>From Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir

Date: February 21, 2006
Verse: Srimad Bhagavatam 2.2.19
Speaker: HH Bhakti Caru Swami
____________________________________

ittham munis tuparamed vyavasthito
vijnana-drg-virya-surandhitasayah
sva-parsninapidya gudam tato 'nilam
sthanesu satsunnamayej jita-klamah

TRANSLATION: By the strength of scientific knowledge, one should be well
situated in absolute realization and thus be able to extinguish all material
desires. One should then give up the material body by blocking the air hole
[through which stool is evacuated] with the heel of one's foot and by
lifting the life air from one place to another in the six primary places.

PURPORT: There are many duratmas who claim to have realized themselves as
Brahman and yet are unable to conquer material desires. In the Bhagavad-gita
(18.54) it is clearly explained that an absolutely self-realized soul
becomes completely aloof from all material desires. Material desires are
based on the false ego of the living being and are exhibited by his childish
and useless activities to conquer the laws of material nature and by his
desire to lord it over the resources of the five elements. With such a
mentality, one is led to believe in the strength of material science, with
its discovery of atomic energy and space travel by mechanical vehicles, and
by such tiny advancements in material science the false egoist tries to
challenge even the strength of the Supreme Lord, who can finish all man's
tiny endeavors in less than a second. The well-situated self, or
Brahman-realized soul, perfectly understands that the Supreme Brahman, or
the Personality of Godhead, is the all-powerful Vasudeva and that he (the
self-realized living being) is a part and parcel of the supreme whole. As
such, his constitutional position is to cooperate with Him in all respects
in the transcendental relation of the served and the servitor. Such a
self-realized soul ceases to exhibit his useless activities of attempting to
lord it over material nature. Being scientifically well informed, he fully
engages himself in faithful devotion to the Lord.

The expert yogi who has thoroughly practiced the control of the life air by
the prescribed method of the yoga system is advised to quit the body as
follows. He should plug up the evacuating hole with the heel of the foot and
then progressively move the life air on and on to six places: the navel,
abdomen, heart, chest, palate, eyebrows and cerebral pit. Controlling the
life air by the prescribed yogic process is mechanical, and the practice is
more or less a physical endeavor for spiritual perfection. In olden days
such practice was very common for the transcendentalist, for the mode of
life and character in those days were favorable. But in modern days, when
the influence of Kali Age is so disturbing, practically everyone is
untrained in this art of bodily exercise. Concentration of the mind is more
easily attained in these days by the chanting of the holy name of the Lord.
The results are more effective than those derived from the inner exercise of
the life air.


(om ajnana, etc.)

Often I remember the first Bhagavatam class I gave. It was in Vrindavan.
Prabhupada all of a sudden gave me sannyasa. Although I became a sannyasi, I
was all the time engaged in serving Srila Prabhupada. So one day, Tamal
Krsna Maharaja told me, "You are a sannyasi, now you should give Bhagavatam
class." Those days, Vrndavana was full of many, many very senior devotees
because Prabhupada was there. So Tamal Krsna Maharaja insisted that I should
give the Bhagavatam class. So anyway, I gave the Bhagavatam class. Tamal
Krsna Maharaja was attending Srila Prabhupada, so he couldn't come to the
class. After the class, when I came back to Prabhupada's quarters, Tamal
Krsna Maharaja asked me, "So how as the class?"

I said, "I don't know."

He said, "Well, what was the reaction like?"

I said, "I don't know."

He said, "What do you mean you don't know what was the reaction was like?"

I said, "Because all the time I was just looking down. I didn't look up to
see the reaction!" [laughs]

So at a time like this, when there are so many exalted devotees, I somewhat
feel the same way, so I will beg all my senior Godbrothers and exalted
devotees to please tolerate my defects and correct my mistakes and bless me
that somehow I can repeat what I learned from Srila Prabhupada.


"By the strength of scientific knowledge, one should be well situated in
absolute realization and thus be able to extinguish all material desires.
One should then give up the material body by blocking the air hole [through
which stool is evacuated] with the heel of one's foot and by lifting the
life air from one place to another in the six primary places."


When we probe into the Vedic knowledge, Vedic culture, we actually see that
the Vedic culture actually teaches us the art of dying, how to die. That is
what we have come to learn. And very expertly, the Vedic teachings lead us
to the realm of immortality, where we enter through the gateway of death. A
very wonderful example is Dhruva Maharaja. When the time came for Dhruva
Maharaja to go back to the spiritual sky, the chariot came from Vaikuntha.
And Dhruva Maharaja, who was in Badarikasrama at that time, he took his
bath, he bade farewell, good-bye, to all the sages there, he circumambulated
the chariot from Vaikuntha three times, and then when he was about to climb
onto the chariot, he found that Death was standing there with folded hands.
Death was urging Dhruva Maharaja to put his foot on his head and Dhruva
Maharaja did that. He placed his feet on the head of Death and climbed into
the chariot. To a devotee, death is not an object of fear, but to a devotee,
death is actually an opportunity to enter into his ultimate goal of life,
his ultimate destination, the abode of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In Satya-yuga, the process was dhyana, meditation. By meditating, by
controlling the senses, the life air, a yogi used to attain perfection, and
at the time of death, he used to lead his life air through different cakras,
which starts from the base of the spinal column. In this verse, it has been
pointed out that he very systematically used to close the anus. The body has
nine holes. Seven are in the upper part of the body and two are in the lower
part of the body. The two lower parts are anus and genitals and these two
paths lead to the hellish planets. We have noticed, it is not only in the
scriptures we hear, even practically I have heard that at the time of death
people have passed stool. That clearly indicates in what kind of
consciousness they left their body and what was their destination after they
left their body. So people can leave their bodies through these two holes in
the lower regions, lower parts, of the body.

So the yogi very systematically blocks these two holes, especially the anus.
Then he gradually makes the spirit soul, with the help of the life air, rise
from one cakra to another. It has been pointed out as satsuna (?) the six
upper regions of the body. Prabhupada very systematically analyzed them that
they are navel, abdomen, heart, chest, palate, eyebrows and cerebral teeth
(?). Now these are actually, according to yoga, known as the sat-cakras, six
cakras. These cakras are on the spinal column. They are the centres of the
nervous system. The ultimate centre of the nervous system is the brain
centre, which has been considered to be a thousand-petalled lotus or
sahasradhar (?). A yogi makes his life air rise from the lower part of the
spinal column into the topmost region of the spinal column, which is the
brain centre. By leaving his body in this way, a yogi attains his ultimate
destination.

But Prabhupada also pointed out that in this age of Kali, this process is
not practical. It is not possible. We are not properly trained. Our bodies
are not equipped to perform such activity. In Satya-yuga, people had a very
wonderful control over their bodies. Or in other words, we can say, the link
between the soul and the body was very well established. The bodies were
actually spiritually very advanced and very capable. And a yogi could do
that. For example, a yogi could stop breathing. Out of astanga yoga, the
eight-fold yoga system, the fourth process is called pranayama. Pranayama is
the process of controlling the life air, prana. This pranayama system
actually equips one or trains one to practically stop breathing. And after
one had completely stopped breathing, by holding the life air inside through
a process called kumbhaka, one used to become qualified to withdraw his
senses, or pratyahara, the fifth stage. And after one has completely
withdrawn his senses through the process of pratyahara, then only he would
become qualified to meditate, or dhyana, the sixth stage of this eight-fold
yoga system. After dhyana comes the stage of dharana and then the stage of
samadhi. The stage of samahdi means the perfect perception of the Supersoul
in the heart.

But in this age, what to speak of completely stopping our respiratory
system, we are not even able to stop breathing for even a minute. Beyond a
minute it starts to become difficult. After a minute one starts to gasp for
air. But Krsna is very kind, Krsna is very merciful. When we become
unqualified, Krsna makes the process easier and easier to attain his lotus
feet. Therefore, in this age of Kali, Krsna came as Sri Krsna Caitanya
Mahaprabhu. And coming here, he established the yuga-dharma, the process of
spiritual advancement which is appropriate for this age. He saw that we are
very, very unqualified in this age. Therefore, he gave us a system which is
extremely easy.

Although subsequently, in different ages, the process becomes easier. In
Satya-yuga, the process was very, very difficult, dhyana, astanga-yoga
system, krte yad dhyayato visnum. But in Treta-yuga, they lost that
qualification to achieve spiritual perfection by the process of meditation
or astanga-yoga. Therefore, the process has become simplified. Tretayam
yajato makhaih, in Treta yuga, the process was just offering sacrifice to
Yogesvara, Visnu, the Lord of the sacrifice, Visnu, yajato makhaih. Dvapare
paricaryayam, in Dvapara Yuga, people became even more unqualified.
Therefore, they were not able to perform yajna and achieve spiritual
perfection in that way. Therefore, in Dvapara-yuga the process became just
serving the Lord in the temple as his arca-vigraha.

But in the age of Kali, one became totally unqualified. In Kali yuga, one is
not even able to perform the Deity worship. And most of the people will not
even be inclined to go to the temple to have darsana of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. Therefore, in the age of Kali, the process became
even more simplified: kalau tad dhari-kirtanat--we don't have to go to the
temple, we don't have to perform sacrifice, we don't have to meditate, we
simply have to chant the holy name of the Lord, wherever we are. Wherever we
are:

namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-saktis
tatrarpita niyamitah smarane na kalah
etadrsi tava krpa bhagavan mamapi

My Lord, your mercy is so boundless, you are so merciful, that in this age,
you have invested your entire potency in your many, many names. . . You have
invested your entire potency in your Holy Names. Entire potency has been
invested means there is no difference between name of the Lord and the Lord
Himself. The Lord is the name in this age. There is no restriction of time,
place, circumstances, qualifications. Anyone, anywhere, under any
circumstances can chant this holy name and he can derive the highest benefit
just by chanting the holy name, which one could not get in Satya-yuga,
Dvapara-yuga, Treta-yuga.

The goal that one achieves by chanting the holy name was not revealed in the
other ages. In the other ages they had access only to Vaikuntha; at the
most, Ayodhya and Dvaraka, but not Vrindavan. But in the age of Kali,
Caitanya Mahaprabhu came and opened the gates of Vrindavan. That is why he
is maha-vadanya, the most munificent appearance of the Supreme Personality
of Godhead. Krsna prema pradayate, what is this krsna-prema? This
krsna-prema is rare even for Brahma, brahmara durlabha prema sabakare jace.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to distribute this krsna-prema without any
reservation to everyone and everyone. And this prema is rare even for Lord
Brahma. This prema is rare even for Lord Siva. This prema is rare even for
the residents of Vaikuntha. This is how rare a spiritual object Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu came to distribute, and he distributed it without any
reservation, without any restrictions, without any consideration of
qualifications. Anyone can chant, anyone. It doesn't matter. Rather, the
qualification is that the more fallen one is, the more qualified he is:

patita-pavana-hetu tava avatara,
mo sama patita prabhu na paibe ara

My Lord, you have descended to deliver the fallen souls. . . And you will
never get anyone as fallen as I am. Therefore, in the age of Kali, to become
fallen is not a disqualification; rather, it's a qualification. "You have
come to deliver the fallen souls, and I am the most fallen soul, therefore,
I am most deserving." But Prabhupada pointed out, before you received Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mercy, you may be fallen, but once you receive
Mahaprabhu's mercy, you can't afford to fall down. You have to remain
situated. Yes, if there is some weakness or some accidental falldown, OK,
but never, ever allow to give up the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Never ever give up the shelter of Mahaprabhu's lotus feet. Whatever happens,
remain at his lotus feet.

And what Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to distribute is the highest.
Mahaprabhu gave very simply and it was meant for the simple-hearted people.
But still there is a consideration that people will question that, "You are
claiming that this is the highest, your followers are claiming that this is
the highest spiritual gift that one can ever receive. Now what is the
proof?"

Therefore, Caitanya Mahaprabhu instructed the Gosvamis to establish his
teachings through scriptural evidence, and they did that:

nana-sastra-vicaranaika-nipunau sad-dharma-samsthapakau
lokanam hita-karinau tri-bhuvane manyau saranyakarau

Very expertly the Goswamis, vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau
sri-jiva-gopalakau,. . . Rupa Goswami, Sanatana Goswami, Raghunath Das
Goswami, Jiva Goswami, Raghunath Bhatta Goswami and Gopal Bhatta Goswami,
and the other Goswamis in Vrindavan like Srila Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami,
and many other Goswamis they have established the supremacy of Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu's gift with the scriptural evidence. No one can question.

And Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu himself also, through his conversation with
Ramananda Raya, he established that what he gave is the highest. The highest
conclusion of Srimad Bhagavatam is the gift of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Through his conversation with Ramananda Raya. . . Mahaprabhu is asking
questions. The Supreme Personality of Godhead spoke Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna
in Dvapara yuga, but now in the age of Kali, the Supreme Personality of
Godhead is asking the questions like a teacher asks the question to a
student, "Did you understand what I taught?" So he is asking, "What is the
goal of life?"

And Ramananda Raya very systematically said, "To follow varnasrama dharma is
the goal of life." And he gave the scriptural evidence:

varnasramacara-vata purusena parah puman
visnur aradhyate pantha nanyat tat-tosa-karanam

To please the Supreme Personality of Godhead Visnu is to follow the
varnasrama and there is no other way.

But Caitanya Mahaprabhu rejected that, "No, this is external. This
consideration is actually a material consideration. Tell me what's beyond
that."

Ramananda Raya said, "Following the karma-yoga, or karma-misra bhakti, is
the goal of life":

yat karosi yad asnasi yaj juhosi dadasi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya tat kurusva mad-arpanam

Mahaprabhu rejected that also, "This is also external." Then Ramananda Raya
mentioned about renunciation of karma:

sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja

Mahaprabhu rejected that also.

Then Ramananda Raya mentioned about jnana-misra bhakti:

brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati na kanksati
samah sarvesu bhutesu mad-bhaktim labhate param

Mahaprabhu rejected that also. In this way, very systematically, through
Ramamnada Raya, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is establishing the rare gift, the
supremacy of his gift. Then Ramananda Raya came to devotional service,
prema-bhakti:

jnane prayasam udapasya namanta eva
jivanti san-mukharitam bhavadiya-vartam
sthane sthitah sruti-gatam tanu-van-manobhir
ye prayaso 'jita jito 'py asi tais tri-lokyam

Mahaprabhu accepted that, "Yes, iha haya, this is right. Now tell me, what
is beyond that." Ramananda Raya gradually spoke about dasya-bhakti,
sakhya-bhakti. Mahaprabhu accepted, "Yes, it is true, but tell me what's
beyond that."

Then finally Ramananda Raya speaks about prema-bhakti, srngara, devotional
service in conjugal mellow. Mahaprabhu accepted that, but then he said,
"Tell me, what is beyond that." Ramananda Raya said, "I didn't know anybody
could ask what is beyond that, but since you asked me and since you are
actually empowering me to answer the questions that you are asking, if you
empower me, probably I'll be able to answer."

Then through the prema-bhakti, Ramananda Raya finally speaks about the
loving relationships of Vraja-gopis and the highest of them is Srimati
Radharani. He gives the evidence of why Radharani is the supreme. Because
Krsna is dancing with 64,000 gopis in the rasa dance, but there is one gopi
with whom one Krsna is dancing in the centre. One Krsna is dancing with just
one gopi. Otherwise, there is one Krsna and two gopis in the circles. So
this gopi with whom Krsna is dancing alone must be very special. Then he
points out that when this gopi decided to leave, Krsna left all 64,000 gopis
and followed her. Therefore she must be very, very special.

In this way, through Ramananda Raya, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu established the
highest devotion of Srimati Radharani. Krsna is Rasaraja and Srimati
Radharani is Mahabhava. Then Ramananda Raya pointed out that at some point
this Rasaraja and Mahabhava became one. At that point, Caitanya Mahaprabhu
covered his face, no more, there is no need to speak more. Why? Because his
identity is going to become revealed. [chuckles]

So this is what Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to give. Although it is such a
simple process, but when we practice the process, the achievement is the
highest that no one ever received. Only some fortunate souls like the 108
exponents of the Upanisads and the sages of Dandakaranya who had an
encounter with Lord Ramacandra in Treta-yuga, some rare fortunate souls had
the opportunity to enter into Krsna's Vraja-lila, but now, in this age, Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to offer that inconceivable opportunity to anyone
and everyone. Whoever will follow him, whoever will follow his loyal
devotees will achieve that destination and there is no doubt about it.

Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu ki jai! Jagat-guru Srila Prabhupada ki jai!,
who came to distribute this mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, fulfilling his
prediction, all over the world. Although Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is
considered to be maha-vadanya, Srila Prabhupada actually, by the appointment
of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, is the maha-maha vadanya, the most munificent
personality. And the manifestation of his most wonderful gift is the
International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Although Prabhupada left
this planet, although Prabhupada withdrew his pastimes, he is still present,
he is still continuously distributing his mercy through the International
Society for Krishna Consciousness. Whoever will take shelter of this
wonderful opportunity given by Srila Prabhupada will undoubtedly go back to
the spiritual sky.

Jai Srila Prabhupada ki jai! Gaura-premanande, hari hari bol!

[extended applause]

The time actually I already passed nine o'clock which was the limit,
therefore I won't invite any questions today. . . . no meeting today.
[laughter] OK then, any question or comment. Yes, Hari Vilasa Prabhu:

Hari Vilasa: One time a devotee told Srila Prabhupada, "Prabhupada, I am the
most fallen." And Prabhupada said, "You are not the most anything." Thinking
that type of specialty, I am more fallen than everyone else is actually. . .
..

Maharaja: Yes, to become the most fallen and receive the maximum mercy of
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is not an easy job. [laughs]

Hari Vilasa; My question is in this verse it speaks about vijnana-drk,
scientific knowledge. We know about material science, but what science is it
referring to here?

Maharaja: Yes, Prabhupada translated this Sanksrit expression "vijnana" as
realized knowledge. Theoretical knowledge is jnana, but when that
theoretical knowledge about the spiritual is realised with all perfection
then it is vijnana. Obviously vijnana is transcendental knowledge, not of
course material, but that transcendental knowledge, when it becomes realised
through proper practice under the guidance of a qualified spiritual master,
then it is considered to be vijnana, realised knowledge of the Absolute
Truth.

Yes, Visuddha Sattva Prabhu?

Visuddha Sattva Das: As Prabhupada says in relation to vijnana, this
sa-vijnana, this kind of scientific realised knowledge. That's why in
Bhaktivedanta Institue we call the journal "Sa-vijnana."

Maharaja: Yes. Sa-vijnana means along with vijnana. So Krsna consciousness
that Srila Prabhupada gave is a scientific knowledge, it's not just
sentimental acceptance of some thing. Yes, Lokanath Maharaja?

Lokanath Swami: The technique mentioned here closing the gudham and moving
on, I mean this has no practical use to us, the Vaisnavas, why is this part
of Bhagavatam? In the beginning, dharma projjhita kaitavo 'tra. . . of
course this is not a cheating thing, but this is preliminary thing or yoga,
pranayama, so how does this fit into the Bhagavatam?

Maharaja: Yes, it was a process which was practiced in other ages, this
process was meant for Satya-yuga and it is a scientific process of spiritual
advancement and self realization, but the only point is that it is not
applicable for this age because we are not qualified. For example, a grown
up person can carry say twenty kilos, thirty kilos of load without any
difficulty, but when one is totally sick and bedridden, then for him, what
to speak of carrying a load of twenty kilos, he can't even carry himself, he
can't even walk.

So the condition of the people in the age of Kali is like sick, completely
useless individuals, and the process for this age is, as Mahaprabhu gave, is
the chanting of the holy name of the Lord.

Another consideration is that when the spirit soul makes spiritual
advancement, he actually goes, his consciousness moves upwards. It happens
naturally. Like normally with a living entity, the life air or life energy
remains between the bottom muladhara to the joint, that is opposite to the
genitals. Therefore his consciousness is only up to sex life. His life air
just leaves, whatever energy or spiritual potency he has just drains out
through the sexual act. Therefore a yogi has to control his sex desire. And
then only the life energy rises up to the higher and higher points.

Now the same thing happens to a devotee. By practicing the process of
devotional service a devotee achieves what a yogi achieves by this
mechanical means of astanga-yoga. With a devotee it automatically happens,
without him even knowing about it. But he is not concerned about that.

Another consideration is, for a yogi the ultimate goal is to leave through
sahasradha (?), through the brain centre, as we see in that picture in Easy
Journey to Other Planets, the spirit soul is leaving through the brain
centre. But for a devotee that is not the highest achievement. For a
devotee. . . we have seen with Srila Prabhupada how he left his body,
through his mouth, chanting the holy name.

So by leaving his body through sahasrara one may achieve Vaikuntha.
Generally they achieve Brahmajyoti. If a yogi is not properly directed, if
he's an impersonalist, he'll go up to Brahmajyoti. But for a devotee by
chanting the holy name of the Lord and leaving his body through the mouth,
he leaves his body and goes back to Goloka Vrindavan. Or comes here to
Goloka Navadvipa. [laughter]. There's no difference between Navadvipa and
Vrindavan. Both are Goloka, they are two chambers of the same area.

So that's why it is a science. Scientifically it has been pointed out that
how a yogi achieves spiritual perfection by making his life energy rise
through the cakras, transcending the bodily platform of sense perceptions.

Yes, take the microphone.

Ekalavya Das: Maharaja, you were explaining that Lord Caitanya is
patita-pavana, the saviour of the most fallen. And we also see Lord
Caitanya's devotees like Haridas Thakur, Lord Nityananda, going out into
Navadvipa finding Jagai and Madhai, the most fallen, to glorify Lord
Caitanya even more, targeting the preaching towards them. So how do the
devotees of the Krsna consciousness movement take into consideration this in
their systematic propagation of Krsna consciousness, the vision of
patita-pavana?

Maharaja: Yes, we should remember that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to
deliver the fallen souls and we should maintain a humble attitude
internally. Not just broadcasting, as Hari Vilasa Prabhu pointed out,
someone is going to Prabhupada and telling Prabhupada that, "I'm the most
fallen." But Prabhupada did not recognise that admission because Prabhupada
could see that he was not really admitting himself to be the most fallen in
a proper way. It was just a verbal expression, not really a heartfelt
expression. So internally we must cultivate this mood. There is no need to
broadcast that I'm the most fallen, but at least harbour that feeling that
I'm the most fallen. And then only we'll be able to offer due respects to
other devotees recognizing that they are much better than I am.

The material platform is the platform of false ego. We become conceited and
we tend to think that "I'm the greatest". That is what material platform is,
everyone is thinking that he is the greatest. But the spiritual platform is
that "I am the lowest". And that feeling must be cultivated internally, and
beg for Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mercy and express that feeling through our
actions. And if we consider--we know what we are--we may have very expertly
made everyone think that I am the greatest, after all I am not that fallen;
but I know what is going on inside me, I know how fallen I am. So that mood
has to be cultivated internally and then only we'll be able to become trnad
api sunicena, we'll be able to become more humble than a blade of grass.

Ekalavya: Thank you, Maharaja. And how this is reflected in our external
preaching activities, how do we see the conditioned souls in terms of their
level of fallenness, and how do we strategize our preaching accordingly?

Maharaja: Srila Prabhupada once expressed this mood of a devotee while
preaching. Prabhupada was in Pune and the guest of a very wealthy Indian
family. This family was related to the Birlas who were the richest family in
India, at least at that time they were the richest family in India. So this
man was asking Prabhupada why are you just asking everybody to chant Hare
Krsna and inspiring them to go out in the streets with mrdanga and karatala
and chant and dance. He was trying to imply why don't you open some hospital
or orphanage and so forth.

Then Prabhupada asked him, that see you know the Birla family, you are
closely related to Birla's family. Now if one of the Birla's sons becomes
mad, when one becomes mad he loses his sanity, his rationality, his memory,
so he leaves home forgetting completely who he is, who is father is. And
then he just wanders around in the street undergoing so many difficulties.
Even to get a morsel of food he'll have to undergo so many humiliations.
People will insult him, beat him.

Now when you see him in that condition and recognize that he is the son of
Birla, what will you do? Will you just give him one rupee and say go and
have a nice meal? Or will you take him by his hand and say "Look you are
Birla's son!" and take him to his father.

So in this way Prabhupada pointed out the mood of a devotee preacher. He
sees that all living entities are actually the children of Krsna. They are
the sons and daughter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and they are
suffering in this material nature in such a miserable way because they have
gone mad. So he tries to bring them back to their sane state of existence
and bring them back to their Father. And that is how a preacher feels when
he sees the living entities who have forgotten Krsna and suffering in this
material nature.

Yes?

Atul Krsna Das: Maharaja, you referred to the verse from Srimad Bhagavatam,
"kalau tad dhari-kirtanat", that in Kali-yuga, by chanting Hare Krsna we
receive the same result as was achieved in previous ages by the respective
processes. And then you went on to say that by Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mercy,
we are achieving a lot more. So can you explain what is meant by that "kalau
tad hari kirtanat"?

Maharaja: You see, first of all, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu comes in the age of
Kali, or Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, comes in the age of
Kali, covering his identity. He doesn't reveal himself. And also his gift
also is not properly revealed, the magnitude of his gift, the value of his
gift. Therefore, it has been said "kalau tad dhari-kirtanat" what is
achieved in the other ages by following these processes, in the age of Kali,
the same result is achieved. But the actual fact is that what is achieved by
kalau tad hari kirtanat, is far greater than what one would achieve by
achieving the perfection following those process in the other ages,
yuga-dharma.

That is what has been explained--not by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu so much--but
by his followers, that what Mahaprabhu came to distribute is rare. Like why
Rupa Goswami is saying namo maha-vadanyaya, krsna prema pradaya te? Because
Rupa Goswami knows how rare krsna-prema is. And the people Rupa Goswami is
indicating that to, or revealing that to, they also knew how rare
Krsna-prema is. And this personality is distributing this Krsna-prema
without any discrimination. So who is this personality? Who but Krsna can
offer such a gift?

Okay, I'll stop now. Thank you all very much. All glories to Srila
Prabhupada. Gaura-premanande hari hari bol!

(applause, jai, haribols!)