SB 7.10.5 – Without Any Material Possessions

Giriraj Swami:

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

Reading from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Seven, Chapter Ten, “Prahlāda, the Best Among Exalted Devotees”

TEXT 5

āśāsāno na vai bhṛtyaḥ
svāminy āśiṣa ātmanaḥ
na svāmī bhṛtyataḥ svāmyam
icchan yo rāti cāśiṣaḥ

TRANSLATION

A servant who desires material profits from his master is certainly not a qualified servant or pure devotee. Similarly, a master who bestows benedictions upon his servant because of a desire to maintain a prestigious position as master is also not a pure master

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (7.20), kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ prapadyante ‘nya-devatāḥ. “Those whose minds are distorted by material desires surrender unto demigods.” A demigod cannot become master, for the real master is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The demigods, to keep their prestigious positions, bestow upon their worshipers whatever benedictions the worshipers want. For example, once it was found that an asura took a benediction from Lord Śiva by which the asura would be able to kill someone simply by placing his hands on that person’s head. Such benedictions are possible to receive from the demigods. If one worships the Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, the Lord will never offer him such condemned benedictions

COMMENT

So, sometimes one can perceive that although Lord Vishnu is the most opulent personality, being the husband of the goddess of fortune, the devotees of Lord Vishnu are often poor. And Lord Shiva, although he lives in a poor condition, often his devotees are materially very opulent. So why such a contradiction? The answer is suggested here: that the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not award material benediction to His servant because He wants His servants to come to the full shelter of the Lord. The demigods are very easily pleased, and without any consideration, they can give any benediction. And the demigods are also very easily displeased, and without any consideration, they can give some curse. But Krishna is not like the demigods. Krishna is very considerate, and before He gives anything to any devotee or does anything to any devotee, He will think of what is best for the devotees.

In Caitanya-caritāmṛta, it is said that if someone comes to the Lord for material benefit, the Lord thinks that such a person is very foolish because he could be getting nectar from me, the nectar of pure devotional service. But instead, he is asking poison from me, the poison of sense gratification. So he is very foolish, but I am very wise, so why should I give him the poison of sense gratification? Rather, I will bless him to drink the nectar of service at my lotus feet, and then he will forget his desired for sense gratification. Here, the vivid example is Dhruva Maharaja, who approached the Lord for a kingdom. But when the Lord finally appeared before Dhruva Maharaja, he forgot all of his material aspirations. And when the Lord actually asked him, “Now you take some benediction,” Dhruva Maharaja replied, svāmin kṛtārtho ‘smi varaṁ na yāce, that, “My Lord, having seen you, I am completely satisfied, and I do not want any benediction.” So the nectar of pure devotional service is so wonderful that one who takes it will forget the inferior taste of sense gratification. Therefore, whether one has material desires or not, or whether one wants liberation, he should approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam confirms,

akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo vā
mokṣa-kāma udāra-dhīḥ
tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena
yajeta paramaṁ puruṣa

akāmaḥ means pure devotee without any desires. And sarva-kāmo means materialist persons full of all desires. And mokṣa-kāma means persons who desire liberation. So whether one has no desires, or has material desires, or has desires for impersonal liberation, if he has broader intelligence, udāra-dhīḥ, he should worship the Supreme Lord, Krishna by bhakti-yoga. So, udāra-dhīḥ means broader intelligence. A person who wants liberation, if he has a broader vision, he will know that impersonal brahman is the effulgence from transcendental form of Krishna. And unless Krishna agrees to absorb him in His effulgence, he cannot get even impersonal liberation. Similarly, he will know that the demigods are also servants of the Supreme God, Krishna, and they have no power to bestow even to give any benediction without Krishna’s sanction. So, if they have broader vision, they will know that ultimately even the material benedictions are given by Krishna, either directly or indirectly through the demigods. So why not go to Krishna directly? because ultimately, we need benediction of Krishna.

So, tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena, in order to get the results from Krishna, one must render devotional service with intensity. tīvreṇa means intensity. Devotional service is intense, or strong, or powerful when it is not mixed with other processes like fruitive work (karma) or impersonal speculation (jnana). So one worships the Supreme Lord in bhakti-yoga purely, without mixing karma-yoga or jnana-yoga or ashtanga-yoga, all of his desires will be fulfilled. But everyone’s ultimate desire is to be happy, and one can become more happy in devotional service than by enjoying material things or even spiritual emancipation. So the Lord is very considerate of the devotees, and He will only give the devotee what is good for the devotee. Whereas the demigods, to maintain their prestigious positions as lord, may give something which is actually harmful to the worshiper. And here Srila Prabhupada has incited the vivid example of Vṛkāsura. Vṛkāsura wanted some benediction, so he asked Narada, “Who should I approach for my benediction, Brahma or Vishnu or Shiva?” And Narada, understanding the intention of Vṛkāsura, told him that, “If you worship Lord Shiva, you can get immense opulence, because Rāvaṇa and Banasura, they worship Lord Shiva. And just by chanting the glories of Lord Shiva, they got great material opulence. So, you should worship him.” So he went to Kedarnath and he worshiped Lord Shiva by offering his own flesh into the sacrificial fire, and he wanted that Lord Shiva would appear before him so he could ask for a benediction. But Lord Shiva did not appear. For one week he worshiped Lord Shiva and Lord Shiva did not appear.

Here is another difference between the worship of Lord Krishna and the worship of demigods. The devotees of Krishna have no demands that they must see the Lord because they know that the Lord is accepting their offerings, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati. So, they don’t have anxiety because they are strong or confident in their relationship with Krishna. Even if Krishna does not appear to them personally, they know He is accepting their offerings and reciprocating with them. But the demons, they want to see Lord Shiva face to face to ask for the benediction. So, after one week when Lord Shiva did not appear, Vṛkāsura decided to cut off his head as an offering to Lord Shiva. And when Lord Shiva saw that the demon was going to give up his life, he appeared out of the sacrificial fire. If we see a person about to commit suicide, anyone will try to stop him. So it is not that Lord Shiva was pleased by his worship, but he felt compassion when he thought that Vṛkāsura wanted to commit suicide. Even ordinary people, if they see someone wants to commit suicide, they will try to stop him. He tries to pacify him.

Lord Shiva is most compassionate Vaishnava so he appeared on the scene, and he asked Vṛkāsura, “What do you want?” And he said, he asked most abominable benediction. He said, “I want the benediction that whichever head I touch, his head should crack and person will die.” And Lord Shiva gave the benediction. And demon immediately thought, “Let me touch the head of Lord Shiva, and when Lord Shiva is out of the way, I can enjoy Parvati. So immediately, Lord Shiva became frightened and he flew away from Kedarnath. Ultimately, he went up into the sky, into the various planets of the universe. He tried to get some shelter from any demigods, but the demigods on the higher planets simply remained silent. They could not do anything to counteract the demon.

Finally, Vṛkāsura went to planet of Lord Vishnu within the material universe called Shweta-dvipa. And Lord Vishnu being omniscient, immediately understood the whole situation and appeared as young brahmachari before Vṛkāsura. And he offered obeisance to Vṛkāsura. And he said, “Oh, son of Shakuni, why are you going so fast? Why are you making yourself so tired? You should rest for a moment. Tell me what you want; maybe I can help you fulfill your desire.” So anyone may take help to fulfill his desires, even the demons may take help of devotees or brahmachari or sannyasi to try to fulfill their desires. So he thought, Yes. Then he explained the whole situation, and Lord Vishnu, in the form of the brahmachari replied that, “I am surprised that you are putting yourself in the words of Lord Shiva. Everyone knows that since Lord Shiva had an argument with Dakṣa, he hasn’t been the same. In fact, he has become haunted by ghosts or spirits. So we have no faith in his words at all. What I think you should do is you should touch your own head, and when you see that Shiva’s benediction was false, you can kill him and stop him from giving more false benedictions.” So Lord Vishnu expanded His illusory energy, and the demon touched his own head. And as soon as he touched his head, his head broke as if hit by a thunderbolt, and he died. Lord Vishnu said to the Lord Shiva that, “Just see this demon, although you gave him the benediction he wanted, he turned against you and wanted to kill you with the same benediction. But because of his offenses, he was killed.” Indirectly, Lord Vishnu was rebuking Lord Shiva that, “Just see, you give such a benediction to demon and he wanted to kill you. You should not give such benedictions.” And he was also at the same time appreciating Lord Shiva’s compassion that even though Vṛkāsura was such a terrible demon, he still gave him a benediction.

So here, in a few verses towards the end of the chapter, we will find that Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva also chastises Lord Brahma for giving benediction to Hiraṇyakaśipu. He said such benedictions given to the demons are like feeding milk to serpent, it just increases his poison. So, sometimes we may also have demonic desires within us, demon-like desires for material enjoyment, but the Lord may not fulfill such desires, because they will only hurt us. They won’t actually help us to advance in Krishna consciousness.

PURPORT (continued)

On the contrary, it is said in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.88.8), yasyāham anugṛhnāmi hariṣye tad-dhanaṁ śanaiḥ. If one is too materialistic but at the same time wants to be a servant of the Supreme Lord, the Lord, because of His supreme compassion for the devotee, takes away all his material opulences and obliges him to be a pure devotee of the Lord.

COMMENT

So, the wife of Lord Shiva is Durga. She is the personification of the material energy, which consists of the three modes of nature. So, Lord Shiva can give any benediction made of the three modes of nature. But we don’t want any such benediction as devotees, we want to rise above the three modes of nature. Therefore, practically any material benediction which is in accepted spirit of enjoyment will entangle the devotees more and more in the modes of nature and push them farther and farther away from the actual goal of Krishna consciousness. And therefore, the Lord does not, or may not, fulfill material desires of a devotee. And to the contrary, the Lord may take away possessions of the devotees.

Srila Prabhupada saw the same process in his own life. He thought of the same verse in his own life because Srila Prabhupada had been predicted by one astrologer to become the richest man in India, one of the richest men in India. And although as a young man, Srila Prabhupada’s future in material life also seemed very bright, but something started to go wrong that the astrologers could not anticipate, and that was the mercy of the Lord. Lord has another plan for Srila Prabhupada than to be a successful businessman. And the plan for Srila Prabhupada to be completely free from all other obligations and entanglements and surrender fully to the service of the Lord. And as he spread Krishna consciousness all over the world. So, Srila Prabhupada began to notice that everything was going wrong. Apparently, everything was going wrong. He was not able to make money the way he used to. His wife was not cooperating with him. His children also were not cooperating. Everything was going wrong. So he wondered, What is happening? Then he came across this verse in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and he thought, “Maybe this is what is happening to me. Maybe Krishna’s taking everything away from me.” And that what happened. Srila Prabhupada’s business began to go down. And it said in the verse that the friends and relatives of a person who loses his opulence, they lose interest in the person, and ultimately they reject him. Srila Prabhupada became somewhat neglected by his family members because he wasn’t earning so much.

Even one devotee who was in the Juhu temple some time ago, recently told me, or wrote to me, that his wife was only happy when he gave her money, and when he didn’t give her money, she was always giving him trouble. So sometimes, the family members, the wife, and the children, and all sorts of relatives and so-called friends, they want money from the rich man however rich he may be. If they don’t get it, they don’t like it. Therefore, Srila Prabhupada has turned his family members, perhaps it is coming from some Sanskrit or Bengali statement, but he has called the family members as legitimate plunderers. They only want to plunder their husband, plunder their father, and the poor man is in so much illusion that he takes it as love. Poor man work for a day to earn little money and as soon as he gets home, the family members are asking, “Give me money, give me money. I want this, I want that.” And the poor fellow is so deluded, he thinks, Oh, they love me so much. They want to take my money. And in this way, janasya moho ‘yam ahaṁ mameti. Thus he is bewildered by the illusory energy, and he becomes more and more entangled, thinking in terms of “I” and “mine.” But the devotees, they have no desire from the Lord. They place no demand on the Lord. And here, the Srila Prabhupada says that the best examples of devotees who are free from any selfish desire or material desire are the gopīs. Lord Krishna used to the pasturing ground with the cows. But gopīs would cry. Why were they crying? They were crying because they thought that the little stones and pebbles and thorns on the floor of Vraja may prick the feet of Krishna, the soft lotus feet of Krishna, and He may feel some pain. And thinking of the pain of Krishna, they would cry.

Srila Prabhupada said that when Krishna would come home from the pasturing ground in the evening, the gopīs would not approach Him and look in His pocket, “Oh Krishna, let me look in your pocket. What did you bring for me? You were out at work all day. What did you bring home for me?” No, the gopīs had no material desire, no selfish desire. They only wanted to see Krishna happy, and they would do anything to make Him happy. And if Krishna felt pain, they would feel more pain. And if Krishna felt happiness, they would feel more happy. So they are real servants, and Krishna is a real master because He also never gave them anything material. It was only an exchange of pure love.

PURPORT (continued)

Prahlāda Mahārāja distinguishes between the pure devotee and the pure master.

COMMENT

In other words, there is oneness between the Lord and the devotee because both are pure. There is no exchange of material favors. But still there is the distinction.

PURPORT (continued)

The Lord is the pure master, the supreme master, whereas an unalloyed devotee with no material motives is the pure servant.

COMMENT

In Sanskrit, there are two words: āśraya and viṣaya. The devotee is āśraya and Lord is viṣaya. But still both are on the same platform of spiritual existence. 

PURPORT (continued)

One who has materialistic motivations cannot become a servant, and one who unnecessarily bestows benedictions upon his servant to keep his own prestigious position is not a real master.

COMMENT

So sometimes we see, if someone told us as a servant, that he is not a real servant, he actually wants to get something. And someone tells us he is a master, but he is not a real master. He also wants to keep the service by giving him material things. So there is no real exchange of love. It is just a business. Prahlada Maharaja says the same thing to the Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, that if “I were to express some material reward for my service to you, I wouldn’t be a servant or devotee; I would be a merchant, selling my services for your benediction.” So sometimes it happens that someone may appear to be a master or appear to be a servant, but they are not master or servant; they are actually businessmen. They are conducting business in the guise of service. And as in ordinary business, there is the employer and the employee. So the employer gives benefits to the employee for the sake of his service, which means so that he will help the master make money. And the servant will take material things from the master because he also wants money. So in the material world, the so-called master and the so-called servant are the same. They both want money. And in the spiritual world, the master and the servant are the same because neither has any material desires. Each one only wants to reciprocate in pure love. So we should not be fooled. Lord Krishna uses the words mūrkha. We should not be come here to be fooled and asks the Lord for the poison of material enjoyment. But we should be intelligent and ask the Lord for our pure devotional service. And even if we have material desires that we want the Lord to fulfill, we should still be intelligent and perform pure devotional service. Because if the Lord is pleased with our service and if He thinks it is good for us, He can reward us with more opulence than we can imagine.

Of course, Srila Prabhupada didn’t have any material desire, but in the end, he became the most opulent person. In fact, in one sense, one could say that the astrologer’s prediction came true. Because Srila Prabhupada, by his own statements, acknowledged that he had become more opulent than the richest people in India at the time, Birlas and Tatas. So he was saying, even Birlas and Tatas, they didn’t have as many palaces as Srila Prabhupada. They did not had servants as Srila Prabhupada. And Srila Prabhupada did have to pay his servants anything; they work for free. And not only that, but he had European servants. When Nehru went to England, he spent a huge amount to have a British servant for his prestige. He wanted to have a British servant. And Srila Prabhupada had so many British, American, German, and French servants, and he didn’t pay them anything, and in such a short time. Birlas and Tatas worked for many, many years to become as rich as they became, but Srila Prabhupada, in a matter of a few years, he had all these palaces and servants and everything.

Therefore, Srila Prabhupada, he quoted some saying that the Lord has ten hands, and of course, we only have two hands. So, we want to hold on to what we have with our two hands, and the Lord wants to take away what we have with His ten hands. How much can we keep? And if the Lord wants to give us with His ten hands, any benediction or any opulence, with our two hands, how much can we hold? So, the Lord is in the superior position, and therefore we should have faith in the Lord and surrender to Him. And if He wants to take everything away from us, Hare Krishna! We take it as the Lord’s mercy. We don’t want to enjoy what we had. Of course, He might have taken it away because we wanted to enjoy it, but when He takes it away, we should give up the desire to enjoy. Similarly, when the Lord blesses us with some opulence, we should not accept it in the mood of enjoyment, but we should accept it in the spirit of service. That the Lord has given me some facility to serve Him, let me use it in His service. Otherwise, Queen Kunti prays that the Lord is the property of those who is akiñcana, without any material possession. Does it mean that because Srila Prabhupada gave us the big marble temple and other facilities that we can’t accept Krishna. But akiñcana-gocara, Krishna is the property of the devotees who have no material possession. So, either they should have no material possessions like the Six Gosvamis. They actually had no possessions, they only had a little loin-cloth and a water pot, and they used to live under a different tree each night. That is akiñcana.

Or us, like Srila Prabhupada, we can be surrounded by the opulence, but we should not have the false sense of proprietorship that ‘This is my office, this is my car, this is my wife, this is my servant.’ But we should think that this is a facility for serving Krishna. This is a service, a facility for pleasing Krishna, for preaching Krishna consciousness. And if we use it in the service mood, only to please, then we will be able to get the mercy of Krishna, and in the end, we can get Krishna’s mercy. But if we use the things for sense gratification or for prestige, then we cannot get the real mercy of the Lord. And of course, the real mercy of the Lord is pure devotional service, by which we can get the Lord Himself. So, we see also in the case of Bali Maharaja, Krishna took away His opulence, but in the end, Bali Maharaja got Krishna, He got the supreme benediction. So, we shouldn’t try to hold on to anything for sense gratification. If the Lord gives us something, we couldn’t use it for sense gratification, but we could be niṣkiñcana, without any material possession. Our only possession should be our love for Krishna. This is the proper way to use the gifts that Srila Prabhupada has given us here at Hare Krishna land forever.

Hare Krishna. Are there any questions or comments? Yes.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:41:45]

Giriraj Swami: He says that there are so many mosque, religious institution where sannyasis or house holders or whoever may use the facilities for sense gratification. They ask the money for service but actually they use the money for sense gratification. They use for house, wife etc.

Well, Srila Prabhupada has warned us that if we take money in the name of Krishna consciousness and use the money for sense gratification, of course, sense gratification comes in subtle form. That is another problem that the weeds of material desire may resemble the devotional creeper, so that we may be watering the weeds and thinking that we’re watering the creeper. So, those persons, such persons that you have described, may be conscious to different degrees of the fact that they are using the money for sense gratification. But Srila Prabhupada warned very strongly that if we take money in the name of devotional service and use it for gratification, we fall in debt to the person who gave us the money. Say, I borrow five thousand rupees from someone, so I owe him five thousand rupees. Now, if I don’t borrow the money, if I take the money by some false plea that I want it for Krishna, then we will definitely owe him more than five thousand rupees because even if we took an honest loan, we would owe him five thousand rupees plus maybe some interest. So, we become debtors, and we have to pay the debt, maybe in this life or maybe in the next life. And especially for a materialistic person who wants money, being in debt is not a very happy condition.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:45:00]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, very good question. Fortunately, I know the answer. He says that Lord Shiva is in a special category; He cannot be killed. So why did Lord Vishnu, in the form of the brahmachari, tell Vṛkāsura that he should kill Lord Shiva so that He doesn’t tell more lies?

So, the acharyas have given the answer. I believe maybe Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, that it is true that in the long run, Lord Shiva cannot be killed. He can be killed, but He can bring Himself back to life. Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says that what Lord Vishnu was actually saying is that Vṛkāsura would kill Lord Shiva, and then when Lord Shiva brought Himself back to life, because of being somewhat punished, He wouldn’t tell more lies again in the future.

[Break in audio]

Giriraj Swami: Vṛkāsura could have cut off his own head. So, when Hiraṇyakaśipu was performing the austerities, what would have happened if Lord Brahma hadn’t come?

Well, when someone perform severe austerities like Hiraṇyakaśipu the whole universe became disturbed. So, in order to remove the disturbance in the universe, Lord Brahma offered some benediction. Even Dhruva Maharaja perform severe austerities the universe became disturbed. He was breathing once in six months; it was such a tapasya. He was inhaling and holding the breath for six months or whatever, long time. And it was as if the whole universe was unable to breath, they suffocate. So, Lord Narayana himself came to Dhruva Maharaja and benedicted him. So, that is why when someone does extreme austerity, the universe get disturbed. And that is why the demigods, to relive the disturbance, they offer the demons some benedictions so that they stop the austerity and save the universe.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:48:00]

Giriraj Swami: He says that I read that sometimes demigods come to give benediction and so they are not actually coming, he says, “I respect that the demigods come sometimes benedictions.” But the hypothesis may not be correct because Lord Vishnu can stop the disturbance also, not by offering them benedictions, but by killing them, as He did with Hiraṇyakaśipu. So if the demigods wanted, they could have taken shelter of Lord Vishnu and Lord Vishnu could have solved the problem. But because they wanted to act in the position of demigods, they went and tried to solve the problem by offering some benediction. But you asked a similar question a while ago.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:49:20]

Giriraj Swami: He says, this is also another good question; all of these have been good questions, that the demigods are devotees of Lord Krishna, so they would naturally want everyone else to become a devotee of Lord Vishnu. So when people worship them, why don’t they direct their worshipers to worship Lord Vishnu?

The answer is that some of the people who worship the demigods are not really worshipping; they are actually doing business, and they won’t send such business people to Lord Vishnu. Just like, let us say, Vṛkāsura, Lord Shiva had no chance to preach to him because he was not interested in worshipping God or performing sacrifice for God. He was interested in getting something. And Srila Prabhupada said about Lord Shiva that He is really a devotee, and He wants to chant the holy names of Krishna, and He is very happy in His chanting. So when someone comes to bother Him for some boons, He very quickly gives the boon and says, “Take it, take it, go away. Don’t bother me; I want to chant my rounds.” But if someone was open to be preached to, if someone was innocent, certainly He would preach. But if someone is a demon, he is just bothering Him, He may say, “Okay, take it and go.” Sometimes managers, they shouldn’t, but actually, they don’t want to fight about money, so they let them, “Okay, take a little extra.” But we shouldn’t do that. Srila Prabhupada was very concerned that we should not let even one paisa of Krishna’s money go away unnecessarily. He was very particular. So, we may say, “I don’t want to be bothered.” We should not imitate Lord Shiva; “I have to chant my rounds.” We have to feel like Arjuna, fight for Krishna. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura says, this material world is full of cheater and cheated. So, Srila Prabhupada would say, we should neither cheated nor cheaters.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:52:45]

Giriraj Swami: He says, when the father sees the child putting his hand in the fire, he stops him. So why doesn’t Krishna stop us when we do something wrong?

Because Krishna has given us minute independence, and He wants our love. He cannot get our love by force. So if we want to do nonsense, we have the free-will. We can do nonsense, but we have to suffer the reactions. Sooner or later, we will have to suffer the reaction.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:53:30]

Giriraj Swami: Sometimes the child doesn’t listen to the father. He has to experience it himself. Srila Prabhupada says that he had a son who wanted to put his finger in the fan. And Srila Prabhupada kept telling him not to do it, but he kept insisting. So then one friend suggested Srila Prabhupada that he should turn down the fans, and then when it is almost stopped, let him put his fingers. So the boy put his finger in, he got a little cut, then he gave up the desire of putting his finger in fan. Krishna also does that. He lets us experience the material world, and when we get cut or when we get burned, then we may come back to Him. Whereas if he tried to force us, we could keep the same desire in our hearts. And when the desire is in the heart, we can’t really love Krishna. bhukti-mukti-spṛhā yāvat piśācī hṛdi vartate, this material desires in heart are like witches or ghost that haunt the conditioned souls. And as long as the conditioned soul is haunted by such witches or desires, you cannot relish the happiness of Krishna consciousness. So it has to come from the heart.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:55:15]

Giriraj Swami: Why doesn’t He speed up the process of getting cut?

Again, everything depends on the sincerity of the devotee. And again, Krishna judges each case separately or individually. If someone gets cut too soon, he may leave altogether. He night think, I don’t want to stay around this place; I am getting cut here. So maybe, as we took the example of the child before, for the first five years, the parents are supposed to give the children whatever they want, so they become attached to the parents. And then for the next ten years, they severely discipline the child to make the child proper. And then after the age of fifteen, they should treat the child like a friend because he is so well-trained. So we can see the same process here: that in the beginning, Krishna may give us some material facility because if they took away the material facility at once, they might leave Krishna. Then when we become more attached to Krishna, He may start to take away the material facility. And then, after he has taken away the material facility and we become free from the material’s desire to enjoy, then He can give us any amount of facility, and we will use it in the right way. We could be free forever.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:57:00]

Giriraj Swami: I didn’t quite follow the example but the principle is that if a devotee is collecting money in the name of Krishna and using it for sense gratification, and if the authority allows it, turns a blind eye, then the authority also becomes implicated. But there are other considerations because Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura had one disciple named, Tirtha Maharaja. And he was taking money, but he was also doing extraordinary service. He was managing the whole institution. So Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura considered that if I had to hire someone to manage the institution, I would also have to take so much. So in some very exceptional case, one could make a consideration like that. But otherwise, obviously, the principle is that the managers prevent the devotees from implicating themselves in sinful activities.

Just like Srila Prabhupada said that if the manager is careless and allows someone to steal some property of Krishna’s, the manager is also implicated. Even if the manager himself has no desire directly to steal from Krishna and enjoy, but it is due to his negligence and his carelessness or his weakness, he lets Krishna’s property be stolen; he is implicated. We all must be very responsible. And one last thing I should say: that everyone who stays in the ashrams should be a sincere devotee. There was a time when some old ladies were coming here to join, but I perceived they don’t really want to become devotees; they just wanted a safe, peaceful, nice place to stay. And for them, to get up for maṅgala-ārati and chant sixteen rounds and attend class and do some service, not a big problem, not a big demand. So externally, they were following everything, but within their hearts, they really were not devotees, and they didn’t want to become devotees; they just wanted a nice place to stay. So I asked Srila Prabhupada, “Should we accept them?” Srila Prabhupada said, “No, even if externally they complete all the formal requirements, but if they are not sincere devotees, we don’t want them to stay here.” Everyone who stays in the ashram must be sincere devotees. That is the basic principle of our association here.

I think we will end now. Some people can proceed, but anyone who still has a question can. . .

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!