Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.19.1-12 during the morning program in Dallas.
“The cowherd boys took a risk by following their cows, and they too became thirsty and tired, but they felt that they couldn’t live without their herd. We should feel the same way about devotees — that we cannot live without them — and if any stray away, we should try to find them and bring them back. As Prahlad Maharaja said, We do not want to go back home, back to Godhead, alone, but we want to take as many others with us as possible. And that requires personal sacrifice. To achieve anything requires sacrifice — austerity and effort — but especially to bring a fallen, conditioned soul back to the lotus feet of Krishna requires extraordinary effort. Srila Prabhupada said that we have to shed gallons of blood just to make one devotee. And if after our collectively making so much effort, a devotee comes and then leaves, it is a great loss. Srila Prabhupada said that every soul is important in Krishna consciousness. So we should spare no effort to keep them with us or get them back.”
