Srila Prabhupada’s Disappearance Day

Giriraj Swami: So we are gathered on the auspicious occasion of Srila Prabhupada’s divine disappearance day. We have about a half hour, so unless you suggest, but I think I won’t begin by singing the maṅgalācaraṇa prayers and leading a short kirtan because our time is short. But I will just begin by speaking.

So, I am very grateful to Srila Prabhupada for having brought me into your association. Once, on his guru Maharaja’s disappearance day, Srila Prabhupada said, “On the absolute platform, there is no difference between the appearance and the disappearance of the spiritual master. Both are beautiful, just like the sunrise and the sunset.” So, although we feel separation, within that separation, our remembrance of Srila Prabhupada is heightened, and thus we experience the beauty of his presence in separation. Remembering Srila Prabhupada’s words that the disappearance is also beautiful, I want to share with you a lesson I learned from his departure.

A few days before he was to leave us, Srila Prabhupada expressed his desire to travel by bullock cart to different holy places in India. His Holiness Lokanath Swami had been traveling by bullock cart to different places of pilgrimage, and Srila Prabhupada was very enlivened when Lokanath Swami reported to him in Vrindavan. And Srila Prabhupada said that he too would like to go on pilgrimage on a bullock cart. He asked Lokanath Swami to arrange it, and Lokanath Swami was enthusiastic, especially having been encouraged by Srila Prabhupada in such a direct way. He immediately went to organize the cart, make all the arrangements. Govardhana-puja was to take place in a couple of days, and Prabhupada said that he would begin his pilgrimage by traveling on a bullock cart to Govardhana Hill to celebrate Govardhana-puja with the vrajavāsīs. At that time, Srila Prabhupada was bedridden and one could say emaciated. He was unable to eat and he was only able to sip a little liquid. He was gaunt and weak, with almost no energy. He would just lie on his bed, and sometimes, with great difficulty, he would speak softly, often so faintly that only those very near him could hear his words.

There were many devotees in the room when Srila Prabhupada had his exchange with Lokanath Swami, and immediately after the discussion ended, and devotees went outside the room, they began to express two strong, heartfelt opinions about what Srila Prabhupada should do. And more than that, how we as disciples should relate to him and serve him. One group, which included Lokanath Swami and other esteemed senior disciples such as Hansadutta Prabhu and Varadraj Prabhu, felt that we should just do what the spiritual master orders. We shouldn’t question his order; we should just execute it. Some of the other disciples, many of whom had been attending to Prabhupada’s personal care, felt that Prabhupada’s health would not sustain his travels on a bullock cart, and that because he was so emaciated, he had practically no flesh on his bones, it would be very painful for him to go. Even if they padded the cart with a mattress, it would still be a basic bullock cart, and the roads in Vraja were very rough. So the movement of the cart would jostle him, and he would feel pain. Some devotees feared that he might even give up his body on the way. They did not want him to be subjected to what they foresaw as certain pain, and perhaps even death. But under the circumstances, this second position was difficult to maintain because Srila Prabhupada was so emphatic. “Let me travel to all the tīrtha-sthāna,” he had said. And whatever objections devotees had raised against the proposal, he had countered, “One day experiment,” he had pleaded. “Rest assured, I will not die in one day.” And when even his kavirāja had predicted that with all the jostling on the bullock cart, Prabhupada would not survive more than two hours, Prabhupada had replied, “But I think I shall be cured.”

Still, Tamal Krishna Goswami, Bhakti Charu Swami, Bhakti Svarupa Damodara Maharaja, Bhavananda Maharaja, and others felt strongly that this experiment would have dire consequences. But how to convince Prabhupada? So the controversy continued. And finally, things came to the stage where the bullock cart was waiting outside the gates of the Krishna-Balarama mandir, and everything was being readied. The evening before his planned departure, Srila Prabhupada was lying on his bed. Bhakti Charu Swami was in the room, and Srila Prabhupada’s godbrother, Akiñcana Krishnadasa Babaji Maharaja came to visit. Babaji Maharaja was a very advanced devotee. Srila Prabhupada said that he was a paramahamsa. He was always absorbed in hari-nāma, and he was always blissful. And he and Prabhupada had an extraordinarily affectionate relationship. So, Bhakti Charu Swami thought, et me appeal to Babaji Maharaja. If he asks Prabhupada not to go, then Prabhupada may listen. So he brought Babaji Maharaja into another room and spoke with him there. Having heard what had happened, Babaji Maharaja returned to Srila Prabhupada’s bedside and told him, “I don’t think you should go on this parikramā.” And when Prabhupada heard this, he replied, “If you feel that way, then I won’t go.”

Just then, Tamal Krishna Goswami and Bhavananda Maharaja, who had been upstairs and what previously had been brought by his bedroom, came back down in a very emotional mood. Prabhupada knew what they were thinking and he asked, “So, you request me not to go?” Tamal Krishna Goswami responded, “Srila Prabhupada, we were getting so upset. Two devotees told me that this road is so bad that if you go on this road, you are going to be jolted back and forth. The road is terrible. If anyone wants you to travel, I do. But why do we have to go when you are in this condition? I can’t understand.” “All right,” Prabhupada said, “I will not go.” Bhavananda said, “Thank you, Srila Prabhupada. I was in too much anxiety.” “No, no, I cannot put you in anxiety. I shall do what you like. My left hand and my right hand, I cannot refuse.”

“Actually, Srila Prabhupada, we are so attached to you that you practically drive us to madness sometimes. Tonight, we were becoming mad.” “No, I shall not do that.” Then Srila Prabhupada turned to Babaji Maharaja and said, “Just see how much they love me.” Tamal Krishna said, “Srila Prabhupada, the way you deal with us simply deepens our attachment to you at every moment.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “It is my duty.”

So, that was a very significant statement that Prabhupada considered to be his duty to deepen our attachment to him, and through our attachment to him, our attachment to Krishna. So for the devotees in the room, it was a jubilant occasion that Prabhupada had agreed not to go. But when the news reached the other group, they were upset. “This is not our duty as disciples to try to prevail upon our spiritual master. Our duty is to execute his will. He said that he wanted to go by bullock cart to Govardhana, and our duty was to arrange for what he wanted. Our duty is not to advise him or prevail upon him according to our perception.” And this controversy continued until the end. So eventually, Srila Prabhupada left, but even after he left, the controversy continued, and the feelings still ran strong on both sides. And I still could not determine who was right. They were devotees, senior to me on both sides, devotees whom I respected and had served. Personally, I may have been closer to some of the ones engaged in Prabhupada’s personal service, but I still wasn’t sure who was right, and it was on my mind.

It was my practice to chant japa in Srila Prabhupada’s room when he was not there, and after he departed, I did that. I was in his room, chanting japa, and behind his bed was an area with his bookshelves. Somehow, I found a little corner there and was chanting when my eyes fell upon the new volume of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that had just arrived, the Tenth Canto, Volume Two. It had been delivered into Srila Prabhupada’s hands in his last days. So I saw the book, it had gold embossing, especially made for Srila Prabhupada. I opened it up, and it happened to open to Chapter Nine, “Mother Yasoda Binds Krishna.” I read a few verses and purports, and then I came to a verse that, to me, answered the question. And I will read that verse:

SB 10.9.19

evaṁ sandarśitā hy aṅga
hariṇā bhṛtya-vaśyatā
sva-vaśenāpi kṛṣṇena
yasyedaṁ seśvaraṁ vase

TRANSLATION

O Mahārāja Parīkṣit, this entire universe, with its great, exalted demigods like Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā and Lord Indra, is under the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Yet the Supreme Lord has one transcendental attribute: he comes under the control of his devotees. This was now exhibited by Kṛṣṇa in this pastime.

COMMENT

And the pastime was encapsulated in the previous verse translation:

TEXT 18

Because of mother Yaśodā’s hard labor, her whole body became covered with perspiration, and the flowers and comb were falling from her hair. When child Kṛṣṇa saw his mother thus fatigued, he became merciful to her and agreed to be bound.

COMMENT

So when I read these verses, I thought, This is what happened. The spiritual master is the transparent medium through which Krishna manifests Himself. Of course, unlike in Vrindavan, in the relationship between the disciples and the spiritual master, there is always an element of awe, reverence, and duty. But still, duty is meant to lead us to love. And Srila Prabhupada did say to Babaji Maharaja, “Just see how much they love me.”

So when I read this verse from the Tenth Canto, I thought of this incident when the disciples had expressed themselves, “We want you to stay.” Prabhupada had said, “Just see how much they love me.” All the disciples in the controversy about the parikramā were acting on the basis of their realization of their devotion for Srila Prabhupada. But I believe that what Srila Prabhupada really was doing was drawing out our loving sentiments beyond us just following the order. Following the order is given; we have to follow the order of the spiritual master. To disobey the order of the spiritual master is an offense. So we are not talking about disobeying the order of the spiritual master. We are talking about developing loving feelings for the spiritual master and expressing them to him. And when Prabhupada brought us to that stage, he commented, “Just see how much they love me.” Relating this verse from the Tenth Canto to what Srila Prabhupada did with us, there is also a parallel between the dāmodara-līlā and that principle of spontaneous love. Every night during the month of Damodara, we recite the Dāmodarāṣṭakam, including Verse Three. And I read:

itīdṛk-sva-līlābhir ānanda-kuṇḍe
sva-ghoṣaṁ nimajjantam ākhyāpayantam
tadīyeśita-jñeṣu bhaktair jitatvaṁ
punaḥ prematas taṁ śatāvṛtti vande

TRANSLATION

“By such childhood pastimes as this he is drowning the inhabitants of Gokula in pools of ecstasy, and is revealing to those devotees who are absorbed in knowledge of his supreme majesty and opulence that he is only conquered by devotees whose pure love is imbues with intimacy and is free from all conceptions of awe and reverence. With great love I again offer my obeisances to Lord Damodara hundreds and hundreds of times.”

COMMENT

The dāmodara-līlā shows the power of pure spontaneous love to conquer the Lord. The Lord comes under the control of such pure love. In the same way, Srila Prabhupada, not exactly that he came under the control of our love, but I would say that he brought that love out from deep within the recesses of our hearts, and then he reciprocated with us by coming under our control or agreeing to our requests.

So this is a very deep pastime of Srila Prabhupada. And even though Srila Prabhupada has now left us, we still have that choice. We always have that choice. Do we want him to stay with us or not? And I remember, at that time, although we had been going along in the mood that whatever Krishna wanted was alright, when we finally understood that what really should have been in our hearts was that we wanted him to stay, we considered maybe we wanted to be the controllers, maybe we wanted to be the enjoyers. And that is why we didn’t appeal to Prabhupada to stay. So there is always that question: Do we want the kingdom of God without God, without God’s representative? Or do we want the kingdom of God with God, with His representative as their humble servants? And so, I pray to Srila Prabhupada that I will always remember this lesson and always pray and act in a way that he will be pleased to stay with each and every one of us individually and all of us collectively and bind us to his lotus feet eternally.

So these are some thoughts and reflections on this special occasion of Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day. We have maybe three minutes left, according to the schedule, so I don’t know if we should try to take a question in those three minutes, or if I should just speak for another three minutes.

Madhubala Prabhu: Maharaja, our schedule is touchable to hear your nectarean words, so if you have time, we would like to hear more.

Giriraj Swami: All right, well, I will relate one more incident from Srila Prabhupada’s last days. Three days before he left, I was taking rest on the rooftop of the gurukula building in Vrindavan, and a devotee woke me up in the middle of the night, saying that Srila Prabhupada wanted to see me. Srila Prabhupada’s condition then was so delicate that, we thought any moment could be the last, or any words he spoke would be his last words. So I rushed down into his room. It was dimly lit, and I sat near the head of his bed because it was so hard for him to speak, and his voice was so soft. I wanted to be close to his head so that I could hear him. Srila Prabhupada asked me, “So, Giriraj, do you think this movement will go on after I leave?” I said, “Srila Prabhupada, as long as the devotees are sincere and chant their minimum sixteen rounds and follow the four regulative principles, it will go on.” And then, with great difficulty, in a soft voice, Srila Prabhupada said, “Organization, intelligence, and organization.” And then he asked me, “Is there anything else?” Meaning, do I want to say anything else? And inside my heart, I was screaming, “Srila Prabhupada, don’t leave us, please stay.” But I couldn’t articulate it then. So when he said, “Is there anything else?” I said, “No, Srila Prabhupada.” I offered my obeisances and left. But then I considered the significance of what Srila Prabhupada said, what I had said, and then what he had said.

Of course, we do have to be sincere and chant our sixteen rounds and follow the four regulative principles in order to become purified and advance in Krishna consciousness. But by the instruction, “Organization, intelligence, and organization,” Srila Prabhupada was saying that we need to do more than just become Krishna conscious for our own sakes. But we also have to spread Krishna consciousness for the benefit of others. And to do that in a big way, as Srila Prabhupada wanted, we need organization, intelligence, and organization. And it is implicit that we have to cooperate with each other because being organized and spreading Krishna consciousness intelligently means we have to have a group effort. As it has said, kalo sangha shakti, in Kali-yuga, power comes from association, or you could say, working together. And earlier, during these last months in Vrindavan, Srila Prabhupada had appealed to Tamal Krishna Goswami and the other leaders to keep the institution and not let it deteriorate, not let it disintegrate. And Tamal Krishna Goswami had replied, “Srila Prabhupada, we love you too much to allow that to happen.” And Srila Prabhupada responded, “Your love for me will be shown by how you cooperate together to keep this institution after I leave.”

So, that is a very famous and important instruction of Srila Prabhupada: “Your love for me will be shown by how you cooperate to keep this institution together.” And so, these are our assignments. These are our challenges, and yes, on this occasion, we rededicate ourselves to Srila Prabhupada’s instructions and mission so that we can please him by our cooperative efforts, intelligent organized efforts, and be of service to the suffering humanity, as Srila Prabhupada wanted. So, to me, these are the most important lessons from Srila Prabhupada’s last days, or weeks, or months. And I think I have conveyed what to me was the essence of the lessons that I learned from the experience. And if anyone wants to comment or ask any questions, I would be happy to stay with you for some time more if you are ready to stay longer.

Devotee: Yes, Maharaja I see a question, Taruni Radha Mataji has question I see in the chat. Go ahead Mataji.

Taruni Radha Mataji: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Thank you so much for the nectar. I was hearing this song.

Giriraj Swami: Taruni Radha, is it possible for you to put your camera on? It is more personal.

Taruni Radha Mataji: Yes, thank you so much for this wonderful nectar. I was listening to this class that you shared yesterday in the class with the tobacco group too. It was very beautiful. But my lingering question is, the disciples of Srila Prabhupada asked him to stay but still decided to leave this material world. So, it related to this Maharaja. And my second question is, what according to you, pleases Srila Prabhupada the most?

Giriraj Swami: What was the first question?

Taruni Radha Mataji: You were mentioning, I think in yesterday’s class also, that it was a bonafide way that Srila Prabhupada chose to leave his body, like his father. he stopped drinking.

Giriraj Swami: Oh yes, yes, yes.

Taruni Radha Mataji: And then the disciples said like that, so Prabhupada said, “Yes, if you wish, so I will do that.” And then he said that Krishna has given me the choice. If I want to be, if I want to, Krishna’s okay with it. So the disciples said, “If you so desire, We want you to stay like that.” And then still Prabhupada chose to leave. So, is there any—I would like to understand from your perspective.

Giriraj Swami: Oh well, yes. What you said is true, that Srila Prabhupada had said that when his father wanted to leave his body, he had stopped drinking, and that that was a bonafide way of leaving one’s body when the time came. So earlier, before this last incident regarding the parikramā, maybe a month earlier, there had been another incident when Srila Prabhupada had stopped drinking. He had said that when his father had wanted to leave his body, he had stopped drinking, and that this was a bonafide way to give up one’s body when the time came. Prabhupada didn’t make any announcement or anything; he just stopped drinking. Upendra dasa, a very sweet devotee who was serving as Srila Prabhupada’s personal assistant, innocently said to him, “Prabhupada, you have to drink. If you don’t drink, you will become dehydrated.” And Prabhupada said, “Oh, you want me to drink? Call the GBC.” That decision, whether Prabhupada should drink or not, was no small matter. So Abhiram informed the GBC, and all the GBC members and senior devotees came into Prabhupada’s room. Prabhupada said, “If I want to survive, of course, I will have to take something. But my survival means so many inconveniences. Therefore, I have decided to die peacefully. “Everything is in the hands of Krishna,” said Tamal Krishna. And that had been the mood coming from Srila Prabhupada. Everything depends on Krishna. Many times Srila Prabhupada had said that he would accept whatever Krishna desired. If Krishna allowed him to stay, he would stay, and if Krishna wanted him to go, he would go.

Earlier, a disciple had asked him, “You said that your guru Maharaja left early because he was disgusted. Is that the case with you?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “No, if Krishna allows me to stay in your association, I will be most happy to stay with you.” But now, Srila Prabhupada had opened his eyes. This was when Upendra very innocently said, “Prabhupada, you have to drink, or you will become dehydrated.” And then Prabhupada said, “Oh, you want me to drink? Call the GBC.” And then all the GBC men and other senior devotees came into the room. So yes, so when Tamal Krishna said, “Whatever Krishna desires,” Srila Prabhupada responded differently. He opened his eyes and said, “Krishna wants me to do as I wish. The choice is mine. He has given me full freedom.” This was a different mood, a completely different answer, and it gave us a glimpse into the intimate reciprocation between Krishna and Prabhupada.

So he all went out into the anteroom and discussed. Kirtananda Swami’s point was most clear and lucid and intelligent. If Krishna has given Prabhupada the choice, and if Prabhupada is giving us the choice, then we should ask Prabhupada to stay. Everyone agreed, “Yes, we should ask him to stay.” So it was decided unanimously, we would go back into Srila Prabhupada’s room and tell him that we wanted him to stay. Kirtananda Swami would be the spokesman. When we went back in the room, Prabhupada was lying quietly on his bed. As soon as we finished offering obeisances, Kirtananda broke down and started sobbing. He couldn’t speak. Brahmananda, sitting behind him, rubbed his back to soothe him, and Kirtananda managed, “Srila Prabhupada, if Krishna has given you the choice, then don’t go. We need you.” Srila Prabhupada asked, “Is this your joint opinion? Have you discussed?” “Yes, we have all met together. We want you to remain and lead this movement and finish the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.” Prabhupada was silent for what seemed like an eternity. Then he yawned and said, “All right.” Just like that, he agreed to stay in such a nonchalant way.

All the devotees are jubilant. Within ourselves, we were rejoicing. “Prabhupada is going to stay! Prabhupada is going to stay! He is not going to leave us! He is going to finish Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam! he is going to lead the movement!” And Prabhupada said, “This is real affection.” So, these were two incidents when the devotees expressed themselves, and Srila Prabhupada, in the one case, he said to us, “This is real affection,” and the other time he said to Akiñcana Krishnadasa Babaji Maharaja, “Just see how much they love me.” So that was that. And then the second question was, how to please Srila Prabhupada? Yes. So, going back to Calcutta in 1971, Srila Prabhupada was taking his massage on the balcony of the temple. We still have the same building in Calcutta. And I sat down and I said, “Srila Prabhupada, I have been thinking, what pleases you the most?” And first I said, distributing your books and building the big temple in Mayapur.” And Srila Prabhupada smiled very broadly and said, “Yes, you have understood.”

So in that sense, that is what pleases Srila Prabhupada most. But then again, once he came to the Atlanta temple, which at the time was a big center for book distribution, and many book distributors came from all over to be in the Atlanta temple when Srila Prabhupada came. So one of the devotees asked, “Srila Prabhupada, what pleases you the most?” And they were all expecting Srila Prabhupada to say, “If you distribute my books.” But he didn’t say that. When they asked him, “Srila Prabhupada, what would please you the most?” he replied, “If you love Krishna.” So, that is also part of our service, to develop love for Krishna.

Taruni Radha Mataji: Okay, thank you so much. Thank you.

Giriraj Swami: Very beautiful questions. Anyone else has questions?

Devotee: Maharaja, I have a question. Except Srila Prabhupada stressing cooperation, and we see within our movement, we have different differences. How do we reconcile those differences and cooperatively carry out the mission of Srila Prabhupada?

Giriraj Swami: Can you give an example of differences? There are different kinds of differences, level of differences, magnitudes of differences.

Devotee: There could be philosophical differences, and then we have normal the rhythmic group and this group, and then even among our temples, we will see devotees, while performing their services, there are challenges in cooperation. And I was wondering about some practical tips of how we can keep Srila Prabhupada’s instructions in the core of our heart and carry out.

Giriraj Swami: Well, there is a very good verse and purport in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Seventh Canto. Bhakta dasa, are you here? Can you get me the Seventh Canto?

I will read from that because it is perfect. It is very instructive. And I have on occasion gone to temples where I knew they were having a lot of differences, a lot of difficulties cooperating, and spoken on this verse and purport, and it really had a very purifying and inspiring effect. So, this is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Seven, Chapter Five, “Prahlāda Mahārāja, the Saintly Son of Hiraṇyakaśipu,”

TEXT 12

sa yadānuvrataḥ puṁsāṁ
paśu-buddhir vibhidyate
anya eṣa tathānyo ‘ham
iti bheda-gatāsatī

TRANSLATION

When the Supreme Personality of Godhead is pleased with the living entity because of his devotional service, one becomes a paṇḍita and does not make distinctions between enemies, friends and himself. Intelligently, he then thinks, “Every one of us is an eternal servant of God, and therefore we are not different from one another.”

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

When Prahlāda Mahārāja’s teachers and demoniac father asked him how his intelligence had been polluted, Prahlāda Mahārāja said, “As far as I am concerned, my intelligence has not been polluted. Rather, by the grace of my spiritual master and by the grace of my Lord, Kṛṣṇa, I have now learned that no one is my enemy and no one is my friend. We are all actually eternal servants of Kṛṣṇa, but under the influence of the external energy we think that we are separately situated from the Supreme Personality of Godhead as friends and enemies of one another. This mistaken idea has now been corrected, and therefore, unlike ordinary human beings, I no longer think that I am God and that others are my friends and enemies. Now I am rightly thinking that everyone is an eternal servant of God and that our duty is to serve the supreme master, for then we shall stand on the platform of oneness as servants.”

The actual fact is that everyone is a servant of the Lord, as confirmed in Caitanya-caritāmṛta by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu (jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’). As servants of the Lord, we are one, and there can be no questions of enmity or friendship. If one actually understands that every one of us is a servant of the Lord, where is the question of enemy or friend?

Everyone should be friendly for the service of the Lord. Everyone should praise another’s service to the Lord and not be proud of his own service. This is the way of Vaiṣṇava thinking, Vaikuṇṭha thinking. There may be rivalries and apparent competition between servants in performing service, but in the Vaikuṇṭha planets the service of another servant is appreciated, not condemned. This is Vaikuṇṭha competition.

COMMENT

So, Srila Prabhupada explained the difference between mundane competition and transcendental competition. In mundane competition, we don’t admit the good qualities or the good service of the other person, whereas in transcendental competition, we do recognize the good qualities in service of the other, but still we want to do better than them to give more pleasure to guru and Krishna. So, it is competition, but it is transcendental because there is no envy, whereas mundane competition can have an element of envy. Someone will praise some other devotee, and we’ll say, “Oh, I know that devotee. That devotee’s not so great as you think.” So yes, competition is all right, but it should be transcendental, which means recognizing the good qualities and good service of the others, not denying it.

PURPORT (continued)

There is no question of enmity between servants. Everyone should be allowed to render service to the Lord to the best of his ability, and everyone should appreciate the service of others. Such are the activities of Vaikuṇṭha. Since everyone is a servant, everyone is on the same platform and is allowed to serve the Lord according to his ability. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15), sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca: the Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, giving dictation according to the attitude of the servant. However, the Lord gives different dictation to the nondevotees and devotees. The nondevotees challenge the authority of the Supreme Lord, and therefore the Lord dictates in such a way that the nondevotees forget the Lord’s service, life after life, and are punished by the laws of nature. But when a devotee very sincerely wants to render service to the Lord, the Lord dictates in a different way. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (10.10):

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
yena mām upayānti te

“To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.” Everyone is actually a servant, not an enemy or friend, and everyone is working under different directions from the Lord, who directs each living entity according to his mentality.

COMMENT

So yes, we should learn to appreciate each other’s service. And if there are differences, well, someone has to make a decision. I remember one devotee asked Srila Prabhupada about how to deal with these differences, and Srila Prabhupada said that ultimately you have to follow the authority. And he gave the example that you are riding in a car with someone else who is driving, and you think that you know a better way to reach the destination than the driver knows. So, you are free to express yourself to the driver that “I think it will be better if we go this way,” but ultimately, because the other person is in the driver’s seat, you have to go with however he decides to go. And then the devotee asked Srila Prabhupada, “Well, does that mean that the driver’s way was right? Do we have to think that the driver’s way was right?” And Srila Prabhupada said, “No, you can still maintain within yourself the idea that your way was better, but still, because he is in the driver’s seat, you have to go along with the way he decides to go.” So that is cooperation. It is very, very important.

Devotee: All glories to you and all glories to Srila Prabhupada. We hope to see you on the 29th as discussed before. 29th, Sunday evening, we are giving time and association, kathā.

Giriraj Swami: Let me see if it is in my calendar. There it is. 29th, Sunday. It is ISKCON, Central New Jersey. 5:00 p.m. my time, 8:00 p.m. your time.

Devotee: Yes, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: It is in my calendar. Yes, we are good to go.

So if we are going to end now, then I suggest we conclude with Vaishnava praṇāma.

Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto all the Vaishnav devotees of the Lord, who are just like desired trees, who can fulfill the desires of everyone, and are full of compassion for the fallen condition souls.

vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaś ca kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca 

patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ

Ananta Koti Vaishnava Vrnda ki jaya!