BG 9.13 – Sri Radhastami—Bhakti Is Supervised by the Internal Potency

Giriraj Swami: So we welcome you to our continuation of Radhastami. I will read a verse from Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā As It Is which is related to the topic of Srimati Radharani and our success in life.

So, Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Chapter Nine, “The Most Confidential Knowledge,” Text Thirteen.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

TEXT 13

mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha

daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ

bhajanty ananya-manaso

jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam

TRANSLATION

O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

In this verse the description of the mahātmā is clearly given. The first sign of the mahātmā is that he is already situated in the divine nature. He is not under the control of material nature. And how is this effected? That is explained in the Seventh Chapter: one who surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, at once becomes freed from the control of material nature. That is the qualification. One can become free from the control of material nature as soon as he surrenders his soul to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the preliminary formula. Being marginal potency, as soon as the living entity is freed from the control of material nature, he is put under the guidance of the spiritual nature. The guidance of the spiritual nature is called daivī prakṛti, divine nature. So when one is promoted in that way – by surrendering to the Supreme Personality of Godhead – one attains to the stage of great soul, mahātmā.

COMMENT

I will stop here to comment. The verse that Srila Prabhupada was referring to in the Seventh Chapter is daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī mama māyā duratyayā, that this material nature consisting of the three modes is very difficult to overcome.

daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī

mama māyā duratyayā

mām eva ye prapadyante

māyām etāṁ taranti te

[Bhagavad-gītā 7.14]

But one who surrenders to Krishna he can easily cross over maya.

In 1976, I arranged a program for Srila Prabhupada to speak at Birla house, the Birla mansion in Bombay. The Birlas were the most, or maybe are, I don’t know, but they were the wealthiest family in India, and Srila Prabhupada had said that no one could measure their wealth. So I met Mrs. Birla and I had presented a list of topics, about twenty different topics that she could choose from, and I knew that whatever topic she chose Srila Prabhupada would be able to speak on it. She looked through the list, and she fixed on the topic: “How to be successful in life?” Now, this choice really struck me because by ordinary material standards, the Birlas and the people who we expected them to invite were already very successful, but still, they weren’t satisfied with their success, they wanted to become more successful. So, all right, that was the topic, and the program was held on the lawn of their huge estate, and so many company presidents came. And when Srila Prabhupada arrived, he found, and this was I guess it was a lapse on our part, he found that there was a very big asana for him to sit on which was good. But the defect was that the table that had the small Radha-Krishna deities was lower than the asana that we had set up for him. So immediately on the spot, he had us remove a section of the platforms that we had arranged for his seat, to take out one of those sections so that his seat became lower than the deities.

And then he spoke on the topic, and his definition of success was different from certainly what the audience was expecting, and it was also different from what I was expecting because it was a very transcendental definition. He explained that people in the material world are under the control of the material nature who is represented by Durga devi. And Durga rides on her lion carrier and she holds a trishul or trident, and the three prongs of that trident are the three types of miseries: adhyātmika, those caused by our minds and bodies. Ādibhautika, those caused by other living entities. And ādidaivika, those caused by acts of nature. So she rides on her lion carrier, and she is always piercing the conditioned souls, the demons, or the conditioned souls, with these threefold miseries.

So success of life means to come out from the control of the material nature and come under the control of the spiritual nature who is represented by Srimati Radharani. And so that was the basic theme of the talk. And as Srila Prabhupada writes in the purport, that yes, when we come out of the control of the material nature it is not that we become independent, we are a marginal potency, taṭasthā-śakti, which means not that we can become independent, but that we can come under either the material nature or the spiritual nature, and the results of the two choices are very different. Under the control of the material nature, we are always suffering, and under the control of Srimati Radharani, we are in the realm of eternity, knowledge, and bliss. But as we read in last night’s purport, and as Srila Prabhupada is explaining here, we don’t come under the control of the spiritual nature directly, but we come under the spiritual nature by taking shelter of someone who has taken shelter of the spiritual nature. In other words, by taking shelter of a mahatma or a pure devotee, and that is the paramparā system. And here in the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Krishna explains who is a mahatma.

Another time in Bombay, Srila Prabhupada was temporarily staying in central Bombay, at Sea Face Park, which was previously known as Mafatlal Park. And one prominent Hindu gentleman came into the meeting, and after listening for some time, he asked Srila Prabhupada, “How is it that India, which has such a history and is so full of mahatmas and sadhus, could have so many problems?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “The reason India has so many problems is you don’t know who is a mahatma and who is not a mahatma.” And then he gave this definition of mahatma. “You don’t know who is sadhu and who is not a sadhu, you are accepting fools and rascals as sadhus and mahatmas.” And he went on to discuss some of the foolishness and rascaldom of some of the fools and rascals that are passing as sadhus and mahatmas. So Prabhupada said, “What is your definition? You are saying mahatma or sadhu, what is your definition? If you say rich man you should have some idea what is a rich man; if he has a big house or have a nice car. So you are saying sadhu, you are saying mahatma, what is your definition? What do you know of sadhu or mahatma?” He couldn’t answer, and then one lady said, “Well, they say that they are sadhus or mahatmas.” And Prabhupada said, “That, anyone can say, but what is the real definition?” And then he gave this definition: sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ, one who is properly situated in devotional service is a sadhu. And he gave the example of His [Krishna’s] devotees as mahatmas and sadhus. 

But actually, if we do take shelter of a true mahatma, of a pure devotee, then we won’t fall down as even that prominent Hindu man was saying India had fallen down, we won’t fall down, but we will be elevated to the spiritual realm. Now, one of the primary characteristics of any pure devotee is that they have no desire other than to please Krishna, and this is exhibited in the purest form, or in the highest state, by the residents of Vrindavan, which leads me to the second paragraph of the purport.

PURPORT (continued)

The mahātmā does not divert his attention to anything outside Kṛṣṇa, because he knows perfectly well that Kṛṣṇa is the original Supreme Person, the cause of all causes. There is no doubt about it. Such a mahātmā, or great soul, develops through association with other mahātmās, pure devotees. Pure devotees are not even attracted by Kṛṣṇa’s other features, such as the four-armed Mahā-viṣṇu. They are simply attracted by the two-armed form of Kṛṣṇa. They are not attracted to other features of Kṛṣṇa, nor are they concerned with any form of a demigod or of a human being. They meditate only upon Kṛṣṇa in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. They are always engaged in the unswerving service of the Lord in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

COMMENT

So this second paragraph is an elaboration of the compound word ananya-manaso, without deviation of the mind. And as we experience, our minds can be deviated by many things which are not Krishna. But on the higher level, a pure devotee of Krishna, his mind or her mind is not deviated even to any other form of Krishna, but only the original Krishna in Vrindavan. So the pure love exhibited by pure devotees finds its highest expression in Vrindavan, and in Vrindavan among the gopīs, and among the gopīs in Srimati Radharani. And the mood of all the residents of Vrindavan, and especially the gopīs, is that they were ready to sacrifice anything to please Krishna, to satisfy Krishna. And Srila Prabhupada said that the way to develop the love of the gopīs for Krishna is to spread Krishna consciousness all over the world. What is the connection? The connection is that spreading Krishna consciousness in the material world gives the greatest pleasure to Krishna, and also it involves a lot of sacrifice, a lot of dealing with opposing elements, a lot of austerities. But devotees do that to spread Krishna consciousness, to distribute books, distribute the holy name, distribute prasāda even. So that was Srila Prabhupada’s mood, and that should be our mood.

And another aspect, as some of the saṅkīrtana leaders here pointed out during Srila Prabhupada’s time, is that the mood of Srimati Radharani and the gopīs is that they want to bring others to Krishna, and so when we distribute books or preach we are engaging in principle in the same activity of trying to bring others to Krishna, trying to arrange for others to meet Krishna, and that is also the mood of the gopīs. So, what we do on this plane is meant to correspond with what we are meant to do in the spiritual realm, in the spiritual world. And as Srila Prabhupada said that if you are in high school but you are doing college-level work you can be promoted to college. So if we are in the material world and we are engaging in the activities of the spiritual world to please Krishna then we can be promoted to the spiritual world.

So one pastime came to mind which shows this principle of ananya-manaso, that the pure devotee does not divert his attention even to any other form of Krishna, and it also demonstrates Srimati Radharani’s position as the greatest devotee and lover of Krishna. So when Krishna was enjoying in past times at Govardhana Hill in rāsa dance, so at one stage He left the arena of the rāsa dance and hid Himself in some bushes around Govardhana Hill. So all the gopīs were looking for Him, it is described they were like a phalanx of soldiers marching to find Him and capture Him. So as they were coming around Govardhana Hill, they were approaching that bush where Krishna had hidden Himself. So, Krishna understanding that He was going to be caught decided to play a trick on the gopīs. So He came out from hiding and He assumed the form of four-handed Vishnu, Narayana. So from a distance His complexion, His effulgence, it all looked like Krishna so the gopīs were very excited, “Oh, now we have caught Him.” But when they got closer they saw, “Oh, no, this isn’t Krishna, this is four-armed Narayana.” So officially, they offered their respects, “Oh, Lord Narayana, please accept our obeisances, can you tell us where is Krishna? We are looking for Krishna.” But that Vishnu form remained silent and the gopīs thought, “Oh, He is not helping us.” They went on their way looking for Krishna. But then Srimati Radharani came, and She was approaching that same bush, and the same thing, Krishna thought okay, so He also came out again and He exhibited His four-handed form as Vishnu. But in the presence of Srimati Radharani’s pure love, He was so overwhelmed that He could not maintain His extra two hands and He had to come out as Krishna which shows the power of Her love. And in general, that bhajanty ananya-manaso, that they are fixed only on Krishna.

Now, this position of Srimati Radharani and the gopīs love for Krishna is so exalted that Krishna feels that He cannot relish in His position as the object of love the way the gopīs do, the way Srimati Radharani does. And He considered that, “The only way that I will be able to experience this, the glory of this love, and the happiness that they experience in relationship with Me, is if I give up My position as the object of love, viṣaya, and accept the position of the abode of that love or the shelter of that love, āśraya.” And that is the specific reason, confidential reason, for the appearance of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, that He appeared as. . . He is Krishna but in the mood of Srimati Radharani, and of course, along with that mood comes tremendous compassion for the fallen souls. And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu exhibiting that mood of Radharani in the material world was very concerned with delivering the fallen souls, and that is another type of evidence in support of Srila Prabhupada’s statement, that the way to develop the love of the gopīs for Krishna is to spread Krishna consciousness all over the world. And we have the perfect example, Srila Prabhupada. And so we just have to do it. 

But of course, to spread Krishna consciousness we should also be Krishna conscious. Srila Prabhupada said that; well, two things: one, he said that “Distributing my books will keep them happy,” referring to the devotees. And, “Reading my books will keep them.” [It] means keep them in Krishna consciousness. And also that, “My books are not just for distributing, they are also for reading.” So, there is a very important part of spreading Krishna consciousness is being Krishna conscious. And devotees like Vaisesika Prabhu have devised many wonderful ways to encourage devotees to read Srila Prabhupada’s books. There is one program called CHAD, C-H-A-D, which refers to A-Chapter-A-Day, C-H-A-D, and in the CHAD program, one recites a chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā every day, and it can be either the Sanskrit of the verses, or the translation of the verses, or if you want both, but the basic requirement is one chapter a day, either English or Sanskrit. And as an exercise, I won’t do it here, but he would have devotees recite a chapter and time it, and that came to something like seven and a half minutes. So twenty-four hours a day, what percent of twenty-four hours a day is seven and a half minutes? I think it came out to half a percent, in other words, not much. In seven and a half minutes, I mean seven and a half minutes with the internet, Facebook, nothing against Facebook, and so many other diversions is nothing. We could easily carve out that seven and a half minutes. So there is that program. 

And then there is another program: Become a Sage, Page by Page. Another very wonderful program, and in this program the idea is to read a certain number of pages per day, and he has broken up different books of Srila Prabhupada, such as the Bhagavad-gītā or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that how many pages you have to read a day to complete it in a year, or five years according to what you can manage. For example, in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, to complete Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in a year you have to read forty-one pages a day. And there is no requirement that you have to read out loud, it is not like a Chapter a day, so devotees do that. His Holiness Keshava Bharati dasa Gosvami, he on his own has taken to the practice of reading it out loud, and he has done so, he started to do so in a place where others can come, he did it in Dallas when I was there. And he didn’t advertise it as such, but maybe two or three people would come and listen, and then the news spread. Then six or eight, ten or twelve, and by the end, there were like eighteen to twenty people coming. 

And that association with Srila Prabhupada is so powerful, it is just amazing. I attended and it was just extremely potent associating with Srila Prabhupada like that, and then consistently every night. And that would take reading out loud, I think that was maybe an hour and a half. Of course, if you read to yourself it is faster, but this was a shared experience. And then have some discussion, and then he started to serve light prasāda maybe like milk and cookies or something. He didn’t want it too elaborate because then the mood changes which doesn’t mean it changes to a bad mood, it is just a different mood. But he wanted to keep the mood more focused on Prabhupada’s books, and the discussion of Prabhupada’s books would continue.

So yes, these books are very important. It was one of. . .it is like we discussed yesterday, every deity was the most beautiful, and so like every project was the most important, but certainly, in one sense his translating of books was a very important project for him. But as one devotee pointed out recently, although translating his books was so important to him, and he repeatedly asked to be relieved of management, of problems so he could write his books, but the fact is that he took a lot of time that he could have used for his books for the sake of ISKCON, for the sake of the devotees, which shows how important that is. How important ISKCON is, and how important taking care of the devotees is, that Srila Prabhupada took that precious time that he could have been using to finish translating Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and go on to other translation works, to take care of his devotees and his mission. So we should also understand how important that is, to take care of ISKCON and the devotees. So all these, whatever we can do in whatever way will be appreciated by Prabhupada, and our paramparā, Srimati Radharani, and Krishna. So yes, we have to be practical, we always have to be practical, but at the same time, we really should surrender to Krishna, and come under the control of Srimati Radharani, the divine nature, and out of the control of Durga, the material nature.

I don’t know why, but it came to mind, this must have been in 1970. So this was in Boston, every day we would go out on hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. Actually, quite often we would go out twice a day, we would go out during the day then come back and then go out again in the evening. And generally, the devotees in the day they would do kirtan in the Boston Commons, and we would be around the kirtan party, and we would be distributing mainly Back to Godhead magazines at that time. But then there was another street, a big shopping street just a couple of blocks away. Jadurani dasi used to go there, she would do huge. But personally, I didn’t like to be away from the kirtan party, I felt I needed that support, and hear the holy name, and have the devotees there. 

But one day I don’t know how it happened, so I was walking along that shopping street, and some man, and at the time it didn’t strike me, I am thinking in retrospect maybe he was drunk, but I don’t know, it was in the morning. So he saw me and he went like this, bowing down like imitation bowing down like a false bowing like, “Mahatma, mahatma.” So, Srila Prabhupada said that if someone just appreciates devotees they make advancement. He said if someone is looking out their window and they see some devotees on the street and they think, “Oh, those people look nice,” they make advancement. So, whatever we can do, of course, when we preach we sometimes have to speak the truth that people might not immediately appreciate, but in general, by our behavior, we should act in such a way that people appreciate us. And just by appreciating us they make advancement.

So, it is actually quite easy, just be nice to people, kind, considerate, generous. They like you, they make advancement, and then it will become easier for them to take the next step. 

Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.

Are there any questions or comments? Yes, Sachi Tanaya Prabhu.

Devotee: Thank you, Maharaja. This is a comment that leads to a question. Yesterday you were answering a question from, you gave a response to a question by Bhrigupati Prabhu asking that who is the best devotee? And then it led to everybody is best. Then you gave the example of Prabhupada going to different temples and saying, “This is the best thing, this is the most beautiful,” expertly encouraging devotees. So, similarly, in different projects that we have in ISKCON, some projects are a little bit more emphasis given to than other ones. And we also understand that in devotional service there is no such a thing as higher or lower, in the eyes of Krishna it is the consciousness that you have, it could be any service. 

Giriraj Swami: That is true.

Devotee: So then in my personal opinion I was sometimes dealing with this just playing with my mind. I have been doing book distribution for thirty-seven years, and I have not been involved so much in deity worship, but when I read The Nectar of Devotion, and I see the sixty-four qualities, most of them are pujari service; dressing, cooking, and feeding Krishna, touching Krishna. So sweet. And this is the gopīs mood. And I am thinking book distribution is not going to be in the spiritual world because everybody is a devotee, and then I am thinking, okay, let me see. And then one time I heard, there is a lecture, there is Prabhupada’s memories, and one Prabhupada disciple has mentioned that Prabhupada mentioned at one time, “Pujari service is the highest service.” I said “Wow!” But other times you also hear book distribution, so many things, so maybe you can, if you want to speak a little bit more about that. That yes, there are so many projects, so many devotees, they are attracted to a particular service, and they put their heart into that, and maybe you can be in book distribution which is the highest, but maybe the right consciousness might not be there, or as a pujari. Or you can have the best devotees of the paramahamsa, the mahatma, but you still don’t get the same benefit as somebody who is serious, you might not be serious and have the great mahatma too.

Giriraj Swami: Well, all service is absolute. So in one sense there is no higher or lower. And what you said is true, that many very advanced devotees do deity worship. If they are sannyasis they travel, they may have their own deities, and then some are in Mayapur, Jananivas Prabhu and Pankajangri Prabhu. And it is true, what we do in deity worship is what we very well could do in the spiritual world, bathe Krishna, dress Krishna, bathe Radha, dress Radha. But these devotees I am referring to, of course, Jananivas Prabhu and Pankajangri Prabhu are in a little different category, but these other sannyasis who are very absorbed in deity worship, they are also very active in preaching. I am thinking of His Holiness Shivarama Swami, or Indradyumna Swami, Bhakti Brigna Govinda Swami, they do very nice deity worship. They are also very involved in the mission. 

There was one case in New York, the temple president was very attracted to deity worship, but the GBC, Tamal Krishna Goswami felt that he could use his time better in other areas, and so he told Srila Prabhupada, and Srila Prabhupada told the temple president that he should give up that deity service. So yes, each case is individual.

Devotee: Maharaja, is that a temple-installed deity or his personal deity? Of this particularly devotee you are mentioning, temple president.

Giriraj Swami: No, the temple deity, Radha-Govinda in New York, yes, temple deity. But who knows? I always took it in a simple way that he considered the other service to be more important, but maybe just didn’t want to displease Tamal Krishna Goswami. Because I had one experience in Juhu. Tamal Krishna Gosvami had been the GBC, I think he was planning to return to America, and that is when he started the Radha-Damodara party. So, he met with Srila Prabhupada, and he came to me, Tamal Krishna Goswami, and said that he had suggested to Srila Prabhupada that Atreya Rishi could become the GBC for Bombay or for India and that I should phone Atreya Rishi which in those days we rarely made international phone calls. It is a big thing, especially from India. So I phoned him and I said something like, “Prabhupada wants you to become the GBC, but he wants you to come to Bombay to discuss it.” So then maybe some hours later, Srila Prabhupada asked to see me, and he said, “So I hear that you called Atreya Rishi, asked him to come to Bombay to meet me about becoming the GBC for India.” I said yes. “Why did you do that?” I said, “Well, Tamal Krishna Goswami said he had suggested it to you and you said it was a good idea.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Well, what else do you expect me to say when Tamal Krishna Goswami makes a suggestion?” So, it is like they say, no one can know the mind of the acharya, I certainly can’t even come close to it.

So, I am just relating that maybe to when he suggested that the temple president shouldn’t be doing the deity worship in the morning. But one thing that did come up in a conversation recently is Srila Prabhupada said that one difficulty with his disciples is that they don’t understand basic human psychology. So from just some of these incidents, you can get a sense of how Srila Prabhupada really understood the psychologies of different devotees and just all sorts of people, even myself. I will probably now have to go back and think of my exchanges with Srila Prabhupada, and maybe consider well, what did he understand of my psychology? But again, we can’t like minimize the significance of anything that Prabhupada said because it is sort of absolute.

Just make one last point that sort of on the topic of surrender. And I don’t even know how Prabhupada did this, but in Srila Prabhupada’s last year in Juhu, 1977, he was very ill, and no one was allowed to come upstairs to his quarters. He was inside and there were doors there, and then there was another room and then there were doors to that room, and then there was the front room, and Tamal Krishna Goswami was the secretary. So one day I came up and Tamal Krishna Goswami gave me some checks and cash to deposit in the bank. And I thought, I am the temple president, you can’t get someone else just to go to the bank and make the deposit? It didn’t seem like very necessary that I go. And we were talking in hushed tones because that was the rule, not to disturb Srila Prabhupada, and there were two sets of doors, closed doors, in between. Then suddenly the buzzer rang, Prabhupada was calling, so we rushed in, and for me, it was a special opportunity because no one was allowed to see Prabhupada then because of his health, pretty much, except his immediate staff. 

So we went in, and Prabhupada said, “If the spiritual master asks you to go to the bank and you refuse, where is the surrender?” I thought, oh my gosh. At the time I thought he must have read my mind, although later when I mentioned it to our godbrother Tejas Prabhu he thought it was possible that Prabhupada actually could have overheard the conversation, even though we were speaking in very soft voices and there were two sets of closed doors in between. Because he felt that Prabhupada had supernatural sense perception. Being inside, we wouldn’t have heard probably anything, that was our whole idea that Prabhupada. . . But Tejas Prabhu said he might actually have overheard the conversation.

But the way he phrased it that, “If the spiritual master asks you to go to the bank and you refuse, where is the surrender?” He was making the point in my mind that I should have maybe seen Tamal Krishna Goswami as his representative; he was GBC, and also Prabhupada’s personal secretary. But yes, sort of like not to just see each other as people who we know each other to be, but to see them as representatives of Prabhupada or Gaura-Nitai, and take their request seriously. If someone asks you to do deity service, you take it, someone asks you to distribute books, someone ask you to go on hari-nāma.

Yes, sir.

Devotee: Is it okay to think in this way, that Krishna is our mother and father, and all the living entities are His children. So if for some mother when a child is lost, and if another person is able to bring back that child to that mother, she would be extremely happy with that person. So when we distribute books or tell somebody we are bringing that person to her father, mother, so there will be nothing else with which they will be more happy.

Giriraj Swami: You are absolutely right, absolutely. Srila Prabhupada said that; that the child might run away from home, he might forget the father and mother, but the parents never forget the child. And there is nothing that you can do that would please the parents more than to bring back their lost child. And not only that, but it is the best thing you can do for that child who ran away because then all of his problems are also solved. It is perfect.

All right, thank you very much. 

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Gaura-bhakta vrinda ki jaya!