A man has got attraction for woman; a woman has got attraction for man. This is nature's bondage. Shackle. And when they are actually united, either by the father, mother, or by their own way, that shackle, that attraction, increases. Puṁsaḥ striyā mithunī-bhāvam etaṁ tayor mitho hṛdaya-granthim āhuḥ. Hṛdaya-granthim. Knot in the heart. "She is my wife." "He is my husband." Of course, now that knot is very slack. Formerly it was very strong because the woman was not allowed to mix with any other man, and the man was also not allowed with any other woman. This intermingling has slackened even that knot, hṛdaya-granthim. Therefore, even trifle cases, quarrel between husband and wife, there is divorce. Because that unity is not very strong now. That is good. Some way or other, it is slackened. So this "own-menship" comes from bodily concept of life.
Slack (Lectures)
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Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
If you want to become master of the senses, gosvāmī, svāmī, then you should always keep your senses engaged in the service of Hṛṣīkeśa. That is the only way. Otherwise it is not possible. As soon as you become a little slack to engage your senses in the service of the master of the senses, immediately māyā is there, "Come on, please." This is the process. Kṛṣṇa bhuliyā jīva bhoga vāñchā kare, pāsate māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare. As soon as you forget Kṛṣṇa, even for a moment, immediately māyā is there: "Please, my dear friend, come here." Therefore we have to become very cautious. We cannot forget Kṛṣṇa even for a moment.
If he could not execute properly, he could not chant sixteen rounds, he could not observe the rules and regulations or for sometimes he could execute and then again, he became slackened. Just like sometimes we see some of our student falls down. So Nārada Muni says, bhajann apakvo 'tha. His execution of devotional service could not be completed; somehow or other, it was checked, it was obstructed, and he falls down again in the clutches of māyā, falls down. There is possibility. Māyā is very strong. Māyā is very strong. At any moment we can fall down. Therefore we have to keep ourselves very much vigilant, strong, strong. Strength, the spiritual strength is the chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and following the rules and regulations. Then māyā cannot. :Mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te (BG 7.14). If you keep yourself strictly to the principles of bhakti-yoga, māyā's father also will not be able to do anything. No.
So those who are executing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they are not in loss. Whatever they are doing, they are gaining some meaning, one percent, two percent, three percent, five percent, ninety-nine percent. It if fulfilled cent percent, then it is perfect. But even it is not cent percent, you are not in a loss because you get good chance to make further advance. These things are discussed. In the Sixth Chapter you will find. So there is guarantee. So try your best to execute Kṛṣṇa consciousness fully. That should be the motto of our life. But if, by chance... We shall not allow us to fall down, but even if we fall down, there is no loss. But that does not mean I shall be slack and allow me to fall down. Yes. We must be very serious. That should be our motto.
Therefore from the Western countries, when people come to this country, especially in India, when they see from the Arabian Sea bright sunshine, they very much become astonished, "How nice sunshine is here." So sunshine is the property for everyone, but according to intelligence or according to fortune, they enjoy it.So brahminical culture also, similarly, it is just like sunshine. It is meant for everyone. But the people must be intelligent enough to take it.
Unfortunately, this system, although India was observing very rigidly, now it is slackened, or practically nil. We have lost our brahminical culture, the :cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭam (BG 4.13). This is the, due to the influence of Kali-yuga. Kalau śūdra-sambhavaḥ In the Kali-yuga practically everyone is a śūdra or less than śūdra. Less than śūdra is called caṇḍāla. Śūdras, sometimes śūdras also eat meat, but the less than śūdras, they have no discrimination. They eat even dogs. The dog-eaters, they are described in the śāstra, śva-paca. Śva means dog, and paca means, pacanti, cook. But Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so nice. It is said in the śāstra, :aho bata śva-paco 'to garīyān yaj-jihvāgre (vartate) nāma tubhyam. Even a śva-paca, caṇḍāla, dog-eater, if he learns from the spiritual master how to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, he is garīyān, he is glorified. In another place also, that śva-paca, :caṇḍālo 'pi dvija-śreṣṭho hari-bhakti-parāyaṇaḥ. Even caṇḍāla, he becomes greater than a brāhmaṇa, provided he becomes a devotee of the Lord. Hari-bhakti-parāyaṇaḥ.
Yoga practice means by controlling the airs within the body... That will be explained. There are five kinds of air, vāyu. When the airs are not controlled in old age, according to Ayurvedic system, it is called vāyu-roga. The muscles become slackened, old man. Because the air control or air circulation is not proper.
Devotee: Prabhupāda, I heard it said that the spiritual master will always come back until his devotees, his disciples, have achieved God realization. Can you explain that?
Prabhupāda: Yes. But don't try to take advantage of it. (laughter) Don't try to give trouble to your spiritual master like that. Finish your business in this life. That is especially meant for those who are slack. His devotee, his disciple should be serious in serving spiritual master. If he is intelligent he should know that "Why should I act in such a way that my spiritual master has to take the trouble to reclaim me again? Let my business be finished in this life." That should be the right way of thinking. Not that, "Oh I am sure my spiritual master will come, let me do all nonsense." No. So if you have got any, I mean to say, affection for the spiritual master, then you should finish your business in this life so that he may not come again to reclaim you. Is that all right? Don't take advantage of this business. Rather, be serious to finish your business. That is a fact.
Everyone is trying to become happy, peaceful. That peacefulness, that happiness can be attained only when you increase your attachment or love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the meaning of Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. We are not teaching any kind of faith. There are many different types of faith, so, but unfortunately, maybe due to the slackness of this movement or religious movement, people have lost all faith in religious movement. Maybe there are many reasons. But it cannot be left aside. You cannot give up. If you want actually peace of the mind, peace of yourself, then you must try to love God. That is the only way.
The body is also a car, a machine. It is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, :bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā (BG 18.61). Yantra. It has been said as yantra, a machine. This is just like machine. And we can perceive that. As soon as some part of the machine is slackened or not in order, that is your diseased condition. You cannot work. So this we must... Dangerous position means that we should not be very much satisfied or rest assured that "I am in very secure position because I am American or I am this, I am that." You are not in secure position. At any moment, this car, this body, functioning will stop, and you have to change.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu. Naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā (SB 1.2.18), :bhaktir bhavati, bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī, bhavati naiṣṭhikī. Now, as soon as, not cent percent clearance... It is not possible to clear our, I mean to say, rubbish things within our mind all of a sudden or very soon, all things. Even some percentage of the rubbish are cleared off, then at once it happens that our, the influence of the material nature becomes slackened.
In the beginning, because we have got blunt material senses, we cannot understand what is Kṛṣṇa, what is Kṛṣṇa's service. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi... What is Kṛṣṇa's chanting of name. We are thinking that this is chanting, just like we chant so many vibrations, this is also like that. We cannot understand. But if we take up all this devotional service in right earnestness to serve the Lord, then everything will be gradually revealed. That is required. But if we become slack in following the rules and regulations, then we remain the third class. We cannot raise ourself to the second class, first class position.
Prabhupāda: When Vyāsadeva by bhakti-yoga meditation experienced the whole thing, what did he see? He saw Kṛṣṇa. Apaśyat puruṣaṁ pūrṇam: "He saw the Supreme Person." Māyāṁ ca tad-apāśrayam: "And he saw also māyā on the back side." Just like when you, if you stand, the light side, your shadow is not on the light side. The light... The shadow is on the back side.
So in our back side the māyā is there, although you are in front of Kṛṣṇa. So as soon as you become little slack in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, immediately māyā is ready to capture you. Māyā is always going side by side. As Kṛṣṇa is all-pervading, the māyā is also all-pervading. As soon as there is lack of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there is immediately māyā.
- kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha hañā bhoga vāñchā kare
- nikaṭa-stha māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare
- (Prema-vivarta)
Jāpaṭiyā dhare means embrace. What is that? What is called, to capture like this?
Devotee: Hug?
Devotees: Hug, hug, embrace?
Prabhupāda: Embrace? Yes. So as soon as one, kṛṣṇa-bhuliyā, forgets Kṛṣṇa... Forgetting Kṛṣṇa means sense enjoyment. Two things are there. One, the materialistic persons, they are engaged in the activities of sense enjoyment, forgetting Kṛṣṇa; and the transcendentalists, the devotees, they are, even though they are not forgotten, but they are not interested in sense enjoyment. They are interested in Kṛṣṇa. That is the difference. This is māyā and Kṛṣṇa.
So māyā is always strong. As soon as we little slack in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, māyā will capture us in the same process. So here it is said, bhajann apakvo 'tha. If one is not very strong, not very much advanced, not mature, and falls down under the clutches of māyā again, so, Nārada Muni says, yatra kva vābhadram abhūt: "There is no," I mean to say, "loss." Abhadra means great loss, or inauspicity. There is no... "It is still good, even if he falls down." Why? Yatra kva vā abhadram amuṣya kiṁ ko vārtha āpto 'bha...: "In comparison to the person who is simply sticking to the formalities of religious principles without any development of love of Godhead, simply following the routine work, in comparison to that person, this person who came to surrender to Kṛṣṇa, either by sentiment or some way or other but falls down, this man is better. This man is better. There is no," I mean to say, "any great loss. Rather it is a great gain."
Prabhupāda: Surucaḥ supeśasaḥ. Supeśasaḥ. What is the meaning of supeśasaḥ?
Pradyumna: Growing youthful.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Supeśasaḥ means this. Just like we are old man. Now it has become slackened. But when I was young it was very tight. This is called supeśasaḥ, muscles very tight. Supeśasaḥ means young, all young. Suvarcasaḥ, and luster. When a man is young, there is some luster, attractive luster. This is nature's gift. A woman becomes... A girl becomes full of youth, lustrous. A man, a boy becomes... Attraction. Without attraction, there cannot be sex. And without sex, there will be stopped of generation. So by nature these things are there. So çästra makes some adjustments. The natural attractions are there, but they know what is the meaning of this attraction. Therefore, according to Vedic rules, the boy is selected by the father, the girl is selected by the father. They are given in marriage so that that natural attraction can be utilized for generating good population, not prostitution.
Consciousness, when it is muddy or contaminated on account of intermingling with these modes of nature, we become more and more entangled. There is a verse in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta spoken by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu:
- sādhu-saṅga sādhu-saṅga sarva-śāstre kaya
- lava-mātra sādhu-saṅge sarva-siddhi haya
- (CC Madhya 22.54)
Sādhu-saṅga. Here it is also recommended: sa eva sādhuṣu kṛtaḥ. Association, prasaṅga... Saṅgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ. In the... (pause, sound of baby continuing) No... Saṅgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ. As you associate with... Man is social animal, it is said. So according to your association, you can mold your character. If you associate with businessmen, then... They actually form so many associations to develop their business capacity. Practical. There is stock exchange association, this market association, that market association. There is club, association of the drunkards. So there are many association, and this association, different types of association, is the cause of bondage in that particular thing. Everyone knows it. Saṅgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ. Similarly, if you transfer the association to the sādhu, then mokṣa-dvāram apāvṛtam, the door for liberation is open. If you associate with materialistic persons, then your bondage becomes more and more tightened, and if you associate with sādhu, or spiritualist, then your bondage becomes slackened, or the door of liberation becomes open. Mokṣa-dvāram apāvṛtam.
So in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta also, Lord Caitanya says, :guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja (CC Madhya 19.151). This bhakti-latā-bīja can be obtained through the mercy of guru and Kṛṣṇa. Here Ṛṣabhadeva, who is incarnation of Kṛṣṇa, therefore He says mayi, haṁse gurau mayi. You cannot jump over Kṛṣṇa. "Well, I know Kṛṣṇa. I shall go to Kṛṣṇa directly, without guru." There are many rascals, they say like that. No, that is not possible. First of all guru, then Kṛṣṇa. :Haṁse gurau mayi, bhaktyānuvṛtyā. So these are description, this is the beginning. If we actually practice the description of the prescription given in the śāstra, then it will be possible that, as it is said, karmānubaddho dṛḍha āślatheta. Then our strong desire to enjoy this material world in different way, that will be slackened. That is wanted.
So merging means that the machine and the screw, some screw being slackened it has fallen down on the ground, so so long it is out of the touch of the machine it is useless. It has no value. So merging into the Supreme means your value is now useless without being merging into the Supreme. And as soon as you become adjusted with the Supreme your original value is revived. That is real meaning of merging. :Tato māṁ tattvato jñātvā viśate tad-anantaram. In the Bhagavad-gītā you'll find. Tato māṁ tattvato jñātvā. When one understands Kṛṣṇa in truth, tattvata. Tattvata means in truth. Then he is allowed to enter or merge. :Tato māṁ tattvato jñātvā viśate tad-anantaram. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55). That also, that entrance is allowed by bhakti.
So pītvā ca. Pītvā means drinking. :Madhu-maireyam. Pītvā ca madhu, mada āghūrṇita-netrayā. When one becomes a drunkard, his eyes are not set up in right position. These things he saw. :Mattayā viślathan-nīvyā vyapetaṁ nirapatrapam. And because both of them were drunkard, their, I mean to say, dhotis and saris were slackened. Now it has become a fashion, to slacken, but this is not very good. To make more attractive for sex indulgence, of course, this has become a fashion, but it is not very good. Then :mattayā viślathan-nīvyā vyapetaṁ nirapatrapam. And because they were so rascal, they had no, I mean to say, bashfulness.
Suppose if there is a beautiful girl and one man is attracted, still, he will feel shame to capture that girl. Of course, here I see the boys and girls, they are kissing in the street, and in India it is very uncivil. No boy, no girls will do that because it is a training. It is a training. So by training, one can restrain the senses. And the more you restrain your senses, the more you become slackened for these material shackles.
But yesterday morning we were discussing about Brahmā: very good, but sometimes he is also polluted. Therefore it is not pure goodness in this material world. Even there is goodness, it is not pure. There is always chance of becoming polluted by the other base qualities, ignorance and passion. Therefore here cannot be pure goodness. Pure goodness is Kṛṣṇa consciousness platform, devotional service. If you keep yourself rigidly on the platform of devotional service, then you are pure goodness. And as soon as you are slack, immediately the other two base qualities will attack you. Therefore it is very difficult to keep pure goodness.
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
We are under the control of the material nature. Everyone can realize it. Nobody can be free. But the process of freedom is also stated there: :Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā, mām eva ye prapadyante (BG 7.14). If anyone takes to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, surrenders there, and be engaged in His service, then these laws of nature will be slackened, or almost nil. :Karmāṇi nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhājām (Bs. 5.54). These are the statements of the śāstras. Laws of material nature means karma. You act in a certain way and you get the result, good or bad; that is called karma. Sat-karma or asat-karma. Actually everything is asat-karma. :Antavat tu phalaṁ teṣāṁ tad bhavaty alpa-medhasām (BG 7.23). So even taking, accepting that good work is nice, but it is also bondage.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
We are always under threefold miseries. We may accept or not accept; that is our position. I am in miserable condition due to others' arrangement—my enemies, other animals or other enemies. And I am in miserable condition due to material disturbances, nature's disturbances. And I am always under miseries due to my bodily and mental conditions. These called, these are called threefold miseries. So out of these three... We are always under three kinds of miseries, but sometimes one is slackened, other is greater, in this way, but we are always under miserable condition. When a sane man comes to this understanding, he is eligible for spiritual evolution.
Kali means full of hypocrisy. So we have to be very careful. We have to... :Daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī mama māyā (BG 7.14). And the illusory energy is very strong. At any moment, little slackness... (aside:) Oh, you have wrongly put. (break) So this is... Actually, we should understand. So Lord Caitanya says that sambandha means we have to revive, we have to reestablish our lost relationship with Kṛṣṇa, or God. That is civilization. The relationship is there already because I am born. The supreme cause is Kṛṣṇa, or God. But I have, some way or other, I have forgotten that.
Less intelligent class of men, they think impersonal form or the universal form or even the four-handed Viṣṇu form... They consider that they are greater. But in the Eleventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā you will find that Kṛṣṇa, by the request of Arjuna, assumed His universal form, viśvarūpa. Now, after seeing the viśvarūpa Arjuna was afraid. He was in friendly relationship with Kṛṣṇa, and when he saw His viśvarūpa, he became too much perturbed in his mind: "Oh, what mistake I have done. I took Kṛṣṇa as my friend, and I do not know how much offenses I have committed. Friendly relation, there are sometimes very slackened languages and used sometimes calling, 'You, Kṛṣṇa,' sometimes..., so many things. Friendly relations are very relaxation relation." So he thought that "I have committed so much offenses to Kṛṣṇa," and he begged pardon. "Out of my impudence, out of my ignorance, I have done so many things. Please excuse just like a father excuses his son, just like a friend excuses his friend, just like husband excuses wife or the wife excuses." These things are there.
Arrival Addresses and Talks
We are teaching these four principle in the temple, how to worship Kṛṣṇa how to serve Kṛṣṇa, how to become Kṛṣṇa's devotee, and how to think of Kṛṣṇa twenty-four hours. And if we do this, there is guarantee. Kṛṣṇa says, mām eva eṣyasi asaṁśaya: "Without any doubt, you will come to Me. You will go back to home, back to Godhead." So do not be slackened. And it is not difficult. :Su-sukhaṁ kartum avyayam (BG 9.2). This devotional service is so nice. It is... To execute the devotional is also very pleasing. Su-sukhaṁ kartum avyayam. And whatever you do, that is your permanent asset. It will never be lost.
Philosophy Discussions
Prabhupāda: If you want to satisfy the Supreme Lord, then you must execute the functions as they are prescribed in the varṇāśrama system. Then everything is all right. The same example: If all the parts of a machine is in order, working, it will make no trouble. If one of the screws, I mean, is slack, or it has fallen down, then another part is dislocated, that whole work is stopped. So we should consider in that way, that we are all part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. So according to part and parcel, you must execute your duty—as brāhmaṇa, as kṣatriya, as vaiśya, as śūdra. And the brāhmaṇa being head, he should give the direction. Therefore he is considered the guru of other varṇas. But he... Because if there is no head, no brāhmaṇa, then the whole thing is disturbed. And that is the position at the present moment. Actually there is no brāhmaṇa, or scarcity of brāhmaṇa. So others are not guided properly. Therefore there is chaos in the whole society.
Śyāmasundara: Well their idea is that if you put a man in a factory and you get him to identify with the state, the production, the scientific achievement, say...
Prabhupāda: That cannot be, that is our philosophy. Because he has got the basic disease. He is saying that I am working so hard, but the profit is not coming to me, he will be immediately slackened. Just like there is a proverb, proprietorship turns sand into gold. But as soon there is lacking of the sense that I am not proprietor, the gold becomes sand.
| Page Title: | Slack (Lectures) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Douglas t |
| Created: | 26 of Jun, 2010 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=26, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 26 |