Ratha-yatra—Krishna is Our Only Shelter

Giriraj Swami: So, tonight we shall read one verse from Bhagavad-gītā As It Is; translation and purport by His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. There have been many translations of Bhagavad-gītā even into English. So what was the need for another translation of the Gītā? Srila Prabhupada explains that although there were so many translations of the Gītā and almost in every case the translator has given his own ideas in the name of Bhagavad-gītā. Therefore, Srila Prabhupada saw the need to present Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, without any interpretation or adulteration, without any compromise with mundane ideas. Unless we accept Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, just as Lord Krishna spoken five thousand years ago and as Arjuna understood it, we cannot get the real benefit of Bhagavad-gītā.

There is one story of a woman who sent her husband to the market to purchase a chicken. So he went to the market and vendor told [Unintelligible 00:3:18]. So the husband thought that, Fat is better than chicken, so let me purchase some fat. So he went to purchase some fat. The fat vendor said, “My fat is as clear as oil.” So, husband thought, Oil must be better than fat, let me purchase some oil. So, when he went into the market to purchase oil, the oil vendor said, “My oil is as pure as water.” So the man thought water must be better than oil and he brought home a pot of water. So this is how people interpret the words of Krishna. In fact, they interpret the very name Krishna, that Krishna means black. Black means dark. Dark means unknown. Unknown mean unknowable and in the end there is nothing. There is no Krishna. By their interpretation or word jugglery, they have removed Krishna. So that is not Bhagavad-gītā As It Is.

In Bhagavad-gītā Lord Krishna says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru. Become my devotee, think of Me. Become My devotee means become Krishna’s devotee. Think of Me means think of Krishna. Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja, surrender to Krishna. But one of the most famous commentators on Bhagavad-gītā has commented that it is not to the person Krishna that we must surrender ourselves utterly, but it is to unknown, unknowable, nameless, formless, impersonal that is speaking through Krishna. Srila Prabhupada gives the example, that “Suppose I say, bring me a glass of water. And someone else comments, no, don’t give the glass of water to Swamiji, but throw the water on the wall behind Swamiji.” So Lord Krishna clearly instructs, surrender to me, surrender to Krishna. And the commentators say, “No, no, no, don’t surrender to Krishna, surrender to something behind Krishna.” So such commentators are actually misleading people away from Krishna. And they are doing a great disservice, because people are not understanding what is the actual instruction of Bhagavad-gītā. But because they can speak very nicely people are impressed.

When Srila Prabhupada used to stay in Juhu, he would walk every morning on Juhu beach and one couple of doctors, the husband was a doctor and the wife was a doctor, they sometimes used to join Srila Prabhupada. One morning the lady told Srila Prabhupada that the night before she had attended some discourse on Bhagavad-gītā here at Cross-Maidan. She was saying that Swamiji, I am not giving the name, but Swamiji spoke wonderfully. She never heard such a wonderful discourse on the Gītā. Srila Prabhupada asked her, what did you learn from the discourse about Bhagavad-gītā? She replied, “Srila Prabhupada, I am so unfortunate, I could not understand what he was saying.” Srila Prabhupada replied, “Not only you are unfortunate, everyone in the audience was unfortunate. Because such commentators or such speakers do not present Bhagavad-gītā as it is.” Therefore Srila Prabhupada has presented Bhagavad-gītā as it is, just as Krishna spoke it five thousand years ago and just as Arjuna understood it. So now we shall read one verse from Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. Chapter Three, “Karma-yoga,”

TEXT 10

saha-yajñāḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭvā
purovāca prajāpatiḥ
anena prasaviṣyadhvam
eṣa vo ‘stv iṣṭa-kāma-dhuk

TRANSLATION

In the beginning of creation, the Lord of all creatures sent forth generations of men and demigods, along with sacrifices for Viṣṇu, and blessed them by saying, “Be thou happy by this yajña [sacrifice] because its performance will bestow upon you everything desirable for living happily and achieving liberation.”

COMMENT

Purport means that Srila Prabhupada is emphasizing upon or elaborating upon the direct meaning of Lord Krishna’s words. And in the purport Srila Prabhupada doesn’t manufacture any new theory, but he supports the statement of Lord Krishna in the sloka with references to shastra.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The material creation by the Lord of creatures (Viṣṇu) is a chance offered to the conditioned souls to come back home – back to Godhead. All living entities within the material creation are conditioned by material nature because of their forgetfulness of their relationship to Viṣṇu, or Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. 

COMMENT

So each word in the purport is significant. What is the purpose of the creation? The Lord has made the creation for us. The material world is like a prison house, created by Lord Vishnu for conditioned souls. Just as in the state there are laws, and if someone violates the laws of the state, he is criminal. Similarly, there are laws of God, or laws of nature. And one who violates the laws of God is called sinful. So just as criminals are put in prison to be punished, similarly, sinful living entities are placed in the material world to suffer. And what is the punishment? Janma-mṛtyu-jara-vyādhi—birth, death, old age, and disease. Sometimes people say, “What is wrong with material life? I am Happy.” They say they are happy, but actually they are not happy. If we ask him, “Do you want to die?” He will say, “No, I don’t want to die.” “Do you want to grow old?” “No, I don’t want to become old.” “Do you want to suffer disease?” “No, I don’t want to suffer disease.” But this is material life—death, old age, disease, and then rebirth. So an intelligent person will think that I don’t want to suffer birth, death, old age, disease. But I am forced to suffer. Why I am being punished? And how can I become free? So why are we being forced to suffer? Because we have forgotten our eternal relationship with God or Krishna. And how can we become free from suffering? By reviving our eternal relationship with God or Krishna. So the Vedic literatures are given to us to understand who is God. What is my relationship with God? And how can I act in my relationship with God? Therefore, Srila Prabhupada continues.

PURPORT (continued)

The Vedic principles are to help us understand this eternal relation, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ. The Lord says that the purpose of the Vedas is to understand Him.

COMMENT

There is no other purpose, just to know Krishna and what is our eternal relationship with Him.

PURPORT (continued)

 In the Vedic hymns it is said: patiṁ viśvasyātmeśvaram. Therefore, the Lord of the living entities is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu.

COMMENT

So in every group there is a leader. In every family, in every club, in every organization, in every state, there is a leader. But the leader of all living entities is the Lord, Sri Krishna. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām, there are so many eternal living entities who are plural in number, but among them there is one who is singular in number. There are so many conscious living entities who are plural in number, but among them there is one singular conscious living entity. Eko bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān, and that one singular eternal conscious Supreme Being is providing the needs of all the plural numbers of living entities. So we are all individual spirit souls, and there is one Supreme Spirit Soul. But just as we are persons, he is also person. He is not impersonal. If God were impersonal, where does our personality come from? Janmādy asya yataḥ, the absolute truth is he from whom everything emanates. So many persons are coming from the Supreme Absolute Truth—Param Satya. So he is also person. But he is the leader of all other persons.

Right now we are selecting so many other leaders to follow, but spiritually they are almost all blind, and we are also blind. So the blind is leading the blind. The blind leaders themselves are falling in the ditch, and the followers are also falling in the ditch. So why should we follow blind leaders? Almost all the politicians, the scientists, the philanthropists, almost all are blind. So we should rather follow the Supreme Leader, Krishna. And everyone else who claims to be a leader, he should follow Krishna. Then he is qualified to lead the others. Otherwise he is a misleader, misleading people. So the scripture says that Krishna is the Supreme Leader, Vishnu is the Supreme Leader, so we should follow Krishna’s leadership. Therefore, the Lord of the living entities is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vishnu.

PURPORT (continued)

The Lord created this material world to enable the conditioned souls to learn how to perform yajñas (sacrifices) for the satisfaction of Viṣṇu, so that while in the material world they can live very comfortably without anxiety, and after finishing the present material body they can enter into the kingdom of God.

COMMENT

So the Lord made the creation and He sent forth the living entities into the material creation, but at the same time He created sacrifices. And he told them, “Now you perform sacrifice.” Why should we perform sacrifice? What will be the benefit? There will be two benefits. First you will get all the necessities of life. You can live comfortably and happily in the material world. And the second benefit is that after leaving the present body, you get liberated; you go back home, back to Godhead. So what more could anyone want? Nothing. To live happily in the present life and then to go back home, back to Godhead.

PURPORT (continued)

That is the whole program for the conditioned soul. By performance of yajña, the conditioned souls gradually become Kṛṣṇa conscious and become godly in all respects. 

COMMENT

So someone will say, “Yes, I want to perform yajña. I want to live peacefully and happily and I want to go back home, back to Godhead.” But practically, how to perform yajña? Because in previous ages, Vedic yajña required tons of grains and ghee to be offered in the fire. And the sacrifices required highly qualified brahmans who could chant the Vedic mantras. But where is so much pure ghee available? Once, in fact, Srila Prabhupada jokes that the Indians are very fond of importing things from America. Prabhupada commented the condition is such that he has to manufacture brahmans in America and import them into India. But still, to perform Vedic yajña is not practical in the modern age. There is another type of yajña that is especially meant for us in the modern age of Kali-yuga.

PURPORT (continued)

In the Age of Kali, the saṅkīrtana-yajña (the chanting of the names of God) is recommended by the Vedic scriptures, and this transcendental system was introduced by Lord Caitanya for the deliverance of all men in this age. Saṅkīrtana-yajña and Kṛṣṇa consciousness go well together. Lord Kṛṣṇa in His devotional form (as Lord Caitanya) is mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.32) as follows, with special reference to the saṅkīrtana-yajña:

kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ
sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair
yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ

COMMENT

[Unintelligible 00:39:40] the performance of saṅkīrtana-yajña.

PURPORT (continued)

“In this Age of Kali, people who are endowed with sufficient intelligence will worship the Lord, who is accompanied by His associates, by performance of saṅkīrtana-yajña.”Other yajñas prescribed in the Vedic literatures are not easy to perform in this Age of Kali, but the saṅkīrtana-yajña is easy and sublime for all purposes, as recommended in Bhagavad-gītā also (9.14).

COMMENT

So, to get all of the benefits recommended here in Bhagavad-gītā, we have simply to chant the holy names of Krishna. So Boliye,

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

So, do any of you have any questions?

Question: How can we reconcile Krishna consciousness with living in this world?

Giriraj Swami: Well, the first question is, am I living in this world? You and I are both living in this world. We both walk on the same earth. We both breathe the same air. We are both living in the same world. So the question is, not that someone is living in the world and someone is not living in the world; we are all living in the world. The question is, how one lives in the world? Do we live whimsically according to our lust or do we live responsibly according to Lord Krishna’s instructions in Bhagavad-gītā? In Bhagavad-gītā Lord Krishna never says you give up your wife, you give up your family, you give up your work. No. Bhagavad-gītā teaches that you remain where you are, but you act according to the instructions of Lord Krishna. Just like before hearing Bhagavad-gītā, Arjuna was a warrior. And after hearing Bhagavad-gītā, Arjuna was still a warrior. Then what is the difference? The difference is of consciousness. After hearing Bhagavad-gītā, Arjuna became Krishna conscious. He was ready to act according to the direction of Krishna. So, Bhagavad-gītā tells us how we can be Krishna conscious in every situation. And the main factor is the chanting of the holy name.

harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā [Cc. Ādi 17.21]

One should you chant the holy names, chant the holy names, chant the holy names. There is no other way, no other way, no other way for success in Kali-yuga. Hare Krishna

Question: He is confused. What is the color of Lord Krishna?

Giriraj Swami: Lord Krishna, in His original form is Shyamasundara. He has a beautiful, blackish complexion, like the dark monsoon cloud. But when Krishna comes in Kali-yuga as Krishna Chaitanya, He comes in a Golden color and He teaches people to chant.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Yes, according to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the Lord comes in four ages—Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, Dvapara-yuga, and Kali-yuga. And in each age He comes in a different hue. So in Satya-yuga, the Lord comes in whitish hue. In Treta-yuga, He comes in reddish hue. In Dvapara-yuga, He comes in a blackish color as Krishna and in Kali-yuga He comes in the yellowish color as Sri Krishna Chaitanya.

Question: If you realize Lord Krishna, what will be His color at the time of realization?

Giriraj Swami: So if you are devotee of Lord Ramachandra you will see Lord Ramachandra, He has greenish color. If you are a devotee of Lord Krishna, you will see Shyam, and if you are a devotee of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, you will see the yellow. But to realize God is not so cheap; to experience God is not so cheap. You have to surrender fully.

Yes, he said that the Lord should be pleased with the devotees, and we agree. But how will you please the Lord? You have to know the process. You cannot please the Lord by your own imagination. You have to please the Lord by the recommended process. He says definitely, the Lord knows that. Definitely, Lord knows that but we have to know it. Hare Krishna.

Question: How to get success at the time of death?

Giriraj Swami: Lord Krishna explains in Bhagavad-gītā, that whenever you think at the time of death, determines your next life. So if you think of Krishna at the time of death, you will go to Krishna. You will go back home, back to Godhead, where life is eternal, full of bliss and knowledge. Death is like the final examination. Some students are now preparing for their final examination. And whatever work they have done throughout the year is tested in the final examination. Similarly, our whole lives are tested at the time of death. If we remember Krishna at time of death, we pass. And if we forget Krishna at the time of death, we fail. So, how to remember Krishna at the time of death? We have to prepare. Just like the students can prepare for the exam; they attend the classes, they do they assigned reading, they do the homework. So if they prepare properly they can expect to pass the exam. So we also have to prepare for the time of death. We have to practice remembering Lord Krishna. And what is the best way to remember Lord Krishna? To chant the holy name.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare