Krishna is Present in His Holy Name

Giriraj Swami: It is a momentous occasion that we have come together at the feet of Giriraj Govardhana and chanted the holy name and heard so many nice talks and offered so many heartfelt prayers. I think again of Jagatarini Mataji’s talk last night, in which she spoke of Uddhava delivering Krishna’s message to the gopīs and how Uddhava repeated each sentence of the message three times. And each time they heard the sentence, they understood more of what Krishna was saying. And ultimately what Krishna was saying is that He was with them. They had dreams of Him and feelings of Him but they didn’t believe that He was actually present. But by hearing His words again and again, they understood that actually He was present.

So, we are, I am like that; I need to hear the same thing again and again, and as Sachidananda Swami Maharaja said the other day, that Krishna has appeared in a special form for all of us and specifically as the holy name. And we hear that Krishna and the holy name are the same, but we need to hear it again and again, and chant again and again, to actually be convinced. But I have that hope now, having heard these talks, that by repeatedly hearing Krishna’s message and repeatedly chanting His name, I will be able to appreciate His presence more and more. Just as a little note to Srila Prabhupada’s desire to come to Govardhana, days after he left, the devotees who were serving him took him in his deity form, he was a small deity. I didn’t even know there were deities of Srila Prabhupada then. Somehow someone had a small deity, and they brought him here and did a half parikramā, going to [Unintelligible] side, and then ended up at Radha-kunda. And I had hardly spent any time in Vrindavan. Once I came to Vrindavan and when Srila Prabhupada saw me outside the window to his house, he told his secretary, “What is Giriraj doing here? He should never leave Bombay.” And I think he said I could stay for three days. I was planning to stay for four but I was so mortified, I went back after two. So when they brought Prabhupada on parikramā to Govardhana Hill, I don’t even think I had ever been here. I didn’t know what anything was and at the end, they brought his deity on the saṅgam, that dividing section between Radha-kunda and Shyama-kunda, and they did kirtan and offered ārati to him. And somehow at that moment, that deity revealed itself to be Prabhupada. I felt there is absolutely no difference between that deity and Srila Prabhupada himself.

So we are in touch with Krishna, we are in touch with Prabhupada, we are in touch with all of Krishna’s associates, and we just have to stay in their association and pray for their mercy that we can actually realize where we are and who is with us. And definitely, that is made possible by the association of devotees like all of you and the teachers. And whatever else I have said, I guess I believe it. But what I believe more than anything that I have said, is that if I keep in the company of these devotees, everything will be all right.

Hare Krishna.