Mother Arca Vigraha’s Memorial in Durban

Giriraj Swami: Yesterday they celebrated Mother Arca Vigraha’s disappearance day in India, and I had a skype call with the devotees in Mumbai and there was a very nice discussion about Mother Arca Vigraha. And they also set up a nice alter and a nice feast. So, because I spoke yesterday, of course we could speak again and again about her but, I think rather than just speaking as such I would open the floor to questions. Yes, any questions and then I will respond. You all heard what I said? (laughter, yes)

Yes, I guess if anyone has a question you can raise your hand.

Devotee 1: Hare Krishna Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Devotee 1: [Summary:] Mother Arca Vigraha in her last days received a lot of mercy. How does this mercy come?

Giriraj Swami: Could we understand how. . . what?

Devotee: How this mercy actually comes. . .

Giriraj Swami: What do you mean by mercy? In other words, how do you reckon that Mother Arca Vigraha received a lot of mercy?

Devotee 1: Maharaja, at the time that she left her body she was surrounded by so many devotees and she was actually tearing from the wonderful pastimes of the Lord. And obviously because of some piety or karma that she actually attained that mercy. 

Giriraj Swami: Would anyone like to try to answer this question? 

(laughter)

Devotee 1: . . . but not everyone, although they may be following Krishna consciousness, not many devotees have the same kind of mercy like Mother Kirtida and Mother Arca Vigraha. . .

Giriraj Swami: Yes, I understand. So, I am trying to bring out some wise thoughts from this assembly of saintly persons and sages (laughter) to answer your questions. It is a very good question and I am sure that these learned scholars and practitioners will have insights into the answer to your question. 

Devotee 1: Maharaja I think that Svarupa Damodara can help answer the question. (laughter)

Giriraj Swami: Sorry, he can help answer. Okay.

Svarupa Damodara dasa: Hare Krishna. Well, one of the things I think that attracted so much mercy to Mother Arca Vigraha was her very urgent sense that she had about her to serve Krishna, serve Srila Prabhupada, her spiritual master and all the Vaishnavas. She seemed to have a very urgent nature about it, and because she was so urgent and she was so eager, I think these are some of the two qualities that empowered Krishna’s mercy to flow to her especially when she needed it at the final stages of her life. So I would say her urgency and eagerness to serve and to attract Krishna’s mercy is what attracted Krishna’s mercy to her. I hope that helps. Mother Sarva Kanti would like to say some words.

Mother Sarva Kanti: Hare Krishna Guru Maharaja. For one she was a very famous personality and she surrendered. And so enthusiastically she went to Vrindavan and surrendered eagerly and so that attracted all the great Vaishnavas to her. I think that her surrender got her a lot of mercy. I had another point but I forgot. If I remember I will tell you again.

Giriraj Swami: Alright.

Devotee 2: Guru Maharaja, I think it was in 2011 when we had the welcome for the Krishna-Balarama Deities in the Hospice, Raghunatha Bhatta and myself managed to sit in that room to witness the ārati and the welcome of the Deities in the Hospice and the main doctor for the Hospital made this amazing statement about any devotee, any person who passes away in Raman Reti, Krishna and Balarama drop everything to personally embrace the devotee that passes away in Vrindavan. 

Giriraj Swami: Right. Any other thoughts?

Devotee 3: Hare Krishna Guru Maharaja. I also heard mother Kunti was saying that mother Arca Vigraha, for one, she would always wake up and chant her sixteen rounds before 8:00 a.m. and in whatever she did, she made sure that she followed her guru’s instructions cent percent. 

Giriraj Swami: Nice. Any other thoughts? 

Devotee 4: Guru Maharaja, I was thinking about this verse in Caitanya-caritāmṛta 

brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva

guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja

Millions of souls are wondering and only the fortunate soul gets the mercy of Guru and Krishna in the state of Bhakti (I can’t hear the last bit). So, I guess she was one fortunate, very fortunate soul in that sense to get that mercy and I could also add that she had a (can’t hear) to grab that wonderful mercy. 

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that is nice. One more? At least. . .

Devotee 5: Hare Krishna Maharaja. I think that Mother Arca Vigraha she took total shelter of Sri Vrindavan dhāma and also Krishna chooses to who He will give His mercy. 

Giriraj Swami: Alright. Thank you. Well some of the points that came up did come up yesterday. One of the points was that there was a time when I was at the Youville center and I was extremely sick and could hardly breathe. I mean for a few moments I thought I was going to leave my body because I could hardly breathe and I just surrendered to Krishna, and then internally surrendered completely and then He allowed me to breathe a little. And somehow Mother Arca Vigraha learned about this situation and she took the matter in hand and rushed me to the hospital and they said that if I had come any later I might not have survived. So, devotees made the point that by the she took charge of the situation she saved my life. And then she organized for my care during quite a long and difficult period of recovery. So that was one point the devotees made. Another was that she was very selfless in her service, she could set aside sleep and food and practically anything, if required, to do service. It was the rule in Vrindavan that women should not go on the alter but the pujaris there, they actually wanted her to paint the Deities but no one could know. So she would have a regular day of service and then at night after the Deities had been put to rest and the devotees were asleep, she would come on the alter and she would paint during the night and then just before the devotees came to wake up the Deities in the morning she would sneak off of the alter. So yes, she was really ready to sacrifice anything for the sake of service. We recently came across a letter of hers in which she mentioned that, it is quite a long letter and it was very instructive, but within the letter she mentioned that she was extending herself as much as she could for service. And it did affect her health but she felt that her service was more important, she just accepted it as a fact that her health would be affected but she took her service to be more important.

There are many devotees who commented about how special she made everyone feel because she completely gave herself to everyone who came to her. I think one very nice talk was given yesterday by Hari Priya dasi from Mumbai and she told how I had invited her to Vrindavan really to cook for the devotees and to serve the devotees because the devotees who were taking care of mother Arca Vigraha were fully absorbed and engaged in her service and so they didn’t have any time to cook anything for themselves or take care of their own things. So, I invited Hari Priya who was not initiated then, she was initiated later, so she came and she was cooking for the devotees and serving the devotees who were serving mother Arca Vigraha. So then at one stage I introduced her to mother Arca Vigraha and explained what service she was doing. And Mother Arca Vigraha was very ill at that time but she was just patting Hari Priya, just stroking her and saying how nice it is that she is doing that service for the devotees and enquiring about Hari Priyas welfare. And Hari Priya felt that it was really extraordinary that she just kept patting her and stroking her just like an affectionate mother. And even though she was herself in so much pain and difficulty she was concerned about Hari Priya. And she loved Vrindavan and she wanted other devotees to have the same opportunity she had to leave their bodies in Vrindavan but with better medical care than she had and of course her desire led to the creation of the Bhaktivedanta Hospice. I think those are some points.

I also made the point that she was not at all in the body concept of life and she saw everyone as spirit souls and therefore she could relate to everyone without any consideration or reservation and because of that she attracted all sorts of devotees from all different backgrounds and histories, and yes, she welcomed them all, embraced them all and they also embraced her because she was so much on the spiritual platform. And she always had her sense of humor even at the end. And it is true, quite early on she was in extreme pain. Some of you may know, His Holiness Bhakti Bringa Govinda Swami was living next door and he would come and visit her. Once he came and she was so miserable, she was always a very strong person very (can’t hear), she didn’t indulge in feeling sorry for herself, but this one time she was in so much pain she was weeping. And Govinda Maharaja started to speak to her about the pastimes of Krishna and suddenly her whole mood changed and she had the realization that the only way she could be free from the pain or forget about the pain would be to be absorbed in Krishna consciousness. And so that pain which ordinarily we would think of as a curse in a way became a blessing for her because it was an impetus for her to always be absorbed in Krishna consciousness. And in that vein it is true, many senior devotees came and spent time with her.

Burijan prabhu would come every afternoon at five and spend an hour with her, speaking about Krishna consciousness and also talking with her and giving her advice. Many devotees came and yes so many senior devotees came beside Govinda Maharaja, Sivarama Swami, Tamal Krishna Goswami, many of the stalwart disciples of Srila Prabhupada. Sometimes we would read to her together. One of the books was Lalita Madhava, a drama by Srila Rupa Gosvami. And so different devotees amongst us took different parts in the drama, and we would read the lines of the characters that we were playing. And so, the idea was that somehow or the other, all the time, chanting and hearing about Krishna, remembering Krishna. But up until the end she was also a strong preacher. I remember there was a couple from Yugoslavia or Bulgaria, maybe Bulgaria, they were visiting Vrindavan and she was very kind to them but she was just really saying, chant the holy name, serve the spiritual master. Her heartfelt realizations and conclusions, with completely lucid mind, full conviction and genuine care for those young people from Eastern Europe.

So many devotees commented about her mood of service to the Vaishnava’s and it reminded me of something I heard here in Dallas just two or three days ago. One devotee here named Arjuna Krishna, he did a lot of personal service for Tamal Krishna Goswami, but he felt that he wasn’t making so much advancement so he asked Tamal Krishna Goswami, somewhat similar to Malika’s question, “How can I please Guru, how can I please Krishna, how can I get mercy?” And Tamal Krishna Goswami replied that if you serve Krishna the Guru will be pleased and if you serve the Guru, Krishna will be pleased, but if you serve the Vaishnavas then both Guru and Krishna will be pleased. So, that was, of course mother Arca Vigraha did all, it is not one or the other. She served Krishna, she served the Guru, she served the Vaishnavas, and she was very selfless in the service. When mother Kirtida passed away, also very wonderfully, Kesava Bharati dasa Goswami was staying with me in Carpinteria at the time and so we had a talk, what is it that enables someone like mother Kirtida or mother Arca Vigraha to have such glorious departures; to attain such an exalted state of Krishna consciousness. And Kesava Bharati Maharaja’s answer was that it is selfless service, that that was what qualified them.

Alright, well that was a good question. Anything else? That was fairly complete. So, any other question, on any other subject?

Devotee 6: Hare Krishna Guru Maharaja. I was recently listening to a class that you gave in the Varṣāṇā japa retreat a few years back and you spoke about a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam about Ajamila, and you mentioned one point that had struck me. I can’t remember the exact word but you said that Ajamila was able to chant the name of the Lord at the time of death and there is a concession or type of thing that is granted for one who is able to chant the holy name at the time of death then there is some special consideration even though Ajamila did not in one sense live the life of Mother Arca Vigraha. So, I was wondering you could elaborate more on that point or that circumstance when one somehow or the other is able to chant the name of the Lord when leaving ones’ body? 

Giriraj Swami: Well, whatever you are most attached to is probably what you will think of at the time of death and therefore, mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha, we should try to increase our attachment for Krishna. In the case of Ajamila, he was very attached to his son, so at the time of death when the Yamadutas came to drag his soul from his body and take him to be punished, he cried out for his son, whose name was Narayana. And because he called out the holy name of Narayana the Vishnudutas, the messengers of Lord Narayana, came. Now, various authorities have commented on this incident because he wasn’t intending to call the Supreme Lord Narayana, he was calling his son who was named Narayana, but in his childhood, he was engaged in the service of Narayana, only later he fell down into grossly sinful activities. So the authorities say that when he chanted the holy name of Narayana to call his son, he remembered the original Narayana who he had worshipped in his childhood and youth.

Now that chanting was considered to be in the stage of Namabhas, and the effect of chanting in Namabhas is that one becomes freed from sinful reactions and freed from hellish punishment, freed from material desires. So that chanting, it wasn’t pure chanting, it wasn’t sufficient for him to go back to Godhead but it was sufficient for him to become free from the hellish punishments that were awaiting him for his sinful activities. And by that chanting in Namabhas he got the association of the devotees, the Vishnudutas and he got to hear the instructions of the devotees, the Vishnudutas. And that great attachment that he had for his wife, his children, his home, he became freed from that. So he was able to leave those attachments and go to Haridwar to engage in devotional service, in bhakti-yoga and then when he was perfect in bhakti-yoga, when he was able to chant the holy name purely, he was illegible to go home back to Godhead. And at that stage the Vishnudutas came and took him on a Vaikuntha airplane to the spiritual world.

So, the real thing is to become attached to Krishna and being attached to Krishna necessarily means being detached from maya, from the bodily concept of life and things pertaining to the body. But the real thing is the condition of the heart, what one is most attached to. Srila Prabhupada gave the example that a parrot can chant Hare Krishna. A parrot can learn to chant Hare Krishna but if the bird is attacked by a cat then there will be no more Hare Krishna, it is just going to be Kaa-kaa (making bird sounds). Because that chanting was just on the lips, it wasn’t really in the heart. And what was in the heart was just Kaa-kaa (making sound of parrot screaming). So, when we chant we want to really welcome Krishna into our heart, the holy name into our heart, through the ear, through hearing – hearing attentively so that our attachment for Krishna increases, mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha.

And also reading, reading Srila Prabhupada’s books especially, that will purify the heart and will increase our attachment to Krishna so that we become attracted to Krishna’s qualities especially His love for His devotees. And so we become inspired to surrender to Him and want to serve Him, and that combination of the chanting and the reading or hearing and then explaining the preaching, distributing books, distributing the knowledge, that will also get us Krishna’s mercy and so then we are actually engaged in the process of liberation so we can chant at the time of death or remember Krishna at the time of death and within our hearts at least cry out to Krishna and be placed in a position where we can continue our service to Krishna, in a better way.

Does that answer your question or was there more to your question?

Devotee 6: It does answer my question. I mean that is the crux of the answer.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, I mean Rupa Gosvami gives the definition of sādhana-bhakti, and part of the definition of sādhana-bhaktiis the process by which Bhava Bhakti, which is love of Krishna, is awakened. So we engage in these practices of sādhana-bhaktiwith a goal, and the goal is to awaken our love for Krishna. So when we chant we should be purposeful to purify our hearts to awaken our attraction for Krishna. But the first thing is to hear, and so, Revinder Svarupa Prabhu often says that we should keep it simple and when we are chanting our prayer should be, to be able to hear because everything comes from hearing, to the extent that we hear to that extent we are able to get the benefit and progress. And the reading, His Holiness Kesava Bharati dasa Gosvami is hear in Dallas and he has taken up his personal vow to read forty-one pages of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam every day. If you read forty-one pages every day, you will read the entire Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in one year. And what he started doing, I think he reads it out loud, you are supposed to read out loud but anyway he has invited people to listen to him for when he reads out loud, takes about an hour and a half. So it is a very profound experience. Of course he personally has great relish for Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and that comes out in the reading.

In the beginning he was just reading. Maybe one or two devotees would come and I think last night there were about fifteen or sixteen but it is a very intense experience to hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Srila Prabhupada’s purports for an hour and half, and then do that day after day after, it really has a profound effect. And then at the end he serves a little prasāda like hot milk, just some simple snacks not a big feast because he just felt that a big feast changes the mood, thinking more about the prasāda which is not bad per say but it would change the mood. So he keeps it simple, some nice hot milk and some simple snacks; devotees have something but not to the point where it distracts their minds from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And yes there are those fifteen people, really getting a tasted and they want to continue even after Maharaja leaves to continue on their own – it is such a profound experience.

So then, in Maharaja’s case he chants thirty-two rounds so all the good instructions from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam are in his mind naturally when he chants and that was I believe Srila Prabhupada’s idea. In the early days of ISKCON, the devotees would read Kṛṣṇa book at night before taking rest. And so then naturally in the morning when the devotees get up and have the morning program, chant their rounds, so then they would remember Krishna from the Kṛṣṇa book. So, the two really are both required: hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā, the Vaishnava scriptures, and chanting the holy name. Then you really will develop your love for Krishna, you will lose your attachment for mundane things and you can really chant at the time of death. Any other question or comments?

Alright well, seeing so many nice devotees, at one stage I thought of going around the room and greeting each one individually and enquiring about the news, especially good news, although there is no difference because whatever the news is if we receive it in Krishna consciousness then it is all good, but I suppose we will have to keep that for another time.