CC Antya Concluding Words – Sri Rama-ekadasi

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Today is a very special day, Sri Rama-ekādaśī. Of course it is the first Ekādaśī in the month of Kartika or Damodara but it has special significance for us because it is the day on which Srila Prabhupada completed his translation of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. This set of books was originally published in seventeen volumes and it is the most important work on the life and precepts of Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and so every devotee should read it. Actually every devotee should read every book of Srila Prabhupada’s beginning with Sri Īśopaniṣad, the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, The Nectar of Devotion, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Although Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta has quite a range of topics but it is a very advanced book and we will read from the end of it.

Please repeat after me:

jaya jaya śrī-caitanya jaya nityānanda

jayādvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

“All glories to Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu! All glories to Lord Nityananda! All glories to Advaita candra! And all glories to all the devotees of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.”

On this date, Sri Rama-ekādaśī in 1974, we went up the stairs to Srila Prabhupada’s quarters in the E-block in the back as usual because every morning at six o’clock Srila Prabhupada would go for a walk on Juhu Beach. But this time we were surprised to find that the door was locked. In fact both doors were locked and we could not understand why. So we knocked on the door and eventually Srila Prabhupada’s secretary Harikesa Prabhu opened the door and told us that Srila Prabhupada had just completed his translation of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, that he had written the most beautiful glorification of his guru maharaja at the end, that Srila Prabhupada was in a very jubilant mood, and that he said that we should celebrate by having a feast.

So now I shall read Srila Prabhupada’s Concluding Words to Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

CONCLUDING WORDS

Today, Sunday, November 10, 1974—corresponding to the 10th of Kartika, Chaitanya Era 488, the eleventh day of the dark fortnight, the Rama-ekādaśī—we have now finished the English translation of Sri Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami’s Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta in accordance with the authorized order of His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Gosvami Maharaja, my beloved eternal spiritual master, guide, and friend. Although according to material vision His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada passed away from this material world on the last day of December, 1936, I still consider His Divine Grace to be always present with me by his vāṇī, his words. There are two ways of association—by vāṇī and by vapuḥ. Vāṇī means “words,” and vapuḥ means “physical presence.” Physical presence is sometimes appreciable and sometimes not, but vāṇī continues to exist eternally. Therefore we must take advantage of the vāṇī, not the physical presence. The Bhagavad-gītā, for example, is the vāṇī of Lord Krishna. Although Krishna was personally present five thousand years ago and is no longer physically present from the materialistic point of view, the Bhagavad-gītā continues.

COMMENT

In the very first sentence Srila Prabhupada sets the theme for his Concluding Words by saying that he had completed his translation of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta in accordance with the authorized order of His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja—the order, the instruction, the words. Although Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura had passed away on the last day of December in 1936, Srila Prabhupada was still connected with him by serving his instructions. All those forty years after his guru maharaja disappeared, Srila Prabhupada was pleased to offer him the translation of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. In other words, the relationship was not diminished by the passage of time because the association of vāṇī continues eternally. In Srila Prabhupada’s dedication to his translation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam he wrote, “To my eternal spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja. He lives eternally by his divine instructions and the follower lives with him.” 

So, we never have to feel bereft of the association of the spiritual master or the paramparā because their association is always available through their words (vāṇī) and as Srila Prabhupada wrote, we must take advantage of the vāṇī. For example, Srila Prabhupada’s vāṇī is available in his books. So we have to take advantage of his books. If we don’t read his books, if we don’t study his books, if we don’t discuss his books, how will we have his association? And we want his association. 

There was one householder devotee in England who told me that he was very concerned about his son—not only his son but so many members of the congregation but in particular he was concerned about his son—because his son was very focused on his immediate authority in Krishna consciousness whom he accepted as his spiritual master. And his father was concerned that he should develop his relationship with Srila Prabhupada that everything in ISKCON is the result of Srila Prabhupada’s mercy. Prabhupada’s disciples themselves are the result of Srila Prabhupada’s mercy and he felt that his son should have a tangible, proper, substantial relationship with Srila Prabhupada.

So he prevailed upon him to start listening to Srila Prabhupada’s tapes systematically and to begin reading Srila Prabhupada’s books systematically. And that boy started to awaken his relationship with Srila Prabhupada in a very tangible way. He hadn’t understood it before. He hadn’t understood that he could have a real, substantial, tangible relationship with Srila Prabhupada even in Srila Prabhupada’s physical separation by hearing Srila Prabhupada’s words, reading Srila Prabhupada’s books. And then Srila Prabhupada started to come in his dreams. The boy is very pure, very, very pure. In his teens he went to Vrindavan and joined the twenty-four hour kirtan party and he was ready to live the rest of his life in Vrindavan just chanting the holy name and he was a very good mridanga player in particular. So he had a dream and in the dream Srila Prabhupada was sitting on his vyāsāsana in Vrindavan while the twenty-four hour kirtan was performing, including the boy. Many devotees have had the same type of dream in which the deity of Srila Prabhupada comes to life. So in the young man’s dream the deity of Srila Prabhupada came to life and Srila Prabhupada told the boy that, “It is very good that you are engaged in the twenty-four hour kirtan, but if you perform for the sake of attracting women you will go to hell.” So the boy took the dream as very real and he took the instruction to heart. Of course it is a fact what Srila Prabhupada said. 

So it is just an example of how we can establish our relationship with Srila Prabhupada or any of the previous acharyas for that matter through vāṇī, through hearing the words, through reading the books.

Srila Prabhupada would take rest at about ten o’clock at night and then he would wake up at about midnight after only two hours and he would translate. While practically everyone else was sleeping he was translating for us. He was translating so that we would have these books to study and apply. So it is our duty, it is our privilege, it is a blessing, but it is also our duty to read the books otherwise it means that Srila Prabhupada was wasting his time writing books for us and we don’t even care enough to reciprocate and make the effort to study his books. And as Srila Prabhupada said that we should not only distribute his books but we should also read them. He said of his devotees that saṅkīrtana will keep them happy and reading his books will keep them. So we shall continue.

CONCLUDING WORDS (continued)

In this connection we may call to memory the time when I was fortunate enough to meet His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, sometime in the year 1922. Srila Prabhupada had come to Calcutta from Sridham Mayapur to start the missionary activities of the Gaudiya Matha. He was sitting in a house at Ulta Danga when through the inducement of an intimate friend, the late Sriman Narendranath Mullik, I had the opportunity to meet His Divine Grace for the first time. I do not remember the actual date of the meeting, but at that time I was one of the managers of Dr. Bose’s laboratory in Calcutta. I was a newly married young man, addicted to Gandhi’s movement and dressed in khādi. Fortunately, even at our first meeting His Divine Grace advised me to preach the cult of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in English in the Western countries. Because at that time I was a complete nationalist, a follower of Mahatma Gandhi’s, I submitted to His Divine Grace that unless our country were freed from foreign subjugation, no one would hear the message of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu seriously. Of course, we had some argument on this subject, but at last I was defeated and convinced that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s message is the only panacea for suffering humanity. I was also convinced that the message of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was then in the hands of a very expert devotee and that surely the message of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would spread all over the world. I could not, however, immediately take up his instructions to preach, but I took his words very seriously and was always thinking of how to execute his order, although I was quite unfit to do so.

COMMENT

Srila Prabhupada explained that he was the leader of his circle of friends and thus when Narendranath Mullik met Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura he wanted our Srila Prabhupada also to meet him, to give his verdict about him. Srila Prabhupada also described how across from his home in Calcutta there was a large building with many rooms and many men were living in that building. During the day they would go out and earn money and then in the evening they would come back and cook and eat their dinner and go to sleep and then the next morning they would again go out to earn money and come back in the evening. Among them there was someone, in the morning before going out he would put on the robes of a sadhu, and he would also go out, collect some money, come back, take off his robes, eat with the other karmis, go to sleep, get up in the morning, and go out again.

Many sadhus would come to his home to his father’s home and as Srila Prabhupada said he was not very satisfied with their dealings. So when his friend invited him to meet the sadhu, he was not very eager to go because he thought as there are so many bogus sadhus who are cheating people, this might be another bogus sadhu who is cheating innocent people. So he didn’t want to go. But his friend insisted and ultimately Srila Prabhupada relented. He agreed and he went and met his eternal spiritual master, His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura.

Srila Sarasvati Thakura was sitting on a raised platform, maybe on a cot that was set up as an asana, and everyone else was sitting down. But there were some other seats and Srila Prabhupada sat up. As Srila Prabhupada said, from the very first meeting Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura ordered him to preach the message of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the English language throughout the world and Srila Prabhupada, as a nationalist, as a follower of Mahatma Gandhi’s, gave the argument that, “Who will listen to India’s message, who will listen to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s message when India is still under foreign subjugation? Even uncivilized countries like Japan have political independence. So first India should gain political independence and then people will be ready to hear the message of Mahaprabhu.” Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura did not accept our Srila Prabhupada’s argument. He said that, “The message of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is transcendental. It will act independent of factors such as political independence or dependence and the world needs the knowledge now. We cannot wait for India’s independence. We must present the message now.” And Srila Prabhupada said that he was defeated in argument by his guru maharaja. He said that he had never before been defeated in any argument but now he had been defeated by his guru maharaja and he was happy that he had been defeated by his guru maharaja.

But, as Srila Prabhupada has described, he was newly married and had a small child, and so he could not take up the order of his spiritual master immediately, but he kept the instruction in his heart and he was always thinking when he would be able to take up the order. 

This is an important instruction for us that if due to circumstances we are unable to take up an instruction from the spiritual master, we should always keep the instruction in our heart and think of how we can execute the order, pray to be able to execute the order, and wait for the opportune moment when we will be able to do so.

I myself had an interaction with Srila Prabhupada in which he enunciated the same principle. In 1971 in Gorakhpur we were staying as guests of Sri Hanuman Prasad Poddar and the Gītā Press. We were staying in what had been Mr. Poddar’s personal residence or estate, Sri Krishna Niketan. During that period a new issue of Back to Godhead magazine arrived and the issue had an article by me. Srila Prabhupada read the article and called for me and he said, “I have read your article. It is very nice. You should write.” And he said, “You can travel with me and I will personally instruct you how to write.”

Some days later, one of the leaders, one of the senior devotees, Hansadutta, he wanted to begin his world saṅkīrtana party, and he asked Srila Prabhupada if he could have me to go with him on his party. And Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes.” I was a little disappointed that I wasn’t going to travel with Srila Prabhupada and get personal instructions on how to write but I had faith that whatever Srila Prabhupada did was ultimately the best for all concerned. So I accepted the decision to go with Hansadutta.

We are talking about a period of time before computers. We are talking about a period of time in India when even typewriters were rare. If you needed some document typed, you’d have to go to the court and find someone outside the courtroom to type your document. The method of writing was pen and paper. So when I got the instruction from Srila Prabhupada to write, I went out and bought some lined paper and pens. But travelling with Hansadutta, there was not much time. It was a very busy schedule we had, going to Agra and Aligarh. And then we got a telegram, Hansadutta Prabhu got a telegram from Srila Prabhupada saying that, “We are planning a big pandal program in Bombay. Come with party immediately.”

So we all packed up and came to Bombay. In Bombay, Shyamasundara Prabhu was the temple president. He had a meeting with everyone to divide up the duties and he asked me to collect advertisements for the souvenir, to raise funds for the pandal program. I told him that Srila Prabhupada had instructed me to write as my main business. Shyamasundara Prabhu said, “You can write anytime but this is a special occasion. One time we can go into any man’s office in Bombay and ask him to give an advertisement for the souvenir and we need to get advertisements to raise funds for the pandal. So do this now and you can take up your writing later.” So I thought that what Shyamasundara Prabhu said made sense and I also knew that Srila Prabhupada wanted us to cooperate with our authorities so I agreed.

Then some days later Srila Prabhupada arrived and as usual he came into his room, all the disciples filled up the room, and he would glance around the room at each disciple, maybe exchanging some few words. Then he came to me and he said, “So, Giriraj, how is your writing going?” I was completely flustered. I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to speak but nothing clear was coming out. So Prabhupada said, “Okay, we will discuss later.” Then a little later he called for me—it was just him and me in the room—he said, “So, what about your writing?” I was very anxious—it means in anxiety—because I wasn’t sure if I had done the right thing. But I explained what Shyamasundara Prabhu had said and how it made sense to me and I also mentioned how Srila Prabhupada wanted us to cooperate with our authorities and he wanted me to collect so I thought I should cooperate. I asked Srila Prabhupada, “Did I do the right thing?” Srila Prabhupada replied, “One can suspend temporarily the order of the spiritual master but one can never neglect it.” And then he gave his own example, “Like me, my guru maharaja also instructed me to write, but I am so busy travelling in India, I hardly have time to write.” So he said, “You can suspend the order of the spiritual master but you can never neglect it.”

So here Srila Prabhupada says that:

CONCLUDING WORDS (continued)

I could not, however, immediately take up his instructions to preach, but I took his words very seriously and was always thinking of how to execute his order, although I was quite unfit to do so.

In this way I passed my life as a householder until 1950, when I retired from family life as a vanaprastha. With no companion, I loitered here and there until 1958, when I took sannyasa. Then I was completely ready to discharge the order of my spiritual master. 

COMMENT

Srila Prabhupada has described how he would have dreams in which the spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura would come to him and call him to follow him. Srila Prabhupada would wake up in anxiety because he would think, “Oh, guru maharaja is calling me to follow him. He wants me to preach. He wants me to leave my family.” And Srila Prabhupada was in a panic because he was thinking, “How can I leave my family? How can I live alone?” Then one of Srila Prabhupada’s godbrothers, another disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, His Holiness Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Gosvami Maharaja, encouraged him that, “You should take sannyasa. You cannot really take up the order of Guru Maharaja to preach unless you take sannyasa.” And when that godbrother passed away in 1968 Srila Prabhupada gave a very nice talk about him saying how that godbrother had forced him to take sannyasa and then he said, “Actually, he did not force me to take sannyasa. My guru maharaja forced me to take sannyasa through my godbrother.”

So this is another instruction that a sincere disciple can receive instructions from his spiritual master through others. Srila Prabhupada took it that, “My guru maharaja forced me to take sannyasa through my godbrother.”

I had one exchange here that suggested the same idea. At the time Srila Prabhupada was staying upstairs in his new quarters and he was very ill. He was not meeting anyone, he was hardly speaking, he was hardly eating and no one was allowed to see him. Tamal Krishna Goswami was Srila Prabhupada’s personal secretary and so he would sit in the front room and beyond the front room was the library room. So that door was closed. And then inside was Prabhupada’s quarters and all the doors were always kept closed. And all the devotees were told to speak very quietly so as not to disturb Srila Prabhupada. 

I came to report to Tamal Krishna Goswami and he gave me some checks and the bank deposit slip and told me to write out the deposit slip and deposit the checks in Srila Prabhupada’s account. So, at the time I had, not only then even now, but at the time I had my false ego, but I was calculating, I was trying to be practical, I was calculating, so I said to Tamal Krishna Goswami, “I am the temple president, there is so many things I can do that others cannot do but there are others who can make the deposit. So why should I make the deposit? There are others who can make the deposit.” Meanwhile Srila Prabhupada pressed his buzzer to call us, so we were elated because, “Wow! Prabhupada’s ringing the bell. We get to see Srila Prabhupada,” which was very rare even for his personal secretary.

So we went around, rushed into the room, and offered our obeisances. Then Srila Prabhupada looked at me and said, “If the spiritual master wants you to go the bank and you refuse, where is the surrender.” Now this was a very mysterious incident because as I have mentioned, there were two rooms between where we were and where Srila Prabhupada was and the doors were closed and we were speaking in hushed tones. We were whispering because we didn’t want to disturb Srila Prabhupada. So at the time I thought Srila Prabhupada must have read my mind although later, when I described the incident to our godbrother Tejyas Prabhu, Tejyas Prabhu gave the opinion that Srila Prabhupada had highly acute senses and that he could hear something that no one else could hear. We could be whispering, no one else could hear it, but because of his highly attuned senses, he could have heard the discussion.

But, in any case, the real point is not that Prabhupada knew that I was arguing with Tamal Krishna Goswami; the real instruction came in the statement, “If the spiritual master asks you to go to the bank and you refuse, where is the surrender?” Now for years I took it that and I think it is the correct understanding that ultimately Srila Prabhupada is asking me to go to the bank through Tamal Krishna Goswami. I was thinking we are both godbrothers, yes, he was a little more senior, but we are both godbrothers, he can’t really tell me what to do, and I am the temple president and I have my authority. It means that I am my own authority as the temple president. But Srila Prabhupada was saying that, “If the spiritual master asks you to go to the bank and you refuse, where is the surrender?” He wanted me to understand that he could be giving me orders or instructions through others that the orders or instructions didn’t have to come through him directly, and he manifested that mood in relation to his godbrother Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Gosvami Maharaja that, “My guru maharaja forced me to take sannyasa through my godbrother.”

CONCLUDING WORDS (continued)

After he passed away, I started the fortnightly magazine Back to Godhead sometime in 1944 and tried to spread the cult of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu through this magazine. After I took sannyasa, a well-wishing friend suggested that I write books instead of magazines. Magazines, he said, might be thrown away, but books remain perpetually. 

COMMENT

Here is another example, he took the advice of his friend very seriously because his friend’s advice was in support of his spiritual master’s instruction to him.

CONCLUDING WORDS (continued)

Then I attempted to write Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Before that, when I was a householder, I had written on Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā and had completed about eleven hundred pages, but somehow or other the manuscript was stolen. In any case, when I had published Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, First Canto, in three volumes in India, I thought of going to the USA. By the mercy of His Divine Grace, I was able to come to New York on September 17, 1965. Since then, I have translated many books, including Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Teachings of Lord Chaitanya (a summary), and many others.

In the meantime, I was induced to translate Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta and publish it in an elaborate version. In his leisure time in later life, His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura would simply read Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. It was his favorite book. He used to say that there would be a time when foreigners would learn the Bengali language to read the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. The work on this translation began about eighteen months ago. Now, by the grace of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, it is finished. In this connection I have to thank my American disciples, especially Srimad Pradyumna dasa Adhikari, Sriman Nitai dasa Adhikari, Sriman Jayadvaita dasa Brahmacari and many other boys and girls who are sincerely helping me in writing, editing, and publishing all these literatures.

COMMENT

So he translated seventeen volumes in eighteen months. That is one volume a month. No one can do that. No ordinary human being can do that and while it was happening Srila Prabhupada was chiding us like anything for not bringing out the books. He had the manuscripts ready but the books were not being published. So he told Ramesvara Prabhu who was the head of the BBT in Los Angeles that he wanted all these volumes published in four months. Only maybe two or three had been published so there were fourteen volumes left. Ramesvara using material calculation said, “It is impossible.” Srila Prabhupada replied, “Impossible is a word in a fool’s dictionary.” Then Ramesvara said, “Well, what if we can’t do it?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Disqualified.” In other words, “If you can’t do it you are not qualified to be in charge of the BBT and we will have to find someone else.”

So they surrendered to the order. It said that when the spiritual master gives an instruction, the power to execute the order comes with it. And the devotees totally surrendered to the instruction. They reorganized the BBT and they were working day and night, hardly eating or sleeping, and they did it. 

Here too, it is not exactly the same, but is very similar, Srila Prabhupada had the design for the temple and he kept on complaining that the work was going too slow. So I was bringing people from the construction line to meet Srila Prabhupada and finally I brought Mr. J. L. Raheja who was a big builder in the suburbs. Srila Prabhupada showed him the plans, blueprints, and he said, “I want this temple complex finished in six months. Do you think it can be done in six months?” Mr. Raheja said, “Yes.” So Prabhupada said, “Okay.” Now, it is a long story but ultimately it was built in two years and eight months and during that process we felt that we were doing nothing. Prabhupada was constantly asking us, “Why is it going so slow? Why is it going so slow? Why is it going so slow?” Now, when people hear that this huge temple was built in two years and eight months, they think, “That is really fast. How could you build it so quickly?” But in Srila Prabhupada’s presence it was not fast—it was way too slow.

What I am saying is that Srila Prabhupada could do things that no human being could do and he gave us instructions that were beyond our capacity, but if we surrender to his instructions and try our best sincerely with intelligence, we could do things that would be very difficult for ordinary people to do.

Now we come to the penultimate paragraph and this is revolutionary so please listen with rapt attention.

CONCLUDING WORDS (continued)

I think that His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura is always seeing my activities and guiding me within my heart by his words. As it is said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, tene brahma hṛdā ādi-kavaye [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.1.1]. Spiritual inspiration comes from within the heart, wherein the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His Paramātmā feature, is always sitting with all His devotees and associates. 

COMMENT

So we all accept that Krishna is in the heart. It is a basic instruction in the Bhagavad-gītā: sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo, but here Srila Prabhupada says that his translation of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta was guided by his spiritual master within the heart. Now of course Srila Prabhupada received the instruction to write in English from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and he kept that instruction in his heart, but here Srila Prabhupada seems to be saying more that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura is actually sitting in his heart as one of the associates as Supersoul within the heart and from within the heart he can give active, dynamic guidance. 

Now this subject is discussed in the Fourth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in relation to the disappearance of the spiritual master. It is actually a metaphor that a king and his wife entered the vānaprastha-āśrama and they went into the forest and the king died leaving his widow alone. So figuratively the king is the spiritual master and the widow is the disciple. After the king died, an old friend came to the widow and the old friend who came in the form of a brahman is considered to be the Supersoul or a representative of the Supersoul. 

So, there is a lot of discussion how one can get guidance from the spiritual master after the disappearance of the spiritual master. The widow was ready to enter into fire—sati—and Srila Prabhupada explains that this means that the disciple should be ready to lay down his life for the mission of the spiritual master. When the disciple is ready to take up the order of the spiritual master or the mission of the spiritual master without any personal consideration or personal gain or loss, one is ready to lay down one’s life to execute the order of the spiritual master or in other words he would rather die than fail to execute the order of the spiritual master. At that time the spiritual master appears to the disciple to give him instruction.

CONCLUDING WORDS (continued)

It is to be admitted that whatever translation work I have done is through the inspiration of my spiritual master, because personally I am most insignificant and incompetent to do this materially impossible work. 

COMMENT

There was another time when Srila Prabhupada was being interviewed by a newspaper reporter in America and Prabhupada had published so many books in such a short time. So Srila Prabhupada was saying that actually he didn’t write the books but actually Krishna wrote the books. The newspaper reporter was a little confused of what does that mean that Krishna wrote the books. One of Prabhupada’s disciples wanted to make it easier for the reporter to understand, so he told the reporter that actually what Prabhupada means is that Krishna gave him the intelligence to write the books. And Srila Prabhupada said, “No, Krishna wrote directly.” Srila Prabhupada would read his own books. Any ordinary author, as soon as he writes a book, that is the end of it, he doesn’t read the book that he wrote. He’ll go on to the next book. But Srila Prabhupada would read his own books. So what author reads his own books? Only if the subject is transcendental will an author read his own books. 

Sruta-kirti Prabhu went into Srila Prabhupada’s room when Srila Prabhupada was reading Kṛṣṇa book. In his spare time he was reading Kṛṣṇa book and Srila Prabhupada said that, “These books are so wonderful. If you just read this book Kṛṣṇa, you can become completely Krishna conscious.” And then he said, “Not even the whole book, if you read just one chapter you can become completely Krishna conscious.” And then he said, “Not even one chapter, if you read one page you can become completely Krishna conscious. Not even a page, if you read just one paragraph you can become completely Krishna conscious. Not even a paragraph, if you read just one sentence you can become completely Krishna conscious. Not even a full sentence, if you read just one word you can become completely Krishna conscious,” because these books are Krishna. They are written by Krishna or Krishna’s pure devotees and they are Krishna. You are associating with Krishna. By associating with Krishna you can become fully Krishna conscious which is what we are meant to do.

CONCLUDING WORDS (continued)

It is to be admitted that whatever translation work I have done is through the inspiration of my spiritual master, because personally I am most insignificant and incompetent to do this materially impossible work. I do not think myself a very learned scholar, but I have full faith in the service of my spiritual master, His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. If there is any credit to my activities of translating, it is all due to His Divine Grace. 

COMMENT

Prabhupada is not taking any credit for himself. He is giving all credit to his spiritual master.

CONCLUDING WORDS (continued)

Certainly if His Divine Grace were physically present at this time, it would have been a great occasion for jubilation, but even though he is not physically present, I am confident that he is very much pleased by this work of translation. He was very fond of seeing many books published to spread the Krishna consciousness movement. Therefore our society, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, has been formed to execute the order of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura.

COMMENT

So, we come back to the theme of the order of the spiritual master. Srila Prabhupada began by saying that he translated Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta under the authorized instruction of his spiritual master. Now he is saying that he formed the International Society for Krishna Consciousness to execute the order of the spiritual master and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. And what order? The order to print and distribute books. There are other orders of course, but specifically Prabhupada is focusing on the order to print and distribute books.

CONCLUDING WORDS (continued)

It is my wish that devotees of Lord Chaitanya all over the world enjoy this translation. . .

COMMENT

The same thing, we shouldn’t just distribute the books but we should read them. We should relish them, we should enjoy them, we should make ourselves one with them

CONCLUDING WORDS (continued)

. . . and I am glad to express my gratitude to the learned men in the Western countries who are so pleased with my work that they are ordering in advance all my books that will be published in the future. On this occasion, therefore, I request my disciples who are determined to help me in this work. . . 

COMMENT

We are all disciples, śikṣā disciples, some dīkṣā, śikṣā disciples.

CONCLUDING WORDS (continued)

On this occasion, therefore, I request my disciples who are determined to help me in this work to continue their cooperation fully, so that philosophers, scholars, religionists, and people in general all over the world will benefit by reading our transcendental literatures, such as Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports to Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta dated November 10, 1974, at the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, Hare Krishna Land, Juhu, Bombay.

COMMENT

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta ki jaya!
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust ki jaya!
Hare Krishna Land ki jaya!
Gaura-bhakta-vrnda ki jaya!

So it is very good that today is Ekādaśī because we don’t have to worry about prasāda. [laughter] We can follow Srila Prabhupada’s instruction or Rupa Gosvami’s instruction that on Ekādaśī one should spend the day and night chanting and hearing the glories of the Lord, but still, I do not want to cause any disturbance, so I will limit the questions and answers according to my discretion.

If any of you, because it is a very important subject and it a very special day, you can raise your hands.

Premanjana dasa: My question is that I have never seen Srila Prabhupada—most of us—so how can we have a strong attachment to him? How can we love him? How can we serve him more and more and how can we know more about him since we’ve never seen him physically present? But we have his books with us of course. But it makes a difference. Physical presence and books make a difference. There is a difference because suppose we are talking and at the same time I am reading your books, so that makes a difference.

Giriraj Swami: That is true. So your question is how to increase your attachment for Srila Prabhupada?

Premanjana dasa: Right now the disciples of Srila Prabhupada are also present but maybe after twenty years or thirty years there will be no one. So who will guide us who have never seen Srila Prabhupada?

Giriraj Swami: Like you said, there is the books, there is the recorded talks and conversations, there are also books about Srila Prabhupada, like Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta. Everyone should read Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta. Yadubara Prabhu has put together a very nice video series called Following Srila Prabhupada with all the live footage of Srila Prabhupada, and some [?] where possible otherwise memories from devotees who were personally there. That is also very important. Another disciple of Srila Prabhupada, Siddhanta dasa, he is brought out a series Remembering Srila Prabhupada where disciples share memories of Srila Prabhupada. And then you hinted that the direct disciples of Srila Prabhupada who’ve imbibed his mood and are following his instructions, by their association you can get a sense of Srila Prabhupada.

You are right, there is a difference between books and physical presence. In fact there is a verse in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā, that by serving the book Bhāgavata or the person bhāgavata one gets the same result. One disciple asked Srila Prabhupada if one is better than the other and Srila Prabhupada said the person bhāgavata is better than the book Bhāgavata because the person bhāgavata can catch you by the ear. [laughter] Of course the theme of the Concluding Words is that the book Bhāgavata is better because the books continue perpetually. So in that sense the book Bhāgavata is better, but in another sense the person bhāgavata is better.

Devotee [2]: Maharaja, the question is, first of all it was a very nice kṛṣṇa-kathā. He says that we know that we have to give importance to the instructions of the spiritual master or the orders of our authorities which sometimes seem to be different and contrary to each other. And we are always fearful if we try to follow the orders of our spiritual master that in fulfilling the orders of the authority we somehow fail to follow the orders of our spiritual master. Then what?

Giriraj Swami: This is a very intelligent question and the situation that the question asks about took place in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Svayambhuva Manu, the first Manu in this period of time had a son named Priyavrata. Narada Muni instructed Priyavrata that he should not marry but he should dedicate himself fully to spiritual life. But Svayambhuva Manu wanted Priyavrata to marry and take charge of the kingdom because Svayambhuva Manu himself wanted to retire to enter vānaprastha-āśrama, and he needed Priyavrata to manage the kingdom.

Now both were authorities. Not only was Svayambhuva Manu Priyavrata’s father, but he is also one of the mahājanas, one of the twelve mahājanas—Svayambhuva, Narada, Sambhu. Manu is one of the twelve. So, Priyavrata was in a dilemma because he received one instruction from one bona fide authority and he received a different instruction from another bona fide authority. What to do?

So it was a very tense situation. Then Lord Brahma came personally. Lord Brahma is also a mahājana—Svayambhuva, Narada, Sambhu, Kapila, Manu. And he was superior to both because he is the father of Manu and Narada. So he told Priyavrata that he should marry because his father wants to renounce his material responsibilities and dedicate himself to God. Priyavrata was in a dilemma. 

Srila Prabhupada explains that the disciple must be intelligent enough to reconcile different instructions from bona fide authorities—from the spiritual master and the grand spiritual master—because Narada was his spiritual master, Brahma was his grand spiritual master. So what did Priyavrata do? Externally he got married and took charge of the kingdom but internally he remained detached like what we read earlier and discussed earlier. Although he could not immediately execute the order to renounce material responsibilities, he always kept it in his heart and he was abiding the time when he could take up the order, and then when he was sufficiently old and there were others to take charge of the kingdom, he and his wife who had faithfully assisted him, they renounced their material responsibilities—in a way it is all spiritual—and fully absorbed themselves in God. The Bhāgavatam describes that at the end Priyavrata went back home, back to Godhead and his wife also went back home, back to Godhead.

So, as Srila Prabhupada said, the disciple has to be intelligent enough how to reconcile different bona fide instructions from different bona fide authorities, and somehow fulfill the demands of all the instructions in all the authorities. Hare Krishna.

Devotee [3]: Hare Krishna. In your lecture, throughout you used the title Srila before Prabhupada. That honorific title is most of the time missed by various other lecturers. So this shows a deeper love and reverence. Others also are supposed to use Srila before Prabhupada. That is my comment or question.

Giriraj Swami: I feel more comfortable using the word the honorific Srila. In the early days of the movement we used to call Prabhupada Swamiji, but then he commented that Swamiji is not a very good term. So then we started to call him Prabhupada but then the Srila got added. So it became Srila. So I am used to that culture and I feel it is more respectful but I would hesitate to judge someone on the basis of whether he says Srila or doesn’t say Srila, but it is more respectful.

Devotee [4]: Hare Krishna. Maharaja, in this particular description you talk about surrender, that how Prabhupada emphasized regarding surrender. In the Bhagavad-gītā there is a verse that in surrendering one should not fear. So, can you explain that. Even Priyavrata was fearing in his surrender. So, is there a role of fear in surrendering or one should not at all fear? How it should be?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, Krishna says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja: “Surrender unto Me.” Ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo: “I will free you from all sinful reactions.” Mā śucaḥ: “Do not fear.” So we should not have fear that Krishna will not protect us if we surrender to Him. We should not have fear that if we are following the orders of Krishna and perhaps neglecting some mundane duties. We should not fear that we are doing the wrong thing or that we will suffer. But we should be afraid of deviating from Krishna’s instructions or, in another words, we should be afraid of maya. So that type of fear is healthy but we should not be afraid that if we surrender to Krishna we will lose. We should not have that fear. But the surrender has to be genuine which means there must be sincerity and intelligence. Surrender to Krishna doesn’t mean that we sit down and do nothing and wait for Krishna to put food in our mouth. Yes, we do depend on Krishna for our necessities, but we do our duty and depend on Krishna for the result. If we neglect our duty in the name of depending on Krishna then is not actual surrender. We do our duty and depend on Krishna. Only when one is in the paramahamsa stage is he considered completely transcendental to one’s duties in varṇa and āśrama and then he can just chant Hare Krishna and just depend completely on Krishna. But preachers like Srila Prabhupada, even if they are on the most advanced stage, but when they take responsibility to preach, they act like madhyama-bhaktas to set the example for others.

Devotee [5]: The discussion is when we want to follow the instructions of our spiritual master wholeheartedly but seeing [ the involvement] of ISKCON, where there are many gurus who have many disciples, we see that sometimes there is politics which is involved and there is partiality. So how should we respond to such a situation?

Giriraj Swami: In The Nectar of Devotion Srila Prabhupada writes, Rupa Gosvami writes that The Nectar of Devotion or Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu will deal with the principles but not with details. Srila Prabhupada gave the example that to follow the orders of the spiritual master is a principle. That one’s spiritual master’s orders differ from another spiritual master’s orders is a detail. In other words it happens that one’s spiritual master will give a different instruction and another spiritual master will give another instruction, but that is a detail, but the principle is that we should follow the order of the spiritual master.

Now coming back to the other example of Priyavrata, Srila Prabhupada is the founder-acharya and either the spiritual master or grand spiritual master of the devotees, so we should follow Srila Prabhupada, but then Srila Prabhupada also told us we should follow his representatives. That is also following Srila Prabhupada. Like Srila Prabhupada told me to write and Shyamasundara Prabhu told me to collect, but Prabhupada also said to follow his representative. So Shyamasundara was his representative—he was the temple president—so by following him, I was following Srila Prabhupada’s other instruction to follow his appointed representatives. So somehow we have to reconcile these things. 

As far as partiality, that is material. Why should that bother you? 

Devotee [6]: [inaudible]

Giriraj Swami: In principle the authority should be impartial. They shouldn’t favor their disciples. But my question to you is why does it bother you? Like Bhakti Tirtha Swami, he was born in a black body, and he told Srila Prabhupada that, “Srila Prabhupada, ISKCON is a spiritual movement. It is supposed to be a spiritual movement but I hate to say it but there is prejudice even in ISKCON. They have prejudice against black devotees.” And Srila Prabhupada replied that, “If you identify yourself as a black devotee and get disturbed by the prejudice against black devotees, you are the same as they are.” You understand?

Devotee [6]: [inaudible]

Giriraj Swami: You mean you get fear if you don’t follow your spiritual master’s order completely?

Devotee [3]: He is saying a spiritual master gives an instruction but then because of some kind of politics and prejudice we are not able to follow completely so it leads to a fear in the heart. So what should we do in such a situation?

Giriraj Swami: To be given contradictory instructions by superior authorities is a difficult situation to be in. The best thing would be if the superior authorities discuss between themselves and they together come to a conclusion for you that they both agree upon. So one approach—again I don’t know how practical it is—would be you say, “Guru Maharaja, you are telling me one thing and the other authority is telling me something else. I am in a very awkward situation.” Or you tell the other authority, “You are telling me something and my guru maharaja is telling me something else. I am in a very awkward position. So the two of you please discuss what you want me to do and when the two of you agree, let me know what you want me to do and I will be happy to do whatever you tell me.” That would be the best thing. Otherwise you are caught in between. I don’t know how practical it is but that would be ideal.

Question: In relation to your point about Srila Prabhupada’s hearing your discussion with Tamal Krishna Goswami you had a realization in Srila Prabhupada’s final days where you had a desire in the heart and Srila Prabhupada was very ill and reciprocated. Can you elaborate on this incident?

Giriraj Swami: I can but I will not do so now because this question is not really on the subject of the class or is it?

Devotee: Like here, there was some whispering going on, so the people said maybe Prabhupada could hear and in that case without even. . . the spiritual master knows the desire and even at that stage he could reciprocate.

Giriraj Swami: That is true but what is the question?

Devotee: I don’t know the exact incident.

Giriraj Swami: I don’t know what incident you are referring to but devotees would have hundreds of incidents, thousands of incidents how the spiritual master reciprocated without the disciple saying anything. It happens all the time.

Thank you very much.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta ki jaya!

Gaura-bhakta-vrnda ki jaya!

Nitai-Gaura premānande Hari-Haribol!