Receiving the Lord’s Merciful Glance

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. So, how many of you attended the Ratha-yatra festival yesterday? Well, the festival of Lord Jagannatha is very old, it dates back millions of years. And the mercy that Lord Jagannatha bestows upon the fallen souls during the time of Ratha-yatra is incalculable. It is said that waves of bliss emanate from Lord Jagannatha’s smile during the Ratha-yatra, and devotees experience it by His mercy.

Srila Vasudeva Ghosh, one of the associates of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who was a great musician and poet, has written, “Jei Gaura, Sei Krishna Sei Jagannatha,” meaning that the same Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the same Krishna, is the same Jagannatha. They are all the same in different forms. But for us devotees, the Lord is most easily available in the form of the holy name. The holy name is also Krishna, ‘bhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ, the name and possessor of the name are the same, there is no difference. So, we can have access to Krishna at any time by chanting His holy name. But as Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gītā, ye yathā māṁ prapadyante, “As people surrender to Me, I reward them accordingly.” So, if we give ourselves 100 percent to Krishna, or God, He will Himself 100 percent to us. If we give ourselves 10 percent, He will give Himself 10 percent. And if we give ourselves 1 percent, He will give Himself 1 percent.

So, the more we put into the practice of bhakti-yoga, the more we get out of it. Of course, that is generally true of anything; the more we put into it, the more we get out of it. Like doctors; the more you put into the doctor, the more you get out of him or her. Or lawyers; the more you put into the lawyer, the more you get out of him or her. But with Krishna, getting more out of our relationship with Him is especially meaningful, because our relationship with Him is eternal, whereas our other relationships are temporary. And not only that, they are imperfect. They’re within the world of duality, and therefore, they’re subject to gain and loss, pleasure and pain, and beginning and end. And whatever relationships we have in this life are forgotten in the next life, they’re illusory.

If we accept the truth of the Bhagavad-gītā, that the soul is eternal, that means that before entering the present body, the soul existed. And in our past life, we had a mother, we had a father, we had siblings, perhaps, we had a place of birth, but we’ve forgotten all of them. We have no idea who was our mother in our last life, who was our father, any of our relationships. So, they’re temporary. As soon as the body ends, they’re forgotten. So, putting time and energy and effort into our relationship with Krishna is different, because our relationship with Krishna is eternal, and it is beyond the dualities of the material world. In any other relationship, we will be disappointed, especially if we have high hopes for them, which is usually the case. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have children, we wouldn’t get married. We do have high hopes, and usually, we are disappointed.

And most of the experts in the field of relationships instruct people not how to fulfill their dreams in their relationships, but they advise people to be more realistic about what to expect from their relationships. I’m no expert at all, I haven’t been married, but I do meet and sometimes counsel people in different stages of the process, and perhaps more important, I’ve heard experts in the field counsel others on the subject. And they explain that there are different stages. This is an ordinary course. There are different stages in such a relationship, marital relationship. In the first phase, which they usually refer to as the honeymoon stage, the man is very enamored of the lady and just sees so many good qualities, and the lady is enamored of the man and sees so many good qualities in the man. Then, after a while, they begin to discover the human weaknesses in the other partner, and they become disillusioned, “Oh, I didn’t know he was like that. I didn’t know that.” Or, “I didn’t know she was like that. If I would have known that. . .” [laughter] So then, things become more complicated, and there’s usually. . . Again, I have no direct experience, but there’s usually a power struggle.

I mean, just to give a very minor example so that it remains on the lighter side, the husband may squeeze the toothpaste tube from the bottom and very neatly roll it up like a scroll, and the wife might squeeze it from the middle without any thought. So, he might think, Oh, I didn’t know she squeezes the tube from the middle, and she might think, Oh, I didn’t know he was so fussy about how you squeeze the tube of toothpaste. So then, there’s a little power struggle, where you squeeze the tube of toothpaste. [laughter] And that can be a little turbulent. But although it’s turbulent, in its own way, it’s exciting, it’s like a drama. So, it’s turbulent, but it’s exciting. Then, after a while, they realize that there’s too much drama, there’s too much pain, there’s too much conflict. So then, they compromise, they say, “Okay, we’ll get two tubes of toothpaste. You have your tube, if you want to squeeze it from the middle, you squeeze it from the middle.” “Okay you have yours, you can be as fussy as you want, you can make sure you roll it from the very, very tip of the bottom and make sure you get out every little molecule of toothpaste before you turn it.”

And, what the authorities say is that in that phase, it’s sort of like peaceful coexistence. During that period, there’s the greatest likelihood for, I hate to say it in this sacred assembly, but for a relationship with another person, because it becomes boring. Although in the second stage, there was conflict, but at least it was exciting, it was engaging, then that becomes boring.

But just to go ahead to the ideal stage, the final stage, the ideal stage is that the two parties are aware of the humanness in the other, but at the same time, they can appreciate the goodness in the other, and they can help each other fulfill their common goals. And this is the most important point in a spiritual relationship, or a relationship that has a spiritual basis, and that is that the common goal should be to develop love for Krishna, to develop pure devotional service in Krishna consciousness. And then, the relationship is exciting and harmonious and uplifting. And it can ultimately be eternal. Because if both partners are serving Krishna and they serve Krishna, (and service to Krishna is eternal), so then they can serve Krishna eternally together.

So, that is a very important point. In any relationship, the same applies. But we can only really focus on our relationship with Krishna if we’re realistic about our relationships in the material world, or really, anything in the material world. And realistic means that we know that they’re going to be filled with duality, and more than that, or along with that, they will end. As sure as death, they will end. And this lifetime of, no one can predict but say sixty, seventy, eighty, a hundred years, in terms of eternal time, it’s not very long at all, it’s not long. And time passes, the body ages, the things that give us pleasure are no longer pleasurable, and our ability to do things changes.

Once, my godbrother Bhurijana Prabhu was giving a class, and he asked the students in the class. . . And it was a type of class that included children, people of all ages could come. It was about the mind and the holy name. It’s a general phenomenon that when you’re young, you want to be older, and when you’re old, you want to be younger, because you’re never satisfied. It’s just the nature of the mind, it’s the nature of the material world. It’s the nature of the mind to never be satisfied.

So, he asked a young lad in the classroom, “How old are you?” He said, “Ten.” And he said, “How old would you like to be?” He said, “Twenty-two.” So, Bhurijana Prabhu said, “Is there anyone in the class who’s twenty-two?” There wasn’t, but there was someone who was twenty-four. He said, “All right, twenty-four. So, how old would you like to be?” And as a joke, he said, “Ten.” [laughter] But whatever age you are, that’s not the age you want to be. It’s pretty sure it’s not the age you want to be. So, here’s this boy, he’s ten years old, he wants to be twenty-two. So, Bhurijana Prabhu said, “All right. Let’s see if there’s someone twenty-two. Get the report from them on what it’s like to be twenty-two, whether they’re happy to stay twenty-two.”

So, that is the nature of the mind, that’s the nature of the material world. The mind is never satisfied. And the world is constructed in such a way that the senses and the mind can never be satisfied. But even if you want to make a compromise, “Okay, it’s not all happiness, it’s mixed with sadness, but there’s enough happiness, I’ll accept it, I’ll keep it.” But you can’t keep it, because the world is such. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna says duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam, that this material world is duḥkhālayam, a place of misery, and aśāśvatam, temporary. So, even if you’re ready to compromise, “Alright, I know there’s misery, but there’s enough happiness to make it tolerable. I’ll take it.” But you can’t, because aśāśvatam, it’s temporary. So, we should invest in something that brings happiness and is eternal. And that is our relationship with Krishna.

And when our relationships with each other are based on Krishna as the center, then our relationships with each other become congenial, otherwise not. And especially when the common factor in a relationship is spiritual, the common goal is spiritual, it’s very good for the relationship. But when it begins that way, and then the couple or one of the partners loses the spiritual focus, it can be disastrous for the relationship. Although an individual can emerge from such a ruined relationship and continue in Krishna consciousness and find eternal love and happiness and peace in Krishna consciousness, but the relationship will be finished.

Another thing that’s important in any relationship, and certainly our relationship with Krishna, is to put time into the relationship. As we were discussing, the more you put in to something, the more you get out of it. So the more time we put into our relationship with Krishna, especially by chanting the holy name of Krishna, discussing the transcendental topics of Krishna, serving the Deity of Krishna, associating with devotees of Krishna, and serving the mission of Krishna, the more our relationship with Krishna grows. And the more our relationship with each other is devoted to such activities, the better our relationship with each other will be, because Krishna will be in the center. And with Krishna in the center, everything is beautiful and blissful.

So, from every point of view, even in terms of our life in the material world, the best course is to pursue our relationship with Krishna. And then, the material world, or so-called material world, which Krishna Himself, the Creator, has certified as duḥkhālayam, a place of misery, takes on a different quality.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had a devotee, a very learned scholar and brilliant poet, and he composed many beautiful verses. And in one verse, he says viśvaṁ pūrṇa-sukhāyate, that one who has received the merciful glance of Lord Chaitanya, for him, viśvaṁ pūrṇa-sukhāyate, this material world becomes filled with happiness. Now, how is that possible? Because Krishna Himself says duḥkhālayam, it’s a place of misery. So, how could it become viśvaṁ pūrṇa-sukhāyate? And the answer is that a devotee sees everything as Krishna’s energy, as Krishna’s property, or Krishna. It’s either Krishna or Krishna’s energy. And in every situation, he sees an opportunity to engage in Krishna’s service. And his greatest happiness is, and his only happiness is to serve Krishna. So, viśvaṁ pūrṇa-sukhāyate, he sees [that] the world  is filled with happy opportunities to serve Krishna. It’s all a matter of perception.

People have different natures, and it’s natural. People have different natures, and according to their natures in Vedic language, they’re called sudras, vaishyas, kshatriyas, and brahmans. But devotees have nothing to do with those classifications, because when you’re engaged in serving Krishna, it doesn’t matter what the service is, Krishna is pleased with the devotion. So, such distinctions aren’t very important.

But one type of person, according to his nature, the particular mode under which he’s influenced, he will come to a forest and think, Oh, what a lovely place to go to sleep! No one will disturb me here. Another person will come and say, Oh, such valuable trees! I could cut down these trees and sell the wood and make a big profit. And another person will think, Oh, what a peaceful place to chant Hare Krishna! Let me find a nice tree and sit down and chant Hare Krishna. So, it’s the same forest, but according to the person’s mentality, he sees the forest’s utility in different ways.

And so, a devotee who sees the universe as Krishna’s, and who sees every living entity as meant to serve Krishna, then he sees only happy opportunities to serve Krishna. Wherever he is, whatever the situation is, he sees happy opportunities to serve Krishna. Because factually, you can serve Krishna in any situation. And the verse says further that he sees the great demigods like Indra, like insects. In other words, the goal of karmis—means fruitive workers in the Vedic sense, who perform ritualistic activities—the goal is to go to the heavenly planet of Indra, Indra-loka, or Svarga-loka, and enjoy life there. But for someone who’s received the merciful glance of Lord Chaitanya, Indra himself, the king of heaven, has no more significance than an insect. If some big person or famous person were to come here, I get so excited. But if an ant were to crawl and I would notice an ant crawling, who cares, put it on a piece of paper and take it out.

And that fame actually can be a curse. Because recently, the Indian dancer and film artist, Hema Malini, visited the Los Angeles ISKCON temple. And so, one of our devotees was at the book table. And she was all covered, she had dark glasses on, she didn’t want anyone to recognize her because her purpose of visiting the temple would be destroyed if people recognized her. So, she came to the book table and said to the devotee, “Can you please get me some mahā-prasāda?” He said, “I can’t leave the book table. I can’t get you mahā-prasāda. You have to go and ask someone else.” She said, “Look, I’ll buy your books. I’ll buy as many as you want. Just please get me some mahā-prasāda.” So, he went back to the Deity area and got her some mahā-prasāda. And when he came back, there she was, surrounded by fifty or a hundred visitors to the temple, all wanting to get their pictures taken with her. Someone had discovered who she was, and that’s how her visit to the temple ended up.

But anyway, I mean, she’s a good lady. Once, she came to a program we did in the auditorium at the temple in Juhu. It was during the December marathon. And so, we were trying to sell sets of Srila Prabhupada’s books; Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So, the auditorium was pretty packed and she didn’t dance, she was sort of beyond that, but she had choreographed the dance related to Krishna and she was there on the stage with me. So, at the end of the performance, we said, “This is December, we’re having a special offer, you can buy these complete sets of books. Anyone who wants can come up and get a complete set.” And then, I said to her, “Would it be all right?” There was a little movement, not much. I said to her, “Would it be all right if we announce that anyone who buys a set of books will get it autographed by you?” She said, “Yeah.” So, I announced that, oh boy. They jumped up, they were standing in line. It was the best promotion of book distribution we ever had. And I thought, Now, this is the real use of someone’s beauty or fame or opulence. It was a very good use of her fame.

So, generally, people want these temporary things. But when one has received the merciful glance of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, even Indra, the king of heaven, is no more significant than an ant. And then the yogis, they endeavor to control their senses. That’s the first goal of yoga. And so, Sripada Prabodhananda Sarasvati says that for one who has received the merciful glance of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the senses become like serpents whose poisoned fangs have been removed. Everyone is afraid of serpents, poisonous snakes. But if the fangs have been removed and the poison has been removed, then they’re harmless.

So, for a devotee, the senses are there, but the poison has been removed, so the senses cannot do any harm. Sometimes we may have some conditioning to a certain type of sense gratification, but if we really are sincere in our practice of devotional service, that poisonous desire for sense gratification will be extracted. And the senses are there, but they won’t cause any harm.

And, kaivalyaṁ narakāyate, the goal of the jnanis, or the impersonalists, is kaivalyaṁ, to merge and become one with Brahman, with the impersonal light. So, Prabodhananda Sarasvati says kaivalyaṁ narakāyate, that for a devotee, for one who has received the merciful glance of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, that impersonal merging is like hell, worse than hell. At least in hell, you can glorify the Lord and serve the Lord, but in impersonal Brahman, unless you’re very fortunate to have the association of devotees while you’re there, it's hell. There’s no chance to serve Krishna, to glorify Krishna. So, all of these benefits are possible for one who has received the merciful glance of Lord Chaitanya. So, all these other achievements of the karmis, the yogis, the jnanis are insignificant. Not just insignificant, they’re undesirable. And even living in the material world, he’s happy, she’s happy, because he sees or she sees happy opportunities to serve Krishna and glorify Krishna at every moment in every situation.

So, “Jei Gaura, Sei Krishna Sei Jagannatha,” that same Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, we’re talking about the glance of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, He’s Krishna. So, if we get the glance of Krishna, or in the present context, more relevant, the glance of Lord Jagannatha in Ratha-yatra, we can achieve all of these wonderful benefits, but we have to keep that.

Yesterday, a couple of Iranian students from Oklahoma approached me. And the young man, who had experience with Krishna consciousness and had actually brought Krishna consciousness to the university there, he had told her that if one claps in the Ratha-yatra, then he is freed from all sinful reactions and can go back to Godhead. And he might have heard it from me, but I’ve quoted it, that Srila Prabhupada said that at the time of death, all of your life’s activities pass through your mind like a movie. And so, if you look at Jagannatha with ecstasy, then that frame of Lord Jagannatha becomes frozen in your mind. And so, you give up your body with Lord Jagannatha in your mind, you go back to Godhead.

So, she was saying, “What if you go to the Ratha-yatra and then you go back and do all sorts of bad things, and then you think, Well, I’ll go to the Ratha-yatra again and I’ll have them neutralized, and then you go and do bad things again?” I said, “Well, that doesn’t work. That’s an offense and you’re punished for that. You’re punished more than if you just did a bad thing, because it’s doubly bad when you’re cunning way, trying to cheat the Lord or the laws of nature by trying to neutralize the reactions.” And I elaborated, and she was very happy with the answer, and she said that the reason she asked it is because of her religion, Islam, people believe that if they go to Mecca, then all their sins are removed. And she said it was very upsetting. They go to Mecca to get their sins removed, and they come back and they do all sorts of bad things, and then they think they can just go to Mecca again and have the reactions neutralized. I said, “No, it doesn’t work like that.”

You can have the reactions neutralized, but then you have to try your best not to engage in sinful activities again. And then, if by chance, because of a bad habit or bad association, you fall down and you repent and rectify and try never again to make the same mistake again, then yes, Krishna will forgive you, God will forgive you. But if you deliberately commit sin and think, I’ll chant Hare Krishna, it will be neutralized. I’ll come to the Ratha-yatra, it’ll be neutralized. I’ll confess in the church, it’ll be neutralized. I’ll go to Mecca, it’ll be neutralized, and then do it again thinking you can go again and neutralize it, that, Srila Prabhupada says, is the worst offense.

So, she was happy to hear that because she didn’t think it was right that you could just come and. . . But if you do come with an innocent heart and get the merciful glance of Lord Jagannatha, and then take that mercy as an opportunity to really continue in Krishna consciousness and develop your relationship with Him and avoid anything that would displease Him, any sort of sinful or offensive behavior, then you will go back home, back to Godhead. Hare Krishna.

Devotees: Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: So, are there any questions or comments? I heard some sounds, that’s why I ended the class, because I’m not sure what the schedule is. But anyway, I guess there’s always sounds. [laughter] Maybe they’re fighting over the prasāda. [laughter]

I’ll tell one story. This is from the temple of Lord Jagannatha in Mayapur. All the holy places are in Mayapur and in Vrindavan. So, Jagannatha Puri is also in Mayapur. So, in Rajapur, there are some Deities of Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra. And then, at one stage, the devotees got a dvaraka-śilā. So, there are the Jagannatha Deities, and then there are the śilās, and there was always one plate, they offered one plate.

And then, one night, Lord Jagannatha and Baladeva came in the pujari’s dream and said, “We’re not getting sweets anymore.” And the pujari said, “Well, why not? We’re offering sweets just like we always did,” And they said, “Well, since the dvaraka-śilā came, the Dvaraka Gujarat, They eat the sweets first. So, He eats all the sweets before we get a chance.” So, the pujari said, “Well then, what’s the solution?” So, the Lord said, “Well, you have to offer two plates. He can have His plate and He gets sweets first, and We’ll have our plate and We’ll eat Our sweets later. But at least We’ll get to eat them.” [laughter] So, yeah, maybe there’s something going on back there. [laughter] Yes, any questions or comments?

Devotee: Maharaja, I have two questions, actually. My first question is, when did the souls fall down from the spiritual world? And the second question is, is this process continuing, like the souls are going back home, and then some souls are falling down?

Giriraj Swami: Yes. The first question is, “When did the soul come into the material world?” The answer is, according to Jiva Gosvami, anādi, which means you cannot trace the beginning. You cannot trace when you fell into the material world. But in the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Krishna says that once you return to the spiritual world, you never take birth in the material world again.

janma karma ca me divyam
evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ

One who knows the transcendental mystery of Krishna’s divine appearance and activities,

tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma
naiti mām eti so ‘rjuna

he comes to Me and he never has to take birth again in the material world.

So, the idea is that once you’ve experienced the miseries of material existence and go back to the spiritual world, you’ll never make the mistake of coming to the material world. But it’s a mysterious topic, and our acharyas have said that the subject is inconceivable to us, in our conditioned state. When we’re liberated, we can understand how we became conditioned. But when we’re conditioned, we cannot understand how we became conditioned. But we can become free. And practically speaking, Srila Prabhupada advised not to spend too much time thinking about these questions. He said it’s like someone is drowning in the ocean and the boat comes to save him, and he says, “Well, wait a minute. How long have I been here, and how did I get here?” No, no, you get on the boat, you get to a safe place, and that’s the main thing. And that opportunity is here.

All right, thank you very much. Hare Krishna. Jaya Jagannatha! All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Jaya Gaura!