Krishna Consciousness is About Chanting, Dancing, Feasting and No Work!

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. It is a great pleasure and a privilege to be with all of you during this auspicious festival. His Holiness Indradyumna Swami was speaking about—he didn’t use the Sanskrit word, but he was speaking about the characteristic dharma, which is derived from the root ‘dhar.’ The dharma of a thing is the thing that cannot be separated from it. And as Maharaja gave the example, you cannot separate sweetness from sugar; you cannot separate heat from chili. So, what is the natural characteristic of the living entity that cannot be separated from the living entity? And that is service. We are bound to serve. Every moment, we are engaged in service, but the question is, where to render that service in such a way that we become peaceful, happy, and satisfied? And that is in relation to Krishna, to the Supreme Soul, Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Once, in Srila Prabhupada’s presence, a disciple was giving a talk summarizing Krishna consciousness, and he said that Krishna consciousness is just chanting, dancing, feasting, and a little work. And Srila Prabhupada interrupted him, and he said, “No work.” [Laughter] So the disciple began again, and he said, “Krishna consciousness: chanting, dancing, feasting, and a little, little, little bit of work.” And again, Prabhupada interrupted. He said, “No, no work.” [Laughter] And actually, there is no work in Krishna consciousness; there is only service, sevā, which is in a completely different category from work or karma, and it is simply joyful. One of our great predecessors, Srila Locana dasa Thakura described Krishna consciousness as kevala ānanda-kāṇḍa, a simply joyful process: chanting, dancing, feasting, and philosophy—no work. And we have all gotten a little taste of that, and we should seek out every possible opportunity to chant and dance in the association of devotees. But Krishna consciousness is transcendental, ahaituky apratihatā, it cannot be checked by any material circumstance. So whatever situation you are in, you can chant and be happy. That is our motto: Chant and be happy. And that is the mood of the Vaishnava, para-dukha-dukhī. He feels sorrow in the sorrow of others, and he feels happy in the happiness of others.

So yes, we want you all to be happy, and we know you can be happy in Krishna consciousness, through chanting, dancing, feasting, and philosophy, as has been so nicely demonstrated during this wonderful festival organized by Tukaram Prabhu and supported by so many wonderful devotees. So, I can hardly wait till next year for the next Maha-Gaura-purnima festival and Kirtan-mela.

Hare Krishna.