The following is an Initiation
Lecture, given by His Divine
Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupāda, recorded on
December 1, 1968, in Los
Angeles.
Now the purport of this mantra I
have several times explained,
again explaining. Namaḥ. Namaḥ
means surrender. Namaḥ om
namaḥ, this is the way of
chanting Vedic mantra. Oṁ
means addressing the Absolute,
and namaḥ means “I am
surrendering.” Every Vedic
mantra is begun om namaḥ. Oṁ
means addressing. So this
mantra is chanted with
surrender, namaḥ. Nothing can
be done without surrender
because our, this conditional life
is rebellious life. We have
rebelled against the supremacy
of the Personality of Godhead.
That is conditioned life. There are
so many theses to support this
rebellious condition. Somebody is
thinking that “I am one with
God”; somebody is thinking,
“God is dead”; somebody is
thinking, “There is no God”;
somebody is thinking, “Why you
are searching God? There are so
many Gods loitering in the
street.” So in this way many
theses are there. All of them are
different symptoms of rebellious
condition. The sum and
substance… Just like atheists,
they are boldly saying, “There is
no God.” Now…, but the
impersonalists saying, “There
may be God, but He has no
head, He has no tail. That’s all.”
So in this way our condition is
rebellious condition. Therefore
Bhagavad-gītā instructs that “You
surrender.” Sarva-dharmān
parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ
vraja [Bg. 18.66]. So without
surrender, there is no question of
making any spiritual progress.
Just like a person who has
rebelled against the
government—the first condition
is to surrender; otherwise there is
no question of mercy from the
government. Similarly anyone,
the living entity, any one of us
who has rebelled against the
supremacy of the Lord, the
beginning of spiritual life is
surrender. So this mantra,
initiation, namaḥ. Namaḥ means
surrender. And who can
surrender? Surrender, one who
has understood the Lord, he can
surrender, as it is stated in the
Bhagavad-gītā, bahūnāṁ
janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ
prapadyate [Bg. 7.19]. After
many, many births of cultivation
of knowledge, when one is
perfectly wise, at that time he
surrenders. The perfection of
acquiring knowledge, or wisdom,
is to surrender. So, namaḥ.
Namaḥ means “I surrender.” And
what is your condition? Never
mind what is that condition.
Apavitraḥ pavitro vā. Apavitraḥ
means contaminated, and pavitra
means liberated. So we have two
conditions. Either… Just like
either we are healthy or we are
diseased. There is no third
condition. Crude example.
Similarly, the living entities, they
have two conditions. One
condition is liberation, another
condition is contaminated.
Therefore living entity is called
marginal, in between
contamination and liberation.
Either a living entity can be
contaminated or liberated. There
is no third condition. Therefore
this mantra says, apavitraḥ
pavitro vā. Either contaminated
or liberated, it doesn’t matter.
Oṁ namo apavitraḥ pavitro,
sarvāvasthām. Sarva means all;
avasthām means condition. In
any condition. Sarvāvasthāṁ
gato ’pi vā. In whatever condition
you may be. Because two
conditions there are. For the
living entities… The living entity is
in the marginal position. Either
he can be in material nature or in
the spiritual nature. The spiritual
nature means liberation, and
material nature means
contamination. So in this mantra
it is said, either of the condition,
never mind. Either you are in
material condition or spiritual
condition. Sarvāvasthāṁ gato ’pi
vā. Vā means either; yaḥ,
anyone; smaret, smaret means
remembers; puṇḍarīkākṣam,
puṇḍarīkākṣam means whose
eyes are just like lotus petal. That
means Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu. Yaḥ
smaret puṇḍarīkākṣaṁ sa
bahya… Bahya means externally.
Externally, this body.
Abhyantaram. Abhyantaram
means internally. Internally I am
spirit. Just like internally, within
this dress, I am internally.
Externally I am this dress.
Similarly, yaḥ smaret
puṇḍarīkākṣam. Either he is in
the bodily concept of life or he is
in the spiritual concept of life,
either he is contaminated or he is
liberated—in any condition, one
who remembers Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu,
bahyābhyantaram, he
immediately becomes purified
internally and externally. This is
the substance of this mantra.
And at the last we are chanting
śrī viṣṇu śrī viṣṇu śrī viṣṇu.
Because it may not be
misunderstood that in this verse
it is said that yaḥ smaret
puṇḍarīkākṣam, “anyone who
remembers the lotus-eyed.” So
somebody may think, “My such
and such lover is lotus-eyed,” or
in that way, lotus-eyed. There
may be so many lotus-eyed.
Therefore at last it is specifically
said, śrī viṣṇu śrī viṣṇu śrī viṣṇu.
“Lotus-eyed” means Viṣṇu, not
anybody else. Śrī viṣṇu śrī viṣṇu.
This is the basic principle of
devotional life. In Nārada
Pañcarātra it is recommended…
We are explaining these things in
Nectar of Devotion. The basic
principle of purification is
smartavyaḥ satato viṣṇuḥ: always
one has to remember Viṣṇu or
Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa and Viṣṇu the same.
When you speak Kṛṣṇa, it
includes Viṣṇu. So smartavyaḥ
satato viṣṇu vismartavyaḥ na
jātucit. We shall not forget Viṣṇu
even for a moment. This is the
basic principle of devotional life.
Some way or other, we have to
remember always Kṛṣṇa. Then
whatever condition we may be,
we are pure. Sa
bahyābhyantaraṁ śuciḥ. This
chanting helps us always
remembering Kṛṣṇa. As soon as
we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, hear,
immediately we remember. So,
so long I remember, I am śuciḥ, I
am pure, no material
contamination. Therefore if I
continue my life in that pure
stage, then I am eligible for
going back to Godhead. Because
nobody can enter in the kingdom
of God without being completely
pure. Completely pure means
anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam [BRS
1.1.11], no material desire. Here
in the material world, we
manufacture so many plans to be
happy, material desires.
Somebody’s thinking, “I shall be
happy in this way.” Somebody’s
thinking… There is no question of
happiness here. The place is
contaminated. In a
contaminated… Just like in an
infected place you cannot be
happy. The medical officer will
ask you to leave that place, that
“This quarter has been infected
by the disease. Better you leave,
you go somewhere else.” That is
the treatment. Infected place
must be left immediately. So
similarly, this world, this material
world of three modes of different
qualities, you have to keep
yourself always antiseptic, pure,
by remembering Kṛṣṇa. That is
the process. As soon as you
forget Kṛṣṇa, immediately the
infection, māyā, immediately
affects you. Kṛṣṇa bhūliya jīva
bhoga-vāñchā kare. What is that
māyā? Māyā means to plan how
to become materially happy. This
is māyā. All the people of the
world, they are simply making
plan how they will be happy
within this material world. That’s
all. This is māyā. The history of
the whole world studied, it is
experience that the Roman
Empire planned, the British
Empire planned, the… So many
empires, they flourish sometimes.
All fail. The Britishers, they were,
two hundred years ago, they
were planning to rule over this
vast land of America. George
Washington declared
independence; their plan failed.
Similarly, in India they were
planning to exploit. Now Gandhi’s
movement made it fail. So this is
bigger plan. Similarly smaller plan
also. There are many…
Individually, we make so many
plans that “I shall be happy in
this way, in that way, in that
way.” So this plan-making
business is māyā, because that
will never be successful. Trace
out the history of the whole
world. Nobody has become
happy. Hitler made a plan, so
great a plan. You see? He was
frustrated. So the sane man,
intelligent man… Therefore
Bhagavad-gītā says that a person
who is actually intelligent, wise…
How a man becomes wise? After
being baffled or frustrated many,
many times, he can understand
this is not the process. And the
Vedānta-sūtra also places the
first, athāto brahma jijñāsā.
When one is frustrated in all
plan-making business, for him,
the Vedānta-sūtra gives him the
opportunity, “Now your all plans
have failed. Come here.” Athāto
brahma jijñāsā: “Now try to
understand what is Brahman.”
This is the first aphorism of
Vedānta-sūtra. Just try to
understand Brahman. So in this
way… This initiation also.
Initiation means the first
beginning, how to become
purified. This is initiation.
Because this devotional service
means the process of
purification. Now every one of
you, individually you can
understand how you are
becoming purified from your past
life. That is practical. Yes. How
you are becoming purified. So
this initiation means the
beginning of purificatory process.
And the purificatory process,
what is that? This mantra, yaḥ
smaret puṇḍarīkākṣaṁ sa
bahyābhyantaraṁ śuciḥ. Anyone
who always remembers, or
whenever he remembers, if not
always, as soon as he
remembers, puṇḍarīkākṣaṁ sa
bahyābhyantaraṁ śuciḥ, he
becomes immediately purified
internally and externally. So
those who are going to be
initiated today, they should
remember that… Not only they—
all of us should remember. It is
not that we have passed all
examination. No. Māyā is very
strong. Any moment she can
catch up. (chuckles) As soon as…
Just like a virulent type of
disease, as soon as there is little
negligence, there is relapse
immediately, typhoid. So the
doctors take very much
precautionary steps in the, what
is called, convalescent stage of
cure because there is chance of
relapse. Similarly, we are trying
to be purified. This initiation
means to accept the path of
purification. Now we have to
continue that path of purification,
and then, if you are strong
enough, then we can very easily
make progress to achieve the
ultimate result. There is no doubt
about it. So bhakti-mārga, this
devotional service, Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, means to
remember always Kṛṣṇa.
Smartavyaḥ satato viṣṇuḥ
vismartavyaḥ na jātucit. This is
the basic principle, Kṛṣṇa
consciousness. We should always
remember Kṛṣṇa and we shall
never forget. And the very simple
method, that we chant Hare
Kṛṣṇa. So Kṛṣṇa has given us
tongue, so we can utilize it, and
this is the beginning of spiritual
life. This is the beginning of
understanding God, or Kṛṣṇa.
Otherwise we cannot understand
what is God. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-
nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam
indriyaiḥ [BRS. 1.2.234]. Nāmādi,
God has name. People say, “Why
there should be name of God? He
has no name.” The impersonalist
says “Nameless.” Why? The
Vedānta-sūtra says, janmādy
asya yataḥ: [Bhāg. 1.1.1]
“Everything is generated from
Him.” So if there is name, you
have got name, I have got name,
anything… This tape recorder has
got name, this plate has got
name, the place has got name,
the carpet has got name, and
simply God has no name? Why?
(laughs) Just see the fallacy. The
fountainhead of all names is God,
and He has no name. You see?
He is zero. These are the
arguments. But we don’t accept.
The thing is they do not know
the name because their senses
are not purified. You cannot
understand God by imperfect
senses. Therefore Bhāgavata
says, ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi.
Nāmādi. Nāma means name; ādi,
because name is the beginning of
everything. Just like if I want to
make friendship with you, I ask
you, “What is your name?” That
is the beginning. If you go to the
court, before beginning the
judgment, “What is your name?
What is your father’s name?” You
submit any application, “What is
your name?” So nāmādi. So if we
want to understand the Supreme
Absolute Truth, we should begin
from the name, Kṛṣṇa, Hare
Kṛṣṇa, the name, the holy name.
But we cannot understand
whether this is the name of God
due to our imperfect senses.
Therefore the formula is, ataḥ
śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved
grāhyam indriyaiḥ [BRS. 1.2.234]
You cannot understand. Just like
we are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa,
somebody is taking pleasure in
hearing the name of Kṛṣṇa.
Somebody may say, “What is this
nonsense? They are disturbing,”
because he has no knowledge of
the name. But this name… Not
any name. Nāmādi, beginning
from name. First of all name,
then quality, then form, then
pastimes, then entourage. In this
way God has everything. When
we say “king,” “king” means his
kingdom, his palace, his
secretary, his queen, so many,
his government, go on
expanding, so many things,
simply by one word, “king.”
“King” does not mean simply one
person. Similarly, when we say
“God” or “Kṛṣṇa,” immediately it
is to be understood that He has
so many things behind Him. So
many… The whole world is
behind Him. So how to
understand? Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-
nāmādi. His name, His quality,
His forms, His entourage, His
expansion. Na bhaved grāhyam
indriyaiḥ. These indriya, these
senses, materially contaminated,
cannot understand, cannot grasp
what is the name of Kṛṣṇa, what
is the form of Kṛṣṇa, what is the
quality of Kṛṣṇa. Then? “Why you
are taking so much trouble? If by
these senses we cannot
understand Kṛṣṇa, then what is
the use of wasting time?” No.
The next line is, sevonmukhe hi
jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty
adaḥ. You cannot understand by
exercising your senses, but He
reveals. To whom? Who is in the
service attitude, jihvādau,
beginning from the tongue.
Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau. Of all
the senses, the tongue is
considered to be the principal
sense. So tongue, if the tongue is
trained, or the tongue is
spiritualized, then naturally all the
senses become spiritualized. So
jihvādau. So our training is the
tongue training. Train it chanting
Hare Kṛṣṇa and let it taste Kṛṣṇa
prasādam. Then what will be?
The all other senses… There are
five senses for acquiring
knowledge, five senses for
acting. Everything will be
controlled. And devotional
service, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness,
means sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ
tat-paratvena nirmalam [Cc.
Madhya 19.170]. By contacting
relationship with Kṛṣṇa, the
senses become purified. And
what is the symptom of
purification? Sarvopādhi-
vinirmuktam [Cc. Madhya
19.170], to become
uncontaminated by the
designative material
identification. There are so many
things. So the process of Kṛṣṇa
consciousness is purification of
the senses, and the purification
of senses begins by training the
tongue with service spirit. So
those who are going to be
initiated, they should, especial…
Everyone should note it, that we
should train our tongue not to
talk nonsense things. You see?
Simply talk of Kṛṣṇa. We have
got so many subject matter. We
have got Bhagavad-gītā, we have
got Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we
have got Teachings of Lord
Caitanya— so many books,
hundreds and thousands,
Upaniṣads, Veda, Vedānta, any
one you select—talk. Just like
Ambarīṣa. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-
padāravindayor vacāṁsi
vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane.
Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, he set a very
nice example, that he fixed up
his mind on the lotus feet of
Kṛṣṇa, and when he was
speaking, he was talking about
Kṛṣṇa. So just try to utilize your
tongue. It doesn’t matter
whether it is contaminated or
purified, but the process is
purificatory. You just train your
tongue nicely, engage in Kṛṣṇa.
So if you can talk, you go,
preach, talk of Kṛṣṇa, talk of
Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam, lecture anywhere.
Then you’ll be doing the best
service to the people and to
yourself. If you think that you are
unable to give speeches, then
you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and eat
prasādam. So there is no
difficulty. So train the tongue.
Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau,
beginning from the tongue, you
shall be able to purify all your
senses. And as soon as your
senses are purified, you’ll see
Kṛṣṇa, you’ll understand what is
Kṛṣṇa, what is His name, what is
His form, what is His kingdom,
everything will be. Svayam eva
sphuraty adaḥ. You haven’t got
to endeavor. As soon as your
senses are purified, Kṛṣṇa is
present. Just like as soon as the
night is over, the sun is present.
You cannot search out sun in the
darkness. You simply wait for the
morning and the sun is at your
door. Similarly, try to drive away
the darkness, and Kṛṣṇa you’ll
see. You’ll see, “Oh, Kṛṣṇa is not
dead. He’s so nice.” So this
initiation means beginning of
purificatory process of the
senses, and that beginning with
the tongue. Very simple method.
We are not asking you to show
some gymnastic feats, or… No.
Simply try to control your tongue.
It is in your hand. And what is
the means of controlling? Just
engage chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and
take Kṛṣṇa prasāda. Some others
will supply you nice prasādam.
You see? It is very easy. Don’t
take anything which is not Kṛṣṇa
prasādam and don’t talk anything
which is not Kṛṣṇa. Then you
become liberated. Your path of
liberation is open. Two things:
don’t talk anything except Kṛṣṇa,
don’t eat anything except Kṛṣṇa
prasādam. Is it very difficult? All
right. Ten kinds of offenses?
They should be… To avoid the
offenses.
Madhudviṣa: Right here.
Revatīnandana: Here it is,
Prabhupāda. Should I read,
Prabhupāda ?
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Revatīnandana: “The ten
offenses to avoid in chanting the
mahā-mantra. The first is
blaspheming the Lord’s devotee.”
Just read them?
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Revatīnandana: “Second,
considering the Lord and other
demigods on the same level.”
Prabhupāda: This is very
important point, blaspheming the
devotees. The Lord’s devotee, in
many countries, many places…
Just like Lord Jesus Christ, he’s
also devotee of Lord.
Muhammad, he’s also devotee of
Lord. So it is not that because we
are Kṛṣṇa conscious, we shall
unnecessarily decry any other
parts, any other devotee. It may
be, according to time, place, and
country, the method may be
different, but anyone who is
preaching devotion to God, he’s a
devotee of God. So he should
never be blasphemed. Yes.
Revatīnandana: “Two.
Considering the Lord and other
demigods on the same level.”
Prabhupāda: Yes. One should not
put the Supreme Personality of
Godhead… Just like the Māyāvādī
says, “The demigods and God,
they are all the same.” Because
according to them, God has no
form, so any form you accept,
imagine, as the form of God, it is
as good. But that is not the fact.
There are demigods and the
Supreme God also. So we should
not place… Just like demigod,
Lord Brahmā or Lord Śiva, Indra,
Candra, they are demigods. So
we should not place… In one
sense, there is nothing except
God, because everything
expansion of God. But that does
not mean I am equal to God. I
am also expansion of God, that’s
a fact. Just like father and the
son. Son is the expansion of
father; still, the son is not the
father. Don’t mistake that. There
is no difference between father
and son because the same body
is expanded as son, but still, the
son is not the father. Father is
father, son is son. This, I mean
to say, variety, the Māyāvādī
philosophers, they do not
understand. Then?
Revatīnandana: “…or assuming
that there are many Gods.”
Prabhupāda: God is one. There
cannot be many Gods. If God is
not one, there is no meaning of
God. God means, according to
Vedic definition, asamordhva.
Asama means one who has no
equal. Nobody is equal to God.
And urdhva means nobody is
greater than God. God is great.
Nobody can be greater than God.
Therefore God is one. Nobody is
greater, nobody is equal. That
means everyone is lower. Then?
Revatīnandana: “Neglecting the
orders of the spiritual master.”
Prabhupāda: Yes. This is one
offense. These are offenses.
When we accept spiritual master,
it is understood that you cannot
deny his order. Just like Kṛṣṇa
and Arjuna was talking as
friends, but when Arjuna
accepted Kṛṣṇa as spiritual
master, he was simply hearing,
and whenever there was difficulty
to understand, he was
questioning. Not that he was
equally arguing with Kṛṣṇa.
Before accepting Him, he was
arguing. So this is the position.
Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He
said that “My spiritual master
found Me a great fool.” Caitanya
Mahāprabhu is not a fool, but it is
the good qualification of a
disciple to remain a fool before
the spiritual master. Therefore
he’ll never, I mean to say, dare
to argue or disobey. That is
offense. Now, go on. That does
not mean that when you cannot
understand, you cannot question.
Question must be there. That is
stated in this Bhagavad-gītā, tad
viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena
sevayā [Bg. 4.34]. Your
relationship is to know from a
spiritual master everything, but
you should know that with three
things. What is that? First of all
you should surrender. You must
accept the spiritual master as
greater than you. Otherwise what
is the use of accepting one
spiritual master? Praṇipāt.
Praṇipāt means surrendering;
and paripraśna, and questioning;
and sevā, and service. There
must be two sides, service and
surrender, and in the middle
there must be question.
Otherwise there is no question
and answer. Two things must be
there: service and surrender.
Then answer of question is nice.
Yes.
Revatīnandana: “The fourth
offense is minimizing the
authority of the Vedas.”
Prabhupāda: Yes. Scriptures,
authority of Vedas, they must be
accepted. Just like the other day
I was explaining, the Veda says
the conchshell is pure although it
is a bone of an animal. In other
places Veda gives you the
injunction that bone of an animal
is impure. But it says the
conchshell is pure. It can be
placed before the Deity, it can be
used in the Deity room in His
service. Now there may be
argument, “Oh, this is a bone of
an animal. How is that?
Contradiction.” No. So one should
accept the injunction of the
Vedas like that. Whenever it says
this is impure, it is impure; when
it says it is pure, it is pure. Now if
there is any doubt, that should
be understood by questioning
submissively and with service
from the spiritual master. The
spiritual master is there. Then?
But we should always accept the
injunction of the scripture as
truth. Just like there is a proverb,
“Bible truth,” “Biblical truth.”
Nobody can deny Bible. This
should be the attitude. Bible is
also part of Vedas. Therefore
Vedic injunction should be
accepted as it is, without any
interpretation. Just like
Bhagavad-gītā is Veda. Why
Veda? The Supreme Personality
of Godhead personally speaking;
therefore it is Veda. There is no
mistake. One should accept—no
interpretation—as it is. Therefore
we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā
As It Is. Yes. Go on.
Revatīnandana: “The fifth offense
is interpreting the holy names of
God.”
Prabhupāda: Yes. No
interpretation in the holy… Just
like Kṛṣṇa, the Māyāvādī
philosophers may… Just like
Gandhi has written, “Pāṇḍava
means the senses; Kurukṣetra
means this body; Kṛṣṇa means
the mind.” No such nonsense
interpretation. Kṛṣṇa is Kṛṣṇa.
Yes. Go on.
Revatīnandana: “The sixth
offense is committing sin on the
strength of chanting.”
Prabhupāda: Yes. Now we have
explained the mantra that as
soon as one chants Hare Kṛṣṇa,
immediately, bahyābhyantaraḥ
śuciḥ, he becomes purified. Now
if one takes advantage of this
holy name, “Let me commit
sins…” Just like sometimes in the
Christian church they take
advantages that by confessing
sin one becomes free from sinful
reaction. So go to church and
confess, and again come out and
do all sorts of sins, and again
confess. This sort of (laughs)
minimizing is nonsense. It is fact.
When you confess before the
church, before God, you are free
from all sinful action. That’s all
right. But if you commit again,
then next confession will not be
accepted. They do not know this.
You cannot… Suppose a child has
committed some mistake. Father
says, “All right, don’t do this.” If
he again does it, there is no
excuse. They do not know that.
They think, “We shall commit sin
and go to church and confess
and finish. So let us do this
balancing business.” Yes.
Similarly, don’t do this balancing
business, that “Because chanting
Hare Kṛṣṇa will wash off all my
accounts of sinful activities, so in
the morning, from morning to
night, let me do all kinds of sinful
activities, and at night, at
bedtime, let me chant Hare
Kṛṣṇa. Then finish.” No. (laughs)
Don’t do that. Don’t do that. That
is the greatest offense. Yes.
You’ll never be forgiven. Those
who purposely do like that—“I
have got very nice instrument for
washing off my sinful activities.
So whole day let me do all sinful
activities, and at night let me
chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Let me
meditate. That’s all. Finish.”—no.
You should note that the name,
the holy name has got the
power. Now, from this date, you
are free from all sinful activities,
reaction. But don’t do it. That is
the greatest offense. Yes.
Revatīnandana: “The seventh
offense is instructing the Lord’s
name to the unfaithful.”
Prabhupāda: Yes. Those who do
not believe in God, atheists, what
is the use of…? But not to bother
him, but give him the chance of
hearing. That will make him
competent to come forward.
Therefore we are distributing this
holy name. Not that everyone will
be immediately turned to Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, but we are giving
chance. If they hear… You have
got practical experience.
Somebody’s hearing, he’s
reforming. So we should give
chance. But if one is staunch
atheist, we should not talk very
much with him about Kṛṣṇa. He
may say something against,
offensive. Yes. Then?
Revatīnandana: “The eighth
offense is comparing the holy
name to material piety.”
Prabhupāda: Yes. And another
thing, just like we are holding
this ceremony, initiation
ceremony. It should not be
accepted just we are functioning
some ritualistic ceremony. No. It
is different from ritualistic
ceremony. Although it appears
like ritualistic, it is
transcendental. Ritualistic
ceremony, they are meant for
giving you advantage of become
pious, from impious life. It also
gives that, but this is not the
ultimate aim. The ultimate aim is
to give you love of God, which is
far, far transcendental to the
pious and impious activities. That
is a different thing that belongs
to the spiritual world—love of
God. It is not that it is a function
to nullify your sinful activities.
That is automatically done. Just
like if you get one million dollars,
the purpose of ten dollars
automatically solved. Similarly,
this acceptance of holy name of
God will automatically wash off
all your sinful reaction. That’s a
fact. But it is not meant for that
purpose. It is meant for higher
purpose, to attain to this
platform of loving God, rendering
transcendental loving service to
the Lord. That is the aim. Yes.
Revatīnandana: “The ninth
offense is inattentive while
chanting the holy name.”
Prabhupāda: Yes. This is ninth
offense. While you chant, you
hear also. You don’t turn your
attention to anything else,
mechanically chanting and
thinking of something. Thinking
of Kṛṣṇa is all right, but if I think
something which is not in Kṛṣṇa
consciousness… Best thing is that
I shall chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and each
word I shall hear; then it will be
very much effective. Yes.
Revatīnandana: “The tenth
offense is attachment to material
things while engaged in the
practice of chanting.”
Prabhupāda: That I explained.
This is the disease, ahaṁ mameti
[SB 5.5.8]. The material disease
means I am thinking this body, “I
am,” and everything belonging to
this body or in relationship with
the body—“Mine.” This is
material disease. So we shall see.
By chanting we shall see how
much we are making progress,
how much I am free from these
two concept of life, that “I am
this body, and anything
belonging to this body is mine.”
This is the test, how we are
becoming free from these two
concept of life. If there is still the
concept that “I am this body, and
anything belonging to this body
is mine,” then you have to chant
very cautiously to make progress.
That’s all. These ten kinds of
offenses you should guard
against. Jayānanda looks like Śrī
Caitanya Mahāprabhu. (laughter)
Yes. He was tall and stout and
strong, Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
(laughing) Yes. Very good. And in
Vṛndāvana, when Kīrtanānanda
was given sannyāsa, he was
looking so nice with this dress
and daṇḍa, oh, practically all the
devotees of Vṛndāvana came to
offer him respect. Yes. On
Janmāṣṭamī day I offered him
sannyāsa. So many devotees
came to see in the temple. So
there was a big crowd. He was
looking very nice. Caitanya
Mahāprabhu was also very fair-
complexioned. So with this dress,
persons with fair complexion
looks very nice, very attractive.
People are not attracted with this
dress in kīrtana party? (laughs)
This bare head with tilaka and
this dress, they will know that
they are coming from, directly
from the kingdom of God.
(laughs) Actually it is so. They
have forgotten God; otherwise
they would have received these
brahmacārīs so nicely. In India,
oh, you’ll be received just like
gods with this dress.