RELIGION OF THE HEART
PART TWO: "Krishna's Four Super-excellent Qualities"

Apart from His sixty transcendental qualities, Krishna has additionally four transcendental qualities which are not manifest even in the personality of Narayan.

These are the four super-excellent qualities that belong exclusively to Krishna and not to any other form of the Lord. Narayan has sixty qualities and Baladev sixty-two. Krishna has sixty-four:

(1) Krishna is like an ocean filled with waves of pastimes that evoke wonder within everyone.

(2) In His activities of conjugal love, He is always surrounded by His dear devotees who possess unequaled love for Him.

(3) He attracts the minds of all the three worlds by the melodious vibration of His flute.

(4) His personal beauty and opulence are beyond compare. No one is equal to Him, and no one is greater than Him. He is so beautiful that He is called Krishna.

Lord Krishna is more exalted than ordinary living beings and demigods like Lord Siva. He is even more exalted than His personal expansion Narayan. In all, the Supreme Personality of Godhead has sixty-four transcendental qualities in full.

Chapter 1
Krishna's Sweet Pastimes

sarvadbhuta-chamatkara-lila-kallola-varidhih

“Krishna is like an ocean filled with waves of pastimes that evoke wonder within everyone in the three worlds.”

Question: Srila Rupa Goswami says Krishna has four super-excellent qualities that no other form of the Lord or incarnation has. Could you please explain what these are.

Srila Govinda Maharaj: Yes. The first quality, sarvadbhuta-chamatkara-lila-kallola-varidhih, is that Krishna’s pastimes are extremely sweet and relishable all the time. They are far superior to the pastimes of any other form of the Lord, including Narayan. No other form of the Lord has such wonderful pastimes as Krishna.

Krishna’s pastimes take place in Vrindavan Dham with the Vraja-gopis, the Vraja-balakas and all the Vraja-basis. They take place in effulgent, ecstatic and the sweetest of sweet ways. Narayan doesn’t have these qualities in His pastimes. These qualities don’t exist in the pastimes of Narayan, Narayan-lila.

Krishna’s pastimes begin from His birth. Narayan doesn’t have a birth. He is called the unborn. Whoever doesn’t have a birth will not have pastimes associated with birth. He won’t have a father or mother, or any relatives, so he won’t have the pastimes associated with birth and childhood, etc.

Krishna has a father, a mother, a brother and a sister and He also has many friends, lovers and paramours. He is always playing with the cows and calves and enjoying with the opulent fruits and sweet smelling trees in the forests of Vrindavan. He gives pleasure to the Yamuna by bathing in her with the Vraja-gopis and He has many pastimes in the different kunjas (forest groves) of Vrindavan. His life is a life full of sweet and wonderful pastimes. Narayan, the supreme creator Vishnu, doesn’t have such extraordinary pastimes.

When Krishna was present on Earth all other forms of the Lord as well as the demigods and all the great sages were astonished to hear about His wonderful pastimes. In fact all the transcendental and material worlds were astonished to see the pastimes of Krishna who appeared as the son of Nanda Maharaj.

Nanda Maharaj, the foster father of Krishna, was the king of a society of cowherd men but he didn’t own a castle; he didn’t have an opulent house or even any fixed residence. He moved from pasturing ground to pasturing ground making a thatched house or living in whatever place was available, but in his courtyard the Supreme Personality of Godhead played.

Brahma’s illusion

Once, Lord Brahma came to join that play. When he came to join that play he became confused. He couldn’t understand who Krishna was. He thought, “Who is this boy playing here? I didn’t create Him! What is going on here?”

Brahma meditated and through meditation understood Krishna was the Supreme Personality of Godhead—but he couldn’t believe it. He thought, “How could the Supreme Personality of Godhead be playing in the courtyard of Nanda Maharaj just like an ordinary child? This is impossible!”

To see if Krishna really was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Brahma stole all cows, calves and cowherd boys, put them in a cave and left.

The next day he returned and saw to his amazement everything was the same. Krishna was outside playing with everyone! Brahma became puzzled and thought, “I put everyone in a cave yesterday and left, and now they are here exactly like they were yesterday. Maybe there was a hole in the cave and they have escaped?”

Brahma went to the cave and saw Krishna playing inside with everyone. He left the cave and again saw Krishna playing outside and enjoying with all of His paraphernalia!

Then Brahma understood. With folded hands he approached Krishna and said, “O my Lord, I have done wrong. You are always giving consciousness and remembrance to me, but I am always forgetting You. I have forgotten You, and again You have checked me. Please forgive me for my offenses. I confess that anyone who says they know You, Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, or Your unlimited pastimes, can say so but I say I cannot understand anything about You with my mind, words or deeds.”

jananta eva janantu, kim bahuktya na me prabho
manaso vapuso vacho, vaibhavam tava go-charah

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 10.14.38)

“I can’t say anything more. I can only say whoever says they know You or understand Your pastimes can say so but I say I cannot understand even a small amount of Your unlimited pastimes.”

This is one example of the first quality Srila Rupa Goswami mentions as belonging to Krishna and not to any other incarnation or avatara: Krishna’s super-excellent pastimes in Vrindavan Dham.

Brahma at the gate

Another incident which shows the superiority of Krishna’s pastimes was when Brahma went to Dvaraka to visit Krishna. When he arrived he saw many gatekeepers. Brahma has a lot of power but he saw his power was useless there, otherwise he could have suddenly appeared before Krishna.

Brahma waited at the gate and asked the gatekeeper to inform Krishna that he had come. When the gatekeeper informed Krishna, Krishna replied, “Which Brahma?”

Brahma heard this through his mystic power and thought, “What sort of nonsense question is that? I am Brahma! Krishna knows I am Brahma.”

Then Brahma—who is a gentleman—asked the gatekeeper to inform Krishna that he was the chatur-mukha Brahma, the Brahma with four heads. When the gatekeeper informed Krishna of this, Krishna said, “Oh, that Brahma! Bring him, bring him in.”

After Brahma entered, Krishna showed him a lot of respect. He said, “You have been waiting at the gate a long time. Please don’t mind it. Come and take your seat. Why have you come?”

Brahma said, “I will answer that question later but first tell me why did You ask, ‘Which Brahma?’? Is there another Brahma besides me?”

Krishna gave a little smile and remembered all the Brahmas. There are many Brahmas. Each universe has its own Brahma and there are many, many universes. One by one all the Brahmas came. One with four heads, one with eight heads, one with ten heads, one with a hundred heads and one with a thousand heads—many thousands of Brahmas came to see Krishna, and one by one they all bowed to Krishna’s lotus feet. Miraculously, accommodation for all of them took place and the four-headed Brahma appeared like an insect in front of them. Then suddenly they all stood and asked, “Why are we so fortunate, O Lord, that You have remembered us? What is Your wish?”

Krishna said, “It isn’t anything important. I just wanted to see you. I haven’t seen you in a long time. Now you can all go back to your own abodes.”

After all the Brahmas left, the four-headed Lord Brahma said, “I have my question answered. I am very fortunate Your pastimes are going on in my brahmanda (universe). I feel very fortunate indeed.” Brahma offered many prayers to Krishna, and Krishna gave him His mercy. Then, Brahma returned happily to his abode.

These are the types of pastimes that take place in Krishna-lila. Especially in Vrindavan Dham they are all full of ecstasy and miraculous for everyone—sarvadbhuta-chamatkara-lila-kallola-varidhih. In Narayan-lila there aren’t such pastimes—with the cows, the Vraja-balakas, the Vraja-gopis and all the Vraja-basis—which take place in Vrindavan Dham twenty-four hours a day and which are so wonderful for everyone.

Inconceivable Pastimes

Mahaprabhu said that all of Krishna’s pastimes are inconceivable—achintya-bhedabheda-tattva. It is not possible to understand them from here. We live within the materially conscious world so it is not possible to understand transcendental consciousness and Krishna’s pastimes from here.

Every evening in Puri, Mahaprabhu would talk with Svarup Damodar and Ramananda Ray in the Gambhira. One evening they were discussing the poetry of Chandidas. Chandidas said in one poem, “Whoever can conceive that a garland can be made from the peaks of mountains with a tiny thread, or an elephant can be bound with a spider’s web, can understand Krishna’s pastimes.” You must believe that you can bind an elephant with a spider’s web before you can understand Krishna’s pastimes.

When I first joined Srila Guru Maharaj’s Mission he asked me if I could do two things. He said, “Can you not follow your mind, and can you follow my instructions?” I said, “Yes,” and Guru Maharaj was happy. Then he said, “Can you forget the songs you know?” I was born in a Vaishnav family and my father was a famous professional singer. Because of that I had some singing capacity and had memorized all of the Vaishnav songs. Srila Guru Maharaj tested me as to my singing style, meter, etc. by having me sing in front of Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj. I sang in front of Babaji Maharaj and he told Guru Maharaj that I knew many songs and was a good singer.

A few days later Guru Maharaj told me to forget those songs. He said they were sahajiya songs and that condition would increase if I sang them. I said I would not sing those songs. He gave me a book called Saranagati and marked thirty-two songs. He asked me to memorize them within a week and said the songs of madhura-rasa would come later. He said, “They will reveal themselves in your heart after ruchi. When you get the position of ruchi, or taste, you can learn them.”

Rupa Goswami showed this in a step-by-step sequence:

adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango ‘tha bhajana-kriya
tato ‘nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha ruchis tatah

(Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, 1.4.15)

When it is necessary for the devotee to know what Vrindavan is, what Govardhan is, what the Yamuna is and what the forests of Vrindavan are and what the pastimes of Krishna-lila are, everything will reveal itself in the heart of a surrendered soul. This is the meaning of Srila Guru Maharaj’s book, Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamritam, the “Life Nectar of the Surrendered Souls.”

Srimati Radharani’s solace

When Krishna met Radharani and the Vraja-gopis at Kuruksetra, He said:

mayi bhaktir hi bhutanam, amrtatvaya kalpate
distya yad asin mat-sneho, bhavatinam mad-apanah

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 10.82.44)

“Devotional service unto Me is the only way to attain Me, My dear gopis. The only reason for My returning to you is the love and affection you have attained for Me by good fortune.”

In India it is customary to go to Kuruksetra during a solar eclipse and bathe in a lake there. People from all over India do this. Krishna went to Kuruksetra from Dvaraka with His queens, and Radharani and the gopis went from Vrindavan to meet Him.

When the gopis met Krishna’s queens, the queens said to them, “We have not actually had Krishna’s presence. We think He is absent-minded because we can’t tell what He is thinking. When He is asleep and dreaming sometimes He calls, ‘O Lalita, O Visakha, O Yasoda, O Mother Rohini!’ He says many things when He is dreaming. We have heard all the Vraja-gopis’ and Vraja-balakas’ names many times, and now you are here. Whether Krishna lives in Mathura or Dvaraka, He always remembers you.” Krishna’s queens glorified the Vraja-gopis in this way.

When Krishna first met the Vraja-gopis in Kuruksetra, they asked Him, “How long will we wait for You?”

He said, “In a short time, in a few years, I shall go back to Vrindavan. Don’t think I won’t go. I am bound to go. Don’t think that I live here. Actually I live with all of you in Vrindavan. Every day you are getting My association in Vrindavan. What you are doing with Me is positive. You think it is negative, but it is positive. What I am doing here is negative. Every day in Vrindavan My pastimes are going on and every day you are getting My association. You are giving Me nourishment every day and that is positive. Whatever you are doing there is positive.”

When Krishna said this to the gopis, Mayi bhaktir hi bhutanam [implying, “I shall come back to Vrindavan to see you”], they believed it. That is why Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami gave this sloka before the above one in the Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita:

eta tanre kahi krsna, vraje yaite satrsna,
eka sloka padi’ sunaila
sei sloka suni’ radha, khandila sakala badha,
krsna-praptye pratiti haila

“While speaking to Srimati Radharani, Krishna became very anxious to return to Vrindavan. He made Her listen to a verse which banished all Her difficulties and which assured Her that She would again attain Him.”

If you say something to someone in an exclusive way they will understand it. If you say to someone, “Yesterday we were taking prasadam together and you were giving me fried subji and we were talking and laughing”, if you say that in an exclusive way that person must believe it. He will think, “Yes, yes, that happened.”

So, after hearing the following sloka Radharani got good nourishment:

mayi bhaktir hi bhutanam, amrtatvaya kalpate
distya yad asin mat-sneho, bhavatinam mad-apanah

(Srimad Bhagavatam 10.82.44)

“If You, Radharani, hear what I am saying You will see this is the truth. Every day I am living with You. Every day there are My pastimes in Vrindavan and every day You are getting My association. Every day You are giving Me nourishment, and that is positive.”

Mother Sachi’s joy

Mahaprabhu sent Damodar to Nabadwip and instructed him to tell Mother Sachi, “Every day I come to take the prasadam you prepare for Me.” Mahaprabhu said, “Mother Sachi thinks she is dreaming. It is not a dream. I eat from her hand every day. Tell her that and remind her that yesterday I came and took prasadam from her. She cooks many nice preparations for the Deities such as sak, etc. and afterwards she gives them to Me and when I eat them she becomes very happy. But she thinks she is dreaming. When she sees the plate has nothing on it, she thinks she forgot to put food from the pots on the plate. She goes to the kitchen and sees there is no food in the pots and she thinks she is dreaming. The positive truth is that I ate everything. Remind My mother of that and she will believe it.” This is an example of telling someone something in an exclusive way.

Krishna always lives in Vrindavan

When Krishna said to Radharani and the gopis that He goes to Vrindavan every day and plays with them, they believed it.

Actually Krishna never leaves Vrindavan. He always lives in Vrindavan.

krsno ‘nyo yadu-sambhuto, yah purnah so ‘sty atah parah
vrndavanam parityajya, sa kvachin naiva gachchhati

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya 1.67)

Vrndavanam parityajya, sa kvachin naiva gachchhati. Srila Rupa Goswami said Krishna does not leave Vrindavan, not even for one moment. He lives there with the Vraja-balakas, the sakhis and the gopis, etc. Krishna’s pastimes are always going on in Vrindavan.

Ecstatic revelation

Every night with His two confidential associates, Svarup Damodar and Ramananda Ray, Mahaprabhu heard and tasted the ecstasy of Jayadev’s Gita-Govinda, Jagannatha-vallabha-nataka, Sri Krishna-karnamrita and the songs of Chandidas and Vidyapati:

chandidasa, vidyapati, rayera nataka-giti,
karnamrta, sri-gita-govinda
svarupa-ramananda-sane, mahaprabhu ratri-dine,
gaya, sune—parama ananda

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya 2.77)

They were able to get and to take the real and direct association of Sri Krishna. After Jayadev, Vidyapati and Chandidas, only Rupa Goswami could sing those types of songs.

Once you start expressing Krishna-lila you cannot stop. There is so much ecstasy you cannot stop.

madhuram madhuram vapur asya vibhor
madhuram madhuram vadanam madhuram
madhu-gandhi mrdu-smitam etad aho
madhuram madhuram madhuram madhuram

(Krishna-karnamrita, by Sri Bilvamangala Thakur)

When Srila Guru Maharaj would express Krishna-lila he would forget who was in front of him. As he was speaking he would forget who was there, who was hearing.

Guru Maharaj gives the meaning of the Gayatri Mantram

One day I said to Guru Maharaj, “You are giving the meaning of the Gayatri mantram, the Rig Veda mantra, etc., and the Vedas say one isn’t supposed to give their meaning. It is a private matter, so why are you giving it?”

Srila Guru Maharaj said, “O Govinda Maharaj, what are you thinking? What expressions and ideas come from the Gayatri mantram? We are giving the Gayatri mantram to others and they will meditate on it and feel it after reaching perfection. No one is giving anything before perfection. If I don’t give it, I think no one will give it in the future. No one has given it before so I feel I should give it. It is necessary for the conditioned souls. Many devotees want to know the meaning, so I am giving it.”

The meaning was published from the San Jose Math in the Guardian of Devotion. Everyone in our sampradaya was amazed to see it. What Srila Guru Maharaj gave is extremely worshippable: the inner meaning of the Gayatri mantram, etc. He knew everything, and he was the only one who knew everything.

Once he said he went to feed the cows in the field and when he sat underneath a tree and was meditating on the Gayatri mantram he suddenly saw the whole Vishvarup form of the Lord. The whole effulgence of the Gayatri mantram became manifest before him. That was his first experience with the Gayatri mantram.

After that, Guru Maharaj had many experiences but if he had told them, it would have been difficult for others to understand. That is, if you don’t have a good instrument for receiving, how will you receive it? The wall cannot receive radio waves. Our insides are not adjusted to receive transcendental knowledge. It may exist within us but we are not adjusted to receive it. If we can fine-tune or adjust ourselves, everything will be revealed in our heart.

hrdaya haite bale, jihvara agrete chale,
sabda-rupe nache anuksana
kanthe more bhange svara, anga kanpe thara thara,
sthira haite na pare charana

(Saranagati, by Sri Bhaktivinod Thakur)

When we are internally adjusted to receive transcendental knowledge the mantra will forcefully come and dance on our tongues. This is the real dance of Mahaprabhu or the real dance of the Holy Name.

tunde tandavini ratim vitanute tundavali-labdhaye
karna-kroda-kadambini ghatayate karnarbudebhyah sprham
chetah-prangana-sangini vijayate sarvendriyanam krtim
no jane janita kiyadbhir amrtaih krsneti varna-dvayi

(Vidagdha-madhava, 1.15)

When Srila Rupa Goswami expressed these glories of the Holy Name, Srila Haridas Thakur said, “I have never heard this type of sloka describing the Holy Name before. I have heard many glories of the Holy Name, but I never heard this type of sloka.” Haridas Thakur said this, and he was a siddha mahatma (perfected soul).

“When we are chanting, the mantra is revealing itself on our tongues. At that time an eagerness for millions of tongues will come to us. If we get them, we will be satisfied. We are hankering for millions of ears when we hear of the real form of Krishna. Chetah-prangana-sangini vijayate sarvendriyanam krtim. When the maha-mantra dances in our minds, our minds are dancing.”

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur said that when the Holy Name is revealing on the mental plane, devastation comes to the mind through the presence of Krishna-Nama. That is real Krishna-Nama.

CONTENTS:

Part One: The Glories of Devotional Service
1 The Service of Vrndavan
2 The Lord is not Impersonal
3 Evidence of the Conception of a Personal God in the Scriptures of India
4 Preparing to Understand Krsna's Transcendental Pastimes

Part Two: Krishna's Four Super-excellent Qualities
1 Krishna's Sweet Pastimes
2 Krishna's Wonderful Associates
3 Krishna's Transcendental Flute
4 Krishna's Unparalleled Beauty and Opulence

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