Bhukti, Mukti, Bhakti

His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Reading from Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, ch. 8 and 10
6 November 2010

krsna yadi chhute bhakte bhukti mukti diya
kabhu bhakti na dena rakhena lukaiya

rajan patir gurur alam bhavatam yadunam
daivam priyah kula-patih kva cha kinkaro vah
astv evam anga bhagavan bhajatam mukundo
muktim dadati karhichit sma na bhakti-yogam

"If you are asking for some kind of mukti [liberation] or bhukti [material enjoyment], Krishna will never give you devotion to Himself—He will always hide it from you." So nicely it is written.

hena prema sri chaitanya dila yatha tatha
jagai madhai paryanta—anyera ka katha

If somebody is simple-hearted and does not know anything about bhukti, mukti, and they have some faith, sraddha, they can get devotion easily.

Question: What does mukti mean?

Mukti means a liberated soul. Srila Rupa Goswami gave the following example in his Vidagdha Madhava. Some straw floats in the Ganges or in a big ocean, some water evaporates from it at night, and that drop of water thinks, "Oh, I am very small, but this ocean is so great! I also want to be big like this ocean." It immediately grows heavier and falls down into the water, where it is not able to find itself any more. Mukti is like this—we get merged and cannot find ourselves any more; we will not get any taste. That is mukti. Devotees put their foot on top of Mukti Devi and climb higher up in their devotional activities—they never ask anything from mukti.

svatantra isvara prema-nigudha-bhandara
bilaila yare tare, na kaila vichara

Even though Bhagavan Himself, the Lord Himself, never exposes Krishna-prema, but still He distributes it everywhere.

'nityananda' balite haya krsna-premodaya
aulaya sakala anga, asru-ganga vaya

When you chant Nitai Gaur Haribol, Nitai Gaur Haribol, no offence comes, but when you take Krishna Nam with offences, no vikar [transformation], no result comes through that. That is why good association is necessary to be able to remove the offences.

'eka' krsna-name kare sarva-papa nasa
premera karana bhakti karena prakasa

The offences will be removed by chanting the Holy Name only once.

premera udaye haya premera vikara
sveda-kampa-pulakadi gadgadasrudhara

anayase bhava-ksaya, krsnera sevana
eka krsna-namera phale pai eta dhana

hena krnsa-nama yadi laya bahu-bara
tabu yadi prema nahe, nahe asrudhara
tabe jani, aparadha tahate prachura
krsna-nama-bija tahe na kare ankura

But we chant this Krishna Nam again and again, and no result comes. Because of our offences the seed of the Holy Name does not sprout.

chaitanya-nityanande nahi e-saba vichara
nama laite prema dena, vahe asrudhara

svatantra isvara prabhu atyanta udara
tanre na bhajile kabhu na haya nistara

ore mudha loka, suna chaitanya-mangala
chaitanya-mahima yate janibe sakala

krsna-lila bhagavate kahe veda-vyasa
chaitanya-lilara vyasa—vrndavana-dasa

chaitanya-nitaira yate janiye mahima
yate jani krsna-bhakti-siddhantera sima

bhagavate yata bhakti-siddhantera sara
likhiyachhena inha jani' kariya uddhara

'chaitanya-mangala' sune yadi pasandi, yavana
seha maha-vaisnava haya tataksana

vrndavana-dasa-pade koti namaskara
aichhe grantha kari' tenho tarila samsara

narayani—chaitanyera uchchhista-bhajana
tanra garbhe janmila sri-dasa-vrndavana

tanra ki adbhuta chaitanya-charita-varnana
yahara sravane suddha kaila tri-bhuvana

ataeva bhaja, loka, chaitanya-nityananda
khandibe samsara-duhkha, pabe premananda

vrndavana-dasa kaila 'chaitanya-mangala'
tahate chaitanya-lila varnila sakala

yasyasti bhaktir bhagavaty akinchana
sarvair gunais tatra samasate surah
harav abhaktasya kuto mahad-guna
manorathenasati dhavato bahih

When somebody does not practise devotional activities, their mind always goes to the bad things, and it becomes impossible for them to get the good qualities. That quality will not come.

Question: What can we do about this?

Practise bhaktanga. Practise what is favourable to devotion, and reject what is unfavourable to devotion. There are 64 bhaktangas, they are written here in Chaitanya-charitamrita. It is necessary to practise it properly, then it will be very nice.

Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami says, "I am not writing this book. Madan Mohan is writing it."

ei grantha lekhaya more 'madana-mohana'
amara likhana yena sukera pathana

sei likhi, madana-gopala more ye likhaya
kasthera puttali yena kuhake nachaya

kuladhidevata mora—madana-mohana
yanra sevaka—raghunatha, rupa, sanatana

"My worshippable istadevata is Madan Mohan, and I am always praying to His servitors, Raghunath, Rupa, and Sanatan. I am not going directly to Madan Mohan, but I am praying to Him through His servitors." Also, Krishna Das Goswami worships the lotus feet of Vrindavan Das:

vrndavana-dasera pada-padma kari' dhyana
tanra ajna lana likhi yahate kalyana

That is a Vaishnav's quality. Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami says, "I am praying to Vrindavan Das Thakur, and I always remember his lotus feet."

chaitanya-lilate 'vyasa'—vrndavana-dasa
tanra krpa vina anye na haya prakasa

"Without his mercy we cannot write anything, we cannot do anything."

murkha, nicha, ksudra muni visaya-lalasa
vaisnavajna-bale kari eteka sahasa

"I am a great sinner, foolish, and small. I am always attracted to material things, but I am going to write a book! I am only doing it remembering my Guru and the Vaishnavs, and following their order. I am not doing it myself. I am doing so many big things, but it is only possible by the mercy of the Vaishnavs."

And Raghunath Das Goswami also...

mahaprabhura priya bhrtya—raghunatha-dasa
sarva tyaji' kaila prabhura pada-tale vasa

prabhu samarpila tanre svarupera hate
prabhura gupta-seva kaila svarupera sathe

sodasa vatsara kaila antaranga-sevana
svarupera antardhane aila vrndavana

He had served Mahaprabhu for 16 years, did antaranga seva [personal service], and when Swarup Damodar left, he came to Vrindavan,

vrndavane dui bhaira charana dekhiya
govardhane tyajiba deha bhrgupata kariya

He said, "I want to commit suicide, I want to jump from Govardhan."

ei ta' nischaya kari' aila vrndavane
asi' rupa-sanatanera vandila charane

tabe dui bhai tanre marite na dila
nija trtiya bhai kari' nikate rakhila

Rupa and Sanatan were brothers, and they took Raghunath Das Goswami as their third brother.

mahaprabhura lila yata bahira-antara
dui bhai tanra mukhe sune nirantara

He heard all Pastimes of Mahaprabhu from Rupa, Sanatan.

anna-jala tyaga kaila anya-kathana
pala dui-tina matha karena bhaksana

He rejected rice, water, everything, and he only took some matha, buttermilk.

sahasra dandavat kare, laya laksa nama
dui sahasra vaisnavere nitya paranama

He paid obeisance a hundred times, he chanted a hundred thousand Names, and every day he paid his obeisance to two thousand Vaishnavs!

ratri-dine radha-krsnera manasa sevana
prahareka mahaprabhura charitra-kathana

And the whole day and night he did service to Radha-Krishna.

tina sandhya radha-kunde apatita snana
vraja-vasi vaisnavere alingana dana

We are afraid to bathe in Radha Kunda once, but he bathed there three times a day, and he always embraced the Vraja basis [residents of Sri Vrindavan Dham].

sardha sapta-prahara kare bhaktira sadhane
chari danda nidra, seha nahe kona-dine

He spent only one and a half hours on sleeping, taking prasadam, etc., and he served twenty-two and a half hours a day...

tanhara sadhana-riti sunite chamatkara
sei rupa-raghunatha prabhu ye amara

inha-sabara yaichhe haila prabhura milana
age vistariya taha kariba varnana

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