BG 12.8–10 – Find Your Place and Progress

Giriraj Swami:

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

Reading from Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Chapter Twelve, “Bhakti-yoga.” 

TEXT 8

mayy eva mana ādhatsva
mayi buddhiṁ niveśaya
nivasiṣyasi mayy eva
ata ūrdhvaṁ na saṁśayaḥ

TRANSLATION

Just fix your mind upon Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and engage all your intelligence in Me. Thus you will live in Me always, without a doubt.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

One who is engaged in Lord Kṛṣṇa’s devotional service lives in a direct relationship with the Supreme Lord, so there is no doubt that his position is transcendental from the very beginning. A devotee does not live on the material plane – he lives in Kṛṣṇa. The holy name of the Lord and the Lord are nondifferent; therefore when a devotee chants Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa and His internal potency are dancing on the tongue of the devotee. When he offers Kṛṣṇa food, Kṛṣṇa directly accepts these eatables, and the devotee becomes Kṛṣṇa-ized by eating the remnants. One who does not engage in such service cannot understand how this is so, although this is a process recommended in the Bhagavad-gītā and in other Vedic literatures.

COMMENT

Here, Sri Krishna uses the word, nivasiṣyasi mayy eva, that you will live in me always. The impersonalists have the idea that they will merge into Krishna or merge into God or merge into Brahman. But here, where Krishna says that “You will live in Me,” he doesn’t mean as the impersonalists think. He means that you will live in a direct relationship with me. In the material world, everyone wants to love someone and to be loved by someone. In English, people say love makes the world go round. If we don’t have someone to love, we cannot experience happiness. In the West, we have the experience that the husband will love the wife, or the wife will love the husband. Of course, they don’t really love each other, but we are making another point now. And if the husband dies, then very soon thereafter, the wife will die because she cannot live without someone to love.

I know one case, my aunt, that after her husband died, she got a bird so she could love the bird because she needed someone to love. So everyone needs someone to love, needs to love someone, but in the material world, we are always frustrated in our attempts to love and to be loved. As a result of frustration in material relationships, we may decide that we don’t want to have any relationships with anyone. Even if, superficially, we keep relations with others, but actually, we do not love them, and we do not, feel loved. We just exist, and we go through the motions of interacting, but nothing deep is there. We are afraid that as we have been hurt in the past, we may be hurt again, and we don’t want to be hurt, so we remain aloof.

Now, when someone comes to Krishna consciousness, he learns that there is spiritual individuality. We are used to material individuality, which is full of misery, but in Krishna consciousness, there is spiritual individuality, which is full of bliss. In material life, there are material relationships which end in misery, and in spiritual life, there are spiritual relationships which end in ecstasy. But because we are so frustrated in material relationships, we hesitate to become involved in spiritual relationships because we think the same thing may happen again—we will be frustrated or we will be hurt or whatever.

When Krishna says that “You will live in Me,” he means that you will live in a direct relationship with me. Whatever relationships we could ever want to have in the material world, we can have the same relationship with God, with Krishna. In the material world, someone may want to have a good master to serve. But in the material world, actually, there is no service. The servant serves the master as long as the master pays him. If the master were not to pay him, then the service would stop. So actually, he is not serving his master; he is actually serving himself. He is serving his own desires, which he wants to fulfill by the remuneration he gets from the master. So actually, there is no service, and no one is satisfied.

People are always looking for a new master, always looking for a better job, always looking for more money, for more facility, for better hours, or whatever. So they are not really in the mood of service; they are in the mood of getting something. They want to get something, and they are not satisfied. Similarly, in the material world, we may want a friend. Actually, everyone wants a friend who will understand him, understand his difficulties, understand his aspirations, and help him. But in the material world, although we want to be understood, actually, we are not understood properly. We are misunderstood. People cannot understand what we really want; they cannot understand how to really help us. So again, we are frustrated. Sometimes the worst happens, and the person who we thought was our friend actually turns out to be our enemy. The person who we thought would help us actually, in the end, betrays us.

There are so many examples in history and in contemporary affairs also. I don’t really know the history; I don’t remember the history, but there is one famous line that he thought that Brutus was his friend, but in the end, Brutus also stabbed him with everyone else. So you too, Brutus? Even you, who I thought was my friend, even you are stabbing me? So this happens. The parents always want to have a nice son, a nice child, a nice son who will fulfill their hopes, will grow up to be the way they want him to be, who will bring happiness to the family. But we find that the son does not grow up the way we want. He becomes different, and all of our hopes are shattered. Sometimes the son causes misery to the parents by dying. It actually happens very often, more than you would think. I met one very rich man in Port Elizabeth, and his son, darling son, was riding a bicycle, and he was killed in an accident at a very young age. So the man’s whole life changed. The man’s whole life was filled with sorrow over the loss of the son.

Srila Prabhupada commented that sometimes if you have caused pain to someone in the past life, he will take birth as your son, and as your son, he will cause you so much misery. And if you have really caused him pain in the past life, then he will cause you the greatest pain by dying, and for the rest of the life, you suffer and lament. So people want a good son who will make them happy, and who will make them happy means everything—serve them, obey them, bring good name to the family, maybe contribute financially. But the opposite takes place. Sometimes, the son can give the greatest pain to the parents by joining the Hare Krishna movement. I know from my experience. I don’t think that I could have caused more pain to my parents if I died. I think that by living and joining the Hare Krishna movement, I have caused them more pain. When I was young, sometimes we used to discuss what will I be when I grow up, what should I do when I grow up, and they always said, “Son, whatever will make you happy will make us happy. You can do whatever you like in life as long as it makes you happy.”

So the talk went on for so many years. And originally, I thought I will be a doctor because I wanted to do good for people. But still, they said, “Whatever will make you happy, that’s all we want. We just want that you should be happy.” So when I met Srila Prabhupada and the devotees and came to Krishna consciousness and actually became happy, they weren’t happy at all. They were not at all happy, although they always said, “We only want you to be happy. If you are happy, we will be happy.” And my friends—they didn’t like my friends because they thought my friends were taking me away from my studies. I didn’t like my friends to come to the house; they didn’t like me to go out with my friends. But as soon as I joined the Krishna consciousness movement, they called all my friends and discussed, “How can we get him back? How can we get him out of there and get him back?”

So, in whatever relationship we try to enjoy in the material world, we suffer. And then there is the relationship of husband and wife. There also, there are so many problems, which I don’t even need to mention because it goes without saying. Now, so if we think, “Okay, I am not going to have any friends, I am not going to get married, I am not going to have any children,” still, I won’t be happy. Even if I say, “I am going to meditate and become one with God,” still I am not going to be, because I am a person, and a person cannot be happy unless he loves someone and is loved by someone.

So here, Krishna says that you will live in me, you will live in a direct relationship with me, and you will give me happiness, and I will give you happiness. And this is Krishna consciousness. Krishna consciousness means to always think of Krishna. But as Srila Prabhupada says, you cannot always think of someone unless you love the person. So Krishna consciousness means to fall in love with Krishna and to be so in love with Krishna that you are always thinking of Him day and night, and you cannot live for a moment without thinking of Him.

For example, when Krishna left Vrindavan and went to Mathura, the gopīs experienced an exalted state of Godhead in separation. It is called mahā-bhāva and more than mahā-bhāva. So they thought that Krishna had become mad and therefore He left them. They compared Krishna to a bumblebee, which goes from flower to flower to collect honey, to collect nectar. Now sometimes the bees become mad, they become intoxicated, they become mad, and they lose all sense of discrimination. They cannot distinguish between a beautiful flower and a plain flower. They cannot distinguish between a fragrant flower and the opposite. The bee just becomes mad and he just goes from flower to flower to flower without any discrimination of what is a good flower and what is not a good flower. So they thought that Krishna has become like a mad bee and He is just going from flower to flower to flower without any discrimination. And He is therefore neglecting them.

So in their exalted state of love of Godhead and separation, they started to speak ill of Krishna. Of course, we cannot imitate them; we can only hear and maybe appreciate. So Krishna had sent Uddhava to Vrindavan, who was the most confidential associate of Krishna in Mathura and Dvaraka. He was the constant companion of Lord Krishna. But Lord Krishna thought that now that “I have left Vrindavan, there is nobody who can understand me here. There is nobody who can understand my love for the residents of Vrindavan or their love for me, not even Uddhava.”

So he thought, I should send Uddhava to Vrindavan, and then when he sees the love of the residents of Vrindavan, he will get some idea. And then at least I will have someone that I can confide in who will understand me. So he sent Uddhava. When Uddhava arrived in Vrindavan, first he paid respects to Nanda Maharaja and Yasoda devi, and eventually, he came to the gopīs. The gopīs were in such an extreme state of ecstatic love and separation from Krishna that they were almost dead. And Uddhava saw the most prominent of the gopīs. One bee was hovering around her feet, which were like lotus flowers, so the bee thought that her feet were lotus flowers. But she, in her divya-mad, that means transcendental madness—it is a very high state—she took the bee as the representative of Krishna because Krishna is black and the bee is also black, and the bee and Krishna go from one place to another, and the bee also goes from one flower to another.

And she imagined, so she was speaking to the bee, and she imagined that the bee was speaking to her. It is explained in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And so she said that if Krishna can live without us, then we can also live without Krishna. So the bee said that, “You always say that Krishna is so bad, He is so cruel, He has left you, He is going to Mathura, He is this, He is that. And not only in this life but in many lives,” because the gopīs had heard about Krishna’s past lives from Paurnamasi, so they knew that in one past life He had taken birth as another dark person. “And he was so attached to his wife that even when he went into the forest, he took his wife with him. And in the forest, he was approached by Shurpanakha. Now as a kshatriya, he should have satisfied her, but he was so attached to his wife that he rejected her. And not only did he reject her, but he disfigured her, cut off her nose, and made it impossible for her to marry anyone, and thus he made her life miserable. So he is such a cruel person. And not only that, in another life, he took birth as a dwarf brahman and he cheated Bali Maharaja. He told Bali Maharaja that I only want three steps of land. Bali said, “Yes, I will give you.” Then that cheater expanded himself into a gigantic form, and with one step, he covered the upper half of the universe, and with the other step, he covered the lower half of the universe. So with two steps, he covered the whole universe. Now when he asked for three steps of land, he was asking for three steps as a small brahmachari. He didn’t ask for those three steps.”

“So he cheated Bali Maharaja, and then even after cheating him and taking everything away from him, he bound him with ropes, humiliated him, and sent him down to the lower planets. So we know about this person, how cruel he is, not only in this life but in past lives also. So we don’t want to have anything to do with him.” So the bee said that, “If Krishna is so bad, He is this, He is that, and if He can live without you, you can live without Him, then why are you always talking about Him? Can’t you think of another subject to talk about?” Then the gopīs say, “That is the problem. We can live without Krishna, but we can’t do without talking about Him.” So this is Krishna consciousness, that even if they want to forget Krishna, they can’t. So this is love. This is the symptom of love, that if you love someone, you always think of them no matter what. You can’t stop thinking of them. So this is Krishna consciousness.

So here in Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna says that you should live in me, you should live in a direct relationship with me. So if we want a master, we should make Krishna our master. He will be the perfect master. He will take care of us and protect us and provide for us perfectly. If we want a friend, we should make Krishna our friend. He will be the best friend. He will always understand us perfectly, and not only will he understand us, he will want to help us. And not only will he want to help us, but he will be fully capable of helping us. In the material world, even if a friend wants to help us, he may not be capable, but Krishna is fully capable. Or if we want a son, Krishna will become the perfect son. So whatever relationship we want, we can have it in perfection with Krishna, and therefore Krishna says that you should live in me, live in a direct relationship with me, and I will satisfy you in every respect. I will be the perfect master if you want me as master. If you want me as son, come on, I will be the perfect son. And if you want me as lover, I will be the perfect lover. Whatever relationship you want with me, you come to me, and I will fulfill your desires. But we don’t have love for Krishna. We can’t think of Krishna always. We can’t live in Krishna. So what do we do? We want a direct relationship with Krishna, but how to achieve it? So Krishna explains in the next verse.

TEXT 9

atha cittaṁ samādhātuṁ
na śaknoṣi mayi sthiram
abhyāsa-yogena tato
mām icchāptuṁ dhanañ-jaya

TRANSLATION

My dear Arjuna, O winner of wealth, if you cannot fix your mind upon Me without deviation, then follow the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga. In this way develop a desire to attain Me.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

In this verse, two different processes of bhakti-yoga are indicated. The first applies to one who has actually developed an attachment for Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by transcendental love. And the other is for one who has not developed an attachment for the Supreme Person by transcendental love. For this second class there are different prescribed rules and regulations one can follow to be ultimately elevated to the stage of attachment to Kṛṣṇa.

COMMENT

The goal is attachment, that means ratī, that means love of Godhead.

PURPORT (continued)

Bhakti-yoga is the purification of the senses. At the present moment in material existence the senses are always impure, being engaged in sense gratification. But by the practice of bhakti-yoga these senses can become purified, and in the purified state they come directly in contact with the Supreme Lord.

COMMENT

So, Krishna is spiritual.

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

Krishna who is known as Govinda has an eternal blissful spiritual form. Now, as living entities or spirit souls, we are also spiritual, but our spiritual existence is covered by our material body. Actually, the soul has spiritual senses, or the senses are spiritual because when the soul leaves the body, there is no sense perception in the body. That means the perception was done not by these eyes, nose, tongue, ears, and skin, but the perception was done by the soul within the body. The eyes, nose, tongue, ears, and so on are just instruments. Just like right now, I am looking through these eyeglasses, but actually, these eyeglasses are not seeing. The eye is seeing through the glasses, but actually, the eye also is not seeing. Actually, the soul is seeing. The spiritual eyes of the soul are looking through the physical eyes of the body and seeing because when the soul leaves the body and the spiritual eyes, spiritual nose, spiritual ears, spiritual tongue leave the body, these bodily organs cannot receive anything.

So, that means that the soul has spiritual senses, and of course, Krishna is the supreme soul. He also has spiritual senses. So we can see Krishna with spiritual senses. Not only see, but we can touch, we can hear, and so on. But right now, the spiritual senses are covered by the material body, and we cannot see Krishna or hear Krishna and so on. But if we purify the senses, then we can see Krishna. It is just like if I have dirt on my glass, I cannot see. But if I wipe away the dirt, then I can see. So, because our senses are materially covered, we cannot see Krishna. But if our senses become purified, then we can see Krishna. And how to purify the senses? The process is bhakti-yoga. But we only have these senses, what to do? So Krishna is so kind that he has given the method by which you can engage the present materially contaminated senses in Krishna’s service. By serving Krishna, even with the materially contaminated senses, we can become purified. And when the senses are purified, we can see Krishna. This process of engaging the senses in the service of Krishna is called sādhana-bhakti. It is called sādhana-bhakti.

PURPORT (continued)

In this material existence, I may be engaged in some service to some master, but I don’t really lovingly serve my master. I simply serve to get some money. And the master also is not in love; he takes service from me and pays me. So there is no question of love. But for spiritual life, one must be elevated to the pure stage of love. That stage of love can be achieved by practice of devotional service, performed with the present senses.

This love of God is now in a dormant state in everyone’s heart. And, there, love of God is manifested in different ways, but it is contaminated by material association. Now the heart has to be purified of the material association, and that dormant, natural love for Kṛṣṇa has to be revived. That is the whole process.

To practice the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga one should, under the guidance of an expert spiritual master, follow certain principles: one should rise early in the morning, take bath, enter the temple and offer prayers and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, then collect flowers to offer to the Deity, cook foodstuffs to offer to the Deity, take prasādam, and so on. There are various rules and regulations which one should follow.

COMMENT

Here, Srila Prabhupada is describing arcanam, the worship of the deity, going in the temple, offering prayers, collecting flowers, cooking food, and so on.

PURPORT (continued)

And one should constantly hear Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from pure devotees.

COMMENT

There are actually two lines in sādhana-bhakti. One is called pañcarātrika-mārga, that is the path of deity worship, and the other is called bhāgavata-mārga, that is the path of hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or reciting Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Both paths run parallel like the tracks of the train. If there is only one track, the train cannot go forward; the train will derail. But if there are two tracks, two parallel tracks, then the train can progress to the destination. Neophyte devotees require both processes: worshiping the deity and hearing the Bhāgavatam, as we do in the temple. Srila Prabhupada has arranged the temple programs in such a way that the devotee does everything. Everything means the most essential items for spiritual advancement.

Even if you don’t understand the philosophy deeply, if you see how the devotees are worshiping in the temple, how they are serving in the temple, and you practice the same, then you will make progress because everything is already presented with full knowledge by Srila Prabhupada. Even if we don’t have full knowledge, if we just follow, we will advance. Of course, if we do that, then we will get knowledge, and we should.

PURPORT (continued)

This practice can help anyone rise to the level of love of God, and then he is sure of his progress into the spiritual kingdom of God. This practice of bhakti-yoga, under the rules and regulations, with the direction of a spiritual master, will surely bring one to the stage of love of God.

COMMENT

So, devotional service is absolute. It is the means and the end. Bhāgavatam says, bhaktyā sañjātayā bhaktyā, that bhakti comes from bhakti. From the practice of sādhana-bhakti, one will come to stage of prema-bhakti. In the first verse that we read, Krishna says, always think of me, always live in me. That means be situated in prema-bhakti. But if you cannot be situated in prema-bhakti immediately, then the next step is to be situated in sādhana-bhakti because by sādhana-bhakti, you can come to the stage of prema-bhakti. But alas, alas, I cannot get up early in the morning. I cannot follow all the rules and regulations. What to do? Krishna explains in the next verse.

TEXT 10

abhyāse ‘py asamartho ‘si
mat-karma-paramo bhava
mad-artham api karmāṇi
kurvan siddhim avāpsyasi

TRANSLATION

If you cannot practice the regulations of bhakti-yoga, then just try to work for Me, because by working for Me you will come to the perfect stage.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

One who is not able even to practice the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga, under the guidance of a spiritual master, can still be drawn to this perfectional stage by working for the Supreme Lord. How to do this work has already been explained in the fifty-fifth verse of the Eleventh Chapter. One should be sympathetic to the propagation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. There are many devotees who are engaged in the propagation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and they require help. So, even if one cannot directly practice the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga, he can try to help such work. Every endeavor requires land, capital, organization and labor. Just as in business one requires a place to stay, some capital to use, some labor and some organization to expand, so the same is required in the service of Kṛṣṇa. The only difference is that in materialism one works for sense gratification. The same work, however, can be performed for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa, and that is spiritual activity. If one has sufficient money, he can help in building an office or temple for propagating Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Or he can help with publications. There are various fields of activity, and one should be interested in such activities. If one cannot sacrifice the results of his activities, the same person can still sacrifice some percentage to propagate Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This voluntary service to the cause of Kṛṣṇa consciousness will help one to rise to a higher state of love for God, whereupon one becomes perfect.

COMMENT

So here, Lord Krishna describes the process of karma-yoga. First, there was bhakti-yoga in two divisions: prema-bhakti and sādhana-bhakti. Now we come to karma-yoga, that you can work for Krishna. Now karma-yoga also has two divisions: niṣakāma karma-yoga and sakāma karma-yoga. Niṣakāma means that one has no personal desire; he has no selfish desire. Sakāma means that he has some desire to enjoy the fruits of his work, but at the same time, he is ready to sacrifice some of the fruits of his work to Krishna. Suppose I have a garden, and in my garden, I grow a tree with mangoes, and the tree produces one hundred mangoes. So if I deliver all one hundred mangoes to Krishna, that is niṣakāma karma-yoga. I have no desire for myself; I have faith in Krishna that He will take care of me, or even if He doesn’t take care of me, He is the Lord, He can do what He wants. So that is niṣakāma karma-yoga. But I may think that I have my wife, I have my children, I have my old parents who are not able to work, and so on and so on. Then he will think, I will give five mangoes to Krishna and I will keep ninety-five mangoes with me. Even there, there is some touch of karma-yoga, but not so much. So he may give one mango to Krishna, five mangoes, twenty-five, fifty, one hundred, and all come in the category of karma-yoga.

So all of us here in this room should be able to find some instruction of Lord Krishna’s which we’ve just read from Bhagavad-gītā that we can follow. By sakāma karma-yoga, we can come to the stage of niṣakāma karma-yoga. Niṣakāma karma-yoga is considered the threshold of bhakti-yoga, and then we can begin the practice of sādhana-bhakti. By sādhana-bhakti, we will attain bhāva-bhakti, and by bhāva-bhakti, we will attain prema-bhakti. So everyone can begin at some stage on some step, and he can gradually go higher and higher and higher until he reaches the goal. And then, when he reaches the goal, he can live in Krishna, live in a direct relationship with Krishna. Living in Krishna also means living in the spiritual world with Krishna, and there, according to your desire, Krishna will be your perfect master, your perfect friend, your ideal son, or your perfect lover. And then all of your desires will be fulfilled, and then you will be happy actually. Otherwise, as long as we try for happiness here, we are bound to be frustrated. So practice makes perfect. If we practice sādhana-bhakti, we will attain the perfection of prema-bhakti. Hare Krishna.

Questions about Ekādaśī.

Question: What is the purpose of Ekādaśī? What is the purpose of anything we do in bhakti? What is the purpose? Can anyone say? What is the basic principle of vaidhī-sādhana-bhakti? Rasaraj?

Giriraj Swami: The basic principle is to always remember Krishna and never forget him. So the purpose of everything we do in bhakti is to always remember Krishna and never forget him. That means the purpose of vaidhī-sādhana-bhakti is to always remember Krishna and never forget Him. That is the purpose of by Ekādaśī, is to remember Krishna by chanting and by hearing, by remembering. So we fast and minimize the demands of the body, minimize the activities of the senses, in order to facilitate remembering Krishna. That is the purpose. Of course, to remember Krishna also requires Krishna’s mercy. So we think that if we do some austerity for Krishna, not some austerity that we have concocted, but some austerity which is given by Krishna in shastra, then we will get the mercy of Krishna. And by the mercy of Krishna, we will be able to advance in remembrance of Krishna and love of Krishna. So this is the basic idea.

As far as today’s Ekādaśī, why is it special compared to other Ekādaśī? Well, on Ekādaśī, one is supposed to fast. If one cannot fast completely, then at least he must abstain from grains, beans, and so on. And the system of observing Ekādaśī has existed from the beginning of creation. Now, you must have heard the name of Bhima. So Bhima is known as a voracious eater. One of his names in Sanskrit is voracious eater. So he approached Lord Krishna and told Him, “My Lord, every forth night we are supposed to observe Ekādaśī and fast, but you know me, it is very hard for me to fast. Can’t you find some way to help me?” Then Krishna said, “All right, if you just observe this one Ekādaśī, then you will get the credit for performing all the other Ekādaśīs throughout the whole year.” So this is that Ekādaśī, which is known as Bhima-Ekādaśī, that if you just observe this one Ekādaśī, you get the credit for observing the Ekādaśīs throughout the year, all the other twenty-four or however many. And Nirjala, because strictly speaking, fast means complete fast, not even water. So if one can do Nirjala, then you can get the credit for all the other Ekādaśīs throughout the whole year, Nirjala. But again, the purpose is to remember Krishna, to develop love for Krishna, and to get Krishna’s mercy by which we can develop love for Him.

Question: Maharaja, please explain how one could carry the mood of Vrindavan in in his heart and mind, even if one has not visited the holy dhāma?

Giriraj Swami: Well, what is Vrindavan? We don’t know what is Vrindavan. Vrindavan is not a dust. Vrindavan is Krishna and Srimati Radharani, the gopīs, Nanda Maharaja, Mother Yasoda, cowherd boys and so on. This is Vrindavan.

So, to have the mood of Vrindavan means to have the mood of the residents of Vrindavan, and that is pure love for Krishna. So by reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the explanations of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by the acharyas and other books, we can understand what is Vrindavan, what is the mood of the residents of Vrindavan, what is the pure love of the vrajavāsīs for Sri Krishna. That is the mood of Vrindavan. And how can we keep that mood in our heart? We can keep that mood in our heart by always thinking of them, how they loved Krishna, how they served Krishna, how they would do anything to please Krishna. And that is the Vrindavan mood.

Question: Hare Krishna. Why is Krishna is call kuñjabihāri? Are there any specific pastimes?

Giriraj Swami: Well, kuñja means grove, and bihāri means pastime, and bihāri means one who enjoys pastimes. So kuñjabihāri means Krishna, who enjoys pastimes in the groves of Vrindavan. And there are so many pastimes. From Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and other books like The Nectar of Devotion, we can read about Krishna’s pastimes; Caitanya-caritāmṛta and read about Krishna’s pastimes in the groves.

Question: I am chanting sixteen rounds, but I am having difficulty keeping my mind on Krishna. What should I do?

Giriraj Swami: Well, Srila Prabhupada said practice makes perfect even in spiritual life. So if we practice chanting Hare Krishna, eventually we will become perfect in chanting. Otherwise, Bhaktivinoda Thakura recommends that we should chant in the association of pure devotees who have relish for the holy name. And if we are distracted by so many material objects, then we should close ourselves in our room and cover our heads so there are no distractions. Chant very peacefully and quietly.

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare

Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

Question: How can one come to pure chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra?

Giriraj Swami: Well, we have to practice. We have to pray for the mercy of the holy name, pray for the mercy of the spiritual master, pray for the mercy of Srimati Radharani and Krishna and make an effort. Of course, practice means to make an effort to chant and not to commit offenses. Here, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that the negative side is don’t commit the offense, but the positive side is also there. For example, the first offense—you know the first offense. What is the first offense? So, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that the negative side is don’t blaspheme the devotees, but the positive injunction is to glorify the devotees, appreciate the devotees, and serve the devotees. This is how to become free from the offenses. When we become free from the offenses, then we can chant offenselessly and eventually purely.

Question: Can you please tell us some of your personal experiences with Srila Prabhupada while building the Bombay temple?

Giriraj Swami: Before the temple was built, before we had permission to build the temple, before the land was even in our name, Srila Prabhupada stayed in the house of one life member named Mr. Sethi, in the Juhu scheme near the temple site, before the house was completed, before Mr. Sethi had shifted to the house. So, Srila Prabhupada was staying on the first floor, and Brahmananda and maybe some other servants were staying on the ground floor. Srila Prabhupada was in an important meeting with some important persons in his room on the first floor, and suddenly one very poor man came to the door.

In India, the laborers have very distinctive characteristics. They usually have dark complexions and they just wear one white piece of cloth like a dhoti, but not a full dhoti; it goes from the waist to above the knees, and that’s all they wear. The cloth is usually quite worn and torn and looks dirty. It may not actually be dirty, but because of being washed so many times, it has become gray. So this type of person appeared at the door—a laborer, an Indian laborer. He walked into the room right up to Srila Prabhupada’s table. Srila Prabhupada was sitting on the floor on his āsana, and his table was in front of him, and the other important guests were sitting on the other side of the table. So he walked right up to the table, put a bunch of flowers on the table, bowed his head down to the floor, and walked out.

Srila Prabhupada was so touched by this simple offering that he couldn’t think of anything else. He was visibly moved and just went on talking about that simple laborer. How did he know that Srila Prabhupada was in the building? How did he get the idea to collect the flowers and bring them? Srila Prabhupada mentioned the verse patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati, that even if you offer a leaf or a flower to Krishna with love and devotion, He will accept it. He said that Krishna is so great, and even He becomes moved by a simple offering of leaves and flowers if the offering is made with love and devotion. So what to speak of me? I am just an insignificant living entity, so how much I will be moved by such an offering.

So, we can see from the incident that Krishna or Krishna’s representative is actually moved by devotion. Although Srila Prabhupada was deep in the struggle to get the land at Juhu, but when such devotion came before him, he forgot everything, at least for a few minutes. He forgot everything and just thought of the devotion within the heart of that simple, poor man. Another incident. . . Oh, it will take too much time.

Question: Regarding the spiritual master, the scriptures say that the spiritual master is to be accepted as God. The concept of the spiritual master is not restricted to one’s own initiating guru. So must all śikṣā-gurus be accepted as God, even if they themselves don’t have disciples?

Giriraj Swami: Well, first we should understand what it means to accept as God. We don’t accept as God in the sense that the spiritual master is the same as Krishna or equal to Krishna. He is the representative of Krishna, and as the representative of Krishna, we can offer him the same respect as Krishna, and he will offer whatever we offer to him to Krishna. He won’t keep anything for himself. So, the spiritual master is the transparent via media between the disciple and the Lord. Sākṣād-haritvena samasta-śāstrair, the spiritual master is worshiped on the same level as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. tvena means actually. He is not actually in the same position as God or with the same qualities of God, not that he is equal to God. Here, the main quality is his mercy. The spiritual master is the personification of the Lord’s mercy. The spiritual master can give mercy more than the Supreme Lord.

We may want Krishna’s mercy, but where is Krishna? Krishna is in Goloka-Vrindavan and He is enjoying pastimes with the residents of Vrindavan, but the spiritual master is here with us and He is here only for one purpose, which is to deliver the fallen souls—in other words, to give mercy. So sākṣād-haritvena, it means he has the same qualities as Krishna and specifically the quality of mercy. He is the personification of mercy. But he is not Krishna. He is not equal to Krishna, but he can give the mercy of Krishna. Kintu prabhor yaḥ priya eva tasya, although he has the quality of Krishna, especially the quality of mercy, he is not the same as Krishna. He is not equal to Krishna, but he is dear to Krishna. He is dear to Krishna. So, we should see, of course, in the beginning, we see that the spiritual master is equal to Krishna—not equal to Krishna, but worshiped on the same level as Krishna. But more important or more advanced, we should see how the spiritual master is dear to Krishna and follow the spiritual master. How he has become dear to Krishna, I will also become dear to Krishna as he has. That will be more helpful than saying sākṣād-haritvena samasta-śāstrair. And the spiritual master definitely should not be thinking, “ sākṣād-haritvena I am directly God. You must worship me as God. Bring this, bring that, satisfy my desires.” That will not be good for him. He should be thinking how to become dear to Krishna. That will be more beneficial. If he thinks, “I am sākṣād-hari, you give all your faith to me, give all your love to me,” then he becomes a thief because all the faith and all the love that are meant for Krishna, he is keeping for himself and it is not meant for him; it is meant for Krishna.

So yes, sākṣād-haritvena but kintu prabhor yaḥ priya eva tasya. We should think more about how to become dear to Krishna and think that really our faith and our love and our devotion and our service should go to Krishna because that is the goal. That is the goal. There is another question here.

Question: If a bona fide spiritual master’s disciple leaves his or her body in the spiritual master’s presence, then how does the relationship continue in the spiritual world concerning the guru’s mercy?

Giriraj Swami: When the disciple has gone to the spiritual world to serve in the pastimes of Radha and Krishna, he has gotten the mercy of the spiritual master. He has gotten the fruit of the spiritual master’s mercy. He has gone to serve in the pastimes of Krishna.

How does the relationship continue? The relationship continues. What is the relationship? The relationship is to follow the instructions. So the instruction of the spiritual master is to serve Krishna and love Krishna. So the disciple goes to the spiritual world, and what does he do in the spiritual world? He loves Krishna and serves Krishna, so he is following the instructions of the spiritual master. It is not a problem. We should be so lucky as to go to the spiritual world; then we will see what problems are there.

Question: Regarding the spiritual master, the scriptures say that the spiritual master is to be accepted as God.

Giriraj Swami: So we tried to clarify that.

Question: The concept of the spiritual master is not restricted to one’s own initiating guru.

Giriraj Swami: That is true because the scripture says that there are dīkṣā-gurus, and dīkṣā-guru is only one, but śikṣā-guru can be many. They should be regarded equally. If one makes material distinctions between the dīkṣā-guru and the śikṣā-guru, then it is an offense. So we should not make any distinction.

Question: Must all śikṣā-gurus be accepted as God?

Giriraj Swami: Now, here is the flaw in the question: Must all śikṣā-gurus be accepted as God? That means we don’t want to, but are we compelled to? The point is very significant because the relationship between the disciple and the spiritual master is voluntary. Voluntarily, we accept addiction, but after we accept, then we are bound to obey. Even if we don’t want to, we have to obey because it is the regulation. But in the case of the śikṣā-guru, there is no compulsion. There is no compulsion because nobody is forcing you to accept him as śikṣā-guru. You are accepting him as śikṣā-guru voluntarily, and to the extent that you accept him, to the same extent you will worship him.

So there is no question that you must see anyone as śikṣā-guru in any case. Of course, there is normal Vaishnava etiquette that we have to observe, but if from your heart you accept someone as śikṣā-guru, then there cannot be any distinction between him and dīkṣā-guru. It means that from your heart you haven’t really accepted him as śikṣā-guru. So okay, he is not śikṣā-guru, no problem. You don’t have to worship him as God. Nobody is going to force you.

Question: Must all śikṣā-gurus be accepted as God, even if they themselves don’t have disciples?

Giriraj Swami: Well, I suppose that the person means, this person doesn’t have a śikṣā-guru I am sure. He definitely doesn’t have the śikṣā-guru. If you find a śikṣā-guru who you see as God’s representative, that God has arranged for him to instruct you and guide you and help you to go back to Godhead, you are not going to bother whether he has other disciples or not. What difference does this make? This person has no śikṣā-guru and maybe no dīkṣā-guru.

Question: Can a devotee eat food in the house of a person who is not a vegetarian?

Giriraj Swami: Of course, you can bring prasādam and eat in his house. [Laughter]

Question: Can a devotee do something like knitting while the lecture is going on?

Giriraj Swami: Well, there are three stages in hearing the lecture. One is the pure stage, that is the highest, and another is the sleeping stage. That is the lower stage and in between is knitting stage.

Question: Do we get karma when we pluck tulasi leaves?

Giriraj Swami: Well, if you are authorized and if you pluck them to offer it to the deity, then there is no karma.

Question: What time does the fast end? [Laughter]

Giriraj Swami: The fast is published, maybe someone knows. 6:52. And what time is it now? It is almost 6:52. [Laughter]

Question: Is it okay to fast till noon?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, according to one’s capacity. If one is physically strong, then he should fast fully, but if he really can’t, then if he fasts till noon, he gets some credit.

Question: Don’t we in South Africa also break the fast with the Ekādaśī prasādam on auspicious occasion like Janmashtami and Gaura-purnima as done in Vrindavan and Mayapur?

Giriraj Swami: We should, I think we should. So now, what do we have? What is the next item? For those who are taking prasādam, prasādam will be served in the amphitheater. Otherwise, in a few minutes, there will be ārati, and devotees, you can speak to them.

Srila Prabhupada kī jaya!

Gaura premānande Hari Haribol!