Certificate - HH Sivaram swami maharaj
As the devotees walked beside Prabhupada, trying to hear him speak, they could see the city skyline nearby. One large building was being torn down, and new ones were going up. “So many strong buildings,” Prabhupada said, “being torn down and then rebuilt. There is no pleasure in it, neither in building nor in tearing down. Nobody is happy. It is like with a small child. He is happy to get a toy, and then he is happy to break it. But there is no real happiness. Just like the boy and girl—they come together in union, and then they separate, divorce. There is no real happiness in the union or in the separation. Real happiness is in union with Krishna and separation from maya. But it is maya that again and again causes this union and separation in the material world.”
As they walked together under a steel bridge, Prabhupada pointed upward with his walking cane, “Look”—a sign under the bridge read UNALLOYED STEEL—“they have unalloyed steel, and we have un alloyed devotional service.” “What if people don’t want to hear our message?” Pradyumna asked. “The people might not understand our message, but Krishna will be pleased,” Prabhupada replied. “And that is our mission. They thought Jesus Christ’s mission was stopped. They killed him. But his mission was attained.
He preached three years only, but so many followers. He pleased Krishna. We must not be disappointed that no one is hearing Krishna
consciousness. We will say it to the moon and stars and all directions. We will cry in the wilderness, because Krishna is everywhere. We want to get a certificate from Krishna that, “This man has done something for Me.’ Not popularity.
If a pack of asses says you are good, what is that? We have to please Krishna’s senses with purified senses.” (Srila Prabhupada- lilamrta) This is the real essence of preaching, the motivation for spreading Krishna consciousness all over the world. Srila Prabhupada is saying we want to get a certificate from Krishna, “This man has done something for me.” Isn’t that wonderful? And Srila Prabhupada precedes that by this other wonderful statement, “We must not be disappointed that no one is hearing Krishna consciousness.
We will say it to the moon and stars and all directions. We will cry in the wilderness, because Krishna is everywhere.” Makes my hair stand on end. So that is our desire, as devotees, that we get this certificate from Krishna, that, “This man has done something for me.” That’s like a maha-mantra, something to keep in our minds. Sometimes we get results, sometimes we don’t, but certainly a devotee takes risks. How? With our mentality: that we just want to please Krishna. And if Krishna is pleased, then, “This man has done something for me.” I will just recount one pastime in relationship to this. This is a verse by Srila Raghunatha Dasa Goswami from his Vilapa-kusumanjali.
ati-su- lalita-laksaslisö a-saubhagya- mudra- tatibhir adhika-tustya cihniti-krtya bahu nakha-dalita- haridra-garva- gauri priyam me carana-kamala- seva ha kada dasyasi tvam
O queen whose fair complexion scratches with its nails the pride of yellow turmeric! When, happily marking my arms with auspicious markings embraced by charming red lac, will You give me the dear service of Your lotus feet? (Verse 17) Raghunatha Dasa Goswami is referring to a pastime in which Krishna is applying lac on the soles of Srimati Radharani’s lotus feet.
Being very envious of this lac, Krishna is thinking, “What a great fortune that this lac has this extraordinary blessing to be on the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani; why can’t I be there?” Then Krishna gets an idea and thinks, “Well, I will put My name there, because I am no different to My name; that way I will be on Radha’s lotus feet.” So Krishna writes, “Krishna” on the soles of Srimati Radharani’s feet, and She asks Him what He is doing. She looks down and sees that He’s making a mess on Her feet, and becomes transcendentally angry that He’s spoiling the proper decoration of the alta. Rati Manjari, who is nearby, is laughing at the events, and in loving anger Srimati Radharani says, “Why are you laughing?” and kicks Rati on her arm.
So Raghunatha Dasa Goswami says in this verse, “happily marking my arms with auspicious markings,” and those auspicious markings are the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani in red lac, and in that red lac is written, “Krishna. This is called getting a certificate, and of course Raghunatha Dasa Goswami—Rati Manjari—is in bliss that on her arm she has this certificate that certifies her as being an authentic maidservant; it has the stamp of Srimati Radharani’s lotus feet as well as Krishna’s name. In the same way, when we are preaching we are also thinking, “When will I have the opportunity to get this certificate from Krishna, that ‘this man has done something for me’?” For me it is such a wonderful statement by Srila Prabhupada. And these two things are non-different: the markings on the arm and this certificate.
Indeed, by receiving this certificate from Krishna, we will have the opportunity to be certified as Srimati Radharani’s eternal
maidservant. So somehow or other in all this confusion that is the material world, all the difficulties that we have in practicing and
spreading Krishna consciousness, in our own way if we try to do something for Krishna, if we try to get Krishna’s attention and recognition, the Krishna certificate—“This man has done something for Me”—it will be our certificate for entrance into the spiritual world. We should always be thinking like this, that although we may be taking many risks, although it may be difficult, although people may hear or not hear, although people bulldoze our houses, although they criticize us and find fault, still Krishna will be pleased. And if Krishna is pleased, then He thinks,
“This devotee has really done something for Me.” Then our lives are perfect. This is what we want to do: perfect our lives. Like Govinda Maharaja in his Kazakhstan campaign, which is like a battle; he’s traveling around, taking many risks, making efforts to defend Srila Prabhupada’s mission, to serve the devotees in Kazakhstan—he’ s certainly getting his certificate from Krishna. Krishna will say, “Yes, this man Govinda Maharaja, he has done something for Me.” There are many certificates. We simply have to act in such a way that Krishna will fill out our name on the certificate. And with that certificate we will gain entrance into Krishna’s
eternal pastimes in Vrindavan.
Harekrishna
************ ********* ********* *****
