14th June 2019

Dvadasi, the day after Nirjala Ekadasi

Lots of reports are still coming through, but I do not think we can take note of these reports now. We are talking. Some devotees did not only chant their japa, they read Bhagavad Gita and studied Bhagavatam. All reports are amazing and very pleasing. Some matajis are hearing this report and they’re clapping their hands, expressing their joy and congratulating all the chanters.

Noida had a very special celebration yesterday because they managed to gather more than a 100 devotees and they were all chanting together. I’m sure most of them chanted their 64 rounds and that’s a very unique gathering and celebration which others can also plan in the future.

Other ISKCON centres and temples in our zone should organize and get the congregation and initiated devotees together. It is easier to chant and complete your sankalpa. It is now too late for this year, but for next year you can make such a plan.

Someone reported that it is also very special that there is no internet all day. No Facebook all day.
Someone reported fasting from Maya and we said, “Actually, is very special report.”

12th June 2019

Glories of Ganges, Gangamata Gosvamini and Baladeva Vidyabhushan

Today is a very auspicious day. Today is Ganga puja. It’s appearance day of Ganga, Ganga Maiya ki jai!

Today is also appearance day of Gangamata Gosvamini ki jai! And today is also disappearance of Baladeva Vidyabhushan. He departed in Vrindavan. There is Samadhi of Baladeva Vidyabhushan in Vrindavan. So these are the three most auspicious occasions, they coincide with this day. So we remember these personalities.

Ganga Maiya ki.Jai!

We could also say, Gangayai namah! Don’t say Gangaya namah, its wrong. So we say Gangayai like Radhayai, Sitayai. That is different from Ramaya, Sivaya, this is Sanskrit pronunciation, grammar which is also associated with the name of Ganges. While offering our obeisances we are going to say Gangayai namah! So remember Ganges and offer your obeisances. Ramaya is okay, Sivaya is okay, but we can’t say Radhaya. Radhayai, Sitayai, Gangayai, like that, this is how it works.

So just don’t commit offenses by pronouncing this pranam mantra wrongly. If you are residing at the bank of Ganges you should go, take holy dip in Ganges today or at least try to manage to get Ganga jal (water) and drink few drops of Ganga jal today, on her appearance day or at least we should remember and we are trying to remember her by talking, remembering about Ganga Maiya.

Glories of Ganges are unlimited and glorious. Jai Ganges!

This is how you address, when you are addressing Ganges you should say Jai Ganga! or Hey Ganga! Thus, you offer obeisances and say Gangayai namah!

pada nakha nira janita jana pavana keshavadrta vamanrupa jai jagadish hare

Jayadeva Gosvami also has glorified Lord Vaman and Ganges in his Dashavatar sotra. Water of Ganges emanate or originate from the lotus feet of the Lord or toenails of the Lord and that water that has washed the lotus feet of the Lord that is Ganges. Ganga is also out of this world, not part of this world. It is also considered perspiration from the body of MahaVishnu and that is Karanodak Jal and some of that jal (water) has entered this universe when Vaman deva becomes Trivikrama.

As He takes second step,His lotus feet touch the covering of the universe and that thick covering of universe was punctured, there was a hole made by Lord’s lotus feet, touch and the water. Karanodak jal started dripping in and that’s how Ganges appeared in the universe. Thus Ganges was then flowing in the svarga, in heaven only. Then king Bhagirath, he made lot of efforts. So many stumbling blocks were there in his attempt in bringing Ganges from heaven to the earth. And because he became responsible for bringing Ganges on earth from heaven, Ganges has another name called Bhagirathi, the person who made all attempts to bring Ganges here on the earth. And by his efforts only today Ganges reached, touched this earthly planet and that place is Gomukha which is on the top of the Himalayan Mountains.

So, today is also called as Ganga puja day, as Ganges was welcomed on this Bhumi planet. She was welcomed and worshiped on this day, Ganga puja day. And then Bhagirath was to bring Ganges to West Bengal, where his forefathers 60,000 of them, sons of king Sagara and their ashes were lying and waiting to be liberated or immersed in Ganges all the way to Ganga sagar, so he had to bring that Ganga from Gomukha to Ganga sagar and Bhagirath did that.

And then Ganges is flowing through Bengal, Ganges is flowing through Navadvip dhama and Ganges is integral part of Navadvip Dhama and Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu performed His lilas at the banks of Ganges. Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu treated and worshiped Ganges as mother Ganges or He had two mothers, mother Saci and mother Ganges. Ganga Maiya ki jai!

Gangamata Gosvamini, you could see her name is also Gangamata and she appeared on Ganga puja day. On the day Ganges appeared on the earth, that day another great personality appeared and her name was Saci initially and later on she was given name Gangamata Gosvamini. This is great personality, Gangamata Gosvamini is considered Acharya, and she is one of our Gaudiya Vaisnava Acharya. There are not so many ladies or women Acharyas in our parampara. One is Nityananda Prabhu’s wife, Jahanva mata and then Gangamata Gosvamini and they were Acharyas and they were initiating disciples.

Gangamata Gosvamini was kind of born devotee and her life was type of renunciation from the childhood, although she was born as a daughter of a king. She was a princess and she had no interest in the kingdom, specially she had no interest in getting married to some mortal, she wanted to marry Krishna only. And her parents wanted her to marry, but she had no interest. So they were appealing to her and hoping that she would get married but she did not. As a result, her parents left the bodies and she continued as a princess or in charge for a while, which also later on she renounced that. And she moved to Jagannath Puri. After spending little time in Jagannath Puri she moved to Vrindavan and she came in contact with Haridas Pandit, exalted devotee of Vrindavan and she was being trained under tutorship of Haridas Pandit in Vrindavan. She was wearing simple clothes, although she was princess and she had certainly lots of wealth at her disposal but she did not wanted some expensive banarasi saris though she could have done so, but she was happy with simple clothing and no ornaments, no golden bangles and jewelry. Very simple renounced life she was leading and Haridas Pandit wanted her to do madhukari, go door to door and beg for alms. Again although she was princess, she was going around, begging for alms. And by seeing all this, these kind of activities, this kind of sadhana, life style of renunciation & devotion Haridas Pandit was pleased and finally she was initiated by Haridas Pandit in Gaudiya parampara. Then after some time in Vrindavan she was asked to go to Jagannath Puri and propagate Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s cult or Gaudiya Vaisanavism. So, she came to Jagannath Puri and she started residing in Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya’s home. You know where Chaitanya Mhaprabhu also had stayed for some time, same house of Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya now Gangamata Gosvamini was residing in Jagannath Puri.

When we were in Jagannath Puri, during yatra last year, all our devotees were brought to Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya’s home and the pastimes or activities of Gangamata Gosvamini also recited or reminded to all the pilgrims that time. When Gangamata Gosvamini was residing at Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya’s residence, the king of Puri, he donated property, just across from where she was residing, that property or place was sacred, well known place, known as Sveta Ganga, there Ganges is present in Puri, donated that land to Gangamata Gosvamini. So one time there was special occasion to go to Ganges and take Ganga snana and every one was going from everywhere including Jagannath Puri pilgrims were going to take bath in Ganga.

Gangamata Gosvamini could not go although she wished to go, she wanted to go , but as she was instructed by Haridas Pandit never ever leave Jagannath Puri, so she could not go to Ganga river and take bath that one day. And then what happened was that day or towards the end of that day late in the night river Ganges appeared in Jagannath Puri and Gangamata Gosvamini was immersing in Ganges water, she was floating and the water of Ganges was rising and rising and there were waves in the water and as a result eventually Gangamata Gosvamini ended up swimming and floating, she ended up in Jagannath Puri temple in the middle of the night. And pujaris were wondering, now they were hearing some sound, Jai Gangamaiya ki Jai, Har Har Gange!

They were hearing so many sounds coming from inside Jagannath temple, so they opened and were surprised to see Gangamata Gosvamini there with Jagannath, Baladeva, Subhadra in the Garbhagriha. And they thought, what are you doing here? Do you want to steal some ornaments of Jagannath, that’s why you came in the middle of the night?

So all those pujaris were accusing her and all those false allegations that she was a thief and causing those entire disturbance and this is time for Lord Jagannath to sleep. What are you doing here? And then she was arrested and imprisoned. Pujaris complained to the king and king ended up in putting her behind the bars. Then Jagannath appeared in the dream of king of Puri. He said, ‘no, no, she is not a thief. She is My pure devotee. And I am the one who made all these arrangements, even bringing Ganges in Jagannath Puri, so that she could take bath in Ganges on this auspicious occasion. And I am the one who brought her in front of Me. You are offenders, you all pujaris and the king, you should release her immediately. And accept her as your spiritual authority. She is Acharya of Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya.’

So, Lord Jagannath warned the king and all the pujaris like that. And of course she was released and she stayed on and on in Jagannath Puri. And in the dream also, that ‘you accept her as your spiritual master’ and then Gangamata Gosvamini started giving initiations. Residents of Jagannath Puri and pujaris were getting initiated by her. And like that this is the wonderful life and teachings of Gangamata Gosvamini. She was one of the rare souls, great souls, mahatmas and this is her appearance day today.

Baladeva Vidyabhushan is known as Gaudiya Vedanta Acharya. Gaudiya, Vedanta Acharya and Baladeva Vidyabhushan. What a name! Wonderful name and title of Baladeva Vidyabhushan! Vidya was his bhusan, vidya was his decoration, vidya was his alankar and vidya was beautifying him.

AchintyaBhedabheda tattva of Gaudiya Vaishnava was presented by Baladeva Vidyabhusan and he was born in Remuna Orissa, where Khirachora Gopinath is worshiped in that area his birth took place.

Today is his disappearance day. Then he moved from Orissa to Vrindavan. In Jaipur, Radha Govind was not being worshiped properly as per Gaudiya Vaisnava siddhanta. Even the king was disturbed. There were Ramanandis, followers of Sri sampradaya, Ramanuja sampradaya, they were in charge of worship and they were not allowing Gaudiya vaisnavas to worship Radha Govind. They had separated Radha from Govind. They were thinking, no no, Radha cannot be worshiped with Krishna, with Govind, because they didn’t understand Radha tattva. Gaudiya understand Radha and Krishna. They thought, Gaudiya vaisnavas cannot worship Radha Govind. You are not authorized. Your sampradaya has not written commentary on Vedanta. Where is your bhasya, commentary on Vedanta sutra? If you don’t have commentary on Vedanta sutra then you are not authorized. You cannot be accepted as authorized parampara. So the king of Jaipur also was not happy with the disturbance caused by Ramanandi, the followers of Sri sampradaya. Then he sent message to Vrindavan and Baladeva Vidyabhushan then contacted Vishvanath Chakravarti Thakur. He was Gaudiya Vaishnav protector, but he was too old to go to Jaipur. So he sent Baladeva Vidyabhushan to Jaipur and Baladeva Vidyabhushan had shastrarth dialogue, debate with Ramanandis and he defeated them all by proving the supremacy of Gaudiya Vaishnavism and their siddhanta.

Then Govind did the prompting, the dictation and Baladeva Vidyabhushan was taking notes. This was the commentary on Vedanta sutra. The commentary on Vedanta sutra was revealed unto Baladeva Vidyabhushan by Govinda, Govind Deva.

So when that commentary was ready and this was the first ever commentary of Vedanta sutra of Gaudiya sampradaya, so Baladeva Vidyabhushan named this commentary as ‘Govinda Bhashya’. This bhashya, commentary of Vedanta sutra, who is author of this? Govinda! Govinda! Govinda Himself has written this commentary, so he gave the credit to Govinda and commentary became as Govinda Bhashya.

So, once Gaudiya vaisnavas had their own commentary on Vedanta sutra and then they were accepted as authorized, authentic. Then Gaudiya vaisnavas were allowed to worship, take charge of worship of Radha Govinda and they also brought Radha which was by now placed elsewhere and now Radha and Govinda were being worshiped on the same altar in Jaipur and the Gaudiya vaisnavas were worshipping Radha Govinda.

So this is the glory of Baladeva Vidyabhushan. Baladeva Vidyabhushan ki jai!

He settled the situation and also made our parampara authentic. This is respectable and superior, in fact the super most siddhanta called Achintya Bhedabheda tattva, this is the great contribution of Baladeva Vidyabhushan. We are eternally indebted to Baladeva Vidyabhushan for this commentary and this authenticity.

Hare Krishna!

11 June 2019

Austerity: to advance in Krishna consciousness

When we undergo austerities like we do on Nirjala Ekadashi, that means we are minimizing our bodily needs or demands of our mind, body, demands of the family, so many demands, we minimize them. Live simple life with few facilities, bare minimum, most minimum and think high, remember Krishna, chant Hare Krishna, simple living high thinking, that’s the life of tapasya- life of austerity of devotees of Sri Krishna.

We should not be doing one day but we should be doing every day. This austerity, this tapasya is purifying and that’s how we make advancement in Krishna consciousness.

This land of Bharat varsha is land of tapasya, ‘tapobhumi’, rest of the world is ‘bhogabhumi’. There is svarga, heaven or hell, there is some kind of bhoga, enjoyment or suffering. Suffering is also bhoga, there is reaction for sinful activity. But here in Bharat varsha, this is tapobhumi, land of austerity and purification. So, by hearing this the devotees from Ukraine or Russia or from America or Mauritius, they think, oh this does not apply to us. We are not Bharatvasis. We are not Indians, so this is not meant for us. This is wrong thinking. Don’t think like that. By studying Krishna consciousness in different countries or wherever Krishna consciousness has reached and practiced, those lands are Bharat varsha. That is Bharat varsha and those who are practicing Krishna consciousness they are in true sense Bharatvasis, residents of Bharat.

Bharat, Mahabharat!

So you are part of Bharat varsha. You are Bharatiyas by the action.

So performing austerities is one and all for us wherever we are. This chanting of Hare Krishna is big tapasya we are doing, and not to think of anything else. And for this to get up early and begin chanting, this is tapasya. And to sit down and chant Hare Krishna is a big tapasya, not running around, walking and going here and there, no, sit in one place. Or sit down and only hear holy name and not to hear other topics, this is tapasya of the body as well as tapasya of the mind. We need our mind very austere in order to chant.

Tapasya for the body, tapasya for the mind, tapasya for the tongue.

Lord Sri Krishna has described tapasya of three kinds, three different levels, bodily, mentally, vocally, ‘kayena manasa vacha’. This world has seen amazing tapasvis, austere practitioners of Krishna consciousness; this was very common like in Treta yuga, Satya yuga, they used to do meditation, sitting in one place, like Valmiki. He was instructed, Okay stop this killing or looting people. Just sit down and chant Rama Rama Rama! Then he practiced like that, followed the instructions of his guru maharaja, Narada Muni by sitting in one place and chanting for long time. He sat down and he was not moving here and there, and of course there was,

sita atapa bata barisana e dina jamini jagi re
[Bhajau re mana by Govinda Dasa]

He kept sitting through winter season and rainy season and all kinds of seasons. And all the attacks, wind was blowing and showers of rain and he just tolerated, just kept chanting in all odd situations. And he was not defending, eating stopped. Sleeping, I don’t know how they manage sleeping. They use to sit down and meditate for years, long time. There is no eating, only air and only Hari nama, only Rama nama he was drinking and no question of mating and no defense. They used to be in the middle of the forest. The tigers and snakes and jackals are all around, but they are not scared. They are not defending, instead depending on the Lord and not defending and just in their business, activity of chanting the Holy name of Lord and remembering the Lord and they have forgotten whereabouts.

vyavasayatmika buddhih ekeha kurunandana [BG 2.41]

Their buddhi, their determination, great determination, fixed determination, it is called vyavasayatmika buddhih ekeha and just fix on the Lord, Lord’s Holy name or Lord’s pastimes, they are fully focused. Of course, the tigers would not eat them up but the ants are coming and crawling all over the body and eating and as a result there was an ant hill around the body of Valmiki Muni. So they are tolerating all the biting of worms and germs and ants and they were fix on the Lord, totally oblivious to the surrounding and what is happening to their body, inconvenience to the body, they are tolerating, they are beyond the body. They are just absorbed in Krishna, in Sri Rama. And doing some pranayam, deep breathe, slowly breathing in, slowly breathing out, long deep breathes also extends one’s life; he lives long one who takes long deep breathe. And this is done in mode of goodness and in passion you will run and fast breathing and that minimizes your life span. So take deep breathe and chant,

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare

That deep breathing, pranayam also helps to concentrate. So this yogi, Valmiki Muni is doing this, taking air in, besides the Holy name only the air, surviving on air.

Of course, you know this also that we cannot imitate those yogis of Satya yuga or Dwapar yuga, or we cannot imitate Valmiki Muni, same thing with Dhruva Maharaj.

So yogi, either they sit in padmasan or they stand on one foot, that is also one asana. Stand on one foot means you are not going to move around, because so many demands are arousing in you, oh I want this, I want that, so many desires, so many pushing’s, ashapash and then for that the body has to be sent ‘go there, go shopping, go travel, make money, all these things’ for this run around has to be done.

So the yogis used to minimize all this pushings.

vacho vegam manasa krodha vegam jivha vegam udaropastha vegam [NOI Verse 1]

There are six pushings mentioned in Upadeshamrita, the mind is pushing and anger is pushing and making you run around and belly is pushing and genitals are pushing, all these pushings and then passion is there and then running around, busy with the ugra karma and no time for Hare Krishna Hare Krishna.

So we cannot imitate those yogis from the past, meditaters from the past, but whatever austerities we could manage, whatever type of simple living that can be practiced that we must do. So, we cannot imitate those yogis from past, from Satya yuga, Treta yuga, but at the same time we should not imitate the present day materialists, the way they are busy, in their simple thinking and high living. High livings, but thinking simple or no thinking, just do it!

So we should not imitate or become the followers of the present day materialists or scientists or all those folks.

The materialists are trying to, high living life style, death style, live in a style and die in a style, so we don’t take inspiration from those materialists and their leaders. Some people from west, also coming to senses and they are changing their lifestyle.

Last time I was in America and there was one group of people, they said, ‘Swamiji we follow the formula called KISS formula’. I said, ‘I am a Swami. I have nothing to do with this Kiss. What is this Kiss?’ They said, ‘No, No, not that kind of kiss.’ Then I said, ‘what is this Kiss formula you are following?’ And they said, ‘Keep It Simple Stupid formula! Kiss, so this formula we are following. Simple living high thinking!’ So India is trying to lead smart life and smart cities, they are also saying, ‘don’t work hard, work smart’, like that. But if there are anyone smart, that are the devotees, devotees are smart.

Jeyi Krishna bhaje seyi bada chatur

One who worships Krishna, he is chatur (smart), everyone else is fool number one or number two or number ten or they are all not smart. Devotees are smart.

Okay! so be wise, be smart and chant Hare Krishna and be devotees of the Lord.

Hari Hari! Gauranga!

Chant with focus and concentration

Hare Krishna!

Today we have 586 participants, 17 from Nashik road, we must spread the word around. We must get more devotees from Nashik and Nashik road. Noida has 45 participants, Mauritius has 45 participants, and numbers have dropped. I don’t see so many on the screen. Numbers are dropping. In Mauritius there were several hundred devotees, so please pass the message, and take advantage of this opportunity. I am happy to see all of you here doing japa.

“Jyot se jyot jagate chalo. Prem ki ganga bahate chalo.”

You could ask others to join, you are fired up you could touch other prabhus and lit them up, wake them up. That’s all meaning of “jyot se jyot jagate chalo, prem ki ganga bahate chalo.” Let the Ganga of prem flow and let everyone take advantage of this. Let everyone be part of it. Let everyone drown and absorbed in drinking the nectar of the holy name.

So, I think today must be Sunday, number is smaller under 600. Today less participants, so it is understood that it’s Sunday.

”jiva jago ,jiva jago gaurachandra bole”

Gauranga is calling jiva jago, body is awake now awaken the soul. We wake up and we just never sleep. The body needs sleep, because we work hard for Krishna (laughs), body is resting, maybe for 6 hours. Prabhupada also says about 6 hours sleep. Elderly people sleep for 6 hours but the soul is not sleeping. When we have rested, the body wakes up, the soul is ready to go again to serve Krsna. He is ready to attend mangal arati, chant our rounds and the soul is now awake, it is nourished.

Once we wake up we are searching, maybe something in the past, someone wakes you up, shakes you up, or you come into contact with a devotee or spiritual master.

om ajyana timirandhasya jnananjana salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri guruve namah

Spiritual master is waking you up giving you ‘jnananjan’, some knowledge. Uttishta Jagrata, the vedic statement also says. Once you are spiritually woken up, you should stay awake, become Krishna conscious, chanting and doing other devotional practices.

I see many of you sleeping while chanting, chanting half mantra and then sleeping for 30 seconds or sometimes longer. And then you wake up and start chanting again. So, you have not really woken up? You are not chanting in full consciousness. Yesterday we made reference to the archer, how the whole activity of chanting is compared to the shooting or an archer. How he holds his bow, how he is focused. He poises his body, his mind, and soul to focus on his target. So, we need to practice our chanting and be focused, chanter is the jiva and is the archer and the arrow is the body, mind and intelligence. Target is the Lord’s abode, Lord’s lotus feet. The atma, the archer, the soul reaches back to Godhead. This is a wonderful illustration, chanter follows the example of the archer, just copy him, look at him how he is focused and his concentration.

Yesterday after the japa talk we continued the discussion here with the devotees chanting with me in Nagpur, talking about the archer. The archer he is holding the arrow in his hand, fixes it to the bow and then pulls the string from the back with all his strength, he must be focused and conscious to perform this action, he cannot be distracted from the target. Then he shoots. So, one archer can be totally focused.

And another archer he does archery with no concentration, he does everything mechanically, no focus. He may just carry the bow and arrow not doing anything. Some of us can be compared to this archer, we perform the act of chanting only for the sake of doing it, chanters just hold the japa mala, moving back and forth, relaxed mood, watching television, engaging in gossip, reading the newspaper while chanting, this is not what Bhagavatam is teaching. Our acaryas have not taught us like this. It is not like the ideal archer.

We get instructions from the scriptures and sastras like viddhi – you do this and nishedha- don’t do that. When King Parikshit in the very beginning as soon as he met Shukadeva Goswami he enquired.

yac chrotavyam atho japyaṁ
yat kartavyaṁ nṛbhiḥ prabho
smartavyaṁ bhajanīyaṁ vā
brūhi yad vā viparyayam [SB 1.19.38]

He wants to know, what we should worship? And what we should not worship? What should we chant? And what we should not chant? What should we do? And what we should not do? Tell me, what is right and what is wrong.

Be like the ideal archer in action that is how you should be, this is the “do part”; what we are talking about here today is the don’t part. Unfortunately, we do not have much time now, just started the topic, what not to do. How to chant, things not to do while chanting and chanting should not be done in this way.

Few years ago, the devotees did a drama in the Krishna Balarama hall in Vrindavan, they depicted one character, one mataji on her style of chanting, and they demonstrated this on stage. This mataji she could never sit and chant. She was all over the place chanting, and whilst chanting she was very busy doing other stuff. While chanting if the phone rang, she would drop the chanting and answer the call. She had this big bead bag, in the bead bag her keys would be there, the phone and all little accessories. The bead bag was like a little office, everything will go in there, letters, telephone bills etc. She would be really busy and very distracted whilst chanting. She would chant, snik snik hare hare.

So, this group chanting is helpful, we get you all to sit down on the asana and chant. So, if you join this conference there is no chance of chanting casually like the lady in the drama.

Devotees are also writing to share their experience, realizations and benefits of this group chanting. So, we should take advantage of this conference. There is this devotee from America Hardik Patel, he used to be chanting like that moving from here to there. I got him to sit down and focus. Once you sit down to chant, you have more control better vibes. More focused. Many of you are writing about the benefits of this group chanting, no time to read all now, but I will read it.

The lady we talked about is like a gossip manager, can open a dialogue in the middle of chanting, just like that I could see some devotees from Nashik having a chat. That mataji from the drama, using her chanting bag as an office, used to mechanically chant, not focused. So, one day while chanting she looked in her bag for her japa mala, there was no beads there, she lost her beads. You can just imagine the style of chanting, her mind, and intelligence just chanting with no concentration- she did not realize the beads were no longer there. No focus, she was lost.

Between yesterday and today we tried to demonstrate the right way of chanting like the archer, not like the lady who lost her beads. The do’s and the don’ts. Chant with focus and concentration.

Hare Krishna.

Be focused like an Archer while chanting

Our devotees from Melbourne they have been chanting with us on Saturdays. Are you there today also? Identify yourself. We chant everyday but some chant only on Saturdays.

I was wondering about Mauritius devotees, their numbers have gone down, can someone check? I see Vrsabanu Prabhu. Numbers have gone down from 50 to 30 now. Otherwise we chant every day Saturday, Sunday or Monday we chant every day.

We have to chant the prescribed number of rounds “kritanya sadha hari” prescribed number of rounds.

sankhya-purvaka-nama-gana-natibhih kalavasani-kritau [Shad Goswami Ashtakam]

The six goswamis of Vrindavan they have set this standard. Our Acarya Namacarya Srila Haridas Thakur had prescribed 47 rounds, but he chanted big number 300000 names of Lord every day . Even in his old age he struck to his prescribed rounds. I asked Srila Prabhupada on one morning walk why we chant 16 rounds, he replied 16 is minimum, you can chant 16,000 who can stop you.

So we need to chant, this is “yuga dharma” in this age we have to chant the Hare Krishna maha mantra.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare.

There is a statement in Bhagvatam that compares this activity of chanting or recitation of mantra to the activity of shooting bow and arrow using bow and arrow,Dhanur vidya. So there in the statement it is explained that Pranav, the mantra that we chant is the bow, is danush. The living entity jiva, is the arrow baan, and the laksha, the destination the target of this arrow is the Lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

It is a Bhagvatam statement so it certainly truth, a statement the fact, just to understand this we also say that chanting of Hare Krishna mantra is sadhan and sadhya. It is means and the goal.

The Lord comes in this world or as we chant Hare Krishna the Lord makes His appearance, so He becomes the means sadhan and that Lord carries the jiva or living entity back with Him back to Krishna or back to Godhead. The living entity is brought to the lotus feet of the Lord. Sadhan and sadhya which is mantra is non- different from the Lord. The holy name is non -different from the Lord.

Fixing the arrow to the bow that is quite an act and expertise and there is art, it is a science. Putting the arrow and bow together and also be focused on the target. Dronacharya was teaching his students this Dhanur vidya and they had to shoot at the sky, the mountain, the bird hanging from the tree.

And there is a boatman in his boat riding through the ocean and the target is Boston and the captain of the boat has to focus on his target, his guide is the light house, this is where the Boston is and he is thinking, I have to get there. In order to get to his target, he must ensure that that the engine is right and he remains on the right course even the winds are blowing unfavorably. His boat may be going this way sometimes that way. But he must steer his boat in the right direction towards the light house. He must make sure that the course is right. This is what we call as attentive chanting. To throw this living entity in the direction of the Lord. Because we don’t want to hit the Lord. Srila Prabhupada has explained in the purport, we should not think in the term of bow and arrow and we are shooting and the destination is the lotus feet of Lord. We should not be attacking violently; shooting should be like a flower. We are making offering of ourselves, the living entity at the lotus feet of the Lord.

Then of course there is the baan the arrow is ready, that’s why it is said,

jiv jago, jiv jago, gaurachandra bole

Gauranga from spiritual sky is calling come, come in My direction. So, Gauranga is calling you or He has come as you have addressed Him by calling His name. Gauranga is very merciful, He is magnanimous. You are receiving His ahaituki -causeless mercy, you don’t deserve but the Lord is so kind. He comes and calls you wake up, wake up sleeping souls. The soul has to wake up if you are talking of bow and arrow activity. The arrow is there and you have to be aware and it has to be willing to reach the destination and reach the lotus feet of the Lord or abode of the Lord- going back home, back to Godhead.

So the bow, the arrow and the lakshay, the destination make sure that they are perfectly aligned and in good shape, the right mantra, which we have we have the best mantra the maha-mantra. Other mantras are there. Every devi and devata have their mantras. Mantras are there to please different Gods and Goddesses.

In karma kanda section of the Vedas, different mantras are there, you could chant and go to heaven, pitri lok depends what you pray for. Some pray for bhuta and pischas, written in karma kanda section of the Vedas. If our desire is to go all the way to Vaikuntha to Goloka then we must chant the corresponding mantra to go back to Vaikunta. By the Grace of Gauranga and the parampara we have the best mantra- The maha mantra.

The bow, the arrow and the destination. The bow we have is the best.The mantra, the bow is perfect .The arrow is the living entity, the jiva is willing and ready and wants the Lord’s lotus feet. With devotional service and we have really woken up and we must also not cause offenses, Nama apradha are there. We are committing offenses against the holy name. The mantra is a personality, the mantra is Krishna Himself but if the living entity is committing offenses against the holy name, then what hope is there for the living entity.

Focus on the target In dhanur vidya, the string is pulled and is released as a result the arrow gets a boost from behind and if it is done with full attention full focus then that arrow will reach the destination and the target. Something that must give the boost is the holy name but if we are offensive and do not have faith in the holy name then the living entity will not be going towards the Lord.

So remember the successful archer always successfully hits his targets and his whole act of shooting, his mind, his body, his intelligence and his focus is on his target and when everything is aligned, the arrow the bow and the target and then he becomes successful . So remember that when we are chanting we should remember the successful archer, his mind, body and soul is focused. Like that there is a bow, arrow and the target the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Keep this in the mind when chanting always remember the archer and his focus, if he is not aligned and focused he will not hit his target. Stay focused on the chanting remembering how the archer aligns everything to hit the target. Remember the Bhagavatam and the activity of bow and arrow – keep this in mind when chanting.

Question: who is the archer?

Answer : Who is the dhanudari here, the arrow is there, the bow is there, the destination. The archer is the living entity. Thinking of the one who is chanting, he is dhanudari he is the archer, you are the archer and you are also the bow at the same time. Good question. Bow and arrow focus on the target. Archer is the chanter of the holy name.

yatra yogeshvarah krishno yatra partho dhanurdhara
tatra shirr vijayo buthirdhruva nitir matir mama [BG 18.78]

In the case of Arjuna battling on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna is the archer, living entity is archer and the Lord has come. His bow is the mantra and who is giving him the mantra? Sri Krishna is right there giving the mantra, Lord is even driving the chariot, the Lord is acting like the danusha, Lord is acting like mantra.

Oh! You have some mantra for me? Arjuna is getting confused in the middle of the battle, the Lord is giving intelligence from within.

In our case, dadami buddhi yogam. Lord gives advice in the form of mantra. So there was a team, Arjuna is archer, Lord is dhanusha which is physically Gandiv is the hand of Arjuna, but the real bow is the Lord. In the case of Arjuna the Lord is personally there, to give him a boost so that his arrows can reach the target, that time his enemies they are stumbling blocks so they had to be removed.

Arjuna was hitting the enemies, as they were getting hit, they were getting killed and they were all getting liberated, they were all going back to Godhead. They were becoming associates of the Lord. Arjuna the archer was not only bringing himself to the lotus feet of the Lord but all those whom he was killing they were also becoming bhan/arrow and going to the Lord.

Okay so another question.

Question: Who is the Lord and who is the living entity?

Answer: Bow is the Lord and the destination is the Lord and the living entity is you, the chanter. Holy name is the bow the holy name is the destination, means and the goal. The holy name brings living entity back to the form of the Lord. Living entity is entering the past times of the Lord and the holy name brings the living entity back to the Lord, back to spiritual sky back to their eternal action of serving the Lord.

No more questions are coming up only comments, I will read them. If there are other questions you can discuss it among yourselves. If there are very difficult questions and you have no answers then refer it to us. Otherwise keep chanting.

Hare Krishna

Do meditate, but meditate upon Krishna

Hari Bol to you all!

637 participants today! I am very happy and enjoying this conference and chanting with you all. Especially when I see you chanting, I do not hear, but I do see you chanting. Your lips are vibrating or moving, so that seems very pleasing. You all are doing right thing at right time. Right thing is we know, I am sure you also know, that you are and we all are spirit souls and for all living entities our occupation is, our dharma in this kali-yuga is chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, that we are doing.

As I see you practicing dharma, doing the right thing, that gives me great pleasure.

So, you are doing the right thing, that is chanting Hare Krishna. You and we all have to just do it rightly or correctly. You are doing the right thing, but do it in right way, correct way. So we always say, we meditate upon Lord’s Holy name and Lord’s pastimes, Lord form etc. This is mantra meditation, it’s time for dhyana, time for meditation. So do it dhyanapurvak, with attention, in a meditating way. That is the right thing to do, right way to do.

In fact, everyone in this world meditates, get absorbed in, concentrates,contemplates, everyone in this world does that. Every living entity does that, dhyana or contemplation or meditation. So worldly people also do dhyana all the time and they do dhyana of maya and devotees also do dhyana or they are expected to do dhyana, meditate upon Sri Krishna. So we do not say, ‘do not meditate, do not think or contemplate or concentrate, but we only say, devotees of Krishna say, meditate upon Krishna. Do meditate, but meditate upon Krishna.

Lord Sri Krishna talked about this dhyana in Bhagavad Gita, very famous statement.

dhyayato visayan pumsam sangastesupa jayate
sangat sanjayate Kamah, kamat krodhobhi jayate
krodhat bhavati sammoha, sammohat smrti vibhramah,
smrti bhramsat buddhi naso, buddhi nasat pranasyati [BG 2.62]

So Lord has talked how to do meditation, if it is visaya or objects of senses, meditation on the objects of senses, then that leads to attachments, one gets attached to those objects of senses.

sangah tesu upajayate, the attachment is developed.

This principle applies to both kinds of meditation, the mundane meditation and spiritual Krishna consciousness meditation. If your objects of senses are mundane objects and you meditate upon them then you develop attachment to those mundane objects of senses, mundane places, mundane personalities, mundane objects of eating or sleeping or mating or defending. So likewise, if we meditate upon Krishna, the spiritual objects of our senses, the senses of spirit, spirit also has senses, the body also have senses, so the body’s senses contemplate, meditate on the objects of mundane senses, then that kind of attachment. The spiritual senses of the spirit soul, they contemplate on the spiritual objects and that’s Krishna, then we develop attachment to Krishna. So we develop detachment to maya and we develop attachment to Krishna by meditating upon Krishna or meditating upon the spiritual objects of our spiritual senses.

Then Krishna says,

sangastesupa jayate sangat sanjayate kamah, and then if we are attached to the objects of senses, we are contemplating on the objects of senses, then it gives rise to kama, the lust. While you contemplate on the spiritual objects of our senses that is Krishna, even Krishna’s devotees, Krishna’s pastimes, then we develop attachment to those spiritual objects and then we revive our prema for the Lord. In other case kama, sangat sanjayate kamah, but there is also sangat sanjayate premah. Prema also could be revived by the contemplation and attachment to the spiritual objects of the senses.

As another statement from Chaitanya Charitamrita, that clarifies this point,

atmendriya priti vancha tara bale kama (Cc. Ädi 4.165)

atmendriya priti, if we are busy in gratifying mundane senses, contemplating on mundane objects of senses or relishing mundane objects then the outcome is kamah upajayate, kama is developed.

While,Krsnendriya priti tara bale prema, but if our senses are engaged in serving the Lord’s senses or Lord’s form or Lord’s pastimes, then that would result in prema, love of Godhead.

Yeah, so moving forward Krishna has said, we are referring Bhagavad Gita,

dhyayato visayan pumsam, sangastesupa jayate
sangat sanjayate kamah, kamat krodhobhi jayate

And if our lusty desires are not fulfilled, there is some hindrance or some delay, etc. then we become angry, kamat krodhobhi jataye.

If we are frustrated, this is what goes on all over the world, exhibition of kama and that’s why there is quarrel and there are wars and battles and fighting and all that goes on because of kamat krodhobhi jayate. Your desires are not fulfilled and then you exhibit this anger and this whole world is angry, terrorists are angry, everybody is angry here, develops anger.

So kamat krodhobhi jayate, or we could also say, premat krodhobhi jayate, if our spiritual desires are not satisfied, if there is some hindrance, some delay, we may also be feeling frustrated and become angry, but that is spiritual anger and devotees like Hanuman, and like that, so devotees also may take action for fight with those who are against Vishnu and Vaisnavas or their plans, Vishnu’s plans, Vaisnavas plans, if someone is causing hindrance then devotees also become transcendentally angry as Hanuman became angry on Arjuna.

In fact, Krishna was inspiring Arjuna, so that he will become angry for battling, fighting. So this anger, this krodha, this spiritual anger like Lord Narasimha becomes angry, so that’s spiritual anger is there.

So moving forward, what Krishna has said in Bhagavad Gita so kamat krodhobhi jayate, krodhat bhavati sammoha, if you are in angry state then you become bewildered, you cannot think straight and you are illusioned and you end up taking wrong decisions. Then Lord also has said,

sammohat smrti vibhramah
smrti bhramsat buddhi naso

And gradually you forget your real identity and that result in loosing intelligence, there is loss of intelligence. You cannot act any more intelligently. On the contrary the spiritual practitioners, they may become angry also, as Prabhupada said preaching is fighting but that anger, the spiritual anger, the devotees, they do not loose intelligence, however devotees are given intelligence. Lord says that in Bhagavad Gita,

tesam satat yuktanam bhajatam priti purvakam dadami buddhiyogam (BG 10.10)

Those who are always practicing Krishna consciousness, always chanting Hare Krishna, always engage in devotional services, reading Prabhupada books, performing nama sankirtana and like that, distributing prasadam, holding festivals, doing jare dekho tare kaho krsna upadesa, as devotees remain engaged in all these activities then Lord guarantees to such a devotee I give intelligence, dadami buddhiyogam.

So, the materialists, they lose intelligence in this process of contemplation, this that and objects of senses, but devotees they end up getting intelligence, they become intelligent. Lord provides them very sharp intelligence, they become equipped with.

So in these two ways, two kinds of meditations, one is meditating on maya or worldly objects, at every step there is step down, you are coming down, you are declining and you are falling down, one from dhyayato visayan pumsah, sangastesupa jayate, there is fall down, sangat sanjayate kamah, you developed lust, fall down, you become angry you fall down, you are bewildered, you fall down, further fall down and Lord finally says in that statement that buddhinasat pranasyati, when you have lost your intelligence, pranasyati, you are destroyed. You really fall down, go deep down into the hell and lower regions. There is regression at every at every step and total fall down.

So while devotees, new devotees, you are the chanters of the Holy names and contemplates upon the Lord and Lord’s pastimes Lord’s devotees, you are studying their life and teachings, you keep doing this specially, chant,

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA
KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE
HARE RAMA HARE RAMA
RAMA RAMA HARE HARE

And you are doing that right way, and you are contemplating and meditating deeply meditating upon the Lord then the outcome end result is progression. Other side other ladder, there is regression, they are coming down, down, down into the hell. And here you are going up and up and you are going higher and higher and now you are blessed with intelligence. Lord has given you intelligence, dadami buddhiyogam, then what happens, yen mam upayanti te, then those chanters of the Holy name, devotees, practitioners of Krishna consciousness, they are endowed with spiritual intelligence and how do they use that spiritual intelligence?

Mam upayanti te, mam means Myself, upa means near, they come near to Me, near where I am that is where they come. They come back to Me, come back to home. So then they achieve the goal of human form of life, achieve Krishna and attain Krishna.

So what we talked just now about is applicable to each and every one of us, regardless of which country, continent, nation, religion, gender, economic status, regardless of all these considerations and this principle that Krishna has talked about, they are applicable and that is why the whole world is following,

mama vartmanu vartante manusyah partha sarvasah
(BG 4.11)

Krishna has declared that mama vartmanu vartante, I have set this system and there is no way, they can do things independent of Lord, independent of the system of the Lord. Every single person, every single human being on this planet is following this program, this system that Lord has created and so then they are either following the mundane path, mundane contemplation, mundane entertainment, trying to acquire objects, trying to relish those, then we know what the outcome is, end result is, the fall down.

So as Lord has said, surrender unto Me, give up all other varieties of mundane activities or even some kind of mundane religion or mix bhakti or jnanamisra bhakti or karmamisra bhakti, give all that out,

sarva dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraj (BG 18.66)

And that is what we do, we chant Hare Krishna, we take shelter of Krishna. And then He also says do not fear, I will take care of rest, I will make you free from all sins.

Nāmāśraya kori’ jatane tumi thākaha āpana kāje [Gītāvalī 6].

So take shelter of Holy name, meditate by chanting and be happy.

Hare Krishna!

Nagpur

Hare Krishna!

Blessings to you all who are in this conference! I remember, Anandamayi Radha whose father was just sitting and today we see you chanting, so we are happy. He was not chanting yesterday, he is chanting today. He is one of the participants. We are very happy with this development.

Good morning news to you all. So welcome sir and welcome to you and all the new participants. I am sure they must be inspired, that is why our number has gone up and we have 650 participants today. Target is 700 at the end of this, you know this, we are getting there day by day.

Padmamali is making some special efforts also, to increase the number of participants. Of course, why Padmamali alone? We all have to, yeah? We should be making efforts and endeavors to increase the participants to have more association. More the merrier as they say.

So, the Holy name of the Lord which we chant everyday directs us to the Lord and gives indication of the Lord, implies the Lord that meant Lord’s form also. So, as we say Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, then Lord says, ‘oh! you are chanting My name. This is how I look like and look at Me, take My darshan’ and of course there are pastimes also as we chant.

Hare Krishna, reminds us the pastimes of the Lord. Basically we are talking about the form of the Lord to begin with, reminded us as we chant.

Unfortunately we are engrossed in bodily concept and all that we care and love is our own form or some forms around us, other persons, worldly forms. So,as Kunti Maharani said ‘janma aishvarya sruta srivih’, the living entities, conditioned souls are falsely proud of their janma, the birth, aishvarya, their opulence, their wealth, their studies or even overseas studies, higher studies, education and specially their beauty, their form, the way they look like, the people are intoxicated, this Kunti Maharani said.

Yesterday here in Nagpur, some devotees were sorting out the photographs of my visits of different temples and what I did in this temple, during that visit and there were photos of me worshipping the Deities or doing kirtan melas. And as they were sorting out and they wanted my involvement or my judgment while selecting some of those photos to use for upcoming Vyasapuja festival. And I was seeing how they were inclined to select more of my photos and less of Deities photos and I was expressing my disappointment over this. The photographs of the Deities were so beautiful, out of this world as they say and were enchanting. As I was talking darshan of those Deities, Deities of Radha Govinddev in Noida, Deities of Radha Pandharinath from Pandharpur and like that Radha Damodar in Solapur or even Radha Shyamasundar in Vrindavan like that.

So I had fallen in love with the photos of the Deities more than my own photos. I was not so much interested. And I was contemplating how the beauty of the Lord is eternal as Their form is eternal; while our beauty is temporary. May be it is here today while you are young, some sort of beauty is there, but wait for some more years and you will not even want to look at your face, ugly face or wrinkled face.

I was also reminded of one statement of Prithu Maharaj when he was addressing the citizens and citizens were trying to glorify Prithu Maharaj. But Prithu Maharaj was responding saying ‘why? the glory of the Lord exists, it is here in the present, the glories of the Lord, why you would you like to glorify me? Just be happy! Just be contended glorifying the Lord! Why are you mixing up that glory or diluting that glory with my glory, or talking of or glorifying me. Lord’s glory is enough. It exists, it is here. Just be happy with Lord’s glory and don’t talk of my glory.

So talking of, the body is ever changing, I was looking at the photographs, even me worshipping different Deities, my thought was that, the worshipers keep changing. Now someone is worshipping the Lord, tomorrow someone else will worship, next year or fifth year from now the same Deity will be there, worshipable Deity, worshipful Deity. But there will be different pujaris, worshipers will be different, worshipable would be there forever, hundred years from now, then thousand years from now the Deity the Lord continue to be there, but the worshipers will be changing as their bodies change, their forms change.

Talking about the changing of body, I am sure it is not difficult to understand our body is changing, the change is so gradual, we do not notice the change on day to day basis but if you could go back to 20 years from now then you could look at the form of your body, it is different from the body which you have now. And of course, when you were baby body and your parents had taken photographs of baby body and they are hanging on the walls, you will not recognize. You will wonder who is this one? Is that me really? Because the body has changed, it is so simple thing that the body is ever changing, our bodies are changing.

Some years ago, devotees, they were publishing my article how I came into Krishna Consciousness. They had selected some photographs to be included in that article and there was one photograph of my college days, it was group photo, myself and my other friends. And devotees, the designers said, ‘Maharaj we have selected this photo to go in that article’ and I was looking at that photograph and it took quite some time for me to find out which person from that photograph is myself? Is that me? No! What about this? No, no! I mean it took some time for me to recognize my own form, my own photograph in that photograph.

Some years ago in my Vyasapuja book, devotees had printed a photograph which devotees normally do, devotees worshiping the feet, they call it lotus feet and there was photograph of feet and I took objection, these are not my feet. This is wrong. This is someone else’s feet, may be feet of some other spiritual master and these are not my feet. And there was whole debate going on, whether they are my feet or someone else’s feet. And devotees somehow convinced me. They were right, they were my feet. So the feet are changing and face is changing, heart is changing, body is changing. While all this is changing, the form of the Lord is eternal, eternally constant, never changing. We are ever changing and Lord is never changing.

As we chant Hare Krishna mahamantra, we are reminded of the form of the Lord and that form is sat-chit-ananda, that form is eternal-sat, chit- full of knowledge, ananda- full of bliss, while our form is asat-achit and nirananda. Our body is temporary, our body is full of ignorance and our body is full of misery. Hence we prefer the form of the Lord, His eternal form we prefer to worship.

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA
KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE
HARE RAMA HARE RAMA
RAMA RAMA HARE HARE

Srnvanti gayanti grnanti sadhavah

(SB 7.5.23 24)

sadhus are always busy in srnvanti-hearing, gayanti- singing, and grnanti- by accepting the Lord and realizing the Lord that is called God realization, Krishna realization. But at the same time there is self realization-we are spirit souls, that realization also takes place simultaneously. God realization, self realization and our relationship with the God which is attained by the performance of bhakti, by chanting the glories of the Lord.

So, we are also beautiful and we are also eternal as spirit souls, we are parts and parcels of Krishna, children of Krishna. So as Krishna is beautiful, we parts and parcels are beautiful, souls are beautiful, soul is eternal, that we have to realize. Our body is temporary, body is source of misery.

hitva anyathe rupam svarupen vyavasthitih (SB 6.1.58)

Then we give up this ever changing bodies, finally we have nothing to do with this body, tyaktva deham punar janma naiti(BG 4.8)

We give up this present body and we don’t accept another body and we get situated in svarupa, svarupena vyavasthitih, our original eternal form we realize and we get situated in that form. And this is called final or ultimate liberation, that is you realize that you are eternal form and that eternal form keeps serving the lotus feet of the Lord all the time to come. And then there is Lord’s form, then we have our spiritual form, spiritual personality and that spiritual personality keeps serving the Lord and attain eternally. From materiality we attain eternality as we chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna!

Of course we don’t have to wait till we go back to spiritual sky and serve the Lord. There is also situation, sthiti called ‘jivan mukta ca uchyate,’ we also start serving the Lord here and now. In this world and in this body we spirit soul could be active, be interactive with the Lord through devotional service. And that is what we do by the nine processes of devotional service, navavidha bhakti.

Srila Prabhupada has given us engagements for 24 hours of the day. We are expected to serve Krishna in this body in this world Person who serves is a soul, body is just an instrument. Soul is serving, soul is chanting, soul is worshipping, soul is surrendering, ‘atmanivedanam.’

Body just goes along and then the so called body also gets spiritualized as soul is serving the Supreme Soul.

Okay, stay busy 24 hours till we get together again next day.

Hare Krishna!

Lords beautiful form is described as 24 and half chandras

Nagpur

Today we have 636 participants. I am happy that more and more japa participants are joining. Anandamayi Radha mataji’s father has joined us today. And I am sure there are some other new faces. Don’t remain new faces, become old faces by keep doing chanting and become familiar faces. Introduce yourself, let Krishna acknowledge your presence and show yourself to the Lord, present yourself to the Lord, ‘I am here Oh Lord! I had turned my face away from You for such a long long time, but now I am here facing You. I am sanmukh now. Please accept me Oh Lord.’ You could pray like that.

Of course you could also begin, facing the devotees first or the gurujans, the spiritual master first. You face them and they will also introduce you to the Lord. They will recommend your case to the Lord, ‘Here is someone my dear Lord. He has turned his face towards You, please accept him.’ So that also could be there. You begin facing devotees and then they would turn you towards the Lord, introduce you to the Lord.

So chanting stirs up our thoughts and we think and we remember as we chant, the expected remembrance of the Lord.

I had some thoughts as I was chanting this morning and I was remembering dialogue between Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Sanatana Gosvami. And this is something, the way Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu was remembering Krishna, He was sharing that with Sanatana Gosvami. And that sharing was going on and on for almost two months. Then just cross section of that dialogue or just one or two statements of that, we are going to talk about. I am trying to share something which Sri Krishna Caitanya Maghaprabhu was thinking. Srila Krishnadas Kaviraj Gosvami has kindly presented that dialogue between Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Sanatana Gosvami in Caitanya Caritamrita.

So Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu although He is Lord Himself, but He is thinking this way in the mood of the devotee of the Lord and Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu at one point during that dialogue with Sanatana Gosvami, He was more ecstatic and more excited when He said something that I am going to share. So Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu is talking of the beauty or beautiful form of Sri Krishna. That we always hear and say and write that Lord is Sri Krishna or Caitanyacandra or Ramachandra or Krishnachandra is compared with the Chandra. Lord is called as Chandra, Ramachandra, Krishnachandra. The reason why we call or address Lord as Ramachandra or Krishnachandra, because They are, some parts of Their body are compared with Chandra. They act like chandra- moon, shining, dazzling, and effulgent; rays emanating from certain parts of Lord’s body.

So Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu is talking of Sri Krishna having 24 and half chandras, 24 and half moons in the Personality of Krishna. Beginning with the Lord’s face, this is the main principle. Moon face of the Lord is moon like face. So, that is the main principle moon of the Lord. He describes the moon like face, this moon is principle Chandra and other chandras are subsidiary chandras.

So this moon like Chandra, mukhachandra or shashimukha, makes whole body of the Lord, full form of the Lord like His asana, like His seat and He takes the main seat and He represents the face of the Lord. And the description goes on, the counting of 24 and half moons, which ones are 24 and half; so the face is one. And the cheeks, these are the two additional moons, so three moons. Then tilak Lord wears, this is yet another moon, say fourth moon. The forehead of the Lord is half moon. It doesn’t make complete round, astami’s moon, Chandra chakor. Then the fingernails of the Lord, ten more moons are the reddish complexion, dazzling moons are the fingernails of the Lord. And the toe nails which are again ten in numbers those are additional ten moons, nakhachandra.

In Bhagavat Mahatyma it is also described as Chandravali, it is awali like dipavali (rows of lamps) there is chandravali (rows of moons), all those chandras, each toenail is one Chandra and another Chandra and another. Even Chandravali gopi, presence is felt on the toenail of the Lord. The yogis do meditation and lot of time they meditate on this effulgence which is emanating from the form of the Lord, coming from His face or His toenails or fingernails, specially from the toe nails, that effulgence becomes the object of meditation, but unfortunately their realization is incomplete and they consider this effulgence complete in itself and they do not understand source of that light- Effulgence (jyoti) is the form of the Lord. So that is unfortunate!

Vaishnavas, of course, they understand the effulgence, Brahmajyoti and the source of Brahmajyoti is form of the Lord, the moons of the Lord are the source.

And Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu is talking with Sanatana Gosvami and He goes on and states that when Lord Sri Krishna plays His flute then His fingers and fingernails are dancing, so it’s just like moons are dancing as He is playing flute. Similarly, Nataraja Sri Krishna, ‘natavarvapuh karnikaram’, that ‘Natavara’, as He dances then the moons on the toenails of the Lord, those moons are dancing. So while playing the flute those fingernails moons are dancing and while Lord dances, the toenails moons, Chandravali they dance.

Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu goes on and on and on to describe in great detail and then He says the flute playing, those moons are glorifying Sri Krishna, the sound, the murali-dhvani, the vibration emanating from the flute of Sri Krishna, those moons are singing the glories of the Lord. And while the Lord is dancing, the ankle-bells, nupur around the ankles of the Lord, that sound and the moons on the toenails, they are talking, they are glorifying the Lord.

These 24 and half moons, this has the connection with one of the Gayatri mantra called Kama Gayatri. That 24 and half letters in Kama Gayatri and each one of them represents moons in the form of the Lord and as one chants Kama Gayatri, he meditates on the form of the Lord- Lord’s form with 24 and half moons.

Srila Vishvanath Chakravarti Thakur gave commentary on Kama Gayatri called, I think Mantradipika, that’s his bhashya, commentary on Kama Gayatri. So in the middle of writing commentary, in Vrndavan, on the banks of Radhakunda, he had questions. So he was trying to understand the 24 and half moons represented by 24 and half letters or syllables of Kama Gayatri. He was not able to ascertain, come to conclusion, which one is half letter in this Kama Gayatri, half letter representing half moon in the form of the Lord, which letter? So he was thinking it should be only 24 moons, or 24 syllables or maybe 25. I don’t see which one these is half letter or half moon. Is Krishnadas Kaviraj Gosvami who has mentioned, talked about 24 and half-moons, is Krishnadas Kaviraj wrong in mentioning 24 and half? He should have mentioned 24 or maybe 25, but not 24 and half. So he was confused and not able to come to conclusion what is right, what is wrong. When he was thinking and thinking and he was not coming to right conclusion, right realization and he was also thinking if Krishnadas Kaviraj could he wrong, or my thinking may be offensive as I am thinking that Krishnadas Kaviraj may be wrong and it is described in the life of Vishvanath Chakravarti Thakur that he was even considering, I should give up my life if I could not understand what is reality, what is the fact. And Radharani kindly appeared to Vishvanath Chakravarti Thakur and Vishvanath Chakravarti Thakur was face to face with Radharani and Radharani gave all the explanation and also explained which letter is half letter and certainly Krishndas Kaviraj Gosvami couldn’t be wrong in stating 24 and half moons and they are not 24 or 25 but they are 24 and half. Krishnadas Kaviraj was right, Radharani was insisting, emphasizing and clarifying this in person. The forehead which is half moon, which is difficult to understand, which one is half, ‘lalatapatale kasturi tilakam, so kasturi tilakam’ is one full moon, but the whole lalata, forehead is half moon. And the last letter of the Kama Gayatri mantra is ‘halanta’ but that is considered as full letter, but then which one is half letter? It was explained that the fifth letter of the gayatri mantra is Kamadevaya, that one is half and not the last one is half. Middle one, fifth letter is half! So Radharani, kindly revealed all the truths and facts and saved the life of Vishvanath Chakravarti Thakur with Her darsana. She blessed him.

So while chanting Hare Krishna, this could be very useful, substantial thing to think about. Thu, Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu is revealing the form of the Lord, the beauty of the Lord, this is one Chandra, this is another Chandra, 24 and half chandras. So this is a nice topic, wonderful topic for our meditation as we chant Hare Krishna- the great detail of Personality of the Lord reveals. Lord is chanting and talking also, japa, ajapa, japa that we always do, the formal way of chanting with the beads we chant prescribed number of rounds, but then there is state of life or practice of Krishna consciousness, which is called ajapa, they are not chanting japa, but the chanting is going on. It becomes so natural, unknowingly you are chanting, so Sri Krishna Mahaprabhu is doing japa, ajapa. And while doing japa and ajapa, He is thinking and talking. So it is authorized, while chanting Hare Krishna Hare Krishna to think like this, remember like this.

Hare Krishna

Reading and hearing about Lord helps us in chanting

Keep chanting and keep dancing, let your soul dance.
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says,
nama nache jiva nache nache prema dhana

When there is chanting, the name is dancing, living entity is dancing, love of Godhead is dancing, everyone is dancing. Now if we could come to that stage of chanting or that evolution that sort of revival has taken place in our heart and soul, that our soul is chanting then we are free from all sort of distractions, totally, fully absorbed in our own world where singing soul is dancing and enjoying. If your soul is dancing whilst dancing the soul would not be thinking about anything else in the world, soul is enjoying chanting and dancing while chanting.

Your tongue must vibrate; you should be able to hear what you are chanting. So, when we are doing just kind of mental japa then we are kind of absorbed in so many other thoughts, absorbed in thinking and contemplating. So, in order to stop that, we need to say
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna and hear what we are saying and get our mind off from other thoughts which are going through our mind so distract our mind and get our mind to listen to the holy names instead of listening to other thoughts.

We always say that attentive chanting or dhyana purvak japa, so we have to be attentive while chanting of Hare Krishna Hare Krishna.
Be attentive pay attention to Hare Krishna, if you are not saying how could you hear and be attentive. How could you do contemplation or meditation? Sometimes when we are at some function some VIPs are there, we check that who is attending to that person and making sure the VIP is taken care of.  Who is giving him seat to sit, who is giving him drink who is attending him?  So like that when we are chanting Hare Krishna, Krishna has come and we are attending to Krishna. Who is attending? We are attending. Our mind focused on that Krishna. So, when we chant, we are hearing, our mind is busy hearing that Hare Krishna Hare Krishna.

So whatever different activities are done by our senses, all our senses connected with, manah-sasthanindriyani [BG 15.7]

These six principle senses, all those senses- sense of touch, sense of hearing and seeing, they all do the reporting to the mind. The mind knows which sense is doing what, so as we say Hare Krishna Hare Krishna with our tongue, then that is a topic for mind to attend to or think about or be busy with.
So, we have been talking of this we have heard Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, these are not empty words, these are Persons, and these are Personality of Godhead. So, we hear Hare Krishna we are supposed to be hearing so much and everything reminding ourselves about Krishna. Whose name is Krishna? We are saying Hare Krishna Hare Krishna; question can arise is this someone’s name? Yes, this is of course Krishna’s name, then who is Krishna? How does He look like? Where does He stay? There could be hundreds and thousands of questions like these not only who is He? And answer to that question could be the whole world of the scriptures.

ādāv ante ca madhye ca hariḥ sarvatra gīyate  [CC Ādi 7.131]

In the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the scriptures. As we chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna this results in Smaranam – we remember His form. Lord assumes different forms and they are so many beautiful forms, there are detailed description of these forms of the Lord. Then you are remembering the qualities of the Lord. There are 64 qualities and more qualities can be listed. There are so many topics to think about, Nama, Rupa, Guna and Lila. So, this chanting of Hare Krishna should remind us of all these topics and this is what we think and contemplate upon as we chant Hare Krishna and be absorbed in chanting.

You should also be reading Srila Prabhupada books, that is also sravanam, kirtanam and the smaranam.

nityam bhagavat sevaya

Shravanam is also there as we read Srila Prabhupada’s books or as we read Hari Katha that is also sravanam. And then we say what we heard is kirtanam and then smaranam or as we chant Hare Krishna, we will be reminded of what we read about Hari.

So, this also goes hand in hand or becomes helpful, that kind of studies hearing Hari Katha, nityam bhagavat sevaya, concentrating our minds focusing our minds that would give us a topic to think about when we say Hare Krishna.

Oh! That Krishna, He looks like this, these are His pastimes and He also appeared as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, He is Jagannath,
Jei Gaura sei Krishna sei Jagannath. They are non-different.

So, in order to be attentive and our mind focused on chanting, the reading and hearing of studies you do is very helpful. We will be more focused, more meditative in chanting. Otherwise we sit down for chanting we will be reminded of other things we have heard and read and that are worldly kind of things, all that has happened prior to chanting your previous days, all those thoughts are going to be hovering over. Me too, me too, think of me, what about me think about me too. So many things come to our mind and distract us.

So, one-time Dronacharya was teaching archery, how to use bow and arrow to his students, all the Pandavas and Kauravas in the forest. They were getting their lessons on how to hit the target. Dronacharya had hung one bird on the branch of a tree and his students had to hit the eye of the bird.
So, one by one students were coming to shoot the bird and as they held their bow and arrow, Dronacharya was asking them, so what are you seeing? So, the first student said, “Well I am seeing the sky, the tree, the leaves.” So Dronacharya said “get out”. So, second student was not seeing everything but still seeing a lot of things other than bird and he was also asked to get out from there. Next one said I am seeing the tree, leaves, so many branches, but he is still not seeing or not focusing on what he is supposed to see the target. So finally, the good student Arjuna came and Dronacharya asked him “Can you see the sky?” Arjuna said no. Can you see the mountain, Arjuna said no, what about lots of tree, no. What about the branches of the tree, no. Can you see the branch where the bird is hanging? no. Can you see the whole bird? no. Then Dronacharya finally asked “What are you seeing?” Arjuna said “I can only see the eye of the bird and nothing else.”  Then Dronacharya said shoot now. Now you will hit the target well as you are only seeing the target.

So, I suppose you are learning some lessons from this illustration and that is how while chanting we have to get out the whole world which is in us or on our mind, get that out. So many things to think about and mind does keep thinking about, not this, not this, don’t think of this, don’t remember this and only,

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare

This is all that we are supposed to remember. We say and we hear we keep our mind busy with hearing and as we hear we are reminding ourselves of Krishna, who is Krishna, His names, form, qualities and pastimes. This is the subject matter of our hearing and remembering.
Mind is flickering, mind is not steady, this was also complaint of Arjuna in 6th chapter of Bhagavad Gita. Krishna said you have to do abhyasa- practice of controlling the mind, taming our mind and that has to be done by the spirit of detachment. ‘viragyena  abhyasena’, these two things do constant practice with the spirit of detachment, attempting to detach ourselves from the world, separating ourselves from the world and do practice of that day in and day out. And that is what we are trying as we chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna everyday as chant our prescribed number of rounds.

Hare Krishna

YAMARAJ’S INSTRUCTIONS TO YAMADUTAS

Congratulations to all of you chanters as the score has increased. Yesterday I had said, today’s talk will be by Yamaraja. Have you ever met him? Many times, many many times, but you have forgotten. So, today we will hear from Yamaraja. We will listen to his thoughts. Due to time constraints we can’t make it like storytelling, but some of his thoughts we will present.

This talk of Yamaraj comes in the beginning of sixth canto of Bhagavatam, chapter 3. At end of fifth canto there is description of hellish planets. So, Parikshit Maharaj inquired, whether there is any way, so that suffering could be avoided. In response to that inquiry by King Parikshit, Sukadeva Goswami narrates the glory of the holy name & hence he described this story of Ajamila.

Another way he said, “The way you could avoid going to hell is chanting of the holy names.” Harer nama eva kevalam.

(CC Adi 7.76)

Yesterday, we talked about how first time Yamadutas returned empty handed & they couldn’t bring Ajamila. When Yamadutas returned to Yamaraja their first question was:

yamadūtā ūcuḥ
kati santīha śāstāro,
jīva-lokasya vai prabho
trai-vidhyaṁ kurvataḥ
karma,phalābhivyakti-hetavaḥ (SB. 6.3.4)

Their question was ‘How many controllers are there? We thought you were the only one. But today we had some other experience. Someone intervened & stopped us from bringing Ajamila to you.’

Yamaraja explained, no! no ! I am not the supreme controller.’

yama uvāca
paro mad-anyo jagatas tasthuṣaś ca
otaṁ protaṁ paṭavad yatra viśvam
yad-amśato ‘sya sthiti-janma-nāśā
nasy otavad yasya vaśe ca lokaḥ

(SB 6.3.12)

He admitted. Iam not the supreme controller. He is the Supreme Lord. Yamaraja explains & reveals the fact that, Supreme Lord is superior to him. Then there is long talk in great detail about how He controls.

ahaṁ mahendro nirṛtiḥ pracetāḥ
somo ‘gnir īśaḥ pavano viriñciḥ
āditya-viśve vasavo ‘tha sādhyā
marud-gaṇā rudra-gaṇāḥ sasiddhāḥ.
( SB 6.3.14)

All these parties are governed by the Lord. We may be Ishwara, but Lord is Supreme controller – Parameshwar.

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam (BS. 5.1)

Like that Brahma also has said that, Parameshwar is Krishna.

dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītaṁ
na vai vidur ṛṣayo nāpi devāḥ
na siddha-mukhyā asurā manuṣyāḥ
kuto nu vidyādhara-cāraṇādayaḥ (SB. 6 3.19)

Yamaraja explained, that dharma is given by the Lord. Dharma means laws of the Lord, which governs the world. This dharma is given by the Lord. Yamaraja says, all of you my dutas should understand, that dharma which you follow, that laws are not given by me. They are given by Param niyamak – Parameshwar.

We follow, we abide by the laws given by the Lord, in the form of codes of dharma. Yamaraja is a kind of giving his ID, or introduction. He says there are twelve persons called ‘Bhagvats’. They are the knowers of that dharma given by the Lord. Swayambhuva, Naradha, Shambhu, Kumaro Kapilo Manu Balir Vaiyasaki vayam.

He gives the list of ‘Dwadash – Bhagvats’ or Mahajans. He explains, I am included in those Mahajans & we know dharma & we practice that dharma. Yamaraja is kind of big judge or supreme Court judge, when it comes to judgement. He is not only strict punisher but he is knowledgeable. He has to make so many decisions, about each living entities’ destination. It’s a big responsibility. But he doesn’t take those decisions, whimsically. He follows, the code of conduct given by the Lord.

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa
jantur dehopapattaye
striyāḥ praviṣṭa udaraṁ
puṁso retaḥ-kaṇāśrayaḥ (SB 3.31.1)

He analyses whether someone has done ‘karma’, or ‘akarma’ means devotional service or vikarma – sinful activities, & taking all that into consideration, he gives the judgement. So, now Yamaraja is giving some special instructions or even warning to Yamadutas, his messengers. Please take note of this, Beware! Yamaraja was giving them job description, or reminding them of do’s & don’ts. You do this! & don’t do this ! Bring such person to me but don’t touch or even look at that person. Then Yamaraj tells

tān ānayadhvam asato vimukhān mukunda-
pādāravinda-makaranda-rasād ajasram
niṣkiñcanaiḥ paramahaṁsa-kulair asaṅgair
juṣṭād gṛhe niraya-vartmani baddha-tṛṣṇān
( S.B.6.3.28)

Bring those people to me who are vimukha, those who are against Lord. Whom you should bring,

mukund padaravind makarandam

Also those who have not developed attraction for the holy name. But others for whom the holy name has become ‘makarand’ or nectar. Those who are relishing the ‘makarand ‘of holy name, those who are offenselessly chanting so they are relishing the nectarine holy name, those who are attentive, don’t bring them. Those who have not developed attraction for holy name or Krishna or Krishna’s dham or devotees , they have not developed love for them, to all those ‘vimukhan, tan anayadhwam’. Bring those. Then he also says

jihvā na vakti bhagavad-guṇa-nāmadheyaṁ
cetaś ca na smarati tac-caraṇāravindam
kṛṣṇāya no namati yac-chira ekadāpi
tān ānayadhvam asato ‘kṛta-viṣṇu-kṛtyān
( S.B. 6.3.29)

Yamaraj says one whose tongue doesn’t utter the holy name, tan anayadhwam….. who else cetaś ca na smarati tac-caraṇāravindam

Those who doesn’t remember Lord’s lotus feet, tan anayadhwam…… Krishnay yo na namati Shir ekadapi…. Those who had never bowed down in front of Krishna – tan anayadhwam…… akrit Vishnukrtyan……. Those who are not performing devotional service unto the Lord, bring them. Then towards the end he says

tasmāt saṅkīrtanaṁ viṣṇor
jagan-maṅgalam aṁhasām
mahatām api kauravya
viddhy aikāntika-niṣkṛtam
(SB. 6.3.31)

Therefore it is advised, conclusion or instructions to us for our knowledge. Yamaraja says ‘tasmat’therefore, ‘sankirtanam vishnum’ – Vishnu’s sankirtan or Krishna’s sankirtan.

‘Jagan-mangalam’ – it is all auspicious for the world. ‘Ambhasam’ those who are sinful, their lives will become auspicious if they go for sankirtan of Vishnu or Krishnasya sankirtanam, Chaitanya’s sankirtanam so ambhasam, those sinful souls in this world there lives will also receive auspiciousness.

Shreyaha kairav chandruka vitaranam
Vidya vadhu jivanam. ( Shikshastakam verse 1)

Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also has said, that this sankirtan will spread the rays of moon in lives of those sinful folks.

śṛṇvatāṁ gṛṇatāṁ vīryāṇy
uddāmāni harer muhuḥ
yathā sujātayā bhaktyā
śuddhyen nātmā vratādibhiḥ (SB. 6.3.32)

Yamaraj continues by saying we should always hear, chant, glorify the powers of the Lord, pastimes of the Lord, powers of the Lord, beauty of the Lord, names of the Lord.

muhuhu – again & again & again.

So to summarise, you could study this talk by Yamaraja. Now you know where to find. Sixth canto, chapter 3. There is Yamadutas talk. Then Yamaraja has revealed the facts, including the glories of the holy name. This is a homework. By accepting holy name also, one will not have to go through the ‘Yam-yatana’ or

punarapi jananam punarapi maranam punarapi janani jathare shayanam iha sansare khalu dustare krpaya pahi pahi murare.

Pahi pahi murare.
(‘Bhaja Govindam’ prayers by Adi Shankaracharya)
Hey Murari please protect me.

Hare Krishna!