SB 3.32.21 – Falldown of the Powerful

Giriraj Swami:

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

Reading from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Three, Chapter Thirty-two, “Entanglement in Fruitive Activities.”

TEXT 21

tatas te kṣīṇa-sukṛtāḥ
punar lokam imaṁ sati
patanti vivaśā devaiḥ
sadyo vibhraṁśitodayāḥ

TRANSLATION

When the results of their pious activities are exhausted, they fall down by higher arrangement and again come back to this planet, just as any person raised to a high position sometimes all of a sudden falls.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

It is sometimes found that a person elevated to a very high position in government service falls down all of a sudden, and no one can check him. Similarly, after finishing their period of enjoyment, foolish persons who are very much interested in being elevated to the position of president in higher planets also fall down to this planet. The distinction between the elevated position of a devotee and that of an ordinary person attracted to fruitive activities is that when a devotee is elevated to the spiritual kingdom he never falls down, whereas an ordinary person falls, even if he is elevated to the highest planetary system, Brahmaloka. It is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ) that even if one is elevated to a higher planet, he has to come down again. But Kṛṣṇa confirms in Bhagavad-gītā (8.16), mām upetya tu kaunteya punar janma na vidyate: “Anyone who attains My abode never comes back to this conditioned life of material existence.”

[Prayers]

So, the fact that a person may be raised to a very high position and fall down is experienced by everyone in the material world. We had a vivid experience in India when Srila Prabhupada was present of Indira Gandhi. Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India, and at one stage, she assumed absolute powers, and everyone in India was worshiping her and obeying her like a God. In fact, Srila Prabhupada commented that she was the most powerful woman in India after Durga devi. She was so powerful. But in 1977, she called for elections, and in the elections, she was defeated, and the opposition, who gained control of the government, arrested her and put many cases against her for her criminal activities that she performed when she was in power. Srila Prabhupada was actually very fascinated by her downfall and almost every day, he would ask one of the devotees to bring the newspaper and read the news about her downfall. And he would comment how one day she was so powerful, and the next day she was nothing, nobody. There are so many examples. Another example from Srila Prabhupada’s time was Dr. Radhakrishna. Dr. Radhakrishna had been the President of India, and he was considered a very learned scholar. In fact, his commentary on Bhagavad-gītā is very famous in India, and even outside India. But although he wrote a commentary on Bhagavad-gītā, he didn’t have a real idea about Krishna at all. In fact, he thought that the Supreme was impersonal, and the impersonal was speaking through the form of Krishna.

When Srila Prabhupada first went to the United States, he did not have his own edition of Bhagavad-gītā yet; Bhagavad-gītā As It Is had not yet been published. But he had to explain Bhagavad-gītā, so he asked the devotees to get the edition translated by Dr. Radhakrishna, but he told them not to look at the commentary. They should only read the verses because the translation of the verses was reasonably accurate. So when he came to Chapter Nine, Text Thirty-four—man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru, he asked the devotee who was reading the verse in the class in New York to read the purport. Actually, Srila Prabhupada knew what the purport said. So, he asked the devotee to read the purport, and the devotee read, “It is not to the person Krishna that we must surrender ourselves, but it is to the unknown, nameless, formless, unknowable, impersonal that is speaking through Krishna.” And Srila Prabhupada became so angry. He slammed his fist down on the table and said, “Just see the rascal!” He says not to surrender to Krishna but to surrender to something else, not Krishna. He said, “It is as if I say that bring me a glass of water, and someone else says, ‘No, don’t give the water to Swamiji, but throw the water on the wall behind Swamiji.’” So Krishna clearly says, “Surrender to Me,” and he says, “No, don’t surrender to Krishna, surrender to the impersonal behind Krishna.”

So some years later in 1971, we arranged a program for Srila Prabhupada and invited him to Madras. And when we were in Madras, we arranged an appointment with Dr. Radhakrishna. And Dr. Radhakrishna was almost completely paralyzed. Not only completely paralyzed, but he couldn’t even think properly or speak properly. He was like a baby, an invalid also, and a baby also. And even to eat or perform the simplest functions, he had to be helped by some nurse. And again, Srila Prabhupada was so struck by his downfall that he mentioned it several times in his talks. Of course, in some places, he indirectly mentioned him, that because of being an offender to Lord Krishna, he was punished to the point that he couldn’t even walk or dress himself or feed himself.

So there are so many examples right here on the Earth planet of persons who have been elevated to a high position in government or in society and suddenly they fall down. Suddenly, they are completely helpless; they can’t do anything to help themselves. We had another experience recently in India. The son of the wealthiest Indian man in the world suddenly disappeared from home. Actually, the family lives in Juhu, or they have a house in Juhu, and the boy left early in the morning, about two o’clock, and told the guard that he is going to the Hare Krishna temple for maṅgala-ārati. But he never came back. Then later in the morning, they found the car parked between the family’s house and the temple, and there were some ominous signs, like some kerosene had been burned or something, and the family became alarmed. They thought the boy had been kidnapped. So they are so wealthy and so influential that they immediately informed the Prime Minister in New Delhi. He, in turn, phoned the Chief Minister in Maharashtra, and immediately the whole police organization was mobilized to try to find the boy. And they came to the temple also, and the whole city, at least, was shaken by the kidnapping.

Then the next night, at about ten o’clock at night, the family sent one of their limousines to the temple to bring me to the house. So I went, and they had information that the boy was in Mauritius. And maybe even some news that he had gone to the temple in Mauritius or the ashram. So I phoned the temple president; nobody had any information of him. Anyway, the next day, the whole family flew to Mauritius, and the whole thing was in the newspapers. In the end, the boy was hiding. Actually, it turns out that he had run away from home. And maybe he had a girlfriend or something, and she was a very ordinary girl. And when he left home, because his uncle, his uncle and father met me when I went there, so his uncle said when he left home, he didn’t take his credit card or any money or anything. And actually, I think he didn’t want to be a rich man. He didn’t want to be the son of the richest man among the Indians. So anyway, he tried to escape to Mauritius, and somehow the family traced him, and then they went there, and everything was in the newspaper, and he thought he can’t escape, and he apparently tried to commit suicide. He put kerosene on himself and set fire to himself, and I don’t know, maybe his girlfriend tried to save him or something, but he didn’t die. Then the family came and took possession of him, flew him to London because their main office is in London, and put him in the best hospital, and he died. Then they brought the body back to Bombay. They invited us to the house to perform kirtan during the funeral. And anyway, there was like complete hysteria. I have never seen such lamentations, such intense lamentation. And he was the only son also. So then, after so many hours, finally, the body was taken in procession with hari-nāma to the cremation ground. At the cremation grounds, I met another very rich Indian man. And he came up to me, and he said that he went to Mauritius. “You couldn’t do anything.” I said “No, we couldn’t do anything.” And then he says the family, also having almost all of the resources of the world available to them, they couldn’t do anything. I said, “No, they couldn’t.”

So here we come to the point: we are helpless. They couldn’t do anything in spite of being so wealthy and so influential. Then also, the Prime Minister of India phoned the Prime Minister of Mauritius and told him to be on the alert and try to find the boy, but they were helpless. They couldn’t do anything. Then the other rich man, who met me at the cremation ground, because we were meeting after a long time because I had been away, so we started to talk. And I said, “How’s business?” He said, “Well, of course, we are here in Bombay as usual. And we are in Bangalore, we are in Pune, we are in Ahmedabad, we are in Delhi, we are in Calcutta.” And he started listing all the cities to which his empire had expanded. But at the end, he said, indicating the body which was being engulfed in flames in the crematorium, “But then, when you see this, you think, what is the use of all this? Better just to leave everything and join you.” So actually, if someone is sober and sees the facts of material existence, he should come to the conclusion that what is the use of laboring so hard to get material things that can be taken away in a moment, that can be lost in a moment, all of a sudden? And when it happens, one is helpless; he cannot do anything.

So persons who labor by Vedic performances to become elevated to higher planets are as foolish as the materialists here who work to become the president or the prime minister and fall down all of a sudden and have nothing. They have nothing. So we should not endeavor for material elevation, either on the earth planet or any planet. Bhagavad-gītā explains that by the performance of pious activities, one can be elevated to higher planets. But when one’s pious credits are exhausted, he again falls back down to the earth planet. One time, Srila Prabhupada was walking with some devotees on the sidewalk in New York. New York is sometimes called the concrete jungle because there is concrete everywhere. There is no natural jungle, only man-made jungle. So Srila Prabhupada was walking along the sidewalk, and he pointed to the fact that some blades of grass were growing up through the cracks in the sidewalk. So he asked the devotees who were with him on the walk, “How did the grass get there?” Because there is no grass anywhere in the area, no garden, no park, nothing. The devotees couldn’t answer. Then Prabhupada answered that when the pious activities of the living entities on the higher planets are exhausted, they fall down as a seed, or like a seed in the rain. And the rain also falls on the concrete in New York. So the rain, carrying the living entity who is falling from the higher planets, entered in the crack of the sidewalk and then came up in the form of grass. So just see the position: one moment, one is enjoying heavenly pleasures on the higher planets, and the next moment, he is falling down. The living entity is falling down in the rain, falling between the cracks of the sidewalk in Brooklyn, and then coming up in the form of grass.

So here is a very big difference between the elevation of a devotee and the elevation of a karmi or a jnani or a yogi. And that is that anyone, karmi, jnani, yogi, or whoever, he may elevate himself by some process like karma or jnana or yoga, but if he neglects the service of the lotus feet of the Lord, he falls down. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says that even if one by great effort elevates himself to the position of impersonal brahman and he thinks that he is liberated, but if he neglects the service of the lotus feet of the Lord, actually he is not liberated; he can fall down again. Patanti adah. And Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also says that if one performs varnashrama-dharma very nicely, even perfectly, but if he neglects to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he falls down; actually, he goes to hell. Bhāgavatam says he goes to hell. Even if he does everything perfectly, but if he doesn’t worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he falls down and goes to hell. So we should not fall down. We should take to the only process that can elevate us to the supreme destination, which is Goloka-Vrindavan. And if one goes to the spiritual abode of Krishna, he never falls down but enjoys life eternally in service to Krishna.

So any intelligent person will come to the conclusion that he does not want temporary benefit if he can get permanent benefit. So even if one elevates oneself by karma, jnana, or yoga to the higher planetary systems, if he doesn’t engage in Krishna consciousness, he will fall down. But Srila Śrīdhara Swami, commenting on the verse from Bhagavad-gītā quoted in the purport, says that if one is elevated to a higher planet, and if he engages in devotional service there, then he can gradually be elevated to higher and higher planets within the material world until finally he reaches the highest planet of Brahmaloka. And on the highest planet of Brahmaloka, if he attains success in Krishna consciousness or perfection in Krishna consciousness, then at the time of annihilation of the universe, he is promoted to the spiritual kingdom of God, to the particular spiritual planet of the deity of his choice or of his desire. Because there are so many planets in the spiritual world also. There are the Vaikuntha planets where the Lord is worshipped in the form of Lakshmi-Narayana. Then above Vaikuntha, is Ayodhya. . .Rukmini-Dwarkadhish. And above Dvaraka, is Vrindavan, where the Lord is worshipped as Radharani, Radha-Shyamasundara. So according to the desire of the devotee, he will be elevated to the specific planet in the spiritual world where he can serve and worship the deity of his choice. And the only way is pure devotional service. There is no other way. And if one worships the Lord in pure devotional service and is elevated to the planet of the Lord to serve the Lord there also in pure devotional service, he can never fall down. His achievement is permanent, and any other achievement, even rising up to the planet of Brahmaloka, is temporary unless one takes advantage of the opportunity to make further advancements in Krishna consciousness.

So we should not be distracted by any offer within the material world or the spiritual world. We see the story of Gopa Kumar in Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta, how he was elevated gradually in the material world and even in the spiritual world until he finally came to Goloka Vrindavan. If we are aware of the science of Krishna and if we are fortunate to have the association of the type of devotee who can guide us to the highest goal, then we can go directly. We don’t have to make any stops along the way and run the risk of falling down also. So we should study Srila Prabhupada’s books very carefully and be convinced. Srila Prabhupada often used to say that unless you are convinced, how can you convince others? So first, you should be convinced. Then, by studying Srila Prabhupada’s books and practicing Krishna consciousness, we will have so much conviction and realization that we will be able to convince others. But if we neglect our study of Srila Prabhupada’s books and neglect our practice of Krishna consciousness, and in an immature stage go to preach, we may actually become influenced by the people who we are supposed to be preaching to. And we may become like them. There are actually many examples because not all fall downs are gross; some fall downs are subtle also.

So, as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, janma sârthaka kari’ kara para-upakâra. We should ourselves ensure that we make our own life successful by becoming Krishna conscious, and then we should do good for others by spreading Krishna consciousness. So this is actually the perfect combination: that we chant the holy name, we study the Vedic literatures, we follow the regulative principles, and we make some advancement, and we preach. And by preaching, we make more advancements, and by making more advancement, we can preach more. Srila Prabhupada told a story of a Mayavadi sannyasi, who touched his disciple and, by touching his disciple, transferred his knowledge to him. The disciple has written in his book about the master that when he opened his eyes, he saw that his master was crying. And he said, “O master, why are you crying?” And the master replied, “Because now I have transferred all of my knowledge to you, I don’t have anything left with me.” So obviously, this is a material concept of knowledge. Actually, in transcendental knowledge, the more you give knowledge to others, the more you get knowledge. So we are fortunate to have the association of devotees, to have the mercy of Srila Prabhupada. So we should be kind to others and to ourselves also, and share what we have with others. And by sharing what we have with others, we get more.

So preaching is extremely important. Preaching is extremely important because it cleanses the heart of all the dust, and at the same time, it helps us to get the mercy of guru and Gauranga. And by the mercy of guru and Gauranga, both, the heart becomes cleansed of material contamination and filled with transcendental happiness. And then, when we actually experience transcendental happiness, we cannot be shaken in devotional service. Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate, when we experience the higher taste, we can no longer be attracted by the inferior taste of stool. As it is mentioned in the previous verse, that persons who are interested in material elevation and who are not interested in the nectar of kṛṣṇa-kathā, they are like pigs who eat stool. So we have to develop the higher taste, and when we actually experience the higher taste, then we will be fixed; we will be firm. But if we don’t actually experience the higher taste, then we can be influenced by other association or by other opportunities. And because maya is very strong, we may also become like pigs who give up the taste of nectar in order to get the taste of stool, or wanting to experience the taste of stool, we lose the taste of nectar. So therefore, we need to have very good association, very strong practices, and preach also, and avoid the chance to fall down.

Hare Krishna.

So, any questions or comments?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:40:20]

Giriraj Swami: Oh, well, of course, there are different methods of reproduction mentioned in Vedic literatures, which we don’t learn about in school. Generally, in school, we just learn about one or two types. But according to Vedic literatures, living entities can be born from perspiration also, and there are examples mentioned. But if we had to reconcile it, we could say that. . . anyway, we don’t have to, we may be able to, but you don’t necessarily have to. Ultimately, we come to the point that our senses are imperfect, and with imperfect senses, how can our knowledge be perfect? That is why we accept the version of the Vedas.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:40:20]

Giriraj Swami: He has read in Srila Prabhupada’s biography that when the first disciples approached Srila Prabhupada for initiation, Srila Prabhupada explained that the spiritual master takes charge of the disciple to bring the disciple back home, back to Godhead. And the disciple worships the spiritual master as God. So, can I please explain?

What you have read is correct. And when the devotees heard the answer from Srila Prabhupada, they were quite confused, like we are. And they went back to Srila Prabhupada and asked for clarification. Srila Prabhupada explained that one worships the spiritual master like God because the spiritual master gives knowledge of God, but not that the spiritual master is God. In fact, when Srila Prabhupada first went to the United States, he always said that anyone who says that I am God, he is a dog. Therefore, the devotees were also surprised. In Caitanya-caritāmṛta also, Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraj Gosvami writes that, “I know my spiritual master to be the direct manifestation of Lord Chaitanya, and at the same time, I know him to be the confidential servitor of Lord Chaitanya.” So the spiritual master is perceived in both ways, but not that he is actually God, not that he is Krishna or Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He is always a servant of God, but his service is to act as the representative of God to give instructions on how the conditioned soul can go back to Godhead, and the instructions come from God. So he represents God by repeating the same instructions of God, and the Lord recommends devotional service. So the spiritual master engages the disciple in devotional service, and the service is offered to God through the medium of the spiritual master.

So knowledge of God descends from God through the spiritual master, and service to God is transferred up to God through the spiritual master. So he is the representative of God, and therefore he is given the same respect as God, but actually, he is not God. Or you could say that he is servant-God, and Krishna is master-God. God here means Brahman or the Absolute Truth. They are all included in the Absolute Truth, but one is the master; Krishna’s the master, and the others are servants. Just like the sunshine is also the sun, but it is not the same as the sun globe. The sunshine can come into our house, but the sun globe cannot come into our house. If the sun globe comes, the house will burn; the whole planet will burn. So we cannot say that the sunshine is the same as the sun globe because sunshine can come in the house; sun globe cannot come in the house. But at the same time, the sunshine is also the sun; it is also part of the sun, it cannot be separated from the sun. So this is called the philosophy of inconceivable simultaneous oneness and difference. The living entity is one with God in quality, but he is different from God in quantity because God is infinite, and we are infinitesimal. So the pure soul, we are not pure souls; we are conditioned souls, so we are covered by the material modes of nature. But the pure soul has all of the same qualities as God, just like the sunshine has the same qualities as the sun, but the quantity is different. So the spiritual master has the same qualities, but the quantity is different. That means any pure soul.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:49:00]

Giriraj Swami: It is true that if one has factual realization of God, he can preach better than someone without realization who only repeats. But how will we get such realization? There must be some process, and the process begins with surrender to the spiritual master. And the spiritual master instructs us to preach. As the person who spoke to you said, that we have many anarthas, and we may have many anarthas, but we have to do something to eradicate the anarthas. And preaching is extremely favorable for removing anarthas. And if someone is not free from anarthas and if he goes to retire in Vrindavan and he does not preach, then he will come more in anarthas; he will not become free from anarthas. So, until we are actually free from anarthas, we should not think that we can go to Vrindavan and retire and not preach. When we are free from anarthas and can actually have taste for chanting and hearing, and actually develop attachment for Krishna, then we may be able to do what your friend suggested. But we should not make our own arrangement to do it. Guru and Krishna will arrange everything for us. We should not make our own arrangement.

How did you come in the association of devotees? You were not looking for the association of devotees. Krishna Himself arranged that you should come in the association of devotees without you making any effort. In fact, in the initial stage, we might have the opposite idea that we want to be away from the devotees. I know the first time I saw the devotees; I was quite horrified, quite horrified. They were standing in the park in San Francisco, wearing orange robes and having shaved heads, and swaying back and forth and uttering something. I wanted to be away, and I left the place as soon as possible. So, I don’t think very many of us can say that we were seeking the association of devotees. But actually, by the mercy of Krishna or by the arrangement of Krishna, we got the devotees’ association without making any effort. So, in the same way, when guru and Krishna see that we are ready, they themselves will arrange for us to spend time in Vrindavan and to make advancement according to our actual position. And we should not make any effort to reduce our service. To the contrary, we should try to increase our service. But it is true, if one is Krishna conscious, say like Srila Prabhupada was Krishna conscious, then the potency to preach will be more. But the method to become Krishna conscious like Srila Prabhupada is to follow in the footsteps, which involves very vigorous preaching and very hard work to spread the mission of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the previous acharyas.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:54:35]

Giriraj Swami: The question is good. She says that in Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gītā, he quotes Śrīdhara Swami’s commentary that devotees on the higher planets who engage in devotional service can be gradually elevated to higher and higher planets, and ultimately, they can come to Brahmaloka, and at the time of annihilation be transferred to the spiritual world. And according to their object of love and worship, they can go to Lakshmi-Narayana or Sita-Rama or Radha-Krishna. And then she says that in the story of Gopa Kumar in Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta, we see that he went to Dvaraka, and from Dvaraka he came back to Bauma-Vrindavan. And in Bauma-Vrindavan, he did sadhana, and then he was promoted to Goloka Vrindavan. So apparently, there is a contradiction. So she is asking how is it that devotees on the higher planets can go directly to Goloka Vrindavan without coming back to Bauma-Vrindavan.

The answer is that in the spiritual world, there is no sadhana. In Vaikuntha, there is no sadhana. In Dvaraka, there is no sadhana. So in order to do the sadhana by which one can enter Goloka Vrindavan, Gopa Kumar had to come back to Bauma-Vrindavan. But on the higher planets, there is sadhana. As long as we are in the material world, there is chance for sadhana. So if they do the required sadhana on the higher planets, they don’t have to come to Bauma-Vrindavan. They can be transferred directly. But they can come if they want, like Lord Brahma, so many, Lord Shiva, Narada, they are free to come to Bauma-Vrindavan, and they do come because they are in the material world, and in the material world, there is sadhana. But when Gopa Kumar went to Dvaraka in the spiritual world, there is no chance of doing sadhana. Therefore, he had to come back. And within the material world, for elevation to Goloka Vrindavan, then definitely the best place is Bauma-Vrindavan. So that is why he came there.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:57:50]

Giriraj Swami: Well, it is very difficult because they are absorbed in material matters. The devotees went, for example, to Nelson Mandela. They went to F.W. de Klerk, but they have no time. They gave them books, but they said, or their secretary said, they have no time now. Let the political problems be solved, and then they will read the books, that is what they said. So what to do? What to speak of de Klerk and Mandela, even Mahatma Gandhi, who was supposed to be so saintly, didn’t respond to Prabhupada’s appeal to him. So it is very difficult. Therefore, sometimes Srila Prabhupada said that we should go to the masses and make the masses Krishna conscious. Then when the masses become Krishna conscious, they will elect Krishna-conscious leaders. Anyway, we can try every approach. Because it is difficult, it doesn’t mean we should not try. We must try. It is our duty. And the result depends on Krishna. We make our best effort but depend on Krishna for the results.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Nitai-Gaura premānande Hari Haribol!