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This child is so crying. From three miles we can hear!

Today's verse, Srimad Bhagavatam 5.5.27, described that the true engagement of the senses is service to the Supreme Lord; otherwise it is impossible to get out of material existence. At the beginning of class Prabhupada was just beginning to make the point that the body is full of ignorance when a child began to cry loudly, disturbing everyone's concentration. He quickly and humorously capitalized on the incident, making a practical point and causing everyone to laugh as well. "So the entanglement is made by the senses. Bhaktivinoda Thakura has sung that sarira avidya jal, jodendriya tahe kal, jive phele vishaya sagore. This body is covering of ignorance, sarira avidya jal. Everyone has got a material body, and according to the different proportion of ignorance . . . [child cries] . . . This child is so crying. From three miles we can hear! Balanam rodanam balam, this is strength of the children, crying." He started chuckling. "They can disturb the whole world simply by crying!" Everyone broke out laughing and Prabhupada continued with a large grin on his face. "So just see. This is the body, immediately. You cannot cry like that. Even if you are aggrieved, you cannot cry so loudly that up to four miles one can hear. That is not possible. Why it is not possible? Because he has got a different body and you have got a different. Everything is going on according to the body. This is maha vimoha. This is going on, 8,400,000's of different forms of body according to mano [mind], vaca [tongue], drik [eye], karana [senses], etc. This body is the entanglement, and the senses are the instruments, and we are acting with the senses and we creating another type of body. This is going on." Condemning the type of civilization that keeps people in the ignorance of thinking that there is only the body and nothing more, Prabhupada quoted Locan Dasa Thakura and told us that the chanting of the Lord's name is the potent remedy for all our problems. "Vishaya chariya, se rase majiya, mukhe bolo hari hari. This is instruction, that we can chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, we can chant the holy name of the Lord, purely, without offense. Because if we can chant Hare Krishna maha-mantra once only?if it is pure?then immediately you become liberated. Harinama is so powerful that once chanting, immediately vanquishes the accumulated sinful reaction of millions of lives. Papi haya tata papa karibare. Every papi, sinful man, is very expert in committing sinful activities. But harinama is so expert that once chanted, the papi, the sinful man, will be failure to commit sin anymore." 

Prabhupada cautioned us, however, that chanting is not a cheap process. "But the difficulty is that we cannot come to the pure stage of chanting Hare Krishna mantra. Due to our past habits our mind is disturbed. We cannot concentrate. Therefore we have fixed up the minimum. We cannot imitate Haridasa Thakura. That is not possible. If somebody imitates Haridasa Thakura . . . We can see this chanting Hare Krishna and smoking bidi. We can understand what is the position. The offense is going on. Therefore we should try to avoid the ten kinds of offenses. Of course, in the beginning the offenses will continue. But chanting, chanting, chanting, chanting, as soon as we become purified Ceto darpana marjanam bhava maha davagni nirvapanam [Cc. Antya 20.12]. By chanting, chanting, chanting repeatedly, the core of heart will be cleansed." I got an unexpected bonus from the class. At the beginning, Prabhupada was telling us that we have to purify our senses by engagement in bhakti. He was going to refer to a verse from Bhagavad-gita, but it slipped his mind. "In the Bhagavad-gita it is said . . . What is that verse, the body and the senses? I forget now." Somehow I knew which verse he was thinking of and prompted him. "Indriyani parany ahuh?" Prabhupada gave me a quick nod of appreciation, "Ah, very good. Thank you. Indriyani parany ahur indriyebhyah param manah, manasas tu para buddhih [Bg. 3.42]," and he continued with his discourse. After class he went back to his house and as usual, sat down for a few minutes before taking his breakfast. I came into his darsana room, and he called me over to his side, a big smile on his face. "I was very happy that you could give me that verse without my asking," he said. I was at once embarrassed and gratified. I felt undeserving. I tried to shy away from his praise and minimize my deed. "Well, I actually haven't learnt many verses, Srila Prabhupada. It was just one of the ones that I happen to know." "No," Srila Prabhupada pressed, both seriously and reassuringly. "This is required. It is very good if you can quote sastra. If you can learn these verses you will be able to preach very nicely." He smiled again in appreciation, and I could understand that he has a great hope that we disciples can emulate his own abundant qualities as a preacher of Krishna consciousness. He naturally wants his legacy to be carried forward, and it is his hope and expectancy that each and every one of us, no matter how insignificant, will rise to some level of efficacy as his representative. He quotes profusely from sastra to establish the authority of his words, and he is keen that we also become proficient despite our not knowing Sanskrit. I left his room feeling deeply satisfied. Even though I am with Srila Prabhupada all day every day and routinely do many personal services, to have him single out a specific incident and thank me for it was still special and uplifting.


Reference: Transcendental Diary Volume 5 by Hari Sauri Dasa