemplate. Today after Bhagavatam, we may just die. Better we contemplate NOW about our condition ." So Pururava sat down and he said, "For so many years, I enjoyed bodily pleasures. So many years I tried to enjoy, but I was not satisfied by the enjoyment - Just like you pour more and more ghee into the fire thinking that the ghee will douse the fire, more and more I tried to enjoy with Urvashi, the more I tried, the more frustrated I became." Maharaj says, "The more you try to exploit a devotee, the more you try to put yourself above others, the more frustrated you will become. When you are frustrated in your life, it is because you are exploiting what is given to you by Krishna. If you renounce that, you will become peaceful." Such an amazing formula to be free of frustration.

2. Pururava says what is the use of all the big education, all the great austerities, all the renunciation, what is the use of studying revealed scriptures and living in solitude and silence, if after all that, the mind is stolen by the object of one's desire? What is the use? Maharaj said, "We may read Bhagavatam till the cows come home, we may write so many slokas and study them but tomorrow if we cannot walk away from the object of our desire, then what is the point of all that?" This we should ask ourselves seriously.

3. What is the value of this human body? This is the key now. What is the value? He said, "How can I blame Urvashi for my trouble?" Actually, Maharaj says, "When you renounce, you stop blaming others. When you renounce, you blame yourself. It is only when you attach, you blame everyone else. It is a very important point. Those who blame others, they are not renounced. But those who look to themselves and say, 'It is my fault', it ends there, they become renounced. Buddha never counteracted. He became completely renounced. He took the insult and he said, 'This is your gift. You keep it. I do not want it.' So when we are also insulted by devotees, or by so-called devotees, we should not insult back. We should not behave in a counteractive fashion. We should absorb, tolerate, adjust and we become renounced. We become free. The problem is that the ego comes in the way and we say, "He has said something. Now I must take a stand and this is my stand." What stand you have? Your only stand is you are supposed to be the servant of the servant of the servant. Servant does not have a stand. Servant bows. He does not stand." See how nicely Maharaj put the point. So Pururava then says, "Why am I to blame Urvashi? It is my fault. I was attached to my body and everything that gave enjoyment to my body, I wanted for myself. When I did not get it, I became like a madman. So I must stop this."

Prabhuji went on to explain the further realizations of Pururava and the same shall be transcribed and offered in the next mail, Krishna willing.

Thank you very much, Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Vaijayantimala devi dasi, Abu Dhabi. Just Drop It - Part 6

Date: 2011-07-17 Author: Vaijayantimala devi dasi

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble pranams! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev!

The following is in continuation of the transcription of the wonderful class by our beloved God brother HG Devakinandan prabhuji on 28-04-2011 in Abu Dhabi on Aila Gita.

In the last offering we saw that King Pururava sat down to contemplate on his condition and he had a lot of wonderful realizations. Here we continue the same.

Pururava then said, "What is the value of this polluted body anyway? It is only made up of bile, pus, stool, urine, and blood. Actually, it has no value." Krishna tells Uddhava that thinking this way, Pururava attained renunciation in his heart, and by sitting down and meditating, he became remorseful. Once he became remorseful, he became repentant and then he sat down to meditate on Krishna and not on Urvashi. Finally, because of renunciation, he became a peaceful man. Maharaj said of all the 24 gurus that the Avanti Brahmana sings, the one guru we should remember in relation to this story is the hawk.

The hawk flew into the sky after getting a piece of meat and he thought he can eat very peacefully. The piece of meat was the object of his senses and he wanted to satisfy the senses. The moment he got the meat, 10 other hawks came and attacked him in the sky and they wanted the piece of meat. That became the object of everyone’s desire. So they all attacked the object and the hawk kept thinking how am I going to get away from this? There is no peace. How to eat? Then he decided there is only one solution. He dropped the meat like a ton of weight. The moment he dropped it, all the hawks ran after the meat and this hawk became free and in that freedom, he became peaceful. In the renunciation, he became elevated. You know what Prabhupada says about renunciation in Bhagavatam. He says, " We renounce not because we are losing. We renounce because we are winning". Think about it. A devotee renounces something to get something better. We have renounced material life because spiritual life is much sweeter, but the whole world thinks we are renouncing because we are losers. That is why we are renouncing. So a true devotee renounces for something higher. So the hawk could fly higher without the meat and he found another piece of meat. Whilst the other hawks were fighting, he sat down peacefully and he ate and he became free.

So whenever the object of our desire becomes the object of our frustration, Maharaj says, JUST DROP IT and leave. I remember at this point Vaishnava seva prabhu and myself, 5-10 years ago, Maharaj told us to go to Jamnagar and start preaching and we went there, looked around, found a nice man and he had a nice land. So we started cultivating him and his land was there and we were thinking if this land comes to us, we can build a beautiful temple for Krishna. So that way we went on and on and we kept telling Maharaj, "Please come and meet this man so that we can get the land." Maharaj kept telling us "Time is not there. It is okay. I’ll wait. You continue". So like that, we were building up and building up and one day, Maharaj came to Jamnagar and we went to the land and did nice kirtan and everything. We were ready and we were saying that definitely, this nice gentleman will give Maharaj the land. Now at the point that the gentleman showed us all the positive views that the land is going to be ours, finally when Maharaj sat down with him, Maharaj asked him a straightforward question. "Are you interested in giving the land for us?" He said, "Actually I have to consult my mother. I am not sure whether my mother will say 'Yes or No.'" Before he could finish his sentence, Maharaj got up and said, "Keep the land. We are going." He got into the auto and Vaishnava prabhu and myself ran after Maharaj and said, "Maharaj, you convince him. What are we doing?" Maharaj said, "This land is not the object of our desire. This land should be used for Krishna. Krishna does not want because this man is hesitating. We should walk away." We said, we worked so hard to get the land. Maharaj said, "It’s all about you. It’s not about the land. That is why you are frustrated. In the guise of bhakti you wanted fame. You wanted credit. You thought this land will be big achievement and it was exactly the opposite." Maharaj just walked away from the land and Maharaj said, "When Krishna does not want to give something, you must renounce it. When there is even slightest hesitation over something, please drop it like a ton of weight. When something is going to cause you agitation, please walk away from it." Maharaj perfectly showed it in his life. He just walked away from the land and he told us, "You just wait and see. Krishna does not want the land. So we do not want the land. Krishna wants something bigger than that land. So we want what Krishna wants. Now go back and read Bhagavatam and become peaceful."

The day Dwaraka project finished, myself and Vaishnava seva prabhu thought we will have two days holidays. So we went up to see Maharaj upstairs in Dwaraka and we said, "Maharaj, program is finished. All the guests have gone. Everything is done. Myself and Vaishnava prabhu are thinking that we will just stay in Dwaraka for 2 or 3 days and do some nice chanting." Maharaj said, "Rascals, you stop this nonsense. Now it is 11 am in the morning. You take the 2 pm train to Rajkot." We thought we had just finished our program. But Maharaj said, "Go immediately to Rajkot, sit on the land and start kirtan. Now we have to start building a temple in Rajkot." We said, "Maharaj don’t you want to spend a few days here in Dwaraka?" Maharaj said, "I am leaving in the afternoon. My work is done. Why should I sit around with this now? We have done something, offered it to Prabhupada. Now we walk away from it. It is not ours ". That is when we realized what Maharaj meant. If we think a program is ours, if we think a land is ours, if we think that devotional service is ours then it becomes material. But if we believe that a program is actually Krishna’s, that it belongs to our spiritual master, then we will never be attached to the program but we will be attached to the service we must render when we go to the program and more importantly we will never be attached to the result of the service that is done. Materially it will look like it is successful, or it is a failure, but that result is not in our hands. Maharaj taught us that it is in Krishna's hands.

Before Maharaj left this world, he gave us direction that, "You build a beautiful temple." He said, "I can finish the temple actually before I leave". But you need to have some engagement. So you build the temple and after you build the temple, Devaki, you just offer it to Prabhupada because I wanted to offer it to Prabhupada. All of you offer it to Prabhupada on my behalf and I will be very happy. Now once you finish that, you just pack up and you walk away, you find a tree, sit under the tree and you read Bhagavatam and you be peaceful. It is done. If the authorities allow you to continue in the temple, please continue. If the authorities say Bhagavatam should be read in this temple, continue. If authorities say, 'we are not interested in Bhagavatam, we want to collect money for temple', you please pack up your bags and say 'Haribol', take your Bhagavatam, go under a next tree and you start reading there and that tree will become a temple." So Maharaj taught us a very powerful point and this is Aila Gita. Whose property is your body? It is the property of your spiritual master. That is the answer to this question. It is the property of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Prabhuji went on to explain what should be our behavior once we know that this body is the property of the spiritual master and the same shall be transcribed and offered in the next mail, Krishna willing.

Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Vaijayantimala devi dasi Abu Dhabi.

Moderator's Note: Few devotees informed us that they are not getting the entire content of the mails in the mails delivered to them. We too are puzzled by this because in the yahoo groups website archive we are able to see the complete content and also in our inbox. Since the solution for this issue is beyond our limits, we request the devotees who are facing this problem to directly login to the groups website http://groups.yahoo.com/group/granthraj using their yahoo id (yahoo groups allows only yahoo id to access the website) and read the complete mails. We pray that Krishna will sort out this problem soon. Just Drop It - Part 7

Date: 2011-07-18 Author: Vaijayantimala devi dasi

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble pranams! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev!

The following is in continuation of the transcription of the wonderful class by our beloved God brother HG Devaki Nandan prabhuji on 28-04-2011 in Abu Dhabi on Aila Gita. In the last offering, we saw that the answer to the question, "Whose property is this body?" is that this is the property of the spiritual master and the Supreme Personality Of Godhead.

Once we understand that this body is the property of the spiritual master, can we use it in any other way except to please him? We cannot. If we do, we are exploiting Mother Nature. If we do not do that, we become free like how Pururava finally became free of Uravashi. We will also become free of all attachments. So Maharaj said, "Please do not carry your material baggage into your spiritual life. You throw your material baggage in the rubbish bin and when you come to spiritual life, you start clean, stay clean and end clean." This is the way to live our lives. This is the way Maharaj lived his life. Maharaj said, "When I left my material life, my thali (plate ) was full. There was nothing lacking. I did not run away from my wife. I did not run away from my children." Maharaj said, "My wife was a pucca Vaishnavi." All the wonderful Vaishnava dishes Maharaj cooks, Maharaj said, "I learnt from my wife." Maharaj said, "Your Godmother was such a perfect Vaishnavi that she would never stand in the way of my spiritual success and even then I said, 'I had to drop everything and I had to come to Krishna'. because even if she says, 'I will not stop your spiritual life', I may still continue my material life."

So Maharaj said, "You should be prepared to drop whatever you have for Krishna and never make devotional service into material service." That is the biggest form of cheating and it will destroy our yatra, destroy the unity of the devotees and it will destroy the peace of the congregation. We should be prepared to drop anything, provided we can read Bhagavatam peacefully, we can do Mangala arati nicely, we can get new devotees to come and introduce them to Krishna consciousness. That is why Prabhupada said, "Finally at the end, Pururava became so peaceful because he gave up the object of his desire." What is the object of our desire? It should be Bhagavatam, it should be to fulfill the orders of our spiritual master. If we only have that in our mind, we will always be peaceful. The moment 'dusthita matih' is there we will become very very disturbed.

So we always remember one thing. When we are disturbed in bhakti, it is nobody’s fault, but it is ours. Maharaj said, "Stop the blame with yourself and do not blame the world because your house is not in order. Do not go and disturb other people’s houses because that karma is very bad." Krishna is adjusting with 16108 queens. Maharaj said, "We have one queen in our house and we cannot adjust with her. We cannot adjust with our family. Worse still, when we come for devotional programs, we cannot adjust with each other. We fight with each other and we do not tolerate each other. We feel, "I am better than you. I will impose myself. It is my ego. If I back off I am a loser." Maharaj says, "Everyone is a loser in the material life but somehow never become spiritually bankrupt. That is very important. We should recognize that we are all different but we should also recognize that we are all trying to come to Krishna and this is spiritual unity. We can do this only on the strength of the following wonderful verse from Srimad Bhagavatam 7.13.42."

nāhaṁ ninde na ca staumi sva-bhāva-viṣamaṁ janam eteṣāṁ śreya āśāse utaikātmyaṁ mahātmani Different people are of different mentalities. Therefore it is not my business either to praise them or to blaspheme them. I only desire their welfare, hoping that they will agree to become one with the Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna.

Prahlada Maharaj once meets an avadhuta and asks him, "How are you living in this world? One day I see you with a rich man; the other day I see you with a poor man. But, you are always peaceful." For this question, the avadhuta answers the above verse. Maharaj said, "this is the most important verse for anyone. If you can only live this one line from this verse that "different people are of different mentalities", - svabhaava vishamam janamthen you will become Mahabhagavatas."

Prabhuji went on to explain how we should just adjust in all our relationships and how that is the only royal road to peace and happiness and the same shall be offered in the next mail, Krishna willing.

Thank you very much, Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Vaijayantimala devi dasi, Abu Dhabi. Just Drop It - Part 8

Date: 2011-07-19 Author: Vaijayantimala devi dasi

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble pranams! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev!

The following is the concluding part of the transcription of the wonderful class by our beloved God brother HG Devakinandan prabhuji on 28-04-2011 in Abu Dhabi on Aila Gita. In the last offering we saw that in order to keep up our spiritual unity we should remember and follow the following verse from Srimad Bhagavatam 7.13.42:

nāhaṁ ninde na ca staumi sva-bhāva-viṣamaṁ janam eteṣāṁ śreya āśāse utaikātmyaṁ mahātmani

Different people are of different mentalities. Therefore it is not my business either to praise them or to blaspheme them. I only desire their welfare, hoping that they will agree to become one with the Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna.

This should be our prayer for every devotee. This should be the way we act with every devotee. Everyone is different. Accept it. Krishna created this world so that each one is different. Imagine if we have 200 persons of the very same nature in the house, we will become mad. Nobody can tolerate more than one person of the same nature. Krishna is very merciful. He makes one person with one type of character and another person is different. Otherwise, we cannot tolerate. It is a fact. If we accept everyone is different there is no fighting because we just accept his nature. Only we have to adjust with each other. The more we tolerate, the more we adjust. The more we adjust, the more we tolerate. It is not our business to condemn anyone. No. No condemning. Maharaj said, "If you do not like a person, you do not have to praise him either but you do not have to condemn him also. You just have to accept him and you just have to serve him. As long as the person is with Krishna, what is there for us to complain?" That is how Maharaj solved 90% of our problems. So Maharaj said, "By seeing the hand of Krishna, do not make small things into big things. Mind's nature is a very small thing; It will tell, 'It is a very serious problem. We have a crisis.' There is no crisis. The only crisis is we have forgotten Krishna and we are inventing a crisis in our head."

Our sadhana is not good. We are not with Bhagavatam. Let us improve ourselves. Then all problems go away. The moment we think we can use a material solution to solve a material problem, our material solutions will become worse than our material problems. Prahlada Maharaj says, "dukhaushadam tadapi duhkham" (SB 7.13.42) is the spiritual way to see the hand of Krishna in everything. This is the royal road. This is the way to go. We take the verse, photocopy it, make it big, we put it in front of our phone because we have to talk to the devotees. So every time a devotee is talking to us and we are really getting angry, we should repeat to ourselves loudly, "Different people are of different mentalities." Of course, the person on the other end may think we are mad, that he is saying something and we are saying something, but it will save the day. Maharaj said, "The next time you get angry with anyone please turn to Srimad Bhagavatam 7.13.42. While you are thinking you are very great, tolerating others, do not forget others are equally great, tolerating you, because you also have a different mentality." This way Maharaj gave us the royal road. He was with us and he was not with us. He loved all of us but at the same time, he tolerated everyone. He was very happy with us. Sometimes he was really fed up with us. But in both situations, he loved us and he served us. As a true father, for him, everyone was part of his family. As sons and daughters, we must carry that flag, put aside our egos, our different mentalities and come together. Just adjust. Just fall at each other's feet and adjust. I asked Maharaj, "This devotee is always causing me harassment. What to do?" Maharaj said, "Harassment is not coming from him. The following verse answers the question. SB - 11.7.37."

bhūtair ākramyamāṇo ’pi dhīro daiva-vaśānugaiḥ tad vidvān na calen mārgād anvaśikṣaṁ kṣiter vratam

A sober person, even when harassed by other living beings, should understand that his aggressors are acting helplessly under the control of God, and thus he should never be distracted from progress on his own path. This rule I have learned from the earth.

So that is the key. Mother earth, she gave the best lesson amongst the 24 gurus. She says these living entities are being harassed by the modes of material nature. So when a devotee comes to us and he talks nonsense, please remember this verse. It is not him. So do not blame him. Because we are not in devotional service, the modes of nature affect us. In the morning, we are in goodness, by afternoon we are passionate, by night we are totally in ignorance. In one day we are in three modes. Sometimes in one hour, we can be in three modes. Isn't it true? Sometimes we talk to a devotee. He is very nice. The next day you feel like slapping him. The third day he feels like slapping you. What has happened? Because we are not devotees. We are under the modes.

So Bhagavatam tells us, "You become dhirah. Become sober like how Pururava became sober. Understand this is because of daiva. This is because of the hand of Krishna." Then we understand - 'tad vidvaan' - use knowledge – transcendental knowledge and never be deviated from the path. 'na calen maargaat' - Do not be deviated from bhakti. Mayadevi will try to infiltrate into the congregation. She will try to create enmity. She will try to create separation. She will do it when we are weak in our saadhana. But when our saadhana becomes strong and our spiritual master is in the centre, Mayadevi will just sit outside with folded hands and become very quiet. She will not touch us. The question is whether we want to follow spiritual master or we want to follow our ego. That is the only question we have. Pururava started by following his ego and it became, "I and mine." But he ended his life by dropping the "I and mine" and surrendering to Krishna. This is the royal road to peace and happiness.

Do not be caught up in groupism. There is only Krishna and His devotees. There are no groups. That is all and nothing else. Even in the spiritual world, where there are gopis and gopas, Maharaj said, "Krishna adjusted. He tolerated and he just adjusted. He just adjusted and he tolerated, so that is how we have to live our lives." Till the day we die, we tolerate, we adjust. We adjust and tolerate. We can only adjust and tolerate if we have Bhagavatam in the centre. Otherwise, there is no strength to tolerate. So Maharaj said there is no 'ism'. Maharaj said, "Did you see Dhruva Maharaj having any ISKCON life membership? Did Prahlad Maharaj say his prayers and then tell Narasimhadeva, 'You have to hear because I happen to be a life member of ISKCON and I joined in Dwaraka?' There is no mention of any life membership. There is no mention of a particular society." Prabhupada said he only built the society so that people should read Bhagavatam and be peaceful. So if we are not reading Bhagavatam and we are not peaceful, it does not matter if we are life member, does not matter if we call ourself ISKCON devotee, but for Krishna and Srila Prabhupada we are just disqualified by our behaviour or the lack of it.

Let us remember these things. We are victims of these tendencies every day. So let us please remind each other of these things and help each other.

Our heartfelt thanks to HG Devakinandan prabhuji for sharing these pearls of wisdom provided by Maharaj, which are very vital for our life.

Thank you very much, Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Vaijayantimala devi dasi, Abu Dhabi.