The Complicated Hurdle - Part 3

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,
Please accept my humble obeisances! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev!

This is the concluding part of the transcription of the powerful speech by our beloved Guru Maharaj on Srimad Bhagavatam verse 1.1.14

āpannaḥ saṁsṛtiṁ ghorāṁ yan-nāma vivaśo gṛṇan
tataḥ sadyo vimucyeta yad bibheti svayaṁ bhayam

Living beings who are entangled in the complicated meshes of birth and death can be freed immediately by even unconsciously chanting the holy name of Krishna , which is feared by fear personified.

Srila Prabhupada writes in the purport “Vāsudeva, or Lord Krishna, the Absolute Personality of Godhead, is the Supreme controller of everything. There is no one in creation who is not afraid of the rage of the Almighty. Great asuras like Raavana, Hiranyakashipu, Kamsa, and others who were very powerful living entities were all killed by the Personality of Godhead. And the almighty Vaasudeva has empowered His name with the powers of His personal Self."

The asuras were very much afraid of the Holy Names. Hiranyakashipu had an allergy of the Names. You know we have allergy of dust or sometimes we eat something and we are in trouble. Hiranyakashipu was supreme allergic to the Names of Krishna. Those who have any tinge of the vedic culture are merciful because the root of vedic culture is mercy. There is a Tulasidas doha in Hindi.

dayā dharma kā mul hai pāp mul abhimān
tulasi dayā na chāniye jab lag ghat me prān

dayā dharma kā mul hai’- the root of dharma, the root of our duty ‘sa vai pumsām paro dharmo’ is mercy and ‘pāp mul abhimān’ -‘abhimān’ is the root of sinful activities. abhimān means pride and that is why he advises us that till we are alive, we should be really helping each other through the merciful nature. This is the main thing and these asuras, they were all cruel people- krurās because they were averse to the Vedic culture. Vedic culture means Krishna is the centre. Veda means to know and Krishna says in Bhagavad gita ‘vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyo’- the purpose of the Vedas is to understand Krishna.

We have to think about these things. As soon as we know and come to this conclusion, we know the importance of the Names. There were so many asuras from Putana to Kamsa, and everybody was killed by Krishna. This is the main thing to be understood. As soon as we understand this, our mind gets completely fixed on the Maha mantra ‘Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.’

Please even if you carry some scratch in your mind, throw it away and fill up your mind only with Srimad Bhagavatam. It is in our advantage to throw all the scratch from our mind, because knowingly or unknowingly we may carry these things with us. This is the main point to be understood from the whole of Srimad Bhagavatam and as soon as the mind is completely pure, our activities can never be impure because mind is the impelling force of the activities. It is not only the controller but also the origin. From the mind, the activities start. First the subtle idea is there and then we perform the activities. Certain ideas we catch and slowly we perform those activities. So activities are the end result. There are two verses regarding the mind in the Third chapter of Bhagavad Gita verses 6 and 7.

karmendriyāṇi saṁyamya ya āste manasā smaran
indriyārthān vimūḍhātmā mithyācāraḥ sa ucyate

One who restrains the senses of action but whose mind dwells on sense objects certainly deludes himself and is called a pretender.

yas tv indriyāṇi manasā niyamyārabhate ’rjuna
karmendriyaiḥ karma-yogam asaktaḥ sa viśiṣyate

On the other hand, if a sincere person tries to control the active senses by the mind and begins karma-yoga [in Krishna consciousness] without attachment, he is by far superior.

So who is superior and who is inferior is very nicely shown here. We should stop being pretenders and be genuine. So those who have taken up the process of devotional service seriously, have traveled so far, have come a long way and now the goal is very near. So a bit of a push and you are there. So please engage all your free time which you can really take out from your material activities, in studying these things so that the mind gets fixed. Please continue the pious activities by giving this knowledge to the ordinary mass. Try to attract as many people as possible and Krishna and Srila Prabhupada will help us in this pious job.

Srila Prabhupada ki jai!
Srila Gurudev ki jai!

Thank you very much,
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Gurudev,
Vaijayantimala devi dasi
Abu Dhabi.