CC Adi 1.2, 1.4, 1.5–6 – Laguna Beach Regional Gaura-purnima Festival

Giriraj Swami: As far as possible, I request you to put on your cameras so I can see your moon-like faces, and it will be more personal. Tukaram Prabhu, are we ready for me to begin?

Tukaram Prabhu: Yes, Maharaja, we are all listening with rapt attention.

Giriraj Swami: I will begin by singing the maṅgalācaraṇa prayers and leading a short kirtan. And then I will speak about Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the mood of Srimati Radharani.

[Kirtan and prayers]

Hare Krishna. It is a great honor and pleasure and privilege for me to be with all of you today on the auspicious occasion of regional Gaura-purnima festival in Laguna beach, the temple of the Pancha-tattva. To begin, I will read some verses from Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, leading up to Text Five and Six, and of course including Text Five and Six, which give the revelation of what or who Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is, what His purpose is and His particular descend as Sri Krishna Chaitanya.

jaya jaya śrī-caitanya jaya nityānanda

jayādvaitacandra jaya gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā, Chapter One,

TEXT 2

vande śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-
nityānandau sahoditau
gauḍodaye puṣpavantau
citrau śan-dau tamo-nudau

TRANSLATION

I offer my respectful obeisances unto Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda, who are like the sun and moon. They have arisen simultaneously on the horizon of Gauḍa to dissipate the darkness of ignorance and thus wonderfully bestow benediction upon all.

COMMENT

Text 4; Although this verse appears as a fourth verse in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is actually composed by Rupa Gosvami.

TEXT 4

anarpita-carīṁ cirāt karuṇayāvatīrṇaḥ kalau
samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasāṁ sva-bhakti-śriyam
hariḥ puraṭa-sundara-dyuti-kadamba-sandīpitaḥ
sadā hṛdaya-kandare sphuratu vaḥ śacī-nandanaḥ

TRANSLATION

May the Supreme Lord who is known as the son of Śrīmatī Śacī-devī be transcendentally situated in the innermost chambers of your heart. Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, He has appeared in the Age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation has ever offered before: the most sublime and radiant mellow of devotional service, the mellow of conjugal love.

COMMENT

And now we come to Text Five and Six, which will form the basis of our discussion.

TEXT 5

The loving affairs of Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are transcendental manifestations of the Lord’s internal pleasure-giving potency. Although Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are one in Their identity, previously They separated Themselves. Now these two transcendental identities have again united, in the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. I bow down to Him, who has manifested Himself with the sentiment and complexion of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī although He is Kṛṣṇa Himself.

COMMENT

Reading this verse, I am reminded an incident that took place in Calcutta in 1971. We were living in a nice building, say a mansion, and we had the top portion that was owned by a Bengali gentleman named Mr. Singh Roy. And one day, our Achyutananda Swami had a discussion with Mr. Singh Roy, in which he presented his theory of Radha and Krishna, and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. His theory was, that first Chaitanya Mahaprabhu exists and then Radha and Krishna. And that of them, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is greater. Just like milk and sugar, combined to form rasagullā but rasagullā is greater than milk and sugar. So, Achyutananda Swami came into Srila Prabhupada’s room and I happen to be there with some other devotees and he presented Mr. Singh Roy’s theory to Srila Prabhupada. So, the first question was, who come first? And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Radha and Krishna come first.” The same example, first milk and sugar exist and they combine to become rasagullā. And the Achyutananda asked the second question which was, who is greater? And Srila Prabhupada paused for a moment and then he indicated a picture on his wall. It showed Radharani in her mood of Maan, which is a type of transcendental angry jealousy. And in the state of Maan, she does not entertain Krishna. And in this picture, Radha was sitting on an elevated platform and Krishna was kneeling at her feet, begging her to give up her mood of Maan or transcendental saltiness. Srila Prabhupada said in response to who is the greatest, he replied, “Radharani is the greatest because Krishna is kneeling at her feet.” And then he pointed to the next picture, which showed little Krishna carrying the slippers of Nanda Maharaja on His head. And then Srila Prabhupada said, “Nanda Maharaja is greatest because Krishna is carrying His slippers on His head.” And then Srila Prabhupada concluded that the devotees are the greatest. So, we accept that conclusion but then again, of all the devotees, Srimati Radharani is greatest. So, as Srila Prabhupada said initially Srimati Radharani is greatest. That is a fact.

So, this is Text Five. There is Krishna; then Krishna expands Himself or manifests Himself as Radha and Krishna to increase His pleasure. And then the two, Radha and Krishna, are again united as Sri Krishna Chaitanya. Then, Text Six translation:

TEXT 6

Desiring to understand the glory of Rādhārāṇī’s love, the wonderful qualities in Him that She alone relishes through Her love, and the happiness She feels when She realizes the sweetness of His love, the Supreme Lord Hari, richly endowed with Her emotions, appeared from the womb of Śrīmatī Śacī-devī, as the moon appeared from the ocean.

COMMENT

There are many qualities of Srimati Radharani, but I am going to focus on one that is very relevant to all of us, and this is her quality of compassion. In The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter Twenty-two, “Qualities of Krishna Further Explained,” Number Thirty-two is “Compassionate.” A person who is unable to bear another’s distress is called compassionate. Krishna’s compassion was exhibited when grandfather Bhīṣma was lying on the bed of arrows, which had been shot through his body. While lying in this position, Bhīṣma was very anxious to see Krishna, and thus Krishna appeared there. Upon seeing the pitiable condition of Bhīṣma, Krishna began speaking with tears in His eyes. Not only was He shedding tears, but He also forgot Himself in His compassion. Therefore, instead of offering obeisances to Krishna directly, devotees offer obeisances to His compassionate nature. Actually, because Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it is very difficult to approach Him. But the devotees, taking advantage of His compassionate nature, which is represented by Radharani, always pray to Radharani for Krishna’s compassion.

So, how does Lord Chaitanya, in the mood of Radharani, exhibit the quality of compassion? This is disclosed in Antya-līlā, Chapter Three, beginning with Text Forty-nine. And I should just read the translations. Now again, this is the mood of Srimati Radharani being exhibited by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the mood of compassion.

TEXT 49

One day Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu met Haridāsa Ṭhākura as usual, and in the course of discussion He inquired as follows.

“My dear Ṭhākura Haridāsa, in this Age of Kali most people are bereft of Vedic culture, and therefore they are called yavanas. They are concerned only with killing cows and brahminical culture. In this way they all engage in sinful acts.

“How will these yavanas be delivered? To My great unhappiness, I do not see any way.”

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

This verse reveals the significance of Lord Śrī Caitanya’s appearance as patita-pāvana, the deliverer of all the fallen souls. Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura sings, patita-pāvana-hetu tava avatāra: “O my Lord, You have appeared just to deliver all the fallen souls.” Mo-sama patita prabhu nā pāibe āra: “And among all the fallen souls, I am the lowest.”

COMMENT

Srila Prabhupada gave a formula for offering prayers. Of course, the main ingredient is the feelings of the heart. But he said that the traditional proper way to offer a prayer is to first glorify the qualities of the personality to whom one is praising. And in this song, Narottama dasa Thakura appreciates Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as the most merciful. Then, after praising the qualities of one’s worshipable object, one states one’s own disqualification. And here, Srila Narottama dasa Thakura says, mo-sama patita prabhu nā pāibe āra, that You are Patita-pāvana, the deliverer of the fallen souls and among all the fallen souls, I am the lowest. And then one prays for mercy. That is what Narottama dasa Thakura does in this song, saying, “You are most merciful, You have come to deliver the fallen souls, I am the most fallen. So please save me first, my claim comes first.”

PURPORT (continued)

How Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu was always thinking about the deliverance of the fallen souls is shown by the statement e duḥkha apāra (“It is My great unhappiness”). This statement indicates that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa Himself, is always very unhappy to see the fallen souls in the material world. Therefore He Himself comes as He is, or He comes as a devotee in the form of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, to deliver love of Kṛṣṇa directly to the fallen souls.

COMMENT

And here is Srila Prabhupada’s instruction to us:

PURPORT (continued)

Those who are following in the footsteps of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu should take the Lord’s mission most seriously.

One who identifies himself as a follower of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu should feel like Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who said, ihā-sabāra kon mate ha-ibe nistāra: “How will all these yavanas be delivered?” Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was always anxious to deliver the fallen souls because their fallen condition gave Him great unhappiness. That is the platform on which one can propagate the mission of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

COMMENT

And Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami has also prayed to the Vaishnava, ‘para-dukha-dukhī.’ Para-dukha-dukhī means that he feels unhappiness in the unhappiness of others. He feels sorrow in the sorrow of others. And therefore, he tries to relieve them of their miseries by giving them Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy, the holy name, Krishna consciousness.

TEXT 52

Haridāsa Ṭhākura replied, “My dear Lord, do not be in anxiety. Do not be unhappy to see the condition of the yavanas in material existence.

COMMENT

And on the purport, Srila Prabhupada again gives us practical instruction.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

These words of Haridāsa Ṭhākura are just befitting a devotee who has dedicated his life and soul to the service of the Lord. When the Lord is unhappy because of the condition of the fallen souls, the devotee consoles Him, saying, “My dear Lord, do not be in anxiety.” This is service. Everyone should adopt the cause of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to try to relieve Him from the anxiety He feels. This is actually service to the Lord. One who tries to relieve Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s anxiety for the fallen souls is certainly a most dear and confidential devotee of the Lord. 

COMMENT

And at the end of the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Krishna also says that the preacher is His dear most servant. “There will never be one more dear than he.” And in the end, devotional service is guaranteed, and “he will come to Me,” go to Krishna.

Haridasa Thakura explained to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu various means by which the yavanas could be delivered, by nāmābhāsa in particular.

TEXT 66

As Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu heard this from Haridāsa Ṭhākura, the happiness within His heart increased, but as a matter of course, He still inquired further.

“On this earth there are many living entities,” the Lord said, “some moving and some not moving. What will happen to the trees, plants, insects and other living entities? How will they be delivered from material bondage?”

COMMENT

So, jaṅgama means moving; it means animals, birds, beasts, insects, and sthāvara means not moving. That means trees and plants. So Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, exhibiting Srimati Radharani’s compassionate mood, is concerned not only about the human beings but also about all the other types of living entities.

TEXT 68

Haridāsa Ṭhākura replied, “My dear Lord, the deliverance of all moving and nonmoving living entities takes place only by Your mercy. You have already granted this mercy and delivered them.

COMMENT

Srila Prabhupada always said that we should not cause any pain to any living entity. Now, this is also a basic principle of devotional service given in The Nectar of Devotion. So, Srila Prabhupada said that as far as possible we should avoid walking on grass. But if you do have to walk on the grass, then we should chant the holy names while walking on grass, so those living entity in the body of the grass can get the benefit of hearing the holy name.

Another incident comes to mind as we read about how Lord Chaitanya is concerned with all kinds of living entities including as mentioned specifically, insects. Once Srila Prabhupada was living in an apartment in New York city soon after he arrived in America. The landlord a called exterminator to fumigate the apartments in the building and to get rid of the pests, namely the insects and rodents that were there. But Srila Prabhupada refused to allow the fumigation take place in his apartment. And the result was that all the pests from all the apartment came into Srila Prabhupada’s apartment. And Srila Prabhupada commented, “Just see, they are taking shelter of Krishna consciousness.”

There are a number of examples to illustrate the fact that one can understand the inner mood of Lord Chaitanya only by His mercy and by the mercy of devotees such as Svarupa Damodara Gosvami and Srila Rupa Gosvami, we can understand about His internal mood. But for the sake of time, I won’t discuss. Some very interesting and relishable incidents that demonstrate how they understood His inner mood by His mercy, specifically the mood of Radharani in the mood of separation from Krishna. So, in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Krishna dasa Kaviraja Gosvami explains the reason for Sri Krishna Chaitanya’s appearance.

Lord Krishna, in His pastimes, was unable to experience the glory of Srimati Radharani’s love for Him, the wonderful qualities in Him that she relishes through her love, and the indescribable happiness she feels when she realizes the sweetness of His love. Thus, Lord Krishna, assuming the guise of a devotee, adopted the mood and complexion of Srimati Radharani and descended in Navadvipa dhāma to fulfill His innermost desire to experience Srimati Radharani’s ecstatic love for Him. So, Navadvipa dhāma is a manifestation of Srimati Radharani’s love for Krishna.

The Puranas also describe that when in the state of mahā-bhāva, Srimati Radharani reached the extreme and ecstatic feelings of separation from Krishna, He entered into her heart and stole her feeling of mahā-bhāva, and that mahā-bhāva became manifest as Navadvipa dhāma. Thus, to better understand Sri Mayapur dhāma and the mood of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, as well as Srila Prabhupada’s and our own devotional service, we should understand Radharani’s mood of separation. Once when Krishna left the company of the gopīs, Radharani began to search for Him in one forest after another, crying in separation. She approached a kadamba tree, “Where is Krishna?” She approached Govardhana Hill, “Where is Krishna?” She wandered everywhere throughout Vrindavan, crying, “Where is Krishna? He is more dear to me than my own life. How can I live without Him? How can I live without His service?” Then, in divine madness, she fainted. After some time, when Krishna appeared, He addressed Srimati Radharani, “I am extremely pleased with you. You may take from Me whatever you wish.” And Radharani requested three things:

1.  Please promise me that You will always remain in Vraja, unseen by those without devotion.

2.  Please never disappoint the devotees who reside here, maintaining their lives by their love for You alone, hoping to attain Your lotus feet, and

3.  Please always shower Your mercy on your devotees and give them shelter at Your lotus feet.

We see that even though Srimati Radharani had been experiencing extreme separation from Krishna, when Krishna asked her what she wanted, she did not think of herself. She thought of the suffering of others. This is her mood of compassion, even in her own separation from Krishna. Srimati Radharani’s desire to please Krishna is so pure and so intense that she wants to engage every entity for Krishna’s pleasure, to give them Krishna’s service and association. Krishna has an unlimited desire to enjoy. Radharani has the unlimited desire to fulfill Krishna’s desires. And Lord Chaitanya and Srila Prabhupada have the same desire to engage unlimited numbers of living entities in Krishna’s service. Like Srimati Radharani, the preacher wants to arrange for others to get Krishna’s association, to serve Him.

So, my dear devotees, we are coming in such a divine and illustrious line from Radha and Krishna and, more specifically, more to the point, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada. And we should have that mood of compassion, para-dukha-dukhī. And in that mood of compassion, we should endeavor to relieve others sufferings by giving them Krishna consciousness. But of course, to give Krishna consciousness, we must have Krishna consciousness. I remember, once I had the immense good fortune of staying with Vaisesika Prabhu and Hirakula Mataji at their home in Burlingame, California. I spent the night, and I was there with Vaisesika Prabhu for his morning program, and it was intense. It was surcharged. He did many of the things that others of us do as part of our morning program, in the temple or in our own homes, but he did it with such relish, in such enthusiasm. I was charmed. Then after his morning program, during breakfast or after breakfast, we were discussing his forthcoming book about book distribution, which has now been published as Our Family Business, a wonderful book. And he said that one of his main points in his book—this is a book, I cherish it and keep it always near me when I chant japa. And he said that one of the main points in his book was going to be that our enthusiasm to distribute books and preach should come from the overflow of our ecstasy from our own personal spiritual practices. So the two really go together. Our own practice of Krishna consciousness and the bliss that we experience from it, and the desire to share our good fortune with others.

So, on occasions such as this, and by the mercy of Tukaram Prabhu and the Pancha-tattva, we are blessed with the opportunity to celebrate Gaura-purnima twice, not just once. So, on this occasion, we can rededicate ourselves and recommit ourselves to the service of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada and the paramparā, so that we can relieve them of their anxiety for the fallen souls, relieve the fallen souls of their miseries and material existence, purify our own hearts so that all together we can all go back home, back to Godhead. So, thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak a few words. I don’t know if we have the time or inclination to have questions and answers. I refer that question to Tukaram Prabhu. But in any case, it was wonderful to share this auspicious occasion with all of you. Hare Krishna.

Tukaram Prabhu: Maharaja, did you want to take a question or two? Is that your desire?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, if it is all right with you, if time permits. We have questions. Yes, and those on Zoom, I guess you can raise your hand. I suppose you should be first priority to the devotees in the temple, but you can also raise your hands on Zoom.

Devotee: Hare Krishna Maharaja, please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. You mentioned in your lecture that Navadvipa dhāma is the manifestation of the mahā-bhāva of Srimati Radharani. What does that mean and how can we access that?

Giriraj Swami: Well, as I mentioned, as it is stated in the scripture, that Krishna stole the mahā-bhāva from Srimati Radharani’s heart. And when He descended as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Navadvipa dhāma, the whole dhāma was, you could say, infused by or permeated by her mahā-bhāva, her ecstatic love for Krishna. And there are many statements in glorification of Sri Mayapur dhāma. For example, that just by lying down to take rest, you get credit for offering obeisances, because taking that the dhāma is a manifestation of Srimati Radharani’s mahā-bhāva. So that lying down is actually offering obeisances to Srimati Radharani’s mahā-bhāva. So I can’t claim that I have any special realization on this topic, but I am repeating what I have read and heard and trying to relish it, purify my heart, and yes, encourage all of you to try to take advantage of Lord Chaitanya’s mercy, which is again, Radharani’s mercy.

Tukaram Prabhu: Maharaja, at the risk of being piteous, I just wanted to say that I found that statement you made linking Navadvipa inextricably to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and therefore Radharani’s mood, I found that statement to be incredibly profound. Maharaja, because you said you don’t claim to have any special realization, and so I found the statement itself to be an excellent and exalted and special realization. If Krishna appears to relish ecstatic love with His devotees and they do that in Vrindavan, Vrindavan becomes inextricably linked to Krishna and Radharani and vraja-prema. That is why when they write, Lalita-Madhava and Vidatta-Madhava, they have to be elaborate descriptions of Vrindavan. That is why the land is wonderful, because the land is where that love manifests. That is why Krishna can’t leave Vrindavan and still be Vijendra Kumar Krishna. He has to become another Matura-vasi Krishna when he leaves Vrindavan. And so that is a well-established siddhanta in our lineage.

And what you said, and I have said it before, it is the nature where you say really profound things. If Mahaprabhu appeared and it is Krishna in the mood of Radharani, then that place where that miracle occurred is special. And it is representative and it is inexplicably linked to that mystical and miraculous occasion. So, you said you had no particular realizations and you were just repeating. I have never read what you wrote, what you said anywhere. And I have read a fair bit. And it stunned my heart when I heard it. And I felt like it was like a self-evident truth that somehow escaped me for my whole life up until you said it. So I just wanted to give you that appreciation.

Giriraj Swami: Thank you, Tukaram Prabhu. You are very encouraging.

Tukaram Prabhu: We have one more question for Maharaja? Maharaja, I have one more for you. I wasn’t going to ask, but nobody else raised their hand. They are probably all stunned in ecstatic, love, haven’t heard your class, and so they can’t speak.

Generally speaking, the typical lecture on the internal reasons for Mahaprabhu’s appearance are all about Krishna’s “selfish desires.” He wanted to understand Radharani’s Mahima, the glory of Radharani’s selfless love. He wanted to send his own gunas, the things in him that she is able to relish because she is in the position of the lover and not the object of love. And He also want to understand her ānanda, her bliss. That is the typical lecture. You read the verse. Your lecture on this verse wasn’t really related to the verse too much. You veered off in a different direction. And I was able to trace what you did. Radharani has qualities and then, it is Krishna’s quality, but one of Krishna’s qualities is compassion. Prabhupada says in The Nectar of Devotion that quality of compassion is Radharani. And then every time then you found that quality of compassion coming from Mahaprabhu, that meant that was Radharani. I was able to follow along with you, but it was an atypical lecture and certainly an atypical springboard off of that verse and not normally what we hear from great Vaishnava acharyas like the ones you were quoting from. So I wanted to know what inspired you to go in that direction. There must have been some reason and I am wondering what that reason was. You must have had something that was going on and I would like you to speak on that, what your inspiration was to go in that unusual direction.

Giriraj Swami: I suppose that it was Radharani’s mercy. She was compassionate on me. She knew I had to say something and she gave me the idea to speak on her mood of compassion or Lord Chaitanya’s mood of compassion which was her mood of compassion. And I just think that is really such an important quality and one that we should imbibe and practice.

I think of one incident from long ago when I was first in India with the devotees and Srila Prabhupada, but at this particular stage I believe I was in New Delhi with Gurudasa and other devotees and Srila Prabhupada had gone on to, I believe, Bombay. And we went to a shop, and in the shop, I apprehended that the merchant was overcharging. And I adopted a very strong stance for the sake of Krishna’s Lakshmi, to argue with him and get him to bring his price down to where I thought it should have been. Somehow in the course of that conversation, the merchant felt hurt. Somehow, he felt offended, probably beyond just the money but something maybe his ego got hurt or something. And afterwards Gurudasa Prabhu reminded me of one of the preliminary items of devotional service, which is that one should not cause any painful action in the heart of any living entity, but one should deal with everyone as a loving parent would deal with their child. And that really struck me. That really made an impression on me. And I realized that whatever it is, we may be doing it for Krishna. I was, but we should do it in a proper mood, as that section of The Nectar of Devotion says, like a loving parent deals with his or her child and not give pain to the heart of any living entity. So that is really something to endeavor for.

Tukaram Prabhu: Thank you, Maharaja. That was really edifying to hear. I am so grateful that you shared that. And just on behalf of the Vaishnavas here, we want to thank you for speaking.

Giriraj Swami: Now, Tukaram Prabhu, Adyadasa, Srila Prabhupada’s disciple Adyadas has his hand raised on Zoom. Maybe you can’t see it.

Tukaram Prabhu: I could not see that because if I did, I wouldn’t have spoken the way I did. Adya Prabhu, please speak up.

Adyadas Prabhu: Yes. Okay. Can you hear me, Prabhu, Maharaja? Maharaja, I have one crude question. Please forgive me if it is offensive. I am debating myself. If I went to Vrindavan and visited Vrindavan, did all my prayers. And if I went to Mayapur, did all the prayers. Does Vrindavan include Mayapur or does Mayapur include Vrindavan and Mayapur?

Giriraj Swami: Well, is this an either or situation? Could it not be. . .?

Adyadas Prabhu: The reason I am asking is most of the Indians in India, they don’t understand Mahaprabhu, but they all visit Vrindavan. So I do encourage them to go to Mayapur. If you go to Mayapur, it also includes Vrindavan.

Giriraj Swami: That is true.

Adyadas Prabhu: So I just want to know how I should present. As you said, Radharani has, out of love created Mayapur, our Mayapur. And is it, I shouldn’t say superior to Vrindavan, but if we went to Vrindavan, do we get Mayapur, Mahaprabhu’s mercy? Or if you go to Mayapur, do we get Vrindavan and Mayapur mercy? I have been debating this with some of the families I have.

Giriraj Swami: Yes. Well, I would say that I would encourage people to go to Mayapur because as it is, devotees of Krishna will go to Vrindavan, but they might not go to Mayapur. And when you get Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, you also get Radha and Krishna. Śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya, rādhā-kṛṣṇa nahe anya. Chaitanya is a combined form of Rata and Krishna, there is no difference. So I would send them to Mayapur, and they’ll get Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Radha and Krishna. They will probably go to Vrindavan anyway, even if you don’t tell them.

Adyadas Prabhu: Thank you, Maharaja. Thank you. Hare Krishna.

Tukaram Prabhu: Maharaja, on behalf of the devotees, we want to thank you for coming. I was just thinking as you spoke that everybody acknowledges that you are the special recipient of Prabhupada’s time and nourishment. Talking to you, inevitably leads to hearing about Srila Prabhupada’s pastimes, things that only you know on the planet. Maybe Tamal Krishna Maharaja knew them also, somebody passed away. But you are like a touchstone and you are a treasure trove and a mine of valuable gems of all of these experiences of Prabhupada. And I see so many of my Gurujana even going to you to hear about Prabhupada’s mood and feeling on any number of subjects.

I was also struck when, and that is well-known, your glories in that regard are well-known, but I wanted to mention that when you were talking about your time in India and how Gurudasa gave you this, I don’t know this mini chastisement or a little bit of encouragement, whatever you want to phrase it. I was waiting for you to say, and then Prabhupada said this, or Prabhupada called me into his room and said this because customarily that is always what you do because so much of your life is linked to Prabhupada at the hip. And I was just struck with wonder because I realized you actually also have had this amazing life of devotion. From the time you were very young, you performed tremendous austerities, and you derived so many lessons from all of your interactions with everybody, junior and senior. And I was just appreciating this additional facet of your personality, Maharaja. What a great Vaishnava you are. I don’t want to say in your own right, because I don’t want to separate you from Srila Prabhupada. But I was just appreciating how wonderful your thoughts are, in whatever way they occur, and in whoever’s association you were in when they occurred. What a gem, what a saint, what a Vaishnava, what a blessing you are in my life and in the lives of so many others. And I want to thank you from the core of my heart for being with us today. We want to give you a big round of applause. [applause]

Giriraj Swami: Tukaram Prabhu, I would like to extract maybe a principle from that anecdote that you just referred to, which ostensibly did not end up with Srila Prabhupada personally, but it was based on his book on The Nectar of Devotion. And it was an understanding of something in The Nectar of Devotion that I got from a godbrother. So I take the opportunity to encourage everyone to read Srila Prabhupada’s books. Of course, The Nectar of Devotion is very special. It was the first book that His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja read, and it brought him to Krishna consciousness and to discuss with other devotees, to churn the nectar.

Tukaram Prabhu: Sadhu sadhu! Maharaja, thank you very much.