Maha Gaura-purnima Festival

Giriraj Swami: I would say my realization is that, as others have said, Lord Chaitanya’s mercy comes in different ways, but ultimately, the medium for the mercy is devotees. It’s because of devotees we hear the holy name, it’s because of devotees we get the books, it’s because of devotees we are able to chant and do kirtan, it’s because of devotees we get to ask questions and get answers. And this is a very important part of Krishna consciousness, guhyam ākhyāti pṛcchati, to inquire confidentially, to reveal one’s mind in confidence.

And although at times like this any problem in the material world seems far away, any attack of maya seems far away, but there may be times when, although it’s hard to imagine in this state of mind, but there may be times when maya does attack in one way or another. And at that time, we can take shelter of the holy names, of the philosophy, of the deities, of the holy dhāma, the temples. But what can really help us is having a confidential friend, or guide, to whom we can reveal our minds and have our doubts cleared, our resolve strengthened. And therefore, we have the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

And that confidentiality is important because if we feel that we can’t reveal our mind in confidence, or in other words, if we are afraid that someone will betray our confidence, we may not reveal our mind, and then whatever it is that we are struggling with may stay with us, inside of us, it may grow. So, we should be very attentive to this feature of our association and have those confidential friends, and be confidential friends.

There are so many beautiful verses in the Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, and one of them by Srila Krishnadas Kaviraja Gosvami, I’m not remembering the Bengali right now, but basically, what he is saying is, “I’m weak and I am losing my step, I’m slipping, and so may the saints grant me the stick of their mercy as my support.” So, it will happen that we may lose our balance and we need some support, we need a stick to stabilize us and enable us to go forward, and that stick is the mercy of the devotees, which comes from their merciful association.

I’ll give one little example. Last year, at the time of the Gaura-purnima festival here, Vaisesika Prabhu was engaged in a marathon effort to complete his book called Our Family Business. And many of his most intimate friends and well-wishers very strongly urged him not to go anywhere, including here. And then he said confidentially, one of them, his name I won’t mention, knew that he had come down here for the festival and killed him. Of course, that’s figurative speech. But he did it anyway, and we got the benefit of his association in the program here.

And I personally got the benefit of his association when I spent some time with him in Rupanuga Prabhu’s home after the program. And I often think of that, that although in a way he sacrificed some of his personal service, he extended himself to all of us here and to me in particular at Rupanuga Prabhu’s place. And I often think of that, how by extending ourselves even a little, we can make a huge difference in a person’s life. And so, we shouldn’t be miserly or stingy. And I think of Srila Prabhupada, how he had such a huge mission and he had his books that he wanted to translate, but still, he would extend himself to individuals, and sometimes he would just listen.

Once, my uncle, who was a medical doctor, came to New Dvaraka. I mean, it was a big thing because I’ve come from India after three years, so the family came to Los Angeles. And so, he went to see Srila Prabhupada, and Srila Prabhupada for most of the meeting, which was, I don’t know, it was hard to tell, the time sort of stood still, but maybe twenty minutes, and I don’t think Srila Prabhupada said more than two sentences, but he just listened very sympathetically to what my uncle was saying. And basically, he was sort of complaining about the state of the medical profession, that he had entered with high ideals and he was seeing that so many of the doctors were really just interested in money. And Prabhupada was just listening with such sympathy.

And then the meeting ended, and as we were leaving the room, my uncle said to me, “I’ve never met anyone like him.” And he said, “I must get a picture of him, I’ve never seen anyone that looks like him.” I mean, I see Jason Rockman here, and my uncle was an obstetrician and he said that he delivered most of the babies on the North shore of Chicago. He delivered me, and he delivered Jason’s father who was my age in the same little suburb where we grew up together.

But just by listening with sympathy in Krishna consciousness, that bhakti shakti comes through, somehow or other. There are so many beautiful verses in Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

Bhakta-pada-dhūli āra bhakta-pada-jala, the dust of the feet of the devotee, bhakta-pada-dhūli āra bhakta-pada-jala, the water that washed the feet of a devotee, uchhistha, remnant of food of devotee, are three very powerful substances because a Vaishnava has bhakti shakti, and so that bhakti shakti comes out in these different ways. If you are diseased, you can communicate your disease through. . . Some people could even. . . I think you can even get some disease if someone looks at you, but definitely, you can get someone’s disease by eating the remnants of their food.

So, if devotees are infected by Krishna consciousness, then that Krishna consciousness comes out through every pore of their body, and so coming in touch with them even through the dust of their feet, or the water that’s washed their feet, or the remnants of their food, you can get that infection, which we want, we want to get that infection.

So, somehow or other, it’s the association of devotees that enables us, again, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, that by the association of devotees, one can develop love for Krishna, and even after having developed love for Krishna, the association of devotees is still most essential. So, we should be devotees by associating with devotees, and we should extend ourselves to others, and we’ll all be happy. We can chant and dance all the way back home, back to Godhead.

Hare Krishna.