Bhagvata Katha 2017: Day Seven

Venue: Ganesh Kala Krida Manch, Swargate, Pune.

Date: 31 December 2017

Topic:  The principles of Vaishnavism (Vaishnavata ka pratik).

jaya radha-madhava  jaya kunja-bihari
jaya gopi-jana-vallabha, jaya giri-vara-dhari
jaya yashoda-nandana, jaya vraja-jana-ranjana….

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare

om namo bhagvate vasudevaya

My obeisances to Vasudev. May Lord Vasudev accept our humble obeisances. Also namsakar to all of you who are dear devotees of Lord Vasudev. Jivatam is always dear to the Lord. How dear He is to us is different, but we are always dear to the Lord and our relationship  with the  Lord is always there. The Lord has brought us here which  is also due to His love for us. It’s His mercy that we are coming here for six days and today the strength is more.  I welcome all those who have come today for the first time.

It’s said that when we become devotees of the Lord’s devotee, then we become His devotee. We are servants of His servants and that is what He likes. I am also serving you all by reciting this katha. Somethings are yet to be shared, and actually there no end to the lila and katha of the Lord.

Whatever I said was related to Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. We have a very close relationship  with Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu who appeared just 532 years ago. He is the latest avatar and Lord Himself.  Every day we say, sri krsna caitanya radha krsna nahi anya. There is no one equal to the Lord, as He said in Gita

mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya (BG 7.7)

There is no Truth superior or equal to the Lord. There are lots of avatars of the Lord, but Sri Krsna is Lord Himself.

Lord Krsna and Caitanya Mahaprabhu both reside in Golok. Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to establish the dharma of Kaliyuga for all of us and that’s Harinama. ISKCON is Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission and  it’s established to fulfil the HIs desire. It’s spreading all over the world and many people are coming together through this mission. When the devotees come together they……

mac-citta mad-gata-prana bodhayantah parasparam
kathayantas ca mam nityam tusyanti ca ramanti ca (BG 10.9)

….. discuss the lila and katha of the Lord. When we go back to our temples we will talk about it to others, that’s also bodhayantah parasparam. Prabhupada was ordered by his spiritual master, to preach in English in the West and translate the books in English. Then Prabhupada told his disciples to print books. That is all an expansion of the mission. Now preaching is continuing in more than one hundred  languages.

Printed books are not just kept in godowns(storerooms) but they are distributed all over. In the month of December ISKCON devotees distribute the books on a large scale and that’s called the book marathon. In 1976 Prabhupad’s disciples distributed 7 million books. That’s 40 years ago, but now more and more books are being distributed. In the national capital region (NCR) more than 5 lakh Bhagavad-gitas have been distributed. In 1966 with the help of some English boys Prabhupada established ISKCON and it’s spreading all over. This is also expansion (vistar).

In the period of 500 BC, animals were killed in the name of Vedas. So karma kanda was going on. Then Lord Buddha appeared and established,

ahimsa paramo dharmah

If animal killing is recommended in the Vedas then we reject the Vedas. He established voidism (sunyavad). This siddhanta is not accepted by the Vedas. He wanted to stop karma kanda. Prabhupada said this siddhanta was meant only for that time. It was an emergency siddhanta. However, this siddhanta is still being followed and accepted and its expansion is going on. When Jesus came animal killing was also going on, yet one of the ten commandments in Bible states  “thou shall not kill.”

Adi Sankaracarya came 1200 years back he preached jnana kanda called advaitvad. a-no, davit-two. That means that the jiva and Lord is one. That is  also called nirakarvad or nirgunavad. This siddhanta ofnirakarvad is also called mayavada. In the Padma Purana, there is a famous verse wherein Siva tells Parvati that he will appear in the age of Kali as a brahmana to preach asat-sastra.

mayavadam asat-sastrampracchanam-baudham ucyate mayaiva kalpitam devim kalau brahmana rupinah.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu strictly warned all of us,  mayavadi-bhasya sunile haya sarva-nasa

“Anyone who follows the principles of Mayavada philosophy is certainly doomed. He said Lord is there and we all should worship Him.”

man-mana bhava mad-bhakto  mad-yaji mam namaskuru

Always think of the Lord and become His devotee. Worship Lord  and offer homage unto Lord.

But the mayavada philosophy says,  brahma satyam jagan-mithya jivo brahmaiva naparah Brahman alone is real and this jagat is mithya, and the jiva is non-different from Brahman.’the Advaita philosophy,

Preaching of sunyavad was going on, then  Sankaracarya came and he preached about advaitvad. Then came the acarayas of the 4 sampradayas, one after the other. All four acarayas appeared in the South and all  the avatars of the Lord appeared in the North.  These four sampradayas are Vaisnava sampradayas as they all serve and accept Lord Krsna, Vishnu, Ram. It is important to note that they take shelter of the Vishnu tattva and not of the demigods

1.The Sri Brahma Sampradaya whose Sampradaya Acarya is Sri Madhvacarya.

2.The Sri Laksmi Sampradaya whose Sampradaya Acarya is Sri Ramanujacarya.

3.The Sri Kumara Sampradaya whose Sampradaya Acarya is Sri Nimbarkacarya.

4. The Sri Rudra (Siva) Sampradaya whose Sampradaya Acarya is Sri Visnu Swami.

They all emphasised dvaitvad. There is a need understand all these siddhantas.

mamaivamso jiva-loke  jiva-bhutah sanatanah

The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. We are not Lord, we are two not one.

Lord Krsna has 64 qualities and we living entities have 50 qualities. We are qualitatively same as the Lord, but quantitatively we are very small. advaitvad and dvaitvada are together. Out of the four acaryas, Madhavacarya emphasised on the two – dvaitvad, not one. He had defeated advaitvad. He preached vishista dvaita siddhanta.

Then Vishnu Swami who belongs to Kumar Sampradaya preached about dvaitadvaita siddhanta. They preached about Lord being ‘sakaar’-that means having form.

Srila Baladev Vidyabhusan wrote commentary on the Vedanta sutra which called Govind bhaiya and his siddhanta was called ‘acintyabhedabheda siddhanta’.  There is a difference in the Lord and jiva . That isbhed and then there is no difference between Lord and jiva, that’s abheda.

If we get two buckets of sea water – one small and one big. They will be the same qualitatively but quantitatively different.   So our relationship with the Lord is eternal.

Navadvipa jabe ami pragat hoibo tava sampradaya svikar karibo

Bhatki Vinod Thakur in his book Navadvipa parikrama khanda writes,  

Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu took two special qualities of each sampradaya and then the Brahma Madhava Guadaya sampradaya was complete.

Krsna murti nitya jani tahar sevan sei ta dvitya sar jaan mahajana

These four acaryas also appeared  in Gaur lila as, Sri Ramanujacarya – Ananta, Sri Visnuswami –Vallabha Bhatta, Sri Nimbarka – Keshava Kashmiri. Caitanya Mahaprabhu said,

aishwarya bhava has a lot of fear and reverence, but less love. In this bhava the devotee does not love the Lord very much. It is like a relationship between a servant and a boss.

There are two types of sadhana . 1. Vaidhi and 2. Raganuga. In raganuga bhakti there is reciprocation of love between bhakti and the Lord. Lord wanted to relish this bhava so Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared.

bhagavan more putra mora mitra mora prananath

Vatsalya. Sakhya and Madhurya are the main rasas and there is a lot of reciprocation of love between bhakta and the Lord or Lord becomes a bhakta.

panca-tattvatmakam krsnam bhakta-rupa-svarupakam
bhaktavataram bhaktakhyam namami bhakta-saktikam (CC Adi 1.14)

Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu has five features. He comes with all those five features  to preach His message. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the form of a devotee, Nityananda appears in the form of a devotee’s spiritual master, Advaitacarya is the form of a bhakta (devotee) incarnation, Gadadhara Pandit is the energy of a bhakta, and Srivasa is a pure devotee.

anyadharman tiraskritya puraskritya mahotsavan 

Narada muni said to Bhakti Devi,  “I will establish you in every house, in everybody or every society. Mahotsavan – I will organise festivals. And with the festival as the forum, I will propagate you, establish you everywhere.

When Srila Prabhupada established ISKCON, he started many festivals like Sunday festival, first ratha yatra festival in San Francisco in 1966 in which 10,000 people participated. In a recent survey is was found that 600 Jagannatha Ratha yatras were organized.

What do the devotees do? They take up the mrdanga and sing and dance. Such festivals are going on everywhere all over the world. No festival is complete without sankirtana.  Aindra Prabhu started akhanda sankirtana and now it’s going on. It was predicted that people over the world will come to Mayapur and chant Jai Sacinandan Gaur Hari.

We always say in Prabhupada’s pranam mantra  gaurvani pracharini. He preached the message of Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu all over the world protected and saved those who were affected by mayavadand sunyavad. We were also saved. Gaurvani closed the mouth of mayavad, sunyavad and advaitvada. We did not talk about Charvak siddhanta

“yavat jivet sukham jivet rinam kritvã dhritam pibet” 

“As long as you live, live happily. Incur debt but drink ghee.

Take loans car loan, this loan that loan. Beg, borrow, steal but make sure that you live happily.

“bhasmi- bhutasya dehasya punaragamanam kutah.” 

Once you die your body is destroyed, who comes again so just enjoy. There are so many follower of Charvak, mayavad, sunyavad, advaitvad. Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu rejected all this siddhanta and gave us complete knowledge.  His message is for each and every person all over the world.

”This is my own and that is a stranger’ – is the calculation of the narrow-minded. For the magnanimous-hearts however, the entire earth is but a family’.

He is merciful and beyond the dualities of poor-rich, man-woman. Those who follow these dualities are narrow minded, laghucetasam. Laghu means small and Guru means heavy.

There is a Marathi  phrase , he vishwachi maze ghar , which means that this world is my house and that’s also the world view of Lord.  Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu made a plan so that His message reaches all over the world.

Prabhupada registered ISKCON and with its 7 objectives.

1. Propagate spiritual knowledge all over.

Material knowledge is going all over.  “Why are you calling us sudra? We are not Indian.  Being sudra is also not bad.’ samsidhi hari tosanam’. The best secret is to please the Lord.

1. Propagate Krsna Consciousness

Make Krsna the centre of our lives. As a mother sees her son’s toy and thinks of her son, our Krsna consciousness should be like that.

1. Encourage the sankirtana movement
2. Erect holy places of the pastimes of Lord Krsna

Prabhupada had established so many temples, gurukuls, goshala, farm houses and named them. Krsna loves cows so Prabhupada started goshala in foreign countries. Where people were gobhaksak, he made them goraksak.

1. Teach a simpler and natural way of life.

However all the opposites are going on. There is high living and no thinking or low thinking. The mantra is – just do it. The effect of high living and no thinking is that mental diseases are increasing. India is also becoming number one. The President said in Delhi yesterday that 1 in 10, that’s 10% of the population is affected by mental diseases. He also warned us to be careful of the epidemic of mental diseases. It is going to come, so we need to do something.

At the malls we see the word ‘life style’ .I don’t understand what it means, I have no idea. But I say its ‘death style’. We all are suffering from diseases and from five star hotels to we are going to five star hospitals. Krsna Consciousness is the only way. There is no other way, no other way, no other way. Turn towards Krsna. Honor Krsna Prasad. Your mind also will become pure. wWe become hatever we eat. The mind does thinking, feeling and willing. So whatever we think ,like that we become. We use our senses for gratification and thus we get mentally diseased. We always have to keep our senses engaged in Krsna consciousness.

andha yathandhair upaniyamanas

Prahalad Maharaja says that blind men guided by another blind man miss the right path and fall into a ditch. Our leaders are blind and we follow them without thinking. Like sheep we follow each other and fall in a ditch.

na te viduh svartha-gatim hi visnum

The goal of life is to return home, back to Godhead, and engage in the service of Lord Visnu. 

The leader is the one who takes us to our goal, but today’s leaders don’t know about the goal. During Prabhupada’s time, the leaders were engaged in freedom work. Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said that it was not needed. Here in katha we are distributing books. Harinama preaching is going all over and when we hear the harinama, our mind becomes pure and high thoughts come to our mind. And we just fulfil our basic needs. In China it was written – after you work spend time with us – which means earn full day and then spend money in our malls. Cheating is going on all over. Maya is cheating, Kaliyuga is cheating us. We are become follower of Kali-kalirchela.

All these members  and even others addicted to sinful acts can be purified by taking shelter of the devotees of the Lord, due to His being the supreme power.

These are the names of different countries all over,  Kirat-Bihar, Huna-germany, Yavan means turkey like that. People there will accept Krsna consciousness and become pure. Prabhupada did that.  He circled the globe fourteen times. So the world is becoming pure. The 4 regulative principles. where

dyutam panam striyah suna  yatradharmas catur-vidhah

The personality of Kali was given permission to live in four places –  the place of gambling, the place of prostitution, the place of drinking and the place of animal slaughter.

Meat eating destroys daya (compassion). daya dharma ka mula hai. Somebody said that we are making our stomach a graveyard, eating all sort of animals and then we ask for peace or santi. Fighting is going on everywhere and that’s also due to eating meat. Gambling and mental speculation destroys Satya (Truthfulness). Intoxication destroys Tapa (Austerity)

Lord Rsabhadeva told His sons: One should engage in penance and austerity to attain the divine position of devotional service. By such activity, one’s heart is purified, and when one attains this position, he attains eternal, blissful life, which is transcendental to material happiness and which continues forever.

Illicit Sex destroys saucha (Purity). In 1966 Prabhupada asked his followers if they were  ready to follow the 4 regulative principles and to our surprise, all the boys and girls said, “Yes Swamiji, we are ready.”

One who follows these 4 rules, all the 4 pillars of dharma becomes strong and dharma gets established.

Todays is a special day. Everyone is waiting for the new year, parties going on all in Pune. This is also our party. We have gathered here today to chant and dance and welcome the new year. We  are hearing katha and lila of the Lord.

Do you all want to be happy in the new year. Happy new year to all of you! How can we be happy? Chant Hare Krsna and be happy.

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare

Everyday chant the holy name, those who are not chanting can make sankalpa today that we will chant the holy name every day in the New Year. Thank you.

Nitai Gaura Premanande…..Hari Hari Haribol.

Bhagavat Katha 2017: Day Six

Venue: Ganesh Kala Krida Manch, Swargate, Pune.

Date: 30 December 2017

Topic:  The definition of Bhakti rasa (Bhakti rasa ki paribhasa)

sri krsna caitanya radha krsna nahi anya.

We are remembering Caitanya Mahaprabhu, His associates and His different Lilas. Sometimes the basis of the katha becomes Bhagavad-gita, sometimes Srimad-Bhagvatam and sometimes Caitanya Caritamrita, Caitanya Bhagavat. Our discussions are based on these books. There is  just one day left of this Bhagavat katha. Is that good news? You must be counting the days as to when the katha will be over. You will be free. How many of you would like the katha to continue? Haribol. Your ruci for this katha is increasing and that means that the ruci for the Lord is increasing. Katha is Lord, Lila is Lord.

visvaksena-kathasu yah
notpadayed yadi ratim
srama eva hi kevalam (SB 1.2.8) 

Everything we do is useless labor if they do not provoke attraction for the message of the Personality of Godhead. What do we get from katha? Someone asked, “What will we get from chanting?” More chanting. So when you hear katha you will feel like hearing more katha.

mac-citta mad-gata-prana bodhayantah parasparam
kathayantas ca mam nityamtusyanti ca ramanti ca  (BG 10.9)

Pure devotees, whose characteristics are mentioned here, engage themselves fully in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Their minds cannot be diverted from the lotus feet of Krsna. Their talks are solely on the transcendental subjects. They are daily engaged in glorifying the pastimes of the Supreme Lord. Their hearts and souls are constantly submerged in Krsna, and they take pleasure in discussing Him with other devotees.

radha-krishna prana mora jugala-kisora jivane marane gati aro nahi mora

The divine couple, Sri Sri Radha and Krsna, are the life and soul of the devotees. They are their only shelter  and they are always satisfied in the  Lord. Everywhere people are dissatisfied, because whatever they  achieve in this material world is not for the soul. There is lobha (greed) all over, that brings about dissatisfaction.  We have to satisfy our soul then we will become atmaram (self satisfied) . Katha is Krsna and katha is for the soul. Hear katha with all your heart and meditate on the topic of the katha. Then you will be satisfied and happy.

Raise your both arms while you take Lord Gauranga’s name and dance

gauranga bhajile gauranga japile hoy duh?khera abasana re

Today is the sixth session. We welcome all of you – susvagatam.

yesha krsna ratih sthayi bhavo bhakti raso bhavet (Nectar of devotion 2.1.5)

Krsna rati or rasa of bhakti bhava . Bhakti-rasa is a mellow different from the ordinary rasa enjoyed by mundane workers. I am trying to talk about the bhakti rasa as presented by the sad- goswami’s  of Vrndavana.

There are two types of  rasas (mellows) of devotion.

The five primary rasas (santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and madhurya.  They are the main rasas. There are seven secondary types of rasas known as Hasya (humourous mood), Adbhuta (astonishment), Veera (chivalrous mood), Karuna (compassionate mood), Raudra (angry mood), Bhayanaka (mood of awe and dread) and Vibhasta (ghastliness).

The loving dealings and reciprocation and relations  between the Lord and the living entities is rasa. We all have a relationship with the Lord. With sambandha jnana, dharma begins. One is isvarya jnana misra rati  and other is kevala rati. Isvarya  rati  means the Lord is great and we are small. In this bhava, the jiva remains away from the Lord. It’s based mainly on isvarya jnana of the Lord. Kevala rati means pure devotion.

An example of santa rasa is the 4 Kumaras. Once they were situated in santa rasa, but once while on yatra of Vaikuntha  they smelt the tulsi at the Lotus Feet of the Lord.

In Vrndavana there is sakhya bhava. There is also sakhya bhava in Dwaraka  and Vaikuntha but its mixed with isvarya bhava. We can see vatsalya bhava in Mathura. Vasudev and Devaki gave birth to a child and they are offering obeisances to their child. This is also vatsalya bhava. 

gopala gopala devakinandana gopala
yasomati-nandana, braja-baro-nagara, gokula-ranjana kana 

There is a difference between vatsalya and sakhya bhava. The vatsalya, sakhya and madhurya bhava in Goloka dhama is supreme.  We will see there is a difference in the madhurya bhava also. The madhuryain Golok is supreme. There is madhurya, sakhya in Dwaraka, but its level is different. They are good at their respective places, but there is  a difference on the divine level in love. Good, better and best like that. So this is rasa sastra.

parakiya-bhave jaha brajetepracar

The mellow of conjugal love is the most excellent of all rasas and is propagated in Vraja by Sri Krsna in the form of the divine parakiya-bhava [paramour love]. The conjugal relations are also there in Dwaraka with the Queens, but it is svakiya bhava. In Vrndavana however it is the supreme parakiya bhava. The conjugal mellow decreases  in Vaikuntha. There is madhurya rasa between Laxmi and Narayana, but its at a lower degree than Vrndavana and Dwaraka.

mata more putra bhave karena  bandhan atihina jnane  kare  lalan palan

This is the vatsalya bhava of Vrndavana. “Sometimes mother ties me to the mortar out of love.”

bandha ukhadala yalaha ukhadala nanda ghar cha chor (Marathi)

This does not happen in Vaikuntha. Who can think of punishing  the Lord? That only happens in Vrndavana.

madhurya rase krsna nista 

Krsna is mine, He is my Krsna-this is mamta. Krsna is mine, and I am His, Can you say that? Yes, we all belong to Krsna. This is determination and service. In vatsalya bhava, sometimes devotees’ think that they are the caretakers of the Lord. This bhava is also there between the Lord and His devotees.

priya yadi  mane karaya …

Sometimes Radha and the gopis do not talk to Krsna, they say bad words to Him, and do not even look at him. This is a higher mellow.

We keep saying prema, Krsna prema. How to reach from sraddha to prema?

adau sraddha tatah sadhu- sango ’tha bhajana-kriya
tato ’nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha rucis tatah  (CC Madya 23.14.15)

adau  sradhha is faith. Everything begins with faith. Then we have sadhu sanga like you all are here for katha. Bhajan kriya  is then taught. We follow kriya and then comes anartha nivrutti. We get rid of all papa vasana (kama, krodha..). One is freed from all unwanted habits and becomes firmly fixed in devotional service. We become nistavan, we were sraddhavan now we have become nistavan and that stage is irreversible. From there we move forward.  Ruci in the Lord’s holy name increases and then we develop asakti. Thereafter, one develops taste and attachment. This is the way of sadhana-bhakti, the execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles.

Then bhava arises in us-santa, dasya, sakhya, madhurya, vatsalya. Bhava is the prior stage of prema. Just as we see a little light before sunrise, that’s bhava. When the sun rises it is prema. When premabecomes more solid is called sneha. When we  boil sugarcane, it becomes jaggery and then when you  boil it further, there is more purification. You get solidified sugar. When sneha becomes more solid it is mana, pranaya then raga, bhava and mahabhava.

Radharani is Mahabhava Thakurani Radha. These are all the rasas of the spiritual world.  Each one of us has an  eternal relationship with the Lord with Him in the centre. The relationships of this world are temporary.  Kya bharosa isi jindagi ka. It is just for some time. We study some books, but we don’t learn anything.There is so much knowledge, but we don’t read

maya-mugdha jivera nahi svatah krsna-jñana: jivere krpaya kaila krsna veda-purana.

Who will read Gita, Bhagavad and Caitanya Caritamrita?

There is one brahmanda/universe and at the bottom is Garbhodakshayi Vishnu. From His umbilical comes a lotus and on the lotus is Brahma. Once he said

 iti shodasakam namnam, kali-kalmasha-nasanam;
natah parataropayah, sarva-vedeshu drisyate. 

Lord Brahma said, the sixteen words, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare; Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, are especially meant for completely destroying all the contamination of Kali. To save oneself from the contamination of Kali-yuga, there is no alternative in all the Vedas except the chanting of this sixteen-word mantra. So the best you can do in Kaliyuga is chant the holy name.

The  10 topics of Bhagavatam

Sarga – Primary creation by the Lord.

Upasarga –  secondary creation by Brahma. He is empowered by the Lord.  He is not just the secondary creator, but he is the first acarya of our sampradaya. He is on the top. He is jnavan.

In the Brahmanda  and coming from the stem of the lotus from Garbhodakshayi Vishnu  are the 14 planetary systems.  In between, there is Earth, which we call Bhurloka. At the equator below the earth is Atal Loka; Vital Loka; Sutal Loka; Talatal Loka; Mahatal Loka;Rasatal Loka; Patal Loka.Generally we say tribhavan- svarga, bhulok and patal.

urdhvam gachchhanti sattva-stha madhye tishthanti rajasah
jaghanya-guna-v?itti-sth? adho gachchhanti tamasah

Those situated in the mode of goodness rise upward; those in the mode of passion stay in the middle; and those in the mode of ignorance go downward.

Srimad-Bhagavatam has wonderfully described the hellish planets or narkaloka. When Parikshit Maharaja heard it, he was scared. We can ask who has seen narka, but we cannot hide from it. Above that there are Maharloka, Janaloka, Tapoloka and Satyaloka. Those who follow karma kanda they go to svarga loka, jnana kanda go into the  brahman effulgence and yogis go to Tapolok. All these lokas are inside the universe.

a-brahma-bhuvanal lokah  punar avartino ‘rjuna

One who attains to Lord’s  abode,  never takes birth again. But from heavenly planets one has to return.

ksine punye martya-lokam visanti  (BG 9.21)

One who is promoted to those higher planetary systems enjoy a longer duration of life and better facilities for sense enjoyment, yet one is not allowed to stay there forever. One is again sent back to this earthly planet upon finishing the resultant fruits of pious activities. You  even reach Svarga loka but you can’t always remain there. Once your pious deeds are over, you have  to come back to Pune, back to square one. Krsna says this and you have to follow it.

There are antakoti  brahmas and our brahma is the smallest. He has four heads. As the size increases, the number of Brahma’s heads also increases,  5 heads, 6 heads…. The universe is in the shape of an egg. Prabhupada would say that it is shaped is like  a football and we are inside it and it has a cover. Each universe has a very thick cover. Ksirodaksayi Vishnu resides in our hearts.

isvarah sarva-bhutanam  hrd-dese ‘rjuna tisthati (BG 18.61)

The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart.  It’s not that He only resides in the heart of Indians, but in everyones’ heart, including he hearts of animals.

vidya-vinaya-sampanne brahmane gavi hastini
suni caiva sva-pake ca panditah sama-darsinah

The humble sage/pandit, by virtue of true knowledge, sees with equal vision a learned and gentle brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater (outcaste)

Katha-Upanisad states that in our heart there is a tree and on that tree there are two birds – one is jivatma  and other is Ksirodaksayi  Vishnu (parmatma).

There is the Viraja River on which Karanodakshayi Vishnu lies down. From him comes the various universes. Once we cross the Viraja River, we face the brahma jyoti – effulgence coming from Lords body.

koti surya samaprabha – The Lord  is as lustrous as a million suns.

vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam yaj jñanam advayam
brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti sabdyate (SB 1.2.11)

Lord is the source of  Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan and  we can’t separate them.   They are  different forms of the Lord.

goloka eva nivasaty akhilatma-bhuto

Lord Krsna resides in Golok. Then there is Devi dhama, Mahesh dhama, Hari dhama, Vaikuntha dhama. These are all spiritual kingdoms. The brahmandas are the material kingdoms of the Lord. Lord Siva stays in Mahesh loka.Then there is isvaraya dhama. That’s Vaikuntha. Laxmi and Narayan reside there.

We are jiva tattva. All the Lords are Vishnu tattva. Siva is neither jiva nor Vishnu tattva. Brahma Sahmita says that if the Lord is milk, then Siva is curd. He has his different tattva. From Krsna comes Balarama, from  Balarama Sankarsana, then Aniruddha, Pradyumna, Narayana and then the purusa-avataras–Maha-Visnu, Garbhodakasayi Visnu and Ksirodakasayi Visnu.Mahavisnu.

Eka pada vibhuti is Devi dhama. That is the material world and tripada vibhuti is the spiritual world. As we move above Vaikuntha, we get Ayodhya dhama and Golok dhama. In Golok dhama is Dwaraka, Mathura, Navadvipa and Vrndavana. There are two parts in Golok.

ekatmanav api bhuvi pura deha-bhedam gatau tau (CC Adii 1.5)

Although Radha and Krsna are one in Their identity, They separated Themselves eternally. Now these two transcendental identities have again united, in the form of Sri Krsna Caitanya.

The place where Radha Krsna lila takes place is Vrndavana.  Where there is Gauranga, it  is Navadvipa. Both are Golok.

caitanyakhyam prakatam adhuna tad-dvayam caikyam aptam (CC Adi 1.5)

Radha and Krsna are two different personalities then they become one. That’s Gauranga Mahaprabhu who stays at Navadvipa dhama. Krsna and Radha’s pastimes were taking place in Golok, but once He developed a desire to taste the bhava of Radharani so Radha and Krsna become one as Gauranga Mahaprabhu. Names of Radha Krsna are wealth. There is a locker in Golok dhama where the jewel of Harinama is kept. Five hundred years ago Caitanya Mahaprabhu came and opened the locker and brought that mahamantra for all of us. That’s why he is called the most merciful, udara, mahavadanyaya.

vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyo

By all the Vedas am I to be known

This is all sastra. If we can’t see, then we need to get operated on and the ointment of knowledge has to administered.

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya
cakshur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

The acarya or the spiritual master,  opens  our eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance, with the torchlight of knowledge.

cakhu-dan dilo jei, janme janme prabhu sei  divya-jnana hrde prokasito

The acarya opens our darkened eyes and fills our heart with transcendental knowledge. So divine knowledge is given to us by the  Gaudiya  Vaisnava acaraya.  A lot of knowledge is being distributed all over and that work is done by ISKCON. 

Krishna Govind Govind Gopal Nandalal..singing the glories of Krsna

Jai jai yasoda dulal girivardhari gopal

Nitai Gaura Premanande…..Hari Hari Haribol.

Bhagavata Katha 2017: Day Five
Venue: Ganesh Kala Krida Manch, Swargate, Pune.
Date: 29 December 2017
Topic : The history of Gaudiya Vaisanava parampara Gaudiya Vaisnava dhara

I welcome you all for the fifth session of Srimad-Bhagavatm katha. Today is Vaikuntha Ekadasi. She takes us towards the Lord. If you take darsana of Sri Sri Radha Vrndavana Chandra today, then your seat in Vaikuntha dhama is reserved.

It is also Mr. Malhotra’s birthday. (supporter and donor). I always meet Mr Malhotra whenever I come to Pune and also during katha. I had met him first in 1975, so this year is the 42 anniversary of our meeting. He is a special citizen of Pune. He is a devotee of Krsna, but I would say that he is first a devotee of Srila Prabhupada. He voice was choked up when he was talking about Srila Prabhupada. Thank you Malhotraji, you have understood Prabhupada and his mission. You have dedicated your life to Prabhupada’s mission.

I remember one greater supporter of ISKCON in Mumbai. We were staying on Hare Krsna land as brahmacaris . Mr Sethi built quarters for us. Prabhupada said to Mr Sethi that the Lord has already made  a house for him in Vaikuntha. So like that Malhotraji’s  seat is also confirmed in Vaikuntha.

We were saying yesterday…

paropakaram vahanti nadya, paropakaram duhanti gaaya
paropakaram phalanti vriksha, paropakaram idam shareeram 

Which means: “Rivers flow for Paropkar, Cows give milk for Paropkar, Trees bear fruits for Paropkar, similarly this body is also meant for Paropkar”

It’s also said, Kirtir yasya sa jivati: “Anyone who is reputed for his good activities, lives forever. In Marathi we have a phrase, marave pari kirti rupe urave You may die, but you must continue to live through your deeds. As we have become human beings, we should perfect our life.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu said,

Bharata-bhumite haila manu?ya-janma yara, janma sarthaka kari kara para-upakara. 

Srila Prabhupada also did para-upakara. He is Bharat Ratna. He had realized what the wealth of India is. We should also realize it. When we go to foreign countries, people ask where are you from? And we say India. Oh! That beggar’s country, people  go to other countries only to ask for something, for begging, so we became popular as beggar’s. But Prabhupada went to give, not to receive anything.

One reporter asked to Prabhupada, “Swami ji why did you come to England? Prabhupada said, “Oh! You also had come?  You looted our country. You took away the Kohinoor jewel and many things, but you forgot to bring the real treasure. And that’s Lord Krsna.  I have come to do a home delivery of the wealth of our country to you.

How does person become wealthy? By becoming Krsna conscious.

Lord is with you, realize this fact. Increase your faith.  Lord Krsna, Gita and Bhagvad are the wealth of our country. The culture of ancient India is the wealth of India. Caitanya Mahaprabhu has said it,

Oh! Lord only you and your name is absolute truth.

Realize everything exists. Lord exists. His dhama exists.  The song Krsna jinka naam hai, yasoda kini maiya hai, nanda ji bapaiya hai….everything exists. The asters believe that  Lord comes from His dhama and everything exists there. For four days now we are hearing about Caitanya Mahaprabhu

sri-krsna-caitanya radha-krsna nahi anya

Caitanya Mahaprabhu is non-different from Radha Krsna.When Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu came from His dhama, He appeared and on His first birthday many people brought gifts for Him, but He also brought the gift of the Holy name for all of us.

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare

This is the true wealth of our country. Prabhupada said to the reporter, “I have come to deliver this wealth to you all.” They had come to India and they had conquered us. We were a dependent country. But Prabhupada went to the West and now many English men have surrendered to Lord Krsna.

San Francisco was the capital of the hippies. Where ever the hippies were, Prabhupada went there and  gave them  the gift of harinama and made them happies. And he would proudly say, “They were hippies now they have become happies.” We are very fortunate to be born in India.

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva” or “guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija”

According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe” We were also going round and round in 84 lakh different species, round and round, up and down. But enough of it! Happy, happy we shall be when we learn our A,B,C. That’s chanting of the Holy name. Hare Krsna is ABC or Bhagavad-gita is ABC.  Prabhupada saved us.

There is a song, yadi Prabhupada na hoite. We would be here, but somewhere else.  I would have become an engineer  because that is what my family wanted. Prabhupada ordered me to start the padayatra dindi program and I sat in a bullock cart. It started from Dwaraka and we were going to Kolapur.  I went to my village with this padayatra. My family had dreamt that I would come back to the village on a motor cycle (fatfati), but I returned on a bullock cart.  Prabhupada made me sit in a bullock cart. I was back to square one, as I was born near the bullock cart. I was very happy. If Prabhupada was not there, then today’s katha would also not take place.

namaste saraswati deve gaura-vani-pracharine nirvishesha-shunyavadi pashchatya-desha-tarine

Prabhupada preached about Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu all over the world, he preached about Gauravani, his teachings his Caritra.  

How would people understand the glories of Radharani if Caitanya Mahaprabhu would not be there? How many people would understand Krsna and Radha prem? He is also called prem purusottam. Like Sri Ram is maryada purusottam, Jagannath is also called purusottam. Caitanya Mahaprabhu is prem purusottam. He taught love, Krsna preme dharma to the people. The reciprocation between the jiva and the Lord is called prem dharma. The dharma of jiva is called jiva dharma. They have different names.

Dasya prem, sakhya prem, Madhurya prem, vastsalya, no karma kanda. By the karma kandas one can receive artha (wealth). sukh sampati ghar aave kasta mite tan ka –  this dharma, this prayer is not a pure prayer. Few parts are fine, but this is a  business transaction, not pure love  bhukti, mukti, siddhi kami sakale asanta.

Lord Narsimha told Prahlad Maharaja to ask for any benediction.  Sri Prahlad Maharaja said, “na sa bhrtyah sa vai vanik — one who does business with Krsna is a merchant, not a servant [SB. 7.10.4]. That person is not your real devotee, he is businessman.” asha-pasha-shatair baddah, driven by material desires materialist people accumulate money. They go to other Demigods. Prahlad Maharaja says such a person is not your devotee.

Caitaanya Mahaprabhu is the Lord Himself and He did all the correction / reformation in the dharma, that were lost by the power of time.

sa kaleneha mahata yogo nastah parantapa

Loving dealings between Lord and His devotees is  bhakti. He taught bhakti to the whole world.  He had come with His team. His team was practising  sadhana and also distributing bhakti to everyone. Caitanya Mahaprabhu came and taught us sanatana dharma. Prabhupada become the founder acarya of ISKCON. He always said, “Try to understand the mission of Caitanya Mahaprabhu or Krsna consciousness.” Some understood, many did not. Giving Krsna and making them Krsna consciousness is the Lord’s mission. The ultimate goal is making people Krsna conscious.

Today is Vaikuntha ekadasi and those who come for darsana of Lord Balaji deserve Vaikuntha. Prabhupada would say they become eligible to go back home, back to Godhead. Why does the Lord come? He actually comes to take us back home. “Please come home.”

Lord said to Arjua, I will tell now the most confidential thing,

man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaisyasi satyam te pratijane priyo ‘si me

Always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.

Prabhupada spoke about 4 regulative principles. When in ISKCON we talk of 4 regulative principles, No meat eating, no intoxication, no illicit sex and no gambling. These principles Prabhupada gave to his disciples. There are many types of gambling, it also means mano dharma. When people say, I think, that is actually mental speculation. Mental speculation is also gambling. So kali stays at these four places.

dyutam panam  striyah suna yatradharmas catur-vidhah

So there should not be mental speculation. Prabhupada named the Gita, Bhagvad-gita As It Is. Prabhupada always said, “Let the Lord speak, for Himself. You! Shut up. It’s the Lord’s song, Bhagavad-geet. We all should support what the Lord says. If we reject what the Lord says, that’s cheating.

So the Lord says, always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. You will have Lord’s realization. You will have darsana of the Lord. We can have darsana of the Lord with these eyes. But once a devotee lives his body, there is no birth again this is one thing. And other thing is he goes to the Lords abode.

tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti 

The purpose of the Lord’s coming to this world is to take us back. yah karsati  iti krsnah. In Krsna there are two words, Krs  means  all attractive and  na which means bliss. So Krsna attracts the living entity and fills him with happiness. He wants  the jiva  to come back home.

Tukaram Maharaja  said, “ami jato amcha gava amcha rama rama ghyava.” The people of Dehu said, Oh! Your village is just a few kilometers. Tukaram Maharaj understood  our real village is the Lord’s abode. The Lord is our father, mother, our everything. aham bija-pradah pita–  I am the seed-giving father.(BG14.4)

Prabhupada stressed a lot on this concept of going back to Godhead. So in 1944 Prabhupada published his magazine and named it Back to Godhead. The magazine is distributed  all over the world in many  different languages. Such was Prabhupada, our leader. Nita, ni means one who leads us, one who takes us somewhere. Actually the  real  and original leader is the Lord, and those acaryas who follow the words of the Lord are also real leaders. The political leaders take us from gali (street) to Delhi. But an acarya like Prabhupada said chalo Vaikuntha.

Lord is  a personality and we have an eternal relationship with the Lord. Once we return to the Lord’s abode then there is  real life. There is no dead matter. Earth, water, fire, ether not even a particle of any of these is in the Lord’s abode.

Brahma described Lords abodes as,

cintamani-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vrksa- laksavrtesu surabhir abhipalayantam
laksmi-sahasra-sata-sambhrama-sevyamanam, govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami 

All desire come true there and there are kalpa vruksha- desire tree in Lords  abode, His  abode is built with spiritual gems. There are cows, so it’s also called Golok. He is cowherd boy, what does He do?  His bussiness is herding the cows.     (BS. 5.29)

Sounds very simple. This is ancient culture of India.  The cow is so useful. According to our culture, agrarian economy is the best economy. Lord said in Gita annad bhavanti bhutani. Prabhupada would say, “Our basic need is food because we have  a human body. So that comes from the field. But the Industrial economy started in foreign countries is causing destruction of our country, climatic conditions are being changed, everywhere there is pollution. No air to breathe. There is a lot of  suffocation and diseases are increasing. There is no progress, the earth has developed  a fever, the temperature of earth has increased.”

According to sastra there are two types of diseases.  Adhi- mental diseases  and vyadhi- bodily diseases. Nowadays mental diseases are increasing. Stress and depression is increasing.  2 out of 5 Americans are fit to be admitted to a  mental hospital. The global survey data states –America is the sickest country of the world. It’s the land of opportunity, but it is also the sickest country. When I heard this, I was not surprised. Because bhoga gives rise to roga. America is a bhogi country so there are lot of rogis, that’s not surprising. Enjoy, become bhogi. Lord said to Arjuna that he should become a yogi. But in material world it’s all the opposite.  So a country which is full of opportunities is a sick country.

As today is ekadashi we will sing abhanga of Tukaram Maharaj..Govinda..Govinda.When we go to Balaji, everyone there says Govinda..Govinda..Govinda.

From Dehu, Tukaram Maharaj went directly to Vaikuntha. There was no  airlines or airport there at that time. Lord sent His vaikuntha plane and took Tukaram Maharaj back to Godhead.

muukam karoti vaacaalam panggum langghayate girim
yat-krpaa tamaham vande param-aananda maadhavam

The history of Gaudiya Vaisanava parampara (Gaudiya Vaisnava dhara) is today’s topic

nitya krsna-carane unmukha ‘krsna-parisada’ nama, bhuñje seva-sukha (CC Madhya lila 22.11)

Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s associates/ parshad are nitya mukta and they are eternally enjoying the transcendental bliss of serving Krsna. Also the acarya who appeared before and after Caitanya Mahaprabhu are also nitya mukta. As the Lord takes Avatar, like that devotees also take avatar, actually it’s not called avatar. They glide down or come down to this world.  Caitanya Mahaprabhu said once to a brahman in Mathura.

dharma sthapan hetu sadhur vevahar

Whatever a sadhu does, is to establish dharma.  Lord is always present,  but there are two types of lilas – pragat lila and  apragat lila. In pragat lila, Lord appears and gives darsana. Sri Ram remained on this earth for 11, 000 years. Sri Krsna was in this world for 125 years  in Vrndavana. That’s  pragat lila and Caitanya Mahaprabhu did lila for 48 years.  When the Lilas are not going on that time the acarya keep on preaching and establishes dharma. Protecting dharma and the saintly people. 

paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge (BG 4.8)

People take shelter of dharma, they become dharmic.  Dharmo rakshiti rakshitah – one who protects dharma, dharma protect them. There is need of dharma for humans, if we accept dharma then only we are humans otherwise we are like animals.

ahara-nidra-bhaya-maithunam cha samanam etat pashubhir naranam
dharmo hi tesham adhiko vishesho dharmena hInah pashubhih samanah

Common activities between man and animals are eating, mating, sleeping and defending. This goes on, but we actually become humans if we follow dharma or we will be pasuvat, be like animals. Dharma is the only special thing, without dharma humans are also animals.  So Lord makes the arrangements, He comes down  to this material world. Sometimes He comes alone, like Narasimha Bhagavan. He came alone or brings His associates like in, Ram lila,  Krsna and Caitanya lila. Yasoda, Devaki became Lord’s mother in different avatars and yugas. Again Yasoda become Sacimata in Caitanya Lila. Jagannatha Mishra is Nanda baba, Dasaratha, Vasudev.

Gadadhar pandit is Vishnu tattva. So not only Krsna came but  in the form of Gadadhar pandit Radharani also came. Narada Muni became Srivasa Pandit. Visvarupa, Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s brother was Lord Sankarsana.  Navadvipa dhama, His dhama also took avatar. Mayapur dhama, Vrndavana dhama are cintamanii dhama, eternal and divine.

There will be annihilation, but Vrndavan dhama will be as it is. So whenever the Lord comes,  He always comes in His dhama. All those dhamas are also avatars of Golok dhama.

Vishnupriya is Bhu-sakti, Jagadananda Pandit was Satyabhama. This is also a special. Those who were females or gopis in Krsna Lila take up the male form in Caitanya lila. Jagadananda Pandit was a male in Caitanya  lila, but in Krsna lila he was Satyabhama. Janava mata was Revati.  She was the consort of Nityananda Prabhu. Murari Gupta was Hanuman. Haridas Thakur was Brahma. He was given the name Namacharya Hari das Thakur. He  was catur mukha Brahma, first acarya of our sampradaya. Brahma appeared and took chanting beads and started chanting.

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare

Nilambar Chakravarty was Garga Muni, the grandfather of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He did the name giving ceremony of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and named Him Vishvambhar. As he had done in Krsna lila.

Vrndavan Das Thakur who wrote Caitanya Bhagavad is Vedavyasa. Veda is apaurushya. It can’t be written. Initially vedas were  in sruti form. There was no printing, no books. Students would hear and fix it in their heart and they were called sruti dhara. They would not forget. But for people of Kaliyuga Vyasadev wrote the sastras, but actually it was written by the Lord.

We come in Brahma, Narada, Vyasa, Madhava, Jaya Tirtha, Brahmanya tirtha, Vyasa Tirtha, Laxmipati, Madhavendra Puri.

The first Gaudiya acarya is Madhavendra Puri. He comes in the same  parampara as Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The Lord Himself appears as Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Madhavendra Puri sets the scene before the Lord’s appearance. He also comes in Madhavcarya sampradaya, but with a little change in dimensions. He realized prema dharma and also kaiyuga’s dharma is nama sankirtana. He preached about it. He was preparing for Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s arrival. He had that type of pure bhava.

krsna yadi prthivite karena avatara
prathame karena guru-vargera sañcara (CC Adi Lila 3.93)

If the Lord wants to come down he first sends acaryas to establish spiritual masters. So our Gaudiya sampradaya starts with Madhevendra Puri. He  had a lot of realizations during his Govardhana parikrama, near the bank of Govind-kunda. He had darsana of the Lord. He never asked for food. He would only eat if given food otherwise he would remain hungry. One such day he was hungry, busy chanting and Lord Krsna came to give him a milk pot.

So such different pastimes are explained of each acarya.

jaya sri madhavapuri krsna-prema-pura, bhakti-kalpatarura tenho prathama ankura (Cc Adi 9.10)

All glories to Sri Madhavendra Puri, the storehouse of all devotional service unto Krsna! He is a desire tree of devotional service, and it is in him that the seed of devotional service first fructified. Madhavendra puri is a big name, a big personality, his teachings. 

Once the Lord came to his dream and told him, “I am hidden in thorny bushes out of fear of  yavanas.” That was the situation during those days in Vrndavan. Out of fear the Deities Radha Govind, Radha Vinod, Radha Damodar were being moved out of Vrndavana or hidden. He removed one such Deity of Gopal at the base of Govardhana.

Then again the Lord came to his dream and said, “I am feeling hot. Bring chandan for Me.” On the way to Jagannatha Puri, he visits Shantipur and initiates Advaitacaraya.  Then he goes to Remuna, waits at the Gopinath temple. The Gopinatha Deity there stole  kheer for Madhavendra puri, so that Gopinath was named as ksira chora gopinath. 

ayi dina-dayardra natha he mathura-natha kadavalokyase
hrdayam tvad-aloka-kataram dayita bhramyati kim karomy aham  (C.C MadhyaLila 4.197)

“O My Lord! O most merciful master! O master of Mathura! When shall I see You again? Because of My not seeing You, My agitated heart has become unsteady. O most beloved one, what shall I do now?”

This is his one verse which is mentioned in Caitanya Caritamrita. He has expressed his humility.

Nityananda Prabhu is Balaram.

vrajendra-nandana jei, saci-suta hoilo sei,  balarama hoilo nitai

Balaram become Nityananda  500 years back. He got initiated by Madhavendra puri. Then Advaitacarya who is Mahavishnu, one tattva amongst the pancha tattva, he came before Caitanya Mahaprabhu. 

Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself.

That time adharma was spreading allover and increasing, so he thought now it’s time for the Lord to come. He stayed at Shantipur. He offered tulsi and Ganga water to Saligrama Sila and called the Lord who came in form of Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Isvara Puri was also a disciple of Madhavendra Puri. Isvara Puri met Caitanya Mahaprabhu at Gaya and there he initiated Caitanya Mahaprabhu and became his disciple. Caitanya dhoba is a place in Bengal, the  birth place of Isvara Puri. We had gone there while in padayatra. Caitanya Mahaprabhu had also gone to the birthplace of his spiritual master. He had brought a little mud from there and every day he honored it as prasada. People also followed this and because of that there is a big pond there now. He relished conjugal mellows.  May such  a Caitanya Mahaprabhu appear in your hearts. In a nutshell Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s teachings

aradhyo bhagavan vrajesa-tanayas tad-dhama vrndavanam
ramya kacid upasana vraja-vadhu-vargena va kalpita
srimad bhagavatam pramanam amalam prema pum-artho mahan
sri-caitanya mahaprabhor matam idam tatradarah na parah 

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna, the son of Nanda Maharaja, is worshipped along with His transcendental abode Vrndavana. The most pleasing form of worship for the Lord is that which was performed by the gopis of Vrndavana. Srimad- Bhagavatam is the spotless authority on everything and pure love of Godhead is the ultimate goal of life for all men

Generally Hindu dharma means –kama, artha, moksha that’s all, all mixture and there goal is just heaven. When a Hindu dies its written on his photo svargiya or Brahmalina nobody writes Golokvasi or Vaikunthavasi. Nobody must be going there, that’s why. Vaikuntha or Golok is not their goal. They don’t know what’s the difference between heaven and Vaikuntha. Mukti does not take to Vaikuntha but bhakti/ devotional service takes us to Vaikuntha.

Nitya-lila-pravista Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada ki …..jai. The acarayas have to  be remembered always.

prema pum-artho mahan, Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught  pure devotion. Bhakta is mukta but mukta is not bhakta.

A team of six goswamis were send to Vrndavana. This team was from Golok, one who reaches Lords abode never comes back to Pune. Sanatan Goswami is Lavanga Manjari  or Rati Manjari  There are gopis, manjaris, so few gopis and manjaris came with the Lord. In Caitanya  lila a few gopis and manjaris have taken  the male  form and relished devotional services and also wrote different books There is no end to the list of the books written by them. Rupa Goswami wrote different books and built Radha Govindev  temple. It was a 7 story tall, but Aurangzeb destroyed few stories and now we have just 4 stories.

Narottama das Thakur preached in Bengal. Vishwanath Chakrawarty Thaukur is Vinod Manjari. He also wrote many books. Once he was the protector of Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya. He appeared in the 17 century.

Baladev Vidyabhushan was disciple of Vishawanath Chakrawarty Thaukur. He wrote Govind bhasya infact Lord made him write. He also wrote many books.

Bhakti Vinod Thakur appeared in 18 century. He was setting the scene for ISKCON. Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur is his son. Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur was the spiritual master of Prabhupada. Bhakti Vinod Thakur was a district magistrate. He established deity worship process in Jagannatha Puri. He searched for the birth place of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. That’s  yogapith at Mayapur. Out of the 9 islands in  Navadvipa, his house is in Godrumdvipa. He served Gaur Gadhadhar. His son establsihed 64  gaudiya matha and out of them are outside  of India. He ordered Prabhupada, “You look intelligent. Preach in English in the West.” Prabhupada went to the West, devaduta in Jaladuta and in 1966 he established ISKCON  in New York. We say he was alone, but the Lord was always  with him. He only had 40 rupees and  in New York a person can’t live for 40 seconds on 40 rupees. So in America he was penniless. He did not know where to turn. No one to welcome him, no taxi, no hotel booking. He had Bhagavad with him. And which wealth?

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare

Now a full movie is made on his life. Our president released it in Delhi and he said Prabhupada is the ambassador of the spiritual world. He glorified Prabhupada. It was shown in many theaters. Did any see that movie? Haribol, many hands are up. Actually we are never in favor of watching movies but this is one movie all should see. We will talk about Gaudiya Vaisnavism again in the coming days.

Thank you

Venue: Ganesh Kala Krida Manch, Swargate, Pune.

Date: 28 December 2017

Topic: Philosophical Study of the Vedas

Ram katha is always going on in our country and what to talk about Bhagavat katha. That  is also going on, but we hardly hear Caitanya katha. Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared just over 500 years ago so His katha should be going on, but that’s not happening.

We always pray to Srila Prabhupada when we recite his pranam mantra:

namaste saraswati deve  gaura-vani-pracharine
nirvishesha-shunyavadi pashchatya-desha-tarine

Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Caitanya and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism. He is the one who gave Lord Caitanya and His message to the whole world. And now that preaching is going on all over.

We should understand the Lord tatvatha. Prabhupada gave us Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Before that very few people knew about Caitanya Mahaprabhu. I was one of them. I was in third standard and we had one lesson with the title Caitanya Mahaprabhu. In Maharashtra there was Tukaram Maharaja, in Gujarat there’s Narsingh Mehta, in Rajastahn there was Meera Bai. But Caitanya Mahaprabhu was Lord Himself. As instructed by His Guru Maharaja Prabhupada translated Caitanya Caritamrita which was in Bengali and spread the Nama, Rupa, Guna and Lila of Caitanya Mahaprabhu all over. I always say, from Nama to Dhama. Uttering  Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s name we will reach dhama, which dhama? Mayapur dhama. Prabhupada made Mayapur his head quarters and from there was preaching Gaur lila all over the world. So I was saying Bhagavat katha and Ram katha always take place but Gaur katha never happen so we selected this theme and in the coming years there will be Gaur katha all over.

Once in Naimisaranya Gaur katha was taking place. Shivji was also on the way, but Nandi his Bull was slow. Our padayatra oxen walk 4 kms/hour. Shiva went to Brahma and borrowed his Hansa and soon arrived to Naimisaranya to hear Gaur katha. He likes katha very much. In this Kaliyuga we should get the mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

mo sama patita prabhu na paibe ara
patita-pavana-hetu tava avatara 

We are very fallen and Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s appearance is for the fallen and He becomes more and more merciful for us fallen.

namo maha-vadanyaya krsna-prema-pradaya te
krsnaya krsna-caitanya-namne gaura-tvise namah [Madhya 19.53]

As we are more fallen He is more compassionate – this is our pair with Lord Gauranga.

So we will sing  a song of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He does not only sing, but whenever He sings, He also dances.

hari haraye namah? krsna yadavaya namah, yadavaya madhavaya kesavaya namah

Hari! Obeisances to Lord Hari, unto Krsna, and Yadava. Obeisances to Lord of the Yadus, Madhava, Kesava.

ei chay gosair kori carana vandan  jaha hoite bighna-nas abhista-puran 

I bow to the feet of these six Goswamis. By their grace, our obstacles can be destroyed and all desires are fulfilled.

ei chay gosai jar—mui tar das  ta-sabara pada-renu mora pañca-gras

I am the servant of these six Goswamis. The dust of their lotus feet is my fivefold subsistence.

tadera carana-sebi-bhakta-sane bas  janame janame hoy ei abhilas

To be a servant of their lotus feet and to reside in the company of devotees–this is my aspiration birth after birth.

 ei chay gosai jabe braje koila bas  radha-krsna-nitya-lila korila prakas

When these six Goswamis lived in Vraja, they revealed the eternal pastimes of Sri Sri Radha and Krsna.

anande bolo hari bhaja brndaban  sri-guru-vaisnaba-pade majaiya man

In ecstasy, sing the name of Lord Hari and worship Vrndavana, joyfully fixing your mind upon the lotus feet of the bona-fide spiritual master and the pure devotees.

sri-guru-vaisnaba-pada-padma kori as nama-sankirtana kohe narottama dasa

The lotus feet of my guru and the Vaisnavas are my aspiration. Narottama Dasa thus sings Hari-nama sankirtana.

Like the people of Maharashtra keep singing the abhangas  of Tukaram Maharaja, such as sundar te dhyana ubhe vitevari, like that people from Bengal keep singing the bhajans written by Narottam Dasa Thakur.

jaya sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda. Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare

om namo bhagavate vasudevaya 

A conditioned soul is bewildered by the Lord’s illusory energy (maya). Maya’s business is to keep the conditioned soul forgetful of his real relationship with Krsna. Thus the living entity forgets his real identity as spirit soul and instead of realizing his factual position thinks himself the product of the material energy.

Out of his causeless mercy and compassion, Krsna has compiled various Vedic literatures in His incarnation as Vyasadeva He has very kindly presented these literatures to awaken the conditioned soul to his senses. Unfortunately, at the present moment the conditioned souls do not care to read the Vedic literatures. Although there is an immense treasure-house of knowledge, people are engaged in reading useless literature that will give them no information on how to get out of the clutches of maya. The Lord given us sastras. He first gave the knowledge to Brahma.

tene brahma hrda ya adi-kavaye

Vedas are apaurusheya, Vedas are always there. Before  Brahma the Vedas were there. They are laws given by the Lord. Vedas means complete knowledge, practical and spiritual, superior and inferior everything is in the Vedas.Vedic knowledge is divided into shruti and smriti sastra. Shruti sastra is apaurusheya as I said earlier. Vedas are divided into four –  Rig Veda, Sama Veda. Yajur Veda, Atharva Veda. There are many Upanisads and in them 108 Upanisads are the main and there conversations go on. Gita is also called Gitopanisad.

Then there are Upaveda (Secondary vedas) Dhanur veda- skills of war. Ayurveda. Gandharva veda. Sthapatya- architecture.

The six Vedangas are Siksha, Chhanda, Vyakarana, Nirukta, Jyotisha and Kalpa. First four are related to the Sanskrit language.

Vedas are also divided as Karma kanda, Jnana kanda, Upasana kanda.

karma-kanda, jnana-kanda, kevala visera bhanda

The path of karma-kanda (fruitive activities) and the path of jnana-kanda (speculation) are just like strong pots of poison. Karma kandis can reach heaven by doing karma. They are also called  bhukti kami. Those who desire mukti or liberation are mukti kami.

Vaisnavas don’t desire liberation even if it is offered. But the jnana kandis desire liberation and they don’t desire bhakti. Caitanya Mahaprabhu said that jnana kanda, karma kanda are all just poison.

Smriti  sastra  is divided into tantra, pancha tantra, 18 Puranas, itihas, sada darsana. There are 18 puranas. There is the  tamasic purana for deliverance of tamasic people. Puranas are not tamasic but we are bound by the three modes of material nature. There is also the  sattavic purana.

Mahabharat and Ramayan are itihas. These are all facts but people did not take note of it.

prakrteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvasah

Gita is part of Mahabharat. There are parvas in Mahabharat and Gita is from the Bhisma parva. There are 18 chapters. The war continued for 18 days and there were18 aksauni divisions of army.

vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyo vedanta-krd veda-vid eva caham

Lord say in Bhagvad-gita, “By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.”

Lord has given us sastra. We have to wear spectacles of sastra to see the Lord, that’s darsana.

caksu-dan dilo jei, janme janme prabhu sei, divya jnana hrde prokasito

With the eyes of sastra we can have darsana of the Lord.

Scientist thought if there is matter then there should be anti-matter/sprit also. So how will we have darsana of the soul. Through sastra and then the spiritual master can teach us about the soul and the Lord. Teachers like Sandipani  Muni teach about Bhagavad-gita and about sprit. The unfortunate people of this world are busy studying matter – physics, chemistry. Those who just study matter are called sudra.

kalo sudra sambhava- In Kaliyuga there will be sudra-factories and all sudra business. 

catur-varnyam maya srstam guna-karma-vibhagasah

Its guna karma not janma karma, According to the three modes of material nature and the work ascribed to them, the four divisions of human society were created. One who is influenced by the mode of goodness are called sattavic and they are Brahmans. Vaisas have satva guna and tamo guna. Ksatriyas have rajo and tamo guna, sudras have tamo guna, like that guna karma vibhagasah.

We can’t be called humans if we don’t  study vedas. We should become students of Bhagavat. Here we are hearing about Caitanya Mahaprabhu.  We want to capture the real you. Such advertisements go on all over, but that’s not real. The atma is real. It is eternal. Pune is full of IT business,  the study of matter. Doordarsana, they see few planets through instruments. There are so many Brahmanadas, but these instruments can’t reach these brahmandas. They can just have knowledge of a small particle of sand. There is so much knowledge in sastra.

In TOVP there will be darsana of 14 planetary systems. It is also possible by ….

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya cakshur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

 Spiritual master, opens  our  eyes, which are blinded by the darkness of ignorance, with the torchlight of knowledge. And then we get knowledge, which knowledge we will get? 

raja-vidya raja-guhyam pavitram idam uttamam

This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge,

So there are two forms of darsana, astik and nastik

Nastika veda nidakaha- those who don’t accept vedas – Charvak, Jain and Buddha

Astik darsana includes – Nyaya, the school of logic, Vaisesika, the atomist school, Samkhya, the enumeration school, Yoga, Mimamsa, Vedanta or Uttara Mimamsa.

Stuti of vedas – Pradipaha sarva vidyanam ashraya sarva dharmanam

Four vaisnava sampradaya acaryas wrote commentaries on the Vedanta sastra.

sampradaya-vihina ye, mantras te nishphala matah

Nimbarkacharya, Vishnu Swami, Ramanujacharya, Madhvacaraya. So each acarya has their own siddhanta and they defeated advaitavad. 

mamaivamso jiva-loke jiva-bhutah sanatanah

The living entity is the fragmental part and parcel of the Supreme Lord-eternally.

Advaitvada refers to the idea that the soul is the same as the Lord. But we are part and parcel of the Lord.

We are amsa and Lord is amsi , but the advaitvad we can become Lord. Thus  Bhagavad has rejected advaitvad.

dharma projjhita-kaitavo ’tra paramo nirmatsaranam satam (S.B 1.1.2)

Kaitava dharma is cheating religion. So advaitvad  siddhanta is a cheating dharma. Bhagavad has kicked it out. Prabhupada used to say, “Bhagavad has kicked out advaitvad” The link between the  soul and the Lord is Bhakti yoga. They don’t want to do bhakti. but Advaitvadis want to become Lord. Prabhupada would say that this is last snare  of Maya. Through bhakti we have strong relations with the Lord.

The commentary of Vedanta sutra is Srimad- Bhagvad, and the writer of both is Srila Vyasadev. So Gaudiya Vainavas thought what is the need of writing a commentary again. One acarya of our sampradaya, Srila Baladev Vidya Bhushan wrote the commentary as he was inspired by the Lord and that was called Govind Bhasya.

Srila Vyasdev wrote Bhagavad. He had written many sastras, but he had no job satisfaction. Once Narada Muni came to see Srila Vyasadev and he saw that Vyasadev was not satisfied. O! Gurudev please tell why that is happening?

yatha dharmadayas cartha muni-varyanukirtitah
na tatha vasudevasya mahima hy anuvarnitah (SB 1.5.9)

You have written a lot about dharma, artha,  kama and moksha. But you did not write about Lord Vasudev. You have just written a few lines about Lord. Then Srila Vyasadev wrote Srimad-Bhagvatam. Prabhupada would say that Bhagvatam is graduation study. Every house should have Srimad Bhagvatam. Say, “My house should have  a Bhagvatam.” There are lot of newspapers  in my house, what’s the use? Bhagvatam is Lord himself, so we should have Bhagvatam, Caitanya Caritamrita etc.

gita bhagvat karatii sravan akhanda cintan vithobha

Tukaram Maharaja always said, “One who will meditate on Bhagvatam we will have good thoughts, and thoughts of the Lord.

Om Sarve Sukhinah Bhavantu  Sarve Santu Nir-Aamayaah
Sarve Bhadraanni Pashyantu Maa Kashcid-Duhkha-Bhaag-Bhavet
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih 

Let everyone be happy. May All become Happy, May All be Free from Illness. May All See what is Auspicious, May no one Suffer.

Once I went for an inauguration of a hospital and I recited this sloka. The owner came running. O! Maharaja!What are you saying my hospital will close. (laughter)

paropakaram vahanti nadya, paropakaram duhanti gaaya
paropakaram phalanti vriksha, paropakaram idam shareeram 

Rivers flow for Paropkar, Cows give milk for Paropkar, Trees bear fruits for Paropkar, similarly this body is also meant for Paropkar

We should work for welfare of others.  The body has been given to us in order to benefit others. Caitanya Mahaprabhu asked, “How will you do paropkar/ welfare?”

bharata bhumite manusya janma haila yara: janma sarthaka kari karo para-upakara (CC Adi 9.41)

Give Krsna prema to people.  That’s the best welfare activity. Prema is pancham purusartha. We have four purusarthas – dharma, artha, kama, moksha

srimad-bhagavatam pramanam-amalam prema pumartho mahan

Srimad Bhagavatam is the spotless authority (amala puran) on everything and pure love of Godhead is the ultimate goal of life for all men. Distribution of Krsna prema is the best welfare activity. That will give us happiness and satisfaction. Whenever there was an indian gathering would say ,

bharata-bhumite haila manusya-janma yara janma sarthaka kari’ kara para-upakara (CC Adi 9.41)

Food, house, clothes are  just for the body but what about the soul? The soul needs Krsna prema. ISKCON is doing that welfare activity; all of you understand it and join the ISKCON. All the new audience coming for katha, you all come forward, get connected. This katha will go on for just seven days, but we have  a temple here. All the activities are going on every day in the temple. Bhagvatam katha goes on in the temple. Get acquainted  with the activities of Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON.

yare dekha, tare kaha ‘krsna’-upadesa amara ajñaya guru hasa tara’ ei desa

“Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Sri Krsna as they are given in the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land.”

This is order of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, whomever you meet you should talk about the Lord Krsna.

Once Chanda Kazi was protesting against the sankirtana movement. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu went to His house with his associates. Out of fear, Chanda Kazi was hiding inside his house. When Caitanya Mahaprabhu  called him, then only he came out. There was a conversation between them. Chanda kazi told Lord Caitanya how he had darsana of Narsingh Bhagvan and thus Chanda Kazi was delivered.

So keep Gita, Bhagavatam and Caitanya Caritamrita in your homes and of course study them. Do kirtana at your house daily. The Lord will be very pleased.

Nitai Gaura Premanande…..Hari Hari Haribol.

Srimad-Bhagvatam Katha 2017: Day Three

Venue: Ganesh Kala Krida Manch, Swargate, Pune.

Date: 27 December 2017

Topic: Magnanimity of Sri Krsna Caitanya (Sri Krsna Caitanya  Mahaprabhu ki audaryata)

Hare Krsna! What happened? Om Shanti. You all are silent. Thank you. 

Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu ki ….Jai
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

jaya sri-krishna-caitanya prabhu nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda. 

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare

sundara-bala saci-dulala nacata sri-hari-kirtana men

Caitanya Mahaprabhu is dancing in kirtana, whenever there was kirtana Caitanya Mahaprabhu would definitely dance.

bhale candana tilaka manohara alaka sobhe kapolana men
sire cuda darasi bale vana-phula-mala hiyapara dole
pahirana pita-pat?ambara sobhe nupura runu-jhunu carano men

His hair is wrapped in a topknot, and a garland of forest flowers sways upon His chest. Wearing brilliant yellow silken garments (pitambar), He dances with ankle bells (nupur) tinkling upon His feet.

radha-krsna eka tanu hai nidhuvana-majhe bamsi bajay
visvarupa ki prabhuji sahiaota prakat?ahi nadiya men

What you are hearing and understanding?  Sri Sri Radha and Krsna have become joined in one body, and together They play a flute within the grove of Nidhuvana. In this mood, the Lord of Visvarupa has come and manifested Himself in the town of Nadiya.

koi gayata hai radha-krsna nam koi gayata hai hari-guna gan
mangala-tana mrdanga rasala  bajata hai koi rangana men

Our subject of meditation is Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. There cannot be any other topic.

sada hridaya-kandare sphuratu vah sacinandanaha (CC Adi 1.4)

May that Lord, who is known as the son of Srimati Sacidevi, be transcendentally situated in the innermost chambers of your heart 

Specially for all of us and this age of Kaliyuga, Lord becomes Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He is always there in His dhama.

goloka eva nivasaty akhilatma-bhuto

There are two divisions of Golok, one is Vrndavana and other is Navadvipa. In Vrndavana there  is Lord Krsna  and in Navadvipa there is Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Lila is always going on there always. 

sambhavami yuge yuge..kalpe kalpe…manvantare

Six manvantars are over and now the seventh manvantar is going on – named Vaivasvat manu. At end of 28 dwapar yuga Lord Krsna appears. 

paras tasmat tu bhavo ‘nyo vyakto ‘vyaktat sanatanah  (BG 8.20)

Krsna’s superior spiritual energy is transcendental and eternal. It is beyond all the changes of material nature,

Between material world and spiritual world there is Viraja River. And in every brahmanda there is Vrndavana. And  at  end of 28 dwapar yuga Lord Krsna appears and after the dwapar yuga comes Kaliyuga. In that Kaliyuga Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu appears.

It’s said in Caitanya Mangal that Rukmini once said to the Lord,  “Prabhuji, you don’t  know something which I know and more than me Radha knows.” Lord asked, “What? You don’t know I am abhijnah -fully cognizant and svarat, fully independent; I have given knowledge to Brahma.”

abhijsah svarat tene brahma hrdya adi-kavaye (SB 1.1.1)

Rukmini is talking about vipralambha bhava, Love in separation. There is a feeling of separation. sunyitam jagat sarvam. She said, “The pain we feel during separation, You can’t feel, but I can feel it, and more than me Radha and the gopis feel it. So Krsna thought. “ Oh! I want to feel that bhava. I am the cause of the feeling of separation.”

Krsna Das Kaviraj has stated in Caitanya Caritamrta some general reasons for  Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s appearance.

paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge

In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.

Every yuga has its own dharma or process and Kaliyugu’s dharma is Harinama sankirtana. Whenever Kaliyuga come, there is,

harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha. 

Kaliyuga will come for 1000’s of times and for those many times its dharma will be Harinama. That time Lord comes as Gaur Narayan. And in this Kaliyuga Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu is doing the work of Gaur Narayan yugavatar. 

Caitanya Caritamrita gives  some confidential reasons why the Lord Himself appears in this Kaliyuga. For that reason Rukmini is saying, “Lord, you don’t  know.” Then Lord says , “Next time when I appear I will know the reason. “

sri-radhayah pranaya-mahima kidrso vanayaiva
svadyo yenadbhuta-madhurima kidrso va madiyah
saukhyam casya mad-anubhavatah kidrsam veti lobhat
tad-bhavadhyah samajani saci-garbha-sindhau harinduh (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila 1.6)]

The love of Radha is called pranaya. There are different states of Love. Desiring to understand the glory of Radharani’s love, the wonderful qualities in Him that She alone relishes through Her love, and the happiness She feels when She realizes the sweetness of His love, the Supreme Lord Hari, richly endowed with Her emotions, appeared from the womb of Srimati Sacidevi, as the moon appeared from the ocean. Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu does different lilas.  He takes sannyasa and spends 18 years in Jagganath Puri and distributes Harinama.

yadi gaura na hoito, tabe ki hoito, kemane dharita de?
radhara mahima, prema-rasa-sima, jagate janata ke

One of our acharyas Vasudev Ghosh has written, if Lord Gaura had not appeared as the yuga-avatara in this age of Kali, then what would have become of us? Who in this universe would have ever learnt about the topmost limits of loving mellows that comprise the glory of Sri Radha? How would this world know about the greatness of Radha-prema. Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared and first He relished the love of Radha Rani and then gave He it to us. Radha is Gaurangi and Lord became Gauranga. Why did He become Gauranga? To experience the bhava of Radharani. 

namo mahavadanyaya krsnapremapradaya te krsnaya krsnacaitanya namne gauratvise namah

This is pranam mantra at the lotus feet of Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. First word is also namo means namaskar and last word is also namah. I pay my obeisances  to the Lord and how is He? Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is described as mahavadanya, the most munificent of charitable persons.

Vrndavana dhama is known as madhurya dhama and Navadvipa is audarya dhama. So in Navadvipa Caitanya Mahaprabhu relished the madhurya of Vrndavana in Radha bhava and also gave us the Lord Krsna –  take Krsna.

krsna se tomara, krsna dite paro, tomara sakati ache

Krsna is yours. You have the power to give Him to me. Take Krsna, what people want? There is a shortage of Bhakti bhava. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s complexion is Gaura varna. So He gave us in different forms, mainly He gave Lord Krsna in the form of His holy name.

kali-kale nama-rupe krsna-avatara

The Hare Krsna maha-mantra is the incarnation of Lord Krsna. Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare

Nama chintamani caitanya rasa vigraha nitya suddha
mukta abhinatvam,abhinatvam nama namino

Harinama is mukta, siddha, and non-different from the Lord.  And His teachings are Radha Krsna.

 hari mukhe mana punya chi ganana kon kari (Marathi abhanga)

So the Lord Himself came and taught us to chant the Holy name. He did not just say, but Himself also chanted the Holy name. He told people to perform sankirtana and He also did sankirtana. This is the main teaching of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sankirtana is Kaliyuga’s dharam. This is vedavani.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyasa at the age of 24. Can He be just 24 years? No, He is….

adyam purana-purusam nava-yauvanam ca

Although He is the oldest person, He always appears as a fresh youth

patrapatra-vicara nahi, nahi sthanasthana
yei yanha paya, tanha kare prema-dana

He did kirtana everywhere, Caitanya Mahaprabhu became  a bhakta, He did Bhakti like Radha Rani. In distributing love of Godhead, Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates did not consider who was a fit candidate and who was not, nor where such distribution should or should not take place. They made no conditions. Wherever they got the opportunity the members of the Panca-tattva distributed love of Godhead. He took Sannyasa and preached the Holy name.

In Radha bhava, Gauranga Mahaprabhu did sankirtana. Many people without any prior information would come for sankirtana. How would that happen? Through heart to heart connection. Lord in everybody’s heart would inspire them and all would come running for sankirtana. In Maharashtra kirtana means some abhanga and then some bhajans. But Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s kirtan means, Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare

mahapraboh kirtana-nritya-gita- vaditra-madyan-manaso rasena

Chanting the holy name, dancing in ecstasy, singing, and playing musical instruments. All this would be there in sankirtana. So His main teaching was to do sankirtana. He also said to Nityananda and Haridas Thakur.

bolo krsna bhaja krsna karo krsna sikha

Kirtana is Yajna, it’s also called sankirtana yajna, its mantra meditation, its worship, its everything.

yajnanam japa-yajno ‘smi (BG 10.25)

Lord says in Gita, of sacrifices I am the chanting of the holy names [japa]

Namsankirtana is all in all, there is only one process, harinama or whatever you do is avidhipurvakam.

krsnam vande jagat gurum

Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the Guru of Gurus. He becomes everyones’ Spiritual  Master. He gave diksa and siksa  and the mantra to everyone.

ekam sastram devaki-putra-gitam eko devo devaki-putra eva

eko mantras tasya namani yani karmapy ekam tasya devasya seva (Gita Mahatmya)

There is only one scripture, one common scripture for the whole world — Bhagavad-gita. Let there be only one God for the whole world — Sri Krsna.There is only  one mantra, one prayer — the chanting of His name: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. There  is only  one work — service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu Said,

prthivite ache yata nagaradi grama sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama

“In every town and village, the chanting of My name will be heard.”  And we can see sankirtana is going on all over the world and He left the preaching work to ISKCON and we can all see that’s happening.

He also gave us Siksastakam, eight slokas of siksa.  Ceto darpan marjanam…our heart will be pure –thinking, willing, feeing will be pure. Bharat svachata mission is going on but Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted purification of cetana. Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu started that mission- purification of consciousness. There are eight different slokas and there are eight different benefits we get from them.

ceto darpan marjanam, bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam

sreya?-kairava-candrika-vitaranam like that  para? vijayate sri-kirtana-sankirtanam. These  are the words of Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Krsna gave us 700 slots and Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave us these eight sloks and taught us levels of bhakti through these sloks. How should the state of our mind be so that we can continuously chant the holy name.

trnad api sunicena taror iva sahisnuna amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

One should think himself  lower than a blade of grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, and  not expect personal honor but always be prepared to give all respect to others can very easily always chant the holy name of the Lord.

ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram patitam mam visame bhavambudhau krpaya tava pada-pankajasthita-dhuli-sadrsam vicintaya

I am Your eternal servant, but because of My own fruitive acts, I have fallen in this horrible ocean of nescience. Now please be causelessly merciful to Me. Consider Me a particle of dust at Your lotus feet. These are the bhava of Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

When that day will be mine,

nayanam galad-asru-dharaya vadanam gadgada-ruddhaya gira pulakair nicitam vapuh kada, tava nama-grahane bhavisyati

“My dear Lord, when will My eyes be beautified by filling with tears that constantly glide down as I chant Your holy name? When will My voice falter and all the hairs on My body stand erect in transcendental happiness as I chant Your holy name?

When will that opportune moment come to us, when there will be shivering of the body as soon as we chant Lord Gauranga’s name?  While chanting Hare Krsna, when will there be tears in the eyes? 

 Tukaram Maharaja also said , “anandale mana preme pasarati  locana…” His heart becomes filled with happiness and then happiness overflows from his eyes.

yugayitam nimesena caksusa prav?sayitam sunyayitam jagat sarvam govinda-virahena me

“My Lord Govinda, because of separation from You, I consider even a moment a great millennium. Tears flow from My eyes like torrents of rain, and I see the entire world as void.

Now the last slok Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu says in bhava of Radha Rani.

aslisya va pada-ratam pinastu mam adarsanan marma-hatam karotu va
yatha tatha va vidadhatu lampato mat-prana-nathas tu sa eva naparah

Whatever you do  embrace me or  trample Me or break My heart by never being visible to Me. You can do whatever you like, but still no one other than you are the worshipable Lord of My heart.

Once Suradasa was doing kirtan, Devikinanadan gopala……Lord Himself came to hear his kirtana. How must the kirtana be that Lord Himself came? Similarly Tukaram Maharaja did kirtana on the  bank of Indraini and with  a lot of love he called Lord to take him back home back to Godhead. Lord heard his call and sent the  Vaikuntha plane for him. And Tukaram Maharaja said, “ami jato amchya gava”. He was very happy while returning home.

So by listening to Surdas’s kirtana the Lord came and he understood that the Lord had           come. He got up to touch the Lord. The Lord also got up and started running away and he followed Him. But Surudas was old and he could not follow the Lord. Then he said, “Ok your wish, if You want to give darsana, it’s ok or you can go.  I have captured You in my heart and from there You can’t  run away.”

The special team of Sad-Goswami was helping Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu in preaching.

vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau.

The six Goswamis, namely Sri Rupa Goswami, Sri Sanatana Goswami, Sri Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami, Sri Raghunatha dasa Goswami, Sri Jiva Goswami, and Sri Gopala Bhatta Goswami,

To all of them Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave his teachings. He taught Sanatan Goswami for 2 months. That’s called Sanatan siksa and  is famous in Caitanya Caritamrita. And other sastra are Caitanya Bhagavat and Caitanya Mangal, Prabhupada called them as the post graduate syllabus in bhakti. Srimad-Bhagvatam is just graduation.

You should all read these books, Caitanya Caritamrita is written in 60 different languages. The Chinese are also reading this sastra. How much I can say here, then you all are hungry and there is call from your home. So take Caitanya Caritamrita its available.

Now let’s sing this prayer,

gauranga’ bolite habe pulaka-sarira ‘hari hari’ bolite nayane ba’ be nira

When will that moment come to me, when there will be shivering of the body as soon as i chant Lord Gauranga’s name?  While chanting Hare Krsna, when will there be tears in the eyes?

ara kabe nitai-cander koruna hoibe  samsara-basana mora kabe tuccha ha’be

When will I obtain the mercy of Lord Nityananda-candra?  When, by His mercy will the desire for material enjoyment become very insignificant? 

visaya chariya kabe suddha ha ‘be mana  kabe hama herabo sri-brndabana

When the mind is completely purified, being freed from material anxieties and desires, then I shall be able to understand Vrndavana and the conjugal love of Radha and Krsna, and then my spiritual life will be successful. 

rupa-raghunatha-pade hoibe akuti kabe hama bujhabo se jugala-piriti

When shall I be very much eager to study the books left by the Six Goswami’s, headed by Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Raghunatha dasa Goswami? By their instruction I shall be able to properly understand the loving affairs of Radha and Krsna.

 rupa-raghunatha-pade rahu mora asa  prarthana koroye sada narottama-dasa

My only aspiration is to attain the lotus feet of the Six Goswamis headed by Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Raghunatha dasa Goswami. Narottama dasa constantly prays to attain their lotus feet.

Nitai Gaur premanande Hari Haribol.