SB 4.31.17

Giriraj Swami:

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

We read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Four, Chapter Thirty-one, “Nārada Instructs the Pracetās,”

TEXT 17

yathā nabhasy abhra-tamaḥ-prakāśā
bhavanti bhūpā na bhavanty anukramāt
evaṁ pare brahmaṇi śaktayas tv amū
rajas tamaḥ sattvam iti pravāhaḥ

TRANSLATION

My dear Kings, sometimes in the sky there are clouds, sometimes there is darkness, and sometimes there is illumination. The appearance of all these takes place consecutively. Similarly, in the Supreme Absolute, the modes of passion, darkness and goodness appear as consecutive energies. Sometimes they appear, and sometimes they disappear.

PURPORT by His Divine Grace Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Darkness, illumination and clouds sometimes appear and sometimes disappear, but even when they have disappeared, the potency is still there, always existing. In the sky sometimes we see clouds, sometimes rainfall and sometimes snow. Sometimes we see night, sometimes day, sometimes illumination and sometimes darkness. All these exist due to the sun, but the sun is unaffected by all these changes. Similarly, although the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the original cause of the total cosmic manifestation, He is unaffected by the material existence. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (7.4):

bhūmir āpo ‘nalo vāyuḥ
khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca
ahaṅkāra itīyaṁ me
bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā

“Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego — all together these eight comprise My separated material energies.”

Although the material, or physical, elements are the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they are separate. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is therefore not affected by material conditions. The Vedānta-sūtra confirms, janmādy asya yataḥ: the creation, maintenance and dissolution of this cosmic manifestation are due to the existence of the Supreme Lord. Nonetheless, the Lord is unaffected by all these changes in the material elements. This is indicated by the word pravāha, “emanation.” The sun always shines brilliantly and is not affected by clouds or darkness. Similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always present in His spiritual energy and is not affected by the material emanations. Brahma-saṁhitā (5.1) confirms:

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

“Kṛṣṇa, who is known as Govinda, is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal, blissful, spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin, and He is the prime cause of all causes.” Although He is the supreme cause, the cause of all causes, He is still parama, transcendental, and His form is sac-cid-ānanda, eternal, spiritual bliss. Kṛṣṇa is the shelter of everything, and this is the verdict of all scripture. Kṛṣṇa is the remote cause, and material nature is the immediate cause of the cosmic manifestation. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said that understanding prakṛti, or nature, to be the cause of everything is like understanding the nipples on the neck of a goat to be the cause of milk. Material nature is the immediate cause of the cosmic manifestation, but the original cause is Nārāyaṇa, Kṛṣṇa. Sometimes people think that the cause of an earthen pot is the earth. We see on a potter’s wheel a sufficient amount of earth to produce many pots, and although unintelligent men will say that the earth on the wheel is the cause of the pot, those who are actually advanced will find that the original cause is the potter, who supplies the earth and moves the wheel. Material nature may be a helping factor in the creation of this cosmic manifestation, but it is not the ultimate cause. In Bhagavad-gītā (9.10) the Lord therefore says:

mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ
sūyate sa-carācaram

“This material nature is working under My direction, O son of Kuntī, and producing all moving and unmoving beings.”

The Supreme Lord casts His glance over material energy, and His glance agitates the three modes of nature. Creation then takes place. The conclusion is that nature is not the cause of the material manifestation. The Supreme Lord is the cause of all causes

COMMENT

Today’s verse is a further elaboration on the previous verse, in which Narada confirms the essential philosophy of Lord Chaitanya, acintya-bhedābheda-tattva, that the Supreme Lord is inconceivably, simultaneously, one with and different from His energies. In the present verse, Narada explains that the various energies of the Lord are emanations from the Lord and, therefore, the Lord is not affected by them. Just like the different, say, the manifestation of clouds in the sky is ultimately due to the sun, but the sun is not affected by the presence of the clouds. The sun is always pure and bright. Our vision of the sun may be blocked by the clouds, but the sun itself is not affected by the clouds. Now, this understanding is very important for us as eternal servants of Krishna, because in order for us to live properly in the world, we have to understand sambandha-jñāna. We have to understand the Supreme Lord, the material energy, the spiritual energy, and the interrelations among them. Otherwise, we will not know how to act properly in the world, and our life will become confused.

Everything we see is the energy of the Lord. This simple truth has very deep implications, because if what we saw did not belong to the Lord, we, who have come into the material world to take the position of the Lord, falsely, might think that this energy that the material elements, the objects of the senses, are meant for us to enjoy. And that is the mentality of most people in the material world. They are ignorant of their relationship with Krishna, and the relationship of the material world to Krishna, and so they try to enjoy Krishna’s energy. And in doing so, they become thieves and they become punishable by the laws of nature, and they suffer. This is the case of the 99 percent of the people in the world. Now, the other 1 percent, say, they also have a misconception. They understand that trying to enjoy matter leads to frustration and misery, and therefore, they want to avoid interaction with the material energy. The first category is technically called karmis, they want to work and enjoy; and the other category is jnanis, they want to avoid interaction with the material world, so that ultimately, they can merge and become one with God. But neither category is properly situated, neither is peaceful.

bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmī — sakali ‘aśānta’
kṛṣṇa-bhakta — niṣkāma, ataeva ‘śānta’        [Cc. Madhya 19.149]

The karmis who desire bhukti, the jnanis who desire mukti, and the yogis who desire siddhis are sakali aśānta. None of them is peaceful because they all have some selfish desire. Krishna-bhakta, only devotees of Krishna, niṣkāma, have no selfish desires, ataeva ‘śānta’, and therefore, they are peaceful.

This temple is amazing. So many people come to this temple, we don’t even know who comes and goes, but so many people come. But anyway, after the class last night, I stayed in the temple until the last ārati, and the doors closed, and the lights were dimmed. And two young Indian men approached me, and the one said that, “Today is my birthday. We came specially today because today is my birthday, and I want blessings.” So usually, when people approach me and ask for blessings, I ask them, “What kind of blessings do you want?” So, he wasn’t very clear, he paused a few moments, and then he said, “Peace, I want peace.” So that is good. people are disturbed in the material world, they see the temple as a place where they can get peace. But not the artificial peace of the impersonalists, but real peace, which comes from being properly established in our relationship with Krishna, eternal servants of Krishna.

So, I also like to meet people here, because I feel confident that I can invite them to come to the temple, to the Sunday program, and get association, and learn. So, I asked, “Where do you stay?” And they are students, they recently came from India, they feel homesick, and I guess they come from religious families. So, the birthday boy was saying that in his house there was always some puja, some worship, some spiritual activity, and now he has come to study and there is nothing, and he misses the spiritual atmosphere. So I asked, “What time did you get here?” I wanted to know if they had attended the Sunday program, and they said, “We just walked in. We have never been here before; it is the first time.” I told them about the Sunday program. Fortunately, there was still some prasāda left; I arranged for a devotee to take them to the prasādam hall. So peace, he wanted the blessing to become peaceful. But everyone wants peace, everyone wants peace; even the karmis want peace.

As Srila Prabhupada says, they work so hard during the week to make money, but even they need a break, so on the weekend, they want to go away; go on some holiday, get some relief from all that agitation of the mode of passion, and then they come back again. And to get relief from the disturbance of the mode of passion, one can either sink down into ignorance. Some people, they want relief from their passionate activities, so they get drunk. New Year’s eve, the prime occupation, getting drunk. Or they can try to come up to the mode of goodness. It is like the clouds, they don’t like the clouds, the clouds here are compared to the mode of passion. So okay, one alternative is, you go into complete darkness, the other is, you go into the light, and that is our process—kṛṣṇa-sūrya-sama, Krishna is like the sun, māyā andhakāra, maya is like darkness, so when you come into the light of Krishna consciousness, there is no darkness. So this energy, this energy, is Krishna’s, both, the inferior energy, the eight elements, and the living entities. You, and me, and everyone else, we are also Krishna’s energy and we are meant to be engaged in Krishna’s service. And this is the basis of bhakti-yoga, this is the basis of the saṅkīrtana movement.

As Prahlada Maharaja says, prāyeṇa deva munayaḥ sva-vimukti-kāmā, that most sages are just interested in their own liberation, and therefore, they go to forests and mountains, vimukti-kāmā, because they desire to become liberated. They want to stay away from the cities and towns, but Prahlada Maharaja says, “But I am not like that, I don’t want to go back home, back to Godhead alone, but I want to take as many people with me as I can.” And that was Srila Prabhupada’s mood. And therefore, we don’t want to be thieves, we don’t want to steal Krishna’s property, but we also don’t want to be false renouncers, renounce something that doesn’t belong to us. Like Srila Prabhupada said, if someone goes into the Bank of America and announces, “I renounce this all.” What is that meaning of renunciation? It doesn’t belong to you; how can you renounce it? So, we don’t renounce it. And if we go into Bank of America and say, “This is all mine, I want it, give it to me right now.” That is also not going to help us. So this is our position, that we see everything as Krishna’s energy, and want to use it in Krishna’s service, because everything emanates from Krishna.

Now, this idea of the cause of all causes, just in ordinary terms, my cause is my parents. Say my father, he injected the seed that contained that living entity in the womb of my mother, so say my father, then his cause is his father, and his cause is his father, and you go all the way back, who is the original cause? Krishna. In this material universe it is Brahma, but even Brahma has a caused and that is Krishna. So on one morning walk during a rare visit to Los Angeles, when I was based in India during Srila Prabhupada’s presence, we went to Cheviot Hills Park. And Prabhupada was discussing the point that Krishna is the cause of all causes. So, I asked the question, on behalf of others who had asked me, “Okay, we say that Krishna is the cause of all causes, but who is the cause of Krishna? What is the cause of Krishna?” And Srila Prabhupada gave such a brilliant reply. He said, “According to our information, Krishna is the original cause of all causes. But still, if you can find someone or something that is the cause of Krishna, we will worship that thing, but in the meantime, until you trace out that cause of Krishna, you should worship Krishna.” Now, that one level is to engage everything in Krishna’s service, another level, that is with the senses, another level is with the mind, to always remember Krishna. That is the basic principle of vaidhī-sādhana-bhakti, to always remember Krishna, never forget Him. And if we see everything as Krishna’s energy, then naturally, we will remember Krishna.

Once we were walking with Srila Prabhupada on Juhu Beach, and he pointed to the ocean, and he said, “What is this?” So one disciple said, “It is the Arabians sea, Srila Prabhupada.” Prabhupada said, “Yes, I know it is the Arabian sea, but philosophically, what is it?” And a disciple said, “Well, it is Krishna, because in the Bhagavad-gītā Krishna says, “Bodies of water, I am the ocean.” Prabhupada said, “No. That is not scientific. I want to know scientifically, what is this?” Then finally, one disciple said, “It is the energy of Krishna.” Prabhupada said, “Yes, that is the correct answer.” Now, as we develop love for Krishna, seeing Krishna’s energy will remind us of Krishna. And that is the perfection of Krishna consciousness—to see Krishna everywhere. Not that we see Krishna in His threefold bending form, which would be nice, but we see everything as Krishna’s energy, and therefore it reminds us of Krishna and in that way, we see Krishna.

Srila Prabhupada gives the example that people go to an art museum, and they will point at a painting, “Oh, that is a Picasso!” They are seeing the painting, but they are not just seeing the painting; they are seeing the artist. “Oh, that is a Rembrandt!” They are seeing Rembrandt, they are not just seeing the paint on the canvas, they are seeing the artists. Another example that Srila Prabhupada gave is, a child will leave home or God forbid say die, the child will die, and the parents will see the child’s boots or the child’s hat, and they will see the child, they will remember the child, they will feel emotional. We feel like that; devotees feel like that. Lord Chaitanya had a devotee who was a physician, Murari Gupta. He was the physician of the Muslim ruler, and he was with the king on an elevated platform, and he saw a peacock. That peacock reminded him of Vrindavan and Krishna. And thinking of Krishna, he felt so much ecstasy that he began to tremble. He eventually fainted, he fell from that platform, fainted. So the king asked him what happened. This is a very confidential, spiritual, reaction or emotion, so he said he is subject to these fits. But actually, it was transcendental ecstasy, and the king knew it.

So, it wasn’t just a peacock, but that peacock reminded him of Vrindavan and Krishna, so he felt in ecstasy. But whatever we see, can remind us of Krishna. And as our hearts soften as we become more open to Krishna, as we have more appreciation for Krishna, more gratitude to Krishna, then we see that all this energy is sustaining our lives. If it weren’t for the earth, we wouldn’t have food; if it weren’t for water, we wouldn’t be able to drink; if it weren’t for the air, we wouldn’t be able to breathe. Our very lives in these bodies are sustained by these gifts of Krishna. And so, whatever we see, we should appreciate as the energy of Krishna, as the mercy of Krishna.

Raso ‘ham apsu kaunteya, in the Bhagavad-gītā Krishna says, “I am the taste of water.” Srila Prabhupada has translated it also has the taste in liquid things. He said, “Even if you are a drunk, and you are imbibing liquor, you can think that the taste of this liquor is Krishna.” And Prabhupada said, “Eventually, by that thinking, even a drunkard can become a devotee.” But still, there is a distinction among Krishna’s energies, the external energy, the marginal potency, and the internal potency. And we have to be aware of the distinction and really spend time with Krishna in the internal energy, that will give us spiritual strength. Otherwise, because of being conditioned since time immemorial, when we come in touch with the material energy, that enjoying spirit can come, and we can forget Krishna, even on saṅkīrtana, even on book distribution. So, we need to have that, spend time directly with Krishna, especially in the process of hearing and chanting.

The last time I visited New Dvaraka, I had a very illuminating discussion with our illustrious temple president, Svavasa dasa. Svavasa Prabhu, I hope he won’t mind my disclosing this fact, if it is not already known, Svavasa Prabhu gets up every morning at about 2:30, and he chants all of his rounds before maṅgala-ārati, because the chanting of sixteen rounds with focus, with attention, means with the effort to be attentive to every mantra, every syllable of every mantra, is our essential spiritual practice. We discuss that, always remember Krishna, never forget Krishna. Always remember Krishna, that is the basic injunction; always remember Krishna and never forget Krishna, that is the basic prohibition. And, all other injunctions and prohibitions are servants of these two. And, commenting on this verse, Srila Prabhupada says that, “Of all the regulative principles, the spiritual master’s instruction to chant sixteen rounds daily, is most essential.” We engage in other activities that are also meant to remind us of Krishna. We distribute books and we enroll life members, but if we don’t chant sixteen rounds daily, it would be very hard to remember Krishna, even when we engage in activities that are meant to remind us of Krishna. And Svavasa Prabhu and many others, of course, temple president is a unique category. Temple president has so much responsibility, especially a big project like Dvaraka, a big community. And so, he is afraid that something might come up, even between maṅgala-ārati and deity greeting, something might come up. And if he hasn’t finished his sixteen rounds before maṅgala-ārati, and if by chance something comes up that will engage him, he knows because the rest of the day is so filled with service, he knows that he could have to struggle to find the time to finish his sixteen rounds, and he just doesn’t want to take any chances so he chants them all before maṅgala-ārati.

Now this is very significant. This is very significant because to get the strength to deal with the material world, with the material energy, we need to have that quality time with Krishna. Our japa is our time with Krishna. There should be nothing else happening when we chant our rounds, because that is our time with Krishna. And it is our prayer to Krishna, Hare refers to Radharani and Krishna refers to Krishna; “Oh Radha, Oh Krishna, please engage me in Your service.” So it is like going for a job interview. If you go for a job interview, and you are sitting across from the proprietor of the company, and your eyes are wandering all over looking at the wall, seeing if there is any dust anywhere, he is just not going to be very impressed. Or if you are dozing off when you go for your interview. Maybe we are chanting our japa, “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna. . .,” and you start dozing off in your job interview, do you think the proprietor is going to hire you? Or Hare Krishna. . .in the meantime sort of checking the email. Devotees can become very expert with their left hands, they keep their right hand in their bead bag, and with their left hand, they can be wiping the counter, checking their email, using the remote, really become quite expert at using their left hands. So that is not how to chant japa, that is not how to. . .If you go for a job interview, you pull out your smart phone and start checking your email, or checking the weather report, or the stock market, you will never be hired. So it really is a matter of sincerity. It is not just externally going through the motions of chanting our rounds, or externally going through the motions of doing anything in devotional service. It is a matter of the consciousness, the sincerity, it is a matter of the sincerity, and that depends on us.

Once Srila Prabhupada detected some deviation in some disciples. So on a morning walk, he was asking some of the leaders what to do? Why and what to do? So one said, “We have to educate them more what the proper standard is.” Prabhupada said, “Yes, but they know what the standard is.” And then one of the other ones said, “We have to supervise them more closely.” And, Prabhupada said, “Yes, you can supervise them more closely, but still they can cheat.” He gave the example of drinking water under water on a fast day. That in India, okay, it is a fast day, don’t even drink water, strict fast, but still the brahmachari or whoever, they can go to the river to take bath and then they dip under the water, and while they are under the water, they drink, and no one can see them. It looks like they are just taking a holy bath, taking a holy dip. So that is called cheating by the method of drinking water under water on a fast day. Prabhupada said, “If they want to cheat, they can always cheat, no matter how you supervise them.” He said, “The only thing that will work is their individual personal sincerity, nothing else will work.” You can give them all the good instructions, of course, we do that, it is our duty and devotees need to be reminded. And we do supervise them to some extent; that is part of the value of the association of devotees, there are people watching us. But even then, if they want to, they can cheat.

So it really comes to our personal sincerity. And if we try to cheat Krishna, we are really cheating ourselves. Krishna is not going to lose personally, if we try to cheat Him. But we are cheating ourselves, because we can’t cheat Krishna anyway. Krishna sees everything, Krishna knows everything. He knows what you are thinking; that is also a good thought for us, that Krishna knows what we are doing, Krishna knows what we are saying, Krishna knows what we are speaking. Even if we think we are alone in the room, the shades are drawn, and the door is locked, and nobody will know what we are doing, but Krishna is there. He is in your heart, He is in every atom and between the atoms, He is everywhere. We can’t cheat Krishna, we can’t cheat Krishna, and we are held accountable for whatever we do. It is not a joke. He sees everything, He hears everything, He knows everything, and He holds us accountable for what we do. So, from any point of view, it is in our interest to come clean.

I think just two days ago, I happened to come across, I had kept it the last recorded little talk, just a few words of His Holiness Śrīdhara Swami Maharaja in Mayapur. It was just a few sentences, he wasn’t very well then, but at the end, he repeated three times, “No duplicity, no duplicity, no duplicity.” Like Prabhupada said, “Krishna consciousness is easy for the simple but difficult for the crooked.” Of course, every conditioned soul has that cheating propensity, but we have to try to overcome it, become free from it. And just chant those rounds sincerely and then whatever we do, do it sincerely. And the internet has made it so easy to cheat. In the old days, if you wanted to read some nonsense, you could get caught with a book or a magazine, but with the internet now, there is all sorts of stuff out there. And nobody knows, for all they know, you are reading the Bhagavad-gītā, and it could be something completely different.

This temple is so amazing, the people who come in. Another young man approached me yesterday, he was desperate. That is actually a good position to take to Krishna; he was desperate because he is convinced, it could be true, he is convinced that someone is working black magic on him, and that it could completely devastate him. It is true, it could happen, and if it is not black magic it could be something else. So I said, “Well, you have to chant Hare Krishna mantra.” Then he said, “Is there anything else?” He was really desperate. “Well, before you chant Hare Krishna mantra, you chant the Pancha-tattva mantra.” “Okay, is there anything else?” So then I said, “Well, you can chant the Nṛsiṁha prayers.” I got one of those beautiful little temple prayer books for him. He said, “Is there anything else?” And I said, “Are you vegetarian?” He said, “Yes, I become vegetarian.” I said, “Okay, well, you should offer your food to Krishna. The book will explain how you offer your food to Krishna.” He said, “Okay.” So I said, “Black magic can affect someone who is spiritually weak. So the basic idea is to become spiritually strong. But even if you are weak, if you chant the holy name, the holy name will ward off any evil spirit.” He said, “When should I chant?” “Just chant all the time.” “Okay, I got it all. So then, at the end, he wanted to make sure, he got it right, and he had been here before, he had picked up a little. So he repeated it all—be vegetarian, chant, and all the different things. And then he said, “And no nude movies.” I said, “Oh my God, what a world we are living in.” Nude movies, I didn’t even know that was an option for a normal person. So at the end of the list, he says, “No nude movies, do I have it right?” “Yes, you do.” I am sure that is all on the internet, anyway.

So, I am really preaching to myself, it might come out like I am instructing you. I am really preaching to myself to be sincere, not to be duplicitous, not to try to cheat others, which really means trying to cheat Krishna, which really means cheating myself. But to be simple, honest, real devotee or aspiring devotee. Not an aspiring devotee, aspiring servant of the servants of the devotees.

Hare Krishna.

Are there any questions or comments? Yes sir.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:00:35–01:00:52] I was a little confused, because I know there is another part of Caitanya-caritāmṛta where Lord Chaitanya asked Murari Gupta to worship Krishna exclusively, and Murari Gupta had trouble with that because his worshipable deity was Lord Ramachandra. Am I confusing devotees here?

Giriraj Swami: No.

Devotee: I just found it kind of interesting that, if his worshipable deity was Lord Ramachandra, why he had that reaction?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, well, what is your name?

Devotee: Nityananda dasa.

Giriraj Swami: Nityananda dasa. Wonderful. Yes, a true devotee will see his worshipable deity everywhere, that is what we have been discussing. And he will see his main deity, we are talking about, you see Krishna in the earth, you see Krishna in the water, you see Krishna in the air. Krishna is everywhere. So, what to speak of a direct manifestation of Krishna or one’s iṣṭa-deva. So say, a devotee of Krishna, he will see Lord Ramachandra, but he will say, this is my Krishna, in the form of Lord Rama as the ideal king. It is Krishna, but he is in that form, and it can work the other way as well. Murari Gupta, he saw Lord Chaitanya as Lord Rama; Ramananda Raya, he saw Lord Chaitanya as Radha and Krishna; Murari Gupta, he saw Lord Chaitanya as his worshipable Lord Rama. So yes, one can. Have you read Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta? Yes, it is a wonderful book, I highly recommend it. It is really such a credit to Srila Prabhupada at the BBT. But the second part of Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta recounts the spiritual journey of Gopa Kumara, and he was actually born at Govardhana, but he went to Mathura, then Jagannatha Puri, then he started going up through the different planets in the universe, and ultimately Brahmaloka, then pass Brahmaloka to Shivaloka, then in Vaikuntha planet he spent time worshiping Lord Narayana and Vaikuntha, he went to Ayodhya in the spiritual world. He worshipped Lord Rama in Ayodhya. Ultimately came to Dvaraka. And wherever he was, he felt ecstasy, he felt love, and he felt, I could just spend my whole life here, serving Lord Jagannatha. Of course, Lord Jagannatha is Krishna; but I could spend my whole life here serving Lord Narayana; I could serve my whole life serving Lord Rama; I could serve spend my whole life serving Dwarkadhish.” But ultimately, because his eternal relationship was with Krishna in Vrindavan, eventually, after a long time, he had feel a little restlessness, that he was missing his Gopala.

So finally, when he was in Dvaraka, Uddhava and Narada, they could detect that there was something in Gopa Kumara, he wasn’t completely satisfied. But everyone was completely in the mood of serving Dwarkadhish. So it was like, how could he even say that he was dissatisfied. And he wasn’t really dissatisfied but still there was something. So they detected it, and they approached him, and they said, “We are noticing something in you.” And then he admitted, “Yes, I am feeling restless, because I am missing my Gopala.” So Narada said, “You should go to the planet of Lord Jagannatha.” Lord Jagannatha has His own planet in the spiritual sky, and the special feature of Lord Jagannatha is that He will manifest Himself in the form as desired by the worshiper, by the devotee. For Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, He manifested himself as Shyamasundara, and actually He is under Shyamasundara, Krishna. He will manifest Himself in whatever form the devotee wants. Sometimes you will see pictures of Lord Jagannatha with an elephant’s trunk, He is dressed as Ganesh, He does even that. There is a famous story that one devotee of Ganesh, very simple devotee, very sincere devotee, he went to Puri to see Daru Brahma, but he was looking for Ganesh, because his worshipable deity was Ganesh, and he saw Jagannatha, he didn’t see Ganesh. So he felt disappointed, what happened here? But Lord Jagannatha knew his heart, and later He appeared to him as Ganesh. It was on the occasion of the Snana-yatra. So ever since then, after Snana-yatra the pujaris decorate Lord Jagannatha in hātīvesha, in elephant trunk. So even the demigods, they are included, Lord Jagannatha.

So Narada said, “You go to the planet of Lord Jagannatha in the spiritual world, and He will manifest Himself to you as Gopala, and all of your desires will be fulfilled.” So then, Uddhava said that, “What Narada said is absolutely right, I agree completely with what he said. But there is another alternative. And that is, that you can go back to Bhauma Vrindavan, Vrindavan on earth, and worship Krishna in Bhauma Vrindavan; worship Gopala in Bhauma Vrindavan, in the mood of separation. And the mood of separation will bring you to that intense ecstatic love for Krishna, more quickly even than worshiping Lord Jagannatha. So go to Bhauma Vrindavan and worship Krishna, and when your eagerness in separation, your eagerness becomes so intense, you will enter Goloka Vrindavan, in your eternal relationship with Krishna.”

Hare Krishna.

Yes, sir? 

Devotee: You speak of the importance of chanting the holy name. It is possible to come down with some sort of debilitating illness where it is difficult to chant attentively. Shouldn’t there be more of an investment in places where people can be sent, so that, at the very least, they can hear the holy name, and be looked after by devotees who can provide them with the opportunity to hear?

Giriraj Swami: Well, that is a very nice thought. There are two elements to it. First it is true, it could happen that we come to the stage where we can’t chant. Even some of our contemporaries, temporarily have had trouble with their voices, after whatever; so many years of singing and speaking. And so then they listen to tapes of japa. The other element is there to take care of devotees, that is very important, and that is something that we are working on. We need to work on it more, but that is very important, because we give our lives to Krishna, and Krishna says, “If you surrender to Me, I will take care of you.” Part of surrender means that you have faith that Krishna will take care of you, and Krishna will. But we, as servants of Krishna, will want to do that service on behalf of Krishna. Someone has surrendered to Krishna, someone surrendered a Prabhupada. So as servants of Krishna, as servants of Prabhupada, we want to take care of them. So that requires effort, intelligence, resources. Of course, we can also do whatever we can as individuals. That is good you brought up that point If devotees are confident, that they will be looked after in their old age or in their disabled condition, then they will feel that they can give themselves more fully. But ISKCON is such a young movement, I am not much of a student of the history of religions, but what I have heard from devotees who are, these things can take generations to really properly establish. And what they say is, compared to other religions, of course, Krishna consciousness isn’t really a religion but it resembles a religion, we are doing pretty well. But I am glad you brought up that point.

Hare Krishna.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Nitai-Gaura premānande Hari Haribol.