BG – The Holy Name of Lord Krishna Is the Most Valuable Thing

Giriraj Swami: So, we are going to read one verse from the Bhagavad-gītā. Bhagavān means the opulent one or God, and Gītā means song. So, this book is whatever God speaks is music, is poetry, whatever He speaks. So this is the song of God and it is the basic textbook of yoga. Yoga means to link or connect or unite. And yoga means in particular, for the individual soul to unite with the Supreme soul. The English word yoke, like you yoke two oxen to a cart that comes from the same word yoga.

Now, I am going to jump ahead to the Third Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, in which Krishna talks about the beginning of creation; just like if you get a machine there will be a manual with it that tells you how to operate the machine. So the Bhagavad-gītā is the book that Krishna, the creator gave us as the manual for how to live in the material world and relate to the material world. And He explains that in the beginning of creation he sent forth generations with sacrifices; and by the performance of sacrifice one can be happy. All of his necessities will be supplied and ultimately, he will attain liberation. In previous ages, the sacrifices were very elaborate and costly. People would sacrifice tons of ghee—clarified butter, and grains into the sacrificial fire. And the brahmans or the priests had to recite the Vedic mantras perfectly. If even one syllable was mispronounced, the whole sacrifice was considered null and void. And sometimes, depending on how the syllable was mispronounced, to change the meaning of the word, the sacrifice could actually have an opposite effect. But we don’t have to perform such sacrifices in the present age, we are not able to. But there is a different sacrifice for this age which is called saṅkīrtana-yajña, which is the chanting of the holy names of the Lord, just like we did. This was saṅkīrtana-yajña. And by performing this sacrifice one gets all of one’s necessities, one is happy, and in the end one is liberated from the cycle of birth and death.

The first instruction of the Bhagavad-gītā given in the previous chapter is that we, the living being, are different from the body. We are the spiritual spark within the body, and that spiritual spark or soul, that individual soul is part and parcel of the Supreme Soul. And whatever we want can be achieved in relation to the Supreme Soul and not otherwise. One friend was commenting that when he first came in touch with the devotees and the philosophy of Krishna consciousness, he was already forty years old. And when he read the philosophy in our teacher’s books, Srila Prabhupada’s books, he was wonder struck that what Srila Prabhupada wrote was just the opposite of what the materialistic civilization promotes. And what Srila Prabhupada wrote was true to his experience. And regarding material happiness or sense gratification that happiness derived from material things, Srila Prabhupada said there are three possibilities. One you get what you want and when you get it you find out that it is not what you thought it would be. So you are disappointed. The second case, you want something and you don’t get it. So you are disappointed and frustrated. The third case, you want something and you get it. And it is everything you thought it would be, maybe even more. But in the end you have to give it up. So again in the end you are disappointed and frustrated. And these are the only three possibilities, there is no fourth possibility with material things. So if we want lasting happiness we have to find it in something not material, or in other words, spiritual. And that is God, the Supreme Krishna, the holy name which is actually Krishna.

There is a story, historical account, that one devotee prayed to Lord Shiva. Now this can be a little bewildering in the beginning because there seem to be so many different Gods in Hinduism, but actually there is just one Supreme God. But He has different agents, like a king; he has different ministers and secretaries who execute His will. And so, these ministers or secretaries are called devas or devatas or demigods. So one of the most important of them is Shiva. In the Universal affairs there are different departments; just like in the metroplex there are different departments. So Lord Shiva is in charge of the department of destruction. So one devotee prayed to Lord Shiva and was able to please him. And he told Lord Shiva that I want the most valuable thing. And Lord Shiva understood that the worshiper was very materialistic. And generally, in the material world, people consider gold to be most valuable. And so there is a gem, you might not have experienced it, but there is a gem called a touchstone and anything that gem touches can be turned to gold. So Lord Shiva knew the mentality of this worshiper. He said, “Oh, you want the most valuable thing? So you should go to Vrindavan, and in Vrindavan there is a sage named Sanatana Gosvami, and you ask him for the most valuable thing.”

So he went and he asked Sanatana Gosvami. And Sanatana Gosvami replied, “The most valuable thing, you mean touchstone?” He said, “Yes, yes, touchstone. That is what I want.” “All right, I think it is somewhere out in the back where the trash is. If you look around there you will find it.” So he was so excited, he went back, he was looking, he found it. He was so happy. But then he thought if Sanatana Gosvami kept that in the trash, in the back where the trash was kept, he must not consider it very important or valuable. He must have something more valuable. I want to get the thing that is really the most valuable. So he went back to Sanatana Gosvami, he explained his reasoning, “I think you have something more valuable than this.” And Sanatana Gosvami said, “Well, yes. As a matter of fact I do.” So he said, “Well, I want that thing.” Sanatana Gosvami said, “All right. Then you take the touchstone to the Yamuna river"; there is a river in Vrindavan called Yamuna. And yes, there is a little girl back there, her name is Yamuna. “So you take that touchstone and you throw it deep in the Yamuna river. And then I will give you the most valuable thing.” So the man was hesitant because here he had something that was producing gold for him. And that was sure and this other thing didn’t seem sure. But he reasoned it out and he figured, “He definitely has something more valuable, otherwise why would he just keep this out in the back with the trash?” So he made a leap of faith and he threw the touchstone into the Yamuna river. Then he said, “All right, I did it. So now I want the most valuable thing, really the most valuable thing.” And Sanatana Gosvami said, “All right, you are ready?” He said, “Yes I am ready.”

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare

So this is really the most valuable thing because it is Krishna. There is a verse in Vedic literatures nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś. Nama means the holy name; cintāmaṇi - it means like a touchstone, but not a material touchstone, but something that bestows whatever you desire, whatever you desire. So, nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś caitanya; caitanya means it is conscious. It is not just like ordinary sound vibration, it is conscious. In fact, when I first met Srila Prabhupada in Boston I was a university student. And soon after I met him and started to come to the programs, Srila Prabhupada had a kirtan and lecture at Harvard University Divinity School. And at the end of the lecture he asked if anyone had any questions. And my impression was that those students were proud of their knowledge and intelligence, and so they started to fire questions that Srila Prabhupada, sort of challenging.

So one of them said, “You talk about chanting Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, couldn’t you just as well repeat anything over and over again and it would have the same effect like counting one-two-three, one-two-three?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Of course, that is not possible. But if you want you can try counting and when you get tired of counting you can try chanting.” And yes, everyone laughed like you did, because it is not that you can repeat anything- one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three, and it will have the effect because this is spiritual sound, caitanya—it is conscious. rasa-vigrahaḥ. It is the personification of rasa. Rasa means juice or nectar, especially that one gets from a loving relationship. Nitya- it is eternal; śuddha—it is pure; abhinna-tvāt nāma-nāminoḥ—because the name Krishna and the person Krishna are the same. In the material world or the relative world, the name of the thing and the thing are different. Just like if I am thirsty, hungry and I want a mango. So if I chant mango, mango, mango, mango; well chanting mango, mango will not produce a mango because in the relative world the name of the thing and the thing are different. But if I chant Krishna Krishna Hare Krishna; Krishna is personally present dancing on my tongue. So Krishna, and when we get Krishna we get everything. What more could we want when Krishna is the Supreme and He includes everything. And therefore, devotees are completely satisfied in chanting the holy name. They don’t need anything else. And they won’t give it up for anything.

Five hundred years ago, when Sri Krishna Chaitanya, who, you could say, began this saṅkīrtana Movement was in India; India was under the rule of Muhammadan invaders, and there was one Muslim who became a great devotee and a great chanter of the holy name. His name was Haridasa Thakura. And he was so popular that the Muslim nawab, sort of a king you could say, like a king or emperor of a certain part of India, he had a wazir like an advisor or Prime Minister who was very envious of Haridasa Thakura. And he put it in the nawab’s ear that, “He is getting popular, more popular. He is born a Muslim and he is chanting the names of the Hindu God, and one day he may be more popular than you are, and you cannot tolerate this.” So then nawab said, “All right, call him.” So they arrested him, summoned him. He came before the king and the king said, “You are born in a Muslim family but you are not chanting the name of the Muslim God, you are not reading the Muslim scriptures. This is not good.” And Haridasa Thakura, he was not afraid; pure devotees have no fear of anything. He said, “Well, so many Hindus have become Muslim.” I mean actually we are not Hindus, that was the mentality of the nawab. He said, “So many Hindus have become Muslim. What is that if one Muslim becomes a Hindu?”

So the king became very angry and he said, “Haridasa, I order you to give up hari-nāma, the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. I order you. And if you do not do what I say, I will kill you.” And Haridasa replied, “Even if you cut my body into hundreds of pieces, I will not stop chanting hari-nāma.” So fearless. The king became infuriated. So he ordered his constables to take Haridasa and beat him in the twenty-two marketplaces of the kingdom to make him an example if any Muslim chants the Hindu names of God. And generally, after being beaten in one or two or maximum three marketplaces, the person would die. So they took Haridasa, he was chanting the holy names and they were beating him. And it was having no effect. He was just chanting. So the nawab was sending for the report: What is happening? And the report was ‘Nothing is happening.’ He is not responding to the punishment.’ So the king said, “If you do not kill him then I will kill all of you,” all the constables. So they got very panicky and they were talking among themselves. And Haridasa Thakura overheard they were talking. And he said, “Is there some difficulty?” They said, “Yes, the nawab said if we don’t kill you then he is going to kill all of us. And we have wives, we have children. What will happen to them?” “So what do you want? Do you want me to die?” “Well, yes.” So Haridasa Thakura, he went into a deep trance like samadhi, he went into a deep trance. In such a deep trance that he seemed dead, there were no signs of life. And now the constables needed to know what to do with the body so they sent the news: “He is dead.” And they asked the nawab. Nawab said, “He is not a Muslim so he can’t be buried. And he is not a Hindu so he can’t be cremated. Throw the body in the river.”

So they threw the body in the river. And after a little while, Haridasa Thakura came out of his trance, came up on the other side of the river and continued chanting. When this happened, guess what, everyone thought he is a great saint which he was. And more than ever people flocked around him and he engaged them in chanting Hare Krishna. And even the nawab, he also had a change of heart. He realized that he had made a great mistake, that this was a genuine saintly person. And he personally came to Haridasa Thakura and asked forgiveness and promised him that he can stay anywhere in his kingdom, he can choose any place and he will be fully protected by the nawab. So, this is the power of the holy name. And that is why it is the most valuable thing because you get everything from it. Yes, at one stage actually Haridasa was put in prison. And he was chanting of course, and all the prisoners were so happy to have him with them. They were also chanting. And when he was released, they were very sad because they were benefiting so much from his association. But of course, he gave them the holy names and blessed them.

So we have something extraordinarily valuable here. But because of our conditioning for so many years or lifetimes in the material world, we don’t fully realize the value of what we have. But if we continue chanting, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam, the chanting will purify our consciousness so that we can actually understand yes, that the holy name of Krishna is actually Krishna. Krishna is actually here. And Sanatana Gosvami who had the touchstone, he had a brother named Rupa Gosvami who is also a great devotee. And he composed a beautiful verse that expressed his appreciation of the holy name. And he said that, “With one tongue and two ears how can I chant the holy name? If I had millions of tongues and billions of years then I could begin to chant the holy name.” In other words, he was relishing so much that just one tongue wasn’t enough, one ear wasn’t enough because it is unlimited, it is Krishna. So, you all are very fortunate, we all are very fortunate to be here, to be able to chant the holy name received in this line of pure vibration, pure chanting, and pure understanding. And my request is you just keep coming and keep chanting. And as Madhava Prabhu hinted, it is not that you need to come here to chant, you can chant anywhere; walking on the street, riding in the car, in the shower, anywhere, everywhere. And there is tremendous benefit. This chanting we did in a musical way; it is called kirtan. There is another way of chanting quietly, to oneself—pretty much to oneself on beads, that is called japa. And when I first came to the temple in Boston and was accepted by Srila Prabhupada to be initiated, I had to get a new set of beads for my initiation ceremony. And in those days, we weren’t importing beads from India or anything, but we would go to the local hippie store which usually carried a variety of beads, and then there were beads of the right size and then get some string. So the devotees on the temple told me. They explained how you string the beads – one hundred and eight, and then one extra bead which is the head bead. And they told me if you chant one mantra for each bead as you are stringing it, then by the end of stringing all the beads you will be in ecstasy. So I said, “Okay, I guess, yes I can do that. I will try, sure.” And it was true.

So that the point is whatever you are doing, walking, bathing, stringing beads, if you chant along with it you can feel very happy. You can feel Krishna’s presence and you can feel your relationship with Him developing. So, we do have a couple of minutes, if you have any questions. Otherwise, as Nityananda Chandra Prabhu mentions, there will be a nice meal, a vegetarian food offered to Krishna. So do any of you have any questions? Yes sir?

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, sure, sure. Yes, actually we are sort of all on the treadmill, working very hard and not getting anywhere. So yes, while you are on the treadmill, chant Hare Krishna, eventually you will get off the treadmill.

All right, thank you very much.

Hare Krishna.