SB 10.2.31 – The Merciful Supreme Lord and the Merciful Acharyas Help the Aspiring Devotee

Giriraj Swami: 

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

We read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Ten, Chapter Two. “Prayers by the Demigods.”

TEXT 31

svayaṁ samuttīrya sudustaraṁ dyuman
bhavārṇavaṁ bhīmam adabhra-sauhṛdāḥ
bhavat-padāmbhoruha-nāvam atra te
nidhāya yātāḥ sad-anugraho bhavān

TRANSLATION

O Lord, who resemble the shining sun, You are always ready to fulfill the desire of Your devotee, and therefore You are known as a desire tree [vāñchā-kalpataru]. When ācāryas completely take shelter under Your lotus feet in order to cross the fierce ocean of nescience, they leave behind on earth the method by which they cross, and because You are very merciful to Your other devotees, You accept this method to help them.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

This statement reveals how the merciful ācāryas and the merciful Supreme Personality of Godhead together help the serious devotee who wants to return home, back to Godhead. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, in His teachings to Rūpa Gosvāmī, said:

brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva
guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja

(Cc. Madhya 19.151)

One can achieve the seed of bhakti-latā, devotional service, by the mercy of guru and Kṛṣṇa. The duty of the guru is to find the means, according to the time, the circumstances and the candidate, by which one can be induced to render devotional service, which Kṛṣṇa accepts from a candidate who wants to be successful in going back home, back to Godhead. After wandering throughout the universe, a fortunate person within this material world seeks shelter of such a guru, or ācārya, who trains the devotee in the suitable ways to render service according to the circumstances so that the Supreme Personality of Godhead will accept the service. This makes it easier for the candidate to reach the ultimate destination. The ācārya’s duty, therefore, is to find the means by which devotees may render service according to references from śāstra. Rūpa Gosvāmī, for example, in order to help subsequent devotees, published such devotional books as Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. Thus it is the duty of the ācārya to publish books that will help future candidates take up the method of service and become eligible to return home, back to Godhead, by the mercy of the Lord. In our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, this same path is being prescribed and followed. Thus the devotees have been advised to refrain from four sinful activities — illicit sex, intoxication, meat-eating and gambling — and to chant sixteen rounds a day. These are bona fide instructions. Because in the Western countries constant chanting is not possible, one should not artificially imitate Haridāsa Ṭhākura, but should follow this method. Kṛṣṇa will accept a devotee who strictly follows the regulative principles and the method prescribed in the various books and literatures published by the authorities. The ācārya gives the suitable method for crossing the ocean of nescience by accepting the boat of the Lord’s lotus feet, and if this method is strictly followed, the followers will ultimately reach the destination, by the grace of the Lord. This method is called ācārya sampradāya. It is therefore said, sampradāya-vihīnā ye mantrās te niṣphalā matāḥ (Padma Purāṇa). The ācārya sampradāya is strictly bona fide. Therefore one must accept the ācārya sampradāya; otherwise one’s endeavor will be futile. Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura therefore sings:

tāṅdera caraṇa sevi bhakta sane vāsa
janame janame haya, ei abhilāṣa

One must worship the lotus feet of the ācārya and live within the society of devotees. Then one’s endeavor to cross over nescience will surely be successful.

COMMENT

Hare Krishna.

So we have gathered here by the grace of Srila Prabhupada and the Supreme Personality of Godhead to remember them and appreciate what they have given us so that we can rededicate ourselves to their services.

Sri Sri Radha-Gokulananda ki jaya!

Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai ki jaya!

Sri Sri Sita-Rama Lakshman Hanuman ki jaya!

This verse describes how the merciful  acharyas and merciful Supreme Personality of Godhead together help the aspiring devotees. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has discussed the question of how a living entity receives the seed of devotional service. And he puts forth different possibilities. One is the mercy of Krishna. But then he says, the mercy of Krishna cannot be a proper explanation because Krishna is the father of all living entities, He must love all of His children equally. So if He were to award devotional service to one child and not another child it would mean that He was partial, which would be a fault. So that cannot be the explanation. Then he says, another explanation could be the mercy of the devotee. And he says, but again someone could raise the question that if a devotee awards bhakti to some and not others then he is also guilty of partiality. But actually the preacher does make distinctions. And for him or her to make distinctions is not a fault. The Eleventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says, prema-maitrī-kṛpopekṣā yaḥ karoti sa madhyamaḥ, that the madhyam bhakta, he distinguishes between the Supreme Lord, the devotees, the innocent, and the envious, and he gives his love to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He makes friendship with the devotees. Kṛpa, he shows mercy to the innocent and he avoids the envious. So he does make distinctions. By definition he does make distinctions. And even the uttamā-bhakta, when he preaches, to some extent he also accepts the vision of the madhyam-bhakta. And then, when the devotee gives mercy, Krishna follows with His mercy.

Now this is also a very important point because what this means is that Krishna is partial to His devotees. In other words, if a devotee prays to Krishna to give mercy to some soul, Krishna will fulfill the desire of the devotee. That means that He is partial to His devotee. But Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says that this is not a fault in Krishna. Dushanam, it is not a dushanam but it is a bhushanam. It is an ornament. And all the authorities agree that among all of Krishna’s qualities, His quality of being bhakta-vatsala, being particularly affectionate towards His devotees is His greatest quality. So, guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja. First the guru gives mercy, and then Krishna gives mercy, and thus the candidate engages in devotional service. And in discussing that verse from Caitanya-caritāmṛta, bhakti-latā-bīja, Srila Prabhupada explains that the bhakti-latā-bīja is actually the idea or the method by which one performs devotional service. Every activity has a method. As Srila Prabhupada said, to play a musical instrument there is a method, to cook a puri there is a method. For everything there is a method. And there is also a method to realize God, one’s eternal relationship with God. And that method is included within the idea of bhakti-latā-bīja. And that method is followed by the acharyas and prescribed by the acharyas. Acharya means one who teaches by example. So the acharya, and in our case we think specifically of Srila Prabhupada, Srila Prabhupada followed the method of devotional service that he received through paramparā, sādhu-śāstra-guru-vākya. And by accepting that method of accepting the boat of the lotus feet of the Lord, he was able to cross the fierce ocean of nescience. But he has kindly left behind the same method so that we can also cross. And this is our solace in his separation that by following his instructions we can have his association.

In his dedication to his translation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, he wrote “Dedicated to my spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja. He lives forever by his divine instructions and the follower lives with him.” So we live with Srila Prabhupada by following his instructions and by adopting the method that he has given us with reference to scripture, we can also cross the fierce ocean of nescience and reach the other side where he is. Now what is that method? Srila Prabhupada mentions specifically, following the four regulated principles—no illicit sex, no intoxicants, no meat eating and no gambling, and chanting sixteen rounds daily. And he says these are bona fide instructions. And because these instructions have come to us through the acharya sampradāya, through Srila Prabhupada, they are bona fide and Krishna will accept that method. Now there are people who have said that one must chant sixty-four rounds daily in order to be accepted by Krishna. And there is some truth to that idea. It is described that one day, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, because He would always receive invitations to go to people’s homes to honor prasāda, so one day He told his assistant that, “I will take prasāda only at the home of a lakhpati.” A lakhpati generally means someone who has a hundred thousand rupees which in those days was a lot. Even when I went to India it was a lot. So that was a very surprising statement from Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His assistant asked, “What do you mean?” He said “I will only accept prasāda from someone who chants one hundred thousand names daily.

So that is where that idea of one hundred thousand names come from. And by that, by a strict interpretation, one could say that unless one chants a hundred thousand names, that is sixty-four rounds daily, Lord Chaitanya will not accept him. But that is not the case. There was truth to it at that time under those circumstances, but time and circumstances change. And the acharyas are empowered to make adjustments according to time, place, and circumstances. And that was done by every acharya, beginning from Vedavyasa. Vedavyasa, he took the one Veda and divided it into four. He made adjustments to make it easier for people to understand the principles and practices of devotional service. They keep the basic principles but they can make adjustments in the details. Srutakirti Prabhu told me that once some of Srila Prabhupada’s godbrothers came to meet him. And they had certain ideas. I am not sure exactly what the issue was, it might have been accepting men and women in the temples and ashrams or whatever the issue was. And of course Srila Prabhupada was able to defend what he did on the basis of scripture. And after they left Srutakirti Prabhu asked Srila Prabhupada that, “We know that you have preserved the basic principles that have come to us through scripture and paramparā, and made adjustments only in the details. But how do we distinguish what is a principle and what is a detail?” And Srila Prabhupada paused and said, “That requires some intelligence.” So it is not so easy and it is not for us to do. It is for the empowered acharyas like Srila Prabhupada to do. And Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura also, it was a little confusing because sometimes we have heard that in the Gaudiya Math his followers were giving initiation if you chanted only four rounds and then sometimes we heard that you have to chant sixty-four rounds. We were trying to understand what was his actual policy. And then we found out that actually he had three standards—that if you didn’t have much service you should chant sixty-four rounds or chanting sixty-four rounds was your service, your main service. If you had a moderate amount of service, you should chant minimum sixteen rounds. And if you had too much service then you should chant at least four rounds.

Now obviously Srila Prabhupada could not introduce that standard in ISKCON because the mind is such that we would all think we have too much service, so we will just chant four rounds and that would be too little. And sixty-four was too much. So he took sixteen which was also part of his guru Maharaja’s standard. And that was what Srila Prabhupada chanted as a grihastha. Grihasthas do have service or responsibilities or duties. So he would chant sixteen rounds. But strictly, although the method Srila Prabhupada gave us is quite simple and straightforward but one must follow strictly. And Srila Prabhupada said that he would chant, he wouldn’t have breakfast without chanting at least four rounds. Of course ideally we would chant as many as we can before breakfast, but in his circumstances he said he wouldn’t have breakfast until he chanted at least four rounds. He wouldn’t have lunch unless he chanted another four rounds. He wouldn’t have dinner unless he chanted another four rounds. And he wouldn’t go to sleep unless he chanted the full sixteen. And he said that way he was always sure to complete his sixteen rounds. But he was determined. He followed strictly. And that is one word that comes up in the purport ‘strictly and serious.’

So it is a very critical factor how serious we are, what is our actual desire. I mean someone could chant sixty-four rounds a day and have a very materialistic mentality. It is possible. And someone can follow this method that Srila Prabhupada gave us. But if one is very serious about going back home, back to Godhead, his service will be accepted by Krishna and he will be accepted by Krishna. So this is Srila Prabhupada’s mercy. And as Srila Prabhupada says at the end of the purport, “One must serve the lotus feet of the ācārya and live in the association of devotees.” Because without the association of devotees it will be almost impossible for us to even do the basic activities of chanting sixteen rounds and following the four regulated principles. I heard that once one disciple who had left the association of devotees came to meet Srila Prabhupada. And Srila Prabhupada said to him, “You are not chanting your sixteen rounds.” The devotee said, “How did you know?” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Because you are living outside the association of devotees.” So we need each other. And that is part of Srila Prabhupada’s magnanimous gift to us that he gave us not only the method, the books which contain the method but he also gave us the association of devotees that make it possible to actually follow the prescriptions.

And when I first joined, I heard something that struck me as somewhat incongruous, that if the spiritual master accepts someone Krishna has to accept the person, even if otherwise He would not have wanted to. So when I heard this I thought that the guru, whatever the guru does is impelled by Krishna. How could the guru accept someone that Krishna wouldn’t? Doesn’t the guru just do what Krishna wants? But as our understanding has matured we have come to realize that Krishna is an individual and the devotee is also an individual. As in Srila Prabhupada’s final days when he said, “Krishna has given me the choice.” So Krishna does give that, you can say, power of attorney to the devotee to accept someone or not accept someone. And Srila Prabhupada gave the example that if a representative of a company enters into a business agreement with some party, even if the proprietor of the company doesn’t like the agreement, he has to honor it because his representative signed on behalf of the company. So the devotee, the spiritual master, the guru has been given that authority by Krishna. And they are given that authority because they follow strictly. And again they preserve the basic details,  the major principle, but may adjust the details.

So, just the other day I heard Srila Prabhupada commenting on the verse from Bhagavad-gītā, yoga-bhraṣṭa, that one who engages in devotional service for yoga but if he falls down he takes birth as śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭo ‘bhijāyate, takes birth in family of brahmans or rich merchants. And when Srila Prabhupada was describing that fallen yogi, he used the phrase ‘who falls down in following the instructions of the spiritual master.’ And it struck me that if you just continue to follow the instructions of the spiritual master to the end then you don’t take birth again. It is that simple. You just have to follow strictly these basic instructions to the end and go back home, back to Godhead. And in the meantime, again we were in Srila Prabhupada’s talk on Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s Disappearance Day, that ultimately it doesn’t matter, jīva vā maro vā, you may live or you may die. Because while living you are serving Krishna and your spiritual master and relishing their association through service, and after leaving the body you will continue to engage in devotional service. So for a devotee, pure devotee actually there is no difference. Living and dying are the same because in both cases he is engaged in the devotional service. And when we do that the temple is Vaikuntha. Our goal is to cross the ocean of nescience to Vaikuntha.

Srila Prabhupada also said the temple is Vaikuntha because if we engage in the activities of pure devotional service with that mood, proper mood, then the temple is Vaikuntha. We don’t have to go anywhere, we are already in Vaikuntha. So this is Srila Prabhupada’s mercy that he has brought the spiritual world to the material world and given us the chance to live there. So we cannot even really imagine how fortunate we are, how blessed we are. But by gathering and reading and discussing we can appreciate it and not take it for granted, which is a very very unfortunate thing to do. But to really appreciate every iota of what Srila Prabhupada gave us and use every moment that we have to engage in devotional service, and continue that line. This is like he said, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, namo mahā-vadānyāy, is very munificent. And he said the devotees of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu should also be very munificent. We should also give this knowledge to others, give them the books, write new books that help people apply the teachings of the scripture according to the circumstances. And that will please Srila Prabhupada, and previous acharyas and ultimately Krishna.

In the Boston temple when I joined, it was part of the morning program to sing a verse from the Tenth Canto that is very similar to this about crossing the ocean of nescience by taking shelter at the lotus feet of Krishna. I don’t know how it began but it was very sweet. So every morning after maṅgala-ārati, we would sing this verse, beautiful verse;

samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavaṁ
mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ
bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padaṁ paraṁ padaṁ
padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām

And the translation is, that for those who have taken shelter of the lotus feet of Krishna, who is famous for being the enemy of the Mura demon, Murari, the vast ocean of nescience which is full of danger shrinks and becomes the size of a puddle contained in the hoof print of a calf. Although there is danger at every step, the devotee crosses right over because his goal is not material enjoyment or impersonal liberation. His goal is Vaikuntha.

Hare Krishna.

So we still have some time. And I thought we could use this time if any of you have questions or comments. We can discuss for a little longer. Yes?

Devotee: You said that we should write new books to help people understand [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Well that is a very good question. Well the basic principle of speaking about Krishna or writing about Krishna, writing is in a way similar to speaking, is to repeat what one has heard not to invent or concoct or speculate something new or different. But if we just repeat parrot-like, then why even write? Well of course there is a reason because it is purifying. But in the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Srila Prabhupada gives the definition of realization. That one should present the matter in a way that is interesting to the audience, that one should strictly follow the basic principles that he has received from the previous acharyas, one should not ever for a moment consider that one can surpass the previous acharyas. But in the course of presenting what one has learned from the previous acharyas and realize one can present it in an interesting manner that is just suitable for one’s particular audience. And that is an important principle, to speak or write according to one’s realization. Then it has potency. If your realization is that you like taking prasāda, that is my realization, and if you repeat that it will have effect. But if you know more or less, you are down here and then you are speaking some words that are way up here, it won’t have that much effect. So whatever your realization is, that I tend to be in a lot of anxiety but when I chant Hare Krishna my anxiety dissipates. Whatever your realization is if you repeat that, that will have effect.

Oh yes sir. Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Thank you very much Maharaja. Yesterday, His Grace Jaya Nitai Prabhu spoke here about Prabhupada’s endearment [Unintelligible]. You will always be leading his disciples [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: The quality that?

Devotee: He is always this endearing, he is always bold.

Giriraj Swami: The truth, seem like they could be different being bold and being endearing. Do you remember what he said, what he is referring to? Will you give an example and then I will get more ideas.

Devotee: I think one time Prabhupada was in the morning walk in Paddy and there was this huge massive building. There was a scaffolding at the top of the building, and Prabhupada said “If I climbed that scaffolding as a boy [Unintelligible] Do you remember that?

Giriraj Swami: No. Well I mean Srila Prabhupada was certainly endearing. Everything he did was endearing. If I think of one personal instance it was, I guess I had the tendency to push myself. This was sort of in the early days in Juhu. So every day I would go to the city pretty early in the morning after breakfast, and then I would push myself all day, and I wouldn’t eat anything. And then maybe on the way back at Churchgate station I would get one of those little cones they would make, they would take a piece of newspaper and roll it into a cone and then they’d put some chickpeas in it or something and sell it for some paisa. So I might get that and that would be my prasāda. So one evening I came back. And I went to Srila Prabhupada’s room. He would often want me to see him when I came back from the city and gave him a report. And he asked how are you feeling? And the usual tendency is just to smile and say fine, but somehow the way Prabhupada asked it and was looking at me I couldn’t just do that. And when I actually considered it I realized I wasn’t really feeling that good. But I wasn’t even conscious of it until Srila Prabhupada asked. And then he said, “You have to eat properly.” And he had some grapes in his kitchen. So he had a servant bring out the grapes and he said, “You should eat these grapes, they are very good for energy.” And he also said, “To work very hard for two days and then to have to recuperate for three days, that is not a very good policy.” So yes, he did take care of us, he did take care of devotees but he was compassionate to everyone.

Once I was riding in the car with him in Madras. And it was warm, very warm. And there was a bus stand but the shelter provided by the bus stand was not large enough to accommodate all the people. There was a huge queue of people waiting for the bus and most of them were in the hot sun. And Srila Prabhupada, in a choked voice, he just commented on how much the people are suffering. So, para-dukha-dukhī, he felt for the suffering of others, the suffering humanity. But as he said in his lecture there are different ways that one can try to alleviate the suffering but the real solution is Krishna consciousness. So it is not that he said we should write to the city transportation department that they have to provide bigger shelters at the bus stations, but he felt for the people in their ordinary suffering. But he knew that the real solution, the permanent solution was Krishna consciousness. Another one that strikes me, of course this could go on, but it was when originally our deities in Bombay, we just called them Radha-Krishna, and Prabhupada was giving names to different deities in different places. And I thought well we should also have a name for our deities. So I went to Srila Prabhupada and I asked him, “Can you name our deities?” So he said, “Radha-Madan-Mohan.” And I said, “Well Srila Prabhupada, there is already a Radha-Madan-Mohan.” He said, “Okay, Radha-Govinda.” I said, “Oh! Srila Prabhupada there is already a Radha-Govinda,” which I am sure he knew. I mean I can’t even believe some of the things I said, probably even now. But I said to Srila Prabhupada, there is already a Radha-Govinda. He said, “Radha-Rasabihari. Is that all right?” I said, “Yes, Srila Prabhupada.”

All right. Thank you very much.