Prasadam-Krishna's Mercy
Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.18
Denver, July 1, 1975
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Nitai: "Those persons who are
performing many processes of atonement cannot become purified by such atonement
due to their being nondevotees, just as a pot containing liquor cannot be
purified even if it is washed by all the rivers combined together."
Prabhupada:
prayascittani cirnani
narayana-paranmukham
na nispunanti rajendra
sura-kumbham ivapagah
[SB 6.1.18]
Ivapagah. So here is one significant word, sura-kumbham. Everything is washed very nicely. If you go to the river, you can wash very nicely. But just see how much infectious is liquor that the any pot or any bottle which was filled up with liquor, they cannot be purified. This is Vedic civilization. How much condemned is liquor! Because a pot was filled up with liquor, you cannot use it for any other purpose. It is lost. Even if you wash it very nicely, no, it will not be accepted. Finished. Similarly, there are many processes of purification; they cannot be as useful as bhagavad-bhakti. Bhagavad-bhakti is so nice that Krsna says that "You surrender to Me," sarva-dharman parityajya, "and immediately you become immune from all reaction of sinful activity, immediately."
sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami ma sucah
[Bg. 18.66]
Bhagavad-bhakti is so strong. In many places it is stated in the sastra.
dharmah svanusthitah pumsam
visvaksena-kathasu yah
notpadayed yadi ratim
srama eva hi kevalam
[SB 1.2.8]
So there are different varieties of religious system, but if you execute your particular type of religious system very perfectly but the result, if you do not become attached to Krsna, your love for Krsna is not awakened, then simply by performing such ritualistic ceremony or rules and regulation of your religious system, if you do not become develop yourself to love God, then it is all useless waste of time. It has no meaning. That is the test, how to become, how to advance in loving service of the Lord. That is the... Then you are religious, you are philosopher, you are great man, you are everything. Otherwise, if you do not awaken your dormant love for Krsna, or God, then all such labor is useless. Srama eva hi kevalam. Dharmah svanusthitah pumsam visvaksena-kathasu yah, notpadayed yadi [SB 1.2.8]. By performing religious ceremonies or following the religious principle, the test is how one has become advanced in the loving service of the Lord. This is required. And his example is very strong, that sura-kumbham ivapagah. Sura-kumbha, the pot which contained liquor, it cannot be purified. Therefore it is so strictly prohibited about liquor.
So,
sakrn manah krsna-padaravindayor
nivesitam tad-guna-ragi yair iha
na te yamam pasa-bhrtas ca tad-bhatan
svapne 'pi pasyanti hi cirna-niskrtah
Therefore Rupa Gosvami has recommended that "Somehow or other, you become Krsna conscious." Yena tena prakarena manah krsne nivesayet. That is the recommendation of Rupa Gosvami: "Somehow or other, you engage your mind in Krsna." Then your life will be successful. Somehow or other. Do anything, but you remember Krsna. That is the instruction in the Bhagavad-gita also. Yudhyasva mam anusmara: [Bg. 8.7] "You fight; at the same time, you remember Me." "How it is possible? I am busy, and I have to remember Krsna?" Sometimes this argument is put forward. But that argument is not strong. Rupa Gosvami has given a very nice example that a woman, if she is attached to some man and she has a fixed up time to meet the man at some place or at some hour, so she may be engaged in household affairs very busily, but she is expecting, "When that hour will come?" This is very factual example. The mind is there, "When that meeting will take place?" Similarly, you can remember Krsna. The... It is a crude example, but it is possible that you be busy in so many ways, but at the same time you can remember Krsna. That is wanted. That is Krsna conscious. We have no objection. You do business, you do this, you do that. But if you can always remember Krsna, then your life is successful. It doesn't matter. Yena tena prakarena manah krsne nivesayet. And if you remember always Krsna, that means you are becoming purified. You are purified immediately.
So that is required. Prayascitta and other things, they may be temporarily... That is... We are discussing this point. The real point is that narayana-paranmukham. Without thinking of Narayana or Krsna or Visnu, no other method will be able to purify you. There are many places... Vita-raga-bhaya-krodha man-maya... [Bg. 4.10]. What is that verse? Vita-raga-bhaya-krodha man-maya mam upasritah... [Bg. 4.10]. The simple process to become purified. And that simple process is this chanting. Chanting Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, this name "Krsna" is reminding me. I must hear and I must chant with the tongue. Then you keep yourself always in Krsna consciousness. Our method is very simple. It doesn't require much education or to become rich or become beautiful or become..., to take birth in high family. No. In any condition. Ahaituky apratihata. If you want to chant Hare Krsna mantra, there is no impediment in the world. You can, walking on the street, you can chant Hare Krsna. That will keep you purified. No other method. This is the purport of this verse.
prayascittani cirnani
narayana-paranmukham
na nispunanti rajendra
sura-kumbham ivapagah
So this purificatory process... Bhakti means purificatory process. We are impure. Because we are impure, therefore we are undergoing so many tribulations, so many miserable condition of life. Otherwise we are spirit soul, anandamayo 'bhyasat (Vedanta-sutra 1.1.12). Our position is anandamaya. Anandamaya, the Vedanta-sutra says, anandamaya..., "By nature, spirit soul is anandamaya, always full of jolly." You see Krsna. Krsna is full of jolly. Always you see pictures of Krsna, either He is playing with the cowherds boy or either He is killing some demon, He is laughing, very sportively He is killing. And what to speak of with the gopis and Radharani? Because He is sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah [Bs. 5.1], always full of happiness and bliss. And we are also part and parcel of Krsna. Therefore our position is the same, maybe in small scale. The position is the same, anandamayo 'bhyasat (Vedanta-sutra 1.1.12). Anandamaya. So why should we be morose? Why should we be unhappy? Because we are now at the present moment covered with the sinful reaction of our life. So if we purify ourself... Tapasa brahmacaryena [SB 6.1.13]. We have already discussed, or that will be discussed later. The human life is meant for that. Purify. Don't keep yourself unclean. Purify. Then you regain your original, spiritual life. That is the only business.
But unfortunately, we are not interested in purifying, but we are interested to be more implicated by being impure. A diseased man, if he is to be cured, he must follow the rules and regulation as prescribed by the physician. And if he does not follow the rules and regulation -- whatever he likes, he does -- then the disease will increase. Disease will increase. We shall be careful to follow the rules and regulation. And another complaint I was hearing that we are not taking prasadam, especially the grhasthas. No. That is not good. You should take prasadam. Krsna baro doyamoy, koribare jihwa jay, swa-prasad-anna dilo bhai, sei annamrta pao, radha-krsna-guna gao, preme dako caitanya-nitai. Krsna baro doya... Our tongue is the greatest enemy. Ta 'ra madhye jihwa ati, lobhamoy sudurmati. The tongue is the greatest enemy, and if you can control the tongue, then you can control all the senses. Otherwise tongue will dictate, "Give me this kind of food, give me this kind of food." And if you don't take prasadam in the temple, then our tongue will dictate, "Now you can prepare some nice food. Let us take it." That will not help us in our Krsna consciousness. Whatever Krsna..., krsna baro doyamoy, koribare jihwa jay. Krsna-prasada means to control the tongue. Our main enemy is the tongue. In another place it is said, sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty adah: [Brs. 1.2.234] "God realization becomes by keeping the tongue engaged in the service of the Lord." Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau. The tongue has to be first of all engaged, not the hands and legs. "I have to serve Krsna. So yes, I am ready. I am expanding my hands. I am going there." But sastra says, "No, no, no. Not your hands and legs but your tongue. This is the one. First of all engage your tongue." This is astonish: "How can I serve with tongue? If I have to serve, I have got my hands and legs, my eyes and I..." No. Sastra says tongue. This is very peculiar. Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty adah. If you engage your tongue... So how to engage my tongue? What is the business of my tongue? Two business only: to taste, or eat, and chant. Chant Hare Krsna with tongue and take krsna-prasadam -- you will conquer Krsna. This is the program. Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau. So if you do not control your tongue, if you feel inconvenient in taking prasadam, that means you are not making progress. This is the... This is the formula. Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty adah.
So in our other branches, all the devotees, they take together prasadam. That is nice. Why one should be not liking to take prasadam in the temple? What is the fault? No, this is not good. We should... Everyone should take prasadam. You see still if you go to Jagannatha Puri. Even outsiders who go there, they do not cook. Strictly, they do not cook. They purchase prasadam. And if you go there, one thousand men -- because there are pilgrims, they are coming, there is no -- you will get immediately ready prasadam, purchased from the the market, the Jagannatha Puri, still. And there is no such thing as infection. I am taking your prasadam remnants. Whatever you left, I am... He is taking. Even if you are outcaste, if you are not brahmana, still there is. Because prasada is transcendental. It is not material thing. So one must have faith that it is not material. It cannot be infected by any material things. In this way prasada should be taken. It is called prasada-seva, not "prasada enjoyment." Seva means giving service. Prasada is as good as Krsna; therefore prasada should be respected as good as Krsna. As soon as one gets prasadam, immediately he touches on the head because it is Krsna, absolute. In this way we have to be trained up as it is prescribed in the sastras.
So those who are attached to Krsna consciousness movement and those who are attached to the service, they should take prasadam, first-class prasadam. Everyone likes the taste of the prasadam. I used to go in my household life to take prasadam in the temples and pay them. I used to do that. And I used to go... Especially in Sri Ramapur, there are two temples, one of Jagannatha and one of Radha-Vallabhaji. So it was very nice. On Sunday I used to go to take prasadam. So you should be habituated to prasadam as far as possible unless you are very sick, you cannot take. That is different. Otherwise you should take it. Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau [Brs. 1.2.234]. Then we will remember Krsna, and that will keep us fit and immune from all infection of material miserable condition.
So prayascittani, because one, if he, one is not narayana-paranmukha... Narayana-paranmukha and narayana-parayana -- just the opposite. One is Narayana..., attached to Narayana, and one is detached to Narayana. So Narayana detached cannot be purified simply by performing or executing the ritualistic ceremony. That is the verdict of this verse.
Thank you very much. (end)
© 2001 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.
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