`Secrets of Bhakti` by Sri Narayana Maharaja

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Tridandisvami Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja

 

SOME SECRETS IN BHAKTI

(Raya Ramananda Samvad)

 

Part One of a Lecture Given in Los Angeles, California: 13 May

2001 (evening)

 

Gauranga bolite habe pulaka sarira. When will that day come that

we will realize the mercy of Gauracandra? When, while chanting

His names, Gauranga

and Sacinandana, will our hearts be at once melted and our hairs

stand on end? These are sattvika-bhavas. We are calling out His

names but these

symptoms of sattvika-bhava are not coming. Why not? We are not

actually realizing who is Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He is

directly Radha-Krsna Conjugal. Krsna has come, having taken the

golden beauty and intrinsic mood of Radhika, and He has become

Gaura Sacinandana, Gaurahari. He tasted all the moods of Radha

in the Gambhira, and we have been discussing all these topics in

Raya Ramananda Samvad.

 

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu mercifully displayed His most

confidential form of Rasaraja-Mahabhava to Raya Ramananda.

Rasaraja is Krsna and Mahabhava is Radhika. In that form, every

limb of Krsna is covered by every limb of Srimati Radhika. No

one had ever seen this form, and Raya Ramananda, being

Visakha-sakhi, fainted when he saw it. When anyone realizes this

form, then, when he sings, "Gauranga bolite habe pulaka sarira,

hari hari bolite nayane ba'be nira", his hairs will stand on end

and his eyes will fill with tears.

 

This is only possible, however, by the mercy of Nityananda

Prabhu. If anyone wants to know who is Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he

must come to Nityananda Prabhu who is 'adhara-bhumi', the

platform on which Mahaprabhu manifests.

 

Nityananda Raya is akrodha-paramananda. Akrodha means He never

becomes angry. Even when Jagai and Madhai cut His head,

Nityananda Prabhu thought, "Oh, I want to give them

krsna-prema." He gave them this prema, He did so many other acts

that were even greater than this, and He was like this

throughout His life. Thus, without the mercy of Nityananda

Prabhu, you cannot realize who is Caitanya Mahaprabhu. You

cannot know Him by studying

history books.

 

You can have an abhasa, a vague idea about Him, from Sri

Caitanya Caritamrta, but by chanting and remembering and by

following in the footsteps of Sri Rupa Gosvami and Sri

Raghunatha Gosvami, you will

understand something more.

 

Rupa raghunatha-pada hoibe akuti kabe hama bujhabo se

yugala-piriti. What is yugala piriti? It is conjugal love.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to give that kind of love, but if you

only try to understand externally, you will not know about His

life in full. External understanding is like a soul-less body.

If you really want to know Him, you should know what was His

mission and what was the nature of His love and affection for

all. He only came to distribute raganuga-vartma, the path of

raganuga-bhakti, to teach us how we can achieve that love and

affection of Vraja and especially gopi-prema.

 

Without the mercy of Srila Rupa Gosvami and Srila Raghunatha

dasa Gosvami, you cannot know this. Rupa raghunatha-pade rahu

mora asa, prarthana koroye

sada narottama dasa. Srila Narottama dasa is praying to all

acaryas and associates of Mahaprabhu, from top to bottom, "They

should kindly be merciful so that I can realize the mercy of Sri

Caitanya Mahaprabhu."

 

Now come with me to Raya Ramananda on the banks of the Godavari

in South India, where some discussions were going on. Mahaprabhu

was asking questions and Raya Ramananda was replying. Krsna is

endless, and therefore Mahaprabhu is also an endless ocean of

love and affection. Even Krsna Himself cannot know how deep is

the love and affection in Srimati Radhika and the gopis. He has

a scale to measure it, but the love and affection for Krsna in

Srimati Radhika and the gopis is so deep that His scale becomes

a failure.

 

If anyone tries to know Caitanya Mahaprabhu by his intelligence,

he will not be able to do so. Only by the mercy of Sri Caitanya

Mahaprabhu Himself can

you know something. If Krsna Himself cannot measure it, how can

you? You can know some external things such as how He preached,

how He controlled even

mad elephants, and how He gave prema to trees and creepers. You

can outwardly see this, but how did He actually do it? Without

the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, and without the mercy of the

gopis and especially Radhika, you cannot know these truths. I am

therefore explaining something of these topics to you.

 

Mahaprabhu told Ramananda Raya that varnasrama dharma cannot

help you ultimately. Eho bhaya; it is external. He said that

offering your fruitive karmas will also not do, and He even

rejected sarva dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja as

external. Raya Ramananda then proposed jnana-misra bhakti:

 

brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati na kancati

samah sarvesu bhutesu mad-bhaktim labhate param

 

Mahaprabhu rejected this as well, although these are the highest

teachings in the Gita. Mahaprabhu ejected all the philosophies

of the Gita as being the ultimate goal of life.

 

Ramananda Raya then came to jnana-sunya bhakti:

 

jnane prayasam udapasya namanta eva

jivanti san-mukharitam bhavadiya-vartam

sthane sthitah sruti-gatam tanu-van-manobhir

ye prayaso 'jita jito 'py asi tais tri-lokyam

(Madhya 8.67)

 

What is the meaning of this sloka? There are two kinds of jnana,

knowledge. The first states that we are brahma: "Sarvam khalv

idam brahma", "Aham brahmasmi", "So ham", and so on. What is

this? It is nonsense. Krsna can say, "So'ham","I am that

brahma", but no jiva can ever say it. We are brahma-jatiya, but

not brahma. We are all eternal, infinitesimal parts and parcels

of that brahma. We are not full brahma. Those who speak in this

false way are called brahma-jnanis.

 

Those who possess the second kind of jnana are called

jnani-bhaktas, and they are personalities like Prahlada

Maharaja, Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana,

Bhisma Pitamaha, and Sukadeva Gosvami in the first part of his

life.

 

Two terms are used here: jnani and jnani-bhakta. Jnanis are

offenders at the lotus feet of Krsna. They don't accept His

form, qualities, or potencies, and therefore they are offenders.

On the other hand, jnani-bhaktas are accepted as devotees.

Jnani-bhaktas are very good. They are always thinking, "The

supreme Lord Krsna can create millions upon millions of

universes in a moment, and He can also destroy them. He is

therefore Lord of Lords. He has so much opulence and so many

attributes." Jnani-bhaktas think, "I should serve my Lord so I

can achieve something from Him. He is self-satisfied, He is

full, He has no thirst, no appetite, and no fatigue; so how can

I serve Him?" They only pray, as Prahlada prayed. He could not

serve his Lord.

 

For this reason we don't fully follow these jnani-bhaktas. The

pure bhakta forgets that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of

Godhead, and we want to

follow them.

 

To make a platform, first we should know that Krsna is the

supreme Godhead, and we are parts and parcels of that Krsna. We

are His eternal servants.

 

However, if you want Vraja-prema, then you will also have to

forget this. You will only need to know that He is

Yasoda-nandana and Nanda-nandana, that He is the friend of

Sudama and Subala, that He is the beloved of all the gopis, and

that He especially serves the gopis. He cannot repay these

gopis,

He wants to take the dust of the gopis' lotus feet, and He wants

to serve them. At that time He becomes Radha-Kanta, Madana

Mohana, Syamasundara, and

Radha-Ramana.

 

No one in Vraja-mandala will accept Krsna as Parabrahma, and

even Krsna forgets this. He can take the prasadam remnants of

Nanda Baba, He can carry

the sandals of Nanda Baba on His head and, dancing and calling

out, "Tey, tey", He will very happily come to Nanda Baba. As a

baby, He cannot turn

over on His side. He can create so many universes, but in Vraja

He has no power to change sides and therefore Yasoda will come

and quickly turn Him

over. He cannot eat anything by Himself; rather Mother Yasoda

and Nanda Baba will support and nourish Him. Sometimes He will

be defeated by Sridama. He

can kill Kamsa, Jarasandha, and all other demons, but when He

comes to Sridama and fights with him, Sridama can defeat Him in

a moment. And, when He is defeated, He will be very happy. He

will even be defeated by the gopis. He wanted to wrestle with

the gopis, and at once, in a moment, the gopis defeated him and

He became so very happy.

 

In this way there is so much difference between jnani-bhaktas

who worship Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and

these classes of Vraja-bhaktas. In this sloka, jnane prayasam

udapasya, that jnana is

offensive which says that Krsna is nirguna, avyakta, anadi, and

asesa, that He has no shape, no attributes, no power, and no

qualities. Krsna does have shape, beauty, all qualities and all

kinds of opulence, but we can never realize this with our

mundane eyes.

 

Srila Jiva Gosvami has written a commentary on this sloka. In

that commentary he says that if you want to serve Krsna and you

want to please Him the most, like the gopis of Vraja, then try

to do pranama from far away to this jnana that Krsna is the

Supreme Personality of Godhead. You will have to forget it. If

you do not forget it, you cannot love Krsna very much. You will

have to forget it.

 

First we must understand that Krsna is the Supreme Personality

of Godhead, just as Srila Swami Maharaja explained in His Gita

and all other books. However, he also wanted to tell this fact:

"Try to forget it".

 

Krsna was controlled by the gopis, Mother Yasoda, Nanda Baba and

Sridama Sakha, but especially by the gopis. He accepted this

truth and told them: Na paraye 'ham niravadya-samyujam (S.B.

10.32.22). "I cannot repay all you gopis. You have left

everything for Me. You have left your husbands, fathers,

mothers, fathers-in-law and everything else, and you have been

one-pointed to Me. I cannot give up My father, My mother, or any

gopi. I cannot be one-pointed like you. If I am one-pointed to

any single gopi, like Radhika, then I will be indebted to all

others because you are all one-pointed. I cannot even forget a

neophyte devotee who is chanting Hare Krsna. I cannot neglect

anyone. I will have to reciprocate with everyone: Ye yatha mam

prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham (BG. 4.11)". What is the

meaning?

 

[Devotee:] Everyone, as they surrender to Me, I reward them

accordingly.

 

[srila Narayana Maharaja:] He's bound to do so, and therefore He

cannot be one-pointed like the gopis. Always remember this. It

is therefore said here that if you want to have a high-class

love and affection like the Vrajabasis, you'll have to forget

that Krsna is Bhagavan.

 

How can you forget? Without the mercy of the gopis you cannot be

like them, and you especially need the causeless mercy of Sri

Nityananda Prabhu, Sri Svarupa Damodara, Sri Rupa Gosvami, Sri

Sanatana Gosvami, Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, and Sri Raya

Ramananda. Without their mercy you cannot know Krsna and

Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

 

Raya Ramananda therefore proposed:

 

jnane prayasam udapasya namanta eva

jivanti san-mukharitam bhavadiya-vartam

 

Have a special kind of greed to hear the pastimes of Krsna, and

hear with the eagerness of Pariksit Maharaja who heard for only

seven days. He had no

time to follow the other processes; he only heard. What became

of him? He went to Goloka Vrndavana, with the mood of the gopis

whom he followed. In his Sri Brhat Bhagavatamrtam Srila Sanatana

Gosvami relates in brief the essence of all that Pariksit

Maharaja heard from Sukadeva Gosvami and then told his mother.

 

Pariksit Maharaja told her, "Although Krsna is like your

grandfather or grandfather-in-law, you should not see Him in

this way. See Him as your most beloved." Generally a son cannot

speak to his mother like this. Kunti also has this mood, as does

Draupadi, but they never disclosed it, otherwise

foolish, ignorant persons would have laughed. Pariksit Maharaja

is telling his mother, "Mother, don't think that He is the

Supreme Personality of

Godhead or your grandfather or grandfather-in-law. Always think

of Him as your most beloved, the preyasi of the gopis." Srila

Sanatana Gosvami has revealed this.

 

You should hear all these sweet and powerful pastimes of Krsna.

They are like Krsna. If you are very attached to hearing

hari-katha with love and

affection, then Krsna Himself, in the form of this hari-katha,

will enter your hearts and purify everything. These kathas will

show you all the

pastimes of Krsna in your hearts. They will manifest there.

 

Therefore, do pranama to the place where hari-katha is going on.

Do pranama to those who are hearing, to the person who is

speaking, and to the one who has managed things so that the

hari-katha can take place. Try to do pranama to all of them and

serve them, and then hari-katha will come into your heart.

 

Mahaprabhu then began to smile a little and said, "Oh, go on, go

on." This is the platform of bhakti. What kind of bhakti?

Raganuga bhakti. This is the essence of all bhakti.

 

prabhu kahe, "eho haya, age kaha ara"

raya kahe, "prema-bhakti sarva-sadhya-sara"

 

[sripad Aranya Maharaja reads the Bhaktivedanta purport:] "At

this point Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, 'This is alright, but

still you can speak more on the subject.' Ramananda Raya

replied, 'Prema-bhakti, ecstatic love for the Supreme

Personality of Godhead, is the essence of all perfection.'"

 

[srila Narayana Maharaja:] They have given evidence from

Padyavali, which was written by Srila Rupa Gosvamipada:

 

nanopacara-krta-pujanam arta-bandhoh

premnaiva bhakta-hrdayam sukha-vidrutam syat

yavat ksud asti jathare jaratha pipasa

tavat sukhaya bhavato nanu bhaksya-peye

 

[sripad Aranya Maharaja reads the translation:] "Ramananda Raya

continued, 'As long as there is hunger and thirst, eating and

drinking make one feel very happy. Similarly, when the Lord is

worshiped with pure love, transcendental bliss is awakened

within the heart of the devotee."

 

[srila Narayana Maharaja:] If there is no love and affection,

and you are worshiping Krsna with sixteen different types of

paraphernalia, Krsna will

not accept your worship. And if you have no paraphernalia to

offer and give only one drop of water or only a leaf of tulasi

with so much love and

affection, He will be satisfied. Even if you do not offer any

water or tulasi but you tell Him, "O Krsna, I am Yours and You

are mine", this will suffice. We should therefore try to follow

all these things.

 

Typist: Srimati Kanaka Manjari devi dasi

Editor: Srimati Vicitra devi dasi