BG 3.10 – How to Live Happily in This World and Then Go Back to Godhead

Giriraj Swami: 

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

We read from Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Chapter Three, “Karma-yoga.”

TEXT 10

saha-yajñāḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭvā

purovāca prajāpatiḥ

anena prasaviṣyadhvam

eṣa vo ‘stv iṣṭa-kāma-dhuk

TRANSLATION

In the beginning of creation, the Lord of all creatures sent forth generations of men and demigods, along with sacrifices for Viṣṇu, and blessed them by saying, “Be thou happy by this yajña [sacrifice] because its performance will bestow upon you everything desirable for living happily and achieving liberation.”

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The material creation by the Lord of creatures (Viṣṇu) is a chance offered to the conditioned souls to come back home – back to Godhead. All living entities within the material creation are conditioned by material nature because of their forgetfulness of their relationship to Viṣṇu, or Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Vedic principles are to help us understand this eternal relation, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ. The Lord says that the purpose of the Vedas is to understand Him. In the Vedic hymns it is said: patiṁ viśvasyātmeśvaram. Therefore, the Lord of the living entities is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also (2.4.20) Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī describes the Lord as pati in so many ways:

śriyaḥ patir yajña-patiḥ prajā-patir
dhiyāṁ patir loka-patir dharā-patiḥ
patir gatiś cāndhaka-vṛṣṇi-sātvatāṁ
prasīdatāṁ me bhagavān satāṁ patiḥ

The prajā-pati is Lord Viṣṇu, and He is the Lord of all living creatures, all worlds, and all beauties, and the protector of everyone. The Lord created this material world to enable the conditioned souls to learn how to perform yajñas (sacrifices) for the satisfaction of Viṣṇu, so that while in the material world they can live very comfortably without anxiety, and after finishing the present material body they can enter into the kingdom of God.

COMMENT

So, this is a beautiful program that by engaging in yajña (sacrifice), one can live very comfortably without anxiety in this material world, and after finishing the present body, can enter into the Kingdom of God. So, it is a perfect package, and we should take full advantage.

PURPORT (continued)

That is the whole program for the conditioned soul.

COMMENT

Yes, the Lord out of His causeless mercy has made this arrangement for us by providing yajña (sacrifices) to enable us to live peacefully and happily in the material world, to fulfill all our desires, and then to gain liberation and go back home—back to Godhead, it is perfect.

PURPORT (continued)

By performance of yajña, the conditioned souls gradually become Kṛṣṇa conscious and become godly in all respects.

COMMENT

Now, how do we perform yajña? Definitely, yajña is most beneficial for us. Now, how do we perform yajña?

PURPORT (continued)

In the Age of Kali, the saṅkīrtana-yajña (the chanting of the names of God) is recommended by the Vedic scriptures, and this transcendental system was introduced by Lord Caitanya for the deliverance of all men in this age. Saṅkīrtana-yajña and Kṛṣṇa consciousness go well together. Lord Kṛṣṇa in His devotional form (as Lord Caitanya) is mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.32) as follows, with special reference to the saṅkīrtana-yajña:

kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ
sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair
yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ

“In this Age of Kali, people who are endowed with sufficient intelligence will worship the Lord, who is accompanied by His associates, by performance of saṅkīrtana-yajña.”

COMMENT

So, people who worship the incarnation of the Lord for Kali-yuga, namely Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, by performance of saṅkīrtana-yajña are described as su-medhasaḥ, very intelligent. The Bhagavad-gītā also uses another word, which has the opposite meaning, alpa-medhasaḥ, less intelligent. And the Gītā says that those who worship the demigods are alpa-medhasaḥ, so they are less intelligent. Demigods means Brahma, Shiva, Durga, Ganesh, and so on. So, those who worship the demigods, devas, they are less intelligent, and those who worship Lord Chaitanya, by performance of saṅkīrtana-yajña, are most intelligent.

PURPORT (continued)

Other yajñas prescribed in the Vedic literatures are not easy to perform in this Age of Kali, but the saṅkīrtana-yajña is easy and sublime for all purposes, as recommended in Bhagavad-gītā also (9.14).

COMMENT

So, I will read Bhagavad-gītā 9.14, which is very appropriate and significant.

TEXT 14

satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ

yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ

namasyantaś ca māṁ bhaktyā

nitya-yuktā upāsate

TRANSLATION

Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The mahātmā cannot be manufactured by rubber-stamping an ordinary man. His symptoms are described here: a mahātmā is always engaged in chanting the glories of the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead. He has no other business. He is always engaged in the glorification of the Lord. In other words, he is not an impersonalist. When the question of glorification is there, one has to glorify the Supreme Lord, praising His holy name, His eternal form, His transcendental qualities and His uncommon pastimes. One has to glorify all these things; therefore a mahātmā is attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

One who is attached to the impersonal feature of the Supreme Lord, the brahma-jyotir, is not described as mahātmā in the Bhagavad-gītā. He is described in a different way in the next verse. The mahātmā is always engaged in different activities of devotional service, as described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, hearing and chanting about Viṣṇu, not a demigod or human being. That is devotion: śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ and smaraṇam, remembering Him. Such a mahātmā has firm determination to achieve at the ultimate end the association of the Supreme Lord in any one of the five transcendental rasas. To achieve that success, he engages all activities – mental, bodily and vocal, everything – in the service of the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. That is called full Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

In devotional service there are certain activities which are called determined,

COMMENT

Dṛḍha-vrata, determined.

PURPORT (continued)

Such as fasting on certain days,

COMMENT

Ekādaśī is coming up.

PURPORT (continued)

like the eleventh day of the moon, Ekādaśī, and on the appearance day of the Lord. All these rules and regulations are offered by the great ācāryas for those who are actually interested in getting admission into the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the transcendental world. The mahātmās, great souls, strictly observe all these rules and regulations, and therefore they are sure to achieve the desired result.

As described in the second verse of this chapter, not only is this devotional service easy, but it can be performed in a happy mood. One does not need to undergo any severe penance and austerity. He can live this life in devotional service, guided by an expert spiritual master, and in any position, either as a householder or a sannyāsī or a brahmacārī; in any position and anywhere in the world, he can perform this devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and thus become actually mahātmā, a great soul.

COMMENT

So, the Lord is very kind to make this arrangement for us to live happily in the material world and by performance of yajña, and in the end, to gain liberation and go back home—back to Godhead. And Srila Prabhupada has very kindly presented the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is for us with his purports so that we can understand the actual purpose of the Lord as he explains himself in the Bhagavad-gītā. And as Srila Prabhupada explains, we have to understand the Bhagavad-gītā as Arjuna understood it. Of course, Krishna is the original speaker of the Bhagavad-gītā, and Arjuna is the perfect student of the Bhagavad-gītā, and he accepted Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he described him, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāmapavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān, and he accepted everything that Krishna said in the Bhagavad-gītā. He said, sarvam etad ṛtaṁ manye, “I accept as truth in total everything that you have said.”

We sometimes find that people are fond of certain verses in the Bhagavad-gītā, but not others. For example, some people like the verse, karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana, “You are entitled to do your duty.” So, they think, This is very valuable, we can do our duty, we can do our work. And when Krishna says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja, “Give up everything and surrender to me,” they don’t find that so attractive. And they employ what Srila Prabhupada calls, ardha-kukkuṭī-nyāya, the half-hand philosophy. A farmer had a hen who was laying eggs, and the farmer considered the behind portion of the hen is very valuable because it is giving the eggs, whereas the neck portion of the hen is troublesome because it is simply eating food. So, he thought, I will just keep the hind portion and cut the neck portion. And, of course, when he did that, the hen died, and there were no more eggs.

So, when people find some verse they like, like karmaṇy evādhikāras te, “You can do your duty, you can do your work,” they think, Oh, this is very valuable. Okay, we will keep that. And when they come to sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja, “Surrender to Krishna,” they think, Oh, that is very troublesome. I think we will cut that part. And when they do that, then they lose everything.

So, we should understand the Bhagavad-gītā as Arjuna did, sarvam etad ṛtaṁ manye, “I accept as truth in total everything You say.” And at the end of the Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna told Arjuna, “Now you have heard everything, now you can do whatever you like.” yathecchasi tathā kuru, “Now you can do whatever you like.” Although Krishna is God, He does not interfere with the minute independence of the living entity. yathecchasi tathā kuru, “You do whatever you decide.” And Arjuna replied, “smṛtir labdhā, “Now, I have regained my memory,” Naṣṭo mohaḥ, “My illusion is now gone,"kariṣye vacanaṁ tava, “And I am prepared to act according to Your instruction.” And that should be the decision of all of us, to act according to the instruction of Krishna; live happily in this life, and in the end, go back home, back to Godhead. Hare Krishna.

So, my dear devotees, we have a few more minutes, and if you like, you can raise your hand and ask any question or share any comments or reflections.

Devotee: Maharaja?

Giriraj Swami: Oh, yes, yes?

Devotee: There are some books on the table here.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, there are.

Devotee: Could you talk about those?

Giriraj Swami: Yes. Nityananda Prabhu [Unintelligible 00:25:58], would you like to say something about the books on the table?

Devotee: I said something, you might say something.

Giriraj Swami: Sorry?

Devotee: I said, “I said something, you might say something.” But I can.

Giriraj Swami: [laughter] Okay. Well, I first met Srila Prabhupada and joined the temple in Boston, and the temple president was Satsvarupa dasa, and he was the editor of Back to Godhead Magazine, and he wanted devotees to submit articles. So, I submitted an article about the genuine spiritual master. Then, after my serving in Boston for some time, Srila Prabhupada wanted to return to India and begin the Krishna consciousness movement there, and he wanted the second-best devotee from each temple to go to India, and there were maybe fourteen centers in America then. So, Satsvarupa was the temple president, and I was the Saṅkīrtana leader and a temple commander, so I was the next. And so, I got to go to India. I mean, everyone wanted to go to India and be with Srila Prabhupada in India.

So, I got to go, and after traveling in India for a while, we came to Gorakhpur, where we were hosted by Hanuman Prasad Poddar, the head of the Gītā Press. And while in Gorakhpur, the issue of Back to Godhead with my article arrived, and Srila Prabhupada called for me, and he said, “I have read your article, and it is very nice, and you should write, you should take up writing as your first business.” And yes, he even said, “You can travel with me and I will instruct you.” And over the years, Srila Prabhupada repeated the same instruction to me that I should write.

Now, regarding this particular book, it was a great struggle to, well, first to get the Hare Krishna Land in Juhu, and then to build the temple complex. And when we finally got the land transferred into our name, into Prabhupada’s name, afterwards, Srila Prabhupada sort of leaned back on his bolster and he said, “It was a good fight, someone should write a book about it.” And he had already instructed me to write, and I was the only devotee to be intimately connected with the project from the beginning to end, and means from when we first got the land to when the temple opened. And so, I was sort of the natural choice to write the book. 

So, this book, “I’ll Build You a Temple, the Juhu Story” is based on a promise that Srila Prabhupada made to the deities, Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari. He brought Them to Juhu when there was really no facility for Them, and he promised Them, “I will build You a temple.” And so, the book focuses on Srila Prabhupada’s fulfilling of his promise to Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari to build Them a temple. His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami commented, and there is a lot about him in the book, but he commented that “We often hear about devotees performing austerities for the deity, but at Hare Krishna Land, the deities performed austerities for the devotees.” They lived in very basic conditions, and the owner of the land, Mr. Nair, was crooked, and Srila Prabhupada suspected that he was crooked, but still, he entered into the agreement, and on the basis that possession is nine-tenths of the law, he brought Radha-Rasabihari to Juhu, to the land, to secure our possession. And there were many upheavals, many adventures, many reversals, but, of course, in the end, Srila Prabhupada and the devotees were successful.

But the book covers most of my association with Srila Prabhupada, it includes Srila Prabhupada’s visit to the Maha Kumbh Mela in Allahabad in 1977. Every twelve years there is Kumbh Mela, and every 12th Kumbh Mela is a Maha Kumbh Mela, and 1977 was a Maha Kumbh Mela. So, Srila Prabhupada and the devotees’ stay at the Kumbh Mela is described, and then there is a lot of discussion of Srila Prabhupada’s last weeks, or months, last days in Vrindavan.

And then, after Srila Prabhupada left, Tamal Krishna Goswami and I went to Calcutta because Srila Prabhupada said he wanted to have a Pushpa samadhi in Mayapur. So, Pushpa flowers, we took flowers from Srila Prabhupada’s samadhi in Vrindavan, and we went to Calcutta, and we stopped at the temple. Someone there asked, “Now that Srila Prabhupada is not here, who is going to speak about Krishna to us?” And Tamal Krishna Goswami looked at me and he said, “That is a very good question.” So, we went to Mayapur, we did the Pushpa samadhi, and then we came to Bombay for the grand opening of the temple.

And it was a glorious event, a lot of dignitaries came. Vasantdada Patil, he was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, he came, and Prabhudas Potwari, he was the governor of, I think, Tamil Nadu, he came, and Raja Narayana, he was the Central Government Minister of Health, he came, and many other dignitaries. So, the temple opened, and Srila Prabhupada’s promise to Radha-Rasabihari was fulfilled.

And yes, the book has been very popular. I mean, devotees have really appreciated it. The original print run was, I think, nine thousand six hundred copies, and that got finished, and I did another run of, I think, the same, nine thousand six hundred copies. So, I highly recommend it not because I wrote it, but based on the feedback I have gotten about it, it is highly appreciated and recommended. Hare Krishna.

There is one incident I will relate in the few minutes we have left. Towards the end, I went up to Srila Prabhupada’s quarters in Juhu, and Srila Prabhupada was not well, and, the principle was not to disturb him. So, Srila Prabhupada was in his quarters, and then there is a library room, the doors to that were closed, and then beyond the library room was where the secretary sat, where Tamal Krishna Goswami sat and those doors were closed. And so, I came up to see Tamal Krishna Goswami and, we embraced, he greeted me warmly, and then he asked me to go to the bank to make a deposit, and I said, “I am the temple president, anyone can go to the bank and make a deposit, and I can do things that other devotees cannot do. So, why should I make the deposit? You should get someone else to make the deposit.” So, just then Prabhupada’s buzzer rang, so we all raced around into Srila Prabhupada’s room, and it was a treat to be summoned by Srila Prabhupada because he wasn’t well and he wasn’t meeting devotees much, and, he asked me how my preaching is going, and so on. And then, as if to illustrate the point of presenting the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Srila Prabhupada said, “If I tell you, Giriraj, go to the bank, and if you say, ‘No Prabhupada, I can’t do that, I can only do this,’ then where is my authority?”

Now, that was supposed to illustrate the idea of the authority of Krishna and the Bhagavad-gītā, but it was a very chastening experience, and it made me think that I shouldn’t think of Tamal Krishna Goswami as just a god-brother asking me to go to the bank, but I should see that he is actually representing Srila Prabhupada, and that that is an instruction from Srila Prabhupada or service to Srila Prabhupada. So, yes, that was one little incident.

So, His Holiness Radhanath Swami wrote the forward to the book, and His Holiness Gopal Krishna Gosvami wrote. . . it was like a forward, but you can’t have two forwards, so he called it reflections, he wrote his reflections on the book, and he commented that Srila Prabhupada had spent more days in Bombay, 554 days, than anywhere else after he began his preaching mission, and that indicates the importance of Bombay, and the importance of the book.