Build Your Spiritual Strength by Chanting

Giriraj Swami: So, I welcome you to the new Vedic Cultural Center. You’ve already received a brief introduction, but let us begin at the beginning. The Vedānta-sūtra begins athāto brahma-jijñāsā janmādy asya yataḥ, now that you have come to the human form of life, you should inquire into the Absolute Truth, and the Absolute Truth is defined as that, which is the beginning of everything.

And it is said that the natural commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra or Brahma sutra is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, which begins with the same aphorism, janmādy asya yataḥ, and it explains that Lord Krishna is that Absolute Truth from whom everything emanates.

Now, when Krishna appeared on earth five thousand years ago, He demanded sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja, that we give up all varieties of religiousness and just surrender unto Him, unto Krishna. Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru, we should engage our mind in thinking of Krishna, become His devotee, offer obeisances, and worship Him. But although Krishna gave the basic instructions in the Bhagavad-gītā, people could not understand His instructions or appreciate His instructions sufficiently, and therefore, He came again 500 years ago as Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and you’ve heard a little about Him as well.

This incarnation of Krishna is called a channa-avatāra, which means a concealed avatar or hidden avatar. Other avatars like dasavatar, they assert themselves as the Supreme Lord, but Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is considered a channa-avatāra because He did not assert Himself as the Supreme Lord, but He played the part of a devotee.

And one of the Lord’s names is Triyuga. Tri-yuga indicates that He appears in three yugas: Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, and Dvapara-yuga. But actually, He does appear in Kali-yuga also, but in a disguised form as a devotee. And the significance of His coming as a devotee is that He can show us how to be devotees.

It’s just like in practically any subject, the teacher will give a theoretical explanation and also give a practical demonstration. Even with the alphabet, when the children are learning, the teacher will write on the board A, B, C, and by example, show how to form the letters, how to form the letters into words, and form the words into sentences. So, like that, Krishna, God, came as a devotee, in the role of a devotee, to show us how to be devotees.

Now, in the practice of bhakti-yoga, there are nine named processes called nava-vidha bhakti:

TEXT 23

śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ
smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam
arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ
sakhyam ātma-nivedanam

COMMENT

But out of these nine, three are considered most important, śravaṇam, kīrtanam, viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ; hearing, chanting, and remembering. Out of those, the most important is chanting, kīrtanam, especially in Kali-yuga.

TEXT 242

harer nāma harer nāma
harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā

COMMENT

In Kali-yuga, one should chant the holy names, chant the holy names, chant the holy names of Hari, Krishna. There is no other way, no other way, no other way for success in this age. And Sri Krishna Chaitanya, by His own example, showed us how to chant. And the chanting can be done in two ways: quietly, which is called japa. Generally, we have the japa-mālā, which helps us to concentrate, and it also allows us to keep track of how many malas we have done. And it’s good to keep track, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did so, His immediate followers, the Six Gosvamis of Vrindavan, they did so, because it’s a sadhana.

And even if one is unable to chant, say for initiated devotees in our line, now the minimum is to chant sola-mala, sixteen rounds, but even if you can’t begin at that level, you can start with one or two and build up. It’s a spiritual exercise, just like people who do exercise like push-ups or they lift weights, so in the beginning, they might only be able to do one repetition or two, but as they build up their strength, they can do more. So, it’s the same way with chanting, it’s a way of building up our spiritual strength.

And the other method of chanting is kirtan, singing, often with other devotees and congregation with musical instruments. So, this is the most highly recommended method in Kali-yuga, and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu desired, and He predicted

TEXT 126

pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma
sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma

COMMENT

In every town and village of every country of the world, My name, or Krishna’s name, will be preached. And when He made that prediction 500 years ago, it seemed impossible. In fact, even practically until the time Srila Prabhupada left India and came to America in 1965, it seemed, “How could this ever happen?” But Srila Prabhupada did it, he was that one who was chosen by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to accomplish this amazing mission.

In Bombay, of course, there is an institution called Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, and I guess after the passing away of her husband, Kanhayalal Munshi, Lilavati Munshi became the head, and she organized a program at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan about how the problems of the world can be solved through the Bhagavad-gītā, and she invited Srila Prabhupada, she wanted him to preside over the function.

So, before the actual program began, she had a tea in her private quarters with Srila Prabhupada and the other sadhus who had been invited to speak. But she kept asking Srila Prabhupada, “How did you do it? How did you do it? How did you get them to give up eating meat, fish, and eggs, and taking intoxicants, even coffee, and tea, and cigarettes? And how did you get them to shave their heads and wear dhoti, kurta, and the ladies to wear saris? How did you do it? It’s inconceivable.”

So, this is the point I wanted to make, that it is inconceivable how this could happen. And that was Srila Prabhupada’s unique contribution. And after preaching the message of Bhagavad-gītā and chanting the holy names in America for some time, he thought that he should return to India because he saw that the Indians are wanting to imitate the Americans. So, he thought, If the Indians see that the Americans have taken to Krishna consciousness and they want to imitate the Americans, they should imitate this.

And actually, it was a successful strategy. I mean, when we first came to Bombay and we were chanting, there were people in the streets weeping, they couldn’t believe that Americans and Europeans and Orientalists were adopting their culture fully.

So, even this temple, of course, it’s there in all of the Krishna consciousness, is a result of Srila Prabhupada’s desire and spiritual powers. He gave the example of the blind man and the lame man. What is it?

Devotee: Andha-paṅgu-nyāya.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, andha-paṅgu-nyāya, the logic of the blind man and the lame man. And the idea is that a blind man may be very strong but he can’t go anywhere because he is blind, he can’t see his way, and a lame man or a crippled person may be able to see very clearly but he also can’t go anywhere because he is crippled. But if the blind man who’s strong takes the crippled person on his shoulders, he can see, and together, they can make progress.

So, Srila Prabhupada applied that logic to India and America, that America was very strong in material resources and technology, but they were blind spiritually, they didn’t know where to go, and India, especially after so many centuries of foreign domination and exploitation, became a little crippled materially, but it had that spiritual vision of the Vedas. So, Prabhupada’s idea was that if India’s spiritual culture and American technology combined, then there can be tremendous progress all over the world.

So, that’s the spirit of cooperation, that’s the basis of our activities, and it actually sounds very easy, in a way it is easy, but it requires that we should not be in the bodily concept of life, identifying with the body, which many people do, but to see everyone, paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ, as ātmā, part and parcel of Paramātmā, and work together for the pleasure of Paramātmā.

So, I’m very glad that you all came today, we are fortunate that you came, and I think you are also blessed to have that idea to come here and spend time here. So, in that spirit of cooperation, it’ll be nice if we have more association together, see how best we can serve the Paramātmā.

And it’s also stated in various places that as we began janmādy asya yataḥ, Krishna is the root of all creation, and all the distant living entities; human beings, animals, birds, aquatics, plants, they are all branches and twigs and leaves on the tree. So, if you pour water on the root of the tree, all the different parts will be nourished. So, in the same way, if we water the root, Krishna, if we serve Krishna, then through the medium of serving Krishna, we can serve all of humanity and all living entities. So, that’s the secret, and that’s what we are trying to do, and I’m sure that we could work very nicely together. Hare Krishna.

Devotee: His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja ki jaya!

Giriraj Swami: Do you have any questions or comments?

Devotee: Are there any question to. . .

Giriraj Swami: You have already asked.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:20:49]. We all thank you for sharing time with us. Really blessed. We are very lucky to have you with us. It was really our pleasure to have you. [Unintelligible 00:21:07]

Giriraj Swami: Oh yes, that’s a very good question. The chanting, there is a whole science, but the basic idea is that God is absolute, and therefore, His name and He are the same. In the material world or the relative world, the name and the person are different. For example, if I miss someone and the person is in America and I sit here chanting the person’s name, it doesn’t do anything because the person’s name and the person are different. But when I chant God’s name, Krishna’s name, because He is absolute, He is present when I chant. And because He is full of pleasures, so by chanting His name and associating with Him, I become happy. And because He is all pure and supreme, by chanting His name, I also become pure.

And yeah, we are actually associating with Krishna, as someone said, coming closer to Krishna. Actually, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says there are no hard and best rules for chanting. So, while you are walking, you can chant. While you are doing work in the house, you can chant. While you are riding in the car, you can chant. There are no hard and best rules. Of course, if you can get up early, that is the best time for any spiritual practice, and good company, that’s also good for any spiritual practice.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:24:11].

Giriraj Swami: Oh, I think it’s coming very soon. Alright, so we will let you get ready for the ārati. Hare Krishna.