SB 3.2.23 – Srila Prabhupada—Most Merciful

Host: Hare Krishna, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Host: Hare Krishna. We are very glad to have you with us, a warm welcome. I will just read out a bit of a small presentation. Before I start the presentation, I would just like to inform all of you that we have the whole program being translated simultaneously in three languages. So, we have Radha Govinda Prabhu from Porto, Portugal, he’ll be doing in Portuguese language, we have Natalie doing Russian language from Russia, and we have the Spanish done by Ganga Mataji from Madrid, Spain. You can select your language from the choice of your option of the languages found in the section of “More,” marked with the three dots.

Hare Krishna, Maharaja, thank you very much, please accept my humble obeisances and all glories to Srila Prabhupada and all the Vaishnava devotees.

Firstly, the disciples of the Spanish yatra and from all around the world wish to extend our warm welcome to you and express our gratitude for joining us, giving us your precious and valuable time, and guiding us on our path to spirituality. We are indeed extremely fortunate. I’m sure you are all aware of the great services that Maharaja has done for this wonderful movement of Krishna consciousness, ISKCON, as established by our very dear founder acharya, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Srila Prabhupada.

Many times, we have very extensively spoken about his family background and the wonderful books written by him, each of them is a masterpiece par excellence. Today, on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the appearance of Srila Prabhupada, Maharaja is going to talk about many of the pastimes he had with Srila Prabhupada. It is a great fortune to have this grand opportunity to hear directly from the mouth of a great devotee and a servitor of Srila Prabhupada. Maharaja, we all devotees are very much excited to hear about Srila Prabhupada from you as you have had so much mercy and association from him in the early days of the movement.

Now, without taking any more of your valuable time, I pass on the word to you and beg you to forgive me for whatever offenses I may have committed due to my ignorance. Hare Krishna. I now ask all of you to unmute your mic for a moment so that you can all thank him, give a big round of applause and a big Haribol for Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: I would like to request all of our participants on Zoom, as far as possible, to put on your cameras so we can see your smiling faces, and it will be more personal. I will begin by singing the maṅgala-ācaraṇa prayers and leading a short kirtan. Then, we will speak about His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of his appearance in this world.

[Prayers]

It is a great honor and pleasure to be with you all today, especially to remember and glorify our beloved Srila Prabhupada. In the course of my discussion of Srila Prabhupada, I will refer to a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and I’ll tell you the verse number now so that the translators will have a minute or two to find the verse in their language, and thus it will be easier for them to do their translation of that part of the talk. The verse is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Three, Chapter Two, Text Twenty-Three. I’ll let you find that verse, and I’ll be back in a minute.

Thank you for that nice kirtan. The reason I selected that verse is because the verse describes Lord Krishna’s extremely merciful nature, but to me, it also describes Srila Prabhupada’s extremely merciful nature.

This verse, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.2.23 is very significant. Not only is the verse beautiful, but it also has historical significance because when after sixteen years, Śukadeva Gosvami came out of the womb, he left home immediately, and his father, Srila Vyasadeva, followed him into the forest. When Vyasadeva came close enough to his son for Śukadeva to hear, he recited two verses from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. One describing Krishna’s beauty from the Tenth Canto, and one, this verse, describing Krishna’s mercy.

When Śukadeva Gosvami heard these two verses, the one describing Krishna’s mercy and the one describing Krishna’s beauty, he became attracted. Although liberated, he became attracted by Krishna’s transcendental qualities, and he came back to hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from his father. I quote this verse because it reminds me of Srila Prabhupada, how shall I take shelter of one more merciful than he?

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

TEXT 23

aho bakī yaṁ stana-kāla-kūṭaṁ

jighāṁsayāpāyayad apy asādhvī

lebhe gatiṁ dhātry-ucitāṁ tato ‘nyaṁ

kaṁ vā dayāluṁ śaraṇaṁ vrajema

TRANSLATION

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

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Here is an example of the extreme mercy of the Lord, even to His enemy. It is said that a noble man accepts the good qualities of a person of doubtful character, just as one accepts nectar from a stock of poison.

COMMENT

There is more to the purport, but my comment here is that the Lord is absolute, He is all good for everyone, and He is neutral toward everyone. He is always thinking of how to do good for others, so even if one approaches Him as an enemy, He will try to do good for the person, as in the case of Pūtanā. Although she came to kill Krishna by administering poison from her breast, He elevated her to the position of a nurse, a mother in the spiritual world. And as merciful as He is, Srila Prabhupada is even more merciful.

Srila Prabhupada said, “It is a mark of a good man that he takes the good side, not the bad side of others.” He gave the example of his Guru Maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta had a disciple named Kunjabihari dasa, people used to call him Kunjababu, who Srila Prabhupada said came to do business with their Guru Maharaja to profit personally from his relationship with him and from his service to the Gaudiya Matha. But Srila Prabhupada said that their Guru Maharaja did not take Kunja’s dark side, that he was coming to make business, but he took the bright side, that he was coming to offer service.

In his conversation with Bob Cohen on February 28th, 1972 in Mayapur, at which I happened to be present, Srila Prabhupada said, “Pūtanā rakshasi, she offered Krishna poison, but Krishna is so nice that He thought, She took me as My mother, so He took the poison and delivered her. Krishna does not take the bad side. A good man does not take the bad side, he takes only the good side. Just like one of my big godbrothers, he wanted to make business with my Guru Maharaja, but my Guru Maharaja did not take the bad side, he took the good side. He thought, He has come forward to give me some service.” Coming back to the purport.

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?

COMMENT

That’s the end of the purport, and this verse reminds me of Srila Prabhupada, how shall I take shelter of one more merciful than he? There was no one more merciful than Srila Prabhupada. Lord Nityananda is most merciful, and Srila Prabhupada manifested the same quality of mercy as Nityananda Prabhu.

In Bombay, Srila Prabhupada received a phone call from the temple president in Calcutta, who reported that one of Prabhupada’s earliest disciples from America had come to Calcutta and was smoking ganja, marijuana, and he asked what to do. Prabhupada told his secretary to relay his response, “Tell him that if he does not stop smoking ganja, I will reject him.” Afterwards, Tamal Krishna Goswami asked, “Is it true that if he doesn’t stop smoking ganja, you will reject him?” And Prabhupada said, “No, I cannot reject anyone, the mercy of Lord Nityananda has no limit.”

Then, maybe two years later, we were in Juhu, and Srila Prabhupada had a disciple who fell into bad company and was living on Juhu Beach with a bogus, so-called yogi, doing tricks. He was putting a coin in his ear and making it come out the other, different strange things to collect money, and he was known as a disciple of Prabhupada and a member of ISKCON.

So, Tamal Krishna Goswami approached Srila Prabhupada and said, “This is happening, and he is giving a bad name to you and a bad name to ISKCON, you should reject him.” And again, Srila Prabhupada replied, “I cannot reject anyone.” Tamal Krishna Goswami asked, “But don’t you have to draw the line somewhere?” And again, Srila Prabhupada said, “The mercy of Lord Nityananda has no limits.” Srila Prabhupada is the manifest representative of Nityananda Prabhu and his forgiveness is like Lord Nityananda’s, how shall I take shelter of one more merciful than he? Srila Prabhupada.

Another similar quality of Srila Prabhupada is that he was always willing to give someone a chance.

Around 1976, a strange person with a PhD came to Juhu and said he wanted to join. Srila Prabhupada invited him to stay upstairs with his personal staff in the flat adjoining his. Prabhupada spent quite a bit of time with him. Hansaduta Prabhu was visiting at the time, and he told Srila Prabhupada, “Prabhupada, you are just wasting your time with this man. He is never going to amount to anything.” But Prabhupada kept spending time with him. And in the end, the man left, he never did amount to anything. But when Hansaduta mentioned that to Srila Prabhupada, “I could see that he was never going to amount to anything,” Prabhupada replied, “I wanted to give him a chance.”

Another person whom Srila Prabhupada encouraged was Dr. C.P Patel, who would almost always accompany him on his morning walks on Juhu Beach. They had a friendly relationship, but Dr. Patel would sometimes speak like a Mayavadi. Prabhupada would accuse him, “You are a Mayavadi,” and Dr. Patel would reply, “No sir, I’m a Vaishnava, a pure Vaishnava.”

One morning, Dr. Patel and Srila Prabhupada had a huge argument. Dr. Patel would bring up different so-called holy men of India, if they were not up to the standard, Prabhupada would criticize them.

One morning, Srila Prabhupada was criticizing one of Dr. Patel’s favorite revered so-called saints of India, and Dr. Patel and he had a huge argument. Dr. Patel raised his voice to Srila Prabhupada, and Srila Prabhupada raised his voice to Dr. Patel, they were literally shouting at each other. Dr. Patel’s friends, his cronies, were trying to pull him away saying, “Don’t upset Swamiji, he has a heart condition,” and eventually, they pulled him away.

Back at Hare Krishna Land, Tamal Krishna Goswami approached Srila Prabhupada in his room and asked him, “What is Dr. Patel’s position? Is he a Vaishnava or a Mayavadi, an impersonalist?” In response, Prabhupada told a story about a man who could speak many languages, and whatever language people addressed him, he could respond fluently. No one could figure out where the man was actually from.

After much discussion, a neighbor said, “I will find out.” So, one day, when the man was preoccupied, the neighbor came up behind him and gave him a big whack. And when the man started to curse in his native tongue, his origin was disclosed.

“Dr. Patel is like that,” Srila Prabhupada said, “He can speak very expertly. He can sound like a devotee, sound like a Vaishnava, sound like a Mayavadi, sound like anything. But when I gave a slap where it really hurt, the so-called saintly person that he revered, his real language came out.” “So, why do you put up with him?” Tamal Krishna asked, “He is so offensive.” And Prabhupada replied, “It is our duty to engage everyone.”

Srila Prabhupada wanted to give Dr. Patel a chance, and as the years passed, Dr. Patel developed great affection for Srila Prabhupada. And after Prabhupada left this world, he wrote a beautiful article for Back to Godhead about his relationship with him. The article was titled My Life’s Most Precious Moments with the subtitle A Bombay Doctor Wins the Title Big Fool and Loves It, because Prabhupada would always call Dr. Patel a mūḍha. He would say, “I’m not saying, Krishna is saying na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ. Anyone who doesn’t surrender to Krishna is a mūḍha, a big fool.”

So, how shall I take shelter of one more merciful than Srila Prabhupada? His Divine Grace had so many wonderful qualities, but his most important quality, especially for us, was his extreme mercifulness.

Srila Prabhupada had a good friend in Bombay named Bhogilal Patel. Bhogilal was elder to Srila Prabhupada by about three years, and he was extremely pious. The first devotee to meet him was Gargamuni, and when Gargamuni was explaining Srila Prabhupada’s work, Bhogilal Patel wept profuse tears of appreciation.

One day, some years later, Bhogilal Patel came to meet Srila Prabhupada at Prabhupada’s flat at the back of Hare Krishna Land in Juhu. I had a close relationship with Bhogilal, so I brought him up to meet Prabhupada. The two of them were talking, and as is natural in a conversation, when Prabhupada was speaking, I would look at him, and when Bhogilal was speaking, I would look at him.

But at one stage, while Bhogilal was speaking, I looked at Srila Prabhupada, which Prabhupada wasn’t expecting, and I saw that he was looking at me with such love and affection, like a father or a grandfather. By age, Srila Prabhupada was more like a grandfather.

I was surprised that he was looking at me with so much love, but as soon as he saw me looking at him, he changed his expression and became very grave and serious. I think it was some special mercy that I got a glimpse of how much love he had for us, which he didn’t usually show very openly. His love for us was manifest in his care for us, giving us the knowledge of Krishna consciousness, and engaging us in Krishna’s service.

Srila Prabhupada was very reserved about touching people, including his disciples. In 1971 in Gorakhpur, as guests of Hanuman Prasad Poddar of Gītā Press, we were staying in his large estate Sri Krishna Niketan, which had previously been Hanuman Prasad Poddar’s personal residence.

Srila Prabhupada was traveling with his small Radha-Krishna Deities, and he wanted to establish an altar for Them at Sri Krishna Niketan. He wanted some foliage for the altar. So, he sent a couple of devotees, including me, to collect some. I went out to a thicket and was collecting branches with leaves. I wasn’t tearing them live, I was looking for branches and leaves that had fallen. I just kept going deeper into the woods and collecting more and more foliage, and eventually, I had a huge bundle, as much as I could possibly carry. I moved the bundle back to Sri Krishna Niketan and up the stairs, and when I reached the temple room, Srila Prabhupada was there and the altar was being set up.

I just dropped the bundle on the floor and offered my obeisances, and while I was on the floor, Prabhupada patted me on the back. It was one of the only times, maybe the only time, that he physically touched me. I looked up, and he was smiling broadly. I didn’t know if he even needed any more foliage, but he was pleased by my effort. So, I ask you, how shall I take shelter of one more merciful than he?

So, this is my appreciation of Srila Prabhupada that I wanted to share with you on this occasion about his extremely merciful nature. Srila Prabhupada is incomparable, his mercy is incomparable, it can be compared only to Nityananda Prabhu’s mercy. We are also fortunate to have come in touch with him, either directly or indirectly, so we should dedicate our lives to his service and try to extend to others some of his mercy, which we have been blessed to receive.

And by sharing his mercy with others, we will get more mercy from him. It is a beautiful cycle, we give mercy and we get more mercy, we give more mercy, and we get still more mercy. Just as Srila Prabhupada said of the Pancha-tattva, and it is also true of Srila Prabhupada, that he did not consider who was fit or who was unfit to receive the mercy, so we should also be liberal in distributing Srila Prabhupada’s mercy.

In one talk in Los Angeles, Srila Prabhupada said that to approach Radha and Krishna, one must get the mercy of Lord Chaitanya. And to get the mercy of Lord Chaitanya, one must approach Lord Nityananda. And to get the mercy of Lord Nityananda, one must approach people like Jagai and Madhai, who are the most fallen sinful reprobates. That was Lord Nityananda’s mood, that was Srila Prabhupada’s mood, to give mercy to everyone without consideration who was fit or unfit to receive that mercy.

And we can give them mercy in different ways, one way is by giving people the holy name. Another way, a very important way, is by giving people Srila Prabhupada’s books, and another way is by giving people kṛṣṇa-prasāda. But to give mercy in essence means to bring them in touch with Krishna consciousness, and we can always do that at any time.

Giving mercy doesn’t apply only to new people, we should also be kind to devotees. In fact, on many occasions, Srila Prabhupada wrote that it’s better to maintain a devotee than to try to make a new devotee, and that we should strengthen our existing devotees and give priority to them by giving them knowledge, helping them in every respect, physically, emotionally, socially, and of course, spiritually. We can be merciful to devotees also.

Thank you all for joining to celebrate the 125th appearance anniversary of Srila Prabhupada, the year of the 125th anniversary, and now we can take questions and comments from our participants. Hare Krishna. If you have any comment or question, please raise your hand. Oh, Vaninath Vasu.

Devotee: Yes, Maharaja, thank you. Maharaja, I hope my English will be understandable for you.

I read in the book from Vamsi dasa Babaji Maharaja, I don’t know that book I have read, and that book mentioned that Vamsi dasa Babaji Maharaja met Bhaktisiddhanta Thakura for the first time, I think. And he told, “Oh, this is Manjari, where is the Manjari? There should be Radha, but where is Radha?” And then, he said, “Radha will come.” So, that question, “Radha will come,” what does it mean? How can we explain this type of wonder of Vamsi dasa Babaji Maharaja?

Giriraj Swami: Vamsi dasa Babaji Maharaja was a paramahamsa, a completely liberated self-realized soul, and he could perceive that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura in his svarūpa, in his original constitutional position, was a Manjari or a maid servant of Srimati Radharani. And Vamsi dasa Babaji Maharaja in his mood or bhāva, he was saying also, “Radhika’s Manjari has come, so where is Radhika? She should also come too.” That was his mood or bhāva.

Since you mentioned him, Srila Vamsi dasa Babaji Maharaja, I will mention another incident with him in which he gave a very important instruction. Someone asked him something like, “What are the true principles of religion?” And Srila Vamsi dasa Babaji Maharaja answered three things: name-ruci, taste in the holy name; jivadaya, showing mercy to the living entities; and vaishnava-sevana, rendering service to Vaishnavas.” So, we should also always keep those three principles in mind; name-ruci, jivadaya, and vaishnava-sevana. Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Hare Krishna. Maharaja, but still, my question is, he remains open, I mean, he said that Radha will come, he said that Radha will come, what does, “Will come” mean? She said that.

Giriraj Swami: That means She did come [Laughter]. If he said She’ll come, then it means She came. Is that all right? Hare Krishna. So, Vinoda Bihari, why don’t you decide who to choose? You are on mute, Vinoda Bihari.

Host: Yeah, well, she has been selected, she had come earlier.

Giriraj Swami: Okay.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Guru Maharaja, daṇḍavat-praṇāmās, all glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Guru Maharaja, recently, you were on ISKCON Peru, and you narrated a pastime which. . . The host, I think, made a question to you about some transmission that you had said something in Mayapur and the lights went off, and then you repeated that incident about the prostitute, Mr. Nair getting you the prostitute. And I was so overwhelmed when I heard this incident, I mean, this trial was even more severe to you than what Haridasa Thakura had to face when the prostitute because you were in your prime youth and the prostitute was sitting on your right in the car, and Nair was on your left.

And the words, I mean, they came in your mind and you said, “What will Prabhupada think if I do something wrong?” I mean, you had so much love and so much faith in Srila Prabhupada that you could never even imagine doing anything to hurt him. How do we develop this? I don’t know if Prabhupada was on this planet at that time, if you could explain that, and also, how do we develop this deep sentiment for one’s guru so that we feel him at every moment in our lives, in every action that we do?

Giriraj Swami: Well, coming back to the incident, it’s basically what you described. Being a young man, she was touching me very intimately, so my senses were going wild. And for myself, in that circumstance, I could have thrown caution to the wind and said, “Well, anyway.” But then, I thought that if I did anything, the news would probably spread, that’s probably the whole idea behind it, and it would hurt Srila Prabhupada’s project, it would hurt Srila Prabhupada’s mission.

I thought, No, I can’t do that to Srila Prabhupada, I can’t hurt Srila Prabhupada. Then I had the thought that actually, I loved Srila Prabhupada more than I love myself because for myself, I was ready to do something, but I couldn’t do it when I thought of Srila Prabhupada, that it would hurt him.

As far as how to develop the attachment to the spiritual master, I mean, the basic principle is by following his instructions. By following his instructions, you get his mercy. And as you get his mercy, you become more attached to him.

I think of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, who said that when one’s spiritual master is especially merciful towards him, one will develop a worshipful mood towards one’s spiritual master. So, if we recognize our debt, but our debt is, I would say, to Srila Prabhupada mainly, and also to our spiritual masters, then we’ll try to repay the debt by doing the best we can for them and certainly avoiding doing anything that will hurt them, or bring them discredit, or anything bad.

And chanting, offenseless chanting, chanting our rounds, that will make us strong and steady in Krishna consciousness, chanting offenselessly our rounds.

In one purport in Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Srila Prabhupada says that of all the spiritual master’s instructions, the instruction to chant a minimum sixteen rounds daily is most essential. So, that’s important, very important. And not just chant for the sake of chanting and getting our rounds done, but really trying to hear when we chant, that will give us spiritual strength, and that will make us more attached to the spiritual master. Hare Krishna.

Host: Next, we have is Kartik.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Please accept my humble obeisances, all glories to Srila Prabhupada. Maharaja, in this verse, he mentions the destination of Pūtanā.

Giriraj Swami: Yes.

Devotee: Right? Is there a difference between the destination of Pūtanā and other demons killed by Lord Krishna?

Giriraj Swami: Yeah. By the way, it says Kartik, are you Jai Caitanya?

Devotee: Yes, Maharaja. My grandson uses this for his Zoom classes, sorry, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Okay, nice to see you, no problem.

The destination achieved by Pūtanā was very special because of the service that she rendered. Although she was really trying to poison Krishna and kill Him, she assumed a beautiful form, so beautiful that mother Yasoda and the other residents just saw she is so beautiful that they just gave her access to baby Krishna. And because of that particular type of service, she received that particular type of destination of becoming a mother, a nurse to Krishna.

It’s also said that in a previous life, she was maybe the sister of Bali Maharaja, and as you know, Krishna appeared to Bali Maharaja as a dwarf brahman, as a small boy. When Bali Maharaja’s sister saw Krishna in that form, she felt maternal affection for Him. But then, when Vamanadeva took everything away from Bali Maharaja, his sister became inimical towards Krishna. So, from her past life, she had both of those elements: feeling enmity towards Krishna and also feeling maternal affection for Him. So, those came into play when she appeared as Pūtanā.

But generally, the demons killed by Krishna, not all, but generally, they get sāyujya-mukti of merging, but there are exceptions, some get the form of Vishnu and reside at one of the Vaikuntha planets after being killed by Krishna.

There was an interesting incident when we went with Srila Prabhupada to Amritsar. We were invited to the estate of Baladeva Indersingh, who was like a king. Of course, they abolished kings in India, but he was a kshatriya, and he opened his heart to Srila Prabhupada and said that one astrologer had told him that he had been present at the battle of Kurukshetra, but that unfortunately, he had taken the other side against Krishna.

Baladeva Indersingh was very distressed about that, and Srila Prabhupada told him, “Don’t worry, that could not possibly be true because everyone who was killed in the battle of Kurukshetra got liberation. So, you couldn’t have been there on either side because you had already been liberated.” That was a personal liberation. Okay.

Devotee: Thank you, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Host: Maharaja, next is Malati, but before I pass it to her, there is one question referring to what was earlier spoken from one participant. Her name is Koro Sowa, I don’t have a full name here but she says, “Please accept my humble obeisances, all glories to Srila Prabhupada. What does it mean to chant the holy name without offense if we cannot control all the demons within us who want to commit offenses?”

Giriraj Swami: Well, of course, there are ten offenses in the chanting of the holy name, and as part of the morning program in ISKCON, Srila Prabhupada introduced that the devotee should read the list of the ten offenses after maṅgala-ārati, before japa. Reading the list of ten offenses is not only a reminder of what the offenses are to avoid, but it’s also a purifying process to read the list.

But Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says, this is also interesting, generally, the devotees read the list from The Nectar of Devotion, which is very condensed and consolidated. And at the end, they usually add, “It is also an offense to be inattentive while chanting.”

Now, Sanskrit is such a language that it can be divided in different ways. So, the way Bhaktivinoda Thakura divides the Sanskrit, pramāda or inattention is the ninth offense in his list. He says that if one is inattentive while chanting, all the other offenses will flourish, and if one is attentive while chanting, all the other offenses will be eradicated. Chanting attentively is most important.

The holy name is Krishna, and Krishna destroys demons. So, if you have demons that are haunting you, if you chant attentively, Krishna will enter your heart and mind and dispatch all the demons. But the real thing is to take shelter of the holy name by, first and foremost, chanting attentively, and as far as possible, in a mood of love, devotion, and prayer to Krishna to accept us.

As Srila Prabhupada says, chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra is like the genuine cry of a baby for its mother. So, we should have that mood of crying out to Krishna.

And also the mood of prayer, “Oh Lord, oh energy of the Lord, please engage me in Your service. Oh Radha, oh Krishna, please engage me in Your service.” Because if we call someone’s name, naturally, the person will respond, “Yes, what do you want?” So, we are calling the names of Radha and Krishna, Hare Krishna, so They say, “Yes, you are calling, what do you want?” So then, what will we say? We are not going to ask for anything material, we will say, “Please engage me in Your service.” Hare Krishna.

Host: Next, we have Malati dasi.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Guru Maharaja, please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada, all glories to your lotus feet.

Guru Maharaja, one devotee, a friend of mine, had asked a question to me just two or three days back, so I just wanted to clear the answer. She is ten years in ISKCON.

She said that when devotees in ISKCON are leaving, they praise that devotee, glorify that devotee a lot. And when the existing devotee is there, they don’t keep that devotee, as you said in the statement of Srila Prabhupada, that we have to maintain existing devotees properly. So, she said, “Why don’t we have that mood to maintain good relations with devotees while they are living and we just snatch away the services and many other things?” She just told me that, so please, can you guide me in this question?

Giriraj Swami: I mean, it sounds like a little bit of a digression, but it’s not really. But there was a professor at Brandeis University, where I was actually a student, in the sociology department. I was in the psychology department. His name was Mori. Mori had the idea that after he dies, people are going to say so many nice things about him, but he won’t be there to hear it, and they won’t have the satisfaction of saying them while he is there to hear. He said, “Well, why don’t we just have a funeral for me while I’m still alive? And then people can say all the nice things about me, and I’ll also be there to hear it.”

Of course, we should deal nicely with one another as devotees. There is a wonderful verse and purport that sometimes I speak on from Prahlada and Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva. I think it’s Canto Seven, Chapter Five, Text Twelve, and it really explains how we should relate to one another, what our mood should be.

Basically, Srila Prabhupada says in the purport, “Everyone should be friendly for the service of the Lord, no one should be proud of his service, but should appreciate the service of others.” And we should really cultivate that mood, and then our relationships with one another will be very congenial, our service will go nicely, and Prabhupada and the paramparā will be pleased. I think that girl or anyone who has that concern should read that verse and purport, 7.5.12.

Devotee: Thank you, Guru Maharaja, thank you so much. Hare Krishna.

Host: Maharaja, I have a question to make, can I ask you a question now? The thing is we were talking about while chanting to have attention, complete attention.

Now, it’s said in The Nectar of Devotion that Krishna and His name, His form, and His pastimes are coming together. So, when we are chanting, is the same thing that we think about Krishna or we remember Krishna or His activities or activities related to Krishna? For example, if you have some service to do for Krishna, which is also an activity for Krishna, these thoughts may come to mind. So, do they have the same significance, or are you only thinking about Krishna as a person?

Giriraj Swami: Well, we should hear. Our main focus in chanting should be, of course, to articulate the names properly, and then to hear them attentively. Once, I happened to be in Chowpatty, and a devotee asked Radhanath Swami that he likes service, so when he chants japa, he thinks of service. And Radhanath Swami replied, “But when you are chanting, your service is to chant and hear. That is your service.”

I mean, yes, Srila Prabhupada said, “If we are chanting and naturally, we think of Krishna’s form, qualities, and pastimes, that’s nice, that’s good. But at the expense of hearing the holy name, we shouldn’t artificially try to remember Krishna’s forms, qualities, and pastimes.”

And another thing, my godbrother Gopal Bhatta dasa, who’s very active with GBT Strategic Planning, told me that one thing that he does for the benefit of his japa is that he makes to-do lists, he is very systematic and organized, and he makes long lists of things that he has to do, so that while he is chanting japa, he is not thinking of all the things he has to do, which sometimes happens when we chant japa, “I have to do this, I have to do that.” As a service to his japa, he writes down everything he has to do the day before, so that he doesn’t have to be making his to-do list while he is chanting japa.

Host: Okay, thank you, Maharaja. Now we have Dorothy Mataji, she has her hand raised. Dorothy, whenever you want.

Devotee: Hare Krishna. Daṇḍavat-praṇāmās, Maharaja. All glories to Prabhupada and all glories to you. Thank you very much for the wonderful class.

My question is, Maharaja, as we are seeing that one by one, all our acharyas are leaving the movement, I mean, Srila Prabhupada left and he left with the legacy of all the Maharajas, our present acharyas, all senior disciples and Prabhupada’s disciples. So, as the second generation or third generation of devotees, I don’t know what to say or which generation I have, but what I’m trying to say is that we look up to all our gurus and our spiritual uncles and spiritual masters, but when everybody is gone. . . I mean, I know that obviously, ISKCON is such a movement. . . I’m sorry if I’m taking too much time, I’m just trying to express my question, my feelings, and my thoughts.

It’s such a movement that obviously, we are also equally responsible, and I feel very committed and I feel that the responsibility is now coming on our shoulders, but we are not qualified. How can we be qualified, preach, and be committed? I mean, we can’t ever match up to the standards of what you and all other devotees, our spiritual uncles and fathers would be. But how can we be following the footsteps of what the legacy is left behind? I don’t know if my question is clear, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: That’s a very important question, how to continue the legacy. Well, the basic answer is by following the instructions, following the process. But also, it is very. . . What to say? What word to use? Scary, in a way, or sobering, as we see Prabhupada’s disciples leaving.

And so, we should try to do both; we should try to take association with those who are still with us while they are, and also try to follow the examples and instructions of those who’ve left and pray to them for their mercy.

This COVID is terrible. Anyway, I don’t want to dwell on that, but it is very sobering to realize how tenuous our life is in this material world, and how very dear disciples of Srila Prabhupada can be taken from us. Again, we should take advantage of the association of those who are still with us and serve them, and serve those who have left by following their examples and instructions.

Host: Maharaja, right now [Unintelligible 01:34:05] you are adding something?

Giriraj Swami: Vaninath Vasu raised his hand again.

Host: Okay.

Giriraj Swami: Not his virtual hand, but his real hand.

Host: That’s why he was not supportable. You have to unmute yourself.

Devotee: Thank you, Maharaja, for your nice explanations that you are giving us this opportunity to hear you. Maharaja, I’d like to give some realization about the chanting of the holy name and ask you if it is right or not my understanding of what it means to chant attentively.

The material consciousness is always trying to separate the Lord from His energy, and that’s why when we are chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, we concentrate our minds basically on the name of Krishna, the name of the God, and we are not so attentive hearing the name of Radha, Hare.

Then my understanding is that we should bring back the energy to the Lord, and we should join them together, and our hearing will become perfect if we hear these names as a relationship between Radha and Krishna. And it doesn’t mean that while we are chanting, we are thinking about that relationship, but it means that we should chant and think about this divine couple, that we are chanting the name of Radha and Krishna all together.

It’s some type of practice and I’m trying to practice, but I would like to ask you how important it is to keep in our mind that this is two persons in one name, and how to hear simultaneously and at the same time, that it’s two different persons, not one person, not only Krishna. That’s what I can say about that.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, the first point is that, I’ve heard it said and it’s true, if you hear the first name, Hare, it will be easier following that to hear all the other names in the mantra. But if you miss the first name, Hare, then it will be hard for you to focus on the other names as well. So, we want to start by hearing that very first name, Hare, which is Radha.

Now, some of our acharyas, such as Srila Jiva Gosvami and Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, have given elaborate explanations in terms of kṛṣṇa-līlā, Radha-Krishna līlā, what the different words to the mantra mean, the thirty-two, or the different pairs of words, the sixteen pairs of words.

I think that will be relevant when we are at a very advanced stage of chanting, but they have given that description of what’s going on in Radha-Krishna līlā with each word or each couple of words of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. But yeah, if we can just chant attentively, hear nicely, and chant with a prayerful mood, I think that’s a good beginning.

Devotee: Thank you, Maharaja, so much.

Giriraj Swami: Jaya! Hare Krishna.

Host: Hare Krishna, Maharaja. Just to let you know that we are honored to have a thing right now, Yadunandana Maharaja is also with us in the group.

Giriraj Swami: Well, he should speak. There he is!

Devotee: Maharaja, please accept my humble obeisances. I came near you, Maharaja. I’m sorry I came a bit late because I was finishing the teaching of the disciple course in Spanish online, so it was some overlapping of timings. I’m happy I came, and I was able to hear your transcendental explanations about Srila Prabhupada and the holy names. I felt very inspired by the quote you gave on devotee appreciation and relationships, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.5.12, and the beautiful purport of Srila Prabhupada. Thank you very much.

Giriraj Swami: All right, well, thank you for joining us. It’s very blissful and uplifting to have you with us. Oh, Ganshyam has his virtual hand raised.

Host: Yeah, he just raised his hand. Ganshyam Prabhu, whenever you want, you can unmute yourself and speak.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Maharaja. Dandavats.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Maharaja, in one of the questions that was asked to you, you mentioned that everyone who was killed on the battlefield of Kurukshetra in the Mahābhārata war, everyone attained liberation. So, in one of the lectures in Radha Gopinatha in Bombay, one of the speakers once narrated that the demons who got killed on the Kurukshetra battlefield will take birth in brahman families in Kali-yuga, in smartha-brahman families. So, if this is true, Maharaja, then how come they have not attained liberation?

Giriraj Swami: Well, it’s true, it is stated in shastra that in Kali-yuga, demons will take birth in brahman families, but it’s not true that anyone who was killed in the battle of Kurukshetra took birth again. They were all liberated. I had this discussion [Laughter] with one of our devotees about what kind of liberation they got, and they got personal liberation.

Devotee: Personal liberation?

Giriraj Swami: Sorry?

Devotee: You said personal liberation?

Giriraj Swami: Yeah. Well, first of all, in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.9.39 purport, Srila Prabhupada writes,

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

All the soldiers and persons on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra attained their original spiritual form like the Lord after their death because by the causeless mercy of the Lord they were able to see Him face to face on that occasion.

COMMENT

So, it’s very clear, actually. Srila Prabhupada has said the same thing in other places. In a talk on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.10.4 in Mayapur, he said because they died seeing Krishna present in the battlefield, they all became liberated, svarūpa. He used that word, svarūpa. By finishing duṣkṛtām, everyone got svarūpa, they were all liberated. Therefore, Krishna is all-good. Either He delivers the devotees and kills the non-devotees, the resultant action is the same, both of them become liberated, svarūpa. Because they died seeing Krishna present in the battlefield. Either this party or that party, it doesn’t matter. Everyone died seeing Krishna, so they were all liberated.

We have to remember Krishna at the time of death, but Krishna is so kind, in the battlefield of Kurukshetra, He is personally present. Anyone dying was seeing Krishna. So, what is the question of liberation? Everyone was liberated.

Devotee: So, Maharaja, in this case, the demons who died seeing Krishna on the battlefield, in natural course, they get purified, is it so?

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, they were liberated, they attained their original spiritual forms, their svarūpa.

Devotee: But there were still some who were born in brahman family in Kali-yuga?

Giriraj Swami: Well, not some of the ones who were at Kurukshetra, but others, yes. It is in shastra that in Kali-yuga, demons will take birth in brahman families.

Devotee: Okay, thank you, Maharaja.

Host: Okay, Maharaja, there is one request from one devotee, Varshabhanavi devi. She is saying, “Guru Maharaja, please can you tell us a little about His Grace Pankajanghri Prabhu’s service and glories? Thank you, Hare Krishna.”

Giriraj Swami: Last night, I watched the memorial program for him in Mayapur, and his remaining twin brother, Jananivasa Prabhu, spoke so nicely about Pankajanghri Prabhu and their experiences together. I guess his most lasting contribution was that he and his brother established such a wonderful standard of deity worship in Mayapur. But one devotee named Primathi, she focused on Pankajanghri Prabhu and the elephants, whom he used to call servants of Radha-Madhava. When they would bring the deities out in the elephant procession, Pankajanghri Prabhu would ride on one of the elephants. He was very affectionate toward the elephants, I mean, he would visit them and feed them.

But I think the real thing was the standard of deity worship that the two twins established and maintained. And he in particular was the Pujari for Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, and he helped many devotees get Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva’s blessings. Srila Prabhupada said of the two, “Their whole life is service.” Yeah, they are very good boys, we miss him. Jananivasa Prabhu and Pankajanghri’s mother had ten children, a big family, but it seems that the twins were her favorites. Are there any other questions or comments?

Host: I don’t see any of them with their hands raised, unless they are doing it without their digital hands.

Giriraj Swami: All right, Bhakti Vilas dasi is raising her finger, her real finger.

Host: It’s difficult to capture. Okay, she can come on and unmute herself and speak.

Devotee: Can you hear me now, gurudeva?

Giriraj Swami: Yes.

Devotee: Thank you very much for your darshan, I feel better, your lecture the day before and today. It’s just to greet you and thank you very much and thank you for your blessings and Prabhupada’s blessings. And just make a silly comment.

As young devotees, we used to make many jokes, and sometimes when we say we chant the maha-mantra, we miss Hares and somebody said we should just chant rounds just of Hares just to get back the Hares we’ve lost.

Giriraj Swami: Brilliant, brilliant.

Devotee: Thank you for your joy, gurudeva, thank you for your kindness. So, do you like the Tenerife temple?

Giriraj Swami: I love it!

Devotee: Yeah, very nice weather. Nice. Lord Jagannatha is very big. They are beautiful.

Giriraj Swami: They have a great facility there. It’s amazing what they have done.

Devotee: Yes, many Russian devotees are helping a lot. There is a nice hari-nāma and a nice puja. Rose and Zebot are always enthusiastic, they are always grateful and enthusiastic. Okay.

Giriraj Swami: All right. So, any other questions or comments? Well, if not, we can end with Vaishnava praṇāma.

Host: Maharaja, before winding off, I would like to just thank you. We are truly grateful to Krishna and His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, that we today had opportunity to have a wonderful evening with you, in your presence, and receive your marvelous discourse with so much of spiritual instructions that we will never be able to repay with any services we may do in thousands of our lives. We want to hanker for more of these sessions and will be greatly obliged by your acceptance. We seek your blessings, Hare Krishna. Now you can chant the mantra.

Giriraj Swami: 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-kalpa-tarubhyaś ca

kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca

patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo

vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ

Host: Please unmute yourselves all of you and a big Haribol for Maharaja.

Devotees: Haribol!

[Unintelligible 01:55:43–01:56:25]

Giriraj Swami: On Friday, May 21st, on ISKCON Malaga, it’s the appearance day of Sita devi, the eternal consort of Lord Ramacandra, so we’ll be speaking on that occasion.

Host: It’s going to be something very exclusive, very wonderful, speaking only about Sita devi, so all of you please join and get your other family members and friends to join. We are open and it will be in Zoom and also through Facebook. With Zoom, we have a capacity for a hundred people right now, so you can also join by Facebook as well.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, we were up to ninety-eight a while ago.

Host: No, we did cross a hundred, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: We sent them to Facebook.

Host: Yeah, we asked some of them to leave and join the Facebook.

Giriraj Swami: Okay. Wow, nice.

Devotee: And Guru Maharaja, we have gone live on Mayapur TV Español, Spanish.

Giriraj Swami: Wow, I didn’t even know there was such a thing. Well, nice, many people get to join the glorification of Srila Prabhupada.

Devotee: Thank you. It is a proposal of Dwarkadish Prabhu from Barcelona to invite every month from a disciple of Srila Prabhupada for glorification.

Giriraj Swami: Wonderful.

Devotee: I’d like to hear some story about Prabhupada. The end of our meeting.

Giriraj Swami: Sorry?

Devotee: Is it possible to hear some story about Prabhupada, which you like, Maharaja? Some story about Prabhupada, and we can finish with this story.

Giriraj Swami: Well, it’s not exactly a story, and in a way, it could sound like I’m praising myself, but it just came to mind so I’ll share it. Because we’ve been talking about Kurukshetra, so Srila Prabhupada said, “Juhu is like Kurukshetra, and Giriraj is like Arjuna. Giriraj is our Arjuna.”

Devotee: Wow, wonderful.

Giriraj Swami: I don’t know why I’m coming out with all these, but he also said, “Giriraj is Bombay, and Bombay is Giriraj.”

Host: You have the cherry toppings on the cake, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: I don’t know why I said those things, but it illustrates our theme, that Prabhupada is very merciful. So, what’s next? Oh, wait, Malati, is your hand up? Is that an old hand, or a new hand?

Devotee: New hand, Guru Maharaja. Guru Maharaja, I was reading today The Juhu Story, and I’m so grateful that we could know Srila Prabhupada so well. You have written a very beautiful humorous exchange between Jagat Puruṣa Prabhu, when they were doing a play of Nṛsiṁhadeva, that was so humorous, it was so beautiful. Prabhupada’s eyes were wide open, and he was so happy seeing everyone performing so beautifully.

The beautiful part was when Prabhupada was pleased with him and he said, “I was just melting under the cracks of the tiles, and I just wanted to leave the body at the very moment.” That was so beautiful, this book is full of thrills and so many emotions, Guru Maharaja. Thank you so much for writing this book for all of us, thank you so much.

Giriraj Swami: She is referring to this incident when the devotees performed a drama about Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva and Jagat Puruṣa played Hiraṇyakaśipu.

At the end of the drama, Srila Prabhupada spoke and he said, “I must especially thank Mr. Hiraṇyakaśipu. He has played his part very nicely.” And then, Jagat Purush felt this is the perfection of his life, he was ready to just give up his body on the spot with that appreciation from Srila Prabhupada, “Mr. Hiraṇyakaśipu has played his part very nicely.”

Host: Maharaja, one of the pastimes I was reading today said that Prabhupada was saying that we should be also grateful to Hiraṇyakaśipu because if it wasn’t for him, Nṛsiṁhadeva wouldn’t have appeared, so we have got Nṛsiṁhadeva because of Hiraṇyakaśipu. And sometimes he said even the demons are glorified because when Vamanadeva went to meet Bali Maharaja, in the beginning, he glorified Him. That’s the way you should deal with even demons, you cannot go directly criticizing them because then they will be rebellious. You should glorify them, that is what we learned from the story about Vamanadeva.

Giriraj Swami: Good instruction. Nice. Careful attentive reading. So, what should we do next? I have rounds, we can chant some japa or else we can end and devotees can do their different services.

Host: Maharaja, I think devotees will follow your footsteps, you do as you desire, we will follow you.

Giriraj Swami: Well, I’ll chant and we can chant together, but I know for some people it’s quite late. And I thank the devotees from India who have joined us even though it’s the middle of the night there. If they want to leave, it’s fine, I won’t feel offended or anything, and those who want, they can stay and we can chant some japa together. Hare Krishna. Can I get a tulasi? Oh, he is bringing tulasi, okay, good.