SB 3.16.37 – Earnestly Awaiting the Mercy of the Supreme Lord

Giriraj Swami: We shall read a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Three, Chapter Sixteen, “Jaya and Vijaya Cursed by the Sages,” Text Thirty-seven.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

TEXT 37

viśvasya yaḥ sthiti-layodbhava-hetur ādyo
yogeśvarair api duratyaya-yogamāyaḥ
kṣemaṁ vidhāsyati sa no bhagavāṁs tryadhīśas
tatrāsmadīya-vimṛśena kiyān ihārthaḥ

TRANSLATION

My dear sons, the Lord is the controller of the three modes of nature and is responsible for the creation, preservation and dissolution of the universe. His wonderful creative power, yoga-māyā, cannot be easily understood even by the masters of yoga. That most ancient person, the Personality of Godhead, will alone come to our rescue. What purpose can we serve on His behalf by deliberating on the subject?

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

When something is arranged by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one should not be disturbed by it, even if it appears to be a reverse according to one’s calculations.

COMMENT

I have chosen this verse and purport, of course, there is more to the purport because the corona virus pandemic does appear to be a reverse according to our calculations.

PURPORT (continued)

For example, sometimes we see that a powerful preacher is killed, or sometimes he is put into difficulty, just as Haridāsa Ṭhākura was. He was a great devotee who came into this material world to execute the will of the Lord by preaching the Lord’s glories. But Haridāsa was punished at the hands of the Kazi by being beaten in twenty-two marketplaces. Similarly, Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, and Prahlāda Mahārāja was put through so many tribulations. The Pāṇḍavas, who were direct friends of Kṛṣṇa, lost their kingdom, their wife was insulted, and they had to undergo many severe tribulations. Seeing all these reverses affect devotees, one should not be disturbed; one should simply understand that in these matters there must be some plan of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Bhāgavatam’s conclusion is that a devotee is never disturbed by such reverses. He accepts even reverse conditions as the grace of the Lord. One who continues to serve the Lord even in reverse conditions is assured that he will go back to Godhead, back to the Vaikuṇṭha planets. Lord Brahmā assured the demigods that there was no use in talking about how the disturbing situation of darkness was taking place, since the actual fact was that it was ordered by the Supreme Lord. Brahmā knew this because he was a great devotee; it was possible for him to understand the plan of the Lord.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Third Canto, Sixteenth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “The Two Doorkeepers of Vaikuṇṭha, Jaya and Vijaya, Cursed by the Sages.”

COMMENT

So, within this purport, Srila Prabhupada makes an indirect reference to another verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam when he says, ‘One who continues to serve the Lord even in reverse conditions is assured that he will go back to Godhead, back to the Vaikuntha planets.’ Now, that verse and purport are extremely important for us as devotees, especially when we face a situation that appears to be a reversal or a setback. So, that verse is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Ten, Chapter Fourteen, “Lord Brahma’s Prayers to the Lord Krishna,” Text Eight. In The Nectar of Devotion, one of the items of devotional service is expecting the Lord’s mercy. And under ‘Expecting the Lord’s mercy,’ Rupa Gosvami places this verse and Srila Prabhupada comments that this verse should be the guide of all devotees. So now, I will read the verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

TEXT 8

tat te ‘nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṇo
bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam
hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te
jīveta yo mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk

TRANSLATION

My dear Lord, one who earnestly waits for You to bestow Your causeless mercy upon him, all the while patiently suffering the reactions of his past misdeeds and offering You respectful obeisances with his heart, words, and body, is surely eligible for liberation, for it has become his rightful claim.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī explains in his commentary that just as a legitimate son has to simply remain alive to gain an inheritance from his father, one who simply remains alive in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, following the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga, automatically becomes eligible to receive the mercy of the Personality of Godhead. In other words, he will be promoted to the kingdom of God.

COMMENT

So, my dear devotees, as Srila Prabhupada said, this should be the guide of all devotees. Whatever condition we are in, whatever reversals we may face, we should continue our Krishna consciousness, and if we do that, we will be promoted to the kingdom of God. I thought of this verse in relation to my disciple, Arca Vigraha devi dasi, who left her body in Vrindavan in 1994. Although in the end, she was in intense pain because of her cancer, she never gave up her devotional service but rather intensified her Krishna consciousness. But rather, she intensified her Krishna consciousness and because of her surrender and dedication, she was eligible to enter the kingdom of God after leaving her body.

PURPORT (continued)

The word su-samīkṣamāṇa indicates that a devotee earnestly awaits the mercy of the Supreme Lord even while suffering the painful effects of previous sinful activities.

COMMENT

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

In other words, we have to tolerate, as Krishna tells Arjuna in the Bhagavad-gītā, taṁs titikṣasva bhārata. Tolerating is necessary both in happiness and distress. But usually, we think it in related to distress. In other word, we should tolerate different emotions and remain fixed in Krishna consciousness. This is a general principle for everyone. In 1977, we arranged for Srila Prabhupada’s last preaching pandal program in downtown Bombay. And the Chief Minister Mr. S.B Chavan was schedule to be chief-guest on the last day. But there was lot of political upheavals and we didn’t know whether he would even be the Chief Minister on the last day and didn’t know if he would come to pandal program. But he did come, and he was the Chief Minister. And in Srila Prabhupada’s talk, he advised the Chief Minister that these political upheavals will come and go, and that the Chief Minister should tolerate them and remain fixed in his spiritual consciousness. So, that is an instruction for all of us, that whatever reverses we face, we should tolerate them and be fixed in Krishna consciousness. And in fact, in reverse conditions or difficult situations, we can take more shelter of the Lord because we always need His shelter, but in difficulty, we can appreciate more how much we do need His shelter.

Queen Kunti is the perfect example, because although she and the Pandavas went through many reversals; they never lost faith in Krishna. They remained fixed in their devotion to Krishna. Srila Prabhupada said of himself that, “At first, Krishna tested me by taking everything away from me, and later, Krishna tested me by giving me everything.” And both are tests. Ultimately, the test is whether we will remember Krishna or forget Krishna, whether we will take shelter of Krishna or look for shelter somewhere else. Srila Prabhupada says, “In the beginning, Krishna tested me by taking everything away,” so the test is, if we lose everything, are we going to try to chase after what we lost and leave Krishna, or are we going to stay with Krishna? “And Krishna tested me by giving me everything” means, “Am I going to enjoy all the things that Krishna gave me, or am I going to stay with Krishna?” So, both are tests, and of course, Srila Prabhupada passed both the tests.

PURPORT (continued)

Lord Kṛṣṇa explains in the Bhagavad-gītā that a devotee who fully surrenders unto Him is no longer liable to suffer the reactions of his previous karma.

COMMENT

Now, coming back to the purport, that means a devotee is not suffering sinful reactions because he is already surrendered to Krishna, and Krishna has freed him from sinful reactions.

PURPORT (continued)

However, because in his mind a devotee may still maintain the remnants of his previous sinful mentality, the Lord removes the last vestiges of the enjoying spirit by giving His devotee punishments that may sometimes resemble sinful reactions.

COMMENT

This is a very subtle point. The devotee is actually free from sinful reactions, but because he may still have some trace of the mentality that led to that sinful action, the Lord may give him a punishment that resembles a sinful reaction, but it is not actually a sinful reaction; it is the Lord’s mercy.

PURPORT (continued)

The purpose of the entire creation of God is to rectify the living entity’s tendency to enjoy without the Lord, and therefore the particular punishment given for a sinful activity is specifically designed to curtail the mentality that produced the activity.

COMMENT

This is actually a very beautiful arrangement of Krishna, that the reaction for a sinful activity is designed to curtail, or you could say destroy, the mentality that led to that sinful action.

PURPORT (continued)

Although a devotee has surrendered to the Lord’s devotional service, until he is completely perfect in Kṛṣṇa consciousness he may maintain a slight inclination to enjoy the false happiness of this world. 

COMMENT

If we look within ourselves, we may find that yes, we do have that inclination to try to enjoy the material world. That inclination is coming in the way of our fully surrendering to Krishna and going back home, back to Godhead.

PURPORT (continued)

The Lord therefore creates a particular situation to eradicate this remaining enjoying spirit. This unhappiness suffered by a sincere devotee is not technically a karmic reaction; it is rather the Lord’s special mercy for inducing His devotee to completely let go of the material world and return home, back to Godhead.

A sincere devotee earnestly desires to go back to the Lord’s abode. Therefore he willingly accepts the Lord’s merciful punishment and continues offering respects and obeisances to the Lord with his heart, words, and body.

COMMENT

Again I think of Mother Arca Vigraha but there are so many examples of sincere, exalted devotees who passed their painful conditions at the end in this spirit.

PURPORT (continued)

Such a bona fide servant of the Lord, considering all hardship a small price to pay for gaining the personal association of the Lord, certainly becomes a legitimate son of God, as indicated here by the words dāya-bhāk.

COMMENT

There was a devotee in Los Angeles named Rama dasa, who was black-bodied, and he was a pujari in New Dwaraka. Towards the end of his life, I am not sure if he had cancer or what it was, but he went to Vrindavan. He had a very devoted wife named Krishna Kumari, who was a disciple of Srila Prabhupada. Somehow, they got a place not far from the Krishna-Balaram Temple, and Rama dasa attracted many sacred relics. The place was like an exhibition ground of sacred relics. After Rama dasa left, he manifested himself to his wife, maybe others, but definitely to his wife. He told her or them that, “You don’t know how good it is on the other side. Whatever you are doing now, it is worth it because it is so good when you get to the other side.” And what Rama dasa said is really echoing the words in this purport.

PURPORT (continued)

Such a bona fide servant of the Lord, considering all hardship a small price to pay for gaining the personal association of the Lord, certainly becomes a legitimate son of God, as indicated here by the words dāya-bhāk. Just as one cannot approach the sun without becoming fire, one cannot approach the supreme pure, Lord Kṛṣṇa, without undergoing a rigid purificatory process, which may appear like suffering but which is in fact a curative treatment administered by the personal hand of the Lord.

COMMENT

Of course, for ourselves, but not only just for ourselves but also for our loved ones, if we find some suffering, apparent reversal, we can consider that this is the Lord purifying me, purifying the devotee, to make me free from all traces of material attachment and make me fit for going back home, back to Godhead. And in all circumstances, we should chant the holy names.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

But we really have to chant from the heart so that at the time of death, we can remember the holy names. We can also learn to chant Hare Krishna. Srila Prabhupada says, a parrot can learn to chant Hare Krishna, but when death comes, say a cat catches that parrot, then there is no more “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna,” it says, “Kah kah!.” So Srila Prabhupada says that our chanting of Hare Krishna, we should go deep so even at the time of death, we chant Hare Krishna, not like the parrot who forgets Hare Krishna at the time of death.

So, thank you for joining and listening so patiently. And now, if you have any questions or comments, I guess you can raise your hand or send a message in the chat. But when you ask the question, I would like to see you on the screen. I see a message that Sita Thakurani raised her hand.

Sita Thakurani Mataji: Hare Krishna Guru Maharaja. So, in adverse situation, our mind automatically goes to adverse situation than the going to Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Oh, so you are saying that when you are in some adverse situation, your mind keeps thinking about the adverse situation, even though you try to bring it to Krishna.

It is natural for your mind to think of that adverse situation but we should see Krishna in situation. That was the whole verse and purport that we just read that even in an adverse situation, we should see Krishna purifying us. So it is natural that we think of that situation, but we should see it as a manifestation of Krishna’s mercy to ultimately purify us.

Devotee: Hare Krishna guru Maharaja. daṇḍavat-praṇāmās. One question, we heard a true statement. One, a spiritual master, usually suffers because of the mistakes of their disciples. It is said, because that is not his karma, but because of the karma of disciples. And another thing, we also heard that as soon as the disciples break any principle, then already that relationship of the spiritual master and disciples gets cut down. So then there is no mean of a spiritual master to get rejected. That heard the pastime of Srila Prabhupada where he said that he is not my disciple. So I am not responsible. So, Maharaja, how can reconcile these statements?

Giriraj Swami: The general principle is that the spiritual master accepts the sinful reactions from the disciple. The eternal relationship between the spiritual master and disciple is not broken if the disciple falls down. The relationship is broken only if the disciple rejects the spiritual master. But if the disciple does not reject the spiritual master but he falls down because of weakness, sensual weakness, the spiritual master still is responsible for that disciple. So we should be very careful not to commit sinful activities, so otherwise, our spiritual master may have to suffer.

Translator: Guru Maharaja, can I just comment on what he said when quoted Srila Prabhupada that, he is no more my disciple. I am just saying personally for myself. I, in fact, never heard that. I always heard that Srila Prabhupada said because when Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaja said that, “Would you have rejected him?” And Srila Prabhupada said, “There is no limit to Lord Nityananda’s mercy,” he actually never rejected anybody. So am I right on that on what he said? It was a little different.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that is good what you said.

Devotee: Hare Krishna guru Maharaja, please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. It was a wonderful class and it clarifies many of my doubts. You referred that Krishna gives punishment to remove the remaining material attachments that we have and we should take it as a mercy. So my question is, should we wait for such punishments from Krishna, or should we try on our own also to remove such material attachments? Or should we just pray for the mercy of Krishna that one day he will give us some trouble, and then the remaining attachments that we have will go away by that mercy? Thank you.

Giriraj Swami: Everyone comes to Krishna consciousness with material attachments. When we chant the holy names, we are endeavoring to purify our hearts and become free from material attachments. And therefore, it is an offense against the holy name to hold on to one’s material attachments. In the list of ten offenses mentioned in The Nectar of Devotion, the tenth offense is to not have complete faith in the chanting of the holy names, and to maintain material attachments even after understanding so many instructions on the matter. Those attachments are not actually helping us. They are coming in the way of our full surrender to Krishna. They are coming in the way of our receiving full shelter of Krishna. So we should not hold on to them, but we also have to know what is material and what is spiritual. For example, our japa-mālā, is it spiritual or material? I would say they are spiritual. And in my case, my beads were chanted on by Srila Prabhupada, so I am attached to these beads. At the same time, if we have some facility that we use in Krishna’s service, but if somehow we lose that facility, we still go on with Krishna’s service, we don’t stop because we lost that facility. And Srila Prabhupada said, if I have a microphone, it will be good for my preaching, but if I don’t have a microphone, I will still preach. If something really is a material attachment, then we should let it go. Otherwise, if we hold on to it, it becomes an offense against the holy name.

Okay, Madulika, is your question answered? I think so. Now we have three raised hands.

Devotee: Maharaja, please accept my humble obeisances and dust of your lotus feet. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and always very inspired by your most exalted Krishna consciousness. You have imbibed Srila Prabhupada’s mood in such an amazing way, and you have gone through many experiences. So, in a time like this, how can a disciple go into the depth of his heart and really connect to the spiritual master and serve the spiritual master?

Giriraj Swami: What do you mean at a time like this?

Devotee: Maharaja is in the hospital and we have a fear that he may leave us.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, we all are praying for him, and we can keep praying and pray more intensely. And within yourself, you can see if perhaps, I don’t think so, but if perhaps you might have been a little negligent in your devotional service, which could have contributed to his burden. Once, Prabhupada was very sick in Vrindavan and he said that he was suffering because his disciples were not getting up and attending maṅgala-ārati. So that is a nice attitude that you expressed, to see in what way you could improve so that you are not placing any burden on your guru Maharaja. I don’t know if you really are placing any burden on your guru Maharaja; you may not be. I am just responding to the question. Shyama Kishor Prabhu, where are you geographically?

Devotee: I am in Farmington Hills.

Giriraj Swami: Oh, okay. Yes, we are praying for your guru Maharaja. Before we end, I think we should sing the Nṛsiṁha prayers.

Devotee: This is my question: When we surrender to Krishna completely, we are free from all the sins, as you highlighted in today’s lecture. But still, we suffer due to the mentality. Guru Maharaja, could you please give an example to elaborate on this point? And how can we, in the future, avoid this kind of situation to displease Krishna?

Giriraj Swami: Well, another idea is that Krishna gives a token reaction. I will give my own example unfortunately. We were observing Ratha-yatra in Calcutta. There were huge throngs of people, and we were throwing packets of prasāda from the chariot. So, unfortunately, I threw a packet. It didn’t go as far as it should have gone, and a lady came to pick up that packet. And when she came close to pick up the packet, the wheel of the chariot went on her foot. Tamal Krishna Goswami saw the whole thing and he said, “You are going to get some wound or some infection on your foot.” Which I did. It was sort of token punishment. For the pain I caused that lady, I should have gotten more, but it was more like a token punishment from Krishna. So it wasn’t exactly a sinful activity in the usual sense, but it was definitely a case of negligence.

Devotee: Hare Krishna guru Maharaja. Please accept my humble obeisances. I want to thank you very much for giving your time and talking to all the disciples, giving them the strength to deal with this situation. And our mother has a question, which is also maybe what a lot of other people might be feeling. That if she wants to directly communicate with His Holiness Bhakti Charu Maharaja and say something to him, it is not possible. So, what way can she talk to him? How can we convey our message to him or talk to him in this situation?

Giriraj Swami: I received a message about him so I went on my iPhone. And there is recent update on 11:15 p.m. Orlando time. Do you have that?

Devotee: My question is that if we can’t directly communicate in such situations, how can we communicate with him on the spiritual plane?

Giriraj Swami: So, you are asking how to communicate with him?

Devotee: If we can’t directly, or physically, or tangibly communicate, how do we connected?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, I think just by praying, by chanting. I forget the name of the devotee who sent me the first information about him. I could find it, but it seems like he is with Maharaja, and I guess you could communicate with him. And as appropriate, he could pass on the communications to Maharaja. I am sure you also have gotten communication from him, but after this, I can look on my phone and find out his name because I don’t remember it now. But it is a very trying time for all of us. Very difficult time. Yes, just chant and pray as much as we can. I don’t know what else to say.

Devotee: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Daṇḍavat-praṇāmās. Jaya Srila Prabhupada. thank you. Firstly, thank you for such a wonderful and transcendental class. it was really amazing to hear from you, each and every word. So my realization was on the whole class that I was thinking of two characters here. One was, Kunti Maharani, and another one, her own son, Karna. Kunti continues to always, invite for more trouble. Then she would say, Krishna, please give me more troubles so that I know that you are with me, and when the troubles are around with me. And she was so surrendered to Krishna, in every respect. And whereas her own son, Karna. He wasn’t surrender. He felt that he can fight his own war, and he will also win, apparently. Although he was on the side of adharma. And somewhere in his heart, he knew that he won’t win, but he was still trying his best. And at the same time, I was also thinking that when there are a lot of troubled times that we go through, we do have a lot more connection and attachment towards Krishna. We really pray and surrender at that point in time. But of course, that times again really good, and life is as usual, we forget our learnings from the troubles that we have gone through. So Maharaja, if you could just, highlight how we could remember the learning that we have got to during our miseries, how should we take that forward in our journey?

Giriraj Swami: So that was a very good connection you made with Queen Kunti because she found that when she and her sons were in difficulty, Krishna was with them. And she prayed to Krishna that she would rather have those difficulties and have Him, rather than be nicely situated materially without Him. She prayed,

vipadaḥ santu tāḥ śaśvat
tatra tatra jagad-guro
bhavato darśanaṁ yat syād
apunar bhava-darśanam

which means, “I wish that all those calamities would happen again and again so that we could see you again and again, for seeing you means that we will no longer see repeated births and deaths.” So if we require reversals to remember Krishna, then it is better to have those reversals and remember Krishna than to be situated comfortably and forget Krishna. Srila Prabhupada says, a devotee feels grateful in both situations. If the devotee has some good facility, the devotee feels grateful that he can use this facility to serve Krishna. And if devotee doesn’t have facilities, he still feels grateful that he has what he does have and is still able to serve Krishna. We shouldn’t go out of our way to bring calamities on ourselves. They will come anyway if they are meant to come. We should practice taking shelter of Krishna in every circumstance.

Devotee: I am still thinking that, why we are in those difficulties and the learnings that we have from those, we eventually tend to forget those rulings. We are just, we continue our life as usual. How can we keep of imagine our minds to remember those moments and that we don’t fall into it again?

Giriraj Swami: I would recommend attentive chanting and reading of Srila Prabhupada’s books, in other words, by association. In other words, when you are in difficulty and you learn some lesson and then you forget it, the reason you forget it is because you are associating with the material energy, and the material energy will lull you into a false sense of happiness and security. When we associate with Krishna in the form of holy name and the holy scriptures, then we won’t forget those lessons.

Prananath Prabhu: Hare Krishna guru Maharaja. Daṇḍavat-praṇāmās. Maharaja, I would like to ask forgiveness to you in relation to all this told. Actually, when you are very ill in 1999, I pray for the Lord to give your pain to me, and then I got severely, the slip-disk. But it is also unbearable that I finally had to say that I can’t bear it. I would like to ask forgiveness for that. [sobbing]

Giriraj Swami: That was very loving and selfless of you that you ask for that reaction to come on you instead of me. You did as much as you could, which was lot. Just for the sake of other viewers, when he says about his nonsense, that is coming out of his humility. He really doesn’t do any nonsense.

We will chant the Nṛsiṁha prayers.

[Singing the Sri Nṛsiṁha prayers]

A couple of minutes ago, in the chat, there is something from Bhakti Nilaya dasa.

[Reading message form Bhakt Nilaya dasa]

Giriraj Swami: I am your servant, servant of the servants. Yes, we just have to pray and chant, purify our hearts, and do whatever we know would please him, even if he is not aware of what we are doing. Of course, we should do that at every moment, in any case, but especially now. We should, we should do whatever we know would please him and please Krishna.

Devotee: Thank you, thank you very, very much for giving such a wonderful, wonderful inspiration and solace at this particular moment.

Translator: Thank you so much for allowing me the service, also for allowing me and bringing me to the service. I remember guru Maharaja that, always whatever service I have got in my life, is your mercy. You always say that you are made up of Srila Prabhupada’s mercy, but I can definitely say for myself that I am made up of your mercy, guru Maharaja. My life, because first cooking for you, that was the mercy you gave me. Then you gave me the service of preaching. By your mercy, I am able to do that. Now, even translation of your books also, which I am trying to continue, and then I have to expedite, of course with coronavirus’s hospitality clamp on that, but it will happen. Thank you, thank you so much for giving me and always keeping me under the shade of your lotus feet and allowing me with them.

Giriraj Swami: Thank you, thank you for all your sincere efforts and good results.

Devotee: Actually, we all are in some kind of tough time we are facing from the morning, we all got the news of guru Maharaja. And we have all been there and the situation is, what to do. But I requested at lotus feet, Maharaja, please bless us and please pray—something would happen anymore, we need blessings.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, we all do. Well, I will be praying. The whole program was infused with that prayer, although unstated, and yes, I will pray and do whatever I can to encourage and support his disciples and followers.