Most Munificent—Indradyumna Swami and Giriraj Swami

Indradyumna Swami: Hare Krishna. I thought tonight we would read from my latest diary entry. It is one of my favorite chapters; I think it will be evident why. We will read Volume Eight, Chapter Two, January 15 to February 15, 2007, called “An Old Friend":

I went to India for the second time in several months, hoping to find new performers for our annual festival tour in Poland. This coming summer will be our eighteenth year of festivals along the Baltic Sea coast, and because many people return, we need to keep a high standard of entertainment.

First I attended rehearsals for India’s annual Folk Dance Festival in Delhi, where forty-five colorful groups from around the country were getting ready to perform for the President of India.

Then I went south to Mumbai, where Suradasa, who is in charge of cultural affairs at our Juhu Beach temple, brought many classical singers, dancers, and artisans to meet me.

Now I had a long list of possible performers for our summer tour. I phoned Jayatam and Nandini. “I think the summer stage show this year will be the best ever,” I told them.

“That is good,” Nandini said, “because we are already being flooded with calls about the summer programs.”

“Times have changed,” I thought. “I remember when we had to fight tooth and nail to get permission for our events.”

I thought about how the festivals had turned the tide in our favor. Indeed, Srila Prabhupada had said that we could conquer the world with culture:

“People are hankering after this culture, Krishna culture. So you should prepare yourself to present Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. Then India will conquer all over the world by this Krishna culture. Rest assured.” (Lecture, Bombay pandal program, March 31, 1971)

Next I flew to Mangalore in South India for the wedding of Drhda-vrata dasa, the son of my godbrother and godsister Dharmatma dasa and Dvijapriya dasi. The ceremony was to take place the next day at a resort several hours away. A local ISKCON devotee, Sujal, picked me up.

“Have you been to this part of India before, Maharaja?” he asked as we began driving towards the coast.

I looked around. “Well,” I said, “I think so. It looks familiar. This region is called Parasurama-ksetra, isn’t it?”

“Correct,” Sujal replied. “Millions of years ago, after killing twenty-one generations of deviant warriors, Lord Paramasura asked Varuna to give a special piece of land at the bottom of the sea to the brahmans. He attached the land to this mountainous coastline and invited the brahmans to live here. He blessed them to enjoy life in harmony with everyone in these beautiful surroundings.

“The temperature here is pleasant throughout the year. It varies only eight degrees between summer and winter. The land is fertile and abundant with all kinds of herbs and spices. The local people say that one day a year, all the herbal medicines enter a special tree nearby. If someone tastes the sap of that tree on that auspicious day, he will have perfect health for the whole year.”

We drove through a big village. “This town is called Mulki,” Sujal said. “It is a nice example of Parasurama’s benediction that people in this area would live together harmoniously. In Mulki, Muslims and Hindus are the best of friends.”

“Really?” I said.

“Yes,” replied Sujal. “Several hundred years ago, a Muslim merchant was taking his goods by ship down a nearby river. Suddenly the vessel became stuck on a sandbar. Days past, and the merchant became more and more desperate. Suddenly, Mother Durga appeared before him and said that she was buried under the sandbar in her deity form. If the merchant would rescue her, she said, she would free his boat. He quickly dug the deity out from the sandbar, and his boat mysteriously broke free.

“After selling his goods he came back to Mulki and built a large temple for the Durga deity, whom he had handed over to the local Hindu people. Since that time Hindus and Muslims have coexisted peacefully here. Sometimes they even attend religious ceremonies in each other’s homes.”

I looked out the window and saw Muslim girls dressed in black burkas, with only their eyes showing, walking down the street holding hands with Hindu girls dressed in saris.

“That is something I have never seen before.” I said.

As we drove along, I studied the countryside and the small villages we passed through.

“It is clean here,” I said. “You don’t see the garbage and open sewers we often find in north Indian villages. It is a part of India many ISKCON devotees aren’t aware of.”

“And this area is rich in Puranic lore and pastimes,” Sujal said. “Nearby is a cave where Sitadevi, while being carried away by Rāvaṇa, left a ring, hoping Lord Ramachandra would find her. Also, the Mohini-murti incarnation left the world in this region. The exact spot is now a range of colorful rocks.

“In addition, your godbrother Tattva-darsana dasa has a farm community near here. On top of a hill on that property, the great Shankaracharya practiced austerities for many years and attained full mystic powers. Lord Ṛṣabhadeva left this world in a valley at the base of that farm. And the sacred town of Udupi, where Madhvacharya lived, is nearby.”

“Udupi?” I thought. I sat up straight. A flood of memories came to mind. “Udupi?” I said. “We are near Udupi? Sujal, now I remember. I came to this region twenty-seven years ago on pilgrimage.”

“Twenty-seven years ago!” Sujal said. “I wasn’t even born then.”

“It was 1979,” I said. “I had just taken sannyasa at the Mayapur festival in Bengal. I wanted to travel to holy places around India to get inspiration for the services ahead of me. I didn’t know much about India at the time, so I asked several Indian devotees where to go. One devotee suggested south India. He told me many great acharyas like Madhvacharya and Ramanujacharya came from the south. He suggested I begin by visiting Udupi, because it is the place where Madhvacharya lived and boldly preached Krishna consciousness, delivering many conditioned souls from illusion and ignorance. The next day I was on a train to Udupi. Will we be passing by Udupi?”

“Yes, we will,” Sujal said. I looked out the window. “Then we must stop there,” I said. “I have to visit an old friend.”

“Of course,” Sujal said. A few moments later Sujal turned to me. “If you don’t mind, Maharaja,” he said, “who is the old friend you want to visit?”

“Udupi Krishna,” I said softly. “The Deity of Madhvacharya?” said Sujal. “Forgive me, but isn’t it a little familiar to refer to a Deity as a friend? Generally we approach the Deity in a mood of awe and reverence.”

“That is true,” I said, “but in The Nectar of Devotion, Rupa Gosvami says that a devotee should also think of the Deity as a friend. It is listed as one of the sixty-four items of devotional service.”

I was tired from my long journey. I sat back and closed my eyes, trying to recall my first visit to Udupi. I remembered arriving there after many days on a train, going straight to the temple, walking inside, and quietly paying obeisances. The Deity stood on the altar with a staff for herding cows in one hand and a ball of butter in the other.

I remembered an elderly pujari who came up to me and kindly told me how the deity had been carved by Visvakarma, the architect of the demigods, five thousand years ago for Rukmini, Krishna’s first queen in Dvaraka. In time, the deity was hidden in a lake formed by the gopīs’ tears of separation from Krishna. The pujari told me how thousands of years later a sailor took a large block of clay from the lake to act as ballast on a boat. The deity was hidden in the clay. One day as the ship was plying through the sea near Udupi, a storm appeared and the vessel ran into difficulty. Madhvacharya, who happened to be on the beach, waved his saffron cloth as a beacon for the boat.

In gratitude, the captain offered Madhvacharya whatever merchandise he desired from the ship. Madhvacharya requested the sacred block of clay being used as ballast. When the sailors tried to lift it, it broke open revealing the beautiful Krishna diety. Although the deity was heavy, Madhvacharya, who was an incarnation of Vayu, the wind god, carried Him to Udupi, where he installed Him in the temple.

Hearing the pastime of Udupi Krishna from the pujari increased my appreciation for the Deity, and I remembered praying fervently to Him for the privilege of always being engaged in the saṅkīrtana mission of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. I remembered also praying for protection in the discharge of my duties as a new sannyasi. I was twenty-nine years old and had been a devotee for only eight years. I knew that many stalwarts on the path of devotion had fallen down due to the allurement of women, wealth, and false prestige.

Suddenly I heard Sujal’s voice. “Maharaja,” he said, “we are entering Udupi.”

“Oh, great!” I said and sat up.  As we drove through the streets I took out a pen and paper and started writing.

“Are you writing something for your diary?” Sujal said.

“No,” I said, “I am writing a report for Udupi Krishna.”

“A report to the Deity?” he said.

When we finally arrived at the temple, my heart was pounding. I jumped out of the car and made my way through the thick crowd of people to the exact spot in front of the Lord where I had stood twenty-seven years ago. I bowed down quickly, knowing I wouldn’t have much time in front of the Deity. I stood up and looked carefully through a small lattice window where pilgrims see the Deity.

“He is so beautiful!” I exclaimed out loud.

Collecting myself, I stood up straight and began reading my report.

“My dear friend,” I began. “Millions of pilgrims come before You each year, so I don’t expect you to remember me. I was a young devotee when I first met You. I was a new sannyasi with an entire life of devotional service ahead of me. Now I am in the autumn of my life, with just a few short years left to serve You in this world.

“I stand before You today somewhat embarrassed. I don’t feel I have made much progress in spiritual life since we first met. But I am proud to say I am still Your devotee, and I hope to be so until the end of time.

“I am very grateful that You have protected me in my duties throughout the years, and I thank You again and again for blessing me with many wonderful opportunities of service to the mission of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. I would consider myself most fortunate if You would continue engaging me in such service until my final breath.”

By this time the pilgrims in line behind me were becoming impatient, and several told me to move along.

“I don’t want to take much of Your time, my Lord,” I continued. “There are other pilgrims waiting. But such moments as these, when a devotee can reveal his heart to You in such auspicious circumstances, are few and far between.

“Through eons of time I had forgotten You, but You have never forgotten me, not even for a moment. Your greatest act of kindness was to lead me to my spiritual master, my savior, who is kindly teaching me the art of loving You. Please help me to act in such a way that he may always be proud of me.”

By now the pilgrims were shoving me, but I held my ground.

“Finally, my Lord,” I said, “I pray that my service to You will gradually purify me of all selfish desires. It is my great hope that one day I can return to Your abode in the spiritual world and serve You in ecstatic love, in the association of Your most beloved servants. I offer You my most humble prostrations at Your lotus feet. All glories to Your beloved Madhvacharya! All glories to my beloved spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada! By his grace alone could I find You again in this far distant place.”

I put the paper in my kurta pocket and bowed down. Some pilgrims fell over me, but I took it as the Lord’s mercy.

As Sujal and I walked back to the car, I told him the visit felt like an important milestone in my life.

“I had forgotten about this special part of India,” I said. “And I’d almost forgotten an old friend. But as always, the Lord makes arrangements to give us darshan of His lotus feet again and again.”

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura writes:

“Sakhyam, making friendship with the Lord, is the eighth limb of bhakti. As a friend of the Lord, the devotee is always attentive to take care of the Lord’s needs. Sakhyam refers to the attachment and friendship a devotee develops towards the Lord whilst worshiping the Deity.” (Jaiva Dharma, by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Chapter Nine, Part 7)

Giriraj Swami:

jaya jaya śrī-caitanya jaya nityānanda

jayādvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vṛnda 

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, Chapter Fourteen: “Performance of Vrndavana Pastimes.”

TEXTS 1–4

Accompanied by His personal devotees, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to the festival known as Lakṣmī-vijayotsava. There He discussed the superexcellent love of the gopīs. Just by hearing about them, He became very pleased and danced in great ecstatic love for the Lord.

All glories to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, known as Gauracandra! All glories to Lord Nityānanda Prabhu! All glories to Advaita Ācārya, who is so exalted!

All glories to all the devotees, headed by Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura! All glories to the readers who have taken Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as their life and soul!

While Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was resting in ecstatic love, Mahārāja Pratāparudra entered the garden.

TEXT 5

sārvabhauma-upadeśe chāḍi’ rāja-veśa
ekalā vaiṣṇava-veśe karila praveśa

TRANSLATION

Following Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya’s instructions, the King had given up his royal dress. He now entered the garden in the dress of a Vaiṣṇava.

PURPORT

Sometimes members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness — especially in the Western countries — find it difficult to approach people to distribute books because people are unfamiliar with the traditional saffron robes of the devotees. The devotees have therefore inquired whether they can wear European and American dress before the general public. From the instructions given to King Pratāparudra by Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, we can understand that we may change our dress in any way to facilitate our service. When our members change their dress to meet the public or to introduce our books, they are not breaking the devotional principles. The real principle is to spread the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, and if one has to change into regular Western dress for this purpose, there should be no objection.

TEXTS 6–7

Mahārāja Pratāparudra was so humble that with folded hands he first took permission from all the devotees. Then, with great courage, he fell down and touched the lotus feet of the Lord.

As Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu lay on the raised platform with His eyes closed in ecstatic love and emotion, the King very expertly began to massage His legs.

TEXT 8

rāsa-līlāra śloka paḍi’ karena stavana
“jayati te ‘dhikaṁ” adhyāya karena paṭhana

TRANSLATION

The King began to recite verses about the rāsa-līlā from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. He recited the chapter beginning with the words “jayati te ‘dhikam.”

PURPORT

These verses from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Ten, chapter thirty-one, constitute what is known as the Gopī-gīta.

TEXTS 9–12

When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu heard these verses, He was pleased beyond limits, and He said again and again, “Go on reciting, go on reciting.”

As soon as the King recited the verse beginning with the words “tava kathāmṛtam,” the Lord arose in ecstatic love and embraced him.

Upon hearing the verse recited by the King, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “You have given Me invaluable gems, but I have nothing to give you in return. Therefore I am simply embracing you.”

After saying this, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu began to recite the same verse again and again. Both the King and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu were trembling, and tears were flowing from their eyes.

TEXT 13

tava kathāmṛtaṁ tapta-jīvanaṁ
kavibhir īḍitaṁ kalmaṣāpaham
śravaṇa-maṅgalaṁ śrīmad-ātataṁ
bhuvi gṛṇanti ye bhūridā janāḥ

TRANSLATION

“‘My Lord, the nectar of Your words and the descriptions of Your activities are the life and soul of those who are always aggrieved in this material world. These narrations are transmitted by exalted personalities, and they eradicate all sinful reactions. Whoever hears these narrations attains all good fortune. These narrations are broadcast all over the world and are filled with spiritual power. Those who spread the message of Godhead are certainly the most munificent welfare workers.’”

PURPORT

This verse is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.31.9.

TEXTS 14–15

After reciting this verse, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu immediately embraced the King and cried, “You are the most munificent! You are the most munificent!” At this point Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not know who the King was.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mercy was aroused because of the King’s previous service. Therefore, without even asking who he was, the Lord immediately bestowed His mercy upon him.

TEXT 16

ei dekha, — caitanyera kṛpā-mahābala
tāra anusandhāna vinā karāya saphala

TRANSLATION

How powerful is the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu! Without even inquiring about the King, the Lord made everything successful.

PURPORT

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mercy is so powerful that it acts automatically. If a person renders loving service to Kṛṣṇa, it never goes in vain. It is recorded in a spiritual account, and in due time it will fructify. This is confirmed by the Bhagavad-gītā (2.40):

nehābhikrama-nāśo ‘sti pratyavāyo na vidyate
sv-alpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt

“In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.”

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has particularly bestowed upon all fallen souls in this age the most potent method of devotional service — saṅkīrtana, the congregational chanting of the Lord’s holy name — and whoever takes to it through the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is immediately elevated to the transcendental position. As Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.32) recommends, yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ.

A student of Kṛṣṇa consciousness must receive Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mercy; then his devotional service will quickly succeed. This was the case with King Pratāparudra. One has to be noticed by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and a little service with sincere efforts will convince the Lord that one is a proper candidate for returning home, back to Godhead. At first Mahārāja Pratāparudra did not have a chance to meet Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, but when the Lord saw that the King was serving Lord Jagannātha as a menial sweeper, the Lord’s mercy upon the King became a solid fact. When Mahārāja Pratāparudra, in the dress of a Vaiṣṇava, was serving the Lord, the Lord did not even inquire who he was. Rather, He had compassion upon him and embraced him.

Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī wants to point out that nothing could compare to the Lord’s mercy toward Mahārāja Pratāparudra; therefore he uses the word dekha (“just see”) and caitanyera kṛpā-mahābala (“how powerful is the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu”). This is also confirmed by Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī: yat-kāruṇya-kaṭākṣa-vaibhava-vatām (Caitanya-candrāmṛta 5). Even a little of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mercy serves as a great asset for spiritual advancement. Therefore the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement must be spread through the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. When Rūpa Gosvāmī experienced the mercy and magnanimity of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he said:

namo mahā-vadānyāya kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te
kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya- nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ

“I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, who is more magnanimous than any other avatāra, even Kṛṣṇa Himself, because He is bestowing freely what no one else has ever given — pure love of Kṛṣṇa.” Śrīla Locana dāsa Ṭhākura has also sung, parama karuṇa, pahuṅ dui jana, nitāi-gauracandra: “The two brothers Nitāi and Gaura are so kind that no one can compare to Them.” Similarly, Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has sung:

vrajendra-nandana yei, śacī-suta haila sei,
balarāma ha-ila nitāi,
dīna-hīna yata chila, hari-nāme uddhārila,
tā’ra sākṣī jagāi-mādhāi

“Just to deliver all the sinful persons of this age by propagating the chanting of the holy name, Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Balarāma have advented as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda Prabhu. Jagāi and Mādhāi are evidence of Their success.”

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s special mission is the deliverance of all fallen souls in Kali-yuga. Devotees of Kṛṣṇa must persistently seek the favor and mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to become fit to return home, back to Godhead.

om ajñāna-timirāndhasya
jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena
tasmai śrī-gurave-namaḥ

śrī-caitanya-mano-’bhīṣṭaṁ
sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale
svayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ
dadāti sva-padāntikam

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

From these verses of Caitanya-caritāmṛta and from Srila Prabhupada’s purport, it becomes evident that of all the incarnations of the Lord, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the most merciful. Of course, we also know from our study of Prabhupada’s books that technically Lord Chaitanya is not an incarnation but is Krishna Himself. There are unlimited incarnations. Prabhupada said that there are as many incarnations as there are waves in the ocean. And they are referred to in the paribhāṣā-sutra of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.3.28):

ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ
kṛṣṇas tu Bhagavān svayam
indrāri-vyākulaṁ lokaṁ
mṛḍayanti yuge yuge

There is a long list of incarnations in that chapter, and Śukadeva Gosvami says that all the abovementioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of plenary portions, but kṛṣṇas tu Bhagavān svayam: Krishna is the original Personality of Godhead.

He says that they all incarnate in the world whenever there is a disturbance created by the enemies of Indra. That automatically refers to demons, because Indra is a devata. He is a godly person, a devotee, and his enemies are asuras. So the Lord comes, and those expansions possess different percentages of the Lord’s transcendental qualities. As Prabhupada said, in a room there may be many lights, but the light bulbs manifest only a certain portion of the power that is in the powerhouse some miles away.

These incarnations come with particular purposes: paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya—-to protect the devotees, annihilate the miscreants, and reestablish the principles of religion. And when Krishna comes, it is to be understood that all the avatars are within Him. You could say they are different manifestations of His personality. So when He comes as svayaṁ bhagavān, He manifests all the opulences of Godhead. Krishna is not an incarnation.

Similarly, when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu comes, He is not an incarnation. Śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya, rādhā-kṛṣṇa nahe anya. Kaviraja Gosvami states that the Lord was one, but then, to enjoy līlās (loving pastimes)—love is two, love is something reciprocal—He expanded Himself as Srimati Radharani, hlādinī-śakti, for supreme loving pastimes. And He expanded as the living entities, the jivas, for loving pastimes. That hlādinī-śakti potency is personified as Srimati Radhika. And again those two have become one in the personality of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

And that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the yuga avatāra. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam: but for the Lord, no one can enunciate the principle of religion. So in every age, the Lord comes and gives the dharma, the process of religion, for that age. But Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is more than just the yuga avatāra. He had that purpose in coming—to inaugurate the saṅkīrtana movement—but He also had His internal reason: to try to understand the loving mood that Srimati Radharani has for Him as Krishna.

So, when the Lord comes, He can be understood or appreciated in various ways, just like a vaidhurya stone, or what we might call a crystal. When you put a crystal up to light, there are so many beautiful colors manifesting from all different parts of the crystal. Any angle you look at the crystal, it is beautiful. So from whatever angle you look at Krishna or His incarnations, it is always extraordinary. They can be studied in many different ways—all to appreciate Krishna as the Supreme Lord.

One particular quality is stressed today: His magnanimity, His generosity, or His compassion, His mercy. This is the quality that Rupa Gosvami chose to exalt when he first came in touch with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Namo mahā-vadānyāya kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya- nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ: “Of all the incarnations, You are the most munificent, because You are drowning the world in ecstatic love of Yourself, in this vraja-bhakti.” This is the unique nature of the love that Lord Chaitanya gave. Therefore He is considered very merciful, because it is not mentioned that the incarnations necessarily inundate the world with love. Paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ: they rescue devotees, they annihilate the miscreants, and they establish the principles of dharma whereby one can gradually come to the ecstatic stage of love of God. But they don’t inundate the world in such a way that, as during Mahaprabhu’s appearance, the whole universe is liberated. This is something unique. Any living entity who was living at that time of Mahaprabhu, according to Kaviraja Gosvami, was delivered just by the presence of the Lord. And then the universe filled up again. I guess we were not in the universe then. We were somewhere else. But this is something extraordinary.

The qualification for going back home, back to Godhead, is love. Krishna says, “I can be understood as I am only through the process of devotional service, and when one is in full knowledge of Me through devotion, he can enter the kingdom of God.” Mahaprabhu demonstrated this by inundating the world with prema while He was here and delivering the living entities back home, back to Godhead. This is something extraordinary, and Srila Rupa Gosvami—we are all rūpānugas; we are all followers in his footsteps—wants to impress this point upon us again and again, how merciful Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is, so that we will take advantage of the mercy.

One time, when Sri Prahlada and I were traveling in South India, we went to Sri Rangam and happened to meet a South Indian brahman. He was very pukka—śikhā, brahman thread, belly—and was chanting slokas. He was a Rama bhakta. He had that tilaka. “Raghupati rāghava rājā rāma, patita-pāvana sītā-rāma.” There was some deep emotion. Prahlada was always attracted to Rama bhaktas. He is a Gaura bhakta, but he always had this special affection, because he just loved to read the Rāmāyaṇa, because it was full of so much bhava, so much emotion, spiritual emotion. Young boys like to read the warrior stories, but he got caught up in the love stories too. [laughter] So he was really interested to meet this Rama bhakta.

When the Rama bhakta saw our Gaudiya tilaka, he was very surprised. He said, “Why are you Kṛṣṇa bhaktas?” He said, “How are you Kṛṣṇa bhaktas, because your Krishna favors the cows and the brahmans?” And he quoted the verse, namo brahmaṇya-devāya go-brāhmaṇa-hitāya ca jagad-dhitāya kṛṣṇāya govindāya namo namaḥ. He said, “Being Westerners, you have a better chance with my Rama, because my Rama is merciful to lower-class creatures like monkeys and bears.” [laughter] He said, “He even accepted these monkeys and bears in His army.” So I thought, “Wow.” Prahlada was sharp. He said, “Yes, but these monkeys and bears had to go through war for Lord Ramachandra. Our Krishna, after milking cows, gave butter to the monkeys of Vrindavan.” [laughter] Then Prahlada added, “Some acharyas say that Krishna did this to repay the monkeys for all the hard work they did as warriors in His incarnation as Ramachandra.”

Then Prahlada really dug in. He said, “After Ramachandra refused the advances of Surpanakha, He cut off her nose, but then when she appeared as Kubja in kṛṣṇa-līlā, Krishna purified her. So our Krishna is more merciful than your Rama.” And then he said, “What is more, whereas Rama disfigured a witch, Surpanakha, Krishna delivered a witch, Pūtanā.” As he was speaking, the brahman was going. . . [Maharaja drops his jaw in amazement.] And he continued, “Whereas Lord Rama accepted only one wife and then banished her to the forest after the pastimes in Lanka, our Krishna accepted sixteen thousand one hundred princesses kidnapped by Banasura. That is how merciful our Krishna is.” By this time the Rama bhakta was defeated, but nevertheless he remained a Rama bhakta. [laughter] While Prahlada was speaking, I was thinking, “A man convinced against will is of the same opinion still.” That perfectly applies on the transcendental platform.

Prabhupada has mentioned several times in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta that this movement is specifically for devotees to become attached to Radha and Krishna.

Raghunatha dasa Gosvami warns us in his Manaḥ-śikṣā that we should be careful not to become too attracted to Vaikuntha Deities because that attraction will lead us to Vaikuntha. There is the mood of aiśvarya-bhava, awe and reverence, which is fine, but the special mercy through which Mahaprabhu is drowning the world is this vraja-bhakti. So it is hoped that most devotees who come are aspiring for Goloka Vrindavan.

The other day, I was discussing with Giriraj Maharaja that I met some ISKCON devotees from South India, and one said, “I have to tell you something. I have to reveal my mind to you that I am very attracted to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, I am attracted to Krishna, but I have a special attraction to Rama. So can I be part of this movement? Do I have to leave?” I had to think a little. Then I said, “Well, Prabhupada did say that when you chant Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, Rama can refer to the pleasure potency of the Lord—the Lord is the reservoir of all pleasure—it can refer to Balarama, or it can refer to Lord Ramachandra.” I said, “In our ISKCON temples we do have deities of Sita, Rama, Laksmana, and Hanuman.”

When Prabhupada went to Nairobi, he brought with him Radha-Krishna deities. He actually carried them on his lap, like he did when he went to Sydney. So, he brought these very beautiful deities. It was very early in the movement. And one lady in the darshan said, “What about Sita-Rama-Laksmana-Hanuman?” Prabhupada said, “Yes, very soon They will come here to Nairobi.” Then Prabhupada went, and then he passed away. But then, a year or two later—something like that—an Indian man brought beautiful Sita-Rama-Laksmana-Hanuman deities to his home, but then his wife died and he couldn’t worship them. So he came into the temple and said, “Please take these deities.” The temple president remembered Prabhupada’s words—"Very soon They will come.” So They came.

So that facility is also there. In Vaikuntha there are unlimited planets, from which the various incarnations descend. The incarnations don’t come from Goloka; they come from Vaikuntha. You see the painting on the front cover of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which Prabhupada originally designed himself. All the planets are there, and if you look closely, the names are there. Nṛsiṁha, Varaha, and Matsya come from there. Obviously, there are many devotees there, and they may come, and we have to accommodate them.

During caitanya-līlā there were also devotees like Anupama. Just consider: Anupama was the younger brother of Rupa and Sanatana. His son was Jiva Gosvami, the nephew of Rupa and Sanatana Gosvamis. So, Anupama, Rupa, and Sanatana—the three brothers—were strong followers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and Rupa and Sanatana were Radha-Krishna bhaktas. Anupama was a Rama bhakta, and he had this difficulty, how to. . . Rupa and Sanatana tried to change his heart, but he remained steadfast. So he was allowed to stay as a Rama bhakta.

One scholar said that Srila Prabhupada built a house in which the whole world can live. There are so many rooms, and we have rooms for the Rama bhaktas and the Nṛsiṁha bhaktas too. But in general it is to be understood that this movement is specifically for going back to Goloka Vrindavan, because if we are chanting the specific mantra that takes you there—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare—we will go to the planet of Krishna. We will awaken our love for Krishna and go back to the spiritual world.

Later, Sri Prahlada and I were discussing in confidence that we see Krishna as even more merciful than Rama but Lord Chaitanya as even more merciful than Krishna. Of course, we know from this verse by Rupa Gosvami: namo mahā-vadānyāya kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya- nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ. And we were discussing how although Krishna is very merciful, He is sometimes partial. For example: Samo ‘haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu na me dveṣyo ‘sti na priyaḥ. He says, “I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service to Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.” So although Krishna is equal to all, if someone takes a special interest in the Lord, the Lord takes a special interest in him. And you cannot deny that of the Lord, because that is the nature of love. That is the nature of love—to be a little partial. That is why you take one woman as your wife or one man as your husband. And you have kids. If there is a fire or an earthquake or something, you immediately try to save your own children. We are partial. That is the nature of love. And Krishna says, “As they surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly.” Of course, the opportunity for the mercy of the Lord is open to everyone. It is open to everyone. But Krishna appears to be partial. Even for His devotees, there are certain conditions for acceptance.

Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ: “Abandon all varieties of religion and surrender unto Me, and if you do that, then I will give you all protection. Do not fear.” There is some condition.

But Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, as Prabhupada is pointing out, is very liberal. He is not partial. He is very liberal to His devotees. No hard and fast rules—at least in the beginning. One time Prabhupada said, “I have given you a few rules, but if I told you all the rules you would faint.” By now we know all the rules. [laughter] But yes, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was very liberal, and there are no hard and fast rules in the chanting. Anyone can chant. Even a Muslim can say, “Harama!” as he is being killed by a boar and by the mercy of the holy name be liberated. Ajamila can call out to his son Narayana offenselessly—not making any offenses to the holy name—and get a wonderful opportunity to continue and ultimately attain perfection on the path of devotional service.

If there is any distinction that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu does make, it is that He delivers the most fallen first. This was realized by Narottama dasa Thakura. Understanding this, he prayed, “My claim to Your mercy is first, because I am the most fallen.”

And Mahaprabhu is so merciful that He doesn’t wait for living entities to come to Him, but He goes out. When He was here five hundred years ago, every morning He would rise early with His devotees and go out to find, to reclaim, the fallen souls. For thousands and millions of years the procedure has been that the seeker of spiritual truth goes to find the representative of the Lord. He goes to the temple to find the Lord. But in this age of Kali, everything is topsy-turvy, and so the Lord comes looking for us. And if we do get His mercy and then try to escape, He comes and brings us back, like He did with Krishnadasa. Krishnadasa was His personal servant, and he left the Lord to live with the gypsies, and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu went and dragged him back by the hair.

This is how kind the Lord is in the age of Kali. But we should make it easier for Him to deliver us. He is doing His best to deliver us, so we shouldn’t struggle. One of the offenses to the holy name is to maintain material attachments even after hearing so much instruction on the matter. That makes it more difficult for the spiritual master or the Lord to deliver us.

When I was a kid, in my teens, I became a lifeguard at a pool. We learned that the difficulty in rescuing people is that sometimes when you come to rescue them they panic and grab you and in their panic bring you down. You both can drown. So there is a certain technique when you go to rescue a drowning person: You swim behind them so they don’t see you. Then you reach over and get them around their neck and under their arm, like that. Then you swim with them sideways, backwards, so they don’t see you. Then they don’t struggle.

Sometimes I remember that example in our dealings in Krishna consciousness, that we shouldn’t make it difficult for the spiritual master and Lord Chaitanya to deliver us, by maintaining material attachments or engaging in sinful activity. The Lord is very, very merciful, but we shouldn’t take advantage. We should act in such a way that it is easy for the Lord to deliver us. That is made very simple by strictly adhering to the regulative principles and chanting our rounds. Then it is easy for the Lord to deliver us back home, back to Godhead. He has made the process very easy by the chanting of His holy names: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

And one who distributes those holy names widely, as described here in the verse from the gopī-gīta, does the highest welfare work. Those who participate in that, they get to see the great miracle of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy and deepen their faith. By going on saṅkīrtana, going out amongst the masses, they are reminded about the miseries of material life, which is favorable for spiritual progress, and they also get to witness the unfathomable mercy of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in delivering the fallen, conditioned souls. And we gain great faith by sharing this. This is called the bṛhad-mṛdaṅga. The mridanga is there on the street. And the bṛhad-mṛdaṅga is preaching Krishna consciousness. Thus we attract the mercy of Lord Chaitanya.

I was remembering this evening one incident about how merciful Lord Chaitanya is to even the most fallen, sinful rascals. As Prabhupada mentions, Jagai and Madhai—they were not comical characters; they were deeply sinful criminals. I remembered how once we were doing a Christmas marathon in Paris and we would send our devotees to the train stations. The girls particularly would go on the trains and distribute books to the people just before the train left. As the train started to go, they would jump off. One young French girl, small girl, very pretty girl, very delicate girl, I remember she was a very good book distributor, and she happened to approach a man on the train in a compartment. She walked into the compartment and gave him a Kṛṣṇa book. He looked at her for a moment, then he took the Kṛṣṇa book, and he was so strong that he tore it almost in half. Then he threw it on the ground, stood up, and began stomping on it. She broke down in tears. And he was such a demon that he grabbed her and dragged her by her hair through the compartment and literally threw her off the train. The train had just started, and he threw her off the train. She dislocated her shoulder, and she had blood coming from her hair down her neck. She landed on her face. She had this bruise for weeks. I think she fractured a bone there. I was somewhere nearby, and someone came to get me. So I came, and we had to carry her back to the temple. And we were cursing that man. We were cursing him. Still, it was the marathon, and she was back on the marathon four days later.

Anyway, what happened—it is quite a miraculous thing, in the mood of the purport today. That man was a banker from Spain—a very wealthy banker—and he had been in Paris doing business. The train went to Madrid. It took a day and a half or something like that. As a joke he kept that book to show his wife, to show her what he did, how he had stomped on the book and thrown that nonsense girl, that beggar, off the train. He said, “See what I did to the book,” and he put it on the kitchen table. What happened was the maid came that day, and the wife had gone shopping and the husband had gone to the bank. The maid came, and she took the book. She thought that it was one of the family’s books and that somehow it had been damaged—a car had run over it or something. So she dusted it off and repaired it as best she could and put it in the library in the man’s study.

About a year went by, and unfortunately that man’s wife died in a car accident. His son ran away, and his daughter got married to some low-class person. He ended up all alone, and he was just so despondent. When his wife died he went into a deep depression. His kids had left, and his wife had died in a head-on car crash. He was just devastated, devastated. So, he was in his study, contemplating suicide, and he happened to look up on the bookshelf. He was actually looking for the Bible, although he wasn’t a very religious man. As Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gītā, four types of persons approach Him—usually the person in distress. So he was looking for the Bible, and he saw that book.

Something compelled him to take that book out, and he opened it up and started reading it—the Kṛṣṇa book—-and he read the part where Vasudeva is preaching to Kamsa. In that discussion Vasudeva mentions the principles of reincarnation and how the living entity goes from one body to the next just like the worm who carefully places the front part of his body, then picks up the next portion, and goes on. There is some analogy like that given by Prabhupada. And it gave the man some solace to think that his wife was not actually dead but that she had just changed bodies. It was nothing he had ever thought of in his life, but it gave him just enough faith not to kill himself.

So, the man went to sleep, and then he awoke in the morning. He was supposed to go to work, but somehow he was drawn back to that book, which was still on the table. So he went back and read it. For three days he stayed home—he didn’t go to work; he just read that book. And he had a complete change of heart. The book gave him so much solace—that what had happened was his karma; that he had to be forbearing, had to be tolerant; and that his wife had only changed bodies. He was just ripe for that knowledge. He thought about it a lot for a week. Then, you know what he did? He looked in the back of the book, and he saw there was an address. The book was in French, but he spoke French. He found the address and called the temple in France and found out there was a temple in Madrid, and he went to the temple.

When the temple president opened the door, this man was in a business suit, and he was on his hands and knees. He was saying, “Please forgive me. Please forgive me.” The temple president was a relatively new devotee. He said, “Excuse me?” He thought this guy was mad. The man said, “Please forgive me for what I have done.” And the temple president said, “Well, do you want to come in and talk a little?"—because he could see that he was nicely dressed. So the man came in and talked in the office, and he revealed how many years before. . . He had the Kṛṣṇa book with him, and he said, “I destroyed this book, number one. And I was very rough with one of the members of your society.” And he started crying. He said, “I just want to apologize, because she was trying to deliver me and I treated her so roughly. I am just so sorry.” Then he said, “Is there anything I can do?” The devotee was new, and he didn’t know how to respond. So the man just said, “Let me write you a check.” He wrote out a check for a large sum of money, gave it to the devotee, and left.

That was Wednesday. On Sunday, the temple president was giving a lecture and he saw the banker sitting in the back of the temple room listening. Every Sunday the man would come to the temple, and he would listen. Some time went by. He wasn’t old, maybe forty or so; he was fairly young and successful. One day he told the temple president that he wanted to move into the temple and become a devotee. No one could believe it, because he was so affluent. And guess what service they gave him? He was the temple treasurer for some time. [laughter] Then came the Christmas marathon, and he asked if he could go on the marathon. He was kind of older, but the devotees said, “Okay, you can go.” He went out, and he actually did quite well. Then he asked, “I don’t want to be the temple treasurer. I just want to distribute books.” So that is what he did. He became a book distributor Then we had a festival. I think it was in Italy, if I am not mistaken. 

There was some big festival, and that girl came to the festival, and that devotee came to the festival, and they met. And he was just crying and crying, and he was begging, “Please forgive me.” Now, if a Vaishnava is offended, a Vaishnava does not hold a grudge. So she said, “No, it is all right.” It was a pretty amazing story, and I told our GBC, Bhagavān dasa, and we discussed it sometimes, how amazing that story was.

The years went by, and I lost track of that devotee. I don’t know what happened to him. By then, things had kind of disintegrated in the yatra, and I went back to Spain some years ago, but I couldn’t find that devotee. I don’t even remember his name, but I remember the day that happened, and I was actually thinking about that verse in the Bhagavad-gītā where Krishna says, “Those who are particularly sinful, I push them into various abominable species of life where they never see the light of day again.” But here is an example of the mercy of Lord Chaitanya, that someone who was so sinful somehow received some causeless mercy and then he in turn became a deliverer of that process.

So it is quite obvious from that incident and from so many stories the saṅkīrtana devotees have—the underlying principle is that Lord Chaitanya is delivering the fallen souls and that He is the most munificent incarnation.

Hare Krishna.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ki jaya!

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Gaura-mani dasa: What is awe and reverence? Is awe and reverence not one of the highest principles of love of God?

Indradyumna Swami: I think it is. That is the general mood of the kingdom of God. And even ourselves, at our stage, we also worship the Lord in awe and reverence. We dress Radha-Krishna deities, but we dress them in the mood of Lakshmi-Narayana. We are being trained first to see God in the mood of awe and reverence, so that we have a proper understanding of who He is, so that we can approach Him without any doubts and serve Him properly. And then we get some special benediction at some stage to enter into that very, very special mood of the sweetness of Vrindavan. There are countless planets in Vaikuntha, but there is that one planet where that mood of loving sweetness of Vrindavan is present.

So, it is counted as one of the highest sentiments in love of God. It is very high. Maharaja, would you like to comment on that?

Giriraj Swami: In the beginning, we have to develop the sense of subordination to the Lord. We must understand the greatness of God and regard Him with awe and veneration, because He is so great and we are so small. But when the soul becomes very pure, completely liberated from material desires, by the mercy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the holy name, if it is inherent within one’s soul to have one of the more intimate relationships with Krishna in Vrindavan. . . You know about the five different rasas?

Gaura-mani dasa: Yes.

Giriraj Swami: To actually enter into those intimate relationships with Krishna in Vrindavan, you have to forget that He is God, because if you were conscious that He is God, you couldn’t play with Him as an equal friend—you couldn’t sport with Him or let Him carry you on His shoulders. You couldn’t love Him in the mood of a parental guardian. You couldn’t think, “Oh, He is hungry. I need to feed Him.” You would think, “Oh, He is feeding the whole universe. He is feeding every living entity in the whole creation.”

So in order to relish those types of intimate reciprocation with the Lord, one has to forget the opulence of the Lord. And that is not done by any artificial endeavor. It is done through the agency of yoga-māyā. Yoga-māyā is one of the energies of the Lord, and she facilitates the Lord’s pastimes by partially revealing the Lord and partially concealing Him. She reveals Him as the darling son of Mother Yasoda, as the most intimate friend, as the most handsome young man, but she conceals His divine opulences so that one can have intimate reciprocation with Him—whereas mahā-māyā just conceals the Lord. Mahā-māyā makes us think that we are God, that we are the Supreme, that we are the enjoyers, the controllers, the proprietors. That illusion keeps us in bondage.

So, in the beginning, we really have to develop that consciousness of God as the Supreme Controller, the Supreme Enjoyer, and the Supreme Proprietor, so we can give up our false attachments and delusions of grandeur and really serve Him with great humility and awe and reverence. And then later—perhaps much later—after we have been purified by years of chanting and serving the mission, serving the spiritual master, serving the devotees, we may get a glimmer of that type of service to Krishna in Vrindavan. Then internally we may pursue that, while externally we continue the same as always—chanting and serving.

Cara Yoshizumi: How do you avoid the pitfalls that other religions have fallen into spreading their faith? How do you avoid making mistakes that have been done before in spreading the mission?

Indradyumna Swami: I think by trial and error. [laughter] I hate to say it, but hindsight is better than foresight—because we have been doing it for about thirty years now. When I look back and think of some of the methods that we employed in the beginning, out of enthusiasm, overenthusiasm maybe, I think it might have been better to have done it differently. So I would say by trial and error. But now, a word to the wise is sufficient. Knowing that mistakes have been made in the past in our overzealousness, now we are very careful to try to do it properly. From the very beginning, our spiritual master was encouraging us not to preach in such a way that people would feel offended and go away. He said, “If we present the movement in such a way that people feel offended, then we are nonsense.” I think one of our spiritual teachers said, “Man’s glory lies in his common sense.” So there are ways to do these things, and we can also look to our brothers and sisters and other spiritual traditions and see how they do it effectively. But our main process is the chanting of Hare Krishna. So sometimes, no matter how nicely you try to present it, there will be people who don’t like that, but then you have to be tolerant.

Maharaja, do you want to comment on that?

Giriraj Swami: One professor named Larry Shinn did a study of the Hare Krishna movement, and he in turn has been interviewed by different devotees. He came to us very soon after Prabhupada left, and he remarked that the future of the movement would depend on the purity of the leaders. When I see how other traditions work within their institutions, they may be quite good on the social level. And actually, a lot of organized religion is social. People look for a society in which they can feel at home, in which they can feel appreciated and supported. And in those respects, some of the others have done quite well. But when it comes to real spiritual life—Krishna consciousness, or God consciousness—it is very rare to find people who are as pure or empowered as some of our devotees. But we need more such devotees. We all have to become pure devotees. As Srila Prabhupada said, “We don’t need one acharya; we need many acharyas.” He wanted us all to become acharyas.

At the same time, we need organization. In his last days, Srila Prabhupada asked me how I thought the movement would go on without him, and I replied, “As long as we are sincere and chant Hare Krishna and follow the regulative principles, we will be successful.” Srila Prabhupada himself had said that to have the power to preach, we must chant our sixteen rounds and follow the four principles. But at the end, when he asked and I gave my answer, he added, “Organization. Intelligence and organization.”

So we need both—purity and organization. Sometimes Prabhupada said, “You should study the Catholic Church and learn how they organize,” because in some ways they are very organized. But on other occasions he said, “Don’t become another Catholic Church.” In other words, yes, we have to be organized and efficient and have proper procedures and laws, but we don’t want only that. We don’t want to become a bureaucracy or a hierarchy without genuine spiritual advancement. And I think the more we have empowered preachers, the more the movement will naturally flourish, insofar as they are able to extend their influence.

But it is also true about trial and error. Prabhupada tried things, and after some time if they didn’t work, he tried something else. Something might work well for a while, but then circumstances might change. Or we might go too far in a particular direction, and then he would bring us back or head us in a different direction. The way he guided the movement reminded me of sailing: you catch the wind and you go in a certain direction, but then you have to adjust and change your tack, but ultimately you keep going toward your destination. So we need expert captains who have the vision to see when we need to make an adjustment—and the know-how to make the adjustment effectively.

Now I will make a little comment about Mulki, because we don’t hear much about Mulki. Soon after I first returned to India after being away with visa problems, on the day of Janmashtami I was walking on the balcony in Juhu from the deity area toward the guesthouse, and one devotee was walking in the opposite direction, and we sort of noticed each other and passed. Then I looked back, and she looked back, and I thought, “Do I know her?” I felt that I may have known her from before. Anyway, she and her sister eventually took initiation, Jayasri and Vraja-sundari, and in time they told me that they were from Mulki, and they invited me there.

So one year I went. Their mother and brother lived in Mulki—he still does—and I stayed there for about a week. It was a very special area. Actually, they had land outside the city. It was very lush, and they were living in a very simple way. Then their brother took up Krishna consciousness and started to have regular programs. The whole family—the brother, the mother, and. . .

Indradyumna Swami: Can I add a point of interest? I went there. We stopped in Mulki. We were outside the city, and we went to a house, and when we got inside the house there were Krishna conscious devotees. I asked, “Whose disciples are you?” They said, “Giriraj Swami’s disciples.” You went how many years ago?

Giriraj Swami: About fifteen.

Indradyumna Swami: They said, “We sit on the doorstep every evening waiting for him to come back.” [laughter] It reminded me of that deity at the end of Govardhana Hill, he is waiting.

Mukunda Datta dasa: Lauta Baba.

Indradyumna Swami: And they said, “We haven’t changed anything in the house. We haven’t moved a piece of furniture or changed anything in the house since Guru Maharaja was here. We are waiting for him to come back to do it.”

They are living in intense separation from you, Maharaja. They live only that day that you spent there. That is the timeframe they live in. That is all they talk about. You have to go back. They are waiting for you.

Giriraj Swami: When you spoke of your visit, I thought, “Maybe I have to visit again.” Otherwise, I was thinking, “There are so many places to go. People are inviting me to so many places. But Mulki. . .?” [laughter]

Indradyumna Swami: They are sitting there and thinking of you day and night.

I gave them a little relief because I talked about you all the time. Then some color came back in their cheeks. [laughter] And they cooked the same prasāda that you had. I ate it in the same bowls. The exact same preparations they cooked. It was uncanny.

Giriraj Swami: I didn’t know all the background in your diary entry, but I did many programs there. I spoke at the high school, and I was struck by how friendly the Muslims were. They were very friendly and open. I was struck by that. And within that stay we also visited Udupi.

I also know that other devotee, the Spanish banker. His name is Surya-Narayana dasa. When I was trying to assist in Spain, he was very committed. By then he had moved to Barcelona, and he was very active in the temple. Then eventually he got married again. Some years later I gave a class in Vrindavan, and he came up to me afterwards. He was very enlivened. Now, after hearing your talk, I am thinking that I should try to trace him and give him a call or something. He did a lot of service.

Indradyumna Swami: He got a lot of mercy. Now let us have kirtan.