Giriraj Swami’s Vyasa-puja

Giriraj Swami: 

[at 2:46:25]

Okay. Well, it wasn’t my plan originally, but given that it is a celebration for His Holiness Shridhar Swami Maharaja as well, I had a thought to read the transcript of the talk that he gave when he visited me here at my ashram in Carpinteria, California for my Vyasa-puja. And it covers the topic of the Vyasa-puja, and it also gives us a chance to hear from His Holiness Shridhar Swami Maharaja, and then I will also say something after that. So, this was an appreciation spoken by His Holiness Shridhar Swami Maharaja on my Vyasa-puja on September 23rd, 2001, here in Carpinteria, California. So, this is what he said.

“We are here not by our good qualities, not by our pious credits, not for any reason, but that His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada came here and blessed us. He exposed us, he opened our eyes, our darkened eyes, and he exposed us to this transcendental knowledge, transcendental culture, transcendental way of life, and he is continually guiding us and encouraging us. We all belong to Srila Prabhupada’s family. He is our father or our grandfather, he is our friend, our guru. His mercy is all that we are made of. Prabhupada’s books are there, his tapes, his lectures, ITV. But my feeling is that we need something more than all these things to push us over the edge into the Divine Realm.

We need association with a person who is a servant of Srila Prabhupada. And especially, we are connected by the association or by the mercy or by the kindness of a dīkṣā-guru who acts as a surrogate. A surrogate is a substitute, not exactly substitute, but sometimes a mother and father are not able to produce a child, so a mother agrees to receive the seed of the male, and a child is produced. She is called a surrogate mother. A better example is a viceroy. We need someone to show us Srila Prabhupada in action, in emotion. We are very much persons, we are emotional persons, we have intellect and we have emotions. And Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante, in the end, it is our emotional, devotional service, purified devotional service, prema-bhakti, loving, devotional service, both to guru and to Krishna, which will bind us.”

And I should add that Srila Rupa Gosvami says, because he has enumerated sixty-four items of devotional service in his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, and Srila Rupa Gosvami says that all of those items, which are rendered in service to Krishna, can also be rendered to Krishna’s devotees. So, Sridhra Swami says, “So, we need to find a disciple of Srila Prabhupada who carries Srila Prabhupada in his heart, and who will help us. He will share with us his love, his realization, his joy, his ecstasy, so that we also can be inspired. We need this, very important, and we find this person by our intelligence and by our faith. It is a business of the heart, very much a business of the heart, that we are attracted. And it is such a sacrosanct principle.” Like sacred principle. “Disciplic succession, that we have to protect this principle, we have to involve ourselves to make ourselves recipients of that descending mercy, and we have to protect our right from all sorts of naysayers and envious persons and obstacles.”

Of course, as I said, we are in a family, and we have our dīkṣā-guru, but we are also not a personality cult. We have many people who help us in our spiritual lives, and wherever you find Srila Prabhupada in the heart of a devotee, you should bow down there. Wherever you find him and wherever you receive genuine śikṣā. You can have many śikṣā-gurus. And of course, officially people talk about receiving permission from your dīkṣā-guru to accept so and so as your śikṣā-guru, and that is well and true. But just as the first initiation does not become formalized until later, but it appears first in the heart, similarly, whenever we hear anything nice about Srila Prabhupada, we can take it with joy and appreciate it.

In our family, it is a difficult time, Kali-yuga is such a difficult time. I am amazed how anyone can be Krishna conscious. Srila Prabhupada told us, “You should not be surprised when someone falls down. You should be surprised when someone is able to follow nicely.” So, it is a difficult time, and we are weak. ‘The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ And we are bombarded with so many stimuli agitating our senses and mind, and we are surrounded by people who are suffering, who are in ignorance. And some of them are even belligerent, to maniac. So, it is a very difficult time, and we need all the help we can get. At least I need all the help I can get. And I try to get help from my godbrothers, I really need their mercy. And I have many friends among my godbrothers, but for me, since the very early days in Bombay, 1972, 1973, Giriraj Swami is my śikṣā-guru. I am not a very good disciple, but still, he is my śikṣā-guru. I feel like that, and I hope that all of you will enjoy Krishna conscious life by following Srila Prabhupada, and by following Giriraj Swami and all of the nice Vaishnavas and Vaishnavis in ISKCON.

One symptom of progress in devotional service is that one should become jolly, brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā. We should become prasanna, joyful, na śocati na kāṅkṣati. How will we give up our attachment to material life? By becoming joyful, jolly. Prabhupada said that a brahmachari becomes jolly, so we have to judge by the result. Everything about Krishna consciousness is wonderful, every kind of devotional service. No need to be envious of anyone else for any kind of devotional service. Cleaning the bathroom for Krishna is so ecstatic. I offer my obeisances to the bathroom cleaners of Krishna’s because they are wonderful devotees. In fact, some of our best devotees in Pakistan are bungies.

Recently, someone remembered me from Pakistan, Ranchore Line. Giriraj Swami and I went there one time, and we preached to all the Pakistani people, to intellectuals. But in Ranchore Line, our Gujarati devotees come from that family, that line of bathroom cleaners. Whatever service you have, it is the service mood, the service attitude that, “I am prepared to do anything to serve Krishna and to serve His devotees,” that will keep us happy, and that will help us to develop that house that people talk about, where everyone can live. But it is based on love and trust. And devotee is completely devoid, he has no interest in politics or even in polemics. So, please carry on as you are doing. I know a number of you, and you can tell a tree by its fruits. You are all nice servants of Vaishnavas. For me, in my stage of life, if I have learned even one little lesson, it is dāsa-dāsa-anudāsa.” It means to be the servant of the servant of the servant.

“Cultivate service to the Vaishnavas, and you will get everything. We need a family where we can love and trust each other and not fear. We have to preach to so many materialistic people, and their very aura is permeated with lust and greed and anger, and there is a possibility of getting infected. But if we can come to a community of friends, of brothers and sisters, where we love each other, care, I am not talking of superficially saying something, but where we really care deep down inside that this person is suffering, even materially. Prabhupada cried when he saw people suffering materially in the material world.” Yes. I had one little experience with Srila Prabhupada when he came to Madras. I was riding in the car with Srila Prabhupada, and we passed a bus stop, and the bus stop, it didn’t have a covering and it wasn’t big enough to accommodate all the people that were waiting for the bus, and the people who were waiting for the bus were exposed to the scorching, hot sun. And Srila Prabhupada was very moved with compassion, and he commented that, “Oh, they have to stand in the hot sun.” So, of course, it wasn’t Srila Prabhupada’s intention that we should campaign for better bus stops, but he did have that compassion for people’s material suffering. And, of course, he wanted to help them by Krishna consciousness.

So, coming back to His Holiness Shridhar Swami’s talk. “But if we can come back to a community of friends, of brothers and sisters, where we love each other and care, I am not talking of superficially saying something, but where we really care deep inside that this person is suffering, even materially. Prabhupada cried when he saw people suffering materially in the material world, so what to speak of exalted Vaishnava devotees. We should care for them and love them. This is our family. Thank you, Giriraj Swami, for being there for all of us, for guiding us, and thank you for producing so many nice boys and girls who are helping you in your preaching work, and also preaching nicely all over the world; in India, in Africa.

I pray that more and more books will be forthcoming from your wonderful, powerful pen, from your heart, and that people will. . . I am just so anxious because Giriraj Swami has a nickname, probably you all know it, but for those who don’t, we call him Mr. Prabhupada stories, because he is an ocean of Prabhupada stories. I have heard many of them over the years, but I want to hear more and more. And I know the nectar is coming. So, please give us more and more books. We pray that more and more devotees will come to your lotus feet and learn how to become soft-hearted and pure. Hare Krishna.”

So, this is very moving for me to read this appreciation by His Holiness Shridhar Swami Maharaja, and I am trying to fulfill his desires and his requests. In fact, just today, I finished another book about traveling with Srila Prabhupada in India; Bombay, Amritsar, Indore, Surat, Allahabad for the Ardha Kumbh Mela, Gorakhpur, Madras, Calcutta, Mayapur. And so, I am taking this as a service to His Holiness Shridhar Swami Maharaja who asked for more books from me, and I will also try to encourage devotees to be good servants of the Vaishnavas and good preachers. And yes, it is very purifying to read what His Holiness Shridhar Swami Maharaja said. Yes.

So yes, thank you all for joining. I am ready to stay on. It is a little late but I told Svarupa Damodara Prabhu that I am definitely good till 11:30, but I can also stay on longer, and I am full of energy and I am ready to stay on a little longer. Yes, and I am also encouraged seeing so many smiling faces on Zoom. [laughter] So, yes. So, thank you, thank you all for coming. And yes, I will stay a little longer, and you all can do whatever you like. Hare Krishna.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

His Holiness Shridhar Swami Maharaja ki jaya!

Gaura-bhakta-vṛnda ki jaya!

[at 3:30:25]

Anyway, he mentioned about Prabhupada’s japa tape. And I do want to clarify something about that. It is true, Srila Prabhupada went into the temple room in Dallas, and he heard the devotees had his japa tape playing, and he said, “Why are you playing my japa tape? You should be listening to your japa, not mine.” But I wouldn’t say that it is forbidden to play his japa tape. What I suggest is that it can be played softly. Because when we chant japa in the temple room, many devotees are chanting japa, but we are focusing on our own japa. So, on that volume that other devotees are chanting japa, we can play Prabhupada’s japa tape. But yes, he did say that, “You should be listening to your japa, not mine.”

[at 4:10:47]

So, my dear devotees, it is one in the morning here. I have relished every moment of your association, but I think I need to move along. [laughter] But yes, thank you so much, and I would like to conclude. . . I mean, you carry on, but I would like to conclude by offering Vaishnava praṇāma.

Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto all the Vaishnava devotees of the Lord. They are just like desire trees who can fulfill the desires of everyone, and they are full of compassion for the fallen conditioned souls.

vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaś ca kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca 

patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ

Anant koti Vaishnava vṛnda ki jaya!

His Holiness Shridhar Swami Maharaja ki jaya!

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Devotee: His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja ki jaya!

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Giriraj Swami: Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari ki jaya!

Yes, I always keep their picture in front of me. I don’t know if you can see it, but yes.

Devotee: jaya!