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----- Nothing Belongs to Us - 3/6 -----

 

 

 

 

Nothing Belongs to Us - 3/6

 

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



HERE ENDS YOUR

SpiritualQuest

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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. In previous postings we could see how Gurudev enlightened us on the importance of being prepared for death and how even our own body is not under our control - but is working purely by the mercy of Lord. Now let us continue to hear more nectar from him.

"In the first place we don't know that we are guests in this planet and in the second place we don't know with whom to attach. We want to attach with somebody. So instead of Vishnu, we are attached to the dollars and try to be pleased. As soon as we get 100$, we forget about Krishna. Let Jagannath sit there and Prabhupada sit here and we keep meditating on Ringgit. This is a very precarious position. There is a very nice story in Mahabharat. Its beautiful story. Our scriptures are really wonderful. Should we stop now ? (Devotees reply - (inaudible) and Gurudev laughs and says) Because our Lord is unlimited and so limited time is not enough. These people know very nicely. Thats why they have named their companies - Chang-chung Limited, Chung chang limited. Everywhere you go in Malaysia, you find such names. Chang chung, Chung Chang (Gurudev and devotees laugh) and if they want to be more limited, then private limited. (laughter) They know that the Lord alone is unlimited. He is the only unlimited. We are all limited. These karmis, ordinary people - they know what they are doing and have named their companies correctly. You know the company - Yamaha (laughter) You know what is the meaning of Yamaha ? God of death. You sit on the vehicle and you straight go to Yama. They are warning you. Its none of their mistake and again you go and buy "Yamaha" - sit on it and starightly go to Him. They know that this vehicle will take people to Yamaha and we love Yamaha. What have you bought ? "Oh ! I have bought Yamaha". Complete foolishness. You pay money to buy Yamaha ? I won't pay a single penny. If He wants let him come and take me. Otherwise, I will not go. (Gurudev laughs loudly and says) Hare Krishna. This is our precarious position and that story shows us how much dangerous position we are in.

One man was running in the forest and forest was not very populated. So all the path was full of grass and there was a blind well beneath the grass. You know the meaning of blind well? On the top it is filled with grass. You don't see that there is well beneath the grass and if you step into it, you go down into it. So this man was thinking its a grass path and there was a blind well. Very big well and he wrongly stepped on it and to his surprise, he fell in and while falling down into the well he got stuck in the root of a tree that was growing on the wall of the well. When he looked down, there were so many snakes at the bottom of the well and he was completely perplexed as to what to do. He was in a precarious position. At the bottom of the well there were snakes and when he looked up, he is not able to see anything and he is just hanging in-between. He then looked at the root. One side of the root there was a black rat eating away the root and the other side was a white rat doing the same. So he knew, sooner or later the rats will finish the whole thing and he will not even have the root to hang on. In this condition, he didn't know what to do. But still he was enjoying nicely thinking - "Atleast I am saved for few hours." On top of the tree there was a bee-hive from which drops of honey were coming. So he was tasting - "very nice". He forgot his precarious position and was tasting the honey. Even in that miserable situation he was saying "Oh misery is very nice. This honey is good". In the mean time his friend came and saw that this man has gone down and so he brought a piece of rope and dropped it in and shouted - "Hold on to the rope and come out." But this person said - "No. No. I don't want the rope. I want honey. You please push the branch of the tree, so that I can get more honey from the bee-hive." This is our precarious position. Our life is being eaten away by the rats (black and white) - (night and day). Day and night decrease our life. There is a nice verse from Srimad Bhagavatam 2.3.17:

aayur harati vai pumsaam / udyann astam ca yann asau
tasyarte yat-kshano neeta / uttama-shloka-vaartayaa


"Both by rising and by setting, the sun decreases the duration of life of everyone, except one who utilizes the time by discussing topics of the all-good Personality of Godhead".

asau means sun; udyan means rising and astam means setting. By rising and setting of sun our life decreases. Could anybody deny this fact? Is your life increasing? Yours? No. Its decreasing without fail. We are going towards the end of our life day by day and Vyaas Bhagavan says in the second line, tasyarte yat-kshano neeta uttama-shloka-vaartayaa. He says there is an exception to this. One exception. tasyarte yat-kshano neeta - That kshanam - every moment - if every moment is utilised in Uttama shloka vaarthayaa, in the topics of Krishna, then your life doesn't decrease. It is very correct. You are sitting here, hearing few words from our scriptures. That is increasing your life. The hearing of Krishna katha increases the red blood corpuscles in our body. Thats why devotees are much more healthy than ordinary people. Because day and night they are forced to hear Krishna katha and come to temple. These little girls are very lucky that at this age, they are sitting in front of the Lord and are hearing these things. They may not understand anything. But they are hearing and this hearing process will increase the red blood cells in our body and gives us a healthy life. and thats why we feel like coming again and again to this temple hall for so many years. Otherwise what are we doing here? But still we are never satisified. Frankly speaking, same Lord is here, same hall is here, same Prabhupada is here. But in the morning, when the curtains are opening, we are eagerly waiting here. Frankly speaking He is the same Lord. What is to be seen? If we go to see a material fellow with grey hair, moustache and beard etc you will be tired of looking at him for an hour. Again you will not feel like going to him. If he asks do you want to come? We will say - "No. No. I have seen you enough." But here nobody invites - but still we are all here. What brings us here? That is Krishna and we safely say that there is no Krishna. This is our folly and ignorance.

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

Wish you all a very happy Janmashtami!!

Sri Sri Krishna Janmashtami Mahotsav ki Jai!!

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


 

Chant,

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna

Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama

Hare Hare

and be happy.

 

 

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