Everything for Krishna

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. Before Maharaja spoke, I had an idea of what I was going to say. And he already gave the purport to what I was going to say, but I’ll still stick to what I was going to say, and we’ll see how he gave the purport for the same idea.

I was going to begin with the question—what is the difference between a house and a temple? Can you answer? Raise your hand if you think you can answer. Yes?

Devotee: There is no difference.

Devotee: What did she say?

Giriraj Swami: There is no difference. Well, that is 50 percent correct—that is 50 percent correct, because a house is made of bricks and cement and stone, and a temple is made of bricks and cement and stone. And a temple has electricity and plumbing and heating and air conditioning, and a house has the same things. So actually, there is no difference between a house and a temple. That’s 50 percent. But there is also a difference—and what is the difference?

Devotee: I was thinking that because a house might not have deities but a temple has deities, it might make a spiritual atmosphere.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, exactly—more or less. The house has everything minus Krishna, and the temple has the same things plus Krishna. The same facilities are there in a house, but in an ordinary house the people use the facilities for their sense gratification—either personal or extended. Personal means for me, extended means for my wife, my children, my parents, my friends, and so on.

Whereas temple means that the facility is used to serve Krishna—to please Krishna.

Now the body is compared to a house. Just like we live in a house, so the soul lives within the body. And the body is just like the house—the body can be dedicated to the service of Krishna, and it becomes like a temple, or the body can be used for sense gratification, then it’s just like an ordinary house.

And sometimes people enquire what is the significance of the tilak? And sometimes Srila Prabhupada would give the answer that the tilak indicates that the body is a temple of God—that the body is dedicated to the service of God. Just like a church has a particular marking like the steeple, or the cross. So that indicates that that building is dedicated to God. And the same thing with mosques, they have their traditional architecture and Hindu temples have their traditional markings, and they indicate that that building is dedicated to the service of God. So, our tilak indicates that this body is dedicated to the service of God.

Now, one thing about the body is that it is temporary. What does temporary mean. Yes?

Devotee: Only there for a short period of time.

Giriraj Swami: Yes. Yes. It’s there for some time, but it’s not always there.

Now, in a house, if you get notice, you have to vacate the house. Suppose the government is planning to build a military base or whatever, and they are going to ask everybody in the neighborhood to vacate their homes, they are going to tear down their homes and use it for some other purpose.

So, what is more intelligent? To decorate the house and make it very nice so that you can enjoy living there until you have to vacate? Or is it more intelligent to find another place where you can go? So, which is more intelligent? Yes?

Devotee: Finding another place.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, yes.

So, we have been given notice that we are going to have to vacate the house of this body—we all know. Most likely—not sure—but most likely—in one hundred and twenty years from now, not one of us will be living in the bodies that we are in now. So where will we be? Where will we go? We have a choice. Just like if you have to vacate—or even just an apartment that you are renting, the lease is going to be over and the landlord wants to take it back, so you have to think about where you are going to go. And according to how well you earn money, and according to how skillfully you have been able to save money, you can afford a better place. Or you might not even get as good a place if you haven’t been earning well or saving nicely and you were there on an old lease and now the tenancy has gone up you might not even get the same quality that you had—you may have to settle for a lesser quality.

So, we also have a choice of bodies. What body we will get next. And in broad terms there are two categories—material bodies and spiritual bodies. Material bodies are subject to various miseries, and there are four main miseries. And in the Bhagavad-gītā, thirteenth Chapter, Krishna says we should be conscious of these four miseries. But what are these four miseries?

Let the elders get a chance. We have to encourage them. Yes. Birth, death, old age, and disease. janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi, birth, death, old age, and disease. So, every material body is subject to these four defects. And opposed to the material body is the spiritual body, which is eternal, full of knowledge, and full of bliss. And the material body also could be said, the opposite _- spritual sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha. And the material body is just the opposite—asat, temporary, acit, full of ignorance, and nirananda, full of misery.

So, which is the better body to get in your next life—material body or spiritual body? Yes, you know everything. Yes, the spiritual body.

Now, how do we arrange to get a spiritual body? Alright, I’ll let you answer.

Devotee: Chant and then at your birth—at your death—you could put some music and then chant Krishna’s names.

Giriraj Swami: That’s quite a good answer. The Bhagavad-gītā says, the eighth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā says, yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran—that whatever state you remember at the time of death, that will determine your next life. And if we think of Krishna at the time of death, then we go to Krishna. So, as he said, at the time of death, if we are surrounded by the chanting of the holy name, that will help us to remember Krishna.

But that is about 50 percent, because at the time of death, we generally think of what we are most attached to. And so, during our life—as Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gītā: mayy āsakta-manaḥ partha—make your mind attached to Krishna, increase your attachment to Krishna. Because even if we are surrounded by chanting at the time of death, it is possible that because of our attachment, we’ll think of something else.

I will tell one story—true story—of one of my godbrothers. He was driving a car, and that car—or van—stalled on the railway tracks. And he was trying to get it to start again, naturally. And he saw in the distance a train was coming, and he thought I’ll just give it one my try. And it still wouldn’t start. And then he looked up, and saw the train was just bearing down—it was just about to hit the car. And he thought, “This is it, I’m going to die now,” he could see it was the end. And he began chanting. And just as the train hit, he thought, “What’s going to happen to my wife?” And he did not die, but just before he became unconscious, he thought – “What’s going to happen to my wife?” And so, the idea is he was chanting—he knew that he should chant—but because of his attachment to his wife, at the last moment, he thought of her. So, we should also prepare before the time of death by becoming more attached to Krishna, which is achieved by devotional service—by surrender—and that is the process of spiritual advancement. We gradually become attached to Krishna and detached from maya. 

There are different stages in devotional service that Rupa Gosvami explains: ādau śraddhā. What does ādau śraddhā mean?

Someone said it. Raise your hand.

Devotee: Faith.

Giriraj Swami: Faith. Yes, faith. Faith and attraction. Ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-

saṅgo. What is sādhu-saṅga?

Devotee: Association.

Giriraj Swami: Association with devotees. Ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo ‘tha bhajana-kriyā.

Devotee: Devotional service.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, engaging in devotional service. And at that stage Srila Prabhupada says generally one takes initiation. One has some initial faith and attraction, and one associates with devotees, and then one decides I want to be serious like them, I want to commit myself to take initiation.

But within that category of bhajana-kriyā there is anisthita which means unsteady. And then nisthita which means steady. And it’s a little technical, but in between there is a stage called anartha-nivṛtti. Can someone say what is an anartha? Yes, artha means something you want, and anartha means something you don’t want.

So, there are different varieties of anarthas, and yes, they can certainly be caused by offenses. So, during that stage, anartha-nivṛtti, the anarthas, the unwanted habits, they are eradicated. And then after that, one comes to niṣṭhā—then one is steady—because it is due to those anarthas we are unsteady.

We know that we should use all of our time in devotional service, but suddenly, we are watching television. There are many, many, many things that we can do. But after this anartha-nivṛtti we come to the stage of niṣṭhā, that means steadiness, where we are not going here and there. And then there are other stages – ruci, taste where you really get taste, āsakti – attachment and more advanced, bhāva ecstatic love, and then prema, pure love.

So, now, during this process, it’s described that our absorption in ourself decreases, and our absorption in Krishna increases. And in the earlier stages—I mean once you come to bhakti, you are in a very special category, so every single person is extremely important. But in the earlier stages—although one is engaged in devotional service, one tends to be more absorbed in self. I mean Krishna’s there, but maybe a little in the background, and you are more in the foreground. But as one progresses, then Krishna becomes more in the foreground, and we—in the sense of the false conception of ourself—goes more in the background, until in the end the devotees are completely absorbed in Krishna. He doesn’t have any false ego—he sees himself as the eternal servant of Krishna, he has no other identity other than being the servant of the servant of the servant of Krishna.

And I’ll tell one story that sort of illustrates this from Srila Prabhupada. I guess it was in the early 1970s we’ll say—well the movement in general was very poor in India, because our main program for collecting funds was life membership. And Srila Prabhupada said that we can’t spend the life membership money for our maintenance—he wanted 50 percent for books, and 50 percent for temple construction. And other than that, we hardly had any money.

Anyway, in the Calcutta temple, we were very poor—I mean very poor. Everywhere, [Unintelligible 00:22:22]. And just to give an example of how undernourished the devotees were, there was one devotee named Sudama Vipra, who actually had quite a big body, and he was so famished that after the ārati he would take out the ghee wicks from the ghee lamp and squeeze out any little bit of ghee to get some nutrition. So, Srila Prabhupada came. . .

And the other thing is that the temple president—and I can see the point, he was very involved with an incense business. He was trying to raise funds from an incense business. And somehow, he spent most of his time as a sales representative, and just dealing with things like business, and wasn’t very involved with the devotees in the temple. So, things were building up, and the devotees were just waiting for Srila Prabhupada to come and make some solution. So, he came and one by one different devotees complained, and then finally Srila Prabhupada called a meeting with all the devotees who had concerns. And he listened to what everyone said very sympathetically, and then he said there should be a president, secretary, and treasurer, some officers, that they should meet every week and discuss all the issues, and then come to a conclusion what to do, and then they should enter the decisions in a minute book; they should all sign and then they should execute what they decide.

But at a certain point Srila Prabhupada’s mood seemed to change, and he said that if we spent too much time thinking about the material problems then our spiritual lives will be hampered. He said as it is we are prone to talk about material things, so if we just talk about the material problems and the solutions to the material problems, then where will be the time to talk about Krishna, and think of Krishna? And then he said that in his whole life he never complained, because his motto was everything for Krishna, nothing for me. You know this—when he took the steamship to  America, and he had two heart attacks at sea. In America he had many difficulties with a buzzing sound in his ear, in his head sometimes. He mentioned a few things and then he said that he suffered in ways that he doesn’t even want to mention, but he never complained because his motto was always everything for Krishna and nothing for himself. So, that is the perfection, and we should work towards that.

So, if in our house we have that motto—everything for Krishna, nothing for me. Nothing for me means independent of Krishna. And in this body, the same thing—everything for Krishna, nothing for me. Then at the time of death we’ll think of Krishna, and then we will go to Krishna, and get a spiritual body that is suitable for serving Krishna.

But there is actually one other point here—subtle point—that is a pure devotee does not desire even liberation. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Srila Prabhupada also paraphrased it, that a devotee who is influenced by a mode of ignorance, tamo-guṇa, thinks, “Everyone else is nonsense—I’m the only real devotee.” Someone influenced by the mode of passion thinks, “I want to be the best devotee—I want to be known as being the best devotee.” And someone influenced by the mode of goodness thinks, “I want to go back to home back to Godhead.” But a pure devotee—who is beyond all the modes of nature and transcendentally situated, thinks, “I just want to serve Krishna. No conditions that I have to be liberated or go back to Godhead—just I want to serve Krishna and make Krishna happy.”

So, this is our line, and it is a gradual process. It’s not that all of a sudden one will come to that consciousness. But we should be aware of what our goal is, and we should have a program—how to get from where we are now to where we want to be. And that program is bhakti-yoga—pure devotional service. And that is really intelligent and useful.

There are two other words in Sanskrit – śreyas and preyas. Does anyone know what these two words mean? Raise your hand. Okay.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:30:58].

Giriraj Swami: Yes. Preyas is immediate gratification, but ordinary children—not these ones here—ordinary children, they generally want immediate gratification. They see something, I want to eat it, I want to go there, or do this. They don’t want to go to school. And śreyas means long term benefit—ultimate benefit. So, the parents will tell the children, I know you want to stay home and play but if you spend all your day and night playing and you don’t go to school and learn—of course there is also homeschooling—you will not be prepared for your future and you will suffer. So, spiritually most people are like children—they want immediate gratification—and they don’t pay attention to their ultimate benefit, which can be achieved through bhakti-yoga, and specifically—as Maharaja indicated—under the guidance of a spiritual master.

Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥśreya uttamam. So, tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta, prapadyeta means approached. One should approach a guru, jijñāsuh he is very inquisitive, śreya uttamam—the ultimate long-term benefit. Anyone can approach, when one is a proper candidate to approach a guru, according to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And the guru should be qualified. Bhāgavatam says brahma-niṣṭhā, that you should be fixed in Brahman—that means Krishna, the Supreme one. Krishna consciousness.

So, this housewarming—that phrase is a misnomer here. What is the meaning of misnomer? You know, you are just shy. What is the meaning of misnomer?

Yeah, the wrong name. The wrong term. It should be called a temple warning—it’s not an ordinary house, it’s a temple, because Krishna is the center. It’s not an ordinary house, it’s a temple—meant to be a temple. And the extent that it actually is a temple will depend on the residents and the mercy of the Vaishnavas who come to encourage them. But I think that the residents want it to be a temple, they’ve already established it like a temple and they are inviting devotees, so it is a good temple warming.

And as far as Gopal is he outside?

Devotee: He is upstairs.

Giriraj Swami: Okay. That’s okay, that’s okay.

So, anyone here—or nearby—you see the problem with birthdays is that most people—not most people, but people—have a certain duration of life destined to them in their body—in their particular body. And you can’t really change it.

So, Srila Prabhupada said that suppose someone is destined to live for eighty years, and say they are six years old. That means they’ve died at six years. Six years of their duration of life has gone, so it means they’ve died at six years. And a very nice verse in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: āyur harati vai puṁsām. That by rising and setting the sun decreases the duration of the life of everyone except those who utilize the time in discussing topics of the all-good Personality of Godhead. So, how is that? By rising and setting, the sun is decreasing the duration of life of everybody—that’s true. But how is that devotees who engage their time in uttama-śloka-vārtayā, in topics of Krishna—their duration of life is not being decreased? The answer is that by discussing Krishna and becoming absorbed in Krishna, they are preparing themselves for eternal life with Krishna. So that the rising and setting of the sun or the passing of the years is not decreasing their duration of the life, but bringing them closer to their eternal life. So, this is also an opportunity to use our time to become Krishna conscious and attain our eternal life with Krishna and His devotees. So, everything here is auspicious—completely auspicious. We just have to stay with the process—stay in the association of the devotees and stay with the process, and everything will be perfect. And of course, the main activity is the chanting of the holy names.