SB 1.19.1

Giriraj Swami: All glories to Srila Prabhupada. So my dear devotees, now we will read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto One, Chapter Nineteen, Text One. 

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya.

There is a little delay between the time when I speak and the time when you come on. So I think it’s better if you don’t respond. Because it’s a little bit disturbing the difference of the time.

TEXT 1

sūta uvāca
mahī-patis tv atha tat-karma garhyaṁ
vicintayann ātma-kṛtaṁ sudurmanāḥ
aho mayā nīcam anārya-vat kṛtaṁ
nirāgasi brahmaṇi gūḍha-tejasi

TRANSLATION

Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī said: While returning home, the King [Mahārāja Parīkṣit] felt that the act he had committed against the faultless and powerful brāhmaṇa was heinous and uncivilized. Consequently he was distressed.

PURPORT By Srila Prabhupada

The pious King regretted his accidental improper treatment of the powerful brāhmaṇa, who was faultless. Such repentance is natural for a good man like the King, and such repentance delivers a devotee from all kinds of sins accidentally committed. The devotees are naturally faultless. Accidental sins committed by a devotee are sincerely regretted, and by the grace of the Lord all sins unwillingly committed by a devotee are burnt in the fire of repentance.    

COMMENT

So this verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam instructs us how we as devotees should feel and repent if we accidentally commit some mistakes. And in this purport, Srila Prabhupada repeatedly uses the word repentance, and I think it would be good under the circumstances, to see how the dictionary defines repentance. “Repentance,” ‘the action or process of repenting especially for misdeeds or moral shortcomings.’ Now, “repent,” ‘to regret, to feel regret or contrition, to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life.’ So oh! did you put this on the screen, repentance? Anyway, it’s very appropriate, certainly. Repentance is revealing one’s actions and feeling contrition or regret for past wrongs, which is accompanied by commitment to an actual action that shows and proves a change for the better. So when we commit a mistake, we should repent. We have a very good example in the history of Ajamila, who was born in a good Brahman family. But later due to bad association, he married a prostitute. And for the sake of the prostitute, he engaged in all sorts of sinful activities. But in the end, he repented and that repentance purified him. Many of you know the story, but still it’s instructive. 

So Ajamila had a son whom he named Narayana. And when Ajamila was on his deathbed, he saw the Yamadutas come. The Yamadutas are the agents of Yamaraja, the Lord of death. And, they came to take him to Yamaraja to be punished for his numerous sins. Seeing the Yamadutas, Ajamila panicked. And, he was eighty-eight years old but still he had a young son whom fortunately he named Narayana. And so at the time of death, he called the name of Narayana, his son, and upon calling the name of Narayana, the Vishnudutas came, the messengers of Lord Vishnu or Narayana. And then ensued a discussion between the Yamadutas and the Vishnudutas over who had jurisdiction over the soul of Yamaraja. The Yamadutas felt they had the rights because Ajamila was so sinful, whereas the Vishnudutas said that yes, he was sinful. But at the last moment he chanted the holy name of Narayana, and the commentators, our acharyas, say that although he chanted the name of Narayana to indicate his son, he was reminded of the original Narayana, the Personality of Godhead whom he had worshiped in his youth before he fell down. 

So there was quite a discussion between the Yamadutas and the Vishnudutas. And the Yamadutas went back to their master, the Yamaraja, who’s one of the twelve mahājanas and told him what happened. Because they had never been thwarted in their efforts before. This was the first time. Yamaraja explained that because he chanted the holy name of Narayana, he was freed from sinful reactions at the time of death. Then Ajamila, he didn’t die. But at the same time, he was not perfect in his chanting. He had chanted in nāma-ābhāsa. 

There are three stages of chanting: nāma-aparādha which means, “offensive,” nāma-ābhāsa which means, “the clearing stage,” and then śuddha-nāma which means, “the pure stage.” So he had chanted in nāma-ābhāsa. It wasn’t offensive. Because he wasn’t thinking that: Well, let me commit sinful activities, and then I’ll free myself from the reactions by chanting. He wasn’t thinking like that which is offensive. But just in a helpless state he chanted the name of Narayana. So he left his home and even his son Narayana to whom he was so attached, and he went to Haridwar, a holy place in North India, to practice sadhana. And after practicing sadhana for a period of time, he actually perfected his chanting. And, then the Vishnudutas, whom he had seen earlier, came to him with a celestial airplane to take him back home, back to Godhead. So that is the power of the holy name and it’s also in a way, the power of repentance. Because Ajamila repented very much for his sinful activities and his repentance purified him. So if we, unfortunately, do make some mistake, commit some offense, we should repent, and that repentance will purify us. And as we read in the definitions of repentance that not only does one feel regrets and contrition, but one vows to do better and one actually does do better, and that’s also part of repentance that one not only regrets the wrong he did, but is determined to make amends by doing the right things. 

So we all face challenges in our lives. But whatever happens, we should take shelter of the holy names. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. And, that will purify us and rectify us, ceto-darpaṇa—mārjanam [Cc. Antya 20.12]. The chanting cleanses the dust from the mirror of the mind. It cleanses all the dirty things. And Srila Prabhupada says, “The first dirty thing is identifying with the body.” And, because we identify with the body, we may do so many things that we shouldn’t do. 

But by chanting, ceto-darpaṇa—mārjanam [Cc. Antya 20.12], we cleanse the dirty things from our consciousness. And then as Prabhupada said, “The first dirty thing is identifying with the body.” And, then when we realize we are not the body but we are the spirit soul, part and parcel of Krishna, the Supreme Soul, then we can dedicate ourselves to His service. And, that is our natural position, our constitutional position. As Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says, jīvera svarūpa haya kṛṣṇera nitya-dāsa, the constitutional position of the living entity is that he is the eternal servant of Krishna. And when we act in that position, we are liberated. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam confirms that definition of liberation. muktir hitvānyathā rūpaṁ sva-rūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ [ŚB 2.10.6]. muktir hitvānyathā rūpaṁ, it means, one gives up all other false identifications. And, sva-rūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ, one is situated in one’s svarūpa. And, what is our svarūpa? jīvera svarūpa haya kṛṣṇera nitya-dāsa [Cc. Madhya 20.108], eternal servants of Krishna. That is our natural life, our normal life, our happy life. And, we can achieve that position through the process of bhakti-yoga. 

Srila Rupa Gosvami enumerates sixty-four items of devotional service in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. And, he says that of those of sixty-four items, five are most potent, and even a little association with any one of the five can bring one to the highest perfection. So what are those five? sādhu-saṅga, “associating with advanced devotees.” nāma-kīrtana, “chanting the holy names.” bhāgavata-śravaṇam, “hearing Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.” mathurā-vāsa, “living in Mathura, or Vrindavan, or Mayapur, or any temple, where Vishnu is worshiped. And, mūrtira śraddhāya sevana, “worshiping the deity or serving the deity with faith and veneration.” 

And, Srila Rupa Gosvami says that even by a slight association with any one of these five most potent kinds of devotional service, one can achieve perfection. So whatever time we have, we should use it in these ways. In one lecture in Los Angeles Srila Prabhupada said, “If you’ve got time, chant Hare Krishna. Don’t speak nonsense, chant Hare Krishna.” So my dear devotees, let us use every moment we have, chant and hear about Krishna, and to chant the holy names of Krishna. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. So thank you for inviting me to speak and thank you also for joining. And now, there is a little time left and if any of you wish to ask any questions or share any reflections, you can raise your hands, your physical hand or your virtual hands. We will respond. 

Devotee: All right! Hare Krishna. Thank you so much Maharaja for the class. We are always very very grateful and thankful for having your association, and I think Brandy Ross, you have a question. Please you may unmute. 

Devotee: Hare Krishna Guru Maharaja! 

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. Where are you? 

Devotee: I’m here. I have a picture up like I’m. 

Giriraj Swami: Okay, I think I know it. Yes, yes. There we are, there we are. Okay.

Devotee:Thank you so much! That felt very much. . . It was completely answering a question I had this morning and it was just. . . thank you, just deeply thank you so much. I had the question and I was going to write you a long letter, and now I don’t need to. You don’t need to read it, and I just thank you so much for a wonderful lesson. That was really really very apt. 

Giriraj Swami: Oh wonderful! Thank you. 

Devotee: Please you may unmute. You are muted. [Unintelligible 00:46:11] Please unmute. 

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, we can’t hear you. 

Devotee: I still can’t hear you. 

Devotee: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Guru Maharaja, I am from Pakistan. Thank you so much for such a wonderful class. Maharaja! I have a question from Ajamila’s story that when he was on death bed, both Yamadutas and Vishnudutas, both had come. So why didn’t any of them get them back towards viṣṇu-loka or yama-loka. Why was he given the chance? It was the time of his death. So is it that his life was exceeded or what was that? I mean, at the time of death either the Vishnudutas take us back towards them or the Yamadutas as per our karma. So in the story of Ajamila, we see that he was left. They both were left back and Ajamila was given the time. I mean, why was that? 

Giriraj Swami: Yeah. He didn’t die. Where in Pakistan are you? 

Devotee: Karachi. 

Giriraj Swami: As I’ve spent a lot of time in Pakistan. 

Devotee: Yes Maharaja, hope to see you again. Please come again. 

Giriraj Swami: So yes, coming back to your question. So yeah, he didn’t die. So he chanted in nāma-ābhāsa and the result of chanting in nāma-ābhāsa is that one is freed from sinful reactions and one is freed from hellish punishments. So he got that benefit from chanting in nāma-ābhāsa. But he still wasn’t qualified to go back to Godhead because he hadn’t perfected his sadhana, his chanting. And, so yeah, he left everything and went to Haridwar and practiced bhakti-yoga. And then when he perfected his chanting, the Vishnudutas whom he had seen earlier came and took him to Vaikuntha. Now, Srila Prabhupada made a very interesting statement which is that “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 was meant to be so that we can perfect ourselves in Krishna consciousness before the time of death.” 

So I mean, maybe we could see what happened to Ajamila in the same light that Krishna wanted him to go back to Godhead. He wasn’t ready at the time when he was supposed to have died. So Krishna gave him some more time so that he could perfect himself in devotional service and go back to Godhead. 

Devotee: Okay, thank you very much Guru Maharaja. I have another question regarding this that when people are sinful, the Yamadutas come and take them towards the yama-loka. Right? And, when the devotees leave the body, the Vishnudutas come and take them towards the viṣṇu-loka. Right Maharaja? But my question is that as we are following the four regulative principles, and as for me I don’t consider myself to go back to Godhead for now. So who is supposed to take us—the middle ones, those neither who are committing sinful activities. Are they able to go back to Godhead? Who are supposed to get [us]? 

Giriraj Swami: Well, the devotional service continues from life till death. Anything material is lost at the time of death. For example, we may know many languages. But when we die and take birth again, we don’t know any language. We are just like any baby, ga,ga, ga, ga. But spiritually, whatever progress we make continues in the next life. So if we made 1 percent progress in this life then in the next life, we begin from 2 percent. And, in that way we gradually progress until 100 percent. So Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gītā that the unsuccessful yogi, unsuccessful means not complete in his practice, not perfect in his practice. 

śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga- bhraṣṭo sañjāyate [Gītā 6.41], that, he gets to take birth in a family of brahmans, or in a wealthy family, or in a family of devotees. So you get placed in a position that is favorable for continuing devotional service. And, our very intelligent host here has put on the verse to which I was referring. 

prāpya puṇya-kṛtāṁ lokān
uṣitvā śāśvatīḥ samāḥ
śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe
yoga-bhraṣṭo ‘bhijāyate
[Gītā 6.41]

“The unsuccessful yogī, after many, many years of enjoyment on the planets of the pious living entities, is born into a family of righteous people, or into a family of rich aristocracy.”

Devotee: Okay, Guru Maharaja. Thank you very much. 

Giriraj Swami: Okay. Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Hare Krishna. Thank you so much for your questions [Unintelligible 00:54:38–00:54:42] Please unmute. 

Devotee: Hare Krishna dear Guru Maharaja. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to you and Srila Prabhupada. Thank you for the most amazing lecture. It was so encouraging to hear from you about this, and so many times you have spoken about this – even there is a verse from, I think the Ninth Chapter, which you mentioned a lot of times. So Guru Maharaja, I had this one question that when we fall down when we don’t want to fall down. It’s like accidentally we fall down, then we can repent by chanting Hare Krishna, and we can overcome this sin. But we have so many bad habits that we know are bad for us, but we are not able to get rid of them. So Guru Maharaja, what about that? Is it that we are committing sins on the strength of the holy name, if we are aware that it is bad but we are not able to get rid of the bad habits. Can you please explain? 

Giriraj Swami: Well, Srila Prabhupada said that habit is second nature, and it takes time. But by bad habit, I don’t think you are referring to engaging in sinful activities. But you are just referring to whatever losing your temper, or speaking harshly, or something like that. But you should repent, and you should apologize. Apologizing and asking for forgiveness is good for you, and it’s also good for the other person who forgives you. And, repentance will also chasten you and purify you. So that’s not committing sin on the strength of chanting. You are not deliberately committing sin with the idea that you’ll neutralize the effects by chanting. But you just have some bad habits that you’ll have to work on. And, there are two ways on which we work on our bad habits: one is by cleansing our heart, ceto-darpaṇa—mārjanam [Cc. Antya 20.12] by chanting. And, the other is by making a conscious effort. Once I was with His Holiness Radhanath Swami in his room in Chowpatty, Mumbai, and someone asked him how he became so humble? And, he replied that he practiced and then after practicing, practicing, practicing, practicing, it became as you could say, a habit.

So yeah, we should practice being humble. In the very early days of ISKCON in New York, Srila Prabhupada had a disciple named Gargamuni. Gargamuni saw that the devotees were bowing down to Srila Prabhupada, and he told Srila Prabhupada that he didn’t really feel like bowing down. And Srila Prabhupada replied, “You should bow down anyway and the feeling will come.” So sometimes, we may act in a way that ordinarily presumes a mood, we may not have the mood. But if we act in that way, the mood can come. 

Devotee: Thank you so much. Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. 

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:59:51–00:59:52] Please you may unmute. 

Devotee: Hare Krishna

Devotee: Can you turn on your video? 

Devotee: No, no. It’s not possible, yes. 

Devotee: Okay, go ahead please. 

Devotee: All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to Your Holiness, Maharaja. Yes, the text we read mentioned how Maharaja Parīkṣit became remorseful on his way, and he realized he had done something wrong. Now, from your definition of repentance we expect that if somebody does something wrong, and he has become remorseful, one step will be to ask for forgiveness in order to make up for it. Now in the case of Maharaja Parīkṣit, he had time on his way back. He became remorseful, and he had time. What stopped him from going back to Shamika rishi and just saying, “Oh, I’m sorry what I did,” and then the whole scenario, the whole saga will be over. Because Shamika rishi didn’t take offense anyway. So that’s the question Maharaja. 

Giriraj Swami: Well, this is part of a larger plan of the Lord. As you know Maharaja Parīkṣit was cursed by the brahman’s son Śṛṅgi. And, so he gave up his kingdom and everything, and he went to the banks of the Ganges and learned Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from Śukadeva Gosvami. So it was the will of the Lord or the plan of the Lord. His repentance came from an inner feeling. It’s not that the Brahman took offense as you said, the Brahman did not take offense. So there was no reason for him in a way to apologize to the Brahman because the Brahman didn’t take offense anyway. But it was meant to be the way it turned out because it was meant to be. Now, we have Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the greatest of all scriptures. 

Devotee: Alright Maharaja! Yes, I expected to hear that it is the Lord’s arrangements for us to have Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. But the question is to know whether that type of remorsefulness, when one does not necessarily go back to ask for forgiveness, it’s also accepted just following the footstep of Maharaja Parīkṣit. If one does that, Okay, I did something wrong, I feel bad about it. Okay, but you don’t really need to go back to the person and ask for forgiveness. Is that okay? 

Giriraj Swami: Well, the rule is when you offend a Vaishnava is that you go and ask for forgiveness. That is the general rule. I mean, this is a special case. Yeah, I wouldn’t presume to know what Maharaja Parīkṣit had in mind exactly. But yeah, in our case, if we happen to offend a Vaishnava, we should go back, and apologize, and beg forgiveness, and try to do something to make up for our offense. 

Devotee: Hare Krishna. Thank you so much Maharaja. 

Devotee: Thank you, Maharaja. Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:04:16–01:04:17] you have a question, please go ahead. 

Devotee: Thank you. Maharaja, please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to you and all glories to Srila Prabhupada. Maharaja, my question is that when we speak of offenses, I would like to know if there are gross offenses and subtle offenses. What I mean is that like Maharaja Parīkṣit, his offense was gross. A devotee may say something in front of me which I will not be happy with. I will take it as an offense. I may speak something bad in front of somebody or somebody may hear me speaking something bad, go and then tell that devotee. And, the devotee is going to feel very bad and that is considered an offense. What about a situation where I may speak? I may speak ill about a devotee not in his presence. Say, gossiping about a devotee far away from me. But I’m speaking ill about that person. Is that considered an offense, the same as a gross one when I’m in front of that person? Can you help me to understand this, gossip about devotees and then speaking right in front of the person. Is it the same offense? 

Giriraj Swami: Well, both are offenses. In fact, the first offense against the holy name is sādhu-nindā, to blaspheme the devotees who have dedicated their lives for propagating the holy names of the Lord. And, speaking ill of the devotee in the devotee’s presence is bad, and speaking ill of the devotee in the devotee’s absence is also bad. And as you said, even if you speak bad about the devotee behind his back, someone could tell the devotee what you said. So if you’ve spoken badly of the devotee in the devotee’s presence, you should apologize. And, if you spoke badly about the devotee to someone else in the devotee’s absence, I would say you should go to that person and apologize and say, I spoke ill of that devotee, I should not have done so. I’m sorry that I subjected you to hearing that bad speech of mine, and not only ask him to forgive you, but say something good about the devotee who you blasphemed. On this point of sādhu-nindā, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, in Harināma-cintāmaṇi in which he discusses the ten offenses, says that with the same tongue that you used to blaspheme the devotee, you should glorify the devotee. In both cases whether the devotee is present or not. It’s important that we do that. 

Devotee: Thank you so much Maharaja. Thank you so much. 

Devotee: Maharaja, in a situation where you cannot reach that devotee to render your apology. For instance, you may have insulted somebody or have blasphemed somebody, the person is dead and gone. In a situation like that, how do you ask for forgiveness? How can one be purified from that contamination? 

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, but you’ve blasphemed him to somebody. So you should approach the person to whom you spoke ill of the devotee and apologize for subjecting him to hearing sādhu-nindā and say something nice about that devotee who’s dead and gone. And, you can still pray to that departed devotee to forgive you. 

Devotee: All right! Thank you Maharaja. Thank you. 

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. 

Devotee: Hare Krishna. 

Devotee: Thank you so much Maharaja. Maharaja, I have a question and the question is from the previous text that ended Chapter Eighteen. And, it’s so beautiful you are starting a new Chapter for us that day at the end of the year. This is the last day we speaking back what time in this year. So we are very grateful, we have the association. Somebody spoke on this text yesterday. But I did not have the opportunity to ask him this question. And if you wouldn’t mind, I would like to put the question on the screen.

Giriraj Swami: Please do.

Devotee: Okay, so this is the last text. So in the translation itself, the text itself says, “Generally the transcendentalists, even though engaged by others in the dualities

of the material world, are not distressed. Nor do they take pleasure [in worldly things], for they are transcendentally engaged.” And in the purport, Srila Prabhupada talks about the three categories of transcendentalists. And, I’m asking this question because I understand that in ISKCON we have one or two initiating gurus, who refuse to give a Brahmin initiation to devotees who are not prepared to live in the temple. I mean, every guru can decide in terms of initiation who he wants to accept as a disciple, who he does not want to accept as the disciple.

But if one states that once you become a Brahman, you have to stay in the temple and just solely do temple activities. You do not have to work for somebody. Probably, you are a Brahman, you and the person you are working for, is a sudra. So it’s going to belittle your position as a Brahmin. But from this text, we see if I understand it clearly that those who are transcendentalists may sometimes even be working for other people, but they still do not lose that sense of transcendence. So I would like you to shed a little bit more light on what exactly is Srila Prabhupada’s idea for devotees that he was initiating into brahmins? Did he [Srila Prabhupada] want devotees initiated as brahmins to solely live in the temple and not work for anybody else? Hare Krishna. 

Giriraj Swami: Well, during Srila Prabhupada’s time, most of the devotees did live in the temples. But still Srila Prabhupada did initiate devotees who lived outside the temple, grihasthas, and even gave them a second initiation. And, he didn’t put any conditions that they had to live in the temple or that they couldn’t work with someone. I mean, of course technically, a Brahman shouldn’t be paid to do service. But in the context of the world today or during Srila Prabhupada’s time, the situation was different. And, I never heard him stipulate that if someone gets brahmanical initiation, they can’t live outside the temple, they can’t have a job. 

Devotee: Well, Maharaja, thank you for the answer. Because I’m not sure whether I heard this from you or from Jayapataka Maharaja. I think one of you who shared it with the general devotees that one time Srila Prabhupada was walking down somewhere with his disciples. Srila Prabhupada saw a very beautiful building. So he asked, “What is that building?” And, the disciples told him that it is a church. And, Srila Prabhupada said, “In the future that is how our ISKCON is going to be like that few devotees will be living in the temple but majority of the devotees will be living in their various homes and then they will come to the temple.” 

So if that is the case then that means that a big chunk of the devotee population will be living outside. For example, I asked this question because even though I’m initiated as a Brahmin—Of course, I do not have the brahminical qualities—but because I am initiated as a Brahmin and I do not live in the temple any longer. I live outside of work. I have a family. I try to take care of them. But because I’m initiated as a Brahmin, I remind myself of the qualities of a Brahmin so that I do not do, excuse me to say, crazy things that the devotees are not supposed to be doing. So even though I’m not there yet, it’s reminding me, and it’s checking me from committing offenses. And, so if I’m living outside and because I’m living outside, my spiritual master decided that because I’m living outside, he is not going to give me the Brahminical initiation. Then how am I even going to be reminded that this is my position and this is what is expected of me? Therefore, I do not have to act this way or that way. So thank you for the answer you gave. Thank you so much. 

Giriraj Swami: Yeah. I mean, Srila Prabhupada often said that deity worship is meant for householders and so the householders to worship the deities should have Brahman initiation. And, it’s understood that the householders will live outside the temple. But still, they’ll worship deities and have Brahman initiation and make their home like a temple.

Devotee: Well, thank you so much Maharaja. Anyone with any question or comment before we let Maharaja go? Well, Maharaja if I may ask a last question. That is on repentance. Because I think that is the key idea Prabhupada was giving us from the text as you reiterated. So in the case of Maharaja Parīkṣit, he recognized and acknowledged that he had committed a mistake and so he was remorse, whether he approached Shamika rishi or not but he was remorse. What about a situation where I commit a mistake but do not recognize or acknowledge that what I did or what I said was a mistake? And the person I acted this wrong act to. It’s good to say he is so advanced that he does not even recognize it as a mistake and does not tell me. What do I do? Even though it’s a mistake, he is not accepting it as a mistake. Like, Shamika rishi, he did not consider Maharaja Parikshit’s action as an offense. But Maharaja Parīkṣit felt that what he did was a mistake. The other side of this question is, the person I committed the act to sees that what I did was a mistake, and I do not see it as a mistake. Even though he is seeing it as a mistake but he is not telling me that what you did to me is a mistake so that I can even apologize to him. In such a situation what happens? 

Giriraj Swami: Well, I know many devotees who as a matter of course asked to be forgiven for any offenses or mistakes they committed knowingly or unknowingly. And, that’s a very nice practice. When people ask me, most of the time I don’t see that they did commit any offense or mistake and I say so. But I also say, since you asked me, yes, I forgive you. And, that’s purifying. Forgiveness is the distinguishing quality of a Brahman. So yes, forgiveness is very important. 

Devotee: Thank you so much Maharaja. Thank you so much. So date what is? I’m not sure if anyone has anything to say. I think we will let Maharaja go. Maharaja thank you so much. Are you in India now?

Giriraj Swami: I am. 

Devotee: Oh! So it’s getting late, you are getting tired. So yes, before Maharaja leaves us, let me ask a quick question. I don’t know if Maharaja will give me a minute to ask this question. 

Giriraj Swami: Yes.

Devotee: Okay, Maharaja says, yes.

Devotee: Yeah, thank you Maharaja. Maharaja Ajamila went back to Godhead. Later on when Dhruva Maharaja was going to Godhead, he remembered his mother. And, Vishnudutas told him that your mother is in front of you in that airplane and so Dhruva was highly satisfied. So I’m wondering what happened to Ajamila’s wife? When he went to Haridwar, did he go there with the wife, or what happened to the wife? 

Giriraj Swami: Well, we don’t hear that he went with anyone. We hear that he left even his son Narayana of whom he was so fond. But the nature of pure devotional service is such that family members benefit even without being asked. Like, when after Lord Nṛsiṁha killed Hiranyakasipu. He asked Prahlada to accept some benediction, and Prahlada did not want anything for himself. But he asked that his father be purified. And, Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva replied that not only your father, but something like twenty-one generations of your family members are purified just by your having become a pure devotee, just by your pure devotional service. So yes, in the case of Dhruva Maharaja, he thought of his mother, and he saw she was there going back to Godhead. But it’s understood that the relatives of a pure devotee will go back to Godhead. 

Devotee: Thank you so much Maharaja. 

Devotee: Hare Krishna. So Maharaja, a devotee becomes perfect and like you already said that he does not go to Godhead alone, he carries a whole generation with him. What happened to a devotee who is not that pure, who is not perfect to go back to Godhead? What happened to his generations? He has some piety. He has some credit. So does his credit also affect his generation? 

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, the family members associated with the devotee gets spiritual benefit even if the devotee doesn’t go back to Godhead in the same lifetime. They benefit. They definitely benefit. 

Devotee: Hare Krishna. 

Devotee: All right Maharaja! So Maharaja, your answer to this last question makes devotional service so special. 

Devotee: So special, so so special. 

Devotee: No matter what, we still have to stick to it. So dear devotees, we thank you all for being here.  My name is Sahadeva dasa and my signature is Richard. I’m a Richard devotee. But I’m a disciple of His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami Maharaja, and I’m sure most of you are aware that he is no more physically here with us on this planet. And, those of you who have your gurus still present here with us, I will simply and in an unqualified manner prior to suggest to you all that there is nothing nothing nothing more special than having the opportunity to render direct service to your gurudeva. 

And, so if you still have your Guru present in this material world, please do whatever you can to have that opportunity to serve your gurudeva. Because a time will come, you will be missing it and you will never be able to make it happen. Because most of us are not so spiritual to be able to get a commune relationship with the spiritual master on the transcendental level. Most of us if you are like me, we are still on the material platform, and this is the best way we can serve the guru to have amazing spiritual credit to possibly go back home in this lifetime. So this is my humble request to you all and please pray for us. Those of us who do not have our gurus physically present with us, we take shelter of the present gurus who are still here alive with us. And, that is why we are so much happy whenever we have the association of His Holiness Giriraj Maharaja. Because when we have him, he indirectly or directly washes away our tears. 

Giriraj Swami: I directed or indirectly what? 

Devotee: Said, directly or indirectly, you wipe away our tears,

Giriraj Swami: Oh!

Devotee: And we can’t thank you enough Maharaja. We love you. Hare Krishna. So on this note, we are going to humbly request you all. So kindly unmute your mics, so that we all chant the loudest Hare Krishna Maha-mantra to express our appreciation. Thank you.

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.