BG 9.13 – Srimati Radharani’s Appearance Day

Giriraj Swami: We welcome you on the auspicious occasion of Sri Radhastami. We will read one verse from Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Chapter Nine, “The Most Confidential Knowledge,” Text Thirteen. 

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

Please repeat.

TEXT 13

mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha

daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ

bhajanty ananya-manaso

jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam

TRANSLATION

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

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

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

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

COMMENT

So, this verse is very significant and instructive for us. We are marginal potency, we living entities which means that we can come under the control either of the spiritual nature or the material nature. Srila Prabhupada gives the example of the seashore, that sometimes when the tide is high, that portion of the beach becomes part of the ocean. And, sometimes when the tide is low, that part of the beach is part of the beach. So, sometimes we can be covered by the material energy, or sometimes we can be covered by the spiritual energy.

In Bombay in 1966, Mrs. Gopikumari Birla. . . the Birla family was the wealthiest in India. And in fact, Srila Prabhupada said, “No one could measure their wealth.” So, I was arranging a program for Srila Prabhupada to speak at her home, Birla House. And, I gave her a list of topics to choose from, knowing that Srila Prabhupada could speak on any topic. So she scanned the list, and she chose the topic: How to be successful in life. And I thought, How the Birlas and their associates are already what we would consider to be most successful. But apparently, they were not satisfied; they wanted to be more successful. 

But when I heard Srila Prabhupada’s definition of success, I realized that they did need to become more successful in that sense. In his talk, Srila Prabhupada explained that we are by nature controlled, and that we can be controlled either by the material energy which is personified as Durga who rides on a lion and carries a trident or trishul. And, the three prongs of the trident are the three-fold miseries of material existence. And, as long as we are under the material nature, we will be pierced by these miseries. In contrast to the material energy is the spiritual energy, personified as Srimati Radharani. And, success in life means to come out from the control of the material energy, and come under the shelter of the spiritual energy, Srimati Radharani. 

And, according to this verse in the Bhagavad-gītā, one who does come under the shelter of Srimati Radharani, daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ, is a mahatma or great soul. In Bombay, Srila Prabhupada was giving a series of talks at a gentleman’s home where we were staying. And initially, Srila Prabhupada was just speaking to his disciples, and he was speaking about The Nectar of Devotion. But whenever someone from outside came, Srila Prabhupada would change the level of discourse from The Nectar of Devotion to the Bhagavad-gītā. So, one evening, a very respectable gentleman, who was a leading member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, found his way into the talk. And, he asked Srila Prabhupada, “India is a land of mahatmas. Traditionally, it has been a land of mahatmas, and even now it is. But how is it that in spite of the presence of so many mahatmas, India has so many problems?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “The difficulty is that you do not know who is a mahatma, who is not. That’s why there are so many problems.” But here the definition is given.

I first came to Krishna consciousness in Boston. And in the Boston temple, we would go out every day on hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, and distribute books or magazines, more magazines actually, Back to Godheads, generally at the Boston commons. So, I didn’t like to stray far from the hari-nāma party. But one day, I did have to go about a block away. And, as I was walking down the street, a man just a regular American man, definitely older than I was, he goes like this, “Mahatma! Mahatma! Mahatma!” It was a joke, he was making a joke, but it struck me. He heard mahatma of course. Everyone knows Mahatma Gandhi. And, as Srila Prabhupada would say, “One cannot become a mahatma by being rubber stamped as a mahatma, but he actually has to have these qualifications.” 

So, one becomes a mahatma, that is our goal, of course, you already are. But one becomes a mahatma by association with other mahatmas. And, that is how Krishna consciousness works, and that’s how disciplic succession works. We become mahatmas by associating with our seniors, they become mahatmas by associating with theirs, and so on.

Now here, it is mentioned, bhajanty ananya-manaso- without deviation of the mind. Now, as we know from the Bhagavad-gītā and from personal experience, the mind can be our best friend or our worst enemy. When the mind is engaged in Krishna consciousness, it’s our best friend. And, when it strays into maya, it becomes our worst enemy. So, by constitution, it’s not a friend or an enemy, in fact, no one is. But by behavior, one acts as a friend or an enemy. So, the mind has to be controlled, and the main. . . Well, control means engaged in Krishna consciousness. And, there are various processes, nine, nava-vidhā bhakti beginning with śravaṇam, kīrtanam, Vishnu smaraṇam, those are the primary three. Hearing about Krishna, chanting about Krishna, and remembering Krishna. 

So, ananya-manaso, we don’t want the mind to wander into any other field besides Krishna consciousness. But in the purport, Srila Prabhupada says that pure devotees don’t want their mind to be deviated to any other form of Krishna besides His original two-handed feature. And, this was demonstrated by Srimati Radharani and the gopīs. They were having their rāsa dance at Govardhana during the springtime. And Krishna, as part of His līlā or pastimes, He disappeared from the arena of the rāsa dance. And, He went ahead, and hid in the bushes. So, of course, Srimati Radharani and the gopīs went to search for Him. 

This is also a very important and integral dynamic in Krishna consciousness, that is meeting and separation. Both are required to experience the rasa or taste in devotional service. We might think, Oh, we don’t want separation, we only want a meeting. But without separation, meeting is not so relishable.

So, Krishna escaped from the rāsa dance to create that mood of separation, and He hid in the bushes. And the gopīs were coming towards Him, it’s described like a phalanx of soldiers marching determined to find Krishna. So as they were approaching the bush in which He was hiding, He realized that they would find Him. So He stood up, and assumed a four-handed form of Lord Narayana. So from a distance, He looked like Krishna, and the gopīs became very excited, “Oh, there He is.” But when they got close, they saw, “Oh, this is not Krishna, this is Lord Narayana.” And, they basically had no interest in Him. They just folded their hands, and said, Namaskar. And, they said, “We’re looking for Krishna, can you tell us where Krishna is?” And that Lord Narayana just remained silent.

Then Srimati Radharani came, same thing, saw Him from a distance, thought, Oh, that might be Krishna, came closer, saw He was Lord Narayana, and asked, “Lord Narayana, I’m looking for Krishna, can you tell me where Krishna is?” But Srimati Radharani’s love was so powerful that Krishna could not maintain His extra two arms, and He dropped them, and assumed His original form of Krishna, and was reunited with His most beloved Srimati Radharani. 

So, it is by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada that many of us have even heard of Radharani or even Krishna. I certainly hadn’t. And, as we know, he met his spiritual master in Calcutta. And, at the first meeting, his spiritual master instructed him to preach the message of Lord Chaitanya in the English language to the Western world. And, at the advanced age of sixty-nine, he departed India, and he arrived in America, in New York at the age of seventy. And, out of love for and obedience to his spiritual master, and love for and compassion towards all living entities, Srila Prabhupada began his mission. And, that is also the mercy of Srimati Radharani. And of course, Srila Prabhupada was a mahatma, under Her divine protection, but She’s also very compassionate.

In The Nectar of Devotion, Srila Prabhupada writes that because Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it’s hard to approach Him. But His compassionate nature, He goes. . . Krishna has sixty-four qualities, and one is compassionate. But His compassionate nature is represented by Srimati Radharani. Srila Prabhupada says that devotees take advantage of His compassionate nature represented by Srimati Radharani to approach Her, or approach Him through Her. Of course, in a general sense, and this is how we would preach to a general audience, that is that through the mercy of Srimati Radharani, we can approach Krishna. But Gaudiya Vaishnavas, this is a little esoteric, are actually more interested in Radharani than they are in Krishna. 

And, Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual master Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said that one who is a worshiper of Vishnu is called a Vaishnavite, one who is a worshiper of Krishna is called a Krishnaite, and one who is a worshiper of Srimati Radharani is called a Gaudiya. And, we are known as Gaudiyas which means that ultimately, our goal of worship is Srimati Radharani.

There’s a well-known verse spoken by Lord Shiva, very important verse, to Parvati—ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param. ārādhanānāṁ, among all kinds of worship, ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param, the highest is the worship of Vishnu. Tasmāt parataraṁ devi, he says, but even higher than the worship of Vishnu, tadīyānāṁ samarcanam, is the worship of those related to Vishnu, which generally means the devotees of Vishnu or Krishna. And, because Srimati Radharani is the highest worshiper of Krishna, so Her worship is the highest, even higher than the worship of Krishna Himself.

So, these wonderful, beautiful divine truths have been disclosed to us by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and the paramparā. And so, on this occasion, we pray to him and to Srimati Radharani Herself to accept us in their service and help us fulfill the definition of mahatma given here, under their divine protection.

Hare Krishna. Are there any questions or comments?

Rasaraj Prabhu: [Unintelligible 00:51:04], the definition of aṣṭaka [Unintelligible 00:51:05].

Giriraj Swami: Sounds like you said the same thing twice.

Rasaraj Prabhu: [Unintelligible 00:51:35] Do mahatmas take shelter of the divine energy or do we become mahatmas after taking shelter of the divine energy? 

Giriraj Swami: Oh, I see.

Rasaraj Prabhu: After they [Unintelligible 00:51:44], we are expected to do service so that we can properly take shelter of Srimati Radharani. But I know for a fact, I am struggling to try to take shelter, and I’m still very much [Unintelligible 00:52:10]. 

Giriraj Swami: Krishna has given us minute independence, and we can use our independence either to surrender to Krishna, or surrender to maya. I mean, it’s true, we have our conditioning, and we have our karma, but anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam, pure devotional service is not covered by karma or jnana. So, it doesn’t matter what our karma was, we can still surrender to Krishna. And, but in that process, the association of devotees is most important, association of mahatmas. In fact, Srila Prabhupada said, “Krishna consciousness is 90 percent association.” But if we do associate with devotees, mahatmas, and have the desire to serve Krishna, to surrender to Krishna, and serve Krishna, then gradually through different stages of development, one can come to the perfectional stage.

So, ādau śraddhā, first you have to have some preliminary faith. tataḥ sādhu-saṅgaḥ, then you associate with devotees. tataḥ bhajana-kriyā, then you engage in the practice of bhakti-yoga. And, Srila Prabhupada says at that stage of bhajana-kriyā, one accepts initiation from a spiritual master to make further progress. Then anartha-nivṛttiḥ, the unwanted things in the heart, unwanted desires, unwanted patterns of behavior, are vanquished. So, that can be a troublesome area, and that can take some time, tatah anartha-nivṛttiḥ. But then after that comes niṣṭhā, then one is steady, one is firmly fixed, one isn’t distracted by maya. Then ruci—taste, āsakti—attachment, and then bhāva—ecstasy, and prema—pure love. 

So, it’s a gradual process. And, as Rupa Gosvami explains in The Nectar of Instruction, Upadeśāmṛta, utsāhān niścayād dhairyāt. Utsāhān means enthusiasm, we must be enthusiastic. Dhairyāt, but at the same time, we have to be patient. Both are required. Srila Prabhupada says if one is enthusiastic, but yeah, enthusiasm without patience can lead to the desire to control. And, patience without enthusiasm can lead to lethargy. So, we need both of those. And yeah, and confidence of success in the end. And, Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport that Krishna consciousness is so pure and perfect that having once begun, one will be dragged to ultimate success.

Yes.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, daṇḍavat praṇāma Maharaja. My question is this, we heard the Bhagavad-gītā, where devotees hear, what Krishna’s [Unintelligible 00:58:17] His message, what body of scripture should we look to learn how to take shelter of Srimati Radharani?

Giriraj Swami: Well, the Bhagavad-gītā explains, it’s like this verse, yeah, I mean if you surrender to Krishna, the whole Bhagavad-gītā teaches us ultimately to surrender to Krishna. So, we surrender to Krishna then we’re automatically coming out from the control of the material energy, and coming under the control of the spiritual energy. Yeah.

Vishva Bhagavan, do you have a question?

Vishva Bhagavan Prabhu: [Unintelligible 00:59:19].

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that’s a good question. And, Srila Prabhupada says that we talk about it as if it was an event that took place at a certain point in history, but actually, there was never a time when Radha and Krishna did not both exist. But it’s like, the cause and effect can be simultaneous. Like the sun is the cause of the sunshine, but they exist simultaneously. There is never a time when there is the sun without sunshine. But still, we can say that the sun is the cause of the sunshine. So, in the same way, Radha and Krishna exist simultaneously, but still, we can say that Krishna is the cause of Srimati Radharani, or that His desire to expand His pleasure resulted in Her coming into existence. Sort of a subtle point but that’s what it is.

Gopala Prabhu: Hare Krishna, [Unintelligible 01:01:42]. I’m just wondering the connection between complete faith and complete surrender, if they’re interchangeable, or one is dependent on the other, or they develop complete faith after the progression of surrender, or does it take complete faith to come to complete surrender?

Giriraj Swami: Well, the, I mentioned the different stages, ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgaḥ. So, it begins with faith, ādau śraddhā. But all of the subsequent stages up to bhāva and prema, are actually just further developments of faith. They’re not different from faith, but they’re just yeah, further developments of faith. And, Srila Prabhupada said that one can be a pure devotee even from the beginning stage. If you engage in devotional service without any ulterior motive, you can be considered a pure devotee even though you’re at an immature stage. And, Srila Prabhupada gave the example of an unripe mango and a ripe mango, they’re both mangoes. But the ripe mango is juicier and sweeter. So, we can be pure devotees even from a beginning stage, but as our devotion matures then it becomes sweeter and juicier, more nectary.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:03:55].

Giriraj Swami: No, no, ādau śraddhā has preliminary faith from the beginning, and then as he progresses, the faith becomes stronger. And then in the final stage of prema, then his faith is complete, and then his surrender is complete. And up until then, it would say, it’s like different degrees of surrender. Of course, in a way, we surrender in the beginning, but that surrender is, it’s like we decide with our intelligence to surrender. But sometimes, our mind and senses go here and there, but we’ve surrendered, we’ve decided, I’m going to surrender to Krishna, I’m going to give this life to Krishna. But still, our minds can wander, and our senses can wander. But when we come to the later stages, then there’s no wandering.

There’s a very interesting description of the stage of ruci. The nice little book called Mādhurya-kādambinī by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura in which he elaborates on these different stages. And, he says, before the stage of ruci, we’ll be chanting, and suddenly, we’ll notice that our mind is going somewhere else, we don’t even know how it got there, but we simply notice, Oh, my mind has gone somewhere else. But in the stage of ruci, your mind automatically comes back to Krishna, you don’t even know how it got back, but all of a sudden, it’s back to Krishna. So, that’s a good position.

Yes, Rasaraj.

Rasaraj Prabhu: The energy of Krishna, talk about material energy and spiritual energy, it might take some time to understand that material energy is almost like a reflection of the spiritual energy, of daivī prakṛti, and that, it is a perception of that energy that causes us to make us forgetful of our constitutional relation with Krishna, [Unintelligible 01:08:05].

Giriraj Swami: Well, it’s true. On this side of energy or shakti, Srimati Radharani is the first, and all the other shaktis are expansions from Her. So ultimately, the material energy is an expansion of the spiritual energy which has the function of making us forgetful of Krishna. Yeah, maya, Prabhupada says, maya is also a servant of Krishna, but she has the thankless task of keeping living entities in forgetfulness of Krishna.

All right, any other questions or comments? 

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:09:43] who’s engaged in service, I think [Unintelligible 01:09:59], do you think that Arjuna was thinking about Krishna on the battlefield? Or was he actually working his mind, engaged in taking care of his battlefield? So, sometimes I find that I use that as an excuse [Unintelligible 01:10:29].

Giriraj Swami: Well in a way, on the absolute platform, Krishna’s service and Krishna are the same. So, thinking of Krishna’s service is also thinking of Krishna. But we can’t think of Krishna’s service and Krishna directly. And, there are two beautiful verses towards the end of the Bhagavad-gītā, and in one of them Krishna says, “In all activities and for their result just depend on Me, and be fully conscious of Me.” So, we should be conscious that we’re doing a service for Krishna, I mean we should be conscious of the service we’re doing but also conscious that we’re doing it for Krishna.

Of course, it is there in the back of your mind for sure, but it could also be more in the forefront of your mind. And, but when you introduced your question by quoting Srila Prabhupada, I thought of something else that Srila Prabhupada said that might be somewhat related, and that was in Gorakhpur when we were with Srila Prabhupada. And, Tamala Krishna Goswami asked him that, “I’m so absorbed in service to you, what if death comes, and I’m just absorbed in service to you?” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Don’t worry, Lord Chaitanya will come, and forcibly enter your consciousness.” Haribol.

All right. So, I guess, we’ll, the next at 10:00 a.m., right? What’s at 10:00 a.m.? I have it, I have it. All right, 8:00 a.m. Radhastami class, 10:00 a.m. Abhishek, 10:45 a.m. Radhastami class again, and noon Pushpa-abhisheka, and 1 o’clock feast. You stand by what you wrote to me, right? Okay, so there we have it. We have. . . I have a half-hour until the abhisheka. 

Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.

Srimati Radharani ki. . . jaya!

Sri Radhastami-maha-mahostava ki. . . jaya!