CC Adi 3.102–110 – Sri Advaita Acharya’s Example

Giriraj Swami: We shall continue our discussion of Sri Advaita Acharya and His desire to induce the Lord to appear to deliver the fallen souls who are so engrossed in material thoughts and activities by introducing the yuga-dharma of hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. Sri hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana ki jaya!

So we shall continue where we left off yesterday. Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā, Chapter Three: “The External Reasons for Lord Caitanya’s Appearance.”

jaya jaya śrī-caitanya jaya nityānanda

jayādvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

TEXT 102

āniyā kṛṣṇere karoṅ kīrtana sañcāra

tabe se ‘advaita’ nāma saphala āmāra

TRANSLATION

“My name, ‘Advaita,’ will be fitting if I am able to induce Kṛṣṇa to inaugurate the movement of the chanting of the holy name.”

TEXT 103

kṛṣṇa vaśa karibena kon ārādhane

vicārite eka śloka āila tāṅra mane

TRANSLATION

While He was thinking about how to propitiate Kṛṣṇa by worship, the following verse came to His mind.

TEXT 104

tulasī-dala-mātreṇa

jalasya culukena vā

vikrīṇīte svam ātmānaṁ

bhaktebhyo bhakta-vatsalaḥ

TRANSLATION

“Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is very affectionate toward His devotees, sells Himself to a devotee who offers Him merely a tulasī leaf and a palmful of water.”

PURPORT

This is a verse from the Gautamīya-tantra.

TEXTS 105–106

ei ślokārtha ācārya karena vicāraṇa
kṛṣṇake tulasī-jala deya yei jana

tāra ṛṇa śodhite kṛṣṇa karena cintana —
‘jala-tulasīra sama kichu ghare nāhi dhana’

TRANSLATION

Advaita Ācārya considered the meaning of the verse in this way: “Not finding any way to repay the debt He owes to one who offers Him a tulasī leaf and water, Lord Kṛṣṇa thinks, ‘There is no wealth in My possession that is equal to a tulasī leaf and water.’

TEXT 107

tabe ātmā veci’ kare ṛṇera śodhana

eta bhāvi’ ācārya karena ārādhana

TRANSLATION

“Thus the Lord liquidates the debt by offering Himself to the devotee.” Considering in this way, the Ācārya began worshiping the Lord.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Through devotional service one can easily please Lord Kṛṣṇa with a leaf of the tulasī plant and a little water. As the Lord says in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.26), a leaf, a flower, a fruit or some water (patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyam), when offered with devotion, very much pleases Him. He universally accepts the services of His devotees. Even the poorest of devotees in any part of the world can secure a small flower, fruit or leaf and a little water, and if these offerings, and especially tulasī leaves and Ganges water, are offered to Kṛṣṇa with devotion, He is very satisfied. It is said that Kṛṣṇa is so much pleased by such devotional service that He offers Himself to His devotee in exchange for it. Śrīla Advaita Ācārya knew this fact, and therefore He decided to call for the Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa to descend by worshiping the Lord with tulasī leaves and the water of the Ganges.

TEXT 108

gaṅgā-jala, tulasī-mañjarī anukṣaṇa

kṛṣṇa-pāda-padma bhāvi’ kare samarpaṇa

TRANSLATION

Thinking of the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, He constantly offered tulasī buds in water from the Ganges.

TEXT 109

kṛṣṇera āhvāna kare kariyā huṅkāra

e-mate kṛṣṇere karāila avatāra

TRANSLATION

He appealed to Śrī Kṛṣṇa with loud calls and thus made it possible for Kṛṣṇa to appear.

TEXT 110

caitanyera avatāre ei mukhya hetu

bhaktera icchāya avatare dharma-setu

TRANSLATION

Therefore the principal reason for Śrī Caitanya’s descent is this appeal by Advaita Ācārya. The Lord, the protector of religion, appears by the desire of His devotee.

COMMENT

Now when we read these verses about Advaita Acharya’s worship of the Lord with tulasi leaves and mañjarīs and Ganges water, we could think, “Well, we worship the Lord, we also have śālagrāma-śilās, we also worship the Lord with tulasi leaves and water, Ganges water, but when we worship the Lord with the same ingredients, the Lord doesn’t appear.” Why? There are some other requirements besides just the external offering of patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ and the first requirement is bhakti: patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ, yo me bhaktyā prayacchati tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ, that if one offers Krishna a leaf, a fruit, a flower, or some water with love and devotion, He will accept it. And our love and devotion is manifested in our care and attention in our service.

Yesterday when I came to offer guru-puja to Srila Prabhupada I was struck by how beautiful the ārati tray was. Each item of the ārati tray, the different plates and bowls themselves were very high quality. Whoever did the shopping got very good items. They were brilliantly polished, so shiny and bright. They were placed very meticulously on the plate in the order in which they were meant to be offered. It was a minor work of art and I was stunned by seeing the devotion that went into the apparently simple act of preparing the ārati tray. 

And then I thought of an incident with Srila Prabhupada in Bombay in 1972, Srila Prabhupada had entered into an agreement to purchase the Juhu land but the landlord was trying to cheat him. He took a deposit from Srila Prabhupada but then refused to sell Prabhupada the land, but at the same time he was holding onto the deposit which was quite a big sum in India then. Anyway, Srila Prabhupada was temporarily staying in a house of a life member that was being constructed. It was almost ready but not completely ready and Srila Prabhupada was staying upstairs. Early in the morning, maybe six or six-thirty in the morning, the sun had not risen yet but there was a little light in the sky and Srila Prabhupada was sitting in his room with a few of his senior disciples, a very unexpected person, I don’t know where he came from or how he even knew Srila Prabhupada was in the house, he came up to the second floor, and he was obviously a laborer. You could just tell, he had a dark complexion, very muscular, just wore a little piece of white cloth around his waist that didn’t come below his knees. And he just walked into the room, walked up to Srila Prabhupada’s desk—Prabhupada always say behind a low table like you see upstairs—placed a bunch of flowers on the table, bowed down, stood up, and walked out.

Srila Prabhupada was so affected by that humble offering he was speechless. He had been speaking to some senior devotees in the room but he could not continue. He just was stunned. And then he said that, he quoted the verse, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ, yo me bhaktyā prayacchati tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ, that this humble laborer somehow knew that Prabhupada was there, went in the early morning when there was just a little hint of light in the sky, found flowers from here and there—many different varieties of flowers—and came up and offered them, bowed down. And Srila Prabhupada quoted the verse and said that, “Even Krishna the Supreme Personality of Godhead is touched by a simple offering of flowers and I am just an insignificant living entity so how much more will I be affected.”

So this is the real element, the bhakti, the sincere devotion. Many people worship but they have different motives. That humble laborer, he just offered the flowers and bowed down and left, but many people come to God to make business with Him. They feel if they give something to God, they will get something more in return. So it becomes an investment. 

There is one temple in India at Tirupati, the Deity is called Veṅkaṭeśvara or more commonly Balaji, and He is famous in India for giving material boons to worshipers, and every day literally hundreds of thousands of worshipers come to see Him and put money in the box, the wundi, many with the thought that they will get much more in return in the future. Even politicians go there in the hopes of winning the election. Even from Mauritius the prime minister went to Balaji to get blessings to win the election. And in India they do it too.

So this is not bhakti. This is business. Srila Prabhupada had a very good friend in Bombay, Mr. Brijratan Mohatta, he was a very intelligent man, very affluent, very supportive, but he had some ideas, he hadn’t yet understood the spirit of pure devotion. So just before the Juhu temple opened, he went to Srila Prabhupada and said, “Prabhupada, if you want to get a lot of collections in the wundi box you have to spread the rumor that people who give money to the Deities here (Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari), they get more back in return.” Then Srila Prabhupada replied, “No, this is against our principles. We don’t do business with the Deity.”

They even have jokes in India. The Vedic culture, I guess it is there everywhere, but anyway, there is one story that a man went to the Deity and he prayed to the Lord, “Dear Lord, I am going to the races to bet on a horse and if I win a lakh of rupees (hundred thousand rupees) I will give You half.” So the man went, bet on his horse, and won fifty thousand rupees. He went back to the Lord and prayed, “Lord, You didn’t trust me, You took Your half first.” [laughter] So people not only do business with the Lord, straight business, they’re also crooked, they make a deal with the Lord and then they try to cheat.

So that type of worship will not make the Lord feel so indebted to His devotee that He feels the only way He can repay His devotee is by giving Himself. 

There are many very important words imbedded in these few verses that we just read. In the first verse it says, gaṅgā-jala, tulasī-mañjarī anukṣaṇa. Anukṣaṇa means “constantly.” Advaita Acharya was constantly worshiping the Lord. It was His complete purpose. He was so fixed in His intention that His worship of the Lord was constant. So that is also our goal, that is part of the definition of pure devotional service, anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu- śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā. Anuśīlanam, śīlanam means “cultivation” and aṇu it can mean “to follow.” We cultivate pure devotional service following the instructions of sadhu, shastra, and guru, following the previous acharyas, but aṇu also means “continuous.” Ahaituky apratihatā: unmotivated and uninterrupted. It is not okay we do devotional service for some time every day but then we also do other things. Everything should be done in the mood of service to Krsna. 

So this anuśīlanaṁ, continuous cultivation, or in another place in Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Lord Chaitanya says nirantara, He is talking about devotees’ chanting, nirantara, without cessation or continuously. It doesn’t mean that we can’t take time to maintain our bodies because we have to. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains that engaging in necessary activities for the maintenance of the body is not a violation of the principle of continuous devotional service or kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ. One should chant the holy name constantly. It doesn’t mean that we don’t bathe, brush our teeth, dress properly, eat as required, take rest as required. Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gītā one should not eat too much or eat too little, sleep too much or sleep too little. But it should be done in the mood of service to Krishna that, “I have to keep the body and soul fit to serve Krishna,” not that I have to keep the body fit to enjoy sense gratification. It is a matter of consciousness.

I have been reading the book Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Vaibhava by His Holiness Bhakti Vikasa Swami, a wonderful book, and he quoted one incident in which a disciple had complained to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura that he didn’t have time to complete his quota of rounds. He was asking for permission to do less. So Srila Bhaktisiddhanta replied, “No, you have to complete your quota. You can eat less, sleep less, but you have to complete your quota.” And then the disciple said, “But I see other devotees, they are not finishing their quota.” Now this quota was higher than our quota of sixteen rounds. His quota was sixty-four rounds. And Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati said, “You don’t see but I see.” And then later the disciple had the realization that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was seeing that these disciples were so fully absorbed in service to the mission that their service counted as good as hari-nāma because it was broadcasting the glories of the Lord. That was that disciple’s realization.

That is a little intricate topic about our quota but in our cases Srila Prabhupada gave the quota of sixteen rounds which gives us plenty of time to engage in practical service to the mission which he wanted us to do. And it came out that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati had, that was the thing, he gave different quotas to different disciples. In general it was sixty-four rounds but for some it was sixteen and for some even four depending on the situation. And in some cases he said, “Just do what you can.” But obviously in ISKCON Prabhupada had to set one standard for everyone and the standard was sixteen rounds. That was Srila Prabhupada’s standard when he was in gṛhastha-āśrama, sixteen rounds. 

He told his servant Hari-Sauri that every day he had the principle that before breakfast he would chant at least four rounds, before lunch he would chant at least another four rounds, before dinner he would chant another four rounds, and before taking rest he would chant another four rounds. In that way he was sure to complete his sixteen rounds every day. He broke it up into smaller numbers and then he just wouldn’t allow himself to eat unless he did his require number, and then he was sure to do it.

So this determination, dṛḍha-vratāḥ, we have to have determination to keep up our vows and that will make us strong and that will attract Krishna’s attention and mercy.

Coming back to this idea of continuous, yes, it doesn’t mean that we neglect the body or we don’t engage in the activities that are required for living in the world. Paying taxes, if you don’t pay your taxes, if you owe taxes, there will be trouble. So there are different requirements imposed upon us by virtue of having a material body and living in a society and we have to meet those. But we should do so in a straightforward way that is not too complicated so that we can think of Krishna even while we are doing it. That was another thing Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati said that even if you can’t, and again this was not to all of his disciples, he said, “Ok, if you can’t chant sixty-four rounds on your beads then whatever you are doing—cleaning the temple or going here or there for service—whatever you are doing, just keep chanting while you are doing it and it will add up. You will complete sixty-four even if you are not counting them on your beads.” Our quota is sixteen and certainly whatever Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura came to give in terms of Krishna consciousness we can get from Srila Prabhupada by following the instructions that Srila Prabhupada gave us. 

So, this continuous cultivation, continuous chanting, continuous worshiping doesn’t mean that we don’t take care of the necessities of life, but we should do so in a straightforward way that is not too complicated so we can think of Krishna. And our purpose should be to keep the body and soul together, to keep our affairs in order so we can serve Krishna. Then that counts as kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ or part of kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ. And this is also in the verse, gaṅgā-jala, tulasī-mañjarī anukṣaṇa, constantly. 

Kṛṣṇa-pāda-padma bhāvi’ kare samarpaṇa. Kṛṣṇa-pāda-padma bhāvi’ means thinking of the lotus feet of Krishna. Now that is also not so easy. It is easier to engage in a service with our body—it depends on the service—but there are some services that we can do engaging the body but not the mind. In other words we do it externally. Unfortunately one of those is chanting the holy name. We can have our hand in our bead bag and our tongue engaged in chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, but our mind maybe somewhere else. You could be cutting vegetables for the sacred service of the Lord but our mind could be somewhere else. But Advaita Acharya, His mind was on the lotus feet of Krishna while He was doing His worship. Of course He was a perfect devotee, nitya-siddha. More than a perfect devotee, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself acting as a devotee. We are in the stage of sadhana and in the stage of sadhana we can’t always think of Krishna. That is our principle, always remember Krishna and never forget Him, that is our endeavor, that is our hope. So we persevere.

Once a disciple told Srila Prabhupada that when he cleans the temple he is not thinking of Krishna, his mind is wandering. Does his cleaning the temple even count as devotional service? And Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, we are in the kingdom of maya so it is natural that maya will call us, “Come on, enjoy me. Come on, enjoy me,” but if you don’t heed her call, if you continue with your service, eventually she will stop calling.” Just like if someone is pursuing you by telephone, if you don’t answer the phone enough times the person will get the idea, “This person does not want to entertain me.” The person will stop calling. So maya is always calling us, “Come on, enjoy me,” offering us different varieties of gross and subtle sense gratification to please our senses and mind. So those thoughts will come in our mind while we are engaged in service, but Srila Prabhupada said if we continue with our service and don’t heed her call, in other words, don’t act on the allurements that she is offering us, then eventually she will stop calling.

So we continue and pray for mercy that we can actually focus on the holy name when we are chanting, we can actually think of Krishna while we are serving Him, either cleaning the temple, cutting vegetables, cooking, dressing Him, making garlands—so many varieties of service. 

But the care and attention to the service itself counts. That is really what brings us to Krishna consciousness and I must say also I was very pleased by what I saw in the pujari area yesterday. Very clean, very orderly. It seemed that everything had its proper place and everything was in its proper place. There were a few leaves on the flowers on the floor of the hallway. First I thought it was 100 percent, all right maybe 95 percent. First I thought 98 percent then I saw some more, then okay maybe 95 percent. So I went up to chant in Srila Prabhupada’s rooms but then when I came down I saw a devotee sweeping the floor. So I thought, “Well, okay, that is good.” So that is very uplifting to the consciousness when the devotees are attentive in their service and conscientious in their service. And that is how we show our devotion and that is how we develop our devotion. And then naturally the more advanced stages of Krishna consciousness will follow.

And then the last word I want to comment on which is in the next verse, Text 109, huṅkāra. huṅkāra means “loud shouts.” Srila Prabhupada actually had a disciple named huṅkāra and I’d never heard the name. I asked him what it meant and he said, “Loud shouts.” The word is also used in relation to Lord Chaitanya’s dancing at the Ratha-yatra, He also called out to the Lord or cried out to the Lord with loud shouts. So this means there is great intensity and that really makes all the difference. No matter what our level is, what our stage is, but if we engage in devotional service with intensity then we get Krishna, get Krishna consciousness, and get Krishna. There is another verse in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Second Canto, akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo vā mokṣa-kāma udāra-dhīḥ tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena yajeta puruṣaṁ param. So akāmaḥ means one who has no desires. It means a devotee has no desires, material desires, selfish desires. akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo: or full of desires, all sorts of desires. Moksa kama: or desirous of liberation. Tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena: if he engages in bhakti-yoga, tīvreṇa, that means with intensity, he can approach Krishna. And Srila Prabhupada comments on this verse, tīvra, is it like the sun rays, unadulterated sun rays, it is very powerful, intense. Tapasya is related to that word tapa and tapa is related to the word “heat.” So we have to do some tapasya and our basic tapasya is to engage in devotional service with intensity. 

Devotees who’ve been successful—every devotee is successful—but devotees who’ve been eminently successful have been very intense or consistent. I just thought of one case of our godbrother Aindra Prabhu who was very focused in hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, very intense. He would hardly eat or sleep. He was constantly chanting japa or kirtana, but also reading. He was very knowledgeable in scripture. One devotee mentioned that once he was in Aindra Prabhu’s room when Aindra was chanting japa and at the end of finishing his rounds he took his bead bag and threw it against the wall and exclaimed, “No taste!” So that is intensity. Maybe that is our version of huṅkāra, loud shouts. But he had that desire. He wasn’t just going to let it go. He kept at it. He kept struggling.

And that is our condition, every conditioned soul. That famous verse of Rupa Gosvami’s that in the beginning. . . it is like we are in a diseased condition, jaundiced condition, so when we chant the holy name, the form, qualities, or pastimes of the Lord, we don’t relish the sweetness because someone who has the disease and is jaundiced, he doesn’t taste sweet things as being sweet. He actually relishes bitter things. But the Ayurvedic cure for jaundice is sugar candy, rock candy, and even though the rock candy tastes bitter but if the patient keeps taking it, he will gradually recover and the sweetness of the sugar candy, rock candy will be experienced as sweet—sweeter, sweeter, sweeter, until he can taste it as it is, as nectar. 

So that is our condition and that disease is avidya, ignorance, ignorance of our actual position that we are eternal servants of Krishna. So we may say, “Well, I know that. I know I am not the body, I am part and parcel of Krishna. I know I am the eternal servant of Krishna. I know that.” But there is a difference between theoretical knowledge and practical realization. When we chant and our mind wanders and if we take the time to analyze the thoughts that we are entertaining in our mind, it generally comes back to the idea that we are the body because we are thinking of so many things in relation to the body. 

I am a perfect example. I don’t think I was on the hari-nāma for more than a half hour when I thought, “I am starting to feel a little hungry. I wonder how hungry I will be at the end of the hari-nāma and what’s going to be waiting for me when I get back.” So we know we are not the body theoretically but practically a lot of our thoughts and desires hover around the body. Or we think, “I am the enjoyer. I am the controller. I am the proprietor.” And the thoughts that fill our mind are extensions of that idea or those ideas, thinking, “I want to enjoy this. I want to get this so I can enjoy.” Or, “I want to be able to control this. I don’t like this thing. Somebody is coming in my way. I am not able to control the things as I want. I want this thing. I am having trouble getting it.” Of course all those things can be dovetailed in Krishna’s service but a lot of the time the connection with Krishna is more remote and the connection with our bodies and minds is more immediate. So it means that we have the theoretical knowledge but we haven’t really realized it. It means we still are affected by ignorance because we are identifying with the body and the world and things of the world and the body.

And so it does give rise to the question, “What do we really want?” Again I will use myself as an example. Towards the end of the hari-nāma I thought, “Boy, this is such an auspicious day and we are on hari-nāma. I could pray to Advaita Acharya, I could ask for whatever I want.” On appearance days our acharyas and incarnations of God are very mercifully disposed. So I began, “Okay, pure devotional service. I want to be freed from lust and anger and greed and envy and pride.” And then I thought, “Well, what would life be like if I was actually free from those things? If I really wanted to be free from them, why aren’t I free from them now? What would it be like if I wasn’t proud? I would be the servant of the servant of the servant. But do I really want to be the servant of the servant of the servant? Do I want people to serve me?” And then I thought, “Of course, I want to be the servant of the servant of the servant. That is our philosophy. Yes, that is your philosophy, that is what the books say, but what do you really want?” 

So, these are things that we may confront as we endeavor to make progress. Again, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana or the effort to preach Krishna consciousness is so powerful that it can wash away all these things, but we have to be consistent. I saw it in Juhu, I am sure you see it here to, but we would get a certain crowd every Sunday, we would always get so many thousand people on Sundays, but if for example Janmashtami fell in the middle of the week, the crowd on Sunday would be less, because so many Hindus or life members or whatever, their quota for going to the temple is once a week. So they felt, “We have already been on Janmashtami, we don’t have to go on Sunday. We have already gone once a week. We have fulfilled our quota of once a week.” So, okay, we did hari-nāma last night and it was great—I will discuss that a little later—now there is another hari-nāma tonight, Santa Monica, Third Street, [Promnat?]. So how many are going to think, “I already did hari-nāma last night. Why do I have to do it again tonight?” So this idea of consistency, being consistent. 

Again, I don’t really know the people that well here, I don’t know what’s under the surface, but what I saw on the hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana was people loved it. Compared to when we used to go out on the streets in the sixties and seventies, people were smiling, they were saying, “Hare Krishna,” some were even trying to chant with us, a lot of people were dancing, and if they happened to have drums, a lot of the people stopped and played drums with us. So in that sense people were very receptive and I thought, “If we did this every day for hours, we would meet so many people, give them invitations, they are bound to come. Give them books. Some of them are bound to read the books, some of them are bound to come.” It really struck me that we could be growing and flourishing like in the sixties and seventies but we would have to be consistent. In those days we had more resident devotees maintained by the temple. Now it is a little different but the principle is that the more we are out there chanting the holy names and giving out books and invitations, the more people will read the books, the more they will come here, the more they will become devotees. They really seem so receptive and so open and so happy to see us. 

But then we also have to think, “What will they experience when they come here?” And that is also a question because we want Krishna consciousness to be accessible to the people. Some people are just naturally devotees, they may have already been devotees in their past life. So they come in and then they just are overwhelmed by the temple and they love everything about it. But other people without so much pious background, they might just be curious and they might benefit from a little more special treatment if you will. 

Like for while in Durban, South Africa, His Holiness Indradyumna Swami was the temple president and he had devotees out all day distributing books, but when they would distribute the books, they would always get the name and phone number of the people who took the books, if they were willing to give it. And then by Friday or maybe even Thursday he would have them phone the people who had taken books during the week—this is specifically Europeans because this is on the point that they, some people require different treatment. I didn’t really look at the invitation card, but if it is something like, “Maṅgala-ārati: 4:30; śṛṅgāra-darsana: 7:00 a.m.; guru-puja:. . .,” it is like, “What is this? What does all this mean?” If we want to attract new people then we need an invitation card in a language that they can understand and then a program that is more accessible to them.

So in Durban, say from Thursday, he had the devotees, the book distributors start phoning the people and inviting them for the special program we had specifically for them on Saturday evening. That program was held in a very nice room, we call it the Prabhupada library, and there would be very mellow kirtan. Of course Indradyumna Swami himself sings so beautifully. There would be a very mellow kirtan that people could appreciate. Not everyone can, especially in the beginning relate to very fast, wild, exuberant kirtan. We were talking about that mood of compassion that we discussed yesterday. It is not just about our own ecstasy, it is really about serving the Lord and the Lord’s mission and extending the Lord’s mercy to other people. It is mentioned in The Nectar of Devotion, Krishna had a servant, a servant who was fanning Krishna, and while he was fanning Krishna he became so overwhelmed with ecstasy, he started to tremble and tears came in his eyes. And then he checked his ecstatic symptoms because they were interfering with his service of fanning Krishna. So that is pure devotion. Yes, ecstasy comes and we are happy when it comes, but the real goal is always to serve Krishna and please Krishna. So we might have to check our own exuberance in the kirtan. Of course that can be [good?] too, but sometimes something slow and mellow for new people. 

So that was the Saturday evening program we had especially for the European people. The first kirtan would be very slow and mellow and melodious and then Indradyumna Swami or whoever was there would give an introductory talk, very simple, in language that the audience could understand, mainly about the holy name and the importance of chanting. And then the second kirtan, the last kirtan after the talk, he would get them to stand up. You have to judge what the audience could do but I think in the second kirtan he would have them stand up and he would get them to dance. 

And then there would be a fabulous feast served in the restaurant from whatever time it was. They would close off a major section of the restaurant and serve this fabulous feast. He would really train all the devotees how to dress, how to look nicely, how to serve, and it was such fantastic experience, people wanted to come back. It was hard to get through to those Europeans then. Krishna consciousness was relatively new and it was apartheid and they were the rulers but at the same time they were nervous, “Are the others going to overthrow us?” It was pretty tense then. But they just had such a good experience.

So that is something to consider, just go out, give people invitations, appropriate invitations and invite them maybe not just to the daily program, but maybe have a special program for new people that is designed to make it easier for them to relate to, to Krishna consciousness and devotees. I never saw so many happy faces, so many smiling faces in the period of two hours as I did last night. It was really wonderful.

Hare Krishna.

Anu-bhakta dasa: Are you aware of any specific instances where Srila Prabhupada instructed his disciples to chant more than sixteen rounds?

Giriraj Swami: I am not aware of any time that Srila Prabhupada told a disciple that he or she must chant more than sixteen rounds. It was recommended on Ekādaśī to chant twenty-five rounds but reading Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Vaibhava I realized that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s mission although it was very similar to ISKCON it was fairly localized in India. It wasn’t abroad. And even within India it was more concentrated in Bengal and Orissa. So he spent a lot of time with his disciples and because the distances were not so great even if he didn’t visit all the centers in India or in Bengal, it was easy enough for disciples to come to where he was. So I saw they had a lot of personal association with him that was hard for many of Prabhupada’s disciples because they were all over the United States, all over the world. And so he gave a lot of more individualized instruction which Srila Prabhupada couldn’t do and it wouldn’t have worked. But he certainly said we could increase the number. 

There is a very interesting walk with His Holiness Lokanath Swami and Srila Prabhupada in Juhu Beach and Lokanath Swami asked, “Srila Prabhupada, why have you prescribed sixteen rounds?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “I have not prescribed sixteen rounds.” “No, no, you. . .” Prabhupada said, “No, minimum sixteen. I have not prescribed sixteen rounds, minimum sixteen.” And Prabhupada said, “If you can do more, that is most welcome. Minimum sixteen.” And the Lokanath Swami said,” Well, why did you prescribe minimum sixteen? There are devotees who are prescribing for themselves other minimum numbers.” And Prabhupada said, “Who’s stopping them? You can increase the minimum but you shouldn’t decrease it below sixteen.” Then Lokanath Swami said, “How do we know if we are imitating Haridasa Thakura or following in his footsteps?” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Imitation is also good. If you are imitating Haridasa Thakura, that is also good.” Then someone said, “But what if there is service to be done and then the devotee will refuse because he is chanting extra rounds?” And Prabhupada said, “If someone approaches you to do some service and you say, ‘I can’t do it, I am busy imitating Haridasa Thakura,’ that is not good. That is very bad.”

I think that was the idea, increase. So much depends on time, place, and circumstance, but as we grow older we might not have the physical capacity to do as much active service, physically demanding service as we did before, so then we can chant more or read and write. But I am not aware of Prabhupada specifically ordering a disciple to chant more than sixteen rounds. 

It is very interesting, according to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Vaibhava, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura thought it was more important for householders to chant sixty-four rounds than for the devotees in the Matha because the devotees in the Matha were engaged in service to the mission, so it was easier for them to think of Krishna because they were engaged in service to the mission, whereas who were not so engaged, how will they think of Krishna? They should just chant extra rounds. And that was one point that came up.

Do we chant fewer rounds because we are busy serving the mission or because we have to gossip and we have to read the latest news and that is for each of us to see, because that came up a lot in this discussion in Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Vaibhava about how many rounds and he was saying. . . we don’t have taste, that is the problem. We don’t have taste but by forcing ourselves to chant and serve in different ways, we develop taste. We do have more taste for other things but again, coming back to the hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, nagara-saṅkīrtana, not many things could compare to that. You got everything. 

Prabhupada was such a spiritual genius, such an empowered servant of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his guru maharaja that he knew just how to engage us. Ultimately everything depends on mercy. We make our effort but ultimately everything depends on mercy and by going out and distributing the holy name, distributing the message of Krishna and bringing people to Krishna consciousness, we get the maximum mercy, and it really all depends on mercy. I realized that in my own life even reading this book, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Vaibhava, which I love and which I recommend to devotees like anything, but that was Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, it was a different time, it was a different type of person that he was dealing with, and what Prabhupada did for us is just perfect. And for us he really emphasized preaching hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, book distribution, bṛhat-mṛdaṅga, brhat-kirtana. If we just do that we will be fine, but we just have to do it. If we just do that we will get everything, everything that those matha-vasis got by chanting sixty-four rounds or what they did in their time, we’ll get it all. I am confident of that.

Thank you very much. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Yuga-dharma sri hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana ki jaya!

Hare Krishna.