(Prabhupada leads prema-dhvani) [break]

Nitai: "Those persons who are performing many processes of atonement cannot become purified by such atonement due to their being nondevotees, just as a pot containing liquor cannot be purified even if it is washed by all the rivers combined together."

Prabhupada:

prayascittani cirṇani
narayaṇa-paraṅmukham
na niṣpunanti rajendra
sura-kumbham ivapagaḥ;
[SB 6.1.18]

Ivapagaḥ;. So here is one significant word, sura-kumbham. Everything is washed very nicely. If you go to the river, you can wash very nicely. But just see how much infectious is liquor that the any pot or any bottle which was filled up with liquor, they cannot be purified. This is Vedic civilization. How much condemned is liquor! Because a pot was filled up with liquor, you cannot use it for any other purpose. It is lost. Even if you wash it very nicely, no, it will not be accepted. Finished. Similarly, there are many processes of purification; they cannot be as useful as bhagavad-bhakti. Bhagavad-bhakti is so nice that Krṣṇa says that "You surrender to Me," sarva-dharman parityajya, "and immediately you become immune from all reaction of sinful activity, immediately."

sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekaṁ saraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvaṁ sarva-papebhyo
mokṣayiṣyami ma sucaḥ;
[Bg. 18.66]

Bhagavad-bhakti is so strong. In many places it is stated in the sastra.

dharmaḥ; svanuṣṭhitaḥ; puṁsaṁ
viṣvaksena-kathasu yaḥ;
notpadayed yadi ratiṁ
srama eva hi kevalam
[SB 1.2.8]

So there are different varieties of religious system, but if you execute your particular type of religious system very perfectly but the result, if you do not become attached to Krṣṇa, your love for Krṣṇa is not awakened, then simply by performing such ritualistic ceremony or rules and regulation of your religious system, if you do not become develop yourself to love God, then it is all useless waste of time. It has no meaning. That is the test, how to become, how to advance in loving service of the Lord. That is the... Then you are religious, you are philosopher, you are great man, you are everything. Otherwise, if you do not awaken your dormant love for Krṣṇa, or God, then all such labor is useless. Srama eva hi kevalam. Dharmaḥ; svanuṣṭhitaḥ; puṁsaṁ viṣvaksena-kathasu yaḥ;, notpadayed yadi [SB 1.2.8]. By performing religious ceremonies or following the religious principle, the test is how one has become advanced in the loving service of the Lord. This is required. And his example is very strong, that sura-kumbham ivapagaḥ;. Sura-kumbha, the pot which contained liquor, it cannot be purified. Therefore it is so strictly prohibited about liquor.

So,

sakrn manaḥ; krṣṇa-padaravindayor
nivesitaṁ tad-guṇa-ragi yair iha
na te yamaṁ pasa-bhrtas ca tad-bhaṭan
svapne 'pi pasyanti hi cirṇa-niṣkrtaḥ;

Therefore Rupa Gosvami has recommended that "Somehow or other, you become Krṣṇa conscious." Yena tena prakareṇa manaḥ; krṣṇe nivesayet. That is the recommendation of Rupa Gosvami: "Somehow or other, you engage your mind in Krṣṇa." Then your life will be successful. Somehow or other. Do anything, but you remember Krṣṇa. That is the instruction in the Bhagavad-gita also. Yudhyasva mam anusmara: [Bg. 8.7] "You fight; at the same time, you remember Me." "How it is possible? I am busy, and I have to remember Krṣṇa?" Sometimes this argument is put forward. But that argument is not strong. Rupa Gosvami has given a very nice example that a woman, if she is attached to some man and she has a fixed up time to meet the man at some place or at some hour, so she may be engaged in household affairs very busily, but she is expecting, "When that hour will come?" This is very factual example. The mind is there, "When that meeting will take place?" Similarly, you can remember Krṣṇa. The... It is a crude example, but it is possible that you be busy in so many ways, but at the same time you can remember Krṣṇa. That is wanted. That is Krṣṇa conscious. We have no objection. You do business, you do this, you do that. But if you can always remember Krṣṇa, then your life is successful. It doesn't matter. Yena tena prakareṇa manaḥ; krṣṇe nivesayet. And if you remember always Krṣṇa, that means you are becoming purified. You are purified immediately.

So that is required. Prayascitta and other things, they may be temporarily... That is... We are discussing this point. The real point is that narayaṇa-paraṅmukham. Without thinking of Narayaṇa or Krṣṇa or Viṣṇu, no other method will be able to purify you. There are many places... Vita-raga-bhaya-krodha man-maya... [Bg. 4.10]. What is that verse? Vita-raga-bhaya-krodha man-maya mam upasritaḥ;... [Bg. 4.10]. The simple process to become purified. And that simple process is this chanting. Chanting Hare Krṣṇa, Hare Krṣṇa, this name "Krṣṇa" is reminding me. I must hear and I must chant with the tongue. Then you keep yourself always in Krṣṇa consciousness. Our method is very simple. It doesn't require much education or to become rich or become beautiful or become..., to take birth in high family. No. In any condition. Ahaituky apratihata. If you want to chant Hare Krṣṇa mantra, there is no impediment in the world. You can, walking on the street, you can chant Hare Krṣṇa. That will keep you purified. No other method. This is the purport of this verse.

prayascittani cirṇani
narayaṇa-paraṅmukham
na niṣpunanti rajendra
sura-kumbham ivapagaḥ;

So this purificatory process... Bhakti means purificatory process. We are impure. Because we are impure, therefore we are undergoing so many tribulations, so many miserable condition of life. Otherwise we are spirit soul, anandamayo 'bhyasat (Vedanta-sutra 1.1.12). Our position is anandamaya. Anandamaya, the Vedanta-sutra says, anandamaya..., "By nature, spirit soul is anandamaya, always full of jolly." You see Krṣṇa. Krṣṇa is full of jolly. Always you see pictures of Krṣṇa, either He is playing with the cowherds boy or either He is killing some demon, He is laughing, very sportively He is killing. And what to speak of with the gopis and Radharaṇi? Because He is sac-cid-ananda-vigrahaḥ; [Bs. 5.1], always full of happiness and bliss. And we are also part and parcel of Krṣṇa. Therefore our position is the same, maybe in small scale. The position is the same, anandamayo 'bhyasat (Vedanta-sutra 1.1.12). Anandamaya. So why should we be morose? Why should we be unhappy? Because we are now at the present moment covered with the sinful reaction of our life. So if we purify ourself... Tapasa brahmacaryeṇa [SB 6.1.13]. We have already discussed, or that will be discussed later. The human life is meant for that. Purify. Don't keep yourself unclean. Purify. Then you regain your original, spiritual life. That is the only business.

But unfortunately, we are not interested in purifying, but we are interested to be more implicated by being impure. A diseased man, if he is to be cured, he must follow the rules and regulation as prescribed by the physician. And if he does not follow the rules and regulation—whatever he likes, he does—then the disease will increase. Disease will increase. We shall be careful to follow the rules and regulation. And another complaint I was hearing that we are not taking prasadam, especially the grhasthas. No. That is not good. You should take prasadam. Krṣṇa baro doyamoy, koribare jihwa jay, swa-prasad-anna dilo bhai, sei annamrta pao, radha-krṣṇa-guṇa gao, preme ḍako caitanya-nitai. Krṣṇa baro doya... Our tongue is the greatest enemy. Ta 'ra madhye jihwa ati, lobhamoy sudurmati. The tongue is the greatest enemy, and if you can control the tongue, then you can control all the senses. Otherwise tongue will dictate, "Give me this kind of food, give me this kind of food." And if you don't take prasadam in the temple, then our tongue will dictate, "Now you can prepare some nice food. Let us take it." That will not help us in our Krṣṇa consciousness. Whatever Krṣṇa..., krṣṇa baro doyamoy, koribare jihwa jay. Krṣṇa-prasada means to control the tongue. Our main enemy is the tongue. In another place it is said, sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ;: [Brs. 1.2.234] "God realization becomes by keeping the tongue engaged in the service of the Lord." Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau. The tongue has to be first of all engaged, not the hands and legs. "I have to serve Krṣṇa. So yes, I am ready. I am expanding my hands. I am going there." But sastra says, "No, no, no. Not your hands and legs but your tongue. This is the one. First of all engage your tongue." This is astonish: "How can I serve with tongue? If I have to serve, I have got my hands and legs, my eyes and I..." No. Sastra says tongue. This is very peculiar. Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ;. If you engage your tongue... So how to engage my tongue? What is the business of my tongue? Two business only: to taste, or eat, and chant. Chant Hare Krṣṇa with tongue and take krṣṇa-prasadam—you will conquer Krṣṇa. This is the program. Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau. So if you do not control your tongue, if you feel inconvenient in taking prasadam, that means you are not making progress. This is the... This is the formula. Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ;.

So in our other branches, all the devotees, they take together prasadam. That is nice. Why one should be not liking to take prasadam in the temple? What is the fault? No, this is not good. We should... Everyone should take prasadam. You see still if you go to Jagannatha Puri. Even outsiders who go there, they do not cook. Strictly, they do not cook. They purchase prasadam. And if you go there, one thousand men—because there are pilgrims, they are coming, there is no—you will get immediately ready prasadam, purchased from the the market, the Jagannatha Puri, still. And there is no such thing as infection. I am taking your prasadam remnants. Whatever you left, I am... He is taking. Even if you are outcaste, if you are not brahmaṇa, still there is. Because prasada is transcendental. It is not material thing. So one must have faith that it is not material. It cannot be infected by any material things. In this way prasada should be taken. It is called prasada-seva, not "prasada enjoyment." Seva means giving service. Prasada is as good as Krṣṇa; therefore prasada should be respected as good as Krṣṇa. As soon as one gets prasadam, immediately he touches on the head because it is Krṣṇa, absolute. In this way we have to be trained up as it is prescribed in the sastras.

So those who are attached to Krṣṇa consciousness movement and those who are attached to the service, they should take prasadam, first-class prasadam. Everyone likes the taste of the prasadam. I used to go in my household life to take prasadam in the temples and pay them. I used to do that. And I used to go... Especially in Sri Ramapur, there are two temples, one of Jagannatha and one of Radha-Vallabhaji. So it was very nice. On Sunday I used to go to take prasadam. So you should be habituated to prasadam as far as possible unless you are very sick, you cannot take. That is different. Otherwise you should take it. Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau [Brs. 1.2.234]. Then we will remember Krṣṇa, and that will keep us fit and immune from all infection of material miserable condition.

So prayascittani, because one, if he, one is not narayaṇa-paraṅmukha... Narayaṇa-paraṅmukha and narayaṇa-parayaṇa—just the opposite. One is Narayaṇa..., attached to Narayaṇa, and one is detached to Narayaṇa. So Narayaṇa detached cannot be purified simply by performing or executing the ritualistic ceremony. That is the verdict of this verse.

Thank you very much. (end)

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