There is no difficulty (Books)
Bhagavad-gita As It Is
BG Chapters 1 - 6
When we come to spiritual activities, we find that these are also divided into two: namely, understanding of one's own self (or one's constitutional position), and the truth regarding the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One who follows the path of Bhagavad-gītā as it is can very easily understand these two important divisions of spiritual knowledge. For him there is no difficulty in obtaining perfect knowledge of the self as part and parcel of the Lord. And such understanding is beneficial, for such a person can easily understand the transcendental activities of the Lord. In the beginning of this chapter, the transcendental activities of the Lord were discussed by the Supreme Lord Himself. One who does not understand the instructions of the Gītā is faithless, and is to be considered to be misusing the fragmental independence awarded to him by the Lord. In spite of such instructions, one who does not understand the real nature of the Lord as the eternal, blissful, all-knowing Personality of Godhead is certainly fool number one.
BG Chapters 7 - 12
This arcā-vigraha is an incarnation of the Supreme Lord. God will accept service through that form. The Lord is omnipotent, all-powerful; therefore, by His incarnation as arcā-vigraha He can accept the services of the devotee, just to make it convenient for the man in conditioned life.
So for a devotee there is no difficulty in approaching the Supreme immediately and directly, but for those who are following the impersonal way to spiritual realization the path is difficult. They have to understand the unmanifested representation of the Supreme through such Vedic literatures as the Upaniṣads, and they have to learn the language, understand the nonperceptual feelings, and realize all these processes. This is not very easy for a common man. A person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, engaged in devotional service, simply by the guidance of the bona fide spiritual master, simply by offering regulative obeisances unto the Deity, simply by hearing the glories of the Lord, and simply by eating the remnants of foodstuffs offered to the Lord, realizes the Supreme Personality of Godhead very easily. There is no doubt that the impersonalists are unnecessarily taking a troublesome path with the risk of not realizing the Absolute Truth at the ultimate end. But the personalist, without any risk, trouble or difficulty, approaches the Supreme Personality directly. A similar passage appears in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. It is stated there that if one ultimately has to surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead (this surrendering process is called bhakti), but instead takes the trouble to understand what is Brahman and what is not Brahman and spends his whole life in that way, the result is simply troublesome. Therefore it is advised here that one should not take up this troublesome path of self-realization, because there is uncertainty in the ultimate result.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 1
There was nothing undesirable in his life. He was quite a young man and could enjoy life with power and opulence. So there was no question of retiring from active life. There was no difficulty in collecting the state taxes because he was so powerful and chivalrous that even his enemies would come to him and bow down at his feet and surrender all wealth for their own benefit. Mahārāja Parīkṣit was a pious king. He conquered his enemies, and therefore the kingdom was full of prosperity. There was enough milk, grains and metals, and all the rivers and mountains were full of potency. So materially everything was satisfactory. Therefore, there was no question of untimely giving up his kingdom and life. The sages were eager to hear about all this.
There are different climates and situations in different parts of the world, and if one has to discharge his duties to preach the message of the Lord, he must be expert in adjusting things in terms of the time and place. Bhīṣmadeva was one of the twelve great authorities in preaching this cult of devotional service, and therefore he could receive and welcome all the powerful sages assembled there at his deathbed from all parts of the universe. He was certainly unable at that time to welcome and receive them physically because he was neither at his home nor in a normal healthy condition. But he was quite fit by the activities of his sound mind, and therefore he could utter sweet words with hearty expressions, and all of them were well received. One can perform one's duty by physical work, by mind and by words. And he knew well how to utilize them in the proper place, and therefore there was no difficulty for him to receive them, although physically unfit.
SB Canto 2
The Superself is a partial representation or plenary portion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Bhagavad-gītā affirms that the Supreme Personality of Godhead dominates all over the material world by His partial representation only. God is great, and He cannot be simply an order supplier of the individual selves; therefore the Superself cannot be a full representation of the Supreme Self, Puruṣottama, the Absolute Personality of Godhead. Realization of the Superself by the individual self is the beginning of self-realization, and by the progress of such self-realization one is able to realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead by intelligence, by the help of authorized scriptures, and, principally, by the grace of the Lord. The Bhagavad-gītā is the preliminary conception of the Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the further explanation of the science of Godhead. So if we stick to our determination and pray for the mercy of the director of intelligence sitting within the same bodily tree, like a bird sitting with another bird (as explained in the Upaniṣads), certainly the purport of the revealed information in the Vedas becomes clear to our vision, and there is no difficulty in realizing the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva. The intelligent man therefore, after many births of such use of intelligence, surrenders himself at the lotus feet of Vāsudeva, as confirmed by the Bhagavad-gītā (7.19).
SB Canto 3
It is the practice of the yogī, brahmacārī, vānaprastha and sannyāsī to bathe at least three times daily—early in the morning, during noontime and in the evening. These principles are strictly followed even by some gṛhasthas, especially brāhmaṇas, who are elevated in spiritual consciousness. Devahūti was a king's daughter and almost a king's wife also. Although Kardama Muni was not a king, by his yogic mystic power he accommodated Devahūti very comfortably in a nice palace with maidservants and all opulence. But since she had learned austerity even in the presence of her husband, there was no difficulty for her to be austere. Still, because her body underwent severe austerity after the departure of her husband and son, she became thin. To be too fat is not very good for spiritually advanced life. Rather, one should reduce because if one becomes fat it is an impediment to progress in spiritual understanding. One should be careful not to eat too much, sleep too much or remain in a comfortable position. Voluntarily accepting some penances and difficulties, one should take less food and less sleep. These are the procedures for practicing any kind of yoga, whether bhakti-yoga, jñāna-yoga or haṭha-yoga.
SB Canto 4
Perfection of materialistic life is suitably attained by the process of observing religious principles. This leads automatically to successful economic development, and thus there is no difficulty in satisfying all material desires. Since Dhruva Mahārāja, as a king, had to keep up his status quo or it would not have been possible to rule over the people in general, he did it perfectly. But as soon as he saw that his son was grown up and could take charge of the royal throne, he immediately handed over the charge and retired from all material engagements.
One word used here is very significant—avicalendriyaḥ, which means that he was not disturbed by the agitation of the senses nor was his sensory power diminished, although in years he was a very old man. Since he ruled over the world for thirty-six thousand years, naturally one may conclude that he became very, very old, but factually his senses were very young—and yet he was not interested in sense gratification. In other words, he remained self-controlled. He performed his duties perfectly according to the materialistic way. That is the way of behavior of great devotees. Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, one of the direct disciples of Lord Caitanya, was the son of a very rich man. Although he had no interest in enjoying material happiness, when he was entrusted with doing something in managing the state, he did it perfectly. Śrīla Gaurasundara advised him, "From within, keep yourself and your mind completely aloof, but externally execute the material duties just as they need to be done."
SB Canto 7
My dear sons of demons, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa, is the original Supersoul, the father of all living entities. Consequently there are no impediments to pleasing Him or worshiping Him under any conditions, whether one be a child or an old man. The relationship between the living entities and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always a fact, and therefore there is no difficulty in pleasing the Lord.
"It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kuntī, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father." The Supreme Lord, Nārāyaṇa, is the seed-giving father of all living entities because the living entities are parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord (mamaivāṁśo ...jīva-bhūtaḥ (15.7)). As there is no difficulty in establishing the intimate relationship between a father and son, there is no difficulty in reestablishing the natural, intimate relationship between Nārāyaṇa and the living entities. Svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt: if one performs even very slight devotional service, Nārāyaṇa is always ready to save one from the greatest danger. The definite example is Ajāmila. Ajāmila separated himself from the Supreme Personality of Godhead by performing many sinful activities and was condemned by Yamarāja to be very severely punished, but because at the time of death he chanted the name of Nārāyaṇa, although he was calling not for the Supreme Lord Nārāyaṇa but for his son named Nārāyaṇa, he was saved from the hands of Yamarāja. Therefore, pleasing Nārāyaṇa does not require as much endeavor as pleasing one's family, community and nation. We have seen important political leaders killed for a slight discrepancy in their behavior. Therefore pleasing one's society, family, community and nation is extremely difficult. Pleasing Nārāyaṇa, however, is not at all difficult; it is very easy.
O my friends, sons of the asuras, the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His Supersoul feature always exists within the cores of the hearts of all living entities. Indeed, He is the well-wisher and friend of all living entities, and there is no difficulty in worshiping the Lord. Why, then, should people not engage in His devotional service? Why are they so addicted to unnecessarily producing artificial paraphernalia for sense gratification?
Therefore there is no difficulty in coming in contact with the Supreme Lord (ko 'ti-prayāsaḥ). On the other hand, going to hell requires great endeavor. If one wants to go to hell by illicit sex, meat-eating, gambling and intoxication, he must acquire so many things. For illicit sex he must arrange for money for brothels, for meat-eating he must arrange for many slaughterhouses, for gambling he must arrange for casinos and hotels, and for intoxication he must open many breweries. Clearly, therefore, if one wants to go to hell he must endeavor very much, but if he wants to return home, back to Godhead, there is no difficult endeavor. To go back to Godhead, one may live alone anywhere, in any condition, and simply sit down, meditate upon the Supersoul and chant and hear about the Lord. Thus there is no difficulty in approaching the Lord. Adānta-gobhir viśatāṁ tamisram (SB 7.5.30). Because of inability to control the senses, one must go through great endeavor to go to hell, but if one is sensible he can very easily obtain the favor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead because the Lord is always with him. By the simple method of śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ (SB 7.5.23), the Lord is satisfied. Indeed, the Lord says:
SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13
"Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons do not surrender unto Me." Anyone who is not a devotee of Kṛṣṇa and does not surrender to Kṛṣṇa must be considered narādhama, the lowest of men, and duṣkṛtī, one who always commits sinful activities. Thus there is no difficulty in finding out who is a third-class or fourth-class man, for one's position can be understood simply by this crucial test: is he or is he not a devotee of Kṛṣṇa?
Why are devotees of the demigods greater in number than the Vaiṣṇavas? The answer is given herein. Vaiṣṇavas are not interested in such fourth-class pleasures as wine and women, nor does Kṛṣṇa allow them such facilities.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Madhya-lila
After that, ārati is performed, and the prasādam is distributed amongst family members and guests. According to the Vedic principles, there must always be a guest in a householder's house. In my childhood I have actually seen my father receive not less than four guests every day, and in those days my father's income was not very great. Nonetheless, there was no difficulty in offering prasādam to at least four guests every day. According to Vedic principles, a householder, before taking lunch, should go outside and shout very loudly to see if there is anyone without food. In this way he invites people to take prasādam. If someone comes, the householder offers him prasādam, and if there is not much left, he should offer his own portion to the guest. If no one responds to his call, the householder can accept his own lunch. Thus the householder's life is also a kind of austerity. Because of this, the householder's life is called the gṛhastha-āśrama. Although a person may live with his wife and children happily in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he also observes the regulative principles followed in any temple. If there is no Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the householder's abode is called a gṛha-medhī’s house. Householders in Kṛṣṇa consciousness are actually gṛhasthas—that is, those living in the āśrama with their families and children. Śrī Advaita Prabhu was an ideal gṛhastha, and His house was the ideal gṛhastha-āśrama.
"O son of Kuntī (Arjuna), I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable oṁ in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man."
Thus when a devotee drinks water or any other liquid, he immediately remembers Kṛṣṇa. For a devotee there is no difficulty in awakening Kṛṣṇa consciousness twenty-four hours a day. Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore says here:
- sthāvara jaṅgama dekhe nā dekhe tāra mūrti
- sarvatra haya nija iṣṭa-deva-sphūrti
- (CC Madhya 8.274)
A saintly person, an advanced devotee, sees Kṛṣṇa twenty-four hours a day and nothing else. As far as movable and inert things are concerned, a devotee sees them all as transformations of Kṛṣṇa's energy. As Lord Kṛṣṇa states in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.4):
- bhūmir āpo ’nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca
- ahaṅkāra itīyaṁ me bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā
"Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—all together these eight constitute My separated material energies."
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has described Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as mahā-vadānya-avatāra, the most munificent incarnation. Although Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is not physically present now, simply by chanting His holy name (śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda) people throughout the world are becoming devotees. This is due to the ecstatic chanting of the holy name of the Lord. It is said that a pure devotee can see the Lord at every moment, and because of this he is empowered by the Lord. This is confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.38): premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared five hundred years ago, but it cannot be said that now the potency of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra is less than it was in His presence. By hearing Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu through the paramparā system, one can be purified. Therefore in this verse it is said, tathāpi tāṅra darśana-śravaṇa-prabhāve. It is not that everyone is able to see Kṛṣṇa or Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu physically, but if one hears about Him through books like Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta and through the paramparā system of pure Vaiṣṇavas, there is no difficulty in becoming a pure Vaiṣṇava, free from mundane desires and personal motivations.
Then I shall be able to understand the conjugal pastimes of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.” Caitanya Mahāprabhu directly empowered Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī. Following in their footsteps, the other Gosvāmīs understood Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His mission. One should understand Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya and Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa from the Six Gosvāmīs in the paramparā system. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is following as strictly as possible in the footsteps of the Gosvāmīs. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, ei chaya gosāñi yāṅra, mui tāṅra dāsa: "I am the servant of the Six Gosvāmīs." The philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is to become the servant of the servant of the servant of the Lord (CC Madhya 13.80). Whoever wants to understand the difficult subject matter of kṛṣṇa-kathā should accept the disciplic succession. If one is somehow or other able to understand Kṛṣṇa, his life is successful. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so ‘rjuna (BG 4.9). A perfect devotee is able to understand Kṛṣṇa through the disciplic succession, and his entrance into the kingdom of God is thereby certainly opened. When one understands Kṛṣṇa, there is no difficulty in transferring oneself to the spiritual kingdom.
| Page Title: | There is no difficulty (Books) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, RupaManjari |
| Created: | 17 of Nov, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=2, SB=10, CC=4, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 16 |