SB 7.9.19 – While You Can’t Go Outside, Go Deeper Inside

Giriraj Swami: Todas las glorias a los devotos reunidos (three times). Todas las glorias a Sri Guru y Sri Gauranga. Hare Krishna, so now I would like to read a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. You read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Seven, Chapter Nine: “Prahlāda Pacifies Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva with Prayers,” Text Nineteen.

TEXT 19

bālasya neha śaraṇaṁ pitarau nṛsiṁha

nārtasya cāgadam udanvati majjato nauḥ

taptasya tat-pratividhir ya ihāñjaseṣṭas

tāvad vibho tanu-bhṛtāṁ tvad-upekṣitānām

TRANSLATION

My Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, O Supreme, because of a bodily conception of life, embodied souls neglected and not cared for by You cannot do anything for their betterment. Whatever remedies they accept, although perhaps temporarily beneficial, are certainly impermanent. For example, a father and mother cannot protect their child, a physician and medicine cannot relieve a suffering patient, and a boat on the ocean cannot protect a drowning man.

COMMENT

So the idea here is that the ultimate protection or shelter is Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, although we may, as a matter of course, accept other remedies. For example, now we are in the coronavirus pandemic, so the authorities have given us certain prescriptions to follow, and we should follow them, like we don’t go out of the house. I mean I don’t go out except in the evening I go for a drive, and then I might go for a walk in a place where there are no other people or very few other people. So, so many things we do, [such as] washing our hands. So we do those things, we do those things, but the ultimate shelter or protection is the Lord, and we should always remember that. And therefore, our priority should always be our relationship with the Lord. So now, I’ll read the purport.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Through parental care, through remedies for different kinds of disease, and through means of protection on the water, in the air and on land, there is always an endeavor for relief from various kinds of suffering in the material world.

COMMENT

That’s a fact.

PURPORT (continued)

But none of them are guaranteed measures for protection. They may be beneficial temporarily, but they afford no permanent benefit. Despite the presence of a father and mother, a child cannot be protected from accidental death, disease and various other miseries. No one can help, including the parents.

COMMENT

Once, I was in Srila Prabhupada’s room in Juhu, at the back of the property, in a construction we had built. We had built an additional floor on the existing two stories of the tenement buildings in the back, before we had the new quarters for Srila Prabhupada in the new construction. And he was sitting in his room, [and] I was sitting there with him. In the distance he heard a child crying, and he immediately quoted this verse, that even though the parents want to protect the child, they can’t always do so. I’m sure the parents didn’t want the child to be miserable and crying, but still the the child was crying. And Srila Prabhupada related that to this verse. And in fact, practically any and every situation that Srila Prabhupada encountered, he saw in terms of the shastra, and he related to those situations in terms of the shastra.

PURPORT (continued)

Despite the presence of a father and mother, a child cannot be protected from accidental death, disease and various other miseries. No one can help, including the parents. Ultimately the shelter is the Lord, and one who takes shelter of the Lord is protected. This is guaranteed. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (9.31), kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati: “O son of Kuntī, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.”

COMMENT

So, recently one of our very good devotees in London, Ramanuja dasa, who some of you know very well. He was very sick with pneumonia and Covid-19, and his position was very precarious. He didn’t know if he would survive. So, I was chanting and praying for him, and this verse came into my mind very strongly: kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati, “O son of Kuntī, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.” So, I wrote him that, and he felt some hope and encouragement, and even some confidence based on that assurance.

PURPORT (continued)

Ultimately the shelter is the Lord, and one who takes shelter of the Lord is protected. This is guaranteed. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (9.31), kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati: “O son of Kuntī, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.” Therefore, unless one is protected by the mercy of the Lord, no remedial measure can act effectively. One should consequently depend fully on the causeless mercy of the Lord. Although as a matter of routine duty one must of course accept other remedial measures, no one can protect one who is neglected by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

COMMENT

So, we do take other measures such as medicine, but the medicine is not guaranteed to work unless the Supreme Lord, the Supreme Authority, sanctions it or approves it. And I believe in ayurveda that, before taking medicine, you pray to the Lord to make the medicine effective, so we are always dependent on the Lord. We do take medicine, but we are always dependent on the Lord, and we should always be mindful of that. Now, with food, of course we offer whatever we eat to the Lord, but with medicine, we can’t exactly offer it in the same way that we offer food, but we should also be conscious of the Lord. And as Srila Prabhupada taught us, even with water or the same with medicine, we can say Sri Vishnu three times; Sri Vishnu Sri Vishnu Sri Vishnu, just to reinforce the idea that everything belongs to the Lord, and we are completely dependent on the mercy of the Lord.

PURPORT (continued)

Although as a matter of routine duty one must of course accept other remedial measures, no one can protect one who is neglected by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

COMMENT

There is a saying that Srila Prabhupada quoted, “rakhe krsna mare ke, mare krsna rakhe ke.” That if Krishna wants to save someone, who can kill him? No one. And if Krishna wants to kill someone, who can save him? No one.

PURPORT (continued)

In this material world, everyone is trying to counteract the onslaught of material nature, but everyone is ultimately fully controlled by material nature.

COMMENT

As we are seeing.

PURPORT (continued)

Therefore even though so-called philosophers and scientists try to surmount the onslaught of material nature, they have not been able to do so. Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (13.9) that the real sufferings of the material world are four — janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi (birth, death, old age and disease). In the history of the world, no one has been successful in conquering these miseries imposed by material nature.

COMMENT

So, that’s a fact. If we analyze janma-birth, there is often a sort of outcry that [we are] suffering from overpopulation, and we should control the [birth rate with] birth control, but birth is going on. Babies are being born every minute. Then, mṛtyu-death, as sure as death. I mean nobody wants to die, but we cannot stop death materially. Spiritually we can, but not materially. Then jarā-old age, again nobody wants to grow old, but we are forced to grow old, and we can’t stop it. I mean, we might take some cosmetic procedures to hide our age, but we can’t stop growing old. And disease, we can’t stop disease. If we were able to stop disease, then all the hospitals would close [and] all the doctors and nurses would go home. But to the contrary, there is always a clamor for more hospital beds, more doctors, more nurses. So, we are not stopping disease. Disease is not even decreasing, but it’s increasing. So, these four miseries; birth, death, old age, and disease—these are the real problems of life, and they cannot be stopped by any material means. But as Srila Prabhupada said, of course we can take remedial measures, but we should know that they can’t be effective without the sanction of the Supreme Lord.

PURPORT (continued)

In the history of the world, no one has been successful in conquering these miseries imposed by material nature. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ. Nature (prakṛti) is so strong that no one can overcome her stringent laws. So-called scientists, philosophers, religionists and politicians should therefore conclude that they cannot offer facilities to the people in general.

COMMENT

So, scientists and religionists and political leaders, by dint of their positions, they are meant to give protection to the people, but the fact is that they cannot by material means. And therefore, what should they do? I’ll let you think about it for a moment, and then I’ll read what Srila Prabhupada says, and it’s a natural consequence, it’s a natural consequence what Srila Prabhupada says.

PURPORT (continued)

So-called scientists, philosophers, religionists and politicians should therefore conclude that they cannot offer facilities to the people in general. They should make vigorous propaganda to awaken the populace and raise them to the platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

COMMENT

That will really help, not the bluff of other measures.

PURPORT (continued)

Our humble attempt to propagate the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement all over the world is the only remedy that can bring about a peaceful and happy life.

COMMENT

I’ll read it again because it’s so important and true.

PURPORT (continued)

Our humble attempt to propagate the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement all over the world is the only remedy that can bring about a peaceful and happy life. We can never be happy without the mercy of the Supreme Lord (tvad-upekṣitānām). If we keep displeasing our supreme father.

COMMENT

Which we do by ignoring Him, disobeying Him, flaunting His authority, or even denying His existence.

PURPORT (continued)

If we keep displeasing our supreme father, we shall never be happy within this material world, in either the upper or lower planetary systems.

COMMENT

So, the key to our happiness is the Lord’s happiness. If we please the supreme father, then naturally we will be happy and cared for and protected. And if we ignore Him or think that we can rely on our own strength and abilities and resources without His support, we will not be successful. Recently we observed Rama-navami, and as many of you know, there is a summary of the Rāmāyaṇa in Two Chapters of the Ninth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Chapters Ten and Eleven. And in the Rāmāyaṇa, as you know, Lord Ramachandra had a very, you could say, makeshift army of monkeys and bears that He collected in the jungle, and only He and Lakshman had some arrows that They could shoot. Whereas Ravana, the great materialistic demon, was very powerful materially, and he had a huge army with, by that standard, modern weapons of warfare. But although Ravana and his army were so powerful, at least superficially, compared to Lord Ramachandra and His army and their weapons, Srila Prabhupada explains that there are two kinds of strength. Daiva, which means the strength that comes from God [or] by the superior authorities, daiva. And purusartha. Purushartha means the strength that one can organize by one’s own intelligence and resources. Even though Ravana was much more powerful in that sense, but because Lord Ramachandra and His army of monkeys and bears and squirrels were blessed by daiva, by superior authorities, they were successful. So, that should always be our priority. That should always be our effort.

So, yeah, I wish you all the best during these difficult times. Stay home, be safe. So are there any questions or comments? Can we unmute the other devotees? Or I guess if you have something to say you could raise your hand and Vinoda Bihari will unmute you. All right, well, I’ll sing again.

In the old Boston temple we used to sing this verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam every morning. It was beautiful and I’ve never come across it since then, as we used to do in the old Boston temple. It is very beautiful both in terms of the Sanskrit and in terms of the meaning. And I’ll explain the meaning first, so that when you hear it, when you hear the Sanskrit, some Sanskrit, you’ll be able to get the sense of what I’m singing. So, the verse goes.

TEXT 58

samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavaṁ
mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ
bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padaṁ paraṁ padaṁ
padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām

Which means that this material world is like an ocean of miseries and there is danger at every step, but for one who takes shelter of the boat of the lotus feet of Krishna, who is known as Murari, the enemy of the Mura demon, that vast ocean shrinks and becomes just like a puddle in the hoof print of a calf. Although there is danger at every step, the devotee crosses right over it.

Vinoda Bihari dasa: Patita Pavana has some questions, can I connect him?

Giriraj Swami: Can you wait? Because I was just about to sing. Alright ok, alright.

Vinoda Bihari dasa: You can continue, it doesn’t matter. We can wait.

Giriraj Swami: 

TEXT 58

samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavaṁ
mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ
bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padaṁ paraṁ padaṁ
padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām

Wasn’t that beautiful? Actually, I should read the synonyms. Yes, this verse comes at the end of the Fourteenth Chapter of the Tenth Canto. In a way, it’s considered the conclusion of that whole Chapter, which is Lord Brahma’s prayers to Lord Krishna.

So, this phrase mahat-padaṁ is very significant. It can be read in two ways because mahat can be read in two ways. Mahat-tattva, it can be taken as the whole material creation. So, the lotus feet of Krishna are the shelter of the whole material creation. But mahat also refers to devotees, great souls, mahatmas, and those lotus feet are also the shelter of great souls.

So, bhāva—material existence, it means that which comes into being and then which no longer exists, which is different from bhaava which means ecstatic love of God. So, Srila Prabhupada initiated a disciple, quite a famous disciple, and he gave him the name Bhavananda, and he explained that the meaning of Bhavananda is the bliss of the material world. So afterwards, that disciple approached Srila Prabhupada, [and] he was a little concerned about what Srila Prabhupada intended by giving him that name. So, Srila Prabhupada explained that Bhavananda, the bliss of the material world, is the bliss of preaching and bringing people to Krishna, and that gives Krishna the greatest pleasure. And when we give Krishna that great pleasure, we also experience great pleasure. And you can’t do that in the spiritual world because everyone there is already Krishna conscious, but that’s a special opportunity we have in the material world to give Krishna that special pleasure of bringing souls to Him. So, that is Bhavananda. So, yes.

So that was that verse. So, does Patita Pavana still want to say something?

Patita Pavana dasa: Yes, Guru Maharaja. Hare Krishna. Thank you very much for giving us your time. We are very happy. This coronavirus is bringing so many blessings. So, we have, the question that I’m going to ask is a question that Tapta-devi presented. She is little bit more shy. Sometimes we see the devotees are dying. Now with the coronavirus crisis we see some devotees already left.

Giriraj Swami: I know, our dear Spanish devotee Priya-sakhi left.

Patita Pavana dasa: Yes, for example. Some people may say, well, Krishna didn’t protect her. So, what is your [understanding]?

Giriraj Swami: That’s a very good question. There are different kinds of protection, different levels of protection. Of course, there is material protection, and there is spiritual protection. So, Lord Krishna’s assurance kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati, “O son of Kuntī, Arjuna, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.” It doesn’t mean that the physical body of the devotee will not perish, because the body of every one of us eventually will perish, even though we are devotees or trying to be devotees. But we don’t perish, a devotee doesn’t perish spiritually. He doesn’t lose his or her Krishna consciousness. And we don’t know what to say, what the Lord’s plan is for someone, why He takes someone at a certain time, why He spares someone to live longer. I know in the case of Ramanuja Prabhu, he really had some very strong spiritual goals, desires, and I also felt that it would be good, not just for him, but for the community of devotees and for the world, if he could have some more time to do that service or multiple services. But yes, there are a number of devotees who have left during this coronavirus pandemic, and I can’t say why the Lord called those devotees at this time and in that way, but I can say that He was there for them spiritually, and so they spiritually they would not perish.

Yadanandana Swami Maharaja, would you like to add a perspective on this question?

Yadunandana Swami: Hare Krishna Maharaja. I’m very happy to be in your association. I’m just listening. I didn’t come to speak, just to listen to you, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Ok, ok.

Vinoda Bihari dasa: Maharaja, there is another question from another participant from Dubai. He is staying in Dubai, so he has a question to make. So, I’ll connect him now.

Giriraj Swami: Ok.

Devotee: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Please accept our humble obeisances. Jaya Prabhupada. We are very very fortunate to have your association and all the devotees from Malaga [including] Yadunandana Swami. We are very, very pleased to have your association, and thank you for calling us. We had a question about the initial time when we read Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta and we see that all the devotees, especially you, also have gone through so much for Srila Prabhupada. You had no facility, no real shelter. No centers. Now we are in kind of in our comfort zone, and still we are not able to do or follow that with that enthusiasm, so how do we increase our attachment to Srila Prabhupada and our current acharyas. How do we make our life successful that we can also dedicate and get some of your enthusiasm, Maharaja? That would be our question.

Giriraj Swami: Thank you. Well, Srila Prabhupada gave a general rule for enthusiasm. By strictly following all the rules and regulations, you become enthusiastic. And, on the contrary, if you are lax in following all the rules and regulations, you lose enthusiasm. But as far as a practical approach, the thought that came to my mind was book distribution. When you go out and meet new people, by definition you are leaving your comfort zone, because you don’t know what kind of response you’ll get from the people you meet, which is good. And if they take a book then, Krishna is pleased, Srila Prabhupada is pleased, and they can get so much benefit. Srila Prabhupada had put so much effort into writing his books and even reading one page can change a person’s life. There is a devotee in San Diego who got a book somehow. Someone gave him a book, and he sort of opened it up randomly, and what he read was something like if you are not Krishna conscious, you are no better than a dog or a hog. That was the first thing he read, and he thought about it. He thought yes, that’s true. What is the difference? And he went to the temple, and he became a devotee. So, giving people books is very powerful. Preaching puts you on the line, [and] it takes you out of your comfort zone and it pleases Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. It can really change people’s lives.

Devotee: We are honored to have you.

Giriraj Swami: Thank you, thank you. My pleasure.

Vinoda Bihari dasa: Just these devotees before, they were staying in Malaga. For about five years back, they were in Malaga. Then they shifted to another place. Now they are settled in Dubai, and they are doing very nicely over there. Good preaching work is going on.

Giriraj Swami: Ok.

Devotee: I think we regard our all progress that whatever we made is only because of the devotees from Malaga. We had their association, especially Vinod prabhu, Hema Mataji, Rasa Sundari Mataji. They were instrumental in our progress. Whatever little we made is all due to them. We really owe everything to them.

Giriraj Swami: Nice, jaya. Very nice.

Hema Gauri dasi: Who [of you] would you like to speak to Maharaja?

Vinoda Bihari dasa: There is no more questions. If you want to speak to somebody directly yourself.

Giriraj Swami: Oh, Elena. On my screen she is in the bottom right. It looks like she is raising her hand.

Bhaktin Elena: Hare Krishna, Guru Maharaja. Please accept my humble obeisances. So in the verse, it said accidental death. My understanding is there is no accidental death, so even if something may seem accidental to us, it’s really not because it’s Krishna’s plan.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, all right. Despite the presence of a father and mother, a child cannot be protected from accidental death. So your reading of the word accidental is there is no such thing as accidental because everything is according to the Lord’s will. I think that means in an accident. Many devotees die in accidents, including automobile accidents. And Srila Prabhupada was very, very concerned about devotees dying in car crashes. I think he even said something like, if you go faster than fifty-five miles an hour, Krishna is no longer in control. So he was very concerned about that, very concerned, of course, about devotees falling asleep at the wheel. I know when I was with HH Indradyumna Swami during the Polish festival tour. He would not allow the driver to attend the festival. He would make the driver sleep during the festival. Because the festivals would end late at night, he would force the driver to take rest during the festival, so that he would be awake and alert to drive after the festival. So, we have to be very careful and cautious. Having faith in the Lord doesn’t mean that we are reckless or take unnecessary chances. In fact, there is a nice quote from Srila Prabhupada in the book Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers, his discussions with Bob Cohen, who later became Brahmatirtha dasa. I’ll just read that, Srila Prabhupada says, “As long as you are in the material world, you cannot neglect physical laws. Suppose you go to a jungle and there is a tiger, it is known that it will attack you. So, why should you voluntarily go and be attacked? It is not that a devotee should take physical risk, so long as he has a physical body. It is not a challenge to the physical laws. I have become a devotee, I challenge everything, that is foolishness. So, how do I get back to the. . .

Vinoda Bihari dasa: Maharaja, there is one more question from one participant. Is it okay?

Giriraj Swami: Oh yeah, yeah, sure. Yeah.

Speaker: Ok, I’ll just read.

Giriraj Swami: Rasa Sundari?

Hema Gauri dasi: Yes, Rasa Sundari’s husband, Vrindavan.

Giriraj Swami: Jaya, Vrindavan dasa.

Hema Gauri dasi: Vrindavan dasa.

Vrindavan dasa: My obeisances, Guru Maharaja. Thank you to bring me back to Prabhupada’s family.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Vrindavan dasa. I’m very happy to have you back, and thank you for that flower. I got it.

Karunavatara dasa: Hare Krishna Guru Maharaja. Please accept my humble obeisances. My question is similar to what we are speaking about. Often Srila Prabhupada says that if you surrender to Krishna, everything will be okay. You will even be able to enjoy life factually. And on the other hand, we do see that devotees from scripture and around us, we see that they go through a lot of tribulation in their lives. So it’s just trying to understand how these things can happen together that Srila Prabhupada seems to be so reassuring that all our problems really go away and will go away, and that definitely seems right. But, on the other hand we do see devotees going through trouble and suffering. How can both be right? How can we see both together?

Giriraj Swami: Well, what are our problems? Our problems are birth, death, disease, and old age, repetition of birth and death. If we take shelter of Krishna, then we’ll be free from those problems ultimately. But it can’t be that if someone takes shelter of Krishna, they’ll be protected from material problems because then all sorts of materialistic people would come to Krishna to get their material problems solved. And that’s not what Krishna wants. Krishna wants our surrender. He wants our love. He wants pure devotional service, and our goal is to remember Krishna. Sometimes, we may remember Krishna better when we are in difficulty. There is a saying, “there are no atheists in the foxholes.” In other words, in a war, the soldiers they are in the foxholes. They may claim to be atheists, but there are no atheists in the foxholes because their life is on the line. The only one who can really protect them is God. So, Queen Kunti, she prayed, “let the calamities come again and again.” Because by those calamities, she is praying to Krishna, we saw Your lotus feet, and by seeing Your lotus feet, we don’t have to see the repetition of birth and death. So, devotees accept calamities as the mercy of the Lord, and they can actually accelerate a devotee’s advancement and help a devotee take more shelter of the Lord. We should always bear in mind that the Lord will never give us a test that is beyond our capacity to pass. He will give us tests. That makes us stronger. Even in education, there have been experiments with schools that didn’t give tests. The idea was just they should create an environment in which the children are inspired to learn and enthusiastic to learn on their own. But what they found was that those children that didn’t have tests, they didn’t learn as much as the ones who did have tests. So, tests are good. Krishna’s always testing us, but eH will not give us a test that we can’t pass. The basic tests are will we remember Krishna and take shelter of Him? Or will we forget Krishna and seek shelter elsewhere? And all these little tests are meant to prepare us for the big test, which is the time of death. Will we remember Krishna or will we seek shelter elsewhere?

Vinoda Bihari dasa: Maharaja, there is one participant, he is a Spanish person. He is doing very well in the Krishna consciousness, and he just wants to extend his words of thanks to you in Spanish. So maybe you understand or we can translate.

Vinoda Bihari dasa: Prabhu, ya puedes decir lo que quieras. Yo voy a hacer la traducción. (Prabhu, you can speak now. I’ll translate.)

Devotee: Hare Krishna Guru Maharaja. Muchísimas gracias. Estoy muy contento. Desde Sevilla, cerca de, a 200 Km de Málaga. Donde le agradecemos que en esta explicación.

Vinoda Bihari dasa: He says, he is very happy and very thankful. He stays in a place called Sevilla, which is 200 kilometers from here, from Malaga.

Devotee: Donde en estos momentos que tenemos que estar confinados, no hay mejor regalo que estamos recibiendo, el profundizar la asociación con Krishna, y ese regalo que usted nos ha hecho hoy, se lo agradezco de corazón.

Vinoda Bihari dasa: He is saying now in this period of lockdown, this period that is going on, this is the best gift that we can get, and I’m very thankful that you have given us this opportunity and this good gift to us.

Devotee: Y esperamos que fortalezcamos los programas en Sevilla, pero mientras gracias a la asociación con el templo de Málaga, y por supuesto con Yadunandana Swami nuestra asociación cada vez más se está profundizando, me alegra que reciba sus escritos y estoy agradecido de corazón, muy feliz. Hare Krishna, mis reverencias.

Vinoda Bihari dasa: He is once again thankful and he is thankful also to Yadunandana Swami for preaching him. He has been forwarding your messages, which come through Facebook in Spanish. So Maharaja forwards your messages to him and he is being quite influenced by those passages.

Giriraj Swami: Nice, gracias.

Vinoda Bihari dasa: And let me see, because I suppose there is one question from Aishwarya Madan, shall I connect her?

Giriraj Swami: Yes.

Vinoda Bihari dasa: You can speak. You are muted. You can speak.

Giriraj Swami: No, no, it looks like she is still muted.

Vinoda Bihari dasa: No, unmute.

Giriraj Swami: It’s red, that means it’s muted.

Vinoda Bihari dasa: I know but maybe. . .

Giriraj Swami: Ok ok.

Bhaktin Aishwarya: Hare Krishna Guru Maharaja, please accept my humble obeisances. My question is that you mentioned that we can be happy only by the mercy of the Supreme Lord. And, but suddenly, I try to be happy independently thinking that I am in control of the situation, and I tend to forget repeatedly that Krishna is the controller. So, how can I always remember that my happiness and everything that I’m doing is only by the mercy and will of the Supreme Lord?

Giriraj Swami: Can you repeat the question?

Bhaktin Aishwarya: Yes. So, I’m saying that I tend to forget the fact that my happiness and everything that I can do in life can be only by the mercy of the Supreme Lord. I tend to repeatedly think that I’m in control. Even if it’s about services, I tend to forget that nothing can happen without Krishna’s mercy. So, how can I constantly remember that?

Giriraj Swami: Well, the best method is by hearing. You might have heard that Srila Prabhupada said that the first class person learns by hearing, second class learns by seeing, third class learns by experiencing, and fourth class never learns. So, hearing. The best is hearing. That’s why it’s so important to [hear]. Hearing and reading are the same. To read Srila Prabhupada’s books, like what we read today, that reminds us. And so, I think a constant dose of reading and hearing, that will remind us. Of course, the material nature is also there to remind us that we are not in control. But yeah, I think the hearing. Hearing is the secret. It’s also valuable to associate with advanced devotees, who are surrendered. And then by their association, their example, their mode of behavior, you get an idea of what you should be, how you should be. So you have that opportunity, that’s also very good. Wonderful. And good chanting, [ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam. Good chanting will purify your mind from the misconception that you are the controller, you are the enjoyer, you are the doer. But hearing, the key I would say is hearing. And the hearing, apart from the content of what you hear, which is instructive, but the hearing itself, cleanses the heart.

TEXT 17

śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ
hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi
vidhunoti suhṛt satām

COMMENT

So, Krishna in the heart helps when people are hearing His messages. Krishna in the heart helps the devotee by cleansing the desire for material enjoyment within the heart.

Bhaktin Aishwarya: Thank you.

Vinoda Bihari dasa: Ok, so now for timing, I have no more questions from participants and now if you choose to speak to somebody or let me see there is something entering. There is one question again from Hamsa Gokul of Dubai, ok?

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, ok go ahead. You need to unmute him.

Vinoda Bihari dasa: Yeah, I’m doing it. I don’t know why it’s getting blocked. Ok.

Hamsa Gokul: One small question Maharaja. I remember long, long back, I heard the series of Nectar of Instruction lectures by you and remember in that very first class you said that, Srila Prabhupada’s purports are seemingly deceptive. So, they will have a meaning, which you can just read and grasp quickly. But in each purport, there is a very deeper meaning that is always present, so how do we get into that deeper meaning of what Srila Prabhupada is trying to say? Is it by hearing more lectures on the same topic from other devotees or how do we get that deeper meaning, so that we don’t get lost only on the seemingly deceptive?

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, I probably said deceptively simple. Well, repeated reading. Of course, all the purification that you get from chanting and hearing and serving that purifies your heart. And then you can be more receptive to the deeper meanings. And repeated reading is also very powerful. When the Nectar of Devotion first came out, the movement was quite young and the devotees in the movement were new-ish and there were a lot of advanced topics in the Nectar of Devotion. Srila Prabhupada had said if you don’t understand something, don’t speculate but just keep reading it again and again. So, there is a power to repetition. Srila Prabhupada said that although from a literary point of view, repetition is maybe a fault, but Srila Prabhupada said that we will not say that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead in one purport, we will say that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead in every purport, because [by] repetition it goes deeper. There was one of the early disciples named Jadurani and she had read that the moon was churned from the ocean of milk. She didn’t know what that meant, she couldn’t understand it, so she asked Srila Prabhupada and he said, “Just repeat the moon is churned from the ocean of milk.” So she repeated it, then he said, “Repeat again.” So then, she repeated, “The moon is churned from the ocean of milk. The moon is churned from the ocean of milk. The moon is churned from the ocean of milk.” So then he asked her, “Do you understand now?” and she said, “Yes, the moon is churned from the ocean of milk.” So, I would say that combination; purification and repetition. Bhurijana Prabhu has written magnificent books. He wrote one Surrender To Me about the Bhagavad-gītā, and then he wrote one Unveiling the Lotus Feet about the first four Cantos of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. He said that most of his insights come just by repeated reading. You read again and again and again, and things emerge. The meanings emerge, and the relationships between verses and sections emerge. In fact, he wrote a nice article on prayerful reading, which maybe I could forward to you. From prayerful reading you also get more meaning, more understanding.

Hamsa Gokul: Thank you, thank you so much, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Ok, Hare Krishna.

Vinoda Bihari dasa: Ok, Maharaja. Thank you very much. I think it’s getting a bit late over here for some people. If you have anything else like to directly say to some particular devotee or something. So, we stop the question session now.

Giriraj Swami: No, I’m happy to see so many faces of devotees. Yeah, I’m very happy to see them.

Hema Gauri dasi: We have fifty-five participants and in each person participating there could be two or three more joining to see. So, we have more than 120 people listening to you.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, some I haven’t seen for a while.

Hema Gauri dasi: Yes, I think some devotees Abhimanyu has connected and he is in the temple room with some devotees.

Vinoda Bihari dasa: Dharmaraja prabhu is next to you.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah.

Hema Gauri dasi: And there is Subash Kulkarni, Devishrestha from Gibraltar and Nitai Prasad, Tulsi Manjari and then there is, Vashi Prabhu also.

Giriraj Swami: Where is Vashi?

Hema Gauri dasi: Vashi is down.

Giriraj Swami: Oh, Hare Krishna Vashi.

Vinoda Bihari dasa: And my brother Ananda Vardhanam is also here.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, nice.

Vinoda Bihari dasa: Yeah, maybe he would like to say something. I’m trying to unmute him, but I don’t know whether he is.

Ananda Vardhanam dasa: Hare Krishna, it was such an honor to have your words. It was really nectarean. Madhavi Manjari, my wife, is also here. She didn’t want to come in the video, she is feeling very shy. So, she is listening also to your class. It was very wonderful. It revived my old memories when you used to come to Spain and have your association. Remember we used to go for japa walks, and all those memories are flashing back in my mind.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, they are bringing back memories to me, too. Yeah, there is that place. . .

Ananda Vardhanam dasa: Now, in this confinement period we are feeling a little bit, although we are taking benefit of Srila Prabhupada’s books, we are reading quite a lot and chanting, but we do miss devotees physical association, when we used to go to the temple and chant all together in the ārati. It would even just make us very jubilant and spiritually strong. And we are missing that part of spiritual life. So I hope this. . .

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, well we can’t, we hope, we can’t rush things.

Ananda Vardhanam dasa: Yeah yeah, it’s true. So, anyway. Very happy and very thankful.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, thank you, my pleasure. Do you want to say anything?

Vinoda Bihari dasa: Maharaja, there is some best wishes from Preeti-kula from England.

Giriraj Swami: Oh really?

Vinoda Bihari dasa: I just tried connecting her. Let me find her first time. You can speak.

Preeti-kula dasi: Hare Krishna Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: She is muted.

Vinoda Bihari dasa: Yeah, I don’t know what’s wrong, it’s getting blocked. I’m trying to open her. Ok.

Hema Gauri dasi: Is that better?

Giriraj Swami: Yeah yeah, now you can.

Preeti-kula dasi: Hare Krishna Maharaja, I don’t have the video on because I’m trying to get the baby to sleep, and she is being naughty today.

Giriraj Swami: Got muted again.

Preeti-kula dasi: Hello? Hare Krishna. Can you hear me now?

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, yeah.

Preeti-kula dasi: It keeps muting by itself for some reason. Deepak is here as well.

Giriraj Swami: Nice.

Preeti-kula dasi: Yeah, yeah. We are just remembering our wonderful time here in Carpinteria, and we are looking forward to seeing you in September hopefully when this lockdown is over. It’s so lovely to see you and hear your class.

Giriraj Swami: Thank you.

Preeti-kula dasi: Deepak is here as well.

Giriraj Swami: Good.

Husband: Hare Krishna Maharaja. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Thank you so much. So nice to see you Maharaja, how are you doing?

Giriraj Swami: Great, great, especially with the two of you there.

Husband: Having an adventurous time at home these last few weeks or months you could say.

Preeti-kula dasi: Yeah, so it’s been so nice to read all your emails that come through about the different appearance days and everything else. Just thought we say Hare Krishna and don’t want to hold this meeting because I’m sure other people have to go. But we just wanted to say we are thinking of you and appreciating everything you are sending to us and that we are looking forward to seeing you soon again. Next time we’ll have our video on properly. Thank you very much Maharaja, we’ll see you soon.

Vinoda Bihari dasa: Maharaja, Bhakti devi, Patita Pavan’s wife, also wanted to come to ask something, so I’ll try connecting them. Let me find where is he. Ok, Patita Pavan, you can speak now.

Bhakti devi dasi: Guru Maharaja, I would like to know what happens to a devotee when he leaves the world. Is it like you say when a nondevotee leaves the body, the Yamadutas come to get the soul. So what happens at the time of death of the devotee who is properly initiated?

Giriraj Swami: Well, there are a number of factors that determine. One is the devotee’s activities during his or her life and another, of course, is what the devotee’s consciousness is at the time of death. Related to what the devotee did during his or her life is Krishna’s mercy. I was just recalling when HH Tamal Krishna Goswami was serving Srila Prabhupada in Gorakhpur. We happened to be in Gorakhpur, and he asked Srila Prabhupada, “I’m so busy serving you, what if death comes and I’m just busy serving you? I’m not able to try to focus my mind on Krishna?” Srila Prabhupada replied that “Lord Chaitanya will forcibly enter your mind.” So, I think that’s our hope to serve wholeheartedly and selflessly. And there is also another beautiful quotation from the Varāha Purāṇa, in which the Lord says that “If My devotee is not able to remember Me because of his body being disturbed at the time of death, then I will remember My devotee.”

Bhakti devi dasi: Guru Maharaja, thank you so much for appearing just today and my son, the twin boy, he is in Ireland and it is very cold there, and he is living alone and he is not so well. I’m very, very worried from here. I’m grateful to please pray for him that he can be protected.

Giriraj Swami: I’ll pray for him. I’ll formulate it in my own way, but I will pray for him.

Vinoda Bihari dasa: Thank you Maharaja for everything, for your precious time and your association. We are very grateful. Just wanted to ask you if it is possible, of course, that every at least once a month or once every three months that you give us this possibility of connecting with you?

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, that’s a good idea.

Vinoda Bihari dasa: Yeah, ok. So right we will get in touch with you and then we will fix the date for the next time. So, I will now disconnect, unmute everybody, and I’ll ask everybody please end with a big Haribol and a big round of applause for Maharaja that he has given us his valuable time. We are so grateful to you Maharaja. Just a second, just let me unmute all of you.

All: Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Giriraj Swami: Wish you all the best, wish you all the best. I wanted to thank you for organizing. This was an excellent idea and well executed, and I feel rejuvenated and nourished by having the association of all of you. And yes, some of you after a long time. And I look forward to the next opportunity. Just be careful and use this time to go deeper in Krishna consciousness. You can’t go outside, but you can go inside. So, we should use this opportunity to do that and to associate as we can by Zoom and other technological methods.