Srila Gurudev’s talks – Page 4

The pillar of success

March 18, 2018 0jayasri02 Comments

“Failure is the pillar of success.” This is an English phrase. “Failure is the pillar of success.” If I try I must get the success pillar. One time I fall down, and then for all time I will sleep? No.

Whatever is considered good and whatever is considered bad in this mundane world—everything is bad here. Maybe that is affection, or maybe that is enviousness. Maybe that is apparently good or bad, but everything is bad.
‘dvaite’ bhadrābhadra-jñāna, saba — ‘manodharma’
‘ei bhāla, ei manda’, — ei saba ‘bhrama’
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: 3.4.176)
[“In the material world, conceptions of good and bad are all mental speculations. Therefore, saying ‘This is good’ and ‘This is bad’ is all a mistake.”]
Srila Kaviraj Goswami expressed this very nicely. And Krishna very simply said,
mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ
āgamāpāyino ’nityās tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata
(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 2.14)
[“O son of Kuntī, the engagement of the senses with their objects produces the sensations of cold, heat, pleasure, and pain. But these effects are temporary—they come and go. Therefore, O Bhārat, you must endure them.”]
“It will come to you and you try to tolerate it. Don’t be foolish and don’t be hopeless.”
Hope is always in my front. We are seeing that now Krishna consciousness has spread all over the world by the mercy of our Gurus. It is not a lie; everybody knows now. Krishna consciousness is spreading all over the world, and how is it possible? Five hundred years ago, or maybe less than five hundred years but around four hundred and seventy years ago, Mahaprabhu said,
pṛthivīte āchhe yata nagarādi-grāma
sarvatra prachāra haibe mora nāma
“All over the world people will chant the Hare Krishna mahamantra.” And a hundred years ago Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur said that in Mayapur the Western devotees and Eastern devotees will dance and chant together in Nabadwip Dham. And we see that that is happening. Where is the lie? It is true, we can see that. Then we must follow their directives.
“Chant Hare Krishna” is only the primary teaching of Mahaprabhu. It is the primary teaching. After that there will be many things and we must face those tests. When we get the seed of the bhakti lata [creeper of devotion] we must protect that bhakti-lata-bij. Then nobody can check our fortune. Sometimes some blowing wind will come and give us some disturbance, but without disturbance how will our heart become strong? If you do not exercise then your body will not be strong. If you stay the same way from your birth, if you do not play with your hands and legs then your body will not become strong.
“Failure is the pillar of success.” This is an English phrase. “Failure is the pillar of success.” If I try I must get the success pillar. One time I fall down, and then for all time I will sleep? No. And what fault is there? I am a faulty person, I am a fallen soul, we are always saying, “I am fallen soul”. Then if I am always fallen, what loss do I have? What I practise, that is my gain. In this way we must proceed to our destiny.
Srila Gurudev speaking in Govardhan, March 1991
This is a continuation of the post ‘Falling down, getting up’.

Cleaning the mirror of the heart

March 10, 2018 0jayasri01 Comment

Every moment will be joyful in your life. Dedication to the Lord and chanting the Holy Name, the nondifferent form of the Lord, can give us all auspiciousness.

Question: I would really like to hear about Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and how we can serve him.
Srila Gurudev: Mahaprabhu first indicated to beginners that you will get all the benefit of your spiritual life if you can chant the mahamantra properly. Your mind is like a mirror covered with dust, and through chanting that dust will be removed and you will see your true form. The suffering that we experience from so many things in this material world will also reduce and finally go out.
cheto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ
śreyaḥ-kairava-chandrikā-vitaraṇaṁ
Through your chanting feelings of God will reveal in your heart, you will see your beautiful divine form, and your mood of service will give such happy light in your spiritual environment. You will get very close association with your Lord, like the feelings between a husband and wife.
cheto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ
śreyaḥ-kairava-chandrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam
ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ
When that divine form of the Lord as Harinam reveals within your heart then automatically joy will come, and every moment when you are chanting the Holy Name, the feeling of God’s association will come to you.
prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ
Every moment will be joyful in your life. Dedication to the Lord and chanting the Holy Name, the nondifferent form of the Lord, can give us all auspiciousness.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu advised the conditioned souls in this way.
prabhu kahe—kahilāṅ ei mahāmantra
Of all mantras this is the best mantram in this age of Kali-yuga. Other practising processes will not be so fruitful. Meditation, chanting, and congregational chanting of this mantram, and service to this mantram, will give all good results to us.
Then if we want to satisfy Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu we will first try to chant the Hare Krishna mahamantra, and if we can do that continuously that is very good.

Be humble, be tolerant and give honour to others

Mahaprabhu gave eight verses as advice for the conditioned souls, and in the third verse He explained how attachment, love, and affection will grow for chanting the Holy Name. He gave this advice: if you can be humble, be tolerant, and give honour to others then you will be worry-free from your circumstances.
You can believe and you can live within the faithful plane. Faith is necessary. That is the first basis of this conception. Not only in the line of Krishna consciousness, but the first advice of all religious conceptions is, “Be faithful”. At first, beginners may not be able to maintain their faith because they are not seeing anything and not getting anything in their hand. They do not have practical knowledge and experience. For that reason strong faith will not come immediately. But through realisation, through association, through hearing, through reading, faith will become more and more strong. In different ways our faith will grow more and more, but the scriptures say that association is the best. If good association is not available then we can practise through reading the books, chanting the Holy Name, hearing from an expert, and so on.
We must try to realise our previous activity, our present spiritual situation, and our future prospect. It is necessary to take advantage of the value of the present time.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu will be happy if we follow His directive to chant the mahamantra without offence. The mahamantra Himself is Radha and Krishna. Both Their Names are present within this mantra with a calling mood. Even within some processes in this material world we can see that sound can take form: now when you are talking to someone by telephone it is also possible to see their form, their mood, and so on. So, if we can chant properly They will reveal in our heart. We cannot say that it will happen immediately but anyone can get it, and if someone is sincere with their practice they will get some feelings from the beginning.

When Mahaprabhu said that there is no alternative other than chanting the Holy Name of the Lord, then it is not necessary to go left or right or anywhere else. Be steady, be faithful, and try, and success must come to you.

We are trying but not properly trying, because we are always mixing with material things, and it is natural. If we can chant without offence then proper purification will come and we must be benefitted through that. Time is a factor: it is in front of me and must give me some disturbance. But if we can see the eternal time that is nothing by comparison.
When Mahaprabhu said that there is no alternative other than chanting the Holy Name of the Lord, then it is not necessary to go left or right or anywhere else. Be steady, be faithful, and try, and success must come to you. And because “Hare Krishna” is Radha–Krishna then if They reveal in your heart you will automatically join with the Pastimes of Krishna-lila. That is the gift of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu: Krishna-prema, love for Krishna, affection for Krishna, and service for Krishna. When it will reveal in your heart then Krishna will also reveal with that mood.
In this way, many things in many places have given us the clue of practising life. But at first beginners must try with faith.
Srila Gurudev speaking in Italy, September 2000, during his Sixteenth World Tour.

Reference

The mahamantra:
hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare
hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare

In focus: “Life-Nectar of the Surrendered Souls”

March 6, 2018 0jayasri0

“Everything is covered in this book Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam, and if you read it minutely you must stand in the plane of dedication.”

It is necessary to complete the first lesson, the second lesson, and the third lesson, then it is possible to understand the fourth lesson. Śrīla Guru Mahārāj gave those first three lessons in Śrī Śrī Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam [Life-Nectar of the Surrendered Souls] as well as the fourth. If you read this book carefully, you will get everything.
Śrīla Guru Mahārāj has given there the meaning of śaraṇāgati, in particular in this following śloka:
bhagavad-bhaktitaḥ sarvam ity utsṛjya vidher api
kaiṅkaryaṁ kṛṣṇa-pādaikāśrayatvaṁ śaraṇāgatiḥ
[“Being governed by the faith that all success is achieved by serving the Supreme Lord, to abandon servitude to even scriptural injunctions and take exclusive refuge in the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa in every time, place, and circumstance, is known as śaraṇāgati, unconditional surrender.”]
What is śaraṇāgati? It is Bhagavad-bhaktitaḥ sarvam: it is not even necessary to serve any other god or demigod; through only the service to Kṛṣṇa we can get everything. Therefore we must take shelter at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Service to Kṛṣṇa can give us everything and this type of faith is called śaraṇāgati. If you can memorise one śloka and put that in your heart, then from this one śloka you will get everything given in any scripture.
I tried before to know in one sentence what is śaraṇāgati. We know that śaraṇāgati is surrender, but that is not sufficient. Therefore I asked Śrīla Guru Mahārāj. He replied, “Have you not read Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam?”
I said, “Yes Mahārāj, I have, but is the explanation there?” Then he quoted this same śloka, and this is the main thing.
Devotee: I heard that Śrīla Guru Mahārāj explained the difference between śaraṇāgati and ātma-nivedanam. Please explain to us what that difference is.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: There are six kinds of śaraṇāgati. In Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam this is explained and in each case there are examples and expressions of the feelings of other devotees. If you read this book you can understand. There Śrīla Guru Mahārāj explains the subject very clearly and very nicely.
Devotee: What is the meaning of ātma-nivedanam?
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: The following verse describes the six kinds of symptoms of śaraṇāgati. Ātma-nikṣepa means ātma-nivedanam.
ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ prātikūlya-vivarjanam
rakṣiṣyatīti viśvāso goptṛtve varaṇaṁ tathā
ātma-nikṣepa kārpaṇye ṣaḍ-vidhā śaraṇāgatiḥ
[The six limbs of surrender are:
1) To accept everything favourable for devotion to Kṛṣṇa.
2) To reject everything unfavourable for devotion to Kṛṣṇa.
3) To be confident that Kṛṣṇa will grant His protection.
4) To embrace Kṛṣṇa’s guardianship.
5) To offer one’s self unto Him.
6) To consider oneself lowly and bereft.]
Devotee: What about nava-vidhā bhakti, the nine principal forms of devotion?
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: There are nine kinds of devotional practices: śravaṇam, kīrtanam, Viṣṇoḥ smaraṇam, pāda-sevanam, archanam, vandanam, dāsyam, sakhyam, and ātma-nivedanam [Hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord, constantly remembering the Lord, serving the Lord’s lotus feet, serving Him as a servant, worshipping Him, offering prayers, serving Him as a friend, and completely offering the Lord one’s very self.]. They are also included in śaraṇāgati, unconditional self-surrender. But śaraṇāgati is the first thing—and śaraṇāgati is the last thing. If you want to enter into transcendental knowledge, you must first take shelter of śaraṇāgati. This is the first lesson and this is the last lesson.
Everything is covered in this book Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam, and if you read it minutely you must stand in the plane of dedication. Many examples are given there from the scriptures as well as from the devotees’ lives. It is divided into the six kinds of śaraṇāgati, part by part. It is a very valuable and nice book, no doubt, and everything is there including this verse spoken by Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu:
nāhaṁ vipro na cha nara-patir nāpi vaiśyo na śūdro
nāhaṁ varṇī na cha gṛha-patir no vana-stho yatir vā
kintu prodyan-nikhila-paramānanda-pūrṇāmṛtābdher
gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ
[“I am not a priest, a king, a merchant, or labourer (brāhmaṇ, kṣatriya, vaiśya, or śūdra); nor am I a student, a householder, a retired householder, or a mendicant (brahmachārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha, or sannyāsī). I identify myself only as the servant of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Lord of the gopīs, who is the personification of the fully expanded (eternally self-revealing) nectarean ocean that brims with the totality of divine ecstasy.”]
Devotee: Is it necessary to have gone through Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, and Chaitanya-charitāmṛta before reading Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam?
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: No, it is not necessary. This is the first book of reading—and this is the last book of reading. Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā is also no doubt the first book of reading and the last book of reading, but there are many things there mixed in with bhakti.
In Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam is found only bhakti, and nothing else. But in the Gītā is some description about karma, yoga, jñān, and many other things; that is why everybody likes Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā. The karmīs like it, the terrorists like Gītā, the yogīs like Gītā, Mahātmā Gandhi liked it, Jawaharlal liked it—everybody likes Bhagavad-gītā. The reason is that they each receive something from it to fulfil their own purpose. But in Śrī Śrī Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam whatever is included is only for the purpose of devotion: the relationship between Kṛṣṇa and the jīva. It is a very pure devotional book.
Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj said to his sister, “This Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam is a very important and nice book. You have money, so please you spend some money for the printing of this Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam.” Her name was Bhāvinī Didi. We called her Pishima or ‘Madan’s Mother’ and it was she who subsequently gave the money for the first printing.
Another of the very high type of ślokas there, is the following verse by Śrī Kulaśekhar:
nāsthā dharme na vasu-nichaye naiva kāmopabhoge
yad yad bhavyaṁ bhavatu bhagavan pūrva-karmānurūpam
etat prārthyaṁ mama bahu-mataṁ janma-janmāntare ’pi
tvat pādāmbhoruha-yuga-gatā niśchalā bhaktir astu
[“O Lord, I have no faith in religion, economic development, or sense enjoyment. May all these come to pass as they are ordained according to my previous karma. My earnest prayer is that birth after birth I may have unflinching devotion to Your lotus feet.”]
It is not very difficult to understand what Kṛṣṇa-bhakti is, but what is necessary is the mood of surrender. If you surrender then you can understand everything. But if you do not fully surrender, then many difficulties will come. There is no difficulty for the surrendered soul.
Excerpt from Golden Reflections, compiled from Srila Gurudev‘s talks.
Related reading: “New Year’s Resolution: Full Surrender”
Read the full text of Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamrtam online here
Download a pdf file of scans of the original book here

Falling down, getting up

February 22, 2018 0jayasri01 Comment

Facing our shortcomings with hope and determination: words of love and wisdom from His Divine Grace.
We have attachment with this mundane world and with our body; it must be, because we are fallen souls. But we promised our Guru, “I must practise Krishna consciousness.” Taking diksa [initiation] means a promise, “I promise Gurudev, I promise Mahaprabhu: yes, any circumstance may come to me, but I will not leave your lotus feet.” And you have still not left: you are running, but only wake up from that illusion. You can see everything, and that is necessary. To always fall down somewhere is not good. Sometimes falling down is a possibility. And what loss is there? There is no loss. When a boy is running on the ground he will fall down on the ground. What loss does he have? He is not going underground; he will take help from the ground, and again he will run. This is the conception of Guru Maharaj, and not only Guru Maharaj: it is the conception of Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu and Srila Sanatan Goswami Prabhu. They are the golden pillars of the sampradaya of Mahaprabhu.

My only shelter is your lotus feet. I may fall down, but will I sleep there?

Rupa Goswami Prabhu said,
bhūmau skhalita pādānāṁ bhūmir evāvalambanam
tvayi jātāparādhānāṁ tvam eva śaraṇaṁ prabho
“Oh Prabhu, you are my shelter. Tad api kila payodah stūyate chātakena. What shall I do? In the future, if I do not have your lotus feet I have no shelter. Then where shall I go? I cannot go to Brahmaloka [plane of non-differentiated spirit] and I cannot go to Svargaloka [plane of heavenly enjoyment]: my satisfaction is not there, my end is not there. My only shelter is your lotus feet. I may fall down, but will I sleep there? It is not possible. I am a living entity, a jiva-soul. I have willing, I have feeling, I have thinking. This is my property, and with that property I shall worship your lotus feet.”

What happened, happened. We don’t care.

Service to the Vaishnavas, and service to Guru is our only life’s goal. Then, what happened, happened. We don’t care. What have we seen? Many big, big rishis and big, big munis are sometimes falling down. But they are not completely attached with that environment. Vishvamitra Rsi also fell down. Sometimes willingly, sometimes unwillingly. Sometimes they willingly fall down. But our shelter is not there, our shelter is the lotus feet of Krishna. That is our only shelter.
You know everything, and that is the problem. That is why your heart is not satisfied with anything else. I have so much love for everybody, especially yourself. You know that love. When you come I feel it is my own atma, my own soul coming. That is how I see you.
It is not necessary to abuse anybody. We will only think, “My fortune gave me that type of environment and I fell down there. But I will not stay there forever.”

Everything belongs to my Gurus, and has been made by them, prepared by them. I can say that I am only mud, and they can make a Deity or make a dog.

I am the example. I am always telling to the devotees, I am the example. You know me. You see me, and what one Guru can do. I am looking at my Guru and I am surprised to see how it has come out. I am a very fallen soul, so how did my improvement come out this way, and not only in a very small way? When I consider that I get so much strength. That is why I sometimes say, defeat is not in my life. Victory is always with me, because Guru Maharaj is with me.
My body, my mind, my age, everything belongs to my Gurus, and has been made by them, prepared by them. I can say that I am only mud, and they can make a Deity or make a dog. They can make anything, but my position is like soft mud. I did not know anything when I joined with Guru Maharaj’s mission, but after that everybody gave respect, and why? Not for my qualification, but for my Guru Maharaj’s qualification. When everybody is giving me respect I am thinking, “Oh, it is Guru Maharaj’s respect, it is going to Guru Maharaj.”
Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur said,
guru-jana-śire punaḥ, śobhā pāya śata guṇa
When anybody gives some respect, when anybody comes for service to Krishna I am thinking it is because of Guru Maharaj’s quality. By his mercy it is possible. And I have seen Guru Maharaj’s form, and how merciful Guru is.
Srila Gurudev speaking in Govardhan, March 1991
This talk is continued in the post ‘The pillar of success’
References
virachaya mayi daṇḍaṁ dīna-bandho dayām vā
gatir iha na bhavattaḥ kāchid anyā mamāsti
nipatatu śata-koṭir nirbharaṁ vā navāmbhas
tad api kila-payodaḥ stūyate chātakena
(Srila Rupa Goswami)
“O Friend of the needy, whether You chastise me or reward me, in the whole wide world I have no other shelter but You. Whether the thunderbolt strikes or torrents of fresh waters shower down, the chātak bird (who drinks only the falling rainwater) perpetually goes on singing the glories of the raincloud.”
ohe prabhu dayāmaya, tomāra charaṇa-dvaya,
śruti-śiropari śobhā pāya guru-jana-śire punaḥ,
śobhā pāya śata guṇa, dekhi āmāra parāṇa juḍāya
(Gītā-mālā: 1.1.1)
“O merciful Lord! Seeing Your feet become more beautiful atop the heads of the scriptures and a hundred times more beautiful atop the head of my Guru soothes my heart.”

The religion of non-enviousness

February 18, 2018 0jayasri0

“The mallika plant is a small plant, and when the sun rises he thinks, “Oh, if my flower will come like that in a bigger form then I shall be very happy. When will my flower be like the sun?’ That kind of hankering is good … but if you do not get it then no enviousness will come.”

In Vaishnavism enviousness will not come. This is the best quality of a Vaishnava. If some enviousness will come you cannot feel good in any way. You will not be considered a good Vaishnava. If you see someone is enriched with spiritual property you will dance to see that, enjoy with him, and you will try to increase and develop your faith to your Guru. That is natural in spiritual life. If it will not come to you, you must feel you have some deficiency in faith. Your hankering must be there, “I want to be like that or more than that”, but enviousness will not come.
sūrya-pāne ye thāke mallikā-mukula
kata dine habe mukha ata baḍa phula
The mallika plant is a small plant, and when the sun rises he thinks, “Oh, if my flower will come like that in a bigger form then I shall be very happy. When will my flower be like the sun?” That kind of hankering is good. “My flower will also be like the sun, a big sun-flower.” Hankering is good, but if you do not get it then no enviousness will come.
Śrīmad Bhāgavat started from this point.
dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo ’tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satām
(1.1.2)

[“(This Srimad Bhagavat) completely rejects all cheating religion (and will be appreciated by) the supremely non-envious sadhus.”]

“What is inside of this book”—some identity is given here. Dharma, projjhita, kaitava, atra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satām. The param dharma, supreme religion of the jiva-souls, is stated in this book, and not only that, those who have no enviousness and very great attachment for Lord Krishna are always tasting this book.
And,
vedyaṁ vāstavam vastu atra śivadaṁ tāpa-trayonmūlanam
This is the next stage. Vedyaṁ vāstavam vastu: reality the beautiful is explained here in Srimad Bhagavat. Vāstava vastu means reality. Atra śivadam means beautiful and giving our super benefit.
Spoken by Srila Gurudev on 24 August 1998 in Soquel, California, USA

The easiest thing

February 9, 2018 0jayasri0

Krishna consciousness is a very easy thing because it is everybody’s religion. It is not the religion of Hindus, it is not the religion of Muslims, or Christians, or Buddhists, or followers of the Shankar sampradāya. They have some sampradāya [group], but we do not really have a sampradāya. Krishna consciousness is the religion of the jīva-soul.
jīvera ‘svarūpa haya—kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’
kṛṣṇera ‘taṭasthā-śakti’, ‘bhedābheda-prakāśa’
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Madhya-līlā, 20.108)
[“The soul is by nature an eternal servant of Krishna. The soul is Krishna’s tatastha-sakti (marginal potency); a manifestation both distinct and non-distinct from Krishna.”]
kṛṣṇa bhuli’ sei jīva anādi-bahirmukha
ataeva māyā tāre deya saṁsāra-duḥkha
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Madhya-līlā, 20.117)
[“When souls outside the realm of time and space turn away from Krishna and forget Him, Maya subjects them to the various miseries of worldly existence.”]
And how can we get relief from this environment? That has also been given by Kavirāj Goswāmī very clearly and in a very simple way:
brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva
guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Madhya-līlā, 19.151)
[“While wandering throughout the world, a fortunate soul obtains the seed of the creeper of devotion (faith) by the mercy of Guru and Krishna.”]
mālī hañā kare sei bīja āropaṇa
śravaṇa-kīrtana-jale karaye sechana
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Madhya-līlā, 19.152)
[“When a person receives the seed of devotional service, he should take care of it by becoming a gardener and sowing the seed in his heart. If he waters the seed gradually by the process of śravaṇ and kīrtan [hearing and chanting], the seed will begin to sprout.”]
upajiyā bāḍe latā ‘brahmāṇḍa’ bhedi’ yāya
‘virajā’, ‘brahmaloka’ bhedi’ ‘paravyoma’ pāya
tabe yāya tad upari ‘goloka-vṛndavāna’
‘kṛṣṇa-charaṇa’-kalpa-vṛkṣe kare ārohaṇa
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Madhya-līlā, 19.153–4)
[“As one waters the bhakti-latā-bīja, the seed sprouts, and the creeper gradually grows to the point where it penetrates the walls of this universe and goes beyond the Virajā River, lying between the spiritual world and the material world. It attains brahma-loka, the Brahman effulgence, and penetrating through that stratum, it reaches the spiritual sky and the spiritual planet Goloka Vṛndāvan.
“Being situated in one’s heart and being watered by śravaṇ-kīrtan, the bhakti creeper grows more and more. In this way it attains the shelter of the desire tree of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally situated in the planet known as Goloka Vṛndāvan, in the topmost region of the spiritual sky.”]

We must search for Śrī Krishna, and it will easily come to us. And who is Krishna? If we go to the sādhu, they will say and show us Reality the Beautiful.

That is all. It is a very easy thing: it is only necessary to have mercy from Sādhu, Guru, and Vaiṣṇava. Through that we will get some sukṛti, and sukṛti means our fortune-maker. We must search for Śrī Krishna, and it will easily come to us. And who is Krishna? If we go to the sādhu, they will say and show us Reality the Beautiful.
You will see God consciousness all over the world, everywhere, under different names. But who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead? That is found in Krishna consciousness. Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and why? That explanation is very simply given in the scriptures. Then we can understand easily that Krishna-bhajan, worship of Krishna, and practising Krishna consciousness is our life’s goal. That has been given by Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj and Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, and now the day has come when it is continuing [in this world] in a non-stopping way. Maybe somewhere some disturbance comes, and it will come, because that is the nature of this mundane world. We are always living within a disturbing environment, and so it must be with us, but we shall cross over all disturbance and proceed to our destiny, and that destiny is, Kṛṣṇa-charaṇa’-kalpa-vṛkṣe kare ārohaṇa, service to Krishna.

Leaving the plane of exploitation, and leaving the plane of renunciation, we must try to establish ourselves in the plane of dedication.

Leaving the plane of exploitation, and leaving the plane of renunciation, we must try to establish ourselves in the plane of dedication. And dedication to whom? We shall surrender to whom? That is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that is Krishna. Śrīmad Bhāgavat said clearly, Kṛṣṇas tu Bhagavān Svayam. In Brahma-saṁhitā it is told,
īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sachchidānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam
(Śrī Brahma-saṁhitā: 5.1)
We must worship Krishna, because Krishna is Īśvar [the Lord], and He is Parameśvar [the Supreme Lord], and He is sach-chid-ānanda-vigraha, the eternal form of consciousness and bliss. Anādir ādiḥ: He is the beginning and beginningless. His name is Govinda, and sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam, He is the cause of all causes. We can see this very clearly in Brahma-saṁhitā.
With the mood of devotion that is within us and within everybody’s heart we can worship Kṛṣṇa very easily. We have affection, love, and beauty, and through that we can worship Him. Krishna is the ocean of nectar and when we come in touch with Him we will get everything. This is Mahāprabhu’s conception and Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj and Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, both world Gurus, preached this conception in this world.
Mahāprabhu Chaitanyadev appeared in this world five hundred years ago with His paraphernalia and associates, and through Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s associates the six goswāmīs we have got that Krishna conception, and that is the supreme conception of our lives. Everywhere there is some fearful environment, but in Krishna consciousness the environment always gives us ecstasy, hope, and happiness. That is the wealth of Krishna consciousness.
kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa-bhāvitā-matiḥ
krīyatām yadi kuto ‘pi labhyate
tatra laulyam api mūlyam ekalaṁ
janma-koṭi-sukṛtair na labhyate
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Madhya-līlā, 8.70)
[“Pure devotional service in Krishna consciousness cannot be had even by pious activity in hundreds and thousands of lives. It can be attained only by paying one price — that is, intense greed to obtain it. If it is available somewhere, one must purchase it without delay.”]

The Vedic knowledge differentiates in many ways, but in Krishna consciousness everybody has the same position

Everywhere there are some rules, regulations, and restrictions, many things which discourage us. In the Vedic knowledge also we can see many things to discourage us: ladies cannot worship the deity, and there are many different types of positions for gents: brāhmaṇ [priestly class], kṣatriya [warrior class], vaiśya [agricultural/trading class], śūdra [worker class], and also brahmachārī [celibate students], vānaprastha [persons retired from worldly work], sannyasī [renunciants], gṛhastha [a person who engages in the duties of family and worldly work]. The Vedic knowledge differentiates in many ways, but in Krishna consciousness everybody has the same position: if they have attraction and hankering for Krishna consciousness then they can enter into that world. There is love, beauty, ecstasy, charm, and laulyam, hankering, is the only wealth. You can buy that only through your hankering.
This is Mahāprabhu’s conception, and we have got that through our Guru Mahārāj and Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj, and now all over the world people are chanting the Hare Krishna mahāmantra. The Hare Krishna mahāmantra is nondifferent with Krishna, and if we can chant the Hare Krishna mahāmantra, we will get everything that we need and that we want in our lives. We will get everything.
Spoken by Srila Gurudev on 16 July 1992, in Miami, USA

Appearance Day of Srila Saraswati Thakur

February 5, 2018 0jayasri0

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati started the cleansing process, like Gundicha Marjan, the cleansing of the Lord’s Temple. This was his first work in this world.

anera hṛdaya — mana, mora mana — vṛndāvana,
‘mane’ ‘vane’ eka kari’ jāni
tāhāṅ tomāra pada-dvaya, karāha yadi udaya,
tabe tomāra pūrṇa kṛpā māni
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: 2.13.137)
[Speaking in the mood of Srimati Radharani, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “For most people, the mind and heart are one, but because My mind is never separated from Vrndavan, I consider My mind and Vrndavan to be one. My mind is already Vrndavan, and since You like Vrndavan, will You please place Your lotus feet there? I would deem that Your full mercy.”]
The illusory environment is always attacking and disturbing the jiva-souls in so many ways. But Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati started the cleansing process, like Gundicha Marjan, the cleansing of the Lord’s Temple. This was his first work in this world.
The heart must be made like Vrndavan. It won’t do to keep a jungle in the heart. Many disturbing elements are in the jungle, but there is nothing like that in Vrndavan. Everything in Vrndavan is perfectly pure. So, we must worship the Supreme Lord purely. To mix with maya for our sense pleasure and invite God into our heart is gross hypocrisy. With great force, Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur and Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur did everything in their power to smash such hypocrisy.

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami once again revealed to the world that which is eternal and ever-fresh. Before his appearance, people might have been chanting the Name of God, but how did they chant it? In his time, he was the inaugurator of the genuine chanting of Hari-nam.

Their first work was to preach the Name. In Bengal, so many would chant the Name, but in a hashish-smoking party. Some would chant for hours on end. There was no dearth of such Hari-nam in Bengal, but the qualification of real purity was absent. Because of this, Mahaprabhu’s sampradaya or religious succession became completely adulterated. People uttered the name ‘Vaisnava’ with hatred. The groups known as Neda, Darabesa, Sani, Aul, Baul, Kartabhaja, and so on—they all made such a hodgepodge of Mahaprabhu’s high and confidential teachings of divine perfection that Mahaprabhu was no longer respected by the people. If anyone said, “A Vaisnava is at the door”, the head of the family would say, “Oh, give him a little rice and send him off.” Such was the conception the common people had of Vaisnavas.
But the real Vaisnava-dharma is jaiva-dharma, the nature of the soul, the divine life of the soul. Bhakti Vinod Thakur wrote his book Jaiva-dharma to bring genuine Vaisnava religion out to the world.
jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’
kṛṣṇera ‘taṭasthā-śakti’ ‘bhedābheda-prakāśa’
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: 2.20.108)
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has taught, “The real identity of the soul is as an eternal servitor of Krishna. He is Krishna’s marginal potency, simultaneously distinct yet non-distinct from Krishna.”
And it was this type of transcendental knowledge that Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami brought here. That was already present but hidden in the scriptures or holy books, and he revealed it. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami’s unique contribution was the daiva-varnasram-dharma, or Godly socio-religious society, according to the proper interpretation of the scriptures: daiva-varnasrama-dharma, Hari-bhakti yara marma, sastra-yukte karila nischaya. The so-called ‘religion’ that goes on in the material world is demonic or asura-varnasram, but the daiva-varnasram-dharma always strives to worship the Lord. There are many devotional duties, but their aim is exclusively the satisfaction of the Lord.

Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur showed us that genuine socio-religious organisation of varnasram-dharma must worship the Lord, and above varnasram-dharma is Vaisnavism or jaiva-dharma, the divine life or religion of the soul.

Sravanam kirtanam Visnoh smaranam pada-sevanam, or hearing, chanting, remembering, and so on, are all duties for no other purpose but worshipping the Lord. The execution of these functions is known, in its primary stage, as daiva-varnasram. The bodily calculation of considering a brahman’s son a brahman, or a sudra’s son a sudra, and so on, is false.
chātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ
(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 4.13)
“The four social divisions are created by Me, and divided according to man’s qualities and works.”
Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur showed us that genuine socio-religious organisation of varnasram-dharma must worship the Lord, and above varnasram-dharma is Vaisnavism or jaiva-dharma, the divine life or religion of the soul. This is the line by which Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami established real Vaisnavism in the world. A Vaisnava is never inferior to a brahman. A Vaisnava is always superior to a brahman. That is his real position. The position of a Vaisnava is never merely ‘next’ to a brahman. The Vaisnava lives in the other world—the transcendental world of service, seva-maya-bhumika, or nirguna-bhumika, the transcendental plane. And varnasram-dharma is in the saguna-bhumika, the plane of mundane qualities. But the attempt to rise above the mayik plane comes within the purview of varnasram-dharma.
varṇāśramāchāra-vatā puruṣeṇa paraḥ pumān
viṣṇur ārādhyate panthā nānyat tat-toṣa-kāraṇam
(Visnu-purana: 3.8.9)
“Almighty Visnu is worshipped by the person whose practices conform to the social and religious duties [varna-dharma, asrama-dharma]. In this world, there is no other way to propitiate Him.”
Such a teaching guides the world toward the worship of Lord Krishna. But the Vaisnavas live in the transcendental world. For example, if you take prasadam, you are not taking mere rice, vegetables, water, and so on. You are taking what was offered to Krishna. You cannot be responsible for any sin. The devotee offers everything for Krishna’s pleasure.
tvayopabhukta-srag-gandha-vāso-’laṅkāra-charchitāḥ
uchchhiṣṭa-bhojino dāsās tava māyāṁ jayema hi
(Srimad Bhagavatam: 11.6.46)
“Adorned with the garlands, scents, and clothing enjoyed by You, and partaking of Your remnants, O Lord—we, Your servitors, can conquer Your maya.”
In this way, the eternally living and ecstatic (sach-chid-ananda-maya) element that is present within is again fully manifest. Similarly, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami once again revealed to the world that which is eternal and ever-fresh. Before his appearance, people might have been chanting the Name of God, but how did they chant it? In his time, he was the inaugurator of the genuine chanting of Hari-nam.

Totalitarian war against maya. What passes in this world in the name of religion—everything is false.

pṛthivīte yata kathā dharma-nāme chale
bhāgavata kahe saga paripūrṇa chhale
Totalitarian war against maya. What passes in this world in the name of religion—everything is false. You are jiva-soul. Krishna is like the great sun, and you are like a sun-ray. The sun-ray must always be ‘attached’ to the great sun. That is his nature. Krishna is like a big exalted magnet, and you are like iron. Therefore, He is called Krishna, meaning Krish: to attract, and na: to give joy. He attracts us, and gives us ecstasy (karsan venu-svanair gopir Gopinathah sriye ’stu nah).
This is Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur’s gift. Many acharyas, such as Sankar Acharya, Buddha, Ramanuja, Nimbaditya, and Madhva Acharya, came and distributed the mercy of the Lord, but the supreme position was given by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. That was suppressed by the illusory environment, and Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami came, cleansed, and revealed that divine gem. He clarified to the world the real position of Vaisnava-dharma. Now nobody can accuse Vaisnava-dharma of being a lower-class religion or conception. It can only be admitted to be greater than the greatest.
Excerpt from Chapter Twenty-two of Affectionate Guidance, compiled from Srila Gurudev’s talks.
Note: This particular talk was originally spoken by Srila Gurudev on the appearance day of Srila Saraswati Thakur, 13 February 1990, in both Bengali and English; thus some parts of this article were translated from Bengali.
Hear the original, full lecture here.

Descent of divine love

January 29, 2018 0jayasri0

Srila Gurudev chanting Sriman Nityananda Dvadasakam in 1988. Download mp3 audio here.
Receiving inspiration from Nityananda Prabhu, Srila Guru Maharaj wrote the Nityananda-dvadasakam. And there very nicely Guru Maharaj expressed his heart’s desire and glorified Nityananda Prabhu. I can remember one sloka now,
śrī-kṛṣṇa-premanāmā parama-sukhamayaḥ ko ’pyachintyaḥ padārtho
yad gandhāt sajjanaughā nigama-bahumataṁ mokṣam apy ākṣipanti
(Verse 5)
[“He distributes the inconceivable substance made of the highest ecstasy known as Sri Krishna-prema, by finding just the fragrance of which the sadhus throw away with disdain the liberation of oneness with Brahman described by the Vedas.”]
Something has appeared in this mundane world, and that is Sri Krishna-prema. We can see a little appearance of that, and that thing is parama-sukhamaya [supremely ecstatic] and achintya padartho [inconceivable]. We cannot guess what kind of thing Krishna-prema is, but it gives us six kinds of property and wealth. That is,
kleśa-ghnī śubha-dā mokṣa-laghutā-kṛt su-durlabhā
sāndrānanda-viśeṣātmā śrī-kṛṣṇākarṣiṇī cha sā
(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu: 1.1.17)
[“Pure devotion is the destroyer of affliction, the bestower of goodness, utterly trivialises liberation, is extremely rarely obtained, is extreme ecstasy itself, and is the attractor—subjugator—of Sri Krishna Himself.”]
It can attract Krishna directly. That is Krishna-prema. Krishna may be sleeping, Krishna may be eating, Krishna may be doing many things, but anywhere that Krishna is, the devotee can attract Him with the highest devotion, which is called Krishna-prema. And that has appeared a little bit in this world and the whole world is dancing in the name of Krishna. And that parama-sukhamayah achintyah padartho was distributed by Nityananda Prabhu. That is Krishna-prema.
yad gandhāt sajjanaughā nigama-bahumataṁ mokṣam apy ākṣipanti
And getting a little essence of that scent of Krishna-prema many big, big religious stalwarts are throwing the moksa-vanchha, desire for liberation.
Sukadev Goswami himself said,
pariniṣṭhito ’pi nairguṇye uttamaḥśloka-līlayā
gṛhīta-chetā rājarṣe ākhyānaṁ yad adhītavān
(Srimad Bhagavatam: 2.1.9)
“I was the greatest saint of this world who did not care for anything of this mundane world, or even for mukti; who left dharma [mundane piety], artha [wealth], kama [sense pleasure], moksa [liberation] from his mother’s womb and who with full consciousness of Brahma was living in the supramental plane. I was that type of saint, but I was attracted by the scent of the Gopis’ Krishna-prema. And I ran to my father Vedavyasa who distributed many things in this world through his scriptures, who exposed the Vedas in this world. I learned from him this Krishna-lila, and I want to tell that in this meeting. Please give your fine attention to this discussion.”
pariniṣṭhito ’pi nairguṇye uttamaḥśloka-līlayā
“No deviation can come from nirgun-brahma [the transcendental realm beyond the modes of material nature], and I was that type of man, but I was attracted by that Bhagavat-lila, and now I want to speak about that.”
Without the mercy, without the blessings of Nityananda Prabhu we will never get that type of Krishna-prema.
Spoken by Srila Gurudev on 4 December 1989.

Near, far

January 21, 2018 0jayasri0

Within ten years Srila Swami Maharaj Prabhupad spread Krishna consciousness all over the world. Now some cover has come and it has covered many of the practitioners’ hearts. That cover is ego and attachment. Ego is the greatest cover and we cannot easily remove that cover, but it is necessary to remove it, and then we will see that Krishna is very near to me.
ahaṅkāra-nivṛttānāṁ keśavo nahi dūragaḥ
ahaṅkāra-yutānāṁ hi madhye parvata-rāśayaḥ
(Brahma-vaivarta-purāṇa: 3.9.9)
[“The Supreme Lord Keśava remains in the company of persons who are free from a mundane conception of life; but there appears to be a great mountain range between the self-asserting egotists and the Lord.”]

That is the main thing, and our practising life is following the nine kinds of bhakti, that is sravanam [hearing], kirtanam [chanting], visnoh smaranam [remembering], pada-sevanam [serving the Lord’s feet], archanam [worshipping], vandanam [praying], dasyam [servitude], sakhyam [friendship], atma-nivedanam [self-surrender].
Srila Gurudev speaking in Govardhan, March 1991

Chanting, chanting, chanting

January 13, 2018 vishakhadasi108

Indra’s illusion

There is a story about Lord Indra: once he was cursed by some rishis and he got a hog’s body. He was enjoying in this material world, and then the curse finished and Lord Brahma came and said, “Oh Indra, come back to your abode.” Because of the illusory environment Indra had forgotten everything and was thinking, “I am a hog father and I have so many of my children and grandchildren here, so why shall I go there? And who is this man with such a big beard who is telling me what to do?” And he wanted to hit Brahma. Then Brahma thought, “Oh, he is completely in illusion” so he threw all his children and grandchildren in the pond and told Indra “You also jump here and you will leave your body.” But Indra would not do that. Finally he and his wife were going to run away, but then Brahma took his wife and threw her. Then Indra thought, “Oh what happened, now I have nothing.” Then he gave some hearing to Brahma, “What you are telling, nonsense man?” Brahma said, “You are Indra, you have an abode in heaven and you are the master of heaven. You come here. Why are you suffering? Now your curse has finished. You jump in the pond and then you will see what you get.” Then Indra thought, “What shall I do with this body? My wife has gone and everything is gone, so I shall jump.” He jumped in the pond and left his body and saw his own form as Indra. Then he thought, “Oh ho I was in such a bad situation” and he paid dandavat to Brahma and said, “Prabhu, you rescued me. Please take my obeisances.” And Brahma said, “If you like you can take some of your children.” Indra said, “Don’t make me shy. I am very shy.”

“Please appear, please give your mercy”

In this way,
rasa-varjaṁ raso ’py asya, paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate
(2.59)
It is stated in Srimad Bhagavad-Gita by Krishna Himself, that when we get some real sense, when we get a connection with the transcendental world, then we will immediately feel that and we can immediately leave everything. Before that, it is necessary to do some sadhana. It will not be possible to chant the Holy Name without offence immediately. We will become habituated with chanting, chanting, chanting, chanting, and we will chant with the mood of calling, “He Hare, he Krishna, please appear, please give your mercy.” This is the calling mood, and we will not ask for anything.
nāmāparādha-yuktānāṁ nāmāny eva haranty agham
(Padma-purāṇa: Svarga-khaṇḍa, 48.49)

Whatever obstacles we have to chant will go through chanting and the Name will reveal in our heart. This is the prescription for the conditioned souls of this material world. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared for this as a yugavatar and bestowed His mercy through giving this mahamantra, and we are trying to follow in His footsteps.
This advice is for everyone, not only for this Vaisnava society. We can see some indication of chanting the Holy Name of the Lord in all religions. The Muslims are chanting their Lord’s name, “Allah, Allah, Allah” and we have seen that they also do japa. The Christians also do japa. Everywhere they are chanting the Holy Name of the Lord. They know at least the transcendental vibration form of the Holy Name and they are chanting that, and it is very properly and efficiently revealed in this Vaisnava society. Vaisnava means, Visnur devata yasya sa Vaisnava: who is feeling that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is Krishna is a Vaisnava. He is not brahman, he is not sudra, he is not Australian, he is not American, he is not Indian, but he is a servitor of the Lord. That is his identity. He will chant the Hare Krishna mahamantra and he will get back his own identity.
Srila Gurudev, speaking in Byron Bay, Australia, 24 April 1999