English
Speaker: HG Rukmini Krishna Prabhu
Hare Krsna!
This Gita Marathon is like a festival of 40 days and we all shall celebrate it with full enthusiasm. About how to celebrate this festival properly, in the 22nd verse of the ninth chapter of the third canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, Brahma ji writes
so ’yaṁ samasta-jagatāṁ suhṛd eka ātmā
sattvena yan mṛḍayate bhagavān bhagena
tenaiva me dṛśam anuspṛśatād yathāhaṁ
srakṣyāmi pūrvavad idaṁ praṇata-priyo ’sau
Translation:
Let the Supreme Lord be merciful towards me. He is the one friend and soul of all living entities in the world, and He maintains all, for their ultimate happiness, by His six-transcendental opulence. May He be merciful towards me so that I, as before, may be empowered with the introspection to create, for I am also one of the surrendered souls who are dear to the Lord. (SB 3.9.22)
These shlokas are recited when it is morning for Brahmaji, after his long night. As you all know his one night equals 432 crore in our years. Whenever the day begins in the morning of Brahmaji, he is in a state of great awe. He sits on a lotus that has risen from the umbilical cord of Garbodakashayi Visnu. There is darkness all around and the wind is blowing strongly. He cannot see anything. Then he hears the sound of penance and does it for thousands of years. Then he comes to know that he has to create the universe, and creating the universe is not an easy task. In his purport, Srila Prabhupada writes how difficult the task of Brahma is. It is such a difficult task that we cannot even imagine.
Many times we feel that the service we get, is very difficult, and how will we serve when there so are many problems in our life. On the contrary, the morning of Brahma is not a good morning. It starts with a very great surprise. Brahma gets very upset, “I have to create the universe and there are infinite millions of creatures. They have infinite millions of desires, and they have to be put in infinite millions of planets. The gods have to be separated; the demons have to be separated. Which creature to put in which species, so that its wishes are fulfilled?” It's a terrible job and he considers himself very incapable.
Brahmaji is praying very beautifully, “O Krishna, you have been the friend of all the living beings. You are also the well-wisher of the living beings. You are full of all six opulences. Please bless me. As I had created the universe earlier, in the same way, even today, I can compose the same because I am in your refuge.”
Brahmaji had created this the previous day, but on every new day, Brahmaji has to say these prayers. Every day is a new day for Brahmaji. He does not think that creating the universe is child’s play and he can do the same again. He always has a lot of trouble. In this prayer, Brahmaji is praying to Krishna for empowerment so that he can fulfil the order of God.
In our Krishna conscious life, we also need lots of power to complete the assigned spiritual services. The living entity is incapable and is completely dependent on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The only power a living entity has, is willpower. But we get the capability to overcome that willpower only by the blessings of Krishna or by the blessings of Guru-Shishya Parampara. This is how Brahmaji is requesting Krishna. He will also request the Lord that even though he is creating this Universe, his ego should not grow.
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
mā veda-garbha gās tandrīṁ
sarga udyamam āvaha
tan mayāpāditaṁ hy agre
yan māṁ prārthayate bhavān
Translation:
The Supreme Personality of Godhead then said: O Brahmā, O depth of Vedic wisdom, be neither depressed nor anxious about the execution of creation. What you are begging from Me has already been granted before.(SB 3.9.29)
The Lord assures Brahma that what you are seeking has already happened. Srila Prabhupada has written a very beautiful purport for this shloka. He said that any person authorised by either the Lord or by His bona fide representative is already blessed, as is the work entrusted to him. Of course, the person entrusted with such responsibility should always be aware of his incapability and must always look for the mercy of the Lord for the successful execution of his duty. One should not be puffed up because he is entrusted with certain executive work. Fortunate is he who is so entrusted, and if he is always fixed in the sense of being subordinate to the will of the Supreme, he is sure to come out successful in the discharge of his work. Arjuna was entrusted with the work of fighting on the Battlefield of Kurukṣhetra, and before he was so entrusted, the Lord had already arranged for his victory. But Arjuna was always conscious of his position as a subordinate to the Lord, and thus he accepted Him as the supreme guide in his responsibility. Anyone who takes pride in doing responsible work, but does not give credit to the Supreme Lord, is certainly falsely proud and cannot execute anything nicely. Brahmā and persons in the line of His disciplic succession who follow in His footsteps are always successful in the discharge of loving transcendental service to the Supreme Lord.
In this purport Srila Prabhupada said that a person is getting service from a bona fide representative then he is already blessed with service. We shall never be egoists about the big service and shall always be dependent on the mercy of Krishna for the service. If we serve dependent on God then success is assured.
bhūyas tvaṁ tapa ātiṣṭha
vidyāṁ caiva mad-āśrayām
tābhyām antar-hṛdi brahman
lokān drakṣyasy apāvṛtān
Translation:
O Brahmā, situate yourself in penance and meditation and follow the principles of knowledge to receive My favour. By these actions, you will be able to understand everything from within your heart. (SB 3.9.30)
The mercy the Lord bestows upon a particular person engaged in executing the responsible work entrusted unto him is beyond imagination. But His mercy is received due to your penance and perseverance in executing devotional service. The Lord will bestow his mercy to the same extent as that of the devotee’s penance and perseverance, and devotion.
We are getting very good teaching from this. Arjuna was also very anxious before starting the battle of Kurukshetra. Krishna showed him His Visvarupa in the eleventh chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. He showed that He had already killed Guru Drona, Bhishma, and Karna and Arjun was just the doer.
We see that Krishna has already confirmed that Arjuna is going to be the winner of this battle and that except for the five Pandavas, all of them will die. Now the question comes that even though Krishna has confirmed their victory, then why has Arjuna faced so many difficulties? Can you name some of the difficulties?
What were the problems faced by Pandavas on the battle field?
1. They have to fight against their own relatives.
2. Abhimanyu was killed at a very young age.
3. Bhishma Pitamaha almost defeated them.
4. Aswathama brutally killed all five sons of Draupadi, when they were sleeping.
Similarly, the Lord has given the assurance to Brahma that all of his work has already happened. Brahma started and first he created the 4 Kumaras, to start building the universe. The 4 Kumaras said that they did not want to build the universe, and instead wanted to go for self-realisation. Then Brahma calmed down and agreed to their demand. He controlled his anger and gave birth to Rudra. He asked Rudra to create the universe. Rudra started the destruction, then Brahmaj stopped him. Brahma then created Svāyambhuva Manu to create the universe. Then the Earth went down into the ocean. He again prayed to the Lord to save the Earth. Varahadev appeared and saved the Earth. We can see that even after we get the blessings of the Lord, we still have to face lots of problems in completing the designated services. Why does the Lord do this?
The Lord;
1. May want to make us more capable to serve.
2. Wants to improve the purity of our souls.
3. Wants to test the level of your devotion.
Difficulties come in our life so that our dependence on God increases. God wants to see how eager His devotee is to get Him, to serve Him. Srila Rupa Goswami said that the essence of bhakti is dependent on Krishna. The more we are dependent on Krishna and Guru Kripa, the more we get involved in Bhakti.
Similarly Lord Caitanya already declared,
param vijyate sri krsna sankirtana
The one who chants the holy name of Krishna will always be successful, but we notice that we face lots of problems in the path of kirtana. We see that Chand Khazi faced lots of difficulties. Srila Prabhupada faced lots of difficulties in fulfilling the dream of his Guru Maharaja.
Similarly, this Sankirtana movement will be successful, but we are definitely going to get difficulties in this movement. We shall not be afraid of all those difficulties.
Every year we do lots of book distribution. We face lots of difficulties in book distribution, but even then, we successfully achieve our target every year.
First, it was a recession, then Demonetisation, then GST was implemented and devotees were worried about the book distribution. But it was successful year after year. COVID 19 came and businesses were down, but then also we distributed lots of books.
param vijyate sri krsna sankirtana
Now this time also the concern is that price of Bhagavad Gita has increased by 60%, but still we are progressing and achieving the targets of book distribution. We shall not be worried and we shall only pray to Lord Krishna.
We shall accept the order of Guru Maharaj to distribute more and more Bhagavad Gitas. Until we distribute Prabhupada’s books on the earth, we are not going to fulfil the purpose of Lord Krishna’s appearance on this earth. The complete Guru Parampara is concerned about the distribution of the secret knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna’s main concern is when the living entities will go come to Him.
Lord Krishna imparted all the knowledge required for creating the universe to Brahma and simultaneously also shared the Vedic knowledge to come out of this universe. Brahma plays a dual role. One role belongs to the manager of creating the universe and managing it. The other role is related to the preacher who has to teach all the living entities, how to come out of this universe.
Have you seen the cover of Brahma Samhita book?
Brahma has come with Vedas. It is our family business to distribute the knowledge of Krishna consciousness. In Brahma samhita 11 canto, Krishna told Uddhava that the main dakshina to diksha is distributing the knowledge of the Guru. First of all we have to accept the order of our Gurus. This book distribution is one of the most loving services to Srila Prabhupada and to the complete Guru Parampara. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Maharaja hugged each devotee, who distributed his magazine.
Once one of the disciples of Srila Prabhupada, Buddhimanta Prabhu, distributed a very good number of books. Prabhupada noticed that Buddhimanta Prabhu’s kurta was torn, so Prabhupada gave his own Kurta to him. Prabhupada said that each and every book distributor will go back to Godhead.
There are some steps to be followed to get the mercy of Sri Krishna.
1. We have to accept the order of Guru Maharaj,
2. We have to apply the order in our lives. Prabhupada said that even if we just meditate on how to distribute books, we will be liberated.
3. We have to make a commitment or pledge before applying the order. We have to make a commitment so that we gain energy in applying the Master’s order. If we don’t set a target then our mind will easily cheat us.
How many of you have actually set the individual target in this year’s Book distribution marathon?
I will request all the devotees, who have not taken a pledge, to make a commitment.
4. Pray to Krishna to fulfil the pledge, similar to Brahmaji. Prayers have a magical impact. Prabhupada said that the mercy of Krishna is beyond our imagination. One Bhagavad Gita can change the lives of millions of devotees.
You might have heard how Bhagavad Gita was initially smuggled into Russia and now we have thousands of devotees in Russia. Lots of Russian devotees were tortured and faced lots of difficulties, but even then they did not give up and continue to spread the knowledge of Bhagavad Gita.
Similarly, we see how Krishna consciousness is spreading in Myanmar. There was an atheist doctor, who had come to Mumbai for a conference. He was forcefully gifted the English Bhagavad Gita by an ISKCON devotee. He was not interested in taking this book, but was forced to take it. He took that book to Myanmar and kept it in his cupboard. He had a son who wanted to learn English, as English was taught in his school. His son pulled out this Bhagavad Gita from the cupboard. He saw a coupon in the book for a free gift from BBT Los Angeles. He filled out that coupon and sent it to Los Angeles. On the other side, in Thailand there was a Brahmachari Lilapati Dasa, who was preaching in Thailand. His visa had expired and he was asked to get a recommendation either from a Thailand resident or from a Myanmar resident. He sent a letter to BBT Los Angeles to ask for recommendation from a Thailand or Myanmar resident. BBT Los Angeles informed him that they had a free gift coupon card request from Myanmar and shared the address. Lilapati Dasa visited the address with the free gift. He enquired from the doctor’s son about the free gift coupon. The doctor’s son was very inspired by this service. He welcomed Lilapati Dasa who properly cultivated the knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita to him. He became a very sincere initiated devotee of Srila Prabhupada. He was initiated as Srivasa Prabhu and was the leader of preaching in Myanmar. He served very nicely and translated the Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam in Burmese. With this the Krishna Conscious movement started in Burma. So you can see one Bhagavad Gita, distributed in Mumbai, can do wonders. This book distribution service is fully empowered.
pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi-grāma
sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma
Translation
“In every town and village, the chanting of My name will be heard.” (Caitanya-bhāgavata, Antya 4.126)
Lord Caitanya has already declared that in every village and every town, His name and His sankirtana movement will flourish. We just have to be the reason. We will definitely be getting problems and difficulties, but we shall apply these four principles - accept the order, apply the order, take a commitment and pray to Krishna and with endless efforts, we will get magical results.
You can see that during COVID the preaching spread at a very fast pace. Everything is happening with the planning of Krishna, but we must all try to see the power of the Sankirtana movement in the middle of this planning. You must have noticed that sometimes when we are not able to distribute any books, then we chant Prabhupada’s pranam mantra and magic happens.
How many of you have had a similar experience?
You will also notice that as soon as you get a false ego, your book distribution will be stopped. You will notice that by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada ISKCON devotees are welcomed everywhere. If at some places you are not welcome, then you also need not worry and should keep on focusing on distributing books. Prabhupada’s books are so powerful that even if someone touches these books, their devotional service will start. We all must accept the orders with our heart, and come forward to distribute more and more books. We shall not have any doubt about the movement and shall not fear or shy away from book distribution. We shall think big and go out for book distribution.
