Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s Appearance Day

Giriraj Swami: But then Gurudas Prabhu actually found it in a magazine in the British museum. And then Srila Prabhupada was happy to find it and he read it and explained one thing that I will mention. So it begins:

Adore ye all,
The happy day.
Blessed than Heaven,
Sweeter than May.
When He appeared at Puri,
The holy place,
My Lord and Master
His Divine Grace.

So sweeter than May. In India, May is the hottest month. But Srila Prabhupada commented that he had read, that in the western countries May is a good month. So even then, many years before Srila Prabhupada came to America, he was thinking of his audience; his preaching field. And after that, when he took sannyasa, although the people in the math where he accepted sannyasa were basically Hindi speakers but he spoke in English, again preparing himself for his future mission or acknowledging his future mission.

Oh! my Master
The evangelic angel.
Give us thy light,
Light up thy candle.
Struggle for existence
A Human race,
The only hope
His Divine Grace.

So everyone in the material world, who has not surrendered to Krishna, is struggling for existence. And it is actually a big problem. On the most basic level, of course there is no problem. As Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said, “There is no scarcity, the only scarcity is of Krishna consciousness.” But because of forgetfulness of Krishna or rebelliousness against Krishna, we imagine that there is scarcity, we imagine that we have to work hard just to exist. And people have so much stress, so much anxiety. There is so much sickness and a lot of the sicknesses is related to stress and anxiety, struggle for existence. A human race, the only hope is divine grace. So the only way to become free from the hard struggle for existence is to accept the lotus feet of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and the instructions on how to surrender to Krishna and actually take shelter of Krishna.

Of course, the same philosophy is there in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. But the basic point is, when we become envious of Krishna and turn away from Him, we come into the material world and face the hard struggle for existence. And if by the mercy of a spiritual master like Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, we can realize the futility of rebelling against Krishna and decide instead to surrender to Krishna, then the whole phantasmagoria of the hard struggle for existence is removed.

Misled we are
All going astray,
Save us Lord
Our fervent pray,
Wonder thy ways
To turn our face
Adore thy feet
Your Divine Grace.

So, this phrase, “our fervent pray” is very significant because ye yathā māṁ prapadyante, if one surrenders to the Lord, so the Lord reciprocates. So we may pray officially because we have heard that we should pray or because the other devotees are praying, so we think we should also pray. But our prayer will have effect when we actually feel that we are misled and we are going astray. And with great fervor we pray, save us. Any ordinary person can understand the mood of another person’s voice. I have been listening to Bhurijana Prabhu’s series on the mind and the holy name. And he gives the example of the merchants in Loi Bazaar. ‘Hare Krishna Prabhu. Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna Prabhu. Come, come.’ So they are saying Hare Krishna, but they are not saying Hare Krishna. They are not calling out to Krishna. What do they say? I want your money. That is what they say, “Hare Krishna Prabhu! Hare Krishna.” But what they are really saying is I want your money. I want your money. So even us, ordinary human beings can understand what is the person really saying. And so what to speak of Krishna, He knows what we are really saying; when we chant or mouth any prayer or a philosophical statement, and even without the words being articulated we can understand the urgency of the call.

His Holiness Niranjana Swami told the story of one child. His father was doing deity worship in the Boston temple. And the boy would always go here and there and play, and sometimes cry. But sometimes the crying is just to get attention; crying can be done in different ways and for different purposes. And similarly, calling the name. It may not be serious but the child might just want attention or something. So this one time, the boy, he was calling out, no one took it very seriously because he would always do that. Then he started to call out louder and louder. And maybe something is happening, maybe not; no one was really sure. And finally, he started crying out hysterically. And then we are, “Okay, this is serious.” He is not just trying to get attention or something like that. And then they rushed to where the cries were coming from. And it turned out that he had locked himself in the toilet, he couldn’t get out. Now, in a way that is like our position, we are stuck in the stool house of material existence, and we cannot find our way out on our own. But if we are actually enjoying, seeing the good qualities in it, we might call out in a half-hearted way. And then we won’t call out, we might think of how we could adjust to being in that situation. But when we really want to get out and really desperate to get out then we really cry out. And then the saintly persons and the Lord, they hear the urgency of the prayer and they come running. So,

Misled we are
All going astray,
Save us Lord
Our fervent pray,
Wonder thy ways
To turn our face

So yes, going astray we have turned away from Krishna, we have turned away from our real life and we are going astray further from Krishna. And so, wonder thy ways, it is not easy to turn a person’s face back towards Krishna, not at all easy. It takes great conviction and intelligence and sincerity and mercy.

Forgotten Krishna
We fallen souls.
Paying most heavy
The illusion’s toll.

So a toll is like a tax. And when we come into the realm of illusion, when you turn away from Krishna, that is where you are. You are in the realm of illusion. The reality is that Krishna is the Lord and master. He is the enjoyer, He is the proprietor, He is the controller, and we are meant to serve Him. That is reality and when we are in our constitutional position, we are free. But when we turn away from Krishna or when we become envious of Krishna and want to take His place, we turn away from Him. And we try to cultivate the illusion that we are the center and everyone should serve us and worship us. And in that illusion, we pay a very heavy toll. I mean, in one level, birth, death, old age, and diseases, so many. And people, actually, they may not think of it consciously, they may not articulate it or even if they think it they may not articulate it because it sounds so extreme. But that is the underlying psychology—I want to be God, I want to be the center, I want everyone to serve me, I want everyone to love me, I want everyone to worship me.

As Bhurijana Prabhu says, it is like underneath it all, people, they really want everything to stop and they want people to hear them, and what they want to say is, “I am the center, you should serve me.” It is like there is so much activity and people just say, “Stop, I have an important announcement to make. I am the center. You all should serve me; you all should satisfy me.” And everyone, all the how many billions of human beings now? Five billion human beings, each one underneath it all is feeling, Stop. I have an important announcement to make. I am the center, you should serve me, you should love me, you should worship me. And so with all these conflicting announcements it is very hard to have any peace and harmony. So bitterness, frustration, conflict, these are all illusion’s toll.

Darkness around
All untrace,
The only hope
His Divine Grace.

But yes, in this darkness, kṛṣṇa—sūrya-sama; māyā haya andhakāra, that Krishna is light and maya is darkness. Where there is Krishna there can be no maya. So ‘darkness around’ because we have turned away from Krishna, so it is all darkness; untraced—we cannot trace anything, we can’t trace our way out of the darkness; ‘the only hope His Divine Grace.’ So this is the same thing; when we really are tired of paying illusion’s toll, when we are tired of groping in the darkness, then we can pray. Our only hope His Divine Grace. When we pray in sincerity, in a desperate mood, that urgent mood then there is immediate reciprocation.

Message of service
Thou has brought.
A healthful life
As Chaitanya wrought.
Unknown to all
It is full of brace.
That is your gift
Your Divine Grace.

So the first four verses depict the position of the fallen soul in the material world and the urgent appeal to His Divine Grace to save the soul from that hard struggle for existence. And now, so there is that natural tendency, after one realizes that one is suffering if one doesn’t know about Krishna consciousness, the natural tendency is negation, just to give up one’s individual existence or merge and become one with some impersonal light or enter into the void or some negative approach to escaping the hard struggle for existence. But what Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura brought was very positive, a healthful life. Yes, the material life is diseased; so it is not like suicide, but no, it is a healthful life instead. Healthful life of service. And that service should be unmotivated and uninterrupted; ahaituky apratihatā yayātmā suprasīdati, in order to satisfy the self. We want satisfaction, and we can get it through pure devotional service, if it is ahaituky, apratihatā, without any interruption. Interruption, what would interrupt it? It is the, ‘Excuse me, I have an important message,’ that interrupts it. Instead of Krishna being the center, we want to be the center. Instead of working to please Krishna we want to please our senses or our mind. So uninterrupted and unmotivated. We don’t do it to get some personal reward but we do it just to please Krishna. Then this next verse, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura especially appreciated. And Srila Prabhupada commented that after that when Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, he would point out this verse to his leading disciples. How Srila Prabhupada had written so nicely and understood his mission.

Absolute is sentient
Thou hast proved.
Impersonal calamity
Thou hast moved.
This gives us a life
Anew and fresh.
Worship thy feet
Your Divine Grace.

Had you not come
Who had told,
The message of Krishna
Forceful and bold,
That is your right
You have the mace.
Save me a fallen
Your Divine Grace.

So Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura conveyed the message of the Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and the previous acharyas, forcefully and boldly. And he says, ‘That is your right, you have the mace.’ What is a mace? A club, yes. So sometimes we need to be hit with a club because we are so hard headed and stubborn that we need that. In another place Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said that sadhu means to cut. So the sadhu, he exposes our weaknesses, our material desires. And they come marching out of our heart like animals. And he stands there ready to cut these material desires and attachments. And so people, they may not like that. Yes, they may not like to be exposed, well they can’t help being exposed before the sadhu, but they may not like that he is trying to cut their material attachments. And he said, “Therefore, sometimes a sadhu has enemies.” And he had many actually because he challenged many artificial people who assumed positions of artificial superiority over others, like the caste-Gosvamis, caste-brahmans without really being qualified. And then on down the line,

Had you not come
Who had told,
The message of Krishna
Forceful and bold,
That is your right
You have the mace.
Save me a fallen
Your Divine Grace.

But he is not thinking. It is true that others needed that, but Srila Prabhupada in his humility is saying that he needed it, so please use your mace and save me.

The line of service
As drawn by you,
Is pleasing and healthy
Like morning dew.

Refreshes, the same idea that Krishna consciousness is a new life, a pleasing life, a healthy life, refreshing life.

The oldest of all
But in new dress

This is also very important. It is the same message of Krishna that is thousands of years old, millions of years old but in a new dress. He presented it according to time, place, and circumstances. He had these huge theistic exhibitions and dioramas and newspapers and all sorts of new ways, novel ways of presenting the same message.

The oldest of all
But in new dress
Miracle done
Your Divine Grace.

Yes, it is a miracle to be able to present Krishna consciousness so powerfully and so ingeniously so that people’s faces actually are turned back to Krishna. That is a miracle and he did that. And Srila Prabhupada took that power from his spiritual master and came to the west, and he did that miracle which was even more miraculous. And yes, from the west to all over the world. So we are indebted to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura in so many ways, and of course, especially for empowering, inspiring and empowering Srila Prabhupada. And when we read say, Śri Bhaktisiddhānta Vaibhava and really understand Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s mission and programs, we find so much of what Srila Prabhupada did, almost everything that Srila Prabhupada did, can be traced to his guru maharaja’s strategy or program for presenting Krishna consciousness. And yes, it is really because of him that we are all here today.

Hare Krishna.

Devotees: Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Any questions or comments?

Devotee: You mentioned how you read the story of the child by praying and calling out with that fervent sincerity. So how do we, if we don’t have that, how do we get that?

Giriraj Swami: Well, we are in a very precarious position. Like Srila Prabhupada said, “We should chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra like the genuine cry of a child for its mother,” means the child is lost, the child is in need. So, we are lost and we are in need. But we don’t call out because, I mean, if we don’t call out it is because we think that we don’t need Krishna. We think that we can do it on our own, we can be successful on our own and we are not aware of how dependent on Krishna we are, how precarious our position is. And so we can remember that by reading and by hearing which is like reading. And also, it helps to be with devotees.

I could feel that in New Dvaraka. There is just a few of you in a household or one or two or three devotees. It is like everyone else is an illusion and they are engaged in the hard struggle for existence. And they are thinking, they are speaking, they are acting, and all reinforces the bodily concept of life, that it is like that line that Prabhupada used to quote, “Where ignorance is bliss, it is folly to be wise.” So, you think there is something wrong with you because they are all working for money, they are all working for sense gratification, they are all whatever they do; eating in restaurants, going to movies and taking trips and different things. So you think that is real and that this is illusion. Not illusion, but yes, in a large community of devotees you actually feel like ‘Wow, it is like a whole world.’ Unless you are quite advanced, I mean quite advanced, you may not get that feeling like there is a whole world in your house. So you feel like you have to go out into the world. And then when you go out into the world, it is maya. In a large community, it really is like a whole world, and they are all devotees and they are all trying to become Krishna conscious and to not succumb to the illusion that are commonly shared by ordinary people.

Yes I guess, a very strong person he can; like Srila Prabhupada coming all alone, but most people they need that association and support. And it is an advantage to live in a community of devotees. Circumstances are such that we might not, and there can also be austerities involved in living in the community of devotees. But that feeling like that society out there, that material society isn’t the only society. There is another society of devotees of Krishna conscious people. Okay, they have their society and their values, the devotees also have their society and their values. So we can have our own society, we can be in our own community. Whereas, if you are alone, it is not that easy to have that feeling. Of course, you can get it by going, spending time with them. But, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam, you should all be conscious of these miseries. You should be consciously conscious of your power to speak; we depend so much on our powers, the powers of the body. But those powers can be taken away at any time; the power to speak, power to think, like a stroke, power to lift your hand and move your. . . it could all be taken away.

In fact, as Srila Prabhupada said, “It is all on loan.” It is like you are renting a house and it is not yours, you can’t stay there. And so you have to vacate. So all the body, all the faculties of the body and the mind, eventually we will lose them at the time of death. But even before then they can be taken away at any time. So, sometimes there is that expression, ‘chant as if your life depended on it.’ Actually, our life does depend on it, real life does depend on it. So I guess by hearing, that is the main way and then just soberly analyzing the actual situation. And when you realize how precarious your position is and how helpless you are to really do anything on your own without Krishna’s sanction or mercy, then you chant with more feeling, cry out with more feelings. As Kunti prayed, You are the property of the akiñcana, of those who are on the path of material progress they cannot approach You with feelings. So when we think that material things can give us shelter, then we think we don’t really need Krishna because we have those material things where we can work to get those material things. But when we realize that the only shelter is Krishna and we need that shelter, then we can approach Him with feeling.

Devotee: So but it is different in some ways, than saying that chanting in the mood of service. And I can relate more to ‘Krishna, please save me from the calamities of this precarious world which is just so difficult.’ I can really give myself more to that than Krishna I am Yours, please engage me in Your service.

Giriraj Swami: Well, the two go together actually. It is brought out very nicely in the poem. That, save me, but what does that mean? It means, you are picked up out of the illusion and put in the reality. But yes, praying like what you said first, that is good, that is good. Even Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said that. It is bhavāmbudhau, horrible ocean of nescience. It is like you are drowning in the ocean, first you want to get saved. Then you realize, well you are not going to just stay on the boat forever, you will be taken to the land and you’ll have a life there. Yes, Revati?

Devotee: It is the service that saved me. We are praying to be saved; it is the same as praying for service.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that is true what you said about service, how important service is. That is also part of the association of devotees, it is the opportunity to serve. That is very important. Yes, very, very, very important. You can dry up without service. And if you try to chant, and the chanting is a prayer for service. So yes, that is very good.

All right, Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Hare Krishna. Thank you, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Thank you!