SB 7.8.47 – Intensive Devotional Service Brings Success

Giriraj Swami: 

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

Reading from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Seven, Chapter Eight, “Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva Slays the King of the Demons,”

TEXT 47

śrī-nāgā ūcuḥ
yena pāpena ratnāni
strī-ratnāni hṛtāni naḥ
tad-vakṣaḥ-pāṭanenāsāṁ
dattānanda namo ‘stu te

TRANSLATION

The inhabitants of Nāgaloka said: The most sinful Hiraṇyakaśipu took away all the jewels on our hoods and all our beautiful wives. Now, since his chest has been pierced by Your nails, You are the source of all pleasure to our wives. Thus we together offer our respectful obeisances unto You.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

No one is peaceful if his wealth and wife are forcibly taken away. All the inhabitants of Nāgaloka, which is situated below the earthly planetary system, were in great anxiety because their wealth had been stolen and their wives kidnapped by Hiraṇyakaśipu. Now, Hiraṇyakaśipu having been killed, their wealth and wives were returned, and their wives felt satisfied. The inhabitants of various lokas, or planets, offered their respectful obeisances unto the Lord because they were relieved by the death of Hiraṇyakaśipu. Disturbances similar to those created by Hiraṇyakaśipu are now taking place all over the world because of demoniac governments. As stated in the Twelfth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the men of the governments of Kali-yuga will be no better than rogues and plunderers. Thus the populace will be harassed on one side by scarcity of food and on another by heavy taxation by the government. In other words, the people in most parts of the world in this age are harassed by the ruling principles of Hiraṇyakaśipu.

COMMENT

So, the Lord is very merciful. Generally, when we think of the mercy of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, we think of Prahlada Maharaja, who was the devotee of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva. But although Hiraṇyakaśipu’s harassment of Prahlada was the immediate cause for the Lord’s appearance, there were many other persons spread throughout the universe who were also harassed by Hiraṇyakaśipu. And when Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva appeared and killed the demon, all the others who had been harassed by the demon were also relieved and pleased by the Lord’s action.

So even persons who are not devotees, certainly not pure devotees, they were also benefited by the Lord’s mercy. And even Hiraṇyakaśipu himself, who was the greatest of demons, was also benefited because he was killed by the hands of the Lord. He was also purified. So the Lord is absolute. Anyone who comes in contact with the Lord benefits. The Lord is equal to all. He is merciful to all. And therefore, an intelligent person will approach the Lord, as stated in the Second Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,

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

Whether one has no desire, or is full of all sorts of desires, or is desirous of liberation, he should approach the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, and render devotional service unto Him.

So, in other systems like karma-yoga and jnana-yoga, what to speak of ashtanga-yoga, there are many prerequisites for the candidate. There are many qualifications required of the candidates. But in bhakti-yoga, there is no qualification. The only qualification is that one should have the desire to serve the Lord. So there are many examples in the history of the universe of different types of persons who approached the Lord and became successful by the mercy of the Lord. One example is Dhruva Maharaja, who actually performed austerities here in Vrajabhumi. He had a material desire. He wanted a kingdom. But he approached the Lord and rendered very strong devotional service, and the Lord was so pleased with him that the Lord appeared before him. But when Dhruva Maharaja perceived the beauty of the Lord and the mercy of the Lord, he felt so satisfied that he completely forgot about his desire for his kingdom, and he simply wanted to serve the Lord without any ulterior motive. In fact, he lamented that he had approached the Lord with some other motive. So, tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena. Srila Prabhupada explains that the word tīvra refers to a particle of sunlight. A particle of sunlight is very powerful, can be very powerful.

So if we render devotional service very intensely, whether we have no desire or are full of material desires, or desire liberation, but if we render devotional service very intensely, we will attain success. There are many verses in various scriptures, quoted especially in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, which explain the characteristics of pure devotional service. And one of the characteristics is that pure devotional service destroys all sinful reactions. And there is a verse quoted that just as fire turns fuel into ashes, so pure devotional service reduces all of our sinful reactions to nil. But again, the intensity of our devotional service is the critical factor. For example, if the fire of devotional service is blazing very brightly or strongly, then any amount of fuel that is put into the fire will be immediately consumed. So if we are in the fire of devotional service, then all sinful reactions will very quickly be destroyed. But if our fire of devotional service is weak, then the sinful reactions will not be consumed so quickly. The sinful reactions will be consumed, but slowly. And in the meantime, we will have to suffer more. So the conclusion is that anyone, without any qualification, can engage in devotional service. But the result of the service or the effect of the service will depend on the intensity with which the person renders the service. And Dhruva Maharaja is the example of someone who, within six months, was able to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead because he very strictly followed the orders of his spiritual master, Narada Muni. And because of his intense practices, the Lord was so pleased with him that the Lord appeared before him in six months.

Now we are in Kali-yuga. We cannot perform the severe austerities that devotees performed in previous ages. We have been given a very simple process by the mercy of the Lord Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and that is the chanting of the holy names of the Lord.

harer nāma harer nāma
harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalua nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā 

In different ages, different methods are recommended. In Satya-yuga, the method was meditation. In Treta-yuga, the method was sacrifice. In Dvapara-yuga, the method was worship. But in Kali-yuga, the method is the chanting of the holy names of the Lord.

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

And just by chanting Hare Krishna, one can achieve all success. So the words, harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam are repeated three times for emphasis: “You must do it, you must do it, you must do it.” And kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā, there is no other way, no other way, no other way. Not by meditation, not by sacrifice, not by worship, but only by chanting the holy names. But we should follow strictly. Chanting the holy names is deceptively easy, or as Srila Prabhupada said that chanting is easy, but the determination to chant is not so easy. We recently had the good fortune of attending the temple opening in Bangalore. And the temple president and project director there, Sri Madhu Pandit Prabhu had very deep realizations about the holy name. In fact, on the evening of the day of the deity installation, different senior devotees expressed their appreciation and shared their realization. And at the end, Madhu Pandit Prabhu himself spoke, and he described how he had come to Bangalore alone, more or less alone, with his wife and maybe one or two brahmacharis. And he had gone to Mayapur and visited Srila Prabhupada’s bhajana-kuṭira. And somehow, in Srila Prabhupada’s bhajana-kuṭira, he had a realization. And the realization was that he should chant all of his rounds continuously in the morning, and somehow or other, whatever happens, he should finish his rounds by ten o’clock. He had the realization that he should attend the whole morning program from beginning to end and he acted upon the inspiration he got in Srila Prabhupada’s bhajana-kuṭira. But he considered that if these practices are good for me, they must be good for everyone. So he insisted that everyone in the temple join with him from the beginning of the morning program to the end, chanting all of their rounds together in the temple. And Madhu Pandit Prabhu said that his decision to chant sixteen rounds continuously was the turning point in his spiritual life and the turning point in the development of the project there.

About three years ago, I happened to visit Bangalore and I saw how intense the morning program was. Madhu Pandit Prabhu had every single devotee in the temple practically was in the temple from 4:30 until 9:30. We had a little extended morning program because he wanted the morning program to include maṅgala-ārati, Nṛsiṁha prayer, tulasi-puja, sixteen rounds, individual reading, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam class, and guru-puja. And the whole atmosphere in the temple was so enlivening by the concentrated effort of all the devotees assembled there for the purpose of hearing and chanting.

So after the temple opening, I took the opportunity to speak with Madhu Pandit Prabhu personally. He was just going on and on about the importance of sixteen rounds. How by chanting sixteen rounds, the whole project had developed. And when you see the project there, you will see what a project it is. It is not an ordinary thing. I think it is probably the greatest achievement in terms of temple construction, the project development since Srila Prabhupada left, apart from maybe international projects like the Samadhi. Even then, it is a fantastic project. So he just kept going on and on about sixteen rounds, how was all the sixteen rounds. But as he was speaking, I realized that there is a difference between his sixteen rounds and maybe the sixteen rounds that others of us chant.

Because when he chants sixteen rounds, he really has some realization of the holy name, that the holy name is actually Krishna. He was saying that philosophically chanting Krishna’s name and remembering Krishna are the same on the absolute platform. They are the same. But he was saying that in his position, when he simply tries to remember Krishna, he doesn’t feel that he is actually in touch with Krishna. But because of the mercy of Lord Chaitanya and the holy name, in Kali-yuga, when he chants the holy names, he actually feels that he is in contact with Krishna. And he was saying that whatever he wanted, any desire he had, whatever he asked the holy name, immediately he got. Perhaps these are confidential disclosures that he made to me which I should not share. But still, he said that he had to be very careful what he asked the holy name because whatever he asked, the holy name immediately he got. And in terms of the project, he said there was never any problem for money. There was never any problem for money. And apparently, altogether he spent about twenty-six crores. He said there was never a time when there was a problem for money. So there is so much potency in the holy name. So much potency in the holy name but we have to realize it. And the way to realize it is to very sincerely and seriously practice chanting it and hearing it, chanting the holy name and hearing the holy name.

So sixteen rounds is not a small thing. Some people have the idea that, “Oh, Srila Prabhupada minimized the number of rounds because we were Westerners and we could not chant more rounds.” But if we could really chant sixteen rounds, really experience the holy name for sixteen rounds, we would be transformed. We would be transformed. So again, the process that Srila Prabhupada has given us is deceptively simple. “Oh, just chant sixteen rounds and follow the four principles.” But even the one instruction to chant sixteen rounds may take us a long time to actually follow properly, to actually chant the holy name in the proper way, with intensity, with attention. And whatever we might have been or whoever we might be, if we chant the holy name with that intensity, with that concentration, we will be transformed. And Madhu Pandit Prabhu also said that each one of us has so much karma that he carries with him. But his personal realization is that if one properly chants sixteen rounds, one will be relieved from the bad effects of one’s karma. One may not be completely freed from one’s karma, but one will be freed from the bad effects of one’s karma. 

Sri Sri Krishna-Balaram ki jaya!

Sri Sri Radha-Shyamasundara ki jaya!

Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai ki jaya!

So he was saying that by the mercy of the holy name, sixteen rounds, one will be able to see how he can engage himself, whatever capacity he has, whatever so-called assets and so-called liabilities he has as a result of past pious activities or sinful activities. He will see how to engage in devotional service in such a way that all of his qualities are favorably engaged. So this is also the mercy of the holy name, that the devotee is enlightened how he can engage his faculty in Krishna’s service in the best way. Then his past karma does not act as an impediment, but it acts as a facility for serving the Lord. Whereas Srila Prabhupada use the term, dovetail. We dovetail our propensities in the service of the Lord. So there is so much benefit to be gotten just from chanting sixteen rounds if we do it in the right way. So we have to work. The activities that Srila Prabhupada gave us are easy, but to do them properly, we have to work. And then whoever we are, whatever we might have been, we can be purified and we can achieve the supreme perfection of Krishna consciousness. Hare Krishna.

Are there any questions or comments?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:32:50]

Giriraj Swami: Sri Gopal Prabhu asked the question that there are nine processes of devotional service and one can attain perfection by performing any one of them. And of course, chanting of the holy name is one. But why give special emphasis to the holy name?

When Sanatana Gosvami was residing at Jagannatha Puri, actually he was in Vrindavan, but he came to Jagannatha Puri to meet Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. And he had decided that he would give up his life under the wheels of the chariot of Jagannatha. He thought that he was simply suffering, that when he was away from Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he was suffering. And even if he stayed in Jagannatha Puri, he would not be able to be with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu all the time. So there would be more suffering. He came to the conclusion that no matter where he was, he would suffer in separation from Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. So he decided to give up his life.

Furthermore, on the way from Vrindavan to Puri, he contracted a skin disease that was oozing liquid and blood. And when he arrived in Puri, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu embraced him. Sanatana Gosvami tried to avoid it, but Lord Chaitanya embraced him by force. And then Sanatana Gosvami felt even worse that, ”My contaminated body with sores and oozing liquids and blood is touching the body of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.” But he felt terrible. So one day when Lord Chaitanya came to meet Sanatana Gosvami and Haridasa Thakura, Lord Chaitanya just brought up the subject of suicide. And He said that suicide is in the mode of ignorance and you should give up such nonsensical ideas. And Sanatana Gosvami had not said anything, but Lord Chaitanya was omniscient, so He knew. He asked Sanatana Gosvami that, “If you give some property to someone else, do you have the right to take it back and destroy it?” Of course, Sanatana Gosvami said, “No.” Lord Chaitanya said, “You have already surrendered your body to Me, you don’t have the right to take it back. You can’t take it back and you can’t destroy it. It is not your property now.”

Then Lord Chaitanya said that, ”If by committing suicide, I could obtain Krishna and love for Krishna, I would immediately give up thousands and millions of bodies without any hesitation. But one cannot attain Krishna by such means. One can attain Krishna only by devotional service.” And He mentioned the nine types of devotional service. And then He said, Lord Chaitanya said to Sanatana Gosvami that, “Still, even among the nine types of devotional service, the chanting of the holy names of Krishna is the best.” And of course, in the purport, Srila Prabhupada quote various references from scripture. So it is true; śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ, on the absolute platform, there is no difference. And if one engages in any one of them perfectly, he can attain perfection. But still, the chanting of the holy name is especially recommended for the fallen souls in the age of Kali. And therefore, on the authority of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, on the authority of shastra, on the authority of guru, Srila Prabhupada, we accept the primary process is the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. And in his own way, Madhu Pandit Prabhu expressed his realization that yes, smaraṇaṁ is no different from kīrtanam. But his realization was that when he tries to do smaraṇaṁ, he doesn’t really feel that he is in contact with Krishna. But when he does kīrtanam, he feels it. And it is also described in Bṛhad-Bhāgavatāmṛta, although in principle there is no difference, but smaraṇaṁ could very easily be disturbed. We are sitting trying to remember the pastimes of Krishna and there is some sounds and immediately we are distracted. But if there is loud kirtan, it doesn’t matter what sounds are going on, but we will be immersed in the holy name. And even japa should be audible. The transcendental sound vibration should enter the ears and the heart, or the mind. Somehow it is the Lord’s arrangement for us in the modern age. And therefore, Srila Prabhupada said that of all the regulative principles, the spiritual master’s instruction to chant sixteen rounds daily is most essential.

Actually, there was one boy, an American boy or European, who joined our party when we were traveling with Srila Prabhupada in India in 1970, 1971. So the boy asked Srila Prabhupada, “If all service is absolute, why do we have to chant sixteen rounds? Why can’t we just as well do some other service?” Srila Prabhupada tried to explain, but somehow the boy was not satisfied. He kept persisting in asking the question. And finally, Srila Prabhupada sat up very straight and stern, and in a very heavy tone, he answered, “Why do you have to chant sixteen rounds? Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead wants you to.” Then the boy said, “Well, I might have done twenty-three hours of service during the day, and there is one hour left. And in that one hour, I could either finish my sixteen rounds or do some other service. Why do I have to finish my sixteen rounds?” Srila Prabhupada said, “You cannot make your own concoction. You have to obey what Krishna and Krishna’s representative order you to do.” Then the boy said, “Well, sometimes late at night, I feel tired. I mean, I could finish my rounds, but I feel tired. So I think maybe it is better to take rest.” Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, you can sleep the whole day and night, but first you finish your sixteen rounds.” He said, “This is a special prerogative for you. You just chant sixteen rounds, and the rest of the day you can eat and sleep. But you must finish sixteen rounds.” So these are the statements of our founder acharya, which are based on the scriptures, which are based on Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s instructions. And we can’t argue. Srila Prabhupada told the boy, “If you argue, why this, why not that? Then where is the surrender? Surrender means you are given the instruction, and you must do it.” Yes, Mataji.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:44:08] So in those predicament situations, what are the specific ways in which one can overcome those kinds of preparations?

Giriraj Swami: Well, this question is very significant because one’s spiritual progress is accelerated in the association of pure devotees and in the holy dhāma. And when we leave the association of advanced devotees or leave the dhāma, we have to struggle to maintain the same level. Actually, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam explains that the value of the service one renders in the holy dhāma is multiplied one thousand times. When we come to the holy dhāma, we can actually experience that our spiritual practices are easier and our experience of Krishna consciousness is better. And we don’t want to lose that experience. I mean, that experience is what we want. It is what our hearts are hankering for. And it is the only thing that can actually satisfy our heart. So how to maintain that?

Once Srila Prabhupada initiated one disciple and gave him the name Bhavananda. So after the initiation ceremony, the disciple approached Srila Prabhupada to explain the meaning of the name Bhavananda. Because Bhavananda, Bhava means the material world, and ānanda means bliss. Like here, Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva is Dattananda. He gave bliss. So the disciple was a little bit concerned about his name Srila Prabhupada gave him, Bhavananda, the bliss of the material world. So Srila Prabhupada explains that the devotee, he has no separate experience of pleasure outside of Krishna’s pleasure. And the more the devotee can give pleasure to Krishna, the more the devotee will experience pleasure. So nothing gives Krishna greater pleasure than preaching. When we preach Krishna consciousness, we give Krishna the greatest pleasure because we bring fallen souls to Him. So Lord Krishna’s greatest anxiety or greatest lamentation is that why the fallen souls are not taken to Krishna consciousness. How to bring the fallen souls to Krishna consciousness? So that is the Lord’s greatest anxiety. And by bringing souls to Krishna consciousness, we relieve the Lord’s anxiety and give Him the greatest happiness.

So Srila Prabhupada explained that where can we give Krishna the greatest pleasure of preaching? Only in the material world. There is no need to preach in the spiritual world. You can only preach in the material world. So the bliss of the material world, Bhavananda, the bliss of the material world, is preaching. By preaching and bringing people to the shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord, we give pleasure to the Lord, the greatest pleasure to the Lord. And therefore, we automatically feel pleasure. So by leaving the dhāma and preaching, we can give the greatest pleasure to Krishna Chaitanya. And we can also experience the greatest pleasure. But it is like chanting. It is easy, but at the same time, it is not so easy. We have to do it very seriously. But if we do it, we can give the greatest pleasure to Krishna and thus experience ourselves the greatest pleasure.

Because our goal is to approach Radha and Krishna, so once Srila Prabhupada said that “We can only approach Radha and Krishna through the mercy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.” We know that. “And we can only get the mercy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu by the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu. And the way to get mercy of Nityananda Prabhu is to approach people like Jagai and Madhai.” Very fallen, sinful person. And there so many of them outside the dhāma. So we leave the dhāma and approach such persons, by the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu and the mercy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu we can approach Radha and Krishna. Once our godbrother Pancha Dravida Maharaja, we were on the morning walk with Srila Prabhupada on the roof of his building in Mayapur. So Pancha Dravida Maharaja exclaimed that, “Srila Prabhupada, this spiritual atmosphere in Mayapur is so sublime. I feel like I never want to leave.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “But you must leave. You must make the whole world like Mayapur.” So that was Srila Prabhupada’s mood and that was his instruction. And when we do go out to the field, and struggle to preach Krishna consciousness. And then we come back, we get the real reciprocation of the Lord through the association of advanced devotees, and through the dhāma itself. But if we just become selfish that, ”Oh, I am relishing Krishna consciousness in Vrindavan, but of course that was not your idea to stay in Vrindavan, your idea was how to maintain one’s Krishna consciousness outside Vrindavan. So the answer is by following Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, that is, have strong sadhana wherever you are and preach to the best of your ability under the circumstances, and that will keep you connected.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Sri Vrindavan dhāma ki jaya!

London, Bombay, Hong Kong, Mauritius, and other preaching fields ki jaya!

Nitai-Gaura premānande Hari Haribol!

Devotee: His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja ki jaya!