Program with Bhakti Chaitanya Swami

Giriraj Swami: So, my dear devotees, I am here at your service, and if any of you have any questions or requests, you can raise your hand and ask. Yes?

Devotee: Thank you very much, all glories [Unintelligible 00:17:29]

Giriraj Swami: All right, I will give a little background to the first meeting. When I was in high school, I wanted to achieve perfect happiness, and I understood that I could not attain perfect happiness materially but only spiritually. Then, by reading spiritual books, I came to understand that I needed a guru to make progress spiritually. So, then my quest became to find my guru. And whenever I heard that there was some guru, even within a thousand miles of where I was a student in Boston, I would go. But I was not satisfied with any of them, and I almost gave up hope of finding my guru. I had a vague mental image of what my guru looked like, and he didn’t have hair, and all the gurus I had seen had long hair. So, I thought, This is almost hopeless.

So, I had an apartment near the university campus, and I had some friends over for dinner. I was already vegetarian. And after dinner, we were going to see a movie. But on my university campus, I had seen a poster that said ‘Swami Bhaktivedanta, Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, 7:00 p.m., Schwartz Auditorium.’ I was a Psychology major, and Schwartz Auditorium was the auditorium of the Psychology department. So, I mentioned to my friends that I wanted to go to this lecture, and they said, “Oh, we were going to the movies.” And I said, “Well, we can still go to the movies. We will go to the late show after the lecture.” So, one of my friends, a lady friend, was very upset, and she said, “Why can’t you be like a normal person? Why do you always have to be going after these swamis and gurus?” And I was a sort of obliging type of person, I didn’t want to disappoint or upset anyone. But something in my heart kept pushing that, “You must go to this lecture.” So, she raised her voice and said, “Why can’t you be like a normal person? Why do you always have to be going after these swamis and gurus?” Then I raised my voice and I said, “Okay, this will be the last one I ever go to.”

So, we went to the auditorium. Because of all of the discussion, we arrived late, and Srila Prabhupada had finished speaking, and the devotees were performing kirtan. And one by one, students from the audience went up onto the stage and joined the chanting and dancing. And I also felt like doing that, but I knew that would be too much for my friends, so I just stood up in my place and swayed back and forth. Then at the end of the kirtan, one of the devotees announced that if anyone is driving to Cambridge or Boston, they should meet the devotees in the lobby because the devotees need a lift. Because at the time, the devotees didn’t own any motor vehicles. [Unintelligible 00:26:32] to the movie, and so I went out to the lobby, and the devotee I met was named Baradraja. He is the father of Gaura Vani, the famous kirtan leader. So anyway, all the devotees piled into my red Rambler Station Wagon, which was a high school graduation present to me from my father.

So, I was sitting in the front seat, and also in the front seat was a devotee named Jahnava devi dasi. And I had been exploring different spiritual paths and teachers, so I started to ask her some questions. So, I asked about Yoga Nanda, because I read his book Autobiography of a Yogi, and she said, “Oh, Yoga Nanda, he is just a shopkeeper. Whatever you want, he keeps in stock. If you want Krishna, he has Krishna. If you want Shiva, he has Shiva. If you want Ganesh, he has Ganesh. And if you go to his ashram in California, he has a monument to Mahatma Gandhi as a worker for World Peace. Mahatma Gandhi was not a worker for World Peace, he wanted to drive the British out of India. He doesn’t even know who Mahatma Gandhi is.”

So, then I asked about Zen. I read a lot of books about Zen and I even went to a retreat at a Zen Center in Rochester, New York. And she gave such a beautiful description of Zen, better than any description that I had heard within the tradition, and she went beyond what was in the Zen tradition. She said, “This world is like a movie being projected on a screen. There is no real substance to it, but if you draw your consciousness back from the screen, there is a beam of light, and the beam comes to a point, which is like the void, like zero. But behind the point, behind the light, there is a projector, and behind the projector, there is a person running the projector.” So I thought, Wow, this is the best explanation of Zen I have ever heard, and it goes beyond Zen. And I was thinking that she is speaking with such authority, but she is just a young girl, it couldn’t be her own authority. She must be speaking on the authority of her guru. So, I became very eager to meet the guru.

So, we arrived at Harvard Square and I let the devotees out, and then I realized I didn’t know how to contact them, I didn’t know where to find them. So, I left the car and ran after the devotees. And the first devotee I met was Sri Pavan dasa, and he said, “See all these people? They are just like sleepwalkers; they don’t know who they are or where they are going.” Everything that the devotees said was so deep and intriguing. Then suddenly, I heard the sound of horns going off because I left the car at the roundabout at Harvard Square and all the traffic was backed up. So I said, “I want to meet the guru. Can you give me the address?” So he gave me the address, and I went the next night.

Srila Prabhupada’s program at that time was he would speak Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in the temple, and Sunday would be the love feast in the temple, and Tuesday and Thursday he would speak outside, usually at a university, and Saturday he would also speak outside. So, I went to the temple, and because of Srila Prabhupada’s thick Bengali accent and because I was not familiar with the philosophy, I could not understand everything he said. But at one point, he said, “Out of many thousands of men, only one will seek perfection.” And I thought, That is me, he is talking about me. So then, after his talk, he asked for questions, and I was burning to ask my question. And I said, “There are so many swamis and gurus and each recommends a different process of realization and each says his is the best. So, how do I know which is the best?” And Srila Prabhupada’s reply was so brilliant. He asked, “What is your goal?” Because I was asking, “What is the best means?” But the underlying question is, “The means to achieve what end?” So, he said, “What is your goal? Do you want to serve God, or do you want to become God?” And he said, “If you want to become God, that means you are not God now. And how can ‘not God’ become God?” He said, “Krishna is God. He is always God. He doesn’t have to become God by yoga or meditation. He is God when He is on the lap of Mother Yasoda, He is God when He is speaking the Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna, He is always God. So, if you want to serve God and sow the seed of service to God and water it by chanting, God will give you the sunlight and all the conditions favorable to make the plant grow. But if you want to become God, you are only cheating yourself, because why should God help the competition?” He said, “You can become godly, but you cannot become God.”

So, at that time, I got the distinct impression that Srila Prabhupada was seeing right through me, through the walls of the temple, over the roads, to my apartment, into my bathroom, unto the wall where I had written in ornate, colorful letters ‘YOU ARE GOD.’ [laughter] I used to keep the sign there in case I forgot. [laughter] So, Srila Prabhupada said, “So, do you want to serve God, or do you want to become God?” So I said, “I want to serve God.” But I knew I couldn’t cheat Srila Prabhupada, so I said, “But actually, I wanted to become God.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes.” So, then I knew I had met my perfect master, and I bowed my head on the floor of the temple in surrender to Srila Prabhupada. And I kept my head down for quite a long time, partly in surrender, and partly because I was afraid to look up because I thought everyone would be glaring at me, “Oh, he wanted to become God.” But then, after a little while, I heard sounds that indicated that food was being served. So, I thought, This is probably a good time to come up, and I looked around, nobody was glaring at me, everyone was smiling and happy. And I got a plate with so many colorful preparations with different textures. So, I looked at it, I think the first item I tried was a cauliflower pakorā, and I bit into it. And I experienced an explosion of taste like nothing I had ever had before. And all the preparations were so good, it was not like ordinary food. So, I thought, Everything about Krishna consciousness is perfect. The guru is perfect, the philosophy is perfect, the process, the chanting is perfect, the food is perfect, everything is perfect.

So, Srila Prabhupada was in Boston for about two weeks, and then he was going to leave. And I didn’t know he would leave, I just thought he would be there in Boston. So, the devotees asked if I wanted to go to the airport to see him off, so I went. And many of the devotees were crying, and I thought, Well, maybe this is the one defect, that the guru has to leave. But one devotee, Arundhati dasi quoted Srila Prabhupada that, “On the absolute platform, meeting and separation are the same.” And it sounded good philosophically, but still, I had a doubt whether it was practical. So we saw Srila Prabhupada off, and the devotees stayed until the airplane disappeared in the distance, because Srila Prabhupada has said that, “When the spiritual master leaves, you should watch the aircraft until it disappears in the distance, just as the gopīs watched the chariot taking Krishna from Vrindavan until it disappeared in the distance.”

Then one day, when we were doing hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana in front of the Karti Street [Unintelligible 00:51:05] train station, I felt Srila Prabhupada’s presence descend, come down, and I thought that what Arundhati dasi had said was true, that there can be meeting even in separation.” And then my whole goal became to introduce people to Srila Prabhupada. And then, after Srila Prabhupada left, I thought, Well, what will be my service now? How will I bring people to him? But then I realized that he is still present, he is always present, and if people read his books and follow his instructions and serve his mission, they will get his mercy and they can feel his presence. So, I can still do what I felt most comfortable doing and most happy doing and most satisfied doing, which is bringing people to Srila Prabhupada.

And I will add one more little story from that period, those two weeks when Srila Prabhupada was in Boston. As I mentioned, the devotees didn’t have any motor vehicle, so I got to drive Srila Prabhupada to his programs, and one was at the Harvard University Divinity School. And Harvard is the most prestigious and competitive university in America, and the students were very bright, intelligent. Srila Prabhupada gave his talk and many asked for questions. So, one young man raised his hand and said, “You say that all problems can be solved by chanting Hare Krishna. But in Russia, there were people who chanted God’s name, but things only really changed when there was a revolution.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “After the revolution, are the people in Russia happy?” And the young man said, “No.” Srila Prabhupada said, “Then what was the use of such revolution?” And another student raised his hand and he said, “You say that we should chant Hare Krishna, but couldn’t you get the same results by repeating anything? Just like one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Of course that is not possible, but you can try counting, and when you get tired of counting, you can try chanting.” So then, another student asked, I forget exactly, it could have been, “Have you seen God?” or, “Are you always happy?” I will say, “Have you seen God?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “If I tell you falsely that I have seen God, will you believe me?” And the student said, “No.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Then what is the use of asking such a question?”

So, one by one, he disposed of all the students’ questions and challenges. And I was mingling in the crowd, listening to how they were appreciating Srila Prabhupada’s presentation. And suddenly, Jadurani came up to me, and affectionately imitating Srila Prabhupada’s voice, she said, “So, where is the driver?” [laughter] I said, “Oh my God, Srila Prabhupada is waiting.” So, I rushed back to the car and I let him in, he was in the front seat with me. During daylight, I was able to find the university quite easily. Now, in the night time, I started to drive, I had a general idea of where the temple was, but actually, I realized that I was lost. So, I asked the other devotees, “Do you have any idea how to get back to the temple?” And Prabhupada turned to me and said, “Is not the driver supposed to know the way?” [laughter] Anyway, eventually we made it back to the temple, and I opened the door to the car and let Srila Prabhupada out and I said, “I am really sorry that I got us lost on the way back.” And very kindly and compassionately, Srila Prabhupada smiled and said, “That is all right.” And I have seen how he had dismantled all these brilliant students very easily, so he could have done the same with me because I got us lost, but he didn’t, he is very kind and compassionate, and that also reinforced my conviction that he was perfect and everything about Krishna consciousness was perfect.

Any other? Okay, she has a question.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:03:13]

Giriraj Swami: I will tell one. Srila Prabhupada had a friend in Bombay named Motilal Acharya who was three years older than Srila Prabhupada, and he was extremely pious. The first devotee who met him, told him about Srila Prabhupada’s work in the West, and Motilal Acharya just shed tears of appreciation for Srila Prabhupada. So, some years later, Motilal Acharya came to meet Srila Prabhupada at his quarters at the back of Hare Krishna land. And I have been cultivating Motilal Acharya so I was there with them. And as was natural in a conversation, when Motilal was speaking, I looked at him, and when Prabhupada was speaking, I looked at him. But at one stage, I looked at Prabhupada while Motilal was speaking. And he was looking at me with so much love and affection, which I never saw before. And when Srila Prabhupada saw me looking at him, then he became very grave and serious. I think that was some special mercy that I got to see Srila Prabhupada’s expression, his look of affection.

Then one other incident, when Srila Prabhupada touched me. It was very rare that he touched any disciples, and this might have been the only time he touched me. So, we were in Gorakhpur, a city in India, and Srila Prabhupada was traveling with his small Radha-Krishna deities, and he wanted to set up an altar for them in the house where we were staying, and he wanted some foliage to decorate the altar, that means, leaves and branches. So, he sent me out to get some leaves and branches, and I went into the woods, and I didn’t tear any branches live from the tree, but I was just looking for branches with leaves that had fallen down, and I kept collecting more and more. And finally, I collected as much as I could carry, so I staggered up the stairs with my big deal of branches and placed them on the floor, put them on the floor. And Srila Prabhupada looked at me and he smiled very broadly and touched me on the back. And I don’t even know if he really needed the branches and leaves at that stage, but he was pleased by my effort, and he patted me on the back, touched me.

Any other questions or requests? There is one right here.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:11:44]

Giriraj Swami: At one stage when I was in Dallas, Texas, I was feeling that I am going slowly in fulfilling what Srila Prabhupada wanted me to do, and then I went down to the temple room, and it was the night before Tamal Krishna Goswami’s appearance or disappearance day. And a devotee was reading aloud from a book called TKG Memories, and this particular entry in the book was about how Tamal Krishna Goswami liked to share good news with the devotees. He was quoted in the back, he said, “Prabhus, I have good news. Srila Prabhupada said that Krishna wants us to go back home, back to Godhead in this very lifetime. And that if we are not ready to go back to Godhead, Krishna will extend our life beyond what. . .” Hare Krishna. [laughter] Having a good conversation. Hare Krishna. So, “Srila Prabhupada said Krishna wants us to go back home, back to Godhead in this very lifetime, and if we are not ready, Krishna will extend our duration of life beyond what it should have been so we have time to complete our business and be ready to go back to Godhead.” So, that is a special confession of Krishna, but we shouldn’t take advantage, we should do our best to advance as much as we can as quickly as possible by guru and Gauranga’s grace. But there is hope.

Devotees: Haribol!

Giriraj Swami: Right here on the front.

Devotee: Hare Krishna. Can you please explain how we can always realize that the spiritual master is with us, and how can [Unintelligible 01:19:13] the importance of such understanding?

Giriraj Swami: Well, we cannot [Unintelligible 01:19:26]. We approach Him through the spiritual master, through paramparā. And how we approach the spiritual master is described by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-gītā, Chapter Four, Text Thirty-four.

tad viddhi praṇipātena
paripraśnena sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ
jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ

“One should approach the spiritual master with surrender and service and inquiries, questions.” Asking questions is one of the items of devotional service. And if we approach the spiritual master in that mood, or by that method, then we will get the benefit of the knowledge and blessings of the spiritual master. And yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo, “By the mercy of the spiritual master, one gets the mercy of Krishna.” And yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto ‘pi, “Without the mercy of the spiritual master, one has no standing in the spiritual life.”

So, spiritual master is essential. But Srila Prabhupada is our founder acharya, so he has a special position, and our first relationship will be with Srila Prabhupada, and then he may guide us to take shelter of one of his servants or [Unintelligible 01:22:39]. So, we should make the relationship with Srila Prabhupada very strong by reading his books and applying his instructions in our lives. I don’t know if I have exactly answered your question, but if you want more, you can ask for more clarification or detail. Satisfied?

Devotee: Hare Krishna. [Unintelligible 01:24:01]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, my parents came to visit me in Calcutta when Srila Prabhupada was there, and I really didn’t know how to deal with them, which I did, I took them to see some sights in Calcutta and introduced them to some of my friends, and then, at a certain stage, they came to meet Srila Prabhupada. And Srila Prabhupada spoke so expertly with them. He began by saying how when he had a pharmacy [Unintelligible 01:26:12] Motilal Nehru who is father of Jawaharlal Nehru, who became the Prime Minister of India was a customer. And he was a made in the England man, he was a man who liked things made in England. So, if the same drug was available in India for a lesser price, he would still take the one made in England for a higher price. So, in a subtle way, Srila Prabhupada was, you could say, attacking my father’s prejudice that things made in England or America were better than things made in India. Then Prabhupada said that Motilal Nehru told him that he had one son named Jawaharlal who was useless, so he was planning to give him to the Freedom Movement. So again, Prabhupada was attacking the prejudice that my father probably had that being a man in the material world is something special.

So, then my father came up with this point that he wanted to establish a trust for me and put a million dollars in it, and he wanted me to come back to America to sign the documents. And Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, you can send the documents and he will sign.” Then my father was saying that he wanted me to come back, and Srila Prabhupada said, “Well, when I come to America, he can come with me.” And I said that, “Srila Prabhupada is very intelligent because when it is winter in the West and it is very unpleasant, it is pleasant in India. And when it is the summer and it is pleasant in the West, it is too hot in India, so Srila Prabhupada comes to the West then.” So yes, I was saying to my father how intelligent Srila Prabhupada was in planning his travels schedule. And by then, my father was getting quite enlivened by Srila Prabhupada and he said, “[Unintelligible 01:31:34] intelligent.” And then, Srila Prabhupada said, “Well, your son is very intelligent because he has understood my strategy.” And my father said, “No, you are very intelligent.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Well, I guess I must be intelligent. Otherwise, how could I attract so many intelligent young men like your son?” [laughter]

But my mother was very concerned about my health, and I was quite thin at the time, and many people in the West then had the idea that if you didn’t eat meat, you wouldn’t get enough protein. So, Srila Prabhupada always had sweets on his desk, and in Calcutta he had sandeśa and rasagullā. So yes, he put some in my father’s hand and my mother’s hand, and he said, “These are made of cheese, and they are very high in protein.” [laughter] And then he said to me, “Giriraj, you must eat two dozen rasagullās and sandeśa every day.” [laughter] “Then you will be strong and healthy.” So, my father was very impressed with Srila Prabhupada, and as we were leaving Srila Prabhupada’s room, he said to me, “I can say two things about your master. One, he is a brilliant organizer, and two, he really knows how to deal with people.” And in my father’s value system, those were the two highest compliments to pay anyone.

Then, a little while later, I was in Madras. I was the first devotee or among the group of the first devotees who went to Madras, and we were staying in different people’s homes and they served us nice prasāda and they encouraged us to eat more and more, and I put on weight. So, when Srila Prabhupada came to Madras and saw that I had gained weight, he said I should take a picture of myself and send it to my mother. [laughter] He hadn’t forgotten that she was so concerned, he wanted to satisfy her that I was healthy.

Yes, there is two towards the back?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:37:32]

Giriraj Swami: [laughter] Maharaja, do you give them your blessings? [laughter] If you give your [Unintelligible 01:38:56], add mine. [laughter]

Devotees: Haribol! [applause]

Giriraj Swami: At least I will pray that they do. And Srila Prabhupada said, “We will have another ISKCON in the spiritual sky.”

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:39:39]

Giriraj Swami: That is a good question. [applause] Once, a devotee gave a class in Juhu in which he mentioned that a devotee had received an inheritance, and he got carried away by the wealth that he got from his inheritance, and so he left Krishna consciousness. So, I took note of that, that we have to be careful. But to answer your question, the bottom line would be, yes, not a lump sum but some amount every year. But the total has been more than a million dollars. So, my father is getting spiritual benefit from his service.

Devotees: Haribol!

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:42:03] [laughter]

Giriraj Swami: I will pray for them.

Devotees: Haribol!

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:43:06]

Giriraj Swami: Well, I was in Vrindavan when Srila Prabhupada left his body. And I had one very significant exchange with him maybe two or three days before he left. I was taking rest on the roof of the Gurukul building, and in the middle of the night, someone woke me up and said that Srila Prabhupada wanted to see me. So, I went to Srila Prabhupada’s room, he was lying on his bed and he was very weak. And so, his voice was not very loud, so I sat near his bed and I strained to hear. And he asked me, “So, do you think after I leave, this movement will go on?” And I said, “Yes, if the devotees are sincere and they chant their rounds and follow the regulative principles, the movement will go on.” And then Srila Prabhupada said, “Organization. Intelligence and organization.”

And I thought about what Srila Prabhupada said, and I considered that, yes, for our own spiritual advancement, we need to be sincere and chant our sixteen rounds and follow the regulative principles. But to spread Krishna consciousness, we need organization, intelligence and organization. Then Srila Prabhupada said, “Is there anything else?” And within my heart, I wanted to say, “Srila Prabhupada, please don’t leave, please stay with us.” But I didn’t say it, and then I just said, “No,” and I offered my obeisances and left. And then, two or three days later, he [Unintelligible 01:47:48]. And devotees were gathered around his bed, and I was at the head of the bed, and I wanted to do one last service to his vapu form, and suddenly, he threw one arm back. So, I got to take his hand and sort of press it, I did a little massage to his hand. So then the way he [Unintelligible 01:48:45] that desire. Yes, he left, I was there.

Who asked that question? Oh yes. Did you want anything more or anything different?

Devotee: I was thinking of something that you mentioned. [Unintelligible 01:49:38]

Giriraj Swami: I was thinking of that, yes, I was actually thinking of that. But let us see what else comes, and then I might get back to that. So, there were a few other incidents around when Srila Prabhupada left. At one stage, I was massaging one of his lotus feet, and I felt dust, like we always hear about the dust of the lotus feet of a pure dovotee, I was physically feeling dust. And it was really magnifying, those particles of dust. And Tamal Krishna Goswami commented to Srila Prabhupada that, “The sons are cooperating for the pleasure of the father.” Srila Prabhupada had told a story of the father who was dying, and his sons were massaging him. But then they started to argue amongst themselves, “You are massaging the right arm, I want to massage the right arm. You go somewhere else.” So, in this way, the sons were quarreling, and in the meantime, their father died. So, Tamal Krishna Goswami said to Srila Prabhupada, “The sons are cooperating for the pleasure of the father,” which was true. Yes?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:53:01]

Giriraj Swami: Well, in a way, it is not bad to have a doubt whether you will go back to Godhead at the end of this life if that doubt motivates you to do your spiritual practices better and to pray for mercy more intensely. So yes, we shouldn’t take it for granted that we are going back to Godhead, but we should try our best and pray for mercy.

Devotee: Hare Krishna. [Unintelligible 01:55:12]

Giriraj Swami: So, both are required. We are in the month of Damodara, and every day, we recite the Dāmodarāṣṭakam. And in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam’s discussion of the dāmodara-līlā, the ropes with which Mother Yasoda tried to bind Krishna were always short by two fingers. But then, seeing Mother Yasoda’s hard labor, Krishna took compassion upon her and gave her His mercy, and allowed her to bind Him. So, there are two words or phrases in the Sanskrit. One is pariśrama, which means personal endeavor or hard labor, and the other is kṛṣṇa-kṛpā, which means Krishna’s mercy. And the acharyas comment that the two fingers by which the rope was too short can be covered by the combination of these two elements. One is our personal endeavor or our labor, and the other is Krishna’s mercy. But both are required. If we don’t make any effort and just pray for Krishna’s mercy, that is not complete. And if we make our own endeavor and think we don’t need Krishna’s mercy, that is also not complete. So, we need both; pariśrama and kṛṣṇa-kṛpā.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:59:01]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, certainly, it is our love for Srila Prabhupada and his love for us. But he also gave me a personal instruction in Calcutta. I asked him that, “Now you are here so everything is good in ISKCON. But what if in the future when you are not here, ISKCON falls from the standard, what should I do?” And Srila Prabhupada said, “You are also an important member of the society,” which I didn’t particularly think I was because I was pretty new back then. But he said, “You are also an important member of the society, so you work for the correction, but don’t leave.”

Devotee: [Unintelligible 02:02:25]

Giriraj Swami: Srila Prabhupada spoke frequently on the Sixth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam about the story of Ajamil, which is significant because it shows the efficacy, the efficiency of the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. When we were traveling with Srila Prabhupada in India, he spoke a lot on the Sixth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam about the story of Ajamil. But Srila Prabhupada glorified Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as a shastra. And I think the Ajamil story is also relevant for us. Ajamil was born in a good brahman family but he became degraded, but he was saved by the chanting of the holy names. And we were pretty degraded before we met Srila Prabhupada, and we are also being delivered by the holy name. So yes, he spoke a lot on the Sixth Canto and Ajamil.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 02:06:52]

Giriraj Swami: Well, Srila Prabhupada was saying that if there is some defect in ISKCON, I should work for the correction and not leave. So, has he asked you what mistakes the future generations could make? Well, one very important factor is that Srila Prabhupada established the GBC [Unintelligible 02:08:28] body as the ultimate managing authority of ISKCON. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura also wanted collective management of the Gaudiya Math, but many of his followers were used to the idea that there should be one acharya who is in charge of the institution.

So, after Srila Bhaktisiddhanta left, there were different factions who should be the next acharya. But as Srila Prabhupada says, his guru Maharaja said so many things at the end of his life, but Srila Bhaktisiddhanya never said that any one disciple should become the acharya, he wanted them to conduct the mission cooperatively. So, our Srila Prabhupada, he followed in the same line, and he established the governing body commission and the ultimate managing authority of ISKCON. And at one stage, Srila Prabhupada said that, “I don’t have so much faith in any of you individually, but I have faith in you collectively.” I think it is very important for the future generations that they maintain that principle of following the GBC. And of course, reading Srila Prabhupada’s books, chanting sixteen rounds, following the four principles. [Unintelligible 02:12:14].

Devotee: [Unintelligible 02:13:02]

Giriraj Swami: It is a great pleasure for me to address these devotees. They are very patient and attentive and I think they are very sincere and serious about their spiritual lives.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 02:13:59]

Giriraj Swami: You said they were mostly Russian but there is some from Mauritius?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 02:14:12]

Giriraj Swami: Oh, okay. Hare Krishna. [laughter]

Devotee: [Unintelligible 02:14:29]

Giriraj Swami: So, if we are going to end, I suggest we can conclude with Vaishnava praṇāma.

vāñchā-kalpa-tarubhyaś ca kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca 

patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ

Ananta-koṭi-vaishnava-vṛnda ki jaya!
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!
Srila Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji Maharaja ki jaya!
Sri guru-paramparā ki jaya!
Hare Krishna.

Devotees: Hare Krishna.

Devotee: His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja ki jaya!

Giriraj Swami: His Holiness Bhakti Chaitanya Swami Maharaja ki jaya!