“yat karoñi yad açnäsi
yaj juhoñi dadäsi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
tat kuruñva mad-arpaëam”
(Bhagavad-Gita 9.27)
SYNONYMS
yat—whatever; karoñi—you do; yat—whatever; açnäsi—you eat; yat—whatever; juhoñi—you offer; dadäsi—you give away; yat—whatever; yat—whatever; tapasyasi—austerities you perform; kaunteya—O son of Kunté; tat—that; kuruñva—do; mat—unto Me; arpaëam—as an offering.
TRANSLATION
Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform—do that, O son of Kunté, as an offering to Me.
PURPORT
Thus, it is the duty of everyone to mold his life in such a way that he will not forget Kåñëa in any circumstance. Everyone has to work for maintenance of his body and soul together, and Kåñëa recommends herein that one should work for Him. Everyone has to eat something to live; therefore he should accept the remnants of foodstuffs offered to Kåñëa. Any civilized man has to perform some religious ritualistic ceremonies; therefore Kåñëa recommends, “Do it for Me,” and this is called arcana. Everyone has a tendency to give something in charity; Kåñëa says, “Give it to Me,” and this means that all surplus money accumulated should be utilized in furthering the Kåñëa consciousness movement. Nowadays people are very much inclined to the meditational process, which is not practical in this age, but if anyone practices meditating on Kåñëa twenty-four hours a day by chanting the Hare Kåñëa mantra round his beads, he is surely the greatest meditator and the greatest yogé. As substantiated by the Sixth Chapter of Bhagavad-gétä.
Chandan Yatra for Krsna – The Supreme Enjoyer:
“bhoktäraà yajïa-tapasäà
sarva-loka-maheçvaram
suhådaà sarva-bhütänäà
jïätvä mäà çäntim åcchati”
(Bhagavad-Gita 5.29)
Krishna explains that He is the proprietor of everything that exists and therefore everything is meant for his enjoyment and He is the best well wishing friend of all living beings. Only that person who understands these principles can achieve peace in life. We should know that our enjoyment is dependent on, how we satisfy God.
In the Srimad Bhagavatam, it describes that just as if you water of the root of the tree, the whole tree is nourished, all the leaves, all the branches, all the fruits, all the flowers, but if you neglect the root of the tree, every part of the tree will dwindle and die. So Krishna is the root of all existence. It is described “ahaà sarvasya prabhavo mattaù sarvaà pravartate”. Krishna declares that, “I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds and everything emanates from me”.
“mamaiväàço jéva-loke
jéva-bhütaù sanätanaù
manaù-ñañöhänéndriyäëi
prakåti-sthäni karñati”
(Bhagavad-Gita 15.7)
We are all part of Krishna. Every part of the tree is meant to serve the interest of the root. If we can simply understand this principle, we can make progress with full happiness in life.
This month we are observing a very very special celebration, it is called Chandan Yatra. It is the time of the year when Lord Sri Krishna, He is completely covered from His head to His feet in sandal wood paste. Why do we cover Krishna with sandal wood paste-because this is the very very hot time of the year! Hardly anyone likes to come to India during the moths of April and May because it is very very hot. Now the devotees understand that if Krishna is cool that will give me pleasure. People are making all arrangements for air conditioning and fans. People are going to the Himalayas, but they do not understand that they will never find relief from the pains of the heats of the material existence through this process. “mäträ-sparçäs tu kaunteya çétoñëa-sukha-duùkha-däù”(BG-2.14)
Badri Yatra- An Experience:
I remember a few years back we took a yatra of devotees to Badrikaashram; Sri Badrinath. We went this time of the year, in the month of May and when we were in Delhi it was so hot. My God, it was scorching hot and everyone was thinking, we cannot wait till we get up to Badrinath, where it will be nice and freshingly cool. So we made that long journey to Badrinath and when we arrived it was nice and freshingly cool and everyone was thinking- ha how nice! The Lord’s Supreme abode is like heaven and then we began to have Harinam Kirtan in the roads of Badrinath after having the holy darshan of BadriVishal and at that time like flowers coming from the heavens, they began a shower of snow and there was so much snow. I am from the northern part of the Unites States of America or I am from Chicago, it is famous for snow and cold and I must say that I have never seen snow like in Badrinath. Each snow flake was like a lotus flower just falling, not falling, but floating down from the heavens and we were thinking- how beautiful! How nice- the demigods are showering flowers, but then we realize that these flowers were very cold and because of the heat of Delhi no one had any warm clothes. So we were freezing. Everyone was like this- shshshsh…… People started thinking, maybe we should go down to Delhi, where it is nice and warm. But of course, because of the snow, the roads were blocked. So we could not go anywhere. We were trapped. There was only one shelter to go into the holy temple of the Lord and to fall at his lotus feet. My dear Lord, how can we satisfy you? As soon as we offer this prayer, there was no question of heat and there was no question of cold. In fact, we became so courageous after offering this prayer, that we all went down to the Alakananda in the middle of the snow desert and we all took our bath.
So heat and cold is the condition of this material world, heat-cold, Happiness-distress, honour-dishonour, or pleasure-pain. Krishna says in Bhagavad-Gita
“ye hi saàsparça-jä bhogä
duùkha-yonaya eva te
ädy-antavantaù kaunteya
na teñu ramate budhaù”
(Bhagavad-Gita 5.22)
An intelligent man does not take pleasure in what is delight in sense perception. He knows that such pleasures have a beginning and an end. Therefore he finds pleasure and giving satisfaction to God.
Talk with Udupi Math Swami- An Insight:
Just last week, some of us went to Uudpi, where the holy form of Udupi Krishna is standing, blessing the entire creation with his infinite mercy and Udupi Krishna was wearing a beautiful crown- A crown which we have never seen before. It was completely covered with precious diamonds. I believe, that this crown cost about one crore rupees. It was offered to Udupi Krishna by two of the very great acharyas of the Udupi math, Srila Palimar math Swami and Srila Pejawar math Swami. So we had the opportunity recently to be sitting with Palimar math swami and he was explaining, how people they criticize. Why are you spending so much money to give a crown to Krishna? Why do you not feed the poor with that money? Why you do not build hospitals with that money? Why do you not provide clothing for those who need with that money? Krishna does not need anything. He is Dwarakdhish. He is Lakshminath. He is the lord of Dwaraka. He is living in 16,108 palaces. He is the husband and the master of the goddess of fortune. Why you not give to somebody who needs?
Then he began to explain, how the Prime Minister of India or the President of the United states or the Chief Executive Head of the Soviet Union- do you know how much money is spent on them every week, everyday, on security forces, on security devices and the best topmost accommodations? Whenever they travelled, they have their own exclusive jet airplane, just for them. There are crores of rupees spent a month on such persons. If you consider everything that goes into the service that they require and who is such person- he is the Lord or the master or the Chief executive of a little tiny attractive land, in a little tiny place called the earth. One time one of our devotees was behaving a little proud. So our guru Maharaj Srila Prabhupada, he began to explain that the Supreme Lord Narayan, He expands Himself as Karnodakshayi Vishnu, Maha Vishnu and He was so big that from His body emanates millions and billions and trillions, infinite innumerable universes and each of those universes is just like a little spec coming from the pore of Maha Vishnu and we are living in this tiny little universe. And within this universe, the earth, planet is just a tiny little spec. And within this earth, the country of India is just little spec and Bombay is a spec within India and Chow patty is a spec within Bombay and you and me, we are just little specs crawling around Bombay. In Delhi there is just little spec called V.P. Singh and in America there is little spec called George Bush. We are all specs, tiny and insignificant Jivas and we are such little Jiva and we are giving so much attention. But Krishna; he is the Lord and master of the entire of Universe! Hari Bol.
So Palimar Swami Maharaj was explaining that- what is the limit of what you can offer to the Lord of the Universe? It is said that, when you decorate the deity of the Lord very nicely then you lose all desire to decorate yourself very nicely because you are satisfied in seeing Krishna very beautiful. When you offer nice jewels or nice garlands to Lord Sri Krishna and Sri Radharani, just by seeing them decorated in such a nice way, we lose all desire to decorate ourselves. After all, how much can we decorate ourselves and how much satisfaction do we gain?
Never Ending Needs:
Recently in Philippines, there was a dictator and when they looked into the house, they saw that the wife had something like 700 pairs of shoes. 700 or 7000, it does not make much difference. I think, she had 7000 pairs of shoes. Each one was imported from a very very special place. Every pair of shoes cost practically as much as the living quarters of the average person of the Philippines. Now, how many times can she even wear 7000 pairs of shoes? If she changed her shoes once every hour, she will hardly get through all her shoes in her whole life time. She was still a frustrated woman. She was still thinking, I need more shoes, then I’ll be happy. Now devotees, the babajis in Vrindavan, the sanyasis, they have no shoes. They go bare foot. They do not even have one single pair of chappals. When they see Krishna’s feet being beautifully decorated with Tulsi leaves and chandan they feel such satisfaction. They do not require shoes.
Krsna’s Happiness is Our Happiness:
There is a story in the Caitanya-caritamrita. It describes there, when the Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu visited the house of Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and Sarvabhauma cooked many hundreds of preparations, first class preparations of Bhoga and offered it all to Jagannath and then he said to Lord Chaitanya, this is mahaprasad, please accept. Lord Chaitanya was in great happiness, He said, “Seeing that Lord Jagannath has eaten so nicely, I am perfectly satisfied and my heart is immersed in pleasure. Now for me, just give me a little bit of steamed subji and little steamed rice, nothing else”. Sarvabhauma said, “No no, this is all for you”. He said, “What do I require?” He said, “If Jagannath is happy then I am happy. I do not require any of this. My happiness is in seeing Krishna happy.” If we simply understand this principle, we will know- what is real happiness. But as long as we are greedy, as long as we are selfish, as long as we think, “I need more and more and more”, we will constantly be engulfed in the flames of the Kama or lust.
Krishna says in Bhagavad-Gita, “That lust is like a raging fire. The more you feed the more hungry it becomes. The more you have the more you want. That is the law of nature. The more you give, the more you have. The more you take, the less you have within your own heart and the more you give, the more you have within your heart. If we have this faith, we can become happy. If we have this faith, we can do real welfare, real service for humanity.
Offer Everything With Devotion:
Therefore, for the twenty one days of this month that we celebrate Chandan Yatra, you will notice these small deities of Radha and Krishna today; they are completely covered with sandal wood. Because, according to the pancharatrik viddhi, whatever worship you offer to this small murties, the Vijaya Murties, the large murties are accepting that. If you cover Vijaya Murti of RadhaGopinath, the large RadhaGopinath Murties are accepting that offering. So it is a very hot time of the month, forget whether you are hot. Think simply is Krishna cool? If Krishna is cool, I am happy. Krishna does not require air conditioning, He does not require fans. He simply asks for some chandan mixed with kesar and a Tulsi leaf, and if you offer that and a little camphor, He is satisfied. “patraà puñpaà phalaà toyaà; yo me bhaktyä prayacchati”(BG 9.26) Krishna says, “Even you offer me a little water, a fruit, and a flower, if it is offered with devotion, I’ll accept it. I’ll be happy. And this is the secret of success in this human form of life.”
“ataù pumbhir dvija-çreñöhä
varëäçrama-vibhägaçaù
svanuñöhitasya dharmasya
saàsiddhir hari-toñaëam”
(Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.13)
Whatever your occupation may be, whether you are a brahmana, a Kshatriya, a vaishya, or a shudra, whether you are a brahmacäré, a grishastha, a vanaprastha, or a sanyäsé, it does not matter. These things are all external. Whether you are a doctor, a Lawyer, a sociologist, a psychologist, a farmer, a businessman, a sadhu, a student, a housewife, a mother, a father, or a child. These things do not matter. They are all external. But if you perform your duty for the pleasure of Krishna, “saàsiddhir hari-toñaëam” for the pleasure of Lord Sri Hari, that is the perfection of your life. That is the happiness that will be experienced infinitely and eternally by the soul. So this is the conviction of those on the path of Bhakti; that, if Krishna is pleased then my life is perfect. My pleasure is giving Krishna happiness. To the degree we are thinking in terms of our own happiness to that degree you will suffer, today or tomorrow. To the degree you are selflessly engaging your propensities for the pleasure of Krishna; to that degree you will experience real joy.
“brahma-bhütaù prasannätmä
na çocati na käìkñati
samaù sarveñu bhüteñu
mad-bhaktià labhate paräm”
Bhagavad-Gita 18.54
One who is on the spiritual platform is prasannätmä, he is eternally joyful. “na çocati na käìkñati” he does not hanker for anything nor does he lament for anything. Our whole life is simply engrossed in hankering for what we do not have and lamenting over what we lose. This is material life. Simply hankering and lamenting.
The Unnecessary Hankerings:
Modern society is very expert at creating propaganda to increase your hankering for things that you never even imagine, that you want it before. My god, it used to be. The people lived very happy, very simple. They had a little land. They had a little house. They had a cow, a bull, and they grew their food. They ate nicely. They gathered together to hear Mahabharata, Ramayana, Srimad Bhagavatam, and for Kirtan. They were happy. What else do you need? Little water, little food, and place to sleep and Harinam. People are very happy, very peaceful, very loving toward one another. But then what happened, if we do not have a telephone, I cannot be happy. If I do not have a refrigerator, I cannot be happy. If I do not have a television set, I cannot be happy. If I do not have an automobile, I cannot be happy. If I do not have an air conditioner, I cannot be happy. If I do not have so many nice saris and so many pairs of nice clothes, I cannot be happy. If I do not have a computer, I cannot be happy. If I do not become very famous and very prestigious and people do not offer me all honour, I cannot be happy. If I do not use this particular type of toothpaste, I’ll not be happy. If I do not use this deodorant under my arms, I’ll not be happy. If I do not use this particular soap, I’ll not be happy. We are being brain washed. If I do not see this cinema, I’ll not be happy. If I do not buy this record, I’ll not be happy. In this way, we are being bombarded with the propaganda that it is simply aimlessly making us hanker for things that are completely unnecessary. The more you have the more you want. Hiranyakashipu conquered the entire Universe and what was the result? He was completely frustrated. He wanted more and Prahlad, he was happy just chanting Hare Krishna. He did not care anything for the wealth of his father. He was self satisfied. So to whatever extend, you satisfy the unnecessary demands of your senses and mind, the more you try to satisfy, the more you become disturbed. The more you put fuel on the fire, the hungrier, higher and the more devouring the fire becomes.
A Way to Decrease our Hankerings:
Human life is meant to extinguish the fire. It is not meant to increase the fire. How do we decrease the fire? How do we extinguish the fire? The same propensities we have to satisfy our own hankerings for temporary enjoyments, if we utilize that same energy in offering service to Krishna, we give real peace, pure joy to the soul. When we learn to find happiness in seeing Krishna’s pleasure- “na çocati na käìkñati”- we do not hanker for anything nor lament for anything. So we must cultivate this consciousness. What we strive for a life, we will attain. If we strive honestly with our hearts, to really find pleasure in giving pleasure to Krishna, we will find pleasure in giving pleasure to Krishna. “Ye yathä mäà prapadyante täàs tathaiva bhajämy aham”(BG_4.11) Krishna will ultimately fulfil all of your desires. But this is the one desire, that will give you happiness and that will give you joy.
To the Complete Satisfaction of the Lord:
So how wonderful it is that Krishna is covered with nice sandal wood and He and Srimati Radharani are playing together in a very refreshed and cooling atmosphere. So we will also have this fountain going. Not for us, but for Krishna. When Krishna hears the beautiful sound of the water falling, when Krishna feels the cooling effect of sprinkles of water, He will feel very happy and refreshed in the heat of the summer. And seeing this, the devotees feel so much refreshed. So let this be the standard of our happiness. How we are pleasing god?
In Vrindavan this is the only standard of happiness. This is the qualification to be a resident of Vrindavan or Vrajavasi; that there is no desire in your heart except the satisfaction of Krishna. It is described that the Gopis, when they would see Krishna going out in the pasturing ground with bare feet, their hearts would feel great pain thinking, “My God, Krishna is going to step on thorns with His lotus feet, they are so soft and so delicate and He might step on stones which might hurt Him”. It was unbearable for them to think of Krishna feeling pain. Because they were so engrossed in this, they were completely oblivious and transcendental to their own pleasures and pains.
Limitless Love of the Gopis’ for Krishna:
There is a story, how Krishna asked His friend Uddhava to get the dust from the feet of His devotees to cure His headache. And he went to many great sages and saints. He even went to great demigods and said that Krishna wants the dusts from your feet to put on His head because He is suffering headache. Everyone was telling no no no, impossible. The dust from our feet, if we put them on the head of God, we will go to hell. Uddhava said, “I know you will go to hell, there is no question of putting your feet on Krishna’s head; but He has a headache. They said, please offer all our respect to Krishna, tell Him, “Dandavat, Bhagawan, how can we put our feet on your head? So he went from place to place and everyone gave him the same reply and when Krishna got these messages back. He said, yes they have such respect for me, but I am suffering. Go to Vrindavan, request the Gopis, for the dust from their feet.
Now from the material status, who are the Gopis compared to the demigods. Who are the Gopis compare to the great sages, Brahmans and sanyasis. They are just housewives, herding cows. How many people go to the demigods to take the dust from their feet and put on their heads? Everyone wants to get the dust from the Devatas on their head and the great sanyasis and great Brahmans and the whole society is going to them and taking the dust from the feet and putting on the head. How many people to go to housewives, to take the dust from their lotus feet? Raise your hand, if you have ever taken the dust from the lotus feet of a house wife. I once did. But I won’t tell you, who. Compared to these great souls, the Gopis are very insignificant, from the social point of view.
So Uddhava told them, “Krishna has headache and He wants the dust from your lotus feet”. He said that if we apply it on His head, He will become free from pain. So the Gopis immediately started scraping the dust from their feet and putting it in a nice container and said, “Go, run, quickly bring it to Krishna, and immediately go. No time for anything else. He said, “But do you understand. What are you doing? You will go to hell. Even the great lotus feet of the sages and demigods, they will not put their dust on Krishna’s head. What to speak of you?” They said, “Yes, let us go to hell. We do not mind going to hell. In fact, we are prepared to go to hell for ever for the rest of eternity, if that’s would it takes to relieve Krishna’s headache. If Krishna’s headache is cured, then we will be happy whether we are in hell or heaven. But if Krishna has a headache, even if we are in Vaikuntha, there will be no peace in our life”; because their only happiness is Krishna’s happiness. And do you know what Uddhava did?
Krishna’s Benediction to Uddhava:
Uddhava went back and brought Krishna that dust and Krishna was very happy. And Uddhava prayed to Krishna, “Krishna, grant me one benediction”. Krishna said, “I’ll offer you any benediction, you want”. Now can you imagine if the Supreme Lord, Lakshmipati, Sreenathji, the Master and the Lord of Sreeji, the goddess of fortune, if He offered you any benediction you wanted, what would you ask for? Whatever you want, it is fulfilled. Uddhava got that benediction and what did he ask for? He said, “Let me for the rest of eternity, let me take birth, as a piece of grass in Vraja Dham. So that the Gopis, whose only desire is your satisfaction, that they may step on my head with their lotus feet and I’ll collect the dust on my head too”. Let that be my only desire in life. And Krishna granted that desire. And Uddhava by Krishna’s mercy expanded himself to be a blade of grass in Vrindavan. When the Gopis are engaging in their house hold chores, not knowing it is Uddhava, they step on his head and he collects the dusts from their lotus feet.
The Beautiful Art of Pleasing the Lord:
So the great souls, their ambition is simply to please those persons, whose only desire is Krishna’s pleasure. “yasya prasädäd bhagavat-prasädo yasyäprasädän na gatiù kuto ‘pi”. Therefore, it is said that, if you please the spiritual master, you please Krishna. If you do not please the spiritual master, you cannot please Krishna, no matter what you do. “vyavasäyätmikä buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana” Therefore a devotee’s life and soul is simply to see the guru and Krishna happy. They concern themselves not for heaven or hell. They concern themselves not for pleasure or pain. They simply want to give pleasure to Krishna and his devotees. “mad-bhakta-püjäbhyadhikä” If you do not please the devotee of Krishna, you cannot properly please Krishna. There are three platforms of devotees. There is the kanistadhikari, the madhyamadhikari, and the uttamadhikari. The kanistadhikari is one, who sees God in the temple and he is very anxious to please God in the temple. But he does not consider anything or anyone else. The Madhyamadhikari knows that the Supreme Lord of the Universe is in the temple. But he also sees God within the hearts of all living beings. Therefore he is very very anxious to please Krishna and he knows the greatest way to please Krishna is by pleasing those who have surrendered their lives to Krishna.
“sädhavo hådayaà mahyaà
sädhünäà hådayaà tv aham
mad-anyat te na jänanti
nähaà tebhyo manäg api”
(Srimad Bhagavatam 9.4.68)
Lord Naryana told Durvasa Muni, “The Sadhu is my life and soul because the sadhu, like the devotees, is willing to sacrifice everything and everything just for my pleasure”. Krishna says, “Therefore, I sacrifice everything and anything for their pleasure and if you do not please them you cannot please me. And if you please them, I am satisfied”.
Narayan explains that because the sadhu knows no happiness other than pleasing me. I know no happiness other than pleasing them. That is why Krishna told Uddhava- “mad-bhakta-püjäbhyadhikä”; that pleasing my devotees is most pleasing to me. So let us learn the beautiful art of pleasing Lord Sri Krishna, pleasing his most intimate and the most glorious of all devotees; Srimati Radharani and those who are assisting Her, in Her loving service to Lord Sri Hari, those great sadhus who dedicate their lives in the service of the Lord. By satisfying the Lord and His devotees, that is the only real standard of pleasure and this must be our conviction in life. The purpose of sacrifice is to satisfy God. You have heard, you have read in the Vedas about the Gomedha sacrifice, the Aswamedha sacrifice, the Agnihotra sacrifice, and there are so many sacrifices. They are all meant to satisfy the Lord. People perform their sacrifice of tapasya to satisfy the Lord. But it is described in Srimad Bhagavatam “yajnaih sankirtana prayair yajante hi sumedasah” (SB-11.5.32) the supreme most sacrifice that satisfies the Lord and his devotees, in this Kali Yuga is the chanting of the Holy names. “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama, Rama, Hare Hare”.
Chanting the Holy Name pleases the Lord:
There is no superior method of satisfying Krishna than chanting His holy names. And when we used to ask our guru maharaja, “How can we please you?” he would always say, “Chant Hare Krishna”. Because the Guru, he is not concerned with his own pleasure. He is only concerned, that you are pleasing Krishna. If he sees you are pleasing Krishna, he is pleased and Krishna sees that you are pleasing the devotee, Krishna is pleased. It is a competition, what to do? The devotee is simply trying to give everything to Krishna and Krishna is trying to give everything to his devotees. We are just little tiny beings and our aspiration is just to be in the middle of that somewhere. The guru is saying, “Chant Hare Krishna, that pleases me the best”. Why because it pleases Krishna best? And Krishna is saying,” Chant Hare Krishna, why; because it pleases my devotee best”. So therefore we say, just chant Hare Krishna and be happy. But you will find through the process of Chanting Hare Krishna, your every act, your every desire will simply be to please Krishna. You will feel cool when Krishna is cool. You will feel satisfied when Krishna gets nice food. You will feel beautiful when you see Krishna decorated beautifully. You will feel that you have the best, even if you living under a tree, if you see Krishna has a beautiful temple then you will feel, aha, everything is very nice.
Spiritually High New Vrindavan during the Olden Days:
I remember in New Vrindavan in the old days. Now New Vrindavan is become quite nice, even by worldly standards. But in the old days, New Vrindavan was only nice by very high spiritual standards. By worldly standards, we were sub-poverty level. There was one time, a toll of how much money is spent on a devotee at New Vrindavan. This is back, when I first came in 1972, 73, 74, until about 76 and the amount of money that a devotee would use up in the form of food, clothing, and residence was about 1/10th of the poverty level of America. We were sub-poverty. We were eating some potatoes and may be few chapattis. We were sleeping on hard floors with no heat. You know, two hundred year old buildings falling apart. We had nothing. No clothes. We did not have clothes. There were no clothes to get. We did not have shoes; we were bare foot for months and months until someone would leave the community and leave their shoes behind, then we would go aha, shoes very good. If you wanted anything, you would hope someone would leave because they would always leave their things behind as usually they would sneak out and they did not bring anything with them. So you would be just waiting, seeing, if somebody having some difficulty, if they are, I would be very careful to watch. As soon as they leave, I will get their shoes. We were very poor and the devotees were working day and night to build the beautiful palace for their guru and Krishna. We are not going to live in a palace. None of us were going to live in the palace, we will sleep under the trees but we will feel a hundred, million times more satisfied by seeing Srila Prabhupada and Krishna living in a beautiful marble palace than anyone who makes such palace for himself. And it was a fact. The devotees were dancing, jumping, leaping when we put Srila Prabhupada and Krishna in that palace. We were just in ecstasy. There were no words to describe it and what did we have – nothing. We didn’t even care what we had. We didn’t care we didn’t have. But when we saw Krishna had, yes very happy!
The Real Happiness lies in Pleasing Krishna:
So this is the result of chanting Hare Krishna. When we satisfy Krishna by chanting his holy names gradually we learn how to find real happiness in satisfying God. So please chant Hare Krishna and be happy. Please know that whatever you have, it will only give your soul pleasure to the extent you are using it to water the root to nourish the desires of Krishna. The only standard of happiness we should strive for in our life is to please Krishna. No need to change your particular field of activity in this world, simply perform your activities for the pleasure of God and chant his holy name. “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama, Rama Hare Hare”.
Thank you very much.
