Bhagavatam katha -Day 3 Qualities of the Lord are unlimited
Qualities of the Lord are unlimited
Bhagavatam katha -Day three
Venue: Pune
Dated: January 9, 2019
All of you have come with great eagerness to hear katha I welcome you all. Series of katha is going on here. We are meditating on the svarupa of the Lord like in Maharashtra we have chintan baithak. Meditating on the Lord is the best meditation.
When person meditates on the material subject matters he gets attached to them.
dhyayato visayan pumsah sangas tesupajayate
sangat sanjayate kamah kamat krodho ‘bhijayate (BG 2.62)
While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises.
When one meditates on the object of senses person gets attached and from attachment lust develops and from lust anger arises, this the sequence.
krodhad bhavati sammohah sammohat smrti-vibhramah
smrti-bhramsad buddhi-naso buddhi-nasat pranasyati (BG 2.63)
From anger, delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost, one falls down again into the material pool.
The intelligent in the driver, our body is a chariot. The senses are the horses and reins are in the hands of the intelligence.
The human society is falling down there is no development but everything is going down. All glories to the technology and the scientist group. Every parent wants his child to become engineer. My parents were not an exception they also wanted to make me engineer. Everybody in my village used to call me engineer. So what has to be been?
We don’t say you don’t meditate but what should be the subject of meditation? One should meditate on the Lord. We should make the Lord the subject of meditation. Making Lord the subject, meaning making His name the subject of meditation, also His guna, His rupa, lila like Tukaram Maharaja. .
pahine sri mukha avadine
He made Lords beautiful form as his topic for meditation.
Hrsikena hrsikesa-sevanam bhaktir ucyate (CC Madhya 19.170)
This is definition of Bhakti. Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and, simply by being employed in the service of the Lord, one’s senses are purified.
‘One is bhakti and another is bhukti. One is yoga and another bhoga. But the world says bhogi bhava, become enjoyer and Lord says yogi bhava, become yogi. World says enjoy. So if you become bhogi then be ready to become rogi. First go to five star hotels to enjoy then finally get transferred to five star hospitals. This is their style, they say we will die in style. This is slow death process and we are moving on that slowly. This is all kali puran.
So if you want to meditate, meditate on nama, rupa, guna, lila and dhama of the Lord. So that’s why we made it as the topic of this year’s Bhagavat katha. So that we can meditate and also speak on it.
Yare dekho tare kaho krishna upadesa (CC Madhya 7.128)
Whomever you meet tell about Krsna. Whatever we meditate on we become attached. This in law, that is what happens. Whatever you think about you become attached. If the subject is material then you get attached to it but if the topic is spiritual then you get attached to the Lord. The law is same. So meditate on name, rupa, guna, lila and dhama and become attached to them.
We become lusty by mediating on the material topics but if you meditate on Lords subject then you get attached to them. There are only two thing- lust and love. When we call people for katha they say I am busy ‘may kama may hu.” But if somebody is in love he is premi he will run to hear katha. Then there is no question of anger or krodha. We will get attracted to the Lord and Lord is Madan mohan
tesam satata-yuktanam bhajatam priti-purvakam
dadami buddhi-yogam tam yena mam upayanti te (BG 10.10)
Vinasakale viparita buddhi
Lord says, to those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me. So l give them intelligence and he uses that intelligence to come to Me. But on the other hand lusty person will go to hell and he will fall down.
So these are the teachings of Gita. Lord appeared for us and showed us the way of ISKCON. People are also joining. This is the third session only two are now left. Five days we had five topics. So today’s topic is qualities of the Lord. I will briefly discuss about all the topics.
Lord has lakhs of names. How does He have so many names? Just food for thought. Subhang – Lord’s anga is all auspicious. So He is called Subhang Balaram. And how is His beauty He is Shyamvarana so called as Shyamsundar.
His name is Krsna, ya karsati sa Krsna, because he attracts everyone. So also He is called Cittachor also known as Makhan chor. Then is called Shankadhari as conch is part of His body. Then Padadhari and Gadadhari. Like that He has lakhs of names. Chakradhari and Chakrapani beause He holds chakra on His finger. Also called as Damodhara because of damodhar lila. Damodhara because his udar is tied with rope.
bandha ukhadala yala bandhaukhadala
Murlidhara is famous name as He holds murli, and veenudhara, Vamsidhara. Yesterday we heard about three types of flutes Krsna uses. So accordingly are the names. In Kuruksetra He was chariot driver of Partha so called as Parthsarthi. His father said to Him hurry up bring my shoes. He is ordering the Lord. As Lord is his son. According to the lilas He is named. So much love.
suhrdah sarva-dehinam
I am the best friend, you will never get such friend. To such Krsna i pay obeisances again and again. He is also called Bhaktavatsal because of His love for His devotees. Gopal go-cows, pal-palak protector.
Nandagodhan rakhavala, Dauji ka bhaiya, Dauji is elder brother of Krsna. Giridhari, Rasarachaiya. There is a song which is full of names of the Lord.
Vibhavari sesa alok pravesa….
Rasakhan is Krsna.
aisvaryasya samagrasya viryasya yasasah sriyah
jnana-vairagyayos caiva sannam bhaga itingina
6 opulences of Lord these are also His qualities. How much wealthy He is? samagrasya, nothing is left for you. He is proprietor of everyone but such Krsna is ours. That’s a good news. Viryavan, He is strong He is victorious there are names in marathi we call Yashvan. But original Yashvan is Lord there can be Yashvan das. The person who has these 6 qualities is Lord. This is knowledge. There are many such Gods moving around in India be alert. We should have this knowledge or we will be cheated.
vedaham samatitani
vartamanani carjuna
bhavisyani ca bhutani (BG 7.26)
Supreme Personality of Godhead says, I know everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening in the present, and all things that are yet to come. These are the qualities of the Lord.
Many liberated souls get attracted to the qualities of the Lord. All different varieties of atmaramas [those who take pleasure in atma, or spirit self] also get attracted like Sukadev Goswami, he stayed for 16 years in the womb of his mother he was absorbed there he did not want to come out, then his father made him hear the glories of nama, guna, lila then he came ou t of the womb. As soon he was born he ran towards the forest to have darsana of the Lord. In a big assembly Shaunaka rishis asked how this happened? There 88000 rishis were sitting. How did Sukadev Goswami come out? Mukti and bhakti are different we have to become bhakta. Lord has such qualities that he attracts even the atmarama.
atmaramas cha munayo nirgrantha api urukrame
kurvanti ahaituki bhakti itthambhuta gunah Hari (SB 1.7.10)
All different varieties of ?tmaramas [those who take pleasure in atma, or spirit self], especially those established on the path of self-realization, though freed from all kinds of material bondage, desire to render unalloyed devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead. This means that the Lord possesses transcendental qualities and therefore can attract everyone, including liberated souls.
‘guna‘ sabdera artha — krishnera guna ananta
sac-cid-rupa–guna sarva purnananda (CC Madhya 24.41)
“The word ‘guna‘ means ‘quality.’ The qualities of Krishna are transcendentally situated and are unlimited in quantity. All of the spiritual qualities are full of transcendental bliss.
Lord is always full of qualities.
suno, he rasika jana krishna-guna aganana
ananta kahite nahi pare krishna jagater guru,
krishna vanca-kalpa-taru navika se bhava-parabare (Shrila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s famous Bengali songbook, Kalyana Kalpa-taru)
Listen to this, oh wisest relishers of mellows! The transcendental qualities of Shri Krsna are innumerable; indeed it is not possible to describe such unlimited divine attributes. Krsna is the spiritual master of the entire universe, He is like a wish-fulfilling desire-tree, and He is the helmsman of the boat on the ocean of material existence. You all rasikjana.
One form of the Lord is Anantasesa. He comes form Balaram. He is called Sahastravadan because He has 1000 mouths. He reciting the nama, rupa, guna and lila He has started since the creation. On His hood He carries all the universes and keeps them moving that is how they stay in orbit which the scientist call law of gravity. So Anantasesa keeps reciting Lords nama,rupa, guna and lila. When He got the service of carrying the universes on His hoods He asked how long I have to carry them. You keep reciting the nama, rupa, guan lila katha of the Lord and once you finish that you can keep them down. So since the recitation has started it’s going on till now. We are fallen jiva we can’t even imagine how many qualities the Lord has.
The smallest particle is atom and then there is electron and proton. The earth is made of many atoms, one can count the atoms in the earth but to count the qualities of Lord is impossible. Also the snow particles they keep falling the whole night. When Srila Prabhupada saw snow in New York for the first time . He said who did this white wash. One can count the snow particles but to count the qualities of the Lord is impossible. Similarly the sunray particles one can count but Lords qualities counting is not possible.
When asked how’s the Lord? We all say Nirguna. This preaching is done by the mayavadis. In Sastras also Lord is called Nirguna that’s ok one should know the meaning of the word Nirguna. That means He has no material qualities He is away from material qualities.
Bhagavatam is our authoritative sastra. In first canto queen Kunti prayers,
namasye purusam tvadyam isvaram prakrteh param
alaksyam sarva-bhutanam antar bahir avasthitam (SB 1.8.18)
She was standing in front of Krsna as He was moving for Dwaraka. So she recites the prayers.
O Krsna, I offer my obeisances unto You because You are the original personality and are unaffected by the qualities of the material world. You are existing both within and without everything, yet You are invisible to all.
You are Adi Purusa, you are Parmeshvara and you are beyond this material nature. Your qualities are divine. So nirakar means He does not have material form. So when Anantasesa recites katha there is crowd of people at His every mouth.
adyapiha ‘sesa’-deva sahasra-sri-mukhe
gayena chaitanya-yasa, anta nahi dekhe (Sri Chaitanya-bhagavat: Adi 1.69)
“To this very day, Lord Sesa chants Sri Chaitanya’s glories with thousands of mouths and still does not see their end.”
vrndavana-gamana, prabhu-caritra ananta
sahasra-vadana yanra nahi pa na anta (CC Madhya 18.223)
Krsna Dasa Kaviraja described how Caitnaya Mahaprabhu was welcomed in Vrndavan. Brids are singing and trees are shaking their branches and flowers are falling on His feet welcoming. Some trees are giving fruits. Caitanya Mahaprabhu reaches bank of Yammuna, there came deer and started licking Him. Yammuna was bewildered oh My Lord has come. She moved towards Him and washed His feet. This Krsna Dasa Kaviraja has described but he said at the end only Anantasesa can glorify the qualities of the Lord I can’t do that.
There are many qualities in the Lord but Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu states 64 qualities. Of them 50 qualities are there in us in lower degree. Like a mountain of gold and ring of gold. 5 more qualities are found in Demigods Brahma, Shiva. 5 more qualities are in the expansions of the Lord. 4 more qualities are there Lord Krsna only. Lord Krsna is avatari.
Four qualities are Rupa madhurya, Guna madhurya, Lila madhurya and Veenu madhurya. Demigods are not expansions of the Lord. They are svargavasi but the expansions of the Lord stay in Vaikuntha. Try to understand this.
Then comes the 64 qualities of the Lord.
Shrila Rupa Gosvami, after consulting various scriptures, has enumerated the transcendental qualities of the Lord Shri Krishna as follows:
(1) Beautiful features of the entire body;
(2) Marked with all auspicious characteristics;
(3) Extremely pleasing;
(4) Effulgent;
(5) Strong;
(6) Ever youthful;
(7) Wonderful linguist;
(8) Truthful;
(9) Talks pleasingly;
(10) Fluent;
(11) Highly learned;
(12) Highly intelligent;
(13) A genius;
(14) Artistic;
(15) Extremely clever;
(16) Expert;
(17) Grateful;
(18) Firmly determined;
(19) An expert judge of time and circumstances;
(20) Sees and speaks on the authority of Vedas, or scriptures;
(21) Pure;
(22) Self-controlled;
(23) Steadfast;
(24) Forbearing;
(25) Forgiving;
(26) Grave;
(27) Self-satisfied;
(28) Possessing equilibrium;
(29) Magnanimous;
(30) Religious;
(31) Heroic;
(32) Compassionate;
(33) Respectful;
(34) Gentle;
(35) Liberal;
(36) Shy;
(37) The protector of surrendered souls;
(38) Happy;
(39) The well-wisher of devotees;
(40) Controlled by love;
(41) All-auspicious;
(42) Most powerful;
(43) All-famous;
(44) Popular;
(45) Partial to devotees;
(46) Very attractive to all women;
(47) All-worshipable;
(48) All-opulent;
(49) All-honorable;
(50) The supreme controller.
(51) Changeless;
(52) All-cognizant;
(53) Ever fresh;
(54) Sac-cid-ananda (possessing an eternal blissful body);
(55) Possessing all mystic perfections.
(56) He has inconceivable potency.
(57) Uncountable universes generate from His body.
(58) He is the original source of all incarnations.
(59) He is the giver of salvation to the enemies whom He kills.
(60) He is the attractor of liberated soul.
(61) He is the performer of wonderful varieties of pastimes (especially His childhood pastimes).
(62) He is surrounded by devotees endowed with wonderful love of Godhead.
(63) He can attract all living entities all over the universes by playing on His flute.
(64) He has a wonderful excellence of beauty which cannot be rivaled anywhere in the creation.
Srila Prabhupadaki..jai. I remembered Prabhupada because Prabhupada has translated Bhakti Rasamrita grantha for us, so you should all keep this grantha in your house you can take it from the book stall.
I wanted attract your attention , to this pranam mantra
namo maha-vadanyaya krishna-prema-pradaya te
krishnaya krishna-chaitanya- namne gaura-tvishe namah
The name, form, qualities and pastimes are mentioned in this pranam mantra.
Lord is very very magnanimous. Most magnanimous Lord is Caitanya Mahaprabhu, mahavadanyaya. That’s the quality.
Krishna prema prada- The giver of Krishna prema. He gives Krishna prema. The pastime of Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu is to distribute Krishna prema.
krishnaya krishna-chaitanya
krishnaya meaning I offer my obeisance’s to Krishna . krishnaya namah. But which Krishna I offer my obeisance’s unto?
“krishnaya krishna caitanya namine”
Whose name is Krishna Caitanya unto that Krishna I offer my obeisance’s. So His name is Krishna Caitanya.
gaura-tvishe namah
Tvisha means complexion. And His complexion is golden. So that’s the form. In this one little pranam mantra Rupa Goswami has mentioned all the four features of Caitanya.