Diwali FestivalA Talk by Giriraj SwamiOctober 25, 2003HoustonWe wish you all a happy Diwali. Diwali marks the end of the year, and by theyear's end we want to pay our debts, rectify our relationships, and preparefor--and try to do better in--the next year.The Vedic literatures inform us that in the present age, Kali-yuga, therecommended process for self-realization, or God realization, is thechanting of the holy names of the Lord. Of course, we know that Lord Krsnaappeared about five thousand years ago and spoke the Bhagavad-gita. At theend of the Bhagavad-gita (18.66) Lord Krsna instructed:sarva-dharman parityajyamam ekam saranam vrajaaham tvam sarva-papebhyomoksayisyami ma sucah"Give up all varieties of religiousness and just surrender unto Me. I willdeliver you from all sins. Do not fear."But how do we surrender to Krsna, practically? It is a big question.Therefore Krsna Himself came again about five hundred years ago as Sri KrsnaCaitanya and showed us how to serve Krsna and develop love for Krsna,especially in the present age of Kali. He quoted one verse from theBrhan-naradia Purana (3.8.126):harer nama harer namaharer namaiva kevalamkalau nasty eva nasty evanasty eva gatir anyatha"One should chant the holy names, chant the holy names, chant the holy namesof Lord Hari. There is no other way, no other way, no other way for successin the present age of Kali."Lord Caitanya Himself demonstrated how to chant the holy names. Actually,there are two methods: In japa, one chants softly but loud enough that atleast he himself, or she herself, can hear. Our acaryas have recommendedthat we chant on beads, japa-mala. I suggest that as a New Year's resolutionyou all begin to chant at least one mala (round) every day, and that thosewho are chanting already try to increase. Suppose someone is chanting twomalas every day. In the New Year that person can decide to do four malas, orwhatever he or she can manage. One mala will take five or ten minutes. So,that is japa.The other method is kirtana. As you know, kirtana means loud chanting, alltogether, usually with musical instruments such as mrdanga, karatala, andsometimes harmonium. That collective chanting of the holy names of God isvery effective in the present age of Kali.And what does chanting do? Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu explains,ceto-darpana-marjanam: chanting cleanses the dirt from the mirror of themind. If you have a mirror and you want to know what you look like, you haveto look in the mirror. But if the mirror is covered with dust, you cannotsee. So we have to cleanse the dust from the mirror of the mind; then we canknow who we are. Now, in ignorance, we may think we're the body. We maythink that we're black or white or red or yellow; man or woman; American,Russian, Chinese, or African. We have so many designations based on falselyidentifying with the body. But ceto-darpana-marjana--when we clear the dustfrom the mirror of the mind by chanting, we can actually see who we are: notthe body but the soul within the body. The soul is not black or white ormale or female or Russian or Chinese. The soul is pure spirit, part andparcel of God, the Supreme Spirit, Krsna.So chanting will cleanse all the dirt from the mind, or the heart. But howdoes chanting work? A verse from the Padma Purana (quoted as Cc Madhya17.133) explains:nama cintamanih krsnascaitanya-rasa-vigrahahpurnah suddho nitya-mukto'bhinnatvan nama-naminoh"The holy name of Krsna is transcendentally blissful. It bestows allspiritual benedictions, for it is Krsna Himself, the reservoir of allpleasure. Krsna's name is complete, and it is the form of all transcendentalmellows. It is not a material name under any condition, and it is no lesspowerful than Krsna Himself. Since Krsna's name is not contaminated by thematerial qualities, there is no question of its being involved with maya.Krsna's name is always liberated and spiritual; it is never conditioned bythe laws of material nature. This is because the name of Krsna and KrsnaHimself are identical."The holy name of Krsna is Krsna Himself. Abhinnatvat nama naminoh: there isno difference between the name and the person who has the name. In thematerial world, or the relative world, there is a difference between thename, or word, and the object. For example, if I am in the desert dying ofthirst and I chant "water, water, water, water," just chanting "water,water" will not quench my thirst, because the word water and the substancewater are different. But in the spiritual world, the absolute world, thename of the thing and the thing are the same. So when we chant the holy nameof Krsna, Krsna is actually present, dancing on our tongue. Thus, becauseKrsna is all pure, when we associate with Him by chanting His holy name, webecome purified (ceto-darpana-marjanam). And when we become purified--whenwe become Krsna conscious--we automatically develop all good qualities.At present we have qualities that are good, and we have other qualities thatare not so good. Usually at the end of the year people make resolutions forthe new year--how they will improve in the new year. It may be that one willtry to not lose one's temper anymore, or try to not overeat. We make so manyresolutions, but after some time we fail in our determination because ofweakness in the heart. The one resolution that will eventually help usdevelop all good qualities and keep our other, secondary resolutions is theresolution to chant the holy names of God.Diwali also commemorates the return of Lord Ramacandra to Ayodhya. You allknow the history of how Rama was banished from His kingdom into the forest.In the forest Ravana kidnapped Sita and took her to Lanka. Then Rama andLaksmana searched for Sita. They made alliances with many monkey warriors,and eventually They came to the southern tip of India. They built a bridgeacross to Lanka, and eventually Rama killed Ravana, which is commemorated byDasara, or Rama-vijaya-dasami. Then Mother Sita was tested in fire, and sheemerged pure. Rama, Laksmana, and Sita, accompanied by other associates,returned to Ayodhya. So the residents of Ayodhya, to prepare for the Lord'sarrival, placed lamps on the rooftops and balconies--and celebrated Hisreturn. Then, of course, Lord Ramacandra was installed on the throne.So we also want to welcome Lord Rama (Lord Krsna) into our hearts. Just aswe clean the temple before we install the Deity so that the temple is a fitplace for the Lord to reside, similarly we each want to welcome LordRamacandra into our heart, to install Him on the throne in our heart. But tomake our heart a proper place, a fit place, for Him, we have to cleanse it.Therefore, on the auspicious occasion of Diwali, we chant the holy names ofRama and Krsna--Hare Krsna, Hare Rama--so ceto-darpana-marjanam: the heartis cleansed. Then we can welcome Lord Rama into our hearts and install Himon the throne of our hearts and celebrate His presence.So this should be our resolution: to purify our hearts so that the Lord willhave a proper place to sit there. And who could be more fortunate a personthan he who has Lord Rama, or Krsna, with him?There are many Ramayanas, or histories of Ramacandra, but the mostauthorized in Sanskrit is the Valmiki Ramayana. Consistent with thatversion, the Ninth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam also contains a shortRamayana. And at the end of the Bhagavatam's Ramayana, there is a statementthat during the reign of Lord Ramacandra all of the citizens were peacefuland happy, just like in Satya-yuga. You probably know that there are fourages that repeat in cycles, like the seasons. Satya-yuga is the best of theages, the golden age. Then come Treta-yuga, Dvapara-yuga, and Kali-yuga. TheBhagavatam describes that during the rule of Lord Ramacandra all thecitizens were religious and completely happy, healthy, and peaceful, justlike during Satya-yuga, although it was actually Treta-yuga. SrilaPrabhupada comments that by God consciousness, Krsna consciousness, one caninvoke Satya-yuga, or Rama-rajya, even in Kali-yuga--by God consciousness,by Krsna consciousness. Therefore the same Krsna who appeared in Treta-yugaas Lord Ramacandra appeared in Kali-yuga as Lord Caitanya to introduce thechanting of the holy names--Hare Krsna and Hare Rama.So if we take up the chanting of the holy names, we can not only invoke thepresence of Lord Rama within our hearts, or welcome Lord Rama into ourhearts, but we can recreate the situation of Satya-yuga, the situation ofRama-rajya. Sometimes Srila Prabhupada remarked, "People want the kingdom ofGod without God." But we cannot have the kingdom of God without God. Wecannot have Rama-rajya without Rama. But if we invoke the presence of God,of Krsna, by chanting His holy names, we can have the same experience ofSatya-yuga in Kali-yuga. We can have the same experience of Rama-rajya,when, as described in the Bhagavatam, Rama loved all of the citizens justlike a father loves his children, and all of the citizens loved Lord Ramaand obeyed Him just like children love and obey their father. By Krsnaconsciousness, we can have the same situation even today. And if on thisDiwali you can take a vow, make a resolution, to chant every day in the nextyear--and in all the years to come--that will bring you all auspiciousness.We pray that the Lord will bless all of you in the year to come, and thatyou will also take the blessing of chanting into the New Year.About Giriraj Swami:Swami is a religious leader, and initiating guru of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.Giriraja Swami was born in Chicago as Glenn Phillip Teton. He personally met and became an initiated disciple of Srila Prabhupada early in 1969 in Boston during one month of lectures by Prabhupada in Boston University. In 1972, after Giriraj toured India with Srila Prabhupada, Prabhupada appointed him as President of ISKCON Bombay as well as Trustee of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.Giriraja accepted the renounced order of life, sannyasa after Prabhupada's departure in 1977 from Tamal Krishna Goswami. He was also appointed the President of ISKCON's Board of Trustees in India. He joined the Governing Body Commission in 1982 (the ultimate managing authority for the movement) Giriraja Swami went on to oversee the Society's activities in Bombay, Mauritius, South Africa, Spain, Portugal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Previous to appointment as a full GBC, he has served in ISKCON as a National secretary. He also was named as an Executive of Srila Prabhupada's Will by the founder of ISKCON. Due to health considerations Giriraja Swami has reduced his travels, he has taken the opportunity to focus on Srila Prabhupada's instruction to him to write. He is now based in Southern California. He is currently on the board of trustees of Bhaktivedanta College.Hare Krsna.
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