Śrī Upadeśāmṛta, Ślokas 7-8
New Braja, 23 May 1997
Commentary by ŚRĪ ŚRĪMAD BHAKTIVEDĀNTA NĀRĀYAṆA GOSVĀMĪ MAHĀRĀJA
Internally and externally we should be the same. Our hearts should be at one with our words. There are some politics behind someone saying, “Oh, i know you. You are a very good devotee.” And when that devotee goes away, the one who was praising him says, “He is a very wicked person.” Don’t do this. Be the same inside and outside.
If you have goodwill for someone of bad character and want to help him, you can advise him very politely. If you are qualified and he knows you have some goodwill for him, then he will listen to your instructions; otherwise, he will never listen. First purify your own heart. Then you can try to help others. Every year Caitanya Mahāprabhu was cleaning Guṇḍicā Mandira. He was brooming more than anyone else in order to give instruction to all others. So we should follow his example.
We have read in Swāmījī’s explanation that we are all diseased persons. Our diseases are of two kinds: one is of this material body and the other is in the heart. Those who are real devotees do not worry about worldly disease. Their only concern is for their heart disease.
And what is that heart disease?
If the mind is clean, then everything is okay. The mind should be cleansed of duplicity, hypocrisy and diplomacy. So, our real disease is in the heart.
And what is that heart disease?
Hṛd-roga. Śrīla Vyāsadeva and Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī have clarified it. Here in the heart there is such a strong disease, that hṛd-roga. Roga means kāma-roga.
What is kāma-roga?
Lust. Lust for worldly things. So, if duplicity, hypocrisy, diplomacy, and the tendency to cheat others are there, then this is dangerous for us. Even if someone is full of ignorance and is weak, there is no harm as long as he is sincere and if a man’s heart is full of duplicity and other bad propensities, then he cannot progress.
Never.
He may do one lākha of harināma, spending the whole day engaged in bhakti activities, but when the chance comes, he still tries to cheat others in worldly dealings. Because he is not sincere, he will always be motivated to gain money and praise, and be concerned that his name and fame should be spread here and there for his self-gain. Especially lust, hṛd-roga.
How will it go away?
There is only one way—to chant the name in the association of a higher vaiṣṇava whose heart is pure. His heart has been completely cleansed and he has developed his kṛṣṇa-prema to a high degree. Being under his guidance always‚ obeying him, living in vṛndāvana (if not by body then internally by mind), our hearts will be cleansed.
First bhakti will come and then the heart will be cleaned. Don’t think that first we will clear our hearts, that first everything will go away, and then bhakti will come. it will never happen like this. This is not authentic siddhānta. Bhakti will come gradually by its own power, and then without any effort this hṛd-roga will go.
Vikrīḍitaṁ vrajavadhūbhir idañ ca viṣṇoḥ
śraddhānvito ‘nuśṛṇuyād
(Śrīmad Bhāgavataṁ 10.33.39)
Means with śraddhā, with great honour, sincerely. Anuśṛṇuyād means always, continuously hearing.
How?
With so much affection and love and honour. We must be established in this consciousness always, continuously without break.
Atha varṇayed yaḥ and after this, what is he describing?
At the end of the narration of rāsa-līlā-prasaṅga, when rāsa-līlā had stopped, Śukadeva Gosvāmī is telling Parīkṣit Mahārāja about those who will not hear, that actually they must hear! the verb used is anuśṛṇuyād—you must! If you are not doing śravaṇa, not hearing, then you are actually committing an offense, because both the author Vyāsa and Śukadeva Gosvāmī are advising this, and you are not obeying. So you must hear. and after hearing, anuśṛṇuyād atha varṇayed yaḥ bhaktiṁ parāṁ bhagavati pratilabhya—you will first have bhakti and then, pratilabhya kāmaṁ hṛd-rogam āśv apahinoty acireṇa dhīraḥ. Then kāma comes.
What kāma?
Kāma meaning prema of Kṛṣṇa. First this kāma appears and all hṛd-roga, all bad desires and all ignorance will go away. You must hear the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa.
Satām prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido
(Śrīmad Bhāgavataṁ. 3.25.25)
(“in the association of pure devotees, discussion of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes is very pleasing to the ear and heart.”)
Hearing Kṛṣṇa’s līlās is so powerful that you do not have to do any other sādhana. Parīkṣit Mahārāja never did anything else. He only heard and by hearing, he went to Goloka Vṛndāvana and served Kṛṣṇa. So anuśṛṇuyād, you will have to hear these līlās, and by this you will learn all tattvas—jīva-tattva, māyā-tattva, kṛṣṇa-tattva, yogamāyā-tattva, bhakti-tattva, prema-tattva, sādhana-tattva everything will come automatically to you. then gradually sādhana-bhakti will come, and after that bhāva-bhakti, prema-bhakti, and then Kṛṣṇa will be controlled by that very bhakta.
If we are trying to give up this disease, but instead our disease is increasing, developing more and more, we should understand that we are doing something wrong. We should enter into the proper process, which is to hear.
So Swāmījī is telling that the disease is in the heart. If mind and heart are cleaned, then everything is cleaned. It does not help to take bath twenty times in the sea, because fish live in the water and they are so impure and give off such a bad smell. if a fish jumps from the water and lands on someone, he will cry out, “Oh, such a bad smell has come!” So always bathing will not work. There is only one medicine for cleaning the heart.
What is that?
nivṛtta-tarṣair upagīyamānād
bhavauṣadhāc chrotra-mano-‘bhiramāt
ka uttamaśloka-guṇānuvādāt
pumān virajyeta vinā paśughnāt
(Śrīmad Bhāgavataṁ 10.1.4)
[Glorification of the Supreme personality of Godhead is performed in the paramparā system. Such glorification is relished by those no longer interested in the false, temporary glorification of this cosmic manifestation. Descriptions of the Lord are the right medicine for the conditioned soul undergoing repeated birth and death. Therefore, who will cease hearing such glorification of the Lord except a butcher or one who is killing his own self?]
This is the way. Whether one is a bhakta, nirveśeṣa-vādī, viṣayī, kāmī having so many desires, or aparādhī, having committed so many offenses, everyone should hear and chant the holy name. this is told in a śloka in Bhāgavata (SB. 2.1.11) also:
etan nirvidyamānānām
icchatām akuto-bhayam
yogināṁ nṛpa nirṇītaṁ
harer nāmānukīrtanam
[O King, constant chanting of the holy name of the Lord after the ways of the great authorities is the doubtless and fearless way of success for all, including those who are free from all material desires, those who are desirous of all material enjoyment, and also those who are self-satisfied by dint of transcendental knowledge.]
Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ.
Purification will come from the name. We want to clear our hearts:
Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ. If we do all these unfavourable activities and after that chant harināma, this is absurd. You should be whatever you are, wherever you are situated, in whatever stage you are—kāmī, viṣayī, bhogī, durjana (scoundrel)—whatever you are you should be—no harm. But be sincere, and then chant harināma under the guidance of a pure-hearted vaiṣṇava. Then, after that, ceto darpaṇa mārjanaṁ will work. Bhava-mahā-dāvāgni—the fire of the world will be extinguished, and all virtues will come—vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam. Then, vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam.
Who is Kṛṣṇa?
He is the jīvanam of vidyā-rūpī-vadhū, of Śrīmatī Rādhikā. The essence of all vidyā is Śrīmatī Rādhikā. She is hlādinī-śakti. Without nāma, She will not come. Vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ. The ocean—the endless ocean of ānanda, pleasure—will come. Then we will play here and there in the waves forever and at last we will dive into the ocean of love and affection. Never again will we come to this mortal world. So begin harināma from wherever you are, from whatever stage you are in, and try to be sincere. Don’t be duplicitous. Don’t desire any money, fame or other worldly things. Only by chanting, remembering and hearing will we gain strength in cultivating our bhakti. First hear. If you are not hearing all these things, you will not become strong. So we must hear and try to follow in order to free ourselves from material desires. this is the conclusion.
You should read.
Devotee reads: The conclusion is that in order to get freed from the material disease, one must take to the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra.
ŚRĪLA BHAKTIVEDĀNTA NĀRĀYAṆA MAHĀRĀJA: Don’t try any other process. Don’t say that we should first become purified by chanting harināma and then we will hear.
Nowadays this is going on. “We should not hear hari-kathā, we should not associate with higher Vaiṣṇavas, but we should clean our hearts only by chanting harināma.” Never. We have heard the correct procedure in Swāmījī’s text. We have not come to remain in one stage forever. We should try to advance from kaniṣṭha to madhyama, from madhyama to uttama. If you are not trying, and you want to be always, forever and eternally in the kaniṣṭha stage, thinking, “Oh, it is good for me,” that is all right. You can remain there if you like, but we will never wait like this. Always we should endeavour with great desire to develop our Kṛṣṇa consciousness and the key to advancing is in the hand of the uttama vaiṣṇava. So we should try to take his association, always hearing from him. This is the process, and very quickly we will move onwards.
Devotee reads: The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is especially meant for creating an atmosphere in which people can take to the chanting of the hare Kṛṣṇa mantra.
ŚRĪLA BHAKTIVEDĀNTA NĀRĀYAṆA MAHĀRĀJA: But in trying to create a Kṛṣṇa conscious atmosphere, if you are quarreling amongst yourselves and not honouring higher Vaiṣṇavas, or not having faith in anyone else, the atmosphere will be ruined. Then those who are bona fide and sincere will leave that false bhakti path. Now we see this happening. So we should try to reform ourselves and to honour all Vaiṣṇavas and all others as well. Then all who come will feel, “Oh, this is a very nice atmosphere. We should chant harināma.” But if you are engaged in self- enjoyment, visitors will know because they are not so foolish. They will know. They will not respect you and will go away. Only bogus persons will come. they will join you, make some money, and afterwards they will also go away. So we should behave like chaste, bona fide Vaiṣṇavas. Especially those who are preaching should be like this. Swāmījī intended that his Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement would especially create an atmosphere in which people would be inspired to take to the chanting of the hare Kṛṣṇa mantra.
One must begin what?
Devotee reads: One must begin with faith, and when this faith . . .
ŚRĪLA BHAKTIVEDĀNTA NĀRĀYAṆA MAHĀRĀJA: What faith?
What is faith here?
That my chanting of Kṛṣṇa’s names will give everything to make my life fully successful. Then there will be no need of going to any impersonalist university. We should only go to the school of Gaura Kiśora dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja and to the university of haridāsa Ṭhākura. That is enough! Kṛṣṇa can give us anything in this world. We have seen Vālmīki. He had faith in Kṛṣṇa’s names, and his life was miraculously transformed. The holy name is so powerful. Agastya took one drink of sea water, and he ended up drinking all the water from the entire sea. Śaṅkara and Brahmā are performing all their functions only by the grace of the name. Swāmī Mahārāja served his holy master by preaching everywhere and by himself chanting Kṛṣṇa’s names. He had no worldly qualification. The world had rejected him; his wife and sons had rejected him because he could not make any money. They all rejected him. But he took shelter only in the name, and everywhere in the whole world he is now worshiped for this. We should try to be like that.
Our faith should be like haridāsa Ṭhākura’s. He was beaten in twenty-two market-places and his blood splattered everywhere. His face was battered, and only his bones remained, but he was still chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare. His tormentor said to him, “O prabhu, please die. Otherwise my whole family will die.” So haridāsa said, “Yes, i am dying.” and he became like a dead person. they threw his body in the Ganges. Then they were so satisfied, and they told the Kazi, “Oh, we have done a marvellous job! he is now dead, and we have thrown his dead body into the Ganges.” But after one hour they saw haridāsa Ṭhākura again in such a healthy state, chanting:
Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.
He came out from the Ganges still chanting and went to his place. everyone there wondered how this could have happened. He had been dead. Every bone had been broken and still he came out like before, even more healthy! Then they declared that he was a jindapira (Muslim saint), a person who is like a demigod in this life. A man can be jindapira by his saṁskāra (his activities) after so many millions of births, but in this present lifetime haridāsa became like a demigod.
Have you heard of agastya Ṛṣi?
A bird told him that the sea had taken her eggs and would not return them. The bird was weeping. Agastya Ṛṣi went and told the sea, “Oh, she is weeping so much. You should return her eggs.” But the sea would not listen. Agastya Ṛṣi took a palmful of water and drank it, and the whole sea dried up, and those eggs were returned to that bird.
You know the history of Sanātana Gosvāmī?
He threw his cintāmaṇi stone in the Yamunā and he was chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare. He never remembered that he had had a cintāmaṇi. He had no use for it, because he had so many cintāmaṇis.
What were those cintāmaṇis?
Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.
When you have a firm belief that everything can be achieved by the name, then you don’t need anything else— liberation, svarga, vaibhava (wealth), rājya (kingdom), anything.
You may want to be president of North America only, but you can be president of the whole world by chanting harināma. Have strong faith in this. But actually we have no faith. On the pretext of serving Gurudeva, seventy-five per-cent of our collection we keep in our pocket and twenty-five per-cent we give to him.
Does Gurudeva know or not?
Does Kṛṣṇa know or not?
If we are cheating Kṛṣṇa and Gurudeva, how will we be successful in our chanting?
So have faith in the name.
Then?
Devotee reads: And when this faith is increased by chanting, a person can become a member of the Society.
ŚRĪLA BHAKTIVEDĀNTA NĀRĀYAṆA MAHĀRĀJA: But how Swāmījī’s mood was so high! If he could see what is happening now, that his disciples are not honouring the Vaiṣṇavas, he would be very sad. What to speak of kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, they are not going to honour anyone.
So, “we are sending....”
Devotee reads: We are sending saṅkīrtana parties all over the world, and they are experiencing that even in the remotest part of the world, where there is no knowledge of Kṛṣṇa, the hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra attracts thousands of men to our camp. In someareas, people begin to imitate the devotees by shaving their heads and chanting the hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, only a few days after hearing the mantra. This may be imitative, but imitation of a good thing is desired. Some imitators gradually become interested in being initiated by the spiritual master and offer themselves for initiation. If one is sincere, he is initiated....
ŚRĪLA BHAKTIVEDĀNTA NĀRĀYAṆA MAHĀRĀJA: But if one is not sincere, he will be cheated. He will think, “Gurudeva has given me a mantra and i am initiated. Now i can initiate others.”
How can he know the process?
Only outwardly he knows something. He brings a tulasī plant and keeps it by him. He brings a very, very big, big chanting mālā from the market, very big. Sometimes when i give a smaller mālā, disciples bring a very large mālā for rs. 500 from the market or from Rādhā-Kuṇḍa. It is so big that i cannot even hold it in my hand. They think that by this big, big mālā Kṛṣṇa will at once come. But Kṛṣṇa will not come for rs. 1000 or for any amount.
So, if anyone is sincere, he will chant like Caitanya Mahāprabhu, on his kaupīna, making knots in the cloth. But for us the tulasī-mālā is very sacred and powerful, so we should use tulasī. But don’t use such big, big, big ones! Use something smaller, medium size, but very easy to chant on and try to take the mood of your Gurudeva. Serve him and his words. “I Ieft my Gurudeva and I became a guru myself.” No, this is not initiation.
“if one is sincere....”
Devotee reads: If one is sincere, he is initiated, and this stage is called bhajana-kriyā. One then actually engages in the service of the Lord by regularly chanting the hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, sixteen rounds daily....
ŚRĪLA BHAKTIVEDĀNTA NĀRĀYAṆA MAHĀRĀJA: He has told the meaning of sixteen rounds before.
Devotee: Minimum sixteen rounds, nothing less.
ŚRĪLA BHAKTIVEDĀNTA NĀRĀYAṆA MAHĀRĀJA: Swāmījī set this standard to bring the devotees in. It is only for Western devotees, not for Indians. We never heard our Gurudeva say this. We have heard minimum sixteen rounds only from Swāmījī, because the Westerners are always engaged in so many other activities. Thus they have no time at all. So at least you should chant sixteen rounds. But it does not mean that if you are chanting seventeen rounds, then you are making an offense. Some devotees have told me, “it is a very big offense to disobey Swāmījī and he has instructed that we should chant only sixteen rounds.” No, this is a wrong understanding. it was Swāmījī’s desire that everyone should chant at least thirty-two rounds, if not one lākha, but he saw that his disciples could not meet such a high standard.
Devotee reads: Chanting the hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, sixteen rounds daily, and refraining from illicit sex, intoxicants, meat-eating and gambling.
ŚRĪLA BHAKTIVEDĀNTA NĀRĀYAṆA MAHĀRĀJA: This is clearing of the heart. We should try to realise all these things properly.
What?
And refraining from illicit sex, what else?
Devotee reads: Refraining from illicit sex, intoxicants, meat-eating and gambling. By bhajana-kriyā one attains freedom from the contamination of materialistic life. He no longer goes to a restaurant or hotel to taste so-called palatable dishes made with meat and onions....
ŚRĪLA BHAKTIVEDĀNTA NĀRĀYAṆA MAHĀRĀJA: But we see that prominent devotees are secretly going to restaurants and doing so many bad things. We should be satisfied with mahā-prasāda only.
Devotee reads: Nor does he care to smoke or drink tea or coffee. He not only refrains from illicit sex, but avoids sex life entirely. Nor is he interested in wasting his time in speculating or gambling. In this way it is to be understood that one is becoming cleansed of unwanted things (anartha-nivṛtti). The word anartha refers to unwanted things. Anarthas are vanquished when one becomes attached to the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.
ŚRĪLA BHAKTIVEDĀNTA NĀRĀYAṆA MAHĀRĀJA: First know what is sādhya.
What is our object?
First know our object, then sādhana, then sādhana-bhakti. We should know all these things.
What is bhāva?
What is prema?
Then you can do what is needed for attaining bhāva. Then that will be sādhana. And if you have a desire to attain prema from the stage of bhāva, then you are doing bhāva-bhakti, otherwise not. You must know all these things. You may have been doing sādhana-bhakti your whole life, but that sādhana-bhakti is not real if it has not been done to achieve bhāva-bhakti. What you have been doing cannot be considered svarūpa-siddha-bhakti; rather it will come in the category of āropa-siddha or saṅga-siddha, contaminated with karma, jñāna, yoga, tapasya and all other things. It is not pure.
If you are not hearing from the highest class of Vaiṣṇavas, how can you know all these things?
And how can you enter into actually practicing svarūpa-siddha-bhakti?
So Swāmījī has called bhāva “the preliminary awakening of dormant love of Godhead.”
Next?
Devotee reads: When a person is relieved from unwanted things, he becomes fixed in executing his Kṛṣṇa activities. Indeed, he becomes attached to such activities and experiences ecstasy in executing devotional service. This is called bhāva, the preliminaryawakening of dormant love of Godhead. Thus the conditioned soul becomes free from material existence and loses interest in the bodily conception of life, including material opulence, material knowledge and material attraction of all varieties.
At such a time one can understand who the Supreme personality of Godhead is and what his māyā is. Although māyā may be present, it cannot disturb a devotee once he attains the bhāva stage.
ŚRĪLA BHAKTIVEDĀNTA NĀRĀYAṆA MAHĀRĀJA: Māyā cannot touch that devotee. Sometimes there will be an occasion that he has reason to become angry, but he does not. There are some symptoms of bhāva by which you can determine whether you have really attained bhāva or not. That śloka is:
kṣāntir avyartha-kālatvaṁ viraktir māna-śūnyatā
āśā-bandhaḥ samutkaṇṭhā nāma-gāne sadā ruciḥ
āsaktis tad-guṇākhyāne prītis tad-vasati-sthale
ity ādayo ‘nubhāvāḥ syur jāta-bhāvāṇkure jane
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.3.25-26)
[Tolerance, effectual use of one’s time, detachment from worldly enjoyment, absence of pride, steadfast hope that Kṛṣṇa will bestow his mercy, intense longing to obtain one’s goal, always having a taste to chant the holy name, attachment to hearing narrations of the Lord’s qualities, and affection for the transcendental residences of the Lord—these are the nine sprouts of prīti, or the symptoms of the appearance of bhāva.]
If bhāva is there, you will see some symptoms. If you are doing sādhana-bhakti, there will be other symptoms. Kṛṣṇa-prema has its own symptoms. We will know the different stages by the various symptoms.
And what are the symptoms?
You will have to go to Rūpa Gosvāmī in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu to see. Or you will have to hear from a living bona fide vaiṣṇava. This is the way to know all these things.
‘sādhu-saṅga’, ‘sādhu-saṅga’—sarva-śāstre kaya
lava-mātra sādhu-saṅge sarva-siddhi haya
(Caitanya Caritāmṛta. Madhya 22.54)
[The verdict of all revealed scriptures is that by even a moment’s association with a pure devotee, one can attain all success.]
Even a very brief association with a real sādhu will change your whole life.
So what is Swāmījī saying?
Devotee reads: Māyā cannot disturb a devotee when he attains the bhāva stage.
ŚRĪLA BHAKTIVEDĀNTA NĀRĀYAṆA MAHĀRĀJA: Māyā cannot touch him.
Kṣāntir avyartha-kālatvaṁ viraktir māna-śūnyatā.
An incident may occur that is just cause for anger, but you will not react. Sometimes you may be disturbed by worldly things, but another time you will not be affected at all. Like Ambarīṣa Mahārāja—he was only standing with folded hands. Death was coming, and he was completely silent. Prahlāda Mahārāja and Haridāsa Ṭhākura were the same. You can see all these examples.
Go on.
Devotee reads: This is because the devotee can see the real position of māyā.
Māyā means forgetfulness of Kṛṣṇa, and forgetfulness of Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa consciousness stand side by side like light and shadow. If one remains in shadow, he cannot enjoy the facilities offered by light, and if one remains in light, he cannot be disturbed by the darkness of shadow. By taking to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one gradually becomes liberated and remains in light. Indeed, he does not even touch the darkness. As confirmed in Caitanya-Caritāmṛta (Madhya 22.31):
kṛṣṇa – sūrya-sama; māyā haya andhakāra
yāhāṇ kṛṣṇa, tāhāṇ nāhi māyāra adhikāra
“Kṛṣṇa is compared to sunshine, and māyā is compared to darkness. Wherever there is sunshine, there cannot be darkness. As soon as one takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the darkness of illusion, the influence of the external energy, will immediately vanish.”
ŚRĪLA BHAKTIVEDĀNTA NĀRĀYAṆA MAHĀRĀJA: Actually I have been reading and giving class on this book, The Nectar of Instruction, only to come to the eighth śloka. My main purpose is to give a deep idea of this śloka. It is the essence of all kinds of teachings. Here teachings mean the instructions of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Rūpa Gosvāmī. The first seven ślokas have been presented only to help us follow and realise this śloka:
tan-nāma-Rūpa-caritādi-sukīrtanānusmṛtyoḥ
krameṇa rasanā-manasī niyojya
tiṣṭhan vraje tad-anurāgi janānugāmī
kālaṁ nayed akhilam ity upadeśa-sāram
(Śrī Upadeśāmṛta 8)
Rūpa Gosvāmī has expressed his idea in this way. I am now explaining the sum and substance of all upadeśa taught by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. By following this śloka, you can easily attain kṛṣṇa-prema. This is the goal and object of our life. So he is saying tan-nāma-Rūpa-caritādi.
Read Swāmījī’s translation.
Devotee reads: The essence of all advice is that one should utilise one’s full time—twenty-four hours a day—in nicely chanting and remembering the Lord’s divine name, transcendental form, qualities and eternal pastimes, thereby gradually engaging one’s tongue and mind. In this way one should reside in vraja (Goloka vṛndāvana-dhāma) and serve Kṛṣṇa under the guidance of devotees. One should follow in the footsteps of theLord’s beloved devotees, who are deeply attached to his devotional service.
ŚRĪLA BHAKTIVEDĀNTA NĀRĀYAṆA MAHĀRĀJA: We will explain it. I want to read one stanza on page 75:
“In the transcendental realm . . .” today in the evening so many persons will leave, so i want to touch that mood.
Devotee reads: In the transcendental realm of vraja (vraja-dhāma) one should serve the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, with a feeling similar to that of his associates, and one should place himself under the direct guidance of a particular associate of Kṛṣṇa and should follow in his footsteps. This method is applicable both in the stage of sādhana (spiritual practices executed while in the stage of bondage) and in the stage of sādhya (God realisation), when one is a siddha-puruṣa, or a spiritually perfected soul.
ŚRĪLA BHAKTIVEDĀNTA NĀRĀYAṆA MAHĀRĀJA: Swāmījī is quoting here one śloka of Rūpa Gosvāmī from Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.2.295). that śloka is:
sevā sādhaka-rūpeṇa
siddha-rūpeṇa cātra hi
tad-bhāva-lipsunā kāryā
vraja-lokānusārataḥ
The meaning is so deep. Rūpa Gosvāmī says that if you want to
serve Kṛṣṇa, then you should perform sādhana like caitanya
Mahāprabhu has instructed.
What is that sādhana?
What is the process?
He is saying sevā sādhaka-rūpeṇa. You should serve as a sādhaka, and also as a siddha. We will give an example.
Rūpa and Sanātana, all our Six Gosvāmīs, and all our ācāryas, especially Rūpa-Raghunātha—how are they serving?
saṅkhyā-pūrvaka-nāma-gāna-natibhiḥ kālāvasānī-kṛtau
nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau cātyanta-dīnau ca yau
rādhā-kṛṣṇa-guṇa-smṛter madhurimānandena sammohitau
vande Rūpa-sanātanau raghu-yugau śrī-jīva-gopālakau
[I offer my prayers to the Six Gosvāmīs, who passed all their time in chanting the holy names, singing songs and offering daṇḍavat-praṇāmās, thereby humbly fulfilling their vow to complete a fixed number daily. In this way they utilised their valuable lives and conquered over eating, sleeping and other such pleasures. Always seeing themselves as completely worthless, they became enchanted in divine rapture by remembering Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s sweet qualities.]
Swāmījī always used to recite this song with tears in his eyes, very, very honourably with deep love and affection. Saṅkhyā-pūrvaka-nāma-gāna-natibhiḥ—this is sādhana.
For what purpose?
To attain bhāva. Saṅkhyā-pūrvaka, not less than one lākha, two lākhas, three lākhas. All the associates, like Rūpa Raghunātha, were doing this daily, saṇkhyā-pūrvaka-nāma. Gāna,
What gāna (singing)?
rādhe jaya jaya mādhava-dayite
gokula-taruṇī-maṇḍala-mahite
rādhe jaya jaya mādhava-dayite
govinda-dāmodara-mādhaveti
namāmi nanda-nandanam
Like this. Two, three, four hours at a time they were absorbed. Saṅkhyā-pūrvaka-nāma-gāna-natibhiḥ. And vandanā (praying):
bhajāmi rādhām aravinda-netrāṁ
smarāmi rādhāṁ madhura-smitāsyām
vadāmi rādhāṁ karuṇa-bharārdrāṁ
tato mamānyāsti gatir na kāpi
(Śrī Stavāvali, Śrī Viśakhānanda-stotra 131, Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī)
[I worship Rādhā who has lotus-eyes. I meditate on Rādhā who has a sweet smile. I glorify Rādhā who melts with compassion. She is the only goal of my life—I have no other refuge.]
Always i am doing bhajana. I am doing bhajana of Rādhikā, always remembering her lotus feet. With my mouth I am uttering “Rādhe, Rādhe, jaya jaya Śrī Rādhe.”
Why?
Śrīmatī Rādhikā is unlimitedly merciful, more than Kṛṣṇa.
Tavaivāsmi tavaivāsmi
(O Rādhe, I am Yours, I am Yours). You should always do vandanā like this. After that, offer praṇāma, saṣṭāṅga-praṇāma.
Do you know what is sāstāṅga-praṇāma?
Offering eight parts of body on the ground like a rod (head, hands, feet, knees, chest) and heart, inner heart. By speech saying Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, and doing praṇāma like this. These eight parts should be offered.
Sāṣṭāṅga-praṇāma to whom?
Rādhā-Govinda, Rādhā-Gopinātha, Rādhā-Madana-Mohana, Rādhā-Dāmodara, Rādhā-Śyāmasundara, Rādhā-ramaṇa, Rādhā-Gokulānanda, Rādhā-Mādhava, Rādhā-vinoda-bihārī, Rādhā-Baṅkī-bihārijī, Rādhā-vallabha, Rādhā-Giridharī and so on, and to the places of pastimes with Nanda Bābā Mahārāja—ki jaya ho. Nanda Bābā—ki jaya ho, Yaśodā Maiyā—ki jaya ho, Kṛṣṇa-kanhaiyā—ki jaya ho, Dāū-bhaiyā—ki jaya ho, Rohinī Maiyā—ki jaya ho, Rasilī-Rasoiyā (cook expert in making very sweet preparations)—ki jaya ho, and all these things. To Varsānā, Varsānā—ki jaya ho, Vṛṣabhānu Bābā—ki jaya ho, Kīrtidā Maiyā—ki jaya ho, Śrīdāmā-bhaiyā—ki jaya ho. Hlādhinī-mahābhāva-svarūpa mama ārādhya Śrīmatī Rādhikā—ki jaya ho. Anaṅga Mañjarī—ki jaya ho. Jaya to all the places there, to vṛndāvana, Nidhuvana, Vaṁśī-vaṭa, Keśī-ghāṭa, Dhīra-samīra, Sevā-kuñja, doing praṇāma to Bhāṇḍīravana where Rādhikā was married to Kṛṣṇa and where they were playing on a swing, to Yamunā, to Girirāja Govardhana, to Rādhā-kuṇḍa, Śyāma-kuṇḍa, lākhas and lākhas of these glorifications—four hours!
Devotee: Twenty-four hours.
ŚRĪLA BHAKTIVEDĀNTA NĀRĀYAṆA MAHĀRĀJA: No. four hours! If they do for twenty-four hours, they will remember and they will fall flat, they will faint, and they will roll down, always saying, “Ha Rādhe!” and singing:
he rādhe vraja-devīke ca lalite he nanda-sūno kutaḥ
śrī-govardhana-kalpa-pādapa-tale kālindī-vane kutaḥ
ghoṣantāv iti sarvato vraja-pure khedair mahā-vihvalau
vande Rūpa-sanātanau raghu-yugau śrī jīva-gopālakau
[I am doing vandanā to the Six Gosvāmīs, who were always calling out, “He Rādhe! O Queen of vṛndāvana! Where are You? He Lalite! O son of Nanda Mahārāja! Where are You? Are You seated beneath the kalpa-vṛkṣa trees of Śrī Govardhana hill? Or are You roaming in all the forests along the soft banks of the Kalindī? ”They were always lamenting, overwhelmed and burning in feelings of great separation as they wandered throughout all vraja-maṇḍala.]
This is called sādhana. These instructions are for outer sādhana, not inner. Inner sādhana is more, more developed. Always sitting, playing in the waves of Rādhā’s and Kṛṣṇa’s love, in the unlimited ocean of prema. This is sādhana-bhajana.
And internally where?
Rūpa Gosvāmī is Rūpa Mañjarī, Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī is Rati Mañjarī. They are always serving Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa conjugal, sometimes fanning, sometimes massaging Śrīmatī Rādhikā, sometimes offering betel-nut. Sometimes Kṛṣṇa is telling them, “Come on,” and they will say, “No, we will not come.” they are hiding behind Śrīmatī Rādhikā. This is doing service.
Which service is greater?
Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī states in his Stavāvali (Vraja Vilāsa-stava 38):
tambūlārpaṇa-pāda-mardana-payo-dānābhisāradibhir
vṛndāranya-maheśvariṁ priyatayā yas toṣayanti priyah
prāṇa-preṣṭha-sakhi-kulād api kilāsaṇkocītā bhūmikāḥ
keli-bhūmiṣu Rūpa-mañjarī-mukhās tā dāsikāḥ saṁśraye
[By offering her betel nuts, massaging her feet, bringing her water, arranging for her secret meetings with Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and performing various other services, countless gopī maidservants constantly please Śrī Rādhā, the queen of vṛndāvana forest. In their service to the Divine couple, they are even less shy than the prāṇa-preṣṭha-sakhīs, for whom Śrī Rādhā is more dear than life. I take shelter of these gopī maidservants, who have Śrīmatī Rūpa Mañjarī as their leader.]
These are services in siddha-rūpeṇa.
And what is sādhaka-rūpeṇa?
Saṅkhyā-pūrvaka-nāma-gāna-natibhiḥ. Always engaging in all these activities—twenty-four hours a day weeping bitterly, rolling down on the bank of Rādhā-kuṇḍa and Śyāma-kuṇḍa, sometimes in Vṛndāvana, Sevā-kuñja, Vaṁśī-vaṭa, on the bank of Yamunā. This is sādhana. Sādhana is not distributing books for the rest of our lives and keeping seventy-five per-cent of our collection in our pockets. For the beginning stage Swāmījī approved all these activities —without them we cannot progress. But if we are engaged like this forever and do not come in the line of real sādhana, we will never advance. That is why Swāmījī sent me. He told me, “Go and help my devotees. Otherwise they will dry up, and giving up this Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they will be derailed.”
If the devotees will not taste these things and advance, how can they stay in this movement?
If a river is not flowing, and the water has stopped, then the water will become stagnant, and after that it will dry up. Bhakti is like a current. Our bhakti will surely go up, up, up, up and if it is not going up by this process that Swāmījī is describing, then we are not doing real sādhana.
We should try to realise all these instructions and perform bhajana like this. I have given only a very little taste. If I reveal more to you, some will say that Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja is sahajiyā and is telling so many confidential things that should not be heard.
Blatantly they will say this!
I have been speaking on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam for the last seven or eight days.
What have i told?
I have spoken about Prahlāda Mahārāja, Bali Mahārāja, Ajāmila, Citraketu, Nṛsiṁha Bhagavān, from the beginning. But if i am not touching vraja-līlā, then it is all bogus, all bogus. So i must mention a little from the tenth canto and give you some taste so that you will not fall down. Otherwise, if you do not hear Kṛṣṇa’s līlās, you will fall down. I have given only a very little touch. You should develop a very strong greed to hear more of vraja-līlā and if you develop some greed, then i will give so much more.
Swāmījī has written “That even in the stage of bondage.”
What is the meaning?
The stage of bondage means the conditioned stage. So you should hear Dāmodara-līlā now. We must hear how Kṛṣṇa took birth in both places, in Mathurā and also in a hidden way in Gokula, how He tasted Vātsalya-rasa and other things. We are meant to hear about Vraja-līlā in the stage of bondage. To think, “We will be liberated and then we will be qualified to hear Kṛṣṇa’s līlās,” is wrong and totally false!
Gaura premānande!
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