Guidance, Volume 3

Astakala-Lila

There are two different types of pastime of independent Supreme Personality of Godhead Adhoksaja Sri Krishna—manifest and unmanifest (visible to the eye and not). The theological basis of these two types of pastimes is one. When transcendental Lord Sri Krishna enjoys at His own abode in Goloka Dham, these pastimes are called unmanifest (aprakat-lila); and when by His own desire Lord Sri Krishna appears in this world with His associates manifesting His own transcendental abode, these pastimes are called manifest Vraja pastimes (prakat-vraja-lila)—this is when Goloka appears within Gokula. The holy abode is situated beyond cosmic creation, but it appears within it, and by the influence of the Lord's inconceivable power, His abode and pastimes retain their transcendental form. Therefore, the historical time, place and participants of these pastimes are not just metaphors, some spiritual imagination, ascription or imagined sentiment.

There are two types of pastime in the manifest Vraja-lila, eternal and necessitated, or occasional. When Sri Krishna reveals His pastime at a certain time and according to a certain necessity, these pastimes are called necessitated (naimittika-lila—for example, killing Putana, staying away, etc.). The pastimes that the Supreme Personality of Godhead manifests every day, eternally are called nitya-lila, eternal pastimes. The astakaliya-lila of Vraja is eternal pastimes.

The day and night (24 hours) are divided into eight parts, three hours (7.5 dandas, or 1 prahar) each [1 danda is 24 minutes, 2.5 dandas is 1 hour, and 7.5 dandas is 1 prahar, or 3 hours]. During all these asta-praharas (24 hours), Krishna's dearmost transcendental maidservants and their companions serve transcendental Lord Sri Krishna, the embodiment of loving association. United with their Lord, they are free from any unwanted elements, i.e. they are devoid of any male or female ego, they are completely free from any mundane desires, they are eternally established in the service drive within the spiritual conscious realm—in this way, the expert devotees practise remembrance by chanting the glories of the Lord under the guidance of Krishna's maidservants. Just as materialists always talk and hear about material topics and by constantly thinking about the material world become totally absorbed by it; just as lustful men and women, overwhelmed by the feelings, always talk and listen to amorous topics and devise various ways how to gratify their amorous thoughts and desires—in the same way, those who are completely free from any material contamination, who are devoid of mental concoctions and of all mental doubts related to acceptance and rejection of enjoyment or material renunciation, are situated beyond the path of material thoughts and absorbed in pure service in exclusive transcendental conjugal relationship—with this feeling they surrender to a bona fide guru and, following his guidance, constantly remember the astakaliya-lila of Supreme Lord Krishna.

The astakala-lila is divided into eight (asta) periods, or yamas:

nisantah pratah purvahno madhyahnas chaparahnakah
sayam pradoso-ratris cha kalastau cha yatha-kramam
madhyahnau yamini chobhau yan muhurtomitau smrtau
tri-muhurtam ito jneya nisanta pramukha 'pare

Purport: (1) nisanta (3.36–6.00 a.m.); (2) pratah-kal (6.00–8.24 a.m.); (3) purvahna (8.24–10.48 a.m.); (4) madhyahna (10.48 a.m.–15.36 p.m.); (5) aparahna (15.36–18.00 p.m.); (6) sayam (18.00–20.24 p.m.); (7) prados (20.24–22.48 p.m.); (8) ratri (22.48–3.36 p.m.).

This astakaliya-lila is described in some of the books of Pancha-ratra (Sanat-kumar Samhita, Padma Purana, etc.) and only those who are devoid of material contamination and who hear about it from the holy mouth of Sri Guru, on the order of Sri Guru, have the right to listen about it. Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu composed several slokas about the astakaliya-lila, and, based on those slokas, Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami composed a book called Sri Govinda-lilamrta consisting of twenty-three cantos. This astakaliya-lila is extremely abstruse. Even ascetics and scholars of pure practices cannot approach it, what to speak of mundane writers controlled by the faults of lust, anger, etc. or gross materialists.

sri-radha-prana-bandhos charana-kamalayoh kesa-sesady-agamya
ya sadhya prema-seva vraja-charita-parair-gadha-laulyaika-labhya
sa syat prapta yaya tam prathayitu-madhuna manasim asya sevam
bhavyam ragadhva-panthair-vrajam-anu-charitam naityikam tasya naumi

(Sri Govinda-lilamrta, 1.3)

Meaning: The loving service to the lotus feet of Sri Radha's lover Sri Krishna is unknown to the great souls headed by Brahma, Siva, Ananta; it is the only intense craving of the Vraja devotees possessing spontaneous love and those who follow their footsteps; this loving service is attainable through transcendental internal (mental) service to Adhoksaja Sri Krishna; it genuinely arises on the path of remembrance when one surpasses internal (mental) service on the path of meditating on Sri Guru's guidance and, by chanting the Lord's Name, enters the land of pure consciousness; I am bowing in obeisances to offer special glorification of the character of Lord Krishna (i.e. His eternal daily pastimes) that is being constantly thought about by the followers of the path of spontaneous love.

Dear reader, you have seen this verse from Govinda-lilamrita—you can understand how abstruse this asta-lila is! When these pastimes are unattainable for great souls headed by Anantadev Himself, Siva, even Lord Brahma, what to speak of people who constantly suffer from material and selfish desires, who are bewildered by material faults (lust, anger, etc.) and obstructed by various mental fickleness (who are always busy deciding what to do and then changing their mind).

If a person, claiming to be a follower of ragatmika (spontaneous) devotees, displays false ego, is externally driven by various propensities for enjoyment and renunciation and overcome by various material faults (anarthas), then the learned readers seeking spiritual benefit can judge themselves what kind of result and mundane garbage, as well as offence to the feet of Bhakti Devi, such pretence of forced remembering or thinking about the astakaliya-lila will entail. Those who try to enjoy in the name of practising the most confidential pastimes and service or speak about it freely anywhere and everywhere, are called prakrta-sahajiyas, and they will never get entrance into Krishna-lila. Just as a bee that sits on a glass jar cannot reach and taste honey but imagines that it is touching honey just by sitting on the transparent and hard glass jar, in the same way those who travel the path of artificial remembrance of the Lord's pastimes also think that they are overflowing with divine sentiments, but actually they are being eternally cheated and denied the taste of real pastimes of Lord Krishna. Those who pretend claiming to be 'humbler than a blade of grass' that they 'pray for the mercy of Radharani(?)', etc. experience some transformations arising from their mental enjoyment, but this is merely deceit and hidden desire for name and fame—such people are forever barred from the path of devotion.

There is a certain prakrta-sahajiya sampradaya that starts astakaliya-lila-kirtans from the nocturnal pastimes, but Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, following Srila Rupa Goswami's guidance, did not advise to start service to astakaliya-lila from the nocturnal pastimes. Srila Kaviraj Goswami Prabhu composed a sloka in his Sri Govinda-lilamrita that summarises the slokas that Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu wrote concerning the astakaliya-lila and shows which pastimes must be remembered first. According to this sloka, one must serve the eternal pastime of the Lord starting from the dawn pastimes (the kunja-bhanga pastimes—when Radha-Krishna leave Their grove).

kunjadegastham nisante pravisita kurute dohanannasanadyat
pratah sayancha lilam viharita sakhibhih sangave charayan gah
madhyahne chath naktam balasita vipine radhayaddha parahne
gostham yati pradose ramayati suhrdo yah sa krsno 'vtarah

He comes with His beloved associates out of the groves at dawn (at the end of night) and comes to His own home in the pasturing grounds of Nanda-gram; He performs His pastimes of milking cows, eating, etc. in the morning and at dusk; He herds cows and plays with cowherd boys in the forenoon; He enjoyes His pastimes with Sri Radha in the forests at noon and night; He comes back to His home in the afternoon and plays with His dearmost devotees at nightfall (when the night shows her face)—may this Lord Sri Krishna protect me.

Sri Govinda-lilamrita describes (1) the pre-dawn pastimes in the first canto, (2) the early morning pastimes in the second to fourth cantos, (3) the forenoon pastimes in the fifth to seventh cantos, (4) the midday pastimes in the eighth to eighteenth canto, (5) the afternoon pastimes in the nineteenth canto, (6) the dusk pastimes in the twentieth canto, (7) the evening pastimes in the twenty-first canto, and (8) the night pastimes in the twenty-second and twenty-third cantos.

Experts in devotional service may see that in each of these astakaliya pastimes Sri Radha and Sri Krishna try to unite with the help of Sri Radha's girlfriends. In the matters of the astakaliya-lila, the girlfriends of Sri Radha play a bigger role than the cowherd friends of Krishna. They try their best to arrange Sri Radha's union with Krishna. They are busy with their service to Sri Radha, and it is their joy to assist Her. "We must meet with Krishna ourselves," "We will see Krishna separately"—gopis who follow Sri Radhika do not have such mentality. When they awaken Sri Radha-Krishna at dawn, their main desire is to make Sri Radha happy. If senior devotees get to know about the secret meeting of Sri Radha and Krishna, they may object and not let Them meet every night, so the girlfriends of Sri Radha always stay with Them at night and arrange for a place for Their meeting.

In the morning, Lord Krishna returns to His pasturing grounds, and the gopis dress and decorate Sri Radha for the meeting with Krishna—then, on the request of Mother Yasoda, Sri Radha is taken by Her girlfriends to the house of Nanda Maharaj to cook some preparations for Sri Krishna to eat when He comes back from the pasturing grounds. The gopis know that Sri Radha will meet with Sri Krishna at that time, and they act as messengers to assist and arrange Their meeting. On the pretext of Durvasa's blessing to Sri Radha and using different tricks to deceive the crooked Jatila, Kundalata takes Sri Radhika to Nanda-gram, etc. Lalita, Visakha and other girlfriends of Sri Radha help Her with the cooking in various ways just to try to arrange the meeting of Sri Radha with Sri Krishna.

These confidential pastimes run in this way during the eight divisions of the day—the exclusive goal of all gopis is to assist Sri Radhika, the dearmost maidservant of Krishna, in Her service to Krishna. Such is the nature of the realm of devotion: the very path of devotion is service in whichever possible way to the One who is the dearmost, highest servitor.

Eternal pastimes of Lord Sri Krishna are not some poetic imagination or metaphors. Many leading authors often do not understand that being covered by material desires, anger, etc. Do not think that the astakaliya-lila of Krishna is akin to the fiction of novels or the dreamworld of poets. That is why the experts in devotional service explain that the materialists, general people, do not have entrance into these pastimes, and they advise to take up this promise to make sure that these pastimes that are unattainable even for Brahma, Siva, et al. do not become known to the persons engrossed in mundane thoughts:

"Apana bhajana-katha na kahibe yatha tatha":

Do not tell anyone and everyone aboutyour own bhajan (service, practice).

Astakaliya-lila can only be practised through congregational chanting of the pure Name of the Lord in the shelter of the madhura-rasa devotees dwelling in the world of transcendental spiritual taste. If you always hear (sravan) and chant (kirtan) the Holy Name without offence, you will automatically and easily be able to remember the Holy Name—when the Name reveals Himself to you in the form of the Name of the Name (nama), the form of the Name (rupa), the qualities of the Name (guna), the associates of the Name (parikara), and the pastimes of the Name (lila), then only can remembrance be possible. Without sravan (hearing) it is impossible to chant (kirtan) the Holy Name, and without chanting (kirtan) the Holy Name it is impossible to practise remembrance (smaran). Hearing manifests in the form of chanting, and kirtan manifests in the form of remembering—not first remembering, then chanting or hearing. First is sravan, then kirtan, and through kirtan comes smaran. One cannot practise kirtan dismissing sravan; one cannot practise remembering (sravan) dismissing kirtan. Those who hear about the Lord cannot desist from chanting the Lord's glories; and those who glorify the Lord easily remember that which they glorify. At the same time, if anyone first hears about the form, qualities and pastimes of the Lord and thinks that this is what 'hearing' (sravan) is, such people with their prakrta-sahajiya minds (propensity to gross imitation) will never be able to gain the right to remember the real (aprakrta) astakaliya-lila. A real expert guru will never teach those who live on the mundane, gross plane to first remember the form, qualities and pastimes of the Lord. To hear or chant about the form, qualities and pastimes of the Lord separately, without hearing about the Holy Name, is not the way to practise remembrance of the astakaliya-lila. When you surrender to the holy lotus feet of a bona fide guru and always, without offences, hear about the Holy Name and chant the Holy Name with sincere taste for the Name, then the remembrance about the object of your kirtan will gradually reveal Himself through the following process: first you will engage in hearing about the Name of the Name, the form of the Name, the qualities of the Name, the associates of the Name, the pastimes of the Name—then, in chanting the glories of the Name of the Name, the form of the Name, the qualities of the Name, the associates of the Name, the pastimes of the Name—and from there, through that kirtan, you will be able to remember the Name of the Name, the form of the Name, the qualities of the Name, the associates of the Name, the pastimes of the Name. Therefore, if we follow this process without pretending and artificially imitating remembrance of the astakala-lila, we will not be removed from the path of real spiritual practice. If we dismiss congregational chanting of the Holy Name and pretend to remember the pastimes of the Lord, then it will be unlikely for us to get the association of the Holy Name.

Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu composed eleven verses about the astakala-lila. Based on these verses, a great Sri Rupanuga follower Srila Kaviraj Goswami Prabhu wrote Govinda-lilamrita, Srila Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur wrote Samkalpa-vikalpra-druma and Sri Krishna-bhavanamrta, etc. All these scriptures are composed in Sanskrit. There is a collection of verses in Bengali that formed a book called Ekannapad and was circulated in the name of Srila Thakur Mahasay. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur also collected various verses authored by great former saints—incorporating the astakaliya-lila into the Siksastaka of Sriman Mahaprabhu, he published, in a very grave mood, a book called Bhajana-rahasya that included all those verses, as well as their poetic Bengali rendering. There, he described this sloka composed by Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu in his Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu:

adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango 'tha bhajana-kriya
tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha ruchis tatah
athasaktis tato bhavas tatah premabhyudanchati
sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah

(1) Faith (sraddha), (2) good association and gradual purification (sadhu-sanga, anartha-nivrtti), (3) practice with chastity (bhajana-kriya), (4) taste (ruchi), (5) attachment (asakti), (6) affection (bhava), (7) love in separation (prema-vipralambha) and (8) loving service in union (prema-bhajana-sambhoga). Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur connected the eight stages of development of service life (bhajan) with the glorification and remembrance of the service throughout the eight divisions of the day (asta-lila).

He shows the correlation between the activities of the first division (pre-dawn pastimes) with the first verse ("cheto-darpana-marjjanam") from Mahaprabhu's Siksastaka; the second division's activities (early morning) with the second verse ("nam-nam akari"); the third division's activities (prenoon) with the third verse ("trnad api sunichena"); the fourth division's activities (midday) with the fourth verse ("na dhanam na janam"); the fifth division's activities (afternoon) with the fifth verse ("ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram"); the sixth division's activities (dusk) with the sixth verse ("nayanam galad-asru-dharaya"); the seventh division's activities (evening) with the seventh verse ("yugayitam nimesena"); and the eighth division's activities (night) with the eighth verse of Siksastaka. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, a great follower of Sri Rupanuga line, has shown the astakaliya-lila within Mahaprabhu's Siksastaka and followed the instruction of Gauranga Mahaprabhu ("param vijayate Sri-Krsna-sankirtanam") in a bona fide way (conforming with the pure transcendental science)—he thus explained that it is possible to practise remembrance of the astakaliya-lila through the sankirtan of the Holy Name. If faith, good association, sincerity and chastity, natural taste, attachment to Krishna do not arise and the person simply imitates with their mundane mind remembrance of the Lord's pastimes and pretends to be full of loving devotion, then, according to the teachings of Sri Rupa, they will be completely cast off. Therefore, if we want true spiritual benefit, we must first hear Sriman Mahaprabhu's Siksastaka, as well as Sri Rupa Goswami's Upadesamrita or Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu's essential chapter 'Sadhana-path' from the lotus mouth of Sri Guru and practise it. "Do not count the chickens before they are hatched"—we should bear this proverb in mind so that we may not in the name of bhajan (service and spiritual practice) engage in insolence and become deceived and forever removed from this devotional path.

There is a famous advice of Srila Thakur Mahasaya: "Do not neglect the practice of remembering the pastimes of the Lord."

There is no other way for the souls who have forgotten Lord Krishna to get spiritual benefit except for remembrance of Krishna.

avismrtih krsna-padaravindayoh
ksinoty abhadrani cha sam tanoti
sattvasya suddhim paramatma-bhaktim
jnanancha vijnana-viraga-yuktam

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 12.12.55)

Constant remembrance of the lotus feet of Sri Krishna awards the soul unlimited good fortune and removes all inauspiciousness and untowardness. By remembering the Lord's feet your heart becomes pure and you will attain loving devotion, enriched with proper detachment, spiritual knowledge and its practical application.

When one leaves the instruction to remember Krishna and their remembrance of Krishna transforms from the natural taste or hankering and attachment into pure and permanent loving devotion and when that loving devotion accepts fully only exclusive attachment to madhura-rasa, then such a devotee who remembers Lord Krishna is the highest. The devotional practice of remembrance of the Lord through kirtan stops for the devotees who are attached to madhura-rasa and practise remembrance of the astakaliya-lila. This is the highest goal of the soul who are free from material designations and material contamination.

krsnam smaran janam chasya prestham nija-samihitam
tat-tat-katha-ratas chasau kuryad vasam vraje sada
seva sadhaka rupena siddhirupena chatra hi
tad-bhava-lipsuna karya vraja-lokanusaratah

"One must have attachment to constant remembrance of Lord Krishna and His chosen dearmost associates and live in Vrindavan; if one is physically too weak to live in Vraja, then they must do so internally, within their hearts. Those who have attained the stage of spontaneous devotion must externally serve following the guidance of a resident of Vraja as a general practitioner and internally as a self-realised soul who has attained spiritual perfection."

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, 1.2.293–294)

bahya, abhyantara—ihara dui ta sadhana
'bahya' sadhaka-dehe kare sravana-kirtana
'mane' nija-siddha-deha kariya bhavan
ratri-dine kare braje krsnera sevana
nijabhista krsna-prestha pachhe ta' lagiya
nitrantara seva kare, antarmana hana

"There are two types of practices—external and internal. External practice is to engage in listening and chanting with your body. One must make their mind an abode of the original spiritually self-realised body and serve Vrindavan Krishna day and night within that mind. Internal practice (accomplished within one's mind) means to choose a dear associate of Krishna according to one's preference and engage in their service at every moment."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta, 2.22.151–153, 1555)

Being unable to grasp this subject, many confuse internal mental service with mano-dharma (concocted ideas) or imagination. True internal (mental) service is neither mental imagination, nor a concocted belief. Mano-dharma does not even signify inquisitiveness or hankering—it is simply an attempt to satisfy yourself. "Being free from material designations and contamination by engaging all senses in the service to Hrisikesa (sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam tat-paratvena nirmalam hrsikena hrsikesa sevanam)" is not attained by mano-dharma (mental specilation). Those who claim to be a practising devotee often consciously or unconsciously dress themselves as a Hrsik-isa (master of the senses) and indulge their imagination trying to enjoy Krishna in the name of remembering His pastimes. Enjoying the Lord (Hari-bhoga) is not serving the Lord (Hari-seva), as much as mental speculation is not internal service. Unless you are specifically told and warned about this matter, your naughty mind will always try to cheat you by passing off imagination or sensual enjoyment as internal service. So, watch out!!

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CONTENTS:

• Foreword
• (Preface) Meaning of Festival
• What Is Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math and Its Distinctions
• "Without Lord Krishna Life Is Meaningless"
• The Unrenounceable
• Sri Radhastami
• Proper Renunciation
• Astakala-Lila
• Is Religion the Cause of National Downfall?
• Householders and Renunciates
• Provincialism and Service to the Lord
• Offenders
• Hell
• Devotional Mood (Bhakta-Bhav)
• Home-interest vs Math-interest
• Samsara and Bhakti
• Questions and Answers