Srila Gurudeva Katha Transcriptions

…By the grace of Nārada Ṛṣi, Vyāsadeva realized all truths and saw what he had realized as direct (pratyakṣa). He then wrote Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but for whom? For those who are against Kṛṣṇa, and come to this prison-like world which is controlled by māyā. For such conditioned souls, Vyāsadeva manifested Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Bhāgavatam is not a mere book; it is the embodiment of Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa Themselves. Vyāsadeva preached Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam for the benefit of all conditioned souls…

…Vyāsadeva followed his dear son, and called out, “O son, O son!” but Śukadeva did not reply to his father. The trees around him as a pratidhvany echoed, “Who is son? Who is father? Who is mother? Who is husband? Who is wife? Kṛṣṇa is only father, He is everything, and all other relationships are enactments of His illusory māyā. Such relations are not true”…

…The gopīs’ say, “I believed Kṛṣṇa and I fell for His charming ploy. So no one else should be cheated by Kṛṣṇa; that dhūrta (cheater).” So Kṛṣṇa cheated this parrot, and He was giving so much honor and affection to the parrot. In the meantime, two girls came running from Varsānā; they were Lalitā and Viśākhā. They told Kṛṣṇa “Oh, Vrajendra-nandana return our parrot, it is very much loved and held dear by our sakhī (Śrīmatī Rādhikā). Our sakhī cannot live without this parrot, so return the parrot at once!”…

This is a policy. Policy means a political thing. I don’t want to go to any politics. I want to help all the little beings, the living entities like Svāmījī has done. I am helping everyone causelessly. I don’t want to be political; I only want to support everyone. It is not written in any śāstra; my Gurudeva or any Gurudeva has not said like so. We see that…

Pratyakṣa—this knowledge refers to what we realize by our five kinds of senses and by what we see. This is pratyakṣa. But pratyakṣa is not helpful. It is not real. It is only the shadow; it is the perverted reflection of that aprākṛta (transcendental) world. It changes every minute. So, pratyakṣa means direct knowledge. Direct knowledge is not good. We cannot rely on this. If you rely on it then you will have to go in the chain of birth and death that has repeated sufferings and sorrows.

So, Prabhupāda spoke of another form of knowledge. Do you know who Cārvāka is? He propagated the philosophy of eat, drink, and make merry. They say, “We have not seen God. There is no God…

There is no guarantee regarding your life span. Tūrṇaṁ, at once, you should give up your bad habits like smoking. You should not think of waiting for tomorrow. You should give it up this very moment. And you should try to chant harināma starting today, not tomorrow or any other day. You should not think, “Oh, I will gradually give these things up.” You should start to engage in bhakti at once. Who knows what will happen tomorrow? Tūrṇaṁ yateta na pated anu-mṛtyu yāvat. Before we die we should try to go to a bona fide guru…

Keep this truth of Gurudeva’s grace firmly fixed in your mind as told in this kīrtana by Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura. ‘Guru-mukha-padma-vākya, cittete koriyā aikya,’ you should know that the teachings that come from the lotus mouth of Gurudeva should always be kept in your heart. By only giving due consideration to the words of Gurudeva, will we cross māyā. By properly practicing bhakti, śraddhā will come first, followed by niṣṭhā, ruci, āsakti, bhāva, and prema. If prema has not blossomed in your heart, avidyā will not be removed completely. And it maybe that…