Sunday Feast

Giriraj Swami: So, we meet once again in the most auspicious month of Kartik, which will continue until November 2nd. And the last five months [days] of Kartik are known as Bhīṣma-pañcaka, they are very special, as we have mentioned it. During the month of Kartik, one gets special benefit for one’s spiritual practices and for the austerities one performs in the course of devotional service. Even then, so many things come up in our lives, and then, too, we may have our own internal problems. So, even though we want to do more service in Kartik or improve in certain ways, we may not be able to perform according to our desires or hopes. But it is said that whatever practice one performs during the last five days of Kartik, one gets the benefit as if he or she had performed them for the entire month. Of course, we should do what we can every day, every hour, every minute, but there is hope that even if we haven’t met the goals that we would have liked during the month, we still have the last five days. But we should begin now or as soon as possible, because if we are in the habit of being laxed or sporadic, it will be hard even in the last five days because we won’t have that practice, we won’t have that habit.

Now, in the following month after Kartik, the most auspicious occasion is Mokshada Ekādaśī, which is the day on which Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna. This day is celebrated as Gita-jayanti. The Bhagavad-gītā is the basic textbook, the most essential textbook of yoga. Yoga means literally to link or to connect. The English word ‘yoke’ is derived from the same group, like to yoke oxen to a cart. And the knowledge in the Bhagavad-gītā is actually eternal. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Krishna says imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam, Krishna says that previously He spoke the Bhagavad-gītā to Vivasvan, the sun god, some millions of years ago. Vivasvan instructed Manu, his son Manu instructed Ikṣvāku, and in this way, the knowledge was passed down from master to disciple, master to disciple, in an unbroken chain. But in the course of time, that chain became broken. And therefore, the original knowledge of the Bhagavad-gītā became lost. Sri Krishna says evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ, this knowledge was passed down through paramparā, one after the other, one after the other, one after the other. And thus, the saintly kings received the knowledge. But in the course of time, that strong connection or link became broken, and yogo naṣṭaḥ paran-tapa, the knowledge became naṣṭaḥ, it means spoiled. Just like if you have a plate of nice food, but if you leave it for days, it will become naṣṭaḥ, it will become spoiled.

So, the knowledge of the Bhagavad-gītā is perfect, it is the most important knowledge for every one of us, for the whole human society. But if it is not communicated through paramparā, it becomes naṣṭaḥ, spoiled. You can’t get the real value from it. So, five thousand years ago, Sri Krishna detected that the paramparā had been lost, broken, and He came again, and again He spoke the Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna. And thus, He began a new paramparā, which has continued intact until today. If you see this edition of the Bhagavad-gītā, Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, translated by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, you will find at the beginning, at the end of the introduction, a list of the paramparā, beginning with Krishna. Krishna imparted the knowledge to Brahma, Brahma imparted it to Narada, Narada imparted it to Vyasa, and Vyasa also recorded the teachings of Krishna to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, and Vyasa imparted the knowledge to Madhvacharya. And in this way, through disciplic succession, through Sri Chaitanya, through the Six Gosvamis, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and Srila Prabhupada. And he called this edition Bhagavad-gītā As It Is because he is presenting the knowledge as it is, just as Krishna spoke it to Arjuna, and as Arjuna understood it from Krishna.

Krishna is the origin of everything, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo, He is the origin of perfect knowledge, and Arjuna is the ideal student for receiving the knowledge. So, we have to take the Bhagavad-gītā as Krishna spoke it, and as Arjuna understood it. Just like if you have to take some medicine, you take it according to the doctor’s prescription or the directions on the package, you don’t make up your own way of taking the medicine. So, in the same way, we take the medicine of the Bhagavad-gītā according to the directions given by Sri Krishna Himself, according to the directions given in the book itself. And in the book, Krishna says evaṁ paramparā-prāptam, one should receive the message through paramparā, following in the footsteps of Arjuna.

Now, what was Arjuna’s qualification to receive the knowledge of Bhagavad-gītā? He was not a sannyasi, he was a householder, he was not a brahman, he was a kshatriya, a warrior. Why of all people who were available did Krishna choose Arjuna to receive this knowledge? Krishna gives the answer, bhakto ’si me sakhā ceti, “Because you are My devotee, I am imparting this knowledge to you.” In other words, Bhagavad-gītā can be understood only by devotees. Elsewhere, He said, “Because you are not envious of Me.” Devotees are not envious by definition. If one is envious of Krishna, one cannot understand the Bhagavad-gītā, one cannot appreciate the knowledge, and one will not follow it. All of us are in the material world because of envy. We envy Krishna’s position; we want to be the Lord, we want to be the master, we want to be the enjoyer, we want to be the controller, we want to be the proprietor. So, we are envious of Krishna. And non-devotees, who are envious of Krishna unfortunately, have taken the Bhagavad-gītā and used it to promote their own philosophies, minus Krishna. I have actually heard people say they like the philosophy of the Bhagavad-gītā, but they want it to be universal, so they just take the philosophy, minus Krishna. But the whole purport of the Bhagavad-gītā is to surrender to Krishna and become His devotee. So, what is the meaning of the Bhagavad-gītā without Krishna? And they write commentaries that are meant to lead people away from Krishna. I have seen some of them, Srila Prabhupada spoke of them and on occasion, I have come across some of those editions and I have glanced at them, and I have seen that their commentaries say, “It is not to Krishna to whom we must surrender.” Krishna says, “Surrender to Me, think of Me, become My devotee,” and they say it is not to Krishna to whom we must surrender but to the unknown, unknowable, nameless, formless that is speaking through Krishna.

Srila Prabhupada said it is as if he asks for a glass of water. What is your name? It is as if I were to ask Jagadish, “Bring me a glass of water.” And what is your name? And it would be as if Chemo would say, “No, no. Don’t give the glass of water to Swamiji, throw it on the wall behind him.” That is what they are doing. Krishna says, “Surrender to Me.” They say, “No, no, it is not Krishna that you must surrender to, but to this nameless, formless something behind Krishna.” So, these persons are envious, like Kamsa. Kamsa’s business was how to kill Krishna. So, these impersonalists, through their words, through their mal-interpretations, they want to kill Krishna, no Krishna. Bhagavad-gītā yes, Krishna no.

So, we cannot understand the Bhagavad-gītā from these people, we can only understand the Bhagavad-gītā from devotees, because they alone can actually understand the Bhagavad-gītā. And the final conclusion of the Bhagavad-gītā is to surrender to Krishna and become His devotee, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru, it is the final conclusion. man-manā, always think of Krishna, mad-bhakto, and if you always think of Krishna, naturally you will become a devotee of Krishna. mad-yājī, and what will you do? mad-yājī, you will worship Krishna, worship the form of Krishna, the deity worship, Krishna’s words in the Bhagavad-gītā, worship the holy name of Krishna, māṁ namaskuru, and you will offer respect or obeisances. So, that is what you will do.

Now, how do we fulfill this most basic and important instruction, man-manā, to think of Krishna? How do we do this? Sri Krishna gives the answer in the Bhagavad-gītā, satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ, always engage in kirtan, always engage in chanting the holy name of Krishna and in glorifying Krishna. That is how we can always think of Him. And it is a very easy process, very enjoyable and very powerful. Our dear devotee, Nityananda Chandra Prabhu briefly mentioned the hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana we had at the Halloween Block Party last night, and that was a demonstration of satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ, always engaging in kirtan, glorification of Krishna.

And of course, the people on the street were human beings just like all of us in different costumes, but if you took them at face value, we had animals. In fact, we had a little calf in our party. We had animals, we had Vikings from the North, we had Romans in their togas, we had, I think, Dr. Seuss characters, and we had some skeletons, astronauts, I think we had George Washington, Paul Revere, Napoleon Bonaparte, Julius Caesar, we had some Catholic, Roman Catholic Archbishops. But although they were just costumes, but I really took it as a metaphor demonstration of how the power of the holy name and Lord Chaitanya’s mercy work. That the souls that have been in bodies thousands of years ago; Greeks, Romans, French, American revolutionaries, those souls are somewhere in God’s creation, and those souls are meant to join in the saṅkīrtana movement and chant and dance in ecstasy. So, it was as if we were seeing it before our very eyes, all these different creatures. Yes, there were some aliens from outer space, they also came to join the saṅkīrtana movement with Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, it is universal, it is for every soul in God’s creation; past, present, and future.

And that is the instruction of the Bhagavad-gītā, satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ, it is very simple and very nice. And this instruction, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru, it comes at the end of the Bhagavad-gītā. It is the conclusion of all the teachings of the Gītā. But then, if we go further, just a few verses further, there is another instruction, which is that one who presents the teachings of the Bhagavad-gītā to others, he is the most dear servant of Krishna. The whole instruction is to become Krishna’s devotee, Krishna’s servant. But once you do that, the way to become the dearmost servant of Krishna is to preach this message or present this philosophy. And that is done easily. All of you can do it. The Bhāgavatam says prāṇair arthair dhiyā vācā, that if you can give your life, your prāṇa, that is the best. Some of us have done that, that is the best. If you can’t give your life due to circumstances, then artha, you can give some of your wealth. You can give contributions to sponsor Bhagavad-gītās, to distribute Bhagavad-gītās to new people who come here to libraries, to motels, prāṇa, artha, dhiyā. Dhiyā means intelligence, you can use your intelligence how to spread the Krishna consciousness movement, you can tell devotees, “Oh, I have a friend, he owns a motel, he might put Bhagavad-gītās in his motel room,” or, “I have a friend who has a bookstore, he might keep the Bhagavad-gītās in his store.” I am just giving a few ideas, there is unlimited.

And someone might think, I don’t even have any intelligence to use. Then vācā, your words, you can use your words, you can tell people, “Oh, there is a nice temple in East Dallas, you should come,” or, “There is a nice restaurant, you should come,” or, “There is a nice book here, the Bhagavad-gītā or The Perfection of Yoga or The Higher Taste, so many nice books, we have introductory books, there is a nice book, you should read this book.” You can give your words. So, we all speak words, so we can use our words in the service of Krishna, to spread the message of Krishna, kirtan. And we have some intelligence, we can use that in Krishna’s service. And some wealth, a little wealth, big wealth, you can use that in Krishna’s service. And ultimately, by giving little, little, little, little, our pious credits will increase, and one day, we will come to the stage where we can actually take to the practice of Krishna consciousness and give our life fully. So, everything is there in the Bhagavad-gītā, and the Hare Krishna movement, the Krishna consciousness movement that Srila Prabhupada began in New York city and spread all over the world, is based on the teachings of the Bhagavad-gītā. There is nothing you see here that we do that is outside of the teachings of the Bhagavad-gītā, and there is nothing we do here that you can’t do at home. We might do it on a little bigger scale, but you can do the same things at home.

You can get together with your family members, with your friends, you can chant Hare Krishna, you can read from the Bhagavad-gītā or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and discuss it. You can come to the stage where you have deities at home, arcā-mūrti, and worship the deity at home, offer all your food to the deity. There is nothing we do in the temple that you can’t do at home. Of course, if you are fortunate to live near enough to the temple, you can come to the temple every day and do everything here at the temple. But if you are unable to come every day, then you can do the same things at home every day and get a great benefit. You can invite devotees to your home for satsaṅga. It is very easy and very enjoyable, but you just have to do it. That is the only thing, you have to do it, no one can do it for you. We can tell you there is a nice stream of water, of nectar, we can take you to the stream and say, “Here it is, it is right here,” but we can’t make you drink it, that only you can do. But if you associate with devotees and naturally you will because they are doing it and man is a social animal, he tends to do what others do. So, if you associate with devotees, then you will do it, you will do the same things that they do, if you associate with them with an open heart. And you will be happy, and all the people you bring to Krishna consciousness will be happy, and Krishna will be happy.

In fact, it is because Krishna is happy when we please Krishna through our devotional service, we feel happy and others feel happy. And we all want to be happy, but sometimes you go about it in the wrong way. We want to be happy without Krishna, same demonic idea, Kaṁsa. We want to be happy independent of Krishna. Srila Prabhupada gives the example that there might be a nice rasagullā. So, if the hand thinks, Oh, what a nice rasagullā, I want to enjoy that, and it tries to squeeze the rasagullā and enjoy the rasagullā and absorb the rasagullā directly, it won’t be able to. The hand is part of the body; it is meant to serve the body. If the hand gives the rasagullā to the mouth and through the mouth it goes to the stomach, then the hand and all the limbs of the body will be nourished and satisfied. But if it tries to enjoy separately or independently, it won’t work, that is not the process.

So, the process for experiencing actual pleasure and satisfaction is to serve Krishna, to try to give Krishna pleasure and satisfaction. And when He is pleased and satisfied, we automatically feel pleased and satisfied. And that is what we all experienced last night on the hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, and it is what we all experience every day when we genuinely please Krishna, we feel His reciprocation, and we feel happy and satisfied. Satisfied doesn’t mean, “Okay, I am satisfied, I have done enough service today. Now I can eat and sleep.” Satisfied means that I am satisfied with nothing but Krishna’s service, I don’t want anything but Krishna’s service. But I am not satisfied, “Okay, now I have done enough, now I can relax, switch on the TV.” No, satisfied means I am satisfied only in Krishna’s service, I don’t want anything but Krishna’s service. But within Krishna’s service, I am always feeling I want to do more, I have to do more, I have to do better, I have to improve. And in that mood, we give pleasure to Krishna and Krishna is satisfied.

Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: So, are there any questions or comments? Yes, Phillip?

Phillip: [Unintelligible 00:32:46]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, he asked, do microorganisms have souls or only humans and other creatures?

No, every living organism is alive because of the presence of the soul. So, when you chant Hare Krishna, all these microorganisms also hear the holy name, and they also benefit. In fact, Srila Prabhupada had a disciple who had worms, and he was eating but he wasn’t getting any nutrition because the worms were taking all the value from the food. So, Srila Prabhupada commented, “You are so magnanimous you are not eating for yourself, but you are eating for others.” But there is truth in that, that all the microorganisms in our body, they also benefit from our being devotees and practicing Krishna consciousness, and all the creatures around us, they also benefit. [Unintelligible 00:34:12]?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:34:14] processes is fairly easy, or you make it sound easy, joyfully performed, sometimes you say [Unintelligible 00:34:23]. But we also know in the history of people trying to follow the process of Krishna consciousness with all the restrictions, that a lot of them haven’t done very well. Sometimes people who are extremely intelligent have become sannyasis and, become very advanced and then they have a whole empire going, and they have a lot to lose, and then they lose it all because they just can’t control their senses, can’t keep up with no intoxication, no gambling, no sex, no meat eating. One of these things and we call it a fall down. And we say it actually seems really, really difficult for a lot of people. And how is it? Is it difficult or easy? And how can it become more easy? Or what is the secret?

Giriraj Swami: [laughter] Well, in the Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna says, 

api cet su-durācāro

bhajate mām ananya-bhāk

sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ

samyag vyavasito hi saḥ,

that even if one engages in the most abominable activity, but if he is rightly situated in his determination, he should be considered saintly. And kṣipraṁ bhavati dharmātmā, and very soon, he will become righteous. Krishna within his heart will excuse him of his abomination and rectify him. So, there is really no cause for hopelessness, but the key is to remain rightly situated in one’s determination. What does that mean? That means to accept Krishna as the Supreme goal of life, and to remain engaged in His service, remain engaged in the effort to engage in His service. And that makes one rightly situated, that means in practical terms, we continue chanting, we continue reading the scripture, we continue worshipping the Lord, we persevere.

It is just like someone is walking. That was a good point you made, that even experienced devotees can have difficulties. But take a child, a child is learning to walk, he might fall down, but then he gets up, he tries again. Eventually, with practice and experience and age, he can walk. Now, it may be that someone knows very well how to walk but he takes on a greater challenge, to climb a mountain, climb Mount Everest in the Himalayas. So, he can walk, he is way beyond learning how to walk, but he is taken on a very big challenge, and at that height, he may stumble, he may lose his footing, he may fall. But again, it is the same thing, he has to pick himself up and continue. Or maybe he needs to find a level of exertion that is more within his means. But in the Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna says that there is no loss or diminution, and that even a little progress will save one from the greatest danger. So, you shouldn’t think, This person couldn’t do it and that person couldn’t do it. How am I going to be able to do that? Anyone can do it. And maybe sometimes it is better slow but sure, slow but sure. But the idea, because the same question was asked of Srila Prabhupada, even in relation to Lord Brahma, father of the universe. It is also described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, he temporary became attracted to his daughter. And then also, there is the pastime where he misunderstood Krishna and he stole away the cowherd boys and calves.

So, one could think, Lord Brahma, he is one of the mahājanas, he is the first created being in the universe, the first authority on Vedic knowledge, and even he, became bewildered. So, Srila Prabhupada replied that the idea is, when a devotee reads these things or hears of these things, the idea is that, “Oh, even such a great personality as Lord Brahma became bewildered. How careful I must be.” That should be on me, “Oh, this happened? Oh, how careful I have to be so the same thing doesn’t happen to me.” Not that, “Oh, Lord Brahma ran after his daughter, so I will imitate Lord Brahma, I will run after my daughter.” That is not the idea. That even such great souls became bewildered, so how careful I should be that I don’t make a mistake.

Hare Krishna.