This is sneha. Everyone is thinking. Even the lower animals, they are also thinking of giving protection to the children. I have got personal experience in Kanpur, I was sitting in my room, and one monkey was outside the door with his (her) kitty to take something out of my eating. But by chance the small kitty entered through the bars of the window within the room, and I saw the mother became almost mad immediately: "Oh, my son has gone inside, and it will not be allowed to come again." Anyway, I managed to push the small kitty to go away; then she was relieved. So this affection for children, for wife, for family members, increase, then to society, to country, even to the whole human society. There are so many persons. They have given their state (estate) for benefit of the whole human society. There are many, many philanthropists, charitably disposed men. They do that.
Kanpur (Lectures)
Lectures
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Prabhupāda: People still, in India, those who are rich men, they have got their family temple Deities. One temple is there in Kanpur. The family members, they are very rich. The rule is that if the family members do not come in the temple to offer obeisances to the Deity, they'll be fined. The mother, the head of the family... Mother is still living. She has imposed this law, that "Any of my children or grandchildren, if he or she does not visit the temple, then according to this rule, this fine should be realized from them." So if somebody misses to go in the temple one day, the priest presents the bill: "Sir, you have been fined five rupees." (Laughter) So they pay. Yes. So we should also enforce that rule. Anyone who is not attending maṅgala-ārati should be fined. (laughter) And the fine should be that he must sell one Kṛṣṇa book. (laughter) Is that all right?
Devotees: Jaya!
Anyone who is rich in India still, they have got Deity worship at home. Very nicely. A separate house, a small house attached to their big buildings, and there is Deity worship, and the all the members should go there, offer prayers. Just like we are doing, the similar, same thing there. In Kanpur there is one temple, Dvārakādhīśa. The temple belongs to a very rich man, Singhania. The, all the members... It is order of the lady, the mother of Mr. Singhania, that "You all of you, you must visit the Deity..." Very rich men, always busy in business. But still, they have to come to the temple and offer respect, take caraṇāmṛta and prasādam. Then go to office. If one misses one day, then he will be fined. Still. The head man will be fined ten dollars, and the next man five dollars, like that, according to position. So if one day somebody misses, immediately the priest will go with the bill of fine: "Sir, you have to pay this fine." "Yes. You take immediately."
So this is Vaiṣṇava principle. Vaiṣṇava principle means everything accepted as Kṛṣṇa's. The Māyāvādīs, they say—at least they say—that brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā. Mithyā: "This is false." But Vaiṣṇava says, "No, it is not false. It is the by-product of Kṛṣṇa's energy. If Kṛṣṇa is true, how it can be false?" So they do not take this world, material world, as false. It is temporary, but they know how to utilize this material world for devotional service. Bhāvanaṁ brahmaṇaḥ sthānam. You can utilize the same energy of constructing something out of bricks and stones and wood into a nice temple. That was the Vedic culture. Still in old cities you will find in lanes and streets, there are so many temples. I have seen, especially in Kanpur. Even within the lane there are so many temples, Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa temple, Viṣṇu temples, Śiva temple. So all over India you will find the temples. People were so spiritually advanced, even Muslim. They are also. They have constructed so many mosques. So that should be utilized. If we have got the tendency for making a house or construction of some building with stones and bricks, let it be utilized for constructing temple of the Supreme Brahman.
Just try to understand. Here it is said that in a Kānyakubja city... There is a city, now it is called, by the British period, it is now known as Kanauj, a city in the northern India near Kanpur city... So that is very old city, because it is mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavata, and Bhāgavata was written five thousand years ago. So it means that city is famous since five thousand years ago, and it was inhabited by learned brāhmaṇas. So here it is said, kānyakubje dvijaḥ kaścid. Dvijaḥ, dvijaḥ means brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas and vaiśyas. Especially it is meant the brāhmaṇas and the Vaiṣṇavas. Just like in this morning we had ceremony, initiation. The second ceremony will be for offering sacred thread. So one who has got this sacred thread, he is called dvijaḥ, twice-born. Twice-born. Once born by the father and mother, and the next birth is given by the spiritual master and Vedic literature. Vedic literature is the mother and the spiritual master is the father. As in every birth the necessity of father and mother is there, similarly, in this birth also, spiritual rebirth, there is necessity of mother and father. The mother is this Vedic knowledge, and the father is the spiritual master.
And so Śukadeva Gosvāmī is going to give example from the history about the Ajāmila, how he was in the beginning very good boy, brāhmaṇa, and then, under the influence of a prostitute, he fell down and became most degraded, and then again, because in the past he had some good asset of spiritual life... That is described in the Bhāgavata, svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt. Spiritual life is so nice, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If one has executed even for a short time, it may help to deliver him from the greatest dangerous way of life, and that history will be recited by Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Kānyakubje dvijaḥ kaścid dāsī-patir ajāmilaḥ. Dāsī patir ajāmilaḥ, nāmnā naṣṭa-sadācāro dāsyaḥ saṁsarga-dūṣitaḥ. This is the beginning of the story, that in Kānyakubja... Kānyakubja is... Still the place is there in India. Kānyakubja is a very famous place. It is near Kanpur. There is a place, Kanpur. So there... Kānyakubje dvijaḥ kaścid. He was a brāhmaṇa, but he became under the clutches of a prostitute. And how naṣṭā-sadācāra, how he lost his brahminical qualification, saṁsarga-dūṣitaḥ, by the association of prostitute, so this history will be recited. So tomorrow we shall speak of this.
Thank you very much. (end)
This Kānyakubja is still there. It is now known as Kanauj, within the division of Kanpur. It is very old city resided by brāhmaṇas especially. Still, in that city the most inhabitants are brāhmaṇas. Just like Nadia, Navadvīpa. It was formerly, even in Caitanya Mahāprabhu's time, inhabited by brāhmaṇas, learned scholars. So similarly, in northern India this place, Kanauj, since very long, long time, it is a very celebrated place. Now this place is very much famous for manufacturing perfumes, rosewater, scented attars, like that.
Naturally the youngest child becomes very favorite to the parents. So this Ajāmila was very much attached to the youngest child. Sa baddha-hṛdayas tasminn arbhake kala-bhāṣiṇi. The youngest child, naturally... This is the attraction of family life. When a small baby smiles, immediately the father, mother and relatives become attracted. When the child begins to talk broken language, they enjoy. Unless this attraction is there, it is not possible to raise the child with affection. That is natural. That affection is even in the animals. You'll find a dog, even a tiger, everyone. That affection is there in the every... Monkey. I have seen it practically. In Kanpur I was staying in a room, and one monkey came with a child, and the child somehow or other entered into the window through the bars and the mother became mad. She thought, "My child is gone." She became mad. So somehow or other, again I pushed that monkey out of the bars, and immediately she embraced the child and took away. Just see. The affection is there.
So in order to convince Parīkṣit Mahārāja how chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is powerful, he is giving a lesson from the history, how Ajāmila was delivered simply by chanting "Nārāyaṇa." This is the incidence from the history. And it is history. The story begins, kānyakubje. Kānyakubja is still there in India. Perhaps you have heard the name of Kanpur. So that is within the Kānyakubja area. Kānyakubje dvijaḥ: "There was a brāhmaṇa in Kānyakubja." Historical name is all... So it is history. It is not story, mythology. No story. It is historical fact. Anything which is described in the śāstra... The Bhāgavata is Maha-Purāṇa. Don't be misled, "These are mythology." No, these are historical facts. And we have to learn the Vedic knowledge by the description selected from the history so that we can easily understand. This is the purpose.
So our business is to accept a bona fide spiritual master, being guided by him, to follow the rules and regulations. Then advancement is sure. There is no doubt about it. And if we become hodgepodge and mix with hodgepodge and do hodgepodge, there is no progress. Na siddhim. It is clearly said by Kṛṣṇa, "There is no question of perfection," na sukham, "neither happiness," na parāṁ gatim, "and what to speak of being promoted to the spiritual world? There is no..." Therefore vaidhi-bhakti, as it is enunciated in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Nectar of Devotion, by the Gosvāmīs, we shall try to follow as far as possible. Be sincere and hard-working. Then the success is sure. Not to be bewildered, misled by the so-called avatāra, incarnation. You see? The so-called avatāras, they are simply rascals. Especially in Bengal, every day there is an avatāra. (laughter)
Devotee: The other day I received a postcard that "Some Viṣṇu has appeared in some temple, next to..."
Prabhupāda: Just see. So many. Everyone.
Guest: Just ten years ago there was, and he was speaking sometimes, "I am the incarnation. I am Brahman."
Prabhupāda: Yes. In Kanpur also one man has been arrested.
Guest: And just one man, he is coming, and thousands of people just near the (indistinct) protested. They are at liberty. They can do. "Why you are protesting?" Then we told, "He is misrepresenting the Vedānta and ācāryas. He doesn't accept the Veda-sanctioned authorities, so we don't want him."
Arrival Addresses and Talks
Prabhupāda: My dear devotees, ladies and gentlemen, I am very glad to see you again, I think, after four years? Three years. I was trying to come here again—I like this place—but due to various engagements and due to my old age also, I could not come earlier. But this time, by the arrangement of our Hṛdayānanda Mahārāja, I have been forced to come here. (laughter) So I must thank you for your nice reception. I was received by police escort very nicely, and I remember once I traveled with the governor of UP in 1962 from Lucknow to Kanpur. So exactly we were driving in the same fashion, escorted by the police motorcycle. So anyway, I am so pleased to see you, that you are interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.
General Lectures
Another thing I may inform you in this connection, that when I first came to New York, one big man in India, mean rich man, Sir Padampat Singhania of Kanpur, I had correspondence that "Singhaniajī, if you give me some money, I can construct a temple here of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa." So he was ready. He said that "Swamijī, whatever amount you want, I can give, provided the government gives sanction." So I had many correspondence with the government, but they did not give me sanction. But here the embassy, they have given me sanction that "You can raise funds from the residents in America and construct temple." So you are so many Indians. If you help me, I can construct temples everywhere. We have got many assistants. Of course, the American rich men, they are not coming. The boys and girls who have joined me, they are very not rich but very sincere. They are working and maintaining these twenty centers. We have got good expenditure. You know. It is America. Sometimes we have to spend two thousand dollars in every center. So Kṛṣṇa is giving us opportunity. Although there is no temple, but we are, I mean to say, our own temple, but temples we have got everywhere. We have got our Deity, Jagannātha, Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. They are being worshiped nicely, and we are offering prasādam. Every Sunday we are distributing prasādam. So the system is going on. Especially if you go to Los Angeles, we have got the biggest temple there. At least, daily, fifty, sixty persons are taking prasādam. On Sunday there are guests, more than one hundred. They are taking part. It is going on nicely. Similarly, we'll have in every place. So that foretellng, prediction of Lord Caitanya, pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma, (CB Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126) that time has come. Let us cooperate and distribute this nice thing, Hare Kṛṣṇa movement. People will be happy.
| Page Title: | Kanpur (Lectures) |
| Compiler: | Jahnu |
| Created: | 28 of Dec, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=12, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 12 |