How Should I Take Shelter of One More Merciful than Srila Prabhupada

Host: Hare Krishna everyone! Ajay Chaitanya Prabhu, are you here? Any unmute Prabhu? Okay, Maharaja is here. So, shall we start?

Hare Krishna Maharaja and assembled devotees. It is with a very great pleasure and honor that tonight we are having live darshan and association of Maharaja. I personally feel so fortunate to be able to assist tonight’s lecture. So, tonight, the first day of our series of lectures in connection with Srila Prabhupada’s 125th anniversary, and the series has been titled “Ashraya līlā kathā.” Tonight, we have His Holiness Giriraj Maharaja, who will start this lecture. And before we start, I would remind devotees to please keep your microphones muted, except when you are asked to unmute. If you have any question to ask Maharaja, please raise your virtual hand. Thus, the host will allow you to ask your question. Please note also that this session is being recorded, thus everyone will have an opportunity to have a copy of that afterwards. I would also inform you that we are already live on Facebook. And not to waste more time, I will request and invite His Grace Ajay Chaitanya Prabhu to please introduce Maharaja and also invite Maharaja for the kathā. So, all up to you now, Ajay Chaitanya Prabhu.

Ajay Chaitanya Prabhu: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Please accept my humble obeisances, all glories to Srila Prabhupada and all glories your divine grace. Dear devotees, as Prabhu Rasika Sindhu just said, we feel privileged and honored to welcome His Holiness Giriraj Maharaja on this platform. His Holiness Giriraj Maharaja has been instrumental in the development of our yatra since Maharaja came some forty years back. Maharaja is known to have never left a difficult service, never been fearful, even when his life was threatened, and always remained cool-headed in dealing with complex situations in the management of devotees, even at the expense of being slapped on the face. He acted as Temple Commander for huge pandal programs and witnessed the temple demolition in Bombay and also, as temple president. Maharaja has had to take major responsibilities in ISKCON: president and development of Bombay Temple, BBT Trustee, ISKCON GBC, President Board of Trustees, acquisition and development of Bhaktivedanta ashram in Govardhana, ashram for women, Bhaktivedanta hospice, Vrindavan institute of Palliative Care.

Maharaja is also known for his ability to raise funds, cultivate important members of society, care for devotees around the world, teaching our VIHE, organize japa retreats, and naturally, writing famous books as they are all aware of. Now Maharaja is specially known for his loyalty and dedication to Srila Prabhupada. Maharaja has always acted as a first-class devotee, that is, performing pleasing services for Srila Prabhupada, even before being asked. For instance, Maharaja chose to serve in Bombay rather than Madras or Calcutta, or even to the West, because that was more pleasing to Srila Prabhupada.

Dear devotees, please reflect on what Srila Prabhupada had to say about Maharaja. He said, “Maharaja is a simple man. Bombay means Giriraj and Giriraj means Bombay. Bombay is like Kurukshetra, and Giriraj is our Arjuna.” Dear devotees, what should I say more? Please, just listen to what Maharaja has to tell us for the one hour or ninety minutes, which Maharaja will decide. Thank you once again. Sincere gratitude to Maharaja for accepting to be among us today. Thank you, Maharaja. Please, Maharaja, the screen for you now.

Giriraj Swami: Thank you for that amazing introduction. I will begin by singing the maṅgalācaraṇa prayers and leading a short kirtan. And then I will speak about Srila Prabhupada. And I would like to request the devotees on Zoom to put on your cameras so we can see our moonlike faces and have a more personal interaction.

[Prayers]

So, before I begin speaking, I will take your leave for one minute, and I will be right back.

The theme of my talk about Srila Prabhupada today will be, “How shall I take shelter of one more merciful than He?” That line is taken from a verse in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which I shall read because it reminds me so much of Srila Prabhupada and his merciful nature. So, the verse, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Three, Chapter Two, Verse Twenty-three, is very significant. Not only is the verse beautiful, but it also had historical significance.

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

I quote this verse because it reminds me of Srila Prabhupada, “How shall I take shelter of one more merciful than He?”

ŚB 3.2.23

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?

COMMENT

Probably many of you know this pastime from the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. But Pūtanā was a she-demon who came to Vrindavan to kill Krishna. She assumed a beautiful form, and the residents of Vrindavan, headed by Mother Yasoda, were so struck by her beauty that they allowed her to take Krishna in her arms. And she suckled Him, but she had put poison in her breast to kill Krishna. And of course, Krishna was not killed, and ultimately, Pūtanā was killed. So now, with that background, I will read the verse again:

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.

[READING (continued)]

PURPORT (continued)

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?

[READING (continued)]

COMMENT

So, this is my basic presentation about Srila Prabhupada’s mercy. And now, the devotees can share comments or ask questions. Again, I will leave for a minute and be right back.

Host: Hare Krishna dearest devotees. Again I would request humbly to those who wish to ask Maharaja a question to first raise your virtual hand, and then we shall invite you to ask the questions. Thank you so much.

Giriraj Swami: So, I see that Jaya Chaitanya has his hand raised, so maybe we will begin with him. Hare Krishna.

Jaya Chaitanya Prabhu: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Thank you for this nice presentation. Maharaja, just says that the love is manifested in care. So often we hear about devotee care. I feel it is a very huge, a big thing when you want to talk about devotee care. Does it mean like, is it spiritual care, material care? If someone lack basic needs or education for children, this I really don’t Maharaja. What is this devotee care? What we mean to express our love through care of devotees?

Giriraj Swami: Well, we want to care for devotees in every respect, physical, emotional, and spiritual. Of course, most important is spiritual, but we also want to care for them in other aspects of their lives because every aspect of their life is ultimately related to their devotional service. And we should be ready to extend ourselves to the other devotees. I recently received a message from a devotee saying how she was always very busy in her own service and she didn’t really take much time to care for other devotees, but later she realized that yes, her own service is important, but it is also an important part of her service to help other devotees. So we definitely want to do that, medically also. Srila Prabhupada also said we should be sympathetic. One of the qualities of a devotee is he is sympathetic. We should be sympathetic to everyone, especially to other devotees who need help.

Are there any other questions or comments?

Devotee: Thank you guru Maharaja for this wonderful presentation, very enlightening. What you said is just so beautiful, what you read is so beautiful. However, at my stage, I feel it is a very distant goal. Sometimes, in some good consciousness, I may try to imitate, being more merciful than my capacity and feel some help and reciprocation. But other times, guru Maharaja, the material world comes to slap you and beat you down, and then sometimes wise advice from other seniors and experienced personalities is, “Act at your level.” And it is like, how to keep progressing beyond our level, at the same time stay enthused in the face of challenges.

Giriraj Swami: I don’t know if I am following the question. You are saying that you want to be merciful, but then you may extend yourself to others beyond your capacity. But sometimes you feel you are getting positive help in your efforts, but sometimes the material world beats you down.

Devotee: Yes, in the sense that others have their limitations or their conditionings, and it just feels like it is, sorry for thinking like that, but unless I give you my symptoms, how would you diagnose. It feels like others may be taking advantage, you are being inconsiderate of my limitations or my capacities, and so how to tread the boundaries between trying to do what pleases guru and Krishna, and at the same time trying to be wholesome in my approach and not artificial.

Giriraj Swami: That is a very good question. I think of a letter that Srila Prabhupada wrote to Rameshwar in which he said that the highest service is preaching, but even higher than preaching is saving yourself first. So yes, we want to extend ourselves to others, but not in a way or to an extent that our own spiritual life is compromised. That would be counterproductive. There was a book called The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey which my dear godbrother Sridhra Swami Maharaja used to teach as the seven habits of highly effective Vaishnavas. And one of the principles is “Think Win-Win.” In other words, it should be a win for me, and it should be a win for you. Materialistic people, egoistic people, they think “Win-Lose.” They just want to win; they don’t care if you lose or not. And then there is a certain type of falsely altruistic person that thinks “Lose-Win,” and that cannot sustain itself, which means that ultimately it will become “Lose-Lose,” everyone will lose. So Stephen Covey, or Sridhra Swami Maharaja, says think “win-win” in such a way that I will win and the other person will also win.

Yes, Varad Krishna dasa. Please unmute yourself. Nice to see you.

Varad Krishna dasa: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Thank you very much for your response. So, is it correct to say that, reading from your book, the amount of enthusiasm you had to serve Prabhupada, going out in the morning, coming late, and still carrying on and trying to keep a cool head. So, this is very inspiring because what we find is that when we talk of capacity, that we may think that we have a certain capacity, but when we connect it to Krishna, it seems that Krishna can empower us to go beyond that. I see it in your case; I see it in the case of Srila Prabhupada himself, where he never complained of, time zones, about jet lag. So, what is your comment on this, Maharaja?

Giriraj Swami: What you said is absolutely true, that as we have been saying, there is no limit to the mercy of Lord Nityananda, no mercy to the limit of Srila Prabhupada, and so they can empower us to do things that are beyond our ordinary capacity. Yes, I think you were referring to my new book here.

Varad Krishna dasa: Yes, yes, correct.

Giriraj Swami: I’ll Build You a Temple, The Juhu Story. It is true. We did things that, ordinarily, we would not be able to do. I don’t even know if I would be able to do them now, but I was able to do them then. Of course, I was younger then. But I think Srila Prabhupada just empowered us to do things beyond our ordinary capacity and to enjoy.

Varad Krishna dasa: Yes, I think this opportunity, Maharaja, if you permit, that I have read your three books before, but this book allows me to understand the person, Giriraj Swami, whom I met in my early days. So I am really very, very thankful and grateful for your mercy to have kept me up to here. Thank you very much, Maharaja.

Devotee: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Please accept my humble obeisances. So, your class has been on mercy. So in life, do we look for mercy, or does the mercy flows by itself when you engage in the service?

Giriraj Swami: Well, both. We want mercy, and at the same time, we try to act in such a way that we will attract mercy by doing what will please our superiors, what will please the personalities whose mercy we are seeking. And that could be, rendering some personal service to them. It could be supporting a cause that is dear to them. Yes, in one sense, our whole process is to attract mercy. But the way we attract mercy is through service. And it is in the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that, when we offer obeisances to someone, the idea there also is to attract their mercy. And of course, attentive japa is very important; ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam, to cleanse the heart. So, attentive japa, rising early in the morning. I have a godbrother in Gainesville, Florida, named Kalakantha Prabhu, and he says the best advice that he gives to devotees is to take rest early because if they take rest early, they can get up early, and then if they get up early, they can chant and engage in all their other spiritual activities at the most auspicious time, the most powerful time of brahma-muhūrta, before sunrise.

When I was in Juhu, after the big temple opened, which was after Srila Prabhupada left, I became friends with some Muslims, Ahmadiyya Muslims, and they said that in their tradition, Allah hears the prayers of devotees more before sunrise. So these Ahmadiyya Muslims used to come to Juhu early in the morning and, I guess, offer their prayers to Allah before sunrise to get his maximum merciful response.

Oh yes, Subash Shete, Yes, I recognize you, but I was honoring the name.

Subash Shete: Daṇḍavat. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and all glories to your services. You talked about the mercy and of course Srila Prabhupada is the most merciful personality, no doubt about it. But at the same time, he had rejected his Sanskrit scholar, who is I am not here to criticize him, he is senior to me, but he rejected the Sanskrit scholar. Is that because he was breaking the siddhanta, and that is why Srila Prabhupada rejected him? Because when it comes to siddhanta, Srila Prabhupada was very, very firm about it. Is that what we can take from this example?

Giriraj Swami: It is a very important example because we are discussing how merciful Srila Prabhupada is, and there is no limit to Lord Nityananda’s mercy. But he did reject this one disciple. I don’t think I would say it was because of siddhanta. Srila Prabhupada could correct deviations in siddhanta. But what really happened was that that disciple, or so-called disciple, that disciple became offensive to Srila Prabhupada. He found some Sanskrit scholar in Vrindavan, from whom he was learning, and he thought that that scholar, Sanskrit scholar in Vrindavan, was more knowledgeable than Srila Prabhupada, and that Srila Prabhupada hadn’t really given us the true philosophy of Krishna. It is really bad, really bad. And Srila Prabhupada rejected him. He had to. And when that devotee asked for Prabhupada’s blessings to leave Prabhupada and go to the Sanskrit scholar, Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, I give you my blessings to become a snake.” [Laughs] So, that was really heavy. That was exceptional. And that was also Prabhupada’s mercy. Prabhupada was trying to bring the fellow to his senses. And eventually, he did sort of come back, that Sanskrit scholar. He did, and he did some service in reconciliation.

That was a good question. Any other questions or comments? Advaita Hari Prabhu, nice to see you today.

Devotee: Daṇḍavat praṇāma. Guru Maharaja, I was having a question. Nowadays, I was trying to read Yamuna Mataji’s book. So in that, I read about when you all went to Vrindavan for the first time to clean Prabhupada’s rooms at Radha-Damodara temple and everything. So I was just asking, what was your feeling when you first went there and everything? How was it?

Giriraj Swami: You mean when I first went to Vrindavan, specifically to Radha-Damodara?

Devotee: Yes, to Vrindavan and to Prabhupada’s room.

Giriraj Swami: It was very special. And I felt Krishna’s presence. And as after I returned to Bombay from Vrindavan, Srila Prabhupada asked about my experience, and I said, I could practically feel Krishna’s presence. I really felt like that. And Prabhupada said, “Yes, that is very nice. But you can feel his presence.” And it was very special, going to show Prabhupada’s rooms at Radha-Damodara with a Gurudasa, Yamuna devi. It was interesting to see, because there are many things there from before Srila Prabhupada went to America. Different things related to his pharmaceutical business and different preaching programs that he tried to organize. I remember one letter was very striking. Some Mayavadi were having a bhāgavata-saptāha in Bombay and was inviting Prabhupada to attend. Srila Prabhupada replied, “Not only will I not attend, but I will tell all of my friends and acquaintances that they also should not attend.” They wanted to save them from Mayavada. He was quite straightforward. That was also one thing about Srila Prabhupada. We have been talking about how merciful he is, but he was very straightforward and he would not compromise. Yes, but that was also his mercy. That was also. . . that he wouldn’t compromise. He would tell them.

Devotee: Guru Maharaja, one more question? In the lecture, you told about Gorakhpur. So I was just thinking, have you ever got a chance to, interact with anyone Hanuman Prasad Poddar, or only with Srila Prabhupada?

Giriraj Swami: No, there was a meeting, maybe more than one, but there is at least one meeting between Srila Prabhupada and Sri Hanuman Prasadji Poddar. And Hanuman Prasadji Poddar was very appreciative of Srila Prabhupada’s work. And they had some correspondence. There is a picture also of Srila Prabhupada with Sri Hanuman Prasadji Poddar.

So, Rasika Sindhu, do you have your hand up?

Devotee: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Thank you so much for so much nectar. My question, actually, my question is concerning His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja. We have been told that you were the first one who invited Maharaja to come to Mauritius during the early days. And my question is, Maharaja, we would like to know more about why you invited him, and how things were when you invited him, and how he reacted to come to Mauritius for the first time during the early days of ISKCON Mauritius.

Giriraj Swami: Well, His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja is very kind and merciful. And I felt that he could be very helpful in Mauritius. I have my own limitations; that is one thing. And then the other thing is, as an American, and there are some people who wanted an Indian, and he and I were already working very well together in South Africa, so I invited him, and he came. Yes, recently Murad Krishna Prabhu, reminded me of a program at his place with both His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja and me. So yes, it is probably the best thing I ever did for Mauritius. And of course, this isn’t Mauritius—but I always keep this photo nearby of him and me together. This was one of the many times he stayed with me in my ashram here in Carpinteria, California.

Devotee: Wow, thank you, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: But yes, devotees are very fond of him. Those days when the two of us were called GBCs for Mauritius, yes, they are very, very happy times.

Devotee: Thank you so much for these drops of nectar.

Giriraj Swami: So, Ajay Chaitanya, is your hand raised from before, or is it raised again?

Ajay Chaitanya Prabhu: I am here Maharaja but if you have other devotees, better you give them a chance.

Giriraj Swami: Okay. Malati dasi.

Malati dasi: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada, all glories to your divine grace. Guru Maharaja, how can we be straightforward and at the same time humble? Because sometimes straightforwardness can hurt other devotees. So how can we be humble at the same time?

Giriraj Swami: Well, we should always be humble, and being straightforward can be good, but not always. We have to judge the circumstance. Srila Prabhupada gave a few statements about criticism. He said, there is an art to criticizing. He was telling a group of us, “There is an art to criticizing, but unfortunately, you do not know that art.” And then he gave an example. I think this must be from Sanskrit, but instead of saying that the tree is dead, which would be the straightforward way, you say that the tree, which is full of luxuriant branches and leaves and fruits and flowers, has lost its juice. It comes to the same thing, but Srila Prabhupada gave that example of like how to say it, in a way. So, yes, and we should pray, we should always pray all the time—but whenever we are dealing with a devotee, and we want to convey a message, but we don’t want to hurt the devotee, so we should pray to our paramparā to guide us to make our words suitable. And we can also pray to Krishna in the heart. When I would do book distribution, I would always be praying to Krishna in the heart of the potential buyer to inspire the person to take a book, to do some service, to give some Lakshmi. So yes, we should pray that we can speak in the proper way and pray that our message is received nicely.

Malati dasi: Guru Maharaja, I sometimes pray that I don’t know how to pray, so I just—because there is an art to prayer also. So, I am just saying.

Giriraj Swami: Praying is natural, but Srila Prabhupada did give a formula for offering prayers. And he said that first, one states the qualification of the person to whom one is praying, and then one states one’s own disqualification, and then one prays for mercy. We see this pattern in some of Narottama dasa Thakura’s songs, prayers, like praise to Lord Chaitanya, “patita pavana hetu tava avarara,” that “You are like the most merciful, mo sama patita prabhu na payibe ara, and I am the most fallen.” But he is not saying that artificially; he is feeling it: “You are the most merciful, and I am the most fallen, so please save me first.”

I see there is a question in the chat box, but I think I answered it. It says, “I have a question. Is it right to say that we shouldn’t be merciful to others or help others at the expense of our own spiritual lives?”

Generally, being merciful to others will be beneficial for our spiritual lives. Yes, there may be a special case when we need to take care of— we need to chant our rounds or something like that—so at the moment, we might not be able to be merciful. But even then, I think it is always good to be merciful, or almost always good. I think of a very beautiful description of mercy written by Shakespeare in his play called The Merchant of Venice, and I will read it because it is very appropriate for us as devotees, aspiring devotees.

“The quality of mercy is not strained; it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed; it blesseth him that gives and him that takes. ‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes the throned monarch better than his crown. His scepter shows the force of temporal power, the attribute to awe and majesty, wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings; but mercy is above this sceptered sway. It is enthroned in the hearts of kings; it is an attribute to God Himself. And earthly power doth then show likest God’s when mercy seasons justice.”

Isn’t that nice?

Devotee: Can you share that on GRS?

Giriraj Swami: Okay, on my mailing list?

Devotee: Yes, if it is an appropriate request. Yes.

Giriraj Swami: So, Ajay Chaitanya Prabhu, is your hand raised, or is that from before?

Ajay Chaitanya Prabhu: Yes, I just wanted to know about your time.

Giriraj Swami: I am fine with time.

Ajay Chaitanya Prabhu: Okay, well, Maharaja mentioned about the only time that Prabhupada touching me after again bringing the extreme sevā. I was also thinking about those devotees who are acting like Prabhupada’s personal servant, having the opportunity of massaging Prabhupada’s feet for at least one hour daily. I am also thinking of His Holiness Radhanath Maharaja, who, at the first meeting at this cross-Maidan festival, where despite other devotees not allowing him to touch the feet of Prabhupada, Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, you can touch my feet.” Any comment, Maharaja?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, well, the touching is of two different categories. The touching I mentioned was when Srila Prabhupada took the initiative to touch me, but it is quite common that we might take the initiative to touch Srila Prabhupada when giving a massage or rendering some other service like that. In fact, I had that experience with massaging Srila Prabhupada’s lotus feet. It was in his last days in Vrindavan, and he was pretty much confined to his bed. Srila Prabhupada had told the story of a father who was, I guess, on his deathbed or was very sick, and his sons were massaging him. But the sons could not cooperate. Say one was massaging the right arm, and another one said, “No, you get away from there. I want to massage his right arm.” And then another was massaging his left leg, and another son said, “Oh, you go away from there. I want to.” And they are quarreling about who is going to massage which part of the father’s body, the father died.

So, during Srila Prabhupada’s last days, we were massaging him. We weren’t fighting, and different disciples were massaging different parts of Prabhupada’s body. Tamal Krishna Goswami commented to Srila Prabhupada, “The sons are cooperating to serve the father.” But as I massaged Srila Prabhupada’s right foot, I felt small particles of dust, which were magnified in my consciousness. I thought, This is the dust of the lotus feet of the pure devotee. I told Tamal Krishna that I felt so whole and complete and satisfied like never before in my life, and he conveyed the same into Prabhupada’s ear. So yes, that was very special. Of course, we do touch Srila Prabhupada, his servants would give him a massage every day, and on occasions, yes, they would like massage his feet at night when he was going to take rest. But for him to take the initiative to touch a disciple was unusual.

Ajay Chaitanya Prabhu: And about His Holiness Radhanath Maharaja, for the first visit, is it special mercy?

Giriraj Swami: Well, I guess I will give a little background of the story for those who don’t know. His Holiness Radhanath Swami came to our pandal at Cross Maidan, which ran from March 26th to April 4th, just about fifty years ago. In fact, His Holiness Radhanath Swami phoned me on March 26th, on the fiftieth anniversary of him and me meeting, and his meeting with Srila Prabhupada. So I was in charge of the book table, but actually, several long tables, wooden tables put together. And I knew from my experience on saṅkīrtana in America that the main thing is you have to put the magazine in people’s hands, and then they look at it, they see the pictures, they see the text, they become attached to it, and they want to keep it. And then you ask for a donation. So, I was doing that at the book table at the pandal, and people were just walking off with the magazines. So, our main advisor, one of our main advisors then was Sadajiva Lal. And so, I told Sadajiva Lal, what was happening, and he said, “Oh, you can’t do that in India.” “What can we do?” He said, “Well, what you have to do is you poke a hole in the corner of the magazine, and then you thread a string through the hole and tie the string to the leg of the table. So they can hold it, but they can’t walk off with it.”

So, at the time, this young man in faded white cloth with sort of matted hair was spending time at the pandal. And so, I asked him, if he would help me, thread the strings through the corners of the magazines and tie them to the legs of the table. And that person eventually became Radhanath Swami. And so, he said that was the first service, I engaged him in his first service to Srila Prabhupada. So then, time came for Srila Prabhupada to speak, and I told the young man, “You should go and listen to guru Maharaja speak.” So he is very humble, still is, and so he went way to the back of the audience. He wanted to be at the very back; he didn’t want to be obtrusive in any way. And somehow, Prabhupada spotted him, and he sent Gurudasa into the crowd to bring him up to the stage. And Prabhupada had him sit near him and said, “Every evening, you come and sit with me.”

So then, it is true, at the end, when Prabhupada was about to leave, Radhanath Swami wanted to touch Prabhupada’s feet. It was sort of a rule that you couldn’t do that. So, Tamal Krishna Goswami intervened. He said, “You can’t touch Prabhupada’s feet.” But Prabhupada smiled and looked very lovingly at Radhanath Swami and said, “You can touch my feet.” So yes, Prabhupada was very merciful and perceptive. Prabhupada could see something of the future of His Holiness Radhanath Swami in Krishna consciousness.

Any other questions or comments?

Alright, if there are no more questions or comments, we can end now. We are going to ask, that we conclude with Vaishnava praṇāma. So, I will say in English, and then we can say in Sanskrit:

“Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto all the Vaishnava devotees of the Lord, who are just like desire trees, who can fulfill the desires of everyone, and are full of compassion for the fallen conditioned souls.”

vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaś ca kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca 

patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ

Anant Koti Vaishnava Vrinda ki jaya!

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Devotee: Thank you so much. So, I wish to thank Maharaja for this wonderful lecture and also, seeking this opportunity to thank all of you nice devotees for being present tonight for this wonderful lecture. And we hope to see you all soon for other such lectures. So, please get connected on our Facebook page, which is, “Srila Prabhupada’s pastimes in Mauritius,” we will be planning to have the whole Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta being read or summarized on that page with a lot of senior devotees. Hare Krishna. Thank you again, everyone. Stay safe. See you soon.