EXCERPTS FROM PREMA VIVARTA, April18th-19th 2000
Oṁ viṣṇupāda paramahaṁsa parivrājakācārya aṣṭottara-śata Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja
April 18
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja went to the home of Śrīpāda Ramesh Gupta and his family, who live just nearby Holy Gate in Mathura. Although theirs was a very small apartment, at least 150-200 devotees managed to find sitting spaces. After kīrtana and an introductory talk by Pūjāpāda Bhaktivedānta Tīrtha Mahārāja, Śrīla Mahārāja began the maṅgalācaraṇa prayers for his own class. At that time a few honoured guests arrived from the Śrī Gopīnātha Gauḍīya Matha, lead by Pūjāpāda Bodhāyana Mahārāja, the successor of Parampūjāpāda nitya-līlā praviṣṭa Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktipramoda Purī Mahārāja; and Pūjāpāda Muni Mahārāja, president of their Matha in Vṛndāvana. When Śrīla Mahārāja saw them coming in, he stopped the class and requested them to come and sit near to him. He then resumed class, continuing his regular theme of Prema Vivarta.
The main topic of the class was the necessity of ‘śreṣṭha sadhu-sanga’—association with the topmost devotees. The discourse was given in Hindi, and the following is a summarised translation:
It is true that the holy names of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa is Kṛṣṇa himself, and that they are invested with all His potencies. Still, simply chanting does not give the highest result. Everything depends on the association one keeps while chanting. If one associates with materialistic-minded people, or even materialistic-minded devotees, the result of chanting will be money and other material facilities. If one is associating with māyāvādīs, the result of chanting will be that type of misconception. If one is associating with bhaktas, the fruit of chanting will be bhakti. Then again, the level of the bhakta also determines the fruit of chanting. It is therefore essential to associate always with the topmost devotees.
Nārada Muni is such a topmost devotee. There is no counting the number of devotees who have achieved perfection by his mercy. Even Śrī Vedavyāsa received perfection by his mercy, and even Krsna’s chief queen, Rukmini, received his mercy. Narada Muni had been visiting her father’s palace, and she heard from him about Krsna’s supreme beauty and qualities. She thus became so inspired to serve Krsna that she personally arranged her kidnapping, and she personally drove the chariot.
Another example of someone who achieved perfection by the mercy and association of a topmost bhakta is Krsna himself. Krsna is eka-rasa. Nothing exists outside of Him. He is akhila-rasāmṛta-sindhu. He is the reservoir of all relationships. But because He is also aneka-rāsa, He wanted to experience the unfathomable variety of moods of Śrīmatī Rādhikā—Her mādanākhya mahābhāva. He was not able to do that, however, because He is the viṣayā, the object of love. He can touch mahābhāva, but He cannot experience rūḍha, adhirūḍha modana and mādana mahābhāva. He had to get the association and mercy of Viśakhā Devī in the form of Śrī Rāya Rāmānanda, to achieve that supreme perfection.
April 19
The class was again given at Śrī Keśavajī Gauḍīya Matha and, Śrīla Mahārāja continued the theme of Prema Vivarta. Here are some excerpts of notes made during Śrīpāda Puṇḍarīka Prabhu’s translation:
In one village there was a gopa named Rāmadāsa who warned Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu that a certain place was full of danger. A crocodile lived there, and even the cows would not go there. Mahāprabhu did not care. He went there with His associates like Gadādhara Paṇḍit and Svarūpa Dāmodara, and performed kīrtana. Totally absorbed, they were unaware of their surroundings. That dangerous crocodile came and went towards Nimāi. When it touched His feet, its form was changed to that of a demigod. Then he told his own history. In his previous life he was a naughty boy. Once in Kāmyavana, while Durvāsā Muni was resting, that boy cut off some of the hair from his head. Durvāsā then cursed the boy to become a crocodile. When the boy begged for mercy, Durvāsā said that the curse must be, but in the 1st sandhyā of kali-yuga he would get the touch of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. At that time he would again get the form of a demigod. By Mahāprabhu’s mercy, however, he passed the heavens and went to Mahāprabhu’s own abode.
One day Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Goswāmī asked Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara to explain the poetry of Caṇḍīdāsa. Outwardly the poetry appeared like mundane love affairs. It says that if one falls in love with Krsna, it becomes difficult to stay alive. The ladies in Krsna’s village have neither peace of mind nor a controlled heart. Śrīmatī Rādhikā is always restless, repeatedly going in and out of Her house. “My feet and senses don’t listen to Me. They are out of control. Though I’m criticised, my feet don’t go where I want.”
Hear this with attention. You cannot repay this hari-kathā in lakhs of births. One word is more valuable than lakhs of jewels.
Śrīmatī Rādhikā continued:
“I entered a new house for happiness, but it is turned out to be a house set on fire. I’m always in trouble and great anxiety. I wanted to be in the happiness of the sea of love, but it turned out to be the sea of poison. I tried to climb the mountain of happiness, but instead I fell into the ocean.”
The meaning is very deep. Śrīmatī Rādhikā is saying that She thought She would be so happy by loving Krsna, but that happiness turned into a blazing fire of separation from Him.
This līlā seems ordinary. Raghunātha dāsa Goswāmī is therefore begging Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara to explain the transcendental mystery behind it. Śrī Jayadeva Goswāmī wrote with hesitation, but Caṇḍīdāsa and Vidyāpati did not. Therefore ordinary neophytes cannot understand them. A neophyte should not read Vilāpa-kusumāñjali, which describes the inner heart-felt feelings of Śrī Dāsa Goswāmī. In the unqualified stage one will be ruined. It is only for the real sādhaka. One must hear from the guru-paramaparā and chant. Then one can progress.
All this love is transcendental. There is nothing mundane in it. Therefore Dāsa Goswāmī is asking, “O prabhu, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu placed me in your hands. So please reveal the mystery of this wonderful love.”
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