Best Worship

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Vrindavan-Worldwide, 11 April 2021, part 5

Question: When Mahaprabhu asked Ramananda Ray, "Who should we worship?" He said that the worship of Radha Krishna was the best. Then, be it at home or at the temple, is it enough to worship only Mahaprabhu, or we must worship and install the Deities of Radha Krishna as well?

মহাপ্রভু শ্রীচৈতন্য, রাধাকৃষ্ণ নহে অন্য,
রূপানুগ জনের জীবন ।

mahaprabhu sri chaitanya radha-krsna nahe anya
rupanuga janera jivana

"Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is nondifferent from Sri Sri Radha-Krsna and is the very life of Sri Rupa's followers."

Radha and Krishna are non-different from Gauranga Mahaprabhu, but in this age of Kali worship of Radha and Krishna is very difficult. It may be not difficult, but people sometimes become sahajiya when do so. That is why, Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said,

মাতল হরিজন কীর্ত্তন-রঙ্গে ।
পূজল রাগপথ গৌরব-ভঙ্গে ॥

matala hari-jana kirtana-range
pujala raga-patha gaurava-bhange

"From afar we shall worship the raga-patha, the path of spontaneous affectionate service, while we ourselves shall live within the Vedic guideline."

You must keep raga-patha (the path of worshipping the Yugala Murti of Sri Sri Radha Krishna by rendering spontaneous loving service) in your heart. Mahaprabhu also asked Ramananda Ray another question. He asked, "Who should we meditate on? Which meditation (dhyan) is the highest?" The answer is the lotus feet of Sri Sri Radha Krishna are the best objects of meditation. This is what you should keep in your heart—you can always think (practise dhyan) about Their lotus feet, but it is not necessary to show it externally like sahajiyas do. When you come to Vrindavan, you can hear everyone here says, "Radhe! Radhe!" That is why, we are to worship Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu. Moreover,

যদি গৌর না হ'ত তবে কি হইত
কেমনে ধরিতাম দে ।
রাধার মহিমা প্রেমরস-সীমা
জগতে জানাত কে ? ॥

yadi gaura na ha'ta tabe ki ha-ita
kemane dharitam de
radhara mahima, prema-rasa-sima
jagate janata ke?

"If Gaura had not come, then what would have happened? How would we have maintained our lives? Who would have revealed to the world Radha's glory and the extremes of Her ecstatic divine love?"

(Srila Vasudev Ghosh Thakur)

If Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had not come, who would have let us know about the glory of Srimati Radharani? Srimati Radharani's Name is not even mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam. Sri Vasu Ghosh writes very nicely in his song,

বরজ-যুবতী ভাবের ভকতি
শকতি হইত কার ?

varaja-yuvati bhavera bhakati
sakati ha-ita kara?

[If Gauranga Mahaprabhu had not come,] who would have had any qualification for the Vraja-gopis' ecstatic devotion?

So, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's worship is the best and main worship, but first it is necessary to take shelter of a bona fide Guru. Without the mercy of Gurudev, without the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, it is not possible to worship Gauranga. "Guru bada diye Gauranga bhaje, sei papi raurave padi maje: the sinner who worships Gauranga without the Guru will fall into a terrible hell." So, we worship both Gauranga and Nityananda, Nitai and Gaura. This is our main worship.

...Many people from Gauda-desh want to stay at Radha Kunda. They come and start saying, "Radhe! Radhe!" but they do not actually know Srimati Radharani's mood, do not know the mood of Srila Raghunath Das Goswami—they only want to copy and imitate what we hear from Gurudev about. Sahajiyaism, sahajiya conception, and mayavad are very bad diseases. Everybody comes to Vrindavan for their own interest...

নিজের পোষণ কভু না ভাবিব
রহিব ভাবের ভরে ।

nijera posana, kabhu na bhaviba,
rahiba bhavera bhare

"I will never think about my own maintenance; I will always remain within the shelter of loving attachment for You."

(Saranagati, 19)

People come to Vrindavan for their own interest, not for service, not for Gurudev's mission, not for the service to Sri Sri Radha Rasabihari—they only come for their own interest; they stay here and become bhogi (enjoyers). There are three categories of people—bhogi, tyagi, and sevi. Bhogi is enjoyers, tyagi is renouncers, and sevi is servitors. But I see now that everyone here in Vrindavan is now becoming bhogi—everybody wants to be enjoyers. They use motorcycles, watch television, they stop sravanam, kirtanam, etc. That is why I have come here, I want to make some changes...

[Addressing a devotee.] Anyhow, practise properly and try to serve. Do not listen to gossips and so many nonsense things. Do not criticise others. All right? Ku-boliba na, ku-suniba na, ku-dekhiba na (কুবলিব না, কুশুনিব না, কুদেখিব না)—we will not say bad things, we will not listen to bad things, and we will not see bad things.

[Addressing a devotee.] If you are afraid of death, chant the Holy Name. One day we all have to die, you know that. Do you remember the story of Vritrasur who was killed by Indra, how they took Dadhichi Muni's bones and Vritrasur surrendered? That pastime shows very nicely that you can never say who is a Vaishnav, a devotee.

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay

Dandavat. Please accept my humble obeisance and please forgive my offence.

[Srimad Bhagavatam describes this pastime in Sixth Canto, chapters 9-13. Presenting below a short summary of this pastime:]

When Vritrasur, a fierce-looking and extremely effulgent demon, by mistake appeared from a yajna, fear-stricken demigods ran to the Supreme Lord to seek a solution how to get rid of this imposing demon. The Supreme Lord advised demigods to turn for help to a sage named Dadhichi whose bones could serve as a powerful weapon against the demon. Following the instruction of the Lord, demigods came to Dadhichi and asked him for help. Dadhichi agreed to sacrifice his body for a higher purpose, and demigods thereby got a weapon that could kill Vritrasur. The great long battle between demigods and Vritrasur started during which Vritrasur happily embraced his fate advising Indra, "If one is a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and depends on Him in every respect, then victory, opulence and peace of mind are all inevitably available. Such a person has nothing for which to aspire in the three worlds. The Supreme Lord is so kind that He especially favours such a devotee by not giving him opulence that will hamper his devotional service. Therefore I wish to give up everything for the service of the Lord. I wish always to chant the glories of the Lord and engage in His service. Let me become unattached to my worldly family and make friendships with the devotees of the Lord. I do not desire to be promoted to the higher planetary systems, even to Dhruvaloka or Brahmaloka, nor do I desire an unconquerable position within this material world. I have no need for such things."

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