Bhaktivedanta Hospital Annual Day

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

It is a great honor and privilege and pleasure to be here today. It is definitely a hospital with a difference. We have heard many times this evening about the body, mind, and soul, that even the United Nations has defined health as including physical, mental, social, and spiritual health, but the actual basis of everything is the soul, or ātmā. Life is actually due to the presence of the soul, or ātmā, and the body and mind and interactions of the body and mind continue only as long as the soul is present. So, the most important consideration is the soul.

Some years ago, I undertook the project of establishing a hospice in Vrindavan, and I was joined by a hospice nurse who is also a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, and it just so happened that we were both in Houston together and there was a famous authority on hospice care who’s based in Houston. So, we asked to meet him and we weren’t sure what the result would be, but in the end, he did agree to meet us.

So, at the meeting, Mother Sangita, the hospice nurse, said to him that we were trying to establish a hospice in a holy place in India, and that we want to take care of people physically and emotionally and spiritually. And she said, “Some people are reluctant to even deal with the emotional aspect, they are uncomfortable dealing with it.” And this authority, Dr. Forter Story, replied, “The real important consideration is the soul. The body and the mind are temporary, but the soul is immortal. So, you should give more importance to the soul.”

And that is the real difference between Bhaktivedanta Hospital and other institutions. All of the devotees or people involved with the hospital understand that yes, we are trying to help people physically and emotionally and socially and spiritually, but the most important factor is the soul, because that’s eternal. And the devotees involved with the hospital are very serious and deep devotees, and even if under certain circumstances, they are not able to speak directly the philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā, their devotion comes through them and influences everyone who comes in touch with them.

I’m not really a doctor, but from what I understand, if someone is infected with a disease, I guess it would depend on the particular disease, but the disease can be communicated or spread in various ways. It could be spread through the saliva, urine, the stool, the breath. Because that infection is inside the person, it can come out in a variety of ways and infect another person. So, these devotees are infected by bhakti. So, that infection of bhakti is spread by them all over the hospital, because by their breathing, they are spreading that infection, and people are catching that disease, and they are very grateful to have been infected by that disease.

So, this is a very special hospital, because it is spreading the most wonderful infection. [applause] And people who catch that infection become immortal. [applause] They never die because they know that they are not the body but they are the soul within the body. And what we call death is really just a change of body. And the body, in the Bhagavad-gītā, it’s compared to a dress, a set of clothing. When the soul leaves the body, it’s just setting aside one set of clothing and taking on another set of clothing.

Just like we saw these wonderful dramatic performances and even dance performances. So, the performers put on different costumes, but they are the same persons. So, what’s happening here is, sort of, the reverse of what happened in the dancing drama, that before the play, they were dressed in whatever dress they were dressed in, and suddenly, they became Radha, Krishna, Lalita, Vishakha, all the gopīs. Of course, we cannot become Radha and Krishna and Their direct associates, but we can join Them in Their eternal pastimes, and that would be the profession of our lives.

Now, as we heard tonight, Krishna is very fond of cows; He loves the cows and the cows love Him. So, it is described that the first day, when Krishna was going out to take the cows to pasture, His mother, Yasoda Ma, brought Him some golden slippers to wear so that His tender and delicate feet would not be hurt by the thorns and pebbles in the forest. And Krishna said, “Maya, how can I wear golden slippers when the cow, who is My mother, is without golden slippers? If you want Me to wear golden slippers, then you have to provide four golden slippers for every cow in the herd.” Which was not possible because the transcendental herd was in hundreds of thousands.

And Krishna said to Yasoda Mai, “dharma rakṣa rakṣati.” He was speaking in general, for all of us. If you protect dharma, dharma will protect you. In other words, by upholding the dharma of treating the cow as His mother, He would be protected by mother cow more than by wearing golden slippers. So, I see this as the motto of Bhaktivedanta hospital.

As Dwarkadhish Prabhu so beautifully said very early in the program, the cow of the hospital is giving us everything because the devotees  are giving everything to the hospital, and the hospital is giving everything to them. But giving everything to the hospital, Bhaktivedanta hospital, really means giving everything to Srila Prabhupada and his mission. And by doing so, Srila Prabhupada is reciprocating and giving them everything.

And one point that struck me in particular in His Holiness Radhanath Swami’s divine talk was that he used the word unity. And that is really what enables us to serve nicely, being united for the common cause of pleasing Krishna and Srila Prabhupada and their devotees. And because of that mood of service, the hospital is growing.

There is one very successful evangelist in the United States, and he was so successful that in the first year, he began in a garage, and just in the first year, he had to move six times because his congregation was growing so quickly, they couldn’t fit in the previous place, and now they have a huge campus. And he advised, “Don’t try to make the church grow, but just take care of the children that God sends you, and God will make the church grow.”

So, we are seeing this happen right here. Everyone who comes to Bhaktivedanta Hospital is seen as a child of God. And everyone involved in the operation, the doctors, nurses, technicians, housekeepers, is collaborating to take care of that child of God who has come to Bhaktivedanta Hospital. And because they are taking care of God’s children, God is making the institution grow. And as this formula is followed, it will just continue to grow and grow and grow, and everyone will get infected by bhakti and be grateful and bring more people to this special place to get infected. I also like to come here because my fever goes up when I come here. [laughter] And I look forward to coming back again and again. [applause]