BG 3.10 – Only a Spiritual Solution

Giriraj Swami: 

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

We shall read from Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, translation and purports by His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. How many of you are here for the first time? How many of you are here for the second time? We shall read from Chapter Three

TEXT 10

saha-yajñāḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭvā
purovāca prajāpatiḥ
anena prasaviṣyadhvam
eṣa vo ‘stv iṣṭa-kāma-dhuk

TRANSLATION

In the beginning of creation, the Lord of all creatures sent forth generations of men and demigods, along with sacrifices for Viṣṇu, and blessed them by saying, “Be thou happy by this yajña [sacrifice] because its performance will bestow upon you everything desirable for living happily and achieving liberation.”

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The material creation by the Lord of creatures (Viṣṇu) is a chance offered to the conditioned souls to come back home – back to Godhead. All living entities within the material creation are conditioned by material nature because of their forgetfulness of their relationship to Viṣṇu, or Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Vedic principles are to help us understand this eternal relation, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ. The Lord says that the purpose of the Vedas is to understand Him. In the Vedic hymns it is said: patiṁ viśvasyātmeśvaram. Therefore, the Lord of the living entities is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also (2.4.20) Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī describes the Lord as pati in so many ways:

śriyaḥ patir yajña-patiḥ prajā-patir
dhiyāṁ patir loka-patir dharā-patiḥ
patir gatiś cāndhaka-vṛṣṇi-sātvatāṁ
prasīdatāṁ me bhagavān satāṁ patiḥ

The prajā-pati is Lord Viṣṇu, and He is the Lord of all living creatures, all worlds, and all beauties, and the protector of everyone. The Lord created this material world to enable the conditioned souls to learn how to perform yajñas (sacrifices) for the satisfaction of Viṣṇu, so that while in the material world they can live very comfortably without anxiety, and after finishing the present material body they can enter into the kingdom of God. That is the whole program for the conditioned soul. By performance of yajña, the conditioned souls gradually become Kṛṣṇa conscious and become godly in all respects.

COMMENT

So we are all in the material world, and the verse we have just read is for us because we are in the material world. In the verse, Lord Krishna explains that at the beginning of creation, the Lord of all creatures, who is Lord Vishnu, brought forth generations of men and demigods, and we are subsequent generations of men, human beings. And He gave them sacrifices to perform. And by the performance of such sacrifices, they can live happily in the present life, they can live peacefully in the present life, they can live comfortably in the present life. And at the end of the present life, they can be liberated from the repetition of birth and death.

Earlier in the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Krishna has explained that a living entity is the spirit soul within the material body. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre, when the body is slain, the soul within the body is not slain. The soul within the body remains and exists eternally. So what happens to the soul when the body dies? The soul continues to exist. But the soul leaves the body. In fact, what we call death really indicates the soul has left the body, and then we say the body is dead. Actually, the body is always dead. The body is a machine, so the body is always dead. But as long as the soul is in the body, it appears to give life to the body. And the body can move, it can walk, it can talk, it can do so many things. So the soul is like the driver of the machine, which is the body. And when the driver leaves the machine, the machine has no capacity to act. So then we say the body is dead. So what happens to the soul when the soul leaves the body? In ordinary cases, the soul will enter into another body. Or in other words, the soul will take birth again in another body. And the process by which the soul leaves one body and enters another body is called transmigration of the soul or reincarnation. Because the soul is eternal, only the body is temporary. But as long as the soul is conditioned, he goes from one body to another, one body to another, one body to another. Because by nature, he is eternal, he remains alive. But because he is eternal, he does not like to change bodies. He wants some permanent situation, and he does not want to die.

Recently, one devotee told me of one young man in Texas who was condemned to death. And the young man’s lawyers tried so many means to appeal the death sentence, and many people came to the prison to protest capital punishment. And there were even interviews of the young man broadcast on the television, speaking about his own case, speaking about capital punishment. But ultimately, all of the appeals were rejected, and the young man was forced to face the death penalty. And the young man, up until the end, he was fighting. Not just legally, but physically. Up until the very end, he was fighting. He didn’t want to die. So why didn’t he want to die? Why don’t any of us want to die? Because we, the soul, are by nature eternal, and we want to continue to live eternally. And therefore, to die or to change bodies is an imposition on the soul, which the soul fights to the end. In fact, any other calamity is insignificant compared to death. I mean, we are attached to so many things, and we don’t want to give up anything. But if we have a choice between giving up our body or anything else, we will give up anything before we give up our body. People are very attached to their money. They are prepared to spend any amount to prolong their lives by medical treatment or by any means.

In fact, there was a joke which I heard before I joined. One American comedian named Jack Benny, who was known to be very miserly, he was approached by a robber, and the robber gave the ultimatum, as we hear robbers do, “Your money or your life?” So Jack Benny said, “Give me a minute. I have to think about it.” So we laugh because no matter how attached we are to our money, and we can be very attached to our money, but we are not more attached to our money than to our lives. We would rather have someone steal our money than take our life. Because we are the soul, and we don’t want to die. We want to live eternally. But as long as we remain bound by the laws of nature, we are forced to change bodies, or in other words, we are forced to die. And the whole program for the conditioned soul, given to us by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is to perform sacrifice. Because by performance of sacrifice, not only can we live peacefully and happily in the present life, which we all want, but at the time of death, we can be liberated from the cycle of repeated births and deaths and attain the eternal kingdom of God, to enjoy the eternal life that we all want. So this is the program for the conditioned soul.

The next question is, what is the method of sacrifice? How do we actually perform sacrifice so that we can live peacefully and happily and in the end be liberated from the miseries of material existence. So Srila Prabhupada continued in the purport.

PURPORT (continued)

In the Age of Kali, the saṅkīrtana-yajña (the chanting of the names of God) is recommended by the Vedic scriptures, and this transcendental system was introduced by Lord Caitanya for the deliverance of all men in this age. Saṅkīrtana-yajña and Kṛṣṇa consciousness go well together. Lord Kṛṣṇa in His devotional form (as Lord Caitanya) is mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.32) as follows, with special reference to the saṅkīrtana-yajña:

kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ
sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair
yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ

“In this Age of Kali, people who are endowed with sufficient intelligence will worship the Lord, who is accompanied by His associates, by performance of saṅkīrtana-yajña.” Other yajñas prescribed in the Vedic literatures are not easy to perform in this Age of Kali, but the saṅkīrtana-yajña is easy and sublime for all purposes, as recommended in Bhagavad-gītā also (9.14).

COMMENT

So the Lord has given us directions how live in the world, and He has advised us or He has directed us to perform sacrifice. In a previous age, sacrifice was performed in a different way with mantras and fire, pouring grains and ghee into the fire with mantras. But we cannot perform such sacrifice in the modern age of Kali. The rules and regulations for Vedic sacrifice are so rigorous and elaborate that we cannot perform such sacrifice in the modern age. In fact, the brahmans who performed such sacrifices were required to light the sacrificial fire without the use of matches, like we have, not even by the use of wooden sticks but they were required to ignite the fire by mantra. Their mantras had to be so powerful that their mantras alone could ignite the fire. And in the course of the sacrifice, each syllable of every mantra had to be recited, and they recited hundreds of mantras during the course of the sacrifice. But the pronunciation had to be so precise that if even one syllable was mispronounced, the whole sacrifice could be spoiled. And there are instances in the scriptures where the brahmans mispronounced one syllable in one word and the sacrifice brought the opposite result. And tons of ghee and tons of grains were required to burn in the fire. And who can afford so much ghee and grains in the modern age?

So we cannot perform such type of sacrifice in the modern age. But we can perform the sacrifice of the chanting of the holy names of the Lord, which was recommended for the age of Kali-yuga by the yugāvatāras by Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. And He recommended specifically the chanting of the holy names of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.

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

Just by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, we can get all of the results in Kali-yuga that one could get in Treta-yuga by performance of Vedic sacrifices. And therefore, we are very fortunate in Kali-yuga. Although Kali-yuga is very bad in so many ways, but we are actually fortunate in Kali-yuga because just by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, we can achieve all success. I need not discuss the details of the symptoms of the age of Kali. We are all experiencing them. Mandāḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhāgyāḥ hy upadrutāḥ. In Kali-yuga, men are lazy, misguided, foolish, hypocritical, and above all, they are always disturbed. You see people are always disturbed. Kali actually means quarrel. People are always disturbed and ready to quarrel for almost nothing. And it is everywhere. It is in the government, there is quarrel; in business, there is quarrel; in the house, there is quarrel, everywhere there is quarrel. Between husband and wife, there is quarrel; between father and son, there is quarrel; between brothers, there is quarrel; everywhere, there is quarrel. And people are always disturbed. So when Śukadeva Gosvami, who was the speaker of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, recited the symptoms of the age of quarrel to Maharaja Parīkṣit, Maharaja Parīkṣit was very concerned about the plight of people in the age of quarrel. But Śukadeva Gosvami reassured, kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann, that Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ, still there is one great opportunity, kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet. And that is simply by chanting the holy names of Krishna, one can be liberated from all material association and attain the supreme destination of going back home, back to Godhead.

So Lord Chaitanya appeared about five hundred years ago, and He predicted,

pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma

sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma

That in every town and village of every country of the world, My name will be sung. His name means Krishna’s name. And devotees who knew the scripture, knew the prediction of the Lord, but they did not know how the prediction would come true. But we now know that His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is the person who was empowered by the Lord to fulfill the Lord’s will and prediction. And Srila Prabhupada, whose deity is on the vyāsāsana and also on the altar, Srila Prabhupada left India at the advanced age of almost seventy years, came to the United States, to New York City, sat down under a tree in Tompkins Square Park, and began to chant the holy names of Krishna.

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

And when he opened his eyes, he saw many young men and women had gathered around, and some were also chanting, and some were even dancing. And he began to teach them the philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā, of Krishna consciousness. And from his humble beginnings in New York city, he gradually spread Krishna consciousness throughout the world in just twelve years. He himself personally visited every continent on the planet. He visited most of the major cities. And he sent his disciples all over the world in pursuance of the order and desire of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu that people throughout the world should chant Hare Krishna. And we are also directly and indirectly the beneficiaries of his munificence, of his mercy, of his gifts. In 1996, we observed the centennial celebrations for Srila Prabhupada, one hundred years since he took birth or appeared in Calcutta in 1896. And devotees throughout the world took the opportunity, especially to glorify Srila Prabhupada and to make others aware of the contribution Srila Prabhupada made to human society. So one devotee placed this book on my table, so I assume that the idea is that I should read something from the book. The book is called Watering the Seed, with anecdotes and articles from the past hundred teachings of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. Fortunately or unfortunately, I was the unworthy instrument to write the book, but I will read something from the book because the book does glorify Srila Prabhupada. But I will read something about Srila Prabhupada’s contribution.

READING Watering the Seed, “Srila Prabhupada’s gifts”

Over thirty thousand people attended the inauguration of Srila Prabhupada centennial in the NSCI stadium in central Bombay, the largest gathering for a single function in the history of ISKCON in India. The glittering event had the leading industrialists, celebrities, and VIPs to honor Srila Prabhupada’s contribution to India and the world. The Chief Minister and the Minister of Cultural Affairs for the state of Maharashtra expressed their appreciation of Srila Prabhupada and his movement from the dais. The Chief Minister ended his talk by loudly proclaiming three times,

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

The four GBCs for Bombay—His Holiness Giriraj Swami, His Holiness Gopal Krishna Gosvami, His Holiness Radhanath Swami, and His Holiness Sridhra Swami were also present. Giriraj Swami was asked to bless the audience.

COMMENT

This is the transcript.

READING continued

I do not know what blessings I can give personally, but I can tell you about Srila Prabhupada’s blessings, and I hope you will take advantage of them. According to Vedic literatures, five processes of devotional service are most potent.

COMMENT

Who knows what the five most potent forms of devotional service are, as mentioned in The Nectar of Devotion and Caitanya-caritāmṛta? Raise your hand if you know. You know one? Sorry, listening.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:32:05]

Giriraj Swami: Well, let us continue reading. [laughter] Actually, in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, nine processes are mentioned,

śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam
arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam 

And out of the nine, three are considered most important: hearing, chanting, and remembering, which some of you have mentioned. And out of them, hearing is the first. But still, Rupa Gosvami has analyzed sixty-four items of devotional service, including the nine. The nine are also part of the sixty-four. And here is listed five that are especially potent.

READING continued

By even a slight contact with any one of them,

COMMENT

Any one of the five potent forms of devotional service.

READING continued

. . . one can awaken dormant love for Krishna and attain the supreme goal of life. Through ISKCON, Srila Prabhupada has given us the best facility to engage in those activities. First is sādhu-saṅga, the association of devotees.

COMMENT

Srila Prabhupada said, he created the International Society for Krishna Consciousness to give people the opportunity to associate with devotees. So please take advantage of this blessing of Srila Prabhupada and associate with pure devotees of Sri Krishna. Of course, associating with devotees includes all of the items. In fact, all of the items are done best in the association of devotees.

READING continued

Then nāma-kīrtana, chanting of the holy names of the Lord, especially in Kali-yuga,

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

“One should chant the holy names, chant the holy names, chant the holy names. There is no other way, no other way, no other way for success in the modern age.” The Lord Himself, Sri Krishna Himself has incarnated in the age of Kali as Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, as confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and other Vedic shastras. And He predicted and desired what have already discussed.

COMMENT

Then the third item, and listen carefully because you will be asked again.

READING continued

Then bhāgavata-śravaṇa, hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. As Sri Chanda Hinduja mentioned,

COMMENT

He was one of the other guests.

READING continued

Srila Prabhupada went to the United States without any possessions practically, he had just forty rupees, then about seven dollars. Whereas Srila Prabhupada said just one day spending in New York,

COMMENT

No, it is not even one minute spending. By the time you have gone in the taxi from the airport, seven dollars is gone and you haven’t even reached the destination.

READING continued

But he also brought with him the most valuable treasure of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In addition to translating Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Srila Prabhupada has translated Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Sri Īśopaniṣad, Sri Caitanya-caritāmṛta, in summary studies of many other Vedic literatures which all present the same conclusion as Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. But Srila Prabhupada did not want to leave India to come to America until he finished the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. When the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was printed, he felt, “Now I can go to America, now I can give them Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.” So we request you, please take advantage of this blessing of Srila Prabhupada and read his translations of Bhāgavata philosophy. Then forth item, mathurā-vāsa, living in a holy place or temple. So we request all of you to take the opportunity to visit these holy places, especially Vrindavan and Mayapur. And finally, Sri mūrtira śraddhāya sevana, worshipping the deity with faith and veneration. Srila Prabhupada has established deities of Radha and Krishna all over the world. So you may visit any ISKCON temple, practically in any city of the world, and participate in the worship of Sri Sri Radha and Krishna.

COMMENT

So what are the five most potent items in devotional service? Who knows? Well, you all must know, so I will just choose at random. Yes, sir, can you tell us one of the five?

Devotee: Associating with devotees.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, associating with devotees, very good. But we will take volunteers, that will be better. Second, yes,

Devotee: Chanting the holy name.

Giriraj Swami: Chanting the holy name, very good. Third,

Devotee: Hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Giriraj Swami: Hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, very good. Fourth?

Devotee: Residing in holy places.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, residing in holy places or visiting holy places like Mayapur, Vrindavan, or any temple where the deities are installed or where the devotees are chanting the glories of the Lord. And fifth, yes,

Devotee: Worshiping the deity.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, worshiping the deity with faith and veneration. So even a slight contact with any of these five items can help one develop his dormant love for Krishna. And Srila Prabhupada has given us the facility to engage in these processes practically everywhere throughout the world. Hare Krishna.

So are there any questions or comments? Yes?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:40:50]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, Lord Chaitanya has said that the most essential process is chanting the holy name. You are right, and therefore we should always chant. We can chant loudly in kirtan or softly in japa, both are the same. But for initiated devotees, Srila Prabhupada has prescribed that we should chant sixteen rounds on our beads every day.

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare

Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

And Srila Prabhupada said that we do not expect most people to live in the temple. Most people will not live in the temple, but we require the temple to show people the example of how to practice Krishna consciousness at home. So you come to the temple on Sunday or holidays, or as often as possible, and learn the method of devotional service as the devotees practice in the temple, as Srila Prabhupada taught them. And then you do the same thing at home. There is nothing we do in the temple that you cannot do at home. You just do the same thing at home. And for more encouragement, more enthusiasm, more enlightenment, you can come to the temple and associate with more devotees, maybe more experienced devotees also, and then increase your determination to continue your practices at home during the week or until you can come to temple. Yes?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:43:14]

Giriraj Swami: Yes. He asked, can we offer prayers to the holy name? Yes, because the holy name is Krishna Himself. So just as we can pray to Krishna, we can pray to Krishna in the form of Krishna nāma. Krishna nāma and Krishna are both Krishna, and we can pray to both equally.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:43:45]

Giriraj Swami: Prema Bhakta Prabhu saying, can I explain what it means to associate with devotees?

Well, in the Nectar of Instruction, Srila Rupa Gosvami has explained the process of association in six exchanges. One, dadāti pratigṛhṇāti—giving gifts in charity. Two, accepting charitable gifts. Srila Prabhupada gives the example that sometimes we give people the gift of transcendental knowledge, the gift of transcendental literature, or we give them the gift of the holy name. And people give us gifts in the form of contributions for the service of the deity, as we see on the altar. So the dadāti pratigṛhṇāti guhyam ākhyāti pṛcchati, and revealing one’s mind in confidence, inquiring confidentially. So devotees come, a less experienced devotee will approach a more experienced devotee and inquire confidentially, “How can I make progress in devotional service?” And the more experienced devotee will disclose his mind and say, “The best way for you to make advancement in your present situation is as follows.” Then bhuṅkte bhojayate caiva, offering food, prasāda, and accepting food. Just like you come to the temple, soon after the tulasi ārati, we will be offering you prasāda. And sometimes devotees come and invite us to visit their homes and take prasāda. So that is bhuṅkte bhojayate caiva. And what is the result of such six exchanges? Ṣaḍ-vidhaṁ prīti-lakṣaṇam, one develops prīti, one develops transcendental affection for the devotees and for the Lord. So this is how Srila Prabhupada intended people to associate with the devotees through Krishna consciousness movement. Otherwise, hearing, we associate with a superior devotee by hearing and serving him. We associate with a devotee of the same standard or the same understanding by becoming friends. And we associate with a lesser devotee by being merciful and giving him guidance, giving him affection, giving him service. So we also associate a junior with the senior, we associate equals to equals, we associate a senior to a junior in different ways. And by chanting and dancing and feasting and philosophy, we associate.

So now we have done almost everything except take prasāda. So we will make the program complete with tulasi-puja, and then mahā-prasāda.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Nitai-Gaura premānande. . . Hari Haribol!