SB 9.18.26 – Equal to All

Giriraj Swami: Reading from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Nine, Chapter Eighteen, King Yayāti Regains His Youth, Text Twenty-Six.

TEXT 26

vṛṣaparvā tam ājñāya
pratyanīka-vivakṣitam
guruṁ prasādayan mūrdhnā
pādayoḥ patitaḥ pathi

TRANSLATION

King Vṛṣaparvā understood that Śukrācārya was coming to chastise or curse him. Consequently, before Śukrācārya came to his house, Vṛṣaparvā went out and fell down in the street at the feet of his guru and satisfied him, checking his wrath.

TEXT 27

kṣaṇārdha-manyur bhagavān
śiṣyaṁ vyācaṣṭa bhārgavaḥ
kāmo ’syāḥ kriyatāṁ rājan
naināṁ tyaktum ihotsahe

TRANSLATION

The powerful Śukrācārya was angry for a few moments, but upon being satisfied he said to Vṛṣaparvā: My dear King, kindly fulfill the desire of Devayānī, for she is my daughter and in this world I cannot give her up or neglect her.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Sometimes a great personality like Śukrācārya cannot neglect sons and daughters, for sons and daughters are by nature dependent on their father and the father has affection for them. Although Śukrācārya knew that the quarrel between Devayānī and Śarmiṣṭhā was childish, as Devayānī’s father he had to side with his daughter. He did not like to do this, but he was obliged to because of affection. He plainly admitted that although he should not have asked the King for mercy for his daughter, because of affection he could not avoid doing so.

COMMENT

In this verse, Sukracharya is called Bhagavān, the most powerful. But even though he was so powerful, he was still affectionate to his daughter and took the side of his daughter in the quarrel between her and Sarmistha. He was angry, but Vṛṣaparvā was intelligent, and he immediately came rushing out of his house and fell at the feet of his spiritual master and tried to pacify him. After some moments, Sukracharya’s anger subsided, but still, his affection for his daughter remained, and therefore, he asked Vṛṣaparvā to fulfill his daughter’s desire.

In the purport, Srila Prabhupada explains that such affection is natural because the children are naturally dependent on the father, and the father is naturally affectionate towards the children. Of course, when such affection is directed towards a devotee, such affection is very auspicious, even though the affection may be based on the body.

We have the example of Hiraṇyakaśipu. Hiraṇyakaśipu was a great demon, but still, he was affectionate to his son, Prahlada. Of course, later, he became inimical because Prahlada had become a devotee of Vishnu, and Hiraṇyakaśipu considered Vishnu to be an enemy. So, by the logic, “The friend of my enemy is my enemy,” Prahlada became the enemy of Hiraṇyakaśipu. But after Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva appeared and killed Hiraṇyakaśipu, Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva asked Prahlada to accept some benediction.

At first, Prahlada refused, saying, “I am not serving You for any material benefits. I am born in a low family, a demonic family, a materialistic family. So, please do not tempt me with material benefits.” Sri Prahlada said, “I am serving You just for the sake of pleasing You, not to get anything in return from You. If I was acting to get something in return from You, I would not be a servant, but rather, I would be a businessman. So, I haven’t come to do business with You. I have come to offer service to You.”

But later, when Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva insisted that Prahlada Maharaja should accept some benediction, Prahlada Maharaja prayed to Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, “Please give mercy to my father. My father committed so many offenses against You as well as against Your devotees, but please be merciful to him and purify him.”

In the purport, Srila Prabhupada explains that Hiraṇyakaśipu was already purified just by the glance of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva and the touch of the nails of the Lord. But although Prahlada knew that his father had been purified, still, he wanted to hear it from the mouth of the Lord directly. And in the purport, Srila Prabhupada remarked that although Hiraṇyakaśipu had given trouble to Prahlada in so many ways, Prahlada could not forget his father’s affection, and therefore, he prayed for his deliverance.

So, we can see that although Hiraṇyakaśipu’s affection for Prahlada was apparently material, Prahlada, as a devotee, remembered his father’s affection for him. Rather, he could not forget his father’s affection, and therefore, he prayed to Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva to deliver him. So, sometimes demons or materialists have affection for children who are devotees, even if they do not appreciate the fact that the children are devotees. But they benefit greatly by having affection for devotee children and rendering service to devotee children, because just by appreciating a devotee, one makes advancement, even if one is not aware that the person that one is appreciating is a devotee.

But Sukracharya, although he had affection for his daughter and had to take her side, he was not happy about it. Because as a spiritual master, he should be equal to all. In Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Krishna says that He is equal to all, samo ‘haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu. So, the devotee of Krishna, the representative of Krishna, should also be in the same mood as Krishna, equal to all. The Nectar of Devotion describes the qualities of Krishna, and one of the qualities of Krishna is that He is equal to all. And therefore, even Krishna’s enemies felt confident in surrendering to Krishna. And The Nectar of Devotion mentions that they knew that Krishna was equal to everyone, and that even if His own son was wrong, Krishna would chastise him. And if His enemy was right, Krishna would not punish him. So, samo ‘haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu.

So similarly, the devotees of Lord Krishna are the same. They are equal to everyone, or they aspire to be equal to everyone. Therefore, in the prayers of Queen Kunti, she prays to Lord Krishna, “Please sever my ties of affection for my family members, the Rishis and the Pandavas.” Srila Prabhupada explained that basically, a man has only one family, but a woman has two families. She belongs to the family of her father, and after marriage, she belongs to the family of her husband.

Now, both families to which Queen Kunti was connected were devotees, and affection for devotees and service for devotees is not outside the range of devotional service. So, Srila Prabhupada raises the question, “Why then should Queen Kunti pray for her affectionate ties to her family members, who were devotees, be severed?” And Srila Prabhupada explains that when Kunti prayed for her affection for her family members to be severed, she was praying for the material side of the relationship to be purified, so that only the spiritual features of the relationship remain.

There is the relationship of the body and the relationship of the soul. So, ordinarily, the relationship with family members is based on the body. But if the family members are devotees, the relationship can be based on the soul also, through the medium of the Super Soul. Individual souls have relationships with each other on the basis of service to the Supreme Soul. So, when Queen Kunti prayed that her ties of affection for her family members be severed, she meant that she wanted to become free from the relationship of the body, so that only the relationship of the soul based on service to the Supreme Soul remained.

And Srila Prabhupada explains that naturally, because of family affection, one is partial to one’s family members, just like Sukracharya here. So, Queen Kunti was perturbed because Lord Krishna was in Hastinapura and Queen Kunti wanted Lord Krishna to remain in Hastinapura for some time more with her family there, with the Pandavas. But then again, her other family in Dvaraka was feeling separation from Krishna, so they wanted Lord Krishna to return to Dvaraka as soon as possible. So, Queen Kunti was in a dilemma that out of sympathy for her sons, she wanted Krishna to remain in Hastinapura, but then again, because of affection for her brother and other relatives in Dvaraka, she didn’t want to keep Krishna away from them any longer. And thus, she was perturbed by family affection.

Such affection and partiality were perturbing her mind and interfering with her remembrance of Lord Krishna, with her meditation on the lotus feet of Lord Krishna. And therefore, in the next verse, she prays to Lord Krishna, “O Lord of the Madhu, please allow my affection to flow towards You without any interruption or without any obstacle, just as the water of the Ganges flows into the ocean.” So, this should be the desire of the devotee, that nothing should come in the way of the flow of affection to Lord Krishna. No other affection for family members or anything material. But of course, on the spiritual platform, Krishna also includes His dear devotees. And therefore, loving Krishna includes loving Krishna with His dear devotees. And consequently, Srila Prabhupada says that we are not impersonalists. We do not want to love Krishna alone.

And factually, Krishna is not alone ever. He is always accompanied by His cowherd boyfriends, by the cows, and calves. Or He is with His parents, Nanda Maharaja and Mother Yasoda. Or He is with the parrots and the peacocks. Or He is with His girlfriends. But Krishna is never alone. And when devotees submitted paintings to Srila Prabhupada or sketches to Srila Prabhupada, Srila Prabhupada always insisted that some devotee should be in the picture with Krishna. Any picture of Krishna without some devotee is impersonal. So, we love Krishna not in isolation, but we love Krishna, His name, His form, His qualities, His pastimes, His entourage, His dhāma, Vrindavan dhāma, the Jamuna River, Govardhana Hill. They are all a part of Krishna. Loving them is part of loving Krishna.

And therefore, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the spotless Purana, that we worship Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as the spotless Purana, we worship the son of Nanda Maharaja as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we worship Vrindavan as the dhāma of Lord Krishna, and we accept the worship of Krishna done by the gopīs of Vrindavan as the highest worship and service. So, this is the philosophy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in four lines. We worship Sri Vrindavan dhāma because it is Krishna’s expansion. So, loving Krishna means loving His dhāma, Vrindavan, loving His associates, everything about Him. And the different associates of Krishna serve as impedances for transcendental love for Krishna. They are not separate.

Now here, we are discussing the affection of the father for the son or the daughter. So, although Krishna is equal to all living entities, He says that still, He is partial to His devotees. Although He is equal to everyone, knowing His special friend and knowing His special enemy, but still, His devotees live in Him, in the heart of Krishna, and Krishna lives in the hearts of His devotees.

In the Ninth Canto also, we see the wonderful partiality of Krishna, that when Durvasa Muni, who is a powerful yogi, cursed Maharaja Ambarish, Lord Vishnu’s wrath was so great that the Lord’s Sudarsana chakra was pursuing Durvasa Muni throughout the universe, ready to burn him and sever his head from his body. And Durvasa Muni was such a powerful yogi that he approached Lord Vishnu, the Vaikuntha planet within the material universe called Śvetadvīpa, and asked Him for protection. But Lord Vishnu replied, “You have offended My devotee. Even I cannot protect you. The only one who can protect you is Maharaja Ambarish himself. So, you must go to him.” So, Durvasa Muni threw himself at the feet of Maharaja Ambarish and begged for the mercy of Maharaja Ambarish. Maharaja immediately was ready to give Durvasa Muni all of his pious credits, and he prayed to the Sudarsana chakra, “Please be pacified. Please do not punish Durvasa Muni.”

So, the devotee is even more merciful than the Lord. And the Lord gives so much preference to His devotee that if His devotee is offended, the Lord Himself will not free the offender from reactions, but only the devotee can free the offender. Srila Prabhupada says that Arjuna was more merciful than Krishna, because Arjuna did not want to fight against his family members and kill them, even though they had wronged him. But Krishna insisted, “You must fight, and you must kill them.” But Arjuna was so merciful. He was ready to let them enjoy the kingdom, and he was ready to live as a mendicant. Although, in the end, he surrendered to the order and plan of the Lord.

So, the devotee, by the arrangement of the Lord, is more merciful than the Lord. And when the devotee wants to give mercy to someone and prays to the Lord to give mercy to someone, then the Lord, to fulfill the desire of the devotee, will give mercy to that person. So, someone may say, “Well, a devotee should also be equal to everyone. He should not be partial.” But the devotee, the preacher is advised to deal differently with different types of persons, prema-maitrī-kṛpopekṣā yaḥ karoti sa madhyamaḥ. He should give his love to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he should make friendship with other devotees, he should show mercy to innocent persons, and he should avoid or neglect envious persons.

So, the preacher distinguishes to whom he will give mercy, and when he sees that someone is innocent, like a child, and ready to learn about Krishna consciousness, eager to hear about Krishna consciousness, then he becomes merciful to that person, he gives instructions to that person, and he may even pray to the Lord to give mercy to that person. And the Lord, out of affection for His devotee, will give mercy to the object of mercy for the devotee. And thus, the Lord’s mercy is spread through the agency of the mercy of the Lord’s devotees. And such discrimination on the part of the devotee, on the part of the preacher, is not a fault. But it is part of his characteristic or his duty. Specifically, to give mercy to innocent, childlike persons, who are completely dependent.

And even among devotees, although the Lord is affectionate to all devotees, and the spiritual master is affectionate to all devotees, they are more affectionate to the devotees who are more dependent on the Lord. Srila Prabhupada explains that the father loves all of the children, but he has special affection and gives special attention to the youngest child, because the youngest child is completely dependent on the protection of the parent. Prabhupada gave the example that if the father is crossing the street with the children and suddenly a car comes around the corner, the father will immediately think of the youngest child. How to protect the youngest child? Because the youngest child is helpless. He has no other protector except the father. The youngest child cannot protect himself or herself.

So, Srila Prabhupada says that the preacher is like the youngest child because the preacher goes into the material world, which is full of danger at every step, and depends entirely on the mercy of the Lord to empower him to preach the message of the Lord and to protect him in the face of so many dangers and difficulties. So, although the Lord is equal to all devotees, He is especially concerned with the devotee who is most dependent on Him, or in other words, the preacher. The preacher does not stay within the safety and security of the temple like neophyte devotees may stay in the temple.

And of course, in ISKCON, everything is meant for preaching. Even the Deity worship is meant for preaching, but outside of ISKCON, neophyte devotees stay in the temple. They ring the bell, do some ceremonies, take prasād, and basically lead an easy, comfortable life. But the preacher, he leaves the confines of the temple, the comforts of the temple, and he meets non-devotees. And meeting non-devotees means the preacher is sometimes insulted, he is sometimes offended, he sometimes becomes the object of envy, the object of aggression for materialistic envious persons, but he takes the risk for Krishna and depends on Krishna. And thus, Krishna shows special favor to the preacher, or gives special attention to the preacher. So, if we are able to preach with such faith in Krishna, then we can go out anywhere in the world and preach the message of Godhead for the benefit of the fallen souls and be assured of Krishna’s special protection.

So, Srila Prabhupada had the mood of complete surrender to his spiritual master and Krishna, complete dependence on his spiritual master and Krishna, and leaving the ecstatic spiritual realm of Vrindavan, he went out to preach. He came to New York City and began to preach. Thus, he was amply blessed by his spiritual master, by all the previous acharyas, and by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. So, we want to follow in the line of Srila Prabhupada and depend wholly and solely on Guru and Gauranga, and go out and preach on behalf of Guru and Gauranga.

And as I mentioned, all the activities in ISKCON are ultimately meant to support the preaching. And if we do our service in the temple in the spirit of preaching, in the spirit of attracting the fallen souls, serving the fallen souls when they come, serving the devotees who are actually going out and preaching, the pūjārīs, they can think, Let me decorate the Deity very nicely so that the devotees who are going out and preaching and distributing books are encouraged. Let me dress the Deities very nicely so the fallen souls will be attracted to come to the temple and become absorbed in Krishna consciousness. The cooks are thinking, Let me prepare very nice prasāda so that the public becomes attached to Krishna consciousness. Let me prepare very nice prasāda so the devotees are very satisfied and enlivened and can go out and preach with great enthusiasm.

So, all the activities in this temple; the cleaning, the maintenance of the building, every activity in the temple should be done in the mood of preaching, serving the preachers, and serving the public, so that they also become attracted to Krishna consciousness. And then, we will be absorbed in Krishna consciousness and Krishna’s service, and will be able to get the mercy, special mercy, and special protection of Sri Krishna.

Hare Krishna. Are there any questions or comments? Yes?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:36:03]?

Giriraj Swami: In Bhagavad-gītā itself, Srila Prabhupada explains that generally, Bhagavān refers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is full in all opulences. Bhaga means opulence, and van means one who possesses. But Srila Prabhupada also explains that sometimes the word Bhagavān can be used to refer to any powerful person like Bhagavān Narada, Bhagavān Shiva, and so on.

Now, in society in general, when people say Bhagavān, they do not mean some very powerful person. They actually mean God Himself. When they say Bhagavān Rajneesh or whoever, they mean God. And to call someone as God who is not God is extremely offensive to the real God. Now, sometimes such so-called Gods say, “We do not say that we are God, but our followers say that we are God.” But Srila Prabhupada explains that if someone falsely calls you God, your duty is to tell them that you are not God. I mean, if some completely foolish person thought. . . Or let us give a material example. If someone thinks that the police constable is the governor, the police constable must say, “I’m sorry, I’m not the governor.” He must rectify the wrong impression of the ignorant person.

There was a time in the history of ISKCON where some disciples influenced by impersonal philosophy were actually saying that Sri Prabhupada is God, that we have been underestimating him. When Srila Prabhupada found out, he was so concerned. Of course, immediately, he said he is not God. But he was so concerned that practically for the first time and almost the only time, he asked devotees to leave ISKCON because they were preaching Mayavadi philosophy, that the spiritual master is God.

And he explained that although the impersonalists think that they are glorifying the spiritual master, actually, they are minimizing the spiritual master because their idea is they worship the spiritual master until they are liberated and merge and become one with God. Then, when they merge and become one with God, there is no guru, there is no disciple, there is no fear, there is no sin, everything is one. So, in the Mayavada conception, the relationship with the spiritual master is temporary. But in the Vaishnava conception, the relationship with the spiritual master is eternal, cakhu-dan dilo jei, janme janme prabhu sei. So, we do not accept the Mayavada conception that the spiritual master is God. We can say God, he is servant God, but Krishna is master God. In that sense, they are both God, but one is servant God, and the other is master God. Not that they are equal. All the acharyas have fought against such false incarnations and such foolish followers of false incarnations.

Devaki Nandana Prabhu?

Devotee: Maharaja, I have three questions. [Unintelligible 00:41:13]. 

Giriraj Swami: It’s a quick answer, that sometimes the devotee will ask questions although he knows the answer, but for the benefit of others, so they may hear the answer. So, children who are devotees, who may even leave their parents, and in one sense, give pain to their parents by leaving home, they may naturally, as children and as devotees, feel concerned about their parents, and feel compassionate for their parents. So, in response to Prahlada Maharaja’s question or prayer, Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva replied, “Not only are your present parents liberated or purified, but twenty-one generations of your parents and family members are purified.” So thus, the Lord is assuring the devotees to not worry [Bhagavad-gītā 18.66],

sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

Mā śucaḥ, “Don’t worry, your parents will not suffer because you have become a devotee. Although they may not appreciate their benefits in the present life, at the time of death, they will get the benefit.” And Srila Prabhupada told one disciple that the parents of his disciples will realize their good fortune at the time of their passing away. So, it is to assure the devotees in general, and the public, that one who surrenders to Krishna is actually doing the best service for his family members.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:43:40].

Giriraj Swami: Ajamila was basically in the bondage of material existence because of affection for the wife and children. But fortunately, his son was named Narayana, and therefore, he had the opportunity to always chant the holy name of Narayana. “Narayana, come here. Narayana, do this. Narayana, do that. Narayana, bring water. Narayana, take food.” And thus, he was chanting the holy name of Narayana, and he benefited.

So, in devotee families or in Hindu families, the parents like to give names of the Lord to the children so they can always be chanting the holy names and remembering the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So, they give names like Krishna dasa, Govinda dasa, Narayana dasa, Govardhana dasa. So, that is the benefit of chanting the holy name. But the attachment itself for mundane family members is the cause of bondage, not the cause of liberation. But it was chanting the holy name without offense that was the cause of Ajamila’s liberation, not the attachment to the child as such.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:45:30].

Giriraj Swami: One can see Arjuna’s compassion in two ways. One can see it as a virtue, or one can see it as a fault. And Srila Prabhupada also mentions Arjuna’s compassion in both ways. He says that as a devotee, he was compassionate. As a noble person, he was compassionate. So, compassion is a virtue. But when so-called compassion comes in the way of one’s service to Krishna, one should reject such so-called compassion. Although Arjuna’s compassion was a virtue, when it became an obstacle to his surrender to Krishna, he rejected it. He saw it as a fault and he rejected it.

So, the same can apply to us. I mean, generally, we should act in the mode of goodness. Although devotees are transcendental, pure devotees are transcendental, but generally, they act in the mode of goodness. The culture of devotees is based on the mode of goodness. But in an exceptional case, as Krishna told Yudhisthira to lie, he told the lie. Krishna told Arjuna to fight and kill, so he fought and killed. But generally, especially in Kali-yuga, we should be compassionate, but not in a sentimental way that is contrary to Krishna consciousness, but in a proper way where we manifest our compassion by wanting to give Krishna to innocent persons and enhance the Krishna consciousness of devotees.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:48:00]. 

Giriraj Swami: We have to see what is our duty. Vidura was not really acting as a kshatriya, and therefore, to avoid the war, he left. But Arjuna was acting as a kshatriya, and apart from acting as a kshatriya, he was directly ordered by Krishna to fight. So, we have to know what is our duty, sva-dharma, and act according to our duty, which is received through the spiritual master through the pacific succession. Yes?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:49:05].

Giriraj Swami: Srila Prabhupada explains that in the present life, we will remember our grandfather, we may know who our great-grandfather is, and at most, our great-great-grandfather. But very few people can go beyond their great-great-grandfathers. So, Srila Prabhupada says that the mercy that the Lord bestows on the family members of the devotee applies not only to the family members in the present birth and the generations of the family from the present birth, but from the previous births as well. And there is a good reason also. Devotional service usually continues for more than one lifetime.

So, suppose I was a devotee in my last life but I wasn’t completely successful, but still, my parents from my last life, they get the credit because I became a devotee and I used the assets that they gave me in Krishna’s service. And it may be also that in my past life, I gave pain to my parents, that in my past life, I left home to serve the Lord and preach the message of Godhead. So, they have given me so much in my past life that I used in Krishna’s service, and perhaps they suffered also. So, they also get the mercy of the Lord. So, it’s not just the family members from the present life, present and past generations, but the set of family members in the past some number of lives are also purified.

Devotee: Does it apply to the coming generations also?

Giriraj Swami: The benefit will extend to the coming generation because of the touch of the pure devotee. Just like Prahlada Maharaja. Hiraṇyakaśipu was purified, but Bali Maharaja, he was also purified because he was the grandson of Prahlada Maharaja. So, the whole dynasty benefits, past and future. 

Devotee: In case a son of a devotee thinks, My father is a very good devotee. Because of his devotion, I can get liberated. Why should I go for devotional service? I can lead material life.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, that is an offense. That is committing sin on the strength of chanting. But instead thinking, My father is chanting so I can go on committing sins, and my father’s chanting will free me, that’s an offense. If someone is ignorant, he is engaged in sinful activities, he doesn’t even know it. Or even if he becomes aware that he is engaged in sinful activities because of weakness, he is trying to give up his sinful activities but he cannot immediately, he’ll be benefited. But if someone develops the offensive mentality you mentioned, he’ll become more implicated.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:52:50].

Giriraj Swami: Yes, devotees may have affection for their family members. Depending on how advanced the devotee is and how demonic the family member is. Because Prahlada Maharaja was so advanced, it’s not that he had affection for his father. When Hiraṇyakaśipu was killed, Prahlada Maharaja did not protest and he glorified the Lord. What the verse says is that Prahlada could not forget his father’s affection for him. But a devotee may also have affection for family members, and out of affection for his family members, he wants them to become Krishna consciousness.

Please give the microphone. We are about to hear an expansion of an explanation. Just like Vamanadeva, He appeared as a small dwarf, but He expanded into a huge form. So now, the explanation is going to be expanded.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:54:25].

Giriraj Swami: You are saying that we are not the body and every soul is individual, so whatever benefit the father gets from devotional service is his benefit, not the son’s benefit. So, you are asking how does the son benefit? If the son has natural affection for the father, he benefits because he has affection for a devotee. If the son serves the father, even acts in an ordinary way, if the son serves an ordinary father, he gets benefit because he is serving a devotee.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:56:22].

Giriraj Swami: That I agree. If the son thinks, My father is doing devotional service, so I will get the credit and I can just enjoy life, then we already said that he won’t get the benefits.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:56:55].

Giriraj Swami: Will anyone like to answer Vamanadeva’s question? How can the father pass on his spiritual benefit to the son when the son is not a devotee? Does anyone want to answer? Yes?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:57:45].

Giriraj Swami: He says he may get some benefit but not the full benefit. I gave the answer already indirectly. If the father is a devotee and he prays for the spiritual benefit of the son, the Lord, who is very anxious to fulfill the desire of the devotee, will fulfill the desire. Vasudeva Dutta prayed for the deliverance of all living entities, not considering pious, sinful, or anything. And Lord Chaitanya said, “Because you are a devotee and you have prayed for their deliverance, and because the Lord is anxious simply to fulfill the desire of the devotee, they will be delivered, even if you don’t accept their sinful reaction.”

That is the nature of mercy. You are a little like a miser type, that you get a job, you can’t stay and live at the cost of the father. You have to work yourself, which is true. Every father will want the child to work and earn, but if somehow the child doesn’t work, out of affection, the father will give something to the child, even though he wants him to work, but he is not working. All right, give him something. He shouldn’t die.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:59:30].

Giriraj Swami: Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! Nitai-Gaura premānande Hari Haribol!