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"How to Spend Your Last Seven Days on Earth" Chapter three
Third day’s Lecture All Glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga
Now Sri Sukadeva Goswami describes the deliverance of Ajamil. Ajamil’s father was Brahmana born, lived in the town of Kannoj, and fathered only one son named Ajamil. Ajamil’s caring parents enrolled him in Gurukula (a supervised traditional Vedic dormitory school), after which they married him to a perfect Brahmana born girl. One day when Ajamil went to the garden to pick flowers for worship he saw a man copulating with a prostitute there. She was young and very beautiful. Ajamil became so attracted to the prostitute that he left his perfectly mannered wife to be with her and they began living together. Whatever the prostitute demanded, Ajamil supplied by stealing from his parents to satisfy her. To obtain Ajamil, the prostitute gave up prostituting herself, but continued eating meat and drinking wine. Ajamil produced ten sons from her, of which he named his youngest Narayana. Due to providence Ajamil loved Narayana very dearly and Narayana reciprocated that love through his charming nature, attracting his father towards him. Ajamil did not have a fixed income and with the household expenses immense, he adopted a life of thievery and robbery. He would steal and rob people, bringing the loot home to maintain the prostitute and his children. He committed many sins and did not atone for any of them. He would daily go to the forest to hunt, steal, and loot travelers, then return home with the bounty and eat meat and drink wine, thus enjoying the company of his children and the prostitute. Living his life in this way, performing sinful deeds, Ajamil became old. Pariksit asked, “Ajamil was a learned Brahmana; how did it occur that he established a relationship with a prostitute?” In answer Sri Sukadeva Goswami narrated Ajamil’s previous life. Ajamil was a pious mendicant living in the foothills of the Himalayas. One day, while performing his duties, he drank ice-cold water from a mountain stream from which he became extremely cold and fell unconscious. At that moment a Brahmana walking with his sixteen-year-old daughter arrived there for some water, as well as a doctor. The doctor checked the pulse of the unconscious mendicant and said, “If this mendicant is warmed by the bodily heat from a young woman he will regain consciousness.” The concerned Brahmana was very gentle and innocent and trusted the doctor. Hence, he brought the unconscious mendicant to his house and instructed his daughter to cuddle with the man. Thus, by the bodily heat from the girl, the mendicant regained consciousness, where he found the girl lying with him, which greatly anger him. He then cursed the girl to take birth as a prostitute. The girl was also very religious and possessed spiritual potency and thus cursed the mendicant saying, Because of pride you cursed an innocent person; therefore you will be born in a Vedic Brahmana family and you will keep my association.” This is how Ajamil became connected with the prostitute. No one can alter the time factor. No one knows when death will come to a person and Ajamil’s time to die had arrived. He had committed sins his entire life; thus his future was bleak. The scriptures state that just before one’s death, whatever actions he/she had performed—good or/and bad, replay before them like a moving picture. After which, according to one’s quality of karma, the dying person sees the messengers of heaven (Visnudutas) or hell (Yamadutas) before them to take them to their next destination. Ajamil’s heinous life replayed before him, after which he saw the ferocious forms of Yamaraja’s messengers, the Yamadutas, holding clubs in hand. At that instant, in fear and because of providence, he was able to call out to his beloved son Narayana for help. He cried, “O son, Narayana, please help me.” The Lord, not distinguishing His name, Narayana, from Ajamil’s son’s name, at once sent His messengers, the Visnudutas, to help him. There are many householders that name their children after God or Goddesses in case the above occurrence behooves them, where they may call out to their children for help and thus may achieve liberation. This is mainly why most Hindus give spiritual names to their children. But due to the age of Kaliyuga even Hindus sometimes give meaningless names like Chintu or Mintu to their children. Such names, if pronounced at the time of death, cannot help a person. Ajämil had performed sins most of his life, but because he had called out the Lord’s name at the time of death he did not experience any ill reaction for his sins. In other words, because he called out the name Narayana for help at the time of death he did not go to hell to experience the results of his actions. The name of the Lord is so potent that just by pronouncing one of His names all of a person’s sins turn into ashes, just like one matchstick possesses the power to burn a mountain of cotton into ashes. The Visnu Purana states how powerful the name of Lord Hari (another name of Lord Krsna) is thus: sakrd uccaritam yena harir iti aksara dvayambaddhaù parikaras tena moksaya gamanam prati “Anyone who has ever once pronounced the two syllables “HA” and “RI” (indicating to Lord Hari’s name) with pure heart and feeling is taken by the Lord’s messengers to the spiritual world while being praised with folded hands.” The merit received from giving millions of cows in charity, performing millions of sacrifices, performing thousands of years of austerities, fasting for thousands of years, bathing in the Ganges for thousands of years, taking thousands of meritorious vows, bathing in Kuruksetra lake at the time of eclipse, giving a mountain of gold in charity and living an austere life in Prayag etc. is not equal to the merit received from once purely repeating the name of Lord Krsna. The Lord’s name has unlimited powers. Once a devotee reached a sinner who had never performed even one pious deed, held his hand and said, “Say Rama.” To this the sinner responded, “Let go of my hand and go away you hypocrite.” Because the devotee was young and strong the sinner could not snatch his hand away from the devotee. The devotee said, “Until you say the name Rama I will not release your hand.” The sinner became angry, spoke abusive words and pushed the devotee, but the devotee did not release him. When the sinner became dispirited he reluctantly said Rama. The devotee then said, “Do not sell the purity earned from chanting Rama at any time.” To this the sinner said, “Go away you fool, you have given me something valuable and you are asking me not to sell it, ridiculous.” Afterward the devotee left for pilgrimage. In due course the sinner died and was thus taken by the Yamadutas to hell for punishment. When Chitragupta, Yamaraja’s secretary, examined the account of the sinner’s life, he could not find any piety; thus he told Yamaraja, “This person is a big sinner, he had never performed any pious deeds, except for one day a devotee pushed him to say Rama.” Then Yamaraja said to the sinner, “Do you want to first enjoy the merit resulting from your chanting Rama or would you like to experience the results of your sins first?” At that moment, the sinner remembered the devotee who had told him to say Rama, state, “Do not sell this name.” The cunning sinner thought to use this information in this dire situation. He asked Yamaraja, “Please tell me the value of Rama’s name. I want to exchange its merits for my suffering here.” Yamaraja responded, “The value of Lord Rama’s name is very vast, but how vast it is I do not know.” The sinner then said, “Please take me to someone who knows its value." Yamaraja thought, I also want to know its value, then said, “Lets us go to Indra, the King of Heaven, for clarification.” The clever sinner then said, “I do not want to walk there, you have to take me by palanquin.” Because Yamaraja’s messengers are not allowed to enter heaven, Yamaraja and Chitragupta carried the palanquin. From a distance Indra saw Yamaraja bringing someone to him on a palanquin and thought, this person may be a great devotee; therefore as soon as they entered his palace, Indra offered him respects. After asking of Yamaraja’s well being, he asked who the person on the palanquin was. Yamaraja said, “What can I say about this person, you have already extended your respects to him. He is a sinner and wants to know the value of his once chanting Lord Rama’s name. Just to know its value we have come here.” Lord Indra then answered, “The whole creation, all wealth, all happiness, victory, all perfections and trances, if combined, cannot equal to once chanting Lord Rama’s name. I do not know any more than this, but Lord Brahma may know. Let us go there, I also want to know the value of it as well.” Upon deciding to go to Lord Brahma’s abode, Lord Indra and Yamaraja had to carry the palanquin because Chitragupta was not allowed to enter there. Lord Brahma, seeing Lord Indra and Yamaräja bringing someone on a palanquin thought, “The person sitting upon the palanquin may be a great soul.” Hence Lord Brahma offered him praises with full respect and then asked for his introduction. Yamaraja then said, “What can I say, you have already praised him. He is a great sinner and wants to know the value of once chanting Rama. We did not have the answer, which is why we came to you. Therefore, please tell us the value of saying the name Rama.” Lord Brahma answered, “Through the potency of chanting Rama I have gained this elevated position of Brahma, but I do not know its complete value. Maybe Lord Siva knows its complete value because he is the greatest devotee of the Lord. Chanting Rama can reward everything one desires, and maybe Lord Siva knows the details. Therefore let us go to Lord Siva’s place.” Lord Indra and Yamaraja then lifted the palanquin and proceeded to Lord Siva’s residence, Mount Kailasa. Upon seeing Lord Indra and Yamaraja carrying a person on a palanquin before him, Lord Siva embraced him and immediately asked for his introduction. To this Yamaraja said, “What introduction can we give about this person, you have already embraced him. Still, let me tell you that he is a great sinner and wants to know the exact value of once chanting the name Rama.” Lord Siva glorified the Lord’s name with all of his five heads and then said, “I only know what I have said, I do not know anything more, only the Lord knows its complete value. Let us go to Him because I also want to know the value of chanting the name Rama.” After saying this, Lord Siva brought everyone to the Milk Ocean where the Lord resides. There they heard a voice stating, “Who is there and what do you want?” Lord Siva and Lord Brahma answered, “We have brought a great sinner with us who wants to know the value of saying Your name.” After hearing Lord Siva and Lord Brahma’s statements, the Lord said, “You first both lift him on your shoulders and place him on My lap, then I shall tell the value of chanting My name.” Lord Siva and Lord Brahma obeyed the Lord’s command and also wanted to know the value of chanting His name and thus lifted the sinner on their shoulders and placed him on the Lord’s lap. Then the Supreme Lord said to both Lord Siva and Lord Brahma, “This is the value of chanting My name. A person who repeats My name purely becomes free from all sins of this world and comes to Me by climbing on your shoulders to sit upon My lap.” Even though the sinner had begrudgingly chanted Rama, he received the same result as a person would receive from chanting it purely because the devotee who had taken his hand had blessed him. Blessing received from a pure devotee carries so much value. Ajamil had accumulated unlimited sins during his lifetime, yet they were all burnt to ashes just by his chanting the name Narayana once. Upon Ajamil’s death three Yamadutas went to retrieve him, but upon his chanting the name Narayana, four Visnudutas came to his aid and prohibited the Yamadutas from taking him. Such is the glory and value of chanting the Lord’s name. Therefore one should always repeat the Lord’s names, because by doing so, at least one time one name will come out purely. Now one may wonder, if by chanting Lord Narayana’s name once four messengers went to Ajamil, how many messengers will come to a person who repeatedly chants Lord Rama’s names? To this Lord Siva states in the Mahabharat: rama rama rameti rame rame manoramesahasra nama tat tulyam rama namo varanane “O dear wife, Parvati, one thousand names of Visnu (another name of Narayana) are equal to one name of Rama and three names of Rama are equal to one name of Krsna.” Through this verse we can determine that at the time of death, if someone repeats the name of Lord Rama, one thousand messengers of Lord Visnu will come to them. Now the question arises that if by repeating Rama once one thousand messengers of Lord Visnu come, then how many messengers will come if someone repeats the name of Lord Krsna? We find the answer to this question in the Padma Puraëa where Lord Siva states: sahasra namnam punyanam triravrtyat tu yat phalamekavrtyat tu krsnasya namekam tat prayacchati “Whatever merit is earned by repeating the meritorious Visnu Sahasranama (one thousand names of Lord Visnu in Sanskrit Verses) three times is gained just by repeating Lord Krsna’s name once.” Lord Sri Krsna is the Lord of all the Lords; therefore, just by repeating His name once, twelve thousand (4 x 1,000 x 3=12,000) of Lord Visnu’s messengers come to the aid of the chanter. Simply by looking at medicine one cannot realize its potency; its medicinal quality can only be realized by consuming it. Similarly the potency contained in the Lord’s name can only be realized by chanting it purely. To achieve the best result, the Lord’s names should be chanted after receiving initiation from a doctor-like, scripturally authentic Guru; only then can the tie to the repetition of birth and death be cut. Just as when a disease is properly diagnosed and the prescribed remedy is followed the patient becomes cured, similarly chanting the holy name of the Lord properly as prescribed by an authentic Guru will surely cure the disease-like problems of this material existence. Just as a doctor recognizes the disease of the body, similarly an authentic Guru recognizes the disease of the soul. Sri Sukadeva Goswami states that only one with a purified heart can know the potency and the glory of the Lord’s names. Hence, one must practice chanting purely to acquire a purified heart to realize the potency of the Lord’s names. Somehow or other one should carry on repeating the Lord’s names, because by repeating them one only benefits. For example, When Ajamil saw the ferocious Yamadutas on his deathbed and cried out to his son Narayana for help, he was not directing his cries to the Lord, which the Yamadutas relayed to the Visnudutas. To this the messengers of Lord Visnu told the messengers of Yamaraja:
sanketyam parihasyam va stobham helanam eva va vaikuntha nama grahanam asesagha haram param “All the learned great sages have said that the Lord’s name is so powerful that even if it is repeated to indicate to someone other than the Lord; repeated jokingly; sung in praise with accompaniment; or while criticizing it or repeating it with disgust, it still removes unlimited sins of the repeater.” The Visnudutas defeated the Yamadutas and sent them to their abode, Yamaloka, empty handed. When they reached Yamaraja they narrated the entire episode to him involving Ajamil, with the Visnudutas in attendance. After hearing everything, Lord Yamaräja said, “Lord Hari is my worshipable Lord and I follow His orders.” O my messengers please listen: te deva siddha parigita pavitra gathaye sadhavah samadrso bhagavat prapannah tan nopasidata harer gadayabhi guptan naisam vayam na ca vayah prabhavama dande “Devotees who have equal vision fully depend on the Lord and chant His names. Such dedicated devotees are even praised by demigods, perfected beings and great thinkers. O messengers, I tell you the truth; the club of the Supreme Lord protects such true devotees. You should not go near such serious devotees even by mistake, because what to speak of us, they cannot be punished even by the immutable devouring death (time).” Lord Yamaraja stated to his messengers whom to bring to hell for punishment thus: jihva na vakti bhagavad guna nama dheyamcetas ca na smarati tac caranaravindam krsnaya no namati yacchira ekadapi tan anayadhvam asato ‘krta visnu krtyan “O my messengers, whoever’s tongue does not repeat the holy names of the Supreme Lord, whoever’s mind cannot concentrate in thoughts of the Lord, those whose head did not bow down even once to pay obeisance before the Lord, and those who are indifferent to devotional service should be brought to my place for punishment.” Sri Sukadeva Goswami then speaks about the dynasty of the sixty daughters of Daksa. Daksa had performed great austerity to fill the earth with inhabitants. Upon acknowledging his austerity, the Lord came to him riding upon His carrier, Garuda, and said, “O Daksa, create progeny through intercourse. O Daksa, please marry Aksini, the daughter of Panchajana, and procreate through copulation. When male’s attraction towards females develop and female’s attraction for males develop, the population of the earth will automatically increase. When children are born through copulation they will be attracted towards copulation without teaching them or asking them to perform it and thus this universe will be filled with inhabitants.” After saying this, the Lord disappeared from Daksa. In accordance with the Lord’s instruction, Daksa married Aksini and produced ten thousand sons called the Haryasvas. The scriptures state that for a person to produce ten thousand sons at one time is not extraordinary, because the production of offspring through the mixture of semen and ovum is merely an action. The real cause of producing offspring is solely from the blessings of the Supreme Lord. When the Lord wants to grant someone children they easily beget them, but for those whom the Lord does not grant the gift of offspring, it does not matter how much they endeavor, they remain barren. At this point the Lord desired to fill the creation with people, which is why He rewarded Daksa ten thousand sons at one time. Unless the Lord blesses a person nothing comes easy for him/her. After producing his sons, Daksa ordered them to procreate and instructed them that to create they must acquire blessings from the Lord. Therefore he sent all his sons to Kaccha (located in the western part of India) to perform austerity to obtain the Lord’s blessings. After reaching there they began performing austerity in the Narayana Sarovara (a sweet water lake). Narada Muni saw them there performing austerity to produce offspring and spoke to them about the influence of Maya, the Lord’s illusory potency, and thus made them into renounced devotees. When Daksa heard that Nsrada Muni had turned all of his ten thousand sons into renounced devotees he became very unhappy. In earnest, he was advised by Lord Brahma to produce another ten thousand sons, which he did and who were called the Savalasvas, but Narada Muni also preached to them, turning them into renounced devotees of the Lord as well. Hearing of this second action, Daksa became very angry and cursed Narada Muni to not be able to stay at one place for more than three minutes. Because of this curse Narada Muni could not and cannot successfully preach to anyone till today. Then Daksa produced sixty daughters. When they grew of age he married twenty-seven of them to the Moon-god; ten to Dharma; thirteen to Kasyapa Muni; two to Bhuti Muni; two to Angira Muni; two to Krusasva Muni; and four to Tarkhya Muni. In this way Daksa populated the entire creation. Two of Kasyapa wives produced demigods and demons--Aditi produced demigods and Diti produced demons, and these groups became inimical toward each other. Having been born from the same father, Kasyapa Muni, they both inherited identical supernatural powers. From Angira Muni, Brhaspati (in charge of Jupiter) was born and he became the Spiritual Preceptor of the demigods. Once Indra disrespected his Guru, Brhaspati, which resulted in all the demigods being defeated by the demons and they suffered a great deal. Guru should be respected in every circumstance. The scriptures state that God Himself subtly lives with an authentic Guru. Disrespecting one’s authentic Guru causes degradation in everyway for that person. After the demigods disrespected Brhaspati, he left them, which caused their defeat and suffering. In distress, the demigods reached Lord Brahma for advice, who told them, “Being blinded by pride of your opulence you have disrespected your Guru; that offense is now hunting you in the form of defeat and misery. You invited your misery by your careless action. One’s Guru helps remove the darkness of ignorance, which is why those who envy or hate him must face a mountain of miseries. After death such people suffer in a ferocious hell. A disciple should never, in any circumstance, however much distress they may be in, disrespect their scripturally authentic Guru because Guru imparts transcendental knowledge unto the disciple and helps remove the darkness of ignorance. Those who have offended their authentic Guru have no other solace other than taking shelter sincerely at the lotus feet of their authentic Guru to remove their offence. It is not considered an offense to reject one’s Guru is he found to be not authorized by the ancient scriptures, but it is imperative and demanded by the scriptures that a disciple of a scripturally authentic Guru be very careful when dealing with their Guru. No one can ever repay the spiritual debt they owe to their Guru. Therefore you all have to please your Guru.” Upon receiving this knowledge from Lord Brahma, the demigods requested him to tell them a solution to remove their misery. In answer Lord Brahma said, “In absence of your Guru, you accept Visvarupa, the son of Tvasta, as your priest and perform a sacrifice; by doing so your strength will be increased and your desire will be fulfilled.” Visvarupa was born from a demoness impregnated by the Brahmana, Tvasta. The demigods accepted him as their priest and performed the Narayana sacrifice. By the potency of the Narayana sacrifice the demigods became victorious, defeating the demons. Visvarupa had three heads and faces. Because he was a demigod one of his heads appeared as though it was that of a demigod; because his mother descended from a demon dynasty, one of his heads appeared as that of a demon; and because his father was a saintly Brahmana, one of his heads was that of a human being. Using the mouth of the human head he would consume food grains and water; with the demigod mouth he would drink nectar; and with the demon mouth he would drink wine. Once Visvarupa went to see his mother who requested him to stealthily perform a part of the sacrifice for the demons so their strength may also increase. Following his mother’s request, unbeknownst to Indra, Visvarupa secretly started offering some of the portion of the sacrifice to demons. A secret cannot be kept hidden for too long, which is why Indra came to know of Visvarupa’s double-dealing. This angered him, causing him to decapitate all three of Visvarupa’s heads. Visvarupa was addressed as a Brahmana even though he was born from a demoness, because he was begotten from the seed of the Brahmana, Tvasta. The seed produces the tree and that is why Indra received the sin of killing a Brahmana. He circumvented the sin for one year by hiding underwater, until Lord Brahma ordered him back to his service, where after he emerged only to find the sin still haunting him. To help solve this situation, sages requested Mother Earth to accept Indra’s sin, and she agreed to take one fourth of his sin. Indra was pleased by this and blessed her saying, “Any cavity or ditch you may get will be filled by itself.” The reaction the earth received for accepting the sin is barren land and deserts. The second quarter of Indra’s sin was taken by trees, which resulted in trees discharging sap. For this Indra blessed them saying that if you are cut, you will not feel much pain and a cut will cause your branches to multiply. The third portion of Indra's sin was taken by women, for which they suffer the burden of menstruation (prior to this women did not menstruate). Indra blessed them saying that they will always have the strength to enjoy copulation. The fourth portion was taken by water, for which water received contamination. Indra blessed water saying that when it is mixed with any other liquid it will increase the volume of the substance, undetected. Only because of distributing the sin did Indra become free from the sin of killing the Brahmana. One should never kill a Brahmana born person from an authentic Brahmana dynasty. If Indra, the King of heaven, could not tolerate the burden of such sin, how can anyone born in the age of Kaliyuga tolerate it? How grievous the sin of killing a Brahmana must be if even Indra had to distribute the sin of killing a Brahmana to others, who have suffered for millions of years and are still suffering. Hearing of his son being killed by Indra, Visvarupa’s father, Tvasta, got upset and decided to perform a sacrifice by which an enemy of Indra would be produced. The mantras Tvasta chanted while performing the sacrifice were infallible, which is why a huge ferocious foe carrying a trident appeared from the sacrifice. His body was as big as a mountain, his eyes were red like fire, and his form looked like that of a demon, which is why Tvasta named him Vrtrasura. Tvasta ordered him, “Go kill Indra, the King of Heaven.” In the quest to kill Indra, Vrtrasura encountered and attacked the demigods, swallowing whatever weapons they released towards him. Vrtrasura’s might and his capacity to absorb the power of all their weapons shocked the demigods, causing them to take shelter of the Supreme Lord. The Lord, being pleased by their prayers, instructed Indra to construct a club built from the bones of Dadhichi Muni to do battle with Vrtrasura, which can deliver a fatal blow. The demigods reached Dadhichi Muni and disclosed the Lord’s plan to him and asked for his body. He promptly obeyed the will of the Lord and relinquished his body through the performance of yoga. The demigods then incorporated the help of Visvakarma, the architect of heaven, to construct the Bajra club from Dadhichi Muni’s bones and gave it to Indra. With the Bajra club in hand in this encounter with Vrtrasura, Indra attacked him. Vrtrasura was a great devotee of the Lord in his past life and always remembered the Lord. Thus, while fighting with Indra, Vrtrasura was chanting the names of Lord Krsna and praying to the Lord saying, “O Lord, You are my shelter. You had always rescued Your devotees in the past. Please do not forget to rescue me. You have always liberated those who came to Your shelter in the past, please do not forgo me. My karma dictates my birth; hence, wherever I take my birth, please give me a chance to perform devotional service to please You. O Lord, please bless me in such a way that regardless of the species in which I may take my birth, I am able to think about You.” Steeped in such prayer, Vrtrasura gallantly attacked Indra. But with the might of his new club, Indra cut off Vrtrasura’s hands, but was careful not to kill him in fear of again incurring the sin of killing a Brahmana. He thought, “When I killed Visvarupa, I was implicated with the un-atoneable sin of killing a Brahmana. Vrtrasura is a Vaisnava and was born through sacrifice; therefore if I kill him, who will take that sin?” The sages noticing Indra’s anxiety said, “Do not worry, we will accept the sin incurred from killing Vrtrasura.” Hence, Indra killed Vrtrasura. On his trip back to heaven, Indra found the sin of killing a Brahmana following him. The sages also saw that sin and they all started loudly chanting the Lord’s names, which freed Indra from the sin. After the demigods were defeated by the demons, causing Indra to leave heaven, King Nahusa oversaw heaven. But King Nahusa, being from earth, was unable to remain composed due to the excessive opulence of heaven given him. His intelligence became covered with pride and illusion, resulting in his taking birth as a snake. Once King Nahusa had welcomed and honored the Brahmanas and the demigods, which pleased them, prompting him to request the benediction that he would receive half of the strength of any foe that approached him to fight. The sages and demigods wanted a qualified person to manage heaven; thus they agreed and blessed him by giving him his desired benediction and installed him as king of heaven. But generally if an inferior person is given a superior position, that person is overcome with pride, disarming his/her discerning power and thus they mismanage things. Where is there a person born on earth eating food grains that would not be overcome with pride if elevated to heaven where nectar is drunk? Hence it was inevitable that Nahusa would become proud. Anyone who suggested anything to him got chastised, which the sages did not like, but they knew that a proud person falls down in due course. Thus they waited for his fall. One day Nahusa thought, “I am seated in Indra’s position and Indrani (Indra’s wife) is not in my service. This is an injustice.” Thinking this, he sent a message to Indrani to come in his service. Upon receiving this news, Indrani went to Brhaspati (preceptor of the demigods) and asked for advice. He said, “You please inform Nahusa that if he comes to you at midday riding on a palanquin carried by the seven sages of heaven, you would serve him." When Nahusa heard this, he bedecked himself nicely, entered the palanquin and ordered the seven sages to carry him to his destination. Nahusa, already blinded by the opulence of heaven, and now further blinded by lusty desire, then told the sages sarpa, sarpa, meaning walk quickly, walk quickly (sarpa also means snake). Hearing this, the sages became very angry and cursed him to become a snake. Nahusa fell to earth and became a snake. When he fell from heaven, Indra was reinstated as King of Heaven. Then Sri Sukadeva Goswami spoke about the past life of Vrtrasura. In his past life he was a king named Chitraketu and was married to one thousand queens, but none of them could produce children. Fortunately by the mercy of Angira Muni, Chitraketu begot a son, but he died untimely, causing Chitraketu great misery. Some time later Narada Muni came and preached to him, making him a devotee of Lord Narayana. Lord Narayana is also called Sankarsana. From his chanting and devotion to Lord Sankarsana, Chitraketu was appointed king of the Gandharvas (musicians of heaven). Since Chitraketu was now head of the musicians of heaven and a devotee of Sankarsana, he dovetailed his interests by having the Gandharvas perform devotional music to glorify the Lord. He did not allow any non-devotional songs to be sung. Under his direction devotional songs and chanting of the Lord’s names with heavenly accompaniment carried on for many thousands of years. Once he was invited to participate in the assembly of demigods in heaven, where upon his entrance he saw Parvati sitting on Lord Siva’s lap. Chitraketu, unable to tolerate this display of affection said, “Just see, He (Lord Siva) claims to be a great Vaisnava devotee of the Lord, but in the full view of the assembly he is sitting with his wife seated on his lap.” Lord Siva remained silent after hearing Chitraketu’s remarks, but Parvati became angry and cursed him saying, “Go and take birth as a demon. How dare you venture to educate us! Lord Brahma is sitting here and has not said anything. Who are you to speak in this way? Go away from here and become a demon.” Upon hearing the curse, Chitraketu begged pardon from Parvati and said, “Your words are not a curse for me, but they are actually a blessing. Please do not feel bad or take offense for what I have said.” Afterward Chitraketu left the assembly in a happy mood. The question arises that if Chitraketu was a real devotee, why did he make such unmannerly remarks against Lord Siva? Lord Siva and Chitraketu are both disciples of Lord Sankarsana (Narayana) and thus god-brothers; therefore they share the right to reprimand each other. After Chitraketu left the assembly, Lord Siva said to Parvati, “Did you see? This is the quality of a Vaisnava, devotee of the Lord, he did not feel any disturbance by getting cursed by you. After hearing your curse he left this place with a happy mind, because: narayana para sarve na kutascana vibhyatisvarga’pavarga narakesu tulyartha darsinah “Those who are real dedicated devotees of the Lord never, however severe the situation may be, or at any place or under any circumstance, become afraid. They remain equipoised whether in heaven or hell, because wherever destiny takes them they remain devotees and chant the holy names of the Lord.” Lord Siva continued, “Not a showboat spiritualist, but only a real devotee of the Lord is addressed as a Vaisnava, and Vaisnavas are never, in any circumstance, afraid of anyone. They keep their full connection with the Supreme Lord, which is why they are not concerned with their material status. Hence, Chitraketu left here in a pleasant mood even though he had just been cursed. O dear wife Parvati, it is beyond your ability to recognize real devotees of the Lord.” The scriptures state that Lord Siva recognizes Vaisnavas. Any person with real devotion to the Lord and however much devotion that person possesses, is well known to Lord Siva. He himself is a real devotee of the Lord; therefore he can recognize a real devotee and their qualities. If Parvati and other demigods could not distinguish Chitraketu as a real devotee, who are we to discern who is or isn’t a real devotee of the Lord? Kaliyuga has created an environment whereby those posing as real devotees are accepted as such, whereas real devotees are being criticized and proclaimed to have faults. But fortunate souls who have merits from their past lives are able to contact and keep connection with a real devotee of the Lord and practice devotion. Such fortunate souls reach the spiritual world within one life. Lord Siva continued, “Parvati, you should not have behaved so harshly with a devotee. You have implicated yourself with the un-atoneable offense of offending a real Vaisnava; therefore you will not experience peace. Because you offended a Vaisnava your mind will not remain steady in devotional life. One should never disturb a real Vaisnava in any way or create an environment that may disturb a Vaisnava. A real devotee should never be punished physically, or mentally, directly or indirectly, because the sole interest of such real devotees is to help others. Therefore disturbing a real devotee is counterproductive, thus creating trouble for oneself.” This same Chitraketu took birth as Vrtrasura, but retained his spiritual competence. Even though he was born as the demon Vrtrasura, still he did not give up devotional life and chanting the names of the Lord. But because he was cursed to become a demon the possibility of having to fight with demigods was ever present. Even though he acted as a demon, he was a real devotee of the Lord and thus never relinquished his devotional attitude. After being killed by King Indra, as Vrtrasura, Chitraketu became free from Parvati’s curse. Then Sri Sukadeva Goswami began speaking about the Maruts (Airgods). Once, Diti, Kasyapa Muni’s wife, upset because of her children’s demise thought, “Indra always kills my sons; therefore I shall give birth to a son who is immortal and powerful enough to kill him.” In this mood, Diti engaged in Kasyapa’s service unreserved. When she saw him happy, she requested him to bless her with a son who could kill Indra. Hearing such a request, Kasyapa became unhappy, but because he was pleased with her service he taught her a vow from which she could obtain such a son. Kasyapa told her, “This vow is taken for one year, and if you make a mistake performing it, rather than the child killing Indra, it will befriend him.” After instructing Diti of the process to fulfill the vow, Kasyapa impregnated her. Her pregnancy increased slowly day by day, as does the moon. Indra discovered Diti’s motive, then entered her residence incognito as a servant and began serving her. One evening Diti fell asleep in an unclean condition, thus breaking her vow. At that time Indra entered her womb with his Bajra weapon and cut the fetus into seven pieces, but they did not die, so he cut those seven pieces into forty-nine pieces and none of those died. Then the children within her womb said, “O Indra, do not kill us, we will take your side and help you.” Hearing such words from the children, Indra accepted their pledge of allegiance and then exited the womb. The still asleep Diti remained unaware of the event and when the children were born they all befriended Indra and are known as the forty-nine Airgods. Then Sri Sukadeva Goswami begins the narration of Prahlada Maharaja. When Hiranyakasipu heard that his brother Hiaranyaksa was killed by Lord Visnu, he became determined to kill Him. To gain such power he relinquished everything of this world and ventured to the forest to perform austerities by raising his hands and arms upwards while standing on his tiptoes for thousands of years. Being pleased with his austerities, Lord Brahma appeared before him and said, “O Hiranyakasipu, ask me for whatever you want.” Hiranyakasipu presented Lord Brahmä with his desire to become immortal, but Lord Brahma, incapable of rewarding immortality, told him to ask for some other boon. Then Hiranyakasipu requested the following boons: 1) I should not be killed by any of the eight million four hundred thousand species of living entities. 2) I should not be killed inside or outside of any building. 3) I should not die either during the day or at night. 4) I should not be killed by any weapons made from metal or wood. 5) I should not die on earth. 6) I should not be killed in the sky. 7) No one should be able to kill me in battle. 8) I should become the sole king of earth, heaven and the lower planets. 9) No demigods, forefathers, demons, snakes, dancers of heaven, semi-demigods, heavenly musicians, ghosts, hobgoblins, evil spirits, females, goddesses or animals should be able to kill me. After awarding all these boons to Hiranyakasipu, Lord Brahma returned to his abode. Hiranyakasipu then defeated everyone in the three worlds and became the sole king of all. Everyone yielded to his rule. Because of his harsh rule, the demigods, sages and devotees became very unhappy and took shelter of the Lord. The Lord became pleased with their prayers and said, “When Hiranyakasipu disturbs his son, Prahlada, I shall kill him at once. Prahlada is My real devotee and I cannot tolerate torture of My devotees. Therefore, O demigods, please tolerate this trouble for some more time.” Hearing this from the Lord, the demigods patiently waited for the time when the Lord will come and kill Hiranyakasipu. Even though Prahlada was Hiranyakasipu son, he did not inherit any of his demoniac qualities. This was because when Prahlada was in his mother’s womb, Hiranyakasipu had gone to the forest to perform austerities and in his absence Indra invaded his kingdom and kidnapped his pregnant wife, Kayadhu. While he was taking her away to kill her child after its birth, Narada Muni stopped him and said, “O Indra, in Kayadhu’s womb there is a great devotee of the Lord; therefore she is not to be punished.” Hence Indra left Kayadhu near Narada Muni and returned to heaven. Prahlada was born in the association of Narada Muni and he received spiritual qualities from him. The scriptures state that spiritual symptoms develop in one only through saintly association. Thus as Prahlada grew, his demigod nature conflicted with his father’s. Prahlada’s devotion was actually better than that of a demigod because he was flawless, whereas a demigod may make a mistake. His nature was filled with only pure devotional qualities. When Prahlada slept, sat, walked, or ate he always thought of and chanted the names of Lord Hari (another name of Lord Krsna). Through his behavior and actions it seemed as though Prahlada was haunted by Krsna. Srimad Bhägavatam states, krsna graha gåhitatma na veda jagad idrsam, “Prahlada was so mesmerized by Krsna consciousness that no one had ever seen or heard of such devotion before.” He was oblivious to anything happening near him or around the world and was always drowned in an ocean of love of Godhead and would serve real devotees and traditional authentic Brahmanas. The difference between Krsna’s influence and the astrological planets’ influence is, the nine astrological planets’ influence changes from one zodiac sign to another in due course of time, whereas once one is caught by Krsna’s influence one’s mood does not change in any circumstance. Prahlada thought within himself, “I should do something wonderful for the Lord before I leave this world.” He wanted to perform devotional service to please the Lord, give charity to qualified and authentic devotees, serve pure devotees and remain pure until he met the Lord. Prahlada knew one day he would leave his body and it would remain on earth like a lump of mud; thus he persisted to do something to please the Lord with his body. Those with such perseverance obtain the Lord’s blessings, by which they receive liberation from this material world. Prahlada was a real devotee, which is why even though he was sent to school to learn science, politics, diplomacy, economics, etiquette with friend and foe, and how to succeed in business, from his teachers Sanda and Amarka (sons of Sukracharya), he did not give up devotional service. As a dutiful child, Prahlada attended school and mastered his studies, but his motto remained to please the Lord through devotional service. He knew that when troubles amass before real devotees they do not give up their devotional service, they persevere. The scriptures state that devotees go beyond all troubles by stepping over the head of trouble and happily serving the Lord. They never relinquish their devotional service. Even at the time of consternation a devotee does not give up his/her devotional service because only the Lord can relieve one from troubles. A real devotee’s heart is compared to the Milk Ocean. Just as a few drops of lemon juice cannot curdle the Milk Ocean, similarly the heart of a real devotee cannot be contaminated by some petty material involvement. Once Bhagavat Dharma (spiritual life As It Is) is accepted in the heart in its real sense, it only increases one’s purity and never diminishes in any way. The determination in Prahlada’s devotion was like that of an unfathomable ocean, which is why even though he had gone through torture imposed by his father Hiranyakasipu, his devotion to the Lord only increased. Hiranyakasipu tried in many ways to remove Prahlada from his devotional life, but remained unsuccessful. Prahlada’s nature was so pure from childhood that even students who did not like him glorified the quality and quantity of his devotion. Hiranyakasipu enrolled Prahlada in a school whose teachers were materialistic and spiritually ignorant and whose attempts to convert Prahlada to materialism were unsuccessful. They taught him how to enjoy sense gratification, win fights and quarrels, become an expert archer with pinpoint accuracy and many other things adverse to devotional education. But Prahlada endured these lessons, was not influenced by them in any way, and carried on with his devotion properly. When Prahlada graduated, his teachers, Sanda and Amarka, brought him before Hiranyakasipu and said, “Prahläda has become very qualified and fully educated. He has mastered every course in our institution required to be king and now is ready to be prince.” After hearing the recommendation of Sanda and Amarka, Hiranyakasipu took Prahlada on his lap and asked, “O son, among all you have learnt, which education is the best?” Prahlada answered: sravanam kirtanam viñnoh smaranam padasevanamarcanam vandanam dasyam sakhyam atma-nivedanam “O father, any education that includes hearing and chanting of the Lord’s quality, pastimes, name, beauty, and form, and makes one remember the Lord is the best education. Furthermore, that education that teaches serving the lotus feet of the Lord, worshipping Him, the science of praying to Him, and the art of servitorship, friendship and offering everything for His pleasure, is the best education.” Usually education learnt in school is to develop skills to acquire finances to secure happiness in life. But material education can neither reward eternal happiness nor help one determine what birth one will receive after death. The scriptures state that material education is only meant to entangle the living entity in the cycle of birth and death. It does not help improve the soul. Nowadays educated people are very puffed up; therefore they do not endeavor to learn or try to understand spiritual science. They simply carry the burden-like responsibility of this materialistic world. They accept the burden of taking care of and supplying the needs of their family, relatives, friends, businesses or jobs, social and political positions etc. as their sole duty in life. Therefore the scriptures state that such people are two legged asses. As Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur states: jada vidya jata mayara vaibhava tomara bhajane badhaanitya samsare mohe pade jiva ke karaye gadha sei gadha haile samsarer bojha bahe aneka kala “Materialistic education covers a person’s consciousness in such ignorance that one becomes proud of their material education and forgets the real duty of life. Such people carry the burden of their family responsibility on their backs like a donkey carrying a bundle of goods. People carry the burden of responsibility of their materialistic family, relatives, and people of the world on their backs their whole lives, never thinking of what will happen after death in their future life.” The education taught in schools does not teach how to serve the Supreme Lord, but rather it makes one proud and atheistic. Recipients of such education do not know what real spiritual life is or how or where to receive it. To convince others they are pious they gather and hire professional priests or Brahmanas to chant some prayers or mantras in attempt to make themselves appear religious, but they end up joking and laughing as they would in any other social function. Thus they waste their valuable time and remain bereft of real spiritual life. In a past life if one had performed meritorious deeds he/she obtains a real Spiritual Master and performs devotional service under his direction, thus breaking the tie to the cycle of rebirth and death. Therefore it is in a person’s best interest to devote their time in chanting, serving and glorifying the Supreme Lord. In the scriptures devotional service to the Lord is compared to true diamonds and pearls because it goes with the soul after death, whereas worldly diamonds and pearls are of no help to the soul. Only spiritual life helps the soul at the time of death and after death. Devotion to the Lord is said to be the real wealth of the soul in this world because it removes the miseries of life. But only the fortunate are able to adopt spiritual life because all people do not have sufficient merit from their former lives to lift them to that platform. Anyone that becomes a devotee from the heart becomes free from the pangs of material life. Even Kala (death personified) cannot touch a real devotee untimely; therefore one should try to become a serious devotee of the Lord. When Hiranyakasipu heard such startling words from Prahlada he threw him down from his lap and said, “Who taught you this nonsense?” Prahläda’s teachers, Sanda and Amarka said to Hiranyakasipu, “We did not teach this education to him. Only the curriculum promoted at the school was taught to him. We did not teach him anything else.” Prahlada then said, “Spiritual education can only be received from a Vaisnava devotee of the Lord. No one except a real devotee can teach spiritual education. These teachers are ignorant to spirituality and have no ability to teach spiritual education. They think worldly happiness is everything, which is why they do not want to learn or teach spiritual education. Spiritual education can only be obtained by the blessings of a real devotee of the Lord.” Hiranyakasipu understood that a thorn had been born in his family; thus he called for an executioner and demanded, “Kill this boy and bring his bones to me.” The assassin took the child and severely beat him, but Prahlada could not be killed. No one can ever do harm to anyone who has the blessings of the Lord. Hiranyakasipu conspired in many other ways to kill Prahlada. He commissioned his sister, the demoness Holika, who was blessed by Lord Brahma to be invulnerable to being burnt by fire. In her attempt to kill Prahlada, she took him upon her lap and then sat in the middle of a burning fire, but rather than injuring or killing Prahlada, she was burnt to ashes. There were other attempts on Prahlada’s life. He was placed on the tip of an erect spear, but it could not pierce his skin or injure him. He was given poison, placed in a pit of cobras, put under the foot of a mad elephant, thrown in the middle of the ocean, and thrown off a mountain peak, as well as many other attempts to take his life, but all were of no avail. After the failed attempts on his life, Prahlada went back to school where he began teaching devotional activities to other students. He instructed: kaumaram acaret prajno dharman bhagavatan ihadurlabham manusam janma tad apy adhruvam arthadam “O demoniac boys, the intelligent start their spiritual life from the beginning of their childhood, because even though human birth is rare and beneficial, it is not eternal.” Prahlada continued, “At the time of death no one, including our loved ones, can help us, nor can anything of this world. Therefore, O demoniac children, only spiritual life can help one at the time of death; therefore all of you should dedicate your lives in the development of spiritual life, because only this comes with the soul after its departure from the body.” Witnessing Prahlada preaching to the other students, Sanda and Amarka went to Hiranyakasipu and informed him of Prahlada’s doings. Hiranyakasipu thought, “Now I shall kill Prahlada with my own hands.” He then called for Prahlada and said, “Why aren’t you frightened? Who is behind you to protect you?” Prahlada said, “The supremely powerful personality who generates strength in every living entity and gave you power, is protecting me.” To this Hiranyakasipu responded, “There is no God besides me in this creation. If there is another God then tell me where He lives?” Prahlada answered, “God is omnipresent, He lives inside and outside of everything and is everywhere.” Then Hiranyakasipu said, “Death is dancing over your head. That is why you are talking like this. Today I shall see your God. Tell me where your God is? Is He inside this pillar?” Prahlada said, “Yes, he is inside this pillar as well.” Then, Hiranyakasipu struck the pillar with his strong fist, breaking it, from which the Lord appeared roaring ferociously. This thundering sound pervaded in every direction. The Lord’s huge form that came from that pillar had the head of a lion and the body of a man. He is Lord Nrsimhadeva, the half-lion, half-man form. He was very angry and his tongue was moving about his mouth like a hungry lion’s about to consume its prey. Witnessing this surprising form of the Lord, all the demigods, sages and saintly people started praying to Him. Hiranyakasipu challenged the Lord and they began to fight. The Lord loves to perform drama and He captivated everyone’s attention witnessing the fight. The fight went back and forth, until it seemed as though the Lord had been defeated. Hiranyakasipu climbed upon the Lord’s chest and fiercely struck the Lord. In rapt attention, all the demigods, saints and sages were overwhelmed with anxiety and said, “O Lord, where should we go and what should we do now?” Prahlada also got afraid watching the Lord fight. Then, the remover of fear and awarder of fearlessness to His devotees, slipped from Hiranyakasipu grasp and grabbed him. The fight went on. Hiranyakasipu was also very powerful. He had been the gatekeeper of the Lord in the spiritual world, which is why he was equal in strength with the Lord. They then began fist fighting, their movements shaking Mother Earth. The demigods were not sure if the Lord would be the victor, but Prahlada had full faith in the Lord and was sure of His triumph. One may wonder for how long this fight lasted? We cannot say because there is no scriptural evidence regarding the duration of this fight. One evening at dusk the Lord grabbed Hiranyakasipu like a cat snatches a rat, and placed him on His lap. Now Hiranyakasipu understood he was about to be killed, so he reminded the Lord of the boons he received from Lord Brahma. To this the Lord responded, “My present form does not fall within any of the species in Lord Brahma’s creation, it is beyond the eight million four hundred thousand species. Half of My body is lion and the other half is man. This form is beyond the creation of the creator. I will not kill you using any weapon, but I will kill you with My nails. I will not kill you inside or outside of the house, but I will kill you while sitting on the threshold. I will neither kill you on earth nor in the sky, I will kill you on My lap. I will not kill you during the day or at night, but I will kill you now, at dusk. Hearing the Lord’s words, Hiranyakasipu became silent. Then, the Lord ripped his stomach open with His nails, removed his intestines and placed them around His neck. He licked the dripping blood, seeing which terrified the demons that fled and hid. The Lord was still ferociously angry, causing the demigods to go to Laksmidevi, the Lord’s wife and state, “Please go to the Lord and pacify Him.” Laksmidevi then decorated Herself and arrived near the Lord and said, “Please be peaceful and become calm.” The Lord responded in a chastising manner, “Go away from here. This fellow tortured My devotee, and You have come here to calm Me down. Go away.” Seeing such anger frightened Laksmidevi and she ran from there. After this, Narada Muni sent Prahlada near the Lord. Then, after paying homage to the Lord, Prahlada stood near Him. Acknowledging Prahlada’s presence, the Lord calmed down and said, “Prahlada, I am pleased with your devotion. Now you can ask any boon you wish from Me.” To this Prahlada said, “O Lord, please forgive my father’s offenses.” Then the Lord said, “O Prahlada, due to you only, not only is your father liberated, twenty one generations from your dynasty are liberated as well.” After placing Prahlada on the throne, the Lord told him that He would not kill anyone else from his dynasty. After saying this, the Lord disappeared. Then, Sri Sukadeva Goswami began speaking about Tripurari, a special name given to Lord Siva for his destroying three magical cities. By nature demigods and demons are enemies. Upon seeing another from the opposing party they want to destroy them. On an occasion when the demigods and demons fought, the demigods won with the help of the Lord. The demons then contemplated how to defeat the demigods. Thus they decided to employ the help of the demon Mayasura, because by performing austerities he had received the boon to be able to perform unexpected illusory feats. Many demons went to live with him because of this power. Thus, the demons aching for revenge, went to him and said, “O best of all the demons, we are always defeated by the demigods, therefore please help us. We have come here to beg your kind help so we can defeat them.” The Maya demon agreed to help, then constructed three magnificent flying cities in the sky. One city was constructed of gold, another of silver and the other of iron. These cities floated independently of each other in the sky for one thousand years, after which they would converge at one place. These cities were invisible; not even the demigods could see them. The cities were also blessed that they could not be destroyed separately, but only vulnerable when they were together. The demons dwelled in and attacked the demigods from these invisible cities, which soon became unbearable for the demigods. Unable to even see their attackers, they reached Lord Siva and asked for his help. Being pleased by the demigods, Lord Siva released His Pasupatastra (an undefeatable weapon) and the demons started dying everywhere. But the Mayasura demon had constructed a lake of nectar in one of the cities with the power to revive the dead. Thus he would dunk the dead demons in the lake, bringing them back to life. This act troubled even Lord Siva, so he prayed to the Supreme Lord. Lord Visnu together with Lord Brahma came to Lord Siva where Lord Visnu said, “Do not worry, I will drink Mayasura’s lake of nectar.” The Lord then took a cow’s form and had Brahma act as its calf and entered the invisible city where the nectar lake was located. In view of the demons, in the form of a cow, the Lord drank all the nectar. With this knowledge, Lord Siva patiently sat on a celestial chariot, waiting for the three cities’ vulnerability. When the time arrived for the three cities to converge, Lord Siva released his undefeatable arrows and destroyed the cities and thus the demigods won the battle. From this day Lord Siva is known as Tripurari or destroyer of the three invisible cities. Then Sri Sukadeva Goswami speaks about the conversation between Narada Muni and King Yudhisthira. The curse placed on Narada Muni by Daksa becomes dormant when Narada Muni preaches to pure devotees. Narada Muni begins by telling Yudhisthira about the Varnasrama system (social and spiritual orders). He said that an ideal life is respected in human society because it results in peaceful life. Symptoms of an ideal person are that he/she speaks the truth, shows mercy to all creatures, performs austerities per their capacity, remains pure in thought and body, is tolerant and refers to the scriptures to determine what is right and what is wrong. Such people’s minds are equipoised; they keep their senses under control and they keep aloof from material sense gratification objects. Ideal people do not commit violence against any creature, do not eat meat, drink wine, or take any other type of intoxication. They behave nicely towards everyone and remain satisfied with whatever destiny brings. They study the ancient scriptures and serve the real devotees of the Lord. They control their speech and very seriously consider what is best for improving their soul. After feeding their guests, they take their meal. They chant the holy names of the Lord with great devotion and listen to the Lord’s pastimes with great love. They always remember the beautiful form of the Lord and stand ready to serve Him. They humbly pay homage to the Lord’s devotees and think themselves a servant of the Lord. They live to worship the Lord and always remain fully dedicated to Him. Whosoever possesses these qualities is an ideal person in human society and is able to perform real spiritual acts. Such people are able to please the Soul of all the souls, Lord Sri Hari. The qualities of the four social classes of the Varnasrama system are as follows: The traditional Brahmanas’ (intellectual class of people) qualities are studying and teaching the Vedas, accepting and giving charity and performing and helping others to perform sacrifices. The qualities of Ksatriyas (warrior or administrative class of people) are studying the scriptures, performing sacrifices, protecting the subjects of the nation and extracting taxes to finance the constituents’ protection. The qualities of Vaisyas (merchant class of people) are studying the scriptures, giving charity, performing sacrifices, serving traditional Brahmanas, agriculture, cow protection and earning wealth through just means. The qualities of Sudras (working class of people) are serving the above three classes with dedication and always remaining theistic. These four classes of people remain attached to pleasing the Lord. The qualities of the four spiritual classes of the Varnasrama system are as follows: The main quality of the Brahmachari order (celibate student) is that they are celibate spiritual students. They should always serve their Guru with full dedication and study the scriptures. The main duties of the Grhastha order (householder) are to become free from debt to the demigods by performing sacrifice to satisfy them; to their parents by following spiritual life to liberate them; to sages’ by studying scriptures; and to forefathers by offering oblations. Other duties are performing Sandhyä (chanting mantras given by Guru three times a day—morning ‘before sunrise’; noon; and evening ‘just after sunset’), performing sacrifices, feeding the hungry and giving charity to authentic devotees. The duties of the Vanaprastha order (retired from social life) are to continuously perform austerities, live in holy places, and go against the mind’s demands. The duties of the Sanyasa order (renounced) are to always think about the Supreme Lord’s pastimes, not to collect anything for the future, not to participate in arguments, and to keep the desire to help and benefit all creatures of the creation. Upon hearing these spiritual rules, Yudhisthira became very jolly and after nicely worshipping Narada Muni, paid his homage. Then Narada Muni left to his abode while playing his Tamboura (musical instrument).
Thus ends the third day’s lecture of Srimad Bhagavatam by the Scripturally Authentic Guru, Mahamandaleshwar Mahant Sri Krsna Balaram Swamiji.
Hari Om Tat Sat==============
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