Start Lecture Transcribing:

Start Lecture by His Holiness Radhanath Swami Maharaja.

I wish to extent my sincere gratitude to all of you this evening. You are so
kindly attaining this festival. Prerana is a festival especially saying that
narration and culture in its spiritual qualities within the root of India because
all the future leaders of society out our generation. The future world depends
on the characteristics that you hold sacred within your live. Tonight I was
asked to speak on the subject matter of “Forgiveness”.

Forgiveness is a quality that is absolutely crucial in order for that to be any

peace of mind or any peace in harmony within this world because it is the age
of Kali, an age especially characterized by the rampant inclination for quarrel
and hypocrisy. If we cannot forgive then there is no possibility of any
relationships surviving on any level, whether it is god brother and god brother,
god sister and god sister, husband and wife, friend and friend, neighbor and
neighbor, between religions, between various academic groups and casts, and
between nations. The nature of this world is it is under laws. There is the law
of gravity. The law of gravity means “Everything’s nature is to go down”. For
those of who are structural engineers, we know your whole service is
somehow or other battling against the laws of gravity. To build the structure
that will stay up despite the natural tendency to collapse and there are so
many impediments to keeping it up. There are so many stimulates in this
world to drag everything down, especially our consciousness and our
relationships. Without the quality of forgiveness as we can sacred within life
must collapse.

I’ll give an example of how maintaining resentment, hatred, vengefulness

affects our own heart. Someone hurts us and we are angry. We feel that our
rights have been violated. We pick a burning hot anger of coal, it is just right
red from within and without by fire and we pick it up with our hand and hold
onto it day after day, week after week, year after year, with the intension of
throwing it in the object of our abuse. Who suffers? We suffer. By holding onto
that burning fire is torturing us. It is a fact. Resentment and hatred,
vengefulness all of these qualities are like burning blazing fire and if we keep
it in our hand, what will happen? It will burn ashes all of our virtues, all of our
spiritual qualities, will make us simply miserable. Holding onto these qualities
of thinking ego and intensions toward others is factually not figuratively but
factually from an emotional, from a physical, and from a spiritual point of
view. It is like keeping toxic poisons within our mind. It is a fact.

Any proper sensitive doctor knows that emotional turbulence creates

emotional and physical disease, especially the poison of hatred and these
intensions toward others. It is poisoned. Forgiveness is the art of liberating
ourselves from that toxic deadly poison that destroying our spirituality, our
emotional content and our health. Also potentially of all those, who are around
us that we will hold the free choice to forgive someone. What actually happens
is simply remaining of a victim of whoever has hurt us or abuses us. But really
only a victim until we can get that poison out of that through the art of
forgiveness. Health research has proved how these qualities create the
deterioration in every aspect of our life. As we give the gift of forgiveness, we
are -.

According to the great saints of all tradition, a definition of love is the capacity
to endlessly forgive. The love of a parent is that they forgive their child and no
matter what their child has done. If they cannot forgive you cannot love.
Forgiveness does not mean necessarily that a person should not pay a
particular price to the recipe. It is actually forgiveness means actually be the
well wisher. Even if we are persecutes and forgive in terms of their welfare.
Inner peace, Bhagavad-Gita teaches that to change one self. Inner peace will
never ever come by changing the peace of who have cheated us or hurt us.
You can try in a positive compassionate way but we cannot really succeed
unless change our own attitudes and perceptions.

One greater thinker has said, “If we do not forgive we are breaking the bridge
which we must crush in order to forgiven for all of the improper things that we
have done”. We see in this world, in the west, divorce rate is 71% within
years. We see brothers and brothers fighting with animosity, we see friends
and friends, we see people of the same spiritual mission, we see nations and
nations, races and races, religions and religions, and this inability to make the
choice to forgive, creates pain suffering and chaos. In this world we see it can
last generation after generation even centuries. People cannot forgive what
someone has done to their forefathers a thousand years ago. They still hate
and they still want avenge. That is the world we live.

Kali or the negativity of the material energy, these qualities of the

vengefulness and avenges to destroy our own hearts and our relationships
and to create chaos and pain within the world. We are not part of the solution
but in the part of problems. William Bright, he said, “It is much easier to
forgive an enemy that to forgive a friend”. Does it make sense? It really should
not make sense. But it is the reality of the world because the most intimate
relationship we have with someone the more we expect form that person.
Those expectations are that they will speak in a way that I relatively perceive
as for my benefit. When you put trust, faith, and affection in someone
although you knew that you have the greatest power to cause them pain.

Actually, one time a police officer told me in United States that they really not
afraid of going into the Maphiadon’s and breaking things up. They may be
killed or they may not. But it is something that it is not so bad. A police officer
generally fear the most, is entering into a scene, whether it is dispute between
loved ones. Why is it? Because it is such a rage of anger that you have just no
idea you cannot even speculate of what they may do at any given moment. If
the gangsters and the enemies, soldiers of the enemies you basically know
what they are going to do. Without forgiveness, no relationship, can be
satisfying? This is a very foundational universal principle of all spiritual
teachers in all spiritual paths.

In New testaments Christian scripture where Jesus Christ teaching his

devotees, how to pray. He taught, “My lord, please forgive me as I forgive
others who have trust on me”. He explained that unless you forgive those hurt
you, god will not forgive you. Another words in forgiving, we are forgiven. In
forgiving is the ridge that we must cross to be forgiven. We should not burn
down that ridge. Saint Peter asked Lord Jesus Christ, if my brother creates
very sinful activities against me and hurts me, how many times I should
forgive him. Should I forgive him seven times and his answer was, “You should
forgive him 7*7 times”. It is said, “….”. But I say, if someone slaps on your left
chick you turn your right chick and say do this too. It explains what it means?
Unless you pray for love, those who persecute you, you will not be seen in a
positive light by the lord. Because we like those people who like us that is not
a great thing. Even the tax payers do that. To talk to only those people who
our friends, it is very ordinary even in atheistic people, who have no more or
do that. This is the place he said, “Be though perfect as your father in the
heaven as perfect”. In relationship to willingness to make the choice to
forgive, even those people who have cause us pain, and suffering. Judge not
less to be judged. He did not say it. He lived it.

When he was in the crucifix after being beaten and tortured and blasphemed.
Just before he entered into his state of Samadhi, his last prayer was, “My dear
father please forgive them, they do not know what they do”. That is a spiritual
principle. It is said that forgiveness is the fragrance that its sweet smelling
flower like a rose violet, leaves on the hill that has just crushed.

In Bhagavad-Gita the Sanskrit word of forgiveness is kshyama. There it is said

that kshyama is created by god himself because the supreme absolute truth is
all forgiving and he has given that power within every living being because we
are the parts and parcels of the supreme lord. Chanakya pandit, he said that
the beauty of a Cuckoo bird is its sweet voice. The beauty of a woman is her
chastity. Even an ugly person is seeing beautiful if they have knowledge. The
beauty of a saintly person is in their power to forgive. Our beloved guru
maharaja gives great emphasis on this that the beauty of a tapaswi or a
saintly person is their willingness and ability to forgive any situation under any
circumstances.

In the 9th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam it is said that qualified brahmanas are
worship by the people in general in this world because they have the quality of
forgiveness. This quality of forgiveness is more illuminating than the light of
the sun and those who have that ability to forgive are invested with the power
to access the mercy and the love of god. Now, how is it talk about it
theoretically? How to be forgiving, when our mind and our hearts are in
turmoil of various apparent injustices to ourselves? It is important that we
understand philosophically the phenomenon that taking place and also seeing
through historical examples of others, how achieved the goal of this virtue.

We are not these bodies. These bodies are temporary vehicles. We are the
soul. This is the first teaching of Bhagavad-Gita.
“dehino 'smin yathä dehe
kaumäraà yauvanaà jarä
tathä dehäntara-präptir
dhéras tatra na muhyati”
Bhagavad-Gita 2.13
As the embodied soul passed from boy hood to you hood, and old age the soul
similarly passes one body to another body at death.
“bhümir äpo 'nalo väyuù
khaà mano buddhir eva ca
ahaìkära itéyaà me
bhinnä prakåtir añöadhä”
Bhagavad-Gita 7.4
There are eight principle categories of elements within this material nature,
from gross elements to the subtle element they are as follows listed in
Bhagavad-Gita are earth, water, fire, air and ether. These composed the gross
body and there is the subtle body, which cannot be perceived anyway by the
senses but we know it is there. The mind the intelligence and ahankar the
false ego.
“apareyam itas tv anyäà
prakåtià viddhi me paräm
jéva-bhütäà mahä-bäho
yayedaà dhäryate jagat”
Bhagavad-Gita 7.5
Krishna explains there is a higher nature. That is the Jivatma, the atma, the
soul, which is the source of life, the source of consciousness, that emanates
and witnesses through this body.

When there is a affliction on the gross body and there is affliction on the subtle
body, which means our false ego, we become terrible disturbed. Factually we
are not the body but the eternal soul. Bhagavad-Gita explains the soul cannot
be burn by the fire, withered by the wind, cannot drown by water, cannot be
disturbed by words, and cannot be cutting to peaces by any weapon. We are
the eternal souls and our purpose in life is to cultivate knowledge and
awareness about true identity. It is simply in illusion and addiction to an
untruth that makes us take so very very seriously the phenomena avenge that
come upon a body, mind, and ego. It actually has nothing to do with us. But as
conditioned souls we are habituated so much to want to enjoy through this
body. Therefore any affliction that interferes with that enjoyment with the
body, mind, and ego causes us terrible terrible pain. Have any of you ever
experienced this?

Detachment is a great medicine. When we identify ourselves with our true

essence. “jivera svarupa haya krsnera nitya dasa” that we are the eternal
soul. That is beyond birth and death. We are the eternal servants of the god.
To the degree we are not trying to be enjoyers of this temporary material
energy or we are actually aspiring to serve rather than exploit it. We become
transcendental to the various inevitable dualities that come upon us. We want
physical pleasures and prestige. Because of the false ego we have so many
expectations. In fact we think we have so many claims of what we deserve
and what are rights are. That the more claims you make in life and the more
you feel that you expect in life the more you are going to suffer. Because it
does not matter who you are, whether you are simple filed worker in Palghar
or whether you are one of the top 10 billionaires in Fortune magazine. It does
not make that much difference. Things are not going to go on your way.
Because we are not the controllers. That power is beyond us.
“mayädhyakñeëa prakåtiù süyate sa-caräcaram”
Krishna says in Bhagavad-Gita that the supreme lord is the controller of this
material energy and they are all being controlled by material energy. That
always whoever we are there is going to the enemies. If you are in business
there are enemies. If you are in politics there are enemies. If you turned to
spiritual life in religion there is enemies. Those people who want to exploit
you, either intentionally or unintentionally but who can exploit us, who can
make us a victim? Only those people who affected their conscious. If you are
humble and do not have expectations, if you do not make false claims but you
can actually take everything in a very gracious way. That is forgiveness.

Compassion means to see the inherent good in everyone because in fact

“jivera svarupa haya krsnera nitya dasa”. Wherever there is life there is the
soul and the soul by nature is pure. Within the soul there is love of god.
Somehow the soul by his own free will has come under the influence of the
false ego and according to the modes of nature goodness, passion, and
ignorance that the false ego decides to associate with. We develop various
qualities. Some people are charitable and the very concerned with the welfare
of others. That is the mode of goodness but other false egos are under the
control of passion. Where by hook or cook or by any means, I must fulfill my
greed and lust, if not fulfilled then there is anger and may delusion. Although
who are in the mode of ignorance, we out of frustration they become ego, they
turned to intoxications, they turned to violence. Actually these are all various
levels of disease. But the person that is diseased is the pure soul and the part
of god.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur explains, “A person who loves god that love manifests to
other spiritual people in deep intimate friendships”. In the spiritual sense
friendship is not, “I’ll scratch your back but you must scratch my back”.
Friendship means selfless service. “A friend in need is friend indeed”. A real
friend is going to be most eagerly ready to be at your side to help you and
nothing to offer in return. When the world is against you and you failed, who is
there with you. Then you know, who your friends actually are. They are
whether friends or not really friends. You know who your friends are, when the
monsoon season storms of complexities and difficulties come into your life.

“Sruhrda sarvabhutanam” Krishna explains in Bhagavad-Gita I am the

supreme well wishing friend of everyone. Ultimately at the time of death what
can we do for anyone? It is absolutely helpless but if you just call out for god,
He will be there to save you and to give you eternal life and eternal love.
That’s a friend. You have nothing to offer. Those who are true devotees, they
are real friends. The friendship with god, the love of god manifest through the
hearts of those who are aspiring to serve. So when there is love of god, it
manifests intimate friendship toward devotees and it manifests toward those
persons who are in a spiritual following condition as compassion. Now there
are so many varieties of spiritually following conditions. Some people may be
innocent and basically good but just addicted to all kinds of immoral acts,
simply because they just know no better. Other people they are engage in
horrible activities, simply because they have been victimized in their own
lives.

I would like to tell you one little story. In California, I know this lawyer. Lawyer
means advocate. He was a very very powerful persecuting attorney. That
means he work for the government in a persecuting attorney’s office. That
means he guess the criminals and puts all of his concentration on making sure
that person goes to jail, as long as possible. The more people you could put in
the jail for the longest time then you get promotions. You can promote to be
the attorney general, you can become the governor, and you may become
president. So he was very successful. He just take these people and make sure
that the Jury will know that these despicable and horrible people and they
should be punished severely.

So this lawyer told me, do you want to hear this story? Horibol.

That lawyer was a persecuted attorney. There was a prostitute. She robbed,
stole and she was very prostitution. She was selling drugs. He put her in jail, I
think twenty years. It was a great success. She just sent the letter that she
would like to talk to him. So he went. She said, “I do not want anything from
you because it is too late. I am already here and there is nothing you could do
to help me. But I just wanted to reveal my heart to you”. So he listened. She
said “When I was a little girl, I was violently and sexually abused regularly.
Then I got married and I have three children. My husband would beat me. He
was an alcoholic and ultimately he left me and for several years, I do not know
where he is. He has just gone. I am from a poor background. I have no
education. Not by my will but my parents put me in the work. I have a two
year, five year, and eight year old child. They were living in a gate way. In
order for me to have a home for them, in order for me to have food for them,
to give medicine to them, they are always getting sick, I have to work. But at
the same time I cannot afford of the -. I have to take care of them all day.
They need me because they were tinny children. I am wrong and evil. But the
only way I could take care of my children throughout the day and the only
person they have and at the same time feed them and have a place. I did not
anything else to do. In a couple hours a day, I can do prostitute myself and
drugs. I did not want to do it. I hate to do it. They agonize to do it. But I do not
know how I have to survive. Now what? I am a prison for the next 10-20 years
and my children are always sent out to some orphanage. Where they are
going to probably be abused and nobody is going to care anything for them. I
am a mother. I just want to you know, what my heart is gone through thinking
of what is going to happen to my children. That’s all”.

He changed his life from a persecuting attorney, he decided to be a criminal

lawyer. He said that he would only take cases of people he felt, even if they
were guilty they will be victims and they won bad people and defend them.

So why did I told this mundane story. It has amusing because most people
who are bad and who even inflict suffering upon us, they are like that.
Because in the past they would victimized. They went through hellish
conditions. They may have been abused in so many ways. If a person actually
looks into, why a person is doing what they are doing? Even if it is a bad. If
you really study that historically, emotionally, psychologically, you probably
never hate the person. You feel sympathy and sorry for them and hate the
acts that they are doing under the influence of the victimization upon them.
That is compassion. To see the disease that people are suffering, we try to
help them not condemn them.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur explains on the pure spiritual prospective how

forgiveness is inherent within love of god. Bhakti means devotion. Pure
spiritual devotion, the natural energy between the soul and the super soul or
Krishna. Dainya and daya are inherent within devotion or bhakti. Dainya is
humility. Humility means, I am very insignificant and god is great. I am very
fallen. I do not deserve that god’s mercy is all I have to depend on. It is my
great hope. I really had no possessions. I am nothing. I am simply depending
on the grace of god. That is dainya or humility. What is Daya? Bhakti is the
tender of affection of the heart toward Krishna or god. Daya is that same
tender of affection toward all living entities, who are all the eternal servants of
the god. For bhakti is our affection to Krishna or god and daya or mercy,
compassion is our affection toward other living entities, knowing that that are
part of god. When Dainya or humility mingles with daya or compassion, what
takes place.
Bhaktivinoda Thakur explains, “We are thinking that I am very fallen, I am
very unqualified, I have no right to judge anyone else. I have not right to
punish anyone else. That’s not my position”. That is humility. When that mixes
with affection and sympathy for other living being, kshyama or forgiveness is
created. Thus forgiveness is an -, quality of devotion or love for god. You
cannot be separated and one’s love for god is expressed through one’s
compassion and one’s power to forgive. Where there is envy, vengefulness,
hatred, you can say some name of god. It is the name of god. You are god,
which is your false ego. Not the supreme lord god. The god that they worship
is their ahankar, their own false ego. Their own conceptions are “I and mine”.
Their own self centered selfish perceptions of life that’s why they live for. Yes,
people created religions around, their false egos. People were interpret,
ancient historical scriptures for the purpose of worshiping, honoring, and
serving the false egos and that’s what bigotry is, that’s what hatred and
sectarianism is. That’s what terrorism is about. It is not doing with god. They
imposing our false ego and all of its hateful intensions, in the name of god. As
the heart becomes pure forgiveness, compassion and affection manifests as
our very nature.

Srimad Bhagavatam describes

“tat te 'nukampäà su-samékñamäëo
bhuïjäna evätma-kåtaà vipäkam
håd-väg-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te
jéveta yo mukti-pade sa däya-bhäk”
Srimad Bhagavatam 10.14.8
This is the prayer that “O’ my lord, one who even while passing through very
difficult turbulent painful times of life, see that the difficulty I am going
through are the reactions to my own past actions. Therefore I do not blame
anyone but in that situation with folded palm I remember you. I think you and
taking shelter of you. Only the person, who is willing to do that as a claim to
liberation anyone else.

Srila Prabhupada made this verse very simple and practical. The acaryas take
this esoteric slokas make them very practical in our life. Srila Prabhupada said,
“Do not blame the instrument of your own karma”. It is a fact. Whatever
coming upon us and whoever is doing it, they are just instruments of our own
karma. We are to blame. Someone has to do this to us. We have to go through
it. So we could thank them. I have to go through this. I have done it myself.
You are just the postman delivering my own karma to me. If a postman comes
and knocks in your door, showed up your mail and signed here. You open it up
and it’s aver for the date for one crore rupees that you will to the state -. If you
do not pay, they will come and take away your house, take away your
ambassador car. Now what? Do you, just your eyes become red and you just
pick up the nearest thing or look at to find the weapon and attack the
postman. No. You took out the loan and you did not pay the loan. So it is your
fault. It is not the State Bank of India’s fault. It is not the postman’s fault. You
did it. You have a date and you have to pay it and here it is. That’s what our
life is about. It is the laws of nature. For every action there is equal and
corresponding reaction.

Lord Jesus said in Bible, “As you show, so shall you rip”. So whatever is coming
upon us, it is the destiny that we have created in our past and our future is
according to how we respond to the karmic reaction that are coming today. If
we respond violently, hypocritically and we are just creating more violently
actions become come to us in future. If we understand, I have to go through
this, I have to change this, and I should be forgiving to the instrument of my
own karma. You will become purified.

There is the example of silo of grains. Sometimes people rotten grains in the
silo. Then later on they put good grains. So what’s are going to come out first,
if you open it from bottom. All the rotten grains are coming out. If you doing
good acts now, you are putting good grains in. Rotten grains means in the
past you done bad acts. Some people they do good acts and going to get good
grains now but now they are doing all cruel and hypocritical things and they
are putting horrible rotten grains in. That is going to come later. Why do the
good things happen to the bad people? Why do the bad things happen to the
good people? You can understood in this very simple way, who are being our
karma. Our sufferings from our past but if we doing good now, our future is
glorious. Another might have done good before and they are living on the top
of the Malbarhill but if they are doing cruel and sinful things their future is very
bleak and horrible.

Srila Prabhupada said, “Do not blame or be disturbed by the instruments of

your old karma”. This is the scientific reality of nature. We can be detached
from the ego and actually be able to be forgiving and compassionate. Srila
Prabhupada explains in Krishna book, a very important statement. “One’s
greatness has to be estimated by one’s ability to tolerate provoking
situations”. From a spiritual point of view this is the meaning of greatness.
This is mahatma, great person. Greatness has nothing to do then how you
score in the cricket match. Greatness has nothing to give of how many votes
you get in the election. Greatness has nothing to do with, where your family
range in business in India’s industry, how much profit make, how much MAs or
Phds you may have, even how nice you speak. Greatness has to be estimated
by one’s ability to tolerate the provoking situations. This tolerance is none
different than forgiveness. To tolerate means to forgive.

An example in Srimad Bhagavatam of the supreme Lord’s forgiveness. You

know the story of Bhrigu muni. In Naimasharanya the sages were wondering,
who is greatest of the three gods. Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheswara. So they
decided Bhrigumuni, he has the courage to test them. How many of you
wanted to test them? He was really a brave soul, Bhrigu Muni. Very powerful
sage. So he goes to his own father, Lord Brahma and Lord Brahma was saying,
“Oh, my son has come. He is so happy”. Bhrigu muni just did not even say a
word to him. According to the culture, you are supposed to touch the feet of
your father and offer him nice words. But in this case, he did not notice his
father. So Brahma became very angry but he held his anger in. Bhrigu muni
said, “Yes, I – and he reacted in a negative way”. So he left. Then he went to
his older brother Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva was happy to see his brother Bhrigu.
He said, “Bhrigu, you have come to Kailash Dham and I am happy to see you.
He came to embrace him and Bhrigu said, “Do not touch me, you filthy
person. You do not contaminate me. Put crematory ashes of dead bodies on
your body and you have snakes on yourself and you associated with the
ghosts and all kinds of ignorant people. Keep away from me”. Then Lord Shiva
picked up his trident. Then he bestowed himself. So Bhrigu Muni thought you
did not tolerate, very well.

Then he went to Vaikuntha, Lord Vishnu was lying down and Lakshmi was
massaging His lotus feet. Bhrigu comes in and Vishnu said, “Bhrigu muni, you
have come. Welcome”. Bhrigu muni, he fend to be very angry and with red
eyes went right up to Vishnu and kick with his foot right on the chest. So Lord
Vishnu, He said, “O’ Bhrigu please have a sit. I am sorry, my chest is so hard
because your feet is so soft and lotus like but my chest is so hard. I am sorry. I
must have hurt you. Let me massage your feet”. They Vishnu started very
very lovingly started massaging his feet. So Bhrigu Muni thought “A greatness
of a person is one’s ability to tolerate provoking situations”.

So Bhrigu Muni went back and reported that to all the sages and they all
unanimously began to chant the holy names of the lord. “Hare Krishna Hare
Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare
Hare”.

Lord Sri Ramachandra, when He was living in Chitrakuta. Tonight we are very
honored by Sriman Aravinda Mafatlalji. I have been many times to his
wonderful project in Chitrakuta. He has a beautiful temple of Sita Ram on the
bank of the Mandakini Ganga close by and he does so much seva to the
saddhus by feeding them Prasad and taking care of them and to the poor
people tens and thousands of free cataract eye operations every year. People
who otherwise go blind and he was doing it all in the name of god and in the
service of Rama and the service of the people. So years ago, Mr. Mafatlal took
me to a rock the place between Chitrakuta and the place called Sati Anusuya.
It was a big rock. I am going to tell you what happened on that rock.

Even today, these little footprints of crow are on that rock. That is the rock of
forgiveness because that crow was actually Indra. Indra took the form of crow
some saying it was the son of Indra. What he did is, when Rama sitting with
Sita devi and this craw started clawing Sita in a private part of her body. The
crow just clawing. She was bleeding. Rama did not like that he did that to Sita.
So He took a piece of kusa gras and threw it at the crow and it turn into a
flaming arrow. That crow was just flown away. But wherever he went that kusa
gras was following right behind him. He went all over the universe trying to
escape and he was going to Indra and Brahma and so many people saying,
“Help me”. They said, “No no”. It is the weapon of Rama. There is nothing we
can do. So finally that crow came back to that rock and fell in repentance at
the feet of Sita and Rama and begged “I’ll never do this again. I am sorry”.
Lord Sri Rama forgave him. He said, “I learn through that arrow”. So he put it
just one of his eyes. He was delivered.

The supreme Lord is all forgiving. Let us take example of Sishupala. The day
Sishupala was born before he knew how to speak, he was blaspheming
Krishna. It is true. He did not even know words. He was just growing like an
ass just to blaspheme Krishna. As he was learning the alphabet letters, he was
demoniac exclusively for the purpose of better equipped, to blaspheme
Krishna. He hated Krishna. He was envious of Krishna. He wanted to Krishna to
be destroyed, everyday of his life. Krishna was always tolerating him an
forgiving him and little later Rukmini, whom Sishupal wanted to marry, she
wrote a letter to Krishna with such love and devotion. She said, “Oh my lord,
please, please this jackal Sishupal wanted to take me away but you are the
great lion. Please rescue me”.

So, out of her love Krishna came and took he away, right in front of Sishupala.
We say in the west, “He added salt to the injury”. Sishupala was fume with
envy and hatred. Yet, Krishna is all forgiving and tolerated. Then at the
Rajasuya yajna, he was blaspheming Krishna so bad that Bhima, Arjuna they
were just ready to destroy him but Krishna said, “No, no”. “Do not disturb him.
Let him be. Ultimately just to cure him of his envy Krishna did a surgical
operation with His Sudarshan Chakra. Yudhisthira was asking Narada Muni
later that Sishupala was most envious and demoniac person but I saw when
Sudarshan Chakra ended his life, I saw his soul in the form of light enter into
Krishna. That means he attain liberation. Narada Muni said, “Yes, he was
thinking of Krishna”. Because he was thinking of Krishna he was liberated.
Actually the supreme lord has the power to forgive anyone and every one of
any sins, abuses, and blasphemes, we have done against you. However many
of the laws of nature, we have broken. The lord can forgive us, in a moment.
This is the essence of the Bhagavad-Gita.
“sarva-dharmän parityajya
mäm ekaà çaraëaà vraja
ahaà tväà sarva-päpebhyo
mokñayiñyämi mä çucaù”
Bhagavad-Gita 18.66
If He just forgive us without our turn to him in surrender and love then we
would never learn the lesson and thus we would never enter into the land of
pure love. Love cannot be forced. Love has to be the independent expression
of our free will. Krishna says in Bhagavad-Gita, “Abandoned all varieties of
religion that means do not worry about all the rituals and all the sectarian
concepts, just surrendered to Me”. This is a universal principle. Just
surrendered to Me. I shall relieve you from your all sinful reactions. Do not
fear”. If we fear the repentance of our misbehavior. Not just that we beat
ourselves and head with guilt. But repentance means “I know it is wrong and I
am not going to do it again. I am going to do the right thing”. Then it is the
Lord’s promise and He forgive us and restore our eternal and natural
goodness.

Krishna is bhaktavaschal. When he did pleased by our intensions by the

purpose in which we are living. Then that affection eradicates all of our past
karmas and awakens our innate natural ecstatic love. (contd….)

End of the transcription.