Giriraj Swami’s Vyasa-puja Celebration

Giriraj Swami: Before beginning, or— this is the beginning. I thought of one statement that Srila Prabhupada wrote to one disciple— can we turn this up? He wrote to one disciple: “You cannot survive without my mercy.” Obviously, that was what the disciple had written to him. He said, “You cannot survive without my mercy, and I cannot survive without your mercy. It is reciprocal, this mutual dependence is based on love, Krishna consciousness.” I thought to begin by reading and commenting on a talk by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura that he gave on his last Vyasa-puja in 1936. We recently saw the Hare Krishna film again, my fifth time, jivanmukta and Sri Nitai is fourth time. And I think we are all affected by different things at different times when we see it; but when I saw it the third time with Rajini Priya in Pasadena, I was really struck by how— because Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura had given that instruction to Srila Prabhupada, that Srila Prabhupada came to us. We are so indebted to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and I very much felt the same this last time, that he had really sent Srila Prabhupada to us.

In this address, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta expresses his thoughts on his Vyasa-puja, and he addresses some important philosophical questions or spiritual principles which I will read from. He says, “We have taken upon ourselves the responsibility of welcoming this grave charge. The members of the audience have accepted ordinary seats, and I alone have been provided with a lofty seat. All are being told in effect, ‘Do have a look at this big animal from the zoo.’ What arrogance, so foolish, so wicked. Have you ever seen such a big brute? Garlands of flowers have been put around his neck. What laudations—” to laud someone means to praise them — “What laudations, what bombastic–-” What does bombastic mean? I mean, I know but I am trying to engage you. Yes, sort of overblown, I would say overblown.

“What laudations, what bombastic long-drawn and hyperbolic adjectives.” Who knows what hyperbolic means? What’s a hyperbole? Exaggeration. “And how complacently too, he is listening to the praise of his own achievements. How intently, and how with his own ears, he also evidently feels delighted in his mind [Laughter]. Is he not acting in plain violation of the teachings of Mahaprabhu? Can such a big brute, so selfish and insolent, ever be reclaimed from brutishness?” Then Srila Bhaktisiddhanta speaks: “I happen to be one of the greatest of fools. On account of my arrogance, no one offers me good advice, and as much as nobody condescends to instruct me, I place my case before Mahaprabhu Himself. The thought occurred to me that I would make over the charge of myself to Him and see what He would advise me to do. Then Sri Chaitanya deva said to me—-” He does not quote the Bengali, but I will quote it: yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa. “Then Sri Chaitanya deva said to me: ‘Whomsoever thou meetest instructing him regarding Krishna. By my command, become a guru and deliver this land, and this thou will not be obstructed by the current of the world, thou will have my company once again at this place.’”

The background to this verse, two verses, is when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was touring South India. He stayed at a brahman’s home, and when he was about to leave, that brahman, thinking that he would not be able to bear the pain of separation from Mahaprabhu, wanted to follow Him and asked to follow Him. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “No, no, you remain where you are” and then he spoke these verses: yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa, “Stay where you are, stay at home, but whoever you meet you repeat the message of Krishna, and in this way on my order you become a guru. In this you will not be obstructed by the current of the world.” In other words, if one follows the order of Mahaprabhu, even at home or wherever, one will not be obstructed by the current of the world, but you will have my company once again through service to the order.

“In these verses it is to be found the proper explanation of the apparent inconsistency noticed above.” In other words, it seems inconsistent, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, tṛṇād api sunīcena: You should be humbler than the straw in the street, and then here this guru is sitting on a big seat with garlands and listening to his praise. In these verses is to be found the explanation of the apparent contradiction.

“He whose only teaching is humility greater than a blade of grass, said: ‘By my command, become a guru and save this land.’ In this instance, Mahaprabhu himself has given the command. His command being: perform the duty of the guru; even as I do it myself and convey this command to whomever you meet. Tell them these very words ‘By my command, become a guru and save this land; deliver the people from their foolishness.’” In other words, this is an instruction for all of you.

“Now whoever happens to hear these words might naturally protest with palms joined, ‘But I am really a great sinner, how can I be a guru? You are Godhead Himself, the teacher of the world, you can be guru.’ To this Mahaprabhu replies: ‘In this thou will not be obstructed by the current of the world, thou will have my company.’ Do not practice the craft of a guru for the purpose of injuring others through malice. Do not adopt the trade of a guru in order to get immersed in the sloth of this world, the filth of this world. But if you can, indeed, be my guileless. That means without guile, without duplicity, without hypocrisy.”

“Be my guileless servant, you will be endowed with my power. Then you need not fear. I have no fear, my Gurudeva heard this from his Gurudeva, and it is for this reason that my Gurudeva has accepted even such a great sinner as myself and told me: ‘By my command, become a guru and save this land.’”

It is a very nice talk and it contains a lot of points, but that’s the essence of it. It explains why I am here, but it also explains what we are all meant to do in our own way and according to our own capacity. I would like to address a few other points that came up in relation to some of the devotee’s talks. Some of the devotees referred to me as a paramahamsa, a mahā-bhāgavata, which could be taken as falling in that category of hyperbole, or exaggeration. But reflecting on what the devotees said, and the instances they cited, I thought that such effects are possible because if— I should not even say if I carry Srila Prabhupada in my heart, but if he is kind enough to manifest himself in my heart, well, he is certainly a mahā-bhāgavata, a paramahamsa, a śakty-āveśa-avatāra. So, the effects of his mercy can be felt through me, and not just me, of course, but also through me.

One devotee expressed the desire to serve me and follow my instructions for the rest of his or her life, but actually, our relationships are eternal and they don’t end with the end of the body. One continues the service to the instruction, as the scripture, our acharyas and Srila Prabhupada have taught. There is two ways of association: by vāṇī, which is by words or sound, and by vapuḥ, which is physical presence. Srila Prabhupada says: “When the spiritual master is physically existing, one should serve his physical body, and then when he is not physically existing, one can serve his vāṇī or his instructions.” Of course, serving the instructions runs parallel to serving the vapuḥ also.

That is a great opportunity, as Srila Prabhupada said, he has never felt separated from his spiritual master even for a moment because he is always with him, because he is following his instructions. And in his dedication to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Srila Prabhupada wrote this is dedicated to his spiritual master, to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura: “He lives forever by his divine instructions, and the follower lives with him.”

Therefore, our acharyas have left books of instructions. Of course, there are also personal instructions, like Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura gave Srila Prabhupada the instruction to go to the West and preach the message of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Every day I meditate deeply; I try to meditate deeply on Srila Prabhupada’s praṇāma mantra that we recite so many times, because it so perfectly describes Srila Prabhupada: namas te sārasvate deve, the servant of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī, he is preaching the message (vāṇī) of Gaura—he is preaching the message of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. And nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi, Preaching against impersonalism and voidism. pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe, delivering the Western countries.

It began with that instruction of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura to Srila Prabhupada, and Srila Prabhupada took it as his life and soul. So, he said that he never felt separated from his spiritual master even for a moment. Of course, one can feel separation, but one actually is not separated. Srila Prabhupada wrote to one of his disciples, that if you follow the instructions, then those feelings of separation will transform into transcendental bliss.

One devotee mentioned that I was auspicious or that being connected with me brings auspiciousness. Well, when I first joined the Boston temple, very soon after I joined the Boston temple, things really started to increase and expand. Srila Prabhupada commented “Giriraj is auspicious,” I mean, this might be going a little off field, but it might not be. So, Radhe-Radhe, who is dearly beloved to many of our devotees, but still, sometimes we do not always have a Vrajesvara or someone who can walk her whenever she needs to be walked. We have a dog walker who also loves Radhe-Radhe, and that dog walker did not have that much business until Radha-Radhe, but now she is like in very big demand, so many customers.

Kunti devi quoted that Srila Prabhupada said “Giriraj is auspicious,” and now by walking Radha-Radhe, her dog walker, Gretta, has become a very popular dog walker. I think different devotees mentioned how I helped them spiritually and materially. I guess I don’t make that distinction so clearly. Even one of the devotees mentioned that I stayed in their material home, I did not really see their home as material, because as long as we are engaged in devotional service to Krishna as our goal, then even the so-called material things are not really material, because if they’re engaged in Krishna’s service, they take on a spiritual quality.

But then again, we do have to make sure that we always engage everything in Krishna’s service. Something material can become spiritual if it is engaged in Krishna’s service, but then if it is not, then it can become material just temporarily.

Anyway, I am grateful for all of you coming and supporting me. It is something—seventy years. Some devotees mentioned about my health and longevity, that I wouldn’t pray for health or longevity, which is true. I would not and I do not, but one day in Dallas I was staying upstairs and I was chanting — they call it the darshan room, it was Tamal Krishna Goswami’s darshan room. I was thinking, “I have so much to do and I am so slow, I really need more time,” just like that I was thinking. So, then I went down to the temple room, and it was the day before Tamal Krishna Goswami’s Vyasa-puja and one of the devotees was reading from a book. I think Sarvabhauma Prabhu compiled it, it might have been called TKG Memories, but it is just different anecdotes about Tamal Krishna Goswami.

I walked into the temple room and I was thinking, “I am so slow, I really need more time,” and within a few minutes, the reader came to a quality of Tamal Krishna Goswami’s called, something like, “purveyor of good news” that he was happy to share good news with devotees. The example he gave was that Srila Prabhupada told him that Krishna wants us to go back to Godhead in this very lifetime, so if a devotee is not prepared to go back to Godhead yet, Krishna will extend his duration of life beyond what was due to him, so that he can finish up in this lifetime.

So, Tamal Krishna Goswami heard that from Srila Prabhupada and he was very excited. Then he went to the devotees and said “Prabhus, I have great news for you!” and then he told them what Srila Prabhupada had said – the bearer of good news. Of course, we cannot really depend on anything in this world, kamala-dala-jala, jīvana talamala. We are like drops of water on a lotus leaf, at any time it can shake and that drop of water can fall and be shattered, but still, it is possible.

Seems like I could try to be of use if I stayed longer. I mean, as far as the Juhu book, I do not— anyway, I am up to October of 1977, but maybe like ten days before Prabhupada left, but then there is the opening of the temple, which is quite the combination. Just in this period, I think it was around October. No, no, not October, November, I think it is November 3rd, November 2nd, or November 3rd, I had this dream. There were some details but basically the opening of the Juhu temple was delayed because it was not finished and plus Prabhupada was sick in Vrindavan. The opening was delayed and my parents wanted to come for the opening. I sent them a telegram, but I guess they did not get it, so they came to Bombay. I left Vrindavan and went to Bombay to meet them, and they didn’t like Bombay all that much. I mean, the guest facilities in the temple were not ready, so they were staying— it was the best hotel by far, but. . .

We thought, Okay, we will go to Nepal. We went to Nepal, they had a really good time there, and then after Nepal we came to Delhi, they caught their flight and then I came to Vrindavan. I had this dream in Delhi, and in the dream, Srila Prabhupada quoted this verse: yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa. Then when I came to Vrindavan, I told Srila Prabhupada about Nepal and about my dream, and I mentioned that even though it would be a very difficult task, because we were doing it for him, we would be able to do it, something like that. If you want to read the proper version, you have to read the book. Again, this is for all of us, that brahman was a householder and in his purport to those verses, Srila Prabhupada says, “You can stay at home and just follow the regulative principles, chant, follow the process of bhakti-yoga and repeat the message of Krishna.”

I must also thank everyone who worked towards this ceremony, I mean, they did a great job of making arrangements, the deities look wonderful. I am not sure about the prasāda, but I imagine it will be good. I am sure many of you are also expecting that soon, we hope; it should be soon. Probably should have said more, I probably should have said some other things, but I think we will move along now. If I missed something, I am sure I did, I will try to say it some other time or some other way.

I will just conclude with that statement of Srila Prabhupada, which I repeated in the beginning. I think that really sums up my mood, and that is: “You cannot survive without my mercy, and I cannot survive without your mercy. This mutual dependence is based on love, Krishna consciousness.”