Giriraj Swami’s Vyasa-puja—Talk by Giriraj Swami

Giriraj Swami: Yesterday I asked to hear a talk that Srila Prabhupada gave on his Vyasa-puja, and the talk was being played on the internet, and somehow, after five minutes into the talk, or ten minutes into the talk, it was stopped and started again at the beginning. So, I never heard more than ten minutes of the talk, but I heard the first five minutes ten times. And I thought maybe I am meant to repeat what I heard.

Srila Prabhupada began, to me very surprising way, by saying, “Sons and daughters, I thank you very much for your enthusiasm to celebrate the Vyasa-puja.” He said, “Someone might think that Vyasa-puja is the worship of a man.” What kind of a man is he? Meaning Srila Prabhupada. What kind of a man is he, that he trains his disciples to worship a man? “But actually, Vyasa-puja is not the worship of a man.” And then he described how Vyasadeva. . . why the ceremony is called Vyasa-puja. Because Vyasadeva is the original spiritual master. And then he said, “Actually, Krishna is the original spiritual master, tene brahma hṛdāya ādi-kavaye, and He imparted spiritual knowledge into the heart of Lord Brahma. Or, in other words, He initiated Lord Brahma. And Krishna is within the heart of every living entity as the caitya-guru, the guru within the heart. And therefore, He knows the desires of every living entity very intimately. And when He sees that some living entity is eager to know about Krishna, or to advance in Krishna consciousness, He will give that person all facility. And the main facility to give the person is to manifest Himself as His representative, spiritual master. And the two, Krishna within the heart and Krishna without, work together to help the living entity who desires to develop his relationship with Krishna, to come back to Krishna.”

And the same principle is enunciated throughout the scripture. It is summarized very nicely in Lord Chaitanya’s instructions to Rupa Gosvami. Brahmāṇḍa bhramite kono bhāgyavān jīva, guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija. The living entities are wandering throughout the universe, throughout many different universes, in many different species of life, but when one is fortunate, he gets the seed of devotional service by the combined mercy of guru and Krishna. And in the purport, Srila Prabhupada explains in the same way that Krishna is within the heart of every living entity. And when one is sincere, Krishna gives the living entity the opportunity to associate with devotees of the Krishna consciousness movement. And by the grace of Krishna, one gets his bona fide spiritual master. And by the grace of the spiritual master, one is trained in devotional service to Krishna. Or as it is sometimes summarized, by the mercy of Krishna, one gets a guru, and by the mercy of the guru, one gets Krishna.

Here, in ISKCON, we are fortunate that everyone gets the mercy of Krishna in the form of the association of Srila Prabhupada through his vāṇī, through his instructions. Mainly through his books, but in any manifestation of his instructions. And we get his association by hearing about him from others, and that association of Srila Prabhupada is the greatest treasure that we can offer anyone and that we can receive, because through Srila Prabhupada’s association, we get his association, and the association of previous acharyas and ultimately, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Radha and Krishna. So, it is a great science, and Srila Prabhupada taught that science through his books, through his personal instructions, through his example, and through the programs he instituted in ISKCON, through ISKCON and the programs he instituted in ISKCON. And if we adhere to Srila Prabhupada and his instructions and take advantage of the support that he offers to us through ISKCON, we can make wonderful progress, and we can feel it.

Often, I meet devotees who tell me that they used to chant sixteen rounds, but something came up, and now they don’t. And I ask them, “Do you remember how you felt when you would chant sixteen rounds? How did you feel then, and how do you feel now when you are not chanting sixteen rounds? Is there any difference, and can you describe the difference?” And they all say, every single one that I have asked has said, “I felt much better when I chanted sixteen rounds. I was more peaceful, I was more satisfied, I had more clarity, everything I did went better.” So, the benefit of Krishna consciousness, of following the simple practices that Srila Prabhupada gave us, can be experienced by us, and we just have to arrange our lives in such a way that we can follow his instructions, to  our best capacity, and we will feel the results.

Today, the devotees have created the Juhu temple for me, and have reminded me of my duty, or obligation, or commitment to write about Srila Prabhupada in Juhu. And I may mention a dream that I had. I began this journey to Houston with a flight to Phoenix, Arizona. And my first night in Phoenix, I had a dream. And in the dream, Srila Prabhupada was staying in a large estate or complex, something like Bhaktivedanta Manor or some of the larger properties that the society got in Europe, the castle in France called New Mayapur, someplace like that. And I was not part of Srila Prabhupada’s personal staff, but, of course, I knew the devotees who were serving him. And I was waiting in the hallway, and one of the devotees came out and said, “Srila Prabhupada is going to begin writing a book about Juhu, and to start, he is going to watch all the footage, all the film of Bombay and Juhu. And if you want, you can join when he watches this film.” I thought, Wow, this is such an amazing opportunity. I have to inform the other devotees.

So, at that time in the dream, I thought I have to find my assistants and tell them this is such an amazing opportunity to meet and sit with Srila Prabhupada while he watches the footage of Bombay. So, I went to my servants’ room. First I was looking for them, couldn’t find them anywhere. It is not usual, but not unusual. [laughter] And then, finally, I thought, Well, maybe I will go to the room where they are staying. So, I went, and one of them was sleeping, and I woke him up and said, “Srila Prabhupada is going to be seeing footage of Juhu, and you could sit there and be there with Srila Prabhupada while he watches the footage.” And then I found another assistant. Actually, Nama Ruchi dasa, he wasn’t the one who was sleeping. [laughter] And, I told him, “Come on, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.” So, in the meantime, some time has passed and Srila Prabhupada is sitting on a chair, and there were a number of other chairs where devotees were sitting, and there were images of Juhu and Srila Prabhupada in Juhu. And at that time, when I rejoined them, Yamuna devi was actually looking at what was on the screen and explaining her memory of what took place, her appreciation and realization of what took place.

And then I woke up. I thought, What does this mean? Of course, it might not mean that much, still, I thought, “What does that mean? Does this mean that Srila Prabhupada is going to write the book? That would be great if he does.” I mean, I can be the scribe, but he can be the author. That would be ideal. I hope to be the instrument like that.” And I am also thinking of how he was. I mean, he called upon Yamuna devi, but it was clear that he was calling upon different disciples to speak. So, it also gave me the idea that the telling of the story would involve the memories and impressions and recollections and realization of other devotees who were there. Any service, to be done properly, really requires the person who is performing the service to be selfless, to be transparent, to be without false ego that will come in the way.

His Holiness Sacinandana Gosvami mentioned how you can. . . it’s  actually apparent, if someone is not transparent. Like he said, someone may be giving class and speaking all about Krishna and Krishna consciousness, but somehow, there is an underlying test to call people’s attention to himself as the speaker. So, he is talking about Krishna, but actually, he is trying to call attention to himself. And Sacinandana Swami said, “You can sit there and be watching and listening, ‘Oh, that is what this is about, it is about him.’” So, I mean, I am mentioning this as if it doesn’t apply to me, as if it was someone else, but it can apply to me, and I pray that it won’t. My own ego will not come in the way of my service. I thought I would read. . . I mean, I thought I would give class this morning, but the devotees wanted me to come just to the Vyasa-puja and that was also awkward, but I did think of a nice verse and purport to read. And it says so much itself. And not only is it a very important verse and purport in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but Srila Prabhupada quoted it in his homage to the lotus feet of Krishna when he was on his way to America or when he almost reached America.

This is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Seven, Chapter Nine,

TEXT 28

evaṁ janaṁ nipatitaṁ prabhavāhi-kūpe

kāmābhikāmam anu yaḥ prapatan prasaṅgāt

kṛtvātmasāt surarṣiṇā bhagavan gṛhītaḥ

so ‘haṁ kathaṁ nu visṛje tava bhṛtya-sevām

TRANSLATION

My dear Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, because of my association with material desires, one after another, I was gradually falling into a blind well full of snakes, following the general populace. But Your servant Nārada Muni kindly accepted me as his disciple and instructed me how to achieve this transcendental position. Therefore, my first duty is to serve him. How could I leave his service?

COMMENT

So, this verse was spoken by Prahlada Maharaja to Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva. He was in the personal presence of the Lord, seeing the Lord face to face, but he was glorifying the spiritual master and giving the credit to his spiritual master, and saying that his first duty is to serve his spiritual master through gratitude for having achieved his present position by the grace of his spiritual master. And then he concluded, “How could I give up the service of my spiritual master?” So, this is a very important point, that our relationship with our spiritual master and our service to our spiritual master is eternal and it never ends, even if we see the Lord face to face, we are so lucky. Still, the principle of service to the spiritual master continues.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

As will be seen in later verses, even though Prahlāda Mahārāja was directly offered all the benedictions he might have desired, he refused to accept such offerings from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. On the contrary, he asked the Lord to engage him in the service of His servant Nārada Muni. This is the symptom of a pure devotee. One should serve the spiritual master first. It is not that one should bypass the spiritual master and desire to serve the Supreme Lord. This is not the principle for a Vaiṣṇava. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says:

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

One should not be anxious to offer direct service to the Lord. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised that one become a servant of the servant of the servant of the Lord (gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ). This is the process for approaching the Supreme Lord. The first service should be rendered to the spiritual master so that by his mercy one can approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead to render service. While teaching Rūpa Gosvāmī, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja: one can achieve the seed of devotional service by the mercy of the guru, the spiritual master, and then by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa. This is the secret of success. First one should try to please the spiritual master, and then one should attempt to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura also says, yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo. One should not attempt to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead by concoction.

COMMENT

Now, this is a very important point. I mean, all the points are important, but this point is especially relevant because concoction is something that we are prone to. In his book called, My Glorious Master, Bhurijana Prabhu included a very poignant description of Srila Prabhupada’s visit to Hong Kong, where Bhurijana Prabhu and his wife Jagattarini Mataji were serving. And he had the section of the book, it is called something like, The Real Prabhupada and the Imagined Prabhupada. And in his mind, as Bhurijana Prabhu tells it, he had made various compromises in his spiritual practices, and in his approach to presenting Krishna consciousness, which he imagined that Srila Prabhupada approved of. But when the real Srila Prabhupada came, he corrected Bhurijana Prabhu in various ways. And therefore the title, ‘Real Srila Prabhupada and Imagined Srila Prabhupada.’

So, concoction is something that we, condition souls, are very prone to do, to make concoctions. We may imagine that our spiritual master or Srila Prabhupada approves of what we are doing, but we have to be very careful not to try to please the Supreme Lord by concoction. So, how can we check ourselves from concoction? Of course, the main qualification in every matter is sincerity, that is the main requirement. If one is not sincere, then one will not be able to distinguish the real from the imagined, or the actual creeper from the weeds, the material desires and mental speculation that may come up alongside of the creeper while we are engaged in the process of devotional service. But with that sincerity, we can check ourselves. So, the main thing is to be sincere. And one way we check ourselves is to consult other superiors or even godbrothers. In our case, we consult our godbrothers. And seeing them as superiors who are competent to advise us and guide us. His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami also did that in a very exemplary way. Whenever he had an important decision to make, he would call his godbrothers and consult with us. So that is one very important method.

And another is prayerful reading, that we read Srila Prabhupada’s books in a prayerful mood to get guidance, to understand what is Srila Prabhupada telling you, what does Srila Prabhupada want you to learn. I am not recommending that you randomly open a book. It may happen that you open the book and the answer just comes out, but generally, we should be a little more cautious and circumspect. And then the chanting, offenseless chanting. Once, Satsvarupa Maharaja asked Srila Prabhupada, “Now you are here, so if we have any questions, we can ask you directly. What about when you are not here? How will we get our answers?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “The holy name of Krishna is not different from Krishna Himself. Have you realized this fact?” And in other places in Srila Prabhupada’s teachings, he said the same thing, “By offenseless chanting of the holy name, one gets the answers to one’s questions.” And, of course, as His Holiness Partha Sarathi dasa Gosvami quoted in his offering, Srila Prabhupada wanted us to work cooperatively. He said, “Your sincerity and dedication will be tested by how you work cooperatively. Don’t form any factions that you can’t mediate.” And again, it is something that Srila Prabhupada told Tamal Krishna Goswami towards the end of Srila Prabhupada’s time with us. Tamal Krishna Goswami said, “Srila Prabhupada, the disciples love you so much.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Their love for me will be shown by how they cooperate to keep this movement together.” And all of this requires freedom from false ego. To chant the holy name without it really means to give up our false ego. To work cooperatively really means to give up our false ego.

When I was in Carpentaria, every day at lunchtime I would listen to Bhurijana Prabhu’s series that he gave at the Govardhana Retreat in 2006. And every day, I felt that my false ego was being completely bashed by Bhurijana Prabhu. So, I mentioned this in an exchange with His Holiness Ṛtadhvaja Swami. And then I thought, Well, maybe I will just forward it to Bhurijana Prabhu, just so he knows. He wrote back that, “Every single class, I feel that my false ego is being bashed.” I was afraid that if I celebrated Vyasa-puja, my false ego would be aggravated, that I would be filled with that conception that I am [Unintelligible 00:37:28] whatever. But I can tell you, frankly through this ceremony, my false ego has been smashed again and again and again. Not because you intended it that way, but just because I am hearing so many things that I should be, that I am not. And I know that to become those things, I have to become free from false ego. So, I thank you all for contributing to this very purifying process. But apart from that, it is a very sweet and joyful event. Just thinking of all the mercy that I have gotten, of course, from Srila Prabhupada, Lord Chaitanya, I can’t even begin to say, from so many god brothers as well. I mean, every time I happen to see one of my godbrothers with me, so much mercy from so many wonderful godbrothers.

And as Shyamasundara Prabhu said, we should take advantage of the mercy that we get while we can get it. Sometimes I think; I test myself that if I were to die today, what regrets would I have? And I often think that I would regret not having spent as much time as I would have wanted to with my godbrothers. And I would think I should have made some adjustments, whatever it is. But at the time of death, I should not regret that I did not do something or that I did not do enough of something. And so, one of the things is that, to associate with my godbrothers.

But all of you also are very special souls. Krishna speaks through all of you, Prabhupada speaks through all of you. And so, everywhere is Prabhupada, everywhere is Krishna. So, it is actually such an amazing situation to be in; everywhere is Prabhupada, everywhere is Krishna, everywhere there is devotees, everywhere there is service, everywhere there is kirtan, everywhere is prasāda, almost everywhere. [laughter] Yes, it is really wonderful. So, I think I might conclude with two statements from His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami that he named repeatedly, one to his brother, Carl Herzig, and one to his brother’s wife, Stella Herzig. And what he would tell her repeatedly is something to the effect that, “I love you.” And that is there. He loves all of us, Srila Prabhupada loves all of us, and Krishna loves all of us. And the other thing that he would say repeatedly to his brother was, “Don’t stop now.” He would repeatedly say, “Don’t stop now.” And it is also an important instruction.

Our dear godbrother Madhudvisa Prabhu who recently passed away in Los Angeles in a very glorious manner, and at one of Srila Prabhupada’s. . . I don’t know if it was Prabhupada’s festival or Vyasa-puja or his appearance day festival. But at one of the festivals, he told the story of when Srila Prabhupada came to visit a temple, and the devotees asked, “What pleases you the most?” And on different occasions Srila Prabhupada said different things. Sometimes he would say, “Distributing my books pleases me the most.” And certainly, it did. And once, the book distributor asked him, “What pleases you the most?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “If you love Krishna.” Which is what I thought Madhudvisa Prabhu was  going to say, “Taking care of our children pleases me the most, worshipping the deities nicely pleases me the most, cooperating with each other pleases me the most.” But that is not what Srila Prabhupada said in this case. What Srila Prabhupada said was, “When you struggle, that pleases me the most.” [laughter] And Madhudvisa Prabhu said that especially when you are older, you can come at any stage that it is a struggle. Madhudvisa Prabhu said, just sitting up and getting out of bed in the morning could be a struggle. But whatever our personal struggle is, we should not give up. That is the main point, we should continue, don’t stop now. And we all know what our struggles are, and whatever they are, just by making that effort, by continuing that struggle to serve in whatever way, whatever capacity, whatever situation, that is what pleases Srila Prabhupada the most.

And that is something we all can do. We don’t need any qualification, any material qualification, or any particular spiritual qualification. We just have to make the effort to struggle, and that will please Srila Prabhupada the most. And when Srila Prabhupada is pleased, all benefits will come to us.

Hare Krishna.

Devotees: Hare Krishna. [applause]