Krishna Takes Charge of the Devotees, Maya Takes charge of the others
To the devotees, Krsna takes charge Himself, and to the ordinary living entities, the charge is taken by maya. Maya is also Krsna’s agent. Just like good citizens, they are taken care of by the government directly, and the criminals, they are taken care of by the government through the prison department, through the criminal department. They are also taken care of.
Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 2-4 — Los Angeles, May 6, 1970
(devotees chant Invocation and first two mantras)
Prabhupada: Again from the beginning. (devotees repeat) Again. (devotees repeat) This is very important verse. Evam tvayi nanyathe…, nanyatha ato asti na karma lipyate nare. If you know it that everything belongs to Krsna, in this way if you live for hundreds of years and do your duties, there will be no reaction. The very thing is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita: yajnarthat karmano ‘nyatra loko ‘yam karma-bandhanah [Bg. 3.9]. Except working for Krsna, any work will bind you, good or bad. If you do good work, you’ll have to enjoy, so-called enjoyment. And if you do bad work, then you have to suffer. But if you work for Krsna, there is no such reaction. Na karma lipyate nare All right. Then next verse. (devotees repeat word for word)
asurya nama te loka
andhena tamasavrtah
tams te pretyabhigacchanti
ye ke catma-hano janah
(repeats) Now you try it. (devotees chant) Yes. Again.
Devotees: Asurya nama te loka…
Prabhupada: The first word is asurya. This y-a. Asurya.
Devotees:
asurya nama te loka
andhena tamasavrtah
tams te pretyabhigacchanti
ye ke catma-hano janah
Prabhupada: “The killer of the soul, whoever he may be, must enter into the planets known as the worlds of the faithless, full of darkness and ignorance. (Prabhupada leads devotees in sloka) Now repeat again. Thank you. Again from the beginning. (devotees chant Invocation and verses 1-3) Thank you. [break] Again.
Devotees:
anejad ekam manaso javiyo
nainad deva apnuvan purvam arsat
tad dhavato ‘nyan atyeti tisthat
tasminn apo matarisva dadhati
Prabhupada: “The Personality of Godhead, although fixed in His abode, is more swift than the mind and can overcome all others running. The powerful demigods cannot approach Him. Although in one place, He has control over those who supply the air, rain. He surpasses all in excellence. This is also confirmed in Brahma-samhita: goloka eva nivasaty akhilatma-bhutah [Bs. 5.37]. Krsna, although He is always in Goloka Vrndavana, He has nothing to do. He is simply enjoying in the company of His associates, the gopis and the cowherds boy, His mother, His father. Free, completely free. And those who are associates, they are still more free. Because when the associates are in danger, Krsna has got some anxiety how to save them, but the associates, they have no anxiety. “Oh, there is Krsna. Just see. (chuckles) The associates, they have no anxiety. Any, anything happening, you will read in the Krsna book,so many dangers. The boys, along with Krsna, they used to go every day with their calves and cows and play in the forest on the bank of the Yamuna, and Kamsa will send some demon to destroy them. So you have seen, you will see also pictures. So they’ll enjoy simply because they are so much confident. That is spiritual life. Avasya raksibe krsna visvasa palana. This strong faith, that “Any dangerous condition, Krsna will save me, this is surrender.
There are six phases of surrender. The first thing is that we should accept which is favorable for devotional service; we shall reject anything which is unfavorable to devotional service. And the next is that to introduce oneself with the associates of the Lord. Just like Krsna has got so many associates, you can… That will, of course… Not artificially. When you are advanced you’ll understand what is your relationship with Krsna. Then if you introduce yourself with that association, then the next stage is confidence that “Krsna will give me protection.
Actually, He is giving protection to everyone.
That is a fact. But in maya we think that we are protecting ourself, we are feeding ourself. No. That’s not the fact.
prakrteh kriyamanani
gunaih karmani sarvasah
ahankara-vimudhatma
kartaham iti manyate
[Bg. 3.27]
To the devotees, Krsna takes charge Himself, and to the ordinary living entities, the charge is taken by maya. Maya is also Krsna’s agent. Just like good citizens, they are taken care of by the government directly, and the criminals, they are taken care of by the government through the prison department, through the criminal department. They are also taken care of. In the prison house the government takes care that the prisoners not in uncomfortable,they get sufficient food; if they’re diseased they give hospital treatment, every care is there, but under punishment. Similarly, we in this material world, there is care certainly, but in, in a punishment way. If you do this, then slap. If you do this, then kick. If you do this, then this… This is going on. This is called threefold miseries. But under the spell of maya we are thinking that this kicking of maya, this slapping of maya, this thrashing of maya is very nice. You see? This is called maya. And as soon as you get into Krsna consciousness, then Krsna takes care of you. Aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami ma sucah. Krsna, as soon as you surrender, Krsna’s immediate word is, “I take care of you. I save you from all, from all sinful reaction.
There are heaps of sinful reaction in our life, for so many life after life in this material world. And as soon as you surrender to Krsna, immediately Krsna takes care of you and He manages how to adjust all the sinful reactions. Aham tvam sarva-papebhyo ma sucah. Krsna says, “Don’t hesitate. If you think that “Oh, I have committed so many sinful activities. How Krsna will save me? No. Krsna is all-powerful. He can save you. Your business is to surrender unto Him, and without any reservation dedicate your life for His service, and thus you’ll become saved.
Now kindly chant Hare Krsna. Chant. (kirtana) (end)
About the Author
HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Founded the Hare Krishna Movement in 1966 in New York. In only 11 years he spread the movement all over the world. He wrote more than 80 books including Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Sri Isopanisad. Prabhupada's books constitute a complete library of Vedic philosophy, religion, literature and culture.
I have absolutely no idea at all what comment you are talking about…. So if you want me to delete a comment you have to let me know the URL of the article you posted the comment on, the email address you used when posting it, and the text of the comment, otherwise there are tens of thousands of comments? How could I find it? I searched all the comments by your email address you are using now and did not find anything. So I have no idea what comment you are talking about. So if you can help me locate it I can delete it.
Don’t bother so much about thinking about these nebulous things. Rather become a devotee now, chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, follow the four regulative principles and read Srila Prabhupada’s books.
One must seek the association of persons who are Kṛṣṇa conscious and who engage in devotional service
Yes. It is very true. But one must find those actual pure devotees who are really engaged in Krishna consciousness. And in this fallen age of Kali finding such persons is quite difficult. So we have Srila Prabhupada’s personal association. Srila Prabhupada is living in his books. So we can read Srila Prabhupada’s books and take full advantage of the personal association of the best pure devotee of Krishna.
Hare Krishna Prabhuji!
Dandavat pranam
I sometimes become confused whether it is maya dictating me or Krishna….do maya and Krishna direct in the same way although in opposite direction?
Hare Krishna Aman
Ultimately Krishna is dictating. But it is based on our desire. If we want maya, sense gratification, etc, then maya dictates, but maya is after all a servant of Krishna.
So this material world is to give us the illusion that we can be independent of Krishna, that we can become the enjoyer, etc. That is what we want. That is why Krishna empowers maya to direct us in that way…
So the point is we have to purifying our desires. We have to desire to serve Krishna, we have to reestablish our original dormant loving relationship with Krishna.
We have to use our time, our money, our energy, our words, our actions, etc, for serving and glorifying Krishna under the direction of a pure devotee of Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhuji!
Thanks for the answer. So only Krishna is directing, only we have to purify our desires.
Namesty swami ji..
I am a sinner…..I tried to follow those principles but i dont why i always become unsuccessful…??????
Krishna will never accept me..
Hare Krishna Loak
Do not give up trying to follow these principles and never become discouraged even if you fail so many times. It is the nature of the material world. We are surrounded by so many completely materialistic demonic people and by that association it is very easy for us to become contaminated. And we are contaminated ourselves also due to so many lifetimes of sinful activity in the material world. So for us to become actually Krishna conscious and for us to get rid of all the bad habits we have will take some time.
But the Hare Krishna mantra is extremely powerful. If you just surrender to these basic principles: chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, strictly follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day, you will be successful in the end for sure.
In the meantime we may, due to our bad habits from the past, fall down so many times and fail so many times, but we have to not become discouraged by this. We have to pick ourselves up and again become determined that this time I will succeed, this time maya will not get me. And ultimately by Srila Prabhupada’s mercy and Krishna’s mercy, we will be successful. But do not expect that it will be very easy or instant.
Becoming Krishna conscious is a serious endeavor, we have to undergo tapasya, voluntary suffering for the sake of making spiritual advancement. It means we have to force ourselves to chant at least 16 rounds a day of the Hare Krishna mantra even though we have no taste for chanting Hare Krishna and we have to force ourselves to follow the regulative principles even though we want to break them and we have to force ourselves to read Srila Prabhupada’s books even though we may find them very uninteresting and unattractive.
It is because in the beginning, when we are totally materially contaminated, we have no taste for Krishna consciousness. But Krishna consciousness is very tasty. It is only because of our materially diseased condition that we can not appreciate the ecstatic taste of Krishna consciousness. The example Srila Prabhupada gives in this regard is a man suffering from the disease of jaundice. A jaundice patient looses his taste for sweet things. Sweet things taste nasty to him and he does not like to eat them. But for the jaundice patient the sweet things are the cure for his disease. And he has to take them, even though they taste nasty to him. That is the medicine that will cure his disease.
It is not that the sweet things are nasty. They are sweet. It is only the jaundice disease that causes the man to falsely experience sweet things as nasty. But the sweet things are the cure for his disease so he has to keep on taking them.
So we, because of our materially diseased condition, experience chanting Hare Krishna, following the regulative principles and reading Prabhupada’s books as nasty things that we don’t like, we don’t want to do. But that is only because of our diseased condition. So the material disease causes Krishna conscious activities to seem nasty to us but it is these Krishna conscious activities that are the cure of the material disease.
So we have to go on chanting Hare Krishna and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and following the regulative principles, even though we have no taste for chanting Hare Krishna, we want to break the regulative principles and we don’t like reading Srila Prabhupada’s books… But if we perform the tapasya and surrender to these things that will cure our material disease and then we will experience the real ever-increasing ocean of transcendental bliss that is Krishna consciousness.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu
Could you please tell me what is the solution for neophyte devotees like us who have sincere heart to make advancement in Krishna Consciousness in this very difficult time where ISKCON, the place for sadhu sanga has changed into a cult which destroys the lives of many aspiring devotees?
Yes of course our spiritual master Srila Prabhupada is still living in his books and we can get association from pure devotee of the Lord by reading his books, but still it is very difficult although we have read so many times and because our society is full of materialistic men we cannot avoid them strictly and the worst thing is that in ISKCON nowadays if we associate with ISKCON devotees gradually we will lose our faith in Srila Prabhupada or we will accept bogus gurus as our spiritual masters and then they will spoil our devotional service.
Will the situation change in the future? Because we find in many Srila Prabhupada’s books, he says that Krishna Consciousness will be preached in every towns and villages all over the world.
Hare Krishna Prabhu
Yes. All your points are correct. It is a very sad situation that materialists and demons have taken over Srila Prabhupada’s ISKCON movement and are using it for their own personal benefit.
But we have to expect this. It is what always happens when the great empowered acharya departs from our material vision. There is always chaos after this. If you read this article by Srila Bhaktsiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur you will very clearly understand what is happening in ISKCON today:
https://krishna.org/organised-religion/
There is nothing in this world that will stop the Putanas [demons] from taking charge of the pulpits in any religious organization once the empowered acharya departs. This happens in every spiritual organization. It is because the pulpits are very attractive to the demons. It gives them a position of power and respect and many innocent people come to hear from them and they get to exploit the people for their nefarious motives…
This is just the way of organized religion. Krishna consciousness is not transmitted by organized religion. Krishna consciousness is transmitted from a self realized bona fide spiritual master to his surrender bona fide disciples. That is the only way the the transcendental message can flow. It can not flow in some bureaucratic organized religious organization. Krishna consciousness is a very personal relationship between the bona fide spiritual master and the bona fide disciple.
It is never going to be easy, becoming Krishna conscious in the material world. We are going against the flow. Everyone is demonic here and everyone is going to Hell very fast and they want to take us with them to Hell also. There is an English saying: “Misery loves company.” And that is very true.
So what will ultimately happen is that sincere disciples of Srila Prabhupada will become pure devotees of Krishna and they will preach and reestablish the real mission of Srila Prabhupada. In the meantime we have to become those sincere followers of Srila Prabhupada. We have to become the pure devotees who will reestablish the real mission of Srila Prabhupada, the real mission of Lord Caitanya.
And yes it will happen. Lord Chaitanya’s movement will spread all over the world and everyone will be dancing and chanting in transcendental ecstasy. Prabhupada’s ISKCON will be revived and it will, in its original true form, again spread to every town and village. But we have to work for that. That is our duty as servants of Srila Prabhupada. So as Prabhupada says “It is in your hands now…”
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hari Ome
I have been a student of Vedants since 1977 with Swami Parthasarathy
One question which I have.
When was the Gita first written.? was it 5,000 years ago?
Ian
Hare Krishna Ian
Gita is eternal. It was spoken by Krishna to Arjuna 5000 years ago but in the Gita Krishna tells Arjuna that “This is the same science that I spoke to the Sun God Vivasvan at the beginning of this creation. He spoke it to his son Manu, and so this knowledge was passed down through the saintly Kings. But now this knowledge has been lost and I have appeared to speak it again to you Arjuna. Because you are My devotee and My friend.” So you can see from the Bhagavad-gita itself that it was spoken at the beginning of this creation to the sun god. That was a very long time ago…
Hari Bol,
I am surrounded & associated by passionate people, who force me to work like donkey. Because of them I am not able to chant Hare Krsna Mantra.
I am not soft spoken with those demonic people who speak to me very rudely –as they create lots of trouble for me.
I am not very high skilled person to get new job easily so I can get rid of these people. Because of these situations, sometime I became so tired that could not manage to remain calm.
I want to fully surrender unto Lord Krsna but show me the way out to handle these demonic kind of people. Moreover, I want to become soft spoken, meek & humble…like devotees. In addition from where I can learn soft & convincing language without speaking any untruth.
Regards,
Chetan
Accept Prabhupad as your spiritual master. Read Prabhupad’s books, chant Hare Krishna maha mantra daily. Everything will follow..
Hare Krishna,
Very good commentary on surrender to Lord. One query – there are many who do surrender but only face sorrows and troubles one after the other including loss of loved ones at young age. In such a situation wouldnt there be an impact on one’s belief system if he does good and gets only sorrowful things in life. He would end up asking where is Krishna, I cant see HIM, what bad I have done to bear this.
How would you deal with mental situation of such a person and answer his question that if Lord is taking care of me why doesnt HE reveal HIMSELF and tell me reason for my miseries.
Hare Krishna,
Anurag
Hare Krishna Anurag Prabhu
These are very, very nice questions. This happens often in the lives of great devotees. Materially there appears to be so much suffering in their lives. But the devotees do not see it as suffering. They see everything that happens in their lives as the mercy of Krishna and even the apparently painful and difficult things bring them closer to Krishna.
In reality Anurag this material world is a place of suffering. The idea that we can live comfortably and happily here is simply an illusion, maya. So for a devotee seeing all these tribulations happening in his life, that simply confirms the facts that he has heard from Krishna and makes his faith in Krishna even stronger. Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that this material world is “dukalaya asasvatam,” it means a temporary place full of miseries. So devotees know this and are not at all surprised when the miseries come.
You need to read Srila Prabhupada’s book “Teachings of Queen Kunti”
http://prabhupadabooks.com/?g=156302
This book shows the life of Queen Kunti and the Pandavas and all the difficulties they underwent and it also shows that all these difficulties helped them to remember Krishna even more. So much so that when the Pandavas were in a more comfortable position Queen Kunti was praying to Krishna “Let there be calamities.” She was thinking that now they were in a comfortable position they may forget Krishna, so it is better if there are so many difficulties, for a devotee when put into difficulties naturally remembers and takes shelter of Krishna.
Krishna has revealed Himself to you and He is telling you the reason for your miseries through Srila Prabhupada. So if you want to understand these things you have to study all of Srila Prabhuapda’s books very carefully.
Krishna has given us everything through Srila Prabhupada, Krishna has revealed Himself to us, through Srila Prabhuapda, so you just need to take advantage of this and read Srila Prabhupada’s books. I suggest you get and read “Teachings of Queen Kunti” right away and read it and I guarantee that will enable you to see things in a completely different way. We can not expect this world to be a happy, peaceful place, it is a place of misery where everyone is dying.
http://krishnastore.com/teachings-of-queen-kunti-1978-first-edition-h-krishna-406.html
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!