SB 1.13.32–33, 3.2.23 – Vision of a Good Man

Giriraj Swami: So we read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.13.32.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

TEXT 32

tatra sañjayam āsīnaṁ
papracchodvigna-mānasaḥ
gāvalgaṇe kva nas tāto
vṛddho hīnaś ca netrayoḥ

TRANSLATION

Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, full of anxiety, turned to Sañjaya, who was sitting there, and said: O Sañjaya, where is our uncle, who is old and blind?

COMMENT

The uncle to Maharaja Yudhisthira is Dhṛtaraṣṭra and Sanjaya was Dhṛtaraṣṭra’s secretary. Now we come to text 33.

TEXT 33

ambā ca hata-putrārtā
pitṛvyaḥ kva gataḥ suhṛt
api mayy akṛta-prajñe
hata-bandhuḥ sa bhāryayā
āśaṁsamānaḥ śamalaṁ
gaṅgāyāṁ duḥkhito ‘patat

TRANSLATION

Where is my well-wisher, uncle Vidura, and mother Gāndhārī, who is very afflicted due to all her sons’ demise? My uncle Dhṛtarāṣṭra was also very mortified due to the death of all his sons and grandsons. Undoubtedly I am very ungrateful. Did he, therefore, take my offenses very seriously and, along with his wife, drown himself in the Ganges?

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The Pāṇḍavas, especially Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira and Arjuna, anticipated the aftereffects of the Battle of Kurukṣetra, and therefore Arjuna declined to execute the fighting. The fight was executed by the will of the Lord, but the effects of family aggrievement, as they had thought of it before, had come to be true.

COMMENT

So we are reading about the aftermath of the battle of Kurukshetra and during the battle, Arjuna had declined to fight because he could foresee how the fighting would affect the family and cause so much distress and disturbance. Bur Krishna desired the battle and after explaining everything to Arjuna, He said: “Now you have heard everything. Now you consider what you would like to do.” And this statement of Krishna’s shows that He does not interfere with the minute independence of the living entities, which is a very important point. Although He’s God, He gives the living entities minute independence because ultimately, He wants their love and love cannot be forced. Love is voluntary. So He says to Arjuna,

Bhagavad-gītā 18.63

item te jñānam ākhyātaṁ
guhyād guhya-taraṁ mayā
vimṛśyaitad aśeṣeṇa
yathecchasi tathā kuru

TRANSLATION

Thus I have explained to you knowledge still more confidential. Deliberate on this fully, and then do what you wish to do, yathecchasi tathā kuru.

COMMENT

And Arjuna after hearing from Krishna said,

naṣṭo mohaḥ smṛtir labdhā
tvat-prasādān mayācyuta
sthito ‘smi gata-sandehaḥ
kariṣye vacanaṁ tava

TRANSLATION

Arjuna said: My dear Kṛṣṇa, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have regained my memory by Your mercy. I am now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to act according to Your instructions.

COMMENT

I am now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to act according to your instructions. kariṣye vacanaṁ tava So coming back to the purport.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The Pāṇḍavas, especially Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira and Arjuna, anticipated the aftereffects of the Battle of Kurukṣetra, and therefore Arjuna declined to execute the fighting. The fight was executed by the will of the Lord, but the effects of family aggrievement, as they had thought of it before, had come to be true. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was always conscious of the great plight of his uncle Dhṛtarāṣṭra and aunt Gāndhārī, and therefore he took all possible care of them in their old age and aggrieved conditions.

COMMENT

Maharaja Yudhisthira was a pious, righteous, noble soul and he was compassionate towards his uncle Dhṛtaraṣṭra and aunt Gandhari who had lost all of their sons and grandsons during the fighting, but they were his superiors, being his aunt and uncle. And being noble and compassionate, he took all possible care of them in their old age and aggrieved conditions due to the demise of their sons and grandsons. So back to the Purport.

PURPORT (continued)

When, therefore, he could not find his uncle and aunt in the palace, naturally his doubts arose, and he conjectured that they had gone down to the water of the Ganges.

COMMENT

That was Maharaja Yudhishthira’s apprehension. There is a nice statement in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta when Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was in His later pastimes Antya-līlā in the Gambhira in Jagannatha Puri, sometimes He would escape from the room and disappear. And one night that happened and when the devotees discovered that He was missing, they all went out to look for Him mainly along the banks of the ocean, and many of them were fearing the worst. And Srila Krishnadasa Kavirāja Gosvami comments that this is the nature of love. That out of anxiety, one will assume the worst or consider the possibility of the worst. And here Maharaja Yudhisthira was in that way fearing the worst. So back to the Purport.

PURPORT (continued)

When, therefore, he could not find his uncle and aunt in the palace, naturally his doubts arose, and he conjectured that they had gone down to the water of the Ganges. He thought himself ungrateful because when the Pāṇḍavas were fatherless, Mahārāja Dhṛtarāṣṭra had given them all royal facilities to live, and in return he had killed all Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons in the Battle of Kurukṣetra.

COMMENT

So again this is Maharaja Yudhishthira’s humility. He considered himself ungrateful – akṛta-prajñe. He considered himself ungrateful because when he and the other Pandavas were fatherless after the death of Maharaja Pandu, Maharaja Dhṛtaraṣṭra had given them all royal facilities to live. And how did Maharaja Yudhisthira return the favor? He killed all Dhṛtaraṣṭra’s sons in the battle of Kurukshetra. That is how Maharaja Yudhisthira was taking it, and therefore he considered himself to be ungrateful. Back to the purport.

PURPORT (continued)

As a pious man, Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira took into account all his unavoidable misdeeds, and he never thought of the misdeeds of his uncle and company.

COMMENT

This is also a very important point. Maharaja Yudhishthira’s vision that he took into consideration his unavoidable misdeeds, but he never thought of the misdeeds of his uncle and company. And this is really the nature of a good soul that he sees the good in others. And I will read some verses to illustrate that. 

This quality of seeing the good in others, which is very much a qualification of a devotee and Krishna, is expressed in  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Canto Three, Chapter Two,

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,

COMMENT

As we are seeing here in the case of Maharaja Yudhisthira in relation to Dhṛtaraṣṭra.

PURPORT (continued)

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

So 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 Kuñja Babu who Srila Prabhupada said came to do business with their guru Maharaja, to profit personally from his relationship with him and from his service in the Gaudiya Math. But Srila Prabhupada said their guru Maharaja didn’t take Kuñja’s dark side; that he was coming to make business to profit, but took the bright side; that he was coming to offer service.

And in Srila Prabhupada’s talk with Bob Cohen, now Brahmatirtha dasa, as recorded in the book Perfect Questions Perfect Answers Srila Prabhupada said, Pūtanā Rākasasi, 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 god-brothers 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. 

So yes, this is the quality of a good man and we should try to develop that quality. So coming back to the to the purport.

PURPORT (continued)

Maharaja Yudhisthira  thought himself ungrateful because when the Pāṇḍavas were fatherless, Mahārāja Dhṛtarāṣṭra had given them all royal facilities to live, and in return he had killed all Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons in the Battle of Kurukṣetra. As a pious man, Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira took into account all his unavoidable misdeeds, and he never thought of the misdeeds of his uncle and company. Dhṛtarāṣṭra had suffered the effects of his own misdeeds by the will of the Lord, but Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was thinking only of his own unavoidable misdeeds.

COMMENT

So again this is the humbleness of a devotee, the humility of Maharaja Yudhisthira, that although he was executing the will of the Lord, but still because the fighting took place to establish him, Maharaja Yudhisthira, on the royal throne he felt responsible for all the bloodshed, all the death, and subsequent bereavement and distress and disturbance. He felt responsible for it himself. Now Dhṛtaraṣṭra had suffered the effects of his own misdeeds by the will of the Lord, but Maharaja Yudhisthira was thinking only of his own unavoidable misdeeds. 

PURPORT (continued)

That is the nature of a good man and devotee of the Lord. A devotee never finds fault with others, but tries to find his own and thus rectify them as far as possible.

COMMENT

So here, Srila Prabhupada gives us further insight into the consciousness of a good man or a devotee, that he never finds fault with others. But he looks within himself to find his own faults and then he tries to rectify them as far as possible. So this should be our modus operandi. We should not find fault with others but we should look within ourselves and see what our faults are, and try to rectify them. Srila Bhaktivinoda wrote a book called Bhaktyaloka in which he discusses the six items of devotional service favorable for bhakti, and the six items that are unfavorable based on the Upadeśāmṛta, The Nectar of Instruction by Srila Rupa Gosvami. And he says and I will read it. 

“Talking without reason about other people is extremely averse to devotional service. Many people talk about others to establish their own reputation. Being envious, some people are accustomed to discuss others’ character. The minds of those who are busy in such topics can never be fixed on the lotus feet of Krishna. Talking about others should be rejected in all respects.”

So this is from Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s discussion of the six faults that destroy bhakti one of which is prajalpaḥ. And of the different categories of prajalpaḥ, criticizing others, devotees, is the worst. Some years ago when I was in Alachua I gave a seminar on Bhaktyaloka and the six faults that destroy bhakti and specifically prajalpaḥ. And one of the devotees in the audience quoted something, a saying that she had heard from her father which was quite relevant and appropriate. And he said “There is so much good in the worst of us and there is so much bad in the best of us, it hardly behooves any of us, to speak about the rest of us.” 

So yes, of course we can speak about others in a positive way appreciating their good qualities and service, but otherwise we should not speak about them. There is a common saying, parents tell their children if you can’t say anything nice about someone don’t say anything at all. 

So my dear devotees, I feel purified by this discussion. It is always wonderful to discuss great souls such as Maharaja Yudhisthira, pure devotee and eternal associate of Lord Krishna, and to learn from them how we as devotees should think and feel and desire. And how we should conduct ourselves as aspiring devotees in Krishna consciousness. 

So thank you for joining. Again, I do feel very purified and enlivened by the topic, by the discussion. And now, if any of you have any questions or comments you can raise your hand; your virtual hand or your physical hand. I see Maharaja is with us, His Holiness Bhakti Dhir Damodara Swami Maharaja.

Devotee: Please accept my humble obeisances Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Jaya, thank you for blessing us with your present.

Devotee: So dear devotees, Hare Krishna. If any of you have a question or a comment, as Maharaja said, you may raise your hand and you put your question across. Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Maharaja, I have a question please. Well, in the first place, thank you so much for blessing us with your personal presence here today and also hearing your voice and your wisdom and love from the class. My question has to do with fault finding. If I am not mistaken, I think it is said fault finding is like the mad elephant offense. It is so dangerous to find faults with the devotees. His Holiness Bhakti Dhir Damodara Maharaja gave class, I think three days ago, and His Grace Srivat Vanachari Prabhu [Unintelligible 00:51:02] also gave class yesterday and this topic came up—Offenses to Devotees, how dangerous that is, but especially if a devotee is working in the position of an administrator. I find it difficult for such a devotee in that role not to correct others. So in that regard if someone, let’s say if someone is a temple president it is expected of him to see to the well running of the temple and temple activities. And if a devotee is not doing what he or she is supposed to be doing, if the devotee is doing something wrong, opposite to Vaishnava etiquette and norms, what does this devotee in the position of leadership do?

Giriraj Swami: That is a very good question and an appropriate one. Yes, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura does discuss this. Although he advises us not to talk about others, he does cite exceptions to the rule, and one of the exceptions is to warn others. Srila Prabhupada also did the same thing. He would sometimes give the example of devotees who had faltered in Krishna consciousness to be a warning to us not to make the same mistake. And being in a position of authority, it may be our duty to correct a devotee who is not behaving properly, who is not conducting himself in accordance with sadhu shastra and guru.

But as Srila Prabhupada says, if correction is offered with sympathy, it is more likely to be received well. In other words, if we are just angry and frustrated and we chastise some devotee just to vent our anger and frustration, even if our point is valid, the devotee may not receive it well because of our mood. There is a saying when someone shouts at someone else they say “I can’t hear what you are saying because you are shouting so loud.” In other words, they don’t get the message they just see your anger, but if we offer the correction with sympathy, with genuine care for the devotee, for his spiritual life and care for the project, then there is a much better chance that he’ll receive it. 

But even then, Srila Prabhupada said the one thing he didn’t like about being a spiritual master was that he had to correct his disciples, and they are all Vaishnavas. So he didn’t like that sometimes he had to chastise them, but he did it as a matter of duty and those of us who are in positions of authority, we also may have to do that. In a family also, the children may be devotees but the parents may have to discipline them, so that they learn proper behavior and develop in the right way. So sometimes we do have to do that, but again it should be done with sympathy. I don’t know why all these old bits of homely wisdom are coming to mind, but sometimes if the father has to spank the child to teach the child some discipline, he will say “this hurts me more than it is going to hurt you.” He doesn’t want to do it but he has to do it because it is his duty.

And in one instance where I was guilty of some negligence in the early days of my presidency at Hare Krishna Land in Juhu, Bombay, Srila Prabhupada, he chastised me. He wasn’t there but by letter, he chastised me very severely and I really had to struggle to formulate a proper reply. And Srila Prabhupada, he could understand my mind, and he wrote back a very nice letter. So Srila Prabhupada, understanding my heart, in his next letter explained his service to me in such a way that I could appreciate his criticism, which was clearly meant for my benefit he wrote, “Actually, it is the duty of the spiritual master to find fault with his students, so that they may make progress, not that he should always be praising them. So if you find some criticism kindly accept it in that spirit. I am only interested that you along with all my other students should become Krishna conscious.” And his words and sincere desire acted upon my heart and influenced me to improve my efforts. And then I reported to him about the progress I had made in the area in which he had found fault in me.

Devotee: Thank you so much Maharaja. Thank you for the explanation because sometimes as the word is trying our best to follow the instructions of guru and Krishna especially in the scriptures. We tend to overlook faults that need corrected for the benefit of the individual devotee and for the society at large. So thank you for the explanation.

Giriraj Swami: There is another saying “Choose your battles” So a devotee may make different kinds of mistakes and if you try to correct every single little mistake the devotee might get discouraged, but choose your battles, and if he makes a serious mistake then you should intervene and correct him.

Devotee: Thank you. The word is, it is very rare that we have Maharaja’s association, so today that we have him here please let’s take the advantage. Maharaja very lovingly ask us to give comments. I usually prefer we ask questions but he is also saying we should give comments if we want to. Hare Krishna; please unmute and go ahead.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, guru Maharaja. Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet. Guru Maharaja, I wanted to know, I read this that a devotee is one who does not give anxiety to others. This comes in some of the devotional songs and all, so I wanted to know what exactly it means because whatever we do, it is actually going to give anxiety to someone. If our parents are not devotees or if someone is not a devotee, we are practicing devotions, so we are going to give some anxiety to them. And also even among devotees, maybe sometimes during services we might act in a way that is good but it might give anxiety to someone. So how should we understand this, what can we do and what we can’t do in order to… how can we follow this?

Giriraj Swami: You mentioned two categories in relation to non-devotees and in relation to devotees. In relation to non-devotees, we should act in such a way that we don’t put them in anxiety. But they may they may become anxious because they don’t want us to become Krishna conscious. So as far as possible, we should allay their fears, whatever their fears are in relation to becoming a devotee. They could have all sorts of fears but you should try to allay their fears, but you can’t give up Krishna consciousness because they are in anxiety, because they don’t want you to become a devotee. You can’t do that. But in relation to other devotees, we should try to maintain congenial relationships with the other devotees. And Srila Prabhupada has given a beautiful explanation of how we should relate with other devotees and I will read that to you. It is so instructive, and quite often when I visit a temple where there is some dissension amongst the devotees I read this purport. This is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Canto Seven, Chapter Five. “Prahlada Maharaja—The Saintly Son of Hiranyakasipu.” And I will read a relevant section that is so beautiful.

“Everyone should be friendly for the service of the Lord” I will repeat that. 

“Everyone should be friendly for the service of the Lord. Everyone should praise another’s service to the Lord and not be proud of his own service. This is the way of Vaishnava thinking, Vaikuntha thinking. There may be rivalries and apparent competition between servants in performing service, but in the Vaikuntha planets the service of another servant is appreciated, not condemned. This is Vaikuntha competition.”

And Sri Prabhupada explained to us in the context of ISKCON, the difference between spiritual competition and mundane competition. In spiritual competition, one recognizes the good qualities or the good service of the other devotee, but still one wants to excel it to give more pleasure to guru and Krishna. Whereas in mundane competition, there is envy and the devotee does not acknowledge the other devotees’ good qualities or service, and that of course should be avoided. But otherwise, there can be transcendental competition as Srila Prabhupada is explaining here. 

“There may be rivalries and apparent competition between servants in performing service, but in the Vaikuntha planets the service of another servant is appreciated not condemned. This is Vaikuntha competition. There is no question of enmity between servants.”

And I come back to the first line.

“Everyone should be friendly for the service of the Lord. There is no question of enmity between servants. Everyone should be allowed to render service to the Lord to his best ability, and everyone should appreciate the service of others. Such are the activities of Vaikuntha. Since everyone is a servant, everyone is on the same platform and is allowed to serve the Lord according to his ability.”

As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā 15.15:

sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo

mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca

The Lord is situated in everyone’s heart giving dictation according to the attitude of the servant however the Lord gives different dictation to the non-devotees and devotees. The non-devotees challenge the authority of the Lord and therefore the Lord dictates in such a way that the non-devotees forget the Lord’s service life after life and are punished by the laws of nature. But when a devotee very sincerely wants to serve the Lord, the Lord dictates in a different way. As the Lord says in the Bhagavad-gītā 10.10:

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ

bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam

dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ

yena mām upayānti te 

To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.

So factually, everyone is a servant not an enemy or friend, and everyone is working under different directions from the Lord who directs each living entity according to his mentality. 

Devotee: Yes guru Maharaja. Also there can be some activities we would be doing that would give anxiety to spiritual master and we don’t know it. We might be doing something that is giving certainly anxiety to spiritual master, so is there any activity like that and we should really avoid doing it. Is there something we should be very careful of?

Giriraj Swami: I would say the main thing that would displease the spiritual master is if the disciples are fighting; finding fault with one another and fighting. And as Srila Prabhupada said, “Your love for me will be shown by how you cooperate together.” So yes, cooperation is very important; that will please the spiritual master and fault finding and fighting will displease him.

Devotee: Thank you guru Maharaja. That is very instructive. 

Devotee: Hare Krishna. Thank you so much Maharaja.

Devotee: Hare Krishna guru Maharaja. Pease accept my most humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada; all glories to you. It is a beautiful and very appropriate verse that you have spoken on today, and I wanted to ask if all the arguments that Arjuna was placing in the first chapter, about when there is war the women will become… they are here, what is happening, right now the people from Ukraine, the ladies are going with the children and the men are left behind. So these women they come in other European countries and they associate with other men and then the children of that progeny, pitrās will not get there… and then they will become corrupted. And whatever arguments that Arjuna gave in the first chapter, we are witnessing it actually, right now. So my question is the devotees nowadays they tend to speak quite a lot about… Is that also prajalpaḥ?

Giriraj Swami: Devotees nowadays tend to speak

Devotee: They tend to speak a lot about the war, what is happening, the current issue. 

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that is a hot topic. I think it is better not to dwell on it too much. There are wonderful accounts of devotees performing heroic service and distributing prasāda. That is a way that we can think about the war but relate it to Krishna consciousness; to the devotees who are rising to the occasion and feeding prasāda to displaced persons. But otherwise, I think one should not indulge too much in it. At an early stage I probably did too much of that, but then I caught myself and I thought this is not good; this is not the best way for me to use my time and energy. So I would suggest not getting too involved in the details of the war.

Devotee: Yes, because whatever one speaks it is just whatever he has heard from different sources and we don’t know the exact truth. So it is better to avoid speaking about such topics.

Giriraj Swami: You mean about the war?

Devotee: Yes.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that is also true but there are some commonly accepted facts in relation to the war, which cannot be denied but at the same time, it is not a very palatable topic for devotees. And again, there is one statement Srila Prabhupada made that now there is no prohibition about reading ordinary news. But I would say in moderation, probably not excessively and one can get carried away by it for sure. 

Devotee: Thank you.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Thank you so much Maharaja. Hare Krishna. Maharaja, I have one question. My question is from the purport of the text you discussed today. The very opening sentence of the purport; the Pandavas especially Maharaja Yudhisthira and Arjuna anticipated the after effects of the battle of Kurukshetra and therefore Arjuna declined to execute the fight. The fight was executed by the will of the Lord by the effects of family aggrievement as they had thought of it before, had come to be true. So this particular text describes how Maharaja Yudhisthira, even though this war had passed long ago but, he was still feeling sorry because he is feeling that because of him his uncle and his aunt probably might have committed suicide. So Krishna says in Gītā 9:2 that this devotional services is susukhaṁ kartum avyayam. It is joyfully performed, so you destroy performance service but we see there seem not to be some sort of joy from the service he performed. 

So my question is in twofold actually; twofold in the sense that first does it mean that when one surrenders to guru and Krishna, that particular surrendered soul has no more the right to use his thoughts and his intelligence to do things? You just have to follow because Arjuna in particular didn’t want to fight but when he surrendered to Krishna, then he fought. Now after fighting, they are still having this melancholy. So the second question is, does one get any credit from service rendered to guru and Krishna, even when the devotee feels sorry for the service he or she rendered. He has already performed the service but he is also feeling guilty. “No, I shouldn’t have done this; I shouldn’t have done that; but I did it because my guru asked me to do it, because Krishna asked me to do it.” But the person still has his own personal ceiling. “Oh, I shouldn’t have done this but I have to do it because of my guru.” Does that devotee get credit from rendering such service to guru and Krishna? Hare Krishna. Thank you Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, he does get credit because ultimately he surrendered to the order of guru and Krishna and executed it, so he gets credit. As far as lamenting afterwards, this was an extraordinary case with the battle of Kurukshetra, but ordinarily in our context if we execute the order of guru and Krishna, we should not lament afterwards. But as you said, you should feel joyful and I think that would be the general case. A very good question but yes, joyfully performed, but in general that would be the case.

Devotee: Thank you so much, Maharaja. 

Giriraj Swami: It is a pleasure.

Devotee: Does anyone else have something to say? Maharaja, you wanted to say something; please go ahead.

Giriraj Swami: No, I was just repeating what you said, susukhaṁ kartum avyayam.

Devotee: Any question, any comment?

Giriraj Swami: I want to add a little point about that. Sometimes when I have felt the greatest happiness internally, was when the circumstances were the most miserable externally. I had experiences of that in the early days in Calcutta. We were printing a Bengali magazine and the printer was far north in Calcutta, and the temple was in the south of Calcutta. And after I left the printers, it started to pour down rain heavily, very heavily. And at least then, in that area, there was no proper drainage so the water was just getting higher and higher and I couldn’t get a lift. I couldn’t get a taxi or anything and I was just going through this deep water, but internally I felt very blissful because the only reason I was there was to serve Srila Prabhupada. There is no way I would have been there for my sense gratification, so internally I felt very blissful. 

So sometimes, if we are in a pleasant situation there could be a question. “Am I in the situation to serve guru and Krishna, or do I just like to be in this situation.” But if you are in a miserable situation, then the only reason you are there is for devotional service. And yes, I felt quite blissful. So that is susukhaṁ kartum avyayam. 

Devotee: Thank you so much. Maharaja, we pray for your blessings that someday in our devotional life we will get to that point where we will taste the joy and the pleasure of devotional service, because some of us are struggling so hard in our devotional service, but we are praying.

Giriraj Swami: You must be experiencing some bliss otherwise you wouldn’t continue. In my initiation letter, Srila Prabhupada wrote me that “I am glad to know that you are experiencing some of the bliss of Krishna consciousness.” I didn’t say I was blissful, but he deduced it because otherwise why would I be in Krishna consciousness if I wasn’t experiencing some of the bliss of Krishna consciousness. So you must be, but still I will pray that you can do so more and more.

Devotee: Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Anyone with any question, comment? Maharaja is here for us.

Giriraj Swami: Well, if everyone is satisfied we can… oh there is a hand.

Devotee: Hare Krishna guru Maharaja. Please accept my most humble obeisances to Srila Prabhupada. Guru Maharaja, I don’t have a question because you already answered so many questions because of the beautiful questions and your wonderful class. But I specifically want to thank you for one point that you mentioned in the class today. That as an authority, sometimes we have to rectify the mistakes of others and we have to very carefully tell them what wrong are they doing, so that they can improve rather than just scolding them and discouraging them. 

So very recently even I have experienced the same and one of my god sisters also like Audarya Radhika, I discussed this matter with her and she told me that you should just see if you are getting discouraged because of others instructions and you feel that you are not getting encouragement to practice your Krishna consciousness, then don’t say anything, just part ways and be very respectful towards them. And I thoroughly obeyed her instruction and I was at once at peace, because these relationships are so sensitive. We have to see that we don’t offend the seniors, but at the same times everybody has a different nature and of course we cannot gel with anybody and everybody, so it is good that we see that what they are telling is actually not discouraging us in Krishna consciousness, and be very respectful towards them, and at the same time accepting the instruction of our seniors. If it encourages in our Krishna consciousness, we can discuss with our god sisters and god brothers and take their advice and then it is like a very beautiful journey actually, guru Maharaja, filled with improvements and so many things to learn, guru Maharaja, to improve ourselves.

Giriraj Swami: Nice. That was a beautiful comment.

Devote: Hare Krishna. Thank you for such a beautiful comment. Maharaja, may I ask you one last question? I always have questions, so I don’t know. But I think since you are direct Srila Prabhupada’s disciple and one of the pioneers of this illustrious movement, I had an uncle, it was a distant family uncle, when he knew that I had become a member of Hare Krishna devotee, he asked me, “Hey, you little boy, how did you know about this group? You are very fortunate.” That is what he told me. 

Giriraj Swami: Wow!

Devotee: Yes, he was a mystic man and back then in my mother country, Ghana, devotees were weird to the general people, but this uncle of mine was so appreciative that I had become a devotee. So I am very humbly proud to be a member of ISKCON. And being a member of ISKCON has also given me the opportunity to have so many wonderful brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles, which under no other circumstance I could have had such opportunities. 

And so I am pretty much concerned about the welfare of ISKCON because without ISKCON, there wouldn’t be me. I can still live as an individual but living the life I am living now would not be possible. And so, looking at how ISKCON is at the moment, even when we have some of direct Srila Prabhupada’s disciples. I sometimes have the doubt, even though I am not supposed to, because the scriptures say that we have this golden age in this Kali-yuga. So it is obviously going to be happening, but my concern is in time, wouldn’t there be so much changes in ISKCON to the point that what we see in ISKCON today, maybe in five ten generations to come may not see it. It might get watered down as in many systems, and how do we try to protect against such watering down of this precious system Srila Prabhupada has given us. 

It is something I think about and in my own insignificant position, I can’t just think about what needs to be done to maintain the sanctity and the discipline, the regulations Srila Prabhupada has given us. But I am just humbly asking you what do you think this generation and the next generation will have to practice instill in us and the next generation, to help maintain the system Srila Prabhupada has given us. Hare Krishna, Maharaja. Thank you. 

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. One thing that Srila Prabhupada said and emphasized is the GBC and you might know the history of the Gaudiya Math, founded by Srila Prabhupada’s guru Maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta did not appoint anyone to be the Acharya. But he wanted them to work cooperatively under a governing body. Unfortunately, they disobeyed his order and different persons were trying to become acharya or were supporting someone to be acharya. And they disobeyed Srila Bhaktisiddhanta’s instruction to work cooperatively, collectively.

And it said, kalau śakti saṅgaḥ, that in Kali-yuga there is strength in association, and at one stage, earlier on Srila Prabhupada said that he didn’t have so much faith in any one of us individually but he had faith in us collectively. So I think that is really the secret of success for the future. And reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and also reading about Srila Prabhupada is very important. 

My dear god-brother, His Holiness Mukunda Gosvami Maharaja, was emphasizing the importance of reading about Srila Prabhupada, and he gave the example that the six Gosvamis wrote so many precious literatures. But of all the books, the most important is Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Because Caitanya-caritāmṛta was about Lord Chaitanya and His associates. And of course it does include a lot of philosophy from the Gosvamis. So yes, I think to keep alive Prabhupada’s mood and spirit, to read the books about him, and first and foremost Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta, and even to see the video series following Srila Prabhupada by Yadubara Prabhu. Yes, we really have to keep Srila Prabhupada alive, and then ISKCON will be what it is meant to be.

Devotee: Thank you so much Maharaja. Thank you for the for the advice, and we pray that you help us, guide us, and give us the strength to follow this advice.

Giriraj Swami: I am here to support you and encourage you.

Devotee: Thank you so much. We are very fortunate to have you as our father, as our uncle. So thank you. Anyone else with any question, anything to say before we bring the class to a close? Sundari devi.

Devotee: Hare Krishna dear guru Maharaja. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and your divine grace. Guru Maharaja, it is nice to hear from you. It was a wonderful talk and I just wanted to share something with you and everyone else. So I got a new friend from my class which I attended, Bhakti Shastri, she is in the Netherlands and she looks after her elderly mother and she is into the preaching program as well. She was searching online about how to take care of the elderly and how to give Krishna conscious at the end of their life, and guess what she found guru Maharaja? Life’s Final Exam. And then she texted me; because I already posted her “I Will Build You a Temple,” she wanted that. So I have been posting the books to her. I said, yes, I have the book, then I posted it to her and she is going to translate into Dutch for the devotees in the Netherlands. 

Giriraj Swami: Fantastic, wonderful.

Devotee: Yes, so thank you guru Maharaja for your wonderful service of writing and pleasing Srila Prabhupada and helping all. And I am here in Toronto as well, guru Maharaja, looking after my mother. She was very ill and I am reading, nourishing Bhagavad-gītā to her every day, all inspired by you, guru Maharaja. Thank you.

Giriraj Swami: I see Govinda dasa has his hand like this. I don’t know if he had to ask a question or if he is giving blessings. Maybe he is just giving blessings. 

Devotee: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Please accept my respectful obeisances. All glories to you; all glories to Srila Prabhupada. Thank you very much Maharaja for this wonderful class. It is my first time attending your classes. Today I am fortunate enough to be in your association. Thank you very much. I wasn’t here from the beginning of the class, and so I don’t know the tune of this class. So my question may actually take the devotees of the road. So I am not very sure but I have a concern of this very question of the departed souls. 

We know at a point those who are embodied will have to be disembodied, those who have taken this material body finally will have to give it up. And so is the more reason why the living entities are supposed to be in their natural consciousness which is Krishna consciousness. And so that after the body is finished, the departed soul will have a chance to again return back to Godhead.

Now in the process of returning back to Godhead or having another body go to other planet, or whatever, what are the mysteries? What is there between life and death? When one gives up the body and is to have his transition to different realms, what are the mysteries? How does the soul go through? I know that may do [Unintelligible 01:42:20] tests are there for those who are rebellious to Krishna and the Vishnu tests are there to take those souls who are surrendered to the Lord. But I don’t know the process that the soul goes through to end up his next life or his next destination. 

I understand from different teachings that there is a tunnel that opens at a particular time, for the living entities to go through and an order. There are so many mysteries that people talking about death. Will you please share little light in this matter?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, there are people who have had near death experiences, and they mentioned, like you said, about the tunnel but what we find in the shastra does not go into that kind of detail or explanation. But ideally, if we are absorbed in Krishna at the time of death, fixed in Krishna consciousness, then it will be like the Bhagavad-gītā says. You just take off some old and useless clothes and put on some new clothes; or you are in an apartment or a house, you just you go from one room into the other. So that is our goal, to be so absorbed in Krishna consciousness that the time of death is just the next progression in our devotional service, and it is not a traumatic experience.

We have examples of so many devotees who have left their bodies gloriously in Krishna consciousness, so we should aspire to follow in their footsteps.

Devotee: Thank you so much Maharaja for the answer. Govinda Prabhu is my senior god-brother, and he recently lost his big brother. I think that is part of the reason why he is asking this question. His big brother who just passed away about six days ago, was a devotee for some time and so we humbly pray that you pray for his smooth journey to wherever guru Krishna may want him to go. Hopefully a better world than what he was in here. He served as a devotee for quite some time.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, I will pray for him.

Devotee: Thank you so much Maharaja.

Devotee: Thank you. Thank very, very much Maharaja.

Devotee: Maharaja, we are so grateful, so thankful for taking some of your busy schedule to be with us and to bless us. And we are praying to you that… I am from Africa, lots of us from Africa, we oftentimes say if you are from a royal family, if your family is very much well respected, you do not go out there and misbehave, because you bring deformation on the family. So we are very fortunate we belong to such a unique movement and we pray that you bless us so that when we go out there, we can nicely represent our movement, nicely represent Srila Prabhupada and our leaders. Hare Krishna. Thank you Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: So if we are ending now, I suggest we conclude with Vaishnava praṇāma.

Devotee: Okay. We usually chant the maha-mantra and then we chant the Vaishnava praṇāma also.

Giriraj Swami: That would be okay; one mantra.

Devote: Just one mantra and then the Vaishnava praṇāma.

Giriraj Swami: Wonderful.

Devotee: So at this point, we humbly ask all the devotees to please kindly unmute and then we chant big, very big Hare Krishna maha-mantra to express our appreciation for Maharaja’s presence here. And once we are done with the maha-mantra, we chant the Vaishnava praṇāma.

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna Hare Hare; Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama, Rama, Hare Hare.