Srila Narayana Maharaja: In this world we are very happy if we have children, a husband or a wife, if we are eating, sleeping and mating nicely, and able to support and nourish our children. Sometimes we enjoy making merry having taken some wine, and we may feel so much pleasure. Sometimes we (human life) may become the president of a country, or a Prime Minister. We may have a very beautiful wife and good qualified children. It may be that we also have such wealth that if some beggars come to us we will be able to give a generous donation. So then why should one try to chant and remember the name of Krishna the Supreme Personality of Godhead? What is the point? Having a life full of all these things then why should we perform bhajan? I hear of so many prosperous and learned Indian persons who do not perform bhajan too. This doubt may come to anyone. I would like Prema-prayojana to speak something on this in simple terms.

Prema-prayojana dasa: (invocation) So Srila Gurudeva has ordered me to speak something about the necessity of performing bhajan. In this world it appears as though there are so many opportunities for happiness. One may become very highly qualified and very learned and this will bring so much respect. One may have physical beauty and this will bring so much admiration and adoration. One may be born in an aristocratic family and be very wealthy. Yet despite all of the opportunities provided in this material world, still so much suffering will come. Everyone has to take birth and the process of birth is very painful. Everyone will have to grow old. We can try to hold back the advancement of old age coming to us for some time, for example, one may do some exercise or have a face lift or something like that, but still old age will come and no one can stop it. One will have to undergo so many diseases. Many people don't live to reach old age, either they are killed somehow, they die young or they are murdered. Only last week one devotee here in Wales who was very young, in his thirties, had a brain haemorrhage and left his body all of a sudden and very unexpectedly. Many diseases will come and then finally death will come. Then after death again birth will come and we know not where. We will have to take the reactions from actions performed in this life and from previous lives. So, many different types of suffering will come to us in this world. There is no way to avoid them. In the Srimad Bhagavatam (8.14.24) it is stated:

kalena sarvartra gabhira-ramhasa

"Persons who are actually intelligent and philosophically inclined should endeavour only for that purposeful end (in other words devotional service) which is not obtainable even by wandering from the topmost planet in the universe (Brahmaloka) down to the lowest planet (Patalaloka) . . ."

One may say "But, if I spend all my time trying to attain God consciousness then how will I be happy?" But the Srimad Bhagavatam tells us:

kalena sarvartra gabhira-ramhasa

". . . As far as happiness derived from sense enjoyment is concerned, it comes automatically in the course of time, just as in course of time miseries come (without making any endeavour) even though we do not desire them."

People in this world are working very hard for happiness but actually the happiness and distress which is coming to us it is fixed. It is the result of our previous activities. This is called karma. By our karma, by our good activities some happiness will come, by our impious activities some suffering will come. This is fixed and one cannot change this. So those who are endeavouring very hard for happiness in this world will get no more or no less than that which is coming to them by karma. So one should not endeavour for this. We see that no one is endeavouring or making a plan to bring about suffering. No one is thinking "I will make a plan so that my children get diseases and die.", nor is anyone thinking "I will make a plan so that my house will burn down." Neither is anyone making a plan so that their home will be burgled and that their wealth will be stolen. Yet all these things are happening anyway, so in the same way, without any endeavour these things are forced upon us, and in the same way happiness will also come. So we should not endeavour for these things but rather we should endeavour to awaken our dormant love for God. Why? Because this will bring about an end to all our suffering.

In Sri Chaitanya-caritamrta (Madhya-lila 20.117) it is stated:

ataeva maya tare deya samsara-duhkha

krsna bhuli' sei jiva - the living entity has forgotten Krishna; anadi-bahirmukha - he has turned away his face from the Supreme Lord; ataeva maya tare deya samsara-duhkha - therefore Maya, God's material energy which manifests as this whole material universe, inflicts so many different kinds of suffering on the jiva (soul) so that he will wake up and ask himself; "Who am I? What am I doing here? Why am I suffering?" and "What is the goal of my life?". At that time if he has sufficient piety - sukrti, if he has rendered any service either knowingly or unknowingly to Hari, Guru or Vaisnava, then when these things come in his heart such as "Who am I? How can I make a solution for the problems in life?", he can meet a bonafide guru - a spiritual master, being a direct manifestation of the mercy of the Supreme Lord.

guru-rupa krsna krpa karena bhakta-gane

In this verse from Sri Chaitanya-caritamrta (Adi-lila 1.45), it tells us that the spiritual master is the manifestation of krsna-rupa, he is the direct manifestation of the Supreme Lord and he appears before the aspiring disciple to bestow upon him the mercy of Krishna. Also in the Srimad Bhagavatam we hear;

"After many, many births and deaths one achieves the rare human form of life, which, although temporary, affords one the opportunity to attain the highest perfection. Thus, a sober human being should immediately endeavour for the ultimate perfection in life and not fall down into the repeated cycle of birth and death. After all, sense gratification is available even in the most abominable species of life, whereas Krishna consciousness is only possible for a human being." (S.B. 4.29.53)

So it is explained in this verse that this human form of life affords us the opportunity to inquire as to what is our ultimate self interest. There are 8,400,000 species of life, insects, worms, blades of grass, animals, mammals, reptiles and birds and so many other species and when the jiva is travelling his way through these species, he cannot inquire into this real self interest. Who am I? Who is God? and What is our relationship? But when after travelling through many, many species we attain the human form of life we are not callous like the animals but conscious. We should not be callous like the animals but conscious so as we may inquire about what is the goal of life. This human form of life is described in Srimad Bhagavatam (11.20.17) to be like a boat;

puman bhavadhim na taret sa atma-ha

"The human body, which can award all benefit in life, is automatically obtained by the laws of nature, although it is a very rare achievement. This human body can be compared to a perfectly constructed boat having the spiritual master as the captain and the instructions of the Personality of Godhead as favourable winds impelling it on its course. Considering all these advantages, a human being who does not utilize his human form of life to cross the vast ocean of material existence must be considered the killer of his own soul."

If we consider this body as a boat and the jiva - the soul, that which is actually us, the spiritual essence which is travelling in the machine of this body. That soul can use this human body like a boat to cross over the vast and dangerous ocean of material existence. Although one may have a boat, if one is in a boat in the middle of the ocean and you don't know where to go if all you see is water everywhere, then what will be your fate? You will require a captain. So Krishna is so kind, guru-karnadharam - For those who want to understand what is the goal of life, Krishna will supply one with a captain for that boat. He will give them very good advice and directions so that they may never loose their way amongst all the material obstacles in this world and finally arrive at the far shore of that ocean, the lotus feet of Sri Krishna the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That captain is so expert that he can attract the favourable wind for driving the boat and that wind is the mercy of Krishna. Finally in this verse it is stated, puman bhavadhim na taret sa atma-ha - If the Supreme Lord is so kind to give us this human body and He is so kind to give us sad-guru a bonafide spiritual master and the association of Vaisnavas, and Krishna is ready to bestow his mercy upon that person who surrenders himself with great humility and submission at the lotus feet of such a spiritual master. Then for a person who is given all these facilities by the Supreme Lord and does not use this opportunity for God realization, self-realization, then that person can be said to be committing suicide, he is killing his own soul. For a person who commits suicide we can understand that he is insane. So one who does not perform bhajan, one who does inquire into the real meaning of life, one who does not take shelter at the lotus feet of a bonafide guru are actually completely insane and they are constantly engaged in activities which are contrary to their own self interest. So considering all of these things we should try to hear very submissively, very patiently and very attentively to the words of Om Visnupada Sri Simad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja and his disciples, so that we can find out a clue as to what is the real goal of life and how to achieve it.

Srila Narayana Maharaja: In the pastimes described in the Vedas, we see that there were so many persons that were very beautiful. In this age we also see this, such as Diana Princess of Wales for example, and in history we hear of so many learned persons who also had some power, wealth and fame, such as, Hitler, Mussolini, Napoleon Bonaparte and others. Also in India there was Ravana, Hiranyakasipu and others. They were all very learned like William Shakespeare and others and we also see that they were also aristocratic. So, should we follow them to be happy? And will be we happy by following them or not? And if not, then what should we do? I would like Pundarika dasa prabhu to talk about this:

Pundarika dasa prabhu: (invocation) First of all I bow down to the lotus feet of my Srila Guru Maharaja, and pray for his causeless mercy so that I can carry out his order. Prema-prayojana has spoken many good points in this regard, about why we should perform bhajan and why it is important for us, and now Srila Gurudeva is relating that in this world we always hold somebody as our idol and we want to follow them, because we see that great personalities in this world often leave some nice instructions or a path that ordinary people will follow and may also attain that position of security or happiness and satisfaction. It is very important that we should follow someone, someone who is truly great, but in this world, as Srila Gurudeva cited the names of some of these people, they had attained some special position, that is why the world is respecting them or had respected them. Also we see in the modern world that there are those who are doing good, such as Mother Theresa and many other people who are very nicely helping others. By hearing about them and their activities one develops a natural respect for them, thinking that they are working for a very good cause and by their example are setting a path for others to follow. But if we analyze deeply then we will see that actually what all these people have done or are doing it is either on the level of body or on the level of mind. No one in this world has been able to go beyond that except for those who take to spiritual life. But sometimes we are unable to make a distinction between body, mind and the soul. That is the case for most of us. So then it becomes difficult to decide who to follow. But to experience sublime love and permanent happiness it is important that we should see that those persons who have achieved permanent happiness are the saintly ones, and it is they who are really able to help society. It is not always so apparent because they may appear sometimes somewhat shabby, have few or no personal possessions, whereas we, because we have developed our consciousness in such a way that we understand that if we are to derive some happiness, this can only be achieved by satisfying our senses. But we see that the saintly people are not pursuing sense gratification. They are not thinking about eating very palatable things or desiring a luxurious life. They are not interested in any of these things. So how can we understand how they can derive happiness from the things they are doing? But there are many examples in history where those that had the position of being an emperor or king, especially in India we have many such instances where they had all these material possessions, name, fame and were kind, but then they left all these things and adopted the life of a sadhu (saintly person), a monk or sought spiritual life. Why? There was one such king, Pariksit Maharaja, he was at that time in history the king of the whole planet. He was also very powerful and religious and he took care of all his subjects very nicely. He was happy and satisfied, and everyone was pleased with him. When a king is like that, then all his subjects pray for him and so God is merciful upon him. So he had no shortage of material things or happiness in his life and he was content. We hear how one day he went to a forest hunting and became thirsty. Looking around here and there he came across a sadhu who was siting in a trance. He approached the sadhu and began to wait thinking that very soon the sadhu would come out of his trance and open his eyes, and then he would ask him for some water to quench his thirst. He waited very patiently for a few minutes but eventually realized that the sadhu was not responding to him. Somehow by the will of providence, because these personalities are always taking the position of a conditioned soul to teach us. (this King, Maharaja Pariksit is actually one of the eternal associates of the Supreme Lord but he behaved like an ordinary conditioned soul) so, when Maharaja Pariksit saw that the sadhu was not responding to his request he displayed some anger. He was thinking "I am the king of this country yet this sadhu is not even looking at me, yet alone giving me any water, so what shall I do?", and as his anger became stronger he noticed a dead snake lying nearby, so with his sword he picked up the snake and garlanded the sadhu with the snake. He then left for his palace. In the meantime, when the five year old son of that sadhu came to see his father at his asrama, and then saw his father who was in a deep trance had been garlanded with a dead snake, he became very annoyed and asked "Who has done this? Why have they done this? My father is in a deep trance, he does not know what is going on externally. Why has this happened?". There were some friends of the young boy nearby that had witnessed the whole thing and came and reported to him what had gone on. How Maharaja Pariksit had come by feeling thirsty and because the sadhu was in trance and did not respond to his request, Maharaja Pariksit had garlanded him with the dead snake. On hearing this the young saintly boy became very angry and taking his sacred thread in his hand he cursed Maharaja Pariksit to be bitten by the very same snake and die within seven days. Although the rsi's son was only five years of age, he was very saintly and his words were absolute truth, so then whatever he said must come true. When his father came out of his trance and came to know all that had happened, he became very distressed and spoke to his son saying "Oh what have you done? Maharaja Pariksit is a very good king and if he dies then who will take care of us all? And now this means that all the good times the people have enjoyed under his rule are now over, because when such a king leaves there is no proper direction in society and everyone is misled.". This is what is happening in the world at large today. Those who have taken the position of control, who are controlling the society, or in other words are trying to show a nice path for people to follow, are themselves confused. They do not know what life is all about and their own lives are miserable. So how can they help others? They can never really help others.

So, this sadhu very quickly sent a message to Pariksit Maharaja telling him that his son had cursed him and that he would die in seven days. When Pariksit Maharaja heard this news, how a snake would bite him in seven days, what did he do? Did he become bewildered? "Oh! I am going to die. What will become of all my possessions? Oh! What shall I do?". No! Instead, he immediately gave up his entire empire, his beautiful wife, and all of his material possessions. How? Just like one passes stool. When we pass stool in the morning we are not very interested to see what colour it was or how it was. So in this way Pariksit Maharaja, the king who was so powerful and self-controlled that even though he had all this material wealth and possessions, he was not at all attached even by the tiniest of fractions. So he gave up all these things and went to the bank of the river Ganges, and it was there that we hear how Sukadeva Gosvami, one of the eternal associates of the Lord, met with him there and told him the Bhagavatam.

When we hear how these great personalities who have taken to this path, we may wonder why and how it was that they were immediately able to leave behind everything that we are striving for and by which we think we will be happy. When these questions arise it is our duty to approach those people who have taken to spiritual life and who are teachers, sadhus, or gurus, then our questions can be answered properly and we can realize that we needn't waste our life trying to maintain the body, trying to be peaceful and thereby trying to satisfy ourselves. It will not work that way. Happiness is in our heart and if we know the way, then we can be happy twenty-four hours a day. How is this possible? When we meet someone who is always blissful and always happy, just by sitting next to him, and just by looking into his eyes all good fortune will enter into us and there will not be any more problems for us.

One more point I would like to make is how in India it is a tradition that they have very strong family relations and also here in the West there are also very nice strong family relations. So what is the necessity that a grown-up son who has all his own possessions and facilities for life to obey his father? This is a grown up, he has his own wife, family, car, house and everything, so then what is the need that he follow and obey his father? Is there any need? Yes! In India yes and everywhere else yes, because his father gave him the opportunity for birth. His father has taught him how to live. He has seen his life, and so he is able to direct him and by listening to his father the son can always be happy. But we see that when we deviate from our duties towards our elders, especially those who are saintly people, we always get into trouble. So it is very important for us, in fact it is essential for us to surrender to a self-realized soul who knows the purpose of life and who has perfected his own life and who has no material desires in this world. The self-realized soul is not attracted to women, wealth, fame etc. He is not attracted to anything of this world because he is a completely self-satisfied person. When we approach him he can give us this mercy, this potency by which we can also become self-realized, and then within this life we will become happy and also at the end of life we are sure of our destiny, of where we are going. There is no confusion about what there is to be in the next life. Hare Krishna!

Srila Narayana Maharaja: (Invocation). About five thousand years ago there was a very learned person who was thousands of times more intelligent than Shakespeare and others. He was so beautiful and he was self-realized. He had the whole wealth of the entire world. Who was he? Srila Vyasadeva. Vyasadeva was also a family man but was not attached. He was in cognition of himself and God. That was why he was so intelligent, learned and qualified in all the arts and in everything else. He was so learned that he divided the Vedas into four parts. Shakespeare wanted to touch these Vedas and explain the mood of Vyasadeva and wanted to realize a little part of the Vedas but he could not because he was involved in material things, this body and mind. So he was unable to taste. Srila Vyasadeva has written and compiled so many Vedas including the Upanisads, the Puranas and others, so many that we would be unable to read them in one lifetime yet to think of realizing all the truths contained within. We can not realize all of these things but Srila Vyasadeva did, and what he realized he wrote. There are so many Puranas, of which some contain one lakh (100,000) slokas (verses) and some containing over two lakhs of slokas, so we can see that he was a very learned person. He wrote Srimad Mahabharata. This is considered a very interesting book in India and I think the people of the whole world would also find it most interesting if they read it. It is very interesting but was not written so much for the learned and self-realized persons but was written for the general population who are weak in intelligence in this dark age of kali-yuga. It is a very interesting book, I used to read it for hours on end without even a break to sleep, eat or anything. My father was very expert in all these things. I have heard the Ramayana, Mahabharata and all the Puranas in my early youth from since I was very young. Srila Vyasadeva was such a great personality, but one day he was not feeling satisfied with what he had done. In this world someone may be satisfied with all the things they have done or just satisfied with some of the things he has done, but Srila Vyasadeva was not satisfied with what he had done, being so learned and also having so much affluence. He had the power that if he had wanted someone to die then they would have immediately died, and if he wanted to bring any dead body back to life, then he could. If he was asked and was agreeable to it, he could turn a tree into a very beautiful wife or husband, such was his power. He was so powerful. If one asked him for jewels then he could produce abundant flowing rivers of them. He had realized and written everything in the Puranas and Mahabharata and the Bhagavad-gita being the jewel within, but still he was not satisfied. So one day he was sitting in his asrama, on the banks of the Saraswati river in the Himalayas, a very sacred place. He was thinking that he was lacking something in his life. He was thinking how it was that even after doing so much, he was still feeling unsatisfied. If a man is not thinking like this then he is no more than an animal. We may have so many things but still we are not happy. Why are we not happy? We should think about this. Napoleon was not a beggar, Hiranyakasipu and Ravana were not beggars, we know that president Kennedy was not a street beggar. Also Princes Diana was not a street beggar, neither was she ugly, a fool or ignorant. She had so much name, fame, beauty and everything, she was married to Charles, but still she was not happy. We should think about all these things otherwise we are no better than animals. We should also try to understand and see what the future will hold and think about whether we will be happy in the future doing what we are doing now, in the process that we are following. We will see that we are going in the same direction as they went and they were all unhappy. Mussolini, have you heard of him? He was quite a giant. Hitler was more than a giant. They were never happy. So we should think about all these things. Srila Vyasadeva was so much more superior than that and he had seen so many things but even so he was not happy. He was a realized soul without a doubt. He also had some realization of the spiritual world Vaikuntha as well but he was not happy. So one day his Gurudeva, Narada Rsi, came to see him and told him "You have divided the Vedas into four, you have studied all the Upanisads coming from God Himself, and you have also given this world many Puranas and other good literature, so why are you unhappy?". Then Srila Vyasadeva said "My dear Gurudeva everything you have said is correct but still despite this I am not happy. I wanted to discover a certain something but I could not and now I have become ill, but how I don't know. I don't know what this disease is. Why it is that I am not happy having done and realized all these things? I have everything, wealth, reputation, everything, but why am I feeling so unhappy? You are like a doctor and if you take my pulse you can diagnose my illness."

In India there are so many kinds of high class ayurvedic doctors that are so forward thinking and intelligent that even by taking hold of a thread that has been around a woman, they are able to know what the disease is. They do this so as not to touch a woman, otherwise they would take a pulse. So just by taking this thread they could diagnose an illness very quickly just like taking a pulse. So Narada Rsi was like this. This is how guru should be.

Nowadays there are lakhs and lakhs of gurus, here, there and everywhere but they are like shops. Wondering whether anyone will come into their shop. But the real gurus and disciples are very rare. When we read sastra we see that the real true guru is very rare in this world. We read in Srimad Bhagavatam how qualified Narada was. Not only learning will do, it will not help but may sometimes misguide us. So we should seek out those that are practically realized and know what bhakti is and know how to please Krishna the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They are really happy and they can help us. Just as with Narada Rsi, as he told himself, that once when he was the son of a sudrani, a low caste maidservant woman, never having had the opportunity to study at any school and was only five years of age, he met the four Kumaras, Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanat and served them for four months during the rainy season. Narada Rsi was fortunate that his mother had some sense and offered her services by way of cleaning the Kumaras pots and utensils and asked nothing in return other than to take their remnants. And so she began to serve them. One day Narada Rsi asked if he could take some remnants of the Kumaras and they agreed. During this time he took only their remnants and so by this and also serving them for four months, he developed ruci - the awakening of taste for hearing and chanting and other devotional activities. Narada Rsi told Srila Vyasadeva:

priyasravasy anga mamabhavad rucih

"O Vyasadeva, in their association and by their mercy, I heard them every day describe the activities of Krishna in a very beautiful way. And so by listening attentively, my taste for hearing about Krishna increased at every step"

(S.B. 1.5.26)

If we have no taste for hearing hari-katha and following like this then no one can help us and so many doubts will come and will very quickly throw us off this path, so we should try to follow. We should promise that "I will follow." If there are so many disciples who have taken initiation, either first initiation or second initiation but not following by means of body, mind and words then what to speak of atma? So how can they think they are? Narada Rsi was hearing hari-katha daily. He had even chosen to hear hari-katha rather than play with other children. He would leave the side of his mother so as he could hear hari-katha all day. Narada Rsi explains; "tah sraddhaya me 'nupadam visrnvatah, priyasravasy anga mamabhavad rucih - listening very attentively, respectfully and with a very keen interest I used to drink their words like nectar. Hearing about the pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead with interest, taste developed". Narada Rsi went on to explain how nistha - firm faith developed and how he can now no longer live without hearing, chanting and remembering the glories of the Lord. So first we should do all of these things, hearing, chanting and remembering and have faith that Krishna will arrange everything else, and then automatically we will be able to offer our atma unto the lotus feet of Krishna.

As Prema-prayojana explained, as suffering comes automatically without any invitation, then so will death. We will not have to call for death to come, it will come automatically. We don't want old age to come but surely it will come. Likewise if there is happiness to come then it will come, so we should not be so anxious for it. Sometimes I advise that one should try and earn one’s livelihood and maintain one’s life, but I know that your past activities will do. They will come, in fact they are bound to come, so we should not be so interested in all these things. Always we should try to have ruci - taste like Narada Rsi, askhalita matih - uninterrupted attention, one-pointed, not putting anything second. Haridasa Thakura was beaten in twenty-two market places, his skin broken and bleeding but still he did not stop chanting the Holy Name. He was thinking "I may be cut into thousands of pieces but I will not stop chanting." I see that there are so many devotees who come here to hear my classes and become very enthusiastic. Also in India and everywhere else devotees like the disciples of Swamiji (Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja) come and hear and they become enthusiastic again as they once were and now try to follow. Those who stopped following and again got into taking wine, beer, ganja, bhang and other things. One's intelligence should be fixed. So Narada Rsi's intelligence had become fixed and when the four month period in which he spent time with the Kumaras came to an end and they left, he began to weep and cry. He was thinking how he would survive. But they had given him a mantra, "om namo bhagavate vasudevaya", and he had resolute faith that by chanting this, then everything could be obtained. His mother bound him with the tie of affection for she knew in her heart that really he wanted to go into the forest and enter into trance and follow his gurus. But wherever his mother went she took him with her and had him constantly in her lap. So Narada began to pray to Krishna that he could be free from his mothers ties of affection. Hearing his prayer, Krishna arranged for a snake to come and bite her and she died very quickly. Taking this as the special mercy of the Lord he began to run towards the forest without giving his mother a second glance. After some time he reached a very dense and uninhabited forest. He then took a bath in a very pure river-lake and drank some water to quench his thirst. He then went to a holy place under the shadow of a banyan tree and began to chant the mantra given to him. All the mantras are so very powerful but we don't realize this, we have no faith, even when we chant the mantras given to us by our guru, including the very powerful gayatri-mantra (for men), the guru-mantra, the guru-gayatri, gaura-mantra, gaura-gayatri, and the extremely powerful gopal-mantra - "kling krsnaya ...", and the even more powerful kama-gayatri. But if we chant and remember these mantras in the process given to us, with so much love, affection and a very deep faith, then the mantra will manifest in our heart. So there is really nothing else to do. Just like Narada, having left his mother he went to the forest, took bath in a pond and then sat down and began to chant the mantra - "om namo bhagavate vasudevaya". He very soon entered into trance and left such things as eating and breathing behind and without delay Vasudeva (Krishna) appeared in his heart, but being exceedingly overpowered by feelings of happiness he lost sight of the Lord. He started to weep and cry and tried again very hard to see the Lord but could not. Then he heard a voice from the sky tell him that he would not have the Lord’s darsan again in this life because he still had one or two desires, but by giving him this opportunity to have the Lord’s darsan was so as to increase his desire more and more, by which these remaining taints of material desires would go. Vasudeva told him to travel throughout the world constantly chanting and remembering His pastimes and not to stay in any one place longer than it takes the time to milk a cow. He told him that within time he would give up this material body and be given a spiritual body and be able to go to Vaikuntha and will be able to also travel everywhere, both throughout the spiritual and material worlds. So Narada is telling his own life history because it is easy for a disciple to follow the same path as his gurudeva. We also see that there are many other instances such as Gopar Kumar in Brhad-bhagavatamrta, how he told his own history, how he reached his own guru, Vrndavana-dham and received the service Sri Sri Radha-Krishna conjugal and became fully satisfied. So the gurudeva will tell his own history just like Narada Rsi did, and by showing by his own practice.

So Narada Rsi told Srila Vyasadeva all these things and told him to go into a devotional trance and try to realize all the glories of Krishna the Supreme Personality of Godhead. "You have not described anywhere that there are four particular kinds of love and affection that can control the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You have not described the love and affection shown by mother Yasoda or how much the gopis love Krishna and how Krishna becomes controlled by them. How Krishna told the gopis that He could never repay their love";

"My beloved gopis! Your meeting with Me is completely pure and faultless. You have broken the tenacious bonds of household life just to serve Me. Even if I obtain a fantastic span of life like that of the devas (demigods), it will not be possible for Me to repay your love, service, and renunciation. Therefore you will have to be satisfied by accepting your own auspicious activities as repayment."

Narada Rsi explained to Vyasadeva that he had not told about how when Krishna had left Vrndavana for Dwarka, Radhika and the gopis were feeling so much separation from Him and how He sent His messenger Uddhava there,. and how he upon seeing them he realized and declared that they were the highest devotees of all in the whole world. How there are no devotees that can compare to the gopis in their love for Krishna. "So not having told these things you are unhappy, so try to realize them and then write about them".

The next day Srila Vyasadeva took his bath and sat down to meditate, fully surrendering himself at the lotus feet of Krishna. Then Krishna's mercy flowed into his heart whilst he was in a very deep trance and he was able to witness everything, all the pastimes of Krishna from His boyhood to His pastimes in Dwarka. He saw all these pastimes one by one as if he were there and he also realized all these things. He also saw that all the jivas (souls) are also sat-cid-ananda and how it is their constitutional position to be the eternal servants of Krishna the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Srila Vyasadeva also saw that those who have forgotten Krishna and given up the opportunity for His service are always unhappy and are travelling through the repeated cycle of birth and death - samsara. He saw that those who are following the path of bhakti and whose anarthas (unwanted things) are going are travelling towards Krishna. Seeing all of these facts he wrote Srimad Bhagavatam, the spotless Purana. This is a transcendental literature. In our own writing there will be so many mistakes, whether they be of a grammatical nature, siddhantic (spiritual truths), and many others. But Srila Vyasadeva did not make a single mistake, having fully realized everything. He wrote Srimad Bhagavatam for those who have left Krishna and are unhappy in this world. That by hearing this Srimad Bhagavatam all doubts and lamentation will go away very easily and without any endeavour.

Srila Vyasadeva then called for his son Srila Sukadeva Gosvami. Sukadeva Gosvami was in the renounced order of life, not having any material possessions, not even wearing a piece of cloth to cover himself with. Srila Vyasadeva told the Srimad Bhagavatam to his son giving him all realization, and so Sukadeva Gosvami became a very pure and rasika devotee. We will hear the rest of this in class tomorrow or the day after. We will also discuss the glories of the guru and the qualifications of devotees. You should all try to be very enthusiastic and try to follow all of these things. I want you all to follow, not having any doubts in any way, and you should all preach throughout the world like Swamiji (Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja) did, and never deviating.