Day: January 5, 2021 - Lokanath Swami Maharaj Transcripts

Super excellence of Gaudiya Vaisnavism

27 Nov 2020

Online class for Middle East Sanga

Few years before during ILS ISKCON Leadership Sangha I made one presentation, which was appreciated and then after that I have shared this presentation with few other groups and now it is your turn. And the topic is ‘super excellence of Gaudiya Vaisnavism’. ‘Understanding the Super excellence of Gaudiya Vaisnavism’, so we are Gaudiya vaisnavas, ISKCON devotees, followers of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. There are so many other religions and sampradayas, paraparas and dharmas. Amongst all those this is the top notch practice of God consciousness, we call that Krishna consciousness. And it is super excellent. So this is the point I want to get across to you.

So, these are some of the topics, all these topics, I am going to talking about. As you see them listed and I wish to add in some more topics in future, but for now this is what we have. ‘Acintya Bhedabheda Tattva’ we will be talking about that philosophical conclusions and how Acintya Bhedabheda tattva, Gaudiya vaisnavism is super excellent, the top most. Many sampradayas and Gaudiya sampradaya’s excellence; Raganuga sadhana bhakti, as there are so many types of bhakti and sadhana and practices and Raganuga sadhana, as Gaudiya vaisanavas’ sadhana and that is super excellent. And there are so many abodes, holy places and destinations and Goloka is the topmost.

goloka eva namni nija dhamni taleca tasya

That is the super excellent, the top most. Then Rasa-vicar, different rasas are there. You know that 12 rasas are secondary and 5 primary, and amongst those which rasa is the top most, which Caitanya Mahaprabhu has delivered, that we will be talking about. And then so many scriptures, types of scriptures, globally and amongst them Srimad Bhagavatam and Caitanya Caritamrita are super excellent. And there are so many objects of worship or religionists have understanding of this god that god, this name that name, demigod or long list. Then Krsna and Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that point we will make. Then there are many mantras and Hare Krsna mantra is Maha mantra. Others are mantras, but this is Maha mantra, the best in all the mantras. In conclusion Gaudiya Vaisnavism is Krsna consciousness. We will just conclude by making that point. So, we will start one by one.

Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu ki jai!
aradhyo bhagavan vrajesa –tanayas tad dhama vrndavanam
ramya kacid upasana vrajavadhu vargena ya kalpita
srimad bhagavatam pramanam amalam prema pumartho mahan
sri caitanya mahaprabhur matam idam tatradaro nah parah

This mantra is from ‘Sri Caitanya-mata-manjusa’, the foundation of what I am presenting here. This is Caitanya Mahaprabhus’s mata-midam, at the end it is said, this is the opinion of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and He is the one who is saying, ‘when it comes to aradhana or worship, then worship of Vrajesa tanaya, Sri Krsna, is the top most.’ And the same time tad-dham vrndavanam and worship of Vrndavan abode is the top most amongst all the abodes or dhams. And the mode of worship ‘vraja vadhu vargena ya kalpita’, the mode of worship adopted by the Gopis, that is the topmost. ‘Srimad Bhagavatam pramanam amalam’, so amongst all the scriptures, Srimad Bagavatam is the top most and spotless Purana. And ‘prema pumarto mahan’, and pancham purusartha, everyone else is busy with the four purusarthas, dharma, artha, kama and moksa and we have one additional purusartha, called prema pumarto mahan, that is ‘Love of Godhead’. Sri-caitanya-mahaprabhor matam idam, this is the opinion of Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And ‘tatra daro nah parah’, we honor that and we respect that opinion of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Sad-Goswami vrinda ki jai!
These are our acaryas. Besides the Lord, these are the associates of Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Goswami’s of Vrndavan. They have also done ‘nana sastra vicaranaika’, scrutinizingly studying of all the sastras and essence of that is Krsna consciousness, Gaudiya Vaisnavism, which they have established.

Acintya Bhedabheda Tattva is the specialty of the Gaudiya Vaisnavism. Going back into the history, or we will cover half the way of history. 2500 years ago, Buddha appeared and He presented Sunyavada which is voidism we call it, sunya everything is zero. What we have to attain? Our goal is zero, void. Then appeared Sankaracarya, he appeared some 1100 or 1200 years ago. First vada was sunyavada and this one is Mayavada or Advaitavada. Before his appearance, he (Sivaji) had said this to Parvati that, I am going appear as Brahman.

kalau brahmana rupina

I am going to appear in Kerala and I would be propagating Mayavada, which is asat sastram, falsehood, I am going to talk some speculation. So, that siddhanta or philosophy he propagated is known as Nirvisesavada, impersonalism. First one was voidism and this is impersonalism, also known as Advaitvada. There are so many other vada-vivada, that had taken place in the world, but we are mainly going to deal with this Sunyavada and Nirvisesavada or Advaitavada. Also Nirvisesavada, as you could see the finger, ‘one’, there is no difference between Lord and ourselves. We are one. Ultimately we will merge into that Brahman and become one with the Lord. So that’s the kind of understanding, which is misunderstanding, which was propagated by Sankaracarya.

Then comes, first was everything is zero or we have to attain Zero, become zero, that is Sunyavada and then Advaitavada, become one with the Lord, advaitavada by Sankaracarya and then comes our whole batch, battalion of our acaryas, the four sampradaya acaryas and they talked about Dvaitvada. Especially Madhvacarya emphasized and whenever we see his portrait, he is showing two, two, not zero, not one, two. So there is a living entity, that is one and other one is Supreme Lord, that is two, they are two simultaneously and eternally they exist as two entities.

So here are the four sampradayas.
1.Brahma sampradaya
2. Rudra sampradaya
3. Kumar sampradaya
4. Sri sampradaya

Four acaryas appeared in those sampradayas. What they have presented, their philosophies are known as Dvaita siddhanta, Visista advaita siddhanta of Ramanujacarya, Suddhadvaita siddhanta of Vinsuswami and Dvaitadvaita siddhanta of Nimbarkacarya. So basically they are talking about the advaitvada with some variant degree but bottom line is adavita siddhant, the living entity and Supreme Lord are anu atma and vibhu atma, that is Paramatma, they are two and they eternally and simultaneously exist. This was a concluding philosophy or siddhanta of all the four sampradaya acaryas.

And then comes Gaudiya Vaisnava siddhanta, presented by Baladeva Vidyabhusana, which he is presented in Jaipur; some 300 years ago he wrote a commentary on Vedanta sutra, which is known as Govinda bhasya and that is known as Acintya Bhedabheda tattva. As you could see here, the fingers are or you could read also, simultaneously one and different. So the four sampradaya acaryas emphasized the two, we are two. Our contribution is or amendment made by Gaudiya Vaisnava acarya, Baladeva Vidyabhusana is Acintya Bhedabheda tattva, living entity and Lord are two and one simultaneously. So, quantitatively we are two or different, and qualitatively we are one, non-different. So while emphasizing, these four sampradaya acaryas, they were emphasizing dualism or this dvaitavada, as a result living entity and the Lord are separated, stay away living entity, stay away, but the Gaudiya Vaisnava siddhanta brings that living entity closer to the Lord also and right in the lap of the Lord or sometimes climbing up on the shoulder of the Lord and like that. So Gaudiya vaisnava siddhanta of acintya bhedabheda tattva, is bringing closer to the Lord and even mixing and mingling and dealing with the Lord like that and not just maintaining the owe and reverence of God and He is great and stay away or stay at the feet only, like that.

So that is a long journey, have taken two thousand years, so Buddha to Sankara and to others also, four sampradayas and Caitantya Mahaprabhu, this is 2000 years period; so from zero to one to two to simultaneously one and two siddhanta of Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His parampara.

‘namaste saraswate deve gaur vani pracarine nirvisesa sunyavadi pascatya desa tarine’

We chant this pranam mantra everyday at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada, and there in we say, Srila Prabhupada propagated Gaura vani, the message of Gauranga Mahaprabhu and what was the outcome or what was the result? Nirvisesa sunyavada, then sunyavada, advaitvada was defeated and the western world or the whole world was saved, we are saved from this sunyavada andnirvisesavada as Gaura vani pracar, gaur vani message was propagated by Srila Prabhupada and his Hare Krsna movement.

Gaudiya sampradaya, that is our next title, the relationship between Gaudiya Vaisnavism and four sampradayas! We already talked about this. Just one more point that we will be making here. So, even before 500 years, before Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s manifested lila, all these sampradaya acaryas, whenever they were on the planet, like Ramanujacarya was on the planet thousand years ago and Madhvacarya 800 years ago and like that, all the four acaryas appeared before Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s advent and whenever they were on the planet they were visiting Mayapur dham. And they all had encounter with Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu or darsana of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So what I am about to present, just short presentation, it is from Navadvipa dham mahatmya, parikrama khanda of Bhakti Vinod Thakur.

So, here what you see is Nityanada Prabhu is taking Jiva Goswami on parikrama of Navadvipa dham. And there is a dialogue, they are talking, basically Nityananda Prabhu is going to be mentioning, there is a statement of Caitanya Mahaprabhu wherein He says that, ‘I am going to accept two qualities from all these four sampradayas. Two of their best qualities I will accept in my sampradaya.

From Sri Sampradaya I will accept these two qualities: ananya bhakti and bhaktajana seva, serving devotees and unalloyed devotional service, these two qualities from Sri sampradaya, Caitanya Mahaprabhu accepted these qualities from Ramanuja sampradaya.

From Madhvacarya sampradaya, keval advaita nirasana, that the way he defeated Advaitvada, Madhvacarya did, there is a whole presentation. So I accept that within My sampradaya and also nitya krsna murti sevana and the way Madhavacarya served the Deities, his Krsna, Udupi Krsna, so that I will accept in My sampradaya. This is all stated in that Bengali prayer from Navadvipa dham mahatmya.It is stated there at the top.

And from Rudra sampradaya, tadiya sarvasva bhava, fully surrender unto the Lord and Raga marga, following ragamarga, these two principles from Rudra sampradaya. Okay, moving on, Kumar sampradaya, Ekanta Radhikasraya and Gopibhava. I think you could understand what is talked here of these two principles from Kumar sampradaya. So, this way Caitanya Mahaprabhu made His sampradaya, parampara wholesome and complete. We have our own philosophy and siddhanta and bhava and bhakti and all these additional dimensions were added by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to Gaudiya Vaisanava parampara, making this as a super excellent Gaudia Vaisnavism.

Next Raganuga sadhana, this we will be talking about, next. As you could see, sadhana bhakti has vaidhi sadhana bhakti and raganuga sadhana bhakti. We do practice Vaidhi sadhana bhakti, but soon we evolve or rise and get on the path of Raganuga sadhana bhakti, that is Gaudiya Vaisnavism. This is Krsna. He isstill in Goloka. Krsna’s contemplation before His advent in this world as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Krsna is thinking, contemplating, preparing His strategy, ‘now I appeared, what I am going to do’. This is from Caitanya Caritamrita

‘premarasa niryasa karite asvadana ragamarga bhakti loke karite pracarana’ (Cc Adi 4.15)

Here it is like two pronged strategy, one is to do premarasa asvadan, He would like to relish premarasa and do the pracar, propagation of that Raga marga. So relishing and propagating, sharingthat prema rasa or love of godhead.
More of the same thing,

‘aisvarya jnanete saba jagat misrita aisvarya sithila preme nahi mora prita’(Cc Adi 4.17),

The love weakened by the sense of majesty does not satisfy Me. I do not become subservient to such love. And then He says ‘If one thinks of Me as his son, his friend, his beloved, his equal or inferior, then I am satisfied with him.’ (Cc Adi 4.18)

Rupanuga is Raganuga. Rupanuga sadhana was given by Rupa Goswami. Here we could see at Radha Damodar temple and at the courtyard there is a samadhi of Rupa Goswami and bhajan kutir also, of Rupa Goswami. Srila Prabhupada is contemplating and imbibing all that raganuga bhajan sadhana bhakti and pouring that into his purports and he is relishing himself, Srila Prabhupada is propagating same all over the world as he would be founding International society for Krsna consciousness.

Goloka dham ki jai!

So the famous statement we know from Bramha Samhita,

‘Goloka namni nijadhamni tale ca tasya devi mahesaharidhamasu tesu tesu’

Goloka is at the top and underneath is Devidhama and that is middle east, where you are, we all are and there is Mahesh dham, and there is Hari dhama, Vaikuntha dham and there is Sanket dhama. I think it is all shown here also. We could see Brahma and his creation underneath, there is Devi dhama underneath Viraja river and you cross and you get into Mahesh dhama, which is Lord Siva’s dhama. Half of Siva’s dham is part of Devi dhama, material existence and upper half is part of Vaikuntha dhama. That is very special feature of Mahesa dhama. And then, Saketa, it is Rama’s abode, Ayodhya, up there in spiritual sky. And at the top there is Radha and Krsna residing and performing Their pastimes. It is Goloka dham.

Further details are there, as you could see 1/4th Brahmanda, cross section, 14 planetary systems and Brahma’s planet on the top and we could see so many other planets floating in the universes.

Sadasiva, He stays in the upper half of Mahesh dhama which is part of Vaikuntha. And Rudra and other forms of Siva, they are in lower part. They are the party that destroys the world, and there are other Rudras, 11 Rudras. And this is Vaikuntha and this is finally Goloka. Gaudiya Vaishnavas, their goal is Goloka. They do not stop not in svarga, not here and there, not in Vaikuntha. And the topmost abode is Goloka and that is super excellent and that is the destination of Gaudiya Vaisnavas. So, karmis go only upto heaven and jnanis they merge into Brahmajyoti and vaidhi bhaktiwalas they go to Vaikuntha and Raganuga bhaktas they go to Goloka, the supreme destination.

So moving on, rasa vicar. It is a very vast and deep topic, rasa vicar. Considering, contemplating and understanding the rasas, mellows. As I said earlier, there are seven rasas which are gaun or secondary rasas and this is all described in the Nectar of Devotion purports. Five principle, pradhan rasas are displayed here. So, santa rasa – Krsna nista, they are attached to Krsna and trisna tyaga, they are detached from worldly affairs. So that is their specialty or character of the Santa rasa is this, Krsna nista and trisna tyaga.

Then Dasya bhava, dasya bhakti, dasya rasa, so they have previous two characteristics and additional one is sevana, they become active and they act, they serve. The other party santa, they may just appreciate sitting around. But in dasya, they jump into the action. Going higher, sakhya rasa, you could see all those three characteristics are there and additional is visrambha. Visrambha means this is where the acintya bheda bheda, this is abheda, this comes into the picture. Bheda is there but abheda that is visrambha. We are closer to the Lord. We have similar qualities of the Lord or we are around the Lord or devotees are around the Lord, and even equal to the Lord, sakhya rasa, that is called visrambha. Sakhas will say to the Lord sometimes,

‘oh tuni ami sama tum kaun badalog’

Who do you think you are? We are equals. Let’s play! Vatsalya rasa, so all previous four and additional is palaka jnana. Palaka jnana, this is parenthood and the parents of the Lord, some devotees become parents of the Lord and they think I have to take care, I have to look after my child, my son Krsna or Rama or whatever name They have. So, this palaka jnana. They take care of Krsna, Lord.

Then Madhurya rasa, this is conjugal dealings and additional thing is nijanga dana, and here is full surrender and full evolution in Krsna consciousness and they surrender everything including nijanga dana, even their bodies at disposal by Lord. So, no reservation, no holding back, nothing; everything is for Your pleasure my dear Lord. So that bhava or that rasa, that kind of bhakti is called Nijanga dana, dana is giving, offering. That is madhurya rasa. And this is, Caitanya Mahapabhu has spoken (CC Madhya 19.215-235) or taught these things to Sanatan Goswami, this is Sanatan siksha inCaitanya Caritamrta Madhya lila chapter 19. You could read further details also.

So these are examples of santa rasa bhaktas. One time of course, they were santa rasa or brahmavadis. Later on they progressed and one time, these four Kumaras, they came into the category of santa rasa bhaktas, jnani bhaktas. And this one is dasya rasa, the whole Vaikuntha world is filled with dasas or servants. Every Vaikuntha planet have their masters, different incarnations or avatars of the Lord, They reside in different Vaikunthas. They are all great and reverence exhibited between Lord and devotes. So there servitude is all pervading, predominating in Vaikuntha lokas.

And then sakhya rasa, but now we are going to be very briefly talking or presenting sakhya rasa, vatsalya rasa and Madhurya rasa and they, all three of them are of two different kinds. Sakhya rasa- aisvarya misrita sakhya rasa, the friendship is there but it is mixed with aisvarya, God being great and that understanding is also there at the back of their mind. And then they relate with Lord as sakhas, but understanding God is great. Here this is also sakhya rasa but this is Visrambha sakhya rasa. This is abheda, abheda part is exhibited here. No difference! So, these are also sakhas, Arjuna is also sakha but these are the cowherd boys, His friends in Vrindavan. This is Visrambha sakhya rasa.

And then aisvarya misrita vatsalya rasa, this is in the prison house of Kamsa, and Lord has just taken birth. And He is showing His four handed form and this is Vasudeva and Devaki. So this relationship is that of vatsalya, but there is aisvarya misran or they are even offering prayers, you could see. Prakrutepurusam param, there is a whole prayer. They are offering prayers to their son. So this is Aisvarya misrita vatsalya rasa in Mathura.

And then, this is also vatsalya, jai Damodar! This is visrambha vatsalya rasa, which we have been experiencing throughout this month of Damodar. There is no aisvarya, not even a drop of aisvarya, or it is only visrambha vatsalya here.

And here is a madhurya rasa, in Vaikuntha, there is madhurya rasa, sringar rasa. Laxmi Narayan or Laxmi Narsimha or Laxmi Varaha like that every Lord of Vaikuntha has His consort, Laxmi with Them and that rasa They experience is aisvarya misrita madhurya or sringar rasa. And this one is Visrambha madhurya rasa, super excellent rasa and it in Goloka, and in Radha and Krsna or Gopi and Krsna. There is nothing like this and this is the top most rasa,
‘parakiya bhave jaha vrajete pracar’

This is the propagated, practiced in Braja, Goloka and Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu He appeared in fact to relish this and to propagate this.

The super excellence of Srimad Bhagavatam, Caitanya Caritamrta and the whole Gaudiya literature- you see Brahma, he is four headed and from each of his mouth one Veda has emanated, but he is not compiler or he is just repeating. The Vedas are coming from the Lord, but we are getting them from the mouth of Brahma.

Vedic knowledge again has two branches-Sruti and Smrti. I think I will not now define this, I expect you understand smrti and what is sruti. Yeah you will understand here also, there is Sruti, Vedas have four divisions, first of all four Vedas, Rg, Yajur, Sama and Athava. And in each Veda you will find there are four divisions called samhita, Brahmana, upanisad, and Aranyaka. Just take a note that Upanisad, they are part of Vedas. They are not additional scriptures, they are part of Vedas, one division of Vedas. Other three divisions are there, Upanisad is one of those divisions of each of the four Vedas.Okay, Smrti, there are 18 puranas, itihasas, Mahabharat, Ramayana this is all itihasa, part of Smrti. And Sad darsana, as listed here, you could see sankhya, yoga, Vaisesika, Nyaya, Purva mimamsa and the top most is Vedanta. So this Sad darsana, they are popularly known as sad darsana, six different philosophical presentations and they basically, each one states what is the origin of this world, where the world originating from, what is the source of the world, or universe? One of these sad darsan will say, atom is the source and another one will say, no the combination of atom is the source, another one would say that nature is the source, another would say that consciousness is the source, another one will say mimasa it’s all governed by our activities and finally Srila Vyasdeva is going to say ‘No, janmadyasya yatah’, Lord Himself is the source of everything. So that makes the Vedant of Vyasdeva as the top most. And then take note of this, this is mentioned in Garuda puran and some other puranas also, quoted in Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya lila (25.143-144) ‘artho yam brahma sutranam’, Srimad Bhagavatam is the commentary of Vedanta sutra or Vyasa sutra, they are different names. Srila Prabhupada always writes, the natural commentary of Vedant sutra is Srimad Bhagavatam. Amongst these sad darsana the Vedant sutra is topmost and then Srimad Bhagavatam is natural commentary of that Vedant sutra, so that makes Srimad Bhagavatam super excellent.

So these are the scriptures that we go for; Prabhupada have presented these scriptures Bhagavad gita, Bhagavatam and Caitanya Caritamrita and they are all super excellent, complementing each other or one leading the other. Bhagavad Gita is preliminary study and Bhagavatam is graduate study and Caitanya Caritamrta is post graduate study. And what is described in Caitanya Caritamrta and Caitanya Bhagavat which is post graduate course is further elaborated by our Gaudiya Vaisnava acaryas and the vast literature that they have left behind and complied and presented and this is just a matchless gift. There is nothing like in the creation. So this is at the level of Caitanya Caritamrta, post-graduation and excellent scripture and pure, eternal truth in, whether it is Vrndavan mahimamrta or Caitanya Bhagavat or Brhad Bhagatamrta, or Manah siksa or Bhakti Rasamrita sindhu or hundreds and hundreds of these whole granthas and the whole treasure is available, ISKCON is making this available for the world.

This is our specialty also, Krsna and Sri Krsna Caitanya are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Godhead They have exhibited, that is of the topmost order and excellence.

‘ete camsa kala pumsahkrsnas tu bhagavan svayam’

All these are kalas and asas, amsasa, plenary portion, portion of plenary portion, but, tu kintu, there is kintu, and that is Krsna is Supreme Personality of Godhead which Srila Prabhupada presented, that Krsna and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Brahma samhita says that, paribhasa sutra in fact, Srimad Bhagavatam, this is foundational statement of Srimad Bhagavatam, I just said, ete camsa kalah pumsah krsnas tu bhagavan svayam. So, whole Bhagavatam is based on this paribhasa sutra, krsnastu bhagavan svayam.

Then Krsna’s 64 qualities, of which 50 are found in living entities, 5 additional qualities are found in Brahma and Siva. Five additional qualities are found in different incarnations, and there are only 4 qualities or there are qualities four of them are found only in Sri Krsna. What are those four qualities? They are listed here. This is from Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu. Lila madhurya, venu madhurya, prema madhurya and rupa madhurya, this is specialty of Krsna. These are found in no one else, not even in Rama or Varaha or Narasimha or Parasurama. So that makes Krsna the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Then this is the famous statement, sri krsna caitanya radha krsna nahe anya, Radha and Krsna combine, this is Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Namo mahavadanyaya.. you know that one. And then Hare Krsna Mahamantra.. so this is in Kali

santarana Upanisad, famous statement that,
iti sodasakam namnam kali-kalmasa nasanam,
natah parataropayah sarva vedesu drsyate

When Brahma was approached by Narada muni and he inquired, ‘O! This age of Kali is here. What process they should be following now to become God conscious, Krsna conscious?’ and this is Brahma’s statement in fact, Brahma says, Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, iti all these, sodasakam, these 16 names, this will destroy all the bad qualities of this age of Kali and I do not see anything that is better than this. Natah paratara upaya, other upaya, solution does not exist in entire Vedic literature.’
So you will find in Brahmanda Purana, in Laghu Bhagavatamrta statement, glorifying, ‘thousand names of Visnu is equal to one name of Rama and three names of Rama equal to one name of Krsna.’ And in Caitanya Bhagavat, we find this statement, Caitanya Mahaprabhu said this, this is rare statement, where Mahaprabhu said Mahamantra and said,
‘iha haite sarva-siddhi haibe sabar, sarva-ksana bala ithe vidhi nahi ara’ (CB Madhya lila 23.74-75)

‘By chanting of Hare Krsna Mahamantra, Lord said you will attain perfection and other than this process of chanting, there is no other vidhi, so go for this chanting of Hare Krsna’ this is Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Anantasamhita talks about Mahamantra, jivatarane, for liberating living entities, this Mahamantra of 32 syllables, dvatrinsad varnakani hi kalau yuge mahamantrah sammato jivatarane.

Nama sadhana-> mantra siddhi, as we chant Hare Krsna we end up in perfection of chanting and every mantra has mantra devata. Hare Krsna Mahamantra’s mantra devata is Radha Krsna and wherever that Devata resides, that is where the chanter of that mantra ends up or he achieves that abode. Hare Krsna chanting brings you to Goloka. Tukarama by chanting ‘Jaya jaya Rama Krsna Hari’ similar to Hare Krsna Hare Krsna, you could see him on the way to Goloka here. This is Dehu, near Pune, Dehu goan of Tukarama and as he was chanting, Lord sent plane, Garuda Vahana and he is on his way back.

Param vijayate sri krsna sankirtanam, all those who chant Hare Krsna, victory is guaranteed for them and what is the victory? No more birth, no more death, that is the victory. Again and again dyeing is the defeat. Victory is you are heading back home by chanting Hare Krsna Hare Krsna. Victory flag, Jaya-pataka is here.
Okay there is more, but we could stop here.

Question: Maharaja, you talked about various rasas and bhava, those who have all connection of devotees with Krsna, is there any rasa or bhava between sisya and guru? Which type of rasa-bhava sisya follow for his guru?

Ans: Brahmacari gurukule vasan danto guror hitam, that is what we hear from Narada muni in Bhagavatam. Brahmacari, he resides in the asram of guru. Some sisyas may be residing at home, at their residence. So what do they do, guror hitam? They serve or they exist in fact for the benefit or service unto their spiritual master. And Narada Muni also said, nicam, they take humble position in front of guru and they serve. Also the word used is suhrdam, there could also be some friendship as we talk of the visrambha, either awe and reverence is there for guru or there may be in some cases, there is visrambha, friendship, relationship with the spiritual master. And basically spiritual master is trying to establish his disciple’s eternal relationship with the Lord. He is the transparent via media. He doesn’t become a stumbling block and just him and disciples, no! There is Krsna also; Krsna is in the center of that relationship. And not that, ‘Okay, I am swami and you are dasa’ and then one fine morning he declares that, ‘O! No, I used to be Swami, but now I am Narayana, Swami Narayana!’ Not like that, this is cheating. There could be also the different relationship, that guru bhogi, guru tyagi, guru drohi and then guru sevi. There are four kinds of relationships. So the best of all and the appropriate one is guru-sevi, the disciple serves the guru and not exploits guru or guru’s property or doesn’t try to take over, being envious of guru or abandon guru means no relationship. So there is something right thing and other wrong relationships.

Question: Maharaja you said from each sampradaya Mahaprabhu took best of each vaisnava school and formed the acintyabhedabheda tattva. So are we also the part of Madhva line or are we completely separate line from Madhva line?

Ans: Srila Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati Thakur established the temple of his Caitanya Gaudiya matha in Mayapur. And if you go around the parikrama of the temple then you find four sampradaya acaryas, they are there. So making the connection, Srila Bhakti Siddhant Sarasvati Thakur is honoring and respecting and accepting all the four sampradaya acharyas. In our sampradaya also, we call it Brahma Narada Madhva sampradaya, and Srila Vyasadeva is on the list there, so Brahma is the one who had the darasan of Vyasadeva and he accepted Vyasadeva into that parampara. That is another reason that we connect with Brahma very closely because he is connected with Vyasa and Narada. In fact he took inspiration from Vyasadeva for his writings or Vyasadeva is dictating and he is writing. I recently read somewhere, one reason why Caitanya Mahaprabhu or gaudiya sampradaya is aligned with Madhvacarya, we are connected with Madhvacarya more closely is because of the Madhvacarya’s staunch preaching against the mayavada and Advaitavada and if anyone has emphasized the dvaita, he is the one, very distinctly and obviously dvaita has been emphasized and then the mayavada is being defeated by Madhvacarya. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu is impressed with that and He has aligned and connected His parampara with Madhvacarya.

Mayavada bhasya sunile hoila sarva nasa

Caitanya Mahaprabhu, all the time, ‘don’t listen this Mayavada philosophy.’ Where from it is coming? I think He has taken that from Madhvacarya. So like that Laxmipati Tirtha, one of the acaryas in Madhva line, he became the spiritual master of Madhavendra Puri and from there we are branched out. We became like a fifth sampradaya, officially four sampradayas, but Gaudiya vaisnavism became one additional, not counted in sampradayas which are mentioned in sastras, but we are there, connected with the Madhvacarya sampradaya through Laxmipati Tirtha.

Also where I am sitting, Pandharapur Dham ki Jai! When Nityananda Prabhu visited Pandharpur, He also took initiation from Laxmipati Tirtha, who was acarya in Madhva line. So there are two understandings, Nityananda Prabhu took initiation from Madhavendra Puri is the one and the other one also, He took initiation from Laxmipati Tirtha, which is mentioned in Caitanya Bhagavat. And that Laxmipati Tirtha is from Madhva line. So our connection is made like that.