By Damodar das
Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Bhagavad-gita 8.16.
“After meeting with Srila Prabhupada, Tamal Krishna Goswami informed the devotees, ‘Prabhus, Srila Prabhupada just said that we should go back to Godhead in this lifetime. We should not waste another birth. We should finish up now. However, if we need more time, Krishna will add more years to our life. If we are sincere and serious, Krishna will add more years to our life so we can finish up in this very lifetime.’ Krishna is the ultimate factor. Srila Prabhupada had a sister who was always worried about her health and another who was a devotee. The sister in bhakti-yoga lived much longer. Srila Prabhupada said we take normal precautions. ‘So long as you are in the material world, you cannot neglect physical laws. Suppose you go to a jungle and there is a tiger. It is known that it will attack you, so why should you voluntarily go and be attacked? It is not that a devotee should take physical risk so long as he has a physical body. It is not a challenge to the physical laws: “I have become a devotee. I challenge everything.” ‘ But ultimately we have faith that Krishna is our final protector and that everything depends on Him.”
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