Sri Rupa-Sanatan Siksa

Contents:

Rupa and Sanatan

• First Encounter

• Running Away

• On the way to

Mahaprabhu

• Finishing Visaya

Rupa-siksa:

• Meeting Mahaprabhu

• Empowering Srila Rupa Goswami

• Rare, Rarer, the Rarest

• The Ultimate Gardening Guide

• Pure Devotion

Santan-siksa:

Sambandha:

• Supreme Personality of Godhead

• The Three Worlds

• Brahmas' Realm

• Krishna's Beauty

Abhidheya:

• Maya's Family

• The Cry of a Surrendered Soul

• Breaking Free

• Delusion of Liberation

• Leaving Ulterior Motive

• When Krishna Gives Mercy

• Awakening Taste for Service

• Full Faith

• Power Transmission

• Surrender in Good Association

• Six Limbs of Surrender

• Sixty-Four Devotional Practices

• Spontaneous Loving Devotion

Prayojan:

• The Path to the Supreme Goal

• Hero and Heroine

• "You Are Mine!"

• The All-Attractive Lord

Rupa Sanatan: First Encounter

13 June 2015

Today is a very auspicious day, Ekadashi tithi, and today I am starting Sanatan-siksa.

jaya jaya sri-chaitanya jaya nityananda

jayadvaita-chandra jaya gaura-bhakta-vrnda

sri-rupa-sanatana rahe ramakeli-grame

prabhure miliya gela apana-bhavane

Glory, glory to Sri Chaitanya, glory to Nityananda. Glory to Advaitachandra, glory to all the devotees of Gaura. Sri Rupa and Sri Sanatan stayed in a village called Ramkeli, and after meeting with Mahaprabhu, they went back to their house.

Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 19.2-3

Rupa and Sanatan stayed in Ramkeli-gram in Malda district, Gauda Mandal. Mahaprabhu actually went there to rescue them. They both worked for the emperor Hussein Shah (Husain Shah), a Muslim king of that area, and were in charge of a big state and all the property within it. Malda is half way to Siliguri, on the other side of the Ganges, it is maybe 200-300 km from Nabadwip.

We must understand how many obstacles they faced to come to Krishna consciousness, how much they tolerated after joining Krishna consciousness, and how much service they did for Mahaprabhu. We can learn something from them.

When Rupa Goswami and Sanatan Goswami lived in that area, Mahaprabhu went there with a few devotees and started sankirtan. It was a Muslim area, so the king's people stopped the kirtan, but Mahaprabhu still stayed in that area for some time. In the meantime, Rupa and Sanatan heard that somebody tried to start kirtan, and, understanding that it had to be Mahaprabhu, they went to meet with Him.

Meek and humble, they came to Mahaprabhu holding straw in their mouth (‘dante trna dhari'). They posed as cows thinking themselves lower, worse than a cow. Seeing them, Mahaprabhu was very sad, "You are very great personalities, I know who you are, and I feel pain seeing your humility." Mahaprabhu spent some time talking with them, and He said to them at that time, "I am going to Vrindavan. You are doing some job now, but when you get free from the illusory environment, from your material job, come and join Me in Vrindavan."

It is written here in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita,

sri-rupa-sanatana rahe ramakeli-grame

prabhure miliya gela apana-bhavane

dui bhai visaya-tyagera upaya srjila

bahu-dhana diya dui brahmane varila

Sri Rupa and Sri Sanatan stayed in a village called Ramkeli, and after meeting with Mahaprabhu, they went back to their house. The two brothers then began to devise ways how to give up their material life. They hired two brahmans and paid them a lot of money.

Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 19.2-3

The two brothers were thinking how to leave all the material things—how to detach themselves from the material work and things.

This kind of desire should come to us too. If you go too much into material things, the material environment will catch you; but if you want to leave the material things then you must do so that the material environment, maya, is not able to attach you to itself. You must be detached, must have no attachment, asakti-rahita. Too much attachment to material things, to family life is a source of problems.

You can understand how much property, wealth, enjoyment Rupa and Sanatan had, but they left everything. They did not want name and fame also, but in the end name and fame followed them: we do not go after name and fame, but name and fame follow those who are sadhus. Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said, "Vaisnavi pratistha, tate koro nistha (you must firmly establish yourself as a servant of the Lord)." Being a great servant of the Lord is also a kind of pratistha, and it comes to great Vaishnavs, to the Guru, Acharya.

So, Rupa Goswami Prabhu and Sanatan Goswami Prabhu were thinking how they would detach themselves from the material life, and they succeeded.

This is one of the teachings given in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita.

Rupa Sanatan: Running Away

13 June 2015

Rupa Goswami's previous name was Dabir Khas and Sanatan Goswami's Sakar Mallik—both of their names were bad and Mahaprabhu changed them to Rupa and Sanatan.

Rupa Goswami left his job tactfully—he did not steal any money but on purpose made some mistakes in the accounts and the king told him it was not necessary for him to do the job any more. Rupa Goswami was very happy.

In this way,

krsna-mantre karaila dui purascharana

achirat paibare chaitanya-charana

sri-rupa-gosani tabe naukate bhariya

apanara ghare aila bahu-dhana lana

brahmana-vaisnave dila tara ardha-dhane

eka chauthi dhana dila kutumba-bharane

danda-bandha lagi' chauthi sanchaya karila

bhala-bhala vipra-sthane sthapya rakhila

The brahmans they hired performed religious ceremonies and chanted the Holy Names so that the two brothers could quickly attain the feet of Chaitanya. Sri Rupa Goswami then came home with boats loaded with a great amount of riches. He gave half of the wealth to brahmans and Vaishnavs; one forth to his relatives; and kept the rest one forth of his savings with a reliable brahman in case some complications arise.

Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 19.5-8

What did Rupa Goswami do? He distributed whatever property and wealth he had to the brahmans, Vaishnavs, and others. He gave half of it to the brahmans, and one forth to his relatives. So, he left the job, gave everything away, and wrote a letter to Sanatan Goswami, "I am leaving, by hook or by crook you must also leave your job and come." Then he left and met Mahaprabhu in Benares, Kashi. Mahaprabhu was going to Vrindavan at that time and on His way He stopped in Kashi—Chandrasekhara Acharya and Tapan Mishra were both there, and Mahaprabhu stayed in Tapan Mishra's house and would go to take prasadam at Chandrasekhara Acharya's house...

Before leaving, Rupa Goswami also left 10,000 coins in the grocery shop for Sanatan Goswami's expenses, and shortly after that, all of a sudden, Sanatan Goswami left the job without giving any notice to the king. He came to his house and started giving Bhagavatam classes, speaking Hari-katha.

Sanatan Goswami was the chief minister and had many ministers under him. When the king Hussein Shah saw that Sanatan Goswami was not there, he thought he could be perhaps sick, so he sent a doctor to his house. The doctor went there and, when he came back, reported to the king that Sanatan Goswami was not sick—he saw him giving a class and feeling quite well. Hearing this, the king personally came to the house of Sanatan Goswami:

"What happened? Why did you leave your job?"

"I do not want to do this job any more. You can appoint somebody else."

"Every day you do the same job, so maybe you are just tired. All right, then you can go with me to Odisha. There is a war there and you can help me."

"No, I will not go. You are conquering others' lands and you are going to kill people, damage others' property. I do not want to do this kind of sinful work. I cannot do it."

The king became very angry and ordered his men to arrest him. The king's people put him into jail.

So, the king went to Odisha and Sanatan Goswami was in jail.

Sanatan Goswami knew that his brother had kept some money for him in the grocery shop, so one day Sanatan Goswami spoke to the guard,

"Please let me out, I can give you 5,000 rupees." The guard did not agree, but Sanatan Goswami did not give up,

"When I was the chief minister, I gave you so much facility—the salary, the food, everything. Now I am in a very dangerous position, I am in jail. Please, only you can open the gate and let me go."

The guard still did not agree, but when Sanatan Goswami offered him more money, 7,000 rupees, the guard asked him,

"If I let you go, the king will come back and ask about you—what will I tell him? He will kill me if he knows I let you get free from the jail."

"You can tell it to him in an intelligent way. Tell him that I went to the toilet to the bank of the Ganges and did not come back. Tell him I jumped into the river and probably died. Please let me go, I will go to Mecca and Medina and never come back here."

(Sanatan Goswami knew the guard was Muslim, so he would know nothing about Vrindavan, Puri, Govardhan, Mathura and other places, that is why he thought it would be better to say he was going to Mecca and Medina.)

Finally, the guard opened the gate and let Sanatan Goswami escape. Somebody helped him to cross the river in a boat, and after that he started his journey to meet with Mahaprabhu.

Sanatan Goswami: On the Way to Mahaprabhu

13 June 2015

Having escaped from the jail, Sanatan Goswami started walking to Mahaprabhu.

I told it before: when you are going down the proper spiritual path, so many obstacles will come in your spiritual life. You must be patient. You think, "I took initiation so many years ago, but I am not getting the result..." but Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He controls the whole universe, how much can we do for Him? We cannot do anything for Him, we are tiny—we are just an ant, a mosquito. Actually we are even less than that—a mosquito can bite a man and the man will die, but we cannot do anything. Only out of our ego we think we are doing so many things.

Mahaprabhu said,

bhukti-mukti adi-vancha yadi mane haya

sadhana karileo prema utpanna na haya

“If one has desires for material enjoyment or liberation in their heart, then even if they practise properly, prem will not become manifest within them.”

Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 19.175

If you have some material desire in your heart, even a little desire for something else, you will not be able to reach your destination.

Sanatan Goswami took with him one of this servants, Ishan, but Ishan had some material desire, he was thinking about himself, "Sanatan Goswami Prabhu is going alone, but he is not taking anything with him. Vrindavan is so far, what will he eat on the way?" So, Ishan kept some money in his pocket.

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also said that from your childhood, or from joining the temple, you think, "Oh, I am a brahmachari, who will take care of me in my old age? Now I am young, I am working, but when I become old, there will be no one to look after me. I should keep something for myself for future." If you keep something, you will suffer so much; but if you do not keep anything and depend only on Krishna, Krishna will take care of you properly. This is what Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur told. You can read Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's Upadeshamrita, it is written there.

So, Ishan thought, "Sanatan Goswami is going alone, he is not taking anything with him. What will he eat on the way?" and took some money along. On the way, some dacoits caught them.

What kind of dacoits were they? They were very clever. They stayed with their assistants in a small hut beside the road and had an astrologer who could tell if some traveller passing the road had money. So, when Sanatan Goswami and Ishan were approaching, the astrologer said, "Prabhu, you know, two people are coming this way. They have some money."

The dacoits caught them and gave them so much nourishment, "Let us massage you with mustard oil”, "Let us bring a bucket of water for you to take bath," and so on. They were so nice and hospitable. Sanatan Goswami called Ishan to the side and said,

"Look, they do not know us, why are they so hospitable? There must be some reason. Do you have anything with you?"

"Yes, Prabhu, I have something..."

"What is it?"

"I have seven gold coins."

"Give it, give it! It is visaya (‘vis’ means poison), material things! Give it to me!"

Sanatan Goswami took the seven coins from his servant and gave it to the dacoits, "Please take this!" The dacoits were surprised. They thought, "We are giving them so much nourishment, showing so much hospitality because our plan was to keep them in our hut for the night, and when they are asleep, we would cut their neck, throw the bodies into the Ganges and take their money. But now, without any reason, they themselves are giving us their money. These people must be great personalities." Seeing such behaviour they changed their minds. They said to Sanatan Goswami,

"No, no, we do not want your money. At first we wanted to kill you for this money, but now we do not want it."

"No, no, take it. We do not want it. We are going to see a great personality, Mahaprabhu. Please, do not reject this money, keep it. If you do not take it and we keep the money with us, some other dacoits can kill me on the way, then we will not be able to meet Mahaprabhu. You will help me so much if you keep it.” The area they were in (Midnapore, Jharkhand) was a dacoits' area, a very bad place.

So, the dacoits took the money, and they continued their way. After a while, Sanatan Goswami asked Ishan, "Ishan, do you have anything else with you?"

"Yes, Prabhu, I told a lie... I have one more gold coin..."

"You cannot go with me. You can sell the gold coin and can maintain yourself with that money. Do not go with me."

Sanatan Goswami did not want bad association. His disciple's character was not good, so he had to leave him.

He continued walking alone. After a while another problem came—more maya. He was sitting in some place, resting, when his relative was passing by and saw him, "Oh, this is my brother!" He quickly came to him and called him to his house, "Look at you, your clothes are so dirty. Come, come, stay at my house!" Sanatan went there, stayed for a few hours and wanted to leave, but his brother started insisting that he had to stay for at least two days. Sanatan understood it was maya, "If I stop for two days, two days will be my loss, I will not get these two days back in my life." He decided to leave.

Before he could leave, his sister-in-law told him, "You are going to Vrindavan, but you have no warm clothes—it will be so cold there and you will get austerity. I want to give you a bhet kambal (a blanket). Please take it, it is a very nice blanket." He did not want to take it, but his sister-in-law was insisting, insisting, so he had to accept it.

He took the blanket and continued his way. After that, he finally came to Tapan Mishra's house where Mahaprabhu was staying...

Sanatan Goswami: Finishing Visaya

13 June 2015

Mahaprabhu asked Chandrasekhar Acharya, "Chandrasekhar, go Tapan Mishra's house. A great personality, a great Vaishnav, has come today, please go and see."

Chandrasekhar Acharya went there and saw a mawlana (a Muslim guru): a man wearing a long coat, a hat and with a very long beard. He came back to Mahaprabhu and said, "Prabhu, I did not see any great Vaishnav there, only some darvesh (dervish) was sitting there. He did not look like a Vaishnav, he looked like a darvesh—a long kurta, a long beard..." Mahaprabhu said, "OK, bring that 'darvesh' here, bring!"

Chandrasekhar Acharya brought him to Mahaprabhu, and seeing Sanatan (He had already given him this name) Mahaprabhu wanted to embrace him, but Sanatan Goswami backed off, "Prabhu, please do not do it. I worked under a mlechchha, I am a great papi, sinner! Do not touch me." Mahaprabhu replied, "I am touching you not for your purification, but for My purification"—and He told one of the devotees, "Tell everybody to pay obeisance to him! Then take him to a barber, shave him, and arrange for his bath."

They shaved him and wanted to give some new clothes, but Sanatan Goswami refused, "I do not want new clothes. If Mahaprabhu has some old clothes, some prasadi clothes, please give me one piece." The devotees gave him some old dhoti and Sanatan Goswami tore it into two pieces—he would wear one piece, wash it, and wear the other one.

He took prasadam only on the first day, when he just came; the next day he did not take it. He said, "I do not want to be in debt. Mahaprabhu is my Guru, and I cannot take food at Chandrasekhara Acharya's house. I do not want them to spend money or anything on me, I came here for my own benefit. I will go to collect madhukori (begging)."

Mahaprabhu was very happy, He said, "I am very happy to see his vairagyata, his renunciation. He was a chief minister, but now he suddenly wears old poor clothes and goes begging house to house. Sanatan is not shy, not ashamed—he has no ego."

One day Sanatan was going begging, and it was a very cold day, so he put on the blanket his sister-in-law had given him. When Mahaprabhu saw it, He looked at it funny, and Sanatan understood that Mahaprabhu did not like it. He was wearing an old dhoti and used a good blanket—it did not look right. So, that day he was going down some street and saw a Gaudiya Vaishnav drying his kantha. (Kantha is a blanket made by layering old saris together and stitching them together, sometimes with some embroidery—it is still often used in winter season. There are many high quality kanthas sold in Murshidabad and Bangladesh.) The kantha was old and had many holes.

Sanatan Goswami came up to the Gaudiya Vaishnav and asked him,

"Prabhu, can you help me?

"Yes, tell me."

"Can you exchange your kantha? I want to give you this blanket, can you give me this kantha?"

The man became very angry, "Are you joking with me?! I am an old man, and you are a young boy—are you joking with me?! You want me to give you this broken kantha and you are giving me this good blanket? What is this?!"

"No, Prabhu, I did not mean to joke with you. Please, forgive my offence. My relative gave me this blanket, but I do not want it. Mahaprabhu does not like it. It is better if you take it; please, can I take your kantha?"

"OK, if you want, you can take it." The Vaishnav took the blanket and gave him his kantha.

The next day, before Sanatan went for collection, he came to Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu noticed the kantha and asked with a pleased smile, "Prabhu, what happened to your bhet kambal?" Sanatan told Him what happened the day before, and Mahaprabhu said, "Krishna made the arrangement for your detachment—you had only one thing left, only one blanket, but now all your visaya is finished."

Rupa Goswami: Meeting Mahaprabhu

14 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 19:]

sanatana kahe,—tumi svatantra gaudesvara

ye yei dosa kare, deha' tara phala

Sanatan Goswami said [to the Nawab Hussain Shah], "You are the supreme ruler of Bengal and are completely independent. Whenever someone commits a fault, you punish him accordingly." [26]

eta suni' gaudesvara uthi' ghare gela

palaiba bali' sanatanere bandhila

Hearing this, the Nawab of Bengal stood up and returned to his home. He ordered the arrest of Sanatan Goswami so that he would not be able to leave. [27]

anupama mallika, tanra nama—'sri-vallabha'

rupa-gosanira chhota-bhai—parama-vaisnava

Rupa Goswami's younger brother was a great devotee whose actual name was Sri Vallabha, but he was given the name Anupama Mallika. [36]

tanha lana rupa-gosani prayage aila

mahaprabhu tahan suni' anandita haila

Sri Rupa Goswami and Anupama Mallika went to Prayag, and they were very pleased to hear the news that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was there. [37]

prabhu chaliyachhena bindu-madhava-darasane

laksa laksa loka aise prabhura milane

At Prayag, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu went to see the temple of Bindu Madhava, and many hundreds of thousands of people followed Him just to meet Him. [38]

keha kande, keha hase, keha nache, gaya

'krsna' 'krsna' bali' keha gadagadi yaya

Some of the people following the Lord were crying. Some were laughing, some dancing and some chanting, some of them were rolling on the ground, exclaiming "Krishna! Krishna!" [39]

ganga-yamuna prayaga narila dubaite

prabhu dubaila krsna-premera vanyate

Prayag is located at the confluence of two rivers—the Ganges and the Yamuna. These rivers were not able to flood Prayag with their waters, but Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu inundated the whole area with waves of ecstatic love for Krishna. [40]

tabe mahaprabhu tanre nikate vasaila

'sanatanera varta kaha'—tanhare puchhila

After this, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu sat them down by His side and asked them, "What news do you have of Sanatan?" [55]

Rupa Goswami came to Mahaprabhu first, and Mahaprabhu asked him, "What happened to Sanatan Goswami?" Rupa Goswami explained that the emperor had put him into jail.

rupa kahena,—tenho bandi haya raja-ghare

tumi yadi uddhara', tabe ha-ibe uddhare

Rupa Goswami replied, "Sanatan has been arrested by the government of Hussain Shah. If You kindly save him, he can be liberated from that entanglement." [56]

Rupa Goswami said, "Prabhu, if You rescue him, then he will be able to come out of jail. Please rescue him from that place."

prabhu kahe,—sanatanera hanachhe mochana

achirat ama-saha ha-ibe milana

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu immediately replied, "Sanatan has already been released from his confinement, and he will very soon meet with Me." [57]

Mahaprabhu replied, "Yes, I know that Sanatan will come to Me soon."

achirat ama-saha ha-ibe milana

madhyahna karite vipra prabhure kahila

rupa-gosani se-divasa tathani rahila

A brahman then requested Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to accept lunch. Rupa Goswami also remained there that day. [58]

bhattacharya dui bhaiye nimantrana kaila

prabhura sesa prasada-patra dui-bhai paila

Balabhadra Bhattacharya invited the two brothers (Rupa and Anupam) to also take lunch. The remnants of food from the plate of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu were offered to them. [59]

triveni-upara prabhura vasa-ghara sthana

dui bhai vasa kaila prabhu-sannidhana

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu chose to stay at the confluence of the Ganges and the Yamuna, in a place called Triveni. The two brothers—Rupa Goswami and Anupama—sat near the Lord. [60]

se-kale vallabha-bhatta rahe adaila-grame

mahaprabhu aila suni' aila tanra sthane

At that time, Sri Vallabha Bhatta was staying at Adaila-grama, and when he heard that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had arrived, he went to His place to see Him. [61]

tenho dandavat kaila, prabhu kaila alingana

dui jane krsna-katha haila kata-ksana

Vallabha Bhattacharya offered Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu his obeisances, and the Lord embraced him. After that, they discussed topics about Krishna for some time. [62]

krsna-kathaya prabhura maha-prema uthalila

bhattera sankoche prabhu samvarana kaila

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu felt great ecstatic love when they began discussing Krishna, but the Lord checked His feelings because He felt shy before Vallabha Bhatta. [63]

antare gara-gara prema, nahe samvarana

dekhi' chamatkara haila vallabha-bhattera mana

Although the Lord restrained Himself externally, ecstatic love raged within. There was no checking that. Vallabha Bhatta was astonished to detect this. [64]

tabe bhatta mahaprabhure nimantrana kaila

mahaprabhu dui-bhai tanhare milaila

Then Vallabha Bhatta invited Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu for lunch, and the Lord introduced the brothers Rupa and Anupama to him. [65]

dui-bhai dura haite bhumite padiya

bhatte dandavat kaila ati dina hana

From a distance, the brothers Rupa Goswami and Anupama fell on the ground and offered obeisances to Vallabha Bhatta with great humility. [66]

bhatta milibare yaya, dunhe palaya dure

'asprsya pamara muni, na chhuniha more'

When Vallabha Bhattacharya walked toward them, they ran away to a more distant place. Rupa Goswami said, "I am untouchable and most sinful. Please do not touch me." [67]

bhattera vismaya haila, prabhura harsa mana

bhattere kahila prabhu tanra vivarana

Vallabha Bhattacharya was very much surprised. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, however, was very pleased, and described Rupa Goswami to him. [68]

'inho na sparsiha, inho jati ati-hina!

vaidika, yajnika tumi kulina pravina!'

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, "Do not touch him. He belongs to a very low caste, and you are a follower of Vedic principles and a well experienced performer of many sacrifices. You also belong to the aristocracy." [69]

dunhara mukhe nirantara krsna-nama suni'

bhatta kahe, prabhura kichhu ingita-bhangi jani'

Hearing the Holy Name constantly vibrated by the two brothers, Vallabha Bhattacharya could understand the hints of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. [70]

'dunhara mukhe krsna-nama karichhe nartana

ei-dui 'adhama' nahe, haya 'sarvottama'

Vallabha Bhattacharya said, "Since these two are constantly chanting the Holy Name of Krishna, how can they be untouchable? On the contrary, they are most exalted." [71]

"They are not the lowest—they are highly qualified!"

suni' mahaprabhu tanre bahu prasamsila

premavista hana sloka padite lagila

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was very pleased to hear Vallabha Bhatta quoting from sastra about the position of a devotee. The Lord praised him personally, and, feeling ecstatic love of Godhead, began to quote many verses from sastra. [73]

prabhura premavesa, ara prabhava bhakti-sara

saundaryadi dekhi' bhattera haila chamatkara

Seeing the Lord's ecstatic love, Vallabha Bhattacharya was even more astonished. He was also astonished by the Lord's knowledge of the essence of devotional service, as well as by His personal beauty and influence. [76]

sagane prabhure bhatta naukate chadana

bhiksa dite nija-ghare chalila lana

Vallabha Bhattacharya then invited Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates in a boat and took them to his own place to offer them lunch. [77]

yamunara jala dekhi' chikkana syamala

premavese mahaprabhu ha-ila vihvala

While crossing the Yamuna, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu saw the glossy black water and was immediately bewildered with ecstatic love. [78]

hunkara kari' yamunara jale dila jhanpa

prabhu dekhi' sabara mane haila bhaya-kanpa

Indeed, as soon as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu saw the Yamuna, He immediately made a great sound and jumped into the water. Everyone was filled with fear and trembled to see this. [79]

aste-vyaste sabe dhari' prabhure uthaila

naukara upare prabhu nachite lagila

Due to the Lord's heavy weight, the boat began to tilt. It began filling up with water and almost sank. [81]

desa-patra dekhi' mahaprabhu dhairya ha-ila

adailera ghate nauka asi' uttarila

Seeing the circumstances, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu finally became calm so that the boat was able to reach the shore of Adaila and stop there. [83]

bhaye bhatta sange rahe, madhyahna karana

nija-grhe anila prabhure sangete lana

Fearing for the Lord's welfare, Vallabha Bhattacharya stayed in His association. After arranging for His bath, he took the Lord to his own house. [84]

Mahaprabhu stayed at first with Rupa Goswami Prabhu, Sanatan Goswami joined them later (it is described in the next chapter)…

syamam eva param rupam puri madhu-puri vara

vayah kaisorakam dhyeyam adya eva paro rasah

'The form of Syamasundara is the supreme form, the city of Mathura is the supreme abode, Lord Krishna's fresh youth should always be meditated upon, and the mellow of conjugal love is the supreme mellow.' [106]

premavese prabhu tanre kaila alingana

prema matta hana tenho karena nartana

…Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu then embraced Raghupati Upadhyaya in ecstatic love. Raghupati Upadhyaya also was overwhelmed by love, and he began to dance. [107]

dekhi' vallabha-bhatta mane chamatkara haila

dui putra ani' prabhura charane padila

Vallabha Bhattacharya was struck with wonder seeing it. He brought forward his two sons and made them fall down at the Lord's lotus feet. [108]

prabhu dekhibare gramera saba-loka aila

prabhu-darasane sabe 'krsna-bhakta' ha-ila

All villagers came to see Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and simply by seeing Him, they all became devotees of Krishna. [109]

ganga-pathe mahaprabhure naukate vasana

prayage aila bhatta gosanire lana

Vallabha Bhattacharya put the Lord on a boat in the Ganges and took Him to Prayag. [113]

loka-bhida-bhaye prabhu 'dasasvamedhe' yana

rupa-gosanire siksa kara'na sakti sanchariya

There were big crowds in Prayag and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu went to a place called Dasasvamedha ghat. It was there that the Lord instructed and empowered Sri Rupa Goswami. [114]

When He was in Benares, Mahaprabhu went to the Dasasvamedha ghat on the bank of the Ganges, and we too always bathe there. This is where Mahaprabhu taught Rupa Goswami, gave "Rupa-siksa":

sri-rupa-hrdaye prabhu sakti sancharila

sarva-tattva-nirupane 'pravina' karila

By entering the heart of Rupa Goswami, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu empowered him to understand the conclusions of all truths. He made him an expert. [117]

Mahaprabhu gave some power to Rupa Goswami and within ten days he learned everything.

sivananda-senera putra 'kavi-karnapura'

'rupera milana' sva-granthe likhiyachhena prachura

In his book Chaitanya-chandrodaya, Kavi Karnapur, the son of Sivananda Sena, has elaborately described the meeting between Sri Rupa Goswami and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. [118]

Kavi Karnapur was the youngest son of Sivananda Sen. He was a great devotee from the age of seven. Their house is not far from Nabadwip, in the Burdwan district of Bengal. Mahaprabhu called this family "Pandav's family" because Sivananda Sen had five sons and the Pandavs were also five brothers.

One time, Mahaprabhu, Haridas Thakur, and Ramananda Ray came to Sivananda Sen's house, and Mahaprabhu asked Puri Das (Kavi Karnapur's previous name was Puri Das), "Chant Hare Krishna! Say 'Hare Krishna'!" but the boy did not say anything. Mahaprabhu asked Ramananda Ray,

"What is wrong? When I went through the jungle in Jharikhand, all tigers and deer chanted Hare Krishna maha-mantra, but this boy is not chanting. Why?"

"Prabhu, he has become Your disciple—he has already heard the mantra from You—that is why he will not chant it in front of You."

"How do you know he became My disciple?"

"I know it."

"I will test him! Let him recite some sloka from Bhagavatam."

Puri Das started reciting a sloka from Bhagavatam and Ramananda Ray said to Mahaprabhu, "Do You see now, Prabhu? You did not believe me that he became Your disciple... but now You see that he did—he forcefully took initiation from You."

That same Kavi Karnapur composed a book where he wrote in detail and properly how Mahaprabhu met with Rupa Goswami...

Empowering Srila Rupa Goswami

14 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 19:]

Kavi Karnapur wrote in his book that all places of Radha-Krishna's Pastimes had been lost and Mahaprabhu sent Rupa Goswami and Sanatan Goswami to discover these places:

kalena vrndavana-keli-varta

lupteti tam khyapayitum visisya

krpamrtenabhisisecha devas

tatraiva rupam cha sanatanam cha

"In the course of time, the transcendental news of Krishna's pastimes in Vrindavan was almost lost. To enunciate explicitly those transcendental pastimes, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu empowered Srila Rupa Goswami and Sanatan Goswami with the nectar of His mercy to carry out this work in Vrindavan." [119]

Krishna left everything, left all gopis, and went to Dvaraka, and even there He was not attached to the family life. So, when Mahaprabhu saw Rupa Goswami and Anupam Goswami, He gave them some service—He sent them to discover all those lost places. Actually, Mahaprabhu gave some mercy to Rupa Goswami and Sanatan Goswami and through them He discovered all the lost places Himself.

priya-svarupe dayita-svarupe

prema-svarupe sahajabhirupe

nijanurupe prabhur eka-rupe

tatana rupe sva-vilasa-rupe

"Whatever Mahaprabhu had, whatever ecstasy He had (nijer priya svarupa, nijer prema svarupa, dayita svarupa) He gave everything to Rupa Goswami—Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Lord Himself, manifested everything through Rupa Goswami.” [121]

ei-mata karnapura likhe sthane-sthane

prabhu krpa kaila yaichhe rupa-sanatane

In this way Kavi Karnapur wrote in different places how Mahaprabhu gave mercy to Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Sanatan Goswami. [122]

mahaprabhura yata bada bada bhakta matra

rupa-sanatana—sabara krpa-gaurava-patra [123]

Srila Rupa Goswami and Sanatana Goswami were the objects of love and honour for all the great devotees of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. [123]

"There were so many great devotees of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and they all gave mercy to Rupa and Sanatan."

keha yadi dese yaya dekhi' vrndavana

tanre prasna karena prabhura parisada-gana

If someone returned to their country after seeing Vrindavan, the associates of the Lord would ask them questions. [124]

"kaha,—tahan kaichhe rahe rupa-sanatana?

kaichhe rahe, kaichhe vairagya, kaichhe bhojana?

"Tell us, how are Rupa and Sanatan doing in Vrindavan? What are they doing? What is their renunciation like? What are they eating?" [125]

Whenever somebody went to Vrindavan, devotees would then ask them, "Did you see Sanatan Goswami? Did you see Rupa Goswami? How are they? What are they doing? What kind of prasadam are they taking? How are they doing their bhajan? Did you meet them?" Mahaprabhu and the devotees would ask them about everything.

kaichhe asta-prahara karena sri-krsna-bhajana?”

tabe prasamsiya kahe sei bhakta-gana

"How do Rupa and Sanatan engage in devotional service twenty-four hours daily?" And the person who had returned from Vrindavan would praise Srila Rupa Goswami and Sanatan Goswami. [126]

Devotees would praise and glorify Rupa and Sanatan to Mahaprabhu so much—they would tell how renounced Rupa and Sanatan are, how much austerity they undergo, and how much they sacrifice for the service to the Lord. Rupa and Sanatan always, twenty-four hours a day (asta-prahar), did service.

"aniketa dunhe, vane yata vrksa-gana

eka eka vrksera tale eka eka ratri sayana

"The two brothers live under trees—they stay one night under one tree and the next night under another. [127]

There are so many trees in Vrindavan and Rupa and Sanatan stayed one night under one tree, another night under another tree. This is how they lived and spent their life—they did not think about A/C...

'vipra-grhe' sthula-bhiksa, kahan madhu-kari

suska ruti-chana chivaya bhoga parihari'

"Srila Rupa and Sanatan Goswami beg a little food from the houses of brahmans and sometimes they beg and keep the collected food for several days. Giving up all material enjoyment, they take only some dry bread and chickpeas. [128]

Sometimes they would take prasadam at some house, sometimes they went collecting, begging for some rice and dal, and sometimes they would take dry chapati and chana (chickpea). This is what they ate.

karonya-matra hate, kantha chhinda, bahirvasa

krsna-katha, krsna-nama, nartana-ullasa

"They carry only waterpots and wear torn quilts and clothes. They always discuss Krishna, chant the Names of Krishna and dance with great joy. [129]

asta-prahara krsna-bhajana, chari danda sayane

nama-sankirtane seha nahe kona dine

"They spend twenty-four a day in service of Krishna, and rest for one and a half hours. Not a single day passes without Nama sankirtan. [130]

They carried a kamandal (a waterpot), wore a torn quilt (kantha) and torn clothes (bahirvas), and always spoke Krishna-katha, always chanted Krishna Nam. They were always very happy; they spent all their time doing Krishna bhajan only. In their life, they slept only for one and a half hours (chadi danda). Nama-sankirtane seha nahe kona dine: a day did not pass in their life without chanting the Holy Name.

kabhu bhakti-rasa-sastra karaye likhana

chaitanya-katha sune, kare chaitanya-chintana"

"Sometimes they write scriptures about devotional service. They listen about Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and spend their time thinking about the Lord." [131]

They also composed books, the sastra (scriptures), composed slokas. They did not listen to any gossiping, only always listened to Chaitanya-katha; and they always thought about Chaitanya.

ei-katha suni' mahantera maha-sukha haya

chaitanyera krpa yanhe, tanhe ki vismaya? [132]

Devotees would tell all this about Rupa and Sanatan to Mahaprabhu, and Mahaprabhu was very happy to hear it. How is it possible for a human body to live like this? It is actually not surprising. Chaitanyera krpa yanhe: it is possible because they have got mercy from Chaitanya; without mercy from Chaitanya it is impossible to be like this.

chaitanyera krpa rupa likhiyachhena apane

rasamrta-sindhu-granthera mangalacharane

Srila Rupa Goswami has personally spoken about the mercy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Mangalacharana, auspicious introduction, in his book Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu. [133]

Rupa Goswami composed Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu. This book is impossible for a human body, a conditioned jiva soul to compose. How did it become possible for Rupa Goswami to write it? Because he got mercy from Chaitanya.

Rupa Goswami told,

hrdi yasya preranaya pravartito 'ham varaka-rupo 'pi

tasya hareh pada-kamalam vande chaitanya-devasya

"Although I am the lowest of men and have no knowledge, the inspiration to write transcendental literatures about devotional service has been mercifully bestowed upon me. Therefore I am offering my obeisances at the lotus feet of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who has given me the chance to write these books." [134]

"I am a kandal, a pauper and a beggar." What did he beg for? He did not beg for money! He said, "I am a beggar for mercy. I am a beggar for mercy of Krishna: ami Krsna-premer bhikhari, Krsna-premer kangali—I am worshipping His lotus feet and begging for His feet dust. I am a kandal, a pauper, yet I am trying to compose this book—it is impossible to do it without mercy of Mahaprabhu, that is why I am always praying to His lotus feet and begging for the feet dust of His lotus feet." Rupa Goswami wrote this sloka...

RUPA-SIKSA:

Teachings of

Lord Sri Krishna Chaitanya

to

Srila Rupa Goswami

Rupa-Siksa: Rare, Rarer, the Rarest

14 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 19:]

It is called power transmission—Mahaprabhu gave so much power to Srila Rupa Goswami:

ei-mata dasa-dina prayage rahiya

sri-rupe siksa dila sakti sanchariya

For ten days Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu stayed at Prayag and instructed Rupa Goswami, vesting him with all necessary power. [135]

prabhu kahe,—suna, rupa, bhakti-rasera laksana

sutra-rupe kahi, vistara na yaya varnana

The Lord said, "My dear Rupa, please listen to Me. It is not possible to describe devotional service completely, so I will tell you the symptoms of devotional service in a condensed form. [136]

Now begins Rupa-siksa: Mahaprabhu's teachings to Srila Rupa Goswami.

parapara-sunya gabhira bhakti-rasa-sindhu

tomaya chakhaite tara kahi eka 'bindu'

"The ocean of nectar of devotion is so deep and vast—it has no length or breadth. However, just to give you some taste of it, I will describe a drop of it. [137]

"There are so many things—if you try to cross the Ganges, you will see there is so much water in it—what I am giving you is just a drop of it."

eita brahmanda bhari' ananta jiva-gana

chaurasi-laksa yonite karaye bhramana

"In this universe there is an infinite number of living entities. In the form of 8,400,000 species they are all wandering throughout this universe. [138]

kesagra-sateka-bhaga punah satamsa kari

tara sama suksma jivera 'svarupa' vichari

"If you divide the tip of a hair one hundred times and then divine one of those parts again one hundred times, this can give you an idea of just how tiny the true form of the jiva soul is. [139]

The meaning is as follows: divide a hair's cross section ten thousand times and you are actually one of these parts—tiny.

tara madhye 'sthavara', 'jangama'—dui bheda

jangame tiryak-jala-sthalachara-vibheda

"Among all these innumerable living entities, there are two types—those who can move and those who cannot. Those who can move can be further divided into those who live in the air, in the water, and on the land. [144]

Among the entities that move and live on the land, there are very few species of men:

tara madhye manusya-jati ati alpatara

tara madhye mlechchha, pulinda, bauddha, sabara

"Among them, there is a very small number of men. Among men there are mlechchhas, pulindas, bauddhas, and savaras. [145]

There are also different kinds of men—mlecchas, bauddhas, savars, pulindas. There are many qualities of people—there are people in some countries who eat other people. Have you heard about the Amazon jungle in Brazil? There are men living there too, but what do they do? What do they eat? What is their lifestyle like? They are called pulinda—they wear no clothes and eat men or some roots of the trees.

veda-nistha-madhye ardheka veda 'mukhe' mane

veda-nisiddha karya kare, dharma nahi gane

"Among those who follow the Vedas, half only say they follow the Vedas. They do what is forbidden by the Vedas and have no consideration for religion. [146]

Some say, "I am following the Vedas," but they are actually not following it. (The Vedas means four Vedas—Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Artharva.) There are such people here, in Nabadwip, and in other places in India who think they are following the Vedas but at the same time do what is forbidden by the Vedas. They actually do not follow any religion, dharma nahi gane.

Some follow some religion and think that what they are doing is karma-nistha (fruitive work). It means they think, "We are eating, we are sleeping, we are enjoying—we are doing what the dogs are doing, which is the same thing. That is our lifestyle." They do their own work, their own things, and think everywhere it is the same: they are very busy pursuing their own interest. They have no idea that one day they will die.

dharmachari-madhye bahuta 'karma-nistha'

koti-karma-nistha-madhye eka 'jnani' srestha

"Among those who follow the religion, most are 'fruitive workers' (live for their own enjoyment). Among millions of such fruitive workers there is one who is actually 'wise'. [147]

koti-jnani-madhye haya eka-jana 'mukta'

koti-mukta-madhye 'durlabha' eka krsna-bhakta

"Among millions of such wise men, one is actually 'liberated'. Among millions of such liberated people, there is hardly one pure devotee of Krishna. [148]

Out of ten million workers you will get one wise person; out of ten million wise people you will get one liberated soul, and out of ten million liberated souls you will get one devotee of Krishna. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told it Himself.

krsna-bhakta—niskama, ataeva 'santa'

bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kami—sakali 'asanta'

"A devotee of Krishna has no desires and is always peaceful. Those who have material desires, desire for liberation or desire for some perfection are always lusty and never know any peace. [149]

Devotees of Krishna have no material desires. They always think about the Lord, they always think about the happiness of the Lord, and do everything for the Lord. Krishna-bhakta, a devotee of Krishna, is 'niskam'—they have no material desires; they are 'santa'—quiet, peaceful, they are not chanchal (fickle). Those who have some material desire, who are lusty, who want liberation, who have some other desires, are, on the contrary, fickle-minded, not peaceful-minded...

Rupa-Siksa: The Ultimate Gardening Guide

14 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 19:]

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva

guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija

"Having travelled throughout the universe and got the mercy of Guru, Krishna, a fortunate soul receives a seed of the devotional creeper. [151]

The souls come and go, come and go, come and go in this cyclic order, and the fortunate souls get, by the mercy of Guru and Krishna, a seed of devotion—a seed of pure devotional activities, bhakti-lata-bija. Having got that seed, the soul starts taking care of it:

mali hana kare sei bija aropana

sravana-kirtana-jale karaye sechana

"The soul then becomes the gardener—plants the seed and then waters it with sravan and kirtan (hearing and chanting). [152]

The soul becomes a ‘mali’, gardener. When you make a garden and plant some seeds, you must then take care of those seeds. Gurudev puts the seed in your heart, but you are the one who must take care of that seed—Guru will not take care of it for you.

What will you do? Will you go to bad association? Will you do what is favourable to devotion or what is unfavourable to devotion? Will you follow what you mind tells you or will you follow your Gurudev's instruction? It is up to you.

Suppose you are sick. You go to a doctor and the doctor (Gurudev) gives you a prescription, but if you do not follow the prescription, if you do not take the medicine, how will you get relief from the disease? So, Gurudev has given you the seed, but you must take care of it properly.

So, suppose you have a flower garden. If you do not water and give nourishment to the trees, the trees will soon die. Trees need water. What is the water for the jiva soul and the devotional seed? Sravanam and kirtanam—hearing and doing kirtan. That is your water! Just as a tree needs real water, your devotional seed also needs real water—sravan and kirtan are necessary.

upajiya bade lata 'brahmanda' bhedi' yaya

'viraja', 'brahma-loka' bhedi' 'para-vyoma' paya

"As the creeper of devotion is nourished, it penetrates the whole universe, going past Viraja, Brahma-loka and entering the spiritual world. [153]

Then that bhakti-lata-bij, the seed of devotional creeper, sprouts and eventually becomes a tree that grows very tall.

For example, you can see this jackfruit tree here. For the tree to grow tall you must cut the branches—if you do not trim it, the tree will not grow very tall. In the same way, you have so many bad material desires, they are like the branches that prevent the tree from growing. If you do not cut these branches, they become obstacles in your spiritual life.

What are these branches?

kintu yadi latara sange uthe 'upasakha'

bhukti-mukti-vancha, yata asankhya tara lekha

"There will, however, appear some unwanted branches on your tree. They are desires for material enjoyment, desire for liberation, and so on (they are too numerous to write all here). [158]

'nisiddhachara', 'kutinati', 'jiva-himsana'

'labha', 'puja', 'pratisthadi' yata upasakha-gana

"Among those unwanted branches are improper practices, deceit, violence towards other souls; desire for gain, worship, prestige, and so on. [159]

Bhukti (material desires), mukti (desire for liberation), vancha (any other desires), as well as nisiddha achar (unnecessary things), jiva-himsa (killing chickens, goats, cows, eating eggs), kutinati (deceit), labh (always thinking, "I want some gain"), puja (desiring that others worship you), pratistha (you want name and fame, you want to be a very big personality)—these all are unwanted branches, upasakha, the main obstacles in your spiritual life. Because of these bad desires in your heart your devotional activities will not increase.

seka-jala pana upasakha badi' yaya

stabdha hana mula-sakha badite na paya

"If you water and nourish these branches, they will grow stronger, and, interfering with the main branches of your tree, will not let them grow. [160]

It says here what happens if you do not get rid of all those material desires. For example, you are hungry today and think, "Oh, I am so hungry but the prasadam is not so good today. I will eat out today—I have some money, I can go to a hotel and get something there." Another day you think, "I want a little more..." another day again, "A little more," and you end up thinking, "What is the big deal? Nobody sees me, I can have some eggs in the hotel!" (But He who has to see it, will see it—He knows you sneak out to a hotel.)

Seka-jala means that if you cut a branch and put some medicine there, another branch will come. I saw in a newspaper once that a hundred kinds of mangoes grew on one tree (they cut a branch and put there a branch from another mango tree, joining it with some medicine). So, if some bad desire comes to your mind, you must finish it there, finish it at the root and throw it away. If, however, you give shelter to that desire, it will grow and grow—the branch will grow bigger and bigger—and one day your devotional activities will be finished.

prathamei upasakhara karaye chhedana

tabe mula-sakha badi' yaya vrndavana

"Only if you cut these unwanted branches at their very beginning, can the main branches of your tree grow and reach Vrindavan. [161]

When some desire just comes to you, you must finish it there. If you finish it at the root, your tree will grow on to Vrindavan.

This is written here, and who is saying it? Mahaprabhu is saying this to Srila Rupa Goswami.

'prema-phala' paki' pade, mali asvadaya

lata avalambi' mali 'kalpa-vrksa' paya

When the ripe fruit of the tree, prema, falls from the tree, the gardener comes to taste it—his tree then becomes a kalpa-vrksa, a transcendental wish-fulfilling tree. [162]

Then the mali, the gardener, gets a benedictine tree!

tahan sei kalpa-vrksera karaye sevana

sukhe prema-phala-rasa kare asvadana

"He then serves that wish-fulfilling tree and with so much joy comes to taste the nectar of its fruit—the divine love. [163]

eita parama-phala 'parama-purusartha'

yanra age trna-tulya chari purusartha

"This supreme fruit is the ultimate meaning of human life, next to it the four goals of material life (religion, wealth, enjoyment, liberation) are merely trifle. [164]

Rupa-Siksa: Pure Devotion

14 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 19:]

'suddha-bhakti' haite haya 'prema' utpanna

ataeva suddha-bhaktira kahiye 'laksana'

"Pure devotion gives rise to love. Let me therefore explain to you the symptoms of pure devotion. [166]

Mahaprabhu is going to explain now what pure devotion is.

anya-vancha, anya-puja chadi' 'jnana', 'karma'

anukulye sarvendriye krsnanusilana

"Giving up all other desires, and all other worships, not pursuing knowledge or material gain, practising Krishna consciousness with all your senses and doing what is favourable to devotion… [168]

Anyabhilasita-sunyam—pure devotion means you have no desire for anything except or without Krishna, and no other desires about Krishna also—you only always want devotion to Krishna. When you do what is favourable to devotion and practise Krishna consciousness in this way, that is called pure devotion.

ei 'suddha-bhakti'—iha haite 'prema' haya

pancharatre, bhagavate ei laksana kaya

“…That is what pure devotion is, and such devotion gives rise to love. These symptoms are described in Pancharatra and Bhagavatam. [169]

"Anya-vancha, anya-puja chadi' 'jnana', 'karma'": you must give up jnana and karma. You are doing some service but if that service is not recommended by your Guru, that is called karma—it is not seva. When you do karma, you will get bound by that karma and go to hell.

bhukti-mukti adi-vancha yadi mane haya

sadhana karile prema utpanna na haya

"If a desire for material enjoyment, liberation, or something else, comes to your mind, then even if you practise properly, love will not come through that. [175]

Why when you practise Krishna consciousness do you not get energy, do you not feel happiness? (I tell this sloka every day.) It means you have some other material desire. If you want liberation, or some other material desire comes to your mind, you will practise Krishna consciousness but no love, no happiness—nothing—will come to your heart.

sadhana-bhakti haite haya 'rati'ra udaya

rati gadha haile tara 'prema' nama kaya

"When you practise devotion, attachment comes. When this attachment becomes very strong, it is called love. [177]

When you practise and do service, service attachment comes, and when this attachment comes, then you cannot leave your service.

Those who have a strong attachment to their service, cannot leave their service. On the other hand, you can see that somebody had been doing some service for a few years, but after that he or she left that service. Why? Because they have no rati gadha (strong attachment). When strong attachment to your service comes, then you cannot leave the service, and the service cannot leave you.

SANATAN-SIKSA:

Teachings of

Lord Sri Krishna Chaitanya

to

Srila Sanatan Goswami

— { SAMBANDHA } —

Sanatan-Siksa: Supreme Personality of Godhead

15 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 20:]

Mahaprabhu told what the symptom of the Lord in the age of Kali is,

krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam

sangopangastra-parsadam

yajnaih sankirtana-prayair

yajanti hi su-medhasah

"Those of sharp intellect will worship Krishna who appears with a non-black bodily hue, who is armed and surrounded by His associates and servants, and who always chants the Holy Names." [340]

Krishna came in this Age of Kali, but He changed His colour—He took Radharani's colour (pita-varna, golden). Radha-Krishna's combined form appeared as Gauranga Mahaprabhu, and what does He do?

[ei kali-yuge] sadhu paoya kasta bada jivera janiya

sadhu-bhakta-rupe krsna aila nadiya

Understanding that [in this Kali-yuga] it is very difficult for a soul to find a sadhu, Krishna came to Nadia in the form of a pure devotee.

Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 7.8

It is very difficult to get a real Guru in Kali-yuga, that is why Krishna Himself comes as a Guru, and the Guru's duty is to teach the conditioned souls the real religion of Kali-yuga. Krishna Himself came to teach us that.

pita-varna, karya—prema-dana-sankirtana

He is of golden colour, and He comes to distribute love and chant the Holy Names of the Lord. [362]

'Prema-dana': He gives love and affection. Krishna's Pastimes are madhurya-lila and Mahaprabhu's Pastimes are audarya-lila ('udar' means 'open heart'—the heart is open, not closed).

Sanatan Goswami always asked Mahaprabhu, "Prabhu, what has happened? Tell me who the Lord in this Age of Kali is! You say that Krishna will come in this Age of Kali, and You have already told me what the symptom of the Lord are. You say that He will chant, dance, and His colour is pita-varna (golden), and You have told me also what is written in the scriptures, but I think He has already come. Tell me, who is He? Who is the Lord?" Sanatan wanted to hear it from Mahaprabhu Himself, but Mahaprabhu is very clever, He never said, "I am Bhagavan."

prabhu kahe,—chaturali chhada, sanatana

saktyavesavatarera suna vivarana

The Lord said, "Sanatana, do not be so clever. Now just listen to the description of the saktyavesa-avatars. [364]

jiva-rupa 'brahmara' avesavatara-nama

"Among the saktyavesa-avataras (empowered incarnations of the Lord), there are also the souls who are empowered to act as Lord Brahma. [367]

Mahaprabhu spoke about Krishna's Pastimes, about saktyavesa avatars, and about other kinds of avatars.

putana-vadhadi yata lila ksane ksane

saba lila nitya prakata kare anukrame

"At times Krishna shows His different Pastimes, such as the killing of Putana. Appearing one after another, all His Pastimes are eternal. [379]

ananta brahmanda, tara nahika ganana

kona lila kona brahmande haya prakatana

"There is an unlimited, countless number of universes, and one or another Pastime of the Lord appears in some universe or another. [380]

ei-mata saba lila—yena ganga-dhara

se-se lila prakata kare vrajendra-kumara

"In this way all Pastimes of the Lord are like the flow of the Ganges, they are manifested by the son of Nanda Maharaj." [381]

Krishna's Pastimes in the Dvapar-yuga are very different—He did so many things. There are so many Pastimes in His childhood, in Dvaraka, Mathura, Gokula, Mahavan, etc.

Ei Krsna Vraje purnatama Bhagavan: when this Krishna is in Vraja, He is the fullest form of Lord (purnatama). There are many Gods, many avatars—Nrisimha avatar, Vamana avatar, Matsya avatar, Kurma avatar, Varaha avatar, Rama avatar, and so on—what makes Krishna different from Them? Krishna's madhurya-lila is the condensed form of all Pastimes. For example, Krishna's Pastimes are not possible in Treta-yuga in Rama avatar—they are only possible in Dvapar-yuga.

ei krsna—vraje 'purnatama' bhagavan

ara saba svarupa—'purnatara' 'purna' nama

"When in Vrindavan, this Krishna is the most complete Supreme Personality of Godhead. All His other forms are either complete and more complete. [400]

sanksepe kahilun krsnera svarupa-vichara

'ananta' kahite nare ihara vistara

"I have told you briefly about Krishna's various forms. Even Lord Ananta is not able to describe this matter in full scope. [401]

ananta svarupa krsnera nahika ganana

sakha-chandra-nyaye kari dig-darasana

"It is impossible to count all the innumerable forms of Krishna. What I have described is like trying to see the moon through the branches of a tree—you can only get a partial view." [402]

Krishna is purnatama (the most complete, the fullest), His other forms are more complete, purnatara, or just complete, purna (positive, comparative, superlative). Ei Krsna Vraje purnatama Bhagavan.

There are santa-, dasya-, sakhya-, vatsalya-, and madhurya-rasa. In sakhya-rasa, service in the mood of friendship, Krishna has many friends (Sudam, Sridam, Vasudam, and others), but in Rama-lila, for example, where there is mostly santa-rasa, neutrality, sakhya-rasa, friendship, vatsalya-rasa, parenthood, and dasya-rasa, servitude, Rama had only one servitor in dasya-rasa (Hanuman), and in vatsalya-rasa, King Dasarath sent his son Ramachandra to the forest for fourteen years—some affection in there, but it is internal, not shown externally.

When King Dasaratha was very sick, his wife Kaikeyi served him so much that later the king said she could ask him for any boon she wanted. Kaikeyi had a very clever servant, Manthara, who told her not to ask for the boon at that time but wait for some better time. Then, it was announced that Ramachandra was going to be the king, and at that time Kaikeyi asked for her boon. She said, "My boon will be that your Ramachandra will go to the forest, and my son, Bharath, will be the king." (Bharath then became the king, and this is why now India's name is Bharath.) Dasaratha had promised her a boon, so he had to send his son Ramachandra into exile.

So, in Rama-lila there is no real vatsalya-rasa, and there is also no madhurya-rasa, paramour love. Ramachandra had only one wife, Sita, but He sent her into fire to check whether she was chaste or not. There is no paramour love there. However, everything exists in Krishna-lila, that is why Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is purnatama Bhagavan, whereas Ramachandra and others are not—that is why we always serve Lord Krishna.

Sanatan-Siksa: the Three Worlds

15 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 21:]

jaya jaya sri-chaitanya jaya nityananda

jayadvaita-chandra jaya gaura-bhakta-vrnda

All glories to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu! All glories to Nityananda Prabhu! All glories to Advaita Acharya! All glories to all the devotees of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu! [2]

sarva svarupera dhama—paravyoma-dhame

prthak prthak vaikuntha saba, nahika ganane

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu continued His teachings to Srila Sanatan Goswami, "The place where all forms of the Lord reside is Paravyoma Dham, the spiritual sky. In that Paravyoma Dham there is a countless number of Vaikuntha planets. [3]

sata, sahasra, ayuta, laksa, koti-yojana

eka eka vaikunthera vistara varnana

"The size of a Vaikuntha planet is described as one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand, one hundred thousand and a million yojans (one yojan is eight miles). [4]

saba vaikuntha—vyapaka, ananda-chinmaya

parisada-sadaisvarya-purna saba haya

"All Vaikuntha planets are very large and full of spiritual bliss. Their inhabitants are all associates of the Supreme Lord and possess all six kinds of opulence (unlimited wealth, fame, strength, beauty, knowledge, renunciation). [5]

ananta vaikuntha eka eka dese yara

sei paravyoma-dhamera ke karu vistara

"Who can measure this Paravyoma, spiritual world, that is the abode of all these Vaikuntha planets? [6]

ei-mata krsnera divya sad-guna ananta

brahma-siva-sanakadi na paya yanra anta

"Krishna possesses unlimited divine good qualities. Brahma, Siva and the four Kumaras cannot fathom them. [10]

brahmadi rahu—sahasra-vadane 'ananta'

nirantara gaya mukhe, na paya gunera anta

"What to speak of all the Brahmas, even Lord Ananta, who always chants the glories of the Lord with his thousands of heads, cannot reach their end. [12]

On each Brahma-loka there is not only one Brahma—there are many Brahmas.

seho rahu—sarvajna-siromani sri-krsna

nija-gunera anta na pana hayena satrsna

"What to speak of Anantadev, even the supreme and omniscient Lord Krishna cannot find an end to His own transcendental qualities, and it excites Him. [14]

seha rahu—vraje yabe krsna avatara

tanra charitra vicharite mana na paya para

"Leave that, actually no matter how much one tries to understand it, no one can fully understand Krishna's character in Vraja. [16]

eka eka gopa kare ye vatsa charana

koti, arbuda, sankha, padma, tahara ganana

"Each cowherd boy there tends calves, and each has ten million, one hundred million, one trillion, or ten trillion calves. [20]

vetra, venu, dala, srnga, vastra, alankara

gopa-ganera yata, tara nahi lekha-para

"It is impossible to write down how many sticks, flutes, lotus flowers, horns, garments or ornaments they have. [21]

sabe haila chaturbhuja vaikunthera pati

prthak prthak brahmandera brahma kare stuti

"All cowherd boys once became four-handed Narayanas (the Lords of Vaikuntha planets), and in each universe, Brahmas offered their prayers to the Lords. [22]

There is not only one brahmanda, or universe—there are many brahmandas, and in each of these innumerable brahmandas there is Brahma who worship Lord Krishna.

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

brahma, visnu, hara—ei srstyadi-isvara

tine ajnakari krsnera, krsna—adhisvara

"Brahma, Vishnu, and Hara (Siva) are the masters of material creation, maintenance and dissolution. They carry out the orders of Krishna—Krishna is the Supreme Master. [36]

Iswar, the Lord, creates Brahmas, Vishnus and Sivas. Just as there are many Brahmas on Brahmalokas, there are many Sivas on Sivalokas. There is not only pancha-mukh Siva (five-mouthed Siva), there are many different Sivas.

In each of the many brahmandas (universes) in this world there is its own proprietor: in some brahmandas, one-thousand-mouthed Brahma is the proprietor, in other one-hundred mouthed, and so on.

e samanya, tryadhisvarera suna artha ara

jagat-karana tina purusavatara

"This is only a general description. Please try to understand another meaning of tryadhisa (master of the three worlds). It can also mean the three incarnations of Vishnu who create the world. [38]

maha-visnu, padmanabha, ksirodaka-svami

ei tina—sthula-suksma-sarva-antaryami

"Maha-Visnu, Padmanabha and Ksirodakasayi Visnu are the Supersouls of everything subtle and gross. [39]

ei tina—sarvasraya, jagat-isvara

eho saba kala-amsa, krsna—adhisvara

"These three grant shelter to all, they are masters of the world, but they are only portions or portions of the plenary portions. Krishna is the Original Master. [40]

tara tale paravyoma—'visnu-loka'-nama

narayana-adi ananta svarupera dhama

"Below Vrindavan, there is the spiritual sky, Pramavyoma, which is known as Vishnuloka. It is the abode of Narayana and other innumerable expansions of Krishna. [46]

ananta vaikuntha yahan bhandara-kothari

parisada-gane sad-aisvarye ache bhari'

"Innumerable Vaikuntha planets are like different rooms of a treasure-house and the residents inhabiting these planets are Lord's associates, enriched with the six opulences. [48]

tara tale 'bahyavasa' virajara para

ananta brahmanda yahan kothari apara

"Below Paravyoma (the spiritual sky), on the other side of the Viraja River, there are innumerable brahmandas, universes, each containing an unlimited number of places of residence. [52]

There is Vaikuntha, then Viraja, then Paravyoma, then Goloka Vrindavan. Where is our destination? Goloka Vrindavan—not Vaikuntha, not Viraja...

'devi-dhama' nama tara, jiva yara vasi

jagal-laksmi rakhi' rahe yahan maya dasi

"Those brahmandas are called Devi Dham, the abode of the external energy. This is where the jiva souls reside. There, the material energy maintains the existence and has Maya as her servant. [53]

ei tina dhamera haya krsna adhisvara

goloka-paravyoma—prakrtira para

"Krishna is the supreme proprietor of all three Dhamas (Goloka Dham, Vaikuntha Dham, Devi Dham). Paravyoma and Goloka are beyond Devi Dham, this material world. [54]

chich-chhakti-vibhuti-dhama—tripad-aisvarya-nama

mayika vibhuti—eka-pada abhidhana

"The spiritual world is considered to possess three fourths of the energy and opulence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and this material world is considered to possess only one fourth of that energy.” [55]

Sanatan-Siksa: Brahmas' Realm

15 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 21:]

chich-chhakti-vibhuti-dhama—tripad-aisvarya-nama

mayika vibhuti—eka-pada abhidhana

"The spiritual world is considered to possess three fourths of the energy and opulence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and this material world is considered to possess only one fourth of that energy. [55]

tripada-vibhuti krsnera—vakya-agochara

eka-pada vibhutira sunaha vistara

"The three-fourths of Lord Krishna's energy is beyond our power to describe. Listen to the description of the one fourth of His energy. [57]

ananta brahmandera yata brahma-rudra-gana

chira-loka-pala-sabde tahara ganana

"There is an unlimited number of universes, and each universe has its own Brahma and Siva. They are the permanent governors of their lokas (planets), and they are also innumerable. [58]

eka-dina dvarakate krsna dekhibare

brahma aila,—dvara-pala janaila krsnere

"Once, one Brahma came to Dvaraka to see Krishna. The doorman immediately went to inform Krishna. [59]

One time Brahma went to Vaikuntha because he wanted to see the Lord. When he arrived, the gatekeeper stopped him, "Wait, first tell me who you are." Brahma replied, "I am Brahma! I have created this world. [ego] I want to meet the Lord!" The gatekeeper went inside and told Krishna that Brahma had come to meet with Him. Krishna knows everything—He knows that Brahma has much ego—so He said, "Which Brahma is it? What is his name?"

vismita hana brahma dvarike kahila

'kaha giya sanaka-pita chaturmukha aila'

"[When the doorman asked Brahma], Brahma was surprised. He said, 'Tell the Lord that the father of Sanaka, the four-headed Brahma has come.' [61]

Brahma was surprised: "I am the father of Sanak, I am four-mouthed—that Brahma came. Tell the Lord I have created the whole universe, I am chatur-mukha Brahma—you can see that I have four mouths, four heads." The gatekeeper went back to Krishna and said, "Prabhu, chatur-mukha Brahma has come." Krishna replied, "OK, bring him in."

krsne janana dvari brahmare lana gela

krsnera charane brahma dandavat kaila

"The doorman told Krishna what Brahma had said, and Krishna gave the permission to let him in. The doorman took Brahma to Krishna, and as soon as Brahma saw Krishna, he offered full obeisance at His lotus feet. [62]

brahma kahe,—'taha pache kariba nivedana

eka samsaya mane haya, karaha chhedana

"Brahma said, 'I will tell You later why I have come. There is a doubt in my mind, please kindly remove it. [64]

'kon brahma?' puchhile tumi kon abhipraye?

ama ba-i jagate ara kon brahma haye?'

"'Why did You ask, "Which Brahma is it?"? Is there any other Brahma besides me in this world?' [65]

Brahma asked, "Why did You ask me which Brahma I was and what my name was? Do You not know who Brahma is? Does any other Brahma exist in this world besides me?"

suni' hasi' krsna tabe karilena dhyane

asankhya brahmara gana aila tata-ksane

"Hearing this, Krishna laughed and began to meditate, and immediately so many Brahmas came there. [66]

dasa-bisa-sata-sahasra-ayuta-laksa-vadana

koty-arbuda mukha karo, na yaya ganana

"Some Brahmas had ten faces, some twenty, some a hundred, some a thousand, some ten thousand, some a hundred thousand, some ten million and some a hundred million. It is impossible to count them all. [67]

rudra-gana aila laksa koti-vadana

indra-gana aila laksa koti-nayana

"There also came many Rudras (Sivas) with one hundred thousand, ten million heads, as well as many Indras of hundreds of thousands eyes. [68]

Brahma was astonished.

dekhi' chaturmukha brahma phanpara ha-ila

hasti-gana-madhye yena masaka rahila

"Seeing this, four-headed Brahma became perplexed, he was like a mosquito among so many elephants. [69]

'Hasti' means an elephant, 'masak' means a mosquito. Brahma thought, "So many elephants are here, I am just a mosquito!" He was astonished to see there were so many Brahmas.

asi' saba brahma krsna-pada-pitha-age

dandavat karite mukuta pada-pithe lage

"When Brahmas came in, they prostrated themselves at the lotus feet of Krishna, and as they thus paid their obeisance their helmets touched each other at His feet. [70]

krsnera achintya-sakti lakhite keha nare

yata brahma, tata murti eka-i sarire

"No one can estimate the inconceivable power of Krishna. All those Brahmas in their various forms are present within the body of Krishna. [71]

All Brahmas that are there exist in the body of the Lord—they were created from His body. Such is Krishna's power.

pada-pita-mukutagra-sanghatte uthe dhvani

pada-pithe stuti kare mukuta hena jani'

"There arose a tumultuous sound when the helmets touched each other at Krishna's lotus feet, and it appeared as if the helmets chanted prayers to Krishna's lotus feet. [72]

yoda-hate brahma-rudradi karaye stavana

"bada krpa karila prabhu, dekhaila charana

"With folded hands, all Brahmas and Sivas offered prayers to Krishna, 'O Lord, You are so merciful, you allowed us to see Your lotus feet.' [73]

Seeing all this, the small four-mouthed Brahma said, "Prabhu, You are very merciful to me, You have shown today that there are so many Brahmas serving, worshipping You. You have shown me their lotus feet, so I am very fortunate today." Now his ego was gone.

krsna kahe,—toma-saba dekhite chitta haila

taha lagi' eka thani saba bolaila [75]

Krishna said with a smile, "I wanted to see everybody, that is why I called you all today." He knew what He called them all for—He wanted to demolish Brahma's ego.

sukhi hao sabe, kichhu nahi daitya-bhaya?

tara kahe,—'tomara prasade sarvatra-i jaya

"'I hope you are all happy and there is no fear of demons. Brahmas replied, 'By Your mercy, all places are victorious.' [76]

samprati prthivite yeba haiyachhila bhara

avatirna hana taha karila samhara'

"'You have taken away whatever burden there was on the earth by appearing there.' [77]

dvarakadi—vibhu, tara ei ta pramana

'amara-i brahmande krsna' sabara haila jnana

"This is the proof of Dvaraka's greatness. All Brahmas thought, 'Krishna is in my universe.' [78]

krsna-saha dvaraka-vaibhava anubhava haila

ekatra milane keha kaho na dekhila

"In Krishna's presence, they could feel how glorious Dvaraka was—although they all assembled together, each of them did not see others were also there. [79]

tabe krsna sarva-brahma-gane vidaya dila

dandavat hana sabe nija ghare gela

"Then Krishna bade farewell to all Brahmas, and after having offered their obeisance, they returned to their own homes. [80]

Then Krishna said, "You can go now. You are all very busy and have so many duties—you control and manage the brahmandas, you should go now."

dekhi' chaturmukha brahmara haila chamatkara

krsnera charane asi' kaila namaskara

"Seeing all this, four-headed Brahma was astonished. He came forward and offered obeisance at Krishna's lotus feet. [81]

brahma bale,—purve ami ye nischaya karilun

tara udaharana ami aji ta' dekhilun

"Brahma said, 'Today I have seen the proof of what I previously only believed in.’ [82]

krsna kahe, "ei brahmanda panchasat koti yojana

ati ksudra, tate tomara chari vadana

"Krishna said, 'This universe is five hundred million yojans. It is very small, that is why you have only four faces. [84]

Krishna said, "You do not know that this world is very big, it is impossible to calculate its size. Your brahmanda is panchasat koti yojans (five hundred million yojans), and you have only four mouths. You are very little."

kona brahmanda sata-koti, kona laksa-koti

kona niyuta-koti, kona koti-koti

"'Some universes are one billion, some one trillion, some ten trillion and some one hundred trillion yojans. [85]

('Koti' means ten million.)

brahmanda-anurupa brahmara sarira-vadana

ei-rupe pali ami brahmandera gana

"'The number of faces on Brahma's body depends on the size of the universe. In this way I maintain all the innumerable universes. [86]

Krishna says, "I am serving and looking after all brahmandas."

'eka-pada vibhuti' ihara nahi parimana

'tri-pada vibhuti'ra keba kare parimana"

"'When it is impossible to fathom one fourth of My opulence, who can fathom the other three-fourths of My opulence?' [87]

tabe krsna brahmare dilena vidaya

krsnera vibhuti-svarupa janana na yaya

"Then Krishna let Brahma go. It is not possible to understand the scope of Krishna's power." [89]

Sanatan-Siksa: Krishna's Beauty

15 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 21:]

'tryadhisvara'-sabdera artha 'gudha' ara haya

'tri'-sabde krsnera tina loka kaya

[Mahaprabhu said to Sanatan Goswami,] "There is a very deep meaning in the word 'try-adhisvara.' 'Tri' (three) means that Krishna possesses three lokas (places). [90]

golokakhya gokula, mathura, dvaravati

ei tina loke krsnera sahaje nitya-sthiti

"Gokula (that is also called Goloka), Mathura, and Dvaraka are the three natural and eternal places of Krishna's residence. [91]

krsnera yateka khela, sarvottama nara-lila,

nara-vapu tahara svarupa

gopa-vesa, venu-kara, nava-kisora, nata-vara,

nara-lilara haya anurupa

"From all Krishna's Pastimes, the best are His human Pastimes, where His form is just like that of a human being. His dress of a cowherd boy, His carrying a flute, His lasting youth and expert dancing all suit His human Pastimes very much. [101]

There are so many Pastimes of Krishna, but Krishna Himself likes His Pastimes in a human body—He wants to enjoy in a human body.

krsnera madhura rupa, suna, sanatana

ye rupera eka kana, dubaya saba tribhuvana,

sarva prani kare akarsana

"My dear Sanatan, listen about the sweet form of Krishna. Even a tiny fraction of that form can flood all three worlds—it attracts all living entities. [102]

What is that sweet form? "Madhuram madhuram vapur asya vibhor..."

What I am reading now is Sanatan-siksa: Mahaprabhu is telling and teaching Sanatan Goswami about Krishna.

yogamaya chich-chhakti, visuddha-sattva-parinati,

tara sakti loke dekhaite

ei rupa-ratana, bhakta-ganera gudha-dhana,

prakata kaila nitya-lila haite

"Yoga Maya (Krishna's internal potency) is the spiritual potency, a transformation of pure goodness. This potency makes it possible for the material world to see Krishna's jewel-like form that is a confidential treasure for the devotees and that is manifested from Krishna's eternal Pastimes. [103]

rupa dekhi' apanara, krsnera haila chamatkara,

asvadite mane uthe kama

'sva-saubhagya' yanra nama, saundaryadi-guna-grama,

ei-rupa nitya tara dhama

"When Krishna saw His own form, He was amazed. Suddenly a desire arose in His mind to taste it. This form is so auspicious—the Name and all the superb qualities such as beauty, knowledge, wealth, strength, fame, and renunciation reside within this form. [104]

bhusanera bhusana anga, tahen lalita tri-bhanga,

tahara upara bhrudhanu-nartana

terachhe netranta bana, tara drdha sandhana,

vindhe radha-gopi-gana-mana

"The parts of His body actually beautify the ornaments He wears. He stands in a three-curved style, His eyebrows dancing, and when His sideway glance falls on Srimati Radharani and the gopis, it pierces right through their hearts like an arrow. [105]

brahmandopari paravyoma, tahan ye svarupa-gana,

tan-sabara bale hare mana

pati-vrata-siromani, yanre kahe veda-vani,

akarsaye sei laksmi-gana

"The beauty of Krishna captivates the minds of all liberated inhabitants of Paravyoma, that is situated beyond material worlds, and it attracts even the goddesses of fortune whose chastity and devotion to their husbands is epitomised in the Vedas. [106]

chadi' gopi-manorathe, manmathera mana mathe,

nama dhare 'madana-mohana'

jini' panchasara-darpa, svayam nava-kandarpa,

rasa kare lana gopi-gana

"He rides the chariot of the gopis' minds and 'churns' the mind of even Cupid (who is known as the bewilderer of all minds), that is why His name is 'Madana Mohan'. He conquers the pride of Cupid who is known as the master of the five arrows (the five senses); and this 'new' Cupid performs rasa dance with the gopis. [107]

nija-sama sakha-sange, go-gana-charana range,

vrndavane svachchhanda vihara

yanra venu-dhvani suni', sthavara-jangama prani,

pulaka, kampa, asru vahe dhara

"He treats His friends as equals and with great joy herds the cows and frolics in Vrindavan. When any soul, moving and non-moving, hears the sound of His flute, they become overwhelmed with joy, begin to tremble, and tears stream down from their eyes. [108]

mukta-hara—baka-panti, indra-dhanu-pinchha tati,

pitambara—vijuri-sanchara

krsna nava-jaladhara, jagat-sasya-upara,

varisaye lilamrta-dhara

"He wears a pearl necklace that resembles a row of egrets (white herons), a peacock feather, bright as a rainbow, and yellow clothes that resemble a lightning striking in the sky. Krishna is like a fresh rain-cloud and the shower of the nectar of His Pastimes is just like the rain that nurtures crops. [109]

madhurya bhagavatta-sara, vraje kaila parachara,

taha suka—vyasera nandana

sthane sthane bhagavate, varniyachhe janaite,

taha suni' mate bhakta-gana

"The very essence of the Supreme Lord in Vraja is sweetness (His supreme Pastimes are paramour love), and this is what Sukadev, the son of Vyasadev, preached about. In many places devotees hear and study Srimad Bhagavatam. They become simply mad when they hear about those Pastimes in Vraja." [110]

The Lord sends so many Vaishnavs everywhere, and they are reading and learning Srimad Bhagavatam...

kahite krsnera rase, sloka pade premavese,

preme sanatana-hata dhari'

gopi-bhagya, krsna guna, ye karila varnana,

bhavavese mathura-nagari

Thus Mahaprabhu spoke about the Pastimes of Krishna. Suddenly he caught Sanatan Goswami's hand and recited slokas telling how the women of Mathura spoke about Krishna and the fortune of the gopis. [111]

tarunyamrta—paravara, taranga—lavanya-sara,

tate se avarta bhavodgama

vamsi-dhvani—chakravata, narira mana—trna-pata,

taha dubaya, na haya udgama

"The nectar of His youth is like a great ocean, and His beautiful bodily features are like waves that awaken a whirlpool of ecstasy. The sound of His flute is like a whirlwind. Hearing it, the minds of the ladies, that are like blades of grass, drown in that ocean and never emerge again. [113]

sakhi he, kon tapa kaila gopi-gana

krsna-rupa-sumadhuri, pibi' pibi' netra bhari',

slaghya kare janma-tanu-mana

"My friends! What austerities did the gopis perform? They always drink this highest sweetness of Krishna's Form. It makes their births, bodies and hearts so glorious! [114]

ye madhurira urdhva ana, nahi yara samana,

paravyome svarupera gane

yenho saba-avatari, paravyoma-adhikari,

e madhurya nahi narayane

"There is nothing higher than this sweetness or even equal to it in the whole of Paravyoma, even though its dwellers are liberated and possess bodies like that of Krishna. Even Narayan, the Master of Paravyoma (Vaikuntha) and the source of all incarnations of the Lord, does not possess such sweetness. [115]

tate saksi sei rama, narayanera priyatama,

pativrata-ganera upasya

tinho ye madhurya-lobhe, chhadi' saba kama-bhoge,

vrata kari' karila tapasya

"Laksmi Devi stands as a witness to that. She is the dearest consort of Narayan, all chaste ladies worship her, but she too is attracted by Krishna's sweetness—to enjoy with Krishna, she gave up everything and took vows of austerities. [116]

It is described here how they worship the Lord and the Pastimes of the Lord—a very, very high conception.

sei ta' madhurya-sara, anya-siddhi nahi tara,

tinho—madhuryadi-guna-khani

ara saba prakase, tanra datta guna bhase,

yahan yata prakase karya jani

"This is the nature of His sweetness; there is no other perfection above it. Krishna is a mine of all qualities, including such sweetness. We understand that all His other manifestations possess only some of these qualities. [117]

gopi-bhava-darapana, nava nava ksane ksana,

tara age krsnera madhurya

donhe kare hudahudi, bade, mukha nahi mudi,

nava nava donhara prachurya

"The gopis' heart is like a mirror, and when Krishna stands before it, it shows a new reflection at every moment. Krishna and the gopis start to compete, neither being able to turn away their face, and as this intensifies, more and more comes out. [118]

karma, tapa, yoga, jnana, vidhi-bhakti, japa, dhyana,

iha haite madhurya durlabha

kevala ye raga-marge, bhaje krsne anurage,

tare krsna-madhurya sulabha

"This sweetness is extremely difficult to get for those who are into fruitive activities, austerities, yoga, knowledge, regulations, mantras, or meditation. Only those who follow the path of spontaneous love and worship Krishna our of love, can taste Krishna's sweetness. [119]

sei-rupa vrajasraya, aisvarya-madhuryamaya,

divya-guna-gana-ratnalaya

anera vaibhava-satta, krsna-datta bhagavatta,

krsna—sarva-amsi, sarvasraya

"Such is the nature of Vrindavan, an abode of all opulence and sweetness, a storehouse of gem-like divine qualities. When any other opulence is there in another expansion, it comes from Krishna—Krishna is the source and shelter of all expansions. [120]

sri, lajja, daya, kirti, dhairya, vaisaradi mati,

ei saba krsne pratisthita

susila, mrdu, vadanya, krsna-sama nahi anya,

krsna kare jagatera hita

"Beauty, humility, mercy, merit, patience, expert intelligence are all present in Krishna. Sweet behaviour, mildness, magnanimity, and so on—there is no one like Krishna. Krishna cares for the welfare of the entire world. [121]

krsna dekhi' nana jana, kaila nimise nindana,

vraje vidhi ninde gopi-gana

sei saba sloka padi', mahaprabhu artha kari',

sukhe madhurya kare asvadana

"When people see Krishna, they abuse the blinking of their eyes, and the Vraja gopis chastise Brahma, the creator." Reciting slokas and explaining them, Mahaprabhu tasted their sweetness with so much joy. [122]

Mahaprabhu then explained some slokas from Srimad Bhagavatam...

kama-gayatri-mantra-rupa, haya krsnera svarupa,

sardha-chabbisa aksara tara haya

se aksara 'chandra' haya, krsne kari' udaya,

trijagat kaila kamamaya

"Krishna's divine form is embodiment of Kama-gayatri. Its twenty-four and a half syllables are like the moon, and when this moon arises in Krishna, it fills the entire three worlds with lust. [125]

sakhi he, krsna-mukha—dvija-raja-raja

krsna-vapu-simhasane, vasi' rajya-sasane,

kare sange chandrera samaja

"My friend! The face of Krishna is the king of moons! Krishna sits on the throne, ruling over His kingdom surrounded by an assembly of moons. [126]

dui ganda suchikkana, jini' mani-sudarpana,

sei dui purna-chandra jani

lalate astami-indu, tahate chandana-bindu,

sei eka purna-chandra mani

"His two glowing cheeks conquer the beauty of shiny gems. I can compare His cheeks to a full moon. On the half-moon of His forehead there is a drop of sandalwood paste that resembles a full moon as well. [127]

kara-nakha-chandera hata, vamsi-upara kare nata,

tara gita muralira tana

pada-nakha-chandra-gana, tale kare nartana,

nupurera dhvani yara gana

"His fingers, with moon-like nails, dance on top of the flute and sing a song that comes out as the melody of the flute. His feet, with toenails that resemble a crowd of moons, dance on the ground, singing a song with the jingling of the ankle bells. [128]

nache makara-kundala, netra—lila-kamala,

vilasi raja satata nachaya

bhru—dhanu, netra—bana, dhanur-guna—dui kana,

nari-mana-laksya vindhe taya

"Krishna is the king of enjoyers. He always makes His shark-shaped earrings and playful lotus eyes dance. His eye brows are like arrows, ears like the string, and the eyes are just like arrows. These arrows pierce its target—the minds of the gopis. [129]

ei chandera bada nata, pasari' chandera hata,

vinimule vilaya nijamrta

kahon smita-jyotsnamrte, kanhare adharamrte,

saba loka kare apyayita

"The great dance of this Moon expands the marketplace of moons and distributes His very own nectar without any price—some get the nectar of the moon rays of His smile, some get the nectar of His lips, and so on. Everyone stays satisfied." [130]

Mahaprabhu tells Sanatan Goswami how Krishna distributes the sweetness of His form.

madhuram madhuram vapur asya vibhor

madhuram madhuram vadanam madhuram

madhu-gandhi mrdu-smitam etad aho

madhuram madhuram madhuram madhuram

"O, Lord Krishna! The beauty of Your transcendental form is very sweet, but Your beautiful face is even sweeter, yet the sweet smile on Your face, which is like the sweet aroma of honey, is sweeter still." [136]

His mouth, His smile, His face—everything is sweeter than honey. It is honey, honey and more honey, more and more beautiful. Everything about Him is beautiful; everywhere there is beauty, beauty and more beauty coming...

vipulayataruna, madana-mada-ghurnana,

mantri yara e dui nayana

lavanya-keli-sadana, jana-netra-rasayana,

sukhamaya govinda-vadana

"Krishna's reddish widely spread eyes are like two ministers. They bewilder the pride of Cupid. Govinda's face is the abode of the pastimes of beauty and is a source of joy to everyone's eyes. [131]

yanra punya-punja-phale, se-mukha-darsana mile,

dui ankhi ki karibe pane?

dviguna bade trsna-lobha, pite nare—manah-ksobha,

duhkhe kare vidhira nindane

"If somehow as a result of many pious activities, one gets to see this face, how much can just two eyes drink? The sight of Krishna's face increases the hunger and thirst of their eyes twofold. In fact, their mind becomes so disturbed that out of distress they chastise the creator: [132]

Mahaprabhu is saying, "I have got two eyes, but I have no power to see His face! My eyes are full of dust of maya. I cannot see His face!" "Aprakrita vastu nahe prakrita-gochara: the transcendental can never be seen by the mundane senses." If you can see Him one time, you will want to see Him many, many times—so much hankering, so much attachment will come.

na dileka laksa-koti, sabe dila ankhi duti,

tate dila nimisa-achchhadana

vidhi—jada tapodhana, rasa-sunya tara mana,

nahi jane yogya srjana

"'Why did he not give me thousands and millions of eyes? Why has he only given me two eyes? Not only he gave two eyes, he made them with eyelids, and they blink! The creator is engaged in austerities, so his heart went dry. He does not know how to create things properly! [133]

ye dekhibe krsnanana, tara kare dvi-nayana,

vidhi hana hena avichara

mora yadi bola dhare, koti ankhi tara kare,

tabe jani yogya srsti tara

"'The creator thinks, "Let those who see the beautiful face of Krishna have two eyes." If it was in my power, I would create millions of eyes, then it would be a fair creation.' [134]

krsnanga-madhurya—sindhu, sumadhura mukha—indu,

ati-madhu smita—sukirane

e-tine lagila mana, lobhe kare asvadana,

sloka pade svahasta-chalane

"The sweet body of Krishna is like an ocean, and His very sweet face is like the moon. His extraordinarily sweet smile is like the shining beams of moonlight." Attracted and excited by these three, with more and more greed, Mahaprabhu recited another sloka. As He recited it, His hands moved in ecstasy. [135]

sanatana, krsna-madhurya—amrtera sindhu

mora mana—sannipati, saba pite kare mati,

durdaiva-vaidya na deya eka bindu

"Sanatan, the sweetness of Krishna is an ocean of nectar. My mind is now afflicted with convulsions, it wants to drink it all, but this terrible 'physician' does not let me drink even a drop of it. [137]

krsnanga—lavanya-pura, madhura haite sumadhura,

tate yei mukha sudhakara

madhura haite sumadhura, taha ha-ite sumadhura,

tara yei smita jyotsna-bhara

"The body of Krishna is an abode of beauty and is sweeter than sweet. His moon-like face is sweeter still. His smile is like moonbeams and is yet even sweeter. [138]

madhura haite sumadhura, taha haite sumadhura,

taha haite ati sumadhura

apanara eka kane, vyape saba tribhuvane,

dasa-dik vyape yara pura

"One particle of Him is sweeter than sweet, sweeter and yet more and more sweeter—this abode of sweetness spreads throughout the three worlds in all ten directions. [139]

smita-kirana-sukarpure, paise adhara-madhure,

sei madhu mataya tribhuvane

vamsi-chhidra akase, tara guna sabde paise,

dhvani-rupe pana pariname

"His radiant camphor-like smile enters His sweet His lips and spreads such type of honey that it maddens the entire three worlds. When that sweetness enters the holes of His flute, it becomes transformed and comes out into the sky in the form of sound. [140]

se dhvani chaudike dhaya, anda bhedi' vaikunthe yaya,

bale paise jagatera kane

saba matoyala kari', balatkare ane dhari',

visesatah yuvatira gane

"Running in the four directions, that sound vibration pierces the coverings of the universe and enters Vaikuntha; it then forcefully enters the ears of the whole world. It maddens everyone. It specifically grasps the minds of the young girls of Vraja and brings them to the place where Krishna is. [141]

dhvani—bada uddhata, pativratara bhange vrata,

pati-kola haite tani' ane

vaikunthera laksmi-gane, yei kare akarsane,

tara age keba gopi-gane

"This vibration of Krishna's flute is aggressive: it breaks all vows of chaste wives and takes the women away from the laps of their husbands. Even Goddesses of fortune in Vaikuntha feel attracted to it, what to speak of the simple cowherd girls of Vraja. [142]

nivi khasaya pati-age, grha-dharma karaya tyage,

bale dhari' ane krsna-sthane

loka-dharma, lajja, bhaya, saba jnana lupta haya,

aichhe nachaya saba nari-gane

"This vibration of Krishna's flute actually slackens the knots of gopis' undergarments in front of their husbands, so they have to leave their household chores and come to the place where Krishna is. Propriety, shame, fear, all considerations go to the background. This is how it makes all women dance. [143]

kanera bhitara vasa kare, apane tanha sada sphure,

anya sabda na deya pravesite

ana katha na sune kana, ana balite bolaya ana,

ei krsnera vamsira charite

"The sound of Krishna's flute then enters their inner ears and makes its residence there, not allowing any other sounds enter there. After that, they can no longer hear anything else, or speak of anything else. Such is the nature of Krishna's flute." [144]

punah kahe bahya-jnane, ana kahite kahilun ane,

krsna-krpa tomara upare

mora chitta-bhrama kari', nijaisvarya-madhuri,

mora mukhe sunaya tomare

Regaining His external consciousness, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, "What I have said to you is not what I was going to say. This is Krishna's mercy upon you—He bewildered My mind and made you hear about His own sweetness from My mouth. [145]

ami ta' baula, ana kahite ana kahi

krsnera madhuryamrta-srote yai vahi'

"I am mad, I want to say one thing, but instead say another. I am being carried away from the waves of the nectar of Krishna's sweetness!" [146]

tabe mahaprabhu ksaneka mauna kari' rahe

mane eka kari' punah sanatane kahe

Then Mahaprabhu fell silent for a moment, gathered his thoughts, and again spoke to Sanatan. [147]

krsnera madhuri ara mahaprabhura mukhe

iha yei sune, sei bhase prema-sukhe

Those who hear about the sweetness of Krishna from the mouth of Mahaprabhu, will float in the bliss of love of God. [148]

Mahaprabhu told Sanatan Goswami about the glories of Krishna. Those who hear about these things from Mahaprabhu's mouth, will also become ecstatic—they will get so much joy in their hearts.

sri-rupa-raghunatha-pade yara asa

chaitanya-charitamrta kahe krsnadasa

Always desiring the lotus feet of Sri Rupa and Raghunath, Krishna Das is narrating this Chaitanya-charitamrita. [149]

— { ABHIDHEYA } —

Sanatan-Siksa: Maya's Family

15 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 22:]

Now we are reading about what abhidheya is.

jaya jaya gaurachandra jaya nityananda

jayadvaita-chandra jaya gaura-bhakta-vrnda

All glories to Gaurachandra, all glories to Nityananda! All glories to Advaita-chandra and the devotees of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu! [2]

Mahaprabhu says, "Eita kahilun sambandha-tattvera: I have just told you what sambandha, the relationship with the Lord, is." How to get that relationship? You must tie Him. Tie with what? With devotion. How to get devotion? Through practising. And how to practise? That you can read here, in chapter 22.

ebe kahi, suna, abhidheya-laksana

yaha haite pai—krsna, krsna-prema-dhana

“Sanatan, now I will tell you the characteristics of abhidheya, the means to attain the goal—to attain Krishna and the wealth of love to Krishna. [4]

krsna-bhakti—abhidheya, sarva-sastre kaya

ataeva muni-gana kariyachhe nischaya

“All scriptures say that the way to establish a relationship with Krishna is through devotion to Krishna, and it has been affirmed by all saints. [5]

advaya-jnana-tattva krsna—svayam bhagavan

'svarupa-sakti' rupe tanra haya avasthana

“Krishna, the nondual Absolute Truth, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Everything that exists, is as an expansion of His own potencies. [7]

svamsa-vibhinnamsa-rupe hana vistara

ananta vaikuntha-brahmande karena vihara

“He expands Himself into personal (svamsa) and separated (vibhinnamsa) expansions and performs His Pastimes in the innumerable spiritual and material worlds. [8]

svamsa-vistara—chatur-vyuha, avatara-gana

vibhinnamsa jiva—tanra saktite ganana

“His personal (svamsa) expansions are his quadruple forms (Sankarsan, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Vasudev), and various incarnations (Nrisimha, Vamana, Varaha, and others). His separated (vibhinnamsa) expansions are jivas, the living entities—they too are a part of Krishna's potency. [9]

sei vibhinnamsa jiva—dui ta' prakara

eka—'nitya-mukta', eka—'nitya-samsara'

“There are two kinds of jivas, or the separated expansions of Krishna. One is nitya-mukta, eternally liberated, and the other one is nitya-samsara, eternally conditioned. [10]

'nitya-mukta'—nitya krsna-charane unmukha

'krsna-parisada' nama, bhunje seva-sukha

“The eternally liberated soul are eternally drawn to the lotus feet of Krishna. They are known as associates of Krishna and relish the joy of service. [11]

'nitya-baddha'—krsna haite nitya-bahirmukha

'nitya-samsara', bhunje narakadi duhkha

“The eternally conditioned souls are eternally averse to Krishna. They enter eternal material life and relish all sorts of hellish suffering. [12]

The baddha jivas—the conditioned, or fallen, souls—have forgotten Krishna and as a result always get so many austerities: austerities from the mind, austerities from the body, and austerities from others.

Those who are bound by maya, always turn away from Krishna (nitya bahirmukha). They do not remember Krishna and suffer in hell. Where is hell? Hell is here—everything is here, you can see it for yourself. You can go to the toilet and see there are so many insects there eating stool; if you go to a cow dung place you will see so many different kinds of insects there; if you go to the drain, you will see different kinds of insects there too; if you go to a pond, there too you will find so many insects. They are suffering so much, but they think they are happy. They do not realise it, but we can see that they are suffering—if somebody puts you inside cow dung, how long will you be able to tolerate it? That is hell.

"'Nitya-samsara', bhunje narakadi duhkha": these averse souls join an eternal family of Maya. Those who join Maya's family always suffer, always get austerity; and those who join Krishna's family always get joy, pleasure.

Forgetting Krishna, the souls keep on coming and going—they get a goat's body, a cow's body, a cat's body, an insect's body, and so on.

sei dose maya-pisachi danda kare tare

adhyatmikadi tapa-traya tare jari' mare

“Because of this offence, Maya the Witch punishes them. The enforced on them threefold miseries (caused by their bodies, nature, and other souls) are excruciating. [13]

Tri-tap-jara, there are three kinds of austerity: adhibhautik, adhidaivik, and adhyatmik. Adhidaivik are the austerities that are coming from the demigods (earthquakes, train accidents, floods, and so on). Adhibhautik are the austerities that are coming from other jiva souls (a snake eats frogs, a cow eats grass, man eats many other souls, and so on). Adhyatmik are the austerities that are coming from the body and mind (there are many kinds of diseases and mental problems).

The other day it was written in the newspaper about one man. He is a very big engineer, has a lot of money, but how much mental problem did he have? His father died a few days ago—burnt himself alive in the house. Before that, his sister did yoga asan, did not eat anything for six months and died. He thinks man does not die—he thinks even when the soul leaves, the body continues to live. So, you know what he did? That man slept in the room with the dead body of his sister and their two [dead] dogs for over six months! He had so much affection to his sister that he decided to keep her body—and he actually gave food to that body.

The girl died in December, and only a few days ago [June] the police found out about it. This is not legal in India—you cannot keep a dead body like this. He lives in a very big house, and nobody outside knew about it—he made his room air-tight so that no bad smell came out and nobody would know; and he lived there.

Now the man is in mental hospital, and the police is investigating the death of the girl. They asked the man,

"Are you not afraid of a dead body?"

"No, we are coming from the same womb, she is my sister. Why should I be afraid of her?"

"But you are sleeping with that dead body in the room, did you not get any bad smell?"

"No, why would I get bad smell? She is my sister!"

Then you can understand how much austerity jiva souls suffer.

kama-krodhera dasa hana tara lathi khaya

bhramite bhramite yadi sadhu-vaidya paya

“They become slaves of lust and anger and get kicked around by them. In this way, they wander throughout the universe until they get the help of a sadhu, the ‘physician'. [14]

They become servants of lust, anger, greed, and they are kicked by them so much—they get so much austerity, but still they do not want to leave it, still they do not come to Krishna consciousness. They think that is all right, they are very happy. How will they then get rescued?

"Bhramite bhramite yadi sadhu-vaidya paya": they are coming and going, coming and going, and somehow they get some good sadhu association. When they get good association, when they hear that sadhu's lecture, gradually they come to consciousness. They begin to wonder, "What am I born in this world for? What do we get this human body for? What did I get these eyes for? What did I get these ears for? What is my duty? Is it only eating, sleeping and enjoying? A dog does the same things as I am doing, what is then this life for?" First we must understand the difference between a human body and a dog, then understand what our duty is. Our duty is, "I must think about Krishna—I must serve Krishna, serve His devotee."

Sanatan-Siksa: The Cry of a Surrendered Soul

22 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 22:]

...So, the souls suffer the pain of the threefold miseries—adhibhautik, adhidaivik, and adhyatmik. How can they get relief?

kama-krodhera dasa hana tara lathi khaya

bhramite bhramite yadi sadhu-vaidya paya

"The souls become slaves of lust and anger and get kicked around by them. In this way, they wander throughout the universe until they get the help of a sadhu, the physician.” [14]

tanra upadesa-mantre pisachi palaya

krsna-bhakti paya, tabe krsna-nikata yaya

"When the souls follow the guidance and take the mantra that they receive from the sadhu, Maya the Witch flees from them. Then they get devotion to Krishna and can come near to Krishna.” [15]

kamadinam kati na katidha palita durnidesas

tesam jata mayi na karuna na trapa nopasantih [16]

"O Lord! O Bhagavan! How many kinds of wicked orders I have received from lust and others! They gave me nonsense orders and without any shame I followed them all. They had no mercy on me, nor were they ever satisfied. How many times I have listen to my children, wife, friends, and others! What am I to do now? O Krishna!"

This is the main sloka of a saranagata, surrendered soul. Param Guru Maharaj Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj always recited this sloka.

utsrjyaitan atha yadu-pate sampratam labdha-buddhis

tvam ayatah saranam abhayam mam niyunksvatma-dasye

"O Krishna! Suddenly, I have managed to leave their side and got some good intelligence, and I have come to surrender at Your fearless lotus feet. Please, engage me now as Your servant.” [16]

It is a very important sloka, you must always remember it. Learn it by heart. It written by Srila Rupa Goswami in Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (3.2.25), and also here in Chaitanya-charitamrita, in Sanatan-siksa, 22.16.

kamadinam kati na katidha palita durnidesa,

tesam jata mayi na karuna na trapa nopasantih

utsrjyaitan atha yadu-pate! sampratam labdha-buddhis

tvam ayatah saranam-abhayam mam niyunksvatma-dasye

"O Lord! How many kinds of wicked orders from lust and others I followed! They had no mercy on me, nor were they ever satisfied! O Krishna! Suddenly, I managed to leave their side and got some good intelligence—I have surrendered at Your fearless lotus feet, please engage me now as Your servant."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.16)

Sanatan-Siksa: Breaking Free

22 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 22:]

krsna-bhakti haya abhidheya-pradhana

bhakti-mukha-niriksaka karma-yoga-jnana

“Devotion to Krishna is the primary goal of life. Fruitive action (karma), austerities (yoga), knowledge (jnana) look up to devotion (bhakti).” [17]

ei saba sadhanera ati tuchchha bala

krsna-bhakti vina taha dite nare phala

"These practices have very little power—without devotion to Krishna, they cannot give the result." [18]

Yesterday was the international day of yoga, and the prime minister of India advised everyone to do yoga-asan (like, stand on one leg for a few minutes, and other hatha-yoga and meditation) every day for thirty-five minutes, from 7 to 7:35 a.m. This practice has some value—it helps make the mind, senses peaceful, but what does Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita say? "Karma-yoga-jnana ei saba sadhanera ati tuchchha bala": the result of this practice is minute. Only when there is devotion to Krishna in your practice can you get a good result.

On the other hand, when the prime minister recited some slokas from Srimad Bhagavad-gita, there was some benefit in that—it was Krishna-katha.

If there is no devotion to Krishna present somewhere, then there is nothing there. You may practise karma, you may do yoga, or accumulate knowledge, but there must be devotion to Krishna in that, must be faith in Krishna. You can do karma (engage in activities pursuing some material benefit), it is all right, but it is not good for you to hanker for the result, think of the result. You should not think about it.

kevala jnana 'mukti' dite nare bhakti vine

krsnonmukhe sei mukti haya vina jnane

"Knowledge alone cannot give you liberation unless there is devotion in it, but if you take to Krishna consciousness you can get liberation without any knowledge." [21]

Do you understand? If you have only knowledge and have no Krishna-bhakti, you will not get liberation—you cannot get liberation; but if you are interested in Krishna consciousness, if you want Krishna consciousness but have no knowledge, you will get liberation because you have devotion. It is written very beautifully here in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita: you can get liberation without any knowledge if you have devotion to Krishna.

'krsna-nitya-dasa'—jiva taha bhuli' gela

ei dose maya tara galaya bandhila

"When the jiva soul makes the mistake of forgetting that it is an eternal servant of Krishna, Maya captures the soul by its neck." [24]

We are eternal servants of the Lord, but we have forgotten it. Because we make the mistake of thinking, "I am the doer, I do everything," Maya binds us by our neck. What can we do now? What is the solution? How can the souls escape this bondage?

tate krsna bhaje, kare gurura sevana

maya-jala chhude, paya krsnera charana

"When such conditioned soul worships Krishna, serves the Guru, then Maya's net is loosened and the soul attains the lotus feet of Krishna." [25]

"If the soul worships Krishna, serves the Guru, Maya will run away from it and it will get the lotus feet of Krishna." These are Mahaprabhu's words—Mahaprabhu tells this to Sanatan Goswami to teach us all.

Sanatan-Siksa: Delusion of Liberation

22 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 22:]

Sanatan Goswami asked Mahaprabhu, "Who am I? Why am I suffering? How can I get relief?" but Mahaprabhu replied, "You are a first-class devotee, free from Maya's bondage. I know why you are asking Me these questions. You are asking them to give benefit to this world—you want to teach everybody the answers to these questions."

So, the next sloka is:

jnani jivan-mukta-dasa painu kari' mane

vastutah buddhi 'suddha' nahe krsna-bhakti vine

"There are jnanis who think they have already achieved the stage of liberation in their life, but actually without devotion to Krishna their intelligence can never be pure." [29]

Their intelligence is not pure:

kama-krodhera dasa hana tara lathi khaya

bhramite bhramite yadi sadhu-vaidya paya

"The souls become slaves of lust and anger and get kicked around by them. In this way, they wander throughout the universe until they get the help of a sadhu, the physician.” [14]

What happens to the eternally conditioned souls?

'nitya-baddha'—krsna haite nitya-bahirmukha

'nitya-samsara', bhunje narakadi duhkha

“The eternally conditioned souls are eternally averse to Krishna. They enter eternal material life and relish all sorts of hellish suffering. [12]

We have fallen into the eternal material world (nitya-samsar) and keep coming and going in different forms of life—we come as cows, goats, dogs, cats, and so on. How can we get relief from this eternal rounding of samsar? What is the solution? "Bhramite bhramite yadi sadhu-vaidya paya." We wander throughout the various species until in some birth we get the darshan of a sadhu. What does the sadhu do?

tanra upadesa-mantre pisachi palaya

krsna-bhakti paya, tabe krsna-nikata yaya

"When the souls follow the guidance and take the mantra that they receive from the sadhu, Maya the Witch flees from them. Then they get devotion to Krishna and can come near to Krishna.” [15]

"Tanra upadesa-mantre pisachi palaya." As if being possessed by a ghost, you think, "This is my house, these are my children," but this is all false! You are enchanted by a witch, and when the sadhu gives you advice and mantra, by that mantra the witch (maya) goes away and the spell is broken. What happens next? "Krsna-bhakti paya, tabe Krsna-nikata yaya: you get devotion to Krishna and come close to Krishna."

Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj always recited this sloka below. You should all remember it. This is a very nice sloka for a saranagata, a surrendered soul:

kamadinam kati na katidha palita durnidesa,

tesam jata mayi na karuna na trapa nopasantih

utsrjyaitan atha yadu-pate! sampratam labdha-buddhis

tvam ayatah saranam-abhayam mam niyunksvatma-dasye

"O Lord! How many kinds of wicked orders from lust and others I followed! They had no mercy on me, nor were they ever satisfied! O Krishna! Suddenly, I managed to leave their side and got some good intelligence—I have surrendered at Your fearless lotus feet, please engage me now as Your servant."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.16)

"Prabhu, I have been following so many orders from lust, anger, greed and others. I have been following their orders and suffering so much! Anger would come and kick me, lust would come and kick me, greed would come and kick me, and so on. How much I have been kicked around, Prabhu! And they never took pity on me... I have been listening to my wife, I have been listening to my husband, I have been listening to my sons and daughters, to all my friends—even though I have been following their bad instructions, they never had any sympathy for me! What am I to do now? O Krishna! Somehow I have left them—I have got some good intelligence and I have left them! I am surrendering now at Your lotus feet. Please appoint me as Your servant!"

What a beautiful sloka! "Please appoint me as Your servant." Param Guru Maharaj often recited it. It is written by Srila Rupa Goswami in Bhakti-rasamrita-sinduh...

Sanatan-Siksa: Leaving Ulterior Motive

22 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 22:]

krsna—surya-sama; maya haya andhakara

yanha krsna, tanha nahi mayara adhikara

"Krishna is like the sun, Maya is like darkness. Maya has no right to be where Krishna is." [31]

Where there is Krishna, it is the compared to the sun, and where there is Maya, it is compared to darkness. Where there is Krishna, there is no darkness—darkness has not right to be there.

'krsna, tomara hana' yadi bale eka-bara

maya-bandha haite krsna tare kare para

"If somebody just once says, 'Krishna, I am Yours!', Krishna frees them from the bondage of Maya." [33]

We must surrender, "Krishna, I am Yours! I am Your servant!" It means, "I am your goat: You can cut my tail, neck, head, leg, or anything You want, that is Your business. I have surrendered to You, and I am giving everything (my body, my mind, my heart) to You, and it is up to You now to decide what You will do with me—it is up to You what You will do with my body, what You will do with my mind, and what You will do with my heart. You have given me hands to do Your service; You have me eyes to see Your form, and so on. I am giving everything to You." We must say this from our heart, without hypocrisy or deceit,

loka dekhana gora bhaja tilaka matra dhari'

gopanete atyachara gora dhare churi

"You show the world you serve Gora simply by wearing tilak but secretly you misbehave. Gora will catch you, you thief!"

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.7)

You always say that you are Gora's devotee, but you do not follow His conception and His advice,

“gorara ami, gorara ami" mukhe balile nahi chale

gorara achara, gorara vichara la-ile phala phale

"Just saying, 'I am Gora's! I am Gora's!' does not do. Only when you follow Gora's practices and Gora's conception will you get the proper result."

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.6)

bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kami 'subuddhi' yadi haya

gadha-bhakti-yoge tabe krsnere bhajaya

"If those who want enjoyment, liberation or some mystic powers, get good intelligence and practise Krishna consciousness intensely, they get the service to Krishna." [35]

Guru Maharaj said that four kinds of people come to the Math: arta (the distressed), artharthi (the poor), jijnasu (the curious), jnani (the knowledge-seekers). Some of them want to get liberation (mukti-kami), some want to get enjoyment (bhukti-kami), some want to get some kind of opulence (siddhi-kami), but it says in this sloka that if they have some good intelligence, if they follow and practise Krishna consciousness, then they too can worship Krishna, can get to serve Krishna.

If you have strong devotion to Krishna, your service can never be removed: if you have a strong common sense, strong devotion to Krishna, then you will never leave your service and your service will also never leave you, it will always be with you.

One time, the pujari of a temple wanted to go to Vrindavan. He came to Gurudev and asked him,

"Gurudev, I want to go to Vrindavan now."

"To Vrindavan?"

"Yes, Maharaj."

"You are very cruel. Who will take care of your Children? Have you arranged for somebody to take care of Them?" (The Deity in the temple are like children.)

"Yes I, arranged something..."

"Then you can go for a few days."

This is what Gurudev said.

So, "gadha-bhakti-yoge tabe Krsnere bhajaya" means also if you have no devotion to Krishna, you cannot do service. Krishna bhajan means Krishna seva. Bhajan does not mean to only chant, "Krishna, Krishna" on your beads. 'Bhajan' means 'bhaj datum', seva ('bhaj' means service, 'datum' means 'giving').

If somebody asks you, "Do you do Krishna bhajan?" what will you answer? Is simply chanting on your beads Krishna bhajan? No. It is like you keep saying, "My father is good, my father is good, my father is good," but you do not give food to your father. You chant, "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare," but you do not give food to your Bhagavan, you do not give Him clothes, you do not bathe Him, and so on. You always chant, "Gurudev, Gurudev, Gurudev," but do not give food to your Gurudev—it means externally you say, "Gurudev", but inside you do something else.

So,

bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kami 'subuddhi' yadi haya

gadha-bhakti-yoge tabe krsnere bhajaya

"If those who want enjoyment, liberation or some mystic powers, get good intelligence and practise Krishna consciousness intensely, they get the service to Krishna." [35]

People come to the temple, but somebody thinks about liberation ("I can go to the temple and get liberation there"), somebody thinks about enjoyment ("Oh, I will go to the temple, there is good food, a good house, I can enjoy there very nicely"), somebody wants name and fame ("I can get opulence, name and fame there!"), but if they get good intelligence and worship the Lord, practise Krishna consciousness properly (gadha-bhakti-yoge), they too can get service to the Lord.

The main thing is service—if you have no service, you have no mercy. These are Gurudev's words. Somebody asks Gurudev, "Please give me some mercy," but what is the meaning of mercy? Do you have some service? No? Then you have no mercy. If you have service, you have mercy. Remember it. Gurudev always says, "Maya is always taking our time." We have got some time, and how hard the Lord tries to engage us in His service!

Mahaprabhu told all this to Sanatan Goswami, but did He tell it for him? No, Mahaprabhu told it for us. Sanatan Goswami asked, "Ke ami? (Who am I?)" but Sanatan Goswami knows it himself—he knows the answers to all the questions he asked ("Why am I suffering so much? What is the relief?"). Mahaprabhu said to him, "You know everything yourself—you have no bondage of Maya. I know why you are asking Me these questions. You asking it for everybody's benefit—you want to teach others. You are a perfect man and you can preach these kinds of things all over the universe..."

How beautifully it is written here in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita...

Sanatan-Siksa: When Krishna Gives Mercy

22 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 22:]

anya-kami yadi kare krsnera bhajana

na magiteha krsna tare dena sva-charana

"If somebody has some material desires but worships Krishna, Krishna gives them His lotus feet even though they do not ask for it." [37]

If somebody worships Krishna and asks for some other things, Krishna is very merciful—He gives them His lotus feet because they worship Krishna and they are innocent, have no knowledge. Knowledge cannot do it for you—if you have no devotion to Krishna, knowledge will not give you liberation; but if you have no knowledge and have devotion to Krishna, then you can get liberation. It says here that if you want other things (enjoyment, liberation, some power) but worship Krishna, then eventually you will get the lotus feet of Krishna.

krsna kahe,—'ama bhaje, mage visaya-sukha

amrta chhadi' visa mage,—ei bada murkha

"Krishna says, 'They worship Me, desiring material happiness—leaving aside nectar, they ask for poison. They are great fools.'" [38]

Krishna says, "They worship Me but ask for some material enjoyment. They are fools—they ask Me for poison and reject nectar. Instead of asking Me for nectar, they are asking Me for poison, but they are My sons, so why will I give them poison? I am not going to do that. Instead of poison, I will give them My lotus feet—I will give them nectar."

ami—vijna, ei murkhe 'visaya' kene diba?

sva-charanamrta diya 'visaya' bhulaiba

"'I know better, so why will I give these fools poison? I will give them the nectar of My lotus feet, then they will forget about the poison!'" [39]

Krishna says, "I am intelligent, and they are foolish. Why would I give My foolish son poison? I better give him the nectar of My lotus feet that will make him forget all kinds of material enjoyment!"

If somebody tastes these kinds of things, they will not think about material enjoyment any more—if somebody drinks the nectar of the lotus feet of the Lord once, no material desires will remain in them.

kama lagi' krsne bhaje, paya krsna-rase

kama chadi' 'dasa' haite haya abhilase

"Somebody wants material enjoyment and worships Krishna, but when they get the taste of Krishna's nectar, they leave all their desires and aspire to become a servant." [41]

They repent, "Prabhu, how much have I been kicked around? I have listened to my wife, children, friends—how many orders I have taken from others! I have obeyed them, but they have never had any pity on me—they did not who any love or care for me. Now I am leaving them all and surrendering to You, Prabhu! Please make me Your servant, give me Your service!"

What a beautiful sloka Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu wrote in Sri Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhuh (3.2.25).

samsara bhramite kona bhagye keha tare

nadira pravahe yena kastha lage tire

"Wandering throughout the material world, some souls get good fortune and somehow cross this ocean of material life just as a wooden stick floating in the water gets washed ashore." [43]

We were swimming in the river, but somehow we got to the bank—have reached the land. When we leave the Lord, we only become burdened in this world—we worry about the house, money, and so on...

There are many gurus in this world (karmi-guru, jnani-guru, yogi-guru, kaulik guru, laulik guru, and so on), but to leave this eternal Maya (nitya-samsar), you need an eternal master (nitya-guru). When you come to such a bona fide Guru, he can rescue you. How? The Guru gives you a supreme mantra and when you take the mantra Maya the Witch runs away. Then you get Krishna-bhakti and come close to Krishna.

kona bhagye karo samsara ksayonmukha haya

sadhu-sange tabe krsne rati upajaya

"By some good fortune, the material world begins to dissipate for them. They associate with sadhus, and attachment to Krishna arises within them." [45]

"The material world gradually becomes destroyed, and the wandering of the soul comes to an end, then by good association attachment to Krishna awakens in them."

krsna yadi krpa kare kona bhagyavane

guru-antaryami-rupe sikhaya apane

"When Krishna gives His mercy to a fortunate soul, He personally instructs this soul from within in the form of an internal Guru." [47]

There is a Guru in your heart, and when Krishna gives His mercy to you, that Guru speaks from your heart and teaches you. This does not happen to everyone—only to a fortunate soul. Then, this chaitya-guru, the internal Guru, takes you to the mahanta-guru, the initiating Guru. The chaitya-guru (the Guru in your heart) tells you, "You no longer need to stay here. Take shelter of a bona fide Guru, surrender to him, then your offences will go away and Maya will withdraw. When you come to the lotus feet of your Guru, you will get service to Krishna and became a member of Krishna's family."

In this world there are two families—Maya's family and Krishna's family. You have already got the membership in Krishna's family, but you must not lose it...

Utter just once, "Krsna, ami tomar, tumi amar!" ("Krishna, I am Yours, and You are mine!") and Maya will go away...

Sanatan-Siksa: Awakening Taste for Service

23 June 2015

[His Divine Grace recapitulates Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 22:]

I was reading the 22nd chapter yesterday in the evening, beginning from this sloka by Srila Rupa Goswami,

kamadinam kati na katidha palita durnidesa,

tesam jata mayi na karuna na trapa nopasantih

utsrjyaitan atha yadu-pate! sampratam labdha-buddhis

tvam ayatah saranam-abhayam mam niyunksvatma-dasye

"O Lord! How many kinds of wicked orders from lust and others I followed! They had no mercy on me, nor were they ever satisfied! O Krishna! Suddenly, I managed to leave their side and got some good intelligence—I have surrendered at Your fearless lotus feet, please engage me now as Your servant." [16]

It means, "I am suffering so much. I have listened to Maya's instruction—I have listened to my son, my wife, my daughter, my friends, to anger, lust. They gave me so many bad instructions, and although I have listened to them all, they never had any sympathy for me... Now I have at last come to You! I have got some intelligence, good brain, and I give up everything and surrender to You. Now You must give me some service—You must appoint me as Your servant."

krsna-bhakti haya abhidheya-pradhana

bhakti-mukha-niriksaka karma-yoga-jnana

"Devotion to Krishna is the primary goal of life. Fruitive action (karma), austerities (yoga), knowledge (jnana) look up to devotion (bhakti)." [17]

ei saba sadhanera ati tuchchha bala

krsna-bhakti vina taha dite nare phala

"These practices have very little power—without devotion to Krishna, they cannot give the result." [18]

Krsna-bhakti haya abhidheya-pradhana: what is called abhidheya? Abhidheya (the main things) is devotion to Krishna. Practising karma, meditation, and other things, gives very little result—if you have no Krishna-bhakti (devotion to Krishna), there will be no result.

Kevala jnana 'mukti' dite nare bhakti vine: if you have knowledge and no devotion, you will not get liberation, but if you have no knowledge and have devotion, you will get liberation.

'krsna-nitya-dasa'—jiva taha bhuli' gela

ei dose maya tara galaya bandhila

"When the jiva soul makes the mistake of forgetting that it is an eternal servant of Krishna, Maya captures the soul by its neck." [24]

We are eternal servants of the Lord, but we forget it—we forget Krishna, that is our fault. As a result of that fault, Maya attacks us: she puts a noose around our necks (galaya bandha).

tate krsna bhaje, kare gurura sevana

maya-jala chhude, paya krsnera charana

"When such conditioned soul worships Krishna, serves the Guru, then Maya's net is loosened and the soul attains the lotus feet of Krishna." [25]

If, however, you worship Krishna, if your serve the Guru, you can become free from Maya and get the lotus feet of the Lord.

chari varnasrami yadi krsna nahi bhaje

svakarma karileo se raurave padi maje

"Whatever varna (a priest, fighter, manager, or worker) or asram (a celibate, householder, renouncer of the household life, or monk) you may belong to, if you do not worship Krishna but engage in your prescribed duties, you will have to fall into a terrible hell." [26]

You may be a householder, a brahmachari, a vanaprastha, a sannyasi, a brahmin, you may belong to a high caste, lower caste, come from a very high family, be a highly educated person, but if you do not worship Krishna, then whatever work you do, you will go to hell. It is told here in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita.

krsna—surya-sama; maya haya andhakara

yanha krsna, tanha nahi mayara adhikara

"Krishna is like the sun, Maya is like darkness. Maya has no right to be where Krishna is." [31]

Krishna is like the sun, and Maya is like darkness: Maya has not right to enter where Krishna is. Where is Krishna? Krishna exists where Krishna-katha is going on, where Krishna's beauty, Pastimes are explained. There is no place for Maya there.

'krsna, tomara hana' yadi bale eka-bara

maya-bandha haite krsna tare kare para

"If somebody just once says, 'Krishna, I want to be Yours!', Krishna frees them from the bondage of Maya." [33]

bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kami 'subuddhi' yadi haya

gadha-bhakti-yoge tabe krsnere bhajaya

"If those who want enjoyment, liberation or some mystic powers, get good intelligence and practise Krishna consciousness intensely, they get the service to Krishna." [35]

Sometimes people come not for Krishna consciousness—sometimes they have some other desires, like liberation, enjoyment, some kind of opulence, and so on. If people want that but worship devotion, then they too can get service, can practise Krishna consciousness. In other words, you may have joined the mission, or stay in the temple, because you have no money, or you have no food, and so on. You may not know anything about Krishna consciousness and have different material desires, but if you practise Krishna consciousness properly, you can get service.

anya-kami yadi kare krsnera bhajana

na magiteha krsna tare dena sva-charana

"If somebody has some material desires but worships Krishna, Krishna gives them His lotus feet even though they do not ask for it." [37]

People may not ask for the Lord's lotus feet—they stay here but think about other things, have some material desires (anya-kami), but Krishna out of His own will gives them His lotus feet. Krishna says, "Ama bhaje, mage visaya-sukha: they worship Me but think about something material—instead of nectar they ask Me for poison ('Please, give me this, I want to die'). They are foolish, but I am intelligent—they are My sons, why should I give them poison? I will not give them poison, instead I will give them the nectar of My lotus feet and they will forget about all material desires."

kama lagi' krsne bhaje, paya krsna-rase

kama chadi' 'dasa' haite haya abhilase

"Somebody wants material enjoyment and worships Krishna, but when they get the taste of Krishna's nectar, they leave all their desires and aspire to become a servant." [41]

They may have some material desire, but if they worship Krishna, they get the sweetness, the ecstasy, the beauty of Krishna, and they think then, "What I am tasting now is so good! I want to be a servant! I want to serve Krishna!"

Sanatan-Siksa: Full Faith

23 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 22:]

samsara bhramite kona bhagye keha tare

nadira pravahe yena kastha lage tire

"Wandering throughout the material world, some souls get good fortune and somehow cross this ocean of material life just as a wooden stick floating in the water gets washed ashore." [43]

We always come and go in a cyclic order—we are like a piece of wood floating in an ocean. Just as the piece of wood is washed to the shore by some favourable wind, we too have finally reached the shore of the ocean—we have got the lotus feet of Gurudev, the lotus feet of Krishna.

kona bhagye karo samsara ksayonmukha haya

sadhu-sange tabe krsne rati upajaya

"By some good fortune, the material world begins to dissipate for them. They associate with sadhus, and attachment to Krishna arises within them." [45]

The soul thinks, "I do not want to go to any more family life." What does a family life (samsar) mean? There are many kinds of family lives in this world: a cow family, a dog family, a cat family, a beast family, a tree family, pig family, and so on. So, the soul realises this and their family (samsar) gradually finishes, they get good association and begin to think about Krishna.

krsna yadi krpa kare kona bhagyavane

guru-antaryami-rupe sikhaya apane

"When Krishna gives His mercy to a fortunate soul, He personally instructs this soul from within in the form of an internal Guru." [47]

There are two gurus, the chaitya guru and the mahanta guru. When Krishna gives His mercy to a fortunate soul, the chaitya guru, the Guru in your heart, takes the soul to the mahanta guru (he tells the soul, "Please go to this Guru"). The mahanta guru is the bona fide Guru in this world.

sadhu-sange krsna-bhaktye sraddha yadi haya

bhakti-phala 'prema' haya, samsara yaya ksaya

The soul associates with the sadhus and gets faith in devotion to Krishna. As a result of their devotion, the soul gets prema, love for Krishna, and the soul's material existence comes to an end. [49]

In good association, you can get devotion to Krishna and good faith. At first there is some little faith, then slowly that faith increases.

There are different kinds faith and different kinds of devotion. Everybody's devotion is not the same because everybody's faith is not the same: "sraddha-anusari bhakti-adhikari, the quality of devotion depends upon faith." (CC, 2.22.64) Everybody does not have the right, the capacity, to be a Guru, to become the acharya in this mission. Why not? Because everybody's devotion is not the same, everybody's faith is not the same. If everybody had the same faith, everybody could become an acharya.

There are four types of faith: kamala sraddha, taranga sraddha, drdha sraddha, and sudrdha sraddha.

Kamala sraddha is little faith. For example, somebody asks you, "Why do you wear tilak?" and you wipe it off; or somebody asks you, "Why do you wear the Tulasi beads?" and you become shy of Tulasi beads and take them off. You do have a strong answer, tell them, "What is your problem? This is my religion. You are not giving me food—Tulasi does. She gives me property, she gives me wealth, happiness, joy. She gives me everything, why do you need to tell me what to do? It is not your business."

Some devotees say, "I go to college, I go to university, I have to take off the tilak, I cannot wear the Tulasi beads," but why? If anybody asks you, you can say, "You think you do everything yourself, but this is your ego—the Lord does everything, the Lord provides everything. Do you think you are doing everything? But I believe that Krishna is doing everything. Tulasi is Krishna's servitor: I want to make Krishna happy, that is why I wear Tulasi."

Then, there is taranga sraddha. 'Taranga' means 'a wave.' When some wind comes, there comes a wave, but once the wind is gone, the wave is gone too. In the same way, at the festival time some devotees come, do parikrama, chant, "Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna," but after that they go home and leave everything. That is taranga sraddha, little faith.

Some do not practise properly every day, but you eat every day, you go to the toilet every day, so you must chant for the Lord every day, you must practise Krishna consciousness every day, then it will be bhakti-yoga—it is necessary to practise every day, not only chanting, "Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna" today, and after that not.

There is a very nice sloka in Srimad Bhagavatam:

yadrchchhaya mat-kathadau jata-sraddhas tu yah puman

na nirvinno nati-sakto bhakti-yogo 'sya siddhi-dah

"If by some fortune, one has faith in the talks about Me (katha), if they are neither false renunciants nor have too much attachment to the material world, their practise of devotion bestows upon them the perfection of divine love." [50]

(Quoted from Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.20.8)

Krishna says, "If you believe what a sadhu says, if you have faith in it, if you always think about Me, you will quickly come to Me. If, however, somebody does not have faith in Me, does not have any relation or attachment to Me, they will not get Me so quickly." Sadhus speak Krishna-katha, speak about Bhagavatam, and if somebody has faith in those talks about the Lord, believes what the sadhus say, then, Krishna says, "I give devotion to them."

purva ajna,—veda-dharma, karma, yoga, jnana

saba sadhi' sese ei ajna—balavan

"Krishna has given many instructions [in Srimad Bhagavad-gita]—follow the religion of the Vedas, do karma (work without attachment to the result), practise yoga (austerities), acquire jnan (knowledge), but the instruction Krishna gave at the end [Bg, 18.64-66], is the most powerful of them all." [59]

ei ajna-bale bhaktera 'sraddha' yadi haya

sarva-karma tyaga kari' se krsna bhajaya

"If a devotee has faith in the power of that instruction, they worship Krishna giving up all other works." [60]

Krishna told many things in Srimad Bhagavad-gita (to follow Veda-dharma, karma, jnana, etc.), but,

tavat karmani kurvita na nirvidyeta yavata

mat-katha-sravanadau va sraddha yavan na jayate

[Krishna says,] "As long as you are not fed up with following the path of fruitive activities (karma) and as long as the faith in hearing the talks about Me is not born, you will have to practise eternal practices of karma." [61]

(Quoted from Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.20.9)

"Until they get faith in My talks (katha), I will not give devotion to them." Srimad Bhagavatam says that if you do not have faith in Krishna, you will always be bound by karma. Birds, beasts, trees, cats, dogs cannot hear and they do not know, but you have got a human body, you have consciousness, so if you hear Krishna-katha but have no faith in what you hear, you will not be able to get out of maya, you will not be able to get relief from the bondage of karma.

'sraddha'-sabde—visvasa kahe sudrdha niscaya

krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

"Sraddha is a firm, determined faith that by service to Krishna all actions are accomplished." [62]

You must have a strongest faith. 'Sraddha' means 'faith,' or 'visvas,' it means you understand that if you have devotion to Krishna, you do everything thereby and it is not necessary to do anything else separately. If you have full faith in Krishna, you do not have to go to the church, go to the mosque, go here and there—chastity and a strongest faith in your Guru are necessary. It is said about Nityananda Prabhu,

yadyapi nityananda sura-badi yaya

tathapio haya nityananda-raya

"If Nityananda Prabhu, My Guru, goes to the prostitutes' quarter, He is still My Guru."

Full faith is necessary...

Sanatan-Siksa: Power Transmission

23 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 22:]

sraddhavan jana haya bhakti-adhikari

'uttama', 'madhyama', 'kanistha'—sraddha-anusari

"Those who have faith have the right for devotion. According to their faith, there are three kinds of devotees: uttam (senior), madhyam (middle), and kanistha (junior)." [64]

There are three kinds of devotees: an uttam bhakta, a madhyam bhakta, a kanistha bhakta. Why are there three kinds of devotees? Because they have different kinds of faith.

sastra-yuktye sunipuna, drdha-sraddha yara

'uttama-adhikari' sei taraye samsara

"Those who are expert in explaining the scriptures, who have firm, determined faith, are uttam-adhikari, the highest class of devotees, and they can liberate the whole world." [65]

Those who know all scriptures, who have super strongest faith for their Guru, for the Lord, are the uttam-adhikari devotees.

sastra-yukti nahi jane drdha, sraddhavan

'madhyama-adhikari' sei maha-bhagyavan

"Those who cannot convincingly explain the scriptures but have faith are madhyam-adhikari and very fortunate." [66]

Somebody may not know scriptures so well or may not know so much in general, but if they have faith—they are madhyam-adhikari, and they are very fortunate.

yahara komala sraddha, se 'kanistha' jana

krame krame tenho bhakta ha-ibe 'uttama'

"Those who have a soft faith are kanistha, junior devotees, but even they can gradually become uttam, senior devotees." [67]

Those who have little faith, those who practise very little, are called kanistha bhaktas, junior devotees, but if they practise properly, they too can become the highest class devotees (uttam bhaktas).

sarva-bhutesu yah pasyed bhagavad-bhavam atmanah

bhutani bhagavaty atmany esa bhagavatottamah

"The first class devotee sees Krishna in everything and everything within Krishna." [69]

Quoted from Srimad Bhagavatam (11.2.45).

The highest devotees (bhagavad-uttam) see Krishna everywhere: if something happens they see it as the will of Krishna; they always think about Krishna; they close their eyes and see Krishna, they open their eyes and see Krishna; they walk and see Krishna.

isvare tad-adhinesu balisesu dvisatsu cha

prema-maitri-krpopeksa yah karoti sa madhyamah

"Those who have love for the Lord, who make friends with the devotees, who are merciful to the foolish people, and who do not mind the people who hate them, are madhyam bhaktas, middle stage devotees." [70]

Quoted from Srimad Bhagavatam (11.2.46).

The middle stage devotees give mercy to the foolish—if somebody does not know anything or does something wrong, they do not kick them out, they correct them, "You should be good, you should not do this." They always give mercy.

Ganga Devi also said, "I am a madhyam bhakta": people pass stool on the bank of the Ganges and when the Ganges overflow, she takes all that, does she not? She said she gives mercy to all people's stool also...

Baliser kripa: if somebody does not know anything, somebody is foolish, madhyam devotees do not reject them, "Oh, you are bad, you do not know anything, get out of here." This is a madhyam bhakta, a middle or intermediate devotee.

The acharya also poses as a middle class devotee. He is an uttam bhakta, the most qualified, highest senior devotee, but he has to come down to the middle position because otherwise he cannot make any disciples—He sees all souls as Krishna, he sees Krishna everywhere, how will he make disciples? He cannot give mercy to others, but when an uttam bhakta comes to the middle position, then he can give mercy to all kinds of conditioned souls.

archayam eva haraye pujam yah sraddhayehate

na tad-bhaktesu chanyesu sa bhaktah prakrtah smrtah

"Those who worship a deity of the Lord having faith in and following a social or familial tradition but are not however acquainted with the pure conception of devotion that is given in the scriptures and do not worship the devotees of the Lord, are materialistic devotees, which means they practise only a rudimentary form of devotion. Such practitioners are also considered bhakta-praya (close to being a devotee) or vaishnava-bhasa (having a faint semblance with a Vaishnav)." [71]

Quoted from Srimad Bhagavatam (11.2.47)

Who is a kanistha devotee (a junior devotee)? Those who do puja, archa. The devotees in the middle position do not think puja is necessary, they only chant the Holy Name.

sarva maha-guna-gana vaisnava-sarire

krsna-bhakte krsnera guna sakali sanchare

"All greatest qualities can be found within the body of a Vaishnav: whatever qualities Krishna possesses appear within the devotees of Krishna." [72]

Krishna possesses all good qualities, in an unlimited amount, and when a devotee surrenders fully and practises Krishna consciousness properly, Krishna gives them whatever virtues or good qualities He has. This is called power transmission.

When a Guru makes another Guru, makes his successor, Gurudev gives all his power to that devotee. This is called power transmission. There are many disciples and many gurus all over the world but not all are his successors. The Guru transfers all his power, or sakti, to his successor.

sei saba guna haya vaisnava-laksana

saba kaha na yaya, kari dig-darasana

"These qualities are the symptoms of a Vaishnav. I cannot explain all of them, but I will give a summary here." [74]

krpalu, akrta-droha, satya-sara, sama

nidosa, vadanya, mrdu, suchi, akinchana

"Vaishnavs are merciful, never aggressive, always truthful, equal to everyone, faultless, magnanimous, soft, clean, have no material desires or possessions." [75]

sarvopakaraka, santa, krsnaika-sarana

akama, aniha, sthira, vijita-sad-guna

"They want good for everyone, peaceful, exclusively surrendered to Krishna, have no desires, indifferent towards the mundane, composed, control the six bad qualities (lust, anger, greed, illusion, pride, envy)." [73]

mita-bhuk, apramatta, manada, amani

gambhira, karuna, maitra, kavi, daksa, mauni

"They do not overeat, are never intoxicated, respectful to others, desire no respect for themselves, grave, compassionate, everyone's friends, poets, experts, and silent." [77]

Kripalu, they always give mercy to others. Akrta-droha, always simple-minded. Satya-sara, always truthful. Sama, they do not think, "This is my disciple, and this is not my disciple," they do not differentiate between anybody. Nidosa, they are innocent. Vadanya, they are always humble. Mrdu, they talk little, gentle. Suchi, they are always clean. Akinchan, they give mercy to others. Sarva-upakara, always very kind and open-hearted to everybody, always give benefit to others, never cruel. Santa, they are very peaceful. Krishnaika-sarana, they always think about Krishna. Akama, they have no other desires. Aniha, very peace. Sthira means santa, dhira (peaceful, self-controlled). Mita-bhuk, they do not eat too much. Apramatta, they are never infatuated or intoxicated. Manad, they give honour to others. Amani, when somebody disrespects them, they think nothing of it, "It is OK, they can give me galagal, use bad language, that is not a problem for me." Gambhira, they are serious, talk little. Karuna, very kind, always thinking good about others. Maitra, they make friends with others. Kavi, they are poets. Daksa, they are efficient. And, mauni, they do not say so many things, they talk little.

These are the kinds of good qualities, virtues that Krishna has, and these are the qualities that Krishna gives to His devotees and that the Guru transfers to his successor.

Sanatan-Siksa: Surrender in Good Association

23 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 22:]

How is devotion to Krishna born?

krsna-bhakti-janma-mula haya 'sadhu-sanga'

krsna-prema janme, tenho punah mukhya anga

"Sadhu-sanga, good association, is what the devotion to Krishna is ultimately born from; even when the highest love for Krishna is born, good association remains a principle part of the devotee's life." [80]

What is the main root of devotion to Krishna? Good association. Krishna's devotion comes in good association; without good association, Krishna's devotion will not come to you.

asat-sanga-tyaga,—ei vaisnava-achara

'stri-sangi'—eka asadhu, 'krsnabhakta' ara

"Vaishnav's etiquette is to leave bad association: keeping the company of women is one such association, and keeping the company of those who are not devotees of Krishna is another." [84]

You must always avoid the association of those who are not devotees of Krishna. Gurudev also said: "Whose association will you take? The association of those who are senior to you; take advice from those who know something." If you think somebody practises more than you, you can mix with them; and if you think somebody does not practise properly, do not mix with them—mix with those who practise properly.

eta saba chhadi' ara varnasrama-dharma

akinchana hana laya krsnaika-sarana

"Giving up all bad association, giving up adherence to social rules of varnas and asrams, thus ridding yourself of all material possessions (attachment), take exclusive shelter at the lotus feet of Krishna." [90]

bhakta-vatsala, krtajna, samartha, vadanya

hena krsna chhadi' pandita nahi bhaje anya

"Krishna loves His devotees, He is always indebted to His devotees, He is omnipotent and magnanimous. No learned man would ever leave such Lord for any other kind of worship." [92]

Krishna is bhakta-vatsal: just as a cow cannot stay without its calf, Krishna cannot stay without His devotee. Those who do not follow Krishna consciousness are foolish—the scholars (pandits) follow Krishna consciousness.

sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja

aham tvam sarva-papebhyo, moksayisyami ma suchah

"Give up all kinds of religion and surrender to Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins, do not despair."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 18.66)

Krishna says, "You must leave everything, surrender to Me. You worry that you will not be worshipping Durga, you will not be worshipping Kali, or some other people, but no sin will come. You think it will be a kind of sin if you do not give affection to your father, do not give affection to your mother, if you do not serve them, if you do not give time to your wife, you think it is not right, but if you think about Me, I will see to them. I will see to your family, believe Me. Whatever your deficiency is—do you need water? do you need money? do you need some property?—whatever you need, I will fulfil your desire. Tell me what your deficiency is and I will fulfil that deficiency for you."

Sanatan-Siksa: Six Limbs of Surrender

24 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 22:]

How is devotion to Krishna born?

krsna-bhakti-janma-mula haya 'sadhu-sanga'

krsna-prema janme, tenho punah mukhya anga

"Sadhu-sanga, good association, is what the devotion to Krishna is ultimately born from; even when the highest love for Krishna is born, good association remains a principle part of the devotee's life." [80]

If you want to get devotion of Krishna, you need good association—sadhu-sanga is the main root of devotion.

asat-sanga-tyaga,—ei vaisnava-achara

'stri-sangi'—eka asadhu, 'krsnabhakta' ara

"Vaishnav's etiquette is to leave bad association: keeping the company of women is one such association, and keeping the company of those who are not devotees of Krishna is another." [84]

Avoid bad association, do not associate with those who are not devotees.

eta saba chhadi' ara varnasrama-dharma

akinchana hana laya krsnaika-sarana

"Giving up all bad association, giving up adherence to social rules of varnas and asrams, thus ridding yourself of all material possessions (attachment), take exclusive shelter at the lotus feet of Krishna." [90]

You must leave everything. Whether you live a householder life, or even a brahmachari life—leave everything and only surrender to the Lord. Srimad Bhagavad-gita told,

sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja

aham tvam sarva-papebhyo, moksayisyami ma suchah

"Give up all kinds of religion and surrender to Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins, do not despair." [91]

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 18.66)

"Leave everything and follow Krishna consciousness, surrender to the Lord."

bhakta-vatsala, krtajna, samartha, vadanya

hena krsna chhadi' pandita nahi bhaje anya

"Krishna loves His devotees, He is always indebted to His devotees, He is omnipotent and magnanimous. No learned man would ever leave such Lord for any other kind of worship." [92]

"Krishna is bhakta-vatsal: He always lives in the devotees' heart. Krishna does not live without His devotees. So, those who do not follow Krishna are foolish; the scholarly ones always worship the Lord."

vijna-janera haya yadi krsna-guna-jnana

anya tyaji', bhaje, tate uddhava—pramana

"One is a learned person if they know about the qualities of Krishna and worship Krishna, giving up everything else. Uddhav is the evidence to that." [94]

Uddhav thought, "I live with Krishna, I look like Krishna—I am like Krishna!" Sometimes some ego came or something, but Krishna gave him mercy and he left everything and worshipped the Lord.

saranagatera, akinchanera—eka-i laksana

tara madhye pravesaye 'atma-samarpana'

"The qualities of a surrendered soul appear the same as those of a destitute soul, but the difference between them is that the surrendered soul has given itself fully to the Lord (atma-samarpan)." [96]

The surrendered souls are those who have atma-samarpan, surrender or self-submission. There are six types of surrender:

anukulyasya sankalpah pratikulyasya varjanam

raksisyatiti visvaso goptrtve varanam tatha

atma-niksepa-karpanye sad-vidha saranagatih

"Acceptance of the favourable, rejection of the unfavourable, the faith that 'He will surely protect me,' embracing the Lord's guardianship, complete dependence on Him, and the perception of one's utter helplessness without Him—these six are the essential limbs of exclusive surrender to the Lord (saranagati)." [97]

This sloka is from Sri Hari-bhakti-vilas (11.418).

1) Anukulya-sankalpa, we will accept what is in favour of devotion.

2) Pratikulya-vivarjana, we will reject what is not in favour of devotion.

3) "Krishna raksa karben", we must believe that "Krishna will protect me. No one except Krishna can protect me." Sometimes we think, "I will protect myself," "My father is protecting me," "My son is protecting me," "My relative is protecting me," "My doctor is protecting me," but no one protects you—only Krishna protects you. It is necessary to have faith in that, that is called visvas.

4) "Krishnake 'gopta' va 'palayita'": no man, no demigod is our guardian or maintainer. It is a misconception, it is wrong to think so. Only Krishna is our maintainer.

5) Atmaniksepa, we are not independent (svatantra), we are dependent, we live under the guidance of the Lord (paratantra).

6) Finally, karpanya, or dainyata, humility.

sarana lana kare krsne atma-samarpana

krsna tare kare tat-kale atma-sama

"When you take shelter of Krishna's lotus feet and surrender yourself to Krishna, at that time Krishna accepts you as His very own." [99]

When you take initiation, when you surrender to the Lord, Krishna thinks, "He is My son. This jiva soul is as dear to dear to Me as My very own heart, atma-sama."

Sanatan-Siksa: Sixty-Four Devotional Practices

24 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 22:]

ebe sadhana-bhakti-laksana suna, sanatana

yaha haite pai krsna-prema-maha-dhana

"Sanatan, now hear about the devotional practices (sadhana-bhakti) following which you can get the greatest wealth of Krishna prema." [101]

sravanadi-kriya—tara 'svarupa' laksana

'tatastha' laksane upajaya prema-dhana

"Practices of sravan, kirtan, and so on are the very nature of these devotional practices (sadhana-bhakti), the marginal characteristic of such practices is that they awaken the wealth of love." [103]

nitya-siddha krsna-prema 'sadhya' kabhu naya

sravanadi-suddha-chitte karaye udaya

"Eternal and innate Krishna-prema is not something that can be obtained, rather it awakens in the hearts purified by the practices of sravan, kirtan, and so on." [104]

ei ta' sadhana-bhakti—dui ta' prakara

eka 'vaidhi-bhakti', 'raganuga-bhakti' ara

"This sadhana-bhakti, devotional practices, are of two types—one is vaidhi-bhakti, devotion guided by rules and regulations, and the other one is raganuga-bhakti, devotion guided by love and affection." [105]

raga-hina jana bhaje sastrera ajnaya

'vaidhi-bhakti' bali' tare sarva-sastre gaya

"According to all scriptures, vaidhi-bhakti is when one worships the Lord following the order of the scriptures, without spontaneous devotional love." [106]

Then it says that there are sixty-four types of bhaktyanga, practices [verses 111-124]:

1) Guru-padasraya. You must think who will be your Guru and then take shelter of his lotus feet.

2) Diksa. Take initiation.

3) Gurur sevan. Serve your Guru.

4) Sad-dharma-siksa-prchchha. You must get some education, must learn and read some books.

5) Sadhu-marga-anugaman. You must learn what the great scholars, the great sadhus of our dhara (line)—the Rupanuga-dhara, our Guru-varga—think and follow, and follow their conception.

6) Krsna-pritye bhog-tyag. Enjoy with Krishna consciousness. Sometimes you are given some opulent prasadam like big gulab-jamuns, rasagullas, paneer, and you think, "Oh, I will not eat so much. I am a renounced person, I will not take that." But that is not right, it is prasad and you must take it. Krishna will be happy. You should enjoy prasadam, it is not necessary to show that you are renounced. Sometimes you are outside and get no prasadam—this is the time when you can practise renunciation and tolerate.

7) Krsna-tirthe vasa. Where should you live? You must stay in the place where Krishna-katha is going on, where Krishna's Pastimes are going on, where Krishna consciousness is practised. It may be the whole universe (brahmanda), it may be heaven or a beautiful palace, but if there is no Krishna-katha, if there is no service to Krishna, we will not go or stay there.

8) Yavat nirvaha-pratigraha. Take what is necessary for your life and be happy with whatever food, lodging, etc. comes in your life—whatever comes to you for your maintenance, that is sufficient for you.

9) Ekadasi-upavas. you must fast on Ekadasi, you know that.

10) Dhatryasvattha-go-vipra-vaisnava-pujana. Serve the brahmans, the cows, the Vaishnavs.

11) Seva-nama-aparadhadi dure visarjana. Avoid seva aparadh, avoid Nama aparadh.

12) Avaisnava-sanga-tyag. Do not associate with those who are not Vaishnavs.

13) Bahu-sisya na kariba. Do not make so many disciples.

14) Bahu-grantha-kalabhyas. It is not necessary to read many volumes of scriptures. The books of our Gurus are sufficient. You think, "Oh, I have to know so many things, I will read all scriptures," but it is not necessary.

15) Hani-labhe sama. When you lose something, for example your mobile phone, do not be sad; when you get something, for example 5,000 rupees, do not be happy—you should feel the same towards both ("Oh, something is going? OK, no problem, it is Krishna's will. Something is coming? OK, no problem.").

16) Sokadira vasa na ha-iba. If somebody expires (your mother, father, sister, and so on) it is not necessary to be too sad for them. You should not mourn so much. "Sokadira vasa na ha-iba" means "I will not be under the guidance of sadness, I will be under the guidance of my Guru."

17) Anya-deva, anya-sastra ninda na kariba. There are many other demigods, many other sastras, not to criticise them.

18) Visnu-vaisnava ninda na suniba. Not to listen to criticising of Lord Vishnu or His devotees.

19) Gramya-vartta na suniba. Not to listen to village talks.

20) Prani-matre manovakye udvega na diba. Not to say bad things about and to other people.

21-29) Then there are the nine practises of nava-vidha-bhakti:

sravana, kirtana, smarana, pujana, vandana

paricharya, dasya, sakhya, atma-nivedana

"Listening, chanting, remembering, worshipping, offering prayers, serving, becoming a servant, becoming a friend, full surrender." [117]

These are the main nine practices. Then,

30-31) Agre nrya, gita. You should dance and sing during the arati, not to stand like a statue.

32) Vijnapti. You should stand during the arati (that is why if somebody is sitting at the arati time, we say, "Please get up"). You should not sit during the arati time.

33) Dandavannati. When you see a Deity or a sannyasi, or when you come to your Guru's samadhi, you must pay obeisance, dandavat.

34) Abhyutthan. Sometimes you are sitting in the chair and a senior Vaishnav comes—you must stand up, give them some respect.

35) Anuvrajya. When a sadhu comes to your house, talk to them very nicely, and when they leave, you must follow them a little (for example, see them off to the gate), and be hospitable, "Dandavat, Maharaj, please come again," like this. When a guest comes, give them respect, and when they leave, give them respect too, say goodbye, thank you.

36) Tirtha-grhe gati. You should go only to the places where Krishna lives. We visit many houses, but if there is no proper service to Krishna somewhere, we will not stay in that place.

37) Parikrama.

38) Stavapatha. This is like we are doing now, reading in front of the nat mandir, in front of the samadhi mandir, reciting slokas.

39) Japa.

40) Sankirtan. Chanting, doing kirtan every day.

41-42) Dhupa-malya-gandha-mahaprasada-bhojana. Offering incense, flowers, garlands, and taking the mahaprasad.

43-44) Aratrika-mahotsava-sri-murti-darsan. Observe festivals, and when you come to the temple, go to see the Deities.

45) Nija-priya-dan. If you like something or have some favourite things, offer it to the Deities and your Guru: if you like some particular food, buy it for your Guru; if you like some clothes, buy it first for Radharani, for Krishna, for your Guru; if you like some subji, vegetables, buy it and offer to the Deities. Do not buy and eat it yourself—you must first give it to the Deity.

46) Dhyan. Meditation.

47-50) Tulasi-vaisnava-mathura-bhagavat sevan. Serve Krishna: serve Tulasi, serve the Vaishnavs, serve the Dham, serve Bhagavatam (keep the books properly, serve and worship them).

51) Krsnarthe akhila chestha. Try your best for Krishna.

52) Tat-krpavalokana. Always think about Krishna's mercy.

53) Janma-dinadi-mahotsav. Happily make festivals on Gurudev's appearance day, on the Lord's appearance day.

54) Sarvatha saranapatti. Complete surrender.

55) Kartikadi-vrata. Follow the Kartik vrata, etc.

[+ (56) Mark the body with tilak; (57) Mark the body with the Lord's Names; (58) Accept the flower offerings that were made to the Deity; (59) Drinking the Deity's charanamrita;]

"Chatuhsasthi anga ei parama-mahatva." There are sixty-four practices, and the following five are the main:

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana

mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

"One should associate with devotees, chant the Holy Name of the Lord, hear Srimad Bhagavatam, reside at Mathura and worship the Deity with faith and veneration. [124]

60) Sadhu-sanga. Keep good association.

61) Nama-kirtan. Do Nama sankirtan.

62) Bhagavata-sravan. Listen to Bhagavatam.

63) Mathura-vasa. Stay in Mathura (it is not necessary to go to Mathura—Mathura is wherever Krishna-katha is going on)

64) Sraddhaya sri-murtira sevan. Serve the Deities with full faith.

'eka' anga sadhe, keha sadhe 'bahu' anga

'nistha' haile upajaya premera taranga

"Whether you follow one of the practices or many, know for sure that these practices bring about a wave of prema." [129]

'eka' ange siddhi paila bahu bhakta-gana

ambarisadi bhaktera 'bahu' anga-sadhana

"Many devotees attained perfection practising just one of these practices, Ambarish Maharaj and many others, on the other hand, practised many of them." [130]

Sometimes somebody does only one practice, for example only does japa, and that can also give liberation, it is not a problem. Ambarish Maharaj and others followed many rules and regulations—they following all sixty-four devotional practices. So, sometimes you can do all, but if you can properly follow at least one of these practices, that is sufficient.

Sanatan-Siksa: Spontaneous Loving Devotion

24 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 22:]

kama tyaji' krsna bhaje sastra-ajna mani'

deva-rsi-pitradikera kabhu nahe rni

"Those who worship Krishna abandoning all material desires and following the order of the scriptures, never have any debt to the demigods, sages, forefathers, and others." [135]

You drink water, and that water comes from a demigod; you breathe air, and that air is also given by a demigod; you take sunlight, it is another demigod; the rain comes from a demigod; you take rice, take chapati and incur debt from the soil, Kurmadev—you have so many debts, but how will you repay the debt? Do you have 'money' for that? You take air, you take sunlight, you take rice, but do you have 'money' for that? It is said here, "If you serve Krishna, that loan will be repaid: deva-rsi-pitradikera kabhu nahe rni." You are indebted not only the demigods, for example, your grandfather or father make a house—you live in that house and become indebted to them. If you serve the Lord, that debt is also automatically repaid.

vidhi-dharma chhadi' bhaje krsnera charana

nisiddha papachare tara kabhu nahe mana

"If, giving up vidhi-dharma (following the rules of varnasrama), you worship the lotus feet of Krishna, then if you do something sinful or forbidden in the course of your service, it will be overlooked." [137]

If somebody is Krishna's devotee, somebody is serving Krishna and unconsciously commits a little sin, Krishna says it is not necessary for them to atone for that. If somebody is doing some service and does something wrong, makes some aparadh or mistake, it is not necessary for them to atone for that because they are servitors of the Lord. Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said to Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, "Saranagata kokhon aparadh haye na: if you are a surrendered soul, you have no offence." If somebody unconsciously commits some sin, Krishna makes them pure, He does not make them atone for their sin, it is not necessary.

jnana-vairagyadi—bhaktira kabhu nahe 'anga'

ahimsa-yama-niyamadi bule krsna-bhakta-sanga

"Knowledge (jnana), renunciation (vairagya) and other practices are never a part of devotion. Actually, the practices of austerities and yoga (ahimsa, yama, niyama, etc.) always tag along with the devotees of Krishna." [140]

Somebody practises renunciation and goes to the jungle, thinking this is devotion, but it is not so. You do not eat anything, only practise jnana and vairagya and think, "I have so much service here, so many problems, I do not want to stay here, I will go somewhere like Rishikesh, Nepal, or Darjeeling," but your belly will go with you—you will still be hungry there. What will you eat? You will eat something one day and the next day eat nothing, eventually you will become sick and lose your brain, lose your knowledge (jnan), and die. If you die, how will you conquer maya? Do you think you can conquer maya by dying? No. Do service here, then maya will run away.

Some think, "There are so many problems here, I would rather stay alone." For example, some sannyasis live on their own because if you live in a temple, you must follow many rules and regulations—wake up early, come to the mangal arati, come to the regular classes, come to the kirtan, and so on; but if you live alone, it is not necessary to follow anything—nobody sees what you are doing. However, living in some house, eating well and not practising, not doing sadhu-sanga does not make you a Vaishnav.

vaidhi-bhakti-sadhanera kahilun vivarana

raganuga-bhaktira laksana suna, sanatana

"Sanatan, I have described the practices of devotion guided by rules and regulations (vaidhi-bhakti) to you, now hear about the signs of devotion guided by spontaneous love and affection (raganuga-bhakti)." [143]

ragatmika-bhakti—'mukhya' vraja-vasi-jane

tara anugata bhaktira 'raganuga'-name

"Spontaneous love is predominant among the inhabitants of Vraja. When one follows the devotion of those Vraja-vasis, their devotion is called 'raganuga' devotion." [144]

iste 'gadha-trsna'—ragera svarupa-laksana

iste 'avistata'—ei tatastha-laksana

"The very nature of such love is deep attachment to the object of their love, and its marginal characteristic is absorption in the object of their love." [146]

ragamayi-bhaktira haya 'ragatmika' nama

taha suni' lubdha haya kona bhagyavan

"Devotion that is guided by deep innate love is called spontaneous loving devotion. If a fortunate soul hears about it, they become captivated by it." [147]

bahya, antara,—ihara dui ta' sadhana

'bahye' sadhaka-dehe kare sravana-kirtana

'mane' nija-siddha-deha kariya bhavana

ratri-dine kare vraje krsnera sevana

"There are two ways that such devotion is practised, external and internal. Externally, in their practitioner's body, raganuga devotees do sravan and kirtan, and in their mind, in their self-realised spiritual bodies, they day and night think and serve Krishna in Vraja." [151-152]

nijabhista krsna-prestha pachhe ta' lagiya

nirantara seva kare antarmana hana

"They feel naturally attracted to the dearmost of Krishna and always serve Her in their minds." [154]

ei mata kare yeba raganuga-bhakti

krsnera charane tanra upajaya 'priti'

"When one practises raganuga-bhakti (spontaneous loving devotion) in this way, love for the lotus feet of Krishna awakens in them." [159]

prity-ankure 'rati', 'bhava'—haya dui nama

yaha haite vasa hana sri-bhagavan

yaha haite pai krsnera prema-sevana

ei ta' kahilun 'abhidheya'-vivarana

"The seed of that love has two names, attachment (rati) and heart feeling (bhava). Those who have that seed, have the Supreme Lord under their control and they get loving service to Krishna. Thus I have described to you the abhidheya, the means to attain the end." [160-161]

abhidheya, sadhana-bhakti ebe kahilun sanatana

sanksepe kahilun, vistara na yaya varnana

"Sanatan, I have described to you the abhidheya and sadhana-bhakti, the means to the end and the devotional practices. I have only told it to you in brief as there is no end to describing it." [162]

abhidheya sadhana-bhakti sune yei jana

achirat paya sei krsna-prema-dhana

"Those who hear about the devotional practices and the means to achieve the end, very soon attain the treasure of Krishna-prema, love for Krishna." [163]

sri-rupa-raghunatha-pade yara asa

chaitanya-charitamrta kahe krsnadasa

"Always desiring the lotus feet of Sri Rupa and Raghunath, Krishna Das is narrating this Chaitanya-charitamrita." [164]

— { PRAYOJAN } —

Sanatan-Siksa: The Path to the Supreme Goal

25 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 23:]

jaya jaya gaurachandra jaya nityananda

jayadvaita-chandra jaya gaura-bhakta-vrnda

"All glory to Gaurachandra! All glory to Nityananda! All glory to Advaita-chandra! All glory to Gaura's devotees!" [2]

ebe suna bhakti-phala 'prema' prayojana

yahara sravane haya bhakti-rasa-jnana

"Now hear about the fruit of devotion—prema, the ultimate goal of life. Anyone who hears about it, gets the knowledge of different devotional mellows (bhakti-rasa)." [3]

krsne rati gadha haile 'prema' abhidhana

krsna-bhakti-rasera sei 'sthayi-bhava' nama

"Deep attachment to Krishna grows into what is called love (prema). Various moods of such devotion to Krishna are called constant deep love (bhava)." [4]

As I told previously, not everybody has sraddha (faith)—first sukriti has to come. Sukriti means the result of some pious activities. For example, this jackfruit tree here—if its fruit is offered to the Deities, the tree gets some sukriti, and after that it can get a human body and some service.

kona bhagye kona jivera 'sraddha' yadi haya

tabe sei jiva 'sadhu-sanga' karaya

"If, by some fortune, a soul gets faith, they then begin to associate with devotees." [9]

So, first is sukriti. There is jnata sukriti (conscious spiritual merit) and ajnata sukriti (unconscious spiritual merit). Some people come here because they see a nice building, a guesthouse, and somebody comes for the sacred things, for the hidden treasure.

(What is the hidden treasure of this place? We must search for it. What did we come to the temple for? Why did we join the mission? Why did we come to Krishna consciousness? We should know it.)

If you want to know something, if you hanker for something, then sukriti comes. For example, you come to the temple, you do not know anything, but you pay obeisance to the Lord, to the Vaishnavs, you listen to some katha—in this way, some sukriti comes. This is called ajnata sukriti, some pious merit that you do not know about. If a tree has some fruit and a devotee takes the fruit to the Deities, the tree gets some sukriti although the tree does not know about that.

Then, from sukriti you get some faith. There are four types of faith—kamala sraddha, taranga sraddha, drdha sraddha, sudrdha sraddha. Your devotion depends on your faith: if you have the strongest faith, you will get the strongest devotion, and if you have little faith, you will get little devotion. As much you can give to the devotees, the Deities, and the Lord, that much you will get. If you give 25% you cannot think that you will get 75%; if you give 25% to the Lord, you will get 25%. That is the main thing.

Through sraddha (faith) you will get good association, sadhu-sanga. What does 'association' mean? Sleeping at the same place as the sadhu? Eating with the sadhu? Then even flies and mosquitos want to get some association, but the mosquito puts its your leg on you and bites. Does it mean that it is getting association? No, it is disturbing! Association means following what the Guru, the Vaishnavs, the sadhu tell you.

sadhu-sanga haite haya 'sravana-kirtana'

sadhana-bhaktye haya 'sarvanartha-nivartana'

"Having got good association, the soul then practises listening and chanting (sravan, kirtan), and, as a result of such daily practice, all unwanted elements (anarthas) disappear." [10]

What result comes through good association? Sravan, kirtan. Through sravan, kirtan, all offences, all sins you have in your heart will be destroyed. It is written here very beautifully: if you do sravan, it will keep maya far away.

You do everything—you eat regularly, you go to the toilet regularly—why not practise Krishna consciousness regularly? Why not do sravan and kirtan regularly? You should regularly chant, hear Hari-katha, come to the class—this is our life.

There are sixty-four types of bhaktyanga, sixty-four types of practising, and from all of them nine are very important,

sravana, kirtana, smarana, pujana, vandana

paricharya, dasya, sakhya, atma-nivedana

"Listening, chanting, remembering, worshipping, offering prayers, serving, becoming a servant, becoming a friend, full surrender." [22.117]

From these nine, five are the most important,

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana

mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

"One should associate with devotees, chant the Holy Name of the Lord, hear Srimad Bhagavatam, reside at Mathura and worship the Deity with faith and veneration. [22.124]

And from these five, the main practice is sravan and kirtan.

By sravan and kirtan, your offences are removed, then comes sincerity. Sincerity means nistha (what service you do, you do it every day). Through nistha, you will get some taste. Through taste, you will get some attachment, you will not be able to leave your service. Through attachment, priti, love and affection will come; then ecstasy, paramour love—everything will come through that. This is how practice develops.

anartha-nivrtti haile bhaktye 'nistha' haya

nistha haite sravanadye 'ruchi' upajaya

"When the offences are removed, you become steady and firm (nistha) in your practice. From this steadiness and by hearing the words of sadhus, taste awakens within you." [11]

ruchi haite bhaktye haya 'asakti' prachura

asakti haite chitte janme krsne prity-ankura

"From this taste and by your devotion, strong attachment comes. From this attachment, the seed of love for Krishna sprouts in your heart." [12]

sei 'rati' gadha haile dhare 'prema' nama

sei prema—'prayojana' sarvananda dhama

"When this attachment becomes very deep, it grows into what is called 'prema' (divine ecstatic love). This prema is the goal of life, the abode of all possible joy and happiness." [13]

satam prasangan mama virya-samvido

bhavanti hrt-karna-rasayanah kathah

taj-jonanad asv apavarga-vartmani

sraddha ratir bhaktir anukraminyati

"In devotees' association, the talks about the Lord are like nectar to one's heart and ears, they are endowed with special power. By constantly hearing about the Lord, very quickly the soul becomes liberated and established on the spiritual path—first comes faith, then attachment, and finally love awakens." [16]

If somebody hears these kinds of Hari-katha, Krishna-katha, their hair will stand on end...

ei nava prity-ankura yanra chitte haya

prakrta-ksobhe tanra ksobha nahi haya

Those in whose heart the sprout of divine love grows in these nine ways, the material miseries no longer bring them misery. [20]

krsna-sambandha vina kala vyartha nahi yaya

bhukti, siddhi, indriyartha tanre nahi bhaya

"They never pass time uselessly without connection with Krishna, and enjoyment, material perfections and objects of the senses do not appeal to them any more." [22]

They always think about Krishna, listen about Krishna, serve Krishna, then greed, liberation, etc. cannot attack them.

'sarvottama' apanake 'hina' kari' mane

'krsna krpa karibena'—drdha kari' jane

Although very high, they consider themselves very low; they know for sure, "Krishna will give us His mercy." [25]

Although they are very scholarly, they are always humble, dainya.

samutkantha haya sada lalasa-pradhana

nama-gane sada ruci, laya krsna-nama

"Their eagerness is characterised by constant enthusiasm—they take Krishna's Name, always feeling taste for chanting the Holy Name." [28]

krsna-gunakhyane haya sarvada asakti

krsna-lila-sthane kare sarvada vasati

"They feel constant attachment to hear about the qualities of Krishna, and they always reside where the Pastimes of Krishna are going on." [31]

krsne 'ratira' chihna ei kailun vivarana

'krsna-premera' chihna ebe suna sanatana

"Thus are described the signs of attachment to Krishna. Sanatan, now hear about the signs of love for Krishna." [34]

prema krame badi' haya—sneha, mana, pranaya

raga, anuraga, bhava, mahabhava haya

"Love (prema) grows gradually—first affection (sneha), then loving sulking (mana), love (pranaya), attachment (raga), strong attachment (anuraga), ecstasy (bhava), and ultimate ecstasy (mahabhava)." [38]

yaichhe bija, iksu, rasa, guda, khanda, sara

sarkara, sita-michhari, suddha-michhari ara

"This development of love is just like sugarcane: first a seed, then a sugarcane plant, then juice, molasses, crystals, sugar, sugar candy, and rock candy." [39]

These are very strong things...

Sanatan-Siksa: Hero and Heroine

25 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 23:]

vrajendra-nandana krsna—nayaka-siromani

nayikara siromani—radha-thakurani

"Vrajendra Nandan Krishna is the best of heroes, and the best heroine is Radha Thakurani." [62]

ananta krsnera guna, chausatti-pradhana

eka eka guna suni' judaya bhakta-kana

"Krishna's qualities have no end, among them sixty-four are main. Hearing about these qualities, one after another, brings satisfaction to the ears of the devotees." [65]

The sixty-four virtues are:

1) suramyanga, He has the most beautiful body; 2) sarva-sal-laksana-yukta, adorned with all auspicious marks; 3) sundar, beautiful; 4) mahateja, powerful; 5) balavan, strong; 6) kisor-bayasa-yukta, always young; 7) vividha adbhuta bhasajna, knows various wonderful languages; 8) satyavak, always speaks truth; 9) priya-vakya-yukta, always says pleasing words; 10) vakpatu, an expect speaker; 11) supandita, an expert scholar; 12) buddhi-man, very wise; 13) pratibha-yukta, genius; 14) vidagdha, expert at enjoying plays and art; 15) chatur, cunning; 16) daksa, an expert; 17) krtajna, grateful; 18) sudrdha-vrata, determined in His vows; 19) desa-kala-patra-jna, expert at acting according to the place, time, and person; 20) sastra-drsta-yukta, expert at the scriptures; 21) suchi, clean and neat; 22) vasi, self-controlled; 23) sthira, balanced; 24) damana-sila, self-controlled; 25) ksama-sila, forgiving; 26) gambhira, grave; 27) dhrtiman, calm and always intelligent; 28) sama-saumya-charita, treats everyone equally; 29) vadanya, magnanimous; 30) dharmik, religious; 31) sura, brave; 32) karuna, merciful; 33) manada, respectful; 34) daksina, simple and liberal; 35) vinayi, humble; 36) lajja-yukta, bashful; 37) saranagata-palaka, protector of the surrendered souls; 38) sudhi, erudite; 39) bhakta-bandhu, a friend of the devotees; 40) prema-vasya, conquered by love; 41) sarva-subha-kari, all-auspicious; 42) pratapi, influential; 43) kirti-man, famous for good deeds; 44) loka-anurakta, attracts all people; 45) sadhu-diger samasraya, the shelter of the saintly; 46) nari-mahohari, the enchanter of women; 47) sarva-radhya, worshippable by all; 48) samrddhi-man, rich; 49) srestha, very dear; 50) aisvarya-yukta, possesses all opulences and riches.

Besides these fifty qualities there are also these five:

1) sarvada svarupa-samprapta, always situated in His eternal nature 2) sarva-jna, all-knowing; 3) nitya-nutana, ever-fresh; 4) sach-chid-ananda-dhanibhuta-svarupa, an abode of eternity, knowledge, and ecstasy; 5) akhila-siddhi-vasakari, has unlimited mystic powers.

The remaining nine qualities are:

1) possesses inconceivable supreme powers; 2) His body is an abode of millions of universes; 3) He is the source of all avatars; 4) bestows liberation to those whom He kills; 5) attracts even those who are fully-satisfied within themselves.

1) He is an ocean of Pastimes and brings joy to everyone; 2) in His Pastimes of conjugal love He is surrounded by His dear devotees; 3) He attracts the three worlds with the sound of His flute; 4) there is no parallel to His beauty, love, or Pastimes.

There are so many virtues of the Lord. Krishna has sixty-four virtues, and He gave Radharani some extra qualities—then you can think what kind of extra qualities Srimati Radharani has that Krishna is always attracted to Her!

ananta guna sri-radhikara, panchisa-pradhana

yei gunera 'vasa' haya krsna bhagavan

"Sri Radhika possesses unlimited qualities, and twenty-five of them are those that bring Krishna, the Supreme Lord, under Her control." [81]

nayaka, nayika,—dui rasera 'alambana'

sei dui srestha,—radha, vrajendra-nandana

"The basis of ecstasy or a relationship is twofold, the hero and the heroine—Radha and Vrajendra Nandan are the ultimate Hero and Heroine." [87]

ei-mata dasye dasa, sakhye sakha-gana

yaiche rasa haya, suna tahara laknana

"In the same way, servitors and friends also feel ecstasy—servitors in the mood of servitude, friends in the mood of friendship. Listen now about their symptoms..." [88]

sanksepe kahilun ei 'prayojana' vivarana

panchama-purusartha—ei 'krsna-prema' mahadhana

"I have spoken in brief, describing this goal of life (prayojana) to you: this greatest treasure of Krishna-prema is the fifth and ultimate meaning of life."[95]

purve prayage ami rasera vichare

tomara bhai rupe kailun sakti-sanchare

"Before, I empowered your brother Rupa in Prayag in understanding of these ecstatic moods." [96]

Sanatan-Siksa: "Your Are Mine!"

25 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 23:]

One time, Sanatan Goswami wanted to commit suicide. Thinking, "Mahaprabhu told me to come to Puri, so I am coming," he came to Puri and stayed in the house of Haridas Thakur—he stayed there because Haridas Thakur is very humble, and Sanatan Goswami is also humble, he was afraid to go to Mahaprabhu, thinking, "I am the lowest person. I have no quality to meet with Mahaprabhu." Also, he did not want to go because he had so much skin disease—he had walked all the way from Vrindavan bare-feet and his whole body, all his legs had some skin disease. So, he thought, "I will commit suicide! When the chariot will be going down the street, I will fall down under it."

When Mahaprabhu came to see him, He wanted to embrace Sanatan Goswami, but Sanatan Goswami backed off, "Prabhu, please, please, please! Prabhu, do not touch me, do not touch me!" Still, Mahaprabhu forcefully embraced him and said, "I told you before I am touching you for My own purification!" When Mahaprabhu embraced him, all his skin disease was removed.

Then Sanatan Goswami said,

"Prabhu, I came here to commit suicide..."

"What?! Do you have no shame? Do you want to kill yourself—want to finish yourself, want to leave your body?! This body is not your property! This body is My property. When you surrendered to Me—when you took initiation from Me—you gave everything to Me. Why do you want now to commit suicide—why do you want to destroy My property?! You have no right to do it! I will use this property of Mine for many things."

And it is written here how:

tumiha kariha bhakti-sastrera prachara

mathuraya lupta-tirthera kariha uddhara

"You must preach the devotional scriptures and reveal the hidden holy places in Mathura." [97]

So many places are hidden now—nobody knows where Radha Kunda is, where Shyama Kunda is, where Krishna's Pastimes are—you must show them to the people and preach where those places are.

vrndavane krsna-seva, vaisnava-achara

bhakti-smrti-sastra kari' kariha prachara

"Start Krishna's service in Vrindavan, preach the proper Vaishnav behaviour, write books about devotion." [98]

"You will start the service to Krishna in Vrindavan and preach to others what the Vaishnav etiquette is, what the Vaishnav's rules and regulations are. This is your duty—I am giving you this service.

"You cannot destroy your body! You cannot destroy it because this body is not your body—it is My body and I will use that for service of the Lord!"

yukta-vairagya-sthiti saba sikhaila

suska-vairagya-jnana saba nisedhila

"He then taught Sanatan Goswami everything about the proper renunciation and forbade Him any dry renunciation." [99]

Mahaprabhu told, "You must reject dry vairagya—false renunciation, or deceitful devotion. You must reject all this."

tabe sanatana saba siddhanta puchila

bhagavata-siddhanta gudha sakali kahila

"Then Sanatan asked all kinds of questions about the siddhanta (scriptural conclusions), and Mahaprabhu told him all the confidential truths of Srimad Bhagavatam." [109]

Sanatan Goswami asked Mahaprabhu so many important things, so many sacred things...

hari-vamse kahiyache goloke nitya-sthiti

indra asi' karila yabe sri-krsnere stuti

mausala-lila, ara krsna-antardhana

kesavatara, ara yata viruddha vyakhyana

mahisi-harana adi, saba—mayamaya

vyakhya sikhaila yaiche susiddhanta haya

"It is said in Hari-vamsa that when Indra came to the eternal abode of Goloka, he offered his prayers to Lord Krishna. There are Pastimes of Lord Krishna that some consider material and that may seem to speak against Krishna, for example how Krishna destroyed the Yadu dynasty, how He disappeared, how He appeared from a hair, how the queens were kidnapped, and so on. Mahaprabhu explained the proper meaning of all such Pastimes." [110-112]

tabe sanatana prabhura charane dhariya

nivedana kare dante trna-guchchha lana

"Then Sanatan clasped the Lord's feet and, taking a bunch of straw in his teeth, prayed to Him." [113]

"nicha-jati, nicha-sevi, muni—supamara

siddhanta sikhaila,—yei brahmara agochara

tumi ye kahila, ei siddhantamrta-sindhu

mora mana chhunite nare ihara eka-bindu

"'I am from the lowest class, a servant of the lowest class of people, a sinful person, but You have taught me these truths that even Brahma cannot conceive of. What You have told me is an ocean of nectarean truths, but my mind cannot touch even a drop of it.'" [114-115]

Sanatan Goswami says very humbly, "I am from a very low cast, I am very small and do so many things wrong and do very bad things, but You are so merciful—You have given me so many important things that even Brahma does not know about. You have told me about so many things, it is like an ocean of nectar, but my mind is very naughty—I cannot even enter there..."

pangu nachaite yadi haya tomara mana

vara deha' mora mathe dhariya charana

"If You want a lame man to dance, please give me then a boon—keep Your lotus feet on my head." [116]

"I am lame, I have no legs, but You are making an arrangement for me to dance—You want to tell me, 'Dance!' You please give some mercy to me." What mercy is that? "I am putting my head at Your feet and You please put Your feet on it..."

'muni ye sikhalun tore sphuruka sakala'

ei tomara vara haite habe mora bala“

"Please say, 'May everything I taught you be revealed to you'—Your blessing will give me strength." [117]

tabe mahaprabhu tanra sire dhari' kare

vara dila—'ei saba sphuruka tomare'

Then Mahaprabhu put His hand on Sanatan's head and blessed him, "It will all be revealed to you." [118]

sanksepe kahilun—'prema'-prayojana-samvada

vistari' kahana na yaya prabhura prasada

I have described briefly the conversation about the ultimate purpose of life (prayojana), the divine love (prema). It is not possible to give an extensive description of the mercy of the Lord. [119]

prabhura upadesamrta sune yei jana

achirat milaye tanre krsna-prema-dhana

Anyone who hears the nectar of the Lord's guidance, will quickly reach the wealth of divine love to Krishna. [120]

sri-rupa-raghunatha-pade yara asa

chaitanya-charitamrta kahe krsnadasa

Always desiring the lotus feet of Sri Rupa and Raghunath, Krishna Das is narrating this Chaitanya-charitamrita. [121]

Sanatan-Siksa: The All-Attractive Lord

25 June 2015

[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 24:]

jaya jaya sri-chaitanya jaya nityananda

jayadvaita-chandra jaya gaura-bhakta-vrnda

"All glories to Sri Chaitanya, all glory to Nityananda! All glories to Advaita-chandra and the devotees of Gaura!" [2]

tabe sanatana prabhura charane dhariya

punarapi kahe kichhu vinaya kariya

"Then Sanatan clasped the Lord's feet and humbly asked one more question."

'purve suniyachhon, tumi sarvabhauma-sthane

eka sloke athara artha kairacha vyakhyane

"I heard that You previously explained one sloka at the place of Sarvabhauma, and You gave eighteen different explanations." [3]

Sanatan Goswami asked Mahaprabhu, "I heard before that You explained one sloka eighteen times, giving eighteen kinds of meaning, explanation. Could you please can tell me those explanations?"

atmaramas cha munayo

nirgrantha apy urukrame

kurvanty ahaitukim bhaktim

ittham-bhuta-guno harih

"The amazing qualities of the Lord are such that even the self-satisfied, the great renounced persons are also drawn to the causeless devotion to this wondrous Lord."

'atma'-sabde brahma, deha, mana, yatna, dhrti

buddhi, svabhava,—ei sata artha-prapti

[Sriman Mahaprabhu began His explanation,] "There are seven meanings of the word 'atma': it can mean the impersonal aspect of the Lord (brahma), body, mind, endeavour, firmness, intelligence, and individual nature." [11]

ei sate rame yei, sei atmarama-gana

atmarama-ganera age kariye ganana

"Those who enjoy (rama) these seven are called atmaramas. I will tell you who such atmaramas are later." [13]

'muni' adi sabdera artha suna, sanatana

prthak prthak artha pache kariba milana

"Sanatan, hear now the meaning of 'munis and others'. I will tell you first the separate meanings, then will bring them all together." [14]

'muni' sabde manana-sila, ara kahe mauni

tapasvi, vrati, yati, ara rsi, muni

"The word 'muni' means 'manana-sila' (the contemplative), it can also refer to the silent, the ascetics, the observers of vows, renunciates, as well as saintly scholars and sages. [15]

To be a muni means your mind must be settled at the Lord's lotus feet. Mahaprabhu explains that "muni-sabde manana-sila" means you must give your mind to the lotus feet of the Lord. "Tapasvi, vrati, yati, ara rsi, muni": those who worship the Lord, rishis, munis, they practise meditation—their mind is settled there. That is why when we do gayatri, we sit in a meditation pose—you must direct your mind at the Lord. When you worship the Guru gayatri, your eyes may be closed, but you can see Gurudev's lotus feet, Gurudev's face.

'nirgrantha'-sabde kahe, avidya-granthi-hina

vidhi-nisedha-veda-sastra-jnanadi-vihina

"The word 'nigrantha' means those who are without any knots of ignorance, and it can also mean those who do not have any knowledge of the scriptures, Vedas, of the rules and regulations." [16]

murkha, nicha, mlechchha adi sastra-virakta-gana

dhana-sanchayi—nirgrantha, ara ye nirdhana

"'Nirgrantha' can refer to those who are irritated by the scriptures (fools, lowborn, unclean persons without any principles, etc.), the hoarders of wealth, as well as those who have no wealth at all." [17]

Those who do not know, who have no idea, no knowledge about anything, who are foolish, who are of lower caste, the mlechas, who are always annoyed by the sastra and always think about wealth—they are called 'nigrantha'.

'urukrama' sabde kahe, bada yanra krama

'krama' sabde kahe ei pada-viksepana

"The word 'urukrama' means one whose step (krama) is big. 'Krama' means throwing your leg forth." [19]

Urukram are those who continue and increase their practising life. Day by day, you should increase your practising life—if you chant four rounds today, tomorrow chant five, and the day after tomorrow six, and so on. That is called 'urukram'.

sakti kampa-yukta paripatye akramana

charana-chalane kampaila tribhuvana

"It is a neat attack, power, and tremble, it is a step that makes all three worlds tremble." [20]

vibhu-rupe vyape, saktye dharana-posana

madhurya-saktye goloka, aisvarye paravyoma

"By His power, He maintains and nourishes everything in His all-pervasive form; by the power of His sweetness He maintains and nourishes Goloka; and by His opulence, the entire spiritual world." [22]

maya-saktye brahmandadi-paripati-srjana

'urukrama' sabdera ei artha nirupana

"He neatly creates all universes by His external potency. These are the meanings of the word 'urukrama.'" [23]

'kurvanti' pada ei parasmaipada haya

krsna-sukha-nimitta bhajane tatparya kahaya

"'Kurvanti' is a verb that means something done for someone else. It is said to indicate service for the pleasure of Krishna." [25]

'hetu' sabde kahe—bhukti-adi vanchhantare

bhukti, siddhi, mukti—mukhya ei tina prakare

"The word 'hetu' means having different desires such as bhukti and so on. The main of such desires are bhukti (material enjoyment), siddhi (perfections and mystic powers), and mukti (liberation)." [27]

eka bhukti kahe, bhoga—ananta-prakara

siddhi—astadasa, mukti—pancha-vidhakara

"It is called by one word material enjoyment (bhukti), but there are unlimited kinds of enjoyment. In the same way, there are eighteen types of siddhis (perfections), and five different kinds of liberation." [28]

There are five kinds of mukti (sayujya, merging with Brahman; sarupya, having the same body as the Lord; salokya, residing at the same planet as the Lord; samipya, being an associate of the Lord; sarsti, having the same opulences as the Lord), and eighteen kinds of siddhi (the eight primary: ability to become very small, very big, very light, get anything you want, experience anything you want, manipulate material nature, be free from material modes of nature, obtaining anything from anywhere; the ten secondary: be free from hunger, thirst and other bodily disturbances, ability to hear things far away, see things far away, move the body at the speed of the mind, assume any desired form, enter others' bodies, die at will, witness the demigods' pastimes, perfectly accomplish the desired aim, give orders that cannot be obstructed).

"Ei yanha nahi, taha bhakti ahaituki": you may not want it, but some kind of mercy can come automatically. That is why it is called ahaituki (causeless).

ei yanha nahi, taha bhakti—'ahaituki'

yaha haite vasa haya sri-krsna kautuki

"When these are not there, then there can without any cause appear devotion (bhakti). Such devotion brings playful Lord Krishna under its control." [29]

'bhakti' sabdera artha haya dasa-vidhakara

eka—'sadhana', 'prema-bhakti'—nava prakara

"The word 'bhakti' can be interpreted in ten ways: sadhana and the nine types of loving devotion (prema-bhakti)." [30]

There are nine types of practising life:

'rati' laksana, 'prema' laksana, ityadi prachara

bhava-rupa, mahabhava-laksana-rupa ara

"These refer to such symptoms as attachment (rati), love (prema), and so on, up to ecstasy (bhava) and ultimate ecstasy (maha-bhava)." [31]

santa-bhaktera rati bade 'prema' paryanta

dasya-bhaktera rati haya 'raga' dasa-anta

The santa rasa devotees (in the mood of neutrality) develop their attachment up to the general stage of love (prema). The attachment of the dasya rasa devotees (in the mood of servitude) grows up to the state of passionate attachment (raga). [32]

sakha-ganera rati haya 'anuraga' paryanta

pitr-matr-sneha adi 'anuraga'-anta

"The attachment of friends develops up to the stage of intense passionate attachment (anuraga), the mothers' and fathers' affection also grows up to the state of such intense passionate attachment." [33]

kanta-ganera rati paya 'mahabhava' sima

'bhakti' sabde kahilun ei arthera mahima

"The lovers' attachment reaches the extremes of ultimate ecstasy. Such are the glories of the meaning of the word 'bhakti' (devotion)." [34]

'ittham-bhuta-gunah' sabdera sunaha vyakhyana

'ittham' sabdera bhinna artha, 'guna' sabdera ana

"Now hear what 'ittham-bhuta-gunah' means. 'Ittham' has various meanings, and the word 'guna' (qualities) also has many meanings." [36]

bhukti-mukti-siddhi-sukha chadaya yara gandhe

alaukika sakti-gune krsna-krpaya bandhe

"When you come in touch with just a scent of these qualities, you give up the happiness of enjoyment, liberation, and perfections, and become bound by that supra-mundane kind of power and mercy of Krishna." [39]

Some kind of external power can come within you—that is Krishna's mercy (kripa). All kinds of enjoyment, all kinds of liberation, all kinds of any other things will be removed from you if that kind of smell comes to you—where there is Krishna, there is no darkness, there is no maya, no bhukti, no mukti, not any other things.

sastra-yukti nahi inha siddhanta-vichara

ei svabhava-gune, yate madhuryera sara

"In the true form of these qualities (guna) there is not any scriptural consideration, or any judgement based on the spiritual truths—these qualities are the very essence of sweetness, love." [40]

'guna' sabdera artha—krsnera guna ananta

sach-chid-rupe-gune sarva-purnananda

"The word 'guna' (qualities, nature) means the unlimited qualities of Krishna. Possessing these qualities, His eternal transcendental form is full of all possible ecstasy." [41]

The word "guna" means the many virtues of Krishna.

aisvarya-madhurya-karunye svarupa-purnata

bhakta-vatsalya, atma-paryanta vadanyata

His very self is full of opulence, sweetness and mercy. He is affectionate to His devotees and His magnanimity is up to the point of giving His own self. [42]

alaukika rupa, rasa, saurabhadi guna

karo mana kona gune kare akarsana

"He possesses a supra-mundane form, ecstasy, fragrance, and so on—He is such that anyone's mind can be attracted to Him." [43]

Thus ends Sri Rupa-Sanatan Siksa (Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita),

read and explained by His Divine Grace Ananta-sri-vibhusita

Om Visnupad Paramahamsa-kula-chudamani Jagad-Guru
Sri Srimad Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj

at Sri Nabadwip Dham in June 2015.

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