CC Madhya 23.14; NOD 1.4.15 – Maha Gaura-purnima Festival

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Devotees: Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: I am very happy to be in your presence on the auspicious occasion of the Mahā Gaura-purnima Festival in Laguna Beach. During the intermission, I mentioned to Tukaram Prabhu that today was the anniversary of the disappearance of one of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples, His Holiness Sridhar Swami. 

Sridhar Swami Maharaja, ki jaya!

I felt moved to speak about him. His holiness Indradyumna Swami always says that it is important for us to glorify these departed Vaishnavas so that their memory and legacy remain alive. But there are also many important lessons to be learned from the life of His Holiness Sridhar Swami Maharaja that we can apply in our own devotional service, and also in our appreciation of Srila Prabhupada and the Pancha-tattva. 

Once I was taking a flight to Dallas and a fellow came up to me seeing my dress and said, “Are you from the Hare Krishna movement?” I said yes. “I had a good friend who was in the Hare Krishna movement, I don’t know his name in the movement but his name was John Colcleugh. Did you know him?” I said, “Yes, I knew him very well, we were very good friends.” And then he started to tell me about Sridhar Swami’s early life from when he knew him. In a way, we are enjoined in the scripture not to discuss a devotee’s previous life, especially a sannyasi’s previous life, but I am going to do so because it illustrates the power of devotional service and Srila Prabhupada and the Pancha-tattva’s mercy. 

So, he was a very rough and tumble person, and as his friend said, the friend was part of the same group, on Saturday nights they would basically get drunk and go into town and look for a fight, and they would end up finding fights, and that is how they passed their Saturday nights. So, some years later, Sridhar Swami, of course, he was not Sridhar Swami then, but he came to Berkeley and he saw the devotees, and they had a book table with not only books but posters, incense, and different items. So he started talking to the devotee, and so he is a little arrogant or something because he said, “Who is that?” It is a picture of Krishna. The devotee said, “That is God, that is Krishna. “Oh, that is God. Well, what would you do if I tore that picture into pieces?” And the devotee said, “I think I have to kill you.” And that clicked, Sridhar Swami thought, Okay, these are my kind of people. I could fit in here.

So eventually he came to India which is where he and I met in Bombay. And he had a husky build, and this is the early days of the Juhu project, and maybe seeing his psychophysical characteristics Srila Prabhupada wanted to put him in charge of the construction materials to make sure nothing was stolen, nothing went amiss. And I was the temple president, so I informed Sridhar Swami, and he said, “No, I want to preach.” I said, “Wow, okay.” So I went back and I informed Srila Prabhupada. But Sridhar Swami hadn’t shown himself as a preacher yet. So a little awkward I was going back and forth, and then finally Prabhupada said, “Okay, okay, he doesn’t have to look after the construction materials.” And Sridhar Swami actually distinguished himself as an excellent preacher. He became a very strong preacher, and one lesson I am getting from this is, even though it might not have been his psychophysical nature but because he had that desire to preach, and he set himself to do it, he excelled in it.

Some years later, he came to Pakistan, from Bombay I would go to Pakistan and preach, and we had very good response there. Of course, the government was very vigilant, and they allowed us to preach to the Hindus but they definitely didn’t want us to proselytize among the Muslims, although on occasion of I did do some things. So Sridhar Swami, he learned to give a short talk in Hindi, which is very similar to Urdu, he adjusted it, and the people loved it, they loved hearing this Canadian sannyasi deliver a discourse in Urdu. And they liked it so much they wanted him to do it again the next night, but the thing is he had only memorized one little talk. I think he just gave the same talk again, and it is ever-fresh. But yes, he was really a great person.

So, coming back to Juhu. It was definitely, I think Srila Prabhupada’s main struggle in his preaching mission, there was a lot of opposition. But at one stage, it was like this, it was meant to be a semi-permanent temple for the deities, Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari, and then this clique, Prabhupada called it a clique of enemies, they arranged to have the temple demolished. They almost succeeded in demolishing it completely. But yes, that was very interesting. But the order came to stop the demolition. They had just started to take out some pieces of the roof above the deities, meanwhile the rest of us we tried to intervene and so the police were there to support the municipal demolition, so they took us all to the police station. But it was like this that we had to rebuild the temple. Mrs. Nair, she was like the owner of the land, so she had a petition in court to prevent us from rebuilding it, and the judge said that he wouldn’t grant even a temporary injunction without hearing us, and the earliest he could hear us would be Monday morning so we had the weekend to rebuild the temple. Once it was rebuilt then it was already done, so we stayed up all night. 

We had another supporter, Mr. P.L. Sethi, he had a real kshatriya side to him, he was a great soul Srila Prabhupada attracted. And what was so amazing is Prabhupada could reciprocate with everyone no matter what their nature was, so he reciprocated perfectly with Mr. Sethi who had this kshatriya side. So the enemies came to warn us not to rebuild the temple, and one of the leaders was Pushpakant Mhatre who was the local municipal councilor. So he said, “Anyway, I am telling you not to rebuild it, but if you do, I am going to come with fifty gundas,” Gunda is like Hindi for a hoodlum or gunda, “And we will just break it down.” Now Mr. Sethi said, “Brij Mohan,” that was his son, “Brij Mohan, bring my revolver and my rifle.” And then he said, “How many cartridges?” “You have two hundred and fifty cartridges.” So he told Mhatre, “Fifty is not enough, bring a hundred, bring two hundred, bring two hundred and fifty; I will kill them all.” 

So, it was a big thing, and we had to stay up, we were staying up all night, it was really raining like anything. And Sridhar Swami, who really liked a good fight, he was sitting in one of our jeeps. For a long time we didn’t have any of our own motor vehicles then we got some jeeps, and he was sitting in the jeep with a stick I think and a japa-mālā. And so Brij Mohan Sethi went over to him and he said, “Maharaja, what are you doing in the jeep?” He was there to protect the reconstruction of the temple. He said, “I am here, in case the gundas come I can make a quick escape.” He was very humorous, in fact, two of our life members, they gave him the nickname the jolly Swami, and he really was the jolly Swami.

So, we rebuilt the temple, so many incidents. But now I will come towards the end because we are reading about how, or singing, how a devotee is not afraid of death, and that was really the case with His Holiness Sridhar Swami Maharaja. So he was always jolly, it was incredible. Once he came to LA and I went down to meet him, and in my presence, someone asked him about his health because he was very precarious, he had hepatitis C and cirrhosis of the liver; it was not a good prognosis. And so Maharaja replied, “Well, I lived through last night, and if you want to know about tonight ask me tomorrow morning.” So he came to Canada, he was hoping to get a liver transplant which was his only hope, but it turned out that he had cancer and it had spread and so he wasn’t considered eligible for a liver transplant because his case was already beyond that stage. So he decided he wanted to return to India. He had three desires, and I tried to speak to him on the phone almost every day. One was he wanted to make it to Mayapur; second was he wanted to see the installation of the Pancha-tattva, that was the year; yes, and then he said, “And then whatever,” meaning whatever Krishna desires.

So he took a flight to London, and Maharaja’s sister, very nice lady, Fiona, she phoned Indradyumna Swami and said, “My brother wants to go to India and the doctor said he won’t survive the journey. So if anything happens I want you to be there with him.” So, Indradyumna Swami went to London, met up with him in London, he rented a hotel room right near the airport, and many of Sridhar Swami’s disciples, quite a few in Croatia and Slovenia, they came thinking, knowing that this could be the last time they would see him. And yes, so they were very sad, but Maharaja was very philosophical and he said that, “Even though I won’t be with you physically. . .” It seems that he used to play soccer with them. He said, “Even though I won’t be with you physically you could take my picture when you play soccer.” It was like a very sort of bittersweet moment. And then I think there were five of them who hadn’t gotten second initiation. In our paramparā one is first initiated into the chanting of the holy name, hari-nāma, and then generally, after some time of proving oneself to be steady in chanting the holy name, chanting one’s prescribed rounds, and following the regulated principles, one was offered second initiation into the Gayatri mantra, brahminical initiation. 

So Maharaja said, “Okay, I will give you all Gayatri but all together,” because he was very weak. And not only very weak but his brain wasn’t working completely properly because I guess the liver wasn’t processing the toxins, so the toxins were going to his brain. And then on top of it, he was taking some medication for the pain, and I think that was also. . . So he couldn’t remember the words to the Gayatri mantra so he said, “Are there any brahmans in the house who know the words?” So, not sure exactly why but they told the words to Indradyumna Swami and Indradyumna Swami repeated them to Sridhar Swami and Sridhar Swami repeated them to the new initiates. And then he said that actually, the real thing is chanting the holy name.

The Gayatri mantra is a support for chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, but the real thing is to chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. And then one after the other he quoted all these verses about chanting Hare Krishna. kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya, probably hari-nāma, I don’t remember, he quoted several. And Indradyumna said, “Maharaja, how is this possible? You couldn’t remember the words to the Gayatri mantra but you are quoting perfectly all these verses mainly from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam about the holy name.” He said, “Yes, because the holy name is the real thing.”

So he was such a funny person. While he was at the hotel in the airport because I had a disciple who lived near the airport, an Indian couple, so he said, “I want pancakes,” and he said, “But I don’t want those Indian pancakes, those thin salty things. I want real pancakes with maple syrup.” So yes, he maintained his jolly nature and his good appetite. So accompanied by Indradyumna Swami, he proceeded to Calcutta and Jaya Pataka Swami Maharaja sent his vehicle that had a bed in it. So Maharaja laid down in the bed, came to Mayapur, and he was accorded a real hero’s welcome. It was amazing with kirtan, and everyone was waiting at the gate for him. And yes, then he came to the temple for darshan, and he was also very careful because one of his godbrothers said, “This is so auspicious that you have come.” He said, “Yes, but it is not auspicious for you because you have your feet facing the deities.” So yes, that is also mercy to correct someone who is in error.

So he survived, he made it to Mayapur; that was his first desire, and he made it to the installation of the Pancha-tattva. He actually went up on the stage, the platform, to do the Abhishek of the Pancha-tattva. And they asked him if he wanted to do Lord Chaitanya, “No, I will do Lord Nityananda.” And so his second desire was fulfilled. But after that his health seemed to take a decline, maybe like too much excitement, too much exertion, and as it is, he was spending most of his time in his room on the bed. But at that stage, he felt that the end may be coming. Oh yes, his stomach would get bloated with liquid. I think periodically they were removing like five to seven liters. It was really really. . . They did that in India, I think maybe even in Canada. 

So he was lying on his bed, it is like his death bed; devotees were chanting and kirtan, weeping many of them. And so the doctor came, and he was trying to assess Maharaja’s condition so he was feeling around Maharaja’s bloated belly. Maharaja opened his eyes and looked at him and said, “It is a boy.” So yes, even in the direst of circumstances. It is not just that he maintained a sense of humor but he was actually fearless, not afraid of death because he knew he would be with Prabhupada and engaged in service.

So Indradyumna Swami came to see him and say goodbye. And that was also sad because Maharaja knew he wouldn’t see Sridhar Swami again. And Sridhar Swami was in the shower with nothing to cover him but the air, and so Indradyumna Swami came in, he had to leave, he wanted to say goodbye so Sridhar Swami said, “Come on, Indi.” Now, he used to call him Indi, there is a character, I guess in movies, named Indiana Jones. He was a real adventurer, and so very affectionately Sridhar Swami would call Indradyumna Swami, Indi, short for Indiana Jones, but he would say, “But he is the real thing.” And so he said, “Come in, Indi.” And he said, “Maharaja, you are completely naked.” “No, that is all right, we are not the body.” 

And yes, he said farewell and then Sridhar Swami said, and this is also a bit of a cultural illusion that some of us may recall, now there was a television show, I remember in my childhood in the 50s, called The Roy Rogers Show, he was a cowboy, and he had a theme song which was, “Happy trails to you until we meet again.” So Sridhar Swami pulled out that sloka from this. . . that and he quoted that for Indradyumna Swami was perfect because Maharaja is always traveling. And so happy trails until we meet again, we will meet again, we will all meet again in Prabhupada and the Pancha-tattva service.

So it happened like that, that on this day, well it was actually on Srivasa Thakura’s appearance day which was yesterday here but it is actually today in India, in Mayapur. So on this date, and that was another thing that I thought was divinely arranged because Sridhar Swami he wanted to live through the installation of the Pancha-tattva which was Gaura-purnima, and he didn’t want to do anything that would detract from the festival. And he said, “This is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s festival, I don’t want this to be like Sridhar Swami’s festival.” And so the first auspicious day after Gaura-purnima was this day, of Srivasa Thakura’s appearance day, and on that day he left. And coincidentally, that day was the Mahā Gaura-purnima festival in Laguna Beach, and in the old days, some time ago, it was a tradition that Indradyumna Swami would come to stay with me the day after Gaura-purnima and then together we would drive down for the Mahā Gaura-purnima festival here, which is generally the Saturday after the actual Gaura-purnima.

So we had just completed the program, I will never forget it, we were getting into our vehicle outside, and we got a phone call from Mayapur, probably from Mayapur dasa in Mayapur dhāma, informing us that Sridhar Swami had left. So that was a poignant moment. So then Indradyumna Swami and I decided we should have a memorial program for Sridhar Swami the next day, Sunday, which we did. And then the following morning, I think maybe Maharaja couldn’t stay, but I felt we should do something in LA. So the following morning I went to New Dvaraka and we had a program for him then. 

But an amazing thing happened three days after he left, I was back in Santa Barbara taking my daily walk by the sea and suddenly I felt His Holiness Sridhar Swami’s presence descend upon me. It was so tangible, and at least I felt that he gave me two messages. And now, I also had my doubts like some of you might be having, but I did find some sort of confirmation later which you might also doubt but which I don’t doubt. 

So the first message was that, “I am still here, don’t feel sorry.” And actually, he had told that to his disciples at the hotel in London, he said, “After I go don’t feel sorry, you can lament for a few days, but then you should get back into your service and you should be happy.” And the second thing he said, which I thought he said was, “Just be yourself and make your contribution.” And I took that as a very powerful instruction that I thought was true, not only for me, but I do think about it; “Just be yourself and make your contribution,” which is really all any of us can do. And so I mentioned that to Sridhar Swami’s main servant, Mayapur dasa, he said, “Yes, that sounds like something Maharaja would say.” And somehow that, nowadays we would say it went viral, but I don’t know how to explain, but somehow that reached Mayapur. And Jananivasa Prabhu, the most saintly of saintly persons, completely tuned into the deities, even he quoted it, that Sridhar Swami said, “Just be yourself and make your own contribution.”

So I think that is very profound, it is like someone said you should just be yourself, don’t try to be someone else because that position is already taken. So yes, I do get influenced. I see Vaisesika I want to be like him, but that position is already taken. So I can just be myself and try to make my contribution.

Hare Krishna.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:34:55].

Giriraj Swami: [Unintelligible 00:34:56] or what do you say? I always follow the temple president, I never [Unintelligible 00:35:09] above temple president.

Devotee: Maharaja, you should speak. Giriraj Swami is just being like the epitome of humility, so I have something else I want to say but maybe I should just end here, and he was looking at me for direction, and so I mean I know what I think but I will just kind of put it to all of you. Should he speak the other thing he wants to speak? Or should we like have him cut it off now?

Devotees: Yes. Speak.

Devotee: That was my feeling as well.

Giriraj Swami: I was going to speak on some verses from Caitanya-caritāmṛta that in a way encapsulate the teachings of Lord Chaitanya. As you probably know, every year devotees from all over Bengal come to Jagannatha Puri for the Ratha-yatra to meet Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. And so there are some devotees, in fact, I think there is a quotation from one of them in here, from Kulina gram, and they were householders and for three years in a row they asked Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, “We are fallen householders, what is our duty?” This is a very relevant question for all of us. They weren’t really fallen but that was the way they saw themselves. And for three years in a row, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gave the same answer which is, “You should constantly chant the holy names and serve the Vaishnavas.” And then every year they would inquire, “How do we recognize a Vaishnava?” That is a very important question because we are told we should serve everyone but especially Vaishnavas, and we shouldn’t offend anyone but especially not Vaishnavas. So how do we recognize a Vaishnava?

So the first year, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “Anyone who chants the holy name of Krishna once is a Vaishnava.” That means everyone here. Well, of course, everyone here is a Vaishnava, but if we didn’t know, here is the proof. And then the next year, same thing, “What is our duty?” “Chant the holy name and serve the Vaishnavas.” “How do we recognize a Vaishnava?” And then Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu replied, “One who is constantly chanting the holy name is a Vaishnava.” And then the next year, same question, same answer. “How do we recognize a Vaishnava?” Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu replied that, “One whose mere presence inspires others to chant is a Vaishnava.” And Srila Prabhupada and his guru Maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, Prabhupada explained that in each successive year, Lord Chaitanya was describing successive stages of Vaishnavas: Kaniṣṭhā, he has chanted the name once, at least. Madhyam, he is always chanting. And Uttama, someone just by his presence he inspires others to chant. This philosophy is like so rich and so deep, it is like a mine with endless jewels.

So, in this first exchange, someone who chants the holy name once is a Vaishnava. Srila Prabhupada explains that, Lord Chaitanya also explains that if you chant once, just once without offense, all your sinful reactions are removed. But of course, we should be careful not to commit more sins but that is a fact, once without offense. So I will just read a little from this, from the first year, because it is so instructed. And it is Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta and it is Srila Prabhupada. 

So it is Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, Chapter Fifteen, Text One Hundred and Three.

TEXT 103

gṛhastha viṣayī āmi, ki mora sādhane
śrī-mukhe ājñā kara prabhu — nivedi caraṇe

TRANSLATION

Satyarāja Khān said, “My dear Lord, being a householder and a materialistic man, I do not know the process of advancing in spiritual life. I therefore submit myself unto Your lotus feet and request You to give me orders.”

COMMENT

So this should be our inquiry for all of us.

TEXT 104

prabhu kahena, — ‘kṛṣṇa-sevā’, ‘vaiṣṇava-sevana’
‘nirantara kara kṛṣṇa-nāma-saṅkīrtana’

TRANSLATION

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied, “Without cessation continue chanting the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Whenever possible, serve Him and His devotees, the Vaiṣṇavas.”

TEXT 105

Upon hearing this, Satyarāja said, “How can I recognize a Vaiṣṇava? Please let me know what a Vaiṣṇava is. What are his common symptoms?”

TEXT 106

prabhu kahe, — “yāṅra mukhe śuni eka-bāra
kṛṣṇa-nāma, sei pūjya, — śreṣṭha sabākāra”

TRANSLATION

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied, “Whoever chants the holy name of Kṛṣṇa just once is worshipable.

COMMENT

You all are worshipable.

TRANSLATION

And is the topmost human being.

COMMENT

You are the topmost human being but be humble. Purport. As I mentioned, Srila Prabhupada quotes his spiritual master in his purport which shows his humility and his respect for his spiritual master. 

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura says that a person who simply chants the holy name of Kṛṣṇa once becomes perfect and should be regarded as a Vaiṣṇava. This is confirmed by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Upadeśāmṛta (5): kṛṣṇeti yasya giri taṁ manasādriyeta. 

COMMENT

Describes how to offer respect or obeisances to different classes of Vaishnavas.

PURPORT (continued)

With such faith in the holy name one may begin a life of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

COMMENT

In other words, faith, if one chants the holy name once, he will gradually come to the perfectional stage. With that faith, we can begin a life of Krishna consciousness.

PURPORT (continued)

One should accept the holy name of Kṛṣṇa to be identical with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Transcendence Himself. As the Padma Purāṇa states:

COMMENT

You maybe know the verse, nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaḥ.

PURPORT (continued)

“The holy name of Kṛṣṇa is identical with Kṛṣṇa and is like a cintāmaṇi gem, a touchstone. That name is Kṛṣṇa personified in sound and is therefore perfectly transcendental and eternally liberated from material contamination.” Thus one should understand that the name “Kṛṣṇa” and Kṛṣṇa Himself are identical. Having such faith, one must continue to chant the holy name.

COMMENT

So I won’t read the rest of the purport, although it is worth reading. But the idea is this, Srila Prabhupada explains that one who has faith that the holy name of Krishna is Krishna Himself, is a pure devotee even though he may be a neophyte. Now, this might strike us as odd because generally, we don’t consider neophytes to be pure devotees or pure devotees to be neophytes. But if one has faith that the holy name of Krishna is Krishna Himself he is considered to be a pure devotee, and by his association, others can become devotees. So, most of us have become devotees by associating with devotees, getting a book from a devotee, or meeting devotees on hari-nāma or at a festival, and by the association of these devotees, even if they are neophytes in the sense that they are beginners, they may not be so well versed in the philosophy, but if they have that faith in the holy name you can become a devotee by their association. Because you can give others what you have, and bhakti begins with sraddha, ādau śraddhā. So if someone has sraddha, faith, they can give you sraddha, and that means they can make you a devotee because devotional service begins with sraddha.

So the conclusion is that we should treasure every devotee, every devotee is special, and serve them. And this is the instruction, always chant the holy name and serve the devotees. So we should serve the devotees and always chant the holy name, and then our pathway back to Godhead is clear. And not only can we go back to Godhead by that method but we can take many others with us. And that is the basis of the Pancha-tattva, to taste Krishna consciousness and to share it with others. So these festivals especially give us an opportunity, although in the spiritual sky every day is a festival. Actually every day should be a festival.

When we first came to Bombay, we were invited to a program, at a wealthy man’s house and he had set up the program in his garden, it was very opulent and very beautiful. And he said, “Oh, it is good you came, it is a very special day, it is a holy day.” He named a holy day that we had never heard of, so when Srila Prabhupada came, I asked Srila Prabhupada, “Is it true that today is a holy day?” He said, “Yes, for us every day is a holy day because we are Krishna’s servants.” 

So in that mood, let this perpetual festival continue. Hare Krishna.

Devotees: Hare Krishna.