Japa Retreat—Level 02 Day 05—Encouraging Words

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Devotees: Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: At the Prabhupada Festival in Los Angeles, one year, our godbrother Madhavananda Prabhu told the story of the first time he led kirtan in Srila Prabhupada’s personal presence. He was very nervous, but at the end, Srila Prabhupada was very kind to him and said, “You sang very nicely. But one thing is that you should pronounce the name of Gadadhara as Gadadhara.” And there is a tendency, especially in the morning melody, to sing śrī-advaita gadādhara, and Srila Prabhupada did make the point that it’s Gadadhara.

I mean, you were singing it perfectly, but some of the chorus tended towards that Gadadhara, and I think that affected you. It’s natural. I don’t know if you did or not, but just thought I could mention that. It’s natural we don’t want to be different; we don’t want people to think we are different. Hare Krishna.

Many devotees have expressed gratitude for the holy name, for the Pancha-tattva, who have given us the holy name, for Srila Prabhupada, who brought the holy name to us, for the retreat, for the organizers of the retreat, for the participants in the retreat.

But today, I was somehow remembering Krishna’s quality of gratitude. And the specific example given in The Nectar of Devotion about Krishna’s quality of gratitude is that when Draupadi was away from Krishna and in complete helplessness and dependence she cried out, “He Govinda,” Lord Krishna felt grateful to her. And The Nectar of Devotion describes that He maintained that feeling of gratitude within His heart, and that feeling of gratitude increased within His heart.

And then, Srila Prabhupada, sort of in his own commentary on that statement from Mahābhārata quoted in The Nectar of Devotion speaks about how grateful Krishna must be to devotees who chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. And I thought I would read that. The Nectar of Devotion, the Chapter entitled, “Qualities of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.” And of course, these are not all of the qualities, but the first fifty are common both to Krishna and to the living entities, especially in the purified state.

Qualities of Śrī Kṛṣṇa

Any person who is conscious of his friend’s beneficent activities and never forgets his service is called grateful. In the Mahābhārata, Kṛṣṇa says, “When I was away from Draupadī, she cried with the words, ‘He govinda!’ This call for Me has put Me in her debt, and that indebtedness is gradually increasing in My heart!” This statement by Kṛṣṇa gives evidence of how one can please the Supreme Lord simply by addressing Him, “He kṛṣṇa! He govinda!”

The mahā-mantra (Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare) is also simply an address to the Lord and His energy. So to anyone who is constantly engaged in addressing the Lord and His energy, we can imagine how much the Supreme Lord is obliged. It is impossible for the Lord to ever forget such a devotee. It is clearly stated in this verse that anyone who addresses the Lord immediately attracts the attention of the Lord, who always remains obliged to him.

COMMENT

So, when we chant, we can be conscious, not just that Krishna’s hearing us, which He is, but He is grateful to us, especially if we cry out to Him, genuine cry of a child for his mother. And last night, after the kirtan, Varsana Swami related an incident that not only confirms this principle, but gives us hope for the time of death.

One of Srila Prabhupada’s early disciples, as you probably know, was Hayagriva Prabhu. But Hayagriva Prabhu encountered some difficulties along the way and gave up the strict practice of Krishna consciousness. But Srila Prabhupada had told Hayagriva, “Because you once chanted the holy name of Krishna sincerely in Vrindavan, Krishna will never let go of you.”

And Varsana Swami related that although Hayagriva had really fallen from the strict practice of Krishna consciousness, but at the end, when he was approaching death or death was approaching him, his only interest was to hear about Krishna, to hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. He said that when you went into his presence, you couldn’t help but be reminded of Maharaja Parīkṣit, who just wanted to spend his last days hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So, this is a fact. When I first joined the Boston temple, I heard that Srila Prabhupada had said that if you just turn one screw for Krishna, Krishna will never forget that service. He will never let you go.

Now, we have to be careful here not to think, I chanted the name of Krishna once sincerely, more than once, actually, so I don’t have to worry, Krishna will never forget me. Krishna is grateful to me. Krishna will manifest Himself to me at the end. Now, that sort of negligent attitude is actually an offense. Nāmno balād yasya hi pāpa-buddhiḥ. It’s like committing sin on the strength of the holy name. We think that our chanting of the holy name in the past or in the future will counteract our current negligence. And that itself is an offense. And the effects of offenses are very hard to overcome.

There is another beautiful small book by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura called Mādhurya-kādambinī, in which he describes the nine stages of devotional service in detail, beginning with shraddha. ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo ‘tha bhajana-kriyā. All the way through all the stages; anartha-nivṛtti, niṣṭhā, ruci, āsakti, bhāva, and prema. And this stage of anartha-nivṛtti is very critical.

And within the category of anarthas, he mentions four different causes of anarthas, and he very analytically explains at what stage and to what degree they are eliminated. Some anarthas are created by past sinful activities, some are created by past pious activities, some are actually created in the course of the execution of devotional service, and some are created by offenses. And all the other anarthas are largely eradicated in the stage of anartha-nivṛtti.

They are further eradicated as one progresses. Some are absolutely eradicated at ruci, some are absolutely eradicated at āsakti. But the anarthas caused by offenses are not completely eradicated until the stage of bhāva. Completely eradicated means they are completely eradicated, but they may come back. And they are only absolutely eradicated, there is no chance of them returning when one develops prema and actually attains the lotus feet of Krishna. I think it was Julia Childs or, I don’t know, one of those ladies, she’d always talk about removing those pesky little stains. So, the effects of offenses are really pesky, you just can’t get rid of them.

And he talks specifically about vaiṣṇava-aparādha, sādhu-nindā, which is the first offense. And there is a special fact about vaiṣṇava-aparādha, which is that one cannot get relief just by chanting, one actually has to approach the Vaishnava whom one has offended and one must repent. One should think, I’m the worst creature, I’ve offended a saintly person, and throw oneself at the feet of the Vaishnava, beg for forgiveness. And that idea of the same mouth that blasphemed the Vaishnava should be used to glorify the Vaishnava.

And he says that if one’s offense to the Vaishnava is so grievous that even after submitting oneself to the Vaishnava, the Vaishnava’s anger still does not subside, then one should continually serve the Vaishnava and try to please him in any way until his anger does subside. And only if that doesn’t work, then one should take complete shelter of chanting the holy name. Just chant the holy name without cessation. But one should know that one will not get the full benefit of the chanting.

And he gives the example of a person who’s wasted away, I guess different examples, but one is of a person who’s wasted away from high fever. He can eat but he hardly gets any benefit from the food because he is in such a wasted condition, but still, he eats. And he has no appetite, but still, he eats and gets some little benefit, and gradually, gets a little appetite back, a little taste for food. Then gradually, after a long time, he regains his health and he has appetite, he has taste for food, he is able to eat and get the benefit. But we, of course, want to be careful that we don’t end up in such a position.

The other example he mentions, and I like this because it’s so similar to what Srila Prabhupada has said in the First Canto. Srila Prabhupada quotes the statement that by once chanting the holy name, one can destroy the reactions to more sins than one can commit. And Srila Prabhupada says, “There is no exaggeration in such statements, but it depends on the quality of the utterance.”

So, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says the same thing. In Mādhurya-kādambinī, he quotes similar statements. And he says that if we don’t get that effect by one single utterance, we should understand that it is because of the effects of offenses. And he says, “Although the holy name has such potency, the holy name, being displeased with the chanter for his offenses, does not give His full mercy to the chanter.”

And he said, “It’s like a master whose servant has become offensive. The master will not give his full mercy to the servant who’s become offensive, but if the servant recognizes his offenses and repents for them and attempts to serve the master and please the master, then the master will gradually give his mercy to the servant. He’ll see how consistent the servant is.” Any of us would do that.

Once burnt twice shy, if we’ve had a bad experience with someone, we’ll give them another chance, but we’ll be a little wary, we’ll be a little cautious, we won’t just give ourselves to the person until we see the person is really sincere and consistent in his desire to establish a proper relationship. So, the holy name will see how sincere we are, how consistent we are, and then gradually, give His full mercy to us. And then when we chant even one name, Draupadi, “He Govinda,” then even just one name will eradicate all sinful reactions, make Krishna feel indebted to us. So, we should endeavor for that.

H.H. Sacinandana Swami gave a nice example in Delphi about consistency. He said, “Imagine you meet someone and the person is really friendly to you. He greets you and inquires about you, seems really interested in you, interested in having a relationship with you and really being your friend and helping you. And then the next time you see the person, he just walks right by you as if you didn’t exist.

So, you’ll be confused, “What is this person’s intention?” Does he really want to have a relationship with you or not? How sincere is he? And then the next time he sees you, he is really friendly, “How are you? I’ve really missed you, let’s get together.” And then three days later, “Haribol!” So, you wonder what is this person’s intention.

So, the holy name also is a person. It’s Krishna. He wants to know what is our intention. Do we really want to have a relationship with Him? Do we really want to serve Him? Are we sort of like hot and cold?

So, consistency is very important. And of course, now you’ve come for level two, so that desire is there. And today, I mean, a few of these days, every day has been wonderful, but especially today is a special opportunity to really show our sincerity to the holy name or try to increase our sincerity in relation to the holy name to such an extent that just like Krishna never forgets us, we’ll never forget Krishna, we’ll never forget the experience, and we’ll try to keep it by whatever means.

That should be our mood. And that’s always a challenge when we go back. But certainly, the deeper we go while we are here in this association, the stronger will be our determination to continue in the same mood, and the more we’ll make the practical arrangements to get together with like-minded devotees and try to keep the strength of that intention and practice.

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura discusses the point that someone may think, I haven’t committed any offenses, but the presence of offenses is evident from the person’s lack of taste, lack of advancement. And Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says, “Although the person may not have committed the offense recently, he may have committed it in the past and is still suffering from it.” And one could actually suspect that one did commit vaiṣṇava-aparādha in the past life.

In fact, Rupa Gosvami says that devotional service is a continuous process, and that if one has a natural taste for Krishna consciousness, it’s to be understood that he had made progress in his past life, but somehow, his progress was not fully successful in his past life, most likely due to an offense committed against the Vaishnava. Therefore, he had to take birth again, but he is given a chance in the present life to continue.

As far as what to do, we have to take shelter of the holy name. I mean, constant chanting is always the answer, and to avoid further offenses, try to serve Vaishnavas and glorify Vaishnavas and preach to get the mercy of Gaura-Nitai. They are so merciful. Jagai and Madhai were so offensive, but They are so merciful, especially Nityananda Prabhu, even to offenders. So, take shelter of Gaura-Nitai, chant Their names, and serve Them by expanding Their mission of spreading the holy name and love of God.

I think that’s really our hope. And that’s why one of the reasons why Srila Prabhupada emphasized the mission so much is because he knew we’d need that mercy of Gaura-Nitai, and that by serving Their mission, the saṅkīrtana movement, we’ll get Their mercy. So, I think that’s really our hope, our only hope, Guru and Gauranga.

Yes, Anavrita Prabhu?

Devotee: It seems like sometimes devotees have kind of a neurosis [Unintelligible]. Anyway, I just thought about what some devotees say especially when they come, sometimes they can’t even deal with each other because they are so afraid and they connect something to someone with some girl or dasi or something.

Giriraj Swami: I appreciate your point. Coming back to the story of Rupa Gosvami and the sadhu, I don’t know if he committed an offense, but his meditation broke. And the sadhu was also afraid that he had committed an offense against Rupa Gosvami by thinking such an exalted person as Rupa Gosvami might have laughed at him, so he immediately went to Sanatana Gosvami and said, “This happened. I think I offended Rupa Gosvami by thinking that he was mocking me or laughing at me.” And Sanatana Gosvami said, “It’s not possible. He must have been absorbed in kṛṣṇa-līlā.”

And when Rupa Gosvami’s meditation broke, he was thinking he must have done something wrong for it to break so abruptly. Then he went to Sanatana Gosvami to consult him. And then Sanatana Gosvami told him about the sadhu. And then Rupa Gosvami and the sadhu met and offered obeisances to each other and apologized to each other. And everything was rectified.

So, I think you are right. If we have the mood of being the servant of the servant, then even if there is a little misunderstanding, it can be worked out. It’s true, ninda, it includes the sense of malice, envy. But otherwise, in normal course, we should be in the mood of observing the Vaishnavas, not avoiding them.

In fact, to want to avoid a Vaishnava is an offense. So, you can’t. If you think, Here comes a Vaishnava. I don’t want to commit offenses, I better avoid him, that’s an offense. So, you can’t really avoid it. I mean, to an extent, but you can’t really avoid offenses by trying to avoid offenses. That’s too negative. You avoid offenses by being positive. Instead of worrying about offending a devotee, just serve the devotee, appreciate the devotee. And then there won’t be any chance for offenses. That’s a very good point.

And if we look at every little thing, like one disciple said to Srila Prabhupada, “I think I’m offending devotees all day long. If I have to offer obeisances to every devotee every time I offend one, then I’ll spend my whole day offering obeisances and begging for forgiveness. I won’t be able to do any other service.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “In the morning, when we offer Vaishnava praṇāma, offer obeisances to all the devotees, we are begging them to forgive us for any little offenses we might have committed during the last period, and that’s good enough.” So, when we do that, we should mentally be asking for forgiveness and at the same time forgiving. Thank you.