17 SEPTEMBER

TAKE SHELTER OF THE DEVOTEE OF THE LORD

I have been on tour of the Western countries and we had gone to America , Europe and Russia.

kirata-hunandhra-pulinda-pulkasa
abhira-sumbha yavanah khasadayah
ye 'nye ca papa yad-apasrayasrayah
sudhyanti tasmai prabhavisnave namah

I was reading this a few days ago during the flight. I came across an initiation class by Srila Prabhupada in 1968 somewhere in America. That time Jayapataka Dasa who was not a swami that time was getting initiated. During that initiation lecture Prabhupada quoted this verse. I was surprised as wealth could be the reason why Prabhupada was saying this while giving initiation in America. kirata-hunandhra-pulinda-pulkasa …. The reason could be that some must have taken initiation who were from one of these countries. Then Prabhupada quoted this verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam, that refers to Mahabharata. It explains this is a kirata, the country is mentioned, far beyond Bihar and some countries from India also, Western countries. You know India is also included in chota Nagpur from Central India, that is Kirata, and Andhra is in India. Then hunandhra, that is Russia that is being mentioned. Then there is Germany and China. These countries are also mentioned in the Bhishma-parva of Mahabharata.

Mahabharata is the history of Greater India. That time the whole world was Bharat and the names mentioned were the countries or provinces spread all over the world. The reason why Prabhupada had quoted that verse during that initiation ceremony was that in this verse after mentioning the different countries, the Yavanas or Muslims, mlecchas I mean these races are the lower classes, lower than the sudras, in comparison . These are Kirata and Hunan, Andhra and Pulinda and Pulkasa , Yavanas and Khasad also. They are sudras, but Bhagavatam says wherever you are from, no matter how low class you are, you should take shelter of the devotees of the Lord. One who has taken shelter of the
Lord that is a devotee and if you take shelter of the devotee, such a devotee who has always taken shelter of the Lord then suddyanti – you will be purified. By prabha visnave namaha. Visnu is addressed here as Prabha-Visnu which means powerful Visnu. The Lord is powerful. You should come in contact with devotees of the powerful Lord, then that devotee will bring you to the shelter of Lord’s lotus feet. Then the devotees will explain also that,

sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami ma sucah

Translation:
Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.( BG. 18.66) Lord has made that promise if one takes shelter of the devotees of the Lord. That's why Prabhupada was also travelling fourteen times around the world, to this Hunan and Andhra also, to all these countries around the world, and people there were taking shelter of Prabhupada. They got some alternative. They came in contact with Srila Prabhupada, and Prabhupada presented Bhagavat-gita As It Is to them.

Then he had explained this verse, as it is. We have a variety of religions or so called obligations, but surrender unto Krsna – mam ekam saranam vraja. And if you do that what does Krsna say, aham tvam sarva papebhyo moksayisyami ma sucah. Surrender is complete when we do sarva-dharman parityajya. Not that you have given up some false dharmas, only so called dharmas, but all dharmas. Just take note of the word sarva, Lord has said, sarva- dharman parityajya and if you do that, if you leave all varieties of religions, then

aham tvam sarva papebhyo.
sarva-dharman parityajya.
sarva-papebhyo moksayishyami ma sucah.

Then you will become free from reactions, of all the sins that you have committed. So this Bhagavatam verse does say this. Srila Prabhupada explained not just sinful people of this country and that verse of Kirata, Pulinda ye anye ca papaha….. and if there are any others which are not mentioned in this verse they also, everybody. There may be some more sinful people of some other country , which are not mentioned in this verse, they also will get purified.

vimuchayate nama tasmai, vishnave prabha namah

Srila Prabhupada was preaching on the strength of this verse, which strongly recommends to one and all to take shelter of devotees of the Lord. Devotees who are like acarya, siksa Gurus, diksa Gurus, Vartma pradarsaka gurus who take us to the siksa Gurus, which in turn introduces us to diksa Gurus. Diksa Gurus come in the parampara of the acaryas and connect us to that parampara. So it was proper that Srila Prabhupada was quoting this verse during the initiation ceremony of Jaypataka Prabhu. He was justifying initiation to someone, who was not born in a
Brahmin family, or ksatriya family. Prabhupada was also mentioning that according to the vedic vidhi, this initiation cannot take place. Yena sruti gochara ha. striyo vaisya tatha sudraha tryo na sruti gocharaha. They cannot be given initiation. We don't give this mantras to women, vaisya or sudras. But there is vaidik vidhi and there is Bhagavata vidhi. We follow the Bhagavata vidhi. Pancaratra. Pancaratiki
vidhi vina bhakti utpat eva ucchyate. So we follow Bhagavata vidhi. We follow Pancharatiki vidhi. But if we stick only to Vedic vidhi, then we cannot extend this initiation. And Prabhupada was also criticised by brahmins as he was giving initiation to Yavanas. He was giving them sannyasa. This all is nishiddha, according to the vedic vidhi. But we follow Bhagavata vidhi or pancaratra vidhi, which Srila Prabhupada preached all over the world. That preaching is continued.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu predicted that this holy name will reach every town and village. He predicted pritvite ace yay nagaradi gram sarvatra prachar hoibe more nama. So this was forecasted by Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Prabhupada worked for that. Till now preaching is going on. First they came in contact with Srila Prabhupada and then they came into contact with the holy name. So this is brahmande bhramite kon bhagyawan jiva guru krsna prasade pay bhaktilata bija. In this world, so many souls are becoming bhagyawan, fortunate as Prabhupada was bringing them in contact with devotees of Krsna.

These devotees are then , inspiring the souls, introducing them to holy name Bhagavat-gita and Bhagavatam. Introducing them to the Deities, Deity form of the Lord. Introducing them to Mayapur Vrndavan dhams, and introducing them to so many more devotees of Lord. Krsna's servants, Krishna's eternal associates.

Gauranga Mahaprabhu's associates. So this way everything is going on as explained in the Bhagavatam. 'Books are the basis', Bhagavatam is the basis, and this is the foundation. Bhagavatam teaches taking shelter of the devotees. These devotees will explain you how to take shelter of Krsna. And when they come in contact with the powerful Lord then – sudhyanti. The holy name is also powerful.

Namnam Kari bahudha nija sarva shaktis Lord has introduced all His energies into this holy name. Poorna sudha nithya mukta abhinavat Nama Namino. Take shelter of the holy name of the Lord as there is no difference between nama and nami. They are one.

So become Krishna conscious and make your life happy by taking shelter of the Harinama, and go back to Krsna.

Hare Krishna!

15 September 2019

Tirupati

This morning the number of participants are big but we have had better figures when we crossed the 600 mark. We would like it to keep rising. Let us remind others, especially family members to join the japa conference. The face book page “Let’s chant together” is also there for you to visit.

I am not sure if Bhakta Ganesh from Pandharpur is getting others to chant with him but he has taken a vow to chant 1200 rounds during this month. Each day he will increase his rounds to reach this target. He will also complete a reading of
Bhagavad Gita slokas and read Krsna Book daily, and also offer lamps daily to Damodar.

Devarsi Narada Dasa from Croatia has joined us. He is offering lamps to Damodara. We are happy to see Prabhuji all the way from Croatia, Europe chanting with us. Manasi Gaur Mataji from Greater Noida says that she is drowning in the ocean of nectar. When I read this message I was reminded of the third verse from the Damodarastakam:

itīdṛk sva-līlābhir ānanda-kuṇḍe
sva-ghoṣam nimajjantam ākhyāpayantam
tadīyeṣita-jñeṣu bhaktair jitatvam
punaḥ prematas tam śatāvṛtti vande

Those superexcellent pastimes of Lord Krsna's babyhood drowned the inhabitants of Gokula in pools of ecstasy. To the devotees who are attracted only to His majestic aspect of Narayana in Vaikuntha, the Lord herein reveals: “I am conquered and overwhelmed by pure loving devotion.” To the Supreme Lord, Damodara, my obeisances hundreds and hundreds of times.

During this pastime, the Lord drowns the Vraja vasis in the ocean of nectar, through His nectarian pastimes. Manasi is drowning in happiness also because she managed to get 60 old and new people to offer lamps to Damodara. It is my wish
that she keeps up with the good work.

Jaya Pancali Mataji from Pune regrets that she could not join the Parikrama or go to Vrndavan. This does not matter because she is in Pune, attending mangala arati, offering lamps to Damodara daily and reading Vraja-mandala Darsana, a chapter a day. She also reports that her parents arranged a programme in Jalgaon village where 300 attended that programme and offered lamps.

Paramatma Prabhu also noted about the lamp offering programme in Jalgaon but he has not given a report from Nagpur. We are yet to hear from him and will welcome that feedback.

Is there any news from Vrndavan or the Parikrama? We have managed to get the 30 days timetable. Today the devotees would have left Krishna-Balaram Mandir after mangala-arati, some 14 minutes ago. They normally leave the camp around 6 a.m. and they are heading to Bhataronda, then towards Akrura-ghata. They will stop for breakfast at the Birla Mandira after which they will walk through heavy traffic to Krsna-Janmasthana, the birthplace of Krsna where He appeared five thousand years ago.

I am missing Vrndavan and Vraja-mandala Parikrama. Because of the GBC meeting in Tirupati, I am separated from Vrndavan, but I am always thinking of Vrndavan and all the devotees who are on parikrama. You can also read about the parikrama today in Vraja-mandala darsana and be part of the parikrama.

The Padayatra from Noida to Vrindavan has just been completed. The devotees have been walking for two weeks from Noida to Vrndavan. The good news is that during this period, they distributed 4000 books. These figures will be very pleasing to Srila Prabhupada. Yesterday in Noida, there were 300 devotees who offered lamps at the temple.

Param Karuna Prabhu and Bhaktiniddhi from Nagpur have been inspired by Bhakta Ganesh and have pledged to chant 2100 japa during the month of Kartik. Maha Laksmi devi dasi got 75 people to offer lamps – I am not sure where she is from.
This is a great initiative.

So this is a wonderful season of Kartik especially for devotional practice and to make lots of profits. If it is a rainy season, selling umbrellas would be profitable. This month of Kartik is the best season for performing service especially hearing and chanting, reading books like Srimad-Bhagavatam, Vraja-mandala Darsana, and Krsna book. The month of Kartik is popular with Gaudiya Vaisnavas for accumulating profits. So we should take full advantage of this favourable time of Kartik. Of course distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books should be increased. You should buy a copy of Vraja-mandala Darsana if you do not have a copy. It is a season for reading and distribution of prasada. No spiritual function is complete without distribution of prasada. Share prasada with others. Invite your family and friends as Jaya Pancali Mataji’s parents have done with 300 devotees who got together his contacts and offered lamps. You could plan programmes at the various temples.

Invite the devotees to come in big numbers everyday. Let them be blessed by Damodara.

Sanathan Goswami’s Hari-bhakti Vilasa recognised this celebration and prescribes the offering of lamps during this period of Kartik. Here it is said that the offering of lamps will attract Lord Damodar. You become a recipient of the mercy of Karuna sindhu, Deena Bandhu Damodar during this month.

"In the month of Kartika one should worship Lord Damodara and daily recite the prayer known as Damodarashtaka, which has been spoken by the sage Satyavrata and which attracts Lord Damodara." (Sri Hari-bhakti-vilasa 2.16.198).
This is an amazing Damodarastakam. This astakam was spoken by Satyavrata Muni in a conversation with Narada Muni and Saunaka Rishi and can be found in the Padma Purana of Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa

namāmīśvaram sac-cid-ānanda-rūpam
lasat-kuṇḍalam gokule bhrājamanam
yaśodā-bhiyolūkhalād dhāvamānam
parāmṛṣṭam atyantato drutya gopyā

To the supreme controller, who possesses an eternal form of blissful knowledge, whose glistening earrings swing to and fro, who manifested Himself in Gokula, who stole the butter that the gopis kept hanging from the rafters of their storerooms and who then quickly jumped up and ran in retreat in fear of Mother Yasoda but was ultimately caught – to that Supreme Lord, Sri Damodara, I offer my humble obeisances. (Verse 1).

This is a very special verse of pure devotion and humility where the devotee begs for the mercy of Damodara. The verse is replete with devotion and we are encouraged to look at the deeper meaning of this verse.

So Satyavrata Muni is remembering this pastime of Damodara and the day when the Lord stole butter in Nanada Bhavan within a particular pastime (Makan Chor). He quickly mentions that the Lord is wearing earrings and He is moving quickly and the earrings are dangling and dazzling as He runs away from Yasoda. You will have to read in greater detail about this in the 10th Canto, Chapter 8 of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Sukadev Goswami describes this pastime and offers deeper insight into this pastime.

Satyavrata Muni says that Krsna is stealing and eating butter and also distributing to the monkeys. Mother Yasoda is following him with a stick in hand as he tries to escape. He jumps down from the mortar and runs away from His mother. When Yasoda managed to catch Him, Krsna started trembling and crying with fear. His two lotus hands were wiping away the tears and he was full of fear because he was caught and did know what kind of punishment was imminent. He is taking heavy breaths and His body and lips are trembling. At the same time Satyavrata Muni sees the three marks on Krsna’s neck that demonstrated the speciality of Krsna’s form.

There is a locket around His neck which was moving, dangling and shaking as Krsna’s body was trembling because of the immense fear. Yasoda was able to catch hold of Him and was able to bind Him to the mortar. This is only possible because of her love and devotion for her darling Damodara that she was able to deal with Him accordingly.

rudantam muhur netra-yugmam mṛjantam
karāmbhoja-yugmena sātańka-netram
muhuḥ śvāsa-kampa-trirekhāńka-kaṇṭha-
sthita-graivam dāmodaram bhakti-baddham

Upon seeing His mother's whipping stick, He cried and rubbed His eyes again and again with His two lotus hands. His eyes were fearful and His breathing quick, and as Mother Yasoda bound His belly with ropes, He shivered in fright and His pearl necklace shook. To this Supreme Lord, Sri Damodara, I offer my humble obeisances. Satyavrata Muni concludes this second verse of this pastime by offering the third verse:

itīdṛk sva-līlābhir ānanda-kuṇḍe
sva-ghoṣam nimajjantam ākhyāpayantam
tadīyeṣita-jñeṣu bhaktair jitatvam
punaḥ prematas tam śatāvṛtti vande

Those superexcellent pastimes of Lord Krishna's babyhood drowned the inhabitants of Gokula in pools of ecstasy. To the devotees who are attracted only to His majestic aspect of Narayana in Vaikuntha, the Lord herein reveals: “I am conquered and overwhelmed by pure loving devotion.” To the Supreme Lord, Damodara, my obeisances hundreds and hundreds of times.

By the performance of this lila the Lord is filling the kundas (lakes) with anand, and all the residents of Vrndavan and associates are drowning in the nectar of His pastimes.

Continue this meditation, you could read more, hear more and remember more.
We will continue tomorrow.
Hare Krishna!

14 SEPTEMBER 2019
( Part 1)

SOUL IS THE CHANTER

We are conducting this japa conference from Ekachakra Gram Dhama. This is in Russia. This is for the information of all those who are with us on the conference. We have devotees from all over the world right now chanting with us. The name of this conference is,’Let’s chant together'. We have devotees from Surat in India. Gaur Krishna, Gaur Kishore Das, Padmavati from Holland is chanting, Madhavi Gopi from Thane Mumbai, Bombay is chanting with us. Vaibhav from Pune.

Pune you know and like that Devahuti is chanting with us. Like that we have devotees from different places. Someone from New York is chanting, Dhira Govinda is from New York, New Jersey is chanting with us, Dr. Shyamsundar Sharma from Nagpur, India is chanting with us. Dhira Prasanta from Australia is chanting with us. And like that we have some thousand devotees chanting with us. We chanters are benefited by the power of the global association of chanters.

Radhe Gopal is from America. There are devotees from Mauritius with us and from Dubai. So this is a humble attempt in service of the holy name and service of the chanters.

We chant together and then we talk a little bit about the chanting. Jiva Jago. We also remind sleeping souls to please wake up. Lord Gauranga is calling as we say Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna. Gaura is calling us to get up, time to wake up. In a fully wakeful state only we could chant the holy name of the Lord attentively. So the let’s chant together japa conference on zoom is like a daily japa retreat. You know devotees around the world organise Japa Retreats. Like our Sacinandana Swami Maharaja and so many others who organise japa retreats.

They go to some location like Barsana or somewhere. They gather together for a week or so and they conduct japa retreats with the aim on how to chant better, how to improve our chanting or how to do attentive chanting. We do that on a daily basis here on the japa conference. We chant together on our conference and then we talk, give some hints, some tips, some reminders, do this during chanting, do that during chanting. Don't do this during chanting or even something that you should be doing to prepare yourself for chanting. So everyday we talk.

Today our chanting session is kind of sandwiched between the appearance day of Bhakti Vinoda Thakurwhich is just ending and the disappearance day of Namacarya Srila Haridas Thakur which is just beginning. We are in the middle. So naturally the day reminds of Srila Bhakti Vinoda Thakur. All glories to him. Or Namacarya Srila Haridas Thakur. There are devotees who before they begin chanting they offer their prayers to Namacarya Srila Haridas Thakur to give all them inspiration that is needed to chant. Gauranga himself declared Haridas Thakur as Namacarya Haridas Thakur. Lord made him Acarya of Nama, Acarya of the holy name. Acarya is that person who teaches by his own example. If anyone amongst Caitanya Mahaprabhu's associates or representing his parampara who inspires the whole world like anything. Then we have to accept that person is Namacarya Srila Haridas Thakur. He chanted three hundred thousand names daily.

People were trying to stop him from chanting, ‘Stop chanting otherwise we will beat you or we kill you.’ Regardless of all the opposition and threatening beating, he went on chanting. He said, ”You may beat me or cut me into khanda khanda. He used the word khanda khanda. You may cut my body into pieces still I'll not stop chanting." I was thinking when I remembered this statement of Haridas Thakur. He is also trying to say that it is not that his body is chanting. It is his soul that is chanting.

The soul cannot be cut into pieces. The soul cannot be burnt with fire. So Namacarya Srila Haridas Thakur's soul is chanting and in no way can that soul be beaten or dried off or killed or burnt. No force, no element, no party in this world could stop his chanting. The chanter of the holy name is the soul. We should realize who the chanter of the holy name is? Who is chanting? Who is speaking? Today's speaker is! What is that company, that company speaker is today morning's speaker. Is it or is that the speaker or one who is speaking in the mike is the speaker. One who is
actually speaking in the mike is the actual speaker not that one in the speaker box.

Similarly our mouth is the speaker. A mouth cannot speak, it's like that compared with that speaker box. One who is speaking in the microphone is the soul. The soul is speaking, chanting and like that the body cannot function without the presence of the soul . Who is hearing? Is the ear hearing?

The soul is hearing, hearing and chanting is done by the soul and remembrance of course. The body cannot remember.It is dead matter . This matter at some point through some ways enters into the body. We eat and the body is built. So Namacarya Srila Haridas Thakur as he was chanting and no matter what opposition there was, what attempts were made to stop his chanting, he did not respond to that. He kept on chanting.

During old age he did not chant his prescribed rounds and Mahaprabhu always sent mahaprasada to Haridas Thakur's Siddha Bakul. Siddha Bakul. Bakul is a tree. The Lord was trying to take care of Haridas Thakur. He was not taking care of himself. Mahaprabhu took Jagannatha Swami's Toothbrush, Jagannatha Swami when he gets up he brushes his teeth. It's a branch of the Bakul tree with which he rubs. So one day Mahaprabhu came with that Bakul branch. And he planted that where Haridas Thakur used to stay and that grew into a nice shady tree. Otherwise Haridas Thakur went on with his chanting all day long under the scorching heat of the sun.

He was old and Gauranga was caring for him. And now under the shade of the tree Haridas Thakur was chanting. Mahaprabhu sent Jagannatha mahaprasada for him. Haridas Thakur said refused as he had not finished his prescribed number of rounds. How could he eat? Every time Caitanya Mahaprabhu would visit him. As you chant you are welcoming the Lord.

The Lord appears to give his darsana. This is the part of the Lila. The Lord is walking towards Haridas Thakur. If You take one step towards the Lord , as we chant Hare Krishna we are trying to get closer to the Lord. Lord is more eager to see us when we are eager to see Him. As we take the initiative, the Lord is taking a thousand steps towards us. Chanting will be perfected when we chant without offences. Then our chanting will be prayerful sudha nama, pure name will appear and the Lord as He is will be revealed unto us. This is yoga, Bhakti yoga or japa yoga. We are also yogis.

Since we chant we could be called japa yogis. Yoga means to link or to unite so with the help of chanting we are trying to connect with the Lord, unite with the Lord. We see in the life of Namacarya Haridas Thakur. This is what happened as he was chanting and chanting and chanting and chanting and not just quantity wise chanting which is kirtaniya sada hari. We should chant all the time but it's more about quantity. Namacarya Haridas Thakur was known for both his quantity and quality chanting.

13 SEPTEMBER 2019

( Part 3)

KRSNA’S NAME IS NON-DIFFERENT FROM HIS FORM

Go closer to the Lord. Be with the Lord. He is coming. When you follow yam niyam,asan pranayam pratyahar dhyan dharna, samadhi you are going higher and higher and getting closer and closer. Wherever we go, we have to do to the right
things at all these different levels. At every step we have to watch out whether we are doing it correctly. We are endeavouring all the time to do it right. Day after day when we are endeavouring, then Krsna will give us intelligence.

tesam satata-yuktanam
bhajatam priti-purvakam
dadami buddhi-yogam tam
yena mam upayanti te

Translation: 
To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me. (BG10.10) So that upayanti will come closer. That divine intelligence in right, intelligent direction and with the power of discrimination to reveal Krsna.

caksu-dan dilo jei, janme janme prabhu sei,
divya jnan hrde prokasito
prema-bhakti jaha hoite, avidya vinasa jate,
vede gay jahara carito

He opens my darkened eyes and fills my heart with transcendental knowledge. He is my Lord birth after birth. From him ecstatic prema emanates; by him ignorance is destroyed. The Vedic scriptures sing of his character.(Verse 3,Guru Vandana) Our spiritual master will reveal it into our heart. We are really wanting to know how to do this right, whether it is right or wrong, then you will be provided with the answer. God has His ways to get back to you or reciprocate with you, respond to you, through some devotees, through some scripture, or when you read something.
It clicks suddenly. Suddenly some light comes, Oh! now I know.

Question: Should we chant Panhatattva pranam mantra before we start chanting?
Answer: The mantra to Pancatattva should be chanted. Srila Prabhupada would say that the Pancatattva mantra is also a maha-mantra. Hare Krishna maha- mantra and Pancatattva Maha-mantra. So Pancatattva maha-mantra is chanted before we start chanting Hare Krishna. We pray for Their Mercy, to chant without offences, to chant with attention, or to forgive us for any offences we have committed. Caitanya Mahaprabhu is kinder and He is not alone. He has come with the whole team. Without Their mercy, we would not be successful. We beg for Their Mercy.

patita-pavana-hetu tava avatara

mo sama patita prabhu na paibe are (From Prarthana, by Srila Narottama Dasa
Thakura – Verse 2)

You are patit pavan and I am patit. Patit pavan – purification, you purify me. I am patit and you do pavan, purify me. mo sama patita prabhu na paibe are.

Pancatattva also includes Gaur Bhakta Vrinda. Srivasa Adi Gaur Bhakta Vrnda is headed by Srivas. All the others are also part of the Pancatattva. We could also approach those devotees – the spiritual master or some other senior devotees. Approaching them and beg for their Mercy. We say:

vancha-kalpatarubhyash cha
kripa-sindhubhya eva cha
patitanam pavanebhyo
vaishnavebhyo namo namah ( Vaisnava pranam mantra)

Same thing is here. Vancha kalpataru.… Patit – fallen, pavanebhyo – purify. You are competent to lift me up, purify me O! Vaisnava Any other questions? Or I was thinking , tomorrow also we will do Japa. We could do some questions-answers session. We will not do Japa-talk, but have a dialogue. So come with your question. We will take one quick question from the back.

Question: While chanting should we concentrate on the name or the form of the
Lord?

Answer: Sound is Krsna and form is Krsna . So what we chant is the name. From name comes the form then comes the qualities of Krsna then the pastimes of Krsna. In order to perform pastimes, Krsna requires devotees, His associates.
Also to have pastimes of Krsna He doesn't play pastimes in the air. He does that on land , His abode or dhama , which is all part of Krsna, non different from Krsna. So name and form are non different. Should I just focus on form? The name or on the form? The very question is ignorant. Because of ignorance it arises. The understanding is that, 'name is form'.

nama cintamanih krsnas
caitanya-rasa-vigrahah
purnah suddho nitya-mukto
bhinnatvan nama-naminoh

TRANSLATION:

The holy name of Krsna is transcendentally blissful. It bestows all spiritual benedictions, for it is Krsna Himself, the reservoir of all pleasure. Krsna’s name is complete, and it is the form of all transcendental mellows. It is not a material name under any condition, and it is no less powerful than Krsna Himself. Since Krsna’s name is not contaminated by the material qualities, there is no question of its being involved with maya. Krsna name is always liberated and spiritual; it is never conditioned by the laws of material nature. This is because the name of Krsna and Krsna Himself are identical.(CC Madhya-lila 17.133) Name and form are abhinna. Bhinna means different. Abhinna means non-different.

Nama namino, there is no difference between nama and nami. Nama is name, and nami is Krsna the Lord. His name is Krsna. And he is Krsna. Name and He are non different. When you are hearing, you should be meditating on the form of the Lord. Nama is Nama Prabhu.The name is a person that is why we say Nama Prabhu, Krsna Prabhu. We should feel , I am a soul and He is my Prabhu, my Lord. Name and He are non different. We should be meditating on name form, qualities, pastimes, abode and devotees. Radharani is a devotee. Gopis are devotees. Lalita Vishakha are devotees.

When we are chanting 'Hare Krishna', we are praying to the holy name. By your own sweet opulences which are of various kinds, mam cittam, my consciousness be attracted , by your opulences. Lord's opulences are, described in whole tenth chapter of Bhagavad-gita. There various opulences are described.

The six opulences are that He has full strength, full fame, wealth, knowledge, beauty and renunciation. These are all His opulences. The chanter is saying, which we talked while mentioning commentary of Gopal Guru Goswami. He has written a commentary on the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and this is his commentary. The commentary is a prayer which is explaining each name. Hare , he is explaining , ' O Lord! Let my mind be attracted to you. madhurya, I want to be attracted by your madhurya. Lord Sri Krsna has rupa-madhurya. His form is Madhur.

adharam madhuram vadanam madhuram
nayanam madhuram hasitam madhuram
hrdayam madhuram gamanam madhuram
madhuradhi-pater akhilam madhuram

TRANSLATION
1) His lips are sweet, His face is sweet His eyes are sweet, His smile is sweet His heart is
sweet, His gait is sweet—Everything is sweet about the Emperor of sweetness! (Sri
Madhurastakam Verse 1)

Everything about You is sweet. You are ‘madhuradhipati’, the Reservoir of all sweetness. His form , rupam madhuram, rupa-madhurya , venu- madhurya, leela- madhurya, prema-madhurya. Krsna is known for this four madhuryas. Very
distinguished features of the Lord. I want to be attracted by all these opulences.

Seva yogyam kuru. Please engage me in your devotional service. Srila Prabhupad simplified this commentary. He explained, while chanting devotee is thinking , 'lord! or o Radharani ! I am yours. Please engage me in your devotional service.' Seva yogyam kuru. Make me fit to serve You.

ei nivedana dhara, sakhira anugata koro
seva-adhikara diye koro nija dasi
Tulasi Krishna preyasi name namah

I beg you to make me a follower of the cowherd damsels of Vraja. Please give me the privilege of devotional service and make me your own maidservant. (Tulasi Kirtana, Verse 4)
 
Tulasi is very dear to Krsna. He likes her. Make me eligible. This is also a part of the prayer, while chanting the holy names. All these thoughts , they emanate from Hare Krishna Hare Krishna…… When we say Hare Krishna we have said
everything. Everything that could be said or spoken, is uttered when we say Hare Krishna because this Hare Krishna which is Radha-Krsna contains everything. It contains all the knowledge that exists.

John 1:1 is the first verse in the opening chapter of the Gospel of John of the Bible which reads: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

In the beginning there was the word – shabda and that was with the Lord. That word could be Hare Krishna. That word is God and the Bible says the word is God. So Hare Krishna is God. It is not just the empty word. Prabhupada explains, ‘ In this world the name and the object are two different things. If you are thirsty and you go on saying Water! Water! Water! That won't quench your thirst. Or if you want to eat some sweet mango and you go on saying, Mango! Mango! You are not going to experience the sweetness of the mango as the word mango and the actual mango are different. But here the name is the object – Hare Krishna Hare Krishna is Krsna.

12TH SEPTEMBER

(Part – 2)

Bhakti Vinod Thakura explains that inattentive chanting is the cause of all the offences we commit. After reciting the ten offenses before we start chanting what do we say at the end? We say that the goal of life is to chant Hare Krishna every devotee who wishes to obtain the goal of life which is to attain Krsna should be chanting attentively. So that is the defect. We may be sleeping everyday during chanting. Sleeping or sleepy are two separate things. Sleeping is fully sleeping. You are in bed and sleeping. Sleepy means you are half asleep, getting up in between and trying to chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare sssssss….. That's sleepy which is half asleep. You are inattentive.

It is an offence. When we say Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, that means we are calling Krsna. You called Him so he has come, but you are not there to receive Him. You called , but if you are sleepy, you are not there to receive the Lord. Thank you for responding to my appeal, my call. I called and You have come. I pay my obeisances to You. Please have a seat. Let's talk. Let's be here, I am going to take Your darsana. So instead of reciprocating or dealing with the Lord, like that, what happens when you are sleepy, you have called and He has come paying attention to you. He is at the door, ringing the doorbell. I am here! I am here! In the meantime you are off, you are out of station or you are sleeping or your mind has gone somewhere else even though you called Him. I am just saying that this is something that we do over again and again and again. So we have to do it right.

You are not sure whether you are doing it appropriately, the way it is expected and desired, and if you are not sure you should enquire whether this is correct or wrong. There are so many aspects of chanting. Being in samadhi or fully absorbed. The level that we wish to attend. That's the final step of the ladder. We have to make sure that of all the previous levels we are doing things correctly. I said yesterday that we could apply this ashtanga yoga of Patanjali, which Sri Krsna has explained in the sixth chapter of Bhagavad-gita. We should aim at that meditation because ours is mantra meditation. Ashtanga yogis maybe meditate on paramatma.

Our meditation is on Radha Krsna. Like this meditation, – yam niyam. Do this! Don't do this! It means following the four regulative principles. Don't do this! No meat eating; no fish eating; no this; no that! This is yam. If you do that Yamraj will come. So that's yam and niyam – they are all positive rules that you are expected to do. There is vidhi and nishedh. Some prohibitions are there like, ‘Don't drink and drive' 'Drive on the right side' in India. So vidhi and nishedh. In English we say do's and don'ts.

Or paap and punya.

Yam niyam then there is asan. We were talking briefly yesterday, 'sit properly'. We are sitting in sukhasana or padmasana or vajrasana. These are the correct asanas for chanting. Yam niyam aasan, pranayam, which is controlling your breath. You take a deep breath and chant….

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

… once, twice, thrice. Take a deep breath and chant one mantra, two mantras, sometimes some devotees manage five mantras in one breath. Create a rhythm. So breath control results in mind control. Breath control has a connection with mind control. They are closely related. This is in the mode of goodness. Take a deep breath and chant. There is passionate breath. You have a passion for different kinds of breaths. Your breathing is fast and the mind is also moving fast. Or there is ignorant breath. It may be deep. Our whole nervous system may be weak. Then the blood in the lung is reaching your brain. Then you feel fresh and alert. If the blood supply is not reaching the brain, maybe when we eat too much, the blood supply is going to the digestive system. All the blood is directed to wherever there is activity.

So the blood supply to the brain is low then you are sleepy. Specially after a meal you feel sleepy right? After a full meal, isn't it? Because the blood is directed towards the action point which is the stomach. The body is a machine. We have to know how it functions. Part of that machine is the mind. It's a part of the machine.

Our body is made up of the mind also. The body is made up of intelligence also. We have to understand our mind and intelligence and its functions. How do they function favourably for chanting. Anyway so this is breathing or pranayam. We should pay some attention to this. Yam niyam aasan pranayam and pratyahar.

We know there is atyaharah.
atyaharah prayasas ca
prajalpo niyamagrahah
jana-sangas ca laulyam ca
sadbhir bhaktir vinasyati

One’s devotional service is spoiled when he becomes too entangled in the following six activities: (1) eating more than necessary or collecting more funds than required; (2) overendeavoring for mundane things that are very difficult to obtain; (3) talking unnecessarily about mundane subject matters; (4) Practicing the scriptural rules and regulations only for the sake of following them and not for the sake of spiritual advancement, or rejecting the rules and regulations of the scriptures and working independently or whimsically; (5) associating with worldly-minded persons who are not interested in Krsna consciousness; and (6) being greedy for mundane achievements. ( NOI verse 2)

So like this there is sadbhir bhaktir vinasyati – 6 things could destroy your devotional life. That statement in the Nectar of Instruction begins with atyaharah. atyaharah means ati aharah too much of eating. 'Ati' means too much, too much of eating. Too much consumption. In the ashtanga yoga process the fifth step is pratyaharah which means countering. We have done atyaharah so now we have to do pratyaharah Aharah means eating. Aharah means not only that the tongue eats, but our eyes and our ears also eat. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur explains in his book Bhaktyaloka. All our senses have their own kind of food. Objects of senses are the food of the senses. shabda, sparsha, rupa, rasa, gandha, the shabda- sound, sparsha – touch, rupa- the form, gandha – the smell. So those are our senses.

We are bhakti yogis. We are japa yogis. Japa is a yoga. Japa yogis have to work on pratyaharah. And that it may not necessarily be during chanting time only. There is a preparation for chanting. I have been saying this always, for tomorrow's chanting we have to prepare today.

Whenever we are not chanting, we have to prepare for the next time for tomorrow,. Pratyaharah means minimising the consumption of the sense objects in quantity and quality. So this is pratyaharah. What to see what not to see, what to hear , what not to hear, how much to hear, what to speak and what not to speak. Krsna's devotees hear about Krsna.Like that all the senses could be employed in the service of the Lord. They are controlled when employed. So this is mind control, sense control. This has to be done. It's a part of pratyaharah. This of course is done with the help of the intelligence. Chanting is the activity of intelligent persons.

krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam
sangopangastra-parsadam
yajñaih sankirtana-prayair
yajanti hi su-medhasah

Translation:
In the Age of  Kali , intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the name of Krsna. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Krsna Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions. (CC Adi lila 3.52)

If the chanter wishes to be a successful chanter of the holy name, he has to be intelligent. He has to discriminate right from wrong. This is right and this is wrong. This is the pratyaharah path. When the mind and senses are involved, intelligence has to keep an eye on the mind and senses. And intelligence has to give direction to the mind. Do this! Don't do this! Shut up! Intelligence should guide like that.

As soon as we see a photo of Radha and Krsna, the intelligence tries to see the form which says, 'The Lord is standing before you. Here is the Lord of my heart.’ Intelligence has to do this. I have lot of discriminations, do – don't, quantity – quality is evaluated, ascertained. So these are all preparations. Yam, niyam, asan, pranayam, pratyahar dhyan, dharma, and samadhi. We are getting closer to samadhi, total absorption and meditation.

After the 5th stage we are getting closer, till then it was all preparations. Final act of concentration, meditation is to retain, be more focused. By now the mind is free from contamination and is more under control, controlled by the divine intelligence. So it tries to retain Krsna, Krsna's form, Krsna's qualities and is focused on Them.

JAPA-TALK 11TH SEPTEMBER 2019

Part – 1

YOUR FUTURE IS IN YOUR HANDS

We have chanted for some time now. Keep chanting. Don't chant now. I meant keep chanting everyday that's the right thing to do. That’s authorised and the strongly recommended activity or karma for this age of Kali. Karma means our prescribed duty. Everyone’s prescribed duty is to chant the holy names of the Lord.

Our teachers insist on this activity. They say when you take the beads in your hands your future is in your hands. You prepare your future. You could have such a bright future. The activity of chanting the holy names of the Lord takes us back home. Where we live now is not our home, Pittsburg, Moscow or Sochi. These are not our homes. Where we came from we can go back. Back to Godhead, So chanting has that power and our future also depends on how we chant. If you are chanting, that is good. The most important thing is how you are chanting. Behind trucks nowadays there is written, 'How am I driving? Report bad driving to so and so number.’ Driving in the same lane is sane. If you are not keeping to the same lane then that is insane. The truck driver wants to know how he drives, whether he drives at a high speed or his driving is not right. He asks others to inform. As far as chanters go, we can ask the question – how is my chanting. You may not ask whether the chanting is right or wrong, but you can definitely ask how you are chanting. We can ask our seniors, those who are good chanters or we can refer to the scriptures or japa reform guide books by ISKCON devotees such as Sacinandana Maharaja, Bhurijana Prabhu, Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami Maharaja.

Such ISKCON leaders and gurus have come up with japa reform guide books. We can refer to them. Besides this in devotees’ Istagosti, in the gathering of devotees, this question could be raised.

dadati pratigrhnati
guhyam akhyati prcchati
bhunkte bhojayate caiva
sad-vidham priti-laksanam

Offering gifts in charity, accepting charitable gifts, revealing one’s mind in confidence, inquiring confidentially, accepting prasada and offering prasada are the six symptoms of love shared by one devotee and another. ( NOI verse 4)
Rupa Goswami says. When devotees get together two of the six sadvidham. six ways of feeling or ways of getting along with each other should be discussed. They confidentially reveal their mind or get inspired from others – How are you Prabhu?

Am I troubling you? May I help you? Please help me or share some deep realization. There are difficulties all the time. Every time we approach someone for

sure we have a difficulty and we trouble them by telling our difficulties. That is not good. We should also be sharing good news or fruits of realization or such things that could inspire others who would like to hear, make others happy. If you share misery all the time your misery makes others miserable all the time.

The point we are making here is akhyati pṛcchati japa some questions. When we meet other devotees or a group of devotees we need to ask how is my chanting?

How to improve my chanting? Is it this way or that? Is it clear? Something that we do again and again and again we should be doing properly. Yoga, asanas, pranayam, astanga yoga, some yoga or something that we do everyday, day in
and day out Chanting we do everyday and we chant 16 rounds, 16 times of the same thing. Even when we chant one round, we chant the same mantra 108 times, Hare Krishna we repeat this 1000s of time everyday, if we are doing it correctly then we repeat it 1000s of times. I heard a person chanting behind me very fast. It was not clear. If we chant correctly we did it right . We benefit by 1000 times. If we chant incorrectly, the set back is also 1000 times.

10TH SEPTEMBER

CONCENTRATE ONLY ON SOUND OF MAHAMANTRA!

PART 2

Summary of previous class. –

If we chant while walking then our mind also moves along with the body because of that our mind can’t concentrate on chanting. Guru maharaj was saying running around or walking is tamogun the mode of ignorance, standing is mode of passion and sitting down and chanting is mode of goodness. Guru maharaj also said we all can make our home into Goloka or Vaikuntha. If there are deities in the home, we can chant our rounds properly, if there is Tulasi and there photographs of the Lord, then your home gets converted into the dham, and everyday you are chanting in the dham.

———————****—————–

Time factor is also important, morning time is the best time. There is a predominance of goodness in the morning, daytime is passion, and night time is ignorance. Countryside is in mode of goodness, living in the cities is in passion, and residing in in dirty places, dark, not well lit, bad smell is all in the mode of ignorance. So we should select properly. If we chant in the holy dham, we could chant in the holy dham then that is above the mode of ignorance and passion. More than that you could create dham like situation wherever you are. You can make your home into a dham, Vaikuntha or Goloka. One may have deities at home, photographs on the wall of devotees and deities, of past times of the Lord, there is a cow in the courtyard, there is tulasi plant in the courtyard or room, big pile of Prabhupada books are there, then that makes home into a holy place or Vaikuntha. If there are some devotees also chanting at home, then we could create dham like situation at home and chant. Then you could say that you are chanting in the dham. By chanting in the dham you have better access to the Lord. Chanting in the dham means, Lord resides there, so you are not very far from the Lord. You have a very easy access to the Lord. Lord is just in close proximity with you. Or chanting of

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

This chanting is called or when we are chanting, we are dialling Krishna’s number. There are 16 digits. This is a telephone number of the Lord. So, we are calling Hare Krishna, if you are calling in the dham then that becomes like a local call. Local call versus long distance international call. Long distance call sometimes we cannot hear properly, hello …. hello… hello, are you hearing? Can you hear me? Now the phones are improving thirty years ago, there used to be a struggle to hear what the other person is saying. Calling or telephoning in the dhama is a local call. Calling from same town not long distance so you can hear properly. Also, local calls are cheap sometimes free, long distance calls are very expensive. So we could & we should be in the dhama or create a situation like dhama wherever we are chanting everyday could be made like a dhama. So, these various things that we are talking is for we have to improve our chanting. Chant with meaning. We have to do more attentive chanting, attentive, or we should hear what we are chanting. Whether mind is in that situation or mind is free, more free, and not preoccupied or engaged, already mind is engaged, in so many thoughts and new thoughts are also coming. So we are wherever we are, we are running, talking doing so many things, and if you are sleeping then you are chanting is off. Then we have to be observant. We have to hear, hear the holy name. And not do mental japa. There is something called as mansik japa. Chant in the mind. Gaytri Mantra that we chant, the brahmins chant, should be chanted in the mind. That is allowed, gaytri mantra has to be chanted in the mind. Within the mind you chant and hear, imbibe the, meaning & spirit within. But chanting of Hare Krishna, there is a sravanam Kirtanam and smaran. We have to hear, sravanam. If there is no chanting then how could we hear? In order to hear- sravanam we have to do kirtanam. Srila Prabhupada used to say that tongue must vibrate. We have to use our lips. I don’t know how you chant. Sometimes there is no chanting and because you are not chanting there is no hearing. Or instead you are not hearing Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, you hear some other sounds as atmosphere is filled with the sounds. There are so many sounds all around. So, if we do not make any sound, Hare Krishna sound vibration and if we don’t hear that, they are just quietly chanting then our ears are going to be hearing some other sounds which are there coming in your direction. During chanting we don’t want to hear anything else, but hear the Hare Krishna sound. So, we have to create the sound, vibrate the tongue. Say

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

We hear while we are chanting. there are so many other sounds, which are forced upon you, imposed upon you and you fall prey to that, you are forced to hear those sounds. But our decision and determination should be, that I want to hear the Hare Krishna sound now and nothing else. If we don’t chant & hear Hare Krishna sound, then not only we will end up in hearing other sounds but we also will end up hearing so many sounds of our mind. Mind is making so many sounds within & is always busy. Weather sounds or, sounds from within the mind bla bla bla…. Our mind is thinking all the time, what happened last night and what happened yesterday, he did this to me and he did that to me, I have got hurt. All these thoughts sounds are bombarded. Thoughts, thought is a sound. So, during chanting we don’t want to hear any other additional non-Krishna sounds. We don’t want to hear our minds sounds, minds thoughts which may be are not Krishna conscious thoughts. They may be ignorant thoughts or passionate thoughts and goodness thoughts but not transcendental thoughts. But we want to create new transcendental thoughts in the mind. Not hearing the outside thoughts and not hearing mind thoughts, but here new thoughts in the mind by chanting of Hare Krishna Hare Krishna. We want this chanting of Hare Krishna Hare Krishna arousing, reviving our dormant love for Krishna. Sravanam kirtanam Vishnuhu smaranam. Hearing and chanting leads to remembering. Say Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, hear Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, and remember Krishna in the mind.

Prabhupada also said during one recorded Japa talk, that “sit properly!” So, he didn’t elaborate or explained what sitting properly is, but he just said sit properly. So, we know from the sastras and 6th chapter of Bhagavad Gita, the meaning of “sit properly”. What’s the meaning of sitting properly is explained in the sixth chapter of Bhagavad Gita. So, sitting properly also explains about an asana. That is very important in the process of meditation. Yam ,niyam, aasan ,pranayam ,pratyahara, dhyan, dharana, samadhi. Samadhi is the eighth and ultimate goal of meditation, but it has 7 previous parts of meditation. So, for the Bhakti Yogis also, this process is applicable and useful. Asana is part of the asta-anga, there are eight parts. One of them is asana. For japa or mantra meditation sleeping is not the asana, as that is savasana. Sava means dead. Lying like a dead body so one asana is called savasana. No lying down, that is not the asana. Tadasana is also not the asana for chanting like the Hiranyakashipu who was standing with the arms stretched. But sitting is a right asana or right posture. Sitting like this is called sukhasan. You are relaxing so, it is called sukhasan. Then there is also padmasana, lotus like, take your one feet up from fold of other leg, your soles should be upwards. It’s difficult aasan. There is also vajrasan, like this Prabhu is sitting. Hanuman sits like this. So, there are few asanas, like that. Radhanath maharaj sometimes sits & chants in these asanas. Sukhasan or padmasana or vajrasana. That’s the sitting properly for chanting.

You all are here for Russian festival, Sadhu-Sang festival, near the banks of black sea. Kala Samudra. Kala is black. Lot of rushis have arrived here in Russia. Russia or Rushayaha the name comes from the plural of rushi. Muni – munayaha, rushi – rushyaha. One time this was the land of rishis. There were so many rushis, and that’s how the land was called Rusayaha, which became Russia. Moscow, comes from Moksha. Capital where one gets moksha or liberation. Where Rushi – rushyaha were attaining moksha. So how many devotees are here, who are attending? 7000 rishis are here, 7000 devotees have gathered here, for the festival called Sadhu-Sang. Sadhu- sang is the name of the festival. We are addressing some of our followers from various parts. There are devotees from Ukraine and Russia also.

Hare Krsna

JAPA-TALK/ 9TH SEPTEMBER

(Part 1)

RIGHT CIRCUMSTANCES WHILE CHANTING.

We are going to say a few words about chanting. You can come forward as we don't have a microphone system.

We are happy to chant with you this morning. I don’t know whether you are happy to chant with us. You are. Okay, so chant Hare Krishna and be happy. Keep chanting. The more we chant, the more we become happy and the better we chant. This japa conference is aimed at bettering your chanting. Let us chant together and let us chant better. Now let us improve our chanting. We take more lessons in chanting. We want to get some tips and hints to improve our chanting.

Chanting in the association of other devotees in itself is an improvement point and this is an additional point to improve our chanting. You know when we are chanting on this conference, you are not the only one. There are others who are also chanting and then you are kind of convinced that this must be the right thing to do. I am not the only fool chanting this Hare Krishna Hare Krishna. In that way our mind gets convinced that to chant Hare Krishna must be the right thing to do. I was going to make some correlations.

Anyway let’s make some observations. It is not that you cannot chant when you are standing or walking. You could and sometimes you have to chant while walking or standing, but the ideal situation or the right thing to do is to sit and chant. When our bodies move, our minds also move.

We will not elaborate on this, but try to understand and accept the point that when the body moves, the mind also moves. When a body moves it comes across more objects. We encounter more forms, more sounds, more different kinds of smells, more different things to touch. When the body moves it is equipped with the senses and they are the openings to our body, our existence to perceive, to know, to understand and to evaluate the things around. When we move or change the situation or circumstances around us then immediately the senses come in contact with different objects of the senses and all the senses feed the mind – manaha sasthani indriyani. All the senses are wired or connected to the mind. They kind of report to the mind and in agitation the mind will be thinking and from thinking comes feeling, and from feeling comes willing to do this or to do that, to eat or to smell or touch.

If you are sleepy, you have to stand up to drive away the sleep. While chanting if you are feeling sleepy then stand up and pace back and forth, walk a little bit. Sleeping is ignorance. Passion comes when you are growing above the ignorance. Standing, running or going around is passion while sleeping is ignorance. Understand these different positions. Sleeping is ignorance, sitting is goodness, goodness is sitting, standing up or moving around is passion. Go to the higher channel from a sleepy, ignorant state, stand up and arrive at a little passion. We have to transcended ignorance. Then you could sit again which is in goodness and chant. That’s how work it out. We should not sleep. The moment that you are feeling sleepy, you could tell your neighbour ‘Please wake me up if I am sleeping’. Try to wash your face especially the part here around the temples. Cool it down. Put some ice there. When we are sitting and chanting then that situation is kind of steady. Things around you are not changing. Objects are fixed and steady. You don’t have to think conditionally.

It is also best that you chant in the same place every day. Then you don’t have to think more about the place. It is not a new place. You know all about it so there is no additional thought. We could chant at the same time everyday. We will have the advantage of the morning time as morning time is the best time. In the morning goodness is predominant. Day time is passion, night time is ignorance. Country side is goodness. The natural setting is goodness while living in cities is passion and residing in dirty, smelly places, dark, not well lit etc is ignorance.

So if you are chanting the holy name select a situation where ignorance, passion goes away and goodness stays. Or you could create a dhama-like situation wherever you are in your home. You can make into Vaikuntha or Golok. There are Deities at home. Have the photographs on the wall of the Deities and the devotees, the pastimes of the Lord. A cow in the courtyard or Tulasi next to you in a room, big piles of Prabhupad books. That makes your home into Vaikuntha or a holy place. There are some devotees also chanting to create Vaikuntha or Dhama-like situation. You could sit chanting in this dhama and you will have greater access to the Lord.

6 SEPTEMBER 2019

APPEARANCE DAY OF RADHARANI !

When we chant, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna / Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama / Rama Rama Hare Hare /, we are praying to Radha and Krsna. Hare Krsna prayers say, ‘Oh Radhe! Oh Krsna!’, In that way we are directing our prayers to Radha and Krsna .We are addressing and begging for mercy and engagement. They would engage us in Their service.

nija-seva-yogyam kuru.

‘Please make me eligible to serve you Oh Radhe! Oh Krsna!’

Today is the appearance day of Radharani. Whenever Their names are chanted They appear, but today is the day of the birthday of Radharani. Today is Radhastami. Whenever we chant the name of Radha or whenever we say Hare Krishna it is also expected that Radha and Krsna would make Their appearance. They would appear Lord Hari says to Narada, “naham vasami vaikunthe yoginam hridaye na cha, mad-bhakta yatra gayanti tatra tishthami narada” “I dwell not in Vaikuntha nor in the hearts of the Yogis, but I dwell where my devotees sing my name, O Narada.” tatra tishthami – I reside where My devotees chant together. We are here to remember that if we chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra then Radha Krsna are appearing.

Radha Krsna were willing to reciprocate with us , deal with us , hear us and then in Their presence you could continue to pray to Them, address Them , beg for Their mercy.

satyam satyam punah satyam satya evam puna puna,
vina radhiko praade, mata prasade na vidyte

Sri Krsna says:”O Narada! I tell you truly truly, again truly, truly, again and again – without the mercy of “Radharani”, one cannot attain my mercy. (Narada Purana)

Radha, it is my prayer. It is the truth that without the mercy of Radharani we cannot get Krsna. We cannot get the mercy of Krsna, service of Krsna. We have to approach Krsna through Radharani. She is the leading servant of Sri Krsna . Sri Krsna is purna purushottam and Radharani is purna sakti. Krsna is Purush and Radharani is Prakriti or alladhini sakti – radha krsna pran mora jugala kisor. Radha and Krsna are my life and soul, the goal of my life, Narottam Dasa Thakur says. He is also praying , meditating, contemplating, desiring , aspiring to serve Radha and Krsna. This song could also provide a topic for our contemplation and meditation by chanting Hare Krishna.

kalindira kule keli-kadambera vana 

There
There on the bank of Yamuna are lots of kadamba trees. I see one asana throne. Radha and Krsna are on that throne. I will approach Them, Their lotus feet.

malate mala haar gale

I offer a garland of malti flowers. One could meditate that I am making garlands for Them but when I get there, it’s very hot. Then I will offer chamara which will bring some cooling effect for Them. But when I get there,

lalita vishakha adi jata sakhi vrinda adnyay karibo seva caranravinda

Once I get there I will take permission from Lalita and Vishakha. ‘May I render service? Could you just give me something to do for Radha Krsna?’

vrindaranya kalpadrumadaha srimad ratnagaar simhasano sri sri radha
govinda devo presthalidhi sevyamanam smarami

That’s the meditation. Radha and Krsna are seated and they are surrounded by asta gopis. So when I get there I will get permission from Lalita and Vishakha sakhi to serve Radha and Krsna. Lalita and Vishakha may check that this sakhi who wants to serve. They check with Radharani if it is fine to engage me. Because ultimately Radharani has to give permission to serve Them or serve Krsna. Sri Krsna Caitanya Prabhu said dasa-dasa-dasanudasaḥ.

So like that this devotee is the servant of the servant of the servant. Radharani’s sakhis are Lalita and Vishakha and their dasis and then their dasis. Like that there is a whole chain of parampara of devotees. In that chain of master and servant, gurus and disciples, the original guru is Radharani and in that parampara our spiritual master is also there and we are his servants.

mahatmanas tu mam partha
daivim prakrtim asritah
bhajanty ananya-manaso
jnatva bhutadim avyayam

.
TRANSLATION
O son of Prtha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible. (BG 9.13)

Sri Krsna has described a Mahatma as one who has taken shelter of daivi prakriti, the divine energy and that is Radharani. He is a great soul. For us evan parampara praptam, the spiritual master is available unto whom we can take shelter . We are the servants of the servant of the servant of the servant. Through them we ultimately serve Radha and Krsna. Our spiritual master gives us a mantra and we are formally initiated. First we receive the pranam mantra. You could offer your pranams or obeisances . And then the recommendation for Harinama diksa .Our spiritual master give us mahamantra:

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

Like that the spiritual master on behalf of Radha and Krsna, on behalf of all the others in that chain permits you to begin chanting Hare Krishna, which means serve Radha Krsna. While chanting Hare Krishna you continue to serve. We are chanting and begging Radha and Krsna for Their service. They are giving us service. The chanting of Hare Krishna is also a service. It is glorifying Radha and Krsna. When we say Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna we say a lot of things. We are reminded of a lot of thoughts, pastimes, form, beauty of Radha and Krsna, the dhama of Radha and Krsna.

There are commentaries on the Hare Krishna maha-mantra by various acaryas. Gopal Guru Goswami was one of them. He has commented on the Hare Krishna maha-mantra with an explanation and interpretation of each word of the maha-mantra. Gopal Guru Goswami was a contemporary of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He was a disciple of Vakreshwar Pandit and used to reside in Jagannatha Puri. We even have a commentary on Hare Krishna maha-mantra. There are commentaries on some verses of the Bhagavad- gita. Our acaryas have written commentaries. Like this there are commentaries on the Hare Krishna maha-mantra where it is explained in detail. On Hare there is a commentary. On Krsna there is commentary.

Swamadhuryen mam chittam aakarshay that is a part of commentary. When we say Hare Krishna, we say ‘Krsna’ then we are praying, – please attract my attention to Your madhurya or sweetness. You are the sweet Lord . Oh! When
would I experience that sweetness?

While chanting the names of the Lord, we have to absorb ourselves in remembering Radha and Krsna. It is not sunyavad or voidism. That is not the goal of our meditation. This is not impersonal meditation on some formless light or meditation on nothing. This is Hare Krishna mantra meditation. There are a lot of topics to meditate upon. Srila Prabhupada says when you talk of meditation immediately the first thing you do is decide on the object of your meditation. What are you going to be meditating on? Chanting of Hare Krishna maha-mantra is time to meditate.

sri-radhika-madhavayor apara-madhurya-lila-guna-rupa-namnam

This is a topic, object of meditation. Radha-Madhav, their madhurya lila, their pastimes, remembering their gunas – qualities, rupa – the form and name. Of course we want to meditate upon Radha and Krsna or Radha Krsna qualities,
or Their pastimes, form, but we are used to meditating on all wordly forms and beauties, activities and wonderings. We have millions of topics to talk and think about. That was our life thus far, before we came in contact with the
devotees , before we got initiated or before we started chanting, we had been meditating on all such topics. Everyone had been meditating on all such topics.

dhyayato visaayan pumsah
sangas tesupajayate
sangat sañjayate kaman
kamat krodho ‘bhijayate

Krsna says in the second chapter of Bhagavad-gita, dhyayato visaayan , the whole world is meditating upon visaayan, objects of sense enjoyment. sangas tesupajayate, as one meditates upon wordly forms and activities and qualities and or shabda,, sparsha rupa, rasa, gandha objects of meditation. Shabda means touch – object of meditation. Like that there are five types of objects of meditation. As one contemplates, meditates which one the whole world does day and night, sangas tesupajayate one becomes attached to that object and that gives rise to kamaha (lust) an intense will to enjoy those objects of sense enjoyment. First of all , acquire them and then enjoy. While chanting of Hare Krishna our previous meditation, previous asarama, our attachment to so many objects of sense enjoyment is going to be troubling us, going to be stumbling blocks for us. During chanting we the practitioners have to work on getting rid of it. That is the kind of meditation, remembrance. The mind is going to be dragged here and there.

yato yato niscalati
manas cañcalam asthiram
tatas tato niyamyaitad
atmany eva vasam nayet( B.G. 6.26)

This is the advice of Lord Sri Krsna in the sixth chapter of Bhagavad-gita, which deals with ashtanga yoga or meditation. The mind goes during chanting to some man or woman and not to Radha Krsna. We have to be very, very attentive while chanting. Watch out! Where is your mind now? While we are chanting our rounds – one round chanted , three rounds, five rounds , but our mind is making so many rounds, going around the world. Went to Moscow so many times, brought it back, went here, went there. So there is a lot of homework to be done while chanting of Hare Krishna. You should be telling to yourself – Neti! Neti! Neti! Not this! Not this! Don’t think of this. Don’t go there. Bringing the mind back and fix it on:

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

Think of Radha Krsna. Remember Radha Krsna. Pray to Radha Krsna. Pray to Radha. Today is Her birthday. She is kinder today. We could take advantage of Her kindness. We could pray to Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He is Radha and Krsna combined. He has become tum bina ke dayalu jagat sansare. Who is kinder than you, Oh Lord! Caitanya Mahaprabhu -patita-pavana-hetu tava avatara. mo sama patita prabhu na paibe are You have appeared Radhe, You have appeared along with Krsna in the form of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, in this age of Kali and I am fallen, very fallen. My mind is going here and there. Please lift me.

ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram
patitam mam visame bhavambudhau
krpaya tava pada-pankaja-
sthita-dhuli-sadrsam vicintaya ((Siksastakam verse 5)

Siksastakam prayers are also there. We have to think on those terms. When we say Hare Krishna, Oh! Krsna , ayi nanda-tanuja, Krsna, son of Nanda Maharaja, I am your kinkar. See what has happened to me, I am fallen. I am falling in this devotion of Russia. So please pick me up. Fix me in the dust particle of Your lotus feet. Engage me in service of Your lotus feet. Like that we have to drag your mind away from wherever it goes to the worldly objects.

bhaj hu re mana sri nanda nandana abhaya caranravinda re

This is also an appeal to the mind. ‘My dear mind, please worship the lotus feet of abhay caranaravinda. The Lord’s lotus feet which are fearless. O mind. please meditate.’ So we could turn to our mind and beg the mind to please think of Radha and Krsna. We could pray or sometimes Srila Bhaktisiddanta Saraswati Thakur recommends that we beat the mind, slap the rascal mind with the broom. A broom is used for sweeping in the morning hours. Beat the mind with shoes, army shoes or bigger thicker shoes. Try to bring the mind to the senses. “yena kena prakarena manah krsna niveshayat”. “Somehow or the other one must associate with Lord Krsna”.

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

Keep thinking, contemplating, meditating. We practice everyday. We chant our prescribed number of rounds everyday, and this practice we do everyday, day after day. It is expected of us to make progress and eventually attain perfection. Attain mantra- siddhi, perfection in chanting of Hare Krishna. So we wish you success in chanting of Hare Krishna maha-mantra. May Radharani bless you all, on the occasion of Her Appearance Day.

Jay Radhe!

4th SEPTEMBER 2019

LOST VILLAGE PART 2

Yesterday Guru Maharaja was discussing village life and was explaining how he was brought up in the village atmosphere and how that village lifestyle with Krsna’s Lila and he was saying how very easy it was for those who were brought up in that atmosphere and lifestyle to line simple and think high.

Today is the continuation ….

Born and brought up in the village we could very easily relate to the activities in Gokul as the pastimes of Yasoda, Krsna, Nandababa and all the villagers – the cows and the bulls and the herding pastimes. While I was a cowherd boy I would go herding the cows everyday. Then I grew up and went to school and high school.

However during the weekends I was free and would herd the cows, bulls , buffaloes and there were some goats also. In Gokul also all of them would go herding the cows and buffaloes. Krsna played with his friends with the cows and buffaloes herding. Even we played and we also carried our lunch packets, very similar to Krsna and His friends. Their mothers would prepare lunch. So did our mothers. During the day we also sat in circles and ate. As Krsna never went herding cows alone, so we also were never alone. So many of our friends used to be out there herding their cows. We were supposed to be a group and we played different games. We played some of the games that Krsna played. We were playing or swimming as Krsna swam. Of course, we did not have Yamuna and Radha-kunda, but we had small ponds. We ate together, sitting in a circle. We did not have Krsna sitting in the centre and we were not so Krishna conscious.

We heard stories of Prahlad and Dhruv Maharaja in our childhood and practised that same lifestyle culture. We grew where the cows were served and worshipped.

That’s why Krsna is known as …

namo brahmanya-devaya go-brahmana-hitaya ca jagad-dhitaya krishnaya govindaya namo namah

… the Lord, the worshipper of brahmins and caretaker of the cows. He served the cows and the Brahmans. So what should we be doing? Remnants of that culture is still found in Bharat desh. 50- 60 years ago there were still some Brahmins and only some were practicing. I think,things have rapidly changed drastically. A residue of that culture is diminishing and is practically nil. This is a sad story. Srila Prabhupad wished to revive and demonstrate that culture and remind the whole world of that culture. Srila Prabhupada started farm communities, of course it was spreading Krishna consciousness in the world as per the wishes of Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. ‘My name will be chanted every town and village.’ Srila Prabhupada had taken the note of will and prediction of Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. It wasn't just Srila Prabhupada. We cannot and should never forget all the Acaryas and the devotees in our Gaudiya Vaisnava Parampara.

They have kept this spirit alive reminding everyone of the prediction and will of Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu from Jagannatha das babaji Maharaja, Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur till Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur and Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. We should not forget. They have struggled hard to keep the memories and the spirit alive and their endeavours to make Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s prediction come true Then Srila Prabhupada took it up and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur then further instructed His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada that he spread this Krishna consciousness to the rest of the world in English. English is a kind of an international language.

We know that as soon as Srila Prabhupada started preaching in English he wrote books in English for his followers who were from all over the world. They had many different mother tongues so he instructed his followers, ‘Translate them in as many languages as possible and print them in as many languages as possible and then distribute books, Distribute books!’ This distribution of his books was done by his followers. In this way, the instructions of Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the prediction of Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the glories of Gauranga, Radha Krsna, are spreading all over the world.

I was making a point earlier that Srila Prabhupada in order to revive that ancient eternal spirit of Krishna consciousness or spirit of religion and culture he wanted to have some role model farm communities or village where people could come witness the cultural practices of Krishna consciousness where they stayed in a pattern of ' simple living, high thinking’. Here they are now depending on the land and the cows and whole economic development is based on the land and the cow During his lifetime Srila Prabhupada started several communities in the world. He began with New Vrindavan in Gita Nagari in America. Also here in France, Europe where I am right now stationed. Paris is not far from here and Prabhupada started New Mayapur and New Naimisharanya in South India Hyderabad. Like that there are other farm communities around the world. Prabhupada started his endeavour. He sat on the property land literally under the tree where he stayed and talked to his followers. He shared his vision about these farm communities which are doing their best. Of course there are challenges to unfold the vision of Srila Prabhupada where simple living and high thinking is practiced and attempts are being made to practice the simple living and high thinking.

It's going on. It is just as the residents of Gokul were depending on the land and the cows. Specially this is Vaisya duties and dharma. krishi goraksha vanijya – do the farming Krishi, goraksha – cow protection and Vanijya , if there is some surplus agricultural produce, grains , vegetables, milk products, then share them or do the bartering. ‘I have extra milk. You take this. You have surplus of vegetables, so you give me vegetables.’.That lady had come to sell fruits and Krsna was interested in her fruits . He became 'phalarthi'. and he walked outside Nanda Bhavan. That lady was right in front of Nanda Bhavan with her basket filled with fruits and she was advertising, ‘Take Bananas! Take oranges! Take Guavas! Take this fruit, that fruit.

Phal lelo! Phal lelo ! Krsna heard and He was interested and He had walked outside Nanda Bhavan. Was he carrying some money? No ! He had grains in His hand and He gave the grains and in exchange for the fruit the fruit selling lady gave to Krsna. This is bartering. Other residents of Gokul were also doing the same thing – bartering. There was no currency, no paper notes, no bills. The economy was taken care of. Your needs were taken care of. Life and all that was grown in the fields in the farms and additionally lots of milk products and that is more than sufficient. Your maintenance ultimately is what you need.

annad bhavanti bhutani
parjanyad anna-sambhavah
yajnad bhavati parjanyo
yajnah karma-samudbhavah

TRANSLATION
All living bodies subsist on food grains, which are produced from rain. Rains are produced by performance of yajna [sacrifice], and yajna is born of prescribed duties. (BG 3.14) annad bhavati bhutani. You need food. Grains are also food. From grains to vegetables also food and milk products. Everything is food. So all that you need comes from our mothers. Mother Earth, Mother Cow maintained human beings by all those natural products the body can have. Then annad bhavati bhutani all the bhutas of the living entities are maintained or subsist on food grains. So this is the Lord’s arrangement. Then healthy bodies could chant,

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

This is the yajna and other activities also are yajna, though they are making offerings of those activities

yat karosi yad asnasi
yaj juhosi dadasi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
tat kurusva mad-arpanam

TRANSLATION
O son of Kunti, all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me.(9.27)

If we dedicate all our endeavours all our activities in the service of the Lord that is called yajna. Yajna is not only saying Hare Krishna and some kirtana, but all activities are supposed to be yajnas.

yajna yarthas karma – One is expected to perform all the activities for yajna. Yajna is Lord. The name of the Lord is Yajna or Yajna Purus. Performing all the activities is yajya and yajnad bhavati parjanyo as you are busy performing, the yajna then Yajna Purus, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is also present. The yajna shala is also set and there is the invocation. The Lord is invited and the kalas is installed and different demigods are also invited for it. Different demigods are also present so when the yajna is performed then the demigods also get their share, or they get the remnants. They are pleased and Krsna has said in Bhagavad-gita that the human being will get their necessities also, by performance of yajna and your needs human being needs are supplied by that particular demigod who is in
charge of rains.

yajnad bhavati parjanyo
yajnah karma-samudbhavah

You have to perform yajna and the phal- result is the reciprocation of Supreme Lord and demigod Indra. There are lots of showers. If there are rains, from rains come grains and then annad bhavati bhutani . just see the connection. See the relationship. Human beings perform Yajna and there is shower of rains, then come grains and then once there are grains that's how your needs are fulfilled. ‘Oh Lord!

Give us our daily bread.’ Christians go to church to pray like that. ‘Give grains, give that.’ Food and vegetables come from grains. Our vegetables come from grains and we eat some of those vegetables. Some of the vegetables or grass is eaten by the cows and here you go eat other kind of food. From the cows you get milk and milk products from the cows your maintenance is taken care of. I was sharing some of my personal experiences that I grew up with in my childhood
days.