Srila Prabhupada—How Shall I Take Shelter of One More than He?

Gopeshwar Prabhu: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Please accept our humble obeisances. I am servant of your servant Gopeshwar dasa. I had contacted you, and we are extremely fortunate, blessed, and grateful, Maharaja, to have your wonderful and divine association. I request all the audience to please chant, though we will be mute on audio. But let us chant with our full heart, wholeheartedly expressing gratitude at the lotus feet of Srila Guru Maharaja. Please let us join Hare Krishna very loudly and with grateful heart.

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

Maharaja, with your permission, I will just say a few things, just a little bit, Maharaja, if you please permit. Thank you, thank you very much. So, dear devotees, we welcome you all from ISKCON Faridabad, all the devotees of the Faridabad community, and from other parts of India and the world, to have this wonderful association of Maharaja. As most of you might know, Maharaja is a very, very senior and a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, a very exalted Vaishnava. Maharaja, way back in 1969, when maybe a few of us were not there in the present body, in some other body, we were there somewhere else, Maharaja in 1969 was studying in Boston University. He comes from a very affluent family; his father was a very renowned lawyer and went on to become a judge also. Maharaja was the only son, but he met Srila Prabhupada, and it is said, Maharaja says that the brief association with Srila Prabhupada, whatever Maharaja learned, was much more than he learned in all his university and education days. Maharaja surrender at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada. And very soon Srila Prabhupada made Maharaja the president of ISKCON Juhu temple. And then Maharaja went on to become a GBC, also a trustee in BBT, and he has been preaching worldwide. And currently, he is spending most of his time writing books, which was a personal instruction of Srila Prabhupada to Maharaja. So, I will not take much time and again express gratitude to Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: So, dear devotees, I will begin by singing the maṅgalācaraṇa prayer and leading a short kirtan, and then I will speak on verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which I will relate to Srila Prabhupada’s mercy.

[Prayers and kirtan]

So now, what will we do about the Hindi translation?

Gopeshwar Prabhu: My submission was that you speak a few sentences, and then, if you permit, I will translate in Hindi.

Giriraj Swami: Okay, okay, that is fine. So, we will read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Three, Chapter Two, Text Twenty-three. This verse and purport, remind me of Srila Prabhupada.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya,

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya,

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

I will just read the Sanskrit and the translation and the purport.

TEXT 23

aho bakī yaṁ stana-kāla-kūṭaṁ
jighāṁsayāpāyayad apy asādhvī
lebhe gatiṁ dhātry-ucitāṁ tato ‘nyaṁ
kaṁ vā dayāluṁ śaraṇaṁ vrajema

TRANSLATION

Alas, how shall I take shelter of one more merciful than He who granted the position of mother to a she-demon [Pūtanā] although she was unfaithful and she prepared deadly poison to be sucked from her breast?

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Here is an example of the extreme mercy of the Lord, even to His enemy. It is said that a noble man accepts the good qualities of a person of doubtful character, just as one accepts nectar from a stock of poison. In His babyhood, He was administered deadly poison by Pūtanā, a she-demon who tried to kill the wonderful baby. And because she was a demon, it was impossible for her to know that the Supreme Lord, even though playing the part of a baby, was no one less than the same Supreme Personality of Godhead. His value as the Supreme Lord did not diminish upon His becoming a baby to please His devotee Yaśodā. The Lord may assume the form of a baby or a shape other than that of a human being, but it doesn’t make the slightest difference; He is always the same Supreme. A living creature, however powerful he may become by dint of severe penance, can never become equal to the Supreme Lord.

Lord Kṛṣṇa accepted the motherhood of Pūtanā because she pretended to be an affectionate mother, allowing Kṛṣṇa to suck her breast. The Lord accepts the least qualification of the living entity and awards him the highest reward. That is the standard of His character. Therefore, who but the Lord can be the ultimate shelter?

COMMENT

So, this verse reminds me of Srila Prabhupada. “How shall I take shelter of one more merciful than He?” There was no one more merciful than Srila Prabhupada. Lord Nityananda is most merciful, and Srila Prabhupada manifested the same quality of mercy as Nityananda Prabhu.

[READING from How shall I take shelter of one more merciful than he?]

So, I don’t know how much time is left, but if you want, we can open the floor to devotees in case they want to make any comments or ask any questions.

Gopeshwar Prabhu: Yes, sure. It is a great pleasure to hear from you, and I am sure we would love to have this session longer and longer. But because of the late evening hours, with your permission, I will just ask devotees to please ask questions. Maybe they can raise their hands and ask questions.

Devotee: Okay, Amit Bhatia is the first one who raises his hand.

Amit Bhatia Prabhu: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Thank you very much for your wonderful association. I have a comment, and I have a small question also. The first comment is that your smile is very beautiful. We really liked it. Thank you for the wonderful association, and my curiosity is just to have a small pastime relating to Mr. Nair if you would like to share any small incident.

Giriraj Swami: Well, Mr. Nair, I think most of the devotees know, but Mr. Nair was a demon. He was the owner of the Juhu land and tried to cheat Srila Prabhupada by not signing over the land but keeping the money that Srila Prabhupada gave him for it. There were a lot of intrigues. Once, I gave a talk in Los Angeles, and my godbrother, Virabahu Prabhu, after the class, he said, “I don’t usually like it when devotees use the word ‘demon’ but after hearing this story, I can say he actually was a demon.”

So, I will fast forward as they say. One day I was in Bombay near Metro Cinema. And then, there would be vendors with magazines on the footpath selling them. I happened to look down and saw a big headline in the Sunday Edition of the Free Press Journal, which Mr. Nair was the editor of, and the headline said, “A.B. Nair Dead.” So, I was really happy, and I felt like dancing for joy. I don’t know if I actually did, but that is definitely how I felt. But then I thought, We are trying to be saintly persons, we are trying to develop saintly qualities. Is this appropriate?’ Anyway, I thought this was very big news, and we had to inform Srila Prabhupada. I actually had Bali Mardan who was more senior to me and more experienced and closer to Srila Prabhupada in a way. So, he phoned Srila Prabhupada to give him the news. When Srila Prabhupada’s servant, Sruti Kirti Prabhu, relayed the news to him, Srila Prabhupada unfolded his hands and said, “Thank you, Krishna. Thank you. I was praying for this. He caused too much trouble to the devotees and to the deities. It is good that Krishna killed that demon.” Then he quoted a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Seventh Canto, from Prahlada’s prayers to Nṛsiṁhadeva, in which Prahlada says, “Even saintly persons take pleasure when a snake or a scorpion is killed.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Mr. Nair was a big snake, and it is good that Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva killed him.” So, Sruti Kirti Prabhu said, “Well, if Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva had killed him, does that mean he was liberated?” The Srila Prabhupada said, “No, he is not so big of a demon that he was personally killed by Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva and liberated.”

Then Srila Prabhupada sent a letter to us in Bombay because I didn’t know about it and I was still in doubt about what my reaction should be. And then Srila Prabhupada sent a letter addressed to me and a few of our supporters saying, “I have received one telephone message from Bali Mardan that Mr. Nair is dead, and if this is true, it is a great occasion for rejoicing.” Then he quoted, “Even a saintly person takes pleasure when a snake or a scorpion is killed.” So our feelings of happiness were justified. Even for a saintly person, which we are trying to become, but it was justified because he was a snake. Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Please accept my humble obeisances. I have two questions and one humble submission. First question is like we heard two things from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, especially when we heard that Arjuna was explaining to Yudhistir Maharaja that Lord Krishna has gone back, and he was very, very much grieved basically, he was not able to tolerate his separation. So he, at the same time, got the message of the Lord that he should take all the shooting, the shelter of Bhagavad-gītā. So, Maharaja, I wish to ask we know Srila Prabhupada that he is pure devotee of the Lord and he is from Vaikuntha. So, how do I understand this? It is so difficult to tolerate or to absorb his departure. So, my humble request is kindly just tell us that you serve Srila Prabhupada so closely. So how actually was it possible that when he went back, so I, at the same time in you continued with your services? I think it was just impossible. When a spiritual master goes, so it is just not possible to tolerate his absence. So kindly suggest, it will not only give us strength on one side but at the same time, we will be strong enough to continue serving in all those situations.

Giriraj Swami: So just after Srila Prabhupada left, I was there in Vrindavan. I came across a section in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Four, Chapter Twenty-eight, about the departure of the spiritual master. It is an analogy. A wife and her husband had gone into the forest as vanaprasthis, and the husband died. The wife was weeping piteously. And Srila Prabhupada explains that figuratively, the husband is the spiritual master and the wife is the disciple. Srila Prabhupada explains that just as the widow cried piteously when her husband died, similarly the disciple should cry when the spiritual master leaves. So that is natural. But as Srila Prabhupada explains, there are two ways of association: vapuḥ, which means physical presence, and vāṇī, which means words or transcendental sound. The vapuḥ may or may not be available, but the vāṇī will always continue; the instructions will always be there. As Srila Prabhupada wrote in his dedication to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, ‘Dedicated to my spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja. He lives forever by his divine instructions, and the follower lives with him.’ So, by following the spiritual master’s instructions, we are associated with him. We can feel his presence, we can experience his pleasure, and we can live happily even in separation.

Devotee: That is very wonderful Maharaja. One more thing, like in the beginning, I remember when you had been doing kirtans, normally Gopal Krishna Maharaja also does the kirtan. So I really feel the pain is like the pain of separation from Lord Krishna. At that time, I am able to realize, to a small extent, basically as per my small understanding, and I am very pleased to say that today I had the similar kind of experience, Maharaja, when you had been doing kirtan. So my humble question is that, in our daily life, when Maharaja always suggests us that we should chant attentively, so kindly suggest, that how this type of separation or pain we can feel on a daily basis while chanting the holy name.

Giriraj Swami: I am not completely sure I understand your question, but you can feel separation when you have some attachment. You can feel separation from a person when you have some attachment to the person.

Devotee: Sorry Maharaja, I couldn’t probably clearly explain it, but my actual question was, as you said, that we can’t, unless we have attachment, so we cannot feel the separation. So after so many years, I am also chanting when I was thirteen years, so I don’t feel that kind of separation or that kind of interest in chanting. So kindly suggest to me, means how can I increase my taste for chanting so that I can really feel this type of pain on a daily basis while chanting the holy name?

Giriraj Swami: Well, the only way is to keep chanting. Of course, we can make certain arrangements that will help our japa in particularly, especially getting up early in the morning, chanting during the brāhma-muhūrta hours, at least beginning during the brāhma-muhūrta hours before sunrise, chanting in front of deities, chanting in front of Tulasi-devi, chanting with other devotees who have taste for chanting, and praying. All of our endeavors must be accompanied by prayers because on our own, independently, we are not capable of anything. So we should pray, first to be able to hear, that is the first priority. To articulate carefully and attentively hear each holy name and then if we are fortunate, those feelings of separation will arise naturally.

Gopeshwar Prabhu: Maharaja, there a couple more questions. One is Kajal Mataji. Please you can first ask your question and then Nityananda Prabhu, you can sequence some of the questions.

Kajal Mataji: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Please accept my most respectful obeisances. Thank you for giving this merciful glance. Maharaja, my first question is you shared so many pastimes of Srila Prabhupada, and you have so much attachment, love, and surrender towards your spiritual master. How can we develop, how can I develop love, surrender, and attachment for my spiritual master? And my second question is Maharaja that in the first pastime you mentioned, how there was this devotee who stopped following the four regulative principles by consuming ganja or something like that. So, many times Maharaja, we are as disciples and devotees in situations where we have to eat outside food, like if we are out on some office trip or something like that. So, not intentionally breaking a rule by consuming ganja or something, but we eat food that is cooked by non-devotees, or we eat food in a place where tea and coffee are also cooked in that particular kitchen. So, how much does it affect our following of guru’s instructions? Are you able to understand what I am trying to ask?

Giriraj Swami: I hope so. Of course, we should avoid eating out as far as possible. And if we have to eat out, it is better to avoid eating grains. If you can, just have a salad or something like that, that won’t be as contaminating as eating grains prepared by non-devotees.

That is about eating out. And what was the other question?

Kajal Mataji: How to develop love, attachment, and surrender for the spiritual master?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, there are two aspects. One is hearing; just hearing about Srila Prabhupada, say reading Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta or many disciples of Srila Prabhupada have now written books about him. And so, just by reading or hearing, you can become attracted to his qualities and become attached to him. The other is by serving, by following the instructions. When you follow the instructions and you feel the benefit, then naturally you become attached to the spiritual master and want to serve him more, follow his instructions more.

Kajal Mataji: Okay, thank you Maharaja. Please bless me Maharaja.

Nityananda Prabhu: Maharaja, there is question, this is being relayed on YouTube also. Dhanvantari Prabhu is asking, how could you leave so affluent a lifestyle and continue it with such staunch determination? What is the secret?

Giriraj Swami: It was Srila Prabhupada’s mercy. It is true that I was born in a quite affluent family, and we lived in an affluent suburb of Chicago. But I could see quite clearly that having that wealth was not making the people happy. They had money, but they weren’t particularly happy. And ultimately we want to be happy. So, I wanted perfect happiness, and by reading, not just reading but contemplating, I understood that perfect happiness could be achieved only spiritually, not materially. And then again, by contemplating and reading, I understood that to take up a spiritual process, one needed a guru. And then my quest became to find my guru. I met many so-called gurus along the way, and then ultimately, I did find my perfect master, Srila Prabhupada. So, does that answer the question? Do we want to find out if the person wants more?

Nityananda Prabhu: There is another from YouTube. The question is, how can we imbibe the mood of Srila Prabhupada and dedicate this life for his mission?

Giriraj Swami: That is a very good question. So first, we should know Srila Prabhupada’s mood, and we can learn his mood from reading his books and reading books about him, such as Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta, and by seeing videos of him. Srila Prabhupada’s disciple, Yadhubar Prabhu has made a whole series of videos of Srila Prabhupada called Following Srila Prabhupada. And we get a sense of Srila Prabhupada’s mood. In fact, there is a wonderful devotee in Mumbai named Krishna Chandra dasa, otherwise Rishikesh Mafatlal. And Krishna Chandra Prabhu said he feels every devotee should see these early videos of Srila Prabhupada in America, because people cannot imagine the types of candidates that Srila Prabhupada was encountering in those early days in America, hippies and whatnot. So yes, I think it is very important to see those videos.

One of our early supporters, who came just after Srila Prabhupada left, was a lawyer named R.K. Maheshwari. He was later initiated as Mahaprabhu dasa. And just little after Srila Prabhupada left, in those days we didn’t, I don’t think we even had videos, but we had a portable projector. And so, I was showing this some of the film of Srila Prabhupada to Mahaprabhu dasa. Mahaprabhu dasa, spontaneously said, “My God, I have never seen anyone like him. He has so much love but at the same time, he is so detached.” So now, I am saying that was his point, that is a very unusual combination. Because usually, if you have love, you are attached, and if you are detached, you don’t have love. But he could see just from watching that film that Srila Prabhupada had so much love within his heart and at the same time was also detached. So yes, reading his books, seeing the films or videos, getting his mood, and wanting, like many of us felt, I have heard others express the same thought when we met Srila Prabhupada, that we want what he has. Of course, what he had was love of Krishna, which we didn’t necessarily know, but we wanted what he had, and we were ready to adopt the process that would help us to reach that goal. And the process is bhakti-yoga.

So yes, as he served his spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada served his spiritual master, we want to serve Srila Prabhupada. Of course, we cannot serve to the same magnitude as Srila Prabhupada, but in our own way, we can try to surrender to the orders of the spiritual master and execute them.

Gopeshwar Prabhu: It might be extremely grateful, and very much as we might like, that this goes on and on, but in India, it is kind of 10:15, and then morning again.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, you have to get up for maṅgala-ārati.

Gopeshwar Prabhu: But it is good because having your wonderful association, some devotees said, seeing the amazing smile that you have, transcendental smile that you have on your transcendental face, and hearing from your lotus mouth. Maharaja, we will also have now separation because we have firstly met you at least over Zoom, and we will pray and beg for your mercy that, Krishna willing, we will be trying to organize some more programs, depending on your schedule also. And you can get more of your association, and so we also get enlivened, and try and do a little bit at least in the mission of Srila Prabhupada.

So, we are extremely grateful and honored Maharaja to have your amazing and transcendental association. So I would humbly request all the devotees to please unmute yourselves and let us loudly chant Hare Krishna maha-mantra with our full heart, expressing gratitude at the lotus feet of Maharaja.

[Devotees chant the maha-mantra loudly]

Giriraj Swami: If we are concluding now, I suggest we end with Vaishnava praṇāma.

vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaś ca kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca 

patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ

Ananta-kotivaishnava-vrinda ki jaya!

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!