Do Not Compromise

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. It is a great honor and privilege and pleasure to be here at this holy place, which was graced by the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada. For those who are not aware of the history, as I have heard it, Srila Prabhupada was in Washington, DC on July 4th, 1976 for the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America. And on July 7th, a devotee showed him the picture of the Gaura-Nitai deities here, and Srila Prabhupada said, “I want to go immediately to see them.” And so, Srila Prabhupada and some hundreds of devotees immediately left Potomac and came here. And Srila Prabhupada stood before the deities of Gaura-Nitai, and said, “The people of Baltimore are very fortunate because they simply have to chant jaya Sacinandana, and they will achieve all perfection.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai ki jaya!

And then later, Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra came from New York City. Of course, there was some selling and buying of properties, and so, the devotees in New York could no longer house Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra so they came here. And they go to New York every year for the Ratha-yatra.

Before coming here, I was requested to speak about an incident that took place in Madras. To give a very brief summary, I first saw Srila Prabhupada at Brandeis University near Boston, and I was looking for a guru, and I found that he was the perfect master that I had been seeking, and so I surrendered to him and moved into the ashram in Boston. And after about a year and a half, Srila Prabhupada announced that he was going to return to India and he wanted one person from each temple. And at that time, there were maybe fourteen temples. He wanted the number two person from each temple. So I was in Boston, Satsvarupa dasa then was the temple president, and I was the temple commander, treasurer, and saṅkīrtana leader. So, I was the next in line. And the day I left, I came before the deities. We also had Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra, and small Radha-Krishna deities. And somehow, I got the impression that Lord Jagannatha was sending me to India. And as I was standing near the front door of the temple, about to leave for the airport, they had pūjārī, Rukmini devi dasi, who now lives in the neighborhood. She came running down to tell me that she had an intuition that Lord Jagannatha was sending me to India. So, I thought, That is very interesting, I also had the same impression.

So, I went to India, and we arrived in Bombay, then from Bombay we went to Amritsar and Delhi, Indore, Surat, back to Bombay, then Allahabad for the Ardh Khumba-mela, then Gorakhpur, Varanasi, then Calcutta, and then. . . Anyway, there were some travels. Then, first Bombay pandal and first Calcutta pandal, then first Delhi pandal. And Srila Prabhupada had received an invitation to go to Madras. At the time, there was a very well-known Bharatanatyam dancer in India named Vaijyanti Mala. And it turns out she had quite a nice home, estate, in Madras that her husband wanted to sell to Srila Prabhupada, but we found that out later, it began as a simple invitation for us to visit Madras.

So, I was the first devotee from ISKCON to go to Madras, and I was staying in different people’s homes, and I was speaking the way I had heard Srila Prabhupada speak. But I eventually started to hear that people didn’t like the way I was preaching. Preaching the way I heard Srila Prabhupada preach meant saying that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and we are His eternal servants. So, eventually, even friends and well-wishers, even some of my hosts, started to say that I should not criticize others, that I can speak positively whatever I want about Krishna consciousness, but I shouldn’t criticize others. And one man at whose home I was staying, he even gave the example of the Gaudiya Math in Madras, that, “Every year they celebrate Janmashtami, and thousands of people come, but they don’t criticize others like you do. So, why can’t you be like them?” And I thought, What would Srila Prabhupada want? Would he want me to be like them? And I thought, No, I don’t think so.

So, it was continuing. I met one man named Mr. Rama Krishna, who was reputed in the city to be very religious. So, I met him, and he said, “Why Krishna? We believe in Shiva.” So, we had some argument, and he became angry, and I got angry, then he became more angry, then I became more angry, and it ended up pretty tense. So, I continued meeting people, and so many people would say, “Oh, have you met Mr. Rama Krishna? He is very religious; he will like you.” And so many people were saying it, I thought, Maybe I should try again. So, I phoned him, I wasn’t sure how he would respond, but he immediately agreed, he said, “Yes, please come.” And I thought he must have also been meeting people saying, “Well, have you met the Hare Krishna people? They are doing very nice work, you will really like them.”

So, I went, and I tried to avoid that controversy about who was supreme, but eventually, somehow it came to the same point. I said Krishna is supreme, he said Shiva is supreme. But neither of us wanted it to end up the same way as the last time, but it was heading in that direction. And then, suddenly, I got an idea. I said, “Look, I am just a student. My spiritual master is coming to Madras, why don’t you meet him and discuss with him?” So, he was too happy because first of all, we didn’t have to end in disagreement, and because he would get to meet Srila Prabhupada.

So, when Srila Prabhupada came, I introduced him, and Mr. Rama Krishna said, “I have been having talks with your Giriraj about who is supreme, Krishna or Shiva.” And Srila Prabhupada did not answer the question in those terms. Rather, he said, “There are two words in Sanskrit. One is puja, and the other is bhakti, or sevā. In puja, one worships the deity to get something in return, whereas in bhakti, one worships the deity only for the pleasure of the deity, without any desire for personal return.” And then he said, “Generally, Shiva is worshipped in the mood to get something material in return, and Krishna is worshiped only for His pleasure.” So, Mr. Rama Krishna asked, “What if someone worships Shiva not for some material benefit?” And Srila Prabhupada said, “That is all right, but that is not usual. For example, someone may go to a liquor shop for some other purpose besides purchasing alcohol, but generally, if someone goes to a liquor shop it is to buy alcohol. But if someone actually does worship Shiva in that mood, then it is all right, and Shiva will bring that person to Krishna.” I know many examples of people who did worship Shiva, seeking the absolute truth, not to get any personal material gain, and they eventually did become devotees of Krishna.

Earlier, before Srila Prabhupada came, as I mentioned, different people were giving me that kind of advice, and so many people were giving it, that I thought maybe Krishna’s trying to tell me something. So, I decided I would not criticize, just like they said, I will just speak positively about Krishna and Krishna consciousness and ISKCON, and not criticize. So, I had an appointment with an industrialist, and so, I went to his office, same thing. I opened up my briefcase, showed him the pictures of our activities, he liked the activities, showed him Back to Godhead magazine, showed him the books, and then gave him the life membership form and asked him to become a life member. So he said, “You have said so many things, but you haven’t said anything about Shankaracharya. Why haven’t you said anything about him?” I said, “Yes, he is also one of the great acharyas of India.” And he replied, “But you haven’t said anything about him, why didn’t you say anything about him?” So, he kept pushing and probing, and finally, it all came out, the whole truth came out, that he is actually an incarnation of Lord Shiva who came to preach Mayavada, which was a type of atheism, a veiled form of Buddhism.

And that is the whole thing, took out Teachings of Lord Caitanya, read. So, I thought, “Well, that is the end of that,” and put away the books, put away the magazine, put away the pictures, took back the membership form. And it was another one of those tense meetings. So, he had his factory and office in the same compound as his residence, and as we were about to leave, he said, “Before you go, I would like you to see my temple.” So, I thought, He is going to have a shiva-lingam, and if I don’t offer obeisances, he is going to think I am sectarian. So, I looked him in the eye, “Do I really have to?” He looked me in the eye back, “Yes, you do.” [laughter] So, okay, I went in, and it was quite a big deity room, as home deities go, quite a big one, marble. And there was a high platform, and on the platform were the deities, big marble deities of Radha and Krishna. And I was so happy to see Them. I didn’t see any Radha-Krishna in Madras. Most of the Vaishnava temples were Vishnu, almost all Vishnu, and then there was the Partha-sarathi one near the sea side where Krishna has a mustache. [laughter] And I hadn’t seen Radha-Krishna for a long time so I was so happy, and I offered obeisances and prayers. And then I looked at my host, “What is this?” And he said, “Me and my entire family, and our family for generations, have been worshipers of Radha and Krishna. I was only testing you, and I was very glad to see that you did not compromise. So, I will be very happy to become your life member.”

So, then we went back to his office, took out the books, took out the magazine, took out the form, and he signed and he paid the full amount and became a life member. So, I thought, Maybe what I am doing isn’t wrong. But still, I wasn’t sure because so many people were saying it. And then I got back to my room, and there was a letter from Srila Prabhupada. So, I opened the letter with great anticipation, and it is like the words practically jumped out of the page. And Srila Prabhupada wrote, “It is a fact that I am the only one in India who is openly criticizing, not only demigod worship and impersonalism, but anything that falls short of complete surrender to Krishna.” He said, “My guru Maharaja never compromised in his preaching, and I will never compromise in my preaching, and similarly, none of my disciples should ever compromise in their preaching. And we must declare it boldly that without complete surrender to Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, people’s hopes for peace and happiness will all end in failure.” So then, I thought, “This is the answer, this is the answer.”

So, when we preach, we have to speak the truth. We have to know the truth first and then speak the truth. And the more we speak the truth, the more the truth is realized. It is an essential part of our process, to preach. And yes, the more we preach, the more our knowledge becomes realized. So, you are here, I saw the plans for the new temple, and afterwards, I will be seeing the site. So, that is very good that we will have more facility, but the temple is really just a facility. And that is part one, phase one, to build a temple. And phase two is to use the temple, to come, to practice Krishna consciousness, and to bring others. And it really is a great blessing to have the opportunity to do such service. But we should never compromise in our preaching, or in our practices.

Just today, His Holiness Ṛtadhvaja Swami told me the story of a disciple of one of our godbrothers in India. He was in medical school, and he was very regular in his sadhana, but he was doing very well in medical school. He was on track to be the first in his class. So, I am not sure, maybe a month before the end of his studies, he thought, I am so close to being first in my class. If I just make one last push, I can do it. And he decided for this one month he would stop chanting his rounds and studying Srila Prabhupada’s books, and he would just focus on his studies. And so, it happened, he stood first in the entire school, and he got all the honors. And then, that evening, at the whatever reception, celebration for the graduating class from the medical college, he had a heart attack and died. I am mentioning this because we can’t take anything for granted, we can’t compromise. Yes, there are emergencies, but we really can’t compromise thinking that, Later I will come back to it, because we don’t know how much time we have. So we should use every moment in Krishna consciousness.

Srila Prabhupada had one friend in Bombay named Mr. Brijratan Mohatta, a very brilliant person and a shrewd businessman. And Srila Prabhupada spoke to him once, that in the ledger of your life. . ., and as a businessman, he could really relate to that example. Any businessman in his ledger, he wants to see profit, he doesn’t want to see loss. So, whatever time you devote to Krishna consciousness it is profit, and any time spent outside of Krishna consciousness, is loss. And Canakya Pandit says that no matter how much gold you are ready to spend, you cannot buy back one moment of your life, you can’t. At the time of death, Prabhupada told the story of a big businessman in Allahabad. He had so many plans that he hadn’t realized. And he had so much money, getting all the best doctors from Calcutta, all the best medicine, everything, but his life was slipping away. And he asked the doctor, “Can you just give me four more years? If I get four more years, I can. . .” But you can’t, you can’t even get one moment.

So, we really should take advantage of this human form of life and this opportunity to associate with devotees and chant the holy names and serve the mission. And we are weak on our own, none of us can do what Srila Prabhupada did, come to America all alone. We can’t, we need each other. And therefore, our relationships with each other are very important. We should always maintain favorable relationships with each other and, support each other, and appreciate each other, and help each other to be engaged in hearing and chanting and remembering Krishna and bringing others to Krishna. Srila Prabhupada gave the example of the father. He had some sticks, and he gave a stick to each of his sons, and asked them to break the stick, and they easily broke each stick. And then, he took the sticks and bundled them together, and asked them to break the bundle, and they couldn’t. So, the idea is that individually, alone, any one of us is very weak, we can easily be broken, but if we stay together, bundled together, then no one can break us. And so, yes, we should stay together and use our time to chant

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Serve the deities, study scripture, encourage the devotees, and bring new people. So, I am not sure what the procedure is here, but in Potomac they said to me, “Time for questions and answers.” So, if any of you have any questions or comments, you can say it. Do we have a traveling microphone?

Devotee: Srila Prabhupada said that we should respect the demigods. We don’t worship the demigods but we show respect, so why [Unintelligible 00:36:37]? I am sorry, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: No, that is a very good question. As devotees, we have to be careful of the example that we set. We may know that Lord Shiva is a Vaishnava, vaiṣṇavānāṁ yathā śambhuḥ, but other people generally are impersonalists, they think that the ultimate is impersonal and it comes in the form of Shiva or Durga or Vishnu or Ganesh, and that ultimately, they are all the same. So, at the time, I thought that he was an impersonalist, Saivite, and he wanted me to surrender to his conception. And so, my offering obeisances to Lord Shiva would have meant I surrendered to his conception. It so happened that when Srila Prabhupada was in Madras, another wealthy man was opening a temple at his home. And he had a nice temple room, marble, he invited a lot of respectable people, aristocratic people, and religious figures, and there was not enough room for us to fit in that temple room, so we were outside, looking in, and Srila Prabhupada and other dignitaries were inside. And in the middle of the temple room was a shiva-lingam. And at a certain point, the host distributed flower petals, or small flowers, to all the participants, and they were all offering their flowers to Lord Shiva. And we were all looking at Srila Prabhupada what he would do, and he threw his flowers in the corner. Then, when everyone came out, we went in, and we looked in the corner, and there was a little deity of Krishna.

So, the other day, when I was walking at night, there was a very nice crescent moon, reminded me of Lord Shiva. When I go to Vrindavan, I go to the temple of Gopisvara-Mahadeva. I consider him to be a śikṣā-guru. And I remember after one of my earlier visits to him, when I was going back from Vamsi Vata to Raman Reti, I saw that same crescent moon, and I took it as Lord Shiva’s blessing, like, “He is my śikṣā-guru, he is there to guide me to Krishna.” But we do have to be careful about other people and what their misconceptions could be. For example, if we celebrate Shiva-ratri, which really is not a Vaishnava holy day, but we could celebrate Shiva-ratri, worshipping Shiva as the greatest Vaishnava. But general people will think, Oh, in ISKCON they worship Lord Shiva. It is all one, I can also worship Lord Shiva. And that can lead to offense. One should not disrespect the demigods, but to think that the demigods are equal to or independent of Lord Vishnu or Krishna, that is an offense, and we don’t want to encourage that misconception. So, that is what I was thinking. Hare Krishna.

There was a man there, who was it? Did you have your hand up? Okay.

Devotee: Hare Krishna. We are really thankful for His Holiness Giriraj Maharaja. [Unintelligible 00:42:48]. I just think that memories like these should be cherished all the time. I mean, hearing lectures, but today, we could hear these wonderful memories. And I think Maharaja has written some wonderful books like, Watering the Seed, in which he has recounted his personal situations with Prabhupada, and then he goes further in a next book called, Many Moons, where many Vaishnava devotees of ISKCON, he is mentioned about that. And the last book is my favorite, The Life’s Final Exam about how do you leave the body and it is just amazing. All three books are here actually, and I strongly encourage that who doesn’t have the book, you definitely have to. It is going to be life-changing experience. With Maharaja’s permission, if you get this book, you will get Maharaja’s autograph. [Unintelligible 00:43:35].

Giriraj Swami: I should also mention that Nila Madhava Prabhu’s brother is a devotee in India, his name is Dhananjay Krishna. And Dhananjay Krishna works with me in printing my books in India, and he is a very good businessman. He is a very tough negotiator, and he is also a very good salesman. We all have our individual ways, but he is a very good salesman, and he will hide a lot of the books, and he will say, “Get them, we are almost out, come quickly before the supply is exhausted.” And people come, and they will be scrambling to get the last ones, “Oh, another box just suddenly arrived,” and he is really, really quite good.

So, yes, but you are a medical doctor, so your approach has to be a little gentler. [laughter] Yes. Although sometimes even doctors. . . I was just thinking of this the other day, somehow it came to mind. At a certain point, I had some sort of infection, something inside my mouth. So, I went to my internist, and, he looked in, and he never seen anything like it. He didn’t know what to do. So, he called in one of his colleagues to look at it, and he looked in, and he said, “Oh my god, what is that?” And my doctor said, “You are not supposed to speak like that.” [laughter] But yes, as a rule, doctors should be gentle and tactful, which you are.

All right, so, is that it? That is it. We have to have prasāda now.