SB 3.15.25 – Initiations

Giriraj Swami:

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 we all ultimately want to enter the kingdom of God, but to do so, we have to have desirable qualities. And we should pay attention now to the list of desirable qualities so we can see to what extent we are developing them and try to improve more.

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

yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcana, one who is engaged in devotional service without material attachments, sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ, one develops all the good qualities of the demigods.

PURPORT (continued)

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 see to what extent you are developing these qualities and try to develop them further.

PURPORT (continued)

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.

COMMENT

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

PURPORT (continued)

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. 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. 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

It is call sādhu-nindā.

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. 

COMMENT

So, there is a popular magazine in India called The Illustrated Weekly, and for many years the editor was a Kushwant Singh, who was an atheist. And he ran an article called Hare Krishna versus Shiva Shiva, which was an account by Dr. Agheyananda Bharati, who was an Austrian scholar who was initiated into Mayavada line. So the article was Bharati’s account of his discussion or debate with our Hridayananda dasa Gosvami.

So by giving the title Hare Krishna versus Shiva Shiva, Kushwant Singh was trying to make us all look foolish. That, “How silly. They are arguing over what name to chant. So I wrote to Srila Prabhupada and explained about the article and the title, and I said that Kushwant Singh was the demon. Srila Prabhupada replied, “Yes, you are right. Bharati is a fool, but Singh is a demon.” So here, Prabhupada said, he was a fool. 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.

PURPORT (continued)

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

COMMENT

The third offense is guror avajñā, which means to disobey the orders of the spiritual master, and here Srila Prabhupada discusses or explains the psychology of a person who will disobey the orders of the spiritual master, and that is that he will 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

So a corollary to this offence is not to read the Vedic literatures, not to read Srila Prabhupada’s books. We must read Srila Prabhupada’s books. And if we fail to do so, we are committing a subtle offense.

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

So, Srila Prabhupada has quoted the entire Hare Krishna maha-mantra twice in this purport. 

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. 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.

COMMENT

Yes, in The Nectar of Devotion, this is translated as, to consider the chanting of Hare Krishna as one of the auspicious ritualistic ceremonies offered in the Vedas as fruitive activities.

In 1973, there was a meeting at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Bombay, and the head of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mrs. Lilavati Munshi, invited the participants to come before the session to meet and greet in her library. The theme of the conference was that ‘All problems can be solved by the Bhagavad-gītā.’ One of the persons who had come was a sadhu, I don’t remember his name, but he had long white hair and a long white beard. He said that he was holding large gatherings of people and telling them that if they chant the name of God, they will be cured of their material diseases and physical ailments. So he said to Srila Prabhupada, “I am gathering people together and you are gathering people together. I am telling them to chant the holy name and you are telling them to chant the holy name, so we should cooperate.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “No, what you are describing is against our principles. The holy name of Krishna is Krishna Himself, He is the Supreme Lord, and we are meant to serve Him. We are not meant to try to engage Him in our service to cure our material diseases or physical illness.”

PURPORT (continued)

The eighth offense is to equate the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa with other spiritual activities, such as meditation, austerity, penance or sacrifice.

COMMENT

That is true. To consider the chanting of Hare Krishna as one of the auspicious ritualistic activities mentioned in Vedas as fruitive activities.

PURPORT (continued)

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. That is an offense, because they won’t believe what you are saying, which for them is an offense. And so, for you to put someone in a position where he will commit offenses is an offense on your part.

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

It is said in The Nectar of Devotion—To not have complete faith in the chanting of Hare Krishna and to maintain material attachments even after understanding so many instructions on the matter. So Srila Prabhupada instructed us to read the ten offenses from The Nectar of Devotion after maṅgala-ārati and before japa. And usually after reading the list, a devotee will add, “It is also offense to be inattentive while chanting.” So, Sanskrit can be divided in different ways. And Bhaktivinoda Thakura discovered inattentiveness or pramāda as the ninth offense, and he says that if one is attentive while chanting, all the other offenses will be destroyed, and if one is inattentive, all the other offenses can flourished. So we should be attentive when we chant; that is most important.

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. 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

This is so important. I will read that verse and the previous two verses, Ādi-līlā, Chapter Eight. We will start with Text Twenty-nine and Thirty. In fact, we can start with Twenty-eight. All these verses are very beautiful about the glories of the holy name. So,

TEXT 28

anāyāse bhava-kṣaya, kṛṣṇera sevana
eka kṛṣṇa-nāmera phale pāi eta dhana

TRANSLATION

As a result of chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, one makes such great advancement in spiritual life that simultaneously his material existence terminates and he receives love of Godhead. The holy name of Kṛṣṇa is so powerful that by chanting even one name, one very easily achieves these transcendental riches.

TEXT 29 and 30

hena kṛṣṇa-nāma yadi laya bahu-bāra
tabu yadi prema nahe, nahe aśrudhāra

tabe jāni, aparādha tāhāte pracura
kṛṣṇa-nāma-bīja tāhe nā kare aṅkura

TRANSLATION

If one chants the exalted holy name of the Lord again and again and yet his love for the Supreme Lord does not develop and tears do not appear in his eyes, it is evident that because of his offenses in chanting, the seed of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa does not sprout.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

If one chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra offensively, one does not achieve the desired result. Therefore one should carefully avoid the offenses, which have already been described in connection with verse 24.

COMMENT

And then the verse to which Srila Prabhupada referred in the purport,

TEXT 31

caitanya-nityānande nāhi e-saba vicāra
nāma laite prema dena, vahe aśrudhāra

TRANSLATION

But if one only chants, with some slight faith, the holy names of Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda, very quickly he is cleansed of all offenses. Thus as soon as he chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, he feels the ecstasy of love for God.

COMMENT

So, Srila Prabhupada has instructed us in kirtan, that before we chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, we should chant the Pancha-tattva mantra. 

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

And many devotees and myself chant the Pancha-tattva mantra before each round of japa. So now I will call forward the new initiates to take their vows and receive their beads and their new names. I will be calling them in alphabetical order, so please keep the beads ready and help them.

So first is Amit Sharma. So, what are the four regulative principles that you vowed to follow every day for the rest of your life?

Devotee: (Unintelligible)

Giriraj Swami: And is there anything else you would like to say?

Devotee: I missed your speech. 

Giriraj Swami: So, on behalf of Srila Prabhupada and the guru-paramparā, I am pleased to accept you as my duly initiated disciple. And henceforth, your name will be Amar Nitai dasa, Amar Nitai means immortal Nitai. Anita Sharma.

What are the four regulative principles that you vowed to follow every day for the rest of your life? 

Devotee: No meat eating, no intoxication, no illicit sex, no gambling.

Giriraj Swami: And how many rounds? 

Devotee: Minimum eighteen

Giriraj Swami: And is there anything else you would like to say?

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Wonderful. So, on behalf of Srila Prabhupada and the guru-paramparā, I am pleased to accept you as my duly initiated disciple. And henceforth, you shall be known as Anandarati Radha, blissful and playful Radha. Arpan Agrawal.

What are the regulative four principles that you vow to follow every day for the rest of your life?

Devotee: No meat eating, no intoxication, no gambling and no illicit sex.

Giriraj Swami: And how many rounds?

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: And is there anything else you would like to say?

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Can you repeat that? I couldn’t hear it.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Oh, you want to write me a report once a week about your activities? Okay. So, on behalf of Srila Prabhupada and the guru-paramparā, I am pleased to accept you as my duly initiated disciple. And henceforth, your name shall be Avaduta Nitai dasa. Kajal Srivastava.

What are the four regulative principles you vowed to follow every day for the rest of your life?

Devotee: No illicit sex, no gambling, no intoxication and no meat eating.

Giriraj Swami: And how many rounds?

Devotee: A minimum of sixteen rounds every day.

Giriraj Swami: And is there anything else you would like to say?

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Very nice, beautiful. So, on behalf of Srila Prabhupada and guru-paramparā, I am pleased to accept you as my duly initiated disciple. And henceforth, you shall be known as Krishna Priyasi dasi. Krishna Priyasi means beloved of Krishna. Pradeep.

What are the four regulative principles you vowed to follow every day for the rest of your life?

Devotee: No intoxication, no meat eating, no illicit sex and no gambling.

Giriraj Swami: How many rounds?

Devotee: Guru Maharaja, I will chant at least sixteen rounds daily and twenty-five rounds at least on Ekādaśī.

Giriraj Swami: Jaya. And is there anything else you would like to say?

Devotee: I am very glad that you accepted me seriously.

Giriraj Swami: Okay, thank you. So, on behalf of Srila Prabhupada and the guru paramparā, I am pleased to accept you as my duly initiated disciple. And henceforth, you shall be known as Pritimaya Krishna. Pritimaya Krishna means Krishna who is very loving to His devotees. Sangeeta Sharma.

What are the four regulative principles you vow to follow every day for the rest of your life?

Devotee: No intoxication, no gambling, no meat eating, no illicit sex.

Giriraj Swami: And how many rounds?

Devotee: At least sixteen rounds [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Okay, and is there anything else you would like to say?

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Ok. You don’t have to say anything. So, on behalf of Srila Prabhupada and guru paramparā, I am pleased to accept you as my duly initiated disciple. And henceforth, you shall be known as Sukanti Radha. Sukanti Radha means beautiful Radha. Sheetal Raj.

What are four regulative principles you vow to follow every day for the rest of your life.

Devotee: No meat eating, no intoxication, no illicit sex and no gambling.

Giriraj Swami: And how many rounds?

Devotee: Minimum of sixteen rounds

Giriraj Swami: Is there anything else you would like to say?

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Wonderful, beautiful. So, on behalf of Srila Prabhupada and guru paramparā, I to accept you as my duly initiated disciple, and henceforth you shall be known as Shyama Priya dasi. Shyama Priya is the name of Srimati Radharani, which means she is dear to Krishna. Sakshi Lakyani.

What are the four regulative principles you vow to follow every day for the rest of your life?

Devotee: No intoxication, no gambling, no illicit sex and no meat eating.

Giriraj Swami: And how many rounds?

Devotee: Mininum of sixteen rounds

Giriraj Swami: Is there anything else you would like to say?

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Yesterday, okay, nice. So, on behalf of Srila Prabhupada and guru paramparā, I am pleased to accept you as my duly initiated disciple, and hence what you shall be known as Guru Bhakti dasi. And Vidya Lakyani. Vidya Lakyani is the mother of Guru Bhakti dasi.

So what are the four regulator principles you vow to follow every day for the rest of your life?

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: And how many rounds?

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Is there anything else you would like to say?

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Wonderful. So, on behalf of Srila Prabhupada and guru paramparā, I am pleased to accept you as my duly initiated disciple, and henceforth your name shall be Guru Priya dasi.

So now what; what happens now? So now, the new initiates and others who wish can go outside for the fire yajña.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Gaura-bhakta-vṛnda ki jaya!