You Cannot Cheat Krishna

Giriraj Swami: When I walked into the temple room, His Grace Badri Narayana Prabhu made a very strong statement, “You cannot cheat Krishna.” And that statement shook me up to such a degree that I cannot think of anything else. So, I thought that I would speak about cheating Krishna. As Tukarama Prabhu mentioned, I was based in Bombay, in Juhu, when it was pretty much just a fishing village and anyway a lot of challenges. But one day someone approached me with a copy of Time Magazine and we didn’t read anything other than Srila Prabhupada’s books then, and this person showed me an item in the people section and the first line was, “There is trouble stirring in nirvāṇa ,” and it went on to say that when Swami Bhaktivedanta, the founder of the Hare Krishna movement, was asked for his opinion about guru Maharaja Ji. Now, I don’t know if you know who guru Maharaja Ji is or Balayogeshwar, but from the context you will get an idea. When asked about guru Maharaja, Swami Bhaktivedanta, the founder of the Hare Krishna movement said, “He is cheating the people but when he meets Krishna he will find that Krishna is an even greater cheat than he is and Krishna will take everything away from him.”

Now, I contemplated that statement for quite some time. It seemed to me as if the whole philosophy of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was contained in it, that the living entities are parts and parcel of Krishna, they are persons and Krishna is a person, but Krishna is the Supreme. And whatever ability we have Krishna has the same ability greater than we do. And janmādy asya yato, stated in the Vedānta-sūtra and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Krishna is the origin of everything, even the origin of us. So whatever exists in us exists in Krishna in its original form. So the propensity to cheat which exists in us exists originally in Krishna but in Krishna it exists in its perfect state and to an unlimited degree.

Now, it just so happens that some years later I learned that what Srila Prabhupada predicted came to pass. It may sound odd to you but this Balayogeshwar or Guru Maharaja Ji was appointed God or Bhagavān by his mother, but guru Maharaja Ji fell in love with an American disciple of his and wanted to marry her, and his mother did not like that. So there was a cover story, the cover of The Illustrated Weekly of India which is like a very popular magazine in which his mother announced that Balayogeshwar was not Bhagavān, was no longer Bhagavān, and that she had appointed her other son as Bala-Bhagavan, Bhagavān. And then there was another incident where guru Maharaja Ji had a big program, I think in the Houston astrodome, and our devotees went there to distribute books. So, his organizers didn’t like the devotees distributing books there and they, I guess, made some complaint, police complaint, or something about the devotees distributing books, and when it went to court somehow the judge found that the devotees were innocent but that guru Maharaja Ji’s people were guilty.

So this is just to give a little purport to Badri Narayan Prabhu’s statement, that you cannot cheat Krishna. In fact, if you try to cheat Krishna you will find that Krishna’s greater cheat than you are and He will take away whatever you falsely claimed. Now, this is a very quaint story, humorous story, but unfortunately it has application to all of us because we come into the material world because we want to take the place of Krishna. Kṛṣṇa bhuliya jīva bhoga vāñchā kare, when the living entity forgets Krishna and wants to enjoy independent of Krishna, that means take the place of Krishna. Triveda Prabhu referred to the last verse of the Fifth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā which Srila Prabhupada calls the peace formula. And the formula is bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ, that Krishna, we have to realize that Krishna is the enjoyer, not us. Same thing that my two godbrothers have been saying, that we are not the enjoyers, Krishna is the enjoyer. Sarva-loka-maheśvaram, He is the proprietor, we are not the proprietor, but He is the proprietor. And suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ, He is the best friend of the living entities, we are not the best friend. Now, the first two are pretty gross, that we want to take Krishna’s place and be the enjoyer and the proprietor. But even wanting to be the best friend, independent of Krishna is a subtle way of wanting to take the position of Krishna.

Well, I will tell my own personal little story, but one day I was chanting at the seaside, and in a way going deep in my japa. And somehow that illusion that people are happy, that people are enjoying at the seaside, there were all sorts of birds there; sandpipers, and seagulls, and then there were pelicans they fly very high and then they swooped straight down into the water. And there were people, some surfers, and from a certain point of view it looked like a very idyllic scene. But somehow that illusion was removed and I could see that everyone was suffering. That pelican they are so photogenic, they are hungry, they are looking for food, and I guess they see something in the water and they think if they just dive straight down into the water they will get something to eat. And that probably causes some impact on their body, even expert divers there is impact especially coming down from so high at such a speed. So, it was really getting to me how everyone was suffering, all the birds, and I noticed there was a little ladybug, landed on my hand, I looked down and usually think, Oh, ladybug is so cute, orange and little spots, and it seems like a lucky thing. I think that ladybug is suffering, that living entity within that body is suffering. And it was really becoming overwhelming, and I was feeling, If I keep feeling for the suffering of all these creatures I am going to have a nervous breakdown, this is too much, I can’t take it anymore.

And then suddenly I got the insight. I guess sometimes you hear things and you even repeat them but under certain circumstances you actually have an insight of how that really applies in life. And I just had that insight that Krishna, he loves all these living entities more than I do. I might have some glimmer of some feeling for them but he really loves them. So much so that as the paramātmā He accompanies the jīvātmā from body to body, life after life, body of a bird, or the body of a fish, or the body of dolphins, we also have dolphins there, the body of a human being, that is how much He loves them. And not only does He love them and know them intimately but He can actually help them, I might have some feeling for the ladybug, or the pelican, or the surfer, but what can I actually do to help them? But Krishna can actually help them. And then I had the thought, something that I heard so many times and probably repeated so many times, that the real friend is not someone who poses as the friend but the real friend is someone who directs you to your real friend who is Krishna. And so that idea of being the best friend or the savior or whatever, that is also a subtle contamination. If we think we can really be someone’s friend outside of directing them towards Krishna and helping them towards Krishna, in a way where it is just another manifestation of wanting to take the place of Krishna which is cheating.

So, these topics that we have been hearing tonight are very purified because as our other speakers have said the whole material energy conspires to create the illusion in us that we are the enjoyers, we are the proprietors, we are the controllers, and they cater to that weakness; the advertising, manufacturers, marketers. And to really understand our position we have to be reminded and that is why we regularly read the Bhagavad-gītā, read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and especially in the association of devotees who live the life of the Bhāgavatam. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and our acharyas in general in the scriptures, they tell us that one should learn the book of Bhāgavata from the person bhāgavata, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s personal secretary Svarupa Damodara, learn book Bhāgavata from person bhāgavata, not from professionals. Same with the holy name, one should not hear the holy name from professionals who chant as a livelihood, but one should hear from pure devotees who have dedicated their lives to the service of Krishna and His devotees. Then that hearing, that reading, that discussion, will be very potent. And therefore Srila Prabhupada formed the International Society for Krishna consciousness, to give people that association, to give us that association. And when we take advantage of it our hearts become cleansed, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam, and we become happy in our constitutional position, otherwise it is artificial, it is like carrying a huge burden.

When I first joined I heard that Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual master Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura had said that when you come to Krishna consciousness you become relieved of the burden of enjoying. That for me it was such a burden in the university because especially the weekend, a big competition, who is going to enjoy more? Who is going to go to the best restaurant? Who is going to go to the best show? Who is going to go out with the best girl or the best guy? And it was a burden, I didn’t feel comfortable in that competition. And when I heard that, wow, the relief. I don’t have to compete to enjoy, just be in my natural position. Of course, I didn’t really know what my natural position was until I met Srila Prabhupada and the devotees, but then I learned it is to serve Krishna and to serve humanity by helping them to come to Krishna. And then that was a big relief.

So, it is a relief to be with all of you because when we go outside the door we can be bewildered, this is no question, there is a lot of maya, but it is real shelter to be in the association of devotees, in the presence of the deities, and engaged in the processes of chanting and hearing and remembering Krishna.

Hare Krishna.