Celebrating our duty
It is Vyasa Puja. I would like to begin by quoting Srila Prabhupada who spoke in his Vyasa Puja event in Bhaktivedanta Manor in 1973 as follows:
“Everyone has got duty in Krishna consciousness. This duty is taught by Krishna and the spiritual master, guru-kṛṣṇa-kripa pāya bhakti-latā-bīja. Anyone who is coming to Krishna consciousness, he is not an ordinary living being. He is not an ordinary living being. (Srila Prabhupada says it twice.) Actually, he is a liberated soul. And I am very much hopeful that my disciples who are participating today... If I die, my movement will not stop. I am very much hopeful. Yes, all these nice boys and girls who have taken this so seriously. Bhaktivinode Thakur wanted that European and American people may understand the philosophy of Chaitanya cult and take part in it. That was his desire.”
I find this excerpt appropriate and inspiring for all of us. It is very interesting to see what Srila Prabhupada did when devotees came to London in 1973 to glorify him. He turned around and glorified the devotees, his disciples, and his followers. He inspired them by expressing his hope. I thought it is appropriate for us too to take the spirit of Srila Prabhupada. In many talks that Srila Prabhupada gave on Vyasa Puja occasions, he emphasized the observance of Vyasa Puja. And at least on one occasion, he also said that this is the seat of Vyasa. And he would explain how it is that he is sitting on the seat of Vyasa. We have so much to celebrate and to appreciate!
In “The teachings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu” it is said to Srila Rupa Goswami:
brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva
guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja
Srila Prabhupada quotes it in a slightly different way: guru-kṛṣṇa-kripaya pāya… What is the brahmanda? It is where we all are. We are all in this Brahma egg, the universe. And what are we doing here? Bhramite… We are wandering. And as for myself I can only say, I don’t know and I am glad I don’t know, where I would be wondering if I hadn’t had the good fortune of receiving the mercy of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada and his followers and disciples. It is better not to think of where I would be…
guru-krishna-parasade paya…
You all were just singing: yasya prasada bhagavad prasada yasya prasada nagati kutopi… Without this prasada from Guru and Krishna, the goal can’t be reached. Therefore, we celebrate on this day especially that fortunate recipience of the grace, mercy of the guru and Krishna. It is a combination. It’s not only guru, not only Krishna, it is a combination through which Guru and Krishna work together to give us prasada.
That can mean two things: prasadam that is being distributed in India on the occasion of one’s birthday (that is one meaning), and another prasadam (with a broader meaning), mercy or grace or the sense of satisfaction or being pleased about the fact that the Lord and His devotee have come forward and let you commit yourselves to the business of serving Krishna.
What we are doing here is reconfirming our commitment. That leads us to the following words of Srila Prabhupada from the same Vyasa Puja address: “Everyone has got a duty in Krishna consciousness.” It is nice to remember this spirit sometimes or better all the time. We want to have this sense of duty.
Sometimes our circumstances are difficult. Not sometimes. Most of the time. Right? Why most of the time? All the time. What do we do in our difficult circumstances? We take shelter of Krishna, and one important way of taking shelter of Krishna is through the sense of duty. Sometimes we may feel not so keen to engage in the business of Krishna but we think: “This is my duty.” Why? Because it is simply my position in life, it is my svadharma to serve Krishna in all circumstances. One way or another.
A few days ago, I attended an online ISKCON gurus sanga. Sometimes we do that. We need to encourage each other. And H.H. Bhakti Vijnana Goswami Maharaja, who always speaks in such a brilliant way, spoke on the distinction between religion and science. Just as Srila Prabhupada did, he was also emphasising that Krishna consciousness is a science, not a religion - in a sense of how religion is normally understood. He gave several categories to explain the mentality of someone who joins a religion. It is an attitude of “I would just follow along whatever is there in this religion, and I will be guaranteed to reach heaven or some sort of perfection.” In contrast to this, Bhakti Vijnana Goswami Maharaja made the point that a devotee who is engaged in the science of Krishna consciousness is always seeking the truth and is always living in the truth, not faking it. Science is a constant pursuit of the truth. How do we pursuit that truth? In the Bhagavad-gita 4.34, Krishna famously gives a little formula:
tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśhnena sevayā
upadekṣhyanti te jñānaṁ jñāninas tattva-darśhinaḥ
Gurus, tattva darsis, can give us so much. The process of asking questions and pursuing the truth is ongoing. Another point, Bhakti Vijnana Goswami Maharaja made was that there is no limit to service. It is nice to be conscious of the fact that there is always plenty of service. Sometimes we may feel there are obstacles to our service. Sometimes we may feel that someone else, perhaps another devotee is an obstacle to our service. That is the mentality of the one who is practicing in a religion. When there is a religious sense then there is a sense that I must compete with others to serve the guru and Krishna. Others are getting in the way, and I need to push my way through. The scientific practice of Krishna consciousness is the understanding that service is unlimited and there is always more than enough opportunity to serve, if I want to. If I want to serve, Krishna will give me the intelligence to see how to do it. Krishna will give the intelligence.
Home
On this occasion, besides the connection with Krishna and the guru we also celebrate the fact that we have a home: our spiritual home, our theological home, and our devotional home. This devotional home consists of opportunities to serve the Vaisnvas, guru, Krishna. What a relief for us to recognize what we are, who we are, why we are, and what we are doing in this universe! It is such a relief to recognize and remember that we are servants. How sweet is it to be a servant of the servant of the servant and not trying to be the master! It is a very awkward thing to be sitting here as a so-called “master”. Because, who wants to be a master? Everyone wants to be a servant…
We also have a linguistic home, where our basic vocabulary is: hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare. When we don’t know what to say we can always say: Krishna! We have rich devotional vocabulary with words like: “Haribol!”, and “Jay!”, “Prabhu”, and (somewhat controversial for some…) “Mataji”. We have so many other nice words. In fact, we have an entire book of wonderful words of Lord Krishna Himself, called Bhagavad-gita.
I want to encourage you all, whether you do or don’t understand English to listen to Srila Prabhupada speaking. He generally speaks in a very simple way because he is giving the essential message, we all need to hear. I still need to hear again and again, and again this basic point, basic principle: “You are not this body. No, you are not this body.” I was convinced of that yesterday, but today, I am already forgetting it. We need to be reminded about it again and again. We need to be reminded that we are servants of Krishna, that we are spirit souls, eternal beings, and that we are fortunate to have this incredible opportunity to be in the association of devotees from whom we are learning. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was teaching Srila Rupa Goswami, Srila Sanatana Goswami, and so many others, but He was also celebrating all his teachers. He appreciated how devotees were teaching Him. I should know that I am also still learning because the learning process is ongoing. I am learning from my senior Godbrothers and Godsisters, from devotees and my disciples. I am learning a lot, many things. But foremostly, I am learning how to help, and this is why I am saying: “Help me to help you because I cannot help you unless you help me to.”
Speaking of home, I want to emphasize that home is not the place for only chilling out. Usually, we think of home as a place where we relax. Yes, but here we are talking of our spiritual home, where we want always be awake and alert. There, we want to endeavor to take the space that Srila Prabhupada has given us. We need to embrace that home and make something of it. This is our responsibility that we have as devotees. This responsibility means engaging, endeavoring, working, enquiring, questioning, reflecting, always doing sravanam, kirtanam, visnu smaranam, and so on. We must endeavor.
Again, Srila Prabhupada says: “I am very much hopeful. All these nice boys and girls who have taken this so seriously… I am very much hopeful that even if I die, my movement will not stop.” Many times, Srila Prabhupada spoke like this. He was elderly and he said: “I will not be here for very long.” He was preparing us for his departure. This reminds me that I am too no longer young. When one gets older, one would prefer to forget birthdays. But on the other hand, it is an opportunity to anticipate for where one can go after the end of this life. I am blessed by good health, but good health will be there for some time and then not any more. Because material bodies in this material world are like that. You also have to recognize that the guru is here for some time. Take this time to your advantage, because after some time the guru will not be here physically and, as Srila Prabhupada told us: “You will have to fly solo, fly your own plane.” And still Srila Prabhupada kept saying: “I am very much hopeful.”
There is one project I am involved in amongst many others, that was recently started up for the service of ISKCON’s Ministry for Cow protection and Agriculture. We have a small group of devotees who are a think tank for this purpose. These devotees are scholars with doctoral degrees in different fields, and we are in the process of planning an academic conference with the aim of generating ideas which can help our Ministry of Cow protection and Agriculture. This was desired by Srila Prabhupada. This desire distinguishes Srila Prabhupada in his preaching from any other acarya in our line. This project is one of the ways our movement is making a mark in this world, making history. Srila Prabhupada said at least once: “This movement is going to make history.”
I wish you all onward and upward to higher and higher relishing of Krishna bhakti. Our pursuit is prema pumartho mahan. Our movement is not only about going back home, back to Godhead, it is about attaining Krishna prema.
brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva
guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja
What is lata? Lata is a wine, a bija is a seed. We have received a seed, for a plant, a lata. And this plant is a wine. What does a wine do? It wraps around another plant. We understand that devotees, in particular gopis are wrapping themselves around Krishna. This is an internal meaning of the bhakti lata bija, which we receive from Krishna and guru.
guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja
Today we spoke about duty. Let’s celebrate our duty to continue serving Krishna more and more, “twenty-four hours a day”, as Srila Prabhupada said.
Thank you all very much! Srila Prabhupada ki jay!
- from H.H. Krishna Kshetra Swami’s Vyasa Puja address on the occasion of His 74th Vyasa Puja Celebration in ISKCON Warsaw temple, Poland, on December 14th, 2024.