0:01I'm not saying it online, because I was able to discriminate between aparadhas, because I understand that I don't want to, like, really, I don't think like this, but it's just coming, and also I want to ask the difference between anarthas and aparadhas, because we know the definition of anarthas, chaitanya, dharma, āvaraṇamayi-vṛtti, that it is vṛtti, but what about aparādha, what it is, that's all.
1:01So the main thing in regard to the aparādha is one's intention. So if a thought will come in the mind which is unpleasant or offensive just due to some citta-vṛtti, some past saṁskāra, but one is not by his own will invested in that and he does not act on that then it's not an offense. Just like, actually, to be inattentive is an offense; to be playing on your phone during japa, this is like deliberate inattentiveness, right? So but if a person is trying to chant the holy name and just because he's in the stage where the mind is not steady yet and so the mind is wandering,
2:02but he's trying again and again to always bring it back, then that inattentiveness is not included in aparādha, it is actually included in nāmābhāsa. So intention is there. In previous ages, if you did something in your mind, you would get a reaction. But in Kali Yuga, what is done in the mind, then there's no reaction.
3:03and so on. So, if one's actual will is invested in that thought, then there'll be a reaction. And anyway, you know that
3:30and from attachment comes lust and from lust comes anger and so on. So when we allow our mind to wander and go out of control and contemplate the sense objects then the attachment, āsakti to the sense objects arises within the mind, then one due to ignorance is bound to act upon that as well. So you should not think that because in Kali Yuga you don't get the karmic reaction for activities performed—sinful activities performed in the mind so I can meditate on sinful activities because I have a free pass for this.
4:13So what's the difference between anārtha and aparādha? I think, I don't know, I know you have been studying Madhurya Kadambini, so then it should have been very clear that there are four types of anārthas. There are different ways in which anārthas have been characterized. In Madhurya-kādambinī, then the characterization is duṣkṛtotha-anārtha. That means anārthas—obstacles caused by performing some sinful activities. Duṣkṛti, duṣkṛtotha-anārtha.
5:19And then, if a person has all of these things, and is intoxicated by them, then that person cannot chant sincerely.
5:37Queen Kunti said, those who become intoxicated with their aristocratic birth, and wealth, power, beauty, and education, Then they cannot chant the holy name sincerely. O Krishna, you are the property of those who are akiñcana, those who have nothing.
5:59So in the lower state of development, it's very good to actually have nothing. That's why in Vedic culture, even persons from wealthy families, they have to leave their home and go and live in the gurukula and be like a beggar and go and beg on behalf of Guru and so on.
6:22But if one is very advanced, like Yudhishthira Maharaj, or to speak of having anything, he's the emperor of the world, but he's still akiñcana. Why? Because really he knows I have nothing. Everything belongs to Krishna because he has pure consciousness. But if the consciousness is not pure, then all possessions and worldly success and beauty and all of these things cause intoxication and then you cannot chant. So this makes anārthas as well.
6:53But these things come from the performance of pious activities in the previous life. So you have duṣkṛtotha-anārtha and sukṛtotha-anārtha. Then you have bhakty-anārtha. That means the anārthas which arise from the performance of mixed bhakti. If you are not practicing anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam, But doing bhakti mixed with some desires. That will also bring certain results.
7:21Which will make obstacles in the past. And then there is aparādhotha-anārtha. obstacles coming from aparādha. So what's the difference between aparādha and anārtha? This is not a valid question. The aparādha is one type of the four main types of anārtha. So aparādha is anārtha, but it's not the whole story. It's just one part of it. So very soon, in just whatever, 48 hours, your spiritual sabbatical in Vrindavan is coming to an end.
8:03I hope that you have used this time very, very carefully, absorbed in studying, learning verses, learning how to cook, learning how to serve deities, learning how to play mṛdaṅga, and all the important spiritual skills that you will need, because in a few days, then, it's back in the trenches, once more onto the bridge, and go back on the battlefield, and then, whatever you have learnt, you will have to use it, and it will be tested.
8:34It is said that the test of a good wife is when the husband gets into some calamity or difficulty. We see so many times the husband and wife, they're so much in love, but then the husband's business goes bankrupt or for some reason he has to go to jail and then the next thing then the wife runs away and marries someone else. So the test of a wife is not in the success, but when there's calamity in
9:42in Vedic culture. So, just as it is the test of a warrior, only when he's actually on the battlefield. So now the test will come. Did you learn anything during Kartik and during this retreat? And when you go out now doing seva and preaching here and there, then you'll see whether you've made some progress or not.
