Fund-raising Talk

Giriraj Swami: I thought I would read a verse from the Bhagavad-gītā that highlights the importance of everything we do. It is a succession of verses from Chapter Twelve: “Devotional Service.” In Text Eight Lord Krishna says: 

TEXT 8

Just fix your mind upon Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and engage all your intelligence in Me. Thus you will live in Me always, without a doubt.” 

COMMENT

This verse describes Krishna consciousness, to always think of Krishna and live with Krishna.

TEXT 9

My dear Arjuna, O winner of wealth, if you cannot fix your mind upon Me without deviation, then follow the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga. In this way develop a desire to attain Me.

COMMENT

This verse describes more of us. We are not spontaneously Krishna conscious. We don’t naturally remember Krishna always. Therefore we are advised to undertake the regulative practice of devotional service so that we can train our minds to think of Krishna. Therefore we have the morning program, we have our regular quota of rounds, we have the whole process of bhakti-yoga. The basic principle of vaidhī-sādhana-bhakti is to always remember Krishna and never forget Him. So we have to practice. Practice makes perfect.

But then, in the next verse, Lord Krishna says:

TEXT 10

If you cannot practice the regulations of bhakti-yoga, then just try to work for Me, because by working for Me you will come to the perfect stage.

COMMENT

This also applies to many of us. As Shyamasundara Prabhu said, we are working. So when we are not engaged in chanting and hearing about Krishna, remembering Krishna, how do we purify our other activities and make them favorable for our development of Krishna consciousness? So here Lord Krishna says we should work for Him. I will read the purport.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

One who is not able even to practice the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga, under the guidance of a spiritual master, can still be drawn to this perfectional stage by working for the Supreme Lord. How to do this work has already been explained in the fifty-fifth verse of the Eleventh Chapter. One should be sympathetic to the propagation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

COMMENT

So here we are keeping in mind the people whose names we will see in the list and others to engage them. This is really for their benefit. 

I remember when I first met Srila Prabhupada and the devotees, after some time we began to go out on the streets and chant and take collections from the people on the street and give them Back to Godhead magazines. I hadn’t really read much but I thought about the people, “They have money. They are spending money. If they don’t give the money to us, to Krishna, they are going to use it on something else, most likely some form of sense gratification—personal or extended. So I thought if they give it to Krishna, they will benefit so much, and if they spend it on sense gratification, they will probably just increase their bondage to material existence. And then I thought if they are not reading Back to Godhead, they are probably going to be reading Time or Newsweek or something of much less value. So better they get Back to Godhead.

When I would approach people—this continued even later when I came to India and was approaching important people in India—I would pray to the Lord within their heart to inspire them to do some service. They are suffering in material existence, they are in illusion, they are in ignorance, but here is a chance, the most valuable chance of their lifetime, “Please Krishna within their heart, inspire them to engage in service and take a magazine or become a life member or give a contribution.” It is really a very important service that we have to engage people and a most valuable service. 

When I was first starting to visit the Boston temple, within the first days there was also another young man who was visiting. One evening after the talk and the kirtan he came up to me because we were both just new coming and he pulled his wallet out of his pocket and he took out all the money and he said, “This is just a heavy burden. Better to give it to Krishna.” He just gave all his money, placed it on the altar of the Deities.

I was impressed. It was probably the third day I visited the temple. I was very impressed. 

I didn’t do that right away, but eventually, within a week or two, I wrote Srila Prabhupada a letter saying that I wanted to become his disciple and telling him that I had some money in the bank and some stocks and that I wanted to offer them to him. Srila Prabhupada wrote back—it is almost like what that young man said—he said that, “Everything belongs to Krishna and the sooner we return it to Him, the better it will be for us.” [laughter] And he said that, “The spiritual master is the representative of Krishna so we give it to Krishna through the spiritual master and the spiritual master does not accept anything for himself, but he engages it all in the service of Krishna.”

So we are really doing a service to the people we meet when we encourage them to serve Krishna more and give more of their stolen property back to Krishna. Of course we don’t necessarily tell them that because they might feel offended. 

There was one man in Bombay. . . I had been pretty successful in meeting people and engaging them, but there was one family, very wealthy family that had somehow been able to avoid me, but I didn’t give up. A lot of the offices I could penetrate, get passed the secretary or walk through the doors and find my way to the office, but this particular office—it was a big shipping company—was impenetrable. There were just too many doors, too many secretaries. I just couldn’t get through. Eventually I traced his residential address [laughter]. 

One evening when I knew he would be home from work, but not too late, I just knocked on his door and someone opened it and seeing me, an American dressed as a devotee, they hesitated and I walked in and sat down. And then they informed the master that I had come. He came and he said, “What can I do for you?” I didn’t like his mood. I thought he was too proud, too condescending. So I said, “Actually, I’ve come to do something for you.” He said, “Oh, you have come to do something for me? And what are you going to do for me?” I said, “I am going to engage you in Krishna’s service.” It wasn’t going too well at that stage [laughter]. Finally I said, “We are having a pandal program and we are taking advertisements.” “Oh, okay, okay, I will give an ad.”

Later, it was like that, every evening I would come back and I would report to Srila Prabhupada about the day’s activities. So I told him about my meeting with Mr. Kotek. Srila Prabhupada said, “When you preach you have to be very humble.” He said, “If you tell people that, ‘Everything belongs to Krishna and whatever you have is stolen from Krishna and therefore you should return it as soon as possible,’” which is exactly what Prabhupada wrote to me, “‘they will get upset, ‘What do you mean it belongs to Krishna? I worked hard for it. It is mine.’” So he said, “We approach them in humbleness that, ‘Oh, you are such a big man. We are building a temple. Please help us,’ and the man will think, ‘Oh, a beggar has come,’ and say, ‘Okay, take something.’ Then they are very happy.”

I saw Prabhupada do that personally. When we were in Indore it just so happened that there was only one devotee who had experience in life members and Srila Prabhupada had sent him out into the town. Meanwhile Srila Prabhupada and the rest of us went to an important man’s house for lunch—part of the royal family. Before lunch Srila Prabhupada showed him his books and asked him to become a life member. The man said, “Oh Swamiji, we already have these books in our own language.” Srila Prabhupada became very serious and grave and said, “I have not come here to sell you some books. I have come as a beggar at your doorstep.” And the man was so shocked. He said, “Yes, yes, Swamiji, I will be happy to become your life member. Yes.”

So we should collaborate our message according to the audience, but the fact is that everything does belong to Krishna and the fact is the sooner they return it to Him or as much of it as possible, the better it will be for them. Otherwise it really is a burden. 

I will continue reading the purport. This is addressing the people that we will be approaching.

PURPORT (continued)

There are many devotees who are engaged in the propagation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and they require help. So, even if one cannot directly practice the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga, he can try to help such work. Every endeavor requires land, capital, organization and labor. Just as in business one requires a place to stay, some capital to use, some labor and some organization to expand, so the same is required in the service of Kṛṣṇa. The only difference is that in materialism one works for sense gratification. The same work, however, can be performed for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa, and that is spiritual activity. If one has sufficient money, he can help in building an office or temple for propagating Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Or he can help with publications. There are various fields of activity, and one should be interested in such activities. If one cannot sacrifice the results of his activities,. . . 

COMMENT

In principle we should do all of it—that is really karma-yoga—but Srila Prabhupada says if we can’t give all of it:

PURPORT (concluded)

. . . the same person can still sacrifice some percentage to propagate Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This voluntary service to the cause of Kṛṣṇa consciousness will help one to rise to a higher state of love for God, whereupon one becomes perfect.

COMMENT

This is part of the process of perfection. I think now of another meeting I had with a gentleman that didn’t go that well—I am sharing all of my learning experiences with you—he was one of the most prominent people in India, highly respected for his piety and charity. So I met him and I was encouraging him to engage in devotional service. His name was Aravind Mafatlal and he would feed thousands of people. In those days there was drought in India—there were a lot of hungry people, a lot of starving people—and he would feed hundreds or thousands of people.

I was trying to engage him in devotional service and he was saying that his feeding people was bhakti. And I said, “No, it is not bhakti. It’s karma-kāṇḍa.” And he said, “No, it’s bhakti.” I said, “No, it’s karma-kāṇḍa.” [laughter] So we had a little difference of opinion there. 

The same thing happened, I came back in the evening and met Srila Prabhupada, and he asked, “How did it go?” and I told him about the discussion. So I said, “Well, what is it?” I knew but I asked Srila Prabhupada, “Is it bhakti or is it karma-kāṇḍa?” and Prabhupada answered very skillfully and intelligently. He said, “It is charity and charity is recommended for householders.” What I got from Srila Prabhupada’s instruction was that he didn’t want to get into some debate, is it bhakti or karma-kāṇḍa as if bhakti is higher than you are doing karma-kāṇḍa, which is lower, but he wanted me to see the positive that it is charity and charity is recommended for householders. So he is doing something that is recommended for householders. But it is also true that there are different types of charity and the direct service of the Lord and the devotees is the best no doubt. It is mentioned later in the Bhagavad-gītā, charity in the mode of goodness, charity in the mode of passion, and charity in the mode of ignorance.

Even people who are not on the level of working for Krishna, if they are just charitable and they don’t really. . . the people on this list probably do appreciate the special value of Krishna consciousness, but they may also be charitable in general. So, even those people who are charitable in general, if they can be induced to serve Krishna and the devotees then they make advancement. That is the benefit of upāsana-kāṇḍa that even though demigod worship is not approved by Krishna, but still, people on the platform of upāsana-kāṇḍa who worship demigods and they don’t distinguish, the idea is that by worshiping the different gods, eventually they will worship Vishnu or Krishna. They go to so many temples and offer obeisances, they will also offer obeisances to Krishna and that will add to their spiritual credits, add to their spiritual bank account. Then gradually by doing more and more service they will come to the stage where they can actually distinguish between the Supreme Lord and the demigods.

Srila Prabhupada gave the example that all these activities, someone comes to the temple, they don’t really have clear knowledge, but they come to the temple and offer respects to the Deities, it is like one cent in their spiritual bank account; they take caraṇāmṛta, another cent; and they smell the flower, another cent; they touch the lamp, another cent; they put some money in the box, another credit; they hear the holy name; they hear the discourse; they take prasāda. It is like one cent, one cent, one cent, one cent, and Prabhupada said eventually all those one cents add up and one day you have a hundred dollars and you can actually do something with it. So, in the same way, there are pious activity in relation to Krishna, it accumulates, and when it comes to a certain stage, then they understand, “Oh yes, Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Oh yes, devotional service is the way to approach Krishna.” They start to understand and then they eventually come to that stage of engaging in bhakti-yoga.

Whatever level they are on, we help them. We help them to go forward according to their capacity and we don’t have to argue unnecessarily, but we want to engage them, and by engaging in service, they will make progress, they will make advancement. You never know—I don’t think it will be true here—but you just never know. 

There was one very big man in Bombay, Ghansyam dasa Binani, he was related by marriage to the Birla family, so I met him in his office. Whatever I said he said the opposite. At the end of it I just smiled and said, “Well, it was nice meeting you. I hope we meet again some time.” At the very end I was asking him to become a life member. He said, “I have to ask my wife.” So that gave me a little hope. And then I came back again. So when I came back he became a life member and he said, “Actually I was just testing you by being contrary and I was very impressed with you because whatever I said, you just kept smiling and you kept your cheerful disposition, and I am very impressed with you, and I will be happy to become your life member.” And then he discussed other projects, much bigger projects.

That experience was the result of a thought I had. At a certain stage I just accepted that I was meant to be in Bombay. Most of the devotees who came from America to India thought of being in Mayapur or Vrindavan—holy places—they didn’t think of being in Bombay. And I was also thinking, “Well, maybe Prabhupada will send me to Mayapur or send me to Vrindavan or somewhere else.” But at a certain stage I just understood, “Actually Prabhupada wants me in Bombay. He is not going to send me anywhere else. He wants me in Bombay.” And then I thought that, “All these people in Bombay, they are not going anywhere, and I am not going anywhere, so we might as well be friends.” [laughter] 

That little thought changed my attitude towards the people I was meeting because it wasn’t so much, “Okay, I am meeting him. I don’t know if I am going to meet him again. I don’t know if any other devotee will meet him. We have to see what we can do right here and now,” but then it was more like, “They are not going anywhere and I am not going anywhere. We are here together. So even if he doesn’t give anything now, it doesn’t matter. We will meet again. We are here together. We will meet again.” 

So I saw everyone as almost like a family member that we are all family members and, “That is okay, if you don’t want to give now, that is okay. We will meet again.” I wouldn’t say that but I would think, “We will meet again. So I should keep good relations with everyone because I will meet them again, I may meet them again, and then they will remember that they had a good experience with me and they won’t feel threatened and they won’t feel fearful.” In the case of all of you, except maybe for a few of you with H1 visas or parents in India, you are probably here to stay, and so are the other people that you will be meeting. Whatever it is, we want the meeting to be happy and we want them to feel, “These are nice people. This is a nice person,” whether they agree to what you ask or not.

Thank you very much for listening patiently and even more for coming to this important meeting and hearing what Shyamasundara Prabhu has to say and thinking how you can contribute and support this great course. Hare Krishna. [applause]