He is longing for this love from the devotees. And this is a, we can say, very practical way Kṛṣṇa is describing how one can please Him. Just by offering, with love and devotion, even a leaf, a lotus leaf, or any kind of leaf, which is beautiful. There are so many beautiful leaves. Or a flower, this time of year, so many beautiful flowers, or water. So Kṛṣṇa says, "I will accept it." So the main ingredient is the feeling. And I think we all have that experience in ordinary relationships in our lives, that when you connect with someone, and you can immediately feel the difference, when it's feelingly, or more like duty, more external. When it goes deeper, immediately becomes more interesting, more satisfying, more fulfilling. So this is natural, natural psychology. So this is also on the highest level in the relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So, in a practical way, I guess some of you at home have some kind of altar, and you are also offering your bhoga there. And so, in a very practical way, when we, how we relate to this altar at home, or when we come here to the temple, when we bow down, we can do it very consciously, and we can do it with devotion, and we can really desire to take shelter of the Lord and connect to the Lord. And that makes a real difference, doesn't it? And when you say the prayers also, that you are there, and you are conscious, and you connect to the prayers, you take shelter of the prayers, through the prayers, you come close to the Lord. But so easily also, it can be that we become absent-minded. Maybe this disturbance is there in our life, or this problem, this challenge, and so on. And suddenly, in the middle of praying, we start to think about that. That's happening. Sometimes. I guess we are all struggling with that. And so, make a conscious endeavor like this, which Kṛṣṇa recommends here, to just try to do it with devotion, we will actually experience immediate results. We don't have to wait. That's so wonderful with bhakti-yoga. You can immediately see some results. Or, I think some of you are chanting japa, the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra on japa-mālā. And we can experience that when we try to do it with focus, we try to be fully present, and we are crying for the mercy of the Lord, so immediately there we will experience difference in our consciousness. Same principles. So in all our activities in devotional service, that's opportunity. At every situation, at every second, we have a choice to connect to the Lord. So this is so practical.
patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ
yo me bhaktyā prayacchati
If he has offered Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit and water. So the main ingredients, Prabhupāda says, it's repeated twice in this śloka, if it's done with love, that makes all the difference in our relationship to the Supreme Lord. That's the opportunity we have, and that makes, we will experience spiritual advancement, we will get the, feel attraction for the Lord. I was reading in the Kṛṣṇa Book just recently, a very interesting pastime of the Lord. I just want to say something about that. It's entitled "Delivering the Wives of the Brahmanas Who Performed Sacrifice". Maybe some of you have heard this pastime, but Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, they were out in the forest in Vṛndāvana. And one day they felt very hungry. And so, they approached Kṛṣṇa, and they knew also Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, they desired to eat. So they expressed, they told, "We are hungry."
So Kṛṣṇa had a plan, so he knew that it was nearby some yajña going on, yajñika brahmanas, very expert in rituals, were performing this sacrifice. And Kṛṣṇa said to the cowherd boys, "Oh, please go there. They have just prepared now nice bhoga, and just ask, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma are staying here nearby, we are with them, can you please give us some food?"
So they did that, they came there. And Kṛṣṇa also warned them before they left, he said that, "By the way, they are not Vaiṣṇavas, just so you know." And when they came there, they approached the brahmanas with so much respect. They bowed down, folded hands, offered obeisances to the brahmanas, and they addressed them as "O earthly gods!" And so they expressed that they were sent by Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, "And can we have some food, please?" So, in a very gentle, humble way, they put forward this. And how did the brahmanas react? Some of you know, maybe?
Q: They were aggressive, and they didn't give them anything, prasādam.
A: Yes. First, they actually just completely neglected them. They were so full of themselves, as one say, quite proud. So, they just didn't care. They thought what they were doing, it was super important. It was the most elevated activities in the society. And here are some small boys coming. And so they couldn't care less. They just completely ignored them. And for the boys, they felt hurt. Maybe you have experienced, if you have been out trying to connect people to Kṛṣṇa, distributing books or prasādam, and people just neglect you, don't see you, and you feel hurt. Easily happen. So they felt like that. And they returned to Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. And when they told Kṛṣṇa what happened, Kṛṣṇa was smiling actually, and he explained, "This is how it is when you are begging. You have to expect that." But, "You can try with the wives of the brahmanas. They are devotees. And you go to them. I'm sure they will give you something."
So this is what they did, they returned. And the wives were assisting their husbands in this yajña. And so they were fully engaged in that. And they understood what is the real yajña. Like Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā, third chapter, text nine:
yajñārthāt karmaṇo ’nyatra
loko ’yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ
tad-arthaṁ karma kaunteya
mukta-saṅgaḥ samācara
That work, karma, has to be performed for the sake of Viṣṇu. Otherwise, karma-bandhanaḥ, one becomes bound by one's work. And therefore, Kṛṣṇa says you perform your activities for His satisfaction, for the Lord's satisfaction, in this way you will always be free from bondage. So everyone wants to be free, isn't it? In this material world, we don't like to be bound up. We want to have real freedom. So this is how you actually can experience real freedom, is doing what you are doing for the sake of the Lord, for pleasing the Lord, for serving the Lord. And when He is pleased, you feel deep satisfaction, satisfaction you can never obtain by any kind of material arrangement, not by any kind of sense gratification in this world. It's not possible. So this is a real art of living, doing activities, yajñas, for the sake of Viṣṇu. So they came to the wives. And with the same humility, offered obeisances. And they asked, "Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma are nearby, can you please give us some food?" And immediately, they were so enthusiastic. And they immediately collected whatever was the best of the best of what was in the kitchen, and they started to fill up pots. And they were so eager. Actually, they had heard about Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. They had never seen them, but they heard from others who had seen them, from authorized sources. So just by hearing about Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, so they became so attached to them, developed so much affection and love. And here the representatives, the cowherd boys, come and ask for some bhoga. They were so eager to give. But it was not enough for them just to give, they wanted to follow the cowherd boys to meet Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. And Kṛṣṇa's friends, they loved that. But at that time, they were really tested, because their husbands and other relatives, they said, "You cannot go. You cannot go, you have your duty here now."
And they didn't care. They just, it was not any hesitation of any form. They were just leaving. And they wanted to see Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma in the forest. And they knew if we go now, and they say we can't go, that means in that culture, that you cannot come back. So they were ready to take any risk like that for connecting to Kṛṣṇa and pleasing Kṛṣṇa, serving Kṛṣṇa. And when they came into the forest and they saw Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, their hearts just completely melted. They were so beautiful, as we know, the descriptions is there from authorized sources how the Supreme Personality of Godhead looks like. And they saw everything was exactly as it has been described from authorized sources. So this spontaneous attraction for Kṛṣṇa, that's the perfection of life. It's called rāgānugā-bhakti, spontaneous love and devotion, spontaneous devotional service. We just can think of nothing else than being more engaged in service like that. There is a beautiful prayer by Queen Kuntī where she expresses her feelings towards Kṛṣṇa. It's in the First Canto, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, chapter eight, the prayers of Queen Kuntī. In the forty-second verse it says:
tvayi me ’nanya-viṣayā
matir madhu-pate ’sakṛt
ratim udvahatād addhā
gaṅgevaugham udanvati
So she is praying like this, very, very beautifully. She said, "As the Ganges forever flows towards the sea without any hindrance, please let my attraction be constantly drawn to You, without being diverted to anyone else." That's her prayer. So, it's a, one wonderful example. We know Ganges is so, very, very powerful. If we go out in the Ganges and try to in some way stop the Ganges, it's not possible. It's so powerful. So, "As the Ganges forever flows towards the sea without any hindrance, please let my attraction be drawn unto You without being diverted to anyone else."
So in this material world, it's so easy to be diverted, isn't it? It can just take one half a second, suddenly you are somewhere else. And you are thinking about something which is not Kṛṣṇa conscious. That's happened. So that's her prayer. And the wives of the brahmanas, they were on that platform, spontaneous. It was flowing spontaneously, they were just ready to take any risk just for Kṛṣṇa's pleasure. So Kṛṣṇa's garment glittered like gold. It's yellow. And he had a garland of forest flowers, decorating him so, so wonderful. Peacock feather, as we know, on the head. And on one hand, he was resting on the shoulder of a friend, and with the other hand, he was holding a lotus flower. And behind his ears, he had lilies. So this is what they saw. That darśana they had when they entered the forest, and their hearts just melted. "This is Kṛṣṇa." And they just were overwhelmed with devotion and love. And Kṛṣṇa was just immediately smiling towards them. And that increased their feelings million of times. "Kṛṣṇa sees me. Kṛṣṇa is reciprocating with me."
So this is bhakti. And this is the opportunity, as from this śloka now in Bhagavad-gītā, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati. This is the way how we also, in a practical way in daily life, we can also connect with Kṛṣṇa. Bhakti-yoga is so practical. Prabhupāda showed that when he came to New York, 1966, to the 26 Second Avenue. They had a little storefront there, and they were cooking, and Prabhupāda was offering the bhoga, and he taught the others gradually to both cook and offer the bhoga. And they could realize this is something we can experience. It's a way of life, it's a way of living, and it's a change of consciousness. So pure devotees, they see Kṛṣṇa in the heart constantly like that. They never deviated from that. So we are not on that platform, but we can take inspiration from these examples, like when we read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā, here in our Kṛṣṇa Book. Prabhupāda has given us the most intimate pastimes. Entering Vṛndāvana, hearing about Kṛṣṇa and His devotees, and what is actually the goal, what is rāgānugā-bhakti. So we cannot in an artificial way jump there, but we can get inspiration and see what we are aiming for. And being in our simple way, in our lives, just when we are offering at home, our bhoga, do it with more feeling, with the heart, consciously be present, and do something extra. Maybe picking a flower, putting in front of the picture or deity. But if you just do it with feeling, it makes all the difference in the world. This is bhakti-yoga. It's so simple, but it makes all the difference in the world. And we can also just, as we spoke about, do it absent-mindedly. We do it like a ritual, "Okay, I bow down, I have to go to work, I have to go to school, I have this duty, oh no, I forgot this," and... And we don't lose anything just to be more present. We all anyway bow down. We anyway offer our prayers. So if we just do it more consciously, that's the opportunity we have. And when we chant our japa to, from, it's called nāmāparādha, when we are not consciously present, we can raise to nāmābhāsa, so the clearing stage. And that also suddenly opens up so many positive possibilities and inspiration for being more involved and engaged in devotional service. So Kṛṣṇa, He welcomed them. He was smiling, as we said, and He welcomed them. Very happy you have come here and, yeah, He said, "You are very fortunate." "What can I do for you?" So, "You neglected all the hindrances." Kṛṣṇa knows everything. Like He is in the heart and He knows what each and everyone is going through, our challenges in life in all respects, but our struggle in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, He knows it all. So, "You neglecting the husbands' orders, relatives' orders, and you," He knew, they went anyway. So He appreciated that. So pure devotional service is very rare. And Kṛṣṇa says, "You are very, very fortunate." But then He said, "Now, please return home." And they were shocked. "How can You say such a thing, Kṛṣṇa? We just surrendered completely to You. You promise in Bhagavad-gītā that:"
sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
Abandon all religion and just surrender unto me, I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions, do not fear. "We are completely taking shelter of You. It's not fair. You've promised to protect Your devotees. We have surrendered. We don't want to return, we can't... we cannot return. We are rejected." So they just, in this way, spoke to Kṛṣṇa. "Please, we want to stay with You eternally." That was their prayer. But then Kṛṣṇa spoke, and He said, "Your husbands will not neglect you. Your relatives and all your family members, they will be very happy to see you. I am sure of that."
So they understand, they understood, "This is Kṛṣṇa's desire." So they went back. Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma, and the cowherd boys, they enjoyed the wonderful bhoga, or mahā-prasādam. Kṛṣṇa accepted it. And so, when they returned, it's very wonderful how their husbands, because of their pure devotion and because of the blessing of Kṛṣṇa, they had a change of heart. They got so many realizations. First, they were angry their wives had left. But then they understood, actually, they understood what actually is the purpose of the Vedas. "The purpose of the Vedas, we are expert in rituals, we are expert in doing sacrifices, this kind of sacrifices we performed was for our own comfort. It was for our own elevation to the svarga-lokas, to the heavenly planets. It was actually selfish. And we thought it was so elevated. And now, by Kṛṣṇa's grace, we understood that our wives have actually understood the essence. They understood what is the essence of religion: pure devotional service. We are so foolish, we are in māyā, although we're supposed to be the teachers, as brahmanas, for the whole society, but we are confused, we are bewildered, we are in māyā." So they started to condemn themselves. "And how fortunate we are to have such wives who are so elevated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness."
So you might be very intelligent, you might be very learned from the material point of view, sophisticated, elevated, very respected, Nobel Prize or have a very special position. But if you don't understand the essence, what is actually life about, so then actually, one is just wasting time. It's without any meaning, it's useless, and it's ultimately just empty. So, bhakti-yoga gives us this possibility. And so they prayed, the husbands, they prayed to the Lord, "Please excuse us. Please excuse us. We didn't know Your glories, we didn't understand the glorious position of our wives, how elevated they were in Kṛṣṇa consciousness."
So this is one pastime from the Kṛṣṇa Book. And I was just thinking in the connection to this verse we were reading from Bhagavad-gītā. patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati. If one just offers Me with love and devotion, just like the wives, they were immediately there, and with complete devotion and love, they were ready to give everything to Kṛṣṇa. So that's the opportunity. And in a similar way, we said something about chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, japa, so that's also very practical. Prabhupāda said that of all the different services, chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, japa on our japa-mālā, it's the most important. So if we can try to improve the quality, and as we spoke about, come from nāmāparādha to nāmābhāsa, things start to open up. Haridāsa Ṭhākura gives example, it's like, when there is, what do you call it, when the sun starts to rise? Dawn? Yes, when there is little light on the horizon, so immediately you see the difference. So that's compared to when we start to chant, we go from nāmāparādha, making offenses when we are chanting, and we are very blocked in our progress, and when we just go from that stage to the nāmābhāsa by consciously being more present, listening, try to listen, although the mind is crazy sometimes. Kṛṣṇa gives advice in Bhagavad-gītā about this. He says, "Wherever the mind wanders due to its flickering and unsteady nature, one must certainly withdraw it and bring it back under the control of the self, the transcendental self." So wherever it wanders, and it will wander. So wherever it wanders due to its flickering and unsteady nature, just capture it, bring it back. That's how we show our sincerity. We want to be alert, and we again and again tripped, we are carried away, but the sincerity is there, that we are trying our best. And that will please Kṛṣṇa. Our sincere endeavor just to be present, and that takes us to nāmābhāsa, the clearing stage, and then the light start to come into our life. tamaso mā jyotir gamaya: get out of the darkness, come to the light. So, chanting japa, if you have a family, if possible, sit down with family members, if possible, morning and evening, at least once a day, chant together. Offering bhoga. It's very simple, but very powerful. And easily we can break such good... what do you say? In Swedish, vanor. What do you say?
Q: Habits.
A: Habits, thank you. We can start some good habits sometimes, but easily, we cannot maintain them. So these are just some practical points on how we can in our practical daily life just make a difference and see the difference. We don't have to wait for the results. And in this way, our faith in Kṛṣṇa consciousness will increase, because we see it works. Kṛṣṇa is there. Kṛṣṇa is reciprocating with us. And so, in this way, we can become more and more enthusiastic, and purified, and also benefit others, which is Prabhupāda's example, how can we benefit others? How can we some or other give other people Kṛṣṇa consciousness? How can they receive a book, or some prasādam, some engagement in devotional service, and so on? So thank you very much. Śrīla Prabhupāda kī jaya! Nitāi-Gaura-premānande hari haribol! All glories to the assembled devotees. So maybe you have any questions, some thoughts, comments, reflections about this? You have japa time now?
Q: We have japa time now.
A: That's good. Yes.
Q: But you are available for questions and answers later, right?
A: Okay. Sure. Can also. So this is the usual procedure, I think, at this time, of the Sunday feast, chanting. Is it one round now together?
Q: Till, till 4:45.
A: 4:45, okay. Okay. So we can just remember this śloka again, what we recited: "Wherever the mind wanders due to its flickering and unsteady nature, we must just certainly withdraw it to bring it back under the control of the self, the transcendental self." So should we try with, it's called saṅkalpa, with some extra determination.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Prabhu Nityānanda
Śrī Advaita Gadādhara Śrīvāsādi Gaura-bhakta-vṛnda