nehabhikrama-naso \u2018sti pratyavayo na vidyate sv-alpam apy asya dharmasya trayate mahato bhayat<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cIn this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.\u201d<\/p>\n
Purport<\/p>\n
\t\u201cActivity in Krishna consciousness, or acting for the benefit of Krishna without expectation of sense gratification, is the highest transcendental quality of work. Even a small beginning of such activity finds no impediment, nor can that small beginning be lost at any stage. Any work begun on the material plane has to be completed, otherwise the whole attempt becomes a failure. But any work begun in Krishna consciousness has a permanent effect, even though not finished. The performer of such work is therefore not at a loss even if his work in Krishna consciousness is incomplete. One percent done in Krishna consciousness bears permanent results, so that the next beginning is from the point of two percent, whereas in material activity without a hundred percent success there is no profit. Ajamila performed his duty in some percentage of Krishna consciousness, but the result he enjoyed at the end was a hundred percent, by the grace of the Lord. There is a nice verse in this connection in Srimad Bhagavatam (1.5.17): <\/p>\n
tyaktva sva-dharmam caranambhujam harer bhajan apaktvo \u2018tha patet tato yadi yatra kva vabhadram abhud amusya kim ko varta apto\u2019bhajatam sva-dharmatah<\/p>\n
\u2018If someone gives up his occupational duties and works in Krishna consciousness and then falls down on account of not completing his work, what loss is there on his part? And what can one gain if one performs his material activities perfectly?\u2019 Or, as the Christians say, \u2018What profiteth a man if he gain the whole world yet suffers the loss of his eternal soul?\u2019<\/p>\n
\t\u201cMaterial activities and their results end with the body. But work in Krishna consciousness carries a person again to Krishna consciousness, even after the loss of the body. At least one is sure to have a chance in the next life of being born again as a human being, either in the family of a great cultured brahmana or in a rich aristocratic family that will give one a further chance for elevation. That is the unique quality of work done in Krishna consciousness.\u201d<\/p>\n[End of Purport]\n
\tThis particular sloka, throughout history, has been cited by our beloved acaryas as a prominent teaching of the Bhagavad Gita, because it differentiates spiritual from material. Krishna is eternal, and devotional service is eternal.<\/p>\n
\tIn Caitanya Caritamrta, Caitanya Mahaprabhu explains that essentially there are three essential topics: Krishna, the devotee, and the process of devotional service. <\/p>\n
\tAnd because devotional service is eternal, any act for the pleasure of the Lord can never be lost. Why is that? It is not because of some mechanical law. It is because that is the nature of Krishna\u2019s heart. <\/p>\n
\tOne of the most essential qualities of a Vaisnava, is gratitude. How Srila Prabhupada demonstrated his gratitude!<\/p>\n
\tAt the time of the installation of Sri Sri Radha-Gokulananda in Bhaktivedanta Manor in London, devotees came from all over Europe and many from parts of the world for this glorious occasion, for Janmasthami.<\/p>\n
\tThe next day was Prabhupada\u2019s vyasa puja. One of the most well-attended of such events. It was the day when everyone came to glorify Srila Prabhupada as their guru. But during Srila Prabhupada\u2019s lecture, he glorified all his devotees. <\/p>\n
\tHe quoted a verse from Caitanya Caritamrta, and then said, \u201cThis Caitanya Caritamrta has just been published and will be coming out.\u201d And he said, \u201cAnd all credit goes to Pradyumna\u201d [chuckles] \u201cwho worked so hard to help make this happen. Therefore, I call him, Pradyumna Mahasaya.\u201d <\/p>\n
\tDo you know what a title that is, \u201cMahasaya\u201d? Jiva Goswami awarded that title to Narottama Dasa Thakur, \u201cMahasaya\u201d. Very exalted.<\/p>\n
\tAnd he was praising Pradyumna. And then he started praising Pradyumna\u2019s wife Arundhati for the unbelievable service and sacrifices she made, in helping with the proofreading, and transliteration, helping whatever she did.<\/p>\n
\tAnd then he went, one by one to various devotees, who were doing such wonderful services. And Prabhupada was saying \u201cI didn\u2019t do anything. It was this devotee\u2019s sacrifices, this devotee\u2019s devotion, that have done it. Prabhupada was so . . . grateful.<\/p>\n
\tGeorge Harrison. He was not necessarily strictly following the four regulative principles. But he wanted to serve Prabhupada sincerely. And according to his capacity, he did. Prabhupada asked him, \u201cYou\u2019re a Beatle, you\u2019re a musician. Sing music. Use your fame, to bring people closer to Krishna.\u201d And he sincerely tried.<\/p>\n
\tWhat was Prabhupada\u2019s gratitude? He said . . . One time they asked if he would get initiated, he said \u201cHe is already better than my disciple. He is my son. \u2018Hari\u2019s son.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\tAnd when Prabhupada was in his last days, on what we call a \u2018death bed\u2019, in Vrndavan, he took off his gold ring from his finger, that someone had given him, some years before perhaps. He took off his gold ring from his finger. He turned to Tamal Krishna Goswami, with tears in his eyes. He said \u201cGive this to George, and tell him I love him.\u201d Hare Krishna. That was Srila Prabhupada. So grateful! <\/p>\n
\tBecause, a pure devotee is a manifestation of Krishna\u2019s love in this world. His Divine Grace means Krishna\u2019s divine grace, that is perfectly and transparently flowing through the heart of one who serves Him unconditionally.<\/p>\n
\tYes, Krishna\u2019s love is unconditional. He never, ever forgets anything we have done. Even if we fall to the lowest of the low positions. Krishna will give us whatever karmic reactions we need, to bring ourselves back up, but He\u2019ll never forget, ever, ever, ever, what that devotee has done. And He\u2019ll always be waiting to lift us up as soon as we just turn in His direction again.<\/p>\n
\tSo this principle, how any act in devotional service is never lost, is actually simply a manifestation of the supreme opulence of gratitude, in Krishna.<\/p>\n
\tLiving entities, we can easily forget something nice a person has done to us, especially if they offend us. Yes. But a pure devotee never forgets, and Krishna never forgets. And they\u2019re always making some orchestrated arrangement to somehow or other bring back that devotee back who once engages in bhakti.<\/p>\n
\tThere is an example that I was fortunate enough to personally eyewitness, to some extent. At the beginning of Srila Prabhupada\u2019s mission, when he was in New York City, we know a story, how he had nothing and nobody. And he met some hippie boy, who took some interest. And that boy invited Prabhupada to stay in his loft, in the Bowery, and Prabhupada was so excited about it. <\/p>\n
\tDid you ever read Prabhupada\u2019s diary, when he was in New York City, in the Bowery? If two people came to one of his classes, he was ecstatic. He would write in his diary, \u201cToday, I bought potatoes for . . .\u201d you know, \u201c. . .12 cents\u201d, \u201cAnd I bought some cabbage for …\u201d you know, \u201c…22 cents.\u201d Every little thing. \u201cI bought a stamp for 5 cents.\u201d It was all in his diary.<\/p>\n
\tAnd he said, \u201cTonight we had a program, and eight people came. And I played a tape of the Maha Mantra.\u201d He played a reel to real tape of himself chanting the Maha Mantra. And he said, \u201cAnd they enjoyed it. Now I understand for sure that Haridas Thakur\u2019s prediction will come true, that everyone will be chanting Hare Krishna!\u201d<\/p>\n
\tHe would just see any little glimpse of indication from Krishna as a great sign. And he would be enlivened by it! <\/p>\n
\tNow, if us? If we have a program, and eight people come, we think … \u201cCha.\u201d [Laughter] \u201cWhat did I even go there for?\u201d \u201cEight people?\u201d<\/p>\n
\tBut for Prabhupada, \u201cEight people have come! Three people have come!\u201d And he\u2019s writing back to his godbrothers in Calcutta, \u201cWe have a center now, in New York City!!!\u201d<\/p>\n
\tIt\u2019s just a flat, in the Bowery. On the top floor. And you have to walk up, step after step, all these steps. And Janaki was telling me. She went up those steps, when she first went to see Prabhupada in that loft. The steps were damp, dingy. They smelled moldy, like anything, that hallway. And it was dark. Even in the daytime it was dark. And she went all the way up, floor after floor after floor to the top, and she came up to this room that had no furniture, nothing. And Prabhupada was just sitting on the floor, and the only light in the room was just one bulb, just hanging from a wire on the ceiling. No shades or anything like that like these opulent facilities you have here.<\/p>\n
\tAnd Prabhupada was just sitting there, reading Bhagavad Gita, giving class. Hare Krishna. And he was enlivened. \u201cWe have a center!\u201d He\u2019s writing to his godbrothers, \u201cWe have a center in New York City!\u201d \u201cCome! Send some help, send some wealth!\u201d You know, \u201cLet\u2019s expand it for the pleasure of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur, Bhaktivinode Thakur, Mahaprabhu!\u201d But nobody took him seriously.<\/p>\n
\tAnd after some time that person took some LSD, and threatened to beat Prabhupada, and kill Prabhupada. In the middle of the night. He came to Janaki, Mukunda Maha… Prabhu\u2019s house at the time . . . now he\u2019s Mukunda Maharaja. And he was just standing there. And he said, \u201cNow I have no place to stay. Can I come stay with you?\u2019<\/p>\n
\tHe left Vrndavan, Seva Kunj, Radha Damodar temple. To do this? They weren\u2019t even devotees. They just happened to come to his class. They were the only other people he knew.<\/p>\n
\tWhy didn\u2019t he go back to India?<\/p>\n
\tSo they didn\u2019t know what to do. Because they really didn\u2019t want him to stay with them, because they weren\u2019t following regulative principles, and they were living together, and they weren\u2019t even married, and he was like this highly esteemed Swamiji, from India. <\/p>\n
\tIt was an emergency, they had to somehow or another find something for him. So they found 26 2nd Avenue, a little storefront. And somehow amongst all their friends they raised the first month\u2019s rent, and they told Prabhupada, \u201cWe won\u2019t be able to pay after the first month\u2019s rent. But here\u2019s a place for you.\u201d Haribol. A little apartment behind, across the courtyard.<\/p>\n
\tSo he started having classes…. put a little poster in the window, what time, what day the classes would be on Bhagavad Gita. But really hardly anyone was coming. And then one day he was just walking down the street. Where he was living, his typewriter was stolen, all his possessions were stolen, his life was at risk. He had just had two heart attacks. Stroke. Hare Krishna. He had nothing, nobody. But he kept preaching.<\/p>\n
\tAnd he was walking down Houston Street, and one man, he happened to see him and ran across the street, and said, \u201cAre you coming from India?\u201d And Prabhupada said, \u201cYes. Are you?\u201d [Laughter].<\/p>\n
\tHe\u2019s an American man, very big, tall man. And they started talking. And Prabhupada brought him to this, at 2nd Avenue. And he said, you know, \u201cPlease come, and come to my classes, and bring your friends.\u201d And then he asked him, \u201cHow do you like it?\u201d \u201cDo you have any suggestions?\u201d \u201cWhat I can do?\u201d \u201cWhat\u2019s better?\u201d Immediately, he very humbly, he was just asking for . . . for guidance. To engage him in his service . . . Krishna\u2019s service. And later that became Hayagriva Prabhu. <\/p>\n
\tAnd he started bringing his friends. And there was nobody there. Prabhupada said, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you move in?\u201d So they, just moved in. And they brought whatever they had, and decorated the walls with whatever they had. <\/p>\n
\tBecause they had been to India. Prabhupada came on the Jaladuta 1965. The return voyage Hayagriva and Kirtanananda Swami, the return voyage, they both went to India. But they didn\u2019t find anything, except some pictures, in Calcutta. And they took it back. <\/p>\n
\tAnd they put all these pictures they got in India on the walls. And they had no idea what these pictures were. They just thought they were \u201cpsychedelic\u201d. Monkeys flying with mountains, and somebody with six arms. And Prabhupada. . . People laying on snakes… and they thought, \u201cThis is amazing!\u201d<\/p>\n
\tSo Prabhupada was, he came… They surprised him. He came down to the storefront and it was all decorated. And he, he saw this one picture and he just bowed down and started offering prayers. . . And they were saying, \u201cWhat is this?\u201d He said \u201cThis is Sadbuja, Caitanya Mahaprabhu in His six-armed form, as Ram, Krishna and Caitanya Mahaprabhu.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tAnd one day, Prabhupada asked Hyagriva, \u201cCan you help me?\u201d He said, \u201csure.\u201d And Prabhupada said, \u201cCome up to my room.\u201d He came up to the room.<\/p>\n
\tAnd Prabhupada said, \u201cYou are a professor of English?\u201d<\/p>\n
\tHe said, \u201cyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cCan you edit something for me?\u201d \t \tHe said, \u201cI\u2019ll be happy to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tHe was expecting a page or an essay. [Laughter]. Prabhupada gave him like
\n800-page manuscript [laughter], tied together, with twine. You know, just tied. And he said, \u201cYou can start with this.\u201d [Laughter] <\/p>\n
\tAnd he said, \u201cAlright Swamiji\u201d, you know? And he said, and then, before. . . he was shocked, you know, he said, \u201cHow . . . ? You know, he could hardly carry it, like this . . . [gesturing]\n
\tAnd then Prabhupada looked at him and he said, \u201cAnd when your done with that \u2026 we have some more.\u201d And then he opened up these trunks with like thousands of pages of Prabhupada\u2019s manuscripts. Hare Krishna. And he did it. He started doing it, to the best of his capacity.<\/p>\n
\tNow, later on, due to his previous conditionings, he fell away from the regulative principles. He fell away from his sadhana. In fact, he was engaging in activities that devotees considered abominable. <\/p>\n
\tBut Srila Prabhupada, whenever he met any devotee who was from those olden times, he would ask, \u201cWhere is my Hayagriva? How is my Hayagriva?\u201d<\/p>\n
\tAnd one time in Hawaii, devotees told Prabhupada when he was there that, \u201cHe\u2019s somewhere around here.\u201d And Prabhupada said, \u201cPlease find him, tell him I really want to see him.\u201d But he was so ashamed. He was just living somewhere in seclusion. But when he got the message, he went. And he fell at Prabhupada\u2019s feet. This was after he had been away for some years. He fell at Prabhupada\u2019s feet, and he was weeping and crying, \u201cI\u2019m so ashamed of myself, Prabhupada.\u201d <\/p>\n
\tPrabhupada lifted him up, and embraced him. And Prabhupada cried. And said, \u201cYou are my son. I will never forget you.\u201d And he gave him another stack of manuscripts. [Laughter] <\/p>\n
\tNow, Prabhupada already had editors at that time. It\u2019s not that he desperately needed. But he just wanted to engage him. And he did. Prabhupada never forgets. <\/p>\n
\tAnd he told some other senior devotees, when he was– when Prabhupada was on his deathbed, and Hayagriva was still, you know, a distance, in a fallen condition. Prabhupada told devotees, \u201cI\u2019m giving you the responsibility to bring my Hayagriva back to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tYears later, in around 1988, I was in India. That\u2019s where I stay, in Bombay. And Hayagriva Prabhu came to our temple in Bombay, and he was extremely sick. He came to America and found that he had terminal cancer, of the spine, that had already spread all over his body, and there was no chance of his living. <\/p>\n
\tWhen he got that message, he totally surrendered to Prabhupada and Krishna. And I saw him. He just was \u2026 humble like a blade of grass. <\/p>\n
\tSometimes I\u2019d sit and read to him, and he would just be in rapt attention. So submissive. Anybody who was reading to him, he was just so submissive to the words in Prabhupada\u2019s books, and so absolutely respectful and humble to all the devotees. He was manifesting such unbelievable qualities. He was totally, totally, totally repentant for all the . . . all the misdeeds he had performed.<\/p>\n
\tHe was taking shelter of the Vaisnavas, taking shelter of Srila Prabhupada\u2019s books, taking shelter of the Deities. It was unbelievable to see the intensity of his devotion, and the genuineness. <\/p>\n
\tHe told me once, a story from the old days. Would you like to hear it? [\u201cHaribol!\u201d] Okay thank you. \u2018Cause I don\u2019t know how people are thinking about anything I say, unless I ask.<\/p>\n
\tHe said, \u201cAt one time, back in the 1960s, around \u201869 or something, Prabhupada wanted him to be the president of New Vrndaban. And Hayagriva was adamantly against being the temple president of New Vrindaban. But he had already heard from other sources that Prabhupada was going to ask him. <\/p>\n
\tSo he planned a whole strategy of arguments to convince Prabhupada that he could not be the president of New Vrindaban. He actually spent a week, just making his strategy, with all the arguments, scriptural quotes, social reasons, personal reasons. And he\u2019s a professor. <\/p>\n
\tSo he went into Prabhupada\u2019s room. He had memorized, he had prayed. He was armed. There was no way that he was going to be the president of New Vrindaban. Anything but that! <\/p>\n
\tSo Prabhupada says to him, \u201cThere\u2019s a service I would like you to render.\u201d And he says, \u201cYes, Prabhupada? What? What would you like?\u201d [Laughter]\n
\tAnd Prabhupada said, \u201cI want you . . . to take sannyas.\u201d [Laughter] It was like a flaming arrow that just pierced his chest, went right into the core of his heart and set it on fire. He was totally bewildered and off-balance. He said, \u201cPrabhupada, no. No! I am not qualified!\u201d \t \tPrabhupada said, \u201cNo, no, you are qualified.\u201d \t \tHe said, \u201cNo, no, Prabhupada! I have so many lusty desires\u201d. \t \tPrabhupada said, \u201cWell you can be purified. Just keep chanting.\u201d \t \tAnd he said, \u201cPrabhupada, I . . .I . . I can\u2019t do it.\u201d \t \tPrabhupada said, \u201cYou should take sannyas. I have already decided. There is no arguments.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tAnd he was just dumfounded. And he cried, \u201cPlease, please! Please don\u2019t make me take sannyas!\u201d And Prabhupada said, \u201cWell. . . you don\u2019t have to take sannyas if you become the president of New Vrindaban.\u201d [Laughter and clapping]\n
\tAnd Hyagriva said, \u201cThat\u2019s just the service I wanted to do, Prabhupada.\u201d [laughter] \u201cI\u2019ll be so grateful to be the president of New Vrindaban.\u201d [Laughter]\n
\tSo when he was on his deathbed he was telling me this story. And he thought, \u201cI really, I should take sannyas. Because I am going to die, and Prabhupada gave me this instruction.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tSo one of his godbrothers. . . He took sannyas. But he couldn\u2019t walk. He was paralyzed. So I remember. . . I had the fortune of carrying the danda from the yajna to bring to him. And as soon as he saw that danda, it was as if he was seeing Prabhupada personally coming in the room. And he just lit up. Laying in his bed, he just lit up, and his eyes just started streaming with tears.<\/p>\n
\tAnd he reached his arms up. And he said, \u201cPrabhupada. Prabhupada.\u201d He said, \u201cYears . . . decades ago you asked me to do this. And you\u2019ve been waiting so long for me, to surrender my life to you. You\u2019ve waited so long, Prabhupada. And now I\u2019m doing it for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThen he wept even more. He said, \u201cSrila Prabhupada.\u201d He said, \u201cAll these years I could have done so much for you.\u201d \u201cI do not regret that I am in pain, 24-hours a day. I do not regret that I\u2019m gonna die at any moment. I only have one regret: There\u2019s so much I could have done for you all these years, but due to the weakness of my heart I didn\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cBut Srila Prabhupada, you\u2019ve been waiting for me all this time.\u201d And he took that danda and put it to his head, and embraced it. And he left this world, in such an amazingly wonderful state of Krishna consciousness. <\/p>\n
\tWhat did I learn from that? Srila Prabhupada\u2019s gratitude. <\/p>\n
\tNehabhikrama naso \u2018sti pratyavayo na vidyate. He did some service, he pleased Srila Prabhupada, he pleased Krishna, and Krishna never forgot.<\/p>\n
\tAnd ultimately, at the most . . . when it was the time of the most dangerous type of fear, Prabhupada and Krishna was there to reclaim him. That is the power of devotional service. That is the power of the grace of Krishna. \t \tKrishna does not see simply what we offer. He sees the sincerity of the purpose in which everything is offered. Srila Prabhupada writes this in Caitanya Caritamrta.<\/p>\n
\tIn fact, Hayagriva showed me a letter that Prabhupada wrote to him, when he was in his fallen state. Srila Prabhupada said, \u201cBecause you once chanted Hare Krishna sincerely in Vrindaban, Krishna is going to rescue you, and save you, and bring you home.\u201d Haribol. That was Prabhupada\u2019s faith.<\/p>\n
\tSo yes, sometimes we may see devotees who have done great service, and they do stupid things. They even fall down. Now there is svarup laksana and there is tatastha. There is the core, principle qualities, and then there is the more relative qualities. Whatever service we do is absolute, is eternal. Whatever maya we do is relative. And that is a fact. <\/p>\n
\tSo no doubt, if somebody is not exemplary in their Krishna consciousness, we may not want to associate with them, because they may criticize, or they may pull us into their maya. So we offer obeisances from a distance. But we should not lose perspective. <\/p>\n
\tAnd what is the perspective? That, whatever offenses or sins a person does is relative within the laws of karma, and Krishna is going to beat them down, punish them, whatever has to be done. But through it all, the devotional service that they\u2019ve rendered is always there.<\/p>\n
\tTake an example like Hayagriva Prabhu. As far as I could see he went back home back to Godhead, by Prabhupada\u2019s causeless mercy. So who cares, what stupid things and mistakes he did in this world, if he\u2019s back home, back to Godhead?<\/p>\n
\tYes, Krishna sees our maya, and He\u2019ll rectify us one way or another. But He also sees the service that we\u2019ve rendered. And if that service is sincere in purpose, Krishna\u2019s eternally grateful.\t<\/p>\n[End of Part One]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
![\"Hare](\"http:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/untitlecdcdd1.jpg\")
By Radhanath Swami<\/strong><\/p>\n Take an example like Hayagriva Prabhu. As far as I could see he went back home back to Godhead, by Prabhupada\u2019s causeless mercy. So who cares, what stupid things and mistakes he did in this world, if he\u2019s back home, back to Godhead? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75,50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-classes","category-radhanath-swami"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6432\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/p>\n