NOI 3 – VIHE Value Class—Enthusiasm, Confidence, and Patience

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. So we have gathered to discuss three values in particular, and these three values are mentioned specifically in the Nectar of Instruction, Srila Rupa Gosvami’s Upadeśāmṛta in Text Three, where he writes,

utsāhān niścayād dhairyāt

tat-tat-karma-pravartanāt

saṅga-tyāgāt sato vṛtteḥ

ṣaḍbhir bhaktiḥ prasidhyati

TRANSLATAION

There are six principles favorable to the execution of pure devotional service: (1) being enthusiastic, (2) endeavoring with confidence, (3) being patient, (4) acting according to regulative principles [such as śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇam – hearing, chanting and remembering Kṛṣṇa], (5) abandoning the association of nondevotees, and (6) following in the footsteps of the previous ācāryas. These six principles undoubtedly assure the complete success of pure devotional service.

COMMENT

So my dear devotees, these six items are very important for us because they ensure the complete success of pure devotional service, which is our goal. And in his purport to this verse, Srila Prabhupada makes a very striking statement. “Devotional service is so pure and perfect that once one has begun it, one is forcibly dragged to ultimate success.” So this is very encouraging. Now, the first item, utsāhā (enthusiasm), Srila Prabhupada said that one develops enthusiasm by following all the regulative principles, and dhairyāt (being patient). This combination of enthusiasm and patience is very important because Srila Prabhupada said that enthusiasm without patience, can lead to a desire to control, and patience without enthusiasm can lead to lethargy. So, we want to have both, enthusiasm and patience. 

And confidence is also an important part of the formula. Because if one is confident of success, by the grace of the Lord and the devotees, if one is confident of success, will he will be enthusiastic. If you are confident that your goal can be achieved, you will be enthusiastic because there is hope. And at the same time, you will also be patient because you know eventually the goal will be achieved. If there is some doubt about your success in your endeavor, then you may be impatient because you are in anxiety, “Will I actually achieve success?” But if you are confident, then you will be both enthusiastic and patient. You will be patient because you know it is it is just a matter of time. 

And one example that Srila Prabhupada gives in relation to patience, it is interesting because he describes the necessity for patience with regards to one’s preaching results. We need to be patient both in relation to our personal spiritual practices and also patient in relation to our efforts to spread Krishna consciousness. And Srila Prabhupada mentions this point in the purport and it is such an important point that he makes, that I will read that paragraph, from the purport.

PURPORT

These activities must be executed with patience. One should not be impatient in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Indeed, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement was started single-handedly, and in the beginning there was no response, but because we continued to execute our devotional activities with patience, people gradually began to understand the importance of this movement, and now they are eagerly participating.

COMMENT

This phrase, “understand the importance of this movement’ movement” calls to mind, my initiation letter from Srila Prabhupada, in which he wrote that, “I prayed to Krishna that this good soul,” referring to me, “I prayed to Krishna that this good soul may be aware of the importance of this movement of Krishna consciousness.” So, coming back to the purport.

PURPORT (continued)

In the beginning there was no response, but because we continued to execute our devotional activities with patience, people gradually began to understand the importance of this movement, and now they are eagerly participating. One should not be impatient in discharging devotional service but should take instructions from the spiritual master and execute them with patience, depending on the mercy of guru and Kṛṣṇa.

COMMENT

So, this is a very important factor in all three items, enthusiasm, confidence, and patience, and that is the mercy of guru and Krishna. If we are confident of the mercy of guru and Krishna, then we will be both enthusiastic and patient.

PURPORT (continued)

The successful execution of Kṛṣṇa conscious activities requires both patience and confidence. A newly married girl naturally expects offspring from her husband, but she cannot expect to have them immediately after marriage. Of course, as soon as she is married she can attempt to get a child, but she must surrender to her husband, confident that her child will develop and be born in due time. Similarly, in devotional service surrender means that one has to become confident. The devotee thinks, avaśya rakṣibe kṛṣṇa: “Kṛṣṇa will surely protect me and give me help for the successful execution of devotional service.” This is called confidence.

COMMENT

So our confidence lies in our confidence in Guru and Krishna, not in our own independent abilities. So as mentioned earlier, Srila Prabhupada said that enthusiasm comes from following the regulative principles. Now what are the regulative principles? Of course, the basic ones are avoiding illicit sex, meat eating, gambling, and intoxication, and chanting sixteen rounds minimum on japa-mālā beads daily. In one purport in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Srila Prabhupada writes that of all the regulative principles, the spiritual master’s instruction to chant minimum sixteen rounds daily is most essential. And we should be enthusiastic to chant our rounds. 

I have facilitated various japa retreats and workshops with various senior devotees such as His Holiness Sacinandana Swami, His Grace Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu, and His Grace Mahatma Prabhu. And generally in the japa retreats, one day is set aside as a sixty-four-round day. On that day, other activities are minimized and the devotees are expected to chant sixty-four rounds. And in one of these sessions that I did with Mahatma Prabhu, he wrote on the board: “Today I have to chant sixty-four rounds.” And then he crossed out ‘have’ and wrote ‘get’, ‘today I get to chant sixty-four rounds.’ So, we should understand that all of these devotional activities are a privilege. Devotional service is not so cheap. By great fortune we have come in touch with devotees, with Srila Prabhupada, with his devotees and with the process of devotional service. But it is really a privilege to have the opportunity to engage in devotional service. Let’s see if I can find my initiation letter. So this is what Srila Prabhupada wrote, and it says, 

INITIATION LETTER of Giriraj Swami

“My dear Giriraj, I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated July 2nd, 1965, sent along with your beads. I have chanted on them, and your initiated name is Giriraj. Giriraj is the name of Govardhana Hill on which Krishna used to tend His cows.”

COMMENT

So, my family name is ‘Teton’ and in America there is a famous mountain range called ‘The Grand Tetons.’ And it is a matter of pride to be a Teton because of the Teton Mountains. And when Srila Prabhupada gave me the name ‘Giriraj’ which is the name of another mountain, I thought, Wow! Srila Prabhupada is amazing, he is perfect. I was attached to my mountain name and he gave me a better mountain name. So,

INITIATION LETTER (continued)

“Giriraj is the name of Govardhana Hill, on which Krishna used to tend His cows. In Vrindavan, Govardhana Hill is worshipped as a representative of Krishna. Sometimes devotees take a stone from Govardhana Hill and keep it at home as representation of Krishna. And they worship in this way.”

COMMENT

At the time this sounded very exotic to me, and now, after so many years later, I also have a govardhana-śilā that I worship, by Srila Prabhupada’s and his devotee’s grace.

INITIATION LETTER (continued)

“I am very glad to understand that you have relished at least some of the transcendental bliss of Krishna consciousness. It is a great fortune for you.”

COMMENT

As what I am trying to say, my dear devotees, it is a great fortune for us to be in touch with Krishna consciousness.

INITIATION LETTER (continued)

“It is a great fortune for you. Living entities are roaming within the universes in different species of life and in different planetary systems, enjoying and suffering the reaction of pious or impious activities. But they have no information how to get out of this entanglement of repetition of birth and death. Due to the darkness of ignorance, most living entities have no idea about the values of life. Therefore, one who understands the importance of Krishna consciousness must be a very fortunate soul. So I marked it in your person when I was in Boston, and I prayed to Krishna that this good soul may be aware of the importance of Krishna consciousness.”

COMMENT

This is the same phrase ‘the importance of Krishna consciousness.’

INITIATION LETTER (continued)

With my blessings, I am sending herewith your beads, duly chanted upon by me. You should avoid the ten offenses as far as possible, and follow the four regulative principles, as Satsvarupa will instruct you.”

COMMENT

He (Satsvarupa) was the temple president in Boston, when I joined

INITIATION LETTER (continued)

“I know your good godbrother Satsvarupa will always help you in this connection. Regarding your $2,000, which you promised to send me within three weeks, I beg to thank you for this. Actually, a brahmachari should contribute whatever he has got to Krishna, through the spiritual master. The spiritual master does not accept anything for his personal use, but he employs everything for Krishna’s service. Therefore the spiritual master is accepted in the renounced order of life. So far as householders are concerned, they may contribute at least half of their income to Krishna. Then life is sublime. After all, everything belongs to Krishna, and the sooner we return whatever we have got to Krishna, the better it is. That is our normal life. Regarding your stocks, you can keep them for yourself for the time being, and if need be I may ask you to deliver them in the future.”

COMMENT

So I kept my stocks, and as it happened, Srila Prabhupada wanted some devotees to go to India. After he went to India, he asked some devotees to go to India to join him, and so I cashed in my stocks, and I used that money not for my own passage to India but also to help some of the other devotees to get to India.

INITIATION LETTER (continued)

“Your engagements there are nice, so continue to follow rigidly. You may inform Satsvarupa that I have sent the Krsna Tape #13, so he may transcribe it and send me a copy. I will be sending further tapes henceforward, because my Nectar of Devotion is now finished and I shall concentrate on the Krsna Tapes. I hope this will meet you in very good health.

Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami.”

COMMENT

So, Srila Prabhupada’s books are another treasure that we should not take for granted. When I joined, we had only the first three volumes of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which Srila Prabhupada brought from India, and Easy Journey to Other Planets and The Teachings of Lord Chaitanya. That is all we had, and the other books which that came out later. So these books are a priceless treasure that Srila Prabhupada has given us, and we should take advantage of them and read them and study them. And that is definitely a part of what the VIHE is all about, studying Srila Prabhupada’s books.

I am not sure how much time we have, but I wanted to allot some time for questions and answers. So I think I will end my initial presentation now. Thank you for joining and listening so attentively. Now, if any of you have any questions or any reflections, you can raise your hand and speak, your physical hand or your virtual hand. And as far as possible, all the devotees on Zoom, please put on your cameras, so we can see your moon-like faces and it will be more personal.

Oh, I see some hands are up. Mother Prashanta, why don’t you choose in what order to call on the devotees with their hands raised, is that all right? I can do that I guess. The order they turned up on my screen. Anarpita Kripamoyi dasa.

Anarpita Kripamoyi dasa: Hare Krishna Maharaja, daṇḍavat-praṇāmās

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna

Anarpita Kripamoyi dasa: I am very, very thankful and grateful for your causeless mercy. You are coming here to give us your wonderful association, your love, your compassion. I am really very thankful for it. You are a great inspiration for me. I always meditate on how you have contributed to Srila Prabhupada and you are carrying the order of Srila Prabhupada throughout the life. So, these three things- enthusiasm is required there, patience is required there. You are carrying all these qualities. So first of all, Maharaja, please bless me so I can also contribute something in the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada and my guru Maharaja, His Holiness Gopal Krishna Gosvami Maharaja.

So my question is, Maharaja, when we read the books and we do the good sadhana, we always get the confidence and enthusiasm also. But some situations also come in the life, when the confidence goes down. So, it is like a graph, sometimes goes up, sometimes goes down. So, always how to balance and maintain this in the different situations? So that situations, you have also faced and how, Maharaja, you have tackled all these situations? So, Maharaja, what can give you the motivation to become always enthusiastic? And in this age also, like the old age and it is very tough, to me, to maintain that enthusiasm. I think how Srila Prabhupada and the disciples of Srila Prabhupada, how they are still enthusiastic. So, I don’t know what is the potency behind that, what is the blessing behind of this, that I also can carry this. So, Maharaja, please enlighten me and guide me, how to become that type of enthusiastic, in the mission of Srila Prabhupada?

Giriraj Swami: That is a good question. As I mentioned, Srila Prabhupada said that one develops enthusiasm by following all the regulative principles, strictly. And I would add that one can develop enthusiasm by associating with devotees who are enthusiastic. Well, there are so many but one who comes to mind is Vaisesika dasa. I see he is always so enthusiastic. So, by associating with him, you also become enthusiastic. So, I would say those are my two thought. And, yes, I wish you all success. I wish you all the best. Well, you are here with very good intentions, and I hope and pray that you will be successful. And I am quite confident that you will be successful

Anarpita Kripamoyi dasa: Thank you so much, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna

Anarpita Kripamoyi dasa: Thank you so much, Maharaja

Giriraj Swami: Jaya! Lalita Priti Mayi devi dasi

Lalita Priti Mayi devi dasi: Hare Krishna Maharaja. daṇḍavat-praṇāmās. Thank you so much for your beautiful class, Maharaja. I have two questions. So the first one is, as you said, Maharaja, enthusiasm, it comes from following the regulative principles. And I have noticed that sometimes when I am not able to follow one of the principles, like maybe chanting sixteen rounds perfectly every day. Or sometimes when I am not able to follow one of the offences which should be avoided on hari-nāma. So, I feel that the enthusiasm goes down and I get forgetfulness. It is like, I get realizations which are very important for me, to continue my bhakti and I forget it and then my confidence again goes down. So, this is happening a lot during these days. So I forget the importance of the Acharya’s books, I forget the importance of time, of what I have got. So how do I keep this steadily, Maharaja?

Giriraj Swami: Well, one advice that Srila Prabhupada gave is to always be aware that we can die any moment. And so, we don’t want to put off Krishna Consciousness for the future because Srila Prabhupada’s quotes says ‘trust no future however bright.’ So, again, devotional service is a privilege that we have been given by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and the paramparā, and you should value it and not take it for granted and really chant nicely. Of course, consistently and nicely. You mentioned that sometimes you don’t chant all of your sixteen rounds a day. You should, but if you miss, as Srila Prabhupada has prescribed in The Nectar of Devotion, if you miss then you can make them up the next day. You should keep track. Once, I had a cardiac bypass surgery, and I fell sixty-three days of rounds behind. Some days I couldn’t chant at all. But even after the surgery, as I was recovering, I was able to chant some but not all sixteen. I was just not physically able to chant. So it all added up to my being sixty-three days, (63 x 16) rounds behind. I made them up. My schedule allowed me and gradually my health allowed me to make them up. So, I would suggest that you do that. Try to chant your sixteen rounds every day and if you happen to miss, then make them up. That will give you spiritual strength. You, yourself feel the difference when you are following and not following. So you should use your intelligence to control you mind. Bhurijana Prabhu has given many nice japa retreats and seminars and he has also written a very good book called Japa. And he says that the mind will always tell us that there are more important things to do than chant Hare Krishna. So when our mind tells us that, which it will, we have to use our intelligence and overrule our mind, “No, I am going to chant Hare Krishna,” and do the other things later, if they are worth doing.

Lalita Priti Mayi devi dasi: Thank you Maharaja. That was really very helpful. I will definitely read the book. And my second question is, this may be a little funny or silly, but this is eating up my mind from inside. It is dealing with this confidence. Sometimes my authorities, my śikṣā-guru, he always tells me, when we have some services, and if we feel confident that we can do this service, we can guide other devotees in this service, we should take up that leadership. So, sometimes during festival days in the temple, some service is allotted to me and there are some devotees who gather, like, “We can also help you.” And sometimes I tell them what to do, how to do, and sometimes some devotees make some faces. So I don’t know if they feel what I am thinking, but my inferiority thinks maybe they feel like “She has studied so much of things in VIHE, so maybe she is ruling on us.” Something like that. My inner mind is saying this and this gradually diminishes my confidence. And I don’t even know whether they thinking like that or not but the mind is saying this and making me compromise with the services. So how do I get out of this, Maharaja?

Giriraj Swami: Well, you should be humble when you engage devotees. You should be very humble and respectful so they don’t feel that you are lording it over them, imposing something on them. Be humble and respectful and say that by some arrangement, you are in this position and you may not be the most qualified for the job but somehow or the other, you are in this position, so please co-operate; please help. Srila Prabhupada, he was very humble and I remember this phrase that he would say, “Kindly help me.” So I think if you are humble and respectful and see that the devotees will benefit by co-operating with you, not for your benefit but for their benefit, for Krishna’s benefit ultimately then I think they should be agreeable, congenial.

Lalita Priti Mayi devi dasi: Yes Maharaja. Thank you so much. I will definitely follow what you said. I will write it down and I will try to follow it, Maharaja. Thank you

Giriraj Swami: Ok. Hare Krishna. So we have Mahashringa dasa

Mahashringa dasa: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Please accept my most humble, prostrated obeisance at your lotus feet. I am very much thankful to you. You guided me twenty-five years ago. I came to you room at Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari temple with Mahaprabhu Prabhu, and in my beginning days I had some problems and your guidance completely changed my life. I am so much thankful to you. You opened out the book. You asked me to take out the book of Bhāgavatam and you read Srila Prabhupada’s passage that if we are attached to the sense gratification and we are pretending some bhava and some [Unintelligible: 53:13], it is cheating. And, then I was so keen on that, your lines and your guidance and then I continue, I always meditate on that and I am very much thankful to you. And on this day, hearing your divine transcendental teachings, I pray to you that please bless, so that I can really serve this mission of Srila Prabhupada and please all the Vaishnavas and maintain the enthusiasm, and the determination, and the patience, which are politically possible to understand but difficult to practice. So, please, I need to beg for your mercy. Thank you so much.

Giriraj Swami: Jaya! Those are very worthy goals and I wish you all the best. I will pray for your success so that you can be in service, as you desire. And I am glad I was able to help you, twenty-five years ago, in my office.

Mahashringa dasa: That was most delicate time in my life and I tried so many things. Mahaprabhu Prabhu took me to so many different devotees and then once you spoke, then within two to three months, I could overcome that problem.

Giriraj Swami: Jaya! Thank you

Mahashringa dasa: Thank you so much, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Pratik Agarwal

Pratik Agarway: Hare Krishna, Maharaja. Please accept my humble obeisance at your lotus feet. Thank you so much Maharaja for such a wonderful class and realizations. I am also very grateful to you for your book I’ll Build You a Temple so, today when you were speaking about confidence, I have a question in regards to confidence.

Giriraj Swami: Yes.

Pratik Agarwal: When I was reading your book, initially, in the first chapter, there is an incident that you mentioned, where a temporary temple had to be reconstructed and the life members had come forward to support. You told us today that for confidence, this confidence has to be in Srila Prabhupada and his teachings, in our guru. So I was actually very amazed, when I was reading that the Singaram Amartya and other member like Mr. Sethi had so much confidence and faith in Srila Prabhupada. Although they were not chanting, they were not really practicing devotional service like we are told, still they had so much faith in Srila Prabhupada and they were ready to give their life for Srila Prabhupada. But we are practicing devotional service, trying to follow the regulative principles, and chanting, but we still don’t have even the iota of that faith or confidence in Srila Prabhupada, after reading his books also. So, what was their secret and what can we do Maharaja?

Giriraj Swami: Of course, those devotees had the good fortune of meeting Srila Prabhupada personally. And Mr. Sethi, he had so much faith in Srila Prabhupada, that his faith in Srila Prabhupada reminded me of Hanuman and Lord Ramachandra. And when he was leaving his body, which was quite some years after Srila Prabhupada departed, he told his family member, and I guess few other devotees which were there in his room, “Get my things ready. Pack my things. Prabhupada is coming to take me.” So yes, we should have faith in Srila Prabhupada’s mercy, and potency, and ability to engage us and deliver us even now. Our confidence, again, it. isn’t confidence in our own abilities but confidence in our superiors, confidence in the order of our superiors and the mercy of our superiors that we can serve them. It is said that when the spiritual master gives an instruction, he also gives the potency to execute the order. I think you will do fine.

Pratik Agarwal: Thank you, Maharaja. Please bless me that I can also develop some faith in Srila Prabhupada’s words and books.

Giriraj Swami: Yes. I wish you all the best. I will pray for you. Hare Krishna. Now, Amrikesh Gaura dasa.

Amrikesh Gaura dasa: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Please accept my humble obeisance at your lotus feet. Maharaja, whenever I hear you speak, I get so much boost in enthusiasm. My patience also increases. All the things increase and without any philosophical understanding, also, I get those things. Maharaja, as I was reading your Juhu story book, where you wrote that if the spiritual master says a rope is a snake, then we should say, “Yes, Guru Maharaja.” And if he says that, again, “Oh no, it is a snake only," then we should say, “Yes, guru Maharaja.” So that kind of faith you have for Srila Prabhupada. It is so inspiring. And this point I liked so much that you said about, what is confidence? Confidence should not be on our own abilities but on the mercy of our superiors, on the mercy of the Guru Maharaja and Prabhupada, upon us. So I like this so much. Maharaja this point, which you told, that the most important thing in the regulative principles is the chanting of our rounds every day, regularly, Maharaja, when there is chanting session in the morning, we always try to chant attentively but sometimes devotees come and poke us for some service or for some point they want to share with us at that time. It becomes a little irritating because we want to set aside this time only for chanting. But it may not regularly happen because some or the other engagements may come. Although, I saw my distastefulness towards these disturbances but I, myself, fall asleep when I am chanting. So it becomes a little humiliating. The devotees, who see, say, “He was saying a little time before that he wants to chant and do not disturb him, but now he is sleeping.” It is so irritating. I don’t know that I am really just showing that distressfulness or I should develop that distressfulness towards disturbances in the chanting sessions. How should I deal with this Maharaja, so that I don’t offend also?

Giriraj Swami: What time do you chant?

Amrikesh Gaura dasa: Maharaja, morning 5:00 to 7:00 in the temple

Giriraj Swami: Generally, we should respect that time for devotees to chant. We should avoid engaging them. But I can tell you something very instructive and inspirational. But His Grace Swavas dasa, he is a temple president in Los Angeles. And I believe in Atlanta, one year all the devotees gathered, and they were in the mood of book distribution and they asked Srila Prabhupada that what is the best thing they can do to increase their desire to distribute his books. And Srila Prabhupada replied, “To chant all your rounds in one stretch.” And Swavas Prabhu, he gets up at 2:00 in the morning, and chants all his sixteen rounds before maṅgala-ārati because being the temple president, anything can come up at any time. So as I said, he gets up 2:00 in the morning and he chants all his rounds before maṅgala-ārati. So yes, 5:00 to 7:00 is a good; chanting with the devotees in the temple from 5:00 to 7:00 is good. But the other devotees, they should respect that time and not try to engage you, if they can avoid it. And as far as you falling asleep, Srila Prabhupada said that the best is to sit and chant and then the next best is to stand and chant, and the next best after that is to walk and chant. But the first thing it to stay awake. So if you are sitting and falling asleep then it is better to stand and chant, or even walk and chant. There is some nice footage of Srila Prabhupada walking and chanting japa in his quarters in New Dvaraka, Los Angeles. So sometimes it may happen, you are chanting and sleep over takes you. You don’t even notice it but when you do realize that you have been sleeping, then it may be worth standing up and chanting. Yes, those devotees who try to engage you in service, in conversation even, while you are chanting, we used to call them ‘japa terrorists.’ We don’t want any japa terrorists in the temple.

Amrikesh Gaura dasa: Thank you, Maharaja. Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. So, Ambika devi dasi.

Ambika devi dasi: Hare Krishna, Maharaja. Thank you very much for this wonderful video class. I am sorry I can’t switch on my video. There is some kind of problem with this system. So it is not possible for me to. But I wanted to ask a question about confidence as well. In a situation where someone is very much trying to offend, then how to maintain confidence, to act in the right way?

Giriraj Swami: What do you mean, someone is trying to offend? Could you give some example?

Ambika devi dasi: In a situation where the other person is open and the other person is following the regulative instructions and behaving properly. And the other person somehow is agitated and does not act properly and offends on some level. And then, of course, the situation may become a bit emotional. So, how to maintain this confidence to act in the proper way?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, well in a way it is a matter of patience; to be patient with the other person and also to be patient with yourself. And, tṛṇād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṇunā amāninā mānadena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ. Be more humble than a blade of grass and more tolerant than a tree. In a way it is like maya. That devotee, in a way, is acting is acting like an agent of maya. And Srila Prabhupada said that when maya calls, “Come on enjoy me, come on enjoy me,” or in this case, “Come on, respond, respond, respond.” And when maya calls, “Come on enjoy me,” and we don’t respond, then eventually maya will stop calling. So I would say, if someone is trying to provoke you or another devotee, and you or the other devotee don’t respond, you don’t get provoked, then that devotee who is trying to provoke you will probably give up because he or she will realize, ‘I am not being successful, I might as well just let it go.’ But as you said that these are the tests and they can be emotional circumstances. Does it address your concern?

Ambika devi dasi: Yes Maharaja. Thank you very much

Giriraj Swami: Ok, Great. Thank you. Hare Krishna. So I don’t see any more hands. Are we finished now?

So if we are ending now, then I suggest we conclude with Vaishnava praṇāma.

Let us offer our respectful obeisance unto all the Vaishnava devotees of the Lord, who are just like the 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