SB 3.15.25 – Initiation Ceremony

Host: First, what we are going to do is we are going to perform ācamana with the initiates. They are going to purify themselves, and then the first initiates will change their kanti malas, and then the lecture will commence. Haribol!

[Unintelligible 00:26:13]. Put one spoon of water in your right hand. Look at the water and [Unintelligible 00:26:26] and get through here. Now rinse. One more water, look at it, and say – “oṁ Narayana namaḥ.” Take water again and chant, “oṁ Madhavaya namaḥ.” Fold your hands. Same procedure. Now please repeat after me, “oṁ Kesavaya namaḥ.”

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

Now, please repeat after me.

nama oṁ apavitraḥ pavitro vā

sarva avasthāṁ gato api vā

yaḥ smaret puṇḍarī kākṣaṁ

sa bahya abhyantaraṁ śuciḥ

śrī-viṣṇu śrī-viṣṇu śrī-viṣṇu.

Giriraj Swami: Can I say the translation once?

Host: Yes.

Giriraj Swami: The meaning of the verse is purified or unpurified or even having passed through all different situations, one who remembers the lotus-eyed Supreme Personality of Godhead is purified within and without.

Host: So, now you may change their Kanti malas.

Giriraj Swami: How did you take it out?

Devotee: Yeah, [Unintelligible 00:28:45].

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

[Unintelligible 00:29:56]

Giriraj Swami: I have a message from Svarupa Damodara dasa. There is an electricity outage in the area. So, some cell phone towers are down.

Devotee: Well, we try WhatsApp. He said the signal is going to be very weak. He said even audio is not going to be because the tower is down.

Devotee: Try directly calling him through an international call.

[Prayers]

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. So, we have gathered for a most auspicious event, the initiation of two or four disciples. Initiation is one of the essential processes in devotional service, or bhakti-yoga. The, you could say, law book of devotional service is called the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, the complete science of bhakti-yoga, and it was written or compiled by Srila Rupa Gosvami, who was one of the six Gosvamis, chief disciples of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is Krishna Himself in the role of a devotee of Krishna. He describes sixty-four items of devotional service. There are ten preliminary dos, and ten preliminary don’ts, and then forty-four others. And the preliminary dos are:

adau guru-pādāśraya, one should take shelter of the lotus feet of guru;
śikṣeti, one should take instruction from him; and
dīkṣeti, one should take initiation from him.

The example is given to illustrate how rare it is to get the shelter of a bona fide spiritual master. So, the example is given of a tortoise in the ocean, and in that ocean, there is a board, and in the middle of that board is a hole. And so, the chances of getting shelter of a bona fide spiritual master are like that of the tortoise in the huge ocean coming up under that wooden board and coming up through the hole in that wooden board. It’s a very rare and fortunate event.

When Srila Prabhupada would give initiation, he would speak about the ten offenses against the holy name because we are initiating devotees into the chanting of the holy names, and so I’ve selected a verse and purport. The purport, which contains a discussion of the ten offenses. This is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Three, Chapter Fifteen, Description of the Kingdom of God, Text Twenty-Five. Please repeat.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

TEXT 25

yac ca vrajanty animiṣām ṛṣabhānuvṛttyā
dūre yamā hy upari naḥ spṛhaṇīya-śīlāḥ
bhartur mithaḥ suyaśasaḥ kathanānurāga-
vaiklavya-bāṣpa-kalayā pulakī-kṛtāṅgāḥ

TRANSLATION

Persons whose bodily features change in ecstasy and who breathe heavily and perspire due to hearing the glories of the Lord are promoted to the kingdom of God, even though they do not care for meditation and other austerities. The kingdom of God is above the material universes, and it is desired by Brahmā and other demigods.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

It is clearly stated herein that the kingdom of God is above the material universes. Just as there are many hundreds of thousands of higher planets above this earth, so there are many millions and billions of spiritual planets belonging to the spiritual sky. Brahmājī states herein that the spiritual kingdom is above the kingdom of the demigods. One can enter the kingdom of the Supreme Lord only when one is highly developed in desirable qualities. All good qualities develop in the person of a devotee. It is stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Fifth Canto, Eighteenth Chapter, verse 12, that anyone who is Kṛṣṇa conscious is endowed with all the good qualities of the demigods.

COMMENT

yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā

PURPORT (continued)

In the material world the qualities of the demigods are highly appreciated, just as, even in our experience, the qualities of a gentleman are more highly appreciated than the qualities of a man in ignorance or in a lower condition of life. The qualities of the demigods in the higher planets are far superior to the qualities of the inhabitants of this earth.

Brahmājī confirms herewith that only persons who have developed the desirable qualities can enter into the kingdom of God. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the devotee’s desirable qualities are described to be twenty-six in number.

COMMENT

So, we should pay careful attention to this list and see where we stand in terms of these qualities and try to become complete in these qualities.

PURPORT (continued)

They are stated as follows: He is very kind; he does not quarrel with anyone; he accepts Kṛṣṇa consciousness as the highest goal of life; he is equal to everyone; no one can find fault in his character; he is magnanimous, mild and always clean, internally and externally; he does not profess to possess anything in this material world; he is a benefactor to all living entities; he is peaceful and is a soul completely surrendered to Kṛṣṇa; he has no material desire to fulfill; he is meek and humble, always steady, and has conquered the sensual activities; he does not eat more than required to maintain body and soul together; he is never mad after material identity; he is respectful to all others and does not demand respect for himself; he is very grave, very compassionate and very friendly; he is poetic; he is expert in all activities; and he is silent in nonsense. Similarly, in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Third Canto, Twenty-fifth Chapter, verse 21, the qualifications of a saintly person are mentioned. It is said there that a saintly person eligible to enter into the kingdom of God is very tolerant and very kind to all living entities. He is not partial; he is kind both to human beings and to animals. He is not such a fool that he will kill a goat Nārāyaṇa to feed a human Nārāyaṇa, or daridra-nārāyaṇa. He is very kind to all living entities; therefore he has no enemy. He is very peaceful. These are the qualities of persons who are eligible to enter into the kingdom of God. That such a person gradually becomes liberated and enters the kingdom of God is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Fifth Canto, Fifth Chapter, verse 2. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Second Canto, Third Chapter, verse 24, also states that if a person does not cry or exhibit bodily changes after chanting the holy name of God without offense, it is to be understood that he is hardhearted and that therefore his heart does not change even after he chants the holy name of God, Hare Kṛṣṇa. These bodily changes can take place due to ecstasy when we offenselessly chant the holy names of God: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.

It may be noted that there are ten offenses we should avoid. The first offense is to decry persons who try in their lives to broadcast the glories of the Lord. People must be educated in understanding the glories of the Supreme; therefore the devotees who engage in preaching the glories of the Lord are never to be decried. It is the greatest offense.

COMMENT

Sādhu-nindā, blaspheming the devotees who have dedicated their lives to propagating the holy name of the Lord. One of the other offenses is inattention, and Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that if one chants attentively, all the other offenses will be destroyed, and if one is inattentive while chanting, the other offenses will flourish.

So, my godbrother Bhurijana dasa conducts japa retreats and seminars, and so he gave a homework assignment to his class. One, just to check themselves how much they are not criticizing devotees, and then to check themselves how attentively they are chanting. So, the next morning in the class, he asked the students how they did on their homework assignment. So, one devotee said that she had every intention not to criticize any devotees, but the company that she was with were criticizing devotees, and so she also became implicated. It was her intention not to criticize devotees, but it was in the environment that she is in.

So, Bhurijana Prabhu replied, “You have two choices here. One is to change the environment. And if you want to change the environment, good luck, because the environment doesn’t want to change. The environment wants to criticize devotees. So, the other alternative is to remove yourself from that environment and don’t become implicated.”

PURPORT (continued)

It is the greatest offense. Furthermore, the holy name of Viṣṇu is the most auspicious name, and His pastimes are also nondifferent from the holy name of the Lord. There are many foolish persons who say that one can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa or chant the name of Kālī or Durgā or Śiva because they are all the same. If one thinks that the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the names and activities of the demigods are on the same level, or if one accepts the holy name of Viṣṇu to be a material sound vibration, that is also an offense. 

COMMENT

Sometimes simply stated, to consider the names of the demigods to be equal to or independent of the name of Lord Vishnu. So, there was a very popular weekly journal in India called The Illustrated Weekly of India, and the editor was Khushwant Singh, who was a demon, and that was confirmed by Srila Prabhupada as we will hear in a few minutes.

So, there was a debate between an Austrian Mayavadi sannyasi named Agehananda Bharati and our Priyananda dasa Goswami. Now, I don’t know what happened in the debate, but Dr. Bharati’s account of what happened in the debate was published in The Illustrated Weekly under the heading Shiva-Shiva versus Hare Krishna, and I could understand that Khushwant Singh was trying to make all sides look foolish, like children arguing, “Shiva is supreme, Krishna is supreme.” And so, I wrote to Srila Prabhupada, and I told him about the article and what I had surmised about it, and Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, Bharati is a fool, but Singh is a demon.”

Bharati was a fool because he was supposed to be a learned scholar in the culture, but he thought that the names of the demigods were on the same level as the name of Krishna, and Khushwant Singh was a demon because he tried to make everyone look foolish.

PURPORT (continued)

The third offense is to think of the spiritual master who spreads the glories of the Lord as an ordinary human being.

COMMENT

I mean, this is guror avajñā, to disobey the orders of the spiritual master, but the underlying psychology is explained here, which is to think, He is an ordinary human being, and therefore, he is no better than I am. Maybe a little better, maybe not. I’m a little better, and therefore, to disobey his orders thinking yourself to be on the same level.

PURPORT (continued)

The fourth offense is to consider the Vedic literatures, such as the Purāṇas or other transcendentally revealed scriptures, to be ordinary books of knowledge.

COMMENT

Sometimes it is stated to blaspheme the Vedic literatures or literatures in pursuance of the Vedic version, and it’s a bit of an intricate topic, but there is a pastime described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in which some sages wanted to test these three Deities; Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu who is the supreme. I won’t go into the pastime, although it is very interesting and instructive. But within that pastime, there are three degrees of offenses.

The first offense is by omission, and this took place when Bhṛgu muni was deputed to test these three Deities. When he saw Lord Brahma, who was his father and you could say his spiritual master, he didn’t offer obeisances. So, he didn’t blaspheme, but it was an error of omission. He didn’t offer obeisances, and Lord Brahma became very angry, being influenced by the mode of passion, but with his intelligence, he controlled himself.

Then, Bhṛgu muni went to Lord Shiva, who was his brother, they were both sons of Brahma. Lord Shiva came forward to embrace his brother, and Bhṛgu muni actually blasphemed him and said, “Don’t touch me. You are always associating with ghosts and hobgoblins and you are covered with ashes and you frequent crematoriums. Don’t touch me.” And so, Lord Shiva became angry, but Parvati intervened and pacified him.

So then, Bhṛgu muni went to Lord Vishnu, and Lord Vishnu was reclining with His feet in the lap of Lakshmi devi, and Bhṛgu muni committed a most serious offense, and he kicked Him on His chest. And Lord Vishnu replied, “Oh! I’m sorry that My chest is so hard. It must have been painful on your foot to kick Me on the chest. I’m sorry I couldn’t receive you properly.”

By those three tests, it was established that Lord Vishnu was the Supreme, transcendental Lord. But within this pastime are three successive degrees of severity of offense. First was the act of omission, not to offer obeisances, second was blasphemy to Lord Shiva, and the third was physical harm to Lord Vishnu.

So now, coming back to this offense against the Vedic literatures. Blasphemy of the Vedic literatures or literatures in pursuance of the Vedic version, śruti-śāstra-nindanam, but it is also taken as an offense, as an act of omission not to read Srila Prabhupada’s books, not to attend discussions about Srila Prabhupada’s books. That’s also a subtle offense. And Srila Prabhupada, as many of you know, would take rest at about ten o’clock, and he would get up at midnight and write his books while we were sleeping. And so, it is an offense to not read his books, not to honor the efforts that he made to give us the Vedic literatures.

PURPORT (continued)

The fifth offense is to think that devotees have given artificial importance to the holy name of God.

COMMENT

To consider chanting the glories of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra to be imaginary.

PURPORT (continued)

The fifth offense is to think that devotees have given artificial importance to the holy name of God. The actual fact is that the Lord is nondifferent from His name. The highest realization of spiritual value is to chant the holy name of God, as prescribed for the age — Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.

COMMENT

So, twice in the same purport, Srila Prabhupada quotes the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.

PURPORT (continued)

The sixth offense is to give some interpretation on the holy name of God. The seventh offense is to act sinfully on the strength of chanting the holy name of God. It is understood that one can be freed from all sinful reaction simply by chanting the holy name of God, but if one thinks that he is therefore at liberty to commit all kinds of sinful acts, that is a symptom of offense.  

COMMENT

As to commit sin on the strength of chanting the holy names. In another place, Prabhupada says that it is the worst offense, to blaspheme the devotee is the greatest offense. And Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura explains that of course, this is an offense against the holy name, but he explains that even in karma-kāṇḍa, ritualistic activities, if someone engages in some sinful or prohibited activity and then thinks that he can neutralize the offense by engaging in some other ritualistic activity, it doesn’t work. So, first of all, it does not work, and second, you are committing an offense.

So, the idea is that devotees may have engaged, almost all, in sinful activities before coming to Krishna consciousness, but after coming to Krishna consciousness, they should stop their sinful activities. And coming to Krishna consciousness, the reaction to their sinful activities can be eradicated by chanting. They become cunning, “I can do this nonsense and then I will just chant to be free from the reaction.” That is an offense and it doesn’t work.

PURPORT (continued)

The eighth offense is to equate the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa with other spiritual activities, such as meditation, austerity, penance or sacrifice. They cannot be equated at any level. The ninth offense is to specifically glorify the importance of the holy name before persons who have no interest.

COMMENT

To preach the glories of the holy name to the faithless. Of course, we can engage them in chanting or in hearing, but if they don’t have faith and if you preach to them, they will probably commit one of the other offenses, such as thinking that the devotees are giving exaggerated importance to the holy name.

PURPORT (continued)

The tenth offense is to be attached to the misconception of possessing something, or to accept the body as one’s self, while executing the process of spiritual cultivation.

COMMENT

Sometimes this is rendered as to maintain the material attachments even after understanding so many instructions in the matter. So, again, it is not an offense to come to Krishna consciousness with material attachments, because people do have material attachments, but to hold on to those material attachments while chanting is an offense. The whole idea of chanting is to purify the heart, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam, and become free from material attachments. And so, it is contradictory. So, to not have complete faith in the chanting of the holy name, maintain the material attachments even after hearing so many instructions on that matter, and the two are related because if we have faith in the holy name, we would have the faith that the holy name will fulfill all our desires, it will complete all our necessities, and give up our material attachments with faith in the holy name.

But again, not having complete faith in the holy name and maintaining the material attachments. So, the two go together, and when we observe how our mind wanders when we chant, we will see that it usually relates to our identifying with the body, “I, me, and mine,” and basically wanting to take the place of Krishna as the enjoyer, as the proprietor, and the controller. So, when our mind is wandering and it can be observed where it is going, what it is thinking, it usually comes down to this: some effort to enjoy or possess or control.

PURPORT (continued)

The tenth offense is to be attached to the misconception of possessing something, or to accept the body as one’s self, while executing the process of spiritual cultivation.

When one is free from all ten of these offenses in chanting the holy name of God, he develops the ecstatic bodily features called pulakāśru. Pulaka means “symptoms of happiness,” and aśru means “tears in the eyes.” The symptoms of happiness and tears in the eyes must appear in a person who has chanted the holy name offenselessly. Here in this verse it is stated that those who have actually developed the symptoms of happiness and tears in the eyes by chanting the glories of the Lord are eligible to enter the kingdom of God. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said that if one does not develop these symptoms while chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, it is to be understood that. . .

COMMENT

Well, if I ask you, “Why are’nt you developing these symptoms?” Well, I will ask myself. . . It is because of committing offenses.

PURPORT (continued)

In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said that if one does not develop these symptoms while chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, it is to be understood that he is still offensive. Caitanya-caritāmṛta suggests a nice remedy in this connection. There it is said in verse 31, Chapter Eight, of Ādi-līlā, that if anyone takes shelter of Lord Caitanya and just chants the holy name of the Lord, Hare Kṛṣṇa, he becomes freed from all offenses.

COMMENT

So, we do, as a rule, chant the Pancha-tattva mantra before we chant the Hare Krishna mantra because Lord Chaitanya. . . And the Pancha-tattva mantra accepts offenses or considers offenses. And so, if one chants Their names, one becomes free from offenses, and then one can be ecstatic in chanting Hare Krishna maha-mantra. And Bhurijana Prabhu, just as we were already talking about, he takes it very seriously. Whenever he leads kirtan, not as he sings the Pancha-tattva mantra as the matter of formality, but he really tries to chant loudly and absorb himself in the Pancha-tattva, because by their mercy, one can become free from offenses, and then one can chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and feel ecstasy.

So, these are the ten offenses. Today, three devotees will also be getting second initiation. And as a result of having second initiation, they become eligible to worship the Deity. The Bhagavad-gītā says:

māṁ ca yo ‘vyabhicāreṇa
bhakti-yogena sevate
sa guṇān samatītyaitān
brahma-bhūyāya kalpate

That one who is fully engaged in devotional service, transcends the three modes of material nature, comes to the level of Brahman. And to serve the Supreme Brahman, one should be on the level of Brahman. So, generally, after a disciple has been steady in chanting the sixteen rounds minimum and following the four regulative principles for some time, then he is considered for second initiation, and then with the second initiation, one gets the Gayatri mantra. HH Sacinandana Swami has written a whole book called Gayatri. Very good book for people who receive the Gayatri mantra.

So, now we have a message from HH Indradyumna Swami.

MESSAGE

Dear Maharaja,

The connection is very bad because of a power outage here in Durban, but I’ve been fortunate to see some of the ceremony. A few words from my humble self will have to suffice.

First of all, my obeisances and respects to all the devotees present, and of course, my best wishes to Sriman Varuna, soon to have another name. Varuna, you are indeed a fortunate young man to be taking formal initiation from HH Giriraj Swami today. I have no doubt that he will guide you safely to the other shore beyond this temporary world of duality. Remain fixed in your vows and chant the holy names at every opportunity. Then your deliverance is assured.

I am happy that I played a very small part in encouraging you to take this important step forward. Please do remember me from time to time in your prayers. I am also happy for your amazing Deities. For now, you can worship Them with the proper and blessed mantras. You have shown yourself worthy of this mercy being given today by your spiritual master, who is the perfect representative of our most beloved Srila Prabhupada. So, go forward now with renewed enthusiasm. I take this opportunity also to extend my best wishes to your good wife, Srimati Mali dasi, and the other devotees taking initiation today. Hare Krishna.

Indradyumna Swami.