ICVE – Bhakti shastri 2025 – Course completion talk | ISKCON Chennai | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj |
nama om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine
namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracharine
nirvishesha-shunyavadi-pashchatya-desha-tarine
sri-krishna-chaitanya prabhu nityananda
sri-adwaita gadadhara shrivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
We see that Srila Prabhupada spent a lot of time writing books. Before he came to America, he wrote the first Canto commentary on Bhagavatam and got it printed. He wrote the Back to godhead magazine and he wrote some other smaller books. After he went to America, then he wrote his Purports to Bhagavad Gita and got that published. And then he began writing on Nectar of Devotion, Isopanishad and Summary of Teachings of Lord Caitanya. And then finally he continued the Bhagavatam and he also completed the commentary on Caitanya Caritamrta. So although, he was traveling all around the world, preaching, he spent a considerable portion of his day in translating works.
Then he established the BBT to print those works. When he first did this, the books began coming out especially with the Bhagavatam and then Caitanya Caritamrta. The devotees were a little bit puzzled, because they had all these books and they didn’t know what to do with them [Laughs]. So the temples were expected to buy the books, but what do we do with all these books? [Laughs] And then of course they were expected to distribute them and they had to figure out ways of doing that. So eventually they got used to distributing big books.
So that was one thing, to distribute the books, but the other thing is, to read the books. So of course, Prabhupada from the very beginning established a program, in which we daily have a Srimad Bhagavatam class. So this is natural, because Srimad Bhagavatam is our main pramana or proof. We take this as our main scripture. So Prabhupada instituted a daily class on Srimad Bhagavatam. And of course people come to Bhagavatam class, if they’re devotional or whatever in their discipline, they will come to Bhagavatam class every day or they will read a portion of Bhagavatam, if they can’t come to class. However even then, we will find that people they listen to the class and still they cannot understand properly. So even though we have Bhagavatam translated into English in easy language, even though we have the purports of Prabhupada, still people have difficulty understanding things. Of course, it should not be like that, but somehow people cannot concentrate enough or study enough. So therefore, the society at a certain point decided they would make a program for systematic study of Prabhupada’s works.
Prabhupada of course emphasized book distribution, but he also emphasized people should read the books. The devotee should read the books, not just public should read the books, but devotees should read the books. And if they read the books, they should understand what it means. So this is an important part of our culture, within the Gaudiya Sampradaya and within ISKCON. Of course, chanting the holy name is the main process, but along with that we do have the books. And Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he didn’t write himself, but he ordered the Goswamis in Vrindavan to write books. So that’s the basis of our literature that we have today. The Goswamis wrote commentaries on Bhagavatam, they wrote other works and then later on, we have a commentary on Bhagavad Gita. So that became the basis of all of the later works.
So though the name is independent of everything and still has power to get the full effect of chanting the holy name, that is ultimately to get prema, we do need knowledge and that’s why Lord Caitanya instructs the Goswamis to write books. That’s why Caitanya Mahaprabhu himself set the example by hearing Srimad Bhagavatam every day. So chanting is very good, but knowledge of the scripture also very important for our spiritual advancement. So Prabhupada therefore instituted hearing Bhagavatam every day. He wrote all these commentaries etc and later on because of society felt that people should systematically understand and study these works, they instituted this. These courses like Bhakti Shastri and Bhakti Vaibhava and Bhakti Vedanta. So we get a systematic way of covering all of Srila Prabhupada’s works, but that’s the basic background, why we have these courses. How many years, has this program been going on?
Devotee: 1.5 Years Maharaj
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: That’s here. But what about internationally? 15 years? 20 years?
Devotee : Almost 25 years Maharaj.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah quite a long time it’s been going on because devotees began to realize that we should actually systematically study these works. So therefore, they got some devotees to organize a curriculum etc and select which books should be studied and then method of study. So a whole nice program was developed where even the teachers got training on how to teach it. And then whole syllabus on what to teach and which books to teach. So in this way, we get a very nice program to study the works of Srila Prabhupada. Of course, we should also understand that simply getting a degree memorizing verses etc and memorizing the answers does not constitute knowledge [Laughs]. We have to do something else.
So usually with these courses as well as study, they ensure that you’re doing sadhana properly etc. So the sadhana, if it’s good, then definitely will have a qualification for studying the works properly. So in Nectar of Devotion, in the beginning section where Rupa Goswami says that the qualification for studying Nectar of Devotion or any of the devotional works is ruchi or devotion not logic. So of course, we do need logic he emphasized in order to understand things properly, but ultimately we do need that devotion. And this is made clear in the Bhagavatam where it says that the Bhagavatam is like Mohini and Mohini gives the nectar to the Devatas and steals it from the demons. So Bhagavatam is like Mohini, it hides the nectar from the materialists and atheists and demons and non-believers and it gives it to the devotees. So if we want to understand Bhagavatam properly we have to have devotion.
And of course we also know that if you hear Bhagavatam from a person who has no devotion it is like poison. It is Bhagavatam, but it’s not Bhagavatam [Laughs]. It has the opposite effect. So we have to get the Bhagavatam from a person with devotion. And so similarly, if we study with devotion we will get the proper meaning. So the course is good as long as we also understand that it’s not simply an intellectual exercise. It is also approaching the work and whatever learning we’re getting with a devotional attitude. And then we get the proper result.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: So are these the first graduates?
Devotees : Yes.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Okay, how many?
Devotee : Around 65.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: 65. Everybody passed?
[Everyone Laughs]
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Nobody failed [Laughs]?
Devotee : [Audio not clear] 125. So those who have completed all the assignments.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Okay, so still some are working on it like that. They also have a program for people that can’t read and something like that. I know they’re doing that in Malaysia.
Devotee : [Audio not clear]
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, so you have that group also now?
Devotee : We have a few devotees.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: You do.
Devotee : They can read and write, but they not willing to cite examples.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Okay. Proficient. Yeah, yeah, okay. So it’s a very flexible program and recently they’ve done this, made it more flexible so that all sorts of people that maybe cannot even read or are illiterate or have trouble with the language they can also take part, especially if they’re older people, they can also study and actually get some sort of recognition for their study. So it’s a rather flexible program and those who have completed the course, it’s a good effort. It took one and a half years almost. Yeah, since you’re not doing full-time study or whatever then it takes longer. If you do full-time it would probably about six months course to have.
Devotees : Three and a half months?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Okay, then you do it full-time. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. So in this way, it’s quite a flexible program and of course as well as this we also have, we have internet facilities or whatever also to help us out in the modern age so that it becomes easier for people in distant places also to join the courses. So in any case, this is a good facility for us to fulfill Prabhupada’s desire that devotees themselves have a greater understanding of the scriptures.
The whole purpose of understanding the scripture is that, it can help our own devotional service and it can help us chant the holy name more effectively. It can also help us in our preaching work because obviously we cannot preach, unless we have proper knowledge. So there are many benefits from getting this knowledge. As I mentioned, of course we chant the holy name but we also need knowledge so to get the goal we also need this knowledge. So those who have persevered and completed the course now it is to your great credit. But don’t just think of a degree or whatever. Of course this is one degree, the next one is there [Laughs] with the whole Bhagavatam, first part of half the Bhagavatam. Yeah, and then there is the whole Bhagavatam and what Caitanya Caritamrita. So there , its just the beginning so to speak [Laughs]. So there are many other things you can also go and complete and get more and more knowledge. So don’t consider this to be simply some labor, but it is also part of your devotional program to learn scripture nicely to aid us in our goal of attaining Prema.
Hare Krishna.
Q & A
Question not audible
No, we’ll see that Vishwanath quotes it a few times in his commentary. Maybe Jiva Goswami maybe once or twice also, not so common. Once in a while there may be a they add a quote like that just to support but no particular commentary. Of course that’s considered to be part of Mahabharata and our Acharyas also did comment on Mahabharata [Laughs].
Devotee : Nobody has translated also.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Translation? I don’t think so. Yeah, I don’t think so.
Devotees:
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare,
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
[Kirtan]