So we�re continuing with the series of four verses in the 7th Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, 11th chapter entitled, �The perfect society: four social classes.� Canto 7, chapter 11, text 8-12. So this is the third day we�re speaking on these verses:
sravanam kirtanam casya
smaranam mahatma gateh
sevejyavanatir dasyam
sakhyam atma-samarpanam
(Translation)
(Invocatory prayers)
So we have been very slowly reading though the translation and commenting; and I guess I�ll just carry on with that. So we came to the quality of simplicity; simplicity as a quality that is very important to cultivate. In the Bhagavad-Gita that quality is described under the name of arjavam, and arjavam, it is commented on this quality of arjavam, it is said that when someone comes up to you and says, �What is your greatest secret?� then you just tell him what that secret is because you have no secret- that is simplicity. So that is a very interesting definition of simplicity; it�s not walking on wooden shoes or something like that! It means internal simplicity and then automatically, externally, one can also be simple. But true simplicity means no pretense- just no pretense, just simply being very honest and straightforward. This is only possible for a sinless person obviously. I mean, if one is engaging in sinful activities, then one has so many things to hide. Or it is also only possible for a person who has no desire for any profit, distinction, or adoration. When we want profit- kutinathi- kutinathi is one of the anarthas within the heart and this kutinathi is described as the tendency to pretend. It is said kutinathi, this tendency to pretend, it is said kutinathi also means a business mentality, or fruitive mentality. It�s interesting that these are grouped together because the point is that one is pretending to get some more benefit than we really have. We pretend to be something because we want more than what we are getting now so we make up a show to impress people and then hope that you are getting more honor and respect than we would naturally actually get. So there�s a business mentality there, there�s a fruitive mentality. And therefore kutinathi means both to pretend and business mentality. So a pretender has a business mentality and has to give up this business mentality.
We are speaking of white lies. White lies are lies just out of convenience; they are not really lies for lies sake but they just make life a little easier. It�s just like�I was in South Africa, one of my disciples, from African origin, was trying to get his drivers license and they have a system that after some time after a certain number of lessons, they allow you on the road with a �L� on your car- a �learners� permit you know, you can drive. And he just got that; he did the initial lessons then he got it and on the first day that he had his �L� on the car he was driving, he smashed the car! So well, what can you do! Those kind of stories, you know, it�s tempting on such kind of occasions to blame somebody else, to avoid all the trouble, to sort of say like, �Well, you know, this guy just suddenly pulled up in front of the car and there was nothing I could do and just smashed into it!� something like that right? So these are considered �white lies�; they are lies out of convenience to cover up lies, to avoid lots of trouble but not ruthless lies just to obtain so many things. So the white lies out of convenience are considered less serious. But it is the same thing- kutinathi- there is a fruitive mentality. So arjavam or simplicity really means no fruitive mentality, that we just take it as it is and just accept it as it comes. And if something is due, then we just have to accept.
Satisfaction: satisfaction exists on different levels. Satisfaction, obviously existing on the level of real happiness within the heart, is real satisfaction. But we see that in the Bhagavad-Gita there are the austerities of the body, austerities of speech and austerities of mind mentioned. And amongst the austerities of the mind that are listed in the Gita, it is mentioned that one of them is to be satisfied. So that�s again a somewhat interesting statement because since when it is an austerity to be satisfied? It seems more an austerity to be dissatisfied. But it means basically that when all the conditions are right, when we are properly situated, then we are still not satisfied! That is the nature of the mind. We are situated perfectly, everything is auspicious in life and yet the mind is not satisfied! So therefore the austerity of the mind is that once we are properly situated to just tell the mind, �No! No! Stop being dissatisfied! Be satisfied!� So here the concept of satisfaction is applied as a regulative principle as that, and the conditions are right, then one has no reason not to be satisfied. If one is dissatisfied, then one should preach to ones own mind, �No! Be satisfied!�
Rendering service to saintly persons: all vaisnavas are saintly persons, therefore one must render service to all the vaisnavas. Still, distinctions are made amongst vaisnavas. There are vaisnavas on a different caliber and according to the caliber, service is to be rendered. We render service to all the vaisnavas but especially to the topmost vaisnavas. The uttama adhikari is to be especially worshipped because such an uttama adhikari is very potent and his blessings are very, very great. The vaisnavas, they bless us in many ways; just by their presence they are blessing, just by their darsana they are blessing, by their instruction they are blessing, by their prayers they are blessing, by the arrangements they are making they are blessing. Just like Srila Prabhupada blessed us by making temples all over the world, by making translations of books for us and so on. So blessings may come by arrangements made by the vaisnavas, by the instructions, by prayers, by darsana�these are some ways of blessings that now come to my mind; there are of course many more of these.
So yesterday at the end of the class, the question was asked about whether listening to a tape was the same as listening to a live speaker. And after the lecture we had some more discussion about it with *, because Gour Govinda Maharaja stressed the need to hear from a vaisnava / sadhu who is present- to sit at the feet of the sadhu, of the saintly person. So we said, yes, of course they�re different�not that the lectures that are given and they�re recorded are not potent- they are. But there is a difference because you get a darsana, you get the blessings of the vaisnava- that element is there. So therefore now I analysed the blessings a little further; how different kinds of blessings are being given. So in this way rendering service to saintly persons is very potent: lava matra sadu sanga sarva siddi haya, just from one moment with the association with a sadu, all perfection may be attained. Sudubhagavata caranarena bhajana anakul, we are worshipping the dust, the auspicious dust, at the lotus feet of the vaisnavas because these are premalati kalanul- they are actually the root of the prema lata. The prema lata is the creeper of love or the creeper of bhakti. So therefore that will give us love of God, that is very nice, that is really nice. Therefore service to saintly persons is not only giving us blessings but it also gives us shelter because otherwise we are alone, alone in this material world, dealing with everything and it�s not a nice world, it�s not a nice world, so many heavy things happen that�just before this class I quickly looked at some mail because I still had to do something, and there were two letters: someone had miscarriage, someone else is having leukemia- a young person, who is now lying in bed with leukemia and who sort of had so many desires for Krsna. So, wanted to do so much service but then, lying in bed with leukemia and not being able to do anything! The letters people write about their predicaments in life� and what can we say; these are not easy things, these are like great, difficult experiences if one goes through it.
So the vaisnavas, they have compassion. The vaisnavas, they care for our predicaments and they give us support to face it in a Krsna conscious way. Sometimes we already know, we already know. But still, to hear a reconfirmation, if we are emotionally affected by a difficult situation then we know that our duty is to be transcendental, but it�s hard to be transcendental if one is emotionally affected. Then to hear the instruction, one already knows from the vaisnavas, it just gives that resolution to sort of go beyond these emotional conditions. So in this way, service to saintly persons creates a relationship and that relationship will carry us. The guru-disciple relationship is in this way based on certain principles: that the spiritual master is the well-wisher, he�s the well-wisher and that�s an important point. He will be there when it is required.
Gradually taking leave of unnecessary engagements: well, it said, atyahara prayasyasca janma sanga�pranasyati. It is said that if we engage in atyahara- collecting more than required- or prayasyas; prayas means �endeavoring�- over endeavoring. So over collecting and over endeavoring; over collecting can be atayahara- it exists on all planes, it exists on collecting things, it also exists on collecting knowledge, it exists on the plane of collecting recognition�in other words it exists on the gross and subtle platform. Our activities are happening on the sensual, on the mental, the intellectual and the pure transcendental platform. So atayahara affects the sensual, the mental and the intellectual plane and as a result, collecting more than required causes a covering. As we said yesterday, avatham�jnana, our original knowledge becomes covered. The soul is by nature, sacidanand- it is by nature eternal, full of knowledge and full of bliss.
In this world, the eternity is covered, in this world the experience- at least on the bodily platform- we are in a temporary body. Then we are seeing that we can become free from this covering the more we act for the soul. Therefore it is said that in the beginning, our transcendental knowledge may be theoretical, one has no experience of Krsna and we accept it because it makes sense because there�s a certain logic, it�s consistent logic. For example, arguments like, the Supreme Lord must be a person because everywhere we look in this world we see a personality. So if in the creation of the Lord there�s personality, that means it exists within Him because the creation is after all coming from Him. So it is part of Him because the creation is also part of Him. Therefore personality, logically speaking, must be a part of the Supreme Lord. All right, there�s logic to that. Then if He has personality well, then what kind of personality? Would He be the eldest person, you know, an old man bent over by time and a beard, sitting on a cloud, looking to punish the sinful souls? As sort of, Michael Angelo painted Him? First of all, it sounds very unpleasant to be old for God, and second of all it sounds like too much to do that kind of a job. Who would want to do such a kind of job? Sitting on the cloud and watching who�s doing something wrong and then punishing them- all day! It�s a rotten job; I mean, you can�t do that for eternity and no one can do such work. So why would God punish Himself like that? Why would He this work, and if we behave well then we can enjoy but He can�t because He just has to do this work- punish the sinful! But when we read in the Gita that the Lord is not doing that, that He is not Himself actively involved in that but rather that the Lord Himself is not old but looks eternally young and fresh and beautiful and that He�s eternally engaged in pleasure pastimes. That makes sense- that makes a lot of sense. That sounds really better than the punishing old man on the cloud.
So, by hearing about Krsna and hearing the arguments that describe the nature of Krsna, so it makes sense. So that is initial faith but at the same time, although it makes sense, we still don�t have a direct experience of Krsna, we don�t see Krsna, we don�t speak to Krsna�so that part is yet coming later in the process of bhakti. As we are going deeper into trying to serve Krsna, Krsna will reveal Himself to us. This is the nature of the relationship between Krsna and His devotee. When we speak of Krsna�s mercy, ultimately it reveals to Krsna revealing Himself. I mean, Krsna�s mercy leads to Krsna revealing Himself- it�s either a step in that direction or actually the very fact. If we really look at what Krsna�s mercy is, He reveals Himself in some way or it leads up to that.
So this is it; we need to get that experience where Krsna reveals Himself. No one can know Krsna unless Krsna reveals Himself. It is completely dependent on Krsna. If we want to see Krsna, that depends on Him but iha yasya hareh dasye karmana manasa gira nikhilasv apy avasthasu jivan-muktah sa ucyate, we must, by our service and particularly by sevamuke- service rendered with the mouth- chanting the holy name, we must satisfy the Supreme Lord. Then, atah sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih, then we can go beyond the senses, beyond the gross material senses and begin to perceive on the transcendental platform by the mercy of Krsna. And if one is not surrendering unto Krsna, naham prakasah sarvasya yoga-maya-samavrtah, Krsna says that, �for those who are not surrendering unto Me, I remain covered.� So that is the case. Or, mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam ca- remembrance and forgetfulness comes from Krsna. So if we want to forget Krsna, Krsna will help us to forget; if we want to remember Krsna, Krsna will help us to remember. So in this way, by gradually taking leave of unnecessary engagements�unnecessary engagements are any other activities than pure devotional service. This is our only business, akamah sarva-kamo va moksa-kama udara-dhih tivrena bhakti-yogena yajeta purusam param, whether one has material desires or whether one doesn�t have material desires, one should engage in pure devotional service with great force. Again an interesting point, because engaging in pure devotional service with material desires, whether one has or doesn�t have material desires. So say we have material desires, then how can one engage in pure devotional service?
Here the definition of pure devotional service in this verse is referring to the process of pure devotional service. One must follow the process of pure devotional service whether one has material desires or not and then all success will be attained. So this is the case. Part of this process is that we must leave everything else; just the process of pure devotional service. That doesn�t mean that we have to give up our job but it means that whatever we earn with that job we have to use it very carefully in Krsna�s service. Some we give donations to the Deity of Krsna or to the devotees of Krsna, and some we are using to maintain ourselves in a Krsna conscious way. Not a cent can be spent which is not favorable for Krsna. That would be very detrimental, that will bind us.
Considering whether one is the body or the soul: okay, again that has to be emotionally realized. It is easy to say, �I�m not this body� or to put it on a T-shirt, �I�m not the body, I�m a spirit soul� it�s a nice shirt and anyone who wears that shirt certainly is�he may or may not know the meaning of that shirt, but if he knows the meaning of that shirt then that�s very nice. But can we act upon it? Can we take the consequences of not being the body? It is very, very involved; it takes a lot to go beyond the body, to leave our bodies behind and to just say, �Alright, whatever happens to this body doesn�t matter so much�� it is a fight; it�s not just a onetime decision, it�s not just, �Okay, I�ve understood! We are not this body, we are eternal spirit souls� no, it is a way of life where one will be again and again confronted with the body and what do you do when it falls to pieces? Then all the philosophy is out of the window and suddenly we panic! What do you do! We went through so many really intense experiences lately; one of our temple presidents in South Africa of the temple in Soweto suddenly got a disease and he got fluid in his spine! And he went to the doctor with great pain and they said, �Okay, we have to operate within the next 10 days or you�re going to die�� and if you die, then the fluid will go up from the spine into the head and then the brain will just start swelling up under excruciating headaches or it leads to a coma. So they have to do this emergency operation but a really dangerous one. They�re going to drill from the top of the head and then put some sort of drain into the spine and then a shunt in the spine and then tap it out. The operation itself is so major! So he had to suddenly take the �you�re not the body� philosophy to another level, you know what I�m saying? In one visit to the doctor he had to just take it into another level and to really sort of realize that, �I may now lose this body. Suddenly, I have 10 days�� and this operation is very expensive and it wasn�t covered by the health insurance, this that- a major problem.
So suddenly, when one gets confronted with a death warning, it looks very different, �You�re not the body.� There�s so many consequences to �you�re not the body.� So the main point with �you�re not the body� philosophy is that we look at the consequences. Then what does it mean if I�m not the body? Then that means a lot. So it�s not so easy.
Distributing food equally to living entities: so here we get like a�this is an instruction for social life because everyone has a social responsibility. We cannot just be concerned with our own survival. �Distributing food equally to all living entities (both man and animals)� means that we have a social responsibility immediately. That is not so much accepted in this time because we have a mood, �Well, what can I do! I mean, that�s too much; what can I do! I cant feel like involved in everyone�s suffering. I mean, what can I do!� But that is not a vaisnava because a vaisnava is paradukha dukhi, he is feeling the suffering of other living beings and thus a vaisnava is always concerned that every living being is taken care of properly. So this is again highlighting the mood and mentality of a vaisnava.
Seeing every soul, especially in the human form, as part of the Supreme Lord: Yes. So this is how by love of God�how love of God is all-inclusive. Srila Prabhupada said to aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate iti matva bhajante mam budha bhava-samanvitah, in Bhagavad-Gita one of the catur slokis is saying, �everything spiritual and material is emanating from Me,� and then Srila Prabhupada explains, �Yes. Therefore one who understands this and who is a devotee of Krsna, his love is not just for Krsna but His love includes also Krsna�s creation and Krsna�s energy. Thus he is loving in dealing with the devotees, he is loving in dealing with the material world, he is naturally respectful towards the environment and so on. Just like a few years ago in one of these big international, environmental conferences in Rio, and the last one was in Johannesburg, but in Rio they came up with a message that the only solution to the environmental crisis is a spiritual one. That was good; that was a good statement. Thinking about that, they also last year, they had an AIDS conference in Vanilla, and there in the AIDS conference, they said that the only thing that will help, that will really eradicate AIDS is celibacy- the only thing. But who can? Or �abstinence� as they say- refraining from sexual activity. But how can it be done? This is impossible unless you chant Hare Krsna! Therefore, we truly�we have the solution to the AIDS problem and we should present this- that celibacy alone is impossible; it must go hand in hand with a spiritual process, otherwise not possible.
Yes, I�m regularly in South Africa- 3 months a year- and we have many devotees from Indian origin and many of them are doctors. So these doctors they say that�they told me the population of South Africa is no longer growing- it�s decreasing due to AIDS. Just due to AIDS it�s actually going down. The ever-increasing world population is one of the things we completely take for granted. I mean, the population growth- you can look at the statistics and then see that it�s going to get more and more- but not in South Africa anymore. And it�s said, AIDS, it started with the African community and then it spread to the Indian community and now it�s also hitting the white community really hard! So we can understand what�s coming then. It�s not that such a disease is going to behave very polite and stop exactly on the borders. Or we can understand that South Africa is the most developed African nation where they keep records of such things. In the other parts of Africa, they don�t even keep the statistics; they don�t have the real figures! They don�t even know how many people are living in these countries, they�re only estimating. Just like India; they don�t know the population of India- they don�t! They have no idea actually; they�re simply guessing. They don�t know. So that is how it is in the third world. People don�t report their babies, they don�t even know that there is such a place where you�re supposed to do these things- they have no idea! They don�t know anything about it!
So like that, we can understand that what is a fact in South Africa today, could become a reality in other parts of the world as well. So just look at the situation we�re in- just because of gross materialism and the lack of spiritual life, all such kind of problems occur in the world. And there definitely is enough wealth in the world to feed all the needy in this world. There is no need for poverty. Poverty in the world has a political cause. I was on this plane and there was one seat next to me and the whole plane was full. And then I saw, down the aisle, I saw this big black man coming with a fat golden chain. So I read somewhere in papers and magazines that drug dealers like to wear these kind of big fat golden chains, it�s sort of a status symbol amongst drug dealers. So I saw him come down the aisle and in my mind I thought, he looks like a drug dealer. Then his seat was next to mine! He sat next to me and he had a book in his hand about Pablo Escobar. Well, Pablo Escobar of course is a truck lord of Columbia, who�s now dead. But anyway, he was huge (Escobar) and they couldn�t catch him basically. So he had the biography of Pablo Escobar, so that confirmed- the chain and the book went together! So then when I asked him where he�s from, then he said, �Nigeria.� Now Nigeria is as famous as Thailand, Columbia and Amsterdam- this is like the four places in the world you could say. Thailand, Columbia, Nigeria and Holland- these are like the four drug places in the world. So he was happy to learn that I was from Holland and we had a nice chat. Then he pulled out this magazine and he opens up the magazine and in the magazine it showed how many billions and billions of dollars different heads of states had stolen. And I was sort of interested I must admit; he opened up this magazine, shows the picture and the whole article and showed me- this one so much, that one so much- and I was sort of looking over his shoulders a bit. And then he just says to me�the worst of all was Suharto, from Indonesia, who stole 35 billion dollars. And the man next to me goes like, �35 billion dollars, 35 billion dollars! He stole 35 billion dollars from all the people! Do you realize, do you realize what he could do with 35 billion dollars for his nation? 35 billion dollars! Do you realize? And he couldn�t spend it if wanted to! You couldn�t spend it if you wanted to! You couldn�t! You couldn�t�� and he kept on repeating it. And he hammered it and drilled it in my head whereas after sometime, I started to think, �He�s right!� He actually convinced me very expertly I must say, he convinced me that you just can�t spend 35 billion dollars! And if they would give that back to the people then all problems solved.
What to speak of all the so-called legitimate wealth that is owned in the world! If they would add that up to the illegitimate wealth, sitting in different bank accounts in the world, then we know that there�s absolutely no need for any food shortage, that it�s simply due to politics. So again, due to lack of knowledge, due to lack of spirituality, it is due to selfishness, it is due to atmendriya pritivanca tarabaudikam, - it is due to trying to satisfy ones own senses- that means lust; instead of krsnendriya�instead of satisfying the senses of Krsna. So if we teach the world that satisfying the senses of Krsna is the essence then there�s plenty in the entire world to provide for everyone. That is actually the fact of the matter. So Prabhupada was often times making such points- the myth of over population. Prabhupada first of all said, actually there�s plenty of space in the world, and it is true. When I travel, I see�now Holland may not be a country where there�s so much empty space and therefore in Holland we start thinking the whole world is full like Holland- no, it�s not. Even if you go to Germany, there�s a lot of just natural vacant land, endless forests- endless forests- and a lot of just vacant land. What to speak of America! America it�s inconceivable! I mean, in Australia you can drive for 24 hours and not see any human beings! I�ve been through what is called the �outback�; I happened to live there in the outback and we drove- 24 hour drive- and you can drive without seeing a house- no house. But I�ve never seen it anywhere else in the world. Of course, I didn�t drive in remote areas in Russia; there I imagine you can find that also. But in Australia it�s like that. It�s said like, Russia has something like 40% of the water reserves of the whole world, just to give you some ideas of statistics. There is plenty, plenty of space; plenty of food and plenty of facility for all living beings, but there is this myth being woven, a myth that there is not enough to go around and so on but this is not the fact. And that, �the world is over populated and what can we do,� and �very soon there will be food shortage� and of course this is also bogus. Stop eating meat, because one animal eats thirty times as much grain as a human being! So if everyone would eat grains and not animals, well there would be a lot grains for a human being. For each animal that is eaten, thirty people can actually eat. In short, the food problems in the world can easily be taken care of.
Okay, so just to summarize: we have spoken today about simplicity, and we�ve spoken about satisfaction as a sadana, we have spoken about the blessing that we receive by serving saintly persons- not just the onetime blessings but the ongoing relationship, we�ve spoken about leaving unnecessary engagements behind and we have spoken about distributing food equally to all living beings and about not being the body and the consequences thereof. So that�s a lot actually, a lot of topics. I�ve skipped something, like I see�I�ve missed a few somehow or other. May be you can figure it out all tomorrow how to deal with all of this. But may be there are some questions or comments?
Question: Maharaja, you were talking about these blessings from the uttama adhikari. Can you elaborate on this in variation to sabda-brahma to transcendental sound?
Maharaja: Well, transcendental sound- sabda brahma- is always potent because Krsna Himself is manifest in transcendental sound. It is said, like the Bhagavatam is the literary incarnation of Krsna, the Holy name- abinatvam nama namino- is Krsna. So in this way, transcendental sound�we are then associating with Krsna. Like it�s said in the Adi purana that if we chant, we�re association with Krsna. So such transcendental sound is an absolutely amazing blessing. Still, the blessings of the vaisnavas add to the blessings of Krsna because Krsna is merciful, but the vaisnava is more merciful than Krsna. So therefore, if the vaisnava desires that we get the mercy then Krsna will give. Therefore the added prayer of the vaisnava, to give us the mercy, is very important. In the Caitanya siksamrta of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura gives some explanations�that by the way is one of the principle books of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, he wrote many books- Jaiva Dharma, Caitanya Siksamrta, Harinama cintamani, sometimes Bhajana sahasra- are mentioned particularly as being as outstanding importance. So Caitanya siksamrta is considered a very important book. And in the Caitanya siksamrta, it is explained that a devotee, who is a sadaka- who is practicing devotional service- but who is not on the platform of spontaneous devotional service but who�s flowing the rules and regulations, he can instill sraddha in the heart of a conditional soul. A devotee who is in bhava can by his added bhava, can very quickly bring a person to the platform of nistha, where he has firm faith, where he has such firm faith that he makes Krsna his priority. Prabhupada comments about nistha: bhagavat bhakti naisthaki, the Bhagavatam verse, and he says, naisthaki means nistha and it means 60-70% purified. So it means the balance is heavily on the Krsna side basically. So nistha; so one who is in bhava can bring a conditioned soul very quickly to nistha. And in the Caitanya siksamrta it says that and one who is in prema, he can bring a person up to the same level where he is.
So in this way we can see�Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura describes how different vaisnavas have a different potency to give blessings. So therefore the added blessings of the vaisnava is a very important element. We need such blessings. But sabda brahma is always transcendental and sabda brahma in itself has all the potency to deliver the conditioned soul. And even if that sabda brahma is coming from a source�just as it is said, one can take nectar from poison and a good instruction from a fool. So one can get good instruction from a fool, just like Bilvamangala Thakura got the instruction of Cintamani, who was a prostitute. When he came during the storm, crossed the river and went through so much hardship to meet her, she said, �You�ve come in this weather? How could you have come in this impossible weather?� She said, �If you would have only displayed so much determination in spiritual life, by now you would be a saint!� And it sort of hit him like a thunderbolt! So he got a good instruction from a prostitute and then it acted so strongly upon him that he became a pure devotee by following that instruction! And he�s still worshipping Cintamani in Krsna Karanamrta as one of his guru�s. So we see that.
Then again it is said�this one�s too vague in my memory�it is the verse where it�s said that one should not hear the Bhagavatam from a non-devotee because when one hears the Bhagavat from the non-devotee, it is like milk touched by the lips of a servant. So it basically says that when a non-devotee would just read the Bhagavatam, that�s fine- that�s not the problem; that if he would just out loud read the Bhagavatam- absolutely no problem. But when he starts to comment- that�s what it means, then it becomes like milk touched by the snake. So it is his commentary that is dangerous, the explanations are the poison. But if he just reads the Bhagavatam then there�s no harm. Even if it�s read by a person full of lust, greed, envy and so on- doesn�t matter; he can speak. Now sometimes I heard�last time I was in Mayapur, I heard about one devotee who was staying in his room and wouldn�t listen to any classes because he said they�re not pure, you know, �the speakers are not pure, they still have lust, greed and envy in their heart and I didn�t want to become contaminated by hearing from them! So I�ll hear only Prabhupada�so I�ll just stay in my room and listen to tapes of Prabhupada�� so this is kanistha adhikari. This is minimizing the vaisnavas and looking at spiritual life as a mechanical process and thinking that �I have to be very, very careful that I only get pure, pure, pure influences in my consciousness. So if possibly any impurity would come in then it may leave germs of material contamination there.� So, super filtered bhakti as super filtered water kind of mood. It wouldn�t surprise me if this person has a water filter in his room because it looks like a psychological thing! The truth of the matter is that the advancement of bhakti depends on pleasing Krsna. And Krsna is pleased when we develop a service attitude towards His devotees and therefore those devotees who�ve dedicated their lives to the process of pure devotional service, even if they are doing that in practice, Krsna is pleased with them and therefore Krsna is pleased when we hear from them. And thus, nityam bhagavaty sevaya, it is nityam bhagavaty sevaya and it will act like that.
So this element that the benefit comes from Krsna�s pleasure rather than from that it is us, who use sabda as a brush to scrub our black heart. Sabda brahma is not a brush that scrubs our black heart; sabda brahma is Krsna that is purifying� Krsna is not a brush Himself but Krsna is a person. And Krsna, when He is pleased, then He bestows His mercy. So therefore in this way it will act, it will surely act. Just seeing Krsna, a picture of Krsna- purified; remembering Krsna- purified; but then when we begin to please Krsna, then it begins to really happen (the purification); then Krsna just�in one blow takes away mountains of sinful remnants in the heart.
Okay, then we are finished. Thank you very much. Srila Prabhupada ki, Jaya!