BG 6.47 – Sustenance for the Soul

Giriraj Swami: We shall read from Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Chapter Six, “Dhyāna-yoga,” Text Forty-seven. How many of you are here for the first time?

So Bhagavad-gītā is the basic guidebook for the practice of yoga. The Sanskrit word yoga means literally to connect or to link. So yoga means the process by which the individual soul is linked to the Supreme Soul. And there are various methods of yoga described in Bhagavad-gītā. But all of them are preliminary stages which are meant to lead to the ultimate stage of bhakti-yoga, because only by bhakti-yoga, or devotional service, can one know God in full. So Bhagavad-gītā was spoken by Lord Krishna five thousand years ago at Kurukshetra, which is in present-day India. But if we take the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Lord Krishna says that prior to speaking the Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna, He spoke it some millions of years earlier to Vivasvan. Vivasvan instructed Manu, and Manu instructed Ikṣvāku. And Ikṣvāku was a saintly king in India about two million years ago. So the history of Bhagavad-gītā goes back to a very remote time. But actually, the knowledge of Bhagavad-gītā is eternal, which means it has no beginning and no end. But even from the historical point of view, it is five thousand years old, and according to the Gītā itself, the knowledge was spoken previously at least more than two million years ago.

Now, although Lord Krishna explains various processes of yoga, in every chapter, He concludes by saying that the best yoga or the highest yoga is bhakti-yoga. The Sixth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā deals with dhyana-yoga, which is meditation which has become popularized in countries throughout the world. But what is the actual purpose of meditation? Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam explains: dhyana means meditation – dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ. That the yogis see the Supreme Personality of Godhead within the heart in meditation. In other words, they see Krishna in the heart. But if one was actually to follow the system of dhyana-yoga or ashtanga-yoga, he would have to go to some sacred place, as mentioned in Bhagavad-gītā, suchau dese. He should go to some sanctified place, which usually means on the bank of some sacred river in India or in the mountains where the contamination of materialistic life does not interfere. And then one must sit with one’s back erect and have the eyes half-open and half-closed. Why half-open and half-closed? Because if the eyes are fully open, they may become attracted to the sights of the world, and if the eyes are fully closed, one may sleep. So half-open and half-closed; staring toward the tip of the nose. And there is so many rules and regulations which we cannot easily practice in this modern age.

But the goal of meditation is Krishna. And Krishna is also manifest in the form of transcendental sound. And in fact, the recommended method to realize God in the Modern Age is to chant and hear the holy names of God, or Hare Krishna maha-mantra. So Krishna, in the form of transcendental sound, in the form of mantra is not different from Krishna within the heart as seen by the yogis and the [Break in audio] He is the same. But the process of meditation is very difficult and practically impossible in the modern age. Whereas, the process of chanting the mantra and hearing the mantra is very easy and enjoyable and practical. But the result is the same; absorption in Krishna or meditation on Krishna. So here, at the end of the Sixth Chapter which describes dhyana-yoga, Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna that among all sorts of progressive persons, or even transcendentalists, the yogi is the highest. And then He says that of all yogis, the one who serves Krishna with love and devotion is the highest. So now we will read from the concluding verse of the Sixth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā

TEXT 47

yoginām api sarveṣāṁ

mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā
śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ

a me yuktatamo mataḥ

COMMENT

This is Lord Krishna speaking, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

TRANSLATION

Of all yogis, the one with great faith who always abides in Me thinks of Me within himself and renders transcendental loving service to Me. He is the most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all. That is my opinion.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The word bhajate is significant here. Bhajate has its root in the verb bhaj, which is used when there is need of service. The English word “worship” cannot be used in the same sense as bhaj. Worship means to adore, or to show respect and honor to the worthy one. But service with love and faith is especially meant for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One can avoid worshiping a respectable man or a demigod and may be called discourteous, but one cannot avoid serving the Supreme Lord without being thoroughly condemned. Every living being is part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and thus every living entity is intended to serve the Supreme Lord by his own constitution. Failing to do this, he falls down. The Bhāgavatam (11.5.3) confirms this as follows:

ya eṣāṁ puruṣaṁ sākṣād
ātma-prabhavam īśvaram
na bhajanty avajānanti
sthānād bhraṣṭāḥ patanty adhaḥ

“Anyone who does not render service and neglects his duty unto the primeval Lord who is the source of all living entities will certainly fall down from his constitutional position.”

COMMENT

So God is the Supreme Father. We are all children of God. So if a child does not know who his father is there is something wrong. If the child does not obey the instructions of the father or serve the father, there is something wrong; father and mother. Some persons raise the argument that, “I am a good person. So why do I have to worship God?” But one cannot say, “Well I am a good person. Why do I have to know who my father is?” Every child has to know who his father is. “I am a good person. So why do I have to obey my father or serve my father?” By constitution, by nature, the child must serve the parents. Similarly, by constitution the individual soul must serve the Supreme Soul. And if he does not do so he falls down from his constitutional position. Just like the hand is part and parcel of the body. So the natural position of the hand is to serve the body. If the hand does not serve the body, then it is diseased. There is something wrong with it. So similarly, we living entities are part and parcel of Krishna, and our natural function is to serve Him. And if we do not serve Him, there is something wrong with us. We are diseased; we are paralyzed. So why does the living entity refuse to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead? The basic reason is envy. We envy the Supreme Godhead, and actually, we want to take His position. We want to be God. We don’t want to serve God but we want to be God.

Our spiritual master used to tell the story of the different parts of the body who got together and had a meeting. And in the meeting, they discussed that they are doing all the work, but the stomach is enjoying all the food. So why should they do all the work, and the stomach gets all the food. So they decided to go on strike. Well, although they were able to deny the food to the stomach, the result was that they all became weak. They were the ones who suffered. So then, they called another meeting, and then they decided that they should go back to feeding the stomach. So, just as all the parts of the body are working ultimately to put food in the stomach, so similarly, all of us, parts and parcels of Krishna, are meant to give service to Krishna. And if we do not offer service to Krishna we suffer. So someone may be defiant or rebellious or envious, “Why should we serve God? We should enjoy. Why should we serve God?” But if we refuse to serve God we are the ones who will suffer. God will not suffer, but we are the ones who will suffer. And we can see in the world today how people are suffering from godlessness. Although there has been so much development in the fields of science and technology, but people are not as happy, they are not as safe and secure as they were a hundred years or two-hundred years ago, because of the decline in God consciousness. 

I don’t know about South Africa, but I also spent time in Mauritius, and when I first went to Mauritius, many persons told me what Mauritius was like, previously, in their lifetimes. Just thirty years earlier, that no one would lock the doors to their houses. No one would lock the doors to their houses, because no one would steal. And people used to keep cows, and there was so much milk. Actually now, people have to pay for water, but when I first went to Mauritius, people were not paying for water. Water was freely available. So just as if any person came to your house you would not hesitate to offer him a glass of water. So previously, just twenty or thirty years earlier, people had so much milk they would not hesitate if anyone came—even a stranger—and said, “Can you give me a glass of milk?” They would not hesitate to give a glass of milk. So things have deteriorated in spite of the advancements of science and technology, but the conditions in society have deteriorated; the conditions in the family have deteriorated. And what is the reason? The reason is the decline in God consciousness. So therefore, the revival of God consciousness, or Krishna consciousness, can change the whole society. Sometimes people have the image of the yogi that he just sits in meditation in some holy place, and he is just concerned with his own liberation or his own spiritual happiness. And, of course, there are many yogis who are like that, but the devotees in Krishna consciousness are not like that. They are actually concerned about the welfare of others, they are concerned about the welfare of society, and they know that people cannot be happy without Krishna consciousness, or God-consciousness. Individuals cannot be happy, families cannot be happy, nations cannot be happy, the human species cannot be happy without Krishna consciousness, and therefore, the devotees work to spread Krishna consciousness for the benefit of suffering humanity.

One great devotee, or bhakti-yogi, was Sri Prahlada. And Sri Prahlada prayed that, prāyeṇa deva munayaḥ sva-vimukti-kāmā, that there are many saintly persons, indeed, but almost every one of them is interested in his own deliverance, na parārtha-niṣṭhāḥ. He is not concerned with others. He prefers to go to the mountains or the forests to practice with vows of silence, and he avoids the cities and the materialistic persons in the cities, because, basically, he is just interested in his own deliverance. But Prahlada Maharaja says that, “I am not like them. I do not want to go back home, back to Godhead alone, but I want to take as many of these fallen souls with me as possible. And therefore, I am always thinking of how to bring them to the shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord.” So we should not mistake that devotees are selfish; that they just want their own happiness. Of course, everyone naturally wants to be happy. But Prahlada Maharaja says, na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ, that everyone is interested in his own self-interest. That is natural. But people do not know what their real self-interest is. They do not know that their real self-interest is to serve Lord Vishnu, or Krishna, and go back home, back to Godhead. So everyone’s desire can be fulfilled in Krishna consciousness: desire for eternal life; desire for knowledge; desire for transcendental bliss. Everyone’s desire can be fulfilled in Krishna consciousness, because the soul is hankering for Krishna consciousness. It is thirsty for Krishna consciousness, it is hungry for Krishna consciousness and it cannot be satisfied by anything material. It can only be satisfied by spiritual substance, which is Krishna consciousness.

Srila Prabhupada also told the story of the bird in the cage, that once a lady had a bird and she was very careful to polish the bars of the cage; to dust the cage; to scent it with fragrance; to decorate it with flowers. She was doing everything so nicely for the cage, but being so absorbed in the care of the cage, she forgot to feed the bird. Eventually, the bird died. So the body is like the cage, and the soul is like the bird in the cage. So, in modern materialistic society, we do everything for the body. We decorate it, we perfume it and we paint it and we dress it. We pamper it in so many ways, but we actually forget, or may be completely ignorant of the bird within the cage, or the soul within the body. And the soul is starving for spiritual substance, but we never feed it, and therefore, people are always frustrated and angry, because they actually need spiritual sustenance, but they are not getting it. And they mistakenly think that they need more facilities for the body, more comforts for the body—for the cage—but they don’t know that the bird, which is actually them, the soul, needs spiritual sustenance. So, even though people may have millions of dollars, or millions of rands, and a beautiful house and car, and this and that, but if they don’t have Krishna consciousness, they will be frustrated. We used to hear about countries, like Sweden, which has the highest per capita income in the world. It also has the highest rate of suicide. So just having material things does not make one happy. It doesn’t sustain the soul. Another similar example is that the body is like an automobile. So, the driver of the car is hungry. Now, if you can put petrol in the tank—Do you say petrol here or gas? You can put petrol in the tank, but he is not feeding himself. So, the same example: We take very good care of the car. We put petrol in the tank, but we don’t feed ourselves, so we are bound to be frustrated and miserable.

So Krishna consciousness, chanting Hare Krishna, that is food for the soul, or sustenance for the soul. And, therefore, in Krishna consciousness our hearts desires can be fulfilled. The one who actually is satisfied in Krishna consciousness is completely satisfied. He doesn’t need anything else. He doesn’t want anything else. 

There was another great devotee named Dhruva Maharaja. Dhruva Maharaja left home at the age of five to find God—and in the forest—because he was so eager to find God; so sincere to find God. So God is in the heart of everyone, so He was also in the heart of Dhruva, and He understood that, “Dhruva is after Me; Dhruva wants Me.” So He sent a guru to guide Dhruva how to realize God. And his spiritual master, Narada Muni, came and instructed him to chant the holy name of God. Now, Dhruva’s intention, when he went to the forest, was to get a kingdom. He was actually the son of the king. But the king had two wives, and the king was actually more favorable to Dhruva’s stepmother than to his actual mother. So one day, when Dhruva was playing on the lap of the king who was sitting on the throne, the stepmother, very severely, rebuked Dhruva, who was only five years old. And said that, “How dare you sit on the throne! You cannot sit on the throne! You were not born from my womb!” And because Dhruva’s father, the king, was so attached to Dhruva’s stepmother, he remained silent. 

So Dhruva was very disturbed. He had a little kshatriya nature; the nature of a fighter. So, he went to his real mother, and he told her what happened, and said, “Is it true that I will not be able to sit on the throne?” And Dhruva’s mother replied that, “Yes, your father is partial to your stepmother, and he will not give you the kingdom.” So Dhruva, he was insulted, and he wanted to get his kingdom. So he asked his mother, “How can I get my kingdom?” So she said, “I cannot help you. Your father favors your stepmother.” “Then who can help me?” She said, “Only God can help you.” “And where can I find God?” “I don’t know, but many sages and saintly persons go to the forest to find God. So maybe you can find God in the forest.” So the age of five, Dhruva left home and went to the forest to find God. And in his own childish way, he was looking for God: looking in the bushes; looking under the stones; and any creature of the forest he saw, he would ask, “Are you God? Are you God?” So when God saw how sincere Dhruva was to find Him, then He sent Narada to act as the spiritual master of Dhruva. And Narada instructed him to chant the holy names of God. And by strictly following the instructions of Narada, Dhruva got the audience of the Lord Himself.

So when the Lord appeared before Dhruva, He asked Dhruva—of course, after Dhruva had offered so many beautiful prayers to the Lord—then, the Lord asked Dhruva, “You can take from Me whatever you want. Simply you have to ask.” And Dhruva refused, “But I don’t want anything. I just want to remember You and glorify You and serve You.” So then, the Lord asked, “Well, what about your kingdom? You came to the forest for your kingdom.” And Dhruva Maharaja replied that, “Yes, I was looking for pieces of broken glass, but now I have got the most valuable jewel. So I am thousands of times satisfied, millions of times satisfied. He said, svāmin kṛtārtho ‘smi varaṁ na yāce, “I am fully satisfied. I do not desire anything more.” So that is Krishna consciousness. When one becomes satisfied in Krishna consciousness, he is fully satisfied. He is not looking anymore, running here and there, trying to get this and that. But his heart’s desires are fully satisfied just in his relationship with God. He doesn’t need anything else.

You may know or not know, but Alexander the Great, in his conquest, came to India. And when he arrived at the precincts of India, he saw one yogi sitting in meditation. It was early in the morning. So Alexander the Great was very impressed with the yogi. He was not disturbed by anything. So Alexander the Great, sitting on his horse, asked the yogi that, “I am very impressed with your austerities. What can I do for you?” So the yogi replied, “Please move a little to the side. You are blocking the sun.” That was all he wanted. He just didn’t want his meditation to be disturbed, because he was fully satisfied in his relationship with God. He didn’t need anything else. So this is real service to humanity: to make people so satisfied that they don’t want anything else. And even in the midst of the greatest calamity they are not shaken, because they are absorbed in their relationship with God. So they don’t want anything. They don’t feel there is anything more to gain. And they are not afraid of anything, because they have nothing to lose. Because whatever may happen to the body, but nothing can happen to affect our relationship with God. So therefore, the devotee is fully satisfied in his relationship with God, and he is not disturbed by any external calamity, however horrible it may appear to be. So this is really the best service to humanity, to give them something that will make them so satisfied that they don’t feel any more need or want. And this consciousness, as I hinted earlier, this consciousness can be achieved in the modern age, especially by chanting the holy names of God. And here we chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. You can repeat after me and say the words to the mantra. Raise your hands and repeat.

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

Do any of you have any comments or questions?

Question: How does one become a perfect disciple and set a perfect example? How does one fulfill the instructions of the spiritual master perfectly?

Giriraj Swami: Well, one receives an instruction from the spiritual master, and he tries to follow it. Dhruva Maharaja was given instructions by Narada Muni, and he tried his best to his capacity to follow the instructions, and he was successful. He was a perfect disciple of a perfect master, because he followed whatever his spiritual master instructed, even though the instruction might have appeared difficult. But still, he accepted the instruction and followed to his capacity. So we cannot imitate Dhruva Maharaja, who left home at the age of five and went to the forest to find God. But we can follow in his footsteps and be obedient to the order of the spiritual master, because by following the orders of the spiritual master, one can attain the same perfection as Dhruva Maharaja, or to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face.

Question: Please tell me exactly why we wear tilak.

Giriraj Swami: Tilak is the markings we see on the foreheads of the devotees. Well, as you mentioned, the body is like a cage; like a car. It is like a house, also, in which the soul resides. Now, let us take the example of the church. The church is also a building, but what is the difference between a church and an ordinary building? The difference is that in the church, the Lord is worshiped. And the church has certain characteristic features like the steeple and cross which indicate that, yes, this is a building, but it is not an ordinary building. It is a church, because inside, the Lord is worshiped. So, tilak indicates that the body is a temple of God, but this body is dedicated for the service of God.

Question: How does one surrender to Krishna fully?

Giriraj Swami:  Well, what is the definition of surrender? Surrender means to follow the orders. Just like if there is a war and when one side surrenders to the other side, that means unconditional surrender. Whatever the other side says, they will do. So when we surrender to God, we agree to do whatever God asks us to do. That is surrender. And we know what God wants from the scriptures, sādhu śāstra guru vākya, from the saintly persons, from the scriptures, from the spiritual master.

Question: Dear Maharaja, are you happy?

Giriraj Swami: Well, of course, I am happy to be with you. Once in Harvard Divinity School—Harvard University is the most prestigious university in America, maybe in the world, at least in America. And I was at the program there with Srila Prabhupada and the students were very sharp in their own way and quite proud also.

[Break in audio 00:46:49–00:46:57]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, one can be Krishna conscious even if he doesn’t live with the devotees, but he should associate with the devotees as much as possible. Ideally, if one lives close enough to the temple, one should come to the temple every day and associate with the devotees at least for three hours. And if one rises early in the morning, say at 4:00 o’clock, you can come to the temple by 4:30. You can be with the devotees till 7:30 or 8:30. And then go to work. But again, one could come in the evening for our programs. But if one is not able to come to the temple, then he can make his home into a temple and do the same thing at home that the devotees do in the temple. That is, rise early, chant Hare Krishna, studying Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam; Bhagavad-gītā, and offer one’s food to Krishna, and so on. So, one can practice at home, but the association of devotees is most important. And therefore, when one does have the chance, I would say, at least once a week on Sunday and then once during the week. Here, I believe, every Wednesday there is a program. I would say at least once or twice a week, one should come to the temple and associate with the devotees, if not more.

As far as the career, one can pursue a career and spend eight hours a day or whatever. But still, there are twenty-four hours. So even taking eight hours for the career, there is still sixteen hours. And Srila Prabhupada has advised that six hours is enough rest at night. But even if one goes up to seven, and then say another hour for bathing and dressing—eight hours—there is still eight hours left. So there is enough time to pursue a career and be Krishna conscious. But one has to be very careful to use his time properly. But there was one great devotee, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, he was a very responsible government officer in India. He was a district magistrate in Puri, which was next to the governor. It is such an important position, next to the governor. And besides being the magistrate, he also had his family. But still, he would sleep four hours at night; get up and write books. He did a tremendous amount of work in spite of being the magistrate and in spite of having a family. But he was very exemplary and he used every moment in Krishna’s service; he never wasted any time.

Here is a question from Kevin. Who is Kevin?

Question: So God wants to spiritualize matter. Why go to all this trouble? So He can see Himself? I am a vain God.

Giriraj Swami: Where did you get the idea that God wants to spiritualize matter?

Kevin: By observing the creation, one needs to know the Creator. The vision of the creation tells me that there is an ongoing process of the purification of matter. And that is the reason why all of us are working in the service of God is to purify matter further and further so that God’s whole nature can be displayed in matter. And I am wondering why God goes to all this trouble to fulfill Himself. We are all God’s children; all working a way to achieve an objective so that God can see this objective, obviously. So I don’t really understand why God is going to all this trouble to be able to see Himself.

Giriraj Swami: Well, our perspective is a little different. In Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Krishna says that He has two energies, the spiritual energy and the material energy. Now, because both are God’s energies, we can perceive the presence of God in both. But still, the two energies are distinct. Dead matter has no consciousness, whereas the living force has consciousness.

Kevin: Excuse me, what is dead matter?

Giriraj Swami: Well, the Bhagavad-gītā lists eight: earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intelligence, and ego.

Kevin: [Unintelligible 00:54:09]

Giriraj Swami: Yes. And then, beyond the eight material elements is the spiritual energy which is alive. The body is composed of material elements, but the body is animated by the presence of the soul. But when the soul leaves the body, the body is dead, and we cannot do anything to bring the body to life, because the living force is distinct from the material ingredients of the body. And once the living force is gone, no matter how we manipulate the material parts of the body, we cannot bring the body back to life because the soul is gone.

Kevin: God puts life into matter; to what purpose? 

Giriraj Swami: Well now, it is a good question. I was going to come to that. That you begin by saying that God is the Supreme Father of all?

Kevin: Yes.

Giriraj Swami: So we are all children of God?

Kevin: Yes.

Giriraj Swami: But we have left God and come into the material world through our choice. Just like a child may have everything in the house of the father, but still the child may run away from home. And when he runs away from home he suffers so much want and scarcity and difficulty. But if again, he goes back home to the father, then all of his problems are solved. The father takes care of him in every respect. So somehow we have left our Supreme Father and come into the material world, and in the material world, we have to struggle for existence. But if we go back to our original home with Krishna, then everything is provided for us by Krishna’s grace, and we no longer have to struggle and suffer. So, in order to remind us of our eternal relationship with God and of our original home in the spiritual world, not in the material world, God comes. Krishna comes and speaks Bhagavad-gītā, or He sends His son. He sends His messenger. He sends prophets, and they all come with the same purpose which is to remind humanity of its eternal relationship with God and to encourage them to go back home, back to Godhead. So, you could say the purpose of the material creation is to give the fallen souls the chance to revive their God consciousness and go back home, back to Godhead.

Kevin: And achieving Krishna consciousness means the end of the struggle?

Giriraj Swami: Yes.

Question: What exactly does bhakti-yoga mean? Claude.

Giriraj Swami: Well, Srila Rupa Gosvami, who is a great authority on bhakti-yoga, has given the definition, anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ, that one should have no other desire than to serve God; jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam. And one’s devotional service should not be covered by any other process like karma or jnana. Karma means fruitive work: I work, and from the work I get some fruit, and I enjoy the fruit. That is karma. And jnana means mental speculation. For example, in one system of meditation, which is like mental speculation, also, but one meditates on the different parts of the body, say, beginning with the tip of the toe. That, “No, I am not the toe. I am not the foot. I am not the leg. I am not the arm. I am not the chest. I am not the head.” And then further, “I am not the mind. I am not the intelligence. Then, what am I?” So the best conclusion that one can get from that type of meditation is that, “I am spirit.” But Bhagavad-gītā and other Vedic literatures explain that within the body there are actually two living beings: the individual soul and the Supreme Soul. But by mental speculation, generally, one comes to an impersonal conclusion that, “I am spirit; I am God.” By mental speculation, one generally does not come to the conclusion that there is an individual soul and there is a Super Soul, and the individual soul is the eternal servant of the Super Soul. So, the impersonal conclusion leads one to believe that I can merge and become one with God.

The impersonalists have the theory that if you have a clay pot—so within the clay pot is sky, and if you break the clay pot then the sky within the pot merges and becomes one with the rest of the sky. So they think in the same way, that we are spirit but we are encaged in the body. So when the body is broken at the time of death, then the spirit within merges and becomes one with the spirit without. So, such impersonal conclusions are completely against devotional service, because devotional service means there is the servant and the master and the relationship between the servant and the master which is service. So, coming back to the definition of bhakti-yoga, anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ, one should have no other desire than to serve the Lord. Jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam, and one’s devotional service should not be covered with fruitive work or impersonal speculation: God may be like this; God may be like that. It is true that God is the Original Person. He is older than the oldest, so then they depict God as an old man with the flowing hair and a long beard. But that is speculation. They don’t know, but they just think that God must look like an old man because He is older than any of us, so He must have gray hair and a beard and sit on the throne. But that is speculation.

So, anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ, jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam, ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-śīlanaṁ. So, ānuśīlanaṁ means continuous cultivation. This is pure devotional service, not mixed, but pure devotional service. One serves the Lord constantly. And ānukūlyena means favorably; as the Lord wants. Not that the Lord wants one thing, and we give Him something else. We serve Him as He wants. That is the definition. And then the processes—there are basically nine processes, but the first three are the most important, and that is, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ. śravaṇaṁ means hearing, we have all gathered here to hear; that is śravaṇaṁ. And kīrtanaṁ means to chant or to repeat what you have heard. For example, I will speak the maha-mantra:

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

So I speak it, and you hear it, and then, that is śravaṇaṁ. And then, when you repeat it, that is kīrtanaṁ. And then, smaraṇaṁ means to remember. If one is always engaged in hearing and chanting about Krishna, then naturally he will remember Him. So these are the first three items of bhakti-yoga.

Question: Can one pray to the spiritual master even if he is not one’s initiating guru?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, especially we can pray to Srila Prabhupada. He is not our initiating spiritual master, but he is our instructing spiritual master, and he is also the Founder Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. So we can pray to him, or if we have some special faith in some disciple of Srila Prabhupada’s, even if he is not our initiating spiritual master, we can pray to him.

Question: Please explain from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam how Krishna ascended to Krishnaloka.

Giriraj Swami: Well, Krishnaloka means the planet of Krishna, which in general terms is the kingdom of God. So the material world is like a prison house for the rebellious souls who defied God and wanted to be independent of God. So they come into the prison house of the material world. But sometimes the governor, to show mercy, visits the prison house. And if a prisoner surrenders to the governor, or the governor is satisfied with his genuine mood of surrender, then he can order his release. So in the same way, God also comes to the material world just like the governor visits the prison house. And if someone surrenders to God, then God can release him from the bondage of material existence. And then, just like the governor, He will spend some little time in the prison house, and then He will go back to the governor’s mansion. So God, also, after spending some time in the material world to reclaim the fallen souls, He returns to His abode. But that is also not a complete answer, because God, although He comes here, He also remains in the spiritual world, because He is unlimited. If I am in Port Elizabeth, I can’t be in Cape Town at the same time; I can’t be in Johannesburg at the same time. But God can be in unlimited places at the same time, because He is unlimited. So, although God comes into the material world, He also remains present in the spiritual world. But still, because the question was phrased like that, so He gave the answer that He comes for a purpose, for a particular period of time, and then He goes back.

Kevin: But isn’t He the dynamic behind everything, anyway? God is omnipresent; omnipotent; omniscient. So, all matter is motivated and activated by God. It is matter. It is not something outside of God that He comes to visit, and then goes away, again. No. The dynamic that is in the dead, if you see a dead person and a living person, what is the missing component? And you see a dead chicken and a living chicken, and what is the missing component? It is the same thing, that God has, the spirit has departed. So God is in matter all the time: God created matter. God is matter. It is not something separate and independent from God.

Giriraj Swami: I appreciate the spirit of what you said, but you sort of contradicted yourself, because you said that God is everywhere, but then you said that when the soul leaves the body, the body is dead.

Kevin: Well, that is what I am trying to illustrate is that that same component that – well, and then the body starts decomposing, which is matter, but the dynamic that keeps a stone being a stone and keeps the flower being a flower is God.

Giriraj Swami: Even accepting what you say is true, and basically it is true, but the Vedic literatures explain that God has three features. One is called Brahman; in Sanskrit Brahman means the impersonal light which comes from the transcendental form of Lord Krishna. And actually, the impersonal jnanis and yogis want to merge and become one in the impersonal light. Then, there is Paramātmā; Paramātmā is the all-pervading Super Soul. He is within the heart of every living entity. He is the object of meditation of the yogis. And Brahma-saṁhitā explains that He is not only within the heart of the living entities, He is within the atom, and He is in the space between the atoms. And then, beyond even the Super Soul is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna. And He enjoys pastimes with his devotees in His abode, which is known as Goloka Vrindavan, or Krishnaloka, and they are all the same.  There is no duality between Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān. They are all the same. But still, the goal of the devotee is to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His pastimes. So there are verses, very nice verses that goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūto, that Krishna always remains in Goloka Vrindavan, which is the spiritual kingdom, enjoying pastimes of love with His pure devotees. But at the same time, as Paramātmā, He is all-pervading within the material creation. So there are two features of the same entity.

An example is given. Earlier I mentioned that Krishna previously had spoken Bhagavad-gītā to Vivasvan, the sun god. So every planet even in the material universe has some presiding deity or, ruler. So the sun, of course, in our ignorance we may think that the sun is just a ball of fire, but actually we have information from Vedic literatures that every planet, or sun or moon or star, is actually created by God as a place of residence for different types of living entities according to their karma. And so the presiding deity of the sun is called Vivasvan. So coming back to Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān; the sunshine is compared to Brahman; impersonal light. And the sun globe is compared to Paramātmā, the localized Super Soul. But beyond even the sun globe, or within the sun globe, is the sun god, Vivasvan. So, although the sunshine and the sun globe are the same, but they are also different. 

Kevin: Once again, the trinity.

Giriraj Swami: Yes. So, we understand the Holy Ghost to be Paramātmā, the all-pervading Super Soul. So, the point I am making is that, yes, we can realize that the Lord is in the heart, He is within every atom, He is between all the atoms, but there is more to God than that, also. There is a personal feature of God in His personal abode engaged in loving pastimes with His pure devotees, and that is our goal.

About the concern of the devotee or the compassion of the devotee that he doesn’t want to go back home back to Godhead alone, but he wants to bring as many people with him as possible. So, in previous ages, the guru could just sit under a tree and people would come and hear him explain the scriptures. But now, in the modern age, we take advantage of the printing press to make the same knowledge available to large numbers of persons—and there are so many millions of persons, and there are very few devotees. So, how can we personally meet each and every person and really explain the science of God? So, in order to give them the chance to learn the science of God we distribute transcendental literature.

So, in the Christmas mood of giving; actually, a week ago, I was on the radio program, national radio program, the subject of the program was giving, and I was on the program with the Archbishop of Durban. So anyway, in the mood of giving, devotees, especially in the month of December, go out and give people Srila Prabhupada’s books. So, Pradyumna Prabhu has suggested that we can take this opportunity to recognize and appreciate the efforts of the devotees who give people the books, the message of Godhead, during the month of December.