KRISHNA-PREMA INCLUDES BHAKTA-PREMA

We have 460 participants today. Today we had one chanter , Chaitanya Prana Prabhu from New Zealand. He wrote to me of taking a vow that he will not eat or drink till he has completed his 16 rounds. So some devotees are getting inspired to chant more and more also they are getting determined.

There was just a thought that when the curtains closed here in Ahmednagar, the Deities were inside and there is no darsana now. I was thinking the form is hiding, but the name is with us. Now we have to deal with the name. Name is not different from the form. So it really doesn’t make difference in one sense. The Deities are in front or the Deities are not in front of us, we have

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

Nama is in our mind, in our heart. abhinnatvat nam namino. There is no difference between nama and nami. So this is just food for thought to you. This is the subject to be contemplated on , how name of Lord and Lord Himself are non different. Yesterday I was saying that we are very expert in offending Vaisnavas. We naturally or spontaneously offend other living entities including devotees. That’s the biggest stumbling block. It is the offence against the holy name. When we offend Vaisnavas , the holy name is displeased with us. You may think, ‘I offended a Vaisnav. I didn’t offend you, Dear Lord. So how does this becomes an offence?’ But one has to understand that a Vaisnav is very dear to the Lord. A Vaisnav belongs to the Lord. They say ,’If you love me , love my dog.’ In the West it is very common. If you love my dog , then I know you love me. You don’t even have to express your love differently. You just love my dog and I will take that as your love for me. I love him, and if you love him then I love you. This is the connection. So this is the gross example, but something similar in connection with the Lord and the Lord’s devotees – Visnu and Vaisnavas. There are ten offences against the holy name. We say that every morning to remind ourselves of it. They are sitting in our throat and we vomit it. Do we say that from our heart or say them from understanding what we are saying. Do I really mean it then I say these are offences and I should avoid them. We should not utter those number of offences from the throat but from the bottom of our heart with full understanding. With full understanding while remembering we should say those offences and then practice not to commit those offences. Then we have to make sure, that we are putting them into practice. Not committing offences. durdaivam īdṛśam ihājani nānurāgaḥ at the end of second verse of Siksastakam , Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, ‘I am so unfortunate o! Lord, I have no attraction for chanting the holy names of the Lord.’ Durdaivam – great misfortune that I have no attraction for chanting although I am aware

(2)

nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis
tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ
etādṛśī tava kṛpā bhagavan mamāpi
durdaivam īdṛśam ihājani nānurāgaḥ

But then there is third verse

(3)
tṛṇād api sunīcena
taror api sahiṣṇunā
amāninā mānadena
kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ

Then he talks. He has just said, I have no attraction for chanting at the end of the second verse. (Haribol!! Don’t sleep!! Jiva Jago Jiva Jago gaurachanda bole. Who is saying? – not us, Gaurachanda bole! Gauranga Mahaprabhu is calling , He is talking, Lord doesn’t say , ‘O! Body, you wake up!’ but ‘ O! Soul you wake up!’ Even if the body wakes up, still the soul is sleeping.)

Just at the end of second verse Mahaprabhu had said , I have no attraction and then in the third verse he says, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ. Chanting the holy names of the Lord constantly. So what happened in between ? Something happened in the middle, that’s why the travel from ‘no attraction’ to kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ. What happened in the middle is tṛṇād api sunīcena, ie becoming more humble than the blade of grass. English translation says, ‘In such a state of mind one can chant the holy names of the Lord constantly.’ What is that mental state? ‘t tṛṇād api sunīcena’ is easier said than done. To say it takes a few seconds, ‘To be humbler than the blade of grass’ to achieve the perfection of this stage may take a whole lifetime. To achieve such a state of mind one may require one lifetime if you are lucky, or it may even take many, many lifetimes. How humble? More than the trees,and blade of grass. Then in next paragraph he says,

amāninā mānadena – amāninā and mānadena are the two activities. Two actions. amāninā and māna da. da means giver . amani – not expecting respect for oneself. And mana-da of which ‘mana’ means respect, and ‘da’ means giver. For ownself there is no respect and expectations. But in turn we make plans, ‘How am I going to serve Vaisnavas and devotees.’ Soon we’ll be honouring those who distributed lots of books and other services. That’s good. In such a state of mind we should be doing this.

amāninā mānadena
kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ

In such a state of mind, one can chant the holy names if the Lord constantly.

satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ
yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ
namasyantaś ca māṁ bhaktyā
nitya-yuktā upāsate

Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.( BG. 9.14)

Then what Lord gives them? He says

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
yena mām upayānti te

To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.( BG. 10.10)

Ahaituki and apratihata means unmotivated and uninterrupted devotional service. Constant chanting, worshipping, remembering, serving will happen in such a state of mind. That is why , ‘ I am just humble servant’.

ayi nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ
patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau
kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-
sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya

‘O My Lord, O Kṛṣṇa, son of Mahārāja Nanda, I am Your eternal servant, but because of My own fruitive acts I have fallen into this horrible ocean of nescience. Now please be causelessly merciful to Me. Consider Me a particle of dust at Your lotus feet.’ ( CC Antya 20.32)

Caitanya Mahaprabhu said – ‘I am just a servant. O! Lord, please fix Me as a dust particle at Your Lotus Feet. Kinkara – Kim karomi? Is there anything that I can do O! Lord? Those who keep asking, what service they can do for the Lord? Give some service. So such a person is called ‘kinkara’ or ‘kinkari’.

Here time is limited, so we have a short talk. If Bhagavat Katha is there , then we can go on – kirtaniya sada Hari. Adu madhye ante Hari sarvatra giyate. So Caaitanya Mahaprabhu having said that I am your servant , he said, servants usually get a salary at end of day, week or month. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu while giving His own commentary on Caitanya Caritamrita said, ‘My dear lord give Me remuneration. Give me My salary in the form of Krsna-prema. He had served the whole day or whole month, so here is Your salary. Let that salary be in the form of Krsna-prema.

Sukha sampatti ghar aave kasta mite tanaka…. This is Hindu prayer. ‘Garva se kaho ham Hindu hai!’ Gaudiya Vaisnavas don’t have this garva( pride). There is no pride. With pride such prayers come up. That is the difference between Gaudiya Vaisnava and Hindu or Sikha or Muslim or Isai. They pray ‘O! Lord, give us our daily bread.’ Hare Krishna chanter is only begging – give us Krsna-prema. We could also add , give us Bhakta-prema. This Krsna-prema includes Bhakta-prema. We don’t do useless prayers like ‘ sukha sampatti ghar aave kasta mite tanaka’. This is Devotion mixed with karma. There is Devotion mixed with karma or jnana etc. That’s why it’s said –

harer nama harer nama
harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva
nasty eva gatir anyatha

Why it’s said three times? To emphasize that not by karma, not by jnana not by yoga……

kṛṣṇa-bhakta — niṣkāma, ataeva ‘śānta’
bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmī — sakali ‘aśānta’

“Because a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa is desireless, he is peaceful. Fruitive workers desire material enjoyment, jñānīs desire liberation, and yogīs desire material opulence; therefore they are all lusty and cannot be peaceful.( CC Madhya 19.149)

….. means this devotion mixed with karma , or with jnana or devotion mixed with siddhi is not going to help , but only Harinama. By chanting the holy names of the Lord the Lord could be realised. Of course, but that chanting has to be offence less chanting.

aparadh sunya haiya laho krsna nama

So we will end now. We will meet again.
Hare Krishna