Sri Narsimha Dev Bhagvan Ki Jay ( By: HH Giriraja Swami)

[Guest guest]

THE LORD'S MERCY: TO DELIVER THE DEVOTEES AND VANQUISH THE DEMONS

 

A talk by Giriraj Swami on Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.17.16

February 12, 2003, Los Angeles, CA.

 

TEXT

 

tav adi-daityau sahasa

vyajyamanatma-paurusau

vavrdhate 'sma-sarena

kayenadri-pati iva

 

TRANSLATION

 

These two demons who appeared in ancient times soon began to exhibit

uncommon bodily features; they had steellike frames which began to grow just

like two great mountains.

 

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

 

There are two classes of men in the world; one is called the demon, and the

other is called the demigod. The demigods concern themselves with the

spiritual upliftment of human society, whereas the demons are concerned with

physical and material upliftment. The two demons born of Diti began to make

their bodies as strong as iron frames, and they were so tall that they

seemed to touch outer space. They were decorated with valuable ornaments,

and they thought that this was success in life. Originally it was planned

that Jaya and Vijaya, the two doorkeepers of Vaikuntha, were to take birth

in this material world, where, by the curse of the sages, they were to play

the part of always being angry with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As

demoniac persons, they became so angry that they were not concerned with the

Supreme Personality of Godhead, but simply with physical comforts and

physical upliftment.

 

LECTURE by Giriraj Swami

 

Srila Prabhupada begins his discussion by paraphrasing the verse from Vedic

literatures that explains that there are two classes of human beings: the

demigods, who are devotees of Visnu, and the demons, who are just the

opposite:

 

dvau bhuta-sargau loke 'smin

daiva asura eva ca

visnu-bhaktah smrto daiva

asuras tad-viparyayah

 

"There are two kinds of created beings in this world, godly and demoniac.

Those dedicated to the devotional service of Lord Visnu are godly, and those

opposed to such service are demoniac." (Agni Purana)

 

In the present political atmosphere such a statement sounds "hot." Nowadays,

people want to believe that everyone is the same and that we should make no

discrimination between one category and another; we should just believe that

everyone is the same. But here the Vedic literatures, as perfectly

represented by Srila Prabhupada, say the opposite: There are two categories:

the demigods and the demons. And throughout the Vedic literature we find all

sorts of classifications.

 

Of course, we also read in Bhagavad-gita, panditah sama-darsinah: A learned

person sees everyone as the same. And there are many verses in the

Bhagavad-gita that describe the vision of the self-realized soul who sees

all living entities equally, samah sarvesu bhutesu.

 

So how do we reconcile the apparently contradictory statements, some of

which describe different categories and others that indicate that all living

beings are the same? The answer is that spiritually, all living entities are

the same, but materially they are covered by different types of bodies and

different types of mentalities, and so the Vedic literatures classify them

in different categories--according to age, sex, social position, spiritual

position, etc.

 

And the classification is actually beneficial, because it defines people's

social and spiritual duties so that they know how to act and we know how to

deal with them. It's good for people to know what category they fall in so

they know what they are meant to do and what they are not meant to do. Thus,

the different classifications and their descriptions are actually beneficial

for the conditioned souls.

 

The liberated souls, on the other hand, see everyone equally, because they

see the soul within the body. Yet even liberated souls or uttama-vaisnavas,

when they come to preach, also accept the preacher's vision and make

distinctions.

 

The Srimad-Bhagavatam explains that the maha-bhagavata sees everyone related

to Krsna, everyone engaged in the service of Krsna. Therefore, the

maha-bhagavata finds no need to preach; he or she sees that everyone is

already Krsna conscious. It is the intermediate devotee or madhyama-bhakta

who perceives different categories, and he or she deals with each category

differently.

 

isvare tad-adhinesu

balisesu dvisatsu ca

prema-maitri-krpopeksa

yah karoti sa madhyamah

 

"He gives his love to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He makes friends

with devotees, he is merciful to the innocent, and he avoids the envious."

(SB 11.2.46.)

 

Although here in the Third Canto we find two categories, demigod and demon,

in the Eleventh Canto of the Srimad-Bhagavatam we find that the preacher

sees three categories of living entities. The godly or demigod and the

envious or demon are common to both classifications, while the innocent is

in a special category in the preacher's vision, because the innocent is

still on the material platform, like the demon, but--unlike the demon--she

is not envious of the Lord. Therefore, the innocent is open to the mercy

that the devotees have to give, which is the knowledge of the Bhagavad-gita

and the holy name of Krsna. But again, in the present atmosphere, people

don't like to hear such words, or discrimination.

 

Even when Srila Prabhupada was here, one of his disciples objected to the

use of the word "demon." The disciple objected, "If we call them demons,

they'll never come to Krsna consciousness."

 

"But they are demons," Srila Prabhupada replied.

 

"But we can't call them demons," the disciple insisted.

 

"Yes, they are demons! Unless you understand this point, you will not make

any advancement in Krsna consciousness."

 

So, Srila Prabhupada's words are very strong, and one may wonder how or why

Srila Prabhupada would make such a statement. But if we consider from the

analytical point of view, we can understand that, yes, the neophyte or

kanistha-bhakta doesn't discriminate. He sort of thinks everyone is OK. He

wants to be a devotee, but he basically thinks everybody is OK. It is in

fact the more advanced devotee who is actually able to discriminate and thus

preach to suitable people while avoiding others.

 

Anyway, after Srila Prabhupada said, "You cannot make any spiritual

advancement unless you see that they're demons," the disciple asked, "Well,

can demons become devotees?" And Srila Prabhupada replied, "Oh, yes. If they

chant Hare Krsna and render service, even demons can become devotees."

 

So that was actually Srila Prabhupada's mood and conviction: his mission was

to induce people to chant Hare Krsna and become devotees. When Srila

Prabhupada established one of his main projects in India in Juhu, Bombay, he

called it "Hare Krishna Land." At the time, I was struck by the name. Srila

Prabhupada had never named a project in this way before. He had named

Deities, but he had never actually named a project or property like this. At

the time, the only other "land" I knew of was "Disneyland." So I thought

that by giving the name "Hare Krishna Land," Srila Prabhupada was suggesting

that we should have a big center of attraction like Disneyland, but instead

of the center being Mickey Mouse, at "Hare Krishna Land," Krsna and Krsna

consciousness, or chanting Hare Krsna, would be the center.

 

And as the events evolved, what Srila Prabhupada writes here in the purport

became clearly manifest. There were demons who were envious of Srila

Prabhupada and the devotees, especially because Hare Krishna Land, from the

material point of view, was prime property at Juhu Beach. And there were

devotees who were sympathetic to Srila Prabhupada. As time passed and as the

battle between the demons and the devotees escalated, more and more people

were drawn into the war.

 

Srila Prabhupada remarked that one of the purposes or functions of the Krsna

consciousness movement is to polarize the devotees and the demons.

Otherwise, when you just walk down the street, you can't really tell the

difference.

 

Everyone pretty much looks the same. But as soon as you start preaching

Krsna consciousness, people start to separate into two groups: those who are

sympathetic and those who are antagonistic. And the same phenomenon took

place in Bombay--on a large scale. (As Srila Prabhupada said, "Big preaching

means big enemies.")

 

We read in the scriptures how the Lord comes to kill the demons. Of course,

in Kali-yuga the situation is different, but in previous ages the Lord would

come and kill the demons. Srila Prabhupada also had to contend with so many

enemies in Juhu. And just as we have heard that the Lord's glories are

magnified by His triumph over powerful demons, we all felt that Srila

Prabhupada's glories too were meant to be magnified by his triumph over very

powerful demons.

 

The leader of the demonic group was Mr. Nair, and he had many accomplices.

One was Mr. Mhatre, the local Municipal Councilor, but as the war escalated,

more and more demons joined Mr. Nair and his group, and more and more

devotees joined Srila Prabhupada and his group. Now the fact is that many of

the demons actually were killed in the course of the battles, and that is

also to the glory of Srila Prabhupada.

 

Of course, in terms of mundane sentiment, such a statement might sound odd.

But the fifth chapter of the Adi-lila of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, in the

discussion of the glories of Nityananda Rama, clarifies this fact. There,

one sees the devastating but fitting effect of vaisnava-aparadha--by the

mercy of Nityananda Prabhu and the power of His servants. And in the

discussion of the glories of Haridasa Thakura, in the third chapter of the

Antya-lila of Caitanya-caritamrta, although one testimony to Haridasa

Thakura's glory was how even a prostitute was transformed into a great

devotee by his association, the other testimony to Haridasa's greatness was

the disastrous effects that fell upon the offender who sent her. Sri

Caitanya-caritamrta states, "By inducing a prostitute to disturb Haridasa

Thakura, Ramacandra Khan caused a seed of offense at his lotus feet to

germinate. This seed later became a tree, and when it fructified, Ramacandra

Khan ate its fruits." The author of Caitanya-caritamrta takes advantage of

these incidents to recount "a wonderful narration" about the effects of the

offense at the lotus feet of an exalted devotee. So it is actually part of

the glorification of the devotee and the Lord to describe how the demons and

offenders are punished. Of all of Krsna's qualities, His greatest is His

affection for His devotees, and for Him to protect His devotees, He must

punish the demons. The punishment serves as a warning to others, lest they

too commit offenses, and it stops the current activities of the offending

demons. So it is not that Krsna's main concern is to punish the demons;

actually, His main concern is to protect the devotees, but in order to

protect them, He has to punish the demons. Therefore, in a way, how the

demons who offend a devotee are punished is testimony to the glory of

the devotee and the glory of the Lord.

 

So, Mr. Nair (to narrate the whole history would take days, but in

brief)--Mr. Nair offered his land at Juhu to Srila Prabhupada, but he took a

deposit from Srila Prabhupada, and then he didn't want to give Srila

Prabhupada the land or return the deposit. Srila Prabhupada kept saying, "We

want the land, and we'll pay you the money, but if you don't want to give us

the land, then at least return the money." But Mr. Nair was very cunning. In

the past he had played the same trick: he had taken money from people for

the land, but then he had kept both the money and the land. So he was quite

a formidable person. He had been the sheriff of Bombay, and he owned a major

daily newspaper in Bombay. So he was a big demon.

 

One day I was walking around Metro, the part of downtown Bombay around the

Metro Cinema. In Bombay, as elsewhere in India, on the streets and sidewalks

vendors sit with newspapers and magazines to sell. So, I was walking with my

briefcase, probably on my way to my next appointment, and I saw on the front

page of the newspaper, Mr. Nair's newspaper, "The Free Press Journal," a big

picture of Mr. Nair and a huge banner headline, "A.B. NAIR IS DEAD." When I

saw the headline, within my heart I felt jubilant. I actually felt like

dancing, right there on the street. But then I thought, "I'm a devotee.

We're supposed to develop saintly qualities. As a devotee, am I supposed to

feel like this?"

 

At the time, Bali Mardan was visiting Bombay, and he was more used to

dealing with Srila Prabhupada directly than I was. Anyway, he phoned Srila

Prabhupada in Australia, and Srutakirti Prabhu, Srila Prabhupada's servant

then, took the phone call and relayed the news to Srila Prabhupada. (It was

only much later that we heard how Srila Prabhupada reacted to the news.)

Srila Prabhupada's servant later told us that Srila Prabhupada folded his

hands in a mood of prayer and said, "Thank you." Prabhupada then remarked,

"Mr. Nair caused too much trouble to the devotees." And Srila Prabhupada

indicated that he had prayed to Lord Nrsimhadeva, and that now Lord

Nrsimhadeva had killed Mr. Nair.

 

(Even medically, people couldn't understand how Nair suddenly had a heart

attack and died.)

 

At that time, we didn't know what Srila Prabhupada's response to Mr. Nair's

death was. All we knew was that Bali Mardan had phoned and given the news to

the servant. So I was still in doubt about how we should respond. I knew how

I was reacting, but I wasn't sure I was reacting as I should. Then a friend

and devotee, Dr. K. H. F. Singhal, wrote a letter to Srila Prabhupada, and

only when Srila Prabhupada replied did we get our answer. Srila Prabhupada

wrote to him, "From one telephone message it is understood that Mr. Nair is

dead. So it is good news that Nrsimhadeva has killed a demon like him.

Prahlada Maharaja said that even a saintly person becomes pleased when a

scorpion or a snake is killed. So if it is a fact that Nair is dead, it is a

matter of great pleasure for all devotees." And then we knew that the way we

felt was all right. It was actually Vaisnava. I was staying in the Acropolis

Building in Colaba at the time, in an apartment that belonged to an affluent

life member, Shri P. G. Valia, but most of the other devotees were living in

a hut at Juhu, and rumor had it that they were passing out sweets when they

heard the news. So I guess they were also on the Vaisnava platform. So, that

was Mr. Nair.

 

Then there was another person (or demon) that joined with Mr. Nair named Mr.

Ranee. He lived in an old frame house right across from Hare Krishna Land,

just opposite the site of the small temple there. He had a lot of the people

of Juhu in the palm of his hand, because Juhu was really just a fishing

village then.

 

Just a little while before Srila Prabhupada got Hare Krishna Land, some big

hotels were built there, because of the beauty of Juhu Beach. Otherwise,

Juhu had been a fishermen's village. But Ranee had some money and some

intelligence, and he had a large frame mansion that looked like a haunted

house. And he used to conduct séances in his yard. We would pass the area on

the way to Juhu Beach. He had a number of stone chairs and an altar his

garden. We don't know what went on, but sometimes at night they would meet

there and light candles.

 

And once in a while he'd have some sort of special event and a line of cars

would form in front of his house. In India then, one had to be pretty rich

to be able to own a car, so even affluent people were coming to him. But he

was basically playing on their ignorance. And he didn't like us, because we

were spreading knowledge, while he was thriving on people's ignorance. So he

joined the clique--Srila Prabhupada called it a "clique"--against us.

 

After Mr. Nair died, according to what we heard, Mrs. Nair got some money,

maybe life insurance money, and used the money to bribe the police and the

municipality to come and demolish the semi-permanent temple we had

established for Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari. Of course, we didn't know at the

time that Mrs. Nair was behind it, but some days after Mr. Nair left his

body, trucks pulled up in front of Hare Krishna Land, and dozens of

municipal workers jumped out of the trucks with pick axes and sledgehammers

and started to attack the temple, to demolish the temple. I immediately

rushed forward, because I had been working to renew our temporary permit for

the structure, and with great difficulty and Krsna's mercy we had actually

obtained a letter from the Municipal Commissioner to renew the permit. Then

I quickly ran to my office and brought forth the permit and showed it to the

officers, but they were not in the least bit interested.

 

So then I ran in front of the demolition crew to try to stop them, and some

police constables caught me and threw me into the police van. And they did

the same to Jagannivasa Prabhu, who had come to Juhu after some time in East

Africa. Maithili dasi, the Deities' pujari, stood in front of the doors to

the Deities' house, the Deity room, and she just wouldn't budge. Finally,

three or four constables had to grab her hair and pull her away by the hair.

But she was very heroic. And so they took us all to the police station.

 

But there was one devotee who wasn't heroic in the same way. He was a

Gujarati devotee named Manasvi. While we were rushing forward and being

captured, he was crouching in the bushes and watching. And he got the idea

to phone Balasaheb Thackeray, the leader of a strong Hindu, mainly Marathi,

political party in Bombay, known to support Hindu causes. Manasvi phoned Bal

Thackeray and told him what was happening. And Bal Thackeray phoned the

Municipal Commissioner and told him what was happening and told him to stop

the demolition of the temple.

 

The Municipal Commissioner objected, because he too had been paid off. Then

Bal Thackeray said, "Just remember who this city belongs to." So: "OK, OK,

Balasaheb. OK." Then the Municipal Commissioner phoned the K-Ward Officer in

Andheri, who was in charge of the Juhu area. And the Ward Officer had to

come personally, running to the site to stop the demolition.

 

While the demolition was going on, the municipal workers were able to tear

down all the brickwork, the masonry, and the roof over the kirtana hall, the

darsana-mandapa. Still, there were steel tubes that supported the roof. They

tried to saw them, but they couldn't. So some of them went back to the ward

office and got blowtorches. They came back and they were trying to cut

throughthe steel tubes with the blowtorches. And Mr. Ranee, the sort of

black magician, was standing on the other side of the street laughing.

 

One lady devotee who had joined was named Gandiva dasi. She was actually the

first lady who joined in Bombay. And her mother lived down the street and

was also a devotee, one of the few devotees or open supporters we had in

Juhu. So she came. And Mr. Mhatre was standing on the other side of the

street with a few friends, watching and enjoying the fun, and Mr. Ranee was

laughing, specifically when they brought out the blowtorches. So Gandiva's

mother cursed Mr. Ranee: "Just as you are laughing when Krsna's temple is

being burned, so one day you will burn."

 

One morning, just at the time of mangala-arati, a few weeks later, we heard

shrieks coming from the house across the street. Then we saw an ambulance

drive up. Eventually we got the news that Mr. Ranee had covered his body

with kerosene and set fire to himself, and he had died before the ambulance

even reached his home. (Later I also heard that when a black magician sends

a ghost to attack another person and the ghost fails in his mission, the

ghost returns to attack and torment the one who sent him.) So, number two:

two down.

 

Now we come to number three. Mr. Mhatre was really very political, very

clever. Later, in 1978, he had the idea that he could take advantage of some

trouble we were in then to instigate the life members to revolt against us

and take control of the Society. So he made an alliance with Mr. V. K.

Tembe, who was a member of the Legislative Assembly, an M.L.A, in the same

political party as Mr. Mhatre, and, like Mhatre, a Maharastrian. So, Mhatre

came up with the idea that Mr. Tembe, who himself had joined ISKCON as a

life member many years earlier, should organize the life members to try to

take control of the Society from us. Thus, at a big meeting of ISKCON life

members, Mr. Tembe spoke very passionately, as politicians do, to say we

were not qualified to run the temple and the temple should be taken out of

our hands and run by the life members.

 

One day soon thereafter, when Tembe was on the sidewalk in front of the

state government building, called Sachivalaya, which houses all the state

government offices, for no clear medical reason, he collapsed on the

pavement and died.

 

So, three: three for three.

 

But there was still Mr. Mhatre. In 1978, after Tamal Krishna Goswami became

the GBC for Bombay, we were discussing, "What about Mr. Mhatre? Why isn't he

getting any reaction?" Then Tamal Krishna Goswami quoted the verse from the

Bhagavad-gita, "For one who has been honored, dishonor is worse than death."

So I made note of this. And again, within some months, Mr. Mhatre was

totally dishonored. It seems that he was a real rogue. Probably they all

were, but he got caught. There was a municipal school right across from the

temple, right next to Mr. Ranee's property. Now it was revealed that Mhatre

was having an affair with another woman, and also that to get appointed as a

teacher in the school, one had to do sexual favors for Mr. Mhatre. Somehow

Mr. Mhatre's wife found out, and she threw him out of the house. Also, he

was a little tyrant in Juhu, taking bribes from everyone. For the simplest

thing you'd have to pay him a bribe; otherwise you couldn't get any work

done. And on the other hand, even if you were totally innocent and just

minding your own business, he would harass you and create complaints against

you and send you notices and this and that. Thus, just to avoid being

harassed by him, people would pay him. So when these scandals were exposed,

peoples' hatred for him and anger towards him all came out.

 

One day, when I was in one of the offices in the temple building, we heard

sounds like there was a procession on Juhu Road in front of the temple. So

we came out to look and we got the news that it was a morcha, a protest

march against Mr. Mhatre, with banners and slogans and a picture of Mhatre

garlanded with shoes. At least in India, the way to really disgrace or

insult someone is to garland the person's picture with chappals, or Indian

shoes. It's considered the greatest insult to put a garland of shoes around

someone. That was the procession, and then I again remembered the verse from

Bhagavad-gita quoted by Tamal Krishna Goswami: "For one who has been

honored, dishonor is worse than death."

 

So, this is purifying. It is purifying not only to speak of the glories of

devotees as such, but it is purifying also to speak of the demons and how

they are punished by the Lord, especially when they harass devotees. Thus,

we find descriptions in the Bhagavatam of the Lord killing demons, and as

Prahlada Maharaja said, "Even saintly persons take pleasure when a snake or

scorpion is killed."

 

Sri Prahlada spoke those memorable, immortal words, to Lord Nrsimhadeva

after He had killed Hiranyakasipu. Lord Nrsimhadeva was so furious after

killing Hiranyakasipu that no one could pacify Him. Lord Brahma; Narada;

Laksmi, the Goddess of Fortune and eternal consort of the Lord--no one could

pacify the Lord's anger. Then they asked Prahlada to go forward. And then

Prahlada spoke the verse:

 

tad yaccha manyum asuras ca hatas tvayadya

modeta sadhur api vrscika-sarpa-hatya

lokas ca nirvrtim itah pratiyanti sarve

rupam nrsimha vibhayaya janah smaranti

 

"My Lord Nrsimhadeva, please, therefore, cease Your anger now that my

father, the great demon Hiranyakasipu, has been killed. Since even saintly

persons take pleasure in the killing of a scorpion or a snake, all the

worlds have achieved great satisfaction because of the death of this demon.

Now they are confident of their happiness, and they will always remember

Your auspicious incarnation in order to be free from fear." (SB 7.9.14)

 

Srila Prabhupada has explained the purport: Hiranyakasipu was already

killed, so Lord Narasimha had no cause to be angry at him. Why, then, was He

still angry? He was angry because He apprehended that people might find

fault with Him for having killed Hiranyakasipu. So in effect, Prahlada said

to the Lord, "Don't be angry. No one will find fault with You for killing

him. No one will blame You. Even saintly persons take pleasure when a snake

or a scorpion is killed. So we are all jubilant. Don't feel that we're going

to be upset or angry with You because You've killed the demon." Then, when

Lord Nrsimhadeva understood that His deed had been accepted even by the most

saintly of persons, Prahlada Maharaja, His anger subsided.

 

Now here, in today's verse, the demons are described as angry. But their

anger is based on the frustration of lust. They are lusty, and when their

lust is frustrated, they become angry. But the Lord's anger and the

devotees' anger arise when their love and service to the Lord and other

devotees is transgressed. They feel pained when demons vent their anger

against the Lord and the devotees. Anyway, I feel very purified (though I'm

not sure in which category I personally fall), but I do feel very purified

discussing how the Lord killed the demons that opposed the Lord's dearmost

devotee and foremost preacher, Srila Prabhupada.

 

*

 

Afterword: Devotees and Demons at Juhu

 

One other incident that highlights the difference between devotees and

demons took place in 1978, shortly after Srila Prabhupada left. Before Srila

Prabhupada departed, he had expressed his concern for the major properties

he had acquired for Krsna's service in Vrndavana, Mayapur, and Juhu. The

properties were valuable--and coveted by others. He warned us specifically

to beware of his Godbrothers in Mayapur, of the caste Gosvamis in Vrndavana,

and of the Municipality in Juhu.

 

Around June of 1978, there was a riot on the steps of the Juhu temple, and

Mr. Mhatre took advantage of the situation to mobilize public opinion

against the devotees. He systematically went to newspapers and bribed

reporters to publish articles against us. He claimed that we were murderers,

smugglers, drug dealers, drug addicts, kidnappers, womanizers, CIA agents,

spies, and whatnot.

 

He even claimed in one major newspaper article that the spires on the tops

of the domes of the temple were actually radio antennas used to receive and

transmit CIA messages. So under Mr. Mhatre's instigation, the police came to

search the temple premises for radio transmitters, contraband, drugs,

foreign currency, and whatever. The police went so far as to search even the

Deity rooms and pujari areas.

 

After they had searched the entire premises, only one place remained: Srila

Prabhupada's quarters. They insisted that they wanted to search Prabhupada's

quarters, and we, of course, resisted, because, obviously, we wanted to

preserve the sanctity of Srila Prabhupada's rooms. But they were determined,

and in the end we had to agree. So, reluctantly Tamal Krishna Goswami

accompanied them to Srila Prabhupada's quarters, where, of course, they

found nothing incriminating.

 

At the end of the investigation, the police officer, still in Srila

Prabhuapda's quarters, asked Goswami Maharaja, "Do you know why we are

investigating you?" Goswami Maharaja ventured, "Because we are so many

foreigners here." The officer replied, "No, there are more foreigners at the

Holiday Inn. Why are we investigating you?" Finally, Goswami Maharaja said,

"Maybe you should tell us." The officer then remarked, "At the Holiday Inn,

they eat meat, drink alcohol, engage in prostitution, and indulge in all

sorts of sense gratification. But here you refrain from meat, intoxication,

illicit sex, and gambling, and you declare in a very loud voice that others

also should not eat meat, drink, have illicit sex, and gamble. That's why we

are investigating you."

 

The astute officer's frank statement clearly highlighted the difference

between devotees and demons. Devotees use all resources for the

glorification of the Lord, to broadcast the message of Krsna consciousness.

And demons use all resources to engage in sinful activities and enjoy sense

gratification. And when the devotees act and preach in such a way as to

oppose the demons' sense gratification, the demons react.

 

Soon thereafter, I found one purport by Srila Prabhupada where he explained

exactly what the police officer had intimated--how the demons react to the

devotees:

 

"Demons are very much disturbed when devotees worship the Lord in the

prescribed ways recommended in the scriptures. In the Vedic scriptures, the

devotees are advised to engage in nine kinds of devotional service, such as

to hear and chant the holy name of God, to remember Him always, to chant on

beads Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama,

Rama Rama, Hare Hare, to worship the Lord in the form of His Deity

incarnation in the temples, and to engage in various activities of Krsna

consciousness to increase the number of godly persons for perfect peace in

the world. Demons do not like such activity. They are always envious of God

and His devotees. Their propaganda not to worship in the temple or church

but simply to make material advancement for satisfaction of the senses is

always current. … Demons are always anxious to have a godless society for

their sense gratification." (SB 3.18.5p)

 

Srila Prabhupada's words--"Their propaganda not to worship in the temple or

church but simply to make material advancement for the satisfaction of the

senses is always current"--struck me: The differences between the devotees

and the demons and the struggles that took place between them ages ago are

"always current"--always.