Chapter Five: The Greatest Benediction
Satyam prya-hitam ca yat. Speak the truth. Tell the truth, no lies, while at the same time be mindful not to be eager to give delivery to unpleasant truth. That does not mean you will speak lies because it is pleasing. We are to speak the truth but with the condition that it must be pleasing, otherwise we should not say anything unnecessarily. Priya means tasteful, pleasing. Truth may not necessarily be pleasing, so where does the element ‘pleasing’ have its standing? It is above truth. It is of the mercy character. Truth is something like justice, but ‘pleasingness’ is in the category of mercy – above justice. It is possible that there is something more than truth. Sympathy, mercy, grace, love charm, and beauty are above naked truth. Without these qualities truth will be just law, untasteful, and ultimately that will come to the nondifferentiated Brahma conception.
Lila means beautiful, life-giving, loving Pastimes. Without love, Lila is useless, and that is Maya. If we can have the conception of mercy above justice, we can have some positive conception of the ultimate reality. We will understand just how great a well-wisher He is. We are sinners, for whom Nityananda Prabhu approaches from door to door and appeals to His utmost, «Please accept the Truth. Truth is beautiful because of mercy.»
We may not deserve, but there is hope because there is a land of mercy. Crossing what we deserve, such things may come. Although Nityananda Prabhu was opposed and maltreated by Jagai and Madhai, He nonetheless distributed mercy to them. So of what magnitude is mercy! Nityananda Prabhu approached them for their own welfare but they opposed and injured Him. Still He persisted. So how hopeful is the existence of mercy! It is above truth. This is what is Love Divine. This is what is sundaram. This is what is charm, fascination and attraction from the Absolute Realm. It is continuous and automatic, and this is the prime thing t the root of everything. Goodwill.
Goodwill is at the basis of everything
Mercy and grace are present in different forms.
Before taking sannyasa Mahaprabhu drew together all His near and dear and spoke with them. During wartime there is a state of emergency, and similarly Mahaprabhu’s advice came with the mood of urgency: «Always think of Krsna. Whether you are eating, sleeping, or awake; day and night always think of Krsna. You are in anger. You are in a situation of emergency where at any moment death can take you away from your present position. So consider it as an emergency and go on with cultivating Krsna consciousness, Krsnanusilana. By hook or by crook try to stay afloat upon this Krsna consciousness – continuous Krsna consciousness.»
It is not just a case of going to church once a week, or praying five times a day, or thinking of Gat at least three times in a day, but you are to remember and serve Krsna always.
When Mahaprabhu went on His preaching tour to South India, He similarly instructed:
yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa
āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa
«Whoever you meet, speak to them about Krsna. This is My request and order to you all. Save the many suffering souls because they are in danger. Help them because they are drowning in ignorance and illusion. Try as much as you can to rescue them from this drowning position. Rescue the drowning. Take the risk, jump into the ocean and bring out those who are drowning in ignorance and illusion. Try to drag them from darkness to light.»
If there is a fire and intimation is received by the fire brigade, it will be mockery if they refer it to the headquarters, wait for an order from there, and only then go to extinguish the fire. Mahaprabhu said, «Amara ajnaya guru hana tara’ ei desa: I am distributing the relief work for all who are drowning in the ocean of Maya. Go on with this relief work.»
While in the Madras branch of the Gaudiya Math I went to see the Education Minister for a recommendation letter to help our preaching in the area under his jurisdiction. He said to me, «Swamiji, they are all Tamil speaking. They do not know English or your Bengali or Sanskrit, therefore first your learn Tamil and then you can go there to preach.»
I replied, «Suppose I am going along the road in the Tamil countryside and I find a boy drowning in a pond, should I go to try my best by means of gesture and postures to alert the people to rescue that drowning boy?»
The education minister said, «You are so extreme?»
«Yes. We see so much urgency. It is an emergency that somehow Krsna consciousness must be injected through some mediator, whether he be English-speaking, Hindi-speaking or whatever. Some impression must be given everywhere.»
Mahaprabhu issued an order, «Yare dekha, tare kaha ‘krsna’-upadesa. It is an emergency. Whoever you find, talk about Krsna, Don’t wait for any certificate from the authority. I am issuing a general certificate, a letter of authority to you all.