Shakti-Fan

This quote is accurate according to the transcript at: http://www.prabhupadavani.org/Gita/web/text/GT039.html

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now I see. T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear. And Grace, my fears relieved. How precious did that Grace appear The hour I first believed. Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come; 'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far and Grace will lead me home. The Lord has promised good to me. His word my hope secures. He will my shield and portion be, As long as life endures. Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail, And mortal life shall cease, I shall possess within the veil, A life of joy and peace. When we've been here ten thousand years Bright shining as the sun. We've no less days to sing God's praise Than when we've first begun. Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now I see. <hr>

Why Do We Not Like To Love Krsna? Mathura, India October, 1996 Srila Bhaktivedanta Trivikrama Maharaja We want to do what pleases us most. The liking for that activity is called ruci. Why do we not like to love Krsna? Why do we not like to serve Him? This is the point of our discussion today. We like that which gives us pleasure through our senses; but Krsna is such that He cannot be known by our senses. He is transcendental, and therefore He transcends our senses. Our senses cannot know Him nor can they reach Him. Through our senses, we cannot taste if He is sweet or not. Because our senses can taste worldly things we either become attracted to those things or we reject them. We never try to attain something that is not pleasing to our senses. We do not like Krsna because we cannot perceive Him with our senses. Our eyes cannot see Him, our ears cannot hear His flute-playing, our nose cannot smell His flavor, and our tongues cannot speak His name or qualities. Because it is all beyond our senses and we are not tasting His attractiveness, we have no affection for Him. If we could taste Him, we could love Him. As long as we cannot taste His sweetness, we are not attracted to Him and we cannot know if He is good or bad. With our ears we hear from others that Krsna is very attractive and sweet, and that He is the best. Such hearing is devoid of realization, so we can either choose to believe what we hear or not. Those who believe it may attain Him after striving for Him, but those who do not believe it will never attain Him at any time. Is this not the truth? Therefore, what do those people who seriously want to attain Him have to do? tasmad gurum prapadyeta jijnasuh sreya uttamam sabde pare ca nisnatam brahmany upasamasrayam “Any person who seriously desires to achieve actual happiness must seek out a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of a spiritual master is that he must have realized the conclusion of sastra by deliberation and argument and thus be able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken complete shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, are to be understood as bona fide spiritual masters.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.29.55) If we want to know the best subject, Krsna, we should surrender to a person with complete knowledge of Him who is appointed to teach that subject. That person is Gurudeva. Gurudeva can explain Krsna to us because he is very near to Him and because he is serving Him. Gurudeva is Krsna's very intimate potency. Unless and until we accept Gurudeva's shelter, we cannot know the sweetness of Krsna. This is the reason why we do not like Him, or have no ruci for Him. maya-mugdha jivera nahi svatah krsna-jnana jivere krpaya kaila krsna veda-purana “The conditioned soul cannot revive his Krsna consciousness by his own effort. But out of causeless mercy, Sri Krsna compiled the Vedic literature and its supplement, the Puranas.” (Caitanya-caritamrta, Mad. 20.122) At our stage, we are so overpowered by maya that we have no knowledge of Krsna. Who is Krsna? We cannot explain. We have no idea of who He is. The human being overpowered by maya has no knowledge of Krsna or God He cannot see Krsna. He can see an airplane and how it works, and he can describe this to others. But he cannot explain who Krsna is because he has no knowledge of Him. Why are we wise to material matters, but not transcendental matters? Krsna, prema and bhakti all are transcendental. Unless and until we take shelter of that person who is transcendental, we cannot know anything of the transcendental realm. Tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigaccet, "One must approach a bona fide guru to learn that transcendental knowledge." (Mundaka Upanisad 1.2.12) Our scriptures give this instruction. One who wants to know Krsna should go to a person who knows Him. That person is Gurudeva, the Divine Master. You may say that one who endeavors with a sincere heart will receive everything, just as Ekalavya did. Although Dronacarya did not accept Ekalavya as his student, Ekalavya had a picture of Dronacarya in front of which he endeavored to perform the art of archery. Ekalavya was so successful that he possessed sabda bhedi bana, the skill of accurately shooting an arrow simply by hearing the sound of his target. Someone may quote the example of Ekalavya to ask why we can't attain knowledge of Krsna. "If we try, surely we will get it, so what is the need of surrendering to a guru? Krsna is not purchased by just some people; He is for all. He is not partial. Why will He not bless me? I will surely get His blessings if I try to get them." This sort of questioning is present in our knowledge. But why did Ekalavya succeed in his archery and we have not in the matter of attaining God? Why? The answer is that archery is a material science. By a material process we can attain material knowledge. But spiritualism is not materialism, and Krsna cannot be attained by a material process. He is spiritual and the process to attain Him must also be spiritual, but we have no knowledge of spirit. The education we received in school or college pertained to material subjects, not spiritual ones. They impart knowledge indirectly, not directly. They say that something exists that is spiritual but what that thing is, they cannot say. The physicians or the surgeons operate on this body but do not find the spirit. Until now, no instrument has been devised that can find it, that can know that spirit. However, everyone is bound to accept that when the spirit leaves the body, the body does not function. The presence of spirit is the main cause of the body's functioning. The body is inert and material. It is always material. It is not sometimes spiritual and sometimes material. For example, I can move this stick. Has it become spirit just because it is moving? No. It is always material and inanimate. It has no sense, no feeling, no movement, etc. This body is just like that. But we think we are moving because of the presence of matter. No, the body moves because of the presence of spirit. What is that spirit? From where does it originate? Where does it reside? Our Vedas educate one in that spiritualism, sanatana-dharma. Spiritual culture is present in India but not in other parts of the world. Therefore, people come to India to learn spiritual science. The Vedas, the Upanisads, all are present here. But we are sorry to say that we are ignorant of our own sciences. This is described by one Bengali poet, Michael Madhusudana Datta, who went to England for an education, for higher knowledge, and became a Christian. At the end of his life he wrote this lamentation: he bharat bhandare tave vividaratan ta save avadani paradhame lobhe kodi bhavan paradesi dikha dikhi duhka 'nyasu. “What is not present in India? The best is here, but I am such a fool, I went to a Western country for a higher education.” So we are also foolish like that, going to England, America and Russia to get a higher education even though people from those countries admit that they are getting the best knowledge from India. We are so overwhelmed by maya, however, that we disrespect and disobey our superiors, our rsis and our scriptures, and we say that our scriptures are a myth. This true history is now called mythology. We consider it unnecessary to read our scriptures, thinking them good for nothing, and we educate our little boys accordingly. In this way they are becoming atheistic. nilakasera kauna khane, porira sab korche khela parijate phul bone mithya aulik kalpana. kam-dhenu svarna lata chalanaya bhulbo na. “In which part of the blue sky are the angels playing? In the forest of parijata flowers. This is untrue and imaginary. 'There are wish-fulfilling cows and golden vines…' I will never forget these cheating statements.” One Bengali lady poet named Man Kumari, said: "That there are angels in the blue sky is completely false. In what part of the sky are they present? It is said that they are playing there, but this is false. We have not seen them with our eyes; therefore they are not present." Her thinking is like this: "I am blind. I have no power to see, and therefore everybody is blind." She concludes that angels do not exist. She says, nilakasera kauna khane, porira sab korche khela. "In which part of the sky are they playing?" Parijata phul bone, "They are playing in the forest of parijata flowers. This is all false and imaginary; it is not true" Kam-dhenu svarna lata… "Wish-fulfilling cows and golden vines? These statements are false." Regarding the kama-dhenu, a wish-fulfilling cow, a description is given in the Mahabharata about a fight to secure that kama-dhenu from the father of Parasurama and Jamu. But Man Kumari says they are all false and that our scriptures are full of false explanations and statements. Such education is imparted to our boys, and so they have no regard for our sastras. She says, "There is no svarna lata ø the creepers are not made of gold." In Vrndavana the plants are called kalpataru. Whatever you want from them, they can give. They say this is false. The earth and the sand of Vrndavana is made of precious gems, cintamani. Whatever you pray to them for, they can bestow. The water of Vrndavana is amrta, nectar. If you drink it, you will not die, you will never again take birth from a womb. Such are the statements about Vrndavana. But because we cannot perceive these realities with our senses, we conclude they are false and can never be true. Can a seven-year-old boy lift Govardhana hill? We think it is a falsehood. Because we are overpowered by maya, we do not know who Krsna is. We think that because we cannot perceive God with our eyes and other senses He is shapeless. Such is our thinking. In the Upanisads it is stated: yato va imani bhutani jayante yena jatani jivanti yat prayanty abhisam-visanti tad brahma tad vijijnasasva “You should understand brahma to be He from whom all living beings are born, by whose help they live and progress throughout life, and in whom they again enter.” (Taittiriya Upanisad 3.1) This is a description and definition of brahma. All these creations, animals and beasts are created out of brahma. In this creation, of which He is the creator, we see that human beings and other beings have a shape. How, then, is it possible for God to have no shape? That a child, a son, has a shape proves that his father and mother have shape. Unless they have shape, the child could not have shape. Mustard oil comes by pressing mustard seeds. This proves that mustard seeds contain mustard oil. If you press rubbish no oil will come out, because the potency to produce oil is not present in that rubbish. That everything comes from brahma and that there are various shapes in this creation, proves that all shapes are present in the Creator. This is not only accepted in our sanatana-dharma, but in every dharma, as in the Christian religion. The Bible says: "God created man in His own image." What does this mean? Your form is not shapeless. In Christianity there are two schools of thought. One admits God has a shape, and the other does not. This is also stated in the Muslim religion where we see that there are also two differing views. Their scripture says, ina allaha khalaka main surat hi "Allah created human beings in His own image." Therefore, God is not shapeless. He has shape. Furthermore, He has every shape perceivable by our senses. He is omnipotent, the possessor of all power. We cannot imagine the extent of His power. We could never imagine a seven-year-old boy being able to lift Govardhana Hill. Only Krsna can do this. He also killed the demon Putana, whose breasts were smeared with poison. Krsna sucked and Putana died. But if we had sucked her breasts, we would have died. Putana had killed so many children in this way and she wanted to kill Krsna like this, also. But Krsna is not like other babies. He is the Creator, the source of all creation, but Putana could not understand this. If Krsna appears before us like an ordinary boy, we will not recognise Him as the Supreme Lord, the Almighty, because our senses cannot understand Him. How, then, can He be understood? Tad-vijnanartham sa gurum eva abhigacchet, "To learn that transcendental subject matter, one must approach a spiritual master." (Mundaka Upanisad 1.2.12) Dhruva went to the forest and cried, "O Madhusudana, come to me and fulfill my desire. I want to sit on my father's throne." To attain this, he gave up everything, even eating. With much endeavor he performed great austerities. Although Narayana was satisfied with Dhruva, He could not appear before him. He called his son Narada and said, "Narada, go and see how Dhruva is suffering." Why did Narayana Himself not go to him? Narada could have said, "You go; he is calling You", but instead he went personally to Dhruva Why was it necessary for Narada to go to Dhruva when Dhruva was actually calling for Narayana? The reason is that if Narayana had gone to Dhruva, he would not be able to understand who He was. To enable him to understand, Narada was sent there as that Divine Master, that agent of God's purpose, Gurudeva, who can bestow all knowledge about the reality of God. Unless and until we accept that agent, we cannot know and understand Sri Krsna, nor can we have ruci for Him. premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santah sadaiva hrdayesu vilokayanti yam syamasundaram acintya-guna-svarupam govindam adi-puruñam tam aham bhajämi “I perform bhajana of the primeval purusa, Sri Govinda, who is Syamasundara Krsna. His form has inconceivably unique qualities, and His suddha-bhaktas perpetually see Him in their hearts with the eye of devotion anointed with the salve of love. (Brahma-samhita 5.38) With these material eyes He is not visible. But the eyes must be smeared with that anjana, or salve. That salve is called prema. Therefore, devotional eyes are necessary. The highest stage of devotion is called prema. That sum of all knowledge is known through the subject matter of prema. Unless and until we apply that premanjana, it is not possible to know Him, to love Him or to get a sweet taste, ruci, for Him. This prema, however, is not easily attained. We have to progress through different stages. adau sraddha tatah sadhu- sango 'tha bhajana-kriya tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha rucis tatah athasaktis tato bhavas tatah premabhyudancati sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah “In the beginning one must have a preliminary desire for self-realization. This will bring one to the stage of trying to associate with persons who are spiritually elevated. In the next stage one becomes initiated by an elevated spiritual master, and under his instruction the neophyte devotee begins the process of devotional service. By executing devotional service under the guidance of the spiritual master, one becomes free from all material attachment, he attains steadiness in self-realization, and acquires a taste for hearing about the Absolute Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna. This taste leads one further forward to have attachment for Krsna consciousness, which is matured in bhava, or the preliminary stage of transcendental love for Krsna. Real love for Krsna is called prema, the highest perfectional stage of life.” (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.4.15-16) Since many stages are there, one must graduate from many classes. The first is sraddha. What is sraddha? sraddha'-sabde--visvasa kahe sudrdha niscaya krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya “Sraddha is confident, firm faith that by rendering transcendental loving service to Krsna, one automatically performs all subsidiary activities. Such faith is favorable to the discharge of devotional service.” (Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 22.62) If one serves Krsna, all will be served. But we do not even believe in the very first stage. We think, "What is the value of serving Krsna in the temple when there are human beings suffering due to lack of food and clothing? What is the need of pouring milk on Govardhana Hill? Daily so much milk goes down the drain; there is such a waste of food. What is the necessity of pouring ghee on the fire? Why waste so many flowers? All these things are useless. If we offered them to the poor, it would be more practical." This is the thinking of people who have no faith, no sraddha. But such thinking has no value. Krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya, "by serving Krsna, everyone is served." Tasmin tuste jagat tustah, "When one pleases Him, everyone is pleased." But nowadays one prefers to give pleasure to the poor instead of giving pleasure to God. Their thinking is opposite to this conclusion of sastra, as is the doctrine they preach. These ideas also prevail in the political sphere. People are thinking, "It is not necessary to worship God and there is no need of our religion. There is no God." It is a godless society. If we ask them where this phenomenal world comes from, they answer, "From nature". But when we ask, "Where, then, does nature come from?" there is silence. However, Krsna has said: mama yonir mahad-brahma tasmin garbham dadamy aham. "My prakrti, or material nature, is the womb which I impregnate with the jivas." (Bhagavad-gita 14.3) bhumir apo 'nalo vayuh kham mano buddhir eva ca ahankara itiyam me bhinna prakrtir astadha “My material external energy has eight divisions: earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego.” (Bhagavad-gita 7.4) apareyam itas tv anyam prakrtim viddhi me param jiva-bhutam maha-baho yayedam dharyate jagat “O Maha-baho, you should know that my external energy, which consists of eight divisions, is inferior. There is another potency of mine known as the jiva-svarupa, which is superior and which accepts this material world for the purpose of enjoying the fruits of karma.” (Bhagavad-gita 7.5) Krsna says, "Everything has been created by Me." pitaham asya jagato mata dhata pitamahah vedyam pavitram omkara rk sama yajur eva ca “I am the mother, the father, the maintainer and the grandsire of the universe. I am the object of knowledge and the purifier. I am the syllable om. I am also the Rg, Sama and Yajur Vedas.” (Bhagavad-gita 9.17) sarva-yonisu kaunteya murtayah sambhavanti yah tasam brahma mahad yonir aham bija-pradah pita “O Kaunteya, the mahad brahma, great material nature, is the mother from whose womb all species of life are born, and I am the seed-giving father.” (Bhagavad-gita 14.4) Everything is created by Him. Pita ø He is the father of all beings. By serving Him, everything connected with Him is satisfied. Everything has a connection with Him. He is the shelter of all. Nothing can rest without His shelter. Tasmin tuste jagat tustah, "When one pleases Him, everyone is pleased." yatha taror mula-nisecanena trpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopasakhah pranopaharac ca yathendriyanam tathaiva sarvarhanam acyutejya “By giving water to the root of a tree one satisfies its branches, twigs and leaves, and by supplying food to the stomach one satisfies all the senses of the body. Similarly, by engaging in the transcendental service of the Supreme Lord one automatically satisfies all the demigods and all other living entities.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.31.14) By watering the root of a tree, every part of the tree will be served. The root will distribute water to every part of the tree, according to its necessity. Our senses are functioning: our eyes are seeing, our ears are hearing, our hands are working, etc. What should we do to nourish them? Should we feed them separately by giving some butter and bread to the eyes and ears? No. That is not the proper process. Through the mouth we supply the stomach with food and the stomach distributes it throughout the body as necessary. Tathaiva sarvarhanam acyutejya, "In the same way, only by worshipping Sri Bhagavan is everyone worshipped." I will serve Acyuta, who is the root. By serving the root everyone is served. This is stated in the Vedas and Puranas. We endeavour to serve everyone with our hearts and souls, but the result is opposite to what we expect. The more we try, the more opposite is the result. We think that by such service we will become increasingly happy, but instead we become more unhappy. Why? Because the process is wrong. In ancient days everyone worshipped God. Everyone tried to satisfy Him by their actions. But nowadays everyone thinks: "It is unnecessary to serve God. Instead serving of God, we should worship and satisfy the depressed and the poor." We are now pursuing such thought, but Krsna says: "If you love Me, everyone will be served." This is the teaching of sastra. avajananti mam mudha manusim tanum aSritam param bhavam ajananto mama bhuta-mahesvaram “When I appear in My human-like form, foolish people with mundane intelligence disrespect me, because they cannot comprehend My nature as the Supreme Lord of all beings.” (Bhagavad-gita 9.11) This is the statement of Krsna. Avajananti mudha. "Those who are overwhelmed by maya have no proper knowledge. They regard Me as a mere man.Krsna is a cowherd boy," they think. They do not know who He is. Sri Krsna says, "What of them, even Brahma could not understand Me. In My lila in Vraja, Brahma saw Me with the cowboys and thought,'This is My creation. I created Nanda Maharaja, and Krsna is his son.'" Later, Krsna revealed Himself to Brahma, and upon receiving such mercy Brahma prayed: sri-brahmovaca naumidya te 'bhra-vapuse tadid-ambaraya gunjavatamsa-paripiccha-lasan-mukhaya vanya-sraje kavala-vetra-visana-venu- laksma-sriye mrdu-pade pasupangajaya “Lord Brahma said: "My dear Lord, You are the only worshipable Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore I offer my humble obeisances and prayers just to please You. O son of the king of the cowherds, Your transcendental body is dark blue like a new cloud, Your garment is brilliant like lightning, and the beauty of Your face is enhanced by Your gunja earrings and the peacock feather on Your head. Wearing garlands of various forest flowers and leaves and equipped with a herding stick, a buffalo horn and a flute, You stand beautifully with a morsel of food in Your hand." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.14.1) "O Lord You are worshipped by everybody. You are my worshipable object. I am not worshiped by You." Uncountable times Brahmaji became perplexed before Krsna. This place where Brahmaji became bewildered is still present in Vrndavana and we shall go there. This pastime is not a myth, although our schools and colleges teach that it is. It is in fact the truth This sort of education destroys our faith and should be revised and replaced with the traditional method of the olden days. We should not give up the education of our ancient Vedas and Puranas. Now we receive education according to Western teachings: "Eat, drink and be merry". We think that if we dress in a coat and in trousers and speak English, we will be a high-class man. New ideas are introduced: "Why should we control marriages? Marriage should be performed anywhere and with anyone we like." Everything has been destroyed and European and Western styles have been introduced. And we say: "See, we are like you, we are following you. We have become so free, we have become your slaves." This tendency not to submit to and learn our Vedic knowledge and culture, is the main reason why we do not have sraddha and thus why we do not in turn develop a liking for Krsna. This should be considered. Hare Krsna.

O yee of little faith!!!!!!!!!!!

Srila Prabhupada is using the term, "the kingdom of God". One can easily assume that he is indirectly referring to the entire parvyoma or spiritual sky. The Vaikuntha planets are within the brahmajyoti so the brahmajyoti is also part of the spiritual sky. Your point is only by inference, alone. There is no statement here literally stating that the conditioned souls come from Goloka. To insist on such a conclusion while ignoring opposing quotes by Srila Prabhupada and then telling that there are no contradictions is not a way to convince anyone of your position.

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 22.12-13 Srila Narayana Maharaja: <!-- BEGIN TEMPLATE: bbcode_quote --> Quote: <table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr> <td style="border: 1px solid rgb(102, 102, 102); padding-left: 3ex; padding-right: 3ex;" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"> It is told like this in the scriptures, but actually there is no birth of the jivas. They are all eternal, like Baladeva Prabhu Himself. This is only said to convince ordinary jivas, conditioned souls. There are so many things that sastra has told us, whereas in reality, in Goloka Vrndavana dhama, these things will be seen in another way.</td></tr></tbody></table> From Srila Prabhupada's translation - [The conditioned souls] "are perpetually conditioned in this material world". This is the general viewpoint given by Srila Prabhupada. Srila Narayana Maharaja says, "whereas in reality, in Goloka Vrndavana dhama, these things will be seen in another way." So Srila Prabhupada being a resident of Goloka in the true awakened way could say from his viewpoint, But at least 95% of the time especially in his books he gives the explantion of our condition as he does in Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 22.12-13. Further more he never really says "in very simple English that we all originate from Goloka." No one has ever quoted that on these forums!...therefore it is a cheating mentality to repeat that. One cannot make a political campaign out of rheotoric to convince others of the Goloka viewpoint. Srila Prabhupada never did that nor does Srila Narayana Maharaja, nor did any acarya in previous times. Such a strategy is a dangerous deviation and based on many layers of ignorance. It is something that none of us will fully understand until we are fully realised souls, so get on with it.

Tridandisvami Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja Be Very Careful About This (Continued) Germany: July 8 2007 Aspiring devotees should know all these truths; otherwise they will perform bhakti which is actually not bhakti. Those who don’t want to follow these principles are stupid and nonsense. Srila Bhaktivedanta Svami Maharaja used these words; I am simply repeating his words. So be very careful. yasya deve para bhaktir yatha deve tatha gurau. tasyaite kathita hy arthah prakasante mahatmanah [“Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed.” (Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.23)] You wish to do bhakti to Krsna, but you must do bhakti to your Gurudeva first. You should think that Srila Gurudeva is a manifestation of Krsna Himself. Krsna is visaya-bhagavan (the supreme object and enjoyer of service) and Srila Gurudeva is asraya-bhagavan (the reservoir and provider of service to God). saksad dharitvena samasta-sastrair uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhih kintu prabhor yah priya eva tasya vande guroh sri-caranaravindam [“The spiritual master acting on the Supreme Lord’s behalf must be worshiped as being as good as the Supreme Lord, for he is the Lord’s most confidential servant in broadcasting the Lord’s message for the benefit of the conditioned souls involved in the material world.” (Sri Gurvastakam 7)] It is therefore stated: yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado yasyaprasadan na gatih kuto ’pi dhyayan stuvams tasya yasas tri-sandhyam vande guroh sri-caranaravindam [“By the mercy of the spiritual master one receives the benediction of Krsna. Without the grace of the spiritual master, one cannot make any advancement. Therefore, I should always remember and praise the spiritual master. At least three times a day I should offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual master.” (Sri Gurvastakam 8)] These bogus persons do not want to serve Srila Gurudeva. How will these foolish persons attain raganuga-bhakti? Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu followed all the limbs of vaidhi-bhakti that are written about in Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu. He told Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami: sthira haiya ghare yao, na hao vatula krame krame paya loka bhava-sindhu-kula [“Be patient and return home. Don't be a crazy fellow. By and by you will be able to cross the ocean of material existence.” (Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 16.237)] antare nistha kara, bahye loka-vyavahara acirat krsna tomaya karibe uddhara [“Within your heart, you should keep yourself very faithful, but externally you may behave like an ordinary man. Thus Krsna will soon be very pleased and deliver you from the clutches of maya.” (Caitanya-caritamrta. Madhya 16.239)] Srila Rupa Gosvami is Sri Rupa Manjari (in his form as a gopi), but outwardly he was following all the limbs of vaidhi-bhakti. If, by the mercy of one’s qualified Guru, one has actual greed in his heart – if he is internally serving Krsna on the path of raganuga in his siddha-deha (his original, self-realized position) - he must be at the stage of rati. Real greed will manifest at that stage. Before this, a person has no real greed. In the name of greed, males will be attracted to ladies and the ladies will be attracted to men. This is very dangerous, for they will go to hell. They will not go to the transcendental world to be manjaris. You may have heard the verse: bhayam dvitiyabhinivesatah syad isad apetasya viparyayo ’smrtih tan-mayayato budha abhajet tam bhaktyaikayesam guru-devatatma [“Fear arises when a living entity misidentifies himself as the material body because of absorption in the external, illusory energy of the Lord. When the living entity thus turns away from the Supreme Lord, he also forgets his own constitutional position as a servant of the Lord. This bewildering, fearful condition is affected by the potency of illusion, called maya. Therefore, an intelligent person should engage unflinchingly in the unalloyed devotional service of the Lord, under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, whom he should accept as his worshipable deity and as his very life and soul.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.2.37)] Sri Kavi – one of the nine Yogendras in conversation with Nimi Maharaja – is uttering the word ‘guru-devatatma’. We have come to this world because we have forgotten Krsna, and therefore we are always suffering. If one wants to cross over all the miseries of material existence, he must first serve Srila Gurudeva, who is served through his teachings. First serve Guru and then Krsna. This principle is also true regarding the performance of arcana, Deity worship – one first worships Guru, and then Krsna. Without serving Guru, we cannot enter into the realm of bhakti. Do not be desperate (impatient to jump ahead) like the persons who say that they have seen Srimati Radhika. These are bogus persons. If one actually sees the transcendental form of Krsna, he will leave his body at once and go to Vrndavana, Vraja-mandala, in his transcendental siddha-deha (spiritually perfected) body, and he will serve Krsna there. Always be careful in this regard. The people who deny the importance of observing vaidhi-bhakti do not want to follow. You must first follow vaidhi-bhakti. If you read Sri Caitanya-caritamrta under the guidance of a rasika vaisnava, your vaidhi-bhakti will automatically turn into raganuga-bhakti. This is the process. Gaura-premanande! [*ENDNOTE 1: Raganuga-bhakti: Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 22.149: “The original inhabitants of Vrndavana are attached to Krsna spontaneously in devotional service. Nothing can compare to such spontaneous devotional service, which is called ragatmika bhakti. When a devotee follows in the footsteps of the devotees of Vrndavana, his devotional service is called raganuga bhakti.” Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 22.152: “Thus devotional service which consists of raga is called ragatmika, spontaneous loving service. If a devotee covets such a position, he is considered to be most fortunate.” Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 22.153: “If one follows in the footsteps of the inhabitants of Vrndavana out of such transcendental covetousness, he does not care for the injunctions or reasonings of sastra. That is the way of spontaneous love.” “Raga is the unquenchable loving thirst (prema-mayi trsna) for the object of one’s affection, which gives rise to spontaneous and intense absorption (svarasiki paramavistata) in that object. Ragamayi bhakti is the performance of seva, such as stringing garlands, with such intense raga.” (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.272) “Raga is the absolute (parama) and undivided (svarasiki) absorption (avistata) in one’s own particular object of worship. When devotion to Krsna comes to the stage of ragamayi, it is called ragatmika-bhakti. In summary, it can be said that intense hankering for Krsna that is saturated with prema (prema-mayi) is called ragatmika-bhakti. It is auspicious that a person in whose heart such raga has not arisen should strive to cultivate such bhakti by behaving according to vidhi (the rules and regulations of sastra). The principles at work in vaidhi-bhakti are fear, respect and reverence, whereas the only principle at work in ragatmika-bhakti is lobha, or greed, in relation to Sri Krsna’s lila.)” In his Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture in Vrndavana on November 12, 1972, Srila Prabhupada said: “So you have to uncover. You have to discover. That discovering process is devotional service. The more you are engaged in devotional service, the more your senses become pure or uncovered. And when they are completely uncovered, without any designation, then you are capable to serve Krsna. “This is apprenticeship. Vaidhi-bhakti, that is apprenticeship. Real bhakti, para-bhakti, that is raganuga-bhakti. This raganuga-bhakti, we have to come to it after surpassing the vaidhi-bhakti. In the material world, if we do not try to make further and further progress in devotional service, if we are simply sticking to the sastric regulation process and do not try to go beyond that… sastric process is regulation. That is required. Without sastric process you cannot go to that platform. But if we stick to the sastric process only and do not try to improve ourselves … The sastric process is kanistha-adhikari, lowest stage of devotinal service.”] [*ENDNOTE 2: Rasika means ‘one who is expert in relishing rasa.’ Who is really rasika? An excerpt from ‘Gaudiya Vaisnavism versus Sahajiyaism, Part 1: “In his book Jaiva-dharma, for advanced devotees, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has described all the principles and practices of bhakti, up to the attainment of one’s siddha-deha. There he explained eleven items of perfection (siddha-deha): siddha-sambandha, siddha-vayasa, siddha-nama, siddha-rupa, siddha-yutha, siddha-vesa, siddha-vasa, seva, parakasthasvasa and palya-dasi-bhava. He discusses this, however, in the next to the last chapter - not in the beginning. “One of the principle personalities in Jaiva-dharma is Sri Raghunatha dasa Babaji, the spiritual master of Vijaya-kumara. Sri Babaji taught these principles to Vijaya-kumara when his disciple was advanced in Krsna-consciousness and free from all anarthas and material desires. Vijaya-kumara had been chanting and remembering Krsna twenty-four hours a day on the shore of the ocean of Jagannatha Puri. In fact the ocean reminded him of Krsna, the ocean of rasa. Vijaya-kumara had understood and realized the meaning of bhava, anubhava, sattvika and vyabhicari. He also realized in what proportion they should be mixed with one’s sthayi-bhava (eternal mood of service to Krsna) to become bhakti-rasa. He had become truly humble - trnad api sunicena, taror api sahisnuna, amanina manadena, and he was on the stage of bhavavasta (bhava-bhakti). “Menaka and other Apsaras, celestial goddesses, who are more beautiful than any eartly woman, cannot disturb the Krsna consciousness of a person like Srila Haridasa Thakura. Yet, even Srila Haridasa Thakura himself was not engaged in the advanced practices of devotees in the Gosvami line like Vijay-kumara. We have never seen or heard in any scripture that he was engaged like this. Only devotees like Srila Rupa, Srila Sanatana and Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvamis were following all of these principles. It is by following them that our entire line of disciplic succession has continued in the same way down to the present day. “A devotee must become mature in bhakti before he can fully comprehend our disciplic acaryas. He must come to the stage of sraddha, then sadhu-sanga, bhajana-kriya, anartha nivrtti, nistha, ruci, and asakti. At the stage of bhava when there is no scent of desire for sense gratification, when he is quite free from all material thoughts and habits, his siddha-deha will automatically manifest.” [*ENDNOTE 3: What is real siddha-deha? An excerpt from ‘Gaudiya Vaisnavism versus Sahajiyaism, Part 1: The Eight Stages of Devotional Service “When will siddha-deha come? Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has explained this in his book Bhajana-rahasya. There he discusses Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s Siksastakam which expresses the eight stages of maturity in devotional service. He writes that first one will have to do bhajana of: ceto-darpana-marjanam: ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam sreyah-kairava-candrika-vitaranam vidya-vadhu-jivanam anandambudhi-vardhanam prati-padam purnamrtasvadanam sarvatma-snapanam param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam [“Let there be supreme victory for the chanting of the holy name of Sri Krsna alone, which cleanses the mirror of the heart and completely extinguishes the blazing forest fire of material existence. Sri-krsna-sankirtana diffuses the soothing moon rays of bhava which causes the white lotus of good fortune for the jivas to bloom. The holy name is the life and soul of transcendental knowledge, which is here compared to a wife. It continuously expands the ocean of transcendental bliss, enabling one to taste complete nectar at every step. The holy name of Sri Krsna thoroughly cleanses and cools the self, one’s nature and determination, as well as the body, both internal and external.” (Sri Siksastakam) “This sloka of Sri Siksastakam is actually fully realized after the stage of asakti. “The next sloka is namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-saktis: namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-saktis tatrarpita niyamitah smarane na kalah etadrsi tava krpa bhagavan mamapi durdaivam idrsam ihajani nanuragah [“O Bhagavan! Your holy name bestows all auspiciousness upon the living entities. Therefore, for the benefit of the jivas, You eternally manifest Your innumerable names, such as Rama, Narayana, Krsna, Mukunda, Madhava, Govinda, Damodara, and so on. You have invested those names with all the potencies of Your respective personal forms. Out of causeless mercy, You have not even imposed any restrictions on the chanting and remembrance of such names as is the case with sandhya-vandana, which must be chanted only at specified times of the day. In other words, at any time of the day or night, the holy name can be chanted and remembered.This is the provision You have made. O Lord! This is Your causeless mercy upon the living entities. Nonetheless, I am so unfortunate due to committing offenses that I have not awoken any attachment for Your holy name, which is so easily accessible and bestows all good fortune.” (Sri Siksastaka, 2)] “This sloka represents the stages of sadhu-sanga and anartha-nivrtti - that is, removal of anarthas by association with devotees. At present our chanting of Krsna’s name is not pure. It may sometimes be namabhasa or namaparadha. Pure nama will appear on our tongue when we become pure ourselves. At that time the quality of trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna will manifest automatically: trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih [“Thinking oneself to be even lower and more worthless than insignificant grass which has been trampled beneath everyone’s feet, being more tolerant than a tree, being prideless, and offering respect to all others according to their respective positions, one should continuously chant the holy name of Sri Hari.” (Sri Siksastaka, 3)] “This sloka represents nistha, firm faith, when one’s chanting will not be just for ‘show’. The next stage is to realize na dhanam na janam na sundarim: na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagad-isa kamaye mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi [“O Jagadisa! I do not desire wealth, followers such as wife, sons, friends and relatives, or mundane knowledge expressed in poetic language. My only desire, O Pranesvara, is that birth after birth I may have ahaituki-bhakti unto Your lotus feet.” (Sri Siksastaka, 4)] “This sloka represents ruci, a taste for bhajana. “When we properly practice in good association, everything will develop automatically. We will then realize the fifth sloka: ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram patitam mam visame bhavambudhau krpaya tava pada-pankaja- sthita-dhuli-sadrsam vicintaya [“O Nanda-nandana! Please be merciful upon me, your eternal servant, fallen in the dreadful ocean of material existence as a result of my fruitive actions. Please consider me as a particle of dust affixed to Your lotus feet and accept me forever as your purchased servant.” (Sri Siksastaka, 5)] “It is at this stage that one’s siddha-deha begins to manifest. This sloka represents asakti, or attachment to Krsna. “After the stage of asakti, when tears flow continuously, one feels purva-raga, the intense mood of separation experienced before meeting Krsna. As the devotee chants, he will think, “O Krsna, I cannot live without You, O Srimati Radhika, I cannot live without You. When will You give me your darsana?” When he is weeping twenty-four hours daily, rolling on the earth, then nayanam galad-asru-dharaya: nayanam galad-asru-dharaya vadanam gadgada-ruddhaya gira pulakair nicitam vapuh kada, tava nama-grahane bhavisyati [“O Prabhu! When will my eyes be filled with a stream of tears? When will my voice choke up? And when will the hairs of my body stand erect in ecstacy as I chant Your holy name.” (Sri Siksastaka, 6)] “This sloka represents the stage of bhava - at which time the siddha-deha manifests automatically. From where does the siddha-deha come? It is in our svarupa, our original spiritual form. Our siddha-deha does not come from anywhere outside ourselves. In our svarupa everything is perfect. To realize this, we simply require a connection with svarupa-sakti. When that connection is made, siddha-deha automatically manifests and all spiritual sentiments of love appear in our heart.” [*ENDNOTE 4 – excerpt form Jaiva-dharma, chapter 21: “When materialistic people are in contact with the objects of the senses, they naturally become deeply attached to an endless variety of material sense enjoyment. This intense attachment in the heart is called visaya-raga. When they glance upon some beautiful object, the eyes become restless, and in the heart, there is an attraction (ranjakata) towards the object of beauty and attachment (raga) to it. Raga-bhakti is the state in which Krsna becomes the sole object of raga. Srila Rupa Gosvami has defined the word raga in the following way: iste svarasiki ragah paramavistata bhavet tan-mayi ya bhaved bhaktih satra ragatmikodita [“Raga is the unquenchable loving thirst (prema-mayi trsna) for the object of one’s affection, which gives rise to spontaneous and intense absorption (svarasiki paramavistata) in that object. Ragamayi bhakti is the performance of seva, such as stringing garlands, with such intense raga.” (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.272)] “Raga is the absolute (parama) and undivided (svarasiki) absorption (avistata) in one’s own particular object of worship. When devotion to Krsna comes to the stage of ragamayi, it is called ragatmika-bhakti. In summary, it can be said that intense hankering for Krsna that is saturated with prema (prema-mayi) is called ragatmika-bhakti. It is auspicious that a person in whose heart such raga has not arisen should strive to cultivate such bhakti by behaving according to vidhi (the rules and regulations of sastra). The principles at work in vaidhi-bhakti are fear, respect and reverence, whereas the only principle at work in ragatmika-bhakti is lobha, or greed, in relation to Sri Krsna’s lila.

Tridandisvami Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja Be Very Careful About This Germany: July 8 2007 Sadhana bhakti, the practice of devotion to Sri Krsna, is of two kinds – vaidhi-bhakti and raganuga-bhakti *[see Endnote 1]. What is vaidhi-bhakti? yatra ragan avaptatvat pravrttir upajayate sasanenaiva sastrasya sa vaidha bhaktir ucyate [“When there is no attachment or no spontaneous loving service to the Lord, and one is engaged in the service of the Lord simply out of obedience to the order of the spiritual master or in pursuance of the scriptures, such obligatory service is called vaidhi-bhakti.” (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.6)] Nowadays, especially in European countries and in Russia, devotees think they are very ‘rasika’. *[see Endnote 2]. They want rasa (the taste of spiritual mellows). They want to go up to the top of the tree of prema at once. They only want madanakhya-bhava (the highest ecstatic devotional love, situated only in Srimati Radhika). They do not want to follow vaidhi-bhakti. They don’t like vaidhi-bhakti. This idea is very dangerous, so be very careful about this. Those who have these ideas are nonsense sahajiya-vaisnavas. We see some sahajiyas at Radha-kunda and in Vrndavana. They give what they call ‘siddha-deha’ to anyone – even to those who don’t know how to clean their hands after passing stool. Such sahajiyas have no knowledge at all; they are very foolish. They give their disciples the so called siddha-deha and tell them, “Now you are a manjari (maidservant) of Vrndavana. You are serving Radha and Krsna there.” Unqualified persons, those who accept this idea, have very beautiful young widowed ladies with them. They begin to artificially taste ‘parakiya-bhava’ with those ladies, (real parakiya-bhava is the paramour love between Sri Krsna and the gopis) and then they beget many children. Do you understand the meaning? This is very dangerous. I have warned all my disciples – brahmacaris, sannyasis and all others – to be very careful of this. Sri Krsna has explained to us about the natural tendency of this world, in all living beings, even in snakes, donkeys and monkeys. He has especially explained to Uddhava (in Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 11) that the donkey is kicked by the hind legs of the she-donkey as he follows that she-donkey for sex-life. The stool-eating pig is another example of uncontrolled sex indulgence, as is the she-goat and he-goat. Even when the male-goat is on his way to a slaughterhouse to be killed, if he sees any she-goat, he becomes shameless and wants to have sex with her. This is very amazing – he is having sex at the time of death. We should be very careful of this – ladies should be careful regarding males, and males should be careful regarding ladies. Be careful of this. When one has no raga (attachment to Krsna and absorption in His service), one may read from the scriptures that he should engage in bhakti to Krsna, and if he does not do this, he must go to hell. If one thus engages his mind in bhakti by this fear, his activity is called vaidhi-bhakti. What is raga? What is the meaning of raga? Raga refers to the love for Krsna that is present in the residents of Goloka Vrndavana – in Subala and Sridama, in Nanda Baba and Yasoda Maiya, and especially in Lalita, Visakha and Srimati Radhika. Raga means ‘spontaneous attachment to Sri Krsna’. It is the love by which the Vrajavasis serve Krsna and control Him. This is raga, and the person who has this raga is called ragatmika. One may develop greed to follow these ragatmika associates of Sri Krsna by hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam from a bona fide Guru or Vaisnava, and then desiring to serve Krsna like Subala, Sridama, and Madhumangala, or like Mother Yasoda. nandah kim akarod brahman sreya evam mahodayam yasoda va maha-bhaga papau yasyah stanam harih [“O brahmana, what pious activities did Nanda Maharaja perform by which he received the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna as his son, and what pious activities did mother Yasoda perform that made the Absolute Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna call her "mother" and suck her breasts?” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.8.46)] What pious activities has Nanda Baba performed? How fortunate is Mother Yasoda! Krsna who is the Supreme Lord, drank milk from the breast of Mother Yasoda. Someone may want to serve Krsna like her, and more than that: like the gopis. Krsna told the gopis: na paraye ’ham niravadya-samyujam sva-sadhu-krtyam vibudhayusapi vah ya mabhajan durjara-geha-srnkhalam samvrscya tad vah pratiyatu sadhuna [“I am not able to repay My debt for your spotless service, even within a lifetime of Brahma. Your connection with Me is beyond reproach. You have worshiped Me, cutting off all domestic ties, which are difficult to break. Therefore please let your own glorious deeds be your compensation.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 10.32.22)] Krsna considered, “I cannot repay the gopis, because they have left everything for Me. They have left their husbands and children, their wealth, and their interest in their body and their ornaments. They have left everything for Me.” He told them, “I cannot leave anyone in the way you have left everyone for Me. I cannot repay you. You can only be paid by your own good qualities.” Hearing this, the gopis replied, “O Krsna, You have accepted that You are indebted to us gopis. By telling us this, You have won and we are defeated.” (The gopis were trying to make Sri Krsna admit that He had done wrong by disappearing. Whereas Sri Krsna had deliberately introduced this ‘defect’ into his behavior just so that he would have to submit Himself before the gopis and apologize. However, the gopis realized that of the two moods, theirs to find Him guilty, and His to defer before the greatness of their love, Sri Krsna’s mood was sweeter and more loving. So the gopis were themselves defeated by Sri Krsna’s accepting defeat. This is the astonishing way of rasika-sekhara Sri Krsna. –ed) The following verse reveals an even higher mood of devotion to Krsna: anayaradhito nunam bhagavan harir isvarah yan no vihaya govindah prito yam anayad rahah [“Certainly this particular gopi has perfectly worshiped the all-powerful Personality of Godhead.(Isvara). Therefore, Govinda was so pleased with Her that He abandoned the rest of us and brought Her to a secluded place.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 10.30.28)] Srimati Radhika is the supreme beloved of Sri Krsna, as exemplified by the fact that He left all the gopis during the Rasa-dance and went away with Her. Surely She has pleased the Supreme Lord, by whose mercy Krsna is very happy with Her. If anyone claims to have greed for service to Srimati Radhika or service like the other Vrajavasis, there should be some symptoms visible If one actually sees or meets Srimati Radhika, he cannot remain in this world. Narada [at the stage of bhava-bhakti] saw only a glimpse of his Lord Narayana, and then the Lord disappeared and told him, “I never give my audience to those who are not pure.” So how is it possible that a conditioned soul will see Radhika?” We should know all these truths. sastroktaya prabalaya tat-tan-maryadayanvita vaidhi bhaktiriyam kaiscin maryada-marga ucyate [“Devotional service governed by the rules and regulations of the scriptures is also called maryada-marga, or the reverential path of devotion, the path of serving the Lord in opulence, by different scholars (such as Vallabhacarya).” (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, Purva-vibhaga 2.269)] Srila Vallabhacarya has explained about devotional etiquette and regulations (maryada). Srimad-Bhagavatam gives us this instruction: sravanam (hearing), kirtanam (chanting), smaranam (remembering), pada-sevanam (serving the lotus feet), arcanam (worshipping), vandanam (praying), dasyam (becoming a servant), sakhyam (becoming a friend), atma-nivedanam (surrendering everything), constitute the nine limbs of vaidhi-bhakti. There are also five limbs of bhakti that are most important: sadhu-sanga (association with devotees), bhagavata-sravana (hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam), mathura-vasa (living in Mathura), nama-kirtana (chanting the holy name) and sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana (worshipping the deity with faith and veneration). If we follow these without offense, we will attain prema-bhakti (pure transcendental love of Sri Krsna) very soon. Bhava-bhakti is very high, as we can see by its symptoms: ksantir avyartha-kalatvam viraktir mana-sunyata asa-bandhah samutkantha nama-gane sada rucih asaktis tad-gunakhyane pritis tad-vasati-sthale ity adayo 'nubhavah syur jata-bhavankure jane [“When the seed of ecstatic emotion for Krsna fructifies, the following nine symptoms manifest in one's behavior: forgiveness, concern that time should not be wasted, detachment, absence of false prestige, hope, eagerness, a taste for chanting the holy name of the Lord, attachment to descriptions of the transcendental qualities of the Lord, and affection for those places where the Lord resides-that is, a temple or a holy place like Vrndavana. These are all called anubhava, subordinate signs of ecstatic emotion. They are visible in a person in whose heart the seed of love of God has begun to fructify.” (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.3.25-26)] Simply telling others, “I have greed,” will not do. If one says, “I don’t want to do any vaidhi-bhakti. There is no need to follow vaidhi-bhakti,” this is against sastra. sruti-smrti-puranadi-pancaratra-vidhim vina aikantiki harer bhaktir utpatayaiva kalpate [“Devotional service of the Lord that ignores the authorized Vedic literatures like the Upanisads, Puranas, Narada-pancaratra, etc., is simply an unnecessary disturbance in society.” (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.101)] Those who don’t follow the rules and regulations of bhakti are completely independent and whimsical. They don’t want to follow. They don’t want to accept any inconveniences or suffering in the execution of vaidhi-bhakti. They want to jump at once to the top of the tree of bhakti. They want only Radha-dasyam and manjari-bhava (direct, personal service to Srimati Radhika in the secluded grove). Srila Rupa Gosvami has stated (from the srutis and smrti-sastras) that there are 64 limbs of bhakti, and the first ten limbs are especially important. First comes Gurupadasraya. One must first accept harinama-initiation, and then diksa-mantra initiation. One must learn how to do bhakti, and learn what is bhakti, what is not bhakti, what is sakama-bhakti (the performance of bhakti for the purpose of satisfying material desires), niskama-bhakti (the performance of bhakti without desires for material results), nirguna-bhakti (devotion that is unaffected by the qualities of material nature), uttama-bhakti (pure devotional service), aropa-siddha bhakti (activities which are not pure bhakti, but are designated as bhakti due to their being offered to the Supreme Lord), sanga-siddha bhakti (endeavors that are associated with, or favorable to the development of bhakti but are not of themselves purely composed of bhakti), svarupa-siddha bhakti (endeavors that are purely constituted of devotional service)

It's not really written in a 1970 BBT printing. It's the 1972 Macmillan edition and the above translation is actually from that edition. <center>

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<center> For Proper Understanding of Srila Prabhupada's Books </center><center> by Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja </center> [The Hague, Holland: July 12, 2005] Some people have doubts. They think that Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja has said that women and black people are very low. The fact is that he has not said it, and it is actually a wrong idea – a very wrong idea. You should know you are neither male nor female. The soul is transcendental – a servant of Lord Sri Krsna, but we have now accepted a female or male form. ^{*[see Endnote 1]} It is not that the intelligence is low in ladies and high in men. It is also not true that black people are necessarily sudras. Who are sudras? Those who eat cow-flesh and drink alcohol, and those who cheat others. Sudras are those engaged in diplomacy, hypocrisy and envy – whether they are black or white. I will speak something more on this topic, with reference to Srimad-Bhagavatam. You should know that we are all spirit souls. The soul is not white or black. All souls are very beautiful. Regarding the transcendental form of the soul, there is no question of who is less intelligent or more intelligent. If ladies are so low-class and so low in intelligence, how could the gopis have defeated even Lord Sri Krsna? ^{*[see Endnote 2]} Why does our guru-parampara, beginning from Brahma and Narada, worship the gopis? Why did Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu – Sri Krsna Himself – adopt Srimati Radha's mood? Srimati Radhika always defeats Krsna in beauty, in intelligence, and in all other ways. If ladies are less, why do we Gaudiya Vaisnavas want to be gopis? Who in our Gaudiya parampara does not want to be a gopi? We want to serve Lord Krsna and Srimati Radhika in a female form, not a male form. So how is it possible that this female form is lower? Don’t think like this. It has been sometimes stated in the scriptures that there are some specialities in ladies; ladies can have children. Men cannot do this, not even if they were to have an operation. If a man has an operation to become a lady, still he cannot have children. Also, ladies are very affectionate. They always have a service-mood. A boy will say, "Sister, give me water. Mother, give me water." But ladies will not say, "Oh, brother, Oh father, give me water." These are specialties. Some persons think that Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja and the scriptures discern someone's qualities on the basis of birth. This is not true. ^{*[see Endnote 3]} Srila Vyasadeva appeared in a family of sudras, and Sri Narada Rsi was also born in a sudra-family. However, whoever calls them sudras will go to hell. Srila Haridasa Thakura was born in a Muslim family. He appeared in a family in which cows were slaughtered and their flesh eaten, but he is not a Muslim. Ramananda Raya said about himself, "I am sudra." This is trnad-api-sunicena – humility. Mahaprabhu said about Himself, "I am a Mayavadi sannyasi." Was he a Mayavadi sannyasi? Of course not. Do not think that He was a Mayavadi. One may say that He Himself said so, but He said so only out of trinad-api-sunicena. Throw out all these doubts – the ideas that Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja has written something against ladies and black people. It is not correct. If anyone has explained his words in this way, perhaps they didn’t understand his idea. Perhaps they have made mistakes in their editing. He, or anyone like him, will never write like this. What is written in the Bhagavatam is true. <center>[The Hague, Holland: July 13, 2005]</center> Some persons have told me that when they read Pujyapada Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja's translations of Srimad-Bhagavatam, and especially his purports, they lose their faith in Krsna-consciousness. They say this is because his books state that ladies are inferior, and that black people are all sudras and cannot have bhakti. So many people who were in ISKCON left because of this. In this regard, I want to tell you all that in the Bhagavad-gita it is written: mam hi partha vyapasritya ye ’pi syuh papa-yonayah striyo vaisyas tatha sudras te ’pi yanti param gatim [At this time Srila Narayana Maharaja called on a devotee to read the translation, as it is written in a 1970 BBT printing.][Devotee reads aloud:] "O son of Prtha, those who take shelter in Me, though they be of lower birth – women, vaisyas (merchants) and sudras (workers) – can attain the supreme destination." (Bhagavad Gita 9.32)] [Devotee:] Sri Krsna is saying, "O Arjuna, those who take shelter of Me, although they may be of a lower birth, like women, vaisyas and sudras, can still attain the supreme destination. [srila Narayana Maharaja:] What you have explained is totally wrong. This is why they are confused and have doubts. Mam hi partha vyapasrtya. After the word 'papa-yoniya' (sinful species) there should be a comma, not a hyphen, and not the word 'like'. Stri – women – are not papa-yoni. Sudras are also not papa-yoni. Who are papa-yoni? Srimad-Bhagavatam explains this: kirata-hunandhra-pulinda-pulkasa abhira-sumbha yavanah khasadayah ye 'nye ca papa yad-apasrayasrayah sudhyanti tasmai prabhavisnave namah ["Kirata, Huna, Andhra, Pulinda, Pulkasa, Abhira, Sumbha, Yavana, members of the Khasa races and even others addicted to sinful acts can be purified by taking shelter of the devotees of the Lord, due to His being the supreme power. I beg to offer my respectful obeisances unto Him." (Srimad Bhagavatam 2.4.18)] They are papa-yoni, because they have no Krsna-consciousness. They eat meat and eggs, and they drink wine and large quantities of alcohol. They smoke and engage in so many sinful activities. They are papa-yoni. For stri (women), it has only been said that they have some monthly impurity. They are not inferior. Regarding sudras, who is Sri Narada Rsi? In what class was he born? Narada was a dasi-putra, the son of a maidservant. Was he low class? Srila Vyasadeva was born from the womb of a sudra mother, and Prahlada was the son of an atheistic demon. Vidura was also born of a sudra mother, and there are so many others like him. Should we reject them? According to the Vedic system of classification, women, vaisyas and sudras are not papa-yoni. Nowhere has this been written. Another misunderstanding of Srila Swami Maharaja's intention is found in the edited and published version of his purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.26.26. We find there: "Generally when a woman is attacked by a man – whether her husband or some other man – she enjoys the attack, being too lusty." ^{*[see Endnote 4]} In the verse itself, nothing like this has been written – that ladies are less-intelligent, or that they cannot perform bhajana, or that they are lusty and men are not so. The verse states: "My dear Queen, due to my sinful desires I went to the forest to hunt without asking you. Therefore I must admit that I have offended you. Nonetheless, thinking of me as your most intimate subordinate, you should still be very much pleased with me. Factually I am very much bereaved, but being pierced by the arrow of Cupid, I am feeling lusty. But where is the beautiful woman who would give up her lusty husband and refuse to unite with him?" It has never been written that men are not very lusty. Men are also lusty. ^{*[see Endnote 5]} Moreover, it is the soul who comes in a male-form or women-form; so all are equal. All the Rsis of Dandakaranya were male. They prayed to Lord Ramacandra, "We want to be like the gopis." Then, by Lord Rama's mercy they became perfectly self-realized and went to Vraja. There, taking birth from the wombs of gopis, they attained the forms of gopis. Were they less intelligent? We should not think like that. Srila Swami Maharaja has written that in some cases there is some speciality in women and in some cases some speciality in male. This has also been told in Srimad-Bhagavatam. So we should not think that ladies cannot perform bhakti or that they are less intelligent or inferior – nor should we think that Srila Swami Maharaja has said so. It is stated in Sri Jagadananda Pandita's Prema-Vivarta, yadi caha pranaya rakhite gaurangera sane chota haridasera katha thake yena mane ["If you wish to associate with Caitanya Mahaprabhu, you must always remember the incident of Chota Haridasa and how he was rejected by the Lord."] What is the meaning? Ladies are very attractive and beautiful, so men should not mix with them. But ladies are also advised not to mix with men. The advice is for both. We should not think that ladies are inferior or less intelligent. We should not think in this way. Those with doubts have quoted a statement from Srila Swami Maharaja's purport: "It may be clearly said that the understanding of a woman is always inferior to the understanding of a man." In the original verse it hasn’t been written like this. I think that some of the purports given by Srila Swami Maharaja have been somewhat changed by editors. I have read Srila Swami Maharaja's books in their entirety, and therefore I know that he would never write like this. I don’t agree with this statement, and he could never have written it. You should try to reconcile such statements, and don’t be worried about this. What has been written in Srimad-Bhagavatam is all right, and if something in the purport is different from the Srimad-Bhagavatam version, it is due to the fact that the editing was incorrect. Do you know Lord Brahma? He begot a beautiful daughter named Sarasvati and began pursuing her. She at once became a lady deer and began to run, and he became a male deer. Marici was present and he said, "Father, what are you doing? You are intelligent. You should know that everybody will laugh at you. Don't do this." Marici's six sons began to laugh, and then Lord Brahma cursed them. They became the sons of Kalanemi, and in their following birth they became the six sons of Devaki, who were killed by Kamsa. They could not understand Lord Brahma, but Marici understood. He did not commit an offence, but they did so. We should be very careful. I read everything that Srila Swami Maharaja wrote, and everything is ok – the only thing is that there is some mis-editing. Some persons cannot reconcile. They say papa-yoni, meaning sinful, necessarily applies to ladies. This is quite wrong. It is stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam: purnah pulindya urugaya-padabja-raga sri-kunkumena dayita-stana-manditena tad-darsana-smara-rujas trna-rusitena limpantya anana-kucesu jahus tad-adhim ["Some other Vraja gopi said: O sakhis! We consider the young aborigine women ( Pulindis ) to be truly blessed and successful, because they possess extraordinary attachment ( anuraga ) for Sri Krsna within their hearts. When they see our dearmost beloved Krsna, an intense desire to meet with Him is aroused within their hearts. Their hearts are struck with the disease of love. At that time, they smear their breasts and faces with the reddish kunkuma powder collected from the grass of Vrindavana. The beloved gopis of Krsna had adorned their breasts with this kunkuma powder and it then becomes affixed to Sri Krsna's lotus feet. When Syamasundara walks about Vrndavana, the grass becomes covered with this powder. The supremely fortunate Pulindi girls smear their breasts and faces with this powder, and in this way they alleviate the anguish of their love." (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.21.17)] In the chapter called Venu-gita, Srimati Radhika prays that in Her next life she will take birth as a Pulinda girl. Although the Pulinda girls are born in families of aborigine tribesmen and have menial jobs like carrying firewood, Radhika says, "The Pulinda girls are most fortunate, because they place the dust of the lotus feet of Krsna on their breasts. I want to be a Pulinda girl." So you should not worry about a lady's so called high or low birth. [Question:] Could you explain what Krsna meant when He said in the Bhagavad-gita that women, vaisyas and sudras are less than brahmanas and ksatriyas? We read that in Srila Prabhupada's translation. [srila Narayana Maharaja:] Brahmana refers to "brahma-jnanati". Such bramanas are self-realized; they are not like the brahmanas of Kali-yuga. If a Vaisnava is really a Vaisnava, he will have no lust or anger, or any other bad qualities. If he has no envy, greed, pride or illusion, then he is brahmana. He is victorious over the six bad qualities. At that time, when Lord Sri Krsna spoke Bhagavad-gita, Vasistha, Atri, and so many other exalted devotees were present. They were real brahmanas. ^{*[see Endnote 6]} The ksatriyas were engaged in war, in controlling the state, in taking taxes, and in many other political activities. The vaisyas were engaged in business and farming, but they also served the Vaisnavas and brahmanas. Then striya – ladies – they have children, and engage in such activities as serving their husbands and doing household work. For this reason it has been told that vaisyas, women and sudras are less than brahmanas and ksatriyas. But this has not been told about women like Arundhati, or Anasuya, Gargi, Gangamata Thakurani, Jahnava Thakurani or Hemlata Thakurani. This does not refer to them. <center>[The Hague, Holland: July 14, 2005]</center> I want to explain something regarding my class yesterday. In the Bhagavad-gita Sri Krsna made a statement about women: mam hi partha vyapasritya ye ’pi syuh papa-yonayah striyo vaisyas tatha sudras te ’pi yanti param gatim What is the meaning? Srila Swami Maharaja has written: "O son of Pritha, anyone who will take shelter in Me…" This is very clear. "…whether a woman, or a merchant, or born in a low family, can yet approach the Supreme Destination." [Translation taken from the 1968 edition of Bhagavad-gita] This is a very good translation. Everything is clear. This is the first edition, and it is clear here. Then, in the next edition which came out soon after that, I think the translation was changed to "not As It Is." Because the editors have no realization, they were bound to change the punctuation and wording to make it look like all women are of a low, sinful birth, less intelligent and so on. You should know the truth. If you want to know, you can read his original books. "O son of Pritha, anyone who will take shelter in Me" – very clear – "whether a woman, or a merchant, or born in a low family, can yet approach the Supreme Destination." This is the original. <center>[Amsterdam, Holland: July 15, 2005 – Darsana at Schiphol Airport]</center> [Question:] Gurudeva, the other night you were speaking about the wrong editing of our Srila Prabhupada's books. Having heard your class, some devotees may become afraid to read his books now, doubting all his published books. They may be wondering if they are really getting Prabhupada, or someone else. Can you say something about that? [srila Narayana Maharaja:] They should carefully read the books of Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja. They should read all his books. Generally there will be no doubt, but where there is some doubt, they should see his original writing. There are so many changes in Srimad-Bhagavatam also. [Question:] For many years it was preached in ISKCON that women are less intelligent than men. [srila Narayana Maharaja:] Both women and men are transcendental parts of Krsna – jiva-tattva. ^{*[see Endnote 7]} Regarding their being less intelligent than men, there is no question of that. [Question:] Then we could also say that if there is any doubt, the reader can go and ask a pure devotee. Yaha, bhagavata pada vaisnavera sthane ["If you want to understand Srimad-Bhagavatam, you must approach a self-realized Vaisnava and hear from him." (Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila 5.131)] [srila Narayana Maharaja:] They should see the original version. [Question:] But even during Srila Prabhupada's lifetime, even the first time a book was published it had mistakes, because his disciples were new devotees at that time, including the editors. [srila Narayana Maharaja:] My books also; they should not be changed. What I am writing or translating should stay the same. The editors should not try to explain more. If they will do that, they may fail. They may write something wrong. <center>[Please see Defending Srila Prabhupada's Integrity]</center><center> Endnotes </center>*Endnote 1: " 'I' is different from this body. I am living in this apartment, but I am not this apartment. But the modern civilization is going on on the basic idea that 'I am this body.' 'I am American.' 'I am Indian.' 'I am brahmacari.' 'I am ksatriya.' 'I am man.' 'I am woman.' This is condemned. This is condemned." (Lecture on Bhagavad-gita. Bombay, 29 December 1972) *Endnote 2: It is stated in the Gosvami's literatures that the gopis defeat Krsna in word games, dice games, wrestling and other sports. "Just like gopis. The gopis were women and not very high class woman, cowherd's men, in the village, not in town, very educated, high society, brahmana, ksatriya, no. They all belonged to the vaisya class. And they were woman, not Vedantist, not scholar. But they conquered Krsna. Why? And that is this. They heard about Krsna, and they became lover of Krsna. That is required. So that is the real qualification. Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He was so strict about womanly association. Still, He recommended, ramya kacid upasana vrajavadhu-vargena ya kalpita: 'There is no better type of worshipping Krsna than tha system which vraja-vadhu, the gopis, adoped to love Krsna. That is the first-class.'" (Purport to Parama Koruna. Atlanta, 28 February 1975) *Endnote 3: "The Krsna consciousness movement, therefore, is a cultural movement that does not care about local social conventions. Following in the footsteps of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Advaita Acarya, we can accept a devotee from any part of the world and recognize him as a brahmana as soon as he is qualified due to following the principles of Vaisnava behavior." (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila 3.221, purport) "But what is today being labeled varnasrama is an atheistic concept totally unsupported by the scriptures. Real varnasrama is based not on birth but on people's qualities and activities. One cannot reach the goal of the scriptures by practicing today's demoniac caste system. Only the introduction of daivi-varnasrama, the transcendental varnasrama system, will serve the purpose of the scriptures. This will move humanity toward liberation." (Renunciation Through Wisdom, 5.1) "We also give. 'Never mind you are sudra. You become brahmana. Come on. Be Krsna conscious.' That we also are giving. We don't deny, 'Oh, you are sudra, you cannot become a brahmana.' We don't say that. He canalso become a brahmana. 'Come on. You learn how to become brahmana.' That's all. That... The point is this equality, there cannot be. First point is this. This is nonsense. But everyone should be given the chance to occupy the best position. That is in our philosophy also. But unequality there must remain. You cannot make equality. It is not possible. That is nonsense. In your country there is not equality. Why an old woman – I have seen it – she is sweeping the street? So old woman, she should have taken rest, but she is engaged in sweeping the street. And a young man , he is becoming dictator. Where is the equality? She should have given rest, but she is obliged to work. And another young man, he is a manager. Why? Why this inequality? Where is equality? First of all settle up how you can make equal. That you cannot do. Then you are talking nonsense, 'equality.' It is not possible." (Morning Walk. Rome, 29 May 1974) *Endnote 4: "Besides the editing consideration mentioned by Srila Narayana Maharaja, the above quote was taken from the middle of Srila Prabhupada's purport. The beginning of the purport is: 'Both man and woman desire one another; that is the basic principle of material existence.'" (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.26.26, purport)] *Endnote 5: "Everyone is lusty. Therefore they say 'legalized prostitution.' They want it. So marriage is something legalized, that's all. The passion and the desire is the same, either married or not married. So this Vedic law says, "Better married. Then you will be controlled." Married life... So he will not be so lusty as without married life." (Morning Walk. Perth, 11 May 1975) *Endnote 6: "So to know God means he must become a brahmana, real, qualified brahmana. Therefore brahmana is respected. Because, brahma-janatiti brahmana. But there is no law. Lawless country. Therefore one is passing as a brahmana without any knowledge of Brahman." (Room Conversation. London, 2 September 1973) *Endnote 7: "On the spiritual platform, the learned person not only gives up the duality of man and woman, but also gives up the duality of man and animal. This is the test of self-realization. One must realize perfectly that the living being is spirit soul but is tasting various types of material bodies." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.12.10, purport)

I think this shows how Iskcon is very diverse and not all the gurus within it are the same. Just because Iskcon has so many problems doesn't mean Krishna Conciousness cannot be appear there also.

75% of the creation is the spiritual world and 25% is the material world. These figures DO NOT refer to the percentages of jivas who choose to reject Krsna's service and those who accept it. Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.9.10, From the Purport, We have been told by the acaryas that 90% of all jivas never come to the material world, so that leaves 10% who become fallen. I cannot at present find the reference for this, but I believe it's in the writings of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur.

Srila Jiva Gosvami's Disappearance Day Oahu, Hawaii: Jan. 16, 2002 (Evening) Tridandisvami Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja [Today is a very auspicious day. It is the appearance day of Srila Jiva Gosvami. We don't observe the disappearance days of Lord Krsna, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Lord Rama or any other incarnation of Bhagavan, but we observe the disappearance days of His associates. By such observance we learn many things about their worshipable Sri Sri Radha-Krsna, Sriman Mahaprabhu and Lord Nityananda Prabhu. We can understand how they practiced bhakti-yoga and how they received the service of Krsna and Mahaprabhu. We can learn from their lives’ examples how they accepted the process of sadhu-sanga, bhajana-kriya and anartha-nivrtti, and how they gradually developed nistha, ruci, asakti and rati. This is more important for us. [Although they are nitya-siddha devotees, they sometimes act as conditioned souls in the beginning, so we can learn how a conditioned soul can become a pure devotee.] Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Svayam Bhagavan Sri Krsna Himself who has taken the beauty and intrinsic mood of Srimati Radhika, came to this world, but it was Srila Rupa Gosvami who established in this world His innermost heart's feelings. If Srila Rupa Gosvami had not come, perhaps we would not have known His identity. Srila Jiva Gosvami served Srila Rupa Gosvami, and the credit for all the publishing of Srila Rupa Gosvami's literatures belongs to him. By publishing Rupa Gosvami's literatures, he established his innermost desire. At that time it was very difficult to publish books because the authors had to write all their books with their own pens, as there were no printing presses. Jiva Gosvami wrote down, in his own handwriting, every copy of every book of Srila Rupa Gosvami. He was the topmost learned person at that time, and he preserved the legacy of Srila Rupa Gosvami. Because he was always with him, he was able to write many commentaries in pursuance of Rupanuga Vaisnavism. If it were not for him, all of Srila Rupa Gosvami's books would have been lost. He also preached, especially to Sri Syamananda Prabhu, Sri Narottama dasa Thakura, and Sri Srinivasa Acarya. Try to practice serving the cause of Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission as he has done. So-called gurus hanker to make many disciples. They spend so much money, make so many agents, and tell them, "If you bring five disciples, I will pay you so much." This is going on nowadays, but Srila Jiva Gosvami and the Six Gosvamis did not practice this. How many disciples did Srila Raghunatha Das Gosvami, Srila Sanatana Gosvami, Srila Rupa Gosvami and Srila Raghunatha Bhatta have? Srila Jiva Gosvami did not have any formal disciples at all, but the whole world is his disciple. Sri Syamananda Prabhu was initiated by another guru, Sri Hrdaya Caitanya, Srila Narottama dasa Thakura was initiated by Srila Lokanatha dasa Gosvami, and Srila Srinivasa Acarya was initiated by Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, but they all came under the shelter of Srila Jiva Gosvami. He then explained to them the Vedas, Upanisads, and all other sastras, and he also thoroughly explained to them all tattvas, established philosophical truths. They wanted to be initiated by him, but he refused. He told them, "There are so many elevated Vaisnavas more qualified than I. Please, you should go to Lokanatha Gosvami, and you should go to Gopal Bhatta Gosvami." They had not intended to go to them; they wanted him to be their guru. Yet, they followed his instructions. Srila Narottama dasa Thakura went to Srila Lokanatha Prabhu and Srinivasa Acarya Prabhu went to Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami. Lokanatha Gosvami refused to give Narottama dasa Thakura initiation, although the Thakura waited for many years. At night, Narottama dasa cleaned the place where Lokanatha Gosvami had passed stool, and finally, seeing his sincerity of purpose, Lokanatha Gosvami was bound to give him initiation. Similarly, Gopal Bhatta Gosvami never wanted to accept any disciples. By the request of Srila Jiva Gosvami he accepted only one disciple – Srinivasa Acarya. However, those two disciples, along with Syamananda Prabhu, went to Bengal and collected thousands and thousands of followers. Srila Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji also never wanted to accept any disciples. Only by the special request of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura did he initiate his son, Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami. He saw in his own heart that if he did not initiate Srila Sarasvati Thakura, he would die. Srila Babaji Maharaja was therefore bound to give him initiation, but he gave no initiation to anyone else. His disciple, Srila Sarasvati Thakura, performed a miracle. He made disciples in all of Bengal, all over India, and after that all over the world. Thus, who is more merciful: the guru or the disciple? We see that disciples are more merciful than their gurus. This is because they go out to everyone, to invite them to experience the mercy of their guru. Once, when Srila Lokanatha Gosvami and his disciple Srila Narottama dasa Thakura were both engaged in bhajana, a thirsty person came to them desiring water. He went to Lokanatha Gosvami, who was chanting and absorbed, oblivious to his presence. Then, when he went to Narottama dasa Thakura, that 'baby sadhu' procured some water and gave it to him. Lokanatha Gosvami understood this and later told him, "You are not qualified. You should go at once to your village. I don't want a disciple like you, who has no faith in Sri Krsna Bhagavan’s name. Krsna's name is Krsna Himself. He has manifested all His power, beauty and opulence in His name. That name is more powerful than He Himself, but you have no faith in this truth." [srila Maharaja explained on another day that in real bhajana, the devotee is personally serving Srimati Radha and Sri Krsna while chanting. Srila Lokanatha dasa Gosvami told Srila Narottama dasa that he was not qualified because he had interrupted his service to Radhika and Krsna, and went to serve an ordinary man. Had Srila Narottama dasa Thakura continued his bhajana, Krsna would have been pleased and the man also would have been pleased. By Lord Krsna's arrangement, he would have gotten water from another source] Srila Narottama dasa Thakura was so faithful that he followed his guru's instructions, and he also initiated thousands and thousands of disciples in the course of his preaching on his guru's behalf. I think that Srila Narottama dasa Thakura is so much more merciful than his gurudeva. Although Lokanatha Gosvami is a manjari and Narottama dasa Thakura is also a manjari, it appears that Narottama dasa Thakura is more merciful. He had mercy for all, as shown by his extensive preaching. In another way, however, we can see that Lokanatha Gosvami is extremely merciful because he parted with his only disciple, who served him so intimately, just so the people of Bengal could benefit. There are many teachings to contemplate in this regard. Srila If Jiva Gosvami had not written Sad-Sandarbha, if he had not written Sri Gopala Campu, if he had not revealed his commentaries on Sri Ujjvala Nilamani, Sri Bhakti-rasamrita-sindu and so many other books, we would not be able to know the mercy of Srila Rupa Gosvami. We therefore offer our obeisances today unto the lotus feet of Srila Jiva Gosvami. We pray that we may serve our gurudeva as he served Srila Rupa Gosvami. He manifested both Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Sri Sri Radha-Krsna. It is very rare for anyone to be like him.

Envy Rules, Kindly Follow! BY: BALAVIDYA DASA Jan 10, CALIFORNIA, USA (SUN) — For many years now an idea has been bandied about in ISKCON, and only ISKCON, not in any other Vaisnava sampradaya, that the jiva in Goloka-Vrndavana becomes envious of Krsna, and as a result that jiva is cast into the material world where he rotates in the cycle of birth and death for what may be billions of lifetimes of ignorance and misery. Well, so much for krsna-prema! Apparently it is not at all satisfying, Krsna and His devotee regularly give each other up, and the strong tendency is for the soul to wander off from the rasa-lila for pastures anew down there in the jolly material world. Yes, why rotate in the rasa-lila, when one can rotate in the cycle of birth and death? And what’s all this about Krsna being “All-Attractive”. Apparently this is all just empty propaganda. Krsna actually should be known as the Object of Envy, not attraction. And unlimited, unlimited, unlimited jivas in unlimited, unlimited, unlimited universes have come to this conclusion. “I’m outta here! You can keep Goloka and all that ecstasy! I’m off. Thank God for the Maya-shakti!” Sri Krsna, who’s He? Better to change His Name to “Not so All-Attractive.” Or maybe “Temporarily All-Attractive.” What about “Subject to Envy at Home Planet?” What to speak of “Infinitely-Intelligent”. How Krsna can be infinitely intelligent when He’s made a home for Himself wherein billions of souls are becoming envious of Him? Not really a smart thing to arrange when You are the Supreme Controller. Krsna must be very embarrassed to see all those souls becoming envious and rejecting Him in front of Mother Yasoda. Yes, all those remaining faithful servitors, it must plant a doubt in their minds: “Well, there are a lot of souls going to the jolly party down there in the material world. Maybe I should have a look to upgrade my pleasure by becoming a worm in the stool. Someone else can make the garlands. I’m outta here! ” Is not the point clear? If we accept the theory that the soul falls from an established relationship of pure-prema with Sri Krsna, then Krsna and that relationship are not perfect. Rather that relationship is an on/off temporary affair, and Krsna Himself really quite forgettable once jiva is down there in the material world, chewing the chewed. Actually, for the demoniac, this is the appeal of the fall-from-Goloka theory: It is an insult to Krsna, His servitors, and the relationship between them. From this theory, the clear implication is that these three are very much fallacious. Krsna is not All-Attractive, His servitors are not faithful, and bhakti-rasa is neither perfect, nor satisfying, nor permanent. So by propagating this theory, all three are degraded from their sublime transcendental position to secondary categories that have all the material qualities of impermanence and imperfection. Having insulted the Lord, His servitors, and Bhakti-Marg in that way, the demoniac swell with pride. “Who’s going to be Krsna’s devotee now that I have proved it’s all quite mundane up there? I just killed three birds with one stone.” When these demons are countered with the Vedic evidences that this writer has given in his previous posting “No Contradiction in Teachings of Srila Prabhupada on the Fall of the Jiva”, their response is quite disingenuous: They ignore Vedanta-Sutra, they ignore the Seventh Goswami, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, they ignore Bhagavad-Gita, and they ignore Srila Prabhupada’s conclusion: “The conclusion is that no one falls from the spiritual world, or Vaikuntha planet, for it is the eternal abode.” Purport, Sb. 3.16.26. Instead of accepting this statement, and similar multifarious others, as the “conclusion” of Srila Prabhupada and offering their obeisances as defeated, they latch onto the chance to now denigrate Srila Prabhupada. They have already degraded Krsna, His Servitors, and Bhakti, they now see a chance to attack Krsna’s representative in the material world-the Guru and His commentaries. Srila Prabhupada’s teachings are “contradictory”. This proposed vacillation brings into question whether Srila Prabhupada actually knew what he was talking about. “Maybe he wasn’t sure about the jiva issue?” “Therefore maybe the rest of his commentaries are speculative and we need a good editor in there to change things around. Someone from the BBT.” And why stop at the Guru and his commentaries? Why not have a swipe at the Vedas and Puranas, and their compiler Veda-Vyasa? “Apparently”, Veda-Vyasa has not done a very comprehensive job in compiling the Vedas and Their corollaries. Why? Because in all those sastras, Veda-Vyasa forgot to explain that the jiva falls from prema-rasa in Goloka out of envy. In fact, Veda-Vyasa got it all wrong and throughout the Vedas, Vedanta-sutra, and Bhagavad-Gita made the mistake of clearly stating many times that “No-one falls from the Abode of the Lord.” Let this be the challenge to the fool and rascal purveyors of this groundless fall-from-Goloka theory: Kindly provide one description directly from the Vedas of a fall out of envy of the Supreme Lord of the jiva from Goloka Vrndavana…. Just one! We have heard your self-serving contorted misinterpretations of Srila Prabhupada’s statements. So there is no need for more of that. We know your position on that. We know that in of the vast body of Srila Prabhupada’s recorded teachings that there are statements that can be bent in favor of ‘fall from Vaikuntha’. We know that you are good at word-bending and ignoring what doesn’t suit you. In this way you remind us of the mayavadis that will use the Vedas to prove that Krsna is made from maya and that ultimately the Absolute Truth is formless and impersonal. In fact, not only do you use the same ignoring and word-bending as the mayavadis, but also the implications of your theory make a nice fit with the mayavadis: Krsna and relationship with Him are subject to the rule of Maya-devi. It’s all temporary and imperfect. And what is the ultimate implication of this fall from Goloka theory? It is that “Envy of Krsna defeats Love of Krsna, even in Goloka”. Now you see why it is so appealing to the demons: “Apparently”, Envy is the Power! So purveyors, just give one clear and full description from the Vedas and Purana of the residents of Goloka Vrndavana becoming “envious” of Krsna and falling to the material world. We emphasize, because we know you love to bend words and ignore, that the description must be from the original sastras. Is that clear enough? Just one description from the ultimate authority of the Vedas of something that has happened, according to your theory, literally trillions and trillions and trillions of unlimited times! Now even you cannot say the above request is “contradictory”. We invite the biggest in the wobbly ISKCON superstructure to respond with this telling Vedic tale of ‘Envy in Goloka’. It is well known that Hrdyananda Goswami, Jayavaita Swami, Drutakarma dasa, Dravida dasa, Gopi-paranadhana dasa believe this absurd theory. Oh great pandits! Where’s your sastric evidence…….? We hope this is found helpful, Your servant, Balavidya dasa

EDITORIAL June 21, 1999 VNN4139 No Kalki Avatar In This Kali Yuga <hr> BY JADURANI DASI EDITORIAL, Jun 21 (VNN) — I first met Srila Narayana Maharaj about seven years ago, at the Rupa Sanatana Gaudiya Math, his temple near Seva Kunja in Vrndavan. Since that time I'd always strongly felt Srila Prabhupada's presence when ever I met Srila Maharaja. His answers to any of my questions seemed as brilliant and astounding as those of Srila Prabhupada, and everything he said gave me new insight into Srila Prabhupada's books. After several meetings with him, therefore, I was so overwhelmed that I asked him, "Can I understand that when you tell me something, that it is Srila Prabhupada telling me through you?" With a soft smile he answered, "if you have got that faith." And daily my faith became stronger and stronger. One thing he said, however, I couldn't reconcile. Srila Maharaja mentioned a few times that in this age of Kali, Kalki avatar doesn't come. Maharaja would quote Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur, who had said that "because Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came in this particular Kali Yuga, this Kali Yuga is called Dhanya Kali, blessed Kali." Although in other Kali Yugas Kalki does come, in this one He doesn't. On one hand I had no doubts in Srila Maharaj, but on the other hand I still could not reconcile the apparent difference in Srila Prabhupada's statement. For years I had been hearing the cassette tape of Srila Prabhupada singing "Sri Dasavatar- Stotram" by Sri Jayadeva Goswami, " Kesava! dhrta-Kalki-sarira jaya jadadisa hare." Then, in his purport to the song, Srila Prabhupada had explained that at the end of Kali Yuga there will be no preaching because people will be too degraded and sinful to understand Krsna Conscious philosophy. So Kalki comes, not to preach, but to kill all the sinners and usher in the next Satya Yuga. In a humble way I told this to Srila Maharaj and he answered, "Not in this Kali Yuga. He won't come. But if he comes, no harm; he will be raising his arms and chanting 'Hari Bol! Hari Bol!' in Mahaprabhu's sankirtan movement." So I let it go. I had faith in both Srila Prabhupada and Srila Maharaja. Diksa Guru and Siksa Guru are one. Srila Prabhupada is both my diksa and siksa guru and Srila Maharaja is my siksa guru. I knew that when Srila Prabhupada wanted to, he would show me how to reconcile the apparent contradiction. Later, in studying one of our Gaudiya Vaisnava songs, Ke Jabi Ke Jabi Bhai, by Srila Locan dasa Thakura, I read, "dhanya kali-yugera caitanya-avatar," that is, Sri Caitanya-Avatara is the good fortune (dhanya) of this Kali Yuga (He does not come in every Kali Yuga. He comes as the Yuga Avatara of Kali Yuga only once in a day of Lord Brahma, that is, once every 2,000 Kali Yugas.) This convinced me, but still, I had a desire to hear more from Srila Prabhupada himself, since according to my memory, I'd previously heard the opposite from him. Then, about two months ago, on a casual reading of Caitanya Caritamrta, I found it in Madhya Lila chapter six, in the discussions between Sarvabauma Battacarya and Gopinatha Acarya. Srila Prabhupada was quoting Gopinatha Acharya, "in this age of Kali there is no lila avatar of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore He is triyuga. That is one of His holy names." In the purport, Kalki is mentioned as the last of the twenty-five Lila Avatars. At the end of the purport, Prabhupada wrote: "Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is not mentioned as a lila avatar because he is an incarnation in disguise (channa avatar). In this age of Kali there are no lila avatars, but there is an incarnation of the Lord manifested in the body of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This has been explained in Srimad Bhagavatam." At this point I turned to Srimad Bhagavatam, first canto chapter three. There Prabhupada had written that Kalki will come after 427,000 years. Did that mean Srila Prabhupada contradicted himself?. No, of course not. Everything is reconciled. Kalki (and all other incarnations) come in the body of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This is confirmed in Caitanya Caritamrta (Adi Lila 4.5-16). These verses explain how, just as all incarnations come in Krsna's body when he descends, so Lord Caitanya, is also Krsna Himself, and the same applies to Him "When the complete Supreme Personality of Godhead descends, all other incarnations meet together within Him." There were many other instances where I could understand by Srila Narayana Maharaja's association that I had so little understanding of Srila Prabhupada. Srila Maharaja has been giving me a deeper understanding. He is always showing me the glory of Srila Prabhupada, that he is coming in the line Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur, Srila Locan dasa Thakur, Sri Krsna das Kaviraja, Srila Rupa Goswami, and ultimately Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who came to give what no other incarnation or acharya gave for a long time--since the last time Lord Caitanya came--in the previous day of Brahma. Even with Srila Prabhupada's words in front of me for the last thirty-two years, being a conditioned soul, I can not understand him fully. Of course, "it takes one to know one." Only a Maha-bhagavata can understand the mood and siddhanta of another Maha-bhagavata. And only he can help the conditioned souls understand.

The Hidden Meaning in Srila Prabhupada's Pranama Mantra <hr> <table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="203"> <tbody><tr> <td> Srila Narayana Maharaja performs archan and puja for Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Srila Prabhupada's appearance day. </td> </tr> </tbody></table> Alachua, Florida : May 28, 2001 Tridandisvami Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja <hr> [srila Narayana Maharaja:] What is the second sloka in the pranama mantra of your Gurudeva? [Drstadyumna dasa:] namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani pracarine nirvesesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine [srila Narayana Maharaja:] What is that gaura-vani he preached? [Drstadyumna dasa:] There are four reasons for which Lord Caitanya came to this world. One was to establish the yuga-dharma of the chanting of the holy name, another was because Advaita Acarya had called Him to come, and… [srila Narayana Maharaja:] I want to hear what was that gaura-vani of your Gurudeva. [Drstadyumna dasa:] In simple words it was to chant Hare Krsna, and that meant to worship… [srila Narayana Maharaja:] Sri Advaita Acarya may have given this. So many acaryas have given this. Even Maha-Visnu can give the chanting of the holy name, but He cannot give that gaura-vani. [Drstadyumna dasa:] It was to give an understanding of the essence of the feelings and mood of Srimati Radharani and… [srila Narayana Maharaja:] What is that gaura-vani he gave? [Drstadyumna dasa:] Would it be the mood of the manjaris; service to the Divine Couple? [srila Narayana Maharaja:] Was this his vani? I want to hear about that vani. What is that gaura-vani he preached throughout the world? It has been explained in the words of Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, and Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has also explained it. aradhyo bhagavan vrajesa-tanayas tad-dhama vrndavanam ramya kascid upasana vraja-vadhu-varga-ya kalpita srimad-bhagavatam amalam puranam prema pumartho mahan sri-caitanya mahaprabhor matam idam tatradarah na parah This is the special gaura-vani. Krsna is our highest worshipable Deity, but there are so many manifestations of Krsna. Dvarakadhisa Krsna is the son of Vasudeva and Devaki. Is He our worshipable Deity? He may be for so many others, and there is no harm in that. He is worshipable for them, and He should be. We do namaskara to Him, but we worship that very Vrajendranandana who took birth from the womb of Yasodamaiya. At the time of His birth, Vrajendranandana Krsna had no long hair, no decorations, and no ornaments. He appeared as a simple baby, weeping, "Kya, kya, kya!" All the Vrajabasis understood that He was born from the womb of Mother Yasoda. We worship that very Nandanandana. You should know that Nandanandana is always nava-kisora natavara. He is eternally an ever-fresh cowherd youth, and Mother Yasoda thinks, "He is my son." We worship this very Krsna who was bound by His mother in Vrndavana. She ran faster than Him, caught hold of Him, and bound Him. That is why He is called Damodara-Krsna. He killed Putana, who tried to take His life by poisoning Him, and He gave her a motherly position in Goloka. We worship that Krsna who was playing in the courtyard of Nanda Baba and Mother Yasoda, and who was controlled by them with affection and love. We worship that Krsna who was always surrounded by His friends like Dama, Sridama, Sudama, Vasudama, Stokakrsna, Lavanga, Arjuna, Subala, Madhumangala, and so on. They used to defeat that Krsna, and, being defeated, Krsna was very happy. That Krsna always played with the gopa-ramanis. Aradya bhagavan. Although He is Bhagavan, His bhagavata (Godhood) has been covered. All His opulences are covered by Yogamaya, and thus He has no idea that He is Brahma, Parabrahma, or Bhagavan. That very Krsna is our aradhya, our object of worship. Another manifestation of Krsna is the husband of Rukmini and the son of Vasudeva and Devaki. He should be the aradhya of the Mathuravasis and others. Let them worship Him in that way, but Caitanya Mahaprabhu is saying, "Aradyo bhagavan vrajesa-tanaya tad dhama vrndavanam." That Krsna is always in Vrndavana. He never gives up Vrndavana. He never goes elsewhere. His manifestations may go to Kuruksetra, to Dvaraka, and to Mathura. They can go, but that Krsna never leaves Vrndavana. Ramya karcit upasanam vrajavadhu. The process of serving Krsna that was adopted by all the gopis to please Krsna, especially by Radha and Her group, is the highest. They can even place their feet on His head. They can chastise Him - to please Him. They can order Him to do so many things, and He will very happily carry out their orders. He does not feel so much happiness by hearing the prayers of Brahma, Sankara, and all others like them, but He wants the gopis to chastise Him and call Him 'thief.' Srimad bhagavatam pramanam amalam The way and the process by which the gopis pleased Krsna cannot be attained by anyone else, and to understand this, Srimad Bhagavatam is the highest evidence among all sastras. Only in Srimad Bhagavatam can you see all these truths. Caitanya Mahaprabhu offers pranama to the Upanisads and all other scriptures because they are all the breathing of Krsna, but He particularly glorifies Srimad Bhagavatam. In Srimad Bhagavatam, Krsna Himself told the gopis, "Na paraye 'ham niravadya-samyujam. I cannot repay you, My dear gopis. I cannot repay you in thousands of thousands of births. Be pleased, therefore, by your own bhakti to Me. Be merciful to Me." Srimad Bhagavatam is revealing all this. This truth has been told there, but you can only realize it by the commentaries of Srila Sanatana Gosvami, Srila Jiva Gosvami, and Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura. Prema pumartha mahan. Prema is the ultimate goal, and the prema in the heart of Radhika is supermost. Hanuman also has prema, Dhruva Maharaja also has prema, and Prahlada Maharaja also has some love and affection. The Pandavas and Uddhava also have some prema, and all the queens of Dvaraka have so much love and affection. The sakhas and sakhis of Vrndavana, and Mother Yasoda and Nanda Maharaja all have prema, but no one has that prema of Srimati Radhika. Hers is the highest love and affection towards Krsna. Her love is in the heart of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and He Himself is telling about it. This is gaura-vani. This vani (message or teaching) is the vani of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. No one ever preached this before Him. Only "You should do nama-sankirtana" was preached. So many acaryas in Kali-yuga have told us that we should perform kirtana, but no one gave that love and affection given by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He preached love and affection, Vraja-prema, through nama-sankirtan. This is His vani. ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-mahadavagni-nirvapanam sreyah-kairava-candrika-vitaranam vidyavadhu-jivanam anandambudhi-vardhanam prati-padam purnamrtasvadanam sarvatma-snapanam param vijayate sri krsnanama-kirtanam This is gaura-vani. trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih No one ever explained this before. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu became very happy when, by His order and inspiration, Sri Rupa Gosvami explained the glory of the name: tunde tandavini ratim vitanute tundavali-labdhaye karna-kroda-kadambini ghatayate karnarbudebhyah sprham cetah-prangana-sangini vijayate sarvendriyanam krtim no jane janita kiyadbhir amrtaih krsneti varna-dvaya "I do not know how much nectar the two syllables 'Krs-na' have produced. When the holy name of Krsna is chanted, it appears to dance within the mouth. We then desire many, many mouths. When that name enters the holes of the ears, we desire many millions of ears. And when the holy name dances in the courtyard of the heart, it conquers the activities of the mind, and therefore all the senses become inert." (Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila 1.99) Hearing this verse, Srila Haridasa Thakura began to jump, laugh, and chant, "Hari Bol! Hari Bol!" Give up all worldly sense gratification. Don't pray for a very good wife, good family, salvation, or anything else. Only pray for causeless bhakti, the bhakti that is in the heart of Srimati Radhika. That bhakti is established when hladini and samvit manifest in ones heart, on the platform of sandini. Caitanya Mahaprabhu is telling us who we are. ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram patitam mam visame bhavambudhau krpaya tava pada-pankaja- sthita-dhuli-sadrsam vicintaya We always want to be a particle of dust at the lotus feet of the son of Nanda Maharaja. No one had ever told all this before. Especially, no one had previously told: nayanam galad asru dharaya vadanam gadgada ruddhaya gira pulakair nicitam vapuh kada tava nama grahane bhavisyati Hairs standing on end, voice choked, and all kinds of asta-sattvika-bhavas were present in Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. When will a day come that I can chant like this: weeping, with my bodily hairs standing on end, and my heart melting? No one had ever seen all these symptoms before Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu exhibited them. Valmiki had some symptoms, and Dhruva Maharaja and Prahlada Maharaja also had some, but not like this. This wonderful thing was taught by Mahaprabhu. Moreover He taught: yugayitam nimesena caksusa pravrsayitam sunyayitam jagat sarvam govinda virahena me There are hardly any qualified persons to realize all the truths in this verse. If a rare person realizes this, he will give up his body - because the material body cannot tolerate the emotions of prema. Moreover: aslisya va pada-ratam pinastu mam adarsanän marma-hatam karotu va yatha tatha va vidadhatu lampato mat-prana-nathas tu sa eva naparah "Lord Krsna, who is the lover of many devotees (women), may embrace this fully surrendered maidservant or may trample me with His feet. Or, He may render me brokenhearted by not being present before me for a long duration of time. Still, He is nothing less than the absolute lord of my heart." The transcendental emotions revealed in this verse cannot be found in this world. This is only found in Goloka Vrndavana-dhama. We should pray that a day will come that we can serve under the guidance of the gopis, especially being the maidservant of Srimati Radhika, under the guidance of Lalita, Visakha, and Rupa-manjari. This is gaura-vani. Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja preached this, but in the beginning he had to cut so many jungles of mayavada, nirvesesa, and sahajiya philosophies. He saw that in order to make the land of the world fertile, it would take a long time. He therefore put all these truths in his transcendental literatures. He thought that if any of his disciples would be qualified to go deep into those truths, all this vani would be taught there. He wanted to preach it also, but it was rare to find a student who could go so deep. Most of his students could not follow him, and that is why so many fell down even from sannyasa. They made many offenses to him, and they are now burning in hell. You should know all this vani, and be very strong in preaching and in glorifying your Prabhupada. Gaura-vani-pracarine. Krsna has sent him for this. After our Srila Rupa Gosvami, Srila Jiva Gosvami, and Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami came, Srila Narottama dasa Thakura, Srila Syamananda prabhu came, and after that Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana, Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, and then our Gurudeva and so many associates of Srila Prabhupada. One of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura's hands was Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja, who came to the western countries, and in a couple of years preached everywhere. We should try to know his glories. Gaura-vani has so much deep meaning, but the meaning is very hidden. Don't think there is no reason for the word 'gaura-vani.' Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati is described in his pranama mantra to be gaura-vani murti. [Namaste gaura-vani sri murtaye dina-tarine.] Murti means embodiment. He is the embodiment of gaura-vani, and Srila Swami Maharaja, your Prabhupada, is in the same line. He is not different from Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. The term 'Prabhupadanuga' is a wrong idea. Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja and Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura are both followers of Srila Rupa Gosvami, and therefore they are rupanuga. Following them, we are all rupanuga. We have now told in brief about the vani of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has also, in a brief form, collected gaura-vani in his Dasa-mula siksa. You should note it very carefully in your heart. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote down that vani in his Jaiva-dharma, his last and best book. It is an authentic literature, and is the essence of all the Vedas, Upanisads, Bhagavatam, Caitanya-caritamrta, and all the books of our Gosvamis. The essence of all sastra is there in Jaiva-dharma. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has written: amanayaha praha tattavam harim iha paramam sarva saktima rasabdhima tata bhinansansa ca jivan prakritir kavalitan tada vimuktansa ca bhavada bhedabheda prakasam sakalampi harch sadhanam sudha bhaktim sadhayam tata pritim eva iti upadesayati janan gauracandra savayam saha "The authoritative knowledge of the Vedas, received through the bona fide disciplic succession, establishes the following fundamental truths:style='font-size: 10.0pt'><o:p></o:p> 1. Hari is the supreme absolute truth. 2. He is omnipotent. 3. He is the reservoir of all mellows. 4. The living entities are His separated parts and parcels. 5. The conditioned souls are covered by Maya. 6. The liberated souls are beyond the influence of Maya. 7. The entire cosmic manifestation is simultaneously one and different from Him. 8. Suddha-bhakti is the only means to achieve love of Godhead. 9. The goal is to attain love of Godhead. These teachings have been instructed by Gauracandra Himself." Gaura Premanande.

Another victim of post-Prabhupada ISKCON.

Srila Narayana Maharaja:

Berlin, Germany: July 6, 2003 Tridandisvami Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja:

Srila Narayana Maharaja: So what is generally given in the scriptures, the idea that the jivas manifest from Baladeva and His expansions like Maha Visnu is what is given for conditioned souls in this world "to convince ordinary jivas". "Whereas in reality, in Goloka Vrndavana dhama, these things will be seen in another way". But are we not realized souls, no matter where you believe that we are dreaming from, are we actually realizing our real spiritual existence? Remember, as stated by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, real Krsna bhakti or Krsna Consciousness is not "empiric Knowledge". So basically we are discussing something of which we have no realization and sometimes not discussing but rather fighting. We need to really pursue our bhajan life and just know that when we actually attain the higher levels of Krsna Consciousness we will really "see" things the way they are. Then if we are in the position to "preach" we will do so without false-ego and ulterior motives actually becoming the well wisher of all conditioned souls. To imitate this is to invite disaster in our own bhajan.

Repeating post #5, not to beat everyone down with endless repetition but as a request for volunteers to try to explain the implications of this angle of vision, spoken the last paragraph which is italicized.

Germany - Feb 24 2003 Tridandisvami Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Antya 19.53 ei-mata gaura-rāya, viṣāde kare hāya hāya, 'hā hā kṛṣṇa, tumi gelā kati?' gopī-bhāva hṛdaye, tāra vākye vilāpaye, 'govinda dāmodara mādhaveti' SYNONYMS ei-mata — in this way; gaura-rāya — Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; viṣāde — in lamentation due to separation; kare hāya hāya — always says "alas, alas"; hā hā kṛṣṇa — oh, oh, Kṛṣṇa; tumi gelā kati — where have You gone; gopī-bhāva hṛdaye — with the ecstatic love of the gopīs in His heart; tāra vākye — in their words; vilāpaye — He laments; govinda dāmodara mādhava — O Govinda, O Dāmodara, O Mādhava; iti — thus. TRANSLATION In this way, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu lamented in the mood of separation, "Alas, alas! O Kṛṣṇa, where have You gone?" Feeling in His heart the ecstatic emotions of the gopīs, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu agonized in their words, saying, "O Govinda! O Dāmodara! O Mādhava!" <<< >>>