SB 10.14.38 – Be Conscious of Both Krishna’s Opulence and Sweetness

Giriraj Swami: 

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

We read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Ten, Chapter Fourteen, “Brahmā’s Prayers to Lord Kṛṣṇa,”

TEXT 38

jānanta eva jānantu

kiṁ bahūktyā na me prabho

manaso vapuṣo vāco

vaibhavaṁ tava go-caraḥ

TRANSLATION

There are people who say, “I know everything about Kṛṣṇa.” Let them think that way. As far as I am concerned, I do not wish to speak very much about this matter. O my Lord, let me say this much: As far as Your opulences are concerned, they are all beyond the reach of my mind, body and words.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

This translation is quoted from Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, Chapter Twenty-one, text 27.

COMMENT

There is no further purport so I will read the next verse.

TEXT 39

anujānīhi māṁ kṛṣṇa

sarvaṁ tvaṁ vetsi sarva-dṛk

tvam eva jagatāṁ nātho

jagad etat tavārpitam

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

In his Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrīla Prabhupāda has quoted Lord Brahmā as follows: “My dear Lord, although You are the Supreme Lord of all creation, I sometimes falsely think that I am the master of the universe. I may be master of this universe, but there are innumerable universes, and there are also innumerable Brahmās who preside over these universes. But actually, You are the master of them all. As the Supersoul in everyone’s heart, You know everything. Please, therefore, accept me as Your surrendered servant. I hope that You will excuse me for disturbing You in Your pastimes with Your friends and calves. Now if You will kindly allow me, I will immediately leave so You can enjoy Your friends and calves without my presence.”

The words sarvaṁ tvaṁ vetsi sarva-dṛk are very significant here. Lord Kṛṣṇa knows everything and sees everything, and therefore Lord Brahmā did not need to remain in Vṛndāvana to maintain his personal loving contact with the Lord. In fact, as the creator of the universe, Lord Brahmā was somewhat out of place in the simple, blissful atmosphere of Vṛndāvana, where Lord Kṛṣṇa was exhibiting His supreme opulences in herding cows, enjoying picnics, playing games, and so on.

Upon seeing the intense love the residents of Vṛndāvana had for Lord Kṛṣṇa, Brahmā felt unqualified to remain there. He was not eager to give up the Lord’s association, but he felt it better to return to his personal devotional service in Brahmaloka. Somewhat embarrassed and unhappy over his foolish attempt at bewildering the Lord, Brahmā preferred to resume his transcendental loving service rather than try to enjoy the Lord’s presence.

TRANSLATION

My dear Kṛṣṇa, I now humbly request permission to leave. Actually, You are the knower and seer of all things. Indeed, You are the Lord of all the universes, and yet I offer this one universe unto You.

COMMENT

So we are coming to the end of the Fourteenth Chapter of the Tenth Canto which is also the conclusion of Krishna’s boyhood pastimes. Until now He has been given the charge of the calves which means that He stays close to the Vrindavan village. But from Chapter Fifteen, He enters into a new age and then He is given the charge of the cows. That occasion is celebrated as Gopastami and then He and His cowherd boyfriends take the cows far from the village of Vrindavan to Govardhana Hill and other places and inaugurate the dynamic of meeting and separation. When He goes away with the cows He is separated from the residents of the village of Vrindavan who meditate on Him in His absence. But He also has the opportunity being far from the village to have secret meetings with the young gopīs at Govardhana Hill, Radha-kunda, and different places.

So, leading up to this event, Lord Krishna had been enjoying a picnic lunch with His cowherd boyfriends and Lord Brahma, the creator or chief engineer of the universe, was astonished. And so he descended on his swan carrier and stole the cowherd boys and calves and kept them in a cave under the spell of some mystic slumber. When Lord Krishna considered this situation, that if He were to return to Vrindavan alone without the other cowherd boys and without the calves then the mothers and other family members of the cowherd boys and even calves would feel anxious. What happened to their children? So Krishna expanded Himself into a duplicate set of cowherd boys and calves, and it is described just as every individual has his unique bodily features, no two people are the same, each individual has his unique mannerisms, tastes, styles, and individual qualities, and activities in every respect. So Krishna became exactly like each of them. And the parents and other family members and friends could not detect that there was any difference between them and their original children.

But there was a difference internally. Up until this pastime, the residents of Vrindavan had felt more love for Krishna than for their own children and the cows had felt more love for Krishna than for their own calves. But during this one year the residents of Vrindavan who had Krishna playing the part of their children, loved their children, their so-called children the same as they loved Krishna. As many of you know, the young damsels of Vrindavan desire to have Krishna as their husband, and so yoga-māyā in the form of Purnamasi, the elderly brahmani of Vrindavan announced that, “This year was a very good year for marriages and that all the young girls should get married in this year.” And thus she arranged for all of the young girls to get married to the cowherd boys who were actually Krishna. They actually had their desire to marry Krishna fulfilled.

So, at the end of the year, towards the end of the year, there was a striking incident that took place. The cowherd men were tending the cows on top of a hill, and in the valley were Krishna and Balarama, and the cowherd boys and calves. Not the original coward boys and calves, but the ones who were expansions of Krishna. And by now the calves had grown older and they were not meant to drink the milk of their mothers, they were beyond that stage, they were meant to eat grass like older cows. So, the men were on the top of the hill with the cows, and Krishna and Balarama and the cowherd boys were with the calves in the valley. And when the cows saw the calves in the valley they broke loose and began to run down the side of the mountain. And the men became very upset because they were meant to keep control of the cows and the cows had broken loose and run down the hill. Furthermore, when they met with the calves in the valley who were beyond the age to drink milk from the mother cows, they began to drink the mother’s milk which was also very upsetting to the cowherd men. So the cowherd men, they followed down the hill feeling very angry and baffled but when they got to the bottom of the hill and met their sons who were actually Krishna, they also became overwhelmed with affection and started to embrace their sons and shed tears of love and happiness, and they forgot all about their frustration in the cows breaking loose and giving their milk to the older calves. So when Lord Balarama saw this display of affection He began to wonder what was happening. Was this the action of some demigod or some magician? What was happening? Or was it the display of His Lord Krishna’s potency?

So, at the end of this Chapter Thirteen, Maharaja Parīkṣit is also astonished because generally, people love their own children more than others children, that is natural. But here the residents of Vrindavan were loving Krishna more than their own children, and only when Krishna played the part of their children did they love their children as much as Krishna. So Srila Śukadeva Gosvami explained that everyone loves his own self most, that is also natural. And our love for ourselves will be conceived in terms of how we identify ourselves. If we identify with the body, then we will love our body and most people are in that position. They are very attached to their bodies and they will practically do anything for the sake of their bodies, their bodily comfort, their sense gratification. But Śukadeva Gosvami raises the question: Why? So then after one loves one’s body one loves the expansions of one’s body like one’s children. And then after loving the expansions of one’s body one loves further expansions of things that give pleasure to one’s body and the expansions of one’s body. But actually, although we think in terms of the body, our real love is for the soul because as soon as the soul leaves the body we don’t care for that body, that dead body. And we love the soul because it is an expansion of Krishna. So the supreme object of love is actually Krishna and it is natural to love Krishna most. We love our children and family members because they are expansions of our body and we love our body because it is an expansion of or built upon the soul, and ultimately, we love the soul because it is an expansion of Krishna. So our real love is meant for Krishna. And the residents of Vrindavan are on the platform of pure intense love for Krishna, they are the highest self-realized souls.

So Lord Brahma, after a moment of his time which was a year of earthly time, began to feel nervous that he had made a mistake in trying to steal the cowherd boys and calves in order to bewilder Krishna, this little cowherd boy and show His superiority. And when he returned to the site of the picnic one year later, Krishna was enjoying the same type of picnic with the same cowherd boys and calves except they were actually His expansions. And so Lord Brahma who had intended to bewilder Krishna Himself became bewildered by Krishna and he was thinking, What is happening? Then he went back to check on the cowherd boys and calves that he had stolen and he saw they were still there, and then he came back but then he saw the same ones with Krishna. So he became bewildered and then Krishna manifested His Vishnu form, He and the cowherd boys manifested themselves as Vishnu, Lord Brahma’s worshipable Lord, and displayed all of Their mystic opulence. And thus Lord Brahma became bewildered but he also became humbled and he realized that although he was playing as a small cowherd boy, Krishna was actually the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And naturally, he felt remorseful, repentant for having mistaken Krishna’s position and for having attempted to disturb Krishna’s playful, loving pastimes with His friends and calves. And so in Chapter Fourteen he offers these prayers, and the conclusion of the prayers was Text Thirty-eight.

“There are people who say, “I know everything about Kṛṣṇa.” Let them think that way. As far as I am concerned, I do not wish to speak very much about this matter. O my Lord, let me say this much: As far as Your opulences are concerned, they are all beyond the reach of my mind, body, and words.”

So this is a very powerful statement. Lord Brahma is the first created being in the universe. He is the most intelligent creature in the universe, and he is saying that Krishna’s opulences are beyond the reach of his mind, body, and words. With his mind he engineered the whole creation of the universe, with his body he performed the secondary creation of the universe, and with his words, he spoke the Vedas. But still, he says that Krishna is beyond his reach, so what to speak of us? We cannot even begin to conceive of Krishna’s opulences. As Srila Prabhupada often said, people say God is great, but how great He is? They do not know. We get some sense of how great He is from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Of course, it is a little different context but when we first went to India we met many people who said, “I know all about Krishna, Krishna is in my blood. We are born in this, you are new, we are born in this, we know everything about Krishna, you don’t have to tell us about Krishna.” That really means they don’t know much about Krishna, and they don’t have much interest in Krishna because it is not a matter of intellectual knowledge, it is a matter of association. When we hear about Krishna we are associating with Krishna and even if we hear the same thing repeated again and again and again it is always fresh because it is about Krishna and Krishna is always fresh, ever fresh. But that knowledge, “I know everything about Krishna,” is very superficial. As we know He was born in Mathura and Krishna took Him across the Yamuna to Gokula and so on.

But the Bhagavad-gītā uses the word tattvataḥ. In several places, tattvataḥ means in truth, not just superficially, janma karma ca me divyam evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ. That if one understands the transcendental appearance and activities of Krishna in truth, tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so’rjuna, he never has to take birth again in the material world but he comes to Krishna. And similarly, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yo vetti tattvataḥ., that only by devotional service, Krishna says, “Only by devotional service can I be known in truth,” tattvataḥ. So we have to serve the Lord then He reveals Himself. As we discussed last night,

ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi
na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ
sevonmukhe hi jihvādau
svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ,

that Krishna reveals Himself, the transcendental nature of His holy name, forms, qualities, pastimes, and opulences to one who serves Him. So, similarly, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti, He can be understood only through bhakti, devotional service. And as we approach Krishna through devotional service we become increasingly aware of two aspects of Krishna: His opulences, vibhave, and His sweetness.

And in Lord Chaitanya’s discussions with Srila Sanatana Gosvami, He discusses the opulences of Krishna and the sweetness of Krishna. And as aspiring devotees of Krishna in Vrindavan, we must be conscious of both. The sahajiyās, they are conscious of the sweetness but not the opulences. They are not really conscious of the sweetness in its purity but at least superficially. And therefore devotees are advised to read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from the beginning, from the first two cantos, and gradually progress to the Tenth Canto which describes Krishna’s pastimes in Vrindavan. Because if they don’t appreciate Krishna’s opulences they might think He is an ordinary person. But if we don’t get to the Tenth Canto, if we don’t come to the sweetness of Krishna, then we may be devotees of Lord Narayana in Vaikuntha, but we will not have entry into the sweet intimate pastimes that exist between Krishna and His pure devotees in Vrindavan. But we must be conscious of both as Srila Prabhupada was, as all of our acharyas were. And know that He is all pervading, He is sarvavit, He sees everything. He is with us at every moment, He is within our hearts as the Supersoul, and He is within the atom, He is in this spaces between the atoms, He is everywhere so we are never alone. And if we surrender to Him then we have His merciful protection wherever we are. Every day, we sing: ito nṛsiḿhaḥ parato nṛsiḿho yato yato yāmi tato nṛsiḿhaḥ, bahir nṛsiḿho hṛdaye nṛsiḿho. In Nṛsiṁhadeva, Krishna is everywhere: ito nṛsiḿhaḥ parato nṛsiḿho, He is here and He is there; yato yato yāmi tato nṛsiḿhaḥ—wherever I go Nṛsiṁhadeva is there; bahir nṛsiḿho—Nṛsiṁhadeva, He is outside; hṛdaye nṛsiḿho—Nṛsiṁhadeva is in my heart. Nṛsiḿham ādiḿ śaraṇaḿ prapadye—I take shelter of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, Krishna.

So we have to have that faith, otherwise, there is a disconnection between our practical lives and kṛṣṇa-līlā. We think kṛṣṇa-līlā are very nice stories, we get the children’s version and read them to our little ones, and this is all very sweet, but in our practical lives we don’t actually have faith that Krishna is with us, that He will protect us, He will maintain us. We are worried, who will protect me? Who will maintain me? How will I protect myself? How will I maintain myself? Because we are not fully cognizant of Krishna’s opulences, we are not conscious that Krishna is everywhere, all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful, and He is our best friend. Someone may be very powerful but if he is not your friend his power won’t help much. There are a lot of rich people in Texas and other places but it doesn’t do us any good because they are not our friends. Very powerful people doesn’t do us any good because they are not our friends. Krishna is the richest and the most powerful and He is our friend.

Srila Jiva Gosvami has analyzed why a person should surrender to Krishna and engage in service to Krishna, and he says that one reason is because God is great and we are small, so the small should serve the great. Another reason is it is our constitutional position, jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’, we are part and parcel of Krishna and it is the natural position of the part to serve the whole. So we should serve Krishna because it is our constitutional position. But then he says that another reason is because of Krishna’s affectionate dealings and merciful protection of His devotees, and he said that is the best reason why we should surrender to Krishna and serve Him. So when we read or hear Krishna’s pastimes in the Tenth Canto, how He protects His devotees. Throughout the Vrindavan līlā, we read about so many demons coming to attack and how Krishna protected His devotees, and in most cases kill the demons or banish them. So we should think, Oh well, if I surrendered to Krishna, if I become a devotee of Krishna I will get the same kind of protection. Not that, “Oh, these are nice stories, Krishna killing the demons in Vrindavan.” And that here I am in the material world and that is something else and this is something else. But we should think, No, all of the love that He gives to the residents of Vrindavan, I could also get that love if I become His devotee like they are. All the protection and care that He gives them I can also get from Krishna if I also surrender to Him and become His devotee. It is the same Krishna so we should hear with the consciousness that it is the same Krishna in Vrindavan, and the same Krishna in my heart, and the same Krishna within the atom, and between the atoms. And that if I surrender to Him like the residents of Vrindavan, I will get the same affectionate care.

And there is no question that, “Oh, they are very exalted, who am I? They are so high, I am so low.” This is our constitutional position. It is true that our pure existence, our original spiritual nature is covered by this body with senses and mind, but that is not us, we are the soul within and that soul is by nature pure and beautiful and sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, full of love. And we are meant, we exist to serve Krishna, to give Krishna pleasure, to increase Krishna’s pleasure. And because each of us is individual eternally, each of us will have our own unique way of serving Krishna and pleasing Him. And if we don’t realize our eternal relationship with Krishna, Krishna will be deprived, if you will, He will be deprived of that unique personality who we are and that unique service that only we can offer in our purified, liberated state. So we are meant for this. Krishna wants us to come back to Him so we just have to follow the process.

We just have to follow the process, but actually we do, because we are ordered to do so, but it is actually the mercy of Krishna and the Vaishnavas that makes us advance. It is not our efforts; our efforts are not capable of really making us advanced. But our effort to follow the process will move Krishna and His devotees to be merciful to us and they will pull us towards them. They will pull us out of this material entanglement, material quagmire and pull us to them which we cannot do on our own, but they will do it for us. But we have to make the effort to follow their instructions, to give ourselves to them, to the process of serving them, and then they will do the rest. So, faith, I mean ādau śraddhā, a lot of faith, but real faith, ādau śraddhā, real faith, real faith in Krishna then we can really surrender and really take up the process, and then everything else will follow.

Hare Krishna.

Yes, Narottama, the uttamā of the Naras, best of men.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:52:12].

Giriraj Swami: Good question.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:52:21]. My question has to do with us going to Vrindavan. It is mixed with an example that I have read recently from one of [Unintelligible 00:52:38] books.

Giriraj Swami: Are you talking about Bhauma Vrindavan or Goloka Vrindavan?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:52:43] the atmosphere was just amazing, just amazing, and I just naturally developed this intense desire to always want to be there, to go there, it was just a remarkable experience for me in my spiritual life. But then after his disappearance, after our guru Maharaja’s disappearance, I had gone back to Vrindavan but I didn’t feel the same way. I felt very much devoid of that taste, that experience, even though I was in an association with many advanced devotees. And then recently I read this history of Srila [Unintelligible 00:53:55]. I was wondering if you could comment on that and maybe help me with that. To me it indicated so much dependence and importance to the guru and [Unintelligible 00:54:46].

Giriraj Swami: I am not sure exactly what your question is.

Devotee: My question has to do with taking shelter in Vrindavan and right now I am feeling devoid of that higher experience that I had at that time. So it made be offensive, so many things but I was just wondering if you had some insight into this.

Giriraj Swami: Well, we should accept whatever is favorable and reject whatever is unfavorable. And what is favorable under certain circumstances may not be as favorable under other circumstances. One practical question that comes to mind is, when you went to Vrindavan after Gurudeva left, what did you do? Because when Gurudeva was there, there were structured activities, VIHE and going on parikramā. So, it is just a thought that crossed my mind, that if you came and submitted yourself to a structured intense program such as VIHE, Vraja-mandala Parikrama, the Varshana japa retreat, the Govardhana retreat, you might experience more of that sweetness that you experienced in Gurudeva’s presence. Just my own experience of devotees who do submit themselves to that austerity, they come from many different categories with gurus, without gurus, but being forced out of your comfort zone to do things that not only do you not usually do but are not easy to do, you get special mercy.

Of course, one’s own guru has a very powerful influence on one’s consciousness, one’s mood, but it is a transcendental process and we are dealing with an eternal relationship between an individual soul and the Supreme soul, there really cannot be any impediment or lack. That said, [Unintelligible 00:59:09], it may not be the right time. I can’t say, but I would definitely say that there could easily be a difference in the experience of someone who comes and enters a very structured intensive program as opposed to coming and certainly chanting, hearing, associating with advanced devotees, visiting holy places, praying, that will be there. It is not clear from your question that if you want to go back and try to experience more of what you experienced earlier or if you are thinking you shouldn’t go back like Narottama dasa Thakura.

But Narottama dasa Thakura, of course, he is the acharya so we can learn from his example, but he was chanting the pure name. If you chant the pure name you are in Vrindavan wherever you are, but it is really to the extent that we can experience Vrindavan through our chanting of the holy name, would probably be proportionate to the quality of our chanting. Of course, it could be said of going to Vrindavan as well, your ability to experience Vrindavan is in proportion to your surrender to Vrindavan. But according to shastra, the value of your devotional practices is multiplied in the dhāma. So, you can chant in the dhāma, it is not like you go to the dhāma or you chant, you can chant in the dhāma. But it is individual, it is a matter of time. Maybe, for now, you are meant for another type of service or another type of internal work, and maybe it is just not the time.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:02:28] I still noticed there is a difference going [Unintelligible 01:02:41] so what is coming into my consciousness, into my mind is that to increase whatever I did particularly or to increase, like you said, take the extra trouble, do something more, to me it is at this point really doing something for others. What I am experiencing is that always I was doing something for myself in the sense that I was going to the courses for myself, I was going on the parikramā for myself, I was serving for myself. And now when I am duplicating that and it seems to be devoid of that taste, it was an initial freshness and excitement of a wonderful experience. So what is coming to me now from hearing from you is that if I was more doing it for others or to help others or to in some way extending that mercy I am feeling, that would be something more. Because when we were we constantly chanting, constantly reading, constantly worshiping.

Giriraj Swami: That is a very good point, the mood of service. I have also experienced that even at japa retreats that if I am in the mood of myself it is not the same but if I am in the mood of service to others. So that is good, maybe you should take groups, take groups to Vrindavan. You are a great storyteller, you can take your own groups, introduce them, of course, to advanced devotees who are there and also take them and tell them about the pastimes and the philosophy, maybe that is the next step.

Devotee: Thank you [Unintelligible 01:05:23].

Giriraj Swami: Well, taking care of your children is your service. I agree with you, it has happened that devotees have thought that it was more important to do service in the temple and then they neglected their children and their children suffered, that could be a misconception. But it is your service to take care of your children so they become good devotees and good human beings. There is a very powerful letter that Srila Prabhupada wrote to one mother who had been engaged in deity worship but it was hard for her to do the deity service because of the child and Prabhupada wrote that, “Your service now is child worship, not deity worship.”

Gopal?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:07:46]. You speak about having faith in Krishna in your everyday lives [Unintelligible 01:08:04]. In any case, I was wondering, should a devotee take those steps of allowing Krishna’s shelter as his best friend only in accordance to his actual realization or growth? And spiritual opportunity even though he may not have that complete faith, should he make decisions that is expecting [Unintelligible 01:08:51] because he still hasn’t developed complete faith or love for Krishna, but should be still more or less. [Unintelligible 01:09:05] and things like that and we choose to allow ourselves to become overwhelmed with these ideas rather than to accept more intense practice in our sadhana bhakti or [Unintelligible 01:09:32].

Giriraj Swami: Well, generally, it is a gradual process, that gradually we develop more faith in Krishna, gradually we have more taste for chanting and hearing about Krishna and associating with devotees, and we gradually lose taste for more mundane activities and more mundane association. But as Srila Prabhupada said, being a devotee doesn’t mean a challenge to the laws of nature. He gave the example that if you are in the jungle and you know there is a tiger, then you shouldn’t go there thinking, Oh, I am a devotee, Krishna will protect me. It is not a challenge to the laws of nature. So we do our duty, it is a very important instruction in the Bhagavad-gītā, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we do our duty. If we are in grihastha ashram, it is our duty to earn a living and support our family members. But our main aim should be to be Krishna conscious. And there is also atyāhāraḥ. There are many obstacles that we create, atyāhāraḥ prayāsaś ca prajalpo niyamāgrahaḥ, so over-endeavoring for material things that are hard to achieve, that is one of the items that, ṣaḍbhir bhaktir vinaśyati, it is one of the items that destroys our bhakti. Eating too much or collecting too much those are items that can spoil our devotional service.

It may not be a sudden, abrupt change, but there should be a gradual progress. We should perceive a gradual progress, developing more faith in Krishna, being in less material anxiety, having more taste for chanting and hearing and serving in the association of devotees, losing taste for mundane association and activities. That is gradual. But at a certain stage there can be a quantum leap where all those little increments add up and then you reach a stage where you go past feeling anxious. It doesn’t mean you don’t . . . like Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s associates, Srivasa Thakura would not work, he just did not want to work, and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “Srivasa Thakura, you are a grihastha, you have to work. How will you maintain your family if you don’t work? If you are not going to work you should take sannyasa.” And Srivasa Thakura replied, “No, I am not fit for sannyasa.” And Mahaprabhu said, “Well, then you have to work.” He said, “No, I can’t work either.” So then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “Well, then if you don’t work how will you maintain your family?” And then Srivasa Thakura clapped his hands three times. Mahaprabhu said, “Well, what does that mean?” And he said that, “Krishna has promised to provide what His devotees need, and if for three times He doesn’t provide then, (forget what he said) “I will drown myself in the Ganga.” And then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “I am very pleased with your mood of surrender and I am Krishna Himself, I am Vishnu the husband of the goddess of fortune, and I promise that from this day forth the goddess of fortune will always reside in your home, and neither you nor your family members or your servants or your pet animals will ever know any want or scarcity.”

So yes, it is a matter of faith, and one should act according to one’s position. One shouldn’t be reckless, one shouldn’t imitate someone on a higher platform, but at the same time if we don’t push ourselves to go beyond our present position, how will we go further? But push means, it is not like pushing in the usual sense, push means to associate with more advanced devotees, to go deeper in Krishna consciousness.

Devotee: Also in part with that question, you can tell that one achieves the level of faith maybe as Srivasa Thakura. Is it considered then that without that [Unintelligible 01:17:15] if you are still committing some [Unintelligible 01:17:19]?

Giriraj Swami: Well, the offense is to not have complete faith in the chanting of Hare Krishna and to maintain material attachments even after understanding so many instructions on the matter. So if you are chanting with the mood to be purified, okay, we have material attachments, but if you are chanting in the mood to be purified, that you want to be free from those attachments, that is not an offense. They are there but you are chanting to be freed from them, you are praying to be freed from them. But if externally you are chanting but internally you are holding on to them, then that is an offense. And being freed from the attachment doesn’t mean that you can’t deal with whatever it is, it just means that you will deal with it without attachment, say whatever it is, a wife, a child. 

Now, if there is no material attachment and you are motivated out of pure love then you will actually be able to deal with them better. It doesn’t mean that we reject them but that is yukta-vairāgya, anāsaktasya viṣayān, that the first element in yukta-vairāgya is anāsaktasya viṣayān, without attachment for the objects of the senses. So it is really when we are detached that we can use things properly in Krishna’s service or engage things properly in Krishna’s service, and that applies to wife, husband, children, other family members, and associates. Because then you can really think of what is good for them. As long as you have material attachments, lust, as long as you have lust, you are thinking, What can I get from the person? You are serving them but it is not pure service, you are serving them but you really want to get something for yourself from them. But when you are really free from material attachment and you are more attached to Krishna and Krishna consciousness then you can relate to them purely out of real love and care for them without it being mixed with you are trying to fulfill your own desires through them. So it will be good for your relationships, not only with Krishna but with everyone.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:28:37].

Giriraj Swami: It is important to chant sixteen good rounds so you should try to organize your life in such a way that you can. But sometimes circumstances demand your attention in other areas so there are many details that each individual has to work out for himself or with his family members or with friends who have been in similar situations. But Prabhupada emphasized not making one’s life too complicated. It is a very subtle question, sometimes someone could be ambitious but it is at the expense of his spiritual practices. I think the story that Neela Madhava Mataji told is very instructive because for a period she was involved in material activities but the material activities were meant to be an investment in her spiritual development. And then, in the end, she got some quite immediate reciprocation and encouragement. But she was conscious while she was making the endeavor, although she was lamenting that she was conscious, that she was making the effort for her future spiritual development.

So it is an individual matter. Some devotees have consciously decided, “This is how much I need, I don’t need more. So I will earn what I need and keep my life simple so I can have more time and energy for my spiritual practices.” But it could be that someone feels he can really do more. In the long run he can be better situated spiritually if he makes more money. And if one is really sincere in that and keeps that goal in mind, that would also be a valid course. But to be in a mode of panic and feeling overwhelmed. That can also happen temporarily, feeling overwhelmed.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:34:05].

Giriraj Swami: Yes, you could feel overwhelmed. We all can feel overwhelmed, but we should have a sense of what we need to do to come out from being overwhelmed and we should feel like you are buried under an avalanche but gradually one by one take the rocks off so I can get out of it. So you should be pretty systematically removing the rocks and as you remove the rocks feel like you are not under such a crushing weight. There should be some. . . Yes, temporarily one could be totally overwhelmed and confused but it shouldn’t last too long.

Yes.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:35:13] so much to do and he was just crying like he was struggling to chant his rounds. He was standing there, and Prabhupada was laughing. And Prabhupada said to him, [Unintelligible 01:35:39]. So, at a certain point, it seems to be tremendous amount of mercy also, to have that load, that responsibility, but to actually muster up, using strength, I was wondering if you could comment on that because there seems to be another side of this point.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, the burden that Tamal Krishna Goswami accepted was direct service to Srila Prabhupada. And I think the main thing is with one sincerity of purpose. He was very sincere in his mood of service to Srila Prabhupada, but everything is a matter of proper adjustment because I remember once Tamal Krishna Goswami said to Srila Prabhupada in Juhu that he knows the Bombay municipal codes better than the verses of the Bhagavad-gītā. And Prabhupada said, “That is not good.” So, Prabhupada was always doing that with us individually and collectively, steering us in one direction and if we are going too far then he would bring us back the other way. So we always have to do that. We might get, in a matter of speech, too absorbed in our own chanting and hearing and neglect other things and we have to pay more attention to the other things, and we might get too absorbed in the other things and neglect our chanting and hearing and then we have to come back to that. So it is always, it is not like a straight line, it is not so simple. It is like sailing a boat; you catch the wind and it takes you that way but then you have to slightly change your tap and come back that way, and so it is a little zigzag, but it is going in the desired direction ultimately, you always have to make adjustments.

All right, thank you very much.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Hare Krishna.