By Tridandisvami Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja.
Most people, especially non-Indians, have no knowledge about sanatana-dharma. They think that India is a place of poverty; but we have come from such a great Bharata (India) that if one hears and even slightly follows its message, his life will be successful. We have not come to beg, but to give something. We have come to give the message by which all can stop hankering for material possessions, and by which all can be happy.
Sri Sukadeva Gosvami was not roaming naked because of poverty, the four Kumaras (Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanat-kumara) were not naked due to poverty, and Lord Sankara was also not naked because of poverty. ( edit…this relates to stories from ancient history ) Sankara can give anything to the world, because he is complete. We have come to give the knowledge of Bharata, and if one experiences and realized this knowledge his life will be successful. Some people misunderstand these teachings.
Being less intelligent, they think that this dharma, religion, is like any other. But it is not true. You have heard that Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja, known as Prabhupada, preached the sankirtana movement throughout the world. He was my siksa-guru. ( siksa-guru: The person from whom one receives instructions on how to progress on the path of bhajana is known as siksa-guru, or instructing guru ) Just as he was known as Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja, I am also known as Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja. I took sannyasa long before he did, and it was by my request that he took sannyasa.
I advised him to take the renounced order and preach throughout the world, and he accepted my advice and thus took sannyasa from my Gurudeva in 1959. I was there at that time, and I taught him how to wear his sannyasa dress with danda, kaupin, etc. After taking sannyasa, he preached this Bharatiya sankriti, ( Indian culture ) all over the world. We must understand what is Indian culture. First we must understand that we are not this body, but the soul within the body.
The soul is not pleased with what we are doing for the body, and even such a great and powerful person as Hiranyakasipu could not be happy. Ravana had 100,000 sons and 125,000 grandsons, and even he was not happy. There was no one to perform his funeral rites – because all were dead. Only Vibhisana remained alive, but Ravana had already chased him away. Like Ravana and Hiranyakasipu, we also identify with this body, but actually we are all eternal servants of Krsna.
( Hiranyakasipu and Ravana: Gross demonic materialists 1000s of years ago )
We are unable to easily understand that whatever we are doing for the body does not please the soul. Somehow we should realize that inside our body there is the soul which is part and parcel and an eternal servant of Krsna. This human birth is only meant to realize this fact. No one is happy in this world. America is the world's greatest nation, but even President Clinton was not happy in America. He had problems with his wife, he took a girlfriend, and one day he will have to give up his body and die.
Only one who realizes that he is a soul and an eternal servant of Krsna can be happy. In order to realize this, one must chant the names of the Lord, and this is the essence of all scriptures:
harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha
In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy the only means of deliverance is chanting the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way.
(Reference: From the book Caitanya Caritamrta Adi Lila 17.21)
If one wants to be happy in a world full of all kinds of miseries, he should chant the holy names of the Lord. One name of Krsna can give more benefit than thousands of yajnas, baths in tirthas, donations, and worshipping in temples. Valmiki became samanya-brahma (having qualities as good as God), by chanting the name of Rama backwards (mara [meaning death] instead of rama).
Agastya Rsi was able to drink all the water of the ocean, Sankara is able to supply all the necessities of the world and also destroy it, and Brahma is able to create the world – only on the strength of the holy name. If one does not do anything else but chant the names of the Lord, his life will be successful. This is Indian culture. You may have heard, "atithi devo' bhava" (the guest should be treated as good as God) "matri-pitri devo' bhava" (one's mother and father should be respected as one would respect God), and "sarve bhavantu sukhina" (peace unto all).
This is a general idea of Vedic culture. One must always remember God while performing his responsibilities, and whenever society forgets this, the Lord descends as Rama, Nrsimha, and Vamandeva, and sometimes He sends his servants like Ramanuja, Madhavacarya, Visnu Swami, Sankaracarya, Nimbaditya, etc. Sankara is His greatest devotee. Among the knowers of Bhagavat-tattva, Sankara is the greatest. ( Sankara was an incarnation of Lord Siva )
Sometimes Bhagavan sends Sankara to this world, to remind those who have forgotten Him. One must worship the Lord by sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, etc. Only this will make your life successful. Do not waste your time in accumulating material wealth, because it will ultimately destroy you. One day you will have to leave everything and go. You cannot take anything with you. I will tell you a simple story in this regard:
A saintly person went to the King's palace to meet him. The King thought that the Vaisnava must have come to ask for money, and he therefore told his servants to tell him that he has no time. He requested them to tell that Vaisnava to come back after a few days. The Vaisnava returned to the King after eight or ten days, and the King again sent a message to him that he should come back after a few more days.
He again came back after two or three days, but the King again sent a message saying that he does not have time and that the saintly person should return after two more days. The saintly person then went to the Queen and asked for an audience. The Queen was pious. She told her servant to bring him to her, and then she asked him how she could serve him. The saintly person replied, "I don't need any service. I have come only for you.
The King's duration of life is now only seven more days. I came almost three weeks ago, but the King did not have time to talk to me. The King will die after seven days. Whatever you need to do, you may do." The Queen became extremely upset, and in the meantime the saintly person left. The Queen immediately sent a message for the King to come, and he immediately arrived. He had all the time in the world for his queen, but he did not have even a little time for the Vaisnava.
Nowadays there are many persons who pose themselves as sadhus and go from house to house asking for money. Unlike real sadhus, they leave home and at the same time run after money. The King had thought that the saintly person who came to him was one of those who are after money, and therefore he had not bothered to see him. The Queen told her husband the sadhu's message: that he had only seven days to live. She also told him that the sadhu had just left the palace.
Beside himself with grief, the King quickly sent his men to look for him, and they found him sitting near a river under a tree and chanting harinama. Hearing the King's request, the sadhu returned to his palace, and this time the King welcomed him with great respect and gave him an asana upon which to sit. He humbly said, "You have told my wife that I have only seven days to live." The sadhu replied, "It is true. You will die after seven days, and no one will be able to save you. You will definitely have to die; so you must now prepare for your death."
The King then begged, "What is your advice? What should I do?" The sadhu replied, "You have performed many pious activities, and you will therefore go to heaven. You will get all nice facilities there, and there is one problem. At present there are very big mosquitoes there. They will bite you, and you will get malaria. You can get a mosquito net there, but one corner of the net is a little torn. The mosquitoes will come through the hole and bite you. Since there is no needle and thread available in heaven, you should take a needle and thread with you."
Desperate, the King then asked, "How can I take a needle and thread with me?" The sadhu replied, "You have accumulated so much wealth, and you say you cannot take a needle and thread with you to heaven?" This is our situation. You cannot take even a needle and thread, nor can you even take with you one of the hairs on your head. Please understand that although you are working so hard, you will not be able to take anything. You may be working very hard for your children, but they will also neglect you.
After all, Western culture has now entered India. As soon as the children grow up and get married, they leave their parents. They will only look after their own children, and they will not give you a glass of water. I see that the Indians who have settled outside of India (Canada, America, etc.) are now regretting their move. In fact, I met a Panjabi in Canada who was actually crying. He told me that he had come here for wealth and he was very successful in attaining it, but his children had become spoiled.
He said that his 22 year-old-daughter had brought her boyfriend home and she was taking alcohol with him. When the father questioned her, she threatened to shoot him. This person then began to wonder whether it was for this purpose that he left India and settled in Canada. Could he not have maintained his family in India? He admitted that he had come due to greed for wealth, and now he had lost everything. He is now crying, and there are many cases like his. It is all right that you Indians have come here, but you should not give up your Indian culture.
You should know that you will not be able to take anything with you when you die, and that you are eternally a servant of Krsna. You must know that you are not this body. A few days after the soul leaves this body, the body will begin to decompose. The birds and animals will eat the body, and then that body will become his stool. And, if the body is burnt, it will become ashes. Therefore, don't be proud of your beauty and youth. There is no need to be proud. One day this young and beautiful body will become old.
Please remember this. Wherever you are, perform krsna-bhajana and do not give up your Indian Culture. It is for this purpose, to re-establish Vedic culture, that Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, sometimes comes Himself to this world, sometimes He sends His servants, and sometimes He sends one of His many Incarnations. More than five thousand years ago, Svayam Bhagavan Krsna appeared on this planet.
Before Him, Lord Ramacandra, Lord Nrsimghadeva and other incarnations had appeared, but the root cause of all incarnations is Sri Krsna Himself. ete camsa-kalah pumsah krsnas tu bhagavan svayam indrari-vyakulam lokam mrdayanti yuge yuge ["All these incarnations of Godhead are either plenary portions or parts of the plenary portions of the purusa-avataras. But Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. In every age He protects the world through His different features when the world is disturbed by the enemies of Indra."