Shri Upadeshamritam (Nectar of Instruction) — A Detailed Study (Part 02) — 05 September 2022.

Title: Śrī-Upadeśāmṛtam (Nectar of Instruction) — A Detailed Study Part: 02 Facilitator: Hari Pārṣada Dāsa Hosted by: Dhāmeśvara Mahāprabhu Dāsa Date and Time: 05 September 2022, 9PM IST Lecture Timeline: 0:00:00 – Introduction 0:00:40 – Obeisances to Srila Rupa Gosvami (Self Composed) 0:02:15 – Image of Srila Rupa Gosvami in our minds 0:03:26 – Importance of speaking sweet words (Subhasita- ratna- bhandagaram) 0:05:39 – Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura’s commentary on “anudvega” 0:06:03 – Vaco Vegam 0:06:18 – 4 qualities of ideal speech (as given by Lord Sri Krishna in BG 17.15) 0:07:50 – What happens if these 4 qualities are not ensured? What is the harm in agitating people from time to time, especially if they are wrong? 0:09:42 – What happens if speech causes agitation to the listeners/ anudvega karam? (Vidura Maharaj to Dhritrashtra, MB Udyog Parva 34.77-78) 0:13:25 – What is the harm in speaking lies? 0:14:12 – SB 8.20.4 (Mother Earth’s opinion on liars) 0:15:10 – Is it practically possible to always speak the truth? 0:15:59 – Examples of when acharyas have indulged in speaking outright lies 0:16:44 – Srila Sanatana Goswami speaks a lie to Nawab Hussein Shah 0:18:06 – How to decide if we should speak the truth or not? (Padma Puran, quoted in Bhakti Sandarbha 148) 0:20:26 – What if we are engaged in business/ work (eg. sales) where we must “lie”? 0:21:13 – What will happen if we don’t speak priyam/ always criticize everyone? 0:22:00 – Subhasitavali of Vallabhadeva, 350 0:23:54 – What will happen if we speak sweetly, but it is not for the benefit of the other person? 0:25:02 – Visnu Purana 3.12.44 0:26:40 – Summarizing controlled speech/ 4 levels of controlled speech (Mahabharata, Udyoga parva, 36.12) 0:30:11 – What can devotees do if vaco vegam cannot be ensured on the most optimum level? 0:33:07 – SB 10.80.3 (What is the most glorious speech?) 0:34:02 – Way of praying to Bhagavan & offering all of our speech to Bhagavan (Bhakti Sandarbha 217) 0:35:03 – BG 9.27 0:35:54 – Is it possible to offer our lies to Krishna? 0:37:08 – Offering all our activities to Krishna 0:38:02 – Hari Bhakti Vilasa 8.410 (Mantra for offering speech to Krishna) 0:43:25 – Quote by HDG Srila Prabhupada (Talk on BG 9.26-27, 16 Dec 1966, New York) 0:45:37 – Q1. Communication of Srila Rupa Goswami had agitated Srila Jiva Goswami when the former accepted defeat in a debate against a scholar. Can you please shed some light on this wrt vaco vegam? 0:51:50 – Q2. What to do when we are dealing with devotees as a part of our business/ interacting with devotees (eg. temple management): is being diplomatic in such cases considered to be in grey area? How do we ensure that our devotee relationships are not affected by the lies that we may have to speak from time to time? 0:57:29 – Q3. How can I control my speech/ not speak harshly to my parents? What to do if they oppose our bhajan? 1:01:56 – Q4. Sometimes we joke around with friends, can we offer that speech to Bhagwan too? Do uttama adhikaris not engage in such conversations with the world outside? 1:04:36 – Q5. In Vidura ji’s 4 levels of speech, isn’t speaking truth & speaking truth in a pleasing tone the same? Why can’t we directly follow the 3rd instruction? Why do we need the 2nd instruction? 1:08:28 – Q6. HDG Srila Prabhupada says that a teacher shouldn’t speak to those who are not his students otherwise they may agitate others. Being in a temple management setting, this may not always be possible. How to balance this situation if we violate this principle? 1:15:28 – Q7. How not to spoil devotee relationship wrt financial dealings: if we help some devotee out of our own desire (he may not have asked but we see & help him) without expecting anything – does that also come under the financial help consideration? It may cause some feeling of “unsaid I took from him/ I gave him” even though intention was pure- in that case, what should we do? 1:20:50 – Q8. What to do when people in power positions (eg doctor) give us contradictory opinions on spiritual life? 1:26:31 – Q9. How does anartha nivritti happen? 1:29:05 – Q10. Prabhuji isn’t “ok” grey? Like yes & no is clear black & white – so how do we understand ok in our day-to-day life? 1:33:30 – Class ends