Article from Krsna Kathamrita Bindu

[Guest guest]

SIMPLICITY AND FAITH

Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja

>From an evening program in

Lansing, Michigan, USA, 28 October 1991

 

Gopal and the Schoolboy

A mother had a small six- or seven-year-old son. She wanted to admit him

into primary school so that he could get some education, but the school was

a little far away, half a mile from their house. Still she told the boy that

he should go to school every morning.

 

So, the boy started going. On the path to school he had to pass through a

jungle where there were some ferocious animals like tigers and snakes. Being

a small child, he was afraid. He came to his mother and said, “Oh mother,

when I was going through that jungle on the way to school I was very afraid.

So many ferocious animals are there. I can’t go any more.”

His mother said, “Why are you afraid? Don’t you know that your friend Gopal

is there? Just call your friend, He will help you. You need not be afraid.”

“Oh, my friend is there?” “Yes. When you feel afraid you should call out,

‘Oh my friend Gopal, I am in a fearful situation! Where are You? Please

come!’ You should say like that.” The child followed her instruction. When

he was passing through the jungle and he felt afraid, he called out, “Friend

Gopal! My brother Gopal! Where are You? I am in a fearful situation. Please

come! Help me!” Gopal appeared before him. “Yes, I am here.

Why are you afraid?” “I have to go through the jungle to go to school and it

is full of ferocious animals.” “Don’t fear. Come with Me!” Gopal was helping

him every day.

 

Milk from Gopal

 

In Indian schools they perform ganesa puja

and sarasvati-puja to give the students knowledge. For these festivals, the

teacher will collect some fees from the students. One day at school the

teacher announced that they were going to have such a festival and that

the students should all pay some fee. But the boy and his mother were very

poor. There was nobody in that family, only the mother and the son, and they

had no money. The teacher told him, “You are poor, you don’t have enough

money, but you should at least bring fifty paisa — half of a rupee.”

 

The child returned home and told his mother that the teacher said that he

had to pay fifty paisa for the festival. But they had nothing, not even a

single paisa. The mother said, “Tell the teacher that we have no money.

We are very poor. But we will bring milk.” The child said, “Who will give us

milk?” “Oh, your friend Gopal will give us milk. He tends cows. He can

supply as much milk as your teacher wants. Yes. You tell Gopal!”

The boy accepted what his mother said, “Yes, I must tell my friend Gopal.”

So that day in the forest he called out to his friend, “O Gopal, where are

You?” “I am here.” Gopal appeared. “What do you need?” “My teacher has said

that I have to pay fifty paisa, but we have no money. My mother said to ask

You to give us some milk, because they need milk for the festival. So You

must supply as much milk as they need.”

“Oh yes, I must supply, I must help you. I am always here to help you.”

On the puja day when he was passing through that jungle, he called his

friend, “Gopal, today is the day. Please come!” Gopal came with a small

earthen pot filled with milk. “All right, take this milk. Give it to your

teacher. This pot will give as much milk as they want. It will never be

empty.” The boy took it and gave it to the teacher. Seeing the small pot,

the teacher said, “Oh, this is just a small amount of milk. We need a

large amount, ten buckets of milk. You have only brought a small pot.”

“No, no, no. It will never be empty. You bring ten buckets and pour this pot

out. All ten buckets will be filled.” The teacher did so, and, amazingly,

ten buckets were filled. Then the teacher asked, “Where did you get such a

pot?” “My friend Gopal gave me.” “Your friend Gopal? Who is He?” “Oh, He

stays in the jungle. Every time I need, I call Him. My mother told me that

whenever I am in a fearful situation I should call out, ‘Gopal! Gopal! O

brother! O my friend Gopal!’ Then He appears. He helps me, protects me, and

leads me to school. He gave this pot of milk. He says that He is a friend to

one and all.” Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita (5.29), “I am the only

well-wishing friend of all living entities.” “He says He is not only my

friend, He is a friend to one and all. If one calls, He is there

ready to help in time of danger, in time of need, in time of calamities.”

 

Why Doesn’t Gopal Come to You?

 

Such a simple child gets help from Krishna. But you are worrying, he is

worrying, she is worrying, “What shall I do? What shall I do? I need so much

money. How can I do it? I cannot collect. I have to do this thing. I have

to do that thing. I have so many problems, so many hindrances, so many

obstacles.” Why don’t you ask Gopal? Gopal is ready to help you, but you are

not asking Him. If you are asking, then why is Gopal not coming? You say,

“Yes, yes. I am asking, ‘O Krishna! O Krishna! Please help me, please help

me!’ But Krishna is not coming and helping me.” Gopal immediately appeared

before that small child. Why can’t you get Gopal’s help? Why doesn’t Gopal

come to you? What is the difficulty? What is the reason? It’s because

you have no faith in Gopal, no faith in Krishna. It is a question of faith.

That small child had strong faith. As soon as his mother told him he put

strong unflinching faith in her words, and he got Krishna. But you do not

have faith. Now in America, many, many people have

lost faith. In his Bhakti-rasamta-sindhu (1.4.15) Srila Rupa Goswami says,

adau œraddha, the first thing is unflinching faith. Similarly, Krishna says

in Gita (4.39): œraddhaval labhate jnana tat-para sayatendriya

jnana labdhva para œantim acireadhigacchati

 

A faithful man who is dedicated to transcendental knowledge and who subdues

his senses is eligible to achieve such knowledge, and having achieved it he

quickly attains the supreme spiritual peace. What do we mean by œraddha?

Rupa Goswami says that the first thing is sraddha. Following that comes

other things. sraddha means strong, unflinching faith. Bhajante ma d

ha-vrata — those who have faith, they do bhajana with determination. [bg.

7.28]. Strong faith in what? Sadhu-œastra-guru-vakya faith in what sadhu

says, what guru says, what sastra says — what Krishna says [Narottam Das

Thakur’s Prema-bhakti-candrika 1.10]. You should put strong unflinching

faith in what Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita and srimad

Bhagavatam. It is said:visvasa mile ka tarke bahu dura

If one has faith then he can easily obtain Krishna and arguments or doubts

stay far away.

 

Why Depressed and Disappointed?

 

If you have strong faith you will get Krishna. You have faith, but it is not

strong. It is soft faith. At any time it can break and you feel yourself

disappointed, depressed. Why such feelings? Why disappointed? Why depressed?

Because you do not have strong faith in Krishna. You have no faith in

sadhu-sastra- guru-vakya. You have lost faith, therefore you

feel disappointed, and depressed. Faith is the most important thing. It has

been stressed in Bhagavad-gita, in srimad Bhagavatam,

and all of our acaryas have said it. Rupa Goswami says in Bhakti-rasam

ta-sindhu (1.4.15- 16) that everything begins with sraddha.

 

First comes sraddha, faith; next sadhu-saga, association with saintly

persons; after that bhajana- kriya, spiritual practices; then anartha-niv

tti, cessation of all offenses or obstacles; next niha, firmness; which is

followed by ruci, taste; after that asakti, attachment; then bhava; and then

appears prema. These are the different stages leading to prema’s appearance

within the heart of a spiritual practitioner. It is a gradual process.

Mahaprabhu said the same thing:

ucca sakirtane kari œraddhara pracara

Loudly chant the holy names and preach with faith. When my guru-maharaja

came to the West, what did he have with him? Only strong faith in Krishna,

strong faith in the words of his guru, strong faith in the holy name. He had

nothing else. It is a question of strong faith in Gopal.!

 

But people are lacking faith. You have some faith, but not strong faith. You

should develop strong faith. Caitanya-caritamta (madhya 22.62) states:

 

“sraddha” is defined as confident, firm faith that by rendering

transcendental loving service to Krishna one automatically performs all

subsidiary activities. Such faith is favorable to the discharge

of devotional service.

 

Chant Loudly!

 

If you develop ka-bhakti all of your duties and obligations are finished.

You are thinking, “This is my duty, my responsibility, to look after the

maintenance of my family, my wife and my children. But it is said,

 

“All of your work is finished.” Everyone says this, but they are only

speaking from the lips. In their heart, 99.9% people have no faith.

Therefore Gauranga Mahaprabhu has said, ucca sakirtane kari œraddhara

pracara — “Chant loudly: hare ka hare

ka ka ka hare hare hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare.

Inculcate sraddha, faith, unto those people who have not developed

œraddha.” My guru-maharaja did that. When he first arrived here he came with

only a pair of karatalas. He simply went to a park and chanted Hare Krishna.

The hippies were rolling on the ground, half-naked, taking strong drugs like

LSD and marijuana, and becoming mad. My guru-maharaja just played karatalas

and chanted, and thereby he inculcated

sraddha in them. Cora-vesya-saha — the thieves, the prostitutes, and the

cheaters — sadhu is able to inculcate sraddha even into

them. That is Mahaprabhu’s instruction: agre sraddha diya — “First inculcate

sraddha unto them.” Then when they are sraddhavan, when they have developed

sraddha, strong faith in the holy name, strong faith in Krishna, and

sadhu-sastra-guru-vakya, then they are eligible to be initiated. There is

the offense to the holy name known as sraddha-hina-jane namopadesa “don’t

give someone nama-upadesa, instructions on chanting, if they are lacking in

sraddha.” So agre-sraddha first one must have sraddha. How can one develop

sraddha? That is another question — for this reason we perform

loud sakirtana. By doing so you can develop sraddha. Don’t feel depressed or

disappointed; Mahaprabhu is there, Krishna is there, Srila Prabhupada is

there. Chant loudly and fill the atmosphere with transcendental sound

vibration!

You should have full complete faith in the holy name, in Gopal, in Krishna

and Mahaprabhu. Don’t feel desperate at any time, under any circumstances.

There is no question of pessimism in Mahaprabhu’s movement. There is all

optimism. I have seen during my tour that now this pessimism is widespread

amongst the devotees in America. Seeing that, I feel very sorry. I am crying

in my heart. What has happened? My guru-maharaja came here first. He sowed

the seed here. Now what has happened? They have lost faith — such a

sorry state of affairs. How is it that a small boy immediately developed

faith and got Krishna? He cried out, “O Gopal! Where are You? My mother has

said to call you!” And immediately Gopal appeared.

 

The Determination of Dhruva

 

Dhruva Maharaja was also only a child, a five-year-old boy. When he inquired

from his mother Suniti, she told him, “Narayan is there. If you get the

mercy of Lord Narayan then all of your desires will be fulfilled.

Dhruva said, “Yes! Lord Narayan. Where is He?”

Suniti said, “I have heard that saints and sages go to the forest to get

Him.” Dhruva said, “Oh I must go! I must go and get Him!” He was only a

five-year-old boy, but he had such determination. Later, Narada Muni told

him, “The forest is a very dangerous place. There are many

fearful, ferocious animals here — tigers, lions, and snakes. You are a small

boy, what can you do here?” Dhruva said, “No! No! My mother said that

Narayan is there. I must go and find Him. Dhruva wouldn’t hear any

dissuasion. He was so strong and determined! Therefore his name is Dhruva.

“Dhruva” means “determined”. His determination never shakes. Rupa Goswami

therefore says in Upadesamta (text 3): uO

One can execute the process of bhakti-yoga successfully with full-hearted

enthusiasm, perseverance, and determination, by following the prescribed

duties in the association of devotees and by engaging completely in

activities of goodness. Rupa Goswami, mahajana-acarya, says one must have

utsahan, enthusiasm, and niœcayad, determination. “Yes, I am determined to

achieve this thing. I must achieve it.” Dhruva had that kind of

determination. But also dhairyat, you must have patience. Don’t lose

patience. This strong determination and strong faith is most important.

Nothing is impossible. Krishna is always there to help you. He is there in

your heart. He will test how strong your faith is in Him. Your faith is

shaking; it is not strong. How determined are you? Krishna creates

everything. His will is supreme. By His mere desire

creation, maintenance, and destruction take place. We are completely

dependent on His will. Bhaktivinode says in saraagati (3.4.7), tomara

icchaya achi nirbhara koriya — “I am completely dependent on Your will, O

Krishna.” So Krishna says, “Okay, I will test your faith, to see if you are

really completely dependent on My will.” But you are lacking faith, and

Krishna knows, “Oh, he has no faith. He only speaks from the lips. In his

heart he has no faith.”