Program with Disciples of Bhakti Charu

Giriraj Swami: So, I will begin by singing the maṅgala-ācaraṇa prayers and leaving a short kirtan, and then I will speak about Srila Prabhupada’s beloved disciple, my dear godbrother, His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja.

[Prayers and kirtan]

So, the first time I met His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja was in the bathroom at the Mahā-Khumba-mela in January of 1977 in Allahabad. Maharaja asked me who I was, and I introduced myself to him, and he introduced himself to me. I could immediately see he was a very polite, cultured, devotional person. Soon after that, he came with Srila Prabhupada to Bombay to Juhu, and I also got to associate with him there. Many years later, after Prabhupada left, he came to America, and he did an initiation in San Diego. I was with him, and he initiated a disciple who lived in Santa Barbara, still lives in Santa Barbara. So after the ceremony, one of the devotees said to him that now you have a disciple in Santa Barbara, so you will have to visit Santa Barbara more often. And His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja smiled, and he said, “I will not go to Santa Barbara to visit my disciple. I will go to Santa Barbara to see Giriraj Maharaja.” And the way he said my name, with so much love and affection, really struck me, and it has stayed with me until today. I have mentioned this to some other devotees, and they also recall that the way His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja said their names was very full of love and affection. They remember how he would speak their names.

So now I will read something. I call this “Remembering Bhakti Charu Maharaja and Serving Him in Separation.”

READING from Remembering Bhakti Charu Maharaja and Serving Him in Separation

One of Sripada Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja’s most prominent qualities is his deep love for Srila Prabhupada. Very soon after Maharaja met Srila Prabhupada, Prabhupada included him in his personal staff and made him his secretary for Bengali and Hindi correspondence. Soon thereafter, Srila Prabhupada gave him first and second initiation and then sannyasa. And Maharaja personally served Srila Prabhupada throughout Prabhupada’s last days.

His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami is also very devoted to ISKCON. He has always considered ISKCON to be a unique creation of Srila Prabhupada’s and has always wanted to serve ISKCON—both the devotees in ISKCON and ISKCON as an entity, a manifestation of Srila Prabhupada. He is really in the mood of service to the devotees, especially the devotees of ISKCON, and to ISKCON itself.

Maharaja is a very pure-hearted, loving person. His love for Srila Prabhupada is seen in his love for the devotees and for people in general, whom he wants to bring to Srila Prabhupada—and in how he encourages devotees to increase their engagement, take on more responsibility, and become more loving, humble servants. The more responsibility one accepts, Maharaja once explained to a devotee in Mauritius, the bigger servant of the devotees one becomes. This reminded me of something Srila Prabhupada once said. A disciple came into his room in Mayapur one day and began to complain about the management. Srila Prabhupada said, “If you think you can do better, why don’t you?” Somehow, the disciple came out and announced that Srila Prabhupada had made him the temple commander, and he began to boss the other devotees around. Some devotees complained to Srila Prabhupada that the devotee had said that Prabhupada had made him the temple commander and that now he was barking orders at everyone. So Srila Prabhupada called for the devotee and instructed him, “First you become the servant of everyone, then you become the temple commander.” Thus Srila Prabhupada expressed the same idea, that a bigger position means becoming a bigger servant. And Bhakti Charu Swami, in paramparā, has that same understanding.

If we listen carefully to all of Maharaja’s instructions, we can understand how closely he follows the disciplic succession. Some of his statements are very close to Srila Prabhupada’s words, and some take the basic principles that Srila Prabhupada gave and sweeten them with personal realization.

Another of the many fine qualities exemplified by His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami is his offenselessness. He is very careful not to commit any offense against any devotee, or any living entity, and if he feels he has committed an offense, he immediately tries to mitigate the effects by approaching the person, apologizing, and asking forgiveness. Somehow or other he tries to rectify the offense. From our point of view, we wouldn’t think he has committed an offense, but within his pure heart he may feel that he has, and immediately he will try to approach and please the person he fears he has offended, to remove the effects of the offense.

Maharaja’s heart is pure and very sensitive—full of appreciation for other devotees and sensitive to his own faults—which again, from our point of view, wouldn’t even be considered faults. That is really the heart of a Vaishnava—full of love and appreciation for others but sensitive to one’s own deficiencies or mistakes.

As stated by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-gītā (12.13–14), “One who is not envious but is a kind friend to all living entities, who does not think himself a proprietor and is free from false ego, who is equal in both happiness and distress, who is tolerant, always satisfied, self-controlled, and engaged in devotional service with determination, his mind and intelligence fixed on Me—such a devotee of Mine is very dear to Me.”

As Maharaja always reminded us, we have the wonderful association of the devotees in ISKCON, and through their association, we can experience Srila Prabhupada’s presence. Along with Srila Prabhupada’s presence, the presence of Srila Prabhupada’s dear and beloved associate, His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja. Further, we can learn to serve him in separation. As Srila Prabhupada wrote in his dedication to the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:

“To Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, my spiritual master, he lives forever by his divine instructions, and the follower lives with him.”

After our Srila Prabhupada left, I looked for solace and guidance in his books, and I came across a section that addressed the disappearance of the spiritual master. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 4.28.45 to 4.28.55. Some passages encouraged me that my lamentation over Prabhupada’s departure was justified; others that I could regain his association by serving his instructions.

Text 47 states:

“Being now alone and a widow in that forest, the daughter of Vidura began to lament incessantly, shedding tears which soaked her breasts and crying very loudly.”

In his purport, Srila Prabhupada explains:

Figuratively, the queen is supposed to be the disciple of the king. Thus, when the mortal body of the spiritual master expires, his disciples should cry exactly as the queen cries when the king leaves his body. However, the disciple and the spiritual master are never separated because the spiritual master always keeps company with the disciple as long as the disciple follows strictly the instructions of the spiritual master. This is called the association of vāṇī, words. Physical presence is called vapuḥ. As long as the spiritual master is physically present, the disciples should serve the physical body of the spiritual master. And when the spiritual master is no longer physically existing, the disciples should serve the instructions of the spiritual master.

The next verse discusses the chaos or disorder that might follow the disappearance of the spiritual master. In his purport, Srila Prabhupada explains what the disciples can do:

“The main business of human societies is to think of the Supreme Personality of Godhead at all times, to become His devotees, to worship the Supreme Lord, and to bow down before Him.” Srila Prabhupada is paraphrasing the verse,

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru
mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te
pratijāne priyo ‘si me

The acharya, the authorized representative of the Supreme Lord, establishes these principles. But when he disappears, things once again become disordered. The perfect disciples of the spiritual master or the acharya try to relieve the situation by sincerely following the instructions of the spiritual master.

I was astonished because I am relating now my experience after Srila Prabhupada left, and then I related it to His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami. I was astonished. Srila Prabhupada was telling me exactly what I needed to know: “The perfect disciples of the acharya try to relieve the situation by sincerely following the instructions of the spiritual master.” But how will the disciples get detailed guidance when there is a question regarding which of the spiritual master’s instructions apply in a particular complex situation? And what would their qualification be to receive such guidance?

The purport to Text 50 answers:

“It is the longstanding tradition of the Vedic system that a faithful wife dies along with her husband. This is called saha-māraṇa. The wife used to enter the fire voluntarily. When Maharaja Pandu died, he was survived by two wives, Madri and Kunti. The question was whether both should die or one should die. After the death of Maharaja Pandu, his wives settled that one should remain and the other should go. Madri would perish with her husband in the fire, and Kunti would remain to take charge of the five Pandava children. This indicates that a devotee’s wife must be prepared to act in such a way. Similarly—and this is the important point—similarly, a devoted disciple of the spiritual master would rather die with the spiritual master than fail to execute the spiritual master’s mission. As the Supreme Personality of Godhead comes down upon this Earth to reestablish the principles of religion, so His representative, the spiritual master, also comes to reestablish religious principles. It is the duty of the disciples to take charge of the mission of the spiritual master and execute it properly. Otherwise, the disciples should decide to die along with the spiritual master. In other words, to execute the will of the spiritual master, the disciples should be prepared to lay down their lives and abandon all personal considerations.”

The next two purports explain how that detailed guidance would come:

“In His Paramātmā feature, Krishna is the old friend of everyone. According to the Vedic injunction, Krishna is sitting with the living entity side by side. According to the Shruti-mantra, dvā suparṇā sayujā sakhāyā, the Lord is situated within the heart of every living entity as surhat, the best friend. The Lord is always eager to have the living entity come home back to Godhead. Sitting with the living entity as witness, the Lord gives him all chances to enjoy himself materially. But when there is an opportunity, the Lord gives good counsel and advises the living entity to abandon trying to become happy through material adjustment and instead turn his face toward the Supreme Personality of Godhead and surrender unto Him. When one becomes serious to follow the orders of the spiritual master, his resolution is tantamount to seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As stated before, this means meeting the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the instructions of the spiritual master. This is technically called vāṇī-sevā. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura states in his Bhagavad-gītā commentary on the verse vyavasāyātmikā buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana (Bhagavad-gītā 2.41) that one should serve the words of the spiritual master. The disciple must stick to whatever the spiritual master orders. Simply by following on that line, one sees the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura remarks that unless one is highly elevated and loving the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one cannot see Him as He is. Nonetheless, if one sticks to the principles enunciated by the spiritual master, somehow or other he is in association with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Since the Lord is in the heart, He can advise a sincere disciple from within. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā 10.10:

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
yena mām upayānti te

’To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.’

In conclusion, if a disciple is very serious to execute the mission of the spiritual master, he immediately associates with the Supreme Personality of Godhead by vāṇī or vapuḥ.”

I felt purified and exhilarated. I had gotten the guidance and the answers I needed in a most encouraging and empowering way. I hope that the followers of Srila Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja will get similar enlightenment and encouragement as they endeavor to serve their departed spiritual master in separation.

COMMENT

So, I thought I would just read one little portion from my book, I’ll Build You a Temple: The Juhu Story.

Srila Prabhupada expressed the desire to go to Govardhana at the time of Govardhana-puja, which was just a few days before Srila Prabhupada left. There was a controversy amongst the disciples. Some of the disciples felt that we should just follow the order of the spiritual master. It is not our duty to question his order or try to impose our will on him. But other disciples, including Tamal Krishna Goswami and Bhakti Charu Swami, felt that Srila Prabhupada should not go because they were concerned that he would not be able to bear that journey by bullock cart.

READING from I’ll Build You a Temple: The Juhu Story

When Krishna dasa Babaji Maharaja came that evening, Tamal Krishna announced his arrival with “Jaya Srila Prabhupada!” Babaji Maharaja, Prabhupada had told us, was a paramahaṁsa, a fully liberated, self-realized soul, always blissful, always absorbed in chanting and hearing Sri Krishna’s holy names.

“Daṇḍavat,” Prabhupada greeted him. He told him in Bengali about his plan to go on a bullock cart to Govardhana for Govardhana-puja and asked if he would like to accompany him.

“Yes,” Babaji Maharaja agreed. “On your instruction, I will come along.”

Bhakti Charu said that they would leave at five the next morning, and Prabhupada added that they would be staying overnight.

“Somebody may go and bring his japa-mālā, his beads,” Prabhupada told the devotees.

“Where are they?” Hamsaduta asked.

“At Imlitala,” Babaji Maharaja replied. “I can go. I can go and come back.” “You can go in the car,” Prabhupada suggested.

“We will take you,” Tamal Krishna told Babaji Maharaja, “and you can get your mālā. You will stay overnight here.”

“He will get his bedding,” Tamal Krishna told Prabhupada.

“His bedding and beading,” Prabhupada quipped, and everyone laughed. He invited Babaji Maharaja to take prasāda, then affectionately recited, sādhu-saṅga sādhu-saṅga sarva-siddhi—By even a moment’s association with a pure devotee, one can attain all success.

Tamal Krishna and Bhavananda went upstairs to talk, and Hamsaduta led the singing of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s Śrī Nāmakīrtana. Prabhupada asked that prasāda be served, but Bhakti Charu said that he had already arranged Babaji Maharaja’s setting in the other room, so Prabhupada let Maharaja go.

Bhakti Charu had wanted to speak with Babaji Maharaja alone. He told Maharaja all about the arrangements for the parikramā—the difficulty and risk involved, what the kavirāja had advised—and shared his fear that Prabhupada would not survive the journey.

“Then he shouldn’t go,” Babaji Maharaja declared. And after prasāda he and Bhakti Charu went back into the other room, just moments before Tamal Krishna and Bhavananda, and Babaji Maharaja told Prabhupada that he had heard everything about the parikramā and did not think Prabhupada should go.

“So, do you all jointly request me not to go?” Prabhupada asked.

“Jī,” Babaji Maharaja confirmed.

“I was getting so upset sitting in the room upstairs,” Tamal Krishna said. “Two of the devotees told me this road is so bad that you are going to be jolted back and forth. The road is terrible. I mean, I just can’t understand, Srila Prabhupada, why it has to be tomorrow that we have to go. If anybody wants you to travel, I do. My whole desire is to take you all over the world. I want to take you on parikramā, but why do we have to go when you are in this condition? I can’t understand it. It just. . . I was standing outside. This kavirāja has worked so hard. He is so much disappointed. He can’t understand why. He says that today you have taken half a kilo of milk. No mucus has been produced. No stool is being passed. He says that tomorrow he wants to give you a medicine that will begin to build the milk into muscles. He is going to get you to a point where you can take two kilos of milk a day. And he says that very soon you will be able to have the strength to actually do parikramā. So why are we throwing everything out the window, that we must go tomorrow? I cannot understand.”

“All right,” Prabhupada said.

“Jaya Srila Prabhupada!” Bhakti Charu said with a laugh. “Thank you, Srila Prabhupada,” said Bhavananda.

“I cannot refuse all your request,” Prabhupada conceded.

“And we cannot refuse your request,” Tamal Krishna said. “We will take you all over on tīrtha-yātrā, to all the places. Just that you should get a little stronger. You will be free of all management. You will simply go to tīrthas and take darshan of all the Deities in India. And everyone will stay in their respective places. They will manage. But we want you to be stronger.”

“All right,” Prabhupada said, and the devotees laughed in happiness. “Are you satisfied?” he asked Bhavananda.

“Now I am, Srila Prabhupada, yes,” Bhavananda replied. “I was in too much anxiety.”

“No, no, I cannot put you in anxiety,” Prabhupada told him. “You have done so much; you have suffered for Mayapur so much. I cannot put you in anxiety. So I shall do what you like.” Prabhupada turned to Babaji Maharaja. “Left hand, right hand,” he said. “I cannot refuse.”

“I am amazed, Srila Prabhupada,” Tamal Krishna said. “A half kilo of milk you have drunk today—no mucus, no stool. And that is wonderful. You could not have done this two weeks ago.”

“Yes,” Bhakti Charu added, “when I told the kavirāja, he got quite amazed.”

“Where is the kavirāja?” Prabhupada asked.

“He is out again getting medicine,” Tamal Krishna answered. “Adridharana says he sits up all night worried about you, thinking, taxing his mind how to give you just what you require.”

“No.”

“Yesterday, when I went to call him at 4:30, I saw him sitting on his bed,” Bhakti Charu said.

“All night,” Tamal Krishna said. “He goes in the jungle four, five hours looking for roots and herbs to give you. He is so sincere.”

“So many well-wishers,” Prabhupada said, “I cannot refuse. This is not my business. . .. All right. You take Babaji Maharaja. That will be my going.” And the devotees laughed.

“Jaya!” said Babaji Maharaja.

“Yes, the bullock cart will go tomorrow,” Tamal Krishna confirmed.

“Yes,” Prabhupada said.

“To Govardhana.”

“Yes, other devotees can go. I cannot go.”

“No, they will go on your behalf, but you will go one day. That we promise you.”

“All right.”

“Our greatest pleasure will be to take you on tīrtha-yātrā, Srila

Prabhupada. We wanted so much to go with you on that.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Actually, Srila Prabhupada, we are so much attached to you that you practically drive us to madness sometimes. Tonight we were becoming mad.”

“No, no, I shall not do that. Babaji Maharaja, just see how much my devotees love me!”

“Amazing!”

“This Bhavananda recently suffered so much. People used to spit on him. To refuse him. . .” and both Prabhupada and Babaji Maharaja laughed. “So, you will take bath in Radha-kunda on my behalf.”

“We will get you better,” Tamal Krishna said, “and you will also be able to take bath there personally. We will see you get better.”

“That is all right.”

“Krishna will make all of our words come true, Srila Prabhupada.”

Prabhupada told Babaji Maharaja, “Kavirāja is working so hard, and to refuse him. . .”

“And this kavirāja,” Tamal Krishna said, “we are fortunate to get this sincere man.”

“Where is kavirāja?”

“He is out getting more. . . He is out working, at work.” Bhavananda asked Adri to see if the kavirāja was available.

“As soon as he comes,” Tamal Krishna told Adri, “he can come and see Prabhupada.”

The next day, Prabhupada again brought up the subject of parikramā. Concerned, Tamal Krishna suggested once more that he wait until he got more strength. “If you get a few days of strength,” he advised. “I have no objection to take you even tomorrow. I just would like to hear what the kavirāja says. I really have a little faith in him. I mean, I have all faith in you, Srila Prabhupada. I have only a little faith in him, but I don’t want to reject his advice as a doctor. This kavirāja has given sound advice so far.”

“Where he is?”

“We are just trying to get him here. He went out again to get some more medicine for you. He says now that he is seen that you took this half kilo of milk, he is going to start to give a medicine that will make this milk make muscles on your body, because all the muscles have become slackened. He wants to do that so that you will have strength. Doing parikramā around the temple is not so bad. Let’s just see what he says. It is certainly not that difficult. The main thing is, you have to be able to sit up for some time.” Addressing other devotees in the room, Tamal Krishna said, “Prabhupada wants to become enlivened spiritually, by some spiritual activity.” And to Prabhupada he added, “We will ask the kavirāja if he thinks we can take you tomorrow for a short parikramā around the temple.”

Reflecting on the recent days’ events, Tamal Krishna said, “Srila Prabhupada, the way you deal with us simply deepens our attachment every moment.”

“It is my duty,” Prabhupada said, and the devotees laughed. “There was a professor in Scottish Churches’ College. When you would say something, he would reply, ‘That is my ‘juti,’ ‘juti,’ j-u-t-i.” Prabhupada chuckled. “So a student asked, ‘Is that Scottish pronunciation’” And again the devotees laughed.

COMMENT

So, my dear devotees, thank you for listening so patiently and attentively. If any of you have any questions or comments, any reflections to share, you can raise your hand.

Devotee: One point you mentioned, that disciples should live his body if he cannot fulfill the word of fulfilling the mission of guru. So is twenty years back or fifty years back, it was more easy to, I am saying, impart the spiritual life or spread it. But nowadays, people are so much affected by it too. We all, so it is not really easy like it was before. So how can we do the. . . because we cannot die, we cannot?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, the purport is not actually that one should die, but that one should be prepared to lay down one’s life for the mission of the spiritual master and serve the spiritual master’s mission without personal consideration of gain or loss. So, His Holiness Bhakti Charu Maharaja did that and you are his follower, you have to follow his footsteps. Is that a problem?

Devotee: That is my question. It is very hard to continue because it is getting more and more difficult. If you can share a little with your experience after Prabhupada left.

Giriraj Swami: Oh, yes, Kali-yuga is getting worse. But I knew that the secret of success in spiritual life is to follow the instructions of the spiritual master and try to please him. So after Prabhupada left, of course, it was very difficult, but I knew I had to continue, and very soon we were going to be opening the Juhu temple. We opened the Juhu temple exactly two months after Prabhupada left. So soon after Prabhupada left, I returned to Juhu and worked on the temple opening. We had all hoped that Srila Prabhupada could have been there for the opening, but Krishna had a different plan. He wanted us to experience Srila Prabhupada’s presence even in his physical absence, which we did. We all felt that Srila Prabhupada was present. So yes, we have to persevere, and good chanting, attentive chanting, sincere chanting, that gives us the strength to serve the spiritual master and paramparā in proper way. So yes, good, sincere, attentive rounds are very important.

Any other questions or comments?

Devotee: Service in separation, what is the first step for that? Is it intellectual on the basis that we serve separation, or how does it come, actually, this mood of service in separation?”

Giriraj Swami: Well, when the spiritual master leaves, then we have to serve in separation. And again, according to Srila Prabhupada’s dedication to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which he dedicated to a spiritual master, he lives forever by his divine instructions, and the follower lives with him. So by serving the instructions of the spiritual master in separation, we get the mercy and the association of the spiritual master even in separation. Otherwise, how were we all going on after Prabhupada’s departure? By serving his instruction.

Well, there is one thing that His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami said. I could probably look it up, or I can try to paraphrase it. But let me see if I can look it up because it is important. I am not sure exactly where to find it.

Well, I am not finding it. But when Tamal Krishna Goswami left, His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami was, as he said, he was shattered, and he was wondering why he had to leave in such a way. But then he considered how one dies is not so important, but how one lives is important. And for someone who has served the guru and Krishna with love, will they not be there at the most critical time, at the time of death? And so what Srila Bhakti Charu Swami said about Tamal Krishna Goswami also applies to him, that how one leaves the body is not so important, but how one has lived is important. And for one who has served Krishna with love throughout one’s life, will not Krishna be there at the most critical moment, at the time of death?

Hare Krishna.