What is Home?

om ajñāna-timirāndhasya
jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena
tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ
(Gautamīya-tantra)
sri-guru-gaura-gandharva-, govindanghrin gaṇaiḥ saha
vande prasādato yeṣāṁ, sarvarāmbhāḥ śubhaṅkarāḥ
(Śrī Śrī Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam: 1.1)
gaura-vāg-vigrahaṁ vande, gaurāṅgaṁ gaura-vaibhavam
gaura-saṅkīrtanonmattaṁ, gaura-kāruṇya-sundaram
(Śrī Śrī Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam: 1.2)
guru-rūpa-hariṁ gauraṁ, rādhā-ruci-rucāvṛtam
nityaṁ naumi navadvīpe, nāma-kīrtana-nartanaiḥ
(Śrī Śrī Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam: 1.3)
śrīmat-prabhu-padāmbhoja-, madhupebhyo namo namaḥ
(Śrī Śrī Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam: 1.4.1)

Hare Kṛṣṇa. Yes Prabhu, some question.

Devotee: Mahārāj, question from internet. Sent by Pavan Kṛṣṇa Prabhu. We are all searching for home comfort. What is home? How can we understand, here is my home.

Goswāmī Mahārāj: What comes to mind is Guru Mahārāj quoting Manu-smṛti, hrdayenabhyanujnato, yo dharmas tam nibhodhata. The heart, which means, the deep heart's core, core consciousness, will recognize, at last, what is in it's true interest, where is it's home. Under layers of acquired prejudice, acquired tendency the heart is not reliable. So, we're told, to approach the agents of home. And, the heart will resonate with what is heard from them. As Guru Mahārāj quotes the Prayer of Brahmā, jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva, jīvanti san-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām, sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ-manobhir (Ṣrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.14.3.1-3). That, regardless of what our position is at present, in the world of misconception, that... it is that which is separating us from home. When we hear from the agents, and express some appreciation for that, it resonates in the heart. And, then under their guidance, we can make progress towards that destination. So, Śrīla Gurudev, so often said, “It is a heart to heart transaction.” That means, our home isn't located anywhere within the objective world, but in the subjective plane. Once, Śrīla Guru Mahārāj gave a lecture, and he said, referencing sunrays. We see them in this world, they're landing in different areas, on the water, on the land. He said, “But, where is their home; is in the Sun.” So, Kṛṣṇa is that supremely conscious Sun. And He says in Bhagavad-gītā,

mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke
jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
prakṛti-sthāni karṣati
(Ṣrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 15.7)
īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
hṛd-deśe ’rjuna tiṣṭhati
(Ṣrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 18.61.1-2)

Saying, really, jīvas are His annexes. Prabhupād liked to say, part and parcel. But in forgetfulness, we're searching within the objective world, to find something that we can call home. And, we know and we see with disasters, natural disasters around the world, people are in their so-called happy homes. And, then the rain comes, the hurricane, the.... what is it called here?.. typhoon. And, the everything finished in a moment and then they are homeless and heart broken.

And, we feel sympathy for them, great sympathy for them. But, really, where is that home that we seek located. Nowhere could be found in the objective world, because it should be permanent. The home is not a temporary residence. It's not to be found in the temporary zone. I use to see these signs in the city... in San Francisco. They're everywhere, but they would always say... would say, No Parking – Temporary Zone. [laughing] And, so I use to think is, we're trying to park in the temporary zone, but there's no parking in the temporary zone. You'll by ousted, one way or the other, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 13.9.3-4). There's a saying... the real way of seeing this world, is to... what's the word?.. face the inescapable reality of the objective world, which is that, it's a place that's full of suffering. And, happiness cannot be conceived properly as just minimizing suffering. Because, it can't be eliminated. So, you can say, 'Oh, we tried to keep it to a minimum.” The Bhāgavatam says in the first canto, Nārada, tasyaiva hetoḥ prayateta kovido, na labhyate yad bhramatām upary adhaḥ (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.5.18.1-2)... yeah, saying why should you spend all your energy trying to increase your happiness and decrease your suffering, when it's already meted out karmically; a certain amount of happiness, a certain amount of suffering you'll experience. I think Freud called this the Pleasure Principle. That, we seek to minimize the suffering of existence in search of happiness or pleasure. Interestingly, from Vedic perspective, Kṛṣṇa's been described as pleasure personified; real pleasure, lasting pleasure, permanent pleasure. I like to say, in response to those who think that people who are dedicating their lives to spiritual culture, they're... how do you say?.. suppressing the senses, and sensory deprivation, and they're leading a very spartan life. Ah, these things maybe true, from a half-true, but actually the true spiritual seeker, is the ultimate pleasure seeker. They're seeking ultimate pleasure. Realizing the temporary nature of so-called pleasure of this world. Early on in connection with Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, we use to hear the example of someone being dunked under water. The modern version, I guess, would be being waterboarded. You know, you're putting... someone... they're drowning, then you let them up for some time [gasping sound], they get some air, then their head is is immersed under water again. And then they come up for air [ gasping sound]. And what is it saying? That momentary... that moment when you come from being immersed in the water and have that gasp of air, that's what we're calling pleasure or happiness. “What a relief!” [swooshing sound], dunk your head again under the water. We say, “Ah, what a relief!” [swooshing sound] That's less than worthy of human pursuit. Just the momentary relief from suffering is not pleasure, or pleasure proper.

So, from the very beginning, we hear īśvaraḥ, first identifying Kṛṣṇa, īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Śrī Brahma-saṁitā: 5.1.1), the Supreme God is Kṛṣṇa. And, īśvaraḥ paramaḥ... sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Śrī Brahma-saṁitā: 5.1.2), He's the ānanda-vigrahaḥ. He's the form... He's pleasure... the form of pleasure... meaning He's pleasure personified. You can't extract the... the ānanda aspect; the pleasure, happiness. It can not exist, really, without person, without personality. So, from the very first thing we're told, is Kṛṣṇa's pleasure personified, anādir ādir govindaḥ (Śrī Brahma-saṁitā: 5.1.3). And, why the name Govinda? As Prabhupād would say sometimes being lost in Sanskrit, he'd say, “Go means indriyas. [laughing] He's saying, Go... it means the senses. He said, “Go means indriyas; Govinda. All of this madness of sensuality, and by that I'm not limiting it to the erotic aspect, but, it's included. This driving everyone, the principle of eros, but all types of sensuality; seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, smelling, feeling. It's a mad search for fulfillment. But, as long we seek to achieve that, by acquiring, controlling, and consuming, that which is lower than us, we'll remain unfulfilled, dissatisfied. That's exploiting... exploiting tendency. Whereas, spiritual culture is about giving yourself to something higher and more superior. And, the good news is, ultimately that is Reality the Beautiful, who is ānanda-mūrti, His... pleasured personified. So, some hearing the message, from the agents, authorized agents of the Absolute, it resonates in the deep hearts core. And, following that thread, we're led by them to the land of dedication, which is our home. No place in the world of exploitation can be called home proper. So, Prabupād liked the expressions Saraswatī Ṭhākur uses, back to home, back to Godhead. So, he called his magazine The Back to Godhead Magazine. Back to home, back to Godhead. What was the question again as stated?

Devotee: We are all searching for home comfort. What is home and how we can understand here is my home.

Goswāmī Mahārāj: Any other question?

Devotee: Maybe question from my side. As soon as you mentioned Sigmund Freud, I recalled his disciple Erich Fromm and his famous work The Art of Loving. And, in preface for this... to this book of his, he mentioned that he intentionally titled his book not Art of Love, but Art of Loving, because love is active, saying not a passive thing. That's why he used a verb instead of using noun. So, my question refers to śraddhaḥ. Is it something passive like faith, or is active like believing? So, faith versus believing, that is the question.

Goswāmī Mahārāj: Well, Kavirāj Goswāmī defines it,

‘śraddhā’-śabde — viśvāsa kahe sudṛḍha niścaya
kṛṣṇe bhakti kaile sarva-karma kṛta haya
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: Madhya-līlā, 22.62)

That, faith means belief in the prospect, that, by doing this one thing, everything is done. So, it's not passive, it's active. He's saying, “By doing this, by giving your energy to this one pursuit, and your energy in all it's form; body, mind, words, intelligence. In this single pursuit, that everything will be got. I like to tell that Einstein, after he immigrated to America, he was at Princeton University. And, it's common knowledge that he had a mistress, who was like a simple hearted young woman. But she knows, this is Einstein... you know... But, she doesn't see like him taking notes or writing things down with a pen. And, she suggested once, she said, “You know, you should have a notebook and there you can keep track of all your ideas.” And He said, “I don't need a notebook, I only have one idea. And I keep thinking about this one idea, I'm obsessed with this one idea.” But, what is the one idea? Yasmin vijñāte sarvam evaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.3), that thing, by knowing which, everything is known. So, as we're told in the Bhāgavatam, everyone is either directly or indirectly searching for Kṛṣṇa. As Guru Mahārāj said, in a very interesting way... that sounds simple, on the one hand, but it's also profound, he said, “What is indirect...” And, I say this because Guru Mahārāj said in light of we just celebrated Rādhāṣṭamī. So he's saying, “Rādhārāṇi is indirect.” I'm going in another direction with this now. She's indirectly Kṛṣṇa. So, you think, how can the indirect help me? Oh, the indirect can help you very much. As theistic culture is seeing the infinite and the finite, the opposite of theistic culture, is seeing the infinite as finite. Theistic culture is seeing the infinite and the finite... what's the Gītā śloka?... sarva-bhūteṣu... no, that's in the Bhāgavatam, anyway... mayi-sarvam-paśyati (Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 6.30). One who see me everywhere and everything is never lost to me, I'm never lost to him. Everywhere and in everything, how to trace something back to the central conception of the infinite. This is spiritual culture. Anything and everything, therefore, the Bhagavad-gītā is very broad and comprehensive. Saying, you know... raso ’ham apsu kaunteya, prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ (Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 7.8.1-2) The taste of water, raso ’ham apsu kaunteya (Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 7.8.1), “I'm that. When you slake your thirst, I'm that.” And all different types of liquids, relishable liquids, raso ’ham... prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ (Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 7.8.2). “I'm the light, when you see moonlight, that's me.” And that moonlight which is nourishing everything, that's me. Those herbs that the moonlight nourishing, that are... form herbal medicine, that's me.” Śaśi-sūryayoḥ. “The Sun, the radiant Sun, the sunshine that sticks to everyone... was marveling at this recent eclipse, that's me.” In every way, theistic culture is about tracing anything and everything back to the central conception of the infinite. So, faith, the culture of faith is something active.

When I took biology... had a biology teacher who said on the first day of the class, that.... he's a little arrogant you could say, but, actually a very good teacher. And he said, “I'm going to teach you biology...” Because, he could understand, most of these people did not want to learn this, they were by force, you know, and he'd been doing this for many years. He said, “I've actually taught 40,000 people biology, he named what some of his students have gone to do... and... so that we would take him seriously. But he said, His challenge was... “I'm going to teach you biology, in such a way, that you're going to see biology in everything. In anything and everything. When you wake in the morning and brush your teeth, you're going to see biology. When you're answering the calls of nature, you're going to see biology. When you eat your breakfast, you're going to see biology, when you read the paper, when you drive your car, you know, when you drink a glass of water... you know, he just named everything, you're going to see it as biology.” And I thought, hmmm, he's... this is... you know, really, like bold. And then, after hearing from him, day after day, I began to see biology in everything. And I thought, oh, he's a good teacher. So, it's similar to that. Everything that was seen before, will be seen again, but anew, when, through the culture of faith, we trace it back to the central conception of the infinite. Not merely the infinite, the central conception of the infinite. As I have mentioned many times, we're... we're so far removed from the truth, that it's only the extremes of the infinite that we're more comfortable with. We think are scientific, greater than the greatest, trillion, trillion stars we see through the Hubble telescope... these remote galaxies, we start calculating things in terms of light years. That's a system of measurement. Guru Mahārāj is saying, “There's also a system of measurement in faith.” When metre, kilometre, no longer suffice, then they have to go to light year; the speed of light to measure. And we're talking about the objective world, so, which is what, measurable. Another meaning of māyā is that which can be measured. And, we're so proud of our ability to measure māyā. But, vaikuṇṭa means immeasurable. Spiritual culture is about conceiving the immeasurable. And then you say, “Well, that's impossible.” But as the poet Roethke said, “We need more people to specialize in the impossible.” [laughing] So, then we'll say... well... but, to measure the immeasurable is an impossible proposal. It's beyond our means. That's true. Yes, as the man said to Guru Mahārāj. “If the infinite can be known to the finite, it's not infinite.” Yes, ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi, na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: Madhya-līlā, 17.136.1-2). That ānanda-vigrahaḥ, Kṛṣṇa... and Mahāprabhu, we like to say ananda-lila-maya-vigrahaya. There is a devotee... I told Gurudev, when I first went Vṛndāvan, there were two cooks... there's nothing there, just rebar coming out of the sand, which later became Kṛṣṇa Balaram Temple. But, there was some tents, like army tent, but, the cooks, one was Jamuna, the famous Jamuna of Rādhā Kṛṣṇa Temple album and cookbook. She was the one cook, the other was Anand. Someone they called Anand Mahārāj. And this Anand Mahārāj, was very mellow, jolly fellow, disciple of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur. And he was like a super cook. So, these two super cooks, in this very spartan environment, the prasādam was extraordinary. I was telling Śrīla Gurudev about it. He said, “Oh, yes, Anand, he was Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur's cook.” Think about that. And he said, “His name actually was Ananda Lila Maya Vigraha Prabhu.” [laughing] Because, that's in the Caitanya-bhagavat and again echoed by Prabodhānanda Saraswatī Ṭhākur. Ānanda līla... Babaji Mahārāj would sing this [Goswāmī Mahārāj singing]

ananda-lila-maya-vigrahaya
hemabha-divyacchavi-sundaraya
tasmai maha-prema rasa-pradaya
caitanya-candraya namo namaste
(Caitanya-candramrtam: 11)

It's a very beautiful śloka about Mahāprabhu... ananda-lila-maya-vigrahaya. Hemabha means beautiful. Anyway, So, his name was... he was given the name Ananda Lila Maya Vigraha Prabhu. [laughing] So, Guru Mahārāj said, “Naturally, everyone called him Anand, [laughing] for short.” But, so, that Kṛṣṇa who is ānandam personified, cannot be an object of the senses. Which leads... because, then there would be something of the objective world. And, this leads many to the wrong conclusion, that He's, therefore, non-sensual. Which is interesting, it has the word 'nonsense' in it. So, that's what I think of that conception... the non-sensual conception is... sort of says it all, it's nonsense. [laughing] It doesn't make sense and it's without sense/s. Where as Kṛṣṇa, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. But, to appreciate the name of Kṛṣṇa, the form of Kṛṣṇa, the qualities of Kṛṣṇa, the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, are beyond the grasp of the mind and senses and the intellect. In trying to measure the immeasurable by a finite system of measurement, called rational thought. And, then coming up empty-handed and declaring, “God is dead.” God... there is no God, because you cannot verify this by finite means. But, that's what Rūpa Goswāmī's saying, “Yes, you cannot verify the infinite by finite means.” Yes, that is conceded. But, nāmādi...

ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi
na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ
sevonmukhe hi jihvādau
svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: Madhya-līlā, 17.136)

But, through service, by offering oneself, allowing ourselves to be the object of the super-subject, then, as Guru Mahārāj told that man, “The infinite can make itself known to the finite or it's not infinite.” And therein lies the prospect of theistic culture. That is something beautiful. And, I've mentioned this, that arguably one the contraire, great contrarian Christopher Hitchens, one of the great
atheist of the 20th and 21st century. His friend Martin Amis, he's a writer, who's also a self proclaimed atheist. He would say, “But, Hitch, wouldn't we have to admit that in the infinite possibility of things, it could be possible. We don't believe it, but, as also rational reasonable people we said, well, considering infinite possibility...” But he would say, “No, we can't say that. Because once we say that, then we're opening the door for theistic culture, that door swings open.” That the infinite can make itself known to the finite by infinite means, that the perfect can make itself known to the imperfect. Yes, the imperfect, by imperfect means cannot achieve the perfect, cannot know the perfect, cannot ascertain the perfect. But the perfect, by perfect means can make itself known to who? Those who are apparently imperfect, but, not apparently; to err is human. So, the infinite can make itself known to the finite. But, beginning with the extremes, that we're more comfortable with, greater than the greatest, all accommodating Brahmā. And interesting, as a sidebar, that philosophy can accommodate everything or to be less generous, devour everything, like a timiṅgila, the whale; devouring whale.

I use to think like, how is that really possible? But, I remember visiting the Smithsonian Institute Museum in Washington D.C., as a child. And there was this one whale they had on display that... I... it was so big and it's mouth, that I thought, “Oh, that one could swallow other whales.” Māyāvāda-timiṅgilodara-gatān uddhṛtya jīvanimān (Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad Pranam Mantra: SCS Math.3) Māyāvād is that timiṅgila that... devours, swallows everything. But, that we're comfortable with, all the... greater than the greatest, all accommodating Brahmā. At the other extreme, Paramātmā, all pervading, all permeating, smaller than the smallest, within everything. Those are the extremes of the infinite. But, the central conception of the infinite, Guru Mahārāj posed as, “What would be the golden mean of the infinite.” If these are the extremes, what is the golden mean, the central conception of the infinite. As Brahmā is all accommodating, Paramātmā all permeating, the central conception of the infinite is, all attractive. Attracting everything to the center. Not unlike gravity, but, what is the gravitational pull; beauty, charm, sweetness, happiness, love, affection. How wonderful is that to understand the central conception of the infinite is, in fact, the Personality of Godhead. Not just generic Godhead, or God. God is such a nondescript term that Saraswatī Ṭhākur preferred Godhead as more comprehensive, and the personality of Godhead. And, Śrīla Prabupād like the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as there maybe numerous Personalities of Godhead, nānāvatāram akarod bhuvaneṣu kintu (Ṣrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: Ādi-līlā, 5.155.2) Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Silence is golden. [laughing]

So, theistic culture is about searching for that one thing upon achieving, everything is got, upon knowing which everything is known. Bhagavad-gītā, in the samādhi says... he said, yaṁ labdhvā cāparaṁ lābhaṁ, manyate nādhikaṁ tataḥ (Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 6.22.1-2). When you get this, you'll think you've got everything, and, not only think, it'll be true. Rukmiṇī,

śrutvā guṇān bhuvana-sundara śṛṇvatāṁ te
nirviśya karṇa-vivarair harato ’ṅga-tāpam
rūpaṁ dṛśāṁ dṛśimatām akhilārtha-lābhaṁ
tvayy acyutāviśati cittam apatrapaṁ me
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.52.37)

Very peculiar, normally the kidnappers send a ransom note. [laughing] But, Rukmiṇī, she's sending a note to the kidnapper. Saying, “Please kidnap me. Save me from my karmic circumstance. I'm inextricably surrounded by karmic circumstance of my own doing.” Ayi nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ, patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau, kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: Antya-līlā. 20.32.1-3). It was Mahāprabhu... is voicing... saying, “I'm suppose to be Kṛṣṇa kiṅkar. At my home address it says Kṛṣṇa kiṅkar, what are all these other names I've adopted? In the interim, drowning in an ocean of forgetfulness, of ignorance, of my actual relationship with the Personality of Godhead.” So he's saying, “She's writing a note to Kṛṣṇa, saying, only you can rescue me from my karmic circumstances.” And then she gives her... the history of her Kṛṣṇa conception, śrutvā guṇān bhuvana-sundara śṛṇvatāṁ te (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.52.37.1) When I heard... your... because, remember at this point, she's not met Kṛṣṇa. So why... someone she's never met, she's inviting to kidnap her and take her away, become her husband. Shouldn't there be... you know... you'll look into that a little more. [laughing] No, she's saying, śrutvā guṇān bhuvana, “By hearing your qualities, like...” like, nāma guṇa rūpa līlā... back to ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi... sevonmukhe. “Hearing your qualities, śrutvā guṇān bhuvana-sundara, I could understand you are the most beautiful thing in the world. And, not of this world, beyond this world. And, then I understood why there was such a thing as hearing and the ear and the sense of hearing.” This is a bold, sweeping statement. She's saying, “Hearing about you, I understood why there was such a thing as hearing.” Not like, this is a good thing with your hearing. You can do many things. The evolutionist... they will tell us... no, see the hearing that's the ear, one on each side, so when the dangerous predators are coming you can hear them and know it's time to flee. God! Life has to be more then that. [laughing] That's not what she's saying. She's saying, “When I heard about you and your qualities, I understood why hearing, what the purpose of hearing is.” For such a devotee, and for those in increasing participation in spiritual culture, it's not an option. It's not just something you do on the weekend, or from time to time. They become increase... increasingly obsessed with hearing about Kṛṣṇa, in a genuine way. Not what neurolinguistic programming, which you know, you put on the headphones and go to sleep, you know, [sleeping sounds] and, you wake up and your Kṛṣṇa Conscious. [laughing] There's an App for that. [laughing] Not like that, from the heart, again, what resonated in the heart,

praviṣṭaḥ karṇa-randhreṇa
svānāṁ bhāva-saroruham
dhunoti śamalaṁ kṛṣṇaḥ
salilasya yathā śarat
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.8.5)

The Bhāgavatam, praviṣṭaḥ karṇa-randhreṇa (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.8.5.1), through the... it's like a stream of sound going through the ear and touching the heart, actually. That's how Kṛṣṇa conception enters. The heart is resonating with what's been heard from Sādhu, Śāstra, Guru and Vaiṣṇav. And, in the dynamic progressive culture of Kṛṣṇa realization, the form of Kṛṣṇa is appearing from that sound. That's why the sequence is nām, rūp, gūn, līlā. Nirviśya karṇa-vivarair harato ’ṅga-tāpam (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.52.37.2), he's saying, “And, this put an end to all my suffering.” Harataḥ-tāp, the sufferings of existence. And what... rūpaṁ dṛśāṁ dṛśimatām akhilārtha-lābhaṁ (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.52.37.3), and then seeing you from this sound form... sound... the form of Kṛṣṇa begins to appear and make an impression... “Then I could understand why we have eyes.” Like... we're told... the very first thing we're told is Govinda. He... what does it mean?.. gives pleasure to the senses. He fulfills the senses. What the senses are seeking, He doesn't only supply that, He is that. We want to see... we want sound-beauty, taste-beauty... what else?.. form beauty, touch-beauty, aromatic- beauty. These are the things we seek. It's an indirect way of describing Kṛṣṇa. He is sound-beauty ad infinitum, form-beauty ad infinitum, taste-beauty ad infinitum, aromatic-beauty ad infinitum. That's really what we're looking for. And so she says in one of her other prayers... and she's saying, “Once someone has had a glimpse of you, your conception, how could you be satisfied.” I'm not even going to say it because, [laughing] you could read the description. But, she starts describing the male form. But, you know, it could be... she starts describing a material body, what it is in detail. And thinking... so, you got Kṛṣṇa, beauty personified, who is what; hyper sensuous, super sensuous. He's from the super, super subjective world, He is super sensuous. He is not without senses. He is not imperceivable. But, not to the mundane eye, ear, tongue, taste, etc... But to the... we're told in the beginning,

om ajñāna-timirāndhasya
jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena
tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ
(Gautamīya-tantra)

Guru Mahārāj ask me if they were using lasers for surgery. He liked that and said, “They'll do a lot of this in the future.” Because... because it's light. So, it's so apt. Like, they now use lasers for eye surgery, to remove cataracts. So, Saraswatī Ṭhākur once said, in rendering this śloka, “That my eyes were, you know, cataracted with ignorance.” The cataracts of ignorance is what is distorting our vision. And he saying, “But, my Gurudev, Śrī Guru, with surgical precision, like the laser surgery, removed the cataractics eye of ignorance. When the devotee arrived at the Math and asked Guru Mahārāj, “Now that I'm here, what should be my service?” And, Guru Mahārāj said, “To acquire the proper angle of vision.” He thought he was going to go; you will mop the temple room or you'll help in the kitchen. And it's not just... to say for the record, you know... because someone will say, then when they're asked to mop the temple room or help in the kitchen, “No, Goswāmī Mahārāj said Guru Mahārāj said it's to acquire the proper angle of vision.” [laughing] Then, that would be the antithesis of acquiring the proper angle of vision. Nonetheless, he said, “Your service is to acquire the proper angle of vision.” Religion means proper adjustment; adjustment being absolute and relative. Spiritual culture means from the relative position pursuing the Absolute. And what did we say in the beginning? Guru Mahārāj saying, “From here, tracing the infinite and the finite.” As was the case with Prahlād, Guru Mahārāj said, “He could see the infinite and the finite.” Namely, Nṛsighadev in the pillar. Not everyone will see Nṛsighadev in a pillar. And, neither will he come out of a pillar for anybody and everybody. In other words, by the love and affection and the heart of Prahlād Mahārāj, the infinite came out of the finite. Think of that. It's not like he was, just like, already there in a particular pillar −potentially, yes. But, why that pillar... why... Prahlād Mahārāj... Hiraṇyakaśipu could have pointed to anything, but he said, “Is he there?” It's the love of Prahlād Mahārāj that the central conception of the infinite, and the extension to Nṛsighadev, the infinite came out of the finite. That is inconceivably wonderful. And, theistic culture is about seeing the infinite and the finite. But, that's a general term, and who is that infinite? Govinda, the one who get... who is the personification, to an infinite degree, of what your senses are searching for; the super sensuous Personality of Godhead.

That, should at least, arouse one's interest. [laughing] The prospect, back to faith, the... faith means... because, obviously it's undeveloped, at this point... means, hearing these things, Sādhu, Śāstra, Guru,Vaiṣṇava. The heart resonates in such a way as to say, “Possible.” As that one friend atheist, said to the other friend, the atheist, “Possible.” Just, the minimal requirement, just to accept the possibility that what you're hearing from the Vaiṣṇavas, from the scriptures, that it is possible. That belief, the seed there... hmmm... possible. I can't... I'm so overwhelmed by mundane association and rational thought, that it... I have a tendency to doubt, to disbelieve. As Dali said when asked, −Salvador Dali− “Do you believe in God?” And, he said, “Yes, but I have no faith.” So, means he needs association, as Avadhūt Mahārāj would say. [laughing] sādhau saṅgaḥ svato vare (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: Madhya-līlā, 22.131.4), just... the belief... that possibility, the prospect, that the infinite can make itself known to the finite... hmmm... Now, that's a horse of a different color, Hayagrīva. The infinite can make itself known to the finite. That's a beautiful thought. That prospect, the believe that... that's possible. I admit, I acknowledge that possibility. And, then from there, to proceed under the guidance of Sādhu, Śāstra, Guru,and Vaiṣṇav, so the we'll grow and develop. So, it is not passive. And... and not to decry passivity, because we can say, you know, śānta-rasa is passive, in one sense. But, you can see in Rūpa Goswāmī's analysis, when... when context... when you put it in a certain context, he doesn't even include that, because there's no, in a sense, active participation. Anything else?

Devotee: A question from Kunti Priya dd.

Goswāmī Mahārāj: Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Devotee: How we should conceive that substantials; siddhānta-tattva, rasa-tattva? Where we can find out that confluence, that substances? Is that the example of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis?

Goswāmī Mahārāj: This question was asked before, I think.

Devotee: She likes to refer that the thesis...

Goswāmī Mahārāj: Hegelian dialectic.

Devotee: That question sounds different.

Goswāmī Mahārāj: Sanātan Goswāmī Prabhu is the bhaktisiddhānta ācārya; sambandha-jñāna ācārya. Rūpa Goswāmī; abhidheya, Raghunātha dās Goswāmī; prayojan tattva. And, his premier, siddhāntic book is the Brhat-bhāgavatāmṛtam. And there, he's showing the gradation of theistic culture. Culminating in the Goloka-māhātmyaṁ, the glories of Goloka-vṛndāvan and praise of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and vraja gopīs. But, we cannot help but note, that this story is told through the medium of Gopa Kumar. What does this tell us, is how delicately Sanātan Goswāmī Prabhu is dealing with this prospect, ultimate prospect; madhura-rasa. He knows everything about it, and he know also, how to present it step by step, stage by stage, and through the medium of a cowherd boy. And, deep in the book, when Gopa Kumar has entered Goloka-vṛndāvan, is at the house of Nanda Mahārāj having finished dinner with Kṛṣṇa and Balarām and Nanda Yaśodā, Rādhārāṇī, vraja gopīs, everyone. Afterwords, he indicates, that later that evening, Kṛṣṇa, Rādhārāṇī, vraja gopīs rendezvous, and he said, “I can't say anything about this.” He's the bhaktisiddhānta ācārya. So, how cautious the substantial devotees are. So, I've heard sometimes devotees think... they're wondering, we're on the sequence given by Rūpa Goswāmī, ādau śraddhā, sādhu-saṅga, bhajana-kriyā, anartha-nivṛttiḥ, niṣṭhā, ruciḥ, āsaktiḥ, bhāv, prem... they're wondering where they are in this sequence. [laughing] Śrīla Guru Mahārāj said, “Actual, śuddha-vaiṣṇav; pure devotee, will never think they've achieved anartha-nivṛttiḥ. And, anartha meaning two things, unwanted, undesirable things, faults, lack of qualification. And another meaning of artha is conception. Anartha means misconception. So those in the progressive line of devotion, they never exempt themselves. You can not self-certify. So, what does Guru Mahārāj recommend, modest, natural growth. Not, artificial, hot-house, ripening, like they do in India in mango season. I have bought some of those mangos by accident. Horrible. Because people are mad for mangos, and they're... they're not really ripe yet, but they want to take them to market. What is it called? Carbide... some horrible thing they put in there that makes them appear... they're just horrible. You'd have to delude yourself into thinking this is tasteful. As we're told, that story... the Persian king. I think Per... yeah. And, his ambassador is always going to India. And, when he returns, he has these tales of... you know... the opulences of India, including the... the mango. The supreme fruit, the mango. And he's trying... he just telling him how relishable are these mangos. You've never had anything like... it's the most inconceivably wonderful fruit you could ever taste. And, I've tried to bring them to you each time. But, these were the days where it takes weeks and long time to travel... maybe months to travel. And he said, “And, by the time we get here, they're just... they're rotten.” “But, I am so much wanting to taste mango.” He's saying, “What to do?” And he gets an idea... and he says, “Ah.” He makes... takes some, like paste, and tamarind, and turmeric, and some sugar, and honey. And they are... they're Muslims so they have these beards. And, sometimes call that stringy part of the mango, the beard from the seed. And he takes the paste and puts it in his beard. And he tells the king, he's saying, “Suck my beard.” And he's like [licking noises], and he goes, “Now you know what is mango.”[laughing]

We don't want that. Accept no substitute, sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ (Ṣrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: Madhya-līlā, 19.170.1) Accept no substitute. Nirmal... tat-paratvena nirmalam, hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate (Ṣrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: Madhya-līlā, 19.170.2-4). Again, isn't that interesting, saying, the sevā is to whom? What is it? Remember when you said about faith, active or passive? Saying sevā, hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa, using your senses to serve Kṛṣṇa. That is a great thing. Can use all the senses in the service of Kṛṣṇa, hṛṣīka-īśa. You could say, the Lord of the senses, master of senses, But, in other words, saying, He's the object of the... this is what they're meant for, that type of Lord of the senses. And, you get to use them in the service of Kṛṣṇa, as if, there was any other purpose. That options is there, that's why we're here. We exercise that option. So, the different aspects of siddhānta, including, rasa-tattva and such things, they're... everything is perfectly presented in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛtam. That is the safe... safest method of exposure. But, as Guru Mahārāj said, “Kavirāj Goswāmī has presented, in Caritāmṛtam, madhura-rasa in a way that it cannot be misunderstood.” −Pause− And, still it is misunderstood. What did we heard from Prabupād, day one, you know... the first week... but, the... The actual spiritually realized souls, the rāga-bhaktas, for fear of misleading neophytes, they still practice and observe everything, as if, they were aspiring practitioners, less neophytes be misled through imitation. And, as he also said, “To...You imitate a mahā-bhāgavata, you go down.” As the man in Navadwip, who was observing Gaura-Kiṣor dās Bābāji Mahārāj, and seeing from his bhajan-kutir, hearing sometimes wailing, pitiful wailing, crying, expressions of ecstatic emotion. So, he thought, hmm, he made a hut on the banks of the Gaṅgā... navadwip... you know... gaṅgā-taṭa navadvīpa... he made a hut. Then he... and he's taking kṛṣṇa-nām and he's... and then wailing, and crying, expressing so many things. And, Bābāji Mahārāj, who Prabupād once described, “As very humorous fellow.” Said, about that man, [laughing] he said, “If a girl enters a labor room...” −that means the room for producing children, having babies− “If a girl enters a labor room, and starts going... [moaning noises] and moaning and groaning and... does she produce a baby?.. by imitating a woman in child birth, does she... she enters that room and imitates that, does any baby come?” And as Guru Mahārāj said, wryly, “Many other events must have taken place before that.” [laughing] So, look at that... for something substantial to be produced, seed; bhakti-latā-bīja, the seed... then it grows and develops gradually. We're told, and the bhāv-aṅkur and bhāva-bhakti, which is a very high stage of spiritual achievement, that at that time, and that's after anartha-nivṛtti we said, the śuddha-bhakti will never think they're free from that, they don't exempt themselves. Guru Mahārāj said, “If don't... it's a ladder, this is a ladder.” He said, “What happens if you eliminate a step on a ladder?” Can anyone guess what happens? You... fall down. But, still... so after niṣṭhā, ruciḥ, āsaktiḥ, bhāv, we're told, at that point the bhakti-latā-bīja, which was growing as a creeper, it flowers. It blossoms, doesn't produce the fruit yet. It blossoms, it flowers and that flower, the flower of that devotion, has an aroma which is charming to Kṛṣṇa, śrī-kṛṣṇākarṣiṇī ca sā (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.1.17). Rūpa Goswāmī says identifies as one of the qualities, characteristics of pure devotion, from the very beginning of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu.

The infinite now coming under the control of the finite. Who can be trusted with that? What finite can be trusted with control of the infinite? Only one who is wholly one in... in every way imaginable. Yet, retaining their individuality. So, it... Saraswatī Ṭhākur composed the Prākṛta-rasa-śata-dusini, as Mādhav did Māyāvād- śata-dusini... what, a hundred flaws of māyāvād. They are innumerable, he selected a hundred. Saraswatī Ṭhākur did Prākṛta-rasa-śata-dusini, a hundred flaws of prākṛta-sahajiyāsism. There are innumerable flaws, a hundred principle ones. And, if you look there, every line ends in bale nā, habe nā, jāne nā... you know... it's never this, it's never that, they never say this, they don't do this, it's no, no, no, no, no; a hundred noes. As Guru Mahārāj said, “He spilled a hundred gallons of blood to show what madhura-rasa is not.” Then you think, why? Why so much emphasis on what it's not? Why? To make it abundantly clear what it is. And when it is. So, prematurely approaching that plane, trying to enter there, will yield a disastrous result, and, often we see permanent damage. Permanent spiritual damage that cannot be undone, for many lifetimes; koṭi-kalpa. Passport is not enough. Visa is required. You can't give yourself a visa. I know sometimes... the Russians devotees and photoshop, but... erase that from the tape. You can't do that. You can't photoshop your way with counterfeit documents into the Vaikuṇṭha world. I'm sorry to inform you all. [laughing] As Guru Mahārāj said... the visa granting officers, what do they decide... it's a given that you want to enter there. That's a given, it's an application, we understand, you would like to enter there. When do they give you the visa, when they decide it's in the interest of that country, that plane, that world to bring you in, it's in their interest. It's the sevām-māyā-līlām-loka... it's the world... it's constructed out of serving tendencies. As when, Bhaktivinode Ṭhākur, concluding... concluding preps Kalyana Kalpataru, and he said, “... the lowly Kedarnath... the jhāṛudāra... the sweeper in the nām hut of Nityānanda Prabhu.” And Saraswatī Ṭhākur said, “If Bhaktivinode Ṭhākur is a sweeper, in that plane, then my aspiration is to be one of the straws in his broom.” This is the proper realization and expression of Mahāprabhu's teachings, tṛṇād api su-nīcena (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: Antya-līlā, 6.239.1). And Guru Mahārāj said, “If we take it, that this statement of Saraswatī Ṭhākur is sincere, and it's not just being clever.” He said, “If we take it... it is a sincere statement.” He said, “Then we can understand the unit of construction of the svarūp.” It's comprised of humble, dedicating tendencies.

Just as the body, in this world, is the biological expression of the soul's delusion, the svarūp is the form expression of the soul's devotion, in the cinmay world. Not intellectualism, it's not data transfer. Heart to heart transaction is not data transfer. What is the famous word, divyaṁ jñānaṁ yato dadyāt kuryāt pāpasya saṅkṣayam (Bhakti-sandarbha: 283.1). Divyaṁ jñān is not data transfer, it's not information. Therefore, the necessity of the agent Guru, a bona fide agent of that plane, otherwise, you can google it. We want something real and substantial, that means... but this is a thrilling prospect or possibility to connect with an agent who's actually connected with that plane. And, to know, that your energy, your service, your dedication, is being transformed through the agencies, through the agents into something that's recognizable currency in that plane. So, only with the greatest caution, are we to consider those things. And, we see, in Caitanya-caritāmṛtam, in parāyaṇ, continuous reading... these subject matters are actually dealt with. But, we're not to dwell on the details, discuss the details, to try and force our way in there. As when that disciple of Saraswatī Ṭhākur, who was a Sanskritian, and so inclined... said you know... he wanted to have private study with him of Ujjvala-nilamani and other such literature, and Saraswatī Ṭhākur refused. And when that person left, Saraswatī Ṭhākur is also very humorous person, at times, he said, to his disciples, about that man, he said, “You know, in his real life, he's a lady, and due to connection with Kṛṣṇa, he became pregnant.” When Guru Mahārāj told this story, he said, “How you will take it, I don't know.” [laughing] And he said, “In his real life he's a lady.” In other words, this is his comment on those who, like, who... their voyeuristically envisioning themselves as mañjarīs and sakhīs.” And, he's saying, “In his real life, he's a lady, and due to connection with Kṛṣṇa, the outcome was pregnancy.” Meaning what?.. you've carried a mundane conception of what that could be... prākṛta, not aprākṛta, prākṛta; mundane. And then you can expect a mundane outcome. But it is aprākṛta, it appears like the mundane, but it's not. So, only with the greatest caution... is it... we see, how safely under the guidance of Sanātan Goswāmī Prabhu... read Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛtam. Otherwise, read Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛtam and see these things are dealt there, in a substantial way. But Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Goswāmī, remember, he also wrote a book called... as he has Caitanya-caritāmṛtam, he has another book called Govinda-līlāmṛtam. But, that within Caitanya-caritāmṛta, he extracted a few verses that he knows expertly. These are verses that will awaken this sort of taste within the heart of the sincere reader, vikrīḍitaṁ vraja-vadhūbhir idaṁ ca viṣṇoḥ, śraddhānvito ’nuśṛṇuyād atha varṇayed yaḥ (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: Antya-līlā, 5.48.1-2). It's all about the culture of faith, which is dynamically executed with all of one's sensual capacity; body, mind, senses, and everything. And, all of this is executed under the ever watchful eye of Yoga-māyā. She knows who needs to know what and when. What needs to be supplied to whom, out of a necessity of service in the upper world. And lastly, I want to say, when someone was asking Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj; Śrīla Gurudev about siddha-praṇālī, culturing higher things. And by the way Guru Mahārāj said, “When Mahāprabhu told Raghunāth dās Goswāmī, you know, mānase... (vraje) rādhā-kṛṣṇa-sevā mānase karibe (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: Antya-līlā, 6.237.2) He said, “It's not in the mundane mind.” That's an instruction giving to a substantial Vaiṣṇava. But, anyway, so this one lady was asking Śrīla Gurudev about siddha-praṇālī culture. And he asked her to turn the light off, one of the lights on his veranda. And, we know in India, there's many switches, and she went to... like, turn the fan... fan on, off... light... TV, everything was going on and off. And, Gurudev shook his head and he said, “One who cannot make off the light, should not ask about siddha-praṇālī. [laughing] On that note, Hare Kṛṣṇa.