Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.9.7

Anantarām Śāstrījī: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [devotees repeat] [chants verse, with Prabhupāda and devotees repeating]

Dayānanda: [chants synonyms; devotees chant responsively]

astauṣīd dharim ekāgra- manasā susamāhitaḥ prema-gadgadayā vācā tan-nyasta-hṛdayekṣanaḥ [SB 7.9.7]

[01:52]

Translation: "Prahlāda Mahārāja thus fixed up in his mind with full attention; the mind and sight, everything was placed in complete trance. Thus, on account of love, he began to offer his prayer in faltering voice."

Prabhupāda:

astauṣīd dharim ekāgra- manasā susamāhitaḥ prema-gadgadayā vācā tan-nyasta-hṛdayekṣanaḥ [SB 7.9.7]

So this is gradual progress of spiritual mind, and this state is called prema, prema-gadgadayā. So we have to make progress as it is exemplified by Prahlāda Mahārāja. Ādau gurv-āśrayam sad-dharma-pṛcchā sādhu-mārga-anugamanam. [aside:] Stop that. The first business is ādau, in the beginning, gurv-āśrayam. Gurv-āśrayam means to take shelter of a bona fide spiritual master, ādau gurv-āśrayam, and this takes place when there is śraddhā. Just like in this meeting, persons who have got little faith, they can sit down and hear. This is called śraddhā. And the higher stage of śraddhā is to completely accept the instruction of Kṛṣṅa. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta that is highest state of śraddhā. In the lower stage, little faith, "So here is something going on about Kṛṣṅa, let us sit down and hear it," this is kaniṣṭha-śraddhā. And this śraddhā, faith, has to be increased. That ultimately, in the mature stage of śraddhā, faith, that is described in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta,

śraddhā-śabde viśvāsa sudṛḍha niścaya kṛṣṅe bhakti kaile sarva-karma kṛta haya [Cc Madhya 22.62]

This is śraddhā. Śraddha-śabde, this śraddhā, faith, means sudṛḍha niścaya, śraddhā-śabde viśvāsa. Kṛṣṅa says,

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi... [Bg 18.66]

This is called faith. Yes, Kṛṣṅa says that simply by surrendering at His lotus feet one becomes immediately a liberated person. Kṛṣṅa says that.

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi [Bg 18.66]

Just like if I offer you that if you do this work, I shall give you immediately fifty thousand rupees. So who will believe me? "This man is a beggar, sannyāsī, how he'll give fifty thousand rupees?" So there is no śraddhā. But we cannot do so with reference to Kṛṣṅa. When Kṛṣṅa says, ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi, that is a fact. That is not a bogus promise. Because Kṛṣṅa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all-powerful, whatever He likes, He can do. This is called faith.

So after reading Bhagavad-gītā, if one does not get this faith in Kṛṣṅa, then it is useless waste of time. That's all. There are many so-called scholars, politicians, they declare that "I read Bhagavad-gītā daily, three times," but the result is no faith in Kṛṣṅa. This is called useless waste of time. If you do not get the faith which is required by studying Bhagavad... Bhagavad-gītā is the ABCD reading for understanding God. That is ABC. So if you do not understand even the ABCD, how he'll advance in higher studies? That is not possible. So even we cannot understand Bhagavad-gītā, the ABCD, Kṛṣṅa says one thing, and they make, I mean to say, interpretation in a different way. Kṛṣṅa says, aham ādir hi devānām [Bg 10.2], mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate. They do not believe it. Śrama eva hi kevalam. To such persons the Bhāgavata says,

dharmaḥ svanuṣṭhitaḥ puṁsāṁ viṣvaksena-kathāsu yaḥ notpādayed yadi ratiṁ śrama eva hi kevalam [SB 1.2.8]

[The occupational activities a man performs according to his own position are only so much useless labor if they do not provoke attraction for the message of the Personality of Godhead.]

You, you are very religious, performing the ritualistic ceremony very nicely, going to the Ganges and taking your bath, and dharmaḥ svanuṣṭhitaḥ puṁsāṁ. Very rightly you are executing your religious principle, and coming at home, you are reading Bhagavad-gītā—but you have no faith in Kṛṣṅa. That is useless time, useless waste of time. The Bhāgavata, śrama eva hi kevalam. So this..., why this happens? Because these people do not approach the right person, guru. Ādau gurv-āśrayam.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was visited by many learned brāhmaṅas when He was at Purī, Jagannātha Purī. So one learned brāhmaṅa, he wrote some poems about Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. There were many brāhmaṅas, they were coming, but all such reading matter, first it was to be tested by His secretary, Svarūpa Dāmodara. If Svarūpa Dāmodara would pass, then Caitanya Mahāprabhu will hear. Otherwise, why should He waste His time some hodgepodge writing? So one brāhmaṅa, he wrote something about Caitanya Mahāprabhu and came to read, recite, before Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and Svarūpa Dāmodara found many mistakes in that poem, so he did not allow him, that "You do not know how to present theistic literature. You don't... You cannot see Caitanya Mahāprabhu." He chastised him about the mistake.

So to write theistic literature is not to be done by any ordinary man. It is not to, because they, they do not know. So we should not read any literature which is not presented by a bona fide Vaiṣṅava. It has been forbidden by Sanātana Goswāmī.

avaiṣṅava-mukhodgīrṅaṁ pūtaṁ hari-kathāmṛtaṁ śravaṅaṁ naiva kartavyam... [Hari-bhakti-vilāsa]

He said. Sanātana Goswāmī is our guide, ācārya. He is warning you that "If a person is not Vaiṣṅava, don't hear anything nonsense from him." That is the injunction. Don't hear. This is very rigidly to be followed.

avaiṣṅava-mukhodgīrṅaṁ pūtaṁ hari-kathāmṛtaṁ śravaṅaṁ na kartavyaṁ sarpocchiṣṭaṁ payaḥ yathā [Hari-bhakti-vilāsa]

One can argue, "No, we can hear hari-kathā from any person, he may be Vaiṣṅava or not Vaiṣṅava. What is the matter?" But Sanātana Goswāmī, "No." So why it is "no"? Because it is like sarpocchiṣṭaṁ payaḥ yathā. Milk is very good, nice food, everyone knows, but if the milk is touched by the lips of a snake, it is not to be touched. It is not to be touched. It has become poison. Very good example. Similarly, if we do not hear from the right person any Vedic literature, especially Bhagavad-gītā, because that is the beginning, the sarpocchiṣṭaṁ payaḥ yathā. He may be very big scholar, but because he is avaiṣṅava, not devotee, it has become poison. In our country we have got so many editions—not only in country, in all, outside the country also, in your country. There are so many hodgepodge interpretation of Bhagavad-gītā, and they are being read and being used for the last two hundred years ago, but there was no effective result. It could not act. But as soon as this Bhagavad-gītā As It Is we have presented and you are reading, so many thousands of thousands, they are becoming devotee.

So therefore, this process Prahlāda Mahārāja is demonstrating by his personal behavior because he is mahājana. He is mahājana. Out of the twelve mahājanas... The śāstra says, mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ [Cc Madhya 17.186]:

[Dry arguments are inconclusive. A great personality whose opinion does not differ from others is not considered a great sage. Simply by studying the Vedas, which are variegated, one cannot come to the right path by which religious principles are understood. The solid truth of religious principles is hidden in the heart of an unadulterated self-realized person. Consequently, as the śāstras confirm, one should accept whatever progressive path the mahājanas advocate.]

one has to follow the mahājana, authorized person. Mahājana means authorized person. Ordinary jana, common man; and mahājana means authorized person. We cannot take lessons, instruction, from unauthorized person. This authorization must come through the disciplic succession. If the spiritual master, authorized spiritual master, says, "You do this," that we have to do. That we are singing daily:

guru-mukha-padma-vākya cittete koriyā-aikya āra nā koriho mane āśā

This is the process. This is the process. And if I think that I am more intelligent than my guru... First of all guru must be bona fide, not a bogus guru. The guru, as specified by Caitanya Mahāprabhu, that is not very difficult, who is guru. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said,

yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṅa'-upadeśa āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa [Cc Madhya 7.128]

[Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa as they are given in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land.]

He is guru. One who is strictly following the instruction of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and after following Him, he is just delivering the instruction as Kṛṣṅa has said, then you become guru. It is not difficult. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has ordered everyone. Therefore our process is to follow Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and then try to understand Kṛṣṅa's instruction.

Just like here in our temple: first of all there is Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Through His mercy we are trying to understand Rādhā-Kṛṣṅa. You cannot understand Rādhā-Kṛṣṅa directly. That is not possible. That will be like that sarpocchiṣṭaṁ payaḥ yathā, milk touched by the lips of a snake. There are so many Bhāgavata reciters in India, they jump over to the rasa-līlā without understanding Kṛṣṅa through Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has sung... You know?

rūpa-raghunātha-pade hoibe ākuti kabe hāma bujhabo se jugala-pīriti [Lālasāmayī Prārthanā 4]

[When shall I be very much eager to study the books left by the Six Gosvāmīs? One has to learn of the conjugal loving affairs of Rādhā-Kṛṣṅa through the teachings of these Six Gosvamīs.]

Don't try to understand jugala-pīriti, Rādhā-Kṛṣṅa's love, abruptly. It is foolishness. You will misunderstand. Therefore Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, he said, rūpa-raghunātha-pade hoibe ākuti. Rūpa, beginning from Rūpa Gosvāmī up to Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, six Gosvāmīs, Śrī-Rūpa, Sanātana, Bhaṭṭa-Raghunātha, Śrī-Jīva, Gopāla-bhatta, Dāsa-Raghunātha, six Gosvāmīs. So Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, rūpa-raghunātha, beginning from Rūpa to Raghunātha dāsa. Rūpa-raghunātha-pade hoibe ākuti kabe hāma bujhabo: don't try to understand Rādhā-Kṛṣṅa love without going through the instruction of Rūpa Gosvāmī, Sanātana Gosvāmī, Dāsa Gosvāmī, like. That is the instruction.

So we see practically how Prahlāda Mahārāja immediately attained the state of prema. Here it is said, prema-gadgadayā vaca. Prema, that prema is not this prema. The lusty desire, that is not prema. Prema, one has to learn; one has to go through the disciplic or discipline to attain the stage of prema. As Prahlāda Mahārāja, so he first of all followed the instruction of Brahmā, then immediately he got the favor of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, and after getting that, he got the prema stage. You cannot go immediately to the prema stage. That is also rūpa-raghunātha-pade. Rūpa-raghunātha, Rūpa Goswāmī has said [indistinct],

ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu- saṅgaḥ atha bhajana-kriyā tato anartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt tato niṣṭhā tataḥ ruciḥ athāsaktis tato bhāvas sādhakānām ayaṁ premṅaḥ prādurbhāve bhavet kramaḥ [Cc Madhya 23.14-15]

[In the beginning there must be faith. Then one becomes interested in associating with pure devotees. Thereafter one is initiated by the spiritual master and executes the regulative principles under his orders. Thus one is freed from all unwanted habits and becomes firmly fixed in devotional service. Thereafter, one develops taste and attachment. This is the way of sādhana-bhakti, the execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles. Gradually emotions intensify, and finally there is an awakening of love. This is the gradual development of love of Godhead for the devotee interested in Kṛṣṅa consciousness.]

These are the kramaḥ. You cannot get prema state artificially, crying, falling down and then smoking bidi. This is not prema. Prema you have to learn by the kramaḥ pantha. That kramaḥ pantha is the same: ādau śraddhā. Ādau śraddhā. Śraddha means faith: "Yes, Kṛṣṅa says that, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekam [Bg 18.66]. It is right." This is faith. This is beginning of faith.

Now, to keep the faith or to increase the faith, you have to live with faithful servants of Kṛṣṅa. With our this institution, the center is meant for giving a chance to the common people to get association of devotee. Ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgaḥ [Cc Madhya 23.14]. Sādhu means those who are well behaved in Kṛṣṅa consciousness, not upstarts. They are called sādhu. So those who are living in this temple, they must be strictly very well behaved, so that whoever may come out of śraddhā, if he sits down for some time and sees your behavior, then he'll be influenced. And if you become third class, then how sādhu-saṅgaḥ will be effective? No. You must strictly follow the regulative principles as given to you by your spiritual master, śāstra. You must follow. Then people will come in contact with you, they will be benefited. Ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgaḥ [Cc Madhya 23.14]. And if he regularly makes sādhu-saṅgaḥ, then the effect will be he will try to become a sādhu. That is initiation. Initiation means the beginning of becoming a sādhu, not that after initiation immediately he becomes a sādhu. No. If he follows, just like we instruct that you chant at least sixteen rounds, you have no illicit sex, you cannot take any meat, fish, eggs, or you cannot have any intoxication up to drinking tea and smoking, and we say no gambling—this is the process of becoming a sādhu. So ādau śraddhā. This is called bhajana-kriyā.

Then anartha-nivṛttiḥ. Anartha. These are anartha. There is no need of smoking—it is useless—but we have practiced it. Therefore they are anartha. But if you follow the devotional process, then anartha will be finished very soon. That is the test. Test means bhakti pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra syāt [SB 11.2.42]:

[Devotion, direct experience of the Supreme Lord, and detachment from other things—these three occur simultaneously for one who has taken shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in the same way that pleasure, nourishment and relief from hunger come simultaneously and increasingly, with each bite, for a person engaged in eating.]

if you are actually advancing in bhakti, devotional service, then automatically you don't like these nonsense practices: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling, no intoxication. Automatically. That is the test how far you are. Anartha-nivṛtti syāt. These are anartha. Then it is niṣṭhā, firm faith; then ruci, taste; then asakti, attraction; then bhava; then prema. So Prahlāda Mahārāja, he is on the stage of prema, prema-gadgadayā vācā tan-nyasta-hṛdayekṣaṅaḥ. When you attain the stage of prema, then your core of heart is cleansed for welcoming. He is there, for seeing.

Therefore in the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said, premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti [Bs 5.38].

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Śyāmasundara, Kṛṣṅa Himself with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love.]

You can see God within your heart. He is sitting there, īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānām hṛd-deśe arjuna tiṣṭhati [Bg 18.61].

[The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.]

You get ready, Kṛṣṅa is there within your heart. But you cannot see because you have no prema. You cannot see. Kṛṣṅa does not expose Himself to the nondevotees. He does not. Nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ [Bg 7.25].

[I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My eternal creative potency [yoga-māyā]; and so the deluded world knows Me not, who am unborn and infallible.]

He'll not expose Himself. But if you attain the stage of prema, as Prahlāda Mahārāja attained, then you will see Him. How you will see? Sadaiva: always. Not that for two minutes I see and Kṛṣṅa is no more there. No, not like that. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva. Sadaiva means constant, incessantly. You can see.

premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti yaṁ śyāmasundaram acintya-guṅa-svarūpaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.38]

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Śyāmasundara, Kṛṣṅa Himself with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love.]

Then you can offer your prayers to Kṛṣṅa, Govinda, and then your life is successful. This is Kṛṣṅa consciousness process.

So try to follow the path chalked out by Prahlāda Mahārāja. He is one of the mahājanas. Out of the twelve mahājanas, he is also one of them. He is our guru. So try to follow Prahlāda Mahārāja's instruction and behavior also. Just see his behavior, how he attained the stage of prema gradually. So you should be ambitious. Our goal of life, that is the Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission, prema pum-artho mahān [Caitanya-mañjusā].

[The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the son of Nanda Mahārāja, is to be worshiped along with His transcendental abode, Vṛndāvana. The most pleasing form of worship for the Lord is that which was performed by the gopīs of Vṛndāvaṅa. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the spotless authority on everything, and pure love of God is the ultimate goal of life for all men. These statements, for which we have the highest regard, are the opinion of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.]

He doesn't say, dharmārtha-kāma-mokṣa [SB 4.8.41].

[Any person who desires the fruits of the four principles religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and, at the end, liberation, should engage himself in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for worship of His lotus feet yields the fulfillment of all of these.]

He never says. To become religious, that is not; but that is the beginning, because without religion, everyone is animal, cats and dog. So religion is the beginning, dharma, artha, but generally... [break] [end]