SB 3.9.18

Giriraj Swami: 

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

Reading from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Three, Chapter Nine,

TEXT 18

yasmād bibhemy aham api dviparārdha-dhiṣṇyam
adhyāsitaḥ sakala-loka-namaskṛtaṁ yat
tepe tapo bahu-savo ‘varurutsamānas
tasmai namo bhagavate ‘dhimakhāya tubhyam

TRANSLATION

Your Lordship, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You who are indefatigable time and the enjoyer of all sacrifices. Although I am situated in an abode which will continue to exist for a time duration of two parārdhas, although I am the leader of all other planets in the universe, and although I have undergone many, many years of penance for self-realization, still I offer my respects unto You.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Brahmā is the greatest personality in the universe because he has the longest duration of life. He is the most respectable personality because of his penance, influence, prestige, etc., and still he has to offer his respectful obeisances unto the Lord. Therefore, it is incumbent upon all others, who are far, far below the standard of Brahmā, to do as he did and offer respects as a matter of duty.

COMMENT

Generally, everyone in the material world is puffed up, and being puffed up, he does not want to offer obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, what to speak of unto any lesser being. But here Lord Brahma, who is the greatest created being in the entire universe, is offering respects unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is not too great to offer respects unto the Supreme Lord, and he is the greatest creature in the whole universe. So who could be too great to offer respects? Still, foolish persons puffed up with borrowed plumes do not want to bow down unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You may know that one popular recording artist named Boy George visited our temple in Vrindavan, and perhaps having seen the standard of worship and service in other ISKCON temples, he expected the people who came to the temple in Vrindavan to bow down to the deities. But he saw that so many people were coming and not bowing down, so he wrote the song “Bow Down Mister,” because they weren’t bowing down, so this is the material disease: we don’t want to bow down unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Once, Srila Prabhupada gave a lecture in America in the early days of ISKCON, and after the lecture, as was the custom, the devotees offered obeisances to Srila Prabhupada. So one guest raised his hand after the lecture during the time of questions and said that, “They are all offering their obeisances to you, but I don’t want to offer my obeisances to you.” So Srila Prabhupada replied, “You have diagnosed your own disease. You don’t want to offer obeisances, but although you don’t want to bow down, you are forced to bow down. When you go to work, do you not bow down to your boss?” He said, “Yes, but that is material. Why should I have to bow down in spiritual life? In spiritual life, we should be free.” Srila Prabhupada replied that, “Whether you like it or not, you will be forced to bow down. If you don’t bow down to Krishna and Krishna’s representative, you will be forced to bow down by material nature. You will be forced to bow down to repeated birth, disease, old age, and death. So you have the choice: either you bow down to Krishna and Krishna’s representative, or you bow down to repeated birth and death.”

So this is our actual position. We are not independent. We are not free. We are by nature dependent and controlled, and our choice is whether we want to be controlled by Krishna and Krishna’s representative or by maya and maya’s representatives. Srila Prabhupada said that actually, maya’s business and our business are the same—to get people to surrender to Krishna. But our methods are different. Our method is humble persuasion, and maya’s method is kicking. She kicks us until we agree to surrender to Krishna. But ultimately, our business is the same: to get the conditioned souls to surrender to Krishna. So this is our choice. Srila Prabhupada sometimes explained the Sanskrit root, śās-dhātu, from śās-dhātu come various Sanskrit words, but the root meaning is to control or to rule. So, shastra, the word shastra, we are meant to submit ourselves voluntarily to the control of shastra or scripture. And if we don’t voluntarily accept the control of shastra or scripture, we will have to be controlled by shastra or weapons. So the same principle: either we voluntarily agree to be controlled by Krishna or Krishna’s representative, or we are forced to come under the control of maya and suffer.

The word śāsana comes from the same root; śāsana means to chastise, as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself said, guru more mūrkha dekhi, karila śāsana, “My spiritual master called me a fool, and he chastised me.” Srila Prabhupada comments that the disciple should always feel like a fool before the spiritual master and be ready to be chastised by the spiritual master, and that will make him perfect. And if he thinks that he is very intelligent, he knows more than the spiritual master, then he is fallen. From the same word root also comes shishya, which means disciple, as Arjun addressed Lord Krishna: śiṣyas te ‘haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam, that “Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of miserly weakness. So now I am your disciple and a soul surrendered unto you. Please instruct me.” So we have to surrender to Krishna through Krishna’s representative, and when we surrender to Krishna’s representative, he can train us in devotional service so that we can actually serve Krishna favorably. The same relationship exists in English, as again Srila Prabhupada commented: disciple means discipline. and the first obedience is the first law of discipline. So disciple means to obey the instructions of the spiritual master, and that is the disciple’s discipline; therefore, he is a disciple.

So here in the purport, Srila Prabhupada says that it is incumbent upon all to do as Brahma did and offer respects as a matter of duty. Once one of the first devotees said to Srila Prabhupada that, “The others are bowing down to you, but within my heart I don’t really feel like bowing down to you. But should I do it anyway?” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, you should do it anyway, and by doing it, the feeling of wanting to bow down will come.” So sometimes in devotional service, we do things that we don’t feel like doing as a matter of duty or as a matter of discipline, and by doing it, the feeling comes. Just like in the beginning, we may be forced to get up early to attend maṅgala-ārati. The feeling may not be there, but we are bound to get up early because it is the instruction of the scriptures and the guru. But after some time of practicing, the feeling may come that we actually want to get up early, and instead of getting up at 4:00, we get up at 3:30 or 3:00 or 2:30 because the feeling comes that we want to get up early. We want to take advantage of the early hours to chant Hare Krishna or worship the deity or engage in whatever spiritual practice one chooses. This is tapasya, and Lord Brahma underwent tapasya for the sake of self-realization or God-realization. Without tapasya, we cannot progress. Srila Prabhupada defined tapasya as voluntarily accepting some hardship for the sake of spiritual advancement. Of course, the hardship in Krishna consciousness is not so great. Chanting the holy names and following the regulative principles. And after some time, when we are actually purified and develop a taste for the activities of Krishna consciousness, there is hardly any hardship at all. Rather, there is great pleasure.

Once, a reporter asked Srila Prabhupada, “You are doing everything for Krishna—chanting the name of Krishna, writing books about Krishna, spreading the mission of Krishna. You doing everything for Krishna. But in the end, what if there is no Krishna?” Srila Prabhupada replied, “Even if there were no Krishna, I would still do the same things because what am I doing? I am chanting Hare Krishna, I am discussing kṛṣṇa-kathā, I am taking kṛṣṇa-prasāda, I am associating with Krishna-bhaktas.” So, we cannot perhaps appreciate Srila Prabhupada’s statement because, for us who haven’t yet developed the taste for the activities of Krishna consciousness, we are doing the activities as a matter of duty or as a matter of discipline because we have faith that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that by devotional service, we will achieve the highest perfection of life. But when one is actually purified, he relishes the activities of Krishna consciousness, and whether Krishna is God or not, he relishes them.

Just like in the spiritual world, in Vrindavan, the residents of Vrindavan are not thinking that Krishna is the supreme. But spontaneously, they are chanting His name, discussing His pastimes, serving Him, taking His remnants, and doing so many things—not because they think that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but because they love Him and take great pleasure in serving Him. But in the meantime, until we develop such pure consciousness, we act as a matter of duty or discipline. By doing so, the feeling comes, as Srila Prabhupada said. We have to endeavor with determination and intelligence and perform the austerity, and make the sacrifice. Sometimes it is said, “No pain, no gain.” It is true in the material world. So, what is our sacrifice? Saṅkīrtana-yajña. What is our tapasya? Our tapasya is following the instructions of the spiritual master. The instructions of the spiritual master are not very difficult in one sense: to chant the holy names, follow the regulative principles, and spread Krishna consciousness. However, spreading Krishna consciousness is not easy also because people, especially in Kali-yuga, are very slow to take to spiritual life.

Sometimes, Srila Prabhupada compared getting someone to take Krishna consciousness to giving medicine to a horse. To give medicine to a horse takes six people: two people have to hold down the two rear legs, two people have to hold down the two front legs, one person has to hold the mouth open, and the sixth person has to put the medicine in. Srila Prabhupada was saying that people in Kali-yuga are so averse—for no reason—but they are so averse to Krishna consciousness that it practically takes six people to forcibly insert the medicine. But because preaching is so difficult, precisely because preaching is so difficult, Krishna is most appreciative of the service of the preacher. He knows how difficult it is, and therefore, when devotees take the trouble to preach and face so many stubborn, animal-like people, Krishna appreciates it.

I recently visited one old friend of Srila Prabhupada in Pune, and he told me how he had asked Srila Prabhupada, “You are spending so much money on temples. What is the benefit? Why don’t you use the same money to build hospitals or other institutions for the benefit of people?” Srila Prabhupada replied, “Sit down, I will explain.” The man in Pune was one of the leading industrialists of the city of Pune. So, Srila Prabhupada gave an appropriate example. Of course, Mr. Malhotra, who told me the story, heard Srila Prabhupada maybe more than twenty years ago, so I am not completely sure that everything Mr. Malhotra said was exactly what Srila Prabhupada said, but the essence of Srila Prabhupada’s answer is certainly there.

He said, “Suppose you are a guest in Mr. Birla’s house. Mr. Birla is the richest man in India, and for one week you take your meals with him and his sons and his grandsons, and you get to know the family. Then, suppose some days later, you are driving in your car and you see Mr. Birla’s grandson living on the street. You could respond in one of three ways: One, you just pass the boy by and think, Oh, I have nothing to do with him. Second, you could give him five hundred rupees, but after some time, the five hundred rupees will be gone, and he will still be in the same situation. So, he will get some benefit but temporary. Three, you can see, ‘Oh, there is Mr. Birla’s grandson,’ and you stop the car, go out on the street, and say, ‘Oh, please come with me.’ Then you take him to your house, bathe him, dress him, feed him, and take good care of him in every respect. You give him so much love that he becomes attached to you, and then you say, ‘Your grandfather is Mr. Birla. What happened?’ Then gradually, you bring him to the point where he is ready to go back to Mr. Birla’s house, and then Mr. Birla himself will be so pleased that he will personally come to collect his grandson. You won’t even have to bring him there.”

He was saying that is the purpose of the temple or the ashram; that we bring in the lost children of Krishna, bathe them, dress them, feed them, and shower love and affection upon them so that ultimately, they develop faith in us and we can bring them back to their original relationship with Krishna. He said, “Now do you understand?” Mr. Malhotra said, “Yes.” This is the best service to humanity and the best service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If we do this austerity, we will get the greatest mercy. Hare Krishna.

Are there any questions or comments?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:32:50]

Giriraj Swami: I believe that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam class is meant for philosophy, and practical application of the philosophy can be discussed outside class. But I did hear one lecture tape just the other day where Srila Prabhupada is commenting on the verse of Prahlada Maharaja to Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, bālasya neha śaraṇaṁ pitarau nṛsiṁha, that one who is not cared for by Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva cannot do anything to better his condition, and whatever remedies he adopts, although they may be temporarily beneficial, are not permanent. For example, a diseased person, in spite of getting good medical treatment, may die. In the lecture, Srila Prabhupada begins by saying that without the mercy of the Lord, no one can live, even if he has the best medicine and the best doctors, suggesting that hospitals are useless. Because if Krishna wants the person to live, he will live, and if Krishna doesn’t want the person to live, he will die. Srila Prabhupada was making the point that what we should do is just surrender to Krishna because everything depends on Krishna anyway. Then Srila Prabhupada started to say how our devotees are going to hospitals and distributing literatures to the patients, and even in the hospitals, they are becoming Krishna conscious. So, I believe that one of the ideas behind the hospital is that devotees will be doctors, administrators, and nurses, and they will preach to the patients. Even in the hospital, they can become Krishna conscious, as Srila Prabhupada said.

Any other questions or comments?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:37:15]

Giriraj Swami: Well, you can come to Bombay to the Sri Chaitanya Hospital on Mira Road. I am serious.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Nitai-Gaura premānande Hari Haribol!