BY: ROCANA DASA
Dec 09, CANADA (SUN) — Studying Srila Prabhupada's lectures and conversations with ISKCON leaders.
Today's Talks is inspired by Srila Prabhupada's class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.22, April 14, 1973 in New York. You can listen to the audio or read the transcript here.
This verse is a famous verse which was spoken by Kunti devi:
namah pankaja-nabhaya
namah pankaja-maline
namah pankaja-netraya
namas te pankajanghraye
"My respectful obeisances are unto You, O Lord, whose abdomen is marked with a depression like a lotus flower, who are always decorated with garlands of lotus flowers, whose glance is as cool as the lotus, and whose feet are engraved with lotuses."
Srila Prabhupada begins by commenting on the fact that Krsna has symbols on His feet, and one of the symbols is the lotus flower. As a personality, this signifies that He, out of all the personalities, is God. So all these indications or symbols that indicate Krsna is God are very, very important. Srila Prabhupada, as the pure servant of God, is very much concerned, and therefore preaches about the importance of identifying who is who -- who is God, who are the incarnations of God, and who is not. There are so many imitators, so many foolish persons who fool other foolish persons into believing that they are God, rather than understanding who God really is.
So to identify God, first of all there are symbols such as the ones mentioned here in this verse. There are various sastric references which predict, well in advance of the appearance of Krsna, specifically when He will advent, who His parents will be, what village they will live in, at what time He will appear, and for what reasons. This is very important information, as it allows us to screen out imitators.
In the material world, the biggest problem in preaching God consciousness is dealing with imitators. As we are taught through sastra, in the material world all the envious living entities have taken up residence primarily on account of the fact that they want to be God rather than serve God. So the core of all material desires is to be God, to usurp God’s position and ultimately to enjoy like God. Consequently this problem of imitation is constantly arising. All envy is based on the principle that all these competitors for the position of God are envious of anyone they perceive to be ahead of them in the pursuit.
This concept also applies to the , pure devotees like Srila Prabhupada, who also happens to be a Sampradaya Acarya. Srila Prabhupada himself was mentioned in sastra, wherein the prediction was given that someone, who happens to fit Srila Prabhupada’s description, will spread Krsna consciousness throughout the world. This description could actually apply to all three of the most recent Sampradaya Acaryas: Srila Prabhupada, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, and Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur. All are nitya-siddhas, and all are what I consider to be Sampradaya Acaryas. And the biggest problem, especially with respect to the two most recent Sampradaya Acaryas, Srila Prabhupada and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati, has been that their disciples became imitator Sampradaya Acaryas, without displaying the symptoms, or the proper qualities and pastimes of a Sampradaya Acarya.
So here in this verse, Srila Prabhupada goes on to explain how the lotus flower has become symbolic of Lord Krsna, and whenever the devotees see a lotus flower they are reminded of Krsna. It’s not just that Krsna has a lotus flower on His feet, but that His naval is shaped like a lotus flower. From the naval of Garbhodakasayi Visnu a lotus flower manifests, and all the planets in this universe are situated on the stem of this lotus. The flower at the top is where Lord Brahma resides, and in this way, the lotus flower is not only symbolic, but in reality is an actual representation of Krsna.
Srila Prabhupada gives as an example the custom of love, saying that whatever item or object is owned by someone you love, these will remind you of your love for that person. With children, for example, when you see their garments, or as Srila Prabhupada says a small ship, shoes or playthings, then immediately you think of your child. When the child is away you look around the room and there are these things - you see them and you feel love for the child. So this is a natural emotion, and it’s also a test of whether you actually love someone. When you see something that reminds you of them, then you picture them in your mind, you become aware of the relationship, and you feel the emotions of that relationship.
Of course, the same thing should be felt by those who love Srila Prabhupada. For those of us who are executing Krsna consciousness, we should understand that we are only doing this out of the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, and that it’s by his efforts and the manifestation of his books, his temples, the Deities, the whole process, the introduction of the chanting of the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, the introduction of all the great previous Acaryas and incarnations of God - all this is coming as a result of Srila Prabhupada. So if by participating in these activities we are not reminded of Srila Prabhupada, and of his society, then how can we say that we love Srila Prabhupada? Those who say they love Srila Prabhupada but don’t promote him, those who are taking advantage of Srila Prabhupada’s mercy but it is not evoking a feeling of love for Srila Prabhupada - these are great offenders. That is not love.
Srila Prabhupada gives the example from Bhagavad-gita wherein Krsna states that he is "the taste of the liquid". So when tasting the pure taste of water, one should be reminded of Krsna; that is His instruction in Bhagavad-gita. Srila Prabhupada goes on to say that similarly, any liquid - even liquor - is in this category, because the ingredients of liquor all come from Krsna.
"So if you'll kindly remember when drinking wine that this nice taste of drinking is Krsna... Just begin with it. You'll come out one day a saintly person, Krsna conscious. It's so nice, practical."
We know that the ingredients of sugar and yeast, fermented together, create alcohol. Of course, it’s not that the liquor is bad, it’s the effects it has on those who consume it that brings bad results. But even those who have become addicted to drinking this liquor, if they can understand how it originally comes from Krsna, and the taste comes from Krsna, then while it is not recommended, it is also an example of the point that anything and everything can evoke love for Krsna.
In giving the example of Krsna and the lotus flower coming out of His naval, with Lord Brahma sitting upon it, Srila Prabhupada states that everything is unlimited. So all the planets sitting along this lotus stem are unlimited. In the same way, we see on everyone’s head all these hairs, which appear to be unlimited, or leaves on the trees, or sand on the beach… all have this unlimited quality to them. You can’t count them. So everything that has to do with Krsna has this quality of unlimitedness, because that’s Krsna’s nature.
Srila Prabhupada says of this verse describing Krsna and the lotus, that if you can take this one verse and just understand it, then you can understand everything about Krsna consciousness. So long as you make that identification with Krsna… that's what it means when Krsna says, ‘You should always think of Me.’
Unfortunately, you cannot approach Krsna unless you’re purified. On one hand it seems very simple, you just think of Krsna, but first you have to be purified, which means you are not envious of Krsna. Everything sinful or unbonafide that you do is really rooted in envy of Krsna - trying to be the enjoyer, enjoying your senses without identifying the sense objects as being part of Krsna, or supplied by Krsna, and so on. That’s what impure means.
Srila Prabhupada says some very interesting things here that indicate his direct desires with respect to his disciples, and the way that the gurukulas are to be functioning and managed. First, he says that he doesn’t want his devotees simply to distribute the books without reading them. And it's not simply reading them, but reading them in the spirit of preaching: memorizing slokas such as this one, being able to quote the Sanskrit, being able to identify the context of the scripture, and even the word-for-word meanings. All this should be a daily practice. This is why he introduced the process of chanting the Sanskrit before every Srimad-Bhagavatam class.
He goes on to say that in Dallas, which at that point in time was operating as a gurukula, the children should be trained up simply in English and Sanskrit, and they should primarily just be taught Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita, and Caitanya-caritamrta. They should know these scriptures inside and out, know all the verses, and know how to become expert preachers. There’s no need to teach them anything about technology. Now we know that wasn’t happening in Dallas at the time, and it's not even happening now. But it is undeniable that Srila Prabhupada made this unambiguous statement as to how he envisioned the gurukulas to be, and the purpose behind that standard.
Now whether or not the children themselves were qualified to participate in this kind of a program -- whether or not the ones who have no affinity or natural attraction to this type of education should have been forced to participate in this type of very absolute and purely brahminical activity, that is debatable. But the fact is that as we hear in this lecture, this is what Srila Prabhupada said. And he had his reasons and purpose; he had sastric support for this, going right back to Prahlad Maharaja and his pastimes in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. So this is the position of the Sampradaya Acarya - this is the absolute position, the purest position, independent from any material compromises.
Srila Prabhupada says that there’s a rigid principle, that a leader in ISKCON should also follow the same principles of attending classes in hearing and chanting. In other words, they should be able to hear, chant and recite Srimad-Bhagavatam with great authority and great accuracy, and if you don’t do that, you’re not a leader. So this is something we haven’t even come close to - not the children or the leaders.
Srila Prabhupada goes on to explain that Krsna has created so many amazing things, like a tiny seed that grows into a Banyan tree. Who could ever create such a huge entity, just putting a tiny seed in the ground? So whether it's a Banyan tree, a Cedar tree, or a fruit tree… all of these little seeds have great potency. And we can see how the demons today, one of the main projects if to modify the seeds, creating seeds that won't germinate beyond the first generation. The demons are manufacturing seeds that aren't usable, so they can control the food production. So this is what’s going on, and this is why Srila Prabhupada is so much against this material world. He is against the demons who are controlling it, against the symptoms of Kali. We have to struggle very hard against Kali Yuga and Kali Yuga tendencies in order to participate in something sweet, simple and sublime, like Krsna, being represented by the lotus flower on His feet, on His navel, how He creates using the lotus, etc.
Of course, here in the west especially, we don’t see too many lotuses, but everything ultimately should remind us of Krsna nonetheless if we practice, if we have love for Krsna. I’m saying that we should have love for Srila Prabhupada, first and foremost, then love for Krsna will come automatically, because he loves Krsna and he’s reminding us of Krsna. But if you don’t love Srila Prabhupada, from a practical point of view, then how can you love Krsna?
You can say that Srila Prabhupada’s godbrothers are also loving Krsna and so on, and this is fine, but they don’t recognize Srila Prabhupada as the Sampradaya Acarya. They may recognize Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur as such, but they refuse to identify Srila Prabhupada as being on that same lofty platform. Personally, I don’t think it’s possible to love Srila Prabhupada unless you do recognize his rare transcendental position. I’m always suspicious of anyone who isn’t exhibiting love for Srila Prabhupada, because he exhibits all the symptoms of an absolutely pure devotee.
Index of Previous Segments of
Talks With the Sampradaya Acarya
