SB 8.5.25

Giriraj Swami:

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

We read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Eight, Chapter Five, “The Demigods Appeal to the Lord.”

TEXT 25

tatrādṛṣṭa-svarūpāya
śruta-pūrvāya vai prabhuḥ
stutim abrūta daivībhir
gīrbhis tv avahitendriyaḥ

TRANSLATION

There [at Śvetadvīpa], Lord Brahmā offered prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even though he had never seen the Supreme Lord. Simply because Lord Brahmā had heard about the Supreme Personality of Godhead from Vedic literature, with a fixed mind he offered the Lord prayers as written or approved by Vedic literature.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

It is said that when Brahmā and the other demigods go to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead in Śvetadvīpa, they cannot directly see Him, but their prayers are heard by the Lord, and the needful action is taken. This we have seen in many instances. The word śruta-pūrvāya is significant. We get experience by directly seeing or by hearing. If it is not possible to see someone directly, we can hear about him from authentic sources. Sometimes people ask whether we can show them God. This is ludicrous. It is not necessary for one to see God before he can accept God. Our sensory perception is always incomplete. Therefore, even if we see God, we may not be able to understand Him. When Kṛṣṇa was on earth, many, many people saw Him but could not understand that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam. Even though the rascals and fools saw Kṛṣṇa personally, they could not understand that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Even upon seeing God personally, one who is unfortunate cannot understand Him. Therefore we have to hear about God, Kṛṣṇa, from the authentic Vedic literature and from persons who understand the Vedic version properly. Even though Brahmā had not seen the Supreme Personality of Godhead before, he was confident that the Lord was there in Śvetadvīpa. Thus he took the opportunity to go there and offer prayers to the Lord.

COMMENT

In this paragraph of the purport, Srila Prabhupada is discussing the phrase śruta-pūrvāya. Lord Brahma heard about the Lord from Vedic literature, even though he had not seen the Lord. Hearing is more important than seeing. People are prone to demand, “Can you show me God?” But what is your qualification to see God? Do you have the eyes to see the Lord? If you are qualified, you can see Him.

Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena, santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti. Those whose eyes are smeared with the ointment of love of God, they always see God in His beautiful form of Shyamasundara within their heart of hearts. But if you don’t have the eyes to see God, how can you expect to see Him? In the Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna says, nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya. He is not manifest to anyone and everyone. For the fools and rascals, He is covered by the curtain of maya, or we should say their vision is blocked by the curtain of maya.

Five thousand years ago, when Lord Krishna was present on earth, anyone and everyone could see Him without qualification. We say that Lord Krishna was present on earth five thousand years ago. Actually, Krishna is always present everywhere. When we say that He was present on earth five thousand years ago, we mean that anyone and everyone could see Him five thousand years ago. Whereas at other times, people cannot see Him unless they have the qualification of love for Him. But five thousand years ago, anyone could see Him who happened to be on the planet at the time, in His proximity. But even though they saw Him, most people could not understand Him. And therefore, what was the benefit of seeing Him?

Lord Brahma is more fortunate because he could understand the Lord by hearing. It’s better to understand the Lord by hearing than to see the Lord and misunderstand Him. And therefore, the beginning of spiritual understanding is hearing. The beginning of devotional service is hearing, śravaṇam. śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ. śravaṇam comes first. When Krishna speaks the Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna, He says, tac chṛṇu, “Hear from Me.”

So, that is the process, and by the mercy of Krishna, of Lord Brahma, and the disciplic succession of Srila Prabhupada, we are able to hear about Krishna and understand Him. And by understanding Him, we can develop faith in Him. ādau śraddhā, the beginning of spiritual advancement is faith. And the faith is awakened by hearing from proper authorities. And when we have faith, we can offer prayers to the Lord and have confidence that He will hear our prayers and answer them, take the needful action as He thinks best. In the next paragraph, Srila Prabhupada discusses stuti, the prayers themselves.

PURPORT (continued)

These prayers were not ordinary concocted prayers. Prayers must be approved by Vedic literature, as indicated in this verse by the words daivībhir gīrbhiḥ. In our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement we do not allow any song that has not been approved or sung by bona fide devotees. We cannot allow cinema songs to be sung in the temple.

COMMENT

Cinema songs is the appropriate phrase in the Indian context, here we would probably say popular music.

PURPORT (continued)

We generally sing two songs.

COMMENT

Who can guess what the two songs are?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:18:00].

Giriraj Swami: Correct.

PURPORT (continued)

We generally sing two songs. One is śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda. This is bona fide. It is always mentioned in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, and it is accepted by the ācāryas. The other, of course, is the mahā-mantra — Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. We may also sing the songs of Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura and Locana dāsa Ṭhākura, but these two songs — “śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya” and the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra — are sufficient to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although we cannot see Him. Seeing the Lord is not as important as appreciating Him from the authentic literature or the authentic statements of authorized persons. 

COMMENT

So, offering prayers is also one of the important items of devotional service, one of the nine main items;

TEXT 23

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

COMMENT

Vandanam means offering obeisances or offering prayers. And Srila Rupa Gosvami, in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, mentions two subdivisions of prayers. One is stuti, which is mentioned here. Stuti are verses from Vedic literature or prayers that have been offered by great authorities in the past. For example, when we greet the Deities, we sing the prayers from Sri Brahma-saṁhitā. So, this is stuti.

The other category is called stava. Stava are prayers that are one’s own composition. They spring from one’s own heart. Once, a disciple asked Prabhupada, “How do we pray? Is there any particular form that a prayer should take?” Of course, the main thing is the feeling of the heart for Krishna. But Srila Prabhupada did say that, generally, one begins by glorifying the object of one’s prayer, then one states one’s own disqualification, expresses his own fallen condition.

And third, one prays for mercy. One example is the song by Narottama dasa Thakura, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu. He says, patita-pāvana-hetu tomāra avatāra, “You are famous as the deliverer of the fallen.” Mo sama patita prabhu, “And I am the most fallen. Therefore, You should be merciful to me.”

The very striking prayer, “You are famous as the deliverer of the fallen and I’m the most fallen. Therefore, my claim comes first.” This is the mood of genuine humility of the devotee. And when that mood, that humility, that dainya, arises within the heart, then one can offer prayers.

In the last Chapter of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the author describes how Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself tasted the meanings of the Śikṣāṣṭakam prayers. And in so many places, Krishna Kaviraja Gosvami mentions that dainya, abject humility, arose in the heart of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and thus, He recited the following verse from Śikṣāṣṭakam.

So, that is the most important qualification, humility. Humility attracts the Lord and the mercy of the Lord. A negative approach is positive. Of course, this is not mundane negativity, being negative about yourself, or being negative about others. But when one feels oneself to be minus, that attracts the supreme plus, attracts His attention, attracts His mercy, attracts His love. But it must be genuine.

If we are sincerely making all efforts to progress in Krishna consciousness, we’ll naturally feel humble because we’ll perceive how far we fall short of our aspiration, of our goal. If we are complacent, if we think we are all right, “I’m doing fine, I’m doing great,” then we can’t really approach the Lord in humility, and we are not fit receptacles to receive His mercy. If we are going through the motions of devotional service, even then, we will get mercy.

But when we really make an effort to serve purely and we realize how far short we fall, then we’ll feel humble. And the Lord will help us. He’ll see our genuine desire and He’ll help us. Sometimes devotees read the prayers of the previous acharyas and they echo the same words without the feeling. Once, a disciple approached Srila Prabhupada, said, “Srila Prabhupada, I’m the most fallen.” Srila Prabhupada replied, “You are not the most anything.” And of course, humility is shown by obedience.

Once, a disciple asked Srila Prabhupada, “Śikṣāṣṭakam is so important. It’s the essence of Krishna consciousness, given by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself. But the spiritual master is so important in Krishna consciousness. Where do we find the spiritual master in the Śikṣāṣṭakam?” And Srila Prabhupada replied,

tṛṇād api sunīcena
taror api sahiṣṇunā
amāninā mānadena
kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ

Tṛṇād api sunīcena, one actually feels oneself to be lower than the grass. In other words, if one is more humble than a blade of grass, he will accept a spiritual master because he’ll feel that he needs help. If someone is proud, he won’t accept a spiritual master, or officially, he may accept a spiritual master for some external reason, but internally, he won’t accept a spiritual master because he is proud. He thinks he can take care of himself, he can lead his own life, make his own decisions, make his own progress.

When Hiraṇyakaśipu asked his son, Prahlada, what was the best thing he had learned in school, Prahlada replied,

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

Hiraṇyakaśipu was a big demon. He had given Prahlada to the charge of two brahman teachers so that Prahlada could learn to become a good materialist like his father, learn politics and diplomacy, and how to divide, conquer, and rule. And Prahlada came out with this answer, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ. Hiraṇyakaśipu considered Vishnu to be his worst enemy because Vishnu had killed Hiraṇyakaśipu’s brother, Hiraṇyakṣa. And so, Hiraṇyakaśipu took Vishnu to be his bitterest enemy, and he vowed to avenge his brother’s death by killing Vishnu.

And here, Prahlada is saying śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ, that the best thing he has learned is to hear about Vishnu, glorify Vishnu, remember Vishnu. So, Hiraṇyakaśipu became furious on hearing this answer, and he called for the boy’s teachers. He called them brahma-bandhus, friends of brahmans, not actually brahmans, because they were not trustworthy. He gave his son to them, to train to be a materialist, and here, he had become a devotee of Vishnu, so they were not trustworthy. Therefore, brahma-bandhu, they are not real brahmans.

So, he accused them, “You have taught him this. You’ve taught him devotion to Vishnu.” They said, “No, we haven’t.” He accused them, “You’ve allowed Vaishnavas in disguise to enter and teach him.” They said, “No, we haven’t.” So, he said, “Then how did he become Krishna conscious?” And the two teachers addressed Hiraṇyakaśipu as Indra Satru, the enemy of Indra, like he addressed them as brahma-bandhu, so-called brahman. So, they retaliated and called him Indra Satru, the enemy of Indra, the enemy of the demigods.

So, Hiraṇyakaśipu said, “Well, if you didn’t teach him and no Vaishnavas came in disguise to teach him, how did he become Krishna conscious?” They said, “He is naturally Krishna conscious. You better ask him how he became Krishna conscious.” So, Hiraṇyakaśipu asked Prahlada, and Prahlada replied, “One cannot become Krishna conscious by one’s own efforts, one cannot become Krishna conscious by the efforts of others, and one cannot become Krishna conscious by the combined efforts of oneself with others.”

Now, logically, Prahlada seems to have excluded every possibility, but then he said,

naiṣāṁ matis tāvad urukramāṅghriṁ
spṛśaty anarthāpagamo yad-arthaḥ
mahīyasāṁ pāda-rajo-’bhiṣekaṁ
niṣkiñcanānāṁ na vṛṇīta yāvat

that one can become Krishna conscious by smearing his body with the dust of the lotus feet of a pure devotee who is completely free from material desires. And by that method, one can become free from all unwanted miseries, anarthas. Anartha pagamo, one becomes free from all anarthas.

So, indirectly, Prahlada was saying, “You’ve asked how one can become Krishna conscious, but my dear father.” Actually, Prahlada called him the greatest of the demons, “My dear greatest of the demons. You don’t have to worry about becoming Krishna conscious because you are too puffed up. You’ll never bow down to the lotus feet of a pure devotee. You’ll never take the dust of the lotus feet of a pure devotee on your head. So, you don’t have to worry about becoming Krishna conscious.”

So, humility is really the key that opens the door to bhakti. By humility, we surrender. In fact, Srila Sanatana Gosvami, in his description of the six divisions of surrender, in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, one of the six is humility. Without humility, you can’t surrender, and without surrender, you can’t really take to the process of pure devotional service.

So, humility is required, and then one can offer sincere prayers. One other point mentioned in the verse is avahitendriyaḥ. Lord Brahma was fixed in mind without deviation. So, that should be how we pray. Lord Brahma was fixed in mind without deviation. So, when we pray by singing

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

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

we should do so with a fixed mind. And if we are in the mood of genuine humility, naturally, our mind will be fixed because we’ll feel completely dependent on the Lord. That’s also one of the divisions of surrender, to feel completely dependent on the Lord. And depending on the situation, if that mood is not there, we can make efforts to control the mind. As Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gītā, whenever the mind deviates due to its unsteady and flickering nature, one should bring it back to the self. And that is our effort, that is part of our sadhana, part of our effort.

There are three phases in chanting, or three stages; the offensive stage; nāma-aparādha, the clearing stage; nāma-ābhāsa, and the pure stage; śuddha-nāma. The clearing stage is defined as the stage in which one is continuously endeavoring to chant without offense, which means to chant with attention. That means that every moment, one is endeavoring to chant and hear with attention. Then, one can achieve anartha-apagamal, one can become free from all anarthas. One can pass through anartha-nivṛtti by offenseless chanting.

Offenseless chanting means the clearing stage. It means the effort to chant without offense. One hasn’t yet come to the pure stage in which one actually develops love for God, but one is in the clearing stage, where one is endeavoring to avoid all offenses at all times. Not just when chanting, but at all times. Because what we do when we are not chanting affects our consciousness when we are chanting.

So, that’s the clearing stage, and that will cleanse the heart, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam, and enable us to chant with true feeling, with love. Of course, kirtan is such a powerful process. Srila Jiva Gosvami comments that chanting loudly in the association of other devotees has a special potency to evoke spiritual feelings even in the hearts of neophytes. Of course, last night, I mean, I was struck by the enthusiastic kirtan after the prasāda. The devotees were just really chanting very loudly and enthusiastically. They are obviously feeling some spiritual emotion while chanting.

So, that’s how powerful kirtan is, but our most essential process is japa. Srila Prabhupada said of all the regulative principles, the spiritual master’s instructions to chant sixteen rounds daily is most essential. So, we chant sixteen rounds and we endeavor to do so without offense, with attention. And by the effort to chant with attention, anartha-nivṛtti, the eradication of anarthas takes place, and one progresses to more advanced stages of devotional service.

So, it takes some work. We have to make our effort, and at the same time, depend on the mercy of the Lord, and in the humble mood of prayer along with our genuine efforts, our ardent endeavors, that combination of our effort and the Lord’s mercy will bring us success. Hare Krishna.

Are there any questions or comments? Yes, Gaura Nataraj Prabhu?

Devotee: When the demigods do yajñas and Lord Vishnu appears, is there an expansion? It’s not the Supreme Lord? Because we say we don’t see the Lord, but they also see Him when they are doing yajñas and Vishnu comes to accept their offerings.

Giriraj Swami: Well, if the demigods perform a sacrifice to please Vishnu, and if Vishu is pleased and comes, that’s Vishnu, it’s the Supreme Personality of Godhead. What’s mentioned here is that when they go to the shore of the ocean of milk and pray to the Lord in Svetadvipa, they don’t see Him, but they have faith that He is there and that He will hear their prayers and the needful action will be taken.

It is true that they can see Him on occasion. But even we may have some glimpse when hearing, or chanting, or serving. We may have some glimpse of Krishna’s mercy, Krishna’s name, the power of Krishna’s name, the beauty of Krishna’s form.

How sublime are His qualities? How wonderful are His activities? But after that glimpse, we can forget. We become covered and even though we had the experience, our faith wavers because that experience has passed. And now, we are not having that same type of experience.

So, it’s possible that one can see the Lord, and even then, one’s faith can be tested. But here the idea is that even though they can’t see Him, they still have faith that He is there and He will hear their prayers, and He will respond. Yes?

Devotee: In the purport, Prabhupada says that we shouldn’t listen to mundane songs and just listen to Krishna conscious songs. [Unintelligible 00:47:29]?

Giriraj Swami: Srila Prabhupada wrote specifically, “Seeing the Lord is not as important as appreciating Him from the authentic literature or the authentic statements of authorized persons.” Now, the particular albums that you mentioned, songs sung by Mangala Nanda Prabhu, many of the words were actually written by Jamadagni, and Village of Peace by Sri Prahlada. Those really are the same as what Prabhupada taught.

George Harrison wrote a song. My voice isn’t very good, but, “Oh I’m missing You, Krishna. Krishna, where are You?” Srila Prabhupada said that was just in the mood of the Six Gosvamis. He said, “That’s exactly in the mood of the Six Gosvamis.”

I think the ones you mentioned in particular are quite good. I think they are quite good. Tripurari Swami, a famous book distributor in ISKCON, he would give people a book and present them a book, and tell them, “This book teaches you how to live in harmony with nature, and to realize your full potential, and become happy in life,” and people would take the book.

So, some devotees were concerned that he wasn’t really presenting the philosophy the way Srila Prabhupada did. They were concerned that he was deviating or compromising.

So eventually, they approached Srila Prabhupada and told him what Tripurari Swami would say, and Srila Prabhupada said, “That’s exactly what I say, but he has made it sweeter. Just like the parrot, he makes the mango sweeter.”

So, Prabhupada is being very strict here because he doesn’t want concoctions. He doesn’t want concocted mantras, or songs that purport to deal with higher topics, which could contain rāsābhās, if they are coming from someone who’s not a realized soul. But I think those songs that present the philosophy of Krishna consciousness in simple language are acceptable. I think those in particular that you mentioned are acceptable, in my humble opinion. All right! Thank you very much. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Hare Krishna.