'Just continue Chanting; All problems will be solved'- Srila Prabhupada

Srila Prabhupada visited the Hyderabad farm for two weeks during December 1976. He had a lot of hope for the project and had assigned three managing trustees—Mahamsa Swami, Hamsaduta Swami, and myself—to get it going. Unfortunately, due to miscommunication, paranoia, and a desire for control, there were big misunderstandings building up between Mahamsa Swami and the two of us.

Srila Prabhupada tried to mediate, sometimes jolting me with statements such as “Do not be bureaucratic” and even instructing me to “go out in back, fight it out with Mahamsa like cats and dogs, finish this up, and get the project going.” We all felt frustrated and wanted a solution, but we were not talking with each other.

One day, looking for solace, direction, and inspiration, we all—separately but at the same exact moment—reached the door to Srila Prabhupada’s room. When we entered, we were astounded by what we saw: The sun was shining through the window, bathing Srila Prabhupada with golden-white rays. His eyes were firmly closed but without strain or tightness. He sat upright behind his desk, on his cushion, his right hand in his bead bag. You could see how attentively he was fingering the beads, and you could hear their clacking as he rubbed them between his fingers. You could even see the bag’s cloth rustling around them. His face was serene, but there was every indication that he was fixed in hearing the holy name. As he chanted—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare—his tongue rolled in his mouth and his lips moved in a circle. He seemed to be tasting something delicious, chewing it with care to savor every bit. His chanting was quite distinct; the words were clear and articulate, and he pressed down on each syllable. His head swung slightly side to side with a bit of an up-and-down movement.

Simultaneously, all three of us thrust our hands into our bead bags and joined His Divine Grace in japa. At least for the moment, we were united and transcendent to our differences. Together, as brothers, we watched him with wide-open eyes, delighting in this rare vision. After some time, Srila Prabhupada opened his eyes for a moment and without moving his head looked gently but seriously at us, one after the other, and pronounced, “Just go on chanting and all your problems will be solved.”

Srila Prabhupada’s disciple Tejiyas dasa sent me this remembrance, and I thought to share it with you. – HH Giriraj Swami

Real Purpose of ISKCON - Sadhu Sanga

“By service of the Absolute Truth, even for a few days, a devotee attains firm and fixed intelligence in Me. Consequently he goes on to become My associate in the transcendental world after giving up the present deplorable material worlds.” 
(SB 1.6.23)


With that firm, fixed intelligence we should remain focused on the goal of Krishna and not be distracted by the paltry pleasures and petty perturbations of this deplorable material world. It is deplorable because, although by nature we are eternal, full of knowledge, and full of bliss, the material world is full of ignorance and misery, and furthermore it is temporary. Also deplorable is that we come to the material world to forget Krishna and try to take His place. But when our intelligence becomes fixed on the goal of Krishna, we can go to Krishna and become His personal associate.


Sometimes there are problems. Of course, there are always problems in the material world; even in the association of devotees there can be problems. But we should not forget our real goal. Srila Prabhupada wrote, “Although there may be some difficulties within our society [ISKCON], these things are not very important. What is important is that we should simply fix our mind on Krishna’s lotus feet. This is His instruction in the Bhagavad-gita [man-mana bhava mad-bhakto]. So we associate with one another so that we can assist each other in hearing and chanting about Krishna. That is the purpose of our society, to assist each other in hearing and chanting about Krishna. This you will not find in the materialistic society, where all hearing and chanting is simply concerned with sense gratification. So, our desire is Krishna, and we want to go back home, back to Godhead, where Krishna lives eternally. So you simply follow my instructions as I have given them to you and surely your life will be a success.” (Letter dated November 22, 1974)


This is the real purpose of our society, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness: to become Krishna conscious—to chant and hear about Krishna and fix our minds on Krishna, mainly through the process of chanting and hearing in the association of devotees.

We should always keep in mind what is the purpose of our society. As Srila Prabhupada mentioned directly in his letter, and indirectly in the verse and purport, and throughout his books, it is to fix the mind on the lotus feet of Krishna and assist each other in hearing and chanting about Krishna and remembering Him. With that perspective we can make progress without being unnecessarily distracted by the petty problems, or so-called problems, of the material world—because we are fixed on the goal. We have to deal with the material world—we have to keep the body and soul together and to do so many things to live in this world. And we have to expand the mission of Krishna consciousness—that was very much Srila Prabhupada’s mood, gosthy-anandi. But again, as Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said, “The best gosthy-anandi is a bhajananandi who preaches.” So when we actually experience that bliss, that ananda, in bhajana, in chanting and hearing about Krishna, we get the conviction and inspiration and potency to actually preach, to touch people’s hearts with Krishna consciousness.

So we should remain fixed on our goal and the process to achieve it. And as this verse says, after even only a few days of being engaged in the service of the Absolute Truth a devotee attains firm and fixed intelligence in Krishna and consequently, after giving up the present deplorable material worlds, goes on to become Krishna’s associate in the transcendental world.

— HH Giriraj Swami

Thoughts on Earth Day

On Earth Day, I thought of a prayer that resonated with me in my youth. “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For He has founded it on the seas, and established it on the floods. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, or who shall stand in His holy place? He that has clean hands, and a pure heart; who has not lifted up his soul to vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord.” (Psalm 24:1-5)

Later, when I met Srila Prabhupada, I came across a verse, spoken by the Lord Himself, Krishna, which confirmed and expanded the same principle. “A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.” (Bhagavad-gita 5.29)

How, then, should we deal with the earth and its resources? “Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.” (Isopanisad 1)

Thus one should be happy and satisfied in Krishna (God) consciousness.

Hare Krishna

Yamuna Devi Dasi & Srila Prabhupada - Vani and Vapuh Seva

By HH Giriraj Swami

In 1971 Srila Prabhupada went to Allahabad for the Ardha-kumbha-mela, and Yamuna-devi and I were in the party that accompanied him. Srila Prabhupada spoke on the story of Ajamila and the holy name, from the Sixth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Only the first two cantos had been translated and published, so Prabhupada read from his Sanskrit Bhagavatam with commentaries, sometimes translating from Sridhara Svami’s and occasionally from Jiva Gosvami’s. While there, I heard that Srila Prabhupada had said that he was speaking for Yamuna. And in April 2007, when Yamuna visited me in Santa Barbara, I asked her about it, and she told me something that etched an indelible impression on my heart.

As she explained, she had always thought that she had as much right as anyone to walk or sit close to Srila Prabhupada. And generally when he spoke, she would sit right in front of the vyasasana. But in Allahabad one of the sannyasis explained to her that in India the women sat apart and that she should too. So the next morning she did not sit in her usual place at Srila Prabhupada’s feet.

Later that morning, Srila Prabhupada noticed her passing by his tent, and he called, “Yamuna, come in here.” She entered and offered her obeisances, and before she got up he said, “So, you don’t want to hear anymore?” Yamuna burst into tears; Prabhupada—hearing from him—was her life. “Where were you this morning?” he asked. Yamuna told him exactly what had happened. Prabhupada was silent.
That, as she told me, was a turning point in her life. She realized that she would not always have Prabhupada’s company. Until then, she had not been able to conceive of ever being separated from him. In 1967 Prabhupada had had a stroke, and the devotees had chanted all night, and Prabhupada had recuperated. The devotees were so dependent on him for everything, it was inconceivable to them that he would not be with them. But, she told me, every disciple must come to a personal realization that there will be a time when the spiritual master will not be present. And for her that moment came in Allahabad, after her talks with the sannyasi and then with Srila Prabhupada.

Sitting in Prabhupada’s tent, she asked him, “How much time did you actually spend with your guru maharaja?” “Very few occasions—maybe five or six,” he said. “But they were very intimate. We used to walk and talk so many things.” Then he said, “Those who think that association with the spiritual master is physical, they are no better than a mosquito sitting on the lap of a king. And what is the business of a mosquito? Simply to suck blood. So many of my godbrothers, they were big, big sannyasis, and they thought like that, and they simply sucked blood.”

Yamuna took Prabhupada’s words as confirmation. From that point on, she understood that she needed to explore her relationship with him and service to him in separation. She began to consider the question of vani (words, instructions) and vapuh (physical presence), and she got more and more insight into it. As she told me, it is something “unlimitedly deep and profound. You can hear the terms on the surface, but it’s something else again to actually be in Prabhupada’s presence”—to be in his presence as much in separation as when you were in his physical association. “So that was a turning point for me, to realize that Prabhupada was going to leave this planet: ‘He is an old man, and he is going to leave, and I have to prepare.’ ” She understood that from that moment she had to start mentally preparing.

“So that is that story of hearing,” she continued. “Prabhupada said, ‘I am speaking because you want to hear so much. I am speaking as much because you want to hear so much.’ So he knew that hunger. I never expressed that to him, but he knew.”As Yamuna often said, Srila Prabhupada was completely aware of every disciple in every way, both their internal consciousness and the external manifestations of their service.
Vani and vapuh became a major theme in Yamuna-devi’s life—how to maintain one’s connection with Srila Prabhupada through vani to the same degree and with the same intensity as in his presence—his close physical presence. She was convinced that it was possible, and she arranged her life in such a way as to always receive his guidance and mercy—to always be in his association.

At about 6:30 in the morning on December 20, Yamuna’s constant companion and spiritual confidante, Dinatarini dasi, found that she had left. Her hand was in her bead bag, and a slight smile was on her face. She looked completely at peace—even blissful. She had not been afraid of death. She had been confident that she would again be with Prabhupada, or somehow engaged in serving his mission. Such is the destination that awaits anyone who gives his or her life fully to serving Srila Prabhupada.

Yamuna-devi was a beautiful person—a divine servant of Srila Prabhupada, his mission, and his Lords. She exemplified nama-ruci (taste for the holy name), jiva-daya (mercy for the living entities), and vaisnava-seva (service to the devotees). She was a mentor, guide, and friend to many, including me. We will miss her personal presence. Still, we shall try to serve her in separation by upholding the ideals.