SB 2.3.23 – Krishna is Easily Approachable Through His Pure Devotees

Devotee: Again, we can keep going on and on for ages—but thank you again, Maharaja for coming. And thank you, Nitai Karuna Prabhu for putting me on the spot. Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: So, my dear devotees, I will begin by singing the maṅgalācaraṇa prayers and leading a short kirtan, and then I will speak from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

[Prayers and kirtan]

My dear devotees, we shall read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Two, Chapter Three, “Devotional Service: The Change in Heart,” Text Twenty-three.

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

TEXT 23

jīvañ chavo bhāgavatāṅghri-reṇuṁ
na jātu martyo ‘bhilabheta yas tu
śrī-viṣṇu-padyā manujas tulasyāḥ
śvasañ chavo yas tu na veda gandham

TRANSLATION

The person who has not at any time received the dust of the feet of the Lord’s pure devotee upon his head is certainly a dead body. And the person who has never experienced the aroma of the tulasī leaves from the lotus feet of the Lord is also a dead body, although breathing.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, the breathing dead body is a ghost. When a man dies, he is called dead, but when he again appears in a subtle form not visible to our present vision and yet acts, such a dead body is called a ghost. Ghosts are always very bad elements, always creating a fearful situation for others.

COMMENT

So ghosts, generally if someone commits suicide, he becomes a ghost because, in effect, he is saying that he doesn’t want to have a gross body. So, he commits suicide, so he doesn’t have a gross body; he has a subtle body—that is a ghost. But generally, people commit suicide because they have strong material desires which are not fulfilled. So, the ghost has strong material desires but does not have a gross physical body through which to fulfill the desires. And so ghosts often try to possess the body of a living person. Another way a person becomes a ghost is if he is very attached to his residence, his castle, his palace, and at the time of death, he thinks of this, his castle. So he can’t take birth as a castle—that is not one of the 8,400,000 forms of life—but he can take birth as a ghost in that castle to which he was so attached that he was thinking of it at death. And so often haunted houses are put on the market for a very low price because people don’t want to buy a haunted house. But Srila Prabhupada said that we can buy the haunted houses at a good rate, and then we can perform hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, and then all the ghosts will go away, and we will have a good property, good facility to use as a temple without having to pay much.

So, there was a movie called Ghosts. I heard about it from His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja, who had somehow seen it, and he thought that the person who had written the script must have read Srila Prabhupada’s books because the script really accurately portrayed ghosts. And it just so happened that I took a flight during which they showed the movie Ghosts, and since it was recommended by Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja, I watched it. There is one scene—of course, there are many—but there is one scene where the ghost is on a railway platform, and there is a vending machine, and he wants to get cigarettes. but he doesn’t have money; he is just a ghost, and he is banging on the vending machine, trying to get cigarettes. He was very frustrated. So yes, but if by chance, we are attacked by a ghost—sometimes it happens—we should loudly chant the holy name and the ghost will go away.

PURPORT (continued)

Similarly, the ghostlike nondevotees who have no respect for the pure devotees, nor for the Viṣṇu Deity in the temples, create a fearful situation for the devotees at all times. The Lord never accepts any offering by such impure ghosts.

COMMENT

Oh yes, the Lord accepts offerings only from devotees, not from non-devotees.

PURPORT (continued)

There is a common saying that one should first love the dog of the beloved before one shows any loving sentiments for the beloved. The stage of pure devotion is attained by sincerely serving a pure devotee of the Lord. The first condition of devotional service to the Lord is therefore to be a servant of a pure devotee, and this condition is fulfilled by the statement “reception of the dust of the lotus feet of a pure devotee who has also served another pure devotee.” That is the way of pure disciplic succession, or devotional paramparā.

COMMENT

Yes, we must receive the dust of the feet of the Lord’s pure devotee. If we can literally, then we are fortunate. In Srila Prabhupada’s last days in Vrindavan, I got the chance to massage his lotus feet, and I felt some dust. It was magnified in my consciousness, but I felt these little particles of dust that is from the lotus feet of the pure devotee. But in general terms, it means to follow the instructions of the pure devotee. So yes, we serve our spiritual master, who in turn served his spiritual master, and he served his spiritual master, all the way back to Krishna.

PURPORT (continued)

Mahārāja Rahūgaṇa inquired from the great saint Jaḍa Bharata as to how he had attained such a liberated stage of a paramahaṁsa, and in answer the great saint replied as follows (Bhāg. 5.12.12):

rahūgaṇaitat tapasā na yāti
na cejyayā nirvapaṇād gṛhād vā
na cchandasā naiva jalāgni-sūryair
vinā mahat-pāda-rajo-’bhiṣekam

“O King Rahūgaṇa, the perfectional stage of devotional service, or the paramahaṁsa stage of life, cannot be attained unless one is blessed by the dust of the feet of great devotees. It is never attained by tapasya [austerity], the Vedic worshiping process, acceptance of the renounced order of life, the discharge of the duties of household life, the chanting of the Vedic hymns, or the performance of penances in the hot sun, within cold water or before the blazing fire.”

COMMENT

So, pāda-rajo—that means the dust of the feet—mahat-pāda-rajo, the feet of great souls, abhiṣekam means to actually bathe oneself, to do abhisheka of the dust of the feet of the Lord’s pure devotee.

There is a similar verse in the Seventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Prahlada Maharaja, his father, the great demon Hiraṇyakaśipu, asked him how he had become Krishna conscious, and he replied that he became Krishna conscious by being blessed by the dust of the lotus feet of the Lord’s pure devotee. In effect, he told his father, “You don’t have to worry about becoming Krishna conscious because you are too puffed up. You will never bow down to the feet of the Lord’s pure devotee.”

naiṣāṁ matis tāvad urukramāṅghriṁ
spṛśaty anarthāpagamo yad-arthaḥ
mahīyasāṁ pāda-rajo-’bhiṣekaṁ
niṣkiñcanānāṁ na vṛṇīta yāvat

PURPORT (continued)

In other words, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the property of His pure, unconditional devotees, and as such only the devotees can deliver Kṛṣṇa to another devotee; Kṛṣṇa is never obtainable directly. Lord Caitanya therefore designated Himself as gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ, or “the most obedient servant of the servants of the Lord, who maintains the gopī damsels at Vṛndāvana.”

COMMENT

So yes, this is a further explanation of being the servant of the servant of the servant, which is achieved through paramparā, serving one’s guru, who serves his guru, and so on.

PURPORT (continued)

A pure devotee therefore never approaches the Lord directly, but tries to please the servant of the Lord’s servants, and thus the Lord becomes pleased, and only then can the devotee relish the taste of the tulasī leaves stuck to His lotus feet. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said that the Lord is never to be found by becoming a great scholar of the Vedic literatures, but He is very easily approachable through His pure devotee.

COMMENT

Yes, vedeṣu durlabham adurlabham ātma-bhaktau, it is very difficult through the study of the Vedas but durlabham, easy by mercy of devotee. “In the Brahma-saṁhitā, it is said that the Lord is never to be found by becoming a great scholar of the Vedic literatures, vedeṣu durlabham, but He is very easily approachable through His pure devotee, ātma-bhaktau.”

PURPORT (continued)

In Vṛndāvana all the pure devotees pray for the mercy of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, the pleasure potency of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is a tenderhearted feminine counterpart of the supreme whole, resembling the perfectional stage of the worldly feminine nature. Therefore, the mercy of Rādhārāṇī is available very readily to the sincere devotees, and once She recommends such a devotee to Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Lord at once accepts the devotee’s admittance into His association.

COMMENT

Yes, in Radharani’s dhāma, Barsana, there is a saying that “Whatever Radha does, Krishna likes, and whatever Radha likes, Krishna does.” So Krishna likes to recommend you, and He will do it; He will accept you.

PURPORT (continued)

The conclusion is, therefore, that one should be more serious about seeking the mercy of the devotee than that of the Lord directly, and by one’s doing so (by the good will of the devotee) the natural attraction for the service of the Lord will be revived.

COMMENT

So yes, we are most fortunate to have come in touch with a pure devotee such as Srila Prabhupada and his followers also. By serving his lotus feet, either directly or indirectly through the disciplic succession, one can achieve all success. We should use every moment to advance in Krishna consciousness. I like to quote a statement Srila Prabhupada made in Los Angeles: “If you have time, chant Hare Krishna. Don’t waste time; don’t speak nonsense, chant Hare Krishna.” So yes, whatever we have time, we should use it for chanting Hare Krishna, hearing about Krishna, rendering service to Krishna, and serving the devotees of Krishna then our lives are sublime.

My dear devotees, thank you for listening so patiently and attentively. Now, if any of you have any questions or comments, any reflections you would like to share, please do. Yes.

Devotee: Thank you so much, Maharaja, for conducting so many wonderful programs every single day. I actually have a question I have been waiting all day to ask you because I listened to your Bhāgavatam class this morning that you gave on Canto Two, Chapter Three, Verse Twenty-two on Zoom. Unfortunately, I was at my office, so my attention was diverted right as you said something especially interesting. It was a passage about Srila Prabhupada. I recall the class was about listening and chanting, but I recall you saying that Srila Prabhupada asked some devotees what the most important verse was, and the devotee guessed, harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam. And Srila Prabhupada said, “No.” Then I didn’t get the answer as I was drawn to something else. So what was Srila Prabhupada’s correction?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that was Guru Kripa Prabhu, who asked about the most important verse, and he quoted,

harer nāma harer nāma
harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā

And Srila Prabhupada said, “No.” And then he cited the verse,

yasya deve parā bhaktir
yathā deve tathā gurau
tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ
prakāśante mahātmanaḥ

That one who has firm faith in the spiritual master and similar faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all the purports of the Vedic scriptures are revealed to him. That was Srila Prabhupada’s answer.

Devotee: Hare Krishna Maharaja, when you were reading the purport, you were reading about ghosts. We are currently not in the pure devotional stage, and when we chant in front of non-devotees, they get angry and frustrated with us and try to instigate us. How can we be sure that if we ever encounter a ghost, they won’t get more angry when we are chanting?

Giriraj Swami: Well, Srila Prabhupada say that one should hear the holy name from the lips of a pure devotee. Then one person asked Srila Prabhupada about people hearing from us, and Srila Prabhupada said, “You heard it from me, and they are hearing it from you, so it is as good as they are hearing it from me.”

Devotee: So the same applies to ghosts as well. They are creating the scary situation, and if we are chanting Hare Krishna, we wouldn’t want the ghost to be angry with us but to go away.

Giriraj Swami: Why should they be angry? They will be happy. Rupa Swami describes six characteristics of pure devotional service that are prominent in the stage of sādhana-bhakti to a prominent state of bhāva-bhakti to prominent state of prema-bhakti. One of the characteristics that is applicable in sādhana-bhakti is that it is auspicious to all, including ghosts.

Devotee: Thank you, Maharaja, for the wonderful discourse. My question is around pure devotees. Does a pure devotee ever accept that they are a pure devotee? Number two, we do understand from the definition from shastra the characteristics of who a pure devotee is, but everybody has a different meter, and you can only measure at your level. So the ocean is so deep, right? But if your ability is to go up to ten meters, you cannot really measure the depth of the ocean. So, that becomes very subjective to an individual, how deep they are situated, so their vision will become purified. Because I have not seen or met a pure devotee like you or many others accepting or calling themselves pure devotees, but we understand from the definition, but we don’t have that vision. So how do we assimilate all of these together?

Giriraj Swami: Well, once a devotee asked Srila Prabhupada, “How many pure devotees are there in the world.” Srila Prabhupada replied, “How many devotees are there in ISKCON?” He also explained, giving the example of a mango, that a mango is a mango whether it is unripe or ripe. So one can be considered a pure devotee from the very beginning, but he is more like an unripe mango. An unripe mango may not be sweet and juicy, but if one continues with the process of bhakti-yoga, then he will mature and become like a ripe mango. He will be sweet and juicy, which may not be the case in the beginning. Still, he is considered a pure devotee, but in an immature stage of development. Rupa Gosvami gives different stages: adau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo ‘tha bhajana-kriyā, anartha-nivṛttiḥ, niṣṭhā, rucis, athāsaktis, bhāva, prema, and one can be a pure devotee even in an earlier stage, in the sense that he is not engaging in devotional service to get any material gains. Rupa Gosvami gives the definition of pure devotional service; anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ: without any other desire, jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam: not covered by jnana or karma or any other process, and ānukūlyena: it should be favorable for Krishna; ānuśīlanaṁ means to follow or continuous, so it is a continuous cultivation, bhaktir uttamā: the best devotional service. We can do that from the very beginning, and we should do that.

Devotee: It was a wonderful class, so Maharaja, speaking about the ghosts, I was thinking we have come across several instances in the scriptures. There is one particular instance where Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura happened to deliver one of his disciples who was in a ghostly form because of some offenses in the past life. Also, in the contemporary situation, we have come across several instances in Mayapur. I personally know one of our senior devotees from Mumbai. He was in yatra, and right in the daylight, in the assembly of the devotees, while he was delivering the lecture, a couple of ghosts entered in Mataji’s body. That lasted for several days during the yatra until the ghost started demanding the dust from the lotus feet of that particular devotee. And looking back, I had heard one Sunday-feast lecture from Bhakti Vijñāna Gosvami Maharaja, who spoke about how inattentive chanting can lead to a fall down and eventually to a ghostly existence. This is from one of the books of Bhaktivinoda Thakura. So, how do we understand this? How do we look at this? Because it sounds sometimes scary. Of course, we don’t speak about these things in the assembly of newcomers; we don’t want to scare them. How do we understand the same chanting, the very means of deliverance, and how can it cause you to fall down?

Giriraj Swami: Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that by attentive chanting, all the other offenses are eradicated, and by inattentive chanting, all the other offenses can flourish. So, that is very important to chant attentively. I facilitated numerous japa workshops and japa retreats. I did one with Mahatma Prabhu, and he said that devotees have become very expert at using their left hand because while their right hand is on their japa beads, their left hand is tidying up, checking their emails, and on their phones. So it shouldn’t be like that. When we chant, we should just chant and nothing else. He also quoted a devotee who said that he used to think that his japa was getting in the way of his life, but now he thinks his life is getting in the way of his japa.

Is there something in your question that I didn’t address?

Devotee: Yes, the confusion that comes to my mind is how can the holy name, even if it is inattentive, because there are verses also in Padma-Purana and Vishnu-Purana, even if you chanted inattentively, how can it lead to a ghostly existence? That is mentioned by Bhaktivinoda Thakura in one of his writings.

Giriraj Swami: Well, I never heard that. I think I would have to see the full context because it doesn’t seem like that would be the usual case. The usual case would be that by chanting, you make spiritual progress, and you can even free ghosts by chanting, free them from their ghostly existence. I have to see the full context to be able to respond properly.

Devotee: Hare Krishna Maharaja, about the ghost, I used to be scared when I was younger, but not anymore. Today, I am remembering my sister. She committed suicide when she was twenty-nine. So, I am sure she is in that body, the ghostly body. So my question is, how can she come out from that ghostly body? Is there a way a saintly person can do something, or does she have to go through certain times, or can she come out?

Giriraj Swami: Well, you can pray for her. There is also the sraddha ceremony for departed souls. You keep the person’s picture, and you offer them prasādam. In other words, the food is already offered to the Lord, and it becomes prasādam, and then you offer the prasādam in front of the picture of the deceased person, and that can help them make progress wherever they are.

Devotee: Can ghosts talk?

Giriraj Swami: Yes.

Devotee: Can ghosts talk to you?

Giriraj Swami: Well, they can enter your mind, put thoughts in your mind. Once Bhavananda Prabhu was giving Srila Prabhupada a massage, and he said, “Sometimes he gets thoughts that just aren’t him, they are just not things that he would think. So, is it possible that those thoughts are being put in his mind by ghosts?” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, it is possible.” So yes, but good attentive chanting always helps. How old are you? Do you chant rounds? You chant one round today? Okay, you are trying. Well, authorities recommend that you keep some minimum and whatever the minimum is, you chant without fail. And if by chance you miss, then you make up what you miss. So you think you can commit to one round a day? Okay, good.

Devotee: In the Toronto temple in 1972, the devotees were up in the Toronto Temple attic on the Gerrard Street Temple. They were up in the attic, and they were moving books around from previous tenants. They were moving books around, reorganizing, and then that night, all the devotees in the temple got attacked by ghosts. And so we were all very frightened. The temple president told us to just chant all the time. I had heard that Prabhupada said if you open the Bhāgavatam and put it at your head, they won’t attack you. So I didn’t get attacked, but another devotee was seeing the ghosts manifest in front of her and then disintegrate. Several devotees were being attacked by the ghosts. One of the devotees’ relatives had a sister who was clairvoyant, so they called her. They asked her, “Can you help us?” Of course, we were chanting Hare Krishna like anything. This person came to the temple, and she rang the bell. We answered the door, and she said, “I am here to get them.” We were all really scared. She walked up the stairs and said, “Where are they?” She was a very tiny, frail person, but there were no stairs to the attic, just the attic with a little door. She opened the door and hoisted herself up like a magician and just jumped off into the attic. Then we heard all this commotion going on up there. She came down out of the attic, just slipped down as if she was a magician, and said, “Got them.” She went downstairs, walked out the front door of the temple, and the ghosts were gone. It is a true story.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:03:25]

Giriraj Swami: Actually, well, I thought of Srila Prabhupada, and he always said, well, later he said, “Your love with me will be shown by how you cooperate.” And yes, I just didn’t see any point in trying to retaliate. Just I better take shelter of the holy name. Let it pass.

Devotee: I heard that Srila Prabhupada said that one who forgives an offender before the offense is even fully committed.

Giriraj Swami: Oh, wow. I thought you were going to say, and it is also relevant that a Vaishnava is measured by his ability to tolerate provoking situations.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Maharaja, please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I just wanted to ask you about anarthas because it seems they are the most difficult to overcome, and especially the anartha of learning to be nonviolent. Because Prabhupada describes in the Bhagavad-gītā that nonviolence means to not put anyone in distress or to not hurt anyone’s wellbeing or consciousness or upset them. So I am trying to catch myself for not causing any distress to anyone. And I am just wondering, do you practice, I guess it comes naturally because you are advanced from your past life, but do you practice consciously not hurting any that the entity? Do you consciously think about, oh, this is an anartha, this is not an anartha? Because you never get upset with people or situations. You are always calm, and it seems to me you don’t have any anarthas. So, how can we really get to that place where it is a pure life and we don’t cause stress, we don’t, we are nonviolent to everyone? How can we get there, truly get there, by pleasing God, pleasing devotees, pleasing Krishna?

Giriraj Swami: By prayer, by chanting, by serious study. One of the items of devotional service is not to cause any harm in living entity’s mind. And way that first one India. I was in a shop with three, and the shopkeeper was overcharging, and I got upset, and I guess it cause some pain in his mind. And even though he was overcharging, but I could have dealt with different way without causing him distress.

Devotee: Could make a checklist, can make check conscious, and when situations happen, think about them and think if I say this would cause distress to them, if I say something else, will it make it all right. So kind of consciously thinking because we are trying to go to the spiritual world, and we can’t get in the door unless we are nonviolence, non-envious lovers of Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, we should.

Devotee: Actually, we are turning away from the topic, like we are more focusing on ghost than actual context is like we have to like pure devotee, you have to lotus feet of Vishnu, but we are actually more focusing turning away towards ghost?

Giriraj Swami: Well, ghost are the part of the discussion.

Devotee: How was your experience?

Giriraj Swami: What is my experience with ghosts? Well, occasionally, not very often, it hasn’t happened for a while, but occasionally I do feel when I am taking rest, feel I am being attacked by ghost, and then I just chant loudly, and they go away.

Devotee: In the purport, if I remember right, basically says that the dust of the feet of the Vaishnava also does not forget offense that is created towards the Vaishnava, especially by those who are materialistic, who have material tendencies. I believe this is a relationship with Dakṣa. The difficulty is said at my stage when there is considerable contamination, almost seems I should keep away from the dust of the pure devotee.

Giriraj Swami: Oh yes, the statement is that the dust of the feet of pure devotee deliver you, but if you offend the dust of the feet of the pure devotee, you can be degraded. So it can work both ways. We have to be careful, but I think in your case, you shouldn’t shy away from pure devotees and become servant of the servant. I am sure that you can please them with your service. You have a good wife and daughter to help you stay on the proper path.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:15:00]

Giriraj Swami: The pure devotee can be hurt when someone offends him, not on his personal account, but because he knows that the offense will be bad for the offender, and as the well-wisher of everyone, he would feel sorry if someone is hurting their spiritual lives by committing offenses. But on his own account, he doesn’t mind.

Devotee: A positive way how should we approach [Unintelligible 01:16:55]

Giriraj Swami: You follow their instructions, that is the general principle. You follow their instructions, and if you want to render some specific service, you can ask them, “What can I do to please you?”

Devotee: That is something in that ask way to approach, [Unintelligible 01:17:35].

Giriraj Swami: Why not? Once a disciple asked Srila Prabhupada, “How can I please you?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Just by your desire to please me, you are pleasing me.”

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:18:25]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, very good point, very relevant.

Devotee: When I chant in the morning, my japa is good, but when I chant later in the day, my mind becomes somehow that my chanting will be very bad. Before even I start my japa, my mindset is, my japa will be bad. How to chant at any time of the day?

Giriraj Swami: Well, to begin, it is good to get up early and chant early. I saw a picture of Kala Kanta Prabhu here, and he says that the best advice he gives devotees is to take rest early because if they take rest early, they can get up early, and then they can engage in their spiritual practices early. But otherwise, we just chant anytime of the day and we shouldn’t have the expectation that our chanting will be bad. That is, I think one of Sridhar Swami’s favorite sayings: There is no utility to negativity. So, don’t have a negative attitude towards chanting, but pray to the holy name and to the Srila Prabhupada and the paramparā, and ask them to help you. And yes, there is no reason why you can’t chant good japa a later in the day.

Devotee: Thank you so much, Maharaja. Apologize for the other you spend more time, but can we all chant Hare Krishna once again to thank Maharaja.

Devotees: Haribol! Haribol! Haribol!