SB 2.4.18 – The Advantage of the Present Age of Kali

Giriraj Swami: It is a great pleasure to be here this evening, especially, in the presence of their Lordships and that lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada, and by the side of His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja and all of you. To begin, I will read a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and part of the purport because it is a long purport, and then I will speak a little and then request Maharaja to speak more. Please repeat after me.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

We read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Two, Chapter Four,

TEXT 18

kirāta-hūṇāndhra-pulinda-pulkaśā

ābhīra-śumbhā yavanāḥ khasādayaḥ

ye ‘nye ca pāpā yad-apāśrayāśrayāḥ

śudhyanti tasmai prabhaviṣṇave namaḥ

COMMENT

In the purport Srila Prabhupada says these are generally known as the aboriginal tribes of India in Bihar and Chota Nagpur.

TRANSLATION

Kirāta, Hūṇa, Āndhra, Pulinda, Pulkaśa, Ābhīra, Śumbha, Yavana, members of the Khasa races and even others addicted to sinful acts can be purified by taking shelter of the devotees of the Lord, due to the Lord’s being the supreme power. I beg to offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The above-mentioned historical names are different nations of the world. Even those who are constantly engaged in sinful acts are all corrigible to the standard of perfect human beings if they take shelter of the devotees of the Lord.

According to the cult of devotion, generally known as the Vaiṣṇava cult, there is no bar against anyone’s advancing in the matter of God realization. A Vaiṣṇava is powerful enough to turn into a Vaiṣṇava even the Kirāta, etc., as above mentioned. In the Bhagavad-gītā (9.32) it is said by the Lord that there is no bar to becoming a devotee of the Lord (even for those who are lowborn, or women, śūdras or vaiśyas), and by becoming a devotee everyone is eligible to return home, back to Godhead.

COMMENT

We are all sitting here by the grace of Srila Prabhupada who was the powerful devotee described in the verse. Even people from sinful races, or sinful communities, or sinful backgrounds, could be purified by taking shelter of him, apāśraya-āśrayāḥ, to take shelter of one who in turn has taken shelter of a devotee, who has taken shelter of a devotee, who has taken shelter of the Almighty Lord. We may take it for granted that anyone can be elevated in Krishna consciousness, no matter what his or her background is, but when Srila Prabhupada began his mission, there were many people from India, even now there are some, but then especially, there were many people who objected.

When Srila Prabhupada had established ISKCON in America, he wanted to return to India with some of his American and European disciples. He said that the Indians are very eager to imitate the Americans, so if they see that the Americans have taken to Krishna consciousness, they might also want to imitate that. So, we returned with Srila Prabhupada to Bombay, and people could not believe what they saw. They could not imagine that Americans and Europeans, white people and slanty-eyed people, could become sadhus. And we did hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, and some people, their hearts melted, tears were coming from their eyes that the Americans and Europeans were adopting their culture to an extent beyond or far beyond what they were doing. One day, we were doing hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, and we came in front of the state government building of Maharashtra called sachivalaya or mantralaya, this huge building. And we looked and we saw, in every window, there were people looking out at the devotees. And then there were other people from the street that just gathered around. And after about a half hour or forty-five minutes, some official came to us and requested us to stop, or to move along, because he said the whole government machinery of the state of Maharashtra had come to a complete standstill because no one was doing any work, everyone was just looking out the window at these sadhus. [laughter]

And Srila Prabhupada held a press conference, there were many articles that appeared. But there were people who took objection. They took objection to the idea that Srila Prabhupada could award initiation, or especially second initiation, or brahminical initiation, to people who are not born brahmans. And in one of the articles, it mentioned that one of the devotees named Gopal had been a construction worker. So, someone wrote a letter to the editor saying, “A construction worker is a sudra. How can a sudra be accepted as a brahman?” And Srila Prabhupada dictated a letter, which was submitted in my name, and he said what really counts as guna and karma, one’s qualities and activities, not one’s birth. And he said, “Besides, in America, people place a value on hard work, not like in India where being a construction worker is considered very low, one doesn’t want to do that.” And then he said it doesn’t really matter if people accept his disciples as brahmans or not, because they are brahmans. He gave the example that a lawyer in one province in India may not be recognized as a lawyer in another province, but he is still a lawyer. So, Prabhupada had to face so much opposition in so many different ways, and he untiringly met all that opposition. And why? For us, to establish our right to practice Krishna consciousness and engage in all the activities that are reserved for Vaishnavas.

After about a year and a half of traveling with Srila Prabhupada in India, he received an invitation to go to Madras but he couldn’t go immediately because of other commitments. But four of us went, and our host, he was very strong on this point, “You are Vaishnavas, and Vaishnavas are greater than brahmans, but you are not brahmans.” [laughter] You will have to take birth in a brahman family in your next life, and then you can be a brahman.” So, one of the members of our party, there were four of us, was Achyutananda Prabhu. And Achyutananda Prabhu said that, and I cite this partly out of appreciation for Achyutananda Prabhu, but also to say how well Srila Prabhupada trained us in the philosophy, so that we could meet such opposition. So, Achyutananda Prabhu said, “One is born as a brahman or whatever, based on his past pious and sinful activities. So, say we are born in a lower family, someone is born in a lower family, it is because of these sinful activities. But what is stronger, the holy name of Krishna, or one’s sinful reactions?” And the man had to admit, the holy name of Krishna is more powerful. So, therefore, if we are chanting the holy name of Krishna, that can eradicate all of the results of our sinful reactions, including our lower births. And he had to agree. And that is also in the Third Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Aho bata śva-paco ‘to garīyān, that one who is engaged in chanting the holy name of the Lord is considered to have taken bath in all the holy rivers, have gone on pilgrimage to all the sacred places, and performed all the rituals, and done all the necessities in his past life. And one who chants the holy name of the Lord is immediately eligible to perform Vedic sacrifices, immediately. He doesn’t have to wait to take birth again.

But, of course, we also should not take it for granted that we are brahmans, what to speak of Vaishnavas, but we should appreciate the principle, that if we take shelter of a pure, empowered devotee, like Srila Prabhupada, we can immediately be elevated or purified, śuddhyanti, and we can go on the altar, offer ārati, perform all the different types of services. And this is achieved by the mercy of the pure devotee, and the chanting of the holy name. Srila Prabhupada says in the purport, “As Śukadeva Gosvāmī began his prayers. . .” This verse is part of Śukadeva Gosvāmī’s prayers before speaking this chapter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:

“As Śukadeva Gosvāmī began his prayer by discussing the word yat-kīrtanam, so also Lord Chaitanya recommended that simply by glorifying the Lord’s holy name, a tremendous change of heart can take place by which the complete misunderstanding between the human nations created by politicians can at once be extinguished. And after the extinction of the fire of misunderstanding, other profits will follow. The destination is to go back home, back to Godhead, as we have several times discussed in these pages.” This is ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ, chanting.

So, anyone, even those who are lowborn, is eligible to return home, back to Godhead.

PURPORT (continued)

The only qualification is that one take shelter of a pure devotee of the Lord who has thorough knowledge in the transcendental science of Kṛṣṇa (Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam). Anyone from any part of the world who becomes well conversant in the science of Kṛṣṇa becomes a pure devotee and a spiritual master for the general mass of people and may reclaim them by purification of heart.

COMMENT

So, here Srila Prabhupada is going a step further. He is saying that anyone, from any part of the world, can be purified by taking shelter of a pure devotee of the Lord. And anyone from any part of the world who takes shelter of a pure devotee of the Lord and becomes well conversant in the spiritual science from the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, he, in turn, can also accept people from any part of the world, and purify them. And we see that this is happening. What Srila Prabhupada did was unprecedented. Although Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had predicted,

Prthivite ache yata nagaradi gram

savatra pracara haibe mora nama

That, “In every town and village of every country of the world my name or Krishna’s name will be sung or preached.” Even devotees in the line of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu could not understand how it could actually happen. They thought maybe it is some metaphor or some sentiment. And it actually came to pass when Srila Prabhupada left India at the age of sixty-five and came to America and began to chant Hare Krishna. And on Srila Prabhupada’s behalf, so many disciples went to different countries. Srila Prabhupada went to a lot of places personally, it is almost unimaginable how someone at that advanced age, in such a short time, could go to so many places.

Professor Thomas Hopkins, he was a scholar of religious studies, and he was very impressed by Srila Prabhupada and the devotees, he really studied Srila Prabhupada in a very favorable way and a sympathetic way. But he said to us, or of us, who were mainly eighteen, twenty, sometimes sixteen, or maybe twenty-two or twenty-four, “You really cannot appreciate, or comprehend, what your spiritual master has done because you are too young, you don’t know what it is like to be sixty-five years old.” So, even for young people to travel long fights is difficult, but when you get older, it is more difficult. And it is amazing, even from the physical point, what Srila Prabhupada did. And then, on his behalf, with his blessings and inspiration and empowerment, disciples went all over the world to various remote places. Some of the places mentioned here, Russia, China. And those places that were so hard to enter because of communism, so many people are becoming devotees. So, what Srila Prabhupada wrote here is really true and has been proven and is being confirmed every day.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada:

Anyone from any part of the world who becomes well conversant in the science of Kṛṣṇa becomes a pure devotee and a spiritual master for the general mass of people and may reclaim them by purification of heart. Though a person be even the most sinful man, he can at once be purified by systematic contact with a pure Vaiṣṇava. A Vaiṣṇava, therefore, can accept a bona fide disciple from any part of the world without any consideration of caste and creed and promote him by regulative principles to the status of a pure Vaiṣṇava, who is transcendental to brahminical culture.

By the order of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the cult of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or the Bhagavad-gītā can be preached all over the world, reclaiming all persons willing to accept the transcendental cult.

COMMENT

So, this is really the only qualification to take shelter of a pure devotee like Srila Prabhupada. Once, Tamal Krishna Goswami, (this was when Srila Prabhupada was in Bombay), Tamal Krishna Goswami went to a hospital to get a hernia operation. At that time, it was the best hospital, in Bombay, but Srila Prabhupada was very concerned, and he wanted to stop the operation because he didn’t trust the doctors in India, he said that he should have the operation done in America. So, in those days, it was hard to get a telephone, and even if you did get a telephone, which eventually we got, it was not that often that it worked.

So, somehow, Srila Prabhupada tried to get through to the hospital to send a message to Tamal Krishna Goswami not to have the operation, but he couldn’t get through. And Srila Prabhupada was so concerned that he said, “Then we will drive to Bombay.” And that was not easy, but at least by then we had a vehicle, it was a jeep, the old style with the canvas covering, and it was pretty basic. But yes, Srila Prabhupada got in the jeep and rode to Bombay to the hospital. So, we found where Tamal Krishna Goswami was because Prabhupada really wanted to stop the operation. But it was too late, the surgery had been performed, and they were wheeling Tamal Krishna Goswami out of the operation theater, or the recovery area. And he was just coming out of the effects of the anesthesia, and he opened his eyes, and he saw Srila Prabhupada and he was so happy. And what he said is very much in the mood of this verse and purport. He said to Srila Prabhupada that he had just had a dream about him. It also shows how Krishna conscious Tamal Krishna Goswami was. He just had a dream about him, and in the dream, Srila Prabhupada was giving the report to the previous acharyas, and the previous acharyas were asking him, “What is it like on planet earth? How is the preaching?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “The people now on planet earth have no background in pious activities, they are almost all engaged in sinful acts, they have no background in Vedic knowledge, and in fact, they have very little interest in acquiring spiritual knowledge. And in all respects, they have no good qualities whatsoever. But they do have one qualification, and that is that they have faith in me, and whatever I tell them, they do. And because of that one single qualification, they can be elevated, and they can serve the mission.” So, then, Tamal Krishna Goswami looked at Srila Prabhupada, “Well, what about the dream? Is this some speculation?” And Srila Prabhupada looked at him and said, “Yes, it is true.” [laughter]

So, yes, we are definitely here just because of Srila Prabhupada and to whatever extent we have been able to follow him. At one stage, Srila Prabhupada wanted. . .it was a major concern of his to build the Juhu temple. And we were raising some funds in Bombay, but not enough to meet all the expenses. So, one of our friends invited me to a few places but especially the Canary Islands to preach. There were some wealthy, especially, Sindhis there that he thought could help. Well, it turns out that they weren’t that wealthy. I mean, they were nice people, but they actually weren’t that wealthy. Earlier, I had gone to Lagos, Nigeria, those people were wealthy. So, anyway, that is sort of on the side. But what I am getting to is I wrote Srila Prabhupada a letter describing how I was preaching to them, and I had a very elaborate, systematic way of presenting Krishna consciousness to them, and they really appreciated it. But the only thing is they didn’t have that much money.

So, Srila Prabhupada wrote back a letter to me, saying that a man once asked his friend, “Are you intelligent?” And his friend started looking in his pockets. So, the first friend said, “Why are you looking in your pockets?” And the second one said, “Well, if there is money, then it means I am intelligent.” So, then Srila Prabhupada wrote that, “You have gone so far, and you are preaching very intelligently, but if there is no money, where is the intelligence?” [laughter] And then he said, and this is the crucial point, “Everything is working by my intelligence and your cooperation.” In other words, in more direct language, we have no intelligence. [laughter] Or in even more direct language, we are fools. [laughter] And everything is working by Srila Prabhupada’s intelligence and our cooperation. And Prabhupada used that word “cooperation” quite a bit. He would say, “Cooperate with me.” So, once, I asked him, “What does that mean cooperate with you?” He said, “It means to do what I say.” [laughter] So that is it.

And, not then, but now in retrospect I am thinking how, guru more mūrkha dekhi, karila śāsana, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “My spiritual master saw Me as a great fool, and he chastised Me.” And so, we should always feel like fools before Srila Prabhupada and the previous acharyas. We shouldn’t think that we can know better than they do or do something that they never did, which is better than what they did. And we should be ready to be chastised by them. And that chastisement can come in different forms, but we should be open to that. Once again, in this similar context, one devotee in Mumbai said to Srila Prabhupada something about when a devotee is perfect, and Prabhupada interrupted him and said, “A devotee never thinks that he is perfect. As soon as someone thinks that he is perfect, he is a rascal.” And he quoted this guru more mūrkha dekhi, karila śāsana, that we should remain everlasting a fool before the spiritual master, (in this case before Srila Prabhupada), and be ready to be chastised by him, and then we are safe. And as soon as we think we are perfect, we are beyond being chastised, then we are rascals. Well, we are anyway. I mean, not you, especially them. So, I will just wind up now because I am also very eager to hear His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja and be chastised by him. [laughter]

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The Vaiṣṇava never accepts another Vaiṣṇava on the basis of birthright, just as he never thinks of the Deity of the Lord in a temple as an idol. And to remove all doubts in this connection, Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī has invoked the blessings of the Lord, who is all-powerful (prabhaviṣṇave namaḥ). As the all-powerful Lord accepts the humble service of His devotee in devotional activities of the arcana, His form as the worshipable Deity in the temple, similarly the body of a pure Vaiṣṇava changes transcendentally at once when he gives himself up to the service of the Lord and is trained by a qualified Vaiṣṇava.

COMMENT

Therefore, he can be accepted as a brahman and worship the Supreme Brahma.

PURPORT (continued)

The conclusion is that the Lord, being all-powerful, can, under any and every circumstance, accept anyone from any part of the world, either personally or through His bona fide manifestation as the spiritual master. Lord Chaitanya accepted many devotees from communities other than the varṇāśramites, and He Himself declared, to teach us, that He does not belong to any caste or social order of life, but that He is the eternal servant of the servant of the Lord who maintains the damsels of Vṛndāvana, that is Lord Kṛṣṇa. gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ

COMMENT

So, we are here today by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, and if we are here tomorrow, it will be by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada. [laughter] And when we are all dead and gone and we hope we will be with Srila Prabhupada in our next life, the people who will be doing the worship in this temple, and the people who will be sitting here listening to the kṛṣṇa-kathā, they will also be here by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada. And so, yes, we owe everything to him, and we are happy to try to. . .Not that we can ever even begin to repay our debt, but we are happy to dedicate our life to serving him as an expression of appreciation and gratitude for what he has done for us, which is enable us to be here as we are today.

Hare Krishna. [applause]