Dama Gopal Dasa’s Initiation

Giriraj Swami: Yes, yes, I can hear.

Devotee: This is Sri Sri Radha Rasabihari’s garland worn by Srila Prabhupada in the morning for you.

Giriraj Swami: Jaya! Thank you. Hare Krishna.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:19:19]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, yes. Also, my dear devotees, who have joined the Zoom, as far as possible I would like you to put on your cameras so we can see you moon-like faces, it will be more personal. Jaya! Alright, I see Surabhi and other devotees right in the temple. So, part of the initiation will be that an initiated devotee will put new neck beads on Sujal. Are we equipped to do that?

Devotee: Are we equipped to do that? His mother already put there for him.

Giriraj Swami: Okay.

Devotee: Just a little while ago.

Giriraj Swami: Okay, that is fine. So, generally, on the occasion of initiations, Srila Prabhupada would speak about the ten offenses because at the initiation ceremony the candidates are being initiated into the chanting of the holy name, and to get the full benefit of chanting the holy names, one must avoid the ten offenses. And so, Srila Prabhupada would discuss them. So, I will read a verse, very beautiful verse, from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Three, Chapter Fifteen, “Description of the Kingdom of God.”

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

So, again, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Three, Chapter Fifteen, “Description of the Kingdom of God.”

TEXT 25

yac ca vrajanty animiṣām ṛṣabhānuvṛttyā
dūre yamā hy upari naḥ spṛhaṇīya-śīlāḥ
bhartur mithaḥ suyaśasaḥ kathanānurāga-
vaiklavya-bāṣpa-kalayā pulakī-kṛtāṅgāḥ

TRANSLATION

Persons whose bodily features change in ecstasy and who breathe heavily and perspire due to hearing the glories of the Lord are promoted to the kingdom of God, even though they do not care for meditation and other austerities. The kingdom of God is above the material universes, and it is desired by Brahmā and other demigods.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

It is clearly stated herein that the kingdom of God is above the material universes. Just as there are many hundreds of thousands of higher planets above this earth, so there are many millions and billions of spiritual planets belonging to the spiritual sky. Brahmājī states herein that the spiritual kingdom is above the kingdom of the demigods. One can enter the kingdom of the Supreme Lord only when one is highly developed in desirable qualities. All good qualities develop in the person of a devotee. It is stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Fifth Canto, Eighteenth Chapter, verse 12, that anyone who is Kṛṣṇa conscious is endowed with all the good qualities of the demigods. In the material world the qualities of the demigods are highly appreciated, just as, even in our experience, the qualities of a gentleman are more highly appreciated than the qualities of a man in ignorance or in a lower condition of life. The qualities of the demigods in the higher planets are far superior to the qualities of the inhabitants of this earth.

Brahmājī confirms herewith that only persons who have developed the desirable qualities can enter into the kingdom of God.

COMMENT

Well, this is our ultimate goal to enter the Kingdom of God, and initiation is a step on the way towards going back home, back to Godhead.

PURPORT (continued)

In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the devotee’s desirable qualities are described to be twenty-six in number.

COMMENT

So, my dear devotees, listen to this list very attentively and see how you are progressing and developing these good qualities.

PURPORT (continued)

They are stated as follows: He is very kind; he does not quarrel with anyone; he accepts Kṛṣṇa consciousness as the highest goal of life; he is equal to everyone; no one can find fault in his character; he is magnanimous, mild and always clean, internally and externally; he does not profess to possess anything in this material world; he is a benefactor to all living entities; he is peaceful and is a soul completely surrendered to Kṛṣṇa; he has no material desire to fulfill; he is meek and humble, always steady, and has conquered the sensual activities; he does not eat more than required to maintain body and soul together; he is never mad after material identity; he is respectful to all others and does not demand respect for himself; he is very grave, very compassionate and very friendly; he is poetic; he is expert in all activities; and he is silent in nonsense. Similarly, in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Third Canto, Twenty-fifth Chapter, verse 21, the qualifications of a saintly person are mentioned. It is said there that a saintly person eligible to enter into the kingdom of God is very tolerant and very kind to all living entities.

COMMENT

Yes, it is a very important verse, and Srila Prabhupada spoke on the verse in Juhu and he related it to our situation there and all the challenges we were facing. 

titikṣavaḥ kāruṇikāḥ suhṛdaḥ sarva-dehinām 

ajāta-śatravaḥ śāntāḥ sādhavaḥ sādhu-bhūṣaṇāḥ.

PURPORT (continued)

He is not partial; he is kind both to human beings and to animals. He is not such a fool that he will kill a goat Nārāyaṇa to feed a human Nārāyaṇa, or daridra-nārāyaṇa. He is very kind to all living entities; therefore he has no enemy. He is very peaceful. These are the qualities of persons who are eligible to enter into the kingdom of God. That such a person gradually becomes liberated and enters the kingdom of God is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Fifth Canto, Fifth Chapter, verse 2. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Second Canto, Third Chapter, verse 24, also states that if a person does not cry or exhibit bodily changes after chanting the holy name of God without offense, it is to be understood that he is hardhearted and that therefore his heart does not change even after he chants the holy name of God, Hare Kṛṣṇa. These bodily changes can take place due to ecstasy when we offenselessly chant the holy names of God: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.

It may be noted that there are ten offenses we should avoid. The first offense is to decry persons who try in their lives to broadcast the glories of the Lord.

COMMENT

This is called sādhu-nindā, to blaspheme the devotees who have dedicated their lives for propagating the holy name of the Lord.

PURPORT (continued)

People must be educated in understanding the glories of the Supreme; therefore the devotees who engage in preaching the glories of the Lord are never to be decried. It is the greatest offense. Furthermore, the holy name of Viṣṇu is the most auspicious name, and His pastimes are also nondifferent from the holy name of the Lord. There are many foolish persons who say that one can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa or chant the name of Kālī or Durgā or Śiva because they are all the same. If one thinks that the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the names and activities of the demigods are on the same level, or if one accepts the holy name of Viṣṇu to be a material sound vibration, that is also an offense.

COMMENT

Yes, to consider the names of the demigods to be equal to or independent of the holy name of the Lord Vishnu. There is a popular magazine in India, at least there was, called The Illustrated Weekly of India, and during Srila Prabhupada’s time, the editor was Khushwant Singh who was an atheist. And he published an article, which he titled, “Hare Krishna vs. Shiva Shiva.” The article was an account by an Austrian mayavadi sannyasi named Agehananda Bharati. It was his account of his debate with our Hridayananda dasa Gosvami. And Khushwant Singh, being an atheist, chose that title, “Hare Krishna vs. Shiva Shiva,” to make us all look foolish. And I expressed to Srila Prabhupada my analysis of what the editor had done, and Srila Prabhupada replied, “Yes, you are right. Bharati is a fool, but Singh is a demon.”

So, yes, it is just exactly what Prabhupada said here, “There are many foolish persons who say that one can chant Hare Krishna or chant the name of Kali or Durgā or Śiva because they are all the same. If one thinks that the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the names and activities of the demigods are on the same level, or if one accepts the holy name of Vishnu to be a material sound vibration, that is also an offense.”

So, Srila Prabhupada instituted as part of the morning program, that after maṅgala-ārati there is time to chant japa in the temple. And before the japa begins, the devotees read the list of the ten offenses, usually from The Nectar of Devotion, and that is a good practice because first of all, it reminds us of what the offenses are that we should avoid while we are chanting, and also just hearing the list of offenses is purifying.

PURPORT (continued)

The third offense is to think of the spiritual master who spreads the glories of the Lord as an ordinary human being.

COMMENT

This offense is guror avajñā, which means to disobey the orders of the spiritual master. And here, Srila Prabhupada explains the psychology of someone who would disobey the spiritual master’s order, that he thinks of the spiritual master as an ordinary human being. But the offense is guror avajñā, to disobey the orders of the spiritual master.

PURPORT (continued)

The fourth offense is to consider the Vedic literatures, such as the Purāṇas or other transcendentally revealed scriptures, to be ordinary books of knowledge.

COMMENT

So, yes, there are different kinds of offenses. The most severe is an offense with the body, like, to hurt someone, and the next most is offense with words, to blaspheme, and then the next is more subtle, it is an offense within the mind. So, sometimes this fourth offense is rendered, as such in The Nectar of Devotion, to blaspheme the Vedic literature, literature in pursuance of the Vedic version.

But we might not be so gross as to openly blaspheme the Vedic literatures, but we can commit a subtle offense by not reading them, by not reading Srila Prabhupada’s books, by not attending the classes on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Bhagavad-gītā and other scriptures. 

So, yes, it is my instruction to Sujal and my request to all of you to read Srila Prabhupada’s books.

PURPORT (continued)

The fifth offense is to think that devotees have given artificial importance to the holy name of God. The actual fact is that the Lord is nondifferent from His name. The highest realization of spiritual value is to chant the holy name of God, as prescribed for the age — Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.

COMMENT

Srila Prabhupada has quoted the full maha-mantra, twice, in this purport.

PURPORT (continued)

The sixth offense is to give some interpretation on the holy name of God. The seventh offense is to act sinfully on the strength of chanting the holy name of God. It is understood that one can be freed from all sinful reaction simply by chanting the holy name of God, but if one thinks that he is therefore at liberty to commit all kinds of sinful acts, that is a symptom of offense.

COMMENT

So, yes, this is very serious. One may have committed sins before coming to the association of devotees, and when one chants the holy names without offense, one becomes freed from the sinful reactions. But one should not be cunning and duplicitous and think, “Oh, well, I will just go on committing sins, and then I will neutralize the effects by chanting.” That is a very sinful and offensive mentality, and it doesn’t work.

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says that even with atonement rituals, if you commit a sin with the idea that you can atone for it by performing some ritual, that is very offensive and it doesn’t work. So, we have to really avoid engaging in sinful activities and definitely not deliberately engage in sinful activities thinking we can counteract the effects by chanting.

PURPORT (continued)

The eighth offense is to equate the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa with other spiritual activities, such as meditation, austerity, penance or sacrifice. They cannot be equated at any level.

COMMENT

So, yes, sometimes this is rendered as ‘To consider the chanting of Hare Krishna as one of the auspicious ritualistic activities mentioned in the Vedas.’

Once, Srila Prabhupada was invited by Srimati Kanaiyalal Munshi, who was the head of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, to speak at a program with other distinguished guests on the theme of how the Bhagavad-gītā can solve all problems in the world. And before the program, Srimati Munshi had invited Srila Prabhupada and the other participants to her library to meet up informally before the program. So, there were different sadhus and one, I don’t remember his name, but he had a long, white beard, and he told Srila Prabhupada that he would gather people together and have them chant the holy names and tell them that by chanting the holy names they can become freed from their material diseases.

So, he said to Srila Prabhupada “I am gathering people together and you are gathering people together, I am getting people to chant the holy names, you are getting people to chant the holy names. So, we should cooperate.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “No. What you are proposing is against our principles. We are meant to serve Krishna for His pleasure, and we are not meant to engage Krishna in our service to cure us of our physical diseases.” So, yes, Srila Prabhupada was very clear and very straightforward.

So, yes, we are servants of Krishna, we are servants of the holy name, the holy name is Krishna, and we are not meant to try to engage Krishna in our service in a material way.

PURPORT (continued)

The ninth offense is to specifically glorify the importance of the holy name before persons who have no interest.

COMMENT

Yes, to preach the glories of the holy name to the faithless.

PURPORT (continued)

The tenth offense is to be attached to the misconception of possessing something, or to accept the body as one’s self, while executing the process of spiritual cultivation.

COMMENT

So, yes, in The Nectar of Devotion this is rendered as ‘To not have complete faith in the holy name and to maintain material attachments even after understanding so many instructions in the matter.’ And the two go together because if we had faith in the holy name, we wouldn’t maintain material attachments because we would have faith that the holy name can satisfy us in every respect. Then often, after reading the list of ten offenses, the devotees will add, ‘It is also an offense to be inattentive while chanting,’ which is certainly the case.

Because Sanskrit is such a language it can be divided in different ways, so the way Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has divided the ten offenses, the ninth offense is to be inattentive, pramāda. And Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that, “If one is inattentive while chanting, all the other offenses can flourish, and if one is attempted while chanting, then all the other offenses will be destroyed.”

So, that is really the key to chant attentively, to articulate each name clearly and to hear each name attentively.

PURPORT (continued)

When one is free from all ten of these offenses in chanting the holy name of God, he develops the ecstatic bodily features called pulakāśru. Pulaka means “symptoms of happiness,” and aśru means “tears in the eyes.” The symptoms of happiness and tears in the eyes must appear in a person who has chanted the holy name offenselessly. Here in this verse it is stated that those who have actually developed the symptoms of happiness and tears in the eyes by chanting the glories of the Lord are eligible to enter the kingdom of God.

COMMENT

Now, this is very important, my dear devotees. Please listen attentively.

PURPORT (continued)

In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said that if one does not develop these symptoms while chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, it is to be understood that he is still offensive. Caitanya-caritāmṛta suggests a nice remedy in this connection.

COMMENT

And that is what we need, we need a nice remedy.

PURPORT (continued)

There it is said in verse 31, Chapter Eight, of Ādi-līlā, that if anyone takes shelter of Lord Caitanya and just chants the holy name of the Lord, Hare Kṛṣṇa, he becomes freed from all offenses.

COMMENT

So, therefore, before we chant Hare Krishna, we always chant the Pancha-tattva mantra, śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda. And Srila Prabhupada said that Pancha-tattva will help us to chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, that there are offenses to be considered in the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra that we just discussed, but the Pancha-tattva do not consider offenses. And therefore, we can chant the names of the Pancha-tattva, and by chanting their names we feel ecstatic and then when we feel ecstatic, we can chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra without offense.

So, the verse that Prabhupada referred to, I will just read the translation. There is a beautiful purport but for the sake of time I will just read the translation. Well, the previous verse is important.

TRANSLATION

If one chants the exalted holy name of the Lord again and again and yet his love for the Supreme Lord does not develop and tears do not appear in his eyes, it is evident that because of his offenses in chanting, the seed of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa does not sprout.

COMMENT

Now we come to the verse that Srila Prabhupada said was a nice remedy.

TRANSLATION

But if one only chants, with some slight faith, the holy names of Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda, very quickly he is cleansed of all offenses. Thus as soon as he chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, he feels the ecstasy of love for God.

COMMENT

So, in our kirtans we always sing the Pancha-tattva mantra before the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and in japa, I know many devotees, yes, many, many devotees, including myself, we say the Pancha-tattva mantra before each round of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra so that we can become freed from offenses and get the help of the Pancha-tattva to chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.

Hare Krishna.

So, have you heard everything, Bhakta Sujal?

Sujal: Yes, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Good. So, now we will come to that part of the ceremony, during which you take your vows and receive your new name. So, what are the four principles that you promise to follow every day for the rest of your life?

Sujal: I promise to follow the following four regulative principles: no meat eating, no illicit sex, no gambling, no intoxication.

Giriraj Swami: And how many rounds?

Sujal: Sixteen rounds of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.  

Giriraj Swami: Minimum.

Sujal: Minimum.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, a minimum of sixteen rounds of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra every day. And is there anything else you would like to say on this auspicious occasion in this August assembly?

Sujal: Maharaja, previously I was actually not reading Srila Prabhupada’s books, and as you have given me an instruction, I will from now onwards start reading Srila Prabhupada’s book.

Giriraj Swami: Okay, good. And yes, it goes without saying that you will always stay within ISKCON and serve Srila Prabhupada and the devotees in ISKCON. So, on behalf of Srila Prabhupada and the guru-paramparā, I am pleased to accept you as my duly initiated disciple, and henceforth you shall be known as Dāma Gopal dasa.

Yes. Dāma Gopal is one of the twelve main cowherd boys, friend. and Dāma Gopal dasa looks after the cows in Mayapur. So, your name, Dāma Gopal dasa, can fit your service. He said that according to his birth chart, his name was supposed to begin with the syllable Da, but obviously, his parents didn’t follow that when they gave him the name Sujal. He did want to have that first syllable of Da in his spiritual name and so, that has been included in the name, Dāma Gopal dasa. So, congratulations, and I believe you’ll be getting married soon.

Dāma Gopal dasa: Yes, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Can you tell us anything about that?

Dāma Gopal dasa: I was arranged by my mother and family and some of my mother’s god sisters, I think Sumati Mataji. She arranged this for the 7th of July, which is in two days.

Giriraj Swami: Oh, two days, two days. Okay, well, enjoy the next two days as an initiated devotee, and then we wish you all the best in the next phase of your ashram life. So, is there anything else you would like to say?

Dāma Gopal dasa: Thank you, Guru Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Okay, so what will happen now?

Devotee: Somebody has raised their hand, Harry Krishna. So, he wants to say something.

Giriraj Swami: Vishal Patel.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, devotees, Hare Krishna, Giriraj Maharaja. There is a nice book called. . . Congratulations, by the way, Prabhu. And there is a nice book called Heart and Soul Connection, and Giriraj Maharaja just wrote a nice, I guess, introduction foreward to that book, which explains how we should keep Krishna in the center of our lives whether we are married or not married. So, please, I suggest you buy that book as soon as possible. I will send it to you; I think I have a copy. It is called Heart and Soul Connection it is by The grihastha Vision Team and it is really a nice book actually. Please, please, read that book since you are just getting married soon. So, please, do that. Thank you. Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. Yes, I will email them the forward that I wrote. Thank you for remembering that. It is so nice to be with all these devotees in so many different places, including Mumbai, but many other places as well.

Dāma Gopal, should we chant a round together?

So, my dear devotees, thank you for joining me on the most auspicious occasion of Dāma Gopal Prabhu’s initiation, which was performed on the auspicious day of Srivasa Pandit’s Disappearance Day. It is Srivasa Pandit’s Disappearance Day here, in America, Saturday, July 3rd, and it is also Srivasa Pandit’s Disappearance Day in India, on Sunday, July 4th. So, we are getting Srivasa Thakura’s mercy everywhere on his Disappearance Day for this auspicious occasion. So, thank you again, I will take your leave. I wish you all the best, Dāma Gopal dasa, in your last two days as a brahmachari and thereafter, as a grihastha. Hare Krishna. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Dāma Gopal dasa: His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja ki jaya! Maharaja Jayshree Mataji wants to say something.

Giriraj Swami: Okay.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Guru Maharaja. Thank you so much for bestowing your mercy upon us.

Dāma Gopal dasa: All three sisters are here, Maharaja. Gaurangi also came from Mayapur with Govinda Mataji, Ajay Gauranga is also here.

Giriraj Swami: Wonderful, wonderful. 

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:14:52] spiritual father.

Giriraj Swami: It is wonderful that you are all devotees.

Devotee: All glories, all glories, all glories to Srila Prabhupada’s bona fide son, His Holiness Giriraj Swami, Hari Haribol.

Giriraj Swami: Alright, well, yes, thank you. We have two devotees visiting from Columbus, Ohio, Prema Vilasa Prabhu and Lalita devi dasi, and they are leaving tomorrow morning, early. So, yes, I will spend a little time with them now before they leave so we can have some talk, but yes, I really relish your association, I wish I didn’t have to leave but I will just look forward to the next occasion.

Thank you very much, Hare Krishna, all glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to your service.

Devotee: His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja ki jaya

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! 

Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari ki jaya! 

Sri Sri Sita-Rama Laxmana Hanuman ki jaya! 

Sri Gaura-Nitai ki jaya! 

Gaura premānande Hari Haribol.

Devotee: Thank you, thank you, Guru Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: My pleasure.

Devotee: Thanks a lot.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. So, is the host going to end it, or should I leave?

Devotee: We will end the session, Maharaja.