Lord Balarama’s Appearance Day

Giriraj Swami: It is Lord Balarama’s appearance. We are at the Krishna-Balarama temple in Raman-Reti, where Krishna and Balarama used to frolic in the dust and enjoy pastimes. One thought that came to mind, which relates to both Lord Balarama and Srila Prabhupada, took place at the Arda-Khumba-mela in 1971. At the time, two of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples were having a discussion about Balarama. And one of them, Madhudvisa Prabhu, said that there is no difference between Krishna and Balarama, except that Krishna is black, and Balarama is white. And, if you have read Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, you will find a verse to the same effect, that Krishna and Balarama are the same except in color. However, Srila Prabhupada’s disciple Yamuna devi said that there is a difference. There is another difference, which is that Krishna is the only enjoyer of Radharani. So, the two of them were budding heads on this point. Madhudvisa Prabhu insisted that there is no difference, the only difference is that Krishna is black and Balarama is white. And, Yamuna devi insisted that there is another difference, which is that Krishna is the only enjoyer of Radharani.

So, in the midst of this [Unintelligible 00:03:10] argument, His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami approached Srila Prabhupada and told him about what the two devotees were saying. He said that one said that there is no difference between Krishna and Balarama, the only difference is the color. And, Madhudvisa Prabhu had said that. And, Srila Prabhupada replied, “He is right.” Then, Tamal Krishna Goswami said, “But Yamuna devi said there is a difference, which is that Krishna is the only enjoyer of Srimati Radharani. And, Srila Prabhupada said, “She is right.” And then, Tamal Krishna Goswami said, “But, they are both saying different things, they can’t both be right,” and Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, you are right.” And, then Tamal Krishna Goswami said, “Well then, who is right?” And, Srila Prabhupada said, “You decide.”

So, in this brief and somewhat humorous exchange, there are some deep lessons. Everything that Srila Prabhupada said and did is full of significant meaning. One lesson is that we are dealing with transcendental subjects, which are inconceivable. Inconceivable means they are beyond mundane logic and reason.

And in fact, one of Krishna’s qualities is that He reconciles apparent contradictions. And, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura wrote a piece in which he enumerates so many contradictions, that are reconciled by Krishna.

And, another lesson is that the same Absolute Truth can be seen by different devotees from different angles of vision. And although, what one sees appears to contradict what another sees, both may be true. There is a poem that I learned as a school boy. I had an uncle, who used to give me nice books as presents for my birthday, or other occasions. And, one book had a poem by John Saxon, a British author. And I liked it so much, I would recite it all the time. And, it relates to [Unintelligible 00:07:46]. I was probably eight years old, ten years old. I don’t know if I could remember the whole poem because it’s been more than fifty years. But I’ll see what I can do.

It was six men of Hindustan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind)
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind

And then, the poem goes on to discuss how each of the blind men approaches the elephant. And, one comes up to the elephant’s side, and says, “It’s a nice wall. Behold the mighty elephant is like a wall.”

And then, another one going around catches hold of the tail. He says, “Behold the mighty elephant is like a rope.”

And then, another one catches the trunk and he says, “Oh, the mighty elephant is like a hose.”

And, another one catches the leg, “Behold the mighty elephant is like the trunk of the tree.”

And, another one catches the elephant’s ear, he says,

“Oh, the mighty elephant is just like a fan.”

And then, the poem goes on to describe how these six men went on arguing throughout the night, each one convinced that his experience of the elephant, perception of the elephant was correct, and the others were wrong. And then, at the end of the poem, the author says, “Therefore, we should not speculate about the Absolute Truth or God, because no one knows what It is.”

So, the conclusion of course is half true. We should not speculate about the nature of the Absolute Truth, because we cannot understand the Absolute Truth by speculation. But, the idea that we should set aside the subject, and deal with more practical matters is not true. Because we can learn of the nature, of the Absolute Truth by some, by hearing from the Absolute Truth itself, from Krishna. That’s the Bhagavad-gītā. The Absolute Truth is telling us about Himself. Or, we can learn about the Absolute Truth from those who have seen the truth – tattva-darśī.

tad viddhi praṇipātena
paripraśnena sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ
jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ        [Gītā 4.34]

COMMENT

Those who have seen the truth or understood the truth, they can impart the truth to you. So, this is the process—descending process.

And here too, there are two examples of the monkey and the kitten. The example of the monkey is that the baby monkey will catch hold of the mother monkey, from behind, hold her around the neck, and the mother monkey is jumping from tree to tree. And, the baby monkey is holding on for dear life, in a very precarious position.

Once I went, yeah, once I went to the Johannesburg Zoo. For my health, devotees were taking me different places to walk. After seeing all the parts in Johannesburg, they thought to take me to the zoo. So all right. And, it’s a big zoo. And, I saw this example—the baby monkeys, they are really small, and really small, and they can barely hold on to the mother. And, I saw it way up behind the trees, the mother bouncing around from one tree to another, the baby’s really just holding on for dear life.

And, the other example is of the cat and the kitten. That the mother cat catches the baby kitten with her teeth and hold the kitten behind the neck, and carry the kitten wherever she wants to go.

So, Srila Prabhupada said that in other processes, the practitioners are more like the baby monkeys. They are trying to move by their own strengths, so they are always in a very precarious condition. And, at any moment, they can fall. Whereas devotees, they are more like the kitten who just surrenders to Krishna—mother cat—and just depends on the mother cat, who gets carried where the mother cat wants. But although we do, Srila Prabhupada, in particular, did emphasize that [although] we are like the kittens, who are picked up by Krishna, it does not mean that we do not make our own effort. We also make our own effort, and therefore, both examples have some application. We also make our efforts like the baby monkey, but ultimately we depend on the Lord.

In 1977, when Srila Prabhupada was passing his last days, just in the next room, the latest volume on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Ten, Volume Two arrived. And, the devotees offered it to Srila Prabhupada, and he was very pleased. But, he was not pleased that they published the book, but he was very filled with love for Krishna. I mean, we could see him looking at the pictures so much with love, Krishna and Mother Yasoda and all His associates.

So, before Srila Prabhupada left, there had been a controversy amongst his disciples. Srila Prabhupada had said that he wanted to be taken on a bullock cart to Govardhana Hill to go on a parikramā, but Srila Prabhupada’s health was so delicate that many of the disciples were convinced that he would be jostled on the way and subjected to a lot of pain. And that, he could even leave his body. Whereas other disciples contended that he has given us an instruction. It’s not our duty to consider the merits of the instruction. It is our duty simply to execute the instruction. So, there was quite a difference of opinion between the two groups. And given that it was Srila Prabhupada and our relationship, the feelings were running very strong.

Now, without discussing the pastime in detail, I will go ahead to, perhaps two or three days after Srila Prabhupada left this world. Because there were senior devotees on both sides, whom I respected and admired, I wasn’t really clear what was the actual position in the controversy. So, I was chanting in Srila Prabhupada’s room by his bed, and then I had the idea to go behind his bed where his books were kept, and I was chanting there looking at the pictures on the wall. And then, my attention went to the new volume of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that had arrived. So I picked it up, and opened the book, and it came right to the pastime of Mother Yasoda binding Lord Krishna with ropes.

And, within a few verses, I read one sloka that although Krishna is the Absolute Truth and cannot be bound by anyone, He allowed Himself to be bound by the ropes of Mother Yasoda. But, He was not exactly bound by the ropes, but He was bound by her love. And reading the verses in that context, I came to the conclusion that when Srila Prabhupada acceded to his disciples requests not to go on the parikramā, it was not exactly that they were forcing him. Certainly not, Srila Prabhupada was independent, he was not to be forced by some disciples. But, he allowed himself to be bound by their love.

And, in this discussion of binding Krishna, what are the conditions under which Krishna is bound? There are two factors. One is pariśrama—hard labor. Mother Yasoda labored very hard to catch Krishna, and then after catching Him, she labored very hard to bind Him. She began by putting a normal length of rope around His waist, but it was two inches too short or two fingers too short. So, she got a little more rope, and added it to the original rope, and it was still two inches too short. And, she was surprised because every morning she would dress Krishna, and put a belt around Him of a certain length, and she never had any trouble tying the belt around His waist. So then, she added more.

I’m sure you know the story. Added more, added more. They were cowherd community, they had lots of ropes for tying the animals. So she used up all of her ropes. Neighbors brought their ropes; she used up all of their ropes, that were all the ropes that were available in Vraja. She tied together, must have been miles and miles of ropes, but she still couldn’t bind Krishna. The rope was always two fingers too short.

So then, Krishna seeing her hard labor and intense desired perspiration, was moved. Not only did she labor hard physically, but she labored against all advice of her friends, and neighbors. Because eventually, they told her, you are not going to be able to bind Him. You should give up this effort. It’s obvious you are not going to be able to bind Him. So, you should just leave it. So, in spite of all of their good advice, to the contrary, she continued with her labors, and in the end, Krishna felt compassion for her and allowed her to bind Him.

So, our acharyas say that this is how to bind Krishna. It is a combination between our hard labor and Krishna’s mercy. And, in that way, the example, apparently a differing example, of the monkey and the cat are reconciled for the time. But ultimately, it is mercy. No matter what efforts we make, we cannot capture Krishna except by His mercy, and that is the descending process not the ascending process. And, we just give ourselves to Krishna, to the service of Krishna and depend on Him. Pure devotees don’t even worry about their destinations or their advancement, they just worry about serving Krishna, pleasing Krishna, and they depend upon Him. And, Krishna never disappoints them.

But, sometimes we do face difficulties and experience pain. When we were undergoing the struggle at Juhu to get the land, I was suffering a lot, really suffering. And, I was just waiting for Srila Prabhupada to come. When Srila Prabhupada would come, I would feel pacified. Just his presence will make me feel pacified. So, Srila Prabhupada came, but I didn’t feel pacified. I was as disturbed as before. So, I consulted Tamal Krishna Goswami, and he gave a very apt answer. And, I was surprised because I knew I was doing exactly what Srila Prabhupada wanted me to do because he told me what he wanted me to do and I was doing it.

So, I asked Tamal Krishna Goswami that I’m doing what Prabhupada wants me to do, and I know I’m doing what he wants me to do because he has told me so. But, still I’m suffering so much. How was that? So then, he gave the example that you are in a room. And, the room catches fire. The only way out of the room is to break the window. And, so the only way you can break the window is if you force your hand through the glass. When you force your hand through the glass, it’s going to get cut. And, you’ll feel pain. But still, the hand is doing what the body wants it to do, what it has to do for the sake of the body, for the sake of the whole. But, it still feels pain.

So, we are part and parcels of the Krishna, we serve this Supreme Whole, and in our case, we follow Srila Prabhupada, and he is the representative of Krishna. But even then, we can feel pain in the course of our service even if the service is exactly what it’s supposed to be.

And sometimes, the inner pleasure we experience when we are in difficult circumstances externally, is greater than the inner pleasure we experience when we are in a more comfortable situation. Two examples come to mind.

One, I was in some Indian town where I was traveling, earlier, before we got Juhu. And, I had to send Srila Prabhupada a telegram late at night. And, so I went to the telegraph office. It was really hot. It was packed with people, and it was full of flies. And I don’t know how it works now, but there were, there were tables at the back, where there were the forms to fill in. And there were, there was a mass of people grabbing the forms and fighting for space and pens to write their messages. So somehow, I get through that obstacle. And then, when I finally got there, there was only one kind of form that I saw. So, I took the form, filled in the message, and stood in the queue for a long time.

And finally, my turn came. I presented the telegram to the postal worker. He said, “Wrong form, go back again, get the right form.” I said, well, “The information is there, all the information’s there. It might be a different one, but the information is going to be the same.” “Wrong form, wrong form.” But, somehow in the midst, and then this went on until very late, but in the midst of it all, I felt bliss. Because the only reason I was there was for Srila Prabhupada’s service. There is no other reason on Earth that I would be in that telegraph office other than Prabhupada’s service. And, I felt ecstasy.

Another instance was in Calcutta. It was the rainy season, and I have gone very far north in Calcutta, maybe even beyond the city limits. And I had to get back. Usually, we would take a bus or a rickshaw, but it was pouring so heavily. And, at least at the time, there wasn’t much of a sewage system, so the water was just rising. And, I remember it was getting higher and higher and I was walking. First I tried to lift up my dhoti a little, it was ankle deep, and half-calf deep, then almost knee deep because I was wading in the water. And, there were no cars on the road, no buses. So, I just walked wading through the water.

Then, I finally found a rickshaw, and the rickshaw driver was sort of taking rest in the rickshaw. It’s not a motor rickshaw, just a. . . And so, I roused him, and said in the [Unintelligible 00:35:22]. He didn’t want to be bothered, he would rather sleep it off, just wants to sleep it off, wait till the rain stops, kind of like that. Once in a while, the taxi would come by, but try to flag it down, they’d all be [Unintelligible 00:35:45]. And then too, I was thinking the only reason I’m doing this is for Srila Prabhupada’s service, there is no other reason why I would be waiting on the streets of Calcutta.

So, this is the difference between internal happiness that comes from serving the spiritual master and external happiness that comes from a comfortable situation that’s pleasing to one’s senses. And, when one serves the spiritual master in a situation that’s pleasing to one’s senses at the same time, there could always be some question to what extent am I doing this to please the spiritual master, and to what extent am I doing it because it’s pleasing to my senses. But, when you are in a situation that’s not pleasing to your senses, but you are in the situation for the service of the spiritual master, and you really are serving the spiritual master’s desires, not that you are speculating what he wants, or what you should be doing. It’s not like you are doing some artificial austerities just for the sake of doing austerities. But, it’s incidental to the service, and then, you relish that happiness within which is far greater than material happiness.

As far as Govardhana parikramā, I’m thinking of the last Govardhana parikramā I did in 1999. His Holiness Śrīdhara Swami and I decided to do Govardhana parikramā together. And, at the time, I had a heart disease called Angina, and he had a liver disease [Unintelligible 00:38:50]. But still, we were happy, and we were ready to do the parikramā. So, we began at, I believe, we began at Haridev in the town of Govardhana at Manasi Ganga, and we kept going till the Radha-kunda. And, His Holiness Indradyumna Swami and His Holiness [Unintelligible 00:39:30] Swami were there, and of course [Unintelligible 00:39:34] was there. And anyway, so we kept going, and especially after Radha-kunda, it became very difficult. We started early, but then it was really hot. And, but we finished it, we finished.

Then a few days later, we went to Bombay. I went to Santa Barbara. And, he ended up in the Bhaktivedanta hospital in Tacoma. And, I ended up in a college hospital in Santa Barbara getting the cardiac bypass surgery. So later, when we discussed our parikramā, and Maharaja said, “I didn’t really want to do the whole parikramā. You seemed like you wanted to, so I forced myself for your sake.” And, I said, “I didn’t want to do this parikramā. I thought you wanted to finish it, so I forced myself for your sake.” But, it was a memorable parikramā which had far reaching effects.

I guess when you. . . It’s sort of a combination of friendship and reverence that we have with very close godbrothers. We are friends, so as a friend, [Unintelligible 00:41:50] but there is another dimension to our friendship in Krishna consciousness which is that we are all connected with Krishna. So, someone might be a friend, but if he says something it’s not just that a friend is speaking, but it could be that Krishna is speaking through him. It could be that Krishna is manifesting His will. So, Śrīdhara Swami was. . . [Yes, please come forward now.]

Eventually, Śrīdhara Swami got out of the hospital, and he decided that he was going to come to America in Santa Barbara. So, again without going into all the details, he came, and a little while later, there were some, I guess factors that contributed. But a little while later, he was in coma in a hospital and he was coming out of the coma gradually. It had to do with the brain becoming filled with toxins, because the liver wasn’t functioning, there is a technical term for it. And, as he was coming out of his comatose condition, he wasn’t really conscious, wasn’t fully conscious of where he was, who was present, what he was saying.

But his, in inner good nature came up. It’s sort of like the time of death, at the time of death, you can’t necessarily control your mind or your senses. It’s really, really depends on what’s deepest in your heart. And, in Śrīdhara Swami’s case, his Krishna consciousness and his good humor, and his care for others came up. And then later, as he became more aware of his situation, he felt very embarrassed by the way he was acting earlier. But, from our point of view, the way he was acting earlier was wonderful. He just wasn’t controlling himself the way we do it in social situations.

Anyway, then he got out of the hospital back to our place, and then we got a bill from the hospital – thirty thousand dollars. So Maharaja’s brother Mo had come down from Vancouver to be with him, so I didn’t really want to discuss it with Maharaja. But I was discussing with Mo, we got this bill, it’s thirty thousand—thirty-five thousand dollars. Śrīdhara Swami overheard us, and he said, “What is it?” So, we told him. He said, tell them, “They can have my consciousness back. I want my money. They can keep my mind, I’m keeping the money.” But, anyway we sorted it out, we made some applications, we explained he was a mendicant [Unintelligible 00:47:04]. Yeah, so many wonderful devotees.

Maybe it’s natural, but in a way it’s a shame that we often appreciate them fully, only after they are gone. And then, we think, Oh, I wish I had appreciated more before. I wish I had taken more of his association before. But even then, there is hope because we can always associate by vāṇī. By following the instructions, by hearing the person’s thoughts. [Unintelligible 00:48:06], by following their instructions, trying to fulfill their desires. But, it should be a lesson that we should be conscious that we are dealing with devotees who are exalted souls. And, we should also know that they won’t [Unintelligible 00:48:45].

There was one lady I had told a little about her on Saturday. But, this was when Prabhupada had first began the movement in the United States in 1970s. We had just gotten the temple in Los Angeles, and this young Gujarati girl who was just seventeen, eighteen, nineteen. She had recently gotten married in India, and her husband came to America. And, there weren’t so many Indians in America then. And somehow, she found the ISKCON temple. And Srila Prabhupada was spending a lot of time there then. And, she became very close to him like a father and daughter, grandfather—granddaughter. And she was, she would cook for him, and he would come into the kitchen, and check on how she was doing, and they would have very free talks.

So, on one occasion, she said “Prabhupada, I want to, I’ve come to America, I wanted to see a department store.” In those days there were no department stores. You know what a department store is? It’s a big store that has a lot of departments. It’s not a hardware store or a clothing store. It has a hardware department, clothing department, bedding department, kitchen.

So, she said, “Prabhupada, I want to see a department store.” Prabhupada said, “No.” She said, “No, I just want to go once, I just want to see what it is.” Prabhupada said, “No, don’t go.” She said “Why not?” He said, “Because when you go to the department store, you’ll see so many things that you want. Before you go to the store, you don’t even know they exist, and you have no desire for them. But when you go to the store, you’ll see so many things that you want. And, you will develop an attachment for those things. As long as you have any material attachment, you have to take birth again.” But yeah, she is a young girl, so she is like, “I’m leaving.” And then, Srila Prabhupada said, they were of very good nature like grandfather, granddaughter, but then Srila Prabhupada said, “You are arguing with me now, but one day I won’t be here. And then, you’ll think that how your argument would be. And, you’ll feel sorry.”

Now, that was a very striking statement that Srila Prabhupada made. But anyway, the idea is that we may take each other for granted. And, whatever we argued for, not that there is anything wrong with that necessarily, but we think, how am I going to look at this quarrel after the person is gone. One day, this person will leave. I’m going to feel that I had this quarrel with this devotee. So, I guess we have to tentatively end with one more point.

You might have heard of the kirtan leader Madhava from Mauritius. This is part of Aindra Prabhu’s 24-hour kirtan. So, Madhava can lead for hours. He sings the same melody, very slow, eyes closed, he sings very soulfully. So once, His Holiness Bhakti Bringa Govinda Swami asked him, “How is that you close your eyes and sing the same tune for hours. What are you thinking when your eyes are closed?” He said, “I’m thinking that each mantra that I am singing could be my last.” And can you imagine, that if you are on the verge of death, and you get to chant one last mantra, what you put into that mantra? You put everything into it.

So, to be conscious of death, Srila Prabhupada writes in Kṛṣṇa book to be always be conscious of death. To be conscious of death is very good for spiritual progress because we don’t put false hopes in the body and perishable material things. But, we are clear on who we really are, and what’s really left when the body goes. And, what’s left is, it’s basically [Unintelligible 00:57:05], and the holy name and the Vaishnavas.

Tamal Krishna Goswami’s brother Karl once told me that in his family, they have a policy, that whenever anyone in the family leaves the house, they say to the others, “I love you.” And, the others say, “I love you.” Because when they leave the house, you can never know for sure whether they’ll come back. And, if they don’t come back, you want the last memory of them to be very sweet. That’s where your last memory is “I love you,” “I love you,” not the quarrels, while going out of the house, slam the door. So anyway, I love you all.

Devotes: Haribol! We love you, too.

Giriraj Swami: Actually, I feel that Sridham and Kishori saved my life so that’s why I feel I belong to them, and whatever they want to do with my body, they can do. Because that last time when I was in India, maybe not the last time I was in India in 1999, when I was in India, I was suffering this chest pain, Angina, but I, because of the treatment I was following in America, and the way of life I was following in America, it practically disappeared. I actually forgot I had it, but then when I came back to India, and it came back. But I was, I didn’t want to recognize it and its full significance. I would think, oh well. Anyway, it kicked. It wasn’t there in America, now it has come, and when I go back, it will go away.

So, Sridham and Kishori, they came to visit me in my office, and I was really, I was really suffering, but I was, because in that mood of just forcing myself to stay and fulfill the expectations that other devotees had of me. And, they both said that, you are dealing with the heart, and the heart is very critical. Or I think, Kishori said that, that same day a man had found the hospital, Bhaktivedanta hospital, gotten cured and gone. And, he was having some chest pain, and he wasn’t sure whether he should come into the hospital or not. But he was thinking, maybe he doesn’t really have to. And, she is saying when you are dealing with the heart, it’s a very critical that he must come immediately. So based on her instructions, he got in the taxi and headed for the hospital. And, on the way, he got a heart attack. But, because he was on his way to the hospital, they were able to deal with him and save his life.

So, they both said, “You just can’t keep forcing yourself like this. You just, you have to do, what you have to do for your health.” And then I cut back a little which I, I don’t even know what would happen if I didn’t. And, I went to see Śrīdhara Swami. I was in my office and he lived in the room one or two rooms down the hallway. We wanted to, we are sticking it out together, and [he said], “Don’t worry, you go, write your books, that pen is mightier than the sword.” So, yes I, I really owe my life to them. And, whenever they ask me anything, then I do it because they saved my life. Hare Krishna. Yes?

Devotee: Thank you very much Maharaja for that wonderful talk. Maharaja, [Unintelligible 01:03:02]

Giriraj Swami: He said that he read that one of Srila Prabhupada’s disciple was praying to a picture of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, and Srila Prabhupada chastised him, “Why are you praying to my Guru Maharaja directly, you should approach my Guru Maharaja through me.”

Srila Prabhupada knew the hearts of his disciples, he knew the mentalities of his disciples. And, he said what was it, was a true principle. But, at the same time with that particular disciple needed to hear at that particular time.

But, in the case of approaching Srila Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of ISKCON, it’s a different situation because he is the founder-acharya, and everyone in ISKCON does have a direct relationship with him. So, you don’t jump over your spiritual master, but at the same time, you could have a direct relationship, that you can have a direct approach to Srila Prabhupada. So, that would not apply. I mean, I could not imagine any godbrother of mine telling his disciple that you can’t pray to Srila Prabhupada directly, it’s a different situation.

Devotee: We may have to leave, I am very sorry.

Giriraj Swami: You may have to leave. Don’t speak leave l-e-a-v-e, speak live. It was like Srila Prabhupada said to Bob Cohen. But, Bob Cohen was [Unintelligible 01:06:20] but in your case, you are living eternally, and we will live with you.

Devotee: Thank you so much Maharaja, on behalf of all the devotees. We are extremely grateful for this very, very special association.

Giriraj Swami: I’m glad. Thank you, you give me a chance to open my heart.

Devotee: In fact, the time we started the yatra, I was looking for when it will end, because I knew at the end, it is your association.

Devotee: We all were very excited when we found out that we are going to meet Giriraj Maharaja in Vrindavan on Balarama-jayanti. We all very looking forward to your wonderful association.

Giriraj Swami: You are very kind. All right.

Devotee: Maharaja, we pray that you have many many years with us and in these wonderful years, you come again to Bombay, hopefully every year.

Giriraj Swami: I have some deep thoughts on that subject. Yeah, I am thinking that we should meet.

Devotee: The devotees thought that the last lecture you gave in Radha-Gopinatha temple, it was the most mesmerizing lecture we have ever heard. I repeated the lecture in the train to many devotees who were not there. And, the more I speak about it, the more it was so relishable.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, I also felt, I could have just been speaking, and they could have kept listening. So I think that’s what I should be doing. All right, well, I’ll chant and pray and wish you all the best on your [Unintelligible 01:08:50]. Hare Krishna.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! His Holiness Radhanath Swami ki jaya!

Devotees: His Holiness Giriraj Swami ki jaya!