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Sri Ramananda Sambad
His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Godavari, Kovvur, Andhra Pradesh
5 January 2019, part 4
[His Divine Grace continues reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 8:]
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prabhu kahe,—"pada sloka sadhyera nirnaya" Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ordered Ramananda Ray, "Recite a verse from the revealed scriptures concerning the ultimate goal of life." Ramananda replied, "Devotion to the Lord is the execution of the prescribed duties of one's social position." |
Mahaprabhu rejected it.
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prabhu kahe,—"eho bahya, age kaha ara" The Lord replied, "This is external. Go further." Ramananda replied, "To offer the results of one's activities to Krishna is the essence of all perfection."
yat karosi yad asnasi, yaj juhosi dadasi yat Ramananda Ray quoted Srimad Bhagavad-gita (9.27), "O Kaunteya, whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever you give and whatever vow you may keep-do everything as an offering unto Me."
prabhu kahe,—"eho bahya, age kaha ara" The Lord said, "This is also external. Go further." Ramananda Ray replied, "To give up one's occupational duties in the varnasrama system is the essence of perfection."
ajnayaivam gunan dosan Ramananda Ray quoted Srimad Bhagavatam (11.11.32), "Occupational duties are described in the religious scriptures. If one analyses them, he can fully understand their qualities and faults and then give them up completely to render service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such a person is considered a first-class man.' |
The Lord says in Srimad Bhagavatam, "Those who have left everything that I have prescribed in the many scriptures, who do not think what is correct, what is incorrect, who have given up everything and worship Me—they are the highest saints." And Srimad Bhagavad-gita also told,
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sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja "Give up all kinds of religion and surrender to Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins, do not despair." |
"Leave everything and do not worry—I am the Lord, surrender to Me, and I will remove all your sins." Mahaprabhu rejected it too.
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prabhu kahe,—"eho bahya, age kaha ara" Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, "This is external. Go further." Ramananda Ray replied, "Devotional service mixed with empiric knowledge is the essence of perfection."
brahma-bhutah prasannatma Ramananda Ray quoted Srimad Bhagavad-gita (18.54), "The joyful-hearted, enlightened soul who has attained his divine nature neither sorrows nor desires. Seeing all beings equally, he comes to attain transcendental loving devotion for Me."
prabhu kahe, "eho bahya, age kaha ara" The Lord again rejected it, "This is external. Go further." Then, Ramananda Ray said, "Pure devotional service without any touch of speculative knowledge is the essence of perfection." |
To support this point of view, Ramananda Ray quoted a verse that says, "O Lord! It is generally very difficult and rare to get You, but those who worship You and distribute Your Holy Name, who explain and distribute Your katha, Your glories everywhere, can get You easily." Then the Lord said, "Eho haya, age kaya ara. Yes, it is so! But go further." He accepted it.
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prabhu kahe, "eho haya, age kaha ara" Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu replied, "This is all right, but go on." Ramananda Ray then replied, "Ecstatic love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the essence of all perfection."
krsna-bhakti-rasa-bhavita matih Ramananda Ray quoted a famous verse later included by Srila Rupa Goswami in Padyavali (14), "Pure devotional service in Krishna consciousness cannot be had even by pious activity in hundreds and thousands of lives. It can be attained only by paying one price—that is, intense greed to obtain it. If it is available somewhere, one must purchase it without delay." |
"You cannot get the Lord by any amount of pious activities, but you can buy Him with devotion."
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prabhu kahe, "eho haya, age kaha ara" The Lord said, "This is good, but go further." Ramananda Ray said, "Spontaneous loving service in servitude—as exchanged by master and servant—is the highest perfection." |
After that, Ramananda Ray gave examples of devotees possessing sakhya-prema, Sridam, Sudam, Vasudam, and others, saying how fortunate they were to have Lord Krishna as their friend. It is very rare to get Krishna, but how fortunate they are—they have become Krishna's friends.
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prabhu kahe,—"eho uttama, age kaha ara" The Lord said, "This is very good, but please proceed further." Ramananda Ray then replied, "Loving service to the Lord in the parental relationship is the highest perfectional stage." |
Mahaprabhu said, "It is good, but can you tell something more? Can you go further?"
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nandah kim akarod brahman Ramananda Ray quoted Srimad Bhagavatam (10.8.46), "O brahman, what pious activities did Nanda Maharaj perform by which he received the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna as his son? And what pious activities did Mother Yasoda perform that made the Absolute Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna call her 'Mother' and suck her breasts?"
nemam virincho na bhavo Ramananda Ray quoted Srimad Bhagavatam (10.9.20), "The favour Mother Yasoda obtained from Sri Krishna, the bestower of liberation, was never obtained even by Lord Brahma or Lord Siva, nor even by the goddess of fortune Laksmi, who always remains on the chest of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Visnu." |
What Yasoda has got—she gives her breasts to the Lord, she beats Krishna, etc.—not even Brahma, Siva, not even Laksmi Devi could get it.
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prabhu kahe, "eho uttama, age kaha ara" The Lord said, "This is great, but go further." Ramananda Ray then replied, "Conjugal attachment for Krishna is the topmost position in love of Godhead.
nayam sriyo 'nga u nitanta-rateh prasadah Ramananda Ray quoted Uddhav Maharaj (Srimad Bhagavatam, 10.47.60), "When Lord Sri Krishna was dancing with the gopis in the rasa-lila, the gopis were embraced around the neck by the Lord's arms. This transcendental favor was never bestowed upon the goddess of fortune or the other consorts in the spiritual world. Nor was such a thing ever imagined by the most beautiful girls in the heavenly planets, girls whose bodily luster and aroma resemble the beauty and fragrance of lotus flowers. And what to speak of worldly women, who may be very, very beautiful according to material estimation?"
krsna-praptira upaya bahu-vidha haya "There are various means and processes by which one may attain the favor of Lord Krishna. All those transcendental processes will be studied from the viewpoint of comparative importance.
kintu yanra yei rasa, sei sarvottama "It is true that whatever relationship a particular devotee has with the Lord is the best for him; still, when we study all the different methods from a neutral position, we can understand that there are higher and lower degrees of love." |
"Sraddha anusare haya bhakti adhikari." One's devotion depends on what kind of faith one has, and the Lord reciprocates depending on one's qualities:
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
The Lord reciprocates with the devotional mood of a devotee—He is the Master to those in dasya-rasa, a son to those in vatsalya-rasa, etc.
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purva-purva-rasera guna—pare pare haya "There is a gradual order of improvement in transcendental mellows from the initial ones to the later ones. In each subsequent mellow the qualities of the previous mellows are manifested, counting from two, then three, and up to the point of five complete qualities. |
Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says that those who have the right (adhikar) in a particular rasa (dasya, sakhya, vatsalya, or madhurya) cannot cross their line—those who have the right to worship in santa-rasa, will worship in santa-rasa; those who have the right for dasya-rasa, will worship in dasya-rasa. They never cross that line. He also warns that those who have no right to worship in madhurya-rasa must not go there.
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krsnera pratijna drdha sarva-kale ache "Lord Krishna has made a firm promise for all time. If one renders service unto Him, Krishna correspondingly gives him an equal amount of success in devotional service to the Lord."
ye yatha mam prapadyante Ramananda Ray quoted Lord Krishna (Bhagavad-gita, 4.11), "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."
ei 'preme'ra anurupa na pare bhajite "In Srimad Bhagavatam (10.32.22) it is said that Lord Krishna cannot proportionately reciprocate devotional service in the madhurya-rasa; therefore He always remains a debtor to such devotees."
na paraye 'ham niravadya-samyujam "When the gopis were overwhelmed with dissatisfaction due to Lord Krishna's absence from the rasa-lila, Krishna returned to them and told them, 'My dear gopis, our meeting is certainly free of all material contamination. I must admit that in many lives it would be impossible for Me to repay My debt to you because you have cut off the bondage of family life just to search for Me. Consequently I am unable to repay you. Therefore please be satisfied with your honest activities in this regard."
prabhu kahe,—ei 'sadhyavadhi' sunischaya Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu replied, "This is certainly the limit of perfection, but please be merciful to Me and speak more if there is more."
raya kahe,—ihara age puchhe hena jane Raya Ramananda replied, "Until this day I did not know anyone within this material world who could inquire beyond this perfectional stage of devotional service.
inhara madhye radhara prema—'sadhya-siromani' "Among the loving affairs of the gopis," Ramananda Raya continued, "Srimati Radharani's love for Sri Krishna is topmost. Indeed, the glories of Srimati Radharani are highly esteemed in all revealed scriptures.
churi kari' radhake nila gopi-ganera dare "During the rasa dance Sri Krishna did not exchange loving affairs with Srimati Radharani due to the presence of the other gopis. Because of the dependence of the others, the intensity of love between Radha and Krishna was not manifest. Therefore He stole Her away. |
Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur warns that those who have no right, or qualification, to consult with the works of Jayadev, with Padmavali, Gita-Govinda, etc. must not go there—it is better then not to consult with such things, otherwise we will go another way and do nonsense. Gurudev also told, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj also told that we can read the last part of the Siksastakam kirtans, but we do not sing it.
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prabhu kahe,—'sadhya-vastura avadhi' ei haya Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu confirmed these verses recited by Sri Ramananda Raya, saying, "This is the limit of the goal of human life. Only by your mercy have I come to understand it conclusively.
'sadhya-vastu' 'sadhana' vinu keha nahi paya "The goal of life cannot be achieved unless one practices the process. Now, being merciful upon Me, please explain that means by which this goal can be attained." |
Mahaprabhu wants to hear from Ramananda Ray's mouth, but Ramananda Ray says, "Prabhu I do not know anything. You are playing in my tongue—I simply say whatever You make me say."
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raya kahe,—yei kahao, sei kahi vani Sri Ramananda Raya replied, "I do not know what I am saying, but You have made me speak what I have spoken, be it good or bad. I am simply repeating that message."
sakhi vina ei lilaya anyera nahi gati "Without the help of the gopis, one cannot enter into these pastimes. Only one who worships the Lord in the ecstasy of the gopis, following in their footsteps, can engage in the service of Sri Sri Radha-Krishna in the bushes of Vrindavan. Only then can one understand the conjugal love between Radha and Krishna. There is no other procedure for understanding." |
That is a very high conception.
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krsna saha radhikara lila ye karaya "The happiness of the gopis increases ten million times when they serve to engage Sri Sri Radha and Krishna in Their transcendental pastimes. |
Again, these are very interesting, but very high things.
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eta suni' prabhu tanre kaila alingana After hearing this, Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu embraced Ramananda Raya, and both of them, embracing shoulder to shoulder, began to cry.
ei-mata premavese ratri gonaila The entire night was passed in this way, in ecstatic love of Godhead. In the morning they both departed to tend to their respective duties.
vidaya-samaye prabhura charane dhariya Before departing from Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Ramananda Ray fell to the ground and caught hold of the Lord's lotus feet. He then spoke submissively as follows.
'more krpa karite tomara ihan agamana Sri Ramananda Ray said, "You have come here just to show me Your causeless mercy. Therefore stay here for at least ten days and purify my polluted mind.
toma vina anya nahi jiva uddharite "But for You, there is no one who can deliver all the living entities, for You alone can deliver love of Krishna." |
Both of them left then, but the next day Ramananda Ray and Mahaprabhu met again...
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| 'He wanted to take a roundabout zigzag route, avoiding Nityananda Prabhu and going directly to Mahaprabhu, but every time he went to Mahaprabhu, Mahaprabhu rejected him and sent him back to his home..' |
| Sri Sri Damodarastakam |
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| 'O Lord, Your lotus face, which is encircled by locks of soft black hair tinged with red, is kissed again and again by Mother Yasoda, and Your lips are reddish like the bimba fruit. May this beautiful vision of Your lotus face be ever manifest in my heart. Thousands and thousands of other benedictions are of no use to me.' | শ্রীশ্রীদামোদরাষ্টকম্ |
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“Somebody
does service, and somebody is an obstacle to service. This always happens—it is games of Maya Devi.” |
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