SB 7.5.32 – Sri Prahlada’s Secret of Success

Giriraj Swami: So, in honor of Sri Nṛsiṁha-caturdaśi, the divine appearance day of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, I will read one important verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Seven, Chapter Five, Prahlada, the Saintly Son of Hiraṇyakaśipu, Text Thirty-Two. But before I read the verse, I will read the Chapter summary, which will give us some background.

CHAPTER FIVE—Prahlāda Mahārāja, the Saintly Son of Hiraṇyakaśipu

Prahlāda Mahārāja did not carry out the orders of his teachers, for he was always engaged in worshiping Lord Viṣṇu. As described in this chapter, Hiraṇyakaśipu tried to kill Prahlāda Mahārāja, even by having a snake bite him and by putting him under the feet of elephants, yet he was unsuccessful.

Hiraṇyakaśipu’s spiritual master, Śukrācārya, had two sons named Ṣaṇḍa and Amarka, to whom Prahlāda Mahārāja was entrusted for education. Although the teachers tried to educate the boy Prahlāda in politics, economics and other material activities, he did not care for their instructions. Instead, he continued to be a pure devotee. Prahlāda Mahārāja never liked the idea of discriminating between one’s friends and enemies. Because he was spiritually inclined, he was equal toward everyone.

Once upon a time, Hiraṇyakaśipu inquired from his son what the best thing was that he had learned from his teachers. Prahlāda Mahārāja replied that a man engrossed in the material consciousness of duality, thinking, “This is mine, and that belongs to my enemy,” should give up his householder life and go to the forest to worship the Supreme Lord.

When Hiraṇyakaśipu heard from his son about devotional service, he decided that this small boy had been polluted by some friend in school. Thus he advised the teachers to take care of the boy so that he would not become a Kṛṣṇa conscious devotee. However, when the teachers inquired from Prahlāda Mahārāja why he was going against their teachings, Prahlāda Mahārāja taught the teachers that the mentality of ownership is false and that he was therefore trying to become an unalloyed devotee of Lord Viṣṇu. The teachers, being very angry at this answer, chastised and threatened the boy with many fearful conditions. They taught him to the best of their ability and then brought him before his father.

Hiraṇyakaśipu affectionately took his son Prahlāda on his lap and then inquired from him what the best thing was that he had learned from his teachers. As usual, Prahlāda Mahārāja began praising the nine processes of devotional service, such as śravaṇam and kīrtanam.

COMMENT

Yes, this reply of Prahlada Maharaja is very important. In his answer to his father’s question as to what was the best thing he had learned, Prahlada enumerated the nine processes of devotional service, nava-vidhi-bhakti, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam.

CHAPTER SUMMARY

Thus the King of the demons, Hiraṇyakaśipu, being extremely angry, chastised the teachers, Ṣaṇḍa and Amarka, for having wrongly trained Prahlāda Mahārāja.

COMMENT

So, Hiraṇyakaśipu accused the teachers, and the teachers responded, “You are accusing us wrongly.” And Hiraṇyakaśipu said, “You are allowing Vaishnavas to infiltrate the school.” And they said, “No, we are not allowing Vaishnavas in disguise to infiltrate the school,” and then Hiraṇyakaśipu said, “Well, then how did he become Krishna conscious?” And the teacher said, “We don’t know, you better ask him.”

CHAPTER SUMMARY continued

The so-called teachers informed the King that Prahlāda Mahārāja was automatically a devotee and did not listen to their instructions. When they proved themselves innocent, Hiraṇyakaśipu inquired from Prahlāda where he had learned viṣṇu-bhakti. Prahlāda Mahārāja replied that those who are attached to family life do not develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness, either personally or collectively.

COMMENT

So, I’ll read that. There are two verses that lead up to the main verse on which I’ll be speaking, and I’ll read both of those, very significant.

CHAPTER SUMMARY continued

Instead, they suffer repeated birth and death in this material world and continue simply chewing the chewed. Prahlāda explained that the duty of every man is to take shelter of a pure devotee and thus become eligible to understand Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

COMMENT

So, that’s leading up to today’s verses. So, in Text Twenty-Nine, Hiraṇyakaśipu asked Prahlada, “Where did you get this Krishna consciousness?” And at Text Thirty, Prahlada replies:

TEXT 30

śrī-prahrāda uvāca

matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā

mitho ‘bhipadyeta gṛha-vratānām

adānta-gobhir viśatāṁ tamisraṁ

punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām

TRANSLATION

Prahlāda Mahārāja replied: Because of their uncontrolled senses, persons too addicted to materialistic life make progress toward hellish conditions and repeatedly chew that which has already been chewed.

COMMENT

That’s carvita-carvaṇānām. Srila Prabhupada explains that phrase, carvita-carvaṇānām, chewing what has already been chewed. Just like if you chew some sugar cane and you get all the juice out of it, and then you try to chew it some more and there is nothing in it, there is nothing left. I mean, Srila Prabhupada gave the example of sex. Anyway, I don’t need to discuss in detail, but they enjoy it in one way, and whatever little pleasure they could get, they’ve already gotten it, then they try to enjoy it in another way, and it’s just like chewing the chewed.

TEXT 30 continued

Their inclinations toward Kṛṣṇa are never aroused, either by the instructions of others, by their own efforts, or by a combination of both.

COMMENT

So, it seems that all logical possibilities have been excluded, that they can’t become Krishna conscious by their own efforts, they can’t become Krishna conscious by the efforts of others, and they can’t become Krishna conscious by the combined effort of themselves and others. So, it seems that all the logical possibilities have been excluded. So then, how does one become Krishna conscious?

Then in the next verse, Prahlada Maharaja explains more about people who cannot become Krishna conscious.

TEXT 31

na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ

durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ

andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās

te ‘pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ

TRANSLATION

Persons who are strongly entrapped by the consciousness of enjoying material life, and who have therefore accepted as their leader or guru a similar blind man attached to external sense objects, cannot understand that the goal of life is to return home, back to Godhead, and engage in the service of Lord Viṣṇu.

COMMENT

So, svārtha-gatiṁ means the ultimate goal of life, or their real interest. So, Prahlada begins na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ, the ultimate goal of life or their real self-interest is Vishnu, to serve Vishnu and go back home, back to Godhead.

TEXT 31 continued

As blind men guided by another blind man miss the right path and fall into a ditch, materially attached men led by another materially attached man are bound by the ropes of fruitive labor, which are made of very strong cords, and they continue again and again in materialistic life, suffering the threefold miseries.

COMMENT

So, yeah, andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās, the blind leading the blind. And that’s spiritually what’s happening everywhere; the spiritually blind are leading the spiritually blind. And they are all missing the right path to go back home, back to Godhead. And they are falling into the ditch of material existence.

Now, we come to today’s verse.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

Prahlada Maharaja has already said that one cannot become Krishna conscious by one’s own efforts, by the efforts of others, or by the combination of both. So then, what’s left? How does one become Krishna conscious? So, that is answered in this verse.

TEXT 32

naiṣāṁ matis tāvad urukramāṅghriṁ

spṛśaty anarthāpagamo yad-arthaḥ

mahīyasāṁ pāda-rajo-’bhiṣekaṁ

niṣkiñcanānāṁ na vṛṇīta yāvat

TRANSLATION

Unless they smear upon their bodies the dust of the lotus feet of a Vaiṣṇava completely freed from material contamination, persons very much inclined toward materialistic life cannot be attached to the lotus feet of the Lord, who is glorified for His uncommon activities. Only by becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious and taking shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord in this way can one be freed from material contamination.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious brings about anartha-apagamaḥ, the disappearance of all anarthas, the miserable conditions we have unnecessarily accepted. The material body is the basic principle of these unwanted miserable conditions. The entire Vedic civilization is meant to relieve one from these unwanted miseries, but persons bound by the laws of nature do not know the destination of life.

COMMENT

Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ, they do not know the goal of life, that is Vishnu.

PURPORT (continued)

As described in the previous verse, īśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ: they are conditioned by the three strong modes of material nature. The education that keeps the conditioned soul bound life after life is called materialistic education.

COMMENT

I mean, that’s the type of education that Hiraṇyakaśipu was trying to arrange for Prahlada, but he didn’t have anything to do with it.

PURPORT (continued)

The education that keeps the conditioned soul bound life after life is called materialistic education. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has explained that materialistic education expands the influence of māyā. Such an education induces the conditioned soul to be increasingly attracted to materialistic life and to stray further and further away from liberation from unwanted miseries.

COMMENT

So, everyone wants to be happy, but as Srila Prabhupada says and as we observe, people do not know how to become happy.

A while ago, someone gave me a book called Stumbling On Happiness written by a professor of sociology or psychology at Harvard University, and the premise of the book and the explanation of the title Stumbling On Happiness is that people are very poor at predicting what will make them happy. There is a whole generation of people who were taught that if you get a good education and get a good job or start a business and make lots of money and marry a beautiful wife and have lovely children and go on fabulous vacations, you’ll be happy.

So, there is a whole generation of people who did exactly what they were told would make them happy. But guess what? It didn’t make them happy. And that led to a whole new field of psychology, “What makes people happy?” And so, the book Stumbling On Happiness is based on the premise that people don’t really know what will make them happy, they just have to stumble on it. Fortunately, we stumbled on Krishna consciousness, which can really make you happy.

PURPORT (continued)

Such an education induces the conditioned soul to be increasingly attracted to materialistic life and to stray further and further away from liberation from unwanted miseries.

One may ask why highly educated persons do not take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

COMMENT

That’s a good question.

PURPORT (continued)

The reason is explained in this verse. Unless one takes shelter of a bona fide, fully Kṛṣṇa conscious spiritual master, there is no chance of understanding Kṛṣṇa. The educators, scholars and big political leaders worshiped by millions of people cannot understand the goal of life and take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

COMMENT

Why? Because. . .

PURPORT (continued)

They have not accepted a bona fide spiritual master and the Vedas. Therefore in the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (3.2.3) it is said, nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyo na medhayā na bahunā śrutena: one cannot become self-realized simply by having an academic education, by presenting lectures in an erudite way (pravacanena labhyaḥ), or by being an intelligent scientist who discovers many wonderful things. One cannot understand Kṛṣṇa unless one is graced by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

COMMENT

And how do we become graced by the Supreme Personality of Godhead?

PURPORT (continued)

Only one who has surrendered to a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa and taken the dust of his lotus feet can understand Kṛṣṇa.

COMMENT

So, pāda-rajaḥ means the dust of the lotus feet, and abhiṣekam actually means to bathe yourself in the dust of the lotus feet of the pure devotee. I mean it can mean literally the dust of the lotus feet. If we have the opportunity, we should definitely take the dust of the lotus feet of the pure devotee. But generally, it means to follow the instructions of the pure devotee of the spiritual master.

PURPORT (continued)

First one must understand how to get out of the clutches of māyā. 

COMMENT

Yeah, we want to get out of the clutches of maya.

PURPORT (continued)

The only means is to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. And to become Kṛṣṇa conscious very easily, one must take shelter of a realized soul — a mahat, or mahātmā — whose only interest is to engage in the service of the Supreme Lord. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (9.13):

mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha

daivīṁ prakṛtiṁ āśritāḥ

bhajanty ananya-manaso

jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam

“O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.”

COMMENT

So here, Prahlada is saying mahīyasāṁ pāda-rajo-’bhiṣekaṁ. So, mahīyasām means great soul, just like mahatma. And so, Srila Prabhupada is explaining who is a mahatma, what is the definition of mahatma from the Bhagavad-gītā, so we know to whom we need to take shelter, we know the dust of whose lotus feet we should take on our heads.

PURPORT (continued)

“O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.”

COMMENT

So, Hiraṇyakaśipu wanted to know how Prahlada had become Krishna conscious, and Prahlada is answering, “Only by bowing down to the lotus feet of the pure devotee.” So, indirectly, he was telling his father, “You don’t need to worry about becoming Krishna conscious because you are too proud, you’ll never bow down at the lotus feet of a pure devotee. So, you don’t need to worry about becoming Krishna conscious.”

PURPORT (continued)

To end the unwanted miseries of life, one must become a devotee.

yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā

sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ

“One who has unflinching devotional faith in Kṛṣṇa consistently manifests all the good qualities of Kṛṣṇa and the demigods.” (Bhāg. 5.18.12)

yasya deve parā bhaktir

yathā deve tathā gurau

tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ

prakāśante mahātmanaḥ

“Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed.”

COMMENT

So, once, Srila Prabhupada was discussing with his disciple Guru Kripa, and he asked him, “What is the most important verse in the Vedic literature?” And Guru Kripa replied:

harer nāma harer nāma

harer nāmaiva kevalam

kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva

nāsty eva gatir anyathā

And Srila Prabhupada said, “No.” And then Prabhupada quoted this verse:

yasya deve parā bhaktir

yathā deve tathā gurau

tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ

prakāśante mahātmanaḥ

PURPORT (continued)

“Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of the Vedic knowledge automatically revealed.” (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23)

yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyas

 tasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanūṁ svām

“The Lord is obtained only by one whom He Himself chooses. To such a person He manifests His own form.” (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 3.2.3)

COMMENT

So, Srila Prabhupada had also quoted the same verse from Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (3.2.3) earlier in the purport.

PURPORT (continued)

nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyo na medhayā na bahunā śrutena: one cannot become self-realized simply by having an academic education, by presenting lectures in an erudite way (pravacanena labhyaḥ), or by being an intelligent scientist who discovers many wonderful things.

COMMENT

And then, the verse continues.

PURPORT (continued)

“The Lord is obtained only by one whom He Himself chooses. To such a person He manifests His own form.”

These are Vedic injunctions. One must take shelter of a self-realized spiritual master, not a materially educated scholar or politician. One must take shelter of a niṣkiñcana, a person engaged in devotional service and free from material contamination. That is the way to return home, back to Godhead.

COMMENT

So, thank you, Srila Prabhupada, you are that spiritual master, you are that niṣkiñcana, you are that mahatma. And by our good fortune, we have come in contact with you and all of this knowledge has been revealed to us, and you are leading us on the path back home, back to Godhead. We just have to remain faithful to you and to your instructions and to your mission and adhere to your instructions faithfully.

Srila Prabhupada has often spoken about sincerity. And once, when a disciple asked him, “How can we be sincere?” Srila Prabhupada replied, “By following all of the instructions of the spiritual master, however big or small.” And another time, when Srila Prabhupada was asked, “How can we become sincere or be sincere?” He replied, “By associating with devotees who are sincere.”

So, association is very important. Srila Prabhupada said 90 percent of Krishna consciousness is association. So, yeah, we should adhere to the association of devotees.

‘sādhu-saṅga’, ‘sādhu-saṅga’ — sarva-śāstre kaya
lava-mātra sādhu-saṅge sarva-siddhi haya

Just by a moment’s association with a sadhu, sadhu means devotee, one can attain all perfection. And in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Srila Rupa Gosvami enumerates five most potent forms of devotional service: there is sādhu-saṅga, bhāgavata-śravaṇa, hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā. Sādhu-saṅga, mathurā-vāsa, residing in Mathura, and mūrtira śraddhāya sevana, worshiping the Deity with faith and veneration.

Of course, it’s not automatic. Because once, when His Holiness Gaura Govinda Swami Maharaja visited Mauritius, we had a program at the ISKCON Vedic farm, the Krishna-Balarama temple, and after the program, I was speaking about these five most potent items of devotional service, and one is mathurā-vāsa, to reside in Mathura. And His Holiness Gaura Govinda Swami Maharaja looked me straight in the eyes and said, “Kamsa also resided in Mathura.” So, yeah, it’s not automatic, but we have to have the right consciousness.

But sādhu-saṅga, coming back to sādhu-saṅga, Srila Rupa Gosvami has given the definition in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, sajātīyāśaye snigdhe sādhau saṅgaḥ svato vare. Sajātīyā, jāt, I mean, in a way, it means caste or community. So, sajātīyāśaye snigdhe, Srila Prabhupada translates as who have a similar affection for the Lord, and for us that would mean to be faithful followers of Srila Prabhupada. Sajātīyāśaye snigdhe. Snigdhe can also mean that the sadhu should be affectionate to you. So, sajātīyāśaye snigdhe sādhau saṅgaḥ svato vare, svato vare means they should be more advanced than you. So, that’s sādhu-saṅga, the definition given by Srila Rupa Gosvami.

At one stage, I mean, maybe it’s there now, I don’t know, but at one stage, some devotees were thinking sādhu-saṅga, they had to go outside of ISKCON to find someone who was more advanced. And so, one year, His Holiness Sacinandana Swami, he was doing quite as a serious nāma-vrata during Kartik at Radha-kunda. And I was staying nearby at the Bhaktivedanta Ashram at Govardhana, but it was a palace that had belonged to a king that Tamal Krishna Goswami and I had arranged to get.

And he was chanting so many rounds, he hardly had time for anything else, but he did kindly agree to meet me. And we were discussing this point of sādhu-saṅga and how some devotees thought they had to go outside of ISKCON to get more advanced association. And Sacinandana Swami said, “No, we can get the association in ISKCON, it’s a matter of having the right humble attitude.”

And he gave the example of us, him and me, that he, Sacinandana Swami would be thinking, “Giriraj Swami is more advanced than I am, I can learn from him, I should serve him.” And Giriraj Swami will be thinking, “Sacinandana Swami is more advanced than I am. I should serve him and learn from him.” So, he felt very strongly that with that humble attitude of appreciation, one could fulfill the definition of sādhu-saṅga within ISKCON. Sādhu-sańga svato vare, associate with one more advanced than oneself.

So, these are some thoughts on the occasion of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva’s appearance day inspired by the pastimes, by the verses, and purports we read in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And yeah, I’m feeling very grateful for Srila Prabhupada’s mercy because it’s only by the mercy of such a devotee that one can take to Krishna consciousness. Hare Krishna.

So, are there any questions or comments?

Devotee: Thank you, Maharaja, for sādhu-sańga svato vare, it’s your mercy, so we all are benefiting, and it proves that Prabhupada was a scientist, Krishna conscious scientist, who proved all these verses, what you have described in it. So, that should solidify our faith in him and the process.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, yeah.

Devotee: But still, we are struggling. So, how we can expand the faith and be more sincere to Srila Prabhupada and his devotees?

Giriraj Swami: Well, by following the instructions, we get results. Srila Prabhupada said it’s a scientific process. And so, if you follow the scientific process, you get the results. And when you get the results, then your faith increases. But an important part of Krishna consciousness is sharing our good fortune with others. And so, we want to do both; we want to taste Krishna consciousness and also share Krishna consciousness with others. And when we do so, we get a lot of mercy.

At the end of the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Krishna says that he who explains this knowledge is most dear to Him, and there will never be one more dear. And that for such a devotee, devotional service is guaranteed, and you go back home, back to Godhead. So, Srila Prabhupada very much emphasized preaching, you could say preaching. And so, along with our own efforts at sadhana, we also have to make efforts to spread Krishna consciousness.

I think of the. . . It was my last exchange with Srila Prabhupada, just a few, maybe three days before he left. I was taking a rest on the roof of the gurukula building, and suddenly, a devotee came up in the middle of the night and said, “Srila Prabhupada wants to see you.” So, I immediately went to Srila Prabhupada’s room, he was lying on his bed very weak, as I mentioned, just maybe three days before he left. And he asked me, “Do you think this movement will go on after I leave?” And I replied, “Yes, as long as the devotees are sincere and chant their rounds and follow the regulated principles, the movement will go on.” And then, Srila Prabhupada said with great difficulty because he was very weak and his voice was quite faint, but very distinctly, he said, “Organization. Intelligence, and organization.”

And I thought about the significance of those words of Srila Prabhupada, and I considered that yes, we have to be sincere and chant our rounds and follow the regulated principles, we have to do that to maintain our Krishna consciousness, but beyond just maintaining our Krishna consciousness, Srila Prabhupada wanted us to spread Krishna consciousness, and that requires organization and intelligence. So, yeah, you have to be very organized to spread Krishna consciousness, and pure, of course. Purity is the force, books are the basis, utility is the principle. So, when we do that, however, by distributing books, Srila Prabhupada was very pleased when devotees distributed his books, we get special mercy, and that also increases our faith and our enthusiasm.

So, we want to follow both kinds of instructions; instructions for our own personal, spiritual practices, and also instructions to spread Krishna consciousness.

Devotee: And Maharaja, your book is doing the same, giving more to Prabhupada. Thank you, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Thank you. Are there any other questions? I saw someone with a hand up.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Guru Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Guru Maharaja. Guru Maharaja, my husband, Neeraj, he has a question. Can he ask?

Giriraj Swami: Yes.

Devotee: Guru Maharaja, yesterday, I was reading somewhere, the words are this way, it has always seemed strange to me the things we admire in men; kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding, and feeling, are the concomitants of the failure in our system. And those traits we desist; sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism, and self-interest, are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first, they love the produce of the second. So, after reading this, I read this about three or four times, and I want some insight into it. Why is it so?

On one side, we appreciate kind people, generous people, open people, honest people, and at the same time, we see these qualities are leading them to failure. And then, at the same time, we see the sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, growth, and we see these people are progressing. And as a human being, we keep on admiring, we keep on saying, “Everybody must be kind, everybody must be straightforward, everything.” But at the same time, we love whatever the success the other person gets is all these things, which we don’t appreciate, in fact. So, can you guide us on this?

Giriraj Swami: Yes. It’s like the New York Yankees, who are the most successful baseball team in America. For many years, they had a manager named Casey Stengel, who led them to so many world series. So, he said, “Good guys finish last.” So, that’s sort of the premise of this quotation that you read. But what you read is not entirely true. Let me see, I’ll find this because your wife sent it to me, she wanted my advice. So, I’ll read it, I have it here.

“It has always seemed strange to me, the things we admire in men; kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding, and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system.”

So, do you think Srila Prabhupada was kind, generous, open, honest, understanding, and feeling? Yes, he was. And do you think he was a failure? No, he wasn’t. So, this quotation doesn’t really apply necessarily. I mean, it could apply, but it doesn’t necessarily apply. Someone can have good qualities, those qualities that people admire, and be successful. So, I don’t know who wrote this, but I don’t accept him as an authority, I don’t think that what he wrote stands true. It may in some cases, but not in all cases.

Devotee: But why in some cases?

Giriraj Swami: Because we are in the material world. But I would add to that that when it does hold true, it won’t last. Like Hiraṇyakaśipu. I mean, according to this statement, Hiraṇyakaśipu should be the most successful person, and in a way, he was for a while, but in the end, he lost it all because of his bad qualities.

So, this is actually a very good quotation because Prahlada, he was kind, generous, open, honest, understanding, and feeling, which according to this are concomitants of failure in our system, but he was successful. And the traits we detest; sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism, and self-interest, which were exemplified by Hiraṇyakaśipu, according to this, are the traits of success. So, yeah, he was successful, Hiraṇyakaśipu, for a while, but not long. And ultimately, Prahlada, who had all the good qualities, he was successful. Of course, he was successful spiritually, that’s the main thing, but he also inherited his father’s kingdom. But he remained a good person, and he had the blessings of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva to rule.

So, there are many examples of saintly kings in Vedic civilization. So, from this, are you thinking you have to become mean and all those things to be successful? Your wife says no. I don’t think you’ll likely be married if you become all those things. Okay, I hope that answers you.

Devotee: It was a perfect question and perfect answer on the perfect day from the perfect person, Guru Maharaja.

Devotee: Thank you, thank you.

Devotee: Thank you, Guru Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Okay, thank you, Guru Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Oh, Kshina has her hand up.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Maharaja, daṇḍavat-praṇāmās.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Can you help me, Maharaja?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, I can.

Devotee: Maharaja, I had a small question. It seems from today’s lecture that sincerity seems to be the key ingredient when it comes to earning the grace of the Lord. And you also mentioned that our endeavors, it seems that they don’t have a great role to play. And also, you have said that having faith in the spiritual master and Krishna is what is required to progress in bhakti. But then, one statement that the Lord reveals only to one whom He Himself chooses. So, I mean, what qualification do we need to develop in ourselves? Because we can do nothing, and then this last statement that it’s going to be ultimately Krishna’s will.

Giriraj Swami: Well, that was answered in the verse yasya deve parā bhaktir, that He will reveal Himself to one who has implicit faith in the spiritual master and similar faith in the Supreme Lord. So, it’s based on our faith in the spiritual master and in the Supreme Lord. It’s true, He reveals Himself to those whom He chooses, but who does He choose? That’s explained in the verse, He chooses those who have implicit faith in the spiritual master and similar faith in the Supreme Lord. And faith in the spiritual master means one will follow the instructions of the spiritual master. So, if you follow the instructions of the spiritual master, Krishna will reveal Himself to you.

Devotee: Rightly, Maharaja. Thank you so much.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. Nice to see you. Shanti Kumarasami?

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Guru Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Hare Krishna. My humble obeisances to you, Guru Maharaja. Okay, Guru Maharaja, this is pertaining to preaching. For instance, let’s say we start distributing books and start preaching. So, for instance, we’ve got the Bhakti-Vriksha classes going on and we manage to gather non-devotees who eventually became, some of them became devotees, but eventually, they stop reading Bhagavad-gītā. So, we distributed books but it was of no use, actually.

So, what can we do about this? I mean, how can we increase the number of devotees? How can we revive Krishna consciousness in them? Of course, initially, they start chanting, and eventually, they just stop everything. And there are also cases where some devotees, they are non-Krishna conscious now, they just say, “Okay, I’m happier in my life now. Okay, I’ve got more money.” They are more materialistic and they just say, “Okay, I don’t want to entertain anything with Krishna now.” They were actually devotees.

So, what can we do? Though Lord Krishna says, “Put in our best effort, leave the result to Krishna.” So, kindly enlighten us on this, Guru Maharaja. How do we increase preaching?

Giriraj Swami: Well, I mean it’s good that people come, of course, it’s not good that they leave. And Srila Prabhupada said, “When someone leaves, we should think that we are 50 percent responsible and they are 50 percent responsible.” So, we should think our 50 percent, what we could do better? Or what we could have done better so that they wouldn’t leave? But whatever service they did, it is not in vain, it will accrue to their spiritual bank account. And even though they are not taking advantage of it now, but it’s there, the spiritual credit is there, and when they come back to Krishna consciousness, they will be able to avail of the spiritual credits that they got.

But coming back to the statement of Srila Prabhupada that Krishna consciousness is 90 percent association, we should try to make our association so nice that people want to stay in it, they don’t want to leave our association. And at the same time, we can warn them.

Of course, it depends. In the beginning, we may not want to warn them because they may not be ready to hear it, but at a certain stage, we can warn them about the dangers of associating with materialistic people. Because as Prabhupada says, “Man is a social animal,” so we’ll be influenced. A man is known by the company he keeps, so they should keep company with devotees. But we want to make our company so appealing and attractive that they want to keep company with us and they don’t want to stray away. And good prasāda also counts a lot. Devotees are joining because of prasāda and we can keep them by good prasāda.

Srila Prabhupada introduced the Sunday Love Feast. I heard in the old temple in New York City, in the early days, Srila Prabhupada would keep a jar of gulābjāmuns at the door. So, if one was thinking of leaving, they’d have to pass the jar of gulābjāmuns, and then on the way out, they would have some gulābjāmuns, and then they would change their mind and decide to stay.

Devotee: Right, great. Thank you so much, Guru Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Krishna Lila dasi has her hand up.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Maharaja, please accept my obeisances. I was hearing a quote fairly recently, and it came up again by senior disciples of Srila Prabhupada. It was something that Prabhupada had said, and I was wondering where in what context it was said. So, it goes something like this, that Prabhupada said, “I may disappoint you, but Krishna will never disappoint you.” So, I wonder if you’d heard that before and where it comes from.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, yes. Srila Prabhupada had a disciple named Tushta Krishna Prabhu, very nice devotee, he passed away a couple of years ago. And so, Tushta Krishna Prabhu said to Srila Prabhupada, “I can trust you, but I can’t trust any of your disciples.” And Srila Prabhupada, but this was his humility, Srila Prabhupada said, “Don’t trust me either because I may also disappoint you, but just trust Krishna.” And that’s why we could trust Srila Prabhupada, because he always directed us to Krishna, he didn’t direct us to himself independent of Krishna, he directed us to Krishna. So, we could trust Him. But yes, that was the context.

Devotee: Okay, thank you, thank you.

Giriraj Swami: Are there any other questions or comments? Okay, well, if not, we can end with Vaishnava praṇāma.

Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto all the Vaishnava devotees of the Lord. They are just like desire trees and can fulfill the desires of everyone.

We are going to say it in English first, and then we’ll say it in Sanskrit.

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

vāñchā-kalpa-tarubhyaś ca
kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca
patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo
vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ