(6/17) Highest Attainment

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Bolpur, evening, 19 January 2019, part 6
Translated from Bengali

We must think what is good for your souls. I have told you about the highest attainment in life (sadhya-vastu), which is Goloka Vrindavan. There are fourteen worlds within our universe: Bhur, Bhuvar, Svar, Maha, Jana, Tapa, Satya; Atal, Vital, Sutal, Talatal, Mahatal, Rasatal, Patal. Beyond these fourteen worlds there is Vaikuntha, where Lord Narayan stays.

When I went to Nepal, somebody asked me, 'Vaishnavs worship Lord Vishnu (Narayan), so if you worship Vishnu, why is it necessary to worship Krishna?' I told them why. Lord Brahma says,

ঈশ্বরঃ পরমঃ কৃষ্ণঃ সচ্চিদানন্দবিগ্রহঃ ।
অনাদিরাদির্গোবিন্দঃ সর্ব্বকারণকারণম্ ॥

isvarah paramah krsnah sach-chid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam

'Krishna, who is known as Govinda, is the supreme controller. He has an eternal, blissful, spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin, for He is the prime cause of all causes.'

(Sri Brahma-samhita, 5.1)

Krishna is one, but He manifests Himself in two forms, as Krishna and Balaram. Gauranga is also one, but He manifests Himself in two forms, as Gaura and Nityananda. Krishna is Gaura, and Balaram is Nitai. Nityananda Prabhu is Mulsankarsan, He is the controller and manager of this whole world. From Mulsankarsan come Sankarsan, Vasudev, Aniruddha and Pradyumna. Then, from Aniruddha come three Vishnus: Garbhodakasayi, Ksirodakasayi and Karanodakasayi. Finally, from Karanodakasayi Vishnu come the ten incarnations of the Lord that we all know from the 'Dasa Avatara Stotram': Matsya avatar (the fish incarnation), Kurma avatar (the God of earth – for example, when you build a house, you must worship Lord Kurma, the tortoise incarnation, for the ground to hold it), Varaha avatar (the boar incarnation), Nrisingha avatar (the half-man, half-lion incarnation), Vaman avatar, Parasuram avatar, Rama avatar, Baladev avatar, Buddha avatar and Kalki avatar. All these incarnations of the Lord are Lord Vishnu.

You can see how many Vishnus come from Krishna, then how can Krishna and Vishnu be one and the same? 'Krishna, who is known as Govinda, is the supreme controller. He has an eternal, blissful, spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin, for He is the prime cause of all causes.' He is Govinda and He is 'anadir adi' – He existed before everything and everyone else. Whether you call Him Madhav, Yadav, Gopal, Govinda or by any other name, He is the origin of all.

Where does this Krishna live? He lives in Goloka Vrindavan. Beyond this material world, there is the Viraja River; beyond this river, there is Vaikuntha, then Parabrahma, and then Goloka Vrindavan. The Lord lives and performs His eternal pastimes in this abode. This is also where we belong to. Coming from that land, we have now fallen into this ocean of material life as humans and many other kinds of species. Having travelled throughout 8,400,000 species, we have now got this human birth. If we do not take advantage of this human life, we will have to continue this 'travelling' according to our karma – we will have to keep coming and going. To avoid that, we must practise spiritual life, practise Krishna consciousness. That is why Mahaprabhu comes in Kali-yuga...

When I gave a class earlier today, I told everyone about devotion. There is one sampradaya that says to everybody, 'Become a devotee of Krishna!' We do not do this. Followers of the Gaudiya line do not do this. What does Krishna Himself say? 'Those who say they are My devotees are not My devotees. My real devotees are the devotees of My devotees.' So, what to speak of becoming a devotee of Krishna, we must become servants of Krishna's devotees. So, first, we must become devotees of Radharani. We sing in one of the kirtans:

রাধা-ভজনে যদি মতি নাহি ভেলা ।
কৃষ্ণ-ভজন তব অকারণ গেলা ॥

radha-bhajane yadi mati nahi bhela
krsna-bhajana tava akarana gela

'If you did not become devoted to the worship of Srimati Radharani, your worship of Krishna was in vain.'

(Sri Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Whom does Krishna belong to? 'Radhara dasira Krsna sarva-vede bole (রাধার দাসীর কৃষ্ণ সর্ব্ব বেদে বলে). Krishna is the property of the maidservants of Srimati Radharani. All Vedas say this.' All Vedas say that Krishna is the property of Radha's maidservants.

রাধিকা দাসী যদি হোয় অভিমান ।
শীঘ্রই মিলই তব গোকুল কান ॥

radhika-dasi yadi haya abhimana
sighrai milai taba gokula kana

'Those who pride themselves on being maidservants of Radhika will quickly come to meet Gokula Kan (Krishna).'

(Sri Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We are servants of Radha's maidservants. We cannot serve Radharani directly, but She has Her maidservants (Lalita, Visakha and others), and if I can become their servants, that is sufficient for me. This is the line that Mahaprabhu comes to give to this world. He never told anybody to become a devotee of Krishna. Before you can become a devotee of Krishna, become a devotee of Radharani and Mahaprabhu.

What did Mirabai say? 'I have got the treasure of divine love for Krishna (Krsna-prema-dhana painu).' But Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says, 'Apana bhajana-katha na kahibe yatha tatha (আপন ভজন-কথা, না কহিবে যথা তথা). Do not tell anyone and everyone about your own bhajan, service and practice. Keep it private.'

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Self-Realisation
2) Seek Soul's Solace
3) 'Why Am I Suffering?'
4) Relief from Reaction
5) Escaping Life of Sin
6) Highest Attainment
7) Learn to Love Lord
8) From Hell to Heaven and Back
9) Sadhus' Clothes and Sadhus' Hearts
10) Genuine Gurus' Mission
11) Money Does Not Buy Devotion
12) Higher and Highest Devotion
13) Learn the Conception
14) Start Practising Sincerely
15) Make Effort
16) Cure from Material Misery
17) Live for the Lord