Initiation Ceremony—Last Day of Kartik Purnima

Giriraj Swami: So, the initiation ceremony is a very important milestone in the spiritual life of the devotees. One of Lord Chaitanya’s principal disciples, Srila Rupa Gosvami, compiled a book called Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, which describes the process of bhakti-yoga. And three of the most fundamental principles are guru-pādāśraya—that one must take shelter of a spiritual master; śikṣeti—one must take instruction from him, and; dīkṣeti—one must accept initiation from him. And in The Nectar of Devotion, Srila Prabhupada writes that without being initiated, the connection to Krishna or Krishna consciousness does not actually take place.

This is a very [Unintelligible 00:01:40] event. Of course, it has been made easier in a way by Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON, but it has been said that the chance of a living entity coming to the shelter of a bona fide spiritual master is like the chance of a turtle in the middle of an ocean. And in that ocean, there is one board floating, and in that board, there is a hole. So, the chances of coming to the shelter of a bona fide spiritual master is like the chance of a turtle in the middle of the ocean coming up underneath that board floating in the ocean, and coming up through that hole, and coming to safety on that raft.

The primary practice in bhakti-yoga is the chanting of the holy names of God, Krishna, and if one can chant the holy name perfectly, one will be completely successful in one’s spiritual life. And how to chant perfectly is also described in the scripture, and that is that one must chant without offense. So, it was a tradition, and is a tradition in ISKCON, but it was a tradition of Srila Prabhupada’s to speak about the ten offenses and the chanting of the holy names, so that we can chant, be mindful of these offenses, and avoid them.

So, I will read a very important verse and purport from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In the progression of readings in spiritual science, the most basic book is the Bhagavad-gītā. And ultimately in the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Krishna instructs us to surrender to Him and become His devotee. And then, the next book is The Nectar of Devotion, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, which explains how to be devotees. And that is further elaborated in this book, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which also explains how to be devotees, and it also gives examples of many devotees.

So, I will read one verse and purport here about the chanting of the holy name. Before we read, we recite an invocation.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

We read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Two, Chapter One, “The First Step in God Realization,” Text Eleven.

TEXT 11

etan nirvidyamānānām
icchatām akuto-bhayam
yogināṁ nṛpa nirṇītaṁ
harer nāmānukīrtanam

TRANSLATION

O King, constant chanting of the holy name of the Lord after the ways of the great authorities is the doubtless and fearless way of success for all, including those who are free from all material desires, those who are desirous of all material enjoyment, and also those who are self-satisfied by dint of transcendental knowledge.

COMMENT

So, these three categories pretty much cover everyone. If we look at ourselves, we will see that we fall in either the category of those who are free from all material desires. If we don’t quite fit there, there is another category for us, those who are desirous of all material enjoyment. And we could be something of a mixture of both, but whatever the case, the doubtless and fearless way of success for all is harer nāmānukīrtanam.

And this prefix, anu, means to follow, like rūpānugas, followers of Rupa Gosvami, and anu also means continuous. So, harer nāmānukīrtanam means we should chant following the ways of great authorities, and we should chant constantly. So, I will have you repeat with me responsively.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

In the previous verse, the great necessity for attaining attachment to Mukunda has been accredited. There are different types of persons who desire to attain success in different varieties of pursuits. Generally the persons are materialists who desire to enjoy the fullest extent of material gratification. Next to them are the transcendentalists, who have attained perfect knowledge about the nature of material enjoyment and thus are aloof from such an illusory way of life. More or less, they are satisfied in themselves by self-realization. Above them are the devotees of the Lord, who neither aspire to enjoy the material world nor desire to get out of it. They are after the satisfaction of the Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

COMMENT

This is a very important point, that most people want to enjoy the material world. But then, some people, when they realize the illusory nature of material enjoyment, how temporary and ultimately frustrating it is, they want to get out of the material world. But the pure devotees, they have no such desire, either to enjoy the material world or escape the material world. They want only to serve Krishna, God, and please Him, whatever that takes.

PURPORT (continued)

In other words, the devotees of the Lord do not want anything on their personal account. If the Lord desires, the devotees can accept all sorts of material facilities, and if the Lord does not desire this, the devotees can leave aside all sorts of facilities, even up to the limit of salvation. Nor are they self-satisfied, because they want the satisfaction of the Lord only. In this verse, Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī recommends the transcendental chanting of the holy name of the Lord. By offenseless chanting and hearing of the holy name of the Lord, one becomes acquainted with the transcendental form of the Lord, and then with the attributes of the Lord, and then with the transcendental nature of His pastimes, etc. Here it is mentioned that one should constantly chant the holy name of the Lord after hearing it from authorities. This means that hearing from the authorities is the first essential. Hearing of the holy name gradually promotes one to the stage of hearing about His form, His attributes, His pastimes, and so on, and thus the necessity of the chanting of His glories develops successively. This process is recommended not only for the successful execution of devotional service, but also even for those who are materially attached. According to Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī, this way of attaining success is an established fact, concluded not only by him but also by all other previous ācāryas. Therefore, there is no need of further evidence. The process is recommended not only for the progressive students in different departments of ideological success, but also for those who are already successful in their achievement as fruitive workers, as philosophers or as devotees of the Lord.

COMMENT

So, this is very wonderful, that to become successful in any pursuit, you should chant the holy name of the Lord. And if you are already successful, you should also chant the holy name of the Lord. As Srila Prabhupada said, in bhakti, the means and the end are the same. The means is bhakti, and the end is bhakti; the means is service to Krishna, and the end is service to Krishna.

PURPORT (continued)

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī instructs that chanting of the holy name of the Lord should be loudly done, and it should be performed offenselessly as well, as recommended in the Padma Purāṇa. One can deliver himself from the effects of all sins by surrendering himself unto the Lord. One can deliver himself from all offenses at the feet of the Lord by taking shelter of His holy name. But one cannot protect himself if one commits an offense at the feet of the holy name of the Lord. Such offenses are mentioned in the Padma Purāṇa as being ten in number.

The first offense is to vilify the great devotees who have preached about the glories of the Lord.

COMMENT

If we understand that the holy name of Krishna is Krishna Himself, then we can easily understand that if someone is acting as a servant of Krishna, of the holy name, and preaching the glories of the holy name, then if someone blasphemes or criticizes or vilifies someone who is doing that service on behalf of the holy name, then the holy name will be upset. And the holy name will withdraw its mercy from that person. And therefore, one will not get the real benefit of chanting.

PURPORT (continued)

The second offense is to see the holy names of the Lord in terms of worldly distinction. The Lord is the proprietor of all the universes, and therefore He may be known in different places by different names, but that does not in any way qualify the fullness of the Lord. Any nomenclature which is meant for the Supreme Lord is as holy as the others because they are all meant for the Lord.

COMMENT

So, in history, there have been saints who have repeatedly chanted the name of Jesus. And in different traditions, one chants the name of the Lord as it is known in that culture or that language, and all of those processes are welcome. We don’t have any sectarian beliefs. Srila Prabhupada had one disciple who was teaching Krishna consciousness in Iran, and when Srila Prabhupada visited, the disciple waxed eloquent and said that he was looking forward to the day when all the Iranians would be chanting Hare Krishna. And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Why do you want them to chant Hare Krishna? They can also chant Allah, Allah; we are not sectarian.”

Of course, Srila Prabhupada was also very practical and he might have foreseen that if they did try to get everyone to chant Hare Krishna in Iran, there could be complications. But the principle is that you can chant any name of God in any language. And so, Prabhupada said that they can chant Allah, Allah.

PURPORT (continued)

Such holy names are as powerful as the Lord, and there is no bar for anyone in any part of the creation to chant and glorify the Lord by the particular name of the Lord as it is locally understood. They are all auspicious, and one should not distinguish such names of the Lord as material commodities.

COMMENT

So, this volume is addressed mainly to devotees. It is a warning to us that we shouldn’t distinguish that people should chant, “Hare Krishna,” and not, “Allah, Allah,” or, “Jesus, Jesus.” But it is a warning to everyone, they also shouldn’t think, They should chant, “Jesus, Jesus” and not, “Hare Krishna.”

PURPORT (continued)

The third offense is to neglect the orders of the authorized ācāryas or spiritual masters.

The fourth offense is to vilify scriptures or Vedic knowledge.

The fifth offense is to define the holy name of the Lord in terms of one’s mundane calculation. The holy name of the Lord is identical with the Lord Himself, and one should understand the holy name of the Lord to be nondifferent from Him.

COMMENT

In other words, we don’t interpret the holy name as this or that, but it is Krishna, that’s all. The name of Krishna is Krishna, that’s all there is to it.

PURPORT (continued)

The sixth offense is to interpret the holy name. The Lord is not imaginary, nor is His holy name. There are persons with a poor fund of knowledge who think the Lord to be an imagination of the worshiper and therefore think His holy name to be imaginary. Such a chanter of the name of the Lord cannot achieve the desired success in the matter of chanting the holy name.

The seventh offense is to commit sins intentionally on the strength of the holy name.

COMMENT

This is very important.

PURPORT (continued)

In the scriptures it is said that one can be liberated from the effects of all sinful actions simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord. One who takes advantage of this transcendental method and continues to commit sins on the expectation of neutralizing the effects of sins by chanting the holy name of the Lord is the greatest offender at the feet of the holy name. Such an offender cannot purify himself by any recommended method of purification. In other words, one may be a sinful man before chanting the holy name of the Lord, but after taking shelter in the holy name of the Lord and becoming immune, one should strictly restrain oneself from committing sinful acts with a hope that his method of chanting the holy name will give him protection.

COMMENT

This is a common offense not only within the Vedic tradition, but in other traditions. One may go to the church and confess, which is good, one becomes purified by the act of confession. But then, if one day one confesses and then the next day he goes out and does the same things again and thinks, Well, I will just come back again and confess, and I will be freed from the sinful reactions, that is an offense. And not only does it not work, that duplicitous strategy, but it compounds one’s original sin with this further offense.

PURPORT (continued)

The eighth offense is to consider the holy name of the Lord and His chanting method to be equal to some material auspicious activity. There are various kinds of good works for material benefits, but the holy name and His chanting are not mere auspicious holy services. Undoubtedly the holy name is holy service, but He should never be utilized for such purposes. Since the holy name and the Lord are of one and the same identity, one should not try to bring the holy name into the service of mankind. The idea is that the Supreme Lord is the supreme enjoyer. He is no one’s servant or order supplier. Similarly, since the holy name of the Lord is identical with the Lord, one should not try to utilize the holy name for one’s personal service.

COMMENT

Once in India, there was a conference, that’s a big story, at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, but before the conference began, the organizer, Mrs. Lilavati Munshi, had invited the different delegates or speakers to her quarters for an informal discussion. So, one of the men said to Srila Prabhupada that he was holding big gatherings and inviting people to chant, and telling them that by chanting, they could become free from their material diseases and such.

Sometimes, I believe, Christians have prayer meetings. And then in the prayer meeting, some crippled person will accept Jesus and throw down his crutches and walk; I have also heard a lot of those are staged.

So, this man, in a similar vein, was saying that he is calling people together, and he is getting them to chant, and telling them that by chanting, they will become free from their physical ailments and material diseases. So, he said to Srila Prabhupada, “You are gathering people together, I am gathering people together; I am getting people to chant, you are getting people to chant; so, we should cooperate.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “No, because what you are doing is against our principles.”

And he made the same point, that the holy name of Krishna is Krishna; we are Krishna’s servants, we are not meant to engage Him in serving us, in curing us of our physical diseases or whatnot. There are doctors for that. So, this is an offense to try to use the holy name for our own material benefit. It is a mistake.

PURPORT (continued)

The ninth offense is to instruct those who are not interested in chanting the holy name of the Lord about the transcendental nature of the holy name. If such instruction is imparted to an unwilling audience, the act is considered to be an offense at the feet of the holy name.

COMMENT

In other words, if someone doesn’t have faith in chanting or doesn’t have faith in the Vedic scriptures, and we preach about the glories of the holy name, they may think that we are illusioned or that we are exaggerating, which becomes an offense for them. And because we have created a situation in which they are being offensive, that’s an offense on our part. So, we can encourage people to chant, but we should not speak to them about the glories of the holy name unless they are eager to hear.

I have my own experience, a little different, but it is the same principle. My parents came to visit me in India, and we were taking a flight from New Delhi to Srinagar Cashmere, and Srila Prabhupada had written a book called, Easy Journey to Other Planets, in which he explained the process of bhakti-yoga using some scientific language. And my father considered himself to be a rational person, an intelligent person, so I thought I would speak to him on the basis of, Easy Journey to Other Planets. And the book, Easy Journey to Other Planets, explains that by different types of material yoga practice, one can travel to different planets in the universe; but only by bhakti-yoga can one go beyond the material universe to the spiritual planets of the Lord.

So, I started to explain this to my father, and he looked at me like, what has gotten into his son? By his expression, it was as if he was saying, “I thought you were crazy, but now that I am hearing this, I am convinced beyond any doubt, you are crazy!” He didn’t say it, but I could see from his expression, and I realized that I was committing this offense. I was trying to preach to someone who had no faith, so it made him more incredulous. And that was an offense on my part, to create a situation where he became more doubtful, more critical.

So, the ninth offense is to instruct those who are not interested in chanting the holy name of the Lord about the transcendental nature of the holy name. I have one godbrother in Mumbai named Haridas, and he managed to go to Russia, and he was chanting Hare Krishna. And it was during the height of the communist regime, and if he would have told them that he was chanting the name of God, who knows what they would have done? But he said, “It is some song from the Indian movies.” “Oh, okay.”

So, we can give people a chance to hear the holy name, but unless they are ready, we don’t instruct them about the holy name.

PURPORT (continued)

If such instruction is imparted to an unwilling audience, the act is considered to be an offense at the feet of the holy name.

The tenth offense is to become uninterested in the holy name of the Lord even after hearing of the transcendental nature of the holy name. The effect of chanting the holy name of the Lord is perceived by the chanter as liberation from the conception of false egoism. False egoism is exhibited by thinking oneself to be the enjoyer of the world and thinking everything in the world to be meant for the enjoyment of one’s self only. The whole materialistic world is moving under such false egoism of “I” and “mine,” but the factual effect of chanting the holy name is to become free from such misconceptions.

COMMENT

Elsewhere, Srila Prabhupada has described this as maintaining material attachments even in spite of hearing so many instructions. That is an offense. We have material attachments, it is not an offense; it is an anartha, but it is not an offense to have material attachments. But the chanting is meant to purify us from that false egotism of, “I” and, “mine,” and to think the whole world is meant for me to enjoy. And if one chants, but within oneself, instead of praying to be liberated from the material conception of life, one harbors the desire to maintain one’s material attachments, that is an offense.

It is also an offense to be inattentive – pramāda, and one of our previous authorities, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, says that the one offense of pramāda, being inattentive while chanting, being negligent while chanting, allows all the other offenses to flourish. And on the other hand, if one is attentive while chanting, that will destroy all the other offenses. So, we should be very careful when we chant, to articulate each syllable correctly, and to hear each syllable. And of course, on top of that, if we can add the mood of prayer, to be purified and engaged in the Lord’s service with love, that matters for perfection.

There is also a second initiation in our system. After one has been initiated into the chanting of the holy name and has proven oneself to be steady for some time in the chanting of one’s prescribed number of rounds, that’s also very important, that one maintains one’s vows to chant a prescribed number of rounds, then one is awarded a second initiation, which enables one to engage in the worship of the Deity. That’s a whole other process – arcanam.

And so, Prema Bhakti dasa, he will be getting first and second at the same time, and Tulsi Manjari who is sitting here, she already got second, but she didn’t sit in on a fire ceremony, so she is here to sit in on the fire ceremony and to give her good wishes and blessings to all the new initiates. Hare Krishna.

So now, we will request the new initiates to come forward and take their vows and receive their beads and their new names. We will begin with Prama Bhakti dasa. So, you can come here, offer obeisances.

So, how many rounds do you promise to chant every day?

Devotee: I promise to chant a minimum of sixteen rounds every day, trying to accomplish this in my chanting.

Giriraj Swami: Good. And what are the four regulated principles that you vow to follow?

Devotee: I vow to follow the four regular principles of—no meat eating; no intoxication; no gambling; and no illicit sex.

Giriraj Swami: Just for those who don’t know, no meat eating includes meat, fish, or eggs; and no intoxicants includes even coffee, tea, and cigarettes; and no illicit sex means necessary or mental speculation. And is there anything else you would like to say on this auspicious occasion, in this August assembly?

Devotee: A nice verse comes to my mind from Caitanya-caritāmṛta, it says,

brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva

guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja

So, the translation is, according to their karma with the reactions to their material activities, all living entities are wandering throughout the whole universe. Some are being elevated to the higher planetary system, some are going down to the lower planetary systems, but one who is very fortunate, gets the opportunity to associate with the pure devotee of the Lord by the grace of the Lord, by the mercy of the spiritual master and the mercy of Krishna combined. Such a fortunate soul gets the opportunity, gets the seed of the creeper of devotional service. So, I consider myself extremely fortunate, and all people here are also extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to associate with you, guru.

Giriraj Swami: Thank you. I guess I asked for it. All right, thank you. You didn’t say it was sort of. . . But anyway, if possible, chant more rounds on Ekādaśī. If you can, chant twenty-five rounds on Ekādaśī; that would be nice. Okay.

So, on behalf of Srila Prabhupada and the guru-paramparā, I am pleased to accept you as my duly initiated disciple, and on their behalf, I give you the new name Premi Bhakta dasa—the servant of the premi bhaktas, like Srila Prabhupada, all the way up to Srimati Radharani. Hare Krishna.

I think we will have Pradeep and Moshumi come up together—husband and wife.

Hare Krishna. So, how many rounds do you promise to chant every day for the rest of your life?

Devotee: I promise to chant a minimum of sixteen rounds on regular days, and a minimum of twenty-five rounds on Ekādaśī days.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Maharaja. I promise to chant a minimum of sixteen rounds every day, and twenty-five rounds on Ekādaśī.

Giriraj Swami: And what are the four regulative principles that you promise to follow?

Devotee: I promise to follow no meat eating, that includes fish and eggs; no illicit sex; no intoxication and; no gambling.

Devotee: I vow to follow no illicit sex; no gambling; no intoxication, including tea and coffee and cigarettes; and no meat eating, including fish and eggs.

Giriraj Swami: And is there anything else you would like to say?

Devotee: Maharaja, I want to thank you for your causeless mercy and for accepting me as your disciple. And I want to thank everyone who is present here. I want to thank the devotees who have helped me to come this far, especially a couple of devotees from Houston who do not want their names to be mentioned, and the devotees in Cincinnati, Columbus, and all the devotees who are in here [Unintelligible 00:47:13]. Thank you.

Giriraj Swami: We are all here by Srila Prabhupada’s mercy, so it goes without saying, but I will say it. You should always stay in ISKCON and serve Srila Prabhupada and the devotees within ISKCON.

On behalf of Srila Prabhupada and the guru-paramparā, I am pleased to accept you as my duly initiated disciple. And on their behalf, I give you a new name, Pandit Srivas dasa.

On behalf of Srila Prabhupada and the guru-paramparā, I am pleased to accept you as my duly initiated disciple, and on their behalf, I give you the new spiritual name, Malini dasi.

In Lord Chaitanya’s pastimes, Pandit Srivas and Malini are husband and wife, and they are Bengali also.

So, how many rounds do you promise to chant every day for the rest of your life?

Devotee: I vow to chant a minimum of sixteen rounds of the Hare mantra every day for the rest of my life.

Giriraj Swami: And what are the four regulated principles that you vow to follow?

Devotee: I vow to avoid the eating of meat, fish, and eggs; I vow to avoid taking intoxicants such as coffee, tea, cigarettes, and alcohol; I vow to avoid gambling or any speculative pursuits; and I vow to avoid engaging in any illicit sex.

Giriraj Swami: Is there anything else you would like to say?

Devotee: I would like to say that I vow to continue to be a loving and supportive husband and father to my wife Mila and my daughter Zella.

Giriraj Swami: Hi, Haribol!

Devotee: And I vow to always be a willing servant of your holiness and of all my godbrothers and godsisters and of all the devotees. And I vow to always stay within ISKCON and help to push Prabhupada’s movement further. I am in the company of many teachers here. Every day, we recite the pledge of allegiance, and I made my own version a while ago, and if I may, I would like to share that.

Giriraj Swami: Yes.

Devotee: I pledge allegiance to Prabhupada, who came to the United States of America to teach the public so they understand it, one [Unintelligible 00:51:56] with liberty and justice for all. I didn’t know about twenty-five rounds on Ekādaśī, but. . .

Giriraj Swami: Don’t vow if you are not confident. All right. So, on behalf of Srila Prabhupada and the guru-paramparā, I am pleased to accept you as my duly initiated disciple, and on their behalf, to give you your new name, Jayananda dasa.

I must explain that there are two Jayanandas. I mean, now there are three, but up until now, there are two prominent Jayanandas; one is Srila Prabhupada’s disciple, Jayananda dasa, who, of course, we were saying how Pandit Srivas and Malini are from Bengal like the original, and so Prabhupada’s disciple Jayananda dasa was from Ohio, like you. And there are many other similarities between Jayananda dasa and Srila Prabhupada’s Jayananda dasa, which he is aware of; and there is another Jayananda, who is an associate of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Lord Chaitanya had a devotee named Subudhi Rai.

Subudhi Rai had a son named Jayananda, and Jayananda wrote a book called Caitanya-maṅgala. There are two Caitanya-maṅgalas; one by Lochan dasa Thakura, and one by Jayananda. So, they are everything that you should be and more, or you should be everything that they are and more.

And I would also like to express my appreciation to Zella, who has been very supportive of her husband in his journey. And not only supportive of him, but she, I guess you could say, took the trouble to inform us of many of her husband’s good qualities and abilities, and for the sake of time, I won’t begin to enumerate those. But it was very thoughtful of you to do that and very helpful for us to know how helpful he can be in so many different ways. Milan Mozella is also talented in her way, and I am glad you have vowed to continue to be a good husband and father, and I am sure you will.

Devotee: Thank you.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!