SB 7.9.42 – Eternally the Servant of the Servant

Giriraj Swami: Reading from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Canto Seven, Chapter Nine, “Prahlada Pacifies Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva with Prayers,”

TEXT 42

ko nv atra te ‘khila-guro bhagavan prayāsa
uttāraṇe ‘sya bhava-sambhava-lopa-hetoḥ
mūḍheṣu vai mahad-anugraha ārta-bandho
kiṁ tena te priya-janān anusevatāṁ naḥ

TRANSLATION

O my Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, original spiritual master of the entire world, what is the difficulty for You, who manage the affairs of the universe, in delivering the fallen souls engaged in Your devotional service? You are the friend of all suffering humanity, and for great personalities it is necessary to show mercy to the foolish. Therefore I think that You will show Your causeless mercy to persons like us, who engage in Your service.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Here the words priya-janān anusevatāṁ naḥ indicate that the Supreme Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is very favorable to devotees who act according to the instructions of His own pure devotee. In other words, one must become the servant of the servant of the servant of the Lord. If one wants to become the servant of the Lord directly, this is not as fruitful as engaging in the service of the Lord’s servant. This is the direction of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who shows us the way to become gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ. One should not be proud of becoming directly the servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Rather, one must seek a pure devotee, a servant of the Lord, and engage oneself in the service of such a servant. The more one becomes the servant of the servant, the more one becomes perfect in devotional service. This is also the injunction of Bhagavad-gītā: evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ. One can understand the science of the Supreme Personality of Godhead simply by the paramparā system. In this regard, Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, tāṅdera caraṇa sevi bhakta-sane vāsa: “Let me serve the lotus feet of the devotees of the Lord, and let me live with devotees.” Janame janame haya, ei abhilāṣa. Following Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, one should aspire to be a servant of the Lord’s servant, life after life. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura also sings, tumi ta’ ṭhākura, tomāra kukura, baliyā jānaha more: “O my Lord, O Vaiṣṇava, please consider me your dog.” One must become the dog of a Vaiṣṇava, a pure devotee, for a pure devotee can deliver Kṛṣṇa without difficulty. Kṛṣṇa se tomāra, kṛṣṇa dite pāra. Kṛṣṇa is the property of His pure devotee, and if we take shelter of a pure devotee, he can deliver Kṛṣṇa very easily. Prahlāda wants to engage in the service of a devotee, and therefore he prays to Kṛṣṇa, “My dear Lord, kindly give me the shelter of Your very dear devotee so that I may engage in his service and You may then be pleased.” Mad-bhakta-pūjābhyadhikā (Bhāg. 11.19.21). The Lord says, “Engaging in the service of My devotee is better than trying to engage in My devotional service.”

Another significant point in this verse is that by devotional service Prahlāda Mahārāja does not want to benefit alone. Rather, he prays to the Lord that all of us fallen souls in this material world may, by the grace of the Lord, engage in the service of His servant and thus be delivered. The grace of the Lord is not at all difficult for the Lord to bestow, and thus Prahlāda Mahārāja wants to save the whole world by spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness. 

Sri Sri Radha-Shyamasundara ki jaya!
Sri Sri Krishna-Balarama ki jaya!
Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai ki jaya!
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya.

So, the Lord is described here as bhava-sambhava-lopa-hetoḥ, the cause of creation, maintenance, and destruction. Srishti-sthiti-pralaya- sadhana-shaktir eka. In Brahma-saṁhitā, Durga devi is addressed as the cause of creation, maintenance, and destruction. But as stated in Bhagavad-gītā material nature acts under the superintendence of Lord Krishna. So ultimately Lord Krishna is creating, maintaining, and destroying the universe. Material scientists think that nature is everything. They do not know that behind nature is the Supreme Lord. And the Supreme Lord is actually creating, maintaining, and destroying. The Supreme Lord is all-powerful. So here Prahlada prays to the Supreme Lord that you are all-powerful. You can create and maintain and destroy the entire universe without any difficulty. So what is the difficulty for you to deliver fallen souls like us?

Everyone in the material world wants the help of some friend or benefactor. We seek the favor of some big man or little man. But the persons we approach in the material world may not be able to help us. Even if they have the desire to help us, they may feel some difficulty to actually help us because they are limited. And the help we desire or require may be beyond their limits. But the Supreme Lord is unlimited. And therefore He can fulfill any desire or any need without any difficulty. So if we want some favor from someone, we should approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Even if we approach some demigod or some human being who wants to help us, but even they cannot help us without the sanction of the Supreme Lord, because no one in the material world is independent. Everyone is dependent on the favor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And even the demigods cannot bestow favor without the sanction of the Supreme Lord, so what to speak of other ordinary living beings.

And therefore, earlier in the Seventh Canto, Prahlada prayed to Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, bālasya neha śaraṇaṁ pitarau nṛsiṁha, that even if a child is protected by his mother and his father, if he is not cared for by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he cannot be happy. The parents naturally want the children to be happy. But although the parents try their best to see that the children are happy, unless the efforts of the parents are sanctioned by the Supreme Lord, the children cannot be happy unless Krishna sanctions. Srila Prabhupada even gives the example that we may approach some big man for some favor, to become a life member or give a donation. But he cannot give favor independently. Unless Krishna within the heart gives dictation that you should give to the devotee, he cannot give. So we should not feel sorry if someone does not show favor to us because Krishna within the heart is not dictating to the person to give favor. So we depend wholly and solely on the mercy of the Lord. We can make so many arrangements to protect and defend ourselves, but unless the Lord sanctions our efforts, we cannot be successful. And for the Lord there is no endeavor, prayāsa; prayāsa means endeavor. As devotees we should not over-endeavor, prayāsaḥ niyamāgrahaḥ. There are six things that can actually destroy one’s devotional service and one is prayāsa or over-endeavor. Even as devotees we may over-endeavor to achieve some result in the material world, and if we over-endeavor our devotional service will be disturbed.

Of course sometimes preachers do take risks in the service of the Lord, but they take calculated risks. They are not foolish, but they assess what is the risk involved in this endeavor. What is the possible loss? What are the possible gains? What are the chances of our succeeding in this endeavor? And what are the chances of us failing? And if they see that there are good chances of succeeding and that the gain will be very worthwhile for Krishna consciousness, they may take the risk, a calculated risk. But they are not foolish. Once Srila Prabhupada told a story of a very swiftly flowing river. So many big elephants attempted to cross the river, and they were all swept away by the currents. So then one very lean and thin horse came. And he thought, Well, I will cross the river. He was nothing compared to the huge elephant, so naturally he got swept away. So Srila Prabhupada told the story in relation to one disciple. So many big devotees had undertaken some service or some project, and they all got swept away. So this little devotee came and he thought, he will do it. So Srila Prabhupada compared him to the thin horse.

So we should assess what we can actually do and we can even take a calculated risk. But we should not just run into some situation or rush into some service which is beyond our capacity, which will be too much of an endeavor for us. But one thing we can do, and that is we can bring everyone to the shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, because for him there is no prayāsa, there is no endeavor. Without any difficulty he creates and maintains and destroys the universes. So for him there is no endeavor. And therefore we can bring any number of persons to the shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And the Lord will be able to deliver all of them. And this is Prahlada Maharaja’s prayer. That the Lord should show mercy upon the fallen souls. He refers to the fallen souls, mūḍheṣu, foolish persons, rotting in the material world. He wants the Lord to show mercy to them. And practically everyone in the material world is foolish as we will read in the next verse, because they are making elaborate plans to be happy in the material world. But the material world has already been certified by the creator Krishna as duḥkhālayam ashasvatam, a place of misery. So they want to make duḥkhālayam into sukhālayam. They want to make a miserable place into a happy place. So they are very foolish, but we are all always trying to do that. If I just get a good wife, I will be happy. If I just get a good husband, I will be happy. If I just get a nice house or apartment, I will be happy. If I just get a good position, I will be happy. And on and on and on. We are constantly trying to make arrangements to be happy in the material world. But we cannot be happy in the material world. The only way we can be happy is if we are Krishna conscious. If we take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

So Prahlada Maharaja knows that people cannot become happy by material adjustment, by taking shelter of material plans or material persons. He knows they can only become happy by taking shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And therefore he wants to bring everyone unto the Supreme Lord’s shelter. But the other thing is that we cannot take shelter of the Supreme Lord directly. We have to take shelter of the servant of the servant of the servant of the Lord. Then the Lord will be pleased to give mercy to us. Even Prahlada Maharaja, who was a great devotee from birth, was guided by his spiritual master, Narada Muni, within the womb. And he was favored by Narada Muni so much that the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself personally gave darshan to Prahlada Maharaja. But even being favored by the direct audience of the Lord, Prahlada Maharaja never forgot his spiritual master. Narada Muni never forgot his Guru Maharaja. But rather he prayed to the Supreme Lord that he may always remain engaged in the service of his spiritual master even though he was having the direct audience of the Lord. So in Vaishnava philosophy we do not want to or try to jump over the spiritual master. The impersonalists do, but not the Vaishnavas.

Once Srila Prabhupada was walking with some disciples in Mayapur. And they came to some embankment. So one disciple jumped up on the embankment and took Srila Prabhupada’s hand to help him up. Srila Prabhupada’s hand was very heavy. And as soon as Srila Prabhupada got to the top of the embankment, he very suddenly and abruptly withdrew his hand from the hand of the disciple. And he began to walk ahead very quickly, leaving the disciple behind. So the disciple became very concerned whether he had done something wrong, that Srila Prabhupada so abruptly withdrew his hand from the disciple’s hand and began walking quickly ahead. Then Srila Prabhupada stopped. And he said, “This is what the impersonalists do.” They take help from the spiritual master to reach a certain position. And when they reach the position, they think they don’t need the spiritual master anymore. They can just leave him behind.

I have even heard the devotees in ISKCON give the example that the spiritual master is like a ladder. They climb up the ladder to reach a certain height or position, then they don’t need the ladder anymore. So similarly, we need the spiritual master to make connections with Srila Prabhupada. And Srila Prabhupada is like a ladder. So once we have been connected with Srila Prabhupada, we don’t need the spiritual master anymore. So even if he leaves, it doesn’t matter. But Vaishnava philosophy is different. In Vaishnava philosophy we remain eternally the servant of the servant of the servant of the Lord. Because the Lord is more pleased when His servant is pleased than when we try to please the Lord directly. Srila Prabhupada used to quote the English expression, ‘love me, and love my dog.’ Like a big man who may be walking down the street with his dog. So if you want to approach the big man directly, he will not entertain you. But if you begin first with the dog, petting the dog, “Oh what a nice dog, how sweet he is,” then automatically the big man will be pleased. Because you have appreciated his dog, he has become pleased and therefore he will be ready to entertain you.

Similarly, we cannot approach Krishna directly; we cannot approach the predecessor acharyas directly. But if we pet their dog and please their dog, then automatically they will be pleased. And we will be able to begin our relationship with them. So the prayer of Prahlada Maharaja is very significant. He is praying not just for himself but for all fallen souls. For the Lord will show mercy upon them. And how will the Lord be moved to show mercy upon them? If the Lord sees that they are engaged in the service of His dear ones, in the service of His own servants, then He will be pleased to give mercy to them. So therefore Prahlada wants to bring all fallen souls to the shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord’s devotees so that ultimately the Lord will be pleased to show mercy upon them. So we in ISKCON should have the same prayer as Prahlada Maharaja. We should make the same endeavor as Prahlada Maharaja to bring all fallen souls to the shelter of Srila Prabhupada and his servants. Because then Krishna will be pleased to give His mercy to them. Hare Krishna.

Are there any questions or comments?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:42:02]

Giriraj Swami: How does one bring someone to Krishna?

One gives Him the process by which he can approach Krishna. Of course, when one acts in the position of spiritual master, he takes more of a personal responsibility, especially when one acts as a dīkṣā-guru. And therefore, as you say, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu advised that one should not accept too many disciples. But we can still bring people to Krishna without accepting them as personal disciples. As Chaitanya Mahaprabhu instructed, yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa, āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa [Cc. Madhya 7.128], that wherever you go, whoever you meet, just repeat the message of Krishna. In this way, become a spiritual master and deliver everyone in this land. So, in the purport Srila Prabhupada explains that one can remain wherever he is and just repeat the message of Krishna. He doesn’t have to suddenly leave his house and family. And he doesn’t have to suddenly try to act as a spiritual master, because only an advanced devotee can really act as a spiritual master. And one should not try to imitate an advanced devotee if he is not advanced.

So, as far as preaching the message of Krishna, there is no restriction. Only one should have heard the message of Krishna from a bona fide devotee. Then he can relay the message without restriction. But to accept disciples is a very serious responsibility. And one should definitely assess one’s own capacity and even more important than assessing one’s own capacity, one should see if there are blessings from one’s superior authority. But even then, if there are blessings from one’s superior authority to accept disciples, one should be careful not to accept too many unqualified disciples. Otherwise, one may become burdened by their intellectual activities, even by their social problems, and one may become weakened himself. So it is just like a person is trying to carry a load for Krishna. So he has to carry the right amount of load. If he carries too light, although he is not doing his best for Krishna. And if he foolishly or naively attempts to carry too heavy a burden, he may not make it to the top himself; the burden will hinder all that. So you are right, one should be cautious.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:51:00]

Giriraj Swami: Sometimes over-endeavor may be required to compensate for under-endeavor. Srila Prabhupada was making the endeavor to translate the book. And the manuscripts were just piled up because the disciples weren’t making the endeavor sufficiently to publish the book. So Srila Prabhupada got fed up waiting and he gave the ultimatum that “You publish the books within two months or you are fired.” And they said “Srila Prabhupada, it is not possible.” Srila Prabhupada replied, “Impossible is a word in a fool’s dictionary.” So they surrendered to the order of Srila Prabhupada, and they were blessed by the Lord’s mercy, and they were successful. Two months is possible. We have book distribution marathons for one month, one and a half month; it is possible. But if over-endeavor becomes a pattern in one’s life, it is not calculated that “okay, I can do a marathon for one week or one month or two months.” It is not calculated. But it just becomes a life pattern to over-endeavor, not have time for one sadhana, not have time for Vaishnava saṅga, not have time for one’s health, and then there can be complications. But if you have just been eating and sleeping for months, and then the spiritual master comes and says, “Okay, wake up, get to work, I want this, this, this, and this within this much time,” it will be good for you.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya.

Nitai-Gaura premānande.