SB 9.10.32 – Diwali

Giriraj Swami: Happy Diwali, good New Year. This festival, Diwali or Dipavali, celebrates the return of Lord Ramachandra to Ayodhya after he was away in exile, during which, as you know, Sita devi was kidnapped by the demon Rāvaṇa, and Lord Ramachandra eventually killed Rāvaṇa. That occasion is celebrated as Rama-vijaya-dasami or Dussehra. And then Lord Ramachandra returned to His capital of Ayodhya, and all the citizens expressed their joy, and received Him and His entourage by placing lamps in their windows, on their rooftops, on their balconies. And so, this is Dipavali. So, the most authorized version of the Rāmāyaṇa is Vālmīki, which is in Sanskrit, and a summary of the Rāmāyaṇa comes in the Ninth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, as part of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

So, I shall read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Nine, Chapter Ten, “The Pastimes of Lord Rāmacandra.” Please repeat after me.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

TEXT 32

After giving Vibhīṣaṇa the power to rule the Rākṣasa population of Laṅkā for the duration of one kalpa, Lord Rāmacandra, the Supreme Personality of Godhead [Bhagavān], placed Sītādevī on an airplane decorated with flowers and then got on the plane Himself. The period for His living in the forest having ended, the Lord returned to Ayodhyā, accompanied by Hanumān, Sugrīva and His brother Lakṣmaṇa.

TEXT 33

When Lord Rāmacandra returned to His capital, Ayodhyā, He was greeted on the road by the princely order, who showered His body with beautiful, fragrant flowers, while great personalities like Lord Brahmā and other demigods glorified the activities of the Lord in great jubilation.

TEXT 34

Upon reaching Ayodhyā, Lord Rāmacandra heard that in His absence His brother Bharata was eating barley cooked in the urine of a cow, covering His body with the bark of trees, wearing matted locks of hair, and lying on a mattress of kuśa. The most merciful Lord very much lamented this.

TEXTS 35–38

When Lord Bharata understood that Lord Rāmacandra was returning to the capital, Ayodhyā, He immediately took upon His own head Lord Rāmacandra’s wooden shoes and came out from His camp at Nandigrāma. Lord Bharata was accompanied by ministers, priests and other respectable citizens, by professional musicians vibrating pleasing musical sounds, and by learned brāhmaṇas loudly chanting Vedic hymns. Following in the procession were chariots drawn by beautiful horses with harnesses of golden rope. These chariots were decorated by flags with golden embroidery and by other flags of various sizes and patterns. There were soldiers bedecked with golden armor, servants bearing betel nut, and many well-known and beautiful prostitutes. Many servants followed on foot, bearing an umbrella, whisks, different grades of precious jewels, and other paraphernalia befitting a royal reception. Accompanied in this way, Lord Bharata, His heart softened in ecstasy and His eyes full of tears, approached Lord Rāmacandra and fell at His lotus feet with great ecstatic love.

TEXTS 39–40

After offering the wooden shoes before Lord Rāmacandra, Lord Bharata stood with folded hands, His eyes full of tears, and Lord Rāmacandra bathed Bharata with tears while embracing Him with both arms for a long time. Accompanied by mother Sītā and Lakṣmaṇa, Lord Rāmacandra then offered His respectful obeisances unto the learned brāhmaṇas and the elderly persons in the family, and all the citizens of Ayodhyā offered their respectful obeisances unto the Lord.

COMMENT

So, the Rāmāyaṇa is full of ideal examples, which are meant for us to follow. We see the behavior of the ideal father Dasaratha and son Ramachandra, the ideal husband Ramachandra and wife Sita devi, and the ideal behavior between brothers; between Lord Ramachandra and His brother Lakshman, and Ramachandra and His brother Bharata. So, when Lord Ramachandra was banished to the forest to be in exile, His brother Bharata, who was the son of Kaikeyi, refused to sit on the throne in Ramachandra’s absence. He felt that Ramachandra was really the king, and He considered Himself to be Lord Rama’s servant. So, even though Kaikeyi ordered Him, made the whole arrangement for Him to sit on the throne, He refused because He had no selfish desires, no material interest. He wanted only to serve His brother, Lord Ramachandra, who is also the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And for the sake of His service to Lord Rama, He refused the order of His mother.

There is a verse in the Fifth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, gurur na sa syāt sva-jano na sa syāt / pitā na sa syāj jananī na sā syāt, that no one should become a guru or teacher, no one should become a father, no one should become a mother, no one should become a husband, no one should become a superior relative or a worshipable personality, unless he or she can deliver his or her dependents from the repetition of birth and death. That is the real purpose of human life, to become free from the cycle of birth and death. Otherwise, we are tossed about helplessly by the modes of material nature and forced to suffer repeated birth, disease, old age, and death, and to suffer in so many ways, practically all the time. So, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says that unless you can deliver your dependent from the cycle of birth and death, you should not become a mother, or father, or husband, or teacher, or any sort of worshipable superior relative. And the conclusion, as stated by our acharyas in their commentaries on this verse, is that if someone cannot deliver his or her dependent from the cycle of birth and death, which can be achieved only by pure devotional service, they are not real guru, or father, or mother, or husband.

And they give the example; Srila Sridhra Swami, the great commentator on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, gives the example of Bharata and Kaikeyi. It is the duty of the son to obey the order of the mother. But when Kaikeyi ordered Bharata to sit on the throne, He refused. But that was not an offense because she was not a real mother, because she was not acting in such a way, or teaching Him in such a way, that He would be liberated from the repetition of birth and death. And Bharata, just see the contrast between Bharata and the materialistic people of today or anytime. The materialistic people are like demons. I mean, their mentality is like demons as described in the Sixteenth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, īśvaro ’ham, “I am the controller," ahaṁ bhogī, “I am the enjoyer.” Every materialist has that mentality. And a materialistic person, if he thinks that his brother is coming in the way of his advancement, in the way of his material position or prosperity, he will want to get his brother out of the way. Or even if he doesn’t actively work to get his brother out of the way, but if it just so happens that his brother is removed from the situation, he feels happy, “Oh, now I can occupy the post.”

But Bharata was the opposite. Even though by destiny, if you will, Lord Ramachandra, who was the king, was due to be coronated as the king, was removed from the situation by the design of His mother so that Bharata Himself could occupy the throne, He refused. He placed Lord Ramachandra’s shoes on the throne. And He lived in such an austere way, just eating barley cooked in cows’ urine and covering Himself with tree bark and lying down on kuśa grass. What an example, what an ideal example of a brother. And so, when He heard that Lord Rama was returning to Ayodhya, He carried Lord Rama’s wooden shoes on His head and went to receive Him, feeling great transcendental ecstasy, heart full of ecstasy and eyes full of tears, and they embraced for a very long time. And Lord Ramachandra bathed Him with His own tears. This is pure love; this is what we should learn from Rāmāyaṇa and aspire to achieve in our own lives.

TEXT 41

The citizens of Ayodhyā, upon seeing their King return after a long absence, offered Him flower garlands, waved their upper cloths, and danced in great jubilation.

TEXTS 42–43

O King, Lord Bharata carried Lord Rāmacandra’s wooden shoes, Sugrīva and Vibhīṣaṇa carried a whisk and an excellent fan, Hanumān carried a white umbrella, Śatrughna carried a bow and two quivers, and Sītādevī carried a waterpot filled with water from holy places. Aṅgada carried a sword, and Jāmbavān, King of the Ṛkṣas, carried a golden shield.

TEXT 44

O King Parīkṣit, as the Lord sat on His airplane of flowers, with women offering Him prayers and reciters chanting about His characteristics, He appeared like the moon with the stars and planets.

TEXTS 45–46

Thereafter, having been welcomed by His brother Bharata, Lord Rāmacandra entered the city of Ayodhyā in the midst of a festival.

COMMENT

That is this festival. This festival is meant to celebrate the return of Lord Rama. It is very interesting because people often see Diwali as the end of the past year and the beginning of the new year, and they welcome the day with prayers, selfish prayers for themselves and their extended selves, in the form of husband, wife, sons, daughters, parents, and other relatives. They want prosperity, they want success, they want so many material things. These desires are in blunt terms, demonic. These are the desires of Rāvaṇa’s, these are not the desires of pure devotees like Lord Rama’s brothers, wife, and subjects. They were celebrating because their master had returned, and now they could serve Him in person. Their happiness came from service, not from getting material things. People pray to Durga, the demigoddess Durga, dehi dehi dehi dehi, give me this, give me this, give me health, give me wealth, dehi dehi dehi, just give me, give me, give me, give me.” The pure devotees like the citizens of Ayodhya, they don’t pray to get something for themselves, they pray to give service to the Lord and the other devotees, that is the divine nature, as opposed to the demonic.

TEXT 47

Upon seeing their sons, the mothers of Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa, Bharata and Śatrughna immediately arose, like unconscious bodies returning to consciousness. The mothers placed their sons on their laps and bathed Them with tears, thus relieving themselves of the grief of long separation.

TEXT 48

The family priest or spiritual master, Vasiṣṭha, had Lord Rāmacandra cleanly shaved, freeing Him from His matted locks of hair. Then, with the cooperation of the elderly members of the family, he performed the bathing ceremony [abhiṣeka] for Lord Rāmacandra with the water of the four seas and with other substances, just as it was performed for King Indra.

TEXT 49

Lord Rāmacandra, fully bathed and His head clean-shaven, dressed Himself very nicely and was decorated with a garland and ornaments. Thus He shone brightly, surrounded by His brothers and wife, who were similarly dressed and ornamented.

TEXT 50

Being pleased by the full surrender and submission of Lord Bharata, Lord Rāmacandra then accepted the throne of the state. He cared for the citizens exactly like a father, and the citizens, being fully engaged in their occupational duties of varṇa and āśrama, accepted Him as their father.

COMMENT

So, this is a very important verse. It describes the duty and mood of the king, or the leader, in relation to his subjects, or citizens. It is described that Lord Ramachandra cared for His citizens exactly like a father. We know how much parents care for their children, especially young children, it becomes the main motivation for practically all of their activities. And Lord Ramachandra cared for His citizens just like a father. And how much affection children have for their parents, especially young children? They are completely dependent on their parents for everything. And they also accepted Him as their father. And just as it is the duty of the parents to train their children, to teach their children to behave properly, Lord Ramachandra engaged His citizens in their occupational duties of varṇa and āśrama.

Now, the caste system in India has fallen into ill-repute because the members of the higher castes, especially the brahman caste, propagated the idea that caste was based on birth. And they did so out of their own self-interest, to keep people in the lower castes, down and subservient to them. And as Kali-yuga progressed, the caste brahmans became less and less qualified. They claimed to be brahmans because they were born in a line of brahmans, but they didn’t actually have the qualifications of brahmans, or do the work of brahmans. But they boasted of their high parentage and showed their sacred threads as tokens of their superior positions. And because of this false conception of the caste system based on birth, people in the lower castes revolted, and it became a big political issue in India. I remember once, towards the end of Srila Prabhupada’s days with us in 1976–7, one of the great leaders of India’s freedom movement, I think, Prakash Narayan, he held a big gathering with maybe, I don’t know, many hundreds of thousands of people. And he had the brahmans all come forward, take off their sacred threads, and place them in a heap, and then he set fire to all those sacred threads as if, “Okay, now we are doing away with this caste system, we are doing away with this subjugation of the lower castes by the brahmans.” So, they made this big mountain of sacred threads and set fire to it. And when the disciples informed Srila Prabhupada was staying in Juhu at the time, he said, “Good. They are admitting they are not brahmans.”

So, varnashrama is actually a very sacred system meant for the benefit of the society, and created by the Lord Himself. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Krishna says catur varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ / guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ, that He created the four social and spiritual orders according to guna, qualities and karma, work or activities. He doesn’t anywhere say janma. Where does that come from? It doesn’t come from Krishna. So, it is a natural system. People naturally have different qualities and tendencies of work, but the beauty of the varnashrama system is that people are systematically trained how to be a teacher, a spiritual leader, a priest. They are systematically trained how to govern the citizens. Today, you don’t have to have any qualification to govern, the only qualification you have to have is the ability to get votes, that is the only qualification. You may be a fool, a rascal, a cheater, a scoundrel, but if you can get more votes than anyone else, you are elected to the highest posts in the land. That does not create a very happy situation for the citizens. But if people are properly trained, as they were in the Vedic system, then you get qualified teachers, qualified rulers, qualified businessmen or vaishyas. Their main duties are kṛṣi-go-rakṣya, agriculture and cow protection. And if there is extra, then trade. And then the sudras also, they were trained to be faithful and obedient. Now, of course, everyone is prone to steal, but it is common for domestic servants. But anyone can, if they get the chance. But Srila Prabhupada told a joke.

Srila Prabhupada also had a sense of humor, and he told jokes on occasion. So, he told the joke about an Indian who got the chance to be a domestic servant in a household in England. And that was a big thing. [laughter] But he didn’t know English, and he was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to cope if he didn’t know English. So his friend told him, “It doesn’t matter. You only need to know three words, or phrases; ‘Yes,’ ‘No,’ and ‘Very good.’” So, he got the job in the English men’s house. And one day, one of the Englishmen’s valuable, precious works of art was missing, and immediately he thought, “It is the new servant.” So, he called him and he said, “Did you steal my priceless work of art?” “Yes.” “Are you going to return it?” “No.” “Then I am going to call the police and have you arrested and punished.” “Very good.”

So every position, every type of work requires education and training. And during the reign of Lord Ramachandra, everyone was qualified for their work. It is very unfortunate when someone is unqualified for a particular job. My father’s best friend is still alive; he must be almost a hundred now. Very wise man, just a regular American gentleman, but very wise man, very good person. And he was saying how you should never hurt anyone. He was a very big businessman, a manufacturer, he gave many bits of wise advice, but he described how in one case, he hired a person whom he thought was qualified, who ended up cheating him in a very clever way, something to do with the deposits in the bank and the receipts from the bank and statements from the bank. But eventually, he detected him and confronted him. And he could easily have filed criminal charges against him and had him placed behind bars, but he just didn’t want to, he let him go. But he said that to avoid being in a situation where you will have to hurt someone, and it was one of his basic principles, never to hurt anyone, you should really be careful who you put in what position. Because if you put the wrong person in a particular position, obviously, the person is not going to perform properly, and it is going to become awkward, and it will become painful for the person, if you have to remove him. And I guess the other side is to help them and supervise them so they do well, so it doesn’t come to the worst situation.

Srila Prabhupada gave the example of something to the effect of, if you don’t take care of things and allow them to be stolen, basically, then in a way you are also contributing to the theft. So, being a king, or a father, or a mother, or a husband, or a guru, is a very, very, very responsible position, and one must execute it with full consciousness of one’s responsibility. And that includes knowing one’s duties, being able to execute one’s duties, in terms of one’s varṇa and āśrama, and ultimately, being a pure devotee of the Lord. Because one can discharge one’s duties properly only if he or she is a pure devotee of the Lord, and thus, can deliver his or her dependence from the repetition of birth and death.

TEXT 51

Lord Rāmacandra became King during Tretā-yuga, but because of His good government, the age was like Satya-yuga. Everyone was religious and completely happy.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Among the four yugas — Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali — the Kali-yuga is the worst, but if the process of varṇāśrama-dharma is introduced, even in this Age of Kali, the situation of Satya-yuga can be invoked. The Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, is meant for this purpose.

kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann
asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ
kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya
mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet

“My dear King, although Kali-yuga is full of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom.” (Bhāg. 12.3.51) If people take to this saṅkīrtana movement of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Rāma, they will certainly be freed from the contamination of Kali-yuga, and the people of this age will be happy, as people were in Satya-yuga, the golden age. Anyone, anywhere, can easily take to this Hare Kṛṣṇa movement; one need only chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, observe the rules and regulations, and stay free from the contamination of sinful life. Even if one is sinful and cannot give up sinful life immediately, if he chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra with devotion and faith he will certainly be freed from all sinful activities, and his life will be successful. Paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam. This is the blessing of Lord Rāmacandra, who has appeared in this Age of Kali as Lord Gaurasundara.

COMMENT

So, there are so many anomalies in the present age, it is very hard for people to follow the principles of varnashrama-dharma properly. In fact, most people are ignorant of what the principles are, but if they just take to the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra,

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

people will become free from material contamination, and they will become eligible to go back home, back to Godhead. And that is our responsibility as parents, as leaders, as teachers, as husbands, as mothers, as fathers, as gurus, to help our dependents, or deliver our dependents, from the cycle of repeated birth and death, and deliver them back home, back to Godhead. So, if they just chant Hare Krishna with faith, following the rules and regulations, they will be freed from material contamination, and they will be eligible to go back to Godhead.

In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in Narada Muni’s instructions on ideal household life, he advises that the householders, every evening, should chant and hear the glories of the Lord for three hours. And in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta as well, it is described that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates would chant the holy names of the Lord for three hours every evening. And His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami in his last, turned out to be, his last visit to Mayapur, to the birthplace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and Bengal, he also organized very wonderful kirtans, just chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra for three hours, nothing else. So, that is something we should do. So, just get together, sit down in the temple room in front of the deities or anywhere, just chant the holy names. And all our anxieties will go away, all of our problems, imagined or real, will dissolve or fade into the background and at least temporarily disappear, and we will have real unity. One of the problems in today’s society is there is so many fractions, so many segments, so many groups.

Previously, although the different parties would fight like anything, during the elections, but still, generally, after the elections, everyone would unite behind the leader and support him because the leader has to govern, to protect the citizens. But now, it doesn’t matter who wins or loses, because whoever wins, the same people who opposed him in the election, will just work against him after the election to make sure he is not successful, so they have a good chance to be elected the next time around. Nobody is thinking of the people; nobody is thinking of the benefit of the people or the nation. They are thinking, How can I get the post; me or my friends?” Friends means, “I will also get something out of it,” that kind of friend. But in kirtan, if we sit together and sincerely chant, all that nonsense goes away, and we are united in the mood of love of God, and that will unite us and satisfy us and solve all problems.

Hare Krishna. [applause]

Devotee: His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja ki jaya!

His Holiness Guru Prasad Swami Maharaja ki jaya!

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. So, we have three minutes, according to the clock in front of me. So, in those three minutes, would anyone like to add anything, or ask anything? Yes.

Devotee: Guru Maharaja, is there any opinion in ISKCON on the building of the temple in Ayodhya?

Giriraj Swami: Is there any opinion in ISKCON on the building of a temple in Ayodhya?

Devotee: Yes, the Rāma-janma-bhūmi.

Giriraj Swami: Oh, Rāma-janma-bhūmi. I haven’t really heard it discussed. I know a lot of members of ISKCON who have opinions on the subject, but I don’t know if ISKCON as such, has an official position. I might also personally have an opinion, but I don’t know of any official position. So, we will just leave it at that. [Unintelligible 00:51:16]?

Devotee: Yes, Maharaja, in order to deliver a dependent, the responsible person delivering a dependent, it is not enough to just know, to be able to point one in the direction, one has to be a pure devotee in order to deliver, or you can say, “This is how you can be delivered"?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that is a good question. In the purport to the verse I quoted, Srila Prabhupada says that one can properly discharge one’s functions only if he or she is a pure devotee. But there are different definitions of pure devotee, or I should say there are different stages in the development of pure devotional service. But if one has the basic desire to serve Krishna following the process of bhakti-yoga, and does not engage in devotional service for the sake of material gain or impersonal liberation, and does not adulterate the practice of devotional service with other practices such as karma, jnana, and artificial austerities and different things independent of devotional service, they are considered pure devotees, which is feasible for us. Otherwise, if we take the definition of pure devotee as fully self-realized, which is the goal of pure devotional service, then we wouldn’t have many grihasthas in the movement, because how many mahā-bhāgavatas are there who would get married and have children? So, as Prabhupada said, in Krishna consciousness it is different than in the material sense. But in Krishna consciousness, first you sit on the high court bench, and then you develop the qualifications. So, we may not be perfect as husbands, as fathers, as mothers, as teachers, but if we perform our duties faithfully and conscientiously and sincerely, we can become perfect while doing our work. That is also one of the instructions of Krishna, the Bhagavad-gītā, that you become perfect by doing your work.

And many parents have realized that having children is making them better devotees, they have to be better examples now because, yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhas, whatever the leader does, by his example the others will follow. So, they want to be good examples for their dependents. And I think that by quoting this verse, kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann, Srila Prabhupada is saying that if we chant Hare Krishna, we can all become purified and go back to Godhead together. Like Sacinandana Swami; actually, Sacinandana Swami was quoting Bhakti Tirtha Swami in relation to the gurus in ISKCON. They are like teenage mothers. They themselves are still growing, but they have children, but still they have to take care of their children and at the same time they have to grow themselves. But it is possible through the chanting of the holy names, that everyone makes progress together.

Hare Krishna.