BG 9.4 – The Topmost Worship Krishna’s Devotee

Giriraj Swami: 

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

Reading from Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Chapter Nine: “The Most Confidential Knowledge,” Text fourteen.

TEXT 14

satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ

yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ

namasyantaś ca māṁ bhaktyā

nitya-yuktā upāsate

TRANSLATION

Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The mahātmā cannot be manufactured by rubber-stamping an ordinary man. His symptoms are described here: a mahātmā is always engaged in chanting the glories of the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead. He has no other business. He is always engaged in the glorification of the Lord. In other words, he is not an impersonalist. When the question of glorification is there, one has to glorify the Supreme Lord, praising His holy name, His eternal form, His transcendental qualities and His uncommon pastimes. One has to glorify all these things; therefore a mahātmā is attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

One who is attached to the impersonal feature of the Supreme Lord, the brahma-jyotir, is not described as mahātmā in the Bhagavad-gītā. He is described in a different way in the next verse. The mahātmā is always engaged in different activities of devotional service, as described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, hearing and chanting about Viṣṇu, not a demigod or human being. That is devotion: śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ and smaraṇam, remembering Him. Such a mahātmā has firm determination to achieve at the ultimate end the association of the Supreme Lord in any one of the five transcendental rāsas. To achieve that success, he engages all activities – mental, bodily and vocal, everything – in the service of the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. That is called full Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

In devotional service there are certain activities which are called determined, such as fasting on certain days, like the eleventh day of the moon, Ekādaśī, and on the appearance day of the Lord. All these rules and regulations are offered by the great ācāryas for those who are actually interested in getting admission into the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the transcendental world. The mahātmās, great souls, strictly observe all these rules and regulations, and therefore they are sure to achieve the desired result.

As described in the second verse of this chapter, not only is this devotional service easy, but it can be performed in a happy mood. One does not need to undergo any severe penance and austerity. He can live this life in devotional service, guided by an expert spiritual master, and in any position, either as a householder or a sannyāsī or a brahmacārī; in any position and anywhere in the world, he can perform this devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and thus become actually mahātmā, a great soul.

COMMENT

So, we have all heard the term mahatma. In fact, many years ago, when I first joined the temple in Boston, I was walking down the street in downtown Boston, and some middle-aged American man, who was walking down the street, saw me dressed in Vaishnava attire. And at the time, the Hare Krishna movement was very new in America, maybe he had never even seen a devotee before. But as soon as he saw me, we were walking in opposite directions, he started to go like this, “Mahatma, mahatma!” So, even he had heard of mahatma. But although many persons have heard the term mahatma, how many know the definition of mahatma as given in Bhagavad-gītā? Therefore, Srila Prabhupada says that a mahatma cannot be an ordinary man with a rubber stamp mahatma, he must have some qualifications. And the qualifications are mentioned here, satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ, “He is always engaged in chanting the glories of Krishna.” Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has given the same instruction, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ, “One should always engage in chanting the glories of Lord Hari.”

So, the instructions of Lord Krishna here in Bhagavad-gītā, and the instructions of Krishna Chaitanya in Śikṣāṣṭakam are the same, we should always chant the glories of Lord Krishna. And what is glorious about Lord Krishna? Everything. His name, His form, His qualities, His pastimes, His paraphernalia, His associates, His service, all are glorious. And therefore, the pure devotee constantly engages in the chanting of the glories of the Lord. In fact, Srila Rupa Gosvami has analyzed sixty-four important items of devotional service. Of course, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ

smaraṇaṁ, but they are subdivided also into nāma-kīrtana, glorifying the Holy Name, rupa-kīrtana, glorifying the beautiful form, guna- kīrtana, glorifying the transcendental qualities, and līlā-kīrtana, glorifying the uncommon pastimes. So, in this way, the nine processes become divided into so many other processes, all related to hearing about, speaking about, and remembering the transcendental features of Lord Krishna.

So, Srila Prabhupada has created the International Society for Krishna Consciousness to create mahatmas, and to enable ordinary persons to get the associations of mahatmas. Mahatmas take pleasure in conversing about Sri Krishna, and they derive great bliss and satisfaction from talking with each other about Krishna and enlightening each other about Krishna consciousness. So, this is the purpose of our association. Unfortunately, in conditioned life, we are inclined to discuss topics other than Krishna, but such talks are condemned in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Talks without Krishna are compared to the croaking of frogs. Of course, now the moat of the temple is empty, but when the moat used to be full of water, sometimes during the year, it would also be full of frogs. And especially the devotees staying at the back under the moat could hear the tumultuous croaking of frogs.

So, any talks minus Krishna are just like the croaking of frogs. Some big scientist with a Nobel prize may be talking, but if his talks are minus Krishna, his talks are just like the croaking of a frog. A politician may be a great leader of millions of persons, but if his talks are minus Krishna, his talks are equal to the croaking of frogs. Nobody really appreciates the sound of the croaking of frogs, except maybe the frogs themselves. And what is the result of such croaking, such talking without Krishna? The result is that one calls death very near. Srila Prabhupada explains that in the dark, no one can see the frogs. But as soon as they begin croaking, the snake hears the croaking and he discovers the frog, and he swallows him. So, the snake is compared to death. And when we waste our time speaking about topics without Krishna, we are calling the snake, “Here I am, come and eat me.”

So, we should not be like frogs, croaking. But unfortunately, our tendency is, when we get together with some friends, to start talking about mundane subjects. Sometimes even when we get together and speak about devotees, we’re not really glorifying them as we should be, but sometimes we actually find faults with them, which is worse than ordinary mundane talk, because we can actually become involved in offenses, blaspheming devotees, which is the first offense against the Holy Name. Because devotees who are engaged in chanting the Holy Name and propagating the Holy Name are dear to the Holy Name. So, if we start to criticize and find fault and blaspheme someone who is dear to the Holy Name, then the Holy Name will not be very pleased with us, and the Holy Name will not allow us to come near him. So even though we go through the motion of chanting, but because of our offenses, we cannot really approach the Holy Name.

And Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains that offensive chanting, or inattentive chanting is hardly better than just reciting the letters of the alphabet. We are not really appreciating the Holy Name of Krishna. So, Krishna is not alone, He is always associated with His devotees. So, if we want to approach Krishna, we have to appreciate His devotees, then Krishna will be pleased. In fact, Krishna is more pleased when we glorify His devotees than when we glorify Him personally.

Once, one of our godbrothers, Gurudas Prabhu, was speaking to Srila Prabhupada in Bombay, not in our temple because at the time, we had just come to Bombay and we did not have our own temple, but we were just staying in some pious, aristocratic gentleman’s house. So, Srila Prabhupada had his little traveling Radha-Krishna Deities with him in his room. So, one day, Gurudas Prabhu began to glorify one other disciple of Srila Prabhupada’s named Dinanath, who was a very good kirtan leader. And then, Gurudas caught himself, and he said, “Oh, Srila Prabhupada, I’m sorry. The Nectar of Devotion says we should not glorify anyone in front of the Deities and I forgot, so I’m sorry.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Krishna is already glorified, but He takes more pleasure when His devotees are glorified.” So, when we glorify Krishna’s devotees, Krishna takes more pleasure than when we glorify Him directly.

Again, we read in The Nectar of Devotion that one should not worship anyone before the Deity. But when Srila Prabhupada was residing in Los Angeles and establishing the standard of worship for the whole of ISKCON, at seven o’clock, he used to greet the Deities, and after offering obeisances to the Deities, he would sit down on his vyāsāsana and the devotees would offer him guru-puja. So, one disciple asked Srila Prabhupada, “The Nectar of Devotion says that we should not worship anyone in front of the Deity. So, how is it that you are accepting guru-puja in front of the Deities?” So, Srila Prabhupada replied, “Our whole purpose is to develop love of Godhead, and rules and regulations are just to bring us to the point of love of Godhead. So, we should not worry too much about little details.” In other words, Srila Prabhupada considered guru-puja to be very favorable for developing love of Godhead, and more important than some small detail.

Although actually, Hari-bhakti-vilāsa by Srila Sanatana Gosvami, which elaborates the regulative principles for Vaishnavas, says that the spiritual master is the one person that one can worship in front of the Deity. But still, Srila Prabhupada gave the answer that we are interested in developing love of Godhead, and we don’t need to worry so much about little rules and regulations. So, in the Upadeśāmṛta, Srila Rupa Gosvami enumerates some items, which cause the ruination or the destruction of one’s devotional service. And one of the items is niyamāgraha. Niyaṁ means rules and regulations, and āgraha means to follow the rules and regulations like a fanatic, without knowing why we follow. And āgraha means to neglect the rules and regulations, and to act independently or whimsically. So, both following fanatically without understanding the purpose and not following but acting whimsically, both can spoil one’s devotional service. So, we have to understand what is the purpose for which we follow. The purpose is to develop love for Krishna and to bring others to Krishna.

And sometimes two different principles may conflict. Once, one important man came to the Calcutta temple. And then again, because we were just beginning in India, all the devotees were out preaching, the only devotee in the temple was the pujari. And when the gentleman came into the temple, the pujari was offering ārati to the Deities. So, the gentleman, who was a very important man, he stayed for a few minutes, he saw no one was there to attend to him, and he left. So, when Srila Prabhupada heard about the incident, he commented that the devotee should have stopped the ārati and received the gentleman. And later, reading the Eleventh Canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, I found the same instruction, mad-bhakta-pūjābhyadhikā. Lord Krishna personally says, “The worship of My devotee takes precedence.”

So, in the lower stage, we just think of worshiping the Deity, but when one becomes more advanced he understand the value of devotees, and he understands the worship of the devotee actually takes precedence over the worship of Krishna, and that Krishna is more pleased when we worship the devotee and glorify the devotee than when we worship Him or glorify Him directly. So, we have to rise up to a higher level of devotional service, so that we can actually appreciate devotees, and that will please Krishna more, and then we’ll really be able to chant the Holy Names in ecstasy. Of course, the Holy Name is very merciful, and especially when we chant in saṅkīrtana, following the process of the Pancha-tattva, we become relieved of offenses. Although there are offenses in the worship of Radha and Krishna, offenses are not considered very seriously in the worship of Gaura-Nitai or Pancha-tattva. And therefore, before we chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, we chant the Pancha-tattva mantra:

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda

śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

Because in the chanting of the Pancha-tattva mantra, offenses are not considered. And therefore, by chanting the Pancha-tattva mantra, we can feel ecstatic. And then, when we chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra in an ecstatic mood, then also, we don’t commit offenses. And therefore, we can derive great pleasure from chanting Hare Krishna also. So, Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai are extremely merciful, and they can be pleased just by hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, and by going from door to door, house to house, village to village, town to town, spreading the message of Godhead. In fact, that was Lord Chaitanya’s instruction to Nityananda Prabhu and Haridasa Thakura when He sent them out to begin the saṅkīrtana movement in Navadvipa, that they should meet everyone and request them to chant the Holy Name of Krishna, to worship and serve Krishna, and to learn the transcendental science of Krishna.

So, this is the saṅkīrtana movement, which is personally inaugurated by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Navadvipa-dhāma. And Srila Prabhupada is expanding exactly the same saṅkīrtana movement that was begun in Sri Navadvipa-dhāma when Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu sent out Nityananda Prabhu and Haridasa Thakura to preach, to request people to chant Krishna, and to worship Krishna, and to study Krishna’s instructions.

So, the activities that we engage in today are not different in the least from the activities in which Lord Chaitanya engaged His followers in Navadvipa-dhāma. Of course, now we may use some modern technological inventions to facilitate our service. Nityananda Prabhu and Haridasa Thakura went on foot, but we may go by car, by bus. And similarly, they would speak face to face, and we may not be able to speak face to face with everyone, but we give them books, and the books speak to the people. But otherwise, the basic principle of the activities of saṅkīrtana today and then are exactly the same. We are doing exactly the same work that Chaitanya gave to Thakura Haridasa and Nityananda Prabhu. And by serving Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, by propagating the saṅkīrtana movement, Lord Chaitanya becomes pleased. And when Lord Chaitanya is pleased, we are enabled by His mercy to chant the Holy Names of Krishna and serve Sri Sri Radha and Krishna.

So, really, our only hope in Kali-yuga is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy. Because if we were to try to approach Sri Radha and Krishna on our own strength, or on our own qualification, well, we are not strong, we are weak, we are falling down all the time. And we’re not qualified, we have so many defects and deficiencies. So, our only hope is the mercy of Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, engaging in saṅkīrtana, which is as we did tonight; chanting and dancing, and especially bringing other people, inducing other people to chant and dance and hear about Krishna and serve Krishna and worship Krishna. So, that will please Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, and only by Their mercy will we have any chance to chant the Holy names of Krishna and worship Krishna in Vrindavan.

So, Nityananda Prabhu also established namahatta, so that even householders could have the opportunity to come together and chant and dance and hear about Krishna, and preach, bring others to Krishna. And the same idea of namahatta was reintroduced and elaborated by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, and now in ISKCON, we’re also doing the same thing, gathering people together, including householders, especially householders, chanting, dancing, feasting, and hearing philosophy, and bringing others. So, again, the same activities, the same activities. And we simply have to continue and try to do the same activities on a larger scale, bringing more and more people into the namahatta. So, I was glad to see the chanting and dancing here, which is our life, and I’m sure that if you continue such nice chanting and dancing and serving Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, and glorifying devotees and serving devotees, that you will be very successful, more and more people will join. Hare Krishna.

Devotees: Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: So, are there any questions or comments?

Devotee: Maharaja, in Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta, Prabhupada says that Lord Jagannatha is the most merciful incarnation of Krishna. [Unintelligible 00:32:51]

Giriraj Swami: He says, “In Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta, Srila Prabhupada says that Lord Jagannatha is the most merciful form of Krishna, but we just heard that Sri Chaitanya is the most merciful form of Krishna.” Well, Lord Chaitanya is not exactly a form of Krishna. In other words, the original form of Krishna is blackish. So, Lord Jagannatha is the original Krishna, who is blackish. But among all the Deities of the original form of Krishna, Lord Jagannatha is most merciful. But Lord Chaitanya is not the original form of Krishna, which is blackish, but He is Krishna but in the mood of Srimati Radharani and with the complexion of Srimati Radharani. So, Srimati Radharani is Gauri, She has a very fair complexion. So, Lord Chaitanya is Gaura, He also has a very fair complexion. But the devotee of the Lord is more merciful than the Lord Himself. And because Lord Chaitanya is in the mood of a devotee, in fact, the best devotee, so He is more merciful even than Krishna, because He is in the mood of a devotee.

Devotee: Hare Krishna. [Unintelligible 00:34:55].

Giriraj Swami: Is he here?

Devotee: Yes, he is an engineering student.

Giriraj Swami: Are there any other questions? “Hare Krishna.”

Devotees: Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: “I have compiled the following questions after reading Teachings of Lord Chaitanya. Please, could you answer them for me? I must admit that although this has been another wonderful book, some of the topics dealt with are much more complex, and therefore, require a higher standing of which I am certainly not qualified.

1. Page twenty-six, paragraph two: “There are two kinds of living entities, the eternally liberated and the eternally conditioned.” What is meant by eternally liberated and eternally conditioned?

Eternally liberated means one was never conditioned, but he was always liberated with Krishna in the spiritual world. Eternally conditioned means that one is conditioned in the material world, and no one can trace when he came to the material world and became conditioned. So, Srila Prabhupada explains that here, eternal does not really mean without any beginning and without any end, as eternal means sometimes, but it means that the living entity has been conditioned for so long that no one can trace out the beginning of his conditioned existence. And because he is conditioned for so long, we say he is eternally conditioned. But actually, we just mean that he has been conditioned for a very long time.

2. Page thirty, paragraph three: “It is also considered to be disadvantageous to desire liberation.” Is the desire for liberation similar to any material desire, or is it transcendental? If the desire for liberation is disadvantageous, then how can one stop it?

Well, any desire other than desire for the service of Krishna is considered material. And therefore, in the definition of pure devotional service, in The Nectar of Devotion, we find anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ, that pure devotional service is without any other desire. And basically, there are two other desires; bhukti and mukti, the desire for material enjoyment, and the desire for material liberation. So, pure devotees have no selfish desire, either for bhukti, or for mukti, they only desire the service of the Lord. And the constitutional position of the living entity is, he is the eternal servant of Krishna. So, when we follow the process of Krishna consciousness and come to the stage of realizing our eternal identity as Krishna’s servant, then we no longer have any desire for liberation. In fact, we are already liberated. So, there is no question of a pure devotee desiring liberation, because he is already liberated, and his only desire is to serve Krishna, by constitution.

3. Page fifty-nine, paragraph one: Since no one can trace the history of the living entity’s entanglement in material energy, Lord Chaitanya said that it is beginningless. By beginningless He meant that conditioned life existed prior to the creation. What does Prabhupada mean when he says that conditioned life existed before this material creation?”

Well, the material universes are constantly being manifest and dissolved. bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate. With the exhalation of Maha-Vishnu, so many universes come out, and with the inhalation of Maha-Vishnu, so many universes go in. So, they are constantly being manifested and unmanifest. So, anadi, or beginningless, means that the soul was conditioned before the creation. At the time of dissolution of the universe, all the conditioned souls within the material universes go in the body of Maha-Vishnu and remain there in a sleeping condition. And then again, when the universes are manifest again, then again, the living entities come out and again, begin their conditioned activities.

4. Pages sixty-six and sixty-seven: Prabhupada says that since neophytes are not all on the same transcendental level, they are advised to worship different types of demigods. For instance, some neophytes who are attached to flesh eating are advised by the Puranas to eat flesh after offering it to the Deity Kali. From my reading of Prabhupada’s books, the four regulative principles have been stressed a lot. Now, do devotees in their preaching mention what is stated in the above quotation to the people they preach to?

No, because we are preaching Krishna consciousness. And actually, Bhagavad-gītā discourages the worship of demigods, especially in Kali-yuga. So, we just tell people to worship Krishna and follow the orders of Krishna, which includes no eating meat.

5. Page sixty-nine, paragraph one: “It is Sri Krishna who’s abode, which is known as Goloka Vrindavan, is the highest planetary system in the spiritual sky.” When I first read these lines, I interpreted the word ‘highest’ to mean that Goloka Vrindavan was literally above all other planetary systems. However, on second thought, I realized that this interpretation was giving a limit to the limitless spiritual sky. So, what does the word ‘highest’ mean in the above quotation?

You are right that ‘highest’ does not mean in any sort of geographical sense, ‘highest’ actually refers to the reciprocation of the Lord with the devotees. Although every devotee is fully satisfied in his particular relationship with the Lord, in the particular form of the Lord that he wants to serve, but from an analytical point of view, the Lord is more fully manifest in Goloka Vrindavan than in any other place and in any other incarnation. And the mellows one can experience with the Lord in Goloka Vrindavan are higher than the mellows one can experience with the Lord anywhere else. For example, on the Vaikuntha planets, there is śānta-rasa, dāsya-rasa, and the lower part of sākhya-rasa, that means friendship mixed with awe and reverence. But in Goloka Vrindavan, one can experience higher rāsas like the higher part of sākhya-rasa, which is friendship in full freedom and in equality. And then, vātsalya-rasa, or parental affection, where the devotee actually becomes the mother of Krishna or the father of Krishna and is in a superior position to Krishna in pastimes. And then, the highest is mādhurya-rasa, which is conjugal love. So, the higher rāsas are manifest only in Goloka Vrindavan and fully in Goloka Vrindavan. And therefore, Goloka Vrindavan is the highest planet in the spiritual sky.

6. Page eighty-five, paragraph three: “The influence of material nature cannot reach beyond the Viraja. . .”

So, one could say that the causal ocean divides the material sky from the spiritual sky.

7. Page ninety-nine, paragraph one: In each universe there are innumerable viṣṇu-tattvas, but it should be understood that Lord Krishna is the master of them all, and they are but partial plenary expansions of Krishna.” What does plenary expansions mean?

Plenary means full. Plenary expansion means full, and partial plenary expansion means what it says. In other words, in one sense, Vishnu expansions are the same as Krishna. But the reason they’re called partial is again, because Krishna manifests more of His qualities as Krishna than as Vishnu. So, partial plenary seems contradictory. One example is the moon. Krishna is like the full moon, and Vishnu would be a three quarter moon. Now, the moon is the same, but the moon is fully manifest as the full moon, and it’s only partially manifest as three quarter moon, or half-moon, or quarter moon. But it’s the same moon, and because it’s the moon, it’s full. But because it’s not fully manifest, it’s partial.

8. Page 127, paragraph two: Into which of the thirty-five items of devotional service does reading books fall into? In any case, is reading books part of devotional service? I’m asking these questions since Prabhupada places great emphasis on book distribution.

Yes, reading book is śravaṇam, hearing. Someone speaks, that is kīrtanam, and someone hears, that is śravaṇam. So, Srila Prabhupada’s books are recorded kirtan. And when one reads Srila Prabhupada’s books, one is hearing the recorded kirtan, which is śravaṇam.

9. Page 217, paragraph three: “Since neither Vishnu or the living entity are of material creation, someone may inquire why were the small particles created at all. The answer is that the Supreme Absolute Truth is complete in His perfection, and He is both infinite and infinitesimal.” Does this mean the living entities were once part of the supreme whole, and that some time, they became separated as individual spirit souls?

Not really. The Supreme Lord is eternal, and the living entities are eternal. Eternal means without any beginning and without any end. In Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Krishna says mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ, “The living entities are My fragmental parts and parcels, and that they are eternal.” So, the example is given of the sun and the sunshine. The sun exists along with the sunshine, we cannot say that there was a time that the sun existed and the sunshine did not exist, both exist simultaneously. But still, the sunshine can be said to be part and parcel of the sun. It’s not equal to the sun, but it’s part and parcel of the sun. But as long as the sun has existed, the sunshine has been there. As long as the sunshine has been there, the sun has been there. But still, the sunshine is separated from the sun.

10. Page 237, paragraph three: He then quoted a verse from Vedic literature, which states that when even a liberated soul commits an offense against the Supreme Lord, he again becomes a victim of material contamination. How is it possible for a liberated soul to commit an offense against the Supreme Lord?

Well, I think in this case, it would be good to refer to the section, but I believe that Lord Chaitanya is referring to impersonalists. Impersonalists are liberated, in a sense, that they, in principle, have no material desires, no material attachments. But the Bhāgavatam says, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho ‘nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ, that although the impersonalists are liberated, because they neglect the service of the lotus feet of the Lord, they fall down. But generally, a pure devotee does not commit an offense. Although there are instances in the Vedic literature where a pure devotee commits an offense and falls down, but then again, those are not ordinary cases, those could be special arrangements of the Lord.

But there was one devotee named Citraketu who had direct association with the Lord, he had direct audience of the Lord. And once, he was flying in a celestial airplane over the abode of Lord Shiva, and Lord Shiva was seated in front of an assembly of great sages and saintly persons, and Mother Parvati was seating on His lap. So, Citraketu just thought, How could Lord Shiva, who is the personification of religion, be seating before an august gathering of saintly persons with Parvati on his lap? He just wondered, he wasn’t really being offensive, but he just wondered, How is it possible? And Mother Parvati, she maybe misunderstood Citraketu and thought that he was being offensive towards Lord Shiva, and Parvati cursed Citraketu to fall down. And although Citraketu was a pure devotee and could have counteracted the curse, but he chose not to, he accepted the curse very obediently, and he said to Parvati, “Yes, Mother. Whatever you order for me, I accept.”

So, Citraketu apparently fell down and took birth as a demon named Vritrasura. But although he was in a body of demon, he actually had the consciousness of a devotee. And after completing his life in the body of Vritrasura, he went back home, back to Godhead. Because although he apparently fell down and took birth as a demon, but he remained Krishna conscious even in the body of a demon.

11. Page 260, paragraph two: He also advised Prakashanand Saraswati to always chant, “And by doing so, you will very easily be liberated. And after liberation, you will be eligible to achieve the highest goal of life, love of Godhead.” I thought liberation came after love of Godhead. Please explain what liberation actually means.

Yes, mukti is defined in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, muktir hitvānyathā rūpaṁ

sva-rūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ. Mukti means to be established in one’s constitutional position, as the eternal servant of Krishna, giving up all other false identities. So, liberation actually occurs before the full development of love of Godhead. Srila Rupa Gosvami has explained three stages of devotional service; sādhana-bhakti, bhāva-bhakti, and prema-bhakti. So, bhāva-bhakti is a preliminary stage of love of Godhead, and bhāva-bhakti is the liberated stage. But from another point of view, one is liberated even in the stage of sādhana-bhakti. Because there are also three stages in chanting; nāma-aparādha, offensive chanting, nāmābhāsa, which is the clearing stage, and śuddha-nāma, which is the stage of pure chanting.

So, nāmābhāsa gives liberation, but only with śuddha-nāma can one develop pure love of Godhead. So, just like we’re beginning to read the history of Ajamila in the Bhāgavatam. So, at the time of death, Ajamila chanted the holy name in nāmābhāsa, and because he chanted in nāmābhāsa, he was freed from sinful reactions. You know the story of Ajamila?

Devotee: Yes, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Anyway, he was freed from sinful reactions, and he was liberated from material attachments. Ajamila was born in a pious brahmin family, and he was trained as a good brahman boy. But later in life, he became attached to a prostitute, and for the sake of the prostitute, he engaged in all sorts of sinful activities, and he actually gave up his own chaste and faithful wife, and he left his noble parents and just went to live with the prostitute. And for the sake of the prostitute, he engaged in cheating and plundering and arresting people. So, he became sinful.

The Yamadutas, who are the agents of Yamaraja, came with ropes to drag the soul of Ajamila from the body and take the soul to be punished in hell. When Ajamila saw the Yamadutas coming with their fearsome appearance and their ropes, he became panic-stricken. And his small son, who happened to be named Narayana, was playing in the room, and he was very attached to his son Narayana. So, when he saw the Yamadutas approaching, he screamed in a completely helpless way, “Narayana! Narayana!” As if his son Narayana could save him. But because the holy name of the Lord is absolute, although he was meaning to call his son Narayana, but still, somehow or other, he chanted the holy name of Lord Narayana. And therefore, the servants of Lord Narayana, the Vishnudutas, immediately intervened and saved him from the Yamadutas.

So, Ajamila was saved from sinful reactions, and he was also liberated from material attachments. Because after hearing the discussion between the Vishnudutas and the Yamadutas and being released from the Yamadutas, he was allowed to live, in other words. So, he left his wife, the prostitute to whom he was so attached, he even left Narayana, his small son to whom he was so attached. That means he was liberated, by chanting in nāmābhāsa. So then, he went to Haridwar and seriously practiced devotional service. And then, when he came to the stage of pure chanting and actually developed pure love of Godhead, then the Vishnudutas came to take him back home, back to Godhead. So, he was liberated in the sense that he had no more material attachments. But still, he had to develop love of Godhead. And in the Bhagavad-gītā also, Lord Krishna says, brahma-bhūtaḥ, that means liberated stage.

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā
na śocati na kāṅkṣati
samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu
mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām

“One who realizes that he is not the body, he becomes joyful. He no more hankers nor laments, but he sees everyone equally. At such a stage, one can attain pure devotional service to Krishna.” (Gītā 18.54)

12. Page 281, paragraph two: The Lord then quoted some verses from the Puranas. He quoted a verse from the Padma Purāṇa 62.31, in which it is stated that the Lord ordered Mahadeva, Lord Shiva, to present some imaginary interpretations of Vedic literatures in order to divert people from the actual purpose of the Vedas. “By doing so, you will attempt to make them atheists,” the Lord said. “After that, they can produce more population.” What were the Lord’s intentions here? Why did he want them to produce more population?

Well, as you know, or as you may know, there are four ages; Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, Dvapara-yuga, and Kali-yuga. So, Lord Krishna wanted to populate Kali-yuga. And therefore, Lord Shiva, on the request of Lord Krishna, preached Mayavada philosophy. Because the result of Mayavada philosophy is illicit sex. Because one can only give up illicit sex for Krishna consciousness. Otherwise, there is nothing one would give up illicit sex for, certainly not for impersonal speculation. So, by preaching Mayavada philosophy, which serves at the highest perfection is to merge and become one with God. . . Well, who’s going to want to merge and become one with God? Nothing is more fun than to stay in the material world and enjoy. So, they will have sex and produce unwanted children, and Kali-yuga will increase.

Well, that is part one of this three-part comprehensive examination, and I think that I seem to have lacked out on the first part. So, I don’t know whether I will take my chances on the other parts. I don’t think it’s time. [laughter]

Devotee: Thank you very much.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!