Nothing Belongs to Us - 2/6

(Compiled from notes on lectures of H. H. Mahavishnu Goswami)

HERE ENDS YOUR

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Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Mathajis,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

This mail is in continuation of the transcription series "Nothing Belongs to Us" - based on the Bhagavatam class given by our beloved spiritual master HDG Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj in Kaula Lumpur Malaysia in 1992. Maharaj quoted the below verse from Srimad Bhagavata Mahatmyam

dehe asthi maamsa rudhire abhimatim tyajasva
jaayaa sutaadishu sadaa mamataam vimunca
pashyaanisham jagat idam kshana bhanga tishtham
vairaagya raaga rasiko bhava bhakti nishtaah

"Give up the thought that this body is yours. It is nothing but a collection of bones, flesh and blood. Give up the ownership on wife, children etc., realize that this world is very temporary. Show interest and relish (become a rasika) detachment from everything by performing devotional service unto the primeval Lord Govinda, with great determination."

In previous posting we heard from Gurudev about how we cannot avoid death and the need for us to be prepared for the same all the time. Let us continue to hear more nectar from Gurudev on this verse.

"This is how our scriptures strongly advise us - instead of getting attached to the material things on this planet, it is our duty to be detached from those things and that is what is described in the first line of this verse. In the second line He says - jaayaa sutaadishu sadaa mamataam vimunca ; jaaya means wife; sutaa means children ; aadishu means etc - relatives - uncles and aunts and grandfathers and grandmothers and so many others. How can they be yours ? Your body itself is not yours. So how can these people be yours ? That doesnt mean we want to be careless with our family or relatives or friends. We have to be very careful and maintain them. That is our responsibility. We cannot escape from that responsibility. At the same time, you please think the fact that the reality is however you try to love your children, if they are sick, you cannot give them even a single breath. Your children are inhaling and exhaling air because of Krishna's mercy. You can't do anything. We see that this one is sick and that one is sick and is dying. But we are completely helpless. We can't do anything. Unnecessarily we think that, "I am doing everything" and that is ahankaar. ahankaar vimudhaatma kartaaham iti manyate. We thinks that we are the doers. We are not the doers at all. He is doing everything. Here also there might be bullock carts. Do you people have bullock carts in Malaysia ? Two bullocks drive the cart and sometimes what happens a dog gets in between the bullocks and walks very straight. "Hey dog, Mr. Dog what are you doing ?" The dog says - "Don't talk with me." Why ? Dog replies - "I am very busy pulling the carts." He is not pulling the cart. But the fellow is walking in between the bullocks and thinks that he is pulling the cart and doesn't want to talk. (Gurudev and devotees laugh.) We are just like the dog. (laughter). We cannot do anything ! We are not in a position to do anything and we keep doing "whoo whoo whoo" and one day like a punctured balloon - balloon looks big - but a small puncture, it slips down. We also just by a small mosquito bite, fall on the ground. This is our position.

In the third line Vyaas Bhagavan says - 'pashyaanisham jagat idam kshana bhanga tishtham' -pashya means to see - Whatever we are seeing is kshana bhanga. Whatever we see around us are kshana bhanga- very temporary. Within a moment it can just go away. Because we have these material eyes and because the Lord is very merciful - He is sitting within our hearts - with the soul, our own soul, He is helping us to give the energy and our heart is continuously pumping out the blood and supplying the blood to all the limbs. And not only that, the dirty blood, from the limbs is connected back by the vein to the heart. Then heart passes on the dirty blood to the lungs and the lungs forces the dirty blood to come into contact with oxygen and again its purified and this kriya or activity is going on non-stop. Even if we sleep, this activity is going on. And if there is anything wrong in this activity, we feel sick. Then we have to take help of some medicine - ayurvedic medicine or some other medicine - because our body is not functioning normally. The body is functioning normally ONLY because of the mercy of the Lord. It can never function otherwise. Our soul is a spirit soul. Spirit soul can never mix with material body. Both the constituition are completely different. Soul is spirit and body is matter. A spirit and matter cannot stay together and somehow the other we are staying together. And thats why its a hard struggle to stay in this body. I don't know how we are surviving. Its a great struggle for our soul to remain in this matter for 60, 70 or whatever is our lifetime. Thats why this is known as struggle for existence. As it is, because we are in this body we have to struggle, just to remain in this body. And again this body is a source of struggle -duhkhaalayam ashaasvatam - temporary and full of struggles. Never it is alright. roga mandiram aaturam. It is temple of death. All roga or diseases are roaming around in our body. We never know when some disease will come out. A man looks very healthy and within no time he may suffer from cancer or some other disease and within a week, he or she may disappear. Doesn't matter at all. This is our precarious condition and that is why Vyaasa Bhagavaan advises us what to do.

That is why He says -vairaagya raaga rasiko bhava bhakti nishtaah. rasiko - You should be attached to vairaagya - detachment. This is reality. Think about this reality and understand this reality. Once you understand this reality, you will just separate yourself a bit and try to think very seriously as to what is to be done in this life. vairaagya raaga rasiko bhava bhakti nishtaah - bhava means become ; bhakti nishtaah - firmly situated in bhakti - devotional service. And bhakti -devotional service, is very easy. According to Srimad Bhagavatam only 3 things have to be done - 'shravanam kirtanam vishnoh smaranam' Vishnoh - You have to remember Vishnu - Krishna. You have to hear about Krishna, talk about Him and remember Him. This is devotional service. Shravanam about Krishna means - Bhagavad Gita, Bhagavatam, Ramayanam, Mahabharat, Upanishad and so many Vedic literatures. This we should hear very attentively. Kirtanam means to talk about the Lord always and smaranam means always remember Him. Very clearly it is mentioned, 'shravanam kirtanam vishnoh smaranam' - We do these three activities. But we have removed Vishnu in this statement. We hear, speak and remember about "Ringgit" - (Malaysian currency). Malaysian dollar we see even in our dreams. (Gurudev and devotees laugh). Vishnu is left in temple and we keep meditating on this ringgit. "

Krishna willing we will hear more nectar from Gurudev in the subsequent mails.

Thank you very much.
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva,
Sudarshana devi dasi.

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----- Nothing Belongs to Us - 2/6 -----

Chant,

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna

Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama

Hare Hare

and be happy.

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