SB 4.28.53

Giriraj Swami:

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

We read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Four, Chapter Twenty-eight: “Purañjana Becomes a Woman in the Next Life.”

TEXT 53

api smarasi cātmānam

avijñāta-sakhaṁ sakhe

hitvā māṁ padam anvicchan

bhauma-bhoga-rato gataḥ

TRANSLATION

The brāhmaṇa continued: My dear friend, even though you cannot immediately recognize Me, can’t you remember that in the past you had a very intimate friend? Unfortunately, you gave up My company and accepted a position as enjoyer of this material world.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (7.27):

icchā-dveṣa-samutthena

dvandva-mohena bhārata

sarva-bhūtāni sammohaṁ

sarge yānti parantapa

“O scion of Bharata [Arjuna], O conqueror of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, overcome by the dualities of desire and hate.” This is an explanation of how the living entity falls down into this material world. In the spiritual world there is no duality, nor is there hate. The Supreme Personality of Godhead expands Himself into many. In order to enjoy bliss more and more, the Supreme Lord expands Himself in different categories. As mentioned in the Varāha Purāṇa, He expands Himself in viṣṇu-tattva (the svāṁśa expansion) and in His marginal potency (the vibhinnāṁśa, or the living entity). These expanded living entities are innumerable, just as the minute molecules of sunshine are innumerable expansions of the sun. The vibhinnāṁśa expansions, the marginal potencies of the Lord, are the living entities. When the living entities desire to enjoy themselves, they develop a consciousness of duality and come to hate the service of the Lord. In this way the living entities fall into the material world. In the Prema-vivarta it is said:

kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha hañā bhoga-vāñchā kare

nikaṭa-stha māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare

The natural position of the living entity is to serve the Lord in a transcendental loving attitude. When the living entity wants to become Kṛṣṇa Himself or imitate Kṛṣṇa, he falls down into the material world. Since Kṛṣṇa is the supreme father, His affection for the living entity is eternal. When the living entity falls down into the material world, the Supreme Lord, through His svāṁśa expansion (Paramātmā), keeps company with the living entity. In this way the living entity may some day return home, back to Godhead.

By misusing his independence, the living entity falls down from the service of the Lord and takes a position in this material world as an enjoyer — that is to say, the living entity takes his position within a material body. Wanting to take a very exalted position, the living entity instead becomes entangled in a repetition of birth and death. He selects his position as a human being, a demigod, a cat, a dog, a tree, etc. In this way the living entity selects a body out of the 8,400,000 forms and tries to satisfy himself by a variety of material enjoyment. The Supersoul, however, does not like him to do this. Consequently, the Supersoul instructs him to surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord then takes charge of the living entity. But unless the living entity is uncontaminated by material desires, he cannot surrender to the Supreme Lord. In Bhagavad-gītā (5.29) the Lord says:

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ

sarva-loka-maheśvaram

suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ

jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati

“The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries.”

The Supreme Lord is the supreme friend of everyone; however, no one can take advantage of the supreme friend’s instructions while making his own plans to become happy and entangling himself in the modes of material nature. When there is creation, the living entities take on different forms according to past desires. This means that all the species or forms of life are simultaneously created. Darwin’s theory stating that no human being existed from the beginning but that humans evolved after many, many years is simply a nonsensical theory. From Vedic literature we find that the first creature within the universe is Lord Brahmā. Being the most intelligent personality, Lord Brahmā could take charge of creating all the variety found within this material world.

COMMENT

The present section of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam discusses the disappearance of the spiritual master and the consequent appearance of the Supersoul in the form of a brahman to guide the bereft disciple. In general we accept that the Paramātmā resides within the heart of the living entity, which He does, but as Srila Prabhupada has explained most explicitly in his “Concluding Words” to the Caitanya-caritāmṛta the Paramātmā sits within the heart along with all of His associates and devotees. Therefore the spiritual master who has left and is an associate of the Lord is also present within the heart and he can also give guidance from within the heart. In simple terms the scripture does not always mention that the Lord is in the heart with all of His devotees but we understand that the Lord is never alone but that He is always accompanied by His associates.

The whole process of Krishna consciousness is meant to reverse the degradation of the living entity. The Bhagavad-gītā also states: kāma eṣa krodha eṣa rajo-guṇa-samudbhavaḥ, that Arjuna asked the Lord, “By what is one impelled to engage in sinful activities even as if against one’s own will?” Lord Krishna replied, kāma eṣa krodha eṣa rajo-guṇa-samudbhavaḥ: “It is lust and lust only, the eternal enemy of the living entity, and that lust when frustrated becomes anger. And thus the living entity falls down.” In the purport Srila Prabhupada explains that the living entity originally has pure love for Godhead-nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema-and that when the living entity falls into the material world the original sense of love of Godhead becomes perverted into lust. Therefore instead of desiring the Lord’s happiness, the living entity desires personal happiness (sense gratification). Instead of desiring to please the Lord’s senses, the living entity tries to please his own senses. And when his attempts at sense gratification or material gratification fail, he becomes angry.

Srila Prabhupada explains that lust is a function of the mode of passion and when lust is degraded and becomes wrath it is a function of the mode of ignorance. The process of devotional service is meant to reverse the degradation of the living entity. Just as the pure love becomes perverted and becomes lust due to envy of the Lord and forgetfulness of the Lord, lust when engaged in the service of the Lord can be purified and returned to its original quality of pure love. Even wrath--as we mentioned when the lust is frustrated it turns into wrath--even wrath or anger can also be dovetailed in the service of the Lord. Thus [we] become purified.

One famous example is Hanuman. When he went to Lanka to find Sita he was captured by the forces of Ravana. As a joke—they thought it was a joke—they set fire to his tail. “He is a monkey. We’ll have a little fun.” And Hanuman, the great devotee of Ramachandra, he dovetailed his anger at these demons and he jumped all over Lanka and set fire to the capital city of Ravana. So that’s an example of engaging wrath or anger in the service of the Lord.

Desire can also be engaged in the service of the Lord. Instead of desiring things for our sense gratification, we desire things for Krishna’s services. Instead of wanting money so that we can build a luxurious palace for ourselves, we desire money to build a beautiful temple for Krishna as an example.

This process is performed under superior guidance. The Paramātmā always wants to give good console to His dear friend, the living entity, but the living entity is so preoccupied with material enjoyment that he doesn’t recognize his friend, he doesn’t acknowledge his friend, he doesn’t hear his friend. The Upanishads give the example that the Paramātmā and jīvātmā are like two birds on the same branch of a tree and the individual soul is tasting the fruits of the tree. It is absorbed in trying to enjoy the fruits on the tree and the Supreme Soul is just waiting for him to stop his vain pursuit and to turn to Him. So when the living entity becomes detached from material enjoyment he can surrender to the Supreme Lord and take instruction from Him.

But the process of detachment may be gradual. The process of surrender may be gradual. Therefore the Supersoul arranges for the living entity who wants to surrender to Him and come back to Him to get guidance from sadhu, shastra, guru-vākya. Especially the Supersoul manifests Himself as the spiritual master to guide the conditioned soul back to Him. Adau gurvaśrayam. First step is to take shelter of a spiritual master.

So the spiritual master instructs the disciple, trains the disciple, engages the disciple so that the disciple makes progress in devotional service in Krishna consciousness on the path back home back to Godhead. But then the spiritual master may leave his physical body. Then how will the disciple continue to make progress on the path?

Now in the section we’ve been reading, the queen who figuratively is the disciple of the king after the king dies, she laments very bitterly. She cries and is ready to give up her own body in the funeral pyre. Srila Prabhupada explains this means that after the spiritual master leaves the disciple should be ready to lay down his life for the mission of the spiritual master. Or in other words he should be prepared to serve the spiritual master without any personal consideration.

So when one is ready to renounce all thoughts and desires of sense gratification in favor of the service of the spiritual master one is eligible to receive instructions from the Supersoul, from the caitya-guru. That is the condition and that is mentioned here as well. We fall down into the material world when we want to assume the position of enjoyer and when we give up the false desire to enjoy and surrender to the Supreme Lord and want to be reinstated in our original position, in our constitutional position as the Lord’s eternal servant, He gives us instruction.

In the initial stage He arranges for us to meet a spiritual master or He arranges for the spiritual master to appear before us. The spiritual master guides us and then when the spiritual master leaves the Supersoul continues to arrange for our guidance so that we can achieve complete success in Krishna consciousness. The spiritual master may appear in many forms. Many forms can include from within the heart; it can include from outside of the heart.

There’s the story of Bilvamangala Thakura, he was an advanced devotee in his previous life but somehow he did not achieve complete perfection and in the next life he took birth in a brahman family. But somehow he had a weakness for the opposite sex and he became attached to a prostitute named Cintamani. One very stormy night he was hankering for her association so he went out into the storm. To reach her place he had to cross a river, raging river. There was no way to cross in the midst of the storm but he saw a corpse floating in the river. With the help of the corpse he was able to somehow swim across. Then eventually he came to the prostitute’s house. She was inside. There was a high wall he had to scale. He didn’t know what to do. He found a snake and used the dead snake as a rope and eventually he got in.

The prostitute was actually a devotee and when she saw this poor fellow who underwent such extreme efforts in such difficult conditions just to be with her she told him that, “If you had as much attachment for Krsna as you have for me, it would be a lot better for you. You should just go to Vrndavana and find Krsna.”

The words of the prostitute somehow reawakened Bilvamangala Thakura’s Krsna consciousness from his past life which he had forgotten and he took her words to heart and he immediately left for Vrndavana. Eventually he reached Vrndavana. He became a completely self-realized soul and wrote a wonderful book called Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta. At the beginning of Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta in the introductory prayers (maṅgala-ācaraṇa) he offers respects to Cintamani. He accepted Cintamani as his spiritual master because she reminded him of his real duty in life and by her words he set out for Vrindavan and Krishna.

We say that the person who first gives us the idea of Krishna consciousness, who first shows us the path is vartma-pradarśaka-guru, the one who shows the way. It is a type of śikṣā-guru. But some authorities have commented that it was actually Bilvamangala Thakura’s spiritual master from his previous life who entered the body of the prostitute to give him instruction so that he could ultimately attain perfection.

Somehow or other the spiritual master, in cooperation with Krishna, will arrange for the guidance that the disciple needs to go back home back to Godhead and revive one’s original relationship with Krishna, one’s eternal relationship with Krishna, which includes one’s relationship with all of Krishna’s associates because Krishna is never alone. He is always with His associates. Thus one will be reunited with one’s spiritual master and with all of one’s friends in the spiritual world.

I will just read one more verse.

TEXT 54

haṁsāv ahaṁ ca tvaṁ cārya

sakhāyau mānasāyanau

abhūtām antarā vaukaḥ

sahasra-parivatsarān

TRANSLATION

My dear gentle friend, both you and I are exactly like two swans. We live together in the same heart, which is just like the Mānasa Lake. Although we have been living together for many thousands of years, we are still far away from our original home.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The original home of the living entity and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the spiritual world. In the spiritual world both the Lord and the living entities live together very peacefully. Since the living entity remains engaged in the service of the Lord, they both share a blissful life in the spiritual world. However, when the living entity wants to enjoy himself, he falls down into the material world. Even while he is in that position, the Lord remains with him as the Supersoul, his intimate friend. Because of his forgetfulness, the living entity does not know that the Supreme Lord is accompanying him as the Supersoul. In this way the living entity remains conditioned in each and every millennium. Although the Lord follows him as a friend, the living entity, because of forgetful material existence, does not recognize Him.

COMMENT

The example is quite wonderful that the two of them—the Supreme Soul and the individual soul—are like two swans on a lake, similar to the example of the two birds on a branch of a tree, but very sweet. And again when the forgetful living entity turns his face back towards the Supreme Personality of Godhead the Lord instructs him from within as the Supersoul and from without as the spiritual master.

We have the same example in Krishna and Arjuna. Krishna is the Supreme Soul and Arjuna is the individual soul or an individual soul. The two of them are seated on a chariot. The body is also like a chariot. There’s an example in the Upanishads that likens the body to a chariot and the five senses are the horses of the chariot and the reigns or driving instrument are the mind. The driver is the Supersoul and the passenger is the individual soul. Prabhupada says intelligence is the form direction of the Supersoul. The Supersoul gives intelligence to the living entity according to the person’s desires.

So we have a similar situation. Krishna is driving the chariot and Arjuna is the passenger and Arjuna is giving direction to the driver and the driver is taking the chariot where the passenger asks. In the beginning of the Bhagavad-gītā Arjuna told Krishna, “Please drive my chariot between the two armies so I can see who has assembled here.” And Krishna obeyed. But at a certain stage Arjuna became bewildered about his duty and he surrendered to Krishna. He gave up friendly talks. They were friends but he gave up friendly talks and surrendered. He said, śiṣyas te ‘haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam: “Now I am Your disciple and a soul surrendered to You. Please instruct me.” And when he surrendered to Krishna then Krishna began to instruct him. He took the position of spiritual master and instructed him. Immediately He chided him that, “You are speaking learned words. You are speaking like a pandit but you are lamenting for that which is not worthy of grief.” Prabhupada said indirectly He called him a fool. “And you are not very smart,” is an indirect way of saying, “You are pretty stupid.”

We are in the same position. Every one of us is in the same position and at any moment we can try to act as enjoyer of the material world and turn away from Krishna and at any moment we can turn back to Krishna and try to surrender. But now in our present situation means in the situation after the spiritual master has departed, how do we get guidance?

In the last class actually I told the story of my discussion with His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami in his room here in Dallas in which he said that with all of his association with Srila Prabhupada, three initiations from Srila Prabhupada, he still felt that he needed guidance and therefore he had several godbrothers whom he accepted as śikṣā-guru and from whom he would take counsel. At the time as I mentioned I had been very distraught because some godbrothers in whom I had placed a lot of faith and hope, they had disappointed me. So as a reaction I thought, Okay, I am not going to put my faith in anyone else. Only in Srila Prabhupada. No one else.

So I heard what Tamal Krishna Goswami said and I thought about it a little but it was late and then we soon took rest. Then the next morning when we were all chanting in the temple and as I mentioned it was a very surcharged atmosphere the devotees chanting all together in the temple room and I was also chanting, Tamal Krishna Goswami was chanting—we were all chanting in the temple room. I was walking around. It was right in that corner there [points to corner] I had this insight that what Tamal Krishna Goswami had said was true. “I also need a śikṣā-guru.” Just having been initiated by Prabhupada and having had association with Prabhupada wasn’t enough. I still needed more. And then I got the further insight that Tamal Krishna Goswami was the one whom I should accept as śikṣā-guru and so I went up to him and I told him, “I thought about what you said last night and I also need a śikṣā-guru and I think you are the one who can act as my śikṣā-guru.” Then he smiled knowingly and then I offered obeisances.

What I didn’t mention when I told the story in the previous class and it wasn’t so relevant at the time but I was also in his list of his śikṣā-gurus. This is significant in terms of how we relate to each other especially godbrothers and godsisters although not only godbrothers and godsisters. And that is that like in this example of the two birds, the Supersoul is always the Supreme Soul and the individual soul is always the individual soul. Krishna is always Krishna and Arjuna is always Arjuna. Of course we are always individuals. We keep our individual identity but in this dynamic of spiritual friendship at one stage one may take advice from the other and then the next time the other might take advice from the first.

That is confirmed by Srila Rupa Gosvami in Sri Upadeśāmṛta that equals exchange obeisances. Obeisances are not just an external activity of the body. Obeisances indicate respect and submission and they may indicate surrender. So we offer obeisances to each other as equals. We are actually offering respect and submission to each other. Externally one may judge that we’re equals—we’re in the same generation of disciples and we may have similar qualifications in terms of status—but internally each humble Vaishnava thinks that the other is more advanced than he is, is a better devotee than he is, is more qualified than he is, and therefore is ready to take instruction from him, and learn from him.

Srila Prabhupada gave the same instruction in a letter. He said that initiation does not mean that one is perfect. Initiation is a beginning and after initiation one still needs to be trained. Then Srila Prabhupada said that any godbrother who gives one instruction can be taken as spiritual master as śikṣā-guru and therefore we refer to each other as “Prabhu.” Prabhu means “master.” “You are my master. I am your servant. I can learn from you.” In that way, in that humble mood we can learn a lot and advance.

One year His Holiness Sacinandana Swami was doing quite a severe or serious nāma-vrata at Radha-kunda. At the time Nitaichand Maharaja had an ashram at Radha-kunda and I was staying at the Bhaktivedanta Ashram at Govardhana with His Holiness Kesava Bharati dasa Goswami. One day we went to Radha-kunda to visit Nitaichand Maharaja and Sacinandana Swami. Sacinandana Swami had such a quota of rounds that he hardly had time for anything else, just take a little prasāda, take a little rest at night, and mainly japa. But he did take some time to speak with me.

At that time it was a topic of contemplation and discussing taking instruction from outside of ISKCON from senior Gaudiya Vaishnavas outside of ISKCON. There is the verse in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu about one of the five most potent items of devotional service called sadhu-saṅga and that context sadhu-saṅge sato vṛtteḥ. Sadhu is defined as someone more advanced. So the question is, “Where do we get sadhu-saṅga? Where do we get the association of devotees who are more advanced than we are?”

From a certain point of view we are all on the same level, say Sacinandana Swami and myself, we were the ones having the discussion. Maharaja said that although from a certain point of view we are equals, we are peers, one is not significantly more advanced than the other, but internally he feels that I am more advanced than he is and internally I will feel that he is more advanced than I am. So that condition—sadhu-saṅge sato vṛtteḥ—of associating with devotees who are more advanced than oneself can be fulfilled by associating with devotees who may be considered peers from a certain point of view but internally each Vaishnava on that level thinks that the other is more qualified than he is, is a better devotee, someone I can learn from. In that way one will continue to get superior guidance if one has that humble mood—it is the same thing—and does not have envy, does not have material attachment, does not have material ambitions. Then one can see the virtues in the other person, see the good qualities and learn from his example and from his words.

So we are never really bereft of more advanced association if we stay in the association of devotees. All of us at that time, Tamal Krishna Goswami—he wasn’t there in Vrindavan at that particular stage—Kesava Bharati Maharaja, Nitaichand Maharaja, Sacinandana Swami, and others who had come to Vrindavan in Kartik then were unanimous in their conclusion that we would rather get our guidance within ISKCON from followers of Srila Prabhupada even though it might seem easy or attractive to go outside of ISKCON to get instruction from some venerable Vaishnava. The consequence of that is that what we are getting is not completely in the line of Srila Prabhupada. It would come with other things that we didn’t want and so we all concluded individually and collectively that we’d rather get it from within ISKCON from followers of Srila Prabhupada and that it was available within ISKCON if we had the proper mood that we are humble and free from material ambition and we are ready to see the exalted qualities in our godbrothers. And of course we have Srila Prabhupada’s books and gradually more of Prabhupada’s disciples are writing more books. So there is a lot.

Another point which is related to the idea of receiving guidance from followers of Srila Prabhupada within ISKCON is the emphasis that Srila Prabhupada put on preaching and on ISKCON as a vehicle for preaching. I was very impressed that at the end of his nāma-vrata at Radha-kunda Sacinandana Swami left, he actually left Vrindavan early and went to South India to Ahovalam to the Deity of Nṛsiṁhadeva there to pray for ISKCON. Nitaichand Maharaja also, he would do Govardhana parikramā every morning, full parikramā barefoot every morning, but even he was so concerned about ISKCON. That was something very special that even though they could focus so much on their own internal spiritual development especially on a special occasion—you go to Vrindavan in Kartik and just focus on your spiritual development—but they were always concerned about ISKCON, always concerned about the mission, and were ready to work for it. He left. Later I think he said he didn’t realize that Kartik hadn’t ended but he left. He went all the way to South India after that severe vrata to pray to Nṛsiṁhadeva.

That is very special about Prabhupada, Prabhupada’s mood, that as we advance we should relish bhajan, we should relish chanting and hearing, we should increase in remembrance, but it doesn’t preclude preaching. In fact it should enhance it. As Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says if one chants the holy name offenselessly the result is that compassion for other living entities will awaken (jīva-dayā) and that compassion will be manifest in efforts to preach, to create institutions and projects to attract conditioned souls and engage conditioned souls and encourage and protect devotees.

This is our line and we’re being helped on all sides—internally, externally—by sadhu, shastra, guru, and Krishna. We just have to be open to take their help. We have to be sincere and serious and give up false attachments to the body, false identification with the body, and all the false attachments that come with the false identification and just let it all go and realize that we are just infinitesimal living entities, servant of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of Krishna and as the servant of the servants serve our masters and learn from our masters. Again in that dynamic exchange the roles may be reversed. In that way even as friends we can always have guidance and encouragement. Not even as friends, even as peers. That is the spiritual master’s mercy and Krishna’s mercy.

It has been a wonderful visit. When I came here was Bhurijana Prabhu the one time fairly soon after Srila Gurudeva left and he had to leave to continue with his tour, so he said he never likes to say goodbye. In fact in Indian culture they don’t say goodbye because it is too painful. So they say he quoted in Bengali, āmi āchē: “I’m just now coming. I’m just coming.” And in my case God willing it will just be a few weeks. That could be a long time. Lord Chaitanya said one moment was like twelve years but still we just say, “Just coming.”

Hare Krishna. Are there any questions or comments?

Nityananda dasa: In your comments when I heard the word “list,” list of persons that Srila Gurudeva had, how important is the fact to have a list and not just one person? And the second out of that is how important is it that maybe none of them or if one of them should be a person that you like to hear from because we seem to have preferences? “I like this person,” for whatever reason that you might like that person. How important is that liking or avoiding just hearing from persons who seem to be agreeable as opposed to speaking like you said speaking the truth. They are saying what the other person should hear as opposed to what the person may want or like to hear.

Giriraj Swami: Nityananda Prabhu’s first question is Srila Gurudeva mentioned a number of godbrothers whom he accepted as śikṣā-gurus and consulted. Nityananda Prabhu asked how important is it to have a list.

Accepting someone is really a matter of the heart otherwise it is artificial. There has to be genuine faith and because Tamal Krishna Goswami had genuine faith in these devotees, it came from his heart that he sought their association and guidance on occasion. If it is not there, you may not have anyone on your list, but it might begin with one and again amongst them one could be more prominent than others but others could also be there. There are many varieties but it has to be genuine. It not like he pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket with the list but there were just certain individuals that he was inclined, for whom he had deep respect and was inclined to consult. As one matures one can learn from more and more devotees—not even devotees—one can learn from more and more people. Like the brahman who had twenty-four gurus mentioned in the Eleventh Canto. He was learning from the clouds; he was learning from the birds; he was learning everywhere. But specifically we want to learn mainly from devotees, from followers of Srila Prabhupada, and hear from them.

If we actually have faith then there is no question of only wanting to hear things that are pleasing to one’s false ego or to one’s sense gratification. One will want to hear everything. One will want to be chastised if required. That’s the real mood.

Like Advaita Acharya, He was senior to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu always respected Him as an elder but Advaita Acharya wanted to be chastised by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He felt He was being deprived because of His senior position. So then He started to speak a sort of Mayavada philosophy and then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu chastised Him. Advaita Acharya became jubilant, “Now He has finally chastised Me.” So we should be ready for both.

Mahadeva dasa: Maharaja, I am trying to understand the point that you made that ultimately the spiritual master will manifest through other devotees and if that is that case then Srila Prabhupada will manifest through the grand disciples. So we’re all connected. Is that the point you were making?

Giriraj Swami: Mahadeva Prabhu says that I said that the spiritual master manifests through other devotees and therefore Srila Prabhupada would be manifesting through his disciples and even grand disciples. That is true. Again the original spiritual master is Krishna, the supreme spiritual master is Krishna, and He manifests as the spiritual master or spiritual masters. And one’s own spiritual master, when one is surrendered to one’s own spiritual master, one will see him also manifesting.

Devotee: Is there any kind of evidence in scripture where devotees see something like an omen of nature, something happens and the devotee sees that as kind of being instructive or something that he should take note of?

Giriraj Swami: Is there any example from scripture of . . .

Devotee: Some devotee seeing some omen from nature where some persons see something that we can learn from nature.

Giriraj Swami: Yes. He is asking if we can learn from omens of nature. Yes. The example of the brahman who had all those gurus, the brahman in the Eleventh Canto who had so many śikṣā-gurus, he was learning from animals, from birds, from trees, from clouds. Even Chaitanya Mahaprabhu: tṛṇād api su-nīcena taror iva sahiṣṇunā amāninā māna-dena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ. We can learn humility from the grass. We can learn tolerance from the tree. If we’re open we can learn from anything. So yes, there are examples. We can learn from hints. That means Krishna can give us hints and if we are open we can get the hint.

Krishna and the Pandavas went to meet Jarasandha and in the end Bhima and Jarasandha were fighting with clubs. Jarasandha was so powerful that Bhima could not defeat him and he could not defeat Bhima. And then Krishna, He gave a little hint. He had a blade of grass and He split it and Bhima got the hint because Jarasandha could be broken in two parts. That was his weakness. Bhima got the hint and he took advantage of it. So Krishna can also give hints and if we are open to them and if we are sincere then as the Lord in the heart He will give us the intelligence to recognize the hint and read the hint properly. It could be an act of nature as well.

Bhakta Rob: Srimati Radharani dress has swans today like today’s verse. Two swans.

Giriraj Swami: Where are the swans?

Bhakta Rob: On the dress.

Giriraj Swami: Yes. Srimati Radharani has two swans embroided on Her dress. So it is just like today’s verse. Actually this was a couple of years ago but it was a stunning example. I went to White Rock Lake to walk and somehow I thought I would like to try some other streets just for some variety. So I went in a different direction. I just kept going. Eventually I came to this huge mansion. It was set quite a bit back from White Rock Lake down some lane. This huge mansion with expansive grounds perfectly manicured, it was really impressive. It was almost like a park but say within the lawn there was a pond and within the pond were two swans. It was stunning. I couldn’t believe it and it reminded me of this. I just was looking at them. It was really beautiful. Not an ordinary place.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is a place of pilgrimage for swans and mundane talks are a place of pilgrimage for crows. So we are surrounded by swans right here. All right my dearest swanlike devotees of the Lord swimming in the lake of Radha-Kalachandji dhāma, Hare Krishna.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva!