(1/3) Rama and Krishna Are Not Same

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Tarakeshwar, Sri Rama-Navami,
14 April 2019, evening part 1
Translated from Bengali

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay.
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay.
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay.
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Radha Madan-mohanjiu ki jay.
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay.
Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay.
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay.
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay.
Jay Bhagavan Ramachandra ki jay.
Ramachandrer avirbhav tithi-bara maha-mahotsav ki jay.
Harinam-sankirtan ki jay.
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay.
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

মূকং করোতি বাচালং পঙ্গুং লঙ্ঘয়তে গিরিম্ ।
যৎকৃপা তমহং বন্দে শ্রীগুরুং দীনতারণম্ ॥

mukam karoti vachalam pangum langhayate girim
yat krpa tam aham vande sri-gurum dina-taranam

‘The dumb can speak, the lame can climb a hill – all it takes is mercy from gurudev.’

(Bhavartha Dipika)

First, I am offering my full obeisance at the reddish soles of my Divine Master Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj’s holy feet, begging him for his causeless mercy and aspiring to serve him. After that, I am offering my full obeisance to all guru-varga, all my godbrothers, all the listeners, all the motherly lady devotees and all the devotees. I am offering my obeisance at your holy feet and praying for your mercy to this lowly soul.

Today is a very good day, the holy appearance day of Bhagavan Maryada-Purusottam Sri Ramachandra. The devotees of Lord Rama arrange a very big festival on this day. We also make a festival and speak about Lord Ramachandra on this day.

Lord Ramachandra is Narayan, a murti (holy form) of Lord Vishnu. At first, Mul-Sankarsan appears from the Supreme Lord Krishna; after that, from Mul-Sankarsan come Sankarsan, Vasudev, Aniruddha and Pradyumna. Further, from Aniruddha come three forms of Vishnu: Garbhodakasayi, Ksirodakasayi and Karanodakasayi. From Karanodakasayi Vishnu come the ten incarnations of the Lord (we have just sung a kirtan about Them): a fish incarnation (Matsya avatar, Minasarira), a tortoise incarnation (Kurma avatar; the Deity of the Earth – when we cultivate the land, build anything on the ground or even step on the ground, we should offer worship to Kurmadev), a boar incarnation (Varaha avatar), Parasuram avatar, Buddha avatar (this is not Gautama Buddha it is different), Rama avatar, Nrisingha avatar, Vaman avatar, Baladev avatar (Haladhar, or Sankarsan), and Kalki avatar (He will come later – the other nine incarnations have already come, and Kalki avatar will come at the end of Kali-yuga in the town Sambalpur in Odisha).

There is an avatara (incarnation of the Lord) and there is an avatari (the source of all incarnations). The Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Sri Krishna and Sri Gaurahari are avatari, and all the other incarnations are avatars.

You have all read or at least heard about Ramayana. Lord Ramachandra descends in Treta-yuga selecting Darasath and Kausalya's house as His place of appearance. In the meantime, the two gatekeepers from Vaikuntha, Jay and Vijay, come down as Ravan and Kumbhakarna. In Satya-yuga, they were Hiranyakasipu and Hiranyaksa; in Treta-yuga, they are Ravan and Kumbhakarna; and in Dvapar-yuga, they were born as Dantavakra and Sisupal. The Lord fought and defeated them all personally in all three ages.

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 origin, for He is the prime cause of all causes.’

(Sri Brahma-samhita, 5.1)

Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead (svayam-bhagavan), He is absolutely self-sufficient (svayam-sampurna) and the Lord of all Lords (sarvesvar). Lord Krishna is the Lord of all incarnations of Vishnu. All the incarnations I have just mentioned are forms of Lord Vishnu. All incarnations that appear in the creation appear for His purpose – by His will, They appear in this world to assist His pastimes. The Lord creates demons, and the Lord personally incarnations in one form or another to slay them. You can find in the scriptures the evidence that Krishna is supreme:

যে যথা মাং প্রপদ্যন্তে তাংস্তথৈব ভজাম্যহম্ ।
মম বর্ত্মানুবর্ত্তন্তে মনুষ্যাঃ পার্থ সর্ব্বশঃ ॥

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)

Lord Krishna says in Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 'Howsoever people worship Me, I accordingly fulfil their heart desires.' Thus, there are five spiritual relationships with the Lord: santa-rasa (neutrality), dasya-rasa (serving the Lord as a servant), sakhya-rasa (serving the Lord as a friend), vatsalya-rasa (serving the Lord as a parent), madhura-rasa (serving the Lord as a beloved). Listen carefully. All these five relationships were present during the pastimes of Lord Krishna in Dvapar-yuga, but you will not find all of them manifest in the pastimes of Lord Ramachandra. The devotees of Lord Rama do not accept this – they say that Rama and Krishna are one and the same. You must explain it to them. Krishna is avatari, the source and origin of all incarnations, and Rama is an avatar. Krishna is the self-sufficient Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is One.

একলা ঈশ্বে কৃষ্ণ, আর সব ভৃত্য ।
যারে যৈছে নাচায়, সে তৈছে করে নৃত্য ॥

ekala isvara krsna, ara saba bhrtya
yare yaichhe nachaya, se taichhe kare nrtya

‘Lord Krishna is the only supreme controller, and all others are His servants. They dance as He makes them do so.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.5.142)

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Length: 36 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Rama and Krishna Are Not Same
2) Spiritual Gradation
3) Devotees' Devotion