SB 1.10.7 – Place Your Faith in Krishna—Part 01

Giriraj Swami: 

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

Reading from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto One, Chapter Ten, “Departure of Lord Kṛṣṇa for Dvārakā,” Text Seven.

TEXT 7

uṣitvā hāstinapure
māsān katipayān hariḥ
suhṛdāṁ ca viśokāya
svasuś ca priya-kāmyayā

COMMENT

Here we see the reciprocal behavior of Lord Krishna’s devotees. The Lord is not impersonal. The Lord reciprocates in a very personal way with the devotees. So, Lord Krishna is absolute. He is potent and complete; He is the origin of all living entities and all that be. No one is Krishna’s father, no one is Krishna’s mother, no one is Krishna’s friend, no one is Krishna’s enemy. No one is especially inside of Krishna, and no one is outside of Krishna. Krishna is absolute. He is perfect and complete. No one can add anything to Him and no one can take anything away from Him. He has nothing to gain from anyone, and He has nothing to lose from anyone. So, He is equal to all, but still, if a devotee wants to serve Krishna in a particular way, Krishna reciprocates.

All the relationships that we have in the material world are perverted reflections of the relationships, which exist in the spiritual world. The relationships in the material world bring disappointment and pain, whereas the relationships in the spiritual world bring ever-increasing happiness. So, we should not put our faith in material relationships. Rather, we should put our faith in Krishna.

In the material world, everyone wants a good servant. So, often, the servants in the material world cheat the master. They steal from the master. Everyone in the material world wants a good friend, who can understand him and help him. We are all in the hard struggle for existence in the material world. So, we want someone who can understand our struggle and help us. In the material world, quite often, our friends misunderstand us, and even if they do understand us and want to help us, they may not be capable of helping us. But Lord Krishna understands us perfectly, and He can help us totally. In the material world, everyone wants a good son. Quite often, the sons grow up or the daughters grow up differently from the way we expect. Instead of giving us pleasure, they give us grief. Sometimes the children even die in the presence of the parents. Parents suffer so much. Similarly, people want a perfect husband.

So, whatever relationship we desire in the material world, we can have with Krishna, and we will be fully satisfied. If we want a good friend, Krishna will be the best friend. He will never betray us or disappoint us. If we want a good son, Krishna will be the perfect son. He will always please us in every respect. He will never die. So, whatever relationship we want, Krishna is ready. Only we need to approach Him, and He will reciprocate.

So, even though Krishna is nobody’s special friend and nobody’s special enemy, He reciprocates according to the way a person approaches Him. When someone approaches Krishna in the mood, “I want You to be my friend,” He will be the perfect friend. If someone approaches Krishna in the mood that he wants Krishna to be his son or her son, Krishna will play the role of the most wonderful son. He will completely enchant and gladden His parents. If someone approaches Krishna, “I want You to be my husband,” Krishna will agree.

Princess Rukmini wanted Krishna as Her husband. She had never met Krishna, but She had heard descriptions of Krishna from great sages like Narada Muni, and She became attracted to the transcendental qualities of Sri Krishna, and She decided that She would accept only Krishna as Her husband, no one else. Rukmini’s brother, Rukmi, wanted to arrange Her marriage to Śiśupāla, but Rukmini did not want to marry him. So, She wrote a letter to Lord Krishna secretly asking Him to kidnap Her before the marriage. Princess Rukmini thought, What is the use of marrying an ordinary human being? What is the body of a mortal man, who is just a bag of flesh and bones covered with skin? On top of the skin are hairs and mustaches. So, what is the use of developing a relationship with such a man?

So, She was bold enough to write a letter to Krishna and ask Him to come to Her, and Krishna reciprocated. Just in the nick of time, He came and saved Rukmini from the hands of Śiśupāla, and He took Her with Him to His capital city, Dvaraka, and there, Lord Krishna married Rukmini. Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, param purusha. Rukmini is the original goddess of fortune. So, there was a natural attraction between Krishna and Rukmini. When They married, all the residents of Dvaraka were jubilant.

So, Krishna is all pleasing to everyone. So, just as Krishna accepted Rukmini as His wife, similarly, Krishna accepted Maharaja Yudhisthira as His cousin. First, He accepted Vasudeva and Devaki as His parents. Vasudeva’s sister was Kunti, and Kunti’s first son was Yudhisthira. So, Yudhisthira was the older cousin brother of Lord Krishna. Kunti’s next sons became Bhima and Arjuna. They were about the same age as Lord Krishna in terms of the pastimes. And therefore, Lord Krishna treated them as equal cousin brothers. So, like this, Lord Krishna accepted so many relatives; mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, cousins, sisters, fathers, and He always tried His best to please all of them.

Although the Lord is completely independent, He has one transcendental attribute, which is that He comes under the love of His devotees. So, even though Lord Krishna had a plan to return to Dvaraka immediately after the battle of Kurukshetra, King Yudhisthira appealed to Him to remain in Dvaraka for some more days. Lord Krishna reciprocated. He wanted to pacify King Yudhisthira, who was so distressed after the battle of Kurukshetra. Actually, the battle of Kurukshetra was a terrible massacre. So many friends and relatives on all sides were killed.

So, Lord Krishna understood how King Yudhisthira and the others were aggrieved from the loss of so many friends and relatives. Lord Krishna agreed to stay in order to pacify them. And especially, He stayed to please His sister, Subhadra, who had lost her only son, Abhimanyu, who was just newly married, and thus he left behind his newly married wife, Uttara, who was carrying Maharaja Parīkṣit. So, Lord Krishna stayed specially to please His sister, Subhadra.

So, whatever situation we are in, Krishna will be there to help us. No matter how heavy the test may be, Krishna will always be here to help us. We see how the Pandavas were put in so many terrible conditions. The Kauravas were always trying to kill them. The Kauravas were always plotting against them. So, the Pandavas were sent into exile. Sometimes the Kauravas tried to burn their house with them inside. So many calamities, but the Pandavas never blamed Lord Krishna. They took the suffering as the mercy of Lord Krishna.

There is one important verse in the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, tat te ‘nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṇo, when a devotee is in difficulty or distress, he does not blame the Lord. Rather, he sees that he is suffering the result of his own misdeeds. When he considers his past misdeeds, he thinks that actually, he deserves to suffer more, but the Lord is so kind, He is minimizing the reactions.

But still, why does the Lord allow the devotee to suffer at all? There is some purpose. The purpose is to purify the devotee. Even after someone has surrendered to Lord Krishna, he still may maintain traces of material desires and attachments.

Actually, the devotee who surrenders unto the Lord has only one real desire, which is to serve the Lord and go back home, back to Godhead. But still, he may have some traces of material attachments and material desires. So, the Lord knows the real inner desire of the devotee. The devotee wants to become eligible to serve the Lord, and therefore, the Lord reciprocates with the desire of the devotee, and He creates a situation for the purification of the devotee, so the devotee will give up his last attachment to material world and become fully eligible to go back home, back to Godhead, to serve the Lord.

So, when some calamity befalls the devotee, the devotee thinks, Now I should give up all my false attachments, I should surrender more fully to Lord Krishna, I should become more serious in my Krishna consciousness, I should practice more strictly. And thus, by the merciful arrangement of Lord Krishna, the devotee actually becomes more determined in Krishna consciousness. So, the devotees never blame the Lord. Rather, they see that the Lord is making some arrangements for the purification of the devotee, so that he can actually become qualified to serve the Lord, and he accepts any hardships as a small price to pay for the privilege of serving Lord Krishna.

So, the devotees who have the opportunity to serve the Lord as a friend, a mother, a father, or a lover, are not ordinary devotees. Śukadeva Gosvami says that the cowherd boys who were playing as Krishna’s friends had the opportunity to take birth as cowherd friends of Krishna only after performing many, many lifetimes of pious activities. So, it’s not a small thing to become Krishna’s friend, Krishna’s relative, Krishna’s lover. One has to be prepared to make any sacrifice for the sake of the service. Of course, one cannot approach Krishna directly. One cannot serve Krishna directly. One has to be instructed by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, gopī bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ.

We should aspire to be the servant of the servant of the servant of Krishna. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam, one must serve Krishna through paramparā. I serve my spiritual master, who is the servant of his spiritual master, who is the servant of his spiritual master, who is ultimately, the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of Krishna. So, we have the good fortune of being able to serve Srila Prabhupada, to follow the instructions of Srila Prabhupada. We may have met him personally or we may not have met him personally. But as Srila Prabhupada wrote in his dedication to his spiritual master in the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, “He lives forever by his divine instructions, and the followers live with him.”

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has annunciated the same principle in his stanza to Haridasa Thakura. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura said, “He reasons ill who tells that Vaishnavas die when thou are living still in sound! The Vaishnavas die to live, and living try to spread the holy name around!” So, Vaishnavas never die. They always live in transcendental sound. As Srila Prabhupada wrote of his own spiritual master, “He lives forever by his divine instructions, and the follower lives with him.” So, Srila Prabhupada is alive now, he is present in the form of his instructions, and we can have his association if we follow his instructions, but we have to be sincere and serious.

For example, Srila Prabhupada has instructed that we rise early in the morning by four o’clock to attend maṅgala-ārati. Srila Prabhupada has instructed that we chant sixteen rounds of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra every day without fail. Srila Prabhupada has instructed that we hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam every day in class. And Srila Prabhupada has instructed that we should do something according to our capacity to help spread Krishna consciousness. So, Srila Prabhupada’s association is available even now, his mercy is available to us now, provided we follow his instructions. And if we don’t follow his instructions, then we really have no standing in devotional service.

Once, some devotee approached Srila Prabhupada in Hawaii. So, the devotee complained to Srila Prabhupada that many of the devotees who had been living in the temple had left the temple. So, Srila Prabhupada replied, “There is no harm. They can practice Krishna consciousness at home. If they cannot cooperate nicely with their godbrothers, they can practice Krishna consciousness at home.”

Then the devotee explained that those who had left the temple were not really strictly following, and they had developed their own type of philosophy, “All you have to do is chant Hare Krishna. You don’t really have to follow all the rules and regulations, and by chanting Hare Krishna, one will gradually progress.” So, Srila Prabhupada replied, “They can practice Krishna consciousness anywhere. Even at home, one can follow the instructions of the spiritual master, he doesn’t have to live in the temple. If he disobeys the instructions of the spiritual master, then he has no position.”

Srila Prabhupada said that the spiritual master comes and he sees some fallen soul and he wants to help him. He instructs him. Then the spiritual master sees, “Oh, this disciple is going against me,” yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto ‘pi, he will lose the mercy of the spiritual master. He will not have any position in spiritual life. So, if we follow the instructions of the spiritual master; yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ, he will be pleased. And when he is pleased, Krishna will be pleased. In other words, we will get the mercy of the spiritual master and Krishna. And if we go against the instructions of the spiritual master, we will not get any mercy, and we will not have any hope for spiritual advancement.

So, it doesn’t matter whether one lives outside the temple or inside the temple, one should follow the instructions of the spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. And if he follows the instructions of Srila Prabhupada, Prabhupada’s mercy will be there and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy will be there. So, we should never think that Srila Prabhupada is dead and gone. He is alive in the form of the transcendental sound, but we have to follow Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, and then we will get Srila Prabhupada’s mercy. And by strictly following the orders of the spiritual master, we can make advancement in Krishna consciousness.

Actually, the spiritual master is training us to prepare us to render direct service to Krishna. In one of the following reciprocations, we have to submit ourselves to his training. We cannot maintain our independent ideas. If we submit ourselves to his guidance, then he will train us in such a way that we become qualified to render service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Of course, serving Krishna means serving Krishna’s devotees as well. So, the spiritual master is training us how to be good servants of Krishna and Krishna’s associates, but we have to follow, and that depends on us to what extent we are ready to follow.

Yesterday, someone asked a question about Bharata Maharaja. Bharata Maharaja used to live like someone passes stool. He was so detached, and he left everything to go to the forest to serve God. But then again, in the forest, he became attached to an insignificant creature, a little deer. So, Srila Prabhupada comments that he should have thought, I have given up everything to come to the forest for the sake of the Lord, and now again, I’m becoming attached to an insignificant creature. So, in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Srila Prabhupada comments that it was only Bharata Maharaja’s deliberate desire that caused him to fall down. Otherwise, there is no other explanation.

Once, I also asked Srila Prabhupada a question, “You know everything about us, you know us better than we know ourselves. So, sometimes you put someone in a very exalted position, and then he falls down. So, how is that?” Srila Prabhupada replied, “The living entity is always marginal. So, whatever position he is in, he can either use it for Krishna’s service, or for sense gratification.” So, Srila Prabhupada was indicating that the spiritual master will place the disciple in the best position for service, but because the living entity is always marginal, he always has free will, and he can misuse the position that was meant for service and use it for sense gratification, and that is his free will.

So, we have to be very careful not to misuse the wonderful facility for service that Srila Prabhupada has given us. We should not misuse the wonderful opportunity for advancing our material desires. All the subtle desires for name and fame, power and position, are gross desires for sense gratification. The transcendental paraphernalia that is made available to us for devotional service should never be misused for any other purpose. Then we will always remain safe in Krishna consciousness.

Srila Prabhupada gave the example that a person may work in the bank where millions of pesetas may pass through his hands. So, he can touch millions and millions and not be affected as long as he thinks, This money belongs to the bank, I have no right to take any for myself. But as soon as he takes even one hundred pesetas for himself, immediately, he becomes a criminal, and then he comes into so much difficulty. So, we can use any facility for Krishna’s service and not become entangled, but as soon as we think, Let me take this for myself, let me enjoy this for myself, then we become entangled.

Once, I was in a room with Srila Prabhupada in Vrindavan with two other disciples of Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada instructed, “If some girl comes, you should think, Oh, this girl has come to serve Krishna, let me help her. You should not think, Oh, this girl has come, let me exploit her.” So, this is the same principle of yukta-vairāgya. Srila Prabhupada didn’t say that if some girl comes, we should run in the other direction and hide, but we should think, This girl has come to serve Krishna, let me help her. We should not think, Oh, this girl has come, let me exploit her. So, we have to be careful, especially in dealing with women and money.

Srila Prabhupada writes in one purport in the First Canto that many stalwarts have fallen victims to women and money, but if one is very sincere and serious to serve the Lord and hear and chant the glories of the Lord, then the Lord Himself from within the heart will give sufficient strength and protection to the devotee. So, it is not impossible to be successful in Krishna consciousness. It is very possible, but we must follow very strictly. We must be very sincere and serious, then we will be successful in Krishna consciousness by following the approved method.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:55:12].

Giriraj Swami: Srila Prabhupada is present. His instructions are there, so it is up to take full shelter of Srila Prabhupada and his instructions. And if we do, we get his mercy and become successful in spiritual life. Hare Krishna. Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! Yes, Nityangi Mataji?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:56:37].

Giriraj Swami: Well, Krishna will not give a devotee a test which the devotee cannot pass. Krishna tested Bali Maharaja very severely. Basically, He took everything away from Bali Maharaja. He then had him arrested by the ropes of Varuna, and everyone was condemning Bali Maharaja. Even his own wife criticized him, “You have given everything to Vamanadeva, but who are you to give anything to anyone? You don’t own anything, so you are falsely proud that you have given something to Vamanadeva.” So, even though in one sense, he did surrender everything to Vamanadeva, still, he was arrested, he was ridiculed, he was humiliated, but he never complained.

In one purport, Srila Prabhupada writes that sometimes the Lord gives tests to the devotee, which are so severe, and they become almost intolerable for the devotee. By giving such tests that are almost unbearable, the Lord also gives the strength and intelligence to the devotee to pass the test. Thus, he maintains his position to remain as a devotee. Sometimes the Lord arranges for difficulties so the devotee would want to take shelter of other devotees. It’s true that alone, we are very weak. We may try to pass the test by our strength, and we may fail. Part of the test may be to teach us to take shelter of other devotees and get help from them.

Srila Prabhupada often gave the example that if you have one stick, the stick easily will be broken, but if you put many slender sticks together in a bundle, no one can break them. So, Srila Prabhupada said that Krishna never takes anything away from the devotee except to give something better to the devotee. Just like Vamanadeva took everything from Bali Maharaja, but in the end, He gave Himself to Bali Maharaja. So, Bali Maharaja was not the loser, he was the gainer by millions of times.

Sometimes Srila Prabhupada perceived the same principle in his own life. As we know, Srila Prabhupada came to the United States to begin Krishna consciousness, and he made Los Angeles his world headquarters. But the leaders of the movement in America actually wanted to take control of the society away from Srila Prabhupada. And Srila Prabhupada actually traced the disease to some of his godbrothers in India, the cause of the disease. Srila Prabhupada’s godbrothers in India had poisoned his disciples, so they were now minimizing his position. And some of the prominent disciples were actually thinking, We should be in control of the movement, not Srila Prabhupada. So, in Los Angeles, Srila Prabhupada understood what was happening, and he decided to leave America, to leave ISKCON in America, and he went to Japan, and he finally came to India.

So, some years later, when the Krishna-Balarama temple in Vrindavan opened, Srila Prabhupada commented, “I had such nice accommodations in Los Angeles, but Krishna took everything away, and now He has given me the most beautiful temple in Vrindavan and the most wonderful residents in Vrindavan.” Srila Prabhupada said, “At the time, I could not understand what was Krishna’s plan, but I see that although Krishna took everything away from me, it was only to give me something better.”

So, we may not understand what is the plan of Krishna. When He takes something away from us, when He puts us into some severe difficulty, we may not understand what is the plan of Krishna. But we should have faith that whatever Krishna is doing is ultimately for our best interest, that if we just hold on to the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada and pass the test, then we will get Krishna’s greatest blessing. Therefore, in that verse:

TEXT 14

tat te ’nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṇo
bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam
hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te
jīveta yo mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk

COMMENT

In the last verse, mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk, if someone tolerates all of the difficulties he encounters in the course of devotional service and just continues the process of devotional service, he will gain the right to enter the kingdom of God, like a son owns the right to inherit the property of the father. So, the authorities who have commented on the verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam have said that all the son has to do to inherit the property of the father is to stay alive. Similarly, all we have to do to gain the right to enter the kingdom of God is to remain alive in Krishna consciousness. You don’t have to do anything special; you just have to remain alive in Krishna consciousness. In other words, we just have to maintain the basic practices of Krishna consciousness in spite of all difficulties, and we will gain the right to enter the kingdom of God.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:11:16].

Giriraj Swami: Well, the disease of the conditioned soul is that he is envious of Krishna, he doesn’t want to surrender to Krishna. So, even after we come to the association of devotees, if we don’t develop genuine faith in the process of devotional service, we’ll always be arguing, “Why do I have to do this? I won’t do it! I don’t have to do it!” Thus, we remain immersed in material existence. When we have actual faith, “By the process of devotional service, I will achieve all perfection,” then we won’t mind the austerities of Krishna consciousness. So, we have to become convinced of the philosophy of Krishna consciousness by hearing.

Therefore, Srila Prabhupada said we shouldn’t be so anxious to count up so many numbers of new devotees unless they really understand the philosophy. Otherwise, if they very quickly come to the ashram without being convinced of the philosophy, they won’t understand the value of austerity, and they won’t want to perform the austerity. As long as they continue to hear the classes for some time, and then when they are convinced of the value of austerity, then they will accept the austerity without being forced.

Why don’t we get up early in the morning? In many cases, we may not be convinced of the value or importance of it. Why don’t we chant sixteen rounds every day? We may not be convinced of the value of it, of the importance of it. So, that means we still have to hear from the devotees more until we become convinced. When we are convinced that all we have to do is get up at four in the morning, attend the morning program, chant sixteen rounds, serve in Krishna consciousness, and go back home, back to Godhead, well, that’s nothing to go back home, back to Godhead.

When someone told you that all you have to do is get up at four o’clock in the morning, attend the morning program, which is quite enjoyable, and work cooperatively to help the mission of Srila Prabhupada and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, just do it for however numbers of years you have left in this one life, and then you can go to the abode of Krishna for all eternity and have a direct relationship with Krishna for all eternity. I mean, it’s a good deal. You are a fool if you miss the opportunity to do little austerity for thirty years or forty years, and then you get unlimited spiritual bliss forever.

We are not just talking about forty thousand years or forty million years or forty billion years; we are talking about all eternity. We can get all eternity for thirty years or forty years is nothing. What we are asked is really not very difficult, it’s more of a practice than anything else. Once you develop the practice of rising early in the morning, you won’t want to sleep late. Once you develop the practice of chanting sixteen rounds, you won’t want to miss sixteen rounds.

It’s not even that you have to really struggle for thirty years or forty years. You have to struggle for maybe a few years until you develop the habit. But once you develop the habit, it’s very easy to get up, attend the temple programs, and chant sixteen rounds. I actually like it. I actually feel much more enlivened and gladdened following the programs than doing whatever else instead of the programs.

Devotee: In the beginning of the class, you said we need to develop a relationship with Krishna. [Unintelligible 01:23:20].

Giriraj Swami: Every one of us has eternal love for Krishna within the heart, but that eternal love is covered. So, by hearing and chanting about Krishna, the eternal love becomes uncovered, then the natural love for Krishna comes in a particular way.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:24:55].

Giriraj Swami: Krishna consciousness can only be understood by devotees. The confidential science of Krishna cannot be understood by non-devotees. So, if they really want to understand, they have to be devotees. They should begin by chanting Hare Krishna and taking kṛṣṇa-prasāda. And when they become a little purified and begin the actual practice of Krishna consciousness, then they can actually understand. Otherwise, no matter how much we argue with them, we’ll never be able to make them understand.

So, we shouldn’t waste our time. Rather, we should try to encourage them, somehow or other, to hear the holy name, take prasāda, to get a little purified. Otherwise, who cares what they think of us? Who cares what the psychologists think of us? They have their opinion of us, and we have our opinion of them. What we are really concerned about is the opinion of Krishna. What is the opinion of shastra, and that we have, and that’s all we need. We have Rupa Gosvami’s opinion. He is the direct representative of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. We don’t care about other people’s opinions. If they are innocent, we are ready to preach to them, but if they are not. . .

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:29:16].

Giriraj Swami: Well, dīkṣā, as explained by Srila Jiva Gosvami, is the process by which the disciple gets transcendental knowledge and becomes free from sinful reactions. So, when one surrenders to Krishna through the spiritual master, the spiritual master relieves one of so many sinful reactions.