NOD – More Questions Answered

Devotee: I noticed when I chant mantras, like Shiva, it would empty me out, make me kind of empty. Krishna kind of fills me up and makes me feel really happy. So, that resonated with me the most.

Giriraj Swami: And how do you know Anthony?

Devotee: I work with him. Actually, we know each other but we didn’t introduce ourselves and get to be friends, so I started working in the office and I saw a book on transcendental meditation at his desk, and I decided to pick his brain a little bit, see if he knew what kirtan was and what bhakti-yoga was. And I guess we kind of introduced each other to different things.

Giriraj Swami: Can you hand me that book that I kept on the counter?

Devotee: This?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that would be fine. That’s our book stand. So, you mentioned bhakti-yoga and kirtan. So, I thought I would speak a little about what bhakti-yoga actually is, because the term is used a lot now. And the people who use it may or may not know what it actually is.

So, I’m going to read a verse that’s originally from the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, and you have a summary study of the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, that’s The Nectar of Devotion. And every Sanskrit work has one verse that is called the Hari Vasa Sutra, which means that it is one verse that governs all the other verses in the work. All the other verses in the work are seen in relation to the Hari Vasa Sutra.

Now, the Hari Vasa Sutra for The Nectar of Devotion or Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu defines bhakti. And as you know from reading The Nectar of Devotion, there are sixty-four processes of bhakti-yoga. Of course, within the sixty-four, five are considered especially potent. But all of them are considered to be pure devotional service if they are performed in the mood of pure devotional service. Otherwise, the same activity performed in a different consciousness would not be called pure devotional service.

Jeffrey sort of hit on the point about feeling different from chanting Shiva and the way he feels from chanting Krishna. And why that is so, can be understood from the verse. Before we read any sacred text, we recite a mantra that is meant to invoke auspiciousness. Of course, we recited all the mantras, then we installed the books. There is a specific one that we recite when we read from Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. So, we will do that. You can repeat after me.

jaya jaya śrī-caitanya jaya nityānanda

jayādvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

So now, we will read this most important verse. Please repeat.

TEXT 167

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ

jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam

ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-

śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā

COMMENT

Now, you must have come across the word Mayavadi. Well, monist, in this context, means someone who wants to merge and become one with the impersonalist light or the void. And Mayavadis are a particular category of monists who believe that everything is maya. Everything that we can perceive is maya, including the form of Krishna, the name of Krishna, the service of Krishna, and the talks about Krishna, it’s all maya.

So, this word jnana, which means knowledge, in certain contexts refers to that impersonal concept. So, pure devotional service must not be covered by that type of speculative knowledge. Buddhists are also impersonalists. But their type of impersonalism is a little different. Actually, it’s quite an interesting topic because without understanding it, one cannot really practice bhakti properly. So, there are actually three categories. There’s the Mayavadis, who were just described, and there are the Brahmavadis.

Now, all the basic principles are presented in all the different books and there is ultimate harmony among the books. So, statement from one scripture will corroborate the statement of another scripture. So, in the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Krishna says brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham, “I, Krishna, am the basis of the impersonal Brahman.” And Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says that the Absolute Truth is realized in three features; Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān. So, Brahman is the impersonal light, Paramātmā is the Lord within the heart, and Bhagavān is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna.

So, Brahmavadis are not like Mayavadis. They accept that the form of Krishna is spiritual, the name of Krishna is spiritual, and everything about Krishna is spiritual. So, they are not offensive like the Mayavadis. But their preference is to enter into the impersonal light. So, they are called Brahmavadis. They are monists, but a different type. Then, there are the Voidists. They don’t have any positive conception of impersonal spirit. Their idea is to sort of dismantle their individual identity and enter the void.

I mean, the word nirvana is used in the Bhagavad-gītā, meaning cessation of misery. But one achieves the state of nirvana by bhakti-yoga, not by dismantling one’s individual personal practice.

So, bhakti-yoga cannot be covered by jnana or karma. And here again, it means specifically, any of those impersonal theories. So, there’s a footnote here, “Here, jnana does not refer to perfect knowledge in devotional service. One has to learn the path of devotional service with full knowledge from the Vedas, bhaktyā śruta-gṛhītayā (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.12).”

“Synonyms: jñāna — by the knowledge of the philosophy of the monist Māyāvādīs; karma — by fruitive activities”

These are the things that devotional knowledge should not be covered by. Ādi means and so on. But here, Srila Prabhupada explains what that ādi refers to.

“Synonyms: ādi— by artificially practicing detachment, by the mechanical practice of yoga, by studying the impersonal philosophers, and so on; anāvṛtam — not covered;”

I will explain what that means in more detail.

“Synonyms: ānukūlyena — favorable; kṛṣṇa-anuśīlanam — the cultivation of service in relationship to Krishna; bhaktiḥ uttamā — first-class devotional service.”

TRANSLATION

“ ‘When first-class devotional service develops, one must be devoid of all material desires, knowledge obtained by monistic philosophy, and fruitive action. The devotee must constantly serve Kṛṣṇa favorably, as Kṛṣṇa desires.’

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

This verse is also found in Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.1.11). As we can understand from the Bhagavad-gītā (9.34 and 18.65), the Supreme Personality of Godhead wants everyone to think of Him always (man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ). Everyone should become His devotee, not the devotee of a demigod. Everyone should engage in devotional service, or arcana (Deity worship) in the temple. Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru. Everyone should offer obeisances, from moment to moment, to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. These are the desires of the Supreme Lord, and one who fulfills His desires favorably is actually a pure devotee.

COMMENT

So, this word, ānukūlyena, means favorable. Favorable means that we should act for the pleasure of Krishna, and we should know what brings pleasure to Krishna. Its two elements. Our mood should be that we want to please Him, and we should also know what actually does please Him. For example, in the Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna says

patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ

yo me bhaktyā prayacchati

“If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I will accept it.”

And elsewhere in the Bhagavad-gītā, He explains foods in different categories. So, we don’t offer Krishna meat, fish, or eggs. We don’t even offer Him onions or garlic because that’s not what He asks for. So, bhakti-yoga means we offer Krishna what He wants, and in the mood of devotion with the desire to please Krishna. I’ll give an example of offering something to Krishna without devotion from the Mahābhārata.

There was a king named Duryodhana who was actually inimical to Krishna. You’ve heard of the Battle of Kurukshetra. So, Duryodhana was the leader of the other side that was fighting against Arjuna, Pandavas, and Krishna. So, at one stage, Duryodhana prepared a feast, and he invited Krishna. And Krishna said that a person will eat for one of two reasons. One, he’s hungry, and two, to accept the love of the person who’s offering the food. So, Krishna said, “I’m not hungry, and you are not preparing the food or offering the food with devotion. So, I will not accept your invitation.” But instead, Krishna went to the home of a very humble devotee, and that devotee was so overwhelmed with ecstasy when Krishna visited him, and he was so poor, all he had was bananas. But in his ecstasy, he was peeling the bananas and offering Krishna the peels, and throwing away the fruit. And Krishna, because of his devotion, Krishna was eating the peels and relishing the peels, because Krishna does not need to eat anything. He’s self-satisfied, but He really accepts the devotion with which the offering is made.

So, we should know what Krishna wants and offer Him what He wants in the mood of devotion, in the mood of loving service. So, that is bhakti. Ānukūlyena means favorable. One’s mood should be favorable to Krishna. Duryodhana’s mood was not favorable to Krishna. And what we offer Him should be favorable, in the sense that it is what He wants.

Then, anuśīlanam, this is another very important word. Actually, every word is very important here. Anu has two meanings, one is to follow, and the other is continuous. And śīlanam means cultivation. So, pure devotional service is continuous cultivation. It’s not a part-time engagement, it’s not a hobby or a leisure activity when one has nothing else to do. And anuśīlanam, we do it following the scriptures, following the authorities, following the previous examples.

And then, kṛṣṇa. Now, this is a very important word, kṛṣṇa. What does kṛṣṇa mean? Well, the direct meaning is Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Original Personality of Godhead. The First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam lists twenty-six different incarnations, and at the end of the list, the Bhāgavatam says, ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayaṁ, that all of the incarnations in the list are plenary portions or portions of plenary portions of Krishna. But Krishna is the Original Supreme Personality of Godhead.

The Brahma-saṁhitā gives the example of a candle. That from one candle, you can light a second, from the second, you can light the third, from the third, you can light the fourth. And they all may have the same candle power, but still, there’s one original candle. So, that’s Krishna. And rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan, He expands Himself into different incarnations or forms  such as Rama, Nṛsiṁha, and so on.

And all of those direct expansions of Krishna are called viṣṇu-tattva. They are in the same category as Krishna. And our acharyas have explained that in this verse, the word kṛṣṇa means Krishna, but also, it includes His plenary portions such as Rama, Nṛsiṁha, Vishnu, and so on. It does not, however, include demigods. And this understanding is essential for the performance of bhakti-yoga.

There is another category of powerful beings, who are not in the Vishnu category, who are within the material world, but they are very powerful. And the personalities in that category include Shiva, Durga, Ganesh, there are many in that category. And they are compared to ministers in the government of a king. The ministers have no independent authority. If the king wants, he can dismiss them. But because of their ability and their loyalty to the king, they’re given the posts of ministers.

And so, these demigods or devatas are like ministers in the kingdom of Krishna, and they’re in charge of different departments. Brahma is in charge of creation, Shiva’s in charge of destruction, and Sarasvati is in charge of learning, music, and culture. And then, some of them are in charge of planets. Surya is in charge of the sun, Chandra is in charge of the moon, Indra is both in charge of rainfall and the presiding Deity of svarga-loka, which is like paradise, you could say. It’s in the material world, but it’s heavenly.

So, these demigods are not independent. They are not equal to Krishna, and they’re not independent of Krishna. You might have read this in The Nectar of Devotion about the ten offenses in the chanting of the holy name. Jeffrey, what books have you read? Have you read any of the books?

Jeffrey: No, I haven’t. I’ve read the Bhagavad-gītā a little bit, but that’s about it.

Giriraj Swami: Okay. So, you are more and more for kirtans.

Jeffrey: Yeah, I’ve read the Rāmāyaṇa.

Giriraj Swami: Okay, well, you are getting a good introduction here.

So, among sixty-four items of bhakti-yoga, there are nine that are considered important. And the first three of the nine are; śravaṇam, which means hearing, kīrtanam, which is chanting, and smaraṇam, which is remembering.

So, within kirtan, there are instructions on how to perform kirtan, and there are ten offenses one should avoid while chanting. And one of the ten offenses is to consider the names of the demigods like Lord Shiva or Lord Brahma to be equal to or independent of the name of Lord Vishnu or Lord Krishna.

So, one can chant the names of the demigods, like you said, the name of Lord Shiva or any of the demigods, but if we think that they are equal to or independent of Krishna, then that is an offense, and it won’t increase our devotion, but it will actually shrink it. So, we have to be aware of that. We’re discussing what is Krishna, and along with that, we’re discussing what is not included in Krishna in this definition. So, Krishna includes His direct expansions in the Vishnu category, like Rama, Nṛsiṁha, Varaha, and Narayana. But it does not include demigods. But it does include, because Krishna is absolute, so it includes His name. In other words, service to Krishna includes service to His name, to His form, to His qualities, to His pastimes, to His paraphernalia, to His pure devotees. They’re all contained within the category of Krishna. And Rupa Gosvami says that any of the items of devotional service, in relation to Krishna, can be performed in relation to any of these categories.

Now, Krishna is never alone. This is a very basic point. Krishna is never alone. The commentaries use the example of a king, but coming here, I saw a big sticker or something about Obama. So, we’ll use Obama because he’s more in our context here. So, if I were to say, “President Obama is coming,” it doesn’t mean that he would be coming alone. When we say, “President Obama is coming,” it is understood that he’s coming with his secretaries, his bodyguards, and his whole entourage. So, we say, “President Obama is coming,” but it doesn’t mean just President Obama, it means air force one and the presidential limousine and all of his entourage. Those are included when we say, “President Obama is coming.”

So, in the same way, when we say Krishna, it means Krishna and His associates, His paraphernalia, everything that comes with Krishna, and we serve all of Them. That is included in bhakti. Now, this first compound word anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ. So, anya means other, abhilāsa means desires, and śūnyam means devoid of. We already said that bhakti means that one should desire to please Krishna, but the other side is that one should have no other desire. But  this word, abhilāsa, which means desire, has a suffix, itā. And what does that itā mean? It means that in one’s normal disposition, one does not engage in devotional service for any material benefit. That is against pure devotional service.

That’s why I said the consciousness is the critical factor in devotional service. Someone could offer a dollar in the donation box to Krishna with the idea of pleasing Krishna, but one could offer a dollar in the donation box with the idea, “I’ll get ten dollars back.” In other words, much of religion is motivated with the desire for some material benefit. People go to the church and pray, “Dear God, give us this day our daily bread,” they want something from God. But in pure devotional service, we’re not asking anything from God, we want only to serve Him, and we have no other desire.

But that suffix itā means that in an extreme situation of danger, for example, one might pray to Krishna for protection. Just like if someone is coming to kill you or someone is mortally wounded, so you might start praying to Krishna. That is not considered a deviation from the principles of pure devotional service, because you are not engaging in devotional service to get material protection for yourself or your family. But in some extreme circumstances, without any other resources for a moment, one may do that, and that is not considered against the principle of pure devotional service. And, therefore, that suffix itā means generally, that one does not have any other desire except to serve Krishna.

Śīlanaṁ means cultivation. Now, that cultivation can be done with the senses, and with the mind. And in the liberated state, when one engages in spiritual service that’s beyond even the mind, and it’s sort of internal meditation in the liberated state in which one serves Krishna. And those are all included in śīlanaṁ. And it’s a cultivation, it’s not an activity.

So, this is the basic definition of bhakti, and the term is used so loosely now. People talk about bhakti toward demigods, bhakti towards their parents, and bhakti towards their country. They use it in ways that really are not appropriate for bhakti. So, this is what is it. So now, I will finish reading the purport. I don’t think I’ll need to comment much on the purport, and then we can see about questions. So, Srila Prabhupada began the purport by quoting two verses from the Bhagavad-gītā, that both have the same lines. And it’s really the essence of the Bhagavad-gītā, Man-manā, always think of Krishna, mad-bhakto, become a devotee of Krishna, mad-yājī, always worship Krishna, māṁ namaskuru offer obeisances to Krishna.

PURPORT (continued)

These are the desires of the Supreme Lord, and one who fulfills His desires favorably is actually a pure devotee. Kṛṣṇa wants everyone to surrender unto Him, and devotional service means preaching this gospel all over the world. The Lord says openly in the Bhagavad-gītā (18.69), na ca tasmān manuṣyeṣu kaścin me priya-kṛttamaḥ: One  should preach the gospel of the Bhagavad-gītā for the benefit of all. The Bhagavad-gītā is spoken by the Lord so that human society can be perfectly organized from all angles of vision — politically, socially, economically, philosophically and religiously. From any point of view, human society can be reformed by the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement; therefore one who spreads this philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness for the benefit of all conditioned souls in the universe is perfect in pure devotional service.

COMMENT

So, this is sort of the post-graduate phase of devotional service in relation to the Bhagavad-gītā. Because after everything, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto, engage your mind in thinking of Krishna, become His devotee, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ Vraja, give up all varieties of religiosity activities and just surrender to Krishna. After that, he says, “One who preaches this message is My dear-most servant, and in the end, he will come to Me.” And that  pleases Krishna. We are talking about pleasing Krishna, and that really pleases Krishna.

And Srila Prabhupada gives the example, comparing the benefit one gives someone from Krishna consciousness, as opposed to from other material measures. He gives the example, suppose the son of a rich man, for some reason, runs away from home and he’s living on the streets in poverty. So, a friend who knows him can give him some bread or some money, which will be used up in a few hours, or he can say, “Oh, I know you. You’re the son of so and so. What happened? Why don’t you go back home to your father?” So, he brings him back to his father. Then, all his problems are solved and the father is very pleased. So, that’s why distributing Krishna consciousness is doing the best for the people who receive it, and it’s also the most pleasing to Krishna. And bhakti means to please Krishna. Let us quickly finish.

PURPORT (continued)

The criterion is that a devotee must know what Kṛṣṇa wants him to do. This understanding can be achieved through the medium of a spiritual master who is a bona fide representative of Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī advises, ādau gurv-āśrayam.

COMMENT

So, yes, in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, there are sixty-four items, but there are ten preliminary items, and the first is guru-padashraya, to take shelter of the Spiritual master, diksheti shiksheti, to learn from him, to take initiation from him, and to enquire of him. These are the preliminary items. So, it’s through the medium of the spiritual master that one knows what Krishna wants. Bhakti means that we want to please Krishna by doing what He wants.

PURPORT (continued)

One who is serious in wanting to render pure devotional service to the Lord must take shelter of a spiritual master who comes in the disciplic succession from Kṛṣṇa. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ. Without accepting a bona fide spiritual master coming in the disciplic succession, one cannot find out the real purpose of devotional service. Therefore one has to accept the shelter of a bona fide spiritual master and agree to be directed by him. The first business of a pure devotee is to satisfy his spiritual master, whose only business is to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ. If one can satisfy the spiritual master, Krishna is automatically satisfied. This is the success of devotional service. This is the meaning of the word ānukūlyena — that is, favorable devotional service to the Lord. A pure devotee has no plans other than those for the Lord’s service. He is not interested in attaining success in mundane activities. He simply wants success in the progress of devotional service. For a devotee, there cannot be worship of others or demigod worship. A pure devotee does not engage himself in such pseudo devotional service. He is interested only in satisfying Kṛṣṇa. If one lives only for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa, he does not have to accept this order or that order. One’s only business should be to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. This process is completely manifest in the activities of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It has been actually proved that the entire world can accept devotional service without failure. One simply has to follow the instructions of the representative of Kṛṣṇa.

COMMENT

So, it is very clear that without studying all the books, I mean, you should actually study all the books, but even if someone comes and just understands that Srila Prabhupada is Krishna’s representative and the Krishna consciousness movement has been implemented to please Krishna, so just by following Srila Prabhupada and associating with and rendering service to the Krishna consciousness movement, one is pleasing Krishna, and one is engaged in pure devotional service. So, I could say more, but I think I would like to hear from you what your thoughts are, or if you have any questions.

Devotee: Where did you read from? You are reading from The Nectar the Devotion or Caitanya-caritāmṛta?

Giriraj Swami: Just this? Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, Chapter Nineteen: “The Lord Instructs Rūpa Gosvāmī,” Text 167.

Devotee: Thank you.

Giriraj Swami: Yes?

Devotee: You were talking about, I think it was Damodar, is that right? And he said that he was inimical to Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Duryodhana.

Devotee: Duryodhana, okay. I don’t understand what inimical means. Is that comparable?

Giriraj Swami: No, inimical means in the mood of an enemy. He was in the mood of an enemy.

Devotee: I have a question.

Giriraj Swami: Yes?

Devotee: Hare Krishna. Maharaja, you read and also spoke about how the preacher is most dear to Krishna. Is there any specific type of preaching that’s more dear to Krishna than another? Book distribution, kirtan, or any one that is more dear to Krishna?

Giriraj Swami: Every devotee has his own part to play. And in the Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna says, “It’s better to perform your own duty imperfectly than someone else’s duty perfectly.” So, we could say book distribution. But then, Srila Prabhupada says that better than distributing books is managing the book distribution. So, I think that we should do what we can. Of course, book distribution is the foundation.

Now, saying this, Buddha, I was reminded of my own mental place before I met Srila Prabhupada. And Buddha is actually included in the list of incarnations. But Buddha Himself did not teach theism. I mean, He’s considered to be atheistic, but  He did have a role. I mean, Krishna came as Buddha for a reason. And the reason is that people were killing animals and eating their flesh. And Buddha, out of compassion for the animals, wanted to stop them. And also, out of compassion for the people, because they were suffering all the reactions for killing the animals. And that giving up of eating meat is sort of necessary to make progress spiritually. But it was part of a three-part strategy. So, Buddha came, and He said, “Stop killing animals and eating meat,” but the people said, “Well, it’s in the Vedas that you can sacrifice animals.” I mean, it’s not really the way they were saying, but they were misusing the Vedas to support their killing of animals. So, Buddha said, “Well, if that’s what the Vedas said, don’t follow the Vedas. Follow Me.”

And then, He spoke about nirvana and the void. But He also said, “It’s very hard to focus on the void. So, in the beginning, you can worship Me.” And in that way, He was tricking them because He was actually an incarnation of Krishna. So, He was tricking them into worshiping Krishna. And the next part of this strategy was Shankaracharya. Have you heard of Shankaracharya, Jeffrey?

Jeffrey: I’ve heard the name before.

Giriraj Swami: Well, what he did is not of much relevance to us. But the Buddhists were basically atheists, they rejected the Vedas. So, he said, “That’s alright. You can remain atheists and still, you should follow the Vedas.” And so, he gave this sort of atheistic interpretation of the Vedas, which is what we referred to earlier as the philosophy of the Mayavadis.

And then, the last part in the strategy was Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and He defeated the false interpretation of the Vedas in an impersonal way, and established the correct understanding, which is kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayaṁ, Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate, that non-dual Absolute Truth is realized in three features; impersonal Brahman, localized Paramātmā, and Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And so, that’s where we are now. It is said that Lord Buddha cleared the ground. And Shankaracharya built the temple, but it was empty. And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu installed the Deity of Krishna in the temple. So, all parts of the process led to this conclusion. Yes?

Devotee: I’m just going to ask, are there any other meanings for Krishna other than He is God?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that’s a very good question. Krishna refers to God, but it also has a literal meaning, which is all-attractive. Because whatever qualities God has, they’re attractive. Whatever activities He has, they’re attractive. Anything that you can say about God is attractive. So, any word that refers to God’s form or qualities or activities or relationships with His devotees can be taken as a name of God. So, Krishna has unlimited qualities, He has unlimited activities, He has unlimited names. But whatever those qualities or activities are, they’re attractive. And therefore, the name Krishna is considered the best name for God, because that quality of being attractive applies to all of His other qualities. One name of Krishna is dina-bandhu, He’s the friend of the distressed. So, you think, “Oh, He’s the friend of the distressed,” and you’re attracted. So, any name, and there are hundreds and millions of names of Krishna, but they’re all attractive, they’re all meant to attract us to Krishna, because Krishna is all-attractive. So, the name ‘Krishna’ is considered the primary name of Krishna because it includes all the other names. That was a good question.

Devotee: She is reading the Kṛṣṇa book.

Giriraj Swami: Definitely not an ordinary child. [laughter] Any other questions? Alright, we can move along then. So, what’s next?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:05:14].

Giriraj Swami: So, should we have kirtan for a few minutes? What is your name?

Navi: Navi.

Giriraj Swami: Navi? How do you spell it?

Navi: N-A-V-I.

Giriraj Swami: Does it have a meaning?

Navi: Have you heard about The Legend of Zelda?

Giriraj Swami: The Legend of Zelda? I don’t think I have. So, is Navi a character in The Legend of Zelda?

Navi: It’s a fairy.

Giriraj Swami: Oh, a fairy! Okay. How would you like a spiritual name?

Navi: I would like one.

Giriraj Swami: I thought of a good one. It’s a little longer, but it’s very beautiful. It means an angel, a fairy, an angel. But it can also refer to Radharani. Do you know who Radha is?

Navi: Radha?

Giriraj Swami: Yeah.

Navi: I don’t know.

Giriraj Swami: Well, do you see that picture of Krishna on the wall? So, there is a lady next to Krishna, that’s Radha.

Navi: Ohh.

Giriraj Swami: And when we chant Hare Krishna, the ‘Hare’ refers to Radha. So, this name can refer to angels or fairies and to Radharani. And that name is Gandharvika. And it even has the ‘vi’ from Navi.

Devotee: Maharaja, does it also mean an angel who can sing very beautifully?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that’s true. That’s another reason why it’s very appropriate. The Gandharvas are known for singing beautifully.

Devotee: Can you say it?

Navi: What?

Devotee: The name.

Giriraj Swami: You might need to practice because it’s a long name. Did you ever ask Maya what her name means?

Navi: I don’t know if she knows.

Devotee: You told the story a long time ago, yogamāyā and mahā-māyā. It was maybe a year ago in the temple.

Giriraj Swami: G-A-N-D-H-A-R-V-I-K-A.

Devotees: Gandharvika.

Navi: I like that. Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. [laughter] Now you’ll really sing like an angel, you already do. I saw the little three-minute video. [laughter]