If this were my last post just before leaving my body...

[krsna 3]

I'd beg forgiveness for any offenses committed knowingly or unknowingly to all the assembled devotees and thank everyone for this wonderful opportunity to put mind,intelligence and heart into bhakti-cyberspace.

Hare Krishna

Krsna das

 

***************************************

 

 

<font color="red"> Last words of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta </font color>

 

 

His Divine Grace Sri Srimad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Maharaj the celebrated Acharya (Spiritual Head) of the Gaudiya Vaisnavas spoke the following few lines as His Message just a few days (23rd December, 1936) before His passing away from this mortal world :

 

 

"I have most probably given many people troubles in the mind. Some of them might have thought about me that I am their enemy because I was obliged to speak the plain truth for service and devotion towards the Absolute Godhead. I have given them all those troubles only for the reason that they may turn their face towards the Personality of Godhead without any desire for gain and with unalloyed devotion. I hope some day or other they may understand me rightly."

 

"I advise all to preach the teachings of Rupa-Raghunath (disciples of Lord Chaitanya) with all energy and resources. Our ultimate goal shall be to become the dust of the lotus feet of Sree Sree Rupa and Raghunath Goswamins. You should all work conjointly under the guidance of your spiritual master with a view to serve the Absolute Knowledge, the Personality of Godhead. You should live somehow or other without any quarrel in this mortal world only for the service of Godhead. Do not please give up the service of Godhead in spite of all dangers, all criticisms and all discomforts. Do not be disappointed for most people in the world do not serve the Personality of Godhead; do not give up your own service which is your everything and all, neither reject the process of chanting and hearing of the transcendental Holy Name of Godhead. You should always chant the transcendental Name of Godhead with patience and forbearance like a tree and humbleness like a straw."

 

"We wish that this mass of our body of flesh and blood may be sacrificed at the altar of preaching the Samkirtan Movement (congregational chanting of the Holy Name of Godhead) propagated by Lord Chaitanya. We are not desirous of becoming a hero of work or a reformer of religion, but our reality may be identified with the dust of the Lotus Feet of Sree Rupa and Raghunath for that is our everything. The flow of the transcendental tide of the attraction of devotion will never be blocked, and you with your all energy shall devote yourself for fulfilling the desire of Sreela Bhakti Vinode Thakur. There are many amongst you who are well qualified and able workers. We have no other desire whatsoever."

 

"There are certainly many difficulties while we are in this mortal world but it is not our business simply to be overwhelmed with those difficulties or to try to overcome them only. We must know even during the duration of our present life, as to what we shall gain after overcoming all those difficulties of life and what shall be the mode of our permanent existence. We must make an adjustment of all things that evoke our love and hatred and for those that we want and do not want. Attachment and detachment of this mortal world will engage us more and more as we become farther and farthest from the Lotus Feet of Sree Krishna. When we are able to transcend the position of attachments and detachments of this mortal world and be attracted with the Holy Name of Godhead, it is then only we can understand the import of the transcendental service of Sree Krishna the Personality of Godhead. At the first instance the subject Krishna is startling and perplexing to us. Every one who is called by the name 'man' is more or less struggling knowingly or unknowingly to eliminate those invading elements what are baffling our conception of eternal need. It is our only duty to enter into the kingdom of eternal need."

 

"We have no love or hatred for any one in this world. All arrangements made in this world are but temporary. There is, therefore, unavoidable necessity for that ultimate need for every one in this world. You should attain the transcendental loving service of the objective, being situated in concerted action for that one aim. Let there be a constant flow of the ideas and thoughts as conceived by Rupa Goswami and His followers. We shall not at any time show our slightest dejection for the seven tongued "Samkirtan" movement. If we have undaunted faith in it we shall then only achieve all perfections. You should all therefore preach with fearlessness and with utmost energy the message of Rupa and Raghunath under the guidance of the followers of Sree Rupa."

 

(Translated from Bengali by

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and published in his "Back to Godhead" magazine Vol. 1. 1944)

[krsna 3]

So what are my chances

of becoming a fully Krsna-realized

in this one lifetime?

 

One in a billion,maybe more ...

When I'm just a sitting duck for maya.

She picks me off every time,

Covering me over

or throwing me in a tail spin spell

of dazzling lights in the shadows of illusions.

 

Lord,better I try going to the moon,

my odds are better,eh?

[gHari 0]

 

It's all about desire. Watch the desires, purify them, and become the one in a million. How hard can it be? It is, after all, who we really are. Shake off the shackles of mundane attachment and get real. How hard can it be?

 

[AncientMariner 0]

Empirical odds mean little when it comes to grace of spiritual master. You of all people should know the dangers of applying empirical speculation to process of understanding Krishna. /images/graemlins/smile.gif Just kidding. Just keep chanting and following words of spiritual master and your success is assured.

 

Srila Prabhupada

"Even a moments association with a pure devotee - all success!"

 

Revitananda

"Does that apply to reading the words of a pure devotee?"

 

Srila Prabhupada

"Yes"

 

Revitananda:

"Even a little association with your books has the same effect?"

 

Srila Prabhupada:

"Effect. of course it requires both things. One must be very eager to take it."

 

(Room Conversation, 13/12/70)

[vanamali 1]

ananyacetaah: satatam yo maam smarati nityasah:

tasyaaham sulabhah: paartha nityayuktasya yoginah:

 

I am easily attainable, Partha, by that ever steadfast yogi who always thinks of Me and whose mind does not go elsewhere.

 

-------------

 

Even worrying counts! So you are doing really good! Jai Sri Krishna!

 

 

[Guest guest]

Lord Kapila explains Self Realization in the 3rd canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam.

 

3.26

 

The Personality of Godhead, Kapila, continued: My dear mother, now I shall describe unto you the different categories of the Absolute Truth, knowing which any person can be released from the influence of the modes of material nature.

 

 

Knowledge is the ultimate perfection of self-realization. I shall explain that knowledge unto you by which the knots of attachment to the material world are cut.

 

 

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Supreme Soul, and He has no beginning. He is transcendental to the material modes of nature and beyond the existence of this material world. He is perceivable everywhere because He is self-effulgent, and by His self-effulgent luster the entire creation is maintained.

 

 

The material ego springs up from the mahat-tattva, which evolved from the Lord's own energy. The material ego is endowed predominantly with active power of three kinds — good, passionate and ignorant. It is from these three types of material ego that the mind, the senses of perception, the organs of action, and the gross elements evolve.

 

 

(very interesting, the gross elements and the senses and the mind evolve from the Ahankara, the material or false ego, what does this mean ? it means that this material world is a product of our vision and understanding, in reality everything is God it is through misidentifying everything that the material world evolves from our false idea of it, in other words the material world exists because we think it does, we see the world as seperate objects, in reality everything is fully God, our senses, our mind, our body, matter, all is God, but our false identifying of these things create the material world, when we stop this false identifying then we live in the spiritual world, same place, different vision.)

 

 

 

The threefold ahankara, the source of the gross elements, the senses and the mind, is identical with them because it is their cause. It is known by the name of Sankarsana, who is directly Lord Ananta with a thousand heads.

 

 

(The false ego is identical with the material world because it is in fact causing at every moment the "material world", but in fact even that is God as well.)

 

 

This false ego is characterized as the doer, as an instrument and as an effect. It is further characterized as serene, active or dull according to how it is influenced by the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance.

 

 

From the false ego of goodness, another transformation takes place. From this evolves the mind, whose thoughts and reflections give rise to desire.

 

 

The mind of the living entity is known by the name of Lord Aniruddha, the supreme ruler of the senses. He possesses a bluish-black form resembling a lotus flower growing in the autumn. He is found slowly by the yogis.

 

 

(we are not the mind, the mind is actually God, that truth is learned slowly, we must stop identifying our SELF with the mind.)

 

 

 

Therefore, through devotion, detachment and advancement in spiritual knowledge acquired through concentrated devotional service, one should contemplate that Supersoul as present in this very body although simultaneously apart from it.

 

 

 

3.27

 

A liberated soul realizes the Absolute Personality of Godhead, who is transcendental and who is manifest as a reflection even in the false ego. He is the support of the material cause and He enters into everything. He is absolute, one without a second, and He is the eyes of the illusory energy.

 

 

The presence of the Supreme Lord can be realized just as the sun is realized first as a reflection on water, and again as a second reflection on the wall of a room, although the sun itself is situated in the sky.

 

PURPORT by A.C. Bhaktivedanta

 

The example given herewith is perfect. The sun is situated in the sky, far, far away from the surface of the earth, but its reflection can be seen in a pot of water in the corner of a room. The room is dark, and the sun is far away in the sky, but the sun's reflection on the water illuminates the darkness of the room. A pure devotee can realize the presence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in everything by the reflection of His energy. In the Visnu Puruna it is stated that as the presence of fire is understood by heat and light, so the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although one without a second, is perceived everywhere by the diffusion of His different energies. It is confirmed in the Isopanisad that the presence of the Lord is perceived everywhere by the liberated soul, just as the sunshine and the reflection can be perceived everywhere although the sun is situated far away from the surface of the globe.

 

 

 

My devotee actually becomes self-realized by My unlimited causeless mercy, and thus, when freed from all doubts, he steadily progresses towards his destined abode, which is directly under the protection of My spiritual energy of unadulterated bliss. That is the ultimate perfectional goal of the living entity. After giving up the present material body, the mystic devotee goes to that transcendental abode and never comes back.

 

 

 

3.28

 

When the mind is thus completely freed from all material contamination and detached from material objectives, it is just like the flame of a lamp. At that time the mind is actually dovetailed with that of the Supreme Lord and is experienced as one with Him because it is freed from the interactive flow of the material qualities.

 

 

Thus situated in the highest transcendental stage, the mind ceases from all material reaction and becomes situated in its own glory, transcendental to all material conceptions of happiness and distress. At that time the yogi realizes the truth of his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He discovers that pleasure and pain as well as their interactions, which he attributed to his own self, are actually due to the false ego, which is a product of ignorance.

 

 

The blazing fire is different from the flames, from the sparks and from the smoke, although all are intimately connected because they are born from the same blazing wood.

 

 

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is known as Parambrahma, is the seer. He is different from the jiva soul, or individual living entity, who is combined with the senses, the five elements and consciousness.

 

 

A yogi should see the same soul in all manifestations, for all that exists is a manifestation of different energies of the Supreme. In this way the devotee should see all living entities without distinction. That is realization of the Supreme Soul.

 

 

As fire is exhibited in different forms of wood, so, under different conditions of the modes of material nature, the pure spirit soul manifests itself in different bodies.

 

 

 

Thus the yogi can be in the self-realized position after conquering the insurmountable spell of maya, who presents herself as both the cause and effect of this material manifestation and is therefore very difficult to understand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.29

 

As the chariot of air carries an aroma from its source and immediately catches the sense of smell, similarly, one who constantly engages in devotional service, in Krsna consciousness, can catch the Supreme Soul, who is equally present everywhere.

 

 

I am present in every living entity as the Supersoul. If someone neglects or disregards that Supersoul everywhere and engages himself in the worship of the Deity in the temple, that is simple imitation.

 

 

One who worships the Deity of Godhead in the temples but does not know that the Supreme Lord, as Paramatma is situated in every living entity's heart, must be in ignorance and is compared to one who offers oblations into the ashes.

 

PURPORT

 

It is stated clearly herein that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His plenary expansion of Supersoul, is present in all living entities. The living entities have 8,400,000 different kinds of bodies, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is living in every body both as the individual soul and as the Supersoul. Since the individual soul is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, in that sense the Lord is living in every body, and, as Supersoul, the Lord is also present as a witness. In both cases the presence of God in every living entity is essential. Therefore persons who profess to belong to some religious sect but who do not feel the presence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in every living entity, and everywhere else, are in the mode of ignorance.

 

 

 

One who offers Me respect but is envious of the bodies of others and is therefore a separatist never attains peace of mind, because of his inimical behaviour towards other living entities.

 

 

My dear mother, even if he worships with proper rituals and paraphernalia, a person who is ignorant of My presence in all living entities never pleases Me by the worship of My Deities in the temple.

 

 

Performing his prescribed duties, one should worship the Deity of the Supreme Personality of Godhead until one realises My presence in his own heart and in the hearts of all other living entities as well.

 

 

As the blazing fire of death, I cause great fear to whoever makes the least discrimination between himself and other living entities because of a differential outlook.

 

 

Therefore, through charitable gifts and attention, as well as through friendly behaviour and by viewing all to be alike, one should propitiate Me, who abide in all creatures as their very self.

[krsna 3]

THE THOUGHTS OF LESSER MINDS

 

Srila Thakur Bhaktivinode’s Tattva-viveka 1.27

 

 

 

[Certain philosophers say that] the conditioned soul should seek to please God by performing pious works and acquiring knowledge for the benefit of the whole world.

 

Bhaktivinode’s Commentary

 

The followers of this religion have no power to worship God selflessly. In general, their idea is that by cultivating fruitive work and speculative philosophy one should work to make improvements in the material world and thus please God. By building hospitals and schools and performing other philan-thropic works, they try to do good to the world and thus please God. Worship of God by performing fruitive work (the process of karma) and by acquiring knowledge (the process of jñ&#257;na) is very important to them. They have no power to understand pure devotional service (the pro-cess of suddha-bhakti), which is free of fruitive work and philosophical speculation.

 

Worship of God done out of a sense of duty is never natural or unselfish. “God has been kind to us, and therefore we should worship Him.” These are the thoughts of lesser minds. Why is this not a good way to worship God? Because as a consequence one may easily develop the mentality that, “If God is not kind to me then I will not worship Him.” One will have the impure, selfish desire to receive special favors from God in the future. If one desires only that God should kindly allow one to serve Him, that is fine. But the religion under discussion does not see things in that way. This religion sees God’s kindness in terms of one’s enjoyment of a happy life in this material world.

—

[krsna 3]

THE LIVING MRIDANGAS OF SRI CHAITANYA

 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada

 

The following is an excerpt from a lecture given by

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur

on the

occasion of sending his first sannyasi preachers to the West :

 

All persons of this world are superior to us in every way as far as this world is concerned. Such material matters are not commodities that are to be coveted by us. We are merely beggars carrying the triple staff of renuncia-tion and devoted to the chanting of the words of Sri Chaitanya. We have no more, nor any higher desirable object than the pleasure of serving sri-hari-guru-vaisnavas.

 

We are not the operators of the instrument; we are only the instruments. We must always bear this in mind. The triple bhiksus, tridandi- sannyasis, are the living mrdraga drums of Sri Chaitanya. We must constantly give forth our music at the lotus feet of Sri Guru. We should practice the function of the peripatetic preacher, parivrajakacarya, of carrying aloft the victorious banner of the commands of the divine Sri Gaurasundar by constant submis-sion to Sri Guru and the vaisnavas, fixing our eye on the pole-star of the heard transcen-dental voice. We must always bear in mind that we have been initiated in the vow of peri-patetic preacher for the sole purpose of pro-mulgating the heart’s desire of Sri Guru and Gauranga.

 

If we are constantly inspired with the duty of discoursing about the truth un-der the guidance of Sri Guru, then no han-kering after traveling, nor any veiled form of desire other than the chanting of hari-nama will ever strike any terror in our hearts.

 

— Lecture given in Madras, 18 March 1933

[krsna 3]

 

/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[Guest guest]

Is it because the idol maker made them like that?

[krsna 3]

 

/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[krsna 3]

 

Once upon a time, seeing that her maidservant was engaged in different household duties, mother Yasoda personally took charge of churning butter. And while she churned butter, she sang the childhood pastimes of Krsna and enjoyed thinking of her son.

 

The end of her sari was tightly wrapped while she churned, and on account of her intense love for her son, milk automatically dripped from her breasts which moved as she labored very hard, churning with two hands. The bangles and bracelets on her hands tinkled as they touched each other, and her earrings and breasts shook. There were drops of perspiration on her face, and the flower garland which was on her head scattered here and there. Before this picturesque sight, Lord Krsna appeared as a child. He felt hungry, and out of love for His mother, He wanted her to stop churning. He indicated that her first business was to let Him suck her breast and then churn butter later.

 

Mother Yasoda took her son on her lap and pushed the nipples of her breasts into His mouth. And while Krsna was sucking the milk, she was smiling, enjoying the beauty of her child's face. Suddenly, the milk which was on the oven began to boil over. Just to stop the milk from spilling, mother Yasoda at once put Krsna aside and went to the oven. <font color="red"> Left in that state by His mother, Krsna became very angry, and His lips and eyes became red in rage. He pressed His teeth and lips, and taking up a piece of stone, He immediately broke the butter pot. He took butter out of it, and with false tears in His eyes, He began to eat the butter in a secluded place. </font color>

 

[krsna 3]

Srimad Bhag. Canto 10

 

 

 

Chapter 55

 

(25) Being showered by the gods above, of praise scattering flowers, was he by his wife traveling through the sky brought to the city [of Dvârakâ]. (26) The inner palace most exquisite, o King, crowded with hundreds of women was by Him with His wife entered from the sky like a cloud with lightning. (27-28) Seeing Him dark as a cloud, dressed in yellow silk, with long arms, reddish eyes, a pleasing smile, His charming countenance; His nicely decorated lotuslike face and the bluish-black curling locks became the women, thinking He was Krishna, bashful and took they off to hide themselves here and there. (29) By and by realized the ladies slight differences in appearance and came they delighted and surprised near Him there together with [Rati,] that jewel among women. (30) The breasts of the sweet-voiced and dark-eyed Rukminî, remembering her lost son, there then flowed of affection.

 

[vanamali 1]

Oh His eyes are red like lotus petals...

 

If Radha's and Krishna's eyes are red from lack of sleep then...

 

...but I'll say no more!

[Pankaja_Dasa 1]

 

 

I remember I read in Ramayana Lord Ramachandra's eyes were red from the side of His eyes. This is to say He is Lord Vishnu Himself.

[vanamali 1]

There is a Telugu song on Venkateshwara that says that Alamelumanga (Padmavati)'s eyes are red because Her spear-like gaze pierced Govinda so deeply as to draw blood, but was suddenly drawn away, and thus the corners of Her eyes are red.

[krsna 3]

Krishna explains this to Uddhava:

 

"The material body certainly moves under the control of supreme destiny and therefore must continue to live along with the senses and vital air as long as one's karma is in effect. A self-realized soul, however, who is awakened to the absolute reality and who is thus highly situated in the perfect stage of yoga, will never again surrender to the material body and its manifold manifestations, knowing it to be just like a body visualized in a dream.

 

All results of fruitive work have been arranged within this world by Me, the supreme creator acting as the force of time. Thus one sometimes rises up toward the surface of this mighty river of the modes of nature and sometimes again submerges.

 

A person exhibiting qualities such as self-control is understood to be predominantly in the mode of goodness. Similarly, a passionate person is recognized by his lust, and one in ignorance is recognized by qualities such as anger."

[madhavachari 0]

What is fully realized?

[theist 1]

I can help with a piece of this. This refers to one who has come into full realization of himself, the Lord and his relationship to the Lord as loving servant.

 

This is not refering to theoretical knowledge which does not go beyond the intellectual plane.

 

Also while one is growing into the fully realized state from the theoretical he may sometimes have flashes of realiztion and then descend back again into a theoretical state. This is a mixed level, a level of transition. Once one is fixed in the realized state he is no longer moveable or shakable by the happenings of the mayic world. It has its dangers also because one may start acting like a fully realized soul and fooling others to enjoy some cheap adoration. That will interuppt the process.

 

 

 

A partially realized state is also seen in some transcendentalists who come to the realization that they are spirit but who haven't yet realized their position as the eternal servant of the Lord. This is an incomplete state. Once one becomes fixed in realization that he is the eternal servant of the Lord, that is fully realized. But even then there are varieties of relatioships one can have in loving relationship with Krsna such as becoming His intimate friend and others.

 

The point I want to make is "fully realized" is not a stagnate condition it is rather a dynamic one filled with infinite varities and that is because Krsna Himself is dynamic and infinite.

 

Hare Krsna

[madhavachari 0]

Yes, nice answer.

[krsna 3]

 

Die To Live

 

by

 

Srila B.R.Sridhara Swami

 

Die to live means sacrifice or seva (service). Seva means death. Seva means to give one’s own self for a particular cause, for Krishna. That this mad, mundane concocted self should be saved is not a very laudable thing. It is a mortal thing, and the depot of many reactions. So one should get rid of this centre as soon as possible, and enter into the land of confidence, goodness, fairness and sweetness. Try to enter that land with a sincere attitude. Your campaign must be partial. Taking one step forward and three steps back won’t do. There should be no such hesitation. You are finite and you want to get the advantage of the infinite? You are so small, and do you think that by sacrificing only a part of your smallness your aspiration for the whole can be fulfilled? Is it reasonable to expect such? No, it is not so easy.

 

The Dust Is In Our Eyes

 

Our own tendency for exploitation and renunciation creates so many units of this plane, like so much dust to blind our eyes so we cannot see Him. Kanaka pasyanti kamini mayayo jagat. Those who are lustful try to find out where is a beautiful lady. Pasyanti dhana mayo jagat. The greedy people always busy their minds with the thought. “Oh, there is Birla, there is Tata, there is Ford,” who are the moneyed men in this world. They only think about moneyed men because they love wealth the most. Dhara mayo jagat and khira prayanti narayano jagat.

 

Those who are liberated from the outer external influences may find, “Oh, I am in the kingdom of Narayan, who is the support and guardian of the whole world. We see His hand everywhere. Without His direction nothing can move.” They may boast that, “I have got such power, I have got such beauty, I have got wealth,” but it is all a false show. The real backing spirit is Narayan, the all pervading, all knowing, all good principle. And the temporary external plane is the killing aspect of existence. It is only our prejudices of so many types that have captured us.

 

The Whole Thing Depends On Sadhu

 

So by whatever process we approach the Lord the tenor of our movement should be, if we want a guarantee that it will actually be for the satisfaction of Krishna, that my whole effort depends upon the genuine character of the agent through whom I am rendering my services. If the agent is a false man then my whole energy is wasted. But if he is a real agent then I must be the gainer through him. If I connect with Vaikuntha through him then my actions will be valued.

 

Otherwise we may be the loser, aparadha (offender). Nama aparadha, seva aparadha, archana apradha – there are so many aparadhas. It is also written in the scriptures that if service is not done properly, then we are sure to commit some offences against the Deity. Either we will get satisfaction or trouble. Aradhana is the proper thing, and the hateful handling of the holy things is aparadha. It all depends on the satisfaction of whom it is we are serving. So we must be careful.

 

Handle With Care

 

We must not be overconfident of our previous acquisition – so much I have acquired, my progress is so much. I must not be satisfied with my self-certificate, self-satisfaction, the certificate of my own making. Mahaprabhu Himself said, “I am taking the name, I am showing so many tears in the name of Krishna. But why? It is all a false show na prema gandho ‘sti. My crying is only a show to canvas others to see what a great devotee I am.” So much you are to disbelieve your own self that you are a devotee. In this way we must be very careful, very, very careful!

 

Both Sides Gone

 

Kotis vapi maha mune. Krsnadas Kaviraj Goswami and Narottam Das Thakura were seeing, “The whole world is absolved from sin, but I am neglected, I am left as the only exception. I am so low and ill fated that I am rejected from that most benevolent infinite lila. I alone am rejected. I could not utilize this great fortunate wave.” This should be the real tendency of a genuine vaisnava who has actually come in relation with the infinite. Whenever the finite comes in touch with the infinite his temperament cannot be otherwise. “I am empty, I don’t get anything”, that should be the temperament.

 

I feel emptiness within me. I can’t get the goal. My life is frustrated. Neither do I get a drop of grace from the Lord, and the World, of course, I have left. So both sides gone. I have no alternative. O Lord. If you don’t accept me then I am undone. Please, just make me the servant of the servant of the servant. Give the remotest connection to me. Graciously give the most distant connection of Yourself to me. Don’t leave me, My Lord. I cannot tolerate the craving for You. This heart-felt, heart rendering prayer must come to the vaisnava devotee of the Lord. Onlookers will find that he has got a peep of the fortune. The charm for the world outside is fully eliminated for that person, from the core of his heart, and in the near future his heart will be filled with the nectar of the grace of Krsna.

 

Noble Lady Of Devotion

 

Bhukti, mukti spriha yavat pisaci na nivartate. The desire for enjoyment, and also for renunciation or mukti, no engagement, are compared to two ghosts (pisaci). So how do you dare to express that bhakti, real love for Krishna, will descend in your heart? Those two demons are there, and do you think the noble lady of devotion will come and sit on the same bench with those demons? How can you expect that? Have you freed yourself from all those nasty things that you dare to invite the lady of Krsna bhakti to come?

 

Krishna Bhakti And Varnashram

 

Krishna bhajan is independent of any external form of life. Mahaprabhu says, na ‘ham vipro na ca narapati na vaisya na sudro …. Gopi bhartu . kamalayor dasa dasanu dasa. Varnashrama dharma is just the beginning, then gradually improving we are to go up to the absolute service of Krishna. Without consideration of any law or form, thinking only of service, whatever we do or think or speak, everything should be done for the service of Krsna. That is the standard of real devotion. And mere form may be a little favourable, but not always. The spirit, even crossing every formality, is what is required of us. Our absolute attraction for the service, the beauty does not allow law to have any status. In the beginning they have got some sort of utility.

 

But when a little advanced they do not c are for anything. Only sadhu sanga, adherence to the saint of similar type and a little better. Those who are on the path of raga bhajana, divine love and attraction, find that the only way, the only thing which can guide us is spontaneous desire, laulyam atram mulyam ekalam. The only price is earnest desire and nothing else. Krsna bhakti rasabavita mati, murti kriyatam yadi kuto ‘pi labhyate. Ramananda Raya says to Mahaprabhu, “Anywhere you find it, try to purchase it at any price.” The pure inclination towards the service of Krishna, the innermost tendency to want Krishna, to get Him, the earnest desire to have Him – a drop of that desire for the divine attraction, anywhere you find it, one must try to purchase it at any price. You may acquire it anywhere. It may be from a brahmana or from anyone. It does not matter about the form.

 

Just Try To Jump.

 

Kiba ivpra kiba nyasi sudra keno haya, yei krsna tattva vetti sei guru haya. Wherever there is a drop of that divine love, try to get it. And what is the price? Earnest desire for it. No other price but earnest desire, laulyam. It is not to be purchased by any money, or anything else which is acquired by so many formal practices in crores of births. Substance is necessary and not form. Form may be adopted only as much as it may connect me with that higher thing. So, sarva dharman parityajya all phases of duty you perceive as perfect, give up. At once try to jump in Me, into the ocean of nectar. I am the ocean of nectar.” Try to jump. That is the direct teaching. So our addiction to this or that, to vanaprastha, sannyas, or grhastha has got very negligent value. But the earnest desire, that is to be acquired by any means. That is bhakti proper.

 

Rain From The Almanac

 

Others try to know about Krishna from the scriptures (sastra). Ramakrishna once remarked that in the almanac it is written that this year so much rain is expected. But it does not mean that if we please the almanac a drop of water will ooze out of it. So the sastra is something like that. The sastras say do this and do that. But that does not mean the sastra will give us the result, too. They give direction, and as much as we practice we get.

 

[Guest guest]

This phrase in the last paragraph, does anyone know what it could mean? Six Goswamis plus Sri Caitanya?

 

[stonehearted 0]

Why not do so anyway? After all, how can you be sure you'll be around tomorrow?

[krsna 3]

Viraha Astaka

 

Eight Prayers in Separation From My Spiritual Master

by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

December 1958

recently translated and published

from the Bengali into English by Dasaratha-suta dasa.

 

First Octet

 

The Flood of Krsna Prema

 

1) O Srila Prabhupada! You personally suffer

to see the suffering

of the fallen conditioned souls.

On this anniversary of your separation

I am utterly despondent.

 

2) "The ocean of mercy was previously held back by a dam,

but Lord Nityananda personally cut a channel in it

and thereby released the outpouring flood

of pure ecstatic love of God. "

( from Locana's dasa's song Nitai Guna mani)

 

3) Those devotees to whom the responsiblity was given

to continue spreading this flood of love

somehow became overpowered by Maya

and were thus reduced to simply performing

ritualistic Hindu ceremonies

for the benefit of the materialists.

 

4) Lord Nityananda's inundation of prema was thus completely stopped

by those known as jati-gosai (caste gosvamis)

But then you personally came, O Master

to open wide the floodgates once again.

 

5) Again you engulfed everyone

in the deluge of pure divine love-

even such a low, wretched, fallen

and sinful soul as myself.

 

6) On the strength of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's command

you sent all of your servants

as spiritual masters, going from door to door,

just to deliver the fallen souls.

 

7) The devotees were enthusiastically preaching everywhere-

from the oceans to the Himalaya mountains,

But now that you have gone from our midst

everything today has become very dark.

 

8) O Srila Prabhupada! You personally suffer

to see the suffering

of the fallen conditioned souls.

On this day of your separation

I am utterly despondent.

 

Second Octet

 

The Merciful Flood Has Been Stopped

 

1) Just as Advaita Prabhu had prayed fervently

and thus induced Sri Gauranga to descend,

so did your father, Bhaktivinoda Thakura,

pray for you to incarnate.

 

2) Due to Bhaktivinoda's eagerness, O Master,

you came and proclaimed to everyone

that India is the most holy land

of the Lord's divine pastimes.

 

3) "One who has taken birth in this land

of Bharata-bhumi (India) should first

make his own life successful and then work

for the benefit of all other people" (C.C Adi 9.41)

 

4) This is the most significant message of Lord Caitanya

that you boldly preached everywhere.

But now in your absence, O Master,

everything has fallen into darkness.

 

5) The overflowing ocean of your compassion

has once again been dammed up.

This makes me feel as if a spear of great misery

has indeed pierced my heart.

 

6) Without Caitanya Mahaprabhu's message being spread

there is only confusion and upheaval in the movement.

Seeing this situation, all the Vaisnavas are also feeling

overwhelmed with the pangs of your separation.

 

7) The spirit souls have once again been captured by Maya

and plunged into absolute darkness.

Desperately searching for relief, they are simply perishing

in a fathomless ocean of anxiety.

 

8) O Srila Prabhupada! You personally suffer

to see the suffering

of the fallen conditioned souls.

On this day of your separation

I am utterly despondent.

 

Third Octet

 

Practical Chanting and Preaching

 

1) You instructed everyone you met

to chant the holy name of Lord Krsna.

You showed the example of continually reciting

the maha-mantra into their ears.

 

2) You empowered everyone with the qualification

to further distribute that holy name

But now, by the influence of Maya,

there is only darkness on all sides.

 

3) The souls who are truly attached to worshiping the Lord

always sing and dance in joyful sankirtana.

Following in the footsteps of their spiritual master,

they deliver the whole world.

 

4) But those who have no such qualification perform nirjana bhajana

or so-called confidential worship in a solitary place.

Thus acting whimsically, all of them actually remain absorbed

in personal sense gratification.

 

5) [As stated in the Srimad Bhagavatam 10,33,30]:

"An ordinary soul should never imitate the activities

of the Supreme Lord, even in his mind."

According to these instructions in devotional service,

the unqualified imitators are ruined.

 

6) You preached "utility is the principle"-

that is, one should act without attachment

and use anything that is deemed appropriate

in the devotional service of the Lord.

 

7) In such detached devotional service to Lord Krsna

there would be a temple established in every house

But now just the opposite situation

is apparent everywhere.

 

8) O Srila Prabhupada! You personally suffer

to see the suffering

of the fallen conditioned souls.

On this day of your separation

I am utterly despondent.

 

Fourth Octet

 

The Essential Purport Neglected

 

1) Everything regarding material prosperity as well as mystic perfection

is fully present in your transcendental message:

"Because the residents of Vraja have life,

therefore they engage in preaching work." (Dusta Mana verse)

 

2) The "resolute intelligence" ("vyavasayatmika buddhi")

explained by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti

[in his commentary to Bhagavad Gita 2.41]

is now spoiled since your disciples have become ensnared

in the bewildering noose of Maya.

 

3) Those disciples who were irresolute in performing

devotional service according to your instructions

have now divided your mission in many factions.

It appears that the tigress of ambition

for material names and fame

has appeared and personally provoked this upheaval.

 

4) The essential purport of your message

obviously did not enter their ears.

O where will I get the strength

to perform this hari-nama-sankirtana?

 

5) To chant the holy name of the Lord

is the explicit command

of my worshipful spiritual master.

I could never honestly neglect that order

 

6) Your greatest acclaim is that you propagated

the topmost religious culture

Anyone who accepts the holy name from you

becomes spiritually qualified.

 

7) If all those who attained this qualification

were to go out and make disciples

then the miserable conditioned souls would all be delivered

from this world of birth and death.

 

8) O Srila Prabhupada! You personally suffer

to see the suffering

of the fallen conditioned souls.

On this day of your separation

I am utterly despondent.

 

Fifth Octet

 

The Disciple's Empowerment is Lost

 

1) The greatest mantra of all, consisting of thirty-two letters, is:

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

People who are possessed by gross foolishness refuse to chant it.

 

2) Your so-called disciple, the jackal named Ananta Vasudeva,

disobeyed your final instructions to keep the mission united,

and thereby created a scandalous fiasco.

 

The result of this philosophical deviation is evident to this day

as imitative sahajiyas are being worshiped as gurus in your

temples.

 

3) Is there a single temple to be found

where your instructions are still being followed?

As it is said: "punar musiko bhava"-

Everyone has "again become a mouse."

 

4) The lion's food has been stolen away

by the deceptive tricks of the jackal

Now caught in Maya's mighty clutches

everyone is reduced to wailing and weeping.

 

5) O Master! If your are merciful to us one again,

then even though we are trapped here

on the shores of the ocean of death,

we will finally behold a change for the better.

 

6) Then once again we can blissfully remember

the holy name of Krsna,

and once again we will have firm faith

in your "Vaikuntha messages."

 

7) Once again you will make us dance

in the pure holy name of Krsna.

thus you will personally dispel

all this confusion caused by Maya.

 

8) O Srila Prabhupada! You personally suffer

to see the suffering

of the fallen conditioned souls.

On this day of your separation

I am utterly despondent.

 

Sixth Octet

The Preaching Mission is Scattered

 

1) "Continue dancing, singing and performing sankirtana

in the association of devotees." ( C.C. Adi 7.92)

These words spoken by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu

are especially nectarine.

 

2) If we have complete faith in these

instructions given by you, our spiritual master,

then in the performance of sankirtana

actual love for Krsna will be aroused in us.

 

3) Without love of God, our tiny intelligence

only becomes entangled in the network of Maya's delusions

Because no one actually attained prema,

now there has been great upheaval in your mission.

 

4) The whole world has become filled with impersonalists,

and the Vaisnavas have given up

the work of preaching that was entrusted unto them

and have simply gone off to perform solitary worship.

 

5) The Vaisnava's were famous as "patita pavana" ( deliverers of the

fallen)

but now this title has fallen into disgrace.

Countless numbers of your disciples

have been forced to leave your movement.

 

6) At such an inauspicious time, O Master,

what can be done to repair the damage that is done?

The beautiful garden that you had so carefully planted

is now parched and withered away.

 

7) O Master, please awaken some good intelligence

in this insignificant disciple of yours

so that my firm faith in your transcendental message

may increase more and more.

 

8) O Srila Prabhupada! You personally suffer

to see the suffering

of the fallen conditioned souls.

On this day of your separation

I am utterly despondent.

 

Seventh Octet

Distributing the Pure Devotional Process

 

1) The most magnanimous incarnation of the Lord is Sri Krsna Caitanya.

Distributing the process of attaining love of God

by chanting the holy names of Krsna,

He thus blessed the entire universe.

 

2) O Master, you are the personification

of the transcendental message of Lord Caitanya.

You are the distributor of that message

to every town and village.

 

3) You sent your devotees to preach

in the faraway lands of the Western countries,

and you personally traveled all over India,

even to the South.

 

4) You preached the pure philosophy of Lord Gauranga

in such a way that intelligent persons could understand.

And you showed such great concern, O Master,

in convincing all you adversaries!

 

5) Lord Gauranga used many tricks just to engage

the conditioned souls in devotional service,

and you have also understood how to use

all those tricks perfectly well.

 

6) You understood time, place and circumstance,

and utilized everything as a strategy for preaching.

Although observing your activities with their very eyes.

those who are blind like owls and other creatures of the night

could not see your true purpose.

 

7) What will the Auls and the Sahajiyas

and the other nonsense groups ever understand?

And what will the sheep-like common people

or dry logicians ever understand?

 

8) O Srila Prabhupada! You personally suffer

to see the suffering

of the fallen conditioned souls.

On this day of your separation

I am utterly despondent.

 

Eighth Octet

If Only You would Come Again

 

1) Lord Caitanya's method of devotional service

is not performed in solitude.

You preached this again and again

to your own devotees.

 

2) Just as the Lord delivered Jagai and Madhai

out of His own causeless mercy,

you explained to everyone that this same method

of preaching work has to go on.

 

3) The world has now filled up

with many Jagais and Madhais to deliver.

Everyone is anxiously looking down the road

waiting for Caitanya-Nitai to come to their rescue.

 

4) If, at such a time as this,

you were to personally return to this world

and once more preach about all these things

the way you always used to do…

 

5) … If there were enthusiastic preaching activities

again taking place in every direction,

then all the people as before

would be stirred up in blissful excitement.

 

6) Your profound shouting would cause

the demons and atheists to flee,

and your narrations of Lord Caitanya's message

would fill the hearts of the innocent souls.

 

7) Again the whole world would be

excitedly bustling with good tidings;

but as it is, in your absence now

there is nothing of value anywhere.

 

8) O Srila Prabhupada! You personally suffer

to see the suffering

of the fallen conditioned souls.

On this day of your separation

I am utterly despondent.

 

9) O Master! My heart is broken in your absence.

This disciple named Abhay

has hereby revealed only a small token

of his wretched agony of separation.

 

[krsna 3]

 

BY: PRAGHOSA DASA

 

 

 

Dec 06, USA (SUN) — This article, written by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur, was taken from "Sri Bhaktivinoda Vani Vaibhava", compiled under the direct order of His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur by Sripada Sundarananda Vidyavinoda; English rendition produced and published by Isvara das.

 

 

[The following was published in Sajjana-toshani ("The Harmonist"), 15/1 and addresses the unhappy state of affairs in the house that Srila Prabhupada established some 40 years ago, a phenomenon that is a recurring theme in the lives of the great acharyas and devotees. We have all seen how shortly after the departure of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, quarrels and ambition erupted in his movement, which has since disintegrated. This happened likewise to the Gaudiya Math Society founded by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur. It happened also to the preaching mission of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur was a very powerful preacher and set a wave into motion that inundated Bengal with Krishna consciousness, but then suddenly, everything turned around, and so many opposing elements appeared, overwhelming his preaching efforts. In this autobiographical note, written as if it were a journal entry, Srila Bhaktivinoda explains the events that led him to withdrawing from preaching and taking to a solitary existence in abhajan-kutir. He reveals that his preaching had become ineffective to check the disturbances, and that he had become heavy hearted to see it. At last he went to Puri, and there had a revelation that was to console him and confirm that the only recourse under such circumstances is to constantly recite or sing the holy names, which alone can purify the hearts of the living entities so that they will become receptive once more to Krishna consciousness in a future lifetime.]

 

 

 

 

"Today we are sitting inside a bhajana-kutir at Sri Purushottama-kshetra. Why are we living in this faraway place, leaving the great city of Calcutta, which is full of people and learned communities? A long time ago, when we published this magazine Sajjana-toshani, I had a desire in my heart. I thought that the more this pure Vaishnava religion is spread through this magazine, the more the people of the world would benefit. We began to work with a free mind. Many educated gosvamis and babajis of Bengal came and pledged to help us. Some learned impersonalists joined us, and being overwhelmed by the beauty of devotional service, they began to help spread pure Vaishnavism. After hearing nice instructions regarding Vaishnavism, materialists also became attracted. Professional singers and players floated in the waves of pure hari-kirtan and considered themselves fully satisfied. Gradually many assemblies for chanting the holy names of Hari were established in villages and cities. In this way, the glories of pure Vaishnavism filled the hearts of the inhabitants of Bengal and overwhelmed everyone by their beauty and sweetness. On seeing such an unexpected response from the people of Bengal, we bgan to peach pure Vaishnavism with more and more enthusiasm.

 

 

Then by the influence of time, a sudden change took place. The glow-wormlike superstitions that were hidden in the scorching heat of the sun of Vaishnavism suddenly took various forms and came from four directions. The demoniac religious principle in the form of Mayavada, which was immersed within the deep water of forgetfulness for some time, again surfaced in the form of discourses, taking shelter of the boat of the smarta teachers. At the same time, some Indian and foreign yogis appeared as supporters of thesmartas and created a revolution in the world of religion. Moreover, some useless people, who were fond of sense gratification, took shelter of unauthorized religious practices and began to create disturbance in society, identifying themselves as sahajiyas and baulas. Displaying the limit of their sinful propensity, a few wormlike people, who take pleasure in the stool of fame, began to advertise themselves as "the incarnation of the Lord" in the society of fools. Some other people even accepted names befitting a Vaishnava, acted as acharyas, and began to spread ideas that were opposed to Vaishnavism as if they were the religious principles of Vaishnavas.

 

 

After seeing all such unimaginable activities, our hearts began to shatter. When we try to search for the cause of such a change, we suddenly remember the following verse written by Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvatipada, "The age of Kali is formidable and the senses of the human beings are very powerful. Now the path of devotional service is full of millions of thorns. Where shall I go? What shall I do? I am completely helpless without the mercy of Gaurachandra."

 

 

While crying and speaking in this way, I went to the birthplace of the Lord at Sri Mayapura. Still my mind did not become peaceful. Thereafter I left my place in search of the Lord and after arriving at Puri, I began to roll on the goldlike sand. At that time, the Lord informed me in my heart, "O well-wisher of the devotees. May you obtain peace! The nature that the living entities have developed, according to their respective karma from birth after birth in this world, influences them to engage in fruitive activities. Until desires opposed to devotional service are destroyed from the heart, no amount of good instruction can bring any auspiciousness. Such instructions will simply come out of the ear-holes and will not enter into the heart. No amount of preaching to them or discussing devotional service will produce a good result because of their bad karma. Your discourses and discussions will therefore not yield any result. My order to you is that you should live at the place where I kept My dear Haridasa and where I loudly chanted the holy names of the Lord. You should constantly sing the glories of the holy names for the benefit of the fallen souls. As a result of the piety that people will achieve by hearing from you, and the faith they will develop, they will attain unduplicitious faith in pure devotional service in a future lifetime."

 

 

Following these instructions of our beloved Lord Sri Krishna Chaitanya, we built our bhajan-kutir in the tract of land surrounded by huge waves.