[0:00:00]

Giriraj Swami: All right. I will begin by singing the mangala

charan prayers and leading a short kirtan. Then we will discuss
Srimad-Bhagavatam.

[Prayers 0:00:20 - 0:19:36]

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. My dear devotees, as far as

possible, please turn on your cameras so we can see your moon-
like faces and it will be more personal. Today we shall read
Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Ten, Chapter 14, Brahma's prayers to
Lord Krishna, text eight. Now, this verse is mentioned in the
Nectar of Devotion, and before I read the verse in Srimad-
Bhagavatam, I will read to you what the Nectar of Devotion says.
This comes under the item expecting the Lord's mercy, it's one of
the items of devotional service, and this is described in Chapter
Ten of the Nectar of Devotion. In the Tenth Canto, 14th Chapter,
verse 8, it is said: “My dear Lord, any person who is constantly
awaiting Your causeless mercy to be bestowed upon him, and who
goes on suffering the resultant actions of his past misdeeds
offering you respectful obeisances from the core of his heart, is
surely eligible to become liberated, for it has become his
rightful claim.”

“This statement of Srimad-Bhagavatam should be the guide of all

devotees.” I'll read that again. “This statement of Simad-
Bhagavatam should be the guide of all devotees. A devotee should
not expect immediate relief from the reactions of his past
misdeeds. No conditioned soul is free from such reactionary
experiences because material existence means continued suffering
or enjoying of past activities. If one has finished his material
activities then there is no more birth. This is possible only
when one begins Krishna conscious activities because such
activities do not produce reaction. Therefore, as soon as one
becomes perfect in Krishna conscious activities, he is not going
to take birth again in this material world. A devotee who is not
perfectly freed from the resultant actions should therefore
continue to act in Krishna consciousness seriously.”

I'll read that again. “A devotee who is not perfectly freed from
the resultant actions should therefore continue to act in Krishna
consciousness seriously, even though there may be so many
impediments. When such impediments arise, he should simply think
of Krishna and expect His mercy.” Again, “When such impediments
arise, he should simply think of Krishna and expect His mercy.
That is the only solace. If the devotee passes his days in that
spirit, it is certain that he is going to be promoted to the
abode of the Lord. By such activities, he earns his claim to
enter into the kingdom of God. The exact word used in this verse
is dāya-bhāk. Dāya-bhāk refers to a son's becoming the lawful
inheritor of the property of the father. In a similar way, a pure
devotee who is prepared to undergo all kinds of tribulations and
executing Krishna conscious duties becomes lawfully qualified to
enter into the transcendental abode.”

This is a very significant verse and purport as explained here by

Srila Prabhupada in the Nectar of Devotion. I thought of this
verse and purport or this statement from the Nectar of Devotion
in relation to my beloved disciple Arca Vigraha Devidasi because
to me she exemplified the verse. Although she was suffering
terribly from cancer at the end in Vrindavan, she persevered in
her devotional service and became eligible to enter the kingdom
of God. Now we will read the verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam itself.
Again, Canto Ten, Chapter 14, Brahma's prayers to Lord Krishna,
text eight.

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya,

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya,
Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya,

ŚB 10.14.8

tat te ’nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṇo

bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam
hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te
jīveta yo mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk

Synonyms: tat — therefore; te — Your; anukampām — compassion; su-

samīkṣamāṇaḥ — earnestly hoping for; bhuñjānaḥ — enduring; eva —
certainly; ātma-kṛtam — done by himself; vipākam — the fruitive
results; hṛt — with his heart; vāk — words; vapurbhiḥ — and body;
vidadhan — offering; namaḥ — obeisances; te — unto You; jīveta —
lives; yaḥ — anyone who; mukti-pade — to the position of
liberation; saḥ — he; dāya-bhāk — the rightful heir.

Translation: My dear Lord, one who earnestly waits for You to

bestow Your causeless mercy upon him, all the while patiently
suffering the reactions of his past misdeeds and offering You
respectful obeisances with his heart, words and body, is surely
eligible for liberation, for it has become his rightful claim.

Purport by SP: Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī explains in his commentary

that just as a legitimate son has to simply remain alive to gain
an inheritance from his father, one who simply remains alive in
Kṛṣṇa consciousness, following the regulative principles of
bhakti-yoga, automatically becomes eligible to receive the mercy
of the Personality of Godhead. In other words, he will be
promoted to the kingdom of God.

Comment by GRS: My dear devotees, this verse tells us how we can

be promoted to the kingdom of God, and basically we just have to
remain alive in Krishna consciousness, following the regulative
principles of bhakti-yoga, tolerating whatever impediments or
difficulties may come along, and mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk, we will
be eligible for liberation. In other words, we’ll be promoted to
the kingdom of God.

Purport by SP: The word su-samīkṣamāṇa indicates that a devotee

earnestly awaits the mercy of the Supreme Lord even while
suffering the painful effects of previous sinful activities. Lord
Kṛṣṇa explains in the Bhagavad-gītā that a devotee who fully
surrenders unto Him is no longer liable to suffer the reactions
of his previous karma.

Comment by GRS: As in Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna says, sarva-

dharman parityajya mam ekam sharanam vraja tvam sarva-papebhyo
mokshayishyami ma sucah, that if you surrender to Krishna, He
will free you from all sinful reactions. That means for a
surrendered soul there are no sinful reactions, but still, the
devotee does experience pain and suffering. So if they are not
sinful reactions, then what are they? The supreme Lord explains.
Purport by SP: Lord Kṛṣṇa explains in the Bhagavad-gītā that a
devotee who fully surrenders unto Him is no longer liable to
suffer the reactions of his previous karma.

Comment by GRS: Srila Prabhupada also made an interesting

statement in relation to the karma of a devotee who surrenders to
the Lord. He said that the Lord takes your karma and holds it for
you, and then releases it at the times and in the ways that it
can most benefit the devotee. So technically it's not karma
because karma is the mechanical workings of action and reaction
in the material world. Technically it's not karma, but it
resembles karma because what's happening is Krishna is taking
your karma and holding it, and then releasing it at such times
and in such ways as will best benefit the devotee.

Purport by SP: Lord Krishna explains in the bhagavad-gita that a

devotee who fully surrenders unto him is no longer liable to
suffer the reactions of his previous karma however because in his
mind a devotee may still maintain the remnants of his previous
sinful mentality.

Comment by GRS: There's a very important point, and a very subtle

one, because we may stop engaging in sinful activities but we
might maintain the vestiges of the sinful mentality that gives
rise to such sinful activities or that gave rise to such sinful
activities. And Krishna wants to do a very thorough job of
purifying his devotee, so he wants to rid the devotee of these
last remnants of his sinful mentality. How does He do that?

Purport by SP: Lord Kṛṣṇa explains in the Bhagavad-gītā that a

devotee who fully surrenders unto Him is no longer liable to
suffer the reactions of his previous karma. However, because in
his mind a devotee may still maintain the remnants of his
previous sinful mentality, the Lord removes the last vestiges of
the enjoying spirit by giving His devotee punishments that may
sometimes resemble sinful reactions. The purpose of the entire
creation of God is to rectify the living entity’s tendency to
enjoy without the Lord, and therefore the particular punishment
given for a sinful activity is specifically designed to curtail
the mentality that produced the activity.
Comment by GRS: Krishna is very merciful. His punishment is
actually for our benefit, and when a devotee surrenders to the
Lord and is freed from sinful reactions, the Lord still bestows
upon the devotee what appear to be life sinful reactions that
cause pain and suffering to the devotee. But that pain and
suffering is not without purpose, it's meant to purify the
devotee from the enjoying spirit, from the mentality that gave
rise to his previous sinful activities, so it's very good for us.

Purport by SP: Although a devotee has surrendered to the Lord’s

devotional service, until he is completely perfect in Kṛṣṇa
consciousness he may maintain a slight inclination to enjoy the
false happiness of this world. The Lord therefore creates a
particular situation to eradicate this remaining enjoying spirit.
This unhappiness suffered by a sincere devotee is not technically
a karmic reaction; it is rather the Lord’s special mercy for
inducing His devotee to completely let go of the material world
and return home, back to Godhead.

Comment by GRS: In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna describes the

material world as duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam. Duḥkhālayam means “A
place of misery” and aśāśvatam means “Temporary.” The material
world is not our real home, our real home is with Krishna in the
spiritual world. And as long as we are in the material world,
which is a world of duality, we suffer the dualities of pain,
pleasure, happiness, distress, heat, cold, honor, dishonor and on
and on. But the living entity, being part and parcel of Krishna,
is by nature pleasure seeking.

The Vedanta Sutra says ananda-mayo bhyasat, that the absolute

truth is full of ananda or “Bliss” and we living entities being
part and parcel of the absolute truth, are also constitutionally
meant for happiness. Therefore, we're always seeking happiness,
but generally, ordinary people at least, seek happiness in the
wrong way, in the wrong places. They seek happiness in the
material world, which Krishna says is duḥkhālayam, a place of
misery. They want to make the duḥkhālayam into a sukhalayam,
which is not possible. But they can attain happiness in relation
to Krishna, and when they go back home, back to Godhead, their
happiness in relationship with Krishna is pure and unadulterated,
and that is our goal.
Purport by SP: This unhappiness suffered by a sincere devotee is
not technically a karmic reaction; it is rather the Lord’s
special mercy for inducing His devotee to completely let go of
the material world and return home, back to Godhead.

A sincere devotee earnestly desires to go back to the Lord’s

abode. Therefore he willingly accepts the Lord’s merciful
punishment and continues offering respects and obeisances to the
Lord with his heart, words and body. Such a bona fide servant of
the Lord, considering all hardship a small price to pay for
gaining the personal association of the Lord, certainly becomes a
legitimate son of God, as indicated here by the words dāya-bhāk.

Comment by GRS: And again, dāya-bhāk means “Rightful heir.”

Purport by SP: Just as one cannot approach the sun without

becoming fire, one cannot approach the supreme pure, Lord Kṛṣṇa,
without undergoing a rigid purificatory process, which may appear
like suffering but which is in fact a curative treatment
administered by the personal hand of the Lord.

Comment by GRS: The Lord is our Supreme Father. He has only our
best interest in mind, and if He punishes us, it is not out of
malice, obviously. It is not because He is cruel, certainly, but
it is because He wants us to come back to Him, back home, back to
Godhead. But we can only go back to Godhead when we are
completely purified. And therefore, the Lord arranges suffering
for the devotee to induce the devotee to give up his hold on the
material world and go back home, back to Godhead, which is our
ultimate self-interest. The devotee, while undergoing the painful
situations, first of all appreciates the painful situation as the
Lord's mercy, and he expects the Lord's mercy to take him back
home, back to Godhead.

Having read the verse and purport, I would like to return to what
Srila Prabhupada said about this verse in the Nectar of Devotion
under the heading “Expecting the Lord's mercy.”

“In the Tenth Canto, 14th Chapter, verse eight, it is said: My

dear Lord, any person who is constantly awaiting Your causeless
mercy to be bestowed upon him, and who goes on suffering the
resultant actions of his past misdeeds, offering You respectful
obeisances from the core of his heart, is surely eligible to
become liberated, for it has become his rightful claim. This
statement of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam should be the guide of all
devotees. A devotee should not expect immediate relief from the
reactions of his past misdeeds. No conditioned soul is free from
such reactionary experiences, because material existence means
continued suffering or enjoying of past activities. If one has
finished his material activities then there is no more birth.”

Srila Prabhupada is giving the example of the turning of a fan,

that when the devotee surrenders to Krishna, it's like turning
off the fan, turning off the power of the fan. There's still some
momentum in the turning of the fan, but gradually it will become
less and less, it will turn slower and slower and then finally it
will stop.

If one has finished his material activities then there is no more

birth. This is possible only when one begins Krishna conscious
activities because such activities do not produce reaction.
Therefore, as soon as one becomes perfect in Krishna conscious
activities, he is not going to take birth again in this material
world. A devotee who is not perfectly freed from the resultant
actions should therefore continue to act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness
seriously, even though there may be so many impediments. When
such impediments arise he should simply think of Kṛṣṇa and expect
His mercy. That is the only solace. If the devotee passes his
days in that spirit, it is certain that he is going to be
promoted to the abode of the Lord. By such activities, he earns
his claim to enter into the kingdom of God. The exact word used
in this verse is dāya-bhāk. Dāya-bhāk refers to a son's becoming
the lawful inheritor of the property of the father. In a similar
way, a pure devotee who is prepared to undergo all kinds of
tribulations in executing Kṛṣṇa conscious duties becomes lawfully
qualified to enter into the transcendental abode.

And just an aside, when Lord Caitanya went to Jagannath Puri, He

met Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, who was a learned pandit, you would
say the chief pandit in the court of the king. He was an
impersonalist, but by the association of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu,
he was converted and became a Vaishnava, he became a personalist.
And once when reciting this verse to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he
replaced the word mukti-pade with bhakti-pade. He didn't want to
hear about mukti because generally people take mukti to be
impersonal liberation merging into the effulgence of the Lord, so
he replaced the word mukti-pade with bhakti-pade. But Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu did not accept his rewriting of the verse
from Srimad-Bhagavatam, and he explained that mukti pade, which
literally means the position of liberation, really means the
lotus feet of Krishna.

So yes, by following the instructions in this verse, we will

attain the lotus feet of Krishna [00:55:32 - 00:55:45 inaudible]
while we practice the directions given in this verse, as
mentioned jiveta, jiveta means to “Remain alive.” Srila Sridhar
Swami explains in his commentary that just as a legitimate son
has simply to remain alive to gain an inheritance from his
father, a devotee simply has to remain alive in Krishna
consciousness, following the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga
and automatically becomes eligible to receive the mercy of the
personality of Godhead. In other words, he will be promoted to
the kingdom of God.

And what are the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga? Well,

first and foremost, we have to chant the holy names. For those
who are initiated or aspiring to be initiated, they must chant a
minimum of 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra daily. In
one purport Srila Prabhupada writes that of all the regulative
principles, the spiritual master's instruction to chant a minimum
of 16 rounds is most essential. So we chant our minimum 16
rounds, follow the four regulative principles and take to the
practice of bhakti-yoga, which is easy and joyfully performed,
especially as given to us by Srila Prabhupada. If we do that,
tolerating whatever impediments may come on the way, then mukti-
pade sa dāya-bhāk, we earn the right to enter the kingdom of God.
Hare Krishna.

Now, my dear devotees, if any of you have questions or comments

you can ask, you can raise your hand, your real hand or your
virtual hand. And again, as far as possible, please turn on your
cameras so we can see your moon-like faces and experience your
participation in a more personal way.

Devotee 1: Thank you Maharaj for such a nectarian narration of

this verse. For our group we have, I think, Ramgiritari Prabhu is
online, you can probably articulate. We’re having this discussion
about getting mercy, it depends on our free will or how do we get
it? Ramgiritari, do you want to add on?

Devotee 2: Hare Krishna Maharaj [1:00:06 inaudible] as always. So

we were discussing this point when we were discussing the
preachings of Lord Kapila, so I was kind of trying to churn this
out. We would understand the real concept of freedom, free will,
desire, independence, these are all some words that we constantly
use in our Krishna consciousness and causeless mercy. Even though
we have some vague idea here and there as a part of our
learnings, probably it will be-- I'm sure I’ve skipped several
words, but at least in the word free will, which happens to be
the triggering point for one's functioning, even though mercy
comes our way, if I am not, as Prabhupada wrote and as you
mentioned, if I am not alive or if I am not awake, what has
happened to me? This whole concept, probably I may be with
whatever limited time, you can enlighten Maharaj. Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, Srila Prabhupada used the phrase minute

independence. The living entity has minute independence, and
basically his free will is that he can choose to serve Krishna or
to serve maya. By constitution, he is a servant. Srila Prabhupada
explains that the root of the word dharma is “Dra” and “Dra”
conveys the meaning of an intrinsic quality, that which cannot be
separated from something. For example, the dharma of sugar is to
be sweet, if it's not sweet, it's not sugar. The dharma of chili
is to be hot, it's not hot, it's not chili. So what is the dharma
of the living entity? The dharma of the living entity is to
render service, that quality of rendering service is what cannot
be separated from a living entity. But he does have minute
independence and he can choose whether to serve maya or to serve
Krishna. If he serves Krishna and gets one result, he goes back
home, back to Godhead. And if he serves maya, he gets another
result, he stays in the material world and is punished.

That is our minute independence, and that choice is given to us

by Krishna because ultimately He wants our love, and prema
pumartho mahan, the ultimate goal of life is Krishna, praying
love for Krishna. Love is voluntary, it cannot be forced, so He
gives us that free will, whether we want to love Him or not. At
the end of the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna says to Arjuna, “Now
you have heard everything that I have said, yathecchasi tathā
kuru, now you do as you like.” Arjuna immediately replied naṣṭo
mohaḥ smṛtir labdhā, “My illusion is now over and I have come
back to my original consciousness” and kariṣye vacanaṁ tava “I’m
prepared to act according to Your direction.” Krishna gives us
that free will and if we are intelligent like Arjuna we will
submit, kariṣye vacanaṁ tava, and will act according to Your
instruction.

Devotee 2: All right, thank you so much, I wish I get some time
to turn this out because this topic is very intriguing, because
it takes our endeavor. If we miss that part, a slightest mistake
in not utilizing our independence correctly, then probably we
missed the great chance. And quite often in this material context
we keep getting allured and pulled by several people and several
things, so we always look for somebody, “Can somebody overpower,
control, dominate and make me Krishna conscious in spite of my
freedom?” So that's where the interest is, but anyways, thank you
so much for your wonderful response Maharaja, I will meditate on
that and probably in the next opportunity we can churn more.
Maybe there are others to ask questions. Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, but I'll say one more thing, that there was
a sage named Astavakra, and the king asked him how to get free
from the clutches of maya. In response Astavakra went to a tree
and started holding the tree very tightly and saying “Let me go!
Let me go! Let me go!” That was his answer, that maya is not
holding on to us, we're holding on to maya, and that's the whole
purport of this verse, that the Lord is acting in such a way to
induce us to let go of maya. Hare Krishna.

Devotee 3: Hare Krishna Maharaj, please accept my humble

obeisances Maharaj. This is Rasuki Devidasi. I had a question
relating to today's topic and also I just started reading your
Juhu book. So I was wondering-- of course, over a short period of
time it's possible for a common person to tolerate hardships, but
even in Juhu, in the beginning, how all the devotees, including
yourself, were going through so much difficulty or-- of course,
the difficulty in our lives is not even a small portion of that,
but how can we constantly remain motivated, always remember that
Krishna is behind it and not lose our enthusiasm to the
difficulties?

Giriraj Swami: Well, the first thing is faith. Srila Rupa Goswami
says adau sraddha, devotional service begins with faith. And the
whole progression through the different stages, ādau śraddhā,
tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo, 'tha bhajana-kriyā, anartha-nivṛttiḥ, niṣṭhā
rucis, athāsaktis, then bhāvas, and then ultimately prema. All of
those different stages of advancement are really just further
developments of sraddha. Sraddha just becomes deeper and more
intensified as we progress through those different stages. We
have to have faith in Krishna and we have to tolerate if there
are reverses, and there will be reverses, we're in the world of
duality. We have to tolerate the reverses without being disturbed
and we have to continue in devotional service, in Krishna
consciousness. We don't really have any other choice, I mean, we
don't have any good choice. As Srila Prabhupada said, “Spiritual
life is difficult, but material life is impossible” so we're
better off with spiritual life.

Devotee 3: Sure Maharaj, thank you so much. Hare Krishna.

Devotee 4: Hare Krishna. Giriraj Swami, you read from the Nectar
of Devotion, Expecting the Lord's Mercy, and I heard a class by
Mahatma Prabhu. He said that a pure devotee won't ask Krishna for
anything, even if he's hungry, he won't ask Krishna for food. In
one sense I'm expecting food or Prasada, but how do I do service
without expecting anything in return? Not even food, if I'm dying
of starvation I'm going to pass out, I'm still going to keep
serving. How can I get to that stage?

Giriraj Swami: How can you get to the stage of engaging in

devotional service without any expectation of return?

Devotee 4: Right, anything at all. I heard a class by Srila Tamal

Krishna Goswami Gurudeva, and he said that the gopis never asked
Krishna about anything, never expected anything, never asked Him
anything, it was only for Krishna’s pleasure. How can I get to
this stage where I don't want anything but Krishna’s pleasure?

Giriraj Swami: Well, that’s bhakti by definition. Bhakti means to

serve Krishna for His pleasure. Srila Rupa Goswami gives the
definition of pure devotional service in the Bhakti-rasamrta-
sindhu, anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam. Now, bhilās means “Desire” so
anyābhilāṣ means “No other desire.” But Rupa Goswami has added
the suffix itā, not anyābhilāṣ but anyābhilāṣitā, why? Srila
Viswanath Chakavarti Thakura explains that under ordinary
circumstances, the devotee will not ask Krishna for anything,
anyābhilāṣ, he has no other desire than to serve Krishna. But in
some extreme situation, for example, when the devotee is faced
with imminent death, say someone comes to attack the devotee with
deadly weapons, the devotee may pray for protection. Ordinarily
he will not pray for his body, but in an extreme situation, he
may. And that falls within the definition of pure devotional
service, anyābhilāṣitā, because under ordinary circumstances he
won't pray for anything material, such as bodily protection, but
in an extreme situation he may. That does not place him outside
pure devotional service.

Yes, we want to serve Krishna for Krishna's pleasure, but by this

precise definition, anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam, one may in extreme
circumstances pray for material protection. I won't even say
material protection but pray for the protection of the body. But
otherwise, in general, it's true, we don't want anything material
in return for our devotional service. Pure devotional service is
ahaituky apratihatā. Ahaituky means “Without cause” means there's
no material cause, there's no material motivation. Apratihatā
means it is uninterrupted. That should be our standard of
devotional service. Hare Krishna.

Devotee 2: Hare Krishna Maharaj. Just in case if you have a

minute I'd like to ask another question.

Giriraj Swami: All right. Well, Santi has her hand up, why don't
we give her a chance first and then we'll come back to you? um

Devotee 5: Hare Krishna guru Maharaj.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Devotee 5: Hare krishna. Guru Maharaj, kindly enlighten us on

bhava bhakti and prema bhakti.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, there are nine stages in the development of

sadhana bhakti-- no, excuse me, there are nine stages in the
development of bhakti, and the first seven come in the category
of sadhana-bhakti. Bhava-bhakti means that the heart of the
devotee is touched by or infused with the hladini-sakti and the
samvit potency. It's a state of liberation from the material
modes of nature, it's a liberated stage. Bhava Srila Prabhupada
translates it as “Ecstatic love” and when that ecstatic love
develops further, when it becomes more condensed, more
intensified and more condensed, then it becomes prema-bhakti. But
when you are at the stage of bhava-bhakti, there's no more
sadhana, so the bhava-bhakti itself, the deepening of the bhava-
bhakti itself will take you to prema-bhakti. Now we pray for that
fortunate day when you have the realization of bhava-bhakti and
prema-bhakti.

Devotee 5: Okay, thank you guru Maharaj.

Devotee 6: Hare Krishna guru Maharaj. It was extremely a very

blissful class, so much to learn. I will never forget the word
dāya-bhāk in my life. I just had this one question that Krishna
makes so many arrangements to take us back, by getting us
purified He inflicts so many sufferings on us. But sometimes even
being very loyal to God because of our association, we make wrong
desires also. We know that they're wrong but then Krishna honors
our wrong desires, so does it mean He doesn't love us? Because
He's facilitating, He's honoring our desires, they're wrong, but
still He's fulfilling them, and they are wrong. Does it mean He
doesn't want you to be there with Him? He's probably-- what is
it? I don't understand.

Giriraj Swami: Oh, yes, of course Krishna loves you and He wants
you to come back to Him. But if you have some material desire and
your material desire is fulfilled, it doesn't mean that you will
go away from Krishna, I mean, you can still maintain your
determined desire to go to Krishna. I don't think that having a
material desire fulfilled is worse for you than having a material
desire unfulfilled. In fact, you could take it as Krishna's mercy
that He is fulfilling your material desire so you don't have to
worry about it anymore and you could just focus on Him.

Devotee 6: Thank you guru Maharaj. I had some burden on my head,

am I going wrong? I don't know how it is, but it's a very
beautiful answer. Thank you so much.

Giriraj Swami: Thank you, Hare Krishna. Ramgiritari would you

like to continue?

Devotee 2: Yes. This is slightly off the topic, but still it can
be connected to the topic. I was in the Prabhupada porters the
other day in the temple, and we have also in Radha [01:21:35
inaudible] the new chapter that is coming up in Mumbai. I saw the
wording “The early struggles of Srila Prabhupada” and some
pictures were there. I was just wondering if this word “Struggle”
can ever be attached to an acarya? Because I always feel it is
always a struggle from our perspective, but how come an acarya?
It is this part of this project that Krishna had given so he had
apparently put himself through a situation by his personal choice
to serve Krishna? This struggle word-- I'm just trying to be in
the literal sense, in an acarya's life when we see any [01:22:26
inaudible] story or Srila Prabhupada's life or various other
things. In connection to this current context that we were
discussing, should we call that as a struggle or should we call
it as something else? That's my question.

Giriraj Swami: Should you call it a struggle or call it as--?

Devotee 2: Something, maybe mercy or another word. But the

struggle seems like a conditioned soul, I mean, it's just
english, that's fine, but if it's beyond that. I was just
wondering on that part.

Giriraj Swami: Why can't a liberated self struggle?

Devotee 2: Because according to these words, the challenge is

also mercy of the Lord, what we just read today in the
Bhagavatam. Anything that is coming the way of a devotee, even if
it is a challenge, he says “The challenge is my mercy” so we may
name it as challenge but technically it is mercy. Should we even
state it as a struggle because the self-realized soul is beyond
this pain and pleasure? From that perspective, is that the
struggle or is that-- I'm not sure if I make some sense.

Giriraj Swami: I don't see why a liberated soul can't struggle, I

mean, Srila Prabhupada struggled, he used the word struggle to
refer to what he went through. But that doesn't make him not an
acarya or not a liberated soul because there are struggles even
for liberated acaryas. There is one devotee who had his own
following in Hawaii, his name was Sai and his approach to Krishna
consciousness was very mellow, but eventually he, along with all
of his followers, surrendered to Srila Prabhupada. Sai was
initiated by Srila Prabhupada, became a citizen, but he still had
that mentality of wanting everything to be very mellow and
peaceful. Once he said to Srila Prabhupada, “The one thing I
can't stand about your disciples is there is always an anxiety”
and Srila Prabhupada replied “That is their love. The gopis were
always in anxiety for Krishna.”

Devotee 2: Makes a lot of sense. Thank you Maharaj.

Devotee 7: Hare Krishna. Is it too late to ask one another

question?

Giriraj Swami: Not too late for me.

Devotee 7: Okay. Maharaj, I heard a class by Bhikseka Prabhu, he

said that you mentioned something about maya having a customized
package for each victim. Can you please talk about that?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, maya's business is to-- although maya is a

servant of Krishna, she has the thankless task of testing the
conditioned souls. Srila Prabhupada says especially in the
beginning maya will test the conditioned soul to see if they have
come to disturb Krishna or if they really want to serve Krishna.
So yes, she will present a customized package to tempt you or
allure you, but if you're sincere and serious about Krishna
consciousness, you won't be deviated by maya. You can overcome
maya by surrendering to Krishna. In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna
says daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī mama māyā duratyayā. Daivī hy eṣā
guṇa-mayī, “This material energy consisting of the three modes”
daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī mama māyā duratyayā “Is very difficult to
overcome.” Mām eva ye prapadyante, “But one who surrenders unto
me” māyām etāṁ taranti te, “Can cross over maya.” We do not fight
maya directly, but we surrender to Krishna. We become free from
maya not by fighting with her, but we become free from maya by
surrendering to Krishna.

Devotee 7: Thank you, Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. Well, if there are no more questions

or comments we can conclude now. Oh! Prana has his hand up, I
didn't see that.

Devotee 8: Hare Krishna guru Maharaj. [01:29:26 inaudible]. You

reminded me that I have to hear more lectures of yours to
understand or get clarity of what Prabhupada meant because I was
meditating that we are reading Prabhupada’s books but I am lucky
that guru Maharaj is totally into Prabhupada. So when I hear his
lectures, I get all the summary, everything in that only. I'm so
grateful actually. Today's lecture was as if I heard many things
for the first time after being so much time in the movement, so
many things got cleared, but I had some questions off track. I
was lately just asking some questions to a devotee, I asked him
“Before we fell down we had a relation with Krishna? Can you
throw some light?” So he replied we didn't fall from the
spiritual world. This sentence actually created a doubt or I
didn't understand it.

Then, from my side I asked, “Then the word back to Godhead itself
gives an understanding that we were with Godhead” to which he
replied, “Read the first Back to Godhead magazine, its original
use by Srila Prabhupada was back to a more religious orientation
of life.” He gave me that answer and said “If you are satisfied
with your understanding then leave.” He left me confused
actually, so I wanted to know about when he said we didn't fall
from the spiritual, or I didn't understand actually, still
confused about it.

Giriraj Swami: Where did he come from?

Devotee 8: There was a devotee on Facebook actually. He's a
devotee but I don't know him very much, but he was having a
question and answer session. And he referred read the first Back
to Godhead magazine, its original use by Prabhupada was back to a
more religious orientation of life” he answered that, so I was
very confused.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, well, I mean, not just the name or the
phrase “back to Godhead” but there are many places where Srila
Prabhupada refers to our going back to Krishna. In the Fourth
Canto, 28th Chapter, there's a very nice verse and purport that
does suggest that we were with Krishna, we came into the material
world and our purpose now is to go back to Krishna. You can look
it up, I mean, I could read it but I don't think it's necessary.
But if you look--

Devotee 8: Four point 28--?

Giriraj Swami: Well, if you want that exact. Okay, here it is,
text 53. I'll read a little of it. It continues in text 54, but
part of the translation is “Unfortunately, you gave up my company
and accepted a position as an enjoyer of the material world.” In
the purport Srila Prabhupada says, “When the living entities
desire to enjoy themselves, they develop a consciousness of
duality and come to hate the service of the Lord. In this way the
living entities fall into the material world. In the Prema-
vivarta it is said: kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha hañā bhoga-vāñchā kare
nikaṭa-stha māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare. The natural position of the
living entity is to serve the Lord in a transcendental loving
attitude. When the living entity wants to become Kṛṣṇa Himself or
imitate Kṛṣṇa, he falls down into the material world. By misusing
his independence, the living entity falls down from the service
of the Lord and takes a position in this material world as an
enjoyer.”

Then in the next purport, “The original home of the living entity
and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the spiritual world. In
the spiritual world both the Lord and the living entities live
together very peacefully. Since the living entity remains engaged
in the service of the Lord, they both share a blissful life in
the spiritual world. However, when the living entity wants to
enjoy himself, he falls down into the material world.”

Devotee 8: Very beautiful. Thank you so much.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Devotee 9: Hare Krishna. Giriraj Maharaj, I know that it’s late,

but we are supposed to [01:37:29 inaudible] so is there time for
another question or no?

Giriraj Swami: Yes.

Devotee 9: Okay. I have two questions. Who is more merciful, Lord

Caitanya or Lord Nityananda? That's the first question.

Giriraj Swami: Why do you ask?

Devotee 9: Because I have another question after that. I want to

ask you another question after that, but this is the first
question, I have another one to follow up on. I'm just curious.

Giriraj Swami: What's the next one?

Devotee 9: The next one is, yesterday was the appearance day of
Srila Tamal Krishna Goswami Gurudeva, so my question is, who is
more merciful, him or you? I think that you both are like--

Giriraj Swami: Why are you asking these questions?

Devotee 9: I'm asking them--

Giriraj Swami: We need all the mercy we can get. We need

Nityananda’s mercy, Lord Caitanya's mercy, we need all the mercy
we can get.

Devotee 9: But is one merciful-- are they both the same or--? I
guess they're the same, right? But it's like, for example, I
heard that you're the soft side and Srila Gurudeva is the hard
side, that you're one soul, two bodies, so I’m just-- I'm sorry,
I don't mean to--
Giriraj Swami: Yes, Tamal Krishna Goswami said that we're one
soul and two bodies.

Devotee 9: The question is then if one side is Lord Nityananda

and one side is Lord Caitanya, who is who? Are you Lord
Nityananda and he is Lord Caitanya in the mercy aspect?

Giriraj Swami: I'll just say one more time, you need all the
mercy you can get and you shouldn't try to distinguish who's more
merciful because the Lord is merciful, the Vaishnavas are
merciful, the Lord coming as a Vaishnava is very merciful. You
should try to get whatever mercy you can.

Devotee 9: Sometimes when there's a difficult mercy, like a

chastisement-- because my ego's so big, one time you chastised
me, it was a very minor chastisement, but because I'm so puffed
up I took it like “Oh!” but luckily I didn't go away, I stayed
there. But how to see the Lord's mercy whether I'm chastised or
whether I'm spoken to sweetly or whether I'm-- one time I saw
that in a class, I think this was about a few months ago, I think
Bhakta das Prabhu-- you mentioned about a heater, there was a
heater you have somewhere there, and then you wanted it to be
turned off or on, I don't remember exactly, but he did what you
requested but you didn't-- he did what you requested but then you
said it in a way that-- my point is, if I'm chastised by
somebody, how to just accept that as love? I don't know, I've got
a lot of issues, sorry.

Giriraj Maharaj: Well, how do you know the chastisement is

offered with love?

Devotee 9: Well, that's the thing.

Giriraj Swami: It would depend on who's offering the chastisement

to see if it has love or not. When was the last time I chastised
you?

Devotee 9: When you're in Houston I think I took a picture of

you, and then you said-- it's okay, it was nice, I'm glad that it
happened that way because it was a good experience for me to
learn actually, and it was nice. Also Maharaj I understand that
you're not coming to Houston now, is that correct you're not
coming to Houston? I just asked somebody else and they said
you've canceled your vyasa-puja for Houston physically. Is that
correct?

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, I'll add you as a receiver, but guru Bhakti
Mataji, the medical doctor in Houston, a devotee, wrote a very
convincing and persuasive letter why I should not attempt to
travel by air and come to Houston now. Based on her letter I
canceled the program, and His Holiness Ratharbrita Swami
privately said that he was very glad to see that I took her
advice and canceled my trip.

Devotee 9: Is it a question of the air trouble? Whether she was

advising against coming by airplane or--?

Giriraj Swami: No, there are many reasons. I'll add you as a
receiver to her letter.

Devotee 9: Okay, thank you.

Giriraj Swami: Very persuasive and convincing.

Devotee 9: Because I always think we can hire a private jet and

just fly you in. A golden jet with diamond engines and pearl fins
and flying you in.

Giriraj Swami: Just give me the money!

Devotee 9: We can get the money! We can get it! Prabhupada said
money is flying everywhere, you have to know how to catch it.

Giriraj Swami: You can fly here!

Devotee 9: Hare Krishna, thank you.

Devotee 10: Maharaj, it’s getting late but I cannot hold myself
but to read what Ramgiritari said about the struggle, and your
book. I will just read what Prabhupada said and I'm not going to
context of it, you can explain it or people can read your book.
“Finally Prabhupada lay on his head and he spoke in a soft and
tender voice, ‘All of you are trying so hard to please this old
man, who gets irritated so fast. I'm old and on top of that, I'm
unwell so little things irritate me, but all of you are so
tolerant.’”

Giriraj Swami: It seems like you're there because the next

paragraph, sarva-bhavana, says: “He went on like that for about
ten minutes. I thought I was the only one who was crying, but
when I looked around I saw that everyone had tears in their eyes,
including Prabhupada. It was so sweet, so wonderful. How can you
not love such a person?” That was very nice.

Devotee 10: Thank you Maharaj. Yesterday I heard that two more
books are coming.

Giriraj Swami: I'm working on them.

Devotee 10: Thank you Maharaj, I'm anxiously waiting for it.

Giriraj Swami: Have you finished this one?

Devotee 10: Almost there Maharaj.

Devotee 11: Hare Krishna guru Maharaj. I just wanted to comment

actually regarding Prabhu asking about who's more merciful.
Actually you had clearly said that Srila Prabhupada is made of
Lord Anga and Nityananda’s both mercy, so Srila Prabhupada is
most merciful.

Giriraj Swami: Perfect, that's the perfect answer.

Devotee 11: Thank you guru Maharaj, beautiful lecture.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, we get everyone's mercy through Srila

Prabhupada.

Devotee 11: For me you're the most merciful because without you I
have no connection to anybody. Yes, Prabhupada’s mercy led me to
your lotus feet. But without you there is no identity, I don't
know anybody. Thank you.
Giriraj Swami: I thought Prema Mantri had her hand up a while
ago, but maybe not.

Devotee 12: Yes, actually I wanted to, twice I put my hand up but
it was automatically going down against me. I thought maybe time
was less. I would like to ask one question, you explained so
wonderfully that when a devotee suffers, it's not necessary that
it was the karmic reactions that made him suffer, because the
devotee is practicing Krishna consciousness perfectly well. But
it is because the Lord wants to remove the evidence of the
desires of enjoying, so that's the reason why the devotee could
be suffering. I wanted to know that when the suffering comes in a
form of a setback on the health, and how much ever you try, the
devotee is not able to-- the health is not getting back to what
it was maybe because Krishna doesn't want that person to become
what he was earlier, enjoying and-- maybe the health is kind of a
purification that Krishna is giving to that devotee.

My question was that the devotee may tolerate it as whatever has

come is Krishna's mercy, but sometimes in the process of
tolerating the devotee may become slow down in his Krishna
consciousness, he loses his focus because of suffering too much.
What is the solution there? Do we just tolerate it? I mean, yeah,
tolerating, but that devotee is not making further advancement.
If the devotee had been healthier maybe he could have made
further progress, but it's just a standstill because he's
tolerating and he's just there where he is. What is a position of
such would be?

Giriraj Swami: I mean, Srila Prabhupada had consulted doctors and

took medicine, we're not against medical treatment. We want to
keep the body fit for serving Krishna. I mean, we don't always
get immediate relief, and along with the idea of the verse,
whatever the situation is, we continue with our devotional
service. But yeah, we consult doctors and take medicine for the
sake of our health, so that we can serve Krishna. Srila
Prabhupada did.

Devotee 12: I understand we can consult doctors, but sometimes

doctors also don't do much, it's just a healthless situation,
you're meant to just tolerate it. Even others in the family are
meant to just tolerate along with the person.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, that may be. We don't always get better
quickly, we might not get better. So we have to tolerate and be
firm in our Krishna consciousness. We shouldn't become stagnant,
I mean, you can't blame poor health for being stagnant in
devotional service because you can be progressive in devotional
service even if you have bad health. All right.

Devotee 12: Thank you.

Giriraj Swami: Simon? Simon is from Iran.

Devotee 13: Hare Krishna Maharaj. Please accept my humble

obeisances, it’s good to see Maharaj. I just wanted to give an
evidence on when you said-- well, you and other Prabhu confirmed
that Prabhupada is most merciful, and I just remembered a verse
from Bhagavad-gita, Chapter Three, verse 29, when Krishna says
that we should not preach to the ignorant. Then Prabhupada in the
purport says that Krishna says we should not preach to the
ignorant, but devotees of Krishna do. He says they do that
because they are more merciful than Krishna, and they are more
merciful than Krishna because they know the mission of Krishna,
they know what Krishna wants. I just wanted to--

Giriraj Swami: That's beautiful.

Devotee 13: Yes. Can I read what Prabhupada says?

Giriraj Swami: I just want to point out to the devotees that a

cow has joined us. Oh, there's two cows. Okay. Yes, please read.

Devotee 13: “Men who are not ignorant cannot appreciate

activities in Krishna consciousness, and therefore, Lord Krishna
advises us not to disturb them and simply waste valuable time.
But the devotees of the Lord are more kind than the Lord because
they understand the purpose of the Lord. Consequently, they
undertake all kinds of risks, even to the point of approaching
ignorant men to try to engage them in the acts of Krishna
consciousness, which are absolutely necessary for the human
being.”

Giriraj Swami: Beautiful. Are there any other questions or

comments? That was beautiful. All right, well, it's been a very
enlivening and purifying discussion, and if there are no more
questions or comments, we can end by offering Vaishnava Pranam.

Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto the Vaishnava

devotees of the Lord, who are just like desire trees who can
fulfill the desires of everyone, and are full of compassion for
the fallen conditioned souls.

vancha-kalpatarubhyash cha
kripa-sindhubhya eva cha
patitanam pavanebhyo
vaishnavebhyo namo namaha
[1:56:46]