Giriraj Swami’s Vyasa-puja Address

Giriraj Swami:

[Prayers]

I am very humbled and moved being in your presence today. I will begin with what came to mind and I don’t know what more to say.

Once His Holiness Radhanath Swami told me that he had attended a banquet that a very wealthy Indian man in London had arranged for a popular religious figure from India. It was organized in a big hotel and there was a sumptuous meal served and that popular figure spoke a little. Afterwards someone from the audience—very respectable, affluent people—someone asked him, “What is love?” Radhanath Swami probably did a very good job of replicating his voice and tone and he said, “Love. Love. Love. What is love? What is love?” And then he said, “Love is what you feel when you have been away from your dog [laughter] for a long time and you come back and your dog looks at you [laughter] with his eyes and you look into his eyes. That is love.” [laughter]

Now I felt that the real essence of our association, the real essence of Krishna consciousness is love. And I thought to myself, “What is love?” But I didn’t feel satisfied with the answer given by that “holy man” from India and I don’t think I feel satisfied with what the dictionary says and I don’t have an answer. I think it is something that we have experienced to some extent and that is why we are here and that is what keeps us here. 

The first devotee who ever spoke to me personally was my godbrother Bharadvaja Prabhu and he told me the first time he saw Srila Prabhupada and the devotees together—although he was senior to me but he had also just come to Boston a few days before I did and he had never met Srila Prabhupada before—seeing Srila Prabhupada with the devotees he had this thought or realization that Krishna consciousness is just love masquerading as a philosophy. And that is the essence that that is our goal—prema pumārtho mahān—-to develop love for Krishna, and because Krishna is the original of everything, so love for Krishna includes love for everything and everyone, but especially in relation to devotees because devotees are attached to Krishna they are close to Krishna. So especially in relation to devotees we can get a sense of pure spiritual love.

In Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami gives a definition for love and for lust. He says that kāma or lust is the desire for one’s own gratification and prema or prīti is the desire to give Krishna satisfaction. But Krishna doesn’t mean Krishna alone in isolation. It does include the original Personality of Godhead, Krishna, but Krishna also includes His associates, His entourage, His devotees, His servants. It is in their association that we feel Krishna’s love which comes to us conditioned souls through paramparā.

Srila Prabhupada often said that perfect knowledge begins with Krishna. He is the origin of everything. He is also the origin of perfect knowledge and He conveys perfect knowledge to His immediate disciples, say in our line Lord Brahma, then Brahma conveys perfect knowledge to his disciple, for us, Narada, and Narada conveys it to Vyasa, and in this way the knowledge comes through paramparā. The way to receive spiritual knowledge is through service, hearing, and also through service. Tad vidhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ. So praṇipāt, that means “surrender.” Paripraśnena, that means by asking questions, that means hearing. It is understood that you are hearing and in response to hearing when you have a doubt or want some clarification or elaboration, so you inquire. And sevayā, by service. Srila Prabhupada would often say that that service is offered to one’s spiritual master then he offers it to his spiritual master, his spiritual master offers it to his spiritual master, and the service goes all the way back to Krishna. So the knowledge comes down to us through paramparā and our service from Krishna and our service goes up to Krishna through paramparā.

The essence of it all is this mysterious entity or phenomenon of love which is so powerful. One great sage was asked what are the basic necessities of a human being and he said to give love and to receive love. We need to be able to give love and we need to be able to receive love. Actual love, true love, pure love is only possible in relationship to Krishna or God. Without Krishna or God there may be a semblance of love or more likely lust masquerading as love. I think of the words to a Beetle’s song, “Please, please me my love, and I will please you.” That is not love. That is really lust. “If you please me, I will please you.” It is really a business transaction. The implication is, “If you don’t please me, I won’t please you.” That is not love. Love is exemplified by pure devotees. Srimati Radharani is the most exalted love for Krishna. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Krishna in the mood of Srimati Radharani, He prayed: āśliṣya vā pāda-ratāṁ pinaṣṭu mām that, “You can crush Me by Your embrace or You can make Me brokenhearted by not being present before Me but You are My worshipable Lord unconditionally.” And that is the nature of the devotee’s love; it cannot be broken under any circumstance.

Srila Prabhupada said that once Narada chastised Krishna that, “The Pandavas are Your devotees. They are completely surrendered to You and what is the result of their surrender to You? They were put into exile. So many attempts were made to kill them. They barely escaped with their lives. Their wife Draupadi was insulted, disgraced, humiliated. They had to live incognito. They suffered in so many ways. Is that a very good thing for You to do when devotees surrender to You?” And then Narada said, “But I don’t know what magic You have that even though they have been subjected to such torturous difficulties, they still love You the same. What is this magic that You have that even if people who surrender to You have to suffer terribly, their love for You remains the same? In fact it increases. What is this magic?”

Krishna is the original of everything, He is the cause of all causes, and the vision of a devotee is whatever situation he is in, ultimately Krishna is the cause of it, and he accepts it as Krishna’s mercy, and his love for Krishna is not diminished. It is not disturbed, “All right. Krishna wants me in this position. I accept it as Krishna’s will and I still love Krishna no matter what.”

So this is the reciprocation between the Lord and the devotee. And by hearing of the Lord’s pastimes with the devotees from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and other scriptures, from saintly persons who repeat the instructions of Krishna, we can feel Krishna’s presence. Krishna is absolute. He is not different from His name, He is not different from His form, the Deity, He is not different from His qualities, He is not different from His pastimes, and so by hearing about Krishna, we actually experience His presence and get some sense of the beautiful loving relationships He shares with His devotees. But as Svarupa Damodara Prabhu quoted His Holiness Bhakti Chaitanya Swami that yes, on the absolute platform the book Bhāgavata and the person bhāgavata are the same—there is no difference—but still, according to this account, the person bhāgavata is better because he can catch you by the ear. That is also a manifestation of love but I would put it in broader terms that yes, it is through the association of devotees that we get the sense of sublime spiritual love and that love is manifested in different ways in different relationships.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describes: prema-maitrī-kṛpopekṣā yaḥ karoti sa madhyamaḥ, that the madhyam-bhāgavata. . . Srila Prabhupada said he wanted the devotees in ISKCON to act on the madhyam platform. That is a challenge because most people begin on the kaniṣṭhā platform so it is a challenge to come to the madhyam platform. According to this instruction of Srila Prabhupada’s even if someone is on the uttamā platform he should act on the madhyam platform to fulfill these four functions.

So prema, that is for Krishna. One gives his love to Krishna. Maitrī means “friendship.” We should have friendships among the devotees. And kṛpā means “mercy.” Kṛṣṇa-kṛpā: Krishna’s mercy. The madhyam-bhāgavata gives mercy to innocent people and Srila Prabhupada explains that generally the spiritual master is on the madhyam platform or acts on the madhyam platform and he initiates disciples who are generally on the kaniṣṭhā platform. So that is kṛpā, giving mercy to the innocent. And upekṣāḥ, neglects, that is for the envious. If someone is envious we neglect them in the sense that we don’t try to preach to them because if they are envious and we try to preach to them they’ll become angry. In one talk which I quoted yesterday in relation to Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in America, he was saying that the people that we have to deal with are like animals, they are animals—cats and dogs and hogs. And he said we have to deal with them very carefully otherwise they will bark. So, yes, with the envious we neglect them. It doesn’t mean that we don’t care for them. Internally we want them to be Krishna conscious. We can think of ways to engage them, induce them to take prasāda, or somehow participate, but we don’t preach to them directly, because they may just become more agitated.

These are all actually different manifestations of love, different relationships of love. Of course we love Krishna in different relationships as we know from shastra. But in a similar way we also have different relationships. The spiritual master is like a teacher or spiritual father and therefore he gives instruction, he gives mercy, and the dependents, they hear the instructions, ask questions, and render service. And then between equals there is friendship. But even with the spiritual master when the relationship is sat there can be an element of friendship. 

I was struck when I read Srila Prabhupada’s Concluding Words to his spiritual master in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. He referred to him “my eternal spiritual master, guide, and friend.” So that struck me. But the basis of the relationship is surrender. Without surrender that friendship or so-called friendship is cheap. The basis is surrender. Even in our relationships with Krishna, these five rasas, the basis is surrender. Without surrender nothing follows and we see that mood even in Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu or Srimati Radharani, “You can crush Me by Your embrace or make Me brokenhearted by not being present before Me but You are My worshipable Lord unconditionally.” It is the mood of surrender. And the surrender just increases. Dāsya-rasa, sākhya-rasa, vātsalya-rasa, mādhurya-rasa, but it is always there. That has to be there. If it is not there then it is false or something, some shadow of something, or some glimmer of something but surrender has to be there. But with surrender, with submission and service, there can be an element of friendship built on the platform of submissive oral reception and service.

Then, amongst godbrothers, godsisters, people of a similar generation and understanding. Friendship which is so important, that actually defines the madhyam-bhāgavata. Maitrī is such friendship. 

Advaita Acharya mentioned the Pune-yatra and I recall the first Pune-yatra I attended. It was after His Holiness Radhanath Swami had decided—there is a bit of history here—but he had decided to approach the GBC Body to come back into ISKCON and it just so happened I was going to be in Pune at the same time as the Pune-yatra. So I thought I will go for one of the sessions. I think it lasted three or four days and it was such a moving experience spiritually. I ended up spending almost my whole time in Pune at the Pune-yatra. 

After the Pune-yatra, Maharaja and I rode back on the train with all the devotees from Bombay who had come. He went through the different carriages (bogies) on the train and he asked the different devotees what they liked the best about the yatra, what was their favorite part. The greatest number of devotees gave the answer, “The questions and answers.” Later Radhanath Swami commented to me that the reason that they liked the questions and answers so much, apart from other reasons, is that we did it together—he and I did it together. What they really liked more than anything else was seeing the two of us together and seeing the loving relationship between us. That might have been more special then because they hadn’t officially come back to ISKCON. I think I was maybe the first ISKCON sannyasi to come.

Another wonderful event took place. There was a very nice devotee named Abhirama Thakura, he had actually first met devotees in Pakistan and he was very attached to Amoghalila Prabhu and me because we were the first ones who preached to him. But then he was able to move to India. He was a Hindu by birth, actually a Bengali brahman—Bhattacharya—and he was very attached to me. And then in India he moved to Pune and took initiation from Radhanath Swami. That group was not in ISKCON officially. So when the train was leaving the station he was on the platform. Some of the Pune devotees, they were on the platform, and Radhanath Swami and I were standing at the doorway to the railway car, and each had his arm around the other. And there was Abhirama Thakura on the platform looking at the two of us and just weeping profusely, tears just streaming out of his eyes. Radhanath Swami commented that he was just crying such tears of joy because these devotees to whom he was the most attached were in different groups, different camps, and he maybe never thought the two could be reconciled and here were these two devotees together. His heart was broken in two pieces and by us being together, these two parts of his heart were reunited and he was just crying in great joy, ecstasy.

Here there is a long history of very strong devotional friendships between Tamal Krishna Goswami and his godbrothers. So that was a gift that he gave to all of you that you can see him with his godbrothers. In Srila Prabhupada’s last days and after Srila Prabhupada left, Tamal Krishna Goswami commented that Srila Prabhupada was the perfect acharya. He set the perfect example for us to follow in every respect even how to leave one’s body—just from the very beginning of one’s spiritual life all to the ultimate end. But the one example he didn’t give us was how to relate to godbrothers because he didn’t have any godbrothers with him in ISKCON. So that was a challenge for us to understand how to relate to godbrothers and by Krishna’s grace, by Prabhupada’s mercy, by the natural process of development in Krishna consciousness, natural maturity that comes as one practices Krishna consciousness, we have learned or are learning how to actually have loving relationships with godbrothers and godsisters. 

So that was a very major part of Tamal Krishna Goswami’s life and the example he set for us and legacy he gave us. And that has brought great strength to his disciples and his zone that godbrothers who were close to him in the mood of service to him are extending their care and association to his disciples and projects. 

Maybe three days ago I received an e-mail from Bhurijana Prabhu saying that I had come in his dream and that in the dream I told him that I wanted to speak with him on the phone. So he sent me an e-mail and said that, “I am leaving Perth in two days and it will be harder to speak then so we should try to speak before then.” So we spoke and then at the end I asked him, “Where are you going?” And he said, “I am going to Hong Kong and China.” And I knew that was his service. I knew his mood. Of course he was one of the first devotees to go to Hong Kong so he does have that relationship with Hong Kong but I knew really he was going to serve Tamal Krishna Goswami and please him and get some of his mercy.

So that is been a tremendous gift that Tamal Krishna Goswami gave to the godbrothers to whom he was close and to all his disciples and the devotees in his zone. It is out of love for him that we come and serve all of you and try to help you in your efforts to serve him.

As far as me personally, His Holiness Ṛtadhvaja Swami is like my best friend. I don’t even know if I would have made it out of the door of the house that I was staying in this morning if he weren’t there. Since I have already quoted the Beetles once in a certain context, I will quote them in a different context. They have another song, “I get by with a little help from my friends,” and I think that is so true. As devotees have mentioned, we can’t do it on our way—none of us. None of us can do it on our own. We can’t make it on our own. We need support, friends—loving friendship. So I felt that, get by with a little help from my friends. 

And the ceremony I must say was very beautifully organized. The decorations were wonderful. I really felt, yes, it is so wonderful to get together and decorate the temple, the Deities, the vyāsāsana, talk about Krishna, and chant the holy name of Krishna. And then it was a nice part of the ceremony when we were in front of the Deities and Rasikendra Prabhu gave a garland for His Holiness Ṛtadhvaja Swami to place around my neck. Then he gave me one to place around Maharaja’s neck. I said to Maharaja, “You know, I think we are married now.” [laughter] And I am very happy to be [laughter]. The exchange of garlands was just an external symbol of it but we are wedded in service to Prabhupada and service to ISKCON, service to Tamal Krishna Goswami, and other dear servants of Srila Prabhupada. It is an eternal relationship. And I am glad it is and I am glad that there will be another ISKCON in the spiritual world. Maybe we could do without some of the procedures and rules and regulations but the chanting and dancing together and talking about Krishna and serving our superiors, that will continue and the same people that were doing it with here we can do it with them there and that is wonderful. Our relationships are eternal. Yes, our relationship with Krishna is eternal, but Krishna with His other devotees. So, yes, we will have another ISKCON in the spiritual world.

Up until Janaka Maharaja spoke I was just looking and seeing the speakers but from where he was sitting and speaking I was actually seeing him through the leaves here and I really felt like I am in a kuñja. I am peeking through the bushes. Janaka Maharaja, do you see me? [laughter] I really felt I am peeking through the bushes in the kuñja and there is Janaka Maharaja. His Krishna consciousness is so deep that it just felt like I am already in a kuñja in Vrindavan while he was speaking.

So we will meet each other in different forms but the same people will be there. There will just be different forms and we will recognize them; we will recognize our spiritual master and we will recognize his other servants, associates, and servants.

Whatever effort we make will not go in vain. We might think, “If I put effort into my relationship with Krishna, it won’t be in vain because my relationship with Krishna is eternal and ultimately all of my efforts, all of my chanting, all of my service, it will gradually bring me to the lotus feet of Krishna because it is a continuous process even from one life to the next, even if I am not completely successful it will continue in the next life.” But even our relationships with each other they will also continue. We shouldn’t underestimate the importance of our relationships with each other because we need those to sustain us in our efforts and make us successful.

It can be true at anytime in any situation but specifically during the foot bathing I felt a lot for each of the devotees who were coming forward and appreciating them on a deep level. But in a couple of cases I felt, “Mmm, this person has a problem with false ego,” or, “This person has some anartha in his heart. We have to deal with that.” But even then I thought, “But still, the love has to flow because how are they going to get the strength to deal with their anarthas or false egos? How are they going to get the impetus to make the effort to deal with their anarthas and false egos? It has got to be from the love they experience in Krishna consciousness.” So even if it does come to that stage that we have to deal—it may or may not—but if it does come to that stage where we are to deal with someone’s false pride or whatever the anartha is—false ego—the main thing is the love because otherwise they will just get discouraged or resentful or just could be many types of peculiar reactions.

So it comes back to love. I don’t think we should think, “Oh, this person has this fault, so how can I give my love to him or how can I give my love unconditionally?” You can give it unconditionally and that will help the person if you are in that position in that relationship with the person to help the person deal with that anartha. 

It is wonderful. Krishna consciousness is wonderful. Prabhupada is wonderful. You all are wonderful. I have been listening to everyone’s prayers very carefully. Dharma Prabhu was saying that he is a lawyer so he likes to speak. He is impressed that he could ask a question and it would have four parts to it and I would listen very carefully and I would hear all the four parts and respond to them. My father was a judge so judges have to listen carefully to what the lawyers say [laughter] so they can deliver the proper judgment. 

I think that this masquerade of philosophy now is coming to an end because I am not finding any more philosophical words and I guess from now on it is just love, love, and song and dance and prasāda.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! [applause]