Yesterday I talked a little about what anartha-nivrtti means. Since this is one of the most important subject matters, how to get rid of the dirt in our heart, today I will speak about this process in more detail. In particular, I will refer to what Srila Prabhupada writes in his comment to the third verse. It’s not surprising that it’s the first stages of devotional service that we’ve been dwelling on for such a long time, for it is them that are relevant to us. Of course, I cannot exclude that half of you have already reached the level of bhava and it is difficult for them to hear about some sraddha, but the probability of this is not very high. That is why we speak so much about faith, faith is a very important aspect. I said that faith, in essence, is a reflection of knowledge, that essentially it is the very condition in which one first begins to feel the knowledge hidden inside oneself. It is reflected in one’s mind and takes the form of real faith. 

A very important feature of faith, which I forgot to mention yesterday, an essential quality that makes faith or sraddha what it actually is – a mother of the yogi, a reliable, caring, loving mother of the yogi – is that faith imparts one with the quality of anukulya in relation to the object of this faith. Now I will explain what that means.

Our usual attitude towards other people and towards God – for actually our attitude towards other people is just a reflection of our original attitude towards God – is the attitude of a person who looks at them from his own point of view, right? I am sitting inside my small embrasure with a rifle and I shoot from there. I can shoot real bullets or I can shoot just dirty thoughts at everyone. But the point is that we are sitting in a bunker and we are looking at the world out of this bunker through a periscope with our envious eyes, looking for those who have gotten more than me, “Look at the way he is enjoying! Look at the way they are enjoying! Dirty pigs! They are enjoying it and I can’t!” and so on. These are various manifestations of envy, various methods or different forms of self-centeredness that can be found in a person. One is sitting in his small fortress and is looking out. We have many lines of defense here. One line of defense is the mind, the intelligence, the body, the false ego, and all of them are brandishing their weapons. 

What does faith do, irrespective of whether it is faith in God, or even just faith in some person, when suddenly I feel the attractiveness of another person, – it changes our attitude, it switches our attitude. It makes one relate with this quality, which in Sanskrit is called anukul. Anukul is very difficult to translate into Russian. Srila Prabhupada translates it into English as ‘favorable’. ‘Favorable’ literally means auspicious. Suddenly, our mode of rebellion against God, against someone who enjoys more than me, against other people, switches into anukul. It becomes more important to me that the other person enjoys, not me. This is the secret of faith. That is what faith does to one, it makes one switch from the state of self-centeredness, when I am concerned only about what I feel. Basically, as a rule, we are interested only in what I feel. What does it have to do with me that someone is sitting next to me eating a gulabjamun? As long as this gulabjamun doesn’t appear on my plate, it is not a gulabjamun but an object of envy. It turns into a gulabjamun when it is on my plate; not even on the plate, but on my tongue. 

Anukul means that suddenly it becomes more important to me that the other person is happy. Whether this is faith in the spiritual master or faith in God, whether it is faith or simply the beginning of love for another person, this state happens and the path of faith is essentially the path of deepening this state. Rupa Goswami defines pure bhakti as anukulyena krisna anusilanam. Anukulyena – one does not simply serve Krishna, because one can serve in various ways. We all serve. We serve in some office, we serve somewhere else. Griboedov has said about this that, “I’m glad to serve but not fawn”. Most of the people fawn. They are forced to serve, they do not have this anukul. Rupa Goswami explains that this is a very important aspect – anukulyena krisna anusilanam – I have to serve, I have to cultivate serving Krishna with this particular attitude towards Him. I was explaining this in my seminar on Manah-siksa last year. Those of you who have heard it know that the attitude that is called anukul, or ‘with love’, has three aspects which faith gives us. The first aspect anukul – anukulyatmakam – means that I’m doing, that I start doing what my beloved or the one that I have faith in, wants. 

The criterion for my actions is not what I want anymore. We all want to do something. But now, before doing something I ask whether that person will like what I am doing or not. As soon as you notice that some faith or some anticipation of love has appeared in you for someone, you immediately start comparing: will my beloved be please by what I'm doing now; will my guru be pleased by it, and, ultimately, will Krishna be pleased by it, or not?

The second aspect of this – anukula anugata – is when I want what my beloved or the one I have developed faith in wants, when I do not even want what I want anymore but I want what that person wants. Is anyone capable of this? Of wanting what my beloved wants? In fact, we are all capable of this, any mother knows that. At a certain point this propensity appears in her towards her child. Anukul also means inclination, propensity. And it makes her do what the child wants, makes her want what the child wants. 

Anton Chekhov explained this in his story “Dushechka” (“The Darling”) about how this darling, wonderful Russian lady could love. She had this gift of love. The gift of love means the ability to reflect, to reflect the desires of a person, to adjust one’s actions to that person’s and, ultimately, the ability to enjoy that person’s happiness, the ability to feel pleasure. That is visesa-jnana, or the specific quality when I feel what my beloved feels. If he or she enjoys, I enjoy. I start feeling what the object of my love feels. That is actually the way of deepening one’s faith. Faith switches our attitude to Krishna. Because many believe in Krishna. As I said yesterday, asura bhava. Asuras believe in Krishna, we, too, believe in Krishna. Or rather, not that they believe in Krishna, you can’t say “believe”, strictly speaking. They know that Krishna exists, perhaps even better than we do. They are confident that Krishna, God, exists. Still, the feeling that they have for Krishna is hatred: “I want to kill this God. What is He doing here? Why is all this going on at all? Rascal!” This is the difference. There are people who know that God is there, but still they start blaming Him, taking offence at Him, saying that God is bad, God is wicked, God has abandoned me. 

There is a category of people, and a very large one, I suspect some of us also belong to thся category, but when sraddha appears in one or, in other words, when I hear of a pure devotee this switching can take place with me: from a rebel and a rioter I turn into a believer, I turn into a devotee and I surrender to Krishna. This is a very important aspect, or a very important feature of faith. 

Yesterday I also said, one thing I would like to add, what Jiva Goswami explains in the “Bhakti-sandarbha” regarding enthusiasm. Yesterday we said that enthusiasm – and this is directly related to the main topic of our today's lecture – Jiva Goswami explains the nature of enthusiasm. Yesterday I said that enthusiasm is the desire to change oneself, an uncompromising desire, a very strong aspiration to achieve the goal by all means. And Jiva Goswami gives a very good example. He says that if one wants to find gold, one will look for it regardless of the result. There is such a disease called “gold rush”. Is anyone infected by this disease? Gold may be paper. If a very strong desire appears in one to find gold, i.e. something very valuable, one will go on doing this regardless of whether one achieves success or not. There are people who are engaged in business; it is clear to everyone around them that it is not going to work, but still they are doing that business no matter what happens. Here he was caught stealing, there he borrowed some money and lost it all but still he is persisting on and on as hard as possible. This is called enthusiasm. 

Enthusiasm is when I, regardless of whether I am successful or not, I have this goal. And when I have that goal, I know very well that I, as Jiva Goswami writes … Similarly, a devotee should aspire to excellence regardless of the outcome. We must strive for perfection regardless of whether I am successful or not, whether I attain something or not. It is this attitude that ultimately drives the lust out of one’s heart and leads one to bliss. Jiva Goswami writes that а devotee, even after achieving perfection goes on deepening his or her understanding, even when he or she has attained it. And those who have not attained it just continue striving for it. This is the attitude which we should cultivate in ourselves and which actually is the sign of faith – true, sincere faith. 

There is an amazing story about Guru Nanak. Guru Nanak is the founder of the Sikh religion. He was born in Punjab at the time when India was completely conquered by the Muslims. Babur, the founder of the Mongol Empire, the Great Mughal Empire, from Fergana, attacked India and practically conquered the greater part of India, organized there the Delhi Sultanate and killed a great number of people. At that time, a little before Lord Chaitanya’s birth, approximately at the same time, that boy, Guru Nanak, was born. From his very childhood he was completely detached, he was a mystic. He was looking for perfection. His father did not know what to do with him at all, for he was practically god-for-nothing. He was completely worthless. He tried to give him to various teachers, but the teachers would very quickly give up on him. 

When he was six years old, he sent him to some guru, who was to teach him to read. This guru wrote down all the letters of the Devanagari Sanskrit alphabet and taught him, “Like this. If you learn this, you'll be able to read”. Guru Nanak who was six years old at that time, a little boy, knee-high to a grasshopper, turned to his teacher and asked, “Master, before you start teaching me, first explain to me what you know yourself”. Because before you teach me, I must be confident that you’ll teach me the right things. And the guru says, “Well, I can read, I can count, I can sum, multiply, divide. Generally, I can teach you to do all the calculations with money. You will not get lost in any case, you will be a first class accountant”. The little boy made ​​a face unable to contain his disgust at what he heard. He said: “What's the use of knowing all that if it won’t help me, ultimately, to achieve liberation, won’t help me to attain freedom. What is the sense? You're going to teach me this but I do not need it. What is the use of that knowledge, if it won’t help me to attain absolute freedom?” The teacher was somewhat frightened by the boy’s uncompromising reply and said: “Explain to me, please, maybe you can tell me how I can attain freedom?” 

Listen to the advice that Guru Nanak gave to his teacher. He said, “Burn all your material attachments, take all your worldly love in your heart and burn it and make some ink of the ash. Then take a piece of paper made of your intelligence, turn your intelligence into a blank sheet of paper. Then take the pen which is the love of God, dip it into the ink and, using the pen, make your heart the one who will be writing and write on that sheet of paper...” What? The name of God, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. 

Did all of you remember what you are to do? You need to burn all the love in your heart, the material love, burn the material attachments and make some ink. Then, with the pen, which is love of God, write on the blank sheet of your mind the God’s name. Actually, it’s amazing, Guru Nanak lived at the same time as Lord Chaitanya, and he said that one, who does not chant the name of God with each inhalation and exhalation lives in vain, breathes in vain. What is the use of breathing and not repeating the name of God? Who of you live in vain? Each inhalation and exhalation. 

And this is actually determination. This little boy says to his teacher, “What's the use of all this knowledge? Knowledge has some sense only when this knowledge leads me to perfection”. What is perfection? With each inhalation and exhalation to chant, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. 

Yesterday I explained how Krishna promises deliverance from all sins: 

yo mam ajam anadim ca

vetti loka-mahesvaram

asammudhah sa martyesu

sarva-papaih pramucyate

(B.g., 10.3) 

One is completely purified of all sins, if he is aware of God’s omnipotence. We said yesterday that Krishna makes a very important point here. He emphasizes the difference, He emphasizes that God is principally different from His creation. Srila Prabhupada writes about it in the purport, he writes, “Sri Krishna is therefore different from everything that is created, and anyone who knows Him as such immediately becomes liberated from all sinful reactions”. Once again, anyone who understands that Krishna is different from everything that is created immediately becomes liberated from all reactions of one’s sins.

Now I want to ask you an indiscreet question. Who of you is completely free from all sinful reactions? Sarva-papaih pramucyate – pra means “absolutely, completely”. If we have studied logic, what does this mean? This means that we do not understand that Krishna is different from His creation. I said yesterday that the basis of this sin is our position of the proprietor in this world, when we think that something here belongs to us. Since I do not understand that everything belongs to Krishna, I act as if I am the proprietor. Since I act as the proprietor this leads to what? To suffering and sins. Because I commit sins, because I act as the proprietor of something that does not belong to me. 

Well, now, that's all good theoretical stuff. Yesterday we were closing our eyes and imagining for a moment that everything belongs to Krishna and nothing belongs to us. Did we imagine that for a moment? And what did we do after that? We completely forgot that and started saying, “Where is mine this? Where is mine that? Where is what?” Actually, in Sanskrit, all this is also very interesting, not only in Sanskrit, by the way, in Russian too. In Russian, the situation is mixed, in English it is completely degraded. In Sanskrit there is no verb ‘to have’. One cannot say “I have”. Even in Russian, when we say ‘я имею’ ... Usually when the English study Russian language, they say, ‘I own a book’. We literally say ‘There is a book close to me’. This is a reflection of the original Sanskrit grammar formula. In Sanskrit, if one wants to say that one has something, one says nikate. Nikate means there is something near me. We say the same thing when we say ‘У меня есть’. ‘У меня’ means ‘close to me’. This means that I do not have it, the book does not belong to me, it is close to me. Money does not belong to me. Sometimes it is close, sometimes not. But in English they say only ‘I have, I own’. 

Actually, meditation on the fact that nothing belongs to me can destroy all our sins. However, in a sense this is not a very practical advice, therefore Srila Prabhupada, explaining the process, points out that Krishna is vetti loka-mahesvaram – that “I am the lord”, that God is only one and this makes it highly practical. What does it mean? Obviously, this is a process. Obviously the deliverance from sins, the purification of one’s heart is a process which will require a certain time. What does it mean to recognize that God is the lord, vetti loka-mahesvaram? What does this mean in the simplest sense of the word? Because we can’t constantly think, “Yes, yes, yes, nothing belongs to me”, we will immediately forget this. How can we remember this constantly? Serve … More precisely? If someone is the boss, what does one do? One gives us instructions. If we accept that Krishna is vetti loka-mahesvaram, if we know that Krishna is God, what should we do? Yes, we should fulfill His will. We should follow Krishna’s instructions. We should build our life in accordance with Krishna’s will. When we start building our life in accordance with Krishna’s will what happens to my sins? They are going away. How do I know Krishna’s will? Yes, from the spiritual teacher. The spiritual master can tell me what Krishna wants. Krishna’s will is non-different from the will of the spiritual master. 

Here Srila Prabhupada explains this, “Anything done under the direction of Krishna is transcendental. It cannot be contaminated by material reactions” and then he says, “Such directions are given in authoritative scriptures such as the “Srimad-Bhagavatam” and the “Bhagavad-gita” or from a bona fide spiritual master. Because the spiritual master is the representative of the Supreme Lord, his direction is directly the direction of the Supreme Lord”. I’ll repeat once again, since the spiritual master is the representative of the Supreme Lord, the instructions given by him are the instructions of the Lord Himself. The spiritual master, the holy men and the holy scriptures, that is sadhu, guru and sastra, lead to the same goal. 

In other words, here Srila Prabhupada explains the process of anartha-nivritti. The process of anartha-nivrtti or the essence of anartha-nivrtti consists in placing Krishna’s will, which comes to me through the spiritual master, above my own will. And how do I do that? How do I change my life, trying to gradually adjust my life to Krishna’s will? “Devotional service” does not mean anything, it is an empty phrase. We too often repeat these words in order to forget what they mean. When words are repeated too often, their meaning is worn out. In what particular way can I build my life in accordance with Krishna’s will? And what is ‘Krishna’s will’? I have to subordinate my life to Krishna’s will, right? Have some of you, who have children, subordinated your life to their needs? The child is screaming and we get up, even though we want to sleep. The child wants to eat and what we prepare some food. For whom? For it, even if you yourself do not want to eat. What else does the child do? The child wants to walk and we go for a walk with it, despite the fact that we want to watch TV, or eat, or something else. What is the process of subordinating our will to the Lord’s will? Not just sadhana, more precisely. Arcana or bhajana-kriya. Arcana. 

What does Krishna do in the morning? He gets up and that is why we also get up. Do we want to get up in the morning? “Why is He getting up so early?!” We don’t understand this at all! Krishna is hungry. How many times per day does He eat in the temple? Well, depending on the temple, in some temples He does not eat at all. But He is scheduled to eat five times a day. Five times a day we have to offer Him arati. Five times a day we have to offer Him food. Even if I'm not hungry, I have to cook for Him. I have to get up for Him, I have to cook for Him, I have to completely turn my life, to completely adjust my life to Krishna’s schedule. That is very nice, because if it wasn’t for Him, then I would sleep until what time? Well, approximately, something like that. 

I once came to some devotees’ place and I asked them, “Can I sing kirtan?” They said, “Hush! No! Our son is sleeping!” It was about 3 pm. “He's on vacation”. People will sleep until God knows when, they will eat God knows when and God knows how. They will be entirely driven by their own desires. But Krishna gives us this process of arcana. What is the meaning of arcana? It means to completely transform our life.

Jiva Goswami also explains that arcana is required. Who is arcana required for? What are we called? Neophytes, right. Arcana is required for neophytes. Who is a neophyte here? Arcana is required for those who still have impurities in their heart. Jiva Goswami says that there are two main impurities that arcana drives out of our heart, two major defects that prevent us from focusing entirely on the Holy Name. As a whole, arcana is not required, it is not required for those with a pure heart, who can chant with every breath, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. They do not need arcana, but arcana is needed for us, because we have two major defects that arcana drives out of our heart. Who knows what these two defects are? Laziness, yes, there is laziness. The desire to dominate… We have many major defects, you're right. If we start now enumerating them we we’ll have to stay here until the evening. But arcana specifically works on two things. Jiva Goswami explains that these two things are called kadarya silanam and viksipta cintanam. 

Kadarya silanam: silanam means character, kadarya means a greedy character. What does greed mean? Greed is when I want everything for myself. Much or not so much but for myself. The more, the better. We know the story of the old man and the goldfish. But kadarya silanam means that I want it all for myself. How does arcana save us from this evil, from greed, from desire? It teaches us to give. Arcana teaches us to offer the best that we have to Krishna. Gradually, like a child. Everyone knows, again, this is a very nice example. It’s like with a child, when one has switched to it, one begins thinking, “What best I can buy for my child?” Not for myself. In the same way, when one has these Twins, Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, at home, They start demanding. These are very demanding living creatures, that is why it is dangerous to have Them. However, there is a useful adjustment, the curtain. Thus, you can have Them, but you should make a nice curtain so that, when you do not need it, you draw the curtain. But arcana makes one think, and makes one think of doing something nice for Them, of bringing something to Them. One is now going to the market and buying things for Them. Gradually, not immediately. At first, one buys something for oneself and, out of formality, offers it to Them. But if one is engaged in arcana correctly, because the principle of arcana is such that I want and should give Krishna the best. The best, everything that I have, the best jewelry. 

An acquaintance of mine, he’s got poor health, little energy, and he is a little overweight. He went to an astrologer and the astrologer told him, “If you want to improve your health buy a ring with a ruby and wear it on such and such finger, because the sun will influence you and you'll have a lot of energy”. Full of enthusiasm he went to a jewelry store, bought a red ruby ring, ordered a beautiful ruby ring, and was just about to put it on his finger, when Madhava Maharaj appeared in front of him. Seeing the ruby ring, Madhava Maharaj shouted, “Hey, my dear! What a nice ring! Give it to my Kanayt Balai. Why do you need a ring? The ring belongs to Kanayt Balai!” And my friend looked at the ring, looked at Madhava Maharaja and said, “Take it!” 

Arcana teaches one not to think of oneself. One starts buying things for Kanayt Balai, or for Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai. One gives away even the dearest, even the ring that was supposed to make one a deer bhakta of Suryadeva. Kadarya silanam is one of the results of correcting this human character, this is one result of arcana. Which is the second result? Viksipta chintanam. 

What does vikshipta chintanam mean? A restless mind, a scattered mind, a mind which is scattered in numerous directions, which forces us all the time to do one thing, another thing, third thing… Arcana makes us focus, it allows us to train the power of our mind, it allows us to direct all our thoughts and intentions towards Krishna. In this way, gradually, one gives everything to Krishna. Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada explains in what way arcana gradually corrects one’s heart. Because ultimately, what is the most important result of one’s performing arcana? When my heart is completely purified in the process of worshipping the Deity what should I see? Krishna. Where should I see Him? In my heart, in the Deity – everywhere. 

Bhaktisidhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada explains that that is exactly the path, that is the mechanism of arcana, because who is situated in the Deity’s heart? No. That can be the devotees, if you have managed to enter that heart. He says that antaryami is situated in the Deity’s heart, or the Supersoul. Who is situated in the Supersoul’s heart? Vaibhava-prakas – Krishna, who comes here in the form of lila-avataras. In the heart of the lila-avatars the caturvyuha is situated; and in caturvyuha’s heart the original Lord is situated, who is completely transcendent. 

These are the five forms of the Lord, and they are non-different from each other. But the Lord gives us the opportunity to actually realize, now and here, that He is loka-mahesvaram, that He is the Lord of everything, just by having Him at home. For that purpose the transcendent Lord is multiplied in the four forms of the chaturvyuha, chaturvyuha is spread into vaybhavprakas, They come here in the form of various lila-avataras, forcing us to think about Them, the lila-avatars and the purusa-avataras become, eventually, the antaryami or the Supersoul and the Supersoul turns into the arcana. If one worships arca, arca-vigraha, the Lord in that form, then gradually all one’s service is completely transferred to the spiritual world and beyond the limits of the material world. 

Now, listen carefully again, I will again explain a little about that process of one’s inner transformation in the process of arcana, and I will tell you the end of the story about Nachikethоs and his questions, or requests, to Yamaraja. That is what we will be talking about today.

One of the main processes, or rather the preliminary processes, of arcana is called bhuta-suddhi. Who knows what bhuta-suddhi means? Not even just purification of the mind. Not intelligence. Bhuta-suddhi: bhuta means the nature of the elements, purification of one’s nature. Can we serve the Lord in a body, consisting of earth, water, excrements? No. In what kind of body can we serve God? Only in a pure spiritual body. This is why before you go into the altar … Can I go into the altar in a material body? I cannot, a process of transformation should take place. Arcana, or bhajana-kriya, means diksa. Sanatana Goswami compares diksa to an alchemical process where mercury should turn into gold. What is that mercury that should turn into gold and what is that gold? The mercury always runs, jumps, we have this mercury also within us. This is our heart. Our heart should turn to gold as a result of this alchemical process. 

Accordingly, there is this mantra pronounces by Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu: 

naham vipro na ca nara-patir napi vaisyo na sudro

naham varni na ca griha-patir no vanastho yatir va

kintu prodyan-nikhila-paramananda-purnamritabdher

gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah

(Cc, Madhya, 13.80) 

When a pujari goes into the altar, he must be freed of all material self-designations. Before I go into the altar, I have to focus on this idea: I'm not a sudra, I’m not a vaisya, I'm not a woman, I'm not a man, I'm not a mother, I'm not a father, I am not a brahmana, I'm not a sannyasi, I am none of these, I am gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah – I'm a servant of the servant of the servant of the master of the gopis, of the husband, the eternal consort of the gopis. This is who I am. 

In the process of such meditation, when I offer something to Krishna, I offer exactly this; before that I get rid of all material identification and I offer to Krishna my entire self. If I meditate on this and pronounce the mantra, then gradually an alchemical process starts taking place in my heart, and my heart starts transforming. Sarva-papaih pramucyate, one is freed of all sins. 

In this regard, it is also important to understand, first of all, how this happens, how gradually-gradually this process of meditation or reflection, or serving Krishna, actually fulfilling His will changes our heart. In this regard, it is very interesting to hear what Naciketos asked from the God of death. 

We remember this story when he waited in an empty hall for three days. In a sense this desert is the preliminary process of preparing one for transformation. One should find oneself in solitude. One should be left on one’s own before the guru, the spiritual teacher, comes and is able to tell him, “Ask anything from me, you have waited for three days and three nights”.

In other words, one must demonstrate some patience. Sometimes we some faith appears in us and we begin chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. This is the topic of Prahladananda Maharaj’s seminar. And we do not feel any response, empty material sounds, emptiness. Does anyone feel that emptiness? The feeling that there is no answer? But despite of the fact that there is no answer, one should continue going by the spiritual path. Ultimately, we will feel that response inside or outside. The spiritual master will appear either before us or inside us, he will stand in front of us and will say: “Now ask me to fulfill three wishes of yours”. 

Now I will tell you what three requests Nachiketos made and you try to understand what he meant. The first thing he asked for, he looked at Yama, the God of death, who appeared before him and said, “When I go back to my father, make him no longer angry with me and make him receive me with open arms”. This was his first very clever request. That is, he did not say, “Let me out of the death’s embrace”, he said, “When I go back make him receives me well”. That is, in one request – there is such an art – to put in one request several at once, and thus get more. That is, it goes without saying that he will return. Yamaraja, when he heard that, he said: “Tatasthu – Let it be as you wish! When you go back, your father will be happy that you're back from the embrace of death and he will meet you with great honor”. 

Second, he asked, “Help me, please, attain the fire of transformation and obtain the immortality that the gods have on the Svarga-loka” Did you remember well? “Help me, please, attain the fire of transformation and obtain the immortality that is enjoyed by the gods on the Svarga-loka”. That was his second request and Yamaraja said, “All right, I will help you. This fire is already burning in your heart, that is, it is already there. The only thing I will help you with is to build an altar there. I will explain to you how to build an altar, because there must be an altar around the fire, how to place the bricks and what they should be made of”.

Nachiketos listened to all that and then repeated: “What the bricks should be made of so that the spiritual master is pleased and how to build that altar”. When he repeated that nicely, Yamaraja smiled and said, “You have learned this lesson well, that is why I'll give you an extra boon: I’m giving you a garland consisting of different forms”. All of you understand that very important things are happening, don’t you. Very important things are happening. And then he said, “Ask for the third wish, tell me what your third wish is”. 

Then Nachiketos said, “What about those who have gone beyond this world? Some people say that those living beings exist somewhere, others say they do not; in other words, is there something beyond this world or not? Will I exist, will I live or not?” When Yama heard that, he turned pale, and he said, “Ask me anything but this. Save me that promise, I know I promised you to satisfy three requests of yours, but ask of me something else”. 

Nachiketos said: “No, no. Please answer this question”. “I do not know how to answer this question”. Nachiketos said, “No, I want to hear it from you”. Yama said, “Please do not pressure me”. Nachiketos said: “I want to know the answer to this question”. Yama then started saying, “Listen, do you want wealth? Do you want gold, horses, cows, elephants?” He says, “No, I don’t any want elephants. I want to know what happens to the soul that goes beyond this world”. Yama said, “And you don’t want elephants? A long life! Do you want me to give you a long life? In any place you want!” Nachiketos shook his head. Yama said, “If you want, I will make you the king of the entire world!” Nachiketos shook his head. Then, at that moment many chariots appeared. In the chariots there sat beautiful women dressed in beautiful saris, all of them playing musical instruments. Yama said to Nachiketos, “Look at them! Do you like it? If you want, they all will be yours! They will serve you, they will be playing on these instruments. No one has such women!” Nachiketos looked at him and said, “No, I do not. Answer me that last question”. 

He drove poor Yamaraja into a corner. Now you know what to ask of Yamaraja when you appear in front of him? He said, in response to these proposals, “All those things come and go, all this is here today and gone tomorrow. Beautiful women, how long will they be beautiful? Today they are beautiful tomorrow you do not want to look at them. Wealth – here today, gone tomorrow. Power – what do I get from power? All that does not make any sense. Answer me the last question”. 

Did anyone make out what all these questions are about? That's right, how to achieve perfection, but that answer is too general. It’s a very interesting dialogue which is happening now and which we, too, have to know very well. The first thing Nachiketos asks, having found himself before Yamaraja where his real faith led him, in this kingdom of death, when he broke all his ties, when he finished with the material world. And the first thing he asks for is “give me the opportunity to go back”. Why go back? In order to do what? Yes, to preach, right. The first thing he said, “It’s I not enough that only I will know. Make sure that I will be able to go back and people accept me; so that I can come to them with these gifts, and people accept these gifts from me”.

In other words, who is Nachiketos, a gosthianandi or a bhajananandi? He says, “Ensure that people accept me, because I do not want to be the only one who knows that. I want to disclose that secret to others when I go back”. Because sometimes, when someone who has attained a deep inner spiritual experience, goes back to the people, what do the people do to him? Yes, they crucify him or burn him at the stake, or something else. People have various forms of association with such people who bother them and not let them live peacefully their material life. Nachiketos is asking for that. 

The second gift he’s asking for is very important, he says, “Explain to me the fire of transformation” and Yama’s response to this is, “That fire is already burning in your heart, you just need to build an altar. From now on, this fire, this sacrifice will be called by your name, I give you such a blessing”. What kind of fire is burning in our heart? What is this fire of transformation? This is that same alchemy, which we were talking about. He is asking for an explanation of how I can transform my heart; and how does Yamaraja explain this? He explains to him the process of arcana. Translating this into our language, he explains him the methodology, the process through which one can be transformed. 

As a result of this, what will Nachiketos get, what did he ask of Yamaraja? Immortality. Where is this immortality? The immortality which is enjoyed by the demigods. Where? On Svarga-loka. What does Svarga mean? Svar. What does svar mean? What does one who has completely purified one’s heart attain? Svarga-loka means … Svar means svarupa, one’s own. In essence, Nachiketos tells him, “Help me to find the fire of transformation which will be able to transform me and get me back where? No, not to ones’ own planet yet, but give me back my original form, i.e. understand me as a soul. The pure heart which one obtains in arcana might not yet be a vision of God, the vision God is further on. But first one must have a pure heart, when one feels a soul.

In the process of arcana, when all these good qualities appear in me and the bad qualities go away, when I become free of my material attachments, I feel a soul, I return to my natural state. And he is asking, “Explain to me ties process through which I will be able to burn everything unneeded, all the dirt in my heart and in my body and become who I really am”. This is the next request, which Nachiketos makes and what does Yamaraja explain? Yamaraja starts explaining to him, “The bricks should be like these, you are to build the altar like this”. And when he repeats everything he says, “As a reward I give you another free application to this – a garland consisting of many forms”. What is this garland? In other words, when one attains this, one obtains another very important thing, in addition, automatically. One does not even need to make any other efforts. What is this garland consisting of various forms? No, not the various forms of relationship with God, it is still early for that. Samsara, yes. At this momment one remembers his past lives. He starts to know not just theoretically that one constantly reincarnates, one knows, “I have been reincarnating”, one knows that “I had such a form, such a form, such a form”. 

This knowledge comes to such a person by itself when one’s heart is purified, when one attains one’s true form. Because why don’t we know now our past incarnations, who I was in my previous life? Because we identify ourselves with this body. With this one. I might have been Nefertiti in my previous life. I have an acquaintance, she says, “I was Nefertiti in my previous life” and cranes out like this. There are different people, but actually one knows exactly who one was, and how this process of transformation works only when one’s is completely purified in the process of serving Krishna. 

In other words, what else is Nachiketos asking here for? He’s asking for … Madhavacharya explains this in the comments to the “Katha-upanishad”, I am telling you how Madhvacharya interprets this. He is asking for a gradual liberation, krama-mukti, when one first kind of reaches a higher level, one is not liberated immediately. 

And finally, when Nachiketos puts forward his third request, at which Yamaraja starts trembling and saying, “No, no, no. Ask anything of me but that!”, what does he want to ask for? Here is meant one’s true svarupa. He is asking, “Please explain to me how I will exist in the spiritual world, who I am in the spiritual world. How will I serve Krishna? How do I live with Krishna there?” And what does Yamaraja reply? “Take anything else!” This is, by the way, a very important point, a practical point, because one who has achieved perfection in arcana, can fulfill any of one’s desires. Women? Here you are, they will be playing the vina. Elephants? As many as you like, you can have an entire herd. Lord of the world? You can have anything! Yamaraja says that when one is at this stage, one mustn’t stop in any case. Then all the material nature, everything else starts offering one, “Do you want this? Do you want this?” What must be your answer to this? Have you thought well? Maybe you should agree to the elephants after all? One must say: “I do not want this, I want neither your elephants nor these women, I don’t want anything!” 

There is a wonderful story about one thief. I will tell the story and finish the lecture, because my time is up. A thief heard that the king is marrying his daughter and thought, “Wow, that’s a nice opportunity!” But the king made ​​a condition that, “I will give away my daughter only to a sadhu”. And the thief thought, “Well, I’ll now dress like a sadhu and go there, perchance the king’s daughter will be given to me”. So, sadhus gathered up in the throne room, the king sitting there too, his daughter next to him, fat and beautiful. A bride. The thief is sitting somewhere at the back thinking, “Wow, I may well soon be his son-in-law!” The king sent his ministers and the ministers ask one sadhu, then another, but all of them say straight away, “I do not need your daughter. Why should I need her, I am a sadhu. And I don’t need your wealth either”. The king says, “Half the kingdom!” “Neither a half nor a quarter do I need, nor the entire kingdom. You worry yourself about it”. One after another they all refuse and go away. Because they did not know why they were called, only the thief knew. 

In the end the thief’s turn came. The thief feels uneasy, because he is supposed to be a sadhu. All the other sadhus refused but the thief cannot say straight away “I do not want this daughter”. On the other hand, this is what he came for and neither can he say yes, I want her, because it’s not proper, he is supposed to be a sadhu. So, he decided to say nothing and meaningfully remained silent. The minister who felt some hope in this silence, ran to the king and said, “There is a beautiful young sadhu. Everyone else said no, but he said nothing. There is hope that he will agree, if you, Your Majesty, persuade him”. The king rejoiced, for he wanted very much to give his daughter away to a sadhu. He went up to the thief, brought him some gifts and asked him with folded palms, “My dear sadhu, my last hope rest on you alone, please take my daughter as you wife”.

The thief began thinking, “I was nobody. I walked down the street, and I just put on the clothes of a sadhu. As soon as I put on these clothes, I didn’t even really do something, I just put on these orange clothes, and here is the king himself coming up to me, folding his palms, bringing me presents. Just imagine what I will get if I actually become a sadhu?” and he proudly said, “I do not need your daughter, I’m going to become a sadhu”. 

Such is the moral. 

So, when Yamaraja will be offering you elephants, do not give in, ask for more. 

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. 

Thank you.