19880209 Bhagavad-gītā 9.31

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami on February 09^th, 1988 in Los Angeles, California. The class begins with a reading from the Bhagavad-gītā 9^th chapter, text 31.

kṣipraṁ bhavati dharmātmā
śaśvac-chāntiṁ nigacchati
kaunteya pratijānīhi
na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati

Translation (with repetition): He quickly becomes righteous and attains lasting peace. O son of Kuntī, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.

Purport: This should not be misunderstood. In the Seventh Chapter the Lord says that one who is engaged in mischievous activities cannot become a devotee of the Lord. One who is not a devotee of the Lord has no good qualifications whatsoever. The question remains, then, How can a person engaged in abominable activities—either by accident or by intention—be a pure devotee? This question may justly be raised. The miscreants, as stated in the Seventh Chapter, who never come to the devotional service of the Lord, have no good qualifications, as is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Generally, a devotee who is engaged in the nine kinds of devotional activities is engaged in the process of cleansing all material contamination from the heart. He puts the Supreme Personality of Godhead within his heart, and all sinful contaminations are naturally washed away. Continuous thinking of the Supreme Lord makes him pure by nature. According to the Vedas, there is a certain regulation that if one falls down from his exalted position he has to undergo certain ritualistic processes to purify himself. But here there is no such condition, because the purifying process is already there in the heart of the devotee, due to his remembering the Supreme Personality of Godhead constantly. Therefore, the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare should be continued without stoppage. This will protect a devotee from all accidental fall downs. He will thus remain perpetually free from all material contaminations.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta Swami translation and purport to text 31, chapter 9, in ‘The Most Confidential Knowledge’.

Jayapatākā Swami: In the purport, Prabhupāda explains applications of this verse in different levels, in different aspects. Usually one thinks of this verse in the sense that devotee would not perish, that Kṛṣṇa protects his devotees, that Kṛṣṇa reciprocates or remembers His devotee always, and therefore doesn’t allow the devotee to perish. And one considers this in sometime either material sense, or sometimes that well in the next birth one will also would be able to be a devotee even if one doesn't finish in this lifetime, because Kṛṣṇa has promised that. But here Prabhupāda goes, gives a whole new dimension, that a devotee is protected even from māyā. That even if a devotee somehow or another accidently has some difficulty, if they continue to serve their, to practice their devotional service without stopping it, then very quickly again they become righteous and attain lasting peace. In other words, even though they have lost some battles, they haven't lost the war. That still Kṛṣṇa is protecting His devotee.

We saw how in the history of Jaḍa Bharata, or first Bharata Mahārāja, he was careless, he made a mistake. He was up to the level of bhāva, he was chanting and even crying in ecstasy. However, because he took compassion on a baby deer, and then started to develop a tremendous affection for the deer, he didn’t consult his spiritual master whether this was appropriate or not. He just whimsically did it just out of his own sentiment, and as a result when he was dying, he was thinking who is gonna take care of the baby, the deer. And the deer was so affectionate—knew him like mother father everything—that while he was dying the deer was coming up and licking his face. So just he is laying there and leaving his body and the deer is there licking his face, he is thinking what’s gonna happen with the deer, and then in this thought he leaves his body. So next life he becomes a deer. But we can also see this verse applied that although he became a deer, he remembered his previous birth, that he was the emperor of the universe, he was practicing devotional service. Then the life after that of course he became Jaḍa Bharata, where he achieved the complete perfection.

In Māyāpur, in Vṛndāvana, Prabhupāda has stated that sometimes the devotees who do not finish, especially Vṛndāvana he said that the devotees who commit some kind of offence while in the dhāma, they may take birth as monkeys, or dogs, or pigs, or some other animal in Vṛndāvana. But then being born in Vṛndāvana, they go back again. They get another opportunity after that birth, or they go back to Godhead from there. In Māyāpur there was unique circumstance, unique thing happened about 10-15 years ago is that one devotee informed me that every night after the evening ārati, when all the devotees would go to take their milk prasādam, that a dog would run into the temple and offer his obeisances to Śrīla Prabhupāda. So one night I hid and I watched, and sure enough there was this dog waiting at the door. When all the devotees left the temple, he ran in and right in front of Prabhupāda’s vyāsāsana he did a complete flat out daṇḍavats, and he got up and ran out (laughter). So who knows who the dog was? (laughter). I didn’t believe it until I personally saw it. Then after a few days, that dog we didn’t find anymore. So in different ways Kṛṣṇa protects His devotee. Of course when it says quickly, quickly if you say quickly, that could mean… in America quickly means few minutes. But in terms of Lord Brahmā, quickly would mean, a few births even, to be very quick. Two three births is nothing. So doesn’t exactly define quickly, but kṣipraṁ means very soon or quickly. So by Lord Caitanya’s mercy, that may be.

Just like Junior Haridāsa, he was rejected by Lord Caitanya because of his misdeed. When he left his body, though he was given a spiritual form right then and he was chanting kīrtana for Lord Caitanya, and basically he was already liberated. So immediately he was forgiven. So like this there is… this verse brings various aspects which of how Kṛṣṇa can protect His devotee.

One time in Montreal, 1968, when Prabhupāda had… I was just a bhakta that time, but somehow, he had me dyeing his clothes in the bathroom. I was in the tub rubbing rock dye, rocks together in the tub, and he would come in occasionally and see whether the colour was saffron enough. And so, while I was rubbing the rocks together, Prabhupāda went down to the basement with another devotee of the place where he was living. And then when they came up—Prabhupāda went downstairs in the basement—suddenly a big rat jumped out and then Prabhupāda said “Hare Rāma!” Just exclaimed Hare Rāma. So in this way, he said that Kṛṣṇa is always protecting the devotee. So spontaneously if a devotee gets frightened, they will chant Hare Kṛṣṇa or Hare Rāma. In that case Prabhupāda chanted Hare Rāma thinking of Rāma the protector.

Then there were so many things happened. When Śrīla Prabhupāda in 1977; when Māyāpur was attacked, that time I was with Prabhupāda in Vṛndāvana. And then Prabhupāda mentioned that, “Actually they wanted to attack me, but Kṛṣṇa has saved me. I wasn’t there then.” He was supposed to go there but somehow, he delayed, and then the attack came in Māyāpur. So Prabhupāda, “Actually they were planning to attack me when I was there. But we changed our plans. So by Kṛṣṇa’s arrangement we were saved.” So, in this way the devotee sometimes feels that where Kṛṣṇa is directly, even physically saving the devotee from different dangers. So many saṅkīrtana stories are there where devotees are saved from different calamities. Even in Rome airport, that horrible massacre that happened not too many years ago, when the terrorists shot down the people waiting in the line of the airplane that was flying to Tel Aviv. At that time actually time four-five devotees were booked on that flight, at least three were booked and five devotees were there. They were waiting in the same line. Then someone said, “Oh I have left something in the car.” He went out to the car.

“I will go with you.”

Then the other person was still standing in the line. He said “I will go to make a phone call.” So he went to the phone. Just at that moment the terrorist started shooting down. Everyone else that was standing in the line they got shot. And the devotees, somehow, they hid. And one devotee he was standing behind a staircase, and the person right next to him had his head shot! So, like that the devotees felt, ‘Oh how Kṛṣṇa has saved us!’ So generally, we think in this sense. Although sometimes this may cause the devotees to be careless, like driving late at night and not keeping up someone talking to the driver or something. People fall asleep. Prabhupāda warned that we shouldn’t just depend on Kṛṣṇa in some improper way, and then actually not take the necessary precautions. We shouldn’t, how do you say, take Kṛṣṇa for granted in that sense. We should aspire for Kṛṣṇa’s mercy, we should try to serve Kṛṣṇa always, but not that we should neglect our service to Kṛṣṇa in any way.

So Caitanya Mahaprabhu when He would travel throughout South India, where ever He would go He would be chanting,

Rāma! Rāghava! Rāma! Rāghava! Rāma! Rāghava! pāhi mām
Kṛṣṇa! Keśava! Kṛṣṇa! Keśava! Kṛṣṇa! Keśava! rakṣā mām

He would be chanting that all the time that Kṛṣṇa my protector, Lord Rāma and Kṛṣṇa my protectors. So in this way Lord Caitanya showed the example of just travelling and preaching, when depending on Kṛṣṇa. And so similarly Mādhavendra Purī, while he was travelling. Madhvācārya, Madhvācārya was even attacked by dacoits one time. He had to fend them off using his daṇḍa. Another time when Nityānanda Prabhu and Haridāsa Ṭhākura, they went preaching and they met Jagāi-Mādhāi who were drunkards, and they were just arguing with each other sitting down. He thought, “Let Us request them to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.”

At that time that the local people could anticipate what they were thinking, so they told them. “Don’t do it! whatever you do, you don’t go to Jagāi Mādhāi. They are hopeless. They are rapist, they are murders, they are like the mafiosos, they are the worst, there is no hope for them.”

So, but still Nityānanda Prabhu thought, “Let Me give them some mercy.” So He went up to them and He said, “My dear brothers! Bolo kṛṣṇa, bhajo kṛṣṇa, koro kṛṣṇa-śikṣā - chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, worship Kṛṣṇa, read Kṛṣṇa’s teachings, lead a holy life.”

They looked at each other, they couldn’t believe it what is going on. And they thought, “He is actually telling us to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa? So what should we respond?” Then immediately they said, “Māra! Beat Him, just kill Him!” They jumped up and they just went to, just immediately, to beat up Nityānanda Prabhu. So Nityānanda ran. Haridāsa Ṭhākura ran. And they are running after, but they were very drunk. So they were having a hard time running, but they are also fast. Nityānanda and Haridāsa, they were running, and the two drunken brothers are running after, “Beat them! Beat them! Kill them! They are telling us to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. We will show them!” And they were just chasing after them. Even Haridāsa Ṭhākura was very old by that time. He said “*panting* I am having a very hard time. I don't think I can keep up!”

So Nityānanda said “Come on! Come on! We have to go on. Jagāi Mādhāi are following!”

So then somehow, they just went down this street, went down then they saw there was a trough, a trough for feeding the water to the horses. So they hid behind that, and Jagāi Mādhāi they went looking. They couldn't see and they ran off. Phew, saved. And they went back. Lord Caitanya already heard the news. He chastised Nityānanda, “Why are taking so much unnecessary risk?

“But Lord Caitanya, You are the most merciful of all incarnations. S o these are the most fallen. You are Patīta-pāvana, You are delivering even the most fallen. So I have tried to deliver these most fallen, that people can understand the real nature of Your mercy.” Nityānanda took some… of course if He wants to He can do anything, He Himself is Balarāma, but He is playing the role of devotee, He is in that mood. So He was depending on Kṛṣṇa.

Haridāsa Ṭhākura, he was arrested by one Nawab, one ruler, Mohammedan ruler, and he asked that “Why you are being a born a Mohammedan? Why you are chanting the name of Kṛṣṇa, Hari? What’s wrong with the name of Allah?”

He said, “Nothing is wrong with the name of ‘Allah’. I never said anything was wrong with the name ‘Allah’. There’s only one God and He has many names Kṛṣṇa, Allah so many names are there. So some people are chanting Allah and they get spiritual satisfaction. I am chanting Kṛṣṇa and finding spiritual satisfaction from that. Is there anything wrong with chanting the name of God?”

So then the Nawab said that “There is nothing wrong, what’s the problem? I guess it’s alright.”

You see but then his mullah, his imam, his ayatollah was there, and he said, “You must throw this person in jail. He is a very a bad example. If other people take his example, everyone would start chanting the name of Kṛṣṇa. Then what will happen to our sect of Islam?” So the ruler listened to his mullah, his priest, his spiritual head, and threw Haridāsa Ṭhākura in jail. So all the people in the prison house, they were all lamenting, “How we can get out of this prison? It’s so horrible, we are locked up in here.”

And you see Haridāsa Ṭhākura is sitting there

“Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare”

Very blissfully chanting. They said, “What are you so happy about? You are in prison, you are rotting here with us, we are all prisoners! What do you have to be happy about??”

Haridāsa Ṭhākura said, “We are all prisoners. You are very intelligent; you are very fortunate that you realize you are prisoners. The people in the rest of the world are also prisoners, but they haven’t realized it. They are prisoners to their material desires, to lust, anger, greed, intoxication, madness, envy, they are prisoners to their senses. Whatever their senses are demanding. They are prisoners to birth, death, old age, disease. They are prisoners to the laws of karma. Whatever they do, they are getting their reaction. They are prisoners to the cycle of reincarnation. They are prisoners to so many things. Who is free in this world? You are very fortunate, being here in this prison house you can realize you are prisoner. You are more fortunate than those outside because one, they are in the illusion that they are free, when they actually totally bound up by material laws. So better to take this advantage. While you are in here, you can’t do anything else. You come with me and chant:

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare”

So he convinced all the prisoners to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. So they all started to chant and the news came to the king, the whole prison house, everyone was chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Actually when that, after that attack in Māyāpur in 1977, the devotees went down to the police station to lodge a complaint. Actually the police came there. They said, “You come down personally and lodge the complaint.”

They said “Alright!” They innocently went with the police. Then when they went to lodge the complaint, the police locked them up, took them to the court and then had them all booked. Although they were attacked, the whole thing was a frame up, because the communist government had just come into power and they thought, “We have to get these Americans sent out of here. There is too many Americans in Māyāpur. We have to drive them out.” That was actually the thing. Now things have changed to some extent, but that time there was that type of mood. So, the whole thing was already pre-planned, so they put all the devotees in the jail. But what happened, we got the permission from the court to bring prasāda every day to the devotees that were in the jail. So we brought them a very big prasāda. So they fed the jailers, they fed the other prisoners. And gradually they do kīrtana every day in the prison house, that all the prisoners started to chant, and when they go out (inside the prison), they didn’t let the devotees out the same time as the other prisoners, they had different times. Didn’t let them mix so much. So when the other prisoners were inside their cages, their cells; these are the 150 year old prisons, just stone, chains, steel doors, hasn’t changed since over a century. And the devotees were going around and chanting their japa out in the open courtyard. So there was some fanatical Maoist communist. These communists and there is Maoist communists, that they believe that you have to get political freedom with the barrel of a gun. And that time they were assassinating all other communists, all other capitalists, everyone. So they are a group of these very hardcore terrorists were locked up there in that jail. And all along and all day they would be chanting “Laal salaam! Red salute! Red salute!”, this that, different slogans. And they had them chained to the wall. So when the devotees came by their cell, even when they saw the devotees they said “Laal salaam! Hare Kṛṣṇa salaam!” Salaam means like salute. So everyone was chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa! Even the hardcore terrorists were chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa.

But Haridāsa Ṭhākura, after he got all the prisoners to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, then he was taken again before the Nawab. He said, “What are you doing? I put you to prison and you are getting everyone to chant?”

He said “They are all prisoners, instead of doing mischief they are chanting the name of God, what is the problem with that?”

So then the ayatollah told, “Listen, you have to tell him that he should convert to Islam.”

So the king said, the Nawab said, “Listen, since you are born a Mohammedan, you should give up chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and again take to just chanting the names of Allah.”

So Haridāsa Ṭhākura said, “Some people are changing from Hindu to Muslim. So many here in this country have changed from Hindu to Muslim. So what is the harm if one Muslim change to Hindu and he chants the Hindu names of God? Afterall there is only one God. In Sanskrit they say God is Kṛṣṇa, meaning the All Attractive. Arab language God is Allah. So I am chanting the name of Kṛṣṇa. What is the difficulty if one person chants the name of Kṛṣṇa? So many are chanting the name of Allah, there would be no difficulty.”

Again the Nawab thought, ‘He is pretty reasonable person, there’s no difficulty.’

But this ayatollah, that mullah, his priest said, “No! He is a harami, he is an offender. How can he say such things that the Kṛṣṇa and Allah are the same? He should be immediately punished.”

So then the Nawab was pushed by him, and again he said, “Alright, I order you must give up this chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa. If you don’t give up this chanting, then I am going to have you beaten.”

Haridāsa Ṭhākura said that, “Even if you cut my body into little, little pieces, so long as there is one piece left, it’s going to chant

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

So then the Nawab ordered, “In 22 market places you will be beaten!”

When they took Haridāsa Ṭhākura to be beaten, even the local people they said, the women, they went, “How you can beat? He is a saint! He is a holy person. What has he done wrong? He is just chanting the name of God.”

“No.” Just whipped the public away. “This is the order of the Nawab, ayatollah has sanctioned it.”

So that time they started to whip Haridāsa Ṭhākura. So how the whole time, at that time… actually later Lord Caitanya revealed. When Lord Caitanya showed His mahā-prakāśa. They are whipping Haridāsa Ṭhākura, and no matter how much they whipped him there was no mark coming on his body. Normally after two three times whipping, the way they whipped you, would be dead. 22 is like there would be nothing left, you would be just like shreds.” But in spite of so much whipping, nothing was happening to him. Later Lord Caitanya revealed when He showed the mahā-prakāśa, He reveal to different devotees who they were. Then He revealed to Haridāsa Ṭhākura that, “That time when they started to whip you, I came from the spiritual world. Immediately I was going to kill the executioners, but that time you started to pray, “Please forgive them, don’t punish them, I am so sinful I deserve whatever I am getting.” So, because you prayed for their forgiveness, how could I kill them at that time? How can I also let you suffer? I have to protect my devotee.” So Lord Caitanya that time took the form of a Viṣṇu. Kṛṣṇa, Viṣṇu. And He showed in His back so many whip marks are there. “So I took all the beating on my own back.” Then Haridāsa Ṭhākura saw that, he fainted. It’s too much! He became conscious and there was nothing, everything was back. So while they were whipping Haridāsa Ṭhākura, he was going on thinking that this is, he was feeling some pain but not to the extent that normally. Somehow he was surviving. And he was thinking that, “This is just a fraction of what I deserve, I am so sinful. Whatever punishment I am getting, I would deserve much worse.”

So finally after the 22 market places were finished, the two executioners, the torturers, they were sitting there and crying. Haridāsa Ṭhākura, “So what’s the matter? Why you are so sad?”

“Because you were not dead.”

“Why? I am not dead, what is the problem because of that?”

“Because you are alive. We were ordered to whip you 22 market places. Because you are alive, means we are going to be killed. We failed to execute you after 22 whippings, that means the Nawab will finish us off.”

So Haridāsa Ṭhākura said, “So if I die that will make you happy?”

They said, “Oh yes, we would be very happy if you die.”

He said, “Alright, so for you I will die.” Then Haridāsa Ṭhākura laid down and he died. They felt no more breath, no more heartbeat. “He is dead! We’re saved! He is dead!” Immediately they went back to the Nawab. They said, “We have done our business, he is dead.” The mullah was very happy. The Mohammedan priest and the king. “Let us see.” They went, and all life symptoms were gone.

So then the king said, “Now have him buried.”

But the mullah the priest said, “No no, he is a great offender. He changed his religion. He has given up Islam. Therefore, you cannot burn him, you cannot bury him.”

“So then we will burn him.”

“No no he should also not be burnt. He should not be buried, he should not be burnt, his soul should not be allowed to have any peace. Throw him in the river, let the jackals, and the dogs, and the crows, and the vultures tear his flesh! Let his soul wander without peace!”

Nawab said, “Alright, throw him in the river.”

So the two executioners try to lift Haridāsa Ṭhākura but they couldn't lift him, they couldn’t budge him an inch, so heavy. They called some more strongmen. They all were straining, trying, they couldn't lift him. They even brought elephants. And elephants tied huge ropes around, they were screaming and pulling, he wouldn’t move, not even a millimetre. That actually what Haridāsa Ṭhākura he did, he went into complete samādhi meditating on the Supersoul in the heart. His body took on the mass of the entire universe. Because he was completely absorbed in meditation on Kṛṣṇa, his mass was equal to the whole universe. You couldn't move. Equal to Kṛṣṇa, which is unlimited. So you couldn’t move him at all. Just as Dhruva Mahārāja exhibited that in his meditation. When he stopped breathing, the whole universe stopped breathing, like that. So Haridāsa Ṭhākura, he took on this immense mass. All of a sudden by Kṛṣṇa’s desire, he became very light, because Kṛṣṇa is heavier than the heaviest, lighter than the lightest. They could lift him just like a feather, like a just, no weight, not even an ounce. They took Haridāsa Ṭhākura, and they put him in the river, and he is just floating on the water. After floating, the wind blew him off almost to the other side. Then he came out of his samādhi. And he started to swim to the other side, he jumped up, “Haribol! Haribol! Hare Kṛṣṇa!” He started to chant.

The Nawab looked, he couldn’t believe it. “He has come back from the dead! Get me my boat, immediately get me my royal barge.”  On the other side, immediately crossed over. The nawab, as soon as he came to the other side, he ran after Haridāsa Ṭhākura who was just chanting and going on. He ran after him, and fell down at his feet, “Sahib, Sahib you are great peer, you are great guru, you are saint. Please forgive me for my offence, I couldn’t recognise you. Please forgive me. I will burn in hell eternally for all my offences to you. You must forgive me!” And after that, that mullah, the priest, he also ran after, he came. The king said, “Get out of here, you misled me so many ways.”

He just didn’t pay any attention to that Nawab. He also grabbed Haridāsa Ṭhākura’s feet, “Please forgive me for my offence Hari sahib.”

So then Haridāsa Ṭhākura said, “I only forgive on one condition, that you give the order that no one will disturb the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa in your empire again.”

They said alright, “We give this command, please forgive us.” So then he blessed them, and after that in that kingdom no one was thus molested for chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. So like this Haridāsa Ṭhākura he was also protected.

Devotees are protected in so many ways by preaching. The secret of course is to try to become a devotee. Who is actually a devotee? Its mentioned, someone who is not a devotee, they don’t have any good qualities. Why? Because even you can say how was that possible? We see so many people with nice qualities, like Rāvaṇa. Rāvaṇa was not a devotee, he was considered a rākṣasa. But he was very powerful, very generous, very intelligent, probably he could have won a noble prize or something, with so many qualities. Then why is it? I mean you could, there is books written, I mean there is people who worship Rāvaṇa even today. They consider that he is such a wonderful person, had so many great qualities, he is the number one, you can say success in material life. The problem of course was that for his, although he had these qualities, that if anyone dared to cross his own selfish interest, there is no respite. He would finish that person. Wouldn’t accept any obstacle. As long as you flattered him, as long as you… then he has very generous. As long as you played the part, he was quite showing so many good qualities. But if somehow he wanted one thing and you didn’t agree… just like Vibhīṣaṇa, his brother simply said, “Listen give back Sītā. If you keep the Goddess of fortune captive, the whole Lanka will lose all it’s good fortune, everything will be finished, just give her back. You have so many wives, so many concubines, so many women. What do you want from the one human being? Give her back.”

What did he do when he heard that? “So you are one of them. You are an agent of Rāma. I banish you from my kingdom, I disregard you as my brother, you get out, never want to see you again, giving me such foolish advice.” So Vibhīṣaṇa, he was banned from Rāvaṇa’s kingdom. Why? Because he gave a good advice. If Rāvaṇa had given back Sītā, what was his problem? Rāma would, in one second, have forgiven him. He had so many good qualities but when he wanted to enjoy something, then all good qualities were lost. All common sense, all patience, all everything was lost. Why? Because of uncontrolled desires. That’s why it says that a devotee has good qualities. Even if they get mislead, again Kṛṣṇa will bring them back to the path, they will become righteous. But a non-devotee, even if they sometime show some good qualities, and the ultimate test comes, it’s all a show. They all just become puppets in the hands of māyā.

So the point is to make people devotees. Then they get… all the good qualities naturally come to them. They take shelter. This is the problem. Sometimes you see leaders of some country, they put on show of so many good qualities. But if they are not devotees, ultimately you find that what appeared to be good qualities it’s all a show and underneath they are doing so much funny business, then everyone is disappointed. That’s why Kṛṣṇa He wanted to establish government with devotee on the top. There should be devoted people, God loving people managing countries, the world. Then you can have peace.

So Vibhīṣaṇa, he was banned. So he took shelter of Rāma? Cause he was a devotee. So he got saved. Instead of having to fight with Rāma, he gave a good advice to Rāvaṇa, Rāvaṇa kicked him out, so then he went and took shelter of Rāma. Mārīca, the great magician, he was told by Rāvaṇa that, “You take the form of the magical deer so I can steal Sītā.

“No, no, how can they do that? I will be killed by Rāma.”

He said, “If you don’t do it I will kill you.”

So then he thought, ‘Well if I don’t do I will get killed by Rāvaṇa, if I do I will get killed by Rāma. Better to be killed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then I will go back to Godhead, I will get at least liberation. To be killed by Rāvaṇa is no benefit (laughter).’ Lord Caitanya said, “Who is a devotee? Anyone who chants

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

…they are devotees.” Some are devotees who are purely chanting, you can take shelter of them, they will give spiritual guidance, they are actually representing Kṛṣṇa. There are some who are chanting, they are initiated, you bow down to them, we call them prabhu, we respect them, we even give our life for them if they are in some danger or something. Then there are those who chant but they are not following strictly. They are chanting but they gave got lot of material attachments and habits that they haven’t overcome. So Lord Caitanya said for them we respect them in the heart. We may preach to them, encourage them, from a distance we respect them in the heart. But we don’t intimately associate or do those material activities along with them certainly. We encourage them in their chanting, and from a distance we wish them all good success like that. But we don’t intimately associate. But Lord Caitanya accepted that there would be the different types of devotees. It’s not that someone chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, even though not following the principles, they are not demons. They are also devotee, but they are not purified. They are still entangled. Their devotion may be mixed. They have not come to the purest level yet. But they are also devotees, and eventually they can become purified if they continue chanting and serving the Lord.

So just like Jagāi-Mādhāi, who were tried to be delivered by Nityānanda Prabhu. Eventually He delivered them. So after delivering them, Mādhāi came to Nityānanda, fell at his feet, said, “Please forgive me, because I struck you with a pot. I caused you to bleed, I committed such a great offence! Please forgive me for that.”

And Nityānanda said, “I have, there is nothing to forgive you about, I didn’t take it like in that sense.” You see actually what happened was Mādhāi, in the second encounter, he just broke a a bottle of wine, a clay bottle over Nityānanda’s head and blood was pouring down. Still Nityānanda said, “Just because you beat me, does that mean I won’t give you love for Kṛṣṇa. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa!” That affected the other brother that this is not a normal person. We beat Him but still He is talking about love of Godhead. So Mādhāi, he was begging Nityānanda that please forgive me. Afterwards, after they took initiation, still one time they met him alone. He said, “I committed the greatest offence, I hit you!”

So Nityānanda told them, “Listen! just like a small baby on the lap of the mother, sometimes he kicks the mother, sometime hits the mother, the mother doesn’t take it seriously, because of relationship of love. Like that, even though you hit me, I just took it you are just like my baby. So, I never took any offense. So there is nothing to forgive you about.”

So then Mādhāi said, “I committed so many other offences against so many other living entities. I killed people, I robbed them, so many things, how do I get forgiven for those offences?

So then Nityānanda said, “Well you do something to help them in their spiritual life. By doing that you will get forgiven for any offences very quickly.”

“So what can I do?”

So then He said, “Well you could build a bathing ghāṭa to the Ganges, so that more people can bathe in the Ganges, and they will get purified from their sins by bathing in the Ganges, and they can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa while they are bathing. So build a bathing ghāṭa.”

So he said, “Thank you very much I will do that.” So with his own hands he made a huge bathing ghāṭa. He was very strong so he dug out, put stones down, made a complete staircase. Bathing ghāṭa means on the side of the river. The river height goes up and down according to the season. So then it’s very hard. It gets all muddy and everything. It’s not like a beach where there is all sand, there is always dirt on the side. So, what they do is the make a staircase into the water. It goes right down to the lowest part of the river, to the highest embankment, so that all throughout the year you can bathe in the river at whatever height it’s at. So then Mādhāi, he personally built huge bathing ghāṭa. People were amazed how he was working day and night to build this bathing ghāṭa. He had to build it within a particular time. Once the rainy season starts and the water is high, then you can’t build anymore. So he completed the whole thing in the dry season and it became very famous as Mādhāi-ghāṭa. And people would bathe there and glorify Mādhāi. So in this way, he got forgiven for his offenses. And by doing this help to others, by distributing prasādam or distributing books or somehow helping others advance in their Kṛṣṇa consciousness, this will allow the devotees to advance much quicker, by giving them very quick forgiveness for all the offences that they have committed, knowingly or unknowingly. So in this way Kṛṣṇa protects His devotees in so many ways.

So Prabhupāda uses this verse many times in his preaching. There is no limit how much you could actually speak on this verse, although maybe a limit how much I can say on. But actually all of these verses in Bhagavad-gītā have unlimited significance.

On offenses, falling down and being redeemed: Maybe not this lifetime. One should avoid. So, Lord Caitanya advises us we should avoid committing offences. We should avoid the weeds in devotional service because weeds can smother our spiritual progress, and the offence—especially against the Vaiṣṇavas—can pull out our spiritual creeper from the root; if we commit offence against Prabhupāda or some, some pure devotee. But barring such type of offence; Jīva Gosvāmī asked this to Lord Nityānanda, what happens if someone even after they are devoted, they start to act against the regulative principles carelessly or whimsically? So Lord Nityānanda said that, well if they act in that way they have to take the responsibility for whatever they do. Once we take initiation, we surrender to guru-paraṁparā, to the guru, through the Guru-paraṁparā, to Lord Kṛṣṇa, then whatever we do under the guidance and order of the guru, according to the sādhu, śāstra and guru, we are protected from karmic reactions, there is no karma. Just like a soldier following the orders of his superior, there is no responsibility. He is automatically absolved from that, as long as he is actually carrying out the proper order of his superior. So if we carrying out our devotional service properly, we are protected from any reaction. But when we start to do things knowingly, or even unknowingly, but the effect might be to a different degree. That this is not according to the authorised path of the previous ācāryas, then we have to take the reaction for that. How Kṛṣṇa gives that reaction? That’s also a type of learning. Just like Jaḍa Bharata or Mahārāja Bharata, by taking birth as a deer, it was as shock. But that made him so determined that next birth, when he took birth as Jaḍa Bharata, he didn’t make the same mistake again. He didn’t have any attachment to develop for anything but Kṛṣṇa. So, even when māyā kicks us that’s also Kṛṣṇa’s mercy for a devotee because that can; not that always māyā kicks. Kṛṣṇa may also, “Alright someone did service, they have some material desire, let them enjoy for some time.” Or may have them kicked. That’s up to Kṛṣṇa. It’s very hard to say. But eventually, they can’t forget Kṛṣṇa. Eventually Kṛṣṇa brings them back. When and how, that we can pray only. Sometimes we may have some friend that’s in that predicament. Sooner than later. But even Prabhupāda said that even some people leave, they will be back. Someone who has practiced sincerely devotional service, they cannot forget. They have to do so very serious offences against Vaiṣṇavas in order to forget.

(Replying to a comment: No, but if you get the verses from the Quran, we will use it in our preaching in India.)

Yes, in India and in South America, you find that there is practically no bloop people as such. I mean, people do leave, but they always like become FOLK members, they become like Nāmahaṭṭa members, or they worship from their house, they become one of the congregation, they come and eat in the restaurants. You know they are not fully in the nectar of devotion, but somehow or another they keep their contact. They just not able to fully remain in sādhana-bhakti. So, Kṛṣṇa says if you do sādhana-bhakti, you will achieve me. That’s a very exalted position to practice sādhana-bhakti. Means that this will be your last lifetime. So Arjuna also asks, “What happens I will be, I will be like, if I don’t make it, what if I start to practice yoga, I do bhakti-yoga, I do the sādhanā, but then if I am not able to achieve the complete success I will be in kind of lost. Missed out of material life, and I won’t have achieved the perfection in my spiritual life. So then I will be lost in both the sides.”

But then Kṛṣṇa said, “No. Someone who does good works, auspicious work, they never get inauspicious result. You will take birth in the heavenly planets after you pass away, then afterwards again you will take birth in some yogī family, brāhmaṇa family or vaiśya family. Rich mercantile family. That‘s why even Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura he prayed, “I don’t even want to take birth as a Brahmā. I just want to take birth in the family of a devotee. In case I don’t go back to you, in case you don’t take me back to serve you directly in devotional service in some way; I have to take again birth in the material world, please allow me to take birth as a devotee. So he said, “If you think I am not qualified to be devotee, at least allow me to be born in a family of your devotees, even as a worm. If I can be a worm say in the intestine of a devotee, at least I can get some mahā-prasādam” (laughter)

On Christ: Bhaviśya Purāṇa has many quotes about Jesus. He is known as īśa-putra, that there will be a īśa-putra. Son of God will come. Son of… I think they said Josa or something like that, Josa? And he will be born by some immaculate, some kind of like birth without father, and he will preach in the Western countries to meat eaters, West of India. Many other verses, a few other verses are there, I can’t remember all the Sanskrit .

Jaya Rukmiṇī-Dvārikādhiśa ki!

Devotees: Jaya!

Jaya! Nitāi-Gaura ki!

Devotees: Jaya!

Jagannātha Subhadrā Baladeva ki!

Devotees: Jaya!