SB 3.15.25 – Vangjekia Korostova’s Initiation

Giriraj Swami: I will speak on initiations. At initiations Srila Prabhupada would always speak about the ten offenses against the holy name. So I will read a verse and purport in which Srila Prabhupada discusses the ten offenses and then we will proceed to Vangjekia’s initiation. She can take her vows and receive her new name. I have her beads here and so I will drop the beads into her hand virtually.

So I will read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Canto Three, Chapter Fifteen—Description of the Kingdom of God.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

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

TEXT 25

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

TRANSLATION

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

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

It is clearly stated herein that the kingdom of God is above the material universes. Just as there are many hundreds of thousands of higher planets above this earth, so there are many millions and billions of spiritual planets belonging to the spiritual sky. Brahmājī states herein that the spiritual kingdom is above the kingdom of the demigods. One can enter the kingdom of the Supreme Lord only when one is highly developed in desirable qualities.

COMMENT

So my dear devotees, this is our goal; to enter the kingdom of the Supreme Lord but we can do so only when we are highly developed in desirable qualities, which is mentioned in the verse as śilāḥ.

PURPORT (continued)

All good qualities develop in the person of a devotee. It is stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Fifth Canto, Eighteenth Chapter, verse 12, that anyone who is Kṛṣṇa conscious is endowed with all the good qualities of the demigods.

COMMENT

And that is a very important verse:

yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā

sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ

harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā

manorathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ

And the translation is:

“All the demigods and their exalted qualities, such as religion, knowledge and renunciation, become manifest in the body of one who has developed unalloyed devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva. On the other hand, a person devoid of devotional service and engaged in material activities has no good qualities. Even if he is adept at the practice of mystic yoga or the honest endeavor of maintaining his family and relatives, he must be driven by his own mental speculations and must engage in the service of the Lord’s external energy. How can there be any good qualities in such a man?”

So back to the purport.

PURPORT (continued)

It is stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Fifth Canto, Eighteenth Chapter, verse 12, that anyone who is Kṛṣṇa conscious is endowed with all the good qualities of the demigods. In the material world the qualities of the demigods are highly appreciated, just as, even in our experience, the qualities of a gentleman are more highly appreciated than the qualities of a man in ignorance or in a lower condition of life. The qualities of the demigods in the higher planets are far superior to the qualities of the inhabitants of this earth.

Brahmājī confirms herewith that only persons who have developed the desirable qualities can enter into the kingdom of God. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the devotee’s desirable qualities are described to be twenty-six in number. They are stated as follows:

COMMENT

So my dear devotees, please pay attention and as I read these twenty-six qualities check yourself; to what extent you are manifesting this desirable quality and yes, try to manifest the desirable qualities – twenty-six qualities more and more.

PURPORT (continued)

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

COMMENT

And I will read that verse because it is a very important verse, and it is one on which Srila Prabhupada spoke very elaborately in relation to the Juhu project. So the verse is:

titikṣavaḥ kāruṇikāḥ
suhṛdaḥ sarva-dehinām
ajāta-śatravaḥ śāntāḥ
sādhavaḥ sādhu-bhūṣaṇāḥ

TRANSLATION

The symptoms of a sādhu are that he is tolerant, merciful and friendly to all living entities. He has no enemies, he is peaceful, he abides by the scriptures, and all his characteristics are sublime.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

He is not partial; he is kind both to human beings and to animals. He is not such a fool that he will kill a goat Nārāyaṇa to feed a human Nārāyaṇa, or daridra-nārāyaṇa. He is very kind to all living entities; therefore he has no enemy. He is very peaceful. These are the qualities of persons who are eligible to enter into the kingdom of God. That such a person gradually becomes liberated and enters the kingdom of God is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Fifth Canto, Fifth Chapter, verse 2.

COMMENT

And that is also very important.

mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimuktes
tamo-dvāraṁ yoṣitāṁ saṅgi-saṅgam
mahāntas te sama-cittāḥ praśāntā
vimanyavaḥ suhṛdaḥ sādhavo ye

TRANSLATION

One can attain the path of liberation from material bondage only by rendering service to highly advanced spiritual personalities. The mahātmās are equipoised. They do not see any difference between one living entity and another. They are very peaceful and are fully engaged in devotional service. They are devoid of anger, and they work for the benefit of everyone. They do not behave in any abominable way. Such people are known as mahātmās.

PURPORT (continued)

The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Second Canto, Third Chapter, verse 24, also states that if a person does not cry or exhibit bodily changes after chanting the holy name of God without offense, it is to be understood that he is hardhearted and that therefore his heart does not change even after he chants the holy name of God, Hare Kṛṣṇa. These bodily changes can take place due to ecstasy when we offenselessly chant the holy names of God: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.

It may be noted that there are ten offenses we should avoid. The first offense is to decry persons who try in their lives to broadcast the glories of the Lord. People must be educated in understanding the glories of the Supreme; therefore the devotees who engage in preaching the glories of the Lord are never to be decried. It is the greatest offense.

COMMENT

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

PURPORT (continued)

Furthermore, the holy name of Viṣṇu is the most auspicious name, and His pastimes are also nondifferent from the holy name of the Lord. There are many foolish persons who say that one can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa or chant the name of Kālī or Durgā or Śiva because they are all the same. If one thinks that the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the names and activities of the demigods are on the same level, or if one accepts the holy name of Viṣṇu to be a material sound vibration, that is also an offense.

COMMENT

So there was a popular weekly magazine in India called The Illustrated Weekly of India which for many years, including during Srila Prabhupada’s time, was edited by Kushwant Singh who was an atheist, and he ran an article called “Hare Krishna versus Shiva Shiva.” And the article was an account by an Austrian sannyasi named Ananda Bharati, who had been initiated into an impersonal sampradāya, and in the article he gave his account of his debate with our Hridayananda dasa Gosvami. And Kushwant Singh gave the title “Hare Krishna versus Shiva Shiva” to make us all look silly—how silly arguing whether you should chant Hare Krishna or Shiva Shiva. So I wrote Srila Prabhupada how I thought Kushwant Singh was trying to make us all look silly and Prabhupada agreed and he replied, “Yes Bharati is a fool but Singh is a demon.”

So here we find the same point. There are many foolish persons who say that one can chant Hare Krishna or chant the name of Kali or Durga or Shiva because they are all the same. So yes, Bharati was such a foolish person.

PURPORT (continued)

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

COMMENT

So the third offense is guror avagya, to disobey the orders of the spiritual master. And here Srila Prabhupada explains the underlying psychology of someone who will commit the offense of disobeying the orders of the spiritual master, and that is to think of the spiritual master as an ordinary human being.

PURPORT (continued)

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

COMMENT

And the corollary to this offense would be not to read the Vedic literatures; not to read Srila Prabhupada’s books; not to attend the classes and discussions of Srila Prabhupada’s books.

PURPORT (continued)

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

COMMENT

You can see in this purport, Srila Prabhupada has quoted the entire Hare Krishna maha-mantra in its entirety twice.

PURPORT (continued)

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

COMMENT

Yes, so to commit sin on the strength of chanting is a great offense. By chanting, one is able to eradicate the reactions to one’s sinful activities. But if one tries to be very cunning and he says, “Oh well, I can counteract the reactions to my sinful actions by chanting, so I will just engage in sinful activities and then I will neutralize the effects by chanting,” that is a very serious offense and it doesn’t work. In any case it doesn’t work and on top of the reaction to the sins, one further suffers the reactions to the offense.

PURPORT (continued)

The eighth offense is to equate the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa with other spiritual activities, such as meditation, austerity, penance or sacrifice. They cannot be equated at any level. The ninth offense is to specifically glorify the importance of the holy name before persons who have no interest.

COMMENT

That is to preach the glories of the holy name to the faithless.

PURPORT (continued)

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

COMMENT

So in The Nectar of Devotion, this offense is rendered to not have complete faith in the chanting of Hare Krishna even after understanding so many instructions on the matter, and to maintain material attachments even after understanding so many instructions on the matter. And the two go together; to not have complete faith in the chanting of the holy name and to maintain material attachments go together because if one had faith in the holy name, one would realize that one can get all of one’s desires fulfilled by the holy name, and therefore there is no point in maintaining any material attachments. So it is not an offense to have material attachments. It is an anartha but it is not an offense. But to maintain material attachments in spite of chanting the holy names is an offense.

Now, often devotees as Srila Prabhupada instructed in the morning, after maṅgala-ārati and before we chant japa, we recite the list of the ten offenses, usually the list from The Nectar of Devotion, because reciting the list helps us to be free from offenses when we chant. And usually at the end of reading the list, a devotee will say it is also an offense to be inattentive while chanting, and certainly that is true.

Sanskrit is such a language that it can be divided in different ways and Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, in his discussion of the ten offenses considers inattention, pramāda, to be the ninth offense. And Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that if one chants attentively, then all the other offenses will be eradicated. And if one is inattentive while chanting, all the other offenses can flourish. So we want to chant attentively.

PURPORT (continued)

When one is free from all ten of these offenses in chanting the holy name of God, he develops the ecstatic bodily features called pulakāśru. Pulaka means “symptoms of happiness,” and aśru means “tears in the eyes.” The symptoms of happiness and tears in the eyes must appear in a person who has chanted the holy name offenselessly. Here in this verse it is stated that those who have actually developed the symptoms of happiness and tears in the eyes by chanting the glories of the Lord are eligible to enter the kingdom of God. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said that if one does not develop these symptoms while chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, it is to be understood that he is still offensive. Caitanya-caritāmṛta suggests a nice remedy in this connection.

COMMENT

That is what we need; a nice remedy.

PURPORT (continued)

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

COMMENT

So Lord Chaitanya and the Pancha-tattva do not consider offenses, and therefore in kirtan before we chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, we chant the Pancha-tattva mantra: śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

And many devotees, including me, chant the Pancha-tattva mantra before every round of japa, of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra; śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda. And as Srila Prabhupada said, the Pancha-tattva will help us to chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.

So now we have come to that stage in the proceedings, during which we shall request Vangjekia to come forward and take her vows and her beads and her new name.