If a person is actually executing devotional service, then he must be happy. If he's not happy, then he's not doing properly. So first thing is this. He might be doing something in the name of devotional service. If he's actually rendering devotional service, then he must be feeling. Just like if you are eating actually, then you must feel strength and satisfaction of your hunger. You cannot say, "I'm eating, but I'm not satisfied of my hunger." That is impossible. This is not possible. Then you are not eating. Or you are eating, but it is being devoured by the worms within your intestines. Sometimes it happens. If there are many worms within the intestines, you go on voraciously eating, but you don't get strength because the eating substance, the essence, is taken by the worms. Therefore the worm treatment is there to kill the worms. Otherwise they will eat everything. You'll feel hungry, but will not get any strength. This is the worm disease. So if I am actually rendering devotional service and I'm not getting any happiness, that means there is some māyā's play. Otherwise there is no such reasoning. He must feel happy. Then he has to rectify the process of his service. Not to change but rectify the process. (aside) What is that?
Rendering devotional service (Lectures)
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Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Madhudviṣa: Prabhupāda, for one who worships Lord Buddha, is there a planet for him to go to? For one who worships Lord Buddha in the bhakta-gaṇa(?), they say, or some way, some kind of devotional service rendered towards Lord Buddha, is there a planet for him to go to which Lord Buddha presides over or...
Prabhupāda: Yes. There is a neutral stage. That is not planet. That is the marginal position between the spiritual world and the material world. But one has to come down again. Unless one enters into the spiritual sky and takes his situation in some of the spiritual planet... Just like you fly in the sky. Unless you get some planet, you'll have to come down again. You cannot fly all the days in the sky. That is not possible. That is neutral stage. Neither in other planet, nor in this planet, flying. How long you shall fly? You have to take some shelter. But if you have no shelter in the higher planets or higher situation, then you shall have to come down.
Devotees: Hare Kṛṣṇa. (obeisances)
Prabhupāda: Now if anybody has any question?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: In the past, when there were men who practiced yoga, concentration on Kṛṣṇa within the heart, when they perfected this were they rendering devotional service?
Prabhupāda: Yes. Devotional service, there are nine kinds of:
- śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ
- smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam
- arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ
- sakhyam ātma-nivedanam
- (SB 7.5.23)
So śravaṇam, just you are very kindly hearing. This is also devotional service. Those who are patiently hearing these topics of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they are also discharging devotional service, hearing. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam, and just you are reading, you are also rendering service.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
"The supreme occupation, dharma, for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendental Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted in order to completely satisfy the self."
This has been proved divertedly edited. Actually, devotional service rendered to the Supreme Lord not for my satisfaction, but rendering devotional service to the Lord, the self is automatically satisfied. If I make a motive that "I shall render service to the Lord so that I will be very much satisfied..." No. No. That, that becomes motivated. That "I will be satisfied," that is the first consideration. There should be no motive at all. I may be satisfied, not sati..., that is not my business. But still, I'll have to serve the Lord.
Pradyumna: "By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge and detachment from the world." (SB 1.2.7)
Prabhupāda: So in the previous verse it has been discussed, what is first-class religion. Sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje (SB 1.2.6). In the lower animal life, lower species of life, there is no question of religion. We have discussed many times that there is a gradual process of evolution from low..., lower animal life to the human life. Aśītiṁ caturaś caiva. Aśīti means eighty, catura means four, lakṣām, eighty-four lakhs, 8,400,000. Non... To tell...(?) Janma paryayāt. This is the evolution. From lower animals, from fish to plants, trees, insects, reptiles, birds, beasts. In this way, we come to the human form of life, and this human form of life is meant for dharma. Practically also, we see that the state laws, state laws are meant for the human beings. State laws are not for the animals. Animals, they do not require to observe the state laws. Neither they are able to do so. That is the difference between animal and human being.
Pradyumna: (leads chanting, etc.)
- vāsudeve bhagavati
- bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ
- janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ
- jñānaṁ ca yad ahaitukam
- (SB 1.2.7)
Translation: "By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge and detachment from the world."
Prabhupāda:
- vāsudeve bhagavati
- bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ
- janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ
- jñānaṁ ca yad ahaitukam
- (SB 1.2.7)
So the mission of human life is to acquire knowledge, jñānam, and vairāgyam, detachment. Jñānam means real identification, "What I am." In the conditioned stage of life we are passing on our days not in jñānam but ignorance, just like the animals. The animals, they have no jñānam. They are pulling on their life with the bodily concept of life. The dog is thinking, "I am dog. I am this body." He does not know whether he is "dog" or "cat". These names we have given him. But he knows it well that "I am this body." So this is not jñānam.
Pradyumna: (leads chanting, etc.)
- tac chraddadhānā munayo
- jñāna-vairāgya-yuktayā
- paśyanty ātmani cātmānaṁ
- bhaktyā śruta-gṛhītayā
- (SB 1.2.12)
"The seriously inquisitive student or sage, well equipped with knowledge and detachment, realizes that Absolute Truth by rendering devotional service in terms of what he has heard from the Vedānta-śruti."
Prabhupāda: (interrupts and corrects one devotee's chanting of the verse:) We are repeating so that by hearing the sound, you can practice. You should be attentive. By... (chanting resumes)
Very good, thank you. Yes. She has done better than all of you. All right. (chanting resumes) (Prabhupāda interrupts again:) Yes. That's all.
So people, they sometimes say, "Can you show me God? Have you seen God?" These questions sometimes we meet. So the answer is here. Yes, you can see God. Everyone can see God. I am also seeing God. But there must be the qualification. Just like God is there... Suppose a motorcar is there, something is wrong there. Everyone is seeing. But one engineer or mechanic, he sees differently. Therefore we have to go there.
Pradyumna: "That Absolute Truth is realized by the seriously inquisitive student or sage who is well equipped with knowledge and who has become detached by rendering devotional service and hearing the Vedānta-śruti."
Prabhupāda:
- tac chraddadhānā munayo
- jñāna-vairāgya-yuktayā
- paśyanty ātmani cātmānaṁ
- bhaktyā śruta-gṛhītayā
- (SB 1.2.12)
So first of all it has been described what is the purpose of life. This human form of life, it is not meant for being spoiled like the dogs and hogs. The dogs and hogs, they're busy to find out food: "Where is food? Where is stool?" And they are spoiling their whole day and night. Their life has been made by nature in such a way that they have no other business than to find out where is some food, where is some food, where is... And laboring, they're laboring very hard.
If we simply learn how to render devotional service to Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ. This is actually translated into English as Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Everything for Kṛṣṇa. So that Kṛṣṇa consciousness, if we take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then janayaty āśu vairāgyam. Āśu, very soon, one becomes detached from this material bondage. Janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ jñānaṁ ca. And jñāna, knowledge, real knowledge.
Pradyumna: "Why Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa with his plenary parts shall be rendered devotional service as it is explained above is confirmed by this statement. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and all His plenary parts are viṣṇu-tattva, or the Lordship of Godhead. From Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the next manifestation is Baladeva. From Baladeva is Saṅkarṣaṇa; from Saṅkarṣaṇa is Nārāyaṇa; again from Nārāyaṇa there is the second Saṅkarṣaṇa; and from this Saṅkarṣaṇa the Viṣṇu puruṣa-avatāras. The Viṣṇu or the Deity of the quality of goodness in the material world is the puruṣa-avatāra known as Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, or Paramātmā. Brahmā is the deity of rajas, or passion, and Śiva for ignorance. They are three departmental heads of the three qualities of this material world. Creation is made possible by the quality of passion and endeavor; it is maintained by the goodness of Viṣṇu; and when it is required to be destroyed, Lord Śiva does it by tāṇḍava-nṛtya. The materialists and the foolish human beings do worship Brahmā and Śiva respectively, but the pure transcendentalists do worship the form of goodness, Viṣṇu, in His various forms. Viṣṇu is manifested by His millions and billions of integrated forms and separated forms. The integrated forms are called Godhead, and the separated forms are called the living entities, or the jīvas. But either the jīvas or Godhead, both of them have their original, spiritual forms. The jīvas are sometimes subjected under the control of the material energy, but the Viṣṇu forms are always controller of the material energy. When..."
Prabhupāda: There is a difference between ordinary form and Viṣṇu form. Ordinary forms, they are controlled by Viṣṇu. Go on... nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). That is the Vedic injunction. Go on.
Pradyumna:
- sūta uvāca
- ātmārāmāś ca munayo
- nirgranthā apy urukrame
- kurvanty ahaitukīṁ bhaktim
- ittham-bhūta-guṇo hariḥ
- (SB 1.7.10)
"All different varieties of ātmārāmas (those who take pleasure in ātmā, or spirit self), especially those established on the path of self-realization, though freed from all kinds of material bondage, desire to render unalloyed devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead. This means that the Lord possesses transcendental qualities and therefore can attract everyone, including liberated souls."
Prabhupāda: Read the purport also. (Pradyumna reads first few paragraphs of purport) So this śloka is still more elaborately explained in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. This is the summary. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained this verse in sixty-four ways, each word explained—and how many ways each word can be explained—and from all angles of vision He has proved that Kṛṣṇa is all-attractive. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu's scholarship... Of course, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is no comparison to His excellence in every respect. Six opulences. Na caitanyāt kṛṣṇāj jagati para-tattvaṁ param iha. That is explained by Kavirāja Gosvāmī.
Kṛṣṇa says. He's silent for the nondevotees, but he speaks to the devotees. That is very natural. If some big man... He talks with men who are intelligent, who is businesslike. Why he wastes his time talking with some rascals and fools? So Kṛṣṇa talk, but talks to the devotee. Who are devotee? Satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam. Those who are 24-hours engaged in rendering loving devotional service to the Lord. To such person Kṛṣṇa gives intelligence, not others.
So this process of hearing from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā, must be continued. That is our life. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ (SB 7.5.23). Śravaṇam means hearing. Kīrtanam means chanting about Lord Viṣṇu. Not for others. "Now I am hearing and chanting about Nixon." (chuckles) That will not help. Because everyone is busy in newspaper, "What Nixon said, what he is doing..." Everywhere.
If you want kingdom, Kṛṣṇa will give you kingdom. That is not very difficult for you (Him). Kṛṣṇa can give you liberation, to merge in His effulgence. That also Kṛṣṇa will give. But it is very difficult to get Kṛṣṇa's service, very difficult. Kṛṣṇa will give you everything, whatever you want. By Kṛṣṇa conscious, being Kṛṣṇa conscious, by rendering devotional service, if you want to have some material profit, Kṛṣṇa will give you. Kṛṣṇa will give you. That is not very difficult thing for Kṛṣṇa. If you want to merge in His existence—the Māyāvādīs—all right, you can get it. But that it not real profit. Real profit is here described, in Vaikuṇṭha, how they are face to face seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead, having the same body, and same ornaments, same opulence, everything same. Sārūpya, sālokya, sāyujya. Sāyujya is damn rascals. Sāyujya-mukti, never, merging, never, no Vaiṣṇava will take. But sārūpya, so far our Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava is concerned, they do not want even this sārūpya, same bodily feature. They don't want anything. They simply want how to serve Kṛṣṇa. That's all.
So śāstra says, ṣaṭ-karma-nipuṇo vipro mantra-tantra-viśāradaḥ. He is not only... A brāhmaṇa, qualified brāhmaṇa, is expert in these six kinds of businesses, but he should be very much expert in chanting the Vedic mantras, hymns, mantra-tantra-viśāradaḥ, very expert. And even he is expert in such way, if he is avaiṣṇava, if he has no tendency for rendering devotional service to the Lord, avaiṣṇavo gurur na sa syāt, he cannot be a guru. Even without... Even with all the qualifications, if he is avaiṣṇava... You will find, there are many brāhmaṇas, they are smārtas. They are called smārta, means they are under conclusion that "If we do nice Vedic..., perform nice Vedic rituals, then our duty is finished. These devotees, they are chanting. They are less intelligent class of men. They do not, cannot do anything. They have taken to this process." So therefore he is avaiṣṇava. Just like Rāmānanda Rāya. He was accompanied by very, very learned men, learned brāhmaṇas.
Very nice verse. The Yamarāja says that "These bhutāni viṣṇoḥ, viṣṇu-bhutāni, the Vaiṣṇava, the Viṣṇudūtas, they are worshiped by the demigods. Anywhere they go, they are worshiped." They are worshipable, Vaiṣṇava. As God is worshipable, similarly, the Vaiṣṇava, or the God's servant, they are also worshipable. And Kṛṣṇa says, mad bhakta-pūjābhyadhikā (SB 11.19.21). So, "Anyone who worships My devotee, he renders devotional service better than by worshiping Me directly." So therefore He says in another...,
- ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyāt
- nāvamanyeta karhicit
- na martya-buddhyāsūyeta
- sarva-deva-mayo guruḥ
- (SB 11.17.27)
There is another version that Kṛṣṇa says... These are stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam while He was talking with Uddhava, Eleventh Canto. Just like Kṛṣṇa had talks with Arjuna, which is known as Arjuna-gītā, similarly, He had talks with Uddhava, another devotee. That is known as Uddhava-gītā. So in that Uddhava-gītā these statements are there, that ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyāt nāvamanyeta karhicit: "Ācārya should be known as good as God."
"He is a fit candidate to drink the nectar of devotion." Amṛtam aśnute. Etāvān eva loke 'smin puṁsāṁ dharmaḥ paraḥ smṛtaḥ. Now, what is the best principle of executing dharma, religion? So he says, etāvān eva loke 'smin: "Especially in this material world," puṁsāṁ dharmaḥ paraḥ smṛtaḥ, "this is the first-class religious principle." What is that? Bhakti-yogo bhagavati: "Of rendering devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead." That is first-class religion. Bhakti-yogo bhagavati tan-nāma-grahaṇādibhiḥ. Tan-nāma. And how it begins? "Simply by chanting His holy name." These are the authoritative statements of Yamarāja. Tam eva dharmam etāvān iti. This is dharma.
So our movement, the chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, that is authorized. Here it is stated, tan-nāma-grahaṇādibhiḥ. And you have seen that our..., in Back to Godhead, Hayagrīva has also quoted many passages from Bible, the chanting, Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra chanting. So this chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, or God, is authorized.
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
So to maintain them he has to work very hard. But there is some pleasure in serving the wife and children. This is crude example. Similarly, bhakti means service with some taste. Svādu svādu pade pade. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said, svādu svādu pade pade. The more you serve, the more you relish taste. Without relishing taste, nobody can render devotional service. It is practical. Svādu svādu pade pade. In every step... Just like Rūpa Gosvāmī. He was minister in the government of Nawab Hussain Shah. So materially, he was getting honor, money, and therefore he was attached. This is also crude example. So he resigned from the government post and he joined Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So unless he tasted something better, how could he give up his government service? There must be some taste. So that is being explained here. Go on.
Pradyumna: "This fact is corroborated by Kṛṣṇa in the Eleventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Twelfth Chapter, 1st verse, where He says, 'My dear Uddhava, you may know it from Me that the attraction I feel for devotional service rendered by My devotees is not to be attained even by the performance of mystic yoga, philosophical speculation, ritualistic sacrifices, the study of Vedānta, the practice of severe austerities or the giving of everything in charity. These are, of course, very nice activities, but they are not as attractive to Me as the transcendental loving service rendered to My devotees.' How Kṛṣṇa becomes attracted by the devotional service of His devotees is described by Nārada in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Seventh Canto, Tenth Chapter, 37th verse. There Nārada addresses King Yudhiṣṭhira while the King is appreciating the glories of the character of Prahlāda Mahārāja. A devotee always appreciates the qualities of other devotees."
Prabhupāda: Yes. That is the sign of devotee: appreciation (of) the activities of devotee. This appreciation means a devotee who is actually freed from all contamination, he does not find any fault with other devotee. That is the sign. He does not think himself that he is bigger devotee or greater devotee than others. He thinks himself as the lowest of all. As Caitanya, as Caitanya-caritāmṛta author, Kavirāja Gosvāmī, says, purīṣera kīṭa haite muñi se lagiṣṭha: (CC Adi 5.205) "I am lower than the insect within the stool."
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
So Viṣṇu Purāṇa is for the persons who are on the platform of sattva-guṇa, those who are associating with the modes of goodness. This is not correct that everyone is one the same platform. Generally, at the present moment, people are in the platform of tamo-guṇa and rajo-guṇa, mixed. So one has to rise to the platform of sattva-guṇa. And then, after transcending the sattva-guṇa, also when one is situated in śuddha-sattva, or pure sattva-guṇa... In this material world, even sattva-guṇa is sometimes contacted with rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa; therefore it is not completely pure. No guṇa is pure. It is mixed-up always. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. So one has to transcend these guṇas; then God realization, or understanding of Kṛṣṇa, can be achieved. But the devotional service, vidhi-bhakti, the process of rendering devotional service to the Lord according to the prescribed regulative principles in the śāstra, helps us to transcend all these qualities. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate (BG 14.26).
The advantage is that if you want to get release from the infection of these three guṇas, three qualities, then you have to render devotional service to the Lord. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Nirguṇo bhavet. Nirguṇa, when there is mention of nirguṇa, nirguṇa does not mean quality-less. Nirguṇa means without these contaminous three qualities of material nature. There are transcendental qualities. Those transcendental qualities... You have got the list, twenty-six qualities of the devotee. Those are transcendental qualities. Those transcendental qualities are in God as well as in the living entity. But when the living entity comes in contact with material nature, those transcendental qualities are covered by the material qualities. So they are not manifested. But as soon as one becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious, those transcendental qualities automatically develop. Because they are already there.
So nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-bhakti sādhya kabhu naya. They are not acquired. Śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya. Those transcendental qualities again revive themself by this process: śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte. As you purify your heart by this process of hearing transcendental messages from Godhead, as your heart becomes purified, those transcendental qualities automatically develop. And when fully developed, it is called nirguṇa, nirguṇa, without any material quality. That nirguṇa stage can be obtained, can be achieved, in touch with the nirguṇa, Kṛṣṇa. Therefore it is stated, sa sarva-dṛg upadraṣṭā taṁ bhajan. Bhajan. Bhajan means by rendering devotional service to Him, that Supreme Lord, you get revived your transcendental qualities. And when you revive your transcendental qualities, that means you are liberated, you are happy, you are transferred to the spiritual world.
Initiation Lectures
The devotional service begins when one has already realized Brahman. Because to whom rendering devotional service? To the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavān. And Bhagavān is the last word in the Absolute Truth.
- vadanti tat tattva-vidas
- tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam
- brahmeti paramātmeti
- bhagavān iti śabdyate
- (SB 1.2.11)
The Absolute Truth is realized in three phases. First impersonal Brahman realization, the localized Paramātmā realization, and then the last word is to realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And that is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā.
"In connection with this verse, which is a quotation from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Eleventh Canto, Twenty-third Chapter, fifty-eighth verse, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura says that of the sixty-four items required for rendering devotional service, acceptance of the symbolic marks of sannyāsa is a regulative principle. If one accepts the sannyāsa order, his main business is to devote his life completely to the service of Mukunda, Kṛṣṇa. If one does not completely devote his mind and body to the service of the Lord, he does not actually become a sannyāsī. It is not simply a matter of changing dress. In Bhagavad-gītā, Sixth Chapter, first verse, it is also stated, anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ, sa sannyāsī ca yogī ca: (BG 6.1) 'One who works devotedly for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa is a sannyāsī.' The dress is not sannyāsa, but the attitude of service to Kṛṣṇa is. The word paramātmā niṣṭhā means being a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Parātmā-vigraha. Parātmā, the Supreme Person, is Kṛṣṇa. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1).
Philosophy Discussions
Prabhupāda: Yes. God is asking always that "You agree to obey My orders," and as soon as we accept this principle, we immediately becomes liberated: "Yes, from this point I shall now fully agree to the the orders of Kṛṣṇa, or God." That is liberation. The liberation is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā: to give up a mode of life other than devotional life. Muktiḥ hitvā anyathā rūpam. Our life is meant for rendering devotional service to the Lord. As soon as we give up this principle of life, devotional service to the Lord, that is our anyathā rūpam, means our living condition otherwise, except devotional service. That living condition otherwise than the devotional service is called conditioned life. And as soon as we come to this platform of devotional service, that is mukti, liberated life. Muktiḥ hitvā anyathā rūpaṁ sva-rūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ. To remain in one's own constitutional position is called mukti, or liberation. (break)
| Page Title: | Rendering devotional service (Lectures) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, RupaManjari |
| Created: | 19 of Sep, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=24, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 24 |