Ocean of Nectar

By Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj

© 1987, 2004 Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math
All rights reserved by the Successor President-Acharya

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Nabadwip, West Bengal, India

This booklet was first produced in Australia in the 1980s and later reprinted by Sri Ananta Press and Printing, California, USA.

The electronic version is prepared in 2025 as part of service to His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj.

Web address: www.scsmathinternational.com

Email: info@scsmathinternational.com

CONTENTS

The Author

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

The Blind Men & the Elephant

Higher Satisfaction

Primordial Sound

Divine Service

Sri Siksastakam

Ocean of Nectar

The Logo of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math’s Mission

Headquarters of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

Books and Publications of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

The topmost position, and the actual need for our supreme transcendental benefit, is only bhakti-yoga. Without bhakti-yoga, other kinds of spiritual practice such as good works or the quest for liberation cannot give us the proper result. So if we try to practice the nine kinds of devotional service under the guidance of a proper guru then we will easily receive the greatest result.”

—Srila Govinda Maharaj

The Author

The author, Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, appeared in this world at Sri Hapaniya Dham, West Bengal, India, in 1895, in the motherland of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. From his early childhood he was constantly immersed in the devotional conclusions and the essence of the revealed Vedic scriptures. His inborn hankering for the highest degree of dedication naturally drew him to his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Prabhupad.

After the departure of his Gurudev in 1941, Srila Sridhar Maharaj established Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math in Sri Nabadwip Dham to uphold and distribute the teachings of pure divine love as given by Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Enriched with over sixty years of pure service to the lotus feet of his own spiritual master, his teachings are a shining light for the followers of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. In his many Sanskrit poetic compositions, brimming with the highest devotional realizations, exalted devotees can clearly perceive his position as the protector and distributor of the wealth of Srila Rupa Goswami.

Before his departure from this world in 1988, Srila Sridhar Maharaj established his most intimate disciple, Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami, as his true successor and in so doing revealed him as the guardian of this divine wealth.

Previously Srila Sridhar Maharaj’s eternal godbrother and friend, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad, had inundated the western world with the first wave of Krishna consciousness, the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and devotional service to Sri Krishna. Srila Sridhar Maharaj caused that tide of golden nectar to rise to its highest level, giving the full-fledged conception of the followers of Sri Rupa.

mahaprabhu sri chaitanya, radha-krsna nahe anya,

rupanuga janera jivana

“Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is none other than Radha and Krishna combined. This is the life and soul of the Rupanuga sampradaya.”

Srila Govinda Maharaj’s service mood has enriched the teachings and mission of Srila Sridhar Maharaj, and he is now humbly and beautifully holding the position of the protector of the Sri Rupanuga sampradaya. He travels the globe distributing the seeds of divine love to the sincere seekers.

We offer our loving respects unto Sri Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, whose countenance is very beautiful and kind, and who is able to present the highest ontological truths in the most pleasing poetic style.

His transcendental figure is decorated with fine garments radiant like the newly risen sun. He is the spiritual storehouse of concentrated ecstasy, a true saint chosen by the honest devotees.

His renunciation and knowledge are comparable to a vast ocean. He is the fathomless reservoir and protector of the illustrious conclusions of pure devotion.

Resplendent in pastimes of loving dedication, radiant with the highest mellows of conjugal love, he is the foremost amongst those endowed with divine intelligence, and the greatest general leading the renounced order. Freely granting our true fulfillment of life, he is our only shelter.

Dedication

This publication is dedicated to our beloved spiritual master Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj on this 4th day of June, 2004, the anniversary of Sripad Rishabdev Prabhu’s disappearance. Sripad Rishabdev Prabhu’s desire and request to us in his final days was to reprint the Ocean of Nectar and distribute it worldwide for the benefit of all sincere seekers.

Acknowledgments

We would like to gratefully acknowledge the support, work and encouragement of the following devotees: Krishna Madhuri Dasi, Mandakini Dasi, Nityahari Prabhu, Sadhu Priya Prabhu, Mathuranath Prabhu, Shobhana Krishna Prabhu, Jagadananda Prabhu, Madhu Mati Dasi, Gaura Haridas Prabhu, Sarvabhavana Prabhu, and Ananta Krishna Prabhu.

Introduction

We love to read a book we have never read before. We are anxious to gather whatever information is contained in it and with such acquirement our curiosity stops. This mode of study prevails amongst a large number of readers, who are great men in their own estimation, as well as in the estimation of those who are of their own stamp. In fact, most readers are mere repositories of facts and statements made by other people. But this is not study. The student is to read the facts with a view to create, and not with the object of fruitless retention. Students, like satellites, should reflect whatever light they receive from authors, and not imprison the facts and thoughts just as the magistrates imprison the convicts in the jail!

Thought is progressive. The author’s thought must have progress in the reader, in the shape of correction or development. He is the best critic who can show the further development of an old thought; but a mere denouncer is the enemy of progress and consequently of nature. “Begin anew,” says the critic, “because the old masonry does not answer at present. Let the old author be buried because his time is gone.” These are shallow expressions. Progress is certainly the law of nature and there must be corrections and developments with the passage of time, as progress means going further or rising higher.

If we follow our foolish critic, we are to go back to our former terminus and make a new race, and when we have run half the race another critic of his stamp will cry out: “Begin anew, because the wrong road has been taken!” In this way our stupid critics will never allow us to go over the whole road and see what is in the other terminus. Thus the shallow critic and the fruitless reader are the two great enemies of progress. We must shun them.

The true critic, on the other hand, advises us to preserve what we have already obtained, and adjust our race from that point where we have arrived in the heat of our progress. He will never advise us to go back to the point whence we started, as he fully knows that in that case there will be a fruitless loss of our valuable time and labor. He will direct the adjustment of the angle of the race at the point where we are. This is also the characteristic of the useful student. He will read an old author and will find out his exact position in the progress of thought. He will never propose to burn a book on the ground that it contains thoughts that are useless. No thought is useless. Thoughts are means by which we attain our objects. The reader who denounces a bad thought does not know that even a bad road is capable of improvement and conversion into a good one. One thought is a road leading to another. Thus the reader will find that the thought which is the object today will be the means of a further object tomorrow. Thoughts will necessarily continue to be an endless series of means and objects in the progress of humanity.

The great reformers will always assert that they have come not to destroy the old law, but to fulfill it. Valmiki, Vyasa, Plato, Jesus, Mohammed, Confucius and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu assert this fact, either expressly or by their conduct.

Subjects of philosophy and theology are like the peaks of towering and inaccessible mountains inviting attention and investigation. Thinkers and men of deep speculation take their observations through the instruments of reason and consciousness, but they take different points when they carry on their work.

These points are positions chalked out by the circumstances of their social and philosophical life, different as they are in the different parts of the world.

Plato looked at the peak of the spiritual question from the West and Vyasa made the observation from the East. Confucius did it from further East and Schlegel, Spinoza, Kant and Goethe from further West. Their observations were made at different times by different means, but the conclusion is all the same, in as much as the object of observation was one and the same. They all hunted after the Great Spirit, the unconditioned Soul of the Universe. They could not but get an insight into it. Their words and expressions were different, but their import is the same. They tried to find the absolute religion and their labors were crowned with success, for God gives all that He has to His children, if they want to have it. It requires a candid, generous, pious and holy heart to feel the beauties of their conclusions.

The true critic is a generous judge, devoid of prejudices and party spirit. Party spirit, that great enemy of truth, will always baffle the attempt of the inquirer and will make him believe that Absolute Truth is nowhere except in his old religious book. What better example could be adduced than the fact that the philosopher of Benares will find no truth in the universal brotherhood of men and the common fatherhood of God? The philosopher, thinking in his own way of thought, can never see the beauty of the Christian faith. The way in which Christ thought of his own Father was love absolute, and so long as the philosopher will not adopt that way of thinking, he will ever remain deprived of the absolute faith preached by the Western Saviour. In a similar manner, the Christian needs adopt the way of thought which the Vedantist pursued before he can love the conclusions of the philosopher. The critic should, therefore, have a comprehensive, good, generous, candid, impartial and sympathetic soul.

The Bhagavata, the revealed scripture of the Vaishnavas, does not allow its followers to ask anything from God except eternal love towards Him. The kingdom of the world, the beauties of the local heavens, and sovereignty over the material world are never the subject of Vaishnava prayer. The Vaishnava meekly and humbly prays, “Father, Master, God, Friend and Husband of my soul, hallowed be Thy name! I do not approach You for anything which You have already given me. I have sinned against You and I now repent and solicit Your pardon. Let Thy holiness touch my soul and make me free from grossness. Let my spirit be devoted meekly to Your holy service in absolute love towards Thee.

“I have called You my God, and let my soul be wrapped up in admiration at Your greatness. I have addressed You as my Master, and let my soul be strongly devoted to Your service. I have called You my friend, and let my soul be in reverential love towards You, and not in dread or fear. I have called You my husband, and let my spiritual nature be in eternal union with You, forever loving and never dreading or feeling disgust. Father! Let me have strength enough to go up to You as the Consort of my soul, so that we may be one in eternal Love! Peace to the world!”

The spirit of this text goes far to honor all great reformers and teachers who lived and will live in other countries. The Vaishnava is ready to honor all great men without distinction of caste, because they are filled with the energy of God. See how universal is the Vaishnava religion! It is not intended for a certain class of Hindus alone, but it is a gift to man at large, in whatever country he is born and in whatever society he is bred.

In short, Vaishnavism is the Absolute Love binding together all men in the Infinite, Unconditioned and Absolute God. May peace reign forever in the whole universe, in the continual development of its purity, by the exertion of the future heroes who will be blessed, according to the promise of the Bhagavata, with powers from the Almighty Father, the Creator, Preserver and Annihilator of all things in Heaven and Earth.

—From a lecture delivered by Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur in 1869 in Dinajpur, West Bengal

The Blind Men & the Elephant

It was six men of Indostan,

To learning much inclined,

Who went to see the elephant

(Though all of them were blind),

That each by observation

Might satisfy his mind.

The First approach’d the Elephant,

And happening to fall

Against his broad and sturdy side,

At once began to bawl:

“God bless me! but the Elephant

Is very like a wall!”

The Second, feeling of the tusk,

Cried, “Ho! what have we here

So very round and smooth and sharp?

To me ’tis mighty clear,

This wonder of an Elephant

Is very like a spear!”

The Third approach’d the animal,

And happening to take

The squirming trunk within his hands,

Thus boldly up and spake:

“I see,”—quoth he—“the Elephant

Is very like a snake!”

The Fourth reached out an eager hand,

And felt about the knee:

“What most this wondrous beast is like

Is mighty plain,”—quoth he,—

“’Tis clear enough the Elephant

Is very like a tree!”

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,

Said—“E’en the blindest man

Can tell what this resembles most;

Deny the fact who can,

This marvel of an elephant

Is very like a fan!”

The Sixth no sooner had begun

About the beast to grope,

Then, seizing of the swinging tail

That fell within his scope,

“I see,”—quoth he,—“the Elephant

Is very like a rope!”

And so these men of Indostan

Disputed loud and long,

Each in his own opinion

Exceeding stiff and strong,

Though each was partly in the right,

And all were in the wrong!

So, oft in theologic wars

The disputants, I ween,

Rail on in utter ignorance

Of what the others mean:

And prate about an Elephant

Not one of them has seen!

—John G. Saxe

Higher Satisfaction

By using the atom bomb America conquered Japan and intimidated the world. Superficially they enjoyed the pleasure of defeating the world, but that is only apparent. Internally the apprehension is there: “Reaction may come.” Such a disastrous action is self-condemned; a heinous crime. But it is just the collective result of our karma. None to blame.

To parody the old saying, “A bad workman quarrels with his stools.” As we eat, following our system, stools come. It is not the stools’ crime; they are a necessary product of the food. Karma is like stools: as we do, we earn the environment and the reaction; as we act, reactions similarly come, sometimes individually and sometimes collectively. They are like stools—all the results, the environment. We have earned such an environment.

So none to be blamed, but everywhere the grace of the Lord is to be traced. The Lord is always there, even in the worst period of our lives. He is waiting, waiting to help us. We must only look up for His grace. With sincerity, with all sincerity. He is everywhere, waiting: “My boy, look at Me. Don’t make much of the external environment. I am here, very near to you. You have cast your focus aside, you have cast your consciousness outside. Make it internal and you will find I am here. Make it above. You are looking down to secure servants and comforts, but if you look up, for existence higher than you, you will find Me in that plane. Look up! Don’t look down, searching for servants.”

You want to become a master and thus are searching for servants, hunting after things for your service. Take the opposite course, become a servant and search for your master, your Lord. Then you will be uplifted, taken up to a higher domain. If you want to live in a higher domain you will have to serve. If you want to be a master, then you will have to come down into the lower zone, where you can be a master.

This is neither exaggeration nor imagination, it is something scientific. You can enjoy only those that are of a lower position. So, by attempting to enjoy, mean association becomes inevitable. Only by preparing for higher service will you be able to come in contact with your soul’s higher position.

Sacrifice—by sacrifice you go up; by enjoying spirit you will have to go down. We are to understand what is exploitation, enjoyment, and what is higher service. Divine service is pure, and in that service there is also a pure type of joy, ecstasy. By giving we become gainers and by extorting we become losers. This scientific truth should be understood.

By robbing things someone can find superficial satisfaction, but underground there is some suspicion that the result won’t be very good: “The reaction will come to attack me.” To exploit by stealing provides some sort of enjoyment, but the big donors, patrons, give some charity and thereby also enjoy happiness. There is a difference in quality between these two sorts of happiness. We are to distinguish between them.

In different planes there are different conceptions of happiness, and a comparison is to be drawn between the qualitative differences in the pleasure derived. We are to conceive different planes of life. The life of higher service is divine life. The Absolute God is there. Everything is for Him. All these things are for His pleasure.

But in which way can we attain divine life? What is mundane? What is divine? We are to differentiate between them. We have to examine them in order to accept the divine life.

What is God? God is not an order supplier. If I am sick, “O God, cure my sickness!” If I am poor, “O God, give me money!” This kind of mercenary connection is not very happy, but still it has some meaning, because they think that there is some supernatural power, and that He can do wonders.

However, it is better if we want God and do not expect anything mundane from Him. To want God, who is the source of all this opulence. To want Him, and not anything else which you consider valuable. To depend on Him: “O Lord, give me what is good. I am an imperfect being. I do not know what is good and bad. Please, provide whatever You consider to be good for me.” This is an improvement.

But when we accept the creed of unalloyed service to the highest, that is the best: “I want You, my Lord, nothing else.” And what will be my connection with Him? Service. “I want only Your service.”

At the beginning we might think we are being losers, but ultimately we will gain. Apparently we are giving ourselves, we are sacrificing our selfish interests, but in the subtle sense we gain thereby. This ontological truth should be appreciated. It is neither a dogma, nor blind faith. It is based on higher unprejudiced reason.

Our life is unfulfilled and we want fulfillment, there is no doubt. But, what type of fulfillment should we hanker for, should we search after? We know we are in want, and at the same time we feel that we yearn to remove our want and obtain satisfaction. Everyone is like this. But how can we make progress from unfulfilled life towards fulfillment? That will take searching for God, searching after God.

The present civilization is searching after subtle power. They want to be masters of subtle potencies or powers to control the environment, to lord it over everything. These fellows are very eager to reign in hell. Satan said, “It is better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven.” These followers of Satan want to reign in hell, but we assert just the opposite: “It is better to serve in heaven than to reign in hell.” That is our aspiration; to serve in heaven, higher heaven. If we are to have a higher connection, we must approach Him as a small person. That cannot but be.

There, in the world of service, there is also gradual development from gross to subtle, from lower to higher degrees of independence and ecstasy. Love is such. Love gives independence to the servitors, when it is mixed with anuraga, free spiritual love.

In the lower stages, service is always controlled by the regulation of the scriptures, “Do this, don’t do that.” But as we progress towards our position in the higher plane, it becomes free. Your heart will ask you, “Do this.” No scripture will come to regulate you, but your heart will tell you what to do, what service you are to do.

When there is full faith that you are a bonafide servant, then the type of service will be left to your consideration: “Do whatever you feel to be best.” There will be no restriction upon you. It is the land of spontaneous service; you will do according to your inner sagacity, and that will be accepted. The hearty thing, the sincere flow of service. No thrust from outside, no regulation: “You must do this, you must not do that.” That sort of law will be withdrawn from you, when you reach the plane of spontaneous service.

After passing for some time through the process of regulated devotional service you will feel: “This higher plane is my own land. This is my home.” In that plane you will find the freedom, sweetness and comfort of your own home. All doubts will be cleared, eliminated. The previous tendencies will also disappear. Any lower propensity will vanish, and in the sealed portion of your heart, which can connect with the higher divinity, the seal will be broken. The inner wealth is there, within, but it is sealed. The seal will be broken and you will have full satisfaction in an all-loving engagement, in your eternal function, your sweet eternal function.

So, from uncertainty to surety; from dissatisfaction to satisfaction; from want to fulfillment. From the temporary conception we will come into the eternal flow. By eliminating the provincial and local flow we will come into the eternal flow of life. As we make advancement, our conception of Godhead will change. It will gradually come to the Krishna conception, because in the plane of love God comes as Krishna, descends as Krishna.

The renowned German scholar Max Muller commented that a single drop of the ocean of nectar contained within the sacred Upanishads of India could easily satiate the innermost hankerings of the whole universe.

The Kalisantarana Upanishad recommends the Hare Krishna maha-mantra as the most effective process of God realization, specially meant for the present age. This mantra can be chanted silently, mentally or aloud:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

Primordial Sound

Sri Rupa has written, “O Holy Name! The tips of the toes of Your lotus feet are eternally worshiped by the glowing effulgence radiating from the gemmed chapters of the Upanishads, the crest jewels of the Vedas. You are eternally adored and chanted by great liberated souls like Narada and Sukadeva Goswami. O Holy Name, clearing myself of all offenses, I take complete shelter of You.”

Sri Rupa says that so many liberated souls worship the Holy Name of Krishna, offering their respects from all sides. He explains that the greatness of the Holy Name may not be found in the ordinary scriptures, but if you study all of them as a whole, you will find the very spirit of the Holy Name. Ordinary people may not find this in their study, but there are those who can collect the real substance, the real purpose from those vast writings, and detect the greatness of the Holy Name as the whole purpose of all the main Vedic scriptures.

The Vedas are giving hints about the Holy Name of Krishna: they naturally tell us that we can approach the supreme reality only through sound. Otherwise they would be suicidal. If they do not say that by sound only we will attain the truth, then what is the necessity of the Vedas, which are only embodied sounds? So, if we can trace their real characteristic, we shall find that the principal Vedas say that by the cultivation of sound we can attain the Lord. The absolute sound alone can deliver reality.

So Rupa Goswami says that a superficial study of the Vedas will only frustrate us. But if we search with a positive mind, by the grace of the saints, the spiritual masters and the great souls, we will find that the principal sound forms of the revealed truth are leading us towards the conception that the whole object of all the Vedic sounds is that central sound: the Holy Name of Krishna.

There are so many sections of the Vedas that have come to distribute the tidings of the absolute realm, but there must be a centre. So, the principal sounds are all emitting light, like a torch, to show us that they have a central sound which represents the supreme whole, and that sound is ‘Krishna’. So many liberated souls are all around, offering their respects to the Name of Krishna, that central sound from which all Vedic mantras have come to give us some idea of the sound aspect of the absolute centre. This is Sri Rupa’s argument.

The branches of the Vedas are all sounds, and so many sounds must come from a central position. They cannot but direct one who has a proper eye towards that fountainhead of sound, saying, “Go! Run towards that direction! In our source you will find everything. We are all partially representing so many things, but we have a centre, we have a fountainhead, Go in that direction and you will find the sound that can sufficiently satisfy you, and you may also be introduced to other aspects of that sound.”

The Holy Name of Krishna is the most important; it is no less than Krishna Himself. It fully represents the whole. Sri Rupa says, “O Holy Name, I take refuge under Your lotus feet. You are the grand, central sound who has given cohesion to all the sounds in the revealed scriptures.” And Sri Sanatan, who is the spiritual master of Sri Rupa, says, “Let ecstasy in the service of the Divine Name be victorious. If somehow we can come in contact with that sound, then all our other activities will be paralyzed; we will have no necessity of performing any other activity. Our many variegated duties will have no importance to us at all if we can achieve the service of the Divine Name of Krishna.”

The Holy Name will take us to the perception of Krishna’s own abode, where we will have to completely retire from any work, even if it may be done for Krishna. We will have to give up internal meditation and calculation, and even worship in awe and reverence. The Holy Name will stop all these tendencies and we will find so much sweetness in chanting the Name that we won’t be able to give attention to anything else.

When we really come in contact with the sound aspect of the absolute, then all our enthusiastic endeavors and functions will be paralyzed. We will be unable to attempt them: we will take to the Name only. Then, when the Name allows us to perform other services again, we will be able to do them. The Name has such power, such a high degree of potency, that it will stop all other branches of service and charm you.

When the Holy Name of Krishna descends and captures the tongue and the lips, it controls them so strongly that it engages them in chanting the Holy Name as if the lips and tongue have gone mad. In this way, the power of the Name descends in them and one feels that only one tongue and one mouth are not enough; thousands of mouths are necessary to taste the Name.

Then the Holy Name of Krishna enters the ear with such a great force and current that the ears are captured, and one thinks that only two ears are insufficient; he wants millions of ears to attend to the sweet current entering the ears. Two ears are nothing to him; he wants millions of ears. The nectar of the Holy Name is coming like a flood through his ears, pushing its way within the heart.

It is so sweet that it goes to capture the heart, the centre of all senses—everything is paralyzed. Wherever the sweet aggressor touches, the whole thing is captured with such intensity that everything else is ignored.

Sri Rupa writes, “These two syllables, ‘Krish-na’, contain so much sweetness, and such a high quality of sweetness, that I don’t know, I can’t say, I fail to express how much nectar there is in the Holy Name of Krishna.”

Divine Service

The Name of Sri Krishna is so powerful it does not care for the capacity of the soil. It may be sown anywhere, and it will sprout. Such a powerful seed! Very easily it can drive away, brush away, the sinful tendency.

If anyone comes in connection with the Name, he will get the benefit. The nature of Krishna’s Name is such: autocratic and boundless mercy. The transaction may go on in any place, any time. Where all have failed, Krishna’s Name has His glorious wave. No adverse circumstance can produce any obstacle to this.

The only condition is that to have the real thing we must have a proper connection. It must be the Name of Krishna and not an imitation. So, it is said that the physical sound may appear, an imitation, but it is not effective, because that is not Krishna.

Our attainment of the goal is not assured simply by increasing the number of times we repeat the Name; only by increasing the quality will we reach success. There are so many sayings in the scriptures to encourage our realization of the Holy Name in different ways, but Sri Rupa has given us a central thought. He quotes Padma Purana, “Our senses, physical or mental, are ineligible to come in touch with the transcendental.” The Name is non-material, without mundane limitation. It belongs to another plane.

So, nothing about Krishna—His name, form, qualities or pastimes—can be touched by our physical or mental senses, but when we have a serving attitude He comes down to us of His own accord. Only then can our tongues really pronounce the Name of Krishna, otherwise only the physical sound of the letters of the Name can be produced.

Our tongues, our hands, physical sound, all these mundane things cannot come in touch with Krishna. Some intervening medium is necessary to connect this body with the supramundane, and that connection is our earnest desire to serve Krishna, to satisfy Him.

A bulb won’t light if there is no electricity. Only when the electrical current is there will the bulb be illuminated. So, the Name may appear on the tongue and in the ear, in the mind or in writing, but we must have the connection from the transcendental realm to this mundane world, and that connection is devotional service, a functional serving attitude. That alone can connect the physical realm with the unlimited spiritual world.

Krishna will appear of His own accord. He will descend upon your tongue and then your tongue will be able to chant the Name of Krishna. A gun that has no bullet, but only a blank, may make some sound, but no bullet is actually fired. Similarly, chanting the Name of Krishna without an attitude of service produces sound, but that is only tongue deep. It is like firing a gun with blanks instead of bullets.

Our chanting of the Holy Name of Krishna must be surcharged with a serving temperament, the tendency to satisfy Krishna. Otherwise the sound we produce is bogus. It is only an imitation, or a permutation. The Holy Name cannot be experienced by our senses. It is supramental and transcendental. An ordinary sound of this mundane world cannot be the Name of Krishna. Our ear cannot even hear the Name if that mediator, the serving attitude, is not there. The earnestness to satisfy Krishna’s will must mediate between Krishna and the ear, through the mind. Then only will Krishna’s Name enter our ear and reveal to us His form, qualities and pastimes.

The Holy Name is not physical, it is transcendental, supramundane. Only through our service attitude will it come down to this mundane world. Only through service can we directly come in contact with Krishna. The real point is to practice to attain the spirit of service. The devotee is doing service and we must imbibe from him the methods of attaining this serving attitude.

Sri Siksastakam

Diving deep into the reality

of His own beauty and sweetness,

Krishna took the mood of Radharani,

and garbing Himself in Her brilliant luster,

appeared as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

For the last twelve years

of His manifested pastimes

He was deeply absorbed

in union and separation

and shared His heart’s inner feelings

with His most confidential devotees.

In the agony of separation from Sri Krishna

torrents of ecstasy flowed from His heart

and His teachings,

known as Sri Siksastakam,

appeared from His lips

like eight unbounded rivers

of Golden Nectar.

Verse 1

cheto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam

sreyah-kairava-chandrika-vitaranam vidya-vadhu-jivanam

anandambudhi-vardhanam prati-padam purnamrtasvadanam

sarvatma-snapanam param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam

The Holy Name of Krishna

cleanses the mirror of the heart

and extinguishes the fire of misery,

in the forest of birth and death.

As the evening lotus blooms

in the moon’s cooling rays,

the heart begins to blossom

in the nectar of the Name.

And at last the soul awakens

to its real inner treasure—

a life of love with Krishna.

Again and again tasting nectar,

the soul dives and surfaces

in the ever-increasing ocean

of ecstatic joy.

All phases of the self

of which we may conceive

are fully satisfied and purified,

and at last conquered by

the all-auspicious influence

of the Holy Name of Krishna.

Verse 2

namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-saktis

tatrarpita niyamitah smarane na kalah

etadrsi tava krpa bhagavan mamapi

durdaivam idrsam ihajani nanuragah

O my Lord, Your Holy Name

bestows auspiciousness upon all.

And You have unlimited names

such as Krishna and Govinda

by which You reveal Yourself.

In Your many Holy Names

You have kindly invested

all Your transcendental potency.

And in chanting these Names

there are no strict rules

concerning time or place.

Out of Your causeless mercy,

You have descended

in the form of divine sound,

but my great misfortune is

that I have no love

for Your Holy Name.

Verse 3

trnad api sunichena taror iva sahisnuna

amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

One who is humbler

than a blade of grass,

more forbearing than a tree,

who gives all honor to others

without desiring it for himself,

is qualified to always chant

the Holy Name of Krishna.

Verse 4

na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagad-isa kamaye

mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi

O Lord, I have no desires

to accumulate wealth, followers,

beautiful women, or salvation.

My only prayer is for

Your causeless devotional service

birth after birth.

Verse 5

ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram patitam mam visame bhavambudhau

krpaya tava pada-pankajasthita-dhuli-sadrsam vichintaya

O son of Nanda Maharaj,

I am Your eternal servant

yet because of my own karma

I have fallen into this terrible ocean

of birth and death.

Accept this fallen soul

and consider me a particle of dust

at Your lotus feet.

Verse 6

nayanam galad-asru-dharaya vadanam gadgada-ruddhaya gira

pulakair nichitam vapuh kada tava nama-grahane bhavisyati

O Lord, when will tears flow

from my eyes like waves,

voice tremble in ecstasy?

When will the hairs of my body

stand on end while chanting

Your Holy Name?

Verse 7

yugayitam nimesena chaksusa pravrsayitam

sunyayitam jagat sarvam govinda-virahena me

O Govinda!

Without You, the world is empty.

Tears are flooding my eyes like rain,

and a moment seems like forever.

Verse 8

aslisya va pada-ratam pinastu mam

adarsanan marma-hatam karotu va

yatha tatha va vidadhatu lampato

mat-prana-nathas tu sa eva naparah

Krishna may embrace me in love

or trample me under His feet.

He may break my heart

by hiding Himself from me.

Let that debauchee do whatever He

likes, but He will always be the only

Lord of my life.

Ocean of Nectar

What strength does

the name of Krishna hold?

Like a desert scorched

by the rays of the sun,

my heart always burns in the fire

of desire for worldly enjoyment;

but the Holy Name,

entering through my ears,

floods my heart with

unparalleled nectarine bliss.

He speaks from within the heart,

moves on the tip of the tongue

and dances on it.

My voice become choked,

my body shivers,

my feet cannot remain firm.

My eyes are full of tears,

there is sweat all over my body,

my skin is thrilled with joy,

my whole body becomes colourless,

my mind faints

and there is universal destruction:

my person is shattered

by a variety of emotions.

Making so much oppression,

the Divine Name of Krishna

showers nectarine ambrosia

in the heart and throws me

in the ocean of divine bliss;

allows me not to understand anything,

makes me mad and steals

my heart and wealth.

Such is the conduct of the One

in whom I have taken shelter!

I simply cannot describe all this.

The Holy Name does everything

at His sweet will.

Whatsoever makes Him happy

is the source of my happiness.

The Name is the bud of divine love,

the source of extraordinary divine bliss.

He exercises such strength

that being slightly opened

shows His own form and qualities,

steals my heart and takes it to Krishna.

Being fully developed,

destroys my existing mundane body,

gives me my own transcendental divine form,

takes me to Vraja,

shows me His own love dalliance

and keeps me near Krishna.

The Holy Name of Krishna

is the philosopher’s stone,

the storehouse of eternal spiritual ecstasy,

ever free,

full of the pure elixir

of divine bliss.

(By Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Commentary

In this poem of his book Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur has explained the Namastakam, eight prayers in glorification of the Holy Name, written by Rupa Goswami. The whole thing is described there very beautifully. He writes, “My heart is just like a desert, hot with rays of the sun. This is my internal mental condition. The desire for mortal things cannot satisfy me, because by nature they are death-producing; and not one or two, but thousands of such death-producing desires have taken shelter in my mind. So, my subconscious region is always burning. This is my condition.

“But somehow, by the grace of sadhu and guru, the Holy Name of Krishna, with its infinite prospect, has entered through my ear and reached the plane of my heart. And there, with some peculiar hope, with infinite, auspicious possibilities, it touched my heart with a new kind of nectar.

“New hope is aroused by that sound. Then by force, it comes from the heart towards the tongue. Not that by the endeavor of my tongue I am producing that sound. No. What came from the heart of a saint through my ear, entered my heart, forcibly appeared upon my tongue, and began to dance.”

That is the Holy Name proper. It descends from above. It cannot be produced by the material form of a tongue. Its source is above. “And through an agent of the Absolute it comes through the ear to the heart. From the heart it gathers some sympathy, then the Holy Name of Krishna forcibly appears upon the tongue and begins to dance. With great force it comes to the end of the tongue and that sweet sound begins its dancing.”

The real effects of the Divine Name have been described here. If it is a living and real Name, the voice will be choked up, there will be shivering in the body, and the legs will be unable to stand. Sometimes tears will flow in a current on the body, and one’s hairs will stand on end. Sometimes changes of colour will be found in the body, and we will be unable to find any trace of mind or consciousness. We may fall in a swoon. The whole body and mind will appear as if it is being attacked: shivering and influenced in different ways. Apparently, it may seem that so many troubles are created in the body and the mind, but the real heart is overflowing with a particular kind of strange, sweet juice.

Sometimes he thinks, “I am in an ocean of nectar. My whole existence is within an ocean of nectarine liquid. I am beside myself. I can’t understand where I am. Where am I? What is this? What is all about me? It has almost made me mad. Am I a madman? Where is my past experience, my seriousness, my gravity? Where are they? What am I? I have been converted wholesale by a foreign thing. I am a doll in the hands of a great force, which is also so affectionate to me. I can’t ascertain how it is possible that by my faith I have entered this great, unknown environment, unexperienced before.

“And at last I find that I am captivated. My entire being, within and without, has been captured by a particular sweet force. I can’t help being prey to such a sweet power. I can’t give any proper description of this. I came to take shelter under Him and accept Him as my guardian, and now at His hand I am being dealt with in such a merciless and despotic way. Still, I feel that everything is very pleasing, beyond my experience. What is this?

“I can’t resist anymore. I am fully captured. Let my fate go anywhere. I can’t come out. I am captive in the hand of a sweet friend; my whole independence is gone. There is no way left to me but to surrender. I am unable to describe my real position. I find that He is an autocrat. Whatever He likes to do, He will do. Since it is not possible for me to give any resistance, I must surrender. Let me also cooperate with whatever He is pleased to do. Otherwise, what can I do? I am helpless.

“Sometimes I find that the sweetness of the Name is condensed like a blossoming flower, and very wonderful streams of sweet current are flowing from it. The Holy Name contains so many sweet variegated forms of current within Him and He is wonderfully expressing Himself in different ways. Sometimes He emanates a peculiar type of colour and figure and disappears.

“So many charming aspects are shown as if to my eyes within, and He forcibly takes me to surrender at the foot of that altar. He shows Himself in His full-fledged form, in Vrindavan, in His Vraja-lila, with Radharani, and He takes me there. I find that I am in the midst of His peculiar, very sweet and loving paraphernalia. And He says, ‘You see! I have so many wonderful things. This is your home. I am not merely imagination, but concrete reality. You will find here that the environment is very favorable and sweet. You are to live here.’

“I see that there He is dealing in different ways with His associates in different rasas, and I find that I have another body that has emerged from my previous one, and that has a permanent place here in His service. Such a new life I find here, and then I find ultimately that all consideration of my past life and experience has vanished. And it is true; my real life is here. This is proper and that was a sham, that life has vanished. Then I find that chanting the Holy Name has given me new encouragement, a new prospect, and new hope.”

Whatever we want, whatever is our internal demand, it is supplied by the Holy Name. If we take the Holy Name, all our internal hankering will be fulfilled. It is eternal, it is the purest of the pure, and it is full of ecstasy.

* * * * *

The Logo of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

By His Divine Grace
Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj￼

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, where sankirtan is always going on, is inside Krishna’s flute, and the sound om, which is the very gist meaning of gayatri, comes from Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, radiating merciful rays. Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj explains that everything is found within om—coming from Krishna’s flute, its meaning is “Gayatri muralista-kirtana-dhanam Radha-padam dhimahi. Krishna’s flute does not make any other sound except for the glorification of Srimati Radharani.” That is the real meaning and gist of the gayatri mantram.

The position of the guru is like water; the servitors of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math are like lotuses; and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, worshipped in His divine form of Radha-Krishna (om), is the sun. The sun’s merciful rays nourish the lotus, but if there is no water—if one cannot take shelter of Sri Guru and His grace—then the lotus becomes burnt by the rays of the sun.

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math’s Mission

srimach-chaitanya-sarasvata-mathavara-udgita-kirtir jaya-srim

bibhrat sambhati ganga-tata-nikata-nabadwipa-koladri-raje

yatra sri-gaura-sarasvata-mata-nirata-gaura-gatha grnanti

nityam rupanuga sri-krtamati-guru-gauranga-radha-jitasa

‘At this supremely enchanting divine ashram, destitute and spiritually loving devotees of Sri Gaura-Saraswati, who are expert at favourable practices of Krishna consciousness, constantly chant within their hopeful hearts the glories of Lord Sri Sri Gaurasundar, the greatly magnanimous source of all incarnations of the Lord, following in strict adherence the line of Sri Sri Rupa-Raghunath, the inexhaustible storehouse of the wealth of divine ecstatic consorthood love, and being eternally eager to engage in the loving service of Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govindasundar and Their associates. This effulgent and supremely worshippable King among all temples, Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, is situated within Koladwip, which is non-different from Sri Govardhan, the King of Mountains, on the enchanting bank of the revered Bhagirathi River, who rescues all fallen souls, in Sri Nabadwip Dham, a holy abode of touchstones, non-different from Sri Vrindavan. Capturing Jayasri (the Goddess of Victory – Srimati Radharani), it exists eternally, leaving the entire creation of moving and non-moving entities astonished in the extremely cooling and loving shade of the soaring victory flag of its ever-increasing celebrated renown.’

(The translation of the verse is rendered from the original Bengali translation written by Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj.)

Headquarters
of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math Road,

Kolerganj, W.Bengal, 741302

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

Bhanjipur, Tarakeshwar,

Hooghly, West Bengal, 712410

Phone: +91 96093 02310

Please see scsmathinternational.com for other addresses in India and worldwide.

Books and Publications of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

(English language)

(Available at scsmathinternational.com)

By Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj:

Search for Sri Krishna Reality the Beautiful

Sri Guru and His Grace

The Golden Volcano of Divine Love

Subjective Evolution of Consciousness

Loving Search for the Lost Servant

Centenary Anthology

Divine Aspiration

Exclusive Guardianship

Golden Staircase

Heart and Halo

Holy Engagement

Home Comfort

Inner Fulfillment

Ocean of Nectar

Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamaritam

Sri Sri Prema-dhama-devam Stotram

Sermons of the Guardian of Devotion – Volumes I, II, III, IV

By Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj:

Divine Servitor

Dignity of the Divine Servitor

Divine Guidance

Golden Reflections

The Benedictine Tree of Divine Aspiration

Affectionate Guidance

Life’s Destination

In Search of the Original Source

Nectarean Glories of Sri Nityananda Prabhu

Religion of the Heart

Revealed Truth

By Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj:

Guidance – Volumes I, II, III, IV

Guidance (Issues 1–30): collections of lectures (electronic)

Sri Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya-mukta-mala

By Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur:

Saranagati

Sri Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya

Dasa-mula Tattva

The Bhagavata

Other scriptures:

Sri Gaudiya Gitanjali (Kirtan Guide)

Holy Name and Offences to Be Avoided

Service Life

Srimad Bhagavad-gita

Sri Sri Prema-vivarta

Sri Brahma-samhita

(Many more publications in various languages are available at Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math in India and abroad. Please contact any of the Mission’s temples for further information.)