SB 2.3.23 – The Importance of Devotees

Giriraj Swami:

TEXT 23

jīvañ chavo bhāgavatāṅghri-reṇuṁ
na jātu martyo ‘bhilabheta yas tu
śrī-viṣṇu-padyā manujas tulasyāḥ
śvasañ chavo yas tu na veda gandham

TRANSLATION

The person who has not at any time received the dust of the feet of the Lord’s pure devotee upon his head is certainly a dead body. And the person who has never experienced the aroma of the tulasī leaves from the lotus feet of the Lord is also a dead body, although breathing.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, the breathing dead body is a ghost. When a man dies, he is called dead, but when he again appears in a subtle form not visible to our present vision and yet acts, such a dead body is called a ghost. Ghosts are always very bad elements, always creating a fearful situation for others. Similarly, the ghostlike nondevotees who have no respect for the pure devotees, nor for the Viṣṇu Deity in the temples, create a fearful situation for the devotees at all times. The Lord never accepts any offering by such impure ghosts. There is a common saying that one should first love the dog of the beloved before one shows any loving sentiments for the beloved. The stage of pure devotion is attained by sincerely serving a pure devotee of the Lord. The first condition of devotional service to the Lord is therefore to be a servant of a pure devotee, and this condition is fulfilled by the statement “reception of the dust of the lotus feet of a pure devotee who has also served another pure devotee.” That is the way of pure disciplic succession, or devotional paramparā. 

Mahārāja Rahūgaṇa inquired from the great saint Jaḍa Bharata as to how he had attained such a liberated stage of a paramahaṁsa, and in answer the great saint replied as follows (Bhāg. 5.12.12):

rahūgaṇaitat tapasā na yāti

na cejyayā nirvapaṇād gṛhād vā

na cchandasā naiva jalāgni-sūryair

vinā mahat-pāda-rajo-’bhiṣekam

“O King Rahūgaṇa, the perfectional stage of devotional service, or the paramahaṁsa stage of life, cannot be attained unless one is blessed by the dust of the feet of great devotees. It is never attained by tapasya [austerity], the Vedic worshiping process, acceptance of the renounced order of life, the discharge of the duties of household life, the chanting of the Vedic hymns, or the performance of penances in the hot sun, within cold water or before the blazing fire.”

In other words, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the property of His pure, unconditional devotees, and as such only the devotees can deliver Kṛṣṇa to another devotee; Kṛṣṇa is never obtainable directly. Lord Caitanya therefore designated Himself as gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ, or “the most obedient servant of the servants of the Lord, who maintains the gopī damsels at Vṛndāvana.” A pure devotee therefore never approaches the Lord directly, but tries to please the servant of the Lord’s servants, and thus the Lord becomes pleased, and only then can the devotee relish the taste of the tulasī leaves stuck to His lotus feet. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said that the Lord is never to be found by becoming a great scholar of the Vedic literatures, but He is very easily approachable through His pure devotee. In Vṛndāvana all the pure devotees pray for the mercy of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, the pleasure potency of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is a tenderhearted feminine counterpart of the supreme whole, resembling the perfectional stage of the worldly feminine nature. Therefore, the mercy of Rādhārāṇī is available very readily to the sincere devotees, and once She recommends such a devotee to Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Lord at once accepts the devotee’s admittance into His association. The conclusion is, therefore, that one should be more serious about seeking the mercy of the devotee than that of the Lord directly, and by one’s doing so (by the good will of the devotee) the natural attraction for the service of the Lord will be revived.

COMMENT

In the last ten days, we have celebrated many joyous occasions. Ten days ago was the auspicious occasion of Sri Radhastami, the appearance day of Srimati Radharani. And just in the past week, on Tuesday, we celebrated Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s appearance day. On Wednesday, we observed Srila Haridasa Thakura’s disappearance day, and on Thursday, we observed Visvarupa-mahotsava, the day on which Lord Chaitanya’s older brother, Visvarupa, took sannyasa, and it was also the day our Srila Prabhupada took sannyasa.

So, what do all of these holy days have in common? They have in common the celebration of the Lord’s devotee. And glorifying the Lord’s devotee pleases the Lord, Krishna, more than glorifying Krishna Himself. Although Krishna and His devotees are always associated, so glorifying the devotees means glorifying Krishna, and glorifying Krishna means glorifying the devotees.

So, in the science of Deity worship, arcanam, there is a rule that one should not praise another person before the Deity. And the reason is that in the material, conditioned life, we are used to keeping ourselves at the center, it’s natural. Each one of us sees life as if we were the center of creation. We go through life as if it were a movie and we are the hero or the heroine, and everyone else in the movie are the supporting cast meant to support us and do what we want them to do, so that we, as the hero or heroine of the movie, are able to enjoy life how we want. And the problem is that all the people that we think are supposed to play supportive roles in our movie, are thinking that they are the heroes or heroines, and that we are supposed to play the supportive role in their movies and do what they want.

So, the process of devotional service means to gradually purify the heart and form the consciousness, so that instead of thinking of ourselves as the hero or heroine, we think of Radha and Krishna as the hero and heroine. And instead of thinking of everyone else as supporting cast for us, we see ourselves and everyone else as meant to support the pastimes of Radha and Krishna and glorify Them.

So, this is a revolution. It requires a revolution in consciousness, turning around. Instead of trying to be the master, we realize that actually, we’re the servant by nature. Now, in the material world, people don’t want to be someone else’s servant, it’s a very demeaning position. It’s considered a very miserable condition to be someone else’s servant. But again, the material world is an inverted reflection of the spiritual world, and what’s the best in the spiritual world is considered to be the worst here. So, it’s actually the perfection of life, to be the servant of Krishna.

And the reason that we are dissatisfied being the servants in the material world is because the masters in the material world are not fit to serve. Srila Prabhupada gives the example that in India, the people want a position, and the best position is to be a government servant, because if you enter the government service, you get so many facilities. And there is so much room for advancement.

So, we have to serve. By nature, we are the servants, but we have to learn how to serve in such a way that we are happy and satisfied. And that comes when we serve Krishna. Otherwise, we serve our husbands, our wives, our children, our parents, our bodies, our senses, our tongues, our bellies, different parts of our bodies.

Once, Srila Prabhupada gave a lecture, making the same point, that by constitution, we are servants. And one young man in the audience said, “I don’t see why I should have to serve someone.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “You have to serve because your business is to serve. You cannot avoid service.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “When you go to work, you serve some master.” He said, “Yes, but that’s material. But spiritually, I don’t feel that I’m any less than anyone else, and that I should have to serve anyone else.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Your nature is to serve. And if you don’t serve Krishna, and Krishna includes His pure devotees, then you will serve maya. And the result of serving maya is that you will be punished by maya. You will have to suffer repetition of birth, disease, old age, and death. So, there’s no question of not serving. The question is who to serve, or what to serve to be happy even while serving. And that is Krishna.”

There is a story that a young man wanted to serve the greatest. And given that we have to serve in any case, we should think that we want to serve the greatest. So, he was living in a village, and in the village, there was a businessman. He was richer than everyone else, and everyone respected him. So, he thought, I will serve him. So, he became a servant of that wealthy businessman. Then, after some time, the tax collector came. And that wealthy merchant was showing all sorts of respect to the tax collector and giving him money. So, he thought, The tax collector is the greatest. So, I will become the servant of the tax collector. So, he became the assistant of the tax collector, and everywhere the tax collector went, people were offering him respects and giving him money, and he was very happy.

But then, the tax collector eventually came to the capital, and he gave all the money and offered all obeisance to the king. And then, he thought, The king is the greatest. So, I’ll become the servant of the king. So, he became the king’s servant, and he was sure that now he was serving the greatest. And then one day, the king with his royal retinue went into the forest, and he delivered fruits, vegetables, grains, sugar, various items to a saintly person, to a devotee. And he thought, Wow! This saintly person is even greater than the king. So, I’ll serve him. And then, he saw that the saintly person cut the fruits and prepared a plate very nicely and offered it to the Deity of Radha and Krishna, and then bowed down and offered obeisances to Krishna. And then, he came to the greatest.

But we don’t serve Krishna directly. By serving the devotee, we serve Krishna in a better way than if we try to serve Krishna directly, because we have no means to approach Krishna directly. So, that is our quest, that should be the quest of every one of us, to serve the greatest. And serving the greatest means serving Krishna or Krishna’s devotees. Because Krishna Himself becomes subordinate to His devotee or controlled by His devotees. Not by His devotees exactly, but by their love. And that is the case of Srimati Radharani. And Srila Prabhupada said, “If Radharani recommends us to Krishna, Krishna will accept us into His association, into His service.”

So, this is the most exalted position, to be the servant of the servant of the servant of Krishna. And to do that, we have to give up our false ego. Our false egos keep us in the material world. Based on false ego, we think of the body, or the mind, or the intelligence. And the psychology of the false ego is, “I’m the controller, I’m the enjoyer, I’m the proprietor.” So, you have to give up all that nonsense and come to a real position as the servant of the servant of Krishna. Otherwise, we suffer. And all the varieties of emotion in the material world, from the perspective of a liberated soul, are just different varieties of suffering.

Srila Prabhupada gave the example that you may go to an insane asylum, they might have a term for it now, and some patient will be laughing hysterically, and some patient will be crying hysterically. But it’s all suffering. There is no difference between that hysterical laughter or crying, because they are crazy. And all of us in the material world are crazy. We think we are God or we can become God. We are crazy. And our so-called happiness and distress, they’re all just different manifestations of craziness, and we suffer.

So, we have to give it up. And the way to give it up is to chant the holy name and serve the devotees. Both have the same effect; they cleanse the dirt from the heart, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ. Because the holy name is Krishna, and when we chant and hear the holy names and glories of Krishna, Krishna, in the form of sound, enters our heart and cleanses it. And Krishna, as the Paramātmā, is already in the heart. And when He sees that we’re eager to hear His messages, He also helps in the cleansing process. Because on our own, we are incapable of cleaning our hearts, there’s too much dirt that has been there for too long. So, śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ, He is the friend of the truthful devotee. Truthful devotee means one who is sincere. Not making a show, but sincerely endeavoring to cleanse the heart by devotional service.

And serving the devotee has the same effect, naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā bhagavaty uttama-śloke bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī, by regularly hearing the book Bhāgavata, or serving the person Bhāgavata, all that is inauspicious in the heart becomes destroyed almost new. And loving service to the Lord, who is praised by beautiful songs, becomes established and is an irrevocable fact.

So, these are the two processes, and they’re very quick, especially in combination. And that will relieve us of this false ego, false identification of the body, our pursuit to be the hero or heroine. So, in Deity worship, the whole endeavor is to make Krishna the center. When we worship the Deity, all of our attention is on Krishna, Radha-Krishna, Gaura-Nitai, Giri-Govardhana, and not on anyone else. I mean, if Krishna in person came into the temple, then your attention will be fixed on Him.

So, that’s the idea of Deity worship. And there are many rules and regulations summarized in The Nectar of Devotion we should read regularly, read the rules and regulation of Deity worship. Otherwise, we will commit offense, aparādha. If we are doing some service, we cannot be ignorant, we have to know what we are supposed to be doing.

So, one of the rules in Deity worship is not to praise anyone in front of the Deity. This refers specifically to praising ordinary people. There was one time when we were in Srila Prabhupada’s room at Kailash Seksaria’s home in Bombay. When Srila Prabhupada first returned to India and came to Bombay, he stayed there. And we, disciples, came from America. Most of the disciples who were with him in the first group, they came to Bombay and met him there.

So, one of the devotees named Gurudas, he was praising another devotee. And then, he noticed that Srila Prabhupada’s small Radha-Krishna Deities were there. So, he checked himself and said, “Srila Prabhupada, I am sorry. You’re not supposed to praise anyone in front of the Deities, and without thinking, I did that.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Krishna is already glorified, but He takes more pleasure when His devotee is glorified.” So, that’s our method of purification, and that is our method of approaching Krishna.

And that is why we celebrate these holy days as special occasions to glorify Krishna and His devotees and beg for their mercy, because that is how one attains the liberated platform, and that is how one gets the mercy of Krishna and is admitted into the association of Krishna. And there, all relationships are harmonious because Krishna is in the center. Here, there is conflict because each of us is competing to be in the center, each one of us competing, ultimately, to be Krishna, to be God, to be the Lord. And so, there is always conflict.

But when Krishna is the center, then all the relationships are harmonious. It doesn’t matter what service you do, all service to Krishna is absolute, it doesn’t matter what you do. Not like in the material world where people think, I want to be this. I don’t want to be that. It’s like a symphony orchestra. It doesn’t matter what instrument you play. Someone might play the violin, someone else might play the trumpet, someone might play the drums, but everyone plays whatever role is assigned to them under the direction of the conductor, and the result is beautiful. Isn’t it?

And our purpose is to please Krishna. Bhakti means to please Krishna. So, it doesn’t matter what we do, what matters is if Krishna is pleased. So, in this symphony of devotional service, it doesn’t matter what instrument we’re playing. The body that we are given is the instrument given by Krishna. It doesn’t matter what instrument we’re playing. Just play it according to the musical score of the composer, who is Krishna, under the direction of the conductor, who is a devotee of Krishna, and the result will be a beautiful symphony, and Krishna will be pleased. And when Krishna is pleased, then naturally, we are pleased. We want to be happy, everyone wants to be happy, that’s not a problem. But again, the same question, how can we be happy? By trying to make ourselves happy independently, we cannot be happy. But by trying to make Krishna happy in a proper way and actually making Krishna happy, then we become happy. We become happy individually and collectively.

And that’s why we are here in this temple, to make Krishna happy, and to experience happiness in Krishna’s pleasure. And we’re feeling it. To some extent, we’re feeling it, that’s why we’re here. And Krishna is most pleased when we bring more people to Him. So, if we have that beautiful symphony of divine music of devotional service in our heart, then naturally, we’ll want to bring other people into it, so they can share that happiness and increase Krishna’s happiness, which in turn will increase our happiness, which will in turn increase Krishna’s happiness.

So, we should take it very seriously. Not as some recreational activity, or some pious work that we perform to get some material benefit, but we should take it seriously, cleanse the heart. So, śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ. And, then we will feel the results, and we’ll want others to have the same experience. So, you are already here, you are in the association, you’re before the Deities, you are hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, you are in the association of devotees, you are chanting the holy names. It’s all here, it’s just the matter of taking it seriously and giving yourself to it fully, then you’ll get the result. If you do it half-heartedly, then you’ll get something, but not much. We shouldn’t have that.

Srila Prabhupada has sometimes given the example of a rich man in India. He reaches a certain age and decides, “I’m going to retire to Vrindavan.” So, he takes his belongings and he goes to Vrindavan. And his life savings of two crores of rupees, he leaves behind with his family, and he goes to Krishna with his mālā. And he tells the family, “Send me two hundred rupees a month for my maintenance.” That is not surrendering to Krishna. Prabhupada said, “Krishna is very intelligent. He sees you coming to Vrindavan with your mālā, but what about your two crores? [laughter] That was 1973. So, forty years ago. So, he probably had twenty crores. “You’re coming with your japa-mālā, but what about your twenty crores? You leave that behind with your family, with the expectation of sending your monthly allowance.”

So, he said, “Krishna is very intelligent. He sees you coming to Vrindavan, but you’re not really taking shelter of Him, you’re not really surrendering to Him. You’re really serving your family, which really means you’re serving your senses. This is just an extension of your senses. So, ye yathā māṁ prapadyante, you surrender to Krishna, He reciprocates. So, you are not surrendering to Krishna, you are giving your money to your family. So, let your family take care of you.”

So, we also shouldn’t come to the temple like that, “The real thing is me and my family, and Krishna is there. We want to be pious, we want to be good and we want to be respected as being pious. But the real thing is me and my family.” So, that’s alright in the beginning, everyone begins with that mentality. But we have to purify our consciousness, we have to reform that mentality. And all of these processes are meant for that, done properly. Serving the Deity means following all the rules and regulations, which are meant to fix your mind on Krishna. Chanting the holy name means chanting each name properly and hearing it. We try to hear every name that we chant. That will purify us. Not just outwardly chanting and inwardly thinking of so many other things. And yeah, it takes effort. Again, in the beginning, we will think of other things, but we have to practice controlling the mind.

The same with Deity service, you have to practice. There’s a rule, you don’t talk in the Deity room. You don’t talk in the Deity kitchen. The Deity kitchen is an extension of the Deity room. You only think of the service to Krishna, or hear some recitation of Krishna’s glories, so that your consciousness is on Krishna. And that will purify the mind. And then, you will be peaceful and happy. Otherwise, if our mind is like a turbulent ocean causing us distress and then we will continue in the turbulent ocean of birth and death, samsara sagar, and we will just be tossed hither and thither, we’ll be suffering, gasping for air, grasping for support and just continue that misery.

So, I congratulate you for being here. You could have been in any other place. So, I congratulate you for being here. But don’t be here in a superficial way, but enter deeply, and it will get better. Hare Krishna.

Devotees: Hare Krishna. [applause]

Giriraj Swami: Are there any questions or comments? Yes?

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Maharaja. Thank you for your kind association. In the purport, Prabhupada says, “Love me love my dog” [Unintelligible 00:51:58].

Giriraj Swami: You mean when children are causing a disturbance in the satsaṅga?

Devotee: Yes, Maharaja. [laughter]

Giriraj Swami: Well, this is a very good question, how we show our love for our children. There is a Vedic principle, that from birth until the age of five, you treat the child like your father. Whatever your father says, you do. So, up until the age of five, if the child wants to be fed, you feed the child. If the child wants to go to the bathroom, you take the child to the bathroom. I mean, this is in broad terms. Then, from the age of five to fifteen, you should treat your child like an enemy. [laughter] You have to subdue your enemy and bring the enemy under your control. So, the idea is that by fulfilling the child’s desire when they are young, the child becomes attached to you, to the parent. And then, when you discipline the child, because of that attachment, the child will accept it. I mean, it should all be done with love, that goes without saying. But it’s just how we show our love. And then by the time the child is sixteen years of age, after that, you treat the child like your friend, because by then, the child is so well-trained and educated that you can trust the child and try to treat your child like a friend.

I actually just thought of a saying, it’s totally mundane and totally irrelevant, but I just thought of it, so I better get it out. But the British, they had a saying, “The north Indians are our friends, the south Indians are our servants, and the Bengalis are our enemies.” [laughter] Anyway, friends, enemies. So, yeah, this is a principle. Like they say, spare the rod and spoil the child. At a certain stage, discipline is necessary. Of course, it should be administered in the right way with love. And that will be for the benefit of the child.

Srila Prabhupada told the story. . . I mean, it’s a little extreme, but he told the story of a young man who was involved in some crime, and he was sentenced to death. So, before he was to be sentenced to death, the judge asked him if he had any mass desires. And he said, “Yes, I would like my stepmother to come forward.” So, she came forward, and he was so angry that he literally bit off her ear, he pretended, “I want to tell you something.” And she was so shocked and horrified from the ghastly act, and mostly from the pain. She said, “I always treated you like you were my own child, I always gave you whatever you wanted, I always let you do whatever you wanted to do.” And he said, “Yes, and that’s why I’m in this position.”

So, we should teach the children that they keep good behavior. I mean I’ve never been a biological parent, so I’m not really an authority. But as far as that point about the children making a disturbance during the satsaṅga, it may be good to have a separate activity for them. I mean, some children are very sober and they sit and listen from a young age, but the other approach would be to have some activity for them. Many places have one or two ladies, they’ll take the children to a separate room and engage them in coloring, whatever’s appropriate for their age.

Devotee: Thank you.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Devotees: Hare Krishna. [applause]

Devotee: His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja ki jaya!

Giriraj Swami: Any other questions or comments? Yes, sir?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:59:21]

Giriraj Swami: Oh, the British. I was talking about the British when they were ruling India. I’ll tell you after this. [laughter] Yes?

Devotee: Why does suffering come to devotees? Does it mean that the devotee is not practicing Krishna consciousness properly?

Giriraj Swami: That’s an excellent question. Why does suffering come to devotees? Does it mean that the devotee is not practicing Krishna consciousness properly? It could, but not necessarily. One can be practicing properly, and by the arrangement of the Lord, one could still suffer. Because first of all, we’re in the material world, and second of all, the devotee’s behavior in the midst of suffering sets an example for other people on how to deal in similar situations.

I forgot, Monday was Vamana-dvadasi, the appearance day of Lord Vamana. And Bali Maharaja, he surrendered everything to Krishna, to Vamana, but he was still punished, superficially. But in the end, Krishna gave Himself to Bali Maharaja. So, another example is Queen Kunti. The Pandavas, they underwent a lot of trials and tribulations. But in the end, queen Kunti prayed to Krishna, “Let the calamities come again and again, because in the face of the calamities, we saw Your lotus feet. And by seeing Your lotus feet, we’re saved from having to see the repetition of birth and death. And now that the battle is over, now that we’re established as the rulers in Hastinapura, You’re leaving us. So, we’d rather have all the calamities with You than to live in royal opulence without You.”

So, that’s really the mood of the devotee. And sometimes in distress, we think of Krishna more. There’s a saying, “There are no atheists in the foxholes.” In war, when the ammunition is exploding everywhere, there are no atheists, because they know only Krishna can save them, God can save them. So, the real thing is to always remember Krishna and never forget Him. And sometimes that distress can be an impetus to remembrance of Krishna, and then, the distress becomes a blessing in disguise. That is a very good question.

All right. I’m not sure exactly what comes next, but ārati just began. I don’t know, but I see people leaving the temple room, maybe there might be prasāda, the queue might be forming. So, can someone tell us?