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A Talk by Giriraj Swami<\/p>\n
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Sri Vrindavan Dham, Kazakhstan<\/p>\n
Hearing His Holiness Niranjana Swami\u2019s wonderful talk, I felt we were being elevated to the spiritual world. He quoted from Vishnujana Maharaja. Vishnujana had a program in which he went by boat along the Ganges River, in Bengal, and chanted the holy names all day, stopping at villages along the way and chanting and speaking and distributing books about Krishna. Once, when I was in Los Angeles recovering from being sick in India, Srila Prabhupada received an issue of Back to Godhead<\/em> with an article by Vishnujana Swami, and he remarked that Vishnujana had such nice realizations because he spent so many hours every day chanting.<\/p>\n While Niranjana Swami was speaking, I thought of an instructive incident that took place in Calcutta. The temple president there became preoccupied in a business that he had started to raise funds for the temple, and meanwhile the temple had almost no money. Somehow, in the course of his absorption in the business, there was some neglect of the devotees in the temple. They were barely surviving. A strong-bodied devotee named Sudama Vipra, who had belonged to the Hell\u2019s Angels motorcycle gang, was so famished that he would take the remnants of the ghee wicks that had been burned in the arati<\/em> and squeeze out whatever little ghee was left, just to get a little more nutrition. <\/p>\n The devotees were waiting for Srila Prabhupada to come so they could explain the situation to him and get some help. There were not very many devotees in India then, and Prabhupada allowed them to meet him quite freely. Eventually he called a meeting of all the devotees to give them a chance to express themselves. One by one, they spoke about their difficulties. At one stage Tamal Krishna Goswami, the GBC for India, protested: \u201cSrila Prabhupada, my only intention was to execute Your Divine Grace\u2019s will.\u201d And Prabhupada replied a little sarcastically, \u201cIs it My Divine Grace\u2019s will that the devotees should be disturbed?\u201d <\/p>\n Srila Prabhupada listened patiently and sympathetically to what all the devotees had to say, and he formed a committee to manage the temple. He said that they should meet every week and discuss all the programs and problems\u2014how to do things in the best way\u2014write their resolutions in a book, sign it, and then follow what they decided together. <\/p>\n But at a certain point Prabhupada\u2019s mood seemed to change. He told the devotees, \u201cAs long as we are in the material world, there will always be problems, but if we focus too much on the problems, we will forget our real business, which is to become Krishna conscious. Instead of thinking and talking about Krishna, we will think and talk about problems.\u201d Then Prabhupada spoke about himself, how much he had endured to spread Krishna consciousness. He had suffered two heart attacks at sea on the way to America, and in America he had a buzzing in his ears and terrible headaches. \u201cI do not wish even to tell you how much I suffered,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I never complained. My principle was always, \u2018Everything for Krishna, nothing for me,\u2019 and because that was my principle, I never had any complaint.\u201d<\/p>\n Once, Svarupa Damodara dasa, who later became Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami, told Srila Prabhupada, \u201cI have just one program, the Bhaktivedanta Institute, and I am always struggling with so many problems, and you are managing the whole society, the whole mission. How do you deal with all the problems?\u201d And Prabhupada replied, \u201cProblems? I don\u2019t see any problems. I only see service to my spiritual master.\u201d That was Prabhupada\u2019s mood, and that was his vision, and if we maintain the same spirit, we will not be inclined to find fault with other devotees or with external arrangements.<\/p>\n Srila Prabhupada was expert in inspiring and accepting service from devotees and potential devotees\u2014everyone. When he first began at 26 Second Avenue in New York City, there was a bum who heard him speak. Prabhupada said, \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what a person was doing before, what sinful activities. A person may not be perfect at first, but if he is engaged in service, then he will be purified.\u201d <\/p>\n Srila Prabhupada-lilamrta <\/em>describes:<\/p>\n \u201cSuddenly a Bowery derelict enters, whistling and drunkenly shouting. The audience remains seated, not knowing what to make of it.<\/p>\n \u201cDrunk: How are ya? I\u2019ll be right back. I brought another thing.<\/p>\n \u201cPrabhupada: Don\u2019t disturb. Sit down. We are talking seriously.<\/p>\n \u201cDrunk: I\u2019ll put it up there. In a church? All right. I\u2019ll be right back.<\/p>\n \u201cThe man is white-haired, with a short, grizzly beard and frowzy clothing. His odor reeks through the temple. But then he suddenly careens out the door and is gone. Prabhupada chuckles softly and returns immediately to his lecture.<\/p>\n \u201c \u2018So it doesn\u2019t matter what a person is doing before, if he engages in Krishna consciousness\u2014chanting Hare Krishna and Bhagavad-gita<\/em>\u2014it should be concluded that he is a saint. He is a saintly person. Api cet suduracaro.<\/em> Never mind if he may have some external immoral habit due to his past association. It doesn\u2019t matter. Some way or other, one should become Krishna conscious, and then gradually he will become a saintly person as he goes on executing this process of Krishna consciousness. . . . Krishna says that in such conditions, when one has decided to stop all immoral habits and just take to this process of Krishna consciousness, if by chance he does something which is immoral in the face of society, that should not be taken account of. In the next verse Krishna says, ksipram bhavati dharmatma<\/em>: because he has dovetailed himself in Krishna consciousness, it is sure that he will be saintly very soon.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cSuddenly the old derelict returns, announcing his entrance: \u2018How are ya?\u2019 He is carrying something. He maneuvers his way through the group, straight to the back of the temple, where Prabhupada is sitting. He opens the toilet room door, puts two rolls of bathroom tissue inside, closes the door, and then turns to the sink, sits some paper towels on top of it, and puts two more rolls of bathroom tissue and some more paper towels under the sink. He then stands and turns around toward the Swami and the audience. The Swami is looking at him and asks, \u2018What is this?\u2019 The bum is silent now; he has done his work. Prabhupada begins to laugh, thanking his visitor, who is now moving towards the door: \u2018Thank you. Thank you very much.\u2019 The bum exits. \u2018Just see,\u2019 Prabhupada now addresses his congregation. \u2018It is a natural tendency to give some service. Just see, he is not in order, but he thought that, \u201cHere is something. Let me get some service.\u201d Just see how automatically it comes. This is natural.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n Srila Prabhupada was also expert at utilizing, or dovetailing, different things in devotional service. Another time, someone brought a bunch of leaflets advertising a Mayavadi program. Prabhupada was very strong against the Mayavada philosophy. He often said, \u201cAnyone who says that he is god, he is dog.\u201d So we were wondering what action he would take in protest to these leaflets, but he found a way to engage them in Krishna\u2019s service. At the end of the program, when the devotees were distributing prasada<\/em> to the guests, he had them hand out the leaflets for the people to use as plates for their prasada<\/em>, thus engaging even the Mayavadis in Krishna\u2019s service.<\/p>\n An interesting event took place some time later, when Srila Prabhupada was in Mayapur. He had honored prasada<\/em>, and his servant had taken away the plate with his remnants. After a little while, Prabhupada heard sounds of a conflict coming from the next room, so he asked his servant to find out what was happening. When he heard the report, he called for his two assistants, Tamal Krishna Goswami and Harikesa dasa, who had been arguing.<\/p>\n It turned out that several days earlier, Tamal Krishna had asked Prabhupada if he could eat what was left in the pots of prasada<\/em> that had been prepared for Prabhupada, because he was finding the rice the devotees ate in Mayapur too coarse to digest. Prabhupada had approved Tamal Krishna\u2019s request, but Harikesa, his cook, had previously been instructed by Srila Prabhupada that Prabhupada\u2019s remnants should not be monopolized by his immediate staff but should be distributed to other devotees. So, Harikesa objected to Tamal Krishna\u2019s taking possession of all the leftovers, and thus the dispute.<\/p>\n As related in Hari-sauri\u2019s Diary<\/em>, \u201cPrabhupada called them both onto the veranda. After hearing their arguments, he managed to resolve the issue to everyone\u2019s satisfaction. . . .<\/p>\n He gave his permission for Tamal Krishna to eat what was left in the pots, but also confirmed his desire that his prasadam<\/em> be distributed. . . .<\/p>\n \u201cThen he went on to explain that the Vaishnava attitude in dealing with one another is one of humility. He gave the example of the pilgrims that come here to Mayapur. As one man comes along the road, another tries to touch his feet. The former shies away from being so honored because he is thinking, \u2018I am not a Vaishnava, I am just an ordinary man. I am simply trying my best to become a Vaishnava.\u2019 On the other hand the person who is touching his feet is thinking that unless he gets the dust of a Vaishnava on his head he will not be able to advance.<\/p>\n \u201c \u2018Actually,\u2019 Prabhupada said, \u2018this is a fact. One has to be blessed by a devotee to become a devotee. And he who is the servant of the servant of the servant\u2014one hundred times removed\u2014is not worse than one who directly serves the guru. If one thinks, \u201cBecause I am direct servant, I am better than others,\u201d then he is not a Vaishnava. To offer one\u2019s respects to guru and not to his disciples, this is wrong. This is not Vaishnava. One has to be humble and try to serve all Vaishnavas\u2014not some and not others.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n A situation arose, I believe in New York, in which there was a lot of judging and criticizing among the devotees, and Srila Prabhupada said that we should be very careful about judging other devotees, because we never know what their actual consciousness is and we may not be able to properly assess their consciousness based on external appearances and behavior. He told a story about a brahman and a prostitute who lived opposite each other on the same street.<\/p>\n All day the brahman would sit before his window with his Bhagavad-gita<\/em>, and across the street the prostitute would be doing her business with her customers. One day a calamity occurred and they both died. The Yamadutas and the Visnudutas came, the former to take the sinful soul to Yamaraja to be judged and punished, the latter to take the purified soul to Vaikuntha, the abode of Lord Vishnu. When the Yamadutas came to take the soul of the brahman, he protested. \u201cNo, no. You are making a mistake. You are supposed to be coming for the prostitute. The Visnudutas are supposed to be coming for me.\u201d But the Yamadutas replied, \u201cNo, we are not making a mistake. All the time you were sitting with your Bhagavad-gita<\/em>, you were looking out your window at the prostitute, absorbed in her activities. So by your consciousness you are fit to be taken to hell and punished. And the prostitute, all the time she was with her customers, was glancing out the window at you and thinking, \u201cOh, that pious brahman is so fortunate. All day he is absorbed in thoughts of Krishna\u2014\u2018Krishna is driving Arjuna\u2019s chariot, Krishna is speaking the philosophy of the Bhagavad-gita<\/em> to Arjuna\u2019\u2014and in this way she was constantly absorbed in Krishna\u2019s teachings and activities. By her consciousness she is fit to go back home, back to Godhead.\u201d<\/p>\n Srila Prabhupada told this story to make the point that we should be careful about judging devotees\u2014or anyone. We don\u2019t know their consciousness. And if we become absorbed in their faults, real or imagined, our consciousness becomes faulty.<\/p>\n On different occasions, when asked what the devotees should do about quarrelling in temples, Srila Prabhupada gave different\u2014but complementary\u2014answers. In one instance he said that if each devotee considers that he is a servant of the servants, there will be no fighting. In another case he said that the way to overcome dissention and dissatisfaction and fractions, to become united, was for the devotees to engage together in common activities. And as devotees, our main common activities are chanting and hearing about Krishna, engaging in kirtan, and taking prasada<\/em>.<\/p>\n In relation to both accepting service from a person and not causing distress to any living entity, there was an incident in Indore, in the state of Madhya Pradesh in Central India. Srila Prabhupada was invited with some disciples to the home of a relative of the royal family. There, we were served lunch in a beautiful room with chandeliers and a carved wood banquet table. Srila Prabhupada sat at the head of the table, and I was to his right. I felt very nervous, because the hosts served a really opulent feast, and I was trying to be very controlled, partly because I was afraid of getting diarrhea (something we were all prone to) and partly because I didn\u2019t want Prabhupada to think that I was a sense enjoyer. The prasada<\/em> was really good but really rich, drenched in ghee. <\/p>\n I got through the meal, but then the host\u2019s elderly father came around the table with second helpings of rasagullas<\/em>. All the other devotees took seconds, but I refused. I was a brahmachari, and I was being staunch\u2014and showing Srila Prabhupada. But the gentleman really wanted me to take. He repeatedly tried to give me one more, and each time I refused. Prabhupada saw that the host\u2019s father was becoming disappointed. Finally Prabhupada glanced at me, and with great love and compassion in his eyes and voice, he said, \u201cYou can take a sweet to make an old man happy.\u201d And so I accepted another sweet. Srila Prabhupada wanted the old man to be happy, though later one devotee commented that by taking the sweet I had also made another old man happy\u2014Srila Prabhupada.<\/p>\n It was really instructive to be with Prabhupada and see how he, the world acharya and at the same time a spontaneous devotee, responded in different situations. <\/p>\n How Krishna, or a devotee of Krishna, can magnify the service of an aspiring devotee, can be seen in an incident that took place in Bombay. At the time, Srila Prabhupada was still struggling to get the Juhu land, and one morning he was sitting in his room discussing with his leading managers and even some guests how to solve this problem. Suddenly a very rough-looking man appeared at the door. He had a dark complexion and a muscular, sinewy build and was wearing only a simple white cloth around his waist. He was obviously a laborer. As we looked on, he walked into the room, came right up to Prabhupada\u2019s desk\u2014Prabhupada always sat on a cushion behind a low desk\u2014and placed on the table a bunch of flowers that he had collected from somewhere. Then he bowed down, got up, and walked out. <\/p>\n Srila Prabhupada was so moved that he could not speak. For some moments he just looked down, and when finally he did speak, his voice was choked up. He said, \u201cJust see this man. How did he even know I was here? Somehow he heard that there was a saintly person in the house, and he went and collected some flowers, the best he could, and came and presented them as an offering. I am so much moved.\u201d Then he said, \u201cIn the Bhagavad-gita<\/em> Krishna says, patram puspam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayacchati<\/em>, that if one offers Him even a leaf or a flower with devotion, He will accept it. Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and He is moved even by a simple offering of a flower or a leaf, and I am just an insignificant living entity, so how much more I will feel moved.\u201d So, that is Krishna\u2019s nature, and that is Srila Prabhupada\u2019s nature, to take the smallest service and magnify it. <\/p>\n Srila Prabhupada mentioned different categories of devotees. He said that in the lowest category one will find a slight discrepancy in someone\u2019s behavior and make a big thing out of it, in the next category one will see both the good and the bad but give more emphasis to the bad, and in the next category one will see both the good and the bad give equal consideration to both; the more advanced devotee will see both the good and the bad but give more importance to the good, and the highest devotee will see someone do a little service and make a big thing out of it. <\/p>\n Of course, we cannot artificially imitate someone on a higher platform, but by associating with more advanced devotees, we can learn from them how devotees think and feel, and also see practically how they behave\u2014learn from them how to see the good rather than the defects in others and how to appreciate others\u2019 service and not demand anything for ourselves.<\/p>\n One example that comes to mind is His Holiness Niranjana Swami, but I am really torn: if I use him as an example, he may feel distress, but at the same time, it will be very informative and purifying for us. Because his mood is always to encourage other devotees, he might be willing to tolerate that discomfort, but at the same time, I don\u2019t want to make him feel uncomfortable. Anyway, I already have, so I better just finish it up quickly. <\/p>\n I had the opportunity to host Maharaja in California and, with a team of devotees, serve him. Being naturally inspired by his presence, we all really wanted to give him the best we could, but once, it came out that we hadn\u2019t provided him something that he could have used, because we didn\u2019t know that he needed it. Two or three things came up like that, and I asked him, \u201cMaharaja, why didn\u2019t you say anything? Weren\u2019t you disturbed by our lacking?\u201d And he replied, \u201cI don\u2019t feel I deserve anything. That\u2019s why I don\u2019t ask, and that\u2019s why I\u2019m not disturbed.\u201d That is a Vaishnava.<\/p>\n Association. I gain so much from the association of my godbrothers, who are so exemplary in so many ways. We shouldn\u2019t think that we can learn only from our guru. We can learn from any devotee who is exemplary in any way. Part of being a servant of the servants is that you learn from the servants you serve\u2014from their examples, their behavior, even small comments they make. They don\u2019t have give a discourse or a class. You can learn from just a few words or a small action or gesture. <\/p>\n It is very purifying, because we come into the material world out of envy of Krishna, and that envy can be very deep-rooted and ongoing for countless lifetimes, but by serving and appreciating devotees and learning from them, from their exemplary behavior and words, we can become purified of that longstanding envy. Glorifying devotees is extremely purifying. In a way, it is easier to glorify Krishna\u2014or Srila Prabhupada or our personal spiritual master\u2014because He is in a different category, but to glorify our godbrothers and godsisters is very purifying, because we can see ourselves as being in the same category, so in a way it is easier for us to fall into bad ways of thinking\u2014being envious and jealous and competing and wanting what they have and wishing we had it, and so on. <\/p>\n The association of my godbrothers has been extremely nourishing and encouraging and purifying for me ever since Srila Prabhupada\u2019s departure. In an exchange I had with Tamal Krishna Goswami in Dallas, he confided in me that even with all his association with Srila Prabhupada and all three initiations\u2014hari-nama<\/em>, Gayatri, and sannyasa\u2014he still didn\u2019t feel that his relationship with Srila Prabhupada alone was enough to sustain him in his spiritual life. He said that he also felt the need for siksa-gurus<\/em>, godbrothers whose instructions he took very seriously. And he named a number whom he considered to be his siksa-gurus<\/em>\u2014Sivarama Swami, Bhurijana Prabhu, and others. <\/p>\n At that time, my mood was different, because I had put a lot of faith in some godbrothers who had fallen down and left the association of devotees, and after those incidents I practically vowed, \u201cI am never going to put my faith in anyone again\u2014except Srila Prabhupada.\u201d So I heard what Tamal Krishna Goswami said, and I took it seriously, but it went against my resolution. <\/p>\n The next morning, we went for the morning program, and after mangala-arati<\/em> Goswami Maharaja and all the devotees chanted japa<\/em> in the temple. The japa<\/em> was very intense, and there were many nice paintings of Krishna lila<\/em> on the walls. I was chanting and chanting, going deeper and deeper, when this thought just overpowered my mind\u2014that what Goswami Maharaja had said was true: we can\u2019t do it on our own. I realized, \u201cI can\u2019t do it on my own, just on the basis of my relationship with Srila Prabhupada. I do need siksa-gurus<\/em> in my life.\u201d And it came to me almost equally clearly that Goswami Maharaja was meant to be my siksa-guru<\/em>, or at least one of them. I didn\u2019t want to disturb him during his japa<\/em>, but I felt that I just had to tell him. So I turned to him and said, \u201cI thought about what you said, and I believe it is true. I also need guidance, and I think you are meant to be my siksa-guru<\/em>.\u201d He gave a knowing glance and a little smile, and we continued with our chanting.<\/p>\n The night before, I had told Goswami Maharaja that I felt very isolated, because at that time some of the biggest leaders in the movement had left, and there was chaos in large geographical areas of the movement. I was trying to deal with things in Mauritius and South Africa, and I wanted godbrothers to come there, but they were dealing with similar crises in other places\u2014England, most of Europe, Australia, and parts of America. So I told Goswami Maharaja, \u201cI really feel isolated in Mauritius and South Africa. No one can come there. I don\u2019t know what to do for association.\u201d He said, \u201cYou have to go out of your way to get it.\u201d So if it has to be Kazakhstan, I will come to Kazakhstan\u2014or Ukraine, or wherever. You all are really blessed, because Krishna sends senior devotees to visit you.<\/p>\n Although in general we don\u2019t want to find faults in devotees, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that sometimes in order to protect a dependent devotee from bad association, we have to point out the faults of another person. In other words, because the association and service of devotees is so important, we have to be able to distinguish between who is a devotee and who is not. Someone might be regarded as a devotee in popular circles who may actually not be a devotee. He could be a Mayavadi or a pretender or an atheist, and to protect innocent people from such association, we might have to point out who is actually a devotee and who is not. Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that if any person argues that criticizing such nondevotees is an offense, that person\u2019s association should also be avoided.<\/p>\n One of Srila Prabhupada\u2019s friends in Bombay, Dr. Patel, had been born in a Vaishnava family and followed Vaishnava principles of purity, but he often talked like an impersonalist, and when Prabhupada would accuse him of being a Mayavadi, he would beg to differ: \u201cNo, Sir. I am a Vaishnava.\u201d <\/p>\n One day, on a morning walk on Juhu Beach, Srila Prabhupada happened to criticize a famous Indian religious figure whom Dr. Patel revered, and Dr. Patel became very upset. \u201cYou cannot criticize like this!\u201d he said. But Prabhupada replied, \u201cI am not saying. Krishna is saying: na mam duskrtino mudhah prapadyante naradhamah<\/em>\u2014anyone who does not surrender to Krishna is a fool, rascal, demon, the lowest of mankind. I am not saying; Krishna is saying.\u201d <\/p>\n Still, Dr. Patel kept insisting, \u201cYou cannot criticize like that!\u201d The argument escalated to the point where Dr. Patel was shouting at Srila Prabhupada and Prabhupada was actually shouting back. Dr. Patel was a leader among his friends\u2014he was a little intelligent, educated in England, a doctor\u2014but even his friends were catching hold of his arm and saying, \u201cSwamiji has a heart condition. Don\u2019t upset him.\u201d They tried to drag him away. He was shouting, and Prabhupada was shouting, and we all were very disturbed. Finally they pulled Dr. Patel away.<\/p>\n Back in Srila Prabhupada\u2019s room, Tamal Krishna Goswami asked Prabhupada, \u201cWhy do you tolerate him? What is his actual position? Is he a Vaishnava? Is he a Mayavadi? What is he?\u201d In response, Prabhupada told a story about a man who could speak fluently in many languages. He came to a place, but nobody could figure out where he was actually from. In whatever language people addressed him, he immediately responded perfectly in that language. So, it was a big topic among the village people\u2014where he was from. Finally one man said, \u201cI will find out.\u201d<\/p>\n One day that man snuck up behind the speaker of many languages and gave him a very hard whack, and then the linguist began cursing in his original language. Srila Prabhupada said that Dr. Patel was like that. \u201cHe can speak like a Vaishnava, he can speak like a Mayavadi, he can speak like a nationalist,\u201d Prabhupada said. \u201cHe can speak many different languages expertly. But when I hit him where it really hurt, his real language came out.\u201d So then Tamal Krishna Goswami asked, \u201cWell, then why do you tolerate him?\u201d And Prabhupada replied, \u201cIt is our duty to engage everyone.\u201d That is real compassion. <\/p>\n Of course, Prabhupada accomplished many things in what he did. He also created a lot of interesting discussions for us to hear. And I think he actually liked Dr. Patel, and Dr. Patel actually liked and respected him, but they just had that relationship.<\/p>\n The next story also involves Dr. Patel and shows how Prabhupada appreciated his disciples and protected them. When Dr. Patel first heard about the devotees, we had just come to the Juhu land and were living in very simple tents. It became so hot that devotees often just slept outdoors, and they were getting bit by mosquitoes, and some got malaria, jaundice\u2014so many diseases. Dr. Patel was really impressed by their sacrifice and surrender, so he took up a collection to give each devotee a thin mattress, a pillow, a mosquito net, and a blanket for the winter. He was a proud man, but he went to the big cloth market in Bombay, from stall to stall, to beg, and eventually he presented twelve sets, for all the devotees. <\/p>\n If you\u2019ve ever lived in an ashram, you know how it is. After a while, one blanket went missing, then two pillows disappeared, and gradually the hard-earned gift that Dr. Patel had begged for the devotees was down to just a few remnants. And finally, the last mosquito net, the last pillow, the last blanket, and the last mattress all disappeared\u2014there was not even a trace, not a single thread.<\/p>\n So, one day, again on a morning walk, Dr. Patel brought up the topic of his gift of the twelve sets of bedding, complaining to Srila Prabhupada that the devotees hadn\u2019t take care of them and that now nothing was left. \u201cYou know the reason?\u201d Prabhupada replied. \u201cThese boys and girls who have come to serve me don\u2019t identify with the body. They don\u2019t care if they have a mattress or a pillow or a mosquito net or a blanket. As long as they can chant the holy name and serve their spiritual master, they\u2019re satisfied.\u201d And then he said, \u201cThat moksha that you are so eager to get, they already have.\u201d <\/p>\n In a very skillful and intelligent way, Prabhupada had expressed his appreciation for the devotees, and he had spoken in such a way as to humble Dr. Patel and make him understand how exalted the devotees actually were. Of course, as we\u2019ve matured, we\u2019ve understood more about the principle of yukta-vairagya<\/em>, about taking care of Krishna\u2019s property\u2014not for our sense gratification, but for Krishna\u2019s service. But still, what Prabhupada said was true. <\/p>\n Srila Prabhupada was very merciful to us, his disciples, and he was merciful to Dr. Patel. He was merciful to everyone. He was an ocean of mercy. And if we can come close to that ocean, if some waves from that ocean hit us and eventually carry us into that ocean, our lives will be perfect, and we will be able to touch others with some waves from that ocean, and they will also benefit. <\/p>\n
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By Giriraj Swami<\/strong><\/p>\n