BG 9.14 – The Qualities of a Mahatma

Giriraj Swami: So, you may know that His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is the founder-acharya of ISKCON and helped establish the Gaudiya Math in Bombay City. If any of you have read the biography of Srila Prabhupada, you will know that he found the premises for the temple of the Gaudiya Math in the Gualia Tank area of Bombay City. And spiritual master of Srila Prabhupada, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura installed the deities of Radha and Krishna there. Srila Prabhupada used to meet people and preach. One man he met owned a large piece of property in Villa Parle.

Actually, when we came to Bombay in 1970, twenty-five years ago, Juhu was considered very far away. In fact, once I had to come to Juhu to meet some gentlemen to preach and Juhu is like another state. It is so far from Bombay. So we can imagine how far Villa Parle was from Bombay sixty years ago; it must have been very remote. The gentleman was prepared to give big piece of land to Srila Prabhupada, to the Gaudiya Math. And Srila Prabhupada told us personally, that he thought of bringing the donors to meet Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, but Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura was a very powerful preacher. He did not compromise when he preached. In fact, Srila Prabhupada was commented that the first time he met Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, he thought that he simply just criticize. But then later, Srila Prabhupada commented that he realized what Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was saying was true.

Later, Prabhupada commented about himself that he is the only preacher in India who openly criticized not only demigod worship and impersonalism but anything that falls short of complete surrender to Krishna. Like father, like son, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura also was always criticizing anyone who has not surrendered fully to Krishna. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura was called as simha-guru, lion like spiritual master. When he would walk down the street, the impersonalists would cross to the other side because they were afraid of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. If they happened to meet him, he would catch hold of their necks and say, “You rascal, why are you cheating the people by Mayavada?” So, Srila Prabhupada told us that he was afraid to bring the donor to meet Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati because he might criticize him or he might preach very strongly to him, and then he would not donate the land. But anyway, perhaps at the time, Villa Parle was considered too far, so they never accepted the donation. Years later, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura instructed Srila Prabhupada to preach Krishna consciousness in the English language in the Western country, Srila Prabhupada had approached Sumati Murarji who was the director of Scindia Steamship Company for free passage on her steamship to America. And Sumati Murarji happen to be in youth and when Srila Prabhupada would go to meet her, he would pass through the same land which is now Hare Krishna land. He would think, What a nice piece of property for a temple for Sri Krishna.

At the time, Sumati Murarji arranged Srila Prabhupada to stay at the Scindia workers’ colony in Andheri, and every day she used send her car to bring Srila Prabhupada to meet her in the afternoon and he would read her from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, First Canto. Then finally, he went to America. When Prabhupada returned to India from America with some foreign disciples, Sumati Murarji held a grand function on the top of Scindia House in Ballard Estate and she invited all these top people of Bombay, including the press. Everyone was very impressed by Srila Prabhupada and the foreign devotees. So, after the function, we got glimpse of invitee from the Sumati Murarji because we wanted to meet guest to make them life members.

One of the names on the list was Mr. A.B. Nair, who along with Sumati Murarji and some other families were one of the most prominent persons in Juhu. So, devotee met him eventually and he told the devotees about his land in Juhu which is call Nairvadi. Then he wanted offer the land to the Srila Prabhupada because he knew that Srila Prabhupada would use it for great cause. And this is how Srila Prabhupada got the very same land, from which he would pass to go Sumati Murarji’s house and think What a nice place to build a temple of Krishna. So we are now approaching the year of Srila Prabhupada’s centennial in 1996 when Srila Prabhupada appeared in Calcutta in 1896. We are taking the opportunity to try to remember and glorify Srila Prabhupada. Now we will read one verse from Bhagavad-gītā.

We read from Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Chapter Nine, “The Most Confidential Knowledge,” 

TEXT 14

satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ
yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ
namasyantaś ca māṁ bhaktyā
nitya-yuktā upāsate

TRANSLATION

Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The mahātmā cannot be manufactured by rubber-stamping an ordinary man. His symptoms are described here: a mahātmā is always engaged in chanting the glories of the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead. He has no other business. He is always engaged in the glorification of the Lord. In other words, he is not an impersonalist. When the question of glorification is there, one has to glorify the Supreme Lord, praising His holy name, His eternal form, His transcendental qualities and His uncommon pastimes. One has to glorify all these things; therefore a mahātmā is attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

One who is attached to the impersonal feature of the Supreme Lord, the brahma-jyotir, is not described as mahātmā in the Bhagavad-gītā. He is described in a different way in the next verse. The mahātmā is always engaged in different activities of devotional service, as described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, hearing and chanting about Viṣṇu, not a demigod or human being. That is devotion: śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ and smaraṇam, remembering Him.

The mahātmās, great souls, strictly observe all these rules and regulations, and therefore they are sure to achieve the desired result.

As described in the second verse of this chapter, not only is this devotional service easy, but it can be performed in a happy mood. One does not need to undergo any severe penance and austerity. He can live this life in devotional service, guided by an expert spiritual master, and in any position, either as a householder or a sannyāsī or a brahmacārī; in any position and anywhere in the world, he can perform this devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and thus become actually mahātmā, a great soul.

COMMENT

So, here is the description of a mahatma: that the mahatma is always engaged in chanting the glory of Lord Krishna. Once when Srila Prabhupada was staying at Seaface Park, one gentleman asked the question that, “India has so many mahatmas, so how is it that in the presence of so many mahatmas, India has so many problems?” Srila Prabhupada replied, “The reason India has so many problems is that you do not know how to distinguish who is the real mahatma.” Then he went on to criticize some persons who are known as mahatmas but who are not actually mahatmas according to the definition given in Bhagavad-gītā.

When Srila Prabhupada got the Juhu land, he next had to get permission to build the temple, and part of the requirement for the permission was a no-objection certificate from the police. After trying very hard for many months to get their permission, finally, the commissioner sent a letter refusing permission and saying that the bhajans or kirtan were a nuisance. He didn’t want to give permission for the temple because the bhajans were a nuisance.

When Srila Prabhupada heard what the commissioner had written, he became outraged. He said, “This is a great insult to the Hindu religion,” and he wanted to organize a big protest throughout Bombay. Finally, Srila Prabhupada dictated a letter to the police commissioner, and in the letter, he quoted the same verse from Bhagavad-gītā—satataṁ kīrtayanto mām. He said that constant kirtan is recommended in Bhagavad-gītā, but some people say that kīrtana is a nuisance. “But you are like the king,” he said to the commissioner. “You are like the king, and the king is supposed to give protection. According to Bhagavad-gītā, anyone who doesn’t surrender to Krishna is a duktino, na mā duktino mûhā prapadyante narādhamā.” So, Srila Prabhupada appealed to police commissioner that he should protect us from the narādhamā who say that the kirtan is a nuisance.” We didn’t get any reply from the police commissioner because there was so much politics, but I went to the commissioner’s secretary to make sure he had read the letter. The secretary told me that the commissioner had commented that he had never received such a letter in his whole life; it was the best letter he ever received.

PURPORT (continued)

Such a mahātmā has firm determination to achieve at the ultimate end the association of the Supreme Lord in any one of the five transcendental rasas. 

COMMENT

So he has strong determination, for what? He has strong determination so that, in the end, he will achieve the association of the Lord in one of the transcendental mellows or rasas.

PURPORT (continued)

To achieve that success, he engages all activities – mental, bodily, and vocal, everything – in the service of the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. That is called full Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

COMMENT

So, dṛḍha-vratāḥ, determination. When one is actually determined, he engages everything in the service of the Lord. Someone may give some time to Krishna but not his money, so we cannot say that he is fully determined. Someone may give his money but not his life, so we cannot say that he is fully determined. But when one is fully determined to achieve the association of the Lord in the end, he will engage everything—body, mind, and words—in the service of the Lord. Of course, to engage everything in the service of the Lord does not mean that one has to give up one’s family or one’s work. One can still be fully engaged in Krishna consciousness as a grihastha.

PURPORT (continued)

In devotional service there are certain activities which are called determined, such as fasting on certain days, like the eleventh day of the moon, Ekādaśī, and on the appearance day of the Lord. All these rules and regulations are offered by the great ācāryas for those who are actually interested in getting admission into the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the transcendental world.

COMMENT

Beyond the material world is the transcendental world, and out of His causeless mercy, Lord Krishna appears in the material world. But when He appears, He brings with Him the transcendental world. He brings with Him the transcendental abode of Vrindavan, along with His eternal associates from Vrindavan, and He manifests His eternal pastimes here just to attract the conditioned souls to the transcendental world so that they engage in devotional service, come to Krishna consciousness, and ultimately achieve the association of the Lord in Goloka-Vrindavan in the transcendental world. The descriptions of the Lord’s pastimes recorded in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam are meant for us to hear so that we can become attracted to the Lord’s pastimes and the Lord’s abode, so that we will become eager to go there, and therefore we will become determined to fully engage in Krishna consciousness.

PURPORT (continued)

The mahātmās, great souls, strictly observe all these rules and regulations, and therefore they are sure to achieve the desired result.

As described in the second verse of this chapter, not only is this devotional service easy, but it can be performed in a happy mood. One does not need to undergo any severe penance and austerity. He can live this life in devotional service, guided by an expert spiritual master, and in any position, either as a householder or a sannyāsī or a brahmacārī; in any position and anywhere in the world, he can perform this devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and thus become actually mahātmā, a great soul.

COMMENT

As we mentioned earlier, one can remain in his position as a grihastha, brahmachari, or the sannyasi and still engage in Krishna consciousness. Srila Prabhupada said that most people will not be able to live in the temple; very few people will actually live in the temple. But we have the temple to give people the idea of how they can practice Krishna consciousness at home. So people can come to the temple, associate with the devotees, and understand how the devotees are practicing Krishna consciousness. They can engage in the same activities at home: chanting Hare Krishna, reading Bhagavad-gītā, worshiping the deity of Krishna, offering pure vegetarian food to the deity, and taking prasādam. Everything that the devotees do in the temple, the householders can do at home. Therefore, the temple and the devotees living in the temple are meant to show the examples of how to practice Krishna consciousness even at home.

There is no difficulty; there are no severe penances and austerities. One can very peacefully and happily engage in Krishna consciousness in one’s position, whatever it may be, and if he follows the rules and regulations strictly, he can be assured that in the end he will go back home back to Godhead. This is the purpose for which Lord Krishna comes: to attract the fallen conditioned souls to come back home, back to Godhead. This is the purpose for which Srila Prabhupada and all the previous acharyas, including Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, came: to attract the fallen conditioned souls to the pastimes of Krishna and to give them the method by which they can actually enter the pastimes of Krishna in the transcendental world. Hare Krishna.

So, are there any questions or comments?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:30:50]

Question: Mahaprabhu dasa is asking that why we have to chant name of Krishna all the time? If we chant once nicely, that is more than enough.

Giriraj Swami: Well, you don’t have to chant all the time if you are not determined to go back to Godhead, you can chant once a day, once a year, or once a lifetime. Chanting all the time is the recommendation for people who are determined to go back home, back to Godhead.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:31:50]

Giriraj Swami: Ajamila chanted at the time of death, he was saved from hellish punishment, but he was not qualified to go back to Godhead just because he chanted once at the time of death. After chanting once and getting the association of the devotees of the Lord, the Vishnudutas, he left everything—his wife, his son Narayana, and his house—and he went to Haridwar. He took shelter in the holy place and very seriously and sincerely engaged in spiritual practices. Only when he became perfect in his spiritual practices was he qualified to enter the spiritual world.

So, one has to practice; one has to practice. Just by chanting at the time of death in nāma-ābhāsa, one cannot enter the abode of the Lord. One has to chant purely, śuddha-nāma then he can enter the abode of the Lord and render service there. But, of course, something is better than nothing, and if someone chants the holy name even once, we respect him. But the recommendation of Bhagavad-gītā is satataṁ kīrtayanto mām, to always chanting. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gave the same instruction: kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ. One should always chant. There is no difference between the teachings of Lord Krishna in Bhagavad-gītā and the teachings of Lord Chaitanya. They both recommend constant chanting. Of course, kirtan means glorification, so glorification may mean chanting, it may mean preaching, it may mean publishing books, it may mean doing anything to further the cause of Krishna consciousness.

Therefore, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said that the printing press is the bṛhad-mṛdaṅga, or the big drum. Just like playing the mridanga is part of the kirtan, so publishing books about Krishna consciousness is also kirtan. When Srila Prabhupada came to stay at Juhu in September of 1977, the workers were chiseling the marbles for the temple. There was so much sound of hammering and chiseling, so the devotees said to Srila Prabhupada that the sound may disturb you, so we can stop the workers. Srila Prabhupada said no, the sound of the workers hammering and chiseling is kirtan. So anything meant for the glorification of the Lord, printing books, or building temples, all comes in the category of kirtan. So satataṁ kīrtayanto mām means that somehow or other we should always be engaged in the service of the Lord in the spreading of Krishna consciousness, which is kirtan.

Question: He says, please tell us about the police commissioner, how he responded to the letter.

Giriraj Swami: Well, he didn’t respond officially. He didn’t respond because there was some clique of people who were determined not to give us permission. So we didn’t get any support from any quarter. Finally, one day we heard. . . and people were saying so many bad things about us. Everywhere people were speaking against us. And so one reporter put a question to the chief minister at the time, Mr. S.B. Chavan, and somehow the chief minister defended us. He said he doesn’t believe all the bad things he hears about us because they are saying smugglers and spies and this and that. So when we heard about the chief minister’s response, we got some hope.

His Holiness Gopal Krishna Gosvami Maharaja and I went to meet him, and he was completely favorable, completely favorable, and he said that he will see that the permission is granted. So within moments or hours, the whole mood of everyone in the whole city changed. Somehow the news spread that the chief minister liked us and he wanted the permission to be granted. Actually, the person who was really influencing the lower-level staff against us was the home secretary because the home secretary is the boss of the police commissioner. So the chief minister traced from where the problem was coming, and he traced it to the home secretary. He called the home secretary before him and challenged him, “Why are you not giving the permission to the temple?”

He tried to say something, and the Chief Minister replied very strongly. I don’t remember the exact words, but it was something like, “Who actually is the culprit? Is ISKCON the culprit, or are you the culprit?” Everything changed then. We got the NOC from the police, and we got the permission from the municipality. Then we began the construction, but still, the enemies were not peaceful. Even after we got the permission to build and the construction had already started, the main enemy, who was actually the one who influenced the Home Secretary, made a case that we were a threat to national security. They said that we were spies or something like that and that we were a threat to national security. So, they got a notice sent to us to stop the construction, but we overcame that obstacle.

Srila Prabhupada explained the reason he was successful. One night, Srila Prabhupada was sitting on the terrace of one of the apartments at the back, and seven o’clock came. He heard that there was no kirtan in the temple. Why was there no kirtan? He assumed the devotees must be out collecting, so he told one devotee named Haridasa, who was there with Srila Prabhupada on the terrace, that he wanted the devotees to come back in time to perform kirtan in the ārati. He said that we should not think that we are getting success by our own efforts. We are getting success by Krishna’s mercy. He said, just like Mr. Nair, he was such a powerful person. He owned the Free Press Journal, he had been the Sheriff of Bombay, he knew so many important persons in government and other places. He had so much money. And who were we? We had no money and no influence, but still, we were successful. And why were we successful? Because we got the mercy of Krishna.

So, we should act in such a way, follow the regulated principles in such a way, that we get the mercy of Krishna. That will make us successful, even if apparently others are stronger than us materially. But still, we will be successful. Just like Rāvaṇa and Ramachandra. Rāvaṇa and his army were much better equipped than Lord Rama and his monkeys. But still, Rama and his army of monkeys were successful because there are two types of power: material power based on one’s personal strength and spiritual power based on the Lord. Spiritual power is always superior to material power. Therefore, the army of monkeys was able to defeat the army of Rāvaṇa.