SB 1.7.6 – Progressing Spiritually

Giriraj Swami: As I was listening to Maharaja speak, I was struck by the flow of references to various important verses in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam especially, and simultaneously struck by how rich these devotional texts are. And when I spoke with Maharaja on the phone before I came down, I had an inspiration of a particular verse that I thought would be nice to read. And then, although I am quite familiar with the verse, somehow, I couldn’t find it, which was definitely Krishna’s arrangement because then, Maharaja was here all alone with all of you and that flow of nectar began.

So, I will read this verse, it is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto One, Chapter Seven, Text Six. And if you think about it, which I am sure you will, you will realize there are many very deep and important messages for us in various ways. So, please repeat.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

Please repeat. The lines are short, so I hope you will be able to follow just by hearing.

TEXT 6

anarthopaśamaṁ sākṣād

bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje

lokasyājānato vidvāṁś

cakre sātvata-saṁhitām        

TRANSLATION

The material miseries of the living entity, which are superfluous to him, can be directly mitigated by the linking process of devotional service. But the mass of people do not know this, and therefore the learned Vyāsadeva compiled this Vedic literature, which is in relation to the Supreme Truth.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Śrīla Vyāsadeva saw the all-perfect Personality of Godhead.

COMMENT

Leading up to this point, Srila Vyasadeva, although he had compiled so many Vedic literatures, was not feeling satisfied within his heart. And he presented the matter to his spiritual master, Srila Narada Muni, who advised him that the reason he was feeling dissatisfied at heart was that he had not directly described the glorious pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, even though he had compiled the Vedānta-sūtra, practically all the Vedic Texts.

And Vyasadeva accepted all the instructions of the spiritual master and went into deep meditation. And in that meditation, he saw Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he saw the living entities, us, the jivas, he saw the material miseries of the living entities, and he saw the process for getting relief from the miseries, which is devotional service. So, it was actually in his trance that he saw this, literally, he saw this, and that’s what’s being described here.

PURPORT (continued)

Śrīla Vyāsadeva saw the all-perfect Personality of Godhead. This statement suggests that the complete unit of the Personality of Godhead includes His parts and parcels also.

COMMENT

That means us, we are included with Krishna.

PURPORT (continued)

He saw, therefore, His different energies, namely the internal energy, the marginal energy and the external energy.

COMMENT

So, the Lord has three primary energies. The internal energy is the spiritual energy, the external energy is the material energy, and the marginal energy are us, the living entities. Marginal means that sometimes we can be covered by the external energy and sometimes by the internal energy. Lord Chaitanya gives the example that the beach is marginal. Sometimes when it’s covered by the water, it’s part of the ocean; and sometimes when it’s not, it’s part of the land. So, it’s marginal. So, we are marginal, we can be covered by the material energy and we are in the material world, or we could be freed from the material energy and be part of the spiritual world with Krishna.

PURPORT (continued)

He also saw His different plenary portions and parts of the plenary portions, namely His different incarnations also.

COMMENT

So, Krishna, the form that we see here, Kalachandji, is the Original form of Godhead. But He also manifests Himself in different other forms, such as Rama, Nṛsiṁha, Varaha. And so, when Vyasadeva saw the Lord in trance, he saw not only the original Krishna, but also the different forms of Krishna as different incarnations.

PURPORT (continued)

He also saw His different plenary portions and parts of the plenary portions, namely His different incarnations also, and he specifically observed the unwanted miseries of the conditioned souls, who are bewildered by the external energy.

COMMENT

So, that’s us. We are subjected to so many miseries at every moment. Once, when I was driving to the temple, I was struck by the different billboards on the way; the different advertisements, and they were all advertising some counteraction to some misery. There was nothing positive. It was- need a divorce, see us; suffered personal injury, see us; have cancer, see us. It’s all misery, and all that the world offers is an uncertain, at best, temporary relief to that particular misery. So, what Vyasadeva saw was the living entities, us, and the material miseries, which are innumerable and unlimited, but that’s not the end of it.

PURPORT (continued)

And at last he saw the remedial measure for the conditioned souls, namely the process of devotional service.

COMMENT

So, we may try to arrange some patchwork solutions to some particular problem that may or may not work for some time, but there is one process that can give us a permanent solution to all the miseries, which is. . .? We have read it, it’s not a mystery; what will mitigate the material miseries of the living entity?

Yes, fortunately, I am a lip reader, so I could see that this shy devotee over there. . . Yes, bhakti-yoga; the linking process of bhakti-yoga, which is what we are teaching here and practicing here and what these books are recommending and describing. And that also says how important these books are because the mass of people do not know this, and therefore, the learned Vyasadeva compiled this Vedic literature to give people the knowledge they need to become free from the miseries of material life. So, reading these books and distributing them are very important activities, essential.

PURPORT (continued)

It is a great transcendental science and begins with the process of hearing and chanting the name, fame, glory, etc., of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Revival of the dormant affection or love of Godhead does not depend on the mechanical system of hearing and chanting,

COMMENT

Now, this is a very important point.

PURPORT (continued)

But it solely and wholly depends on the causeless mercy of the Lord.

COMMENT

So, we may chant and hear, which is good, but if we do it mechanically, without real feeling or real intention, just sort of something to check off the list, “Okay we did it, let’s go on to the next thing,” we don’t get the result from that. The result comes wholly and solely from the mercy of the Lord, but to whom does the Lord give His mercy? That is a very important question.

PURPORT (continued)

When the Lord is fully satisfied with the sincere efforts of the devotee, He may endow him with His loving transcendental service. But even with the prescribed forms of hearing and chanting, there is at once mitigation of the superfluous and unwanted miseries of material existence. Such mitigation of material affection does not wait for development of transcendental knowledge. Rather, knowledge is dependent on devotional service for the ultimate realization of the Supreme Truth.

COMMENT

So, there are different stages in devotional service, the different characteristics of pure devotional service and different stages. And these are described systematically in The Nectar of Devotion, or the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, and the first of the six results is kleśaghnī. It means eradication of miseries. That means from the very beginning stage of devotional service, one experiences the mitigation of miseries, and so many people feel that. They just come into the temple or even in the restaurant; of course, many miseries are mitigated in the restaurant, but one feels a difference; one feels peaceful, one feels relaxed, one feels at home, many people feel at home.

So, kleśaghnī and śubhadā. The second, śubha means auspicious, and da means bestows; so, it bestows auspiciousness. And what is auspiciousness? Rupa Gosvami analyzes, “One element of auspiciousness is happiness.” Now, there is another level of happiness that comes in the advanced stage or perfectional stage. That’s a level of happiness that is realized when one gets that mercy from Krishna to actually realize that the holy name is Krishna and enter one’s relationship with Krishna. But this stage, and these two come in the stage of sādhana-bhakti, that’s the beginning; we all begin from the stage of sādhana-bhakti, and so that happiness is something that pretty much every devotee experiences.

And because of that happiness, they are not tempted by any material happiness because it doesn’t compare. And that can be very frustrating to the materialistic friends and family members of people who begin devotional service, because they will use their different techniques to try to get their son, daughter back. In our days, it was the parents trying to get their children back. Nowadays, sometimes even the children try to get their parents back. Their parents are forty, fifty years old, their children are twenty, thirty years old; they think their parents are being misled. But pretty much whatever they try doesn’t work, because the devotees are experiencing a higher taste. As Maharaja said, paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate. And so, they are not attracted by that inferior taste of sense gratification or even impersonal speculation.

And then, there are other stages, two benefits that come in the stage of bhāva-bhakti, and then two, they come in the stage of prema-bhakti. But even in the stage of sādhana-bhakti, one gets immense benefits, one doesn’t have to wait, and the benefits just keep increasing, but one should persevere. Srila Prabhupada gives the example, well, it’s in relation to a verse in the Bhagavad-gītā, of that idea that God helps those who help themselves.

So, there was once a sparrow who had laid some eggs, and the ocean came and carried away the eggs, and that sparrow wanted those eggs back because they carried her children in them, her potential children. So, she demanded of the ocean, “Please return my eggs,” and the ocean didn’t even consider her request. So, she said, “All right, if you don’t return my eggs, I am going to empty you out, one beak full of water at a time.” And the ocean did just what you did, laughed; “What a joke, you are going to empty me out one beak full at a time?”

So, the sparrow began to do that, and when the news of the sparrow’s impossible determination reached Garuda, the great bird carrier of Vishnu, Garuda took compassion on this sparrow and personally came to the ocean and said, “If you don’t return the sparrow’s eggs, then I am going to take up the cause of the sparrow and I will finish you.” And then, the ocean became fearful and returned the eggs. So, the idea is, it’s mentioned in the purport and it’s a general principle, that God helps those who help themselves.

So, artha means which is desired, which is wanted; and anartha means which is not desired or not wanted. So, sometimes anartha refers to unwanted things in the heart, and the unwanted things in the heart can seem like an ocean, how are we going to empty an ocean? But keeping in mind the determination of the sparrow – “Okay, one beak full at a time,” we are going to empty this out, and then God will help.

And that’s also there in the Second Chapter of the First Canto—the Lord is situated within the heart of the truthful devotee, means not hypocritical but truthful devotee, and from within the heart, the Lord helps the devotee to become free from anarthas and develop taste for Krishna consciousness. And yes, we cannot do it on our own, we need help; we are totally dependent on mercy, but we also have to make an effort. And when the combination of our effort and Krishna’s mercy come together, then we are successful.

So, I will end with one short example, and then I will ask His Holiness Ṛtadhvaja Swami to give us practical real-life examples from his own experience, which spans many years of. . . Whatever, we will accept it.

So, in a while, we will be entering the month of Kartik. Kartik is a special month that comes every year, and it is said that just as there is a certain period of the day called brāhma-muhūrta that begins maybe an hour and a half before sunrise and continues until sunrise, and that’s the best time of day for spiritual practices, that’s why we have maṅgala-ārati at 4:30 and we are engaged in devotional activities during that auspicious time.

So, within the year, there is a particular month that’s very auspicious, and that’s called Kartik, and it’s coming up. So, during the month of Kartik, which is also called the month of Damodara, there is remembering and celebrating the pastime of Mother Yasoda binding Krishna with ropes. If you look at the back of the temple at the central panel, you will see a picture of Mother Yasoda attempting to bind Krishna with ropes. It is a very celebrated pastime of Krishna.

So, during this pastime, Mother Yasoda tried by so many means. First, she had to catch Krishna, and He was always escaping her. And then, when eventually, out of His mercy, He allowed Himself to be caught, she wanted to bind Him to keep Him from getting into further trouble. And so, she gathered all the ropes in the house, but she couldn’t bind Him. The quantity of rope was always two inches or two fingers too short, which is very surprising because every morning, she would help Him get dressed and she never had any trouble tying His waist.

So, being a cowherd community, there were a lot of ropes, so she got more ropes and more and more. Eventually, she got miles of ropes and she still couldn’t bind Krishna. And her friends were saying, “Forget it, you are not going to be able to do this, it’s obvious you are not going to be able to do this, just give up, don’t worry about it.” But she was very determined, “I must do this, it’s my service to my son.” And eventually, Krishna felt compassion for her hard labor and allowed Himself to be bound by His mercy.

So, in the verse in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, there are two words, one is endeavor, and the other is kṛṣṇa-kṛpā, Krishna’s mercy. And so, our acharyas explain that that distance of two inches, it was covered by pariśrama, her hard labor, that was one part of it; and the other part by kṛṣṇa-kṛpā, by Krishna’s mercy. And when those two meet, Krishna is bound. And so, that event is celebrated especially during the month of Kartik. Every day, we sing a song that glorifies that pastime and we remember that pastime. But that is an example to us of how we can be successful in any endeavor in devotional service, we need these two things to meet – pariśrama, hard labor with intention, not mechanical; and kṛṣṇa-kṛpā, Krishna’s mercy.

And now, we will ask His Holiness Ṛtadhvaja Swami. Okay, Maharaja says that we should ask for questions now. He says it’s supposed to end at six, and it’s five to six, but he knows and I know that Nityananda Prabhu, the temple president, said we could have an extra fifteen minutes if we want, so let’s start from this point. We have three minutes left, so are there any questions or comments?

Devotee: You were kindly explaining that it’s our effort and the Lord’s mercy, and in the pastime of Mother Yasoda, she was very young and she had so much energy and she could do all these things. So, as we get older and older, it’s harder to make more effort. So, how can we improve that weakness and become stronger in our efforts to please Krishna, and hope and pray for His causeless mercy?

Giriraj Swami: Whatever energy we have, we should use in the service of the Lord. There are examples in Rāmāyaṇa of Jatayu, he was very old; and when Rāvaṇa kidnapped Sita, Jatayu was another bird by the way, Jatayu saw Rāvaṇa and he challenged him, and fought with him. And he fought very heroically and courageously, but he was very old and Rāvaṇa was extremely powerful materially, and so Rāvaṇa defeated him in that encounter. But because he gave his full energy, he got the Lord’s supreme mercy.

When Lord Ramachandra discovered him while He was passing through the forest looking for Sita, Jatayu told him what he had witnessed, and Lord Ramachandra said, “I love you more than My own father; you are more dear to Me than My own father.” And He performed the last rites for Jatayu as if he was His own father.

So, whatever energy we have at whatever particular time, we should use it in the service of the Lord, and as you said, cry out for mercy. Because one moment is going to be the time of death, and at the time of death, we are not going to be strong and healthy. But still, whatever energy we have, whatever service we can render, we do our best. That service is probably just going to be to try to remember Krishna.

So, a devotee can pray, “I have this disability. If You like, You can help me to overcome this disability, so I can serve You better.” But even in the face of disabilities, we can still render service. And we can’t place conditions – “I will do service if; I want this condition.” We can do it at whatever time. Thank you for that sincere question.

Devotee: Hare Krishna. Maharaja, from your experience, can you share how we can go deeper when we do our japa?

Ṛtadhvaja Swami: Hare Krishna. What was Mother Sucharia’s question?

Giriraj Swami Mother Yasoda was young and healthy, so she could bind Krishna, but what about us, we are getting older, we don’t have the same strength that we used to and what do we do?

Ṛtadhvaja Swami: I’d like to just add a little or maybe say a little something on that.

Giriraj Swami: Please do.

Ṛtadhvaja Swami: And that is not simply an external endeavor, it’s an internal endeavor. It’s not an external endeavor to have a piece of rope and bind Krishna and make a material arrangement or a material thing, but it’s an internal endeavor to always. . . You see we were talking about the miseries of the material world, and there we have one experience of that in the back.

So, it’s an internal endeavor, and as Maharaja was hinting, it’s not restricted to any material situation. Devotional service to the Lord and the engagement of devotional service of the Lord, nothing on the material level can impede it, ultimately. So, whether I am physically impaired, emotionally impaired, mentally impaired or whatever, those things are not the end of our devotional practice. It is an internal affair that we have, and that internal struggle Krishna will see. It doesn’t have to be manifested in picking the flowers, or making garlands, or cleaning the floors, or washing the pot. It doesn’t necessarily have to be on that level; it can be a very deep subtle level.

And just to give an example, there was one brahman that was very, very poor. And he wanted to serve the Lord but he had absolutely no money, so he heard that you are supposed to offer wonderful foodstuffs to the Lord. So, he would mentally do it; he would mentally make the offering to the Supreme Lord. I think it’s called manasa puja, mental service, mental worship. And one time, he was doing so and he made sweet rice. He made some sweet rice and he was thinking, Well, maybe I should offer it now, well maybe it hasn’t cooled down enough yet. And mentally, he touched it and it burnt his finger so much that he woke up. He came out of his internal worship of the Lord in cooking preparations that it woke him up and he noticed that his finger was actually burnt.

The meditation, the internal side was so deep; externally there was no milk, externally there was no fire, externally there was no rice, no sugar. There wasn’t anything, he was just sitting there engaged in deep, deep internal service to the Supreme Lord without any material situation available for him, but it actually was there.

And then, to Prabhu’s question on the holy name, you have to attend japa retreats, and that takes four days of intensive course. We actually need four billion lifetimes to understand the depth of japa. You actually can’t even come to the depth, but how can we deepen? In other words, how can we deepen? And this reminds me of a story back in 1968. Srila Prabhupada was giving class in Seattle, Washington, and someone asked how we can become pure devotees, which is in essence similar to your question, and he said, “By your desire, by your eagerness, akuti.” He used the word akuti.

And there is one famous devotee; I don’t know if you all know Deena Bandhu Prabhu from Vrindavan. If you have gone to Vrindavan, you may have taken parikramā with them, his wife’s name is Akuti and she is the emblem of eagerness. One of the most amazing devotees I have ever met in my entire life, and her name is Akuti, eagerness. So, by our eagerness and by our desire to actually improve, now, as Maharaja was reading or quoting, the mechanical recitation of the holy name – we can do; we can rattle off many maha-mantras and stuff like that. But the other day, I was explaining to some friends three things; intention—which Maharaja mentioned. We have to have proper intention, and then proper attention to get the full retention.

Now, do I have to say it again? We have the proper intention that this is the Supreme Personality of Godhead personally present in His name. Now, just so we don’t forget, just like Maharaja is announcing or mentioning the beginning of Kartik is about to start, I think it’s in about two weeks, there is a nice song that we sing, namamisvaram saccidananda rupam.

It is very interesting because when you read the descriptions of this, it begins with isvaram, that Krishna is the Supreme Controller. Because if you are seeing a little tiny boy, just like Maharaja instructed us to look to the back of the temple, and if you look there, you see a young child in a fearful position being scolded by His mother. Now, how can that be the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is feared by fear personified, showing fear in front of the mother? So, one may think, That can’t be the Supreme Personality of Godhead because God is omnipotent, He is all-powerful. Even Lord Brahma had that problem when he saw Krishna playing with the cowherd boys and he thought, Huh? That’s God?, and he is Lord Brahma.

So, Krishna knew, we have the Brahma vimoham līlā - bewilderment of Lord Brahma. In the same way, in order to prevent us in this dāmodara-līlā from not understanding that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they begin by namam isvaram,, that we offer our respects to the Supreme Controller. So, Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is the Supreme Controller. And He assumes different forms, and one of them is Krishna’s holy name Nama Prabhu, and if we use proper intention, in other words, we see that this is actually Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Just the other day, we were walking down the street and some guy said, “I come here all the time, and I see everybody walking around these little bags with their fingers sticking out—what’s going on here?”

So, it’s not just a bag with some beads in it, it’s an opportunity to associate with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and if we approach it with that type of intention, “Here is my golden opportunity to associate with the Supreme Personality of Godhead,” and then attentively associate with that Supreme Personality of Godhead, then we’ll get the ultimate retention or remembrance. We have hearing, chanting, and then remembering—those three things; śravaṇam, kīrtanam, smaraṇam; worshiping, so they will come.

And so, we go through the formalities of no computer japa. If you go to a japa retreat, you will understand there are so many different types of japa. Mahatma Prabhu calls it courtesy japa. Not just a courtesy type of thing, but an intention, attention, and retention; that’s just the simple short answer.

Giriraj Swami: One important factor in everything is sincerity, and it comes up again and again. And the disciples have asked Srila Prabhupada, “How do we become sincere?” And Srila Prabhupada has given different answers. One was, “By following all of my instructions, however big or small.” And that was the one I heard soon after I joined, and that was my focus. But yes, after forty-five years or whatever, it’s not easy for me to follow every instruction however big or small, but some of it just requires some physical stamina.

And another answer that Srila Prabhupada gave was, “By associating with devotees who are sincere.” So, I was having this discussion with the godbrother of ours named Brahmatirtha Prabhu, these different definitions of sincerity, and when I came to that one, “Become sincere by associating with sincere devotees,” he said, “I like that one.” That’s why I like to associate with Ṛtadhvaja Swami. Well there is another approach, Maharaj is…. Well I don’t want to be too liberal…but you are more liberal than I am…you can chant with him.

Just recently, I heard from one of the devotees here named Arjuna Krishna das, because I wanted to chant, that Srila Tamal Krishna Goswami had said, “There is no better place to chant japa than in the temple room.” So, chanting in the temple room in front of the beautiful Deities, with Tulasi-devi, that’s also very potent. And chanting with devotees who have taste, and even if they don’t have taste, of course, it’s better if you can chant with devotees, but even otherwise, it’s good to chant with devotees because that combined energy of intention and attention, that helps.

And also, it’s a little embarrassing when there are other devotees. If you want to cheat and check your iPhone or something, it’s a little harder when there are other devotees chanting with you. You are going to still try to cheat. But just don’t turn it on or turn it off and just keep it off until you reach a certain goal of a certain number of rounds. It does come back to sincerity. And yes, God helps those who help themselves.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, thank you very much. His Holiness Giriraj Swami and His Holiness Ṛtadhvaja Maharaja ki jaya! Hare Krishna.