BG 3.10 – Living Happily and Achieving Liberation through Performance of Sankirtana

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna! Are any of you been here for the first time? If you are, raise your hand. And on this side? The format of this program is that we are going through the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. This book is called the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. ‘Bhagavad’ refers to Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and ‘Gītā’ means song. When the Lord speaks, He doesn’t speak in ordinary language like ordinary people. But whatever He speaks is music and poetry or song, and ‘As It Is’ is the translator’s and commentator’s addition to highlight the fact that—he is presenting the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, as Krishna spoke it and as Arjuna understood it, without any compromise, without any personally motivated interpretation, but ‘As It Is.’

So, in our study here, we have come to the third chapter called karma-yoga. We have actually come to the eleventh verse. How many of you were here for the last week’s session? Or how many of you were not here for the last week’s session? Okay, quite a few.

So, I will read Text Ten because it contains a lot of very important information, that will be relevant for our study of the Bhagavad-gītā and for our lives. So please repeat after me

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

So, we read from Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Chapter Three—karma-yoga, Text Ten. I will read the Sanskrit sloka twice and then we will together recite the synonyms and translation.

TEXT 10

saha-yajñāḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭvā

purovāca prajāpatiḥ

anena prasaviṣyadhvam

eṣa vo ‘stv iṣṭa-kāma-dhuk

TRANSLATION

In the beginning of creation, the Lord of all creatures sent forth generations of men and demigods, along with sacrifices for Viṣṇu, and blessed them by saying, “Be thou happy by this yajña [sacrifice] because its performance will bestow upon you everything desirable for living happily and achieving liberation.”

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The material creation by the Lord of creatures (Viṣṇu) is a chance offered to the conditioned souls to come back home – back to Godhead. All living entities within the material creation are conditioned by material nature because of their forgetfulness of their relationship to Viṣṇu, or Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Vedic principles are to help us understand this eternal relation, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ. The Lord says that the purpose of the Vedas is to understand Him. In the Vedic hymns it is said: patiṁ viśvasyātmeśvaram. Therefore, the Lord of the living entities is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also (2.4.20) Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī describes the Lord as pati in so many ways:

śriyaḥ patir yajña-patiḥ prajā-patir
dhiyāṁ patir loka-patir dharā-patiḥ
patir gatiś cāndhaka-vṛṣṇi-sātvatāṁ
prasīdatāṁ me bhagavān satāṁ patiḥ

The prajā-pati is Lord Viṣṇu, and He is the Lord of all living creatures, all worlds, and all beauties, and the protector of everyone. The Lord created this material world to enable the conditioned souls to learn how to perform yajñas (sacrifices) for the satisfaction of Viṣṇu, so that while in the material world they can live very comfortably without anxiety, and after finishing the present material body they can enter into the kingdom of God. That is the whole program for the conditioned soul. By performance of yajña, the conditioned souls gradually become Kṛṣṇa conscious and become godly in all respects. In the Age of Kali, the saṅkīrtana-yajña (the chanting of the names of God) is recommended by the Vedic scriptures, and this transcendental system was introduced by Lord Caitanya for the deliverance of all men in this age. Saṅkīrtana-yajña and Kṛṣṇa consciousness go well together. Lord Kṛṣṇa in His devotional form (as Lord Caitanya) is mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.32) as follows, with special reference to the saṅkīrtana-yajña:

kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ
sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair
yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ

“In this Age of Kali, people who are endowed with sufficient intelligence will worship the Lord, who is accompanied by His associates, by performance of saṅkīrtana-yajña.” Other yajñas prescribed in the Vedic literatures are not easy to perform in this Age of Kali, but the saṅkīrtana-yajña is easy and sublime for all purposes, as recommended in Bhagavad-gītā also (9.14).

COMMENT

Hare Krishna!

So, we are going to make this class a little interactive, to make sure that you are alert. So, I will begin, and this is not an open book or an open smartphone exam. So, let us try to recall what the verse says. There are many points, important points in the verse. So, who can think of one point? 

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:16:05–00:16:18]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, very good.

Devotee 1: [Unintelligible 00:16:24–00:16:33]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that is true. Yes.

Devotee 2: [Unintelligible 00:16:38–00:16:42]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, yes.

Devotee 3: [Unintelligible 00:16:45–00:16:54] 

Giriraj Swami: Yes, yes correct. 

Devotee 4: [Unintelligible 00:16:59–00:17:04] 

Devotee 5: [Unintelligible 00:17:10–00:17:23] 

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that is very important. Yes, very important, by the performance of yajña, one can live happily and achieve liberation. 

Devotee 6: [Unintelligible 00:17:30–00:17:34]

Giriraj Swami: Yes? Can you repeat it? 

Devotee 7: [Unintelligible 00:17:40–00:18:02]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, good. Yes, correct. Well, we have a very wise assembly of sages here. 

So yes, this verse and the Bhagavad-gītā in general, but this verse in particular explains the purpose of the material creation and how we are meant to live in the Lord’s creation. It is like any machine or product will come with a set of instructions. So, the material world comes with a set of instructions and the instructions are given in the Bhagavad-gītā. And this verse is a summary of the instructions. 

So, the earlier chapters described, and this is essential and so I will mention it just to be sure. But the first instruction of the Bhagavad-gītā is that the living entity is distinct from the material body. And this is the most fundamental principle that we must understand; that we are not the body but we are the soul, the jiva or the ātmā within the body. And na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre; the body is killed but the soul does not die. The soul is eternal. It has no beginning and no end. And this understanding alone is enough to revolutionize our whole life, because everyone wants his self-interest, that is natural, but to know our self-interest we must know who is our actual self.

Most people are in ignorance as to their actual identity. And they identify with the body or the mind or the intelligence or the ego, and they act for the benefit of the body. And this causes them great distress. They are trying to be happy. Everyone wants to be happy. But they are trying in the wrong way. Srila Prabhupada gives the example that if you are doing a mathematical calculation and you make a mistake in the first step, then even if you perform all the other steps properly, you may get further and further away from the actual solution, because you made a mistake in the first step.

So, if we think we are the body, that is a mistake from the very beginning. And then even if we do everything perfectly for the sake of the body, we will end up further away from the happiness that we are trying to attain. And this is very practical. In fact, there is, well of course, the verse mentions different generations. Even in recent generations in the United States, many of the families who immigrated maybe two or three generations ago, they really had to struggle to establish themselves in this country and create a good future for their sons and daughters, and grandchildren.

But then the subsequent generations, they had it pretty good and many of them did exactly what they were told would make them happy based on the bodily concept of life. And yes, they got a good education. They had good sources of income. They had a qualified wife/qualified husband, beautiful intelligent children and went on good holidays and did everything that they were told would make them happy. But in the end, they weren’t happy. And this gave rise to a whole new field of study in psychology and other related sciences—the study of happiness—what makes people happy. Because all the things that people were told would make them happy, which they executed faithfully didn’t make them happy. 

So, what does make them happy? And so, the research has shown that once a person achieves a certain basic standard of living, in other words there is a roof over his head and has two square meals, whatever, then getting more doesn’t actually make them more happy (happier?). And yet people are driven by the idea of getting more. 

There was an American entrepreneur named John Paul Getty who was the richest man in the world, at the time, not so long ago. And one reporter asked him, “You are the richest man in the world, you have everything that money can buy. Can you tell us your philosophy of life in one word?” He said, “Yes I can, MORE!”. That was his philosophy of life—More. But it is such an illusion, because like I said, like Prabhupada said, no matter how many lakhs or crores you have in the bank or millions or billions, you can still only eat the same two or three chapattis. You can’t do anything more.

So, it doesn’t make you more happy (happier?). They also asked him, “John Paul Getty, you are the richest man in the world, you have everything that money could buy, so when you are alone and no one is with you and you have nothing else to do, what do you think about?” And he replied, “I think about how to pay the bills just like anyone else,” because he wants more. 

So, for him paying the bill might be, you have to organize so many billion dollars to take over some company or something. But he wants more so he needs more money to get more. And so, he is the richest, was the richest man in the world, but he is still like anyone else, thinking how to pay the bills. 

So, this is what the Bhāgavatam says that the small animals eulogize the big animals. That anyone who is not God conscious is like an animal. Even one who identifies with the body is like an animal. And so, the little animals are praising the big animals but they are the same. The little guy is thinking how to pay his bill to, whatever, to get a new car and the richest man in the world is thinking how to pay his bill, to close some multi million or billion-dollar deal. But none of them are happy. That is the truth, which purport, doesn’t matter. Srila Prabhupada said that, when he first came to India, that, in India, people are poverty stricken and in America, people are affluence stricken. But everyone is stricken without Krishna consciousness. 

So, yes, how to become happy and these studies have shown that things like meditation and actually serving others, things that are actually quite consistent with Krishna consciousness, those can elevate inner level of happiness. They can. But these studies have also shown something else, which is that different people have a baseline of happiness and no matter what they do, they don’t get much higher or go much lower than their baseline. Which it is sort of a, you could say a verification of the law of karma that you are allotted a certain amount of happiness according to your karma and no matter how you try to increase your happiness or decrease your distress, you can’t do it because you have a certain destiny. 

Srila Prabhupada used to quote a saying that, “Even if you go to Calcutta, your forehead will go with you.” Now in the old days, Calcutta was the richest city in India. So, people thought if I go to Calcutta, make my fortune, have my new life, I will make my fortune. Similar to how people think about America. So, the saying was even if you go to Calcutta your forehead will go with you. Because the idea is that your faith or your destiny is written on your forehead. And that is why when people are lamenting their bad luck they go like this, “Oh! I was one digit off of winning the lottery. Oh! such bad luck.”

So, even if you go to Calcutta, your forehead will go with you. Your destiny will go with you. And you can’t really change that and even this research done by psychologists and sociologists, on this topic of happiness, there they find that people tend to have a baseline of happiness. And that is, no matter what they do they always sort of, come back to that baseline. 

And Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, both in the First Canto, Narada Muni and in the Seventh Canto, Prahlada Maharaja, they both say the same thing. And that is that, everyone has a certain amount of happiness and distress which is destined to them. Now this is very easy to understand. Because nobody wants unhappiness. Nobody goes to the temple or the church or any house of worship and prays for misery. Have any of you deliberately go to the temple and pray for misery? And come here in the hopes that you will become more miserable? No.

So, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says that nobody tries to get misery, but misery comes on its own accord. So, the Bhāgavatam says that just as misery comes of its own accord, happiness will also come. They will both come of their own accord. And so, the efforts to increase your happiness and decrease your misery is futile. It is a waste of time. And so, the Bhāgavatam says that instead of trying futilely to increase your material happiness and just decrease your material distress, you should use that energy and that intelligence and your resources to become Krishna conscious. And that will really make you happy.

It is a totally different platform of happiness. I first met Srila Prabhupada in Boston and, I was very fascinated how he would answer people’s questions. This is in March and April of 1969. And so, one man sort of challenged him, “Are you happy?” And Srila Prabhupada replied that when I was in India, I had five children and there were always so many problems. And now that I have come to America, I have five hundred children. And I love them and they love me and we have no problems. 

So, when that man said, “But that is material” (he thought it was material) Srila Prabhupada said, “I have many other platforms of happiness. But I am trying to explain on a level that you can understand. Even from that point of view.” And that is the principle that one who gives to Krishna is not the loser but he is the gainer by so many times. 

Now there are many examples concerning Srila Prabhupada. He used to cite the example of Jawaharlal Nehru. He went to England. And as a matter of prestige, he hired a British servant which was very costly. And Srila Prabhupada said, that was like one servant, and Srila Prabhupada said he has, hundreds of American and British servants and he doesn’t have to pay them. In fact, to the contrary, they pay him for the opportunity to serve him. 

So, these are examples of how the one who gives to Krishna is not the loser but the gainer. And that we shouldn’t be afraid of giving to Krishna or sacrificing for Krishna. But we should welcome the opportunity, we should want to do more and more and more as quickly as possible. 

I mean it might sound naive but when I first came to the Boston temple, within the first three weeks including second or third weeks. So, there was one other new person who was also coming. So, he came up to me. He was like in this very, you know, inspired mood and he said, you know everything that we have is stolen property. It all belongs to God. And then we are living on God’s property. And so, this is really stolen property. And the sooner we give this back, the better it is. So, we should have that sense of urgency and that faith that; by giving to Krishna, one is not the loser but he is the gainer.

Now I am not sure I am reading everyone’s expressions correctly, but I sense there may be some ambivalence or some little doubt about what I am saying about how practical this is. And well it is practical. But one develops that faith by association. And devotee association is so important. And not only associating with who are sannyasis, who are speaking. But even by associating with grihasthas, who have so much experience of gaining by sacrifice. And that is what the verse says that, by performing sacrifice for Vishnu, one will be happy and will live happily in this world without anxiety, and one will get liberation in the end, go back home, back to Godhead. 

So, there is one devotee in Bombay, his name, well now he is initiated. His name is Srinathji dasa. Before initiation, he was known as Dr. Narendra Desai. He had a PhD doctorate, not a medical doctorate. And his father, D.D. Desai was a very shrewd businessman. He was also a member of parliament. And he built up quite an industrial empire. And he went to, I think Malaysia; Singapore or Malaysia on business and quite suddenly, he had a heart attack and died.

And so, Dr. Desai was his only son. And I used to meet business people to get their support for the Juhu project. And so, I would hear the talk and the talk was that Dr. Desai was a sort of Poliana; I don’t know how to explain. Who can explain Poliana? Like a simple, innocent. And they were doubting that he would be able to maintain the industrial empire that his father had left. 

So, one morning, I visited Dr. Desai, unannounced. I mean usually I would. But anyway, somehow, I just came, rang the bell and he had quite a nicely decorated apartment. And he was sitting cross-legged on this sort of fancy furniture, chanting japa very intensely with his eyes closed. 

And so, I said “Wow,” really, I was quite impressed. And he said he gets up early every morning and he reads Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, chants japa. And he said that he actually got so many inspirations for his business during his morning japa. I don’t know, I don’t think he was trying to but it came like that. And then after a while, it turns out he was actually very intelligent. Krishna gave him intelligence.

So, after a while, he started a new line of electricals, of light bulbs. And I was seeing these billboards all over Bombay with these “Simha Lights.” And there was something about that, the advertisement. I didn’t know it was his new company. But there is something that was very attractive. Somebody just made me want to buy that product. And then I found out it was his. And I thought this must be Krishna. Krishna is giving him the intelligence. It could have been Krishna in the heart of the potential customers urging them to buy because he really gave a lot. He really sacrificed a lot for Krishna. But whatever he gave me, he kept getting more and more. 

So, these are practical examples. And then as a preacher, I started to invite people over to his house for dinner and they would meet him. And then they would see, wow. It is like, he would get up, to chant Hare Krishna, to read Srila Prabhupada books, to do some puja, to make crores and crores of rupees. I think I could try that. [Laughter]

And, I mean occasionally, but Krishna, that is the thing about Krishna. He will do what you need. He will give you what you need, according to your situation. And He can give any amount and sometimes He does that. If He sees that some devotee will use that in Krishna’s service, He can do that. But ultimately you have to leave it all behind and that is why this yoga principle is so important, because it enables you to live happily in this world and to achieve liberation. It is like a formula and it is practical.

Srila Prabhupada sometimes gave his example. Yes, that he said, “In the beginning Krishna tested me by taking everything away.” Sometimes that happens. Srila Prabhupada was quite a successful businessman in India. But then at a certain stage things started to go wrong. And he thought of a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam spoken by Lord Krishna directly, yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi hariṣye tad-dhanaṁ śanaiḥ (SB 10.88.8). 

Does anyone know this verse? yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi, that when I feel especially, mercifully disposed to some devotee, hariṣye tad-dhanaṁ śanaiḥ. The first installment of my special mercy is I take everything away from him. Now I can see your good hands here because no one has taught you that verse. If they have taught you, you might have run away. But I think now we are ready for the next stage. 

So, then what happened is that his family members started to disrespect him. The people he thought loved him, it turned out really, they liked him because he was doing well financially. And they see he is suffering financially, they are not so interested. So, according to this verse, he suffers doubly. He suffers first because he lost his wealth and second because his so-called friends and family members are disrespecting him and neglecting him. 

Now so, when does Krishna do this? Why does he do it or when does he do it? He does it if he feels that a devotee is sincere but is being held back by some material attachment. And when Srila Prabhupada, when Srila Prabhupada’s business was going bad, he thought of this verse and he actually presented it to one of his godbrothers that maybe this is what is happening to me, maybe Krishna is doing this. 

So then, he took vanaprastha ashram, then sannyasa, then crossed the ocean fifty years ago, made ISKCON and then from the other side, he was like, “First Krishna tested me by taking away everything then Krishna tested me by giving me everything. And I was like, I had five children. Now I have five hundred of them.” 

So these are practical experiences. Prabhupada experienced this and by his experience, his faith in these scriptural statements was solidified. He was preaching to us based on his faith, based on his realizations, based on his experience. 

So now, I will give a little story just on this point. So, Srila Prabhupada had a, this is in the early days, when Srila Prabhupada first came back to India. So, there was a young man who was translating his books into Hindi. I think his name was Rajiv Gupta and Prabhupada knew the father also.

So, after the first big Delhi pandal at the LIC grounds, some days later the boy’s father came to meet Srila Prabhupada. And the father had a weakness, that he was addicted or attached to smoking cigarettes. So, when Srila Prabhupada saw him, they exchanged some words and then Srila Prabhupada asked him, “Have you given up smoking?” And the man said, he looked down, :No I haven’t.” And he said, “I need some special mercy. I think I need some special mercy.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, special mercy. There is such a thing, special mercy.” And then he quoted the verse—’yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi hariṣye tad-dhanaṁ śanaiḥ—that if Krishna wants to give special mercy to someone, He takes everything away from the person.’ 

So then Srila Prabhupada asked, “So, you want that special mercy?”. He said, “No Prabhupada. I will do it myself.” But it is true, that if you are able to do something yourself, then you don’t need that particular kind of mercy. But it actually is mercy. By that mercy you become detached and then when you are detached, Krishna can give you more, without fear that what He gives you, it will pull you down, but that if you actually use that in Krishna’s service.

So yes. There are many instances I won’t take much longer. But one example is Bali Maharaja. Do you know the story of Bali Maharaja? That Vamanadeva took everything away from him. And in the discussion in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it says that the Lord Himself, that He receives His special favor. But then, the Lord gave everything to Bali Maharaja, He even gave Himself. And so, Srila Prabhupada explained that it is true that when the Lord approves favors of someone, He will take away his material attachments. But when he, that the real favor is when the person becomes detached and the Lord gives another thing, he said. 

So, these are very important topics and deep topics. We should consider these points and try to implement them, make an experiment. You don’t have to accept it blindly. Make an experiment, try it and see how it works. So, are there any questions or comments? Are there any reflections or thoughts? Yes.

Devotee (1): [Unintelligible 00:57:28–00:57:50]

Giriraj Swami: Oh yes. That is for ordinary people. They have a baseline, their basic level of happiness and no matter what happens they tend to hover around that baseline. But when you engage in devotional service, then you become happy, happier. 

In fact, it is described in The Nectar of Devotion, the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu that pure devotional service has six characteristics. And one is that, kleśāghni—it means relief from material distress and śubhadā—it brings all auspiciousness. And in that analysis of śubhadā, giving auspiciousness, we are given elements. And one of the elements in auspiciousness is happiness.

So, those of these six characteristics are supposed to begin with sadhana bhakti. And then there are two others that come in bhāva-bhakti and then there is two others that come in prema-bhakti. But even in the stage of sādhana-bhakti, you can experience that relief from material distress and yes, increasing happiness. And you should, I mean if you are doing things correctly, you would, you will experience it.

Devotee (2): [Unintelligible 00:59:48–01:00:09]

Giriraj Swami: She says that sometimes when she is in a stressful situation, it is hard to focus on Krishna. So, what should she do in that situation? Well, you could take prasāda in an abundant quantity. Well, what do you do when you are unhappy? What works?

Devotee (2): [Unintelligible 01:00:46–01:00:54]

Giriraj Swami: Oh, that is good. That should be our response. I mean that is the solution; taking shelter of Krishna. I mean another way of taking shelter of Krishna, the holy name could be kirtan. But that is good. It may be a struggle, but it does work. The mantra, it delivers the mind. And if you do it, it is like that saying God helps those who help themselves. And Srila Prabhupada said that in the context of devotional service, to help yourself means to place yourself in the presence of transcendental sound. So, if you do that, it may be hard at first, your mind may be too drawn to your problems or your difficulties but it will eventually work. So, that is good that you do it. Just like, it takes sufficient time. That is good, I am glad to hear that that is what you do. Any other questions or comments?

Devotee (3): [Unintelligible 01:02:46–01:03:07]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that is a very good question. Well the book which I mentioned, The Nectar of Devotion, which is Srila Prabhupada’s summary study of the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, it is the complete science of bhakti-yoga. And Srila Rupa Gosvami mentions nine stages, you could say in the development of bhakti. And it is good to know this progression because you can place yourself in it and see what lies ahead. So ādau-śraddhā, first is faith. Faith means to put faith in the devotional scriptures and then the devotees who practice them. 

So, ādau-śraddhā tathā sādhu-saṅga. After you have that of preliminary faith, and sādhu-saṇga, you associate with devotees like this gathering. It is sādhu-saṅga. It is a way of associating with the devotees. We are going to the temple on Sunday for a trip. And the more you progress, the more you want to associate with devotees. 

So, ādau-śraddhā tathā sādhu-saṅga tathā bhajana-kriyā. bhajana-kriyā means that you actually begin the practice of bhakti-yoga. Srila Prabhupada said, ‘this is the stage at which the candidate will take initiation.’Bhajana-kriyā is like chanting mala, following the regulative principles. And then anartha-nivṛtti starts. 

So, when we come to devotional service, we have these things called anarthas. Have you ever heard that word? So, artha means that which is wanted or desirable and anartha is the opposite, something that is unwanted. So, that means bad habits, bad quality, like say, being attached to smoking or gossiping. So, by bhajana-kriyā, by engaging in devotional service properly, the result will be that anarthas become destroyed. Not 100 percent at that stage but say 75 percent.

And, the next stage is niṣṭhā; niṣṭhā means steadiness. If we have anartha, then we are not so steady in our devotional service, like you engage in devotional service and then suddenly you are whatever. But after the anarthas are clear, then you become more steady. [Unintelligible 01:07:04]

Then comes ruci, ruci means taste. Then we have a real taste. And they are like two sort of levels of ruci you could say; one type of ruci is that if the kirtan is performed very melodiously, you have taste. Or if the discourses are given very nicely, then you have a taste. But otherwise you don’t. But then a higher stage of ruci is as long as it is Krishna’s name. Even if you are not singing that well, in a musical sense. [Unintelligible 01:08:07].

And then there is āsakti which means attachment. This is very good, at this attachment; it is attachment to Krishna. So that whole progression is sādhana-bhakti. And then from āsakti, you go to bhāva; bhāva is a transcendental position, liberated position. And at that stage, you begin to have correct realization of God. You can actually get a glimpse of Him and … So, that is the liberated platform, that is a totally new but different category. [Unintelligible 01:09:17]. In a way, it is the same, it is just the same thing becoming more mature but in a way it is different because at that stage, śuddha-sattva-viśeṣātmā (CC Madhya 23.5), you began to move over the modes of material nature, you really experience Krishna. And then, that is sūryāṁśu, that is considered a ray of light – prema-bhakti. And prema-bhakti, is like bhāva-bhakti, but it is more fully developed. You can say, the perfectional stage of love of God.

And then at that stage, you are in your direct relationship with Krishna. But that happiness, that is like, Prabhupada said, beyond the other platforms of happiness. So, we have a certain type of happiness just in the beginning. From the very beginning in sādhana-bhakti. But then there are other levels of happiness that are more fully experienced in progress. 

That was a good question. 

Devotee (4): [Unintelligible 01:10:47]

Giriraj Swami: That is another good question. She says when she sees the devotees who have faith in Guru and Krishna, she gets very attracted to that. So, how could she develop that faith? 

Well Srila Prabhupada said, saṅgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ (BG 2.62) that develops from association, and by associating with devotees who have more faith, then your faith increases. And by following the instructions you get the results, if you follow the philosophy, then you should get the result and then that will also increase your faith, because you have seen it working. But, you also have to be patient, that is also part of the requirements for success in devotional service. Because there may be some delay, it may not come immediately.

And as Srila Prabhupada said, that sometimes Krishna or maya is testing the devotee to see how sincere the devotee is. Because if there is some delay, ‘Oh, I have been chanting for over six months and I am not feeling ecstasy. Maybe I should try something else. So, we need to be patient and also confident because I am doing my best to follow the regulated principles, Krishna will help. Sooner or later Krishna will help me, so let me just persevere. And enthusiasm is also needed. utsāhān niścayād dhairyāt (NOI Text 3). 

So, we need both enthusiasm and patience. Srila Prabhupada said if you have that enthusiasm without patience, then it can lead to a desire to control. And patience without enthusiasm can lead to lethargy. You know what lethargy is? Laziness. We are so patient and it doesn’t have any enthusiasm to grow and so patient that we are not doing anything. And then on the other hand, we are enthusiastic and I want this result, I want to pass it and I want to do it now without patience. Then we want to control the situation, control the people, control Krishna. So, Krishna I want this now, why will you give me it tomorrow? So, we need all of those. Confidence. Very important. [Unintelligible 01:14:32]

Devotee (5): [Unintelligible 01:15:10]

Giriraj Swami: I never heard it but, that could be a good formula. Associate if but I don’t think it would be absolute. Because I mean we do want to associate with advanced devotees as much as possible. And especially in the beginning, we should do that more, because what association will we give to juniors if we ourselves are. So, I think that it is true. We will do all three. We will associate with advanced devotees, we will associate with peers, we will associate with less advanced devotees. But there is tremendous benefit from associating with peers that isn’t there with associating with seniors or juniors. So, we need to do all three. Yes.

Devotee (6): Thank you for your time for coming here.

Giriraj Swami: My pleasure, my pleasure.

Devotee (6): [Unintelligible 01:16:57]

Giriraj Swami: Okay, does it bother you that we use the word science?

Devotee (6): It is not like it bothers, but I would like to understand why?

Giriraj Swami: Okay, alright. Well I will answer this from a couple of perspectives. One thing that Srila Prabhupada said about science is that it doesn’t change. Like one plus one equals two. Right? It doesn’t change. It has been that way from the beginning and it will always be that way. So, Krishna consciousness is a science in the sense that it doesn’t change. What is in the Bhagavad-gītā was true in the past, it is true in the present and it will be true in the future. It can also be accepted according to the scientific method. Like you have a hypothesis and you test it and you perform an experiment to test it. And then you have to be able to repeat it.

So, in that sense, it is subject to scientific scrutiny if you make an experiment, ok you will chant sixteen rounds for six months, and it is like you make an experiment, and you see whether the hypothesis is verified by it. And it can be repeated. You can tell someone else the same thing. If they do it, they also get the same result. So, in that sense, the spiritual science is different from material science. 

Devotee (7): [Unintelligible 01:19:29]

Giriraj Swami: Yes. I heard this said by a couple in Mumbai named Sridam and Kishori, who, anyway that is another topic. But they mentioned a point that when you are with seniors or superiors, you have to be on good behavior, and when you are with juniors you have to be on good behavior.

So, in that process there may be parts of you that don’t get exposed, whereas with peers if you have a genuine, you know, loving relationship of friendship, then you can you know, like, reveal your mind in confidence, in required confidentiality. And there you don’t have the restrictions to like, you know, really be on your best behavior, like you would with a senior or a junior.

Devotee (8): [Unintelligible 01:21:15]

Giriraj Swami: Yes that is very nice. It is very good. Yes, things that followers of Vedic culture have known for thousands of years, millions of years, people are sort of stumbling on it. Yes, in fact there is a book called Stumbling on Happiness by quite a reputed sociologist or psychologist at Harvard University. And the basic premise of the book or the title of the book, is that people are very poor at predicting what would make them happy. And you know, really just sort of stumble on it. Like people, they stumble on Krishna consciousness. They get a book or they get some prasāda, or they meet people. They just stumble on it. They don’t know it is going to make them happy. It is the only thing they, they don’t know, they just stumble on it.

Devotee (9): [Unintelligible 01:24:44]

Giriraj Swami: Well, I think that within themselves they know they are not happy. But someone could be so much in the mode of passion, rajo-guṇa. But it will catch up with them. They can try to avoid confronting the fact of their own loneliness, their own isolation, their own emptiness. But it will catch up to them in the form of, say, heart disease or like so many diseases are related to one’s emotional state.

So, they can try to avoid confronting the reality of what is actually within them, but, it will come back on them, in the form of some disease for example. But that can also be good for them, it makes them get more real about their actual situation. A lot of them, it is really the modes of nature. But if it is like some touch of the mode of goodness, then it is easier for them to realize actually, ‘This isn’t making me happy. I feel empty. I feel lonely. I feel depressed.’ And then they will look beyond accumulating more.

Devotee (10): [Unintelligible 01:27:04]

Giriraj Swami: Well yes. She says that the whole society is operating on the principle of more. Everywhere you go, your neighbors, your co-workers, they are all in the same mood of more.

And so, it is easy to get swept along in that mood and that is why sādhu-saṅga, ādau-śraddhā tathā sādhu-saṅga; we should associate with devotees. And it is very clear that one should also avoid intimate association with non-devotees. In other words, you shouldn’t take their advice in relation to your lifestyle. You can, yes, you will have to work with them, so you may have some social interaction as a formality. But you can’t really disclose your mind in confidence to them, because they won’t give you good advice, but they will give you bad advice.

So, this book, I was thinking now this book is also very important, The Nectar of Instruction, Upadeśāmṛta. So, the verse that I was quoting, utsāhān niścayād dhairyāt—enthusiasm, confidence, patience, that is from there. And then this other one, guhyaṁ ākhyāti pṛcchati—revealing one’s mind in confidence, that is very important to do with devotees. And Srila Prabhupada quotes his Guru Maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura in the purport, that the other side of it is that one should not disclose one’s mind in confidence to the non-devotees. Because they cannot give any good advice to execute that purpose. We have to be careful, we have to be discriminative.

Devotee (11): [Unintelligible 01:29:36]

Giriraj Swami: Well he does want you to be happy, but you could be attached to something that is not making you happy. Like children, they might get attached to something that is not good for them. But as a parent, it is not good for them. So, you take it away so that, I mean it could be anything it could be, yes, you get the idea.

So, the child might not like it, your child might be, “Oh, mommy is so cruel she took away my thing.” But actually, it is for the child’s benefit. So, Krishna is like a kind parent and if we were attached to something that is not good for us, which means something that will not contribute to our ultimate happiness, He might take it away. But it is only, Srila Prabhupada says that Krishna will take something away from the devotee only to give the devotee something better.

So, we have to see that and appreciate it. And again, by associating with devotees who have some realization, they can share their experiences, how they benefited from Krishna taking away some attachment that was keeping them down. 

So, it is Krishna’s kindness and love and favor. There is a nice prayer. We actually read it last night, in which Pṛthu Maharaja prays to Lord Krishna that as a father does what is best for his son and daughter without being asked, so, you just do whatever is best for me without waiting for me to ask. Because I may not even know what is best for me. But you know what is best. So, you just do whatever’s best. It was good. 

Good questions. So, what is next?

Devotee (12): So many of us and myself included, work very hard most of the week trying to maintain the bank balance. I don’t know how many of you have been in this situation. How many of you have been to Mumbai? With him? 

So, when you go to Mumbai now to the temple, Juhu, that temple didn’t exist when at the time that Maharaja was younger, he gave up a bank balance, so we are trying to maintain that seven-figure bank balance. So, he would live in a property in the middle of nowhere, when there was no Juhu that you see now. So, it exists now largely because of him. So, I should have done this in the beginning. My apologies. The point I am getting to is now you have now met him and experienced some of the wisdom and nectar that flows from him. As much more of that information condensed and compressed into these books here.

So, I just wanted to bring your attention and I wanted to ask Maharaja maybe you could speak about them, because they are wonderful books. And you should all own a copy of these because they will make your life more rich (richer?) and sublime. There is another one coming about Juhu, we could soon get …

Giriraj Swami: The first book is called Watering the Seed. And it is based on, I mean the title is based on Lord Chaitanya’s instructions to Rupa Gosvami where he talks about the bhakti-latā-bīja; the seed of devotional service. And he says that you should water it by chanting and hearing about Krishna.

So, Srila Prabhupada planted the seed as Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta, I hope you have all read Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta. So, in the six volumes, the second volume is called planting the seed. So, this is like watering the seed that Prabhupada planted. And it contains a lot of my personal exchanges with Srila Prabhupada. And also, just different things, perspectives on Srila Prabhupada and things I have learned from him. And yes, there is a foreword written by His Holiness Radhanath Swami.

And the second book is Many Moons. Now, Many Moons, of course, in colloquial English, it is like many moons mean like a long time. One moon is like a month. So, many moons, I looked the other day, so it has been many moons since I saw you. But there is another meaning to ‘Many Moons’ here which is, Srila Prabhupada quotes the Chanakya sloka ‘eka candra’ that one moon will light up the darkness of the night more than thousands of stars. 

So, Srila Prabhupada said he wasn’t interested in thousands of cheap disciples but he wanted ‘One Moon.” And that was a big question whether Srila Prabhupada would get that one moon from amongst us. But then, I mean one of those moons was Jayananda Prabhu, we looked today on the occasion of the Ratha-yatra. So, Srila Prabhupada himself once commented that he was looking for one moon but now by Krishna’s grace, there are many moons. And we took Jayananda Prabhu as an example because Srila Prabhupada said, we should observe his disappearance day. So, we thought, Okay, he is come to a certain status like a moon. 

So, I think a lot of the questions that came up tonight in a way could be answered by this book by the examples of these devotees who, they suffered, reversals, everything that we experience but they in the end, achieve very exalted state of consciousness and destinations. 

So, there are six disciples of Srila Prabhupada. There are nine in this book. They are Jayananda Prabhu, Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja, Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaja, Sridhara Swami Maharaja, Bhakti Tirtha Swami Maharaja, Bhakti Svarupa Damodara Swami Maharaja.

And then there are three grand disciples. One was named Abhirama Thakura. He was, he actually met the devotees in Pakistan, I used to go to Pakistan. But then it was like so bad for the Hindus there, he was able to immigrate to India and then he was in Pune. And then after his wife passed away, he moved into the temple of Chowpatty and Juhu. He was a vanaprastha, a very sweet man. And then Mother Kirtida. She was a disciple of Tamal Krishna Goswami. She left her body in Dallas and then Mother Arca Vigraha, she was initiated by me. She left her body in Vrindavan. And before she left, she had a desire that other devotees should be able to come to Vrindavan and leave their bodies in the holy dhāma, just as she did with the devotees coming and chanting with her and speaking with her, quite a phenomenon, but with better medical treatment. Because when she left, it was like, very poor and she couldn’t even get someone to do a proper IV. And that Mother Kirtida was a nurse in Dallas and she was in Vrindavan. So, she came over and would give the IV for Mother Arca Vigraha. 

So, then that leads to the next book, Life’s Final Exam—Death and Dying from the Vedic Perspective. And that title comes from a verse that basically says that whatever sadhana or bhajan you do during your life, that will be tested at the time of death. And that is really the Final Exam. So, if you pass the exam, you go back home, back to Godhead. And if you don’t, then you come again but as devotee, who is given the chance to continue. But this book has a lot of aspects to it, like, philosophical and cultural discussions on death and dying. Then some, you know the story of the Hospice in Vrindavan, Bhaktivedanta Hospice, how that came to be and what work it does. And then, yes different sort of, you can take histories of devotees. I mean Many Moons, there are in a way, you could say case histories. But those are pretty much devotees who were steady in their devotional service throughout their lives. In ‘Life’s Final Exam’, there are a number of cases of devotees who weren’t steady all along but still at the end, they had very glorious departures. And then there is some stories of devotees taking care of parents. Yes, that is quite fascinating.

So, there is one about Kesava Bharati dasa Gosvami. He took care of his mother. She was a Christian then she became a devotee. And then there was another couple, Kausalya and her husband. They took care of his father, he was an atheist, I mean a really confirmed atheist. But at the end, he became a theist. He didn’t become a Hare Krishna devotee, didn’t become a Christian, but he did become a theist. And then many devotees requested that I tell the story of taking care of my parents, the two cases because they also had quite glorious departures. And Srila Prabhupada said that the parents of my disciples will realize their good fortune at the time of their passing away. 

So, sometimes the parents don’t like it when their children become devotees. Even Hindu parents. But the parents benefit. Willingly or unwillingly, they still benefit. And that benefit is often seen at the time of death. Then there are stories of devotees facing death and it is quite a fascinating book. 

But there is one devotee, she is from South Africa, that she worked for Merrill Lynch. So, she was in New York in the Merrill Lynch building on 9–11. And the Merrill Lynch building was right across from the World Trade Center. So, she saw the whole thing. And yes, she describes the experiences and what she saw people jumping out of windows and flapping their arms to try to break their fall. So many things then, but within all of that she had a very deep spiritual experience which she shares. 

And then there is even some by His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami about his experience in the course of dying. So that is really a very fascinating study. And Life’s Final Exam is something which is such an exam we all will face. It is not optional. And so, we should prepare. We would know how to help other people when they are in that situation. 

And there is also the subject of grieving, after you lose a loved one, then there is all about how to deal with that loss. So, it is quite a comprehensive study from the Vedic perspective. I mean, ordinarily one shouldn’t speak about oneself. But I don’t even really feel that I wrote these books. I mean I have been like an instrument but I do feel that… Anyway, I thought I was ordered or repeated or encouraged. Yes, it is a way we can associate more. 

So yes, if anyone wants any or there is like a, each book is. The first time I did this I felt very embarrassed but my friend His Holiness Ṛtadhvaja Swami quoted Srila Prabhupada that never be [Unintelligible 01:47:16]. So yes, each book is twenty dollars and if it satisfied you then it is fifty dollars I will sign them. [Unintelligible].

Hare Krishna.