SB 10.14.58 – Govardhana-utsava

Giriraj Swami: Sacinandana Swami said that I should speak whatever I like, and after he hears what I am about to say, he may regret saying so. [laughter] But I am going to recall an exchange that took place between His Holiness Sacinandana Swami and me many years ago, when he was staying at Radha-kunda. And he had a very severe nāma-haṭṭa during Kartik, and I was staying somewhat nearby, at Bhaktivedanta ashram at Govardhana. And although he was very fully at the age in chanting, he was kind enough to allow me to visit with him. And he told me that at first, he was having difficulty accessing the holy name, and he thought to rectify the situation, he should do some humble service to Radha-kunda such as sweeping. But he knew that if he did it during the day, people would come and express their appreciation and praise him, which would, in his mind, defeat the purpose. So, he decided he would go out and do it in the middle of the night when no one would see him. And after rendering that humble service to Sri Radha-kunda, he felt that he did get that access to the holy name.

Another thing we discussed was sādhu-saṅga. In the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu by Srila Rupa Goswami, there are sixty-four limbs of devotional service. And of the sixty-four, five are considered most potent; sādhu-saṅga, nāma-kīrtana, bhāgavata-śravaṇa, mathurā-vāsa, and mūrtira śraddhāya sevana. Although once, when His Holiness Gaura Govinda Swami Maharaja was living in Mauritius he happened to mention those five items, five most potent items of devotional service, and Maharaja looked me in the eye and said, “Kamsa also resided in Mathura.” So, it is potent if you are a devotee. [laughter] So, we were discussing sādhu-saṅga, and Rupa Gosvami gives the precise definition, Sajātīyāśaye snigdhe sādhau saṅgaḥ svato vare. And Sajātīyā, in a literal sense it means ‘the same community.’ We could say in our case ‘followers of Srila Prabhupada.’ Sajātīyāśaye snigdhe. And in Srila Prabhupada’s translation of the verse, he says, “who has a similar affection for the Lord.” But snigdhe can also be taken that ‘the sadhu should be affectionate to you.’ So, sajātīyāśaye snigdhe sādhau saṅgaḥ svato vare means ‘he should be more advanced than you.’ And at that time, there were some devotees in ISKCON who thought you had to go elsewhere to get more advanced association.

But His Holiness Sacinandana Swami gave his opinion, which I accept, that we can have that sādhu-saṅga within ISKCON. And although we might be peers externally, but internally, as he said, “Sacinandana Swami will feel that, ‘Giriraj Swami is more advanced than I am and I can learn from him and should serve him,’ and Giriraj Swami will think that Sacinandana Swami is more advanced than he is, and he should learn from him and should serve him.’” And in this way, our relationships are very congenial, and we fulfill the conditions of sādhau saṅgaḥ svato vare, associating with more advanced devotees. So, we are really blessed to have so many advanced devotees in our movement, and yes, it is really a privilege to have the association.

Once, I was sitting in the chiropractor’s waiting room with His Holiness Ṛtadhvaja Swami, and somehow, we were discussing what regrets we might have at the end of our life. And Ṛtadhvaja Swami said that he will regret that he didn’t spend enough quality time with his godbrothers. Yes, so these are wonderful occasions for us to spend quality time with one another; kirtan, chanting and hearing, kathā, and revealing one’s mind in confidence. Yes, Srila Rupa Gosvami says in the Upadeśāmṛta, ṣaḍ-vidhaṁ prīti-lakṣaṇam, six exchanges of love shared among devotees,

dadāti pratigṛhṇāti guhyam ākhyāti pṛcchati

bhuṅkte bhojayate caiva ṣaḍ-vidhaṁ prīti-lakṣaṇam

So, sharing food; I offer food to you, and you offer food to me, dadāti, I give something to you charity, pratigṛhṇāti, you give something to me. And revealing one’s mind in confidence, this is very important, dadāti pratigṛhṇāti guhyam ākhyāti pṛcchati, revealing one’s mind in confidence and inquiring confidential. And of course, to have the faith that one can reveal his mind in confidence, one should feel assured that what one says in confidence will remain in confidence and won’t be broadcast to others, either personally or through internet [Unintelligible 00:08:59]. As Srila Prabhupada says, “The spiritual lives of the devotees in the Krishna consciousness movement is nourished by the loving exchanges among devotees. So, I feel blessed to have friends like His Holiness Sacinandana Swami, His Grace Bhurijana Prabhu, and some others with whom I feel I can reveal my mind in confidence and inquire confidential.

So now, as requested, I will lead a short kirtan, I will begin with the maṅgala-ācaraṇa prayers. Maṅgala means auspicious, so the maṅgala-ācaraṇa prayers are meant to invoke auspiciousness, and they do. And then I will lead a short kirtan. Now, I will sing a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The Sanskrit is very beautiful, and the meaning is also beautiful.

samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavaṁ

mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ

bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padaṁ paraṁ padaṁ

padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām

The meaning is samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavaṁ, “For one who has taken shelter of the boat of the lotus feet of Krishna,” Murari is famous as the enemy of the Mura demon, “and is the shelter of the cosmic manifestation and of the great souls.” “For one who has taken shelter of the boat of lotus feet of Krishna, the vast ocean of material existence shrinks and becomes like the puddle contained in the footprint of a cat. Although there is danger at every step, the devotee crosses right over it.” Hare Krishna.

Devotees: Hare Krishna. Haribol!