Appreciating Bhakti Charu Swami

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. So we have gathered to remember, appreciate, and glorify His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja. I first met Maharaja in a makeshift bathroom at the Mahā Khumba-mela in Allahabad in January of 1977. I knew pretty much all the devotees in India, but I didn’t recognize him, so I asked him who he was, what his background was. I could see immediately he was a very gentle and cultured person.

From the Khumba-mela, Srila Prabhupada went to Calcutta and Bhubaneshwar, then back to Calcutta, Mayapur, and then he came to Bombay for his last major public preaching program, a pandal program in Azad Maidan and His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja always came with him. And during that pandal program, Srila Prabhupada stayed in the city because Juhu was quite far away. He stayed in the city at a life member’s home, and Bhakti Charu Swami stayed with him as his servant. He would accompany Srila Prabhupada to the pandal every evening. Srila Prabhupada was amazing. He was quite ill, and he would need to be helped up onto the stage and onto his seat, vyāsāsana. But when he began to preach, he became like a lion. He became so animated and forceful. Then, after some time, Srila Prabhupada, because of his poor health, wanted to do something, so he went to Rishikesh. Some prominent friends suggested Rishikesh could be good for him, so he went there, and Bhakti Charu Swami accompanied him there. But then, one night, Srila Prabhupada felt that the time had come that he would leave his body soon. So, Srila Prabhupada and all the devotees, a small group of devotees left Rishikesh, came to Delhi, and then Vrindavan. There, Bhakti Charu Swami was rendering personal service to Srila Prabhupada. Hearing about Srila Prabhupada’s condition, I also came to Vrindavan from Bombay, Juhu. I could see how wonderfully Bhakti Charu Swami was taking care of Srila Prabhupada.

This morning, we had a similar meeting with South Africa, and during that conference, His Holiness Jaya Advaita Swami recounted a very touching little incident. When Bhakti Charu Swami entered the room in Vrindavan, having just arrived, he approached Srila Prabhupada, who was lying flat on his bed, and he was speaking to him in Bengali, Jaya Advaita Swami couldn’t understand what he was saying. But the tone was very soothing, almost like Bhakti Charu Swami was caressing Srila Prabhupada. And as Jaya Advaita Swami told, he thought, This is a real disciple. When I heard it, I also was very moved and touched to see that degree of love and care, not just love and care, but the ability to express it in such a personal way. Then, Srila Prabhupada left, and we had our different services in different places. But then, I met up with Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja in South Africa and Mauritius. We became Co-GBCs. It was really wonderful working with him. He was so pure-hearted. Once a reporter asked Srila Prabhupada. . .I asked him how could his disciples be recognized. And the interviewer said, “How would I recognize a true follower of the Krishna consciousness Movement by his behavior? What would his traits be? What would his outward expressions be?” Srila Prabhupada replied, “Yes, his behavior. He is a perfect gentleman. That is all. You cannot find any fault in him. That is perfect Krishna consciousness.”

So, His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami was a perfect gentleman. In fact, one of his many contributions to the movement was that he taught the devotees about Vaishnava etiquette, and he himself was a perfect example of Vaishnava etiquette. So, I wrote a little something about him that I could read now. I call it “The Heart of a Vaishnava.”

“One of Sri Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja’s most prominent qualities was his deep love for Srila Prabhupada. Very soon after Maharaja met Srila Prabhupada, Prabhupada included him in his personal staff, made him secretary for Bengali and Hindi correspondence. Soon thereafter, Srila Prabhupada gave him first and second initiation, and then sannyasa. And Maharaja personally served Srila Prabhupada throughout Prabhupada’s last days. His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami was also devoted to ISKCON. He always considered ISKCON to be a unique creation of Srila Prabhupada’s and always wanted to serve ISKCON, both the devotees in ISKCON and ISKCON as an entity, a manifestation of Srila Prabhupada. He was really in the mood of service to the devotees, especially the devotees of ISKCON, and to ISKCON itself.”

“Maharaja was a very pure-hearted, loving person. His love for Srila Prabhupada was seen in his love for the devotees and for people in general, whom he wanted to bring to Srila Prabhupada, and in how he encouraged devotees to increase their engagement, take on more responsibility, and become more loving, humble servants. ‘The more responsibility one accepts,’ as he once explained to a devotee in Mauritius, ‘the bigger servant of the devotees one becomes.’ This reminded me of something that Srila Prabhupada once said. A disciple came into Prabhupada’s room in Mayapur one day and began to complain about the management. Srila Prabhupada said, ‘If you think you can do better, why don’t you?’ Somehow, the disciple came out and announced that Srila Prabhupada had made him the temple commander. He began to boss around the other devotees. Some devotees complained to Srila Prabhupada that the devotee had said that Prabhupada had made him the temple commander and that now he was barking orders at everyone. So Srila Prabhupada called for the devotee and instructed him, ‘First, you become the servant of everyone, then you become a temple commander.’ And thus, Srila Prabhupada expressed the same idea as Bhakti Charu Swami, that a bigger position means becoming a bigger servant. Bhakti Charu Swami and paramparā had that same understanding.”

“If we listen carefully to all of Bhakti Charu Swami’s instructions, we can understand how closely he followed the disciplic succession. Some of his statements were very close to Srila Prabhupada’s words, and some took the basic principles that Srila Prabhupada gave and sweetened them with personal realization. Another of the many fine qualities exemplified by His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami was his offenselessness. He was very careful not to commit any offense against any devotee or any living entity. And if he felt he had committed an offense, he immediately tried to mitigate the effects by approaching the person, apologizing, and asking forgiveness. Somehow or other, he tried to rectify the offense. From our point of view, we wouldn’t think he had committed an offense, but with his pure heart, he may have felt that he had, and immediately he would try to approach and please the person he feared he had offended, to remove the effects of the offense.”

“Maharaja’s heart was pure and very sensitive, full of appreciation for other devotees and sensitive to his own faults, which again, from our point of view, wouldn’t even have been considered faults. That is really the heart of a Vaishnava, full of love and appreciation for others but sensitive to one’s own deficiencies or mistakes. As stated by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-gītā (12.13–14), ‘One who is not envious but is a kind friend to all living entities, who does not think himself a proprietor and is free from false ego, who is equal in both happiness and distress, who is tolerant, always satisfied, self-controlled, engaged in devotional service with determination, his mind and intelligence fixed on Me—such a devotee of Mine is very dear to Me.’”

So, this verse from the Bhagavad-gītā, to me, really portrayed or described His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami. And I will read it again so we can just keep in mind how the verse applies, or applied to His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami. “One who is not envious but is a kind friend to all living entities,” he really was a kind friend. “Who does not think himself a proprietor,” Maharaja, as a result of his preaching, was blessed with a lot of opulence. Many wealthy people came forward to assist him. In South Africa. He was remarkably successful in cultivating wealthy people and engaging them in Krishna’s service. And then, of course, later he had his own projects in India, most notably in Ujjain. But he did not think himself a proprietor, and he was freed from false ego. He understood himself to be the humble servant of the servant of the servants of Krishna. “Who is equal in both happiness and distress,” Yes, he was very equal, tolerant, always satisfied, self-controlled, and engaged in devotional service with determination. His mind and intelligence fixed on Krishna. “Such a devotee of mine is very dear to me.”

So we do, of course, miss Maharaja’s personal association. Who wouldn’t? But we do have his example, we have his teachings, we have so many recordings of his beautiful singing and his wonderful speaking. During this period, I listened to many of Maharaja’s talks, and I was especially inclined to listen to him speaking about his experiences with Srila Prabhupada. There were two he gave; one was in Zurich, Switzerland, I think in 2012, and another was in Seattle, Washington, sometime later. And of course, there was a lot of overlap in the talks, but there was a lot of different information, different anecdotes, different realizations expressed in the two talks. Bhakti Tirtha Swami first encountered Srila Prabhupada through the book, through Prabhupada’s book The Nectar of Devotion. When he got the book, leading up until then, he was looking for a guru, but he was not satisfied with any of the gurus or so-called gurus he encountered, and he almost became hopeless. But somehow, he got a copy of The Nectar of Devotion, and while reading The Nectar of Devotion, he thought, This man, meaning Prabhupada, the author, this man is my guru. This is the guru I have been searching for. And he stayed up late reading the book. He was reading until he just fell asleep, and then when he woke up, he began reading again. And within himself, he decided, Yes, this is my guru. This is the guru I have been searching for, and I am going to surrender to him.

So The Nectar of Devotion describes various items of devotional service, including visiting holy places where the Lord performed His pastimes. So, Bhakti Tirtha Swami went to the Calcutta temple and inquired about Srila Prabhupada’s whereabouts, and they told him that he was in America and he would be coming after some months. So he thought, in the meantime, he would visit holy places connected with the pastimes of Lord Chaitanya and Lord Krishna. To begin, he went to Mayapur, which is near Calcutta, and he was so impressed by everything—the tranquil atmosphere, the devotees, especially by the devotees. And they were all very welcoming, and they were all saying, “You should stay with us,” and he did stay. And then, when Srila Prabhupada returned to India, he went to the Mahā Khumba-mela in Allahabad. Bhakti Tirtha Swami was with a group of devotees that also went to the Mela, and that is where they met, in the bathroom. So, yes, I really cherish the times with His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja. And now, of course, we have to serve him in separation. But we will do that, and I am sure that he will be there, blessing our efforts and encouraging us until we complete whatever we are meant to do here. And then we can rejoin him and Srila Prabhupada, wherever they are. Hare Krishna.

So, I am not completely sure about the format, but we do have a few minutes. So, do we take questions and comments? Vanamali Pandit Prabhu?

Vanamali Pandit Prabhu: If anyone has any questions in particular to ask, I know this is a very difficult time for us. We may have many questions in our mind which could be disturbing to all of us. Maybe this is a wonderful opportunity for us to ask His Holiness Giriraj Swami, since we have a couple of minutes. Please unmute yourself and ask the question.

Devotee: Hare Krishna Maharaja. this is Vrajendra Nandan dasa. Maharaja, one of the things I have been thinking from ever since we got this news is, how when Maharaja was around, I did not really take much benefit of his association, like his talks or there were seminars in New Vrindavan and events, and I did not take it very seriously. And now, when he is not around, I feel that, “Oh wow, I lost something really valuable.” And this realization that when you have these pure devotees around, and then sometimes you take things very lightly and not very seriously. So, how do we change that consciousness in terms of making sure that we don’t make the same mistake again now, and making sure that the devotees that we have around us, we take the benefit of their association and not let our mind trick us?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that is a good question. Can you put yourself on video? I like to see the people who ask the questions. Well, that is an unfortunate tendency that we have, to take things for granted until we lose them. But what you have realized is correct, that we should not take anything for granted. We don’t know who is going to be here tomorrow; we don’t even know if we are going to be here tomorrow. Of course, we expect that we will be, but we don’t know. And so we should not take anything for granted even life’s breath, heartbeat, you shouldn’t take anything for granted. And therefore, we should use every moment in Krishna consciousness, both in our own spiritual practices and also in terms of getting association. Historically, there was a period in ISKCON’s history when a number of the most prominent leaders. . . and pretty much the remaining leaders, were scrambling just to keep their projects and their zones working. And I was responsible mainly for Mauritius and South Africa, which were very out of the way, and I wasn’t getting any association. But somehow, I got the opportunity to go to Dallas, and there I met my old friend, close friend Tamal Krishna Goswami. And we had a talk, a very memorable talk in his bedroom, sitting on the floor, on the carpet in his bedroom. And I was saying how I felt I wasn’t getting association, and he was saying that you have to go out of your way to get it. He also spoke about the importance of śikṣā-gurus. He said that with all of his association with Srila Prabhupada, and with all of his initiations from Srila Prabhupada—first initiation, second initiation, and sannyasa initiation—he still felt that he needed śikṣā-gurus in his life. And then he named a few devotees; I don’t remember everyone whom he considered to be śikṣā-gurus, including Sivarama Swami, Bhurijana Prabhu. There were a number; he even included me on the list, although I considered him to be my śikṣā-guru, or at least one of my main śikṣā-gurus.

So, yes, we should never feel complacent or self-satisfied, but we should always feel meek and humble that we need association, we need support, and we should go out of our way to get it. And that will keep us supported, nourished, supported, strengthened. Yes. One of my other close friends in Krishna consciousness is His Holiness Rtadhvaja Swami, and he told the devotee who he felt was procrastinating he said, “I do have an expiration date.” Well, we don’t want to think about that too much, but it is true; we all have an expiration date. And so we should do what we can for each other while we can and take advantage of each other’s association while we can. Hare Krishna.

Are there any other questions or comments?

Devotee: One comment Maharaja. “Please lead us Maharaja. We need many more years of your association.” From Krishnadasa.

Giriraj Swami: I will do what I can. I was heartened once in Dallas more recently, after Tamal Krishna Goswami left. I don’t know, I was just feeling I need more time. I am slow. I need more time to do what I am meant to do, internally and externally. And that period, was leading up to Tamal Krishna Goswami’s appearance day or disappearance day. So, in the temple, they were reading from a series called TKG Memories, a series of small books. And that series included different qualities of Tamal Krishna Goswami and examples. So one of the qualities was something like “purveyor of good news.” And the idea was that whenever he heard something really nice from Srila Prabhupada, he would immediately share it with the other devotees. So this particular bit of good news was—and this was just in a way what I needed to hear because I felt, I am slow, I need more time—so Srila Prabhupada told Tamal Krishna Goswami that Krishna wants us to go back home, back to Godhead in this very lifetime. And if we are not ready, Krishna will extend the duration of our lives beyond what they should have been, so that we can finish up in this very lifetime and go back to Godhead. So I thought, This is just what I needed to hear. So yes, from a medical point of view—I do what I can, for my health and longevity. And yes, it will be my great fortune if I can be with you all for a long, long time and serve Srila Prabhupada and all of you. Hare Krishna.

Are there any other questions or comments?

Devotee: Hare Krishna guru Maharaja. Can you hear me?

Giriraj Swami: I hear you. Excuse me. I am seeing, and it looks like a middle-aged gentleman named Krishnadas Boulder. I knew a little boy named Krishnadasa, who is the son of Kalidas and Yasomati. I cannot believe it is the same, Krishnadasa. Nice to see you in your new body. Hare Krishna.

Yes, Preeti Radhika?

Devotee: Thank you, Maharaja. So Maharaja, I wanted to ask you that it is very difficult, losing Bhakti Charu Swami. So what can we do for the disciples, especially those that we are attached to? We served with them; we know them closely. And what can the leaders do for the disciples now? Can the disciples reach out to the other leaders if they have questions or they need solace? So how can we go about this?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, as I mentioned, Bhakti Charu Swami was very strong on ISKCON, that devotees will be safe as long as they stay in ISKCON. And, he also emphasized that ISKCON is a family. And so we have our father—you can say our guru is like our father—but we also have our uncles and older brothers and cousins. So yes, the elders, but not just the elders, everyone should really extend themselves to Bhakti Charu Swami’s disciples now. And yes, different devotees, His Holiness Bhakti Chaitanya Swami wrote a nice letter just to the disciples, basically saying that we are here for them to help them. But of course, the feelings of separation will be there. That is for sure, especially now, so soon after he left. But as Srila Prabhupada said in his dedication to his Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, he dedicated to his guru Maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura ‘He lives forever by his divine instructions, and the follower lives with him.’ So we are in a way living with Srila Prabhupada after his departure by endeavoring to follow his instructions and serve his desires. And so Bhakti Charu Swami’s disciples, they can learn that art. And after Srila Prabhupada left we got a lot of direction and solace from the Fourth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In fact, just yesterday, I got a letter from one of His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami’s disciples in Surat in India, and I directed him to this section of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. You can make a note of it. I think it will be wonderful for the disciples of Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja or anyone who has lost the physical presence of their spiritual master, and that is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Four, Chapter Twenty-eight, Texts Forty-five to Fifty-five. I came across these verses and purports a little after Srila Prabhupada left, and I thought, My God, this is perfect. Srila Prabhupada is telling me exactly what I needed to know after his departure.

It is good to get together and remember Bhakti Charu Swami, glorify him. This is new now with Bhakti Charu Swami, but I did see with Tamal Krishna Swami, after he left we would have meetings. And in the beginning, the devotees were very sad and morose. But then, as the meetings continued and they were talking about Tamal Krishna Swami, I was sharing, they were sharing memories and experiences, the whole mood changed. It became happy, blissful.

So, any other questions, comments? So if not, maybe we can end by singing the Nṛsiṁha prayers.

[Singing the Sri Nṛsiṁha prayers]