Lords Svarupa, His form is Mysterious
Bhagavatam katha -Day two
Venue: Pune
Dated: January 8^th, 2019
Haribol..Gaura Haribol.

Its good you all have come, some new also have joined.  I welcome you all. This place is not any ordinary auditorium, it has become Vaikuntha. Where the glories of  Lord are being sang at that place Lord resides and that place becomes Vaikuntha. This place has become Krsnamaya. Vaikuntha means there is no kuntha. In Pune there is kuntha but as you enter this place there is no kuntha. Which place you like kuntha or Vaikuntha.? Some are still thinking.

So yesterday’s  first session of  katha was meditating on the Lords svarupa, name of the Lord, His Dhama, lila and His guna all are His svarupa. So in yesterday’s session we discussed on Nama svarupa of the Lord.  We showed you on weighing scale on one side Nama and other side Nami. Nama is svarupa of the Lord and Rupa is also svarupa of the Lord.  There are many names of the Lord.

One of them is, Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

This is special name of the Lord. There are some simple names also but Hare Krsna maha-mantra is special name.  Harinama was preached by Lord Himself in form of Caitanya Mahaprabhu

“Hare Krishna nama Gaura karila prachar”

Lord Himself preached His name, please take My name, Lord said. He not only just said but also distributed His name. Caitanya Mahaprabhu toured throughout India, not by airplane but He did padayatra. So much pain He took, He went to each house and thus established dharma for the Kaliyuga.

What is the dharma for Kaliyuga?

 kali-kale dharma hari-namasankirtana

There is no other dharma.

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

Abandon all types of religion and surrender unto me.

Muslims say Allah, Gurunanak ji also chants Govind Govind, he also has chanting beads in his hand. Our Christian brothers also have their rosary. We have 108 bead in our chanting mala and our Muslim brothers have 99 beads because there are 99 names of Allah. So everyone takes shelter of name of the Lord. Because harinama is dharma for this Kaliyuga.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave the holy name to the whole world, He gave name means what He gave? He gave Himself in the form of name. Take me take this name. During initiation ceremony Hare Krsna maha-mantra is given to chant means Krsna is given. By chanting one realizes one day that name  of  the Lord is Krsna Himself.

When we say Hare Krsna, we call Krsna, Hye Krsna. So as we say Krsna, Krsna manifests Himself and we attract the Lord towards us by calling His name.  With all love and attention we call the Lord. Gajendra also had called the Lord, Lord came immediately. Lords name, when Draupadi called and Lord appeared.  If we call as she called then Lord will appear and ask us, yes what do you want.

Acaryas have given commentaries on the Hare Krsna maha-mantra

mam cittam akarsaya

ya karsati sa krsna, Lord attracts everyone.

Mam cittam – always think of Me. So while chanting these 16 names, we should meditate on the Lord.

Commentary on maha-mantra  by Gopal Guru Goswami,

hare – he hare, mac-cittam hrtva bhava-bandhanan mocaya |

Hare! O Hari, steal my mind and deliver me from bondage to this material world.

krsna – he krsna, mac-cittam akarsaya |

Krsna! O Krsna, attract my mind.

 hare – he hare, sva-madhuryena mac-cittah hara |

Hare! O Hari! Capture my mind with the sweetness of your name, form and pastimes.

krsna – he krsna, sva-bhakta-dvara bhajana-jnana-danena mac-cittam sodhaya |

Krsna! O Krsna! Send me the association of your devotees who will purify my mind through instructions about your devotional service.

krsna – he krsna, nama-rupa-guna-liladisu man-nistham kuru |

Krsna! O Krsna! Give me unflinching faith in your name, form, qualities and pastimes.

krsna – he krsna, rucir bhavatu me |

Krsna! O Krsna! Give me a taste for your name, form, qualities and pastimes.

hare – he hare, nija-seva-yogyam mam kuru |

Hare! O Hari! Make me worthy to engage in your service.

hare – he hare, sva-sevam adisaya |

Hare! O Hara, Radha! Order me personally in the service you wish me to perform.

hare – he hare, sva-presthena saha svabhista-lilam sravaya |

Hare! O Hara, Radha! Give me the opportunity to hear about your own favorite pastimes with your beloved Lord

rama – he rama, presthaya saha svabhista-lilam mam sravaya |

Rama! O Rama! Give me the opportunity to hear about your own favorite pastimes with your beloved Radha.

hare – he hare, sva-presthena saha svabhista-lilam darsaya |

Hare! O Hara, Radha! Give me the opportunity to see your intimate pastimes with your beloved Lord.

rama – he rama, presthaya saha svabhista-lilam mam darsaya |

Rama! O Rama! Give me the opportunity to see your intimate pastimes with your beloved Radha.

rama – he rama, nama-rupa-guna-lila-smaranadisu mam yojaya |

Rama! O Rama! Engage me in hearing, chanting and remembering your name, form, qualities, pastimes.

rama – he rama, tatra mam nija-seva-yogyam kuru |

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

hare – he hare, mam svangikrtya ramasva |

Hare! O Hari! Please accept me and take pleasure from the service that I offer you.

hare – he hare, maya saha ramasva |

Hare! O Hari! Take pleasure in me and enjoy with me.

So the serious students or the japa yogis and those who raised hands saying we are chanters can read in detail about the commentary of  Hare Krsna maha-mantra. There is art of chanting, sastra of chanting. And these topics are to be meditated on.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave us name means He gave us Lord.

kali–kale nama-rupe krsna-avatara

Name is svarupa it is a personality. So attentive chanting is very important.

In this dharma sabha mostly devotees come and this katha is not for general public it’s for devotees. It’s said chant attentively remember Krsna while chanting.

Chant-Hear –Remember

Oh, what to remember?  Remember the Rupa of the Lord. So nama will take us to  rupa, rupa will take us to lila and then to His associates and finally from nama to dhama. This is the route. So nama will take us to dhama. So while chanting meditate on Rupa, Guna, Lila and Dhama of the Lord. So this year katha is for the chanters. So that they chant more attentively. So it’s compulsory and necessary for the chanter. So today we will hear about Lord’s Rupa, His svarupa.

Lord rupa is described in many sastras and by many acaryas.

adav ante ca madhye ca harih sarvatra giyate

In the Vedic literature,from the very beginning (?dau) to the end (ante ca), as  well as within the middle (madhye ca), only Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is explained.

So glorification of rupa, guna, lila and dhama is done always. Our acarays have written lot about the rupa of the Lord. Tukaram Maharaja who appeared near Pune he had darsana of the Lord and also described the rupa of the Lord in his abhangas. There are different levels of darsana.

arcye visnau sila-dhir (SB 4.21.12)

We think the Deity in the temple to be made of  stone.  But when devotees like Tukaram Maharaja take darsana of the Lord they see Lord as He is. Sometimes the deity is made of white marble but the great acaryas see the Lord as  Shyamsundar Lord. They don’t see with this charma sakshu, the material eyes.  They anoint their eyes with love and devotion.

premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena

santah sadaiva hrdayesu vilokayanti

Lord, Govinda, is always seen by the devotee whose eyes are anointed with the pulp of love. He is seen in His eternal form of Syamasundara, situated within the heart of the devotee. They see the  Lord.

Suradas of  Vrndavan, he was blind but he also used to go for darsana. People use to ask him why have you come? How can you take darsana, you can’t see?  Once Lord was dressed with less cloths, So  to test him a man asked, how Lord is looking today?

Suradas said ‘aja prabhu nango nango’

So Lord rupa is Lord himself, this is easy to understand. Rather than accepting name as Lord Himself. We hear but we don’t accept easily.

Young brahman and old brahman from Orissa, the young brahman said to the Lord, Lord please come with me to Orissa.Oh,  it’s too long. Brahman said, oh Lord if you can talk you can walk also. So Lord surrender to His devotee and  started walking . Today also  we can have darsana of  that Lord, Sakshgi Gopal.

Also Lord did chori of ksheer for his devotee,  Madhavendra Puri.  In Orissa,  Remuna  there istemple of  ksher chora Gopinath.

So such Lord is glorified by

yambrahma varunendra rudra marutah stunvati divyai stavai

Brahma, Varuna, Rudra, Marutah. Stuvanti, they all glorify the Lord.

Srimad-Bhagavatam, 10.14 describes the stuti of  Brahma you can read also brahma samhita. Prabhupada selected some sloks of glorification and during sringar darsana two sloks from Brahma samhita are sang in all temples of ISKCON.

govindam adi purusham tam aham bhajami

venum kvanantaravinda-dalayataksham

barhavatamsam asitam buda-sundarangam

kandarpa-kothi-kamaniya visesha sobham

govindam adi purusham tam aham bhajami

angani yasya sakalendriya-vrittimanti

pasyanti panti kalayanti ciram jaganti

ananda-cin-maya-saduj-jvala-vigrahasya

govindam adi purusham tam aham bhajami

Murli has become part of Lord as we think of Lord. In the beauty of  Lord vamsi is a main part. It’s part of the Lords svarupa.  And its magic is marvelous in His pastimes.

venum kvanantam aravinda-dalayataksam-
barhavatamsam asitambuda-sundarangam
kandarpa-koti-kamaniya-visesa-sobham

Lord is adept in playing on His flute, with blooming eyes like lotus petals with head decked with peacock’s feather, with the figure of beauty tinged with the hue of blue clouds, and His unique loveliness charming millions of Cupids.

Gopis glorify the Lord, its part of Venu geet, 10^th Canto

barhapidam nata-vara-vapuh kar?ayoh karnikaram
bibhrad vasah kanaka-kapisam vaijayantim ca malam
randhran venor adhara-sudhayapurayan gopa-vrndair
vrndaranyam sva-pada-ramanam pravisad gita-kirti (SB 10.2.5)

Lord wears a peacock-feather ornament upon His head, blue karnikara flowers on His ears. One flower in two ears, some people say He breaks it into two and then wears, but it’s not like that. He puts the flower on one ear then He removes it and puts on another ear.

He wears  a yellow garment as brilliant as gold, and the Vaijayanti garland. When He goes to forest He wears vanamala, that’s why He is called as Vanamali. Sometimes He wears garland of lotus flowers, so called Padmamali.  He sometimes wears garland of kadam flowers He likes them as they  reminds Him of Radha rani. The color of kadam flower is golden and also of Radha Rani. So that’s reminds Him of  Radha

vaijayantim ca malam

Vaijayanti mala is made up of five different flowers. It’s long till His knees. Sometimes He puts the garland on one of His shoulder so that easily He can paly the flute. I am not saying anything but what I have heard from acrayas. They are the right source. Sometimes he wears garland on His head these are three types of how He wears the garland.

Sundara te dhyana ….

Tukaram maharaja has written 4000 abhangs describing the  Nama,  Rupa, Guna, LIla and Dhama.  In Maharashtra before every Bhagvat katha,  sundar te dhyana abhanga  is sang without that katha is not complete

sundar te dyan ubhe vite vari kar katavari theuniya 

Lord is same He does not have flute in His hand. But He has kept hand on His waist. Tulsi is always there at His lotus feet. Tulsi is Vrndavadevi she is event manager for all the pastimes of the Lord. She engages everyone in service of Lord.

We pray,  seva-adhikara diye koro nija dasi

She is krsna priya so in Pandharpur Lord wears Tulsi in His neck that sign  of His love whatever we like we wear in neck.

Rupa Goswami writes,

kada draksyami nandasya balakam nipa malakam

palakam sarva sattvanam lasat tilaka bhalakam

When will I see Nanda’s son? He is the protector of the devotees. He is garlanded with kadamba flowers, and His forehead is decorated with glistening tilaka.

Prayers of  Kunti Maharani are famous. Krsna was in front of her and she says,

namah pankaja-nabhaya namah pankaja-maline

namah pankaja-netraya namas te pankajanghraye

She can also see Him, He is wearing lotus garland. Lords abdomen is marked with a depression like a lotus flower, who are always decorated with garlands of lotus flowers, whose glance is as cool as the lotus and whose feet are engraved with lotuses.

When we say Krsna Chandra, its stated in teachings of  Lord Caitanya to Sanatan  Goswami in Varanasi. There its stated Krsna Chandra.

In Krsna’s whole body there are 24 and half moon.

sakhi he, krsna-mukha—dvija-raja-raja
krsna-vapu-simhasane, vasi’ rajya-sasane,
kare sange chandrera samaja

“My friend! The face of Krishna is the king of moons! Krishna sits on the throne, ruling over His kingdom surrounded by an assembly of moons.

dui ganda suchikkana, jini’ mani-sudarpana,
sei dui purna-chandra jani
lalate astami-indu, tahate chandana-bindu,
sei eka purna-chandra mani

“His two glowing cheeks conquer the beauty of shiny gems. I can compare His cheeks to a full moon. On the half-moon of His forehead there is a drop of sandalwood paste that resembles a full moon as well.

kara-nakha-chandera hata, vamsi-upara kare nata,
tara gita muralira tana
pada-nakha-chandra-gana, tale kare nartana,
nupurera dhvani yara gana

“His fingers, with moon-like nails, dance on top of the flute and sing a song that comes out as the melody of the flute. His feet, with toenails that resemble a crowd of moons, dance on the ground, singing a song with the jingling of the ankle bells.

His face is the main moon. This moon is the king of all moon and he needs throne and that is the face of the Lord that’s its throne. His eyes are moons. His tilak is also one moon. And His forehead is half moon. And his nails are one one moon. So total 20 moons of hand and hands. So grand total 24 and half Chandra. So Lord is called Krsna Chandra.

Many yogis mediate on the effulgence coming from the nails of the Lord.

ragah saptasu hanta satsv api sisor angesv alam tungata visaras trisu kharvats trisu tatha gambhirata ca trisu dairghyam pancasu kim ca pancasu sakhe sampreksyate suksmata dvatrimsad-vara-laksanah katham asau gopesu sambhavyate (B.R.S 2.1.49)

There are 32 qualities in the beauty of the Lord. Seven places on His body are red; six parts are elevated; three parts are broad; three parts are short; three parts are deep; five parts are long; five parts are fine.”

Lords 7 parts of body are red in color-  His eyes,  His palms, the soles of His lotus feet, His palate, His lips, His tongue and His nails.

Three parts of His body are broad: His forehead, chest and waist.

Three parts of His body are very deep: His voice, intelligence and navel. His voice is very deep.

megha gambhiraya vacha

Like the rumbling of the clouds reaches long long distance. When the clouds thunder all can hear even if there is no amplification. His voice is gambhira. His intelligence is also deep and mature.

There is highness in five parts of His body: His nose, arms, ears, forehead and thighs.

In five parts of His body there is fineness: His skin, the hair on His head and the other parts of His body, His teeth and His fingertips.

Three types of flutes used by Krsna.

One is called venu, another one is called murali, and the third is called vamsi.

For everyone He has different flute, some for Gopis, some for cows and some for Gopas.

See the Lords lotus feet there are different signs on His sole. In His right feet there are 11 signs and on left feet are 8 signs they have their particular name and function. When we pay obeisances these signs bless us.

On Krishna’s right foot are: konastakam – an eight – pointed star; svastikam – a svastika; cakram – a wheel; chatra – a parasol; yava – a barleycorn; ankusham – an elephant – goad; dhvaja – flag; pavi – a thunderbolt; jambu – jambu fruit; urdhva-rekha – line traveling upwards; ambujam – lotus.

On Krishna’s left foot are: candrardham – half-moon; kalasam – waterpot; tri-kona – triangle; dhanushi – bow; kham – ether; goshpadam – cows hoof-print; proshthikam – fish; shankham – conch-shell.

So there is so much to mediate on, so many signs.

His dressing is also special. Sometimes only two clothes, uttari and dhoti.  Sometimes kuta, dhoti, tyrban and uttari. Sometimes multicolor dresses.

Deity darsana is very important as the topic is Rupa. Prabhupada established 108 temples and now there are so many temples all over. Temples have beautiful deities. So katha is going on since time immemorial. Since the creation its going on and will go on after annihilation also. There is no question. Where Lord is there or not? Lord is there and how is He is described in sastras and our acrayas have described it very nicely. Prabhupada had established the concept that Lord is there and His rupa is there.

Sankaracharya preached nirakar vada for some reason.

brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti sabdyate (SB 1.2.11)

Brahman realization is impersonal realization, it’s just superficial.  Paramatma is the localized feature, and Bhagavan is the personal feature.

aisvaryasya samagrasya viryasya yasasah sriya?

jnana-vairagyayos caiva sannam bhagam itingana  (Visnu Pursna 6.5.47)

Bhagavan means who possesses these six opulences in full: all riches, all strength, all influence, all wisdom, all beauty, all renunciation. This is the definition of Bhagavan. Many sastras have explained the opulence’s of the Lord.  Krsna has His rupa and Brahma jyoti comes from His body.

Some people show a light and at end Murlidhara Krsna, so they show that Lord comes from light. They limit the Lord.

avajananti mam mudha?manusum tanum asritam
param bhavam ajananto?mama bhuta-mahesvaram

Fools to not understand the form of the Lord.

Lords form looks like us but as said in Bible , Man is made as image of God. At least they accept that Lord has form.  Its looks like our form and Lords form is same but it’s not limited like us. He has many forms. Some yogis can take 8 forms But Lord is Yogeshwar.

kesava dhrita-mina-sarira jaya jagadisa hare, Lord assumed the form of a fish. kesava dhrita-rama-sarira jaya jagadisa hare, He became a tortoise.

kesava dhrita-haladhara-rupa jaya jagadisa hare, He also assumed the form of Balarama. kesava dhrita-kalki-sarira jaya jagadisa hare. Kalki will be coming in future. And what comes from our body just mal and mutra  all dirt.

When Lord came as Vamandev. And as Bali said asked what you want? And Vaman became Trivikrama. No limit to His form was Vaman became Trivikrama

He expands on Sharad purinma night.Lord show the atmosphere on sharad pornima and as He thought and all was arranged and best musicians arrived and music then rasa dance. Many Gopis were there Lord expanded as many Gopis were there. His form is unlimited. Lords’s form is mysterious it’s amazing. We need to understand the tattav of the Lord.

 In Damodhara lila,  Yasodha took rope and every time it was two finger short. The form of Lord was same His waist was small but could not be tied by many many ropes.

Satyavrata Muni is praying,

namas te stu damne sphurad-dipti-dhamne
tvadiyodarayatha visvasya dhamne

I pay my obeisance to the abdomen which is abode for many many universes.

Yasodha is thinking I want to tie my Krsna’s abdomen but all the universes reside in His abdomen. So He is called Jagannivas.

Also when He ate mud He shows all universes in His mouth to mother Yasodha bewildering her.