The Way of Chanting and Knowing Krsna
|
|
HOME PREACHING | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
The Way of Chanting and Knowing Krsna |
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Read Bhagavad-gita As It Is Online His Divine Grace |
From: "On The Way To KRSNA" Ch 2.
"The Way of Chanting and Knowing Krsna"
Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. This is transcendental sound vibration. It will help us to cleanse the dust from the mirror of the mind. At the present moment we have accumulated so much material dust on the mirror of the mind, just as on Second Avenue (New York City) there is dust and soot over everything due to the heavy traffic.
Due to our manipulation of material activities, a great deal of dust has collected over our mind’s clear mirror, and as a consequence we are unable to see things in perspective. This vibration of transcendental sound (the Hare Krsna mantra) will cleanse away this dust and enable us to see clearly our real constitutional position. As soon as we come to understand “I am not this body; I am spirit soul, and my symptom is consciousness,” we will be able to establish ourselves in real happiness. As our consciousness is purified by this process of chanting Hare Krsna, all our material miseries will disappear.
There is a fire that is always blazing over this material
world, and everyone is trying to extinguish it, but there is no possibility
of extinguishing this fire of the miseries of material nature unless we are
situated in our pure consciousness, in our spiritual life. One of the purposes for Lord Krsna’s
descent or appearance in this material world is to extinguish the fire of
material existence for all living entities by setting forth the dharma.
yada yada hi dharmasya
“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice,
O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise
of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself. In order
to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish
the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium
after millennium.” (Bg. 4.7–8)
In this verse the word dharma is used. This word has been
translated into English in various ways. Sometimes it is translated as “faith,”
but according to Vedic literature, dharma is not a kind of faith. Faith may
change, but dharma cannot be changed. The liquidity of water cannot be changed.
If it is changed—if, for instance, water becomes solid—it is actually no longer
in its constitutional position. It is existing under
a certain qualifying condition. Our dharma or constitutional position is that
we are part and parcel of the Supreme, and this being the case,
we have to dovetail or subjugate our consciousness to the Supreme.
This position of transcendental service to the Supreme Whole
is being misused due to material contact. Service is implicit in our constitutional
position. Everyone is a servant, and no one is a master. Everyone is serving
someone or other. Although the president may be the chief executive of the
state, still he is serving the state, and when his services are no longer
required, the state disposes of him. To think to oneself,“I am the master of all I survey,” is called maya, illusion. Thus in material consciousness
our service is being misused under various designations. When we can
become free from these designations, that is to say
when the dust has been cleared from the mirror of the mind, we will be able
to see ourselves in our actual position as eternal servants of Krsna.
One should not think that his service in the material world
and his service in the spiritual atmosphere are the same. We may shudder to
think, “Oh, after liberation will I still be a servant?” This is because we
have experience that being a servant in the material world is not very enjoyable,
but transcendental service is not like this. In the spiritual world there
is no difference between the servant and the master. Here, of course, there
is distinction, but in the absolute world everything is one. For instance,
in Bhagavad-gita we can see that Krsna
has taken the position of servant as the chariot driver of Arjuna.
In his constitutional position, Arjuna is the servant
of Krsna, but in behavior we can see that sometimes
the Lord becomes the servant of the servant. So we should be careful not to
carry materialistic ideas into the spiritual realm. Whatever we have materially
experienced is but a perverted reflection of things in spiritual life.
When our constitutional position or dharma is deteriorated
due to the contaminations of matter, the Lord Himself comes as an incarnation
or sends some of His confidential servitors. Lord Jesus Christ called himself
the “son of God,” and so is a representative of the Supreme. Similarly, Mohammed
identified himself as a servant of the Supreme Lord. Thus whenever there is
a discrepancy in our constitutional position, the Supreme Lord either comes
Himself or sends His representative to inform us of the real position of the
living entity.
Therefore, one should not make the mistake of thinking that
dharma is a created faith. In its proper sense, dharma cannot be divorced
from the living entity at all. It is to the living entity what sweetness is
to sugar, or saltiness is to salt, or solidity is to stone. In no case can
it be cut off. The dharma of the living entity is to serve, and we can easily
see that every living entity has the tendency to serve himself
or others. How to serve Krsna, how to disentangle
ourselves from materialistic service, how to attain Krsna
consciousness and become free from material designations is all taught as
a science by Sri Krsna in Bhagavad-gita. The word sadhu in the verse quoted
above, beginning paritranaya sadhunam
refers to a holy man or a saintly person. A saintly person is tolerant, very
kind to everyone, is a friend to all living entities, is no one’s enemy and is
always peaceful. There are twenty-six basic qualifications for a holy man, and
in the Bhagavad-gita we find that Sri Krsna Himself gives the following verdict:
api cet su-duracaro
“Even if one commits the most abominable actions, if he is
engaged in devotional service, he is to be considered saintly because he is
properly situated.” (Bg. 9.30) On the mundane platform, what is morality for one person is
immorality for another, and what is immorality for one person is morality for
another. According to the Hindu conception, the drinking of wine is immoral,
whereas in the Western world, wine drinking is not considered immoral but is a
common thing. So morality is dependent on time, place,
circumstance, social position, etc. There is, however, a sense of
morality and immorality in all societies. In this verse Krsna
points out that even if one is engaged in immoral acts but at the same time is
fully in Krsna consciousness, he is to be considered
a sadhu or a saint. In other words.
although a person may have some immoral habits due to
his past association, if he is engaged fully in Krsna
consciousness, these habits are not to be considered important. Whatever the
case, if one becomes Krsna conscious, he will
gradually be purified and will become a sadhu. As one
progresses in executing Krsna consciousness, his bad
habits diminish, and he attains to saintly perfection.
In this regard there is the story of a thief who went on
a pilgrimage to a holy town, and on route he and the other pilgrims stopped
to rest overnight at an inn. Being addicted to stealing, the thief began making
plans to steal the other pilgrims’ baggage, but he thought, “I’m going on
a pilgrimage, so it doesn’t seem appropriate that I should steal this baggage.
No, I shall not do it.” Nonetheless, due to his habit, he could not keep his
hands off the baggage. So he picked up one person’s bag and placed it in another
place, and then another person’s bag and placed it elsewhere. He spent all
night placing different bags in different places, but his conscience bothered
him so that he could not take anything from them. In the morning, when the
other pilgrims awoke, they looked around for their bags and couldn’t find
them. There was a great row, and eventually, one by one, they began to find
the bags in various places. After they were all found, the thief explained:
“Gentlemen, I am a thief by occupation. Being that I am habituated to stealing
at night, I wanted to steal something from your bags, but I thought that since
I am going to this holy place, it is not possible to steal. So I may have
rearranged the baggage, but please excuse me.” This is the characteristic
of a bad habit. He does not want to commit theft anymore, but because he is
habituated, sometimes he does. Thus Krsna says that
one who has decided to refrain from his immoral habits and make progress in
Krsna consciousness is to be considered a sadhu,
even if out of past habit or by chance he yields to his fault. In the next
verse we find that Sri Krsna says:
ksipram bhavati dharmatma
“He quickly becomes righteous and attains lasting peace.
O son of Kunti, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.” (Bg.
9.31)
Because one has committed himself to Krsna
consciousness, it is proclaimed here by Sri Krsna
that within a very short time he will become saintly. One may pull the plug
out of an electric fan, and the fan may still go on even though the juice
has been disconnected, but it is understood that the fan will soon come to
a stop. Once we take shelter of the lotus feet of Krsna,
we turn the switch off for our karmic activities, and although these activities
may still revolve, it is to be understood that they will quickly diminish.
It is a fact that whoever takes to Krsna consciousness
does not have to endeavor independently to become a good man. All the good
qualifications will automatically come. It is stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam
that one who has attained Krsna consciousness has
simultaneously attained all good qualities. On the other hand, if a person
is devoid of God consciousness and yet has many good qualities, his good qualities
are to be considered useless, for he will not in any way be prohibited from
doing that which is undesirable. If one is devoid of Krsna
consciousness, he is sure to commit mischief in this material world.
janma karma ca me divyam
“One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body,
take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode,
O Arjuna.” (Bg. 4.9)
The mission for which Krsna appears
is here further explained. When He comes with some mission, there are some
activities. Of course there are some philosophers who do not believe that
God comes as an incarnation. They say, “Why should God come to this rotten
world?” But from Bhagavad-gita we understand otherwise.
We should always remember that we read Bhagavad-gita
as scripture, and whatever is spoken in Bhagavad-gita
must be accepted, otherwise there is no reason in reading it. In Gita Krsna says that He has come
as an incarnation with a mission, and along with His mission there are some
activities. We can see, for example, that Krsna
is active as chariot-driver for Arjuna and engages
in so many activities on the battlefield of Kuruksetra.
just as when there is war one person or nation may side with
another person or nation and show partiality, Lord Krsna
on the battlefield shows some partiality and sides with Arjuna.
Actually Krsna is not partial to anyone, but externally
it appears that He is partial. This partiality, however, should not be accepted
in the ordinary sense.
In this verse Krsna also points out that His descent into the material world is transcendental. The word divyam means transcendental. His activities are not in any way ordinary. Even today, in India, at the end of August the people are accustomed to celebrating Krsna’s birthday, regardless of sect, just as in the Western world Jesus Christ’s birthday is celebrated at Christmas. Krsna’s birthday is called Janmastami, and in this verse Krsna uses the word janma in referring to “My birth.” Because there is birth, there are some activities.
Krsna’s birth and activities are transcendental, which means they are not like ordinary births and activities. One may ask how it is that His activities are transcendental. He is born, He takes part in a battle with Arjuna, he has a father by the name of Vasudeva and a mother Devaki and a family—what can be considered transcendental? Krsna says, evam yo vetti tattvatah—we must know of His birth and activities in truth. When one knows of Krsna’s birth and activities in truth, the result is: tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti so ’rjuna [Bg. 4.9]—when he leaves this material body, he is not born again but goes directly to Krsna. This means that he becomes a liberated soul. He goes to the eternal spiritual world and attains his constitutional position full of bliss, knowledge and eternality. All this can be obtained simply by knowing in truth the transcendental nature of Krsna’s birth and activities. Ordinarily when one quits the body he has to take up another
body. The lives of the living entities are going on simply due to the living
entities’ changing dress from one body to another—transmigration of the
soul—according to the work of the living entities. At the present moment we may
think that this material body is our actual body, but it is like a dress. In
reality we do have an actual body, a spiritual body. This material body is
superficial compared to the real spiritual body of the living entity. When this
material body becomes old and worn out, or when it is rendered useless by some
accident, we put it aside as we might put aside a soiled or ruined suit and
take up another material body.
vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya
“As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, similarly,
the soul accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.”
(Bg. 2.22)
In the beginning the body is the size of a pea. Then it grows
to become a baby, then a child, a young boy, a youth, a grown man and an old
man, and finally, when it becomes useless, the living entity changes into
another body. The body is therefore always changing, and death is simply the
ultimate change of the present body.
dehino ’smin yatha dehe
“As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from
boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at
death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.” (Bg. 2.13)
Although the body is changing, the dweller within the body
remains the same. Although the boy grows into manhood, the living entity within
the body is not changed. It is not that the self who was there as a boy has
gone away. Medical science agrees that at every moment the material body is
changing. just as living entities are not bewildered
by this, an enlightened man is not bewildered when the body undergoes its
ultimate change at death. But a person who does not understand things as they
are laments. In the material condition we are simply changing bodies all the
time; that is our disease. It is not that we always change to a human body.
We may change to an animal body or a demigod body depending on our activities.
According to the Padma Purana
there are at death. But Krsna promises that one
who knows His birth and activities in truth is freed from this cycle of transmigration. How does one understand Krsna’s
birth and activities in truth? This is explained in the Eighteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita:
bhaktya mam abhijanati “One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only
by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme
Lord by such devotion, he can enter into the
Here again the word tattvatah,
“in truth,” is used. One can understand the science of Krsna
in truth by becoming a devotee. He who is not a devotee, who does not strive
for Krsna consciousness, cannot understand. At the
beginning of the Fourth Chapter also Krsna tells
Arjuna (Bg. 4.3) that He is explaining
this ancient science of yoga to him because Arjuna
is “My devotee and My friend.” For one who simply
makes an academic study of Bhagavad-gita, the science
of Krsna remains a mystery. Bhagavad-gita
is not a book that one can just purchase from the bookstore and understand
by scholarship alone. Arjuna was not a great scholar,
nor a Vedantist, nor a philosopher nor a brahmana, nor a renunciate; he was
a family and military man. But still Krsna selected
him to be the recipient of Bhagavad-gita and the
first authority in the disciplic succession. Why?
“Because you are My devotee.” That is the qualification
to understand Bhagavad-gita as it is and Krsna
as He is—one must become Krsna conscious.
And what is this Krsna consciousness?
That is the process of cleansing the dust from the mirror of the mind through
the chanting of Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna,
Hare Hare/ Hare Rama,
Hare Rama, Rama Rama,
Hare Hare. By chanting this mantra and by hearing
Bhagavad-gita, we can gradually attain to Krsna consciousness. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam [Bg. 18.61]—Krsna is always present within our heart. The individual soul
and the Supersoul are both sitting in the tree of
the body. The individual soul (jiva) is eating the
fruit of the tree, and the Supersoul (Paramatma) is witnessing. As the individual soul begins the
process of devotional service and gradually begins to develop his Krsna consciousness, the Supersoul
who is seated within begins to help him dust all the impurities from the mirror
of the mind. Krsna is a friend to all saintly persons,
and the attempt to become Krsna conscious is a saintly
endeavor. Sravanam. kirtanam—by chanting and hearing one can come to understand the science
of Krsna and thereby come to understand Krsna. And upon understanding Krsna,
one can, at the moment of death, go immediately to His abode in the spiritual
world. This spiritual world. is
described thus in Bhagavad-gita:
na tad bhasayate suryo
“That abode of Mine is not illumined
by the sun or moon, nor by electricity. One who reaches it never returns to
this material world.” (Bg. 15.6)
This material world is always dark; therefore we require
the sun, moon and electricity. The Vedas enjoin us not to remain in this darkness
but to transfer ourselves to the world of illumination, the spiritual world.
The word darkness has a twofold meaning; it not only means without light,
but it means ignorance.
The Supreme Lord has manifold energies. It is not that he
comes to this material world to perform activities. It is stated in the Vedas
that the Supreme Lord has nothing to do. In Bhagavad-gita
Sri Krsna also says:
na me parthasti kartavyam
“O son of Prtha, there is no work
prescribed for Me within all the three planetary
systems. Nor am I in want of anything, nor have I need to obtain anything—and
yet I am engaged in work.” (Bg. 3.22)
We should therefore not think that Krsna
is required to descend upon this material world and engage in so many activities.
No one is equal to or greater than Krsna, and He
has all knowledge naturally. It is not that He has to undergo penances to
acquire knowledge or that He at any time has to receive knowledge or attain
knowledge. At all times and in all conditions He is full of knowledge. He
may be speaking Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna,
but at no time was He ever taught Bhagavad-gita.
One who can understand that this is Krsna’s position
does not have to return to the cycle of birth and death in this material world.
Being under the influence of illusion, we spend our lifetimes trying to make
adjustments to this material atmosphere, but this is not the purpose of human
life. Human life is meant for understanding the science of Krsna.
Our material needs are these: the problem of eating, of mating,
of sleeping, of defending ourselves and of acquiring sense gratification.
These are common both to human beings and to animals. The animals are busily
engaged trying to solve these problems, and if we are also only engaged in
solving them how are we any different from the animals? The human being, however,
has a special qualification whereby he can develop transcendental Krsna consciousness, but if he does not avail himself of this,
he is in the animal category. The defect of modern civilization is that it
puts too much stress on solving these survival problems. As spiritual living
beings it is incumbent upon us to extricate ourselves from this entanglement
of birth and Death. We should therefore be careful not to miss the special
opportunity of human life. Sri Krsna Himself comes
to deliver Bhagavad-gita and to help us to become
God conscious. Indeed, this very material creation is given to us to utilize
for this cultivation. But if after receiving this chance and this gift of
human life we do not utilize them to develop Krsna
consciousness, we shall be missing this rare opportunity.
The process for cultivation is very simple: sravanam
kirtanam—hearing and chanting. We have nothing to do other
than listen, and by listening carefully, enlightenment is sure to come. Krsna will surely help, for He is seated within. We only have
to make the effort and spare a little time. We will not need anyone to ask
us whether we are making progress. We will know it automatically, just as
a hungry man knows that he has been satisfied by a full meal. Actually this process of Krsna
consciousness or self-realization is not very difficult. Krsna
taught it to Arjuna in Bhagavad-gita,
and if we understand Bhagavad-gita just as Arjuna did, we will have no problem in coming to the perfectional state. But if we try to interpret Bhagavad-gita according to our own mundane academic
mentality, we spoil it all.
As stated before, this chanting of Hare Krsna
is a process by which all contaminations due to material association are removed
from the mirror of the mind. There is no need for external help in reviving
our Krsna consciousness, for Krsna consciousness is dormant within the self. In fact, it
is the very quality of the self. We have only to invoke it by this process.
Krsna consciousness is an eternal fact. It is not a doctrine
or set of beliefs imposed by some organization. It is within all living entities,
whether they be human being or animal. When Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was passing
through the jungles of | |||
