Bhakti Vikasa Swami's Blog, page 181

This is the hospital

There are hundreds and thousands of hospitals, but where is the hospital for treating the spirit soul? They have no knowledge. They have no knowledge even, what to speak of hospital. This is the hospital. This Krsna consciousness temple is the hospital for the diseased spirit soul. And everyone is diseased. Come to this hospital. We shall take care of you and cure your material disease.

Srila Prabhupada, Town Hall Lecture — Auckland, 14 April, 1972

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Srila Prabhupada’s bitter sannyasa

In the beginning, when my Guru Maharaja ordered me, I thought it that “I shall first of all become very rich man; then I shall preach.” [laughs] So I was doing very nice in business. In the business circle, I got very good name, and with whom I was dealing business, they were very satisfied. But Krsna made so trick that He broke everything, and He obliged me to take sannyasa. So that is Hari. So that I had to come to your country with only seven dollars.

So they are criticizing, “The Swami came here with no money. Now he’s so opulent.” [chuckles] So they are taking the back side, black side, you see? Of course, I have become profited, profitable, or I have acquired profit. I left my home, my children and everything. I came here as a pauper, with seven dollars. That is no money. But I have got now big properties, hundreds of children. [laughter] And I haven’t got to think for their provision; they are thinking of me. So that is Krsna’s favor.

In the beginning, it appears to be very bitter. When I took sannyasa, when I was living alone, I was feeling very bitter. Sometimes I was thinking, “Whether I have done wrong by accepting?” So when I was publishing this Back to Godhead from Delhi, one day one bull thrashed me, and I fell down on the footpath and I got severe injury. I was alone. So I was thinking, “What is this?” So I had many days of very tribulations, but it was all meant for good.

So don’t be afraid of tribulations. Go forward. Krsna will give you protection.

Srila Prabhupada, lecture — April 17, 1969, New York

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Plagued by sex desire? Remember Haridasa Thakura

Devotee (3): How can one rid oneself of sex desire if one continues to chant, continuously chant Hare Krsna, and is still being plagued by desire for sex?

Prabhupada: If you chant Hare Krsna seriously… The examples are there. Therefore Haridasa Thakura, he was chanting Hare Krsna, and some envious person engaged some very beautiful prostitute to drag him. But she failed. Chanting of Hare Krsna is so strong. At mid of night beautiful prostitute, young, she went to entice him. But Haridasa Thakura said, “That’s all right. Your proposal is very nice. Please sit down. Let me finish my rounds.” [laughter] So she sat down, and morning…, there was morning. So Haridasa Thakura said, “My dear girl, I am very sorry. I could not finish. So this night we shall finish.” In this way, after three nights, the prostitute fell down on his feets, “Sir, I came with this purpose. I was induced by such-and-such person. So I am offender. Please excuse me and give me your favor.” So Haridasa said, “Yes, I knew that. But because you came to me, I wanted to do something good for you. And therefore I stayed here for three nights just to convert you. Now you are so lucky. So whatever you have got, you distribute it to the brahmanas, and you take one cloth and sit down here before the tulasi tree and chant Hare Krsna, that’s all.”

(March 7, 1975, New York)

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Srila Bhaktivinoda was sent by Lord Caitanya

Regarding your questions, “I read in a book sent from India that Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura was sent directly by Lord Sri Caitanya from the spiritual sky. I am not sure if the book was bona fide. Is the above true? Someone, a God-brother brought up that he heard that Srila Bhaktivinode was at one time an impersonalist. Was he ever?” Yes, what you have heard is all right. Just like Arjuna is constant companion of Krishna, as it is confirmed in the 4th chapter, Krishna says that both Arjuna and He appeared many times on this world, but he had forgotten his past appearance and Krishna did not. Krishna is like the sun, and maya is just like darkness. Where Krishna is present there cannot be any darkness of maya. So as Arjuna although always in the presence of Krishna as eternal companion in friendship, still he had some illusion in the battlefield of Kuruksetra, and Krishna had to dissipate that darkness by the teachings of Bhagavad-gita. The purport is, sometimes even a liberated person like Arjuna plays the part of a conditioned soul in order to play some important part. Similarly, Bhaktivinode Thakura for sometimes was associating with the impersonalists. And then he exhibited himself in his true color as pure devotee, exactly in the same way as Arjuna exhibited in the beginning as a conditioned soul, and then as a liberated soul. So there is nothing to be misunderstood in this connection. Krishna and His devotees sometimes play like that, as much as Lord Buddha although an incarnation of Krishna, preached the philosophy of voidism. These things are conducted in terms of place, audience, time, etc. In the Caitanya Caritamrta it is said that the activities of the Vaisnava cannot be understood even by the greatest scholar. So we have to understand everything through the transparent via media of the Spiritual Master. So there is no doubt about it that Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura is eternal energy of Lord Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And whatever he did, was just to suit the time, place, circumstances, and etc. There is no contradiction in his activities. Yes, also, what you have learned about Sukadeva is correct. He stayed in the womb of his mother for 16 years because he was fixed on the Brahman conception, and then on hearing the Srimad-Bhagavatam, he became realized and decided to come out and be active in the service of the Lord, to enjoy blissful varieties.

From Srila Prabhupada’s letter to: Madhusudana — Los Angeles 20 November, 1968

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Time waste

We take a newspaper and we read what the politician says, what so many nonsense things. We waste our time. Srama eva hi kevalam [SB 1.2.8]. We should increase our taste for hearing and chanting about Visnu, Krsna.

From Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.5.23-24 — 31 March, 1976

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No comparison with Jiva Goswami

Your tendency to give Srila Jiva Goswami the proper position of philosopher is very much appreciated. Some years back I attended a meeting in Calcutta wherein Pramathanath Tarkabhusan, the learned Sanskrit scholar, was present. He said about Jiva Goswami very highly, that there was no comparison with Jiva Goswami and any other philosophers of the world. Gaudiya Vaisnavism is very much proud of having such a great acarya as Jiva Goswami.

(From Srila Prabhupada’s letter to Dr. Cakravarti, November 3rd, 1970)

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Giriraj Swami lecture — don’t compromise when preaching

I shall tell you one story from Madras. It is not a good one, because I am using myself as an example, which is not very becoming, but ultimately what happened was all Prabhupada’s mercy. I was the first devotee from ISKCON to go to Madras, in 1971. In Madras there are many Shaivas and Vaishnavas, who have a long history of debate, and many impersonalists who think, “The Vaishnavas are arguing that Vishnu is the Supreme, and the Shaivas are arguing that Shiva is supreme. How silly! Actually, God has no form. He just assumes the form of Shiva or Vishnu or Durga. So why all these petty arguments?” They are some sort of jnanis, and they really consider themselves superior, to both the Vaishnavas and the Shaivas.

In Madras I began to preach in the same way I had heard Srila Prabhupada preach everywhere. We had programs, and we enrolled life members. Srila Prabhupada was very eager for us to enroll life members, mainly as a way of distributing his books to them, and also as a way of giving them the association of devotees. After a few weeks, I found that there was an undercurrent of protest against the way I was preaching, and even friends began to advise me, “You should not criticize others. Whatever you want to say positively about what you are doing and about Krishna consciousness, say. But don’t say anything negative about anyone else or any other process.”

So I thought about it. Over the six or eight weeks I was in Madras, I stayed at different places, and one of the men I stayed with Mr. Krishnamurti, who was favorable, said the same thing: “Don’t criticize others. Just say whatever you want in a positive way about Krishna consciousness.” So I was getting the same thing from all sides, and I thought, Maybe Krishna is trying to tell me something. There are too many signs that I am doing something wrong. So I wrote a letter to Srila Prabhupada and continued with my service.

One Saturday I had an appointment with an industrialist, and I decided that I was not going to get into any controversy or debate. I was just going to show the pictures of our activities, show the books, tell him about Krishna consciousness, and not make any comments about anything else. So I went to the man’s office. He had a large compound, with his office and his factory and his residence. I showed the pictures, showed the books, took out the life membership forms, and asked him to become a life member. He said, “What about Shankaracharya? You said so many things. Why haven’t you said anything about Shankaracharya? He is one of the great acharyas of India.” So I said, “Yes, he is one of the great acharyas of India.” He said, “Well, why don’t you say more about him? You haven’t said anything about him.” I tried to be very tactful and avoid any argument, but he kept provoking me, probing more and more.

Finally I had to explain that Shankaracharya was an incarnation of Lord Shiva who came to bewilder the atheists and drive Buddhism out of India, but that in order to drive Buddhism out of India he had to preach a false interpretation of the Vedas. The man kept arguing, more and more. I even took out the Teachings of Lord Caitanya (we didn’t have the Caitanya-caritamrta then) and showed him the verses about Shankaracharya. But he was becoming more adamant in his position, and I remained adamant in mine. Finally I decided, Okay. I’ve wasted enough time here. I put away the pictures, put away the books, closed the briefcase, and said, “Well, it was nice meeting you.” He escorted me to the door and then said, “Before you leave, I want to show you my temple room.” I thought, Oh, no. There is going to be a Shiva linga, and he is going to want me to offer my obeisances, and if I don’t he is going to become offended. He said, “Really, I insist. I want you to see my temple.” So I went to see his temple.

It was quite big. There was a large marble altar, the base of which was at least three feet high, with big marble Radha-Krishna Deities. I was shocked. It was very hard to find Radha-Krishna Deities in Madras. In fact, I think They were the only ones I saw. There were one or two Deities of Krishna, but most of the Vaishnava temples had Deities of Vishnu. So I was delighted, and I offered my obeisances and prayers. Then I looked at the man. “Swamiji,” he said, “myself and my family and all of my ancestors are devotees of Radha and Krishna. Actually, I was just testing you. I am very pleased with you. You have passed the test. You did not compromise. I will be happy to become your life member.” Then he took me back to his office, wrote out the whole amount in one check, and that was that.

Then I started thinking that maybe I wasn’t doing the wrong thing after all. I returned to the place where I was staying in Egmore, and there was a letter from Srila Prabhupada, replying to my concerns about how I was preaching. Excited to read his response, I opened the letter, and right in front of my eyes his words seemed to jump off the page: “The fact is that I am the only one in India who is openly criticizing, not only demigod worship and impersonalism, but everything that falls short of complete surrender to Krishna. My guru maharaja never compromised in his preaching, nor will I, nor should any of my students. We are firmly convinced that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and all other are His part and parcel servants. This we must declare boldly to the whole world, that they should not dream of world peace unless they are prepared to surrender fully to Krishna as Supreme Lord.”

That was Srila Prabhupada’s mood, and that was his message. And for his service, he is the dearmost servant of Radha and Krishna. Srimati Radharani has no desire other than the pleasure of Krishna. And who has given Krishna more pleasure — within the material world at least — than Srila Prabhupada? Consequently, he has given the greatest pleasure to Srimati Radharani. And so, Srimati Radharani would do anything for him. So if we do even some little service to Srila Prabhupada, his heart is so magnanimous that he will take it as a big service. And he will be very pleased. And when we please him, Srimati Radharani is pleased. And then our lives are successful.

16th September 2018 Radhastami Lecture by HH Giriraj Swami http://www.girirajswami.com/?p=13411

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This material world is a place of epidemic

We act according to our whims, and the resultant action is there immediately. The nature’s law, God’s law, is there. We have got experience that if we infect some disease, contaminous disease, then we must suffer from that disease. So it is not God’s creation that somebody is suffering from some painful condition and somebody is enjoying. No. We infect ourself with some contamination because this world, this material world, is full of contamination, full of contamination. Just like when there is epidemic, the whole situation is contaminous. Therefore one has to take vaccine injection to protect himself. So anyone who has come to this material world must know that he has come in a place which is a place of epidemic. So you must have to remain very cautious. Otherwise you will have to suffer.

From Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.41 — 19 March, 1976

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Krsna alone is not particularly beautiful

Krsna alone is not particularly beautiful, but when His energy — especially His pleasure energy, represented by Radharani — expands, He looks very magnificent.

From Srila Prabhupada’s Krsna Book, ch. 32: Krsna Returns to the Gopis

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Radharani’s dancing and cooking

“In Vrndavana, Srimati Radharani must be dancing. If Radharani were ever to stop dancing in Vrndavana, this whole business [the creation] would be finished.” So Radharani never stops dancing. It is eternally one of the things She does for the pleasure of Krsna.”

Srila Prabhupada then began to speak about Her cooking. He said that Srimati Radharani is unsurpassed in qualities and superexcellent in so many ways, but particularly in Her cooking. Eternally She cooks for Krsna, and never once does She make the same preparation twice. She keeps Krsna under Her control by her cooking. Radharani’s ability to cook for Krsna is so wonderful, but even above Her skills in the art of cooking for Krsna is Her dancing. Her dancing is magnificent, and She pleases Krsna so much by Her dancing.

(From the book “Yamuna Devi,” Vol. 2, p.16)

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