Observing Ekadasi

Speaking to the devotees in San Jose

18 August 2013

"Bhakta-sangete mana anandita anuksana": the association of the devotees always gives pleasure to our hearts.

Many obstacles come in our service life, in our spiritual life—we are on a battlefield and we must fight Maya. How will you fight Maya? You can easily defeat her, but you must be trained by a great soul, by a good trainer.

Actually, today is a very nice day, today is Ekadasi.

When Sriman Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was in Puri, He would first start a parikrama to the Gundicha temple, then He would go Jagannath Vallabha, the garden of Jagannath, and the whole day and night He would sing and chant. The devotees would do many kinds of services and always chanted—somebody chanted on the beads, somebody chanted without beads, somebody played the mridanga, karatals, and so on. The next day was the paran day, and in the morning Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and Gopinath Acharya would bring prasadam and offer it to Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu then distributed it to everybody.

This is how Mahaprabhu and the devotees spent Ekadasi in Puri. Jagadananda Pandit writes about this in his Prema-vivarta, this is how we know about it.

We must understand how to follow the Ekadasi day. We must follow Ekadasi through service—the Ekadasi day means service. Why do you leave your food? Not to please yourself, but to please the Lord. This is how we must follow the Ekadasi day.

You know also that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu first taught His mother, "Mother, do not take rice on Ekadasi." He explained to her that those who took rice and other grains on Ekadasi were great sinners. Then Mahaprabhu told everybody how to observe Ekadasi, and our Guru-varga follow it. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also allowed to take some anukalpa (non-grain prasadam) on the Ekadasi day.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj said also very nicely: you must take food not for your hunger—you must take food for your service. Do you think because you are hungry, you need to take some food? No, you take food for your service. It is said very nicely, but how should we follow it? Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj explained: your mind is a naughty manager—on behalf of the jiva soul, the mind controls everything, "I want this, I do not want that." He gave an analogy:

Suppose, a managing director runs a big factory very nicely, but suddenly he dies. After him, a young boy, perhaps about twelve years old, inherits the post and becomes the managing director. He is very young and there are many workers at the factory, so kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsarya (lust, anger, greed, illusion, madness, envy) take charge of the minor manager and control him. They steal everything from the factory, then there is a lockout, and the factory closes down...

Similarly, our devotion is very young, very small, so if do not take proper and timely care, if we do not give it proper nourishment, we can lose our devotion. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also said that we have kamala sraddha—our faith is very weak and meagre—and if you mix with naughty people, mix with bad association, they can change your faith and destroy your devotion within a second. We must be careful about our association.

Stick To Your Service

Speaking to the devotees in London

3 October 2015

Question: How do we make ourselves a proper student, and how can we stop pretending to be a sadhu, and be sincere?

Actually it comes from above. It comes if you have a strongest faith in your Guru. The scripture says that even if your Guru goes to a prostitutes' house, he is still your Guru:

yadyapi nityananda sura-badi yaya

tathapio haya nityananda-raya

"Even if Nityananda Prabhu goes to the prostitutes' quarter, He is still Nityananda Prabhu."

It is necessary to have full faith, the strongest faith in your Guru—it is the main thing. It is necessary to serve with full faith, to have patience, to have much tolerance... People can say so many bad things about you, but you should always ignore, always avoid that—you do your service properly. Gurudev told me, "Do not run behind small things: big things are waiting for you." You must avoid small matter. If somebody speaks bad about you behind your back or in front of you, always ignore it, always go forward and do your service. If you do it in this way, you can progress in your spiritual life.

In my life also, when I joined there were so many obstacles, and still I am facing so many obstacles, but I only depend upon Gurudev—I take what Gurudev desires on my head and follow it.

Question: How can I understand my own nature? I try to serve, I do different things, but still I do not understand what I am good at, what I should do, what my purpose is...

It is not necessary to understand this. If you think something is in favour of devotion, you can do that. Read the scriptures and you can see what is unfavourable to devotion—atyahara, prayasa, prajalpa, niyamagraha, laulya, janasanga; too much eating, doing nonsense, talking nonsense, superficial attachment to rules and regulations, greed, associating with nondevotees.

adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango 'tha bhajana-kriya

tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha ruchis tatah

athasaktis tato bhavas tatah premabhyudanchati

sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah

"In the beginning there is faith, then good association, then practising life. After that, the offences gradually go away, faith becomes stronger, taste comes, then attachment, then there arises affection and love. This is how love to God comes to those who practise Krsna consciousness."

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhuh, 1.4.15-16)

You can do sixty-four types of bhaktyanga, but these five are the most important,

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana

mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

"One should associate with devotees, chant the Holy Name of the Lord, hear Srimad-Bhagavatam, reside at Mathura and worship the Deity with faith and veneration.”

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.124)

If you can do these, it is good for you.

You must understand, "I have some time, it is not good for me to gossip and talk about nonsense things—if I have time, I will chant the Holy Name; if I am tired, I will take rest." It is not a problem—taking rest is a part of service. If, on the other hand, you go to the cinema hall, if you watch nonsense video, mix with bad people, talk about nonsense—talk about girls, sex, and so on—it is not good.

What else is bad for you? Atyahara, eating too much. Prayascha, laulya, thinking, "I want this, this, this; I want to keep some money for my own enjoyment." Prajalpa, talking nonsense. Niyamagraha, not accepting what is in favour of devotion. Janasanga, mixing with the people who are not devotees. It is not good—if I talk with some people and it is not good for devotion, why should I talk with them? Why will I waste my time?

When I joined the temple, I remember on the first day I saw that after the evening arati and Tulasi parikrama finished, everybody sat under the Tulasi plants (you saw that place in Nabadwip, in front of Srila Guru Maharaj’s samadhi mandir) and gossiped, talked to each other. I thought at that time, "Here is no job for me," and I did not cooperate with them—I went to another place. So, because I was not mixing with them and kept a little distance from them, they thought bad about me, but what can I do?…

Sri Guru: Mercy, Heart, and Service

Speaking to the Ukrainian devotees,

2 October 2014

[A devotees begins to cry.]

Why is she crying?

—She says she is missing you, Gurudev...

Why? I am always with you, no problem. Do not worry, I am still alive, and I am always with you.

When Chaitanya Mahaprabhu left this world, Svarup Damodar left this world, Raghunath Das Goswami went to Vrindavan. There, he thought, "In the absence of my Guru, after the disappearance of my Guru, I see the Govardhan Hill looks like a tiger coming to eat me!" He thought like that and felt so much separation.

Yes, sometimes separation comes, but you can listen to my lectures... Also, it is necessary to surrender fully to your Guru, because you cannot observe the Guru with your eyes—you must observe the Guru with your heart.

You can understand it from this one Pastime. At first, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya said, "Mahaprabhu is not the Lord, He is not an avatar." He could not admit that Mahaprabhu was the Lord, but Gopinath Acharya told him, "You cannot recognise Mahaprabhu with your knowledge and intelligence. You need mercy of Mahaprabhu: if you have got mercy, you can recognise who Mahaprabhu is." Through sastra, through knowledge you can understand many things, but without the mercy of the Guru you cannot observe the Guru—you cannot realise, cannot understand who the Guru is, what the Guru's position is. That is why Gopinath Acharya told Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, "You have no mercy, that is why you cannot recognise Mahaprabhu—that is your answer; but I have mercy and I can recognise who Mahaprabhu is."

Acharyam mam vijaniyan. Sri Krishna said to Uddhav Maharaj, "The acharya, the Guru, is nondifferent from Me—he is My svarup-sakti. Do not think that the Guru is an ordinary man—you should think he is nondifferent from Me." You must understand this.

The disciples will see their Guru as being nondifferent from Krishna. Godbrothers will think in another way, other devotees will think in some other way, but the disciples will think that the Guru is not just an uttam-bhagavat (a Vaishnav of the highest position) but he is actually nondifferent from Krishna.

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also often told this story. A man was born in a very dark place and had never seen the sun. When somebody came to him and asked, "Do you want to see the sun?", he was going to bring a kerosine lamp or some torch with him to see it. If you want to see the sun, it is not necessary to take any lamp because the sun has its own light. You can see the sun by its own light. Similarly, to recognise the Guru you must have the clear mental eyes in your heart, must have chastity, then if you want to see the Guru, you can easily see him; but you cannot recognise the Guru physically or bodily. Just as when you want to see the sun, it is not necessary to take any lamps, if you want to see the Guru, it is not necessary to have anything to see the Guru.

There is also this story in Mahabharata. One time, Krishna came to the Kauravs and said, "I have a good proposal. I propose peace, it is not necessary for the Pandavs and the Kauravs to fight..." However, Duryodhan wanted to conspire against Krishna. His plan was that if Krishna came to them, they would arrest Him, and then all the Pandavs' would die of heart failure. Duryodhan gave an order to Duhsasan, "When Krishna comes, tie him!" So, when Krishna came with the peace proposal, Duhsasan was going to tie Him. Seeing it, Satyaki came forward with a sword and wanted to kill Duhsasan, but Krishna stopped him and showed His visva-rupa, the universal form. Duhsasan was very surprised, "How many Krishnas are there? I see millions and millions of Krishna! How many Krishnas can I tie?!" Duhsasan saw how Arjun, Baladev, Bisma, Drona, and everybody else were worshipping Krishna. He was perplexed and did not know what to do. In the meantime, blind King Dhritarastra could hear some noise coming from everyone. He wondered, "What is happening?" Somebody told him, "Krishna is showing His visva-rupa!" Dhritarastra also wanted to see that visva-rupa, and he began to pray and cry, "O Lord, please remove my blindness! You can again make me blind later but please remove my blindness so that I could see Your visva-rupa!" Krishna said to him, "It is not necessary to remove your blindness. You can see Me even now!" So, even blind King Dhritarastra could see Krishna's visva-rupa.

So understanding this, you may ask, "How will I get that mercy of Gurudev, mercy of Nityananda Prabhu?"

Gurudev said, "If you serve devotees, Krishna will come to serve you." So, if you serve the devotees of Gauranga Mahaprabhu, Nityananda Prabhu will come to serve you—this is how you will get mercy of Nityananda Prabhu.

You may have heard before how once when Mahaprabhu, Sachi Mata, Vishnupriya and many other devotees were in the house of Mahaprabhu's birthplace in Mayapur, suddenly Nityananda Prabhu came in naked. Mahaprabhu at once put some cloth on Him. After that, how did Mahaprabhu save the devotees? He knew that some devotees could make an offence, some may think something bad about Nityananda Prabhu, so He asked Nityananda Prabhu, "Please, can You give Your kaupin (a piece of your clothes)?" Nityananda Prabhu gave Him some cloth, and Mahaprabhu tore it into small pieces and gave each of the devotees a piece. He told them, "Keep this piece of cloth with you and you can conquer all your senses and control all kinds of bad elements.”

Sri Guru: Dedication and Determination

Speaking to the Ukrainian/Russian devotees,

2 October 2014

Question: How should we proceed day by day? What should our every day practice be like?

Actually, the main practice is sadhu-sanga, Nama sankirtan, Bhagavat sravan, Mathura vas, sraddhaya sri-murti sevan ("associating with devotees, chanting the Holy Name, hearing Srimad Bhagavatam, residing at Mathura, and worshipping the Deity with faith"), but you can read the books, chant on your japa beads; you can listen to my lectures and always think about your Guru, think about the Lord, do service, offer the bhog, sing the songs—in this way you can continue your practising life. You can read some books, that is good for you. Sravan and kirtan (hearing and chanting) are the main practices—you can pass your day and practise in this way. What is mainly necessary is humility, sincerity, and dedication.

Question: How can I do smaranam if I am so busy with all the day-to-day work and life?

Even a poor man who does not have so much money, who earns little, always keeps some money for his treatment, or medicine. We too must keep some time for the Lord—we should save some time for Krishna. We spend a lot of time on so many things, but we must spend a little bit of the time on the Lord.

In another way, the Lord is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and He provides everything. For Krishna, Bali Maharaj left his Gurudev's instruction because it was not good. Bharath Maharaj left his mother, Prahlad Maharaj left his father, Khatvanga Maharaj left the demigods, the yajna-patnis left their husbands, and all Vraja gopis left their respect, their honour, all viddhi-marga (rules and regulations), their everything, for Krishna. Why cannot we do that?

Question: We are told that it is very, very difficult, almost impossible, to achieve pure devotion. Is it necessary to reach the position of a pure devotee to reach the transcendental world or is it possible to reach it just by mercy?

Actually, what is pure devotion in this Age of Kali? It is not necessary to show your devotion, your devotional activities—pure devotion is in the heart. If somebody thinks, "I want Krishna; I want to practise properly in my life; I will follow my Gurudev's instruction," and has full chastity for their Guru, that is pure devotion.

If you want to be a pure devotee, you must associate with a pure devotee. Pure devotees can give you pure devotion—without a pure devotee, you cannot get pure devotion.

Your aim should be straight, "I will fulfil Gurudev's desire—I will do what Gurudev wants. I will serve him. Any kind of condition can come, any problem can come, any sadness or unhappiness can come, but I will not leave Krishna consciousness, I will serve my Guru." This kind of intention, this kind of feeling must come—if you have this kind of chastity for your Guru, you can easily overcome everything.

What kind of problem came in Pariksit Maharaj's life? He is all in all—he is the king, he gives the orders and manages everything—but he got a notice that within seven days he had to leave this world. Can you imagine and realise what kind of problem came in his life? What was the solution? Srimad Bhagavatam came and gave the solution. Also, how much did Arjun suffer? He was thinking about his own problem and tried hard to solve it, but he could not. Who gave the solution? Srimad Bhagavad-gita.

Then we must understand that so many problems will come in our spiritual life, but we must be strong, and, by hook or by crook, we must not leave Krishna consciousness.

We have got a human body, and we will use this body for the service to the Lord. If we cannot serve our Guru, this body is nothing—what will we then use this body for?

...Somebody wants to say something?

Question: I am so far away from you, but how can I help you? How can I serve you?

How do you know I am far from you?

—I am in Saint Petersburg, and you are in Nabadwip...

[His Divine Grace laughs] It is a material question!

Krishna is always busy—He has so many things to do; but the Guru's only job is to always think about the success of his disciples. When a disciple surrenders fully, Gurudev always thinks about his disciple, about the spiritual matters of his disciple. You may be in Saint Petersburg, and I may be in Nabadwip, but if you always think about me, how do you know I do not think about you?…

Preaching Mood and Service Mood

Speaking to the Ukrainian devotees,

2 October 2014

Question: Could you please give us some guidance how to preach here in our city?

Devotees should preach some simple things, distribute some brochures, leaflets, sometimes distribute prasadam, and go for sankirtan in the street. Sankirtan in the street is good for you.

Question: Should we think that the service that comes through devotees is service to our Gurudev?

When the service comes directly from Gurudev it is good, but if somebody is a pure devotee of Gurudev and they give you some service, then you must think that the service is coming from Gurudev.

Question: What should our mood be like when we do service?

Our mood will be humility, tolerance and giving honour to others—this mood, as well as sincerity and full dedication, is necessary. Our mood must always be a humble mood. Our mind should always be with Krishna—everything is for the Lord, everything is for Gurudev.

Question: What should be our aim when preaching?

Our aim will be to anyhow use everybody for the service to my Guru.

Question: Should we tell people just the general Vedic idea or should we tell them something from Mahaprabhu's teachings?

Both. First general Vedic culture, after that Mahaprabhu's teaching. You can tell people what Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur told, what our Gurudev told—there are so many things. Give a simple conception, like what the main religion in the age of Kali is, why we chant, what your religion is, who you are, what your real home is, like this.

Question: Everybody is talking about service, service, service, but what is the meaning of this word 'service'?

Service means bhajan. 'Bhajan' means service, coming from 'bhaj dhatu'. 'Bhaj' means 'seva', service. What is service? Service is that which pleases your Guru. If something pleases your Guru, it is service, otherwise it will go to karma, and a reaction will come.

Jiver seva korte korte atma kalyan labha haya: it means you must engage everything, even a flower, even a blade of grass, in the service of the Lord. Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says that the main meaning of service is to be under the guidance of the Guru. If you are not under the guidance of your Guru, it is bhajan of Maya, not bhajan of the Guru (bhajan means service). When you do something not under the guidance of your Guru, it means you do the bhajan of Maya.

Question: How can we understand that we are under the guidance of our Guru after the Guru leaves?...

You should ask this question to your chaitya-guru. In your heart, there is another Guru, and you should that Gurudev who is in your heart, he will give you the answer.

Question: What should be the ratio of the spiritual life and the material life? Like, 50%/50% or something else?

[His Divine Grace laughs.] If you give 50%, you will get 50%; if you give 100% you will get 100%!

Keep Out of Danger

Speaking to the devotees in London

10 October 2015

Question: You said before "envy is much worse than ego." Could you please tell more about that?

Actually ahankar, ego, has a place—you can keep it in some place—but you cannot keep envy in any place. Krishna gave a place for ego because we can think, "I have an ego," but what kind of ego is that? "I am a servant of a servant of Vaishnavs", "I am a servant of the Guru", "I am a servant of the Lord." This is the place that we have for ego, but it does not mean that we will think, "I am doing this, I am doing that, I am doing so many things"—not like that, rather we will think, "I have an ego: at least I am a sweeper of the temple."

Even Krishna Himself said He had an ego. Once, in Dvaraka, He said, "I have got one good service—at least I can clean the shoes of the guests and devotees who come here." Also, when Sudama came to Krishna, Krishna and His wives, Rukmini, Satyabhauma, massaged Sudama's feet. Krishna said, "My ego is that I have got that kind of service." That is the proper ego.

I can also tell one story. Once, I went to Puri for the Ratha-yatra festival, and I engaged a householder devotee to serve sannyasis, brahmacharis, distribute prasadam. I told him, "This is your service." One sannyasi, however, did not like his service and said to him, "You are not fit for this service, you do not have the capacity to do it. You are only good for sweeping." The devotee came crying to me, but I told him, "Why you are crying? That sannyasi did not give you a curse, he actually gave you mercy because in Puri sweeping is the best service." Even King Prataparudra swept the ground, and still to this day the king does that kind of service.

So, the ego has a place, that is we are the servants of Krishna; but matsaryata, envy, is very difficult for us. For example, you are doing some service, you are becoming the manager of the temple, or the secretary of the temple, but someone cannot tolerate that; someone becomes the Guru, the Acharya of the temple, but someone cannot tolerate that—it is called envy. Krishna says that it is very difficult, very dangerous for the devotional activities, it is very bad for practitioners. You must understand it and avoid envy through practice. Envy is very dangerous for your practising life.

…

Have you heard that a devotee expired yesterday in an accident?

—Yes, we heard it...

It is very sad. I cannot tolerate that kind of news.

I do not like it when devotees always go to the beach, to the Ganges. So many devotees risk their lives. It is very dangerous—actually, it is childish. I do not like these kinds of things.

We are not enjoyers. We cannot go to the beach for enjoying. Only Vraja gopis and Krishna can do that, but we are not Vraja gopis, we are not Krishna, so we cannot enjoy at the beach, Yamuna, or Ganges. Do you understand it?

That devotee expired yesterday, it is very sad news for me: we need devotees for service, but when devotees leave their body, we lose their service. It is very painful for me...

…

Actually, when a devotee takes initiation, it is necessary to teach them how to practise, teach them to be humble, tolerant, give honour to others.

Raghunath Das Goswami's father used to send him so much money and he would make Vaishnav festival (Vaishnav seva) with that money—he would distribute prasadam to the Vaishnavs; but Mahaprabhu thought that his pratistha was coming through that and He did not like it. When Raghunath Das Goswami understood it, he did not accept that money any more.

visayira anna khaile malina haya mana

malina mana haile, nahe krsnera smarana

"If you take food that comes from materialistic people, your mind becomes contaminated. When your mind is contaminated, you cannot remember Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.278)

You must always take prasadam—it is a part of practice. Householder devotees, brahmachari, even sannyasis—everyone must always take prasadam.

…

Question: I heard it is important not only engage the body in service, but also the mind, but for me it is very much of a problem...

Yes, not only body—all indriya: chaksu, karna, nasika, jihva, tvak (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin), mana, buddhi, ahankar (mind, intelligence, ego), pada, pani, payu, upastha, vak (feet, hands, rectum, genitals, mouth). You must engage all indriya, senses, in service to the Lord, to your Guru, not only your body.

diksa-kale bhakta kare atma-samarpana

sei-kale krsna tare kare atma-sama

"At the time of initiation, when a devotee fully surrenders unto the service of the Lord, Krishna accepts them as His very own."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 4.192)

Sometimes your mind disturbs you, but when Sanatan Goswami was disturbed by his mind (he wanted to commit suicide), Mahaprabhu chastised him, "What are you going to do?! When you took initiation from Me, you gave everything to Me—even your body. This body is not your body, it is My body now. It is My instrument, and I will use you for the service to the Lord!" So, you cannot do what your mind tells you to do—you should engage everything in service.

…

...You should sing the song, "Mayar base, yachchh bhese, khachchha habudubu bhai". Do you know this song?

radha-krsna bol bol bolore sabai [1]

Say, "Hare Krishna"! Say, "Hare Krishna"! All of you, say it!

(ei) siksa diya, saba nadiya,

phirchhe neche gaura-nitai [2]

Gaura Nitai dance all over Nadiya giving these teachings.

(michhe) mayara bese, yachchha bhese,

khachchha habudubu bhai [3]

Brother, you are swimming in maya for nothing, sometimes coming up to surface, sometimes choking and struggling.

(jiva) krsna-dasa, e-visvasa,

karle ta ara duhkha nai [4]

The soul is a servant of Krishna! Believe it and there will be no misery left.

(krsna) bolbe yabe, pulaka habe,

jharbe ankhi boli tai [5]

Chant Krishna's Name and you will be thrilled! Cry and chant Krishna's Name!

(radha) krsna bol, sange chala,

ei matra bhiksa chai [6]

I am begging you for one thing only: chant "Radha Krishna" with others!

(yaya) sakala vipada, bhakativinoda,

balen, yakhana o nama gai [7]

Bhakti Vinod says all dangers go away by singing Krishna's Name.

(Gitavali, Sri Nagar-kirtan, 4)

"We are always swimming in maya"... This is a Godrum song, sung by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur…

Serve Your Guru with Strongest Faith

11 September 2015

trnadhika hina, dina, akinchana chhara

apane manabi sada chhadi' ahankara

"Give up your false ego, and always consider yourself lower than grass, poor, needy, and mean."

vrksa-sama ksama-guna karabi sadhana

pratihimsa tyaji' anye karabi palana

"Practise tolerance like a tree. Do not ill-treat others, instead nurture them."

jivana-nirvahe ane udvega na dibe

para-upakare nija-sukha pasaribe

"Do not trouble others for your own upkeep, and forget your own happiness in the course of helping others."

(Gitavali, Sri Siksastaka, 3.2-4, by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

Be humble, tolerant, and give honour to others; leave your ego and do not be jealous of devotees or others' things. You must leave the jealous mood (matsaryata) because Krishna did not give any place for it.

Leaving ego and envy, always serve with the strongest faith, with patience, remembering your Guru. Wherever you are staying, practise Krishna consciousness life, then one day you can eventually reach your real home. This is my message. It is necessary to have the strongest faith and to serve your Guru with the strongest faith, then you will get the best result in your spiritual life. I am sure about that.

So much patience and so much tolerance is necessary... If you look at me—if you see how much problem is coming to me all over the world and how much I am tolerating—then you can understand it... Gurudev said, "No one can understand how much I am tolerating." Now I feel that to be the Guru, to be the Acharya, you should have so much tolerance...

Actually, it is not necessary to be a big Guru—it is not necessary to be a big man. If you are a little man, that is OK for you. You must be happy with whatever position you have got. Krishna always tests us, always examines us. Our position is that we are a little soul, and we should be happy with that.

Devotees need mercy from the Guru, and the Guru also needs mercy from the devotees: that is why Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur would tell his disciples, "Daso 'smi, I am your servant.”

Perfect Service Mood

Speaking online to the devotees in Malaysia

12 September 2015

—We have a programme every Saturday night...

Good, very nice. Through association even a naughty man can become perfect. If you rub a piece of iron against a magnet, the iron gets the power of the magnet. In the same way, if you keep good association, through that some of its power will also come to you. So, it is very nice, I am happy to see and hear that. It is very important.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said,

“gorara ami, gorara ami" mukhe balile nahi chale

gorara achara, gorara vichara la-ile phala phale

Just saying, "I am Gora's! I am Gora's!" does not do. Only when you follow Gora's practices and Gora's conception will you get the proper result.

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.6)

We must not only say, "I am a devotee of Gaura"—we must follow Gaura's instruction, follow His preaching, follow His teachings.

loka dekhana gora bhaja tilaka matra dhari'

gopanete atyachara gora dhare churi

“You show the world you serve Gora simply by wearing tilak, but secretly you misbehave. Gora will catch you, you thief!”

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.7)

You show to the world that you are a devotee, but at the same time you are doing something else—you are attaching yourself with material desires and doing nonsense things—but Gora knows you are a thief! Gora knows it.

In this world, in this Age of Kali, there are so many problems—devotees face so many obstacles, but still, even with those obstacles, they practise properly, remember their Guru, remember Mahaprabhu's teachings,

trnadhika hina, dina, akinchana chhara

apane manabi sada chhadi' ahankara

"Give up your false ego, and always consider yourself lower than grass, poor, needy, and mean."

vrksa-sama ksama-guna karabi sadhana

pratihimsa tyaji' anye karabi palana

"Practise tolerance like a tree. Do not ill-treat others, instead nurture them."

jivana-nirvahe ane udvega na dibe

para-upakare nija-sukha pasaribe

"Do not trouble others for your own upkeep, and forget your own happiness in the course of helping others."

(Gitavali, Sri Siksastaka, 3.2-4, by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

Be humble, tolerant, give honour to others, give up your ego. It is not necessary be a big manager, it is not necessary be a big president—you only need to be a small servitor.

When Lalita Devi dresses Srimati Radharani, sometimes Radharani becomes very anxious, thinking, "When will I meet Krishna?" She becomes so excited that a drop of sweat appears on Her forehead, but Lalita cannot tolerate that—immediately she takes a cloth and removes that drop of water from Her forehead. This is the kind of service, the kind of service mood that is necessary. Such service mood comes through good association, through practising, so do not be hopeless.

Do not be too much attached to the material life—you got this material life in your previous life, and you will get it in your next life also, but any time we can get the notice and then it will be too late—we are not as fortunate as Pariksit Maharaj, we will not get even a seven-minute notice! Pariksit Maharaj was the king, and he had everything, but he got a seven-day notice that he had to leave his body and the world. Who gave the solution to his problem? Only Srimad Bhagavatam.

Arjun also got into so many problems, and he did not know how to solve them. Krishna gave him an order, "You must kill all your relatives," but he refused, "I do not want the kingdom, I do not want to be the king. I do not want to kill them!" Who solved the problem? Srimad Bhagavad-gita. You can understand from Srimad Bhagavad-gita that Krishna arranged everything.

In your practising life, in your Krishna consciousness life, you must promise that for as many days you have until your death, you will always chant the Holy Name, you will always chant Hare Krishna.

If somebody can hear "Hare Krishna" from your mouth, the benefit will come to you too. When you see a devotee, say, "Hare Krishna. Dandavat, Prabhu. How are you?" This is your courtesy. Even if somebody is your enemy, you should show them some etiquette and give them honour, "Dandavat, Prabhu. How are you?" Finished. Maybe you do not like that person's association, maybe you do not like that person, but you must show your humility and give honour to others. You must practise in this way.

Just as when you open a bank account but do not operate it properly (do not keep money there, do not withdraw any money) one day that account will be closed—so, some disturbance will come, but you have taken initiation and have already become a member of Krishna's family, and if you do not practise properly, if you do not renew your membership all the time, then your membership will be lost...

Practise properly. Read Chaitanya-charitamrita, read Prema-vivarta, Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya, read Chaitanya-bhagavata, books by Srila Guru Maharaj, Srila Gurudev (Revealed Truth, Sri Guru and His Grace, Search for Sri Krishna Reality the Beautiful, there are so many books). Read these kinds of books sometimes and your tiredness, your unhappiness will be removed from your heart. Practise properly in this way and you will see…

My Home, My Family, My Place

Speaking online to the devotees in Malaysia

12 September 2015

Sometimes Indian people see a sannyasi's mother leaves, but the sraddha ceremony is not done properly, and they ask me, "Maharaj, what can I do?" Some householder people also do not follow these rules properly. The Vedas say that if your mother or father dies, there are some rules and regulations for that time, but Krishna said, "Leave all rules and regulations—throw them into the Ganges and follow Me."

sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja

aham tvam sarva-papebhyo, moksayisyami ma suchah

"Give up all kinds of religion and surrender to Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins, do not despair."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 18.66)

"I will take all kinds of your sins."

For example, when my mother died, somebody said to me, "Maharaj, why did you not do anything? You did not even change your clothes, did not do anything." I replied, "What?! We always do service of the Lord, we always do service of the Guru. Why is it necessary to change my clothes or do anything?" If my mother dies, there is only a little blood connection with me, we can do a simple Vaishnav-seva (offer bhog to the Lord and give the prasadam to the Vaishnavs), that is sufficient for her. Why will I do the sraddha ceremony? Why will I do some Hindu, Muslim, Buddhism or any other ceremony? We serve the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Besides, actually no one from my family died, so why are we going to do a sraddha ceremony? Why will we do some Hindu ceremony? My mother was not my family member! Who are my family members? The devotees of Krishna are the members of my family. So, if somebody dies from my family (Krishna's family), then I will do something for the benefit of their jiva soul.

This is how we should practise Krishna consciousness; this is how we must surrender everything to the Lord. These are the main things, and you if can understand what I am saying, you can understand everything easily. This is what is called full surrender, full saranagati.

There is a very nice song in the Saranagati book,

sarvasva tomara, charane sapiya,

padechhi tomara ghare

"I have offered everything at Your feet and taken shelter in Your home."

(Saranagati, 19)

If you think about the meaning of this song, then you can understand what saranagati is.

"Tumi to thakura, tomara kukur: you are the master, I am your dog. Tie me in front of your door, and when your enemy comes, I will bite them, I will keep them away from your house boundary."

tava nija-jana, prasada seviya,

uchchhista rakhibe yaha

(Saranagati, 19)

"After your devotees take prasadam, I will take the remnants of their prasadam."

nachite nachite, nikate yaiba,

yakhana dakibe tumi

(Saranagati, 19)

"When you call me, I will come to you, dancing!"

This is how we should practise saranagati, surrender.

My main message for you is that it is necessary to have the strongest faith. "Tumi to rakhibe yare, ke tare marite pare: if You protect me, who can kill me? No one can kill me if You protect me." Gurudev also told the story how you are going with Gurudev and say, "Gurudev, there is a big snake!" but Gurudev says, "No, it is not a snake. It is a piece of rope," and you must believe it. That kind of strongest faith is necessary for your spiritual life: through such strongest faith, devotion will increase in your heart. The less faith you have, the less devotion you have—have the strongest faith, then the strongest devotion will come in your life.

Health Is Wealth in the Service of Mahaprabhu

Compiled on 23 October 2015

Several excerpts spoken on the subject matter:

23 June 2015

There is one man, a disciple of Gurudev, whose weight is 220 kg. When I met him, I could not even hug him (he is so big). There are such people, what is the problem? He is like that, and I did not say anything to him, but then he became very sick... He always wants to come to India, but now he cannot get a plane ticket because they cannot give him a seat... I pray to the Lord that he can reduce his weight because he is a very sick man...

Reduce means you must do exercise (do jogging, for example), and control your tongue, then it can be reduced.

I am also thinking that over the past three months I have gained three kilos because sometimes I eat potato, but I do not like it. The doctor also chastised me,

"Why have you gained three kilograms? Do you not control your life? Be careful! Do you take Thumbs Up, 7Up, etc.?"

"No, I do not take that!"

"Maybe a little bit? Just a little?"

"No, no, believe me, I never take it..."

….

23 June 2015

There was a man in charge of the Govardhan temple. He used to be here in the kitchen before, but Gurudev sent him to Govardhan. He is a paid man, not a disciple of Gurudev. So, he stays in Govardhan, and he became very, very fat. All Govardhan knows him now as "Moto Baba"(*). Ten years ago, he became very sick, now he cannot even move. He is the same age as me, but he looks like an old man and cannot walk...

*'Moto baba'—lit. 'fat father', 'baba' is a common affectionate address, similar to 'uncle'.

…

12 September 2015

There is a man who lives here in Nabadwip and has a shop near the ghat at the Ganges—he always buys tickets for me and the devotees and helps a lot to the temple. He is thirty years old, but last Monday he had a stroke! I am surprised: he is only thirty years old but had a stroke. That is because he has become very fat.

Too much weight is not good for anybody. I can see this Prabhu is also becoming so fat. Are you not working hard? You must walk, do some physical exercise. Do you only sit the whole day?

This time the doctor told me, "In three month you have gained two more kilos' weight. If you cannot lose these two kilos in the next three months, do not come to me." The doctor told this to me. Do you understand how much he loves me? [His Divine Grace laughs.]

…

March 2015

When my health just starts going down, I immediately take medicine because I do not want to waste my time on sleeping and resting. In the cold season, in the dry and hot season, as soon as the fever comes, immediately take medication. Otherwise, if you wait, wait, then can end up like that devotee—she was hospitalised because when the fever came she did not take care and proper medication; instead, she was trying different kinds of alternative medicines, this, that...

Gurudev knew Guru Maharaj's medicine, and I too know some medicine. Two-three hundred devotees always go with me in preaching tours, and we always take care of them all. Sometimes we travel for twenty days by train—somebody always gets sick, and I always carry so much medication. People come, "Please save me!" and I know what medicine to give. In twenty years nobody has ever died.

I get twenty-four hours, and every one minute of these twenty-four hours are for the Lord—not one minute is for me. Even when I take food, I think, "I am wasting five minutes! Why do I have to waste these five minutes?" That kind of feeling should come to you. This is how I thought when I just came to Guru Maharaj's mission...

Odds and Ends (3)

Compiled on 23 October 2015

Several excerpts that were not included in the main posts:

5 July 2015

By the mercy of Gurudev, everything is running properly, but the problem is that Maya is always taking our time, always using us for her service. Actually, twenty-four hours is Krishna's time, but we do not think so and Maya takes our time and engages us in her service. So, we should always remember what is necessary for our life. We must understand it clearly...

…

5 August 2012

If you can, send a boy here for the service in the temple. I am inviting. If somebody can join the temple full time—if they can sacrifice their life for the Guru, Vaishnavs, for God—their parents too will be rescued. Actually, not only parents, up to twenty-one generations (parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and so on) will all be rescued from hell and their bad karma if just one son becomes a sannyasi or a brahmachari.

…

12 September 2012

That Prabhu's family has not come for so many years. Is it too much money for you to come to India? If you can put aside two-three dollars, or five dollars every day for your plane ticket, then you can easily come once a year. Buy your plane ticket.

…

3 June 2015

What time is it now in Caracas? Oh, 9 p.m.! Many devotees came from far away places, they should go to their homes, otherwise it is a little difficult if they go by car so late. There are many gunda people, terrorists, out there, but devotees have no money, so no problem—if they come to rob you, you can say, "I have only this Srimad Bhagavad-gita. You can take it."

…

15 June 2015

One of my university teachers knew eighteen languages. He was a very polite, simple-hearted Muslim man.

Once, somebody invited him to a wedding ceremony and he went there wearing simple clothes (a simple shirt and trousers). Many VIP people came to the ceremony, wearing coats, ties, and so on, but although he was an associate professor at university, nobody gave him any respect—they did not even allow him past the gate.

He came back to his house and after a few minutes left and came back to the wedding. This time he was wearing good clothes—a coat, a tie, and so on. He was treated with much respect, "Sir, please come in, have a seat." When it was dinner time, he was given very nice food, but he took the food and started filling his coat pockets with it (he filled one pocket, another pocket, another). Somebody saw this,

"What you are doing?!"

"What? This is not for me. I got this for my coat."

"What do you mean?"

"I came here half an hour ago, but nobody gave me any respect. Because I am wearing these clothes now, I am getting all this. So, it is not for me—it is for my clothes."

Everybody began to apologise, "Please forgive our offence, please forgive our offence. We did wrong, we made a mistake..."

…

16 June 2015

[A devotee comes into His Divine Grace's veranda during the class with the japa mala in their hand, chanting silently.]

It is not a good time for chanting now—now you should listen. You cannot do both things together. Listen to Krishna-katha: if you cannot understand everything, it is not a problem, just listen quietly—that is good for you. Otherwise, Hari-katha is going on, but you are touching the beads—you can neither chant, nor listen.

It is said in the scriptures (Harinam-mahatmya) that you cannot do two things together. When you are doing some service, do the service and you can chant with your mouth at that time, that is not a problem, but when you are listening to Hari-katha, you cannot chant at the same time.

…

23 June 2015

[His Divine Grace notices some ants at the veranda.]

Throw this out! These ants are very dangerous!

You can ask me, "Why are such insects born?" Their duty is to eat trees. Trees also have to die, otherwise how will they get relief from their tree body? So, Krishna created insects and arranged for their food (trees). Trees get their body for so many years, and they too must die somehow. Everything exists for the service to the Lord...

…

12 September 2015

Learn this song and sing it!

'dayal nitai chaitanya' ba'le nach re amar mana

aparadha dure yabe, pabe prema dhan !

"When Dayal Nitai dances in your heart, your offence will be removed and you will get the real wealth!"

If Nitai is chanting, dancing in your heart, then you can think that your offences are already removed from your heart—that is called "Dayal Nitai Chaitanya nach re amar man."

The Gift of Vision

5 October 2014

When I see the old devotees—Gurudev's friends—it gives me pleasure and happiness. Actually, how can we see the devotees? To see a Vaishnav, to observe a Vaishnav, it is necessary to have transcendental eyes—without such transcendental eyes we cannot understand the Guru, Vaishnavs, or Bhagavan.

How many people also could understand Mahaprabhu? Mahaprabhu told Nityananda Prabhu, "Go to Gaura Mandal and preach Krishna consciousness—preach about Krishna and Krishna's Pastimes," but Nityananda Prabhu thought, "Krishna's Pastimes are very deep, and simple-hearted people cannot understand them, they will take the meaning in another way." So, Nityananda Prabhu began to preach about Gauranga Mahaprabhu's Pastimes.

In the same way, who can understand Nityananda Prabhu? When Mahaprabhu, Sachi Mata, Vishnupriya and others were sitting together, Nityananda Prabhu came in naked. Mahaprabhu immediately gave Him some clothes, but He knew that some devotees will make offence (will think bad things about Nityananda Prabhu), so He begged Nityananda Prabhu for His kaupin (bahirvas). Nityananda Prabhu gave it to Mahaprabhu, and Mahaprabhu tore the cloth into small pieces and gave each devotee a piece, saying, "Keep this on your neck like Tulasi beads. Keep it safe and worship it very carefully. If you worship it, if you keep this cloth carefully, you can control all your bad senses and desires." This is how Mahaprabhu saved the devotees from an offence to Nityananda Prabhu. If somebody thinks something bad about Nityananda Prabhu, they will make an offence and have a big problem, but who can understand this? Who can understand Nityananda Prabhu?

Even Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya at first did not pay obeisance to Mahaprabhu, but Gopinath Acharya did. He asked Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, "Why are you not paying obeisance to Mahaprabhu? He is a sannyasi, and not only that—He is the Lord, the incarnation of the Lord. Krishna Himself came in this age of Kali as Mahaprabhu!" Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya could not admit it, he did not want to believe it, and they began to debate. He showed that his sastras say there is no avatar in Kali-yuga, but Acharya Gopinath did not agree,

"You have read many sastras, but have you not read Bhagavatam? Have you not read Mahabharata?"

"Are you saying I have no sastra-jnan, I do not know the sastra, because I do not believe He is as an avatar?"

"You cannot understand, cannot see who Mahaprabhu is with your intelligence, with your brain, or education. I have a heart, and above all I have some mercy of Mahaprabhu, but you have no mercy, that is why you cannot understand Him. This is the ultimate answer to your question."

We can observe and understand the Guru and Vaishnavs by the mercy of the Guru and Vaishnavs; otherwise just by their external appearance and external activities we cannot see who is a Vaishnav, or who is the Guru.

...You are very fortunate souls, you have got the mercy of Gurudev, you have taken shelter of Gurudev and are now staying in one boat with Gurudev as its captain. We will not go to any boat that has no captain—we will only go to the boat that Gurudev is the captain of.

Actually I am a fallen soul, I have no quality or qualification, but my Guru is very powerful and can rescue me—he can give me and he is giving me power, strength, and mercy. Now I feel separation from Gurudev, but in Gurudev's time I could not properly understand him although he came to rescue me, a fallen soul, from a hellish position... But you are the fortunate souls because you took shelter of Gurudev.

When Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur disappeared, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said, "I am a fallen soul, and when he was present, I could not recognise who Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur was, could not recognise that he came to rescue me; but those who took shelter at his lotus feet are fortunate souls.”

Two Oceans of Pastimes

5 October 2014

Question: Today is the disappearance day of Srila Raghunath Das Goswami, Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami, and Raghunath Bhatta Goswami. Could we hear about them from you?

When Raghunath Das Goswami's Gurudev left, he expressed in his sloka, "I have come to Vrindavan, but in separation from my Guru I see Govardhan is like a tiger coming to eat me! I see Radha Kunda—the highest place of Radha-Krishna's Pastimes—looks like a snake coming to eat me." How much separation he felt to say like this...

You all know about Das Goswami's vairagya, renunciation... Before he got mercy from Nityananda Prabhu at the Panihati chira-dadhi mahotsav, when Sriman Mahaprabhu came to Santipur, Raghunath went to meet with Him. He was a young boy at that time, and when he met Mahaprabhu, he got His mercy—from that time he became udasa (indifferent)—he did not think about the material world, he always thought about the spiritual world and about Mahaprabhu's lotus feet. He tried many times to join Mahaprabhu, and Mahaprabhu taught him many good things,

sthira hana ghare yao, na hao batula

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 16.237)

"Go back to your home, do not be crazy."

markata-vairagya na kara loka dekhana

yatha-yogya visaya bhunja' anasakta hana

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 16.238)

"Do not show your false renunciation to people. You should serve accepting material things, but without attachment."

se chhala se-kale krsna sphurabe tomare

krsna-krpa yanre, tare ke rakhite pare

"Krishna will reveal to you how you can come. Who can stop the one who has got mercy of Krishna?"

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 16.241)

gramya-katha na sunibe, gramya-varta na kahibe

bhala na khaibe ara bhala na paribe

amani manada hana krsna-nama sada la'be

vraje radha-krsna seva manase karibe

"Do not listen to the mundane talks, do not listen to the mundane news. Do not eat fancy food, do not wear fancy clothes. Do not expect honour to yourself, but offer all respect to others. Always chant the Holy Name of Krishna, and in your mind serve Radha-Krsna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.236-237)

Mahaprabhu also gave him service—He personally gave him a gunja mala and a Govardhan sila (gunja mala means Radharani, and Govardhan sila means Krishna). If you read Chaitanya-charitamrita, you can see how renounced his life in Puri was.

When he first came to Mahaprabhu, Mahaprabhu engaged him in service to the Vaishnavs, "Serve the Vaishnavs and you will get mercy from the Lord." How did he then get mercy from Nityananda Prabhu? He served the devotees of Mahaprabhu—he arranged their prasad. After he got Nityananda Prabhu's mercy, he went to Mahaprabhu and joined Him.

There are so many stories about his pastimes and life...

You know that there was one Vraja basi who every day brought him some buttermilk (matha), in a dona, a pot made from the lotus leaves taken at Radha Kunda. One time, however that Vraja basi could not go to Radha Kunda, so he brought the pot from Surya Kunda. Raghunath Das Goswami immediately could recognise that the pot was not coming from Radha Kunda. He asked, "Where did you bring this dona from?" The Vraja basi replied, "I brought it from Surya Kunda." Raghunath Das Goswami threw that pot with the buttermilk away. This is the chastity of Radharani-gan, Radharani-jan (Radharani's very own). He was fanatic about Srimati Radharani...

As for Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami, he was born in Jhamatpur, Bardhaman district of Bengal. He is Nityananda-jan, Nityananda-gan (Nityananda's man)—he got mercy of Nityananda Prabhu and composed Chaitanya-charitamrita... How did he get that mercy?

When a priest called Gunarnav Misra did a programme in Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami's house, he showed respect to Mahaprabhu but not to Nityananda Prabhu. As a result, Nityananda Prabhu gave His mercy to Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami and told him, "Do not stay here, it is bad association. Come to Vrindavan."

He came to Vrindavan and stayed in Vrindavan and Govardhan. Once, when he was paying his obeisance to Madan Mohan, he got His mercy—Madan Mohan's garland fell on his neck. Later, he wrote, "Ei grantha lekhaya more Madana Mohana: Madan Mohan is writing this scripture through me." He is a powerful devotee of our line...

Today this Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami's disappearance day. Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami, Raghunath Das Goswami and others stayed at Radha Kunda and after their disappearance the samadhis were also made there. When we go to Vrindavan, we go to his samadhi-mandir, as well as the samadhi-mandirs of Raghunath Bhatta Goswami, Raghunath Das Goswami.

Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami came after the six goswamis, and he composed Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita—he gave there a very good siddhanta, and you can understand how much mercy he got from Nityananda Prabhu…

Service Encouragement

Speaking to the devotees in Colombia

October 2015

I am very happy to see you all, your smiling faces. Gurudev is always with you all. You always follow Gurudev's instruction, going in Gurudev's line, and even if any obstacle or bad element may come, or you somehow unfortunately may make some offence, Krishna will remove it because you listen to your Guru, you follow your Gurudev's order and advice.

Actually, when some obstacles come in the devotees' spiritual life, it is Krishna testing them, "How much affection do you have? How much attachment do you have for your service? How much attachment do you have for your Guru?" If some obstacle comes to you, or you face some difficulty, do not be discouraged—Krishna is testing you.

Chant the Holy Name, serve the Vaishnavs. Gurudev told me directly, "If you can make your Guru happy, if you can make great Vaishnavs happy, Krishna will come and serve you." So, if you please your Guru with your service, then you can understand—the feeling should come in your heart—that because you are fulfilling the desire of your Guru, Krishna will come and serve you.

Actually, in this world so many people (karmi people, Krishna-bahirmukh people) are enjoying, busy with their own selves, they have no time to spare for Krishna, for the Guru—but you must give time to Krishna. You should have sincere attachment to your Gurudev. Ask yourself, do you love yourself or do you love your Guru? Who do you love more, yourself or your Guru?

You should give more time to your Guru, you should give more time to the service of your Guru—that is necessary for your practising life.

When a poor man earns some money, he does not spend all the money he earns. He keeps something aside in case he becomes sick or has some other problem. In the same way, you have got some time and you are always busy with your family, but you must keep some time for your Guru's service!

Gurudev is always with you all. If you have even a little desire to serve the Guru, the Guru will come and take service from you—Krishna will come and take service from you. The Lord always searches, always hankers and desires to take service from the devotees.

We must surrender fully. You heard how Vamandev had taken everything from Bali Maharaj, but even then Vamandev said, "You think you have given Me everything, but you still have something that you have not given to Me." Then Bali Maharaj's wife, Vindhyavali, said, "Oh, you think you have given everything, but you have not given yourself!" So, we must give ourselves for service to the Lord...

Purity Of Service

20 October 2015

People pray, "Vidyam dehi, rupam dehi, bharyam dehi, kavitam, sundarim dehi: give me knowledge, give me a nice body, give me a nice wife, make me a poet, make me beautiful." They worship their Guru for their own pleasure and gain—but when devotees worship the Lord out of love that is another thing.

Sadhus, Guru, Vaishnavs worship the Lord daily—it is an eternal service. Devotees think, "The Lord is the master of my house—I am a member of His family. I have got everything for Him. Everything in this world exists for Him." The pretenders, on the other hand, do puja for a few days, and after that go back to their lives—end of puja. They show something externally but then give it up. This is not what sadhus, Guru and Vaishnavs do. These pretenders use the Lord, asking Him for wealth, money, a house, a car, and do their puja to get it, but Srimad Bhagavad-gita says,

yat karosi yad asnasi, yaj juhosi dadasi yat

yat tapasyasi kaunteya, tat kurusva mad-arpanam

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 9.27)

"Whatever you do—whether you meditate, do puja, yoga, or anything else—do everything for Me." Also, "Patram puspam phalam toyam (Bg, 9.26): whether you offer a leaf, a flower, or a fruit—do it for Me."

sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja

aham tvam sarva-papebhyo, moksayisyami ma suchah

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 18.66)

"Give up all kinds of religion and surrender to Me only. You will have no sin—I will take all your sins."

ekale isvara krsna, ara saba bhrtya

yare yaiche nachaya, se taichhe kare nrtya

"Krishna is the only Lord, all others are His servants. As He makes others dance, so they dance."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 5.142)

"Krishna is the Supreme Controller, the Lord, and all the demigods and demigoddesses, all people are His servants."

Everything happens by His wish and desire. By His will the wind blows; by His will the sun shines; by His will there is the moon; by His will there is water; by His will the rain comes—everything comes by His will. By His will one goes to heaven and becomes a demigod; by His own will the Lord appears in the world and destroys the demons... Conditioned souls, however, fallen into maya, forget that everything they get—a wife, a son, a daughter, money, property, and so on—is given by the Lord, and the Lord can take it all away too (as He desires).

I saw yesterday an article in the paper about two Kharagpur students who decided to go to the beach during the puja time holiday and who were carried away by the ocean waves—their parents had hoped so much that their children would become great engineers, but nothing happens without the Lord's wish.

krsna bhuli' sei jiva anadi-bahirmukha

ataeva maya tare deya samsara-duhkha

"Having forgotten Krishna, the soul wanders throughout the universe. Being thus covered by illusion, the soul goes through much material suffering."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 20.117)

Forgetting the Lord we have fallen into these three-fold miseries...

dina yaya michha kaje nisa nidra-base

nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe base

"My days are passed in useless work and nights are wasted on sleeping. It never occurs to me that there is death sitting next to me."

('Durlabha manava janma labhiya' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

One after another the days pass in work and sleep, but any time we can die…

Clasping Nityananda Prabhu's Feet

20 October 2015

...I hear you wanted to go to Ekachakra? You can go, see Nityananda Prabhu's birthplace...

"Nitaiyer karuna habe Vraje Radha-Krsna pabe." Nityananda is nondifferent from Guru-tattva: without the mercy of the Guru you cannot get the mercy of Krishna.

nitaiyer charana satya tahara sevaka nitya

nitai-pada sada kara asa

"The lotus feet of Nityananda Prabhu are the truth, and His servitor is eternal. Always hold onto His lotus feet, they are our only hope."

A servitor of Nityananda Prabhu is eternal, however Nityananda Prabhu taught us something about material attachment.

Sanatan Goswami had a servitor called Ishan. When they left, Ishan thought, "Sanatan is going alone, how will he manage? What will I feed him? Where will I get food?" and took some money, but Sanatan Goswami understood it and left him.

Nityananda Prabhu also had a servitor, Vrindavan Das Thakur. He was thirteen-fourteen years old at that time. When Nityananda Prabhu was going to Puri, His disciple Ramahari arranged for some prasadam in the field, like a picnic. (It happened near Gurudev's birthplace in Bamunpara, at a place called Denur.) When Nityananda Prabhu finished prasadam, He asked Vrindavan Das Thakur, "Vrindavan, where is My thing? Give me." The day before that, Vrindavan Das Thakur had kept some haritaki (a mouth freshener and a digestive) for the Lord's service, and when Nityananda Prabhu asked him for "His thing", Vrindavan Das Thakur gave Him that haritaki. Seeing it, Nityananda Prabhu said, "You are a brahmachari but have sanchay buddhi, want to keep something for tomorrow. It is not a good symptom for your brahmachari life! So, stay here, be a householder, and you can preach also, but you cannot go with Me with this sanchay buddhi." Nityananda Prabhu teaches us like this.

Actually, it is by the mercy of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur that we got a place in Ekachakra and made a temple there, with very great Deities.

ara kabe nitaichand karuna karibe

samsara-vasana mora kabe tuchchha ha'be

("'Gauranga' bolite habe pulaka sarira" by Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

"When will Nityananda Prabhu give me some mercy? When will my material desires be removed from my heart?" Bhakti Vinod Thakur also writes,

kabe nityananda more kari' daya

chhadaibe mora visayera maya

When will Nityananda be compassionate to me and relieve me from the mundane illusion?

("Kabe habe bolo se dina amar" by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

"When will Nityananda Prabhu give me some mercy? When He will be kind to me? I have so much attachment to material things—when will I be able to leave that attachment?" Without the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu it is impossible...

krsna-bahirmukha hana bhoga vanchha kare

nikatastha maya tare japatiya dhare

When souls become averse to Krishna and desire enjoyment, nearby Maya seizes them.

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 6.2)

We became the servants of maya, trying to exploit or enjoy, but maya is near and can attack us any time. Then, "maya-mugdha jivera nahi svatah krsna-jnana: charmed by maya, the conditioned soul cannot know Krishna on its own..." (Cc, 2.20.122)

Srila Raghunath Das Goswami: Internal Transformation

25 October 2015

Govardhan had a son called Raghunath Das Goswami—he was the only son in the family. When Mahaprabhu took sannyas, He stayed in Santipur for a few days, and Raghunath Das Goswami—he was only five years old at that time—came there and met Mahaprabhu. From that time, by the mercy of Mahaprabhu, he got very strong attachment to Mahaprabhu, and he had no attachment to his family, visaya-udas (he was indifferent to the material world).

After that, Raghunath Das Goswami tried many times to come and stay with Mahaprabhu, but Mahaprabhu always told him, "Go back to your home!" He taught him many lessons.

markata-vairagya na kara loka dekhana

yatha-yogya visaya bhunja' anasakta hana

"Do not show your false renunciation to people. Serve accepting material things, but without attachment."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 16.238)

Mahaprabhu taught him, "Do not show 'monkey' renunciation—wearing tilak, doing mala, showing to people your vairagya, but inside so many desires. Do not show such false renunciation! Do not become a hypocrite. Go back to your home! Serve your parents, serve your family—you can even get married, that is not a problem—and at heart serve Me, love Me, think about Me."

Raghunath Das Goswami asked Mahaprabhu then, "If I do that, how will I ever come to You?"

se chhala se-kale krsna sphurabe tomare

krsna-krpa yanre, tare ke rakhite pare

"Krishna will reveal to you how you can come. Who can stop the one who has got mercy of Krishna?"

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 16.241)

"If somebody gets mercy from Krishna, no one can tie them by the illusory environment."

daivi hy esa gunamayi, mama maya duratyaya

mam eva ye prapadyante, mayam etam taranti te

My alluring, 'trimodal,' illusory potency is practically insurmountable. However, those who take shelter in Me can overcome this powerful obstacle.

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 7.14)

Krishna Himself said, "I created maya, the illusory environment, and it is impossible to conquer it. Only if you surrender to Me, can the illusory environment be removed from you."

You can stay in your house and worship the Lord: "Grhe thako, vane thako, sada 'Hari' bole dako, whether you stay in a house or in a forest, always call out the Holy Name." If you start a householder life, what is the problem? Your house is Krishna's house; your family is Krishna's family. You go to work, and it is said in the scriptures that you must give up karma. What does it mean? What is karma?

When you do karma (work to get something in return, for your own pleasure), you get karma bandhan, bondage of karma. For example, we are cooking here and in some house people are also cooking today, but they are cooking for themselves, and here we are cooking for Gaura Nitai. There is a cow here, and the cow serves Gaura Nitai, but somebody has a cow and uses it for their own service. That is the difference. When you do karma, you get bondage, and as a result of that bondage you will go to hell—you will always keep on coming and going, coming and going. You heard that even Indra got a pig's body and had to stay in Govardhan by the curse of his Guru, Brihaspati.

In this world, you take nice prasad, but if you bring a pig and give it prasad, will it be be happy? It will not. It will be happy if you give it some stool. If you bring an elephant into an AC room, will the elephant be happy? It would rather stay in the jungle. They are satisfied where they are. Also when you are driving a car, you can see many dogs sleeping soundly in the street—how happy they are with their life! You too have had such lives before, but fortunately now you have got a human body,

durlabha manava-janma labhiya samsare

krsna na bhajinu—duhkha kahiba kahare?

"I have got a very rare human life in this world, but I have not worshipped Lord Krishna. Whom can I tell of my misery?"

(Kalyan-kalpataru, 3.2.4)

By the mercy of the Guru, by the mercy of the Lord, you have got this human body, but is this human body only for enjoying money and food? How is it then different from a dog's body or a pig's body?

I am not telling you to leave your wife, leave your family, children, or house, and go to the jungle or Haridwar. Stay in your house, but when in your household life, depend on the Lord in everything, serve the Lord with everything.

Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur wrote,

ye-dina grhe, bhajana dekhi,

grhete goloka bhaya

"On days when I see devotional service taking place in my home, I feel that Goloka has manifested there."

(Saranagati, 32)

You can serve the Lord in your house. Wake up early, do mangal arati, cook and give some food to the Deities, feed your children, then your children go to school, husband goes to work, and so on. Maintain your family like this as Krishna's family and you will be very happy.

Reaching Honey

Speaking to the devotees in Colombia

October 2015

Question: For many years we have felt we are like that bee on the outside of a jar of honey. We want to taste that nectar of devotion—how can we do it?

It comes through practising, through sadhu-sanga. Why do you feel you are outside the jar of honey? If you chant the Holy Name without offence, if you serve the Lord sincerely, without being a hypocrite and without deceit, if you follow Krishna consciousness and practise properly, you must get the taste of the honey. If you have desire for service, if you have desire to hear Krishna-katha, if you desire to taste the honey, you must get that taste—it is necessary to have a strongest desire, a strongest faith in your Guru, then you can understand everything and you can taste the honey.

First you should avoid bad association. Avoid prajalpa (nonsense talks), anarthas (bad habits), atyahara (eating or possessing too much), prayascha (doing bad things), sanchay (keeping something for tomorrow)—reject and avoid what is not in favour of devotion and accept what is in favour of devotion, then you will easily get the taste of that madhura-rasa, the honey.

ye-dina grhe, bhajana dekhi,

grhete goloka bhaya

"On days when I see devotional service taking place in my home, I feel that Goloka has manifested there."

(Saranagati, 32)

If you practise only one or two days a month, or once every one or two months, it will not do. You must practise regularly—you eat every day, you sleep every day, so you must practise every day too.

You should turn your house into a house of Krishna's family, not a mundane family. When you took initiation you left your caste and you already entered Krishna's family. You have become a member of Krishna's family and you must keep your membership through practising.

I also give an example of a bank account. Suppose you have some money—you open a bank account and keep that money in the bank, but if you do not operate it properly, if you do not deposit or withdraw any money, the bank account will be dormant. In the same way, if you take initiation and become a member of Krishna's family but do not renew your membership, you will eventually lose your membership and go back to the mundane family again.

Finally, you must have chastity for your Guru, that is the main thing. If you do not have chastity, do not have the strongest faith, then slowly, slowly you will lose your faith and lose everything...

Wake up!

8 October 2015

jive daya name ruchi vaisnava seva

iha bahi sanatana nahi ara dharma

"Be merciful to the souls, chant the Holy Name, and serve the Vaishnavs. Sanatan, besides this, there is no other religion."

Mahaprabhu told Sanatan Goswami, "Jive daya, Name ruchi, Vaisnava seva: you must give benefit to the jiva souls."

We are conditioned souls, but Krishna is very merciful, Gurudev is very merciful—they come here to take us to our real home. We have lost our home and the Lord sends His associate in the form of the Guru to take us back to our home.

tava nija-jana kona mahajane

pathaiya dile tumi

O Lord! I am very wicked-minded and have fallen into this material world, but You have sent a great soul, Your associate (to rescue me).

daya kari more patita dekhiya

kahila amare giya

ohe dina-jana suna bhala katha

ullasita ha'be hiya

Seeing me so fallen and being merciful, he came to me and said, "O humble soul, listen to this wonderful message and your heart will rejoice.

tomare tarite sri-krsna-chaitanya

navadvipe avatara

"Sri Krishna Chaitanya has appeared in Nabadwip to deliver you."

(Saranagati, 19)

kabe habe bala se dina amara

aparadha ghuchi suddha name ruchi

krpa-bale ha'be hrdaye sanchara

"Please tell me, when will that day be mine? When will my offences be removed? When will the taste for the pure Name arise in my heart by the power of mercy?"

('Kabe habe bolo, se dina amar?' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

"When will my offences go away from my heart? When will my material desires, my sinful desires be removed from my heart? I am waiting for that day..."

In this age of Kali, Krishna has appeared in this world in the form of the Name and He comes to distribute His name door to door, but only the fortunates souls can receive that Holy Name:

ব্brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva

guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija

"Having travelled throughout the universe and got the mercy of Guru, Krishna, a fortunate soul receives a seed of the devotional creeper."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 19.151)

We are coming and going, coming and going, but fortunately we have got a human body. It is very rare to get a human body, but by some great fortune we have got it, if however I do not use this body to serve the Guru and the Lord, my life is then useless...

dina yaya michha kaje nisa nidra-base

nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe base

"My days are passed in useless work and nights are wasted on sleeping. It never occurs to me that there is death sitting next to me."

('Durlabha manava janma labhiya' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

We can leave our body at any time! Pariksit Maharaj was very fortunate—he got a seven-day notice that he had to leave his body; but we will not know even seven minutes before that we have to leave. And still, we do not chant the Name of Krishna...

vaisnava sangete mana anandita anuksana

sada haya krsna para-sanga

"In the association of Vaishnavs, my mind is always joyful—in their association I always get the association of Krishna."

('Thakura Vaishnava pada' by Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

"If you get good association, you will get the association of Lord Krishna." You must associate with the pure devotee, follow the pure line, the pure conception...

“gorara ami, gorara ami" mukhe balile nahi chale

gorara achara, gorara vichara la-ile phala phale

Just saying, "I am Gora's! I am Gora's!" does not do. Only when you follow Gora's practices and Gora's conception will you get the proper result.

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.6)

We say we are devotees of Mahaprabhu, but we do not follow His conception, we do not follow His teachings... "Loka dekhana gora bhaja tilaka matra" (Pv, 8.7): we show we are devotees by wearing tilak, but we do not follow the devotees' activities, we do not practise the devotional conception…

Take Notice

25 October 2015

What is the religion of Kali-yuga? In Satya-yuga people did meditation, their lifetime was 100,000 years. In Treta-yuga, the lifetime was 10,000 years and they did fire sacrifice. In Dvapar-yuga, the lifetime was 1,000 years and they did archan, puja. In Kali-yuga, people are given only 120 years of life—it is a very short time!

We are not as fortunate as Pariksit Maharaj. Pariksit Maharaj too had a very short time, but he was very fortunate because he got a seven-day notice, "In seven days you will have to leave everything—you will have to leave your body and your kingdom."

Khatvanga Maharaj got a forty-eight-minute notice. Once, the demons and the demigods were fighting. After the demigods won the battle, they told Khatvanga Maharaj,

"Maharaj, by your mercy we have got the heaven. Tell us what you want—we can give you a place in heaven, you can stay there."

"OK, I will tell you later, first you tell me: how many days do I have left to live?"

"You have only one moment (one muhurta, or forty-eight minutes) to live: you will have to leave your body in forty-eight minutes."

"Oh! Then I do not want to waste my time! I want to keep my mind, body—everything!—at the lotus feet of Lord Krishna."

How many days will we be alive in this world? We do not know it. So, Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur sings,

ekhana-o chetana peye, radha-madhav-nama bala re

Now that you have a human life and consciousness, chant, “Radha-Madhava"!

Welcome to the Family

Speaking to the devotees in Colombia

October 2015

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay!

You are very fortunate—today you are getting the seed of the Holy Name from the Guru-parampara. This Name came from Krishna to Brahma, from Brahma to Narad, from Narad to Vyasadev, then to Madhva Acharya, and in this way it came to Madhavendra Puri, from Madhavendra Puri to Ishwar Puri, and from Ishwar Puri to Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu, the Lord Himself, took initiation from Iswar Puri.

When Mahaprabhu saw Iswar Puri in Gaya, He said, "I am giving My deho, pran, man—My heart, My mind, My everything—to you. I came to visit the holy place to do the rites for My father, but I am very fortunate because here in Gaya I have met you, My Guru, and took initiation from you!" Mahaprabhu took initiation from Iswar Puri to show us that it is necessary to take initiation—necessary to accept a Guru in your spiritual life.

If you want to learn something—if you want to learn to cook, or learn to play football, or cricket—you need some master. In the spiritual matters, you also need a master, a Guru. So, you are very fortunate today—you are getting that connection today. It came to me from my Guru, Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj. In his lifetime he told me, "If someone follows the rules and regulations and wants to receive the Holy Name, you can initiate them." You know those rules and regulations, you have good association, so I do not want to tell it now again.

In the age of Kali, Krishna-nam, the Holy name, is the main thing. If you can chant this Holy Name without offence, you will get a good result and you will get connection with your Guru and the Lord. Krishna Himself comes in this world as the Guru to teach us: we have lost our address, but Krishna sends His associate as the Guru to take us to our real home. So, today you are very fortunate to get this connection.

You can see that the beads have a big bead on top, it is called sumeru. First, touch this sumeru and chant,

sri krishna chaitanya prabhu nityananda

sri advaita gadadhara srivasadi gaura bhakta-vrinda

This is the Pancha-tattva's name. First chant their names, ask them for mercy. Tell to yourself, "I am a very fallen soul—I have no quality or qualification to chant the Holy Name. If you give me some mercy, then by your mercy I can chant the Holy Name." They brought the Holy Name to this abode, so without their mercy we cannot chant it. After that, start chanting from the big beads (without chanting on the sumeru bead),

hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare

hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

One bead by another, chant this mantra. Chant from the big beads to the small beads, and then again from small beads to the big beads, without crossing sumeru. Chant in this way sixteen rounds or more. If some day you are busy with service—with service, not with gossiping!—then you can chant four rounds, but not less than four rounds. Sixteen rounds or more is good, but if you are busy with service four rounds must be chanted every day.

Next, there is the ten offences book where the ten offences to the Holy Name are written. People chant but do not get the result quickly because they make Nama aparadh, offences to the Name—if you make Nama aparadh, you will not get the result. So, you must read what the offences are and you must avoid them. Chant without offence and you will get the result quickly: Krishna will reveal in your heart and you will be successful in your spiritual life.

Your name will be Radhanath das. [The devotees cheer.] Now you can go and without talking to anybody chant four rounds.

Srila Narottam Das Thakur: Our Guru, Our Protector, Our Shelter

4 November 2012

Today is Srila Narottam Das Thakur's tirobhav festival...

When Mahaprabhu went to Bangladesh, He came to the Padma River. He took some water in His hand and threw it back into the river, calling and shouting, "Narottam! Narottam! Narottam!" At that time Narottam Das Thakur was not yet born, but Mahaprabhu was shouting... Everybody was surprised, "Where is Narottam? There is no Narottam here."

After Narottam Das Thakur appeared, he preached so much: Jiva Goswami Prabhu, Acharya Srinivas, Narottam Das Thakur and to some extent Shyamananda Prabhu—they preached together. Mahaprabhu gave His power to Srila Rupa Goswami, and Rupa Goswami gave that power to Jiva Goswami and sent him preaching. Later, Narottam Das Thakur preached in Bangladesh, Jiva Goswami preached here, Shyamananda Prabhu in Midnapore, and Acharya Srinivas in the North. They preached and protected our line, Rupa Goswami's line, the main conception.

Narottam Das Thakur is our Guru-varga. If you think how much he tried to preach, you will wonder, "How is it possible?" Lokannath Goswami, his Guru, did not preaching so much, but you can understand how much Narottam Das Thakur preached and how he protected our line if you think about his songs. Almost all songs are written by him: "Thakura Vaishnava gana", "Hari haraye", "Ei bara karuna koro", etc. These are the kinds of songs he wrote, and there he gave the conception of Vaishnavism.

Up until Narottam Das Thakur, Mahaprabhu's conception was present nicely, but after him some misconception started coming. Narottam Das Thakur tried so much in his time because even at that time nobody followed Mahaprabhu's conception. It was also he who started one-day nonstop kirtan. He said, "There are 365 days in a year. OK, you can enjoy 364 days, but at least one day do a whole-day, 24-hour kirtan." And he started kirtan days in all the houses.

It is still going on in some areas of Bangladesh and Bengal. Narottam Das Thakur started it, but what is happening now? They do some kirtan with harmonium, mridanga, fancy ornaments and instruments, but what is happening now is fully a misconception—they are making business with kirtan. Now, people who have money bring some musicians and pay them to do sahajiya kirtan. They go house to house doing such kirtans for money—they do kirtan for one day, and after that they do their own things. They do not practise properly. What Narottam Das Thakur wanted to do is going now in another way.

After Narottam Das Thakur came Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur. He searched, "What is Mahaprabhu's lila? What is His real conception? What is going on with that conception?" He searched in this way, and he found the real thing. He started collecting books—he collected some books from Midnapore, some books from Ramkeli, some books from Malda. Then, he joined Krishna Nagar and stayed in his house, Svananda Sukhada Kunja. This is how our main and real conception came out again through Bhakti Vinod Thakur, through Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, and then through our Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. They protected and kept our line.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj wrote in his Bhakti Vinod viraha-dasakam very nicely:

srigauranumatam svarupaviditam rupagrajenadrtam

rupadyaih parivesitam raghuganairasvaditam sevitam

jivadyair abhiraksitam sukasivabrahmadi sammanitam

sriradhapadasevanamrtam aho tad datum iso bhavan

"What was sanctioned by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu by His descent was intimately known only to Sri Svarupa Damodara Goswami. It was adored by Sanatan Goswami and served by Rupa Goswami and his followers. Raghunatha Das Goswami tasted that wonderful thing fully and enhanced it with his own realization. And Jiva Goswami supported and protected it by quoting the scriptures from different places. The taste of that divine truth is aspired for by Brahma, Siva, and Uddhava, who respect it as the supreme goal of life. What is this wonderful truth? Sri radhapadasevana: that the highest nectar of our life is the service of Srimati Radharani. This is most wonderful. O Bhakti Vinoda Thakur, you are our master. It is within your power to allow them to bestow their grace upon us. You are in a position to bestow the highest gift ever known to the world upon us all. It is at your disposal. O Bhakti Vinoda Thakur, please be kind to us and grant us your mercy."

Who wrote this? Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj—he who protects our main conception wrote it in this way.

So, today is a very nice day—the disappearance day of Srila Narottam Das Thakur, Vaishnav Thakur...

ei-bara karuna kara vaisnava gosai

patita-pavana toma vine keha nai [1]

O worshippable Vaisnava, be merciful to me this time. O saviour of the fallen, without you there is no one.

kahara nikate gele papa dure yaya

emana dayala prabhu keba kotha paya [2]

If anyone comes to you, their sins go away. Where can such a merciful master be found?

gangara-parasa ha-ile paschate pavana

darsane pavitra kara—ei tomara guna [3]

If the Ganges touches someone, he is later purified, but you purify souls simply by seeing them—such is your power.

hari-sthane aparadhe tare hari-nama

toma-sthane aparadhe nahika edana [4]

If one offends the Lord, the Lord's Name delivers him, but if one offends you, one has no salvation.

tomara hrdaye sada govinda-visrama

govinda kahena—mama vaisnava parana [5]

Govinda always resides in your heart, and He says, "My devotees are My heart."

It is a very nice song, we must sing it today.

It is written in Acharya-vandana Narottam Das Thakur appeared in Sripat Khetari Dham,

sripat khetari dhama thakura sri narottama

tomate tanhara guna dekhi

What is written about Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur? "Prabhu, I can see in you the virtue that Narottam Das Thakur had!"

It is an auspicious day today. Narottam Das Thakur came and tried so much to protect our Mahaprabhu's sampradaya, the real conception, the teachings of Mahaprabhu. Who can protect it? Who is able to protect our sampradaya? You must go, preach, must practise properly.

We must realise this song,

ei-bara karuna kara vaisnava gosai

patita-pavana toma vine keha nai [1]

O worshippable Vaisnava, be merciful to me this time. O saviour of the fallen, without you there is no one.

"He Vaishnav Thakur! Only you are patita pavan!" "Tomara nikate gele papa dure yaya"—"if anyone comes to you, their sins go away."

bhukti-mukti adi-vancha yadi mane haya

sadhana karile prema utpanna na haya

"If you have material desires, if you want liberation, enjoyment, some mystic powers, and so on, then even if you practise all life, or life after life, prem, divine love, will not come."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 19.175)

If you chant and practise but have material desires in your heart, you will not get the result—you will not get that kind of love, that kind of happiness, that kind of pleasure—but if you go to a Vaishnav, if you hear some Vaishnav-katha, Krishna-katha, then you will get some benefit.

sadhu-sange krsna-nama—ei matra chai

samsara jinite ara kona vastu nai

I desire only to chant the Name of Krishna in the association of the sadhus. There is no other way to conquer samsara.

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 6.13)

That is why we must always remember the Vaishnavs, their appearance and disappearance days…

Stri-Sanga and Jiva-Himsa

28 October 2015

You should not do para-stri-sanga (do not associate with the opposite sex). There are eight types of stri-sanga. For example, you have a wife, now she is not so beautiful and when you see a beautiful girl on the street, you think, "Oh, she is so beautiful. I'd like to be with her." Or, you just see a girl and some bad desire comes to your mind—this is also stri-sanga, and it is also bad. The same is true for women. You must avoid stri-sanga and purush-sanga (men should not mix with women; women should not mix with men). This is described in the scriptures.

Also, it is said in the scriptures that you must avoid jiva-himsa, violence towards other jiva souls. Do not kill other souls. So, from today, do not eat and do not cook any fish, meat, poultry, eggs, onion, garlic, or masoor dal. Eat vegetarian food.

Actually, vegetarian food is also not the remedy—you must take prasad. Offer what you cook to the Lord with a Tulasi leaf, then take prasad.

Every action has equal and opposite reaction, so if today you kill a chicken, that chicken will eventually get a human birth, and what happens to you? You kill a chicken and will become a chicken in some future birth. So, do not kill other jivas, it is called suna, or jiva-himsa. You may, of course, ask, "Maharaj, but a pumpkin also has life, sak also has life..." The answer is there.

It is true, everything has life, but when you cook, who do you cook for? You do not cook for yourself—you cook for Radha Vallabha. You do not commit the sin for yourself—when you do some sin for Govinda, that is not a sin, it comes within the nirgun plane. Do you understand what I am saying? Will you remember it?

When you walk, so many insects and ants are killed, but you do not kill them for yourself. When you drink water, how many jiva souls die? When you harvest and prepare rice, how many souls die? The difference is we do not do this for ourselves. You harvest, thresh, and cook rice, but you do it for Govinda, not for yourself. At your home too you can cook for Govinda.

The grihastha devotees stay in their houses, maintain a family, but they maintain Krishna's family. Cook something, put a Tulasi leaf, and offer it to the Lord, the Deity, "O Lord, I have cooked this for You, and I am giving it to You." Then, after the Lord takes it, take the plate, put the offered food on your plate, and from your plate you can take that prasad (you give to the Lord on the Lord's plate, and take prasad from your plate).

It is said in Srimad Bhagavad-gita that you if you take some food without offering it to the Lord, it means you steal it and eat it, then you will enjoy sin. If you eat, if you work or do some karma for your own self, it means you enjoy sin.

prasada-seva karite haya,

sakala prapancha-jaya

"By honouring the Lord's prasad I conquer all worldly illusions."

(Saranagati, 31.5, by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

Follow all this, and always chant the Holy Name—when you eat, lie down, sit, or even in the bathroom. You come to the bathroom, chant, "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare," you take water from the bucket, you take bath, etc., chant—just chant and nothing else.

Also, do not use bad language, do not talk about bad things. If you talk about bad things with other people (gramya-katha, gramya-varta), you will forget everything. If you hear something, or if somebody tells you something, do not keep it in your mind—it must enter in one ear and come out of the other ear. OK?

A Step Further

Speaking to the devotees in Colombia

October 2015

In this age of Kali, Harinam is the main means to get Krishna, but we take the second initiation to get more connection with the Guru, to get more connection and attachment with service, also the second initiation is necessary to cook and give archan, puja to the Deities.

You can chant Harinam maha-mantra everywhere—even in the bathroom, or toilet; but you cannot chant this gayatri mantra everywhere. You must recite the gayatri mantra not loudly, in a very soft voice, in front of the Deities. Face the East in the morning, and the North in the evening. You should recite the gayatri mantra in the morning, at noon, and in the evening, but if it is not possible, then you must recite it minimum two times a day.

You must first bathe, put tilaks on twelve places of your body, wear clean clothes, and purify yourself with the Ganges water. Then, on a clean asan (seat), you can recite the gayatri mantra. Place your right hand at your navel and counting on your fingers as I am showing you, recite the mantras ten times each.

Now I am giving you the mantras, you will not remember them now, but they will give you a paper where they are written, and you can read and remember the gayatri mantras and recite then them by memory.

Follow Your Dream

27 October 2010

In his young days (1955), Gurudev wrote one poem,

ami nai va gelam puri, nai va elam ghuri'

Everybody says, "Oh, we have visited so many holy places," but actually no result will come if you do not practise.

tirtha-yatra parisrama

kevala manera bhrama

(Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

You always go to holy places, but it is only parisram, distressing labour—it is only your mind satisfaction, nothing else.

ami chai na ha'te ei jagatera svaraja-danda-dhara

ami chai na ha'te mukti-pathera navina nyasi-vara [1]

"I do not want to be a big man, a big guru. I do not want to be that kind of a sannyasi who can give liberation, mukti-patha."

ami nai va gelam puri,

gaya, kasi, badarinara'na

nai va elama ghuri'

yadi kona janme paire hote vaisnava-kinkara

amara sakala asa-i mitbe re bhai pai yadi ai vara [2]

"It is not necessary to go to Kedri-, Badri-Narayan—if in any birth we can get to be dasanudas, servants of the Vaishnav, that is sufficient. I want to get that kind of boon that all my desires are fulfilled—and what is my desire? My only desire is that I can be a servant of the Vaishnavs."

ami chai na pete mukti hate —bhuktire ke mage?

yadi gauraharira charana-sevaka-charana paire lage [3]

yadi brahma ese chhale

indra tahara rajadhani deya

tao phirai hele,

ara ki debe laksmi-nara'na? —tao hrde nai jage

ami chai re sudhu sachi-sutera sevaka-charana-rage [4]

"If Indra gives his capital, I will reject it. What will Laksmi Narayan give? Nothing. I only want the lotus feet of Sachi-suta Gaurahari."

This poem is a very nice expression. I heard from Gurudev that Srila Sridhar Maharaj, Param Guru Maharaj, said, "If you can be a speck of dust of Chaitanya Saraswat Math, that is sufficient." It is not necessary to become a manager, it is not necessary to become a big guru—if you want to become the dust of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, that is sufficient to go to Goloka Vrindavan.

Question: What are the requirements for being a speck of dust in Nabadwip Dham, Chaitanya Saraswat Math?

What kind of requirement is necessary? Not to follow your mind—follow your Guru. If you follow your mind, you will go to the jungle.

Mind is very naughty, and you must beat that mind. How will you beat it, you know? With the rope. "Rope" means intelligence (buddhi-rupa dori). It is like a running horse—you must go this way, but the horse wants to go another way, but the horse master always directs the horse with a stick and the rope. You must beat your mind with the rope.

The Root of Our Fortune

(On the appearance day of His Divine Grace

Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj)

Speaking online to the devotees in Caracas

22 October 2011

Today is a very auspicious day in our spiritual life: today is the appearance day of our Param Gurudev, the Founder-Acharya of Sri Chaitanya Saraswata Math, Om Vishnupad Jagad Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj.

Today the day of Guru-puja. If Srila Param Guru Maharaj had not come on this day in this world, we would not have been able to get our Gurudev. Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj came in this world to rescue us, and he created our Guru—by his grace we have got shelter of our bona fide Guru. So, we must worship his lotus feet.

Our Param Guru Maharaj, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, distributed Srila Rupa Goswami's line, the pure conception all over the world, and he recognised and showed to us who the great Vaishnav, the preacher is, and who we shall worship. We do not have the real eyes and cannot recognise who is a great Vaishnav, who is a preacher, who is a devotee. Only a great Vaishnav, a great scholar, and a great bona fide Guru can show us who our real, bona fide Guru is, who can give us the real conception. Whom did Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj show us? He showed Gurudev—Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj told us that Srila Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj would be the Guru, so we surrendered to him.

Our consciousness is always under the illusory environment, so we cannot know and we do not know who is the Guru, who is a sadhu, who is a Vaishnav, but Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj showed us, "Srila Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj will be your Guru." So, we have got a bona fide Guru from Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj.

EARLY DAYS

Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj was born in Hapaniya, about twenty-five kilometres away from Nabadwip, in the Bardhaman district. He was born into a Sanskrit family: his family did not speak Bengali, English, or any other language—they talked to each other in Sanskrit.

In his childhood, when everybody did Durga puja, Kali puja, or some other demigods' puja, Srila Sridhar Maharaj, a young boy of 12-13 years at that time, started sankirtan in his village.

JOINING GAUDIYA MATH

Later, after he graduated from university, he got admitted into a law college in Kolkata, and at that time he heard about a great sadhu, a great Vaishnav—Bhagavan Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur—who lived near Sita Kanta Banerjee Lane, Ultadanga, in Kolkata, and Srila Sridhar Maharaj went there to meet his Guru.

When he came there, he only listened to what Srila Prabhupad said, he did not ask any questions, and some temple brahmachari thought, "That boy comes and only listens without asking any questions. What kind of boy is he?" They became suspicious because at that time India was not liberated, it was under the British control, so they thought that maybe he was a British spy. So, the temple manager told Srila Sridhar Maharaj (at that time he name was Ramendra Prabhu) not to come there any more.

Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj was a little sad. He left that place and went to the bank of the Ganges. He thought, "What do I go there for? Not for food, not for material enjoyment, not for my own self... I only go there for my spiritual benefit. So, even if they beat me, if they kick me, or if they oust me, I must still go there..."

One or two days later, Srila Prabhupad asked the devotees, "That new boy came, why did he suddenly leave?" Somebody said that maybe some disturbance had happened, but Prabhupad understood what had happened and told them, "Why did you stop him? Do not disturb him, do not stop him again. Let him come."

On the next day, Srila Sridhar Maharaj again came to Prabhupad—he had a strongest faith, that is why even though somebody told him not to come, he did not listen, he still came. Srila Prabhupad asked him why he had not come for two days, and because Srila Sridhar Maharaj was a sadhu and had a humble mood, he did not tell it was anybody's fault, that somebody had stopped him—he only said, "It must be my bad karma, my bad fortune that I could not hear your Hari-katha for two days."

SERVICE AND SANNYAS

After that, within a few days he joined Prabhupad's mission, Chaitanya Math (the main temple was in Mayapur). He was a great scholar, he always chanted the Holy Name, always did service, preached, and also wrote so many slokas. He wrote Bhakti Vinod Viraha-dasakam and the slokas like "Sri Gauranumatam..."—it made Srila Prabhupad happy.

You know that there were many brahmacharis, many senior devotees in the mission, but crossing them Srila Prabhupad gave sannyas to Srila Sridhar Maharaj within only six years. Many devotees could not get sannyas, but within only six years after Srila Sridhar Maharaj joined the temple Srila Prabhupad gave him sannyas and the name Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj.

'Bhakti-raksak' means 'one who can protect devotion', and 'Sridhar' is the name of a famous and main scholar and pandit—Mahaprabhu said, "Those who do not obey Sridhar Swami, are like prostitutes." So, Srila Prabhupad gave him the name Sridhar Maharaj (the main leader) and Bhakti Raksak (who can protect devotion, our line).

By choosing this name Prabhupad showed that the name of he who is in our main line, the perfect line, and who can protect it will be Bhakti Raksak Sridhar.

POWER TRANSMISSION

Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj did so much service—he established the Madras temple, he went preaching in Kashmir, Bangladesh, and many other places. Whatever service Srila Prabhupad gave him, he tried to fulfil his desire.

Then, it was 1936. Srila Prabhupad and Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj both lived in Bhag Bazaar Gaudiya Math, Kolkata, and at that time Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur showed some sickness. During his last moments he wanted to heard the kirtan "Sri Rupa manjari-pada, ei mora kirtana, ei mora bhajana, pujan." He wanted to hear this kirtan, but he could not heard it from anybody except Srila Sridhar Maharaj. When somebody wanted to sing that song, Srila Prabhupad stopped him—he became angry and said, "I want to heard this song from Sridhar Maharaj." So, Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur heard it from Srila Sridhar Maharaj's mouth. After hearing that "Sri Rupa-manjari-pada" kirtan, Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur left his body...

RETIRING FOR BHAJAN

After that, many problems came to Chaitanya Math, the main temple, and Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj left the temple—he did not like to fight and quarrel. He secretly went to Vrindavan to do bhajan. Sometimes he lived in Nandagram in Vrindavan, Govardhan, and sometimes in Kadamkandi (it is the place where Radharani made sweet rice for Rupa Goswami and Sanatan Goswami, and also the place where Krishna brings all cows and plays His flute).

When he was staying there, suddenly he heard some daiva-vani, like a sound coming from the sky, from above—Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur told him, "I have kept you in this world instead of myself for preaching the pure conception, the pure line of Rupa Goswami, but you left it and came here for your own self! Your duty is not only to eat yourself and relish the taste yourself—you must distribute the taste all over the world, I want that. You cannot stay here, it is not your place. You must go back to Nabadwip, to the aparadh-bhanjan-pat." Srila Prabhupad gave such an order to him. When he heard that message from the sky, got that kind of inspiration, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj immediately left Vrindavan and came to Nabadwip.

You must understand from this what our line is. Somebody can think, "Oh, I will not go to Parama Karuna. What is there?" But there is everything! The sankirtan movement, the preaching—everything is there! Somebody can say, "I can stay in my own house and live there in seclusion, chanting the Holy Name and giving a flower to the Guru," but it is not our line! Our line is gostha bhajan: we will do sankirtan, maha-sankirtan together—together we will chant and dance.

Srila Prabhupad said that somebody may go alone to Vrindavan, stay there privately, doing bhajan, maybe somewhere in the mountains, but it is not our line. You must understand what Srila Prabhupad wants, what Srila Sridhar Maharaj wants. Even Srila Sridhar Maharaj did something wrong, but Prabhupad make it clear for him—he said to him, "It is not your line. You must come back to Nabadwip, and distribute all over the world what I have given to you."

RETURN TO NABADWIP

In this way, Srila Sridhar Maharaj came back in 1940, and together with some of his some godbrothers, they made a new temple—the Devananda Gaudiya Math in Nabadwip—with Srila Sridhar Maharaj as its president.

They made Srila Sridhar Maharaj the president, but some of them could not tolerate him—they did not follow him, did not follow the conception and the pure line that he was giving; so, some of them made problems and Srila Sridhar Maharaj did not like it—he left that place.

One year after he came out of there, he made his own mission—Sri Chaitanya Saraswat in Koladwip, aparadh-bhanjan-pat. Later, many of his godbrothers came there and took sannyas from Srila Sridhar Maharaj (Srila Bhakti Kamal Madhusundan Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Prajnan Kesav Maharaj, and many others).

SRILA BHAKTI SARANGA GOSWAMI MAHARAJ

You know also that after Srila Prabhupad's disappearance, Srila Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj left the mission and went back to his house. Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj came to his house and asked him, "You are a great preacher, a very big personality, why did you come back to your home?" Srila Goswami Maharaj said then, "If you give me sannyas, I can come back and join the mission again." Srila Sridhar Maharaj did that, he gave him sannyas, and Srila Goswami Maharaj came back to the temple.

Srila Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj made a temple in Mayapur, at Nandan Acharya Bhavan, the place where Nitai and Gaura met for the first time (we visit it during the Mayapur parikrama), and every year he invited Srila Sridhar Maharaj for his Vyasa Puja celebration. Srila Sridhar Maharaj would come there every year, and whatever presentation—whatever pranami, daksin—Srila Goswami Maharaj got on that day, he would always give everything to his sannyas Guru, Srila Sridhar Maharaj. He would also say, "My sannyas Guru has come to give me mercy, and every year I get one more year of life."

One year, because of his poor health, Srila Sridhar Maharaj could not attend the celebration, and Srila Goswami Maharaj said, "This year my Gurudev, my sannyas Guru, could not come, so next year I will not be alive, I will die." And that happened.

SRI HAPANIYA DHAM

You know also that Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's birthplace is Hapaniya, and every year all of his godbrothers—Jajavar Maharaj, Goswami Maharaj, Madhusundan Maharaj, Bhakti Pramode Puri Maharaj—went to Hapaniya to see his birthplace.

Srila Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj (you may have seen his photo in the Kirtan Guide books in old editions) was a good kirtaniya and a good singer, and that Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj would walk from Nabadwip to Hapaniya and chant Srila Sridhar Maharaj's song,

krsna-krsna-krsna-krsna-krsna-nama-kirtanam

rama-rama-gana-ramya-divya chanda-nartanam

yatra-tatra-krsna-nama-dana-loka-nistaram

prema-dhama-devam eva naumi gaura-sundaram

Later, the Supreme Lord travelled to the holy places of pilgrimage in South India with the clever intention of delivering the fallen souls. Appearing as a beautiful young renunciate, He distributed the sweet Names of the Lord, singing: "Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna he," as He strolled down the different pathways, entered temples, and visited homesteads during the sacred pilgrimage. Infused with an inconceivable type of divine inspiration, the Lord freely chanted "Rama Rama" and joyfully danced with the most charming gestures. Irrespective of time or personal qualification, the assembled bystanders were delivered by the Lord, who inspired them to chant Krishna's Holy Names. I offer my obeisances to that beautiful Golden Lord, Gaurangasundar, the divine form of Krishna prema.

(Sri Sri Prema Dhama Deva Stotram, 22)

Walking to Hapaniya, he would singing all Prema Dhama Stotram—all seventy-two slokas. Do you know what he did in Hapaniya? You should know it. When he came to Hapaniya, he would search the pond where Srila Sridhar Maharaj bathed, the playground where Srila Sridhar Maharaj played football, the school where Srila Sridhar Maharaj studied, and so on. He would visit these kinds of places.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj asked him, "Maharaj, you are my godbrother, it is not a problem that you go to my birthplace, but why do you look for my playground, for the pond where I bathed, the school where I studied?" Srila Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj replied, "Maharaj, the slokas that you wrote are nondifferent from Rupa Goswami, that is why I am remembering Srila Rupa Goswami—that is why when I visit your childhood places, I take the feet dust from those places."

Srila Jajavar Maharaj also said, "I consider Hapaniya nondifferent from Varshana, the birthplace of Srimati Radharani."

So, we must pay our full obeisance to our Param Guru Maharaj Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. You must read about his pastimes—there are so many pastimes that even if I spoke the whole day I could not finish that. I have only told you some small things that I heard from my Gurudev. When I get more time, I can explain more and tell you more about his qualification, about his qualities.

You should know what Srila Sridhar Maharaj told, what he taught us. Prapanna-jivanamritam is his main book, there is also the Guardian of Devotion, Search for Sri Krishna Reality the Beautiful, etc.—read these books, scriptures, and you can understand easily what he wanted to teach us.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj gave us our Guru—we are very fortunate souls to have got a bona fide Guru from him.

You know that before Srila Sridhar Maharaj's disappearance Srila Gurudev had chosen a place for his samadhi (it is the same place where it stands now), and before there used to be a big mango tree in that place. Srila Sridhar Maharaj told not to cut it, but when Srila Sridhar Maharaj left his body, that same day the mango tree died... Then you can understand what a maha-purush he was—do not think that he had a mundane body.

Today is also Virachandra Prabhu's appearance day (Virachandra Prabhu is the son of Nityananda Prabhu). Srila Sridhar Maharaj is actually nondifferent from Virachandra Prabhu. Virachandra Prabhu captured Nityananda Prabhu, and Nityananda Prabhu distributed His mercy through him.

So, today I am finishing here.

Jay Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay!

Ekadasi Vrata: Make Your Guru Happy

Speaking to the devotees in San Jose

18 August 2013

Question: Could you please tell us the story of Ekadasi?

Ekadasi is a vrata (vow). We have sixty-four bhaktyanga or devotional activities (doing parikrama, arati, etc.), five of which are the main (sadhu-sanga, Nama-sankirtan, etc.), and Ekadasi is one of the bhaktyanga.

It is told in the scripture that once pap (sinful works) and punya (pious activities) were talking to each other on the Ekadasi tithi. They thought, "Where will we stay today? If everything is pious activities, where will the sin stay?" So, they decided that on this day the sin will stay in five items (such as mustard seeds, sesame seeds, flour, rice, dal, etc.). So, if you eat grains on the Ekadasi day, you will be doing a sinful activity.

Mahaprabhu told also, "Who is the offender, the sinner? Those who eat rice and other grains on the Ekadasi day!" Some scripture also says very heavily: if you take rice on the Ekadasi day, it is the same as eating a cow's meat.

Mahaprabhu is the Acharya, the Guru. Jagadananda Pandit said,

[ei kali-yuge] sadhu paoya kasta bada jivera janiya

sadhu-bhakta-rupe krsna aila nadiya

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 7.8)

It is very rare to get a great soul, a great sadhu in the age of Kali, that is why Krishna Himself came as a Guru, Acharya and taught us—but first He taught His mother. Mahaprabhu asked His mother,

"Mother, I would like to beg something from you. Can you give it to Me?

"Yes, what is it?"

"First say you will three times."

"OK. I will give, I will give, I will give. What is it?"

"Mother, I want you not to take rice on the Ekadasi day."

Another time, when Nimai was a little boy, He became very hungry, but that day His mother was fasting and doing Ekadasi. Hearing her son cry, she thought maybe He was ill or something was wrong. She took Him to the house of Hiranya Pandit and Jagadish Pandit. At that time, Hiranya and Jagadish were offering the bhog to the Lord, and little Nimai ate at their house.

Ekadasi is for the devotees, not for Lord. I heard that some people follow misconception and do wrong by making the Lord fast on Ekadasi. It is like Gurudev shows us that he follows Ekadasi, and Gurudev is also there in his vigraha form, so what will we offer? We will give the Ekadasi bhog and also rice, dal, subji—we will offer everything to him, and he will take what he wants.

Some people think, "Why should we offer Gurudev rice, dal, etc. on Janmastami, Radhastami, Nityananda trayodasi, Nrisingha chaturdasi, etc.? He does not eat it." Gurudev fasts on these days because he shows to us he is practising, otherwise if he does not show us, how will we learn from him? Nija achari' dharma jivke sikhaya. Mahaprabhu Himself shows to us that He is a practitioner, because if He does not practise Himself, how will He teach others?

So, Mahaprabhu told us to follow the Ekadasi vrata and we follow it to please our Guru, to please our Guru-varga, and make Mahaprabhu happy. This is how we follow it.

Srila Pabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur gave some sithilita-viddhi. Srila Sridhar Maharaj wrote it in the sloka about Srila Prabhupad,

nikhila-bhuvana-maya-chhinnavichchhinna-kartri

vibudhabahula-mrgya-mukti-mohanta-datri

sithilita-vidhi-raga-radhya-radhesa-dhani

vilasatu hrdi nityam bhakti-siddhanta-vani

"With his first step, he vigorously cut asunder the whole plane of exploitation, and with his second, he put a stop to all the calculations of the different scholars with their different conceptions of liberation. With his third step, he eased the hard rules and regulations by a touch of the Divine Love: he gave us the worship of Sri Sri Radha and Govinda. The real existence of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad is in his divine teachings. May those teachings dance eternally within the core of your heart."

Sithilita viddhi means he reduced the viddhi (rules and regulations) a little. Now following Ekadasi is not so strict—you can take some fruit, milk, some non-grain prasad on the Ekadasi day.

Also the medical science says that every day you take so much oil, so much rich food, use so much spices, but if on the Ekadasi day you take only some fruit, some vegetables like potato, papaya, without so much spices, it is good for your health.

So, this is the story.

Involve with Resolve

11 December 2010

You must remember this:

e ghora-samsare padiya manava

na paya duhkhera sesa

sadhu-sanga kari' hari bhaje yadi

tabe anta haya klesa

"Those who have fallen into this terrible world know no end of suffering, but if they associate with sadhus and serve Hari, their suffering comes to an end."

(Jaiva-dharma by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

We are suffering so much, getting too much unhappiness, what is the upaya, the solution? The solution is also given:

sadhu-sanga kari' hari bhaje yadi

tabe anta haya klesa

The solution is in good association and worship of the Lord in the association of a good devotee, a great devotee—

suddha-bhakata-charana-renu

bhajana-anukula

"The dust of pure devotees' feet is favourable to devotion."

If you get association of a pure devotee, then pure devotion will come.

I told it many times—Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said, "Samsara bhitare, na bahire" [lit. "material life is within, not without"]. Maybe you think that if somebody is wearing white clothes, householder devotees' (grihastha) clothes, they are a householder; and if somebody is wearing saffron colour clothes, sannyasi clothes, brahmachari clothes, you think it is a renounced person—but you cannot tell it by the clothes. That is why Prabhupad said, "Samsara bhitare, na bahire."

Somebody may be wearing white clothes but have no attachment with the family, but the one who is wearing sannyasi clothes has attachment with the material matter—how will you recognise it by the clothes? It is impossible. You cannot see it by the clothes.

It is just like if there is a car accident, some pieces of broken glass are shining in the sun and you think, "Oh, it is mukta (pearls)!" But it is not mukta—it is not.

So, you think if somebody wears saffron colour clothes, they are good, but if you look at their clothes, you cannot tell that. Prabhupad said also, "How should you see a sadhu? With your ears." You must recognise the sadhu through your ears, not your eyes. "Sadhu kan diye dekhte haya—you must see the sadhu with your ears." It is a very nice expression of Prabhupad.

In the same way, you cannot recognise where the original paddy plant, the rice plant is, and where the weeds are—there is some grass, it all looks the same, but you must see what is the plant and what is not.

It is very difficult, but

sad-anga saranagati ha-ibe yahara

tahara prarthana sune sri-nanda-kumara

"Sri Krishna hears the prayers of those who surrender in the six-fold way."

(Saranagati, 1.5, by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

If you surrender fully, if you actually want some good association, want a good bona fide Guru, then you have a chaitya guru and that chaitya guru will take you to the mahanta guru, will take you to the original Guru—if your desire is good.

There are so many gurus—a yogi guru, a karmi guru, a sikha guru, a school teacher is also a guru, a kaulik guru (family guru), a laulik guru—there are so many kinds of gurus, but it is very difficult and rare to get a paramarthik guru, a spiritual master, but

ব্brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva

guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija

Having travelled throughout the universe and got the mercy of Guru, Krishna, a fortunate soul receives a seed of the devotional creeper.

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 19.151)

Kona bhagyavan jiva: the fortunate souls can understand, can realise it and can go there—only the fortunate souls.

We have got a great fortune—we have got the Guru parampara, a good line, we have got a good seed, but what will happen if we do not protect that seed? The seed will dry—no plant, no tree will come. Through practising—sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam (hearing, chanting, remembering, offering obeisance, rendering service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission)—we can protect our bhakti-lata-bij, our seed of devotion. So, you must accept what is in favour of devotion and reject what is not favourable to devotion…

Lacking Strength or Lacking Effort?

11 December 2010

You must accept what is in favour of devotion and reject what is not favourable to devotion. Every day early in the morning we promise:

bhakti-anukula matra karyera svikara

bhakti-pratikula bhava—varjanangikara

sad-anga saranagati ha-ibe yahara

tahara prarthana sune sri-nanda-kumara

"'I will do only what is favourable to devotion and will reject everything unfavourable to devotion.' Sri Krishna hears the prayers of those who surrender in the six-fold way."

(Saranagati, 1, by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

We sing this song every morning, and we must realise it—we must understand how many hours of our time we waste—spend on ourselves, on our own enjoyment—and how many hours we spend on practising. We have come here for service—we have not come for enjoyment. This is our promise. We promised in the mother's womb,

bhajibo boliya ese samsara-bhitare

bhuliya rohile tumi avidyara bhare

"You came into this world saying, 'O Lord, I will serve You', but, having forgotten this promise, you have remained in ignorance."

('Jiva Jago Jiva Jago' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

The Lord says, "You promised you will worship Me, but you have forgotten it. Why? Because you are covered by the illusory environment."

We are like a piece of dry wood simply floating in the river, and sometimes by some fortune we may get to the bank,

samsara bhramite kona bhagye keha tare

nadira pravahe yena kastha lage tire

"Wandering throughout the material world, some souls get good fortune and somehow cross this ocean of material life just as a wooden stick floating in the water gets washed ashore."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.43)

We have got to the bank now, we have got shelter, and we must use that shelter. You take Gurudev's shelter, but you think you have your own raincoat, so that shelter is not necessary. It is a very good example. Sometimes ego comes and we forget that we are in the shelter of our Guru—that we are under his guidance, under his umbrella. We think, "Why do I need this umbrella? I have my own raincoat!" This is our big problem.

That is why, practising life is necessary.

It is said that we are walking down a very thin thread, any time we can meet an accident—we can cut our feet and fall down. "Ksurasya-dhara": practising life is like a sharp knife blade—any time we can fall down, any time we can go to the illusory environment. So, practise! Be humble, tolerant, give honour to others—that is Mahaprabhu's conception.

trnad api sunichena taror api sahisnuna

amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more forbearing than a tree, who gives due honour to others without desiring it for himself, is qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Krishna.

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.239)

That is our main conception, but we forget it...

I remember when I just came and joined the temple Gurudev said to me, "You have got some deposit and through that deposit you have came to the temple, but if your business is lost, you will lose your deposit. Do not lose your deposit!"

We must realise this and practise...

No Shortcuts

11 December 2010

Practice makes perfect. Srila Guru Maharaj also said: Gurudev says something and the meaning is the same for the householder devotees and for the temple devotees, but in a different way.

Once, somebody asked Mahaprabhu,

"We are householder devotees—we have family, children, wives, husbands—what is our duty?"

"If you go to your home, do Vaishnav service and Nama sankirtan." Hearing it, the devotee immediately asked,

"Vaisnava chiniba kemane? How can I recognise the Vaishnav? How will I know who is a Vaishnav and how is not?"

Mahaprabhu explained it. If somebody takes Krishna Nam, says "Hare Krishna," even only once a day, they are a Vaishnav. If somebody always chants the Holy Name, they too are a Vaishnav, madhyam adhikari. And,

yanhara darsane mukhe aise krsna-nama

tanhare janiha tumi 'vaisnava-pradhana'

"When somebody sees you and Krishna comes to their mouth, then you are an uttam-adhikari."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 16.74)

If somebody sees you and says, "Hare Krishna!", then you are an uttam adhikari Vaishnav—maybe they see your tilak and come to criticise but if seeing you they say "Hare Krishna" they get benefit through you.

It does not mean that you will think, "Oh, somebody saw me and chanted, 'Hare Krishna,' then I am an uttam adhikari!" If you think like this, it is a big problem—it is a bad feeling and very bad. It means ego is coming.

At the same time, Gurudev said that if you say—

jagai madhai haite muni se papistha

purisera kita haite muni se laghistha

"I am more sinful than Jagai and Madhai and lower than the worms in the stool."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 5.205)

—it is actually a lie.

Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami can say it, but we cannot say it because that kind of feeling does not come to our mind; if we say it, it will be false. Gurudev said this very nicely.

It is very difficult—you must remove this kind of ego from your heart; and it is only possible through service, through kirtan, otherwise not—otherwise it is not possible. If you think you can conquer illusory environment, can conquer your ego and everything else, it is not possible. These are Gurudev's words. He said it is only possible through sravanam, kirtanam—through practising. Not in any other way.

Think about it yourself. When somebody hits you and blood comes, will you say, "Hare Krishna" and lift your head and let them hit you again? Can you think of that? It is not possible... We say it with your mouth, but it is false—it is all a lie, pretending. It can only come through practising—such dainyata, humility, such tolerance come through proper practising.

Gurudev said also that if you are a householder devotee, you can make your house a temple. What do we do in the temple? We wake up early in the morning, do mangal arati—you too can have an altar, do mangal arati, do kirtan, and go to your work (a devotee's work means working for Guru, for the Lord), and you must take prasadam.

I saw that in many countries this is very difficult—the husband and the wife work the whole day, and the whole day their Deity fasts. They do not cook during the week and only cook on Sundays. I saw many family houses like this in the West, and in India also there are many houses where they do not cook—they go to restaurants and eat out.

Even if you do not have time to cook—you work the whole day—you must bring the restaurant food for the Deity, offer it with Tulasi leaves, and take prasadam. That is practising life—but if you go and enjoy in a restaurant and when you come home your Deity or Gurudev fasts the whole day, that is not practising.

visayira anna khaile malina haya mana

malina mana haile, nahe krsna-nama grahana

"If you take food that comes from materialistic people, your mind becomes contaminated. When your mind is contaminated, you cannot chant the Name of Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.278)

Mahaprabhu said this. When did He say it? When on the order of Bhagavan Acharya Chhota Haridas brought some rice from Madhavi Devi.

prabhu kahe,—"vairagi kare prakrti sambhasana

dekhite na paron ami tahara vadana"

The Lord said, "If someone mixes with women, I do not want to see their face!"

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 2.117)

Mahaprabhu said, "What he is doing is not out line—I do not want to see him."

Practising—you must first follow viddhi marga (rules and regulations), then go to raga marga. If you start first with raga marga (following "your heart"), you will become a sahajiya. So, first follow the rules and regulations. Do morning mangal arati, sravanam, kirtanam, do gayatri—this is regular practising.

I remember when I took second initiation in 1992, Gurudev told me, "If you practise this gayatri three times a day for one year without stopping, you must get connection with Srimati Radharani." I remember these words... but we cannot do it properly, it is very difficult. When we chant, something always comes up—the mobile phone rings, or something comes to your mind. Who can say, "I can do gayatri properly"? I cannot. It is Kali-yuga, and it is not possible in this age, but our only hope to be rescued from this kind of environment is Harinam sankirtan, chanting the Holy Name. Only this is our hope, only chanting the Holy Name, only following Gurudev's order.

"Jive daya, Name ruchi, Vaisnava seva"—follow Gurudev's order, serve the Vaishnavs. "I will serve whoever serves my Guru"—this is our tradition. Whether they are junior or they are senior, if they serve my Guru, I will serve them. This is our word; this is our promise.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay!

Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay!

The Wealth of Heart

12 December 2010

We sing,

guru-mukha-padma-vakya chitete kariya aikya

ara na kariha mane asa

"Make the teachings from Sri Guru's lotus mouth one with your heart, and do not desire anything else within your heart."

We must always keep the advice that our Guru gives us in our heart, chittete. It is necessary to do it otherwise we cannot proceed...

Gurudev has left, but he kept so many good souls, so many good devotees for me—that is my only hope. Sometimes some disturbance, some problems come, but I think it is the will of Krishna, it is a test to see how much tolerance we have, how much chastity we have. We must think that problems come because of this. Gurudev also said that problems can come, but samyik (temporary), for a short moment—it will not continue long because devotees always want good. When the river current is going on, then all dirty things will be removed. That is our main things...

Not only in our preaching movement, even in Mahaprabhu's time also there were so many problems. When Mahaprabhu came, only some few people practised Krishna consciousness, otherwise there was nothing, and even after Mahaprabhu appeared, so many problems came. Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's time also so many problems came, there was so much misconception around the world and around the country. Whatever the circumstances are, we have to continue, have to proceed with our practising life. Some kind of obstacle can come—not only can come, we must think that it will definitely come—but we must proceed even with obstacles.

sri-radahra bhave yini suvarna varana

sangopange navadvipe yanra sankirtana

kalite upasya sei krsna gaura-hari

navadha bhakti tanre upasana kari

(Sri Sri Nabadwip-sataka, 1, Bengali translation by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

Mahaprabhu taught navadha bhakti: first sukriti, then sraddha, then,

adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango 'tha bhajana-kriya

tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha ruchis tatah

athasaktis tato bhavas tatah premabhyudanchati

sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah

"In the beginning there is faith, then good association, then practising life. After that, the offences gradually go away, faith becomes stronger, taste comes, then attachment, then there arises affection and love. This is how love to God comes to those who practise Krsna consciousness."

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhuh, 1.4.15-16)

anyabhilasita sunyam jnana-karmady anavrtam

anukulyena krsnanusilanam bhaktir uttama

"The highest devotion is that which satisfies Lord Krsna, free from the coverings of any pursuits such as action, knowledge."

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhuh, 1.1.11)

anya abhilasa chhadi, jnana karma parihari

kaya-mane kariba bhajana

sadhu-sange krsna-seva, na pujiba devi-deva

ei bhakti parama karana

"The topmost process of devotional service is to worship the Lord with body and mind, giving up desires for fruitive activities and mental speculation. One should serve Lord Krsna in the association of devotees without worshipping any demigods."

(Sri Sri Prema-bhakti-chandrika, 13, Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

It is written very nicely.

Anukulyena, you must accept what is favourable to devotion, and pratikulya-visarjana, give up what is not favourable. Both are necessary.

It is said in one of the songs,

dina-hina patita pamara nahi bachhe

brahmara durlabha prema sabakare yache

"The sinful, unfortunate, and fallen did not desire this divine love, which is difficult for even Brahma to attain, yet Nitai begged them to accept it."

('Nitai gunamani amara')

"Brahmara durlabha prema"—prema dulaya gada gadi yaya—the prema that Lord Siva, Lord Brahma cannot get and always think of, always rolls in the dust of the yard of Ma Yasoda and Nanda Maharaj!

ye yatha mam prapadyante, tams tathaiva bhajamy aham

mama vartmanuvartante, manusyah partha sarvasah

"Howsoever people surrender to Me, I accordingly reward them. Being the ultimate goal of all paths, I am the objective to be attained by all. O Partha, all men follow My various paths."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 4.11)

Who knows about this? You can understand it... It is said in a kirtan,

yadi gaura na ha'ta tabe ki ha-ita

kemane dharitam de

radhara mahima, prema-rasa-sima

jagate janata ke?

How could we understand Radhara mahima, the glory of Srimati Radharani if Gaura had not come? Her glory is not mentioned anywhere in Srimad Bhagavatam…

Tolerance vs Chastity

12 December 2010

Question: In Golden Volcano Srila Param Guru Maharaj is talking about humility, tolerance, and giving honour to others, and he is also saying in this material world we can tolerate but we cannot tolerate madmen. So, I was trying to find some balance in my mind...

You must consider the circumstances... If somebody is kicking your Gurudev's chair, then what, will you be sitting at that time?

hari sevaya yaha anukula

visaya baliya tyage haya bhula

"It is wrong to reject something favourable to the service of the Lord, saying, 'It is visaya, material.'"

(Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur)

When something is favourable to devotion, at that time there are no rules and regulations. For example, you are taking prasadam and at that time there is some problem and your Gurudev is falling down—will you first go to wash your hand and then catch your Gurudev? That is not the rule.

I told many times also this story in Bengali. Sometimes you hear, "You must wash your hand, why do you touch this with the hand you have just taken prasadam with?", "Why are you going inside the room in your dirty clothes?" and so on. When you go to the toilet [to pass stool], your clothes become dirty, and you cannot go to the room in those clothes. That is the rule, but suppose, you are in the toilet and you hear that your six-month baby has fallen from the bed. I ask them, "What will you do? Tell me. Are you going to change your clothes first?" They have no answer. When you have that kind of love and affection to your Guru, Deity, and Vaishnavs, at that time there are no rules and regulations.

Humility, tolerance, giving honour to others is the rule, but when you see there is some problem, there is no tolerance at that time—it is not the time for tolerance.

I also heard from Gurudev this story about a foolish disciple, I have told it many times, and you probably know it.

It happened in the old days. A Guru and a disciple were travelling, and Gurudev told the disciple to carry his things. In those days there were no suitcases, no big attaches, so the Guru gave the disciple a bundle with his things—his clothes, paduka (shoes), umbrella, etc. There were no cars, no vans, or rikshaws then, and they were travelling by a horse-cart. Gurudev ordered his disciple, "Be careful with my things! If anything falls down, immediately catch it!"

So, the horse started off, and soon the Guru saw that the disciple had dozed off, "Hey! Do not sleep! If anything falls down, you must catch it!" The disciple became alert. Suddenly he saw the horse passed stool and he immediately caught the stool. His Guru was shocked,

"Are you a fool?! What are you doing?!"

"Gurudev, you told me if anything fell down, I had to catch it... It fell down, and I thought..."

"Hut! You are foolish!" The disciple then took out a pen and said,

"OK, tell me what your things are, then I will know what I must catch and what I must not."

Gurudev told him what things he had, and the disciple wrote everything down in a list and kept it in his pocket. After a while, there was some bump on the road and the horse jumped—both the Guru and the disciple fell off. The disciple was young, so it was not a problem for him, he quickly got up and got back on the horse; but the Guru was an old man, and he cried, "Please help me! Please!"—the disciple took out his list and started checking it...

Do you understand what I am trying to say?

There are other examples in the scriptures, and Mahaprabhu also gave an example, it is written in Chaitanya-charitamrita. Once, Govinda asked his Guru, Ishwar Puri, "Prabhu, whom shall I serve after you?" Ishwar Puri replied, "Why, after me serve Chaitanya Mahaprabhu!" After Ishwar Puri expired, Govinda came to Mahaprabhu and said, "Prabhu, please engage me in Your service—please give me any service..." Svarup Damodar and Ray Ramananda were there, and they were old and expert persons. Mahaprabhu asked them, "What am I to do now? The scriptures say that you must always give obeisance and serve the servitor of your Guru, so how can I engage him in My service?" Svarup Damodar and Ray Ramananda replied, "Prabhu, yes, the scriptures said this, but what shall you follow—what the scriptures said or what your Guru said?"

So, suppose somebody attacks your temple. You think about humility, tolerance, and giving honour to others, but your Gurudev told you, "Protect my temple," so that is your answer.

Do you understand? Did you get the answer to your question?

— Yes.

Appearance of Sri Giriraj

11 November 2015

...When I was doing Govardhan parikrama, I was looking both sides, thinking (Gurudev was also thinking), "You have made the temple in Govinda Kunda, but how you will bring Govardhan? How will you get Him?" I kept thinking about it, and suddenly I saw a boy run out of our parikrama to the Govardhan Hill. He picked a Govardhan sila and ran to me.

I was surprised, "What are you doing?!" I had an uttariya with me and quickly gave it to him to cover the sila because if the Vraja-basis saw him, they would beat him.

So, we hid Govardhan and kept Him in the bus. For protection, I bought one big pot-like brass bowl to cover Giriraj and started His puja in the bus. I told some devotees to worship Giriraj every day—offer bhog, etc—because we took Giriraj from Govardhan, but the bus was going to Delhi, then to Haridwar and many other places, and we had to worship Him properly. Then, the temple in Govinda Kunda was finished and we made the inauguration festival and started Giriraj puja there—He was installed in the Gupta Govardhan temple.

Also, in Govardhan, there is Giriraj Deity—Gurudev gave Him the name Anugiriraj, "anu" means "small".

We had bought some land in Govardhan and at the time of Kartik month Gurudev told me to cultivate wheat there. We started cultivating with a big tractor, and when the tractor was ploughing, suddenly a Giriraj sila came out. A panda (priest) came and confirmed, "Yes, this is really Giriraj." Then, at the same place where He was found, we made a small tin shed house and started the worship there. Later, Gurudev made the temple there, in Govardhan...

Parikrama of Sri Govardhan

11 November 2015

Mahaprabhu said,

vrndavane giya na thakiya chira kala

govardhane uthiya na dekhiya gopala

"You can go to Vrindavan, but do not stay there long, and do not climb Govardhan to see Gopal."

After Jagadananda Prabhu had had a fight with Mahaprabhu, his mind was disturbed and he wanted to go to Vrindavan—he was ready to go when Mahaprabhu told him (He wanted to test him), "OK, you can go, but here is My advice for you. If you listen to it, it will be good for you. You can go see Vrindavan, but do not mix with other people, only stay with Rupa and Sanatan." We read in Prema-vivarta how Mahaprabhu told it to Jagadananda Pandit.

Jagadananda Pandit had fought with Mahaprabhu and become angry with Him, but later he said, "My mind is so disturbed—I went to Vrindavan but could not see anything in Vrindavan: I got no mercy from Mahaprabhu... It was not Mahaprabhu's will." Jagadananda Pandit says he did not see anything in Vrindavan, then you can understand...

How do we do parikrama? We do parikrama of Govardhan during two days because we do not walk so much, we take half a day at a time. Govardhan is like a peacock, and our temple is near Manasa Ganga, at the mouth of Govardhan (mukhara bindu). So, we start the parikrama from the tail and do half portion one day and the second half the next day. Those who live in Govardhan do a full parikrama around Govardhan one or two times every day—they walk fast, chanting on their own, but when we go, we go with two-three hundred devotees, with kirtan, and we stop at some places, sit, and speak Hari-katha, that is why it takes us two days.

But I am afraid, still I am afraid when we go to Radha Kunda—my whole body shakes when we go there because I do not know where I am putting my legs. Every step I make there, I am thinking how much offence I am doing because I do not know whose samadhi can be inside, who can be inside. Pancha Pandavs are there, Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami's, Raghunath Das Goswami's, Jahnava Devi's samadhis are there—so many big and great Vaishnavs' samadhis are there. They made some new construction, changed many things and I do not know where they put the samadhis, so I am thinking what if I am putting my leg on their head!

Raghunath Das Goswami prays, "Nija-nikata-nivasam dehi govardhana tvam: please give me a dwelling near you, O Govardhan!" and Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also said, "I have no quality or qualification to stay in Vrindavan and Radha Kunda, but I can stay in Govardhan and from there I can go to Vrindavan to serve."

Actually, Raghunath Das Goswami wanted to commit suicide because his Guru had left, but then he stayed with Rupa and Sanatan and it changed his mind. When Sanatan Goswami became old, he could not do parikrama around Govardhan any more, and Jiva Goswami Prabhu gave him a Govardhan sila, saying, "Prabhu, you have become old now, it is very difficult for you to do parikrama around Govardhan... I am giving you this small Giriraj, you can do parikrama around the sila"—and every day Sanatan Goswami did parikrama around the Govardhan sila.

Sanatan Goswami stayed at Manasa Ganga, near Chakreshwar Mahadev (Lord Siva), and there were so many mosquitos there that one day Sanatan Goswami Prabhu prayed to Lord Siva, "I cannot stay here any longer—there are too many mosquitos..." From the next day there were no mosquito there...

People are now doing parikrama around Govardhan for the whole month. Do you know how they do the parikrama? They do sastanga dandavat, full obeisance, then put one stone in front of them, get up, and again do sastanga dandavat from the place they had marked with the stone, again put a stone in front of them, and so on. This is how they do parikrama, day and night. But Gurudev is very merciful to us, he manifested Govardhan here—he made this Gupta Govardhan temple right here in Govinda Kunda, and every day we can do parikrama here…

The Aanyor Village

11 November 2015

Krishna Himself said, "I am Govardhan"...

During the parikrama, we pass a village called Aanyor when we go to see Govinda Kunda. One day, Madhavendra Puri was sitting there and chanting all day. He was ayachita-vrtti, did not ask anybody for anything (if he got something, he would take it, otherwise he would fast). That was his nature. One day Krishna Himself came to him: a boy came up to him and said,

"Sadhu, drink this milk!"

"How do You know I have not eaten anything? What is Your Name? Where is Your village and where do You stay?"

"If somebody wants something, I give it to them, and if they do not want it, I also give it to them... You drink this milk, and I will come back later for the pot."

Madhavendra Puri drank the milk and thought, "I have drunk milk many times in Bengal, but it was nothing like this kind of milk! This is like nectar!" So, he sat and waited, waited, waited, and soon he felt drowsy and fell asleep. Gopal came to him in a dream and said, "My Name is Govardhan-dhari Gopal."

mayura-mukuta pitambara-dhari

murali-dhara govardhana-dhari

jaya yasoda-nandana krsna murari

murali-dhara govardhana-dhari

"Krishna's great-grandson established my Deity, but when the Muslim were breaking the temples, the pujari hid Me in the forest, and since that day I have been suffering so much from hot, cold, rain, etc. When I brought you milk, you asked Me where I stayed—this is where I live. Rescue Me and keep Me in a safe place!" And Madhavendra Puri woke up. (You worship a Deity, but it is not a doll!) The next morning, Madhavendra Puri called the villagers and said that their Deity was hidden in the jungle, and with their help he took the Deity out and established His worship on top of Govardhan.

When Mahaprabhu went to Govardhan, He did not climb Govardhan to see Gopal—Gopal came down to see Him, and to this day, that Gopal is still there, on the bank of Govinda Kunda...

Why is the village called Aanyor? Tomorrow is the Annakut mahotsav of Govardhan Giriraj. On that day, all Vraja-basis brought so much food, and a mountain of rice, Govardhan finished everything, but still He was hungry. He said, "Bring more! Bring more! Ara anna!" Aanyor: "Aro niye aso" ("bring more"). Hearing it, all gopis were about to go back home to bring more, but Govardhan stopped them, "You do not have to go back to your homes! I will make My hands longer and take it." And Govardhan made His hands longer and took everything from their houses. That is Giriraj Puja.

Holy Places for Holy Deeds

11 November 2015

Now is Kali-yuga, and the time is coming when the Ganges will disappear... As long as there are the glories of the Lord in the world, there will be Ganga, there will be Yamuna, there will be Govardhan. Every day the Govardhan Hill is becoming smaller by the size of one mustard seed, and one day it will disappear, Ganga will disappear...

Ganga did not want to come at first, she said, "The sinners, the offenders will go and bathe in me, and I will be full of all kinds of sins! I will not go!" But Bhagirath Maharaj said, "When a Vaishnav bathes in you, you will be pure."

People are doing Durga puja now.. Vraja-gopis also did Durga puja, but did they do it for? They wanted to get Krishna as their husband in a future life—they did Durga puja for Krishna; but people do Durga puja, offering meat, etc. and asking, "Give me wealth, give me knowledge, give me body, give me a beautiful wife." Mahaprabhu, on the other hand, said, "I do not want wealth, I do not want knowledge, nor do I want beautiful girls." So, as Narottam Das Thakur wrote,

aichhana amara mana phire yena andha jana

supatha vipatha nahi jane

My mind wanders like a blind man who does not know the right way from the wrong way.

'Thakura Vaishnava-gana' by Srila Narottam Das Thakur

Think what it means.

...I remember there was a pujari in Govardhan: every day he did puja at two temples, and one evening, after he offered the bhog and took prasadam, I suddenly saw him going out of the Math. It was late night already, and I asked him, "Where are you going, baba?" He told me, "For the whole month, I am doing parikrama of Govardhan..." He did a full twenty-eight-mile parikrama at 10 pm! And in the morning he would do mangal arati, puja, everything. Now he has become an old man...

We do only half parikrama at a time. We sit in several places, in the Annyor village, at Govinda Kunda, Haldi Kunda, and so on, and then go back to the temple. This is how we do parikrama. Those who live there do a full parikrama every day for the whole month, and some do it twice a day, fifty-six miles total, walking bare feet. After Gurudev made a temple there, we too can now do the parikrama of Govardhan.

You cannot do Vridanvan parikrama every day, but it is said that if every day you do Tulasi parikrama, the same result will come as when you do the parikrama of Vrindavan…

Heartfelt and Fervent

Speaking online to the devotees in Caracas

5 December 2012

In some countries, there are now rumours, "Oh, why does Maharaj give so much mercy to the Venezuelan devotees?" But my answer is this. This Bhagavad-gita sloka is there (9.29): Krishna said, "In this world, nobody is My enemy, and nobody is My friend, but when somebody serves Me with full faith, with full surrender, I feel attachment to them, and they too feel attachment to Me."

...Damodar month finished a few days ago. It is a very nice month—the dearmost month of Radharani.

kuveratmajau baddha-murttyaiva yadvat

tvaya mochitau bhakti-bhajau krtau cha

tatha prema-bhaktim svakam me prayachchha

na mokse graho me 'sti damodareha

O Lord Damodara, just as the two sons of Kuvera (Manigriva and Nalakuvara) were delivered from the curse of Narada and made into great devotees by You in Your form as a baby tied with rope to a wooden grinding mortar, in the same way, please give to me Your own prema-bhakti. I only long for this and have no desire for any kind of liberation.

(Sri Damodarastakam, 7)

Do you know the meaning?

Kuveratmajau: the two sons of Kuver got trees' bodies, and they had spent many hundreds and thousands of years in these tree bodies. Prabhu, I am more fallen than them! My attachment to the illusory environment is even more than theirs! Tatha prema-bhaktim: Prabhu, please give me that kind of devotion by which I can be liberated and get Your lotus feet.

Tvaya mochitau bhakti-bhajau krtau cha: the sons of Kuver, Manigriva and Nalakuvara, became liberated from that kind of situation, and they got Your lotus feet from You—Your mercy to them was such that You gave them devotion! But, Prabhu, I am an even more fallen soul, please rescue me from this kind of situation!

This is the meaning of what the sloka. We are praying to the Lord, "In this kind of situation, two trees can become liberated—even two trees can get Your lotus feet, can get mercy from You, Prabhu! But I am even lower than that, I have no devotion, but You can rescue me…"

Terminal Foolishness

Speaking online to the devotees in Caracas

5 December 2012

Question: How can we avoid pratistha?

It is very difficult, Prabhu... It is only possible by the mercy of Gurudev.

Pratistha is for the Guru. You must think, "I am a servant of the Guru, that is why people are giving me honour." If somebody wants pratistha but does not follow the Guru, why will anyone follow him? Gurudev always said, "If you want to be a Guru, you must first become a disciple."

If I think, "I am under Chaitanya Saraswat Math," then it is like a rubber stamp, a signature, "He is a servitor at Chaitanya Saraswat Math," but if I come out of Chaitanya Saraswat Math, nobody will follow me. I will have no value. Somebody has a few local devotees following them, and they cannot stay together with others under Chaitanya Saraswat Math. They think, "Oh, I have some followers, and with such followers I can do many things. I can conquer the whole world!" If somebody thinks like this, it is their foolishness. If you have no rubber stamp, no signature of Chaitanya Saraswat Math, you can never be under the banner of Chaitanya Saraswat Math.

In Gurudev's time also many people came out of the temple thinking, "Oh, I know more than Govinda Maharaj. I know more than others. I can leave and make a temple outside Chaitanya Saraswat Math!" But all of them failed—nobody has ever succeeded...

Actually, pratistha is a kind of foolishness. People do not understand that if your get some honour, if you get some pranami, or donation, if your get some respect, who is it for? It is for the Guru and his mission. If you do not think like this, then pratistha will attack you even more.

It is possible to avoid it through proper practising, practising, practising, and also the mercy of the Guru and Vaishnavs is necessary. Avoid Vaishnav aparadh, avoid seva aparadh, Nama aparadh, and in this way you can control pratistha.

Question: Srila Govinda Maharaj said that some devotees may do good work and other devotees do good seva, and if the devotee does some good work, it is a kind of pratistha...

Actually, if somebody thinks they do something it is very bad. We cannot do anything. Those who think like this are foolish. We are tiny jiva souls, how much can we do for the Guru? Nothing! If somebody thinks they can do something, that is their false ego.

Question: Is there a connection between pratistha and ego?

Yes, pratistha comes through ego. Ego is like a disease, and pratistha makes a small disease turn into cancer. There are six diseases: kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsarya (desires, anger, greed, illusion, madness, envy); and these six diseases together become cancer, pratistha.

Mind the Manners

Speaking online to the devotees in Caracas

5 December 2012

Question: There is a devotee who thinks it is not necessary to go to see the Deities and to pay dandavat to the Deity...

Of course, you must pay dandavat to the Deities. When you come into the temple, first you should see Gurudev's photo, pay dandavat to him. If I come to the temple, I do not go to my room without paying dandavat to my Guru. It is always like this.

Sometimes devotees say, "Oh, there are only five devotees living in the temple." Why five? Guru is there, Gauranga is there, Nityananda is there. If five devotees live there, you can think there are actually eight.

Those who have no feelings do not do it, but for example today I came back to Nabadwip and before I could go to my room I went to paid dandavat. Even though I came in the afternoon and all the Deities were closed, still I paid dandavat at Gurudev's samadhi, Guru Maharaj's samadhi, to the Deities. Gurudev will know that I came to pay dandavat to him, he can see everything. I have no eyes to see the Deity, to see Gurudev, Guru Maharaj, but Krishna can see me, Gurudev can see me—they will know that I have come to pay dandavat to them.

At the Ratha-yatra time also, when everyone came to Puri, they would not first go to see the temple and Jagannath Deity—they would first go to see Mahaprabhu, and Mahaprabhu would then arrange their prasadam.

If you come to the temple and do not pay dandavat, it is one kind of offence, seva-aparadh. It is disrespect. Who is the proprietor of the Parama Karuna temple? The proprietor is Nitai Gaura, but you do not pay obeisance to Nitai Gour, to the proprietors there. Imagine I come to your house, but I do not talk to you. What kind of culture is it? Like, I come to Gaurachandra's house, but I do not say, "Oh, hello Gaurachandra! How are you?" What will you think? It is not good, is it?

So, if I come to Nitai Gaura's house but do not give Them respect, do not pay obeisance to Them, it is not good—it is an offence.

Internal Inspiration

Speaking online to the devotees in Caracas

5 December 2012

Question: Is there any reason why, if Gurudev gives an instruction to a devotee, the devotee will not want to follow it?

What reason is there? What can you do? If everybody followed, then everybody would go to Gurudev, and who will stay here? Whom will Gurudev then preach to? If everyone follows the instruction from the first time, the Guru will be lazy and it will not be necessary to give any instruction.

In Mahaprabhu's time, in Srila Guru Maharaj's time, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Srila Prabhupad's time, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's time, all devotees also did not follow their Guru. You heard that Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur gave sannyas to a devotee, and when he went to Kedar, Badri without permission, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur took his sannyas clothes and danda back—only for that one reason.

Question: How can we detect the instruction of the chaitya guru?

It is a good question. When you get a bona fide Guru, that is the chaitya guru's instruction; otherwise without the chaitya guru's instruction you cannot get a bona fide Guru. Chaitya guru's instruction is not open: it comes from the heart. You get some feeling and come to a bona fide Guru.

You can also say that it is some kind of sukriti, an inspiration that comes to you. For example, when I came to the temple with my toothbrush, my chaitya guru told me, "Do not go from here, your Guru is coming." This is the feeling I got, somebody else will get another feeling. Different people get different kind of feeling—those who are more powerful, who have got more sukriti before, can easily get the inspiration from the chaitya guru and come to the mahanta guru.

As I told one devotee, "When I was fourteen, at your age, I was a naughty school boy, but you have got the saffron clothes, you are going to preach Krishna consciousness, you sing kirtans. You have got more previous sukriti than me, that is why at your young age you have got that kind of benefit. I did not have that kind of sukriti—I could not join at such a young age."

When I joined Krishna consciousness, I was about 26-28 years old, but I remember from eight years old I used to secretly read Srimad Bhagavad-gita. My father always chastised me and prohibited me to read it, and he spoiled or threw away my book many times, but when he was out of the house, I would still secretly collect the Gita and read it. Even though I could not understand it properly, I would still read it...

Proper Attachment and Approach

Speaking online to the devotees in Caracas

5 December 2012

Question: If a devotee makes many offences to another devotee, how can they get relief?

You can pray to Nityananda Prabhu. In Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's time, Ramachandra Puri made many offences to Mahaprabhu, and all the devotees prayed to Lord Jagannath to remove him from Puri...

Actually, we should not see bad things in others—we should not see who is doing what. If somebody eats wood, they must pass coal as the stool.

Question: We heard that if you do even one Ekadasi, you can get liberation. Why do we not get this result?

In his last days, Gurudev said, "Those who took initiation from me are already liberated." Being liberated is not our goal. Do not think about Ekadasi in this way. Ekadasi is only a practice—just as you do Tulasi parikrama, Ekadasi is also one of the bhaktyanga, one of the practices. There are sixty-four bhaktyangas and Ekadasi is one of them.

Otherwise what do you think? You are making so many offences to the Vaishnavs, you do not practise so much, and you think you can do only one Ekadasi and get liberated? Liberation is nothing for us! Sayujya, merging with Brahman; sarupya, having the same body as the Lord; salokya, residing at the same planet as the Lord; samipya, being an associate of the Lord; sarsti, having the same opulences as the Lord—for us, liberation is not only nothing, it is actually very bad.

We have already got liberation when we got initiation from Gurudev. Now we must practise.

Question: To be a good practitioner we need some faith. How we can attain that faith?

How did you take initiation if you do not have faith? You cannot take initiation without faith! It is not a toy, or a game! First you must have faith, then you take initiation from your Guru, then practise, practise, and the strongest faith will come.

Question: We heard that Radharani is a representation of faith. How can we relate to that?

Krishna left Vrindavan, and He had not been there for a hundred years. All the gopis, Nanda Maharaj, Yasoda, had been crying so much that there was a drain of tears coming from Nanda Maharaj's house... When Uddhav Maharaj came there, he asked, "Where? Where are all the gopis? I want to see them!" Finally, he saw that all the gopis had become trees, and he prayed, "I also want to become a tree so that I could hear the gopis' crying from separation. I also want that kind of feeling of separation!"

Then you must think why that kind of separation from Krishna is not coming to you. Gurudev has left, and that kind of feeling of separation from your Guru must come...

Question: Sometimes we feel bad because when we do some service, it does not turn out the way we want it to...

If you think it is not what you want, then it is not service—it is enjoyment. Service is what Guru wants, what Vaishnavs want, and what you want is not service, it is karma.

If Gurudev tells me, "Cook rice," and I cook chapati, it is not service. Gurudev says to me, "Please give me some rice with poppy seeds," but instead you make arepa. It is not right. If you want arepa so much then you can make both, arepa and rice, then it is not a problem.

Question: How we can become attached to the Guru when we only can see his body...

If you think like this, it is Nama aparadh, one of the ten offences to the Holy Name. It is a simple question. Thinking that Gurudev is marttya-buddhi, that Gurudev is only the body, is Nama aparadh.

You cannot serve the Guru with a material body. "Aprakrta-dehe tanra charana bhajaya": you can serve the Guru, Vaishnav, and Krishna only with a transcendental body. It is said in Chaitanya-charitamrita (3.4.193).

It is only a surrendered soul that Krishna protects—first it is necessary to surrender (there are six types of surrender). Krishna Himself came in a human body, but Govardhan Hill is also Krishna Himself. Why do we do Govardhan puja, why do we do Govardhan parikrama? And when we make the annakut mahotsav, who takes all that rice? Govardhan Hill takes it, but if you see only a piece of stone, how is it then possible?

Question: How can we avoid feeling attached to some person?

If you have attachment to Krishna, then gradually that attachment will be removed. The more attachment to the Guru, Vaishnavs, Bhagavan comes, the less attachment to maya there will be. Practise more, hear more classes, have more Krishna consciousness, do more service, join the programmes more, come to the temple more—that is the rule, that is the policy. This is what is called sadhana-bhakti, a practising life.

Question: How can we tolerate living in a nondevotee family and become a good devotee in that kind of environment?

What can you do? You must harmonise with everything. You know that even in Srila Sridhar Maharaj's family not everybody was a devotee, Gurudev's family are also not really devotees. Gurudev tolerates it, and we too must tolerate it.

You must understand that in a devotee's family not everybody will be a devotee. You can try and try to make them a devotee, that is good, but sometimes we may also feel hopeless because we try so much to make them a devotee but we cannot do that…

Service Capacity

10 March 2012

It is necessary to maintain your spiritual life during your whole life. Gurudev said that in all countries everybody is doing some service according to their capacity, but a little problem is that very few people have service attachment. Everybody does service, but it is necessary to have sincerity, nistha. Today doing, tomorrow not doing is not serious.

Actually, everybody has some capacity, some service, but you must use that capacity...

It is my wish and Gurudev's desire to make a temple in —— country. I will be very sad if I cannot make a temple there because when I was sent there for the first time, I promised Gurudev to make there a Govinda Ashram and send Radha Krishna (Mahaprabhu is already there). This is my wish, but they worry about money, "Oh, we have no money." They do not think about service, they think about money, then why will money come to them? If you think about service, money will come to you, but if you think 99% about your own interest, Krishna will not help you.

So, those who have much capacity, must use it. If you have some knowledge, you have some capacity for preaching but do not preach, it is a hellish position.

Problems will always come. Gurudev said that if you want to do something good, problems must come. Somebody thinks, "Oh, there are so many problems, but here in Vrindavan, I feel peaceful." What is this? Gurudev did not tell you to stay in Vrindavan and do bhajan. "Vrndavane giya na thakiya chira kala": you can stay in Vrindavan but not your whole life, otherwise you can become a sahajiya. Then you will have a problem.

For example, there is a boy, a disciple of Gurudev. He is a good preacher, has good capacity—he knows the whole Srimad Bhagavatam by heart, knows Bengali, Odia, Hindi. He has capacity, but what is the use? He knows everything, but he has become a sahajiya... He can give class also—5-10,000 people sit in his Hindi lecture, but it is sahajiya style, not our line.

That is Vrindavan people. You know that almost all South Indian and Vrindavan people are sahajiya. They do not worship Mahaprabhu, they worship Radha Krishna, and you know what sahajiya do, pretending, etc. It is not our line.

After Chaitanya Math, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj also went to Vrindavan, he stayed in Nanda-gram and did bhajan, but what inspiration did he get after that? A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj also stayed in Vrindavan, Radha-Damodar temple. He always translated Srimad Bhagavatam there. How much inspiration did he get from his Guru that suddenly at his old age (he was 69) he left India and went to preach in America. Now there is such a big mission.

First is jive daya (preaching, giving benefit to the jiva souls). Preaching is our life; without preaching it is kaitava, cheating. Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswat Thakur writes in his poem Dustha mana tumi kesera Vaishnav?

pratistha tare nirjanera ghare

tava harinama kevala kaitava

If for your own pratistha you want to stay alone in some small quiet place and do bhajan, chanting Hari Nam, it is not a life, it is kaitav. You will be chanting on the beads, but it is actually cheating—cheating yourself and cheating others also.

Practise with Affection

10 March 2012

Achar and prachar: practising and preaching. First is practising: if you practise, you can preach.

What did Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur re-introduce saffron for? Why did Prabhupad and Mahaprabhu make tilak, kanthi-mala, following Ekadasi, and so on? It means that you must always practise properly: if you cook, offer the bhog; if you live in a house, make an altar with Gurudev's photo, Guru Maharaj's photo, and the temple photo.

Do you know what the devotees do here in India? I have seen it many times—when they do Tulasi parikrama they put a clay pot with Tulasi in the centre and put some books there. Maybe fifteen years ago, when I went to some house and saw it, I asked them, "Why do you put the books there?" (I knew why, but I wanted to see what their conception was.) They told me, "Maharaj, in the books there is a photo of the Nabadwip temple, so every day we do the parikrama of Nabadwip Dham." What a good conception! What a good heart! They cannot take Govinda Kunda to their house, but the photo is there, the temple photo is there in the books, and every day they do the parikrama.

So, to maintain your spiritual life means to practise and do everything properly—just as when you live in a temple, start the day from the mangal arati, have the morning class, and by 7 o'clock you are done.

namasraya kari' yatane tumi

thakaha apana kaje

"Carefully taking shelter of the Name, engage in your work."

What do it mean? Here, Bhakti Vinod Thakur gives the very first conception of karma-misra bhakti. It means, "You worship Me, you do service nicely, bow to Me, and you also ask Me for something, 'I want this'—but at least you worship Me. Something is better than nothing."

When Ramananda Ray told Mahaprabhu about this conception, Mahaprabhu said, "Eho bahya age kaha ara: go further, tell Me more." Then Ramananda Ray spoke about jnana-misra bhakti (devotion mixed with knowledge), but again, "Eho bahya, leave it." Then, he spoke about jnana-sunya bhakti (devotion without pursuit of knowledge), suddha bhakti (pure devotion), but again Mahaprabhu said, "Eho haya!" Then Ramananda Ray spoke about prema-bhakti (loving devotion), service in santa rasa, dasya rasa, sakhya rasa, vatsalya rasa, madhurya rasa. This is how slowly, slowly they brought it to the front, increasing the conception in this way.

Srimad Bhagavad-gita also showed the path from the first stage. Gita says there is karma-yoga (pursuit of material benefit), there is jnana-yoga (pursuit of knowledge), but what did Gita say lastly? Bhakti-yoga (devotional practise). Then, there is karma-misra bhakti (devotion mixed with material desires), jnana-misra bhakti (devotion mixed with pursuit of knowledge), jnana-sunya bhakti (devotion without pursuit of knowledge), suddha bhakti (pure devotion), and finally prema-bhakti (loving devotion). If you read Chaitanya-charitamrita, you can easily understand all this…

Settle Your Heart in Service

10 March 2012

durdaive sevaka yadi yaya anya sthane

sei thakura dhanya tare chule dhari' ane

If by chance a servant falls down and goes somewhere else, glorious is that master who captures him and brings him back by the hair.

Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 4.47

We are unfortunate servitors. We are going here and there, here and there, always following our mind, but the Guru is very powerful—he can take us and throw at his lotus feet. But we must want it—we must have so much desire, otherwise, if you have no desire to go to the temple, how will you serve then? If you do not desire to come here from Mauritius, to come here from London or Italy, if you do not want to come, then how will Krishna bring you here?

If you have some desire, Krishna will fulfil it. I told it many times, if you surrender to Krishna, Krishna will fulfil your desire, good or bad. If you want something bad, Krishna will give even bad things. Eventually, however, those bad things will be defeated, they will not last long.

So, maintain your spiritual life in this way. If you think about Nabadwip, think about Mahaprabhu every day, then one day Krishna will easily bring you here.

For so many years, so many births, we have been always moving around, wandering from place to place, from body to body (dogs, goats, cats, birds, beasts, etc.), but now we must stop and settle in one place, that is in our own home.

We are doing so much wrong, we are making so many offences, but the Lord says that if you surrender to Him, He will remove all offences from you and take you back home. What do we ask the Lord for? What do we ask Gurudev for? "I am always making offence, please remove my offence. Please remove my offence!" We are offenders—we are offenders to the Lord, we make seva aparadh, we make Nama aparadh, we make Vaishnav aparadh, and the only thing we pray to the Lord, Vaishnavs, and Guru is, "Please remove my offence."

Consciously or unconsciously, we all always make offences! That is why we must try to be a perfect servitor—we will try to be sincere, we will try to have chastity and attachment to our service; service mood is necessary.

So, according to your capacity, according to your qualities, you should utilise yourself in the service to the Lord. Somebody may not be able to do physical service, but they can do other kinds of service—they can preach, they can do some other small service.

Our problem is that we have different kinds of desires. There are always so many bad elements—kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsarya (lust, anger, greed, attachment, illusion, envy), ego, and pratistha.

pratistha lagiya sathya-acharana

lobha-hata sada kami [4]

For the sake of my own prestige I pretend to behave well. I am ruined by greed and always want something.

amara jivana sada pape rata

nahika punyera lesa

parere udvega diyachhi ye kata

diyachhi jivere klesa [1]

My life is always engrossed in sin. There is not a trace of piety in it. I have caused others so much anxiety and trouble.

nija sukha lagi' pape nahi dari

daya-hina svartha-para

para-sukhe duhkhi sada mithya-bhasi

para-duhkha sukha-kara [2]

I am never afraid to engage in sinful activities for the sake of my own happiness. I am unkind and selfish. I always tell lies. I am unhappy when others are happy, and happy when others are unhappy.

asesa kamana hrdi majhe mora

krodhi, dambha-parayana

There are unlimited sinful desires in my heart. I am angry and arrogant.

We are unkind, we are selfish; we have so many desires, we want so many things—always want this, this, this. We are always angry, always have so much ego. What is this?…

Love Your Service

10 March 2012

So many bad things were told and written about me to Gurudev, but I did not say a word against them. I always pray to them, "Please come, join. Please come and preach, protect Gurudev's mission," but if Gurudev does not want to take service from them, what can I do? I try my best.

To err is human: we will not throw anyone out, we must protect them. It is my wish that everybody shall together protect Gurudev's mission. Anywhere, in any country, we will accept everybody with love and affection.

Gurudev gave the following example. When the Ganges dries (for example now there is not so much water), many people pass stool at the bank of the Ganges, and when the Ganges rise again, she takes all that stool, but despite that we still take the Ganges water and use it for the Deities' puja.

Those of you who have some service, do not leave it! You get service by fortune, remember it—your mercy, your connection with mercy is there. Because you have got some mercy, you have got your service. Your mind always disturbs you, but you must not leave your service. If your Guru says, "All right, I am giving you a better service," then you can accept it, but otherwise do not follow what your mind tells you.

Maintain yourself in this way, do the service that you have got. If you make garlands, do not leave the service of making garlands. If you do some printing service, that is sufficient for you and this is what you must do. If you clean toilets, then that is sufficient for you. Somebody cuts vegetables, somebody does cow seva, somebody cooks for the Deities, somebody makes dresses for the Deities. Everything is service, and all service is equal. You think there is a difference between a temple manager and a drain cleaner, but there is no difference! Somebody sweeps the temple, somebody runs the temple, but they will get the same result.

"Dhinera adhika daya karen Bhagavan" (the Lord is very merciful to the humble): Krishna Himself says that if you become a temple manager or a temple president and you have ego, you whip and kick others, then you are going to a hellish position. It is not good. If you think you are the temple president, you raise money, you do so much, and you yourself eat big chunks of paneer while giving others plain potato, then you will eventually lose your service and go to hell.

I have become the temple president and everybody comes to me—people worship me, come to me to pay dandavat—but this is not what I want. I come here to tell you something to protect your spiritual life, to protect your service, because if you go and stay alone, doing your nirjan bhajan, you will end up in "a family of Gita”....

Vaishnavs' Wealth and Glory

Morning, 12 December 2010

vaisnavera guna-gana karile jivera trana

suniyachhi sadhu-guru-mukhe

"Singing the glories of the Vaishnavs rescues and protects the jiva soul. I heard this from the mouth of sadhus and my Guru."

('Jayare jayare jaya paramahamsa mahasaya')

If we give some honour, give some glorification to the Vaishnavs, it is actually for our benefit. It is for our own benefit that we do some ceremonies, some festivals, glorifying the Vaishnavs. It is necessary for our spiritual life, and it is one of the bhaktyanga, one of the practising processes. That is why we make Vaishnavs' disappearance and appearance festivals, and sometimes we also put their names in the panjika, calendar.

Before there was a brahmachari called Ajit Krishna Brahmachari. Param Guru Maharaj, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, loves him so much, and he was a very nice brahmachari, but he expired here. It happened many years ago. He was a very good servitor: sometimes he cooked, sometimes did puja, and so on—he did everything alone. Srila Sridhar Maharaj put his name and his disappearance day in the calendar (panjika).

Before, there were many servitors. Rama Didi and Sankari Didi also did so much, now what is going on is a little artificial. Before, when the rice paddy came from the crops field, they boiled it and made rice from it themselves. Now no one does it—now they husk the paddy and sell it to buy rice—because there is nobody to do this. Who will give so much labour here? But before they did; they served the temple heart and soul.

Gurudev also says that everybody does service, but fewer people have attachment to service, but service attachment is necessary.

visaye ye priti ebe achhaye amara

sei-mata priti hauk charane tomara

"May I have the same affection and attraction to your feet that I now have for material things.”

(Gitavali, 4.5, Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

That kind of love and affection must come for the Deities and the Lord. What kind of affection is that? You have material affection for your children, your relatives, but if the same kind of affection comes in relation to your Guru, to the Lord, then you can understand that devotion is coming.

This depends upon faith: "Sraddha-anusari bhakti-adhikari." (Cc, 2.22.64) There are four types of faith—kamala sraddha, taranga sraddha, drdha sraddha, sudrdha sraddha (delicate faith, wave-like faith, strong faith, and the strongest faith). There are many kinds of faith, and faith is necessary. "Tata-stha hana vicharile, achhe tara-tama: there are lower and higher levels." (Cc, 2.8.83) You can understand your qualification according to your faith.

In this age of Kali, however, it is difficult to come to Krishna consciousness. Those who help you come to Krishna consciousness are your real friends, but it is rare to find that kind of friend, and that kind of friend is necessary—if we get association of that kind of friend, then we easily get benefit in our spiritual life.

Not every mother, not every father are also that kind of friend. Every parent wants their child to be a big scholar, a big engineer, a big doctor, a big professor or a big lawyer, but what parent wants their child to become a devotee, a brahmachari? Narottam Das Thakur's mother was like that, but that kind of parent is rare in this world. Mostly they do not help their children so much in coming to Krishna consciousness…

Clearing the Obstacles

Morning, 12 December 2010

When Srila Raghunath Das Goswami Prabhu was about twelve-fourteen years old, he would always from time to time try to go to Mahaprabhu. Do you know how old he was when he got married? Seventeen years old. His father forced him to marry, thinking, "If I give my son a good wife, then he will not leave." He brought him a girl, beautiful like an apsara (demigoddess), but Das Goswami did not care—his life was anasakta (he had no attachment).

"Krsna-krpa yanre, tare ke bandhiya rakhite pare." These are Mahaprabhu's words. He told about Das Goswami Prabhu, "If somebody has got mercy from the Lord, no one can bind them."

antare nistha kara, bahye loka-vyavahara

achirat krsna tomaya karibe uddhara

"Be fixed internally, and behave like everyone else externally. Krishna will rescue you soon."

Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 16.239

"Deal with your wife very nicely, externally show her some affection, but internally have affection to Me." This is what Mahaprabhu taught him. 'Antare nistha' means be a sincere seeker internally, and 'bahye' means externally show some affection to your relatives. Do you see what Mahaprabhu is teaching?

Before Das Goswami Prabhu came back to his house, he asked Mahaprabhu, "Prabhu, how will I know when it is time? How will I run away from the illusory environment? Wife, security—there are so many obstacles. How will I get that kind of cleverness?"

Mahaprabhu replied,

se chhala se-kale krsna sphurabe tomare

krsna-krpa yanre, tare ke rakhite pare

"Krishna will reveal to you how you can come. Who can stop the one who has got mercy of Krishna?"

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 16.241)

"That is not the matter. It is not necessary for you to think how you will come. Depend upon Me. How you will come out of that illusory environment is not your business, it is not for you to think about. If you follow what I am telling you, then when the time comes Krishna will show you how to come. He will let you know."

When Mahaprabhu left His family, do you know who came at that time? Kalanidra. There are 33 crores (330 million) demigods and Kalanidra is one of them; also, 'kala-nidra' means a deep sleep, the kind of sleep that you cannot wake up from. So, Kalanidra came to the Lord and asked, "Prabhu, I have come. Why did You call me? What is my duty?" Mahaprabhu told her, "Now do your duty," and Vishnupriya fell into such a deep sleep that she could not wake up the night when Mahaprabhu left. Kalanidra did her duty at that time, and did it very well, otherwise Vishnupriya would shout and cry so much and Mahaprabhu would not be able to run away…

"Take Care of My Property"

14 October 2014

Actually what you have decided to do, you cannot decide yourself because when you surrendered to me, you already gave everything to me for the service to the Lord.

We are not enjoyers, we are not renunciants. When you surrender to your guru, you give this body to your Guru to serve the Lord, that is why you have no right to leave this body without food or do anything like that. This body is necessary for service, and you must take proper food for service to the Lord.

We live in this world for the service to the Lord, not for enjoyment or renunciation. You must understand what I am telling you.

When Sanatan Goswami also wanted to commit suicide, Mahaprabhu told him, "Why are you going to destroy My property? You have no right to destroy My property. I will engage this body in the service of the Lord."

I also want to engage you in the service of the Lord, so you have no right to destroy my property. Your body is my property, and you cannot destroy my property and leave it without food. You must take some food and take care of your health. Take care of my property.

Simple. Sincere. Sufficient.

Morning, 12 December 2010

Everybody should wear Tulasi mala.

tulasi dekhi' judaya prana

madhava-tosani jani'

"Seeing Tulasi Devi soothes my soul, for I know she pleases Madhava."

If somebody serves Tulasi, Krishna is always happy with them. If you wear Tulasi on your neck, Yamaduts cannot touch you.

You cannot always carry your japa mala with you, but you must always wear Tulasi neck beads. Everybody can wear Tulasi mala—those who are initiated or not initiation. The science says that it is good for health also (people take the juice of Tulasi leaves for cough or some throat problems), but devotees always wear Tulasi beads.

"Yako darase parase agha-nasa hoi: if you touch or if you see Tulasi, all your sins will be removed." We cannot always touch Tulasi leaves, but if we wear Tulasi, it is even better.

Also, when you bring a Deity, you have to install the Deity, but it is not necessary to install Tulasi. Tulasi and Vaishnavs are self-manifest, they are always automatically installed.

Every day I sing the same songs. I know many songs, but I do not sing them. Do you know why? I want to give so many things but not everyone can digest it, that is why to teach you I give the same songs every morning and evening.

When we do parikrama, we sing "Jivana anitya yanaha sara tahe nana-vidha vipada bara: remember that life is temporary and full of all kinds of danger." If you sing and learn this song, you can give one-two hours' lecture, give Hari-katha explaining its meaning word by word. It is the same about "Jiva jago jiva jago Gaurachandra bole", "Nama gaya Gora madhur sware," "Durlabha manava janama," and so on. "Nama gaya Gora madhur sware" is only two-three lines, but I saw a cassette recording where A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj explained it for two or three hours.

Every day when we sing "Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu jive daya kari" we make a promise... We sing this song every morning and evening, and it is meaningful—if you can memorise it and explain its meaning, you will be a 50% preacher.

Srila Prabhupad also said, "Bahu grantha na paribe, bahu kalabhyasa na karibe: do not read so many books, and do not practise so many things." Simple books are sufficient, for example Gaudiya Gitanjali that Param Guru Maharaj made. You can recite, sing, and memorise these songs, and practise every day.

All our life every day we sing five-seven songs, not more: five-six songs in the morning, five-six songs in the evening. Guru, Vaishnav, Bhagavan: first is Gurudev's kirtan, then we do Pancha-tattva vandana, Vaishnav vandana, Nityananda vandana, then Mahaprabhu's vandana (every day we sing three-four different songs about Mahaprabhu), and finally the maha-mantra. This is our line.

Gurudev always sang "Emona durmati samsara bhitare." It is written by Bhakti Vinod Thakur, it is his realisation, and it is also Mahaprabhu's song. Sometimes we also sing Vasudev Thakur's song, "Yadi Gaura na ha'te", "Gaurangera dyuti pada", "Gora pahu na bhajiya mainu." There are so many songs, but we do not sing many. If you can translate and explain the meaning of these songs, then you can easily realise everything…

Practise What You Preach

11 December 2010

If you do not come to mangal arati, you cannot tell others, "Why do you not come to mangal arati?" "Nija achari' dharma jivake sikhaya": first you practise, then you can tell somebody that they must practise. That is called "nija achari'." Mahaprabhu said,

nija achari' dharma jivake sikhaya

achara na karle sikhana na yaya

"First follow the instruction yourself, then teach others. If you do not practise what you preach, your preaching will not work."

First you must practise dharma, rules and regulations, yourself, then you can tell somebody else to practise, otherwise no one will listen to you. Is it correct or not?

You know, one time a lady came with her grandson to Hazrad Muhammad. (He is Muslim's nabi, prophet, worshippable man, famous for giving advice to everybody). That grandson, a small boy, ate too much molasses and nobody could stop him—he did not listen to anybody. So, somebody advised the lady, "Take the boy to Hazrad Muhammad. He is a big personality and if he tells him he will listen."

So, the lady came to Hazrad Muhammad and said, "Hujur (Sir), please give some advice to my grandson. He takes too much molasses and does not listen to anybody." Hazrad Muhammad thought for a while and said, "I will not give you advice today, come tomorrow."

The lady came the next day and asked, "Please, give us some advice." Hazrad Muhammad replied, "Come in three days." Three days later, she came again, and the prophet said, "Come in seven days." Seven days later, she again came with her grandson, "Please, give us some advice." Then Hazrad Muhammad spoke, "Eating too much molasses is not good. It creates much disturbance in your stomach; it is not good for your spiritual life also; eating much molasses causes too much sleep."

He said many things like that, and the lady asked, "Sir, this is a two-minute matter, why did you make us come here three-four times? Why did you not tell this on the first day?" Hazrad Muhammad explained, "When you came, I also ate very much molasses, so how could I tell the boy not to eat it? During these ten days little by little I gradually reduced the amount of molasses I ate. Every day I ate less and less molasses, and now that I eat it less, I can tell it to him also."

Bad Habit vs Sincere Heart

11 December 2010

In Gurudev's time also there was a devotee who used to smoke five packs of cigarettes a day (!). Every day he would spend 250 rupees on it. Then he heard from the scriptures that you must offer what you take to your Guru, to the Lord. In his house, there was no altar, but there was a photo of Gurudev, and every time before he smoked he first offered the cigarette to the photo, "Please, take this." He continued like this and one year later he came here and told Gurudev, "Gurudev, you blessed me, Krishna blessed me—you have removed that bad habit from me!" This is how he reduced his smoking.

Do you see? You may have a very bad habit, but if you practise, everything will be removed. It is not a problem, but you must try. "I will practise, I will follow the scripture, I will follow Gurudev's word"—this kind of mood must be there, then you will get association.

How can you get association of Gurudev? If you listen to Gurudev's Hari-katha, if you read his books, if you read the scriptures, then you will easily get his association! If you follow his order, you will you get his association, will get the energy—only like this, not in any other way. You must follow the instruction in this way.

Do anybody have any questions?

Question: Did Gurudev tell that devotee to offer cigarettes to Krishna to stop smoking? Is that instruction for everyone or just that devotee?

Gurudev did not tell him to offer cigarettes. That devotee did it himself—and through that he removed his bad habit. He thought he could not get rid of that habit himself, so he prayed to the Lord and Gurudev, "Gurudev, please remove my bad habit!" And Gurudev did it. Because he had a very strong desire to do it, he could do it.

You heard from the scriptures, from Srimad Bhagavad-gita in particular, that the Lord says, "Actually, in this world, I have created everything for Myself, not for you. You cannot enjoy with anything—here, everything is for Me. So, if you take something without offering it to Me, you will be taking all kinds of sin." That is why we do not eat—we offer food to the Lord and then take it. It is called prasad.

prasada-seva karite haya,

sakala prapancha-jaya

"By honouring the Lord's prasad I conquer all worldly illusions."

(Saranagati, 31.5, by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

Even when you are outside and you are hungry or have to take something, you should offer it first to the Lord or Gurudev, then you can take it...

[Side note:] Once His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj said to a devotee, "If you drink tea, offer the tea to Gaura Nitai. If They think it is bad, They will remove it from you.”

Be Clear, Not Clever

11 December 2010

Sometimes some problem can come, but you must remember that the instruction comes from above. Gurudev also said to me, "When I give you some instruction, for example I tell you to give a lecture, it means that I also give you the energy to do it." You think, "Oh, I do not know how to do it, I do not know the scriptures, I do not know anything. How will I start?..." but you are not doing it! Your Guru is doing it.

What do you think? When Gurudev orders you to do something, he will do it, not you. So, why are you afraid? You are afraid because you think about yourself. Dehe atma buddhi: you think you are this body, that is why you are afraid. If Gurudev gives an instruction, Gurudev also gives the power and the strength to do it, so what is there to be afraid of? No need to be afraid. Proceed with your practising life in this way, do not be afraid.

Gurudev said to me, "Why are you afraid? You are not going to do it, I am going to do it." Mahaprabhu also said the same thing to Sanatan Goswami, to Raghunath Das Goswami, and Rupa Goswami said the same thing to Raghunath Das Goswami. If you dissect it, you will see that the very substance is the same: we do not do anything, Gurudev does everything.

Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also gave a very nice definition of what is called bhajan. Bhajan is not sitting under a tree and chanting. In Kali-yuga, bhajan is gostha bhajan, not nirjan bhajan. Nirjan bhajan means going to a solitary place and chanting there, but no—bhajan means practising together, with sankirtan!

The Lord said, "How will you get Me? Through sankirtan yajna." He gave an exact answer. If Krishna says, "Give Me a laddu," then give Him a laddu. Finished. It is not necessary to think about a singara (samosa).

Sometimes we follow our mind. Yesterday, going in the car, I was thinking that Krishna was protecting me. Gurudev told me, "If you want to make my samadhi, you must use white marble," but we think about something else, and that is our fault. We went to see the marble yesterday and saw many colours, but what is this? Gurudev had told to use white, and it is not necessary to think about anything else. If Gurudev says white, then why will I go to see any other colour? It is illusory environment. We saw many very beautiful colours, but it is illusory environment... Do you understand?

Get Cracking

11 December 2010

durlabha manava-janma labhiya samsare

krsna na bhajinu duhkha kahiba kahare?

"I have got a very rare human life in this world, but I have not worshipped Lord Krishna. Whom can I tell of my misery?"

'samsara' 'samsara' kari' michhe gela kala

labha na ha-ila kichhu, ghatila janjala

"Time has passed as I have been busy in my material life, and I have got nothing—only became burdened."

kisera samsara ei chhayabaji praya

ihate mamata kari vrtha dina yaya

"What sort of world is this? It is like a trick, a show. While I affectionately take it as my own, days pass by in vain."

dina yaya michha kaje, nisa nidra-vase

nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe vase

"My days are passed in useless work and nights are wasted on sleeping. It never occurs to me that there is death sitting next to me."

Question: What does 'chhayabaji' mean?

Did you hear yesterday there was some sound like a bomb blast? Somebody was playing, throwing crackers. That is called baji (firework). Chhaya-baji means there is a very nice picture but once you throw something at it what happens? There is nothing. Ihate mamata kari: but we do not know it. We think this samsara is very nice, but once you die, everything finishes. This is called 'chhayabaji'.

mayare kariya jaya chhadana na yaya

sadhu-guru krpa vina na dekhi upaya

"It is not possible to conquer maya by engaging in maya. I see no other way to get relief except for the mercy of sadhus."

('Ki rupe paibe seva', Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

Nitya-vastu karuna sandhana: search for the eternal things. Search for Sri Krishna, Reality the Beautiful—you must search where the nitya-vastu is.

We sing, "Ara kota kal ghumaibe maya-pisachira kole. How much longer are you going to sleep on the lap of this witch Maya?" Maya-pisachi: a pisachi (witch) is very dangerous.

pisachi paile yena mati-chchhanna haya

maya-grasta jivera haya se bhava udaya

"When someone is possessed by a ghost, they become bewildered. This condition overtakes souls bound by Maya."

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 6.3)

…I am thinking how much they (great Vaishnavs) chant... You know Haridas Thakur chants three lakhs of Names, and we chant for ten minutes and become tired, is it not? But how much do they chant? Three lakhs means eighteen hours minimum are necessary. If you chant constantly for eighteen hours, then three lakhs (300,000) will be finished. 25,000 Names (about sixteen rounds) takes one and a half hours, and how many rounds are ten minutes?

—Two...

Nothing! We do not get energy to chant. We must think how much they chant and how much they serve. Even also sevon mukhe Krishna Nam (chanting while serving): Das Goswami Prabhu would clean, sweep and chant at that time, "Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare."

You know, when Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj came here, one shopkeeper said, "This babaji always comes for eating." The shopkeeper does not actually know any conception. Babaji Maharaj always came to see Srila Guru Maharaj—he had no desire for food or anything else.

Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also said that in this world there is no want of food, no want of money, no want of anything except only one thing. What is that? Krishna-katha, Hari-katha. Prabhupad said, "If somebody chants the Holy Name, does kirtan, takes the Name of Nitai, I will send food for them from Vaikuntha!"

Babaji Maharaj heard the words of the shopkeeper. He went into his room and stayed inside for three days without any food (and not eating for three days means a big problem!). He only lay in his bed and chanted, chanted, chanted, "Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare." When somebody passed his room, they heard him chanting... This is how he was practising...

Samsara: False and Worthless

11 December 2010

Question: I have a question about the song "Durlabha manava-janma." It says, "Samsara samsara kari' michhe gela kala." Why is 'samsara' double here?

Double 'samsara' means many times. When we had a pig's body, we also had a big samsara—we had a big family, many children, etc. Many times, in many births we have got samsara, not only in this life; and everything has passed, everything is false and worthless. "Labha na ha-ila kichhu, ghatila janjala:" always so much janjal (austerity, problems) came...

Who got a pig's body?

—Indra.

Do you understand? Indra, the king of heaven, had to take a pig's body, and he actually asked Brahma, "If I go to heaven, will I get this kind of children?" You can see how much attachment he had. He ate the filth from the drain and stool and thought, "This food is very nice. Will I get such food in heaven?" Do you understand?

dina yaya michha kaje, nisa nidra-vase

nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe vase

My days are passed in useless work and nights are wasted on sleeping. It never occurs to me that there is death sitting next to me.

When we die, we will have to leave everything, and where will we go then? Yama is always after us. Wherever we go, we will again have to take birth, again have to die. If amidst these deaths and births, we at least once take shelter of the Lord, we can be rescued. There is no other way out…

Srila Raghunath Das Goswami: Breaking Free

25 October 2015

Das Goswami wanted to go to Mahaprabhu again and again, but every time Mahaprabhu told him, "Wait and see."

Then, as you know, one day Nityananda Prabhu came to Panihati with His associates and sat under a banyan tree. In the meantime, Raghunath Das Goswami asked his father for the permission to go and meet Nityananda Prabhu, and his father agreed, "OK, you can go, but take your servants with you." So, Raghunath Das Goswami came on a horse surrounded by many servants. The devotees noticed him and told Nityananda Prabhu, "Raghunath is coming!" (Raghunath was famous because his father and uncle were very rich and gave much charity to the people.)

When Raghunath Das Goswami came, Nityananda Prabhu said to him, "Ai, chora, ai!" 'Chora' means a thief. He said, "Come here, thief, come. Today I will give you punishment!" Why did He call him a thief? Because Raghunath Das Goswami first went to see Mahaprabhu—again and again he went to meet with Mahaprabhu, but he did not first come to Nityananda Prabhu. Without the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, you will not get Mahaprabhu. So, Nityananda Prabhu called him a thief because he wanted to take a roundabout zigzag route, avoiding Nityananda Prabhu and going directly to Mahaprabhu, but every time he came to Mahaprabhu, Mahaprabhu rejected him and sent him back to his home.

So, Nityananda Prabhu said, "Ai, chora, ai! Hey thief, come to Me! I will give you a punishment because you first took another road and went to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, but first come to Me!"

"Prabhu, what is Your punishment?" asked Raghunath.

"Here is your punishment. There are many Vaishnavs here, and you will feed them with chira-dadhi, flat rice and yoghurt."

Raghunath Das Goswami went to many shops, bought everything and fed all the devotees. Nityananda Prabhu called Mahaprabhu, and Mahaprabhu came there. Not everybody could see Him, but those who had the eyes, who had no dust in their eyes, could see Him.

andhibhuta chaksu yara visaya dhulite

ki rupe se para-tattva paibe dekhite

"Our eyes are blinded by the dust of the illusory environment. How can we then see the transcendental world?"

Only those who have clear eyes can see it.

So, Raghunath Das came to Nityananda Prabhu and paid dandavat at His feet. What did Nityananda Prabhu do? Nityananda Prabhu put His foot on Raghunath Das Goswami's head, "Go! Now you can go to Puri to meet with Mahaprabhu! Now all your bondage is cut and finished. Now you can go."

Then Krishna arranged something. On the Durga day all the guards were asleep, and Raghunath went with the family pujari to some place. He had eleven security guards, but when, half-asleep, they saw he was leaving with a local brahmin, they let him go. Then Raghunath told the pujari, "You go back to the house, and I will take another road." That was it.

Before that, he asked Mahaprabhu, "How will I be able to come to You? Who will give me the intelligence and give an idea how to do it?" Mahaprabhu replied,

se chhala se-kale krsna sphurabe tomare

krsna-krpa yanre, tare ke rakhite pare

"Krishna will reveal to you how you can come. Who can stop the one who has got mercy of Krishna?"

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 16.241)

"It is not your problem. How your bondage with maya will be removed is My problem, not yours." And it happened—by the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, Raghunath Das Goswami came to Mahaprabhu.

Seeing him, Mahaprabhu said, "Oh, Raghunath Das Goswami has come today!" He told Svarup Damodar, "I am giving this boy to you," and gave him the name Svaruper Raghu ("Svarup's Raghu"). There are many Raghunaths (Raghunath Bhatta Goswami and others), so his name became Svaruper Raghu…

Srila Raghunath Das Goswami: Running from Pratistha

25 October 2015

Srila Raghunath Das Goswami stayed with Mahaprabhu and became a good servitor, and Mahaprabhu taught him so many things.

Raghunath Das Goswami used to take prasadam from the Jagannath temple. He would stand outside and when the prasadam came, he would take it, but then he thought, "I am standing here like a prostitute: simha-dvare bhiksa-vrtti—vesyara achara. (Cc, 3.6.284) Better I go to the place where they serve prasadam and take there." He went to the Ananda Bazaar where so much prasadam was sold. There he found some two-three days' old prasadam that had not been sold and began to rot and that even the cows could not eat. He would wash that prasadam and take it with some salt.

One day, Mahaprabhu came to him and grabbed his hand, "Give it to Me! You are taking nice things without giving them to Me?!" Svarup Damodar quickly tried to stop the Lord, "Prabhu, no, no, please do not eat it! It is not suitable for You!" But Mahaprabhu took that prasadam and said, "Oh what a wonderful taste!"

Before that, Raghunath Das Goswami's father sent him 400 rupees (coins) every month, and with that money he did Vaishnav seva. He served the Vaishnavs and distributed pranami, but Mahaprabhu did not like it: a brahmachari should not be taking money or material things from his family... So, Mahaprabhu was not happy that Raghunath was doing Vaishnav seva with that money. Everyone knew that Raghunath gave pranami and prasadam, and his ego and pratistha (name and fame) grew bigger. Because Mahaprabhu did not like it Raghunath rejected that money, telling his father that he would not take it.

When Mahaprabhu asked why Raghunath had stopped the Vaishnav seva, He was told that Raghunath thought that name and fame were coming through that, so he stopped it.

kanaka-kamini, pratistha-baghini,

chhadiyachhe yare sei ta vaisnava

"Those who have given up money, women, and fame, are the true Vaishnavs."

(Vaishnav Ke? 11)

You can give up kanak (money), you can give up kamini (companions), but it not easy to give up pratistha (name and fame). Prabhupad said, "Dustha man, tumi kisera Vaishnav? Naughty mind! What kind of Vaishnav do you think you are?" Mahaprabhu teaches to be humble, tolerant, and give honour to others, but if you think you are a great Vaishnav, you cannot give honour to others.

trnad api sunichena taror api sahisnuna

amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

"One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more tolerant than a tree, who gives honour to others without desiring it for himself, is qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.239)

This is Mahaprabhu's conception.

Watch What You Wish For

25 October 2015

People do Durga puja, and say, "Dhanam dehi, vidyam dehi, rupam dehi, varjyam dehi, etc." Is this not the mantra they recite? "I want wealth, I want knowledge, I want a beautiful wife, I want to be admired, etc." And what did Mahaprabhu teach?

krsna yadi chhute bhakte bhukti mukti diya

kabhu prema-bhakti na dena rakhena lukaiya

"If you ask Me for anything except devotion, I can give you those things—bhukti, mukti, liberation, everything—but I will hide devotion from you. You will not get devotion."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 8.18)

Imagine in the morning a father is about to go to work when his little daughter comes to him and starts crying, "I want to go with you!" What does the father do? He gives her a toy, he gives her a chocolate, and she forgets everything—she forgets all about going with her father.

So, you say, "O Lord, I want a car, I want a house, I want to be rich, I want everything," and the Lord will give it to you, but He will not give Himself to you. The Lord says, "I will not give Myself to you. I can give you a house, I can give you a good wife, I can give you much opulence, I can give you so many things, so many ornaments, but I cannot give you devotion—I cannot give you Krishna-bhakti. I will hide that!"

bhukti-mukti adi-vancha yadi mane haya

sadhana karile prema utpanna na haya

"If in your heart you have a desire for enjoyment, liberation, or something else, then even if you practise Krsna consciousness, you will not get real love."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 19.175)

It says, "If internally you have some material desire, some material hankering, if you have some other bad elements inside, if you want some liberation, then even if you chant the Holy Name life after life, you will not get the result—you will not get Krishna-prema, you will not get love and affection from Krishna."

krsna yadi chhute bhakte bhukti mukti diya

kabhu prema-bhakti na dena rakhena lukaiya

"If you ask Me for anything except devotion, I can give you those things—bhukti, mukti, liberation, everything—but I will hide devotion from you. You will not get devotion."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 8.18)

And what did Mahaprabhu also say?

na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagadisa kamaye

mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 20.29)

"I do not want wealth, I do not want knowledge, I do not want beauty, I do not want to be a poet. I only want causeless devotion to Your lotus feet. Give me that kind of devotion to Your lotus feet so that I could do Your service life after life. I want to serve You, please give me that." This is Mahaprabhu's teachings.

chetodarpanamarjanam bhavamahadava nirvapanam

sreyah kairava chandrikavitaranam vidyavadhujivanam

anandambudh ivardhanam pratipadam purnamrtasvadanam

sarvatmasnapanam param vijayate srikrsnasankirtanam

"The Holy Name of Krishna cleanses the mirror of the heart and extinguishes the fire of misery in the forest of birth and death. As the evening lotus blooms in the moon's cooling rays, the heart begins to blossom in the nectar of the Name. And at last the soul awakens to its real inner treasure a life of love with Krishna. Again and again tasting nectar, the soul dives and surfaces in the ever increasing ocean of ecstatic joy. All phases of the self of which we may conceive are fully satisfied and purified, and at last conquered by the all-auspicious influence of the Holy Name of Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 20.12)

If you keep a mirror in your house but do not use it, it becomes covered with dust. Just like that, you have forgotten everything.

krsna bhuli' sei jiva anadi-bahirmukha

ataeva maya tare deya samsara-duhkha

Having forgotten Krishna, the soul wanders throughout the universe. Being thus covered by illusion, the soul goes through much material suffering.

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 20.117)

You forget everything... Like, if you keep a piece of iron outside, it will rust and a magnet will not be able to attract it. We have forgotten Krishna since such a long time that Krishna cannot attract us. That is why we must always, at all times, chant the Name of Krishna.

harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam

kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha

"Only chanting the Holy Name, chanting the Holy Name, chanting the Holy Name—there is no other way, no other way, no other way."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 7.76)

Sri Vaishnav-Seva

13 December 2015

We have gathered here today on a special occasion, to hold Vaishnava-seva for Sarojini Devi Dasi, the late mother of our Chaitanya Saraswat Math's Singaporean leaders, Ravindra Krishna Prabhu and Rajeswari Devi Dasi. When Guru Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, went abroad for the first time in 1992, he first stayed at her house. I also went to Singapore and saw how much service she did for the Math.

Before that, she came to Nabadwip and had a darshan of Param Guru Maharaj, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, she had a darshan of Gurudev also. She was a very devotional lady and chanted the Holy Name, although she was not initiated. Her children tried to press her to take initiation, but she did not. But,

sarira avidya-jala jadendriya tahe kala

jive phele visaya-sagare

"The body is a net of illusion, and the material senses are one's enemies; they throw the soul into the ocean of mundanity."

jivana anitya yanaha sara

tahe nana-vidha vipada bara

"Remember that life is temporary and full of all kinds of danger."

When the time came for her to leave, on her deathbed, she became anxious. I was in the car, going to Krishna Nagar, when my phone rang. I saw that it was a Singaporean number. I answered the call, and she said, "Maharaj, I am calling from hospital. Could you give me initiation?" Her family also begged me, "Maharaj, please give mercy to our mother, she will not be alive for long." So, anyhow, they gave her the phone and I gave her Pancha-tattva mantra and the maha-mantra. She passed away several hours later. Her family asked me, if possible, to do Vaishnav-seva, invite Vaishnavs from Nabadwip and Mayapur, and that is why I have called you all. So, for her peace, I am asking you all to please give blessings to late Sarojini Devi Dasi.

We do not know when our notice will come... Pariksit Maharaj got a seven-day's notice, Khatvanga Maharaj got a moment's notice that they had to leave their bodies, but who knows when our notice will arrive.

dina yaya michha kaje nisa nidra-base

nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe base

"My days pass in useless work and nights are wasted on sleeping. It never occurs to me that death sitting next to me."

Who knows when we will have to leave...

Khatvanga Maharaj prayed, "I do not want anything, only please tell me how much time I have left." When he heard that he had only one muhurta left (muhurta means a moment, equal to forty-eight minutes in Vedic calculation), he said, "I do not want to waste a moment. I am surrendering and offering myself at the lotus feet of the Lord."

We do not know if we will get even one muhurta's notice—Pariksit Maharaj had seven days, but we do not know if we will get even seven seconds. We think we will do this, we will do that, we plan so many things... "Ahankare matta haina, Nitai-pada pasariya, asatyere satya kori mani: "Maddened with pride, forgetting Nitai's feet, I accept untruth as truth."

Conditioned souls, we have turned away from Krishna,

krsna-bahirmukha hana bhoga vanchha kare

nikatastha maya tare japatiya dhare [2]

"When souls become averse to Krishna and desire enjoyment, nearby Maya seizes them."

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 6.2)

We worry all the time about our own happiness. As Bhakti Vinod Thakur writes,

nija sukha lagi' pape nahi dari

daya-hina svartha-para

"For my own happiness, I am not afraid to sin. I am devoid of compassion and my own interest is supreme for me."

We are not afraid to commit sin for our own happiness.

So, sadhus, Guru, and Vaishnavs always go from place to place trying to give benefit to such souls as us.

jiva jago, jiva jago, gorachanda bale

kata nidra yao maya-pisachira kole

Sri Gorachand calls, "O souls, awake! O souls, awake! How long will you sleep in the clutches of the witch Maya?"

They go house to house, calling, "You have lost your home, you have lost your address!"

(radha) krsna bol, sange chala, ei matra bhiksa chai

"I am begging you for one thing only: come with us and chant 'Radha Krishna'!"

It is the loving search for the lost servant—the Lord is searching for the souls to engage them in service. We have lost our supreme father, and our father has also lost His sons, so we are looking for the Lord and the Lord is looking for us.

tava nija-jana kona mahajane

pathaiya dile tumi

Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur writes the Lord send one of His own to rescue the fallen souls like us, and we should surrender and serve sincerely.

“gorara ami, gorara ami" mukhe balile nahi chale

gorara achara, gorara vichara la-ile phala phale

Just saying, "I am Gora's! I am Gora's!" does not do. Only when you follow Gora's practices and Gora's conception will you get the proper result.

Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.6

loka dekhana gora bhaja tilaka matra dhari'

gopanete atyachara gora dhare churi

You show the world you serve Gora simply by wearing tilak but secretly you misbehave. Gora will catch you, you thief!

Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.7

Gora knows everything, what you are doing and what you are not doing. So, we must serve the lotus feet of Guru and Vaishnavs.

chhadiya vaisnava-seva nistara payechhe keba

"Without service to the Vaishnav, you cannot get any relief."

Mahaprabhu told Sanatan Goswami,

jive daya name ruchi vaisnava seva

iha bahi sanatana nahi ara dharma

"Be merciful to the souls, chant the Holy Name, and serve the Vaishnavs. Sanatan, besides this, there is no other religion."

So, we have gathered here on this occasion and have got to have your darshan, otherwise we do not always get this opportunity. It is a great fortune to have a darshan of a Vaishnav, so on the occasion of this Vaishnav-seva we were fortunate to have heard Hari-katha from your mouth.

It is our misfortune that we have no taste for Hari-katha. Guru Maharaj said that we can check ourselves if we are going backward or forward: do we like more to read a newspaper or to hear Hari-katha? We can analyse and understand it ourselves...

So, much has been said, and without speaking much further, I am offering my full obeisance at the holy feet of you all and would like to finish here.

vanchha-kalpatarubhyas cha krpa-sindhubhya eva cha

patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah

"Again and again I offer my obeisance unto the Supreme Lord's devotees, who are saviours of the fallen, oceans of mercy, and wish-fulfilling trees.”

Power of the Holy Name: Nothing Else

14 December 2010

yadi ama'-prati sneha thake sabakara

tabe krsna-vyatirikta na gaibe ara

Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, Madhya-khanda, 28.27

Mahaprabhu said, "If you have any love and affection for Me, then only say 'Krishna'—do not say anything except 'Krishna.'"

"Mukhe bolo Hari Hari, gramya-katha parihari." Gramya-katha means nonsense talks—any talks without Krishna-katha are gramya-katha. So

(gramya-katha parihari) visaya-katha parihari

mukhe bolo hari hari (mukhe bolo gaura hari)

"Give up taking nonsense, give up material talks, only say, 'Hari! Hari!', 'Gaura Hari!'"

('Parama karuna', Srila Lochan Das Thakur)

Only say, 'Gaura Hari'... Nityananda Prabhu said,

bhaja gauranga, kaha gauranga, laha gaurangera nama re

ye jana gauranga bhaje, sei amara prana re

"Only take Gauranga's Name! Whoever worships Gauranga is My heart."

That is Krishna Nam. Without Krishna Nam, there is nothing else in this age of Kali:

harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam

kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha

"Only chanting the Holy Name, chanting the Holy Name, chanting the Holy Name—there is no other way, no other way, no other way."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 7.76)

Mahaprabhu came in this age of Kali in the form of Name, and the Lord's Name, beauty, and pastimes are nondifferent from Krishna. Also Gurudev said, "Only Krishna Himself or His associates can distribute this Holy Name."

"Akanta kara prasada bhajan, koro uchaisvare nama sankirtan." Take prasadam up to your neck and then chant for digesting it—take prasadam up to your neck and then dance and chant. All inauspiciousness will be removed through chanting, you know it and also many examples are there.

When Haridas Thakur came to a place called Haridaspur (it is also known as Benapole, a town at the border between India and Bangladesh), the local Muslim king was always jealous of Haridas Thakur. He thought, "So many people come to him, but I want to see what kind of sadhu he is." To test Haridas Thakur, he sent to him a prostitute called Laksahira.

Do you know how she became a Vaishnavi? By hearing the chanting—not chanting the Name, but only by hearing the Holy Name.

The king gave her some money and ordered, "Go and when you do something wrong with him, let me know, I will send my men. I will catch you two together and expose his character!" But how is it possible? A day passed, two days, three days passed, and after three days of hearing the Holy Name that prostitute became a Vaishnavi.

It is described very nicely and simply in Chaitanya-charitamrita.

Distributors of Mercy

11 December 2010

Today is the appearance day of Nitai Gaurachandra in Puri.

Actually, you know that Deities always come through devotees. Nitai Gaura eagerly came in Kalna through a devotee's hand—through Gauri Das Pandit's hand; and our Gaura Nitai in Puri came through Gurudev's hand. The Lord takes the hand of His devotee and comes in the form of a Deity...

Deity can talk, Deity bears witness, Deity is nondifferent from Krishna of Vrindavan (saksad Vrajendra Nandan)—the Lord Himself comes in the form of a Deity. What does Lord Krishna come for? What do Gaura Nitai come for? To distribute, to spread out all mercy. Why did Srila Sridhar Maharaj make this temple here and established Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govindasundar? What is the benefit?

Today is a very nice day, Gaura Nitai's manifestation festival. When the Deities were installed, there was a big festival at that time—the King of Odisha also came to the inauguration ceremony.

Power of the Holy Name: Love Is the Weapon

14 December 2010

Mahaprabhu said,

prati ghare ghare giya koro ei bhiksa

'bala krsna, bhaja krsna, kara krsna-siksa'

"Go house to house and beg people, 'Chant the Name of Krishna, worship Krishna, follow Krishna's teachings.'"

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, Madhya-khanda, 13.9)

Go to every house, tell them to say, "Krishna!", take Krishna's Name, and do what Krishna teaches. Who did Mahaprabhu give this order to? To Nityananda and Haridas.

suno suno nityananda, suno haridasa

sarvatra amara ajna karaha prakasa

"Listen, Nityananda! Listen, Haridas! Make My order known to all!"

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, Madhya-khanda, 13.8)

Mahaprabhu gave an order to Nityananda and Haridas to go house to house, and Nityananda said, "If 'prati ghare ghare giya' (go house to house, to every single house), then I must first go rescue those Jagai and Madhai! I will first rescue the two worst and most notorious drunkards!"

So, Nityananda went to their house. On the way, the local people tried to stop Him, "Prabhu, please, do not go there! Do not go there! There are two very bad drunkards!" Haridas went behind Nityananda Prabhu and hearing this, he became afraid, but Nityananda did not pay attention. He came to Jagai and Madhai—they were completely drunk—and said, "Jagai and Madhai, say, 'Hare Krishna!'" They looked at Him and roared, "WHAT?!"

Having heard the shouting Haridas Thakur ran away—he got so scared that actually fell into a drain. He told Nityananda,

"The local people told You not to go there, but still You had to go there! Why?"

"Mahaprabhu told to go house to house..."

On the next day they went there again, and this time Jagai and Madhai beat Nityananda. Haridas immediately ran away and gave the news to Mahaprabhu: "This is happening." Mahaprabhu called Sudarshan and hurried there.

Seeing Sudarshan coming, Nityananda Prabhu said to Mahaprabhu, "What is this?! You promised that in this age of Kali You would not call Sudarshan! If You do not rescue them, whom will You rescue? You promised that in this age You would give love and affection to the conditioned souls. In this age of Kali, there are no weapons. Mridanga, kartal, love, and affection are the weapons—not shouting, beating, or killing. Love and affection—these are Your weapons to rescue them!"

Mahaprabhu agreed, and Nityananda said to Jagai and Madhai, "You can beat Me, it is not a problem, but at least once say, 'Hare Krishna!' Chant the Holy Name! Beat Me if you want, but take Krishna's Name once!"...

Power of the Holy Name: Abode of Sweetness

14 December 2010

The Name of Krishna is so sweet...

tunde tandavaniratim vitanute tundavali-labdhaye

karna-kroda kadambinighatayate karnarbudebhyah sprham

cetah prangana-sanginivijayate sarvendriyanamkrtim

no jane janita kiyadbhir amrtaih krsneti varna-dvayi

When the holy name of Krishna descends and captures the tongue and lips, it controls them so strongly that it engages them in chanting the holy name as if the lips and tongue have gone mad. In this way, the power of the name descends in them, and one feels that only one tongue and one mouth are not enough; thousands of mouths are necessary to taste the name. Then the holy name of Krishna enters the ear with such a great force and current that the ears are captured, and one thinks that only two ears are insufficient; he wants millions of ears to attend to the sweet current entering the ears. Two ears are nothing to him; he wants millions of ears. The nectar of the holy name is coming like a flood through his ears, pushing its way within the heart.

It is so sweet that as it goes to capture the heart, the centre of all senses, everything is paralysed. Wherever that sweet aggressor touches, the whole thing is captured with such intensity that everything else is ignored. Rupa Goswami writes, "I don't know, I can't say, I fail to express how much nectar there is in the holy name of Krishna. These two syllables contain so much sweetness, and such a high quality of sweetness. And this sweetness is so aggressive that it captures everything."

(Vidagdha-Madhava, the translation is quoted from 'The Search for Sri Krishna')

Rupa Goswami composed this sloka, and when Haridas Thakur heard it he said, "I have heard glorification of the Name so many times, but I have never heard anything like this!"

Actually, in this age of Kali, chanting the Holy Name, sravanam, kirtanam, Nama sankirtan are the main practices.

eka-bara krishna-name yata papa hare

patakira sadhya nahi tata papa kare

"A sinner cannot commit more sin than once chanting Krishna's Name can remove."

koti janma yadi kare sravana kirtana

tabu na paya vrajera nandera nandana

"If you practise hearing and chanting for millions of lives, you may still not get the Son of Nanda who dwells in Vraja."

You can chant the Holy Name one time, and all sin will be removed—you cannot even commit as much as sin as one Holy Name can remove—but we chant the Holy Name and the sin is not removed. Why? It says here, "You can do sravanam and kirtanam for millions of lives, but you will still not get Krishna-prema because so many offences are there":

hena krsna-nama yadi laya bahu-bara

tabu yadi prema nahe, nahe asrudhara

tabe jani, aparadha tahate prachura

krsna-nama-bija tahe na kare ankura

"If you chant this Name of Krsna so many times but still there is no love, there are no tears streaming from your eyes, then as I understand there are too many offences and the seed of Krsna's Name does not sprout."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta, Adi-lila, 8.29-30)

'krsna-nitya-dasa'—jiva taha bhuli' gela

ei dose maya tara galaya bandhila

"When the jiva soul makes the mistake of forgetting that it is an eternal servant of Krishna, Maya captures the soul by its neck."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.24)

kama-krodhera dasa hana tara lathi khaya

bhramite bhramite yadi sadhu-vaidya paya

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.14)

"You always get kicked by anger and lust. What is the solution? When you get some good association, then the sadhu will give you some advice, some mantra, and Maya the pisachi will run away." Mahaprabhu says it very nicely.

samsara bhramite kona bhagye keha tare

nadira pravahe yena kastha lage tire

"Wandering throughout the material world, some souls get good fortune and somehow cross this ocean of material life just as a wooden stick floating in the water gets washed ashore."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.43)

It is written very nicely. Everything is there, in Chaitanya-charitamrita, you can read it.

krsna yadi krpa kare kona bhagyavane

guru-antaryami-rupe sikhaya apane

"When Krishna gives His mercy to a fortunate soul, He personally instructs this soul from within in the form of an internal Guru." [47]

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.47)

naivopayanty apachitim kavayas tavesa

brahmayusapi krtam rddha-mudah smarantah

yo 'ntar bahis tanu-bhrtam asubham vidhunvann

acharya-chaittya-vapusa sva-gatim vyanakti

"O Lord, expert poets who remember You with so much joy would not able to express how indebted they are to You even if they got a lifetime of Brahma—Your mercy is boundless for You appear externally as an acharya (spiritual master) and internally as an antaryami (chaitya-guru) to destroy all evil and impurities of the embodied souls and reveal them the path to Yourself."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.48)

When the fortunate souls get mercy of the Lord (some sukriti), the Guru can come to them in an antaryami form, in their heart, and teach them something. This Guru is called chaitya-guru. He is already in your heart, and he can teach you something, through which you get the mahanta-guru, the original bona fide Guru. Next, through the association of this mahanta-guru you get a bhakti lata bij, the seed of devotion. Then, if you practise, you can easily get prema-phala, the fruit—you can eat that fruit and go to Vaikuntha, Goloka Vrindavan.

This is how it is necessary to practise. Some problem can come also:

yadi vaisnava-aparadha uthe hati mata

upade va chinde, tara sukhi' yaya pata

"Offences to Vaishnavs bring about a mad elephant that uproots or breaks everything. It makes the leaves of the creeper of devotion dry up."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 19.156)

By the offence to Vaishnavs that seed can dry. Vaishnav aparadh (offences to the Vaishnavs), seva aparadh (offences committed during service), Nama aparadh (offences to the Holy Name), bhukti-mukti-siddhi-adi vancha (desires for enjoyment, liberation, bodily perfections, and so on), kutinati (insincerity)—if these kinds of things come to your mind, they can finish your devotional activities…

Matchless Mercy, Matchless Misfortune

14 December 2010

You must find some time to read the books. There are so many very good books: Benedictine Tree, Loving Search for the Lost Servant, Golden Volcano of Divine Love, Sri Guru and His Grace, and so on. There are many books by Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, by Gurudev also.

Question: When you sing 'Parama Karuna' you also give some alternative wording, could you explain it?

emana dayala data

(eman dayal ke va achhe)

It means, "Who is the great donor in this world? Who is kind? Can you see anybody as kind as Nityananda Prabhu?" Nityananda means Gurudev—do you see anyone in this world who has more kindness than Gurudev? Gurudev is very kind to us—he always brings us for the service to the Lord. Our mind always takes us away, but Gurudev again brings us back.

(mar kheyeo nam prema yache)

(eman dayal ke va achhe)

"Mar kheyeo" means Nityananda gets a beating—He was beaten by Jagai and Madhai—but still He gives love and affection.

sri-krsna-chaitanya-daya karaha vichara

vichara karile chitte pabe chamatkara

"If you consider the mercy of Sri Krishna Chaitanya, you will be wonder-struck to realise it."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 8.15)

Eman dayal ke va achhe? You will not get here anyone else like Gurudev, like Nityananda Prabhu. Never.

Nityananda Prabhu left His house when He was 13 years old. He left His family and gave up everything for us—to rescue us. Gurudev too left his family to rescue us.

There is other sing,

pasu pakhi jhure pasana vidare

suni yara guna-gatha

It means, thinking about Nityananda Prabhu, hearing about Him, birds and beasts (pasu, pakhi) all cry, stone (pasan) melts; but our heart is so hard—we do not get any result! Our heart is harder than a stone. We have got Gurudev's mercy but cannot understand it. If you hear Nityananda Prabhu's glorification, tears will come automatically, stone will be melted, but our heart is so hard—nothing happens, nothing changes in us, is it not so? We are worse than Jagai and Madhai...

prema vanyaya nadiya bhasaila

nindu-pasandi-gan dhaya palayiya

"He inundated Nadia with a flood of divine love and made all offenders and materialists run away."

Everyone was swimming in the prema-vanya, flood of love, flood of Mahaprabhu's prema, and all nindu (all those who criticise), all pasandi (all those whose heart is as hard as stone, who are) ran away. Where did they run? To some other place, away from this area. But now such people have again come back, and we are surrounded by them. When Ramachandra was born in Ayodhya, everybody was rescued; when Mahaprabhu was born in Nabadwip, everybody was rescued, but now all those pasandis are coming again. It is the truth...

Invoking Vaishnavs' Mercy

15 December 2010

Sripad Bhakti Kamal Madhusudan Maharaj was a disciple of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, and he took sannyas from Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. His temple, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Math, is in Mayapur.

AFTER SRILA PRABHUPAD

Actually, when Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur left this world, in 1937, the devotees first tried to make Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj the acharya of the temple, but Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj could not continue with them, so he left the Mission (Chaitanya Math) and went to Vrindavan.

All his godbrothers asked him to return, and he also soon got some inspiration from Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur saying, "Why are you here? I made you the acharya of the Rupa Goswami's sampradaya, Rupa-Raghunath's sampradaya, but who will save it? You must come back."

He came back. All his godbrothers—Vinod Babu (later Bhakti Prajnan Kesav Maharaj), Mahananda Prabhu (later Bhakti Kamal Madhusudan Maharaj), Jajavar Maharaj, and Ashram Maharaj, Nrisinghananda Brahmachari (later Bhakti Vaibhav Puri Maharaj) and others—joined together and in 1940 started a new mission, Devananda Gaudiya Math. They made a meeting and decided to make Srila Sridhar Maharaj the acharya of that temple.

As you know, Srila Sridhar Maharaj knew the rules and regulations and had a strong common sense. He made some rules at the temple. The rule was this: everybody had to come to the class and not take books from the library and read them on their own. Srila Sridhar Maharaj make an order in this way, but somebody did not agree. Srila Sridhar Maharaj said, "You have made me the president of this temple, but you cannot follow what I say, then why will I be the president here?" He left.

FOUNDING CHAITANYA SARASWAT MATH

He left Devananda Gaudiya Math and rented some land. It is the same land where his bhajan kutir is now. At that time it was just a plot of land, and he borrowed some bamboo and straw from somebody and made a thatched house. It was 1941. Do you know how he lived at that time? His pillow was a brick, and the mattress was some straw and sacks. No toilet, no bathroom...

Gradually, some godbrothers came to live with him. Jajavar Maharaj, Mahananda Prabhu (Bhakti Kamal Madhusudan Maharaj), Nrisinghananda Brahmachari (Bhakti Vaibhav Puri Maharaj), and some householder devotees also (Sakhi Charan Prabhu, and others). Sakhi Charan Prabhu gave Srila Sridhar Maharaj ten rupees per month for his temple expenditure. This is how the Mission started here.

They lived here and soon started Nabadwip Dham parikrama. Srila Sridhar Maharaj sometimes went to preach also. Our Chaitanya Saraswat Math's preaching started from Nadanghat—Srila Sridhar Maharaj first went there. Sometimes he also sent some brahmacharis. 'Some brahmachari' means some of his godbrothers—at that time he had not started giving initiation, making disciples. His godbrothers lived all together, and eventually one by one they started taking sannyas from him—Bhakti Kamal Madhusudan Maharaj, Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj, and many others.

MAKING GURUS

When Srila Prabhupad expired, Goswami Maharaj (Aprakrita Prabhu at that time) left his brahmachari life: he returned to his house and got married. Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj came to him and asked, "You are a strong preacher, a strong leader, but after Prabhupad left you came back to your house... Come back." He replied, "All right, I will leave my family and return, but only if you give me sannyas." Goswami Maharaj thought that Srila Sridhar Maharaj would not give him sannyas because he did not give sannyas to Keshav Maharaj, but Srila Sridhar Maharaj promised, "Yes, I will give sannyas to you." Then Goswami Maharaj left his family and again came and joined the mission.

All the stalwarts were here. Srila Guru Maharaj gave them sannyas and said, "I gave you sannyas and made you a Guru, and if you can go preaching and give initiation yourself, I have no objection." So, Madhusudan Maharaj, Goswami Maharaj, and others went preaching and made their own disciples, but they would bring their disciples here to Chaitanya Saraswat Math, and sometimes they would bring also people here for Srila Sridhar Maharaj to initiate. Srila Sridhar Maharaj had no objection.

SPREADING THE MISSION

Everybody knew at that time that Srila Sridhar Maharaj's horoscope said his lifetime was fifty-five years, so some thought that he would not be alive more than fifty-five years, so they could take over the temple. They thought this, but when Gurudev came and joined the mission in 1947 and they saw that Srila Sridhar Maharaj had so much love and affection for him, they realised, "We cannot take over the temple because the next acharya is already here." So, one by one they all left the temple, and Srila Sridhar Maharaj did not mind it—he supported them in many ways.

Bhakti Kamal Madhusudan Maharaj also left the temple, but he would come here from time to time. He would come through the old gate and go from the gate to the bhajan kutir of Srila Sridhar Maharaj paying full obeisance, and at each obeisance he paid he would get up and say, "Nyasisvaram Sridharam. Nyasisvaram Sridharam. Nyasisvaram Sridharam."

...Srila Sridhar Maharaj had no objection that they left, and he gave some mercy to them, "I have made you a guru, so if you can make your own ashram, I have no problem with that, I have no objection. I have given you sannyas and you can make your own mission."

Even during Srila Guru Maharaj's last years, not so many years ago, Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Maharaj also wrote a letter to him, saying, "Maharaj, I have only one temple in Kalna, but I would like to make a temple in Mayapur. What is your desire? I want your mercy, and if you can choose some land, I will take it." Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj agreed and recommended some land to him...

They all always had so much love and affection, so much honour for Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, and in this way they expanded this mission so much. All these disciples of Srila Prabhupad were so broad-minded and scholarly...

SEEKING MERCY

When Madhusudan Maharaj gave a lecture, do you know what he said every time at the end? Gurudev told me. At the end of all his lectures he prayed to the devotees, "You are all devotees of Gurudev, of Srila Guru Maharaj, of Srila Prabhupad. I am a fallen soul, I have no qualification, but I have taken sannyas... Please, you all protect my sannyas."

Today is his appearance day. Wherever he is staying now, whether in Goloka Vrindavan or anywhere else, we are praying to him, "Wherever you are now, please give us some mercy. You have got some association of Srila Guru Maharaj, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, and of Srila Gurudev...."

The mercy of Vaishnavs is always necessary. "Krpa vina na dekhi ara—without your mercy I see no other way". Devotees' mercy, Guru-varga's mercy is our only hope, our patheo (journey fare)—that is our main wealth, main property. Otherwise we have nothing: we need mercy of the Guru-varga, of the Vaishnavs, otherwise we cannot proceed...

Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also searched Nityananda Prabhu's mercy. Do you know that? Bhakti Vinod Thakur also said, "When will Nitai give me His mercy? When will my material desires leave my heart?" Param Guru Maharaj always sang this in his last days. Only mercy from the Guru and Vaishnavs is necessary—otherwise we cannot proceed in our practising life...

Gurudev said also that everybody does some service, and you may have one leg already in Vaikuntha, Goloka Vrindavan, and one leg still outside, but maybe because of your karma, maybe because of your ignorance, that leg can also come out of Vaikuntha. What Gurudev said is very important: our whole life we do service, but because of only a simple matter we can immediately fall down and be removed from our service, removed from our goal and destination. We must always remember it...

+ PRANAM MANTRA

Pranam-mantra of Srimad Bhakti Kamal Madhusudan Maharaj, composed by Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj:

dirgham saumya-vapur navaruna-bahir-vasas tridandanvitam

divyam sri-guru-gaura-kirtan-rasanandena mattam sada

sri-gaudiya-yatindra-bhakti-kamalam snigdham krpa-vigraham

vande sri-madhusudanam guru-varam vedanta-vidyambudhim

"I offer my obeisance unto the great Guru Srimad Bhakti Kamal Madhusudan Maharaj. His tall, tranquil form, adorned with a tridanda and garments the colour of the newly risen sun, is the embodiment of mercy. He is an affectionate king amongst the Gaudiya Vaishnava sannyasis, an ocean of Vedantic knowledge, and always rapt with the ecstatic taste of Sri Sri Guru-Gauranga's kirtan.”

Free and Happy

Pre-initiation talk to the devotees in Malaysia

18 December 2015

By the mercy of Gurudev you are all here, you chant the Holy Name... You want to get the Holy Name and go back to your own home, that is very nice.

You might have heard that when we go on Nabadwip Dham parikrama we stop at one place in Majdia (Madhyadwip) called Gora-daha.

...It actually happened in Satya-yuga. There is a forest called Kamyavan in Vrindavan. (Kamyavan is situated within the churasi crore, eighty-four crores, of Vrindavan parikrama, but now it is geographically not in UP but in Rajasthan.) One day, Durvasa Muni was resting in this forest and a small god boy (dev-sisu) childishly cut his sikha (jata). Durvasa Muni became very angry and cursed the boy, "You shall be a crocodile for four ages [Satya, Treta, Dvapara, Kali]!"

The boy began to cry and begged Durvasa Muni, "Please forgive my offence." Durvasa Muni replied, "All right. It has already come out of my mouth, so I cannot undo it now, but in the age of Kali, Nander Nanda Sri Krishna will become Gauranga Mahaprabhu and He chant the Holy Name. By hearing Him chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, you will get your previous body back."

Then this age of Kali came. One day, Gauranga Mahaprabhu was taking a walk with devotees when He met one cowherd called Bhim. Bhim's mother called Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Nimai, and He was like a brother to her, so Bhim called Nimai 'mama' (uncle). So, Bhim said, "Uncle, can You go to my house? My mother has prepared some paneer, kheer, milk, and other prasadam for You. Please come. Mother will feed You, and I will massage Your feet." Nimai agreed and came to this house. Seeing Nimai, Bhim's mother asked, "Oh, how is Your mother, Sachi Mata?" Nimai answered, "She is OK, she is OK." The Bhim's mother sat Nimai down, gave Him a plate and various prasadam—kheer, yoghurt, and so on.

Having been fed, Nimai was very happy and said to Bhim, "OK, let us go to the bank of the lake!" but Bhim said, "Uncle, please do not go there! Do not go there! There is a crocodile in the lake! Even cows do not go there—they are afraid to drink water from that lake." Mahaprabhu knew everything, so He went there, and as He was chanting, chanting, chanting, suddenly a boy came out of the water and fell at His lotus feet.

The boy began to cry and told Mahaprabhu his previous story. He said, "I was a dev-sisu, a son of a demigod, but I made some mistake—I made Vaishnav aparadh to Durvasa Muni. I cut his hair and he gave me a curse. I begged him to forgive my offence, and he said that in the age of Kali, Krishna would come as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and He would chant the Holy Name. By hearing Him chanting the Holy Name, he said I would get my previous body. You are the Lord Himself—after I heard You chanting the Holy Name, I got this previous body back... Please, give me permission to go to meet with my parents..." Mahaprabhu gave Him permission and the dev-sisu left.

So, you can see how the chanting of the Holy Name can rescue one from the body, can remove all karma, all offences... If you chant the Holy Name with sincerity, you will get a real benefit—you can go to the service planet and get the service of your Guru. It is necessary to have that kind of faith. When you have such faith, you will easily be able to understand it; then, if you chant with sincerity, with some real faith, you will get super benefit in this age of Kali—you can become free from birth and death, conquer Maya, and get your real home.

These are the main things…

New Life

Giving initiations to devotees in Malaysia

18 December 2015

First chant the Pancha-tattva's name:

sri krishna chaitanya prabhu nityananda

sri advaita gadadhara srivasadi gaura bhakta-vrinda

This is the Pancha-tattva's name. They brought the Holy Name to this abode, so without their mercy we cannot chant. That is why first we must chant their name.

In Satya-yuga, the lifetime was 100 000 years, and their religion was meditation. In Treta-yuga, the lifetime was 10 000 years, and they did fire sacrifice. In Dvapar-yuga, when Krishna's Pastimes took place, people did archan, puja; at that time the lifetime became 1 000 years. Now people's lifespan is very short, 120 years—in this age of Kali people do not live so long, so Krishna Himself came in the form of the Name. Krishna's Name, Beauty, Qualities, and Pastimes are nondifferent from Krishna.

The Name comes through a Guru-parampara. It first came from Krishna to Brahma, from Brahma to Narad, from Narad to Vyasadev, from Vyasadev to Madhvacharya—in this way it reached Madhavendra Puri. From Madhavendra Puri it came to Ishwar Puri, and from Ishwar Puri to Mahaprabhu. (Mahaprabhu Himself took initiation because He was showing us: if you want to tell somebody, "Do this," first you must do it yourself, so Mahaprabhu Himself took initiation from Ishwar Puri and showed, "You must take initiation, accept a bona fide Guru.") So, in this way the Name came to Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj, then Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, our Param Gurudev Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, then our Gurudev Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, and then it came to me. Srila Gurudev told me, "If somebody is a sincere seeker, has got good association and wants to receive the Name, you can give initiation to them; that will be good for you."

So, I think you were born in a devotees' family and have seen everything. You have been vegetarian since you birth, and when you were in your mother's womb, you listened to Hari-katha, Krishna-katha from great Vaishnavs, so you know everything, you know what Krishna consciousness is. But starting from this age you must practise properly, must chant the Holy Name without any material desires and you will get a great benefit. Do you understand? You will get a great benefit! However, if in lieu of devotion you search for other things, you have some other material desires, you will get what you want, but devotion will run away from you. So, be careful. Be careful about Nama aparadh, about seva aparadh, Vaishnav aparadh, Dham aparadh. You must avoid the offences.

So, first chant the Pancha-tattva's name, then start chanting from the big beads,

hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare

hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

Chant in this way from the big beads to the small beads, take turn and chant from the small beads to the big beads. Chant sixteen rounds of the Holy Name in this way, that will be good for you. Sometimes you go to school, you go to the temple and if you do not get time to properly chant on the beads, at least four rounds must be chanted. Not less than four rounds. If you think, "I have not chanted four rounds today," you must fast on that day: you make your beads fast, and you will also have to fast then. Four rounds must be chanted; not less than four rounds.

Then, take this book about the ten offences. There are so many offences, but these ten offences are the main. You must understand what they are, must recite and memorise them and you must avoid these ten offences. Chant without offences and Krishna will reveal Himself in your heart and you will be successful in your spiritual life...

— — —

...You know that there are four rules that must be followed to take initiation. You must understand them.

Dyuta, pana, striya, suna. You must avoid (1) gambling, (2) drinking alcohol, smoking, (3) illegal sex, and (4) do not kill anybody, not even an ant or a mosquito—everything is connected with the Lord, everything exists for the service to the Lord, so you must engage everything in the service of the Lord. This is the main thing.

You have come to take initiation from me, but actually you are going to get connection with the Lord, you are going to become a member of the Lord's family. From today you are a member of the family of the Lord. Maya, the illusory environment, will always want to remove you from this family, but you have got your membership in Krishna's family and through practising you must always renew that membership. If you only take initiation from your Guru but do not practise properly, you will lose your membership.

It is like you are going to a doctor and the doctor prescribes, "Take this medicine and your disease will removed from you," but you do not take that medicine—you only hear the doctor's advice but do not follow it. The disease will not be removed... It is bhava-rog (heart disease)... We are all sick, we are all patients. Who can cure that kind of sickness? The Guru. How can the Guru remove it? If you listen to his advice, then the Guru, the doctor, can remove your disease. Practise properly and follow what I am telling you 100%.

sri krishna chaitanya prabhu nityananda

sri advaita gadadhara srivasadi gaura bhakta-vrinda

This is the Pancha-tattva's name. First chant their name. They have brought the Holy Name to this abode and without their mercy you cannot chant, so we must first chant the Pancha-tattva's name. This mantra is also written in the book, you can later read it properly and memorise it. After that, start chanting from the big beads. The beads have beads on both sides—there are small beads on one side, and big beads on the other. Start from the big beads,

hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare

hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

Chant in this way from the big beads to the small beads, and do not jump over. Start where you finish—from the big beads to the small beads, from the small beads to the big beads, then again from the big beads to the small beads, and again from the small beads to the big beads, and so on. Chant sixteen rounds or more in this way, that will be good for you.

If some day you are busy with service—sometimes you cook, sometimes you make garlands, or wash the plates—you can also chant at that time. You can chant without the beads also, no problem. Do not gossip, do not talk nonsense—you can chant the Holy Name while you are serving, while you are working, that is good for you. It is not necessary to always take beads to chant—when you are doing service, when you are cooking, washing the plates, or making a garland, you can chant also, that is good for you. Otherwise, sixteen rounds or minimum four rounds must be chanted, then Krishna will be happy.

You can also see there is the Nama aparadh book. You can read this book. Many people chant the Holy Name, but they do not get the result because they make so many Nama aparadhas, offences to the Name. Read this book, understand what Nama aparadh is and avoid it. If you can chant without offence, Krishna will reveal Himself in your heart, you will get the result quickly, and you will be successful in your spiritual life...

"May Krishna Always Bless You"

Speaking online to devotees in Malaysia

18 December 2015

You preach Krishna consciousness, and I am very happy to see your preaching mood.

jive daya name ruchi vaisnava seva

iha bahi sanatana nahi ara dharma

"Be merciful to the souls, chant the Holy Name, and serve the Vaishnavs. Sanatan, besides this, there is no other religion."

For preaching you go door to door, and you should tell people, "We have not come to you for you to help us. We have come to you to help you." That is the main thing. We do not go to people's houses for their money or property. Actually, we are big thieves and dacoits because we go to their houses to take them and send them to the real place.

Gurudev gave me some service, but I am very happy that you take a share, a part of this service because it is impossible for me to preach all over the world alone. Part by part, you all help me, and for me it is a very great help, and I am very happy with that.

You should try to come to India also, you have not come for so many years. I know you work very hard, you preach, and there is so much struggle for you. You work, you wife works, you have to send your children to school—there are so many things in a family life, I know that; you also maintain the temple, you do preaching. These are not easy things—I know what it is like to preach, and what it is like to maintain a family. Maintaining a temple is not so easy, but you do it all, and I am very happy.

Aprakrita Prabhu has left his body, and one of my pillars is gone, broken. I feel very sad. Also, after that Sripad Narayan Maharaj from Mauritius came to Malaysia from time to time, but he also left his body. Everybody is going to leave us, but I am still alive, and Krishna helps me through you all. That is my happiness. I think Krishna keeps me alive, gives me life because He needs me, but when His work through me is finished, then I will also have to leave this world... But I am still alive, and I am always with you all, I am always at your service. I am a fallen soul, but you are all keeping me in your heart, that is my happiness, that is my great fortune.

Not everybody has that kind of fortune—not everybody can do service, not everybody can join service and do proper preaching. Preaching is the main thing. Many people can make a temple, but it is necessary to preach. You can make a thousand temples, it is not a problem, but if you make one devotee, it is has more value. It is easy to make a thousand temples, but what is the use if you do not do Vaishnav seva? You can feed ten thousand people but if there is no Vaishnav there, that is not a festival, that is not a mahotsav; but if you can give prasadam to even one Vaishnav, one devotees, that is a great festival.

Question: Tomorrow we are having our Ratha-yatra festival. Could you please give us your blessing?

I am always with you, I am always there. My body is not there, but my heart, my mind, and my everything is there. I can still remember and I am remembering which way the chariot will go...

May Krishna always bless you.

I am very happy with you all. Continue your spiritual life as you are doing now. Encourage people, encourage devotees. You bring many people to the lotus feet of Gurudev, and it is very nice—it is my happiness.

Your Home Is Ready—Are You?

Speaking online to devotees in Venezuela

19 December 2015

I am very happy to see you all. You always practise Krishna consciousness properly although there are so many obstacles in the country, that is why Gurudev is always with you, Krishna is always with you.

So many tests come to you, but you do not leave and you are still within Krishna consciousness. Krishna always tests us. You can look at me and you can see how much I am tolerating, how many problems I am facing. If you can see and observe it, then you can depend upon me. It was not after seeing my service for only one or two days, or one or two years that Gurudev could depend upon me. He had tested me so many times, he had observed me so many times, only after that he handed everything over on my shoulders.

Many times I would come to pay dandavat to him, and he chastised me. Many times he told me to get out, but I would get out only for half an hour—after half an hour I would come again, pay dandavat to him and ask something. Later Gurudev told everybody, "Look at this boy. I have told him many times to get out, but he gets out for a few minutes and after that comes back. Now I understand that if any problem comes, he will not run away from my mission, he will not leave my mission—he will not leave his Guru's service, Guru Maharaj's service, Deities' service, the temple service. Anyhow he will stay here permanently."

Service is not for one day, six months, a year, or twenty years. Service is until your death, until you leave your body. You must understand it. Service is not only for some time, not temporary. You think, "I have been doing this service for twenty years," but twenty years is nothing for the Lord. You must serve the Lord and your Guru until your death, until you leave this body.

The problem is that we do something and we think we have done so many things for the Lord, for the temple—this is ego. When this ego comes, it removes you from the service. You must understand that we cannot do anything for the Lord. Lord Krishna runs all planets, He does everything—He is not someone small. When we do something for twenty years, for fifty years, it is nothing. Whatever we do, it is nothing for Him, but at least we are fortunate that Krishna takes our service.

So, you should realise for yourself what your duty is, what you have come to Krishna consciousness for.

bhukti-mukti adi-vancha yadi mane haya

sadhana karile prema utpanna na haya

"If you have material desires, if you want liberation, enjoyment, some mystic powers, and so on, then even if you practise all life, or life after life, prem, divine love, will not come."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 19.175)

If you practise Krishna consciousness but have some inner material desires, some bad hankering, then you will not get the proper result. You will not get the proper result. You must understand it.

krsna yadi chhute bhakte bhukti mukti diya

kabhu prema-bhakti na dena rakhena lukaiya

"If you ask Krishna for anything except devotion, He can give you those things—bhukti, mukti, liberation, and so on—but He will hide devotion from you. You will not get devotion."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 8.18)

You come to Lord Krishna, but you want liberation, you want some enjoyment—Krishna will give you everything, but in the middle of the way devotion will run away from you. Krishna will hide devotion from you. So, you must avoid this temporary enjoyment. As Gurudev said, "Brihat svartha paite haile, ksudra svartha tyaga korte habe: if you want to get great things, you must avoid small things." You sing during the Kartik month the song about Mahaprabhu's sloka,

na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagadisa kamaye

mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi

"I do not want wealth, I do not want knowledge, I do not want beauty, I do not want to be a poet. I only want causeless devotion to Your lotus feet. Give me that kind of devotion to Your lotus feet so that I could do Your service life after life."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 20.29)

nahi magi deha-sukha, vidya, dhana, jana

nahi magi svarga ara moksa nahi magi

na kari prarthana kona vibhutira lagi

"I do not pray for bodily pleasure, learning, wealth, or followers. I do not pray for heaven, I do not pray for liberation, and I do not pray for any supernatural powers."

(Sri Siksastakam, 4.1-2, Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

We do not pray for anything. We do not pray for any kind of opulence, any kind of mystical power. We do not want that. We only pray and want to be a servitor, we want to be a devotee. "If You make me born again, I do not mind it, but I want to be Your servant," that is sufficient.

loka dekhana gora bhaja tilaka matra dhari'

gopanete atyachara gora dhare churi

"You show the world you serve Gora simply by wearing tilak but secretly you misbehave. Gora will catch you, you thief!"

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.7)

Showing something to the people and the world and secretly doing some nonsense is not good. "Loka dekhana Gora bhaja", you show something to the world, but Krishna knows, Gora knows that you are a thief, that you do nonsense behind Their back. You may be able to hide it from some other people, but you cannot hide anything from your Guru, you cannot hide anything from the Lord. The Lord knows everything about you.

So, keep practising Krishna consciousness continuously. So many years have passed for us on this planet, so many births and deaths have passed, but we have finally got a human body, we have finally got a bona fide Guru. If you can practise continuously, with tolerance, humility, giving honour to others, removing all material desires, chanting the Holy Name properly, then your real home is ready for you: then Gurudev already has your home made there, and he is only waiting for you. But if you cannot practise properly, if you cannot keep proper desire, cannot do service properly, how will you then get to your real home?

In his last days Gurudev said to me, "Acharya Maharaj, you bring so many people to me, but can you tell me how many people practise Krishna consciousness properly?"...

Gurudev went to every country... We sing, "Kara more atma-satha." It means hijacking. Other people, dacoits, rob you, take your gold, take your money; a great sadhu, a bona fide Guru also hijacks, but he does not hijack gold, money or anything like that—he hijacks you! He brings you to Krishna consciousness—he hijacks you and sends you to the lotus feet of the Lord.

Sri Guru's Order

Sri Vyasa Puja day of

Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj

23 December 2010

"I carefully offer my obeisance to Sri Guru's lotus feet,

which are the sole abode of devotion. Make the teachings

from Sri Guru's lotus mouth one with your heart,

and do not desire anything else within your heart."

Today is a very fortunate day in our life: on this day Gurudev came to this world. He appeared here to rescue the whole universe, the whole world...

You know what Srimad Bhagavad-gita says, what Gurudev also says. Krishna appears in a human form but we must not neglect Him. We should also think that Gurudev comes in a human body, but he comes from the Lord's place. Krishna sends the Guru to preach and carry His words to the world—it is Guru's duty. That is why every year we celebrate Gurudev's appearance day.

You all know everything about Gurudev, about his love and affection. We sing at his arati, "Sada hasya mista bhasi susila kavitva: you always smile and speak sweet words, and your poetry is perfect." He has conquered the whole world with his love and affection and his qualities of humility, tolerance, giving honour to others that are Mahaprabhu's conception,

trnad api sunichena taror api sahisnuna

amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

"One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more tolerant than a tree, who gives honour to others without desiring it for himself, is qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.239)

He is still with us.

adyapiha sei lila kare gora raya

kona kona bhagyavane jiva dekhibare paya

Gora Ray continues performing His Pastimes, and those who are fortunate can see it.

His lila (pastimes) continues at all times.

So, today we are celebrating his holy appearance. The main festival will be held at the nat mandir. We will start kirtan at 9-9:30 o'clock, and the programme will start by 10 o'clock and continue until the bhoga arati and Guru arati at 12 o'clock. This is how we are celebrating this day.

As you know, this year (2010) Gurudev would be eighty-two years old (eighty-one in Western calculation). He left at his own wish. When I came to Kolkata the day before he left he said to me, "I will not stay, I am leaving." Also, the day he left, in the morning, he told me he was leaving that day, but he had said it many times before, so I did not think that he was saying it seriously this time.

The Lord Himself comes to this world in the form of the Guru, but we do not understand it—our fault is that we only see the mortal body. Krishna said to Uddhav, "People see Me as a mortal and make offence. Acharya mam vijaniyam: people say that the Acharya, the Guru, is born in a mortal body, but actually I send the Guru as My own man to tell My words to the world."

It is always rare to get that kind of person who would understand it fully. Gurudev always said that there is a 10% devotee, a 5% devotee, a 20% devotee, an 80% devotee, or a 100% devotee, but a 100% devotee is rare. "Sraddha-anusari bhakti-adhikari." Devotion depends upon faith, and you must 'buy' faith with faith. If you have faith, then you can follow your Guru with devotion, with love (anugatya). It all depends upon faith; the quality of your devotion depends upon faith. Those who have a very strong faith can proceed, can prosper and develop their spiritual life.

It does not matter where you stay, even be it a forest or a jungle. Wherever you stay, wherever you live, you can practise your spiritual life. The main thing is to follow the order of your Guru.

We do not understand who Gurudev is. Some think, "Gurudev is not here now, so why will I go to the Math?" Those who say like this have not got Gurudev's association. We have books and scriptures written by Gurudev, why do you think he is not there? If you read his books, you will get his association. Do you think that staying with Gurudev, sleeping near Gurudev is called Gurudev's association? Following the order of Gurudev, that is called Guru's association! Staying with the Guru is not guru-sanga. You can stay anywhere. If Gurudev tells you to stay in Vrindavan, then you will get his association from Vrindavan. That is the main point.

You can see my example also. How much time did I spent with Gurudev? Sometimes I would come to Kolkata, pay dandavat, and then Gurudev would tell me to go back to Nabadwip, and I went back immediately without delaying. One time I returned from Singapore at 11:30-12 o'clock at night. I thought I would go to my room, take shower, change, then go see Gurudev, but somebody saw me and said Gurudev was waiting for me. You know how you feel after the flight (dirty clothes, and so on), but what was I to do? I had to go.

I remember Gurudev told also how, when Mahaprabhu was in Puri, all devotees would come there and first go to see Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu immediately arranged for their prasadam—He would call somebody and ask, "Hey, arrange for their prasadam! Where is the prasadam? Have they got a room?" Mahaprabhu arranged everything for them. The local devotees in Puri, however, used to frown, "Oh, they came to Puri, they must first see Jagannath, but no, they first go to see Mahaprabhu!" They did not understand that if you see Mahaprabhu you get the darshan of Jagannath. They also said, "They do not fast, do not shave their heads—as soon as they come they go to Mahaprabhu and take prasad!" But such was the order of Mahaprabhu.

This is the main thing, and everybody's duty is like that. This is what Gurudev taught me. He said that if the Lord said, "I want a laddu," but you gave Him a samosa, it is useless. You must give what the Lord wants. That is why we must understand what the Guru wants. Nijer mana khela kusimata bhajan bole na. Satisfying the whims of your mind is not bhajan—following Gurudev, serving the Guru, the Vaishnavs and satisfying them is what is called bhajan. When you receive an order from Gurudev, that becomes your duty. This is how you must follow your Guru.

We say, "I want mercy, I want mercy," but we have no place to keep that mercy. First we must make some space in our glass. Guru Maharaj always said, "I cannot keep water in a pot that has a hole." The water is kept in a pot that can keep water.

So, please get ready by 9 o'clock, we will start Hari-kirtan, Bhagavat-katha. That is Gurudev's order, and we must follow it. We must prepare, and do what Gurudev wants us to do. If you follow your mind, do what you think you should do, then gone is your devotion...

In my life, I have missed only one word of Gurudev, only one order of Gurudev, and now I understand why I am suffering and struggling so much. It was only one order, and Gurudev told it to me many times, but actually I did not want to do that. Anyhow, by the will of Gurudev, everything will be fulfilled...

Srila Sridhar Maharaj had waited for thirty years to give his chair to Gurudev, and one time I asked Gurudev, "Gurudev, why did you fight your Guru Maharaj?" He gave an answer, and it is completely clear. He said, "My Guru Maharaj wanted to give me the chair and had waited for thirty years, but I did not want it. Last time when he wanted to give his chair to me, he said, 'If you do not take this chair, I will commit suicide.' If Guru Maharaj had given me his chair earlier, I knew that after a few days he would leave this world, and who wants their Gurudev to leave the world? If somebody want bhukti (enjoyment), mukti (liberation), and has desires other than Krishna consciousness, they think, 'Oh, Gurudev will leave, and I will get this building, this room, etc.'" This is what Gurudev told me.

He also had told me many times to do something, but every time I told him I did not want to do it, but last year he finally gave an open declaration and said, "I do not care [that you do not want]." You miss only one thing—you do not follow only one word from your Gurudev—and you will have to suffer because of that. I am sure about it.

This is the kind of Guru we have got. Our Rupanuga-sampradaya Guru, he came from transcendental power—he came from that vibration, from that kind of abode and plane—but when he was here we could not understand that...

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay!

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay!

Sri Vyasa Puja Offering

11 December 2011

On Gurudev's appearance day in 1997, the devotees were making a Vyasa Puja book and somebody asked me suddenly, "Can you write something for Gurudev?" So, when Gurudev was starting his 69 year, in 1997, I wrote a Vyasa Puja offering.

On that day, I gave this offering to Gurudev, and after he read it he gave me the paper back and said, "You can read it." I read it in front of everybody instead of a lecture, and I remember Gurudev said, "It is too much..."

I wrote that offering in Bengali and it is hard for me to give the explanation in English, but I will try to tell something. Actually, I am not actually a literature man—sometimes something comes, and this is how I wrote it, but Gurudev was very happy.

Before I read the offering, I remember I first recited this sloka,

saksad-dharitvena samasta-sastrair

uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhih

kintu prabhor yah priya eva tasya

vande guroh sri-charanaravindam

"I offer my obeisance unto the lotus feet of Sri Guru, who is said by all the scriptures to be the Lord Himself, and considered to be so by the sadhus, yet is also the Lord's beloved devotee."

(Sri Sri Gurvastakam, 7)

apanake janai koti dandavat nati

chira-dina oi pade thake yena mati [1]

I offer you ten million prostrate obeisances. My desire is to forever remain at your feet.

I am offering crores and crores, millions and millions of dandavats at your lotus feet. My whole life, birth after birth, I want to pray to you that I may keep my mind, my heart and soul—my everything!—at your lotus feet. That is my desire. Only give me that kind of energy that all my life, until death, my mind may be at your lotus feet.

maya pase yadi phamsi ye kona samaya

taribara lagi yena, daki go tomaya [2]

I can be strangled by the noose of maya at any time, but I am calling out to you for help.

If I have any problem, if I fall into the illusory environment, I will call you so much, "Please rescue me from this kind of illusory environment!"

sadhu, guru, vaisnavera gane, sukha pai

yakhana ya khusi mane, takhani ta gai [3]

The glories of the sadhu, gurus, and Vaishnavs bring so much happiness. When I feel this joy, I suddenly start to sing myself.

I always want to glorify the sadhus, gurus, Vaishnavs, and at that time I feel pleasure, I become so happy that I have become like crazy—I am just singing whatever comes to my mind, some crazy things.

papa punya labha ksati, nahika vichara

jani, vaisnava krpate saba yabe anachara [4]

I know nothing about piety or sin, gain or loss. I know that by the mercy of Vaishnavs, all bad things will go away.

I do not think about anything, I know nothing about any sin or piety, profit or loss. All I know is that by the mercy of the Guru and Vaishnavs all kinds of bad elements, all anachar, is removed from the heart.

tandera guna-gana-sakti, mora kabhu nai

tabu pagalera mata, ki ye yena gai [5]

I will never be able to glorify their qualities. Still, like a madman I am singing whatever comes to my mind.

I have no power to sing your glorification, but I am crazy, so I am trying to sing something.

sadhu, guru, vaisnava, krsnera prana-dhana

tandera pada-jala-renu-mage mora mana [6]

My mind prays for the foot dust and the water that washed the feet of the sadhus, Gurus, Vaishnavs, who are life and soul of Krishna.

Sadhu, Guru, and Vaishnavs are the heart of Lord Krishna, and I always pray for the water that washed their feet.

manera pipasa bada sadhu sane vasa

sarvasva tyajiya tai kari abhilasa [7]

My mind thirsts for living in the association of sadhus. Giving up everything, I long for this only.

I always desire, always ask in my mind that I may stay with the sadhus, so that I may hear Hari-katha from the sadhus, and for that I have renounced everything, for that I have come to your lotus feet. This is my only desire.

tandera charane kata koti papa kari

mana tabu pade thake oi pada dhari [8]

How many millions of sins do I commit at you feet? Still, you keep me at your lotus feet, and I am clasping them.

We make so many offences, but still you keep us at your lotus feet...

arao kata bale mana, koti duhkha sahi

janme janme yena ami, oi pade rahi [9]

My mind also prays that no matter how many millions of miseries I have to tolerate I may still be at your feet birth after birth.

I suffer so much, tolerate so much, but in my mind I always pray that I may stay at your lotus feet birth after birth.

First was this prayer, and then I wrote something in glorification of Gurudev, about his appearance day.

hathat dese uthala sara, sahara theke sakala pada,

vichitra kutuhale

sakale aja anandete, ekatre saba uthala mete,

nache gaya dale dale [10]

All of a sudden, throughout the land, in all wards of the town, there arose a peculiar delight. Today everybody is filled with bliss and all together dances and sings in many crowds.

Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami wrote something about the time when Mahaprabhu appeared, and here it is something like that—everybody was affected, in all towns and villages, all over the world. It was so much. When Gurudev was born in Bamunpara, everything suddenly changed as if some mystical power appeared. Everybody was very happy and they were glorifying, singing. When that boy was born, something suddenly changed, just like it was when Mahaprabhu appeared.

bhakta-gana saba avirata, sraddhanjali dichchhe kata,

sri-mathete asi

gauda desera hrdaya majhe, yena sakala, dupura, samje,

bajachhe mohana vamsi [11]

The devotees keep bringing so many offerings, coming to the holy temples. That day, in the heart of Gaura-desh, morning, noon, and evening as if merged and there sounded a stupefying song of flute.

On that day so many devotees came over and brought so many gifts. Everybody went to the temple. It happened in Bamunpara, the heart of Gauda-desh, and at that time everything became one—there was no morning, no evening, no sun, nothing. People kept coming and going; and they could hear somebody playing the flute.

subha atharoi disembara, krsna-dvitiya buddhabara

barddhamanera akasa kari alo

bamuna padara bamuna ghare, janama nila jivera tare,

apurva sundara sisu mohaniya bhalo [12]

On the auspicious day of December 18, on the second night of the waning moon (Krishna-dvitiya), Wednesday, a ray of light fell from the sky. In the district of brahmans (Bamunpara), in a house of a brahman, for the sake of jiva souls there took birth an unprecedentedly beautiful child, attracting all good.

That day was Wednesday, 18 December, and Gurudev's tithi is Krishna-dvitiya, a beautiful baby boy was born in Burdwan district, in a town Bamunpara ('a brahmans' town'), in a brahman's house. He did not take birth for himself but to rescue the jiva souls all over the world.

sri tarangini devi mata, nitai pada, nitya pita,

sri devaki-vasudeva sama

guru-rupe nanda-kumara, yena krpa karila e bara,

jivera nasibe rajah tama [13]

Mother Sri Tarangini Devi and eternal father Nitaipad are like Sri Devaki and Vasudev. The youthful son of Nanda came in the form of a Guru to bestow His mercy and destroy the ignorance and passion in the jiva souls.

He came just like Lord Himself, Nanda Kumar Krishna, to rescue us, to remove the raja guna and tamo guna.

sei sisu aja mahajana, bhakti sundara govinda dhana,

jagatera ananta gaurava

brahmanda bhodiya goloka dhama, sarvatra prakasa tomara nama,

he prabhu, tava seva-saurabha [14]

That child is now a great soul, the treasure named Bhakti Sundar Govinda, the never-ending glory of the world. You revealed Goloka Dham in this universe; my Lord, your name is now renowned everywhere, and there can be felt a sweet fragrance of your service.

That boy has now become a Visva Guru!

tomara komala murati aja, gamtha raya yena hrdaya majha,

chintiba o pada niti

bhakta sajjana mile kata, mahima rachibe sata sata,

ke kata gahibe tava giti [15]

Your present form is very soft and graceful, and I keep it as if tied within the core of my heart. I will eternally meditate upon your feet. So many great souls and devotees will come and compose hundreds of verses, but how many of your glories is one able to describe?

paiya tava sitala charana, mangalakanksi karibe varana,

parabe phulera mala

jivera lagi dharile kaya, tomara bhaye palabe maya,

judabe jagata jvala [16]

Attaining your cooling lotus feet, those who desire true welfare will worship and garland them. You accepted a body for the sake of the jiva souls. Seeing you, maya will flee in fear, and the burning fire of this world will be soothed.

You feet are very cool, and when you were born in this human body, Maya ran away in fear and all world became pure.

rajasanera raja yemana, tomara sobha ajake temana,

raja michhe, tumi nitya satya

agadha tava sastra jnane, golokera sei nitya-dhane,

bilao bharuk artta jivera chita [17]

Your beauty and lustre are such that you resemble today a king sitting on a royal throne. However, a king is false, useless, but you are eternally true. Your knowledge of the scriptures is unfathomable, and you distribute this eternal wealth of Goloka and fill the distressed minds of the souls with it.

You are sitting here today like a king, but a king is false, and you are eternal, you are true. You have so much knowledge, and you have brought the eternal wealth of Goloka through the Guru parampara and you are distributing it now to all souls like myself, going door to door.

paramparara sutra dhare, asiyachha modani pare,

prakasite jivoddhara lila

krpara adhara guru-maharaja, tomate sarva-sakti sanchara,

kariya sva-simhasana dila [18]

You have come in this world in this disciplic succession to manifest your pastimes of delivering the souls. Srila Guru Maharaj, a fountainhead of mercy, passed all his potency onto you and made you sit on his own throne.

chira pankila dharani-tale, suddha bhakati prakata karile—

yena apurva chinmaya saroja

tara sumadhura divya gandha, tomara majhare ankichhe chhanda,

bilabe sakale prema-varaja [19]

On this ever covered with mud surface of the earth, you have revealed pure devotion which is like an extraordinary transcendental lotus. Its extremely sweet smell has borne a desire within you to distribute the divine love of Vraja to everybody.

tava krpa-taru-sitala chhaya, e duhkhi-jana yena thami paya,

ohe dina-dayala thakura

tumi navodita nirmala bhaskara, dayamaya deva bhakati sundara,

bhavio tomara kukura [20]

My Lord, you are so merciful to the poor, and this miserable man has got a place in the cool shade under the tree of your mercy. You are the spotless newly risen sun! O merciful Lord, Sri Bhakti Sundar, please consider me your dog.

sri bhakti-raksaka prabhu sri sridhara, tomake banala bhava karna-dhara,

mo sama patita lagi

tai tava subha avirbhava dine, gati nai ai-charana vihane,

e patita kande krpa magi [21]

Lord Sri Bhakti Raksak Sridhar made you the helmsman of the world for the sake of such fallen, degraded souls like me. So, on the auspicious day of your appearance, there is no other refuge for me other than your feet, and this fallen soul is crying and begging you for mercy.

Sri Nadan Ghat

9 December 2014

This is a very auspicious place, a place of Gurudev's childhood. Here, Gurudev played and worked for a short time at the charitable dispensary.

When his father died, Gurudev was the only one member in his family who earned something—he got a part-time job of a doctor's assistant. The doctor lived here in this house over there, and Gurudev lived in the same house and would cook and help him with the patients.

In the meantime, there was a preaching programme from our temple, Chaitanya Saraswat Math. At that time, many of Srila Guru Maharaj's godbrothers lived in our temple, and sometimes Srila Sridhar Maharaj sent some sannyasis or brahmacharis for preaching, before Gaura Purnima, for some rice collection, and so on. Sometimes Srila Sridhar Maharaj went himself, at other times he sent others.

When the preaching party came to this place, they stayed in a house here. This house was broken and now there is a small temple, a preaching centre in its place. During the day, the devotees went collecting, and in the evening they would make a programme here, singing bhajans, kirtans, Gaudiya Gitanjali songs.

Gurudev lived in a house nearby and heard them sing. Later he told us, "My hands were itching because they did not know how to play the mridanga and I wanted to play it, but I was shy to tell them anything." So, he waited, waited, and finally one day he said, "Can you give me the mridanga please?" A brahmachari gave the mridanga to him, and when they heard how well Gurudev played it, they were all very happy.

After the kirtan, devotees asked Gurudev,

"Can you come to our temple?"

"Yes, I can come, but can I go today?"

"Yes, you can come today!"

At that time, there was no bridge over the river and Gurudev swam across it and went to the temple. It was Nrisingha chaturdasi day and Gurudev was in Chaitanya Saraswat Math....

After that, so many things happened. His family—his mother, brother and the village people—wanted to forcefully take him back, and they made some complaint against Srila Guru Maharaj, "Oh, you have stolen our son!" They complained so much, but finally, by the mercy of Srila Guru Maharaj, Gurudev stayed at the temple... and now he is the visva-guru!

In his memory, a friend of Gurudev donated some land to the temple for a preaching centre, and this centre here is still running. A devotee from our temple lives here and every day does kirtan. Remembering Gurudev, we come here every year on the day after his Vyasa Puja...

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay!

Sri Bamunpara Dham

12 January, 21 September 2012

Gurudev told me before that if I get a chance, I should spend a night here in Bamunpara, and we are very happy today—after so many years we are spending a night here... I cannot remember when last time I did it, but by the mercy of Gurudev today I have got a chance to stay with all you for one night in Gurudev's village, Gurudev's appearance place, Nityananda Prabhu's place, Radha Gopinath's place. It is our great fortunate.

We come to Gurudev's appearance place with sankirtan, and all these places are places of parikrama marg (pilgrimage),

udila aruna purava-bhage

dvija-mani gora amani jage

bhakata-samuha la-iya sathe

(gora) gela nagara-vraje

At the crack of dawn the jewel of the brahmans, Sri Gorachand, awakes. Taking His devotees with Him, He goes out about the town.

What is "Gora gela nagara-vraje"? It means nagar sankirtan,

'tathai tathai' bajala khola

ghana ghana tahe jhanjera rola

preme dhala dhala sonara anga

(gorar) charane nupura baje [2]

The mridangas resound 'tathai tathai' to the beat of the cymbals as Gaurasundar's golden form sways with ecstatic love and His footbells jingle.

mukunda madhava yadava hari

balena bala re vadana bhari'

He calls out, "Chant aloud Mukunda, Madhava, Yadava, Hari!"

So, with sankirtan we go to Gurudev's childhood place. Our Gurudev is nondifferent from Krishna, and we consider this place to be nondifferent from Krishna's childhood places—Mathura, Gokul, Mahavan. This is where we have spent a night...

Actually, I first came to this place in 1993. At that time, there was nothing here, only in the village there were some places of Gurudev's pastimes. Gurudev told me, "If you want to do something in my birthplace, first make a temple for Gopinath." Gurudev's family was very poor and sometimes he did not take food properly, so sometimes, when his father and mother offered some banana fruit to the Deities, Gurudev was very hungry and he would sneak and take that fruit from the offering plate. So, Gurudev told me, "At that time I was so hungry and I did not understand what Deity is, who Gopinath is, and I made so much offence. If you can first make a house for Gopinath, I will be very happy." Gurudev ordered it to me, and I did it.

In those days, there was no road here also. To bring bricks, cement and everything else, we used to take bullock carts from Putsuri (a town nearby), and at all other times I would walk four kilometres from Putsuri to Bamunpara and four kilometres back.

Also, I did not have a car—there was only Gurudev's car at that time (the one from Srila Sridhar Maharaj's time and that is now in the Centenary Museum in Nabadwip); so, every time I rented a car to get to Putsuri, and then walk from there to Bamunpara. I remember every day I had to spend 400 rupees to rent the car, and one day Gurudev stopped me and gave me his car. This was the first time he let me use it, and after that I used it for many years—I went preaching, went to Hapaniya, Bamunpara, sometimes even Kolkata, and many other places in that car of Srila Sridhar Maharaj...

Before, Gopinath was worshipped in a thatched house in the village. Some local hired brahmin did the puja, but actually there was no proper worship. We prayed and prayed and by the mercy of Gurudev, mercy of Lord Gopinath, Krishna, and we then got our first land in 1999 and built there a small mandir, but that land was not sufficient for a temple. Actually, it was difficult to get any land, and Gurudev's family members did not cooperate with us so much. On the outskirts of the village, there was a place where people would keep the cows' dead bodies and other things. It was considered a very bad land and nobody wanted it, so I bought that land, cleared everything and started the construction. First I made a house (the one behind the temple) and started an ashram there. We placed there Gurudev's big photo and started worshipping it. Gurudev did not know about it.

Then, I started doing Govinda Kunda in Nabadwip, and everybody complained to Gurudev, "Oh, Acharya Maharaj is spending so much money on Govinda Kunda! He is stealing money!" Gurudev said, "Yes, I know he is 'stealing' money, but can you tell me where he is keeping that money?" Some time later, a devotee came with me to Bamunpara with a camera and took some photographs of the construction of the mandir and showed them to Gurudev. Gurudev said then, "Do you see? He is 'stealing' money, I know, but this is where he is keeping it!"

After the temple was built, I started making the nat mandir, then I brought Gopinath here and we inaugurated the temple in 2003. The Deity was actually worshipped by Nityananda Prabhu's, Virachandra Prabhu's family, and eventually by Gurudev's family...

I remember when I brought Gopinath from the family where He was kept to the new temple that we built, that same day the cows gave 3 kg more milk.

Gurudev's family had kept Gopinath, but they did not do puja, archan, and I came there at ten o'clock at night and took Gopinath away! That was my plan. At ten o'clock, when everybody thought Gopinath was sleeping, I took Him away.

That day there was a big festival in Nabadwip—so many people came for Gurudev's appearance day—and the next day there was a big festival (temple inauguration) in Bamunpara. At night time, after finishing the kirtan and class in Nabadwip, I called the Bamunpara manager and told him,

"I am coming to take prasadam there, wait for me."

"Maharaj, are you going now—at ten o'clock at night?!"

"Yes, no problem. Gopinath is not sleeping, He is waiting for me! Do not stop sankirtan until I get to the temple. Prasadam will be late today."

I took a car and in thirty-forty minutes was there. I came to Gopinath's house with that sankirtan, took Him in my arms and kept Him in the temple. Then He slept very well...

After the inauguration in 2003, we started coming to Bamunpara every year. Gurudev also came here several times. His last visit was in 2009. I remember on 4 December was his Vyasa Puja, and the next day, 5 December, he came here…

Odds and Ends (4)

Compiled on 31 December 2015

Several excerpts that were not included in the main posts:

Bankura Temple | 5 July 2015

Our new temple in Bankura (Betur) is almost finished, and the Deities—Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Radha-Raman jiu—are going to be ready soon. Gurudev gave a very sweet name in the Kaikhali temple, but unfortunately at present we cannot serve the Deities there, devotees cannot go to Kaikhali properly, that is why I have chosen this name for the Deities in Bankura.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj went to that place because of Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj, a disciple of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur. After Prabhupad's disappearance, Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj (at that time a brahmachari) returned to his home in Bankura and got married. Srila Sridhar Maharaj became very sad and went to his home to bring him back. Goswami Maharaj said, "Maharaj, if you give sannyas to me, I will join the mission and start preaching again." Srila Sridhar Maharaj agreed and after sannyas his name became Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj.

You know that every year when do Nabadwip Dham parikrama, we stop at Nandan Acharya Bhavan. It is his temple in Mayapur. In Vrindavan also, his temple is in Imlitala. He is a very big preacher and captured many places of Mahaprabhu's pastimes. Nandan Acharya Bhavan is the place where Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu met for the first time; and in Imlitala, Sri Krishna meditated at the bank of the Yamuna at that place, and Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj got the service there.

Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj's birthplace is near Bankura, and by the mercy of Guru Maharaj we got the land for our temple in Gurudev's time. Gurudev knew that place, knew that we had got the land there as a donation from a school teacher. I could not finish and could not start also the temple in Gurudev's time, but two years ago (2013) I started the construction, and now the temple is finished and I want to inaugurate it...

Ramanuja Acharya's bed | 15 June 2010

As you know Ramanuja Acharya travelled to many places. One time he went to Tirupati and stayed one month at one ashram there. He had a good servitor called Govinda who always served him.

Every day Govinda used to make a bed for his Guru and every time he made the bed, he would sleep on it for a few minutes. One day, Ramanuja Acharya asked him,

"Govinda, what you are doing? I heard you sleep in my bed for a few minutes! Do you not know that if you sleep on the same bed as your Gurudev you will have to go to hell?!"

"Yes, I know that..."

"Then why do you sleep in my bed?!"

"Prabhu, when I make your bed, I want to know if that bed is comfortable or uncomfortable because you will sleep there... so I do it just to check."

"Oh, I understand..."

"If I go to hell, it is no problem. For your service, I am ready to go to hell."

It is very nice, actually. We can do anything for the service to the Lord, service to Krishna, Guru, but we cannot do anything for our own indriya tarpan, our own enjoyment!

Parikrama thoughts | 10 March 2012

I saw that a small boy did full parikrama, and not only did parikrama, he also played a big mridanga! How did he do it? That mridanga weighs maybe five kilo. If I carry even one kilo during the parikrama, I cannot do it. I can only carry my microphone, which is two hundred grams or even less.

—And a very big mala also.

Yes [laughs], and that too is very heavy for me. When I am singing I cannot carry even my danda, and I was thinking, "Oh, when Mahaprabhu chants, He dances with His two hands up. Where is His danda?" Also, "When Mahaprabhu would sing so many people followed Him, and at that time there was no microphone. How did He sing without a microphone?" I was thinking about it...

Moustache | 12 September 2015

*** now has a big moustache. Why? What is this big moustache for? Does he think he is a man? Purush abhiman? In some countries, if you have a big moustache, you can get some money from the government. Does he too get some money from the government for it? [Laughs]

The scriptures say that if your moustache touches the water that you are drinking, then you are taking urine.

—Really?!

Yes. Hari-bhakti-vilas, many Vedas, Katha Upanisad, they all write this. There are many things told there very strictly, and it is hard to follow everything but the main things is this: when something is not necessary in your life, avoid it.

Sometimes devotees go to work and some proper dress is necessary. At that time you cannot wear a dhoti and a kurta, then it is not a problem, but I think that moustache is not necessary for a working place...

I am telling it to you because you are going to teach others:

nija achari' dharma jivake sikhaya

achara na karle sikhana na yaya

"First follow the instruction yourself, then teach others. If you do not practise what you preach, your preaching will not work."

If you want to teach somebody, first you must practise properly. If you want to tell others to chant the Holy Name, but you do not chant the Holy Name yourself, your words will not work. If you tell somebody to recite the gayatri every day, but you yourself do not recite it, the mantra that you will tell others will not work. You tell somebody, "Please chant the Holy Name, I'll give you a mala, I'll give you a mantra," but if you yourself do not practise, do not do it, then if you give a mala to somebody, that mala will not work. That is why when some sahajiya guru, laukik guru, kaulik guru, karmi guru, jnani guru, yogi guru gives initiation, it does not work. These are the main things.

More than meets the eye | 20 October 2015

Vrisabhanu... Mahaprabhu always called Pundarik Vidyanidhi "baba"...

You cannot see with your eyes, cannot see the difference between a sannyasi and a householder. You cannot distinguish that with your eyes.

Big-big sannyasis paid their obeisance to Kunja Babu, who was a householder. So many great-great babajis and big-big personalities paid their obeisance to Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur, who was a householder too. And Pundarik Vidyanidhi was also a householder, but Mahaprabhu recognised him. Who is he? He is the incarnation of Raja Vrisabhanu!

Always with you | 20 October 2015

Do you have any other questions?

—When will you come to Paipa?

Actually, you are always with me, and my heart is always with you. Physically I may not be able to come now, but as soon as I get relief and get my passport from the government, I will immediately start visiting foreign countries. It is going to be soon, there are good symptoms. When that happens, I will come to Paipa, Colombia and everywhere else, I will meet with you all, but my heart is always with you, and you are always with me.

The Highest Ambition | 20 October 2015

I have got a message recently that said, "Oh, you told me to do some service, but I have a higher ambition than that." I was surprised! I do not know what higher ambition, what better ambition there can be other than service!

No hodge-podge | 22 October 2011

Sridhar Maharaj's preaching is not quantity but quality. I will give initiation to those whom you recommend, otherwise many call me and ask for initiation, but I do not know them, I do not know whether they are asura (demon) or not. So, you must see first, must understand if they practise properly.

Why do many devotees come to the festivals there? Because you practise, you preach, and the leadership is good, there is no hodge-podge, no kitchuri, you follow the proper line, that is why your preaching in increasing.

It is not necessary to have many things. A small temple is sufficient. The temple may be small, but a big Guru is there—our Guru Maharaj is there, Gurudev is there. You do not need a grand accommodation, you can keep your Gurudev in your heart. And I can see Gurudev, can see Guru Maharaj through you all because you keep Guru Maharaj, you keep Gurudev in your hearts.

I am paying my full dandavat to all the devotees, I am very happy, I am very fortunate that you are keeping me also in your heart and at your lotus feet. That is my fortune. Also, I see that Rohini Nandan Prabhu does not have a garland, and I am giving this garland to him.

'Thanks' is not enough | 17 May 2015

Brazilian devotees helped me so much to buy the land in Nrisingha Palli. It was Gurudev's desire to have that land, and I am surprised how much they helped me. I did not hope to get that land beside the Nrisinghadev Temple, and now it happened. If I give 'thanks' to them, it is not very small. I cannot give thanks to them, it would be not perfect. They gave so much energy, funds, for that Niringha Palli land, and I am very happy. Before, Gurudev declared to everybody that we were getting a property of Nrisinghadev, but only now it actually came to the hand of our Chaitanya Saraswat Math. I am very pleased with that.

What is intelligence? | 12 September 2015

Intelligence is necessary. "Ye jana Krsna bhaje sei bada chatur": devotees of Krishna must be intelligent.

A householder devotee cooks and maintains a family, and a householder nondevotee also cooks and maintains a family; but the householder devotee is intelligent because he cooks for the Deity and devotees and maintains Krishna's samsar (family).

You must be clever and do everything as service to the Lord. That is called intelligence. Those who are foolish, think that they want to be enjoyers, but they do not know that Krishna is the enjoyer.

Let Gurudev choose | 5 December 2012

—Srila Govinda Maharaj's murti is coming soon.

Coming? When?

—Maybe in two weeks it will be here in Caracas. We would like to ask what we should do...

Wait and see. Gurudev will choose his place. He will choose some place beside Gaura Nitai and will sit there. Let him choose.

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