On the recent passing away of Vijay Krsna prabhu's father, Sriman Kanu Priya prabhu, Sripad Bhaktivedanta Madhava Maharaja gave a short class.
Below is the excerpt of the class:
We come to this world with our hands closed. When we die, the hands are open. We cannot take anything with us. At every step of our lives, we face difficulties. We are doing everything for our family and children when we are young.
But then old age and disease come to rob our vitality. When we are old, children may not want us anymore. They will think when will this old lady or old man will die.
Govinda - 'Go' means mother earth, the Vedas or giving pleasure to senses. Here when one dies, especially a South Indian, they will say, "Govinda! Govinda!"
In North India, it is "Rama Nama Sathia Hai" (the only truth is Lord Rama)
When we leave this body, we cannot take any of our belongings our any of our beloved.
Once, when I was in north Malaysia, a gentleman approached me. He wanted to ask me some questions. He told me that by worshipping Krsna all our wealth will be gone.
I said I will give him 2 answers, whether he wanted to hear the spiritual first or the material second.
The gentleman said he would like to hear the spiritual first.
Once Yuddhisthra Maharaja asked Krsna for some boons. Krsna said go on and ask as many as you want. Yuddhistra Maharaja said:
a) I want to marry a very beautiful girl.
b) I want to be very wealthy
c) My treasures must be very vast
d) All my brothers are qualified so it will be difficult to control them. Therefore, they should be under my control.
e) My children and grandchildren must always remember me.
f) I should not be defeated by anyone in any battle.
Krsna smiled and granted all of the boons. Krsna also asked Yuddhistra Maharaja why he is asking all of these as he is already a great devotee.
Yuddhistra Maharaja said it is for the whole world to worship Lord Krsna. Many think that Krsna will take away everything from them and make them a street beggar.
In fact, it is written in sastra:
yasyaham anugrhnami
harisye tad-dhanam sanaih
tato dhanam tyajanty asya
svajana duhkha-duhkhitam
'O King! When I favour someone, I gradually deprive him of all his wealth. In other words when a person, although desirous of giving up material sense gratification, is somehow engrossed in the sense objects present before him, he is afflicted with distress. For such a person the removal of these objects is itself a manifestation of My favour. When his wife, sons and relatives find him to be an abject failure beset with repeated misery, they reject the impoverished man."
In the same way, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada ordered Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja to the west to preach. At that time all his business failed and his family rejected him. Our Srila Gurudeva was his bosom friend and encouraged Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja to take sannyasa. Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja told our Gurudeva how he remembered the sloka, verse.
But what happened when Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja went to the west? A miracle happened. He was so successful and established ISKCON. He had a whole family of devotees.
As for material pursuit, what is it we are hankering for. Look at the world now. So many wealthy countries in Europe are practically bankrupt. They are bankrupt spiritually and materially.
But for a Krsna conscious person he will be in tranquility and spiritually and materially wealthy as was the case of Yuddhisthra Maharaja.
There is nothing to fear.
Below is the excerpt of the class:
We come to this world with our hands closed. When we die, the hands are open. We cannot take anything with us. At every step of our lives, we face difficulties. We are doing everything for our family and children when we are young.
But then old age and disease come to rob our vitality. When we are old, children may not want us anymore. They will think when will this old lady or old man will die.
Govinda - 'Go' means mother earth, the Vedas or giving pleasure to senses. Here when one dies, especially a South Indian, they will say, "Govinda! Govinda!"
In North India, it is "Rama Nama Sathia Hai" (the only truth is Lord Rama)
When we leave this body, we cannot take any of our belongings our any of our beloved.
Once, when I was in north Malaysia, a gentleman approached me. He wanted to ask me some questions. He told me that by worshipping Krsna all our wealth will be gone.
I said I will give him 2 answers, whether he wanted to hear the spiritual first or the material second.
The gentleman said he would like to hear the spiritual first.
Once Yuddhisthra Maharaja asked Krsna for some boons. Krsna said go on and ask as many as you want. Yuddhistra Maharaja said:
a) I want to marry a very beautiful girl.
b) I want to be very wealthy
c) My treasures must be very vast
d) All my brothers are qualified so it will be difficult to control them. Therefore, they should be under my control.
e) My children and grandchildren must always remember me.
f) I should not be defeated by anyone in any battle.
Krsna smiled and granted all of the boons. Krsna also asked Yuddhistra Maharaja why he is asking all of these as he is already a great devotee.
Yuddhistra Maharaja said it is for the whole world to worship Lord Krsna. Many think that Krsna will take away everything from them and make them a street beggar.
In fact, it is written in sastra:
yasyaham anugrhnami
harisye tad-dhanam sanaih
tato dhanam tyajanty asya
svajana duhkha-duhkhitam
'O King! When I favour someone, I gradually deprive him of all his wealth. In other words when a person, although desirous of giving up material sense gratification, is somehow engrossed in the sense objects present before him, he is afflicted with distress. For such a person the removal of these objects is itself a manifestation of My favour. When his wife, sons and relatives find him to be an abject failure beset with repeated misery, they reject the impoverished man."
In the same way, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada ordered Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja to the west to preach. At that time all his business failed and his family rejected him. Our Srila Gurudeva was his bosom friend and encouraged Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja to take sannyasa. Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja told our Gurudeva how he remembered the sloka, verse.
But what happened when Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja went to the west? A miracle happened. He was so successful and established ISKCON. He had a whole family of devotees.
As for material pursuit, what is it we are hankering for. Look at the world now. So many wealthy countries in Europe are practically bankrupt. They are bankrupt spiritually and materially.
But for a Krsna conscious person he will be in tranquility and spiritually and materially wealthy as was the case of Yuddhisthra Maharaja.
There is nothing to fear.
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