SB 6.16.41 – The Real Platform of Unity—To Compromise or Speak the Truth

Giriraj Swami: 

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

We read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Six, Chapter Sixteen, “King Citraketu Meets the Lord,”

TEXT 41

viṣama-matir na yatra nṛṇāṁ

tvam aham iti mama taveti ca yad anyatra

viṣama-dhiyā racito yaḥ

sa hy aviśuddhaḥ kṣayiṣṇur adharma-bahulaḥ

TRANSLATION

Being full of contradictions, all forms of religion but bhāgavata-dharma work under conceptions of fruitive results and distinctions of “you and I” and “yours and mine.” The followers of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam have no such consciousness. They are all Kṛṣṇa conscious, thinking that they are Kṛṣṇa’s and Kṛṣṇa is theirs. There are other, low-class religious systems, which are contemplated for the killing of enemies or the gain of mystic power, but such religious systems, being full of passion and envy, are impure and temporary. Because they are full of envy, they are full of irreligion.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Bhāgavata-dharma has no contradictions. Conceptions of “your religion” and “my religion” are completely absent from bhāgavata-dharma. Bhāgavata-dharma means following the orders given by the Supreme Lord, Bhagavān, as stated in Bhagavad-gītā: sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja. God is one, and God is for everyone. Therefore everyone must surrender to God. That is the pure conception of religion. Whatever God orders constitutes religion (dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam). In bhāgavata-dharma there is no question of “what you believe” and “what I believe.” Everyone must believe in the Supreme Lord and carry out His orders. Ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam: whatever Kṛṣṇa says — whatever God says — should be directly carried out. That is dharma, religion.

If one is actually Kṛṣṇa conscious, he cannot have any enemies. Since his only engagement is to induce others to surrender to Kṛṣṇa, or God, how can he have enemies? If one advocates the Hindu religion, the Muslim religion, the Christian religion, this religion or that religion, there will be conflicts. History shows that the followers of religious systems without a clear conception of God have fought with one another. There are many instances of this in human history, but systems of religion that do not concentrate upon service to the Supreme are temporary and cannot last for long because they are full of envy. There are many activities directed against such religious systems, and therefore one must give up the idea of “my belief” and “your belief.” Everyone should believe in God and surrender unto Him. That is bhāgavata-dharma.

Bhāgavata-dharma is not a concocted sectarian belief, for it entails research to find how everything is connected with Kṛṣṇa (īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam). According to the Vedic injunctions, sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma: Brahman, the Supreme, is present in everything. Bhāgavata-dharma captures this presence of the Supreme. Bhāgavata-dharma does not consider everything in the world to be false. Because everything emanates from the Supreme, nothing can be false. Everything has some use in the service of the Supreme. For example, we are now dictating into a microphone and recording on a dictating machine, and thus we are finding how the machine can be connected to the Supreme Brahman. Since we are using this machine in the service of the Lord, it is Brahman. This is the meaning of sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma. Everything is Brahman because everything can be used for the service of the Supreme Lord. Nothing is mithyā, false; everything is factual.

Bhāgavata-dharma is called sarvotkṛṣṭa, the best of all religious systems, because those who follow bhāgavata-dharma are not envious of anyone. Pure bhāgavatas, pure devotees, invite everyone, without envy, to join the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. A devotee is therefore exactly like the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānām: he is the friend of all living entities. Therefore this is the best of all religious systems. Whereas so-called religions are meant for a particular type of person who believes in a particular way, such discrimination has no place in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or bhāgavata-dharma. If we scrutinize the religious systems meant for worship of demigods or anyone else but the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we will find that they are full of envy and therefore impure.

[Prayers]

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Hare Krishna. It is a great privilege for me to be back here at Hare Krishna Land in Juhu. Once, when I got sick here in Juhu, Srila Prabhupada said that as long as I remain here, I will not be able to get better. And so, I went to Los Angeles, New Dvaraka. But after Srila Prabhupada was satisfied that I had recovered sufficiently, he encouraged me to go back home, back to Bombay. [laughter] Now, this verse is very much in the mood of making distinctions. Sometimes we want to blur the distinctions for the sake of some false unity, but actually, such attempts will ultimately fail because the real platform of unity is Krishna, Krishna consciousness, pure devotional service to Krishna.

When I first met the devotees, there was a very popular book called, I am Okay; You are Okay. [laughter] And Srila Prabhupada remarked, “I am okay, but you are not okay.” [laughter] But we want these followers of Srila Prabhupada and the line of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we want everyone to become okay. And therefore, in that sense, there is no distinction. Pure devotees see everyone equally, suhṛdaḥ sarva-dehinām, they are the friends of all living entities, and they see that everyone is, just by virtue of being part and parcel of Krishna, is eligible for a pure devotional service to Krishna. So, there is no question of sectarianism. There is distinction, but not sectarianism. Once, Srila Prabhupada was in the airport in New York, and the reporter asked him, “Are you Buddhist?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “I am following the truth, and if you are sincere, you will follow too.” So, it is not a question of designations, sarva-upādhi-vinirmuktam. Pure devotional service is without designations. So, there is no question that someone is qualified because they have a certain designation, or someone is disqualified because he has a certain designation. Everyone is qualified, provided he or she accepts Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and surrenders to His instructions.

In the purport, Srila Prabhupada mentions that there are so many so-called religions based on material designations. And these so-called religions come in conflict with each other, and so many wars have been fought on the basis of such materially designated religions. And therefore, as Srila Prabhupada says, there are reactions against religion, so many people say, “Religion is the cause of all the trouble in the world.” “Religion is the cause of so many wars.” So, that religion does not refer to Bhāgavatam, but it refers to materially designated religions on the bodily platform. And they do create problems, and naturally, people react. So, God is one, Krishna and His order is one, to surrender to Him, sarva-dharmān parityajya, and therefore, there is only one religion ultimately, bhāgavata-dharma. But that bhāgavata-dharma must be free from material motivation. This is a very important point; Sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo.

Srila Prabhupada often would quote this verse, and paraphrase this verse to the effect that any religious system is good, as long as it promotes love for God. Sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje ahaituky apratihatā yayātmā suprasīdati. So, ahaitukī means without any cause, without any material motivation. And apratihatā means without any interruption for jnana. Only that type of religion or devotional service can completely satisfy the self. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has discussed what should be a devotee’s attitude towards other religious traditions, or towards members of other religious traditions. And what he says can be derived from the verse, sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje. That any religious process that accepts the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and is free from material motivations, desire for material facilities or mental speculation, impersonal liberation, can be accepted. People who follow that path, can be accepted. And people, even within the Vedic tradition, if ultimately they want to enjoy a material world, or merge and become one with the impersonal brahman, they are not to be accepted as devotees. But still, we want to help everyone to realize their constitutional position as devotees.

When we were in Indore with Srila Prabhupada for the Gita-jayanti-mahotsava, Srila Prabhupada was appalled by the misrepresentation of the Bhagavad-gītā and its speaker, Lord Krishna. While in Indore, he was invited to speak at an organization called Gita-Samhiti. And in the hall, there was no picture of Krishna. So, after that program, back at the Gita-jayanti premises, some gentlemen came to meet Srila Prabhupada, and Srila Prabhupada immediately challenged them that, “The Krishna consciousness movement is here to fight against all improper presentation of the Bhagavad-gītā.” He said, “For example, at the Gita-Samhiti hall, there was no picture of Krishna. Even in an ordinary political rally, there will be a picture of the head of the political party or the candidate who is standing for election, and there is no picture of Krishna.” So, one of the men responded that, “Well, there was a dīpa, a lamp.” So, Srila Prabhupada said, “Well, what is the meaning of dīpa?” “Oh, dīpa is worship for generations in India.” “We cannot worship dīpa, we worship Krishna.” So there was quite an argument, and these people who were arguing with Srila Prabhupada represent the type of person that we are likely to encounter if we preach the way Srila Prabhupada preached, if we speak the way the verse here from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam speaks.

So, they said, “You say that you are presenting the Bhagavad-gītā properly and others are presenting it improperly. You should not make such distinctions. You should see everyone equally.” So, Srila Prabhupada replied, “But you are making distinctions. You are saying that I am not to the standard, so you are making distinctions.” And then Srila Prabhupada explained the verse. They were saying that Prabhupada should be sama-darśinaḥ, that he should see everyone equally, he shouldn’t say that the Krishna consciousness movement is presenting the Bhagavad-gītā properly, and others are not. They said he should see everyone equally. And Srila Prabhupada replied, that verse, “One should see equally a gentle learned brahman, an elephant, a dog, and a dog eater.” So, Srila Prabhupada said, “That is a very high platform because on that platform, one does not distinguish between the different modes of nature, one does not distinguish between pious and sinful activities. Why is someone born as a brahman, and why is someone born as a dog? It is because they have engaged in different activities, pious or sinful activities. So, to see them equally means that one is not distinguishing between pious and sinful activities, and I am not on that platform. I say that you are doing nonsense, and you should stop it.” [laughter]

So, these gentlemen were arguing that, “You should see everyone equally.” And again, Prabhupada was saying, “Well, you are not seeing everyone equally because you are making a distinction that I am not seeing everybody equally.” So, the argument was continuing, and one of the gentlemen raised the point, because they didn’t like what Prabhupada was saying, so they said, “Well, there are so many mistakes in the shastra.” And Prabhupada said, “Oh, now you are criticizing Vyasa. Okay, then get out. If you are criticizing Vyasa, we cannot speak. You get out.” “No, no, no, no, no.” So, then they said, “Well, but you should make some contribution beyond what the previous acharyas have done.” They were suggesting that what the previous acharyas have done was not complete, or not perfect, and Prabhupada should go beyond that. In other words, that he should agree with them. And Prabhupada was saying, “No. I just repeat what my predecessors have said. I do not go beyond them; I simply repeat what they have said.”

So, the argument was going back and forth, and sometimes it would happen Prabhupada would get a little frustrated, and he would let a disciple take over for a while. So, the disciple was telling him about Srila Prabhupada’s work in the western countries and all over the world, and how people all over the world were taking to Krishna consciousness. And the men actually became impressed and respectful, and then they said, “Yes, Swamiji is actually doing very good work.” And Srila Prabhupada replied that, “This is my sama-darśinaḥ, this is my equal vision, that anyone can take to Krishna consciousness. And that is my contribution to the previous acharyas, that I have taken Krishna consciousness all over the world, and engaged people from all different backgrounds in devotional service to Krishna.” So, in the end, he fulfilled their conditions, if you will, but not in the way they wanted, but in the reality of paramparā and actual understanding of bhāgavata-dharma.

I have my own story, which I have told, and I am not that fond of using myself as an example, but I think the example is relevant, so I will tell the story. When I was in Madras, I was meeting people and preaching as I heard Srila Prabhupada preach. And after some time, I found that there was an undercurrent of protest against the way I was preaching. And even people who were friends, who were hosting me, who were supporting me, were telling me, “You should not criticize others. You just state positively what you want about Krishna consciousness, but don’t criticize others.” Now, before I continue, I should mention that there is an art to criticizing. This is not meant to open the door for indiscriminate or unexpert criticizing. On one morning walk here in Juhu, Srila Prabhupada quoted a Sanskrit verse about how to criticize. [laughter] And according to the verse, you shouldn’t say that the tree is dry or dead, but you should say, “That magnificent tree that was so full of beautiful foliage and fragrant flowers, and so majestic and impressive, has lost its juice.” [laughter] So, it comes to the same thing, but said in more palatable terms. And on another morning walk, Srila Prabhupada said, “The great art, to criticize. But unfortunately, some of my students do not know that art.”

And one other example that Srila Prabhupada gave, because I want you to understand the essence, but I don’t want you to misapply it. One other example that Srila Prabhupada gave was a veterinarian and his apprentice were called to treat a horse whose neck was very enlarged. So, the veterinarian, the animal doctor, took a hammer and began hitting the horse’s neck, and the enlargement went away. So, after some time, the apprentice broke away from the master, and he started getting called to treat animals, and he would hit them with a hammer, and he would injure them, and in some cases, kill them. So, people complained to the master veterinarian, “Your apprentice is wreaking havoc, he is going around and hitting the animals with a hammer and injuring them and killing them. You should correct him.” So, the master called the apprentice and said, “What are you doing?” He said, “Well, I am just doing what I saw you do. You cured the horse with the enlarged neck by hitting it with the hammer. I am just doing what I saw you doing.” He said, “You fool, that was a special case. That horse had swallowed a watermelon, and that is why its throat was enlarged. So, I was tapping on the watermelon to break it into small pieces so it could go down its throat. That was for a very specific case. You can’t do that in every case.” So, don’t go out and cause havoc, but still, we do need to understand this point, that there are distinctions. As the verse says, and as the purport says, there is a distinction between serving and worshipping Krishna, and serving and worshipping demigods. There is a difference.

So yes, I was in Madras, meeting people and preaching as I heard Srila Prabhupada preach, and some friends told me, “There is an undercurrent of protest about the way you are preaching. You shouldn’t criticize others. Just state positively what you want about your own principles and activities, but don’t criticize others.” And I was getting it from so many sides, I thought, “Maybe Krishna’s trying to tell me something. Maybe Krishna is speaking to me through them.” So, I decided, “Okay. I will do what they are all saying. I won’t criticize, I will just state positively what I want about our philosophy and activities.” So, I went to meet an industrialist who had quite a big compound that had its factory, then one building with his office, and then another building with his residents. And so, Prabhupada said, “If you just show them my books, they will become life members.” So, we had to carry a briefcase with the books and with pictures of our activities with Back to Godhead magazine. So, I showed him the books, showed him the pictures of our activities, showed him the magazine, and took out the life membership form, and the man said, “What about Shankaracharya? You said so many things about so many acharyas, but you have not said anything about Shankaracharya. He is one of the great acharyas of India.” I said, “Yes, yes, he is.” “So, why haven’t you said anything about him?”

So, I kept trying to avoid the truth, but he kept pushing and pushing and pushing. So finally, I had to come out with the whole truth that actually, Shankaracharya is an incarnation of Lord Shiva who taught a veiled form of Buddhism that was actually atheism, and the reason he did it was to re-establish the authority of the Vedas. But because the Buddhists were basically atheists, he gave an interpretation of the Vedas that was more or less atheistic. But ultimately, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came and established the real understanding of the Vedas. And the man had so many arguments, and I thought, Okay, it is not working out. So, I  put the books back in the briefcase, put the pictures back, and put the magazines back. I took the membership form, put it back, and I was ready to leave.” So, he was a cultured man, he accompanied me to the gate, and just before we got to the gate, he said, “Before you leave, I would like to show you my temple at home.” So, I thought, Oh, no. He is going to have a shiva-lingam vaiṣṇavānāṁ yathā śambhuḥ. He is going to want me to offer obeisances to Lord Shiva, just as I would to Lord Krishna and I just didn’t have the heart for it. So, I looked him in the eye, “Do I really have to do this?” And he looked me in the eye back, “Yes, you really do.” [laughter] So, I went into his house, he took me to his temple room, it was actually quite big temple room, as temples in private homes go, and it was very big, nice, white marble, I believe. There was quite high altar, and on top of the altar, were big deities of Radha and Krishna, and they were practically the first deities of Radha and Krishna I had seen in my whole time in Madras because most of the Vaishnava temples were Lakshmi and Narayana. And there is one famous temple of Krishna called Parthsarthi, in which Krishna has a mustache; [laughter] No Radha-Krishna.

So, again, I looked him in the eye, “What is this?” And then he said, “I and my whole family and generations of my family have been devotees of Radha and Krishna, and I was just testing you. And I am very pleased you did not compromise. I will be happy to become your life member.” [applause] So, we went back to his office, and took out the books, took out the magazines, took out the form, signed the form, paid the whole amount in one installment, and became the life member. So, I thought maybe I wasn’t doing the wrong thing, but I still wasn’t completely sure because so many people had been telling me the opposite. So, I got back to the place where I was staying, and there was an aerogram from Srila Prabhupada. Do you still have aerograms? No? No aerograms, oh, okay. Anyway, it was something in between a postcard and a letter, from Srila Prabhupada. And as I read the letter, I couldn’t believe, the words just jumped out of the page. And Srila Prabhupada wrote, because I had already written him about the difficulties I was having, the challenges I was facing, and it just came out of the page, “The fact is 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. We must declare it boldly that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and all others are His part and parcel servants. And unless people are prepared to surrender to Krishna as the Supreme Godhead, they should not imagine that they can have any peace or happiness.” Then he said, “My guru Maharaja never compromised in his preaching, and I never compromise in my preaching. And similarly, my disciples should never compromise in their preaching.”

So, this is our line, and the verse itself, it is all about distinctions and non-distinction. It is all about distinctions that arise from envy and material motives and the bodily concept. But it is about unity, no distinction, unity if everyone accepts Krishna as the Supreme Lord and surrenders to Him. And this is the real platform of unity. And therefore, Srila Prabhupada said, “We must declare it boldly.” So, by following in this line, we do good for ourselves and good for others. As Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual master told him, “By presenting the message of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, you will benefit, and those who hear you, and those who help you, they will also benefit.” And it is very purifying to preach the truth. But if we compromise, it causes some disturbance within us. But if we speak the truth, then it is very purifying and enlivening for us. But at the same time, we should be intelligent enough. Well first, we should be intelligent enough to know if we are intelligent enough or not. That is the first thing. And if we are not, then we should bring the person to someone who is intelligent enough to convince them.

So, as I was meeting people in Madras, people kept asking me, “Have you met Mr. Ramakrishna? He is a very pious man, you should meet him, he will like your activities.” So, I made an appointment with him, and I preached as usual, and he became very agitated that I was saying Krishna is the Supreme, and he started to counter me that Shiva is Supreme. And he was a very volatile person; he was getting red in the face, and you could see his veins were bulging, and he was saying, “Shiva,” and I was saying, “Krishna.” (escalating more and more). And I could see this wasn’t going in a good way, but I didn’t know how to get out of it. So, somehow I tried to patch things up a little at the end and left. I was meeting people, and I kept hearing the same thing, “Oh, you should meet Mr. Ramakrishna. He is a very pious man; he will like what you are doing.” So I thought, All right, maybe it didn’t go well the first time, but so many people are saying that; maybe I should try again. So, I phoned him, and he immediately gave me an appointment. And I thought, Well, he might be hearing the same thing, ‘Oh, you should meet the Hare Krishna people, they are doing very good work, you will like them.’ So he immediately agreed. So, I was trying very hard to be careful not to agitate him, but eventually, things came to the same point, and they started to escalate. The emotions started to rise, and I thought, “This is going the way it went the last time, and I don’t want to end up the way it did the last time.” And he didn’t either, but it had a certain inevitable trajectory that was in the process.

And then, Krishna’s mercy, Prabhupada’s mercy, I had an idea. I said, “You know Mr. Ramakrishna, I am just a student. I cannot represent our philosophy properly, but my guru Maharaja, Srila Prabhupada, is coming to Madras. I think you should meet him and discuss with him.” So he was very happy; we both were very happy because we avoided another explosion, and he was happy because he was getting to meet Srila Prabhupada. So Prabhupada came, and Mr. Ramakrishna met him, and I introduced him. And Mr. Ramakrishna said that, “Giriraj and I have been having arguments about who is Supreme, Krishna or Shiva.” And Srila Prabhupada completely changed the terms of the question. We didn’t get into that debate. And he said that there are two words in Sanskrit, puja and bhakti or sevā. And in puja, one worships the deity to get something in return. Whereas in bhakti, one worships the deity without any material motive, just to please the deity. So he said, “Generally, people worship Lord Shiva with some material motive, to get something from him. Whereas devotees worship Krishna just to please Him.” So, Mr. Ramakrishna replied, “But isn’t it possible to worship Shiva in the mood of bhakti, without any material motive?” And Srila Prabhupada said, “It is possible, but it is very rare. For example, one could go to a liquor shop for some other reason than to buy alcohol, but generally, if someone goes to a liquor shop, it is understood that they are going to buy alcohol.” He said, “That may be true. But what if someone really did worship Shiva without any material motive?” And Srila Prabhupada said, “That would be fine. And that is also a fact, that if one worships Shiva not to get something material from him, Shiva will bring you to Krishna. I know instances of people. They were worshiping him as a demigod, to get something, but they were just approaching him, maybe because they had some affinity for him, or just by association, they were brought to him, but they weren’t worshiping him to get anything material, and he brought them to Krishna.”

So, at the end of the discussion with Mr. Ramakrishna, he was very satisfied because Srila Prabhupada didn’t get into that “Shiva is supreme,” “Krishna is supreme,” but he brought it to the principle that is also enunciated in the verse, and that is worshiping without envy, without material motives. And in that mood of worship, Shiva becomes Vaishnava, vaiṣṇavānāṁ yathā śambhuḥ. He doesn’t function as a demigod, but he functions as a Vaishnava to help us approach Krishna. So, by pure bhāgavata-dharma, everyone says, ultimately, everyone is satisfied, the demigods are all parts and parcels of Krishna. So, if you serve Krishna, they will be satisfied. And anyone who is open-hearted, even if they are devotees of the demigods, they will also be satisfied, everyone will be satisfied.

So Srila Prabhupada is our acharya. Of course, we have so many acharyas, even in the line, but he is our founder acharya, and he has given us these wonderful books, amazing books, which we are distributing in large quantities in America. So my only request would be that you also read the books, they are not just for distributing. As Srila Prabhupada said, “Distributing my books will keep them happy, and reading my books will keep them. Keep them in Krishna consciousness.” So, compared to the earlier days of the movement in India, we have a lot of opulence, a lot of followers. So, “Reading my books will keep them.” It doesn’t necessarily mean keep them in the temple, but it means keep them in the mood of pure devotional service. Because you can live in the temple and have. . . I mean, none of you, I am not suggesting any of you, but in theory, one could live in the temple and have material motives, and that is not the real bhāgavata-dharma. And someone could live outside the temple and be a very sincere, selfless servant of Krishna and the devotees.

So, we shouldn’t think that because we live in the temple we are superior, but we should always look within and see what is our motive, what is our actual position and try to purify ourselves. And yes, if we live outside of the temple, we should come to the temple as much as possible and take advantage of the facility of the deities and programs and the association of the pure devotees. And in that way free from pride and envy, we will all go back home, back to Godhead together. Hare Krishna. [applause]

Any comments or questions? Mahaprabhu dasa?

Mahaprabhu dasa: Maharaja, wonderful class. I have a serious question on the basis of your class. You said, that one should be intense enough to understand whether I know or I don’t know. I have intelligence enough to know that I don’t know. So Prabhupada said at [Unintelligible 01:13:50] that I am okay but you are not okay. I am not your [Unintelligible 01:14:05]. How to understand that?

Giriraj Swami: Are you talking about yourself?

Mahaprabhu dasa: Yes.

Giriraj Swami: Well, what makes you think you are okay?

Mahaprabhu dasa: [Unintelligible 01:14:19] I think I am reading Prabhupada book also. [Unintelligible 01:14:40]

Giriraj Swami: All right. Well, I will paraphrase something that Srila Prabhupada said in the knowledge sphere. “If you think you are okay, then you are not okay.” There were many similar conversations. There was one right here, in Juhu, because one devotee asked him something about how do you behave when you are perfect, and Srila Prabhupada replied, “One who is perfect will never think he is perfect. As soon as you think you are perfect, you are a rascal.” What are you? A rascal. Not you. [laughter] And then Srila Prabhupada gave the example of Lord Chaitanya and His spiritual master. Guru more mūrkha dekhi, karila śāsana, My spiritual master saw Me as a fool, and he chastised Me.” So, Srila Prabhupada said, “One should remain everlasting a fool before one’s spiritual master, and be ready to be chastised by him. That will make him perfect. And as soon as he thinks, ‘I am perfect, I have nothing to learn from anyone,’ he is a rascal.”

So, that chastisement can come in different ways, including within the heart. And we should be open to it, and we should be open to being corrected. But at the same time, not every time someone says you are doing something wrong, doesn’t mean that you are doing something wrong. So, it is very subtle, but generally, Srila Prabhupada said it comes. A number of mature and well-wishing Vaishnavas give you the same advice, you can consider it to be coming from Krishna. But I think you are okay, because you thought you are not okay, so that is a good indication that you are okay. [laughter] Hare Krishna. Yes, Advaita?

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Maharaja. [Unintelligible 01:18:09]

Giriraj Swami: Well, the first part is right. We don’t want to trouble Krishna for our material difficulties. So, why should we trouble anyone for our material difficulties? [laughter] In other words, we are in the material world, which is full of dualities. There is always going to be happiness and distress, pleasure and pain, heat and cold, good fortune and bad fortune. So, the people who want material benefit from religion, who are condemned in the verse and purport, they are advising you, “Go to this demigod, go to that demigod, wear this gem, go to that yatra.” To get something material because they are basically interested in material gains, they are not pure devotees. They are not the type of people mentioned in the verse as satsaṅga, desire for company. But even then, if you feel that you are in too much distress, cannot help yourself from asking for some relief, and it is still better to go to Krishna.

In the case of the Gajendra-moksha, he was in extreme distress, and in the end, he prayed to Krishna for help, but he did so with a sense of regret, “I am sorry that I have to bother You for this, but I feel I have no other recourse.” And Srila Prabhupada said it may happen that in an extreme situation a devotee may pray to Krishna for some relief, but it is always with a sense of regret. But, yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi hariṣye tad-dhanaṁśanaiḥ. When a devotee is sincere but he is being held back by material attachments, Krishna may show him special favor by taking away his material attachments.

So you may be in that category. You are receiving Krishna’s special mercy. And Krishna says that when that person is bereft of his riches and the friends who were friends because of his riches, when he tries to build up his fortune again, Krishna takes it away again. When he tries to build it up again, Krishna takes it away. So, if that is what is happening, I don’t think that you will be very successful in trying to build up your fortune. But what you really should do, and that is the purpose for which Krishna bestows this kind of mercy, is you should take shelter of pure devotees and surrender to Krishna. And if you are genuinely surrendered and have no material desires, Krishna may give you facility to serve Him and to preach. Like Srila Prabhupada said about himself, “First Krishna tested me by taking everything away.” You know the story. “And then Krishna tested me by giving me everything.” But the test was, “Is he going to remember Krishna or forget Him? Is he going to serve Krishna or serve maya?” And from beginning to end, he remembered Krishna and served Krishna. So, there are statements in relation to Bali Maharaja and elsewhere that yes, it is Krishna’s mercy when He takes away a devotee’s opulence to allow the devotee to surrender to Krishna and not be hampered by material gains.

But the real mercy is when the devotee becomes so pure at heart that Krishna bestows material opulence on him to be used in Krishna’s service. But there cannot be any duplicity. It is not, “Oh, I get it. So, if I surrender to Krishna, I will have no material desires, and Krishna will give me material opulence. So, let me pretend to be surrendered, and let me pretend to be without material desires. And then, after I fool Krishna into thinking I am completely pure at heart, that will give me all sorts of opulence.” So, that will not work, and we shouldn’t try to bluff Krishna, obviously. We shouldn’t try to bluff ourselves. We should realistically appraise where we are and where we want to be, and systematically undergo a process to get from where we are to where we want to be. But if we are not clear about where we are now, then nothing else will be clear. So, that is the first thing, to be clear about where we are now, and accept Krishna’s mercy in whatever form it comes. Hare Krishna. [applause]

All right, any concluding words from any of our student sadhus? All right, thank you for your patience. Hare Krishna.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!