Be absorbed in chanting the holy names
Venue: Bhakti Vedanta Manor
Dated: May 3, 2016
Brahmacari class

nama cintamanih krishnas caitanya-rasa-vigrahah
purnah suddho nitya-mukto abhinnatvan nama-naminoh

Have you heard that before? Nama is cintamani like dham cintamani. Nama cintamani meaning sat-cit-ananda and caitanya, full of chetana, full of, consciousness full, filled that’s called caitanya. Name Caitanya has origin in cit, chetana, consciousness; you have heard ‘ceto darpana marjanam’ that same chetana. Caitanya, the Holy name is full of caitanya, it is living force and rasa vigraha, it is full of rasa. Vigraha means form. When rasa becomes personified and that is of course Krsna.

Nitya, suddha, mukta, these are all adjectives or descriptions of the name, beginning with caitanya also and nama cintamani that is also the description of the name. Nama cintamani that is Holy name is full of caitanya, chetana. Rasa vigraha, Holy name is also rasa-vigraha. And Holy name is nitya-eternal; mukta- fully liberated; suddha-pure, pavitra.

Nitya, suddha, mukta and the end part is or even more significant is abhinnatvan nama namino. Abhinna, a means no, bhinna means different, not different. Nama and Nami are not different. Name of the Lord and name are not different. Name is, whose name is Krsna? Krsna’s name is Krsna or God’s name is Krsna. So name and person are same. These are some of the glories of the holy name. When you said kirtanaa I am saying holy name. Kirtanaa means glorification.

kirtaniya sada hari

So when there is kirtanaa or chanting of the holy names, soul is the chanter or soul should become the chanter of the holy name. And the holy name is,

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare,
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare!

This is Supreme Personality of Godhead. The holy name is Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and of course Radha is also Supreme Personality of Godhead or part of God. Krsna and Radha together are Supreme Personality of Godhead. That’s why we chant Hare Krsna. We chant Radha’s names and Krsna’s names. Rest of the mantra is we keep chanting Radha Krsna Radha Krsna’s names. Even Rama is Krsna. Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. That is also Krsna.

ramati ramayati ca iti ramah

One who does raman that is Krsna. Radharaman, one who gives joy, rama, joy to others and derives joy for Himself also from that dealing or some particular activity, dealing with some devotee, that is Rama and that Rama is Krsna. So the 16 names which are basically eight names of Krsna and eight names of Radharani.

Iti sodasakam namnam kali kalmasa nasanam (Kalisantaran upanisad)

So holy name is, it’s not only Krsna but its Radha and Krsna. So together, the holy name is Bhagavan and the chanter, the soul is bhakta. And when the soul chants with devotion then he is performing bhakti. In this way the bhakta that is soul and Bhagavan that is Radha Krsna, through bhakti, devotion they are linked. Bhakta bhakti Bhagavan these are eternal interrelated, not only principals but personalities also. Soul is person and Supreme souls Radha Krsna are personalities, person. And there is yoga, the link through bhakti, devotion.
So when we say,

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

We are saying the names but we are saying everything in fact; all the glories of the Lord, wherever you find them in Gita, Bhagavat, Caitanya Caritamrita and other sources. We all utter, we say all those glories or we indicate all those glories just by saying Hare Krsna. When we say Krsna, nothing more in fact remains to be said. Although it sounds like oh you just said Krsna, but Krsna is everything. That Krsna has connection, relationship with all that is there in Gita and Bhagavatam.

So by chanting just this one mantra, we chant all the mantras in existence. By chanting these 16 names Maha Maha mantra, you have chanted all the mantras. Or essence of all the mantras, condensed in, packed in one mantra the Hare Krsna Maha mantra.

natah parataro upaya sarva vedesu drsyate

Brahma said, I do not see anything better. I have studied all the Vedas. Sarva vedesu drsyate, drsya means see, I don’t see anything more better to have than this sodasakam namnam, sixteen names or he was referring to OM.

hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

iti sodasakam namnam kali-kalmasa-nasanam
natah parataropayah sarva-vedesu drsyate

So this becomes kirtana, just by chanting of Hare Krsna you are glorifying. Kirtana means kirti. Kirti means glory. And as we do kirtana we glorify the Lord and understanding is that the holy name includes, or from the name comes the form. From name comes the form. By chanting the Holy names, as one attains perfection in chanting the holy names, then the Holy name reveal the form of the Lord, meaning own form. And the qualities of the Lord are included in the Holy name, they are revealed, the pastimes are revealed unto the chanter of the Holy name. So within holy name everything, nama, rupa, guna, lila, dhama, within the Holy name.

So the soul chanting, soul hearing; not body chanting or throat chanting or tongue chanting. They seem to be involved, acting during chanting but soul is using, as we have this body, this existence. Soul is moving force behind the body. Body appears living because of the presence of the soul in the body. Get the soul out of the body, Prabhuada used to say, what is difference between living body and dead body? Soul! Body minus soul is the dead body. Body plus soul is living body.

When doing chanting or kirtana, soul should be chanting and soul should be praying and soul should be crying. Soul is making the goal. Soul’s goal is Krsna, he wants Krsna. Body doesn’t want Krsna, the throat doesn’t or tongue doesn’t want Krsna. The tongue doesn’t think, body does not think. Body even does not know Krsna exists. Body doesn’t even know that soul exists. Body knows nothing. So get the body out, separate the body and I am not this body, what remains is the soul. So the soul is chanting, get the soul to chant and soul to hear and soul to remember. Who is going to remember? Not the brain tissues are remembering or our fertile body is remembering. It appears that body’s different parts are doing different functions, but it is soul. For the sake of soul or because of the soul is all this chanting, hearing, remembrance. So we should be hearing, or soul has to hear.

When you sleep, then there is short circuit! Hearing stops, we are disconnected from the Lord. Mind comes in the middle or ignorance takes over.

So chanting or kirtana is a prayer, its meditation, mantra meditation. Yeah the process was meditation in Satya yuga. In kali yuga with Hare Krsna maha-mantra we meditate, mantra meditation. And Prabhupada says, before you go for meditation, you need to decide the object of the meditation, what is the object of meditation before you begin meditation, object of meditation. Otherwise you cannot meditate. It’s not impersonal meditation. There is nothing to meditate upon, just the light. There is nothing much to meditate, how could you meditate on the light? There is nothing to think about or meditate, contemplate, reflect, you can’t do these faculties, not possible. So meditate, chanting of Hare Krsna is also meditation. So meditate on Krsna.

Anyway I will quickly try to say that one of our acarya, we could say Acarya Gopal Guru Goswami, I was talking this one day, trying to repeat this quickly. So Gopal Guru Goswami was disciple of Vakresvar Pandit. Do you know Vakresvar Pandit? The great dancer, he could dance for 72 hours nonstop. So his disciple Gopal Guru Goswami, contemporary of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Caitanya Mahaprabhu was very fond of him. ‘Call him guru!’ Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, ‘call him guru, not just Gopal Goswami’. So they started calling him Gopal Guru Goswami.

So he wrote a commentary, there is ‘Bhajana paddhati’, book by him. Part of that or part of his writing, there is commentary on the holy name, Hare Krsna maha-mantra commentary, bhasya, Gita commentary, Bhagavat commentary, this commentary, that commentary, maha-mantra commentary. Jiva Goswami another acarya has also written commentary on Hare Krsna maha-mantra. So Gopal Guru Goswami wrote his commentary.

So in the essence he said that when you chant the sixteen names and chanting is prayer, that when you say Hare then you Krsna then you say Hare, Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, each time you utter these names one after the other, we pray to that name because the name is the person. So who is offering prayer? We! Who are we? Soul, so soul offers, no body, no tongue, no tongue is offering, they have no business. They know nothing of this prayer, they are just dead matter, so is the tongue, so is the throat. So while chanting the soul is offering a prayer. And then as we say Hare, the name Hare is non-different from the personality Hare.
Hara, Radha also called as Hara because of Her nature,

harer harati ya manah

One who steals, even steals the mind of the Lord, attracts the attention of the Lord, Madan Mohan Mohini. Krsna is Madan Mohan and She is Madan Mohan Mohini so Hara. So when we chant Hare Krsna Hare Krsna, we don’t say Hara Krsna Hara Krsna; ‘Hare’, this is address. All sixteen names are address. Do you know address? I am addressing you, ‘Oh Brahmacaries’, I am addressing you, I am trying to get someone’s attention. Prabhu sit properly or addressing, sambodhana. So all these sixteen names are address. You dress before you address, you dress properly before you get on the mike and address. So the soul is addressing the sixteen names.

So Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna is also address. What is spelling of Krsna in the folio? Krsna, only that much? Also the ‘h’ h with dot, then you also get Krsnah, have you have seen like that? Yes, do you remember? You can see this outside maha-mantra, when Krsna is mentioned in sanskrit mantras. Where they address, the Hare Krsna maha-mantra is address form, therefore the ‘h’ is dropped. This is little grammar, vyakaran part. So it’s called nominative, Krsna goes to the forest, Krsnah vanam gacchati. So there you find ‘h’.

So Gopal Guru Goswami, going back to that commentary, he says, that when we say Hare, we are saying or we are supposed to be saying, we may not be saying but we should with understanding. This is one guideline he is giving, what you should be thinking about, how you should address the Lord, when you are chanting, meditating, addressing. He says,

mat-cittam hrtva bhava-bandhanan mocaya

You only said Hare but you are saying Oh Radhe! Mat-cittam hrtva, steal my mind, attract my mind and bhava-bandhanan mocaya, make me free from the bonds of material existence. This is a thought, food for thought. While chanting, you said, Hare, you thought, Oh Radhe, Oh Hare, please make me free from all the strings attached.

So after Hare we say Krsna. We always say Hare Krsna. So we said Krsna with love and devotion and Krsna has appeared because He is non-different from His name. We said His name and He appeared, ok what you want? Then we offer prayer to that Krsna, saying mam cittam akarsaya, please You are known for akarsan,

ya karsati sa Krsna

In Sanskrit Krsna is defined as ya karsati sa krsna, the person who attracts all the living entities towards Him, that Personality is Krsna. So mat cittam akarsaya, citta means chetana, consciousness, as Krsna in 10th chapter of Bhagavad Gita says, mat cittah remember that?

mat cittah matgat pranah bodhayantah parasparam (BG 10.9)

mat cittah, My devotee is that person mat cittah, his consciousness is glued down to My feet, glued down to Me. mat cittah mat gat pranah. So when we say Hare Krsna, the prayer the thought should be according to Gopal Guru Goswami, mat cittam akarsaya, please attract also me to You.

And then we go to next, Hare Krsna, then Hare third name, and the thought is,

sva-madhuryena mac-cittah hara

Oh Radha You are full of madhurya, madhur, You are sweet, let Your sweetness attract me to You. And then Hare Krsna Hare Krsna, so the fourth name which is Krsna, when you say that then the guideline is you pray to that Krsna,

sva-bhakta-dvara bhajana-jnana-danena mac-cittam sodhaya

Please let me have devotee association, sadhu-sanga, or let my diksa guru, siksa guru, acarya, founder acarya, please give me association, bhakta dvara, with the help of bhakta, devotee, sadhu association, let him give me bhajan jnana dana. Bhajan you understand jnana you understand? The knowledge, knowledge of bhajan, how to perform bhajan, bhajan jnana dan, let them give me some charity, dana of how to perform bhajan. Let me have sadhu-sanga, association of devotees, so that they will explain how to perform bhajan, how to perform kirtana. Inquiry was made, Maharaja could you possibly tell us about kirtana, bhajan?

So bhajan jnana dana, you could become familiar with these terms, so that you could understand, no need to translate. Bhajan you understand, jnana you understand, dana you understand, sastra dana, during marathon you do sastra dana, giving sponsorship, giving 100 Gitas or Gita dana. So when I will have association and then that devotee gives me bhajan jnana dana, then mam cittam sodhaya, let my consciousness be purified.

So these are only four, out of sixteen four names we explained according to Gopal Guru Goswami, what should be the thought associated with those names, Hare Krsna Hare Krsna. Should we do the rest or next time we will do rest? Ok I will try to go faster.

Then there is Krsna Krsna Hare Hare part. So when we say Krsna which is fifth name in the series, the soul is praying that,

ruchir bhavatu me

Let me have liking for Your name, ruchi you understand? Sraddha to prema as you go on that ladder higher you go, there is ruchi.

Name ruchi, jiva daya, vaisnava seva, this is desired goal. Name ruchi I will like to taste and get some nectar as I chant. So we are praying to that name Krsna, ruchir bhavatu me, let me have some ruchi towards You, towards Your Holy name.

Then as we say next Krsna, which is sixth name in that order, the prayer is,

nama-rupa-guna-liladisu man-nistham kuru

From the name comes rupa, comes quality, so let me have nistha or let me be fixed or steady in my understanding of nama, rupa, guna, lila of You Oh Lord.

nityam bhagavata-sevaya
bhagavaty uttama-sloke
bhaktir bhavati naisthiki

As one regularly recites Bhagavatam, then outcome is we come to the level of bhakti called nistha. Bhaktir bhavati, let my bhakti, bhavati become, which kind of bhakti? Naisthiki, nistha. ado sraddha sadhu sang bhajan kriya anartha nivrtti then nistha ruchi asakti bhava prem. So we are praying to that Holy name, that name Krsna that let me have nistha for not only for Your name, but for Your form, Deity form of the Lord, Your qualities, Your pastimes.

And now the half of the mantra,

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, now seventh and eighth name and then half mantra is completed. So that last Hare Hare, the soul is praying, the chanter is praying, crying Hare Hare, we say Hare Hare! Ok what do you want? I am here; I appear as you have been calling. So the prayer, appeal to the Holy name or appeal to Hare Hare is,

nija-seva-yogyam mam kuru

Please make me eligible to serve You, serve Krsna, seva yogyam mam kuru.

Srila Prabhupada would briefly, he would talk of, same thing we are talking, little expanded version, Gopal Guru Goswami’s commentary, Prabhupada would stress this, when we chant, he would stress this, we are praying, chanting is a prayer, Oh Lord, Oh energy of the Lord, please engage me in Your service. I am Your servant. Please engage me. So that’s the prayer.

And the eighth name which is Hare and the prayer should be,

sva-sevam adisaya

Please reveal that service unto me. First we are begging for the service, please engage me, no no, please make me eligible to serve. Ok now I am eligible for the service, eligibility is there, so which service I should do? Please reveal that service unto me.

And then moving on, this is half. Then going to Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare part.
As we say Hare, then the prayer is that, Hey Hare Hey Radhe,

sva-presthena saha svabhista-lilam sravaya

Oh Radhe Your most cherished pastimes with Krsna, please share that with me. And then Hare Rama, Rama this is Krsna, and the prayer to Him is,

presthaya saha svabhista-lilam mam sravaya

Your most cherished pastime with Radha, sravaya, please make me hear, let someone read that to me or say that to me. Let me have opportunity to read such pastimes, Your pastimes with, Oh Radhe Your pastimes with Krsna, Oh Krsna Your pastimes with Radha, sravaya.

And then Hare Rama and then Hare, first was sravaya, please let me hear, let me read Your most cherished pastimes. And the next prayer is darsaya,

sva-presthena saha svabhista-lilam darsaya

Please show me. I want to take darsana of those lilas. I want to see those lilas. Soul can see, without body soul can see. Eyes are closed and still soul is seeing. There is no need, eyes are not required for seeing. Soul has eyes, so when soul is chanting, chanting purifies, his eyes are spiritualized, open up and then the prayer darsaya, please could I have Your darshan.

So this is going even higher and higher and coming to the level of the darsana of the Lord and even level of svarupa siddhi, perfection stage and evolution in Krsna consciousness and ultimately, eventually going back to Lord’s abode, entering in Lord’s pastime. So what would be my service in eternal pastimes of the Lord? That is also part of the prayer.

So Hare Rama Hare Rama, and then Rama Rama, so there the prayer is that,

nama-rupa-guna-lila-smaranadisu mam yojaya

Please engage me in remembering Your nama rupa guna lila. I would like to remember, please engage me in remembrance. Remembering the form, remembering the pastimes, remembering Your qualities. So this is Rama.
Next Rama ,

tatra mam nija-seva-yogyam kuru

O Rama! As I enter into those pastimes by the path of meditation, make me worthy to engage in your service.
Final two Hare Hare,

mam svangikrtya ramasva

Please make me part of You, part of Your entourage, part of Your team, deal with me, don’t discard me, accept me, engage me in Your service or engage me in service of Your Lord, Sri Krsna.
And the final one is again same appeal,

maya saha ramasva

Please considering me of Your own, please engage me in the service of the Lord. seva adhikara diye kara nije dasi
As we everyday pray to Tulasi Maharani, seva adhikara diye kara nija dasi, please make me eligible, give me seva adhikara, make me eligible to serve. Similar, that’s Tulasi Maharani and this is Radharani, we pray that please engage me in service of the Lord.

Anyway this is food for thought for you. The performance of kirtana and performance of chanting the holy names of the Lord. This gives us guideline to what to think of as we say ‘Hare Krsna Hare Krsna’ like that. That way we could meditate on this prayer. Prayer is meditation and be absorbed in chanting Holy names.

Question 1- When one finally comes to prema, what happens to one’s sexual desire? Are they still there? Sometimes you heard quotes by great acaryas saying, Oh you know make sure that doesn’t come… So what happens, are they still there or they disappear?

Answer- yeah they are gone long back, way behind, when you are climbing up that ladder, half way through you have done with it. Anartha nivrtti, unless anartha nivrtti is there, there isn’t nistha. Nistha means fixed up for, no more u-turns, no irreversible, that nistha. So becoming free from anarthas which includes all these desires.

(Question- even if forced for?) No, there is no time. No way, the prema replaces kama. Lust and love don’t go hand in hand. The brahmacaries, this is their program, trying to become free from all sorts of desires, especially they focus is on lust related with lust, opposite sex. This is sole focus of brahmacaries. So yeah as you substitute all these lusty thoughts, lusty desires, there are eight of them, eight ways one could exhibit the lust. Have you gone through this? Which is even darsana, stri darshan, stri sparsa, all the way to sambhoga, which is eighth and most gross way of expression of that lust.

So they don’t go hand in hand. To the degree that you are free from lust to that degree you are full of prema. I was just hearing of Prabhupada’s talk and he was saying, unless you give up sex desire, you don’t get the Krsna prema.

Sanatana Goswami, long story, but touch stone, he had a touchstone. (One person gets that touchstone from Sanatana Goswami and goes to his wife.) Where did you find it? Oh it was in dustbin. Oh you fool, you are cheated. Go back and ask for something more valuable. So this gentleman went with the touchstone back to Sanatana Goswami and then, you must have something more valuable, which you must have hidden in the treasury house. Otherwise why would you, this can’t be most valuable. This was thrown in dust bin where I found it. You must have something more valuable. No no I don’t have more valuable than this touchstone. No no there must be, you have you have. Then Sanatana Goswami said, ok first throw this away and then I will give you more valuable. And then this gentleman was thinking if I will give up this and if I would not get more valuable than I would be really cheated, more cheated. Anyway he was finally prepared to give up that touch stone and that touchstone which was going to be source of everything into gold then all gratification and happiness. So when he threw that Sanatana Goswami said, yes,

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, this is the most valuable.

So there was some meaning of remembering, gopis are, they only remember Krsna. They don’t know anything more than that.

satatam smartavyah krsnah vismartavya na jatucit

They never forget Krsna. So where is the time, is there time in between- always remembering and never forgetting? Where is the time for nonsense, where is the time for gratification? And same thing, six Goswamis of Vrndavan and pure devotees, they are constantly absorbed in the nectar.

So Yamunacarya was spitting at, when he just remembered some past, then his tongue curled and oh, tuccam, this is so insignificant. Once Srila Prabhupada in Kolkata was giving Bhagavatam class,

yan maithunadi grhamedhi sukham hi tuccham

That statement of Prahlad Maharaja from 7th Canto, Prabhupada was commenting on that, the grhamedhi, yan maithun, the intercourse, man woman illicit intercourse, that pleasure is called tuccham, thu thu. When you spit at something, such insignificant, thu, thu. So Prabhupada he was spitting at it, he literally spat. So thought is there, but you could see that how the thought is. There is no liking anymore, disgust, if there is any thought, disgust, or I am happy, I am done with this. I don’t have to.. Just be absorbed in Radha Krsna. Otherwise there is no going back, going back to Godhead also.

Question 2-Can you explain how to be fully engaged in Krsna’s service and not get in mode of passion and do only that which is beneficial for Krishna consciousness. Is there any line, how do we know that we are fully engaged or we are in mode of passion?

Answer- When we want to fully engage, what we would like to see? Who is engaged? Who is fully engaged? Soul! The soul is fully engaged, that’s our goal. And then these three modes of material nature are there, ignorance is there, passion is there, goodness is there.

mam ca yo avyabhicarena bhaktiyogen sevate
sa gunan samatityaitan brahma bhuyaya kalpate

By transcending these three modes of material nature, devotees absorb themselves in Krsna consciousness, brahma bhuyaya kalpate. So we have to watch out, see the soul always engaged but the mind is governed by ignorance or mind is governed by passion, and from that passion come fashion or mind is controlled, governed by goodness then there is interruption, between you and the Lord, these three modes of material nature are acting. And three modes of material nature are making mind work this way, that way, they influence your mind and then ignorant mind is, passionate mind is in goodness and the link between you and Lord, soul and Supreme soul, you are separated, or your service is diluted. It is alloyed and not unalloyed. Unalloyed means there is no mixture.

So that’s why Prabhupada said, boiling down the milk, not watering down the milk, but boiling down the milk. May be one time devotees were so much active, too much active, trying to preach and expand the movement, passion for that. Prabhupada had to, this was way back in 72, Prabhupada wrote letter to Rupanuga, that’s where this, our leader’s first priority is to preach to our own devotees those who are already being made devotees, preach to them. We are trying to expand or passion, expansion another name competition; but then if we are neglecting our already made devotes or may be you are neglecting your own nourishment, feeding yourself or chanting with attention or your hearing and chanting is minimized on the name of preaching or expansion, so that could become passionate activity and then less remembrance, less spiritual content in that activity. So we have to see where our soul is engaged or mind is engaged or soul is not engaged, soul is separated or intelligence is working too much. So there should be reviews from time to time, you have some istagosti to see how you as individual, you as group are performing, this is pure devotional service or passionate devotional service. Are you just working hard or working smart also, smart in Krsna consciousness.

Question 3– Maharaja your experience of seeing brahmacaries from so many years; give me specific advice or guidance on how to remain strong in brahmacari asrama?

Answer- One thought just came to my mind, realize that you are not this body but you are spirit soul. Work on this project, work on this program. I am not this body, I am spirit soul, I am not this body. Chant this mantra. I am not this body, I am spirit soul, I am spirit soul. And for that we have whole process. Chanting of Hare Krsna is there, chanting properly, hearing, chanting or services. So by realizing I am a spirit soul, and not this body; the spirit soul’s need is another spirit, specially the Supreme spirit. Vice versa, your body’s need is another material body, specially the body of opposite sex. So emphasis is on I am the soul, I am a servant soul of the Supreme master or could be friend. And then reciprocation is on and we cultivate that and we make advancement in Krsna consciousness. But if we maintain or remain on bodily concept then, man’s body needs woman body, woman’s body needs, this is so called natural in this world. So we want to go against that nature and so called natural, so more natural is spirit soul’s nature, and going for the Supreme soul. And of course if you don’t fully succeed then change of asrama and then there are also lots of rules and guidelines to follow. And get rid of this idea and thought and desire; get rid of this all together within this very lifetime, or within some span, certain period or phase of your life. Again coming out clean and proceeding the remaining part of this life, just dedicate fully in the service of the Supreme soul and no bodies.

Question 4- If we feel that we need to go through grhastha asrama to purify our desires, because we have experienced so many times in previous lives most probably, is it possible that Krsna we reveal this as a realization?

Answer- certainly this is not that this is first life, first time we are in this body, but we had been practicing this from some time, life after life after life and getting purified enough and that is how, some persons are ready for life of naishthiki brahmacari. There are two types of Brahmachari: Naishthika and Upakurvana.

Upakurvana means at the age 25 or certain time of his brahmacari life he thinks he has to change asrama to grhastha asrama. Other one carries forward same asrama for rest of his life. He may stay as brahmacari, naishthiki brahmacari or he may accept sannyasa, not much difference in their consciousness. So those who are able to manage that come to level to stay single, but if that is not the case, if there is still desires, then there is way out, other asrama is there. Did I say enough, was that your question? I was not very focused.

Question – I have question about bhajan, importance of bhajans, whether we should sing them or when and where we should sing them and importance of Maha-mantra?

Answer- Jagannath Dasa Babaji Maharaja he asked his audience, are you interested in self-realization? Not you audience, his audience. Then if he said, yes I am. Then he said, you purchase or it won’t cost much, something like that he had said, just eight paisa or something, you could buy Narottam Dasa Thakur’s, one particular song book he mentioned, just buy Narottam Dasa Thakur’s this bhajan sangraha, song book and you study and sing and read and you could be self-realized. Yeah the bhajans are very powerful, pure. They are considered as good as Vedas, songs of Bhaktivinoda Thakur, Narottam Dasa Thakur. So the Vedic essence of Vedas and Vedas are in Sanskrit, and in this age of kali Sanskrit language is considered difficult, difficult by some, not easy. So Acaryas compiled songs in regional languages. But the potency vice Vedas and these songs are of same values. So the bhajans are the talk of the name of Krsna or qualities of Krsna or pastimes of Krsna.

yasomati nandan brajajan ranjan
gokul ranjan kanha…

Like that whole song is like each name is like each pastime,

amal harinam amiya vilasa
vipin purandar navin nagarvar

Each word, each name is so much reminder, so much has been said about the beauty of Krsna, the qualities of Krsna, pastimes of Krsna. So is there, maha-mantra includes all these bhajans as we say, we could chant maha-mantra only. Harer namaiv kevalam, that way we also chant Hare Krsna maha-mantra as well as we chant the bhajans, greeting of the Deity and there is Brahma’s song, Brahma samhita which we chant,

Govindam adipurusam tamaham bhajami,

Srila Prabhupada liked that when Jamuna came up with that song. Was Harrison involved which is part of Jai Radha Madhava , is he playing some music? All right! So Prabhupada chose that Jai radha madhava kunjabihari in the beginning of the bhajan. There is noon time and rajabhoga, when rajabhoga is offered to the Lord, and while Lord is relishing His lunch, there is bhoga arati song composed by Bhaktivinoda Thakur.

So many details of different preparations have been cooked and offered to the Lord. And how Lord is with His side glances looking at Radharani while eating. Now Their eating is over and They are drinking different drinks and ok now Their hands are washed and now They go to take rest, then Dhanista gopi comes, takes all maha-prasad and is distributing.

There is whole pastime, devotees sing every day in Mayapur and some other places also bhoga arati song. And sandhya arati, kibo jai jai gauracandera, and for protection of, protecting our movement and protecting our spiritual leaders, gurus, Namaste narasimhaya, we chant that. And like that there are so many different folks different slokas, as they say, so different songs are for different occasions. And Janmastami, Ramanavami we have some Krsna bhajans, and then Gaura purnimna and Gauranga Mahaprabhu’s bhajans.