SB 10.14.8 – Just Remain Alive in Krishna Consciousness

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. It is a great honor and pleasure to be here again. I stayed here for some days early in the history of the development of ISKCON in Pune. In fact, while I was here, I was seeing the expansion of the deity program right in the house here, and it is true—there was more activity in this house than anywhere else in Poona. And Jahnava Mata was a legend and that from that beginning—of course, there are many factors—and from that beginning, now this huge expansion of Krishna consciousness has taken place.

Radheshyam Prabhu suggested that we discuss a topic that is relevant to all of us, and that is reversals or apparent reversals in life. We face them all the time, but they may be on a small scale. But sooner or later, they will emerge on a large scale also. So, it is good for us to be aware of what is happening so that when it does happen to us, we can accept it in the proper spirit and with the correct understanding. 

So, I shall read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Ten, Chapter Fourteen: “Brahmā’s Prayers to Lord Kṛṣṇa.” Text Eight. Please repeat after me.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

TEXT 8

tat te ‘nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṇo

bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam

hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te

jīveta yo mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk

COMMENT

Any ladies? Have a copy. 

TRANSLATION 

My dear Lord, one who earnestly waits for You to bestow Your causeless mercy upon him, all the while patiently suffering the reactions of his past misdeeds and offering You respectful obeisances with his heart, words and body, is surely eligible for liberation, for it has become his rightful claim.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī explains in his commentary that just as a legitimate son has to simply remain alive to gain an inheritance from his father, one who simply remains alive in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, following the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga, automatically becomes eligible to receive the mercy of the Personality of Godhead. In other words, he will be promoted to the kingdom of God.

The word su-samīkṣamāṇa indicates that a devotee earnestly awaits the mercy of the Supreme Lord even while suffering the painful effects of previous sinful activities. Lord Kṛṣṇa explains in the Bhagavad-gītā that a devotee who fully surrenders unto Him is no longer liable to suffer the reactions of his previous karma. However, because in his mind a devotee may still maintain the remnants of his previous sinful mentality, the Lord removes the last vestiges of the enjoying spirit by giving His devotee punishments that may sometimes resemble sinful reactions. The purpose of the entire creation of God is to rectify the living entity’s tendency to enjoy without the Lord, and therefore the particular punishment given for a sinful activity is specifically designed to curtail the mentality that produced the activity. Although a devotee has surrendered to the Lord’s devotional service, until he is completely perfect in Kṛṣṇa consciousness he may maintain a slight inclination to enjoy the false happiness of this world. The Lord therefore creates a particular situation to eradicate this remaining enjoying spirit. This unhappiness suffered by a sincere devotee is not technically a karmic reaction; it is rather the Lord’s special mercy for inducing His devotee to completely let go of the material world and return home, back to Godhead.

A sincere devotee earnestly desires to go back to the Lord’s abode. Therefore he willingly accepts the Lord’s merciful punishment and continues offering respects and obeisances to the Lord with his heart, words and body. Such a bona fide servant of the Lord, considering all hardship a small price to pay for gaining the personal association of the Lord, certainly becomes a legitimate son of God, as indicated here by the words dāya-bhāk. Just as one cannot approach the sun without becoming fire, one cannot approach the supreme pure, Lord Kṛṣṇa, without undergoing a rigid purificatory process, which may appear like suffering but which is in fact a curative treatment administered by the personal hand of the Lord.

COMMENT

There are many important points in this verse, but the basis of the verse comes in the last word—compound word, dāya-bhāk. In the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, which is the complete science of bhakti-yoga, Srila Rupa Gosvami enumerates four different items of devotional service. And one of them is to expect the Lord’s mercy. This is actually an item of devotional service, to expect the Lord’s mercy. And the evidence for that practice, or the illustration for that practice, is this verse. In The Nectar of Devotion, Srila Prabhupada writes that this should be the guidance of every devotee—that we should patiently tolerate the misery that comes to us and expect the Lord’s mercy. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Krishna says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja, ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ [BG 18.66]—hat if one surrenders to Krishna, Lord Krishna will free him from all sinful reactions. So, a devotee who has actually surrendered to Krishna does not suffer sinful reactions, but he does suffer. So what is the suffering? So, as stated here, the suffering is actually the Lord’s mercy upon the devotee, to help the devotee progress in Krishna consciousness and ultimately return home back to Godhead. And because the sincere devotee’s goal is to return home back to Godhead, he considers any suffering along the way to be a small price to pay for the ultimate benefit he receives. 

There was one devotee in Los Angeles named Ramdas, who was the head pujari. And he had a nice motto as the head pujari and this is for himself that, don’t worry about taking care of the deities, but just take care of the pujaris and they will take care of the deities. So, eventually he became affected with a terminal illness, and so he left Los Angeles and came to Vrindavan. And as he was passing through various painful conditions in the course of his illness, he was experiencing more and more of the esoteric truths of Krishna consciousness. And more and more mercy came to him. Not just internally—I shouldn’t say just internally—but internally as well as externally. Many ancient deities and sacred items from Vrindavan came to him, and the yard of his house became a real holy place of pilgrimage, with many, many relics related to our previous Acharyas.

He had so much faith in Srila Prabhupada that one of his last instructions to his wife was that she should reproduce images of Srila Prabhupada’s lotus feet. He had full faith in Srila Prabhupada’s lotus feet, and he even named a list of devotees that he wanted to give that image of Srila Prabhupada’s lotus feet after he left. It was a service he entrusted to his wife.

So, eventually the time came when he left his body. And after he left many devotees reported that he visited them. And his message was this that, he was saying that, “You cannot imagine how good it is on the other side. You cannot even begin to imagine how good it is. It is really good. And whatever difficulties you are enduring in the course of practicing bhakti- yoga, don’t worry. Just tolerate them and continue, because when you get to the other side you will see that it was all worth it, millions of times over.” And his words, based on his own experience if you take them as such, are the same as what our Acharyas have written in this verse, that it is a small price to pay to be in the Lord’s association.

jīveta yo mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk—the idea is that just as a legitimate son has to do nothing but stay alive in order to inherit his father’s property, similarly, all a devotee has to do is to remain alive in Krishna consciousness and he will inherit the Kingdom of God. So, what does it mean to remain alive in Krishna consciousness? It means to continue to follow the process of bhakti-yoga in the association of devotees. And if we just stay alive in Krishna consciousness, we will inherit the Kingdom of God. 

Now, the relationship of the son with the father or the child with the parent is such that the parent does whatever is best for the child. One of our Acharyas, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has given the example that, “Sometimes the parent will give the child sweets and sometimes the parent will give the child bitter medicine. But both are meant for the child’s benefit.” If the parent wants to encourage the child or reward the child, he will give some nice sweets, and if the child has some disease that needs to be cured, he will give bitter medicine. But both are meant for the benefit of the child. Similarly, sometimes the parent might kiss the child to express affection, and sometimes the parent may spank the child. Although, I mean, that is the example the Acharyas gave. Now I don’t know what the system of punishment is, but there has to be some system of punishment, otherwise children will be spoiled. But both are for the child’s benefit. And the devotee sees whatever happens to him as the Lord’s arrangement for his purification and ultimate liberation, and therefore he never complains.

How many of us complain? All of us. And if we don’t complain verbally, we are complaining mentally. Our minds tend to be constantly filled with chatter complaining—it is too hot, it is too cold, I don’t like this, I don’t like that, I don’t like the way this person looks. It just goes on and on and on and on. There is no limit to the complains that we have. And what is the underlying psychology of the complaints? The underlying psychology is that we want to be God. We want to be in the position of Krishna, that is why we came into the material world.

Just like in the spiritual world everything is arranged for Krishna’s pleasure, so in this perverted reflection of the material world where we harbor that desire to be in place of Krishna, we want everything to be arranged for our pleasure. And when things do not suit us perfectly——which is all the time—we complain. We complain because we think that the universe should be structured for our pleasure. And it is even more difficult because everyone has the same mentality. What is the population now of the planet? What! Seven billion! Wow, when I was at school it was two billion. Seven billion! So there are seven billion people and each one thinks that he should be the center of the universe, and that everyone should cooperate for his pleasure. Everyone is walking around with this sort of hidden desire. Just like sometimes at the airport, “Excuse me, I have an important announcement to make.” Everyone within his heart—almost everyone, not pure devotees—everyone is walking around within his heart wanting to say, “Excuse me. I have an important announcement to make, I am the center of the universe, and you all should do what I want you to do.” So, there are seven billion competing centers of the universe, so that also makes it more complicated. It is as if each one of us is living a drama—a movie. And we think we are the hero or the heroine, and everyone else are the supporting cast, and they are supposed to enhance my glories and pleasure.

So, the universe is not constructed for our pleasure in the immediate sense, but it is constructed for our purification. And the purification may come in the form of pain. I mean, in any case the material world is full of duality. So there will be pleasure and pain. But Srila Prabhupada explains that pleasure and pain experienced by an ordinary person is different from the ordinary pain experienced by a devotee. And he gave the example of an orphan. An orphan will suffer pain, painful conditions on the street, struggling for survival on the street. And the son of the King will also suffer pain when he misbehaves and the King slaps him. But there is a big difference. The suffering of the orphan on the street is just pain. As we have been discussing, there is a purpose ultimately, but in the immediate sense, he is just suffering a karmic reaction whereas the son of the King—when he suffers a punishment—it is personally administered by the King for the child’s benefit. And that is a tremendous difference. So, a devotee has that faith and conviction that Krishna is my supreme father and that whatever he is doing for me is for my good. 

And there is a verse in the Fourth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in which King Pṛthu prays to the Lord that just as the father does what is best for the child without being asked by the child, so you too please do whatever is best for me without my asking. Because often we don’t know what is best for us, and so the surrendered devotee prays, “I don’t know what is best for me. You know what is best for me, so You do whatever is best for me to bring me to You.” And when things go well in the material sense it can foster our false sense of being in control, whereas when things go bad in the relative sense, we realize we are not in control, and so we can let go and actually surrender to Krishna.

In the prayers of Queen Kunti to Lord Krishna she prays janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrībhir [ŚB 1.8.26] that those who are on the path of in material development or material opulence—janma is a good birth, aristocratic birth, aiśvarya is opulence or wealth, śruta, learning, knowledge, and śrī, beauty—they cannot approach the Lord with feeling. Only those who are akiñcana or niśkiñcana—who have no material possessions, ones who have no false sense of proprietorship, they can approach the Lord with feeling. 

In the purport, Srila Prabhupada explains that it is stated in scripture that by once chanting the holy name of the Lord, one can become free from more sinful reactions than he can commit sins. And Srila Prabhupada says that there is not the least exaggeration in such statements, but there is a quality to the chanting. We read about wonderful effects of chanting the holy name, but to experience the wonderful effects, we have to be in the mood of helplessness or humility. tṛṇād api sunīcena—we hear all the time, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ—then we can chant the holy name. But we do have a tendency if things are going well especially, to think Oh everything’s alright. I have my wife, I have my children, I have my health, I have my livelihood, things are going well, I am pious, and so I do good deeds, and I am not sinful, so. . . This is a sort of contentment. But in that state of contentment, or Srila Prabhupada uses the term material satisfaction, one cannot chant the name of the Lord with feeling. So sometimes the Lord arranges situations that impresses upon us that we are not the controllers, we are not the enjoyers—Krishna is, and the only thing that will really protect us is Krishna. Our own material efforts will not protect us. 

Many of you know the story of Draupadi, how she was insulted in the assembly of the Kurus. And they wanted to disrobe her. And later, she met Krishna—of course she had a very close relationship with Krishna—and she said to him, “I appreciate that you saved me in the assembly of the Kurus, but why did you wait so long? I was in such a terrible state.” And Krishna replied with a little sadness, “Because you didn’t take shelter of me at first. First you were looking at all the kings for shelter, looking everywhere else for shelter. And then when you saw that no one else was going to protect you, you tried to protect yourself. So, I was waiting for you to surrender to me and call out to me. That is why I waited.” So, we have that experience that we can chant with our mouths, and that is good but it is really when we surrender in a mood of helplessness that, I cannot do anything for myself, then Krishna comes and extends Himself to us. 

So, these difficult situations, even in the case of Draupadi—she is an example for us that the difficulty was actually good because it brought her to surrender to Krishna. And one of Krishna’s qualities is grateful. Krishna’s nature is so sublime that He would remember how Draupadi called out to Him in helplessness. And just by her calling out His holy name in that mood of helplessness and dependence, He felt obliged to her and He said that His debt to her is always increasing. So just by chanting the holy name. Krishna feels so indebted to His devotee—if we chant in that mood of helplessness. 

There is another verse later in the Tenth Canto—yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi hariṣye tad-dhanaṁ śanaiḥ [ŚB 10.88.8]—Krishna says when I am especially merciful to a devotee, the first installment of My special mercy is that I take away his material opulence. Now, if we spoke about this very often, especially in the beginning, we might not be recruiting too many new devotees. Mahaprabhu dasa—he was a very staunch preacher from the very beginning, and he brought many people to the Hare Krishna Land, to the Juhu temple, and they became supporters and donors, and many actually became devotees. But some wouldn’t come, and he would tell them, “Okay if you don’t want to see the deities, you don’t have to see the deities. If you don’t want to hear the discourse, you don’t have to hear the discourse. If you don’t want to join the kirtan, you don’t have to join the kirtan. Just come. Just come to the restaurant and eat some good food.” And they would reply, “I am not coming close to that place because it is a one- way street. And once I start going down that path there is no turning back.” 

But that is a type of mercy, but as we learned in the case of Bali Maharaja, Krishna took everything away from him and Krishna said that, “This is My mercy.” But then later when Bali surrendered, Krishna gave him everything and He gave him Himself. And then he said, “My mercy is that I take the material attachments away from My devotee, but My real mercy is that if someone has surrendered, I can give them all sorts of material facility and they would use it only in My service.” Srila Prabhupada said of himself that, “In the beginning Krishna tested me by taking everything away, and later Krishna tested me by giving me everything.” But he passed both tests because he held onto the lotus feet of Krishna in both circumstances. 

In the early days, the relatively early days after Srila Prabhupada returned to India, with some of his mainly American and European disciples, he had a big program—first Delhi pandal at Connaught Place. And afterwards the father of an Indian young man, who had come forward to translate Srila Prabhupada’s books into Hindi, the father came to meet Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada had interaction with him. He was sort of a friend and his son was doing a very important service of translating. So Prabhupada asked him, “Have you given up smoking?” And the man looked down and said, “No Srila Prabhupada I haven’t. Can’t I get some special mercy?” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Special mercy? Yes, there is such a thing as special mercy. Then he quoted yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi hariṣye tad-dhanaṁ śanaiḥ—Krishna’s special mercy is that He takes everything away from a sincere devotee who is being hampered by material attachments. And then when the person loses his wealth, then all of his friends and family members start to neglect him. And if he tries to build up his wealth again, Krishna will take it away again. Until finally, when he is detached enough that Krishna is in the heart gives a good direction to serve Krishna through taking shelter of His devotees.

So, yes, yes, very special mercy. “Do you want special mercy?” “No Prabhupada! No, I will do it myself!” But that is Krishna’s mercy. But yes, if we do it voluntarily it’ll be less painful. But ultimately, it is Krishna’s mercy for our benefit either way. And so, when such occasions arise in our lives, we should understand it to be Krishna’s mercy. It is an arrangement to help us to let go of our material attachments and false conceptions so we can fully take shelter of Krishna. And we shouldn’t resist it. And we can’t. We can try but ultimately, we can’t oppose Krishna, we can’t defeat Krishna. 

Like Indra, the King of Heaven, he became so intoxicated by his opulence and position, he became so filled with pride that when Krishna stopped the Indra-yajña and used all the paraphernalia for Govardhana-puja, he became infuriated. It was described that he became so furious that he literally wanted to destroy—to kill, to kill, all the residents of Vrindavan, and to make Nanda Maharaja witness it all. He thought that would be the greatest punishment to make Nanda Maharaja see his entire community die. And then after he saw them die, then he would kill Nanda Maharaja. This is about as offensive as it can get. And Krishna, to show mercy to Indra, lifted Govardhana Hill and held it over His left arm, His left hand, His little finger on His left hand by the tip of the nail of His little finger on the left hand, just to show Indra how insignificant He was, that he could be defeated by the tip, the nail of the little finger of the left hand of the left arm of Krishna. And Indra was so furious, he called his most powerful clouds which he would use at the time of devastation, to destroy the universe, to destroy the world. And it wasn’t having any effect. And he came personally and he was behind them, whipping them, “Do more, do more, do more.” Nothing was having any effect. They were all under the protection of Krishna.

Then finally he came to his senses, he realized that, I have made a big mistake, I have committed a terrible offense. And then he was so worried and he realized the gravity of what he had done, and he didn’t know what reaction could be awaiting. Because up until then, Krishna was busy protecting the inhabitants of Vrindavan but when that was gone, He could change His attention to Indra, and Indra was very, very frightened. And he went to Brahma that, “I have committed this horrible offense against our Lord and I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what is going to happen to me.” And Brahma said, “No, I cannot help you. I also committed an offense against Krishna and I also have to suffer the consequences. But I can give you some advice—Don’t go to Krishna alone, but go behind someone who is dear to Krishna.” Then he suggested Surabhi. “And when Krishna sees Surabhi, He will become happy, and then you can approach Him.” 

So, at first Indra didn’t want to do it. But then his wife—good wife told that “You should do it.” So, he approached Surabhi. And Surabhi said, “Yes, I will accompany you, but you have to come very humbly. You can’t come riding on your elephant.” Anyway, there are many details to this story, but ultimately Indra came out from behind Surabhi and he offered prayers to Krishna. But those prayers were not pure. He was afraid of what Krishna might do to him, so he was offering the prayers with a motive to pacify Krishna, so Krishna wouldn’t punish him too bad. But then at a certain point he actually surrendered. This comes in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And then again, the great commentator Srila Sridhara Svami has quoted the Bhāgavatam saying that when Indra actually surrendered and accepted Krishna as his master and himself as His servant, then they had a heart-to-heart talk. And Krishna said that, “Actually I knew that you were maddened by pride, you were blinded by pride, and therefore I stopped the Indra-yajña to bring you to your proper consciousness.” And after all, Indra was a devotee. He got carried away by false pride and material opulence, but he was a devotee. Krishna takes care of His devotees.

There was once a story that the King who was a sort of a temperamental king, he asked his minister, “What is God’’s constant activity?” And the master didn’t know what to say. It can’t be creation because that is just occasionally. He said, “I don’t know, I think we should ask the priest, the head priesthood of the court.” So, the King asked the head priest, “What is the Lord’s constant engagement?” And he didn’t know. But he didn’t say he didn’t know. He said, “Well, give me some time, and I will reply.” So, when the time came, he didn’t know the answer and he didn’t want to face the King’s wrath. So, he was leaving town, and he asked a disciple of his who was a very simple man, and the disciple said, “Guru Maharaja, where are you going?” And he said, “Well the King asked me a question and I don’t know the answer, and I don’t want to face the consequences—the King’s wrath.” And the disciple said, “Well, what is the question?” “Why are you asking? I am the guru. If I don’t know the answer, how are you going to know the answer?” “Just tell me, just tell me.” So, he told him the question, and the disciple said, “Don’t worry, when the appointed time comes, I will go in your place and I will answer for you.” 

So, the time came and he went to the King. He said, “I have come to answer your question.” So, the King looked at him. He looked like a common man, the King was sitting on his throne. And that simple person said, “But before I answer, you have to get down from your throne and sit on a lower position, because you are asking me a question, that means I am in the position of the teacher, you are in the position of the student. So, you should be on the lower level.” The King did not like that, at all. But he was intelligent and he knew it was true, according to etiquette. So, he came down, and that shepherd was going to sit on the throne. And as the King passed him, he said, “You better have a good answer. If you don’t, you are going to face the consequences.”

So, he went and sat on the throne and he asked, “What is God’s constant engagement? His constant engagement is that if someone thinks himself to be in a higher position, God will put him in a lower position. And if someone thinks himself to be in a lower position, God will put him in a higher position. And you are witnessing it right now, in your own life.”

So, we should voluntarily remain humble. Otherwise, like Indra—he was proud. So God exhibited that nature of His, that function of His and humbled him, which was for Indra’s benefit. And if somehow, we can remain always humble, if we feel helpless and dependent on the Lord, then we won’t have to be dealt with in that particular way. And if you think that you are a big man and you are pretty powerful, then just do an experiment. Tell your mind to think of Krishna for five minutes. You will see how big and powerful you are. Only five minutes. So, if we want to be humble, we really have to consider how helpless we really are, even in controlling our minds. We chant japa and we can’t control our own minds. So, that enough should make us humble, and then when we are humble, we call out for the Lord with genuine feeling and He will come to our rescue. But whatever the situation, we should go on chanting—that is for sure.

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

So, are there any questions or comments?

Devotee: Thank you, Maharaja. This question is in two parts. You were mentioning that devotees also expect the mercy of the Lord, so part one of the question is—how is this compatible with anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ as we are not supposed to be desiring anything? And the second part is—if we are supposed to expect, then there is a tendency the expectations will expand to whatever, so how do you control that?

Giriraj Swami: That is a good question. I think we need to consider what it means to expect the Lord’s mercy. What is that mercy? We cannot say that the Lord’s mercy means that if we are sick, we will get better. It may—I know many devotees. I experienced it. In Johannesburg, once I was very sick and I couldn’t breathe, I just couldn’t breathe. And I thought, this is it; this is the end, I can’t breathe. it is It is all over. And in that state, I just surrendered, and as soon as I surrendered— really surrendered in great helplessness—I was able to breathe again. And then later in the hospital, I didn’t want to wait any longer. So, many devotees had this experience, even speaking. I remember once, recently I had to speak and I didn’t know what to say, and I had so many people, and I thought, Oh my God, I am going to make a complete fool of myself in front of all these senior devotees. And then I said, Okay! I just surrendered to Prabhupada that, “You take over. I don’t know what to say. You speak and. I will just be your mouthpiece.” And then I got the answer. 

So, it can be like that, if you surrender. To surrender means we do accept the Lord’s mercy, but it doesn’t always mean that we are get an immediate solution to a material problem. Because ultimately, we will approach the time of death. It is also the Lord’s mercy that will take us out of that miserable condition, not by curing the body that is not able to maintain the life anymore, but by taking us out of the body and bringing us towards Him. So, whatever the situation is, if we surrender like the verse says, we can be liberated. But it doesn’t mean that, “My business is going down, I will surrender to the Lord, and expect the Lord’s mercy.” You have to change your approach to your business. So, does that answer that?

Devotee: You mentioned the teachings of Queen Kunti, that one who is proud cannot chant, one needs to develop that mood of akiñcana, because we are having so many possessions with us. So, how can we develop that mood?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that is a good question. How can we become akiñcana? Well, there are some rare souls who really have practically no possessions. Sometimes you can find them in Vrindavan, Govardhana, they really have possessions. His Holiness Sacinandana Swami told a story. I think he formed an organization called ‘Vraja Care’ to provide things for bābājīs and people at Radha-kunda. So, they approached one bābājīs at Radha-kunda and they saw that he is living in such a poor place, he had no facilities at all, I think the floor was leaking. So, they asked him, “How are you living?” He said, “Well, I have come here to Radha-kunda. I have taken shelter of Srimati Radharani and I am living by Radharani’s mercy.” “But still, it must get cold at night, we have blankets, we could give you blankets. There are cracks, and water is coming up.” “Oh, that is an old story. That has been there for thirty years. I never even noticed it before.” “But still don’t you want a blanket to keep warm?” He said, “No, I have taken shelter of Radharani. It is not my look out. It is Her look out now. I am depending on Her.” So, that is quite close to akiñcana.

But Srila Prabhupada has said, “Either you have no material possessions, if you have no sense of personal proprietorship—now that is not so easy, but that consciousness can be developed by sincere chanting. They sort of go together. And if we think something belongs to us, Krishna might take it away to show us how much it belongs to us and how much we are in control. But if you use it for Krishna, yukta-vairāgya, then that is as good as akiñcana It is a way of becoming akiñcana. Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Maharaja, you talked about that a devotee should be helpless while chanting the holy name. Sometimes because of our inability to practice Krishna Consciousness properly, we feel helpless. But at the same time, too much of helplessness may sometimes turn into hopelessness. Sometimes, we may justify our laziness and then say I am helpless. So, there are two different sides. Either we justify laziness or we become too hopeless. So, how can we develop that genuine helplessness?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that is also a good question. I mean that is why expecting the Lord’s mercy is one of the items of devotional service. If you are expecting the Lord’s mercy, you can’t be hopeless. And as far as becoming lazy, that is also not the proper mood, as you know. We know from the dāmodara-līlā that to capture Krishna, two things are required. As you know, mother Yasoda was trying to bind Krishna but the rope was always two inches or two fingers too short. And then it is described that when Krishna saw her hard labor, out of mercy He allowed her to bind Him. So, both elements are required—one’s own hard labor, endeavor; and Krishna’s kṛpā or Krishna’s mercy. When those two come together, Krishna can be bound.

Devotee: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Thank you for such an inspiring class. Maharaja, in the role of a manager or a leader, let us say, we are trying to execute a vision. We are tiring to create some system or some organization. But in that, it is very natural to face a lot of obstacles or challenges. How do we understand that we have tried enough, we have done our best and this is where we have to let go versus, we are still falling short of our endeavor and something else needs to be done from our side. How do we actually understand?

Giriraj Swami: Well, I have a surprisingly easy answer. And this answer is true on two levels—ask Radheshyam! Would you like to answer? 

Radheshyam dasa: We would like to hear from you, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: That one may require superior guidance, because you can’t know. You can’t know. There are five factors to every action and one is the endeavor, and the ultimate is the Supersoul. In the case of the Juhu land, that struggle for the land and for the temple, so many times the devotees were ready to give up, but Prabhupada didn’t. He persevered. But there were other times when devotees were trying for something and they were getting sort of disturbed, and Prabhupada said, “This is not Krishna consciousness, that you become so disturbed trying to achieve something that you can’t [Unintelligible 01:24:22].” So, that was his superior guidance then. 

Yes? Microphone is coming back. You take one step first—towards the microphone, and the microphone takes. . . [Laughter].

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:25:10] 

Giriraj Swami: So, I missed—you said please, please—oh pray. 

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:26:13]

Giriraj Swami: Oh, to pray for your son. Grandson? That is your daughter’s son? 

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:26:43]

Giriraj Swami: Well, I will pray for your grandson. And I will pray for you too. You mentioned that you are chanting very sincerely, but I would suggest that there is levels of sincerity, and the real focus should be on hearing. I mean you may be very sincere in chanting in the mood of asking Krishna to save your grandson, but we really have to see whether you are hearing the holy name while you are chanting. I would request you to hear yourself chanting. In fact, once Srila Prabhupada gave a description. Someone asked how we can chant with attention. And he said, “Just try to hear yourself chant sincerely.” It is quite a profound instruction——simple and profound. So, try to hear yourself chant sincerely. [Someone sneezes] Confirm, confirm, confirm, confirm, confirm. 

Devotee: Maharaja, I heard this anectode that once Srila Prabhupada asked you how the movement will go on. You said something and at the end, Prabhupada answered, “Organization and Intelligence.” I would request you to elaborate on as to why Prabhupada said that in that context because generally most of the times devotees may feel that by sincerity, dependence on Krishna, the movement will go, but rather Prabhupada said “Organization and Intelligence.”

Giriraj Swami: Srila Prabhupada called for me in the middle of the night. It was his last days with us. And he asked, “Do you think this movement will go on without me?” And I said, “Yes, if the devotees are sincere and chant their rounds and follow the regulative principles, it will go on.” And then he paused, and it was very hard for him to speak, each word came out with great difficulty. And he said, “Organization. Intelligence and Organization.” So, I didn’t take it to mean that what I said was incorrect. I think what I said was correct, but he was adding something to it. And many times, he mentioned this combination—sincerity and intelligence. And I think what he was saying was we shouldn’t just think of ourselves, but we should think of others. We should use our intelligence and be organized to spread the movement, and not just think of our own sadhana and our own regulation. So, I take the two as complementing each other as part of the complete answer. That is what I think. Yes? 

Devotee: Thank you Maharaja, for the very wonderful class. You mentioned that before speaking about Krishna, you took some time to pray to Srila Prabhupada. So, in our case also, we undergo many situations. And in all situations, problems may come. So, is it like that, we should take shelter before we do anything? Or we do it depending on Krishna but keep executing the service. So, this taking shelter is it in consciousness? How should the execution happen?

Giriraj Swami: Well, it can be both—before you undertake an activity and during the activity. I mean not to give myself as the example too much but, I didn’t know what to say, and I really surrendered to Prabhupada. I said, I don’t know what to say. They really should hear from him. “You speak and I will just be the mouthpiece or the instrument.” But then when while I was speaking, I was also simultaneously praying. So, I think we do both. If we are not sure what the course of action is, you surrender, and even in the process, you pray. You can always pray. There is one story that Srila Prabhupada gave a class in London, and of course I haven’t seen it in the Veda base, but the story is that in the class he said that, “The difference between you and me is that you can fall down and I cannot fall down.” And after the class, he came before the Deities and he seemed to be praying in a very feeling way to the Deities. So, one disciple asked, “Srila Prabhupada, what were you praying?” And he replied, “I was praying that I may never fall down.” And the disciple said, “You said you could never fall down.” And he said, “Yes, I am always praying that I never fall down, therefore I could never fall down.” So, we should always be praying—whatever we do. Yes? Maybe we will call this the last question. 

Devotee: Maharaja, in the Seventh Canto, Prahlada Maharaja, when he is praying, he says that, “Generally, whenever we try to solve one material problem, the solution of that problem leads to ten other problems.” So, whenever a devotee has a problem, should we give a spiritual or a material solution because often the problems are material, so our answer should be material? But Prahlada Maharaja has said that we would wind up in a whirlpool of further problems? So, how do we differentiate between spiritual solution and material solution?

Giriraj Swami: Well, the spiritual solution is based on Krishna consciousness and the material solution is based on other factors. I will give one example from America. Often young men from India come to America to study, and then they get a job, and they are doing well, and their wife and children are happy, generally, in this situation. But then their parents are getting older in India, and it is sort of pulling on their heart strings that they should go back and be with their parents—take care of their parents. So, this becomes a dilemma. It can be anywhere, but there is a large concentration in Silicon Valley, and so Vaisesika Prabhu told me that he hears this a lot. And he said what he tells them, and he said that His Holiness Radhanath Swami tells them the same thing which is that, Don’t make the decision based on what you think is best for your family, make the decision based on what is best for Krishna consciousness, and what is best for the family will take care of itself. This is sraddha. This is faith.

And Vaisesika Prabhu told this story of a man. He is doing very good preaching in America. The same thing, “My father is getting old and I should be with him.” And his father was in a place where there were not devotees. So, he went, but he also couldn’t get a job there, so he had to get a job in another town or city some distance from his father. And something within—it was totally unexpected—within three months, his father passed away. So, I mean in a way it is a sad story, but Vaisesika Prabhu related it at the point that he gave up his service of preaching, he uprooted his family for the sake of taking care of his father, which may sound like a noble sentiment, but in the end, he hardly spent any time with his father because he was in another town or city, and very soon his father left his body. It is the same point—we don’t know what is best for us, Krishna knows what is best for us. Anyway, that is what they said that calculating should be based on what is best for Krishna consciousness, and that the family part will sort itself out. It is natural to take everything into consideration, but the only real sure thing is the Krishna consciousness. Everything else is unsure.

Mahaprabhu dasa: A lot of people asked a question, but I didn’t ask any.

Giriraj Swami: Mahaprabhu was saying that he wanted to give others the chance to ask, and now that I said that it was going to be the last question, so now he is saying that he wanted them all to get a chance to go. Yes? Well, no one has been raising hands so you?

Mahaprabhu dasa: Hare Krishna, Maharaja. Hare Krishna?

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. That was the best question. [Laughter] Thank you very much.

Mahaprabhu dasa: In 1978, when there was some problem with Juhu temple and you came to my residence—this is a very personal question, but I want people to know and then I will connect it to now. When it was about 9:30 p.m., and you came and I asked just for—because I was also a new devotee, a new member in ISKCON. I became a member on 14th January 1978. There were serious problems, you came to my place at 9:30 p.m. And in formality, just I asked you, “Maharaja would you like to eat something?” You said, “Yes, I would like to take.” And there was little rice, one chapati, one achar. My wife was unwell, so I asked my mother. She brought that one chapati and I told her “Immediately, make little dough. Mataji jaldi se ek roti banao.” Hindi me bola mai unko Maharaja ke samne (I spoke in Hindi in front of Maharaja that quickly make a chapati). She started making and Maharaja started eating—ek chapati, do, teen, chaar, paanch, chah, saat,aath. . .(one by one, one chapati, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight) [Laughter]. I asked more and chapati was over. And I am such a rude person, I asked, “Maharaja, since how long have you taken prasāda?” [Laughter] He said, “Actually, yesterday I have taken. Yesterday morning, I took breakfast.” It was such a heavy matter in Bombay. Several devotees were in jail. But the point is that Maharaja was the richest person by Prabhupada’s mercy and his father’s mercy in this entire movement. His father was ready to give one million dollars to Prabhupada but Guru Maharaja didn’t want it. My point is that in this world, Guru Maharaja is taking such severe things, but here a little material problem, and people are troubling greatly. And in that situation how you can maintain, one thing I want to understand that the way you do kirtan, slowly, the way in the evening time when it is not the Bhāgavatam class, you read Bhāgavatam so slowly, reading the whole purport slowly, so deep in the subject. We are just living in the life how to just to read fast, without even saying praṇāma mantras. The way our life is going on. . . How to develop that thing by which we can reach to this stage? Because we are comparing that, ‘This spiritual activity is also like any other material activity, and so let me do my spiritual work just like I do my material work?’ How to avoid this tendency of comparing spiritual activity with a material activity?

Giriraj Swami: Well, do you have any idea? It is a matter of priority. And we have to be clear about what our priorities are. And if our priorities are right, and in accord with Krishna’s will, then we should do what we are doing in Krishna consciousness. I don’t know if this has come to India, but in America everyone is always talking about mindfulness. Mindfulness—in other words, your mind should be on what you are doing. Now, once a devotee asked Srila Prabhupada about chanting slowly, and Prabhupada replied that, “Slow is not more spiritual than fast.” But for me personally, I can fix my mind better if it is slow. I can really meditate on it. And I feel that I should be Krishna conscious, my mind should be on Krishna, otherwise it is just like making a show. I don’t want to make a show like that. And that is what works for me. And I have faith that if I am Krishna conscious in that sense, then everything else will follow. Sometimes I would be influenced by some devotee—not that they are particularly trying to influence me, but I would just be very impressed by that devotee and the way the devotee does things. But I have found it doesn’t really work to try to imitate another devotee, I have to be myself. So, I think that is part of it, but whoever we are materially, that is sort of who we are. I mean we can learn, we can improve. It is sort of, you accept who you are. And within that context you try to fix your mind on Krishna. 

Mahaprabhu dasa: How to connect that akiñcana in your life? Because everything of yours is Krishna’s. And then you are also akiñcana in one sense. How to relate that position and this position in which you have lived your life? How we can be akiñcana?

Giriraj Swami: Well, to the extent that I am free from this false sense of proprietorship, then I am akiñcana a. And then I can chant in the proper mood. And to the extent I think I am a big man and I have this, then I can’t. So, I am actually glad you asked this question because it relates to preaching. And in my talk, I thought about mentioning preaching, because preaching is a special activity that can really accelerate our Krishna consciousness. So, I am just making it up, but if I was alone somewhere and chanting or reading, I might not be so careful, because it is just me. Whereas if I am with sincere devotees, I would think I am here on behalf of Srila Prabhupada. I have to really give them something that Srila Prabhupada would want them to get. In one talk in Calcutta, Srila Prabhupada said that, “The best way to be Krishna conscious is to preach.” Because when you preach people will ask questions, and to get the answer you have to think of Krishna. Especially when you ask a question. [Laughter]. I know I really have to pray. I am just joking. No, that is a very good question. So, I think when we do that, it is like parents have commented that having a child or having children is making them more Krishna conscious, because they feel they have to set a good example for their children. So, when we preach, we are sort of being like a father or an older brother. And so we have to do our best for our children, even if for ourselves we wouldn’t take so much care, but for them we take care. So, it does help to do that, to put yourself on the line to preach, and that will force you to—if you are sincere about it—to surrender more. So really that was such a good question. It was in my mind and I do have faith in the question session, that if something wasn’t clear from the class or if something was missing in the class, it will come out in the questions. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect last question. 

Hare Krishna.

Radheshyam dasa: Giriraj Maharaja ki jaya!