Sri Baladev Prabhu:
Krishna's Merciful Alter Ego

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Baladev Purnima, Dum Dum Park, Kolkata
15 August 2019, part 1

I am first offering a full obeisance at the lotus feet of my beloved Gurudev, Gurupadpadma Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, as well as all the godbrothers, godsisters, all the sannyasi- and brahmachari-vrinda, and all the assembled devotees all over the world. I am paying my full obeisance at their lotus feet.

Today is a very auspicious day. It is a very good in our life—the appearance day of Sri Baladev Prabhu. Baladev, or Balaram, is non-different from Gurudev and Nityananda Prabhu, and on this day we are making some festival, making some arrangement to remember the glories of Baladev Prabhu—it is good for us, and good for everybody also. It is necessary to do it because this is the essence of our spiritual life.

You all know that Baladev is the son of Rohini. We know that Krishna appeared in the prison of Kamsa in Mathura and after that He came to the house of Yasoda Mayi and as Bala-Gopal Krishna became the son of Nanda-Yasoda. Here also, it happened so that Baladev appeared as the son of Rohini. He is non-different from Nityananda Prabhu and actually Krishna as well because the scriptures say that Krishna has one body but this body has two forms, Krishna and Balaram.

Baladev, or Balaram, is also known as Mul-Sankarsan. Because Nityananda Prabhu and Balaram are non-different and because they are asraya-vigraha (givers of shelter), we can also easily understand that They are also non-different from Gurudev.

Balaram serves Krsihna with ten bodies—we use chamar, peacock fan, and many other paraphernalia in worship, even the temple itself and everything in it is Balaram. Balaram always serves Krishna. I have also told you many times how once Balaram gave a slap to Krishna. Krishna complained to His mother, "Mother, brother (dauji) has beaten Me!" ('Dauji' means 'an elder brother.') Mother Yasoda then chastised Balaram a little, "He is Your younger brother, why did You beat Him?" Balaram did not say anything, but when Mother Yasoda left He grabbed Krishna by His shoulders and began shaking Him, "Do You think Your mother loves You more than I do? Tell Me, who loves You more, Your mother or I? When You do all the nonsense roaming around all Vrindavan, all Gokul, all Mahavan, who comes to protect You at that time? Does Your mother come? Does she protect You? I always protect You!" Then, Gopal Krishna began to cry, "Yes, dauji (brother), You love Me more than My mother!"

As I have said, Baladev is actually Mul-Sankarsan, which means that He performs the pastimes of attracting (sankarsan, or akarsan). Rama Ghat is the place of Baladev's akarsan-lila. One day, Baladev Prabhu wanted to perform rasa-lila with Yamuna Devi. He called Yamuna, but she did not come, so Baladev got angry and pulled her towards Him with His plough. That is why, although Yamuna always flows straight, at Rama Ghat she flows a little bit crooked.

When we go to Vrindavan, I also always speak about pastimes at Chir Ghat (it is near our temple in Vrindavan), the place where Krishna stole all gopis' clothes. This pastime is all about surrendered mood. They gave absolute everything to the Lord, even their clothes! At Rama Ghat too, Baladev attracted Yamuna, but Yamuna was shy, so He pulled her towards Him.

What is the glory of this pastime? It shows that Balaram (Sankarsan) ploughs and cultivates (karsan) and at the same time also attracts, pulls towards Him (akarsan). In other words, Baladev, or Gurudev, removes all bad elements from the hearts of practitioners. Gurudev's Hari-katha, Gurudev's association removes all difficulties, all obstacles from our spiritual life (lust, anger, greed, etc., kanak, attachment to money, kamini, attachment to companions, pratishta, name and fame). This is the lesson of this pastime of Baladev.

The hearts of those who do not have any relation with Gurudev are always filled with so many thoughts, worries, so many bad things. However, when the hearts of practitioners become clean through the association of their Gurudev, through hearing their Gurudev's Hari-katha, they become fit for Krishna-prema. In other words, when kanak, kamini, pratistha, and all other bad elements and material desires go away, then we can get Krishna-prema. This is the main thing.

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