Giriraj Swami’s Vyasa-puja in Bombay – Talk by Giriraj Swami

Giriraj Swami: It is very nice to see all of you together and happy and enthusiastic. Krishna consciousness is actually joyful life of associating with devotees and thinking about Krishna, chanting and hearing and remembering, and serving Krishna and His devotees. So we should try to gather as much as possible in temples or in homes or in parks or in schools wherever we get the opportunity to chant and dance and speak and hear about Krishna. The more we absorb our mind and senses in devotional service the more our hearts will be purified. The only thing that stands between us and a beautiful sweet sublime ecstatic life are the dirty things within the heart, identifying with the body, “I am this body. Everything in relation to this body is mine to enjoy. I am the enjoyer. I am the proprietor. I am the controller.” All these misconceptions within the heart or the mind stand in the way of our eternal, beautiful, spiritual life. The more we engage in chanting and hearing and rendering selfless service, the more the dirty things are cleansed and our natural taste for Krishna consciousness awakens. And that taste or the pleasure we experience from chanting and hearing about Krishna and dancing, even cleaning for Krishna—any service—it becomes very blissful and in comparison the pursuits and so-called pleasures of the material world are very dull and pale.

So we just have to dedicate time and place ourselves in the right association, place ourselves in the association of pure devotees who have no other interest but to advance in Krishna consciousness and bring others to Krishna consciousness. Chant, chant, chant, and hear, hear, hear, serve, serve, serve, study, study, study, pray, pray, pray. Just keep fully absorbed. At the same time we are in the material world and we have to deal with the material world but we should do so not in the mood of wanting to enjoy thinking that we can be happy through sense gratification or mental speculation but just to create a peaceful and as far as possible congenial situation in which to engage in devotional service in Krishna consciousness because we have to keep the body and soul together. We have to keep the body fit for serving Krishna and His devotees. So we shouldn’t neglect the body. We should be regulated in our activities. As the Bhagavad-gītā says, one who is regulated in matters of eating, sleeping, and recreation can attain the mercy of the Lord, can attain peace from the pangs of material existence.

So we should do what we have to do but try to keep it simple, not too complicated. If our activities that are meant really just to keep the body and soul together so that we can serve Krishna, if those activities become too extravagant or too complicated then when it is time to chant and hear about Krishna, our minds may be distracted or disturbed by other thoughts. So we have to do what is required to keep the body and soul together not just for ourselves personally but if we are in gṛhastha-āśrama we have to think about our family members also and give charity also. Giving in charity to Vaishnavas is meant to purify the activities of earning money that are engaged in naturally by householders and when it comes to making money we do things that are not completely honest but that is understandable. In business that is understandable but that process should be purified by spending the money for Krishna which means our family lives should be organized so that all of the family members be Krishna consciousness and then the money we spend on the family is also ultimately directed towards Krishna’s service. And also giving money or offering service for the propagation of Krishna consciousness for the spread of Krishna consciousness to others.

So every aspect of our life should be somehow connected with Krishna and His devotees and their service. And we should really put our hearts into what we do. It is possible to chant and even read and not allow Krishna to enter deeply in our hearts. We may harbor material attachments and we are holding on to these attachments in our heart. Externally we are chanting and we are reading and going to programs but internally we actually don’t want to surrender fully to Krishna. So it is like having a split personality. Therefore it is an offense to maintain material attachments, to not have complete faith in the holy name and to maintain material attachments. We need to have faith that the holy name which is Krishna can fulfill all of our desires better than we can fulfill them by our own independent efforts. We have to have that faith and not hold onto these attachments but have faith that all of my desires and even the desires of the people connected with me—husband, wife, children, parents—even their desires will be fulfilled in the best way if they surrender to Krishna, if we all surrender to Krishna and give ourselves fully to the process of chanting and hearing and rendering service. And then we will experience real happiness on a different platform, on a spiritual platform that will not be hampered by changes in material circumstances. We are in the material world and in the material world there are always changes of circumstances. Sometimes the market goes up and sometimes the market goes down and we have to tolerate the changes and continue with our duty but we should experience pleasure on a different platform and that will carry us beyond the dualities of happiness and distress, so-called happiness and distress of the material conditions. 

And in that effort we need association, strong association, people who are themselves, committing themselves seriously to the process of spiritual progress and who will support us in our efforts and who will give us good advice if we need and who will hear if we need someone to listen to us and encourage one way or the other. And encourage doesn’t always mean to tell us you are doing good. Encourage means to encourage us to do whatever is best for our spiritual lives and in a way our material lives if we can make such a distinction. Material life means the conditions in which we engage in devotional service. Yes, they should help us by giving us appropriate advice and ultimately it all depends on our sincerity. If we are really sincere to serve Krishna and His devotees, they will give us guidance—teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te. Krishna is in our heart and when He sees that we are always engaged in devotional service with love or at least enthusiasm He will give us direction from within the heart how to progress towards Him and that depends on our sincerity.

On different occasions devotees have asked Srila Prabhupada how to become sincere because sincerity is such an important factor. Really everything depends on our sincerity. One answer that I heard many years ago when I first joined is Srila Prabhupada said, “You become sincere by following all of my instructions however big or small.” And later I heard other answers: you become sincere by desiring to become sincere. You become sincere by associating with sincere devotees. So associating with sincere devotees is very important and very effective.

A few days ago I posted a little description of Mother Isa with a link to His Holiness Niranjana Swami’s article about his visit to Mother Isa and some video clips of her chanting. She is a very sincere devotee. Just by associating with her, by watching the video clips and also reading about her I felt enlivened, I felt inspired that this is how I should live with such sincerity, this is how I should chant with such sincerity. 

So that association of course if we can have the association face to face, sit in the same room and hear the devotee speak, chant with the devotee, serve the devotee in different ways, that is best, but even otherwise we can get their association by reading their words and even by seeing them in video form or live on the Internet. But we really want to keep association with sincere devotees. We want to be sincere ourselves both for our own sake, for our own spiritual advancement, and for the sake of others who are connected to us so that by our sincerity we can genuinely help them. We want to help them but according to our sincerity we will be able to help them more or less.

So I am pleased to see all of you and certainly it was a very nice day but it is a challenge. We have festivals, we come together and we chant and dance and sing and speak, and it is very purifying and enlivening, and these festivals are very, very important. We should have them as often as possible or participate in them at the temple or wherever—in pandals, in halls, wherever—and at the same time spend time chanting and hearing, japa, and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books, somehow or the other fill our time as much as possible with Krishna.

I recently heard one lecture by Srila Prabhupada in which he was saying, “Chant for Krishna, dance for Krishna, clean for Krishna, cook for Krishna, write for Krishna, sell books for Krishna—everything for Krishna—and when you are tired take a little snap.” I think snap is Prabhupada’s word, it is combination I think it is a combination between sleep and nap. So he said, “If you are tired take a little snap.” And he said not too much but just enough. “And then if you are hungry take little prasāda and always be engaged in Krishna. Krishna, Krishna, Krishna. And that is our life.” And he said, “If you have time, read books. We have so many books.” And he said, “You have time. You do have time. So read the books. So many books to read, so much to learn, so much to apply.” We should read the books in the mood of learning how to improve our lives. We should be in the mood of prayer that, “What will the Bhagavad-gītā tell me today that I need to know, what will Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam tell me today that I need to know.” It is not students in school, they read the books to know the answers so they can pass the test, but they don’t really necessarily think of how to use the knowledge in their lives and a lot of so-called knowledge has no relevance.

I met a doctor the other day and he was saying after ten years of studying he knew so much but he had never treated a single patient. He was a chiropractor. And he said, “Now ten years later he is treated so many patients but he is forgotten so much of what he learned in school, all the chemical reactions, biochemical reactions and theoretical knowledge he had learned in school. If he had to take that exam again he would probably fail but his ability to help people is much greater because he has ten years of practical experience helping people.

So what Srila Prabhupada has given us in his books and other devotees have given us in their books is practical realized knowledge that we can apply in our lives and we should apply it. Sometimes devotees read to get some information because they have to give class or they have to answer questions and that is also very good because somehow or other if we absorb ourselves in this subject it will purify our minds and hearts. But really we should be reading with the idea that we should learn something and of course repeating it to others is beneficial to us and to them but not to, as Prabhupada would say, show off our learning. Being a devotee doesn’t mean you have to be a learned scholar. Being a learned scholar and being a devotee can be two different things but in the mood of devotion if we read, if we study, if we discuss, if we repeat, then it is a very purifying process and important part of our service, our advancement and our service.

So yes, as Prabhupada was saying, chant for Krishna, dance for Krishna, eat for Krishna, cook for Krishna, write for Krishna, distribute books for Krishna, and if you have time, study, and then he said, “You do have time. There is no question. You do have time.” So you should read the books. It can be a matter of practice. It can start small even if you don’t have the habit of reading then. . . [break in the Skype call]

Maybe the Skype gods are telling me that I shouldn’t talk too much but anyway just to conclude because it is also true, a very, very sincere devotee His Holiness Giridhari Swami has been staying with us here, with three very nice devotees from the Philippines and he is scheduled to leave in four minutes and as a matter of etiquette and duty I should be there to at least see them off. But yes, just to conclude what I was saying, associate with sincere devotees and be sincere in your own practices and Krishna will help. Krishna and Krishna’s associates will help. We just have to make that effort and they will help. Hare Krishna.