Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.5.23–24

Prabhupāda: So our Kṛṣṅa-Balarāma temple is known as angrezi temple. It is full with angrezi.

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Prabhupāda:

śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ smaraṅaṁ pāda-sevanam arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam

iti puṁsārpitā viṣṅau bhaktiś cen nava-lakṣaṅā kriyeta bhagavaty addhā tan manye 'dhītam uttamam [SB 7.5.23–24]

[Prahlāda Mahārāja said: Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Viṣṅu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one's best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words)—these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service. One who has dedicated his life to the service of Kṛṣṅa through these nine methods should be understood to be the most learned person, for he has acquired complete knowledge.]

So the nine different processes of devotional service. So Prahlāda Mahārāja was asked by his father to say something from whatever he had learned. He considered that what he had learned from his spiritual master was the best of all teaching, whereas what he had learned from the..., learned about diplomacy from his material teachers, Sanda and Amarka, was useless.

So the education at the present moment throughout the whole world is Śaṅḍa-Amarka education. For a devotee such kind of education has no value. Āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca [Hitopadeśa 25].

[Both animals and men share the activities of eating, sleeping, mating and defending. But the special property of the humans is that they are able to engage in spiritual life. Therefore without spiritual life, humans are on the level of animals.]

Everyone is being educated how to live comfortably with reference to the comforts of the body. This is not education. Real education is to understand oneself, self-realization, and with that purpose one should make progress in Kṛṣṅa consciousness, that beginning with śravaṅam. As we are hearing, without śravaṅa there is no beginning of spiritual education. Satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvidaḥ. That śravaṅa, hearing also, should be accepted from devotee, from real devotee. Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī recommended that a brāhmaṅa, he wrote something about Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and there were so many discrepancies. So Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī was not at all satisfied with such writings. He chastised the brāhmaṅa, that "You cannot write." So unless one is self-realized, there is practically no use writing about Kṛṣṅa. This transcendental writing does not depend on material education; it depends on the spiritual realization. You'll find, therefore, in the comments of Bhāgavatam by different ācāryas, even there are some discrepancies, they are accepted as ārṣa-prayoga. It should remain as it is.

So Sanātana Gosvāmī therefore said, avaiṣṅava-mukhodgīrṅaṁ pūtaṁ hari-kathāmṛtaṁ, śravaṅaṁ naiva kartavyam [Padma Purāṅa]: "One who is not Vaiṣṅava, from him one should not hear hari-kathāmṛtaṁ." Hari-kathā. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is hari-kathā, and it is amṛta, nectarean. But if it is recited or explained by some avaiṣṅava, one should not hear. It is forbidden. The example is given, sarpocchiṣṭaṁ yathā payaḥ [Padma Purāṅa]. So professional reciters or one who speaks and writes for living means it is strictly prohibited. Na vyākhyām upayuñjīta [SB 7.13.8]. One should not make Bhāgavata recitation as a means of livelihood. That is..., the process is not accepted. So śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ [SB 7.5.23].

You should hear from Vaiṣṅava, at least one who is trying to become Vaiṣṅava, not professional man. Bhaktiḥ 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.]

So the test of advancement in Kṛṣṅa consciousness is that one should be detestful, lose attachment to the material things. Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja did not like the material education from Śaṅḍa and Amarka. He very plainly said to his father that "What I have heard from my spiritual master, Nārada Muni..." Spiritual master means Nārada Muni or his representative. Therefore we should follow the Nārada Pañcarātra instructions, sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam [Cc Madhya 19.170].

[Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and one’s senses are purified simply by being employed in the service of the Lord.]

According to Nārada Pañcarātra, one should be free from all designation. Just like you boys from America and Europe, you have forgotten your designation. Therefore you are advanced, and people are very much praising that "How these Europeans, Americans have become nice devotee." They do not know that they are no longer Americans or Europeans; they are devotees, Kṛṣṅa's servant. This is sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam. So long we shall think that "I am American," "I am Indian," "I am African," there is no possibility of advancement in Kṛṣṅa consciousness. This teaching we have got from the greatest authority, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He said that "I am not a brāhmaṅa; I am not a kṣatriya; I am not a vaiśya; I am not a śūdra; neither I am a brahmacārī or gṛhastha, vānaprastha, sannyāsa. I am simply servant of the servant of the servant of Kṛṣṅa," gopī-bhartur pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ [Cc Madhya 13.80].

[I am not a brāhmaṅa, I am not a kṣatriya, I am not a vaiśya or a śūdra. Nor am I a brahmacārī, a householder, a vānaprastha or a sannyāsī. I identify Myself only as the servant of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa, the maintainer of the gopīs. He is like an ocean of nectar, and He is the cause of universal transcendental bliss. He is always existing with brilliance.’]

So the more we advance in the matter of becoming designationless, no designation... Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam. So long we have got upādhis, designations, there are many desires, material desires. But we have to become zero about these material desires. Karma, jñāna, yoga, they are all material desires. Bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmī-sakali 'aśānta' [Cc Madhya 19.149],

[Because a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṅa is desireless, he is peaceful. Fruitive workers desire material enjoyment, jñānīs desire liberation, and yogīs desire material opulence; therefore they are all lusty and cannot be peaceful.]

because they are in the material world. The karmīs, they are in the material world. The jñānīs, they are simply trying to get out of the material world, but their attempt will be failure because they do not catch up the real spiritual work. Real spiritual work is Kṛṣṅa. And yogīs, they are after demonstrating magic and get cheap popularity. So they are also in the material world—karmīs, jñānīs and yogīs. Only pure devotees, they are in the spiritual world. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam. That is confirmed by Kṛṣṅa:

māṁ ca 'vyabhicāriṅi bhakti-yogena yaḥ sevate sa guṅān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate [Bg 14.26]

[One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.]

So as soon as you engage yourself in pure devotional service without any material desire, without any material designation, immediately you are liberated. Svarūpena avasthiti. That is real situation of our constitutional position. So long we are not engaged in Kṛṣṅa's service, that is our opposite number of life, not real life. Real life is when you are fully engaged in Kṛṣṅa consciousness, always engaged. That is life. Śravaṅaṁ kīrtanam. So to be fixed up in that spiritual life we should always engage ourself, śravaṅaṁ kīrtanam. Śravaṅaṁ kīrtanam of whom? Viṣṅu. Of Kṛṣṅa, or Viṣṅu. Even not of any other demigods, what to speak of ordinary beings. We are engaged in śravaṅaṁ kīrtana from the morning. We take a newspaper and we read what the politician says, what so many nonsense things. We waste our time. 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.]

We should increase our taste for hearing and chanting about Viṣṅu, Kṛṣṅa. That engagement you have fully in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Bhagavad-gītā. So stick to these two books, or Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Caitanya-caritāmṛta is still far advanced. So anyway, we should always engage ourself twenty-four hours. Kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ [Cc Ādi 17.31].

[One who thinks himself lower than the grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, and who does not expect personal honor yet is always prepared to give all respect to others can very easily always chant the holy name of the Lord.]

Here it said, śravaṅaṁ kīrtanam, but Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ. Sadā means twenty-four hours. We shall mold our life in such a way that... If somebody says, "How it is possible? We have got other business. How it is possible to simply engage in śravaṅaṁ kīr...?" Therefore smaraṅam. Whatever you are hearing, you should remember it. That is very easy. Śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ smaraṅaṁ pāda-sevanam [SB 7.5.23].

And always engage in serving. Just like śrī-vigrahārādhana-nitya-nānā-śṛṅgāra-tan-mandira-mārjanādau [Śrī Śrī Gurv-aṣṭaka].

[The spiritual master is always engaged in the temple worship of Śrī Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṅa. He also engages his disciples in such worship. They dress the Deities in beautiful clothes and ornaments, clean Their temple, and perform other similar worship of the Lord. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master.]

If you have no engagement, simply cleanse this temple. Tan-mandira-mārjana. That is also service. That is also service. Pāda-sevanam. Arcanaṁ vandanam. Then actually worshiping, decorating, vandanam, offering prayer, dāsyam, sakhyam. In this way remain always engaged in Kṛṣṅa's service. Then you are to be considered the most learned.

That is the recommendation of Prahlāda Mahārāja. Tan manye adhītam uttamam. "In my mind, in my decision, persons who are engaged in Kṛṣṅa consciousness fully, they are to be understood as the first-class advanced in education." And this material education... Of course, we are going to open the gurukula. Our aim is not how to make the students a big grammarian. No. That is not our purpose. How to make him fully Kṛṣṅa conscious. That is the aim of this gurukula. In the gurukula description there is nothing, such thing as how to make the student a big grammarian or... Generally they take Sanskrit education, first grammar, and it is recommended that one should read at least for twelve years grammar. Actually this is the fact. Sanskrit grammar is very difficult, and unless one reads regularly for twelve years... But that is another thing. If one is well versed in grammar he can read all the Sanskrit literatures. That is another thing. But our aim is not that, to read Sanskrit literature. No. Our aim is how to mold the life to become fully Kṛṣṅa conscious. Those who are contemplating to organize our, this gurukula, they should stress on this point as Prahlāda Mahārāja says, tan manye adhītam uttamam: "He is first-class educated." Who? Śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ smaraṅam pāda-sevanam, arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyam [SB 7.5.23].

We want to teach that. There is no question of economic problem, that one has to become learned to get some service in some big school or college and get some big salary. This is not our aim. Our only aim is how to mold the life of the children to become Kṛṣṅa conscious. So this is the summary given by Caitanya..., Prahlāda Mahārāja. We should follow his instruction.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya. [end]